| 348 the peremptory period of six months, otherwise they will be proceeded against according to the tenor of the law.
"4. That, especially in any city where there is a Ghetto, no Hebrew must presume to associate at table with Christians, either in public houses or ordinaries, out of the Ghetto.
"5. That in a city which has a Ghetto, no Hebrew shall sleep out of the Israelite quarter, nor make free to enter into familiar conversation in Christian a house.
"6. That no Hebrew shall take the liberty, under any pretext whatever, to induce male Christians, and still less female Christians, to sleep within the boundaries of the Ghetto.
"7. That no Hebrew shall hire Christians, even only by the day, to work in their houses in the Ghetto.
"8. That no Hebrew, either male or female, shall frequent the houses of Christians, or maintain friendly relations with Christian men or women.
"9. That the laws shall remain in force respecting the decorum to be observed by the Hebrews who may absent themselves from their Ghetto, to travel in other parts of the State."
"After laying down these monstrous rescripts [prescripts], which we had hoped even the Romish church would not have attempted to revive and still less to re-clothe with authority, and arm with tremendous pains and penalties. The savage order is issued that these intolerant laws shall be read in each of the Jewish synagogues. It is added:-
"They who violate the above articles, will incur some or all of the penalties prescribed in the edicts of the Holy Inquisition."
Why the Jews have been thus selected as the victims of their hellish wrath, is difficult for us to determine. We cannot account for it upon any other principle than that of legalized plunder-such as has been too frequently practiced upon them by most of the courts of Europe.-It is thus that their property, in the second section, is not ostensibly confiscated; but it is virtually so, as it places them in the power of their enemies, if they cannot find purchasers for their property, which is very unlikely, when they are placed under these severe, inhuman restrictions. "The property must be disposed of within three months, whether in town or country, permanent or moveable, or rents, or interest or any rights involving shares in funded property." And if there are no buyers, what then? "The Holy office (rather say holy devils) is to sell the same by public auction."
We are led to ask, is this Christianity? Are these the followers of the meek and lowly Jesus? Is this the conduct of a church which professes to be the only true church? purely apostolic? Oh shame! where is thy blush?-The heart sickens at the contemplation. Only think of the thousands of men, women and children, being dispossessed of their inheritance-robbed of their property-rendered houseless and homeless, and destined to wander about as vagrants and exiles, through the tyranny, rapacity and thirst for plunder, which is evidently manifest by these infernals of the Holy order. We had hoped that those days of horrid barbarity were gone by, and that even the Roman church would not have attempted to revive them: and still less did we imagine that the edicts of the Holy Inquisition would ever have disgraced the footstool of God. What if the governments of America, England, Russia, Prussia, Norway, Sweden, and other powers, were to exercise the same spirit of intolerance towards the professors of the Catholic religion? Would they like to have meted to them the same measure which they give to others? We know that there was great dissatisfaction manifested by the Catholics of England and Ireland during the existence of the Test Act. They made long and loud complaints against the injustice, tyranny and oppression of that instrument; and no one felt more indignant than ourselves at such illiberal proceedings-but we must confess that in this instance they have "out-Heroded Herod" a thousand times.-What would the Irish Catholics have thought had the British government dealt with them as their great Pontificate has dealt with the poor Jews? How much misery, how much distress would not such a step create among them?
We cannot but feel indignant at such proceedings; and as the conductors of public journals, feel ourselves in duty bound to express our feelings. We heartily despise oppression in every shape; and if the European courts do not take sufficient notice of such proceedings as to frown down, indignantly, upon the perpetrators of those inhuman deeds, and awe them into a respect sufficient to ameliorate the condition of their victims, we shall, at least, have had the satisfaction of entering our protest against the proceedings of those heartless wretches, who would make a pretext of religion in order to plunder the inoffensive, and put in force these inhuman, savage edicts, merely because they have them in their power.
We had thought that the cup of misery of the Jews had been sufficiently wrung out, and that they had drank it to the very dregs. They have been persecuted by almost every nation in its turn. They have been plundered, driven and banished, and their lives have continually hung in doubt. We had hoped that the recently
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