the Japanese, who had hitherto been averse to any connection with Europeans; and he was accordingly directed, after concluding matters in China, to cross over to Japan, and present the tycoon with a steam yacht on the part of the queen. Two frigates escorted him up to Jeddo itself, a point just beyond the limits laid down for European vessels, and the novelty of the sight made a great impression both on the people and the government. Lord Elgin succeeded in negotiating a treaty which allowed our merchants to trade at the most important ports, and sanctioned the appointment of British consuls there. But after a time the national jealousy of foreigners revived. The people began to insult our merchants, and some of the chief nobles, or Damios, as they are called, encouraged their retainers to violent outrages on the British residents. On one occasion in 1861, they made a regular attack on our chief consulate, and gradually rose in insolence, till at last, in 1863, when Admiral Kuper was sent to Kagosima to demand satisfaction for the murder of some of our countrymen, the batteries fired on his fleet. Their fire was instantly returned, and a fierce action ensued, which lasted till the vessels in the harbour were destroyed, as was the palace of Prince Satsuma, who had been the chief instigator of the outrages complained of; and a few months afterwards the admiral found it necessary to attack Simonosaki, for the chastisement of Chosin, another prince, who, in violation of the original treaty, had obstructed the passage of our ships up the straits leading to that city. On this occasion, the British admiral was assisted by a French and a Dutch squadron. He easily reduced Prince Chosin to submission; but it will probably be some time before a nation so jealous of all foreigners, so independent, as they conceive themselves, of all foreign supplies and manufactures, and so really wealthy and powerful, will acquiesce cheerfully in the maintenance of the communications with us, to which they have been in a manner compelled.

Secret societies had long been known to exist in China, the object of which was the subversion of the Mantchew domination and the restoration of the supremacy of the native Chinese; but it was not until 1852 that any movement occurred on a scale of sufficient magnitude to threaten the Tartar masters of China. In that year several insurrections broke out in separate parts of the empire. The most remarkable feature about them was the profession of a creed which both in the objects of its worship and in its theological terms was evidently imitated from the Christian religion; but as at least one of the leaders assumed to himself divine honours, and as their hatred of the Mantchew race has displayed itself in the most horrible blood-thirstiness, the profession of a religious

object must be looked upon with considerable distrust, until events shall have laid bare the real character of the insurgents. That they possessed great energy and a courage far above what one would have attributed to China, is shown by their capture of Shanghae and Nankin, and their victorious career to the very walls of Pekin. But of late their success has been greatly diminished, and the sway of the Tartar emperors seems yet destined to maintain itself in this large and singular portion of the globe.

CHAPTER XV.

HISTORY OF THE JEWS.

IN the Manual of Ancient History we sketched the history of the Jews from the days of the patriarchs to the suppression of the revolt of Bar-Cochab (A.D. 136): it now remains to trace the fortunes of this singular race down to our own times, and briefly to exhibit their condition at the present day.

era;

Though the number of the Jews who perished in the successive overthrows of their nation was doubtless very great, we are by no means to believe that on any of these occasions the whole body fell into the hands of the victor; in proof of the contrary, we may refer to the Jewish colonies which we early find in places to which their conquerors would not have transported them, and where, consequently, we must look upon them as located by their own choice. Beside other places of less importance, we have mention of a flourishing Jewish community in Rome before the Christian and the travels of the Apostles furnish evidence that shortly after that period they were to be met with in almost every part of Asia, Greece, and Northern Africa. Though their fathers in their own land had been noted for a proud contempt of all literature but their own, these colonists did not neglect the opportunities of mental culture thus laid open to them, and accordingly we find that many of the most learned philosophers of Alexandria were either Jews, or in habits of such intimacy with them, as imply that the sciences were pursued with equal ardour by both parties. Indeed it was only under such circumstances that that strange mixture of Pagan, Jewish, and Christian dogmas, called Gnosticism, could have originated; and this we know to have taken its rise in the schools of Alexandria.

Though the Jews who spread over the East seem chiefly to have resorted to the more polished regions of Egypt or Babylon, circumstances induced many of them to repair to Arabia, and others penetrated even to China, where their reception seems to have been favourable. In the days of Mohammed, great numbers of Jews, wealthy and possessed of political power, were found settled in the Peninsula, whom the impostor endeavoured in vain to conciliate. His successors granted them toleration, and both parties

being animated by a like hatred of the Christians, we often find them acting in concert, especially during the Saracen conquest of Africa and Spain.

The Abbaside Khaliphs, who seized the throne of Islám from the Ommiade dynasty, were generally tolerant of the Jews; the Khaliph Almanzor, indeed, went so far as to restore their academies, and evinced some taste for Hebrew literature himself. In the beginning of the ninth century, the Khaliph Mamun caused the best of the Jewish books to be translated into Arabic, for the purpose of diffusing a taste for literature and science among his subjects. Several eminent men of Jewish race flourished at his court; they were particularly famous for their skill in astronomy and medicine, which had up to this period been very slightly cultivated by the Saracens. The fame of Jewish physicians was spread over all the Mohammedan countries, so that few of any other race could find employment; but the wealth acquired by this lucrative profession excited the cupidity of several of the later Khaliphs, who availed themselves of religious prejudices to gratify their avarice. During this season of persecution the Jews were frequently duped by false prophets and pretended messiahs, who induced them to raise partial insurrections, which only served to furnish a pretext for renewed persecutions. In the midst of their difficulties the Khaliphate was overthrown by the barbarous Mongols, and the Jews were exposed to renewed persecutions from the Saracens, who attributed to their impiety all the calamities of the empire.

From the death of Timúr Lenk to the accession of Shah Abbas, the Jews, like the other inhabitants of Media and Persia, had to endure all the calamities arising from a violent war, a rapid conquest, and the long series of sanguinary wars for succession between the conqueror's descendants. At the accession of Shah Abbas Persia was almost uninhabited, and in order to obtain subjects that monarch granted large privileges to all strangers willing to settle in his dominions. Numbers of Jews who were oppressed in other eastern countries accepted his offers, but their wealth soon excited suspicions, and the Shah issued an edict that they should either embrace Islamism or prepare for death. The remonstrances of the Mohammedan priests prevented the execution of this sanguinary edict, but legal protection was withdrawn from the persecuted race, and has not been again restored in the provinces subject to Persia.

The Jews from Africa crossed into Spain, and thence to Gaul, Germany, and even Britain. In Spain they were often subject to persecution under the Gothic monarchs, which induced some to dissemble their faith, and others to leave the country.

Of these

latter, many retired to Africa, whence they returned with the Saracens, whom they materially assisted in the conquest of the country. Under the rule of the Spanish Moslems the condition of the Jews was highly prosperous; they cultivated science, were intrusted with the highest offices of the state, and enjoyed complete toleration; indeed to this era belong the names of Rabbi Hasdai, Benjamin of Tudela, Isaac of Cordova, and numerous others, whose works have been preserved, and which prove their proficiency in almost every art or science then known.

In more northern countries their state was materially different. Though their industry and abilities rendered them valuable to their rulers, and some few are to be found even in the courts of princes, they were as a body subject to the most galling restrictions, being in the eye of the law mere chattels of the superior lord, not human beings. Charlemagne and his immediate successors employed many of the Jews as their physicians, or as bankers, and even despatched them on important embassies; but about the year 870, by a decree of the Council of Meaux, they were declared incapable of filling any civil offices, and under Philip Augustus (A.D. 1180) they were stripped of their property and banished from France. They soon returned, but were exposed to the most rigorous and unjust treatment; Louis IX. began the career of renewed persecution, by forbidding the legal officers to seize the persons or estates of Christians indebted to Jews in default of payment; Catholics were strictly prohibited from employing Jewish physicians; it was ordained that they should have only one synagogue and burial-ground in each diocese, that they should not exercise any of the higher industrial arts, and that they should wear some distinctive mark on a conspicuous part of their dress. In 1288 the Parliament of Paris fined the Jews for singing too loud in their synagogues. Philip the Long pronounced sentence of banishment against them, but granted charters of protection to a few who were able to gratify his cupidity by large bribes. A strict search was made for those who dared to remain in the kingdom; several were burned alive, and, as an additional insult, dogs were thrown on the funeral pile. A great number were slain with less ceremony by the populace, who practised all sorts of cruelty upon the unfortunate sufferers. In 1350 John revoked the edicts of banishment, and the Jews, grateful for his kindness, cheerfully aided him in raising the large ransom with which he purchased his deliverance from captivity in England. This tranquillity was disturbed by the renewal of persecution under Charles VI., but the edicts of intolerance were found so difficult of execution that they were permitted soon to sink into oblivion.

Many of the popes commiserated the sufferings of the Jews, and