Now, The Jews Have Been Dispersed All Over The
World, And Maltreated, If Not Enslaved, By Both Christians And
Mahometans (As Now) According To Prophecy, But Will God Hold Us
Guiltless For Persecuting Or Maltreating You, Jews?"
_The Rabbi_.
- "But we are the slaves of God, not of you Christians, and
besides, we are commanded to treat well our slaves in the Scriptures."
Here he quoted many passages from the Pentateuch.
Then followed a desultory conversation, some asserting "that inasmuch as
the slavery of the whites was permitted by God, how much more right had
they to enslave blacks who were the servants of servants!" Others even
added, "If we were Sovereigns of Morocco, we should make slaves of both
Mahometans and Christians." This indeed is the genuine feeling of
Barbary Jews; oppression begets oppression, and wrong begets revenge.
Another observed, "If you ask me what I think as a British subject, and
not as a Jew, I will give you my opinion against slavery."
Such distinctions in morals are not easily admissable, but the Jews
there are acute enough to make them, and are as good Jesuits as those of
Rome. Some cited the cavtivity of Joseph us, as a reason for carrying on
the slave-trade.
On another occasion, I had a conversation with Hassan Yousef, the High
Priest, or Archbishop, as Captain Phillips calls him. The Chief Priest
acknowledged that he who stole a man, whether white or black, was
condemned to death, according to the fair interpretation of the Mosaic
law.
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