The Scripture had warned the Jews
that they should live miserably till the consummation of time. The
Church, ever mindful of prophecy, undertook to keep them alive and
miserable. She made enclosures for them, as we do in our _Jardin des
Plantes_ for rare animals. At first they were folded in the valley of
Egeria, then they were penned in the Trastevere, and finally cribbed
in the Ghetto. In the daytime they were allowed to go about the city,
that the people might see what a dirty, degraded being a man is when
he does not happen to be a Christian; but when night came they were
put under lock and key. The Ghetto used to close just as the Faithful
were on their way to damnation at the theatre.
On the occasion of certain solemnities the Municipal Council of Rome
amused the populace with _Jew races_.
When modern philosophy had somewhat softened Catholic manners, horses
were substituted for Jews. The Senator of the city used annually to
administer to them an official kick in the seat of honour: which token
of respect they acknowledged by a payment of 800 scudi. At every
accession of a Pope, they were obliged to range themselves under the
Arch of Titus, and to offer the new Pontiff a Bible, in return for
which he addressed to them an insulting observation. They paid a
perpetual annuity of 450 scudi to the heirs of a renegade who had
abused them. They paid the salary of a preacher charged to work at
their conversion every Saturday, and if they stayed away from the
sermon they were fined.
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