This people has a very weak and debilitated spirit, and in its present condition is not fit for political dominion. The Jews engage in their own private affairs and are very little, if at all, concerned with public matters. Their economical habits verge on miserliness. They esteem the past and pay very little attention to the course of contemporary affairs. Many of them have simple manners, and only a few dedicate themselves to the sciences and the knowledge of languages. In observing their faith (as others argue) they go too far in certain respects and tend toward an exaggerated meticulousness.

As against these defects you will find that they have qualities worthy of esteem: firmness and boundless constancy in their faith and in the preservation of their religion; unity in the dogmas of their faith . . . extraordinary courage, if not to the point of imperiling themselves, then at least in suffering distress; a singular familiarity with the Holy Scriptures and their meaning; charity and loving-kindness toward others, and hospitality toward every one of their nation even if they are strangers and aliens. The Jew of Persia shares in the distress of the Italian Jew. . . . They are careful to preserve the purity of their race, protecting it from every admixture. Many of them are exceedingly shrewd and can negotiate the most difficult of transactions. They behave humbly and respectfully toward any man who is not of their own faith.

 

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