Note 157 — Chapter XXVII · A.D. 1400-1500. THE JEWS IN SPAIN—continued.

The charge of sordid indifference to the sufferings of others has always been made against the mediæval Jews; nor can it be denied that there is truth in the allegation. But it was only towards the Christians that this was displayed. To their own countrymen they have in all ages been generous and charitable in the extreme. Be it remembered what kind of charity had been shown them by their Christian brethren, and that they had not been taught ‘to do good unto them that persecute you.’ When the Jews at Rome were unwilling to receive their exiled brethren of Spain, Alexander VI. expressed the utmost surprise. ‘This is the first time,’ he said, ‘that I ever heard of a Jew not having compassion for a Jew.’