zeal of the Bishop of London (Robert de Gravesend) outran that of
the Archbishop; he ordered them all to be levelled to the ground. The
Archbishop, prevailed on by the urgent supplications of the Jews,
graciously informed the Bishop that he might conscientiously allow one
synagogue, if that synagogue did not wound the eyes of pious
Christians by its magnificence.

But the bull of Honorius IV was something more than a stern
condemnation of the usurious and extortionate practices of the Jews;
it was a complaint of their progress, not merely in inducing Jewish
converts to Christianity to apostatize back to Judaism, but of their
not unsuccessful endeavors to tempt Christians to Judaism. "These Jews
lure them to their synagogues on the Sabbath--are we to suppose that
there was something splendid and attractive in the synagogue worship
of the day?--and in their friendly intercourse at common banquets, the
souls of Christians, softened by wine and good eating and social
enjoyment, are endangered." The _Talmud_ of the Jews, which they still
persist in studying, is especially denounced as full of abomination,
falsehood, and infidelity.

The King at length listened to the public voice, and the irrevocable
edict of total expulsion from the realm was issued. Their whole
property was seized at once, and just money enough left to discharge
their expenses[86] to foreign lands, perhaps equally inhospitable. The
10th of October was the fatal day. The King benignantly allowed them
till All Saints' Day; after which all who delayed were to be hanged
without mercy. The King, in the execution of this barbarous
proceeding, put on the appearance both of religion and moderation.
Safe-conducts were to be granted to the sea-shore from all parts of
the kingdom. The wardens of the Cinque Ports were to provide shipping
and receive the exiles with civility and kindness. The King expressed
his intention of converting great part of his gains to pious uses, but
the Church looked in vain for the fulfilment of his vows.

He issued orders that the Jews should be treated with kindness and
courtesy on their journey to the sea-shore.

But where the Prince by his laws thus gave countenance to the worst
passions of human nature, it was not likely that they would be
suppressed by his proclamations. The Jews were pursued from the
kingdom with every mark of popular triumph in their sufferings; one
man, indeed, the master of a vessel at Queenborough, was punis