But all those troubles, trying as they must have proved to the unfortunate Jews, were as nothing when compared with the terrible afflictions which that people were called upon to endure, in consequence of the outbreak of the fearful pestilence known in history by the name of the ‘Black Death.’ This appeared in Germany 1348, and was so fatal that the country was almost depopulated by it. It was sudden and rapid in its effects. Tumours, mostly of a black colour, made their appearance in the groin and axilla, accompanied by spitting of blood. In three days, at longest, the crisis was reached, and few survived it. The science of the day could not explain its origin, any more than it could cure, or even palliate, its virulence. In the absence of any reasonable explanation of the causes of the outbreak, the terrified multitude caught at whatever was suggested to them. It was first attributed to the indignation of Heaven at the outrageous wickedness of the age; and large bodies of men banded themselves together to make atonement for this by fasting and penitential discipline. They formed into companies, men and women, of all ranks and ages, naked to the waist, and marked with a red cross; and in this state marched in procession through the chief cities, scourging themselves as they went, and calling on all to follow them. But a new and much more welcome theory was presently started—that the pestilence which was slaying its thousands and tens of thousands was due to the Jews. It is said that the Flagellants first suggested this; but there is little reason for supposing so. The first idea in the minds of uneducated men, when attacked by some malady of which they have had no previous experience, is that they have been poisoned or bewitched; the next, to fasten upon the person by whom the drug has been administered or the spell wrought. Now, it was argued, if this wickedness had been devised by any one, it must have been by some inveterate enemy of Christian men; and who were such inveterate enemies of Christian men as the Jews? They, in truth, and they only, were capable of malice so subtle and deadly! Again, it was clear that these operations had been carried on in some wholesale manner. The criminals must have infected the air or poisoned the water. The idea, once conceived, spread like wild fire. No inquiry was made; no proofs were called for. What need of them? It was clear as the day that the Jews had poisoned the wells and fountains! The supposed murderers were everywhere pursued with the most merciless barbarity. Some were dragged before the tribunals, where a form of trial was gone through. Some were slaughtered by the mob without any investigation at all. It mattered little which course was pursued. The result was invariably the same.