north of Persia. Four tribes, Dan, Zebulon, Naphtali and apparently Issachar, were believed to be represented by this population, and the Jews regarded the Tartars, among whom they lived, as the descendants of the Canaanites expelled by Joshua. They were, nevertheless, allied to these fierce tribes, who lived on raw meat like the Hunns, and adored the wind. Many of these Asiatic Jews were good scholars, and others were agriculturists and even soldiers. This Jewish population still exists, though no longer powerful as in earlier times. In costume they resemble the Jews of other Eastern countries, and wear the distinctive side locks of the Polish and Russian Ashkenazim. In Samarkand the Jewish quarter retains its schools and synagogue; but the Hebrews, who looked forward to the Russian advance to save them from the tyranny of the native Khans, have perhaps ere now found out their mistake.

In early times the Oriental Jews extended their migrations yet further. In China they were known as the 'people who pull out the sinew' (Gen. xxxii. 32), but in 1866, when the Rev. W. A. P. Martin visited the synagogue at Kai-fung, he found very few who had any knowledge of Hebrew. This ancient colony numbered about 300 to 400 souls, and the synagogue bore the date 1153 A.D., but was already falling into ruins. The postscript to their Pentateuch is said by Dr. Neubauer to show that they came from Persia, no doubt through Turkestan. From the same centre came the Beni Israil of India, who have now lost their literature and forgotten the Hebrew language. In Abyssinia a yet more ancient Jewish colony is still to be found in the Falashas, of whom there are about 200,000 souls, but who, according to some writers, have inter-married with the native race. They probably came from Arabia, where, in the days preceding Islam, the Jews were numerous and powerful, and whence one of the oldest and most valuable manuscripts of the Scriptures has lately been recovered. They were numerous in Abyssinia in the fourth century A.D., and it is remarkable that the feasts of Purim and Hanukah are not observed among them, which has given rise to the opinion that they may have belonged to the Alexandrian colony, which separated so early from the Palestinian Jews,

and had a distinct ritual not affected by the later Rabbinic enactments. In other respects they are very strict adherents to the Levitical law, but they have no exact expectation of a Messiah, although awaiting a return to Jerusalem. Monks and nuns are to be found among them as among the Jews of the Christian era. These various peculiarities seem to point to a very early colonization of Abyssinia by the Jews.

A great proportion of the Jews of Persia, Arabia and Russia, are Karaites, and thus of a very distinct stock from the large majority of Rabbinical Jews (Askenazim and Sephardim) who are found in the West. The Karaites have but one small synagogue in Jerusalem. They are often described as modern Sadducees, but they hold tenets which were distinctive of the ancient Pharisee as distinguished from the Sadducees. They appear to have been a reformed sect, which arose in the eighth century A.D., discarding the authority of Rabbinical tradition. In the twelfth century their centre was in Palestine itself, and they were found yet earlier in Constantinople and in the Crimea, and even in Poland. Their observance of the law is in some respects stricter than that of other Jews, but they do not wear the phylacteries of the Pharisee. In Russia they are said to be more favoured than the Rabbinical Jews, from whom, however, they differ only in minor points of ritual and custom: for they also look forward to the advent of the Messiah, and to the resurrection of the just, which the Sadducees denied.

In Palestine itself, the Karaites are said to number only about 40 souls, though their little cellar-like synagogue may perhaps be the same that existed in the twelfth century in Jerusalem, at which time, however, the Juiverie or Ghetto was the north-east quarter of the city, whereas in our own time it is found on the south. The Jerusalem Jews are mainly Rabbinical, and all the chief sects are represented. The finest in figure and face are the Sephardim, or descendants of the exiles from Spain, many of whom have red and auburn hair, and delicate aquiline features, with dark eyes. They still speak Spanish, and retain the black turban, their dress being truly oriental. Their chief Rabbi, recognised by the Turks as a member of the town council, is known by the Turkish title of

Khakhan Bashi, the name adopted by the Jewish ruler of the Khozars. The Mughrabee Jews from Morocco, who belong to the same sect, have a chief Rabbi of their own.

The large majority of the immigrant Jews are, however, Ashkenazim, taking their name from Ashkenaz (Gen. x. 3,) a population of Armenia. These European Jews have come mainly from Russia, Poland, Austria and Germany, and present a considerable contrast, both in costume and in person, to the Spanish Jews, from whom many of the great families of Italy and England are descended. The Polish Jews have a less aquiline profile, their hair is often light, their complexion fair, and their eyes blue. In height and in physique they are inferior to the Sephardim, and their manners lack the dignity and repose of their Spanish brethren. They are divided into four sects, called Parushim, Varshi, Chasidim and Chabad, which are however distinguished only in minor details of liturgy and ritual.

Any account of the manners of the modern Jews in Russia and the Levant will therefore be mainly applicable to the growing Ashkenazim population; for neither the Karaites nor the Sephardim form very important elements in the question now agitating the Jewish world. It is unfortunate that this should be the case, because the element thus to be controlled is the least educated and least venerable of those which constitute Jewish nationality. Centuries of oppression, and isolation in northern climes, have told on the physical type and on the mind of the Ashkenazim; and although a marked improvement, in health, bearing and character, is said to be remarkable in cases where freedom and property have been obtained, generations must probably elapse before the North European Jews attain the level reached by those who have had the better fortune to live in countries where oppression was unknown.

The personal appearance and dress of the Ashkenazim is neither picturesque nor prepossessing. They are usually lean and narrow chested, with a drooping figure, which scarcely leads the observer to expect the energy and industry which they possess as a rule. The great difference of type and complexion between the Spanish and Polish Jews casts doubt on

the purity of blood in these two great divisions. Yet the Jews as a rule marry only those of their own faith and race, and the influences of climate during the many centuries of separation must not be forgotten. The dark Jew comes from the South, the fairer type from the North, and the same distinction is remarkable in other races. The usual dress of the northern Jew is mean and slovenly, but this does not always indicate poverty; for the habits of earlier times survive, in countries where property is unsafe, and the Hebrew often simulates a destitution which saves him from the rapacity of those in power. A striped gaberdine or dressing-gown, with white cotton socks and cheap boots, is surmounted by a small black wide-awake,' under which hang down the two uncombed 'love locks,' which betoken the Pharisee. Among the wealthy, the wearing of furlined or fur edged robes is common, with velvet caps also edged with fur, much as in Rembrandt's famous pictures. dress of the women is studiously plain and unattractive, consisting generally of prints and cottons. The hair is hidden under a white head-dress, for it is believed that demons find shelter in the unbound locks of those who shew the glory of their curls in public places. The dress of the Jew, no less than his deferential manner, often hides the power of wealth and station which he actually possesses.

The

The distinguishing marks of the Jew are, however, seen only in the synagogue, the home, or at prayer. These are the phylacteries, the talilth, and the mezuza. The first are small leather boxes, containing texts from the Law, beautifully written on strips of parchment. The boxes are bound to the hand and forehead by long leather thongs. The practice, which is at least twenty centuries old, is supposed to be inculcated in the Law; but a volume might be penned on the relation which exists between this custom and similar practices of other primitive peoples. The talilth is a shawl, also bearing a symbolic meaning, which is placed over the hat or cap at prayer time: for the Jew never removes his head-covering in the synagogue, and in so doing retains the custom of the East, where the feet are uncovered in mark of respect but the head never.

The mezuza is a similar amulet, a verse of the Law enclosed

in a leather, metal, or glass case, and fixed to the doors of houses and rooms. To this also there is an allusion in the Pentateuch, according to Rabbinical Jews, though the Karaites, who hold none of these customs in observance, do not so understand the allusions in Scripture. The mezuzoth may be observed in the houses of wealthy Jews in London, and have often puzzled those to whom Jewish customs are unfamiliar.

The Jews, as practical linguists, take high rank, though as a rule they care only to know enough to make themselves understood, and speak few languages correctly, but many incorrectly. An enquiry at Jerusalem some dozen years ago showed that the least advanced could express themselves in ten dialects or languages, and the more proficient in twenty at least. For purposes of trade such knowledge is essential, but among themselves Hebrew, in a corrupt form, is commonly spoken. The Jews of Spain speak Spanish even in the East; the Ashkenazim have developed an extraordinary language, in which German is mingled with the later Hebrew. In Kurdistan the Jews speak Kurdish and Turkish to their neighbours, but the vernacular' (Imrani) which they speak to each other is a modern form of the old Aramaic or Assyrian spoken after the captivity, but now corrupted by the admixture of Persian and Turkish words. In Kurdistan the Law is read twice in Hebrew and then once in the vernacular, just as it was by Ezra, for the enlightenment of the Aramaic speaking Jews. This corruption of language began very early. In Ezra's time pure Hebrew was already becoming a dead tongue. The Aramaic already began to absorb Greek and Persian words before the Christian era, and in the fourth century a large number of Greek terms connected with government, law, trade, art, science, and with the sea, were commonly used in writing and speaking, with a smaller proportion borrowed from Latin. In Babylon, when about 500 A.D. the Babylonian commentary on the Mishna was written, Persian, and even Mongol words were also introduced into the Aramaic text in such a manner as to show their familiar use by the Jews. All languages are subject to such corruption, and the more conversant with foreign tongues any nation may be, the more certainly