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FROM THE BOSTON RECORDER.
PRESENT STATE OF THE JEWS.
1. Their condition in the several countries
where they are scattered.
Small colonies of Jews are found through
out most parts of Eastern Asia. The one
at Cochin, consisting of two hundred fami
lies, i? supposed to be the largest. A list,
comprising sixty-lire of these colonies, was
presented by4he Cochin Jews to Dr. Buc
hanan. Repcecting their numbers, litlie
‘is known :—in British India, they are es
timated at sixteen .thousand. The black
Je vrW* upposed to he the most numerous,
are regarded as impure by their while
brethren, and are compelled to worship in
separate Synagogues. The white Jews,
engaged almost; exclusively in mercantile
pursuits, are constantly passing from colony
to colony ; and by means of them, an easy,
quick? and regular communication is kept
up between the several colonies. They
are more learned, and far less bigoted,
than their brethren in the west. They
generally understand the Hebrew, and ma
ny of them speak it. Among them are
men of intelligence, who are well acqnaint-
the history of nations. Manuscript
•cojpies of the law are found in most of their
Synagogues, and several of these were, by
Dr. Buchanan, sent to % . England, together
/with a New-Testarnent in Jlebre*w. This
translation was made “by a Jew, with the
express design of refuting the Chrislian re
ligion. After many execrations, some of
wlyich he inserted in the margin, he was
forced to yield to its evidence, and became
a Christian.
About seven hundred Jews are found in
she vicinity of Bombay. Their children,
one hundred and fifty in number, are col
lected by our Missionaries into three
schools, and placed under Jewish teachers.
The Missionaries have weekly lectures,
designed specially for the Jews ; which are
well attended.
I In the provinces of Cashmire and Afgha
nistan, near the Indus, are many who ac
knowledge themselves Jews, and who
have mnd£ great sacrifices for the sake of
their religion. Mary more, it is supposed,
have yielded to the power of the reigning
religion. So much do the Jewish manners
and customs prevail in these provinces,
that many have regarded the inhabitants as
principally of Jewish origin.
Jews are numerous in the countries near
the Caspian. In twelve of the principal
town in are found more than
twelve thousand families. Many of these
~ pass from place to place, for purposes of
trade:—numbers are settled down as agri- “
cullorists. They are poor and ignorant;
—ibey have neither Synagogue nor Levite,
and of the rites of their fathers, circumcis
ion, and abstinence from swine flesh, are all
which remain. Absurd and superstitious
legends constitute the substance of their re
ligion; *nd to these they listen with an at-
THE MISSIONARY.
tentidh which few Christians give to divine
truth.
lo Arabia, not a few of the Jews have
embraced the Mahometan faith; many
however, in spite of persecution, retain the
religion of their fathers. They reside
chiefly in the southern part, where they
have many Synagogues. They are here,
as in all Mahometan countries, held in uni
versal contempt; never suffered to reside
within the walls of any city ; are oppres
sively taxed for the privilege of enjoying
religious worship; and are ignorant, com
pared with their brethren in Protestant, or
even in Calholick countries. They carry
on an extensive commerce with their breth
ren in India, and produce the best artists in
Arabia. A number of separate tribes are
found on the highlands north east of Medina,
which, in consequence of being surrounded
by the desert, have for centuries maintain
ed their independence.
The Jews in the Turkish Empire, are
estimated at one million. They have a
chief of their own nation, whose power is
greater than was that of the Greek Patri
arch. Most of the mercantile business is
carried on by them, but where the Greek
merchants resort, they lose the trade, and
where the Armenian comes, both Jew and
Greek are compelled to retire. Hence
the Jews in Constantinople,—seventy-five
thousand in number, —are in extreme
erty: In Palestine they are comparatively
few ; and in consequence of the united op
pression of the Turk and the Arab, they
live in the most abject misery. At Jerusa
lem, are three thousand Jews, many of
whom are Priests. They collect an annu
al tribute of their brethren in other coun
tries, to the amount of half a million of
dollars. This is paid very cheerfully, as
all Jews feel a deep interest in having pub
lick worship maintained at Jerusalem.
The government of Austria is extremely
jealous of all attempts to enlighten its Jew
, ish subjects. This system will long retain
seventy-five thousand Jews in ignorance
and bondage.
Poland has for ages been denominated
ilbe Jewish Paradise. It is the seat of
their literature, —the country where most
of their Rabbis receive their education.
Here they possess an influence and respec
tability, which they nowhere else etfjoy-
Tbe Rabbis and Scribes exercise over their
brethren, almost unlimited sway. They
constitute the supreme Judges in matters
civil and religious. The Polish Jews have
little landed property, but they possess the
trade, and the gold of the country. The
produce passes through sheir Hands; —the
principal mills, the toll gates, the ferries,
and the taverns of the country*are tbeir3.
They are self-righteous, and pharisaiCal,
lo an extreme. Their number is half a
million.
In the Russian Empire* are two millions,
—they’ are generally poor and ignorant,
and multitudes in these respects fall below
the slaves. Alexander is:using every effort
to meliorate their condition. In 1805, he
admitted them to the privileges of ihe
schools and college? throughout his Em
pire. He invites, protects, and assists Mis
sionaries to labour among his Jewish sub
jects. All Magistrates are required to see
(bat converted Jews are protected. To
rescue them from want, a tract of land was
set apart in 1817, and made free to Jewish
converts of every nation. This colony is
exempt from taxes, every honest employ
ment, except selling spirituous liquors, is
permitted, and each unites with whatever
denomination of Christians he pleases.
WheTre are the exploits of the Macedonian
Alexander, which exhibits greatness like
this ?
In Prussia, are seventy-five thousand
Jews. A few years since, and cruel laws
doomed most of them to perpetual celiba
cy; the happy few, whose high privilege
it was to enter the marriage state, must re
quite, the favour by furnishing their cup
boards with porcelain,—the refuse of the
Royal Manufactory, These laws were re
voked in 1809. In 1812 they were pre
sented with anew constitution, which guar
antees to them all the privileges of citizens.
In Sweden, also, they have of late obtain
ed considerable privileges.
In Denmiftk, they have long been rank
ed as men, and have produced many dis
tinguished characters. Their system of
education Hs rapidly improving, and the ex
ertions of Jewish parents to educate their
tfliildren, are now seconded by (heir Chris
tianneighbours. At Copenhagen they have
a free school well endowed.
Some of the German Princes are exert
ing themselves in favour of their Jew
ish subjects. In a few instances, they have
compelled towns to make good damages
done by the mob. But in most of the free
towns, they are oppressively taxed for the
privilege of a residence. The thousands
in Frankfort, are by night shut up in a sin
gle lane, and by day excluded from the side
walks. The German Jews are beginning
lo prize education, and to establish schools
for themselves; popular prejudice forbid
ding their children to mingle with Christian
children in their pqidick schools. The
most refined generally regard their religion
as mere ceremonies, useful chiefly in re
straining the vulgar; and multitudes of
them reject both the Talmud and the law
GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE G.QSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE.— Jesus Christ.
MOUNT ZION, (HANCOCK CO. GA.) MONDAY, APRIL 22, 1822.
and settle down in deism. There are two
hundred thousand German Jews.
In Holland,are sixty thousand Jews; mo3t
of whom reside at Amsterdam. They are
honest, industrious, affluent, polished, and
enlightened. Many are learned* and to
these the world is indebted for some valua
ble discoveries; but however meritorious,
they are excluded from all literary associa
tions. Few of them are artisans, as cus
tom excludes them from the work shops.
A Royal Edict, in 1817, required them to
educate their children in the knowledge of
the Jewish Scriptures.- Christians are ex
tensively aiding them in this design, and
much good is evidently resulting.
The sixteen thousand Jews in England,
enjoy every privilege enjoyed by dissen
ters. The Portuguese Jews here,"as in
other countries, are brokers ;md merchants
of respectability. The German Jews, in
this country, are more numerous, and are
generally poor.and dishonest.
In 1791, the Je*s of France, after a long
series of persecutions, obtained the rights
of citizens. The late Emperour befriend
ed them, and many of them were found,
not only in the rapks, but among the offi
cers of his army. Great efforts have been
made to turn their attention from trade to
honest labour. Consequently, numbers are
now engaging in agriculture and mechani
cal employments, and others are pursuing
the various sciences with success.
No Jew is permitted to enter Spain or
Portugal. Yet there are many in these
countries;—they pass for zealous Catlio
iicks, and fill the most sacred deparments
of the Romish Priesthood, still practising
in secret Mosaick rite; a dissimulation
countenanced by the Talmud.
Jews reside in most of the large towns in
Italy. Many of them are literary men; —
some, poets. In Leghorn, are fifteen
thousand; one third ol the whole popnla.-
tion,—Thty have a separate part of the
city ; are heavily taxed ; yet accumulate
wealth, having the trade in their hands.
In the Barbary States are half a million
of Jews. The condition and character of
that unhappy people, is in no country more
truly deplorable. They are liable at any
moment to be deprived of their possessions.
From the Moors and Arabs, they suffer ev
ery idignity; yet they suffer patiently
they date not defend themselves, In child
hood they are inured to the insults and
blows of other children ; and under these,
they are not suffered even to complain.
When the Moor of rank approaches, the
Jew uncovering his feet, must stand in an
inclining postnre, by the way side, till the
Moor passes by. Most of them abandon
themselves to beastly pleasure, and others
seek in accumulation of wealth, a solace
for their woes. Multitudes are wretched
from extreme poverty :—intemperaßce
characterizes the whole. Polygamy adds
to the degradation and the misery of the
women ; they are at any time divorced at
the will of the husband. Among the Bar
bary Jews, are enterprising merchants,
who possess nearly the whole trade of the
country, and accumulate immense treas
ures. Many, to escape persecution, have
embraced Mahometanism Numbers are
found in the mountains of Morocco, who
engage in laborious pursuits.
The Jews in Egypt, are numerous and
powerful. They farm air the revenues,
and by this employment have acquired in
fluence and reputation. They close their
offices during the Christain Sabbath, which
prevents all transportation ofgoods on that
day.
The Jews of Abyssinia enjoy much tran
quillity ; they have lost the Hebrew, but
have translations of their Scriptures, writ-
ten by the Abyssinian Christians.
AtTombnctoo, Sansarding, and most of
thp large towns in the interioqr of Africa,
Jewish merchants are found. Notwith
standing their wealth the uncultivated Af
rican looks upon them vvith contempt.
Even here they cannot escape persecution.
In the United States are three thousand
Jews. They are found principally in New
York, Philadelphia, Richmond, Charleston,
and Savannah. They are-admitted to all
the rights of freemen. Commerce is their
employment; they are possessed of con
siderable wealth, and have little intercourse
with Christians, except in the way of busi
ness. Yet the fault seems not to he theirs,
for they are pleased with every mark of
attention.
(To be continued.)
EDUCATION'.
fn the State of New York tha number of chil
dren educated in the short space of seven years,
in the common schools, has inoreased from 140,-
000 to upwards 0f330,000. In the year 1821,
as ananv as 332,870 children Were taught.
There are in the state 6835 school districts, hieing
an increase of about 300 since last year ; the
number ofchildren reported between 5 and 15
years of age is 349,258 ; and the. proportion be
tween that number and tbo=e educated in common
schools, is as 32 to 35. The ddiole is not proba
bly less than 375,000 receiving publick instruction
in the state during the last year —being more than
one fourth part of the population of the state,
Gturgiim.
GRATITUDE.
There are minds sb impatient of inferiority,
that their gratitude is a species of revenge ; and
they- return benefits, not because recompense is a
pleasure, but because obligation is a pain.
CONDITION OF WOMEN IN INDIA.
Extracted from a Reviewofthe Rev. Mr. Ward’s
“Farewell Letters.”
From the Christiati Observer.
The sixth letter is on the state of females
in Hindostan. On this subject, Mr. Ward
has already addressed the British publick.
And how strong is tfie claim established by
such statements on the minds of women
living under the geoial influence of the
Gospel! The condition of the Hindoo fe
male is, from first to test, degraded and
miserable. It is stated by the autjjor, that
even the birth of a female is, oo account of
the expenses of her education, and other
causes, considered as a calamity in the fam
ily of an Hindoo. Hence, her first encoun
ter is with the frowns of those who are nat
ural guardians. In the tribe of the Raj
poots, all the female infants are without
ceremony put to death ; and when one pa
rent had ventured for a time to deviate
from the established practice, the resent
ment of his tribe at length compelled him
to propitiate their anger “by the butchery
of his child. Not a single school for girls
exists all over the country; and they live
therefore for the first twelve years of their
existence in a stale of the most unbroken
vacuity and listlessness, The female Is
then perhaps betrothed, without her con
sent, to some youth she has never seen;
and, should the boy die even before they
are brought together, she is considered as
his widow, and is expected to be burnt on
his funeral pile for, as every widow is for
bidden to marry, she often becomes a prey
to the seducer, and ends a life of sensuality,
by a premature death of wretchedness and
guilt. In some cases, fifty young wotnen
are crammed into the harem of one Bramin.
Mr. Ward thus continues the description
of their wretched condition.—
“ Supposing, however, that the Hindoo
female is happily married, she remains a
prisoner and a slave in ti e house of her
husband. She knows nothing of the advan
tages of a liberal intercourse with mankind.
She is not permitted to speak to a person
of the other sex, if she belong to a respec
table family, except to old men very near
ly al(ied in blood: she retires at the ap
pearance of a male guest. She never eats
with her husband, but partakes of what he
leaves. She receives no benefit from
books, nor from society; and though the
Hindoos do not affirm, with some Mahome
tans, that females have no souls, they treat
them as though this was their belief.
What companions for their husbands—what
mothers these ! Yes, it is not females alone
who are the sufferers ; while such is the
mental condition of the. sex, of how much
happiness must husbands, children, and so
ciety at large -be deprived! What must be
the state of where female
mind, and are things un
known !
“This vacuity of thought, these habits
of indolence, and this total want of informa
tion, of principles, and of society, leave the
Hindoo female an easy prey to seduction,
and the devoted slave of superstition.
Faithfulness to marriage vows is almost un
known in India; and where the manners of
the East allow of it, the females manifest a
more enthusiastick attachment to the su
perstitions of the country than even the
men. The religious mendicants, the
priests, and the publick shows preserve an
overwhelming influence over the femal
mind. Many become mendicants; and
some undertake tong pilgrimages. In
short, the power of superstition over the
female in India has no parallel in any other
country.
“ In what other part of the world could
sixteen females be found, in a state of per
fect health, plunging with one consent in
to a watery grave, under a religious im
pulse ? The progress of this extraordinary
immolation, ns described by Captain ,
a spectator, exhibits a determination in the
work of self-murder which is most extraor
dinary. These sixteen females, accompa
nied by as many priests, went in boats on
the river opposite Allahabad, and proceed
ed to the spot where the Ganges and the
Jumna, two sacred rivers, unite their puri
fying streams. Each victim had a large
earthen pan slung over each shoulder.
Sbe descended over the side of the boat in
to the river, and was then held up by a
priest till she had filled the pans from the
river, when the priest let go his hold, and
the pans dragged her to the bottom. And
thus died, amidst the applauses of the spec
tators, and assisted by the priests of the
country', sixteen females, as a single offer
ing to the demon of destruction. They
died under the firm persuasion that this
was Ihe direct way to heaven ! The priests
enjoyed the. scene, and spoke of it lo their
friends, as a pleasant morning gambol. We
have here no weepers; no remonstrants;
no youth interposing to save them lo soci
ety. They go dawn to the bottom, as
loose stones which have no adhesion lo the
quarry, as creatures for which society has
no use. Nor must you suppose, my dear
friesd, that this is a solitary instance : these
immolations are so common, that they ex
cite very little anxiety indeed at Allahabad,
* “ TB** lowest oriler* of females alone arc seen
in numbers in the street?,” *
Prior $ s 3 ’ so P r - Min - 0T ’ l
* 3,00 in advance.S
and beyond that city they are scarcely
mentioned.”
The following account of the barning of
widows, more precise than any we have
seen, will be perused with horrour by our
readers.
“ The funeral pile consists of *. quantity
of faggots laid on the earth, rising in height
about three feet from the ground, about
lour feet wide, and six feet in length. Af
ter the female hag declared her resolution
to * eat fire,* as the peopfe call it, she
loaves her house for the last time, accom
panied by her children, relations and a few
neighbours. She proceeds to the river,
where a priest attends upon her, and where
certain ceremonies are performed, aefcom
panied with ablutions. These over, she
comes up to to the pile, tvhich may be ten
yards from the brink of the rivoc. She
walks round the pile severaL times, scatter
ing parched corn, &c. as she goes round,
and at length lays herself down on the pile
iy the dead body, laying her arm over it.
The cords having been laid across the pile,
and under the dead body, with these cords
the dead body and the living body are ®ow
tied fast together. A large quantity of fag
gots are then laid upon the bodies, and
two levers are brought over the pile to
press down the widow, and prevent her
from escaping when the flames begin to
scorch her. Her eldest son, averting his
face, with a lighted torch in his hand, then
sets fire to the- pile. The drums are im
mediately sounded, which, with the shouts
of the mob, effectually Jfown the shrieks
of the widow surrounded by the flames.”
Mr. Ward describes the “ burying alive”
of the widow v.'Uh the same exactness;
but we will not now shock the feelings of
our readers with the recital. And it is
happily the. less necessary, as the doubts of
the publick as to the numbers destroyed by
these processes are now set to rest for ev
er by the official documents placed before
parliament; from which it appears that,
in Bengal alone, not less than eight hund
red were burned within one year. *
HINDOO SUPERSTITION.
The seventh letter is dedicated to the
general cruelty, of the Hindoo superstition.
On this point it is the less essential for uS
to enter, as it has again and again been ex
posed in our volumes. We shall give a
single extract, however, partly on account
of the fact it contains, and partly on account
of the reflection founded upon it.
“ Every Hindoo, in the hour of death, is
hurried to the side of the Ganges, or some,
other sacred river, if nea*eoough to one of
these rivers, where he is laid, i lt*> ago
nies of death, exposed to the burning sun
by day, and to the dens and c<M of the.
night. The water of the river is poured
plentifully down him, if he can swallow it;
and his brea9t, forehead, and arms, are be
smeared with the mud of the river (for the
very mud of the Ganges is supposed to have
purifyfcg properties.) Just before the
soul quits the body, he is laid on the earth,
and then immersed up to the middle in the
stream, while his relations stand around
him, tormenting him in these his last mo
ments with superstitious rites, aDd increas
ing a hundred fold the pains of dying.
Very often, where recovery might be rea
sonably hoped for, these barbarous rites
bring on premature death. It is pretty
certain, that many private murders, using
these rites, are perpetrated. How differ
ent the hopes, how strikingly different the
exit, of a dying Christian ! Wbat a blessed
contrast to all this, (he deaths of Pitumbur,
Futik, and of Rughoo !”
In the eighth letter, the author enters
as niinutely’ rs the grossness of the subject
will allow him to do, on the sensualities of
the Hindoos; sensualities which, though
long disputed, are now so universally ad
mitted and reprobated as not to require fur
ther notice or castigation from us.
The ninth letter respects the fruitless and
painful anxiety of the Hindoos as to a fu
ture stale. Ignorant as they are of the na
ture of their future condition, such is the
anxiety on that point infused into the heart
hy its original frauier, that a vast propor
tion of their superstitious practices evident
ly point to the end of securing themselves
against its possible risks and penalties.
Tire following delineation of the modes
adopted to attain this object is presented to
ns by Sir. Ward.
“1. Here is a man entering on a pil
grimage so fuM of perils and hardships, that
he makes his will before he leaves his fam
ily. He expects to travel a thousand miles
perhaps on foot, and to he absent more
than twelve months, begging his way there
and home again. Ask him why he encoun
ters all these terrors, and he will tell yotf
that his salvation requires i(. 2. Under
that tree sits a man repeating the name of
his guardian deity, counting the repetitions
by his head-roll. Me employs a part of
each day in this work, which he intends to
continue till death. 3. Ask all these men
aud women the reasons for their incessant
ablutions in the Ganges, and they will tell
you that it is to wash away their sins. 4.
Here is a poor .man brought in a litter, in
the very agonies of death, that he may uot
die wilbout receiving the benefit of the
Ganges. Another man is seen‘throwing
one of the hopes of his deceased relation in
to the river, that at least, he may not be