ve a great dislike to military service; and the
conscription which is imposed in Prussia, Austria, Poland, and France,
drives large numbers away from the land of their birth. Thus their
number in London is greater than people imagine. Dr. Stallard places it
as 55,000, but many Jews inform me that 100,000 is nearer the mark. One
thing is certain: as soon as a synagogue is opened anywhere it is
immediately crowded; and on special occasions, such as the days of
penitence, fifteen regular and eighteen or twenty temporary synagogues
are opened in different parts of London. Most of the foreign Jews when
they arrive here are wretchedly poor and ignorant, but under any
circumstances the Jew has to fight the battle of life under circumstances
of peculiar difficulty, in consequence of the Mosaic law, which he is
bound to obey, and which he does at a very heavy pecuniary sacrifice. It
is almost impossible for a Jew to work with a Christian. He may not
partake of his food. He may not work on Friday evening or on any part of
Saturday, nor on the days set apart for the observance of the Jewish
fasts and festivals. He is thus shut out from all employment in our
factories, shipyards, engine works, or shops. If he seeks work at the
docks he is driven away by the roughs. The "old clo'" business is being
gradually taken away from him by the Irish, so his chief industrial
occupations are tailoring, cigar-making, fish and fruit selling. The
women are employed in tailoring and shirts making, in the manufacture of
umbrellas and parasols, caps and slippers; latterly the supply of cheap
picture frames has got into the hands of the Jews. I fancy none of these
trades are very lucrative, yet the Jew is rarely a thief, never a
drunkard, always attached to his family, and remarkable for his
longevity. Suicide is rare, and murder never met with among the Jews.
There are not twenty-five male Jewish convicts in all England, and for
many years there has not been a Jewess in any convict establishment.
Such is the charity of the wealthy that the poorest, who have resided
here six months, are looked after. No Jew ever is permitted to die in a
workhouse. In many of our hospitals there are wards for the Jews,
supported by them. The Jewish Board of Guardians inquire into every case
of distress, and relieve it. Yet so economically do they go to work that
their expenditure in 1869 was, including loans, not quite 5000_l._, yet
in that year the app