ared to him to be singers; but the
whole of the service being Hebrew, it was of little consequence to him,
whether read or sung. He perceived, during the performances of these
prayers, which were every now and then joined in by almost every
one present, that many of the congregation appeared to be in close
conversation, which, however, was taken no notice of by the persons
officiating. He was well pleased with the singing of a youth and the
accompaniment of a gentleman in a cock'd hat; for although he could not
discover that he actually produced words, he produced sounds in many
instances bearing a strong similarity to those of a bassoon. The
venerable appearance and devotion of the High Priest, who was habited in
a robe of white, also attracted his attention; while the frequent bursts
of the congregation, joining in the exercises of the morning, in some
instances almost provoked his risibility.

"The religious ceremonies of these people," said Tom, as they left the
synagogue, "though somewhat imposing as to form and appearance, do not
seem to be strongly interesting, for many of them are engaged during the
whole of the service in some species of traffic; buying and

1 Doff'd his castor--Taken off his hat.

~312~~ selling, or estimating the value of goods for sale. They are such
determined merchants and dealers, that they cannot forget business even
in the house of prayer. We have two sets of them. This is the Dutch
Synagogue; but the most ancient is that of the Portuguese, having been
established in England ever since the Usurpation. The members of it
being mostly wealthy, are extremely attentive to their poor, among whom
there is said not to be a single beggar or itinerant; while the Dutch or
German. Jews get no education at all: even the most affluent of them are
said to be generally unable either to read or write the language of the
country that gave them birth. They confine themselves to a bastard or
vulgar Hebrew, which has little analogy to the original. They observe
the particular ritual of the German Synagogue, and also include the
Polish, Russian, and Turkish Jews established in London. With the
exception of a few wealthy individuals, and as many families who are in
trade on the Royal Exchange, they are in general a very indigent class
of people. Their community being too poor to afford them adequate
relief, they have resorted to the expedient of lending them small sums
of money at interest, to trade up