The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-20 00:00:00

A Jewish Settlement in China.

The Jewish Chronicle gives the following account
of a curious discovery made during the late war
with China, by a Jewish officer in the English navy :
At the breaking out of the English war with
China, he received his commission as lieutenant, and
went to the seat of war, and served under Com-
mander Hollins. Our friend was assigned the com-
mand of a small vessel carrying three guns, for the
purpose of penetrating the rivers and streams of the
interior, and preventing any hostile assemblages.
He seldom advanced further than five or six miles
from the principal rendezvous; but on one occasion
tired of cruising about inithe same place so often, and
meeting no opposition, ho proceeded ten miles up
the river, and still found no hindrance. He
sailed until he had advanced about 30 miles into the
interior of the country, passing several cities and
villages, but seeing no fortifications ; and not
being molested in any tTay, he was about to retrace
his steps, when, looking ahead, he thought that
there appeared something in the distance resem-
bling a fortification. He determined to ascertain
the nature of the place, and headed the ship to it.
When he approached he was surprised by seeing
multitudes of Chinese junks and other small boats
approaching the vessel. The deck was then cleared
for action in case of a fight. As the enemy ap-
proached nearer to the ship they let fly a cloud of
weapons and stones, which, however, did no injury.
The lieutenant, thinking to scatter them, had one
of his guns loaded with grape-shot, and poured it
into them where the crowd appeared thickest.
It must have done considerable execution, for
they raised a yell. They attempted to climb up the
sides, but were met on every side by the sailors.
Now the fight began in real earnest. With all their
guns employed, it was as much as the Britishers
could do to keep the natives from gaining a footing
on board of the vessel. The Chinese fought
desperately. Their leader—a tall, majestic-looking
man, wielding a long straight sword—by his pre-
sence seemed to inspire them with increased bravery.
Seeing this, an attempt was made to capture him.
He had effected a footing on board for himself
and his followers—more were swarming up.
A shot through the bottom of his canoe cut
off his retreat : there was no hope for him
but fighting till more came to his relief.
After a brief struggle the capture of the
chief is effected, and all the belligerents
cease fighting. The British vessel then attempted
to make its way out of the river; but the
natives, as soon as they perceived this, raised such
a yell as we never heard before, and the chief ex-
tending his hands, addressed his captors in a lan-
guage which did not resemble the Chinese in any
respect. The lieutenant was astonished at recog-
nising the familiar tone of the Hebrew language.
Thanks to his parents, in his youth he had received
a good Hebrew education, and was able to carry on
a conversation in the Hebrew language with the
chief, who told him if he would give him up he would
promise that they would not be molested, but per-
mitted a free egress, and also, if he desired, he
would show him the city. The cfficer accepted the
proposition, and accompanied by him as a safe-
guard, and also a body of men from the ship, they
visited the town. It was an immense city, sur-
rounded on all sides by walls and fortifications, and
contained over one million of inhabitants, all Jews.
In no other part of the Chinese empire are there
any Jews. Here they are allowed every privilege.
They can carry their produce to other cities and
trade with them, but are not allowed to emigrate.
They have their own laws, and the chief officer is a
Jewish Rabbi, who, with twenty others, enact laws,
decide disputes, and deal out justice to the inhabi-
tants of the city. In this tribunal is vested the power
of life and death, and from their decision there is no
appeal. They keep a standing army of the young
men of the place in order to protect their city.

Their laws command the observance of the Jewish

religion, but their rites and ceremonies differ from
ours in many respects. They observe the Sab-
bath on what is to ns Thursday, but still they
call it the seventh day. The synagogues
are the most beautiful buildings that are to