The Land of Gilead, with excursions in the Lebanon

Front matter

THE LAND OF GILEAD THE RUINS OF J E R A S I- THE LAND OF GILEAD with EXCURSIONS IN THE LEBANON BY LAURENCE OLIPHANT AUTHOR of 'LORD ELGIN'S MISSION TO CHINA,' 'PICCADILLY,' ETC "I WILL BRING THEM INTO GILEAD " WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON MDCCCLXXX TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS CHRISTIAN OF SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN SONDERBURG- AUGUSTENBURG, PRINCESS OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE, BY PERMISSION, Ma&t wspa-tfullg Dclricatrti, AS A MARK OF DEEP GRATITUDE FOR THE WARM SYMPATHY AND CORDIAL INTEREST MANIFESTED BY HER ROYAL HIGHNESS IN THE AUTHOR'S EFFORTS TO PROMOTE JEWISH COLONISATION IN PALESTINE. PAGE xiii i 26 CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION,

Chapter I

Arrival at Beyrout — Preparations for the start — Sidon — Nabatiyeh — The Metawalies — Their religious observances — The Melchites — The castle of Belfort — The scenery of the Litany — The Merj Ayun — View of the Huleh — Capabilities of the plain of the Huleh — Railway from Haifa to Damascus — Tel el Kadi — Banias, ....

Chapter II

Ain Fit — An Ansariyeh village — The sheikh's house — His reticence — Origin of the Ansariyeh — The sounder of the sect — Their religious tenets — Their social divisions — Marriage and other ceremonies — Journey to Kuneitereh — A Circassian colony — Kuneitereh — Medjliss at the Caimakam's — Present condition and prospects of the Circassian colonists, .......

Chapter III

We leave Kuneitereh — Jaulan — Jedur — The Lejah — Its impregnability and strategical importance — Vast extent of pasture-lands — Ascent of Tel el Faris — Magnificent view — Fik, the ancient Aphek and Hippos — The coming of Antichrist, and b CONTENTS. end of the world, according to the Koran — Tseil — Arrival at Sheikh Sa'ad— The monastery and tomb of Job— A shrine of Moslem pilgrimage — Singular monolith — The land of Uz —The worship of Baal and Asherah— The sites of Ashtaroth and Ashtaroth Carnaim, . . . • - 55

Chapter IV

We enter Gilead — Mezarib— The Cavea Roob— Irbid— A surly Cadi — View from the castle — The ruins of Abila — Subterranean dwellings and stone houses at Irbid — A raid upon the Beni Sukhr — The ruins of Capitolias — Underground exploration — An energetic Caimakam — Summary punishment of the Bedouins — Arab customs, 97

Chapter V

Kurdish zaptiehs — The reform problem — Revenue of Ajlun — Its resources — From Irbid to Gadara — Wooded country — Ruins of Gadara — The baths of Amatha — A good speculation — The Wady Araba — Night quarters at Kefr Assad — The frontier of Gad — Dolmens — Mahanaim — The pursuit of Jephthah — The scene of Absalom's death — Dense forests — The mountains and village of Ajlun, 125

Chapter VI

Ajlun— The Christian quarter— Beauty of the female population — Threatened night attack — Kulat er Rubud — Wady Yabis — Submission of rebellious skeikhs — Settlement of disputes—Road to Suf— A sheikh's testimonials — Jerash — Vast extent of ruins— Tekitty — Succoth and Penuel — Across the Jabbok— The Belka, .... 164

Chapter VII

Salt — Its turbulent population — Progress of civilisation Land-tenure — Agriculture — Ascent of Jebel Osh'a — Salt not Ramoth-Gilead — Probable site of Ramoth-Gilead and Ramoth-Mizpeh — We hear of the ruins of Rahab — Refusal of the Beni Hassan Arabs to take us there — Start for Kalat Zerka, ...... CONTENTS. IX 223 259 284 3°5 324

Chapter VIII

The depressed plain of Bechaa — The ruins of El Basha — Ruins of Jajus, the site of Jahaz or Jazer — Kalat Zerka — A military post — Sheikh Diab — The subterranean cities of Derat, Beloola, and Rahab — Rabbath-Ammon — The great theatre occupied by Circassians, ....

Chapter IX

The ruins of Rabbath-Ammon — The citadel — An ill-conditioned zaptieh — Driven back by the weather to Salt — Abou Jabr, a Protestant settler — Expedition to Arak el Emir — We lose our way — Elias Daoud — The ruins of Arak el Emir — Magnificent country, . . . . .

Chapter X

Fertility of Gilead — Its Arab population — The cisterns of Moab — Inducements to colonise Moab and Gilead — Their varied productions and salubrious climate — The labour problem — Transport and proposed railway system — A land of promise, ......

Chapter XI

We leave Gilead — Elias Daoud — The plain of Shittim — The Jordan in flood — Jericho — Arrival at Jerusalem — The Holy Week and Jewish Passover — The Jewish colony of the Temple — Jifna — The family of Elias Daoud — Rapacious tax-gatherers — Oppression of the Moslem peasantry,

Chapter XII

Nablous— The Mutessarif — Desire for British occupation — Jenin— Mount Gilboa— Nazareth— The plain of Esdraelon — Farming operations on a large scale — The German colony of Haifa— The harbour— Esfia— Acre— Turkish officials- Trade of Acre— Tyre— Sidon, . . . . X CONTENTS. 342 379 409 442

Chapter XIII

Departure from Beyrout — Ain Anub — A Druse assembly —Druse character— Their diplomacy — A silk factory — The valley of the Damur — Prosperity of the Lebanon accounted for— Der El Kamr— The Maronite priesthood— The palace of Beteddin — Feats of horsemanship — A noisy welcome — Arrival at Mukhtara — A native banquet — The Jumbelat family — The birth of an heir— Great rejoicings on the occasion, .....

Chapter XIV

Origin of the Druse religion — The Imaumat — Connection of Druse theology with China — The origin of evil — The transmigration of souls — Divine manifestations — Druse view of Christ — The four ministers of truth — The day of judgment — Ceremony of initiation — Secret organisation — Druse women — Ain Matur, .....

Chapter XV

Ascent of the Lebanon range — The Buka'a — Aithi — An inhospitable reception — An educated Syrian — Arrival at Damascus — A geological excursion — The Baghdad postmen — Dhumayr — Wedding festivities at Adra — Dervish miracles — Serpent-eating — Knife-stabbing and imperviousness to fire — The dervish sheikh's explanation — A Damascus theatre — The Arab opera of " Ai'da,"

Chapter XVI

Start for Baalbec and Malula — Wadies and saharas — Tourist vandalism at Baalbec — Cross the Anti-Lebanon — Tunnel entrance to Malula — Its romantic position — The Syriac language — Greek monasteries — The convent of Sednaya The miracle-working Madonna — Menin — Return to Damascus — Start for Zahleh — Its picturesque situation — Cross the Lebanon — Mezra'a — Abdulla, the son of Jirius the priest, CONTENTS. XI

Chapter XVII

Ruins of Kalat Fakra — The natural bridge — Magnificent scenery— Afka— The temple of Adonis— We are benighted — Arrival at Ghazir — Night quarters — Political discussions — Maronite views — Ecclesiastical cupidities— The Nahr-el- Kelb — Inscriptions — Departure from Beyrout, 475

Chapter XVIII. Political

Arrival at Constantinople — Khaireddin Pasha — His successors — Official corruption — Procrastination and intrigue — Necessity for responsible government — Unpopularity of the present system — Decentralisation and local administrative autonomy — The political and strategical importance of Palestine — A possible Russian crusade — Beneficial influence of a Jewish colony — The future of Palestine, 502

Appendix

— The Colonisation of Palestine, LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE The Ruins of Jerash, . . . Frontispiece The Gorge of the Yarmuk, ... 87 The Castle of Kalat er Rubud, . .172 The Grand Theatre, Rabbath-Ammon, • 254 Ruins, Rabbath-Ammon, . 2*54 Arak el Emir, . . . * • .280 Mukhtara, ... ■ 378 Malula, ..... ■ 4S2 The Natural Bridge, ...... 478 Map showing the proposed Railways, and Site of the proposed Colony, 302 Map of Palestine, showing the Route taken by Mr Oliphant, At the end

Introduction

. The travels recorded in the following pages were undertaken in pursuance of an idea which occurred to me shortly after the conclusion of the Treaty of Berlin, and when it became evident that the Eastern Question was about to enter upon a new phase. It was manifest that the immediate effect of that treaty would be to render inevitable an external inter ference in the domestic affairs of Turkey, of a more pronounced character than had ever existed before ; and that this interference was calculated sooner or later to produce most serious complica tions, unless it could be averted by reforms in the administration springing from the initiative of the Sultan, which should anticipate any s/ich forcible intrusion from without. Whereas the Treaty of 1856, which resulted in the promulgation of the Hatti Houmayoun, carefully provided against any intervention on the part of foreign Powers to en force the fulfilment of that or any other reformatory measure, the Treaty of Berlin expressly stipulated in favour of such interference in the event of the

INTRODUCTION.

. XIV expectations of the Powers remaining unsatisfied ; and by the Cyprus Convention the Government of the Sultan came under special obligations in regard to the whole of Asia Minor. Having visited Turkey upon three former occasions — in the years 1855, 1860, and 1862— and travelled pretty extensively through the country, I thoroughly realised the fact — familiar to all those acquainted with its administration — that any reform, to be effectual, must begin with the official system at Constantinople ; and that, in default of that being possible, the only chance of reform at the extremities, was by a process of decentralisation, which should more or less provide for the administrative autonomy of the provinces to be reformed, and for the immovability during a term of years of the valis or governors-general.

As, however, it was scarcely to be expected that the Turkish Government would consent to adopt a radical measure of this kind, and apply it throughout the extent of its vast Asiatic dominions, it occurred to me that an experiment might be made on a small scale, and that an evidence might thus be afforded to the Porte of the advantages which would attend the development of a single province, however small, under conditions which should increase the revenue of the empire, add to its population and resources, secure protection of life and property, and enlist the sympathy of Europe, without in any way affecting the sovereign rights of the Sultan. As the objection to all reforms

INTRODUCTION.

. XV proposed was, that they involved an increased ex penditure which the finances of Turkey were unable to meet, it seemed possible that a scheme which should bring foreign capital with it to carry it out, might be favourably regarded at Constantinople, provided it was not accompanied by obnoxious pro visions in regard to foreign supervision — a point upon which the Sultan and his Ministers are not unnaturally extremely sensitive. It. appeared to me that this object might be attained by means of a Colonisation Company, and that one of those rich and unoccupied districts which abound in Turkey might be obtained and developed through the agency of a commercial enterprise which should be formed under the auspices of his Majesty, and have its seat at Constantinople — though, as in the case of the Otto man Bank and other Turkish companies, the capital would be found abroad, provided the charter con tained guarantees adequate for the protection of the interests of the shareholders.

The next questions which naturally presented themselves to my mind were, — first, the locality to be selected for the experiment ; and secondly, the class of people who should be invited to come as col onists. The objection to foreigners who were at the same time Christians seemed insurmountable, as by the existing colonisation law it was made a sine qua non that any colonists permanently settling in Turkey in Asia should become Ottoman subjects— a provi-

INTRODUCTION.

. sion with which foreign Christians were extremely unlikely to comply, as they would thereby forfeit all special privileges of consular protection, and lose the benefit of the capitulations. Moreover, the rivalries ofthe various Christian sects, already productive of so much mischief throughout Turkey, and the jealousy of the Powers supporting them, would certainly ren der all attempts at harmonious colonisation abortive. The idea, therefore, of colonising with European Christians was speedily dismissed. The possibility of finding, under the auspices of such a Company, an asylum for the thousands of Moslem refugees, who, driven from their homes in Bulgaria and Roumelia, were starving in various parts of the empire, also suggested itself ; but the difficulty in this case arose from the extreme improbability of finding the capital in Christian Europe which would be required for the transportation of thousands of penniless men, women, and children, and establishing them under conditions which should enable them to subsist through the early stages of the development of a new country: the houses to be built, the stock and farm implements to be provided, and the facilities of transport to be created, would all fall exclusively upon the Company.

The chances of remuneration, therefore, were not likely to tempt capitalists, while European sympathies in favour of poor Moslems were not sufficiently strong to make it likely that the charitable public would come forward to a sufficient extent in favour

INTRODUCTION.

. XVII of any such enterprise. There was, in fact, only one race in Europe who were rich, and who did not, therefore, need to appeal to Christian capitalists for money to carry through the whole undertaking ; who were not Christians, and to whom, therefore, the objections of the Porte to the introduction of more rival Christian sects did not apply ; who had never alarmed the Turkish Government by national aspirations, but, on the contrary, had always proved them selves most loyal and peacable subjects of his Ma jesty ; who were nevertheless strongly attached by historical association to a province of Asiatic Tur key, and to whom the inducement of once more be coming proprietors of its sacred soil might prove strong enough to tempt them to comply with the probable conditions of the Turkish Government ; more especially as the persecution to which they were subjected by some Christian Governments in Europe, contrasted most unfavourably with the tol eration with which they were treated in Turkey itself.

It was thus that I found myself, by a process of de duction, compelled to turn for the locality of the colony to Palestine, and for the colonists to the Jews. The more I examined the project from this point of view, the more desirable on political grounds did it appear. The establishment of a Jewish colony in Palestine, under the Imperial auspices, was not likely to excite the suspicion or arouse the hostility of the Powers of Europe, and much less of the Sultan him-

INTRODUCTION.

. XVIII self. On the contrary, his Majesty, by affording an asylum for this people, so much oppressed by certain Christian Governments, had an opportunity of con trasting his clemency with their severity, of enlisting sympathy in behalf of Turkey in those countries which have espoused the Jewish cause, and of prov ing that in a province to which the capitulations did not extend, a community might be formed under con ditions which afforded greater guarantees for order and eood eovernment than could be found in those provinces where conflicting consular jurisdictions were a perpetual source of disturbance. The Jews themselves have borne repeated testimony to the fact that, so far as they are concerned, Christian fanaticism in Eastern Europe is far more bitter than Moslem ; and indeed the position of Jews in Turkey is relatively favoured.

They are, as a rule, on good terms with the people amongst whom they live, and enjoy the protection of the Govern ment, such as it is. In illustration of this, I may quote the concluding paragraphs of the firman granted by the Sultan Abdul Medjid to the Israel ites in his empire, at the request of Sir Moses Mon tefiore, in 1840. It is addressed to the Chief Tudo-e at Constantinople, and at the head of the document the Sultan wrote with his own hand the sentence " Let that be executed which is prescribed in this firman." After alluding to an ignorant prejudice which prevailed among the Mohammedans, and

INTRODUCTION.

. XIX which seems to have led to persecution, that the Jews were "accustomed to sacrifice a human being to make use of his blood at their feast of the Pass over," and stating, " the charges made against the Jews and their religion are nothing but pure calum nies," it concludes : — " For this reason, and the love we bear to our subjects, we cannot permit the Jewish nation (whose innocence of the crime alleged against them is evident) to be vexed and tor mented upon accusations which have not the least founda tion in truth, but that, in conformity to the hatti scherif which has been proclaimed at Gulhane, the Jewish nation shall possess the same advantages and enjoy the same privileges as are granted to the numerous other nations who submit to our authority. " The Jewish nation shall be protected and defended.

"To accomplish this object, we have given the most posi tive orders that the Jewish nation dwelling in all parts of our empire shall be perfectly protected as well as all other subjects of the Sublime Porte, and that no person shall molest them in. any manner whatever (except for a just cause), neither in the free exercise of their religion, nor in that which concerns their safety and tranquillity. In con sequence, the present firman, which is ornamented at the head with our hoomaioon (sign - manual), and emanates from our Imperial Chancellerie, has been delivered to the Israelitish nation. " Thus you, the above-mentioned judge, when you know the contents of this firman, will endeavour to act with great care in the manner therein prescribed. And in order that nothing may be done in opposition to this firman at any time hereafter, you will register it in the archives of the tribunal ; you will afterwards deliver it to the Israelitish

INTRODUCTION.

. XX nation ; and you will take great care to execute our orders and this our sovereign will. "Given at Constantinople, the I2th Ramazan, 1256 (6th of November 1840)." That the Jews would respond to an invitation from the Sultan to return and take possession of the soil in a district of their own ancient heritage, I did not doubt, notwithstanding the reflection which a few of their co-religionists in the great centres of European civilisation have cast upon their devotion to the land of their fathers. I append two articles from the 'Jewish Chronicle' of the 9th January and 11th June 1880, which, as that paper is the leading Hebrew organ in this country, does, it may be assumed, represent the feeling of the nation on this subject ; 1 and in this impression I have been strongly confirmed by Jews with whom I have since conversed in the East.

The total number of the Hebrew race to-day is between six and seven millions. There are in Europe about 5,000,000 ; in Asia, over 200,000 ; in Africa, nearly 100,000; in America, from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000. More than half the European Jews — 2,621,000 — reside in Russia; 1,375,000 inhabit Austria, of whom 575,000 live in the Polish province of Galicia ; 5 1 2,000 live in Germany ; Roumania is credited with 274,000, and Turkey itself with over 100,000. There are 70,000 in Holland, 50,000 in England, 1 See Appendix I.

INTRODUCTION.

. XXI 49,000 in France, 35,000 in Italy, and the other European countries contain very limited proportions. Of the Asiatic Jews, 20,000 are assigned to India and 25,000 to Palestine. As the area of land which I should propose in the first instance for colonisa tion would not exceed a million, or at most a million and a half of acres, it would be hard if, out of nearly 7,000,000 of people attached to it by the tradition of former possession, enough could not be found to subscribe a capital of ,£1,000,000, or even more, for its purchase and settlement, and if, out of that number, a selection of emigrants could not be made, possessing sufficient capital of their own to make them desirable colonists. I should not expect such men to come from England or France, but from European and Asiatic Turkey itself, as well as from Russia, Galicia, Roumania, Servia, and the Slav countries where they are more especially oppressed, and where there are many among the richer classes who would gladly exchange the persecution under which they live for the freer air which they would breathe under Turkish rule in the land of their fore fathers.

It is true that about 25,000 are there already ; but they are, for the most part, of a men dicant class, and are deprived of that protection which they would enjoy under the auspices of a company and a charter securing them a certain amount of self-government. As it is, the condition ofthe Sephardim Jews in Palestine contrasts favour-

INTRODUCTION.

. ably with that of the Jews in Russia or Roumania; while in other parts of Asiatic Turkey they form in many instances the richest section ofthe community, and contribute largely by their capital to the prosperity of the country. Mr Geary, in an interesting account of a journey recently undertaken from India to Europe through Asiatic Turkey, thus describes a community of Jews which he visited near Bagdad : — " The Jews of the town of Hillah," he says, " form a large body, and the capitalists among them advance money to the cultivators to make irrigation-cuttings and plant crops. It is said that agriculture, such as it is, of half Mesopotamia, would come to an end if it were not for the Jews of Bagdad and Hillah, who are in that country what the Soucars are in India. They carefully abstain from buying land, and, as a rule, from building houses, so that when the moment comes that summons them to Jerusalem, they may not be delayed by the necessity of turning irremov able property into ready money.

For the most part, they are the descendants of the Jews ofthe Captivity: a Jewish community has lived in this strange land by the waters of Babylon since Israel was led captive; but it has never ceased to yearn for a return, more or less triumphant and miraculous, to the heritao-e of X at> the seed of Abraham." 1 It has been objected that the Jews are not agricul- 1 Through Asiatic Turkey (G. Geary), vol. I. p. 189. The following letter which appeared not long since in a Jewish

INTRODUCTION.

. XXIII turists, and that any attempt to develop the agricul tural resources of a country through their instrumen tality must result in failure. In the first instance, it is rather as landed proprietors, than as labourers on the soil, that I should propose to invite them to emigrate into Palestine, where they could lease their paper published in the United States, called the ' American Hebrew,' shows that these expectations are not confined to the Jews of Hillah : " Back to Palestine. " To the 'American Hebrew.' " While I admire your wisdom in what you so happily have termed, steering clear of the ' Scylla of Orthodoxy and the Charybdis of Reform, excuse me if I draw your attention to the significancy of Mr Oliphant's scheme, which is attracting such wide and remarkable attention, and which has received already the unofficial sanction of such influential powers as the Earls of Beaconsfield and Salisbury.

" As far as I understand, reformers in this country only abandon the doctrine of the re-establishment of our State. Orthodox Jews do not ; and while they declare that it does not necessarily imply that all the Jews in the world shall be caged up between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean, any more than all Americans are in America or Frenchmen in France, they say, and with justice, that the geographical position and extreme fertility of Palestine point to a grand future for it, as soon as it is rescued from the incapable government of the Porte, sublime only in its indifference to progress in all sublime parts of its happy empire. " Now, as an attentive reader of the Bible, I cannot but be struck with the fact that a realisation of Mr Oliphant's scheme would be a wonderful coincidence when compared with the announcements in the sacred volume.

A colonisation of Palestine by the Jews, with the sanction and assistance of the various kings and potentates, would be in strict accordance with such passages as Isa. ch. xlix. v. 22, 23, where it says, Gentiles shall be the active instruments of the restora tion, kings and queens the prime movers. See also ch. lx. v. 3, 4, 5 • lxi. v. 4, S ; lxvi. v. 20. " I would like some abler pen to write upon this subject than that Of M. H. BlRNEBAUM." C

INTRODUCTION.

. XXIV own land at high prices to native farmers if they preferred, instead of lending money on crops at 20 or 25 per cent to the peasants, as they do at present, and for which they have no landed security ; but it is probable that the prospect of a large remunera tive return for the investment of their capital would soon induce them to acquire a knowledge of farming themselves sufficient for all practical purposes. At Lydda, about ten miles from Jaffa, fifty-five Jewish families, composed of Sephardim and Ashkenazim, have recently established themselves on a tract of upwards of 2000 acres of land, which they are culti vating with great success. Indeed, among the Se phardim in Palestine many excellent agriculturists are to be found. In the Sandjak of Acre, Lieu tenant Kitchener came upon a village in the course of his survey, the whole population of which were Jewish agriculturists, who maintained that their an cestors had tilled the same soil from time imme morial.

In Morocco and other parts of Africa, Jews are to a considerable extent employed in agriculture, while in Russia agricultural colonies of Jews have been tried with marked success. In a recent number of the ' Times ' one of its own correspondents re marks : " The Russo-Polish and Lithuanian towns are swarming with such a large and unemployed Jew ish population, that the civic authorities are no longer able to support them, and the Government have therefore resolved to found more agricultural

INTRODUCTION.

. XXV colonies in the various provinces for the reception of this superfluous Hebrew proletariat, those created several years ago having of late shown signs of pros perity, — a remarkable truth, I may take the liberty to add, in view of the fact that in no country what soever, where they settle, do the gifted descendants of Jacob show anything but the most deep-rooted aversion from manual labour." There can be no doubt that this inaptitude and dislike to field-labour arises partly from the religious sentiment which has operated to prevent their becoming landholders any where except in their own country, and partly from the difficulties which both the Governments and the peoples in many countries have opposed to their becoming proprietors of the soil ; but their early his tory testifies that no such objection to a rural life existed in former days, while in some parts of Asiatic Turkey they to this day retain those pastoral habits which especially characterised the race.

In the Kurdo-Jewish district the shepherds are principally Jews ; while several wandering tribes of the Arabian desert, though called Arabs, are purely Jewish, and to this day pasture their flocks of sheep and camels upon its oases. I am well aware that the Alliance Israelite Universelle has established an agricultural school at Jaffa known as the " Mikveh Israel," con sisting of 780 acres of market-garden, where Jewish children are trained and educated in agricultural pur suits, which cannot be considered altogether a sue-

INTRODUCTION.

. XXVI cess. This is partly owing to the extremely unfortunate choice of the land, which is close to the great sand-dunes which bound the shores of Palestine, and which, advancing, it is said, a yard a-year, have already partially invaded the property; and partly owing to the absence of any protection against the extortions of the Turkish Government and the hostility of the native population, — objections which would not arise in a country where there were no settled agricultural inhabitants to compete with, and under conditions especially adapted to provide against undue interference on the part of the Government, and which should insure the necessary protection. It is not, however, upon Jewish labour that Hebrew capitalists emigrating to a colony in Palestine would need to rely ; and I have shown, in my description of the tract which I propose for colonisation, from whence their labour could be drawn.

At the same time, were any further evidence required that the Jews consider themselves qualified as agriculturists, that they are eager to emigrate in that capacity from the countries in which they are now oppressed and persecuted, and that the land upon which their longing eyes are fixed as their future home is Palestine, it is to be found in the account contained in the following letter from the president and members of a society lately formed in Roumania — dated Bucharest, 20th August 1880, according to our calendar — to the 'Jewish Chronicle' :

INTRODUCTION.

. XXVII To the Editor of the ' Jewish Chronicle.' SlR, — We have long heard that you are always ready to devote your valued columns to anything involving the wel fare and prosperity of your brethren, and that your great object is to promote their interests. We therefore entreat that you will grant a hearing to us who seek your assistance. The troubles which the Jews of Roumania are compelled to suffer are well known to you. It is a land whose princes are like the wolves of the forest, in their endeavour to anni hilate the children of Israel. With fearful zeal they seek to persecute us ; one day they pursue us under the name of religious enthusiasm, and on the morrow they abandon the cry which is so disgraceful to them. But then they conceal their hatred under the name of economy, alleging that the state of trade and mercantile prospects of the country compel them to act oppressively to the Jews who absorb the substance of the Roumanians, and many other such excuses.