. Thirty-five years in Russia . ndents, and clerks, and found them, forthe most part, reliable. There are existing at the present time three distinctsections of the Jewish race—the Sephardim, Karaim andAshkenazim. The first may be termed the aristocracyof the race, and has become more or less incorporatedwith the land in which it resides, not being distinguish-able from the general population either in language,dress, or manners. The Karaite sect of Jews is evidentlya very much higher class than the Ashkenazim andenjoys equal privileges with all its fellow-citizens. It isdistinct in race and r
. Thirty-five years in Russia . ndents, and clerks, and found them, forthe most part, reliable. There are existing at the present time three distinctsections of the Jewish race—the Sephardim, Karaim andAshkenazim. The first may be termed the aristocracyof the race, and has become more or less incorporatedwith the land in which it resides, not being distinguish-able from the general population either in language,dress, or manners. The Karaite sect of Jews is evidentlya very much higher class than the Ashkenazim andenjoys equal privileges with all its fellow-citizens. It isdistinct in race and religious observances, and lookswith contempt upon the common but more numerousrace. Its members are good, settled agriculturists,employing themselves principally in the culture oftobacco and the breeding of horses, often having studsnumbering many hundreds. They are supposed to bedescendants of the Samaritans. The ordinary Jewfirst entered Poland after the Crusades, from Germany,but these emigrants came direct from 224] BLIND BEGGAR, TIFLIS. IN RUSSIA 225 The Ashkenazim, on the other hand, have differencesstrongly marked. Their long, lank forms and leanfaces are to be seen within their Pale in ever-increasingnumbers, and from below their fur caps two obnoxiousringlets fall down the sides of their faces. Dressed intheir long kaftans, they present a picture arousingnatural repugnance. The new Ghetto already formedin the East End of London furnishes many similarcharacters. It is to this latter race that the Jews ofSouth Russia belong, and the German-Jewish jargonspoken by them is corrupting our language, as it is fastbecoming the common language of the East to this class I refer when speaking of theJews, numbering as they do between five and sixmillions of the population of the south-western pro-vinces of Russia. Writers have affirmed that thedominant evil feature of the commonalty of the Jewishrace arises from their congestion, and that, owing tothis c
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