We have in former years given
some accounts of the Jews in the interior of China;
and now since the war of Great Britain with that
country has opened several ports besides Canton to
the commerce sad influence of Europeans, we obtain
occasionally some little, though unsatisfactory
accounts of our brothers, through means of the
missionaries, whose evident tendency it must be to
pervert them from the path of our faith. It is
natural enough to suppose that their acquaintance
with the details of our religion must be very slight
indeed, since they have lost the knowledge of the
Hebrew, if the accounts sent to us be true. Would it
not be the duty of those who have the means, in Europe especially, to endeavour to enter into direct
communication with them, and to diffuse at the same
time some tracts printed in the Chinese character,
conveying such information as is acceptable to us
all? or would it not be more advisable still to send
them a teacher, to rekindle among them the lamp of
the knowledge which they have lost? Such an act
would be charity of the highest kind, and would also
tend to elevate those who start the work high in
public esteem. We trust that Christians will not be
alone in their interest for those isolated people,
and that we shall have the satisfaction to chronicle
before long that something has been done in the
premises.
The last account which has met
our eyes is contained in the “Sabbath Recorder” (a
Seventh-day Baptist paper), of March 18th, and we
hasten to place it before our readers. They will see
that the agents in China of the Mission Society or the
Seventh-day Baptist Sect are anxious to benefit
the poor Hebrews, after their fashion of thinking,
for which we cannot blame them. Let us ask solemnly,
“Have we no duty in this respect to perform? Should
we not strive to engraft good <<38>> knowledge in
that almost withered shoot of the good vine, which
might produce so many good fruits?” Let us hope that
the suggestion here thrown out, may attract the
attention of those who are both able and willing to
act.
Ed. Oc.
From a letter of Solomon
Carpenter, Seventh-day Baptist Missionary at Shanghai,
China, dated Nov.
13, 1851.
“Since we last wrote, we have
seen two Jews from the province of Honan,
about 2,700 Chinese (900 English) miles from this
place. One of them is a teacher of youth, the other
a merchant, and both men of good abilities. The
number of Jews in their native city they state to be
upwards of 2,000, besides women and children. Their
ancestors came into China more than 2,000 years ago.
They have copies of the Pentateuch, beautifully
written on parchment rolls; each roll about twenty
inches wide, and several rods long. Some of these
they were induced to bring to
Shanghai, and we had the
pleasure of seeing them. Some of them have been sent
to England. They
still keep the Sabbath, and observe many of the
rites of the former dispensation. They seem to be in
a state of decline; for the last forty years they
have had no man who could read their much-venerated
books, which have not been translated into Chinese.
“These two Jews seemed to feel
much at home with us, on account of the identity of
our Sabbath day and theirs. They manifested a desire
for instruction, both for themselves, their
children, and their people. As often as
circumstances would allow, while in
Shanghai, they attended our
little meeting on the Sabbath. My teacher Tong, who
was deeply interested in them, as we all were, using
their dialect, took great pains to instruct them.
“We expect to hear from them in
a month or two. By this time they are probably at
the end of their journey homeward. After consulting
their brethren, suppose they should ask us to take
three or four of their sons to educate in the Hebrew
and Christian Scriptures; or, suppose they should
ask us to send them a native preacher (a foreigner
could not remain there) to instruct their people
into the doctrines and duties of the Holy
Scriptures; and suppose, in addition, we should have
such a man, his heart burning with zeal to proceed
to that important field of labour; shall we be
prepared for such emergencies? or unprepared, would
it not be an evident token of our duty towards those
who are beloved of God for the fathers’ sakes?”
In the same paper, under date
of December 18th, we find the subjoined.
“A paper called the North
China Herald contains a detailed narrative of
an excursion made by two Chinese Christians, in
search of a colony of Jews, who were supposed to
exist at K’hae-fung-foo [Kaifeng] (latitude
<<39>> 34 deg. 66 min. N., long. 1 deg. 50 min. W.
of Pekin [Beijing]).
As was anticipated, the people they were in search
of were discovered, but in the most abject and
wretched condition, having for their bed bare
ground, with only rags to cover them, and with means
barely sufficient to support nature. It appears
that their existence was known to the Jesuit
missionaries some century and a half ago; but up to
the present time nothing had been done towards
gaining a knowledge of their history. And what a
history would not this prove, if it could be traced
back to the date at which they separated from the
rest of their people! In poverty and abject
wretchedness they now exist, living apart from the
idolaters by whom they are surrounded. On the first
visit, little else was accomplished than the
procuring of a few Hebrew manuscripts, containing
portions of the Old Testament scriptures. On a
second visit to this interesting colony, six copies
of the Pentateuch, in the original Hebrew, were
obtained. Two of the Jews themselves have arrived at Shanghai. The copies of the Pentateuch, ere
long, will be forwarded to
Europe, and will prove of intense
interest to the learned in the Hebrew language. The
knowledge of this language has entirely passed away
from this community, not one member of it being able
to speak or read it. The last person who could do
so, they state, was their priest, who died some
fifty years ago.”
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