426 MOLDAVIA AND WALLACHIA, &C. earn a livelihood by some trade. We have seen that all the necessaries of life are remarkably cheap, and that the resources of commerce are far from being fully occupied, so that an anxious Jew might easily support himself even when cast off by his brethren in the flesh. Workmen are employed irrespectively of their creed, and many Jews, who have been baptized into the Greek Church, found no difference in their means of living. In this way, one of the greatest difficulties experienced by the Jewish missionary in other countries is removed. V. Moreover, these provinces border upon Austrian Poland, that land of bigotry and the shadow of death, across whose boundary no traveller dares to carry, except by stealth, even an English Bible. If the Moldavian Jews received the light of the glorious gospel, they might, by means of their constant intercourse with the people, scatter some beams into that dark region where the feet of the gospel messenger cannot go. Here, then, are probably 60,000 Jews,-many of them sunk in ignorance, many of them relaxing their grasp of old superstitions, and not yet fallen into infidelity, not a few shewing friendly dispositions to such Christians as have gone to them in the spirit of the gospel of peace, and some eagerly asking to be shewn what the faith of Jesus is. Who can deny that a peculiarly inviting region is here set before the Christian Church-" an open valley full of bones, very many and very dry,"-into which she may send men of the same spirit as Ezekiel, who may cry, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live! CHAPTER VIII. AUSTRIAN POLAND. "Behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts."-Ezek. xxxvii. 11. THE Austrian quarantine at Bossanze, in which we were to remain five days, was pleasant and healthy. It stands on high ground, having gardens and whitewashed cottages in view, and looks down upon a fine country called Bukovine. The town of Soutchava is about an hour distant. A Hungarian in the quarantine spoke Latin with us. His pronunciation differed little from ours, but he seemed to attach a peculiar meaning to several Latin words. Thus, using "dignatur" in the sense of "is named," he said, "Hæc regio dignatur Bukovina." The doctor, too, spoke Latin with us, and was very attentive to our comfort, after we had undergone the process of fumigation. Indeed, all the attendants were remarkably civil and polite. Our books were all examined, but none taken from us. This was the third time we had undergone quarantine since leaving Jerusalem, and it was by far the most agreeable. We spent the five days in making up our journals, and writing home; and were glad also to get a little leisure for reading and study. The doctor often came in, and expressed his surprise at our diligence. In the evenings we always enjoyed a walk within the enclosures of our wooden prison. We now also chalked out our future route as far as we could see before us. We proposed to proceed by Czernowitz,* Tarnapol, Brody, Lemberg, and so out of Austria to Cracow. On the morning of Sept. 27, we left our quarantine in one of the briscas or covered cars of the country, and soon reached the pleasant town of Soutchava, with eight glittering steeples and a castle in ruins, and a considerable population of Greeks, Roman Catholics, and Arme * Pronounced Tchernovitz. 428 LEAVE QUARANTINE-SOUTCHAVA-JEWS. nians. Its situation is fine, on the high rugged bank of a stream that flows past, amidst trees of all varieties. The houses are whitewashed, which gives them a clean appearance, and the tiles are all of wood. Half of the town is occupied by Armenians, who deal chiefly in cattle. The Jews here deal much in grain, and many of them are rich and respectable. While waiting for the signing of our passports, we spoke to several of them on the street. They told us that there are 200 families here, and that a school to which they pointed, where German and Latin are taught, was attended by many Jewish children. They expect Messiah and their restoration to their own land. They asked if we were Roman Catholics, and on being told that we were not, and that we came from Britain, they asked if we were Calvinists, which we at once declared we were; and then referring to their Feast of Tabernacles, and the booths that were before their houses, we told them how God tabernacled among men in the flesh for us. When we were entering the carriage, one of them came up and eagerly asked, "How far we were to travel that day?" The object of the question was to ascertain by our answer whether or not we were really Christians, for, as we so often found, they were not accustomed to be kindly spoken to by any who were not of their own nation. We told them how far we were going, and on ascertaining that we must travel after six that evening, when the Jewish Sabbath commences, one of them shook his head, and said to the rest, that "we were not Jews." We left a Hebrew tract with them-one of the few which we were to have it in our power to leave in the Austrian dominions. On leaving the town, our road passed between fences of basket-work, curiously defended from the rain by a coping of the same. The road was macadamized, and in excellent condition; the cottages were more comfortable than those of Moldavia, and the aspect of the country was more civilized. Plum and apple trees were plentiful in the gardens. We saw several country churches, somewhat resembling the quiet parish churches of Scotland, and came to a bridge of wood, covered over like a penthouse from end to end, the toll of which, as is the case with most of the tolls of that country, was kept by a Jew. Jews are always to be found like Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom.” The road after this for three hours ran in a straight line, through a fine meadow, sometimes rising gently, some SERET-JEWS-SYNAGOGUE. 429 times nearly a plain, with the thickly wooded range of the Carpathians on our left bounding the scene. The fields were fragrant, with beautiful autumn crocuses. Two pretty straggling villages situated on a hill-side, and a Jewish inn, in front of which were booths for the feast, were the only objects of the least interest for several miles. We passed another toll kept by a Jew, and were reminded of home by seeing the country-people cutting down a field of oats with the scythe; a little further on, they were gathering potatoes, and there were occasionally fields of hops. About two o'clock, we descended upon the neat town of Seret, standing upon the river of the same name which we had crossed twice in Moldavia. There are barracks here, and we now began to be familiar with the blue uniform of the Austrian soldiers, and the dark green of their officers, with the ornament of the eagle spreading its wings upwards. In the inn where we rested, many were coming and going, and we had a painful view of the immoral state of the people. When they heard that we were English, they said, "Ah, they have the same noses and eyes that we have!" Many were intoxicated; and one old man came up to us, and made a long apology, stating that the funeral of a wealthy resident had taken place that day, which had occasioned the revelry, and hoping that we would not carry away an unfavourable report, as if Austrians were generally given to this vice. On entering the town, we had met many Jews in their best dress and holiday fur-cap, and observed a company of them dancing at a public-house. We now engaged in conversation with two of them, and one young man became very communicative, kindly consenting to be our guide through the town. There are 300 families of Jews residing here, and they have two synagogues, and three places of study or Beth-midrash. The largest synagogue, a building of considerable size, was shut; but we entered the other, and there two young men began an interesting conversation. They asked if we were Jews; we said, No, we were Christians. They replied, "Perhaps you are Jews also," and shook hands smiling. The Jews here expected Messiah that year, or else some great event. They told us of a remarkable rabbi, Haiim, at Chosow, eight miles distant, to whom many thousands of Jews go in pilgrimage at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. They enjoy more liberty in 430 SERET-CONVERSATION WITH JEWS. Bukovine than in Galicia; for in the latter province there is a tax on lights, which becomes very severe on the Jews who use so many candles on the Sabbath. On asking if there was much infidelity here, they told us that all were Talmudists, except three Epicuruses-probably members of the Tarnapol Society. In the synagogue where we were standing were several copies both of the Talmud and Mishna, but only a few fragments of the Hebrew Bible were to be found in the library. The young men scarcely knew a word of the Scriptures, and when Mr. Calman showed them what a different spirit breathed in the Bible from that of the Talmud, they defended the Talmud and the rabbis. One singular defence of their rabbis was taken from Deuteronomy, "And thou shalt love also the Lord thy God," &c.* For they argued that ns (eth) meant "also" in this passage. "And why does it say also? Who else is to be loved with all our heart? It must be the rabbis." Mr. C. showed them that they were thus blasphemously putting the rabbis before God; pointed out to them their ignorance of the Hebrew language in regard to r; and pressed them to study their language grammatically;for it is true to an incalculable extent, that Talmudism would fall to the ground if the grammatical Hebrew was understood. It would have the same effect on the votaries of the Talmud, that instruction in the sciences has upon the blinded followers of Hindooism. On pressing the young men with the want of sacrifices among the Jews, they urged, that repeating the passages where sacrifices are commanded, is as good as sacrifice, and quoted Hosea xiv. 2, "Take with you words, so shall we render the calves of our lips." They did not perceive that the prophet describes Israel as both pouring out the words of confession, and also returning to the blood of the great sacrifice. They listened, however, when we opened Isaiah liii. and spoke of Him by "whose stripes we are healed," but turned aside its force by saying, "There is a Messiah who suffers for his people in every generation," referring to such cases as that of the Russian rabbi, of whom we had heard as suffering imprisonment. When Mr. Calman told them that he believed in Jesus (p), they did not understand who or what this meant. But when he explained, and showed them that he was "a Christian," they started back, and with an * Deut. vi. 5. |