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    the exception of the books of Moses , every thing was in manuscript . The Rabbi asked if we had any of the Karaite sect in England ; a question we could not answer . He said there were few

    in Holland : and I believe , as a sect , it is very rare . These Jews call themselves KARAh The etymology of the name is uncertain . The difference between their

    creed and that of Jews in general , according to the information received from the Rabbj , consists in a rejection of the Talmud ; a disregard to every kind of tradition ; to

    all Rabbinical writings or opinions ; all marginal interpolations of the text of scripture ; and in a mea - sure of their rule of faith by the pure letter of the law . They pre - tend to have the text of the Old

    Testament in its most genuine state . Being desirous to possess one of their Bibles , the Rabbi , who seemed gratified by the inteiest we betrayed , permitted me to purchase a beautiful manuscript copy

    written upon vellum , about 400 years old , but having left this volume in the Crimea , to be forwarded by way of Petersburg , it was never afterwards recovered . It began , like the others which were shown to us , with the book of Joshua .

    The character of the Karaite Jews is directly opposite to that which is generally attributed to their brethren in other countries , being altogether without reproach . Their honesty is proverbial in the Crimea ; and the word of a Karaite

    is considered equal to a bond . Almost all of them are engaged in trade or manufacture . We were surprised to see vine leaves sold in the streets , particularly as they are abundant in the country ; but this article is in very great demand ,

    might not be liable to the injuries it would thus sustain .

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    to use in cookery * Thei | - minctd meat is rolled up in vine leaves and sent to table in the form of sausages - They observe their fasts with the most scrupulous

    rigour ^ abstaining even from snuff and smoking , for twenty-four hours together . In the very earliest periods of Jewish history , this sect separated from the main stem : this at h ? ast is their own

    account and nothing concerning them ought to be received from Rabbinists , who hold them in de . tcstation . For this reason , the re . lations of Leo of Modena a Rabbi , of Venice ^ are not to be ad . mitted . Their schism is said to

    be as old as the reliirn from the Babylonish captivity . They use very extraordinary care in the education of their children , who are taught publicly in the synagogues : and in this respect the

    Tartars are not deficient . I rarely entered a Tartar village in the day-time , without seeing the children assembled in some public place , receiving their instruction from persons appointed to superintend the care of their education ;

    reciting with audible voices passages from the Koran ; or busied in copying manuscript lessons placed before them . The dress of the Karaites differs little from that

    worn by the Tartars . All of them of whatsoever age , suffer their beards to grow ; but among Tartars the beard is a distinction of age , the young men wearing only whiskers . The Karaites wear

    also a very lofty thick felt cap , faced with wool , which is heavy , and keeps the head very hot . The Turks and Armenians often do the same ; and in warm climates this precaution seems a preservative against the dangerous consequences which result from obitructed perspiration . "

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    iiO Account of a Colony of Karaite Jews *

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1811, page 230, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2415/page/38/