1st. The Jews, whose numbers amount to 7,738: of these, 5,200 are called _Sephardim_, and derive their origin from the Jews driven out of Spain A.D. 1497, under the reign of Ferdinand the Catholic and Isabella. Their Spanish tongue, mixed with many expressions from the Arabic and other languages, is the sole trace they have preserved of their former temporary home. The second branch is composed of 2,500 _Ashkenazim_, from the countries of the north and west of Europe, who have taken up their abode at Jerusalem: some moved solely by the desire to die in the land of their patriarchs, others to exercise their industry, the greater number to profit, with the _Sephardim_, by the abundant alms sent thither by their co-religionists of Europe, and badly distributed by a wretched administration. Finally, the _Karaites_,--a sect which sprang up about the decline of the Jewish kingdom, and admits no human interpretation of the Old Testament, nor any Rabbinical book--number about 38, and are superior to all the rest in intelligence, education, cleanliness, and probity. They belong to the country, though they may have occasionally abandoned it for a short time during periods of trouble. The head of the whole Jewish community is the Grand Rabbi (_Khakam-bashi_), to whom all look up, both as the head of their religion, and as the one to whom the distribution of the alms chiefly belongs. He it is who gives civil protection to the _Sephardim_ and _Karaites_, and supports their interests with the local government; while the _Ashkenazim_ are protected by the Consuls of the different nations whose subjects they are. Their synagogues are numerous but unimportant[35]; a hospital, a dispensary, and a house of refuge, outside the Jaffa gate, are due to the kindness of their co-religionists in Europe, among the most distinguished of whom are the Messrs. Rothschild and Sir Moses Montefiore. It is to be hoped that their public schools for both sexes will for the future be better managed and more effective than they have hitherto been.