"In the middle of the synagogue stands a magnificent chair, raised very high, and ornamented with a beautiful embroidered cushion. This is the chair of Moses, in which every Saturday, and days of great solemnity, they place their Pentateuch, and read some portions of it. There also may be seen a _Van-sui-pai_, or painting, on which is inscribed the Emperor's name; but they have neither statues nor images. This synagogue fronts the west, and when they address their prayers to the Supreme Being, they turn towards that quarter, and adore him under the name of _Tien_, _Cham-Tien_, _Cham-ti_, and _Kao-van-voe-tche_; that is to say, _Creator of all things_; and lastly, of _Van-voe-tchu-tcai, Governor of the Universe_. They told me that they had taken these names from the Chinese books, and that they used them to express the Supreme Being and First Cause. "In going out from the synagogue, I observed a hall, which I had the curiosity to enter, but I found nothing remarkable in it, except a great number of censers. They told me that in this hall they honored their _Chim-gins_, or the great men of their law. The largest of these censers, which is intended for the Patriarch Abraham, stands in the middle of the hall, after which come those of Isaac, and Jacob, and his twelve branches, or the Twelve Tribes of Israel; next are those of Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Esdras, and several other illustrious persons, both male and female. "After quitting this apartment, they conducted us to the Hall of Strangers, in order to give us an entertainment. As the titles of the books of the Old Testament were printed in Hebrew at the end of my Bible, I showed them to _Cham-Kiao_, or chief of the synagogue; he immediately read them, though they were badly printed, and he told me that they were the names of their _Chin-Kim_, or Pentateuch. I then took my Bible, and the _Cham-Kiao_ took his _Beresith_ (thus they name the Book of Genesis); we compared the descendants of Adam, until Noah, with the age of each, and we found the most perfect conformity between both. We afterwards ran over the names and chronology in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, which compose the Pentateuch, or five Books of Moses. The chief of the synagogue told me that they named these five books _Beresith_, _Veelesemoth_, _Vaiiora_, _Vaiedabber_, and _Haddebarim_, and that they divided them into fifty-three volumes; _viz._, Genesis into twelve, Exodus into eleven, and the three following books into ten volumes each, which they call _Kuen_. Some of these they opened, and presented to me to read; but it was to no purpose, as I was unacquainted with the Hebrew language.