188 TRANSACTIONS OF THE [APR. 30, 
festivals of the other sects. They have practically no religion, 
but a modified fetichism. 
8. The Jews. The Jews of Palestine and Syria are all of 
European extraction, having returned after the early days of 
persecution were over. ‘The greater number are of Spanish 
origin. Those in Jerusalem are largely supported by the con- 
tributions of their co-religionists from Europe and America. 
Few of them have shown any inclination to acquire or cultivate 
the soil. They are generally bankers, money-changers, or money- 
lenders. Few of them have any commercial transactions. Con- 
siderable inducements have been offered to them to settle in 
Palestine, but they have not come in large numbers. A few 
years since, when many Jews were expelled from Russia, an 
effort was made to colonize them in northern Syria. But the 
Turkish government took alarm, and refused to allow them to 
settle, lest political complications should arise in consequence. 
There certainly seems to be no belief on the part of the Jews 
now in the country that they are to be its possessors, and any 
such doctrine would be strenuously resisted by the Mohammedan 
rulers and people, as well as by the native Christians, Druzes, 
Mutawalis, and Nusairies. 
9. The Samaritans are a small community of 150 souls, all 
living in the city of Nablis in Palestine. They use the Arabic 
language in the affairs of life, and the Samaritan, a Semitic 
tongue, in their worship. They reject all of the Old Testament 
except the Pentateuch. ‘They regard Gerizim as the centre of 
their religious life, and themselves as the favored people of God. 
10. The Greeks. ‘This sect is not composed in any distinctive 
sense of persons of the Greek race, but is, on the contrary, the 
most composite of all the Christian sects, as the orthodox 
Mohammedans are the least specialized of the Moslem races. 
It contains all the race elements which entered into the body- 
politic when the Christian Church was first established, and 
may be considered as the resultant of the Phoenician, Canaan- 
itish, Aramaic, Jewish, Greek, and Roman elements. They call 
themselves the ‘‘ Orthodox.” The Syrian branch of the Greek 
Church is, perhaps, the least bigoted, and the most susceptible 
of reforming and elevating influences of all the branches of that 
church. It numbers about 150,000 souls, scattered through 
most of the country, with the exception of the Nusairy moun- 
tains, and the Maronite section of Lebanon. ‘They are taking a 
good stand in the education of the young, and do not discourage 
the circulation of the scriptures. ‘They have both a Greek and 
an Arabic liturgy, and still adhere to the ancient calendar. 
11. The Greek-Catholics or Melchites split off from the Greeks 
about 150 years ago, and now form a community of about 50,000 
