72 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1818. [May. 



numerous visiters of these cele- 

 brated fairs, and those who make 

 the greatest traffic in them, are 

 Jews who resort from Russia, 

 Turkey, and all Europe ; without 

 them these fairs might be com- 

 pared to a body without a soul. 

 With an intolerance which is 

 wholly contradictory to the 

 liberal spirit of the age, a part of 

 the inhabitants of Leipsic have , 

 again exerted themselves to seek 

 out and to enforce a law origi- 

 nating in the darkest intolerance 

 of ancient times, that the Jews 

 shall not be permitted to expose 

 their goods to sale, except in a 

 very confined part of ^his city ( in 

 itself but small) which is assigned 

 to them. The noble-minded 

 King of Saxony is not to be 

 blamed for an intolerance which 

 is to be exercised towards the 

 professors of the Jewish faith. It 

 is the inhabitants of Leipsic 

 themselves who, by the lapse of 

 time, have forgotten by what 

 means thousands of families in 

 this little city must maintain 

 themselves. Indignant that at a 

 free fair, which, if not visited by 

 our brethren, cannot and will not 

 subsist, the inhabitants notwith- 

 standing attempt to insult and 

 oppress them ; we hereby invite 

 all our brethren to form a union 

 for the purpose of respectfully 

 petitioning the generous and 

 tolerant Monarch of Prussia to 

 allow two fairs to be annually 

 held, at Easter and Michaelmas, 

 at Naumburg, which is in the 

 neighbourhood, and more con- 

 veniently situated for fairs ; in 

 return for which we engage 

 entirely to abandon the fairs 

 of Leipsic, and, to assemble only 

 at the fairs of Naumburg, under 



the protection and mild govern- 

 ment of Prussia. The Jewish 

 inhabitants of Poland and Russia, 

 out of true and sincere attach- 

 ment to the adherents of their 

 faith, and out of patriotism, will 

 doubtless readily accede to the 

 wish of their German brethren, 

 tliat our desire may be fulfilled. 

 A Berlin and Hamburgh house 

 will willingly take the trouble, 

 at the next Easter fair, of 

 collecting signatures for such 

 union ; and this good cause, 

 which speaks for the interests of 

 humanity, requires no further 

 recommendation, except that we 

 join in imploring God for his pro- 

 tection and blessing." 



2. Leipsic. — The Leipsic fair 

 has been by no means so favour- 

 able as was expected, but at the 

 same time, not so bad a one as 

 the complaints made every where 

 might lead us to conclude. 



The buyers from the north, 

 who are properly the soul of a 

 Leipsic fair, were not so numer- 

 ous, and as the fair was over- 

 stocked with goods of all kinds, 

 many of the sellers did not find 

 their advantage in it. It is in- 

 deed certain that the quantity of 

 goods manufactured is much 

 larger than the quantity consum- 

 ed. The English were numerous, 

 and threw away their goods at 

 very low prices ; and as the 

 number of Jewish sellers in- 

 creases every year, it is not to be 

 wondered at that the German 

 manufacturer did not meet with 

 much demand. It cannot be 

 affirmed that any article was 

 eagerly sought after. In general 

 there was not much done on a 

 large scale, but the amount of 

 goods sold in small quantiticB 



wa» 



