Tuesday, 22 November 2011

Jews in Jamaica, 1778

8 or 900 Jews. Jamaica is perhaps the only place in the world where they have a country, since it is the only one where a right has been given them to carry arms for its defence: they have justified the confidence of the legislature in an invasion made by the French, where they behaved with a great deal of courage. The Jews possess several estates, and carry on an extensive trade, especially with the Spaniards. Their sobriety and manner of living make them come to a greater age in Jamaica than the other Whites; but one is sorry to find that they have carried to this island a spirit of division in their tenets which renders them sometimes unhappy, and often ridiculous.

The present state of the West-Indies
. 1778. Page 59

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