A Description of
a Synagogue would not I believe be material to you, therefore I shall only
acquaint you that here [Amsterdam] are two, one for the Portuguese Jews, which
is very fine, and other for the German Jews. They are both Jews alike, but
differ in their Taste and Sentiments. The Portuguese Jews are the Handsomest of
the two, for they shave their Beards, and some of them are very genteel. I was
show’d one the other Day, who was a smart young Fellow, and might have cut a
Figure among the Petits-Maitres. I was told, that he had been educated in our
Religion, and that he seemed to be fond of it; but being at Paris, in the
Retinue of M. ***, Ambassador of ***, he ran away from that Minister’s Service,
and came to Amsterdam, where he turned as staunch a Jew as if he had never
heard the Name of Jesus Christ.
