Victorian London - Directories - Dickens's Dictionary of London, by Charles

Dickens, Jr., 1879 - "J"

Japan.MINISTRY, Kensington-park-gardens. Railway Station, High-Street
Kensington; Omnibus Routes: Archer-street and Uxbridge-road; Cab
Rank, Stanley-gardens. CONSULATE, 84, Bishopsgate-street-within.
NEAREST Railway Stat.Bishopsgate; Omnibus Route: Bishopsgate-street and
Cornhill. Cab Rank, St. Helens-place.
Jews.The tangible benefits which flow from civil and religious liberty may
be seen in the improved social and political status of the Jews of London,
since the abolition of the Test Acts and the passing of the Jewish
Emancipation Bill. Until within a comparatively recent period the Jews were
deprived of the privileges of the universities; and as that of the capital was
the first to break down the barrier of caste, the Jews affect the University of
London more than any other sea of learning in the United Kingdom. A large
number of Jewish youths pass through the City of London School, whence
they have carried off many of the most important prizes, scholarships, &c.
The community have their own college for the study of the Hebrew language
and Rabbinical law in Creechurch-lane, Leadenhall-street. Within the
memory of living men the Jews of the metropolis were scarcely ever to be
found resident outside their own quarter, at the east end of the city,
embracing Bevis Marks, Aldgate, Houndsditch, the Minories, Haydon-square
(twenty-five years ago a garden surrounded with substantial houses, now a
busy railway centre), Goodmans-fields, Whitechapel, Petticoat-lane (since
called Middlesex-street, but dear to the heart of Israel as the lane ), part
of Spitalfields, &c. A large number of rich Jewish families have migrated from
the four streets (rows of handsomely appointed residences, which
encompassed Goodmans-fields, formerly a green space used as a military
exercising ground, but since built over), and taken up their quarters in
Bloomsbury and Maida-vale. So plentiful are Jewish households in she southwest district, that certain streets and terraces where they have formed
colonies are playfully called the New Jerusalem. Social persecution kept
the chosen people together as in a sort of Ghetto; but the large spirit of
toleration has scattered them broadcast over the City. As a people they are
much less orthodox than formerly. Indeed the London Jews are probably the
most liberal of their race. Rag Fair, as it is called, the greatest old clothes
market of the metropolis, is held in an open space close to Houndsditch.
Sunday morning is its busiest time. There are also Sunday morning bazaars,
for the sale of second-hand jewellery and plate, held in public rooms of
certain well known Jewish coffee-houses of the district, where valuable and
portable property readily changes hands. Houndsditch is the head-quarters
of the fancy warehousemen, mostly Jews, who supply the hawkers and small
shopkeepers of London with combs, razors, sponges and mock jewellery for
the ornamentation of the ambitious poor and others. An immense trade in
new and second-hand clothing, and in new boots, shoes, furs, caps, &c., for
exportation to the colonies, is carried on in this quarter, and by the chosen
people. The London artisan often purchases the tools of his trade in
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Petticoat-lane on Sunday mornings; where also may be bought the highly

spiced confectionery in which the children of Israel delightthe brown and
sweet butter cake, the flaccid bola, the stuffed monkey, and a special
pudding made of eggs and ground almonds. The poorer Jews of London eat
Spanish olives and Dutch cucumbers pickled in salt and water, as food
rather than as a relish. They love herrings steeped in brine, German
sausage, the dried flesh of beef and mutton, smoked salmon, and, indeed,
fish of all sorts, stewed with lemons and eggs, or fried in oil. Every Jewish
luxury may be obtained in perfection in Petticoat-lane, besides cosher
meat, and matsaz or unleavened cakes, used at the Feast of the Passover,
which falls about Eastertide. The Jews slaughter their beasts by cutting the
animals throat; the butchers being an inferior sort of rabbi, who affix the
seal of the synagogue to every portion of the carcase. The rabbis are also
most particular in supervising the manufacture of the unleavened bread, the
mere suspicion of fermentation being sufficient to induce them to condemn
a batch of it as unfit to be eaten during the solemn festival of the Passover.
Raw and fried fish are staple commodities of the lane, and several friedfishmongers have been known to amass large fortunes. Cosher rum and
shrub, and liqueurs, such as cloves, aniseed, noyeau, &c., of which the Jews
are exceedingly fond, may he obtained in this quarter. Drunkenness,
however, is an offence all but unknown. The Jews of London are among the
best fathers, sons, and husbands in the metropolis. They are a most
affectionate, home-staying, sober people; but their thrift has been much
overrated. Fond of display, extravagant in their habits, and given over to
good living, the Jews are often poor. Their poverty, however, is seldom
obtrusive because of their many noble charities, the personal generosity of
the great families among them, and their own natural secretiveness.
Besides the sums distributed by the Jewish Board of Guardians in connection
with the great synagogue in Dukes-place, Aldgate, the community of
London Jews support a Convalescent Home, a Ladies Benevolent Society, a
Home for the Deaf and Dumb, a house for the distribution of cosher food
to the poor, an Orphan Asylum, and three separate free schools for boys and
girls. Independently of the great synagogue there are nearly a dozen Jewish
places of worship in the metropolis; the principal ones being situated in
Bevis Marks, Fenchurch-street, Portland-road, Berkeley-street, Barnsbury,
Bayswater, &c. The Jews are divided into sects, all agreeing as to the
fundamentals of faith, but having somewhat different customs and
ceremonies. They include the Portugese, Polish, and German Jews, and a
branch called seceders, whose ritual probably more nearly approaches the
Temple service than that of any of the others. There are shops for the sale of
Hebrew books, and articles used in the rites of the synagogue, in Bevis
Marks and Bloomsbury. The Jews of London support two newspapers, The
Jewish Chronicle and The Jewish World, and they have several burial grounds
devoted exclusively to their own use. They have no need of funeral reform,
their religion enjoining the greatest simplicity in burying the dead; the use of
feathers and bands is never permitted, and the coffin is always of plain

unpainted and on-draped wood. Thus, the Jews of London, even when
ostentatious in life, practise humility in death.
Judge Advocate-Generals Office.This department is charged with the
administration of military law. The office is at 35, Great George-street, SW.,
and the hours are from 10 to 4. NEAREST Railway Station, Westminsterbridge; Omnibus Routes,Whitehall and Victoria-Street; Cab Rank, Palaceyard.
Junior Army and Navy Club.Members must be commissioned officers in
the Regular Army, Royal Navy, Royal Marines, and Royal Indian Forces, and
those who may have retired from the same, or midshipmen of the Royal
Navy who have attained the age of 17 years. The admission is by ballot, one
black ball in ten excluding. Entrance fee, 10 10s.; subscription, 7 7s.
Junior Athenaeum Club, Piccadilly, W., occupies the house once inhabited
by the late Duke of Newcastle, and built at extraordinary cost by his fatherin-law, the late Mr. Adrian Hope. Members of both Houses of Parliament,
members of the universities, fellows of the learned and scientific Societies,
and gentlemen connected with literature, science, and art are eligible for
election. The members elect by ballot. No ballot shall be valid unless at
least twenty members actually vote. One black ball shall annul ten votes, a
tie shall exclude. Entrance fee, 31 10s.; annual subscription, 10 10s.
Junior Carlton, Pall-mall, is a political club in strict connection with the
Conservative party, and designed to promote its objects. Gentlemen of
position who acknowledge the recognised leaders of the Conservative party
are alone eligible as candidates. Entrance fee (including subscription to
library), 28 7s.; subscription, 10 10s.
Junior Garrick Club, Adelphi - terrace. Proprietary. All members of the
dramatic profession or any branch of the dramatic art, as actors, vocalists,
dramatic authors, managers of theatres, acting managers, composers,
instrumental performers, and scenic artists, practically pursuing or having
practically followed as their vocation any of the above branches of dramatic
profession, shall always be eligible for admission as members of the club.
The committee elect. Entrance fee, 3 3s.; subscription, 4 4s. ; country
members, 2 2s.
Junior Oxford and Cambridge Club. Proprietary. Present and former
members of, and gentlemen holding honorary degrees from, the Universities
of Oxford and Cambridge, and from. Trinity College, Dublin, are eligible as
members. Election by-committee. Subscription (town members), 8 8s.
Junior United Services Club, Pall Mall, consists of the princes of the blood
royal, commissioned officers of the Navy, Army, Marines, Royal Indian
Forces, and Regular Militia, Lieutenants of Counties, sub-lieutenants in the
Army and midshipmen in the Navy. No officer is eligible for admission to the
club who is not on full, half or retired full-pay of the Navy, Army, Marines, or
Royal Indian Forces; or who, if an officer of Militia, has not one years
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embodied service or attended three regular trainings, certified by the

commanding officer, adjutant, or paymaster of the regiment. No retired
officer, whose name has been entered as a candidate before he retired, can
be put up for ballot unless be has served for five years; and no officer of
Militia who has not previously belonged to the regular forces unless he is
actually serving. Entrance fee, 40; Subscription, 7 7s. Every member has
the privilege of introducing three friends to lunch or dine with him, so far as
the accommodation set apart for this purpose will admit.