Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore Part 42

"Entering with the deepest respect into the details of this subject, I would most earnestly solicit and supplicate--

"_1st._ That my brethren should enjoy without reserve the fullest and completest right of settling at their own choice in any part of the Russian territory comprised within seventeen governments or provinces, a surface occupying 17,000 square miles, and that to this end His Majesty the Emperor would be most graciously pleased to cancel all laws and customs which prevent them from settling in any towns and villages of the Guberniums of Livonia and Courland, in the cities of Kiew (formerly a most considerable Hebrew congregation), Nicolaiew, and Swatopol, and in the villages situated in the Guberniums of Whitebsk, Mogilew, Tschornigow, and Poltawa, and that His Majesty would further graciously and mercifully deign to cancel entirely the Ukases which order the removal of all Israelites for fifty wersts from the frontiers and sea sh.o.r.es, leaving to summary individual punishment any evil disposed persons who might partic.i.p.ate in offences against the revenue, and by His Majesty's great kindness exciting the good and loyal to combine amongst themselves to put down all such nefarious practices, as I faithfully believe that moved by His Majesty's high policy and favour they would do.

"_2nd._ That they should be allowed to live in every town or village situated within the already mentioned s.p.a.ce of 17,000 square miles without being confined to any particular street or restricted locality, and to establish manufactories. It should be borne in mind that the Hebrew population has greatly increased since the period (December 9, 1804) when they were first confined to the above-named s.p.a.ce. From my own observation I can affirm that in many places the Hebrew people live crowded together to such a degree, that four or five families have no more room to occupy than that which would barely suffice for one family in any other Gubernium inhabited by His Majesty's subjects of another creed.

"_3rd._ The suspension of the Ukase respecting the removal from the inns in the villages, and permission to the Hebrew inhabitants of the Gubernium of Courland to keep farms, inns, and baiting stables agreeably to an Imperial Ukase of the 13th April 1835-64.

"_4th._ The admission of the Hebrew mechanics, artizans, and tradesmen inhabiting Courland into the Christian corporations of their respective trades, or to subst.i.tute the privilege of forming their own corporations so that the Israelite might have the advantage of being allowed to keep his journeymen, apprentices, or other a.s.sistants to his trade belonging to his own creed or to any other, and thus avert inevitable distress.

"_5th._ Permission to Hebrew merchants throughout Russia belonging to any one of the three guilds to travel into the interior of Russia for commercial purposes, and to visit Moscow and St Petersburg with the same freedom as the merchants of other creeds, and the extension of this permission to their agents, and also to mechanics of every description, and to carmen, waggoners, and labourers for the more successful prosecution of their business; of course upon the condition of their being provided with the customary pa.s.sports. Respecting those individuals who do not belong to any of the four cla.s.ses, my humble pet.i.tion to His Majesty's Government would be to permit them to go into the neighbouring Guberniums for the purpose of their making purchases of the produce of the land and necessary provisions. Such privileges to Hebrew merchants and others, instead of being a disadvantage to commercial persons of other creeds, would, I think, operate to their great benefit, for compet.i.tion and activity are the mainsprings of prosperous commerce, and these elements would become increased universally amongst the trading cla.s.ses by this act of favour.

"_6th._ Permission to re-establish the congregational unions called Kahals, which serve them as their natural point of centralization; and to leave all congregational offices in the hands of Israelites, so that their finances, their charitable inst.i.tutions, and their minor duties may be under their own administration. This boon would, I am sure, be particularly satisfactory to my brethren, and would especially call forth at the same time their confidence and affection towards His Majesty's person and his Government, and that proper feeling of self-respect without which they cannot be expected to rise from their present condition of despondent degradation.

"_7th._ Permission to Israelites to avail themselves of the a.s.sistance of Christians in the various occupations of life--a measure which would tend strongly to soften down those feelings of difference which now exist between these two cla.s.ses of His Majesty's subjects, and to obliterate that line of demarcation which His Majesty and his Government justly regard with so much regret.

"_8th._ Permission to the Israelites to live as agriculturists in the vicinity of their Christian neighbours.

"_9th._ The right of keeping brewhouses.

"_10th._ Promotion from the ranks of Hebrew soldiers or sailors who distinguish themselves in the Imperial army or navy.

"_11th._ And, in fine, the removal from the Israelites of all such taxes and restrictions as at present they are made to bear in a greater number and to a greater extent than other cla.s.ses of His Majesty's subjects, and in particular that of the Sabbath Light, which presses so heavily on the poor.

"Such are the general details of the request that I most respectfully solicit your Excellency to lay before His Majesty the Emperor. I most humbly and earnestly pray, that in the great opportunity which Divine Providence has opened to His Majesty, he will raise the fallen, relieve the oppressed, cheer the desolate, and by a high and magnanimous measure of policy set an example which the whole world, and especially my brethren, will never cease to remember with grat.i.tude and admiration.

"Your Excellency will observe that what I here entreat in the name of my brethren, as well as in that of every friend of humanity, amounts in fact to nothing more than that which your Excellency's most enlightened and benevolent Sovereign has already accorded to His Hebrew subjects, by the declaration contained in the doc.u.ment with which your Excellency obligingly furnished me.

"Under existing circ.u.mstances, deprived as they are of the means adverted to in that declaration, of turning their activity to useful objects, and of establishing their prosperity upon a safe basis, poverty, distress, and the annihilation of all hope must be the fate of His Imperial Majesty's most faithful and loyal Hebrew subjects, and indeed they appear already reduced to the lowest depth of distress.

"I therefore most humbly approach His Majesty's philanthropic Government with my fervent prayer, that it will be pleased to carry out without delay the good and humane intentions of His Most Gracious Majesty the Emperor, manifested in his decrees.

"With respect to the real disposition of my brethren, I feel it right to mention that from communications which I held with the Russian authorities during my permitted visit to the Israelites in His Majesty's dominions, I have reason to think that my co-religionists have been generally exempt from the commission of capital crimes, and that even in regard to ordinary morality and the greater proportion of minor offences, their conduct is of a very exemplary kind. I sincerely hope that this statement will accord with the reports in the possession of His Majesty's Government. I feel confident that His Majesty's Government will reflect upon another pleasing fact of which I was also informed, that the Israelites have never been connected with the formation of any plot or scheme against those in authority, but on the contrary have endeavoured on all occasions to serve their country with earnest zeal, and with most unanimous sacrifices of life and property. As an instance, I shall only mention their exertions in favour of the Empire which they have the happiness to inhabit, during the presence of the French in Russia, in the year 1812, and more particularly in the revolt of the year 1830. On the latter occasion the Israelites were highly gratified by a proclamation, which their magnanimous Monarch caused to be issued in his name, by the Adjutant General Prince Nikolai Andrewitz Dolgarukow, in which His Majesty condescended to express his great satisfaction with my brethren, and, moreover, renewed his a.s.surance to them that they should find in Russia, under the glorious sceptre of their exalted Monarch, a fatherland and security of their property and privileges.

"I am happy to repeat my statement to your Excellency that the same loyal sentiments towards His Majesty's Government, which they have invariably cherished, still animate their hearts, and that they embrace with avidity every opportunity to accede to the wishes of the Government.

"The following fact will, I trust, bear me out in my a.s.sertion. On His Majesty's desiring that the Israelites should change their costume, for which, as having been peculiar to themselves and their ancestors, they had a natural predilection, they have shown their obedience to this desire, though this was not done without considerable pecuniary sacrifice and ruinous loss to many whose warehouses were well provided with furs and silks.

"I beg to a.s.sure your Excellency they are ready to cultivate the land; they are prepared to undertake any work however laborious; they wish to establish manufactories of every description; they are desirous to cultivate their minds to the best of their power by the study of modern science and literature. Be a.s.sured that poverty, restriction, and disproportioned taxation have alone heretofore prevented them from effecting these objects. But it is in the power of His Majesty's Government to raise and revive them all, by simply decreeing the removal of existing impediments to their full enjoyment of all the privileges which their most humane and paternal Emperor has granted them.

"I beg to a.s.sure your Excellency that I well know how to appreciate the great confidence which His Majesty's Government has placed in me, in granting the privilege of personally witnessing the state of my brethren in Russia.

The influence which I flatter myself that I have with them, I have exercised for the purpose of strengthening them in their continual efforts to meet the wishes of His Majesty's Government.

"With your Excellency's kind permission I shall have the honour from time to time to address your Excellency on the important matter which forms the subject of my present communication, and to which His Majesty's enlightened Government has devoted itself with so much zeal and humanity.

"I shall ever gratefully remember the kindness and attention which your Excellency was always pleased to evince towards me during my stay in the Imperial city, and your Excellency will give me leave to say that my visit to Russia will ever be remembered with heartfelt grat.i.tude for the greatest condescension and humanity of the most ill.u.s.trious and magnanimous Emperor Nicholas, from whose royal lips I heard that I should have the satisfaction of taking with me his a.s.surances and the a.s.surances of his Ministers that he was desirous to improve the condition of my co-religionists.

"In most fervent prayers I unite with two millions of His Majesty's faithful Hebrew subjects, supplicating the most High to grant long life and everlasting glory to their beneficent Sovereign, who we further pray may behold the fruition of his desire to ensure the happiness of every cla.s.s in his dominions, and thus reap the sincerest grat.i.tude of every humane and philanthropic heart.

"It may be proper to observe that, mindful of the condescension and confidence reposed in me by His Imperial Majesty, I consider this report, together with the two reports by which it is accompanied, a private and confidential communication.

"In conclusion, I entreat your Excellency's indulgence to pardon the length at which I have ventured to intrude on your Excellency's attention, and with feelings of the most profound respect, I have the honour to be your Excellency's most faithful and devoted humble servant,

(Signed) "Moses Montefiore."

CHAPTER XLV.

1846.

REPORT TO COUNT OUVAROFF ON THE STATE OF EDUCATION AMONG THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND--VINDICATION OF THE LOYALTY OF THE JEWS.

The report to Count Ouvaroff, Minister of Public Instruction at St Petersburg, was as follows:--

"To His Excellency, le Comte Ouvaroff, Ministre de l'Instruction publique de sa Majeste l'Empereur de Russie, &c., &c., &c.

"May it please your Excellency,--The zealous and untiring energy which your Excellency evinces in continual efforts to promote education, and to diffuse amongst all cla.s.ses of His Imperial Majesty's subjects that important blessing, Knowledge, will, I feel a.s.sured, induce you to pardon me if I venture to lay before your Excellency such observations on the present condition of my brethren in Russia, with respect to their educational establishments, as by your Excellency's favour I have been enabled to make.

"Previously to my doing so, I beg leave to present my warmest acknowledgments for the very kind and condescending manner in which your Excellency was pleased to convey to me the sentiments of His Imperial Majesty's Government. I shall ever remember with grat.i.tude the a.s.surances your Excellency gave me, that the Russian Government was anxious to promote only such education as is based upon pure religion; that it did not entertain sentiments inimical to the Jewish faith; that on the contrary the Government was anxious to inst.i.tute with respect to the Israelites such measures as would tend to prove to them the paternal kindness of His Majesty; and that for this reason the Government had called together a Committee of Chief Rabbis, eminent for their piety, in order to gain the perfect confidence of all their brethren.

"These a.s.surances enabled me with pleasure to undertake the task, the result of which I now have the honour to submit to your Excellency, feeling convinced that your Excellency's n.o.ble and enlightened sentiments will induce you to give a due consideration to a subject of such infinite importance.

"It must be to your Excellency a source of the highest gratification to hear that His Imperial Majesty's Hebrew subjects are far from depreciating the advantages which the human mind in general derives from education. Wherever and whenever I had an opportunity of addressing them on that subject, they a.s.sured me that they were ever ready most zealously to a.s.sist in the promotion of their mental and social improvement, and they joyfully hailed every opportunity presented to them of enriching their minds by pure and wholesome knowledge. 'An Israelite,' they said, 'cannot underrate the value of knowledge. Every page in our history proves the reverse. Our ancestors, from the earliest period of that history, have been remarkable for their zeal to uphold science and literature as the greatest and holiest acquisitions. We refer the enquirer to the works of Bartholocci, Wolf, De Rossi, Rodriguez de Castro, by which it will be at once ascertained that Israelites have always kept pace in useful learning with their neighbours, and that all circ.u.mstances considered, they possess in most instances fully as much general knowledge as falls to the share of their non-Israelite fellow-subjects in a corresponding grade of society.' And in corroboration of this statement, I beg to inform your Excellency that many of the Israelites in His Imperial Majesty's dominions have distinguished themselves by their writings in Hebrew theology and literature, and that their works are very highly appreciated by the learned in Germany. 'To improve the mind and promote every kind of useful and sound information which tends to elevate a man before G.o.d and his fellow-creatures, they deem to be an important injunction of the sacred law.' I therefore had no difficulty whatever in persuading them of the good intentions which His Majesty's Government entertained with respect to the organisation of schools for their benefit.

They overwhelmed me with quotations from the sacred writings, tending to show that with the Israelite it is an imperative duty to give the best effect to such benevolence.

"Their notions of religion in general, and of the sacred books which treat thereon, are not less correct, and I had opportunities of hearing them frequently elucidate many Scriptural texts, in a manner which proved to me that they were possessed with the true spirit of their religion, and that they derive from the perusal of the Oral Law such beneficial instruction as must tend to make them faithful to their G.o.d, loyal to the Government of the country in which they live, and good men to all their fellow creatures.

"Their arguments on this subject, and the excellent quotations which they advanced in support of them, appeared to me to be of so much importance that I cannot forbear submitting them to your Excellency's kind consideration, bearing particularly in mind that the adherents to the Oral Law, as the sacred and only authorized commentary to the holy Scripture, have been represented to your Excellency in a light certainly not calculated to throw much l.u.s.tre on Israel at large.

"The Talmud distinctly forbids us appropriating unlawfully from our neighbour, whether he be Israelite or non-Israelite, any object whatever, even of the smallest value. ('Khoshen Mishpat, Halakhot Genebah,' ch.

ccclxxviii., secs. 1, 2.) Every kind of deception is interdicted without respect to the person subject thereto being Israelite or non-Israelite. (Maimonides, 'Halakhot Deot,' ch. ii., sec. 6.) By the same authority we are bound to act with equal fairness in the sale of any article, be the purchaser Israelite or the follower of any other faith. ('Khoshen Mishpat,' ch. ccxxviii.; Maimonides, 'Halakhot Makhiva,' ch. xviii., sec. 1.) That every temptation to do wrong may be avoided, an Israelite is enjoined not to keep under his roof any bad coin, unless he deface it so that it cannot be used as current coin in dealing with any person, whatever be his religious faith. ('Peroosh Hamishnayot teharambam Tract Kelim,' ch.

xii., Mishna 7.) The prohibition of such practices is understood in the sacred text in Deuteronomy, ch. xxv., v.

16: 'For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the Lord thy G.o.d.'

"Principles like these must surely tend to create good feeling between all Israelites and their neighbours of every faith.

"Sincere attachment and perfect obedience, the strictest loyalty we are enjoined to evince towards the Government of the country in which we live, and this is a truth, my brethren rightly aver, prominently taught in our sacred writings. Therefore, in the first place, we look upon the monarch, though of another faith and nation, as the anointed of the Lord (Isaiah ch. xlv., v. 1), and consider his Government as a resplendence of the heavenly Government ('Tract Berakhot,' p. 58). We are enjoined to fear the Eternal Being and the King, and not to confederate with those who are given to change (Proverbs xxiv., v. 21). The prophets, in speaking of a non-Israelite ruler, say: 'Serve the King of Babylon, and ye shall live;' and they also command us to 'seek the peace of the city whither the Almighty has caused us to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it'

(Jer. xxix., v. 7). The reverence we are enjoined to testify towards our earthly sovereign is further shown in our glorifying the Almighty Power for conferring a similitude of His boundless Majesty upon a mortal. We are enjoined not to swear against the King even in thought (Kohelit ch. x., v. 20), and to regard the decrees of the Monarch as inviolable ('Tract Baba Kama,' p. 112). We are distinctly ordered not to act in opposition to the King's laws relating to the customs and excise, _even though the Israelite be the most heavily taxed_ ('Baba Kama,' 112; 'Pesakhim,' cxii. p. 2; Maimonides, 'Halakhot Melakhim,'

ch. iv., sec. 1; 'Khoshen Mishpat,' ch. ccclxix., sec. 6); and from the same authority it is inc.u.mbent on us to show the same veneration to those who are representatives of the monarch as to himself ('Tract Shebuot,' xlvii. p. 2).

"The high esteem in which the Israelite holds every human being who is distinguished by moral and mental qualities, is clearly stated in Maimonides, 'Halakhot Shemita Weyobel,' ch. xiii., sec. 13, and of this the most striking confirmation is found in the words of our Talmud ('Baba Kama,' x.x.xviii. p. 1), where we are told that a Gentile who applies himself to the study of the sacred law is to be held in equal esteem with the High Priest, which is likewise declared in the book 'Tana debe Eliyahoo,' in the beginning of the ninth chapter.

"I had another most gratifying instance of the sound and clear perceptions which they have of the pure doctrines of our religion and the traditional commentary to the sacred Scripture, in the sublime elucidation which they gave to that most important point in our creed which refers to the Messiah.

"'We are praying for a time,' said they, 'when the ideas of mankind at large are to be n.o.ble and sublime; for a time when, as the prophet describes, Gentiles will come to the light of Zion and kings to the brightness of her rising (Isaiah lx., v. 3); when nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth His glory (Psalms ch. cii., v. 10; Daniel ch. vii., v. 27).

"Our sentiments are more distinctly stated by the immortal Maimonides in the following words ('Halakhot Melakhim,'