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PUBLIC MEETING OF THE JEWS.

A public meeting of the London Jews was held on Wednesday evening, Dec. 5. at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street.

Mr. Levy of Florida was called to the chair. He stated that the object of the meeting was to take into consideration the extraordinary Ukase published by the Russian Government. It had appeared in nearly all the Papers, and there was no doubt of its authenticity.

He remarked, that if it were not authentic, the Russian ambassador would no doubt have contradicted it; and the source

whence had originated had been explained | pensable advantage to the community at large. And in every such case the opinion of the corporation must be decisive. The said Jews shall be allowed to remain in the town for a specified time, whilst the matter is brought to a termination, agreeably to the tenor of this law.

to him by a Russian gentleman well acquainted with the subject; who had also detailed to him some of the sufferings it had entailed on the Russian Jews. The restrictions it imposed on the unfortunate Jews were calculated to rouse their feelings and fully justified the friends of humanity in instituting an inquiry respecting it.

V. Jews thus obtaining the privilege of commencing business, may not settle any where without having, besides their certifisub-cate, a regular government passport.

For the sake of those of our readers who may not have seen the Ukaṣe, we join a copy:

Ukase issued by Imperial mandate for regulating the existing laws concerning the residence of Jews, for a limited time, in any of the cities of Russia.*

I. Those Jews who have liberty to trade and to carry on handicrafts in the provinces exclusively appointed for their settlement, by the enactments of the year 1804,† are not permitted to traffic in the interior government of Russia, that is to say, they are not to offer for sale any articles, either in shops or at their lodgings; still less are they to hawk about any wares or utensils, whether belonging to themselves or others, Neither may they open workshops, still less employ foremen, apprentices, or labourers, whether Christians or otherwise, in any department whatsoever.

II. They may remain for commercial purposes, such as bill business, contracts, or supplies, provided they have an express permission from government to that effect.

III. Professed artizans may settle, in order to perfect themselves in connection with some Guild, or for the purpose of communicating instruction in any particular branch of the art in which they may possess distinguished ability.

IV. Every Jew desirous of learning a craft, or of imparting the knowledge of his peculiar art, must present himself before the city corporation, and give an account of himself, what kind of artizan he is, or what he wishes to learn. When the corporation, together with the officer of the Guild, have examined the certificates of the individual, let it then be ascertained who in his particular line might be called on to judge of his ability; also, whether the art he professes is known in the town, and whether the knowledge of it will be of indis

* The friend who brought over this edict from Russia, was himself witness to respectable Jews and Jewesses domiciliated in the Russian towns for sixteen, and even twenty years, craving a respite for a few days, and for leave to depart by sea, compelled to break up their establishments (at what loss may easily be supposed), and driven to the frontiers by the route prescribed. + Lithuania, &c. &c.

VI. Even the Police master, himself, cumstances, to remain in the town more may not suffer a Jew, under the above cirthan six weeks; but his further stay must depend on the corporation, who are not to allow it without weighty reasons for so doing. A license for a longer period than six months, cannot be given without still higher authority.

VII. Jews having no government passport, or who having such a passport, have, nevertheless, no license to euter any town in the interior, shall be sent back by the police to the places of their abode, after the expiration of the time specified in the 28th section.

VIII. If, after an order to that effect, they either refuse to go, or return again, they shall be regarded as vagrants; and by virtue of the Ukases of 15th Nov. 1797, 25th Feb. 1823, and 8th June 1826, they, together with those who allow them to remaiu, or who harbour them in their houses, shall be amenable to the law as vagrants, or abettors of vagrants.

IX. Jews condemned to banishment must not be detained for debtor or creditor accounts, but satisfaction must be sought in the usual way agreeably to the commercial relations subsisting between the different countries to whom the parties belong.

X. The execution of an order of banishment is only to be delayed by the police officer.

1. When the Jew is in one of the town hospitals; or,

2. When he shews a proper certificate from a medical man, stating that he could not be sent away without injury to his health.

XI. Rabbins, or other religious functionaries, are to be sent away by the police officer, immediately on the discovery that they are such.

XII. Jews are not allowed to change their passports. And the expiration of their allotted time for remaining any where, shall furnish an imperative ground for dismissing them.

XIII. Foreign Jews who enjoy the privilege of other foreigners, in those governments only that are appointed for the residence of Jews, are required to be subject in every other respect to the laws and re

gulations imposed on subject Jews; that is
to say,
if they have proper passports they
may be suffered to enter any of the pro-
vinces of Russia for the like space of time
and for similar purposes, but in all other
cases they must be sent over the frontiers.
Attested by the Grand Master of Police
of St. Petersburgh.

friends of humanity, to express our feelings and sympathy, and see if we could not do something to relieve them. Some gentlemen, who had spoken to-night, had said that it was no hardship to be subject to the provisions of the Ukase-that the Jews might either remain in the provinces, under the regulations made by the Government, or take their departure. But was it no hardship to those that remained to be without religious instruction? What would the po

Mr. Herrman, a foreigner, and Mr. Cohen opposed the meeting on the ground that the restrictions complained of were not hard-pulation be at the end of ten or fifteen years ships; and that the Russian government had a right to make such political regulations as it thought proper.

In reply to the former, a gentleman said the Ukase was the harshest and most unjust that could have been issued against the unfortunate Jews. Was it no grievance that those who had resided thirty or forty years in the provinces, should be driven from their houses at four-and-twenty hours' notice? If sympathy could relieve the sufferers, they would have the sympathy of every one; but sympathy alone was of no avail. If the Chairman could propose any thing that would tend to ameliorate the condition of the unfortunate people, he was sure the meeting would give it their most cordial support.

but a set of infidels, and a curse to the land they dwelt in? It had been said, that this meeting was called for nothing but an ostentatious display. But what was to be said of the extraordinary sense, the extraordinary eloquence, and the extraordinary erudition of him who called it an ostentatious display, to express feelings that must and would lead to something higher. The proceedings here would be calculated to rouse the spirit of the Jews in Russia. Apathy, which was a curse greater than even persecution itself, was destroying the very marrow-bone of our spirit, as well as our moral character. But were the persecutions of the Ukase the only persecutions which the Jews were suffering? No! Unfortunately, within the last three years, there had been no less than seven or eight persecutions in different parts of Europe. Some time ago the Duke of Darmstadt had passed an edict excluding Jews from the fairs, and the King of Bavaria had ordered no less than seven or eight Synagogues to be shut up.

The latter part of this statement was de

Several gentlemen present said they could affirm it as a fact.

The Chairman then rose to state his views regarding the object of the present Meeting, which, he observed, had been called to take into consideration the persecution endured by the Jews in Russia, in consequence of the Ukase. It was not for him to anticipate what might be proposed at this meeting. One person might propose an ex-nied by Mr. Herrman pression of sympathy-another, to send ten thousand pounds to his suffering Jewish brethren-aud another, something else. The Russian Government had been aggrandizing its territories to an immense extent. The Jews, who from long residence had been looked upon as citizens of Russia, had extended their numbers and settled there; and yet they were now to be told that they must go away-some of them having only twenty-four hours allowed them for their departure. The calling of the present meeting originated not with him (the Chairman); it had been proposed to a body of 100 or 150 individuals, who had agreed to meet to take into consideration this extraordinary Ukase. Some gentlemen had said, that the issuing of this document was a mere matter of policy on the part of the Emperor of Russia, who might do what he liked in his own country, and no one here had a right to interfere. True it was, that the Government of Russia had a right to do what it liked, and it might even order the heads of the unfortunate Jews to be cut off, without the Jews here being able to prevent it; but it was incumbent on us, as brethren and

The Chairman continued.-At Darmstadt, a law was contemplated to alter the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday. At Frankfort, the number of marriages in a year were restricted to twelve natives, and three foreigners yearly, although the whole number of Jews was upwards of 1,000 families. There were other persecutions at Lubeck, Bremen, and other places. These were only specimens of the persecutions to which the Jews were constantly exposed, and yet such was the want of national spirit among them, that no inquiry was made into the cause, or efforts made to remove them, by that part of the nation which was not immediately affected by them. The condition of these persecuted men was such that it could only be compared to that of Job, who complained that his friends stood aloof from him. Those who had money, for the greater part appeared to be destitute of proper feeling, and were so engaged in the improvement of their fortunes or in fashionable amusements, or else were so much in dread of exciting any hostile feelings in persons

possessed of power, that he feared any appeal to them would be vain. It was to the poor of Israel, therefore, that he would address himself. Since the Almighty, who was the King and the God of Israel, never refused to listen to the prayer of the destitute, he would call upon them to address their prayers to him, and to this end he would implore them to consider what had been their condition for the last 1800 years; how clearly that condition had been marked out by their lawgiver and prophet, as that which would result from their departure from the laws of their God. He would have them meet again and again, and think of their woes; sympathise with each other in their afflicted and desolate condition, and turn their hearts to that Being who had expressly declared that whenever they did so he would return to them, provide a remedy for their calamities, and restore them again to the possessions and enjoyments belonging to them as members of his family. Mr. Levy then expressed his feelings in terms of the highest reproach at the conduct of those who he thought had evinced apathy and indifference to the unhappy condition of the Jews. Shall we, he continued, find fault with those who inflict the persecutions, when the Jews themselves say" let them do it," and even abet them in what they do. O, if these persecutions could raise the house of Israel, then I would say with David, "It is good that I am afflicted, for then my heart will come back again." He feared very much, however, that the Jews were not yet sufficiently impressed with a sense of their real condition, and that of their afflicted brethren in other parts of the world, to enter fully into this question. He would at present therefore merely propose some resolutions, and request the meeting to appoint a committee to take these matters into consideration. After they had been read, he hoped they would be found so accordant with the feelings of every true Jew, that no one would refuse to support them.

The following resolutions were then read : 1. That this meeting, having been made acquainted with the contents of an ukase recently issued by the Emperor of Russia, relative to the Jews, as part of the Hebrew body, we cannot fail to sympathise with our afflicted brethren, and more especially to lament the deplorable effects of this persecution, as it affects destitute widows and helpless orphans in an extensive empire and rigorous climate.

2. That the proscription of their teachers of religion is calculated to demoralize them, and ultimately to make them infidels.

3. That whilst, on the part of ourselves and our brethren, we feel the injustice of those persecutions which have, from time to

time, been heaped on our devoted race, by persons frail and imperfect like ourselves, we at the same time desire to feel deeply affected by the consideration that the Almighty is just, and that these sufferings are the necessary results of our iniquities and those of our forefathers, denounced by our lawgiver and prophets.

Mr. Israel said, that in seconding the resolutions of his respected friend, he could not consent to do so silently. He felt himself indebted to Mr. Levy for the interest he had taken in this business. He thought the occasion a very proper one on which to convene a meeting of the Jews, and was surprised that any Jew should think that such an ukase was not sufficiently oppressive to excite sympathy for those upon whom it operated. He was glad to find that the first gentleman who had spoken to this effect was not an English Jew; indeed, he was greatly disappointed to find that he was called a Jew, for he could not conceive that any person of his nation could be found so destitute of all right feeling as to reflect upon such a document without having his national feelings roused. What (said Mr. Israel) would he call oppression? To what extent would he have oppression go? What demoralizations, what irreligion would he be satisfied with? The ukase not only took away from the Jew his means of religious instruction, but his means of supporting life. These persons were brought up to trade; they had been established in particular spots, many of them born there; all their connexions were there; it was the grave of their fathers; and what more oppressive could be considered than that of saying to a man under such circumstances, "You shall no longer continue here; within twenty-four hours you shall remove with all your family to a strange place, without trade, or any prospect of obtaining a livelihood." No Jew who possessed a spark of national feeling, or whose mind was at all impressed with the religion of his God, could read such a paper, or think of such a state of things as that which it described, without feeling the deepest affliction: by coming forward in a proper manner, the English Jews would not only show to the people of England, but tɔ the inhabitants of Europe, that when they

that he was flesh of their flesh and bone of

touched one of their nation his brethren felt

their bone.

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