enjoyed almost all the rights of the native Russian
citizen. Although the Empress recognized the "Pale of Settlement"
created in the reign of Peter the Second, she, nevertheless, stretched
its boundaries to include not only Little Russia but also the
Vice-Royalty of Ekaterinoslav and the province of Taurida, wherein the
Jews were granted all rights of citizenship. In the "Regulations
Concerning the Jews" published in 1804, in the reign of Alexander the
First, the principle of equal civil rights for this nation is brought
out in Article 42. "All the Jews in Russia," says this article,
"whether residents or new settlers or foreigners coming to transact
business are free and are to be under the protection of the law on a
par with other Russian subjects." In commenting upon this article,
Professor Gradovsky writes that this is clearly an attempt to fuse the
Jewish nation with the rest of the Russian population by giving the
former definite civil rights.

Only during the last year of the reign of Alexander the First were
some measures adopted whereby the "Pale of Settlement" was narrowed
down because of a certain sect of "Sabbathists," closely related to
Judaism, which had greatly increased in numbers, particularly in the
provinces of Voronezh, Samara, Tula, and others. According to the
"Regulations Concerning the Jews" of 1835, enacted in the reign of
Nicholas the First, the Jews retained the right to own all kinds of
real estate, with the exception of inhabited estates and to deal in
all kinds of merchandise on the same basis as the other citizens,--of
course, only within the "Pale."

It is noteworthy that at this time the Jews were allowed to attend
governmental schools of all grades, and that graduates from these
were granted certain privileges. It is only toward the end of the
reign of Nicholas I that the government adopts a system of limitations
relating to the Jews, without, however, restraining their right to
attend the governmental educational institutions. On the 31st of
March, 1856, an imperial edict was issued ordering a revision of the
existing regulations relating to the Jews. Therein it is clearly
stated that the purpose of this revision is to conciliate these
regulations with the intention of the government to fuse this people
with the native population of the land. During the entire reign of
Alexander II no limitations existed for the entrance of Jews into the
Universities and the other educational instit