tle as an agriculturist within four or five wersts
from the habitation of a Christian. He is not permitted
to keep posting establishments. He is further prohibited
from keeping brewhouses either in towns or villages. A
Hebrew, when serving in the army or navy of His Majesty,
can never rise even to become a subaltern. The Israelite
suffers from all the above-named restrictions,
notwithstanding the distinct desire of His Imperial
Majesty that he should be allowed to partake of all
civil rights like all the other subjects of His Imperial
Majesty. I have thus endeavoured to present to your
Excellency a brief view of some of the causes which
operate to deprive my brethren of the full enjoyment of
those privileges intended for them by their illustrious
and most humane Sovereign.

"There are, however, other causes which I fear also tend
to this unhappy result. I refer more particularly to
certain charges made against the Israelites, too
important to be passed over unnoticed, and which,
entreating your Excellency's kind attention, I will now
proceed to enumerate and comment upon.

"I have ascertained on enquiry that the following
charges are preferred against the Israelites, viz.:

"That they are inclined to an idle course of life, and
prefer petty commerce to agriculture; hence the
prohibition not to live in Old Russia.

"That they impose upon the peasant, and in return for a
small quantity of spirit, deprive him of all his
property (hence the removal from all the villages in the
Guberniums of Whitebsk and Moghelew).

"That all of them living near the frontiers have the
reputation of dealing in contraband goods; hence the
removal from all the towns and villages within the fifty
wersts.

"In answer to the above accusations in general, your
Excellency will permit me to say that I am far from
being inclined to aver that an Israelite of a bad
disposition is less capable of doing wrong than any
other individual of bad principles belonging to any
other creed, but I feel confident that a wise and just
Government, like that of His Imperial Majesty, will not
deem it right to punish many thousands of its Hebrew
subjects for the transgressions of a few. Let him who
offends against the law of the country, or violates the
rights of his fellow creatures, be punished, but let all
the rest enjoy the comfort designed for them by their
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