1846.
THE JEWISH SCHOOLS AT WILNA--WILCOMIR--DEPLORABLE CONDITION OF THE
HEBREW COMMUNITY IN THAT TOWN--KOWNO--WARSAW.
On the following morning, Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore offered up
prayers amidst thousands of their brethren, and many visitors, who
"from curiosity," as they said, "came to see the English
philanthropist." The rest of the day was devoted to the reception of
the members of the community, their wives and children, so as to have
the opportunity of becoming acquainted with their manners and mode of
conversation.
It being customary in that place to send wine and sweetmeats of every
description to a person of distinction on the first Sabbath of his
arrival, many hundreds of bottles of the best wine, with cakes and
sweetmeats from the most skilful confectioners, were sent to us, and
these were several times handed round by Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore
themselves. The amiability with which they received every new comer
induced the visitors to speak without restraint on all subjects.
In the evening a scribe of great ability was summoned before Sir
Moses, to prepare a scroll of parchment, upon which the latter was
desirous to commence writing the first line of the Pentateuch for
Synagogual purposes. The scribe soon made his appearance, and Sir
Moses, in the presence of the Chief Rabbi and the principal lecturer
of the community, performed the task assigned to him.
_Wilna, May 3rd._--Sir Moses paid a visit to the Governor, where he
met most of the nobility of the place, and representatives of various
communities, who came to pay their respects on the occasion of the
birthday of the Czarewitch. Among those present we also noticed the
Ecclesiastical Chief of the Hebrew community.
On our return from the Governor, we proceeded to inspect the various
colleges and schools, where we examined the pupils, and conversed with
the teachers and directors regarding the subjects to which Sir Moses'
attention had been called at St Petersburg. From each of these
establishments full accounts were given to us, of which Sir Moses made
the best use in his report to the Czar.
In the evening, by special invitation from the Governor, Sir Moses
visited the theatre, and subsequently, he, Lady Montefiore, and myself
attended the ball at His Excellency's. We were received by all present
with every possible attention and courtesy, and the appearance of Sir
Moses and Lady Montefiore made a most favourable impression.
On our return from the entertainment we found some beautiful
embroidery, poems, drawings, &c., sent to Lady Montefiore by the
pupils of some of the girls' schools of the place. We had had an
opportunity, in the morning, of inspecting the schools. In some of
them the pupils acquitted themselves satisfactorily in the French,
Russian, German, and Hebrew languages; their handwriting was
beautiful, and in arithmetic they were far advanced.
_Monday, May 4th._--We went to-day to see the printing office of the
Brothers Rom, Rundsinsky, Koenigsberg, and Torkin. Sir Moses was
accompanied by His Excellency the Civil Governor Terebzow. They
presented us with a number of valuable works, each of which was
adorned with a poem written by the gifted poet A. B. Lebensohn. We
then proceeded to the Jewish Hospital, the Infant School, under the
patronage of the wife of the Military Governor, the Orphan Asylum of
Mr Chiya Danzig, and many schools and colleges, everywhere exhorting
the pupils to study the Russian language and literature, and
everywhere leaving charitable gifts. Sir Moses took every means to
make himself thoroughly acquainted with all the matters on which he
had been asked to report to the Emperor, and invited ten of the most
prominent men of the community to attend morning and evening prayers
at his hotel, and afterwards to report and discuss matters generally.
_May 5th._--With a view of showing his respect for the Chief Rabbi and
the representatives of the community, and, at the same time, of
forming an idea of the domestic arrangements for the comfort of their
families, Sir Moses devoted many hours to calling on those persons. He
had the satisfaction of seeing among them many well-educated wives,
sons, and daughters; their dwellings were scrupulously clean, the
furniture plain, but suitable for the purpose, and the appearance of
the family healthy. Some of them were very good looking.
The number of letters from Jews and Christians hourly increased; whole
nights were often devoted to reading them, and making extracts from
those which required special and immediate attention.
_May 6th._--We were indoors all this day, engaged from morning till
evening in conversation with numerous persons on the subject of our
journey.
His Excellency, Monsieur Gruber, came just when the room was filled
with visitors, including the Chief Rabbi, the principal lecturer of
the Synagogue, and many of the leading members of the community.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, these gentlemen spoke of the
state of the Jews in Russia, and stated to him that the Government
would not permit them to have land, nor would they employ them as
labourers; adding that they could bring to His Excellency, within a
few minutes, if he desired it, five thousand men, women, and children
who would be ready to do any work, however laborious, merely for a
piece of bread a day. They had frequently petitioned the Government,
they said, for liberty to take land, but had never received the
required permission.
The conversation was carried on with great spirit. Subsequently a
large deputation was introduced, who requested Sir Moses to remain
till after Sabbath. The Burgomaster of Wilna being present, joined in
the request, and Sir Moses at last consented, especially as the
deputation observed that they could not sooner get their papers ready
for him.
_Friday, May 8th._--The representatives of the Hebrew congregation of
this town, together with those of other Hebrew congregations from some
of the principal towns in Russia, under the presidency of the Chief
Rabbi, held a meeting for the purpose of examining the papers which
had been prepared for presentation to Sir Moses, in reply to the
charges brought against them at St Petersburg. It was arranged to
request Sir Moses to appoint the following day, in the evening, after
the termination of the Sabbath, for their reception, and to invite the
writer of these lines to address the congregation on the following
morning in the principal Synagogue of the town, so as to afford to
thousands of their brethren and visitors the opportunity of becoming
acquainted with any suggestion which it might be deemed desirable to
communicate to them relative to the Mission of Sir Moses and Lady
Montefiore.
With this view a deputation waited on Sir Moses, and he agreed to
receive them at the appointed time. The same deputation also brought
me the invitation to deliver an address in their Synagogue, which I
willingly accepted.
_Saturday, May 9th._--Divine service was held in the apartments of Sir
Moses early in the morning. In the afternoon, at about two o'clock, he
and Lady Montefiore proceeded to the Synagogue, where I delivered the
address in the presence of a very large assembly of members of various
communities and visitors. In the evening all the representatives of
Wilna, and those of the principal towns in Russia, together with the
gentlemen who wrote the reports in the Hebrew, French, and Russian
languages, and others of high standing in the community, headed by
their Ecclesiastical Chief, presented the papers which Sir Moses was
so anxiously expecting.
It is often a grave and exciting moment for those present in a court
of justice, when the accused, however humble his station in life may
be, pleads his cause and vindicates his innocence against a vigorous
prosecutor; graver, however, and considerably more exciting was the
scene which I now witnessed, when not merely a private individual, but
the representatives of three millions of loyal subjects of the Emperor
of Russia, pleaded their cause and vindicated their innocence against
the most serious charges brought against them and their religious
tenets by the Ministers of the Empire. I repeatedly noticed tears
rolling down the cheeks of the venerable elders of the community. Sir
Moses and Lady Montefiore themselves could hardly suppress their
emotion.
Every word contained in the written statements had been translated by
me into English, and the whole was read aloud to the assembly. Sir
Moses addressed questions to the representatives of the various
communities, and elicited numerous replies; but the more voluminous
ones had to be taken away with us, to be read next day by Sir Moses on
the road.
Thus many hours of the night passed; it was two o'clock in the morning
when the conference terminated. Refreshments were handed round. Sir
Moses drank to "better times, and to the health and prosperity of his
brethren in Russia." The Chief Rabbi, the representatives of the
community, and all present shed tears at the contemplation of our
departure.
Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore left many souvenirs to those who had so
kindly attended them during their stay in Wilna, and sent hundreds of
bottles of the best wine, and many kinds of meat, and cakes of every
description to the hospitals. All the charitable institutions and all
deserving cases were remembered by most generous gifts, and nothing
more was left for him to do.
The favourable impression which the people of Wilna made on Sir Moses
prompted him to say to those present, as he stepped into his carriage:
"I leave you, but my heart will ever remain with you. When my brethren
suffer, I feel it painfully; when they have reason to weep, my eyes
shed tears."
At four o'clock in the morning, when no one in the town expected our
departure, we left Wilna for Wilcomir. The recent rains had made the
roads very bad; heavy sand and numerous ruts prevented our proceeding
at the average rate of travelling. In one spot our conveyance stuck
fast in a deep hole, and we were detained for fully half-an-hour. This
unpleasant circumstance was much aggravated by the hundreds of poor
Russian men, women, and children following the carriage for miles on
the road. The more they had given to them, the more they appeared to
want.
After a ride of seventy-six and a half versts we reached Wilcomir,
where a deputation from the Hebrew community brought us wine and cake.
The account which they gave of their brethren was but sorrowful. Of
five hundred families, they said, one-fourth died last year from
destitution.
We visited the school and charitable institutions, and next day
continued our journey to Kowno.
Hundreds of persons, with lighted candles in their hands, greeted us
on our arrival at Kowno. We found an elegant house prepared for us,
all the rooms and passages brilliantly lighted with wax candles. The
host and hostess, Mr and Mrs Kadisohn, attended on Sir Moses and Lady
Montefiore themselves. "We have not had," Lady Montefiore said, "such
beds or accommodation since leaving England."
Sir Moses had an important interview with the Governor of the town
respecting the employment of Jews to repair the high roads, they being
willing to work for twenty kopeks a day, while labourers of other
denominations receive thirty. We here received information regarding
the Jews, in general, living in that district; and the representatives
of the community, headed by their Chief Rabbi, supplemented this by
numerous statements made to Sir Moses in writing.
_May 12th._--We left Kowno early in the morning, were ferried over the
river, and detained two hours on the frontier of the former kingdom of
Poland. Proceeded through Calvarie, Souvalky, Stavesey. In each of
these places we had interviews with the authorities, and elders of the
Hebrew community, and visited their schools and charitable
institutions.
_May 13th._--Our arrival at Warsaw was announced to thousands of the
Hebrew community who were anxious to see Sir Moses and Lady
Montefiore.
Mr Blumberg, one of the leading merchants, came to request Sir Moses'
acceptance of his house during our stay at Warsaw; but Sir Moses,
while thanking him for his hospitality, thought it desirable to live
at an hotel, in preference to a private house.
The first visit paid by Sir Moses was to Colonel du Plat, the British
Consul for Poland; he was absent from home, but sent in the course of
the day, a message to Sir Moses that he would be pleased to see him on
the following day.
The Chief Rabbi and the representatives of the Hebrew community came
to congratulate us on our safe arrival. They said it had been their
wish to have made a more public display of their gratitude to Sir
Moses and Lady Montefiore, but they were prevented from doing so. They
had asked the Governor if they might go out of the city to meet us,
and received the reply that he could say neither "Yes" nor "No." The
accounts which Sir Moses continued to receive from the Jews, of their
position in this country, were most distressing.
_Warsaw, May 17th._--"This morning," Sir Moses writes in his diary, "I
called on Colonel du Plat with Dr Loewe. He proposed to accompany me
immediately to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of the
Interior, and the Military Governor of the city. We accordingly
visited each of them, and I was received with much politeness. The two
former Ministers conversed with me for a considerable time about the
condition of the Jews. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is to ask His
Highness the Viceroy for an audience for me. I have heard repeated the
same complaints, that the Jews will not cultivate the land, and from
the Jews themselves that they cannot get permission to purchase land.
This afternoon I received a letter from the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, that His Highness will be happy to see me to-morrow at
twelve. I received a deputation, consisting of the principal Jews of
this city, headed by the Chief Rabbi. They give a deplorable account
of the present position of the Jews in this kingdom.
"_May 15th._--Colonel du Plat came and accompanied me and Dr Loewe to
the Palace. We were received by Prince Paskiewitch (who is the Viceroy
of the kingdom) with much politeness. I was in full uniform. We were
one hour and a half in conversation respecting the Jews. He expressed
the same sentiments as those we heard in St Petersburg; also said that
the Jews would not cultivate the land, though the law allowed them to
purchase it. I said that hundreds of Jews had expressed to me their
ardent desire to obtain land, and that I feared there existed some
difficulty in the requisite formalities. The Prince does not wish for
further education, and is by no means disposed to give any privilege
to them. His Highness invited me and the Consul to dine with him at
six. It was a very pleasant and chatty party. I sat on the right of
the Prince, but took nothing except asparagus, salad, ices, and
dessert. The Princess was most agreeable, and conversed freely with
me; indeed, all were most friendly.
"The Countess Rzewuska, _nee_ Princess Lubomirska; M. de Hilferilling,
Conseiller d'Etat-actuel, Head of the Chancellerie Diplomatique of the
Prince; the Minister of the Interior, General L. Se ater Storozenko;
the Postmaster-General, Prince Galitzin; the Head of the Police,
General Abramowicz; and the Governor-General of Warsaw, General
Okouneff, were also present on that occasion.
"_Warsaw, May 16th._--A deputation, consisting of at least twenty
gentlemen from all the charitable institutions belonging to the Jews,
presented my dear wife and myself with a beautiful address and a very
elegant silver cup, as a mark of their gratitude for our exertions on
their behalf. The house has been surrounded from morning till night by
hundreds of our co-religionists, anxious to get a glimpse of us. Two
gendarmes and a police officer have had great difficulty in keeping
the people out of the house. We had the honour of a long visit to-day
from the Military Governor."