, 1882-03-15
TO H EDITOR.

up in this country, and which seems now
to be diving out? That agitation, no
doubt, does great honour to the warm
hearts Of your cOuntrymen. Whether 1t
improves the estimate of English lntelll-
gence is not for me to decide. The clever
Jew seems to find it as easy to impose
upon the English public as upon our poor
peasant: but while he makes the former
onlv a little bit ridiculous, he ruins totally
the latter. The Jewish agitation for us Is
more serious than it is for you.
The agitation Of which have been u
half amused, half indignant spectator,
was based on Misrepresentation so gross,
so absolutely unsupported by any impair
tial authority, or even by any English ties
timOny, partial or impartial, that Russians
who do NOT know the extent TO which Rus
sophobist legends have p%rejudiced many
Englishmen against their country can
ONLY impute their acceptance to faction or
bad faith.
That there nave been OutrageS directed
against the property Ofthe Jews III Roland,
Odessa. and the Ukraine is, unfortunately,
quite true. Our Emperor publicly de
plored them as long ago as last May.
The ~stricteSt orders were issued III that
month to represS, even with artillery, any
renewal of the riots. The disturberS OF
the peace have been punished by thou
sands, and at the present time the precau-
lions taken against renewed outbreaks are
ito say the least quite as drastic as any
that even the Conservatives OF this coun-
try have ventured to recommend for adop-
ton in Ireland.
subscriptions for the relief of the Jews
were raised in Russia long before your
Jews ever held a public meeting. All
these facts, so easily verified, were sup
pressed or denied. The agitation was got
ND by representing the riots as encouraged
by the Russian Government, and the
rioters as unpublished. In reality, they
were chiefly instigated by the NihliiStS,
and the rioters have been severely pun
iShed.
Another Misrepresentation, which, IN
deed, may be said alone to have rendered
the agitation possible, was that or the
horrors told about the ill-treatment OF
eJewish women and children. NO proof
supported these stories; no PROOF was
asked for; no proof apparently was
thought necessary by our consumers. Your
Consuls, your merchants, your travellers,
your regular newspaper correspondents
all agree in saying that, although proper
tv was attacked and destroyed, they could
not hear of one solitary victim OF horrors,
which, if true, ought to fire the lndlgna-
ton of anybody, whether Christian or
Jew. mar or woman. Surely, before de.
nouncing your neighbours as criminals OF
the worst dye, you might nave insisted
upon other evidences than that OF an
anonymous correspondent, of WhoSel4ent-
tv there seems to be almost as much uOuo6
as there is certainty OF his untruthful-
ness. =,
In England l have been asSalIed, with
the chivalrous courtesy so eminently cha-
racteristic of some sections of your Press,
with the accusation of sympathlzlng win
crnelty and outrages because did not
d~snounee the imaginary crimes imputed
- nv countrymen. In Russia, on the
otber hand. I have been attacked for my
hesitation in contradicting these jewish
calumnies. Mr.. AksakOf-a man VINO
would allow himself to be cut to pieces
rather than say a word which was not true
wrote to me about these stories. ho
said = ho,;to+nr
81 was surprised to see the hesltatIng
tone of your letter in The Times. fou
had full right to declare that these lying
hnends ara false from beginning TO emu
nnri,9 the whole course OF these events
: had endless correspondence from every
snot. besides the papers Supported oS ,ne
laws in Russia, such as the Pofad"oE,
which were also full of reports from tneSe
onarters. All these detailed descriptions
IF tbe auti-Jewisl riots show that they
lore solely a destruction OF jewish pro
perty.. All eye-witnesses UNANIMOUSLY
pSrr A,St all the bank-nOtes, monetary