NEWS OF THE WEEK.
The emancipation has teen well received in Poland, where, how- ever, there still reigns considerable discontent. The state of affairs has not altered since last week, but a telegram, dated 27th March, announces the confirmation of the reported Imperial concessions. The present regulations for public instruction are abolished, and a special commission, headed by a Pole, is ordered to arrange a new and more popular system, with legal instruction added to the curriculum. A Council of State is to be established to comprise all the highest notables of Poland, the right of petition is granted to the nation, and all municipal authorities, including the da-' partmental and district councillors, are to be elected by the in- habitants. The effect of these concessions is not reported, but the bitterness of the antecedent feeling may be estimated from the fact that the Jews are to be admitted by all the guilds to confraternity. As a Jew is regarded by a Pole in much the same light as a rat is regarded by a ferret, the hatred to the existing regime must rise to passion. The Russian Government makes a sad blunder in not granting privileges to the Jews, who form a fifth of the population, and have no nationality to plead for at inconvenient crises. We may mention that General Klapka promises on behalf of the Hungarians that all laws against Jews shall be abolished by the Diet, and con- sequently Russia and Germany are now the only countries in Europe which avowedly oppress the Jew. The Poles of Posen are again demanding the use of their own language, but they are too few to be politically important, and their application is disregarded.
