The Jews of Warsaw have been attacked by the townspeople,
and believe that the mobs acted with the consent of the authori- ties. A false alarm of fire raised in the Cathedral caused a stampede, during which twenty ladies were killed and many in- jured. The Poles declared that the alarm was due to Jews, and forming into strong mobs, attacked the Jewish quarter and the shops owned by Jews. They wrecked them scientifically, beat- ing the while all Jews who appeared in the streets. For three days the authorities did not interfere, soldiers and police alike looking on with tranquillity or favour. At the expiration of that time, however, orders arrived from St. Petersburg, and then the police acted with vigour, and two thousand arrests were made. The Jewish theory is that the Government, either from sheer dislike of Jews, or a notion that the Jews of Warsaw favoured the Nihilists, incited the mob to outrages. The theory seems excessively improbable, as the Russian Govern- ment is quite strong enough to do its own punishing, or order its own arrests ; but it is useless to shut our eyes to the fact that the hatred between Russians and Jews has grown intense, and is exercising an important political influence. All Jews loathe Russia, and most love Turkey, and the enmity of the cosmopolitan caste meets the Russian Government, more especially in the Press, at every turn. If that Government were wise, it would sweep away all disabilities, on condition of the Jews adopting the national dress and language. The "gaberdine " singles them but to the mob.
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