of the Western region [1] "confidentially_, for personal information and
consideration." The reformatory campaign against the Jews was thus
started without any formal declaration of war, under the guise of
secrecy and surrounded by police precautions. The procedure to be
followed by the Committee was to consider the project in the order
indicated in the memorandum: first "enlightenment," then abolition of
autonomy, and finally disabilities.

[Footnote 1: See above, p. 16, n. 1.]


2. UVAROV AND LILIENTHAL

An elaborate _exposé_ on the question of enlightenment was composed and
laid before the Committee by the Minister of Public Instruction, Sergius
Uvarov. Having acquired the _bon ton_ of Western Europe, Uvarov prefaces
his statement by the remark that the European governments have abandoned
the method of "persecution and compulsion" in solving the Jewish
question and that "this period has also arrived for us." "Nations,"
observes Uvarov, "are not exterminated, least of all the nation which
stood at the foot of Calvary." From what follows, it seems evident that
the Minister is still in hopes that the gentle measures of enlightenment
may attract the Jews towards the religion which derives its origin from
Calvary.

The best among the Jews--he states--are conscious of the fact that
one of the principal causes of their humiliation lies in the
perverted interpretation of their religious traditions, that ... the
Talmud demoralized and continues to demoralize their
co-religionists. But nowhere is the influence of the Talmud so