390 



JEWS. 



men, while the Chinese losses were 300 killed 

 and 600 wounded and prisoners. 



The Chinese Emperor superseded both Li- 

 Hung-Chang and Prince Kung, and appointed 

 Liu Kim Yi, Viceroy of Canton, to organize the 

 defense of the capital province. The first Japa- 

 nese army under Gen. Nodzu established friend- 

 ly relations with the Manchus, whose country 

 they occupied, and by paying for all supplies 

 induced them to return to their homes and re- 

 sume their usual occupations. In the Liao 

 Tung peninsula Field-Marshal Oyama set up a 

 civil government at Kinchow and collected the 

 customary taxes from the people. Gen. Sung 

 rallied his scattered forces as well as he could, 

 and both he and Gen. Nieh pressed into the serv- 

 ice all able-bodied Manchurians that they could 

 catch, with the intention of striking a blow at 

 Gen. Nodzu's army. Before the end of the year 

 the Japanese general advanced his headquarters 

 to To Chung Su, the Japanese armies being post- 

 ed in a position strong for either offense or de- 

 fense, along a curve extending from Kaichow or 

 Kaiphing on the sea to Haicheng, which was 

 strongly fortified, and thence to the Mothien 

 Ling mountains. 



JEWS. The record of the year is happily 

 free from any flagrant outbreak abroad. A lull 

 appears to have occurred in the anti-Semitic 

 movement, many of whose leaders have been 

 convicted of penal offenses and some are serv- 

 ing their terms in prison. Slight incidents, it is 

 true, have taken place in France, Germany, Aus- 

 tria-Hungary, and Roumania, which show that 

 the virus is by no means extinct ; but these have 

 been unduly magnified in the press and need 

 arouse no apprehension. The action of Switzer- 

 land in prohibiting the Jewish method of slaugh- 

 tering animals was of minor importance com- 

 pared with Prof. Dembo's work on the same 

 subject, which received the unqualified approval 

 of many European scientists. In the great ma- 

 jority of European abattoirs in the chief cities 

 the Jewish method is almost exclusively em- 

 ployed. In Roumania occasional acts of intol- 

 erance are announced. In Morocco instances of 

 injustice continue unchecked. In Bulgaria a 

 more pacific outlook was indicated. In Russia 

 prior to the death of Czar Alexander it was diffi- 

 cult to tell whether the Government was in ear- 

 nest or not in its attempts to solve the Jewish 

 problem. When it closes the synagogue in Mos- 

 cow and permits the erection of one in St. 

 Petersburg, we can understand neither its logic 

 nor its justice. Expulsions to the pale con- 

 tinued, and the slow process of emigration to 

 the Argentine and beyond is beginning. Baron 

 de Ilirsch is sanguine of the success of his Ar- 

 gentine colonies, but his hopes are not generally 

 shared. The new Czar, it is confidently ex- 

 pected, will prove more tolerant. Early in De- 

 cember it was cabled that he would allow no 

 further persecution of Lutherans, and, as Jew- 

 ish bankers are floating the new Russian loan 

 when a year ago no Jewish oankers would inter- 

 est themselves in Russian finances, there is every 

 reason to anticipate a more humane policy. 

 England had its periodical scare of pauper alien's, 

 due to the influx of Russian and Polish immi- 

 grants, but it was proved that their numbers 

 were comparatively few and decreasing. The 



Emperor of Austria- Hungary opened in person 

 the new Jewish Orphan Asylum in Lemberg. 

 M. Maurice Loewy, of Paris, was elected Presi- 

 dent of the Institute of France. Samuel Mon- 

 tagu, M. P., was knighted by Queen Victoria. 

 Dr. Gaster was reappointed Ilchester lecturer at 

 Oxford, and Israel Gollancz English examiner 

 at the London University. S. Schechter gave a 

 course of lectures on " Rabbinic Theology " in 

 London. Ludwig Mond, the chemist, presented 

 a fund for special research to the Royal Institu- 

 tion. A meeting of representatives of societies 

 interested in the colonization of Syria was held 

 in Paris. An Anglo- Jewish Historical Society 

 was organized by Lucien Wolf, of London. Sig'- 

 nor Romanin Jacur was appointed Under Secre- 

 tary of State for Italian Public Works. The 

 Austrian House of Magnates took further steps 

 in the recognition of religious liberty. The 

 Jews of Buda Pesth showed marked sympathy in 

 the death of Louis Kossuth, and special services 

 were held in his memory. New synagogues were 

 formed in South Africa. Prof. Leon Errera, 

 of the University of Brussels, issued a French 

 work on " The Russian Jews," which was trans- 

 lated into English ; he advocates their complete 

 emancipation. Josef Israels, the Dutch painter, 

 celebrated his seventieth birthday, and Prof. 

 Lazarus, the German philosopher, enjoyed a 

 similar honor. Mr. Isaac A. Isaacs, of Melbourne, 

 was appointed Attorney-General for Victoria. 

 M. Sylvain Levi was called to the chair of San- 

 skrit at the College of France. 



In the necrology of the year abroad may be 

 mentioned Chief-Rabbi Marco Mortara, of Man- 

 tua; Prof. Louis L. Lewandowski, Berlin, com- 

 poser; Dr. Ludwig Frankl, Vienna, physician, 

 poet, and author ; Dr. Perles, Munich, rabbi and 

 philologist; Dr. Moritz Traube, Berlin, scientist; 

 Rev. Naphtali Levy, London, author; Salomon 

 Sassoon, Bombay, A. M. Gubbay, Paris, philan- 

 thropists; E. J. Asser, Amsterdam, lawyer; Gus- 

 tav Levy, Paris, engraver ; Dr. Joseph Hyrtl, Vi- 

 enna, scientist and physician ; Dr. Victor Widal, 

 of the French military medical staff; Dr. N. 

 Deutschlander, Berlin, rabbi and teacher; Dr. 

 Brandeis, Copenhagen, physician. 



At home, despite the long-continued strin- 

 gency, the progress of American Judaism, the 

 enlargement of its institutions, and the increase 

 of synagogues and societies continued unchecked. 

 With a population that has rapidly passed the 

 half-million mark, the community is too large 

 and its interests too manifold to receive even a 

 temporary setback. The process of evolving a 

 homogeneous Judaism out of the varied elements, 

 however, is necessarily slow. A further attempt 

 at uniting the reformed congregations was the 

 final revision of the Union Prayer Book by the 

 Central Conference of .American Rabbis. This 

 has already been adopted by a number of syna- 

 gogues, and will, perhaps, be followed by & 

 " Union Catechism," ranging together on a com- 

 mon- platform the various progressive congre- 

 gations, and checking for a time the individu- 

 alism that seems to have taken deep root in 

 American Israel. The charity problem has not 

 reached its solution during the year, but the 

 marked decrease in immigration has somewhat 

 eased the situation. The Baron de Hirsch Trust 

 continues its work, particularly along educational 



