Alsace
and who had hoped for immediate relief from their debts, only increased their hatred toward their creditors, who were almost as poor as themselves. The royal edict of January 1781, which relieved the Jews from certain odious taxes such as the poll-tax, and permitted them to follow agricultural pursuits, came too late to effect a change in their habits, which had been confirmed through centuries of time; nor did it allay the antagonism of their adversaries. The Christian rural population, hardened as it was with debt, found consolation in its traditional contempt for the Jewish minority. Fear of an energetic and well-organized police led the peasants to exercise some self-restraint. But all at once the question of granting equality to all the inhabitants without respect to religion suddenly presented itself. The sovereign power, paralyzed, was in no condition to control popular passion; and from that time it was feared that what had been considered merely the spirit of discord would ultimately develop into a display of physical resentment. From the outset, public temperament was indicated in the cahiers de doleance (official instructions of the electors to the deputies at the States General as to their wishes and complaints), compiled by the various electoral districts of Alsace. Several districts called for a reduction in the number of Jews. The clergy of the districts of Colmar and Schlettstadt demanded that thenceforth in order to check their "astounding increase" only the oldest son in each Jewish family should be allowed to marry. The nobility of these districts declared that the very existence of the Jews was a public calamity. The bourgeoisie of Belfort and lluningen wished to deprive the Jews of the right to lend money; that of Colmar and Schlettstadt desired that they at least be prohibited from lending money to Chiristians; while Strasburg insisted on the confirmation of its ancient anti-Jewish privileges and on the right to expel the family of Cerf-Beer. When the news of the fall of the Bastile reached the province, disorder broke out everywhere; the castles and convents of Upper Alsace were pillaged, and in the Sundgau the peasants attacked the dwellings of the Jews. Under the leadership of an adventurer, who claimed to be the Duke of Artois, brother of Louis XVI., the peasantry devastated nineteen villages one after the other, demolishing the dwellings and burning the commercial papers and books of their Jewish creditors. Abandoning everything to the pillagers, the unfortunate Jews fled for safety to the republic of Basel and to the bishopric of the same name. Ultimately it became necessary to send a number of troops, under General de Vietinghoff, into the Sundgau and the valley of the Saint Amarin to restore peace, or at least its outward semblance, in those regions. Some philanthropists, who for years had interested themselves in the regeneration of the oppressed Jews, now degraded by a prolonged servitude, worked upon the public opinion of Paris and upon that of the National Assembly, in order to obtain for them civil rights, or at least official recognition of their social standing. In order to comprehend fully the struggle that now engaged the public opinion of Alsace and that of the capital, it must not be forgotten that the number of Jews that had settled elsewhere in France was relatively small, and that the Spanish or Portuguese Jews, the Jews of Bordeaux, of Avignon, and of Paris had generally attained a higher plane in development than the "barbarian Jews " of Alsace. Indeed, public opinion in the capital was more in favour of a reform of this kind because it almost ignored local conditions. But the deputies from the province were unanimous in their opposition to such a measure and the majority of the inhabitants— Catholics, Lutherans, and Reformed - were in perfect accord with them. Rewbell, a deputy from Upper Alsace, was especially vehement in his defense of "his hard-working and unfortunate compatriots, who were oppressed in a most atrocious manner by a horde of cruel Africans that swarmed over the country"; he even declared that the decree which granted the Jews citizens' rights would be the signal for their destruction in Alsace (session of Sept. 21. 1780). Together with his colleagues he opposed the discussion of the Jewish question and endeavoured to have the matter adjourned. But one month later (Oct. 14, 1789, a deputation of Jews from Alsace and Metz presented themselves at the bar of the National Assembly and prayed for the redress of their wrongs; and subsequently the Assembly decided that the question of the amalgamation of the Jews with the other citizens be placed on the agenda of the Assembly. On Dec. 22, 1789, the Assembly debated the question of admitting to the public service all citizens without distinction of creed; but in spite of the unanimous opposition of the deputies from Alsace, the majority voted the admission of non-Catholics only, with the rider that it was not thereby intended to prejudge any matter concerning the Jews (session of Dec. 25, 1789). The opposition to the Hebrew race was not restricted to the floor of the Assembly; for innumerable pamphlets were published, most of which opposed the plan of amalgamation. Captain de Foissac, in command of the garrison of Pfalzburg, was the first to answer a brochure by the Abbe Gregoire. M. de Hell, deputy from the districts of Hagenau and Weissenburg, was the author of a tirade against the Jews; and his colleague Pilieger, deputy from Belfort and Huningen, issued "an opinion" opposing the granting of civil rights to the Jews. Notwithstanding this agitation, a new petition from the French Jews, Jan. 28, 1790, reopened the discussion in the Assembly and met with some measure of success. A majority (374 yeas, 224 nays) supported the claims of the Portuguese Jews who had settled in France, and those of Avignon but Francis Joseph Schwendt, a deputy from Strasburg, insisted on restricting the debate so as to exclude all reference to the Jews of Alsace. This, he claimed, was absolutely necessary for the re-establishment of the public peace and to guarantee the safety of the 26,000 German Jews. The Assembly, unwilling to oppose the public opinion of an entire province, postponed the settlement of this important problem, which was brought before them insistently on Feb. 26 and March 23. In the month of February, the Society of the Friends of the Constitution, founded at Strasburg, encouraged the sympathizers to raise their voices in favor of equality in Alsace itself. On the 17th of the same month, Francois Xavier Levrault proposed that the society refute the charges made by Captain de Foissae on the 20th they admitted to their society the first Jew member. Marx Beer, son of the rich banker, Cerf-Beer; and on the 27th M. Brunek of Frundeck, who had been appointed to consider the question of the civil slants of the Jews, presented his report. This was received with marked approbation; and the society ordered its publication in French and German. Thereupon there was intense excitement throughout the city. One hundred and fifty citizens petitioned that the primary assemblies be convened in order to discuss the question publicly. The petition was read to the General Council, and the permission prayed for granted. Ultimately, by an almost unanimous vote, the citizens of Strasburg
