[Footnote 1:  See above, p. 253, n. 2.]

The most powerful speech was delivered by Cardinal Manning, the great Catholic divine.  He pointed to the fact that the Russian Jews were not only the object of temporary pogroms but that they constantly groaned under the yoke of a degrading legislation which says to the Jew:  “You may not pass beyond that boundary; you must not go within eighteen miles of that frontier; you must not dwell in that town; you must live only in that province.”  He caused laughter in the audience by quoting from Ignatyev’s famous circular concerning the appointment of the gubernatorial commissions, in which, commenting upon the terrible atrocities recently perpetrated upon the Jews, the Minister lamented “the sad condition of the Christian inhabitants of the southern provinces.”  Cardinal Manning concluded his eloquent address with the following words marked by a lofty, prophetic strain: 

There is a book which is common to the race of Israel and to us Christians.  That book is the bond between us, and in that book I read that the people of Israel are the eldest people upon the earth.  Russia and Austria and England are of yesterday, compared with the imperishable people, which, with an inextinguishable life and immutable traditions, and faith in God and in the laws of God, scattered, as it is, all over the world, passed through the fires unscathed, trampled into the dust, and yet never combining with the dust into which it is trampled, lives still, a witness and a warning to us. [1]

[Footnote 1:  In reproducing the quotations I have followed in the main the account of the Mansion House Meeting contained in the pamphlet published In New York under the title Proceedings of Meetings held February 1, 1882, at New York and London, to Express Sympathy with the Oppressed Jews in Russia.  The account of the Jewish Chronicle of February 8, 1882, offers a number of variations.]

After several more speeches by Canon Farrar, Professor Bryce,[1] and others, the following resolutions were adopted: 

[Footnote 1:  James Bryce, the famous writer and statesman, subsequently British ambassador at Washington.]

1.  That, in the opinion of this meeting, the persecution and the outrages which the Jews in many parts of the Russian dominions have for several months past suffered are an offence to Christian civilization, and to be deeply deplored.

2.  That this meeting, while disclaiming any right or desire to interfere in the internal affairs of another country, and desiring that the most amicable relations between England and Russia should be preserved, feels it a duty to express its opinion that the laws of Russia relating to Jews tend to degrade them in the eyes of the Christian population, and expose Russian Jewish subjects to the outbreaks of fanatical ignorance.

3.  That the Lord Mayor be requested