In this shape the question was submitted to the Council of State in 1861.  Here opinions were evenly divided.  Twenty members advocated the necessity of “bestowing” the right of residence not only on graduates of universities but also of gymnazia, advancing the argument that even in the case of a Jewish gymnazist [1] “it is in all likelihood to be presumed that the gross superstitions and prejudices which hinder the association of the Jews with the original population of the Empire will be, if not entirely eradicated, at least considerably weakened, and a further sojourn among Christians will contribute toward the ultimate extermination of these sinister prejudices which stand in the way of every moral improvement.”

[Footnote 1:  i.e., the pupil of a gymnazium.]

Such was the opinion of the “liberal” half of the Council of State.  The conservative half argued differently.  Only those Jews deserve the right of residence who have received “an education such as may serve as a pledge of their having renounced the errors of fanaticism.  “The wise measures adopted” as a precaution against the influx of Jews into the interior governments” would lose their efficacy, “were permission to settle all over Russia to be granted suddenly to all Jews who have for a short term attended a gymnazium in the Western and South-western region, for no other purpose, to be sure, than that of pursuing on a larger scale their illicit trades and other harmful occupations.”  Hence only Jews with a “reliable education,” i.e., the graduates of higher educational institutions, who have obtained a learned degree, should be permitted to pass the boundary of the Pale.

Alexander II. endorsed the opinion of the conservative members of the Council of State.  The law, promulgated on November 37, 1861, reads as follows: 

Jews possessing certificates of the learned degree of Doctor of Medicine and Surgery, or Doctor of Medicine, and likewise of Doctor, Magister, or Candidate of other university faculties, are admitted to serve In all Government offices, without their being confined to the Pale established for the residence of Jews.  They are also permitted to settle permanently in all the provinces of the Empire for the pursuit of commerce and Industry.

In addition, the law specifies that, apart from the members of their families, these Jews shall be permitted to keep, as a maximum, “two domestic servants from among their coreligionists.”

The promulgation of this law brought about a curious state of affairs, the upshot of the genuinely Russian homoeopathic system of emancipation, A handful of Jews who had obtained learned degrees from universities were permitted not only to reside in the interior of t e Empire, but were also admitted here and there to Government service, in the capacity of civil and military physicians.  Yet both of these rights were denied to all other persons with the same university