The sight of these step-children of Poland fighting for their fatherland stirred the heart of Ostrovski, and he subsequently wrote: "This spectacle could not fail to make your heart ache.

Our conscience bade us to attend to the betterment of this most down-trodden part of our population at the earliest possible moment." It is worthy of note that the wave of Polish-Jewish patriotism did not spread beyond Warsaw.

In the provincial towns the inhabitants of the ghetto were, as a rule, unwilling to serve in the army on the ground that the Jewish religion forbade the shedding of human blood.

This indifference aroused the ire of the Polish population, which threatened to wreak vengeance upon the Jews, suspecting them of pro-Russian sympathies.

Ostrovski's remark with reference to this situation deserves to be quoted: "True," he said, "the Jews of the provinces may possibly be guilty of indifference towards the revolutionary cause, but can we expect any other attitude from those we oppress ?" [1] It may be added that soon afterwards the question of military service as affecting the Jews was solved by the Diet.