England,- In England the final struggle for Jewish emancipation began in 1830 and continued till into the 20th century, when in 1903 the religious test at London University was abolished with the appointment of a Jew (Israel Gollancz) to a professorship. In 1829 the bill removing the civil disabilities of the Catholics had passed the Houses of Parlia ment. The following year Robert Grant intro duced a bill in the House of Commons granting the same boon to the Jews; this bill was passed in the Lower House in 1833 but was defeated in the House of Lords; the same fate met the bill in 1834; in fact the bill was passed 10 times in the House of Commons and rejected as often in the Upper House before a Jew was finally permitted to take his seat in the House of Commons in 1858. In 1835 a bill was passed called the Sheriffs' Declaration Bill permitting Jews to hold the office of sheriff. In 1836 David Salomons was elected sheriff in London.
In 1845 a bill became law whereby Jews were permitted to hold municipal offices. The Reli gious Opinions' Relief Bill in 1846 re moved some minor disabilities from Jews and dissenters from the Established Church. The situation became particularly acute when Lionel de Rothschild was elected to Parliament in 1847 for the city of London. A bill was in troduced in December of that year to permit him to take his seat. It took the course of its predecessors of like nature, passing the Com mons, and being thrown out by the Lords. The year 1850 witnessed a similar experience. David Salomons who was elected a member for Greenwich in 1851 took the bull by the horns when he persisted in holding his seat although ordered to withdraw by the speaker; he aggra vated the offense when he voted nor' on a motion for adjournment made after his re fusal to withdraw. The Prime Minister now ordered that he leave the chamber. Salomons addressed the House and although the members sympathized with him they sustained the Prime Minister. The case was carried to the courts; the decision was against Salomons on the ground that he had no right to vote before tak ing the oath prescribed for members of Par liament. He was compelled to pay a fine of BOO for each time he had voted. Three times more, in 1853, 1856 and 1857, the Commons passed the bill, but the Lords persisted in re jecting it; finally in 1858 a bill passed both houses which declared the Horse of Commons competent on occasion to modify the form of oath by special resolution. Lionel de Roths child by such special resolution of the House was now permitted to take his seat, omitting from the oath the words gon the true faith of a Christian." In 1860 this concession was made a standing rule and in 1866 the Parliamentary Oaths' Act was passed which omitted the ob jectionable words altogether and thus removed the discrimination which marked off the Jewish members. The University Test Act was abol ished in 1870; in 1885 the first Jew (Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild) became a member of the House of Lords, and in 1890 all reli gious tests for all offices excepting the king ship itself were removed and all offices were thrown open to all subjects of the realm with out distinction of creed.
Austria.—The Toleration Edict of Joseph II was of no significance as far as the political emancipation of the Jews of that realm was concerned. There was no definite step toward removing civil or political disabilities until the year 1846 when the oath °More Judaic&' was abolished;, on 25 April 1848 the new Constitu tion granting free exercise of religion and civil rights irrespective of religious creed was pro mulgated; five Jewish deputies were elected to the first Parliament which convened after the new -Constitution went into force. On 28 Octo
ber of that same year the special Jewish taxes were abolished. As in a number of German states a period of reaction set in in Austria after the revolutionary fire of 1848 had spent itself, and the Jews suffered from this reactionary spirit; the rights granted them were revoked; when the concordat was signed in 1855 whereby the reins of government fell altogether into the hands of the Clerical party, the anti-Jewish spirit was accentuated and some medieval de crees touching the status of the Jews at this time. The reactionary regime was in power till July 1859 when the peace of Villa franca was signed. Soon thereafter, in February 1860, some new legislation in reference to the Jews was framed of a more liberal spirit. On 21 Dec. 1867 the new Constitution was issued, which established the political equality of all citizens of the empire regardless of religious faith.
Hungary.— In the other portion of the dual kingdom political emancipation was greatly agitated in the fifth decade of the 19th century. As early however as 1790 the Jews of that land had laid before Leopold II a petition re questing equality with other citizens; the fol lowing year the Diet passed legislation °De Judaeisp Jews protection. At the same time a promise was made that a commis sion would be appointed to look into the situ ation and to report measures for the better ment of their condition. A half century passed before any real relief was afforded. The Diet of 1840 passed a law which allowed all Jews of good repute whether native or naturalized to reside anywhere except in mining towns; this law also permitted them to study for the pro fessions and engage in manufacture; however, their right to own real estate was restricted to the cities. In 1846 the toleration tax was abol ished. Nowhere did the Jews take so promi nent a part in the revolutionary struggle of 1848 as in Hungary. This was appreciated by the party of freedom and in the national as sembly of the Hungarian Republic held at Sze gedin in 1849 a bill was introduced and passed on 28 July granting the Jews all rights of citi zenship. This republic was of very short dura tion. The Jews enjoyed their newly won rights just two weeks. The overthrow of the Hun garian Republic was followed by the most strin gent restrictive measures and the Jews were made to suffer severely for their sympathy with and participation in the revolutionary struggle; a very heavy tax was imposed and every right that had been granttd was revoked. The ques tion of Jewish emancipation was not agitated again till 1861 but no remedial legislation was passed till 1867. In December of that year both houses of the Hungarian Parliament passed a bill granting political emancipation. Full emancipation was secured when on 11 May 1896 the Upper House after two previous rejec tions concurred in the bill passed by the Lower House two years earlier recognizing the Jew ish religion as one of the legally acknowledged faiths of the country.