It will be remembered that Sidonia held no gov¬ ernmental position. The time had not come for that. Power was exercised behind the scenes long before the craving for the spotlight was gratified. But whether there be Jews in office or not, the power they exercise behind the scenes is always greater than the power they show in the open. It can be seen, therefore, that the more numerous they are in office, the greater their secret power. Sidonia continues:
“A few years back we were applied to by Russia. Now there has been no friendship between the Court of St. Petersburg and my family. It has Dutch con¬ nections which have generally supplied it; and our representations in favor of the Polish Hebrew, a nu¬ merous race, but the most suffering and degraded of all the tribes, have not been very agreeable to the Czar. However, circumstances drew to an approximation be¬ tween the Romanoffs and the Sidonias. I resolved to DISRAELI—BRITISH PREMIER, PORTRAYS JEWS 195 go myself to St. Petersburg. I had, on my arrival, an interview with the Russian Minister of Finance, Count Cancrin; I beheld the son of a Lithuanian Jew.