member of the Polish nobility; comp. Vol. I, p. 58,
n. 1.]

After attaching his signature to this verdict. Nicholas I. added in his
own handwriting the following characteristic resolution, which was not
to be made public:

While sharing the view of the Council of State that in this case,
owing to the vagueness of the legal deductions, no other decision
than the one embodied in the opinion confirmed by me could have been
reached, I deem it, however, necessary to add that I do not have,
and, indeed, cannot have, the inner conviction that the murder has
not been committed by the Jews. Numerous examples of similar
murders.... go to show that among the Jews there probably exist
fanatics or sectarians who consider Christian blood necessary for
their rites. This appears the more possible, since unfortunately
even among us Christians there sometimes exist such sects which are
no less horrible and incomprehensible. In a word, I do not for a
moment think that this custom is common to all Jews, but I do not
deny the possibility that there may be among them fanatics just as
horrible as among us Christians.

Having taken this idea into his head, Nicholas I. refused to sign the
second decision of the Council of State, which was closely allied with
the verdict: that all governors be instructed to be guided in the future
by the ukase of 1817, forbidding to stir up ritual murder cases "from
prejudice only." While rejecting this prejudice in its full-fledged
shape, the Tzar acknowledged it in part, in a somewhat attenuated form.

Towards the end of January of 1835 an imperial ukase reached the city of
Velizh, ordering the liberation of the exculpated Jews, the reopening of
the synagogues, which had been sealed since 1826, and the handing back
to the Jews of the holy scrolls which had been confiscated by the
police. The dungeon was now ready to give up its inmates, whose strength
had been sapped by the long confinement, while several of them had died
during the imprisonment. The synagogues, which had not been allowed to
resound with the moans of the martyrs, were now opened for the prayers
of the liberated. The state of siege which for nine long years had been
throttling the city was at last taken off; the terror which had haunted
the ostracized community came to an end. A new leaf was added to the
annals of Jewish martyrdom, one of the gloomiest, in spite of its
"happy" finale.

7. THE MSTISLAVL AFFAI