islavl affair.
In 1844, a Jewish crowd in the market-place of Mstislavl, a town in the
government of Moghilev, came into conflict with a detachment of soldiers
who were searching for contraband goods in a Jewish warehouse. The
results of the fray were a few bruised Jews and several broken rifles.
The local police and military authorities seized this opportunity to
ingratiate themselves with their superiors, and reported to the governor
of Moghilev and the commander of the garrison that the Jews had
organized a "mutiny." The local informer, Arye Briskin, a converted Jew,
found this incident an equally convenient occasion to wreak vengeance on
his former coreligionists for the contempt in which he was held by them,
and allowed himself to be taken into tow by the official Jew-baiters.

In January, 1844, alarming communications concerning a "Jewish mutiny"
reached St. Petersburg. The matter was reported to the Tzar, and a swift
and curt resolution followed: "To court-martial the principal culprits
implicated in this incident, and, in the meantime, as a punishment for
the turbulent demeanor of the Jews of that city, to take from them one
recruit for every ten men." Once more the principles of that period were
applied: one for all; first punishment, then trial.

The ukase arrived in Mstislavl on the eve of Purim, and threw the Jews
into consternation. During the Fast of Esther the synagogues resounded
with wailing. The city was in a state of terror: the most prominent
leaders of the community were thrown into jail, and had to submit to
disfigurement by having half of their heads and beards shaved off. The
penal recruits were hunted down, without any regard to age, since,
according to the Tzar's resolution, a tenth of the population had to be
impressed into military service. Pending the termination of the trial,
no Jew was allowed to leave the city, while natives from Mstislavl in
other places were captured and conveyed to their native town. A large
Jewish community was threatened with complete annihilation.

The Jews of Mstislavl, through their spokesmen, petitioned St.
Petersburg to wait with the penal conscription until the conclusion of
the trial, and endeavored to convince the central Government that the
local administration had misrepresented the character of the incident.
To save his brethren, the popular champion of the interests of his
people, the merchant Isaac Zelikin, of Monastyrchina, [1] called
affectionately R