ng effect. The atrocious calumny that the
Jews required the blood of Christian children for their Passover rites
was poured into eager ears. For a similar accusation the early
Christians were tortured by the Romans, and in their days of prosperity
they in their turn employed it against the Jews.

The Israelites were paralyzed with terror at the fate which hung over
them. The most influential of their number waited upon the Governor, who
after much deliberation received them. He listened with well-feigned
attention, while the Jews proved that they were law-abiding and that the
accusations against them were unjust. He smiled pityingly when they had
finished, and, reminding them that they were in God's hands, dismissed
them. No further notice was taken of their appeal.

On the twenty-seventh day of April came the crisis.

In a _cabaret_, kept by a Jew named Kirsanoff, a religious dispute
arose. The matter was of small importance, but it led to a scuffle by
which a large crowd of idlers was attracted. The mob grew in numbers and
in lawlessness, and having ejected the proprietor of the shop, they
proceeded to despoil the place of its liquors. Inflamed by their copious
libations, the rioters were ripe for any excess. At this moment there
arose a ringleader, a man whom no one knew, but who had been active for
some weeks past in stirring up the neighborhood. He mounted a cask and
addressed the maddened crowd:

"My friends," he cried, "your time has come! On to the Jewish quarter!
Kill, destroy, take what you can! The Czar gives you their property."

With a rallying shout he left the inn, the crowd following close upon
his heels.

"Down with the Jews!" arose the cry, and, as the mob increased, it was
repeated by a thousand intoxicated wretches.

Then began a wild destruction of property. Shops and warehouses were
attacked and their contents carried out into the street, to be destroyed
or carried away. Costly linens and works of art, fine furniture and
articles of apparel were served alike. What was too bulky to be stolen
was carried into the street and burned. A dozen bonfires roared and
blazed in the Jewish quarter.

The Jews could no longer look passively upon this wanton destruction.
Hastily conferring, they placed themselves under the leadership of one
of their merchants, one Zoletwenski, a powerful and courageous man.
Armed with clubs and such rude weapons as were within their reach, they
hurried to the scene and a