the
lot of the Russian Jew at heart, it may be said the eyes of the
civilized world, were fixed upon him as an epoch-maker in the history of
the Jews. Nature had formed him, physically and mentally, to be a leader
among his people, and his training and temperament made it easy for him
to ingratiate himself into the favor of the great. It seemed that he was
just the man to be the successful executor of the czar's plan.

The Maskilim, above all, hailed him as the champion of the cause of
Haskalah. He was their Moses or Ezra, the God-sent redeemer of their
benighted brethren out of the quagmire of fanaticism. From various
cities numerous urgent appeals came to him to hasten the execution of
his great plan. Wherever he went, he was enthusiastically received, a
truly royal welcome was extended to him. The Vilna community
appropriated five thousand rubles for the school fund, and pledged
itself to raise more if it were found necessary; and he was invited also
to Minsk by the kahal of the city.

Unfortunately, Lilienthal's tactics exposed him to suspicion, and the
seed of discord was soon sown between him and his former admirers. He
tried to serve two masters, the czar and the Jews, and he alienated
both. The pious regarded him as a mere tool in the hands of the
Government, for, they maintained, _education without emancipation leads
to conversion_. The enlightened element also lost confidence in one who,
instead of boldly attacking superstition, preferred, while in Minsk, to
identify himself not only with the Mitnaggedim, but even with the
Hasidim. He was also too headstrong and too vain of his achievements.
Benjamin Mandelstamm, who, as he tell us in his letters, considered
Lilienthal "as wise as Solomon and as enterprising as Moses," complains
a little later of his arrogance, and at the last speaks of him with
contempt. His assumed superiority grieved the Maskilim, and their former
enthusiasm was rapidly replaced by hatred and persecution. He found it
necessary to put himself under the protection of the police while in
Minsk, and when he returned to Vilna his reception was far less hearty
than it had been before.

In order to regain the confidence of the Russian Jews, Lilienthal
obtained a permit from the Minister of Education to call an assembly of
prominent Jews at St. Petersburg, to decide for themselves how to better
the condition of the existing schools and to consider the practicability
of establishing rabbinical s