Such instances are not calculated to
encourage Jewish parents to let their children study; and it is
but too true that many whose inclination led them to study were
carried thereby into the bosom of the Christian Church.[12]

After almost half a decade of indefatigable labor, Lilienthal finally
came to understand the Russian State policy, "to assign a plausible
reason for every act done by the Government, in order to stand justified
in the estimation of Europe, whilst they, by throwing dust in the eyes
of the public, conceal their true purpose." The laws which seemed
favorable to the Jews, and apparently aimed at promoting culture among
them, went hand in hand with laws of the most rigorous character. It is
true that the Jews were not the only unfortunates whom the fanatic
autocrat wished to Russify, that is, compel to see the pure light of
Greek Orthodoxy. But they, of course, suffered the most. The slightest
laws were enforced by the chinovniks (officials) with the knout and the
leaden lash. When the Judeo-Polish gaberdine, the long side-curls
(peot), and the wig or turban (knup) fell into disfavor with the
Government, the miserable offender caught by an officer seldom saved
himself with the mere sacrifice of knup, coat, peot, and beard. And when
the time arrived for the execution of the more important laws, such as
the Exportation Act of April 20, 1843, no fiendish ingenuity could
surpass the cruelty of the Cossacks. This ukase more than any other, it
is claimed, embittered Lilienthal against Russia, and caused him to flee
to where he could say as one awakening from a nightmare: "The horrible
hatred against the Jews in Russia is nothing more to me than a hazy
remembrance. My soul is no longer oppressed by frightful pictures of
tyranny and persecution."[13] He was in the land of the free!

The Lilienthal tragedy thus came to a premature close. The hero
disappeared at the beginning of the play. He had the potency, but he
lacked the conditions, for producing great results. His German birth and
training, the very qualities which recommended him to the Government,
operated against him when he came to deal with Russian Jews. Yet he
succeeded in giving a strong impetus to the Haskalah movement, and
builded better than he knew. The statement in his address at the
dedication of the Riga school,[14] "This hour we may call the hour of
the renaissance of the mental education of Israel," which reads like an
oratoric