Petersburg.[29]
Had Alexander I been satisfied with merely restricting the Jews' rights,
the favorable attitude towards enlightenment we have noticed above would
probably have remained unaltered. Unfortunately, Alexander became a
fanatic conversionist. It was a time when missionary zeal became
endemic, and Baroness Kruedener's influence was strengthened. The
Reverend Lewis Way, having founded (1808) the London Society for
Promoting Christianity among the Jews, made a tour through Europe,
everywhere urging the Gentiles to enfranchise the Jews as an inducement
to them to embrace Christianity, the only means of hastening the advent
of the Apostolic millennium. His _Memoires sur l'etat des israelites_
presented to the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle (October 11, 1818) and his
visit to Russia resulted in an imperial ukase (March 25, 1817)
organizing a Committee of Guardians for Israelitish Christians
(Izrailskiye Christyanye). The members of this association were to be
granted land in the northern or southern provinces of Russia and to
enjoy special privileges. The bait proved tempting, and, as a
consequence, some prominent Maskilim, too weak to resist the
allurements, precipitated themselves into the Greek Catholic fold.
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