accusation. When early death cut short the abbé's effort (1832), the
Government, still persisting in its plans, engaged the services of
Ephraim Moses Pinner of Posen, who published specimens of his intended
translation in his _Compendium_ (Berlin, 1831). But the fickle or
restless emperor seems to have tired of the plan, or perhaps he found
Pinner too Jewish for his purposes. Of the twenty-eight volumes planned,
only one, which was dedicated to Nicholas, appeared during the decade
following Chiarini's death, and the work was abandoned entirely.[39]

The crusade against the Talmud, thus headed and backed by the
Government, now broke out in all its fury. Anti-Talmudic works in
English, French, and German were imported into Russia, translated into
Hebrew, and scattered among the people. _The Old Paths_, by Alexander
McCaul, a countryman and colleague of Lewis Way, but surpassing him in
zeal for the conversion of Jews, was translated into Hebrew and German
(Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1839) for the edification of those who knew no
English. Jews themselves, either out of revenge or because they sought
to ingratiate themselves with the high authorities, joined the movement,
and openly came out against the Talmud in works modelled after
Eisenmenger's _Entdecktes Judenthum_. Such were Buchner, author of
_Worthlessness of the Talmud_ (_Der Talmud in seiner Nichtigkeit_, 2
vols., Warsaw, 1848), and Temkin, who wrote _The Straight Road_ (_Derek
Selulah_, St. Petersburg, 1835). The former was instructor in Hebrew and
Holy Writ in the rabbinical seminary in Warsaw; the latter was a zealous
convert to the Greek Catholic faith, who spared no effort to make
Judaism disliked among his former coreligionists.

All these desperate attempts proved of no avail. Judaism was practiced,
and the Talmud was studied during the reign of Nicholas I more ardently
than ever before. Their sacred treasures attacked by the Government