[150] [See above, p. 46, n. 1, and p. 60, n. 1.] [151] [More exactly, _faktor_, Polish designation for broker, agent, and general utility man.] [152] [Popular Polish form of the Jewish name _Baer_.] [153] The last order was subsequently repealed. [154] [See p. 55.] [155] [See pp. 164 and 165.] [156] According to another version, he expressed his willingness to embrace Christianity in order to escape death, but afterwards repented. [157] [In Podolia.] [158] [In the province of Kiev.] [159] [In Volhynia.] [160] [Near Lublin.] [161] Another variant of the name is _Jelek_. [The latter form is declared to be incorrect by A. Berliner, _Gutachten Ganganelli's_ (Berlin, 1888), p. 41.] [162] Of all the accusations of this kind, the Cardinal recognizes the correctness of only two, the murder of Simon of Trent in 1475 and of Andreas of Brixen in 1462, adding, however, that even their death was not caused by the legendary Jewish ritual, but simply by Jewish "hatred against the Christians." [163] [See p. 78.] [164] [See p. 143, n. 2.] [165] [A word of uncertain origin meaning "rebel" or "rioter." See p. 149.] [166] [A town in Podolia.] [167] [See p. 142, n. 1.] [168] [See p. 320, n. 2.] [169] [Pronounced _Ooman̄_, with a soft sound at the end. In Polish the name is spelled _Humań_.] [170] According to the Polish census of 1764-1766 the number of Jews in Poland and Lithuania amounted during those years, on the eve of the partitions, to 621,000 souls. CHAPTER VI THE INNER LIFE OF POLISH JEWRY DURING THE PERIOD OF DECLINE 1. JEWISH SELF-GOVERNMENT The fact that the Jews of Poland, despite the general disintegration of the country, where right was supplanted by privilege and liberty by license, were yet able to hold their own as an organized social unit, was principally due to that vast scheme of communal self-government which had become an integral part of Polish-Jewish life during the preceding period. Surrounded by enemies, ostracized by all other estates and social groups, Polish Jewry, guided by the instinct of self-preservation, endeavored to close its ranks and gather sufficient inner strength to offer effective resistance to the hostile non-Jewish world. One of the appeals issued in 1676 by the central organ of Polish Jewry, the "Council of the Four Lands," begins with these characteristic words: Gravely have we sinned before the Lord. The unrest grows from day to day. It becomes more and more difficult to live. Our people has no standing whatsoever among the nations. Indeed, it is a miracle that in spite of all misfortunes we are still alive. The only thing left for us to do is to unite ourselves in one league, held together by the spirit of strict obedience to the commandments of God and to the precepts of our pious teachers and leaders.