In the meantime the Milanese movement had been assuming a more serious character. Demonstrations at the theatre, or abstentions from it, songs and other public expressions of opinion, were continually alarming the authorities. That separation, too, between the altar and the throne, to which Tommaseo had called attention, was even more marked in Milan than in Venice; and Radetzky a little later ordered his soldiers not to attend the sermons or the confessional of the Milanese clergy, "since they are our enemies." But this ferocious commander was resolved at all hazards to drive the Milanese to extremities; and he soon found an opportunity for carrying out his plans. One of the most universal forms of protest against the Government in Lombardy was the determined abstention from tobacco on the ground that it was a Government monopoly. This protest began on January 1, 1848, and it seemed at first as if it would be allowed to pass without remark. But Radetzky, in spite of the advice of Torresani, ordered his soldiers to appear in public, smoking. This order was carried out on January 2, 1848. In some parts of the town this demonstration provoked nothing but a few hisses from the crowd; but in one part, where the police and soldiers had collected in large numbers and many citizens had gathered to watch the smokers, the soldiers suddenly turned upon the crowd with their bayonets and charged them. Casati remonstrated with Torresani, but could get no redress, and was even himself assaulted by the police when he appealed to them. This, however, was merely the preliminary of Radetzky's proceedings. The following afternoon a much larger force of soldiers appeared in Milan, and every one of them was smoking. The crowd gathered as before, and was, as usual, largely composed of boys. Suddenly two of the sergeants gave a signal, and the soldiers, drawing their swords, rushed upon the crowd, wounding many boys seriously and killing an old man of seventy-four. The crowd fled at the attack; but the soldiers followed them, breaking into the shops in which they took refuge, destroying what they found there, and killing or wounding those whom they came across. In one place they broke into an inn, gave the hostess several severe wounds in the head, besides beating violently a little girl of four years old.