Altogether there were sixteen such commissions: one in each of the fifteen governments of the Pale of Settlement--exclusive of the Kingdom of Poland--and one in the government of Kharkov.

The commissions were granted a term of two months within which to complete their labors and present the results to the Minister.
The sessions of all these "gubernatorial commissions" [1] took place simultaneously during the months of September and October.
[Footnote 1: In Russian, _Gubernskiya Kommissit_, literally, "Government Commissions," using "Government" in the sense of "Province."] The prisoner at the bar was the Jewish people which was tried on the charges contained in the official bill of indictment--the imperial ukase as supplemented and interpreted in the ministerial circular.

A well-informed contemporary gives the following description of these sessions in an official memorandum: The first session of each commission began with the reading of the ministerial circular of August 25.

The reading invariably produced a strong effect in two different directions: on the members from among the peasantry and on those from among the Jews.

The former became convinced of the hostile attitude of the Government towards the Jewish population and of their leniency towards the instigators of the disorders, which, according to an assertion made in Ignatyev's circular, were due exclusively to the Jewish exploitation of the original inhabitants.