deceased relations or friends, can do so by paying a certain sum, according to his means, to have them inscribed as perpetual members. "18. Each member to pay an entrance fee of not less than Is. 6d., one-third of which fee must be paid at the time of entrance. "19. This third part will be used to meet the expenses of stationery, printing, advertising, rent of lecture hall, management, &c., and for the assistance of those persons preparing themselves for agriculture. "20. Each member agrees to pay a certain voluntary contribution towards the funds of the society, which sum has to be paid to the committee every for which he will receive a receipt. "21. A public meeting will be held every n when the names of the members and the amount of their contributions will be published. "22. General meetings will be held three times during the year, at such time and place as the monthly meetings shall appoint. 23. Admission of non-members to the monthly meetings by ticket, to be had gratis. '24. None but members will be allowed to address the meeting. Non-members can submit any question in writing, which will be communicated, and if necessary discussed at the meeting. "25. To explain and to illustrate the principles of the society, lectures will be delivered every Sabbath in the hall of the society, to which members have free admission, non-members by ticket, sold for the benefit of the society. "The land will be divided by ballot, for which members of the first class only are qualified. For assistance and for instruction every member of six months standing, in the first and second class, has a claim. "Members who shall have obtained a plot of land and should not desire to emigrate, can convey the same to another person, provided he be qualified as described in Rule 2."1 .The Hebrew National כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל : A weekly Journal [Edited by Herschel Filipowski] . . . London., vol. i., No. 2, Feb. 22nd, 1867, pp. 29-30. ... An appeal from this Society "By order of the Committee, E. I. Polak, Secretary (pro tem.)," appeared in a specimen of a unique newspaper lent to me by Mr. James H. Lowe, entitled: "Y YUD"¶ """ London Jews' Weekly Times, No. 4, 31st May =26 Iyar, but the year is omitted. The advertisements were printed, but the news was lithographed. The offices were situated at 4 Sun street, and the paper was published by Harris Leyserowich of No. 3 Sweedland Court, Bishopsgate Street, City. "THE disquieting circumstances in which Europe finds itself should not let us forget that the Eastern question, which has already troubled the Governments and peoples, may speedily reappear and complicate a position grave enough in itself. Instinctively every one feels that the day when this question will call for a definite solution, all Europe will perhaps be in inextricable difficulties. "Diplomatic difficulties can only end in barren expedients, but the present, which is averse to a system of forcible conquest by fire and sword, has a much more powerful weapon at its disposal-that of pacific conquest by civilization. What is therefore to be done in order to prevent grave complications, and regenerate the East by rousing its vital forces and infusing into it the spirit of Western civilization? "One of the most powerful means would be the formation of a large society, having an eminently international character, and which would have thereby the merit of reconciling the particular interests of the several European Powers with those of civilization. This Society would open for the West new and abundant sources of wealth: it would become for the East an efficient means of moral regeneration: and lastly would be for all nations co-operating in the matter a great honour and a great profit. "The following is the manner in which such an association may be presented to the European public: 'Objects of the Eastern International Society : "To promote the development of agriculture, industry, commerce, and public works in the East, and especially in Palestine. To obtain from the Turkish Government privileges and monopolies, whether in Constantinople or the rest of the Empire: notably the concession and the gradual abandonment of the soil of Palestine. To distribute for pecuniary considerations such portions of the land, the concession whereof might have been acquired or received by the Company, and to colonize the more fertile valleys of the Holy Land. "The Turkish Empire contains virtues of all kinds, which, if they were utilized by a powerful company, would yield considerable results; but the Porte neither possesses the resources nor the necessary forces in order to create and lead to a favourable issue the works of public utility, which the internal development of the Ottoman Empire so urgently demands: left to her own resources she can neither augment her revenues nor form new ones, she is unable to give energetic support to either agriculture or industry, which are the only means of increasing public wealth and prosperity. "It is therefore for the West, which possesses the capital and where the creative forces are superabundant, to turn to an account the real advantages presented by Turkey, and to take in hand a work capable of yielding excellent results. Skilfully conducted, operations in this new country bring in a very high interest: but new combinations must be devised, which should enjoy both the approval of the European Powers, and the support of the Sultan's Porte. Therefore, in order not to weaken its forces, the Society must utilize certain special circumstances in which Turkey is now placed, and Palestine offers itself at first sight to the mind as the earliest field of activity. "Palestine, as known, only wants human labour in order to produce abundantly: it is one of the most remarkable and fruitful countries on the globe: products of all latitudes are to be met with there, and emigrants from Europe find there the climate of their country. Commerce and private industry completing the work of agriculture, will draw hither in numbers merchants, colonists and capitalists. This resurrection of the East, uniting with the new rise of religious sentiment, will be aided by the co-operation of Israelites, whose valuable qualities and remarkable aptitudes cannot but prove very advantageous to Palestine. "Having established commercial undertakings at Constantinople and other cities of the Turkish Empire, the Society will construct at Jaffa a port and a good road, a railway from this city to Jerusalem. The territory through which the railway runs should be granted by Turkey to the Society, which might sell it to Israelitish families. These in their turn would create colonies and make them prosperous, with the help and the labour of those of their Eastern brethren whose love for their ancient country has maintained itself as ardently as formerly. Special committees might at their cost send Israelitish emigrants from Morocco, Poland, Moldavia, Wallachia, the East, Africa, etc. "The result pursued and obtained by the Society by means of a sincere international understanding, the co-operation of those interested in Turkey, and the establishment of Western populations in Palestine, will infallibly be in a less distant future than might be imagined. "The reconstruction of Holy Places at Jerusalem, which might be carried out internationally, and in a manner worthy of Christendom: the end of conflicts which are being incessantly renewed between the Great Powers on account of the Holy Places the transformation of ancient Jerusalem into a new city which shall rival in importance the finest cities in the West: the creation of European colonies which in time will become centres when Western civilization will spread into Turkey and penetrate the extreme East. "Under the nominal suzerainty of the Sultan the Society will administer with intelligence and equity the territories that might develop upon it. Thus India has long been administered and governed by an English company. The Sultan, grateful for the financial support which will be given to him, might, perhaps, grant to the Holy Land a special administration, which, under the high direction of the Porte, would offer real security to the populations that might repair thither, and guarantees for the funds that might be employed there. Thanks to this combination, which would procure for her valuable resources, Turkey would not be obliged to contract new loans in order to pay the interest on previous ones. "The rising colonies might diplomatically be neutralized, like Switzerland, and by a treaty which would have some analogy to the Convention signed at Geneva in favour of the amboulance, sanitary bodies, and wounded soldiers. It would not, moreover, be so difficult to neutralize Palestine by an agreement among the Powers, since there exists a remarkable precedent, which is the neutralization of the Lower Danube officially obtained from the Seven Powers, who signed the treaty at Paris. Now the Commission of the Lower Danube has created its flag and a small fleet, it possesses a numerous staff and revenues: it actually seeks to contract a loan, the same as an independent state. "In order to prepare the organization of an International Eastern Society, it is necessary that the minds should be induced to occupy themselves with these great and interesting questions. It is indispensable for this purpose to form a committee composed of influential and honourable men of different nations and different opinions, having at heart the success of these views in the general interest. For the rest the elements of such a committee are quite clear. "Its programme, at the same time economic, humanitarian, scientific, etc., is also international: it cannot hurt the susceptibilities of any nation. Influential men in France, England, and elsewhere are favourably disposed to the scheme."1 1 Société Nationale Universelle pour la Renouvellement de l'Orient [Henri Dunant] Paris... 1866. LXIX AN APPEAL OF RABBI ELIAS GUTMACHER AND RABBI HIRSCH KALISCHER TO THE JEWS OF ENGLAND (1867) Appeal to Our Brethren THOU shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall eat them as common things. Jeremiah, chap. xxxi. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land. Ezekiel xxxiv. Hear ye generous people, learn ye who take an interest in holy matters, show your tender feelings towards our brethren in the holy land! Think of the abandoned, devastated, sacred soil. Thus voices and signs urgently warn you, pointing out to you that the time long ago vouchsafed has arrived to render them effectual help. Destructive epidemic diseases and famine ravage in that land in the same awful way this year as they did in the past one and your ever so abundantly flowing gifts and donations are not efficient to alleviate the misery, to satiate the hunger; upon us the needy cast their looks and crave for relief. But there is only one way, one remedy to prevent a recurrence of such distress, and that is colonization, cultivation and improvements of the Palestine soil. This proposal, suggested already many years ago, urges now more than ever upon final realization, the soil must be redeemed. The society," Alliance Israélite," in Paris, so great in its activity, at the head of which M. Adolphe Crémieux stands as president, has declared itself in favor of this idea and promised its own assistance and interference (sic) elsewhere, to accomplish the object, as we have seen from that society's recently published half-yearly report. A letter Sir Moses Montefiore addressed to us after his safe return from Palestine states that the idea has been approved of there also. Sir Moses in the same letter says that from Zephat alone sixty Jewish families addressed to him personally the fervent prayer for a grant of land for agricultural purposes. That the hard tried Israelitish inhabitants of Schabatz in Servia have declared themselves ready to emigrate for the purpose of cultivating the Palestine soil, is known to us already, through the medium of Hebrew periodicals.-To realize the idea in question, money must be raised before anything can be done: the funds in hand are not sufficient, the number of Subscribers must increase, and the subscriptions be permanent. The leaders of congregations should take the matter in hand and every member of a congregation in good circumstances ought to join the society, with a yearly contribution of two Thalers (six shillings), by which |