to support them when they are workless; more wealthy people should come here.” And _Haham_ Algazi discusses the question of the special _Rabbinical_ rules concerning the right of the community to inherit the property of rich Jews who die in Palestine leaving relatives in other countries. “It is not the community,” says the learned _Rabbi_, “it is the whole of _Israel_ which is the ♦inheritor in this way.... Our people, so long scattered, oppressed, and trodden down, and wonderful from the beginning till now, should never despair. Israel is not deserted,” he says in another passage. The aspirations of an ancient people, as he knew, do not depend on the intrigues and adventures of _Pashas_, and will outlive all these passing incidents. ¹ A Settlement. ♦ “iheritor” replaced with “inheritor” CHAPTER XV. NAPOLEON’S _SANHEDRIN_ The “_Sanhedrin_”――R. David Sintzheim――M. S. Asser――Moses Leman――Juda Litvak――Michael Berr――Lipman Cerf-Berr――The Decisions and Declarations――Napoleon I. and the Jews. MEANWHILE circumstances had undergone a material change, and eight years after the failure of the Syrian Campaign and the Appeal to the Jews of Asia and Africa, Bonaparte, now Napoleon I., issued an order to convene a Jewish “_Sanhedrin_” in Paris (1807). This came as a joyous surprise to the Jewish nation. The “Great _Sanhedrin_,” a feature of the ancient Jewish Government which had perished together with the Second Temple, and which alone had been endowed with unlimited religious authority in _Israel_, was to be revived in modern times, in the centre of civilized Europe, for the purpose of ♦making decisions which would command indisputable recognition on the part of Jews in all countries and throughout all centuries. “A great event,” wrote one of the leading Jews of that time, “is about to take place, one which through a long series of centuries our fathers, and even we in our own times, never expected to see, and which has now appeared before the eyes of the astonished world. The 20th of October (1807) has been fixed as the date of the Great _Sanhedrin_ in the capital of one of the most powerful Christian nations, and under the protection of the great Prince who rules over it. Paris will thus show to the world a remarkable scene, and this memorable event will open to the dispersed remnants of the descendants of _Abraham_ a period of deliverance and prosperity.” ♦ “taking” replaced with “making” Illustration: GRAND SANHÉDRIN Convoqué à Paris par ordre de Napoléon-le-Grand, 1807 _Damame de Martrait, del. et Sculpt._ _From an aquatint printed in colours lent by Israel Solomons_