THE various projects and suggestions discussed above fell far short of real Zionism, although some of them were permeated with Zionist ideals. Between the Restoration of _Israel_ preached by Christians and that advocated by national Jews, between theological combinations and rational organized work, lie innumerable intermediate phases. And each phase may be said to furnish a certain kind of evidence of the changes undergone by public opinion towards the Zionist idea. Often enough, indeed, the attitude of the public mind is one that eludes rigid classification. Yet, while the currents of ideas and imaginations crossed and recrossed, joined and interlinked one with another, two alternating tendencies were plainly apparent even to the least practical observer: the _philanthropic_ and the _national_. The philanthropic tendency had undoubtedly as its _raison d’être_ the plan of settling small groups of Jewish agriculturists in Palestine. A succession of experiments in this kind of work was necessary. Just as, for instance, vegetable products have been introduced into a country by a single individual, the recognition of their utility being sufficient to induce the inhabitants to take advantage of the novelty, so the establishment of small settlements in Palestine might be expected to lead to imitation and consequent further development. But at the same time, even if the results of these experiments remained for years much less extensive than might be desired, and instead of thousands of Jews only hundreds settled on the land, it would still be too much to assert that the first societies had failed to fulfil their legitimate purpose. It was not unimportant to have made a beginning, and to have sown even a few scattered seeds, which during a fruitful season, aided by the dew of God’s blessing, might yield an abundant harvest. If public activity to promote such plans had been as energetic as the intrinsic merits of the cause deserved, an objection on account of the insignificance of the work would have mattered but little, because a comparatively small measure of success would have been deemed of sufficient importance to counterbalance many cases of failure. It was not surprising, however, that where scepticism prevailed the results of Palestinian colonisation were not such as to silence the objections of practical people who were insufficiently inspired by the Zionist idea. The breadth of Zionist premises seemed to them out of proportion to the results which Zionists succeeded in obtaining. They ridiculed the apparent poverty of the achievement as compared with the powerful machinery which had been set in operation, the strewing of abundant seeds for the sake of reaping a few mature plants. But to the sincere supporter even a comparatively small measure of success appeared highly important, for he measured the value of that success by his eager desire for the boon of a new future.