After the proclamation issued by Cyrus, the mass of the Jewish people still remained in Babylon. All told, only forty-two thousand men, women and children took advantage of the king’s proclamation and followed Ezra back to Zion, the land of their fathers. But that handful of Zionists and their descendants, because living on their own soil, changed the entire future of mankind. They edited and collected the Prophets, wrote some of the fairest portions of the Scriptures, formed the canon of the Bible, and gave the world its monotheistic religions. Now, as then, שאר ישוב “A remnant shall return.” But now, as then, it was the national rejuvenation of that remnant that is to open a new chapter in the annals of the human spirit. Difficulties? Of course there were difficulties. The task of laying the foundations of a new Israel must be one of long toil and severe trial. But a people that for twenty-five centuries had stood victoriously against the storm of time, possessed vitality enough, patience enough, idealism enough, with the help of God, to rise to the level of this unique, world-historic opportunity. Lieut.-Colonel Sir Mark Sykes, Bart., M.P., said: “My lords, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to say, before I say one other word, that the reason I am interested in this movement is that I met one some two years ago who is now upon this platform, and who opened my eyes as to what this movement meant. He is on the list of speakers; you will hear him presently; his name is known to most in the records of Zionism: I mean Dr. Gaster. I speak as one from without, as a watcher, but I feel, as everyone present must feel, that this meeting here to-day marks not a turning-point in the history of your own race, but I think certainly a turning-point in the history of the whole world. When one thinks of the years that have passed, of the immense spaces of history which stand between what was――and now is――promised, one is truly dazzled by the possibilities and prospects which open before us. I see, speaking to you as a watcher――now you, in a sense, are perhaps watchers also――perhaps you see something, perhaps you see three nations stricken with plague, cumbered with ruin, and Europe a welter of blood. Perhaps you see these three nations, and you realize that it may be your destiny to be a bridge between Asia and Europe, to bring the spirituality of Asia to Europe, and the vitality of Europe to Asia. That I firmly believe is the mission of Zionism. I see here something which is greater than a dream or a League of Nations. It is a league of continents, a league of races, and finally a league of ideals. That is a great vision. That is what I believe lies before you, but no one present realizes more than I do――I know the ground, some of it――and boldly I dare to say that there lie before you dangers, difficulties, possibly obstructions, but, ladies and gentlemen, your time of probation has been long, you are schooled in adversity, you can look to