[217] Luke xxiii. 34. [218] Sir G. Jessel would not present to a living, which was in his patronage as Master of the Rolls, on the very grounds here alleged—that he had nothing to do, and ought to have nothing to do, with the Christian Church. No doubt, in the present anomalous state of things, questions relative to the Church might be brought before Parliament with which no Jew could with any propriety interfere. But if he is to be excluded on that ground, then all but genuine members of the Church ought to be excluded also. CHAPTER XLII. A.D. 1800-1885. THE JEWS IN FRANCE, ITALY, AND GERMANY. We hear no more of the Jews in France, after the relief granted them by the Republican Government, until 1806; when Napoleon, who by his victory at Austerlitz had obtained almost undisputed supremacy in Europe, was arranging his schemes for carrying out that darling dream of his imagination, the Continental system. Few men were keener or more far-sighted than Napoleon. It cannot be doubted that he saw the great value which the cordial co-operation of the Jews would be to him, if he could only obtain it. Their secret but widespread system of mutual intercommunication,[219] their wealth, their intelligence, their perfect mastery of the principles of commerce, would greatly facilitate the designs he contemplated. It is probable that even then he meditated the resuscitation of the Kingdom of Poland, as a formidable opponent to Russia; and the vast number of Jews to be found in those countries rendered their goodwill of the utmost importance to the success of such a scheme. He convoked a meeting of Jews in Paris, which, to gratify their national sentiment, he called a Sanhedrin, and submitted to it twelve questions,[220] mainly relating to their social life and position in France. It had the effect, as he doubtless had anticipated, of drawing forth an assurance of their appreciation of the privileges of French citizenship, and their warm affection for their native land, as they designated France. The Imperial Government professed itself satisfied with the reply. A second Sanhedrin was summoned, at which foreign Jews were invited to attend, and a kind of constitution framed, by which it was hoped that the Jews everywhere throughout Europe would be bound. It was ratified by an imperial edict, and was, on the whole, extremely favourable to them. It took effect in France and all countries to which Napoleon’s authority extended, though in some parts, as Alsace, concessions were made to popular prejudice, and the privileges of the Jews curtailed. The effect was soon seen in the purchase of estates by Jewish proprietors, the employment of Jewish capital in manufactures, and the participation of the Jews generally in national schemes of foreign and domestic policy.[221] At the Revolution of 1830 the most complete equality of citizenship was