XLI.

[A ZIONIST] LETTER, ADDRESSED BY A [FRENCH] JEW TO HIS CO-RELIGIONISTS IN 1798

“_Brothers_,

“You who have groaned for so many ages under the weight of the cruelest persecutions, do you not wish to burst from the state of degrading humiliation in which intolerant and barbarous religions have placed you? Contempt accompanies us everywhere. Our sufferings are unpitied and despised. The unshaken constancy with which we have preserved the faith of our ancestors, far from procuring for us the admiration due to such a conduct, has only increased the unjust hatred which all nations bear towards us. It is only by affecting the exterior of baseness and misery, that we are enabled to secure our property and preserve our unhappy existence. It is at least time to shake off this insupportable yoke――it is time to resume our rank among the other nations of the universe. Vile robbers possess that sacred land which our ancestors were compelled to yield to the Romans. They profane the holy City which we defended with so much courage. Posterity has preserved a dreadful remembrance of the struggle――we, surely, have not forgotten it. That courage has only slumbered: the hour to awaken it is arrived. O my brethren! let us rebuild the temple of Jerusalem!

“An invincible nation, which now fills the world with her glory, has shewn us what the love of country can perform. Let us implore her generosity――request her assistance; and we may be assured that the philosophy which guides the chiefs of that nation, will induce them to give our demand a favourable reception.

“We are more than six millions of people scattered over the face of the earth; we possess immense riches: let us employ the means that are in our power to restore us to our country. The moment is propitious, and to profit by it, is our duty. The following are the means best suited for carrying this holy enterprize into execution:――There shall be established a Council, the members of which shall be elected by the Jews, who are spread over Europe, Asia, and Africa.”

[Here the writer divides the Jews into the 15 following tribes, viz. The Italian, Helvetic, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Northern, British, Spanish, Gallic, Dutch, Prussian, German, Turkish, Asiatic, and African. These the author proposes shall each form a body of electors in the capitals of the respective districts; and then he proceeds.]

“The fifteen deputies of these tribes shall form the Council, which shall hold its sittings at Paris. When they shall have assembled to the number of nine, they may begin to deliberate on the object of their mission. Their decisions will have with all the Jews the force of laws; they shall be obliged to submit to them. The Council shall appoint an agent, to communicate to the Executive Directory of France the propositions which it may think proper to make to the French government.”

“The country we propose to occupy shall include (liable to such arrangements as shall be agreeable to France) Lower Egypt, with the addition of a district of country, which shall have for its limits a line running from Ptomelais or Saint John D’Acre, to the Asphaltic Lake, or Dead Sea, and from the South point of that Lake to the Red Sea. This position, which is the most advantageous in the world, will render us, by the navigation of the Red Sea, masters of the commerce of India, Arabia and the South and East of Africa; Abyssinia, and Ethiopia, those rich countries which furnished Solomon with so much gold and ivory and so many precious stones, will trade the more willingly with us, that the greater part of their inhabitants still practise the law of Moses. The neighbourhood of Aleppo and Damascus will facilitate our commerce with Persia; and by the Mediterranean we may communicate with Spain, France, Italy, and the rest of Europe. Placed in the centre of the world, our country will become the _entrepôt_ of all the rich and precious productions of the earth.

“The Council shall offer to the French government, if it will give us the assistance necessary to enable us to return to our country, and to maintain ourselves in the possession of it,

“1. Every pecuniary indemnification.

2. To share the commerce of India, &c. with the merchants of France _only_.

“The other arrangements, and the propositions to be made to the Ottoman Porte, cannot yet be rendered public: we must, in these matters, repose on the wisdom of the Council, and the good faith of the French nation. Let us choose upright and enlightened deputies, and we may have confidence in the success of this undertaking.

“O! my brethren! what sacrifices ought we not to make to obtain this object? We shall return to our country――we shall live under our own laws――we shall behold those sacred places which our ancestors illustrated with their courage and their virtues. I already see you all animated with a holy zeal. _Israelites_! the term of your misfortunes is at hand. The opportunity is favourable――take care you do not allow it to escape.”¹

¹ The Restoration of the Jews the Crisis of all Nations;...

Second Edition. By J. Bicheno, M.A. London:... 1807.... (8º. 2 _ll._ + 235 _pp._ [I. S.]) _pp._ 60‒62.

See _Appendices_ XLIII.‒XLVI.

This appeal――a prototype of Pinsker’s _Autoemancipation_ and of Herzl’s _Judenstaat_――produced a deep impression, but since the whole expedition proved a failure, Jewish opinion――not on the principle, but on the opportunity and the means――was divided.