Babylonians, the Persians, and how under the leadership of Maccabeus they once more became a nation, only to fall into the hands of the Romans.

History tells us how they revolted again and again under the Roman rule, and how at last, in the year 135 a.d., Jerusalem was taken by the Roman Emperor, and the Jews, driven from their country, ceased to be a nation, and were scattered over the face of the earth.

From the year 135 Palestine remained in the hands of the Romans, and when they became converted to Christianity this land was regarded by them with great veneration. Bethlehem of Judea, where Jesus Christ was born, is in Palestine, and Jerusalem, where He suffered death on the cross, was the capital of Judea.

In the sixth century Palestine fell into the hands of the Mohammedans, and it was to rescue the Holy City from the hands of unbelievers that the Christians of Europe first undertook those long and terrible wars which are known in history as the Crusades.

The Christians finally conquered Jerusalem, and established a Christian kingdom there which lasted for eighty years, when the celebrated Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, reconquered the Holy City.

Since that time Palestine has been in the hands of the Mohammedans, and in the year 1517 it was finally added to the Turkish Empire.

The present idea of the Jewish people is to purchase Palestine from the Sultan of Turkey and re-settle the Hebrews there.

A Hebrew Congress has just been held in Basle, Switzerland, for the purpose of discussing this matter.

On the second day of the Congress a resolution was offered that a home be created in Palestine for the Jewish people, and that the consent and assistance of the Powers be asked to the plan.

The resolution was instantly adopted, amid the greatest excitement and enthusiasm.

Little more business was done that day. The people present were so excited with the hope of becoming a nation once more that they could not bring their minds to consider any less important subject.

The next day, however, the Congress settled itself to a business-like consideration of the plan. It was resolved to treat with the Sultan of Turkey for the purchase of Palestine, and a committee was formed to collect funds for that object, it being considered desirable to raise fifty million dollars as speedily as possible.

The idea of recolonizing Palestine is not a new one. In 1840 the generous Sir Moses Montefiore endeavored to start the scheme. Since his day several other attempts have been made.

In 1878 some Jews in Jerusalem founded the first colony there, and through the assistance of Baron Edmond de Rothschild, and of a Jewish society in Paris, there are already five thousand Hebrews settled in Palestine. They have a tract of land about six square miles in extent, and have it in excellent cultivation, producing among other things an excellent vintage of Bordeaux, which is a high grade of claret.

The present plan originated with Dr. Theodor Herzl of Vienna. He is a literary man whose work is well known in Austria, and he is considered well fitted to be the leader of this great movement.

Dr. Herzl says that he does not think there will be much difficulty in making terms with the Sultan.

He visited Constantinople last year, and had two long conversations with the Grand Vizier on the subject. While this minister did not answer Yes or No to his project, Dr. Herzl says that he can but feel that the Sultan was favorably impressed by it, as he sent him a decoration.

A "decoration" is a badge or emblem, such as a cross, star, flower, or the like, which is bestowed by a sovereign as a special mark of favor or in recognition of some great service. Medals received for bravery on the field of battle are decorations.

Some of these decorations, or orders, as they are also called, are extremely beautiful in workmanship and design. Each country has its own special orders, a certain few of which are only bestowed on royalty, or persons of very high rank.

Decorations are intended to be worn on the left breast. To attach them to the clothing they are threaded on a ribbon which varies in color and design for every order. In Europe, medals and orders are only worn on full-dress occasions, but for ordinary use the proud owners of these marks of distinction will wear a small strip of ribbon belonging to the order.

These favors are not, as a rule, lightly bestowed, and the possessors of the important European orders are rightfully proud of them.

The decorating of Dr. Herzl may have been nothing more than amiability on the part of the Sultan, but it certainly showed that his Majesty was not displeased with the doctor's mission.

The leaders of this new movement are not, however, pinning all their faith on the Sultan.

If it becomes impossible to secure Palestine they will treat for a tract of land in some healthy part of South America.

The land once secured, it is the intention to send a number of the poorer Jews out to it.

These men are to be drawn from the laboring classes, and it is to be their work to lay out streets, build bridges and railroads, etc., and generally prepare the way for those who are to follow.

It is not intended to make any class distinctions of rich or poor, or to send out a class of rich persons to profit by the work done for them by their less fortunate brothers. The leaders of the movement will lay out extensive works in the various kinds of building that we have mentioned, and it is expected that the business these works will create will attract settlers to the new country, who will start up foundries and factories. It is the intention to furnish the colony with all the latest improvements and inventions, and it is but reasonable to suppose that the new land will soon become an important centre of industry.

The promoters of the scheme look for great assistance from England, and have approached Lord Salisbury in the hope of gaining his friendship.

Europe would of course have a great deal to say about the establishment of an enlightened and progressive race on the borders of the Red Sea, and the new nation could not be established without the consent of the Powers.

Russia is about building a new canal, which, when finished, will be one of the greatest works ever undertaken.

It is to connect the Baltic Sea with the Black Sea, and is to be one thousand miles in length.

It is to start from Riga on the Baltic, and run to Kherson at the mouth of the Dneiper River, where that river empties itself into the Black Sea.

The advantages of this canal will be very great.

At the present time a vessel voyaging from the Baltic to the Black Sea has to go all round Europe before it reaches its destination. Take your map and follow out the course a ship must take. It must skirt Denmark and pass into the North Sea, then go through the Straits of Dover, down the coast of France, across the Bay of Biscay, and down the coast of Portugal until the Straits of Gibraltar are reached. Here the vessel must pass into the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, and follow it along through the Grecian Archipelago, through the Dardanelles into the Sea of Marmora, and passing through the Bosporus, it at last finds itself in the Black Sea.

The time required to make such a long voyage is a great loss to merchants, and the vessel has to pass through so many narrow straits and past so many strategic points that the voyage could hardly be undertaken if Russia were at war with any foreign nation.

The canal is to be 213 feet wide at the surface, 115 feet at the base, and to have a depth of 27 feet.

It should, therefore, be a very fine canal.

Germany and the United States are both very pleased about this great work, for both nations see in it an opportunity to sell their iron and steel manufactures.

The Czar of Russia has