-36 
Sanhedrin, on the eighth day; after this 
last report; it shall be immediately pro- 
ceeded swith, by nominal appeal (appel 
romna), There shall never be any dis- 
cussions in the Grand Sanhedrim. 
This appel nominal, by the next regu- 
lation, is explained. Every member is 
called on by name, and answers Yes, or 
No. One of the secretaries notes down 
the aiirmative votes; and the other, the 
negatives. The two notes are then pre- 
Seated to the chief, who counts them, 
and proclaims the decision of the Grand 
Sanhedrim by the absolute majority of 
voices. 
In the hall of the Grand Sanhedrim the 
“assembly is to form a semicircie. The 
members shall be placed according to 
their ages; the eldest shall be seated on 
the leit of the chief, and so of the rest. 
This semi-circle was the custom of anti- 
guity, and thus formerly the Sanhedrim 
was formed, and its members placed. 
__ The Sanhedrim shall not deliberate if 
sixty members, at least, are not present 
at the sitting. 
First Meeting. 
».On the 9th of February, 1807, was 
held their first meeting. The minister 
of the interior had anpoiated the chief 
of the Sanhedrim, and the other officers. 
The rabbin Sintzheim, the chief of the 
Sanhedrim, had composed an exhorta- 
tion, which ‘was read in French by one 
of the committee of nine. Of this ad- 
dress the following are extracts : 
** Doctors of the law, and sages of 
Israel, the holy ark, beaten by ages 
of storm, at length ceases te be agitated. 
The elect of the Lord conjured the tem- 
pest, and the ark has entered into its 
haven. O, Israel, dry thy tears; thy 
God has looked on thee, and, touched by 
thy misery, he has renewed his alliance. 
Thanks be rendered to the hero, ever to 
be renowned, whochains the human pas- 
sions while he confounds the pride of na- 
tions. He elevates the humble, he hu- 
miliates the haughty; a sensible image 
of the Divinity, which pleases itself by 
confounding the vanity ef men. Miunis- 
ter of eternal justice, all mankind are 
équal before him; their rights are eter- 
nai. 
“« Contemplating on this supreme coun- 
cil, my imagination bounds backwards 
ever thousands of ages. I am borne 
away to the era of its mstitution, and 
my heart beats with a certain emotion, 
which, doubtless, you participate with 
me! 
“ Doctors, and sages of Israel! broken 
x 
On the tate Ensiallation of a Grand 
[ Aug. 1, 
as ye are by the long attrition of the most 
cruel intelerance, who of us has hoped to 
see so strange a miracle succeed to such 
long, and to so many, troubles 
“‘ Contident in the mercy of the God 
of Israel, we shall render ourselves wor- 
thy of the powerful protection of our 
sovereign, and of the confidence of all 
our co-religionists (corel.gionaires }, who 
have their eves coustantiy fixedon us. 
““ T humble myself before God, I 
humble myself before man, when I con- 
sider the vast weight imposed on me. 
The particular favour of the Thrice Holy 
can alone carry me to the close of my 
career. Pure intentions, rectitude of 
heart, and the desire of performing good, 
can alone render us agreeable to God, 
and the hero who has broken our chains.” 
Before I enter into an account of 
the doctrinal subjects agitated. in this 
convocation, it is necessary to notice 
some parts of the preamble to their de- 
crecs. It is wellknown that the children 
of Israel, in the due performance of their 
rites and ceremonies, have found an un- 
conquerable difficulty to preserve them, 
and at the same ume to mingle witk their 
Christian fellow-subjects. Their politi- 
cal situation, therefore, has always been 
at variance with their religious disposi- 
tions. Llow are they to conciliate the 
irreconcilable? This. ditiiculty, after 
having existed nearly two thousand 
years, the Parisian Sanhedrim has not 
considered as such. By the simple prin- 
ciple, that part of the laws of Moses are 
a political institution, they get rid of 
their ritual, which, like a rock, divided 
them trom Christians; and by consent- 
ing to acknowledge, “that the supreme 
Jaw is the law of the state in which they 
reside,’ they aunihilate, by this conveni- 
ent invention, whatever they think pro- 
per. But it is the creed of the Jew that 
his laws. are imprescriptble, and im- 
possible to alter, since the Pentateuch 
was the inspiration of the Divinity, by 
his servant Moses. This belief is’ 
grounded on this precept, Deut. c. xvii, 
v. 11. “ Thou shalt not depart frem- the 
thing which they shail teil thee, right or 
left?” 
We are informed by this preamble: 
that their dogmas may be conciliated 
with the civil laws, under which they live, 
and do not separate the Jew from the 
society of other men: 
That the divine law, the precious in- 
heritance of their ancestors, contains re- 
figious ordinances and political ordi- 
Nancess 
That 
