Washington sentinel., 1899-12-23
Jewish Adaptabrlitv.
lyfhuy S quick, the Puritan.


strange land as comfortable aspos-
sible, and looked upon Babylon,
so late as 1000 A. D., as a second
land OF Israel" and apparently was
not over anxious to return to the
land Of his fathers when the oppor-
tunIty was given him. l must be
somewhat a matter OF shame to the
Christian when he realizes that,
protesting the Divine revelation OF
love as he does, his treatment,
whenever ne hal the opportunity,
Of the people to whom he owes the
whole substance oil his religion has
been one long, relentless, mercilesS
persecution. From the dawn OF
Christianity until now, the Jews
worst misiortunes have been owing
to the Christians uncompromising
hostility. We read with astonish.
ment how St. Ambrose preached
as a matter OF faith that the death
of Maximilian was a direct pun.
ishment from God for having or
dered the Christians to repair a
Jewish synagogue they had
wrecked. We see in Spain, under
the Moors, the Jews hourished and
became wealthy; and st is we'll
established fact that to them is
chiefly due-through the Arab
medlum-the preservation and
subsequent spreading OF ancient
classical literature, especially phil
osophy, in Europe"
How did Christianity repay the
debt the world owed TO the Spanish
Jews2 l suppose nothing more in
human than the proceedings ofthe
InqUisition in Spain can be imag-
ined; it IS too painful to. dwell on,
but the point to be noted is-the
Jew survives the Inquisition. The
conclusion one comes to, Teluc-
tantly, is that Christianity has al
ways been and now is afraid Of
the Jew. 1t is not matter OF prin,
ciple, but a matter OF instinct, and
is Just as much alive now as 1t was
in medieval Spain, this hatred OF
the lew, which is liable to re suit IN
bloodshed at any moment No
one with the DreYtus case still in
his mind can deny the existence OF
this "anti Semitismus," :" or Juden-
hetz; but EnglishmeD, as a rule,
never trouble to think whether
there may be a rational basis for
this mania, but condemn it as a
disease Of the mind to which for
eigners are peculiarly subjec
Has the Frenchman or the Russian
any cause for alarm7 or is It mere
spltefulness or enVy7 1t is we'll to
bear in mind that the Jews were
seven ceaturies in Spain before the
Christians turned on them. The
Jews have not been absolutely on
the SANG footing as Englishmen in
England for seventy years, and
already the scientific sociolo.
gist sees distinct sigus Of an anti
Semitic feeling gaining ground
every daV.
1t must be remembered that in
the Spanish exodus 900, 900 Jews
left Spain, but were not allowed by
"law" to remove any property.
About 200, 900 were forced into
the Christian Church, and saved
their lives by very heavy fines.
That brings up the total to consid-
erably more than half a million.
The number slaughtered was pro-
diPious-we read OF $50 being
burned in one year in the city OF
Seville alone. Considering the
magnificent services to civilization
that the Spanish Jew rendered, we
can only attribute the relentless
brutality Of his treatment to panic
alone. 1t was a struggle for ex-
istence. For, strange as it may
appear to US. wholesale conver-
sions to Judaism were possible;
in some cases whole tribes have
embraced the faith, and so acute
did the situation become at differ
ent periods during the last thou
sand years that we find much pro-
hibitiYe legislation against Chris
tians becoming servants to Jews.
For instance, in I2z9, the Arch
bishop Oi Hungary reports that
many Jews had Christian wives, and
thousands OF Conversions" were
taking place. We continually
hear It said that the modern Jew
and his genius is the result Of pure
race. This, on scientific examina-
ton, proves to be fallacious, for we
find the Jew, being planted in
particular country, acquires the
peculiar shaped skull OF that coun-
try in which he lives, In North
Africa, where the heads are long
(d0Lick0cebhalic). the Jews heads
are so also. InPiedmont the heads
resemble the Italians Of Turin. All
over Slavic Europe no distinction
between Jewish and Christian
heads can be proved to exist.
This seems to prove that racially
he is no purer than his neighbors.
But in spite of this apparent dis
proVal OF purity of blood comes
the question of uniformity Of facial
type, " Which is patent to everv ones
observation. The peculiar nose,
the dark hair and eyes, the
"ghetto" expression, all aid one to
identity the Israelite, although it
must not be forgotten that there
are a proportion Of blonde or fair
haired Jews.
The Christian has prosecuted the
Jew so relentlesslY through the
ages that his stature is diminished
about four inches below the Chris
tian: that is. the average English