Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-04-27
THE BARONESS DE HIRsCH.
4 Special Memoir by One Who Knew
Her Life Intimately.
From the London Chronicle.

| n Special Memoir by one w no hnew
| Her Life Intimately.
From the London Chronicle.
| The Jewish race has been tainted with
| the lack of great women recorded in its
annals. 1t is true that few of the daugh-
| ters of Israel have sought or obtained no.
| toriety but this is no evidence that moral
and intellectual distinction is rarer with
| them than with their Gentle sisters; it
only proves that women may live great
| lives in secret and not be known to fame.
! In Glare, Baroness de Hirsch and Gereuth,
| who died Oh Saturday at the age of sixty
| five, a great personality has passed away.
The world has lost one of its greatest bene-
| factors; one who let not her right hand
know what her left hand wrought. pure
| and lofty SOUL who simply worked for her
| fellow creatures without thought of self.
Living for the greater part of her life in
| Paris, the daily life and example Of Bar
| onesS de Hirsch was silent reproach TO
antf-SemitiSm. out of Zion, the perfec
| ton of beauty, God hath shned, wrote
| the Psalmist. If Zion in this passage means
| the Hebrew nation, the perfection of d
| beautiful character has just passed away
| from the earth, and the Jews have lost
| their best friend
Englishmen whose conception of the Jew
| ish race is framed by La France Juive,
| or La DeTniere Bataille," by the money
| lending fraternity, or by the matertaiisuc
German-JeWS, who, in their struggle for
cash, refOunce Germany without becoming
English, Shlrk all civic, patriotic and COM
munal duties would readjust their views
of the possibilities of Jewish destiny and
character had they known-eVen as l knew
her-the late baroness. One could not be
in her society for day without seeing that
she absolutely free from that desire to
shine, to be in evidence, which is a distinc-
tive note of our time-and not least in
average Jewish character. one recognized
that her atmosphere was outside the sphere
of struggling and competitive humanity.
Her enormous riches left no evil mark;
she was untouched. While abhoring the
display Of wealth for its own sake, the
simplicity of her life suggested neither
tentatious asceticism nor parsimony, and
whether at Bath House-whch was given
up when the baron died-Or in the magnifi-
cent hotel in the Rue de FElySee, or at the
rescue old castle at Eichhorn, among
the wooded hills of MoraNia, or in a modest
villa with one hired carriage at Pau, the
baroness impressed all who knew her with
the fact that her interests in life We're too
deep to be satisfied with the knowledge
that she was the richest woman in Europe
She had in full the qualities of sincerity
and simplicity, with heart as tender to
human suffering and true to those she
loved as though her intellectual abilities
and soundness of judgment We're those of
the ordinary woman. They were nothing of
the kind. Bred up in the midst of great
affairs. and practiced in the control and ex-
pendlture OF revenues exceeding the budg-
cts OF some states the Baroness de Hirsch
Joined singular business capacities to de-
voted enthusiasm in relieving the sufferines
OF the saddest people on Gods earth. with
all the weight of care and responsibility
and the requisite GOODNESS of temDerament
Tor wise as well as generous administra-
lon OF her affairs, she had from her girl
mood the power of inspiring affection and
respect.
The Baron de Hirsch once told mo tho
| idyN of his courtship-the way in which
| he won his wife. He loved her and she
loved him But the lady's father-the Bel
gan banker and Senator Bischoffsheim-
was not prepared to sanction the match
and refused his consent On one ocrasio,,
however young Hirsch, who remained on
friendly terms. happened to be in the room,
where the banker was discussing with his
business ADVISERS an extremely Snotty
point of high finance The discussion y,aS
prolonged without finding a solution Ar
last the senator turned to the young man
who had silently followed the deliberations
ana invited him to express his opinion.
Hlrsch complied. Bischofsheim listened at
tentlVely, but uttered not a word When
1lrsch had finished he rose from his seal
leu MS Would-be Son-in-laW to another room,
Mnere his daughter Clare was sitting alone.
Still silent, he placed the hand of Maurice
de Hlrsch in that OF the lady and left the
room without word Thus the young peo-
pie We're betrothed The union was blessed
with an only Son-the idol of his parenrs-
as handsome as his father; he survived nm
III manhood. a good sportsman, and of
brilliant abilities. After his dealt neither
the baron nor his wife Were ever the same
aga1n-and to that great and irrer,a rable
loss may be attributed the bent which
Baron de Hirsch developed late in life-tbe
task or raising up the downtrodden Jew
and giving light and hope to millions of his
prosecuted co-religionists. To this end he
devoted his vast wealth: some people saw
not wisely. Those in his confidence on this
matter believe that the colossal ideas of
the baron and his wife are destined to sur
Vlve, ana That even more valuable than the
gold which was lavished on the dumb and
inactive Jewish Colonization Association
and the lnnumerable Jewish charities in all
parts of the civilized world, and especially
IN Russia, was the indestructible idea To
which he and his widow, when he was
gone, devoted their later lives and for
tunes.
The baroness was gifted with an intuition
and good sense on the outbreak of anti
Semltism in Russia and France, which left
her under no illusions. Writing to me be-
fore recent visit to Russia, she said. Il
think You can scarcely realize how very
dreadful the state of things is at present
hopeless unless redress comes from the
crown and from the law" And later on,
after l had visited the new Russian min
lister of the interior, and again conversed
with M. PobedonostZoff and had reported
to her the result, she wrote:
I'VE Jews are, alas! only too much au
fait of the doings and the state of things
in Russia, and have only too positive evil
dence of such. For half a century It has
been tried to open the eyes OF the authori-
ties, but they will not see and 1 have very l
little hope for the future. A very sad and |
tangible effect of the Franco-Russian