The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-01-14

OF these romances practically settle tn
fact that their creator has genius; for tn
imaginative power, the sympathy, the fin
reticence, and the absolute, graphic realit
OF scenes and characters are beyond th
scope of mere talent.
Two of the best are Satan Mekatrig
and Diary OF Meshumad;" another
They that Walk in Darkness whic
gives its title to the book, and still another
transitional" But the others are nearl
If not quite as good as these, and Their
is not story in the book which really fall
below the standard Anyone who wishe
to read this author at his best will do we
TO buy this latest book and become &c
quainted with him through the medium G
the Infinitely varied creatures whom hi
fancy has thus summoned to live. move
and have their being outside the Ghetto
They are not troubled by the scrutiny o
the outsider; they are unconscious Of 1t
and the reader OF another faith canno
help feeling at once the alien nature AM
the common humanity. 1t takes geniu
to achieve this
The first story is that of blind bog
child OF ignorant but doting parents, win
is carried by his mother TO receive tn
blessing of the Pope, in pathetic faith tina
the magic OF another religion may Civ,
others in the book. is instinct with super
stition; the very air is filled with it; anC
the conflict between the mothers cropping
and desperate desire to leave no means I'M
tried that may result in the healing Of hel
son, and her unreasoning repugnance tc
anything that savors of Christianity, is
subtiy and marvelously well brought out.
In transitional a somewhat similar
conflict takes place. prosperous pawn
| broker, an orthodox Jew. has seven daugh-
tiers, and by the marriage of the six elder
ones and the death of his wife, is left
alone with the youngest child, little
Schnapsie." as he calls her. Little Schnap-
sic is wooed and won by a Christian in
reality as well as In name, a devoted
churchman. The old fathers struggle TO
reconcile himself to the marriage. lis he
roic sacrifice of his own feelings, his utter
| failure to find anything but horror and
misery in the prospect. and the daughters
| final, unasked Tenunciation OF her lover
when she discovers her fathers real feel
ings. are as fine as anything in recent hc-
| ton.
How many people realize the relentless,
bitter. cruel, and unnecessary warfare
which has been waged for centuries upon
the Jew by the so-called Christian world?
Small wonder that the Jewish convert TO
Christianity is as rare as a white black
bird, since TO the Jewish mind the name
oil Christian is synonym for all that is
vie, base, savage, and unmerciful. Let
those who do not know of this read the
third story of the collection, ''Noah's
ARK" which is founded on an incident of
the first quarter of the present century,
and whose hero, Peloni. came from Frank
fort to what is now Buffalo. N. Y, In the
hope of finding in the New World Prom
ised Land. Some paragraphs from the
opening pages on this may be worth quot
ing:
Peloni walked in 'the good place" Of the
Frankfort Judengasse and pondercd At times he
came TO a standstil and appeared to study the
inscriptions on the tumbled tombstones or the
carved dragons, shields, and stars, but his black
eyes burnt inward. and he less the tragedy
OF Jewish death thai the tragedy of Jewish life
For ''thc good place. was the place Of DEATH
Here alone in Fi~nkfort-in this shut-in bit OF
the shut-in Jew stret-was true peace for Israel.
The rest Of the Jew street offered comparative
tranquility even for the living: yet when, ninety
years before Peloni was born. the great fire
bad ragged therein. the inhabitants had locked
the Ghetto gate against the Christians less fear
full OF the ravaging flames than Of their fellow
citizens. Even today. il he ventured outside the
JudengaSse. feloni mist tread delicately. The
footpath was not for him: he must plod On the
dusty road. with all the other beasts In some
places the very road was too holy for him, and
any passer-by might snatch of his hat in punish.
ment for his breaking bounds. The ragged street
urchin or the staggering drunkard might cry 10
him 'Jud', mach mores," Jew mind your man
neFs. Some ten years ago the Frank.
fort Ghetto had been verbally abolished by 4
civilized arehduke: caught up in the wave Of
Napoleonic liberation. But now the
prince had teen ousied, Napoleon dead.
everywhere the Ghetto gates were locked again. |
- Ia vain had the grateful Jews fastened
20 fight for the fatheTlaDd, rendered it body and
soul. Poor little eurly-haired Peloni had been |
attacked in the streets al alien that very |
morning. Roys;ercrs had raised the old cry Of |
''Iepi Hep!'-iatal. immemorial cry, CHASTITY |
heritage Of the crusades Century after century |
that cry - gone echoing through Europe.
Century after century the Jews thought they |
had lived ii down, bought it down, died it down.
But no. it rose again. buoysEt, menacing. il
responsible. %. what fool he had been to l
nope! There was no hope.
1.-THE old cry" still fingers as part Of the
amiliar cheer of all English-sp speaking peo-
pie, but the meaning has vanished. In the
lays OF which Mr.. Zangwill writes in this
story II was urged BY economists OF Frank
'ort that the children of Israel be sold TO
he English for use on their plantations.
This led to the emigration of Peloni in
'Noah's Ark" and the latter part OF this
tory is idyllic.
Satan Mekatrig'' is a weird. imaginative
ale, more like Poe than like any other
writer in Gel iain grewsome passages, but
he characters and atmosphere are Mr..
,aDgwill's own. DIARY of a Meshumad"-
his word means apostate-ls wonderfully
fascinating and bitterly tragic character
tudy. The writer Of the diary. In the days
4 his youth. left the Jewish faith. went
way from his home. took Gentle name.
married a Russian lady, and brought up
lis son in the faith OF the Greek Church.
let in character. in emotion. and finally in
elief, he remains Hebrew to the end.
rhgTag- |
eristics are indicated, though the man tells
is own story. and ap autobiography is the
lost difficult method in the world OF de-
heating n hero's character. since a man !
oes not see himself as a person, but. in
enerai, only as state of mind. To an
Their person we are complex individual
les made up of an infinite number OF i'm S
ressions. of traits shown all through life:
, ourselves we seem what We chance to be {
{ the present moment, and the past is as
othing 10 the present d
But somehow or other. Mr. Zangwill {
as made this mans account OF himself J
.alistic, while at the same time it is a 9
ne character sketch. We see that he Is
Jew TO the backbone even when he does
Dt know Il himself; that he has never
ally renowned the faith of his fathers.
S the man grows old he leans more and
ore TO Judaism. old memories come bach
him, old emotions sweep over him; all .
e long forgotten traditions and impul- y
s of generations OF forefathers come upon
m and drag him away from the charac-
r which he has assumed He fights more
Id more feebly against all this. and fin I
ly yields. In the meantime his son. i
It'll Christian brain and Jewish heart. il
going through another fierce struggle, q
known to his father The situation is n
rribly tragic and absolutely new in fic- ii
IN. e
The Sabbath Breaker" is one of the "
ortest and most tenderiy pathetic of the Il
Dries, and has human interest which Il