The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-04-19


absorbsd In The production OF endless
historical novels In the style Of the elder
Dumas. which have made his name widely
popular, and have yielded a large income.
Mr.. Brandes recognizes that Il was but
natural that the fancy OF Polish writer's
should have, to an extent elsewhere un-
precedsnted, continued to revolve about
the past. Since the Polish people. ~ .
people. have been condemned TO practi-
cal inactivity, the past appears to them
as their last. most glorious possession. and
So even after the decline Of genuine ro-
manticism. Polish poets long continued
10 dwell on the memories OF the past. which
they found In books. instead Of repro
duclng the life, fully a. interesting. which
flowed UNDECIDED by them. The strong
artistic impulse toward the past, never
thelees, depends In the last instance on
the superstition that the past, or, a. IL
is called. history. alone admits representa-
ton Of the ideal
j Our author would have his Polish friends
believe that there is only one future for
Poland's literature. after IT, days Of ro-
manticism are over, and that II TO become
/ a modern. q living, expression OF the life
Of our own time
To what extent do the Jews In Russian
Poland share the national love Of country
Mr.. Brandes answers that the dialike Of
the Jews which has been decorated with
the affected name Of Anti-Semitism, which
In Denmark certain sections Of society
have imported IN their readiness to cult
| vate German sentiments, has not struck
| root at all In Russian Poland. Even here
the mutual aversion Of Jews and Russians
| persists. The peasants, who, II should be
remembered, are not Poles but Little Rus
slams, have no dealings with the Jews II they
can help 1t. Nevertheless, even IN i7o<.
when despair armed Warsaw against Rus
e!a, the Jews took part In the national de-
fence; a regiment Of Jewish volunteers
fought under the banner OF Kosciusko.
led by the Jewish Colonel Borko. who In
! 1909 fell fighting against the Austrians.
During the Polish Revolution OF 1850 the
prejudiced and irresolute National Govern
ment rejected the application Of the Jews
! TO be allowed TO enter the army instead
. OF paying for exemption. When tie re-
bellion was suppressed the Gar Nicolas ].
punished the Jews for this application by
incorporating them with his own army.
Moreover. he caused $1,000 Jewish families
/ to be conveyed across the frontier OF Rus
sian Poland and ordered them TO settle
/ upon the s.eppcs of Southern Russia. Com.
mon misfortune has united the Polish Jews
with their Christian fellow countrymen.
The fraternizing Of the Poles with the Jews
at Warsaw In the uprising OF 1850 was
notable phenomenon, and when. in Feb
ruary, 1851. in the public squares grape
! shot was fired upon the kneeling crowds
I that with the mouths OF the Russian cannon
! before their eyes burst forth In Q national
| hymn and besought God to send TO the Pole
| freedom and a fatherland, the Jews felt
impelled to manifest their national feel
ings by an unmistakable demonstration.
Our author points out that the most mem
orable work OF Poland's greatest poet,
! Mickiewicz, the national epic, entitled Pan
! Tadeusz," ends with the playing Of Poland's
national song. celebrating Dombrowsh and
| his soldiers, by Jew.
Is Poland worth the sacrifices made for
| it? Our author tries to answer the ques-
ton In that part Of his book which records
the impressions made In his second visit.
He recognizes in the persistency With which
| the Poles ma intain their nationality one
Of the most wonderful Of modern phe-
nomena. They still eight desperately for the
preservation and development Of their
language and popular pcculiarities and
suffer a thousand pangs for their sake.
Every one OF them knows that he must die
but he would have the consciousness that
the language and the people viii survive
when he shall know no more Of them. Even
those among them who believe in life
beyond the grave do not agine that In
that other life they will speak Polish. Those
who do not believe in a future life and
L. u. skA
fear II for the nation considered a. a whole.
Mr.. Brandes compares the horror with
which Poles regard the disappearance
of their nationality TO .the feeling Of horror
which sezes most men when they hear for
the first time that this earth is slowly cool
ing Of and that at some epoch In the far
distant future IL will be an ice-cold sphere
on which no life can flourish They have
always known that every individual Of
the human race must die, but they
would prefer that tho race itself should
not. This conception Of the frozen globe
destroys all their cherished illusions
about the constant advance Of culture.
the religion 10 which most Of those who
have given up revealed religion still clings;
for there are even now only few who have
grasped the idea "that the goal OF mankind
cannot be at it's end or death. II death for
all humankind be In store. but must lie In
its highest Municipalities. Even II the
human race Ia to die out. true culture 10
not on this account less valuable. not less
worth striving for. It's worth docs not
depend on Its continuance through all
eternity. We do not ask whether . SYM
phony is long or short. but whether It IL
beautiful. Its value 10 independent Of
the time 1t occupies
The Poles, Of course. know historically
that many kingdoms and nations have
blossomed and disappeared. but they viii
not believe that this lot is now that Of their
nation and language, however sorely they
are pressed from all sides. Many OF them
must necessarily doubt whether they will
ever succeed in tearing themselves free
from . supremacy which 10 supported by
an enormous army. in establishing .
Polish political hierarchy and In founding
q kingdom out Of a nation. unaccustomsd
10 all self governndent. as the Poles have
now been for almost a century. In each
Of his visits our author had pressed upon
his mind the question which he once formu. |
lated. thus: is Poland an ideal or reality