The San Francisco call., 1904-03-13

al
fully predominant characteristic OF
mankind there is hidden away down
deep the saving leaven Of sympathy.
Too rarely is this touched, il is true,
in the hurr. and welter of workaday
life. but when some powerful talisman
comes to arouse this underlying senti-
ment il Quickens into a steadily flowing
gIow-meet stonement for the clOgging
passions which have suppressed 1t.
When the poignant sufferings OF an IN
dividusl are displayed in a direct heart
appeal. the most callous will find in his
breast the STRINGS Of an unknown
emotion When the crushing tragedies
OF a whole people are held to view,
communities and nations are moved.
Ezra S Brudno's grim epic Of the Jew,
The Fugitive" is call which must
find an answering ouic>ening in the
heart Of hearts Of every man who styles
himself such It is the bare. bald trag-
edy Of the Semitic who is born under
the dominion of the Car.
The author has cast his book into ths
form Of q romance. Through the me
dium OF fiction he is enabled to give
with dramatic effect the facts either of
closely intimate. The truth and the
fiction are made TO blend with so strong
a hand that the one lends effective
vraisemblarce to the other and the
whole is a powerfully portrayed, Won
derfully convincing record of the heavy
cross which rests upon the shoulders
OF every Russian Jew. But il is. at the
same time. a broader field which Brud-
E2r hnI III ne
weaknesses inherent by very nature ii.
the fanatically orthodox Jew and by
pointing the failings which exist in the
reformed Jewish faith, the author
would seek general acceptance for d
higher. more tolerant religion Of broth
erhood among all humanity.
What do the terms Christian and
Jew denote. after alp" the author asks
himself 4 love nature; ! love art, l
love humanity. What can my religion
teach me in addition to these princi-
pies? Must / profess a certain creed
when these three passions embrace all
cneeds and something mOre-unsophis-
ticated brotherhood To be
long to a certain creed is to conf
philosophy in narrow compass. To
iure creed and believe in nature. al
humanity. is TO extend philosophy TO
its utmost capacity. Creeds are the
ladders by which mankind ascends 10
philosophy-to truth. The top once
reached, the ladder may be kicked
away as a thing past usefulness"
This expression Of idealistic monothe-
ism. which may be taken as typical of
a large class Of educated Jews, comes
from the hero of The Fugitive" only
h. he
flame Of renunciation of the old Juda-
ism, a wavering faith in Christianity
and final surrender to the philosophers.
The story OF the struggle between his
instructive loyalty TO the creed of his
fathers and the callings Of Heine and
the gnostics is moving one.
This story Of the struggles of his
soul is only subsidiary, however, to
Brudno's tale Of his life battle. Born
in q little village of Lithuania, the hero
Of the story sees his father falsely i'm
prisoned and done to death and his
mother removed from him by fatal i'll
ness while he is yet scarcely more than
an infant Thrown out upon the world,
the hapless little wretch is forced to eat
the meager loaf Of charity while he is
subjected 10 the brutality of Jewish
village private school. Brow-beaten by
his master and bulIied by his COM
rades. the starved drudge has to worry
along with the Talmud until a fire
sweeps away the homes of his benefac-
tors and he is thrown upon the barren
rnercies of the forest. A Russian Judge
befriends him for time, and he lives
a little dream Of happiness until the in
fant love between the STRIPPING boy and
Katia, the Judges daughter, brings to
the fore the fathers race prejudice,
and again the war5erer is out in the
world.
How he gained admission to the
Yeshiva academy, there to devote him
self with feverish energy to the pursuit
of Talmudic lore: how he first began
10 read the forbidden books of phil
osophy and poetry. drinking from them
so deeply as TO bring the first clouds
Of doubt over his orthodox. faith. and
how he was finally expelled for just
such breach Of orthodoxy, Brudno re-
counts in rapid. forceful narrative.
Becoming a teacher Of Russian in the
house Of a Jewish tavern-keeper, the
Young man is forced to witness the
brutal injustice of a Russian noble in
robbing the poor boniface of his daugh-
Ter and the honor of his family. Again
forced to wander, the fugitive presses
on to higher springs Of learning and
again adopts a subterfuge in order to
enter the university at Vino. There
follow his discovery of Katia, his boy
bood's sweetheart the plighting OF
their troths and his determination tc
embrace Christianity that he may
make the girl his bride. Then the mas
sacre OF the Jews by the muzhiks. with
all its attendant horrors Of murder anc
rapine, and the fugitive's passionate
return 10 the downtrodden people Of
his faith:
New York and the filthy tenements
see the author beginning life anew
Trained intellect though he possesses
he must fight for bread in the garment
workers shops. Poverty worse thar
that in Russia assails him anew uDti
desner2tjon drives him to stultify hi