El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-02-14

-l,,-.e cate of Berlin, IN the year
80 INC keeper OF the gate spoke
.,..-r5.-- but when the youth declare
lie desire TO study Ialmuo I4ueL ~.
I-r-nIyol. he was admitted ~ A.le "
~ MODERN language, haQ oeLNeu Inlu
- III fbe cultural studies, knew ut
80 or nothing about mathematics ahu
-sEi1ozcDhy was an unhHON u SS-Slli 8
IT 20 years after, he captured tLs
---=go If the Berlin academy OF
sIit---o- With his essay ron Evidence
N, aIcraDhysiCal Sciences competing
~ ~ fine with the immortal 1nInsa-
mel Kant. This youth was Moses, the
5a5-+1 "a &c Moses IendelssOhn-
I5~eF-,cs Leading jew OF bis Time
m ne we're to picture an imaginary
Fero and clOthe in WORDS our cO5ICgp-
ZION of the man destined TO ledQ d u
-, ma the lew from the darkness
~ the uast into the cultural eItNL
ouuent OF the present, ana tueL -
fzc tho opposite, we WOuiu nave q uS
nfct11re Of AIendelsSOhn. MOI 5ILlSU
b. ref1re with physical prOWess, put
IoDdicaDned with a weak ana ue-
fo~D7e1 body. not exalted with the So
ver tongue Of an orator, out Ildll1--
oa0ned with a stammer1ng slOWIleSS
S-1lfc6 made him like the first Moses
s.l,eavv of tongue" not bleSSeu WIN
stature which commands aLLe4tL on
hut only with a puny DOdy when n n
7-f+as rfdfc1lIe he nevertheless DecaIns
a. 1ea5ina lew of his time, the friend
oud adviser Of mobiles and pnliosO-
uhers and above all a staunch jew uS5
Tending the rights Of his people anu
striving with might and main 70 euG-
cate his people for a place IN the Cul-
f11ra1 life of European nauOns.
7 will not dwell upon the biography
OF the man. the struggles OF ms ear
1ier years for an educaIlon- w l. ny
dwell on the remarkable lntellee IuaA
erdowments which made MN an nom
.ored guest in the best phlIosopnlc1I
circles Of his day NOR VIII uIlalS
1ru0n the opposition he aroused IN some
Christian as well as Jewish circles Pc
cause Of his broadmlndeuhess anu MS
1Teefers Mathematics and Languages.
At a time when the european Jew
knew no modern language but car
RED on his conversation in a JargOn'
at a time when it was CONSIDERED lne
height Of folly. nay even 1oL D1ouSLl'
to spend the precious years OF youlH
and manhood in the study OF any 1T
praf,1re outside of the bible and lne
taImund, MendelsshOn mastered malh-
ematics. French and En9llSn acquiISu
Latin by working his way lhfouS d
Latin version of LOcke's Essay Con-
corning Human Understanding ana
finally acquired Greek. But more IMAM
all this, he wrote and SPOKE OeI
man which was the admlraLloh sIlu
delight of the literateurs Of the utly-
While the court Of treueIlck me
Great. considered it the height Of their
ambition weakly to lmllaIe fLe4Cu
culture and literature, TINS Iorelsn
born Jew mastered the home language
and revealed to the Germans the
beauty of their own tongue
becomes Friend of leasing.
At q game OF chess a mutual friend
introduced him to Lessing. The ac-
mountaineering ripened into friendship
and became q blessing not only TO
NendelsshOn but also to the Jews OF
his dav and of all days. leasing first
-.r-1 d re-r-r
philosopher and introduced him into
the inner circles of the learned his
success gave him courage to say what
he thought and finally TO Criticise the
poetry Of the emperor When sum-
mOned before his majesty for this
rudeness, he gained his point by de-
clarimg. "He who makes verses plays
at nine-pins and he who plays at
nine-Dfns be he monarch or peasant,
must be satisfied with the Judgment
OF the boy who has charge of the
bowls, as to the merit Of the playing"
Is Given Protection.
Mendelsshon was popular and
power in the thinking world of his
day. But his position was not safe.
Being a Jew he might be driven from
the city by any petty officer. The
king therefore granted the request to
make him a "SchutZjude" "a protected
jew" one whose residence was
guaranteed by the protection given
by the king. The marquis dArgenS
made the request in the words, "a bad
Catholic philosopher begs a bad Prot
estant philosopher to grant the priv
nege to a bad Jewish philosopher
There is too much philosophy in all
this for Justice not to be on the side
OF the request"
While the court circles and the ed
ucated classes were scoffing at all re-
hgtOus ideas and religion in general,
Mendelsshon published 'Phaedon," or
The Immortality Of the Soul" and in
argumentative discources gave the (
philosophical basis Of this religious !
doctrine The book took the pOpulace Z
by storm Within two years three ed /
itlons were needed and MendelsshOn
became an even greater idol. His fame
spread not only through Germany but J
through other European countries, so /
that Mirabeau in 1887, desiring to help !
Ia the emancipation Of the Jews, en- 1
titled his pamphlet upon MendelsshOn !
and the Political Reform of the Jews" :
Is Placed in Delicate Position.
In one Of his addresses Mendelsshon (
declared: If Jesus Of Nazareth had [
desired to be considered only a vir- ;
tu0us man." A friend, Lavater, read /
between the lines and believed Men /
delsshOn no longer an Observant Jew, I
but one who might be persuaded to 1
adopt Christianity, and if he did this, /
then the magic of his name might urge \
many more to accept the doctrines Of 1
the accepted church.
Lavater had translated Bonnet's In ;
Eestlgatons into the Evidences of .
-l-l4SLldllLN against LnDe4feFerS ana
sent it to MendelsshOn with a note re- I
questing him to do what sagacity. 1
love Of truth and honesty naturally !
dictate, what Socrates would have I
done If he had read the treatise and /
found it uuansWerable"
As much as religious disputatiOns /
were distasteful to him and as much as (
he would have preferred to ignore the .
challenge, it was impossible. He must \
answer and as careful as he might be- (
has answer must offend the suScepti- /
Dilities Of honest thinking Christians
and draw upon himself the displeasure
% many strict tradiiOnalists among
bis own people While he declared :
many works written in German more
convincing than BOnnefs he at the
same time thoroughly examined his
own life, his position in the general
and the Jewish community and his
attitude toward each one of these.
The general public could not under
Stand that 'in public life he was a
and an elegant writer,
who represented the principles Of hui
1lcnity and good taste and apparently
sd not trouble about race. In the
darkness of the ghetto he was
strictly Observant orthodox Jew, who {
Iparently uncOncerned about the laws I
)t beauty, Joined in the observance
- every pious custom" Yet this fact
vas revealed by his life.
Gives Bold Answer.
In his answer to Lavater ne boldly
declared. of the ESSENTIALS of my