Intermountain Jewish news., 1925-11-26
That Elusive Substance

tThc Story of the Worlds Literature by John Macy
(Israel by Ludwig Iewisohn.-I,ou and IiverightD
Thou shalt do unto others thou woldst he done
by" has ring tawdry and deceptive of the
professional moralist Honesty is the best policy"
10th Instances 1t is revenge rcprsal which
dictates mans fricndincss and kndncss his nccbor
We're this inhibition To he removed, fears imagine
what the consequences would he This fear naturally,
is based the assumption that mans nature is c, that
his primal instincts murderous and ruthless The
assumption i ordinarily reegntcd to the province Of
psychology but II definite conclusion is to be arrived
nj one must regard 1t in the light of history.
When restrictions have been removed, when man lns
been allowed the freest tether when in short has
given equal choice has he selected self abncgatlo
has he risen upon the crushed bones of his fellow
has he kept himself In the background and been satisfied
- merit his brother TO secure the fat of the land or has
he rushed the fore and nnnihnted whatever in his
paihg
These questions he but rhetorical oues Wars.
pcrsccutions musaicrcs, pagts and give the
rreftabe Centuries of darkness of dcvatat ion.
oppression give the lie to any attempted deiial Holy
of all kinds civil of kinds tell the story
Of mans intolerance to
Bearing auhortutively this thesis is John Macy's
"sory Of World Literature which gives outline
OF those who have contributed to the writings of man
kind earliest beginning The other gives hasty
sketch of those who have participated IN mans struggle
for the right to think AS soon notes The names which
through each of the volumes. cannot but remark
their similarity.
Since has learned tn write. and since the invcn
ton of printing that this writing could I've disseminated
intolerance has been the comparative dccns;' Printing
has stimulated the growth and spread OF ideas. for Ms
ideas ideals cos,c in conflict there has
l.~n opportunity of rcconcins them of compromising
Of modifying In the days of the early Hebrews and
the Greeks, manuscript rare document its contents
precious TINT they became almost sacred property
The opportunity Of persng and dgesng these contents
granted the sendere>t minority. This condition
Of affairs obtained throughout Of the centuries
until the present And literature has become more
the property Of the there has been
npprciube in tolerance. The not in the
relation Of and effect but they constitute powerful
allies.
/ Not only literature al,ettcl tolerance. hut those
who written have usually been in the front ranks of
those who have butted for the right to think. The names
Of Nontague Spnoza, voaire Dcrot, Iessing. Paine
| unomg others forcefuy In John Aacys STORY
lof the Worlds Literature" In fact, many Of these used
the of writing purely means of propaeuilns their
iens mans right to think. All of them aroused enity
and opposition because they dared 10 express themselves
at ynrunce with their environment
i Jews and Tolerance
Il John Macy points that Hebrew literature has had
nn incacualle effect on world thought specially
English literature 1t Is only within modern times that
Jews have recapurcd a comparative influence in the
there Michel de Montaigne and although of Spanish
Jewish ancestry he is eputfd have ieem born Cath
ulic Probably the Jew who did Ia enrich world III
tolerance the time since the beginning
of the Christian Iaruch Spinozh, the eNcommuni-
Gated Jew Amsterdam His writings, though comraili
lively insignificant have Influenced g,pcrul philosophy