The Jew: His Past, Present and Future

THE JEW, HIS PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE. A SKETCH. BY J. M. SJODAHL, ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF THE
DESERET NEWS. The problems presented by the presence of the descendants of Israel among the nations of the earth, are among the most interest- ing and important. That the preservation of the Hebrews as a distinct race is providential, and not accidental, it would be puerile to deny. It is evident that the history of the world is concentrating around the destiny of the once chosen people. The dispensation of dispersion is nearing its end; a dispensation of gathering is clearly percept- ible among the various races of the earth. All are being sifted. And the various groups are being knit together. The general tendency is toward pan-Slavism, pan-Germanism, pan-Anglo- Saxonism, pan-Scandinavism, pan- Hellenism, pan-Latinism. There also is a pan-Hebrewism, which, when developed, will become the center around which the world's families of nations will be grouped. The world is being remodelled, for the time when "the law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." That is, in brief, the Hebrew problem. It is one in which the world is interested. The proper solution of it is the regeneration of all the institutions that go to make up society and governments. A glance at the history of the Hebrews, their past and present struggles and achievements, and their future hopes, is, there- fore, both interesting and instructive. There are at present, according to the best estimates, almost ten million four hundred thousand Jews in the world.
Of these

THE JEW. 351 1,168,948 live in America, mostly in the United States; in Europe there are 8,581,772; in Asia, 318,677; in Africa, 362,432; and in Australasia, 17,040— a total of 10,448,869. The exact distribution of the race is by Prof. Richard Gott- heil, in The World's Work, given as follows: AMERICA. United States 1,136,240 €anada 16,432 Mexico 1,000 Central America 2,300 Argentine Republic 7,015 DutchGuiana 1,250 Venezuela and Costa Rica. 711 Brazil 2,000 Rest of South America... 2,000 1,168,948 EUROPE. Austria-Hungary 1,994,378 Belgium 12,000 Bosnia 5,845 Bulgaria 28,000 Denmark 4,080 England, etc 179,000 France 86,885 Germany 586,948 Greece 8,350 Holland 103,988 Italy 44,037 Luxumburg. 1,200 Norway and Sweden 3,402 Portugal 700 Rou mania (eastern) 6,982 Roumania 229,000 Russia 5,189,401 Servia 5,100 Spain (with Gibraltar)... 4,500 Switzerland 12,551 Turkey 75,295 Cyprus and Malta 130 ASIA. Palestine 60,000 Causasus 58,471 Siberia.... 34,477 Central Asia 12,729 Asia Minor and Syria 65,000 Persia 35,000 India 22,000 Arabia 15,000 China and Japan 2,000 Turkestan
and Afghan- istan
14,000 318,677 AFRICA. Morocco 150,000 Tunis 45,000 Algeria 57,132 Egypt 25,300 Tripoli 10,000 Abyssinia 50,000 South Africa 25,000 AUSTRALASIA. New South Wales. Queensland Tasmania New Zealand Victoria South Australia ... West Australia..... 8,581,772 The same author says regarding their occupations: 362,432 6,447 733 107 1,611 5,897 786 1,459 17,040 It is a common fallacy to think that the well-to-do Jews are all bankers or merchants, the poor Jews all small traders and street hawk- ers. That very many do earn their livelihood in this manner is beyond

352 IMPROVEMENT ERA. all cavil; the laws and usages of the Middle-Ages made this the only means of existence for them, and modern legislation in eastern Eu- ropean countries has tended to conserve inherited customs. But this is only a part of the truth. Even under most adverse circumstances the Jews have gone into every walk of life, and have engaged in every man- ner of work. In 1893 the number of Jewish artizans in Russia was 395,942. In Roumania the statistics of 1892 show that there were at least 18,015 Jewish artizans, making up with their families a round 100,000. In 1S99 there were 4,082 artizans among the Jews of Algiers. Still more interesting is the fact that Jewish agriculturists are not as infrequently met with as supposed. In 1899 in Russia there were 278 Jewish agricultural colonies with a population of 63,223; and 11,984 working outside the colonies. In Palestine there are 4,450, and in the Argentine Republic 4,885 Jewish farmers. .1 It is most singular to contemplate the fact that ever since the overthrow of the Jewish polity by Nebuchadnezzar, the Jews have been the object of animosity in the world. Anti-Semitism is by no means a modern sentiment. Alexander the Great and his suc- sessors encouraged the policy of dispersion, and Jewish colonies were soon found in the larger cities of Persia, Asia Minor and Egypt. The Roman Caesars followed the same policy. The Jews continued to disperse. Thousands of them, settled in Rome, while others were driven out to the conquered provinces. And every- where they had to maintain themselves in the midst of opposition that sometimes burst forth in uncontrollable flames of persecution. More than once they were banished from Rome. Frequently they were the objects of the ill will of the populace, and where they became most numerous, they were hated the most. They were compelled by this very fact to disperse. Says the late historian, Mommsen: How numerous even in Rome the Jewish population was already be- fore Caesar's time, and how closely at the same time the Jews even then kept together as fellow-countrymen, is shown by the remark of an author of the period that it was dangerous for a governor to offend the Jews in his province, because he might then certainly reckon on being hissed after his return by the populace of the capital. Even at this time the predominant business of the Jews was trade. At this period, too, we encounter the peculiar antipathy of the Occidentals toward this so thoroughly Oriental race and their foreign opinions and customs.
This

THE JEW. 353 Judaism, though not the most pleasing feature in the nowhere pleasing picture of the mixture of nations which then prevailed, was neverthe- less an historical element developing itself in the natural course of things which Caesar, just like his predecessor Alexander, fostered as far as possible. *
* They did not, of course, contemplate placing the Jewish nationality on an equal footing with the Hellenic or Italo-Hellenic. But the Jew who has not, like the Occidental, received the Pan- dora's gift of political organization, and stands substantially in the re- lation of indifference to the state; who, moreover, is as reluctant to give up his sense of national idiosyncrasy, as he is ready to clothe it with any nationality at pleasure and to adapt himself, up to a certain degree, to foreign habits — the Jew was, for this very reason, as it were, made for a state which was to be built on the ruins of a hundred living polities, and to be endowed with a somewhat abstract, and, from the very outset, weakened nationality. In the ancient world also Judaism was an effective leaven of cosmopolitanism and of national decompo- sition. With the advent of Moslem influence, the position of the Jew became, if possible, less tolerable than before. The Mohamme- dans despoiled them most unmercifully. During the eighth and ninth centuries they evidently were crowded northward in great numbers, for tradition has it that they became so numerous and in- fluential in Russia that the question of adopting Judaism as the national religion was seriously considered by the Muscovites. But this was not to be. So-called Christian rule has been most cruel toward the Hebrews. When the Christians became predominant in Constan- tine's empire, laws were made that closed all offices to the Jews, and prohibited the erection of synagogues. During the reign of Charlemagne, the state rather protected Jews, but the church be- came a bitter persecutor. This sentiment finally prevailed in the state, too, and Shakespeare's Shylock became the image of the Jew, impressed upon the public mind. In the thirteenth century, Jews in Europe were compelled to wear a yellow badge. They were shunned as lepers, and had to live in Judengassen. As for busi- ness, they were confined to the second-hand clothes stores. Even upon their marriage, restrictions were placed designed to check the growth of the race.
Often they suffered at the hands of the

354 IMPROVEMENT ERA. mob. But they grew, notwithstanding all, in numbers and influ- ence, and they became the great money-lenders of the western world. But the hatred against them also grew in intensity, with the growth of their prosperity. Sometimes they were swept away as by a cyclone of persecution; now from one country, and then from another. Thus in 1290, A. D., England drove out the Jews by decree. They were not readmitted till the time of Cromwell. France followed England's example in 1395, A. D. Spain deported them in 1492, A. D., and Portugal rid herself of them in 1495, A. D. These exiles found their way to Germany, Austria, Poland and the adjoining countries. The sentiment against the race has been perpetuated to our present time, notwithstanding the revolu- tions fought for "liberty, equality, and fraternity." The outrages at Kishineff, the persecutions in the Balkan states, the French anti- Dreyfus agitation, and numerous other recent incidents, are fresh in memory. They all prove that anti-Semitism is by no means dead. It is remarkable that this sentiment should be chronic to every age. It is not because the Jews are morally, or intellectu- ally inferior to any other people. The Jews have, on the contrary, a brilliant record in history. They have dictated the policy of continents. They have wrested from nature some of her most precious secrets. They have thrilled the hearts of man by song, mu-ic, and oratory. They have held audiences spell-bound while interpreting human emotions, upon the stage. If we turn the leaves of history, we cannot fail to notice Judas MacabaBus, the notable patriot and soldier; Josephus, the calm and lucid historian; Disraeli, the creator of an empire; Rothschild, the true Napoleon of finance; Moses Montefiore, the philanthropist, Elisa, Rachel, and Sarah Bernhardt, the actresses; Sonnenthal, the dramatist; Heinrich Heine, the poet and pupil of Schlegel; Israel Zangwill, the author; Lombroso and Nordau, the students of the secret causes of crime; Mendelssohn, the musical genius. These are only a few representative Jews. We have not mentioned in this connection the law-givers, poets, heroes, prophets, seers, apostles of sacred history; nor the infinitely greatest of all, the Captain of our Salvation. Profane history and the present day record, furnish a cloud of witnesses to the great
fact that
the

THE JEW. 355 Jewish race is still capable of the leadership among the nations of the earth. Throughout these long centuries they present to the wondering world the picture of the triumph of intellect over the most adverse circumstances.
Why, then, the hatred? Only one answer is really possible to this question. It is providential. In the first place, persecution has been the means of preserving their nationality and their religion. In Russia, in Roumania, and in other places where they are . ostracized and driven from pillar to post, they keep the traditions of their fathers more scrupulously than elsewhere. They are more particular about the observance of the Sabbath, their prayers, etc. In this country, where they have full liberty, there is more carelessness about religious matters. The tendency is strong to amalgamation with gentiles. Persecution seems to have been necessary for the preservation of the race in the midst of the nations of the earth. It has certainly also had the effect of strengthening the Jews, as a peo- ple, for the role they are still to play in the world. And this role is indicated by the author of the Epistle to the Romans, in the fol- lowing well known question: "For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?" And this leads us to a brief contemplation of the future of this people. Nothing is more certain than this, that they, accord- ing to divine word, are to be gathered and given a standing as a nation, with their own country and government, and with a peculiar mission full of power and glory. Joel, one of the most ancient and highly revered prophets of the Hebrew dispensation, closes his prophetic writing with this positive declaration of a final restoration of the Jews and their country: And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed in- nocent blood
in
their land.
But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jeru-

356 IMPROVEMENT ERA. salem from generation to generation.
For
I
will
cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the Lord dwelleth in Zion (Joel 3: 18-21). Amos, another of the most ancient of the Hebrew seers, an- nounces divine judgments upon the states surrounding Judea, and against the two divisions into which the Hebrews fell after the reign of Solomon. He warns them of the calamity about to over- take them through the invasion of the Assyrians, but beyond this destruction he sees future restoration to glory. After the people have been sifted among the nations of the earth, they will be again raised to more than former glory. This is the burden of his prophecies.
He concludes as follows: And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given themr saith the Lord thy God (Amos 9: 14, 15). The Prophet Hosea, a contemporary of Amos and an Israelite by birth, speaks more particularly about the dispersion and final conversion and re-establishment of the so-called ten tribes. Here are some of his remarkable predictions delivered more than seven centuries before Christ: For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim. Afterward shall the chil- dren of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David, their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days (Hosea 3: 4, 5). The ephod here spoken of was an article of dress belonging to the uniform of the Hebrew priest. It was made of linen, and the ephod of the chief priest was embroidered with various colors. One part of this dress covered the breast, while the other fell over the back, and the two parts were clasped together upon the shoulders with large gems, upon which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes. It was further fastened with a girdle of "gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen." The teraphim were most probably images to which
the people paid superstitious

THE JEW. 357 reverence in
their homes.
The prediction, therefore, was that Israel shocld be scattered for many days, for a long time, and be deprived . of
both
public
and
private worship.
Not forever, though.
Only for "many days." The same prophet declares: Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gath- ered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel (Hosea 1: 11). The Prophet Isaiah speaks in the same strain: Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for God hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem (Isaiah 52: 9.) For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth (Isaiah 62: 1.) Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah [my de- light is in her], and thy land Beulah [married, indicating union between God and his people]: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married (Isaiah 62: 4.
See also chapters 65 and 66). The Prophet Micah declares,referring to the exaltation of the people of God in the latter-days: In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; and I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from hence- forth, even forever. (Micah 4: 6, 7). The Prophet Daniel, speaking of the last days, says : And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book (Dan. 12: 1). Scores of scripture passages might be quoted. The Bible student may be referred to the following, which should be read with their context:

358 IMPROVEMENT ERA. 1. Concerning the gathering of the Hebrew race. Isa. 11: 11; 27: 12, 13; 43: 5, 6; 49: 11, 12; Zeph. 3: 10; Zech. 8: 7, 8; 10: 8-10. 2. This gathering precedes the acceptance of Jesus as the king of the earth: Isa. 1: 26; 60: 70; Jer.23: 4; 30: 8, 9, 21; Ezek. 34: 23, 24; 37: 24, 25; Obad. 21; Zech. 14: 5, 9; Ps. 22: 27, 28. 3. Further prophetic declarations are to the effect that the Jews restored will be prosperous, and be a blessing to all the earth. Palestine shall become exceedingly fertile, and Jerusalem shall flourish. Before this, however, there will be wars and desolation. Isa. 34; Joel 3: 1-10; Zeph. 3: 8, 9. Ezek. 28: 25, 26; Hag. 2: 21-23; Jer. 30: 7-10; II Chron. 15: 3-7. In view of these prophecies, the movement that has occupied the attention of many Jews the last few years, and which is known as Zionism, becomes exceedingly important. No matter how we view it, whether we consider it a beautiful dream or a practical scheme, it is the most remarkable Jewish movement of the age. It must be reckoned with. And perhaps it is not, after all, more impossible than was the exodus from Egypt. The chief leader of this movement is Theodore Herzl, of Vienna. M. Herzl sprang into prominence from the humble posi- tion of an obscure journalist, by publishing a little book, Die Judenstaat, in which Zionism was outlined. No better idea of this modern Moses, as he has been called, can be given, than by his own autobiography, in which he says in part: I was born in 1860, in Budapest, in a house next to the synagogue, where lately Rabbi denounced me from the pulpit in very strong terms, because forsooth I am trying to obtain for the Jews more honor and freedom than they enjoy at present. On the front door of the house in the Tabakgasse, where I first saw the light of (his world, twenty years hence a notice will be posted up, with the words, "This house to let." I cannot deny that I went to school. First of all I was sent to a Jewish preparatory school, where I enjoyed a certain authority because my father was a wealthy merchant. My earliest recollection of that school consists of a caning which I received from the master because I did not know the details of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. At the present time a great many schoolmasters want to give me a caning because I recollect too much of the exodus of Egypt.

THE JEW. 359 At the age of ten I went to the Realschule. Lesseps was then the hero of the hour, and I had conceived the idea of piercing the other isthmus, that of Panama. But I soon lost all my former love for log- arithms and trigonometry, because at that time a very pronounced anti- Jewish tendency prevailed at the Realschule. One of our masters explained to our class the meaning of the word "heathen" by saying, '"To that class belong the idolators, Mohammedans and Jews." After this peculiar definition I had enough of the "Realschule," and wanted to become a classical scholar. My good father never constrained me into a narrow groove for my studies, and I became a pupil of the gym- nasium. But for all that, I had not yet quite done with Panama. Many years later, as the Paris correspondent of the Neue Freie Presse, it became my duty to write about the notorious incidents of that scandalous episode in the history of France. At the gymnasium which was called the Evangelisches Gymnasium, the Jewish boys formed the majority, and therefore we had not to complain of any "Judenhetze." In the upper seventh I wrote my first newspaper article — of course, anonymously, otherwise I would have been kept in by the headmaster. While in the highest class in the gymnasium, my only sister died, a girl of eighteen: my good mother became so melancholy with grief that we removed to Vienna in 1878. During the "shiva" week (week of mourning) Rabbi Kohn called on us and asked me what were my plans for the future. I told him that I intended to become an author (ein Schriftsteller), whereupon the rabbi shook his head. In Vienna I studied law, took part in the stupid students' farces, including the wearing of a colored cap of a "verbindung"' until this as- sociation one fine morning passed a resolution that no Jews should henceforth be received as members. Those who were members already they kindly permitted to remain in the "verbindung." I said goodby to these noble youth and began to devote myself seriously to work. In 1884, I took my degree as doctor juris and entered the Gerichts Praxis (an unsalaried appointment in the law courts as a judicial clerk under the supervision of a judge). I held this appointment in the law courts of Vienna as well as in Salzburg. In Salzburg the work seemed to be much more attractive, the scenery in and around the town being most beautiful. My office was in an old castellated tower, just under the belfry; the chimes sounded sweetly pretty to me three times every day.

360 IMPROVEMENT ERA Of course I wrote much more for the theatres than for the law courts. In Salzburg I spent some of the happiest hours of my life. I would have liked to stay there in the beautiful town, but, as a Jew, I could never have advanced to the position of a judge. I therefore bade goodby to Salzburg and law business at the same time. Again I caused a great deal of worry to the rabbi in Budapest, for instead of going in for a real profession or for an art, I began to travel and to write for newspapers and for the theatre. A great many of my plays were performed at different theatres, some with great applause, others fell flat. Until this minute I cannot understand why some of my plays met with success while others were hissed off the stage. However, this difference of the receptions of my plays taught me to disregard altogether whether the public applauded or hissed my work. One's own conscience must be satisfied with one's work, all the rest is immaterial. I disown at present all my plays, even those which are still applauded at the Burgtheater (Imperial Court Theatre in Vienna). I don't care any longer for any of them. In 1889, 1 married. I have three children, a boy and two girls. In my opinion my children are neither ugly nor stupid. But of course I may be mistaken. While traveling in Spain, in the year 1891, the Neue Freie Presse made me the offer to become its correspondent in Paris. I accepted this position, though I detested and despised politics up to that time. In Paris I had occasion to learn what the word politics means, and I ex- pressed my views in a little book, "The Palais Burbon." In 1895, I had quite enough of Paris and returned to Vienna. During the last two months of my residence in Paris, I wrote the book, "The Jewish State," to which I owe the honor of having been asked by you for some biographical data of my humble person. The story of the book that became the beginning of modern Zionism is particularly interesting,
M. Herzl says: I do not recollect ever having written anything in such an elevated frame of mind as that book. Heine says that he heard the wings of an eagle beat over his head while writing certain verses. I do believe that "something also beat" above my head, while I wrote that book. I worked at it every day until I was completely exhausted; my only relaxation in the evening consisted in listening to Wagner's music, more especially to "Tanhauser," which opera I went to hear as often as it was performed. Only on those evenings when there at the opera I felt doubts about the correctness of my thoughts. •

THE JEW. 361 At first I had conceived the idea to write my pamphlet concerning the solution of the Jewish question for private circulation only among my friends. The publication of these views did not enter into my plan until later. I did not intend to commence a personal agitation for the Jewish cause. Most people will be surprised at present when they hear of this former resolution. I considered the whole matter as only fit to be acted on, and not to be talked about. Public agitation should only become my "ultima ratio," if my private advice was not listened to or not obeyed. When I had finished my book, I asked one of my oldest and best friends to read the manu- script. While reading it he suddenly commenced to cry. I found this emotion quite natural, as he was a Jew, and I also cried several times while writing the book. But to my dismay I found that he gave quite a different cause for his tears. He thought that I was gone mad, and being my friend, my misfortune made him very sad. He ran away with- out saying another word. After a sleepless night, he came back to me the next morning and besought me to "leave the matter alone," as everybody would consider me crazy. He was excited to such a degree that I promised him every- thing to calm his feelings. He then advised me to consult Nordau as to whether my plan was the conception of a responsible person- "I shall ask nobody," was my reply, "if my ideas make that effect upon a cultivated and devoted friend of mine, I abandon my plan." I then passed through a very serious crisis— I can only compare it to the throwing of a red-hot body into cold water. Of course, if that body happens to be iron, it becomes steel by the process. My friend, of whom I spoke above, had to make up my accounts, for telegram disbursements. When he gave me the account consisting of an immense array of figures, I saw at a glance that he had cast up the sums incorrectly. I drew his attention to that fact, and he commenced to do the sums over again. Only after a third or fourth effort his sums agreed with mine. This fact gave me back my confidence in myself. If I was able to "do sums" more correctly than he, my reason could not have left me completely. On that day my troubles with the "Judenstaat" commenced. During the two years and more since that time, I had experienced many, many sad days, and I am afraid many more sad days will still fol- low. In 1895, 1 began to keep a diary; five
stoat
volumes
have been

362 IMPROVEMENT ERA. filled already. Should I ever publish them, the world will' be surprised to learn what I had to endure; who were the enemies of my plan, and on the other hand, who stood by me. But one thing I consider as certain, beyond a doubt, the movement will last. I do not know when I shall die; but Zionism will never die. Since the days at Basle the Jewish people have again a popular repre- sentation; consequently the "Judenstaat" will arise in its own country. Israel Zangwill, the popular Hebrew author, is now one of the enthusiastic believers in Zionism. But even before he identified himself with that movement, he said of its great leader: A majestic Oriental figure, the president's — not so tall as it appears when he draws himself up and stands dominating the assembly with eyes that brood and glow — you would say one of the Assyrian kings, whose sculptured heads adorn our museums, the very profile of Tiglath-Pileser. In sooth, the beautiful face of a kingly dreamer, but of a Jewish dreamer, who faces the fact that flowers are grown in dung. A Shelley beats in the air his luminous wings in vain; our Jewish dreamer dreams along the lines of life; his dream but discounts the future, his prophecy is merely fore-speaking, his vision prevision. He talks agriculture, viticulture, subvention of the Ottoman empire, both by direct tribute and indiscreet enrichment; stocks and shares, railroads, internal and India; natural development under exploitation — all the jargon of our iron age. Let nob his movement be confounded with those petty projects for helping Jewish agriculturists into Pal- estine! What! improve the sultan's land without any political equiva- lent guaranteed in advance! Difficulty about the holy places of Chris- tianity and Islam?
Pooh! extra-territorial. A practiced publicist, a trained lawyer, a not unsuccessful comedy writer, converted to social self-consciousness by the "Flep Fleps" of Vienna, and hurried into unforeseen action by his own paper scheme of a Jewish State, he has, perhaps, at last — and not unreluctantly — found himself a man as a leader of men. In a congress of impassioned rhetoricians he remains serene, moderate; his voice is for the most part subdued; in its most emo- tional abandonments there is a dry undertone, almost harsh. He quells disorder with a look, with a word, with a sharp touch of bell. The cloven hoof of the Socialist peeps out from a little group. At once "The congress shall be captured by no party!" And the congress is in roars of satisfation.

THE JEW. 363 M. Zangwill further says about Dr. Herzl's great plan: Dr. Herzl's movement is a movement for the integration of the scattered forces of Israel, and the expression of this unity by a national politically guaranteed home in Palestine, that may serve as a shelter for the homeless and oppressed, and a beacon for those prosperously sheltered elsewhere. Like so many other agents in this epical drama, Dr. Herzl started with no partiality for Palestine. His book, "Die Judenstaat," published in 1887, which was intended to be his sole contribution to the national migration it preached, is willing to accept Argentine equally. But he, too, has been set on the road toZion, even as he has been transformed willy-nilly from a writer into a man of action of the first order. It is the best sign of the progress of his cause that his book is already obsolete. Yet in a sense all his ideas have become realities. The annual congress is the embryo of a National Parliament. The Jewish company of the brochure is the Jewish Colonial Trust of reality, while its Constitutional Council represents the projected Society of Jews. In a brief five years, he has piloted his scheme through storms of abuse and hostility from every class of Jews till the vaporings of a visionary have become a political possibility, discussed at four great international congresses, approved by the German emperor, not disapproved by the czar, favorably considered by the sultan of Turkey, the ruler of Palestine; worked for by societies throughout Europe, and America, and South Africa; cap- italized by a hundred and thirty thousand shareholders, and constituting the greatest Jewish movement since the foundation of Christianity. There is the Jew, then, looking back upon a history of many centuries, which pass before our view as an ugly dream; but awakening and finding the brightest prospects for the future. "Zionism," says Dr. Herzl, "will never die." None are better aware of the obstacles to its realization than are the Zionists themselves. But to the eye of faith, there are no obstacles. Speaking from a merely human point of view, it looks as if centuries would be re- quired to prepare the way for the re-habilitation of the Jewish state; but it is God's work; not that of man. And the Lord can accomplish in a day what we would judge to be the work of a thousand years, just as he can delay for a thousand years what we would think could be done in a day. Because we are apt to forget this truth, we often fail to understand God's dealings with his children.