MR. ZANGWILL.
[To TEE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:9
SIR,—In an article on Mr. Zangwill's "Dreamers of the Ghetto" in the Spectator of March 26th, you say that he does not give "any thread of connection between the minds of those men, or any, even the most insufficient, explanation of their lives." But I think it is possible to trace a thread in a certain moral virility running through each, be they noble dreamers like Joseph, or foolish like Maimon the Fool, or mocking scorners like Heine. In all the varying types there is a refreshing absence of anything neurotic. Indeed, is there any known instance of a neurotic Jew ? and if this is so, does it not imply a characteristic of moral strength to be found in all the Chosen Race? No doubt the Jewish character is full of the most unlovely qualities. Love of luxury and show, exorbitant greed of money with all its acompanying hardness and want of mercy. But we are spared the sight of luxury erected into a cult as the Hellenic type of mind so often is led to do with its own special aims of culture and beauty. A Jew may be an atheist at heart, but if he does acknowledge a God it is "one God," and that God a mighty God. Then, too, the history of the "Chosen People" is one of " law " as opposed to "chaos," which, until Christianity gave them a law, the Gentile mind tended to produce. Races keep their tendencies, and this root of law (whether obeyed or not in particular instances) makes for growth and moral virility. The past history of the Jews helps to explain Lord Beaconsfield's two-sided nature. With all his "love of tinsel, glitter, and flamboyance," his "naive delight in fine clothes and fine dishes," his "heart is always with his own people the Chosen Race,—the only race to which God has ever spoken." To be a child of Moses and the Prophets is no mean heritage.—I am, Sir, ikc., A GENTILE.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:1 was considerably interested by your article in the Spectator of March 26th on "Mr. Zangwill." I quite agree with the writer of that article that "The Children of the Ghetto" is a work of real genius, and, moreover, strikes a line quite out of the beaten track. The "Dreamers of the Ghetto" may, I suppose, be called a sequel, and, as often happens with sequels, it has not quite the flavour of the original. Nevertheless there are strong points and passages of genius in it. And now that I have expressed my apprecia- tion of Mr. Zangwill's books, and dared to mix a little criticism with it, I hope I may make a few remarks about the Jews and what is said of them in the article. It is necessary to say that I am myself one of the old people, because what is said of them by one of themselves, and what is said of them by others, are two very different things. It is further necessary to state, however, that my mind and opinions have long outgrown any grooves bounded by considerations of race or creed. The writer of your article says: "There is no hostility in England towards the children of Israel, unless it be a sign of hostility to wish that they themselves would suffer their aloofness to end." And there he hits a nail. No doubt much of the inconvenience and trouble experienced by Jews is the natural result of that aloofness and adherence to opinions, rites, and customs suitable only to a small com- munity in a small corner and primitive state of the world. That, however, is gradually dying out, and the great antidote to it, intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews, is becoming more and more frequent. di la bonne heure ! Again, as to "whether those of his [Mr. Zang- will's] people who dream expect the earthly Messiah who will give, not a Millennium in the Christian sense, but earthly rule over the Christians of the Earth." I should say that this ancient and too local idea is also dying out, jnst as on the Christian side the conviction of having secured a monopoly of Truth is also dying out. The lofty- minded Jews Jews are very likely great dreamers ; and the writer of your article suggests that they dream of a regime of love
for mankind. Yes ; but I think lofty-minded dreamers other than Jews have the same dream. As he says : "Why mturt- the bringer of this regime always be a Jew ?" I see no reason. Sakia Muni, for instance, was not a Jew. Many lofty-minded dreamers at the time of the great French Revolution—some Jews and some not—had the same dream..
The next point is : "Are Hebrews capable of being patriots ? " Certainly they are, because it is becoming plain to Jews as well as to others in the same country that, other things being equal, religions differences of opinion are not of that supreme importance now as in days gone by. The question depends greatly, however, upon the opinion and attitude towards them of their fellow-countrymen. The Jews cannot be patriots where they are not allowed that privilege; that is, where they are treated as outsiders, as an inferior caste. But in England, where, although some social prejudice still remains, the Jews are no longer under any legal dis- abilities, and can sit in both Houses of Parliament, why should they not be patriots ? Then comes the much-vexed question of the supposed Jewish love for wealth, and its acquisition. Your writer speaks of the "marvellous and almost miraculous disparity and distance between their highest minds and their average minds, between Isaiah and the Rabbis, between St. Paul and the traders in the market place." This would to some extent account for a large number of money worshippers, the highest minds being of course in the minority, and most of the others engaged in everyday worldly affairs, the object of which is mostly moneymaking. But, then, among people other than Jews this is also the case. And among others, too, there is an enormous disparity between the highest and the average minds. Compare, for instance, Lord Tennyson and General (Chinese) Gordon with the average traders in the market place. Certainly there is this to be said, that until lately the Jews have had few occupations open to them except trading and moneymaking. The mocking spirit attributed to Jews is, I think, easily explained. It comes from the treatment they have received. If any one meets with injustice and misunderstanding from so strong a majority that resistance is out of the question, he must—to put it broadly—either cry or laugh, and the Jews, being on the whole strong people, have preferred to laugh,—such a laugh being, of course, of the bitter or mocking order. As to the "modern Jew character" being "a completely sealed book to the Gentile communities." It appears to me that the inability to understand the Jewish character often arises from a deter- mination to see curious differences in all that a Jew says and does. Among Jews, as among others, there is of course great variety of character ; but there is no such mysterious differ- ence between Jews and others as some seem to imagine.—
I am, Sir, lee., IMPARTIAL.
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