Zionism Welds Spirit of Democracy
f In World-Sundered Jewish People
I
World War Burning
Away Old Prejudices
and Oppressions That
Cumbered the Road
to the Restoration
By Bernard G. Richards
Author of "The l>i-vcou.rsrs of Koidansky,"
l.<t;rary I'ditur of "The Alaccabaean Maga?
sin*," and Vxecittivc Secretary of the
American Jewish Coni/rct-v.
ARTICLE V
M'upjrljht, 1013, tj Ttie Tribune AsjocULIcli]
THERE uerc eminent and dis
tinguished men, Jewish leaders
and spokesmen, playing im
portant r?l"S in world affairs, who were
either indifferent or entirely opposed
to Zionism; favored by fortune or gift?
ed by nature or endowed with a heri?
tage of unquenchable Jewish genius,
they sat in high pluces and had free
access to the great organs of public ex?
pression and to the discussions in in?
ner ruling or guiding circles. Their
views were widely iiuoted and the bur?
den of their message was that the Jews
l.ad better leave ill enough alone; th^t
they should not raise the question of
nationalism, lest it do them barm, and
that they content themselves with re?
maining scattered among the peoples cf
the earth.
There were influential preachers and
exponents of a new Judaism who gave
spiritual sanction to tbo policy of ne?
gation, propounding a:i imposing, if
ponderous, theory to the effect that the
mission of Israel requtretl Israel to re?
main in misery, to continue to be scat?
tered among the nations of the world
without a centre of its own; and con?
ferences of rabbis and congregations
in impressive session adopted official
resolutions emphasizing chiefly the re?
ligious identity of the Jews and em?
bodying the belief that Israel now rep
resenU.'(l a spiritual sect only and did
not seek to have a future as a nation?
ality.
The Great Mass
Was Inarticulate
The great masses of the Jewish peo?
ple remained inarticulate, living in the
largest numbers under the iron rule
of oppression, their societies pro?
hibited, their newspapers suppressed,
their activities restricto'!. Up to the
time of the first Zionist Congress, in
1897, they had no effective public
means of making their national aspira?
tions known to the world. Only occa?
sionally d;d a writer or spokesman
having access to the organs of publica?
tion of the larger world voice their
yearning for a restored Judea.
For centuries the elesire of millions
of Jewish men and women remained
smouldering, unknown, their prayers
unheard, their songs sounding like far
off; dying echoes in waste places.
And vet the busy, distracted, con?
fused world bas heard and barkened
to the call of the Jewish people, the
Jcoll shofar, the great sounding of the
trumpet summoning a nation to a new
life. Amid war's alarms, amid deafen?
ing and overwhelming roaring and
boom of cannon, amid the cata?
clysmic tumult of the world in up?
heaval was heard the muffled cry of an
oppressed and struggling people, and
over the clangor of battle rose that
faint cry until it reached the highest
forums and council chambers of the
world.
Do you ask how this has come to
pass? The answer is that it was the
rry of an oppressed people, and that
it was for the cause of this people and
of other nationalities which, in viola?
tion of Israel's law, had been subjected
and disenfranchised, that the great na?
tions were now engaged in the throes
of a life and death struggle.
The great principio first laid down in
Biblical law and then enforced in the
pronouncements of the Hebrew
prophets, the principle of democracy
now assuming new depth and meaning
was perhaps for the last time beint
fought out on the field of battle; thou
sands of Jewish communities had beet
devastated and destroyed and theii
millions of inhabitants had gon<
through all the agony of the great up
heaval; hundreds of thousands of Jews
sons of the common people, wero shed
ding their blood on nil battle fronts
The future of a whole, long-sutTerint
people hallowed by new martyrdon
was hanging in the balance, and win
should have decided its fate? Was i
for some well meaning but shor
sighted Jewish magnate in London o
Petrograd or Paris or New York; wa,
it for some prosperous, safely en
sconced, select group distinctly de
tached from the living source of Jew?
ish life to tsay as to what disposition
shoulei bo mRdc of the vexing Jewisl
problem? No. that could not be. Th
voice of the ghettos of Russia and Ru
mania, Galicia, Sal?nica, England, Can
ada and the United States, in the fac
of tho great struggle for democracj
lould neither be Mipprcsscd nor super
seded; it had to be heard, and wa
heard, above the din of the world con
flict.
Old Dream Now
A State Document
Justice demanded that the crea
masses of the Jews, the millions i
Israel, decide their own destiny, an
thanks to tho epoch-making unfoldmen
of events the saving word of sclf-dc
termination, long ago heard in Jewis
conferences, in time became the moa
significant term in state papers.
Tbo day of deliverance bavin
dawned, the fate of all subject pee
pies having become a world issue, tli
most grievously wronged of these poo
pies at last had the. opportunity o
f tating its case; and Zionism, speak
ing. and Laboring in behalf of the larj;
".Sound the Trumpet of Zion," from thc "Ajnsterdammer," Amsterdam
est and most activo forces in Jewish I
life, had previously formulated the1
demands of Jewry. The programme ;
laid down in Basle was but another
phrasing of the term of self-determi?
nation which had become a slogan of
the movement.
The Jews were thc first among the
oppressed nationalities to have clearly S
enunciated this democratic, and just.
formula of self-d?termin?t ion, and in
the wider acceptance of this principle
democracy had made a new gain and
the Jewish people, through Zionism,
liad made a new spiritual contribu?
tion to the social thought and con?
sciousness of the time. For Zionism'
is thc highest expression of Jewish ,
democracy, and when the voices of the '
peoples ?,'. ere heard more clearly in
the councils of the nations the heirs ?
of the prophets, though tire and sword i
drove them from their homes, once
more came into th??? ir own.
A homeless, scattered, disorganized
people had naturally to pay the pen-.
alty of disingenuous, stray and dis- ?
harmonious thinking; diversity of
groups produced diversity of opinion ,
and gave rise to leadership which in?
terpreted the wishes of the Jewish
people in accordance with prccon-|
ceived notions which were at variance
with Jewish aspirations. An* entire!
structure of philosophy was built up
by a school of Jewish thought, which,
to be sure, had rendered great service
in religion and in scholarship, but
which did not take into account the
trend toward democracy, which was ;
mainly solicitous about averting per-i
sedition and did not recognize its chief
source nor make an effective attempt
to abolish it.
V/ar Has Burned
Away Old Prejudices
Concentrating upon the spiritual
possessions of Israel and emphasizing
the mission of justice and brotherhood
which the Jews were to carry to the
peopler, of the world Reformed
Judaism, at least in its extreme
radical forms, rejected Zion, accepted
the dispersion as the greater oppor?
tunity for spreading the mission and
denied the future of the Jews as a
nationality.
Thc grs?at changes of the war demol?
ished many long cherished conceptions,
and with them the theory of carrying
the Jewish mission without having thc
power to carry it sufficiently far, with
1 out, enjoying the dignified position
among the nations, is also fast yield?
ing to the newer conception of estab?
lishing human brotherhood through the
universal acceptance of democracy with
the recognition of tho rights of all
nationalities. This is not a time to be?
come elated over the triumph of one's
own particular view, nor should it be
forgotten that the opposing reform
i elements base by their continued ad
i hesion to Judaism helped to preserve
the Jewish people and thus indirectly
j to assure national restoration. It
; should also be remembered that many
j leading exponents of reform have to
| gether with considerable numbers of
; followers throughout favored the Zi
i onist ideal. "Our feelings and our af
| fections are wiser than we are," said
Stevenson, and notwithstanding their
professions and opposition toward Zi?
onism, many influential Jews of the
reform school of thought have from
I time to time given effective aid toward
: the maintenance of Jewish institutions
in Palestine, thus aiding also in keep?
ing alive the interest in the Land of
I Israel.
They explained their acts by stating
I that, they assisted Palestinian enter?
prises on purely religious grounds, but
| long after their explanations will be
i read as recitals as curious incidents in
Jewish history, the institutions which
| they have established in the Holy Land
?will remain the cornerstones of th"
New Zion. Perhaps the gravest error
of reform teachers and preachers and
of old-time Jewish leaders, acting in
concert with them, was that in enunci?
ating their individual opinions or the
views of a comparatively small group
. in Jewry they assumed the tone of
; spokesmen of tlie whole Jewish peo
' pie, numbering some 14,000,000 of
; .souls and from the great bulk of which
?these preachers and leaders were sep
? arated by oceans and distances of
thousands of miles., "There is no Jew?
ish nation," says a rabbi in Chicago,
As far as Chicago is concerned thc
Jewish nation is a mere abstraction;
\ the newspaper reporter, at any rate,
j cannot see ii, bul 'ne has a front seat
in tin- temple and he can hear the so
! norous voice of the fashionable rabbi
land his striking pronouncement sug
gests a sensatioifil headline. The next
day a large Jewish community feels
outraged by this usurpation of powci
to speak for the Jewish people, but
the Jewish masses, though they ha\"<
: already found new leaders to express
i their feelings and thoughts, are still
to a large extent, left inarticulate.
Chief Principle
Was Violated t
The ?-. rong thai was doni ?. ?>n ~ i.-1 ?-?I
chiefly in a violation <a^ Vac democratic
principle which prohibits the misrepre?
sentation of the feelings and belief
' of a pc"plf, but the founders of Reform
Judaism sought a means for warding
off the blows of the enemy, without
striking at the root of oppression and
persecution, and did not anticipate the
1 changes that would be wrought by the
1 'arger freedom of th" ncople, and de
tnoct.'vv was not an important feature
of their philosophy. Tho whole theory!
of adjustment reckoned mainly with
the conditions of things as they were
and failed fo look sufficiently forward.
But it is futile now to cavil at ob?
stacles which were previously placed I
on the way to Zionism, and the con- ;
troversy is ccasin_ to be timely,
though it will undoubtedly in the fut?
ure add dramatic effect to the story
e?l' the struggle. But. as a matter of ?
record it should bo set down that the
Mcndelsohnian conception of a dona- I
tionalizeel Judaism was born in an era
of cosmopolitanism when it was thought
that national boundaries would ulti?
mately be abolished, and when the Jews
became intoxicated with the first fruits :
of civil emancipation, which, while
solving the problem of individuals. I
never solved the problems of groups,
and even as far as giving political
rights to the Jews failed to extend to
the larger Jewish populations, in Rus
sia, Rumania, Galicia, etc. The fear
of the ugly apparition of German anti
Semitism and the hope of ultimately
overcoming it had no small part in the
work of those who advocated the modi?
fications of Jewish rites and ceremonies
with a view of becoming more accept- .
able to the non-Jewish neighbors.
What stronger motive could have'
been in tho mind of Dr. David Fried
lander, who, in 1812, published a
pamphlet urging the elimination from
the prayer boon of all references to
Zion and the abolition of the Hebrew
language? Government authorities te?ok
note of the pamphlet, and Hardenberg,
Prussian Chancellor, in presenting the
booklet to King Frederick Wilhelm III
wrote a long memorandum in its favor.
"It is not surprising," says the Chan?
cellor, "that the Jews long for a re?
storation to Palestine, since they are
so much oppressed by the peoples
among -whom they live. But when
equal rights have been granted to thenr
they will po longer pray for their rc
nationalization in Palestine, but rather
for the peace and prosperity of the
Prussian government; they will give
up the hope of the coming of a Mes?
siah, and will pray for the welfare of
the king whom they love and respect
with all their souls." But. the Jews
were never one whit less loyal to.their
ailopted country or sovereign because
of their attachment to Zion and Ju?
daism, which, indeed, enjoined such
loyalty.
Emancipation and '
Religious Reform
Samson Raphael Hirsch, the strong?
est champion of orthodox Judaism of
the nineteenth century, in his "Nine?
teen Letters of Ben U/.x.iel." pub?
lished in 1S:U'>, discussed tho two
! questions of the day ? emancipation
?and religious reform?from a stand?
point entirely new in those days.
I Hirsch explains bis position with
1 regard to emancipation and its rela
! tion to the national status of the Jews.
i He suggests a compromise between
I these two apparently conflicting ideas.
; arguing that the Jews never had been
' a nation in the political sense of the
word. Since it is not the land that
united Israel, but, the Torah, the Law,
! "therefore, it still forms a united body
? though separated from a national soil;
' i.or tioes this unity lose its reality,
! though Israel accept everywhere the
citizenship of the nations amongst
1 which it is dispersed." When God shall
unite His scattered people such a
j union will have only the spiritual sig
) nificance of showing the whole world
' the greatness of God and the glory of
? til?; Torah as a guiding principle of
state.
"The entire purpose of the Messianic
age is that we may, in prosperity, ex?
hibit to mankind a better example of
'Israel' than did our ancestors of'thc
; first time, while, hand in hand wilh us,
the entire race will be joined in uni
? versal brotherhood through the recog
j nition of God, the All-One.
"On account of this purely spiritual
: nature of the national character of
! Israel it. is capable of the most inti
i mate union with states, with, perhaps,
i this difference, that while others seek
in the state only the material benefits
? which it secures, considering possession
and enjoyment as the highest good,
? Israel can regard it only as a means
vi fulfilling the mission of humanity.''
This exposition of the idea at the root
of the great controversy raging in
! German Jewry found few adherents at
that, period, although to-day it is ac
I eepted by both orthoilox anil reform
Jews, each party interpreting it in its
own way.
Discussion Ran
1 1 hrough Generations
The discussion ?va? carried on for
many years and in the course of tune
took various forms, lloldheim, Geiger,
Einhorn, Franklin, Salomon ami others
[ of note, ail great scholars and men of
: extraordinary talent, continuing simul?
taneously their seiende studies of
Judaism an?! the gradual motlification
??f religious observances an?! cere?
monies to bring them into greater har?
mony with the environment, elaborated
?a! h great skill apd intellectual ?u-ci'
upon various aspects of ?he relationi
between the Jews and (lit other na
, lions; and it, shall be to their eternal
credit that they !ai?I so much stress
upon the things of the soul, upon the
spiritual message of Judaism.
In grappling, however, with the per?
plexed problem presented by the per
? sistence of the Jewish nationality with
I out possessing a soil upon which to
\
i
flourish they were, it appears through?
out, consciously or unconsciously,
haunted by the fear of prejudice and
persecution, which, despite German
emancipation and thanks to class dis?
tinctions created by autocratic rule,
was ever present; and a philosophy so
perceptibly influenced by dread is a
philosophy to be dreaded. Even in
their own day these men who were so
fascinated by the will-o-the-wisp of an
impossible cosmopolitanism as to be
re.'idy to renounce the Jdvvish nation?
ality saw a reversion to earlier and
more wholesome ideas, though the
creed of democracy among national?
ities, anticipated by Jewish seers of
tdd, was net to be formulated in mod?
ern terms until later time.
Surope was gradually discarding thc
theories that had been instrumental
in bringing ?bout the Kreuch Revolu?
tion. Cosmopolitan ideals were re?
jected as opposed to thc nature of
man, and national solidarity became
the watchword of many European na
tions. In 1832 Greece, after a hare
struggle, wrested her independence
from Turkey. Italy threw off the yoki
of Austria, rind tho Pope and tin
Italian nation were unified under Victo
Emmanuel in 1870. Bismarck sue
ceeded in uniting the various Germai
principalities into a powerful nation
After the Russo-Turkish War in LS7?
by t!r> treaty of Berlin, Rumania, ?Ser
hia. Montenegro and Bulgaria wer
made independent of Turkish rub
Everywhere national feeling wa
strengthened, and even in Poland an
Hungary it was only partially subdue
; by the hand of tyrants.
There was never any real conflict b<
tween Zionism and the allegianc
which the Jews everywhere owed t
their adopted countries, and the rei
ords of all lands, sustained by the mo:
authoritative non - Jewish tcstimon
; proves this beyond the shadow of
doubt. Centuries of history tell an ui
mistakablc story, and if any furth?
proof were required the great wi
came, and Jewish loyalty was tested 1
fire and sword and, according to a
true accounts, not found wanting.
And the great, conflagration whi
has burned away many old prejudice
misconceptions and even cherish
. ideas, has by its flames also light
| the path to a new future, has reveal
a new vision of the part to be play
by nationalities in the regeneration
humanity. Zionism, the right of
: people to its national home and fre
dorn to live its own life, is what
a larger sense the Allies are fighti
for, and among them America has I
come the greatest champion of libel
: for all peoples, great and small, so tl
discussion of any possible conflict 1
tween Zionism and patriotism has 1
: come one of thc discarded futilities
; the age.
i The Voice of Woman
Was Also Respected
Maintaining from ancient days dc
; ocratic forms of religious life and cc
munal organizations, thc Jews In
throughout their history been thc
! holders and harbingers of democn
1 principles. The history of Jewish
1 ganization is largely the history of
i attempt to attain self-rule, to di\
equally the rights and obligations
thc individuals to the group. Zion
! being the most potent expression
Jewish democracy Jews have in h
times found in the Zionist organiza!
the most democratic institution of
kind ever created. By the small f
' ment of one shekel, equivalent
: twenty-live cents, every Jew could ?
I for dc!eg?-?tes to thc Zionist congt
and Zionism anticipated by many y>
the woman suffrage movement in gr
i ing the same privileges to the wo
as to the men with regard to all
ticipation in-the organization of Z
ist work.
According to Justice Louis D. B
do:--, "Theodore Herzl's contribu?
to our understanding of the Je?
| problem are these: First, the reco
tion of the fundamental fact that
i Jews arc a people one people; sec
the recognition of the political t
' that thc emancipation of the Jews c
only come through themselves: tha
by democratic means. That the ,
are a people was a well-known
lo'ig before Herzl's finie;' but it
been submerged by the multiform
vidual struggle for Jewish exist?
That emancipation could come
j through thc ?lews themselves had
been clearly stated before Herzl's t
j but if ??vas Herzl who made cleat
essential democratic means whei
called the first congress."
in this country (he Zionists liai
the organization of Jewish affair:
ercised immense influence in the d
tion of democracy, and thc im]
which the Zionist organization has
I to the movement for the convenu
an American Jewish Congress to
with the crisis created by the war hi
suited in the introduction of me
of organizaticn which are unique
. in a long history of self-rule in
j munal, r?digions and philanthropi
! fairs. The election of delegates
system of universal suffrage, wit
proximately one hundred and
thousand Jewish men and women
ing their votes to choose three hit
representatives,was an incident c
parelleled interest among current
ish events. It was in the course e
organization cf the movement fo
American Jewish Congress tha
Jewish people made a distinct c
bution to American thought in cr
lining the new conception of d
racy as applied to nationalities.
Speaking at Carnegie Hall on
ary 4, 1916, Mr. Brand?is said: "Bui.
o war brings ?midst its horrors at
east one compensation to I ho wholu
orld and particularly to tho Jews.
I. forces the world to lay aside make?
hifts; to seek ultimnfo truths; t?> deal
?ith fundamentals. Wo long for peace,
>ut we begin to see that neither irrtejr
latioual congresses and courts nor dis
irmamcnt can secure p?aee. Peace can
xist only in a world where justice1
ltd good'will reign. Justice and good
?il! involve not merely tidenrOon of
?[Terences, but the grant of full rights,
lespite differences. There must be jus
,ice nnd good will, not only between ?n
ividuals, but between different peo?
ples. All peoples must have equal
rights."
Thus ?lid a leader of Zionism pro
poun.l the question of the rights of na
ti nalities a considerable time before
the entrance of this country into war.
But few public men then considere?
the question in exactly this light ami
none stated it so clearly. It was, how?
ever, the vital and vibrant thought of
the new time, and soon the principle
underlying (he great, new ideal, which
has inspired the whole American peo?
ple, was promulgated by our Highest
official authority and?we took up arms
to defend it.
New Control
To Stop Waste
In Rifle Fire
Would Prevent Soldiers Un?
der Battle Stress From
Shooting Over the Meads
of the Enemy
Mechanical Device Easily
Put On Said to Prevent
Discharge If the Piece Is
Held Too High
THE inefficiency of massed rifle
fire at fairly close range has
been a matter of observation
and comment ever since battles were
j first fought with bullets. It seems that
no amount of preliminary training, no
[possible adjustment of battle sights,
, ran eradicate the irborn tendency of
| the race to hold a rifle too high when
| vorking under the ??lightest stress. The
i disintegrating effects of battle condi?
tions are widespread; nowhere are
' '.hey more real ot more disastrous than
I in their influence upon rifle fire.
It is at tho short ranges that the
! fiercest fighting occurs, and it is here
that battle.; are won and lost. Former
; ly one of the first requisites for a good
[ 'nfantry position was an open field of
1 lire, several hundred yards in depth.
' Hut ?he searching power of high ex
I plosive shells fired in great volume
I 'ias forced infantry to seek cover from
! risioti in order to gain cover from tire;
I It must hide during the terrific shelling
I in el bo ready to repel the assault that
| follows. Often a hundred yards, or
j tven iess, is the greatest depth of lire
?? attainable; and since an assault will
i :ross so short a sp&ce in a very brief
'.ime, it is obvious that the defence
must make, every shot count. The
? failure to do this with the rille has led
| to the new vogue of grenade and bayo
j net -the one to give a tire etfect cer
I lain to lie close to the ground, the
j other as a necessary last result in view
I of the uncertainty of lire.
Control Is Tool Proof
Colonel Frank D. Ely, of our army,
I has for years been engaged in a con
I Etant but losing endeavor to interest
! the ordnance officials in a device which
! be claims will control rifle fire. Its
! mechanical features are of no great im
j port here; enough to say that it is an
! attachment to be put on the rifle, which
'. will add but two ounces to its weight,
| which is fool proof in every respect
! and which makes it impossible for the
' rifle to be discharged when held higher
j than a given angle. It is not rigid;
i that is to say. the angle at which it
permits lire is controlled at will by
, adjusting the device. Accordingly it
! can be used at any range, and even for
i shooting uphill or downhill. This ad
j justment is the work of but a moment,
| and so simple that any man who can
; learn to shoot a rifle at all can cer
; tainly learn to do this also.
Colonel Fly calls his invention the
? battle control, ami he lias got out a
1 little pamphlet in its behalf, from
which we borrow the diagram below.
The normal cone of battle fire is as
] shown in Figure 1. The vertical dis?
persion is enormous even greater
i than ?ne would be led to suppose from
I the bare facts already known as to the
' inaccuracy of battle fire. It was actual
1 ly demonstrated by Wolozkoi that the
mean of fire - the average elevation at
which the solaiers will hold their
: rifles is about I degrees. For the
modern ri!l* this elevation corre?
sponds to a range t r some 2,200 yards.
Any hostile force inside this range is
comparatively safe the fire passing
well ever it and beyond. The function
of th" battle control is to flatten this
.rone, bringing it close to the ground,
, ?s in Figure 2. Every bullet in this
flattened cone, has a continuous danger
, tpace throughout its path'; it may not
' meet a hostile soh'.icr, but it can miss
'. him only by going between him and
| his neighbor, never by going over bis
i head. It makes its strike on the battlc
! field, instead of a mile away.
Easily But on Rifle
The battle control is a simple me?
chanical improvement in the lock of
the rifle which absolutely prevents dis?
charge if th?' rifle is held too high -
which is to say, if it is held above the
, angle for which, the control is set after
; the range has been determined. The
I rifle simply cannot be tired until the
| aim is properly lowered ami the
?trigger pul!o?l again. When this cor?
rection in aim r?as been made the con
It rol causes not the ?lightest diminu
; tion in tho volume of lire that can be
delivered. There is no change made in
the existing methods of sighting and
tiring; all the control does is to pre?
vent 'he shots '.'.Inch would be wasted
j and force 'he rill? ?nan to lire at the
j proper range. Nor does the device in
iterfero with the normal use of the
?? rifle, for it can be set "on" or "off"
?at will, an?l when "off" has no func?
tion?the rifle is then the normal rifle.
It is riot even necessary to take
, Colonel Ely's word for it that the eon
; trol is mechanically satisfactory. Me
: chanical experts, civilians and military,
, including the present superintendent of
; one of our greatest arms factories, hava
! passed on it and pronounced it O. K.
I in this respect. So the only questions
, which can be considered as at all open
' are its performance in increasing tho
| effect of tire and the desirability of
? incorporating it .in the army rifle.
Scientific American.
Close Friend Sheds New Light
On Lafcadio Hearn's Character
Irish-Greek Writer Left Liter?
ary Tradition as Unique as
That of America's Edgar
Allan Poe j
By Albert Mordell
THE interest in T-afcadio Hcarn
is constantly being renewed.
Either new facts concerning bis
life or new original material by him,
like the lectures on literature to his
Japanese students, appear, and the pub?
lic again ponders on his fascinating
personality and amazing genius.
Elwood Ilendrick, of Philadelphia,
who passed with him the last evening
Hcarn spent in America, has just shed
new light on the unique literary char?
acter, who, as Stcdman prophesied, has
become as much a tradition as our own
i'oe. Mr. Ilendrick spoke of Hearn's
incomprehensible shyness, bis love of
seclusion, his sensitiveness and al3o the
story of Hearn's reputed love for Miss
Bisland. I took thc liberty of question?
ing Mr. Hendrick bluntly in regard to
Hearn's alleged love for Miss Bisland,
his biographer, now Mrs. Wetmore.
"A recent biographer asserts that
Hcarn was madly in love with Miss Bis?
land and that she did not reciprocate,
and that the famous love letters at the
end oT thc first volume of the Life, with
the addressee's namo blank, were ad?
dressed to her. Is this so?" I asked.
"Hearn's love for Miss Bisland was
really idealistic worship. She was one
or thc most beautiful girls in America
at the time. They were alway-3 friendly
and he dedicated a book to her many
years afterward, when both were mar?
ried, and he always had a picture of
her in his home. I don't think he ever
dreamed he could marry her."
"Didn't he unconsciously put his love
for her into thc story of 'Karma,' in
which he speaks of an idealistic love of
a man for a girl who asked him to
write down all about his past life, espe?
cially what he didn't want her to know?
Thc story, you remember, was written
in 1889, about the time he saw her
often in New York."
"Well, I know that he sent her the
story and also that he afterward did
not like thc story. But, after all, Miss
Bisland is living, and the fact of
Hearn's love for her is a matter that
rests with her alone to give forth or to
keep."
! Hearn Worked Here
I In Dire Poverty
As many readers are aware, Lafcadio
1 Hearn was the son of an Irish officer,
? Surgeon Major Charles Hearn, and a
Greek mother, and came to America
? penniless when he was about nineteen
i years old. He suffered the most horri
| ble privations both in Cincinnati and
! Xcw Orleans, in both of which cities he
! did newspaper work. He travelled in
i the West Indies for two years and in
; 1M?0, at the age of forty, he went to
; Japan, where he taught literature and
elied in 190-1. There he married a Jap?
anese woman, became a Japanese citi
i zen and left four children. Contrary
i to the general impression, Hearn had
? never been an American citizen, though
he liveel here twenty-one years. His
; first five books, though written before
he went to Japan, consisted of two
! novels in beautiful prose poetry, two
' collections of adaptations of foreign
i tales, and a volume of travels in the
West Indies in superb prose. About a
dozen volumes on Japan were published
' later, and in recent years Captain
j Mitchell McDonald, Hearn's literary
; executor, has published his lectures to
Japanese students on English literature.
"How did you meet Hearn?" I asked
i Mr. Ilendrick. "I do not think there ta
j any mention of this circumstance in the
; biegraphy."
Mr. Hendrick leaned back in his
1 chair and proceeded to entertain me
i with his fascinating reminiscences.
"I met him through Miss Bisland in
the fall of 1889, after _ he had come
I back from the West Indies.
?The Effect of
Society on Him
"?She had been connected with 'The
> Xew Orleans Times-Democrat' and was
! at this time literary editor of a month
; ly magazine. Lafcadio had worked
; with her on the same newspaper in
: Xcw Orleans, and she knew well how
i to describe her friend so as to arouse
I the lively interest and curiosity of the
: listener. She brought him with her to
j luncheon one day when Mrs. Rollins
! had them to herself, and this resulted
in his acceptance of an invitation to
dinner on the following Saturday even
! ing, provided, as he stipulated, that
i there be no strangers present. I was
: living with the Rollinses then in one
; of the Spanish apartments on Central
' Park South. Mrs. Rollins was so
' thrilled by his talk during luncheon
that she could not resist, the tempta
1 tion to invite'a few, just a very few,
I really appreciative souls in to meet
j him after dinner. This was a grave
j mistake, as you will sec. Thc dinner
was to begin at 0:30 o'clock, but it was
j nearly 8 when the shyest little man
i you ever saw came in from the
; kitchen!
? "lie had lost his way; he could not
I remember the monotonously numbered
j streets and avenues; he was so very
| shortsighted; and the noises bewildered
, him. He was clean in appearance, but
? his dress was not the conventional
j evening wear for gentlemen in New
? York. He wore rather tight trousers
j of a fashion of some years back of that
j date 'spring bottoms' they were
I called?a blue pea jacket, his linen was
i immaculate, his collar was cut raPher
i low and he wore a narrow, black string
tic. For a bat he wore a great fawn
? colored sombrero. The man at the
door of the apartment evidently had
looked him over and concluded that he
was not carriage company, and so bad
seat, him up the back elevator. He was
embarrassed at being late, embarrassed
at what he feared was due to his un
Igainly appearance, and thc dinner was
not a success. He had neither appe
! pite nor desire to talk; indeed, he suf
: fered keenly.
"As soon as we left the dining room
Hie invited guests began to arrive, and
he took a seat in a corner of thc par?
lor, his knees tight together, his arms
tolded across his breast -the very pict?
ure of misery and distress. So after a
little while I took a seat beside him
and told him in confidence that I had
an engagement that evening to meet
some old German corps students, but
not at all pressing as to time. Since
he had difficulty in finding his way
about the city and I was going his di?
rection, I suggested that we make thc
^??j^L??* ike****
?journey downtown together. His re
i sponso was as though some great goo'
: news ha?l been brought to him. We en
' acted a little comedy then and there,
i assuring him" that my time was wholl
! at his disposal and that I could easil
I wait an hour longer before startini
| while be insisted that he would nc
: think of taking up my time and tha
he was ready to go immediately
Ready to go? Ho would have given a
he possessed, even bis most cherishe
books, to be out of that room. Mr
Rollins understood, and within fi\
i minutes we were on our way dowi
town. It was a lovely night, and v
walked. On the corner of Twent;
; fourth Street and Sixth Avenue thei
, was a none too reputable beer bous
; but the beer was good, and I lured hi
: in. He was willing to conic, exec]
' for the fear of my other engagemer
and as soon as I was able to set h
? mind at rest on that score he was
: ease.
Spiritually Reborn
In a Beer Cellar
"That was one of the great nigh
of my life. T jlo not know whether \
drank much beer or little, for we we
' too busy talking to notice the rath
unsavory people about us or what w
before us. Often, indeed, have
thought that on the night of the thi
: Saturday in October, 1889, I was bo
? again in a beet* cellar at Twenty-four
Street and Sixth Avenue. It was o
; of those nights that should never ha
; stoppe?!, but some time toward t
?witching hours we separated, resolv
I to meet the following morning and cc
1 t i nue. Sometimes a young man kno
I that the bell for the time of the t
' locking of the windows of his soul
ringing, and I knew that night.
"I guided him to the little house
, Grove Street, back of the Jeffer?
Market police court, where he had
, noat, pleasant lodging, bade him ge
night, and was there again on Sun?
morning. I had a premonition that'
time would not be long, and with
much that I wanted to iearn, so mi
opinions that I wanted to get, I \
jealous of every minute that he wo
spare me. Sunday was a glorious d
j and after a while in Central Pa
? where he found a beautiful skyline ?
( was overjoyed by it. he came he
j with me to lunch, and all the ag<
| of the dinner and surprise party
night before was forgotten. And
I the days passed. Often in the morn
! I would stop in on my way downte
? and rouse him out of bed; at ot
: times I would find him writing,
[ paper on a little Chinese tea box o
? table with his eye about two inc
j from his script, and at other time
j would call for him in the evening
we would have dinner at a clean
cheap restaurant near by. He was \
I poor, but he insisted upon paying
. himself. lie had no desire to n
! people. Indeed. I should have fo
myself in trouble if 1 liad brought
I one along with me.
"And yet one morning I asked
j if he won!?! care to spend an evei
I at Jay Gould's house. My sister
? Mrs. Shepard. then Helen Gould, \
! school friends, and my sister was v
I ing her. Involuntarily, he covered
' eye with his hand ami said be fe
1 there would be a great many fasb
j able people there. I assured him t
i would not, although it was just
! time when the newspapers were ?
I commenting on the elder Gould's g
wealth. ! tol'I him we should be e
?alone with the two young girl:
! whom one would be my sister, and
we should spend the evening toge
; with them, alone in a nice, cosey 1
j room. 'Then I shall be very glad te
said he.
j An Evening ol
Magic Discourse
"We were ushered into a great s
| brilliantly lighted, and by the w?
j sat down on the edge of a chair,
' his knees together and his
i folded, I knew that something
?wrong. The young ladies came in
he greeted them politely, rela
?again into his sorrowful sil
? 'Girls,' I exclaimed, 'this room
?big as a church! If you want u
i beaus this evening you must tal
! into some smaller place, where \
i not listen for echoes when we tal
"'Oh, that would be very nice!
| Lafcadio, with a sigh of relief,
; knew that I had guessed the tr?
In a few minutes we were in a
room, pleasantly lighted, and La'
sat back in his chair, wholly a
ease, an?! began :
"'In the West Indies and in tr
America they bave no legends of
or fairies, such as Northern p?
; have. But instead they have inn
; able saints to take the place of
I and there are almost as many c
? stories and legends of them as
arc of fairies. Some of them, an
?beautiful and some are odd, ant
are, I' think, interesting. The
of
; "Why, oh why. did I make no
that evening'.' They were won
.stories, full of loveliness and gri
sweet pity and gentle thought
have forgotten them all. We
; never know them, for no on?' cist
tell them with the lender sympa
! Lafcadio Hearn."
"Is there anything in these t
tions," I asked Mr. Hendrick,
Hearn dropping his friends?"
"Yes, but he did so when he t
! he bad cause. I'll admit al tin
cause whs slight. But it was
| while trying to make an effort
; tain his friendship. Our corre
lenco at times lapsed, but 1 mi
ways an effort to renew it. I t
hold on to Hearn, not let him
"He was the most drastic mo
his day. and he |,ad, a^ Michael
i hatt says of him, a hair-trigge
: per. He ?,va- also far more se
j than it is good for any one to
i tone of ?.nice that seemed cruel
, ?as enough to break up a frie
A word that indicated to him ir
?would send him off on his wane
j But at this point, in Yokohama,
a man with the genius for frie
'one whose sturdy honor and
j never slept., who was destined
?come his guardian angel thr<
I his life, to defend his name a!
j passing, to conserve bis works
'protect his family. This was
Worked Here in Poverty Be?
fore Acquiring Interna?
tional Fame for Japanese
Studies
Mitchell MacDonaid, of the United
States navy. The record of his com?
panionship with Lafcadio Hearn is ?
golden page in thc history of friend?
ship. He knew Japan well, and v.ithin
a little? while he had secured for Laf?
cadio a position as teacher of English
in a normal school in far away Matsu?*
in Izumo. \h-rv l\p;irn found himseif,
her?? was the mystery of t'tie blue and
gray of old Japan revealed t<, him, and
here he married bis lovely ?wile, g
Samurai lady. Here he was no more
undersized; here he was no more ugly-,
here he was thc lord of his little es?
tablishment, and all gracious and kind?
ly and lovely things were done for his
' pleasure."
In a letter from Japan to Hendrick
' Hearn shows that he had become more
; disillusioned and more reserved than
ever.
Ho wrote :
"I can't feel toward men generally
any longer as I used to I feel, in
i short, a little misanthropic. The gen?
eral facts seem to be that all realities
of relations between men are of self
| interest in the main; that the pleas?
ures of those relations arc illusions---'
dependent upon youth, power, position,
; etc.. for degree of intensity."
"May I interrupt you, Mr. Hendrick."
i I asked, "to inquire if in spite of all
that Hearn says about Japan there is
i a danger of war with her?"
"There is no peril in Japan for us,"
. (?ame the reply, no doubt inspired by
the Hearn influence, "either yellow,
white or envious green, if only we
?earn to love the golden radiance of
i her light. There is no people so ready,
: so willing, so an:;ions to meet us in
j full accord with thc Golden Rule as the
j men and women of Japan."
"To come back to Hearn," I con?
tinued, "was he as unattractive as he
; fancied himself?"
I He Was Not an
' Unattractive Man
"No, he was not unattractive. He
was well built, something like the la'.e
Jacob Wendell, jr., the actor, save that
he did not carry himself so well; he
had nothing of Wendell's buoyant,
'springy step. His head was well set
on his shoulders, and his hair, which,
later in life became very gray, was
then dark brown. He had a brown
mustache somewhat lighter than his
hair. He had an aeiuiline nose. ?
broad, clear brow and a perfectly
modelled chin and throat. He was
then thirty-nine years old. In h
game of tether-ball at school he had
been injured in his left eye and hbd
lost the sight of it. although it was
not offensive in appearance. The iris
remained intact, but the pupil vas
somewhat irregular, so that while it
was not surprising to learn that he
could not see with it, I cannot under?
stand how any one could have been
distressed by looking at it. The right
, eye protruded more than is usual and
was exceedingly myopic. He had. he
told me once, only about one-twen?
tieth normal vision. Some dreadful
fri"nd iiad once told him that he
should avoid the society of -women be?
cause they, with their greater tender
| ness and elelicacy, would suffer dis?
tress in looking at his blind eye. And
I so, being one of the most sensitive of
mortals, he usually spoke holding his
left hand over his blind eye lest he,
j offend. When some erne once asked
! Captain MacDonaid if be really was
' as uncanny in appearance as '? i de?
tractors m ide him out to be. 'To inc.'
1 answered the captain, 'he was always
'beautiful.' I can say the same. His
i voice was gentle and there ?vas a touch
. of Irish brogue in his speech, just that
little rounding out of word.--, the Celtic
strain that seems to make them eom
; plete.
"He was, moreover, a real. live, mas?
culine man. There was nothing sissy or
effeminate about him. In fact, he could
anel would even tell a risque story
[ There is no use of making an angel
\ out of our hero. He was a man's man''
Quotations from the letters of Hearn
| to Hendrick are always interesting,.
j but. in one letter Hearn ?ays down the
i coro of his system the idea that he
i found both in Buddhism and modern
? science. Without a grasp of his no?
tions on inherited memory and uncon?
scious feelings, a knowleelgc or appre?
ciation of Hearn is not complete.
The passage follows:
"The law that inherited men
, becomes transmuted into intui
' tic-s or instincts is not absolute.
! Only some memories, or rather parts
: of them, are so transformed. Others
remain?will not. die. When you felt
the charm of that tree and that lawn,
---many who would have- loved >ou
i were they able to live a-^ in other
days were looking through you and
remembering happy things. At least
1 think it must have been - ". The
different ways in which different
I places and things thus make app??l
: would be partly explained; the su
prcme charm referring to reminis?
cences reaching through the lonjP
est chain of life and the i. ?<rp?---t.
But no pleasure of this son ca?
have so ghostly a sweetness a.- that
which belongs to th? charm of an an?
cestral home in which happy gencra
; tions have been. Then how much
I dead love lives again, and hew many
i ecstasies of the childhoods of a
hundred years must, revive! We do
, not all die, said the ancien? wise
i man. How much of us dies is an un
; utterable mystery."
The Hearn lelters to Hendrick, a*
I well as those to other correspondents,
iii." Captain Mitchell MacDonaid, H. E
?rehbiel, H. II. Chamberlain, Mrs.
[ Elizabeth Wet more, will probably live
as lemg as any other letters m Kl gii??"'?
en- American literature. The master art
; ist and thinker is never absent from
these personal communications. Hearn
wrote to Ins friends without any sub?
terfuge, hut. frankly an?! intimately.
He p-Hircd forth his ideas and gave dc
1 scriptions of !,i methods of working?
accounts ?>f his devotion to bis art. an?i
' reminiscences of his struggles. When
I looked at the original of the letters
- ;n Mr. Hendrick's horn?- on Kast rorti
' eth Street, New York, and saw the neat
handwriting?the lines as they flowed
'?? from Hearn's pen a sort of fetichistie
' feeling came over mo. These, then,were
1 tin- original of letters the publication
of which .- rt-opt the literary world with
eleep admiration. As the massive,
I towering figure of Mr. Hendriek. brini
! ming with life and good nature, ben"
over me, I mentally Pictured the slight
stature of Hearn, .". fret :? inches, and
thought of Hendrick. though e]evJ?
i years younger, as of a physical guard
Man of Hearn, thc rather diminutiv??
: timid writer. Hendrick was proud 0'
; having had Hearn's friendship, fur ""
I shares with Captain MacDonaid the d'*
j tinction of having retained it to the
time of Hearn's death.