The Jewish advance., August 30, 1878, Page 2, Image 2

About The Jewish advance. (Chicago, Ill.) 1878-1881

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delivered every year at the distribution
of prizes for that society. He was also
treasurer of the Talmud Torah Society,
established in the year 1852. Every
Chanucah, he held a conference, at which
a summary of the literary work of the
society, and of Judaism in general, dur
ing the year, was given. His extempo
raneous discussions on such occasions
were highly admired for the great learn
ing and quick perception which they
evinced.
Here is a list of the other societies
in which Albert Cohn took an active
part:
The Society Hachnassath Kallali, es
tablished in the year 1844; Mme. James
de Rothschild, Pres.; Albert Cohn, Sec
retary.
“ Work for the Benefit ot Lymg-in
Women,” established in the year 1864—
Mme. Joseph Halphen, Pres.; Albert
Cohn, Financial Secretary.
The “Society of Good Books,” (a
publication society which has issued
many useful books; among others, the
Family Bible and the Hebrew-French
Dictionary, by Sander and Trenel); es
tablished in the year 1854.
The Scientific Literary Society, estab
lished by Hippolyte Rodrignes in the
year 1865.
The Society “ Mekize Virdomim,” for
the publication of ancient Hebrew manu
scripts established in Lyck, Prussia, in
the year 1861, by E. L. Silverman*
The “Rabbinical Mission Work in
France,” called into existence by Grand
Rabbin Isidor, on occasion of the erec
tion of the new synagogue, and for the
purpose of fusing the German with Port
uguese ritual in one. Albert Cohn was
member of that society first, and Vice
President in the year 1869,
The “ Society for the Aid of the Jews
of Palestine.”
The “ Bischoffsheim Institution,” for
boys, established in the year 1864. Al
bert Cohn was a member of the board of
that institution.
The “ Bischoffsheim Institution,” for
girls, inaugurated in the year 1872.
The “Alliance Israelite,” Albert
Cohn was elected a member of the board
in the year 1668.
The “ Central Consistory of French
Israelites,” for Oran. Albert Cohn was
elected a member in the year 1868, and
was appointed President of the School
Committee in the year 1873.
* This Society has of late dwindled down to a
discreditable private concern on account of
mismanagement.—Ed. J. Adv.
[to BE CONTINUED.]
[Copyright Secured.J
fERDlNAND ]..ssASSALLE;
A Biographical and Characteristic Sketch.
[Adapted from the German.]
Part I.
Lassalle Before the Agitation.
Chapter V.
The difference between Heraclitus
and Lassalle consists only in this; that
from she writings of ancient Greek, it is
easy to see how, notwithstanding his
great respect for the general, he was
compelled to stand up in decided oppo
sition against the anarchy of his native
city, Ephesus—while it is difficult to
perceive how Lassalle, by his analogical
principles of state, could arrive at prac
tical consequences which were more in
the spirit of Rosseau than of Hegel.
This can be ascribed only to a moral di
vergence within himself, which is fre
quently to be noticed in prominent per
sons. By instinct and by the force of
his original principles, Lassalle was a
worshipper of intelligence, of objective
reason, and therefore also a sanguine
opponent, even a despiser of public
opinion and of majorities. By his con
victions, however, and by reason of his
political and practical principles, he was
a perfect Democrat, a consistent and suc
cessful advocate of the rights of voting
for the people, the first in the field to
fight for a kind of anarchy which had no
precedent in history. An aristocrat in
spirit and a social Democrat! A contra
diction which may be wrell understood,
but which no person in the world may
embrace within himself with impunity.
The moral contradiction, which we have
just delineated, was expressed in a ma
terial form when Lassalle, dressed with
the utmost elegance, in the finest linen
and in the most fashionable patent
leather boots, addressed himself to and
in a circle of unwashed and unshaven
rough workingmen.
But if in the aforegoing instance a de
cided contrast existed between Lassalle
and the great philosopher whom he so
greatly admired, the points of similarity
between them are easily found out from
the description of Heractitus’ person
ality and of his incomparable self-con
sciousness. What idea must the man
have had of his own worth, who said re
peatedly that “ all men were without
reason, that he alone was conscious;
all the rest acted as though they were
asleep ” (Vol. I, pages 269 and 281); or
who said of his fellow-citizens not only
that “ they deserve to be hanged because
the masses feed like cattle,” but also, on
the occasion of the expatriation of his
friend Hermodoros, he has made the re
mark : “ All the Ephesians when they
grow of age ought to be strangled, and
those who are not of age should leave
the city, because they have driven away
the best man they had in their midst,
saying : No excellent man shall be with
us, and if one is an excellent man he
must go to live with others.” (Yol. I,
page 442). There can be no doubt that
such sentiments often crowded them
selves in Lassalle’s mind when, a year
before his death, he found himself hated
and calumniated everywhere, with the
prospect of a life-long imprisonment be
fore him, with the government and the
press raging against him, and when he
was met with indifference even by those
whom he had desired to help, and for
whose sake he had sacrificsd rest and
peace. One of the finest parallels to
the above quoted sayings of Heractitus
can be found in Lassalle’s elegantly writ
ten “ melancholical meditation,” at the
conclusion of his work on “ Capital and
Labor:” it fully expresses the bitter sen
timents and the contempt for the masses
which the author had.
“ This fatuity of the people, in the
land of Lessing and Kant, Schiller and
Goethe, Fichte, Schelling and' Hegel !
Have really those heroes of the mind
swaroed away over our heads like a flock
of cranes? Has nothing been left for
the nation of all the intense spiritual
labor, of the moral revolution which they
have wrought—nothing, nothing at all?
And does the German spirit consist only
of a number of isolated individuals
each of whom, having taken possession
of the bequest of his predecessors,
worked on in bitter contempt for his con
temporaries alone, and without any bene
fit for the nation? By what curse have
the citizens been disinherited, that from
all the great work of culture which has
been accomplished in their midst, that
from the whole atmosphere of education,
not a single drop of refreshing dew fell
upon the minds which are growing al
ways more barren as time advances?
The citizen commemorates our thinkers
on festive days, because he has never
read their works ! He would burn those
works if he had read them.He
speaks with enthusiasm of our poets*
because he can recite one or two verses
of their poetry, or he has seen a piece or
two on the stage—but never has he given
his mind to comprehend their views of
the world ! ”
IDYLLIC POETRY.
There are flowers whose beauty needs
no discoverer. A tangle of white roses,
creeping up the arms of an ancient yew,
a regiment of lilies in a cottage garden
—these, and such as these, cannot es
cape notice. Whoever passes that way
in his daily walks must see them, unless
the seeing eye has been denied him.
They command attention and admira
tion. There is no need of sending wor
shipers to their shrine. Rut if per
chance some lover of flowers knows
where to find the ivy-leafed campanula,
or, better still, if he can tell of a spot
under fragrant fir trees where the tal[
gentian hides its delicate blue blossoms
among thick masses of heath, we may
thaink him for the tidings, for we might
live long in the neighborhood and never
chance upon these hidden beauties. So
in the world of poetry. There are poems
which cannot be compared to any single
flower, but rather to the tops of a tropi
cal forest, filled with light, motion and
color. These belong to the epic order.
Others are small, and make a single im
pression, but are perfect in form, color
and fragrance, like the rose. Such are
many lyrical poems, which live in the
remembrance of every reader. These
do not require to be discovered by a wan
derer in by-paths. But there are flowers
which not every one loves, and some who
pass them by would pronounce their
form insignificant, their tints faded, their
scents unpleasing. The discovery of
their charms is the reward of the careful
and close observer. So there are poems
which are special favorites with a few>
but which others count slight and fanci
ful, best left in obscurity. The judgment
of the majority sets this mark upon idyl
lic poetry. Even the greatest poems in
this order have not been universally ad
mired. But, as the observer of nature
will bring a friend to the flower which,
as he thought, gave a nymph-like grace
to the copse, lent a special charm to the
moor, or lit up the river bank, so the
reader of poetry will try to impart to
others the pleasure he has received
Definitions are always difficult to frame’
and in matters of poetry often impossi
ble. Idyllic poetry cannot be defined in
terms that would satisfy a logician. It
were as easy to describe a mass of cloud
and shower one sees passing along the
mountainous coast across an arm of the
sea, with a square block of hill in black
shadow to the left, while the rounded
mist and streaming rain were lit with
wonderful yet delicate color—no positive
tints like those of a sunset—but a mar
velous inweaving of subtlest harmonies.
It was a sight to see, to remember, to
dream of; not to describe, scarcely even
for the genius of Turner himself to paint.
Neither can idyllic poetry be defined, for
the effects on which it depends are often
equally subtle. Idyllic poems cannot be
caught and penned, like a flock of sheep
in a pound, until they are all numbered.
The idyll has a habit of breaking bounds,
and may be found now and then in epic
territory. The idyllic sentiment is not
unfrequently to be seen in lyrical poetry?
and sometimes an epigram looks decided
ly idyllic. There is no outward and vis
ible sign separating idyllic from epic
poetry, except the apparently trivial
mark of length. The idyll cannot be
long, neither can the true epic be short.
The sweep and mighty current which
are necessary characteristics of the lat
ter are characteristically absent from the
former. On this side, as, perhaps, in a
less degree, on the other, the distinction
must be felt rather than seen. The idyll
is less elevated in tone than the epic,
less intense than lyrical poetry.—Mac
millan's Magazine.
IMPURE WATER.
Next to eating comes drinking, and
few things are more destructive to health
than the use of impure water. This is
clearly demonstrated by the fact that a
pitcher of iced water placed in a room
inhabited, will in a few hours have ab
sorbed nearly all the perspired gases of
the room, the air of which will have be
come purer, but the water utterly filthy.
This depends on the fact that water has
the faculty of condensing, and thereby
absorbing nearly all the gases, which it
does without increasing its own bulk.
The colder the water is, the greater its
capacity to contain these gases. At or
dinary temperature, a pint of water will
contain a pint of carbonic acid gas and
several pints of ammonia. The capacity
is nearly doubled by reducing the tem
perature to that of ice. Hence, water
kept in the room awhile is always unfit
for use, and should be often removed,,
whether it has become warm or not—and
for the same reason, the water in a pump
should all be pumped out in the morning
before any is used. That which has
stood in a pitcher over night is not fit
for coffee water in the morning. Impure
water is more injurious to health than
inpure air, and every person should pro
vide the means of obtaining fresh, pure
water for all domestic uses.
Another Cry of Distress.
New York, August 19th, 1878.
Intelligence from Morocco confirms
the statements made in June of heart
rending distress in the famine-stricken
districts of the empire. It is supposed
that two millions of people are affected?
and a very large proportion will suffer
from actual starvation. At Mogador
alone, over 2,500 Israelites are reported
as needing food. The resources of the
local committees, assisted by the impe
rial officials, are taxed to the utmost.
The United States and British Con
suls at Tangier and Mogador write in
terms of earnest sympathy, and urge the
necessity of prompt assistance. Several
of our clergy in this city have kindly un- *
dertaken to receive subscriptions, and
this committee will cordially co-operate,
believing that American Israelites, not
withstanding recent and pressing calls at
home, will desire to contribute to the
relief of their afflicted brethren in Mo
rocco.
Donations (which will be promptly
transmitted to Mogador) may be sent to
any of our ministers, or to
Myer S. Isaacs,
President, 243 Broadway, N. Y.
Simon Wolf,
Vice President, Washington, D. C.
Wm, B. Hacrenburg,
Vice President, Philadelphia, Pa.
Hezekiah Kohn,
Treasurer, Greene Street, N. Y.
A. L. Sanger, Secretary.