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diff --git a/41042-0.txt b/41042-0.txt index e069438..c1b9480 100644 --- a/41042-0.txt +++ b/41042-0.txt @@ -1,27 +1,4 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography., by Solomon Maimon - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography. - -Author: Solomon Maimon - -Translator: J. Clark Murray, LL.D., F.R.S.C. - -Release Date: October 13, 2012 [EBook #41042] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOLOMON MAIMON: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. *** - - - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41042 *** Produced by Charlene Taylor,Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. @@ -8474,366 +8451,4 @@ ALEX. GARDNER, PAISLEY AND LONDON. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography. - -Author: Solomon Maimon - -Translator: J. Clark Murray, LL.D., F.R.S.C. - -Release Date: October 13, 2012 [EBook #41042] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOLOMON MAIMON: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. *** - - - - -Produced by Charlene Taylor,Josephine Paolucci and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - -_SOLOMON MAIMON._ - - - - -SOLOMON MAIMON: - -_AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY._ - -TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, WITH ADDITIONS AND NOTES, - -BY - -J. CLARK MURRAY, LL.D., F.R.S.C., - -_Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy, M'Gill College, Montreal_. - -ALEXANDER GARDNER, -PAISLEY; AND 12 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. -DAWSON BROTHERS, MONTREAL; CUPPLES AND HURD, BOSTON. - -1888. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - -TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE, ix. - -INTRODUCTION.--State of Poland in last century, 1 - -CHAPTER-- - -I.--My Grandfather's Housekeeping, 6 - -II.--First Reminiscences of Youth, 19 - -III.--Private Education and Independent Study, 22 - -IV.--Jewish Schools--The Joy of being released from them causes - a Stiff Foot, 32 - -V.--My Family is driven into Misery, and an old Servant loses by his - great Faithfulness a Christian Burial, 38 - -VI.--New Abode, New Misery--The Talmudist, 42 - -VII.--Joy endureth but a little while, 49 - -VIII.--The Pupil knows more than the Teacher--A theft _à la -Rousseau_, which is discovered--"The ungodly provideth, and -the righteous putteth it on," 54 - -IX.--Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals--The -Song of Solomon may be used in the service -of Matchmaking--A new _Modus Lucrandi_--Smallpox, 59 - -X.--I become an object of Contention, get two Wives -at once, and am kidnapped at last, 65 - -XI.--My Marriage in my eleventh Year makes me the -Slave of my Wife, and procures for me -Cudgellings from my Mother-in-Law--A -Ghost of Flesh and Blood, 74 - -XII.--The Secrets of the Marriage State--Prince -Radzivil, or what is not all allowed in -Poland? 79 - -XIII.--Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless -Struggles with Misery of every Kind, 89 - -XIV.--I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a -Physician, 94 - -XV.--A brief Exposition of the Jewish Religion from -its Origin down to the most recent Times, 111 - -XVI.--Jewish Piety and Penances, 132 - -XVII.--Friendship and Enthusiasm, 138 - -XVIII.--The Life of a Family Tutor, 145 - -XIX.--Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long -Chapter, 151 - -XX.--Continuation of the Former, and also Something -about Religious Mysteries, 176 - -XXI.--Journeys to Königsberg, Stettin, and Berlin, for -the purpose of extending my Knowledge of -Men, 187 - -XXII.--Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance, 197 - -XXIII.--Arrival in Berlin--Acquaintances--Mendelssohn--Desperate -Study of Metaphysics--Doubts--Lectures -on Locke and Adelung, 210 - -XXIV.--Mendelssohn--A Chapter devoted to the Memory -of a worthy Friend, 221 - -XXV.--My Aversion at first for Belles Lettres, and my -subsequent Conversion--Departure from Berlin--Sojourn -in Hamburg--I drown myself in -the same way as a bad Actor shoots himself--An -old Fool of a Woman falls in Love with -me, but her Addresses are rejected, 234 - -XXVI.--I return to Hamburg--A Lutheran Pastor -pronounces me to be a scabby Sheep, and -unworthy of Admission into the Christian -Fold--I enter the Gymnasium, and frighten -the Chief Rabbi out of his Wits, 253 - -XXVII.--Third journey to Berlin--Frustrated Plan of -Hebrew Authorship--Journey to Breslau--Divorce, 265 - -XXVIII.--Fourth journey to Berlin--Unfortunate - circumstances--Help--Study of Kant's Writings--Characteristic -of my own Works, 279 - -CONCLUDING CHAPTER, 290 - - - - -TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. - - -One effect of _Daniel Deronda_ was to make known to a wide circle of -readers the vitality of Judaism as a system which still holds sway over -the mental as well as the external life of men. During the few years -which have passed since the publication of that great fiction, the -interest in modern Judaism has continued to grow. It is but a short time -since the Western world was startled by the outbreak of an ancient -feeling against the Jews, which had been supposed to be long dead, at -least in some of the quarters where it was displayed. The popular -literature of the day also seems to indicate that the life of existing -Jewish communities is attracting a large share of attention in the -reading world. The charming pictures which Emil Franzos has drawn of -Jewish life in the villages of Eastern Galicia, are not only popular in -Germany, but some have been reproduced in a cheap form in New York to -meet the demand of German Americans, and some have also been translated -into English. The interest of English readers in the same subject is -further shown by the recent translation of Kompert's _Scenes from the -Ghetto_, as well as by Mr. Cumberland's still more recent and powerful -romance of _The Rabbi's Spell_. Among students of philosophical -literature a fresh interest has been awakened in the history of Jewish -thought by the revival of the question in reference to the sources of -Spinoza's philosophy. The affinities of this system with the familiar -tendencies of Cartesian speculation have led the historians of -philosophy generally to represent the former as simply an inevitable -development of the latter, while the affinities of Spinozism with the -unfamiliar speculations of earlier Jewish thinkers have been almost -entirely ignored. - -In these circumstances a special interest may be felt in the life of one -of the most remarkable Jews of modern times--a life which forms one of -the most extraordinary biographies in the history of literature. - -Readers of _Daniel Deronda_ may remember that, in his search among the -Jews of London for some one who could throw light on the sad story of -Mirah, the hero of the novel was attracted one day to a second-hand -book-shop, where his eye fell on "that wonderful bit of -autobiography--the life of the Polish Jew, Solomon Maimon." There are -few men so remarkable as Maimon who have met with so little recognition -in English literature. Milman, in his _History of the Jews_, refers -once[1] to the autobiography as "a curious and rare book," but -apparently he knew it only from some quotations in Franck's _La -Cabbale_. Among English metaphysical writers the only one who seems to -have studied the speculations of Maimon is Dr. Hodgson.[2] Even the new -edition of the _Encyclopedia Britannica_ gives no place to Maimon among -its biographies. And yet he is a prominent figure among the -metaphysicians of the Kantian period. Kuno Fischer, in his _Geschichte -der Neueren Philosophie_,[3] devotes a whole chapter to the life of -Maimon, while the contemporary critics of Kant are dismissed with little -or no biographical notice. Fischer's sketch is just sufficient to whet -curiosity for fuller details; but, amid the dearth of rare literature in -Colonial libraries, I certainly never expected to come, in a Canadian -town, upon "a curious and rare book" of last century, which was known -even to the learned Milman only through some quotations from a French -author. One day, however, in Toronto, in order to while away an -unoccupied hour, I was glancing, like Daniel Deronda, over the shelves -of a second-hand bookseller, when I was attracted by a small volume, in -a good state of preservation, with "S. Maimon's Lebensgeschichte" on the -back; and on taking it down I found it to be the veritable autobiography -which I had been curious to see. - -Some account of the work was given in an article in the _British -Quarterly Review_ for July, 1885; but I thought that a complete -translation would probably be welcomed by a considerable circle of -English readers. The book has many attractions. If the development of -the inner life of man can ever be characterised as a romance, the -biography of Maimon may, in the truest sense, be said to be one of the -most romantic stories ever written. Perhaps no literature has preserved -a more interesting record of a spirit imprisoned within almost -insuperable barriers to culture, yet acquiring strength to burst all -these, and even to become an appreciable power in directing the course -of speculation. The book, however, is much more than a biography; it -possesses historical interest. It opens up what, to many English -readers, must be unknown efforts of human thought, unknown wanderings of -the religious life. The light, which it throws upon Judaism especially, -both in its speculative and in its practical aspects, is probably, in -fact, unique. For the sketches, which the book contains, of Jewish -speculation and life were made at a time when the author had severed all -vital connection with his own people and their creed; and they are -therefore drawn from a point of view outside of Jewish prejudices: but -they are penned by one who had been brought up to believe the divine -mission of his people, as well as the divine authority of their -religion; and the criticism of his old faith is generally tempered by -that kindly sympathy, with which the heart is apt to be warmed on -lingering over the companionships and other associations of earlier -years. Maimon's account of Jewish philosophy and theology acquires an -additional value from the fact, that he was caught in the full tide of -the Kantian movement, and he was thus in a position to point out -unexpected affinities between many an old effort of speculative thought -among the Jews and the philosophical tendencies of modern Christendom. - -Since writing the above-mentioned article for the _British Quarterly -Review_, I learnt that a volume of _Maimoniana_ had been issued in 1813 -by an old friend of our philosopher, Dr. Wolff[4]; and through the -kindness of a friend in Leipsic, I was enabled, after some delay, to -procure a copy. It is a small volume of 260 pages, and adds extremely -little to our knowledge of Maimon. Nearly one third is simply a -condensation of the autobiography; and the remainder shows the author -with the opportunities indeed, but without the faculty, of a Boswell. He -has preserved but few of the felicities of Maimon's conversation; and -what he has preserved loses a good deal of its flavour from his want of -the lively memory by which Boswell was able to reproduce the peculiar -mannerisms of Johnson's talk. Still I have culled from the little -volume a few notes for illustration of the autobiography, and I am -indebted to it for most of the materials of the concluding chapter. All -my additions are indicated by "_Trans._" appended. - -The translation gives the whole of the biographical portion of the -original. There are, however, ten chapters which I have omitted, as they -are occupied entirely with a sketch of the great work of -Maimonides,--the _Moreh Nebhochim_, or _Guide of the Perplexed_. Owing -to their somewhat loose connection[5] with the rest, these chapters -excite just the faintest suspicion of "padding;" and at all events there -is no demand for such a sketch in English now, when our literature has -been recently enriched by Dr. Friedländer's careful translation of the -whole work. - -In the performance of my task I have endeavoured to render the original -as literally as was consistent with readable English. Only in one or -two passages I have toned down the expression slightly to suit the -tastes of our own time; but even in these I have not been unfaithful to -the author's meaning. - -In the spelling of Hebrew and other foreign words I have never, without -some good reason, interfered with the original. But as Maimon is not -always consistent with himself in this respect, I have felt myself at -liberty to disregard his usage by adopting such forms as are more -familiar, or more likely to be intelligible, to an English reader. - - - - -SOLOMON MAIMON. - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -The inhabitants of Poland may be conveniently divided into six classes -or orders:--the superior nobility, the inferior nobility, the -half-noble, burghers, peasantry and Jews. - -The superior nobility consist of the great landowners and administrators -of the high offices of government. The inferior nobility also are -allowed to own land and to fill any political office; but they are -prevented from doing so by their poverty. The half-noble can neither own -land, nor fill any high office in the State; and by this he is -distinguished from the genuine noble. Here and there, it is true, he -owns land; but for that he is in some measure dependent on the lord of -the soil, within whose estate his property lies, inasmuch as he is -required to pay him a yearly tribute. - -The burghers are the most wretched of all the orders. They are not, 'tis -true, in servitude to any man; they also enjoy certain privileges, and -have a jurisdiction of their own. But as they seldom own any property -of value, or follow rightly any profession, they always remain in a -condition of pitiable poverty. - -The last two orders, namely the peasantry and the Jews, are the most -useful in the country. The former occupy themselves with agriculture, -raising cattle, keeping bees,--in short, with all the products of the -soil. The latter engage in trade, take up the professions and -handicrafts, become bakers, brewers, dealers in beer, brandy, mead and -other articles. They are also the only persons who farm estates in towns -and villages, except in the case of ecclesiastical properties, where the -reverend gentlemen hold it a sin to put a Jew in a position to make a -living, and accordingly prefer to hand over their farms to the peasants. -For this they must suffer by their farms going to ruin, as the peasantry -have no aptitude for this sort of employment: but of course they choose -rather to bear this with Christian resignation. - -In consequence of the ignorance of most of the Polish landlords, the -oppression of the tenantry, and the utter want of economy, most of the -farms in Poland, at the end of last century,[6] had fallen into such a -state of decay, that a farm, which now yields about a thousand Polish -gulden, was offered to a Jew for ten; but in consequence of still -greater ignorance and laziness, with all that advantage even he could -not make a living off the farm. An incident, however, occurred at this -time, which gave a new turn to affairs. Two brothers from Galicia, where -the Jews are much shrewder than in Lithuania, took, under the name of -_Dersawzes_ or farmers-general, a lease of all the estates of Prince -Radzivil, and, by means of a better industry as well as a better -economy, they not only raised the estates into a better condition, but -also enriched themselves in a short time. - -Disregarding the clamour of their brethren, they increased the rents, -and enforced payment by the sub-lessees with the utmost stringency. They -themselves exercised a direct oversight of the farms; and wherever they -found a farmer who, instead of looking after his own interests and those -of his landlord in the improvement of his farm by industry and economy, -spent the whole day in idleness, or lay drunk about the stove, they soon -brought him to his senses, and roused him out of his indolence by a -flogging. This procedure of course acquired for the farmers-general, -among their own people, the name of tyrants. - -All this, however, had a very good effect. The farmer, who at the term -had hitherto been unable to pay up his ten gulden of rent without -requiring to be sent to jail about it, now came under such a strong -inducement to active exertion, that he was not only able to support a -family off his farm, but was also able to pay, instead of ten, four or -five hundred, and sometimes even a thousand gulden. - -The Jews, again, may be divided into three classes:--(1) the illiterate -working people, (2) those who make learning their profession, and (3) -those who merely devote themselves to learning without engaging in any -remunerative occupation, being supported by the industrial class. To the -second class belong the chief rabbis, preachers, judges, schoolmasters, -and others of similar profession. The third class consists of those who, -by their pre-eminent abilities and learning, attract the regard of the -unlearned, are taken by these into their families, married to their -daughters, and maintained for some years with wife and children at their -expense. Afterwards, however, the wife is obliged to take upon herself -the maintenance of the saintly idler and the children (who are usually -very numerous); and for this, as is natural, she thinks a good deal of -herself. - -There is perhaps no country besides Poland, where religious freedom and -religious enmity are to be met with in equal degree. The Jews enjoy -there a perfectly free exercise of their religion and all other civil -liberties; they have even a jurisdiction of their own. On the other -hand, however, religious hatred goes so far, that the name of Jew has -become an abomination; and this abhorrence, which had taken root in -barbarous times, continued to show its effects till about thirteen years -ago. But this apparent contradiction may be very easily removed, if it -is considered that the religious and civil liberty, conceded to the Jews -in Poland, has not its source in any respect for the universal rights -of mankind, while, on the other hand, the religious hatred and -persecution are by no means the result of a wise policy which seeks to -remove out of the way whatever is injurious to morality and the welfare -of the State. Both phenomena are results of the political ignorance and -torpor prevalent in the country. With all their defects the Jews are -almost the only useful inhabitants of the country, and therefore the -Polish people found themselves obliged, for the satisfaction of their -own wants, to grant all possible liberties to the Jews; but, on the -other hand, their moral ignorance and stupor could not fail to produce -religious hatred and persecution. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -My Grandfather's Housekeeping. - - -My grandfather, Heimann Joseph, was farmer of some villages in the -neighbourhood of the town of Mir, in the territory of Prince -Radzivil.[7] He selected for his residence one of these villages on the -river Niemen, called Sukoviborg, where, besides a few peasants' plots, -there was a water-mill, a small harbour, and a warehouse for the use of -the vessels that come from Königsberg, in Prussia. All this, along with -a bridge behind the village, and on the other side a drawbridge on the -river Niemen, belonged to the farm, which was then worth about a -thousand gulden, and formed my grandfather's _Chasakah_.[8] This farm, -on account of the warehouse and the great traffic, was very lucrative. -With sufficient industry and economical skill, _si mens non laeva -fuisset_, my grandfather should have been able, not only to support his -family, but even to gather wealth. The bad constitution of the country, -however, and his own want of all the acquirements necessary for -utilising the land, placed extraordinary obstacles in his way. - -My grandfather settled his brothers as tenants under him in the villages -belonging to his farm. These not only lived continually with my -grandfather under the pretence of assisting him in his manifold -occupations, but in addition to this they would not pay their rents at -the end of the year. - -The buildings, belonging to my grandfather's farm, had fallen into decay -from age, and required therefore to be repaired. The harbour and the -bridge also had become dilapidated. In accordance with the terms of the -lease the landlord was to repair everything, and put it in a condition -fit for use. But, like all the Polish magnates, he resided permanently -in Warsaw, and could therefore give no attention to the improvement of -his estates. His stewards had for their principal object the improvement -rather of their own condition than of their landlord's property. They -oppressed the farmers with all sorts of exactions, they neglected the -orders given for the improvement of the farms, and the moneys intended -for this purpose they applied to their own use. My grandfather indeed -made representations on the subject to the stewards day after day, and -assured them that it was impossible for him to pay his rent, if -everything was not put into proper condition according to the lease. All -this, however, was of no avail. He always received promises indeed, but -the promises were never fulfilled. The result was not only the ruin of -the farm, but several other evils arising from that. - -As already mentioned, there was a large traffic at this place; and as -the bridges were in a bad state, it happened not infrequently that these -broke down just when a Polish nobleman with his rich train was passing, -and horse and rider were plunged into the swamp. The poor farmer was -then dragged to the bridge, where he was laid down and flogged till it -was thought that sufficient revenge had been taken. - -My grandfather therefore did all in his power to guard against this evil -in the future. For this purpose he stationed one of his people to keep -watch at the bridge, so that, if any noble were passing, and an accident -of this sort should happen, the sentinel might bring word to the house -as quickly as possible, and the whole family might thus have time to -take refuge in the neighbouring wood. Every one thereupon ran in terror -out of the house, and not infrequently they were all obliged to remain -the whole night in the open air, till one after another ventured to -approach the house. - -This sort of life lasted for some generations. My father used to tell of -an incident of this sort, which happened when he was still a boy of -about eight years. The whole family had fled to their usual retreat. But -my father, who knew nothing of what had happened, and was playing at the -back of the stove, stayed behind alone. When the angry lord came into -the house with his suite, and found nobody on whom he could wreak his -vengeance, he ordered every corner of the house to be searched, when my -father was found at the back of the stove. The nobleman asked him if he -would drink brandy, and, on the boy refusing, shouted: "If you will not -drink brandy, you shall drink water." At the same time he ordered a -bucketful of water to be brought, and forced my father, by lashes with -his whip, to drink it out. Naturally this treatment brought on a quartan -fever, which lasted nearly a whole year, and completely undermined his -health. - -A similar incident took place when I was a child of three years. Every -one ran out of the house; and the housemaid, who carried me in her arms, -hurried forth. But as the servants of the nobleman who had arrived ran -after her, she quickened her steps, and in her extreme haste let me fall -from her arms. There I lay whimpering on the skirt of the wood, till -fortunately a peasant passing by lifted me up and took me home with him. -It was only after everything had become quiet again, and the family had -returned to the house, that the maid remembered having lost me in the -flight, when she began to lament and wring her hands. They sought me -everywhere, but could not find me, till at last the peasant came from -the village and restored me to my parents. - -It was not merely the terror and consternation, into which we used to be -thrown on the occasion of such a flight; to this was added the -plundering of the house when deprived of its inhabitants. Beer, brandy, -and mead were drunk at pleasure; the spirit of revenge even went so far -at times, that the casks were left to run out; corn and fowls were -carried off; and so forth. - -Had my grandfather, instead of seeking justice from a more powerful -litigant, rather borne the injustice, and built the bridge in question -at his own expense, he would have been able to avoid all these evils. He -appealed, however, persistently to the terms of his lease, and the -steward made sport of his misery. - -And now something about my grandfather's domestic economy. The manner of -life, which he led in his house, was quite simple. The annual produce of -the arable lands, pasture-lands, and kitchen-gardens, belonging to the -farm, was sufficient, not only for the wants of his own family, but also -for brewing and distilling. He could even, besides, sell a quantity of -grain and hay. His bee-hives were sufficient for the brewing of mead. He -had also a large number of cattle. - -The principal food consisted of a poor kind of corn-bread mixed with -bran, of articles made of meal and milk, and of the produce of the -garden, seldom of flesh-meat. The clothing was made of poor linen and -coarse stuff. Only the women made in these matters a slight exception, -and my father also, who was a scholar, required a different sort of -life. - -Hospitality was here carried very far. The Jews in this neighbourhood -are continually moving about from place to place; and as there was a -great traffic at our village, they were frequently passing through it, -and of course they had always to stop at my grandfather's inn. Every -Jewish traveller was met at the door with a glass of spirits; one hand -making the _salaam_,[9] while the other reached the glass. He then had -to wash his hands, and seat himself at the table which remained -constantly covered. - -The support of a numerous family along with this hospitality would have -had no serious effect in impairing my grandfather's circumstances, if at -the same time he had introduced a better economy in his house. This, -however, was the source of his misfortune. - -My grandfather was in trifles almost too economical, and neglected -therefore matters of the greatest importance. He looked upon it, for -example, as extravagance to burn wax or tallow candles; their place had -to be supplied with thin strips of resinous pine, one end of which was -stuck into the chinks of the wall, while the other was lit. Not -unfrequently by this means fires were occasioned, and much damage -caused, in comparison with which the cost of candles was not worth -taking into consideration. - -The apartment, in which beer, spirits, mead, herrings, salt and other -articles were kept for the daily account of the inn, had no windows, -but merely apertures, through which it received light. Naturally this -often tempted the sailors and carriers who put up at the inn to climb -into the apartment, and make themselves drunk gratuitously with spirits -and mead. What was still worse, these carousing heroes, from fear of -being caught in the act, often took to flight, on hearing the slightest -noise, without waiting to put in the spigot, sprang out at the holes by -which they had come in, and let the liquor run as long as it might. In -this way sometimes whole casks of spirits and mead ran out. - -The barns had no proper locks, but were shut merely with wooden bolts. -Any one therefore, especially as the barns were at some distance from -the dwelling-house, could take from them at pleasure, and even carry off -whole waggonloads of grain. The sheepfold had, all over, holes, by which -wolves (the forest being quite near) were able to slink in, and worry -the sheep at their convenience. - -The cows came very often from the pasture with empty udders. According -to the superstition which prevailed there, it was said in such cases, -that the milk had been taken from them by witchcraft,--a misfortune, -against which it was supposed that nothing could be done. - -My grandmother, a good simple woman, when tired with her household -occupations, lay down often in her clothes to sleep by the stove, and -had all her pockets full of money, without knowing how much. Of this -the housemaid took advantage, and emptied the pockets of half their -contents. Nevertheless my grandmother seldom perceived the want, if only -the girl did not play too clumsy a trick. - -All these evils could easily have been avoided of course by repairing -the buildings, the windows, the window-shutters and locks, by proper -oversight of the manifold lucrative occupations connected with the farm, -as also by keeping an exact account of receipts and disbursements. But -this was never thought of. On the other hand, if my father, who was a -scholar, and educated partly in town, ordered for himself a rabbinical -suit, for which a finer stuff was required than that in common use, my -grandfather did not fail to give him a long and severe lecture on the -vanity of the world. "Our forefathers," he used to say, "knew nothing of -these new-fashioned costumes, and yet were devout people. You must have -a coat of striped woolen cloth,[10] you must have leather hose, with -buttons even, and everything on the same scale. You will bring me to -beggary at last; I shall be thrown into prison on your account. Ay me, -poor unfortunate man! What is to become of me?" - -My father then appealed to the rights and privileges of the profession -of a scholar, and showed moreover that, in a well-arranged system of -economy, it does not so much matter whether you live somewhat better or -worse, and that even my grandfather's misfortunes arose, not from -extravagant consumption in housekeeping, but rather from the fact that -he allowed himself by his remissness to be plundered by others. All this -however was of no avail with my grandfather. He could not tolerate -innovations. Everything therefore had to be left as it was. - -My grandfather was held in the place of his abode to be a rich man, -which he could really have been if he had known how to make use of his -opportunities; and on this account he was envied and hated by all, even -by his own family, he was abandoned by his landlord, he was oppressed in -every possible way by the steward, and cheated and robbed by his own -domestics as well as by strangers. In short, he was _the poorest rich -man_ in the world. - -In addition to all this there were still greater misfortunes, which I -cannot here pass over wholly in silence. The pope, that is, the Russian -clergyman in this village, was a dull ignorant blockhead, who had -scarcely learned to read and write. He spent most of his time at the -inn, where he drank spirits with his boorish parishioners, and let his -liquor always be put down to his account, without ever a thought of -paying his score. My grandfather at last became tired of this, and made -up his mind to give him nothing more upon credit. The fellow naturally -took this very ill, and therefore resolved upon revenge. - -For this he found at length a means, at which indeed humanity shudders, -but of which the Catholic Christians in Poland were wont to make use -very often at that time. This was to charge my grandfather with the -murder of a Christian, and thus bring him to the gallows. This was done -in the following way: A beaver-trapper, who sojourned constantly in this -neighbourhood to catch beavers on the Niemen, was accustomed at times to -trade in these animals with my grandfather; and this had to be done -secretly, for the beaver is game preserved, and all that are taken must -be delivered at the manor. The trapper came once about midnight, knocked -and asked for my grandfather. He showed him a bag which was pretty heavy -to lift, and said to him with a mysterious air, "I have brought you a -good big fellow here." My grandfather was going to strike a light, to -examine the beaver, and come to terms about it with the peasant. He -however said, that this was unnecessary, that my grandfather might take -the beaver at any rate, and that they would be sure to agree about it -afterwards. My grandfather, who had no suspicion of evil, took the bag -just as it was, laid it aside, and betook himself again to rest. -Scarcely, however, had he fallen asleep again, when he was roused a -second time with a loud noise of knocking. - -It was the clergyman with some boors from the village, who immediately -began to make search all over in the house. They found the bag, and my -grandfather already trembled for the issue, because he believed nothing -else than that he had been betrayed at the manor on account of his -secret trade in beavers, and he could not deny the fact. But how great -was his horror, when the bag was opened, and, instead of a beaver, there -was found a corpse! - -My grandfather was bound with his hands behind his back, his feet were -put into stocks, he was thrown into a waggon, and brought to the town of -Mir, where he was given over to the criminal court. He was made fast in -chains, and put into a dark prison. - -At the trial my grandfather stood upon his innocence, related the events -exactly as they had happened, and, as was reasonable, demanded that the -beaver-trapper should be examined too. He, however, was nowhere to be -found, was already over the hills and far away. He was sought -everywhere. But the blood-thirsty judge of the criminal court, to whom -the time became tedious, ordered my grandfather three times in -succession to be brought to torture. He, however, continued steadfast in -his assertion. - -At last the hero of the beavers was found. He was examined; and as he -straightway denied the whole affair, he also was put to the test of -torture. Thereupon at once he blabbed the whole story. He declared that, -some time before, he had found this dead body in the water, and was -going to bring it to the parsonage for burial. The parson however had -said to him, "There is plenty of time for the burial. You know that the -Jews are a hardened race, and are therefore damned to all eternity. They -crucified our Lord Jesus Christ, and even yet they seek Christian blood, -if only they can get hold of it for their passover, which is instituted -as a sign of their triumph. They use it for their passover-cake. You -will therefore do a meritorious work, if you can smuggle this dead body -into the house of the damned Jew of a farmer. You must of course clear -out, but your trade you can drive anywhere." - -On this confession the fellow was whipped out of the place, and my -grandfather set free; but the pope remained pope. - -For an everlasting memorial of this deliverance of my grandfather from -death, my father composed in Hebrew a sort of epopee, in which the whole -event was narrated, and the goodness of God was sung. It was also made a -law, that the day of his deliverance should be celebrated in the family -every year, when this poem should be recited in the same way as the Book -of Esther at the festival of Haman.[11] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -First Reminiscences of Youth. - - -In this manner my grandfather lived for many years in the place where -his forefathers had dwelt; his farm had become, as it were, a property -of the family. By the Jewish ceremonial law the _Chazakah_, that is, the -right of property in an estate, is acquired by three years' possession; -and the right is respected even by Christians in this neighbourhood. In -virtue of this law no other Jew could try to get possession of the farm -by a _Hosaphah_, that is, an offer of higher rent, if he would not bring -down upon himself the Jewish excommunication. Although the possession of -the farm was accompanied with many hardships and even oppressions, yet -it was from another point of view very lucrative. My grandfather could -not only live as a well-to-do man, but also provide richly for his -children. - -His three daughters were well dowered, and married to excellent men. His -two sons, my uncle Moses and my father Joshua, were married likewise; -and when he became old, and enfeebled by the hardships to which he had -been exposed, he gave over the management of the house to his two sons -in common. These were of different temperaments and inclinations, my -uncle Moses being of strong bodily constitution, but inferior -intelligence, while my father was the opposite; and consequently they -could not work together well. My grandfather therefore gave over to my -uncle another village, and kept my father by himself, although from his -profession as a scholar my father was not particularly adapted for the -occupations of household-management. He merely kept accounts, made -contracts, conducted processes at law, and attended to other matters of -the same sort. My mother, on the other hand, was a very lively woman, -well disposed to all sorts of occupations. She was small of stature, and -at that time still very young. - -An anecdote I cannot avoid touching on here, because it is the earliest -reminiscence from the years of my youth. I was about three years old at -the time. The merchants, who put up constantly at the place, and -especially the _shaffers_, that is, the nobles who undertook the -navigation, the purchase and delivery of goods, for the higher nobility, -were extremely fond of me on account of my liveliness, and made all -sorts of fun with me. These merry gentlemen gave my mother, on account -of her small stature and liveliness, the nickname of _Kuza_, that is, a -young filly.[12] As I heard them often call her by this name, and knew -nothing of its meaning, I also called her _Mama Kuza_. My mother rebuked -me for this, and said, "God punishes any one who calls his mother _Mama -Kuza_." One of these _Shaffers_, Herr Piliezki, used every day to take -tea in our house, and enticed me to his side by giving me at times a bit -of sugar. One morning while he was drinking his tea, when I had placed -myself in the usual position for receiving the sugar, he said he would -give it to me only on condition that I should say _Mama Kuza_. Now as my -mother was present, I refused to do it. He made a sign therefore to my -mother to go into an adjoining room. As soon as she had shut the door, I -went to him and whispered into his ear, _Mama Kuza_. He insisted however -that I should say it out loud, and promised to give me a piece of sugar -for each time that it was spoken. Accordingly I said, "Herr Piliezki -wants me to say _Mama Kuza_; but I will not say _Mama Kuza_, because God -punishes any one who says _Mama Kuza_." Thereupon I got my three pieces -of sugar. - -My father introduced into the house a more refined mode of life, -especially as he traded with Königsberg in Prussia, where he procured -all sorts of pretty and useful articles. He provided himself with tin -and brass utensils; we began to have better meals, to wear finer -clothes, than before; I was even clad in damask. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -Private Education and Independent Study. - - -In my sixth year my father began to read the Bible with me. "In the -beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Here I interrupted my -father, and asked, "But, papa, who created God?" - -"God was not created by any one," replied my father; "He existed from -all eternity." - -"Did he exist ten years ago?" I asked again. - -"O yes," my father said, "He existed even a hundred years ago." - -"Then perhaps," I continued, "God is already a thousand years old?" - -"Silence! God was eternal." - -"But," I insisted, "He must surely have been born at some time." - -"You little fool," said my father, "No! He was for ever and ever and -ever." - -With this answer I was not indeed satisfied; but I thought "Surely papa -must know better than I, and with that I must therefore be content." - -This mode of representation is very natural in early youth, when the -understanding is still undeveloped, while the imagination is in full -bloom. The understanding seeks merely to grasp, the imagination to grasp -all round.[13] That is to say, the understanding seeks to make the -origin of an object conceivable, without considering, whether the -object, whose origin is known, can also be actually represented by us or -not. The imagination, on the other hand, seeks to gather into a complete -image something, the origin of which is to us unknown. Thus, for -example, an infinite series of numbers, which progresses according to a -definite law, is for the understanding an object, to which by this law -definite qualities are attached, and an object just as good as a finite -series, which progresses according to the same law. For the imagination, -on the other hand, the latter indeed is an object; but not the former, -because it cannot grasp the former as a completed whole. - -A long time afterwards, when I was staying in Breslau, this -consideration suggested to me a thought, which I expressed in an essay -that I laid before Professor Garve, and which, though at the time I knew -nothing of the Kantian philosophy, still constitutes its foundation. I -explained this somewhat in the following way:--The metaphysicians -necessarily fall into self-contradiction. According to the confession -of Leibnitz himself, who in this appeals to the experiment of Archimedes -with the lever, the Law of Sufficient Reason or Causality is a principle -of experience. Now, it is quite true that in experience everything is -found to have a cause; but for the very reason, that _every_ thing has a -cause, nothing can be met with in experience which is a _first_ cause, -that is, a cause which has no cause to itself. How then can the -metaphysicians infer from this law the existence of a first cause? - -Afterwards I found this objection more particularly developed in the -Kantian philosophy, where it is shown that the Category of Cause, or the -form of hypothetical judgments used in reference to the objects of -nature, by which their relation to one another is determined _a priori_, -can be applied only to objects of experience through an _a priori_ -schema. The first cause, which implies a complete infinite series of -causes, and therefore in fact a contradiction, since the infinite can -never be complete, is not an object of the understanding, but an idea of -reason, or, according to my theory, a fiction of the imagination, which, -not content with the mere knowledge of the law, seeks to gather the -multiplicity, which is subject to the law, into an image, though in -opposition to the law itself. - -On another occasion I read in the Bible the story of Jacob and Esau; and -in this connection my father quoted the passage from the Talmud, where -it is said, "Jacob and Esau divided between them all the blessings of -the world. Esau chose the blessings of this life, Jacob, on the -contrary, those of the future life; and since we are descended from -Jacob, we must give up all claim to temporal blessings." On this I said -with indignation, "Jacob should not have been a fool; he should rather -have chosen the blessings of this world." Unfortunately I got for -answer, "You ungodly rascal!" and a box on the ear. This did not of -course remove my doubt, but it brought me to silence at least. - -The Prince Radzivil, who was a great lover of the chase, came one day -with his whole court to hunt in the neighbourhood of our village. Among -the party was his daughter who afterwards married Prince Rawuzki. The -young princess, in order to enjoy rest at noon, betook herself with the -ladies of her court, the servants in waiting and the lackeys, to the -very room, where as a boy I was sitting behind the stove. I was struck -with astonishment at the magnificence and splendour of the court, gazed -with rapture at the beauty of the persons and at the dresses with their -trimmings of gold and silver lace; I could not satisfy my eyes with the -sight. My father came just as I was out of myself with joy, and had -broken into the words, "O how beautiful!" In order to calm me, and at -the same time to confirm me in the principles of our faith, he whispered -into my ear, "Little fool, in the other world the _duksel_ will kindle -the _pezsure_ for us," which means, In the future life the princess will -kindle the stove for us. No one can conceive the sort of feeling which -this statement produced in me. On the one hand, I believed my father, -and was very glad about this future happiness in store for us; but I -felt at the same time pity for the poor princess who was going to be -doomed to such a degrading service. On the other hand, I could not get -it into my head, that this beautiful rich princess in this splendid -dress should ever make a fire for a poor Jew. I was thrown into the -greatest perplexity on the subject, till some game drove these thoughts -out of my head. - -I had from childhood a great inclination and talent for drawing. True, I -had in my father's house never a chance of seeing a work of art, but I -found on the title-page of some Hebrew books woodcuts of foliage, birds -and so forth. I felt great pleasure in these woodcuts, and made an -effort to imitate them with a bit of chalk or charcoal. What however -strengthened this inclination in me still more was a Hebrew book of -fables, in which the personages who play their part in the fables--the -animals--were represented in such woodcuts. I copied all the figures -with the greatest exactness. My father admired indeed my skill in this, -but rebuked me at the same time in these words, "You want to become a -painter? You are to study the Talmud, and become a rabbi. He who -understands the Talmud, understands everything." - -This desire and faculty for painting went with me so far, that when my -father had settled in H----, where there was a manor-house with some -beautifully tapestried rooms, which were constantly unoccupied because -the landlord resided elsewhere, and very seldom visited the place, I -used to steal away from home whenever I could, to copy the figures on -the tapestries. I was found once in mid-winter half-frozen, standing -before the wall, holding the paper in one hand (for there was no -furniture in this apartment), and with the other hand copying the -figures off the wall. Yet I judge of myself at present, that, if I had -kept to it, I should have become a _great_, but not an _exact_, painter, -that is to say, I sketched with ease the main features of a picture, but -had not the patience to work it out in detail. - -My father had in his study a cupboard containing books. He had forbidden -me indeed to read any books but the Talmud. This, however, was of no -avail: as he was occupied the most of his time with household affairs, I -took advantage of the opportunity thus afforded. Under the impulse of -curiosity I made a raid upon the cupboard and glanced over all the -books. The result was, that, as I had already a fair knowledge of -Hebrew, I found more pleasure in some of these books than in the Talmud. -And this result was surely natural. Take the subjects of the Talmud, -which, with the exception of those relating to jurisprudence, are dry -and mostly unintelligible to a child--the laws of sacrifice, of -purification, of forbidden meats, of feasts, and so forth--in which the -oddest rabbinical conceits are elaborated through many volumes with the -finest dialectic, and the most absurd questions are discussed with the -highest efforts of intellectual power; for example, how many white hairs -may a red cow have, and yet remain a _red_ cow; what sorts of scabs -require this or that sort of purification; whether a louse or a flea may -be killed on the Sabbath,--the first being allowed, while the second is -a deadly sin;--whether the slaughter of an animal ought to be executed -at the neck or the tail; whether the highpriest put on his shirt or his -hose first; whether the _Jabam_, that is, the brother of a man who died -childless, being required by law to marry the widow, is relieved from -his obligation if he falls off a roof and sticks in the mire. _Ohe jam -satis est!_ Compare these glorious disputations, which are served up to -young people and forced on them even to disgust, with history, in which -natural events are related in an instructive and agreeable manner, with -a knowledge of the world's structure, by which the outlook into nature -is widened, and the vast whole is brought into a well-ordered system; -surely my preference will be justified. - -The most valuable books in the collection were four. There was a Hebrew -chronicle under the title of _Zemach David_,[14] written by a sensible -chief rabbi in Prague, named Rabbi David Gans. He was also the author -of the astronomical book spoken of in the sequel, and he had had the -honour of being acquainted with Tycho Brahe, and of making astronomical -observations with him in the Observatory at Copenhagen. There were -besides, a Josephus, which was evidently garbled, and a History of the -Persecutions of the Jews in Spain. But what attracted me most powerfully -was an astronomical work. In this work a new world was opened to me, and -I gave myself up to the study with the greatest diligence. Think of a -child about seven years of age, in my position, with an astronomical -work thrown in his way, and exciting his interest. I had never seen or -heard anything of the first elements of mathematics, and I had no one to -give me any direction in the study: for it is needless to say, that to -my father I dared not even let my curiosity in the matter be known, and, -apart from that, he was not in a position to give me any information on -the subject. How must the spirit of a child, thirsting for knowledge, -have been inflamed by such a discovery! This the result will show. - -As I was still a child, and the beds in my father's house were few, I -was allowed to sleep with my old grandmother, whose bed stood in the -above-mentioned study. As I was obliged during the day to occupy myself -solely with the study of the Talmud, and durst not take another book in -my hand, I devoted the evenings to my astronomical inquiries. -Accordingly after my grandmother had gone to bed, I put some fresh wood -on the fire, made for the cupboard, and took out my beloved astronomical -book. My grandmother indeed scolded me, because it was too cold for the -old lady to lie alone in bed; but I did not trouble myself about that, -and continued my study till the fire was burnt out. - -After I had carried this on for some evenings, I came to the description -of the celestial sphere and its imaginary circles, designed for the -explanation of astronomical phenomena. This was represented in the book -by a single figure, in connection with which the author gave the reader -the good advice, that, since the manifold circles could not be -represented in a plane figure except by straight lines, he should, for -the sake of rendering them more clearly intelligible, make for himself -either an ordinary globe or an armillary sphere. I therefore formed the -resolution to make such a sphere out of twisted rods; and after I had -finished this work, I was in a position to understand the whole book. -But as I had to take care lest my father should find out how I had been -occupied, I always hid my armillary sphere in a corner behind the -cupboard before I went to bed. - -My grandmother, who had on several occasions observed that I was wholly -absorbed in my reading, but now and then lifted my eyes to look at a -number of circles formed of twisted rods laid on one another, fell into -the greatest consternation over the matter; she believed nothing less -than that her grandson had lost his wits. She did not delay, therefore, -to tell my father, and point out to him the place where the magical -instrument was kept. He soon guessed what was the meaning of this. -Accordingly he took the sphere in his hand, and sent for me. When I -came, he asked me, "What sort of plaything is this?" - -"It is a _Kadur_,[15]" I replied. - -"What does it mean?" he asked. - -I then explained to him the use of all the circles for the purpose of -making the celestial phenomena intelligible. My father, who was a good -rabbi indeed, but had no special talent for science, could not -comprehend all that I endeavoured to make comprehensible. He was -especially puzzled, by the comparison of my armillary sphere with the -figure in the book, to understand how out of straight lines circles -should be evolved; but one thing he could see,--that I was sure of my -business. He therefore scolded me, it is true, because I had -transgressed his command to meddle with nothing beyond the Talmud; but -still he felt a secret pleasure, that his young son, without a guide or -previous training, had been able by himself to master an entire work of -science. And with this the affair came to an end. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -Jewish Schools--The Joy of being released from them causes a stiff foot. - - -My brother Joseph and I were sent to Mir to school. My brother, who was -about twelve years old, was put to board with a schoolmaster of some -repute at that time, by name Jossel. This man was the terror of all -young people, "the scourge of God;" he treated those in his charge with -unheard of cruelty, flogged them till the blood came, even for the -slightest offence, and not infrequently tore off their ears, or beat -their eyes out. When the parents of these unfortunates came to him, and -brought him to task, he struck them with stones or whatever else came to -hand, and drove them with his stick out of the house back to their own -dwellings, without any respect of persons. All under his discipline -became either blockheads or good scholars. I, who was then only seven -years old, was sent to another schoolmaster. - -An anecdote I must here relate, which shows on the one side great -brotherly love, and on the other may be viewed as expressing the -condition of a child's mind, that sways between the hope of lightening -an evil, and the fear of increasing it. One day as I came from school, -my eyes were all red with weeping, for which there was doubtless good -cause. My brother observed this, and asked the reason. At first I showed -some hesitation in answering; but at last I said, "I weep because we -dare not tell tales out of school." My brother understood me very well, -was extremely indignant at my teacher, and was going to read him a -lesson on the subject. I begged him however not to do it, because in all -probability the teacher would take his revenge on me for telling tales -out of school. - -I must now say something of the condition of the Jewish schools in -general. The school is commonly a small smoky hut, and the children are -scattered, some on benches, some on the bare earth. The master, in a -dirty blouse sitting on the table, holds between his knees a bowl, in -which he grinds tobacco into snuff with a huge pestle like the club of -Hercules, while at the same time he wields his authority. The ushers -give lessons, each in his own corner, and rule those under their charge -quite as despotically as the master himself. Of the breakfast, lunch, -and other food sent to the school for the children, these gentlemen keep -the largest share for themselves. Sometimes even the poor youngsters get -nothing at all; and yet they dare not make any complaint on the subject, -if they will not expose themselves to the vengeance of these tyrants. -Here the children are imprisoned from morning to night, and have not an -hour to themselves, except on Friday and a half-holiday at the Newmoon. - -As far as study is concerned, the reading of Hebrew at least is pretty -regularly learned. On the other hand, with the mastery of the Hebrew -language very seldom is any progress made. Grammar is not treated in the -school at all, but has to be learnt _ex usu_, by translation of the Holy -Scriptures, very much as the ordinary man learns imperfectly the grammar -of his mother-tongue by social intercourse. Moreover there is no -dictionary of the Hebrew language. The children therefore begin at once -with the explanation of the Bible. This is divided into as many sections -as there are weeks in the year, in order that the Books of Moses, which -are read in the synagogues every Saturday, may be read through in a -year. Accordingly every week some verses from the beginning of the -section proper to the week are explained in school, and that with every -possible grammatical blunder. Nor can it well be otherwise. For the -Hebrew must be explained by means of the mother-tongue. But the -mother-tongue of the Polish Jews is itself full of defects and -grammatical inaccuracies; and as a matter of course therefore also the -Hebrew language, which is learned by its means, must be of the same -stamp. The pupil thus acquires just as little knowledge of the language, -as of the contents, of the Bible. - -In addition to this the Talmudists have fastened all sorts of -extraordinary conceits on the Bible. The ignorant teacher believes with -confidence, that the Bible cannot in reality have any other meaning than -that which these expositions ascribe to it; and the pupil must follow -his teacher's faith, so that the right understanding of words -necessarily becomes lost. For example, in the first Book of Moses it is -said, "Jacob sent messengers to his brother Esau, etc." Now, the -Talmudists were pleased to give out, that these messengers were angels. -For though the word _Malachim_ in Hebrew denotes messenger as well as -angels, these marvel-mongers preferred the second signification, because -the first contains nothing marvellous. The pupil therefore holds the -belief firm and fast, that Malachim denotes nothing but angels; and the -natural meaning of messengers is for him wholly lost. A correct -knowledge of the Hebrew language and a sound exegesis can be attained -only gradually by independent study and by reading grammars and critical -commentaries on the Bible, like those of Rabbi David Kimchi[16] and Aben -Esra; but of these very few rabbis make use. - -As the children are doomed in the bloom of youth to such an infernal -school, it may be easily imagined with what joy and rapture they look -forward to their release. We, that is, my brother and I, were taken home -to the great feasts; and it was on a trip of this sort, that the -following incident happened, which in relation to me was very critical. -My mother came once before Whitsuntide to the town where we were at -school, in order to purchase sundry articles required for the house. She -then took us home with her. The release from school, and the sight of -the beauty of nature which at this season displays its best attire, -threw us into such ecstasy, that we fell upon all sorts of wanton -fancies. When we were not far from home, my brother sprang out of the -carriage, and ran forward on foot. I was going to imitate his daring -leap, but unfortunately had not sufficient strength. I fell down -therefore with violence on the carriage, so that my legs came between -the wheels, and one of these passed over my left leg, which was thereby -pitiably crushed. I was carried home half-dead. My foot became cramped, -and I was wholly unable to move it. - -A Jewish doctor was consulted, who had not indeed regularly studied and -graduated at a university, but had acquired his medical knowledge merely -by serving with a physician and reading some medical books in the -Polish language, who was nevertheless a very good practical physician, -and effected many successful cures. He said that at present he was -provided with no medicines,--the nearest apothecary's shop was about -twenty miles[17] distant,--and consequently he could prescribe nothing -in the ordinary method, but that meanwhile a simple domestic remedy -might be applied. The remedy was, to kill a dog and thrust into it the -cramped foot; this, repeated several times, was to give certain relief. -The prescription was followed with the desired result, so that after -some weeks I was able to use the foot again, and by degrees I completely -recovered. - -I think it would not be at all amiss, if medical men gave more attention -to such domestic remedies, which are used with good results in districts -where there are no regular physicians or apothecaries' shops; they might -even make special journeys with this end in view. I know many a case of -this sort, which can be in nowise explained away. This however in -passing. I return to my story. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -My Family is driven into Misery, and an old Servant loses by his great -Faithfulness a Christian Burial. - - -My father, who, as already mentioned, traded with Königsberg in Prussia, -had once shipped in a vessel of Prince Radzivil's some barrels of salt -and herrings which he had bought there. When he came home and was going -to fetch his goods, the agent, Schachna, absolutely refused to let him -take them. My father then showed the bill of lading, which he had got on -the shipment of the goods; but the agent tore it out of his hands, and -threw it into the fire. My father found himself therefore compelled to -carry on a long and costly suit, which he had to delay till the -following year, when he would again make a journey to Königsberg. Here -he obtained a certificate from the custom-house, showing that he had -shipped the said goods in a vessel of Prince Radzivil's under the -direction of Herr Schachna. On this certificate the agent was summoned -before the court, but found it convenient not to make an appearance; and -my father gained the suit in the first, second, and third instances. In -spite of this, however, as a consequence of the wretched administration -of justice in Poland at the time, my father had no power to execute -this decision, and therefore from this successful suit he did not even -recover the costs. - -To this was added the further result, that by this suit he made Herr -Schachna an enemy who persecuted him now in every possible way. This the -cunning scoundrel could accomplish very well, as by all sorts of -intrigues he had been appointed by Prince Radzivil steward of all his -estates situated in the district of Mir. He resolved therefore on my -father's ruin, and only waited for a convenient opportunity to carry out -his revenge. - -This he found soon; and indeed a Jew, who was named after his farm -Schwersen, and was known as the biggest scoundrel in the whole -neighbourhood, offered him a hand. This fellow was an ignoramus, did not -even understand the Jewish language, and made use therefore of Russian. -He occupied himself mainly in examining the farms in the neighbourhood, -and he knew how to get possession of the most lucrative among them by -offering a higher rent and bribing the steward. Without troubling -himself in the least about the laws of the _Chazakah_,[18] he drove the -old legal farmers from their possessions, and enriched himself by this -means. He thus lived in wealth and fortune, and in this state reached an -advanced age. - -The scoundrel had already for a long time had his eye on my -grandfather's farm, and waited merely for a favourable opportunity and a -plausible pretext to get possession of it himself. Unfortunately my -granduncle Jacob, who lived in another village belonging to my -grandfather's farm, had been obliged to become a debtor of the scoundrel -to the amount of about fifty rix-dollars. As he could not clear off the -debt at the time when it was due, his creditor came with some servants -of the manor, and threatened to seize the cauldron, in which my -granduncle's whole wealth consisted. In consternation he loaded a waggon -secretly with the cauldron, drove with all haste to my grandfather's, -and, without letting any of us know, hid it in the adjoining marsh -behind the house. His creditor, however, who followed on his heels, came -to my grandfather's, and made search all over, but could find the -cauldron nowhere. Irritated at this unsuccessful stroke, and breathing -vengeance against my grandfather who, he believed, had prevented his -success, he rode to the town, carried to the steward an imposing -present, and offered for my grandfather's farm double the rent, besides -an annual voluntary present to the steward. - -This gentleman, joyous over such an offer, and mindful of the disgrace -which my father, a Jew, had brought upon him, a Polish noble, by the -above-mentioned suit, made on the spot a contract with the scoundrel, by -which he not only gave over to him this farm with all the rights -pertaining to it even before the end of my grandfather's lease, but -also robbed my grandfather of all he had,--his barns full of grain, his -cattle, etc.,--and shared the plunder with the new farmer. - -My grandfather was therefore obliged with his whole family to quit his -dwelling-place in mid-winter, and, without knowing where he should -settle again, to wander about from place to place. Our departure from -this place was very affecting. The whole neighbourhood lamented our -fate. An old and faithful servant of eighty years, named Gabriel, who -had carried in his arms even my grandfather as a child, insisted on -going with us. Representations were made to him on the severity of the -season, our unfortunate situation, and the uncertainty in which we -ourselves were placed as to our future destiny. But it was of no avail. -He placed himself on the road before the gate, by which our waggons had -to pass, and lamented so long that we were obliged to take him up. He -did not however travel with us long: his advanced age, his grief over -our misery, and the severe season gave him soon the finishing stroke. He -died when we had gone scarcely two or three miles; and as no Catholic or -Russian community would allow him burial in their churchyard--he was a -Prussian and a Lutheran--he was buried at our expense in the open -field. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -New Abode, new Misery--The Talmudist. - - -We wandered about therefore in the country, like the Israelites in the -wilderness of Arabia, without knowing where or when we should find a -place of rest. At last we came to a village which belonged to two -landlords. The one part was already leased; but the landlord of the -other could not lease his, because he had still to build a house. Weary -of wandering in winter-time with a whole family, my grandfather resolved -to take a lease of this house, which was still to be built, along with -its appurtenances, and meanwhile, till the house was ready, to make -shift as well as he could. Accordingly we were obliged to take up our -quarters in a barn. The other farmer did all in his power to prevent our -settlement in the place; but it was of no avail. The building was -finished, we took possession, and began to keep house. - -Unfortunately however everything went backward here; nothing would -succeed. An addition came to our misfortunes in my mother's illness. -Being of a very lively temperament and disposed to a life of activity, -she found here the weariness of having nothing to do. This, with her -anxiety about the means of subsistence, threw her into a state of -melancholy, which developed at last into insanity. In this condition she -remained for some months. Everything was tried for her benefit, but -without success. At last my father hit upon the idea of taking her to a -celebrated doctor at Novogrod, who made a specialty of curing mental -disorders. - -The method of cure employed by this specialist is unknown to me, because -I was at the time too young to wish or be able to institute inquiries on -the subject; but so much I can declare with certainty, that in the case -of my mother, as well as most of his patients afflicted with the same -malady, the treatment was followed with success. My mother returned home -fresh and healthy, and from that time she never had an attack of the -same sort. - -Immediately after this I was sent to school at Iwenez, about fifteen -miles from our abode, and here I began to study the Talmud. The study of -the Talmud is the chief object of a learned education among our people. -Riches, bodily advantages, and talents of every kind have indeed in -their eyes a certain worth, and are esteemed in proportion; but nothing -stands among them above the dignity of a good Talmudist. He has the -first claim upon all offices and positions of honour in the community. -If he enters an assembly,--he may be of any age or rank,--every one -rises before him most respectfully, and the most honourable place is -assigned to him. He is director of the conscience, lawgiver and judge -of the common man. He, who does not meet such a scholar with sufficient -respect, is, according to the judgment of the Talmudists, damned to all -eternity. The common man dare not enter upon the most trivial -undertaking, if, in the judgment of the scholar, it is not according to -law. Religious usages, allowed and forbidden meats, marriage and divorce -are determined not only by the rabbinical laws which have already -accumulated to an enormous mass, but also by special rabbinical -judgments which profess to deduce all special cases from the general -laws. A wealthy merchant, farmer or professional man, who has a -daughter, does everything in his power to get a good Talmudist for his -son-in-law. As far as other matters are concerned, the scholar may be as -deformed, diseased, and ignorant as possible, he will still have the -advantage over others. The future father-in-law of such a phoenix is -obliged, at the betrothal, to pay to the parents of the youth a sum -fixed by previous agreement; and besides the dowry for his daughter, he -is further obliged to provide her and her husband with food, clothing, -and lodging, for six or eight years after their marriage, during which -time the interest on the dowry is paid, so that the learned son-in-law -may continue his studies at his father-in-law's expense. After this -period he receives the dowry in hand, and then he is either promoted to -some learned office, or he spends his whole life in learned leisure. In -either case the wife undertakes the management of the household and the -conduct of business; and she is content if only in return for all her -toils she becomes in some measure a partaker of her husband's fame and -future blessedness. - -The study of the Talmud is carried on just as irregularly as that of the -Bible. The language of the Talmud is composed of various Oriental -languages and dialects; there is even many a word in it from Greek and -Latin. There is no dictionary, in which you can turn up the expressions -and phrases met with in the Talmud; and, what is still worse, as the -Talmud is not pointed, you cannot even tell how such words, that are not -pure Hebrew, are to be read. The language of the Talmud, therefore, like -that of the Bible, is learned only through frequent translation; and -this constitutes the _first_ stage in the study of the Talmud. - -When the pupil has been directed for some time in translation by the -teacher, he goes on to the independent reading or explanation of the -Talmud. The teacher gives him a limited portion of the Talmud, -containing within itself a connected argument, as a task in exposition, -which he must perform within a fixed time. The particular expressions -and forms of speech occurring in the passage must either be known by the -pupil from his former lessons, or the teacher, who here takes the place -of a dictionary, explains them to him. But the tenor and the entire -connection of the prescribed passage the pupil is required to bring out -himself; and this constitutes the second stage in the study of the -Talmud. - -Two commentaries, which are commonly printed along with the text, serve -as the chief guides at this point. The author of the one is Rabbi -Solomon Isaac,[19] a man gifted with grammatical and critical knowledge -of language, with extensive and thorough Talmudic insight, and with an -uncommon precision of style. The other is known by the title of -_Tosaphoth (Additions)_, and is the work of several rabbis. Its origin -is very remarkable. A number of the most famous rabbis agreed to study -the Talmud in company. For this purpose each selected a separate -portion, which he studied by himself till he believed that he had fully -comprehended it, and retained it in memory. Afterwards all the rabbis -met, and began to study the Talmud in company according to the order of -its parts. As soon as the first part had been read out, thoroughly -explained, and settled according to the Talmudic Logic, one of the -rabbis produced, from the part of the Talmud with which he was most -familiar, anything that appeared to contradict this passage. Another -then adduced, from the part which he had made thoroughly his own, a -passage which was able to remove this contradiction by means of some -distinction or some qualification unexpressed in the preceding passage. -Sometimes the removal of such a contradiction occasioned another, which -a third rabbi disclosed, and a fourth laboured to remove, till the first -passage was explained harmoniously by all, and made perfectly clear. It -may easily be imagined, what a high degree of subtlety is required to -reduce the Talmud to first principles, from which correct inferences may -be drawn after an uniform method; for the Talmud is a voluminous and -heterogeneous work, in which even the same subject often turns up in -different passages, where it is explained in different ways. - -Besides these two there are several other commentaries which treat the -subject further, and even make corrections on the two just mentioned. -Indeed, every rabbi, if he possesses sufficient acuteness, is to be -viewed as a living commentary on the Talmud. But the highest effort of -the mind is required to prepare a selection from the Talmud or a code of -the laws deducible from it. This implies not only acuteness, but also a -mind in the highest degree systematic. Herein our Maimonides undoubtedly -deserves the first rank, as may be seen from his code, _Jad Hachazekah_. - -The _final_ stage in the study of the Talmud is that of disputation. It -consists in eternally disputing about the book, without end or aim. -Subtlety, loquacity, and impertinence here carry the day. This sort of -study was formerly very common in the Jewish high schools;[20] but in -our times along with the schools it has also fallen into decay. It is a -kind of Talmudic scepticism, and utterly incompatible with any -systematic study directed to some end. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -Joy endureth but a little while. - - -After this digression on the study of the Talmud I return to my story. -As already mentioned, I was sent to school at Iwenez. My father gave me -a letter to the chief rabbi of this place, who was a relation of ours, -requesting him to give me in charge to an able teacher, and to give some -attention to the progress of my studies. He gave me however in charge to -a common schoolmaster, and told me I was to visit him every Sabbath in -order that he might examine me himself. This injunction I punctually -followed; but the arrangement did not continue long; for at one of these -examinations I began to dispute about my lessons and suggest -difficulties, when, without replying to them, the chief rabbi asked me -if I had stated these difficulties to my teacher also. - -"Of course," I replied. - -"And what did he say?" asked the chief rabbi. - -"Nothing to the point," I replied, "except that he enjoined silence on -me, and said, 'A youngster must not be too inquisitive; he must see to -it merely that he understands his lesson, but must not overwhelm his -teacher with questions.'" - -"Ah!" said the chief rabbi, "your teacher is altogether too easy, we -must make a change. I will give you instruction myself. I will do it -merely out of friendship, and I hope that your father will have as -little to say against it as your former teacher. The fee which your -father pays for your education, will be given to your teacher without -deduction." - -In this way I got the chief rabbi for a teacher. He struck out a way of -his own with me. No weekly lessons repeated till they are impressed on -the memory, no tasks which the pupil is obliged to perform for himself, -and in which the course of his thoughts is very often arrested for the -sake of a single word or a figure of speech, which has little to do with -the main subject. His method distinguished itself from all this. He made -me explain something from the Talmud _ex tempore_ in his presence, -conversed with me on the subject, explained to me so much as was -necessary to set my own mind in activity, and by means of questions and -answers turned my attention away from all side-issues to the main -subject, so that in a short time I passed through all the three -above-mentioned stages in the study of the Talmud. - -My father, to whom the chief rabbi gave an account of his plan with me -and of my progress, went beside himself with joy. He returned his -warmest thanks to this excellent man for putting himself to so much -trouble with me out of mere friendship, and that notwithstanding his -delicate state of health, for he was consumptive. But this joy did not -last long; before a half year was ended, the chief rabbi had to betake -himself to his fathers, and I was left like a sheep without a shepherd. - -This was announced to my father, who came and fetched me home. Not, -however, to H----, from which I had been sent to school, but to Mohilna, -about six miles from H----, whither my father had meanwhile removed. -This new change of abode had taken place in the following way. - -Mohilna is a small hamlet in the territory of Prince Radzivil four miles -from Nesvij, his residence. The situation of this place is excellent. -Having the river Niemen on one side, and on the other a large quantity -of the best timber for ships, it is adapted equally for trade and for -shipbuilding. Moreover the district in itself possesses great fertility -and amenity. These facts could not escape the attention of the Prince. -The farmer or _arendant_ of the place, whose family for some generations -had been in possession of this lucrative farm, and had become rich by -means of the shipbuilding trade, and the numerous fine products of the -district, took all possible pains to prevent these great advantages from -being observed, in order that he might be able to enjoy them alone -without being disturbed. But it happened once that the prince was -travelling through the place, and was so taken with its beauty, that he -resolved to make a town of it. He sketched a plan for this, and made an -announcement that the place was to be a _Slabode_; that is, every one -was to be at liberty to settle in the place, and drive any kind of -trade, and was even to be free from all taxes for the first six years. -For a long time, however, this plan was never carried out, owing to all -sorts of intrigues on the part of the arendant, who went so far as even -to bribe the advisers of the prince to turn his attention away from the -subject. - -My father, who saw clearly that the miserable farm of H---- could not -support him and his family, and had been obliged to remain there -hitherto only from want of a better abode, rejoiced very much at the -announcement, because he hoped that Mohilna would offer him a place of -refuge, especially as the arendant was a brother-in-law of my uncle. In -this connection he made a journey to the place with my grandfather, had -a conversation with the arendant, and opened to him his proposal to -settle in Mohilna with his consent. The arendant, who had feared that, -on the announcement of the prince's wish, people would stream in from -all sides, and press him out of his possession, was delighted that at -least the first who settled there was not a stranger, but related to his -family by marriage. He therefore not only gave his consent to the -proposal, but even promised my father all possible assistance. -Accordingly my father removed with his whole family to Mohilna, and had -a small house built for himself there; but till it was ready, the family -were obliged once more to take up their quarters in a barn. - -The arendant, by whom at first we were received in a friendly manner, -had unfortunately meanwhile changed his mind, and found that his fear of -being pressed out of his possession by strangers was wholly without -ground, inasmuch as already a considerable time had passed since the -announcement of the prince's wish, and yet nobody had presented himself -besides my father. The prince, as a Polish chief and _Voivode_ in -Lithuania, was constantly burdened too much with State affairs in -Warsaw, to be able to think on the carrying out of his plan himself; and -his subordinates could be induced by bribes to frustrate the whole plan. -These considerations showed the arendant that the new-comer could not -only be spared, but was even a burden, inasmuch as he had now to share -with another what he had before held in possession alone. He sought -therefore to restrict my father, and to disturb him in his settlement, -as much as possible. With this view he built for himself a splendid -house, and succeeded in obtaining a command from the prince, in -accordance with which none of the newcomers should enjoy the rights of a -burgher till he had built a similar house. My father saw himself -therefore compelled to waste his little fortune, which was indispensably -required for the new arrangements, wholly and solely on this useless -building. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -The Pupil knows more than the Teacher--A theft _à la Rousseau_, which is -discovered--"The ungodly provideth, and the righteous putteth it on." - - -My father's condition had thus externally an improved appearance, but so -much the more doubtful did it appear internally on that account. My -mother, notwithstanding her unwearied activity, was able to make only a -very sorry provision for the family. Accordingly my father was obliged -to seek, in addition to his other duties, a position as teacher, in -which he carried on my education; and I must confess that in this -connection I gave him, on the one hand, much joy, but, on the other -hand, not a little vexation. I was then indeed only about nine years -old; still, I could not only understand the Talmud and its commentaries -correctly, but I even took delight in disputing about it, and in this I -felt a childish pleasure in triumphing over my honest father, whom I -thereby threw into no small perplexity. - -The arendant and my father lived together like neighbours; that is, they -envied and hated each other. The former looked on my father as a -vagrant, who had forced himself upon him, and disturbed him in his -undivided possession of the advantages of the place. My father took the -arendant for a wealthy blockhead, who, against the consent which he had -granted, which my father might have dispensed with altogether and had -sought merely from the love of peace, endeavoured in every way to -restrict him and to narrow his rights, notwithstanding the fact that he -received actual advantages from his settlement. For from this time -Mohilna had acquired a sort of independence, by means of which the -arendant was spared many expenses and depreciations. There was also a -small synagogue erected, and my father took the position of chief rabbi, -preacher, and director of the conscience, as he was the only scholar in -the place. He lost, indeed, no opportunity of representing all this to -the arendant, and making complaints of his conduct; but unfortunately -this was of little use. - -I must take this opportunity of mentioning the only theft which I ever -perpetrated in my life. I often went to the house of the arendant, and -played with his children. Once, when I entered a room and found no one -there, it being summer and the people of the house all busy out of -doors, I spied in an open closet a neat little medicine-box which -appeared to me uncommonly charming. When I opened it, I found, to my -very great sorrow, some money in it; for it belonged to one of the -children of the house. I could not resist the desire to carry off the -little box; but to take the money seemed to me in the highest degree -shameful. But when I considered that the theft would be all the more -easily discovered if I put the money out, full of fear and shame I took -the box as it was and thrust it in my pocket. I went home with it, and -buried it very carefully. The night following I could not sleep, and was -disquieted in conscience, especially on account of the money. I -resolved, therefore, to take it back; but in regard to the little box, I -could not conquer myself: it was a work of art, the like of which I had -never seen before. The next day I emptied the box of its contents, slunk -with them into the room already mentioned, and waited for an opportunity -when nobody was there. I was already engaged in smuggling the money into -the closet; but I had so little skill in doing this without noise and -with the necessary despatch, that I was caught in the act, and forced to -a confession of the whole theft. I was obliged to dig up again the -valuable work of art,--it must have cost about a quarter of a -groschen,--to return it to its owner, little Moses, and to hear myself -called _thief_ by the children of the house. - -Another incident, which happened to me and had a comical issue, was the -following. The Russians had been quartered for some time in Mohilna, and -as they obtained new mountings, they were allowed to sell the old. My -eldest brother Joseph and my cousin Beer applied to Russian -acquaintances of theirs, and received in a present some brass buttons, -which, being considered a fine decoration, they got sewed on to their -hose instead of the wooden buttons they had before. I also was -delighted with the decoration; but as I had not the skill to furnish -myself by my own diligence, I was compelled to make use of force. I -applied, therefore, to my father, and demanded that Joseph and Beer -should be required to share their buttons with me. My father, who, -indeed, was extremely fair, but still was fond of me above everything, -said that the buttons were, of course, the rightful property of their -owners, but that, as these had more than they required for their own -wants, it was but fair that they should give me some of those that they -did not require. To my commendation and their confusion he added the -passage of the Bible, "The ungodly provideth, and the righteous putteth -it on."[21] This decision had to be carried out in spite of the protest -of Joseph and Beer; and I had the pleasure of also shining in brass -buttons on my hose. - -Joseph and Beer however could not get over their loss. They complained -loudly of the impious wrong which had been done to them. My father, who -wished to get rid of the affair, told them therefore, that, as the -buttons had been already sewed on to Solomon's hose, they must not use -force, but that, if they could get them back again by stratagem, they -were at liberty to do so. Both were pleased with this decision. They -came to me, looked at my buttons, and both at once exclaimed in -astonishment, "Oh! what is that we see? Buttons sewed on to cloth hose -with linen instead of hemp thread! They must be taken off at once." -While they were speaking, they took off all the buttons, and went off -with joy over their successful stratagem. I ran after them, and demanded -that they should sew the buttons on again; but they laughed me to scorn. -My father said to me smiling at this, "Since you are so credulous, and -allow yourself to be deceived, I cannot help you any longer; I hope you -will be wiser in the future." With this the affair came to an end. I was -obliged to content myself with wooden buttons, and to have often -repeated to my mortification by Joseph and Beer, the biblical passage, -which my father had used to my advantage, "The ungodly provideth, and -the righteous putteth it on." - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals--The Song of Solomon may be used -in Matchmaking--A new _Modus Lucrand_i--Smallpox. - - -In my youth I was very lively, and had in my nature a good deal that was -agreeable. In my passions I was violent and impatient. Till about my -eleventh year, as I had the benefit of a very strict education, and was -kept from all intercourse with women, I never traced any special -inclination towards the fair sex. But an incident produced in me a great -change in this respect. - -A poor, but very pretty, girl about my own age was taken into our house -as a servant. She charmed me uncommonly. Desires began to stir in me, -which till this time I had never known. But in accordance with the -strict rabbinical morals, I was obliged to keep on my guard against -looking on the girl with attentive gaze, and still more against speaking -with her, so that I was able only now and then to throw at her a stolen -glance. - -It happened once however that the women of the house were going to -bathe, which by the usage of the country they are accustomed to do two -or three times a week. By chance my instinct drove me without -reflection towards the place where they bathed; and there I suddenly -perceived this beautiful girl, as she stepped out of the steam-bath and -plunged into the river flowing by. At this sight I fell into a sort of -rapture. After my feelings had calmed down again, being mindful of the -strict Talmudic laws, I wished to flee. But I could not; I remained -standing, as if rooted in the spot. As I dreaded however lest I might be -surprised here, I was obliged to return with a heavy heart. From that -time I became restless, was sometimes beside myself; and this state -continued till my marriage. - -Our neighbour, the arendant, had two sons and three daughters. The -eldest daughter, Deborah, was already married. The second, Pessel, was -about my age; the peasantry of the place professed to find even a -certain resemblance in our features, and therefore, in accordance with -all the laws of probability, conjectured that there would be a match -between us. We formed also a mutual affection. But by ill luck the -youngest daughter, Rachel, had to fall into a cellar and dislocated one -of her legs. She herself, indeed, completely recovered, but the leg -remained somewhat crooked. The arendant then started a hunt after me; he -was absolutely determined to have me for a son-in-law. My father was -quite agreeable, but he wished to have for his daughter-in-law the -straight-legged Pessel rather than Rachel of the crooked leg. The -arendant however declared that this was impracticable, inasmuch as he -had fixed on a rich husband for the elder, while the youngest was -destined for me; and as my father was unable to give me anything, he was -willing to provide for her richly out of his own fortune. Besides a -considerable sum which he agreed to give as a portion, he was willing in -addition to make me a joint-heir of his fortune, and to provide me with -all necessaries the whole of my life. Moreover he promised to pay my -father a fixed sum immediately after the betrothal, and not only to -leave him undisturbed in his rights, but also to try and promote his -domestic happiness in every possible way. The feuds between the two -families were to cease from this time, and a league of friendship was to -unite them for the future into one family. - -Had my father lent an ear to these representations, he would without -doubt have established the fortune of his house, and I should have lived -with a spouse, who, it is true, had a crooked leg, but (as I found out -some time afterwards when I was tutor in her family) was in other -respects an amiable woman. I should thus have been freed from all cares -in the midst of good fortune, and I should have been able to apply -myself without hindrance to my studies. But unhappily my father rejected -this proposal with scorn. He was absolutely determined to have Pessel -for his daughter-in-law; and since this, as already mentioned, was -impracticable, the feuds between the two families broke out afresh. But -as the arendant was rich, and my father was a poor man, the latter was -necessarily always the loser. - -Some time afterwards another matrimonial proposal for me turned up. Mr. -L---- of Schmilowitz, a learned and at the same time a rich man, who had -an only daughter, was so enchanted with my fame, that he chose me for -his son-in-law without having seen me before. He began by entering into -correspondence with my father on the subject, and left it to him to -prescribe the conditions of the union. My father answered his letter in -lofty style, made up of Biblical verses and passages from the Talmud, in -which he expressed the conditions briefly by means of the following -verses from the Canticles, "The thousand gulden are for thee, O Solomon, -and the two hundred for those who keep his fruits."[22] Consent was -given to everything. - -My father accordingly made a journey to Schmilowitz, saw his future -daughter-in-law, and had the marriage-contract drawn in accordance with -the terms agreed upon. Two hundred gulden were paid to him on the spot. -With this, however, he was not content, but insisted that in his letter -he had been obliged to limit himself to two hundred gulden merely for -the sake of the beautiful verse which he did not wish to spoil; but he -would not enter into the transaction at all unless he received for -himself twice two hundred gulden (fifty thalers in Polish money). They -had therefore to pay him two hundred gulden more, and to hand over to -him the so-called little presents for me, namely, a cap of black velvet -trimmed with gold lace, a Bible bound in green velvet with silver -clasps, etc. With these things he came home full of joy, gave me the -presents, and told me that I was to prepare myself for a disputation to -be held on my marriage day, which would be in two months' time. - -Already my mother had begun to bake the cakes she was expected to take -with her to the wedding, and to prepare all sorts of preserves; I began -also to think about the disputation I was to hold, when suddenly the -mournful news arrived that my bride had died of smallpox. My father -could easily reconcile himself to this loss, because he thought to -himself that he had made fifty thalers by his son in an honourable way, -and that now he could get fifty thalers for him again. I also, who had -never seen my bride, could not particularly mourn her loss; I thought to -myself, "The cap and the silver-clasped Bible are already mine, and a -bride will also not be awanting long, while my disputation can serve me -again." My mother alone was inconsolable about this loss. Cakes and -preserves are of a perishable nature and will not keep long. The labour -which my mother had expended was therefore rendered fruitless by this -fatal accident; and to this must be added, that she could find no place -to keep the delicious cakes from my secret attacks. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -I become an object of contention, get two wives at once, and am -kidnapped at last. - - -Meanwhile the domestic circumstances of my father became every day -worse. He saw himself, therefore, compelled to make a journey to the -town of Nesvij, and apply for a position as teacher there, whither I -also had to follow him. Here he opened under favourable conditions a -school of his own, in which he could employ me as assistant. - -A widow, celebrated for her superior talents, as well as for her -Xanthippe-like character, kept a public-house at the extremity of one of -the suburbs. She had a daughter who yielded to her in none of the -above-mentioned qualities, and who was indispensable to her in the -management of the house. Madam Rissia, (this was the widow's name), -excited by my constantly increasing reputation, fixed on me as a husband -for her daughter Sarah. Her family represented to her the impossibility -of carrying out this plan; first, my father's pride, and the demands -which he would therefore make, and which she could never satisfy; then -my fame, which had already excited the attention of the most prominent -and wealthy people of the town; and finally, the moderate character of -her own fortune, which was far from sufficient to carry out such a -proposal. All these representations, however, were of no avail with her. -She had once for all taken it into her head, to have me for a -son-in-law, let it cost her what it might; and she thought, the devil -would needs be in it, if she could not get the young man. - -She sent a proposal to my father, let him have no rest the whole time he -was in the town, discussed the matter with him herself on various -occasions, and promised to satisfy all his demands. My father, however, -sought to gain time for deliberation, and to put off the question for a -while. But the time came when we were to return home. My father went -with me to the widow's house, which was the last on our road, in order -to wait for a conveyance which started from that place. Madam Rissia -made use of the opportunity, began to caress me, introduced my bride, -and asked me how I was pleased with her. At last she pressed for a -decisive answer from my father. He was still always holding back, -however, and sought in every possible way to represent the difficulties -connected with the subject. - -While they were thus treating with one another, suddenly there burst -into the room the chief rabbi, the preacher, and the elders of the -place, with many of the most respectable people. This sudden appearance -was brought about without any magic in the following way. These -gentlemen had been invited to a circumcision at the house of a prominent -man in this very suburb. Madam Rissia, who knew this very well, sent her -son at once to the house with an invitation to the whole company to -come, immediately after rising from table, to a betrothal at her house. -They came therefore half intoxicated; and as they believed nothing else -than that all the preliminaries of the marriage-contract had been -settled, and that nothing was awanting but to write out and subscribe -the contract, they sat down to table, set my father in the midst, and -the chief rabbi began to dictate the contract to the scribe of the -community. - -My father assured them that on the main point nothing had yet been -decided, and that still less had the preliminary articles been settled. -The chief rabbi fell into a passion at this, for he supposed that it was -only a quibble, and that his sacred person and the whole honourable -company were being made sport of. He turned therefore to the company, -and said with a haughty air, "Who is this Rabbi Joshua, who makes -himself of so much consequence?" My father replied, "The Rabbi is here -superfluous. I am, 'tis true, a common man; but I believe, no man can -dispute my right to care for the welfare of my son, and to place his -future happiness on a firm footing." - -The chief rabbi was greatly offended with the ambiguity of the -expression, "The Rabbi is here superfluous." He saw clearly that he had -no right to lay down laws to my father in the matter, and that it was a -piece of rashness on the part of Madam Rissia to invite a company to a -betrothal before the parties were agreed on the preliminary articles. He -began therefore to strike a lower tone. He represented to my father the -advantages of this match, the high ancestry of the bride, (her -grandfather, father, and uncle, having been learned men, and chief -rabbis), her personal attractions, and the willingness and ability of -Madam Rissia to satisfy all his demands. - -My father, who in fact had nothing to say against all this, was -compelled to yield. The marriage-contract was made out, and in it Madam -Rissia made over to her daughter her public-house with all its -belongings as a bridal portion, and came under an obligation also to -board and clothe the newly-married couple for six years. Besides I -received as a present the entire work of the Talmud with its -appurtenances, together worth two or three hundred thalers,[23] and a -number of other gifts. My father came under no obligation at all, and in -addition received fifty thalers in cash. Very wisely he had refused to -accept a bill for this sum; it had to be paid to him before the -betrothal. - -After all this had been arranged, there was a capital entertainment, and -the brandy bottle was vigorously plied. The very next day my father and -I went home. My mother-in-law promised to send after us as soon as -possible the so-called little presents and the articles of clothing for -me, which in the hurry she had not been able to get ready. Many weeks -however passed without our hearing or seeing anything of these. My -father was perplexed about this; and as the character of my -mother-in-law had long been suspicious to him, he could think nothing -else than that this intriguing woman was seeking some subterfuge to -escape from her burdensome contract. He resolved therefore to repay like -with like. - -The following circumstance strengthened him in this resolve. A rich -arendant, who used to bring spirits to Nesvij for sale, and to lodge in -our house on his journey through Mohilna, likewise cast his eye upon me. -He had an only daughter, for whom he fixed on me in his thoughts as a -husband. He knew however what difficulties he would have to overcome, if -he were to treat on the subject directly with my father. He chose -therefore an indirect way. His plan was to make my father his debtor; -and as his critical circumstances would make it impossible for him to -clear off the debt, he expected to force him, as it were, to consent to -this union with the view of wiping out the debt by means of the amount -stipulated for the son. He offered my father therefore some barrels of -spirits on credit, and the offer was accepted with delight. - -As the date of payment approached, Hersch Dukor (this was the name of -the arendant) came and reminded my father. The latter assured him, that -at the moment he was not in a position to clear off the debt, and begged -him to have patience with him for some time yet. "Herr Joshua," said the -arendant, "I will speak with you quite frankly on this matter. Your -circumstances are growing daily worse; and if no fortunate accident -occurs, I do not see any possibility of your being able to clear off -your debt. The best thing for us both therefore is this. You have a son, -and I have a daughter who is the sole heiress of all my property. Let us -enter into an alliance. By this means not only will your debt be wiped -out, but a sum to be fixed by yourself will be paid in addition, and I -shall take a general care to improve your circumstances so far as lies -in my power." - -No one could be more joyous over this proposal than my father. -Immediately a contract was closed, in which the bride's dowry, as well -as the required presents, was decided in accordance with my father's -suggestion. The bill for the debt, which amounted to fifty thalers in -Polish money, was returned to my father, and torn on the spot, while -fifty thalers in addition were paid to him. - -Thereupon my new father-in-law went on to Nesvij to collect some debts -there. Unfortunately he had to lodge at my former mother-in-law's. She, -being a great prattler, told him of her own accord about the good match -which her daughter had made. "The father of the bridegroom," said she, -"is himself a great scholar, and the bridegroom is a young man of eleven -years, who has scarcely his equal." - -"I also," replied the arendant, "have, thank God, made a good choice for -my daughter. You have perhaps heard of the celebrated scholar, Rabbi -Joshua, in Mohilna, and of his young son, Solomon: he is my daughter's -bridegroom." - -Scarcely had these words been spoken, when she cried out, "That is a -confounded lie. Solomon is my daughter's bridegroom; and here, sir, is -the marriage-contract." - -The arendant then showed her his contract too; and they fell into a -dispute, the result of which was that Madam Rissia had my father -summoned before the court to give a categorical explanation. My father, -however, did not put in an appearance, although she had him summoned -twice. - -Meanwhile my mother died, and was brought to Nesvij for burial. My -mother-in-law obtained from the court an attachment on the dead body, by -which its interment was interdicted till the termination of the suit. My -father therefore saw himself compelled to appear in court, my -mother-in-law of course gained the suit, and I became again the -bridegroom of my former bride. And now to prevent any similar reversal -of her plans in the future, and to take from my father all occasion for -it, my mother-in-law endeavoured to satisfy all his demands in -accordance with her promise, clothed me from top to toe, and even paid -my father for my board from the date of the betrothal to the marriage. -My mother also was now buried, and we returned home again. - -My second father-in-law came too, and called upon my father for the -ratification of his contract. He however pointed out that it was null -and void, as it contravened a previous contract, and had been made by -him merely in the supposition that my mother-in-law had no intention of -fulfilling hers. The arendant seemed to give an ear to these -representations, to yield to necessity, and reconcile himself to his -loss; but in reality he was thinking of some means to get me into his -hands. Accordingly he rose by night, yoked his horses, took me in -silence from the table on which I was sleeping, packed me with all -despatch into his carriage, and made off with his booty out at the gate. -But as this could not be accomplished without some noise, the people in -the house awoke, discovered the theft, pursued the kidnapper, and -snatched me out of his hand. To me the whole incident appeared at the -time like a dream. - -In this way my father was released from his debt, and got fifty thalers -besides as a gratuity; but I was immediately afterwards carried off by -my legal mother-in-law, and made the husband of my legal bride. I must -of course confess that this transaction of my father's cannot be quite -justified in a moral point of view. Only his great need at the time can -in some measure serve as an excuse. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -My Marriage in my Eleventh Year makes me the Slave of my Wife, and -procures for me Cudgellings from my Mother-in-law--A Ghost of Flesh and -Blood. - - -On the first evening of my marriage my father was not present. As he -told me at my departure that he had still to settle some articles on my -account, and therefore I was to wait for his arrival, I refused, in -spite of all the efforts that were made, to appear that evening. -Nevertheless the marriage festivities went on. We waited the next day -for my father, but still he did not come. They then threatened to bring -a party of soldiers to drag me to the marriage ceremony; but I gave them -for an answer, that, if this were done, it would help them little, for -the ceremony would not be lawful except as a voluntary act. At last, to -the joy of all interested, my father arrived towards evening, the -articles referred to were amended, and the marriage ceremony was -performed. - -Here I must mention a little anecdote. I had read in a Hebrew book of an -approved plan for a husband to secure lordship over his better half for -life. He was to tread on her foot at the marriage ceremony; and if both -hit on the stratagem, the first to succeed would retain the upper hand. -Accordingly, when my bride and I were placed side by side at the -ceremony this trick occurred to me, and I said to myself, Now you must -not let the opportunity pass of securing for your whole lifetime -lordship over your wife. I was just going to tread on her foot, but a -certain _Je ne sais quoi_, whether fear, shame, or love, held me back. -While I was in this irresolute state, all at once I felt the slipper of -my wife on my foot with such an impression that I should almost have -screamed aloud if I had not been checked by shame. I took this for a bad -omen and said to myself, Providence has destined you to be the slave of -your wife, you must not try to slip out of her fetters. From my -faint-heartedness and the heroic mettle of my wife, the reader may -easily conceive why this prophecy had to be actually realised. - -I stood, however, not only under the slipper of my wife, but--what was -very much worse--under the lash of my mother-in-law. Nothing of all that -she had promised was fulfilled. Her house, which she had settled on her -daughter as a dowry, was burdened with debt. Of the six years' board -which she had promised me I enjoyed scarcely half a year's, and this -amid constant brawls and squabbles. She even, trusting to my youth and -want of spirit, ventured now and then to lay hands on me, but this I -repaid not infrequently with compound interest. Scarcely a meal passed -during which we did not fling at each other's head, bowls, plates, -spoons, and similar articles. - -Once I came home from the academy extremely hungry. As my mother-in-law -and wife were occupied with the business of the public house, I went -myself into the room where the milk was kept; and as I found a dish of -curds and cream, I fell upon it, and began to eat. My mother-in-law came -as I was thus occupied, and screamed in rage, "You are not going to -devour the milk with the cream!" The more cream the better, thought I, -and went on eating, without disturbing myself by her cry. She was going -to wrest the dish forcibly from my hands, beat me with her fists, and -let me feel all her ill-will. Exasperated by such treatment, I pushed -her from me, seized the dish, and smashed it on her head. That was a -sight! The curds ran down all over her. She seized in rage a piece of -wood, and if I had not cleared out in all haste, she would certainly -have beat me to death. - -Scenes like this occurred very often. At such skirmishes of course my -wife had to remain neutral, and whichever party gained the upper hand, -it came home to her very closely. "Oh!" she often complained, "if only -the one or the other of you had a little more patience!" - -Tired of a ceaseless open war I once hit upon a stratagem, which had a -good effect for a short time at least. I rose about midnight, took a -large vessel of earthenware, crept with it under my mother-in-law's bed, -and began to speak aloud into the vessel after the following -fashion:--"O Rissia, Rissia, you ungodly woman, why do you treat my -beloved son so ill? If you do not mend your ways, your end is near, and -you will be damned to all eternity." Then I crept out again, and began -to pinch her cruelly; and after a while I slipped silently back to bed. - -The following morning she got up in consternation, and told my wife, -that my mother had appeared to her in a dream, and had threatened and -pinched her on my account. In confirmation she showed the blue marks on -her arm. When I came from the synagogue, I did not find my mother-in-law -at home, but found my wife in tears. I asked the reason, but she would -tell me nothing. My mother-in-law returned with dejected look, and eyes -red with weeping. She had gone, as I afterwards learned, to the Jewish -place of burial, thrown herself on my mother's grave, and begged for -forgiveness of her fault. She then had the burial place measured, and -ordered a wax-light as long as its circumference, for burning in the -synagogue. She also fasted the whole day, and towards me showed herself -extremely amiable. - -I knew of course what was the cause of all this, but acted as if I did -not observe it, and rejoiced in secret over the success of my stratagem. -In this manner I had peace for some time, but unfortunately it did not -last long. The whole was soon forgotten again, and on the slightest -occasion the dance went on as before. In short, I was soon afterwards -obliged to leave the house altogether, and accept a position as a -private tutor. Only on the great feast-days I used to come home. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -The Secrets of the Marriage State--Prince Radzivil,[24] or what is not -all allowed in Poland? - - -In my fourteenth year I had my eldest son, David. At my marriage I was -only eleven years old, and owing to the retired life common among people -of our nation in those regions, as well as the want of mutual -intercourse between the two sexes, I had no idea of the essential duties -of marriage, but looked on a pretty girl as on any other work of nature -or art, somewhat as on the pretty medicine-box that I stole. It was -therefore natural that for a considerable time after marriage I could -not have any thought about the fulfilment of its duties. I used to -approach my wife with trembling as a mysterious object. It was therefore -supposed that I had been bewitched at the time of the wedding; and under -this supposition I was brought to a witch to be cured. She took in hand -all sorts of operations, which of course had a good effect, although -indirectly through the help of the imagination. - -My life in Poland from my marriage to my emigration, which period -embraces the springtime of my existence, was a series of manifold -miseries with a want of all means for the promotion of culture, and, -necessarily connected with that, an aimless application of my powers, in -the description of which the pen drops from my hands, and the painful -memories of which I strive to stifle.[25] - -The general constitution of Poland at the time; the condition of our -people in it, who, like the poor ass with the double burden, are -oppressed by their own ignorance and the religious prejudices connected -therewith, as well as by the ignorance and prejudices of the ruling -classes; the misfortunes of my own family;--all these causes combined to -hinder me in the course of my development, and to check the effect of my -natural disposition. - -The Polish nation, under which I comprehend merely the Polish nobility, -is of a very mixed kind. Only the very few have an opportunity of -culture by means of upbringing, instruction, and well-directed travels, -by which they can best promote at once their own welfare and that of -their tenantry. Most of them, on the other hand, spend their lives in -ignorance and immorality, and become the sport of their extravagant -passions, which are ruinous to their tenants. They make a display with -titles and orders, which they disgrace by their actions; they own many -estates which they do not understand how to manage, and they are at -perpetual feud with one another, so that the kingdom must of necessity -become the prey of its neighbours, who are envious of its greatness. - -Prince Radzivil was, as Hettmann in Poland and Voivode in Lithuania, one -of the greatest magnates, and as occupant of three inheritances in his -family owned immense estates. He was not without a certain kindness of -heart and good sense; but, through neglected training and a want of -instruction, he became one of the most extravagant princes that ever -lived. From want of occupation, which was a necessary consequence of -neglect in cultivating his tastes and widening his knowledge, he gave -himself up to drinking, by which he was tempted to the most ridiculous -and insane actions. Without any particular inclination for it he -abandoned himself to the most shameful sensuality; and without being -cruel, he exercised towards his dependents the greatest cruelties. - -He supported at great cost an army of ten thousand men, which was used -for no purpose in the world except display; and during the troubles in -Poland he took, without knowing why, the part of the Confederates. By -this means he got himself encumbered with the friendship of the -Russians, who plundered his estates, and plunged his tenants into the -greatest destitution and misery. He himself was obliged several times to -flee from the country, and to leave as booty for his enemies treasures -which had been the gathering of many generations. - -Who can describe all the excesses he perpetrated? A few examples will, I -believe, be sufficient to give the reader some idea of them. A certain -respect for my former prince does not allow me to consider his faults as -anything but faults of temperament and education, which deserve rather -our pity than our hatred and contempt. - -When he passed through a street, which he commonly did with the whole -pomp of his court, his bands of music and soldiers, no man, at the peril -of his life, durst show himself in the street; and even in the houses -people were by no means safe. The poorest, dirtiest peasant-woman, who -came in his way, he would order up into his carriage beside himself. - -Once he sent for a respectable Jewish barber, who, suspecting nothing -but that he was wanted for some surgical operation, brought his -instruments with him, and appeared before the prince. - -"Have you brought your instruments with you?" he was asked. - -"Yes, Serene Highness," he replied. - -"Then," said the prince, "give me a lancet, and I will open one of your -veins." - -The poor barber had to submit. The prince seized the lancet; and as he -did not know how to go about the operation, and besides his hand -trembled as a result of his hard drinking, of course he wounded the -barber in a pitiable manner. But his courtiers smiled their applause, -and praised his great skill in surgery. - -He went one day into a church, and being so drunk that he did not know -where he was, he stood against the altar, and commenced to ----. All who -were present became horrified. Next morning when he was sober, the -clergy brought to his mind the misdeed he had committed the day before. -"Eh!" said the prince, "we will soon make that good." Thereupon he -issued a command to the Jews of the place, to provide at their own -expense, fifty stone of wax for burning in the church. The poor Jews -were therefore obliged to bring a sin-offering for the desecration of a -Christian Church by an orthodox Catholic Christian. - -He once took it into his head to drive on the wall round the town. But -as the wall was too narrow for a coach with six horses,--and he never -drove in any other,--his hussars were obliged, with much labour and -peril of their lives, to carry the coach with their hands till he had -driven round the town in this way. - -Once he drove with the whole pomp of his court to a Jewish synagogue, -and, without any one to this day knowing the reason, committed the -greatest havoc, smashed windows and stoves, broke all the vessels, threw -on the ground the copies of the Holy Scriptures kept in the ark, and so -forth. A learned, pious Jew, who was present, ventured to lift one of -these copies from the ground, and had the honour of being struck with a -musket-ball by His Serene Highness' own hand. From here the train went -to a second synagogue, where the same conduct was repeated, and from -there they proceeded to the Jewish burial-place, where the buildings -were demolished, and the monuments cast into the fire. - -Can it be conceived, that a prince could show himself so malicious -towards his own poor subjects, whom he was in a position to punish -legally whenever they really did anything amiss? Yet this is what -happened here. - -On one occasion he took it into his head to make a trip to Mohilna, a -hamlet belonging to him, which lay four short miles from his Residence. -This had to be done with his usual suite and all the pomp of his court. -On the morning of the appointed day the train went forth. First marched -the army in order according to its usual regimental -divisions,--infantry, artillery, cavalry, and so on. Then followed his -bodyguard, Strelitzi, consisting of volunteers from the poor nobility. -After them came his kitchen-waggons, in which Hungarian wine had not -been forgotten. These were followed by the music of his janissaries, and -other bands. Then came his coach, and last of all his satraps. I give -them this name, because I can compare this train with no other than that -of Darius in the war against Alexander. Towards evening His Serene -Highness arrived at our public house in the suburb of the town which was -His Serene Highness' Residence, Nesvij. I cannot say that he arrived in -his own high person, for the Hungarian wine had robbed him of all -consciousness, in which alone of course personality rests. He was -carried into the house and thrown with all his clothes, booted and -spurred, on to my mother-in-law's dirty bed, without giving it a supply -of clean linen. - -As usual, I had to take to flight. My Amazons, however, I mean my -mother-in-law and my wife, trusted to their heroic mettle, and remained -at home alone. Riot went on the whole night. In the very room where His -Serene Highness slept, wood was chopped, cooking and baking were done. -It was well known that, when His Serene Highness slept, nothing could -waken his high person except perhaps the trumpet of the Judgment-Day. -The next morning, when he wakened, and looked around, he scarcely knew -whether to trust his eyes, when he found himself in a wretched -public-house, thrown on to a dirty bed swarming with bugs. His valets, -pages, and negroes waited on his commands. He asked how he had come -there, and was answered, that His Serene Highness had yesterday -commenced a journey to Mohilna, but had halted here to take rest, that -his whole train had meanwhile gone on, and had undoubtedly arrived in -Mohilna by this time. - -The journey to Mohilna was for the present given up, and the whole train -ordered back. They returned accordingly to the Residence in the usual -order and pomp. But the prince was pleased to hold a great banquet in -our public-house. All the foreign gentlemen, who happened to be in the -place at the time, were invited. The service used on the occasion was of -gold, and it is impossible adequately to realise the contrast which -reigned here in one house, between Asiatic splendour and Lappish -poverty. In a miserable public-house, whose walls were black as coal -with smoke and soot, whose rafters were supported by undressed round -stems of trees, whose windows consisted of some fragments of broken -panes of bad glass, and small strips of pine covered with paper,--in -this house sat princes on dirty benches at a still dirtier table, and -had the choicest dishes and the finest wines served to them on gold -plate. - -Before the banquet the prince took a stroll with the other gentlemen in -front of the house, and by chance observed my wife. She was then in the -bloom of her youth; and although I am now separated from her, still I -must do her the justice to allow that--leaving, of course, out of -account all that taste and art contribute to the heightening of a -person's charms, inasmuch as these had had no influence on her--she was -a beauty of the first rank. It was therefore natural that she should -please the prince. He turned to his companions, and said, "Really a -pretty young woman! Only she ought to get a white chemise." This was a -common signal with him, and meant as much as the throwing of a -handkerchief by the Grand Sultan. When these gentlemen therefore heard -it, they became solicitous for the honour of my wife, and gave her a -hint to clear out as fast as possible. She took the hint, slipped -silently out, and was soon over the hills and far away. - -After the banquet His Serene Highness proceeded again with the other -gentlemen into town amid trumpets, kettle-drums, and the music of his -janissaries. Then the usual order of the day was followed; that is, a -carousal was carried on the whole afternoon and evening, and then the -party went to a pleasure-house at the entrance to the prince's -zoological garden, where fire-works were set off at great expense, but -usually with accidents. As every goblet was drained, cannons were fired; -but the poor cannoneers, who knew better how to handle the plough than -the cannon, were not seldom injured. "Vivat Kschondsie Radzivil," that -is, "Long live Prince Radzivil," shouted the guests. The palm in this -Bacchanalian sport was of course awarded to the prince; and those who -awarded it were loaded by him with presents, not in perishable coin or -golden snuff-boxes or anything of that sort, but in real estate with -many hundred peasants. At the close a concert was given, during which -His Serene Highness fell gently asleep, and was carried to the castle. - -The expenses of such extravagance were of course extorted from the poor -tenantry. If this was not sufficient, debts were contracted, and estates -sold to wipe them out. Not even the twelve golden statues in -life-size,--whether they represented the twelve apostles or the twelve -giants, I do not know,--nor the golden table which had been made for -himself, were spared on such emergencies. And thus the noble estates of -this great prince were diminished, his treasures which had accumulated -during many generations were exhausted, and his tenants----But I must -break off. - -The prince died not long ago without heirs of his body. His brother's -son inherited the estates. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless Struggles with Misery of -every kind. - - -By means of the instruction received from my father, but still more by -my own industry, I had got on so well, that in my eleventh year I was -able to pass as a full rabbi. Besides I possessed some disconnected -knowledge in history, astronomy, and other mathematical sciences. I -burned with desire to acquire more knowledge, but how was this to be -accomplished in the want of guidance, of scientific books, and of all -other means for the purpose? I was obliged therefore to content myself -with making use of any help that I could by chance obtain, without plan -or method. - -In order to gratify my desire of scientific knowledge, there were no -means available but that of learning foreign languages. But how was I to -begin? To learn Polish or Latin with a Catholic teacher was for me -impossible, on the one hand because the prejudices of my own people -prohibited to me all languages but Hebrew, and all sciences but the -Talmud and the vast array of its commentators, on the other hand because -the prejudices of Catholics would not allow them to give instruction in -those matters to a Jew. Moreover I was in very low temporal -circumstances. I was obliged to support a whole family by teaching, by -correcting proofs of the Holy Scriptures, and by other work of a similar -kind. For a long time therefore I had to sigh in vain for the -satisfaction of my natural inclination. - -At last a fortunate accident came to my help. I observed in some stout -Hebrew volumes, that they contained several alphabets, and that the -number of their sheets was indicated not merely by Hebrew letters, but -that for this purpose the characters of a second and a third alphabet -had also been employed, these being commonly Latin and German letters. -Now, I had not the slightest idea of printing. I generally imagined that -books were printed like linen, and that each page was an impression from -a separate form. I presumed however that the characters, which stood in -similar places, must represent one and the same letter, and as I had -already heard something of the order of the alphabet in these languages, -I supposed that, for example, _a_, standing in the same place as -_aleph_, must likewise be an aleph in sound. In this way I gradually -learnt the Latin and German characters. - -By a kind of deciphering I began to combine various German letters into -words; but as the characters used along with the Hebrew letters might be -something quite different from these, I remained always doubtful -whether the whole of my labour in this operation would not be in vain, -till fortunately some leaves of an old German book fell into my hand. I -began to read. How great were my joy and surprise, when I saw from the -connection, that the words completely corresponded with those which I -had learned. 'Tis true, in my Jewish language many of the words were -unintelligible; but from the connection I was still able, with the -omission of these words, to comprehend the whole pretty well.[26] - -This mode of learning by deciphering constitutes still my peculiar -method of comprehending and judging the thoughts of others; and I -maintain that no one can say he understands a book, as long as he finds -himself compelled to deliver the thoughts of the author in the order and -connection determined by him, and with the expressions which he has -used. This is a mere work of memory, and no man can flatter himself with -having comprehended an author till he is roused by his thoughts, which -he apprehends at first but dimly, to reflect on the subject himself, -and to work it out for himself, though it may be under the impulse of -another. This distinction between different kinds of understanding must -be evident to any man of discernment.--For the same reason also I can -understand a book only when the thoughts which it contains harmonise -after filling up the gaps between them. - -I still always felt a want which I was not able to fill. I could not -completely satisfy my desire of scientific knowledge. Up to this time -the study of the Talmud was still my chief occupation. With this however -I found pleasure merely in view of its form, for this calls into action -the higher powers of the mind; but I took no interest in its matter. It -affords exercise in deducing the remotest consequences from their -principles, in discovering the most hidden contradictions, in hunting -out the finest distinctions, and so forth. But as the principles -themselves have merely an imaginary reality, they cannot by any means -satisfy a soul thirsting after knowledge. - -I looked around therefore for something, by which I could supply this -want. Now, I knew that there is a so-called science, which is somewhat -in vogue among the Jewish scholars of this district, namely the -Cabbalah, which professes to enable a man, not merely to satisfy his -desire of knowledge, but also to reach an uncommon perfection and -closeness of communion with God. Naturally therefore I burned with -desire for this science. As however it cannot, on account of its -sacredness, be publicly taught, but must be taught in secret, I did not -know where to seek the initiated or their writings. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a Physician. - - -Cabbalah,--to treat of this divine science somewhat more in -detail,--means, in the wider sense of the term, _tradition_; and it -comprehends, not only the occult sciences which may not be publicly -taught, but also the method of deducing new laws from the laws that are -given in the Holy Scriptures, as also some fundamental laws which are -said to have been delivered orally to Moses on Mount Sinai. In the -narrower sense of the term, however, Cabbalah means only the tradition -of occult sciences. This is divided into _theoretical_ and _practical_ -Cabbalah. The former comprehends the doctrines of God, of His attributes -which are expressed by means of His manifold names, of the origin of the -world through a gradual limitation of His infinite perfection, and of -the relation of all things to His supreme essence. The latter is the -doctrine which teaches how to work upon nature at pleasure by means of -those manifold names of God, which represent various modes of working -upon, and relations to, natural objects. These sacred names are -regarded, not as merely arbitrary, but as _natural_ signs, so that all -that is done with these signs must have an influence on the object which -they represent. - -Originally the Cabbalah was nothing but psychology, physics, morals, -politics, and such sciences, represented by means of symbols and -hieroglyphs in fables and allegories, the occult meaning of which was -disclosed only to those who were competent to understand it. By and by, -however, perhaps as the result of many revolutions, this occult meaning -was lost, and the signs were taken for the things signified. But as it -was easy to perceive that these signs necessarily had meant something, -it was left to the imagination to invent an occult meaning which had -long been lost. The remotest analogies between signs and things were -seized, till at last the Cabbalah degenerated into an art of _madness -according to method_, or a systematic science resting on conceits. The -big promise of its design, to work effects on nature at pleasure, the -lofty strain and the pomp with which it announces itself, have naturally -an extraordinary influence on minds of the visionary type, that are -unenlightened by the sciences and especially by a thorough philosophy. - -The principal work for the study of the Cabbalah is the _Zohar_, which -is written in a very lofty style in the Syrian language. All other -Cabbalistic writings are to be regarded as merely commentaries on this, -or extracts from it. - -There are two main systems of the Cabbalah,--the system of Rabbi Moses -Kordovero, and that of Rabbi Isaac Luria.[27] The former is more _real_, -that is, it approximates more closely to reason. The latter, on the -other hand, is more _formal_, that is, it is completer in the structure -of its system. The modern Cabbalists prefer the latter, because they -hold that only to be genuine Cabbalah, in which there is no rational -meaning. The principal work of Rabbi Moses Kordovero is the _Pardes_ -(Paradise). Of Rabbi Isaac Luria himself we have some disconnected -writings; but his pupil, Rabbi Chajim Vitall, wrote a large work under -the title, _Ez Chajim_ (The Tree of Life), in which the whole system of -his master is contained. This work is held by the Jews to be so sacred, -that they do not allow it to be committed to print. Naturally, I had -more taste for the Cabbalah of Rabbi Moses than for that of Rabbi Isaac, -but durst not give utterance to my opinion on this point. - -After this digression on the Cabbalah in general, I return to my story. -I learned that the under-rabbi or preacher of the place was an adept in -the Cabbalah; and therefore, to attain my object, I made his -acquaintance. I took my seat beside him in the synagogue, and as I -observed once that after prayer he always read from a small book, and -then put it past carefully in its place, I became very curious to know -what sort of book this was. Accordingly, after the preacher had gone -home, I went and took the book from the place where he had put it; and -when I found that it was a Cabbalistic work, I went with it and hid -myself in a corner of the synagogue, till all the people had gone out -and the door was locked. I then crept from my hiding-place, and, without -a thought about eating or drinking the whole day long, read the -fascinating book till the doorkeeper came and opened the synagogue again -in the evening. - -_Shaarei Kedushah_, or _The Gates of Righteousness_, was the title of -this book; and, leaving out of account what was visionary and -exaggerated, it contained the principal doctrines of psychology. I did -with it therefore as the Talmudists say Rabbi Meïr acted, who had a -heretic for his teacher, "He found a pomegranate; he ate the fruit and -threw the peel away."[28] - -In two or three days I had in this way finished the book; but instead of -satisfying my curiosity, it only excited it the more. I wished to read -more books of the same sort. But as I was too bashful to confess this to -the preacher, I resolved to write him a letter, in which I expressed my -irresistible longing for this sacred science, and therefore entreated -him earnestly to assist me with books. I received from him a very -favourable answer. He praised my zeal for the sacred science, and -assured me that this zeal, amid so little encouragement, was an obvious -sign that my soul was derived from _Olam Aziloth_ (the world of the -immediate divine influence), while the souls of mere Talmudists take -their origin from _Olam Jezirah_ (the world of the creation). He -promised, therefore, to assist me with books as far as lay in his power. -But as he himself was occupied mainly with this science, and required to -have such books constantly at hand, he could not lend them to me, but -gave me permission to study them in his house at my pleasure. - -Who was gladder than I! I accepted the offer of the preacher with -gratitude, scarcely ever left his house, and sat day and night over the -Cabbalistic books. Two representations especially gave me the greatest -trouble. One was the _Tree_, or the representation of the divine -emanations in their manifold and intricate complexities. The other was -God's _Beard_, in which the hairs are divided into numerous classes with -something peculiar to each, and every hair is a separate channel of -divine grace. With all my efforts I could not find in these -representations any rational meaning. - -My prolonged visits however were extremely inconvenient to the preacher. -He had, a short time before, married a pretty young wife; and as his -modest little house consisted of a single apartment, which was at once -parlour, study, and bedroom, and as I sat in it at times reading the -whole night, it happened not infrequently that my elevation above the -sphere of sense came into collision with his sensibility. Consequently, -he hit upon a good plan for getting rid of the incipient Cabbalist. He -said to me one day, "I observe that it necessarily puts you to a great -deal of inconvenience to spend your time constantly away from home for -the sake of these books. You may take them home with you one by one if -you please, and thus study them at your convenience." - -To me nothing could be more welcome. I took home one book after -another, and studied them till I believed that I had mastered the whole -of the Cabbalah. I contented myself not merely with the knowledge of its -principles and manifold systems, but sought also to make a proper use of -these. There was not a passage to be met with in the Holy Scriptures or -in the Talmud, the occult meaning of which I could not have unfolded, -according to Cabbalistic principles, with the greatest readiness. - -The book entitled _Shaarei Orah_[29] came to be of very good service -here. In this book are enumerated the manifold names of the ten -_Sephiroth_, which form the principal subject of the Talmud, so that a -hundred or more names are given to each. In every word of a verse in the -Bible, or of a passage in the Talmud, I found therefore the name of some -Sephirah. But as I knew the attribute of every Sephirah, and its -relation to the rest, I could easily bring out of the combination of -names their conjoint effect. - -To illustrate this by a brief example, I found in the book just -mentioned, that the name _Jehovah_ represents the six highest Sephiroth -(not including the first three), or the person of the Godhead _generis -masculini_, while the word _Koh_ means the _Shechinah_ or the person of -the Godhead _generis feminini_, and the word _amar_ denotes sexual -union. The words, "Koh amar Jehova,"[30] therefore, I explained in the -following way, "Jehovah unites with the Shechinah," and this is high -Cabbalism. Accordingly, when I read this passage in the Bible, I thought -nothing else, but that, when I uttered these words, and thought their -occult meaning, an actual union of these divine spouses took place, from -which the whole world had to expect a blessing. Who can restrain the -excesses of imagination, when it is not guided by reason? - -With the _Cabbalah Maasith_, or the _practical Cabbalah_, I did not -succeed so well as with the theoretical. The preacher boasted, not -publicly indeed, but to everybody in private, that he was master of this -also. Especially he professed _roeh veeno nireh_ (to see everything, but -not to be seen by others), that is, to be able to make himself -invisible. - -About this trick I was specially anxious, in order that I might practise -some wanton jokes on my comrades. More particularly I formed a plan for -keeping my ill-tempered mother-in-law in check by this means. I -pretended that my object was merely to do good, and guard against evil. -The preacher consented, but said at the same time, that on my part -certain preparations were required. Three days in succession I was to -feast, and every day to say some _Ichudim_. These are Cabbalistic forms -of prayer, whose occult meaning aims at producing in the intellectual -world sexual unions, through means of which certain results are to be -brought about in the physical. - -I did everything with pleasure, made the conjuration which he had taught -me, and believed with all confidence that I was now invisible. At once I -hurried to the _Beth Hamidrash_, the Jewish academy, went up to one of -my comrades, and gave him a vigorous box on the ear. He however was no -coward, and returned the blow with interest. I started back in -astonishment; I could not understand how he had been able to discover -me, as I had observed with the utmost accuracy the instructions of the -preacher. Still I thought I might, perhaps, unwittingly and -unintentionally have neglected something. I resolved, therefore, to -undertake the operation anew. This time, however, I was not going to -venture on the test of a box on the ear; I went into the academy merely -to watch my comrades as a spectator. As soon as I entered, however, one -of them came up to me, and showed me a difficult passage in the Talmud, -which he wished me to explain. I stood utterly confounded, and -disconsolate over the failure of my hopes. - -Thereupon I went to the preacher, and informed him of my unsuccessful -attempt. Without blushing, he replied quite boldly, "If you have -observed all my instructions, I cannot explain this otherwise than by -supposing that you are unfit for being thus divested of the visibility -of your body." With great grief, therefore, I was obliged to give up -entirely the hope of making myself invisible. - -This disappointed hope was followed by a new delusion. In the preface to -the _Book of Raphael_, which the angel of that name is said to have -delivered to our first father Adam at his banishment from paradise, I -found the promise, that whoever keeps the book in his house is thereby -insured against fire. It was not long, however, before a conflagration -broke out in the neighbourhood, when the fire seized my house too, and -the angel Raphael himself had to go up into heaven in this chariot of -fire. - -Unsatisfied with the literary knowledge of this science, I sought to -penetrate into its spirit; and as I perceived that the whole science, if -it is to deserve this name, can contain nothing but the secrets of -nature concealed in fables and allegories, I laboured to find out these -secrets, and thereby to raise my merely literary knowledge to a rational -knowledge. This, however, I could accomplish only in a very imperfect -manner at the time, because I had yet very few ideas of the sciences in -general. Still, by independent reflection I hit upon many applications -of this kind. Thus, for example, I explained at once the first instance -with which the Cabbalists commonly begin their science. - -It is this. Before the world was created, the divine being occupied the -whole of infinite space alone. But God wished to create a world, in -order that He might reveal those attributes of His nature which refer -to other beings besides Himself. For this purpose He contracted Himself -into the centre of His perfection, and issued into the space thereby -left void ten concentric circles of light, out of which arose afterwards -manifold figures (_Parzophim_) and gradations down to the present world -of sense. - -I could not in any way conceive that all this was to be taken in the -common sense of the words, as nearly all Cabbalists represent it. As -little could I conceive that, before the world had been created, a time -had past, as I knew from my _Moreh Nebhochim_, that time is a -modification of the world, and consequently cannot be thought without -it. Moreover, I could not conceive that God occupies a space, even -though it be infinite; or that He, an infinitely perfect being, should -contract Himself, like a thing of circular form, into a centre. - -Accordingly I sought to explain all this in the following way. God is -prior to the world, not in time, but in His necessary being as the -condition of the world. All things besides God must depend on Him as -their cause, in regard to their essence as well as their existence. The -creation of the world, therefore, could not be thought as a bringing -forth _out of nothing_, nor as a formation of something independent on -God, but only as a bringing forth _out of Himself_. And as beings are of -different grades of perfection, we must assume for their explanation -different grades of limitation of the divine being. But since this -limitation must be thought as extending from the infinite being down to -matter, we represent the beginning of the limitation in a figure as a -centre (the lowest point) of the Infinite. - -In fact, the Cabbalah is nothing but an expanded Spinozism, in which not -only is the origin of the world explained by the limitation of the -divine being, but also the origin of every kind of being, and its -relation to the rest, are derived from a separate attribute of God. God, -as the ultimate subject and the ultimate cause of all beings, is called -Ensoph (the Infinite, of which, considered in itself, nothing can be -predicated). But in relation to the infinite number of beings, positive -attributes are ascribed to Him; these are reduced by the Cabbalists to -ten, which are called the ten Sephiroth. - -In the book, _Pardes_, by Rabbi Moses Kordovero, the question is -discussed, whether the Sephiroth are to be taken for the Deity Himself -or not. It is easy to be seen, however, that this question has no more -difficulty in reference to the Deity, than in reference to any other -being. - -Under the ten circles I conceived the ten categories or predicaments of -Aristotle, with which I had become acquainted in the _Moreh -Nebhochim_,--the most universal predicates of things, without which -nothing can be thought. The categories, in the strictest critical sense, -are the logical forms, which relate not merely to a _logical_ object, -but to _real_ objects in general, and without which these cannot be -thought. They have their source, therefore, in the subject itself, but -they become an object of consciousness only by reference to a real -object. Consequently, they represent the ten Sephiroth, which belong, -indeed, to the Ensoph in itself, but of which the reality is revealed -only by their special relation to, and effect upon, objects in nature, -and the number of which can be variously determined in various points of -view. - -But by this method of explanation I brought upon myself many an -annoyance. For the Cabbalists maintain that the Cabbalah is not a human, -but a divine, science; and that, consequently, it would be degradation -of it, to explain its mysteries in accordance with nature and reason. -The more reasonable, therefore, my explanations proved, the more were -the Cabbalists irritated with me, inasmuch as they held that alone to be -divine, which had no reasonable meaning. Accordingly I had to keep my -explanations to myself. An entire work, that I wrote on the subject, I -brought with me to Berlin, and preserve still as a monument of the -struggle of the human mind after perfection, in spite of all the -hindrances which are placed in its way. - -Meanwhile this could not satisfy me. I wished to get an insight into the -sciences, not as they are veiled in fables, but in their natural light. -I had already, though very imperfectly, learned to read German; but -where was I to obtain German books in Lithuania? Fortunately for me I -learned that the chief rabbi of a neighbouring town, who in his youth -had lived for a while in Germany, and learned the German language -there, and made himself in some measure acquainted with the sciences, -continued still, though in secret, to work at the sciences, and had a -fair library of German books. - -I resolved therefore to make a pilgrimage to S----, in order to see the -chief rabbi, and beg of him a few scientific books. I was tolerably -accustomed to such journeys, and had gone once thirty miles[31] on foot -to see a Hebrew work of the tenth century on the Peripatetic philosophy. -Without therefore troubling myself in the least about travelling -expenses or means of conveyance, and without saying a word to my family -on the subject, I set out upon the journey to this town in the middle of -winter. As soon as I arrived at the place, I went to the chief rabbi, -told him my desire, and begged him earnestly for assistance. He was not -a little astonished; for, during the thirty one years which had passed -since his return from Germany, not a single individual had ever made -such a request. He promised to lend me some old German books. The most -important among these were an old work on Optics, and Sturm's _Physics_. - -I could not sufficiently express my gratitude to this excellent chief -rabbi; I pocketed the few books, and returned home in rapture. After I -had studied these books thoroughly, my eyes were all at once opened. I -believed that I had found a key to all the secrets of nature, as I now -knew the origin of storms, of dew, of rain, and such phenomena. I looked -down with pride on all others, who did not yet know these things, -laughed at their prejudices and superstitions, and proposed to clear up -their ideas on these subjects and to enlighten their understanding. - -But this did not always succeed. I laboured once to teach a Talmudist, -that the earth is round, and that we have antipodes. He however made the -objection, that these antipodes would necessarily fall off. I -endeavoured to show that the falling of a body is not directed towards -any fixed point in empty space, but towards the centre of the earth, and -that the ideas of Over and Under represent merely the removal from and -approach to this centre. It was of no avail; the Talmudist stood to his -ground, that such an assertion was absurd. - -On another occasion I went to take a walk with some of my friends. It -chanced that a goat lay in the way. I gave the goat some blows with my -stick, and my friends blamed me for my cruelty. "What is the cruelty?" I -replied. "Do you believe that the goat feels a pain, when I beat it? You -are greatly mistaken; the goat is a mere machine." This was the doctrine -of Sturm as a disciple of Descartes. - -My friends laughed heartily at this, and said, "But don't you hear that -the goat cries, when you beat it?" "Yes," I replied, "of course it -cries; but if you beat a drum, it cries too." They were amazed at my -answer, and in a short time it went abroad over the whole town, that I -had become mad, as I held that _a goat is a drum_. - -From my generous friend, the chief rabbi, I received afterwards two -medical works, Kulm's _Anatomical Tables_ and Voit's _Gaziopilatium_. -The latter is a large medical dictionary, containing, in a brief form, -not only explanations from all departments of medicine, but also their -manifold applications. In connection with every disease is given an -explanation of its cause, its symptoms, and the method of its cure, -along with even the ordinary prescriptions. This was for me a real -treasure. I studied the book thoroughly, and believed myself to be -master of the science of medicine, and a complete physician. - -But I was not going to content myself with mere theory in this matter; I -resolved to make regular application of it. I visited patients, -determined all diseases according to their circumstances and symptoms, -explained their causes, and gave also prescriptions for their cure. But -in this practice things turned out very comically. If a patient told me -some of the symptoms of his disease, I guessed from them the nature of -the disease itself, and inferred the presence of the other symptoms. If -the patient said that he could trace none of these, I stubbornly -insisted on their being present all the same. The conversation therefore -sometimes came to this:-- - -_I._ "You have headache also." - -_Patient._ "No." - -_I._ "But you _must_ have headache." - -As many symptoms are common to several diseases, I took not infrequently -_quid pro quo_. Prescriptions I could never keep in my head, so that, -when I prescribed anything, I was obliged to go home first and turn up -my _Gaziopilatium_. At length I began even to make up drugs myself -according to Voit's prescriptions. How this succeeded, may be imagined. -It had at least this good result, that I saw something more was surely -required for a practical physician than I understood at the time. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -A brief Exposition of the Jewish Religion, from its Origin down to the -most recent Times. - - -To render intelligible that part of the story of my life, which refers -to my sentiments regarding religion, I must first give in advance a -short practical _history of the Jewish religion_, and at the outset say -something of the idea of _religion in general_, as well as of the -difference between _natural_ and _positive_ religion. - -_Religion in general_ is the expression of gratitude, reverence and the -other feelings, which arise from the dependence of our weal and woe on -one or more powers to us unknown. If we look to the _expression of these -feelings in general_, without regard to the _particular mode of the -expression_, religion is certainly natural to man. He observes many -effects which are of interest to him, but whose causes are to him -unknown; and he finds himself compelled, by the universally recognised -_Principle of Sufficient Reason_, to suppose these causes, and to -express towards them the feelings mentioned. - -This expression may be of two kinds, in conformity either with the -_imagination_ or with _reason_. For either man imagines the causes to -be analogous to the effects, and ascribes to them in themselves such -attributes as are revealed through the effects, or he thinks them merely -as causes of certain effects, without seeking thereby to determine their -attributes in themselves. These two modes are both natural to man, the -former being in accordance with his earlier condition, the latter with -that of his perfection. - -The difference between these two modes of representation has as its -consequence another difference of religions. The first mode of -representation, in accordance with which the causes are supposed to be -_similar_ to the effects, is the mother of _polytheism_ or _heathenism_. -But the second is the basis of _true_ religion. For as the kinds of -effects are different, the causes also, if held to be like them, must be -represented as different from one another. On the other hand, if, in -accordance with truth, we conceive the idea of _cause in general_ for -these effects, without seeking to determine this cause, either _in -itself_ (since it is wholly unknown), or _analogically_ by help of the -imagination, then we have no ground for supposing several causes, but -require to assume merely a single subject, wholly unknown, as cause of -all these effects. - -The different philosophical systems of theology are nothing but -_detailed developments_ of these different modes of representation. The -_atheistic_ system of theology, if so it may be called, rejects -altogether this idea of a _first cause_, (as, according to the -_critical_ system at least, it is merely of _regulative use_ as a -necessary _idea of reason_). All effects are referred to particular -known or unknown causes. In this there cannot be assumed even a -_connection_ between the various effects, else the _reason_ of this -connection would require to be sought beyond the connection itself. - -The _Spinozistic_ system, on the contrary, supposes one and the same -substance as immediate cause of all various effects, which must be -regarded as predicates of one and the same subject. _Matter_ and _mind_ -are, with Spinoza, one and the same substance, which appears, now under -the former, now under the latter attribute. This single substance is, -according to him, not only the sole being that can be _self-dependent_, -that is, independent of any external cause, but also the sole -_self-subsistent_ being, all so-called beings besides it being merely -its _modes_, that is, particular limitations of its attributes. Every -particular effect in nature is referred by him, not to its proximate -cause (which is merely a _mode_), but immediately to this first cause, -which is the common substance of all beings. - -In this system _unity is real_, but _multiplicity_ is merely _ideal_. In -the atheistic system it is the opposite. _Multiplicity_ is _real_, being -founded on the _nature of things themselves_. On the other hand, the -_unity_, which is observed in the order and regularity of nature, is -merely an _accident_, by which we are accustomed to determine our -_arbitrary_ system _for the sake of knowledge_. It is inconceivable -therefore how any one can make out the Spinozistic system to be -atheistic, since the two systems are diametrically opposed to one -another. In the latter the existence of _God_ is denied, but in the -former the existence of the _world_. Spinoza's ought therefore to be -called rather the _acosmic_ system. - -The _Leibnitzian_ system holds the mean between the two preceding. In it -all _particular effects_ are referred immediately to _particular -causes_; but these various effects are thought as _connected_ in a -single system, and the cause of this connection is sought in a being -beyond itself. - -_Positive_ religion is distinguished from _natural_ in the very same way -as the positive laws of a state from natural laws. The latter are those -which rest on a self-acquired, indistinct knowledge, and are not duly -defined in regard to their application, while the former rest on a -distinct knowledge received from others, and are completely defined in -regard to their application. - -A _positive_ religion however must be carefully distinguished from a -_political_ religion. The former has for its end merely the correction -and accurate definition of knowledge, that is, _instruction_ regarding -the first cause: and the knowledge is communicated to another, according -to the measure of his capacity, just as it has been received. But the -latter has for its end mainly the welfare of the state. Knowledge is -therefore communicated, not just as it has been received, but only in so -far as it is found serviceable to this end. Politics, merely as -politics, requires to concern itself about _true religion_ as little as -about _true morality_. The injury, that might arise from this, can be -prevented by other means which influence men at the same time, and thus -all can be kept in equilibrium. Every political religion is therefore at -the same time positive, but every positive religion is not also -political. - -Natural religion has no _mysteries_ any more than merely positive -religion. For there is no mystery implied in one man being unable to -communicate his knowledge to another of defective capacity with the same -degree of completeness which he himself has attained; otherwise -mysteries might be attributed to all the sciences, and there would then -be _mysteries of mathematics_ as well as _mysteries of religion_. Only -_political religion_ can have mysteries, in order to lead men in an -indirect way to the attainment of the _political end_, inasmuch as they -are made to believe that thereby they can best attain their _private -ends_, though this is not always in reality the case. There are _lesser_ -and _greater_ mysteries in the political religions. The former consist -in the _material_ knowledge of all particular operations and their -connection with one another. The latter, on the contrary, consist in the -knowledge of the _form_, that is, of the end by which the former are -determined. The former constitute the totality of the _laws of -religion_, but the latter contains the _spirit of the laws_. - -The _Jewish religion_, even at its earliest origin among the nomadic -patriarchs, is already distinguished from the _heathen_ as _natural -religion_, inasmuch as, instead of the _many comprehensible_ gods of -heathenism, the _unity of an incomprehensible_ God lies at its -foundation. For as the particular causes of the effects, which in -general give rise to a religion, are in themselves unknown, and we do -not feel justified in transferring to the causes the attributes of the -particular effects, in order thereby to characterise them, there remains -nothing but the idea of cause in general, which must be related to all -effects without distinction. This cause cannot even be _analogically_ -determined by the effects. For the effects are opposed to one another, -and neutralise each other even in the same object. If therefore we -ascribed them all to one and the same cause, the cause could not be -analogically determined by any. - -The _heathen_ religion, on the other hand, refers every kind of effect -to a special cause, which can of course be characterised by its effect. -As a _positive_ religion the Jewish is distinguished from the heathen by -the fact, that it is not a merely political religion, that is, a -religion which has for its end the social interest (in opposition to -true knowledge and private interest); but in accordance with the spirit -of its founder, it is adapted to the theocratic form of the national -Government, which rests on the principle, that only the true religion, -based on rational knowledge, can harmonise with the interest of the -state as well as of the individual. Considered in its _purity_, -therefore, it has no mysteries in the proper sense of the word; that is -to say, it has no doctrines which, in order to reach their end, men -_will_ not disclose, but merely such as _can_ not be disclosed to all. - -After the fall of the Jewish state the religion was separated from the -state which no longer existed. The religious authorities were no longer, -as they had been before, concerned about adapting the particular -institutions of religion to the state; but their care went merely to -_preserve_ the religion, on which the existence of the _nation_ now -depended. Moved by hatred towards those nations who had annihilated the -state, and from anxiety lest with the fall of the state the religion -also might fall, they hit upon the following means for the preservation -and extension of their religion. - -1. The fiction of a method, handed down from Moses, of expanding the -laws, and applying them to particular cases. This method is not that -which reason enjoins, of modifying laws according to their intention, in -adaptation to time and circumstances, but that which rests upon certain -rules concerning their literary expression. - -2. The legislative force ascribed to the new decisions and opinions -obtained by this method, giving to them an equal rank with the ancient -laws. The subtle dialectic, with which this has been carried on down to -our times, and the vast number of laws, customs and useless ceremonies -of all sorts, which it has occasioned, may be easily imagined. - -The history of the Jewish religion can, in consequence of this, be -appropriately divided into five great epochs. The first epoch embraces -the _natural religion_, from the times of the patriarchs down to Moses -at the exodus from Egypt. The second comprehends the _positive_ or -_revealed_ religion, from Moses to the time of the _Great Synagogue_ -(_Keneseth Haggedolah_). This council must not be conceived as an -assembly of theologians at a definite time; the name applies to the -theologians of a whole epoch from the destruction of the first temple to -the composition of the Mishnah. Of these the first were the _minor -prophets_ (Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi, etc., of whom 120 are counted -altogether), and the last was _Simon the Just_.[32] These, as well as -their forerunners from the time of Joshua, took as their basis the -Mosaic laws, and added new laws according to time and circumstances, but -in conformity with the traditional method, every dispute on the subject -being decided by the _majority of voices_. - -The third epoch extends from the composition of the Mishnah by Jehudah -the Saint[33] to the composition of the Talmud by Rabina and -Rabassi.[34] Down to this epoch it was forbidden to commit the laws to -writing, in order that they might not fall into the hands of those who -could make no use of them. But as Rabbi Jehudah Hanassi, or, as he is -otherwise called, Rabbenu Hakades observed, that, in consequence of -their great multiplicity, the laws may easily fall into oblivion, he -gave himself a licence to transgress a single one of the laws in order -to preserve the whole. The law transgressed was that against committing -the laws to writing; and in this licence he defended himself by a -passage in the Psalms, "There are times, when a man shows himself -well-pleasing to God by transgressing the laws."[35] He lived in the -time of Antoninus Pius, was rich, and possessed all the faculties for -such an undertaking. He therefore composed the Mishnah, in which he -delivers the Mosaic laws in accordance either with a traditional or with -a rational method of exposition. It contains also some laws which form -the subject of dispute. - -This work is divided into six parts. The first contains the laws -relating to agriculture and horticulture; the second, those which refer -to feasts and holidays. The third part comprehends the laws which define -the mutual relations of the two sexes (marriage, divorce, and such -subjects). The fourth part is devoted to the laws which deal with the -teachers of the law; the fifth, to those which treat of the -temple-service and sacrifices; and the sixth, to the laws of -purification. - -As the Mishnah is composed with the greatest precision, and cannot be -understood without a commentary, it was natural, that in course of time -doubts and disputes should arise, regarding the exposition of the -Mishnah itself, as well as the mode of its application to cases which it -does not sufficiently determine. All these doubts and their manifold -solutions, controversies and decisions, were finally collected in the -Talmud by the above-mentioned Rabina and Rabassi; and this forms the -fourth epoch of Jewish legislation. - -The fifth epoch begins with the conclusion of the Talmud, and extends -down to our time, and so on for ever (_si diis placet_) till the advent -of the Messiah. Since the conclusion of the Talmud the rabbis have been -by no means idle. 'Tis true, they dare not alter anything in the Mishnah -or the Talmud; but they still have plenty of work to do. Their business -is to explain those two works, so that they shall harmonise; and this is -no small matter, for one rabbi, with a superfine dialectic, is always -finding contradictions in the explanations of another. They must also -disentangle, from the labyrinth of various opinions, expositions, -controversies and decisions, the laws which are applicable to every -case; and finally for new cases, by inferences from those already known, -they must bring out new laws, hitherto left indeterminate in spite of -all previous labours, and thus prepare a complete code of laws. - -It is thus that a religion, in its origin _natural_ and _conformable to -reason_, has been abused. A Jew dare not eat or drink, lie with his wife -or attend to the wants of nature, without observing an enormous number -of laws. With the books on the _slaughter_ of animals alone (the -condition of the knife and the examination of the entrails) a whole -library could be filled, which certainly would come near to the -Alexandrian in extent. And what shall I say of the enormous number of -books treating of those laws which are no longer in use, such as the -laws of sacrifice, of purification, etc.? The pen falls from my hand, -when I remember that I and others like me were obliged to spend in this -soul-killing business the best days of our lives when the powers are in -their full vigour, and to sit up many a night, to try and bring out some -sense where there was none, to exercise our wits in the discovery of -contradictions where none were to be found, to display acuteness in -removing them where they were obviously to be met, to hunt after a -shadow through a long series of arguments, and to build castles in the -air. - -The abuse of Rabbinism has, as will be seen, a twofold source. - -1. The first is an _artificial method_ of expounding the Holy -Scriptures, which distinguishes itself from the _natural_ method by the -fact, that, while the latter rests on a thorough _knowledge of the -language_ and the true _spirit of the legislator_ in view of the -circumstances of the time, as these are known from history, the former -has been devised rather for the sake of the laws passed to meet existing -emergencies. The rabbis look upon the Holy Scriptures, not only as the -source of the fundamental laws of Moses, and of those which are -deducible from these by a rational method, but also as a vehicle of the -laws to be drawn up by themselves according to the wants of the time. -The artificial method here, like every other of the same kind, is merely -a means of bringing the new laws at least into an _external connection_ -with the old, in order that they may thereby find a better introduction -among the people, be reduced to principles, divided into classes, and -therefore more easily impressed on the memory. No reasonable rabbi will -hold, that the laws, which are referred in this way to passages of the -Holy Scriptures, render the true sense of these passages; but if -questioned on this point, he will reply, "These laws are necessities of -the time, and are referred to those passages merely for this reason." - -2. The second source of the abuse of Rabbinism is to be found in the -manners and customs of other nations, in whose neighbourhood the Jews -have lived, or among whom they have been gradually scattered since the -fall of the Jewish state. These manners and customs they were obliged -to adopt in order to avoid becoming objects of abhorrence. Of this sort -are the laws, _not to uncover the head_ (at least in holy places and at -holy ceremonies), _to wash the hands_ (before meals and prayers), to -fast the whole day till sunset, to say a number of daily prayers, to -make pilgrimages, to walk round the altar, etc.,--all manifestly of -_Arabian_ origin. - -From hatred also towards those nations that destroyed the Jewish state, -and afterwards made the Jews undergo manifold oppressions, they have -adopted various customs, and among others many religious usages which -are opposite to those of the _Greeks_ and _Romans_. - -In all this the rabbis had the Mosaic laws themselves for a model, these -being sometimes in agreement, sometimes in hostility, with the Egyptian -laws which lie at their root, as has been shown in the most thorough -manner by the celebrated Maimonides in his work, _Moreh Nebhochim_. - -It is remarkable, that, with all rabbinical extravagancies in the -_practical_ department, namely the laws and customs, the _theoretical_ -department of the Jewish theology has still always preserved itself in -its purity. Eisenmenger may say what he will, it may be shown by -unanswerable arguments, that all the limited figurative representations -of God and His attributes have their source merely in an endeavour to -adapt the ideas of theology to the common understanding. The rabbis -followed in this the principle which they had established in reference -to the Holy Scriptures themselves, namely, that _the Holy Scriptures use -the language of the common people_, inasmuch as religious and moral -sentiments and actions, which form the immediate aim of theology may in -this manner be most easily extended. They therefore represent God to the -common understanding as an earthly King, who with His ministers and the -advisers of His cabinet, the angels, takes counsel concerning the -government of the world. But for the educated mind they seek to take -away all anthropomorphic representations of God, when they say, "It was -an act of high daring on the part of the prophets, to represent the -Creator as like His creature, as when, for example, it is said in -Ezekiel (i., 26), 'And upon the throne was an appearance like man.'" - -I have disclosed the abuses of the rabbis in regard to religion without -any partiality. At the same time however I must not be silent about -their good qualities, but do them justice as impartially. Compare then -Mahomed's description of the reward of the pious with the rabbinical -representation. The former runs:--"Here (in paradise) there are as many -dishes as there are stars in heaven. Maidens and boys fill the cups, and -wait on the table. The beauty of the maidens surpasses all imagination. -If one of these maidens were to appear in the sky or in the air by -night, the world would become as bright as when the sun is shining; and -if she were to spit into the sea, its salt water would be turned into -honey, and its bitter into sweet. Milk, honey, white wine will be the -rivers which water this delicious abode. The slime of these rivers will -be made of sweet-smelling nutmegs, and their pebbles of pearls and -hyacinths. The angel Gabriel will open the gates of paradise to faithful -Musselmans. The first thing to meet their eyes will be a table of -diamonds of such enormous length, that it would require 70,000 days to -run round it. The chairs, which stand around the table, will be of gold -and silver, the tablecloths of silk and gold. When the guests have sat -down, they will eat the choicest dishes of paradise, and drink its -water. When they are satisfied, beautiful boys will bring them _green_ -garments of costly stuff, and necklaces and earrings of gold. To every -one will then be given a citron; and when he has brought it to his nose -to feel its odour, a maiden of enchanting beauty will come out. Every -one will embrace his own with rapture, and this intoxication of love -will last fifty years without interruption. Each couple will obtain an -enchanting palace for a dwelling, where they will eat and drink and -enjoy all sorts of pleasure for ever and ever.[36]" This description is -beautiful; but how sensuous! The rabbis, on the other hand, say, "Above -(in the blessed abode of the pious) there is neither eating nor -drinking, but the pious sit crowned, and delight themselves with the -vision of the Godhead." - -Eisenmenger seeks, in his _Entdecktes Judenthum_ (Theil 1., Kap. 8), by -a crass exposition to throw ridicule on the Platonic doctrine of -reminiscence, which the rabbis maintain; but what may not be made -ridiculous in the same way? He also makes sport, with equal injustice, -of other rabbinical teachings. With the Stoics, for example, the rabbis -call wise men _Kings_; they say, that God does nothing without -previously taking counsel with his angels, that is, Omnipotence works -upon nature not immediately, but by means of the natural forces; they -teach, that everything is predestined by God, except the practice of -virtue. These are the subjects of Eisenmenger's mockery; but does any -reasonable theologian find in these anything ridiculous or impious? I -should be obliged to write a whole book, if I were to answer all the -unjust charges and jeers which have been brought against the Talmudists, -not by Christian writers alone, but even by Jews who wished to pass for -_illuminati_. - -To be just to the rabbis it is necessary to penetrate into the true -spirit of the Talmud, to become thoroughly familiar with the manner in -which the ancients generally, but especially the Orientals, deliver -theological, moral, and even physical truths in fables and allegories, -to become familiar also with the style of Oriental hyperbole in -reference to everything that can be of interest to man. Moreover, the -rabbis should be treated in the spirit in which they themselves excused -Rabbi Meïr who had a heretic for his teacher,--the spirit expressed in a -passage already quoted. If justice is thus dealt to the rabbis, the -Talmud will certainly not show all the absurdities which its opponents -are disposed too readily to find. - -The rabbinical method of referring theoretical or practical truths, even -by the oddest exegesis, to passages in the Holy Scriptures or any other -book in general esteem, as if they were truths brought out of such -passages by a rational exegesis,--this method, besides procuring an -introduction for the truths among common men, who are not capable of -grasping them on their own merits, and accept them merely on authority, -is also to be regarded as an excellent aid to the memory; for since, as -presumed, these passages are in everybody's mouth, the truths drawn from -them are also retained by their means. Consequently it very often occurs -in the Talmud, when the question concerns the deduction of a new law -from the Holy Scriptures, that one rabbi derives the law from this or -that passage, while another brings the objection, that this cannot be -the true meaning of the passage, inasmuch as the true meaning is this or -that. To such an objection every one is wont to reply, that it is a new -law of the rabbis, who merely refer it to the passage mentioned. - -As it is therefore universally presupposed that this method is familiar, -the Talmudists regard it as unnecessary to inculcate it anew on every -occasion. A single example will suffice to illustrate this. One -Talmudist asked another the meaning of the following passage in the -Book of Joshua (xv., 22), _Kinah Vedimonah Veadadah_.[37] The latter -replied, "Here are enumerated the then familiar places of the Holy -Land." "Of course!" rejoined the other. "I know very well that these are -names of places. But, Rabbi ---- knows how to bring out of these, -besides the proper meaning, something _useful_, namely this:--'(Kinah) -He to whom his neighbour gives occasion for revenge, (Vedimonah) and who -yet, out of generosity, keeps silence, taking no revenge, (Veadadah) to -him will the Eternal execute justice.'" What a fine opportunity this -would be for laughing at the poor Talmudist, who derives a moral -sentence from particular names of places, and besides makes in an -extraordinary manner a compound out of the last name, _Sansannah_,[38] -if he had not himself explained that he is seeking to know, not the -_true meaning_ of the passage, but merely a _doctrine_ which may be -referred to it. - -Again, the Talmudists have referred to a passage in Isaiah the important -doctrine, that in morals the principal object is, not theory, but -practice, by which theory receives its true value. The passage runs as -follows:--"The expectation of thy happiness"--that is, the happiness -promised by the prophet--"will have for its consequence strength, help, -wisdom, knowledge, and the fear of God."[39] Here they refer the first -six subjects to the six _Sedarim_ or divisions of the Mishnah, which are -the foundation of all Jewish learning. _Emunath_ (Expectation) is Seder -Seraim; _Etecho_ (Happiness) is Seder Moad, and so on. That is to say, -you may be ever so well versed in all these six _sedarim_; yet the main -point is the last, the fear of God. - -As far as rabbinical morals in other respects are concerned, I know in -truth nothing that can be urged against them, except perhaps their -excessive strictness in many cases. They form in fact genuine Stoicism, -but without excluding other serviceable principles, such as perfection, -universal benevolence, and the like. Holiness with them extends even to -the thoughts. This principle is, in the usual fashion, referred to the -following passage in the Psalms, "Thou shalt have no strange God in -thee";[40] for in the human heart, it is argued, no strange God can -dwell, except evil desires. It is not allowed to deceive even a heathen -either by deeds or by words--not even in cases where he could lose -nothing by the deceit. For example, the common form of courtesy, "I am -glad to see you well," is not to be used, if it does not express the -real sentiments of the heart. The examples of Jews who cheat Christians -and heathens, which are commonly adduced against this statement, prove -nothing, inasmuch as these Jews do not act in accordance with the -principles of their own morals. - -The commandment, "Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy -neighbour's," is so expounded by the Talmudists, that we must guard -against even the wish to possess any such thing. In short, I should -require to write a whole book, if I were to adduce all the excellent -doctrines of rabbinical morals. - -The influence of these doctrines in practical life also is unmistakable. -The Polish Jews, who have always been allowed to adopt any means of -gain, and have not, like the Jews of other countries, been restricted to -the pitiful occupation of _Schacher_ or usurer, seldom hear the reproach -of cheating. They remain loyal to the country in which they live, and -support themselves in an honourable way. - -Their charity and care for the poor, their institutions for nursing the -sick, their special societies for burial of the dead, are well enough -known. It is not nurses and grave-diggers _hired for money_, but the -_elders of the people_, who are eager to perform these acts. The Polish -Jews are indeed for the most part not yet enlightened by science, their -manners and way of life are still rude; but they are loyal to the -religion of their fathers and the laws of their country. They do not -come before you with courtesies, but their promise is sacred. They are -not gallants, but your women are safe from any snares with them. Woman, -indeed, after the manner of the Orientals in general, is by them not -particularly esteemed; but all the more on that account are they -resolved on fulfilling their duties towards her. Their children do not -learn by heart any _forms_ for expressing love and respect for their -parents--for they do not keep French _demoiselles_;--but they show that -love and respect all the more heartily. - -The sacredness of their marriages, and the ever fresh tenderness which -arises from this, deserve especially to be mentioned. Every month the -husband is wholly separated from his wife for a fortnight (the period of -monthly purification in accordance with the rabbinical laws); they may -not so much as touch one another, or eat out of the same dish or drink -out of the same cup. By this means satiety is avoided; the wife -continues to be in the eyes of her husband all that she was as maiden in -the eyes of her lover. - -Finally, what innocence rules among unmarried persons! It often happens -that a young man or woman of sixteen or eighteen years is married -without knowing the least about the object of marriage. Among other -nations this is certainly very seldom the case. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -Jewish Piety and Penances. - - -In my youth I was of a somewhat strong religious disposition; and as I -observed in most of the rabbis a good deal of pride, quarrelsomeness, -and other evil qualities, they became objects of dislike to me on that -account. I sought therefore as my model only those among them, who are -commonly known by the name of _Chasidim_, or _the Pious_. These are they -who devote the whole of their lives to the strictest observances of the -laws and moral virtues. I had afterwards occasion to remark that these -on their part do harm, less indeed to _others_, but all the more to -_themselves_, inasmuch as they root out the wheat with the tares;[41] -while they seek to suppress their desires and passions, they suppress -also their powers and cramp their activity, so much so as in most cases -by their exercises to bring upon themselves an untimely death. - -Two or three instances, of which I was myself an eye-witness, will be -sufficient to establish what has been said. A Jewish scholar, at that -time well known on account of his piety, Simon of Lubtsch, had undergone -the severest exercises of penance. He had already carried out the -_T'shubath Hakana_--the penance of Kana--which consists in fasting daily -for six years, and avoiding for supper anything that comes from a living -being (flesh, milk, honey, etc.). He had also practised _Golath_, that -is, a continuous wandering, in which the penitent is not allowed to -remain two days in the same place; and, in addition, he had worn a -hair-shirt next his skin. But he felt that he would not be doing enough -for the satisfaction of his conscience unless he further observed the -_T'shubath Hamishkal_--the penance of weighing--which requires a -particular form of penance proportioned to every sin. But as he found by -calculation, that the number of his sins was too great to be atoned in -this way, he took it into his head to starve himself to death. After he -had spent some time in this process, he came in his wanderings to the -place where my father lived, and, without anybody in the house knowing, -went into the barn, where he fell upon the ground in utter faintness. My -father came by chance into the barn, and found the man, whom he had long -known, lying half-dead on the ground, with a _Zohar_ (the principal book -of the Cabbalists) in his hand. As he knew well what sort of man this -was, he brought him at once all sorts of refreshments; but the man would -make no use of them in any way. My father came several times, and -repeated his urgent request, that Simon would take something; but it -was of no avail. My father had to attend to something in the house, -whereupon Simon, to escape from his importunity, exerted all his -strength, raised himself up, went out of the barn, and at last out of -the village. When my father came back into the barn again, and found the -man no longer there, he ran after him, and found him lying dead not far -from the village. The affair was generally made known among the Jews, -and Simon became a saint. - -Jossel of Klezk proposed nothing less than to hasten the advent of the -Messiah. To this end he performed strict penance, fasted, rolled himself -in snow, undertook night-watches and similar severities. By all sorts of -such operations he believed that he was able to accomplish the overthrow -of a legion of evil spirits, who kept guard on the Messiah, and threw -obstacles in the way of his coming.[42] To these exercises he added at -last many Cabbalistic fooleries--fumigations, conjurations, and similar -practices--till at length he lost his wits on the subject, believed that -he really saw spirits with his eyes open, calling each of them by name. -He would then beat about him, smash windows and stoves under the idea -that these were his foes, the evil spirits, somewhat after the manner of -his forerunner Don Quixote. At last he lay down in complete exhaustion, -from which he was with great difficulty restored, by the physician of -Prince Radzivil. - -Unfortunately I could never get further in pious exercises of this sort, -than to abstain for a considerable while from everything that comes from -a living being; and during the Days of Atonement I have sometimes fasted -three days together. I once resolved indeed on undertaking the -_T'shubath Hakana_; but this project, like others of the same sort, -remained unfulfilled, after I had adopted the opinions of Maimonides, -who was no friend of fanaticism or pietism. It is remarkable, that at -the time when I still observed the rabbinical regulations with the -utmost strictness, I yet would not observe certain ceremonies which have -something comical about them. Of this kind, for example, was the -_Malketh_ (Beating) before the Great Day of Atonement, in which every -Jew lays himself on his face in the synagogue, while another with a -narrow strip of leather gives him thirty-nine lashes. Of the same sort -is _Haphorath Nedarim_, or the act of setting free from vows on New -Year's Eve. In this three men are seated, while another appears before -them, and addresses to them a certain form, the general drift of which -is as follows:--"Sirs, I know what a heinous sin it is, not to fulfil -vows; and inasmuch as I have doubtless this year made some vows which I -have not fulfilled, and which I can no longer recollect, I beg of you -that you will set me free from the same. I do not indeed repent of the -good resolutions to which I have bound myself by these vows; I repent -merely of the fact, that in making such resolutions I did not add, that -they were not to have the force of a vow," etc., etc. Thereupon he -withdraws from the judgment-seat, pulls off his shoes, and sits down on -the bare ground, by which he is supposed to banish himself till his vows -are dissolved. After he has sat for some time, and said a prayer by -himself, the judges begin to call aloud, "Thou art our brother! thou art -our brother! thou art our brother! There is no vow, no oath, no -banishment any longer, after thou hast submitted thyself to the -judgment. Rise from the ground and come to us!" This they repeat three -times, and with that the man is at once set free from all his vows. - -At serio-comic scenes of this sort I could only with the greatest -difficulty refrain from laughing. A blush of shame came over me, when I -was to undertake such performances. I sought therefore, if I was pressed -on the subject, to free myself by the pretext, that I had either already -attended to it, or was going to attend to it, in another synagogue. A -very remarkable psychological phenomenon! It might be thought impossible -for any one to be ashamed of actions which he saw others performing -without the slightest blush of shame. Yet this was the case here. This -phenomenon can be explained only by the fact, that in all my actions I -had regard first to the nature of the action in itself (whether it was -right or wrong, proper or improper), then to its nature in relation to -some end, and that I justified it as a means, only when it was not in -itself incapable of being justified. This principle was developed -afterwards in my whole system of religion and morals. On the other hand, -the most of men act on the principle, that the end justifies the means. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -Friendship and Enthusiasm. - - -In the place where I resided I had a bosom friend, Moses Lapidoth by -name. We were of the same age, the same studies, and nearly the same -external circumstances, the only difference being, that at an early -period I already showed an inclination to the sciences, while Lapidoth -had indeed a love of speculation, and also great acuteness and power of -judgment, but had no wish to proceed further than he could reach by a -mere sound common sense. With this friend I used to hold many a -conversation on subjects of mutual interest, especially the questions of -religion and morals. - -We were the only persons in the place, who ventured to be not mere -imitators, but to think independently about everything. It was a natural -result of this, that, as we differed from all the rest of the community -in our opinions and conduct, we separated ourselves from them by -degrees; but, as we had still to live by the community, our -circumstances on this account became every day worse and worse. 'Tis -true, we noted this fact, but nevertheless we were unwilling to -sacrifice our favourite inclinations for any interest in the world. We -consoled ourselves therefore, as best we might, over our loss, spoke -constantly of the vanity of all things, of the religious and moral -faults of the common herd, upon whom we looked down with a sort of noble -pride and contempt. - -We used especially to open our minds, _à la Mandeville_, on the -hollowness of human virtue. For example, smallpox had been very -prevalent in the place, and thereby many children had been carried off. -The elders held a meeting to find out the secret sins, on account of -which they were suffering this punishment, as they viewed it. After -instituting an inquiry it was found, that a young widow of the Jewish -people was holding too free intercourse with some servants of the manor. -She was sent for, but no sort of inquisition could elicit from her -anything beyond the fact, that these people were in the habit of -drinking mead at her house, and that, as was reasonable, she received -them in a pleasant and polite manner, but that in other respects she was -unconscious of any sin in the matter. As no other evidence was -forthcoming, she was about to be acquitted, when an elderly matron came -flying like a fury and screamed, "Scourge her! scourge her! till she has -confessed her sin! If you do not do it, then may the guilt of the death -of so many innocent souls fall upon you!" Lapidoth was present with me -at this scene, and said, "Friend, do you suppose that Madam is making so -fierce a complaint against this woman, merely because she is seized -with a holy zeal and feeling for the general welfare? Oh no! She is -enraged, merely because the widow still possesses attractions, while she -herself can no longer make claim to any." I assured him that his opinion -was thoroughly in accordance with my own. - -Lapidoth had poor parents-in-law. His father-in-law was Jewish sexton, -and by his slender pay could support his family only in a very sorry -style. Every Friday the poor man was therefore compelled to listen to -all sorts of reproach and abuse from his wife, because he could not -provide her with what was indispensable for the holy Sabbath. Lapidoth -told me about this with the addition:--"My mother-in-law wants to make -me to believe that she is zealous merely for the honour of the holy -Sabbath. Nay, verily; she is zealous merely for the honour of her own -holy paunch, which she cannot fill as she would like; the holy Sabbath -serves her merely as a pretext." - -Once when we were taking a walk on the wall round the town, and -conversing about the tendency of men, which is evinced in such -expressions, to deceive themselves and others, I said to Lapidoth, -"Friend, let us be fair, and pass our censure on ourselves, as well as -on others. Is not the contemplative life which we lead, and which is by -no means adapted to our circumstances, to be regarded as a result of our -indolence and inclination to idleness, which we seek to defend by -reflections on the vanity of all things? We are content with our -present circumstances; why? Because we cannot alter them without first -fighting against our inclination to idleness. With all our pretence of -contempt for everything outside of us, we cannot avoid the secret wish -to be able to enjoy better food and clothing than at present. We -reproach our friends as vain men addicted to the pleasures of sense, -because they have abandoned our mode of life, and undertaken occupations -adapted to their powers. But wherein consists our superiority over them, -when we merely follow our inclination as they follow theirs? Let us seek -to find this superiority merely in the fact, that we at least confess -this truth to ourselves, while they profess as the motive of their -actions, not the satisfaction of their own particular desires, but the -impulse to general utility." Lapidoth, on whom my words produced a -powerful impression, answered with some warmth, "Friend, you are -perfectly right. If we cannot now mend our faults, we will not deceive -ourselves about them, but at least keep the way open for amendment." - -In conversations of this kind we two cynics spent our pleasantest hours, -while we made ourselves merry sometimes at the expense of the world, -sometimes at our own. Lapidoth, for example, whose old dirty clothes had -all fallen into rags, and one of whose sleeves was wholly parted from -the rest of his coat, while he was not in a position even to have it -mended, used to fix the sleeve on his back with a pin, and to ask me, -"Don't I look like a _Schlachziz_ (a Polish noble)?" I, again, could -not sufficiently commend my rent shoes, which were quite open at the -toes, because, as I said, "They do not squeeze the foot." - -The harmony of our inclinations and manner of life, along with some -difference in our talents, made our conversation all the more agreeable. -I had more talent for the sciences, made more earnest endeavours after -thoroughness and accuracy of knowledge than Lapidoth. He, on the other -hand, had the advantage of a lively imagination, and consequently more -talent for eloquence and poetry than I. If I produced a new thought, my -friend knew how to illustrate it, and, as it were, to give it embodiment -in a multitude of examples. Our affection for one another went so far, -that, whenever it was practicable, we spent day and night in each -other's company, and the first thing we did, on returning home from the -places where we severally acted as family-tutors, was to visit each -other, even before seeing our own families. At last we began to neglect -on this account the usual hours of prayer. Lapidoth first undertook to -prove, that the Talmudists themselves offered up their prayers, not -exclusively in the synagogue, but sometimes in their study-chambers. -Afterwards he pointed out also, that the prayers held to be necessary -are not all equally so, but that some may be dispensed with altogether: -even those, which are recognised as necessary, we curtailed by degrees, -till at last they were totally neglected. - -Once, when we went for a walk on the wall during the hour of prayer, -Lapidoth said to me, "Friend, what is going to become of us? We do not -pray now at all." - -"What do you mean by that?" I inquired. - -"I throw myself," said Lapidoth, "on the mercy of God, who certainly -will not punish his children severely for a slight neglect." - -"God is not merely _merciful_," I replied; "He is also _just_. -Consequently this reason cannot help us much." - -"What do you mean by that?" asked Lapidoth. - -I had by this time obtained from Maimonides more accurate ideas of God -and of our duties towards Him. Accordingly I replied, "Our destination -is merely the _attainment of perfection through the knowledge of God and -the imitation of His actions_. Prayer is simply the expression of our -knowledge of the divine perfections, and, as a result of this knowledge, -is intended merely for the common man who cannot of himself attain to -this knowledge; and therefore it is adapted to his mode of conception. -But as we see into the end of prayer, and can attain to this end -directly, we can dispense altogether with prayer as something -superfluous." - -This reasoning appeared to us both to be sound. We resolved therefore, -for the purpose of avoiding offence, to go out of the house every -morning with our _Taleth_ and _Tephilim_ (Jewish instruments of prayer), -not, however, to the synagogue, but to our favourite retreat, the wall, -and by this means we fortunately escaped the Jewish Inquisition. - -But this enthusiastic companionship, like everything else in the world, -had to come to an end. As we were both married, and our marriages were -tolerably fruitful, we were obliged, for the purpose of supporting our -families, to accept situations as family-tutors. By this means we were -not infrequently separated, and afterwards were able to spend merely a -few weeks in the year together. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -The Life of a Family-Tutor. - - -The place, where I first occupied the position of family-tutor, was at -the distance of a league from my residence. The family was that of a -miserable farmer in a still more miserable village; and my salary was -five thalers in Polish money. The poverty, ignorance, and rudeness in -the manner of life, which prevailed in this house, were indescribable. -The farmer himself was a man of about fifty years, the whole of whose -face was overgrown with hair, ending in a dirty, thick beard as black as -pitch. His language was a sort of muttering, intelligible only to the -boors, with whom he held intercourse daily. Not only was he ignorant of -Hebrew, but he could not speak a word of Jewish; his only language was -Russian, the common patois of the peasantry. His wife and children were -of the same stamp. Moreover, the apartment, in which they lived, was a -hovel of smoke, black as coal inside and out, without a chimney, but -with merely a small opening in the roof for the exit oi the smoke,--an -opening which was carefully closed as soon as the fire was allowed to go -out, so that the heat might not escape. - -The windows were narrow strips of pine laid crosswise over each other, -and covered with paper. This apartment served at once for sitting, -drinking, eating, study and sleep. Think of this room intensely heated, -and the smoke, as is generally the case in winter, driven back by wind -and rain till the whole place is filled with it to suffocation. Here -hang a foul washing and other dirty bits of clothing on poles laid -across the room in order to kill the vermin with the smoke. There hang -sausages to dry, while their fat keeps constantly trickling down on the -heads of people below. Yonder stand tubs with sour cabbage and red -beets, which form the principal food of the Lithuanians. In a corner the -water is kept for daily use, with the dirty water alongside. In this -room the bread is kneaded, cooking and baking are done, the cow is -milked, and all sorts of operations are carried on. - -In this magnificent dwelling the peasants sit on the bare ground; you -dare not sit higher if you do not wish to be suffocated with the smoke. -Here they guzzle their whiskey and make an uproar, while the people of -the house sit in a corner. I usually took my place behind the stove with -my dirty half-naked pupils, and expounded to them out of an old tattered -Bible, from Hebrew into Russian Jewish. All this together made such a -splendid group as deserved to be sketched only by a Hogarth, and to be -sung only by a Butler. - -It may be easily imagined, how pitiable my condition here must have -been. Whiskey had to form my sole comfort; it made me forget all my -misery. This was increased by the fact, that a regiment of Russians, who -were rioting at that time with every conceivable cruelty on the estates -of Prince Radzivil, was stationed in the village and its neighbourhood. -The house was constantly full of drunken Russians, who committed all -sorts of excesses, hewed to pieces tables and benches, threw glasses and -bottles into the faces of the people of the house, and so on. To give -merely one example, a Russian, who was stationed in this house as guard, -and whose charge it was to secure the house against all violence, came -home once drunk, and demanded something to eat. A dish of millet with -butter was placed before him cooked. He shoved the dish away, and -shouted an order for more butter. A whole small tub of butter was -brought, when he shouted again an order for another dish. This was -brought immediately, whereupon he threw all the butter into it, and -called for spirits. A whole bottle was brought, and he poured it -likewise into the dish. Thereafter milk, pepper, salt, and tobacco, in -large quantities had to be brought to him, the whole being put in, and -the mixture devoured. After he had taken some spoonfuls, he began to -strike about him, pulled the host by the beard, struck him in the face -with his fist, so that the blood flowed out of his mouth, poured some of -his glorious broth down his throat, and went on in this riotous manner -till he became so drunk that he could no longer support himself, and -fell to the ground. - -Such scenes were at that time very common everywhere in Poland. If a -Russian army passed a place, they took with them a _prowodnik_, or -guide, to the next place. But instead of seeking to be supplied by the -mayor or the village magistrate, they used to seize the first person -whom they met on the road. He might be young or old, male or female, -healthy or sick, it mattered nothing to them; for they knew the road -well enough from special charts, and only sought an opportunity for -outrage. If it happened that the person seized did not know the way at -all, and did not show them the right road, they did not allow themselves -to be sent astray on this account; they selected the road all right, but -they cudgelled the poor prowodnik till he was half-dead, _for not -knowing the way_! - -I was once seized as a prowodnik myself. I did not indeed know the way, -but luckily I hit upon it by chance. Fortunately, therefore, I reached -the proper place, and the only violence I suffered, besides a good many -blows and kicks from the Russian soldiers, was the threat, that, if ever -I led them astray, I should certainly be flayed alive--a threat which -they might be trusted with carrying into execution. - -The other places which I filled as tutor were more or less similar to -this. In one of these a remarkable psychological incident occurred in -which I took the principal part and which is to be described in the -sequel. An incident of the same kind, however, which happened to -another person and of which I was simply eye-witness, must be mentioned -here. - -A tutor in the next village, who was a somnambulist, rose one night from -his bed and went to the village churchyard with a volume of the Jewish -ceremonial laws in his hand. After remaining some time there he returned -to his bed. In the morning he rose up, without remembering the least of -what had happened during the night, and went to the chest where his copy -of the ceremonial laws was usually kept, in order to take out the first -part, _Orach Chajim_ or the Way of Life, which he was accustomed to read -every morning. The code consists of four parts, each of which was bound -separately, and all the four had certainly been locked up in the chest. -He was therefore astonished to find only three of the parts, _Joreh -Deah_ or the Teacher of Wisdom, being awanting. As he knew about his -disease he searched everywhere, till at last he came to the churchyard -where he found the _Joreh Deah_ lying open at the chapter, _Hilchoth -Abheloth_ or the Laws of Mourning. He took this for a bad omen and came -home much disquieted. On being asked the cause of his disquietude he -related the incident which had occurred, with the addition, "Ah! God -knows how my poor mother is!" He begged of his master the loan of a -horse and permission to ride to the nearest town, where his mother -lived, in order to enquire after her welfare. As he had to pass the -place where I was tutor, and I saw him riding in great excitement -without being willing to dismount even for a little while, I asked him -the cause of his excitement when he related to me the above-mentioned -incident. - -I was astonished, not so much about the particular circumstances of this -incident, as about somnambulism in general, of which till then I had -known nothing. My friend, on the other hand, assured me that -somnambulism was a common occurrence with him, and that it meant -nothing, but that the circumstance of the _Hilchoth Abheloth_ made him -forebode some misfortune. Thereupon he rode off, arrived at his mother's -house, and found her seated at her frame for needlework. She asked him -the reason of his coming, when he replied that he had come merely to pay -her a visit, as he had not seen her for a long time. After he had rested -for a good while, he rode back; but his disquietude was by no means -wholly removed, and the thought of the _Hilchoth Abheloth_ he could not -get out of his head. The third day after, a fire broke out in the town -where his mother lived, and the poor woman perished in the flames. -Scarcely had the son heard of the conflagration, when he began to lament -that his mother had so miserably perished. He rode off in all haste to -the town, and found what he had foreboded. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long Chapter. - - -About this time I became acquainted with a sect of my nation, called the -_New Chasidim_, which was then coming into prominence. _Chasidim_ is the -name generally given by the Hebrews to the _pious_, that is, to those -who distinguish themselves by exercising the strictest piety. These -were, from time immemorial, men who had freed themselves from worldly -occupations and pleasures, and devoted their lives to the strictest -exercise of the laws of religion and penance for their sins. As already -mentioned, they sought to accomplish this object by prayers and other -exercises of devotion, by chastisement of the body and similar means. - -But about this time some among them set themselves up for founders of a -new sect. They maintained that true piety does not by any means consist -in chastisement of the body, by which the spiritual quiet and -cheerfulness, necessary to the knowledge and love of God, are disturbed. -On the contrary, they maintained that man must satisfy all his bodily -wants, and seek to enjoy the pleasures of sense, so far as may be -necessary for the development of our feelings, inasmuch as God has -created all for his glory. The true service of God, according to them, -consists in exercises of devotion with exertion of all our powers, and -annihilation of self before God; for they maintain that man, in -accordance with his destination, can reach the highest perfection only -when he regards himself, not as a being that exists and works for -himself, but merely as an organ of the Godhead. Instead therefore of -spending their lives in separation from the world, in suppression of -their natural feelings, and in deadening their powers, they believed -that they acted much more to the purpose, when they sought to develop -their natural feelings as much as possible, to bring their powers into -exercise, and constantly to widen their sphere of work. - -It must be acknowledged, that both of these opposite methods have -something true for a foundation. Of the former the foundation is -obviously Stoicism, that is, an endeavour to determine actions by free -will in accordance with a higher principle than passion; the latter is -founded on the system of perfection. Only both, like everything else in -the world, may be abused, and are abused in actual life. Those of the -first sect drive their penitential disposition to extravagance; instead -of merely regulating their desires and passions by rules of moderation, -they seek to annihilate them; and, instead of endeavouring, like the -Stoics, to find the principle of their actions in pure reason, they seek -it rather in religion. This is a pure source, it is true; but as these -people have false ideas of religion itself, and their virtue has for its -foundation merely the future rewards and punishments of an arbitrary -tyrannical being who governs by mere caprice, in point of fact their -actions flow from an impure source, namely the principle of interest. -Moreover, in their case this interest rests merely on fancies, so that, -in this respect, they are far below the grossest Epicureans, who have, -it is true, a low, but still a real interest as the end of their -actions. Only then can religion yield a principle of virtue, when it is -itself founded on the idea of virtue. - -The adherents of the second sect have indeed more correct ideas of -religion and morals; but since in this respect they regulate themselves -for the most part in accordance with obscure feelings, and not in -accordance with distinct knowledge, they likewise necessarily fall into -all sorts of extravagances. Self-annihilation of necessity cramps their -activity, or gives it a false direction. They have no natural science, -no acquaintance with psychology; and they are vain enough to consider -themselves organs of the Godhead,--which of course they are, to an -extent limited by the degree of perfection they attain. The result is, -that on the credit of the Godhead they perpetrate the greatest excesses; -every extraordinary suggestion is to them a divine inspiration, and -every lively impulse a divine call. - -These sects were not in fact different sects of religion; their -difference consisted merely in the mode of their religious exercises. -But still their animosity went so far, that they decried each other as -heretics, and indulged in mutual persecution. At first the new sect held -the upper hand, and extended itself nearly over the whole of Poland, and -even beyond. The heads of the sect ordinarily sent emissaries -everywhere, whose duty it was to preach the new doctrine and procure -adherents. Now, the majority of the Polish Jews consist of scholars, -that is, men devoted to an inactive and contemplative life; for every -Polish Jew is destined from his birth to be a rabbi, and only the -greatest incapacity can exclude him from the office. Moreover, this new -doctrine was to make the way to blessedness easier, inasmuch as it -declared that fasts and vigils and the constant study of the Talmud are -not only useless, but even prejudicial to that cheerfulness of spirit -which is essential to genuine piety. It was therefore natural that the -adherents of the doctrine spread far and wide in a short time. - -Pilgrimages were made to K. M. and other holy places, where the -enlightened superiors of this sect abode. Young people forsook parents, -wives and children, and went in troops to visit these superiors, and -hear from their lips the new doctrine. The occasion, which led to the -rise of this sect was the following.[43] - -I have already remarked that, since the time when the Jews lost their -national position and were dispersed among other nations where they are -more or less tolerated, they have had no internal form of government but -their religious constitution, by which they are held together and still -form, in spite of their political dispersion, an organic whole. Their -leaders, therefore, have allowed themselves to be occupied with nothing -so much as with imparting additional strength to this, the only bond of -union by which the Jews still constitute a nation. But the doctrines of -their faith and the laws of their religion take their origin in the Holy -Scriptures, while these leave much that is indefinite in regard to their -exposition and application to particular cases. Consequently the aid of -tradition is of necessity called in, and by this means the method of -expounding the Holy Scriptures, as well as the deduction of cases left -undetermined by them, is made to appear as if specified in determinate -laws. This tradition could not of course be entrusted to the whole -nation, but merely to a particular body--a sort of legislative -commission. - -By this means, however, the evil was not avoided. Tradition itself left -much that was still indeterminate. The deduction of particular cases -from the general, and the new laws demanded by the circumstances of -different times, gave occasion for many controversies; but through these -very controversies and the mode of their settlement, this body became -always more numerous, and its influence on the nation more powerful. -The Jewish constitution is therefore in its form aristocratic, and is -accordingly exposed to all the abuses of an aristocracy. The unlearned -classes of the people, being burdened with the care of supporting not -only themselves but also the indispensable learned class, were unable to -give their attention to abuses of the kind. But from time to time men -have arisen out of the legislative body itself, who have not only -denounced its abuses, but have even called in question its authority. - -Of this sort was the founder of the Christian religion, who at the very -outset placed himself in opposition to the tyranny of this aristocracy, -and brought back the whole ceremonial law to its origin, namely, a pure -moral system, to which the ceremonial law stands related as means to -end. In this way the reformation at least of a part of the nation was -accomplished. Of the same sort also was the notorious Shabbethai Zebi, -who, at the close of last century[44] set himself up as Messiah, and was -going to abolish the whole ceremonial law, especially the rabbinical -institutions. A moral system founded upon reason would, owing to the -deeply rooted prejudices of the nation at that time, have been powerless -to work out a wholesome reformation. To their prejudices and fanaticism -therefore it was necessary to oppose prejudices and fanaticism. This -was done in the following way. - -A secret society, whose founders belonged to the disaffected spirits of -the nation, had already taken root in it for a long time. A certain -French rabbi, named Moses de Leon, is said, according to Rabbi Joseph -Candia, to have composed the _Zohar_, and to have foisted it upon the -nation as an old book having for its author the celebrated Talmudist, -Rabbi ben Jochai. This book contains, as stated above, an exposition of -the Holy Scriptures in accordance with the principles of the Cabbalah; -or rather, it contains these principles themselves delivered in the form -of an exposition of the Holy Scriptures, and drawn, as it were, from -these. It has, like Janus, a double face, and admits, therefore, of a -double interpretation. - -The one is that which is given with great diffuseness in Cabbalistic -writings, and has been brought into a system. Here is a wide field for -the imagination, where it can revel at will without being in the end -better instructed on the matter than before. Here are delivered, in -figurative language, many moral and physical truths, which lose -themselves at last in the labyrinth of the hyperphysical. This method of -treating the Cabbalah is peculiar to Cabbalistic scholars, and -constitutes the lesser mysteries of this secret society. - -The second method, on the other hand, concerns the secret political -meaning of the Cabbalah, and is known only to the superiors of the -secret society. These superiors themselves, as well as their operations, -remain ever unknown; the rest of the society you may become acquainted -with, if you choose. But the latter _cannot_ betray political secrets -which are unknown to themselves, while the former _will not_ do it, -because it is against their interest. Only the lesser (purely literary) -mysteries are entrusted to the people, and urged upon them as matters of -the highest importance. The greater (political) mysteries are not -taught, but, as a matter of course, are brought into practice. - -A certain Cabbalist, Rabbi Joel Baalshem[45] by name, became very -celebrated at this time on account of some lucky cures which he effected -by means of his medical acquirements and his conjuring tricks, as he -gave out that all this was done, not by natural means, but solely by -help of the _Cabbalah Maasith_ (the practical Cabbalah), and the use of -sacred names. In this way he played a very successful game in Poland. He -also took care to have followers in his art. Among his disciples were -some, who took hold of his profession, and made themselves a name by -successful cures and the detection of robberies. With their cures the -process was quite natural. They employed the common means of medicine, -but after the usual method of the conjurer they sought to turn the -attention of the spectator from these, and direct it to their -Cabbalistic hocus-pocus. The robberies they either brought about -themselves, or they discovered them by means of their detectives, who -were spread all over the country. - -Others of greater genius and a nobler mode of thinking, formed far -grander plans. They saw that their private interest, as well as the -general interest, could be best promoted by gaining the people's -confidence, and this they sought to command by enlightenment. Their plan -was therefore moral and political at the same time.[46] At first it -appeared as if they would merely do away with the abuses which had crept -into the Jewish system of religion and morals; but this drew after it of -necessity a complete abrogation of the whole system. The principal -points which they attacked were these:-- - -1. The abuse of rabbinical learning. Instead of simplifying the laws and -rendering them capable of being known by all, the learning of the rabbis -leaves them still more confused and indefinite. Moreover, being occupied -only with the study of the laws, it gives as much attention to those -which are no longer of any application, such as the laws of sacrifice, -of purification, etc., as to those which are still in use. Besides, it -is not the study, but the observance of the laws, that forms the chief -concern, since the study of them is not an end in itself, but merely a -means to their observance. And, finally, in the observance of the laws -the rabbis have regard merely to the external ceremony, not to the moral -end. - -2. The abuse of piety on the part of the so-called penitents. These -become very zealous, it is true, about the practice of virtue. Their -motive to virtue, however, is not that knowledge of God and His -perfection, which is based on reason; it consists rather in false -representations of God and His attributes. They failed therefore of -necessity to find true virtue, and hit upon a spurious imitation. -Instead of aspiring after likeness to God, and striving to escape from -the bondage of sensual passions into the dominion of a free will that -finds its motive in reason, they sought to annihilate their passions by -annihilating their powers of activity, as I have already shown by some -deplorable examples. - -On the other hand, those who sought to enlighten the people required, as -an indispensable condition of true virtue, a cheerful state of mind -disposed to every form of active exertion; and they not only allowed, -but even recommended, a moderate enjoyment of all kinds of pleasure as -necessary for the attainment of this cheerful disposition. Their worship -consisted in a voluntary elevation above the body, that is, in an -abstraction of the thoughts from all created things, even from the -individual self, and in union with God. By this means a kind of -self-denial arose among them, which led them to ascribe, not to -themselves, but to God alone, all the actions undertaken in this state. -Their worship therefore consisted in a sort of speculative adoration, -for which they held no special time or formula to be necessary, but they -left each one to determine it according to the degree of his knowledge. -Still they chose for it most commonly the hours set apart for the public -worship of God. In their public worship they endeavoured mainly to -attain that elevation above the body, which has been described; they -became so absorbed in the idea of the divine perfection, that they lost -the idea of everything else, even of their own body, and, as they gave -out, the body became in this state wholly devoid of feeling. - -Such abstraction, however, was a very difficult matter; and accordingly, -whenever they came out of this state by new suggestions taking -possession of their minds, they laboured, by all sorts of _mechanical -operations_, such as movements and cries, to bring themselves back into -the state once more, and to keep themselves in it without interruption -during the whole time of their worship. It was amusing to observe how -they often interrupted their prayers by all sorts of extraordinary tones -and comical gestures, which were meant as threats and reproaches against -their adversary, the Evil Spirit, who tried to disturb their devotion; -and how by this means they wore themselves out to such an extent, that, -on finishing their prayers, they commonly fell down in complete -exhaustion. - -It is not to be denied that, however sound may be the basis of such a -worship, it is subject to abuse just as much as the other. The internal -activity following upon cheerfulness of mind, must depend on the degree -of knowledge acquired. Self-annihilation before God is only then -well-founded, when a man's faculty of knowledge, owing to the grandeur -of its object, is so entirely occupied with that object, that he exists, -as it were, out of himself, in the object alone. If, on the contrary, -the faculty of knowledge is limited in respect of its object, so that it -is incapable of any steady progress, then the activity mentioned, by -being concentrated on this single object, is repressed rather than -stimulated. Some simple men of this sect, who sauntered about idly the -whole day with pipe in mouth, when asked, what they were thinking about -all the time, replied, "We are thinking about God." This answer would -have been satisfactory, if they had constantly sought, by an adequate -knowledge of nature, to extend their knowledge of the divine -perfections. But this was impossible in their case, as their knowledge -of nature was extremely limited; and consequently the condition, in -which they concentrated their activity upon an object which, in respect -of their capacity, was unfruitful, became of necessity unnatural. -Moreover, their actions could be ascribed to God, only when they were -the results of an accurate knowledge of God; but when they resulted from -a very limited degree of this knowledge, it was inevitable that all -sorts of excesses should be committed on the credit of God, as -unfortunately the issue has shown. - -But the fact that this sect spread so rapidly, and that the new doctrine -met with so much applause among the majority of the nation, may be very -easily explained. The natural inclination to idleness and a life of -speculation on the part of the majority, who from birth are destined to -study, the dryness and unfruitfulness of rabbinical studies, and the -great burden of the ceremonial law, which the new doctrine promised to -lighten, finally the tendency to fanaticism and the love of the -marvellous, which are nourished by this doctrine,--these are sufficient -to make this phenomenon intelligible. - -At first the rabbis and the pietists opposed the spread of this sect in -the old fashion; but in spite of this, for the reasons just mentioned, -it maintained the upper hand. Hostilities were practised on both sides. -Each party sought to gain adherents. A ferment arose in the nation, and -opinions were divided. - -I could not form any accurate idea of the new sect, and did not know -what to think of it, till I met with a young man, who had already been -initiated into the society, and had enjoyed the good fortune of -conversing with its superiors. This man happened to be travelling -through the place of my abode, and I seized the opportunity of asking -for some information about the internal constitution of the society, the -mode of admission, and so forth. The stranger was still in the lowest -grade of membership, and consequently knew nothing about the internal -constitution of the society. He was therefore unable to give me any -information on the subject; but, as far as the mode of admission was -concerned, he assured me that that was the simplest thing in the world. -Any man, who felt a desire of perfection, but did not know how to -satisfy it, or wished to remove the hindrances to its satisfaction, had -nothing to do but apply to the superiors of the society, and _eo ipso_ -he became a member. He did not even require, as you must do on applying -to a medical doctor, to say anything to these superiors about his moral -weakness, his previous life, and matters of that sort, inasmuch as -nothing was unknown to the superiors, they could see into the human -heart, and discern everything that is concealed in its secret recesses, -they could foretell the future, and bring near at hand things that are -remote. Their sermons and moral teachings were not, as these things -commonly are, thought over and arranged in an orderly manner beforehand. -This method is proper only to the man, who regards himself as a being -existing and working for himself apart from God. But the superiors of -this sect hold that their teachings are divine and therefore infallible, -only when they are the result of self-annihilation before God, that is, -when they are suggested to them _ex tempore_, by the exigence of -circumstances, without their contributing anything themselves. - -As I was quite captivated by this description I begged the stranger to -communicate to me some of these divine teachings. He clapped his hand on -his brow as if he were waiting for inspiration from the Holy Ghost, and -turned to me with a solemn mien and his arms half-bared, which he -brought into action somewhat like Corporal Trim, when he was reading the -sermon. Then he began as follows:-- - -"'Sing unto God a new song; His praise is in the congregation of saints' -(Psalm cxlix., 1). Our superiors explain this verse in the following -way. The attributes of God as the most perfect being must surpass by far -the attributes of every finite being; and consequently His praise, as -the expression of His attributes, must likewise surpass the praise of -any such being. Till the present time the praise of God consisted in -ascribing to Him supernatural operations, such as the discovery of what -is concealed, the foreseeing of the future, and the production of -effects immediately by His mere will. Now, however, the saints, that is, -the superiors, are able to perform such supernatural actions themselves. -Accordingly in this respect God has no longer preeminence over them; and -it is therefore necessary to find some new praise, which is proper to -God alone." - -Quite charmed with this ingenious method of interpreting the Holy -Scriptures, I begged the stranger for some more expositions of the same -kind. He proceeded therefore in his inspired manner:--"'When the -minstrel played, the spirit of God came upon him' (2 Kings iii. 15). -This is explained in the following way. As long as a man is self-active, -he is incapable of receiving the influence of the Holy Ghost; for this -purpose he must hold himself like an instrument in a purely passive -state. The meaning of the passage is therefore this. When the minstrel -([Hebrew: hamnaggeyn], the servant of God), becomes like his instrument -([Hebrew: kenaggeyn]), then the spirit of God comes upon him."[47] - -"Now," said the stranger again, "hear the interpretation of a passage -from the Mishnah, where it is said, 'The honour of thy neighbour shall -be as dear to thee as thine own.' Our teachers explain this in the -following way. It is certain that no man will find pleasure in doing -honour to himself: this would be altogether ridiculous. But it would be -just as ridiculous to make too much of the marks of honour received from -another, as these confer on us no more intrinsic worth than we have -already. This passage therefore means merely, that the honour of thy -neighbour (the honour which thy neighbour shows to thee) must be of as -little value in thine eyes, as thine own (the honour which thou showest -to thyself)." - -I could not help being astonished at the exquisite refinement of these -thoughts; and charmed with the ingenious exegesis, by which they were -supported.[48] My imagination was strained to the highest pitch by these -descriptions, and consequently I wished nothing so much as the pleasure -of becoming a member of this honourable society. I resolved therefore to -undertake a journey to M----, where the superior B---- resided. I waited -with the greatest impatience for the close of my period of service, -which lasted still for some weeks. As soon as this came to an end, -instead of going home (though I was only two miles away), I started at -once on my pilgrimage. The journey extended over some weeks. - -At last I arrived at M----, and after having rested from my journey I -went to the house of the superior under the idea that I could be -introduced to him at once. I was told, however, that he could not speak -to me at the time, but that I was invited to his table on Sabbath along -with the other strangers who had come to visit him; that I should then -have the happiness of seeing the saintly man face to face, and of -hearing the sublimest teachings out of his own mouth; that although this -was a public audience, yet, on account of the individual references -which I should find made to myself, I might regard it as a special -interview. - -Accordingly on Sabbath I went to this solemn meal, and found there a -large number of respectable men who had met here from various quarters. -At length the great man appeared in his awe-inspiring form, clothed in -white satin. Even his shoes and snuffbox were white, this being among -the Cabbalists the colour of grace. He gave to every new comer his -salaam, that is, his greeting. We sat down to table and during the meal -a solemn silence reigned. After the meal was over, the superior struck -up a solemn inspiriting melody, held his hand for some time upon his -brow, and then began to call out, "Z---- of H----, M---- of R----," and -so on. Every new comer was thus called by his own name and the name of -his residence, which excited no little astonishment. Each recited, as he -was called, some verse of the Holy Scriptures. Thereupon the superior -began to deliver a sermon for which the verses recited served as a text, -so that although they were disconnected verses taken from different -parts of the Holy Scriptures they were combined with as much skill as if -they had formed a single whole. What was still more extraordinary, -every one of the new comers believed that he discovered, in that part of -the sermon which was founded on his verse, something that had special -reference to the facts of his own spiritual life. At this we were of -course greatly astonished. - -It was not long, however, before I began to qualify the high opinion I -had formed of this superior and the whole society. I observed that their -ingenious exegesis was at bottom false, and, in addition to that, was -limited strictly to their own extravagant principles, such as the -doctrine of self-annihilation. When a man had once learned these, there -was nothing new for him to bear. The so-called miracles could be very -naturally explained. By means of correspondence and spies and a certain -knowledge of men, by physiognomy and skilful questions, the superiors -were able to elicit indirectly the secrets of the heart, so that they -succeeded with these simple men in obtaining the reputation of being -inspired prophets. - -The whole society also displeased me not a little by their cynical -spirit and the excess of their merriment. A single example of this may -suffice. We had met once at the hour of prayer in the house of the -superior. One of the company arrived somewhat late, when the others -asked him the reason. He replied that he had been detained by his wife -having been that evening confined with a daughter. As soon as they heard -this, they began to congratulate him in a somewhat uproarious fashion. -The superior thereupon came out of his study and asked the cause of the -noise. He was told that we were congratulating our friend, because his -wife had brought a girl into the world. "A girl!" he answered with the -greatest indignation, "he ought to be whipped."[49] The poor fellow -protested. He could not comprehend why he should be made to suffer for -his wife having brought a girl into the world. But this was of no avail: -he was seized, thrown down on the floor, and whipped unmercifully. All -except the victim fell into an hilarious mood over the affair, upon -which the superior called them to prayer in the following words, "Now, -brethren, _serve the Lord with gladness_!" - -I would not stay in the place any longer. I sought the superior's -blessing, took my departure from the society with the resolution to -abandon it for ever, and returned home. - -Now I shall say something of the internal constitution of the society. -The superiors may, according to my experience, be brought under four -heads: (1) the prudent, (2) the crafty, (3) the powerful,[50] (4) the -good. - -The highest class, which rules all the others, is of course the first. -These are men of enlightenment, who have attained a deep knowledge of -the weaknesses of men and the motives of their actions, and have early -learned the truth that prudence is better than power, inasmuch as power -is in part dependent on prudence, while prudence is independent of -power. A man may have as many powers and in as high a degree as he will, -still his influence is always limited. By prudence, however, and a sort -of psychological mechanics, that is, an insight into the best possible -use of these powers and their direction, they may be infinitely -strengthened. These prudent leaders, therefore, have devoted themselves -to the art of ruling free men, that is, of using the will and powers of -other men, so that while these believe themselves to be advancing merely -their own ends, they are in reality advancing the ends of their leaders. -This can be maintained by a judicious combination and regulation of the -powers, so that by the slightest touch upon this instrument it may -produce the greatest effect. There is here no deceit, for, as -presupposed, the others themselves reach their own ends by this means -best. - -The second class, the crafty, also use the will and the powers of others -for the attainment of their ends; but in regard to these ends they are -more short-sighted or more impetuous than the former class. It often -happens, therefore, that they seek to attain their ends at the expense -of others; and their skill consists not merely in attaining their own -ends, like the first class, but in carefully concealing from others the -fact that they have not reached theirs. - -The powerful are men who, by their inborn or acquired moral force, rule -over the weakness of others, especially when their force is such as is -seldom found in others, as, for example, the control of all the passions -but one, which is made the end of their actions. - -The good are weak men who are merely passive in respect of their -knowledge and power of will, and whose ends are reached, not by -controlling, but by allowing themselves to be controlled. - -The highest class, that of the prudent, supervising all the others -without being under their supervision, as a matter of course rules them -all. It makes use of the crafty on their good side, and seeks to make -them harmless on their other side by outwitting them, so that when they -believe they are deceiving, they themselves are deceived. It makes use, -moreover, of the powerful for the attainment of more important ends, but -seeks, when necessary, to keep them in check by the opposition of -several, it may be weaker, powers. Finally it makes use of the good for -the attainment of its ends, not merely with them but also with others, -inasmuch as it commends these weak brethren to the others as an example -of submission that is worthy of imitation, and by this means clears out -of the way those hindrances that arise from the independent activity of -the others. - -This highest class begins usually with Stoicism, and ends with -Epicureanism. Its members consist of pious men of the first sort, that -is, such as have for a considerable time devoted themselves to the -strictest exercise of religious and moral laws, to the control of their -desires and passions. But they do not, like the Stoic, look upon -Stoicism as an end in itself; they regard it merely as a means to the -highest end of man, namely, happiness. They do not therefore remain at -the Stoical stage, but, after having obtained from it all that is -necessary to the highest end, they hasten to that end itself, the -enjoyment of happiness. By their exercise in the strictest Stoicism -their sensibility for all sorts of pleasure is heightened and ennobled, -instead of becoming duller, as it is with gross Epicureans. By means of -this exercise also they are placed in a position to defer every pleasure -that presents itself till they have determined its real worth, which a -gross Epicurean will not do. - -The first impulse to Stoicism, however, must lie in the temperament, and -it is only by a kind of self-deception that it is shifted to the account -of voluntary activity. But this vanity imparts courage for actual -undertakings of a voluntary nature, and this courage is continually -fired by their successful issue. As the superiors of this sect are not -men of science, it is not to be supposed that they have hit upon their -system by the guidance of reason alone. Rather, as already said, the -motive was, in the first instance, temperament, in the second, religious -ideas; and it was only after that, that they could attain to a clear -knowledge and practice of their system in its purity. - -This sect was therefore, in regard to its end and its means, a sort of -secret society, which had nearly acquired dominion over the whole -nation; and consequently one of the greatest revolutions was to have -been expected, if the excesses of some of its members had not laid bare -many weak spots, and thus put weapons into the hands of its enemies. -Some among them, who wished to pass for genuine Cynics, violated all the -laws of decency, wandered about naked in the public streets, attended to -the wants of nature in the presence of others, and so on. By their -practice of extemporising, as a consequence of their principle of -self-annihilation, they introduced into their sermons all sorts of -foolish, unintelligible, confused stuff. By this means some of them -became insane, and believed that in fact they were no longer in -existence. To all this must be added their pride and contempt of others -who did not belong to their sect, especially of the rabbis, who, though -they had their faults, were still far more active and useful than these -ignorant idlers. Men began to find out their weaknesses, to disturb -their meetings, and to persecute them everywhere. This was brought about -especially by the authority of a celebrated rabbi, Elias of Wilna,[51] -who stood in great esteem among the Jews, so that now scarcely any -traces of the society can be found scattered here and there. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -Continuation of the Former, and also something about Religious -Mysteries. - - -After the account of the secret society in the last chapter, this seems -the most appropriate place to state, for the examination of the -thoughtful reader, my opinion about _mysteries in general_, and about -the _mysteries of religion_ in particular. - -_Mysteries in general_ are modes of the causal relation between objects -in nature,--modes which are real or held to be real, but which cannot be -disclosed to every man by the natural use of his powers of knowledge. -_Eternal truths_, that is, those necessary relations of objects which -are founded on the nature of our powers of knowledge, however few may be -familiar with them, are not, according to this definition, mysteries, -because any one can discover them by the use of his powers of knowledge. - -On the other hand, the results of _sympathy_ and _antipathy_, the -medical _specifics_, and similar effects, which some men fall upon by -mere accident, and which they afterwards find confirmed by means of -observations and experiments, are genuine _mysteries of nature_, which -can be made known to another person, not by the use of his powers of -knowledge, but only either by an accident of the same kind, or by -communication from the first discoverer. If mysteries of this sort are -not confirmed by observation and experiment, the belief in their reality -is called _superstition_. - -_Religion_ is a covenant formed between man and another moral being of a -higher genus. It presupposes a natural relation between man and this -higher moral being, so that, by the mutual fulfilment of their covenant, -they advance the interest of each other. If this natural relation (not -being merely arbitrary and conventional) is real, and the mutual -obligation of the contracting persons is founded on this relation, then -it forms a _true_, but otherwise a _false_, natural religion. If the -mutual obligation between man and the higher being or his -representatives is drawn up in a formal code, there arises a _positive_ -or _revealed religion_. - -The true religion, natural as well as revealed, which, as already -observed, constitutes Judaism, consists in a contract, at first merely -understood, but afterwards expressed, between man and the Supreme Being, -who revealed Himself to the patriarchs in person (in dreams and -prophetic appearances), and made known by them His will, the reward of -obeying it and the punishment of disobedience, regarding which a -covenant was then with mutual consent concluded. Subsequently, through -his representative Moses, He renewed His covenant with the Israelites in -Egypt, determining more precisely their mutual obligations; and this -was afterwards on both sides formally confirmed on Mount Sinai. - -To the thoughtful reader I do not need to say, that the representation -of a covenant between God and man is to be taken merely _analogically_, -and not in its strict sense. The absolutely Perfect Being can reveal -Himself merely _as idea to the reason_. What revealed itself to the -patriarchs and prophets, suitably to their power of comprehension, in -figure, in an anthropomorphic manner, was not the absolutely Perfect -Being Himself, but a representative of Him, His sensible image. The -covenant, which this Being concludes with man, has not for its end the -mutual satisfaction of wants; for the Supreme Being has no wants, and -the wants of man are satisfied, not by means of this covenant, but only -by observation of those relations between himself and other natural -objects, which are founded on the laws of nature. This covenant, -therefore, can have its foundation nowhere but in the nature of reason, -without reference to any end. - -Heathenism, in my opinion, is distinguished from Judaism mainly by the -fact, that the latter rests upon the _formal_, absolutely necessary laws -of reason, while the former (even if it be founded on the nature of -things and therefore real) rests upon the _material_ laws of nature -which are merely hypothetically necessary. From this the inevitable -result is polytheism; every particular cause is personified by -imagination, that is, represented as a moral being, and made a -particular deity. At first this result was a matter of mere -_Empiricism_; but by and by men had occasion to observe that these -causes, which were represented as particular deities, were dependent on -each other in their effects, and in a certain aspect subordinate to each -other. There thus arose gradually a whole system of heathen theology, in -which every deity maintains his rank, and his relation to the rest is -determined. - -Judaism, on the other hand, in its very origin contemplated a _system_, -that is, a unity among the forces of nature; and thereby it received at -last this _pure formal_ unity. This unity is merely of _regulative_ use, -that is, for the complete systematic connection of all the phenomena of -nature; and it presupposes a knowledge of the _multiplicity_ of the -various forces in nature. But owing to their excessive love of system, -and their anxiety for the preservation of the _principle_ in its purity, -the Israelites seem to have wholly neglected its application. The result -was that they preserved a religion which was pure indeed, but at the -same time very unfruitful, both for the extension of knowledge and for -its application in practical life. By this cause may be explained their -constant murmuring against the leaders of their religion, and their -repeated relapse into idolatry. They could not, like enlightened nations -at the present day, direct their attention to purity of principle and -useful application of their religion at the same time, and therefore of -necessity they failed either in the one or in the other. Finally the -Talmudists introduced a merely _formal_ application of religion which -aimed at no real end; and by this means they made matters worse and -worse. - -This religion, therefore, which, by the intention of its founder, should -have formed the Jews into the wisest and most intelligent of nations, -made them by its injudicious application the most ignorant and -unreasonable of all. Instead of the knowledge of nature being combined -with the knowledge of religion, and the former subordinated to the -latter merely as the material to the formal, the former was altogether -neglected; and the principle, maintained in its mere abstractness, -continued without any application. - -Mysteries of religion are objects and acts, which are adapted to ideas -and principles, and the inner meaning of which is of great importance, -but which have in their outward form something unseemly or ridiculous or -otherwise objectionable. They must therefore, even in regard to their -outward form, be kept concealed from the vulgar eye, which cannot -penetrate into the inner meaning of anything; and accordingly for it -they must be a double mystery. That is to say, the objects or acts -themselves constitute the lesser mysteries, and their inner meaning the -greater mysteries. - -Of this sort, for example, among the Jews, in the tabernacle, and -afterwards in the Holy of Holies in the temple, was the ark of the -covenant, which, according to the testimony of renowned authors, showed -much resemblance to the sacred chest in the innermost shrine of some -heathen temples. Thus we find among the Egyptians the casket of Apis, -that concealed from the vulgar eye this dead animal, which as a symbol -indeed had an important meaning, but in itself presented a repulsive -aspect. The ark of the covenant in the first temple contained, it is -true, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, nothing besides the -two tables of the law; but of the ark in the second temple, built after -the Babylonian captivity, I find in the Talmud a passage which is too -remarkable not to be adduced. According to this passage the enemies, who -seized the temple, found in the Holy of Holies the likeness of two -persons of different sex embracing, and profaned the sacred object by a -crass exposition of its inner meaning. This likeness was said to be a -vivid sensible representation of the union between the nation and God, -and, in order to guard against abuse, had to be withdrawn from the eye -of the common people, who cling to the symbol, but do not penetrate to -its inner meaning. For the same reason the _cherubim_ also were -concealed behind the veil. - -Of the same sort were the mysteries of the ancients in general. But the -greatest of all mysteries in the Jewish religion consists in the name, -Jehovah, expressing _bare existence_, in abstraction from all -_particular kinds of existence_, which cannot of course be conceived -without _existence in general_. The doctrine of the unity of God, and -the dependence of all beings on Him, in regard to their possibility as -well as their actuality, can be perfectly comprehended only in -conformity with a _single system_. When Josephus, in his apology against -Apion, says, "The first instruction of our religion relates to the -Godhead, and teaches that God comprehends all things, is an absolutely -Perfect and Blessed Being, and is the _sole cause of all existence_," I -believe that these words contain the best explanation of the otherwise -difficult passage, where Moses says to God, "Behold, when I come unto -the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers -hath sent me unto you, and they shall ask, What is his name? what shall -I answer unto them?" and God replies, "Thus shalt thou say unto the -children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of -Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob hath sent me unto you, for this is my name for -ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations."[52] For, in my -opinion, this passage means nothing more than that the Jewish religion -lays at its foundation the unity of God as the _immediate_ cause of all -existence; and it says therefore precisely the same as the remarkable -inscription on the pyramid at Sais, "I am all that is and was and shall -be; my veil has no mortal removed," and that other inscription under the -column of Isis, "I am that which is." The name, Jehovah, is called by -the Talmudists _Shem haezam_ (_nomen proprium_), the name of the -essence, which belongs to God in Himself, without reference to His -operations. The other names of God, however, are _appellative_, and -express attributes which he has in common with all His creatures, only -that they belong to Him in the most eminent degree. For example, -_Elohim_ is a lord, a judge. _El_ is a mighty one, _Adonai_, a lord; and -the same is the case with all the rest. The Talmudists drive this point -so far as to maintain, that the Holy Scriptures consist merely of the -manifold names of God. - -The Cabbalists made use of this principle. Having enumerated the chief -attributes of God, arranged them in order and brought them into a system -which they call _Olam Eziloth_ or _Sephiroth_, they not only picked out -an appropriate name for each in the Holy Scriptures, but they made in -addition all sorts of combinations of these attributes in various -relations, which they expressed by similar combinations of the -corresponding names. They could therefore easily expound the Holy -Scriptures according to their method, inasmuch as they found therein -nothing but what they had before put in themselves. - -Besides these there may also be mysteries in a religion which consist in -the knowledge that the religion, as understood by enlightened people, -has no mysteries at all. This knowledge may be connected either with an -endeavour to destroy gradually among the people the belief in mysteries, -and to banish the so-called lesser mysteries by publishing the greater, -or, on the contrary, with an endeavour to preserve among the people the -belief in mysteries, and to make the preservation of the lesser -mysteries part of the subject of the greater. - -The Jewish religion, according to the spirit of its founder, is of the -first kind. Moses, as well as the prophets who followed him, sought -constantly to inculcate that the end of religion is not _external -ceremonies_, but the knowledge of the true God as the sole -incomprehensible cause of all things, and the practice of virtue in -accordance with the prescriptions of reason. - -The heathen religions, on the other hand, show evident traces of the -second kind. Still I am not, like some, inclined to believe that -everything in these was planned for _intentional deception_, but I -believe that the founders of these religions were for the most part -deceived deceivers; and this mode of representing the matter is far more -in accordance with human nature. I am also unable to imagine that such -secret designs could be propagated, by means of a formal tradition, from -generation to generation. And, moreover, what would have been the use of -this? Have not later generations the same faculty as the earlier of -contriving schemes to reach their ends? There are princes who have never -read Macchiavelli, and yet have admirably carried his principles into -practice. - -With regard to the society of pietists described above I am persuaded -that it had as little connection with the free-masons as with any other -secret society. But conjectures are allowed, and here we have to do -merely with the _degree of probability_. In my opinion there are in -every state societies which are essentially secret, but which externally -have no appearance of being such. Every body of men with a common -interest is to me a secret society. Its aim and principal operations may -be ever so well known, still the _most important_ of these remain -concealed to the uninitiated. Of such a secret society, as of others, -much good as well as evil may therefore be said; and so long as they do -not carry their mischief too far, they are always tolerated. - -The Society of Pietists had a similar end in view to that of the Order -of Illuminati in Bavaria, and employed nearly the same means. Its aim -was to spread itself among people wandering in the dark; and it made use -of superstition in a remarkable manner, as means to this end. It sought -chiefly to attract the youth to itself, and by a sort of empirical -knowledge of men, to educate every member to that, for which he seemed -to be destined by nature, and to assign him his proper place. Every -member of the society was allowed to acquire as much knowledge of its -aim and internal constitution, as enabled him to look merely backwards -on his subordinates, but not forwards on his superiors. These superiors -understood the art of communicating truths of reason by means of sublime -figures, and of translating these figurative representations into truths -of reason. It might almost be said of them, that _they understood the -language of animals_--a very important art, which is indispensable to -every teacher of the people. By doing away with a gloomy piety, their -doctrines met with acceptance among the lively youth. The principle of -self-annihilation, taught by them, is, when well understood, nothing -else than the foundation of self-activity. By its means all the modes of -thought and action, which have become rooted by education, habit and -communication with others, and by which human activity is wont to -receive a wrong direction, are to be destroyed, and one's own free mode -of action introduced. Moral and æsthetic feeling can in fact be -preserved and perfected by this principle alone. It is only when ill -understood, that it can be injurious, as I have shown by the example of -this society itself. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -Journeys to Königsberg, Stettin and Berlin, for the purpose of extending -my knowledge of men. - - -My external circumstances were becoming worse and worse. I was unwilling -any longer to adapt myself to my ordinary occupations, and found myself -therefore everywhere out of my sphere. On the other hand, I was also -unable in the place of my abode to satisfy sufficiently my favourite -inclination to the study of the sciences. So I determined to betake -myself to Germany, there to study medicine and, as opportunity offered, -other sciences also. But the question was, how such a long journey was -to be made. I knew indeed, that some merchants in the place of my abode -were soon to make a journey to Königsberg in Prussia; but I had only a -slight acquaintance with them, and could not therefore expect that they -would take me with them for nothing. After much deliberation I fell at -last upon a capital expedient. - -I had among my friends a very learned and pious man, who stood in great -esteem among all the Jews of the town. To him I revealed my purpose, and -took him into counsel on the subject. I laid before him my miserable -circumstances, pointed out to him, that, as my inclinations had been -once directed to the knowledge of God and His works, I was no longer fit -for any ordinary occupation; and I represented to him especially, that I -was now obliged to support myself by my scholarship alone, as an -instructor in the Bible and the Talmud, which, according to the judgment -of some rabbis, was not altogether allowable. I explained to him, that -on this account I wished to study medicine as a profane art, by which -means I might be of service, not only to myself, but to the whole of the -Jews in this neighbourhood, as there was no regular physician here, and -those, who gave themselves out for such, were the most ignorant shavers, -who packed men out of the world by their cures. - -These reasons produced an extraordinary effect on so devout a man. He -went to a merchant of his acquaintance, represented to him the -importance of my undertaking, and persuaded him to take me with him to -Königsberg on his own vessel. The merchant could refuse nothing to so -godly a man, and therefore gave his consent. - -Accordingly I set out with this Jewish merchant for Königsberg in -Prussia. When I arrived there, I went to the Jewish medical doctor of -the place, opened to him my proposal to study medicine, and begged him -for advice and support. As his professional occupations prevented him -from conveniently speaking with me on the subject, and as he could not -understand me well at any rate, he referred me to some students who -lodged in his house. As soon as I showed myself to these young -gentlemen, and opened to them my proposal, they burst into loud -laughter. And certainly for this they were not to be blamed. Imagine a -man from Polish Lithuania of about five and twenty years, with a -tolerably stiff beard, in tattered dirty clothes, whose language is a -mixture of Hebrew, Jewish German, Polish and Russian, with their several -grammatical inaccuracies, who gives out that he understands the German -language, and that he has attained some knowledge of the sciences. What -were the young gentlemen to think? - -They began to poke fun at me, and gave me to read Mendelssohn's -_Phaedo_, which by chance lay on the table. I read in the most pitiful -style, both on account of the peculiar manner in which I had learned the -German language, and on account of my bad pronunciation. Again they -burst into loud laughter; but they said, I must explain to them what I -had read. This I did in my own fashion; but as they did not understand -me, they demanded that I should translate what I had read into Hebrew. -This I did on the spot. The students, who understood Hebrew well, fell -into no slight astonishment, when they saw that I had not only grasped -correctly the meaning of this celebrated author, but also expressed it -happily in Hebrew. They began therefore to interest themselves on my -account, procured for me some cast-off clothing, and board during my -stay in Königsberg. At the same time they advised me to go to Berlin, -where I should best attain my object. To make the journey suit my -circumstances, however, they advised me to go by ship from Königsberg to -Stettin, and thence to Frankfurt on the Oder, from which place I should -easily find means of getting to Berlin. - -I went therefore by ship, and had nothing for food but some toast, some -herring, and a flask of spirits. I was told in Königsberg, that the -journey might take ten or, at the most, fourteen days. This prophecy, -however, was not fulfilled. In consequence of contrary winds, the voyage -lasted five weeks. In what circumstances, therefore, I found myself, may -be easily imagined. There were in the vessel besides me no other -passengers, but an old woman, who sang hymns all the time for her -comfort. The Pomeranian German of the crew I could understand as little -as they could my medley of Jewish, Polish and Lithuanian. I got nothing -warm to eat the whole time, and was obliged to sleep on hard stuffed -bags. The vessel came also sometimes into danger. Of course the most of -the time I was seasick. - -At last I arrived at Stettin, where I was told that I could make the -journey to Frankfurt quite pleasantly on foot. But how was a Polish Jew -in the most wretched circumstances, without a pfennig to buy food, and -without knowing the language of the country, to make a journey even of a -few miles? Yet it had to be done. Accordingly I set out from Stettin, -and as I thought over my miserable situation, I sat down under a -lime-tree, and began to weep bitterly. I soon became somewhat lighter in -heart; I took courage, and went on. After I had gone two or three miles, -towards evening I arrived at an inn thoroughly worn out. It was the eve -of the Jewish fast, which falls in August. Already I was nearly starving -with hunger and thirst, and I was to fast still the whole of the next -day. I had not a pfennig to spend and nothing of any value to sell. - -After long reflection it occurred to me, that I must still have in my -coat-pocket an iron spoon, which I had taken with me on board ship. I -brought it, and begged the landlady of the inn to give me a little bread -and beer for it. She refused at first to take the spoon, but after much -importunity she was at last induced to grant a glass of sour beer in -exchange. I was obliged therefore to content myself with this, drank my -glass of beer, and went off to the stable to sleep on straw. - -In the morning I proceeded on my journey, having previously inquired for -a place, where there were Jews, in order that I might be able to go into -the synagogue, and sing with my brethren the lamentations over the -destruction of Jerusalem. This was done, and after the prayers and -singing,--about midday,--I went to the Jewish schoolmaster of the place, -and held some conversation with him. He soon discovered that I was a -full rabbi, began to interest himself about me, and procured me a -supper at the house of a Jew. He also gave me a letter of introduction -to another schoolmaster in the neighbouring town, recommending me as a -great Talmudist and an honourable rabbi. Here also I met with a fair -reception. I was invited to the Sabbath dinner by the most respectable -and richest Jew of the place, and went into the synagogue, where I was -shown to the highest seat, and received every mark of honour usually -bestowed on a rabbi. - -After the close of the service the rich Jew referred to took me to his -house, and put me in the place of honour at his table, that is between -himself and his daughter. She was a young girl of about twelve years, -dressed in the most beautiful style. I began, as rabbi, to hold a very -learned and edifying discourse; and the less the gentleman and lady -understood it, the more divine it seemed to them. All at once I -observed, to my chagrin, that the young lady began to put on a sour -look, and to make wry faces. At first I did not know how to explain -this; but, after a while, when I turned my eyes upon myself and my -miserable dirty suit of rags, the whole mystery was at once unriddled. -The uneasiness of the young lady had a very good cause. And how could it -be otherwise? Since I left Königsberg, about seven weeks before, I had -never had a clean shirt to put on; and I had been obliged to lie in the -stables of inns on bare straw, on which who knows how many poor -travellers had lain before? Now all at once my eyes were opened to see -my misery in its appalling magnitude. But what was I to do? How was I to -help myself out of this unfortunate situation? Gloomy and sad I soon -bade farewell to these good people, and proceeded on my journey to -Berlin under a continued struggle with want and misery of every kind. - -At last I reached this city. Here I believed that I should put an end to -my misery, and accomplish all my wishes. But alas I was sadly deceived. -In this capital, as is well known, no Jewish beggars were allowed. -Accordingly the Jewish community of the place, in order to make -provision for their poor, have built at the Rosenthaler gate a house, in -which the poor are received, and questioned by the Jewish elders about -what they want in Berlin. According to the results of such inquiry, they -are either taken into the city, if they are sick or want employment, or -they are sent forward on their journey. I was therefore conducted to -this house, which was filled partly with sick people, partly with a lewd -rabble. For a long while I looked round in vain for a man, with whom I -might talk about my affairs. - -At last I observed a man, who, to judge by his dress, was surely a -rabbi. I went to him, and how great was my joy to learn from him, that -he was really a rabbi, and pretty well known in Berlin! I conversed with -him on all sorts of subjects connected with rabbinical learning; and as -I was very open-hearted, I related to him the course of my life in -Poland, revealed to him my purpose of studying medicine in Berlin, -showed him my commentary on the _Moreh Nebhochim_, and so forth. He -listened to all, and seemed to interest himself very much in my behalf. -But all at once he disappeared out of sight. - -At length towards evening came the Jewish elders. Each of the persons in -the house was called, and questioned about his wants. When my turn came, -I said quite frankly, that I wished to remain in Berlin, in order to -study medicine. The elders refused my request point-blank, gave me a -pittance in charity, and went away. The reason of this conduct towards -me in particular was nothing else than the following. - -The rabbi, of whom I spoke, was a zealot in his orthodoxy. Accordingly -when he had discovered my sentiments and purposes, he went into town, -and informed the elders about my heretical mode of thinking. He told -them, that I was going to issue a new edition of the _Moreh Nebhochim_ -with a commentary, and that my intention was not so much to study -medicine, but mainly to devote myself to the sciences in general, and to -extend my knowledge. This the orthodox Jews look upon as something -dangerous to religion and good morals. They believe this to be specially -true of the Polish rabbis, who, having by some lucky accident been -delivered from the bondage of superstition, suddenly catch a gleam of -the light of reason, and set themselves free from their chains. And -this belief is to some extent well-founded. Persons in such a position -may be compared to a man, who, after being famished for a long time, -suddenly comes upon a well spread table, who will attack the food with -violent greed, and fill himself even to surfeiting. - -The refusal of permission to stay in Berlin came upon me like a -thunderclap. The ultimate object of all my hopes and wishes was all at -once removed beyond my reach, just when I had seen it so near. I found -myself in the situation of Tantalus, and did not know where to turn for -help. I was especially pained by the treatment I received from the -overseer of this poorhouse, who, by command of his superiors, urged my -speedy departure, and never left off till he saw me outside of the gate. -There I threw myself on the ground and began to weep bitterly. It was a -Sunday, and many people went, as usual, to walk outside of the city. -Most of them never turned aside to a whining worm like me, but some -compassionate souls were very much struck with the sight, and asked the -cause of my wailing. I answered them; but, partly on account of my -unintelligible language, partly because my speech was broken by frequent -weeping and sobbing, they could not understand what I said. - -I was so deeply affected by this vexation, that I fell into a violent -fever. The soldiers, who kept guard at the gate, reported this at the -poorhouse. The overseer came, and carried me in. I stayed there over the -day, and made myself glad with the hope of becoming thoroughly sick, so -as to enforce a longer sojourn in the place, during which I thought I -might form some acquaintances, by whose influence I hoped to receive -protection and permission to remain in Berlin. But alas! in this hope I -was deceived. The following day I rose quite lively again without a -trace of fever. I was therefore obliged to go. But whither? That I did -not know myself. Accordingly I took the first road that I came upon, and -surrendered myself to fate. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance. - - -In the evening I came to an inn, where I met a poor tramp who was a -Jewish beggar by profession. I was uncommonly pleased to meet one of my -brethren, with whom I could talk, and to whom this neighbourhood was -pretty well known. I resolved therefore to wander about the country with -this companion, and to preserve my life in this way, though two such -heterogeneous persons were nowhere to be met with in the world. I was an -educated rabbi; he was an idiot. I had hitherto maintained myself in an -honourable way; he was a beggar by profession. I had ideas of morality, -propriety, and decency; he knew nothing of these. Finally, I was in -sound health, it is true, but still of weakly constitution; he, on the -other hand, was a sturdy, able-bodied fellow, who would have made the -best of soldiers. - -Notwithstanding these differences, I stuck close to the man, as, in -order to prolong life, I was compelled to become a vagrant in a strange -land. In our wanderings I laboured to communicate to my companion ideas -of religion and of true morality, while he in return instructed me in -the art of begging. He taught me the usual formulas of the art, and -recommended me especially to curse and swear, whenever I was sent away -without anything. But with all the trouble, which he gave himself in the -matter, his teachings would not take any hold on me. The formulas of -begging appeared to me absurd I thought, if a man was once compelled to -beg help of others, he should express his feelings in the most simple -form. As far as cursing was concerned, I could not understand why a man, -who refused another's request, should draw a curse upon himself; and -then it seemed to me, that the man thus treated would be thereby -embittered, and the beggar be all the less likely to attain his object. -When therefore I went to beg with my comrade, I conducted myself always -as if I were begging and cursing at the same time, but in fact I never -spoke a single intelligible word. If, on the other hand, I went alone, I -had absolutely nothing to say; but from my appearance and conduct could -easily be seen what was wanted. My comrade sometimes scolded me on -account of my slowness in learning his art, and this I bore with the -greatest patience. - -In this way we wandered about in a district of a few miles for nearly -half a year. At last we resolved to turn our steps towards Poland. When -we arrived at Posen we took up our quarters in the Jewish poorhouse, the -master of which was a poor jobbing tailor. Here I formed the resolve, at -whatever cost, to bring my wandering to a close. It was harvest-time, -and already began to be pretty cold. I was almost naked and barefoot. By -this vagrant life, in which I never got any regular meals, for the most -part had to content myself with bits of mouldy bread and water, and at -night was obliged to lie on old straw, sometimes even on the bare earth, -my health had seriously suffered. Besides, the sacred seasons and -fast-days in the Jewish calendar were coming on; and as at that time I -was of a somewhat strong religious disposition, I could not endure the -thought of passing in complete idleness this period which others -employed for the welfare of their souls. - -I resolved, therefore, for the present at least, to go no farther, and, -at all events if it should come to the worst, to throw myself before the -synagogue, and either die there or excite the compassion of my brethren, -and by that means bring my sufferings to an end. Consequently as soon as -my comrade awoke in the morning, began to make arrangements for a -begging tour, and summoned me to the same, I told him that I would not -go with him at present; and when he asked how I intended to sustain life -in any other way, I was able to answer nothing but "God will surely -help." - -I then went off to the Jewish school. Here I found a number of scholars, -some of whom were reading, while others took advantage of the master's -absence to pass the time in play. I also took a book to read. The -scholars, who were struck by my strange dress, approached and asked me -whence I came and what I wanted. Their questions I answered in my -Lithuanian dialect, at which they began to laugh, and make merry at my -expense. For this I cared little. But I recollected that, some years -before, a chief rabbi from my neighbourhood had been appointed to the -same office in Posen, and that he had taken with him an acquaintance and -a good friend of mine as his secretary. Accordingly I asked the boys -about this friend. To my extreme grief I learned that he was no longer -in Posen, as the chief rabbi had been afterwards promoted to the same -office in Hamburg, and his secretary had gone with him to that place. -They told me, however, that his son, a boy about twelve years old, had -been left behind in Posen with the present chief rabbi, who was a -son-in-law of his predecessor. - -This information saddened me not a little. Still the last circumstance -gave me some hope. I inquired after the dwelling of the new chief rabbi, -and went to it; but, as I was almost naked, I shrank from entering, and -waited until I saw some one going into the house, whom I begged to be so -good as to call my friend's son out. The boy recognised me at once, and -manifested his astonishment at seeing me here in such a pitiable plight. -I replied, that this was not the time to relate all the misfortunes -which had brought me into this state, and that at present he should -consider merely how he might somewhat relieve my distress. - -This he promised to do. He went to the chief rabbi, and announced me as -a great scholar and a pious man, who by extraordinary accidents had -fallen into a very miserable condition. The chief rabbi, who was an -excellent man, an acute Talmudist, and of very gentle character, was -touched by my distress, and sent for me to come in. He conversed with me -a while, discussing some of the most important subjects in the Talmud, -and found me well versed in all branches of Jewish learning. Then he -inquired about my intentions, and I told him that I wished to be -introduced as a tutor into some family, but that meanwhile my only -desire was to be able to celebrate the sacred season here, and for this -short period at least to interrupt my travels. - -The good-hearted rabbi bade me, so far as this was concerned, to lay -aside all anxiety, spoke of my desire as a small matter, which it was -nothing more than reasonable to want. He then gave me what money he had -by him, invited me to dine with him every Sabbath, as long as I remained -here, and bade his boy procure a respectable lodging for me. The boy -came back soon, and conducted me to my lodging. I expected this to be -only a small chamber in the house of some poor man. I was therefore not -a little astonished, when I found myself in the house of one of the -oldest Jews of the town, and that here had been prepared for me a neat -little room, which was the study of the master, he and his son being -both scholars. - -As soon as I had looked round a little, I went to the housewife, and, -thrusting some coppers into her hand, I asked her to get me some gruel -for supper. She began to smile at my simplicity, and said, "No, no, sir, -that is not our agreement. The chief rabbi has not given you such a -recommendation, that you are obliged to have us making you gruel for -money." She then went on to explain, that I was not only to lodge in her -house, but also to eat and drink with them, as long as I stayed in the -town. I was astonished at this unexpected good fortune; but my delight -was still greater, when after supper I was shown to a clean bed. I could -not believe my eyes, and asked several times, "Is this really for me?" I -can say with truth, that never, before or since this incident, have I -felt such a degree of happiness, as when I lay down that night, and felt -my limbs, which for half a year had been overwearied and almost broken, -recovering their former strength in a soft bed. - -I slept till late in the day. I had scarcely risen when the chief rabbi -sent for me to come and see him. When I made my appearance he asked me -how I was pleased with my lodging. I could not find words to express my -feelings on the subject, and exclaimed in ecstasy, "I have slept in a -bed!" At this the chief rabbi was uncommonly pleased. He then sent for -the school precentor, and as soon as this man appeared he said to him, -"Go to the shop of ----, and get cloth for a suit to this gentleman." -Thereupon he turned to me and asked what sort of stuff I liked. -Overpowered by the feeling of gratitude and esteem for this excellent -man I could answer nothing. The tears streaming down my cheeks served -for my only answer. - -The chief rabbi also ordered for me some new linen. In two days -everything was ready. Dressed in my new linen and new suit I went to the -chief rabbi. I was going to express my gratitude to him, but could -scarcely get out a few broken words. For the chief rabbi this was a -charming sight. He waived my thanks, and said that I was not to think -too highly of him for this, inasmuch as what he had done for me was a -mere trifle not worth mentioning. - -Now the reader may perhaps suppose that this chief rabbi was a wealthy -man, for whom the expense to which he put himself on my account was -really a trifle; but I can give the assurance that this was far from -being the case. He had merely a moderate income; and as he occupied -himself wholly with study, his wife had the management of his affairs, -and especially the charge of housekeeping. Actions of this sort, -therefore, had to be done without the knowledge of his wife, and under -the pretext that he received from other people the money for the -purpose. Moreover, he lived a very temperate life, fasted every day -except Sabbath, and never ate flesh the whole week through. -Nevertheless, to satisfy his benevolent inclinations he could not avoid -making debts. His severe manner of life, his many studies and vigils, -weakened his strength to such a degree that he died about the -thirty-sixth year of his life. His death took place after he had been -appointed chief rabbi in Fördet, to which place he was followed by a -large number of disciples. I can never think of this godly man without -being deeply affected. - -In my former lodging at the poor tailor's I had left some trifles which -I now went to fetch. The tailor, his wife, and my former comrade in -beggary, who had already heard of the happy change in my affairs, -expected me with the greatest impatience. It was a touching scene. The -man, who three days before arrived in this poor hut, quite debilitated, -half naked, and barefoot, whom the poor inmates of the house regarded as -an outcast of nature, and whose comrade in linen blouse had looked down -upon him with mockery and contempt,--this man (his fame before him) now -comes into the same hut with a cheerful face, and in reverend garb -dressed as a chief rabbi. - -They all testified their joy and surprise at the transformation. The -poor woman took her babe in her arms and, with tears in her eyes, begged -a blessing for him. My comrade begged me very affectingly for -forgiveness on account of his rough treatment. He said that he deemed -himself fortunate in having had such a fellow-traveller, but would hold -himself unfortunate if I would not forgive the faults he had committed -in ignorance. I spoke to them all very kindly, gave the little one my -blessing, handed to my old comrade all the cash I had in my pocket, and -went back deeply affected. - -Meanwhile my fame was spread through the whole town by the conduct -towards me of the chief rabbi, as well as that of my new host, who was -himself a scholar, and had formed a high opinion of my talents and -learning from frequent conversations and discussions which we had held -together. All the scholars of the town, therefore, came to see me and -discuss with me as a famous travelling rabbi; and the more intimately -they came to know me, so much the higher rose their esteem. - -This period was undoubtedly the happiest and most honourable in my life. -The young scholars of the town passed a resolution at their meeting to -make up for me a salary, for which I was to deliver lectures to them on -the celebrated and profound work of Maimonides, _Moreh Nebhochim_. This -proposal, however, was never carried out, because the parents of these -young people were anxious lest their children should be thereby led -astray, and by independent thinking on religion be made to waver in -their faith. They acknowledged indeed that, with all my fondness for -religious speculation, I was still a pious man and an orthodox rabbi. -But they could not rely upon their children having sufficient judgment, -to be able to enter upon this course without passing from one extreme to -the other, from superstition to unbelief; and therein perhaps they were -right. - -After I had spent about four weeks in this way, the man, with whom I -lodged, came to me, and said, "Herr Solomon, allow me to make a proposal -to you. If you are inclined merely to solitary study, you may remain -here as long as you like. If, however, you do not wish to withdraw into -such complete retirement, but are inclined to be of service to the world -with your talents, there is a wealthy man here--one of the most -prominent people of the town--who has an only son, and wishes nothing so -much as to have you for his tutor. This man is my brother-in-law. If you -will not do it for his sake, please do it for mine, and to gratify the -chief rabbi, as he has deeply at heart the education of my nephew, who -is connected by marriage with his family." This offer I accepted with -delight. I came therefore into this family under advantageous conditions -as tutor, and remained with them two years in the greatest honour. -Nothing was done in the house without my knowledge. I was always met -with the greatest respect. I was held in fact to be almost something -more than human. - -Thus the two years flowed on imperceptibly and happily for me. But -during the time some little incidents took place, which I believe should -not be altogether omitted in this history. - -In the first place the esteem entertained for me in this house went so -far, that _malgré moi_ they were going to make me a prophet. My pupil -was betrothed to the daughter of a chief rabbi, who was a brother-in-law -of the chief rabbi in Posen. The bride, a girl of about twelve years, -was brought to Posen by her parents-in-law at the feast of Pentecost. On -the occasion of this visit I observed that the girl was of a very -phlegmatic temperament and somewhat consumptive. I mentioned this to the -brother of my host, and added with a significant look, that I was very -anxious for the girl, as I did not believe that her health would last -long. After the feast was over the girl was sent home, and a fortnight -afterwards a letter was received announcing her death. On this account, -not only in the house where I lived, but in the whole town, I was taken -for a prophet, who had been able to foretell the death of this girl. As -I wished nothing less than to deceive, I endeavoured to bring these -superstitious people to a different train of thought. I told them that -anybody, who had made observations in the world, would have been able to -foretell the same thing. But it was of no use. Once for all I was a -prophet, and had to remain one. - -Another incident occurred in a Jewish house one Friday when they were -preparing fish for the Sabbath. The fish was a carp, and it seemed to -the cook who was cutting it up as if it uttered a sound. This threw -everybody into a panic. The rabbi was asked what should be done with -this dumb fish that had ventured to speak. Under the superstitious idea -that the carp was possessed with a spirit, the rabbi enjoined that it -should be wrapped in a linen cloth, and buried with pomp. - -Now, in the house where I lived, this awe-inspiring event became the -subject of conversation. Having by this time emancipated myself pretty -thoroughly from superstitions of this sort by diligent study of the -_Moreh Nebhochim_, I laughed heartily over the story, and said, that, if -instead of burying the carp, they had sent it to me, I should have tried -how such an inspired carp would taste. - -This _bon mot_ became known. The learned men fell into a passion about -it, denounced me as a heretic, and sought to persecute me in every way. -But the respect, entertained for me in the house where I was tutor, made -all their efforts fruitless. As I found myself in this way safe, and the -spirit of fanaticism, instead of deterring me, rather spurred me on to -further reflection, I began to push matters a little farther, frequently -slept through the time of prayer, went seldom to the synagogue, and so -on. At last the measure of my sins became so full, that nothing could -secure me any longer from persecution. - -At the entrance to the Common Hall in Posen there has been, no one knows -for how long, a stag-horn fixed into the wall. The Jews are unanimously -of the conviction, that any one who touches this horn is sure to die on -the spot; and they relate a multitude of instances in proof. This would -not go down with me at all, and I made fun of it. So one day when I was -passing the stag-horn with some other Jews, I said to them, "You Posen -fools, do you think that any one who touches this horn must die on the -spot? See, I dare to touch it!" Horror-struck, they expected my death -on the spot; but as nothing happened, their anxiety for me was converted -into hatred. They looked on me as one who had profaned the sanctuary. - -This fanaticism stirred up in me the desire to go to Berlin, and destroy -by enlightenment the remnant of superstition which still clung to me. I -therefore begged leave of my employer. He expressed the wish indeed, -that I should remain longer in his house, and assured me of his -protection against all persecution. But as I had once for all taken my -resolution, I was determined not to alter it. I therefore bade goodbye -to my employer and his whole family, took a seat on the Frankfurt post, -and set out for Berlin. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -Arrival in Berlin--Acquaintances--Mendelssohn--Desperate Study of -Metaphysics--Doubts--Lectures on Locke and Adelung. - - -As I came to Berlin this time by post, I did not require to remain -outside the Rosenthaler Gate to be examined by the Jewish elders; I -proceeded without any difficulty into the city, and was allowed to take -up my quarters where I chose. To _remain_ in the city, however, was a -different thing. The Jewish police-officers--L. M. of those days was a -terrible fellow,--went every day round all the hotels and other houses -designed for the reception of strangers, made inquiry into the quality -and occupation of newcomers, as well as the probable length of their -stay, and allowed them no rest till they had either found some -occupation in the city, or were out of it again, or--the alternative -goes without saying. I had taken a lodging on the New Market with a Jew, -who was accustomed to receive in his house poor travellers that had not -much to spend, and who the following day received a visit of this sort. - -The Jewish police-officer, L. M., came and examined me in the strictest -manner. I told him that I wished to enter into service as a -family-tutor in Berlin, and that therefore the length of my stay could -not be exactly determined. I appeared to him suspicious; he believed he -had seen me here before, and evidently looked on me as a comet, which -comes nearer to the earth the second time than the first, and so makes -the danger more threating. But when he saw by me a _Milloth Higgayon_ or -Hebrew Logic, drawn up by Maimonides, and annotated by Mendelssohn, he -went into a perfect rage. "Yes! yes!" he exclaimed, "that's the sort of -books for me!" and as he turned to me with a threatening look, "Pack," -he said, "out of Berlin as quick as you can, if you don't wish to be led -out with all the honours!" I trembled, and knew not what to do; but as I -had learnt that there was a Polish Jew, a man of talent, residing in -Berlin for the sake of study, and received with esteem in the best -families, I paid him a visit. - -He received me as a countryman in a very friendly manner, asked about my -home in Poland, and what had brought me to Berlin. When I told him in -reply, that from my childhood I had discovered an inclination to the -sciences, had already made myself acquainted with this and that Hebrew -work which touches upon these, and now had come to Berlin in order to be -_Maamik Bechochmah_ (to become absorbed in the sciences), he smiled at -this quaint rabbinical phrase, but gave me his full approval; and after -conversing with me for some time, he begged me to visit him often, which -I very willingly promised to do, and went away rejoicing in spirit. - -The very next day I visited my Polish friend again, and found with him -some young people belonging to a prominent Jewish family, who visited -him often, and conversed with him on scientific subjects. They entered -into conversation with me, found much amusement in my jargon, as well as -in my simplicity and open-heartedness; in particular they laughed -heartily at the phrase, _Maamik Bechochmah_, of which they had heard -already. All this gave me courage, and they assured me that I should not -find myself mistaken in the expectation of being able to be _Maamik -Bechochmah_ in Berlin. And when I made known my fear about the -above-mentioned police-officer, they made me pluck up courage by -promising to obtain protection for me from their family, so that I might -remain in Berlin as long as I chose. - -They kept their word, and Herr D---- P----, a well-to-do man of -excellent character, of many attainments and fine taste, who was an -uncle of these young men, not only paid me much attention, but also -procured for me a respectable lodging, and invited me to the Sabbath -dinner. Others of the family also sent me meals at my room on fixed -days. Among these was a brother of these young men, in other respects an -honourable man, who was not without attainments. But as he was a zealous -Talmudist, he inquired earnestly whether with my inclination towards the -sciences I had not quite neglected the Talmud; and as soon as he -learnt, that I was so _Maamik Bechochmah_ as to neglect the study of the -Talmud, he gave up sending me my meals. - -As I now had permission to remain in Berlin, I thought of nothing but -how to carry my purpose into effect. Accidentally one day I went into a -butter-shop, and found the dealer in the act of anatomising a somewhat -old book for use in his trade. I looked at it, and found, to my no small -astonishment, that it was Wolff's _Metaphysics, or the Doctrine of God, -of the World, and of Man's Soul_. I could not understand, how in a city -so enlightened as Berlin such important works could be treated in this -barbarous fashion. I turned therefore to the dealer, and asked him, if -he would not sell the book. He was ready to part with it for two -groschen. Without thinking long about it I gave the price at once, and -went home delighted with my treasure. - -At the very first reading I was in raptures with the book. Not only this -sublime science in itself, but also the order and mathematical method of -the celebrated author,--the precision of his explanations, the exactness -of his reasoning, and the scientific arrangement of his exposition,--all -this struck a new light in my mind. - -With the Ontology, the Cosmology, and the Psychology all went well; but -the Theology created many difficulties, inasmuch as I found its dogmas, -not only not in harmony, but even in contradiction, with the preceding -propositions. At the very beginning I could not assent to Wolff's -argument _a posteriori_ for the existence of God in accordance with the -Principle of Sufficient Reason; and I raised the objection to it, that, -inasmuch as, according to Wolff's own confession, the Principle of -Sufficient Reason is abstracted from particular cases of experience, the -only point which can be proved by it is, that every object of experience -must have its sufficient reason in some other object of experience, but -not in an object beyond all experience. I also compared these new -metaphysical doctrines with those of Maimonides, or rather of Aristotle, -which were already known to me; and I could not bring them into harmony -at all. - -I resolved therefore to set forth these doubts in the Hebrew language, -and to send what I wrote to Herr Mendelssohn, of whom I had already -heard so much. When he received my communication, he was not a little -astonished at it, and replied to me at once, that in fact my doubts were -well founded, that I should not however allow myself to be discouraged -on their account, but should continue to study with the zeal with which -I had begun. - -Encouraged by this, I wrote in Hebrew a dissertation in which I brought -into doubt the foundations of Revealed as well as of Natural Theology. -All the thirteen articles of faith, laid down by Maimonides, I attacked -with philosophical arguments, with the exception of one, namely the -article on reward and punishment, which I conceded merely in its -philosophical interpretation, as referring to the natural consequences -of voluntary actions. I sent this dissertation to Mendelssohn, who was -not a little amazed, that a Polish Jew, who had scarcely got the length -of seeing the Metaphysics of Wolff, was already able to penetrate into -their depths so far, that he was in a position to shake their results by -means of a correct Ontology. He invited me to visit him, and I accepted -his invitation. But I was so shy, the manners and customs of the -Berliners were so new to me, it was not without fear and embarrassment, -that I ventured to enter a fashionable house. When therefore I opened -Mendelssohn's door, and saw him and other gentlefolks who were there, as -well as the beautiful rooms and elegant furniture, I shrank back, closed -the door again, and had a mind not to go in. Mendelssohn however had -observed me. He came out and spoke to me very kindly, led me into his -room, placed himself beside me at the window, and paid me many -compliments about my writing. He assured me, that, if I went on in this -way, I should in a short time make great progress in Metaphysics; and he -promised also to resolve my doubts. Not satisfied with this, the worthy -man looked after my maintenance also, recommended me to the most -eminent, enlightened and wealthy Jews, who made provision for my board -and other wants. Their tables I was at liberty to enjoy when I chose, -and their libraries were open to my use. - -Especially worthy of mention among these gentlemen was H----, a man of -many attainments and excellent disposition, who was a particular friend -and disciple of Mendelssohn. He took great pleasure in my conversation, -often discussed with me the most important subjects in Natural Theology -and Morals, on which I expressed my thoughts to him quite frankly and -without disguise. I went over with him in a conversational way all the -systems known to me that are generally denounced, and defended them with -the greatest pertinacity. He met me with objections; I answered them, -and brought in my turn objections against the opposite systems. At first -this friend regarded me as a speaking animal, and entertained himself -with me, as one is apt to do with a dog or a starling that has been -taught to speak a few words. The odd mixture of the animal in my -manners, my expressions, and my whole outward behaviour, with the -rational in my thoughts, excited his imagination more than the subject -of our conversation roused his understanding. By degrees the fun was -turned to earnest. He began to give his attention to the subjects -themselves; and as, notwithstanding his other capabilities and -attainments, he had no philosophical head, and the liveliness of his -imagination generally interfered with the ripeness of his judgment, the -results of our conversations may be readily imagined. - -A few examples will be sufficient to give an idea of the manner in which -I conducted a discussion at the time, of the ellipses in my diction -arising from my deficiency in expressions, and of the way in which I -illustrated everything by examples. I endeavoured once to make -Spinoza's system intelligible,--to show that all things are merely -accidents of a single substance. My friend interrupted me and said, -"But, good heavens! are not you and I different men, and do we not each -possess an existence of our own?" "Close the shutters," I called in -reply to his objection. This strange expression threw him into -astonishment; he did not know what I meant. At last I explained myself. -"See," said I, "the sun shines through the windows. This square window -gives you a square reflection, and the round window a round reflection. -Are they on that account different things, and not rather one and the -same sunshine?" - -On another occasion I defended Helvetius' system of self-love. He -brought against it the objection, that we surely love other persons as -well as ourselves. "For instance," said he, "I love my wife;" and to -confirm this he gave her a kiss. "That proves nothing against me," I -replied. "For, why do you kiss your wife? Because you find pleasure in -doing it." - -Herr A---- M---- also, a good honest fellow, and at that time a wealthy -man, allowed me free access to his house. Here I found Locke in the -German translation, and I was pleased with him at the first hasty -glance, for I recognised him as the best of the modern philosophers, as -a man who had no interest but the truth. Accordingly I proposed to the -tutor of Herr A---- M----, that he should take lessons from me on this -admirable work. At first he smiled at my simplicity in proposing, that -I, who had scarcely got the length of seeing Locke, should give lessons -to him whose native tongue was German, and who had been brought up in -the sciences. He acted, however, as if he found nothing offensive in the -matter, accepted my proposal, and fixed an hour for the lessons. I -presented myself at the time appointed, and began the lessons; but as I -could not read a word of German correctly, I told my pupil to read aloud -paragraph by paragraph in the text, and that then I should give him an -exposition of each. My pupil, who pretended to be in earnest, consented -to this also, to carry on the joke; but how great was his astonishment -when he found, that no joke was to be played in the matter, that in fact -my expositions and remarks, though delivered in my own peculiar -language, evinced a genuine philosophical spirit. - -It was still more amusing, when I became acquainted with the family of -Widow Levi, and made the proposal to her son, the young Herr Samuel -Levi,[53] who is still my Maecenas, that he should take lessons from me -in the German language. The studious youth, incited by my reputation, -was resolved to make a trial, and wished me to explain Adelung's _German -Grammar_. I, who had never seen Adelung's Grammar, did not allow myself -to be at all disconcerted on this account.[54] My pupil was obliged to -read Adelung bit by bit, while I not only expounded it, but added -glosses of my own. In particular I found a good deal to take exception -to in Adelung's philosophical explanation of the parts of speech; and I -drew up an explanation of my own, which I communicated to my intelligent -pupil, by whom it is still preserved. - -As a man altogether without experience I carried my frankness at times a -little too far, and brought upon myself many vexations in consequence. I -was reading Spinoza. His profound thought and his love of truth pleased -me uncommonly; and as his system had already been suggested to me by the -Cabbalistic writings, I began to reflect upon it anew, and became so -convinced of its truth, that all the efforts of Mendelssohn to change my -opinion were unavailing. I answered all the objections brought against -it by the Wolfians, brought objections against their system myself, and -showed, that, if the _nominal definition_s of the Wolfian Ontology are -converted into _real definitions_, conclusions the very opposite of -theirs are the result. Moreover, I could not explain the persistency of -Mendelssohn and the Wolfians generally in adhering to their system, -except as a political dodge and a piece of hypocrisy, by which they -studiously endeavoured to descend to the mode of thinking common in the -popular mind; and this conviction I expressed openly and without -reserve. My friends and well-wishers, who for the most part had never -themselves speculated on philosophical subjects, but blindly adopted the -results of the systems prevailing at the time as if they were -established truths, did not understand me, and therefore also were -unable to follow me in my opinions. - -Mendelssohn, whose usual course was to tack, did not wish to oppose my -love of inquiry, secretly even took pleasure in it, and said, that at -present indeed I was not on the right road, but that the course of my -thoughts must not be checked, because, as Descartes rightly remarked, -doubt is the beginning of thorough philosophical speculation. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -Mendelssohn--A chapter devoted to the memory of a worthy friend. - - -_Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus tam cari capitis?_ - -The name of Mendelssohn is too well known to the world, to make it -necessary for me here to dwell long on the portraiture of the great -intellectual and moral qualities of this celebrated man of our nation. I -shall sketch merely those prominent features of his portrait, which have -made the strongest impression upon me. He was a good Talmudist, and a -pupil of the celebrated Rabbi Israel, or, as he is otherwise named after -the title of a Talmudic work which he wrote, Nezach Israel (the strength -of Israel),--a Polish rabbi who was denounced for heresy by his -countrymen. This rabbi had, besides his great Talmudic capabilities and -acquirements, a good deal of scientific talent, especially in -mathematics, with which he had attained a thorough acquaintance, even in -Poland, from the few Hebrew writings on this science, as may be seen in -the above-mentioned work. In this work there are introduced solutions of -many important mathematical problems, which are applied either to the -explanation of some obscure passages in the Talmud, or to the -determination of a law. Rabbi Israel of course was more interested in -the extension of useful knowledge among his countrymen than in the -determination of a law, which he used merely as a vehicle for the other. -He showed, for example, that it is not right for the Jews in our part of -the world to turn exactly to the East at prayer; for the Talmudic law -requires them to turn to Jerusalem, and, as our part of the world lies -north-west from Jerusalem, they ought to turn to the south-east. He -shows also how, by means of spherical trigonometry, the required -direction may be determined with the utmost exactness in all parts of -the world, and many other truths of a similar kind. Along with the -celebrated Chief Rabbi Fränkel, he contributed much to develop the great -abilities of Mendelssohn. - -Mendelssohn possessed a thorough acquaintance with mathematics; and this -science he valued, not only for its self-evidence, but also as the best -exercise in profound reasoning. That he was a great philosopher, is well -enough known. He was not indeed an originator of new systems; he had -however amended the old systems, especially the Leibnitio-Wolfian, and -had applied it with success to many subjects in philosophy. - -It is hard to say whether Mendelssohn was endowed with more acuteness or -with depth of intellect. Both faculties were found united in him in a -very high degree. His exactness in definition and classification, and -his fine distinctions, are evidences of the former talent, while his -profound philosophical treatises afford proofs of the latter. - -In his character, as he himself confessed, he was by nature a man of -strong passions, but by long exercise in Stoical morality he had learnt -to keep them under control. A young man, under the impression that -Mendelssohn had done him a wrong, came one day to upbraid him, and -indulged in one impertinence after another. Mendelssohn stood leaning on -a chair, never turned his eye from his visitor, and listened to all his -impertinences with the utmost Stoical patience. After the young man had -vented all his passion, Mendelssohn went to him and said, "Go! You see -that you fail to reach your object here; you can't make me angry." Still -on such occasions Mendelssohn could not conceal his sorrow at the -weakness of human nature. Not infrequently I was myself overheated in my -disputes with him, and violated the respect due to such a man,--a fact -on which I still reflect with remorse. - -Mendelssohn possessed deep knowledge of human nature,--a knowledge which -consists not so much in seizing some unconnected features of a -character, and representing them in theatrical fashion, as in -discovering those essential features of a character, from which all the -others may be explained, and in some measure predicted. He was able to -describe accurately all the springs of action and the entire moral -wheelwork of a man, and understood thoroughly the mechanism of the soul. -This gave a character, not only to his intercourse and other dealings -with men, but also to his literary labours. - -Mendelssohn understood the useful and agreeable art of throwing himself -into another person's mode of thought. He could thus supply whatever was -deficient, and fill up the gaps in the thoughts of another. Jews newly -arrived from Poland, whose thoughts are for the most part confused, and -whose language is an unintelligible jargon, Mendelssohn could understand -perfectly. In his conversations with them he adopted their expressions -and forms of speech, sought to bring down his mode of thinking to -theirs, and thus to raise theirs to his own. - -He understood also the art of finding out the good side of every man and -of every event. Not infrequently, therefore, he found entertainment in -people whose intercourse, owing to the eccentric use of their powers, is -by others avoided; and only downright stupidity and dullness were -offensive to him, though they were so in the highest degree. I was once -an eye-witness of the manner in which he entertained himself with a man -of the most eccentric style of thinking and the most extravagant -behaviour. I lost all patience on the occasion, and after the man was -gone I asked Mendelssohn in wonder, "How could you have anything to do -with this fellow?" "We examine attentively," he said, "a machine whose -construction is unknown to us, and we seek to make intelligible its mode -of working. Should not this man claim a like attention? should we not -seek in the same way to render intelligible his odd utterances, since he -certainly has his springs of action and his wheelwork as well as any -machine?" - -In discussion with a reasoner who held stubbornly to a system once -adopted Mendelssohn was stubborn himself, and took advantage of the -slightest inaccuracy in his opponent's way of thinking. On the other -hand, with a more accommodating thinker he was accommodating also, and -used commonly to close the discussion with the words, "We must hold -fast, not to mere words, but to the things they signify." - -Nothing was so offensive to him as an _esprit de bagatelle_ or -affectation; with anything of this sort he could not conceal his -displeasure. H---- once invited a party, in which Mendelssohn was the -principal guest, and he entertained them the whole time with talk about -some hobby of his, which was not exactly of the choicest kind. -Mendelssohn showed his displeasure by never deigning to give the -slightest attention to the worthless creature. Madam ---- was a lady who -affected an excess of sensibility, and as is customary with such -characters, used to reproach herself in order to extort praise from -others. Mendelssohn sought to bring her to reason by showing her -impressively how exceptionable her conduct was and how she ought to -think seriously about improvement. - -In a disconnected conversation he took little part himself; he acted -rather as observer then, and took pleasure in watching the conduct of -the rest of the company. If, on the other hand, the conversation was -coherent, he took the warmest interest in it himself, and, by a skilful -turn, he could, without interrupting the conversation, give it a useful -direction. - -Mendelssohn could never take up his mind with trifles; matters of the -greatest moment kept him in restless activity, such as the principles of -Morals and of Natural Theology, the immortality of the soul, etc. In all -these branches of inquiry, in which humanity is so deeply interested, he -has also, as I hold, done as much as can be done on the principles of -the Leibnitio-Wolfian philosophy. Perfection was the compass which he -had constantly before his eyes, and which directed his course, in all -these investigations. His God is the Ideal of the highest perfection, -and the idea of the highest perfection lies at the basis of his Ethics. -The principle of his Æsthetics is sensuous perfection. - -My discussion with him on our first acquaintance referred mainly to the -following points. I was a faithful adherent of Maimonides before I -became acquainted with modern philosophy; and, as such, I insisted on -the negation[55] of all positive attributes to God, inasmuch as these -can be represented by us only as finite. Accordingly I proposed the -following dilemma: Either God is not the absolutely perfect being, in -which case his attributes may by us be not only _conceived_, but also -_known_, that is, represented as realities belonging to an object; or He -_is_ the absolutely perfect being, and then the idea of God is conceived -by us, but its reality is merely _assumed_ as problematic. Mendelssohn, -on the other hand, insisted on the affirmation, with regard to God, of -all realities,--a position which goes very well with the -Leibnitio-Wolfian philosophy, because it requires, in order to prove the -reality of an idea, nothing more than that it is thinkable, that is, -fulfils the law of Non-Contradiction. - -My moral theory was then genuine Stoicism. It aimed at the attainment of -free will and the ascendency of reason over the feelings and passions. -It made the highest destination of man to be the maintenance of his -_differentia specifica_, the knowledge of the truth; and all other -impulses, common to us with the irrational animals, were to be put in -operation merely as means to this chief end. The knowledge of the good -was not distinguished by me from the knowledge of the true; for, -following Maimonides, I held the knowledge of the truth to be the -highest good of man. Mendelssohn, on the other hand, maintained that the -idea of perfection, which lies at the basis of Ethics, is of much wider -extent than the mere knowledge of the truth. All natural impulses, -capacities and powers, as something good in themselves (not merely as -means to something good), were to be brought into exercise as realities. -The highest perfection was the idea of the maximum, or the greatest sum, -of these realities. - -The immortality of the soul, for me, following Maimonides, consisted in -the union with the Universal Spirit of that part of the faculty of -knowledge which has been brought into exercise, in proportion to the -degree of that exercise; and in accordance with this doctrine I held -those only to be partakers of this immortality, who occupy themselves -with the knowledge of eternal truths, and in the degree in which they do -so. The soul, therefore, must, with the attainment of this high -immortality, lose its individuality. That Mendelssohn, in accordance -with modern philosophy, thought differently on this subject, every one -will readily believe. - -His sentiments in reference to revealed or positive religion I can give -here, not as something made known to me by himself, but merely in so far -as I have been able to infer them from his utterances on the subject in -his writings with the assistance of my own reflections. For at that -time, as an incipient freethinker, I explained all revealed religion as -in itself false, and its use, so far as the writings of Mendelssohn had -enabled me to understand it, as merely temporary. Moreover, being a man -without experience, I thought it an easy matter to convince others in -opposition to their firmly rooted habits and long-cherished prejudices, -while I assumed the usefulness of such a reformation to be undoubted. -Mendelssohn therefore was unable to hold any conversation with me on the -subject, since he could not but fear lest, as has happened, and happens -still, in the case of several others, I should pronounce his arguments -in reply to be mere pieces of sophistry, and should attribute motives to -him on that account. From his utterances, however, in the preface to his -_Manasseh ben Israel_ as well as in his _Jerusalem_, it is clear that, -though he did not consider any revealed _doctrines_ to be eternal -truths, yet he accepted revealed laws of religion as such, and that he -held the laws of the Jewish religion, as the fundamental laws of a -theocratic constitution, to be immutable as far as circumstances allow. - -So far as I am concerned, I am led to assent entirely to Mendelssohn's -reasoning by my own reflections on the fundamental laws of the religion -of my fathers. The fundamental laws of the Jewish religion are at the -same time the fundamental laws of the Jewish state. They must therefore -be obeyed by all who acknowledge themselves to be members of this state, -and who wish to enjoy the rights granted to them under condition of -their obedience. But, on the other hand, any man who separates himself -from this state, who desires to be considered no longer a member of it, -and to renounce all his rights as such, whether he enters another state -or betakes himself to solitude, is also in his conscience no longer -bound to obey those laws. I assent moreover to Mendelssohn's remark, -that a Jew cannot, by simply passing over to the Christian religion, -free himself from the laws of his own religion, because Jesus of -Nazareth observed these laws himself and commanded his followers to -observe them. But how, if a Jew wishes to be no longer a member of this -theocratic state, and goes over to the heathen religion, or to the -philosophical, which is nothing more than pure natural religion? How, -if, merely as a member of a political state, he submits to its laws, and -demands from it his rights in return, without making any declaration -whatever about his religion, since the state is reasonable enough not to -require from him a declaration with which it has nothing to do? I do not -believe Mendelssohn would maintain that even in this case a Jew is bound -in conscience to observe the laws of his fathers' religion merely -because it is the religion of his fathers. As far as is known, -Mendelssohn lived in accordance with the laws of his religion. -Presumably, therefore, he always regarded himself as still a member of -the theocratic state of his fathers, and consequently acted up to his -duty in this respect. But any man who abandons this state is acting just -as little in violation of his duty. - -On the other hand I consider it wrong in Jews, who from family -attachments and interests profess the Jewish religion, to transgress its -laws, where, according to their own opinion, these do not stand in the -way of those motives. I cannot therefore understand the conduct of -Mendelssohn in reference to a Jew of Hamburg who openly transgressed -the laws of his religion, and who was on that account excommunicated by -the chief rabbi. Mendelssohn wanted to cancel the excommunication on the -ground that the church has no rights in civil matters. But how can he -then maintain the perpetuity of the Jewish ecclesiastical state? For -what is a state without rights, and wherein consists, according to -Mendelssohn, the rights of this ecclesiastical state? "How," says -Mendelssohn, (in the preface to _Manasseh ben Israel_, p. 48), "can a -state allow one of its useful and respected citizens to suffer -misfortune through its laws?" Surely not, I reply; but the Hamburg Jew -suffers no misfortune by virtue of the excommunication. He required only -to say or do nothing which legally leads to this result, and he would -then have avoided the sentence. For excommunication is merely tantamount -to saying:--"So long as you put yourself in opposition to the laws of -our communion, you are excluded from it; and you must therefore make up -your mind whether this open disobedience or the privileges of our -communion can most advance your blessedness." This surely cannot have -escaped a mind like Mendelssohn's, and I leave it to others to decide -how far a man may be inconsistent for the sake of human welfare. - -Mendelssohn had to endure many an injustice at the hands of otherwise -estimable men, from whom such treatment might least have been expected. -Lavater's officiousness is well enough known, and disapproved by all -right-thinking men.[56] The profound Jacobi had a predilection for -Spinozism, with which surely no independent thinker can find fault, and -wanted to make out Mendelssohn, as well as his friend Lessing, to be -Spinozists, in spite of themselves. With this view he published a -correspondence on the subject, which was never intended to appear in -print, and be subjected to public inspection. What was the use of this? -If Spinozism is true, it is so without Mendelssohn's assent. Eternal -truths have nothing to do with the majority of votes, and least of all -where, as I hold, the truth is of such a nature, that it leaves all -expression behind. - -Such an injustice must have given Mendelssohn much annoyance. A -celebrated physician maintained even, that it caused his death; but, -though I am not a physician, I venture to gainsay the assertion. -Mendelssohn's conduct in relation to Jacobi, as well as to Lavater, was -that of a hero. No, no! this hero died in the fifth act. - -The acute preacher, Jacob, in Halle published, after Mendelssohn's -death, a book entitled, _Examination of Mendelssohn's Morgenstunden_, in -which he shows that, according to the _Critique of Pure Reason_, all -metaphysical doctrines are to be rejected as baseless. But why does this -concern Mendelssohn more than any other metaphysician? Mendelssohn did -nothing but develop to greater completeness the Leibnitio-Wolfian -philosophy, apply it to many important subjects of human inquiry, and -clothe it in an attractive garb. It is just as if any one were to attack -Maimonides, who has written an excellent astronomical treatise on -Ptolemaic principles, by writing a book with the title, _Examination of -the Hilchoth Kidush Hakodesh of Maimonides_, in which he should seek to -refute his author on Newtonian principles! But enough of this. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -My aversion at first for belles lettres, and my subsequent -conversion--Departure from Berlin--Sojourn in Hamburg--I drown myself in -the same way as a bad actor shoots himself--An old fool of a woman falls -in love with me, but her addresses are rejected. - - -For _belles lettres_ I discovered not the slightest inclination; I could -not even conceive how any man was to form a science of what pleases or -displeases--a matter which, according to my opinion at the time, could -have merely a subjective ground. One day when I was taking a walk with -Mendelssohn, our conversation fell upon the subject of the poets, whom -he recommended me to read. "No," I replied, "I am going to read none of -the poets. What is a poet but a liar?" Mendelssohn smiled at this and -said, "You agree in this with Plato, who banished all poets from his -Republic. But I hope that with time you will think differently on the -subject." And so it happened soon. - -Longinus' _On the Sublime_ fell into my hand. The examples of the -sublime which he adduces from Homer, and particularly the celebrated -passage of Sappho, made a deep impression on my mind. I thought to -myself, these are but foolish trifles, it is true, but the imagery and -descriptions are really very beautiful. After that I read Homer himself, -and was forced to laugh heartily at the foolish fellow. What a serious -air, I said to myself, over such childless stories! By and by, however, -I found a great deal of pleasure in the reading. Ossian, on the other -hand, whom I got to read afterwards (of course only in German -translations) produced on me a peculiarly awe-inspiring effect. The pomp -of his style, the impressive brevity of his descriptions, the purity of -his sentiments, the simplicity of the objects described by him, and -lastly, the similarity of his poetry to that of the Hebrews, charmed me -uncommonly. Thus I found also a great deal of gratification in Gessner's -Idylls. - -My friend, the Pole of whom I spoke in the preceding chapter, who -occupied himself mainly with _belles lettres_, was greatly delighted at -my conversion. I used to dispute with him the utility of these studies; -and once, when he was reading to me as a model of vigour in expression a -passage of the Psalms, in which King David shows himself a master in -cursing, I interrupted him with the words, "What sort of an art is this? -Why, my mother-in-law--God bless her!--when she was squabbling with a -neighbour woman, used to curse much more wildly than that!" - -Now, however, he had his triumph over me. Mendelssohn also and my other -friends were uncommonly pleased at this change. They wished me to devote -myself regularly to the _humaniora_, as without these a man can -scarcely make his own intellectual productions useful to the world. It -was very difficult, however, to convince me of this. I was always in -haste to enjoy the present, without thinking that, by due preparation, I -could make this enjoyment greater and more lasting. - -I now found gratification, not only in the study of the sciences, but -generally in everything good and beautiful, with which I became -acquainted; and I carried this out with an enthusiasm which passed all -limits. The hitherto suppressed inclination to the pleasures of sense -also asserted its claims. The first occasion of this was the following. -For many years some men, who were occupied in various kinds of teaching, -had insinuated themselves into the most prominent and wealthy families -of the Jewish nation. They devoted themselves especially to the French -language (which was then regarded as the highest point of -enlightenment), to geography, arithmetic, bookkeeping, and similar -studies. They had also made themselves familiar with some phrases and -imperfectly understood results of the more profound sciences and -philosophical systems, while their intercourse with the fair sex was -marked by studious gallantry. As a result of all this, they were great -favourites in the families where they visited, and were regarded as -clever fellows. Now, they began to observe that my reputation was always -on the increase, and that the respect for my attainments and talents -went so far, that they were being thrown wholly into the shade. -Accordingly they thought of a stratagem, by which they might be able to -ward off the threatened evil. - -They resolved to draw me into their company, to show me every -demonstration of friendship, and to render me every possible service. By -this means they hoped, in the first place, as a result of our -intercourse, to win for themselves some of the respect which was shown -to me, and, in the second place, to obtain, from my frank and -communicative spirit, some additional knowledge of those sciences which -as yet they knew only in name. But, in the third place, as they knew my -enthusiasm for everything which I once recognised as good, they expected -to intoxicate me with the allurements of sensual pleasure, and to cool -in some measure my ardour in the study of science, which would at the -same time alienate my friends, my intimacy with whom made them so -jealous. - -Accordingly they invited me into their society, testified their -friendship and esteem for me, and begged the honour of my company. -Suspecting no harm, I received their advances with pleasure, especially -as I reflected that Mendelssohn and my other friends were too grand for -everyday intercourse with me. It became therefore a very desirable -object with me, to find some friends of a middle class, with whom I -could associate _sans façon_, and enjoy the charms of familiarity. My -new friends took me into gay society, to taverns, on pleasure -excursions, at last also to ----;[57] and all this at their own -expense. I, on my side, in my happy humour, opened up to them in return -all the mysteries of philosophy, explained to them in detail all the -peculiar systems, and corrected their ideas on various subjects of human -knowledge. But as things of this sort cannot be poured into a man's -head, and as these gentlemen had no special capacity for them, of course -they were not able to make any great progress by this kind of -instruction. When I observed this, I began to express some sort of -contempt for them, and made no attempt to conceal the fact, that it was -mainly the roast and the wine that gave me pleasure in their company. -This did not please them particularly; and as they were unable to reach -their object with me completely, they tried to reach it at least in -part. They told tales to my grand friends behind my back about the most -trifling incidents and expressions. For instance, they asserted that I -charged Mendelssohn with being a philosophical hypocrite, that I -declared others to be endowed with but shallow pates, that I was seeking -to spread dangerous systems, and that I was wholly abandoned to -Epicureanism. (As if they were genuine Stoics!) They even began at last -openly to manifest their enmity. - -All this of course had its effect; and to add to the impression, my -friends observed that in my studies I followed no fixed plan, but merely -my inclination. Accordingly they proposed to me that I should study -medicine, but could not induce me to do it. I observed that the theory -of medicine contains many departments as auxiliary sciences, each of -which requires a specialist for its thorough mastery, while the practice -of medicine implies a peculiar genius and faculty of judgment, that are -seldom to be met with. I observed at the same time, that the most of -physicians take advantage of the ignorance of the public. In accordance -with established usage they spend some years at the universities, where -they have an opportunity indeed of attending all the lectures, but in -point of fact attend very few. At the close of their course, by means of -money and fair words, they get a dissertation written for them; and -thus, after a very simple fashion, become medical practitioners. - -As already mentioned, I had a great liking for painting; but I was -advised against this, because I was already well advanced in years, and -consequently might not have sufficient patience for the minute exercises -required for this art. At last the proposal was made to me, to learn -pharmacy; and as I had already obtained some acquaintance with physics -as well as chemistry, I consented. My object in this, however, was not -to make any practical use of my attainments, but merely to acquire -theoretical knowledge. Accordingly, instead of setting to with my own -hands, and thereby acquiring expertness in this art, at important -chemical processes I played the part of a mere spectator. In this way I -learnt pharmacy, yet without being in the position of becoming an -apothecary. After the lapse of a three years' apprenticeship, Madame -Rosen, in whose shop I was apprenticed, was duly paid by H. J. D. the -promised fee of sixty thalers. I received a certificate, that I had -perfectly mastered the art of pharmacy; and this ended the whole matter. - -This, however, contributed not a little to alienate my friends. At last -Mendelssohn asked me to come and see him, when he informed me of this -alienation, and pointed out to me its causes. They complained, (1) that -I had not made up my mind to any plan of life, and had thereby rendered -fruitless all their exertions in my behalf; (2) that I was trying to -spread dangerous opinions and systems; and (3) that, according to -general rumour, I was leading a rather loose life, and was very much -addicted to sensual pleasures. - -The first of these complaints I endeavoured to answer by referring to -the fact, which I had mentioned to my friends at the very first, that, -in consequence of my peculiar training, I was indisposed for any kind of -business, and adapted merely for a quiet speculative life, by which I -could not only satisfy my natural inclination, but also, by teaching and -similar means, provide for my support in a certain fashion. "As to the -second point," I proceeded, "the opinions and systems referred to are -either true or false. If the former, then I do not see how the knowledge -of the truth can do any harm. If the latter, then let them be refuted. -Moreover, I have explained these opinions and systems only to gentlemen -who desire to be enlightened, and to rise above all prejudices. But the -truth is, that it is not the mischievous nature of the opinions, it is -the incapacity of those gentlemen to comprehend them, coupled with their -reluctance to make such a humiliating confession, that sets them in arms -against me. In reference to the third reproach, however, I must say with -downright honesty, Herr Mendelssohn, we are all Epicureans. The -moralists can prescribe to us merely rules of prudence; that is to say, -they can prescribe the use of means for the attainment of given ends, -but not the ends themselves. But," I added, "I see clearly that I must -quit Berlin; whither, is a matter of indifference." With this I bade -Mendelssohn farewell. He gave me a very favourable testimonial of my -capabilities and talents, and wished me a prosperous journey. - -To my other friends also I bade farewell, and in brief but emphatic -terms thanked them for the favours they had shown. One of my friends was -taken aback, when I bade him goodbye, at my using the brief form, "I -hope you will enjoy good health, my dear friend; and I thank you for all -the favours you have bestowed upon me." It seemed to this excellent, but -prosaically poetical man, as if the form were too curt and dry for all -his friendliness towards me. So he replied with evident displeasure, "Is -this all that you have learnt in Berlin?" I made no answer, however, but -went away, booked by the Hamburg post, and departed from Berlin. - -On leaving I received from Samuel Levi[58] a letter of introduction to -one of his correspondents. When I arrived in Hamburg, I went to the -merchant to whom this letter was addressed, and delivered it. He -received me well, and invited me to his table during my stay in the -city. But as he knew nothing except how to make money, and took no -particular interest in scholarship or science, he evidently entertained -me merely on account of my letter of introduction, because he had to do -something to gratify his correspondent. As I knew nothing of trade, -however, and besides made no very presentable figure, he endeavoured to -get rid of me as soon as possible, and with a view to that asked me -where I meant to go when I left Hamburg. When I replied that I was going -to Holland, he gave me the well-meant advice to hasten my departure, as -this was the best season of the year for travelling. - -Accordingly I took out a passage on a Hamburg vessel that was to sail -for Holland in two or three weeks. For travelling companions I had two -barbers, a tailor, and a shoemaker. These fellows made themselves merry, -caroused bravely, and sang all sorts of songs. In this joviality I could -not take a part; in fact they scarcely understood my language, and -teased me on that account in a thousand ways, though I bore it all with -patience. The vessel glided pleasantly down the Elbe to a village at -the mouth of the river some miles below Hamburg. Here we were obliged to -lie about six weeks, prevented by contrary winds from putting out to -sea. The ship's crew, along with the other passengers, went to the -village tavern, where they drank and played. For me, however, the time -became very dreary, and I was besides so sick, that I nearly despaired -of my recovery. - -At last we got a favourable wind, the vessel stood out to sea, and on -the third day after our departure we arrived before Amsterdam. A boat -came out to the ship to take the passengers into the city. At first I -would not trust myself to the Dutch boatman, because I was afraid of -falling into the hands of the crimps, against whom I had been warned in -Hamburg; but the captain of our ship assured me that he knew the boatman -well, and that I might trust myself to him without any anxiety. -Accordingly I came into the city; but as I had no acquaintances here, -and as I knew that at the Hague there was a gentleman belonging to a -prominent Berlin family, and that he had obtained from Berlin a tutor -with whom I was acquainted, I set out for that place in a drag-boat. - -Here I took lodgings at the house of a poor Jewish woman, but before I -had time to rest from my journey, a man of tall, spare figure, in untidy -clothing, and with a pipe in his mouth, came in, and, without observing -me, commenced to speak with my landlady. At last she said to him, "Herr -H----, here is a stranger from Berlin; pray, speak to him." The man -thereupon turned to me, and asked me who I was. With my usual -instinctive frankness and love of truth, I told him that I was born in -Poland, that my love of the sciences had induced me to spend some years -in Berlin, and that now I had come to Holland with the intention of -entering some situation, if an opportunity offered itself. When he heard -that I was a man of learning, he began to speak with me on various -subjects in philosophy, and especially in mathematics, in which he had -done a good deal. He found in me a man after his own heart, and we -formed at once a bond of friendship with one another. - -I now went to seek the tutor from Berlin, to whom I referred before. He -introduced me to his employer as a man of high talent, who had made a -great figure in Berlin, and had brought letters of introduction from -that city. This gentleman, who made much of his tutor, as well as of -everything that came from Berlin, invited me to dinner. As my external -appearance did not appear to promise much, and I was besides thoroughly -exhausted and depressed by my sea-voyage, I made a comical figure at -table, and our host evidently did not know what to think of me. But as -he put great confidence in the written recommendation of Mendelssohn and -the oral recommendation of his tutor, he suppressed his astonishment, -and invited me to his table as long as I chose to remain here. In the -evening he invited his brothers-in-law to meet me. They were children of -B----, celebrated for his wealth as well as his beneficence; and as -they were men of learning themselves, they were expected to sound me. -They conversed with me on various subjects in the Talmud, and even in -the Cabbalah. As I showed myself thoroughly initiated into the mysteries -of this sort of learning, even explained to them passages which they -regarded as inexplicable, and untied the most complicated knots of -argument, their admiration was excited, and they believed they had come -upon a great man. - -It was not long, however, before their admiration turned to hatred. The -occasion of this was the following. In connection with the Cabbalah they -told me of a godly man, who had now for many years been a resident of -London, and who was able to perform miracles by means of the Cabbalah. I -expressed some doubts on the subject, but they assured me they had been -present at performances of the kind during this man's residence at the -Hague. To this I replied as a philosopher, that I did not indeed -question the truth of their statement, but that perhaps they had not -duly investigated the matter themselves, and gave out their -pre-conceived opinions as facts. Moreover, I declared that I must regard -with scepticism the effect of the Cabbalah in general, until it is shown -that that effect is of such a kind as cannot be explained in accordance -with the known laws of Nature. This declaration they held to be heresy. - -At the end of the meal the wine-cup was passed to me, that I might, in -accordance with the usual custom, pronounce the blessing over it. This -however I declined with the explanation, that I did so not from any -false shame of speaking before a number of men, because in Poland I had -been a rabbi, and had very often held disputations and delivered sermons -before large assemblies, and, in order to prove this, was now willing to -deliver public lectures every day. It was merely, I explained further, -the love of truth and the reluctance to do anything inconsistent, that -made it impossible for me, without manifest aversion, to say prayers -which I regarded as a result of an anthropomorphic system of theology. - -At this their patience was completely exhausted; they reviled me as a -damnable heretic, and declared it would be a deadly sin to tolerate me -in a Jewish house. Our host, who was no philosopher indeed, but a -reasonable and enlightened man, did not mind much what they said; my -humble talents were of more value in his eyes than my piety. Accordingly -they broke up immediately after dinner, and left the house in deep -displeasure; but all their subsequent efforts to drive me from their -brother-in-law's house were fruitless. I remained in it about nine -months, lived at perfect freedom, but very retired, without any -occupation or any rational society. - -Here I cannot pass over in silence an event which was remarkable both in -a psychological and in a moral point of view. In Holland I wanted -nothing but an occupation suited to my powers, and naturally, therefore, -I became hypochondriac. From feelings of satiety, not infrequently I -fell upon the idea of making away with myself, and of thus putting an -end to an existence which had become a burden to me. But no sooner did I -come to action, than the love of life always assumed the upper hand -again. Once, at the Feast of Haman, in accordance with the custom of the -Jews, I had banquetted very heartily in the house where I took my meals. -After the feast, about midnight I returned to my lodging; and as I had -to pass along one of the canals that are laid out everywhere in Holland, -it occurred to me that this was a very convenient opportunity for -carrying out the design which I had often formed. I thought to myself, -"My life is a burden. At present, indeed, I have no wants; but how will -it be with me in the future, and by what means shall I preserve my life, -since I am of no use for anything in the world? I have already resolved, -on cool reflection at different times, to put an end to my life, and -nothing but my cowardice has restrained me hitherto. Now, when I am -pretty drunk, on the brink of a deep canal, the thing may be done in a -moment without any difficulty." Already I had bent my body over the -canal, in order to plunge in; but only the upper part of the body obeyed -the command of the mind, trusting that the lower part would certainly -refuse its services for such a purpose. So I stood for a good while with -half the body bent over the water, and propped myself carefully with my -legs firmly planted on the ground, so that a spectator might have -fancied I was merely making my bow to the water. This hesitation -destroyed my whole plan. I felt like a man who is going to take -medicine, but, wanting the resolution required, raises the cup time -after time to his mouth, and sets it down again. I began at last to -laugh at myself, as I reflected that my sole motive for suicide was a -real superfluity for the present and an imaginary want for the -future.[59] I therefore let the project drop for the time being, went -home, and thus brought the serio-comic scene to an end. - -Still another comical scene must be mentioned here. At the Hague there -lived at that time a woman of about forty-five, who was said to have -been very pretty in youth, and supported herself by giving lessons in -French. One day she called upon me at my lodging, introduced herself, -and expressed an irresistible desire for scientific conversation. She -declared therefore that she would visit me frequently in my lodging, and -requested the honour of a visit from me in return. - -This advance I met with great pleasure, returned her visits several -times; and thus our intercourse became more and more intimate. We -conversed usually on subjects in philosophy and _belles lettres_. As I -was still at that time a married man, and, except for her enthusiasm in -learning, Madam had little attraction for me, I thought of nothing -beyond mere entertainment. The lady, however, who had been a widow now -for a pretty long while, and had, according to her own story, conceived -an affection for me, began to express this by looks and words in a -romantic manner, which struck me as very comical. I could never believe, -that a lady could fall in love with me in earnest. Her expressions of -affection therefore I took for mere airs of affectation. She, on the -other hand, showed herself more and more in earnest, became at times -thoughtful in the midst of our conversation, and burst into tears. - -It was during a conversation of this sort, that we fell upon the subject -of love. I told her frankly, that I could not love a woman except for -the sake of womanly excellences, such as beauty, grace, agreeableness, -etc., and that any other excellences she might possess, such as talents -or learning, could excite in me only esteem, but by no means love. The -lady adduced against me arguments _a priori_ as well as instances from -experience, especially from French novels, and tried to correct my -notions of love. I could not, however, be so easily convinced; and as -the lady was carrying her airs to an absurd length, I rose and took my -leave. She accompanied me to the very door, grasped me by the hand, and -would not let me go. I asked her somewhat sharply, "What's the matter -with you, madam?" With trembling voice and tearful eyes she replied, "I -love you." - -When I heard this laconic declaration of love, I began to laugh -immoderately, tore myself from her grasp, and rushed away. Some time -afterwards she sent me the following _billet doux_:-- - - "Sir, - - I have been greatly mistaken in your character. I took you - for a man of noble thoughts and exalted feelings; but I see - now that you are a genuine Epicurean. You seek nothing but - pleasure. A woman can please you only on account of her - beauty. A Madame Dacier, for example, who has studied - thoroughly all the Greek and Latin authors, translated them - into her native language, and enriched them with learned - annotations, could not please you. Why? Because she is not - pretty. Sir, you, who are otherwise so enlightened, ought to - be ashamed to cherish such pernicious principles; and if you - will not repent, then tremble before the revenge of the - injured love of - - Yours, etc." - -To this I returned the following reply:-- - - "Madam, - - That you have been mistaken, is shown by the result. You say - that I am a genuine Epicurean. In this you do me a great - honour. Much as I abhor the title of an _epicure_, on the - other hand I feel proud of the title of _genuine Epicurean_. - Certainly it is beauty alone that pleases me in a woman; but - as this can be heightened by other qualities, these must - also be pleasing as means towards the chief end. On the - other hand, I can merely _esteem_ such a woman on account of - her talents; _love_ her I cannot, as I have already - explained in conversation. For the learning of Madame Dacier - I have all respect: she could at all events fall in love - with the Greek heroes who were at the siege of Troy, and - expect in return the love of their _manes_ that were - constantly hovering around her; but nothing more. For the - rest, Madam, as far as your revenge is concerned, I do not - fear it, since Time, which destroys all things, has - shattered your weapons, that is, your teeth and nails. - - Yours, etc." - -Thus ended this strange love-affair. - -I discovered that in Holland there was nothing for me to do, inasmuch as -the main desire of the Dutch Jews is to make money, and they manifest no -particular liking for the sciences. Besides, in consequence of not -knowing the Dutch language, I was unable to give instructions in any -science. I determined therefore to return to Berlin by Hamburg, but -found an opportunity of travelling to Hanover by land. In Hanover I went -to a wealthy Jew,--a man who does not deserve even to enjoy his -riches,--showed him my letter of introduction from Mendelssohn, and -represented to him the urgency of my present circumstances. He read -Mendelssohn's letter carefully through, called for pen and ink, and, -without speaking a word to me, wrote at the foot:--"I also hereby -certify that what Herr Mendelssohn writes in praise of Herr Solomon is -perfectly correct." And with this he dismissed me. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -I return to Hamburg--A Lutheran Pastor pronounces me to be a scabby -Sheep, and unworthy of Admission into the Christian Fold--I enter the -Gymnasium, and frighten the Chief Rabbi out of his Wits. - - -I made a prosperous journey back to Hamburg, but here I fell into -circumstances of the deepest distress. I lodged in a miserable house, -had nothing to eat, and did not know what to do. I had received too much -education to return to Poland, to spend my life in misery without -rational occupation or society, and to sink back into the darkness of -superstition and ignorance, from which I had hardly delivered myself -with so much labour. On the other hand, to succeed in Germany was a -result on which I could not calculate, owing to my ignorance of the -language, as well as of the manners and customs of the people, to which -I had never yet been able to adapt myself properly. I had learnt no -particular profession, I had not distinguished myself in any special -science, I was not even master of any language in which I could make -myself perfectly intelligible. It occurred to me, therefore, that for me -there was no alternative left, but to embrace the Christian religion, -and get myself baptised in Hamburg. Accordingly I resolved to go to the -first clergyman I should come upon, and inform him of my resolution, as -well as of my motives for it, without any hypocrisy, in a truthful and -honest fashion. But as I could not express myself well orally, I put my -thoughts into writing in German with Hebrew characters, went to a -schoolmaster, and got him to copy it in German characters. The purport -of my letter was in brief as follows:-- - -"I am a native of Poland, belonging to the Jewish nation, destined by my -education and studies to be a rabbi; but in the thickest darkness I have -perceived some light. This induced me to search further after light and -truth, and to free myself completely from the darkness of superstition -and ignorance. In order to this end, which could not be attained in my -native place, I came to Berlin, where by the support of some enlightened -men of our nation I studied for some years--not indeed after any plan, -but merely to satisfy my thirst for knowledge. But as our nation is -unable to use, not only such planless studies, but even those conducted -on the most perfect plan, it cannot be blamed for becoming tired of -them, and pronouncing their encouragement to be useless. I have -therefore resolved, in order to secure temporal as well as eternal -happiness, which depends on the attainment of perfection, and in order -to become useful to myself as well as others, to embrace the Christian -religion. The Jewish religion, it is true, comes, in its articles of -faith, nearer to reason than Christianity. But in practical use the -latter has an advantage over the former; and since morality, which -consists not in opinions but in actions, is the aim of all religion in -general, clearly the latter comes nearer than the former to this aim. -Moreover, I hold the mysteries of the Christian religion for that which -they are, that is, allegorical representations of the truths that are -most important for man. By this means I make my faith in them harmonise -with reason, but I cannot believe them according to their common -meaning. I beg therefore most respectfully an answer to the question, -whether after this confession I am worthy of the Christian religion or -not. In the former case I am ready to carry my proposal into effect; but -in the latter, I must give up all claim to a religion which enjoins me -to lie, that is, to deliver a confession of faith which contradicts my -reason." - -The schoolmaster, to whom I dictated this, fell into astonishment at my -audacity; never before had he listened to such a confession of faith. He -shook his head with much concern, interrupted the writing several times, -and became doubtful, whether the mere copying was not itself a sin. With -great reluctance he copied it out, merely to get rid of the thing. I -went then to a prominent clergyman, delivered my letter, and begged for -a reply. He read it with great attention, fell likewise into -astonishment, and on finishing entered into conversation with me. - -"So," he said, "I see your intention is to embrace the Christian -religion, merely in order to improve your temporal circumstances." - -"Excuse me, Herr Pastor," I replied, "I think I have made it clear -enough in my letter, that my object is the attainment of perfection. To -this, it is true, the removal of all hindrances and the improvement of -my external circumstances form an indispensable condition. But this -condition is not the chief end." - -"But," said the pastor, "do you not feel any inclination of the soul to -the Christian religion without reference to any external motives?" - -"I should be telling a lie, if I were to give you an affirmative -answer." - -"You are too much of a philosopher," replied the pastor, "to be able to -become a Christian. Reason has taken the upper hand with you, and faith -must accommodate itself to reason. You hold the mysteries of the -Christian religion to be mere fables, and its commands to be mere laws -of reason. For the present I cannot be satisfied with your confession of -faith. You should therefore pray to God, that He may enlighten you with -His grace, and endow you with the spirit of true Christianity; and then -come to me again." - -"If that is the case," I said, "then I must confess, Herr Pastor, that I -am not qualified for Christianity. Whatever light I may receive, I shall -always make it luminous with the light of reason. I shall never believe -that I have fallen upon new truths, if it is impossible to see their -connection with the truths already known to me. I must therefore remain -what I am,--a stiffnecked Jew. My religion enjoins me to _believe_ -nothing, but to _think_ the truth and to _practise_ goodness. If I find -any hindrance in this from external circumstances, it is not my fault. I -do all that lies in my power." - -With this I bade the pastor goodbye. - -The hardships of my journey, coupled with poor food, brought on an ague. -I lay on a straw-bed in a garret, and suffered the want of all -conveniences and refreshments. My landlord, who took pity on me, called -a Jewish physician, who prescribed an emetic which soon cured me of my -fever. The doctor found that I was no common man, stayed to converse -with me for some hours, and begged me, as soon as I recovered, to visit -him. - -Meanwhile, however, a young man, who had known me in Berlin, heard of my -arrival. He called on me to say that Herr W----, who had seen me in -Berlin, was now residing in Hamburg, and that I might very properly call -upon him. I did so, and Herr W----, who was a very clever, honourable -man, of a benevolent disposition naturally, asked me what I intended to -do. I represented to him my whole circumstances, and begged for his -advice. He said that in his opinion the unfortunate position of my -affairs arose from the fact, that I had devoted myself with zeal merely -to the acquisition of scientific knowledge, but had neglected the study -of language, and therefore I was unable to communicate my knowledge to -others, or make any use of it. Meanwhile, he thought, nothing had been -lost by delay; and if I was still willing to accommodate myself to the -circumstances, I could attain my object in the gymnasium at Altona, -where his son was studying, while he would provide for my support. - -I accepted this offer with many thanks, and went home with a joyful -heart. Meanwhile Herr W---- spoke to the professors of the gymnasium, as -well as to the principal, but more particularly to the syndic, Herr -G----, a man who cannot be sufficiently praised. He represented to them, -that I was a man of uncommon talents, who wanted merely some further -knowledge of language to distinguish himself in the world, and who hoped -to obtain that knowledge by a short residence in the gymnasium. They -acceded to his request. I was matriculated, and had a room assigned to -me, in the institution. - -Here I lived for two years in peace and contentment. But the pupils in -such a gymnasium, as may be easily supposed, make very slow progress; -and it was therefore natural that I, who had already made considerable -attainments in science, should find the lessons at times somewhat -tedious. Consequently I did not attend them all, but made a selection to -suit my taste. The Director Dusch I esteemed very highly on account of -his profound scholarship and his excellent character. I therefore -attended the most of his lectures. It is true, the philosophy of -Ernesti, on which he lectured, could not give me much satisfaction, and -just as little did I receive from his lectures on Segner's Mathematical -Compendium. But I derived great benefit from his instructions in the -English language. The Rector H----, a cheerful old man, though somewhat -pedantic, was not altogether pleased with me, because I would not -perform his Latin exercises, and would not learn Greek at all. The -Professor of History began his lectures _ab ovo_ with Adam, and at the -end of the year with a great deal of effort reached as far down as the -building of the Tower of Babel. The teacher of French used for -translation Fenelon's _Sur l'existence de Dieu_,--a work for which I -conceived the greatest dislike, because the author, while appearing to -declaim against Spinozism, in reality argues in its defence. - -During the whole period of my residence in the gymnasium the professors -were unable to form any correct idea of me, because they never had an -opportunity of forming my acquaintance. By the end of the first year I -thought I had attained my object, and laid a good foundation in -languages. I had also become tired of this inactive life, and therefore -resolved to quit the gymnasium. But Director Dusch; who began by and by -to become acquainted with me, begged me to stay at least another year, -and, as I wanted for nothing, I consented. - -It was about this time that the following incident in my life took -place. My wife had sent a polish Jew in search of me, and he heard of my -residence in Hamburg. Accordingly he came and called on me at the -gymnasium. He had been commissioned by my wife to demand, that I should -either return home without delay, or send through him a bill of divorce. -At that time I was unable to do either the one or the other. I was not -inclined to be divorced from my wife without any cause; and to return at -once to Poland, where I had not yet the slightest prospect of getting on -in the world or of leading a rational life, was to me impossible. I -represented all this to the gentleman who had undertaken the commission, -and added that it was my intention to leave the gymnasium soon and go to -Berlin, that my Berlin friends would, as I hoped, give me both their -advice and assistance in carrying out this intention. He would not be -satisfied with this answer, which he took for a mere evasion. When he -thus found that he could do nothing with me, he went to the chief rabbi, -and entered a complaint against me. A messenger was accordingly sent to -summon me before the tribunal of the chief rabbi; but I took my stand, -that at present I was not under his jurisdiction, inasmuch as the -gymnasium had a jurisdiction of its own, by which my case would require -to be decided. The chief rabbi made every effort through the Government -to make me submit to his wishes, but all his efforts were in vain. When -he saw that he could not accomplish his purpose in this way, he sent me -an invitation a second time on the pretext that he wished merely to -speak with me. To this I willingly consented, and went to him at once. - -He received me with much respect; and when I made known to him my -birthplace and family in Poland, he began to lament and wring his hands. -"Alas!" said he, "you are the son of the famous Rabbi Joshua? I know -your father well; he is a pious and learned man. You also are not -unknown to me; I have examined you as a boy several times, and formed -high expectations of you. Oh! is it possible that you have altered so?" -(Here he pointed to my shaven beard). To this I replied, that I also had -the honour of knowing him, and that I still remembered his examinations -well. My conduct hitherto, I told him, was as little opposed to religion -properly understood, as it was to reason. "But," he interrupted "you do -not wear a beard, you do not go to the synagogue: is that not contrary -to religion?" "No!" I replied, and I proved to him from the Talmud that, -under the circumstances in which I was placed, all this was allowed. On -this point we entered into a lengthy dispute, in which each maintained -his right. As he could effect nothing with me by such disputation, he -adopted the style of mere sermonising; but when this also was of no -avail, he began to cry aloud, "_Shophar! Shophar!_" This is the name of -the horn which is blown on New-Year's day as a summons to repentance, -and at which it is supposed that Satan is horribly afraid. While the -chief rabbi called out the word, he pointed to a _Shophar_ that lay -before him on the table, and asked me, "Do you know what that is?" I -replied quite boldly, "Oh yes! it is a ram's horn." At these words the -chief rabbi fell back upon his chair, and began to lament over my lost -soul. I left him to lament as long as he liked, and bade him goodbye. - -At the end of my second year I began to reflect, that it would be an -advantage in view of my future success, as well as fair to the -gymnasium, that I should make myself more intimately acquainted with the -professors. Accordingly I went to Director Dusch, announced to him that -I was soon to leave, and told him that, as I wished a certificate from -him, it would be well for him to examine me on the progress I had made, -so that his certificate might be as nearly as possible in accordance -with the truth. To this end he made me translate some passages from -Latin and English works in prose as well as in verse, and was very well -pleased with the translation. Afterwards he entered into conversation -with me on some subjects in philosophy, but found me so well versed in -these, that for his own safety he was obliged to back out. At last he -asked me, "But how is it with your mathematics?" I begged him to examine -me in this also. "In our mathematical lessons," he began, "we had -advanced to somewhere about the subject of mathematical bodies. Will you -work out yourself a proposition not yet taken up in the lessons, for -example, that about the relation of the cylinder, the sphere and the -cone to one another? You may take some days to do it." I replied that -this was unnecessary, and offered to perform the task on the spot. I -then demonstrated, not only the proposition prescribed, but several -other propositions out of Segner's Geometry. The Director was very much -surprised at this, called all the pupils in the gymnasium, and -represented to them that the extraordinary progress I had made should -make them ashamed of themselves. The most of them did not know what to -say to this; but some replied, "Do not suppose, Herr Director, that -Maimon made this progress in mathematics here. He has seldom attended -the mathematical lessons, and even when he was there he paid no -attention to them." They were going to say more, but the Director -commanded silence, and gave me an honourable certificate, from which I -cannot avoid quoting a few sentences. They became to me afterwards a -constant spur to higher attainments, and I hope it will not be -considered vainglory in me to cite the opinion of this esteemed man. - -"His capacity," says he, "for learning all that is beautiful, good and -useful in general, but in particular those sciences which require severe -exertion of the mental powers, abstract and profound thought, is, I -might almost say, extraordinary. All those sorts of knowledge, which -demand in the highest degree one's own mental efforts, appear to him the -most agreeable; and intellectual occupations seem to be his chief, if -not his sole, enjoyment. His favourite studies hitherto have been -philosophy and mathematics, in which his progress has excited my -astonishment, &c." - -I now bade goodbye to the teachers and officers of the gymnasium, who -unanimously paid me the compliment, that I had done honour to their -institution. I then set out once more for Berlin. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -Third Journey to Berlin--Frustrated Plan of Hebrew Authorship--Journey -to Breslau--Divorce. - - -On my arrival in Berlin I called upon Mendelssohn, as well as some other -old friends, and begged them, as I had now acquired some knowledge of -languages, to employ me in some occupation suited to my capacity. They -hit upon the suggestion, that, in order to enlighten the Polish Jews -still living in darkness, I should prepare in Hebrew, as the only -language intelligible to them, some scientific works, which these -philanthropists were to print at their own expense, and distribute among -the people. His proposal I accepted with delight. But now the question -arose, with what sort of works a beginning should be made. On this point -my excellent friends were divided in their opinions. One of them thought -that the history of the Jewish nation would be most serviceable for this -purpose, inasmuch as the people would discover in it the origin of their -religious doctrines and of the subsequent corruption which these had -undergone, while they would thus also gain an insight into the fact, -that the fall of the Jewish state, as well as all the subsequent -persecution and oppression which they had suffered, had arisen from -their own ignorance and opposition to all rational arrangements. -Accordingly this gentleman recommended that I should translate from -French Basnage's _History of the Jews_; he gave me the work for this -purpose, and asked me to furnish a copy of my translation. The specimen -gave satisfaction to them all, even to Mendelssohn, and I was ready to -take the work in hand; but one of our friends thought that we ought to -begin with something on natural religion and rational morals, inasmuch -as this is the object of all enlightenment. Accordingly he recommended -that for this purpose I should translate the _Natural Religion_ of -Reimarus. Mendelssohn withheld his opinion, because he believed that -whatever was undertaken in this line, though it would do no harm, would -also be of little use. I myself undertook these works, not from any -conviction of my own, but at the request of my friends. - -I was too well acquainted with the rabbinical despotism, which by the -power of superstition has established its throne for many centuries in -Poland, and which for its own security seeks in every possible way to -prevent the spread of light and truth. I knew how closely the Jewish -theocracy is connected with the national existence, so that the -abolition of the former must inevitably bring with it the annihilation -of the latter. I saw therefore clearly that my labours in this direction -would be fruitless; but I undertook this commission, because, as already -stated, my friends would have it so, and because I could think of no -other means of subsistence. Accordingly without fixing anything definite -about the plan of my labours, my friends resolved to send me to Dessau, -where I could carry on my work at leisure. - -I reached Dessau in the hope, that after a few days my friends in Berlin -would resolve upon something definite about my work: but in this I was -deceived; for, as soon as I turned my back on Berlin, nothing further -was thought of the plan. I waited about a fortnight; but when during -that period I received no communication, I wrote to Berlin in the -following terms:--"If my friends cannot unite upon a plan, they might -leave the settlement of it to my own judgment. For my part I believe -that, to enlighten the Jewish nation, we must begin neither with history -nor with natural theology and morals. One of my reasons for thinking so -is, that these subjects, being easily intelligible, would not be able to -instil any regard for science in general among the more learned Jews, -who are accustomed to respect only those studies which involve a strain -upon the highest intellectual powers. But a second reason is, that, as -those subjects would frequently come into collision with religious -prejudices, they would never be admitted. Besides, sooth to say, there -is no proper history of the Jewish nation: for they have scarcely ever -stood in political relation with other civilised nations; and, with the -exception of the Old Testament and Josephus and a few fragments on the -persecutions of the Jews in the middle ages, nothing is to be found -recorded on the subject. I believe, therefore, that it would be best to -make a beginning with some science which, besides being most favourable -for the development of the mind, is also self-evident, and stands in no -connection with any religious opinions. Of this sort are the -mathematical sciences; and therefore with this object in view I am -willing to write a mathematical text-book in Hebrew." - -To this I received the answer, that I might follow my plan. Accordingly -I applied myself with all diligence to the preparation of this -text-book, using the Latin work on mathematics by Wolff as its basis; -and in two months it was finished. I then returned to Berlin, to give an -account of my work, but received immediately from one of the gentlemen -interested the disappointing information, that, as the work was very -voluminous, and as it would entail heavy expenditure especially on -account of the copper-plates required, he could not undertake the -publication at his own expense, and I might therefore do with my -manuscript whatever I chose. I complained of this to Mendelssohn; and he -thought, that certainly it was unreasonable to let my work go without -remuneration, but that I could not require my friends to undertake the -publication of a work which could not calculate on any good result in -consequence of that aversion to all science, which I myself knew to be -prevalent among the Jewish nation. His advice therefore was, that I -should get the book printed by subscription; and of course I was -obliged to content myself with this. Mendelssohn and the other -enlightened Jews in Berlin subscribed, and I received for my work merely -my manuscript and the list of subscriptions. The whole plan, however, -was thought of no more. - -On this I fell out again with my friends in Berlin. Being a man with -little knowledge of the world, who supposed that human actions must -always be determined by the laws of justice, I pressed for the -fulfilment of the bargain made. My friends, on the other hand, began, -though too late, to see, that their ill-considered project must of -necessity collapse, because they had no assurance of a market for such -voluminous and expensive works. From the religious, moral and political -condition of the Jews up to this time it was easy to foresee that the -few enlightened men among them would certainly give themselves no -trouble to study the sciences in the Hebrew language, which is very -ill-adapted for the exposition of such subjects; they will prefer to -seek science in its original sources. The unenlightened, on the other -hand,--and these form the majority,--are so swayed by rabbinical -prejudices, that they regard the study of the sciences, even in Hebrew, -as forbidden fruit, and persistently occupy themselves only with the -Talmud and the enormous number of its commentaries. - -All this I understood very well, and therefore I never thought of -demanding that the work I had prepared should be printed; I asked merely -remuneration for the labour spent on it in vain. In this dispute -Mendelssohn remained neutral, because he thought that both parties had -right on their side. He promised to use his influence with my friends, -to induce them to provide for my subsistence in some other way. But when -even this was not done, I became impatient, and resolved to quit Berlin -once more, and go to Breslau. I took with me some letters of -introduction, but they were of little service; for before I reached -Breslau myself, letters in the spirit of those which Uriah carried had -preceded me, and made a bad impression on the most of those to whom my -letters of introduction were addressed. As a natural result, therefore, -I was coldly received; and as I knew nothing of the later letters, I -found it impossible to explain my reception, and had made up my mind to -quit Breslau. - -By chance, however, I became acquainted with the celebrated Jewish poet, -the late Ephraim Kuh. This learned and high-minded man took so much -interest in me, that, neglecting all his former occupations and -enjoyments, he confined himself entirely to my society. To the wealthy -Jews he spoke of me with the greatest enthusiasm, and praised me as a -very good fellow. But when he found that all his complimentary remarks -failed to make any impression on these gentlemen, he took some trouble -to find out the cause of this, and at last discovered that the reason -lay in those friendly letters from Berlin. Their general tenor was, that -I was seeking to spread pernicious opinions. Ephraim Kuh, as a thinking -man, at once saw the reason of this charge; but with all the efforts he -made, he could not drive it out of the heads of these people. I -confessed to him that, during my first sojourn in Berlin as a young man -without experience or knowledge of the world, I had felt an irresistible -impulse to communicate to others whatever truth I knew; but I assured -him that, having for some years become wise by experience, I went to -work with great caution, and that therefore this charge was now wholly -without foundation. - -Irritated by my disheartening situation, I resolved to form the -acquaintance of Christian scholars, by whose recommendation I thought I -might find a hearing among the wealthy men of my own nation. I could not -but fear, however, that my defective language might form an obstacle to -the expression of my thoughts; so I prepared a written essay, in which I -delivered my ideas on the most important questions of philosophy in the -form of aphorisms. With this essay I went to the celebrated Professor -Garve, explained to him briefly my intention, and submitted my aphorisms -to him for examination. He discussed them with me in a very friendly -manner, gave me a good testimonial, and recommended me also orally in -very emphatic language to the wealthy banker, Lipmann Meier. This -gentleman settled a monthly allowance on me for my support, and also -spoke to some other Jews on the subject. - -My situation now improved every day. Many young men of the Jewish nation -sought my society. Among others the second son of Herr Aaron Zadig took -so much pleasure in my humble personality, that he desired to enjoy my -instruction in the sciences. This he earnestly begged his father to -allow; and the latter, being a well-to-do enlightened man of great good -sense, who wished to give his children the best German education, and -spared no expense for that object, willingly gave his consent. He sent -for me, and made the proposal that I should live at his house, and for a -moderate honorarium should give his second son lessons for two hours a -day in physics and _belles lettres_, and also a lesson in arithmetic of -an hour a day to his third and youngest son. This proposal I accepted -with great willingness; and, not long after, Herr Zadig asked me, if I -would not also consent to give lessons in Hebrew and elementary -mathematics to his children who had hitherto had for their teacher in -these subjects a Polish Jew, named Rabbi Manoth. But I thought it would -be unfair to supplant this poor man, who had a family to support, and -who was giving satisfaction at any rate; and therefore I declined this -request. Accordingly Rabbi Manoth continued his lessons, and I entered -upon mine. - -In this house I was able to carry on but little study for myself. In the -first place, there was a want of books; and, in the second place, I -lived in a room with the children, where they were occupied with other -masters every hour of the day. Besides, the liveliness of these young -people did not suit my character which had already become somewhat -stern; and therefore I had often occasion to get angry at petty -outbursts of unruliness. Consequently, as I was obliged to pass most of -my time in idleness, I sought society. I often visited Herr Hiemann -Lisse, a plump little man of enlightened mind and cheerful disposition. -With him and some other jolly companions I spent my evenings in talk and -jest and play of every sort. During the day I strolled around among the -coffee-houses. - -In other families also I soon became acquainted, particularly in those -of Herr Simon, the banker, and Herr Bortenstein, both of whom showed me -much kindness. All sought to persuade me to devote myself to medicine, -for which I had always entertained a great dislike. But when I saw from -my circumstances, that it would be difficult for me to find support in -any other way, I allowed myself to be persuaded. Professor Garve -introduced me to Professor Morgenbesser, and I attended his medical -lectures for some time; but after all I could not overcome my dislike to -the art, and accordingly gave up the lectures again. By and by I became -acquainted with other Christian scholars, especially with the late Herr -Lieberkühn, who was so justly esteemed on account of his abilities, as -well as for his warm interest in the welfare of mankind. I also made the -acquaintance of some teachers of merit in the Jesuits' College at -Breslau. - -But I did not give up wholly literary work in Hebrew. I translated into -Hebrew Mendelssohn's _Morgenstunden_. Of this translation I sent some -sheets as a specimen to Herr Isaac Daniel Itzig in Berlin; but I -received no answer because this excellent man, owing to his business -being too extensive, cannot possibly give attention to subjects that are -not of immediate interest to him, and therefore such affairs as the -answering of my letter are easily forgotten. I also wrote in Hebrew a -treatise on Natural Philosophy according to Newtonian principles; and -this, as well as the rest of my Hebrew works, I still preserve in -manuscript. - -At last, however, I fell here also into a precarious situation. The -children of Herr Zadig, in pursuance of the occupations to which they -were destined in life, entered into commercial situations, and therefore -required teachers no longer. Other means of support also gradually -failed. As I was thus obliged to seek subsistence in some other way, I -devoted myself to giving lessons; I taught Euler's _Algebra_ to a young -man, gave two children instruction in the rudiments of German and Latin, -&c. But even this did not last long, and I found myself in a sorrowful -plight. - -Meanwhile my wife and eldest son arrived from Poland. A woman of rude -education and manners, but of great good sense and the courage of an -Amazon, she demanded that I should at once return home with her, not -seeing the impossibility of what she required. I had now lived some -years in Germany, had happily emancipated myself from the fetters of -superstition and religious prejudice, had abandoned the rude manner of -life in which I had been brought up, and extended my knowledge in many -directions. I could not therefore return to my former barbarous and -miserable condition, deprive myself of all the advantages I had gained, -and expose myself to rabbinical rage at the slightest deviation from the -ceremonial law, or the utterance of a liberal opinion. I represented to -her, that this could not be done at once, that I should require first of -all to make my situation known to my friends here as well as in Berlin, -and solicit from them the assistance of two or three hundred thalers, so -that I might be able to live in Poland independent of my religious -associates. But she would listen to nothing of all this, and declared -her resolution to obtain a divorce, if I would not go with her -immediately. Here therefore it was for me to choose the less of two -evils, and I consented to the divorce. - -Meanwhile, however, I was obliged to provide for the lodging and board -of these guests, and to introduce them to my friends in Breslau. Both of -these duties I performed, and I pointed out, especially to my son, the -difference between the manner of life one leads here and that in Poland, -while I sought to convince him by several passages in the _Moreh -Nebhochim_, that enlightenment of the understanding and refinement of -manners are rather favourable than otherwise to religion. I went -further: I sought to convince him, that he ought to remain with me; I -assured him, that, with my direction and the support of my friends, he -would find opportunities of developing the good abilities with which -Nature had endowed him, and would obtain for them some suitable -employment. These representations made some impression upon him: but my -wife went with my son to consult some orthodox Jews, in whose advice she -thought she could thoroughly confide; and they recommended her to press -at once for a divorce, and on no account to let my son be induced to -remain with me. This resolution, however, she was not to disclose till -she had received from me a sufficient sum of money for household -purposes. She might then separate from me for ever, and start for home -with her booty. - -This pretty plan was faithfully followed. By and by I had succeeded in -collecting some score of ducats from my friends. I gave them to my wife, -and explained to her that, to complete the required sum, it would be -necessary for us to go to Berlin. She then began to raise difficulties, -and declared at once point-blank, that for us a divorce was best, as -neither could I live happily with her in Poland, nor she with me in -Germany. In my opinion she was perfectly right. But it still made me -sorry to lose a wife, for whom I had once entertained affection, and I -could not let the affair be conducted in any spirit of levity. I told -her therefore that I should consent to a divorce only if it were -enjoined by the courts. - -This was done. I was summoned before the court. My wife stated the -grounds on which she claimed a divorce. The president of the court then -said, "Under these circumstances we can do nothing but advise a -divorce." "Mr. President," I replied, "we came here, not to ask advice, -but to receive a judicial sentence." Thereupon the chief rabbi rose from -his seat (that what he said might not have the force of a judicial -decision,) approached me with the codex in his hand, and pointed to the -following passage:--"A vagabond, who abandons his wife for years, and -does not write to her or send her money, shall, when he is found, be -obliged to grant a divorce." "It is not my part," I replied, "to -institute a comparison between this case and mine. That duty falls to -you, as judge. Take your seat again, therefore, and pronounce your -judicial sentence on the case." - -The president became pale and red by turns, while the rest of the judges -looked at one another. At last the presiding judge became furious, began -to call me names, pronounced me a damnable heretic, and cursed me in the -name of the Lord. I left him to storm, however, and went away. Thus -ended this strange suit, and things remained as they were before. - -My wife now saw that nothing was to be done by means of force, and -therefore she took to entreaty. I also yielded at last, but only on the -condition, that at the judicial divorce the judge, who had shown himself -such a master of cursing, should not preside in the court. After the -divorce my wife returned to Poland with my son. I remained some time -still in Breslau; but as my circumstances became worse and worse, I -resolved to return to Berlin.[60] - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -Fourth Journey to Berlin--Unfortunate Circumstances--Help--Study of -Kant's Writings--Characteristic of my own Works. - - -When I came to Berlin, Mendelssohn was no longer in life,[61] and my -former friends were determined to know nothing more of me. I did not -know therefore what to do. In the greatest distress I received a visit -from Herr Bendavid, who told me that he had heard of my unfortunate -circumstances, and had collected a small sum of about thirty thalers, -which he gave to me. Besides, he introduced me to a Herr Jojard, an -enlightened and high-minded man, who received me in a very friendly -manner, and made some provision for my support. A certain professor, -indeed, tried to do me an ill turn with this worthy man by denouncing me -as an atheist; but in spite of this I gradually got on so well, that I -was able to hire a lodging in a garret from an old woman. - -I had now resolved to study Kant's _Kritik of Pure Reason_, of which I -had often heard but which I had never seen yet.[62] The method, in which -I studied this work, was quite peculiar. On the first perusal I -obtained a vague idea of each section. This I endeavoured afterwards to -make distinct by my own reflection, and thus to penetrate into the -author's meaning. Such is properly the process which is called _thinking -oneself into a system_. But as I had already mastered in this way the -systems of Spinoza, Hume and Leibnitz, I was naturally led to think of a -coalition-system. This in fact I found, and I put it gradually in -writing in the form of explanatory observations on the _Kritik of Pure -Reason_, just as this system unfolded itself to my mind. Such was the -origin of my _Transcendental Philosophy_. Consequently this book must be -difficult to understand for the man who, owing to the inflexible -character of his thinking, has made himself at home merely in one of -these systems without regard to any other. Here the important problem, -_Quid juris?_ with the solution of which the _Kritik_ is occupied, is -wrought out in a much wider sense than that in which it is taken by -Kant; and by this means there is plenty of scope left for Hume's -scepticism in its full force. But on the other side the complete -solution of this problem leads either to Spinozistic or to Leibnitzian -dogmatism. - -When I had finished this work, I showed it to Marcus Herz.[63] He -acknowledged that he was reckoned among the most eminent disciples of -Kant, and that he had given the most assiduous application while -attending Kant's philosophical lectures, as may indeed be seen from his -writings, but that yet he was not in a position to pass a judgment on -the _Kritik_ itself or on any other work relating to it. He advised me, -however, to send my manuscript directly to Kant himself, and submit it -to his judgment, while he promised to accompany it with a letter to the -great philosopher. Accordingly I wrote to Kant, sending him my work, and -enclosing the letter from Herz. A good while passed, however, before an -answer came. At length Herz received a reply, in which, among other -things, Kant said:-- - -"But what were you thinking about, my dear friend, when you sent me a -big packet containing the most subtle researches, not only to read -through, but to think out thoroughly, while I am still, in my -sixty-sixth year, burdened with a vast amount of labour in completion of -my plan! Part of this labour is to furnish the last part of the -_Kritik_,--that, namely, on the Faculty of Judgment,--which is soon to -appear; part is to work out my system of the Metaphysic of Nature, as -well as the Metaphysic of Ethics, in accordance with the requirements of -the _Kritik_. Moreover, I am kept incessantly busy with a multitude of -letters requiring special explanations on particular points; and, in -addition to all this, my health is frail. I had already made up my mind -to send back the manuscript with an excuse so well justified on all -these grounds; but a glance at it soon enabled me to recognise its -merits, and to show, not only that none of my opponents had understood -me and the main problem so well, but that very few could claim so much -penetration as Herr Maimon in profound inquiries of this sort. This -induced me...," and so on. - -In another passage of the letter Kant says:--"Herr Maimon's work -contains moreover so many acute observations, that he cannot give it to -the public without its producing an impression strongly in his favour." -In a letter to myself he said:--"Your esteemed request I have -endeavoured to comply with as far as was possible for me; and if I have -not gone the length of passing a judgment on the whole of your treatise, -you will gather the reason from my letter to Herr Herz. Certainly it -arises from no feeling of disparagement, which I entertain for no -earnest effort in rational inquiries that interest mankind, and least of -all for such an effort as yours, which, in point of fact, betrays no -common talent for the profounder sciences." - -It may easily be imagined how important and agreeable to me the -approbation of this great thinker must have been, and especially his -testimony that I had understood him well. For there are some arrogant -Kantians, who believe themselves to be sole proprietors of the Critical -Philosophy, and therefore dispose of every objection, even though -intended, not exactly as a refutation, but as a fuller elaboration of -this philosophy, by the mere assertion without proof, that the author -has failed to understand Kant. Now these gentlemen were no longer in a -position to bring this charge against my book, inasmuch as, by the -testimony of the founder himself of the Critical Philosophy, I have a -better right than they to make use of this argument. - -At this time I was living in Potsdam with a gentleman who was a -leather-manufacturer. When Kant's letters arrived, I went to Berlin, and -devoted my time to the publication of my _Transcendental Philosophy_. As -a native of Poland I dedicated this work to the king, and carried a copy -to the Polish Resident; but it was never sent, and I was put off from -time to time with various excuses. _Sapienti sat!_ - -A copy of the work was also sent, as is usually done, to the editor of -the _Allgemeine Litteraturzeitung_. After waiting a good while without -any notice appearing, I wrote to the editor, and received the following -answer:--"You know yourself how small is the number of those who are -competent to understand and judge philosophical works. Three of the best -speculative thinkers have declined to undertake the review of your book, -because they are unable to penetrate into the depths of your researches. -An application has been made to a fourth, from whom a favourable reply -was expected; but a review from him has not yet been received." - -I also began to work at this time for the _Journal für Aufklärung_. My -first article was on _Truth_, and was in the form of a letter to a -friend[64] in Berlin. The article was occasioned by a letter which I had -received from this friend during my stay in Potsdam, and in which he -wrote to me in a humorous vein, that philosophy was no longer a -marketable commodity, and that therefore I ought to take advantage of -the opportunity which I was enjoying to learn tanning. I replied, that -philosophy is not a coinage subject to the vicissitudes of the exchange; -and this proposition I afterwards developed in my article. Another -article in the same periodical was on _Tropes_, in which I show that -these imply the transference of a word not from one object to another -that is analogous, but from a relative to its correlate. I wrote also an -article on _Bacon and Kant_, in which I institute a comparison between -these two reformers of philosophy. _The Soul of the World_ was the -subject of another discussion in this journal, in which I endeavoured to -make out, that the doctrine of one universal soul common to all animated -beings has not only as much in its favour as the opposite doctrine, but -that the arguments for it outweigh those on the other side. My last -article in the journal referred to the plan of my _Transcendental -Philosophy_; and I explain in it that, while I hold the Kantian -philosophy to be irrefutable from the side of the Dogmatist, on the -other hand I believe that it is exposed to all attacks from the side of -the Scepticism of Hume. - -A number of young Jews from all parts of Germany had, during -Mendelssohn's lifetime, united to form a society under the designation, -Society _for Research into the Hebrew Language_. They observed with -truth, that the evil condition of our people, morally as well as -politically, has its source in their religious prejudices, in their want -of a rational exposition of the Holy Scriptures, and in the arbitrary -exposition to which the rabbis are led by their ignorance of the Hebrew -language. Accordingly the object of their society was to remove these -deficiencies, to study the Hebrew language in its sources, and by that -means to introduce a rational exegesis. For this purpose they resolved -to publish a monthly periodical in Hebrew under the title of [Hebrew:** -], _The Collector_, which was to give expositions of difficult passages -in Scripture, Hebrew poems, prose essays, translations from useful -works, etc. - -The intention of all this was certainly good; but that the end would -scarcely be reached by any such means, I saw from the very beginning. I -was too familiar with the principles of the rabbis and their style of -thought to believe that such means would bring about any change. The -Jewish nation is, without reference to accidental modifications, a -perpetual aristocracy under the appearance of a theocracy. The learned -men, who form the nobility in the nation, have been able, for many -centuries, to maintain their position as the legislative body with so -much authority among the common people, that they can do with them -whatever they please. This high authority is a natural tribute which -weakness owes to strength. For since the nation is divided into such -unequal classes as the common people and the learned, and since the -former, owing to the unfortunate political condition of the nation, are -profoundly ignorant, not only of all useful arts and sciences, but even -of the laws of their religion, on which their eternal welfare is -supposed to depend, it follows that the exposition of Scripture, the -deduction of religious laws from it, and the application of these to -particular cases, must be surrendered wholly to the learned class which -the other undertakes the cost of maintaining. The learned class seek to -make up for their want of linguistic science and rational exegetics by -their own ingenuity, wit and acuteness. To form an idea of the degree in -which these talents are displayed, it is necessary to read the Talmud -along with the commentary called _Tosaphoth_, that is, the additions to -the first commentary of Rabbi Solomon Isaac.[65] - -The productions of the mind are valued by them, not in proportion to -their utility, but in proportion to the talent which they imply. A man -who understands Hebrew, who is well versed in the Holy Scriptures, who -even carries in his head the whole of the Jewish _Corpus Juris_,--and -that is no trifle,--is by them but slightly esteemed. The greatest -praise that they give to such a man is _Chamor Nose Sepharim_, that is, -_An ass loaded with books_. But if a man is able, by his own ingenuity, -to deduce new laws from those already known, to draw fine distinctions, -and to detect hidden contradictions, he is almost idolised. And to tell -the truth, this judgment is well founded, so far as it concerns the -treatment of subjects that have no ulterior end in view. - -It may therefore be easily imagined, that people of this sort will -scarcely accord a hearing to an institute which aims merely at the -cultivation of taste, the study of language, or any similar object, -which to them appears mere trifling. Yet these are not the few educated -men, scattered here and there,--the steersmen of this ship which is -driven about in all seas. All men of enlightened minds, it does not -matter how much taste or knowledge they possess, are treated by them as -imbeciles. And why? Simply because they have not studied the Talmud to -that extent, and in the manner, which they require. Mendelssohn was in -some measure esteemed by them on this account, because in point of fact -he was a good Talmudist. - -I was therefore neither for, nor against, this monthly periodical; I -even contributed to it at times Hebrew articles. Among these I will -mention merely one,--an exposition of an obscure passage in the -commentary of Maimonides on the Mishnah, which I interpreted by the -Kantian philosophy. The article was afterwards translated into German, -and inserted in the _Berlinische Monatsschrift_. - -Some time after this I received from this society, which now calls -itself the _Society for the Promotion of all that is Noble and Good_, a -commission to write a Hebrew commentary on the celebrated work of -Maimonides, _Moreh Nebhochim_. This commission I undertook with -pleasure, and the work was soon done. So far, however, only a part of -the commentary has as yet appeared. The preface to the work may be -considered as a brief history of philosophy. - -I had been an adherent of all philosophical systems in succession, -Peripatetic, Spinozist, Leibnitzian, Kantian, and finally Sceptic; and I -was always devoted to that system, which for the time I regarded as -alone true. At last I observed that all these systems contain something -true, and are in certain respects equally useful. But, as the difference -of philosophical systems depends on the ideas which lie at their -foundation in regard to the objects of nature, their properties and -modifications, which cannot, like the ideas of mathematics, be defined -in the same way by all men, and presented _a priori_, I determined to -publish for my own use, as well as for the advantage of others, a -philosophical dictionary, in which all philosophical ideas should be -defined in a somewhat free method, that is, without attachment to any -particular system, but either by an explanation common to all, or by -several explanations from the point of view of each. Of this work also -only the first part has as yet appeared. - -In the popular German monthly already mentioned, the _Berlinische -Monatsschrift_, various articles of mine were inserted, on Deceit, on -the Power of Foreseeing, on Theodicy, and other subjects. On Empirical -Psychology also I contributed various articles, and at last became -associated with Herr Hofrath Moritz in the editorship of the -periodical.[66] - -So much with regard to the events which have occurred in my life, and -the communication of which, I thought, might be not without use. I have -not yet reached the haven of rest; but-- - - "Quo fata trahunt retrahuntque sequamur." - - - - -CONCLUDING CHAPTER. - - -The closing words of the Autobiography themselves awaken the desire to -know the sequel of the author's life, and it seems therefore appropriate -to finish the narrative by the sketch of a few facts derived mainly from -the little volume of _Maimoniana_, to which reference has been made in -the preface. - -It is perhaps scarcely necessary to state that Maimon's life to the very -end continued to retain the stamp it bore throughout the whole period -described in the preceding chapters. That stamp had apparently been -impressed on it even before he left Poland; and the Western influences, -under which he came in Germany, never altered essentially the character -he brought with him from home. - -Even in its external features his life enjoyed no permanent improvement. -Fate had indeed been somewhat hard upon a man of so much genuine culture -and sensibility. Still the chronic poverty, which filled the largest cup -of suffering in his life, was due not wholly to circumstances: it was -partly his own nature or habits that kept him a pauper. This is all the -more remarkable, that there is perhaps no work of moral or religious -instruction which attaches more importance than the Talmud to industrial -pursuits.[67] Saturated as his mind was with Talmudic lore, and -disciplined as his early years had been by Talmudic training, Maimon -could not be ignorant of the advantage which the spiritual life derives -from financial independence on others; and it might therefore have been -expected of him that, like many of the great rabbis, and Spinoza and -Mendelssohn too, he would have devoted himself to some remunerative -occupation, however humble. This would not have been impossible even in -Poland, where the Jews were subject to no disability excluding them from -the common industries of the country; and from the Autobiography it -appears that, even at an early period of his life, he was more than half -aware that his poverty was due, not wholly to the imperious demands of a -higher culture, but to a somewhat selfish indolence.[68] In Germany, -with its more advanced civilisation, it would have been much less -difficult for him to make a tolerable living at some employment. The -Autobiography shows that he was very generously received by a large -circle of influential friends, who took a great deal of pains to secure -for him a position of independence, and that they abandoned their effort -only when they found it in vain. From the _Maimoniana_ also it appears -that some of the most eminent men of his time continued to tender their -friendly services. Among others, Plattner, Schultze (Aenesidemus), and -even Goethe, made advances towards Maimon in a way that was not only -very flattering, but might have been very helpful, if he had so -chosen.[69] But he never got rid of the habit, which he had acquired in -Poland, of depending on others; and the low standard of comfort, to -which he had accustomed himself, left him without sufficient stimulus to -seek an escape from his pauperised condition. - -His condition, therefore, never improved. He continued during his later -years to work at various literary employments; but the remuneration he -obtained for these was never sufficient for his subsistence. His works -appealed to a very limited public. He had consequently often to go -a-begging for a publisher, and to content himself with what slight -honorarium the reluctant publishers chose to give.[70] The literary -hack-work, of which he was obliged to do a good deal, brought him no -better return. That sort of labour was probably as poorly paid in Berlin -at the time as in the Grub Street of last century. He was therefore at -times reduced to utter beggary. Many of his earlier friends, as appears -from the Autobiography, had lost patience with him; and some, who had -helped him before, when he was forced by sheer starvation to apply to -them afterwards, treated him as a common beggar, dismissing him with a -copper in charity (_Zehrpfennig_), and at times with unnecessarily cold, -even insulting language.[71] If we add to this the fact, that his -irregular habits often made him the victim of unscrupulous men,[72] it -will not seem surprising that he sometimes fell into a bitter tone and -harsh judgments about his friends,[73] or that he was apt occasionally -to burst out into pretty strong language of general misanthropy.[74] - -Perhaps Maimon might have risen out of the chronic destitution, to which -he seemed doomed, if he had cultivated in any degree the virtue of -thrift. But thriftlessness, as the Autobiography shows, had been an -hereditary vice in his family, at least for two generations before him; -and though he gives vivid pictures of its pitiable results in the -households of his grandfather and father, he never made any effort to -rise above it himself. Whenever he obtained any remuneration for his -work, instead of husbanding it economically till he obtained more, he -usually squandered it at once in extravagancies, often of a useless, -sometimes of a reprehensible kind.[75] He points out in his first -chapter, that his grandfather might have been a rich man if he had kept -accounts of income and expenditure. But his friend Wolff, has to confess -that, good mathematician as Maimon was, he never seemed to think of the -difference between _plus_ and _minus_ in money-matters.[76] With such a -character one of Maimon's friends was not far from the truth, when on a -fresh application for assistance, he dismissed him, too harshly perhaps, -with the blunt remark, "People like you there is no use in trying to -help."[77] Certainly help was not to be found in Maimon himself, and it -is difficult to see how he could have avoided the chance of a miserable -death by actual starvation, had it not been that a generous home was at -last opened to him, where he closed his days in comfort and peace. - -A character like that of Maimon implied a general irregularity of -life,--an absence of that regulation by fixed rules of conduct, which is -essential to wellbeing. He was not indeed unaware of the importance of -such regularity. "I require of every man of sound mind," he said one -day, "that he should lay out for himself a plan of action." No wonder -that this requirement leads his friend to remark, that it seemed to him -as if Maimon's only plan of life had been to live without any plan at -all.[78] - -The irregularity of his habits is strikingly seen in his want of method -even at his literary work. Notwithstanding the technical culture he gave -himself in early life in drawing, he seems never to have reached any -degree of muscular expertness. Wolff remarked his awkwardness in -handling his pen, and his inability to fold a letter with tolerable -neatness.[79] In other respects also he was careless about those -mechanical conveniences by which mental work is usually facilitated. He -was commonly to be seen working at a very unsteady desk, one leg of -which was supported by a folio volume.[80] He did not even confine -himself to any particular place for work. Apparently he spent more of -his day in public taverns than in his private lodging, and he might -often be seen amid the distraction of such surroundings writing or -revising proofs, while, as a consequence, his papers sometimes were -mislaid and lost, and his work had all to be done over again. It was -said of the Autobiography itself that it had been written on an alehouse -bench.[81] He could never understand how any man could do intellectual -work by rule; and therefore, though he had to make his living as best he -could by literature, he never formed the habit of reserving one part of -the day for work. He commonly worked in the morning, at least in _his_ -morning, and that, his friend acknowledges, was not very early;[82] but -this itself was evidently no fixed rule. Probably for the same reason he -never adopted the plan, which authors find so serviceable, of first -sketching an outline of a work before it is written out in detail. "I -have," he said one day, "given up, with good result, the habit of making -a draught beforehand. You are not, by a long way, so careful about your -work when you know that you are going to write it over again; you -neglect many a thought, do not write it down, because you believe that -it will occur to you again in copying out, which frequently does not -happen."[83] It is clear, however, that, his opinion to the contrary -notwithstanding, his writings suffered from his unmethodical habits. -"The fact," says the most competent of judges on this subject, "that -Maimon is far from having attained the recognition which his importance -deserves, may be accounted for by the defective condition of his -writings. His extraordinary acuteness was designed, but was not -sufficiently cultivated, to give to his investigations the light and the -force of methodical exposition. He wrote with most pleasure in his -Talmudic fashion, commenting and disputing, without proper sifting and -arrangement of his materials. To these defects must be added the faults -of his style. It is surprising that he learned to write German as he -did. In his writings there are passages in which the thought bursts out -with really resplendent power, and actually forces the language, even -plays with it, in turns of expression that take you by surprise. But a -German author he never became; and as a philosophical author he wanted a -certain sense of order that is indispensable for exposition. He can -sometimes formulate very well, but cannot systematise, and hence his -most important opinions, in which the whole meaning of his position -rests, are often in the course of his writings found in passages the -least lucid and the least prominent."[84] - -It is perhaps only saying the same thing of Maimon in another form, that -he had no mechanical memory, that consequently he was apt to forget the -names of persons and of places, sometimes could not remember the name of -the street where he lived, or the day or even the month; and it is not -therefore surprising that he often injured himself by neglecting all -sort of engagements.[85] It may be readily inferred that he was -particularly negligent about all engagements and regulations bearing -upon the mere externals of life. That a man of his condition and -character must have been unusually careless about his personal -appearance, follows as a matter of course, and therefore we may pass -over the references of Wolff to peculiarities of Maimon's dress. He was -usually to be seen out of doors clad in an overcoat which had evidently -not been made for himself, and which, we may suspect, was intended as a -convenient covering for the defects of under-garments, his boots bearing -the weather-stains of many days, and his beard often showing that for a -good while he had forgotten his engagement with his barber. In the -latter years of his life he abandoned the use of a wig, as well as of -powder in his hair, at a time when these changes must have been regarded -as rather daring innovations on prevalent fashion. But in all his -surroundings he showed what, for a man of his intellectual attainments, -seems a most astonishing disregard of sanitary cleanliness and the -comfortable decencies of life. The state of his lodging must have raised -a shudder in any one sensitive to disorder or uncleanliness. He -acknowledged that he was constantly at war with the housemaid on this -subject, as he could never bear to have his room swept and dusted, and -he complained of the perpetual annoyance to which he was exposed in -Amsterdam from the excessive scruples of the people in regard to -tidiness.[86] It may fairly be suspected that the annoyance was -considerably greater, as it was more justifiable, on the other side. His -habits in this respect clung to him to the last, and it was evidently -difficult to keep his surroundings tolerable even in the comparatively -sumptuous home in which he closed his days. - -The frank confessions of the Autobiography reveal the fact, that the -irregularity, which characterised the life of Maimon, sometimes led to a -breach of the weightier matters of the law. The habit, which he began in -Poland, of seeking relief from external discomfort and internal -wretchedness in alcoholic stimulation, grew upon him afterwards; and as -his health began to fail, he used to treat his various complaints by a -liberal allowance of various wines and beers which he supposed adapted -to their cure.[87] The liberal allowance was very apt, especially in the -evenings, to exceed all reasonable moderation; and the sleepy -inhabitants of Berlin were not infrequently disturbed by the half-tipsy -philosopher, as he wended his way unsteadily homewards at unseasonable -hours, discoursing on all sorts of speculative themes in disagreeably -loud tones that were occasionally interrupted by the expostulations of a -night-watchman.[88] - -The peculiarly undisciplined manners of Maimon were occasionally shown -in violent outbursts of various feelings. Too frequently it was an -irritable temper that gave way. The slightest provocation, even the loss -of a game at chess,[89] was apt to cause a painful explosion; and then -his language was certainly far from being restrained by those usages -which are found essential to the pleasantness of social intercourse.[90] -The uncontrollable violence of these outbursts was amusingly exhibited -in the fact, that sometimes he could not command the intellectual calm -requisite for thinking and expressing himself in his acquired German, -and, even though it might be a Gentile with whom he quarrelled, he fell -back on his Judæo-Polish mother tongue, which came to him as if by -natural instinct.[91] It is but fair, however, to add that these -outbursts were often merely the unusually forcible, but not altogether -unjustifiable, utterances of an honest indignation at wrong.[92] - -For this strangely educated man, who in his outward manners seemed to -remain a somewhat rude child of nature, was after all ready to yield, -not only to an unkindly irritability, but also to the more genial -emotions. It is pleasing, for example, to know that he had a particular -fondness for animals; and his pets were allowed in his lodging liberties -which, however objectionable to a tidy housemaid, showed at least the -essential gentleness of his heart. Tutored as he was himself in the -severest school of poverty, it is also pleasing to know that he -cherished a kindly sympathy for the poor, and was ever ready to help -them as he could, sometimes at the cost of no small sacrifice to -himself.[93] The finer sensibilities of his nature were also easily -touched by music. Though he had no musical culture, and used to regret -that he had had none, an old Hebrew melody, long after he had broken off -all connection with the Jews, could move him so deeply that he was -obliged, even in company, to seek relief in tears.[94] For in the -uncontrolled simplicity of his nature he allowed his feelings to find -their natural vent without much restraint from circumstances; and -therefore he was seen at times in the theatre excited to loud sobbing by -a tragedy, or to boisterous laughter over a comedy.[95] - -Nor is it to be regarded as an unpleasant feature of his character, but -rather as an indication of a wholesome check on the general irregularity -of his life, that, even after he had thrown off all the peculiar -restraints of his national religion, he clung with evident fondness to -many of those rabbinical habits which he had cultivated in his earlier -years. From Fischer's account of the style of Maimon's works we have -seen how his intellectual work was affected by his Talmudic studies. The -criticism is evidently just. Maimon himself had met with it, and -acknowledged its justice. He protested indeed that it did not affect the -truth of his speculations, though he evidently felt its disadvantages, -and laboured at times to acquire a more methodical style.[96] - -The rabbinical habits of Maimon, however, were most quaintly seen in -peculiarities of outward manner. Gesticulations customary in the study -of the Talmud he was seen to adopt not infrequently when he forgot -himself in the earnestness of conversation, or when in a company he fell -into a brown study, or even in the studies of his retirement. Thus in -reading Euler's mathematical works or any other book which required -great attention, he would fall into the Talmudic singsong and rhythmical -swing of the body.[97] - -It is noteworthy also, that, with all the unrestrained rudeness which -often characterised his manners, Maimon was not without a certain -dignified courtesy; and when the occasion demanded it, he could turn a -polite phrase as prettily as the most accomplished gentleman.[98] There -was, moreover, in Maimon an intrinsic shyness which must have gone a -long way to soften the less amiable side of his social character.[99] -Then it is evident that his conversation, in his better moods at least, -had a charm which made him a welcome guest in any company. Thus, amid -all that may have been repulsive at times, there must have been in -Maimon's character a good deal to attract the friendly companionship of -others. The Autobiography itself, as well as Wolff's little book, shows -that Maimon enjoyed as much as he desired of the cultured society of his -time. Being naturally shy, indeed, he rather shrank from company in -which intercourse is regulated by a somewhat rigid social code; and the -desire of freedom from such restriction often drove him into company of -a much more objectionable kind. He also seems to have entertained a -strong dislike to any excessively demonstrative affection. He himself -was rather curt in his expressions of courtesy or friendliness towards -others, contenting himself generally, on meeting them, with a familiar -nod. The lifting of the hat appeared to him meaningless, and a -deliberate embrace "in cold blood" was intolerable.[100] Yet in many -instances the attachment of his friends was marked with an unusual -degree of warmth, and brought many an hour of sunshine to a life which -otherwise would have been shadowed with insufferable gloom. - -Among all Maimon's friends, the most conspicuous place must be given to -the man by whose generous hospitality he was able to close his -chequered life amid the comforts of a luxurious home. While he was -living in a miserable lodging in one of the suburbs of Berlin, he -learned from one of his friends that a Silesian nobleman, Graf -Kalkreuth, who had formed a high opinion of his writings, was anxious to -make his personal acquaintance. After a good deal of delay, Maimon was -at last induced to call upon the Graf at his residence in Berlin. -Fortunately he was very favourably impressed with the character of his -noble friend; and the friendship thus begun led before long to his -taking up his abode permanently with the Graf.[101] The generous -consideration which the host displayed for all the eccentricities of his -guest, made this arrangement one of the happiest for the poor -philosopher, who since his childhood had seldom enjoyed the comforts of -a home. - -But it is evident that the hardships of his life had at an early period -begun to tell upon his constitution, and that this was further shattered -by irregular habits in his later years. Symptoms of serious trouble in -the lungs excited his alarm in the winter of 1795, and he was induced to -seek medical advice. Partly from an unwise scepticism in regard to -medicine, partly from his usual failure to adhere to any fixed rule in -his conduct, the services of his physicians commonly ended with the -consultation; he seldom or never acted on their advice.[102] He lived -in indifferent health for five or six years more. When his last illness -overtook him, he was living in the house of Graf Kalkreuth at -Siegersdorf near Freistadt, in Lower Silesia. The only account of him at -this crisis was written by the pastor of Freistadt, for a monthly -periodical of the time, entitled _Kronos_. It forms the close of Wolff's -little book; and as it is the only account, it may be of some interest -here. The pastor, Herr Tscheggey, had made the acquaintance of Maimon -about the year 1795; but their intercourse had become much closer about -six weeks before Maimon's death, when he used to visit the pastor two or -three times a week. On hearing that Maimon had been confined for some -days, the good pastor at once went to see him. He found him in a state -of great weakness, unable to leave his room, and besought him earnestly, -but in vain, to take medical advice. A few days afterwards he called -again, and saw that evidently the end was drawing nigh. Curious to know -whether Maimon in this situation would remain true to his principles, he -gave the following turn to the conversation, which he professes to -report word for word. - -"I am sorry to find you so ill to-day, dear Maimon," said the pastor. - -"There will perhaps be some improvement yet," replied Maimon. - -"You look so ill," his friend proceeded, "that I am doubtful about your -recovery." - -"What matters it after all?" said Maimon. "When I am dead, I am gone." - -"Can you say that, dear friend," rejoined the clergyman, with deep -emotion. "How? Your mind, which amid the most unfavourable circumstances -ever soared to higher attainments, which bore such fair flowers and -fruits--shall it be trodden in the dust along with the poor covering in -which it has been clothed? Do you not feel at this moment that there is -something in you which is not body, not matter, not subject to the -conditions of space and time?" - -"Ah!" replied Maimon, "these are beautiful dreams and hopes"---- - -"Which will surely be fulfilled," his friend broke in; and then, after a -short pause, added, "You maintained not long ago that here we cannot -reach further than to mere _legality_. Let this be admitted; and now -perhaps you are about to pass over soon into a condition, in which you -will rise to the stage of _morality_, since you and all of us have a -natural capacity for it. Why? Should you not wish now to come into the -society of one whom you honoured so much as Mendelssohn?" - -The zealous pastor says he gave the conversation this turn on purpose, -in order to touch this side of the philosopher's heart. After a while -the dying man exclaimed, "Ay me! I have been a foolish man, the most -foolish among the most foolish--and how earnestly I wished it -otherwise!" - -"This utterance," observed the pastor, "is also a proof that you are not -yet in complete accord with your unbelief. No," he added, taking Maimon -by the hand, "you will not all die; your spirit will surely live on." - -"So far as mere faith and hope are concerned, I can go a good way; but -what does that help us?" was Maimon's reply. - -"It helps us at least to peace," urged the pastor. - -"I am at peace (_Ich bin ruhig_)," said the dying man, completely -exhausted. - -Here Tscheggey broke off the conversation, as the sufferer was evidently -unable to continue it. When he rose to leave, Maimon begged him to stay, -or at least to come back again soon. He came back the following morning, -but found the patient unconscious. At ten o'clock on the same -evening--it was the 22nd of November, 1800--this strangely tossed life -had reached its haven. - -"He died at peace," says the kindly clergyman, "though I do not venture -to say from what source the peace was derived. When a few days -afterwards I passed the castle of his noble friend, I looked up with -sadness to the window of his former room, and blessed his ashes." It is -to be regretted that the generous piety of the friendly minister was not -universal, and that the ashes of the unfortunate doubter were only with -a grudge allowed to find a decent resting-place. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Vol. iii., p. 370, note. - -[2] See the Preface to his _Philosophy of Reflection_, pp. 16-18. - -[3] Vol. v., chap. 7. - -[4] The volume bears the somewhat quaint title in full:--_Maimoniana, -oder Rhapsodien Zur Charakteristik Salomon Maimon's_. Aus Seinem -Privatleben gesammelt von Sabattia Joseph Wolff, M.D. Berlin, gedruckt -bei G. Hayn, 1813. - -[5] The only logical connection is the fact, that the writings of -Maimonides formed the most powerful influence in the intellectual -development of Maimon. In illustration of this he writes:--"My reverence -for this great teacher went so far, that I regarded him as the ideal of -a perfect man, and looked upon his teachings as if they had been -inspired with Divine Wisdom itself. This went so far, that, when my -passions began to grow, and I had sometimes to fear lest they might -seduce me to some action inconsistent with those teachings, I used to -employ, as a proved antidote, the abjuration, 'I swear, by the reverence -which I owe my great teacher, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, not to do this -act.' And this vow, so far as I can remember, was always sufficient to -restrain me." _Lebensgeschichte_, Vol. ii., pp. 3-4. - -[6] That is, of course, the seventeenth.--_Trans._ - -[7] Maimon himself nowhere mentions the date or place of his birth; but -Wolff says that he was born at Nesvij, in Lithuania, about the year 1754 -(_Maimoniana, p. 10_). _Trans._ - -[8] This word is explained below, at the beginning of the next chapter. - -[9] The customary Jewish salutation. - -[10] The original is "ein Kalamankenes Leibserdak,"--a provincialism -which, I believe, is substantially rendered in this -translation.--_Trans._ - -[11] Till quite recently it had been almost forgotten that one of the -commonest manifestations of fanaticism against the Jews, especially in -Eastern Europe, was to charge them with the murder of Christian children -for the use of some horrid religious rite, and that scarcely ever was -the dead body of a child found in the neighbourhood of a Jewish -community without some outburst of this cruel suspicion, ending in an -indiscriminate massacre of the Jews by the infuriated mob. It is a -singularly creditable proof of the liberal government of Stephen -Batory,--one of the ablest monarchs who ever sat on the throne of -Poland,--that, so long ago as 1576, he issued an edict prohibiting the -imputation of this crime to the Jews, as being utterly inconsistent with -the principles of their religion. Yet, in spite of this enactment, the -fanatical suspicion continued to display itself at frequent intervals. -Milman supposed it had been finally quelled by the ukase of the Russian -Government in 1835, which went in the same direction as the earlier -prohibition of the Polish king (_History of the Jews_, vol. iii., p. -389). What would have been his astonishment, had he lived to learn that, -half a century after he thought it extinguished, this ancient delusion -was to revive, that an Hungarian court was to spend thirty one days in -the solemn trial of a Jewish family on the charge of sacrificing a -Christian girl in their synagogue, that a learned professor in the -Imperial and Royal University of Prague was to write in defence of the -charge, and that the trial was to form the subject of an extensive -controversial literature in the language of the most learned nation in -the world! An interesting account of this famous trial at Tisza Eszlar, -as well as of the literature connected with it, will be found in an -article by Dr. Wright, on _The Jews and the Malicious Charge of Human -Sacrifice_ in the _Nineteenth Century_, for November, 1883.--_Trans._ - -[12] It seems that Maimon gives a euphemistic explanation of this word, -as I am told its real meaning makes much more intelligible its extreme -offensiveness to his mother.--_Trans._ - -[13] The original runs: "Der Verstand sucht bloss zu _fassen_, die -Einbildungskraft aber zu _umfassen_."--_Tr._ - -[14] That is, _The Branch_ (or _Offspring_) _of David_. See Jeremiah -xxiii. 5; xxxiii. 15; Isaiah xi. 1.--_Trans._ - -[15] The Hebrew word for a globe. - -[16] This rabbi belonged to a family of eminent linguists. The father, -Joseph Kimchi, was one of the numerous Jews who were obliged to flee -from Spain to escape the cruel persecutions of the Mohades about the -middle of the twelfth century. He left two sons who both followed his -favourite studies. The elder, Moses, has the credit of having educated -his younger and more illustrious brother, David, whose Hebrew grammar -and dictionary continued in general use among scholars for centuries. -Kimchi is said to have been powerfully influenced, not only by -Maimonides, but also by Aben Esra, who preceded him by nearly a century, -and who was one of the most learned scholars, as well as one of the most -versatile authors, of his time. (Jost's _Geschichte des Judenthums_, -vol. ii., pp. 419-423; and vol. iii, pp. 30-31).--_Trans._ - -[17] That is, about 100 English miles.--_Trans._ - -[18] See above, p. 14.--_Trans._ - -[19] Solomon ben Isaac, as he is more correctly named, or Raschi, as he -is also called, was an eminent Talmudic scholar of Troyes in the latter -half of the eleventh century. It was his son-in-law, Meïr, and the three -sons of Meïr, who may be said to have begun the Tosaphoth, referred to -in the text.--_Trans._ - -[20] As it was at one time throughout all Christendom, and probably -under every civilisation at a certain stage of its history.--_Trans._ - -[21] This seems to be Job xxvii. 17, which in our Authorised Version -runs:--"He (a wicked man) may prepare it (raiment), but the just shall -put it on." Maimon seems to render it from memory:--"Der Gottlose -schafft sich an, und der Fromme bekleidet sich damit."--_Trans._ - -[22] Evidently viii., 12, rendered in our Authorised Version, "Thou, O -Solomon, must have a thousand (pieces of silver), and those that keep -the fruit thereof two hundred." Maimon translates apparently from -memory, "Die tausend Gulden sind für dich, Salomo, und die Zweihundert -für die, die seine Früchte bewahren." In my rendering of this the -pronoun "his" must be understood in its old English latitude as either -neuter or masculine.--_Trans._ - -[23] The bulk of the gift explains its costliness. "The Babylonian -Talmud is about four times as large as that of Jerusalem. Its thirty-six -treatises now cover, in our editions, printed with the most prominent -commentaries (Rashi and Tosafoth), exactly 2947 folio leaves in twelve -folio volumes." (E. Deutsch's _Literary Remains_, p. 41).--_Trans._ - -[24] Maimon gives merely the initial "R" of this name; but as he has -already (Chap. i.) told us that his prince was Radzivil, there is not -much mystery in this artifice.--_Trans._ - -[25] This horror of memory tormented Maimon to the end of his days. "He -dreamed often that he was in Poland again, deprived of all his books; -and Lucius metamorphosed into an ass was not in a more pitiable plight. -'From this agony,' said Maimon, 'I was usually aroused by a loud cry, -and my joy was indescribable on finding that it was only a dream.'" -(_Maimoniana_, p. 94). "He once received a visit from his brother, for -whom he was deeply affected. Poor as he was himself, Maimon kept him a -long while, gave him clothing and everything else that he could, besides -procuring from some friends enough money to pay his travelling expenses. -Above all, he told me, he was affected at letting his brother go back -into the wilderness; and if he had not had a wife and children at home, -he would have tried to keep him beside himself." (_Ibid._, p. -175).--_Trans._ - -[26] It was probably a reminiscence of this labour of deciphering, that -led to the following outburst of sympathy:--"One day Maimon read in an -English work, that the author had only commenced to learn the ABC when -he was eighteen years of age, and that the first book which fell into -his hands was one of Newton's works. His master (for he was a servant) -came upon him at this task, and asked, 'What are you doing with that? -you can't read?' 'O yes,' he replied, 'I have learnt to read, and I -began with the most difficult subjects.' Maimon read this in my presence -with tears in his eyes." (_Maimoniana_, pp. 230-1).--_Trans._ - -[27] Both of these Cabbalists belonged to the sixteenth century. The -former, as his name implies, belonged to Cordova in Spain; the latter, -to the German community in Jerusalem (_Jost's Geschichte des -Judenthums_, Vol. iii., pp. 137-140).--_Trans._ - -[28] Rabbi Meïr’s teacher was Elisha ben Abuyah, "the Faust of the -Talmud," as he has been strikingly styled by Mr. Deutsch. The Talmud -preserves a beautiful story illustrative of the devoted affection which -Meïr continued to cherish for his apostate master. Four men, so runs the -legend, entered _Paradise_; that is, according to Talmudic symbolism, -they entered upon the study of that secret science with its bewildering -labyrinth of speculative dreams, through which it is given only to a few -rare spirits to find their way. Of these four, "one beheld and died, one -beheld and lost his senses, one destroyed the young plants, one only -entered in peace and came out in peace." The destroyer of the young -plants was Elisha ben Abuyah. Once he was passing the ruins of the -temple on the great day of atonement, and heard a voice within "moaning -like a dove,"--"All men shall be forgiven this day save Elisha ben -Abuyah who, knowing me, has betrayed me." After his death flames hovered -incessantly over his grave, until his loving disciple threw himself upon -it and swore an oath of devout self-sacrifice, that he would not partake -of the joys of heaven without his master, nor move from the spot until -his master's soul had found forgiveness before the Throne of Grace. See -Emanuel Deutsch's _Literary Remains_, p. 15; and Jost's _Geshichte des -Judenthums_, Vol. ii., pp. 102-4. - -[29] _The Gates of Light._--_Trans._ - -[30] "Thus saith the Lord" in the English version.--_Trans._ - -[31] About 150 English miles.--_Trans._ - -[32] Highpriest about the time of Antiochus the Great, that is, the -first half of the third century before Christ.--_Trans._ - -[33] Also named below Jehudah Hanassi or Hakades, died probably in 219 -or 220 A.D.--_Trans._ - -[34] _Rabbina_ is a contraction for Rabbi Abina and _Rabassi_ for Rabbi -Ashe. Maimon puts Abina first, but he was the younger of the two. They -both belonged to the fifth century.--_Trans._ - -[35] This seems to be Psalm cxix., 126, rendered in our Authorised -Version:--"It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void -thy law." See Mendelssohn's _Jerusalem_, Vol. ii., p. iii., (Samuels' -translation).--_Trans._ - -[36] _Charakteristik der Asiatischen Nationen_, Theil ii., pp. 159-160. - -[37] "And Kinah and Dimonah and Adadah" in the English Authorised -Version.--_Trans._ - -[38] Here apparently Maimon makes a slip. He seems to forget the passage -he had selected for illustration; and his eye, if not his memory, -glances at the last word in verse 30, instead of verse 22.--_Trans._ - -[39] Probably Isaiah xxxiii., 6.--_Trans._ - -[40] Psalm, lxxxi., 9.--_Trans._ - -[41] In the original, "Das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten."--_Trans._ - -[42] In the same way a fool, called Chosek, was going to starve the city -of Lemberg, against which he was enraged; and for this purpose he placed -himself behind the wall, in order to blockade the city with his body. -The result of the blockade, however, was that he nearly died of hunger, -while the city knew nothing whatever of a famine. - -[43] In our times, when so much is said both _pro_ and _contra_ about -secret societies, I believe that the history of a particular secret -society, in which I was entangled, though but a short time, should not -be passed over in this sketch of my life. - -[44] That is, of course, the 17th century.--_Trans._ - -[45] _Baalshem_ is one who occupies himself with the practical Cabbalah, -that is, with the conjuration of spirits and the writing of amulets, in -which the names of God and of many sorts of spirits are employed. - -[46] As I never attained the rank of a superior in this society, the -exposition of their plan cannot be regarded as a fact verified by -experience, but merely as an inference arrived at by reflection. How far -this inference is well founded, can be determined merely by analogy -according to the rules of probability. - -[47] The ingenuity of this interpretation consists in the fact, that in -Hebrew [Hebrew: nagayn] may stand for the infinitive of _play_, as well as -for a _musical instrument_, and that the prefix [Hebrew: ke] may be -translated either _as_, in the sense of _when_, or _as_, in the sense of -_like_. The superiors of this sect, who _wrenched passages of the Holy -Scriptures from their context_, regarding themselves as merely vehicles -of their teachings, selected accordingly that interpretation of this -passage, which fitted best their principle of _self-annihilation_ before -God. - -[48] Maimon in a footnote here refers, by way of a parallel, to the -interpretation by a Catholic theologian of a passage in Ezekiel (xliv., -1-2) as an allegorical prophecy of the Virgin Mary; but most readers -will probably prefer to leave the exposition of the allegory to the -imagination of those who choose to follow it out.--_Trans._ - -[49] A trait of these, as of all uncultivated men, is their contempt of -the other sex. - -[50] Of this class I became acquainted with one. He was a young man of -twenty-two, of very weak bodily constitution, lean and pale. He -travelled in Poland as a missionary. In his look there was something so -terrible, so commanding, that he ruled men by means of it quite -despotically. Wherever he came he inquired about the constitution of the -congregation, rejected whatever displeased him, and made new regulations -which were punctually followed. The elders of the congregation, for the -most part old respectable men, who far excelled him in learning, -trembled before his face. A great scholar, who would not believe the -infallibility of this superior, was seized with such terror by his -threatening look, that he fell into a violent fever of which he died. -Such extraordinary courage and determination had this man attained -merely through early exercises in Stoicism. - -[51] Born 1720; died 1797. See Jost's _Geschichte des Judenthums_, Vol. -iii., pp. 248-250.--_Trans._ - -[52] _Exodus_, iii., 13, 14. - -[53] These names are taken from _Maimoniana_, p. 108.--_Trans._ - -[54] The method, in which, as before explained, I had learnt to read and -to understand books without any preparatory studies, and to which I had -been driven in Poland by the want of books, grew to such an expertness, -that I felt certain beforehand of being able to understand anything. - -[55] Here there seems in the original an evident misprint of -_Vereinigung_ for _Verneinung_.--_Trans._ - -[56] The incident referred to was the following. Lavater had translated -into German a work, which had a great reputation in its day, by the -eminent Swiss scientific writer, Bonnet, on the evidences of -Christianity. Out of respect for Mendelssohn, Lavater dedicated the -translation to him, requiring him, however, either to refute the work, -or to do "what policy, love of truth, and probity demand,--what Socrates -would doubtless have done, had _he_ read the work, and found it -unanswerable." Mendelssohn was thus placed in an awkward dilemma. He -could not well let the challenge pass unacknowledged; and yet, owing to -the disabilities under which the Jews laboured all over the world, he -would have seriously imperilled their interests by appearing even to -impugn the evidences of Christianity. He had, moreover, resolved never -to enter into religious controversy. Under the circumstances his reply -was masterly as it was dignified and candid. Lavater saw his mistake; -and it is but due to him to say, that he publicly apologised for it in -the fullest and frankest manner.--_Trans._ - -[57] This "hiatus _haud_ valde deflendus" is in the original.--_Trans._ - -[58] This name is taken from _Maimoniana_.--_Trans._ - -[59] The love of life, that is, the instinct of self-preservation, seems -rather to increase than to decrease with the diminution or uncertainty -of the means of living, inasmuch as man is thereby spurred to greater -_activity_, which developes a stronger _consciousness of life_. Only -this want must not have reached its maximum; for the necessary result of -that is _despair_, that is a conviction of the impossibility of -preserving life, and consequently a desire to put an end to it. Thus -every passion, and therefore also the love of life, is increased by the -obstacles which come in the way of its gratification: only these -obstacles must not make the gratification of the passions _impossible_, -else despair is the result. - -[60] "Afterwards when he spoke of Poland, he used to be deeply affected -in thinking of his wife, from whom he was obliged to separate. He was -really very much devoted to her, and her fate went home to his very -heart. It was easy when the subject came up in conversation, to read in -his face the deep sorrow which he felt; his liveliness then sensibly -faded away, he became by and by perfectly silent, was usually incapable -of further entertainment, and went earlier than usual home." -_Maimoniana_, p. 177. He seems, however, at a later period, to have at -least spoken to his friends about marrying a second time; but the -project was never carried out. _Ibid._, p. 248.--_Trans._ - -[61] He died 4th Jan., 1786.--_Trans._ - -[62] Kant's work must still have been quite new, as it appeared in -1781.--_Trans._ - -[63] The name is left blank by Maimon, but is known to be that which I -have inserted. See Fischer's _Geschichte der neueren Philosophie_, Vol. -v., p. 131.--_Trans._ - -[64] Samuel Levi, according to _Maimoniana_, p. 78.--_Trans._ - -[65] See above, p. 41--_Trans._ - -[66] The last few pages have been condensed from the original; in which -the author gives detailed information, which seems no longer of any -special interest, about the articles he contributed to periodicals.-- -_Trans._ - -[67] By the kindness of my friend, the Rev. Meldola de Sola, of the -Portuguese Synagogue in Montreal, I am enabled to make an interesting -note on this subject. Among the Talmudic passages enjoining industry are -the following:--"Rather skin a carcase for pay in the public streets, -than be idly dependent on charity," "Rather perform the meanest labour -than beg." As a further evidence of the estimation in which labour was -held by the sages of the Talmud, it may be mentioned that Hillel, before -being admitted to the Great College, earned his livelihood as a -wood-cutter; that Rabbi Joshua was a pinmaker; Rabbi Nehemiah Halsador, -a potter; Rabbi Judah, a tailor; Rabbi Joshua Hasandler, a shoemaker; -and Rabbi Judah Hanechtan, a baker. "Of all things," says Mr. Deutsch, -"the most hated were idleness and asceticism; piety and learning -themselves only received their proper estimation when joined to healthy, -bodily work. 'It is well to add a trade to your studies; you will then -be free from sin,' 'The tradesman at his work need not rise before the -greatest doctor,' 'Greater is he who derives his livelihood from work -than he who fears God'--are some of the most common dicta of the -period." (_Literary Remains_, p. 25, where there are some striking -stories in condemnation of asceticism). Mr. Deutsch elsewhere quotes, -"Rather live on your Sabbath as you would on a week day than be -dependent on others," (_Ibid._, p. 30).--_Trans._ - -[68] See above, pp. 140-1. - -[69] _Maimoniana_, pp. 196-200. - -[70] _Ibid._, p. 80. - -[71] _Ibid._, pp. 80, 83-4. - -[72] _Ibid._, p. 95, note. - -[73] _Ibid._, pp. 82-3. - -[74] _Ibid._, pp. 154, 157. - -[75] _Ibid._, pp. 80, 95, 104. - -[76] _Ibid._, p. 84. - -[77] _Ibid._, p. 105. - -[78] _Ibid._, p. 159. - -[79] _Ibid._, pp. 231-2. - -[80] _Ibid._, p. 96. - -[81] _Ibid._, p. 140. - -[82] _Ibid._, p. 96. - -[83] _Ibid._, p. 97. - -[84] Fischer's _Geschichte der neuern Philosophie_, vol. v., pp. 133-4. - -[85] _Maimoniana_, pp. 190-6. - -[86] _Ibid._, pp. 90-1. - -[87] _Ibid._, pp. 183-8. - -[88] _Ibid._, pp. 101-4. - -[89] _Ibid._, p. 217. - -[90] _Ibid._, pp. 109-112, 208, 212-3. - -[91] _Ibid._, p. 87. - -[92] _Ibid._, p. 213. - -[93] _Ibid._, p. 249. - -[94] _Ibid._, p. 88. - -[95] _Ibid._, p. 230. - -[96] _Ibid._, pp. 86-7. - -[97] _Ibid._, p. 89. - -[98] See, for example, _Ibid._, pp. 112, 115, 209, 250-1. - -[99] _Ibid._, p. - -[100] _Ibid._, pp. 165-6. - -[101] _Ibid._, pp. 201-210. - -[102] _Ibid._, pp. 183-8. - - * * * * * - -_Notes on some Books of Special Interest_ - -PUBLISHED BY - -ALEXANDER GARDNER, - -PAISLEY AND LONDON. - -_AT ALL LIBRARIES._ - - -_JAMES HEPBURN, Free Church Minister._ By SOPHIE F. 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In -creating an ideal character of unmistakable flesh and blood, Miss Veitch -has achieved an unequivocal success, and one or two of the pivot -situations in the book are conceived and presented with such dramatic -power and sympathetic insight, that in virtue of them alone 'James -Hepburn' takes place among the most remarkable and admirable of recent -novels.... There are chapters in 'James Hepburn' of which we feel -convinced that the author of _Scenes of Clerical Life_ would not have -been ashamed.... Such a novel is not only a book to admire, but one for -which to be grateful."--_The Spectator._ - -"='James Hepburn' is a novel in two volumes, which is quite startling in -the freshness and beauty of its conception.... 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In the two -volumes which contain the story of episodes in the life of James -Hepburn, each character is carefully studied and presented as a finished -masterpiece.... The book is a drama palpitating with intense and real -life, whose author should have a grand professional future."--_Whitehall -Review._ - -"The book deserves the highest praise. Hepburn's relations with Lady -Ellinor--his pure and noble love for her--are fitly crowned by his -splendid self-sacrifice.... The descriptive part of this fine and often -brilliant novel is admirably done."--_London Figaro._ - -"No one who begins this story will pause till he has seen the hero -through his troubles, and we are sure no one who has done so will think -he has spent his time badly."--_The British Weekly._ - -_James Hepburn_ is a story of very unusual power, promise, and -desert.... The story of Lady Elinor is exceedingly pathetic; and all her -moods, as she gradually progresses along a path of peril, are described -with a hand at once sure and delicate.--_Academy._ - -Seldom do we meet with a novel by a comparatively unknown author which -can afford such unalloyed pleasure.... It is not every writer who can, -like Mrs. Oliphant, throw a glamour over the sordid details of -_bourgeois_ life. Amongst the few who can do so Miss Veitch may now -claim to rank; her novel is a remarkable one, and if it does not attain -to considerable popularity the fault will not be with the author.... -There is intense pathos in the loyal struggle of the beautiful young -wife who believes herself to be unsympathised with.... We had marked -more than one passage for quotation, but space warns us that the -pleasure must be forgone. We must, however, draw special attention to -Lady Ellinor's withering summary of Radicalism (vol. ii. p. 242). The -novel is one of the very few that follows Mr. Weller's recipe, and makes -us "wish that there was more of it."--_Pictorial World._ - -"A SUCCESSFUL SCOTCH NOVEL.--It is long since a Scottish novel met with -such a demand or created such a genuine sensation as has attended the -publication of 'James Hepburn, Free Church Minister,' which was issued a -few weeks ago by Mr. Gardner, of Paisley, and which we noticed in the -week of its publication. We hear that already Mr. Mudie has ordered four -separate supplies, the latest being for a large number of copies, so -great is the demand for the story on the part of the subscribers to his -library. Miss Sophie Veitch, the authoress, had already made her mark by -her fine novel of 'Angus Graeme, Gamekeeper.'"--_Daily Mail._ - -"'James Hepburn,' by Miss Veitch, is a _clever and strong_ novel.... 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It is -needless to add that Mr. Gardner has done his part admirably."--_The -Kelso Chronicle._ - -"Whether Mr. Sharp's poetry be regarded in the abstract, or as the -product of the hours of leisure of a man of business, much of it is -commendable, and much is genuine and sound in feeling."--_The Scottish -News._ - -Mr. James Sharp does not miss the occasion in his volume of poems, _The -Captive King_ (Alexander Gardner). His Jubilee Ode, like those of -better-known bards, scarcely represents his poetic powers, as the -following couplet may show:-- - - Much as we love the Prince of Wales, the Princess fair, serene, - We want no other sovereign! We want no other Queen! - -"Tullibardine's Bride," though a little diffuse, is a readable narrative -poem based on a Perthshire legend. In other lyrical pieces Mr. Sharp -sustains a patriotic vein with fervour.--_Saturday Review._ - -Mr. Sharp's lyrics and shorter pieces, are always pleasing in sentiment, -and are often sweet in expression.--_Scotsman._ - -The book of poems which we introduce to our readers to-day has, we -think, amply justified its issue in the beautiful form in which it is -presented to the public.... This delightful book will do something to -modify that conception, and to show that mercantile pursuits and the -exalted, if traditionally prosaic, dignity of Bailieship are not -incompatible with a successful cultivation of the Muses. In depicting -one of the most tragic chapters in our national annals, Mr. Sharp has -attained charming results in his use of those heroic measures which the -genius of Scott and of Edmonstone Aytoun has made classic, and through -which these masters have made the dim shadows that erewhile flitted -across the stage of Scottish history to stand forth as living men.... 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His pronounced -national tastes are admirably shown in 'Oatmeal,' etc.; in lyrics like -'Stornoway Bay,' there is the true lyrical gush; while in such poems as -'A Still Lake,' there is revealed an exquisite power of -word-painting...."--_Scotsman._ - -"For neatness and aptness of expression, it is equal to anything we have -seen."--_Scots Law Review._ - -"A very agreeable little book for an idle hour. The author shows himself -equally at home in the serious as in the comic."--_Graphic._ - -"They are exceedingly clever, and brimming over with fun and humour. The -author has earned a right to be called the Laureate of the Law, for -certain it is that he invests the most prosaic of all professions with -quite a halo of poetical interest."--_Nonconformist._ - -"Unkempt enthusiasm and rollicking good humour are the chief features of -this little volume."--_Academy._ - -"A charming little book. We should seek the author on the bench, not at -the bar."--_Glasgow Daily Mail._ - -"Will please not only those 'gentlemen of the long robe' to whom the -tiny volume is dedicated, but a far larger circle. It is a delightful -book of verses daintily got up."--_Glasgow Herald._ - -"These lyrics will bear comparison with the best work that has been done -in this particular line. Will rival some of the best of Outram's lyrics -in common sense and humour."--_Scottish News._ - -"The lyrics are written for the most part with sprightliness and ease. -The more serious and imaginative pieces disclose a rich vein of poetic -fancy. There are many who will procure the second edition from a -recollection of the pleasure which the first gave them."--_Journal of -Jurisprudence._ - -"Will bear comparison with Outram's, Neave's, and Aytoun's. Faultless in -rhythm, and remarkable for rhyme."--_Evening News._ - -"The picture seems to us exquisite. Altogether, the work proves the -writer to be a true poet."--_Stirling Advertiser._ - -"The verses are inspirited and inspiring, expressive of the feelings of -many in these golden days of summer. To the second edition the author -has added some sixty pages brimful of the delightful verses which are -found so attractive in the first edition."--_Weekly Citizen._ - -"One of the two strongest and purest writers in the Scottish vernacular -that have been added to the choir of Northern minstrels during the -present century."--_Christian Leader._ - -"The admirable _Law Lyrics_ ... bright with strokes of pawky humour, and -abounding in verses each of which contains a picture, the volume is one -which will become a lasting favourite with its readers."--_The Bailie._ - -"Strongly incentive to hearty honest laughter which makes the heart grow -brighter, while to staid and grave and reverend seigniors the sweet -lark-song-like verses relating to nature, no less form subjects for -reflection."--_Ayrshire Weekly News._ - -"The little volume is interesting from the first page to the -last."--_Inverness Courier._ - -"Some of the verses exhibit a power of picturesque description which it -would be difficult to match, except out of the masters of song. Reveal -in attractive style the patriotism which animates the poet, and -establishes a claim additional to that of his undoubted genius, to a -large and appreciative Scotch audience."--_Greenock Telegraph._ - -"Such pieces as 'Scotch Porridge, etc." are amongst the most felicitous -examples of Scotch poetry we have seen in recent years."--_Brechin -Advertiser._ - -"Strong common sense pervades the whole, and the views of the author are -expressed with a directness, force, clearness, and simplicity, which -leaves nothing to be desired."--_North British Advertiser._ - -"Of a highly captivating nature, the author being possessed of a keen -sense of the humourous."--_Stirling Observer._ - -"Equal to anything of their kind known to us after Burns. A very genial -and enjoyable volume."--_Aberdeen Gazette._ - -"He expresses himself with a felicity and pawky humour that equal Lord -Neaves and Outram at their best, and in several poems the natural grace -and pith of expression remind one more of Burns than any other writer. -This may seem pitching it very high, but in our opinion, the poems will -bear out the assertion. We recommend it to all in the profession of its -author, and to everyone who can appreciate true humour and good -poetry."--_The People's Friend._ - -"Many of the lyrics which celebrate the charms of rural life and scenery -are extremely fine, displaying as they do rare observing powers, a rich -fancy, and flowing tasteful language."--_Dumfries Standard._ - -"He is a follower of Robert Burns and finds in the Court, and in the -Temple, an inspiration which the great Scotch poet found in the fields -of Ayrshire."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - -"He possesses the power of writing simple flowing verse in an eminent -degree."--_Literary World._ - - -_THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST AND THE SALVATION OF THE FEW._ A Criticism -of _Natural Law in the Spiritual World_. By Rev. A. WILSON. Crown 8vo, -cloth, 2s. 6d. Post free. - -"In a former number of this _Review_ we drew attention to two or three -of the main fallacies of Professor Drummond's shallow but attractive -book. We are glad to see that Mr. Alexander Wilson has, with a -scientific knowledge equal to Professor Drummond's, and with a logical -faculty far superior, subjected it to a far more systematic and -exhaustive analysis. Those who were interested in the dazzling pages of -_Natural Law in the Spiritual World_, but not blinded by their glitter, -will welcome this justification of their doubts in the solid form of -facts and arguments, and those who were fascinated by the Professor's -brilliant rhetoric and imagery will have a rather painful awakening. -They will see the idol shattered which they had to fall down and worship -as a condition of attaining to an intellectual standpoint from which -they might see all known facts in their harmony and continuity. It is, -no doubt, very fascinating to be able to harmonize and to systematize; -but suppose your theory of law, identical in the natural and in the -spiritual worlds, results in the necessity of assuming that man is -nothing more than a part of material nature until he is "converted," and -of believing that the survival of the fittest means the salvation of the -few (according to the analogy of the seeds of an orchid, of about one -person in a generation), would a God who has made men so be the object -of religious feeling, or this spiritual world, with its rare and lonely -tenants, be worth arguing for? It is probable that few readers of this -new "analogy" drew such inferences, but were merely interested in -Professor Drummond's spiritual and scientific gymnastics; but for the -thoughtful few who may have been disturbed by them it is well that he -has been answered by one so capable, both from a Christian and -scientific point of view, as Mr. Wilson."--_Saturday Review._ - -"It is this fallacy, the presumption that the laws of matter are -continuous through the spiritual universe, that Mr. Wilson finds himself -first called on to meet; and he does so by contending that the principle -of continuity applies only if the spiritual universe be itself material, -and not necessarily even them, inasmuch as there are in the material -universe imponderable bodies to which the law of gravitation, for -example, does not extend.... Mr. Wilson has written a very able, acute, -and temperate criticism, in a thoroughly religious spirit, with perfect -courtesy to his opponent; and we should be glad to think that his work -would be widely read."--_Scotsman._ - -"... The critique is interesting, clever, earnest, and, we may add, -respectful to Professor Drummond.... Here, we think, Mr. Wilson occupies -a very strong--indeed, an invulnerable position. This is not, however, -so much the critic's own position as that of other writers, but, he -appears to us, in great measure, to recognise and accept it. His own -words farther on are: 'The identification of the natural and spiritual -laws, if taken absolutely, would lead to the confounding together of -mind and body, God and Nature.' ... We are much interested in the -author's criticism of the Professor's arguments touching the subject -which gives the book its title. It forms an earnest and powerful -chapter...."--_Literary World._ - -"An answer to Professor Drummond, a work of some importance has just -made its appearance. It is certain that Mr. Wilson's able examination of -'Natural Law in the Spiritual World' will attract a good deal of -attention and controversy."--_London Figaro._ - -"Mr. Wilson, with great vigour and intrepidity, criticises the -Professor's conclusions.... The great question raised by Professor -Drummond's work is that of the relation of the natural law of the -survival of the fittest to the doctrine of election. His critic combats -this conclusion with much acuteness and ability."--_Glasgow Herald._ - - -WITH PORTRAIT AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. - -_DAVID KENNEDY, The Scottish Singer: Reminiscences of his Life and -Work._ By MARJORY KENNEDY. And _SINGING ROUND THE WORLD: A Narrative of -his Colonial and Indian Tours_. By DAVID KENNEDY, Junr. Demy 8vo, 480 -pages, cloth extra, 7s. 6d. Post free. - -"These unique musical tours were from time to time described by the -chief musician's son David in different books having reference to the -Colonies, to India, and to the Cape. They have now found a graceful and -appropriate preliminary chapter in the form of a memoir of David Kennedy -himself.... The memoir has been prepared by Miss Marjory Kennedy with -much taste and judgment, and will be read with interest, not only for -the sake of her father's characteristic letters and stories of early -life, but as recalling in various other ways pleasant memories -associated with a family of rare gifts and graces."--_Glasgow Herald._ - - -_LIFE IN SHETLAND._ By JOHN RUSSELL. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 3s. 6d. Post -free. - -"Contains a great quantity of very interesting information about -Shetland and its people. By a happy instinct, Mr. Russell has been led -to write about those things which he knows thoroughly--namely, his own -doings and experiences.... There follows the story of the strange -minister at the 'second diet' of a Presbytery meeting who wanted to -propose a toast, but was informed by the horrified moderator that 'God's -people in that part of the country were not in the habit of drinking -toasts.' The rebuked stranger quietly rejoined that he 'had never before -seen God's people drink so much toddy.' Much, both edifying and -entertaining, might be quoted from this unique volume, but enough may -have been said to gain for it the public attention it -deserves."--_Scotsman._ - -"We owe much to men like Mr. Russell, who, without any pretence, note -down what comes under their observation of an interesting nature -regarding curious customs, habits of life, and folk-lore, among the -people with whom they come into contact.... He is never entirely dull, -and we prefer such volumes which bring us into actual contact with a -poor but unsophisticated people to many pretentious stories. We follow -the minister as he goes out and in among the people, suffering hardship, -visiting, catechising, getting up a stock of fifty sermons, relating odd -anecdotes, and noting down peculiarities. We recommend this book to all -who are interested in the subject. It makes luminous to us the obscure -lives and labours of an interesting people."--_Pen and Pencil._ - -"An interesting and thoroughly realistic picture of life in Shetland is -presented to us in this volume by Mr. Russell, whose sojourn in those -Northern islands gave him good opportunity of observing the place and -the people.... Good stories, and brief observations and remarks on the -geology, natural history, and antiquities of the islands, and the -peculiar manners and customs of the people, ever and anon crop out in -the narrative.... It contains, however, a faithfully accurate and very -reliable description of _Ultima Thule_. And as the reader closes the -volume he will find that he has made acquaintance at once with a -singular country, and a pleasant guide to its chief points of -interest."--_Aberdeen Free Press._ - -"A bright and entertaining volume, and a valuable volume withal, anent -Shetland and the Shetlanders.... I know no book on Shetland equal to -this of Mr. Russell's. Its style is pointed and racy; the author talks -about what he knows and what he knows intimately. To put the matter in a -word, there isn't a dull page in 'Three Years in Shetland,' from the -title to the sentence at the close in which Mr. Russell expresses the -wish that 'all good things may attend' the islanders among whom he spent -three delightful years."--_Bailie._ - -"A very readable book about a very interesting people.... A minister, of -course, enjoys altogether exceptional opportunities, and Mr. Russell -seems to have made good use of them. He writes frankly about things as -he found them, which he is perhaps all the better able to do for his -change to the position of an outsider."--_Glasgow Herald._ - -"It contains some of the best clerical stories--though not always of the -most dignified nature, nor such as will tend to exalt the cloth in the -estimation of rude and irreverent laics--that we have come across, and -it gives very interesting, and for the most part accurate, details of -the everyday life of the people."--_Elgin Courant and Courier._ - - -UNIFORM WITH "BENDERLOCH." - -_LOCH CRERAN. Notes from the West Highlands._ By W. ANDERSON SMITH. -Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. Post free. - -"Readers of Mr. W. Anderson Smith's _Benderloch_ will welcome from the -same pen a second instalment of notes of natural history in the Western -Highlands entitled _Loch Creran_.... The influences of free moorland air -and buoyant water, of a spacious heaven and wide horizon, are with us, -and give zest to the study of fish and fowl and flower that are -liberally displayed. Whether it is the flight of a solitary bunting, or -the habitat of the pipe-fish (_Sygnathus_), the progress of _Myæ_ in the -refluent tide or a nested robin domiciled among strange perils, the -scenic suggestion cannot fail to persuade the senses. A large and -distinctive portion of Mr. Smith's book is devoted to the investigation -of the rich spoil of the dredger, as might be anticipated of so -enthusiastic a student of fish culture, and many of the most interesting -pages describe excursions on the waters of Etive and Creran and -Benderloch, or among the rocky pools and stretches of sand exposed by -the ebbing sea. By sea or land, on the wild hills or among the flowers -and insects of his garden, Mr. Smith has ever something to say that is -worth hearing, and he says it with admirable clearness and -force."--_Saturday Review._ - -"These charming notes from the Western Highlands are truly fascinating. -Entering into the very spirit of the life and scenery by which he is -surrounded, Mr. Smith gives his readers the benefit of the vast and -out-of-the-way stores of information he has gathered in all branches of -natural history. Each month, as it passes, has a chapter devoted to all -its manifold changes and doings, and we get many glimpses of charming -excursions, not unmixed with danger, when overtaken by those sudden -climatic changes to which that grand wild mountainous coast is often -exposed. An enthusiastic naturalist, the writer does not ride his hobby -to death, but, like a true lover of Nature, his sketches are bright and -fresh, and full of vivid descriptions, interspersed with many curious -anecdotes and facts relating to both the animal and vegetable kingdoms. -No better or more instructive guide to the fauna and flora of the -Western Highlands could be had than Mr. Anderson Smith's most pleasant -book."--_Literary World._ - -"They will be well rewarded who follow Mr. Anderson Smith along the -sea-shore, the hill-side, or the trouting stream; they will find how -much a quiet and attentive eye can glean from a loving study of the -denizens of earth, air, and water. The book is provided with a good -index, and those who have not leisure or patience to read it through at -a sitting may dip where they please. Like Mr. Smith's dredge, they -hardly ever fail to bring up something of interest."--_Scotsman._ - -"Students of natural history who read _Benderloch_, by Mr. W. A. Smith, -will give a cordial welcome to _Loch Creran_, another and even more -attractive work by the same observant author. With the exception, -perhaps, of Mr. Jefferson, no living naturalist is gifted with a more -picturesque manner of depicting the habits of birds, beasts, and fishes -than is Mr. Smith.... Then what a vast fund of entertaining instruction -is gathered in these excursions; a royal road to natural history is laid -down by Mr. Smith, and the student follows it leisurely, culling -charming bits of zoological lore here and there. One never knows what a -new day may bring forth when accompanying Mr. Smith on his rambles.... -There is, indeed, no end to the curious things observed by Mr. Smith. He -seems only to sleep at home, for, with his waterproof handy, he roams -about all day in the open air, and comes home at night with a -well-filled note-book.... The wealth of interesting matter in this -delightful volume is, however, tempting us beyond our space, and we -think we have collated enough to make all who love the country, its -sights and sounds, and health-giving breezes read the work -itself."--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -"To those who are familiar with Mr. Anderson Smith's _Benderloch_, no -introduction or recommendation will be necessary on behalf of his new -book, _Loch Creran_. The work is, in fact, as the preface explains, -simply a continuation of the natural history sketches of which -_Benderloch_ is composed.... With what a happy combination of vivacity -and patience, insight and enthusiasm, Mr. Anderson Smith scans the open -pages of that great tome of nature.... Treasure-trove of this kind, -along with notes of a more strictly scientific character, is freely -scattered through Mr. Anderson Smith's pages; and so it will have a -charm for every reader with healthy natural tastes."--_Scottish Leader._ - -"There are few books in the language more delightful than White's -_Selborne_, and in Mr. W. Anderson Smith that earnest Hampshire -naturalist has a distinguished successor. His most recent volume is -worthy of the author of _Benderloch_, a book which, it may be hoped, is -already familiar to our readers.... The variety of his researches on -land and water prevent monotony. The author has much to tell, and he -explains what he has seen and done without waste of -words."--_Illustrated London News._ - -"Mr. Anderson Smith's observations extend over 1881-2, and refer mainly -to the natural history of the district, but he deals also with other -aspects of Nature, and his book is well worth reading."--_Times._ - -"There can be no hesitation in assuring lovers of Nature that in _Loch -Creran_ they will find a work after their own heart.... The charm of the -volume before us is that it is not the hasty outcome of the bookmaker -feverishly eager to piece together into a volume odds and ends of -information. There is an air of leisureliness about _Loch Creran_. Month -by month are given the results of two years' close intercourse with loch -and sea, field and wood. The work is one to be enjoyed by those who -share the writer's tastes and spirit, and not to be rushed by the -heedless."--_Graphic._ - -"Every page has its charm, something at once to instruct the mind and to -tickle and amuse the fancy. It is not a book to be read through at one -sitting, but one to dip into occasionally and to ruminate over in -pleased contentment. Perhaps its worth will be best appreciated by those -taking a holiday in the country, or, above all, at the seaside. And it -will serve as a very efficient guide to persons beginning the study of -natural history, directing them what and how to observe. Many a capital -story he gives illustrating the remarkable intelligence of the lower -animals. Some of these border upon the marvellous."--_Perthshire -Constitutional and Journal._ - -"Chatty and discursive, rather than elaborate, the interest in 'Loch -Creran' is well maintained throughout, and the book appeals to the -general reader, by whom it will doubtless be perused with greater -pleasure than a more highly scientific disquisition."--_Pall Mall -Gazette._ - -"He is a charming companion. His descriptions are vivid and true to -nature--whether he makes us shiver and feel glad of the shelter of the -house, as he tells us of winter's storms and floods, or whether he fills -our hearts with a longing for the freshness and gladness of spring as he -notes the signs of its advent on the shores of Loch Creran."--_Glasgow -Herald._ - - -_OLD CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND: Lectures on Kirk-Session and Presbytery -Records._ _Second Series._ By ANDREW EDGAR, D.D. Demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. -6d. Post free. - -"Antiquaries may welcome the minister of Mauchline as an elder brother -of their craft. We have not seen the first series of lectures, but -certainly these contain much that is queer and quaint. Odd people, these -Scotch folks; but there is a homeliness and a reverence about them which -we greatly value. Our author is evidently of the Established Church, and -knows most about the old customs of that body, of which he writes with a -twinkle in his eye which causes our eye to twinkle also. The grim want -of humour in some of the proceedings is about the same thing as the -presence of humour: you may laugh till you cry, and cry till you laugh; -between the tremendously solemn and the ridiculous there is but a step. -We have been so interested with the lectures that we must get the former -volume. What times those must have been when guests at a funeral began -to meet at ten in the morning, though the body might not be moved till -three or four! Five or six hours! How did they spin them out? No marvel -that the Kirk-Session had to hear charges of drunkenness. Such books as -these are the best of history, leading us indeed into byways and lone -paths which the general historian never traces."--=C. H. Spurgeon.= - - -_MY COLLEGE DAYS: The Autobiography of an Old Student._ Edited by R. -MENZIES FERGUSSON, M.A., Author of "Rambles in the Far North," &c. 8vo, -cloth, 5s. Post free. - -"Mr. Fergusson, either as author or as editor, has well earned our -gratitude by giving us a volume which all may read with enjoyment and -pleasure.... Space and its limits will not allow us to dwell on many -other points of interest to be found in this entertaining volume; but we -cannot pass without mentioning the worthy dame who said, in praise of -her preacher: 'There's ae thing aboot yon man--he's a grand roarer.' Nor -must we forget the careful landlady who was always anxious to know if -her student-lodger was as yet an unengaged man, or, to use her own -graphic phrase, was 'a bund sack set by.'..."--_Literary World._ - -"We own to a suspicion that in this instance Mr. Fergusson has been his -own literary executor. Whether this be the case or not, he has no -reason to be ashamed of the bequest. The sketches have a pleasant grace -of literary style, and a good deal of power in description of -character-sketching, while there is in the writer a subtle under-strain -of pawky humour, and he has brought together and put permanently on -record a number of traditions of University life in Edinburgh and St. -Andrews that are well worth preservation.... Our old student's -reminiscences of St. Andrews, where he took the theological course after -graduating in arts at Edinburgh, are not less lively or interesting than -those he sets down respecting his Alma Mater; and his book is likely to -take a place both on the shelves and in the enduring regard of many -readers who have had similar experiences and tasted similar pleasures. A -word of praise is due to the excellence of its typography and -get-up."--_Scottish Leader._ - -"We think the verdict will be that Mr. Fergusson has done well in -publishing this thoughtful book. It abounds in vigorous, and, in many -cases, eloquent delineations of University life; it is sympathetic in -its spirit and catholic in its tone, especially when dealing with such -subjects as the stage, so frequently abused. Its author was a student of -the Universities of Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and Oxford, his -reminiscences of which are often humorous, and always interesting. Some -of the anecdotes recorded in this volume regarding the Edinburgh -Professors are exceedingly entertaining.... We venture to predict for -this autobiography a wide circulation."--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -"The book is eminently readable, very quiet for the most part, but not -without a few touches of gaiety and sprightly humour; and it betokens no -little culture together with a strong poetic tendency. The contents are -almost entirely confined to sketches of life at Scottish Universities, -with some playful personal satire, of which various Professors, some -mentioned by name and others denoted by initials, are the objects in -chief, although the peculiarities of certain landladies whose province -it is, or was, to let lodgings to students at Edinburgh or elsewhere, -come in for their share of more or less satirical delineation. But there -is nothing spiteful, nothing bitter, nothing cynical in the mode of -treatment. Two chapters are devoted to a sketch, brief but graphic and -sympathetic, of academic Oxford, whither the author went to sojourn and -to study for two months."--_Illustrated London News._ - -"This is a delightful book, calculated to afford much pleasurable -amusement of a quiet kind. It is written in a light sparkling style.... -The book itself is an enjoyable one, and perhaps none will read it with -greater relish than the old fogies who see in it much of what they -themselves passed through, and who, by the perusal are led to recall, -with mingled feelings, the aspirations, the freshness, and the frolic of -their own College days."--_Perthshire Constitutional._ - -"By those who have passed through the Universities it will be read with -considerable pleasure, affording as it does such happy reminiscences of -'College days,' with their grave, plodding seriousness, or that more -boisterous playfulness which is supposed to be the characteristic of -students as a class. Those, again, who are simply outsiders, and have -had no College days whatever, will be charmed by the recital here given -of the doings of the students, and the customs associated with the -respective Universities, the pen-portraits of the several professors, -the opinions expressed regarding men and things, the poetry, original -and selected, and the hundred and one subjects here treated of by a man -of observant nature possessing facility of expression, besides a keen -sense and appreciation of the humorous...."--_Stirling Observer._ - -"Many a 'varsity man, who has won his decree in the modest 'little city, -worn and grey,' will welcome the appearance of Mr. R. M. Fergusson's -_College Days_. Redolent every page of it, of the class-room, and the -wild Bohemianism of student life, and bristling with the 'classic' -ditties which have so often made the halls of St. Salvator's resound, -here is material for a mental revel in the past."--_Northern Chronicle._ - -"This series of autobiographical notes deserve recognition, if only -because the style is perfectly natural and perfectly good-natured.... -The book contains several capital anecdotes and some excellent -verse."--_London Figaro._ - -"But after all the charm of the volume lies in the whole life of a -student which is presented to us, for his joys and his troubles, his -amusements and his hard reading, are here written of by one who has -evidently experienced all. Scattered throughout these pages are numerous -verses, some original, some well-known students' songs. The original -verses are very good...."--_Stirling Journal._ - -"The volume contains some very excellent poems which are worthy of -finding, and doubtless will find, a place as verses to future songs. -There is not a chapter in the book which is not thoroughly -entertaining."--_The Tribune._ - -"The 'Old Student' has to speak of Scotch Universities, Edinburgh, to -wit, and St. Andrews, while he gives some impressions, gained as an -outsider, of Oxford.... There is much that is interesting and -entertaining, some good stories, and generally a pleasant picture of a -happy and busy life."--_Spectator._ - -"The writer is always entertaining and kindly, is wise in season, and -also _desipit in loco_, and tells some good stories--professors being -naturally his chief subjects."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - -"It is, to say the least, eminently probable that Mr. Fergusson relates -his own experiences in Edinburgh and St. Andrews. He does so in a -sufficiently lively and 'freshman' style.... _My College Days_ is, on -the whole, as readable as any book of the kind that has recently been -published."--_The Academy._ - -"Mr. R. Menzies Fergusson paints life as he thinks he saw it as a young -man at St. Andrews and Edinburgh, in _My College Days_. This -'autobiography of an old student' contains much interesting -reminiscence, and Mr. Fergusson has perhaps not erred in introducing -into his text specimens of the verse into which some of his Caledonian -student contemporaries were in the habit of dropping occasionally. Mr. -Fergusson's little book should find many a sympathetic reader among -former _alumni_ of the Scottish Universities, for he writes without -affectation."--_Graphic._ - -'Seldom have we had more pleasure than in the perusal of these -reminiscences of College days. No one who has gone through the -curriculum of a Scotch University can fail to attest the fidelity with -which his experience here finds expression.... 'An Old Student' was -privileged to have more than one _alma mater_. He could boast the -fostering care of Edinburgh, of St. Andrews, and of Oxford, and of all -these he has most pleasant reminiscences. Our author's experiences at -Oxford will repay perusal. The whole book, written in a most happy, -though thoughtful and affectionate strain, must incite the most cordial -sympathy of all whose student days have not been forgotten, while the -general public will peruse it with responsive hearts and a regretful -feeling that they have missed the experiences of which it -treats.'--_Brechin Advertiser._ - -'The minister of Logie, who made a decided hit with _Rambles in the Far -North_, has attempted a very difficult bit of work in _My College Days_. -This purports to be the MS. legacy of a College friend who died young -after some experience of student life in Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and -Oxford. The fiction will impose upon nobody, although it may shield the -editor from some blame, for while there is mirth and vigour and kindly -reminiscence, there is also some very sharp criticism, and much -reference to Academic dignitaries who are still in the flesh, and may be -sensitive and inclined to sting when they find some of their class jokes -not merely in print but bound in a book.... If certain Edinburgh divines -beguile a leisure hour over these pages, they will for once see -themselves as the keen-witted see them, and be amazed at the impudence -of the rising generation. Everybody who knows Edinburgh will recognise -the portrait of the preacher who is likened to Dr. Andrew Thomson in one -thing--'There's ae thing about yon man, he's a grand roarer.' The St. -Andrews part is full and cleverly done, and will have a charm for most -_alumni_ of the 'College of the scarlet gown,' because it contains a -large number of the songs, original and selected, with which the lobby -of the Natural Philosophy class-room was wont to resound."--_Elgin -Courant._ - -"The style is lively, and the descriptions of scenes of student life are -graphic. The account of the election of Rector at Edinburgh will -doubtless interest many, and the chapter dealing with landladies, their -varieties and idiosyncracies, is humorous."--_Morning Post._ - -"To recent students of our two greatest Scottish Universities--Edinburgh -and St. Andrews--_My College Days_ is charged with intense interest, -though its racy humour and chatty discursiveness will render it -attractive reading to those uninitiated in academic mysteries and -innocent of student frivolities. The life of an Edinburgh student, in -college and out of college, in the class-room, the debating society, the -theatre, and the church, is described with untiring vivacity.... Whether -author or merely editor, Mr. Menzies Fergusson is to be sincerely -congratulated upon his success. Reminiscence is a species of literature -not always instructive, not always even entertaining; in Mr. Fergusson's -hands it becomes both."--_Fifeshire Journal._ - -"We think the verdict of every impartial reader will be that Mr. -Ferguson has done well in publishing this book. It abounds in vigorous, -and, in many instances, impressive descriptions of University life; it -is enlivened at judicious intervals with original verses, which evince -lyrical power; its style is admirably condensed and clear; it is -sympathetic in its spirit and catholic in its tone, especially when -dealing with such subjects as the stage and its modern exponents by -narrow-minded writers so frequently abused."--_Ayr Observer._ - -"It is pleasantly written, is full of the fun of student life, full, -too, of its hardships, abounds with excellent stories, is very -discriminating in professional criticism, while scattered throughout the -racy pages are many snatches of jovial college songs recorded nowhere -else.... Altogether the volume is very readable, and no student, at all -events, can find a dull page in it."--_Kelso Chronicle._ - - -_THE TRAGEDY OF GOWRIE HOUSE._ An Historical Study. By LOUIS A. BARBÉ. -Fcap. 4to, 6s. - -In this new work on the interesting and mysterious episode of Scottish -History, usually known as the Gowrie Conspiracy, the author has not only -submitted the old materials to a close examination, but also thrown new -light on the subject by the help of letters to be found in the Record -Office, but overlooked or suppressed by former historians, of documents -recently discovered by the Commission on Historical MSS., and also of -important papers preserved in the French Archives. - -"_A treasure of almost priceless thought and criticism._"--_Contemporary -Review._ - -In the press. Second Edition, Thoroughly Revised. Cr. 8vo, 338 pp., 7s. -6d. - - -WIT, WISDOM, AND PATHOS, - -FROM THE PROSE OF HEINRICH HEINE. - -_WITH A FEW PIECES FROM THE "BOOK OF SONGS."_ - -SELECTED AND TRANSLATED BY J. SNODGRASS. - -"Mr. Snodgrass has produced a book in which lazy people will find a -great deal to please them. They can take it up at any moment, and open -it on any page with the certainty of finding some bright epigram; they -need not turn down the page on shutting up the volume, as it matters -little where they resume. There is nothing jarring in the whole -book."--_Athenæum, April 19, 1877._ - -"No Englishman of culture who is unacquainted with Heine can fail to -derive a new intellectual pleasure from Mr. Snodgrass's -pages."--_Contemporary Review, September 1880._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass would appear to have saturated himself with Heine -literature, to have so caught Heine's mode of thought and his turns of -expression--quaint, droll, swift, and scathing by turns--that the -translator would appear to have had no more difficulty in presenting -Heine as he was to the reader than he would have in presenting his own -thoughts."--_Glasgow Herald, March 31, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass, in his 'Wit,' &c., has dime a great service in this -respect, presenting as it were a full-length miniature of the man, clear -and effective, wherein his characteristic expression is faithfully -caught and where, if we look carefully, we can see him as he really was, -for he is made to paint his own portrait."--_British Quarterly Review, -October 1881._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has certainly done great service to English literature in -presenting us with a compact little volume like that before -us."--_Spectator._ - -"A word of cordial praise is due to the translator, Mr. J. Snodgrass, -for his admirable performance of a very difficult task. His book is one -to welcome and to keep as a treasure of almost priceless thought and -criticism."--_Contemporary Review, February 1881._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass is to be thanked for a very seasonable bit of -work."--_Examiner, April 26, 1879._ - -"We are bound to say that Mr. Snodgrass has done his work exceptionally -well."--_The Literary World, May 9, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has made a valuable addition to English literature in -this volume, and has given us a most attractive and efficient -introduction to the study of Heine."--_The Nonconformist, August 20, -1879._ - -"He has performed his task with skill, tact, and judgment; and it is -easy to perceive that he has a thorough acquaintance with his author and -sympathy for his matter."--_Notes and Queries, April 19, 1879._ - -"The result of Mr. Snodgrass's attempt has been the production of a -volume which, for variety and interest, may be pronounced one of the -most successful books of the season."--_Aberdeen Journal, March 26, -1879._ - -"In Heine, whose prose writings in German fill well on to a score of -volumes, we find in remarkable combination the best qualities of German -thought, along with the sparkle and brilliancy of an accomplished -Frenchman's style."--_Aberdeen Daily Free Press, April 21, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has done his selection and translation admirably well and -we owe him thanks for a volume which has in it mere wit of the highest -sort, and more political insight, than any book that has lately been -given to the public."--_Vanity Fair, November 8, 1879._ - -"The compiler of this interesting little volume, Mr. J. Snodgrass is -perfectly right in saying that Heine is chiefly known to English readers -as the author of the 'Book of Songs.'"--_The Week, April 19, 1879._ - -"The 'English Fragments' have a special interest for the English reader; -but the selection from Heine's prose works in general, most judiciously -made and excellently translated by Mr. Snodgrass, gives a much completer -view of the qualities of the writer's mind."--_Saturday Review._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has not essayed to give at all an exhaustive collection -of Heine's witty, wise, and pathetic sayings; but he has selected, in -the order in which they occur in the complete German edition, such -extracts as have specially commended themselves to himself. He has -produced a very enjoyable volume, exactly adapted to the taste of lazy -and luxurious persons, who can just take up the book for five minutes to -read a delightful passage, complete in itself, and not long enough to -fatigue the most fastidious attention."--_Academy, May 31, 1879._ - - -ALEX. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography. - -Author: Solomon Maimon - -Translator: J. Clark Murray, LL.D., F.R.S.C. - -Release Date: October 13, 2012 [EBook #41042] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOLOMON MAIMON: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. *** - - - - -Produced by Charlene Taylor,Josephine Paolucci and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - -_SOLOMON MAIMON._ - - - - -SOLOMON MAIMON: - -_AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY._ - -TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, WITH ADDITIONS AND NOTES, - -BY - -J. CLARK MURRAY, LL.D., F.R.S.C., - -_Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy, M'Gill College, Montreal_. - -/$ -ALEXANDER GARDNER, -PAISLEY; AND 12 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. -DAWSON BROTHERS, MONTREAL; CUPPLES AND HURD, BOSTON. - -1888. -$/ - - - - -CONTENTS. - - -/$ - PAGE - -TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE, ix. - -INTRODUCTION.--State of Poland in last century, 1 - -CHAPTER-- - -I.--My Grandfather's Housekeeping, 6 - -II.--First Reminiscences of Youth, 19 - -III.--Private Education and Independent Study, 22 - -IV.--Jewish Schools--The Joy of being released from them causes - a Stiff Foot, 32 - -V.--My Family is driven into Misery, and an old Servant loses by his - great Faithfulness a Christian Burial, 38 - -VI.--New Abode, New Misery--The Talmudist, 42 - -VII.--Joy endureth but a little while, 49 - -VIII.--The Pupil knows more than the Teacher--A theft _A la -Rousseau_, which is discovered--"The ungodly provideth, and -the righteous putteth it on," 54 - -IX.--Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals--The -Song of Solomon may be used in the service -of Matchmaking--A new _Modus Lucrandi_--Smallpox, 59 - -X.--I become an object of Contention, get two Wives -at once, and am kidnapped at last, 65 - -XI.--My Marriage in my eleventh Year makes me the -Slave of my Wife, and procures for me -Cudgellings from my Mother-in-Law--A -Ghost of Flesh and Blood, 74 - -XII.--The Secrets of the Marriage State--Prince -Radzivil, or what is not all allowed in -Poland? 79 - -XIII.--Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless -Struggles with Misery of every Kind, 89 - -XIV.--I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a -Physician, 94 - -XV.--A brief Exposition of the Jewish Religion from -its Origin down to the most recent Times, 111 - -XVI.--Jewish Piety and Penances, 132 - -XVII.--Friendship and Enthusiasm, 138 - -XVIII.--The Life of a Family Tutor, 145 - -XIX.--Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long -Chapter, 151 - -XX.--Continuation of the Former, and also Something -about Religious Mysteries, 176 - -XXI.--Journeys to KA¶nigsberg, Stettin, and Berlin, for -the purpose of extending my Knowledge of -Men, 187 - -XXII.--Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance, 197 - -XXIII.--Arrival in Berlin--Acquaintances--Mendelssohn--Desperate -Study of Metaphysics--Doubts--Lectures -on Locke and Adelung, 210 - -XXIV.--Mendelssohn--A Chapter devoted to the Memory -of a worthy Friend, 221 - -XXV.--My Aversion at first for Belles Lettres, and my -subsequent Conversion--Departure from Berlin--Sojourn -in Hamburg--I drown myself in -the same way as a bad Actor shoots himself--An -old Fool of a Woman falls in Love with -me, but her Addresses are rejected, 234 - -XXVI.--I return to Hamburg--A Lutheran Pastor -pronounces me to be a scabby Sheep, and -unworthy of Admission into the Christian -Fold--I enter the Gymnasium, and frighten -the Chief Rabbi out of his Wits, 253 - -XXVII.--Third journey to Berlin--Frustrated Plan of -Hebrew Authorship--Journey to Breslau--Divorce, 265 - -XXVIII.--Fourth journey to Berlin--Unfortunate - circumstances--Help--Study of Kant's Writings--Characteristic -of my own Works, 279 - -CONCLUDING CHAPTER, 290 -$/ - - - - -TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. - - -One effect of _Daniel Deronda_ was to make known to a wide circle of -readers the vitality of Judaism as a system which still holds sway over -the mental as well as the external life of men. During the few years -which have passed since the publication of that great fiction, the -interest in modern Judaism has continued to grow. It is but a short time -since the Western world was startled by the outbreak of an ancient -feeling against the Jews, which had been supposed to be long dead, at -least in some of the quarters where it was displayed. The popular -literature of the day also seems to indicate that the life of existing -Jewish communities is attracting a large share of attention in the -reading world. The charming pictures which Emil Franzos has drawn of -Jewish life in the villages of Eastern Galicia, are not only popular in -Germany, but some have been reproduced in a cheap form in New York to -meet the demand of German Americans, and some have also been translated -into English. The interest of English readers in the same subject is -further shown by the recent translation of Kompert's _Scenes from the -Ghetto_, as well as by Mr. Cumberland's still more recent and powerful -romance of _The Rabbi's Spell_. Among students of philosophical -literature a fresh interest has been awakened in the history of Jewish -thought by the revival of the question in reference to the sources of -Spinoza's philosophy. The affinities of this system with the familiar -tendencies of Cartesian speculation have led the historians of -philosophy generally to represent the former as simply an inevitable -development of the latter, while the affinities of Spinozism with the -unfamiliar speculations of earlier Jewish thinkers have been almost -entirely ignored. - -In these circumstances a special interest may be felt in the life of one -of the most remarkable Jews of modern times--a life which forms one of -the most extraordinary biographies in the history of literature. - -Readers of _Daniel Deronda_ may remember that, in his search among the -Jews of London for some one who could throw light on the sad story of -Mirah, the hero of the novel was attracted one day to a second-hand -book-shop, where his eye fell on "that wonderful bit of -autobiography--the life of the Polish Jew, Solomon Maimon." There are -few men so remarkable as Maimon who have met with so little recognition -in English literature. Milman, in his _History of the Jews_, refers -once[1] to the autobiography as "a curious and rare book," but -apparently he knew it only from some quotations in Franck's _La -Cabbale_. Among English metaphysical writers the only one who seems to -have studied the speculations of Maimon is Dr. Hodgson.[2] Even the new -edition of the _Encyclopedia Britannica_ gives no place to Maimon among -its biographies. And yet he is a prominent figure among the -metaphysicians of the Kantian period. Kuno Fischer, in his _Geschichte -der Neueren Philosophie_,[3] devotes a whole chapter to the life of -Maimon, while the contemporary critics of Kant are dismissed with little -or no biographical notice. Fischer's sketch is just sufficient to whet -curiosity for fuller details; but, amid the dearth of rare literature in -Colonial libraries, I certainly never expected to come, in a Canadian -town, upon "a curious and rare book" of last century, which was known -even to the learned Milman only through some quotations from a French -author. One day, however, in Toronto, in order to while away an -unoccupied hour, I was glancing, like Daniel Deronda, over the shelves -of a second-hand bookseller, when I was attracted by a small volume, in -a good state of preservation, with "S. Maimon's Lebensgeschichte" on the -back; and on taking it down I found it to be the veritable autobiography -which I had been curious to see. - -Some account of the work was given in an article in the _British -Quarterly Review_ for July, 1885; but I thought that a complete -translation would probably be welcomed by a considerable circle of -English readers. The book has many attractions. If the development of -the inner life of man can ever be characterised as a romance, the -biography of Maimon may, in the truest sense, be said to be one of the -most romantic stories ever written. Perhaps no literature has preserved -a more interesting record of a spirit imprisoned within almost -insuperable barriers to culture, yet acquiring strength to burst all -these, and even to become an appreciable power in directing the course -of speculation. The book, however, is much more than a biography; it -possesses historical interest. It opens up what, to many English -readers, must be unknown efforts of human thought, unknown wanderings of -the religious life. The light, which it throws upon Judaism especially, -both in its speculative and in its practical aspects, is probably, in -fact, unique. For the sketches, which the book contains, of Jewish -speculation and life were made at a time when the author had severed all -vital connection with his own people and their creed; and they are -therefore drawn from a point of view outside of Jewish prejudices: but -they are penned by one who had been brought up to believe the divine -mission of his people, as well as the divine authority of their -religion; and the criticism of his old faith is generally tempered by -that kindly sympathy, with which the heart is apt to be warmed on -lingering over the companionships and other associations of earlier -years. Maimon's account of Jewish philosophy and theology acquires an -additional value from the fact, that he was caught in the full tide of -the Kantian movement, and he was thus in a position to point out -unexpected affinities between many an old effort of speculative thought -among the Jews and the philosophical tendencies of modern Christendom. - -Since writing the above-mentioned article for the _British Quarterly -Review_, I learnt that a volume of _Maimoniana_ had been issued in 1813 -by an old friend of our philosopher, Dr. Wolff[4]; and through the -kindness of a friend in Leipsic, I was enabled, after some delay, to -procure a copy. It is a small volume of 260 pages, and adds extremely -little to our knowledge of Maimon. Nearly one third is simply a -condensation of the autobiography; and the remainder shows the author -with the opportunities indeed, but without the faculty, of a Boswell. He -has preserved but few of the felicities of Maimon's conversation; and -what he has preserved loses a good deal of its flavour from his want of -the lively memory by which Boswell was able to reproduce the peculiar -mannerisms of Johnson's talk. Still I have culled from the little -volume a few notes for illustration of the autobiography, and I am -indebted to it for most of the materials of the concluding chapter. All -my additions are indicated by "_Trans._" appended. - -The translation gives the whole of the biographical portion of the -original. There are, however, ten chapters which I have omitted, as they -are occupied entirely with a sketch of the great work of -Maimonides,--the _Moreh Nebhochim_, or _Guide of the Perplexed_. Owing -to their somewhat loose connection[5] with the rest, these chapters -excite just the faintest suspicion of "padding;" and at all events there -is no demand for such a sketch in English now, when our literature has -been recently enriched by Dr. FriedlA¤nder's careful translation of the -whole work. - -In the performance of my task I have endeavoured to render the original -as literally as was consistent with readable English. Only in one or -two passages I have toned down the expression slightly to suit the -tastes of our own time; but even in these I have not been unfaithful to -the author's meaning. - -In the spelling of Hebrew and other foreign words I have never, without -some good reason, interfered with the original. But as Maimon is not -always consistent with himself in this respect, I have felt myself at -liberty to disregard his usage by adopting such forms as are more -familiar, or more likely to be intelligible, to an English reader. - - - - -SOLOMON MAIMON. - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -The inhabitants of Poland may be conveniently divided into six classes -or orders:--the superior nobility, the inferior nobility, the -half-noble, burghers, peasantry and Jews. - -The superior nobility consist of the great landowners and administrators -of the high offices of government. The inferior nobility also are -allowed to own land and to fill any political office; but they are -prevented from doing so by their poverty. The half-noble can neither own -land, nor fill any high office in the State; and by this he is -distinguished from the genuine noble. Here and there, it is true, he -owns land; but for that he is in some measure dependent on the lord of -the soil, within whose estate his property lies, inasmuch as he is -required to pay him a yearly tribute. - -The burghers are the most wretched of all the orders. They are not, 'tis -true, in servitude to any man; they also enjoy certain privileges, and -have a jurisdiction of their own. But as they seldom own any property -of value, or follow rightly any profession, they always remain in a -condition of pitiable poverty. - -The last two orders, namely the peasantry and the Jews, are the most -useful in the country. The former occupy themselves with agriculture, -raising cattle, keeping bees,--in short, with all the products of the -soil. The latter engage in trade, take up the professions and -handicrafts, become bakers, brewers, dealers in beer, brandy, mead and -other articles. They are also the only persons who farm estates in towns -and villages, except in the case of ecclesiastical properties, where the -reverend gentlemen hold it a sin to put a Jew in a position to make a -living, and accordingly prefer to hand over their farms to the peasants. -For this they must suffer by their farms going to ruin, as the peasantry -have no aptitude for this sort of employment: but of course they choose -rather to bear this with Christian resignation. - -In consequence of the ignorance of most of the Polish landlords, the -oppression of the tenantry, and the utter want of economy, most of the -farms in Poland, at the end of last century,[6] had fallen into such a -state of decay, that a farm, which now yields about a thousand Polish -gulden, was offered to a Jew for ten; but in consequence of still -greater ignorance and laziness, with all that advantage even he could -not make a living off the farm. An incident, however, occurred at this -time, which gave a new turn to affairs. Two brothers from Galicia, where -the Jews are much shrewder than in Lithuania, took, under the name of -_Dersawzes_ or farmers-general, a lease of all the estates of Prince -Radzivil, and, by means of a better industry as well as a better -economy, they not only raised the estates into a better condition, but -also enriched themselves in a short time. - -Disregarding the clamour of their brethren, they increased the rents, -and enforced payment by the sub-lessees with the utmost stringency. They -themselves exercised a direct oversight of the farms; and wherever they -found a farmer who, instead of looking after his own interests and those -of his landlord in the improvement of his farm by industry and economy, -spent the whole day in idleness, or lay drunk about the stove, they soon -brought him to his senses, and roused him out of his indolence by a -flogging. This procedure of course acquired for the farmers-general, -among their own people, the name of tyrants. - -All this, however, had a very good effect. The farmer, who at the term -had hitherto been unable to pay up his ten gulden of rent without -requiring to be sent to jail about it, now came under such a strong -inducement to active exertion, that he was not only able to support a -family off his farm, but was also able to pay, instead of ten, four or -five hundred, and sometimes even a thousand gulden. - -The Jews, again, may be divided into three classes:--(1) the illiterate -working people, (2) those who make learning their profession, and (3) -those who merely devote themselves to learning without engaging in any -remunerative occupation, being supported by the industrial class. To the -second class belong the chief rabbis, preachers, judges, schoolmasters, -and others of similar profession. The third class consists of those who, -by their pre-eminent abilities and learning, attract the regard of the -unlearned, are taken by these into their families, married to their -daughters, and maintained for some years with wife and children at their -expense. Afterwards, however, the wife is obliged to take upon herself -the maintenance of the saintly idler and the children (who are usually -very numerous); and for this, as is natural, she thinks a good deal of -herself. - -There is perhaps no country besides Poland, where religious freedom and -religious enmity are to be met with in equal degree. The Jews enjoy -there a perfectly free exercise of their religion and all other civil -liberties; they have even a jurisdiction of their own. On the other -hand, however, religious hatred goes so far, that the name of Jew has -become an abomination; and this abhorrence, which had taken root in -barbarous times, continued to show its effects till about thirteen years -ago. But this apparent contradiction may be very easily removed, if it -is considered that the religious and civil liberty, conceded to the Jews -in Poland, has not its source in any respect for the universal rights -of mankind, while, on the other hand, the religious hatred and -persecution are by no means the result of a wise policy which seeks to -remove out of the way whatever is injurious to morality and the welfare -of the State. Both phenomena are results of the political ignorance and -torpor prevalent in the country. With all their defects the Jews are -almost the only useful inhabitants of the country, and therefore the -Polish people found themselves obliged, for the satisfaction of their -own wants, to grant all possible liberties to the Jews; but, on the -other hand, their moral ignorance and stupor could not fail to produce -religious hatred and persecution. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -My Grandfather's Housekeeping. - - -My grandfather, Heimann Joseph, was farmer of some villages in the -neighbourhood of the town of Mir, in the territory of Prince -Radzivil.[7] He selected for his residence one of these villages on the -river Niemen, called Sukoviborg, where, besides a few peasants' plots, -there was a water-mill, a small harbour, and a warehouse for the use of -the vessels that come from KA¶nigsberg, in Prussia. All this, along with -a bridge behind the village, and on the other side a drawbridge on the -river Niemen, belonged to the farm, which was then worth about a -thousand gulden, and formed my grandfather's _Chasakah_.[8] This farm, -on account of the warehouse and the great traffic, was very lucrative. -With sufficient industry and economical skill, _si mens non laeva -fuisset_, my grandfather should have been able, not only to support his -family, but even to gather wealth. The bad constitution of the country, -however, and his own want of all the acquirements necessary for -utilising the land, placed extraordinary obstacles in his way. - -My grandfather settled his brothers as tenants under him in the villages -belonging to his farm. These not only lived continually with my -grandfather under the pretence of assisting him in his manifold -occupations, but in addition to this they would not pay their rents at -the end of the year. - -The buildings, belonging to my grandfather's farm, had fallen into decay -from age, and required therefore to be repaired. The harbour and the -bridge also had become dilapidated. In accordance with the terms of the -lease the landlord was to repair everything, and put it in a condition -fit for use. But, like all the Polish magnates, he resided permanently -in Warsaw, and could therefore give no attention to the improvement of -his estates. His stewards had for their principal object the improvement -rather of their own condition than of their landlord's property. They -oppressed the farmers with all sorts of exactions, they neglected the -orders given for the improvement of the farms, and the moneys intended -for this purpose they applied to their own use. My grandfather indeed -made representations on the subject to the stewards day after day, and -assured them that it was impossible for him to pay his rent, if -everything was not put into proper condition according to the lease. All -this, however, was of no avail. He always received promises indeed, but -the promises were never fulfilled. The result was not only the ruin of -the farm, but several other evils arising from that. - -As already mentioned, there was a large traffic at this place; and as -the bridges were in a bad state, it happened not infrequently that these -broke down just when a Polish nobleman with his rich train was passing, -and horse and rider were plunged into the swamp. The poor farmer was -then dragged to the bridge, where he was laid down and flogged till it -was thought that sufficient revenge had been taken. - -My grandfather therefore did all in his power to guard against this evil -in the future. For this purpose he stationed one of his people to keep -watch at the bridge, so that, if any noble were passing, and an accident -of this sort should happen, the sentinel might bring word to the house -as quickly as possible, and the whole family might thus have time to -take refuge in the neighbouring wood. Every one thereupon ran in terror -out of the house, and not infrequently they were all obliged to remain -the whole night in the open air, till one after another ventured to -approach the house. - -This sort of life lasted for some generations. My father used to tell of -an incident of this sort, which happened when he was still a boy of -about eight years. The whole family had fled to their usual retreat. But -my father, who knew nothing of what had happened, and was playing at the -back of the stove, stayed behind alone. When the angry lord came into -the house with his suite, and found nobody on whom he could wreak his -vengeance, he ordered every corner of the house to be searched, when my -father was found at the back of the stove. The nobleman asked him if he -would drink brandy, and, on the boy refusing, shouted: "If you will not -drink brandy, you shall drink water." At the same time he ordered a -bucketful of water to be brought, and forced my father, by lashes with -his whip, to drink it out. Naturally this treatment brought on a quartan -fever, which lasted nearly a whole year, and completely undermined his -health. - -A similar incident took place when I was a child of three years. Every -one ran out of the house; and the housemaid, who carried me in her arms, -hurried forth. But as the servants of the nobleman who had arrived ran -after her, she quickened her steps, and in her extreme haste let me fall -from her arms. There I lay whimpering on the skirt of the wood, till -fortunately a peasant passing by lifted me up and took me home with him. -It was only after everything had become quiet again, and the family had -returned to the house, that the maid remembered having lost me in the -flight, when she began to lament and wring her hands. They sought me -everywhere, but could not find me, till at last the peasant came from -the village and restored me to my parents. - -It was not merely the terror and consternation, into which we used to be -thrown on the occasion of such a flight; to this was added the -plundering of the house when deprived of its inhabitants. Beer, brandy, -and mead were drunk at pleasure; the spirit of revenge even went so far -at times, that the casks were left to run out; corn and fowls were -carried off; and so forth. - -Had my grandfather, instead of seeking justice from a more powerful -litigant, rather borne the injustice, and built the bridge in question -at his own expense, he would have been able to avoid all these evils. He -appealed, however, persistently to the terms of his lease, and the -steward made sport of his misery. - -And now something about my grandfather's domestic economy. The manner of -life, which he led in his house, was quite simple. The annual produce of -the arable lands, pasture-lands, and kitchen-gardens, belonging to the -farm, was sufficient, not only for the wants of his own family, but also -for brewing and distilling. He could even, besides, sell a quantity of -grain and hay. His bee-hives were sufficient for the brewing of mead. He -had also a large number of cattle. - -The principal food consisted of a poor kind of corn-bread mixed with -bran, of articles made of meal and milk, and of the produce of the -garden, seldom of flesh-meat. The clothing was made of poor linen and -coarse stuff. Only the women made in these matters a slight exception, -and my father also, who was a scholar, required a different sort of -life. - -Hospitality was here carried very far. The Jews in this neighbourhood -are continually moving about from place to place; and as there was a -great traffic at our village, they were frequently passing through it, -and of course they had always to stop at my grandfather's inn. Every -Jewish traveller was met at the door with a glass of spirits; one hand -making the _salaam_,[9] while the other reached the glass. He then had -to wash his hands, and seat himself at the table which remained -constantly covered. - -The support of a numerous family along with this hospitality would have -had no serious effect in impairing my grandfather's circumstances, if at -the same time he had introduced a better economy in his house. This, -however, was the source of his misfortune. - -My grandfather was in trifles almost too economical, and neglected -therefore matters of the greatest importance. He looked upon it, for -example, as extravagance to burn wax or tallow candles; their place had -to be supplied with thin strips of resinous pine, one end of which was -stuck into the chinks of the wall, while the other was lit. Not -unfrequently by this means fires were occasioned, and much damage -caused, in comparison with which the cost of candles was not worth -taking into consideration. - -The apartment, in which beer, spirits, mead, herrings, salt and other -articles were kept for the daily account of the inn, had no windows, -but merely apertures, through which it received light. Naturally this -often tempted the sailors and carriers who put up at the inn to climb -into the apartment, and make themselves drunk gratuitously with spirits -and mead. What was still worse, these carousing heroes, from fear of -being caught in the act, often took to flight, on hearing the slightest -noise, without waiting to put in the spigot, sprang out at the holes by -which they had come in, and let the liquor run as long as it might. In -this way sometimes whole casks of spirits and mead ran out. - -The barns had no proper locks, but were shut merely with wooden bolts. -Any one therefore, especially as the barns were at some distance from -the dwelling-house, could take from them at pleasure, and even carry off -whole waggonloads of grain. The sheepfold had, all over, holes, by which -wolves (the forest being quite near) were able to slink in, and worry -the sheep at their convenience. - -The cows came very often from the pasture with empty udders. According -to the superstition which prevailed there, it was said in such cases, -that the milk had been taken from them by witchcraft,--a misfortune, -against which it was supposed that nothing could be done. - -My grandmother, a good simple woman, when tired with her household -occupations, lay down often in her clothes to sleep by the stove, and -had all her pockets full of money, without knowing how much. Of this -the housemaid took advantage, and emptied the pockets of half their -contents. Nevertheless my grandmother seldom perceived the want, if only -the girl did not play too clumsy a trick. - -All these evils could easily have been avoided of course by repairing -the buildings, the windows, the window-shutters and locks, by proper -oversight of the manifold lucrative occupations connected with the farm, -as also by keeping an exact account of receipts and disbursements. But -this was never thought of. On the other hand, if my father, who was a -scholar, and educated partly in town, ordered for himself a rabbinical -suit, for which a finer stuff was required than that in common use, my -grandfather did not fail to give him a long and severe lecture on the -vanity of the world. "Our forefathers," he used to say, "knew nothing of -these new-fashioned costumes, and yet were devout people. You must have -a coat of striped woolen cloth,[10] you must have leather hose, with -buttons even, and everything on the same scale. You will bring me to -beggary at last; I shall be thrown into prison on your account. Ay me, -poor unfortunate man! What is to become of me?" - -My father then appealed to the rights and privileges of the profession -of a scholar, and showed moreover that, in a well-arranged system of -economy, it does not so much matter whether you live somewhat better or -worse, and that even my grandfather's misfortunes arose, not from -extravagant consumption in housekeeping, but rather from the fact that -he allowed himself by his remissness to be plundered by others. All this -however was of no avail with my grandfather. He could not tolerate -innovations. Everything therefore had to be left as it was. - -My grandfather was held in the place of his abode to be a rich man, -which he could really have been if he had known how to make use of his -opportunities; and on this account he was envied and hated by all, even -by his own family, he was abandoned by his landlord, he was oppressed in -every possible way by the steward, and cheated and robbed by his own -domestics as well as by strangers. In short, he was _the poorest rich -man_ in the world. - -In addition to all this there were still greater misfortunes, which I -cannot here pass over wholly in silence. The pope, that is, the Russian -clergyman in this village, was a dull ignorant blockhead, who had -scarcely learned to read and write. He spent most of his time at the -inn, where he drank spirits with his boorish parishioners, and let his -liquor always be put down to his account, without ever a thought of -paying his score. My grandfather at last became tired of this, and made -up his mind to give him nothing more upon credit. The fellow naturally -took this very ill, and therefore resolved upon revenge. - -For this he found at length a means, at which indeed humanity shudders, -but of which the Catholic Christians in Poland were wont to make use -very often at that time. This was to charge my grandfather with the -murder of a Christian, and thus bring him to the gallows. This was done -in the following way: A beaver-trapper, who sojourned constantly in this -neighbourhood to catch beavers on the Niemen, was accustomed at times to -trade in these animals with my grandfather; and this had to be done -secretly, for the beaver is game preserved, and all that are taken must -be delivered at the manor. The trapper came once about midnight, knocked -and asked for my grandfather. He showed him a bag which was pretty heavy -to lift, and said to him with a mysterious air, "I have brought you a -good big fellow here." My grandfather was going to strike a light, to -examine the beaver, and come to terms about it with the peasant. He -however said, that this was unnecessary, that my grandfather might take -the beaver at any rate, and that they would be sure to agree about it -afterwards. My grandfather, who had no suspicion of evil, took the bag -just as it was, laid it aside, and betook himself again to rest. -Scarcely, however, had he fallen asleep again, when he was roused a -second time with a loud noise of knocking. - -It was the clergyman with some boors from the village, who immediately -began to make search all over in the house. They found the bag, and my -grandfather already trembled for the issue, because he believed nothing -else than that he had been betrayed at the manor on account of his -secret trade in beavers, and he could not deny the fact. But how great -was his horror, when the bag was opened, and, instead of a beaver, there -was found a corpse! - -My grandfather was bound with his hands behind his back, his feet were -put into stocks, he was thrown into a waggon, and brought to the town of -Mir, where he was given over to the criminal court. He was made fast in -chains, and put into a dark prison. - -At the trial my grandfather stood upon his innocence, related the events -exactly as they had happened, and, as was reasonable, demanded that the -beaver-trapper should be examined too. He, however, was nowhere to be -found, was already over the hills and far away. He was sought -everywhere. But the blood-thirsty judge of the criminal court, to whom -the time became tedious, ordered my grandfather three times in -succession to be brought to torture. He, however, continued steadfast in -his assertion. - -At last the hero of the beavers was found. He was examined; and as he -straightway denied the whole affair, he also was put to the test of -torture. Thereupon at once he blabbed the whole story. He declared that, -some time before, he had found this dead body in the water, and was -going to bring it to the parsonage for burial. The parson however had -said to him, "There is plenty of time for the burial. You know that the -Jews are a hardened race, and are therefore damned to all eternity. They -crucified our Lord Jesus Christ, and even yet they seek Christian blood, -if only they can get hold of it for their passover, which is instituted -as a sign of their triumph. They use it for their passover-cake. You -will therefore do a meritorious work, if you can smuggle this dead body -into the house of the damned Jew of a farmer. You must of course clear -out, but your trade you can drive anywhere." - -On this confession the fellow was whipped out of the place, and my -grandfather set free; but the pope remained pope. - -For an everlasting memorial of this deliverance of my grandfather from -death, my father composed in Hebrew a sort of epopee, in which the whole -event was narrated, and the goodness of God was sung. It was also made a -law, that the day of his deliverance should be celebrated in the family -every year, when this poem should be recited in the same way as the Book -of Esther at the festival of Haman.[11] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -First Reminiscences of Youth. - - -In this manner my grandfather lived for many years in the place where -his forefathers had dwelt; his farm had become, as it were, a property -of the family. By the Jewish ceremonial law the _Chazakah_, that is, the -right of property in an estate, is acquired by three years' possession; -and the right is respected even by Christians in this neighbourhood. In -virtue of this law no other Jew could try to get possession of the farm -by a _Hosaphah_, that is, an offer of higher rent, if he would not bring -down upon himself the Jewish excommunication. Although the possession of -the farm was accompanied with many hardships and even oppressions, yet -it was from another point of view very lucrative. My grandfather could -not only live as a well-to-do man, but also provide richly for his -children. - -His three daughters were well dowered, and married to excellent men. His -two sons, my uncle Moses and my father Joshua, were married likewise; -and when he became old, and enfeebled by the hardships to which he had -been exposed, he gave over the management of the house to his two sons -in common. These were of different temperaments and inclinations, my -uncle Moses being of strong bodily constitution, but inferior -intelligence, while my father was the opposite; and consequently they -could not work together well. My grandfather therefore gave over to my -uncle another village, and kept my father by himself, although from his -profession as a scholar my father was not particularly adapted for the -occupations of household-management. He merely kept accounts, made -contracts, conducted processes at law, and attended to other matters of -the same sort. My mother, on the other hand, was a very lively woman, -well disposed to all sorts of occupations. She was small of stature, and -at that time still very young. - -An anecdote I cannot avoid touching on here, because it is the earliest -reminiscence from the years of my youth. I was about three years old at -the time. The merchants, who put up constantly at the place, and -especially the _shaffers_, that is, the nobles who undertook the -navigation, the purchase and delivery of goods, for the higher nobility, -were extremely fond of me on account of my liveliness, and made all -sorts of fun with me. These merry gentlemen gave my mother, on account -of her small stature and liveliness, the nickname of _Kuza_, that is, a -young filly.[12] As I heard them often call her by this name, and knew -nothing of its meaning, I also called her _Mama Kuza_. My mother rebuked -me for this, and said, "God punishes any one who calls his mother _Mama -Kuza_." One of these _Shaffers_, Herr Piliezki, used every day to take -tea in our house, and enticed me to his side by giving me at times a bit -of sugar. One morning while he was drinking his tea, when I had placed -myself in the usual position for receiving the sugar, he said he would -give it to me only on condition that I should say _Mama Kuza_. Now as my -mother was present, I refused to do it. He made a sign therefore to my -mother to go into an adjoining room. As soon as she had shut the door, I -went to him and whispered into his ear, _Mama Kuza_. He insisted however -that I should say it out loud, and promised to give me a piece of sugar -for each time that it was spoken. Accordingly I said, "Herr Piliezki -wants me to say _Mama Kuza_; but I will not say _Mama Kuza_, because God -punishes any one who says _Mama Kuza_." Thereupon I got my three pieces -of sugar. - -My father introduced into the house a more refined mode of life, -especially as he traded with KA¶nigsberg in Prussia, where he procured -all sorts of pretty and useful articles. He provided himself with tin -and brass utensils; we began to have better meals, to wear finer -clothes, than before; I was even clad in damask. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -Private Education and Independent Study. - - -In my sixth year my father began to read the Bible with me. "In the -beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Here I interrupted my -father, and asked, "But, papa, who created God?" - -"God was not created by any one," replied my father; "He existed from -all eternity." - -"Did he exist ten years ago?" I asked again. - -"O yes," my father said, "He existed even a hundred years ago." - -"Then perhaps," I continued, "God is already a thousand years old?" - -"Silence! God was eternal." - -"But," I insisted, "He must surely have been born at some time." - -"You little fool," said my father, "No! He was for ever and ever and -ever." - -With this answer I was not indeed satisfied; but I thought "Surely papa -must know better than I, and with that I must therefore be content." - -This mode of representation is very natural in early youth, when the -understanding is still undeveloped, while the imagination is in full -bloom. The understanding seeks merely to grasp, the imagination to grasp -all round.[13] That is to say, the understanding seeks to make the -origin of an object conceivable, without considering, whether the -object, whose origin is known, can also be actually represented by us or -not. The imagination, on the other hand, seeks to gather into a complete -image something, the origin of which is to us unknown. Thus, for -example, an infinite series of numbers, which progresses according to a -definite law, is for the understanding an object, to which by this law -definite qualities are attached, and an object just as good as a finite -series, which progresses according to the same law. For the imagination, -on the other hand, the latter indeed is an object; but not the former, -because it cannot grasp the former as a completed whole. - -A long time afterwards, when I was staying in Breslau, this -consideration suggested to me a thought, which I expressed in an essay -that I laid before Professor Garve, and which, though at the time I knew -nothing of the Kantian philosophy, still constitutes its foundation. I -explained this somewhat in the following way:--The metaphysicians -necessarily fall into self-contradiction. According to the confession -of Leibnitz himself, who in this appeals to the experiment of Archimedes -with the lever, the Law of Sufficient Reason or Causality is a principle -of experience. Now, it is quite true that in experience everything is -found to have a cause; but for the very reason, that _every_ thing has a -cause, nothing can be met with in experience which is a _first_ cause, -that is, a cause which has no cause to itself. How then can the -metaphysicians infer from this law the existence of a first cause? - -Afterwards I found this objection more particularly developed in the -Kantian philosophy, where it is shown that the Category of Cause, or the -form of hypothetical judgments used in reference to the objects of -nature, by which their relation to one another is determined _a priori_, -can be applied only to objects of experience through an _a priori_ -schema. The first cause, which implies a complete infinite series of -causes, and therefore in fact a contradiction, since the infinite can -never be complete, is not an object of the understanding, but an idea of -reason, or, according to my theory, a fiction of the imagination, which, -not content with the mere knowledge of the law, seeks to gather the -multiplicity, which is subject to the law, into an image, though in -opposition to the law itself. - -On another occasion I read in the Bible the story of Jacob and Esau; and -in this connection my father quoted the passage from the Talmud, where -it is said, "Jacob and Esau divided between them all the blessings of -the world. Esau chose the blessings of this life, Jacob, on the -contrary, those of the future life; and since we are descended from -Jacob, we must give up all claim to temporal blessings." On this I said -with indignation, "Jacob should not have been a fool; he should rather -have chosen the blessings of this world." Unfortunately I got for -answer, "You ungodly rascal!" and a box on the ear. This did not of -course remove my doubt, but it brought me to silence at least. - -The Prince Radzivil, who was a great lover of the chase, came one day -with his whole court to hunt in the neighbourhood of our village. Among -the party was his daughter who afterwards married Prince Rawuzki. The -young princess, in order to enjoy rest at noon, betook herself with the -ladies of her court, the servants in waiting and the lackeys, to the -very room, where as a boy I was sitting behind the stove. I was struck -with astonishment at the magnificence and splendour of the court, gazed -with rapture at the beauty of the persons and at the dresses with their -trimmings of gold and silver lace; I could not satisfy my eyes with the -sight. My father came just as I was out of myself with joy, and had -broken into the words, "O how beautiful!" In order to calm me, and at -the same time to confirm me in the principles of our faith, he whispered -into my ear, "Little fool, in the other world the _duksel_ will kindle -the _pezsure_ for us," which means, In the future life the princess will -kindle the stove for us. No one can conceive the sort of feeling which -this statement produced in me. On the one hand, I believed my father, -and was very glad about this future happiness in store for us; but I -felt at the same time pity for the poor princess who was going to be -doomed to such a degrading service. On the other hand, I could not get -it into my head, that this beautiful rich princess in this splendid -dress should ever make a fire for a poor Jew. I was thrown into the -greatest perplexity on the subject, till some game drove these thoughts -out of my head. - -I had from childhood a great inclination and talent for drawing. True, I -had in my father's house never a chance of seeing a work of art, but I -found on the title-page of some Hebrew books woodcuts of foliage, birds -and so forth. I felt great pleasure in these woodcuts, and made an -effort to imitate them with a bit of chalk or charcoal. What however -strengthened this inclination in me still more was a Hebrew book of -fables, in which the personages who play their part in the fables--the -animals--were represented in such woodcuts. I copied all the figures -with the greatest exactness. My father admired indeed my skill in this, -but rebuked me at the same time in these words, "You want to become a -painter? You are to study the Talmud, and become a rabbi. He who -understands the Talmud, understands everything." - -This desire and faculty for painting went with me so far, that when my -father had settled in H----, where there was a manor-house with some -beautifully tapestried rooms, which were constantly unoccupied because -the landlord resided elsewhere, and very seldom visited the place, I -used to steal away from home whenever I could, to copy the figures on -the tapestries. I was found once in mid-winter half-frozen, standing -before the wall, holding the paper in one hand (for there was no -furniture in this apartment), and with the other hand copying the -figures off the wall. Yet I judge of myself at present, that, if I had -kept to it, I should have become a _great_, but not an _exact_, painter, -that is to say, I sketched with ease the main features of a picture, but -had not the patience to work it out in detail. - -My father had in his study a cupboard containing books. He had forbidden -me indeed to read any books but the Talmud. This, however, was of no -avail: as he was occupied the most of his time with household affairs, I -took advantage of the opportunity thus afforded. Under the impulse of -curiosity I made a raid upon the cupboard and glanced over all the -books. The result was, that, as I had already a fair knowledge of -Hebrew, I found more pleasure in some of these books than in the Talmud. -And this result was surely natural. Take the subjects of the Talmud, -which, with the exception of those relating to jurisprudence, are dry -and mostly unintelligible to a child--the laws of sacrifice, of -purification, of forbidden meats, of feasts, and so forth--in which the -oddest rabbinical conceits are elaborated through many volumes with the -finest dialectic, and the most absurd questions are discussed with the -highest efforts of intellectual power; for example, how many white hairs -may a red cow have, and yet remain a _red_ cow; what sorts of scabs -require this or that sort of purification; whether a louse or a flea may -be killed on the Sabbath,--the first being allowed, while the second is -a deadly sin;--whether the slaughter of an animal ought to be executed -at the neck or the tail; whether the highpriest put on his shirt or his -hose first; whether the _Jabam_, that is, the brother of a man who died -childless, being required by law to marry the widow, is relieved from -his obligation if he falls off a roof and sticks in the mire. _Ohe jam -satis est!_ Compare these glorious disputations, which are served up to -young people and forced on them even to disgust, with history, in which -natural events are related in an instructive and agreeable manner, with -a knowledge of the world's structure, by which the outlook into nature -is widened, and the vast whole is brought into a well-ordered system; -surely my preference will be justified. - -The most valuable books in the collection were four. There was a Hebrew -chronicle under the title of _Zemach David_,[14] written by a sensible -chief rabbi in Prague, named Rabbi David Gans. He was also the author -of the astronomical book spoken of in the sequel, and he had had the -honour of being acquainted with Tycho Brahe, and of making astronomical -observations with him in the Observatory at Copenhagen. There were -besides, a Josephus, which was evidently garbled, and a History of the -Persecutions of the Jews in Spain. But what attracted me most powerfully -was an astronomical work. In this work a new world was opened to me, and -I gave myself up to the study with the greatest diligence. Think of a -child about seven years of age, in my position, with an astronomical -work thrown in his way, and exciting his interest. I had never seen or -heard anything of the first elements of mathematics, and I had no one to -give me any direction in the study: for it is needless to say, that to -my father I dared not even let my curiosity in the matter be known, and, -apart from that, he was not in a position to give me any information on -the subject. How must the spirit of a child, thirsting for knowledge, -have been inflamed by such a discovery! This the result will show. - -As I was still a child, and the beds in my father's house were few, I -was allowed to sleep with my old grandmother, whose bed stood in the -above-mentioned study. As I was obliged during the day to occupy myself -solely with the study of the Talmud, and durst not take another book in -my hand, I devoted the evenings to my astronomical inquiries. -Accordingly after my grandmother had gone to bed, I put some fresh wood -on the fire, made for the cupboard, and took out my beloved astronomical -book. My grandmother indeed scolded me, because it was too cold for the -old lady to lie alone in bed; but I did not trouble myself about that, -and continued my study till the fire was burnt out. - -After I had carried this on for some evenings, I came to the description -of the celestial sphere and its imaginary circles, designed for the -explanation of astronomical phenomena. This was represented in the book -by a single figure, in connection with which the author gave the reader -the good advice, that, since the manifold circles could not be -represented in a plane figure except by straight lines, he should, for -the sake of rendering them more clearly intelligible, make for himself -either an ordinary globe or an armillary sphere. I therefore formed the -resolution to make such a sphere out of twisted rods; and after I had -finished this work, I was in a position to understand the whole book. -But as I had to take care lest my father should find out how I had been -occupied, I always hid my armillary sphere in a corner behind the -cupboard before I went to bed. - -My grandmother, who had on several occasions observed that I was wholly -absorbed in my reading, but now and then lifted my eyes to look at a -number of circles formed of twisted rods laid on one another, fell into -the greatest consternation over the matter; she believed nothing less -than that her grandson had lost his wits. She did not delay, therefore, -to tell my father, and point out to him the place where the magical -instrument was kept. He soon guessed what was the meaning of this. -Accordingly he took the sphere in his hand, and sent for me. When I -came, he asked me, "What sort of plaything is this?" - -"It is a _Kadur_,[15]" I replied. - -"What does it mean?" he asked. - -I then explained to him the use of all the circles for the purpose of -making the celestial phenomena intelligible. My father, who was a good -rabbi indeed, but had no special talent for science, could not -comprehend all that I endeavoured to make comprehensible. He was -especially puzzled, by the comparison of my armillary sphere with the -figure in the book, to understand how out of straight lines circles -should be evolved; but one thing he could see,--that I was sure of my -business. He therefore scolded me, it is true, because I had -transgressed his command to meddle with nothing beyond the Talmud; but -still he felt a secret pleasure, that his young son, without a guide or -previous training, had been able by himself to master an entire work of -science. And with this the affair came to an end. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -Jewish Schools--The Joy of being released from them causes a stiff foot. - - -My brother Joseph and I were sent to Mir to school. My brother, who was -about twelve years old, was put to board with a schoolmaster of some -repute at that time, by name Jossel. This man was the terror of all -young people, "the scourge of God;" he treated those in his charge with -unheard of cruelty, flogged them till the blood came, even for the -slightest offence, and not infrequently tore off their ears, or beat -their eyes out. When the parents of these unfortunates came to him, and -brought him to task, he struck them with stones or whatever else came to -hand, and drove them with his stick out of the house back to their own -dwellings, without any respect of persons. All under his discipline -became either blockheads or good scholars. I, who was then only seven -years old, was sent to another schoolmaster. - -An anecdote I must here relate, which shows on the one side great -brotherly love, and on the other may be viewed as expressing the -condition of a child's mind, that sways between the hope of lightening -an evil, and the fear of increasing it. One day as I came from school, -my eyes were all red with weeping, for which there was doubtless good -cause. My brother observed this, and asked the reason. At first I showed -some hesitation in answering; but at last I said, "I weep because we -dare not tell tales out of school." My brother understood me very well, -was extremely indignant at my teacher, and was going to read him a -lesson on the subject. I begged him however not to do it, because in all -probability the teacher would take his revenge on me for telling tales -out of school. - -I must now say something of the condition of the Jewish schools in -general. The school is commonly a small smoky hut, and the children are -scattered, some on benches, some on the bare earth. The master, in a -dirty blouse sitting on the table, holds between his knees a bowl, in -which he grinds tobacco into snuff with a huge pestle like the club of -Hercules, while at the same time he wields his authority. The ushers -give lessons, each in his own corner, and rule those under their charge -quite as despotically as the master himself. Of the breakfast, lunch, -and other food sent to the school for the children, these gentlemen keep -the largest share for themselves. Sometimes even the poor youngsters get -nothing at all; and yet they dare not make any complaint on the subject, -if they will not expose themselves to the vengeance of these tyrants. -Here the children are imprisoned from morning to night, and have not an -hour to themselves, except on Friday and a half-holiday at the Newmoon. - -As far as study is concerned, the reading of Hebrew at least is pretty -regularly learned. On the other hand, with the mastery of the Hebrew -language very seldom is any progress made. Grammar is not treated in the -school at all, but has to be learnt _ex usu_, by translation of the Holy -Scriptures, very much as the ordinary man learns imperfectly the grammar -of his mother-tongue by social intercourse. Moreover there is no -dictionary of the Hebrew language. The children therefore begin at once -with the explanation of the Bible. This is divided into as many sections -as there are weeks in the year, in order that the Books of Moses, which -are read in the synagogues every Saturday, may be read through in a -year. Accordingly every week some verses from the beginning of the -section proper to the week are explained in school, and that with every -possible grammatical blunder. Nor can it well be otherwise. For the -Hebrew must be explained by means of the mother-tongue. But the -mother-tongue of the Polish Jews is itself full of defects and -grammatical inaccuracies; and as a matter of course therefore also the -Hebrew language, which is learned by its means, must be of the same -stamp. The pupil thus acquires just as little knowledge of the language, -as of the contents, of the Bible. - -In addition to this the Talmudists have fastened all sorts of -extraordinary conceits on the Bible. The ignorant teacher believes with -confidence, that the Bible cannot in reality have any other meaning than -that which these expositions ascribe to it; and the pupil must follow -his teacher's faith, so that the right understanding of words -necessarily becomes lost. For example, in the first Book of Moses it is -said, "Jacob sent messengers to his brother Esau, etc." Now, the -Talmudists were pleased to give out, that these messengers were angels. -For though the word _Malachim_ in Hebrew denotes messenger as well as -angels, these marvel-mongers preferred the second signification, because -the first contains nothing marvellous. The pupil therefore holds the -belief firm and fast, that Malachim denotes nothing but angels; and the -natural meaning of messengers is for him wholly lost. A correct -knowledge of the Hebrew language and a sound exegesis can be attained -only gradually by independent study and by reading grammars and critical -commentaries on the Bible, like those of Rabbi David Kimchi[16] and Aben -Esra; but of these very few rabbis make use. - -As the children are doomed in the bloom of youth to such an infernal -school, it may be easily imagined with what joy and rapture they look -forward to their release. We, that is, my brother and I, were taken home -to the great feasts; and it was on a trip of this sort, that the -following incident happened, which in relation to me was very critical. -My mother came once before Whitsuntide to the town where we were at -school, in order to purchase sundry articles required for the house. She -then took us home with her. The release from school, and the sight of -the beauty of nature which at this season displays its best attire, -threw us into such ecstasy, that we fell upon all sorts of wanton -fancies. When we were not far from home, my brother sprang out of the -carriage, and ran forward on foot. I was going to imitate his daring -leap, but unfortunately had not sufficient strength. I fell down -therefore with violence on the carriage, so that my legs came between -the wheels, and one of these passed over my left leg, which was thereby -pitiably crushed. I was carried home half-dead. My foot became cramped, -and I was wholly unable to move it. - -A Jewish doctor was consulted, who had not indeed regularly studied and -graduated at a university, but had acquired his medical knowledge merely -by serving with a physician and reading some medical books in the -Polish language, who was nevertheless a very good practical physician, -and effected many successful cures. He said that at present he was -provided with no medicines,--the nearest apothecary's shop was about -twenty miles[17] distant,--and consequently he could prescribe nothing -in the ordinary method, but that meanwhile a simple domestic remedy -might be applied. The remedy was, to kill a dog and thrust into it the -cramped foot; this, repeated several times, was to give certain relief. -The prescription was followed with the desired result, so that after -some weeks I was able to use the foot again, and by degrees I completely -recovered. - -I think it would not be at all amiss, if medical men gave more attention -to such domestic remedies, which are used with good results in districts -where there are no regular physicians or apothecaries' shops; they might -even make special journeys with this end in view. I know many a case of -this sort, which can be in nowise explained away. This however in -passing. I return to my story. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -My Family is driven into Misery, and an old Servant loses by his great -Faithfulness a Christian Burial. - - -My father, who, as already mentioned, traded with KA¶nigsberg in Prussia, -had once shipped in a vessel of Prince Radzivil's some barrels of salt -and herrings which he had bought there. When he came home and was going -to fetch his goods, the agent, Schachna, absolutely refused to let him -take them. My father then showed the bill of lading, which he had got on -the shipment of the goods; but the agent tore it out of his hands, and -threw it into the fire. My father found himself therefore compelled to -carry on a long and costly suit, which he had to delay till the -following year, when he would again make a journey to KA¶nigsberg. Here -he obtained a certificate from the custom-house, showing that he had -shipped the said goods in a vessel of Prince Radzivil's under the -direction of Herr Schachna. On this certificate the agent was summoned -before the court, but found it convenient not to make an appearance; and -my father gained the suit in the first, second, and third instances. In -spite of this, however, as a consequence of the wretched administration -of justice in Poland at the time, my father had no power to execute -this decision, and therefore from this successful suit he did not even -recover the costs. - -To this was added the further result, that by this suit he made Herr -Schachna an enemy who persecuted him now in every possible way. This the -cunning scoundrel could accomplish very well, as by all sorts of -intrigues he had been appointed by Prince Radzivil steward of all his -estates situated in the district of Mir. He resolved therefore on my -father's ruin, and only waited for a convenient opportunity to carry out -his revenge. - -This he found soon; and indeed a Jew, who was named after his farm -Schwersen, and was known as the biggest scoundrel in the whole -neighbourhood, offered him a hand. This fellow was an ignoramus, did not -even understand the Jewish language, and made use therefore of Russian. -He occupied himself mainly in examining the farms in the neighbourhood, -and he knew how to get possession of the most lucrative among them by -offering a higher rent and bribing the steward. Without troubling -himself in the least about the laws of the _Chazakah_,[18] he drove the -old legal farmers from their possessions, and enriched himself by this -means. He thus lived in wealth and fortune, and in this state reached an -advanced age. - -The scoundrel had already for a long time had his eye on my -grandfather's farm, and waited merely for a favourable opportunity and a -plausible pretext to get possession of it himself. Unfortunately my -granduncle Jacob, who lived in another village belonging to my -grandfather's farm, had been obliged to become a debtor of the scoundrel -to the amount of about fifty rix-dollars. As he could not clear off the -debt at the time when it was due, his creditor came with some servants -of the manor, and threatened to seize the cauldron, in which my -granduncle's whole wealth consisted. In consternation he loaded a waggon -secretly with the cauldron, drove with all haste to my grandfather's, -and, without letting any of us know, hid it in the adjoining marsh -behind the house. His creditor, however, who followed on his heels, came -to my grandfather's, and made search all over, but could find the -cauldron nowhere. Irritated at this unsuccessful stroke, and breathing -vengeance against my grandfather who, he believed, had prevented his -success, he rode to the town, carried to the steward an imposing -present, and offered for my grandfather's farm double the rent, besides -an annual voluntary present to the steward. - -This gentleman, joyous over such an offer, and mindful of the disgrace -which my father, a Jew, had brought upon him, a Polish noble, by the -above-mentioned suit, made on the spot a contract with the scoundrel, by -which he not only gave over to him this farm with all the rights -pertaining to it even before the end of my grandfather's lease, but -also robbed my grandfather of all he had,--his barns full of grain, his -cattle, etc.,--and shared the plunder with the new farmer. - -My grandfather was therefore obliged with his whole family to quit his -dwelling-place in mid-winter, and, without knowing where he should -settle again, to wander about from place to place. Our departure from -this place was very affecting. The whole neighbourhood lamented our -fate. An old and faithful servant of eighty years, named Gabriel, who -had carried in his arms even my grandfather as a child, insisted on -going with us. Representations were made to him on the severity of the -season, our unfortunate situation, and the uncertainty in which we -ourselves were placed as to our future destiny. But it was of no avail. -He placed himself on the road before the gate, by which our waggons had -to pass, and lamented so long that we were obliged to take him up. He -did not however travel with us long: his advanced age, his grief over -our misery, and the severe season gave him soon the finishing stroke. He -died when we had gone scarcely two or three miles; and as no Catholic or -Russian community would allow him burial in their churchyard--he was a -Prussian and a Lutheran--he was buried at our expense in the open -field. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -New Abode, new Misery--The Talmudist. - - -We wandered about therefore in the country, like the Israelites in the -wilderness of Arabia, without knowing where or when we should find a -place of rest. At last we came to a village which belonged to two -landlords. The one part was already leased; but the landlord of the -other could not lease his, because he had still to build a house. Weary -of wandering in winter-time with a whole family, my grandfather resolved -to take a lease of this house, which was still to be built, along with -its appurtenances, and meanwhile, till the house was ready, to make -shift as well as he could. Accordingly we were obliged to take up our -quarters in a barn. The other farmer did all in his power to prevent our -settlement in the place; but it was of no avail. The building was -finished, we took possession, and began to keep house. - -Unfortunately however everything went backward here; nothing would -succeed. An addition came to our misfortunes in my mother's illness. -Being of a very lively temperament and disposed to a life of activity, -she found here the weariness of having nothing to do. This, with her -anxiety about the means of subsistence, threw her into a state of -melancholy, which developed at last into insanity. In this condition she -remained for some months. Everything was tried for her benefit, but -without success. At last my father hit upon the idea of taking her to a -celebrated doctor at Novogrod, who made a specialty of curing mental -disorders. - -The method of cure employed by this specialist is unknown to me, because -I was at the time too young to wish or be able to institute inquiries on -the subject; but so much I can declare with certainty, that in the case -of my mother, as well as most of his patients afflicted with the same -malady, the treatment was followed with success. My mother returned home -fresh and healthy, and from that time she never had an attack of the -same sort. - -Immediately after this I was sent to school at Iwenez, about fifteen -miles from our abode, and here I began to study the Talmud. The study of -the Talmud is the chief object of a learned education among our people. -Riches, bodily advantages, and talents of every kind have indeed in -their eyes a certain worth, and are esteemed in proportion; but nothing -stands among them above the dignity of a good Talmudist. He has the -first claim upon all offices and positions of honour in the community. -If he enters an assembly,--he may be of any age or rank,--every one -rises before him most respectfully, and the most honourable place is -assigned to him. He is director of the conscience, lawgiver and judge -of the common man. He, who does not meet such a scholar with sufficient -respect, is, according to the judgment of the Talmudists, damned to all -eternity. The common man dare not enter upon the most trivial -undertaking, if, in the judgment of the scholar, it is not according to -law. Religious usages, allowed and forbidden meats, marriage and divorce -are determined not only by the rabbinical laws which have already -accumulated to an enormous mass, but also by special rabbinical -judgments which profess to deduce all special cases from the general -laws. A wealthy merchant, farmer or professional man, who has a -daughter, does everything in his power to get a good Talmudist for his -son-in-law. As far as other matters are concerned, the scholar may be as -deformed, diseased, and ignorant as possible, he will still have the -advantage over others. The future father-in-law of such a phoenix is -obliged, at the betrothal, to pay to the parents of the youth a sum -fixed by previous agreement; and besides the dowry for his daughter, he -is further obliged to provide her and her husband with food, clothing, -and lodging, for six or eight years after their marriage, during which -time the interest on the dowry is paid, so that the learned son-in-law -may continue his studies at his father-in-law's expense. After this -period he receives the dowry in hand, and then he is either promoted to -some learned office, or he spends his whole life in learned leisure. In -either case the wife undertakes the management of the household and the -conduct of business; and she is content if only in return for all her -toils she becomes in some measure a partaker of her husband's fame and -future blessedness. - -The study of the Talmud is carried on just as irregularly as that of the -Bible. The language of the Talmud is composed of various Oriental -languages and dialects; there is even many a word in it from Greek and -Latin. There is no dictionary, in which you can turn up the expressions -and phrases met with in the Talmud; and, what is still worse, as the -Talmud is not pointed, you cannot even tell how such words, that are not -pure Hebrew, are to be read. The language of the Talmud, therefore, like -that of the Bible, is learned only through frequent translation; and -this constitutes the _first_ stage in the study of the Talmud. - -When the pupil has been directed for some time in translation by the -teacher, he goes on to the independent reading or explanation of the -Talmud. The teacher gives him a limited portion of the Talmud, -containing within itself a connected argument, as a task in exposition, -which he must perform within a fixed time. The particular expressions -and forms of speech occurring in the passage must either be known by the -pupil from his former lessons, or the teacher, who here takes the place -of a dictionary, explains them to him. But the tenor and the entire -connection of the prescribed passage the pupil is required to bring out -himself; and this constitutes the second stage in the study of the -Talmud. - -Two commentaries, which are commonly printed along with the text, serve -as the chief guides at this point. The author of the one is Rabbi -Solomon Isaac,[19] a man gifted with grammatical and critical knowledge -of language, with extensive and thorough Talmudic insight, and with an -uncommon precision of style. The other is known by the title of -_Tosaphoth (Additions)_, and is the work of several rabbis. Its origin -is very remarkable. A number of the most famous rabbis agreed to study -the Talmud in company. For this purpose each selected a separate -portion, which he studied by himself till he believed that he had fully -comprehended it, and retained it in memory. Afterwards all the rabbis -met, and began to study the Talmud in company according to the order of -its parts. As soon as the first part had been read out, thoroughly -explained, and settled according to the Talmudic Logic, one of the -rabbis produced, from the part of the Talmud with which he was most -familiar, anything that appeared to contradict this passage. Another -then adduced, from the part which he had made thoroughly his own, a -passage which was able to remove this contradiction by means of some -distinction or some qualification unexpressed in the preceding passage. -Sometimes the removal of such a contradiction occasioned another, which -a third rabbi disclosed, and a fourth laboured to remove, till the first -passage was explained harmoniously by all, and made perfectly clear. It -may easily be imagined, what a high degree of subtlety is required to -reduce the Talmud to first principles, from which correct inferences may -be drawn after an uniform method; for the Talmud is a voluminous and -heterogeneous work, in which even the same subject often turns up in -different passages, where it is explained in different ways. - -Besides these two there are several other commentaries which treat the -subject further, and even make corrections on the two just mentioned. -Indeed, every rabbi, if he possesses sufficient acuteness, is to be -viewed as a living commentary on the Talmud. But the highest effort of -the mind is required to prepare a selection from the Talmud or a code of -the laws deducible from it. This implies not only acuteness, but also a -mind in the highest degree systematic. Herein our Maimonides undoubtedly -deserves the first rank, as may be seen from his code, _Jad Hachazekah_. - -The _final_ stage in the study of the Talmud is that of disputation. It -consists in eternally disputing about the book, without end or aim. -Subtlety, loquacity, and impertinence here carry the day. This sort of -study was formerly very common in the Jewish high schools;[20] but in -our times along with the schools it has also fallen into decay. It is a -kind of Talmudic scepticism, and utterly incompatible with any -systematic study directed to some end. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -Joy endureth but a little while. - - -After this digression on the study of the Talmud I return to my story. -As already mentioned, I was sent to school at Iwenez. My father gave me -a letter to the chief rabbi of this place, who was a relation of ours, -requesting him to give me in charge to an able teacher, and to give some -attention to the progress of my studies. He gave me however in charge to -a common schoolmaster, and told me I was to visit him every Sabbath in -order that he might examine me himself. This injunction I punctually -followed; but the arrangement did not continue long; for at one of these -examinations I began to dispute about my lessons and suggest -difficulties, when, without replying to them, the chief rabbi asked me -if I had stated these difficulties to my teacher also. - -"Of course," I replied. - -"And what did he say?" asked the chief rabbi. - -"Nothing to the point," I replied, "except that he enjoined silence on -me, and said, 'A youngster must not be too inquisitive; he must see to -it merely that he understands his lesson, but must not overwhelm his -teacher with questions.'" - -"Ah!" said the chief rabbi, "your teacher is altogether too easy, we -must make a change. I will give you instruction myself. I will do it -merely out of friendship, and I hope that your father will have as -little to say against it as your former teacher. The fee which your -father pays for your education, will be given to your teacher without -deduction." - -In this way I got the chief rabbi for a teacher. He struck out a way of -his own with me. No weekly lessons repeated till they are impressed on -the memory, no tasks which the pupil is obliged to perform for himself, -and in which the course of his thoughts is very often arrested for the -sake of a single word or a figure of speech, which has little to do with -the main subject. His method distinguished itself from all this. He made -me explain something from the Talmud _ex tempore_ in his presence, -conversed with me on the subject, explained to me so much as was -necessary to set my own mind in activity, and by means of questions and -answers turned my attention away from all side-issues to the main -subject, so that in a short time I passed through all the three -above-mentioned stages in the study of the Talmud. - -My father, to whom the chief rabbi gave an account of his plan with me -and of my progress, went beside himself with joy. He returned his -warmest thanks to this excellent man for putting himself to so much -trouble with me out of mere friendship, and that notwithstanding his -delicate state of health, for he was consumptive. But this joy did not -last long; before a half year was ended, the chief rabbi had to betake -himself to his fathers, and I was left like a sheep without a shepherd. - -This was announced to my father, who came and fetched me home. Not, -however, to H----, from which I had been sent to school, but to Mohilna, -about six miles from H----, whither my father had meanwhile removed. -This new change of abode had taken place in the following way. - -Mohilna is a small hamlet in the territory of Prince Radzivil four miles -from Nesvij, his residence. The situation of this place is excellent. -Having the river Niemen on one side, and on the other a large quantity -of the best timber for ships, it is adapted equally for trade and for -shipbuilding. Moreover the district in itself possesses great fertility -and amenity. These facts could not escape the attention of the Prince. -The farmer or _arendant_ of the place, whose family for some generations -had been in possession of this lucrative farm, and had become rich by -means of the shipbuilding trade, and the numerous fine products of the -district, took all possible pains to prevent these great advantages from -being observed, in order that he might be able to enjoy them alone -without being disturbed. But it happened once that the prince was -travelling through the place, and was so taken with its beauty, that he -resolved to make a town of it. He sketched a plan for this, and made an -announcement that the place was to be a _Slabode_; that is, every one -was to be at liberty to settle in the place, and drive any kind of -trade, and was even to be free from all taxes for the first six years. -For a long time, however, this plan was never carried out, owing to all -sorts of intrigues on the part of the arendant, who went so far as even -to bribe the advisers of the prince to turn his attention away from the -subject. - -My father, who saw clearly that the miserable farm of H---- could not -support him and his family, and had been obliged to remain there -hitherto only from want of a better abode, rejoiced very much at the -announcement, because he hoped that Mohilna would offer him a place of -refuge, especially as the arendant was a brother-in-law of my uncle. In -this connection he made a journey to the place with my grandfather, had -a conversation with the arendant, and opened to him his proposal to -settle in Mohilna with his consent. The arendant, who had feared that, -on the announcement of the prince's wish, people would stream in from -all sides, and press him out of his possession, was delighted that at -least the first who settled there was not a stranger, but related to his -family by marriage. He therefore not only gave his consent to the -proposal, but even promised my father all possible assistance. -Accordingly my father removed with his whole family to Mohilna, and had -a small house built for himself there; but till it was ready, the family -were obliged once more to take up their quarters in a barn. - -The arendant, by whom at first we were received in a friendly manner, -had unfortunately meanwhile changed his mind, and found that his fear of -being pressed out of his possession by strangers was wholly without -ground, inasmuch as already a considerable time had passed since the -announcement of the prince's wish, and yet nobody had presented himself -besides my father. The prince, as a Polish chief and _Voivode_ in -Lithuania, was constantly burdened too much with State affairs in -Warsaw, to be able to think on the carrying out of his plan himself; and -his subordinates could be induced by bribes to frustrate the whole plan. -These considerations showed the arendant that the new-comer could not -only be spared, but was even a burden, inasmuch as he had now to share -with another what he had before held in possession alone. He sought -therefore to restrict my father, and to disturb him in his settlement, -as much as possible. With this view he built for himself a splendid -house, and succeeded in obtaining a command from the prince, in -accordance with which none of the newcomers should enjoy the rights of a -burgher till he had built a similar house. My father saw himself -therefore compelled to waste his little fortune, which was indispensably -required for the new arrangements, wholly and solely on this useless -building. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -The Pupil knows more than the Teacher--A theft _A la Rousseau_, which is -discovered--"The ungodly provideth, and the righteous putteth it on." - - -My father's condition had thus externally an improved appearance, but so -much the more doubtful did it appear internally on that account. My -mother, notwithstanding her unwearied activity, was able to make only a -very sorry provision for the family. Accordingly my father was obliged -to seek, in addition to his other duties, a position as teacher, in -which he carried on my education; and I must confess that in this -connection I gave him, on the one hand, much joy, but, on the other -hand, not a little vexation. I was then indeed only about nine years -old; still, I could not only understand the Talmud and its commentaries -correctly, but I even took delight in disputing about it, and in this I -felt a childish pleasure in triumphing over my honest father, whom I -thereby threw into no small perplexity. - -The arendant and my father lived together like neighbours; that is, they -envied and hated each other. The former looked on my father as a -vagrant, who had forced himself upon him, and disturbed him in his -undivided possession of the advantages of the place. My father took the -arendant for a wealthy blockhead, who, against the consent which he had -granted, which my father might have dispensed with altogether and had -sought merely from the love of peace, endeavoured in every way to -restrict him and to narrow his rights, notwithstanding the fact that he -received actual advantages from his settlement. For from this time -Mohilna had acquired a sort of independence, by means of which the -arendant was spared many expenses and depreciations. There was also a -small synagogue erected, and my father took the position of chief rabbi, -preacher, and director of the conscience, as he was the only scholar in -the place. He lost, indeed, no opportunity of representing all this to -the arendant, and making complaints of his conduct; but unfortunately -this was of little use. - -I must take this opportunity of mentioning the only theft which I ever -perpetrated in my life. I often went to the house of the arendant, and -played with his children. Once, when I entered a room and found no one -there, it being summer and the people of the house all busy out of -doors, I spied in an open closet a neat little medicine-box which -appeared to me uncommonly charming. When I opened it, I found, to my -very great sorrow, some money in it; for it belonged to one of the -children of the house. I could not resist the desire to carry off the -little box; but to take the money seemed to me in the highest degree -shameful. But when I considered that the theft would be all the more -easily discovered if I put the money out, full of fear and shame I took -the box as it was and thrust it in my pocket. I went home with it, and -buried it very carefully. The night following I could not sleep, and was -disquieted in conscience, especially on account of the money. I -resolved, therefore, to take it back; but in regard to the little box, I -could not conquer myself: it was a work of art, the like of which I had -never seen before. The next day I emptied the box of its contents, slunk -with them into the room already mentioned, and waited for an opportunity -when nobody was there. I was already engaged in smuggling the money into -the closet; but I had so little skill in doing this without noise and -with the necessary despatch, that I was caught in the act, and forced to -a confession of the whole theft. I was obliged to dig up again the -valuable work of art,--it must have cost about a quarter of a -groschen,--to return it to its owner, little Moses, and to hear myself -called _thief_ by the children of the house. - -Another incident, which happened to me and had a comical issue, was the -following. The Russians had been quartered for some time in Mohilna, and -as they obtained new mountings, they were allowed to sell the old. My -eldest brother Joseph and my cousin Beer applied to Russian -acquaintances of theirs, and received in a present some brass buttons, -which, being considered a fine decoration, they got sewed on to their -hose instead of the wooden buttons they had before. I also was -delighted with the decoration; but as I had not the skill to furnish -myself by my own diligence, I was compelled to make use of force. I -applied, therefore, to my father, and demanded that Joseph and Beer -should be required to share their buttons with me. My father, who, -indeed, was extremely fair, but still was fond of me above everything, -said that the buttons were, of course, the rightful property of their -owners, but that, as these had more than they required for their own -wants, it was but fair that they should give me some of those that they -did not require. To my commendation and their confusion he added the -passage of the Bible, "The ungodly provideth, and the righteous putteth -it on."[21] This decision had to be carried out in spite of the protest -of Joseph and Beer; and I had the pleasure of also shining in brass -buttons on my hose. - -Joseph and Beer however could not get over their loss. They complained -loudly of the impious wrong which had been done to them. My father, who -wished to get rid of the affair, told them therefore, that, as the -buttons had been already sewed on to Solomon's hose, they must not use -force, but that, if they could get them back again by stratagem, they -were at liberty to do so. Both were pleased with this decision. They -came to me, looked at my buttons, and both at once exclaimed in -astonishment, "Oh! what is that we see? Buttons sewed on to cloth hose -with linen instead of hemp thread! They must be taken off at once." -While they were speaking, they took off all the buttons, and went off -with joy over their successful stratagem. I ran after them, and demanded -that they should sew the buttons on again; but they laughed me to scorn. -My father said to me smiling at this, "Since you are so credulous, and -allow yourself to be deceived, I cannot help you any longer; I hope you -will be wiser in the future." With this the affair came to an end. I was -obliged to content myself with wooden buttons, and to have often -repeated to my mortification by Joseph and Beer, the biblical passage, -which my father had used to my advantage, "The ungodly provideth, and -the righteous putteth it on." - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals--The Song of Solomon may be used -in Matchmaking--A new _Modus Lucrand_i--Smallpox. - - -In my youth I was very lively, and had in my nature a good deal that was -agreeable. In my passions I was violent and impatient. Till about my -eleventh year, as I had the benefit of a very strict education, and was -kept from all intercourse with women, I never traced any special -inclination towards the fair sex. But an incident produced in me a great -change in this respect. - -A poor, but very pretty, girl about my own age was taken into our house -as a servant. She charmed me uncommonly. Desires began to stir in me, -which till this time I had never known. But in accordance with the -strict rabbinical morals, I was obliged to keep on my guard against -looking on the girl with attentive gaze, and still more against speaking -with her, so that I was able only now and then to throw at her a stolen -glance. - -It happened once however that the women of the house were going to -bathe, which by the usage of the country they are accustomed to do two -or three times a week. By chance my instinct drove me without -reflection towards the place where they bathed; and there I suddenly -perceived this beautiful girl, as she stepped out of the steam-bath and -plunged into the river flowing by. At this sight I fell into a sort of -rapture. After my feelings had calmed down again, being mindful of the -strict Talmudic laws, I wished to flee. But I could not; I remained -standing, as if rooted in the spot. As I dreaded however lest I might be -surprised here, I was obliged to return with a heavy heart. From that -time I became restless, was sometimes beside myself; and this state -continued till my marriage. - -Our neighbour, the arendant, had two sons and three daughters. The -eldest daughter, Deborah, was already married. The second, Pessel, was -about my age; the peasantry of the place professed to find even a -certain resemblance in our features, and therefore, in accordance with -all the laws of probability, conjectured that there would be a match -between us. We formed also a mutual affection. But by ill luck the -youngest daughter, Rachel, had to fall into a cellar and dislocated one -of her legs. She herself, indeed, completely recovered, but the leg -remained somewhat crooked. The arendant then started a hunt after me; he -was absolutely determined to have me for a son-in-law. My father was -quite agreeable, but he wished to have for his daughter-in-law the -straight-legged Pessel rather than Rachel of the crooked leg. The -arendant however declared that this was impracticable, inasmuch as he -had fixed on a rich husband for the elder, while the youngest was -destined for me; and as my father was unable to give me anything, he was -willing to provide for her richly out of his own fortune. Besides a -considerable sum which he agreed to give as a portion, he was willing in -addition to make me a joint-heir of his fortune, and to provide me with -all necessaries the whole of my life. Moreover he promised to pay my -father a fixed sum immediately after the betrothal, and not only to -leave him undisturbed in his rights, but also to try and promote his -domestic happiness in every possible way. The feuds between the two -families were to cease from this time, and a league of friendship was to -unite them for the future into one family. - -Had my father lent an ear to these representations, he would without -doubt have established the fortune of his house, and I should have lived -with a spouse, who, it is true, had a crooked leg, but (as I found out -some time afterwards when I was tutor in her family) was in other -respects an amiable woman. I should thus have been freed from all cares -in the midst of good fortune, and I should have been able to apply -myself without hindrance to my studies. But unhappily my father rejected -this proposal with scorn. He was absolutely determined to have Pessel -for his daughter-in-law; and since this, as already mentioned, was -impracticable, the feuds between the two families broke out afresh. But -as the arendant was rich, and my father was a poor man, the latter was -necessarily always the loser. - -Some time afterwards another matrimonial proposal for me turned up. Mr. -L---- of Schmilowitz, a learned and at the same time a rich man, who had -an only daughter, was so enchanted with my fame, that he chose me for -his son-in-law without having seen me before. He began by entering into -correspondence with my father on the subject, and left it to him to -prescribe the conditions of the union. My father answered his letter in -lofty style, made up of Biblical verses and passages from the Talmud, in -which he expressed the conditions briefly by means of the following -verses from the Canticles, "The thousand gulden are for thee, O Solomon, -and the two hundred for those who keep his fruits."[22] Consent was -given to everything. - -My father accordingly made a journey to Schmilowitz, saw his future -daughter-in-law, and had the marriage-contract drawn in accordance with -the terms agreed upon. Two hundred gulden were paid to him on the spot. -With this, however, he was not content, but insisted that in his letter -he had been obliged to limit himself to two hundred gulden merely for -the sake of the beautiful verse which he did not wish to spoil; but he -would not enter into the transaction at all unless he received for -himself twice two hundred gulden (fifty thalers in Polish money). They -had therefore to pay him two hundred gulden more, and to hand over to -him the so-called little presents for me, namely, a cap of black velvet -trimmed with gold lace, a Bible bound in green velvet with silver -clasps, etc. With these things he came home full of joy, gave me the -presents, and told me that I was to prepare myself for a disputation to -be held on my marriage day, which would be in two months' time. - -Already my mother had begun to bake the cakes she was expected to take -with her to the wedding, and to prepare all sorts of preserves; I began -also to think about the disputation I was to hold, when suddenly the -mournful news arrived that my bride had died of smallpox. My father -could easily reconcile himself to this loss, because he thought to -himself that he had made fifty thalers by his son in an honourable way, -and that now he could get fifty thalers for him again. I also, who had -never seen my bride, could not particularly mourn her loss; I thought to -myself, "The cap and the silver-clasped Bible are already mine, and a -bride will also not be awanting long, while my disputation can serve me -again." My mother alone was inconsolable about this loss. Cakes and -preserves are of a perishable nature and will not keep long. The labour -which my mother had expended was therefore rendered fruitless by this -fatal accident; and to this must be added, that she could find no place -to keep the delicious cakes from my secret attacks. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -I become an object of contention, get two wives at once, and am -kidnapped at last. - - -Meanwhile the domestic circumstances of my father became every day -worse. He saw himself, therefore, compelled to make a journey to the -town of Nesvij, and apply for a position as teacher there, whither I -also had to follow him. Here he opened under favourable conditions a -school of his own, in which he could employ me as assistant. - -A widow, celebrated for her superior talents, as well as for her -Xanthippe-like character, kept a public-house at the extremity of one of -the suburbs. She had a daughter who yielded to her in none of the -above-mentioned qualities, and who was indispensable to her in the -management of the house. Madam Rissia, (this was the widow's name), -excited by my constantly increasing reputation, fixed on me as a husband -for her daughter Sarah. Her family represented to her the impossibility -of carrying out this plan; first, my father's pride, and the demands -which he would therefore make, and which she could never satisfy; then -my fame, which had already excited the attention of the most prominent -and wealthy people of the town; and finally, the moderate character of -her own fortune, which was far from sufficient to carry out such a -proposal. All these representations, however, were of no avail with her. -She had once for all taken it into her head, to have me for a -son-in-law, let it cost her what it might; and she thought, the devil -would needs be in it, if she could not get the young man. - -She sent a proposal to my father, let him have no rest the whole time he -was in the town, discussed the matter with him herself on various -occasions, and promised to satisfy all his demands. My father, however, -sought to gain time for deliberation, and to put off the question for a -while. But the time came when we were to return home. My father went -with me to the widow's house, which was the last on our road, in order -to wait for a conveyance which started from that place. Madam Rissia -made use of the opportunity, began to caress me, introduced my bride, -and asked me how I was pleased with her. At last she pressed for a -decisive answer from my father. He was still always holding back, -however, and sought in every possible way to represent the difficulties -connected with the subject. - -While they were thus treating with one another, suddenly there burst -into the room the chief rabbi, the preacher, and the elders of the -place, with many of the most respectable people. This sudden appearance -was brought about without any magic in the following way. These -gentlemen had been invited to a circumcision at the house of a prominent -man in this very suburb. Madam Rissia, who knew this very well, sent her -son at once to the house with an invitation to the whole company to -come, immediately after rising from table, to a betrothal at her house. -They came therefore half intoxicated; and as they believed nothing else -than that all the preliminaries of the marriage-contract had been -settled, and that nothing was awanting but to write out and subscribe -the contract, they sat down to table, set my father in the midst, and -the chief rabbi began to dictate the contract to the scribe of the -community. - -My father assured them that on the main point nothing had yet been -decided, and that still less had the preliminary articles been settled. -The chief rabbi fell into a passion at this, for he supposed that it was -only a quibble, and that his sacred person and the whole honourable -company were being made sport of. He turned therefore to the company, -and said with a haughty air, "Who is this Rabbi Joshua, who makes -himself of so much consequence?" My father replied, "The Rabbi is here -superfluous. I am, 'tis true, a common man; but I believe, no man can -dispute my right to care for the welfare of my son, and to place his -future happiness on a firm footing." - -The chief rabbi was greatly offended with the ambiguity of the -expression, "The Rabbi is here superfluous." He saw clearly that he had -no right to lay down laws to my father in the matter, and that it was a -piece of rashness on the part of Madam Rissia to invite a company to a -betrothal before the parties were agreed on the preliminary articles. He -began therefore to strike a lower tone. He represented to my father the -advantages of this match, the high ancestry of the bride, (her -grandfather, father, and uncle, having been learned men, and chief -rabbis), her personal attractions, and the willingness and ability of -Madam Rissia to satisfy all his demands. - -My father, who in fact had nothing to say against all this, was -compelled to yield. The marriage-contract was made out, and in it Madam -Rissia made over to her daughter her public-house with all its -belongings as a bridal portion, and came under an obligation also to -board and clothe the newly-married couple for six years. Besides I -received as a present the entire work of the Talmud with its -appurtenances, together worth two or three hundred thalers,[23] and a -number of other gifts. My father came under no obligation at all, and in -addition received fifty thalers in cash. Very wisely he had refused to -accept a bill for this sum; it had to be paid to him before the -betrothal. - -After all this had been arranged, there was a capital entertainment, and -the brandy bottle was vigorously plied. The very next day my father and -I went home. My mother-in-law promised to send after us as soon as -possible the so-called little presents and the articles of clothing for -me, which in the hurry she had not been able to get ready. Many weeks -however passed without our hearing or seeing anything of these. My -father was perplexed about this; and as the character of my -mother-in-law had long been suspicious to him, he could think nothing -else than that this intriguing woman was seeking some subterfuge to -escape from her burdensome contract. He resolved therefore to repay like -with like. - -The following circumstance strengthened him in this resolve. A rich -arendant, who used to bring spirits to Nesvij for sale, and to lodge in -our house on his journey through Mohilna, likewise cast his eye upon me. -He had an only daughter, for whom he fixed on me in his thoughts as a -husband. He knew however what difficulties he would have to overcome, if -he were to treat on the subject directly with my father. He chose -therefore an indirect way. His plan was to make my father his debtor; -and as his critical circumstances would make it impossible for him to -clear off the debt, he expected to force him, as it were, to consent to -this union with the view of wiping out the debt by means of the amount -stipulated for the son. He offered my father therefore some barrels of -spirits on credit, and the offer was accepted with delight. - -As the date of payment approached, Hersch Dukor (this was the name of -the arendant) came and reminded my father. The latter assured him, that -at the moment he was not in a position to clear off the debt, and begged -him to have patience with him for some time yet. "Herr Joshua," said the -arendant, "I will speak with you quite frankly on this matter. Your -circumstances are growing daily worse; and if no fortunate accident -occurs, I do not see any possibility of your being able to clear off -your debt. The best thing for us both therefore is this. You have a son, -and I have a daughter who is the sole heiress of all my property. Let us -enter into an alliance. By this means not only will your debt be wiped -out, but a sum to be fixed by yourself will be paid in addition, and I -shall take a general care to improve your circumstances so far as lies -in my power." - -No one could be more joyous over this proposal than my father. -Immediately a contract was closed, in which the bride's dowry, as well -as the required presents, was decided in accordance with my father's -suggestion. The bill for the debt, which amounted to fifty thalers in -Polish money, was returned to my father, and torn on the spot, while -fifty thalers in addition were paid to him. - -Thereupon my new father-in-law went on to Nesvij to collect some debts -there. Unfortunately he had to lodge at my former mother-in-law's. She, -being a great prattler, told him of her own accord about the good match -which her daughter had made. "The father of the bridegroom," said she, -"is himself a great scholar, and the bridegroom is a young man of eleven -years, who has scarcely his equal." - -"I also," replied the arendant, "have, thank God, made a good choice for -my daughter. You have perhaps heard of the celebrated scholar, Rabbi -Joshua, in Mohilna, and of his young son, Solomon: he is my daughter's -bridegroom." - -Scarcely had these words been spoken, when she cried out, "That is a -confounded lie. Solomon is my daughter's bridegroom; and here, sir, is -the marriage-contract." - -The arendant then showed her his contract too; and they fell into a -dispute, the result of which was that Madam Rissia had my father -summoned before the court to give a categorical explanation. My father, -however, did not put in an appearance, although she had him summoned -twice. - -Meanwhile my mother died, and was brought to Nesvij for burial. My -mother-in-law obtained from the court an attachment on the dead body, by -which its interment was interdicted till the termination of the suit. My -father therefore saw himself compelled to appear in court, my -mother-in-law of course gained the suit, and I became again the -bridegroom of my former bride. And now to prevent any similar reversal -of her plans in the future, and to take from my father all occasion for -it, my mother-in-law endeavoured to satisfy all his demands in -accordance with her promise, clothed me from top to toe, and even paid -my father for my board from the date of the betrothal to the marriage. -My mother also was now buried, and we returned home again. - -My second father-in-law came too, and called upon my father for the -ratification of his contract. He however pointed out that it was null -and void, as it contravened a previous contract, and had been made by -him merely in the supposition that my mother-in-law had no intention of -fulfilling hers. The arendant seemed to give an ear to these -representations, to yield to necessity, and reconcile himself to his -loss; but in reality he was thinking of some means to get me into his -hands. Accordingly he rose by night, yoked his horses, took me in -silence from the table on which I was sleeping, packed me with all -despatch into his carriage, and made off with his booty out at the gate. -But as this could not be accomplished without some noise, the people in -the house awoke, discovered the theft, pursued the kidnapper, and -snatched me out of his hand. To me the whole incident appeared at the -time like a dream. - -In this way my father was released from his debt, and got fifty thalers -besides as a gratuity; but I was immediately afterwards carried off by -my legal mother-in-law, and made the husband of my legal bride. I must -of course confess that this transaction of my father's cannot be quite -justified in a moral point of view. Only his great need at the time can -in some measure serve as an excuse. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -My Marriage in my Eleventh Year makes me the Slave of my Wife, and -procures for me Cudgellings from my Mother-in-law--A Ghost of Flesh and -Blood. - - -On the first evening of my marriage my father was not present. As he -told me at my departure that he had still to settle some articles on my -account, and therefore I was to wait for his arrival, I refused, in -spite of all the efforts that were made, to appear that evening. -Nevertheless the marriage festivities went on. We waited the next day -for my father, but still he did not come. They then threatened to bring -a party of soldiers to drag me to the marriage ceremony; but I gave them -for an answer, that, if this were done, it would help them little, for -the ceremony would not be lawful except as a voluntary act. At last, to -the joy of all interested, my father arrived towards evening, the -articles referred to were amended, and the marriage ceremony was -performed. - -Here I must mention a little anecdote. I had read in a Hebrew book of an -approved plan for a husband to secure lordship over his better half for -life. He was to tread on her foot at the marriage ceremony; and if both -hit on the stratagem, the first to succeed would retain the upper hand. -Accordingly, when my bride and I were placed side by side at the -ceremony this trick occurred to me, and I said to myself, Now you must -not let the opportunity pass of securing for your whole lifetime -lordship over your wife. I was just going to tread on her foot, but a -certain _Je ne sais quoi_, whether fear, shame, or love, held me back. -While I was in this irresolute state, all at once I felt the slipper of -my wife on my foot with such an impression that I should almost have -screamed aloud if I had not been checked by shame. I took this for a bad -omen and said to myself, Providence has destined you to be the slave of -your wife, you must not try to slip out of her fetters. From my -faint-heartedness and the heroic mettle of my wife, the reader may -easily conceive why this prophecy had to be actually realised. - -I stood, however, not only under the slipper of my wife, but--what was -very much worse--under the lash of my mother-in-law. Nothing of all that -she had promised was fulfilled. Her house, which she had settled on her -daughter as a dowry, was burdened with debt. Of the six years' board -which she had promised me I enjoyed scarcely half a year's, and this -amid constant brawls and squabbles. She even, trusting to my youth and -want of spirit, ventured now and then to lay hands on me, but this I -repaid not infrequently with compound interest. Scarcely a meal passed -during which we did not fling at each other's head, bowls, plates, -spoons, and similar articles. - -Once I came home from the academy extremely hungry. As my mother-in-law -and wife were occupied with the business of the public house, I went -myself into the room where the milk was kept; and as I found a dish of -curds and cream, I fell upon it, and began to eat. My mother-in-law came -as I was thus occupied, and screamed in rage, "You are not going to -devour the milk with the cream!" The more cream the better, thought I, -and went on eating, without disturbing myself by her cry. She was going -to wrest the dish forcibly from my hands, beat me with her fists, and -let me feel all her ill-will. Exasperated by such treatment, I pushed -her from me, seized the dish, and smashed it on her head. That was a -sight! The curds ran down all over her. She seized in rage a piece of -wood, and if I had not cleared out in all haste, she would certainly -have beat me to death. - -Scenes like this occurred very often. At such skirmishes of course my -wife had to remain neutral, and whichever party gained the upper hand, -it came home to her very closely. "Oh!" she often complained, "if only -the one or the other of you had a little more patience!" - -Tired of a ceaseless open war I once hit upon a stratagem, which had a -good effect for a short time at least. I rose about midnight, took a -large vessel of earthenware, crept with it under my mother-in-law's bed, -and began to speak aloud into the vessel after the following -fashion:--"O Rissia, Rissia, you ungodly woman, why do you treat my -beloved son so ill? If you do not mend your ways, your end is near, and -you will be damned to all eternity." Then I crept out again, and began -to pinch her cruelly; and after a while I slipped silently back to bed. - -The following morning she got up in consternation, and told my wife, -that my mother had appeared to her in a dream, and had threatened and -pinched her on my account. In confirmation she showed the blue marks on -her arm. When I came from the synagogue, I did not find my mother-in-law -at home, but found my wife in tears. I asked the reason, but she would -tell me nothing. My mother-in-law returned with dejected look, and eyes -red with weeping. She had gone, as I afterwards learned, to the Jewish -place of burial, thrown herself on my mother's grave, and begged for -forgiveness of her fault. She then had the burial place measured, and -ordered a wax-light as long as its circumference, for burning in the -synagogue. She also fasted the whole day, and towards me showed herself -extremely amiable. - -I knew of course what was the cause of all this, but acted as if I did -not observe it, and rejoiced in secret over the success of my stratagem. -In this manner I had peace for some time, but unfortunately it did not -last long. The whole was soon forgotten again, and on the slightest -occasion the dance went on as before. In short, I was soon afterwards -obliged to leave the house altogether, and accept a position as a -private tutor. Only on the great feast-days I used to come home. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -The Secrets of the Marriage State--Prince Radzivil,[24] or what is not -all allowed in Poland? - - -In my fourteenth year I had my eldest son, David. At my marriage I was -only eleven years old, and owing to the retired life common among people -of our nation in those regions, as well as the want of mutual -intercourse between the two sexes, I had no idea of the essential duties -of marriage, but looked on a pretty girl as on any other work of nature -or art, somewhat as on the pretty medicine-box that I stole. It was -therefore natural that for a considerable time after marriage I could -not have any thought about the fulfilment of its duties. I used to -approach my wife with trembling as a mysterious object. It was therefore -supposed that I had been bewitched at the time of the wedding; and under -this supposition I was brought to a witch to be cured. She took in hand -all sorts of operations, which of course had a good effect, although -indirectly through the help of the imagination. - -My life in Poland from my marriage to my emigration, which period -embraces the springtime of my existence, was a series of manifold -miseries with a want of all means for the promotion of culture, and, -necessarily connected with that, an aimless application of my powers, in -the description of which the pen drops from my hands, and the painful -memories of which I strive to stifle.[25] - -The general constitution of Poland at the time; the condition of our -people in it, who, like the poor ass with the double burden, are -oppressed by their own ignorance and the religious prejudices connected -therewith, as well as by the ignorance and prejudices of the ruling -classes; the misfortunes of my own family;--all these causes combined to -hinder me in the course of my development, and to check the effect of my -natural disposition. - -The Polish nation, under which I comprehend merely the Polish nobility, -is of a very mixed kind. Only the very few have an opportunity of -culture by means of upbringing, instruction, and well-directed travels, -by which they can best promote at once their own welfare and that of -their tenantry. Most of them, on the other hand, spend their lives in -ignorance and immorality, and become the sport of their extravagant -passions, which are ruinous to their tenants. They make a display with -titles and orders, which they disgrace by their actions; they own many -estates which they do not understand how to manage, and they are at -perpetual feud with one another, so that the kingdom must of necessity -become the prey of its neighbours, who are envious of its greatness. - -Prince Radzivil was, as Hettmann in Poland and Voivode in Lithuania, one -of the greatest magnates, and as occupant of three inheritances in his -family owned immense estates. He was not without a certain kindness of -heart and good sense; but, through neglected training and a want of -instruction, he became one of the most extravagant princes that ever -lived. From want of occupation, which was a necessary consequence of -neglect in cultivating his tastes and widening his knowledge, he gave -himself up to drinking, by which he was tempted to the most ridiculous -and insane actions. Without any particular inclination for it he -abandoned himself to the most shameful sensuality; and without being -cruel, he exercised towards his dependents the greatest cruelties. - -He supported at great cost an army of ten thousand men, which was used -for no purpose in the world except display; and during the troubles in -Poland he took, without knowing why, the part of the Confederates. By -this means he got himself encumbered with the friendship of the -Russians, who plundered his estates, and plunged his tenants into the -greatest destitution and misery. He himself was obliged several times to -flee from the country, and to leave as booty for his enemies treasures -which had been the gathering of many generations. - -Who can describe all the excesses he perpetrated? A few examples will, I -believe, be sufficient to give the reader some idea of them. A certain -respect for my former prince does not allow me to consider his faults as -anything but faults of temperament and education, which deserve rather -our pity than our hatred and contempt. - -When he passed through a street, which he commonly did with the whole -pomp of his court, his bands of music and soldiers, no man, at the peril -of his life, durst show himself in the street; and even in the houses -people were by no means safe. The poorest, dirtiest peasant-woman, who -came in his way, he would order up into his carriage beside himself. - -Once he sent for a respectable Jewish barber, who, suspecting nothing -but that he was wanted for some surgical operation, brought his -instruments with him, and appeared before the prince. - -"Have you brought your instruments with you?" he was asked. - -"Yes, Serene Highness," he replied. - -"Then," said the prince, "give me a lancet, and I will open one of your -veins." - -The poor barber had to submit. The prince seized the lancet; and as he -did not know how to go about the operation, and besides his hand -trembled as a result of his hard drinking, of course he wounded the -barber in a pitiable manner. But his courtiers smiled their applause, -and praised his great skill in surgery. - -He went one day into a church, and being so drunk that he did not know -where he was, he stood against the altar, and commenced to ----. All who -were present became horrified. Next morning when he was sober, the -clergy brought to his mind the misdeed he had committed the day before. -"Eh!" said the prince, "we will soon make that good." Thereupon he -issued a command to the Jews of the place, to provide at their own -expense, fifty stone of wax for burning in the church. The poor Jews -were therefore obliged to bring a sin-offering for the desecration of a -Christian Church by an orthodox Catholic Christian. - -He once took it into his head to drive on the wall round the town. But -as the wall was too narrow for a coach with six horses,--and he never -drove in any other,--his hussars were obliged, with much labour and -peril of their lives, to carry the coach with their hands till he had -driven round the town in this way. - -Once he drove with the whole pomp of his court to a Jewish synagogue, -and, without any one to this day knowing the reason, committed the -greatest havoc, smashed windows and stoves, broke all the vessels, threw -on the ground the copies of the Holy Scriptures kept in the ark, and so -forth. A learned, pious Jew, who was present, ventured to lift one of -these copies from the ground, and had the honour of being struck with a -musket-ball by His Serene Highness' own hand. From here the train went -to a second synagogue, where the same conduct was repeated, and from -there they proceeded to the Jewish burial-place, where the buildings -were demolished, and the monuments cast into the fire. - -Can it be conceived, that a prince could show himself so malicious -towards his own poor subjects, whom he was in a position to punish -legally whenever they really did anything amiss? Yet this is what -happened here. - -On one occasion he took it into his head to make a trip to Mohilna, a -hamlet belonging to him, which lay four short miles from his Residence. -This had to be done with his usual suite and all the pomp of his court. -On the morning of the appointed day the train went forth. First marched -the army in order according to its usual regimental -divisions,--infantry, artillery, cavalry, and so on. Then followed his -bodyguard, Strelitzi, consisting of volunteers from the poor nobility. -After them came his kitchen-waggons, in which Hungarian wine had not -been forgotten. These were followed by the music of his janissaries, and -other bands. Then came his coach, and last of all his satraps. I give -them this name, because I can compare this train with no other than that -of Darius in the war against Alexander. Towards evening His Serene -Highness arrived at our public house in the suburb of the town which was -His Serene Highness' Residence, Nesvij. I cannot say that he arrived in -his own high person, for the Hungarian wine had robbed him of all -consciousness, in which alone of course personality rests. He was -carried into the house and thrown with all his clothes, booted and -spurred, on to my mother-in-law's dirty bed, without giving it a supply -of clean linen. - -As usual, I had to take to flight. My Amazons, however, I mean my -mother-in-law and my wife, trusted to their heroic mettle, and remained -at home alone. Riot went on the whole night. In the very room where His -Serene Highness slept, wood was chopped, cooking and baking were done. -It was well known that, when His Serene Highness slept, nothing could -waken his high person except perhaps the trumpet of the Judgment-Day. -The next morning, when he wakened, and looked around, he scarcely knew -whether to trust his eyes, when he found himself in a wretched -public-house, thrown on to a dirty bed swarming with bugs. His valets, -pages, and negroes waited on his commands. He asked how he had come -there, and was answered, that His Serene Highness had yesterday -commenced a journey to Mohilna, but had halted here to take rest, that -his whole train had meanwhile gone on, and had undoubtedly arrived in -Mohilna by this time. - -The journey to Mohilna was for the present given up, and the whole train -ordered back. They returned accordingly to the Residence in the usual -order and pomp. But the prince was pleased to hold a great banquet in -our public-house. All the foreign gentlemen, who happened to be in the -place at the time, were invited. The service used on the occasion was of -gold, and it is impossible adequately to realise the contrast which -reigned here in one house, between Asiatic splendour and Lappish -poverty. In a miserable public-house, whose walls were black as coal -with smoke and soot, whose rafters were supported by undressed round -stems of trees, whose windows consisted of some fragments of broken -panes of bad glass, and small strips of pine covered with paper,--in -this house sat princes on dirty benches at a still dirtier table, and -had the choicest dishes and the finest wines served to them on gold -plate. - -Before the banquet the prince took a stroll with the other gentlemen in -front of the house, and by chance observed my wife. She was then in the -bloom of her youth; and although I am now separated from her, still I -must do her the justice to allow that--leaving, of course, out of -account all that taste and art contribute to the heightening of a -person's charms, inasmuch as these had had no influence on her--she was -a beauty of the first rank. It was therefore natural that she should -please the prince. He turned to his companions, and said, "Really a -pretty young woman! Only she ought to get a white chemise." This was a -common signal with him, and meant as much as the throwing of a -handkerchief by the Grand Sultan. When these gentlemen therefore heard -it, they became solicitous for the honour of my wife, and gave her a -hint to clear out as fast as possible. She took the hint, slipped -silently out, and was soon over the hills and far away. - -After the banquet His Serene Highness proceeded again with the other -gentlemen into town amid trumpets, kettle-drums, and the music of his -janissaries. Then the usual order of the day was followed; that is, a -carousal was carried on the whole afternoon and evening, and then the -party went to a pleasure-house at the entrance to the prince's -zoological garden, where fire-works were set off at great expense, but -usually with accidents. As every goblet was drained, cannons were fired; -but the poor cannoneers, who knew better how to handle the plough than -the cannon, were not seldom injured. "Vivat Kschondsie Radzivil," that -is, "Long live Prince Radzivil," shouted the guests. The palm in this -Bacchanalian sport was of course awarded to the prince; and those who -awarded it were loaded by him with presents, not in perishable coin or -golden snuff-boxes or anything of that sort, but in real estate with -many hundred peasants. At the close a concert was given, during which -His Serene Highness fell gently asleep, and was carried to the castle. - -The expenses of such extravagance were of course extorted from the poor -tenantry. If this was not sufficient, debts were contracted, and estates -sold to wipe them out. Not even the twelve golden statues in -life-size,--whether they represented the twelve apostles or the twelve -giants, I do not know,--nor the golden table which had been made for -himself, were spared on such emergencies. And thus the noble estates of -this great prince were diminished, his treasures which had accumulated -during many generations were exhausted, and his tenants----But I must -break off. - -The prince died not long ago without heirs of his body. His brother's -son inherited the estates. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless Struggles with Misery of -every kind. - - -By means of the instruction received from my father, but still more by -my own industry, I had got on so well, that in my eleventh year I was -able to pass as a full rabbi. Besides I possessed some disconnected -knowledge in history, astronomy, and other mathematical sciences. I -burned with desire to acquire more knowledge, but how was this to be -accomplished in the want of guidance, of scientific books, and of all -other means for the purpose? I was obliged therefore to content myself -with making use of any help that I could by chance obtain, without plan -or method. - -In order to gratify my desire of scientific knowledge, there were no -means available but that of learning foreign languages. But how was I to -begin? To learn Polish or Latin with a Catholic teacher was for me -impossible, on the one hand because the prejudices of my own people -prohibited to me all languages but Hebrew, and all sciences but the -Talmud and the vast array of its commentators, on the other hand because -the prejudices of Catholics would not allow them to give instruction in -those matters to a Jew. Moreover I was in very low temporal -circumstances. I was obliged to support a whole family by teaching, by -correcting proofs of the Holy Scriptures, and by other work of a similar -kind. For a long time therefore I had to sigh in vain for the -satisfaction of my natural inclination. - -At last a fortunate accident came to my help. I observed in some stout -Hebrew volumes, that they contained several alphabets, and that the -number of their sheets was indicated not merely by Hebrew letters, but -that for this purpose the characters of a second and a third alphabet -had also been employed, these being commonly Latin and German letters. -Now, I had not the slightest idea of printing. I generally imagined that -books were printed like linen, and that each page was an impression from -a separate form. I presumed however that the characters, which stood in -similar places, must represent one and the same letter, and as I had -already heard something of the order of the alphabet in these languages, -I supposed that, for example, _a_, standing in the same place as -_aleph_, must likewise be an aleph in sound. In this way I gradually -learnt the Latin and German characters. - -By a kind of deciphering I began to combine various German letters into -words; but as the characters used along with the Hebrew letters might be -something quite different from these, I remained always doubtful -whether the whole of my labour in this operation would not be in vain, -till fortunately some leaves of an old German book fell into my hand. I -began to read. How great were my joy and surprise, when I saw from the -connection, that the words completely corresponded with those which I -had learned. 'Tis true, in my Jewish language many of the words were -unintelligible; but from the connection I was still able, with the -omission of these words, to comprehend the whole pretty well.[26] - -This mode of learning by deciphering constitutes still my peculiar -method of comprehending and judging the thoughts of others; and I -maintain that no one can say he understands a book, as long as he finds -himself compelled to deliver the thoughts of the author in the order and -connection determined by him, and with the expressions which he has -used. This is a mere work of memory, and no man can flatter himself with -having comprehended an author till he is roused by his thoughts, which -he apprehends at first but dimly, to reflect on the subject himself, -and to work it out for himself, though it may be under the impulse of -another. This distinction between different kinds of understanding must -be evident to any man of discernment.--For the same reason also I can -understand a book only when the thoughts which it contains harmonise -after filling up the gaps between them. - -I still always felt a want which I was not able to fill. I could not -completely satisfy my desire of scientific knowledge. Up to this time -the study of the Talmud was still my chief occupation. With this however -I found pleasure merely in view of its form, for this calls into action -the higher powers of the mind; but I took no interest in its matter. It -affords exercise in deducing the remotest consequences from their -principles, in discovering the most hidden contradictions, in hunting -out the finest distinctions, and so forth. But as the principles -themselves have merely an imaginary reality, they cannot by any means -satisfy a soul thirsting after knowledge. - -I looked around therefore for something, by which I could supply this -want. Now, I knew that there is a so-called science, which is somewhat -in vogue among the Jewish scholars of this district, namely the -Cabbalah, which professes to enable a man, not merely to satisfy his -desire of knowledge, but also to reach an uncommon perfection and -closeness of communion with God. Naturally therefore I burned with -desire for this science. As however it cannot, on account of its -sacredness, be publicly taught, but must be taught in secret, I did not -know where to seek the initiated or their writings. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a Physician. - - -Cabbalah,--to treat of this divine science somewhat more in -detail,--means, in the wider sense of the term, _tradition_; and it -comprehends, not only the occult sciences which may not be publicly -taught, but also the method of deducing new laws from the laws that are -given in the Holy Scriptures, as also some fundamental laws which are -said to have been delivered orally to Moses on Mount Sinai. In the -narrower sense of the term, however, Cabbalah means only the tradition -of occult sciences. This is divided into _theoretical_ and _practical_ -Cabbalah. The former comprehends the doctrines of God, of His attributes -which are expressed by means of His manifold names, of the origin of the -world through a gradual limitation of His infinite perfection, and of -the relation of all things to His supreme essence. The latter is the -doctrine which teaches how to work upon nature at pleasure by means of -those manifold names of God, which represent various modes of working -upon, and relations to, natural objects. These sacred names are -regarded, not as merely arbitrary, but as _natural_ signs, so that all -that is done with these signs must have an influence on the object which -they represent. - -Originally the Cabbalah was nothing but psychology, physics, morals, -politics, and such sciences, represented by means of symbols and -hieroglyphs in fables and allegories, the occult meaning of which was -disclosed only to those who were competent to understand it. By and by, -however, perhaps as the result of many revolutions, this occult meaning -was lost, and the signs were taken for the things signified. But as it -was easy to perceive that these signs necessarily had meant something, -it was left to the imagination to invent an occult meaning which had -long been lost. The remotest analogies between signs and things were -seized, till at last the Cabbalah degenerated into an art of _madness -according to method_, or a systematic science resting on conceits. The -big promise of its design, to work effects on nature at pleasure, the -lofty strain and the pomp with which it announces itself, have naturally -an extraordinary influence on minds of the visionary type, that are -unenlightened by the sciences and especially by a thorough philosophy. - -The principal work for the study of the Cabbalah is the _Zohar_, which -is written in a very lofty style in the Syrian language. All other -Cabbalistic writings are to be regarded as merely commentaries on this, -or extracts from it. - -There are two main systems of the Cabbalah,--the system of Rabbi Moses -Kordovero, and that of Rabbi Isaac Luria.[27] The former is more _real_, -that is, it approximates more closely to reason. The latter, on the -other hand, is more _formal_, that is, it is completer in the structure -of its system. The modern Cabbalists prefer the latter, because they -hold that only to be genuine Cabbalah, in which there is no rational -meaning. The principal work of Rabbi Moses Kordovero is the _Pardes_ -(Paradise). Of Rabbi Isaac Luria himself we have some disconnected -writings; but his pupil, Rabbi Chajim Vitall, wrote a large work under -the title, _Ez Chajim_ (The Tree of Life), in which the whole system of -his master is contained. This work is held by the Jews to be so sacred, -that they do not allow it to be committed to print. Naturally, I had -more taste for the Cabbalah of Rabbi Moses than for that of Rabbi Isaac, -but durst not give utterance to my opinion on this point. - -After this digression on the Cabbalah in general, I return to my story. -I learned that the under-rabbi or preacher of the place was an adept in -the Cabbalah; and therefore, to attain my object, I made his -acquaintance. I took my seat beside him in the synagogue, and as I -observed once that after prayer he always read from a small book, and -then put it past carefully in its place, I became very curious to know -what sort of book this was. Accordingly, after the preacher had gone -home, I went and took the book from the place where he had put it; and -when I found that it was a Cabbalistic work, I went with it and hid -myself in a corner of the synagogue, till all the people had gone out -and the door was locked. I then crept from my hiding-place, and, without -a thought about eating or drinking the whole day long, read the -fascinating book till the doorkeeper came and opened the synagogue again -in the evening. - -_Shaarei Kedushah_, or _The Gates of Righteousness_, was the title of -this book; and, leaving out of account what was visionary and -exaggerated, it contained the principal doctrines of psychology. I did -with it therefore as the Talmudists say Rabbi MeA-r acted, who had a -heretic for his teacher, "He found a pomegranate; he ate the fruit and -threw the peel away."[28] - -In two or three days I had in this way finished the book; but instead of -satisfying my curiosity, it only excited it the more. I wished to read -more books of the same sort. But as I was too bashful to confess this to -the preacher, I resolved to write him a letter, in which I expressed my -irresistible longing for this sacred science, and therefore entreated -him earnestly to assist me with books. I received from him a very -favourable answer. He praised my zeal for the sacred science, and -assured me that this zeal, amid so little encouragement, was an obvious -sign that my soul was derived from _Olam Aziloth_ (the world of the -immediate divine influence), while the souls of mere Talmudists take -their origin from _Olam Jezirah_ (the world of the creation). He -promised, therefore, to assist me with books as far as lay in his power. -But as he himself was occupied mainly with this science, and required to -have such books constantly at hand, he could not lend them to me, but -gave me permission to study them in his house at my pleasure. - -Who was gladder than I! I accepted the offer of the preacher with -gratitude, scarcely ever left his house, and sat day and night over the -Cabbalistic books. Two representations especially gave me the greatest -trouble. One was the _Tree_, or the representation of the divine -emanations in their manifold and intricate complexities. The other was -God's _Beard_, in which the hairs are divided into numerous classes with -something peculiar to each, and every hair is a separate channel of -divine grace. With all my efforts I could not find in these -representations any rational meaning. - -My prolonged visits however were extremely inconvenient to the preacher. -He had, a short time before, married a pretty young wife; and as his -modest little house consisted of a single apartment, which was at once -parlour, study, and bedroom, and as I sat in it at times reading the -whole night, it happened not infrequently that my elevation above the -sphere of sense came into collision with his sensibility. Consequently, -he hit upon a good plan for getting rid of the incipient Cabbalist. He -said to me one day, "I observe that it necessarily puts you to a great -deal of inconvenience to spend your time constantly away from home for -the sake of these books. You may take them home with you one by one if -you please, and thus study them at your convenience." - -To me nothing could be more welcome. I took home one book after -another, and studied them till I believed that I had mastered the whole -of the Cabbalah. I contented myself not merely with the knowledge of its -principles and manifold systems, but sought also to make a proper use of -these. There was not a passage to be met with in the Holy Scriptures or -in the Talmud, the occult meaning of which I could not have unfolded, -according to Cabbalistic principles, with the greatest readiness. - -The book entitled _Shaarei Orah_[29] came to be of very good service -here. In this book are enumerated the manifold names of the ten -_Sephiroth_, which form the principal subject of the Talmud, so that a -hundred or more names are given to each. In every word of a verse in the -Bible, or of a passage in the Talmud, I found therefore the name of some -Sephirah. But as I knew the attribute of every Sephirah, and its -relation to the rest, I could easily bring out of the combination of -names their conjoint effect. - -To illustrate this by a brief example, I found in the book just -mentioned, that the name _Jehovah_ represents the six highest Sephiroth -(not including the first three), or the person of the Godhead _generis -masculini_, while the word _Koh_ means the _Shechinah_ or the person of -the Godhead _generis feminini_, and the word _amar_ denotes sexual -union. The words, "Koh amar Jehova,"[30] therefore, I explained in the -following way, "Jehovah unites with the Shechinah," and this is high -Cabbalism. Accordingly, when I read this passage in the Bible, I thought -nothing else, but that, when I uttered these words, and thought their -occult meaning, an actual union of these divine spouses took place, from -which the whole world had to expect a blessing. Who can restrain the -excesses of imagination, when it is not guided by reason? - -With the _Cabbalah Maasith_, or the _practical Cabbalah_, I did not -succeed so well as with the theoretical. The preacher boasted, not -publicly indeed, but to everybody in private, that he was master of this -also. Especially he professed _roeh veeno nireh_ (to see everything, but -not to be seen by others), that is, to be able to make himself -invisible. - -About this trick I was specially anxious, in order that I might practise -some wanton jokes on my comrades. More particularly I formed a plan for -keeping my ill-tempered mother-in-law in check by this means. I -pretended that my object was merely to do good, and guard against evil. -The preacher consented, but said at the same time, that on my part -certain preparations were required. Three days in succession I was to -feast, and every day to say some _Ichudim_. These are Cabbalistic forms -of prayer, whose occult meaning aims at producing in the intellectual -world sexual unions, through means of which certain results are to be -brought about in the physical. - -I did everything with pleasure, made the conjuration which he had taught -me, and believed with all confidence that I was now invisible. At once I -hurried to the _Beth Hamidrash_, the Jewish academy, went up to one of -my comrades, and gave him a vigorous box on the ear. He however was no -coward, and returned the blow with interest. I started back in -astonishment; I could not understand how he had been able to discover -me, as I had observed with the utmost accuracy the instructions of the -preacher. Still I thought I might, perhaps, unwittingly and -unintentionally have neglected something. I resolved, therefore, to -undertake the operation anew. This time, however, I was not going to -venture on the test of a box on the ear; I went into the academy merely -to watch my comrades as a spectator. As soon as I entered, however, one -of them came up to me, and showed me a difficult passage in the Talmud, -which he wished me to explain. I stood utterly confounded, and -disconsolate over the failure of my hopes. - -Thereupon I went to the preacher, and informed him of my unsuccessful -attempt. Without blushing, he replied quite boldly, "If you have -observed all my instructions, I cannot explain this otherwise than by -supposing that you are unfit for being thus divested of the visibility -of your body." With great grief, therefore, I was obliged to give up -entirely the hope of making myself invisible. - -This disappointed hope was followed by a new delusion. In the preface to -the _Book of Raphael_, which the angel of that name is said to have -delivered to our first father Adam at his banishment from paradise, I -found the promise, that whoever keeps the book in his house is thereby -insured against fire. It was not long, however, before a conflagration -broke out in the neighbourhood, when the fire seized my house too, and -the angel Raphael himself had to go up into heaven in this chariot of -fire. - -Unsatisfied with the literary knowledge of this science, I sought to -penetrate into its spirit; and as I perceived that the whole science, if -it is to deserve this name, can contain nothing but the secrets of -nature concealed in fables and allegories, I laboured to find out these -secrets, and thereby to raise my merely literary knowledge to a rational -knowledge. This, however, I could accomplish only in a very imperfect -manner at the time, because I had yet very few ideas of the sciences in -general. Still, by independent reflection I hit upon many applications -of this kind. Thus, for example, I explained at once the first instance -with which the Cabbalists commonly begin their science. - -It is this. Before the world was created, the divine being occupied the -whole of infinite space alone. But God wished to create a world, in -order that He might reveal those attributes of His nature which refer -to other beings besides Himself. For this purpose He contracted Himself -into the centre of His perfection, and issued into the space thereby -left void ten concentric circles of light, out of which arose afterwards -manifold figures (_Parzophim_) and gradations down to the present world -of sense. - -I could not in any way conceive that all this was to be taken in the -common sense of the words, as nearly all Cabbalists represent it. As -little could I conceive that, before the world had been created, a time -had past, as I knew from my _Moreh Nebhochim_, that time is a -modification of the world, and consequently cannot be thought without -it. Moreover, I could not conceive that God occupies a space, even -though it be infinite; or that He, an infinitely perfect being, should -contract Himself, like a thing of circular form, into a centre. - -Accordingly I sought to explain all this in the following way. God is -prior to the world, not in time, but in His necessary being as the -condition of the world. All things besides God must depend on Him as -their cause, in regard to their essence as well as their existence. The -creation of the world, therefore, could not be thought as a bringing -forth _out of nothing_, nor as a formation of something independent on -God, but only as a bringing forth _out of Himself_. And as beings are of -different grades of perfection, we must assume for their explanation -different grades of limitation of the divine being. But since this -limitation must be thought as extending from the infinite being down to -matter, we represent the beginning of the limitation in a figure as a -centre (the lowest point) of the Infinite. - -In fact, the Cabbalah is nothing but an expanded Spinozism, in which not -only is the origin of the world explained by the limitation of the -divine being, but also the origin of every kind of being, and its -relation to the rest, are derived from a separate attribute of God. God, -as the ultimate subject and the ultimate cause of all beings, is called -Ensoph (the Infinite, of which, considered in itself, nothing can be -predicated). But in relation to the infinite number of beings, positive -attributes are ascribed to Him; these are reduced by the Cabbalists to -ten, which are called the ten Sephiroth. - -In the book, _Pardes_, by Rabbi Moses Kordovero, the question is -discussed, whether the Sephiroth are to be taken for the Deity Himself -or not. It is easy to be seen, however, that this question has no more -difficulty in reference to the Deity, than in reference to any other -being. - -Under the ten circles I conceived the ten categories or predicaments of -Aristotle, with which I had become acquainted in the _Moreh -Nebhochim_,--the most universal predicates of things, without which -nothing can be thought. The categories, in the strictest critical sense, -are the logical forms, which relate not merely to a _logical_ object, -but to _real_ objects in general, and without which these cannot be -thought. They have their source, therefore, in the subject itself, but -they become an object of consciousness only by reference to a real -object. Consequently, they represent the ten Sephiroth, which belong, -indeed, to the Ensoph in itself, but of which the reality is revealed -only by their special relation to, and effect upon, objects in nature, -and the number of which can be variously determined in various points of -view. - -But by this method of explanation I brought upon myself many an -annoyance. For the Cabbalists maintain that the Cabbalah is not a human, -but a divine, science; and that, consequently, it would be degradation -of it, to explain its mysteries in accordance with nature and reason. -The more reasonable, therefore, my explanations proved, the more were -the Cabbalists irritated with me, inasmuch as they held that alone to be -divine, which had no reasonable meaning. Accordingly I had to keep my -explanations to myself. An entire work, that I wrote on the subject, I -brought with me to Berlin, and preserve still as a monument of the -struggle of the human mind after perfection, in spite of all the -hindrances which are placed in its way. - -Meanwhile this could not satisfy me. I wished to get an insight into the -sciences, not as they are veiled in fables, but in their natural light. -I had already, though very imperfectly, learned to read German; but -where was I to obtain German books in Lithuania? Fortunately for me I -learned that the chief rabbi of a neighbouring town, who in his youth -had lived for a while in Germany, and learned the German language -there, and made himself in some measure acquainted with the sciences, -continued still, though in secret, to work at the sciences, and had a -fair library of German books. - -I resolved therefore to make a pilgrimage to S----, in order to see the -chief rabbi, and beg of him a few scientific books. I was tolerably -accustomed to such journeys, and had gone once thirty miles[31] on foot -to see a Hebrew work of the tenth century on the Peripatetic philosophy. -Without therefore troubling myself in the least about travelling -expenses or means of conveyance, and without saying a word to my family -on the subject, I set out upon the journey to this town in the middle of -winter. As soon as I arrived at the place, I went to the chief rabbi, -told him my desire, and begged him earnestly for assistance. He was not -a little astonished; for, during the thirty one years which had passed -since his return from Germany, not a single individual had ever made -such a request. He promised to lend me some old German books. The most -important among these were an old work on Optics, and Sturm's _Physics_. - -I could not sufficiently express my gratitude to this excellent chief -rabbi; I pocketed the few books, and returned home in rapture. After I -had studied these books thoroughly, my eyes were all at once opened. I -believed that I had found a key to all the secrets of nature, as I now -knew the origin of storms, of dew, of rain, and such phenomena. I looked -down with pride on all others, who did not yet know these things, -laughed at their prejudices and superstitions, and proposed to clear up -their ideas on these subjects and to enlighten their understanding. - -But this did not always succeed. I laboured once to teach a Talmudist, -that the earth is round, and that we have antipodes. He however made the -objection, that these antipodes would necessarily fall off. I -endeavoured to show that the falling of a body is not directed towards -any fixed point in empty space, but towards the centre of the earth, and -that the ideas of Over and Under represent merely the removal from and -approach to this centre. It was of no avail; the Talmudist stood to his -ground, that such an assertion was absurd. - -On another occasion I went to take a walk with some of my friends. It -chanced that a goat lay in the way. I gave the goat some blows with my -stick, and my friends blamed me for my cruelty. "What is the cruelty?" I -replied. "Do you believe that the goat feels a pain, when I beat it? You -are greatly mistaken; the goat is a mere machine." This was the doctrine -of Sturm as a disciple of Descartes. - -My friends laughed heartily at this, and said, "But don't you hear that -the goat cries, when you beat it?" "Yes," I replied, "of course it -cries; but if you beat a drum, it cries too." They were amazed at my -answer, and in a short time it went abroad over the whole town, that I -had become mad, as I held that _a goat is a drum_. - -From my generous friend, the chief rabbi, I received afterwards two -medical works, Kulm's _Anatomical Tables_ and Voit's _Gaziopilatium_. -The latter is a large medical dictionary, containing, in a brief form, -not only explanations from all departments of medicine, but also their -manifold applications. In connection with every disease is given an -explanation of its cause, its symptoms, and the method of its cure, -along with even the ordinary prescriptions. This was for me a real -treasure. I studied the book thoroughly, and believed myself to be -master of the science of medicine, and a complete physician. - -But I was not going to content myself with mere theory in this matter; I -resolved to make regular application of it. I visited patients, -determined all diseases according to their circumstances and symptoms, -explained their causes, and gave also prescriptions for their cure. But -in this practice things turned out very comically. If a patient told me -some of the symptoms of his disease, I guessed from them the nature of -the disease itself, and inferred the presence of the other symptoms. If -the patient said that he could trace none of these, I stubbornly -insisted on their being present all the same. The conversation therefore -sometimes came to this:-- - -_I._ "You have headache also." - -_Patient._ "No." - -_I._ "But you _must_ have headache." - -As many symptoms are common to several diseases, I took not infrequently -_quid pro quo_. Prescriptions I could never keep in my head, so that, -when I prescribed anything, I was obliged to go home first and turn up -my _Gaziopilatium_. At length I began even to make up drugs myself -according to Voit's prescriptions. How this succeeded, may be imagined. -It had at least this good result, that I saw something more was surely -required for a practical physician than I understood at the time. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -A brief Exposition of the Jewish Religion, from its Origin down to the -most recent Times. - - -To render intelligible that part of the story of my life, which refers -to my sentiments regarding religion, I must first give in advance a -short practical _history of the Jewish religion_, and at the outset say -something of the idea of _religion in general_, as well as of the -difference between _natural_ and _positive_ religion. - -_Religion in general_ is the expression of gratitude, reverence and the -other feelings, which arise from the dependence of our weal and woe on -one or more powers to us unknown. If we look to the _expression of these -feelings in general_, without regard to the _particular mode of the -expression_, religion is certainly natural to man. He observes many -effects which are of interest to him, but whose causes are to him -unknown; and he finds himself compelled, by the universally recognised -_Principle of Sufficient Reason_, to suppose these causes, and to -express towards them the feelings mentioned. - -This expression may be of two kinds, in conformity either with the -_imagination_ or with _reason_. For either man imagines the causes to -be analogous to the effects, and ascribes to them in themselves such -attributes as are revealed through the effects, or he thinks them merely -as causes of certain effects, without seeking thereby to determine their -attributes in themselves. These two modes are both natural to man, the -former being in accordance with his earlier condition, the latter with -that of his perfection. - -The difference between these two modes of representation has as its -consequence another difference of religions. The first mode of -representation, in accordance with which the causes are supposed to be -_similar_ to the effects, is the mother of _polytheism_ or _heathenism_. -But the second is the basis of _true_ religion. For as the kinds of -effects are different, the causes also, if held to be like them, must be -represented as different from one another. On the other hand, if, in -accordance with truth, we conceive the idea of _cause in general_ for -these effects, without seeking to determine this cause, either _in -itself_ (since it is wholly unknown), or _analogically_ by help of the -imagination, then we have no ground for supposing several causes, but -require to assume merely a single subject, wholly unknown, as cause of -all these effects. - -The different philosophical systems of theology are nothing but -_detailed developments_ of these different modes of representation. The -_atheistic_ system of theology, if so it may be called, rejects -altogether this idea of a _first cause_, (as, according to the -_critical_ system at least, it is merely of _regulative use_ as a -necessary _idea of reason_). All effects are referred to particular -known or unknown causes. In this there cannot be assumed even a -_connection_ between the various effects, else the _reason_ of this -connection would require to be sought beyond the connection itself. - -The _Spinozistic_ system, on the contrary, supposes one and the same -substance as immediate cause of all various effects, which must be -regarded as predicates of one and the same subject. _Matter_ and _mind_ -are, with Spinoza, one and the same substance, which appears, now under -the former, now under the latter attribute. This single substance is, -according to him, not only the sole being that can be _self-dependent_, -that is, independent of any external cause, but also the sole -_self-subsistent_ being, all so-called beings besides it being merely -its _modes_, that is, particular limitations of its attributes. Every -particular effect in nature is referred by him, not to its proximate -cause (which is merely a _mode_), but immediately to this first cause, -which is the common substance of all beings. - -In this system _unity is real_, but _multiplicity_ is merely _ideal_. In -the atheistic system it is the opposite. _Multiplicity_ is _real_, being -founded on the _nature of things themselves_. On the other hand, the -_unity_, which is observed in the order and regularity of nature, is -merely an _accident_, by which we are accustomed to determine our -_arbitrary_ system _for the sake of knowledge_. It is inconceivable -therefore how any one can make out the Spinozistic system to be -atheistic, since the two systems are diametrically opposed to one -another. In the latter the existence of _God_ is denied, but in the -former the existence of the _world_. Spinoza's ought therefore to be -called rather the _acosmic_ system. - -The _Leibnitzian_ system holds the mean between the two preceding. In it -all _particular effects_ are referred immediately to _particular -causes_; but these various effects are thought as _connected_ in a -single system, and the cause of this connection is sought in a being -beyond itself. - -_Positive_ religion is distinguished from _natural_ in the very same way -as the positive laws of a state from natural laws. The latter are those -which rest on a self-acquired, indistinct knowledge, and are not duly -defined in regard to their application, while the former rest on a -distinct knowledge received from others, and are completely defined in -regard to their application. - -A _positive_ religion however must be carefully distinguished from a -_political_ religion. The former has for its end merely the correction -and accurate definition of knowledge, that is, _instruction_ regarding -the first cause: and the knowledge is communicated to another, according -to the measure of his capacity, just as it has been received. But the -latter has for its end mainly the welfare of the state. Knowledge is -therefore communicated, not just as it has been received, but only in so -far as it is found serviceable to this end. Politics, merely as -politics, requires to concern itself about _true religion_ as little as -about _true morality_. The injury, that might arise from this, can be -prevented by other means which influence men at the same time, and thus -all can be kept in equilibrium. Every political religion is therefore at -the same time positive, but every positive religion is not also -political. - -Natural religion has no _mysteries_ any more than merely positive -religion. For there is no mystery implied in one man being unable to -communicate his knowledge to another of defective capacity with the same -degree of completeness which he himself has attained; otherwise -mysteries might be attributed to all the sciences, and there would then -be _mysteries of mathematics_ as well as _mysteries of religion_. Only -_political religion_ can have mysteries, in order to lead men in an -indirect way to the attainment of the _political end_, inasmuch as they -are made to believe that thereby they can best attain their _private -ends_, though this is not always in reality the case. There are _lesser_ -and _greater_ mysteries in the political religions. The former consist -in the _material_ knowledge of all particular operations and their -connection with one another. The latter, on the contrary, consist in the -knowledge of the _form_, that is, of the end by which the former are -determined. The former constitute the totality of the _laws of -religion_, but the latter contains the _spirit of the laws_. - -The _Jewish religion_, even at its earliest origin among the nomadic -patriarchs, is already distinguished from the _heathen_ as _natural -religion_, inasmuch as, instead of the _many comprehensible_ gods of -heathenism, the _unity of an incomprehensible_ God lies at its -foundation. For as the particular causes of the effects, which in -general give rise to a religion, are in themselves unknown, and we do -not feel justified in transferring to the causes the attributes of the -particular effects, in order thereby to characterise them, there remains -nothing but the idea of cause in general, which must be related to all -effects without distinction. This cause cannot even be _analogically_ -determined by the effects. For the effects are opposed to one another, -and neutralise each other even in the same object. If therefore we -ascribed them all to one and the same cause, the cause could not be -analogically determined by any. - -The _heathen_ religion, on the other hand, refers every kind of effect -to a special cause, which can of course be characterised by its effect. -As a _positive_ religion the Jewish is distinguished from the heathen by -the fact, that it is not a merely political religion, that is, a -religion which has for its end the social interest (in opposition to -true knowledge and private interest); but in accordance with the spirit -of its founder, it is adapted to the theocratic form of the national -Government, which rests on the principle, that only the true religion, -based on rational knowledge, can harmonise with the interest of the -state as well as of the individual. Considered in its _purity_, -therefore, it has no mysteries in the proper sense of the word; that is -to say, it has no doctrines which, in order to reach their end, men -_will_ not disclose, but merely such as _can_ not be disclosed to all. - -After the fall of the Jewish state the religion was separated from the -state which no longer existed. The religious authorities were no longer, -as they had been before, concerned about adapting the particular -institutions of religion to the state; but their care went merely to -_preserve_ the religion, on which the existence of the _nation_ now -depended. Moved by hatred towards those nations who had annihilated the -state, and from anxiety lest with the fall of the state the religion -also might fall, they hit upon the following means for the preservation -and extension of their religion. - -1. The fiction of a method, handed down from Moses, of expanding the -laws, and applying them to particular cases. This method is not that -which reason enjoins, of modifying laws according to their intention, in -adaptation to time and circumstances, but that which rests upon certain -rules concerning their literary expression. - -2. The legislative force ascribed to the new decisions and opinions -obtained by this method, giving to them an equal rank with the ancient -laws. The subtle dialectic, with which this has been carried on down to -our times, and the vast number of laws, customs and useless ceremonies -of all sorts, which it has occasioned, may be easily imagined. - -The history of the Jewish religion can, in consequence of this, be -appropriately divided into five great epochs. The first epoch embraces -the _natural religion_, from the times of the patriarchs down to Moses -at the exodus from Egypt. The second comprehends the _positive_ or -_revealed_ religion, from Moses to the time of the _Great Synagogue_ -(_Keneseth Haggedolah_). This council must not be conceived as an -assembly of theologians at a definite time; the name applies to the -theologians of a whole epoch from the destruction of the first temple to -the composition of the Mishnah. Of these the first were the _minor -prophets_ (Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi, etc., of whom 120 are counted -altogether), and the last was _Simon the Just_.[32] These, as well as -their forerunners from the time of Joshua, took as their basis the -Mosaic laws, and added new laws according to time and circumstances, but -in conformity with the traditional method, every dispute on the subject -being decided by the _majority of voices_. - -The third epoch extends from the composition of the Mishnah by Jehudah -the Saint[33] to the composition of the Talmud by Rabina and -Rabassi.[34] Down to this epoch it was forbidden to commit the laws to -writing, in order that they might not fall into the hands of those who -could make no use of them. But as Rabbi Jehudah Hanassi, or, as he is -otherwise called, Rabbenu Hakades observed, that, in consequence of -their great multiplicity, the laws may easily fall into oblivion, he -gave himself a licence to transgress a single one of the laws in order -to preserve the whole. The law transgressed was that against committing -the laws to writing; and in this licence he defended himself by a -passage in the Psalms, "There are times, when a man shows himself -well-pleasing to God by transgressing the laws."[35] He lived in the -time of Antoninus Pius, was rich, and possessed all the faculties for -such an undertaking. He therefore composed the Mishnah, in which he -delivers the Mosaic laws in accordance either with a traditional or with -a rational method of exposition. It contains also some laws which form -the subject of dispute. - -This work is divided into six parts. The first contains the laws -relating to agriculture and horticulture; the second, those which refer -to feasts and holidays. The third part comprehends the laws which define -the mutual relations of the two sexes (marriage, divorce, and such -subjects). The fourth part is devoted to the laws which deal with the -teachers of the law; the fifth, to those which treat of the -temple-service and sacrifices; and the sixth, to the laws of -purification. - -As the Mishnah is composed with the greatest precision, and cannot be -understood without a commentary, it was natural, that in course of time -doubts and disputes should arise, regarding the exposition of the -Mishnah itself, as well as the mode of its application to cases which it -does not sufficiently determine. All these doubts and their manifold -solutions, controversies and decisions, were finally collected in the -Talmud by the above-mentioned Rabina and Rabassi; and this forms the -fourth epoch of Jewish legislation. - -The fifth epoch begins with the conclusion of the Talmud, and extends -down to our time, and so on for ever (_si diis placet_) till the advent -of the Messiah. Since the conclusion of the Talmud the rabbis have been -by no means idle. 'Tis true, they dare not alter anything in the Mishnah -or the Talmud; but they still have plenty of work to do. Their business -is to explain those two works, so that they shall harmonise; and this is -no small matter, for one rabbi, with a superfine dialectic, is always -finding contradictions in the explanations of another. They must also -disentangle, from the labyrinth of various opinions, expositions, -controversies and decisions, the laws which are applicable to every -case; and finally for new cases, by inferences from those already known, -they must bring out new laws, hitherto left indeterminate in spite of -all previous labours, and thus prepare a complete code of laws. - -It is thus that a religion, in its origin _natural_ and _conformable to -reason_, has been abused. A Jew dare not eat or drink, lie with his wife -or attend to the wants of nature, without observing an enormous number -of laws. With the books on the _slaughter_ of animals alone (the -condition of the knife and the examination of the entrails) a whole -library could be filled, which certainly would come near to the -Alexandrian in extent. And what shall I say of the enormous number of -books treating of those laws which are no longer in use, such as the -laws of sacrifice, of purification, etc.? The pen falls from my hand, -when I remember that I and others like me were obliged to spend in this -soul-killing business the best days of our lives when the powers are in -their full vigour, and to sit up many a night, to try and bring out some -sense where there was none, to exercise our wits in the discovery of -contradictions where none were to be found, to display acuteness in -removing them where they were obviously to be met, to hunt after a -shadow through a long series of arguments, and to build castles in the -air. - -The abuse of Rabbinism has, as will be seen, a twofold source. - -1. The first is an _artificial method_ of expounding the Holy -Scriptures, which distinguishes itself from the _natural_ method by the -fact, that, while the latter rests on a thorough _knowledge of the -language_ and the true _spirit of the legislator_ in view of the -circumstances of the time, as these are known from history, the former -has been devised rather for the sake of the laws passed to meet existing -emergencies. The rabbis look upon the Holy Scriptures, not only as the -source of the fundamental laws of Moses, and of those which are -deducible from these by a rational method, but also as a vehicle of the -laws to be drawn up by themselves according to the wants of the time. -The artificial method here, like every other of the same kind, is merely -a means of bringing the new laws at least into an _external connection_ -with the old, in order that they may thereby find a better introduction -among the people, be reduced to principles, divided into classes, and -therefore more easily impressed on the memory. No reasonable rabbi will -hold, that the laws, which are referred in this way to passages of the -Holy Scriptures, render the true sense of these passages; but if -questioned on this point, he will reply, "These laws are necessities of -the time, and are referred to those passages merely for this reason." - -2. The second source of the abuse of Rabbinism is to be found in the -manners and customs of other nations, in whose neighbourhood the Jews -have lived, or among whom they have been gradually scattered since the -fall of the Jewish state. These manners and customs they were obliged -to adopt in order to avoid becoming objects of abhorrence. Of this sort -are the laws, _not to uncover the head_ (at least in holy places and at -holy ceremonies), _to wash the hands_ (before meals and prayers), to -fast the whole day till sunset, to say a number of daily prayers, to -make pilgrimages, to walk round the altar, etc.,--all manifestly of -_Arabian_ origin. - -From hatred also towards those nations that destroyed the Jewish state, -and afterwards made the Jews undergo manifold oppressions, they have -adopted various customs, and among others many religious usages which -are opposite to those of the _Greeks_ and _Romans_. - -In all this the rabbis had the Mosaic laws themselves for a model, these -being sometimes in agreement, sometimes in hostility, with the Egyptian -laws which lie at their root, as has been shown in the most thorough -manner by the celebrated Maimonides in his work, _Moreh Nebhochim_. - -It is remarkable, that, with all rabbinical extravagancies in the -_practical_ department, namely the laws and customs, the _theoretical_ -department of the Jewish theology has still always preserved itself in -its purity. Eisenmenger may say what he will, it may be shown by -unanswerable arguments, that all the limited figurative representations -of God and His attributes have their source merely in an endeavour to -adapt the ideas of theology to the common understanding. The rabbis -followed in this the principle which they had established in reference -to the Holy Scriptures themselves, namely, that _the Holy Scriptures use -the language of the common people_, inasmuch as religious and moral -sentiments and actions, which form the immediate aim of theology may in -this manner be most easily extended. They therefore represent God to the -common understanding as an earthly King, who with His ministers and the -advisers of His cabinet, the angels, takes counsel concerning the -government of the world. But for the educated mind they seek to take -away all anthropomorphic representations of God, when they say, "It was -an act of high daring on the part of the prophets, to represent the -Creator as like His creature, as when, for example, it is said in -Ezekiel (i., 26), 'And upon the throne was an appearance like man.'" - -I have disclosed the abuses of the rabbis in regard to religion without -any partiality. At the same time however I must not be silent about -their good qualities, but do them justice as impartially. Compare then -Mahomed's description of the reward of the pious with the rabbinical -representation. The former runs:--"Here (in paradise) there are as many -dishes as there are stars in heaven. Maidens and boys fill the cups, and -wait on the table. The beauty of the maidens surpasses all imagination. -If one of these maidens were to appear in the sky or in the air by -night, the world would become as bright as when the sun is shining; and -if she were to spit into the sea, its salt water would be turned into -honey, and its bitter into sweet. Milk, honey, white wine will be the -rivers which water this delicious abode. The slime of these rivers will -be made of sweet-smelling nutmegs, and their pebbles of pearls and -hyacinths. The angel Gabriel will open the gates of paradise to faithful -Musselmans. The first thing to meet their eyes will be a table of -diamonds of such enormous length, that it would require 70,000 days to -run round it. The chairs, which stand around the table, will be of gold -and silver, the tablecloths of silk and gold. When the guests have sat -down, they will eat the choicest dishes of paradise, and drink its -water. When they are satisfied, beautiful boys will bring them _green_ -garments of costly stuff, and necklaces and earrings of gold. To every -one will then be given a citron; and when he has brought it to his nose -to feel its odour, a maiden of enchanting beauty will come out. Every -one will embrace his own with rapture, and this intoxication of love -will last fifty years without interruption. Each couple will obtain an -enchanting palace for a dwelling, where they will eat and drink and -enjoy all sorts of pleasure for ever and ever.[36]" This description is -beautiful; but how sensuous! The rabbis, on the other hand, say, "Above -(in the blessed abode of the pious) there is neither eating nor -drinking, but the pious sit crowned, and delight themselves with the -vision of the Godhead." - -Eisenmenger seeks, in his _Entdecktes Judenthum_ (Theil 1., Kap. 8), by -a crass exposition to throw ridicule on the Platonic doctrine of -reminiscence, which the rabbis maintain; but what may not be made -ridiculous in the same way? He also makes sport, with equal injustice, -of other rabbinical teachings. With the Stoics, for example, the rabbis -call wise men _Kings_; they say, that God does nothing without -previously taking counsel with his angels, that is, Omnipotence works -upon nature not immediately, but by means of the natural forces; they -teach, that everything is predestined by God, except the practice of -virtue. These are the subjects of Eisenmenger's mockery; but does any -reasonable theologian find in these anything ridiculous or impious? I -should be obliged to write a whole book, if I were to answer all the -unjust charges and jeers which have been brought against the Talmudists, -not by Christian writers alone, but even by Jews who wished to pass for -_illuminati_. - -To be just to the rabbis it is necessary to penetrate into the true -spirit of the Talmud, to become thoroughly familiar with the manner in -which the ancients generally, but especially the Orientals, deliver -theological, moral, and even physical truths in fables and allegories, -to become familiar also with the style of Oriental hyperbole in -reference to everything that can be of interest to man. Moreover, the -rabbis should be treated in the spirit in which they themselves excused -Rabbi MeA-r who had a heretic for his teacher,--the spirit expressed in a -passage already quoted. If justice is thus dealt to the rabbis, the -Talmud will certainly not show all the absurdities which its opponents -are disposed too readily to find. - -The rabbinical method of referring theoretical or practical truths, even -by the oddest exegesis, to passages in the Holy Scriptures or any other -book in general esteem, as if they were truths brought out of such -passages by a rational exegesis,--this method, besides procuring an -introduction for the truths among common men, who are not capable of -grasping them on their own merits, and accept them merely on authority, -is also to be regarded as an excellent aid to the memory; for since, as -presumed, these passages are in everybody's mouth, the truths drawn from -them are also retained by their means. Consequently it very often occurs -in the Talmud, when the question concerns the deduction of a new law -from the Holy Scriptures, that one rabbi derives the law from this or -that passage, while another brings the objection, that this cannot be -the true meaning of the passage, inasmuch as the true meaning is this or -that. To such an objection every one is wont to reply, that it is a new -law of the rabbis, who merely refer it to the passage mentioned. - -As it is therefore universally presupposed that this method is familiar, -the Talmudists regard it as unnecessary to inculcate it anew on every -occasion. A single example will suffice to illustrate this. One -Talmudist asked another the meaning of the following passage in the -Book of Joshua (xv., 22), _Kinah Vedimonah Veadadah_.[37] The latter -replied, "Here are enumerated the then familiar places of the Holy -Land." "Of course!" rejoined the other. "I know very well that these are -names of places. But, Rabbi ---- knows how to bring out of these, -besides the proper meaning, something _useful_, namely this:--'(Kinah) -He to whom his neighbour gives occasion for revenge, (Vedimonah) and who -yet, out of generosity, keeps silence, taking no revenge, (Veadadah) to -him will the Eternal execute justice.'" What a fine opportunity this -would be for laughing at the poor Talmudist, who derives a moral -sentence from particular names of places, and besides makes in an -extraordinary manner a compound out of the last name, _Sansannah_,[38] -if he had not himself explained that he is seeking to know, not the -_true meaning_ of the passage, but merely a _doctrine_ which may be -referred to it. - -Again, the Talmudists have referred to a passage in Isaiah the important -doctrine, that in morals the principal object is, not theory, but -practice, by which theory receives its true value. The passage runs as -follows:--"The expectation of thy happiness"--that is, the happiness -promised by the prophet--"will have for its consequence strength, help, -wisdom, knowledge, and the fear of God."[39] Here they refer the first -six subjects to the six _Sedarim_ or divisions of the Mishnah, which are -the foundation of all Jewish learning. _Emunath_ (Expectation) is Seder -Seraim; _Etecho_ (Happiness) is Seder Moad, and so on. That is to say, -you may be ever so well versed in all these six _sedarim_; yet the main -point is the last, the fear of God. - -As far as rabbinical morals in other respects are concerned, I know in -truth nothing that can be urged against them, except perhaps their -excessive strictness in many cases. They form in fact genuine Stoicism, -but without excluding other serviceable principles, such as perfection, -universal benevolence, and the like. Holiness with them extends even to -the thoughts. This principle is, in the usual fashion, referred to the -following passage in the Psalms, "Thou shalt have no strange God in -thee";[40] for in the human heart, it is argued, no strange God can -dwell, except evil desires. It is not allowed to deceive even a heathen -either by deeds or by words--not even in cases where he could lose -nothing by the deceit. For example, the common form of courtesy, "I am -glad to see you well," is not to be used, if it does not express the -real sentiments of the heart. The examples of Jews who cheat Christians -and heathens, which are commonly adduced against this statement, prove -nothing, inasmuch as these Jews do not act in accordance with the -principles of their own morals. - -The commandment, "Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy -neighbour's," is so expounded by the Talmudists, that we must guard -against even the wish to possess any such thing. In short, I should -require to write a whole book, if I were to adduce all the excellent -doctrines of rabbinical morals. - -The influence of these doctrines in practical life also is unmistakable. -The Polish Jews, who have always been allowed to adopt any means of -gain, and have not, like the Jews of other countries, been restricted to -the pitiful occupation of _Schacher_ or usurer, seldom hear the reproach -of cheating. They remain loyal to the country in which they live, and -support themselves in an honourable way. - -Their charity and care for the poor, their institutions for nursing the -sick, their special societies for burial of the dead, are well enough -known. It is not nurses and grave-diggers _hired for money_, but the -_elders of the people_, who are eager to perform these acts. The Polish -Jews are indeed for the most part not yet enlightened by science, their -manners and way of life are still rude; but they are loyal to the -religion of their fathers and the laws of their country. They do not -come before you with courtesies, but their promise is sacred. They are -not gallants, but your women are safe from any snares with them. Woman, -indeed, after the manner of the Orientals in general, is by them not -particularly esteemed; but all the more on that account are they -resolved on fulfilling their duties towards her. Their children do not -learn by heart any _forms_ for expressing love and respect for their -parents--for they do not keep French _demoiselles_;--but they show that -love and respect all the more heartily. - -The sacredness of their marriages, and the ever fresh tenderness which -arises from this, deserve especially to be mentioned. Every month the -husband is wholly separated from his wife for a fortnight (the period of -monthly purification in accordance with the rabbinical laws); they may -not so much as touch one another, or eat out of the same dish or drink -out of the same cup. By this means satiety is avoided; the wife -continues to be in the eyes of her husband all that she was as maiden in -the eyes of her lover. - -Finally, what innocence rules among unmarried persons! It often happens -that a young man or woman of sixteen or eighteen years is married -without knowing the least about the object of marriage. Among other -nations this is certainly very seldom the case. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -Jewish Piety and Penances. - - -In my youth I was of a somewhat strong religious disposition; and as I -observed in most of the rabbis a good deal of pride, quarrelsomeness, -and other evil qualities, they became objects of dislike to me on that -account. I sought therefore as my model only those among them, who are -commonly known by the name of _Chasidim_, or _the Pious_. These are they -who devote the whole of their lives to the strictest observances of the -laws and moral virtues. I had afterwards occasion to remark that these -on their part do harm, less indeed to _others_, but all the more to -_themselves_, inasmuch as they root out the wheat with the tares;[41] -while they seek to suppress their desires and passions, they suppress -also their powers and cramp their activity, so much so as in most cases -by their exercises to bring upon themselves an untimely death. - -Two or three instances, of which I was myself an eye-witness, will be -sufficient to establish what has been said. A Jewish scholar, at that -time well known on account of his piety, Simon of Lubtsch, had undergone -the severest exercises of penance. He had already carried out the -_T'shubath Hakana_--the penance of Kana--which consists in fasting daily -for six years, and avoiding for supper anything that comes from a living -being (flesh, milk, honey, etc.). He had also practised _Golath_, that -is, a continuous wandering, in which the penitent is not allowed to -remain two days in the same place; and, in addition, he had worn a -hair-shirt next his skin. But he felt that he would not be doing enough -for the satisfaction of his conscience unless he further observed the -_T'shubath Hamishkal_--the penance of weighing--which requires a -particular form of penance proportioned to every sin. But as he found by -calculation, that the number of his sins was too great to be atoned in -this way, he took it into his head to starve himself to death. After he -had spent some time in this process, he came in his wanderings to the -place where my father lived, and, without anybody in the house knowing, -went into the barn, where he fell upon the ground in utter faintness. My -father came by chance into the barn, and found the man, whom he had long -known, lying half-dead on the ground, with a _Zohar_ (the principal book -of the Cabbalists) in his hand. As he knew well what sort of man this -was, he brought him at once all sorts of refreshments; but the man would -make no use of them in any way. My father came several times, and -repeated his urgent request, that Simon would take something; but it -was of no avail. My father had to attend to something in the house, -whereupon Simon, to escape from his importunity, exerted all his -strength, raised himself up, went out of the barn, and at last out of -the village. When my father came back into the barn again, and found the -man no longer there, he ran after him, and found him lying dead not far -from the village. The affair was generally made known among the Jews, -and Simon became a saint. - -Jossel of Klezk proposed nothing less than to hasten the advent of the -Messiah. To this end he performed strict penance, fasted, rolled himself -in snow, undertook night-watches and similar severities. By all sorts of -such operations he believed that he was able to accomplish the overthrow -of a legion of evil spirits, who kept guard on the Messiah, and threw -obstacles in the way of his coming.[42] To these exercises he added at -last many Cabbalistic fooleries--fumigations, conjurations, and similar -practices--till at length he lost his wits on the subject, believed that -he really saw spirits with his eyes open, calling each of them by name. -He would then beat about him, smash windows and stoves under the idea -that these were his foes, the evil spirits, somewhat after the manner of -his forerunner Don Quixote. At last he lay down in complete exhaustion, -from which he was with great difficulty restored, by the physician of -Prince Radzivil. - -Unfortunately I could never get further in pious exercises of this sort, -than to abstain for a considerable while from everything that comes from -a living being; and during the Days of Atonement I have sometimes fasted -three days together. I once resolved indeed on undertaking the -_T'shubath Hakana_; but this project, like others of the same sort, -remained unfulfilled, after I had adopted the opinions of Maimonides, -who was no friend of fanaticism or pietism. It is remarkable, that at -the time when I still observed the rabbinical regulations with the -utmost strictness, I yet would not observe certain ceremonies which have -something comical about them. Of this kind, for example, was the -_Malketh_ (Beating) before the Great Day of Atonement, in which every -Jew lays himself on his face in the synagogue, while another with a -narrow strip of leather gives him thirty-nine lashes. Of the same sort -is _Haphorath Nedarim_, or the act of setting free from vows on New -Year's Eve. In this three men are seated, while another appears before -them, and addresses to them a certain form, the general drift of which -is as follows:--"Sirs, I know what a heinous sin it is, not to fulfil -vows; and inasmuch as I have doubtless this year made some vows which I -have not fulfilled, and which I can no longer recollect, I beg of you -that you will set me free from the same. I do not indeed repent of the -good resolutions to which I have bound myself by these vows; I repent -merely of the fact, that in making such resolutions I did not add, that -they were not to have the force of a vow," etc., etc. Thereupon he -withdraws from the judgment-seat, pulls off his shoes, and sits down on -the bare ground, by which he is supposed to banish himself till his vows -are dissolved. After he has sat for some time, and said a prayer by -himself, the judges begin to call aloud, "Thou art our brother! thou art -our brother! thou art our brother! There is no vow, no oath, no -banishment any longer, after thou hast submitted thyself to the -judgment. Rise from the ground and come to us!" This they repeat three -times, and with that the man is at once set free from all his vows. - -At serio-comic scenes of this sort I could only with the greatest -difficulty refrain from laughing. A blush of shame came over me, when I -was to undertake such performances. I sought therefore, if I was pressed -on the subject, to free myself by the pretext, that I had either already -attended to it, or was going to attend to it, in another synagogue. A -very remarkable psychological phenomenon! It might be thought impossible -for any one to be ashamed of actions which he saw others performing -without the slightest blush of shame. Yet this was the case here. This -phenomenon can be explained only by the fact, that in all my actions I -had regard first to the nature of the action in itself (whether it was -right or wrong, proper or improper), then to its nature in relation to -some end, and that I justified it as a means, only when it was not in -itself incapable of being justified. This principle was developed -afterwards in my whole system of religion and morals. On the other hand, -the most of men act on the principle, that the end justifies the means. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -Friendship and Enthusiasm. - - -In the place where I resided I had a bosom friend, Moses Lapidoth by -name. We were of the same age, the same studies, and nearly the same -external circumstances, the only difference being, that at an early -period I already showed an inclination to the sciences, while Lapidoth -had indeed a love of speculation, and also great acuteness and power of -judgment, but had no wish to proceed further than he could reach by a -mere sound common sense. With this friend I used to hold many a -conversation on subjects of mutual interest, especially the questions of -religion and morals. - -We were the only persons in the place, who ventured to be not mere -imitators, but to think independently about everything. It was a natural -result of this, that, as we differed from all the rest of the community -in our opinions and conduct, we separated ourselves from them by -degrees; but, as we had still to live by the community, our -circumstances on this account became every day worse and worse. 'Tis -true, we noted this fact, but nevertheless we were unwilling to -sacrifice our favourite inclinations for any interest in the world. We -consoled ourselves therefore, as best we might, over our loss, spoke -constantly of the vanity of all things, of the religious and moral -faults of the common herd, upon whom we looked down with a sort of noble -pride and contempt. - -We used especially to open our minds, _A la Mandeville_, on the -hollowness of human virtue. For example, smallpox had been very -prevalent in the place, and thereby many children had been carried off. -The elders held a meeting to find out the secret sins, on account of -which they were suffering this punishment, as they viewed it. After -instituting an inquiry it was found, that a young widow of the Jewish -people was holding too free intercourse with some servants of the manor. -She was sent for, but no sort of inquisition could elicit from her -anything beyond the fact, that these people were in the habit of -drinking mead at her house, and that, as was reasonable, she received -them in a pleasant and polite manner, but that in other respects she was -unconscious of any sin in the matter. As no other evidence was -forthcoming, she was about to be acquitted, when an elderly matron came -flying like a fury and screamed, "Scourge her! scourge her! till she has -confessed her sin! If you do not do it, then may the guilt of the death -of so many innocent souls fall upon you!" Lapidoth was present with me -at this scene, and said, "Friend, do you suppose that Madam is making so -fierce a complaint against this woman, merely because she is seized -with a holy zeal and feeling for the general welfare? Oh no! She is -enraged, merely because the widow still possesses attractions, while she -herself can no longer make claim to any." I assured him that his opinion -was thoroughly in accordance with my own. - -Lapidoth had poor parents-in-law. His father-in-law was Jewish sexton, -and by his slender pay could support his family only in a very sorry -style. Every Friday the poor man was therefore compelled to listen to -all sorts of reproach and abuse from his wife, because he could not -provide her with what was indispensable for the holy Sabbath. Lapidoth -told me about this with the addition:--"My mother-in-law wants to make -me to believe that she is zealous merely for the honour of the holy -Sabbath. Nay, verily; she is zealous merely for the honour of her own -holy paunch, which she cannot fill as she would like; the holy Sabbath -serves her merely as a pretext." - -Once when we were taking a walk on the wall round the town, and -conversing about the tendency of men, which is evinced in such -expressions, to deceive themselves and others, I said to Lapidoth, -"Friend, let us be fair, and pass our censure on ourselves, as well as -on others. Is not the contemplative life which we lead, and which is by -no means adapted to our circumstances, to be regarded as a result of our -indolence and inclination to idleness, which we seek to defend by -reflections on the vanity of all things? We are content with our -present circumstances; why? Because we cannot alter them without first -fighting against our inclination to idleness. With all our pretence of -contempt for everything outside of us, we cannot avoid the secret wish -to be able to enjoy better food and clothing than at present. We -reproach our friends as vain men addicted to the pleasures of sense, -because they have abandoned our mode of life, and undertaken occupations -adapted to their powers. But wherein consists our superiority over them, -when we merely follow our inclination as they follow theirs? Let us seek -to find this superiority merely in the fact, that we at least confess -this truth to ourselves, while they profess as the motive of their -actions, not the satisfaction of their own particular desires, but the -impulse to general utility." Lapidoth, on whom my words produced a -powerful impression, answered with some warmth, "Friend, you are -perfectly right. If we cannot now mend our faults, we will not deceive -ourselves about them, but at least keep the way open for amendment." - -In conversations of this kind we two cynics spent our pleasantest hours, -while we made ourselves merry sometimes at the expense of the world, -sometimes at our own. Lapidoth, for example, whose old dirty clothes had -all fallen into rags, and one of whose sleeves was wholly parted from -the rest of his coat, while he was not in a position even to have it -mended, used to fix the sleeve on his back with a pin, and to ask me, -"Don't I look like a _Schlachziz_ (a Polish noble)?" I, again, could -not sufficiently commend my rent shoes, which were quite open at the -toes, because, as I said, "They do not squeeze the foot." - -The harmony of our inclinations and manner of life, along with some -difference in our talents, made our conversation all the more agreeable. -I had more talent for the sciences, made more earnest endeavours after -thoroughness and accuracy of knowledge than Lapidoth. He, on the other -hand, had the advantage of a lively imagination, and consequently more -talent for eloquence and poetry than I. If I produced a new thought, my -friend knew how to illustrate it, and, as it were, to give it embodiment -in a multitude of examples. Our affection for one another went so far, -that, whenever it was practicable, we spent day and night in each -other's company, and the first thing we did, on returning home from the -places where we severally acted as family-tutors, was to visit each -other, even before seeing our own families. At last we began to neglect -on this account the usual hours of prayer. Lapidoth first undertook to -prove, that the Talmudists themselves offered up their prayers, not -exclusively in the synagogue, but sometimes in their study-chambers. -Afterwards he pointed out also, that the prayers held to be necessary -are not all equally so, but that some may be dispensed with altogether: -even those, which are recognised as necessary, we curtailed by degrees, -till at last they were totally neglected. - -Once, when we went for a walk on the wall during the hour of prayer, -Lapidoth said to me, "Friend, what is going to become of us? We do not -pray now at all." - -"What do you mean by that?" I inquired. - -"I throw myself," said Lapidoth, "on the mercy of God, who certainly -will not punish his children severely for a slight neglect." - -"God is not merely _merciful_," I replied; "He is also _just_. -Consequently this reason cannot help us much." - -"What do you mean by that?" asked Lapidoth. - -I had by this time obtained from Maimonides more accurate ideas of God -and of our duties towards Him. Accordingly I replied, "Our destination -is merely the _attainment of perfection through the knowledge of God and -the imitation of His actions_. Prayer is simply the expression of our -knowledge of the divine perfections, and, as a result of this knowledge, -is intended merely for the common man who cannot of himself attain to -this knowledge; and therefore it is adapted to his mode of conception. -But as we see into the end of prayer, and can attain to this end -directly, we can dispense altogether with prayer as something -superfluous." - -This reasoning appeared to us both to be sound. We resolved therefore, -for the purpose of avoiding offence, to go out of the house every -morning with our _Taleth_ and _Tephilim_ (Jewish instruments of prayer), -not, however, to the synagogue, but to our favourite retreat, the wall, -and by this means we fortunately escaped the Jewish Inquisition. - -But this enthusiastic companionship, like everything else in the world, -had to come to an end. As we were both married, and our marriages were -tolerably fruitful, we were obliged, for the purpose of supporting our -families, to accept situations as family-tutors. By this means we were -not infrequently separated, and afterwards were able to spend merely a -few weeks in the year together. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -The Life of a Family-Tutor. - - -The place, where I first occupied the position of family-tutor, was at -the distance of a league from my residence. The family was that of a -miserable farmer in a still more miserable village; and my salary was -five thalers in Polish money. The poverty, ignorance, and rudeness in -the manner of life, which prevailed in this house, were indescribable. -The farmer himself was a man of about fifty years, the whole of whose -face was overgrown with hair, ending in a dirty, thick beard as black as -pitch. His language was a sort of muttering, intelligible only to the -boors, with whom he held intercourse daily. Not only was he ignorant of -Hebrew, but he could not speak a word of Jewish; his only language was -Russian, the common patois of the peasantry. His wife and children were -of the same stamp. Moreover, the apartment, in which they lived, was a -hovel of smoke, black as coal inside and out, without a chimney, but -with merely a small opening in the roof for the exit oi the smoke,--an -opening which was carefully closed as soon as the fire was allowed to go -out, so that the heat might not escape. - -The windows were narrow strips of pine laid crosswise over each other, -and covered with paper. This apartment served at once for sitting, -drinking, eating, study and sleep. Think of this room intensely heated, -and the smoke, as is generally the case in winter, driven back by wind -and rain till the whole place is filled with it to suffocation. Here -hang a foul washing and other dirty bits of clothing on poles laid -across the room in order to kill the vermin with the smoke. There hang -sausages to dry, while their fat keeps constantly trickling down on the -heads of people below. Yonder stand tubs with sour cabbage and red -beets, which form the principal food of the Lithuanians. In a corner the -water is kept for daily use, with the dirty water alongside. In this -room the bread is kneaded, cooking and baking are done, the cow is -milked, and all sorts of operations are carried on. - -In this magnificent dwelling the peasants sit on the bare ground; you -dare not sit higher if you do not wish to be suffocated with the smoke. -Here they guzzle their whiskey and make an uproar, while the people of -the house sit in a corner. I usually took my place behind the stove with -my dirty half-naked pupils, and expounded to them out of an old tattered -Bible, from Hebrew into Russian Jewish. All this together made such a -splendid group as deserved to be sketched only by a Hogarth, and to be -sung only by a Butler. - -It may be easily imagined, how pitiable my condition here must have -been. Whiskey had to form my sole comfort; it made me forget all my -misery. This was increased by the fact, that a regiment of Russians, who -were rioting at that time with every conceivable cruelty on the estates -of Prince Radzivil, was stationed in the village and its neighbourhood. -The house was constantly full of drunken Russians, who committed all -sorts of excesses, hewed to pieces tables and benches, threw glasses and -bottles into the faces of the people of the house, and so on. To give -merely one example, a Russian, who was stationed in this house as guard, -and whose charge it was to secure the house against all violence, came -home once drunk, and demanded something to eat. A dish of millet with -butter was placed before him cooked. He shoved the dish away, and -shouted an order for more butter. A whole small tub of butter was -brought, when he shouted again an order for another dish. This was -brought immediately, whereupon he threw all the butter into it, and -called for spirits. A whole bottle was brought, and he poured it -likewise into the dish. Thereafter milk, pepper, salt, and tobacco, in -large quantities had to be brought to him, the whole being put in, and -the mixture devoured. After he had taken some spoonfuls, he began to -strike about him, pulled the host by the beard, struck him in the face -with his fist, so that the blood flowed out of his mouth, poured some of -his glorious broth down his throat, and went on in this riotous manner -till he became so drunk that he could no longer support himself, and -fell to the ground. - -Such scenes were at that time very common everywhere in Poland. If a -Russian army passed a place, they took with them a _prowodnik_, or -guide, to the next place. But instead of seeking to be supplied by the -mayor or the village magistrate, they used to seize the first person -whom they met on the road. He might be young or old, male or female, -healthy or sick, it mattered nothing to them; for they knew the road -well enough from special charts, and only sought an opportunity for -outrage. If it happened that the person seized did not know the way at -all, and did not show them the right road, they did not allow themselves -to be sent astray on this account; they selected the road all right, but -they cudgelled the poor prowodnik till he was half-dead, _for not -knowing the way_! - -I was once seized as a prowodnik myself. I did not indeed know the way, -but luckily I hit upon it by chance. Fortunately, therefore, I reached -the proper place, and the only violence I suffered, besides a good many -blows and kicks from the Russian soldiers, was the threat, that, if ever -I led them astray, I should certainly be flayed alive--a threat which -they might be trusted with carrying into execution. - -The other places which I filled as tutor were more or less similar to -this. In one of these a remarkable psychological incident occurred in -which I took the principal part and which is to be described in the -sequel. An incident of the same kind, however, which happened to -another person and of which I was simply eye-witness, must be mentioned -here. - -A tutor in the next village, who was a somnambulist, rose one night from -his bed and went to the village churchyard with a volume of the Jewish -ceremonial laws in his hand. After remaining some time there he returned -to his bed. In the morning he rose up, without remembering the least of -what had happened during the night, and went to the chest where his copy -of the ceremonial laws was usually kept, in order to take out the first -part, _Orach Chajim_ or the Way of Life, which he was accustomed to read -every morning. The code consists of four parts, each of which was bound -separately, and all the four had certainly been locked up in the chest. -He was therefore astonished to find only three of the parts, _Joreh -Deah_ or the Teacher of Wisdom, being awanting. As he knew about his -disease he searched everywhere, till at last he came to the churchyard -where he found the _Joreh Deah_ lying open at the chapter, _Hilchoth -Abheloth_ or the Laws of Mourning. He took this for a bad omen and came -home much disquieted. On being asked the cause of his disquietude he -related the incident which had occurred, with the addition, "Ah! God -knows how my poor mother is!" He begged of his master the loan of a -horse and permission to ride to the nearest town, where his mother -lived, in order to enquire after her welfare. As he had to pass the -place where I was tutor, and I saw him riding in great excitement -without being willing to dismount even for a little while, I asked him -the cause of his excitement when he related to me the above-mentioned -incident. - -I was astonished, not so much about the particular circumstances of this -incident, as about somnambulism in general, of which till then I had -known nothing. My friend, on the other hand, assured me that -somnambulism was a common occurrence with him, and that it meant -nothing, but that the circumstance of the _Hilchoth Abheloth_ made him -forebode some misfortune. Thereupon he rode off, arrived at his mother's -house, and found her seated at her frame for needlework. She asked him -the reason of his coming, when he replied that he had come merely to pay -her a visit, as he had not seen her for a long time. After he had rested -for a good while, he rode back; but his disquietude was by no means -wholly removed, and the thought of the _Hilchoth Abheloth_ he could not -get out of his head. The third day after, a fire broke out in the town -where his mother lived, and the poor woman perished in the flames. -Scarcely had the son heard of the conflagration, when he began to lament -that his mother had so miserably perished. He rode off in all haste to -the town, and found what he had foreboded. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long Chapter. - - -About this time I became acquainted with a sect of my nation, called the -_New Chasidim_, which was then coming into prominence. _Chasidim_ is the -name generally given by the Hebrews to the _pious_, that is, to those -who distinguish themselves by exercising the strictest piety. These -were, from time immemorial, men who had freed themselves from worldly -occupations and pleasures, and devoted their lives to the strictest -exercise of the laws of religion and penance for their sins. As already -mentioned, they sought to accomplish this object by prayers and other -exercises of devotion, by chastisement of the body and similar means. - -But about this time some among them set themselves up for founders of a -new sect. They maintained that true piety does not by any means consist -in chastisement of the body, by which the spiritual quiet and -cheerfulness, necessary to the knowledge and love of God, are disturbed. -On the contrary, they maintained that man must satisfy all his bodily -wants, and seek to enjoy the pleasures of sense, so far as may be -necessary for the development of our feelings, inasmuch as God has -created all for his glory. The true service of God, according to them, -consists in exercises of devotion with exertion of all our powers, and -annihilation of self before God; for they maintain that man, in -accordance with his destination, can reach the highest perfection only -when he regards himself, not as a being that exists and works for -himself, but merely as an organ of the Godhead. Instead therefore of -spending their lives in separation from the world, in suppression of -their natural feelings, and in deadening their powers, they believed -that they acted much more to the purpose, when they sought to develop -their natural feelings as much as possible, to bring their powers into -exercise, and constantly to widen their sphere of work. - -It must be acknowledged, that both of these opposite methods have -something true for a foundation. Of the former the foundation is -obviously Stoicism, that is, an endeavour to determine actions by free -will in accordance with a higher principle than passion; the latter is -founded on the system of perfection. Only both, like everything else in -the world, may be abused, and are abused in actual life. Those of the -first sect drive their penitential disposition to extravagance; instead -of merely regulating their desires and passions by rules of moderation, -they seek to annihilate them; and, instead of endeavouring, like the -Stoics, to find the principle of their actions in pure reason, they seek -it rather in religion. This is a pure source, it is true; but as these -people have false ideas of religion itself, and their virtue has for its -foundation merely the future rewards and punishments of an arbitrary -tyrannical being who governs by mere caprice, in point of fact their -actions flow from an impure source, namely the principle of interest. -Moreover, in their case this interest rests merely on fancies, so that, -in this respect, they are far below the grossest Epicureans, who have, -it is true, a low, but still a real interest as the end of their -actions. Only then can religion yield a principle of virtue, when it is -itself founded on the idea of virtue. - -The adherents of the second sect have indeed more correct ideas of -religion and morals; but since in this respect they regulate themselves -for the most part in accordance with obscure feelings, and not in -accordance with distinct knowledge, they likewise necessarily fall into -all sorts of extravagances. Self-annihilation of necessity cramps their -activity, or gives it a false direction. They have no natural science, -no acquaintance with psychology; and they are vain enough to consider -themselves organs of the Godhead,--which of course they are, to an -extent limited by the degree of perfection they attain. The result is, -that on the credit of the Godhead they perpetrate the greatest excesses; -every extraordinary suggestion is to them a divine inspiration, and -every lively impulse a divine call. - -These sects were not in fact different sects of religion; their -difference consisted merely in the mode of their religious exercises. -But still their animosity went so far, that they decried each other as -heretics, and indulged in mutual persecution. At first the new sect held -the upper hand, and extended itself nearly over the whole of Poland, and -even beyond. The heads of the sect ordinarily sent emissaries -everywhere, whose duty it was to preach the new doctrine and procure -adherents. Now, the majority of the Polish Jews consist of scholars, -that is, men devoted to an inactive and contemplative life; for every -Polish Jew is destined from his birth to be a rabbi, and only the -greatest incapacity can exclude him from the office. Moreover, this new -doctrine was to make the way to blessedness easier, inasmuch as it -declared that fasts and vigils and the constant study of the Talmud are -not only useless, but even prejudicial to that cheerfulness of spirit -which is essential to genuine piety. It was therefore natural that the -adherents of the doctrine spread far and wide in a short time. - -Pilgrimages were made to K. M. and other holy places, where the -enlightened superiors of this sect abode. Young people forsook parents, -wives and children, and went in troops to visit these superiors, and -hear from their lips the new doctrine. The occasion, which led to the -rise of this sect was the following.[43] - -I have already remarked that, since the time when the Jews lost their -national position and were dispersed among other nations where they are -more or less tolerated, they have had no internal form of government but -their religious constitution, by which they are held together and still -form, in spite of their political dispersion, an organic whole. Their -leaders, therefore, have allowed themselves to be occupied with nothing -so much as with imparting additional strength to this, the only bond of -union by which the Jews still constitute a nation. But the doctrines of -their faith and the laws of their religion take their origin in the Holy -Scriptures, while these leave much that is indefinite in regard to their -exposition and application to particular cases. Consequently the aid of -tradition is of necessity called in, and by this means the method of -expounding the Holy Scriptures, as well as the deduction of cases left -undetermined by them, is made to appear as if specified in determinate -laws. This tradition could not of course be entrusted to the whole -nation, but merely to a particular body--a sort of legislative -commission. - -By this means, however, the evil was not avoided. Tradition itself left -much that was still indeterminate. The deduction of particular cases -from the general, and the new laws demanded by the circumstances of -different times, gave occasion for many controversies; but through these -very controversies and the mode of their settlement, this body became -always more numerous, and its influence on the nation more powerful. -The Jewish constitution is therefore in its form aristocratic, and is -accordingly exposed to all the abuses of an aristocracy. The unlearned -classes of the people, being burdened with the care of supporting not -only themselves but also the indispensable learned class, were unable to -give their attention to abuses of the kind. But from time to time men -have arisen out of the legislative body itself, who have not only -denounced its abuses, but have even called in question its authority. - -Of this sort was the founder of the Christian religion, who at the very -outset placed himself in opposition to the tyranny of this aristocracy, -and brought back the whole ceremonial law to its origin, namely, a pure -moral system, to which the ceremonial law stands related as means to -end. In this way the reformation at least of a part of the nation was -accomplished. Of the same sort also was the notorious Shabbethai Zebi, -who, at the close of last century[44] set himself up as Messiah, and was -going to abolish the whole ceremonial law, especially the rabbinical -institutions. A moral system founded upon reason would, owing to the -deeply rooted prejudices of the nation at that time, have been powerless -to work out a wholesome reformation. To their prejudices and fanaticism -therefore it was necessary to oppose prejudices and fanaticism. This -was done in the following way. - -A secret society, whose founders belonged to the disaffected spirits of -the nation, had already taken root in it for a long time. A certain -French rabbi, named Moses de Leon, is said, according to Rabbi Joseph -Candia, to have composed the _Zohar_, and to have foisted it upon the -nation as an old book having for its author the celebrated Talmudist, -Rabbi ben Jochai. This book contains, as stated above, an exposition of -the Holy Scriptures in accordance with the principles of the Cabbalah; -or rather, it contains these principles themselves delivered in the form -of an exposition of the Holy Scriptures, and drawn, as it were, from -these. It has, like Janus, a double face, and admits, therefore, of a -double interpretation. - -The one is that which is given with great diffuseness in Cabbalistic -writings, and has been brought into a system. Here is a wide field for -the imagination, where it can revel at will without being in the end -better instructed on the matter than before. Here are delivered, in -figurative language, many moral and physical truths, which lose -themselves at last in the labyrinth of the hyperphysical. This method of -treating the Cabbalah is peculiar to Cabbalistic scholars, and -constitutes the lesser mysteries of this secret society. - -The second method, on the other hand, concerns the secret political -meaning of the Cabbalah, and is known only to the superiors of the -secret society. These superiors themselves, as well as their operations, -remain ever unknown; the rest of the society you may become acquainted -with, if you choose. But the latter _cannot_ betray political secrets -which are unknown to themselves, while the former _will not_ do it, -because it is against their interest. Only the lesser (purely literary) -mysteries are entrusted to the people, and urged upon them as matters of -the highest importance. The greater (political) mysteries are not -taught, but, as a matter of course, are brought into practice. - -A certain Cabbalist, Rabbi Joel Baalshem[45] by name, became very -celebrated at this time on account of some lucky cures which he effected -by means of his medical acquirements and his conjuring tricks, as he -gave out that all this was done, not by natural means, but solely by -help of the _Cabbalah Maasith_ (the practical Cabbalah), and the use of -sacred names. In this way he played a very successful game in Poland. He -also took care to have followers in his art. Among his disciples were -some, who took hold of his profession, and made themselves a name by -successful cures and the detection of robberies. With their cures the -process was quite natural. They employed the common means of medicine, -but after the usual method of the conjurer they sought to turn the -attention of the spectator from these, and direct it to their -Cabbalistic hocus-pocus. The robberies they either brought about -themselves, or they discovered them by means of their detectives, who -were spread all over the country. - -Others of greater genius and a nobler mode of thinking, formed far -grander plans. They saw that their private interest, as well as the -general interest, could be best promoted by gaining the people's -confidence, and this they sought to command by enlightenment. Their plan -was therefore moral and political at the same time.[46] At first it -appeared as if they would merely do away with the abuses which had crept -into the Jewish system of religion and morals; but this drew after it of -necessity a complete abrogation of the whole system. The principal -points which they attacked were these:-- - -1. The abuse of rabbinical learning. Instead of simplifying the laws and -rendering them capable of being known by all, the learning of the rabbis -leaves them still more confused and indefinite. Moreover, being occupied -only with the study of the laws, it gives as much attention to those -which are no longer of any application, such as the laws of sacrifice, -of purification, etc., as to those which are still in use. Besides, it -is not the study, but the observance of the laws, that forms the chief -concern, since the study of them is not an end in itself, but merely a -means to their observance. And, finally, in the observance of the laws -the rabbis have regard merely to the external ceremony, not to the moral -end. - -2. The abuse of piety on the part of the so-called penitents. These -become very zealous, it is true, about the practice of virtue. Their -motive to virtue, however, is not that knowledge of God and His -perfection, which is based on reason; it consists rather in false -representations of God and His attributes. They failed therefore of -necessity to find true virtue, and hit upon a spurious imitation. -Instead of aspiring after likeness to God, and striving to escape from -the bondage of sensual passions into the dominion of a free will that -finds its motive in reason, they sought to annihilate their passions by -annihilating their powers of activity, as I have already shown by some -deplorable examples. - -On the other hand, those who sought to enlighten the people required, as -an indispensable condition of true virtue, a cheerful state of mind -disposed to every form of active exertion; and they not only allowed, -but even recommended, a moderate enjoyment of all kinds of pleasure as -necessary for the attainment of this cheerful disposition. Their worship -consisted in a voluntary elevation above the body, that is, in an -abstraction of the thoughts from all created things, even from the -individual self, and in union with God. By this means a kind of -self-denial arose among them, which led them to ascribe, not to -themselves, but to God alone, all the actions undertaken in this state. -Their worship therefore consisted in a sort of speculative adoration, -for which they held no special time or formula to be necessary, but they -left each one to determine it according to the degree of his knowledge. -Still they chose for it most commonly the hours set apart for the public -worship of God. In their public worship they endeavoured mainly to -attain that elevation above the body, which has been described; they -became so absorbed in the idea of the divine perfection, that they lost -the idea of everything else, even of their own body, and, as they gave -out, the body became in this state wholly devoid of feeling. - -Such abstraction, however, was a very difficult matter; and accordingly, -whenever they came out of this state by new suggestions taking -possession of their minds, they laboured, by all sorts of _mechanical -operations_, such as movements and cries, to bring themselves back into -the state once more, and to keep themselves in it without interruption -during the whole time of their worship. It was amusing to observe how -they often interrupted their prayers by all sorts of extraordinary tones -and comical gestures, which were meant as threats and reproaches against -their adversary, the Evil Spirit, who tried to disturb their devotion; -and how by this means they wore themselves out to such an extent, that, -on finishing their prayers, they commonly fell down in complete -exhaustion. - -It is not to be denied that, however sound may be the basis of such a -worship, it is subject to abuse just as much as the other. The internal -activity following upon cheerfulness of mind, must depend on the degree -of knowledge acquired. Self-annihilation before God is only then -well-founded, when a man's faculty of knowledge, owing to the grandeur -of its object, is so entirely occupied with that object, that he exists, -as it were, out of himself, in the object alone. If, on the contrary, -the faculty of knowledge is limited in respect of its object, so that it -is incapable of any steady progress, then the activity mentioned, by -being concentrated on this single object, is repressed rather than -stimulated. Some simple men of this sect, who sauntered about idly the -whole day with pipe in mouth, when asked, what they were thinking about -all the time, replied, "We are thinking about God." This answer would -have been satisfactory, if they had constantly sought, by an adequate -knowledge of nature, to extend their knowledge of the divine -perfections. But this was impossible in their case, as their knowledge -of nature was extremely limited; and consequently the condition, in -which they concentrated their activity upon an object which, in respect -of their capacity, was unfruitful, became of necessity unnatural. -Moreover, their actions could be ascribed to God, only when they were -the results of an accurate knowledge of God; but when they resulted from -a very limited degree of this knowledge, it was inevitable that all -sorts of excesses should be committed on the credit of God, as -unfortunately the issue has shown. - -But the fact that this sect spread so rapidly, and that the new doctrine -met with so much applause among the majority of the nation, may be very -easily explained. The natural inclination to idleness and a life of -speculation on the part of the majority, who from birth are destined to -study, the dryness and unfruitfulness of rabbinical studies, and the -great burden of the ceremonial law, which the new doctrine promised to -lighten, finally the tendency to fanaticism and the love of the -marvellous, which are nourished by this doctrine,--these are sufficient -to make this phenomenon intelligible. - -At first the rabbis and the pietists opposed the spread of this sect in -the old fashion; but in spite of this, for the reasons just mentioned, -it maintained the upper hand. Hostilities were practised on both sides. -Each party sought to gain adherents. A ferment arose in the nation, and -opinions were divided. - -I could not form any accurate idea of the new sect, and did not know -what to think of it, till I met with a young man, who had already been -initiated into the society, and had enjoyed the good fortune of -conversing with its superiors. This man happened to be travelling -through the place of my abode, and I seized the opportunity of asking -for some information about the internal constitution of the society, the -mode of admission, and so forth. The stranger was still in the lowest -grade of membership, and consequently knew nothing about the internal -constitution of the society. He was therefore unable to give me any -information on the subject; but, as far as the mode of admission was -concerned, he assured me that that was the simplest thing in the world. -Any man, who felt a desire of perfection, but did not know how to -satisfy it, or wished to remove the hindrances to its satisfaction, had -nothing to do but apply to the superiors of the society, and _eo ipso_ -he became a member. He did not even require, as you must do on applying -to a medical doctor, to say anything to these superiors about his moral -weakness, his previous life, and matters of that sort, inasmuch as -nothing was unknown to the superiors, they could see into the human -heart, and discern everything that is concealed in its secret recesses, -they could foretell the future, and bring near at hand things that are -remote. Their sermons and moral teachings were not, as these things -commonly are, thought over and arranged in an orderly manner beforehand. -This method is proper only to the man, who regards himself as a being -existing and working for himself apart from God. But the superiors of -this sect hold that their teachings are divine and therefore infallible, -only when they are the result of self-annihilation before God, that is, -when they are suggested to them _ex tempore_, by the exigence of -circumstances, without their contributing anything themselves. - -As I was quite captivated by this description I begged the stranger to -communicate to me some of these divine teachings. He clapped his hand on -his brow as if he were waiting for inspiration from the Holy Ghost, and -turned to me with a solemn mien and his arms half-bared, which he -brought into action somewhat like Corporal Trim, when he was reading the -sermon. Then he began as follows:-- - -"'Sing unto God a new song; His praise is in the congregation of saints' -(Psalm cxlix., 1). Our superiors explain this verse in the following -way. The attributes of God as the most perfect being must surpass by far -the attributes of every finite being; and consequently His praise, as -the expression of His attributes, must likewise surpass the praise of -any such being. Till the present time the praise of God consisted in -ascribing to Him supernatural operations, such as the discovery of what -is concealed, the foreseeing of the future, and the production of -effects immediately by His mere will. Now, however, the saints, that is, -the superiors, are able to perform such supernatural actions themselves. -Accordingly in this respect God has no longer preeminence over them; and -it is therefore necessary to find some new praise, which is proper to -God alone." - -Quite charmed with this ingenious method of interpreting the Holy -Scriptures, I begged the stranger for some more expositions of the same -kind. He proceeded therefore in his inspired manner:--"'When the -minstrel played, the spirit of God came upon him' (2 Kings iii. 15). -This is explained in the following way. As long as a man is self-active, -he is incapable of receiving the influence of the Holy Ghost; for this -purpose he must hold himself like an instrument in a purely passive -state. The meaning of the passage is therefore this. When the minstrel -(x"Oe.xzOe1/4Oe deg.x Oe.x'Oe1/4Oe muxY, the servant of God), becomes like his instrument -(x>Oe1/4Oe deg.x Oe.x'Oe1/4Oe muxY), then the spirit of God comes upon him."[47] - -"Now," said the stranger again, "hear the interpretation of a passage -from the Mishnah, where it is said, 'The honour of thy neighbour shall -be as dear to thee as thine own.' Our teachers explain this in the -following way. It is certain that no man will find pleasure in doing -honour to himself: this would be altogether ridiculous. But it would be -just as ridiculous to make too much of the marks of honour received from -another, as these confer on us no more intrinsic worth than we have -already. This passage therefore means merely, that the honour of thy -neighbour (the honour which thy neighbour shows to thee) must be of as -little value in thine eyes, as thine own (the honour which thou showest -to thyself)." - -I could not help being astonished at the exquisite refinement of these -thoughts; and charmed with the ingenious exegesis, by which they were -supported.[48] My imagination was strained to the highest pitch by these -descriptions, and consequently I wished nothing so much as the pleasure -of becoming a member of this honourable society. I resolved therefore to -undertake a journey to M----, where the superior B---- resided. I waited -with the greatest impatience for the close of my period of service, -which lasted still for some weeks. As soon as this came to an end, -instead of going home (though I was only two miles away), I started at -once on my pilgrimage. The journey extended over some weeks. - -At last I arrived at M----, and after having rested from my journey I -went to the house of the superior under the idea that I could be -introduced to him at once. I was told, however, that he could not speak -to me at the time, but that I was invited to his table on Sabbath along -with the other strangers who had come to visit him; that I should then -have the happiness of seeing the saintly man face to face, and of -hearing the sublimest teachings out of his own mouth; that although this -was a public audience, yet, on account of the individual references -which I should find made to myself, I might regard it as a special -interview. - -Accordingly on Sabbath I went to this solemn meal, and found there a -large number of respectable men who had met here from various quarters. -At length the great man appeared in his awe-inspiring form, clothed in -white satin. Even his shoes and snuffbox were white, this being among -the Cabbalists the colour of grace. He gave to every new comer his -salaam, that is, his greeting. We sat down to table and during the meal -a solemn silence reigned. After the meal was over, the superior struck -up a solemn inspiriting melody, held his hand for some time upon his -brow, and then began to call out, "Z---- of H----, M---- of R----," and -so on. Every new comer was thus called by his own name and the name of -his residence, which excited no little astonishment. Each recited, as he -was called, some verse of the Holy Scriptures. Thereupon the superior -began to deliver a sermon for which the verses recited served as a text, -so that although they were disconnected verses taken from different -parts of the Holy Scriptures they were combined with as much skill as if -they had formed a single whole. What was still more extraordinary, -every one of the new comers believed that he discovered, in that part of -the sermon which was founded on his verse, something that had special -reference to the facts of his own spiritual life. At this we were of -course greatly astonished. - -It was not long, however, before I began to qualify the high opinion I -had formed of this superior and the whole society. I observed that their -ingenious exegesis was at bottom false, and, in addition to that, was -limited strictly to their own extravagant principles, such as the -doctrine of self-annihilation. When a man had once learned these, there -was nothing new for him to bear. The so-called miracles could be very -naturally explained. By means of correspondence and spies and a certain -knowledge of men, by physiognomy and skilful questions, the superiors -were able to elicit indirectly the secrets of the heart, so that they -succeeded with these simple men in obtaining the reputation of being -inspired prophets. - -The whole society also displeased me not a little by their cynical -spirit and the excess of their merriment. A single example of this may -suffice. We had met once at the hour of prayer in the house of the -superior. One of the company arrived somewhat late, when the others -asked him the reason. He replied that he had been detained by his wife -having been that evening confined with a daughter. As soon as they heard -this, they began to congratulate him in a somewhat uproarious fashion. -The superior thereupon came out of his study and asked the cause of the -noise. He was told that we were congratulating our friend, because his -wife had brought a girl into the world. "A girl!" he answered with the -greatest indignation, "he ought to be whipped."[49] The poor fellow -protested. He could not comprehend why he should be made to suffer for -his wife having brought a girl into the world. But this was of no avail: -he was seized, thrown down on the floor, and whipped unmercifully. All -except the victim fell into an hilarious mood over the affair, upon -which the superior called them to prayer in the following words, "Now, -brethren, _serve the Lord with gladness_!" - -I would not stay in the place any longer. I sought the superior's -blessing, took my departure from the society with the resolution to -abandon it for ever, and returned home. - -Now I shall say something of the internal constitution of the society. -The superiors may, according to my experience, be brought under four -heads: (1) the prudent, (2) the crafty, (3) the powerful,[50] (4) the -good. - -The highest class, which rules all the others, is of course the first. -These are men of enlightenment, who have attained a deep knowledge of -the weaknesses of men and the motives of their actions, and have early -learned the truth that prudence is better than power, inasmuch as power -is in part dependent on prudence, while prudence is independent of -power. A man may have as many powers and in as high a degree as he will, -still his influence is always limited. By prudence, however, and a sort -of psychological mechanics, that is, an insight into the best possible -use of these powers and their direction, they may be infinitely -strengthened. These prudent leaders, therefore, have devoted themselves -to the art of ruling free men, that is, of using the will and powers of -other men, so that while these believe themselves to be advancing merely -their own ends, they are in reality advancing the ends of their leaders. -This can be maintained by a judicious combination and regulation of the -powers, so that by the slightest touch upon this instrument it may -produce the greatest effect. There is here no deceit, for, as -presupposed, the others themselves reach their own ends by this means -best. - -The second class, the crafty, also use the will and the powers of others -for the attainment of their ends; but in regard to these ends they are -more short-sighted or more impetuous than the former class. It often -happens, therefore, that they seek to attain their ends at the expense -of others; and their skill consists not merely in attaining their own -ends, like the first class, but in carefully concealing from others the -fact that they have not reached theirs. - -The powerful are men who, by their inborn or acquired moral force, rule -over the weakness of others, especially when their force is such as is -seldom found in others, as, for example, the control of all the passions -but one, which is made the end of their actions. - -The good are weak men who are merely passive in respect of their -knowledge and power of will, and whose ends are reached, not by -controlling, but by allowing themselves to be controlled. - -The highest class, that of the prudent, supervising all the others -without being under their supervision, as a matter of course rules them -all. It makes use of the crafty on their good side, and seeks to make -them harmless on their other side by outwitting them, so that when they -believe they are deceiving, they themselves are deceived. It makes use, -moreover, of the powerful for the attainment of more important ends, but -seeks, when necessary, to keep them in check by the opposition of -several, it may be weaker, powers. Finally it makes use of the good for -the attainment of its ends, not merely with them but also with others, -inasmuch as it commends these weak brethren to the others as an example -of submission that is worthy of imitation, and by this means clears out -of the way those hindrances that arise from the independent activity of -the others. - -This highest class begins usually with Stoicism, and ends with -Epicureanism. Its members consist of pious men of the first sort, that -is, such as have for a considerable time devoted themselves to the -strictest exercise of religious and moral laws, to the control of their -desires and passions. But they do not, like the Stoic, look upon -Stoicism as an end in itself; they regard it merely as a means to the -highest end of man, namely, happiness. They do not therefore remain at -the Stoical stage, but, after having obtained from it all that is -necessary to the highest end, they hasten to that end itself, the -enjoyment of happiness. By their exercise in the strictest Stoicism -their sensibility for all sorts of pleasure is heightened and ennobled, -instead of becoming duller, as it is with gross Epicureans. By means of -this exercise also they are placed in a position to defer every pleasure -that presents itself till they have determined its real worth, which a -gross Epicurean will not do. - -The first impulse to Stoicism, however, must lie in the temperament, and -it is only by a kind of self-deception that it is shifted to the account -of voluntary activity. But this vanity imparts courage for actual -undertakings of a voluntary nature, and this courage is continually -fired by their successful issue. As the superiors of this sect are not -men of science, it is not to be supposed that they have hit upon their -system by the guidance of reason alone. Rather, as already said, the -motive was, in the first instance, temperament, in the second, religious -ideas; and it was only after that, that they could attain to a clear -knowledge and practice of their system in its purity. - -This sect was therefore, in regard to its end and its means, a sort of -secret society, which had nearly acquired dominion over the whole -nation; and consequently one of the greatest revolutions was to have -been expected, if the excesses of some of its members had not laid bare -many weak spots, and thus put weapons into the hands of its enemies. -Some among them, who wished to pass for genuine Cynics, violated all the -laws of decency, wandered about naked in the public streets, attended to -the wants of nature in the presence of others, and so on. By their -practice of extemporising, as a consequence of their principle of -self-annihilation, they introduced into their sermons all sorts of -foolish, unintelligible, confused stuff. By this means some of them -became insane, and believed that in fact they were no longer in -existence. To all this must be added their pride and contempt of others -who did not belong to their sect, especially of the rabbis, who, though -they had their faults, were still far more active and useful than these -ignorant idlers. Men began to find out their weaknesses, to disturb -their meetings, and to persecute them everywhere. This was brought about -especially by the authority of a celebrated rabbi, Elias of Wilna,[51] -who stood in great esteem among the Jews, so that now scarcely any -traces of the society can be found scattered here and there. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -Continuation of the Former, and also something about Religious -Mysteries. - - -After the account of the secret society in the last chapter, this seems -the most appropriate place to state, for the examination of the -thoughtful reader, my opinion about _mysteries in general_, and about -the _mysteries of religion_ in particular. - -_Mysteries in general_ are modes of the causal relation between objects -in nature,--modes which are real or held to be real, but which cannot be -disclosed to every man by the natural use of his powers of knowledge. -_Eternal truths_, that is, those necessary relations of objects which -are founded on the nature of our powers of knowledge, however few may be -familiar with them, are not, according to this definition, mysteries, -because any one can discover them by the use of his powers of knowledge. - -On the other hand, the results of _sympathy_ and _antipathy_, the -medical _specifics_, and similar effects, which some men fall upon by -mere accident, and which they afterwards find confirmed by means of -observations and experiments, are genuine _mysteries of nature_, which -can be made known to another person, not by the use of his powers of -knowledge, but only either by an accident of the same kind, or by -communication from the first discoverer. If mysteries of this sort are -not confirmed by observation and experiment, the belief in their reality -is called _superstition_. - -_Religion_ is a covenant formed between man and another moral being of a -higher genus. It presupposes a natural relation between man and this -higher moral being, so that, by the mutual fulfilment of their covenant, -they advance the interest of each other. If this natural relation (not -being merely arbitrary and conventional) is real, and the mutual -obligation of the contracting persons is founded on this relation, then -it forms a _true_, but otherwise a _false_, natural religion. If the -mutual obligation between man and the higher being or his -representatives is drawn up in a formal code, there arises a _positive_ -or _revealed religion_. - -The true religion, natural as well as revealed, which, as already -observed, constitutes Judaism, consists in a contract, at first merely -understood, but afterwards expressed, between man and the Supreme Being, -who revealed Himself to the patriarchs in person (in dreams and -prophetic appearances), and made known by them His will, the reward of -obeying it and the punishment of disobedience, regarding which a -covenant was then with mutual consent concluded. Subsequently, through -his representative Moses, He renewed His covenant with the Israelites in -Egypt, determining more precisely their mutual obligations; and this -was afterwards on both sides formally confirmed on Mount Sinai. - -To the thoughtful reader I do not need to say, that the representation -of a covenant between God and man is to be taken merely _analogically_, -and not in its strict sense. The absolutely Perfect Being can reveal -Himself merely _as idea to the reason_. What revealed itself to the -patriarchs and prophets, suitably to their power of comprehension, in -figure, in an anthropomorphic manner, was not the absolutely Perfect -Being Himself, but a representative of Him, His sensible image. The -covenant, which this Being concludes with man, has not for its end the -mutual satisfaction of wants; for the Supreme Being has no wants, and -the wants of man are satisfied, not by means of this covenant, but only -by observation of those relations between himself and other natural -objects, which are founded on the laws of nature. This covenant, -therefore, can have its foundation nowhere but in the nature of reason, -without reference to any end. - -Heathenism, in my opinion, is distinguished from Judaism mainly by the -fact, that the latter rests upon the _formal_, absolutely necessary laws -of reason, while the former (even if it be founded on the nature of -things and therefore real) rests upon the _material_ laws of nature -which are merely hypothetically necessary. From this the inevitable -result is polytheism; every particular cause is personified by -imagination, that is, represented as a moral being, and made a -particular deity. At first this result was a matter of mere -_Empiricism_; but by and by men had occasion to observe that these -causes, which were represented as particular deities, were dependent on -each other in their effects, and in a certain aspect subordinate to each -other. There thus arose gradually a whole system of heathen theology, in -which every deity maintains his rank, and his relation to the rest is -determined. - -Judaism, on the other hand, in its very origin contemplated a _system_, -that is, a unity among the forces of nature; and thereby it received at -last this _pure formal_ unity. This unity is merely of _regulative_ use, -that is, for the complete systematic connection of all the phenomena of -nature; and it presupposes a knowledge of the _multiplicity_ of the -various forces in nature. But owing to their excessive love of system, -and their anxiety for the preservation of the _principle_ in its purity, -the Israelites seem to have wholly neglected its application. The result -was that they preserved a religion which was pure indeed, but at the -same time very unfruitful, both for the extension of knowledge and for -its application in practical life. By this cause may be explained their -constant murmuring against the leaders of their religion, and their -repeated relapse into idolatry. They could not, like enlightened nations -at the present day, direct their attention to purity of principle and -useful application of their religion at the same time, and therefore of -necessity they failed either in the one or in the other. Finally the -Talmudists introduced a merely _formal_ application of religion which -aimed at no real end; and by this means they made matters worse and -worse. - -This religion, therefore, which, by the intention of its founder, should -have formed the Jews into the wisest and most intelligent of nations, -made them by its injudicious application the most ignorant and -unreasonable of all. Instead of the knowledge of nature being combined -with the knowledge of religion, and the former subordinated to the -latter merely as the material to the formal, the former was altogether -neglected; and the principle, maintained in its mere abstractness, -continued without any application. - -Mysteries of religion are objects and acts, which are adapted to ideas -and principles, and the inner meaning of which is of great importance, -but which have in their outward form something unseemly or ridiculous or -otherwise objectionable. They must therefore, even in regard to their -outward form, be kept concealed from the vulgar eye, which cannot -penetrate into the inner meaning of anything; and accordingly for it -they must be a double mystery. That is to say, the objects or acts -themselves constitute the lesser mysteries, and their inner meaning the -greater mysteries. - -Of this sort, for example, among the Jews, in the tabernacle, and -afterwards in the Holy of Holies in the temple, was the ark of the -covenant, which, according to the testimony of renowned authors, showed -much resemblance to the sacred chest in the innermost shrine of some -heathen temples. Thus we find among the Egyptians the casket of Apis, -that concealed from the vulgar eye this dead animal, which as a symbol -indeed had an important meaning, but in itself presented a repulsive -aspect. The ark of the covenant in the first temple contained, it is -true, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, nothing besides the -two tables of the law; but of the ark in the second temple, built after -the Babylonian captivity, I find in the Talmud a passage which is too -remarkable not to be adduced. According to this passage the enemies, who -seized the temple, found in the Holy of Holies the likeness of two -persons of different sex embracing, and profaned the sacred object by a -crass exposition of its inner meaning. This likeness was said to be a -vivid sensible representation of the union between the nation and God, -and, in order to guard against abuse, had to be withdrawn from the eye -of the common people, who cling to the symbol, but do not penetrate to -its inner meaning. For the same reason the _cherubim_ also were -concealed behind the veil. - -Of the same sort were the mysteries of the ancients in general. But the -greatest of all mysteries in the Jewish religion consists in the name, -Jehovah, expressing _bare existence_, in abstraction from all -_particular kinds of existence_, which cannot of course be conceived -without _existence in general_. The doctrine of the unity of God, and -the dependence of all beings on Him, in regard to their possibility as -well as their actuality, can be perfectly comprehended only in -conformity with a _single system_. When Josephus, in his apology against -Apion, says, "The first instruction of our religion relates to the -Godhead, and teaches that God comprehends all things, is an absolutely -Perfect and Blessed Being, and is the _sole cause of all existence_," I -believe that these words contain the best explanation of the otherwise -difficult passage, where Moses says to God, "Behold, when I come unto -the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers -hath sent me unto you, and they shall ask, What is his name? what shall -I answer unto them?" and God replies, "Thus shalt thou say unto the -children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of -Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob hath sent me unto you, for this is my name for -ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations."[52] For, in my -opinion, this passage means nothing more than that the Jewish religion -lays at its foundation the unity of God as the _immediate_ cause of all -existence; and it says therefore precisely the same as the remarkable -inscription on the pyramid at Sais, "I am all that is and was and shall -be; my veil has no mortal removed," and that other inscription under the -column of Isis, "I am that which is." The name, Jehovah, is called by -the Talmudists _Shem haezam_ (_nomen proprium_), the name of the -essence, which belongs to God in Himself, without reference to His -operations. The other names of God, however, are _appellative_, and -express attributes which he has in common with all His creatures, only -that they belong to Him in the most eminent degree. For example, -_Elohim_ is a lord, a judge. _El_ is a mighty one, _Adonai_, a lord; and -the same is the case with all the rest. The Talmudists drive this point -so far as to maintain, that the Holy Scriptures consist merely of the -manifold names of God. - -The Cabbalists made use of this principle. Having enumerated the chief -attributes of God, arranged them in order and brought them into a system -which they call _Olam Eziloth_ or _Sephiroth_, they not only picked out -an appropriate name for each in the Holy Scriptures, but they made in -addition all sorts of combinations of these attributes in various -relations, which they expressed by similar combinations of the -corresponding names. They could therefore easily expound the Holy -Scriptures according to their method, inasmuch as they found therein -nothing but what they had before put in themselves. - -Besides these there may also be mysteries in a religion which consist in -the knowledge that the religion, as understood by enlightened people, -has no mysteries at all. This knowledge may be connected either with an -endeavour to destroy gradually among the people the belief in mysteries, -and to banish the so-called lesser mysteries by publishing the greater, -or, on the contrary, with an endeavour to preserve among the people the -belief in mysteries, and to make the preservation of the lesser -mysteries part of the subject of the greater. - -The Jewish religion, according to the spirit of its founder, is of the -first kind. Moses, as well as the prophets who followed him, sought -constantly to inculcate that the end of religion is not _external -ceremonies_, but the knowledge of the true God as the sole -incomprehensible cause of all things, and the practice of virtue in -accordance with the prescriptions of reason. - -The heathen religions, on the other hand, show evident traces of the -second kind. Still I am not, like some, inclined to believe that -everything in these was planned for _intentional deception_, but I -believe that the founders of these religions were for the most part -deceived deceivers; and this mode of representing the matter is far more -in accordance with human nature. I am also unable to imagine that such -secret designs could be propagated, by means of a formal tradition, from -generation to generation. And, moreover, what would have been the use of -this? Have not later generations the same faculty as the earlier of -contriving schemes to reach their ends? There are princes who have never -read Macchiavelli, and yet have admirably carried his principles into -practice. - -With regard to the society of pietists described above I am persuaded -that it had as little connection with the free-masons as with any other -secret society. But conjectures are allowed, and here we have to do -merely with the _degree of probability_. In my opinion there are in -every state societies which are essentially secret, but which externally -have no appearance of being such. Every body of men with a common -interest is to me a secret society. Its aim and principal operations may -be ever so well known, still the _most important_ of these remain -concealed to the uninitiated. Of such a secret society, as of others, -much good as well as evil may therefore be said; and so long as they do -not carry their mischief too far, they are always tolerated. - -The Society of Pietists had a similar end in view to that of the Order -of Illuminati in Bavaria, and employed nearly the same means. Its aim -was to spread itself among people wandering in the dark; and it made use -of superstition in a remarkable manner, as means to this end. It sought -chiefly to attract the youth to itself, and by a sort of empirical -knowledge of men, to educate every member to that, for which he seemed -to be destined by nature, and to assign him his proper place. Every -member of the society was allowed to acquire as much knowledge of its -aim and internal constitution, as enabled him to look merely backwards -on his subordinates, but not forwards on his superiors. These superiors -understood the art of communicating truths of reason by means of sublime -figures, and of translating these figurative representations into truths -of reason. It might almost be said of them, that _they understood the -language of animals_--a very important art, which is indispensable to -every teacher of the people. By doing away with a gloomy piety, their -doctrines met with acceptance among the lively youth. The principle of -self-annihilation, taught by them, is, when well understood, nothing -else than the foundation of self-activity. By its means all the modes of -thought and action, which have become rooted by education, habit and -communication with others, and by which human activity is wont to -receive a wrong direction, are to be destroyed, and one's own free mode -of action introduced. Moral and A|sthetic feeling can in fact be -preserved and perfected by this principle alone. It is only when ill -understood, that it can be injurious, as I have shown by the example of -this society itself. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -Journeys to KA¶nigsberg, Stettin and Berlin, for the purpose of extending -my knowledge of men. - - -My external circumstances were becoming worse and worse. I was unwilling -any longer to adapt myself to my ordinary occupations, and found myself -therefore everywhere out of my sphere. On the other hand, I was also -unable in the place of my abode to satisfy sufficiently my favourite -inclination to the study of the sciences. So I determined to betake -myself to Germany, there to study medicine and, as opportunity offered, -other sciences also. But the question was, how such a long journey was -to be made. I knew indeed, that some merchants in the place of my abode -were soon to make a journey to KA¶nigsberg in Prussia; but I had only a -slight acquaintance with them, and could not therefore expect that they -would take me with them for nothing. After much deliberation I fell at -last upon a capital expedient. - -I had among my friends a very learned and pious man, who stood in great -esteem among all the Jews of the town. To him I revealed my purpose, and -took him into counsel on the subject. I laid before him my miserable -circumstances, pointed out to him, that, as my inclinations had been -once directed to the knowledge of God and His works, I was no longer fit -for any ordinary occupation; and I represented to him especially, that I -was now obliged to support myself by my scholarship alone, as an -instructor in the Bible and the Talmud, which, according to the judgment -of some rabbis, was not altogether allowable. I explained to him, that -on this account I wished to study medicine as a profane art, by which -means I might be of service, not only to myself, but to the whole of the -Jews in this neighbourhood, as there was no regular physician here, and -those, who gave themselves out for such, were the most ignorant shavers, -who packed men out of the world by their cures. - -These reasons produced an extraordinary effect on so devout a man. He -went to a merchant of his acquaintance, represented to him the -importance of my undertaking, and persuaded him to take me with him to -KA¶nigsberg on his own vessel. The merchant could refuse nothing to so -godly a man, and therefore gave his consent. - -Accordingly I set out with this Jewish merchant for KA¶nigsberg in -Prussia. When I arrived there, I went to the Jewish medical doctor of -the place, opened to him my proposal to study medicine, and begged him -for advice and support. As his professional occupations prevented him -from conveniently speaking with me on the subject, and as he could not -understand me well at any rate, he referred me to some students who -lodged in his house. As soon as I showed myself to these young -gentlemen, and opened to them my proposal, they burst into loud -laughter. And certainly for this they were not to be blamed. Imagine a -man from Polish Lithuania of about five and twenty years, with a -tolerably stiff beard, in tattered dirty clothes, whose language is a -mixture of Hebrew, Jewish German, Polish and Russian, with their several -grammatical inaccuracies, who gives out that he understands the German -language, and that he has attained some knowledge of the sciences. What -were the young gentlemen to think? - -They began to poke fun at me, and gave me to read Mendelssohn's -_Phaedo_, which by chance lay on the table. I read in the most pitiful -style, both on account of the peculiar manner in which I had learned the -German language, and on account of my bad pronunciation. Again they -burst into loud laughter; but they said, I must explain to them what I -had read. This I did in my own fashion; but as they did not understand -me, they demanded that I should translate what I had read into Hebrew. -This I did on the spot. The students, who understood Hebrew well, fell -into no slight astonishment, when they saw that I had not only grasped -correctly the meaning of this celebrated author, but also expressed it -happily in Hebrew. They began therefore to interest themselves on my -account, procured for me some cast-off clothing, and board during my -stay in KA¶nigsberg. At the same time they advised me to go to Berlin, -where I should best attain my object. To make the journey suit my -circumstances, however, they advised me to go by ship from KA¶nigsberg to -Stettin, and thence to Frankfurt on the Oder, from which place I should -easily find means of getting to Berlin. - -I went therefore by ship, and had nothing for food but some toast, some -herring, and a flask of spirits. I was told in KA¶nigsberg, that the -journey might take ten or, at the most, fourteen days. This prophecy, -however, was not fulfilled. In consequence of contrary winds, the voyage -lasted five weeks. In what circumstances, therefore, I found myself, may -be easily imagined. There were in the vessel besides me no other -passengers, but an old woman, who sang hymns all the time for her -comfort. The Pomeranian German of the crew I could understand as little -as they could my medley of Jewish, Polish and Lithuanian. I got nothing -warm to eat the whole time, and was obliged to sleep on hard stuffed -bags. The vessel came also sometimes into danger. Of course the most of -the time I was seasick. - -At last I arrived at Stettin, where I was told that I could make the -journey to Frankfurt quite pleasantly on foot. But how was a Polish Jew -in the most wretched circumstances, without a pfennig to buy food, and -without knowing the language of the country, to make a journey even of a -few miles? Yet it had to be done. Accordingly I set out from Stettin, -and as I thought over my miserable situation, I sat down under a -lime-tree, and began to weep bitterly. I soon became somewhat lighter in -heart; I took courage, and went on. After I had gone two or three miles, -towards evening I arrived at an inn thoroughly worn out. It was the eve -of the Jewish fast, which falls in August. Already I was nearly starving -with hunger and thirst, and I was to fast still the whole of the next -day. I had not a pfennig to spend and nothing of any value to sell. - -After long reflection it occurred to me, that I must still have in my -coat-pocket an iron spoon, which I had taken with me on board ship. I -brought it, and begged the landlady of the inn to give me a little bread -and beer for it. She refused at first to take the spoon, but after much -importunity she was at last induced to grant a glass of sour beer in -exchange. I was obliged therefore to content myself with this, drank my -glass of beer, and went off to the stable to sleep on straw. - -In the morning I proceeded on my journey, having previously inquired for -a place, where there were Jews, in order that I might be able to go into -the synagogue, and sing with my brethren the lamentations over the -destruction of Jerusalem. This was done, and after the prayers and -singing,--about midday,--I went to the Jewish schoolmaster of the place, -and held some conversation with him. He soon discovered that I was a -full rabbi, began to interest himself about me, and procured me a -supper at the house of a Jew. He also gave me a letter of introduction -to another schoolmaster in the neighbouring town, recommending me as a -great Talmudist and an honourable rabbi. Here also I met with a fair -reception. I was invited to the Sabbath dinner by the most respectable -and richest Jew of the place, and went into the synagogue, where I was -shown to the highest seat, and received every mark of honour usually -bestowed on a rabbi. - -After the close of the service the rich Jew referred to took me to his -house, and put me in the place of honour at his table, that is between -himself and his daughter. She was a young girl of about twelve years, -dressed in the most beautiful style. I began, as rabbi, to hold a very -learned and edifying discourse; and the less the gentleman and lady -understood it, the more divine it seemed to them. All at once I -observed, to my chagrin, that the young lady began to put on a sour -look, and to make wry faces. At first I did not know how to explain -this; but, after a while, when I turned my eyes upon myself and my -miserable dirty suit of rags, the whole mystery was at once unriddled. -The uneasiness of the young lady had a very good cause. And how could it -be otherwise? Since I left KA¶nigsberg, about seven weeks before, I had -never had a clean shirt to put on; and I had been obliged to lie in the -stables of inns on bare straw, on which who knows how many poor -travellers had lain before? Now all at once my eyes were opened to see -my misery in its appalling magnitude. But what was I to do? How was I to -help myself out of this unfortunate situation? Gloomy and sad I soon -bade farewell to these good people, and proceeded on my journey to -Berlin under a continued struggle with want and misery of every kind. - -At last I reached this city. Here I believed that I should put an end to -my misery, and accomplish all my wishes. But alas I was sadly deceived. -In this capital, as is well known, no Jewish beggars were allowed. -Accordingly the Jewish community of the place, in order to make -provision for their poor, have built at the Rosenthaler gate a house, in -which the poor are received, and questioned by the Jewish elders about -what they want in Berlin. According to the results of such inquiry, they -are either taken into the city, if they are sick or want employment, or -they are sent forward on their journey. I was therefore conducted to -this house, which was filled partly with sick people, partly with a lewd -rabble. For a long while I looked round in vain for a man, with whom I -might talk about my affairs. - -At last I observed a man, who, to judge by his dress, was surely a -rabbi. I went to him, and how great was my joy to learn from him, that -he was really a rabbi, and pretty well known in Berlin! I conversed with -him on all sorts of subjects connected with rabbinical learning; and as -I was very open-hearted, I related to him the course of my life in -Poland, revealed to him my purpose of studying medicine in Berlin, -showed him my commentary on the _Moreh Nebhochim_, and so forth. He -listened to all, and seemed to interest himself very much in my behalf. -But all at once he disappeared out of sight. - -At length towards evening came the Jewish elders. Each of the persons in -the house was called, and questioned about his wants. When my turn came, -I said quite frankly, that I wished to remain in Berlin, in order to -study medicine. The elders refused my request point-blank, gave me a -pittance in charity, and went away. The reason of this conduct towards -me in particular was nothing else than the following. - -The rabbi, of whom I spoke, was a zealot in his orthodoxy. Accordingly -when he had discovered my sentiments and purposes, he went into town, -and informed the elders about my heretical mode of thinking. He told -them, that I was going to issue a new edition of the _Moreh Nebhochim_ -with a commentary, and that my intention was not so much to study -medicine, but mainly to devote myself to the sciences in general, and to -extend my knowledge. This the orthodox Jews look upon as something -dangerous to religion and good morals. They believe this to be specially -true of the Polish rabbis, who, having by some lucky accident been -delivered from the bondage of superstition, suddenly catch a gleam of -the light of reason, and set themselves free from their chains. And -this belief is to some extent well-founded. Persons in such a position -may be compared to a man, who, after being famished for a long time, -suddenly comes upon a well spread table, who will attack the food with -violent greed, and fill himself even to surfeiting. - -The refusal of permission to stay in Berlin came upon me like a -thunderclap. The ultimate object of all my hopes and wishes was all at -once removed beyond my reach, just when I had seen it so near. I found -myself in the situation of Tantalus, and did not know where to turn for -help. I was especially pained by the treatment I received from the -overseer of this poorhouse, who, by command of his superiors, urged my -speedy departure, and never left off till he saw me outside of the gate. -There I threw myself on the ground and began to weep bitterly. It was a -Sunday, and many people went, as usual, to walk outside of the city. -Most of them never turned aside to a whining worm like me, but some -compassionate souls were very much struck with the sight, and asked the -cause of my wailing. I answered them; but, partly on account of my -unintelligible language, partly because my speech was broken by frequent -weeping and sobbing, they could not understand what I said. - -I was so deeply affected by this vexation, that I fell into a violent -fever. The soldiers, who kept guard at the gate, reported this at the -poorhouse. The overseer came, and carried me in. I stayed there over the -day, and made myself glad with the hope of becoming thoroughly sick, so -as to enforce a longer sojourn in the place, during which I thought I -might form some acquaintances, by whose influence I hoped to receive -protection and permission to remain in Berlin. But alas! in this hope I -was deceived. The following day I rose quite lively again without a -trace of fever. I was therefore obliged to go. But whither? That I did -not know myself. Accordingly I took the first road that I came upon, and -surrendered myself to fate. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance. - - -In the evening I came to an inn, where I met a poor tramp who was a -Jewish beggar by profession. I was uncommonly pleased to meet one of my -brethren, with whom I could talk, and to whom this neighbourhood was -pretty well known. I resolved therefore to wander about the country with -this companion, and to preserve my life in this way, though two such -heterogeneous persons were nowhere to be met with in the world. I was an -educated rabbi; he was an idiot. I had hitherto maintained myself in an -honourable way; he was a beggar by profession. I had ideas of morality, -propriety, and decency; he knew nothing of these. Finally, I was in -sound health, it is true, but still of weakly constitution; he, on the -other hand, was a sturdy, able-bodied fellow, who would have made the -best of soldiers. - -Notwithstanding these differences, I stuck close to the man, as, in -order to prolong life, I was compelled to become a vagrant in a strange -land. In our wanderings I laboured to communicate to my companion ideas -of religion and of true morality, while he in return instructed me in -the art of begging. He taught me the usual formulas of the art, and -recommended me especially to curse and swear, whenever I was sent away -without anything. But with all the trouble, which he gave himself in the -matter, his teachings would not take any hold on me. The formulas of -begging appeared to me absurd I thought, if a man was once compelled to -beg help of others, he should express his feelings in the most simple -form. As far as cursing was concerned, I could not understand why a man, -who refused another's request, should draw a curse upon himself; and -then it seemed to me, that the man thus treated would be thereby -embittered, and the beggar be all the less likely to attain his object. -When therefore I went to beg with my comrade, I conducted myself always -as if I were begging and cursing at the same time, but in fact I never -spoke a single intelligible word. If, on the other hand, I went alone, I -had absolutely nothing to say; but from my appearance and conduct could -easily be seen what was wanted. My comrade sometimes scolded me on -account of my slowness in learning his art, and this I bore with the -greatest patience. - -In this way we wandered about in a district of a few miles for nearly -half a year. At last we resolved to turn our steps towards Poland. When -we arrived at Posen we took up our quarters in the Jewish poorhouse, the -master of which was a poor jobbing tailor. Here I formed the resolve, at -whatever cost, to bring my wandering to a close. It was harvest-time, -and already began to be pretty cold. I was almost naked and barefoot. By -this vagrant life, in which I never got any regular meals, for the most -part had to content myself with bits of mouldy bread and water, and at -night was obliged to lie on old straw, sometimes even on the bare earth, -my health had seriously suffered. Besides, the sacred seasons and -fast-days in the Jewish calendar were coming on; and as at that time I -was of a somewhat strong religious disposition, I could not endure the -thought of passing in complete idleness this period which others -employed for the welfare of their souls. - -I resolved, therefore, for the present at least, to go no farther, and, -at all events if it should come to the worst, to throw myself before the -synagogue, and either die there or excite the compassion of my brethren, -and by that means bring my sufferings to an end. Consequently as soon as -my comrade awoke in the morning, began to make arrangements for a -begging tour, and summoned me to the same, I told him that I would not -go with him at present; and when he asked how I intended to sustain life -in any other way, I was able to answer nothing but "God will surely -help." - -I then went off to the Jewish school. Here I found a number of scholars, -some of whom were reading, while others took advantage of the master's -absence to pass the time in play. I also took a book to read. The -scholars, who were struck by my strange dress, approached and asked me -whence I came and what I wanted. Their questions I answered in my -Lithuanian dialect, at which they began to laugh, and make merry at my -expense. For this I cared little. But I recollected that, some years -before, a chief rabbi from my neighbourhood had been appointed to the -same office in Posen, and that he had taken with him an acquaintance and -a good friend of mine as his secretary. Accordingly I asked the boys -about this friend. To my extreme grief I learned that he was no longer -in Posen, as the chief rabbi had been afterwards promoted to the same -office in Hamburg, and his secretary had gone with him to that place. -They told me, however, that his son, a boy about twelve years old, had -been left behind in Posen with the present chief rabbi, who was a -son-in-law of his predecessor. - -This information saddened me not a little. Still the last circumstance -gave me some hope. I inquired after the dwelling of the new chief rabbi, -and went to it; but, as I was almost naked, I shrank from entering, and -waited until I saw some one going into the house, whom I begged to be so -good as to call my friend's son out. The boy recognised me at once, and -manifested his astonishment at seeing me here in such a pitiable plight. -I replied, that this was not the time to relate all the misfortunes -which had brought me into this state, and that at present he should -consider merely how he might somewhat relieve my distress. - -This he promised to do. He went to the chief rabbi, and announced me as -a great scholar and a pious man, who by extraordinary accidents had -fallen into a very miserable condition. The chief rabbi, who was an -excellent man, an acute Talmudist, and of very gentle character, was -touched by my distress, and sent for me to come in. He conversed with me -a while, discussing some of the most important subjects in the Talmud, -and found me well versed in all branches of Jewish learning. Then he -inquired about my intentions, and I told him that I wished to be -introduced as a tutor into some family, but that meanwhile my only -desire was to be able to celebrate the sacred season here, and for this -short period at least to interrupt my travels. - -The good-hearted rabbi bade me, so far as this was concerned, to lay -aside all anxiety, spoke of my desire as a small matter, which it was -nothing more than reasonable to want. He then gave me what money he had -by him, invited me to dine with him every Sabbath, as long as I remained -here, and bade his boy procure a respectable lodging for me. The boy -came back soon, and conducted me to my lodging. I expected this to be -only a small chamber in the house of some poor man. I was therefore not -a little astonished, when I found myself in the house of one of the -oldest Jews of the town, and that here had been prepared for me a neat -little room, which was the study of the master, he and his son being -both scholars. - -As soon as I had looked round a little, I went to the housewife, and, -thrusting some coppers into her hand, I asked her to get me some gruel -for supper. She began to smile at my simplicity, and said, "No, no, sir, -that is not our agreement. The chief rabbi has not given you such a -recommendation, that you are obliged to have us making you gruel for -money." She then went on to explain, that I was not only to lodge in her -house, but also to eat and drink with them, as long as I stayed in the -town. I was astonished at this unexpected good fortune; but my delight -was still greater, when after supper I was shown to a clean bed. I could -not believe my eyes, and asked several times, "Is this really for me?" I -can say with truth, that never, before or since this incident, have I -felt such a degree of happiness, as when I lay down that night, and felt -my limbs, which for half a year had been overwearied and almost broken, -recovering their former strength in a soft bed. - -I slept till late in the day. I had scarcely risen when the chief rabbi -sent for me to come and see him. When I made my appearance he asked me -how I was pleased with my lodging. I could not find words to express my -feelings on the subject, and exclaimed in ecstasy, "I have slept in a -bed!" At this the chief rabbi was uncommonly pleased. He then sent for -the school precentor, and as soon as this man appeared he said to him, -"Go to the shop of ----, and get cloth for a suit to this gentleman." -Thereupon he turned to me and asked what sort of stuff I liked. -Overpowered by the feeling of gratitude and esteem for this excellent -man I could answer nothing. The tears streaming down my cheeks served -for my only answer. - -The chief rabbi also ordered for me some new linen. In two days -everything was ready. Dressed in my new linen and new suit I went to the -chief rabbi. I was going to express my gratitude to him, but could -scarcely get out a few broken words. For the chief rabbi this was a -charming sight. He waived my thanks, and said that I was not to think -too highly of him for this, inasmuch as what he had done for me was a -mere trifle not worth mentioning. - -Now the reader may perhaps suppose that this chief rabbi was a wealthy -man, for whom the expense to which he put himself on my account was -really a trifle; but I can give the assurance that this was far from -being the case. He had merely a moderate income; and as he occupied -himself wholly with study, his wife had the management of his affairs, -and especially the charge of housekeeping. Actions of this sort, -therefore, had to be done without the knowledge of his wife, and under -the pretext that he received from other people the money for the -purpose. Moreover, he lived a very temperate life, fasted every day -except Sabbath, and never ate flesh the whole week through. -Nevertheless, to satisfy his benevolent inclinations he could not avoid -making debts. His severe manner of life, his many studies and vigils, -weakened his strength to such a degree that he died about the -thirty-sixth year of his life. His death took place after he had been -appointed chief rabbi in FA¶rdet, to which place he was followed by a -large number of disciples. I can never think of this godly man without -being deeply affected. - -In my former lodging at the poor tailor's I had left some trifles which -I now went to fetch. The tailor, his wife, and my former comrade in -beggary, who had already heard of the happy change in my affairs, -expected me with the greatest impatience. It was a touching scene. The -man, who three days before arrived in this poor hut, quite debilitated, -half naked, and barefoot, whom the poor inmates of the house regarded as -an outcast of nature, and whose comrade in linen blouse had looked down -upon him with mockery and contempt,--this man (his fame before him) now -comes into the same hut with a cheerful face, and in reverend garb -dressed as a chief rabbi. - -They all testified their joy and surprise at the transformation. The -poor woman took her babe in her arms and, with tears in her eyes, begged -a blessing for him. My comrade begged me very affectingly for -forgiveness on account of his rough treatment. He said that he deemed -himself fortunate in having had such a fellow-traveller, but would hold -himself unfortunate if I would not forgive the faults he had committed -in ignorance. I spoke to them all very kindly, gave the little one my -blessing, handed to my old comrade all the cash I had in my pocket, and -went back deeply affected. - -Meanwhile my fame was spread through the whole town by the conduct -towards me of the chief rabbi, as well as that of my new host, who was -himself a scholar, and had formed a high opinion of my talents and -learning from frequent conversations and discussions which we had held -together. All the scholars of the town, therefore, came to see me and -discuss with me as a famous travelling rabbi; and the more intimately -they came to know me, so much the higher rose their esteem. - -This period was undoubtedly the happiest and most honourable in my life. -The young scholars of the town passed a resolution at their meeting to -make up for me a salary, for which I was to deliver lectures to them on -the celebrated and profound work of Maimonides, _Moreh Nebhochim_. This -proposal, however, was never carried out, because the parents of these -young people were anxious lest their children should be thereby led -astray, and by independent thinking on religion be made to waver in -their faith. They acknowledged indeed that, with all my fondness for -religious speculation, I was still a pious man and an orthodox rabbi. -But they could not rely upon their children having sufficient judgment, -to be able to enter upon this course without passing from one extreme to -the other, from superstition to unbelief; and therein perhaps they were -right. - -After I had spent about four weeks in this way, the man, with whom I -lodged, came to me, and said, "Herr Solomon, allow me to make a proposal -to you. If you are inclined merely to solitary study, you may remain -here as long as you like. If, however, you do not wish to withdraw into -such complete retirement, but are inclined to be of service to the world -with your talents, there is a wealthy man here--one of the most -prominent people of the town--who has an only son, and wishes nothing so -much as to have you for his tutor. This man is my brother-in-law. If you -will not do it for his sake, please do it for mine, and to gratify the -chief rabbi, as he has deeply at heart the education of my nephew, who -is connected by marriage with his family." This offer I accepted with -delight. I came therefore into this family under advantageous conditions -as tutor, and remained with them two years in the greatest honour. -Nothing was done in the house without my knowledge. I was always met -with the greatest respect. I was held in fact to be almost something -more than human. - -Thus the two years flowed on imperceptibly and happily for me. But -during the time some little incidents took place, which I believe should -not be altogether omitted in this history. - -In the first place the esteem entertained for me in this house went so -far, that _malgrA(C) moi_ they were going to make me a prophet. My pupil -was betrothed to the daughter of a chief rabbi, who was a brother-in-law -of the chief rabbi in Posen. The bride, a girl of about twelve years, -was brought to Posen by her parents-in-law at the feast of Pentecost. On -the occasion of this visit I observed that the girl was of a very -phlegmatic temperament and somewhat consumptive. I mentioned this to the -brother of my host, and added with a significant look, that I was very -anxious for the girl, as I did not believe that her health would last -long. After the feast was over the girl was sent home, and a fortnight -afterwards a letter was received announcing her death. On this account, -not only in the house where I lived, but in the whole town, I was taken -for a prophet, who had been able to foretell the death of this girl. As -I wished nothing less than to deceive, I endeavoured to bring these -superstitious people to a different train of thought. I told them that -anybody, who had made observations in the world, would have been able to -foretell the same thing. But it was of no use. Once for all I was a -prophet, and had to remain one. - -Another incident occurred in a Jewish house one Friday when they were -preparing fish for the Sabbath. The fish was a carp, and it seemed to -the cook who was cutting it up as if it uttered a sound. This threw -everybody into a panic. The rabbi was asked what should be done with -this dumb fish that had ventured to speak. Under the superstitious idea -that the carp was possessed with a spirit, the rabbi enjoined that it -should be wrapped in a linen cloth, and buried with pomp. - -Now, in the house where I lived, this awe-inspiring event became the -subject of conversation. Having by this time emancipated myself pretty -thoroughly from superstitions of this sort by diligent study of the -_Moreh Nebhochim_, I laughed heartily over the story, and said, that, if -instead of burying the carp, they had sent it to me, I should have tried -how such an inspired carp would taste. - -This _bon mot_ became known. The learned men fell into a passion about -it, denounced me as a heretic, and sought to persecute me in every way. -But the respect, entertained for me in the house where I was tutor, made -all their efforts fruitless. As I found myself in this way safe, and the -spirit of fanaticism, instead of deterring me, rather spurred me on to -further reflection, I began to push matters a little farther, frequently -slept through the time of prayer, went seldom to the synagogue, and so -on. At last the measure of my sins became so full, that nothing could -secure me any longer from persecution. - -At the entrance to the Common Hall in Posen there has been, no one knows -for how long, a stag-horn fixed into the wall. The Jews are unanimously -of the conviction, that any one who touches this horn is sure to die on -the spot; and they relate a multitude of instances in proof. This would -not go down with me at all, and I made fun of it. So one day when I was -passing the stag-horn with some other Jews, I said to them, "You Posen -fools, do you think that any one who touches this horn must die on the -spot? See, I dare to touch it!" Horror-struck, they expected my death -on the spot; but as nothing happened, their anxiety for me was converted -into hatred. They looked on me as one who had profaned the sanctuary. - -This fanaticism stirred up in me the desire to go to Berlin, and destroy -by enlightenment the remnant of superstition which still clung to me. I -therefore begged leave of my employer. He expressed the wish indeed, -that I should remain longer in his house, and assured me of his -protection against all persecution. But as I had once for all taken my -resolution, I was determined not to alter it. I therefore bade goodbye -to my employer and his whole family, took a seat on the Frankfurt post, -and set out for Berlin. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -Arrival in Berlin--Acquaintances--Mendelssohn--Desperate Study of -Metaphysics--Doubts--Lectures on Locke and Adelung. - - -As I came to Berlin this time by post, I did not require to remain -outside the Rosenthaler Gate to be examined by the Jewish elders; I -proceeded without any difficulty into the city, and was allowed to take -up my quarters where I chose. To _remain_ in the city, however, was a -different thing. The Jewish police-officers--L. M. of those days was a -terrible fellow,--went every day round all the hotels and other houses -designed for the reception of strangers, made inquiry into the quality -and occupation of newcomers, as well as the probable length of their -stay, and allowed them no rest till they had either found some -occupation in the city, or were out of it again, or--the alternative -goes without saying. I had taken a lodging on the New Market with a Jew, -who was accustomed to receive in his house poor travellers that had not -much to spend, and who the following day received a visit of this sort. - -The Jewish police-officer, L. M., came and examined me in the strictest -manner. I told him that I wished to enter into service as a -family-tutor in Berlin, and that therefore the length of my stay could -not be exactly determined. I appeared to him suspicious; he believed he -had seen me here before, and evidently looked on me as a comet, which -comes nearer to the earth the second time than the first, and so makes -the danger more threating. But when he saw by me a _Milloth Higgayon_ or -Hebrew Logic, drawn up by Maimonides, and annotated by Mendelssohn, he -went into a perfect rage. "Yes! yes!" he exclaimed, "that's the sort of -books for me!" and as he turned to me with a threatening look, "Pack," -he said, "out of Berlin as quick as you can, if you don't wish to be led -out with all the honours!" I trembled, and knew not what to do; but as I -had learnt that there was a Polish Jew, a man of talent, residing in -Berlin for the sake of study, and received with esteem in the best -families, I paid him a visit. - -He received me as a countryman in a very friendly manner, asked about my -home in Poland, and what had brought me to Berlin. When I told him in -reply, that from my childhood I had discovered an inclination to the -sciences, had already made myself acquainted with this and that Hebrew -work which touches upon these, and now had come to Berlin in order to be -_Maamik Bechochmah_ (to become absorbed in the sciences), he smiled at -this quaint rabbinical phrase, but gave me his full approval; and after -conversing with me for some time, he begged me to visit him often, which -I very willingly promised to do, and went away rejoicing in spirit. - -The very next day I visited my Polish friend again, and found with him -some young people belonging to a prominent Jewish family, who visited -him often, and conversed with him on scientific subjects. They entered -into conversation with me, found much amusement in my jargon, as well as -in my simplicity and open-heartedness; in particular they laughed -heartily at the phrase, _Maamik Bechochmah_, of which they had heard -already. All this gave me courage, and they assured me that I should not -find myself mistaken in the expectation of being able to be _Maamik -Bechochmah_ in Berlin. And when I made known my fear about the -above-mentioned police-officer, they made me pluck up courage by -promising to obtain protection for me from their family, so that I might -remain in Berlin as long as I chose. - -They kept their word, and Herr D---- P----, a well-to-do man of -excellent character, of many attainments and fine taste, who was an -uncle of these young men, not only paid me much attention, but also -procured for me a respectable lodging, and invited me to the Sabbath -dinner. Others of the family also sent me meals at my room on fixed -days. Among these was a brother of these young men, in other respects an -honourable man, who was not without attainments. But as he was a zealous -Talmudist, he inquired earnestly whether with my inclination towards the -sciences I had not quite neglected the Talmud; and as soon as he -learnt, that I was so _Maamik Bechochmah_ as to neglect the study of the -Talmud, he gave up sending me my meals. - -As I now had permission to remain in Berlin, I thought of nothing but -how to carry my purpose into effect. Accidentally one day I went into a -butter-shop, and found the dealer in the act of anatomising a somewhat -old book for use in his trade. I looked at it, and found, to my no small -astonishment, that it was Wolff's _Metaphysics, or the Doctrine of God, -of the World, and of Man's Soul_. I could not understand, how in a city -so enlightened as Berlin such important works could be treated in this -barbarous fashion. I turned therefore to the dealer, and asked him, if -he would not sell the book. He was ready to part with it for two -groschen. Without thinking long about it I gave the price at once, and -went home delighted with my treasure. - -At the very first reading I was in raptures with the book. Not only this -sublime science in itself, but also the order and mathematical method of -the celebrated author,--the precision of his explanations, the exactness -of his reasoning, and the scientific arrangement of his exposition,--all -this struck a new light in my mind. - -With the Ontology, the Cosmology, and the Psychology all went well; but -the Theology created many difficulties, inasmuch as I found its dogmas, -not only not in harmony, but even in contradiction, with the preceding -propositions. At the very beginning I could not assent to Wolff's -argument _a posteriori_ for the existence of God in accordance with the -Principle of Sufficient Reason; and I raised the objection to it, that, -inasmuch as, according to Wolff's own confession, the Principle of -Sufficient Reason is abstracted from particular cases of experience, the -only point which can be proved by it is, that every object of experience -must have its sufficient reason in some other object of experience, but -not in an object beyond all experience. I also compared these new -metaphysical doctrines with those of Maimonides, or rather of Aristotle, -which were already known to me; and I could not bring them into harmony -at all. - -I resolved therefore to set forth these doubts in the Hebrew language, -and to send what I wrote to Herr Mendelssohn, of whom I had already -heard so much. When he received my communication, he was not a little -astonished at it, and replied to me at once, that in fact my doubts were -well founded, that I should not however allow myself to be discouraged -on their account, but should continue to study with the zeal with which -I had begun. - -Encouraged by this, I wrote in Hebrew a dissertation in which I brought -into doubt the foundations of Revealed as well as of Natural Theology. -All the thirteen articles of faith, laid down by Maimonides, I attacked -with philosophical arguments, with the exception of one, namely the -article on reward and punishment, which I conceded merely in its -philosophical interpretation, as referring to the natural consequences -of voluntary actions. I sent this dissertation to Mendelssohn, who was -not a little amazed, that a Polish Jew, who had scarcely got the length -of seeing the Metaphysics of Wolff, was already able to penetrate into -their depths so far, that he was in a position to shake their results by -means of a correct Ontology. He invited me to visit him, and I accepted -his invitation. But I was so shy, the manners and customs of the -Berliners were so new to me, it was not without fear and embarrassment, -that I ventured to enter a fashionable house. When therefore I opened -Mendelssohn's door, and saw him and other gentlefolks who were there, as -well as the beautiful rooms and elegant furniture, I shrank back, closed -the door again, and had a mind not to go in. Mendelssohn however had -observed me. He came out and spoke to me very kindly, led me into his -room, placed himself beside me at the window, and paid me many -compliments about my writing. He assured me, that, if I went on in this -way, I should in a short time make great progress in Metaphysics; and he -promised also to resolve my doubts. Not satisfied with this, the worthy -man looked after my maintenance also, recommended me to the most -eminent, enlightened and wealthy Jews, who made provision for my board -and other wants. Their tables I was at liberty to enjoy when I chose, -and their libraries were open to my use. - -Especially worthy of mention among these gentlemen was H----, a man of -many attainments and excellent disposition, who was a particular friend -and disciple of Mendelssohn. He took great pleasure in my conversation, -often discussed with me the most important subjects in Natural Theology -and Morals, on which I expressed my thoughts to him quite frankly and -without disguise. I went over with him in a conversational way all the -systems known to me that are generally denounced, and defended them with -the greatest pertinacity. He met me with objections; I answered them, -and brought in my turn objections against the opposite systems. At first -this friend regarded me as a speaking animal, and entertained himself -with me, as one is apt to do with a dog or a starling that has been -taught to speak a few words. The odd mixture of the animal in my -manners, my expressions, and my whole outward behaviour, with the -rational in my thoughts, excited his imagination more than the subject -of our conversation roused his understanding. By degrees the fun was -turned to earnest. He began to give his attention to the subjects -themselves; and as, notwithstanding his other capabilities and -attainments, he had no philosophical head, and the liveliness of his -imagination generally interfered with the ripeness of his judgment, the -results of our conversations may be readily imagined. - -A few examples will be sufficient to give an idea of the manner in which -I conducted a discussion at the time, of the ellipses in my diction -arising from my deficiency in expressions, and of the way in which I -illustrated everything by examples. I endeavoured once to make -Spinoza's system intelligible,--to show that all things are merely -accidents of a single substance. My friend interrupted me and said, -"But, good heavens! are not you and I different men, and do we not each -possess an existence of our own?" "Close the shutters," I called in -reply to his objection. This strange expression threw him into -astonishment; he did not know what I meant. At last I explained myself. -"See," said I, "the sun shines through the windows. This square window -gives you a square reflection, and the round window a round reflection. -Are they on that account different things, and not rather one and the -same sunshine?" - -On another occasion I defended Helvetius' system of self-love. He -brought against it the objection, that we surely love other persons as -well as ourselves. "For instance," said he, "I love my wife;" and to -confirm this he gave her a kiss. "That proves nothing against me," I -replied. "For, why do you kiss your wife? Because you find pleasure in -doing it." - -Herr A---- M---- also, a good honest fellow, and at that time a wealthy -man, allowed me free access to his house. Here I found Locke in the -German translation, and I was pleased with him at the first hasty -glance, for I recognised him as the best of the modern philosophers, as -a man who had no interest but the truth. Accordingly I proposed to the -tutor of Herr A---- M----, that he should take lessons from me on this -admirable work. At first he smiled at my simplicity in proposing, that -I, who had scarcely got the length of seeing Locke, should give lessons -to him whose native tongue was German, and who had been brought up in -the sciences. He acted, however, as if he found nothing offensive in the -matter, accepted my proposal, and fixed an hour for the lessons. I -presented myself at the time appointed, and began the lessons; but as I -could not read a word of German correctly, I told my pupil to read aloud -paragraph by paragraph in the text, and that then I should give him an -exposition of each. My pupil, who pretended to be in earnest, consented -to this also, to carry on the joke; but how great was his astonishment -when he found, that no joke was to be played in the matter, that in fact -my expositions and remarks, though delivered in my own peculiar -language, evinced a genuine philosophical spirit. - -It was still more amusing, when I became acquainted with the family of -Widow Levi, and made the proposal to her son, the young Herr Samuel -Levi,[53] who is still my Maecenas, that he should take lessons from me -in the German language. The studious youth, incited by my reputation, -was resolved to make a trial, and wished me to explain Adelung's _German -Grammar_. I, who had never seen Adelung's Grammar, did not allow myself -to be at all disconcerted on this account.[54] My pupil was obliged to -read Adelung bit by bit, while I not only expounded it, but added -glosses of my own. In particular I found a good deal to take exception -to in Adelung's philosophical explanation of the parts of speech; and I -drew up an explanation of my own, which I communicated to my intelligent -pupil, by whom it is still preserved. - -As a man altogether without experience I carried my frankness at times a -little too far, and brought upon myself many vexations in consequence. I -was reading Spinoza. His profound thought and his love of truth pleased -me uncommonly; and as his system had already been suggested to me by the -Cabbalistic writings, I began to reflect upon it anew, and became so -convinced of its truth, that all the efforts of Mendelssohn to change my -opinion were unavailing. I answered all the objections brought against -it by the Wolfians, brought objections against their system myself, and -showed, that, if the _nominal definition_s of the Wolfian Ontology are -converted into _real definitions_, conclusions the very opposite of -theirs are the result. Moreover, I could not explain the persistency of -Mendelssohn and the Wolfians generally in adhering to their system, -except as a political dodge and a piece of hypocrisy, by which they -studiously endeavoured to descend to the mode of thinking common in the -popular mind; and this conviction I expressed openly and without -reserve. My friends and well-wishers, who for the most part had never -themselves speculated on philosophical subjects, but blindly adopted the -results of the systems prevailing at the time as if they were -established truths, did not understand me, and therefore also were -unable to follow me in my opinions. - -Mendelssohn, whose usual course was to tack, did not wish to oppose my -love of inquiry, secretly even took pleasure in it, and said, that at -present indeed I was not on the right road, but that the course of my -thoughts must not be checked, because, as Descartes rightly remarked, -doubt is the beginning of thorough philosophical speculation. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -Mendelssohn--A chapter devoted to the memory of a worthy friend. - - -_Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus tam cari capitis?_ - -The name of Mendelssohn is too well known to the world, to make it -necessary for me here to dwell long on the portraiture of the great -intellectual and moral qualities of this celebrated man of our nation. I -shall sketch merely those prominent features of his portrait, which have -made the strongest impression upon me. He was a good Talmudist, and a -pupil of the celebrated Rabbi Israel, or, as he is otherwise named after -the title of a Talmudic work which he wrote, Nezach Israel (the strength -of Israel),--a Polish rabbi who was denounced for heresy by his -countrymen. This rabbi had, besides his great Talmudic capabilities and -acquirements, a good deal of scientific talent, especially in -mathematics, with which he had attained a thorough acquaintance, even in -Poland, from the few Hebrew writings on this science, as may be seen in -the above-mentioned work. In this work there are introduced solutions of -many important mathematical problems, which are applied either to the -explanation of some obscure passages in the Talmud, or to the -determination of a law. Rabbi Israel of course was more interested in -the extension of useful knowledge among his countrymen than in the -determination of a law, which he used merely as a vehicle for the other. -He showed, for example, that it is not right for the Jews in our part of -the world to turn exactly to the East at prayer; for the Talmudic law -requires them to turn to Jerusalem, and, as our part of the world lies -north-west from Jerusalem, they ought to turn to the south-east. He -shows also how, by means of spherical trigonometry, the required -direction may be determined with the utmost exactness in all parts of -the world, and many other truths of a similar kind. Along with the -celebrated Chief Rabbi FrA¤nkel, he contributed much to develop the great -abilities of Mendelssohn. - -Mendelssohn possessed a thorough acquaintance with mathematics; and this -science he valued, not only for its self-evidence, but also as the best -exercise in profound reasoning. That he was a great philosopher, is well -enough known. He was not indeed an originator of new systems; he had -however amended the old systems, especially the Leibnitio-Wolfian, and -had applied it with success to many subjects in philosophy. - -It is hard to say whether Mendelssohn was endowed with more acuteness or -with depth of intellect. Both faculties were found united in him in a -very high degree. His exactness in definition and classification, and -his fine distinctions, are evidences of the former talent, while his -profound philosophical treatises afford proofs of the latter. - -In his character, as he himself confessed, he was by nature a man of -strong passions, but by long exercise in Stoical morality he had learnt -to keep them under control. A young man, under the impression that -Mendelssohn had done him a wrong, came one day to upbraid him, and -indulged in one impertinence after another. Mendelssohn stood leaning on -a chair, never turned his eye from his visitor, and listened to all his -impertinences with the utmost Stoical patience. After the young man had -vented all his passion, Mendelssohn went to him and said, "Go! You see -that you fail to reach your object here; you can't make me angry." Still -on such occasions Mendelssohn could not conceal his sorrow at the -weakness of human nature. Not infrequently I was myself overheated in my -disputes with him, and violated the respect due to such a man,--a fact -on which I still reflect with remorse. - -Mendelssohn possessed deep knowledge of human nature,--a knowledge which -consists not so much in seizing some unconnected features of a -character, and representing them in theatrical fashion, as in -discovering those essential features of a character, from which all the -others may be explained, and in some measure predicted. He was able to -describe accurately all the springs of action and the entire moral -wheelwork of a man, and understood thoroughly the mechanism of the soul. -This gave a character, not only to his intercourse and other dealings -with men, but also to his literary labours. - -Mendelssohn understood the useful and agreeable art of throwing himself -into another person's mode of thought. He could thus supply whatever was -deficient, and fill up the gaps in the thoughts of another. Jews newly -arrived from Poland, whose thoughts are for the most part confused, and -whose language is an unintelligible jargon, Mendelssohn could understand -perfectly. In his conversations with them he adopted their expressions -and forms of speech, sought to bring down his mode of thinking to -theirs, and thus to raise theirs to his own. - -He understood also the art of finding out the good side of every man and -of every event. Not infrequently, therefore, he found entertainment in -people whose intercourse, owing to the eccentric use of their powers, is -by others avoided; and only downright stupidity and dullness were -offensive to him, though they were so in the highest degree. I was once -an eye-witness of the manner in which he entertained himself with a man -of the most eccentric style of thinking and the most extravagant -behaviour. I lost all patience on the occasion, and after the man was -gone I asked Mendelssohn in wonder, "How could you have anything to do -with this fellow?" "We examine attentively," he said, "a machine whose -construction is unknown to us, and we seek to make intelligible its mode -of working. Should not this man claim a like attention? should we not -seek in the same way to render intelligible his odd utterances, since he -certainly has his springs of action and his wheelwork as well as any -machine?" - -In discussion with a reasoner who held stubbornly to a system once -adopted Mendelssohn was stubborn himself, and took advantage of the -slightest inaccuracy in his opponent's way of thinking. On the other -hand, with a more accommodating thinker he was accommodating also, and -used commonly to close the discussion with the words, "We must hold -fast, not to mere words, but to the things they signify." - -Nothing was so offensive to him as an _esprit de bagatelle_ or -affectation; with anything of this sort he could not conceal his -displeasure. H---- once invited a party, in which Mendelssohn was the -principal guest, and he entertained them the whole time with talk about -some hobby of his, which was not exactly of the choicest kind. -Mendelssohn showed his displeasure by never deigning to give the -slightest attention to the worthless creature. Madam ---- was a lady who -affected an excess of sensibility, and as is customary with such -characters, used to reproach herself in order to extort praise from -others. Mendelssohn sought to bring her to reason by showing her -impressively how exceptionable her conduct was and how she ought to -think seriously about improvement. - -In a disconnected conversation he took little part himself; he acted -rather as observer then, and took pleasure in watching the conduct of -the rest of the company. If, on the other hand, the conversation was -coherent, he took the warmest interest in it himself, and, by a skilful -turn, he could, without interrupting the conversation, give it a useful -direction. - -Mendelssohn could never take up his mind with trifles; matters of the -greatest moment kept him in restless activity, such as the principles of -Morals and of Natural Theology, the immortality of the soul, etc. In all -these branches of inquiry, in which humanity is so deeply interested, he -has also, as I hold, done as much as can be done on the principles of -the Leibnitio-Wolfian philosophy. Perfection was the compass which he -had constantly before his eyes, and which directed his course, in all -these investigations. His God is the Ideal of the highest perfection, -and the idea of the highest perfection lies at the basis of his Ethics. -The principle of his A†sthetics is sensuous perfection. - -My discussion with him on our first acquaintance referred mainly to the -following points. I was a faithful adherent of Maimonides before I -became acquainted with modern philosophy; and, as such, I insisted on -the negation[55] of all positive attributes to God, inasmuch as these -can be represented by us only as finite. Accordingly I proposed the -following dilemma: Either God is not the absolutely perfect being, in -which case his attributes may by us be not only _conceived_, but also -_known_, that is, represented as realities belonging to an object; or He -_is_ the absolutely perfect being, and then the idea of God is conceived -by us, but its reality is merely _assumed_ as problematic. Mendelssohn, -on the other hand, insisted on the affirmation, with regard to God, of -all realities,--a position which goes very well with the -Leibnitio-Wolfian philosophy, because it requires, in order to prove the -reality of an idea, nothing more than that it is thinkable, that is, -fulfils the law of Non-Contradiction. - -My moral theory was then genuine Stoicism. It aimed at the attainment of -free will and the ascendency of reason over the feelings and passions. -It made the highest destination of man to be the maintenance of his -_differentia specifica_, the knowledge of the truth; and all other -impulses, common to us with the irrational animals, were to be put in -operation merely as means to this chief end. The knowledge of the good -was not distinguished by me from the knowledge of the true; for, -following Maimonides, I held the knowledge of the truth to be the -highest good of man. Mendelssohn, on the other hand, maintained that the -idea of perfection, which lies at the basis of Ethics, is of much wider -extent than the mere knowledge of the truth. All natural impulses, -capacities and powers, as something good in themselves (not merely as -means to something good), were to be brought into exercise as realities. -The highest perfection was the idea of the maximum, or the greatest sum, -of these realities. - -The immortality of the soul, for me, following Maimonides, consisted in -the union with the Universal Spirit of that part of the faculty of -knowledge which has been brought into exercise, in proportion to the -degree of that exercise; and in accordance with this doctrine I held -those only to be partakers of this immortality, who occupy themselves -with the knowledge of eternal truths, and in the degree in which they do -so. The soul, therefore, must, with the attainment of this high -immortality, lose its individuality. That Mendelssohn, in accordance -with modern philosophy, thought differently on this subject, every one -will readily believe. - -His sentiments in reference to revealed or positive religion I can give -here, not as something made known to me by himself, but merely in so far -as I have been able to infer them from his utterances on the subject in -his writings with the assistance of my own reflections. For at that -time, as an incipient freethinker, I explained all revealed religion as -in itself false, and its use, so far as the writings of Mendelssohn had -enabled me to understand it, as merely temporary. Moreover, being a man -without experience, I thought it an easy matter to convince others in -opposition to their firmly rooted habits and long-cherished prejudices, -while I assumed the usefulness of such a reformation to be undoubted. -Mendelssohn therefore was unable to hold any conversation with me on the -subject, since he could not but fear lest, as has happened, and happens -still, in the case of several others, I should pronounce his arguments -in reply to be mere pieces of sophistry, and should attribute motives to -him on that account. From his utterances, however, in the preface to his -_Manasseh ben Israel_ as well as in his _Jerusalem_, it is clear that, -though he did not consider any revealed _doctrines_ to be eternal -truths, yet he accepted revealed laws of religion as such, and that he -held the laws of the Jewish religion, as the fundamental laws of a -theocratic constitution, to be immutable as far as circumstances allow. - -So far as I am concerned, I am led to assent entirely to Mendelssohn's -reasoning by my own reflections on the fundamental laws of the religion -of my fathers. The fundamental laws of the Jewish religion are at the -same time the fundamental laws of the Jewish state. They must therefore -be obeyed by all who acknowledge themselves to be members of this state, -and who wish to enjoy the rights granted to them under condition of -their obedience. But, on the other hand, any man who separates himself -from this state, who desires to be considered no longer a member of it, -and to renounce all his rights as such, whether he enters another state -or betakes himself to solitude, is also in his conscience no longer -bound to obey those laws. I assent moreover to Mendelssohn's remark, -that a Jew cannot, by simply passing over to the Christian religion, -free himself from the laws of his own religion, because Jesus of -Nazareth observed these laws himself and commanded his followers to -observe them. But how, if a Jew wishes to be no longer a member of this -theocratic state, and goes over to the heathen religion, or to the -philosophical, which is nothing more than pure natural religion? How, -if, merely as a member of a political state, he submits to its laws, and -demands from it his rights in return, without making any declaration -whatever about his religion, since the state is reasonable enough not to -require from him a declaration with which it has nothing to do? I do not -believe Mendelssohn would maintain that even in this case a Jew is bound -in conscience to observe the laws of his fathers' religion merely -because it is the religion of his fathers. As far as is known, -Mendelssohn lived in accordance with the laws of his religion. -Presumably, therefore, he always regarded himself as still a member of -the theocratic state of his fathers, and consequently acted up to his -duty in this respect. But any man who abandons this state is acting just -as little in violation of his duty. - -On the other hand I consider it wrong in Jews, who from family -attachments and interests profess the Jewish religion, to transgress its -laws, where, according to their own opinion, these do not stand in the -way of those motives. I cannot therefore understand the conduct of -Mendelssohn in reference to a Jew of Hamburg who openly transgressed -the laws of his religion, and who was on that account excommunicated by -the chief rabbi. Mendelssohn wanted to cancel the excommunication on the -ground that the church has no rights in civil matters. But how can he -then maintain the perpetuity of the Jewish ecclesiastical state? For -what is a state without rights, and wherein consists, according to -Mendelssohn, the rights of this ecclesiastical state? "How," says -Mendelssohn, (in the preface to _Manasseh ben Israel_, p. 48), "can a -state allow one of its useful and respected citizens to suffer -misfortune through its laws?" Surely not, I reply; but the Hamburg Jew -suffers no misfortune by virtue of the excommunication. He required only -to say or do nothing which legally leads to this result, and he would -then have avoided the sentence. For excommunication is merely tantamount -to saying:--"So long as you put yourself in opposition to the laws of -our communion, you are excluded from it; and you must therefore make up -your mind whether this open disobedience or the privileges of our -communion can most advance your blessedness." This surely cannot have -escaped a mind like Mendelssohn's, and I leave it to others to decide -how far a man may be inconsistent for the sake of human welfare. - -Mendelssohn had to endure many an injustice at the hands of otherwise -estimable men, from whom such treatment might least have been expected. -Lavater's officiousness is well enough known, and disapproved by all -right-thinking men.[56] The profound Jacobi had a predilection for -Spinozism, with which surely no independent thinker can find fault, and -wanted to make out Mendelssohn, as well as his friend Lessing, to be -Spinozists, in spite of themselves. With this view he published a -correspondence on the subject, which was never intended to appear in -print, and be subjected to public inspection. What was the use of this? -If Spinozism is true, it is so without Mendelssohn's assent. Eternal -truths have nothing to do with the majority of votes, and least of all -where, as I hold, the truth is of such a nature, that it leaves all -expression behind. - -Such an injustice must have given Mendelssohn much annoyance. A -celebrated physician maintained even, that it caused his death; but, -though I am not a physician, I venture to gainsay the assertion. -Mendelssohn's conduct in relation to Jacobi, as well as to Lavater, was -that of a hero. No, no! this hero died in the fifth act. - -The acute preacher, Jacob, in Halle published, after Mendelssohn's -death, a book entitled, _Examination of Mendelssohn's Morgenstunden_, in -which he shows that, according to the _Critique of Pure Reason_, all -metaphysical doctrines are to be rejected as baseless. But why does this -concern Mendelssohn more than any other metaphysician? Mendelssohn did -nothing but develop to greater completeness the Leibnitio-Wolfian -philosophy, apply it to many important subjects of human inquiry, and -clothe it in an attractive garb. It is just as if any one were to attack -Maimonides, who has written an excellent astronomical treatise on -Ptolemaic principles, by writing a book with the title, _Examination of -the Hilchoth Kidush Hakodesh of Maimonides_, in which he should seek to -refute his author on Newtonian principles! But enough of this. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -My aversion at first for belles lettres, and my subsequent -conversion--Departure from Berlin--Sojourn in Hamburg--I drown myself in -the same way as a bad actor shoots himself--An old fool of a woman falls -in love with me, but her addresses are rejected. - - -For _belles lettres_ I discovered not the slightest inclination; I could -not even conceive how any man was to form a science of what pleases or -displeases--a matter which, according to my opinion at the time, could -have merely a subjective ground. One day when I was taking a walk with -Mendelssohn, our conversation fell upon the subject of the poets, whom -he recommended me to read. "No," I replied, "I am going to read none of -the poets. What is a poet but a liar?" Mendelssohn smiled at this and -said, "You agree in this with Plato, who banished all poets from his -Republic. But I hope that with time you will think differently on the -subject." And so it happened soon. - -Longinus' _On the Sublime_ fell into my hand. The examples of the -sublime which he adduces from Homer, and particularly the celebrated -passage of Sappho, made a deep impression on my mind. I thought to -myself, these are but foolish trifles, it is true, but the imagery and -descriptions are really very beautiful. After that I read Homer himself, -and was forced to laugh heartily at the foolish fellow. What a serious -air, I said to myself, over such childless stories! By and by, however, -I found a great deal of pleasure in the reading. Ossian, on the other -hand, whom I got to read afterwards (of course only in German -translations) produced on me a peculiarly awe-inspiring effect. The pomp -of his style, the impressive brevity of his descriptions, the purity of -his sentiments, the simplicity of the objects described by him, and -lastly, the similarity of his poetry to that of the Hebrews, charmed me -uncommonly. Thus I found also a great deal of gratification in Gessner's -Idylls. - -My friend, the Pole of whom I spoke in the preceding chapter, who -occupied himself mainly with _belles lettres_, was greatly delighted at -my conversion. I used to dispute with him the utility of these studies; -and once, when he was reading to me as a model of vigour in expression a -passage of the Psalms, in which King David shows himself a master in -cursing, I interrupted him with the words, "What sort of an art is this? -Why, my mother-in-law--God bless her!--when she was squabbling with a -neighbour woman, used to curse much more wildly than that!" - -Now, however, he had his triumph over me. Mendelssohn also and my other -friends were uncommonly pleased at this change. They wished me to devote -myself regularly to the _humaniora_, as without these a man can -scarcely make his own intellectual productions useful to the world. It -was very difficult, however, to convince me of this. I was always in -haste to enjoy the present, without thinking that, by due preparation, I -could make this enjoyment greater and more lasting. - -I now found gratification, not only in the study of the sciences, but -generally in everything good and beautiful, with which I became -acquainted; and I carried this out with an enthusiasm which passed all -limits. The hitherto suppressed inclination to the pleasures of sense -also asserted its claims. The first occasion of this was the following. -For many years some men, who were occupied in various kinds of teaching, -had insinuated themselves into the most prominent and wealthy families -of the Jewish nation. They devoted themselves especially to the French -language (which was then regarded as the highest point of -enlightenment), to geography, arithmetic, bookkeeping, and similar -studies. They had also made themselves familiar with some phrases and -imperfectly understood results of the more profound sciences and -philosophical systems, while their intercourse with the fair sex was -marked by studious gallantry. As a result of all this, they were great -favourites in the families where they visited, and were regarded as -clever fellows. Now, they began to observe that my reputation was always -on the increase, and that the respect for my attainments and talents -went so far, that they were being thrown wholly into the shade. -Accordingly they thought of a stratagem, by which they might be able to -ward off the threatened evil. - -They resolved to draw me into their company, to show me every -demonstration of friendship, and to render me every possible service. By -this means they hoped, in the first place, as a result of our -intercourse, to win for themselves some of the respect which was shown -to me, and, in the second place, to obtain, from my frank and -communicative spirit, some additional knowledge of those sciences which -as yet they knew only in name. But, in the third place, as they knew my -enthusiasm for everything which I once recognised as good, they expected -to intoxicate me with the allurements of sensual pleasure, and to cool -in some measure my ardour in the study of science, which would at the -same time alienate my friends, my intimacy with whom made them so -jealous. - -Accordingly they invited me into their society, testified their -friendship and esteem for me, and begged the honour of my company. -Suspecting no harm, I received their advances with pleasure, especially -as I reflected that Mendelssohn and my other friends were too grand for -everyday intercourse with me. It became therefore a very desirable -object with me, to find some friends of a middle class, with whom I -could associate _sans faASec.on_, and enjoy the charms of familiarity. My -new friends took me into gay society, to taverns, on pleasure -excursions, at last also to ----;[57] and all this at their own -expense. I, on my side, in my happy humour, opened up to them in return -all the mysteries of philosophy, explained to them in detail all the -peculiar systems, and corrected their ideas on various subjects of human -knowledge. But as things of this sort cannot be poured into a man's -head, and as these gentlemen had no special capacity for them, of course -they were not able to make any great progress by this kind of -instruction. When I observed this, I began to express some sort of -contempt for them, and made no attempt to conceal the fact, that it was -mainly the roast and the wine that gave me pleasure in their company. -This did not please them particularly; and as they were unable to reach -their object with me completely, they tried to reach it at least in -part. They told tales to my grand friends behind my back about the most -trifling incidents and expressions. For instance, they asserted that I -charged Mendelssohn with being a philosophical hypocrite, that I -declared others to be endowed with but shallow pates, that I was seeking -to spread dangerous systems, and that I was wholly abandoned to -Epicureanism. (As if they were genuine Stoics!) They even began at last -openly to manifest their enmity. - -All this of course had its effect; and to add to the impression, my -friends observed that in my studies I followed no fixed plan, but merely -my inclination. Accordingly they proposed to me that I should study -medicine, but could not induce me to do it. I observed that the theory -of medicine contains many departments as auxiliary sciences, each of -which requires a specialist for its thorough mastery, while the practice -of medicine implies a peculiar genius and faculty of judgment, that are -seldom to be met with. I observed at the same time, that the most of -physicians take advantage of the ignorance of the public. In accordance -with established usage they spend some years at the universities, where -they have an opportunity indeed of attending all the lectures, but in -point of fact attend very few. At the close of their course, by means of -money and fair words, they get a dissertation written for them; and -thus, after a very simple fashion, become medical practitioners. - -As already mentioned, I had a great liking for painting; but I was -advised against this, because I was already well advanced in years, and -consequently might not have sufficient patience for the minute exercises -required for this art. At last the proposal was made to me, to learn -pharmacy; and as I had already obtained some acquaintance with physics -as well as chemistry, I consented. My object in this, however, was not -to make any practical use of my attainments, but merely to acquire -theoretical knowledge. Accordingly, instead of setting to with my own -hands, and thereby acquiring expertness in this art, at important -chemical processes I played the part of a mere spectator. In this way I -learnt pharmacy, yet without being in the position of becoming an -apothecary. After the lapse of a three years' apprenticeship, Madame -Rosen, in whose shop I was apprenticed, was duly paid by H. J. D. the -promised fee of sixty thalers. I received a certificate, that I had -perfectly mastered the art of pharmacy; and this ended the whole matter. - -This, however, contributed not a little to alienate my friends. At last -Mendelssohn asked me to come and see him, when he informed me of this -alienation, and pointed out to me its causes. They complained, (1) that -I had not made up my mind to any plan of life, and had thereby rendered -fruitless all their exertions in my behalf; (2) that I was trying to -spread dangerous opinions and systems; and (3) that, according to -general rumour, I was leading a rather loose life, and was very much -addicted to sensual pleasures. - -The first of these complaints I endeavoured to answer by referring to -the fact, which I had mentioned to my friends at the very first, that, -in consequence of my peculiar training, I was indisposed for any kind of -business, and adapted merely for a quiet speculative life, by which I -could not only satisfy my natural inclination, but also, by teaching and -similar means, provide for my support in a certain fashion. "As to the -second point," I proceeded, "the opinions and systems referred to are -either true or false. If the former, then I do not see how the knowledge -of the truth can do any harm. If the latter, then let them be refuted. -Moreover, I have explained these opinions and systems only to gentlemen -who desire to be enlightened, and to rise above all prejudices. But the -truth is, that it is not the mischievous nature of the opinions, it is -the incapacity of those gentlemen to comprehend them, coupled with their -reluctance to make such a humiliating confession, that sets them in arms -against me. In reference to the third reproach, however, I must say with -downright honesty, Herr Mendelssohn, we are all Epicureans. The -moralists can prescribe to us merely rules of prudence; that is to say, -they can prescribe the use of means for the attainment of given ends, -but not the ends themselves. But," I added, "I see clearly that I must -quit Berlin; whither, is a matter of indifference." With this I bade -Mendelssohn farewell. He gave me a very favourable testimonial of my -capabilities and talents, and wished me a prosperous journey. - -To my other friends also I bade farewell, and in brief but emphatic -terms thanked them for the favours they had shown. One of my friends was -taken aback, when I bade him goodbye, at my using the brief form, "I -hope you will enjoy good health, my dear friend; and I thank you for all -the favours you have bestowed upon me." It seemed to this excellent, but -prosaically poetical man, as if the form were too curt and dry for all -his friendliness towards me. So he replied with evident displeasure, "Is -this all that you have learnt in Berlin?" I made no answer, however, but -went away, booked by the Hamburg post, and departed from Berlin. - -On leaving I received from Samuel Levi[58] a letter of introduction to -one of his correspondents. When I arrived in Hamburg, I went to the -merchant to whom this letter was addressed, and delivered it. He -received me well, and invited me to his table during my stay in the -city. But as he knew nothing except how to make money, and took no -particular interest in scholarship or science, he evidently entertained -me merely on account of my letter of introduction, because he had to do -something to gratify his correspondent. As I knew nothing of trade, -however, and besides made no very presentable figure, he endeavoured to -get rid of me as soon as possible, and with a view to that asked me -where I meant to go when I left Hamburg. When I replied that I was going -to Holland, he gave me the well-meant advice to hasten my departure, as -this was the best season of the year for travelling. - -Accordingly I took out a passage on a Hamburg vessel that was to sail -for Holland in two or three weeks. For travelling companions I had two -barbers, a tailor, and a shoemaker. These fellows made themselves merry, -caroused bravely, and sang all sorts of songs. In this joviality I could -not take a part; in fact they scarcely understood my language, and -teased me on that account in a thousand ways, though I bore it all with -patience. The vessel glided pleasantly down the Elbe to a village at -the mouth of the river some miles below Hamburg. Here we were obliged to -lie about six weeks, prevented by contrary winds from putting out to -sea. The ship's crew, along with the other passengers, went to the -village tavern, where they drank and played. For me, however, the time -became very dreary, and I was besides so sick, that I nearly despaired -of my recovery. - -At last we got a favourable wind, the vessel stood out to sea, and on -the third day after our departure we arrived before Amsterdam. A boat -came out to the ship to take the passengers into the city. At first I -would not trust myself to the Dutch boatman, because I was afraid of -falling into the hands of the crimps, against whom I had been warned in -Hamburg; but the captain of our ship assured me that he knew the boatman -well, and that I might trust myself to him without any anxiety. -Accordingly I came into the city; but as I had no acquaintances here, -and as I knew that at the Hague there was a gentleman belonging to a -prominent Berlin family, and that he had obtained from Berlin a tutor -with whom I was acquainted, I set out for that place in a drag-boat. - -Here I took lodgings at the house of a poor Jewish woman, but before I -had time to rest from my journey, a man of tall, spare figure, in untidy -clothing, and with a pipe in his mouth, came in, and, without observing -me, commenced to speak with my landlady. At last she said to him, "Herr -H----, here is a stranger from Berlin; pray, speak to him." The man -thereupon turned to me, and asked me who I was. With my usual -instinctive frankness and love of truth, I told him that I was born in -Poland, that my love of the sciences had induced me to spend some years -in Berlin, and that now I had come to Holland with the intention of -entering some situation, if an opportunity offered itself. When he heard -that I was a man of learning, he began to speak with me on various -subjects in philosophy, and especially in mathematics, in which he had -done a good deal. He found in me a man after his own heart, and we -formed at once a bond of friendship with one another. - -I now went to seek the tutor from Berlin, to whom I referred before. He -introduced me to his employer as a man of high talent, who had made a -great figure in Berlin, and had brought letters of introduction from -that city. This gentleman, who made much of his tutor, as well as of -everything that came from Berlin, invited me to dinner. As my external -appearance did not appear to promise much, and I was besides thoroughly -exhausted and depressed by my sea-voyage, I made a comical figure at -table, and our host evidently did not know what to think of me. But as -he put great confidence in the written recommendation of Mendelssohn and -the oral recommendation of his tutor, he suppressed his astonishment, -and invited me to his table as long as I chose to remain here. In the -evening he invited his brothers-in-law to meet me. They were children of -B----, celebrated for his wealth as well as his beneficence; and as -they were men of learning themselves, they were expected to sound me. -They conversed with me on various subjects in the Talmud, and even in -the Cabbalah. As I showed myself thoroughly initiated into the mysteries -of this sort of learning, even explained to them passages which they -regarded as inexplicable, and untied the most complicated knots of -argument, their admiration was excited, and they believed they had come -upon a great man. - -It was not long, however, before their admiration turned to hatred. The -occasion of this was the following. In connection with the Cabbalah they -told me of a godly man, who had now for many years been a resident of -London, and who was able to perform miracles by means of the Cabbalah. I -expressed some doubts on the subject, but they assured me they had been -present at performances of the kind during this man's residence at the -Hague. To this I replied as a philosopher, that I did not indeed -question the truth of their statement, but that perhaps they had not -duly investigated the matter themselves, and gave out their -pre-conceived opinions as facts. Moreover, I declared that I must regard -with scepticism the effect of the Cabbalah in general, until it is shown -that that effect is of such a kind as cannot be explained in accordance -with the known laws of Nature. This declaration they held to be heresy. - -At the end of the meal the wine-cup was passed to me, that I might, in -accordance with the usual custom, pronounce the blessing over it. This -however I declined with the explanation, that I did so not from any -false shame of speaking before a number of men, because in Poland I had -been a rabbi, and had very often held disputations and delivered sermons -before large assemblies, and, in order to prove this, was now willing to -deliver public lectures every day. It was merely, I explained further, -the love of truth and the reluctance to do anything inconsistent, that -made it impossible for me, without manifest aversion, to say prayers -which I regarded as a result of an anthropomorphic system of theology. - -At this their patience was completely exhausted; they reviled me as a -damnable heretic, and declared it would be a deadly sin to tolerate me -in a Jewish house. Our host, who was no philosopher indeed, but a -reasonable and enlightened man, did not mind much what they said; my -humble talents were of more value in his eyes than my piety. Accordingly -they broke up immediately after dinner, and left the house in deep -displeasure; but all their subsequent efforts to drive me from their -brother-in-law's house were fruitless. I remained in it about nine -months, lived at perfect freedom, but very retired, without any -occupation or any rational society. - -Here I cannot pass over in silence an event which was remarkable both in -a psychological and in a moral point of view. In Holland I wanted -nothing but an occupation suited to my powers, and naturally, therefore, -I became hypochondriac. From feelings of satiety, not infrequently I -fell upon the idea of making away with myself, and of thus putting an -end to an existence which had become a burden to me. But no sooner did I -come to action, than the love of life always assumed the upper hand -again. Once, at the Feast of Haman, in accordance with the custom of the -Jews, I had banquetted very heartily in the house where I took my meals. -After the feast, about midnight I returned to my lodging; and as I had -to pass along one of the canals that are laid out everywhere in Holland, -it occurred to me that this was a very convenient opportunity for -carrying out the design which I had often formed. I thought to myself, -"My life is a burden. At present, indeed, I have no wants; but how will -it be with me in the future, and by what means shall I preserve my life, -since I am of no use for anything in the world? I have already resolved, -on cool reflection at different times, to put an end to my life, and -nothing but my cowardice has restrained me hitherto. Now, when I am -pretty drunk, on the brink of a deep canal, the thing may be done in a -moment without any difficulty." Already I had bent my body over the -canal, in order to plunge in; but only the upper part of the body obeyed -the command of the mind, trusting that the lower part would certainly -refuse its services for such a purpose. So I stood for a good while with -half the body bent over the water, and propped myself carefully with my -legs firmly planted on the ground, so that a spectator might have -fancied I was merely making my bow to the water. This hesitation -destroyed my whole plan. I felt like a man who is going to take -medicine, but, wanting the resolution required, raises the cup time -after time to his mouth, and sets it down again. I began at last to -laugh at myself, as I reflected that my sole motive for suicide was a -real superfluity for the present and an imaginary want for the -future.[59] I therefore let the project drop for the time being, went -home, and thus brought the serio-comic scene to an end. - -Still another comical scene must be mentioned here. At the Hague there -lived at that time a woman of about forty-five, who was said to have -been very pretty in youth, and supported herself by giving lessons in -French. One day she called upon me at my lodging, introduced herself, -and expressed an irresistible desire for scientific conversation. She -declared therefore that she would visit me frequently in my lodging, and -requested the honour of a visit from me in return. - -This advance I met with great pleasure, returned her visits several -times; and thus our intercourse became more and more intimate. We -conversed usually on subjects in philosophy and _belles lettres_. As I -was still at that time a married man, and, except for her enthusiasm in -learning, Madam had little attraction for me, I thought of nothing -beyond mere entertainment. The lady, however, who had been a widow now -for a pretty long while, and had, according to her own story, conceived -an affection for me, began to express this by looks and words in a -romantic manner, which struck me as very comical. I could never believe, -that a lady could fall in love with me in earnest. Her expressions of -affection therefore I took for mere airs of affectation. She, on the -other hand, showed herself more and more in earnest, became at times -thoughtful in the midst of our conversation, and burst into tears. - -It was during a conversation of this sort, that we fell upon the subject -of love. I told her frankly, that I could not love a woman except for -the sake of womanly excellences, such as beauty, grace, agreeableness, -etc., and that any other excellences she might possess, such as talents -or learning, could excite in me only esteem, but by no means love. The -lady adduced against me arguments _a priori_ as well as instances from -experience, especially from French novels, and tried to correct my -notions of love. I could not, however, be so easily convinced; and as -the lady was carrying her airs to an absurd length, I rose and took my -leave. She accompanied me to the very door, grasped me by the hand, and -would not let me go. I asked her somewhat sharply, "What's the matter -with you, madam?" With trembling voice and tearful eyes she replied, "I -love you." - -When I heard this laconic declaration of love, I began to laugh -immoderately, tore myself from her grasp, and rushed away. Some time -afterwards she sent me the following _billet doux_:-- - -/p - "Sir, -p/ - -I have been greatly mistaken in your character. I took you for a man of -noble thoughts and exalted feelings; but I see now that you are a -genuine Epicurean. You seek nothing but pleasure. A woman can please you -only on account of her beauty. A Madame Dacier, for example, who has -studied thoroughly all the Greek and Latin authors, translated them into -her native language, and enriched them with learned annotations, could -not please you. Why? Because she is not pretty. Sir, you, who are -otherwise so enlightened, ought to be ashamed to cherish such pernicious -principles; and if you will not repent, then tremble before the revenge -of the injured love of - -/p - Yours, etc." -p/ - -To this I returned the following reply:-- - -/p - "Madam, -p/ - -That you have been mistaken, is shown by the result. You say that I am a -genuine Epicurean. In this you do me a great honour. Much as I abhor the -title of an _epicure_, on the other hand I feel proud of the title of -_genuine Epicurean_. Certainly it is beauty alone that pleases me in a -woman; but as this can be heightened by other qualities, these must also -be pleasing as means towards the chief end. On the other hand, I can -merely _esteem_ such a woman on account of her talents; _love_ her I -cannot, as I have already explained in conversation. For the learning of -Madame Dacier I have all respect: she could at all events fall in love -with the Greek heroes who were at the siege of Troy, and expect in -return the love of their _manes_ that were constantly hovering around -her; but nothing more. For the rest, Madam, as far as your revenge is -concerned, I do not fear it, since Time, which destroys all things, has -shattered your weapons, that is, your teeth and nails. - -/p - Yours, etc." -p/ - -Thus ended this strange love-affair. - -I discovered that in Holland there was nothing for me to do, inasmuch as -the main desire of the Dutch Jews is to make money, and they manifest no -particular liking for the sciences. Besides, in consequence of not -knowing the Dutch language, I was unable to give instructions in any -science. I determined therefore to return to Berlin by Hamburg, but -found an opportunity of travelling to Hanover by land. In Hanover I went -to a wealthy Jew,--a man who does not deserve even to enjoy his -riches,--showed him my letter of introduction from Mendelssohn, and -represented to him the urgency of my present circumstances. He read -Mendelssohn's letter carefully through, called for pen and ink, and, -without speaking a word to me, wrote at the foot:--"I also hereby -certify that what Herr Mendelssohn writes in praise of Herr Solomon is -perfectly correct." And with this he dismissed me. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -I return to Hamburg--A Lutheran Pastor pronounces me to be a scabby -Sheep, and unworthy of Admission into the Christian Fold--I enter the -Gymnasium, and frighten the Chief Rabbi out of his Wits. - - -I made a prosperous journey back to Hamburg, but here I fell into -circumstances of the deepest distress. I lodged in a miserable house, -had nothing to eat, and did not know what to do. I had received too much -education to return to Poland, to spend my life in misery without -rational occupation or society, and to sink back into the darkness of -superstition and ignorance, from which I had hardly delivered myself -with so much labour. On the other hand, to succeed in Germany was a -result on which I could not calculate, owing to my ignorance of the -language, as well as of the manners and customs of the people, to which -I had never yet been able to adapt myself properly. I had learnt no -particular profession, I had not distinguished myself in any special -science, I was not even master of any language in which I could make -myself perfectly intelligible. It occurred to me, therefore, that for me -there was no alternative left, but to embrace the Christian religion, -and get myself baptised in Hamburg. Accordingly I resolved to go to the -first clergyman I should come upon, and inform him of my resolution, as -well as of my motives for it, without any hypocrisy, in a truthful and -honest fashion. But as I could not express myself well orally, I put my -thoughts into writing in German with Hebrew characters, went to a -schoolmaster, and got him to copy it in German characters. The purport -of my letter was in brief as follows:-- - -"I am a native of Poland, belonging to the Jewish nation, destined by my -education and studies to be a rabbi; but in the thickest darkness I have -perceived some light. This induced me to search further after light and -truth, and to free myself completely from the darkness of superstition -and ignorance. In order to this end, which could not be attained in my -native place, I came to Berlin, where by the support of some enlightened -men of our nation I studied for some years--not indeed after any plan, -but merely to satisfy my thirst for knowledge. But as our nation is -unable to use, not only such planless studies, but even those conducted -on the most perfect plan, it cannot be blamed for becoming tired of -them, and pronouncing their encouragement to be useless. I have -therefore resolved, in order to secure temporal as well as eternal -happiness, which depends on the attainment of perfection, and in order -to become useful to myself as well as others, to embrace the Christian -religion. The Jewish religion, it is true, comes, in its articles of -faith, nearer to reason than Christianity. But in practical use the -latter has an advantage over the former; and since morality, which -consists not in opinions but in actions, is the aim of all religion in -general, clearly the latter comes nearer than the former to this aim. -Moreover, I hold the mysteries of the Christian religion for that which -they are, that is, allegorical representations of the truths that are -most important for man. By this means I make my faith in them harmonise -with reason, but I cannot believe them according to their common -meaning. I beg therefore most respectfully an answer to the question, -whether after this confession I am worthy of the Christian religion or -not. In the former case I am ready to carry my proposal into effect; but -in the latter, I must give up all claim to a religion which enjoins me -to lie, that is, to deliver a confession of faith which contradicts my -reason." - -The schoolmaster, to whom I dictated this, fell into astonishment at my -audacity; never before had he listened to such a confession of faith. He -shook his head with much concern, interrupted the writing several times, -and became doubtful, whether the mere copying was not itself a sin. With -great reluctance he copied it out, merely to get rid of the thing. I -went then to a prominent clergyman, delivered my letter, and begged for -a reply. He read it with great attention, fell likewise into -astonishment, and on finishing entered into conversation with me. - -"So," he said, "I see your intention is to embrace the Christian -religion, merely in order to improve your temporal circumstances." - -"Excuse me, Herr Pastor," I replied, "I think I have made it clear -enough in my letter, that my object is the attainment of perfection. To -this, it is true, the removal of all hindrances and the improvement of -my external circumstances form an indispensable condition. But this -condition is not the chief end." - -"But," said the pastor, "do you not feel any inclination of the soul to -the Christian religion without reference to any external motives?" - -"I should be telling a lie, if I were to give you an affirmative -answer." - -"You are too much of a philosopher," replied the pastor, "to be able to -become a Christian. Reason has taken the upper hand with you, and faith -must accommodate itself to reason. You hold the mysteries of the -Christian religion to be mere fables, and its commands to be mere laws -of reason. For the present I cannot be satisfied with your confession of -faith. You should therefore pray to God, that He may enlighten you with -His grace, and endow you with the spirit of true Christianity; and then -come to me again." - -"If that is the case," I said, "then I must confess, Herr Pastor, that I -am not qualified for Christianity. Whatever light I may receive, I shall -always make it luminous with the light of reason. I shall never believe -that I have fallen upon new truths, if it is impossible to see their -connection with the truths already known to me. I must therefore remain -what I am,--a stiffnecked Jew. My religion enjoins me to _believe_ -nothing, but to _think_ the truth and to _practise_ goodness. If I find -any hindrance in this from external circumstances, it is not my fault. I -do all that lies in my power." - -With this I bade the pastor goodbye. - -The hardships of my journey, coupled with poor food, brought on an ague. -I lay on a straw-bed in a garret, and suffered the want of all -conveniences and refreshments. My landlord, who took pity on me, called -a Jewish physician, who prescribed an emetic which soon cured me of my -fever. The doctor found that I was no common man, stayed to converse -with me for some hours, and begged me, as soon as I recovered, to visit -him. - -Meanwhile, however, a young man, who had known me in Berlin, heard of my -arrival. He called on me to say that Herr W----, who had seen me in -Berlin, was now residing in Hamburg, and that I might very properly call -upon him. I did so, and Herr W----, who was a very clever, honourable -man, of a benevolent disposition naturally, asked me what I intended to -do. I represented to him my whole circumstances, and begged for his -advice. He said that in his opinion the unfortunate position of my -affairs arose from the fact, that I had devoted myself with zeal merely -to the acquisition of scientific knowledge, but had neglected the study -of language, and therefore I was unable to communicate my knowledge to -others, or make any use of it. Meanwhile, he thought, nothing had been -lost by delay; and if I was still willing to accommodate myself to the -circumstances, I could attain my object in the gymnasium at Altona, -where his son was studying, while he would provide for my support. - -I accepted this offer with many thanks, and went home with a joyful -heart. Meanwhile Herr W---- spoke to the professors of the gymnasium, as -well as to the principal, but more particularly to the syndic, Herr -G----, a man who cannot be sufficiently praised. He represented to them, -that I was a man of uncommon talents, who wanted merely some further -knowledge of language to distinguish himself in the world, and who hoped -to obtain that knowledge by a short residence in the gymnasium. They -acceded to his request. I was matriculated, and had a room assigned to -me, in the institution. - -Here I lived for two years in peace and contentment. But the pupils in -such a gymnasium, as may be easily supposed, make very slow progress; -and it was therefore natural that I, who had already made considerable -attainments in science, should find the lessons at times somewhat -tedious. Consequently I did not attend them all, but made a selection to -suit my taste. The Director Dusch I esteemed very highly on account of -his profound scholarship and his excellent character. I therefore -attended the most of his lectures. It is true, the philosophy of -Ernesti, on which he lectured, could not give me much satisfaction, and -just as little did I receive from his lectures on Segner's Mathematical -Compendium. But I derived great benefit from his instructions in the -English language. The Rector H----, a cheerful old man, though somewhat -pedantic, was not altogether pleased with me, because I would not -perform his Latin exercises, and would not learn Greek at all. The -Professor of History began his lectures _ab ovo_ with Adam, and at the -end of the year with a great deal of effort reached as far down as the -building of the Tower of Babel. The teacher of French used for -translation Fenelon's _Sur l'existence de Dieu_,--a work for which I -conceived the greatest dislike, because the author, while appearing to -declaim against Spinozism, in reality argues in its defence. - -During the whole period of my residence in the gymnasium the professors -were unable to form any correct idea of me, because they never had an -opportunity of forming my acquaintance. By the end of the first year I -thought I had attained my object, and laid a good foundation in -languages. I had also become tired of this inactive life, and therefore -resolved to quit the gymnasium. But Director Dusch; who began by and by -to become acquainted with me, begged me to stay at least another year, -and, as I wanted for nothing, I consented. - -It was about this time that the following incident in my life took -place. My wife had sent a polish Jew in search of me, and he heard of my -residence in Hamburg. Accordingly he came and called on me at the -gymnasium. He had been commissioned by my wife to demand, that I should -either return home without delay, or send through him a bill of divorce. -At that time I was unable to do either the one or the other. I was not -inclined to be divorced from my wife without any cause; and to return at -once to Poland, where I had not yet the slightest prospect of getting on -in the world or of leading a rational life, was to me impossible. I -represented all this to the gentleman who had undertaken the commission, -and added that it was my intention to leave the gymnasium soon and go to -Berlin, that my Berlin friends would, as I hoped, give me both their -advice and assistance in carrying out this intention. He would not be -satisfied with this answer, which he took for a mere evasion. When he -thus found that he could do nothing with me, he went to the chief rabbi, -and entered a complaint against me. A messenger was accordingly sent to -summon me before the tribunal of the chief rabbi; but I took my stand, -that at present I was not under his jurisdiction, inasmuch as the -gymnasium had a jurisdiction of its own, by which my case would require -to be decided. The chief rabbi made every effort through the Government -to make me submit to his wishes, but all his efforts were in vain. When -he saw that he could not accomplish his purpose in this way, he sent me -an invitation a second time on the pretext that he wished merely to -speak with me. To this I willingly consented, and went to him at once. - -He received me with much respect; and when I made known to him my -birthplace and family in Poland, he began to lament and wring his hands. -"Alas!" said he, "you are the son of the famous Rabbi Joshua? I know -your father well; he is a pious and learned man. You also are not -unknown to me; I have examined you as a boy several times, and formed -high expectations of you. Oh! is it possible that you have altered so?" -(Here he pointed to my shaven beard). To this I replied, that I also had -the honour of knowing him, and that I still remembered his examinations -well. My conduct hitherto, I told him, was as little opposed to religion -properly understood, as it was to reason. "But," he interrupted "you do -not wear a beard, you do not go to the synagogue: is that not contrary -to religion?" "No!" I replied, and I proved to him from the Talmud that, -under the circumstances in which I was placed, all this was allowed. On -this point we entered into a lengthy dispute, in which each maintained -his right. As he could effect nothing with me by such disputation, he -adopted the style of mere sermonising; but when this also was of no -avail, he began to cry aloud, "_Shophar! Shophar!_" This is the name of -the horn which is blown on New-Year's day as a summons to repentance, -and at which it is supposed that Satan is horribly afraid. While the -chief rabbi called out the word, he pointed to a _Shophar_ that lay -before him on the table, and asked me, "Do you know what that is?" I -replied quite boldly, "Oh yes! it is a ram's horn." At these words the -chief rabbi fell back upon his chair, and began to lament over my lost -soul. I left him to lament as long as he liked, and bade him goodbye. - -At the end of my second year I began to reflect, that it would be an -advantage in view of my future success, as well as fair to the -gymnasium, that I should make myself more intimately acquainted with the -professors. Accordingly I went to Director Dusch, announced to him that -I was soon to leave, and told him that, as I wished a certificate from -him, it would be well for him to examine me on the progress I had made, -so that his certificate might be as nearly as possible in accordance -with the truth. To this end he made me translate some passages from -Latin and English works in prose as well as in verse, and was very well -pleased with the translation. Afterwards he entered into conversation -with me on some subjects in philosophy, but found me so well versed in -these, that for his own safety he was obliged to back out. At last he -asked me, "But how is it with your mathematics?" I begged him to examine -me in this also. "In our mathematical lessons," he began, "we had -advanced to somewhere about the subject of mathematical bodies. Will you -work out yourself a proposition not yet taken up in the lessons, for -example, that about the relation of the cylinder, the sphere and the -cone to one another? You may take some days to do it." I replied that -this was unnecessary, and offered to perform the task on the spot. I -then demonstrated, not only the proposition prescribed, but several -other propositions out of Segner's Geometry. The Director was very much -surprised at this, called all the pupils in the gymnasium, and -represented to them that the extraordinary progress I had made should -make them ashamed of themselves. The most of them did not know what to -say to this; but some replied, "Do not suppose, Herr Director, that -Maimon made this progress in mathematics here. He has seldom attended -the mathematical lessons, and even when he was there he paid no -attention to them." They were going to say more, but the Director -commanded silence, and gave me an honourable certificate, from which I -cannot avoid quoting a few sentences. They became to me afterwards a -constant spur to higher attainments, and I hope it will not be -considered vainglory in me to cite the opinion of this esteemed man. - -"His capacity," says he, "for learning all that is beautiful, good and -useful in general, but in particular those sciences which require severe -exertion of the mental powers, abstract and profound thought, is, I -might almost say, extraordinary. All those sorts of knowledge, which -demand in the highest degree one's own mental efforts, appear to him the -most agreeable; and intellectual occupations seem to be his chief, if -not his sole, enjoyment. His favourite studies hitherto have been -philosophy and mathematics, in which his progress has excited my -astonishment, &c." - -I now bade goodbye to the teachers and officers of the gymnasium, who -unanimously paid me the compliment, that I had done honour to their -institution. I then set out once more for Berlin. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -Third Journey to Berlin--Frustrated Plan of Hebrew Authorship--Journey -to Breslau--Divorce. - - -On my arrival in Berlin I called upon Mendelssohn, as well as some other -old friends, and begged them, as I had now acquired some knowledge of -languages, to employ me in some occupation suited to my capacity. They -hit upon the suggestion, that, in order to enlighten the Polish Jews -still living in darkness, I should prepare in Hebrew, as the only -language intelligible to them, some scientific works, which these -philanthropists were to print at their own expense, and distribute among -the people. His proposal I accepted with delight. But now the question -arose, with what sort of works a beginning should be made. On this point -my excellent friends were divided in their opinions. One of them thought -that the history of the Jewish nation would be most serviceable for this -purpose, inasmuch as the people would discover in it the origin of their -religious doctrines and of the subsequent corruption which these had -undergone, while they would thus also gain an insight into the fact, -that the fall of the Jewish state, as well as all the subsequent -persecution and oppression which they had suffered, had arisen from -their own ignorance and opposition to all rational arrangements. -Accordingly this gentleman recommended that I should translate from -French Basnage's _History of the Jews_; he gave me the work for this -purpose, and asked me to furnish a copy of my translation. The specimen -gave satisfaction to them all, even to Mendelssohn, and I was ready to -take the work in hand; but one of our friends thought that we ought to -begin with something on natural religion and rational morals, inasmuch -as this is the object of all enlightenment. Accordingly he recommended -that for this purpose I should translate the _Natural Religion_ of -Reimarus. Mendelssohn withheld his opinion, because he believed that -whatever was undertaken in this line, though it would do no harm, would -also be of little use. I myself undertook these works, not from any -conviction of my own, but at the request of my friends. - -I was too well acquainted with the rabbinical despotism, which by the -power of superstition has established its throne for many centuries in -Poland, and which for its own security seeks in every possible way to -prevent the spread of light and truth. I knew how closely the Jewish -theocracy is connected with the national existence, so that the -abolition of the former must inevitably bring with it the annihilation -of the latter. I saw therefore clearly that my labours in this direction -would be fruitless; but I undertook this commission, because, as already -stated, my friends would have it so, and because I could think of no -other means of subsistence. Accordingly without fixing anything definite -about the plan of my labours, my friends resolved to send me to Dessau, -where I could carry on my work at leisure. - -I reached Dessau in the hope, that after a few days my friends in Berlin -would resolve upon something definite about my work: but in this I was -deceived; for, as soon as I turned my back on Berlin, nothing further -was thought of the plan. I waited about a fortnight; but when during -that period I received no communication, I wrote to Berlin in the -following terms:--"If my friends cannot unite upon a plan, they might -leave the settlement of it to my own judgment. For my part I believe -that, to enlighten the Jewish nation, we must begin neither with history -nor with natural theology and morals. One of my reasons for thinking so -is, that these subjects, being easily intelligible, would not be able to -instil any regard for science in general among the more learned Jews, -who are accustomed to respect only those studies which involve a strain -upon the highest intellectual powers. But a second reason is, that, as -those subjects would frequently come into collision with religious -prejudices, they would never be admitted. Besides, sooth to say, there -is no proper history of the Jewish nation: for they have scarcely ever -stood in political relation with other civilised nations; and, with the -exception of the Old Testament and Josephus and a few fragments on the -persecutions of the Jews in the middle ages, nothing is to be found -recorded on the subject. I believe, therefore, that it would be best to -make a beginning with some science which, besides being most favourable -for the development of the mind, is also self-evident, and stands in no -connection with any religious opinions. Of this sort are the -mathematical sciences; and therefore with this object in view I am -willing to write a mathematical text-book in Hebrew." - -To this I received the answer, that I might follow my plan. Accordingly -I applied myself with all diligence to the preparation of this -text-book, using the Latin work on mathematics by Wolff as its basis; -and in two months it was finished. I then returned to Berlin, to give an -account of my work, but received immediately from one of the gentlemen -interested the disappointing information, that, as the work was very -voluminous, and as it would entail heavy expenditure especially on -account of the copper-plates required, he could not undertake the -publication at his own expense, and I might therefore do with my -manuscript whatever I chose. I complained of this to Mendelssohn; and he -thought, that certainly it was unreasonable to let my work go without -remuneration, but that I could not require my friends to undertake the -publication of a work which could not calculate on any good result in -consequence of that aversion to all science, which I myself knew to be -prevalent among the Jewish nation. His advice therefore was, that I -should get the book printed by subscription; and of course I was -obliged to content myself with this. Mendelssohn and the other -enlightened Jews in Berlin subscribed, and I received for my work merely -my manuscript and the list of subscriptions. The whole plan, however, -was thought of no more. - -On this I fell out again with my friends in Berlin. Being a man with -little knowledge of the world, who supposed that human actions must -always be determined by the laws of justice, I pressed for the -fulfilment of the bargain made. My friends, on the other hand, began, -though too late, to see, that their ill-considered project must of -necessity collapse, because they had no assurance of a market for such -voluminous and expensive works. From the religious, moral and political -condition of the Jews up to this time it was easy to foresee that the -few enlightened men among them would certainly give themselves no -trouble to study the sciences in the Hebrew language, which is very -ill-adapted for the exposition of such subjects; they will prefer to -seek science in its original sources. The unenlightened, on the other -hand,--and these form the majority,--are so swayed by rabbinical -prejudices, that they regard the study of the sciences, even in Hebrew, -as forbidden fruit, and persistently occupy themselves only with the -Talmud and the enormous number of its commentaries. - -All this I understood very well, and therefore I never thought of -demanding that the work I had prepared should be printed; I asked merely -remuneration for the labour spent on it in vain. In this dispute -Mendelssohn remained neutral, because he thought that both parties had -right on their side. He promised to use his influence with my friends, -to induce them to provide for my subsistence in some other way. But when -even this was not done, I became impatient, and resolved to quit Berlin -once more, and go to Breslau. I took with me some letters of -introduction, but they were of little service; for before I reached -Breslau myself, letters in the spirit of those which Uriah carried had -preceded me, and made a bad impression on the most of those to whom my -letters of introduction were addressed. As a natural result, therefore, -I was coldly received; and as I knew nothing of the later letters, I -found it impossible to explain my reception, and had made up my mind to -quit Breslau. - -By chance, however, I became acquainted with the celebrated Jewish poet, -the late Ephraim Kuh. This learned and high-minded man took so much -interest in me, that, neglecting all his former occupations and -enjoyments, he confined himself entirely to my society. To the wealthy -Jews he spoke of me with the greatest enthusiasm, and praised me as a -very good fellow. But when he found that all his complimentary remarks -failed to make any impression on these gentlemen, he took some trouble -to find out the cause of this, and at last discovered that the reason -lay in those friendly letters from Berlin. Their general tenor was, that -I was seeking to spread pernicious opinions. Ephraim Kuh, as a thinking -man, at once saw the reason of this charge; but with all the efforts he -made, he could not drive it out of the heads of these people. I -confessed to him that, during my first sojourn in Berlin as a young man -without experience or knowledge of the world, I had felt an irresistible -impulse to communicate to others whatever truth I knew; but I assured -him that, having for some years become wise by experience, I went to -work with great caution, and that therefore this charge was now wholly -without foundation. - -Irritated by my disheartening situation, I resolved to form the -acquaintance of Christian scholars, by whose recommendation I thought I -might find a hearing among the wealthy men of my own nation. I could not -but fear, however, that my defective language might form an obstacle to -the expression of my thoughts; so I prepared a written essay, in which I -delivered my ideas on the most important questions of philosophy in the -form of aphorisms. With this essay I went to the celebrated Professor -Garve, explained to him briefly my intention, and submitted my aphorisms -to him for examination. He discussed them with me in a very friendly -manner, gave me a good testimonial, and recommended me also orally in -very emphatic language to the wealthy banker, Lipmann Meier. This -gentleman settled a monthly allowance on me for my support, and also -spoke to some other Jews on the subject. - -My situation now improved every day. Many young men of the Jewish nation -sought my society. Among others the second son of Herr Aaron Zadig took -so much pleasure in my humble personality, that he desired to enjoy my -instruction in the sciences. This he earnestly begged his father to -allow; and the latter, being a well-to-do enlightened man of great good -sense, who wished to give his children the best German education, and -spared no expense for that object, willingly gave his consent. He sent -for me, and made the proposal that I should live at his house, and for a -moderate honorarium should give his second son lessons for two hours a -day in physics and _belles lettres_, and also a lesson in arithmetic of -an hour a day to his third and youngest son. This proposal I accepted -with great willingness; and, not long after, Herr Zadig asked me, if I -would not also consent to give lessons in Hebrew and elementary -mathematics to his children who had hitherto had for their teacher in -these subjects a Polish Jew, named Rabbi Manoth. But I thought it would -be unfair to supplant this poor man, who had a family to support, and -who was giving satisfaction at any rate; and therefore I declined this -request. Accordingly Rabbi Manoth continued his lessons, and I entered -upon mine. - -In this house I was able to carry on but little study for myself. In the -first place, there was a want of books; and, in the second place, I -lived in a room with the children, where they were occupied with other -masters every hour of the day. Besides, the liveliness of these young -people did not suit my character which had already become somewhat -stern; and therefore I had often occasion to get angry at petty -outbursts of unruliness. Consequently, as I was obliged to pass most of -my time in idleness, I sought society. I often visited Herr Hiemann -Lisse, a plump little man of enlightened mind and cheerful disposition. -With him and some other jolly companions I spent my evenings in talk and -jest and play of every sort. During the day I strolled around among the -coffee-houses. - -In other families also I soon became acquainted, particularly in those -of Herr Simon, the banker, and Herr Bortenstein, both of whom showed me -much kindness. All sought to persuade me to devote myself to medicine, -for which I had always entertained a great dislike. But when I saw from -my circumstances, that it would be difficult for me to find support in -any other way, I allowed myself to be persuaded. Professor Garve -introduced me to Professor Morgenbesser, and I attended his medical -lectures for some time; but after all I could not overcome my dislike to -the art, and accordingly gave up the lectures again. By and by I became -acquainted with other Christian scholars, especially with the late Herr -LieberkA1/4hn, who was so justly esteemed on account of his abilities, as -well as for his warm interest in the welfare of mankind. I also made the -acquaintance of some teachers of merit in the Jesuits' College at -Breslau. - -But I did not give up wholly literary work in Hebrew. I translated into -Hebrew Mendelssohn's _Morgenstunden_. Of this translation I sent some -sheets as a specimen to Herr Isaac Daniel Itzig in Berlin; but I -received no answer because this excellent man, owing to his business -being too extensive, cannot possibly give attention to subjects that are -not of immediate interest to him, and therefore such affairs as the -answering of my letter are easily forgotten. I also wrote in Hebrew a -treatise on Natural Philosophy according to Newtonian principles; and -this, as well as the rest of my Hebrew works, I still preserve in -manuscript. - -At last, however, I fell here also into a precarious situation. The -children of Herr Zadig, in pursuance of the occupations to which they -were destined in life, entered into commercial situations, and therefore -required teachers no longer. Other means of support also gradually -failed. As I was thus obliged to seek subsistence in some other way, I -devoted myself to giving lessons; I taught Euler's _Algebra_ to a young -man, gave two children instruction in the rudiments of German and Latin, -&c. But even this did not last long, and I found myself in a sorrowful -plight. - -Meanwhile my wife and eldest son arrived from Poland. A woman of rude -education and manners, but of great good sense and the courage of an -Amazon, she demanded that I should at once return home with her, not -seeing the impossibility of what she required. I had now lived some -years in Germany, had happily emancipated myself from the fetters of -superstition and religious prejudice, had abandoned the rude manner of -life in which I had been brought up, and extended my knowledge in many -directions. I could not therefore return to my former barbarous and -miserable condition, deprive myself of all the advantages I had gained, -and expose myself to rabbinical rage at the slightest deviation from the -ceremonial law, or the utterance of a liberal opinion. I represented to -her, that this could not be done at once, that I should require first of -all to make my situation known to my friends here as well as in Berlin, -and solicit from them the assistance of two or three hundred thalers, so -that I might be able to live in Poland independent of my religious -associates. But she would listen to nothing of all this, and declared -her resolution to obtain a divorce, if I would not go with her -immediately. Here therefore it was for me to choose the less of two -evils, and I consented to the divorce. - -Meanwhile, however, I was obliged to provide for the lodging and board -of these guests, and to introduce them to my friends in Breslau. Both of -these duties I performed, and I pointed out, especially to my son, the -difference between the manner of life one leads here and that in Poland, -while I sought to convince him by several passages in the _Moreh -Nebhochim_, that enlightenment of the understanding and refinement of -manners are rather favourable than otherwise to religion. I went -further: I sought to convince him, that he ought to remain with me; I -assured him, that, with my direction and the support of my friends, he -would find opportunities of developing the good abilities with which -Nature had endowed him, and would obtain for them some suitable -employment. These representations made some impression upon him: but my -wife went with my son to consult some orthodox Jews, in whose advice she -thought she could thoroughly confide; and they recommended her to press -at once for a divorce, and on no account to let my son be induced to -remain with me. This resolution, however, she was not to disclose till -she had received from me a sufficient sum of money for household -purposes. She might then separate from me for ever, and start for home -with her booty. - -This pretty plan was faithfully followed. By and by I had succeeded in -collecting some score of ducats from my friends. I gave them to my wife, -and explained to her that, to complete the required sum, it would be -necessary for us to go to Berlin. She then began to raise difficulties, -and declared at once point-blank, that for us a divorce was best, as -neither could I live happily with her in Poland, nor she with me in -Germany. In my opinion she was perfectly right. But it still made me -sorry to lose a wife, for whom I had once entertained affection, and I -could not let the affair be conducted in any spirit of levity. I told -her therefore that I should consent to a divorce only if it were -enjoined by the courts. - -This was done. I was summoned before the court. My wife stated the -grounds on which she claimed a divorce. The president of the court then -said, "Under these circumstances we can do nothing but advise a -divorce." "Mr. President," I replied, "we came here, not to ask advice, -but to receive a judicial sentence." Thereupon the chief rabbi rose from -his seat (that what he said might not have the force of a judicial -decision,) approached me with the codex in his hand, and pointed to the -following passage:--"A vagabond, who abandons his wife for years, and -does not write to her or send her money, shall, when he is found, be -obliged to grant a divorce." "It is not my part," I replied, "to -institute a comparison between this case and mine. That duty falls to -you, as judge. Take your seat again, therefore, and pronounce your -judicial sentence on the case." - -The president became pale and red by turns, while the rest of the judges -looked at one another. At last the presiding judge became furious, began -to call me names, pronounced me a damnable heretic, and cursed me in the -name of the Lord. I left him to storm, however, and went away. Thus -ended this strange suit, and things remained as they were before. - -My wife now saw that nothing was to be done by means of force, and -therefore she took to entreaty. I also yielded at last, but only on the -condition, that at the judicial divorce the judge, who had shown himself -such a master of cursing, should not preside in the court. After the -divorce my wife returned to Poland with my son. I remained some time -still in Breslau; but as my circumstances became worse and worse, I -resolved to return to Berlin.[60] - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -Fourth Journey to Berlin--Unfortunate Circumstances--Help--Study of -Kant's Writings--Characteristic of my own Works. - - -When I came to Berlin, Mendelssohn was no longer in life,[61] and my -former friends were determined to know nothing more of me. I did not -know therefore what to do. In the greatest distress I received a visit -from Herr Bendavid, who told me that he had heard of my unfortunate -circumstances, and had collected a small sum of about thirty thalers, -which he gave to me. Besides, he introduced me to a Herr Jojard, an -enlightened and high-minded man, who received me in a very friendly -manner, and made some provision for my support. A certain professor, -indeed, tried to do me an ill turn with this worthy man by denouncing me -as an atheist; but in spite of this I gradually got on so well, that I -was able to hire a lodging in a garret from an old woman. - -I had now resolved to study Kant's _Kritik of Pure Reason_, of which I -had often heard but which I had never seen yet.[62] The method, in which -I studied this work, was quite peculiar. On the first perusal I -obtained a vague idea of each section. This I endeavoured afterwards to -make distinct by my own reflection, and thus to penetrate into the -author's meaning. Such is properly the process which is called _thinking -oneself into a system_. But as I had already mastered in this way the -systems of Spinoza, Hume and Leibnitz, I was naturally led to think of a -coalition-system. This in fact I found, and I put it gradually in -writing in the form of explanatory observations on the _Kritik of Pure -Reason_, just as this system unfolded itself to my mind. Such was the -origin of my _Transcendental Philosophy_. Consequently this book must be -difficult to understand for the man who, owing to the inflexible -character of his thinking, has made himself at home merely in one of -these systems without regard to any other. Here the important problem, -_Quid juris?_ with the solution of which the _Kritik_ is occupied, is -wrought out in a much wider sense than that in which it is taken by -Kant; and by this means there is plenty of scope left for Hume's -scepticism in its full force. But on the other side the complete -solution of this problem leads either to Spinozistic or to Leibnitzian -dogmatism. - -When I had finished this work, I showed it to Marcus Herz.[63] He -acknowledged that he was reckoned among the most eminent disciples of -Kant, and that he had given the most assiduous application while -attending Kant's philosophical lectures, as may indeed be seen from his -writings, but that yet he was not in a position to pass a judgment on -the _Kritik_ itself or on any other work relating to it. He advised me, -however, to send my manuscript directly to Kant himself, and submit it -to his judgment, while he promised to accompany it with a letter to the -great philosopher. Accordingly I wrote to Kant, sending him my work, and -enclosing the letter from Herz. A good while passed, however, before an -answer came. At length Herz received a reply, in which, among other -things, Kant said:-- - -"But what were you thinking about, my dear friend, when you sent me a -big packet containing the most subtle researches, not only to read -through, but to think out thoroughly, while I am still, in my -sixty-sixth year, burdened with a vast amount of labour in completion of -my plan! Part of this labour is to furnish the last part of the -_Kritik_,--that, namely, on the Faculty of Judgment,--which is soon to -appear; part is to work out my system of the Metaphysic of Nature, as -well as the Metaphysic of Ethics, in accordance with the requirements of -the _Kritik_. Moreover, I am kept incessantly busy with a multitude of -letters requiring special explanations on particular points; and, in -addition to all this, my health is frail. I had already made up my mind -to send back the manuscript with an excuse so well justified on all -these grounds; but a glance at it soon enabled me to recognise its -merits, and to show, not only that none of my opponents had understood -me and the main problem so well, but that very few could claim so much -penetration as Herr Maimon in profound inquiries of this sort. This -induced me...," and so on. - -In another passage of the letter Kant says:--"Herr Maimon's work -contains moreover so many acute observations, that he cannot give it to -the public without its producing an impression strongly in his favour." -In a letter to myself he said:--"Your esteemed request I have -endeavoured to comply with as far as was possible for me; and if I have -not gone the length of passing a judgment on the whole of your treatise, -you will gather the reason from my letter to Herr Herz. Certainly it -arises from no feeling of disparagement, which I entertain for no -earnest effort in rational inquiries that interest mankind, and least of -all for such an effort as yours, which, in point of fact, betrays no -common talent for the profounder sciences." - -It may easily be imagined how important and agreeable to me the -approbation of this great thinker must have been, and especially his -testimony that I had understood him well. For there are some arrogant -Kantians, who believe themselves to be sole proprietors of the Critical -Philosophy, and therefore dispose of every objection, even though -intended, not exactly as a refutation, but as a fuller elaboration of -this philosophy, by the mere assertion without proof, that the author -has failed to understand Kant. Now these gentlemen were no longer in a -position to bring this charge against my book, inasmuch as, by the -testimony of the founder himself of the Critical Philosophy, I have a -better right than they to make use of this argument. - -At this time I was living in Potsdam with a gentleman who was a -leather-manufacturer. When Kant's letters arrived, I went to Berlin, and -devoted my time to the publication of my _Transcendental Philosophy_. As -a native of Poland I dedicated this work to the king, and carried a copy -to the Polish Resident; but it was never sent, and I was put off from -time to time with various excuses. _Sapienti sat!_ - -A copy of the work was also sent, as is usually done, to the editor of -the _Allgemeine Litteraturzeitung_. After waiting a good while without -any notice appearing, I wrote to the editor, and received the following -answer:--"You know yourself how small is the number of those who are -competent to understand and judge philosophical works. Three of the best -speculative thinkers have declined to undertake the review of your book, -because they are unable to penetrate into the depths of your researches. -An application has been made to a fourth, from whom a favourable reply -was expected; but a review from him has not yet been received." - -I also began to work at this time for the _Journal fA1/4r AufklA¤rung_. My -first article was on _Truth_, and was in the form of a letter to a -friend[64] in Berlin. The article was occasioned by a letter which I had -received from this friend during my stay in Potsdam, and in which he -wrote to me in a humorous vein, that philosophy was no longer a -marketable commodity, and that therefore I ought to take advantage of -the opportunity which I was enjoying to learn tanning. I replied, that -philosophy is not a coinage subject to the vicissitudes of the exchange; -and this proposition I afterwards developed in my article. Another -article in the same periodical was on _Tropes_, in which I show that -these imply the transference of a word not from one object to another -that is analogous, but from a relative to its correlate. I wrote also an -article on _Bacon and Kant_, in which I institute a comparison between -these two reformers of philosophy. _The Soul of the World_ was the -subject of another discussion in this journal, in which I endeavoured to -make out, that the doctrine of one universal soul common to all animated -beings has not only as much in its favour as the opposite doctrine, but -that the arguments for it outweigh those on the other side. My last -article in the journal referred to the plan of my _Transcendental -Philosophy_; and I explain in it that, while I hold the Kantian -philosophy to be irrefutable from the side of the Dogmatist, on the -other hand I believe that it is exposed to all attacks from the side of -the Scepticism of Hume. - -A number of young Jews from all parts of Germany had, during -Mendelssohn's lifetime, united to form a society under the designation, -Society _for Research into the Hebrew Language_. They observed with -truth, that the evil condition of our people, morally as well as -politically, has its source in their religious prejudices, in their want -of a rational exposition of the Holy Scriptures, and in the arbitrary -exposition to which the rabbis are led by their ignorance of the Hebrew -language. Accordingly the object of their society was to remove these -deficiencies, to study the Hebrew language in its sources, and by that -means to introduce a rational exegesis. For this purpose they resolved -to publish a monthly periodical in Hebrew under the title of [Hebrew:** -], _The Collector_, which was to give expositions of difficult passages -in Scripture, Hebrew poems, prose essays, translations from useful -works, etc. - -The intention of all this was certainly good; but that the end would -scarcely be reached by any such means, I saw from the very beginning. I -was too familiar with the principles of the rabbis and their style of -thought to believe that such means would bring about any change. The -Jewish nation is, without reference to accidental modifications, a -perpetual aristocracy under the appearance of a theocracy. The learned -men, who form the nobility in the nation, have been able, for many -centuries, to maintain their position as the legislative body with so -much authority among the common people, that they can do with them -whatever they please. This high authority is a natural tribute which -weakness owes to strength. For since the nation is divided into such -unequal classes as the common people and the learned, and since the -former, owing to the unfortunate political condition of the nation, are -profoundly ignorant, not only of all useful arts and sciences, but even -of the laws of their religion, on which their eternal welfare is -supposed to depend, it follows that the exposition of Scripture, the -deduction of religious laws from it, and the application of these to -particular cases, must be surrendered wholly to the learned class which -the other undertakes the cost of maintaining. The learned class seek to -make up for their want of linguistic science and rational exegetics by -their own ingenuity, wit and acuteness. To form an idea of the degree in -which these talents are displayed, it is necessary to read the Talmud -along with the commentary called _Tosaphoth_, that is, the additions to -the first commentary of Rabbi Solomon Isaac.[65] - -The productions of the mind are valued by them, not in proportion to -their utility, but in proportion to the talent which they imply. A man -who understands Hebrew, who is well versed in the Holy Scriptures, who -even carries in his head the whole of the Jewish _Corpus Juris_,--and -that is no trifle,--is by them but slightly esteemed. The greatest -praise that they give to such a man is _Chamor Nose Sepharim_, that is, -_An ass loaded with books_. But if a man is able, by his own ingenuity, -to deduce new laws from those already known, to draw fine distinctions, -and to detect hidden contradictions, he is almost idolised. And to tell -the truth, this judgment is well founded, so far as it concerns the -treatment of subjects that have no ulterior end in view. - -It may therefore be easily imagined, that people of this sort will -scarcely accord a hearing to an institute which aims merely at the -cultivation of taste, the study of language, or any similar object, -which to them appears mere trifling. Yet these are not the few educated -men, scattered here and there,--the steersmen of this ship which is -driven about in all seas. All men of enlightened minds, it does not -matter how much taste or knowledge they possess, are treated by them as -imbeciles. And why? Simply because they have not studied the Talmud to -that extent, and in the manner, which they require. Mendelssohn was in -some measure esteemed by them on this account, because in point of fact -he was a good Talmudist. - -I was therefore neither for, nor against, this monthly periodical; I -even contributed to it at times Hebrew articles. Among these I will -mention merely one,--an exposition of an obscure passage in the -commentary of Maimonides on the Mishnah, which I interpreted by the -Kantian philosophy. The article was afterwards translated into German, -and inserted in the _Berlinische Monatsschrift_. - -Some time after this I received from this society, which now calls -itself the _Society for the Promotion of all that is Noble and Good_, a -commission to write a Hebrew commentary on the celebrated work of -Maimonides, _Moreh Nebhochim_. This commission I undertook with -pleasure, and the work was soon done. So far, however, only a part of -the commentary has as yet appeared. The preface to the work may be -considered as a brief history of philosophy. - -I had been an adherent of all philosophical systems in succession, -Peripatetic, Spinozist, Leibnitzian, Kantian, and finally Sceptic; and I -was always devoted to that system, which for the time I regarded as -alone true. At last I observed that all these systems contain something -true, and are in certain respects equally useful. But, as the difference -of philosophical systems depends on the ideas which lie at their -foundation in regard to the objects of nature, their properties and -modifications, which cannot, like the ideas of mathematics, be defined -in the same way by all men, and presented _a priori_, I determined to -publish for my own use, as well as for the advantage of others, a -philosophical dictionary, in which all philosophical ideas should be -defined in a somewhat free method, that is, without attachment to any -particular system, but either by an explanation common to all, or by -several explanations from the point of view of each. Of this work also -only the first part has as yet appeared. - -In the popular German monthly already mentioned, the _Berlinische -Monatsschrift_, various articles of mine were inserted, on Deceit, on -the Power of Foreseeing, on Theodicy, and other subjects. On Empirical -Psychology also I contributed various articles, and at last became -associated with Herr Hofrath Moritz in the editorship of the -periodical.[66] - -So much with regard to the events which have occurred in my life, and -the communication of which, I thought, might be not without use. I have -not yet reached the haven of rest; but-- - -/p - "Quo fata trahunt retrahuntque sequamur." -p/ - - - - -CONCLUDING CHAPTER. - - -The closing words of the Autobiography themselves awaken the desire to -know the sequel of the author's life, and it seems therefore appropriate -to finish the narrative by the sketch of a few facts derived mainly from -the little volume of _Maimoniana_, to which reference has been made in -the preface. - -It is perhaps scarcely necessary to state that Maimon's life to the very -end continued to retain the stamp it bore throughout the whole period -described in the preceding chapters. That stamp had apparently been -impressed on it even before he left Poland; and the Western influences, -under which he came in Germany, never altered essentially the character -he brought with him from home. - -Even in its external features his life enjoyed no permanent improvement. -Fate had indeed been somewhat hard upon a man of so much genuine culture -and sensibility. Still the chronic poverty, which filled the largest cup -of suffering in his life, was due not wholly to circumstances: it was -partly his own nature or habits that kept him a pauper. This is all the -more remarkable, that there is perhaps no work of moral or religious -instruction which attaches more importance than the Talmud to industrial -pursuits.[67] Saturated as his mind was with Talmudic lore, and -disciplined as his early years had been by Talmudic training, Maimon -could not be ignorant of the advantage which the spiritual life derives -from financial independence on others; and it might therefore have been -expected of him that, like many of the great rabbis, and Spinoza and -Mendelssohn too, he would have devoted himself to some remunerative -occupation, however humble. This would not have been impossible even in -Poland, where the Jews were subject to no disability excluding them from -the common industries of the country; and from the Autobiography it -appears that, even at an early period of his life, he was more than half -aware that his poverty was due, not wholly to the imperious demands of a -higher culture, but to a somewhat selfish indolence.[68] In Germany, -with its more advanced civilisation, it would have been much less -difficult for him to make a tolerable living at some employment. The -Autobiography shows that he was very generously received by a large -circle of influential friends, who took a great deal of pains to secure -for him a position of independence, and that they abandoned their effort -only when they found it in vain. From the _Maimoniana_ also it appears -that some of the most eminent men of his time continued to tender their -friendly services. Among others, Plattner, Schultze (Aenesidemus), and -even Goethe, made advances towards Maimon in a way that was not only -very flattering, but might have been very helpful, if he had so -chosen.[69] But he never got rid of the habit, which he had acquired in -Poland, of depending on others; and the low standard of comfort, to -which he had accustomed himself, left him without sufficient stimulus to -seek an escape from his pauperised condition. - -His condition, therefore, never improved. He continued during his later -years to work at various literary employments; but the remuneration he -obtained for these was never sufficient for his subsistence. His works -appealed to a very limited public. He had consequently often to go -a-begging for a publisher, and to content himself with what slight -honorarium the reluctant publishers chose to give.[70] The literary -hack-work, of which he was obliged to do a good deal, brought him no -better return. That sort of labour was probably as poorly paid in Berlin -at the time as in the Grub Street of last century. He was therefore at -times reduced to utter beggary. Many of his earlier friends, as appears -from the Autobiography, had lost patience with him; and some, who had -helped him before, when he was forced by sheer starvation to apply to -them afterwards, treated him as a common beggar, dismissing him with a -copper in charity (_Zehrpfennig_), and at times with unnecessarily cold, -even insulting language.[71] If we add to this the fact, that his -irregular habits often made him the victim of unscrupulous men,[72] it -will not seem surprising that he sometimes fell into a bitter tone and -harsh judgments about his friends,[73] or that he was apt occasionally -to burst out into pretty strong language of general misanthropy.[74] - -Perhaps Maimon might have risen out of the chronic destitution, to which -he seemed doomed, if he had cultivated in any degree the virtue of -thrift. But thriftlessness, as the Autobiography shows, had been an -hereditary vice in his family, at least for two generations before him; -and though he gives vivid pictures of its pitiable results in the -households of his grandfather and father, he never made any effort to -rise above it himself. Whenever he obtained any remuneration for his -work, instead of husbanding it economically till he obtained more, he -usually squandered it at once in extravagancies, often of a useless, -sometimes of a reprehensible kind.[75] He points out in his first -chapter, that his grandfather might have been a rich man if he had kept -accounts of income and expenditure. But his friend Wolff, has to confess -that, good mathematician as Maimon was, he never seemed to think of the -difference between _plus_ and _minus_ in money-matters.[76] With such a -character one of Maimon's friends was not far from the truth, when on a -fresh application for assistance, he dismissed him, too harshly perhaps, -with the blunt remark, "People like you there is no use in trying to -help."[77] Certainly help was not to be found in Maimon himself, and it -is difficult to see how he could have avoided the chance of a miserable -death by actual starvation, had it not been that a generous home was at -last opened to him, where he closed his days in comfort and peace. - -A character like that of Maimon implied a general irregularity of -life,--an absence of that regulation by fixed rules of conduct, which is -essential to wellbeing. He was not indeed unaware of the importance of -such regularity. "I require of every man of sound mind," he said one -day, "that he should lay out for himself a plan of action." No wonder -that this requirement leads his friend to remark, that it seemed to him -as if Maimon's only plan of life had been to live without any plan at -all.[78] - -The irregularity of his habits is strikingly seen in his want of method -even at his literary work. Notwithstanding the technical culture he gave -himself in early life in drawing, he seems never to have reached any -degree of muscular expertness. Wolff remarked his awkwardness in -handling his pen, and his inability to fold a letter with tolerable -neatness.[79] In other respects also he was careless about those -mechanical conveniences by which mental work is usually facilitated. He -was commonly to be seen working at a very unsteady desk, one leg of -which was supported by a folio volume.[80] He did not even confine -himself to any particular place for work. Apparently he spent more of -his day in public taverns than in his private lodging, and he might -often be seen amid the distraction of such surroundings writing or -revising proofs, while, as a consequence, his papers sometimes were -mislaid and lost, and his work had all to be done over again. It was -said of the Autobiography itself that it had been written on an alehouse -bench.[81] He could never understand how any man could do intellectual -work by rule; and therefore, though he had to make his living as best he -could by literature, he never formed the habit of reserving one part of -the day for work. He commonly worked in the morning, at least in _his_ -morning, and that, his friend acknowledges, was not very early;[82] but -this itself was evidently no fixed rule. Probably for the same reason he -never adopted the plan, which authors find so serviceable, of first -sketching an outline of a work before it is written out in detail. "I -have," he said one day, "given up, with good result, the habit of making -a draught beforehand. You are not, by a long way, so careful about your -work when you know that you are going to write it over again; you -neglect many a thought, do not write it down, because you believe that -it will occur to you again in copying out, which frequently does not -happen."[83] It is clear, however, that, his opinion to the contrary -notwithstanding, his writings suffered from his unmethodical habits. -"The fact," says the most competent of judges on this subject, "that -Maimon is far from having attained the recognition which his importance -deserves, may be accounted for by the defective condition of his -writings. His extraordinary acuteness was designed, but was not -sufficiently cultivated, to give to his investigations the light and the -force of methodical exposition. He wrote with most pleasure in his -Talmudic fashion, commenting and disputing, without proper sifting and -arrangement of his materials. To these defects must be added the faults -of his style. It is surprising that he learned to write German as he -did. In his writings there are passages in which the thought bursts out -with really resplendent power, and actually forces the language, even -plays with it, in turns of expression that take you by surprise. But a -German author he never became; and as a philosophical author he wanted a -certain sense of order that is indispensable for exposition. He can -sometimes formulate very well, but cannot systematise, and hence his -most important opinions, in which the whole meaning of his position -rests, are often in the course of his writings found in passages the -least lucid and the least prominent."[84] - -It is perhaps only saying the same thing of Maimon in another form, that -he had no mechanical memory, that consequently he was apt to forget the -names of persons and of places, sometimes could not remember the name of -the street where he lived, or the day or even the month; and it is not -therefore surprising that he often injured himself by neglecting all -sort of engagements.[85] It may be readily inferred that he was -particularly negligent about all engagements and regulations bearing -upon the mere externals of life. That a man of his condition and -character must have been unusually careless about his personal -appearance, follows as a matter of course, and therefore we may pass -over the references of Wolff to peculiarities of Maimon's dress. He was -usually to be seen out of doors clad in an overcoat which had evidently -not been made for himself, and which, we may suspect, was intended as a -convenient covering for the defects of under-garments, his boots bearing -the weather-stains of many days, and his beard often showing that for a -good while he had forgotten his engagement with his barber. In the -latter years of his life he abandoned the use of a wig, as well as of -powder in his hair, at a time when these changes must have been regarded -as rather daring innovations on prevalent fashion. But in all his -surroundings he showed what, for a man of his intellectual attainments, -seems a most astonishing disregard of sanitary cleanliness and the -comfortable decencies of life. The state of his lodging must have raised -a shudder in any one sensitive to disorder or uncleanliness. He -acknowledged that he was constantly at war with the housemaid on this -subject, as he could never bear to have his room swept and dusted, and -he complained of the perpetual annoyance to which he was exposed in -Amsterdam from the excessive scruples of the people in regard to -tidiness.[86] It may fairly be suspected that the annoyance was -considerably greater, as it was more justifiable, on the other side. His -habits in this respect clung to him to the last, and it was evidently -difficult to keep his surroundings tolerable even in the comparatively -sumptuous home in which he closed his days. - -The frank confessions of the Autobiography reveal the fact, that the -irregularity, which characterised the life of Maimon, sometimes led to a -breach of the weightier matters of the law. The habit, which he began in -Poland, of seeking relief from external discomfort and internal -wretchedness in alcoholic stimulation, grew upon him afterwards; and as -his health began to fail, he used to treat his various complaints by a -liberal allowance of various wines and beers which he supposed adapted -to their cure.[87] The liberal allowance was very apt, especially in the -evenings, to exceed all reasonable moderation; and the sleepy -inhabitants of Berlin were not infrequently disturbed by the half-tipsy -philosopher, as he wended his way unsteadily homewards at unseasonable -hours, discoursing on all sorts of speculative themes in disagreeably -loud tones that were occasionally interrupted by the expostulations of a -night-watchman.[88] - -The peculiarly undisciplined manners of Maimon were occasionally shown -in violent outbursts of various feelings. Too frequently it was an -irritable temper that gave way. The slightest provocation, even the loss -of a game at chess,[89] was apt to cause a painful explosion; and then -his language was certainly far from being restrained by those usages -which are found essential to the pleasantness of social intercourse.[90] -The uncontrollable violence of these outbursts was amusingly exhibited -in the fact, that sometimes he could not command the intellectual calm -requisite for thinking and expressing himself in his acquired German, -and, even though it might be a Gentile with whom he quarrelled, he fell -back on his JudA|o-Polish mother tongue, which came to him as if by -natural instinct.[91] It is but fair, however, to add that these -outbursts were often merely the unusually forcible, but not altogether -unjustifiable, utterances of an honest indignation at wrong.[92] - -For this strangely educated man, who in his outward manners seemed to -remain a somewhat rude child of nature, was after all ready to yield, -not only to an unkindly irritability, but also to the more genial -emotions. It is pleasing, for example, to know that he had a particular -fondness for animals; and his pets were allowed in his lodging liberties -which, however objectionable to a tidy housemaid, showed at least the -essential gentleness of his heart. Tutored as he was himself in the -severest school of poverty, it is also pleasing to know that he -cherished a kindly sympathy for the poor, and was ever ready to help -them as he could, sometimes at the cost of no small sacrifice to -himself.[93] The finer sensibilities of his nature were also easily -touched by music. Though he had no musical culture, and used to regret -that he had had none, an old Hebrew melody, long after he had broken off -all connection with the Jews, could move him so deeply that he was -obliged, even in company, to seek relief in tears.[94] For in the -uncontrolled simplicity of his nature he allowed his feelings to find -their natural vent without much restraint from circumstances; and -therefore he was seen at times in the theatre excited to loud sobbing by -a tragedy, or to boisterous laughter over a comedy.[95] - -Nor is it to be regarded as an unpleasant feature of his character, but -rather as an indication of a wholesome check on the general irregularity -of his life, that, even after he had thrown off all the peculiar -restraints of his national religion, he clung with evident fondness to -many of those rabbinical habits which he had cultivated in his earlier -years. From Fischer's account of the style of Maimon's works we have -seen how his intellectual work was affected by his Talmudic studies. The -criticism is evidently just. Maimon himself had met with it, and -acknowledged its justice. He protested indeed that it did not affect the -truth of his speculations, though he evidently felt its disadvantages, -and laboured at times to acquire a more methodical style.[96] - -The rabbinical habits of Maimon, however, were most quaintly seen in -peculiarities of outward manner. Gesticulations customary in the study -of the Talmud he was seen to adopt not infrequently when he forgot -himself in the earnestness of conversation, or when in a company he fell -into a brown study, or even in the studies of his retirement. Thus in -reading Euler's mathematical works or any other book which required -great attention, he would fall into the Talmudic singsong and rhythmical -swing of the body.[97] - -It is noteworthy also, that, with all the unrestrained rudeness which -often characterised his manners, Maimon was not without a certain -dignified courtesy; and when the occasion demanded it, he could turn a -polite phrase as prettily as the most accomplished gentleman.[98] There -was, moreover, in Maimon an intrinsic shyness which must have gone a -long way to soften the less amiable side of his social character.[99] -Then it is evident that his conversation, in his better moods at least, -had a charm which made him a welcome guest in any company. Thus, amid -all that may have been repulsive at times, there must have been in -Maimon's character a good deal to attract the friendly companionship of -others. The Autobiography itself, as well as Wolff's little book, shows -that Maimon enjoyed as much as he desired of the cultured society of his -time. Being naturally shy, indeed, he rather shrank from company in -which intercourse is regulated by a somewhat rigid social code; and the -desire of freedom from such restriction often drove him into company of -a much more objectionable kind. He also seems to have entertained a -strong dislike to any excessively demonstrative affection. He himself -was rather curt in his expressions of courtesy or friendliness towards -others, contenting himself generally, on meeting them, with a familiar -nod. The lifting of the hat appeared to him meaningless, and a -deliberate embrace "in cold blood" was intolerable.[100] Yet in many -instances the attachment of his friends was marked with an unusual -degree of warmth, and brought many an hour of sunshine to a life which -otherwise would have been shadowed with insufferable gloom. - -Among all Maimon's friends, the most conspicuous place must be given to -the man by whose generous hospitality he was able to close his -chequered life amid the comforts of a luxurious home. While he was -living in a miserable lodging in one of the suburbs of Berlin, he -learned from one of his friends that a Silesian nobleman, Graf -Kalkreuth, who had formed a high opinion of his writings, was anxious to -make his personal acquaintance. After a good deal of delay, Maimon was -at last induced to call upon the Graf at his residence in Berlin. -Fortunately he was very favourably impressed with the character of his -noble friend; and the friendship thus begun led before long to his -taking up his abode permanently with the Graf.[101] The generous -consideration which the host displayed for all the eccentricities of his -guest, made this arrangement one of the happiest for the poor -philosopher, who since his childhood had seldom enjoyed the comforts of -a home. - -But it is evident that the hardships of his life had at an early period -begun to tell upon his constitution, and that this was further shattered -by irregular habits in his later years. Symptoms of serious trouble in -the lungs excited his alarm in the winter of 1795, and he was induced to -seek medical advice. Partly from an unwise scepticism in regard to -medicine, partly from his usual failure to adhere to any fixed rule in -his conduct, the services of his physicians commonly ended with the -consultation; he seldom or never acted on their advice.[102] He lived -in indifferent health for five or six years more. When his last illness -overtook him, he was living in the house of Graf Kalkreuth at -Siegersdorf near Freistadt, in Lower Silesia. The only account of him at -this crisis was written by the pastor of Freistadt, for a monthly -periodical of the time, entitled _Kronos_. It forms the close of Wolff's -little book; and as it is the only account, it may be of some interest -here. The pastor, Herr Tscheggey, had made the acquaintance of Maimon -about the year 1795; but their intercourse had become much closer about -six weeks before Maimon's death, when he used to visit the pastor two or -three times a week. On hearing that Maimon had been confined for some -days, the good pastor at once went to see him. He found him in a state -of great weakness, unable to leave his room, and besought him earnestly, -but in vain, to take medical advice. A few days afterwards he called -again, and saw that evidently the end was drawing nigh. Curious to know -whether Maimon in this situation would remain true to his principles, he -gave the following turn to the conversation, which he professes to -report word for word. - -"I am sorry to find you so ill to-day, dear Maimon," said the pastor. - -"There will perhaps be some improvement yet," replied Maimon. - -"You look so ill," his friend proceeded, "that I am doubtful about your -recovery." - -"What matters it after all?" said Maimon. "When I am dead, I am gone." - -"Can you say that, dear friend," rejoined the clergyman, with deep -emotion. "How? Your mind, which amid the most unfavourable circumstances -ever soared to higher attainments, which bore such fair flowers and -fruits--shall it be trodden in the dust along with the poor covering in -which it has been clothed? Do you not feel at this moment that there is -something in you which is not body, not matter, not subject to the -conditions of space and time?" - -"Ah!" replied Maimon, "these are beautiful dreams and hopes"---- - -"Which will surely be fulfilled," his friend broke in; and then, after a -short pause, added, "You maintained not long ago that here we cannot -reach further than to mere _legality_. Let this be admitted; and now -perhaps you are about to pass over soon into a condition, in which you -will rise to the stage of _morality_, since you and all of us have a -natural capacity for it. Why? Should you not wish now to come into the -society of one whom you honoured so much as Mendelssohn?" - -The zealous pastor says he gave the conversation this turn on purpose, -in order to touch this side of the philosopher's heart. After a while -the dying man exclaimed, "Ay me! I have been a foolish man, the most -foolish among the most foolish--and how earnestly I wished it -otherwise!" - -"This utterance," observed the pastor, "is also a proof that you are not -yet in complete accord with your unbelief. No," he added, taking Maimon -by the hand, "you will not all die; your spirit will surely live on." - -"So far as mere faith and hope are concerned, I can go a good way; but -what does that help us?" was Maimon's reply. - -"It helps us at least to peace," urged the pastor. - -"I am at peace (_Ich bin ruhig_)," said the dying man, completely -exhausted. - -Here Tscheggey broke off the conversation, as the sufferer was evidently -unable to continue it. When he rose to leave, Maimon begged him to stay, -or at least to come back again soon. He came back the following morning, -but found the patient unconscious. At ten o'clock on the same -evening--it was the 22nd of November, 1800--this strangely tossed life -had reached its haven. - -"He died at peace," says the kindly clergyman, "though I do not venture -to say from what source the peace was derived. When a few days -afterwards I passed the castle of his noble friend, I looked up with -sadness to the window of his former room, and blessed his ashes." It is -to be regretted that the generous piety of the friendly minister was not -universal, and that the ashes of the unfortunate doubter were only with -a grudge allowed to find a decent resting-place. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Vol. iii., p. 370, note. - -[2] See the Preface to his _Philosophy of Reflection_, pp. 16-18. - -[3] Vol. v., chap. 7. - -[4] The volume bears the somewhat quaint title in full:--_Maimoniana, -oder Rhapsodien Zur Charakteristik Salomon Maimon's_. Aus Seinem -Privatleben gesammelt von Sabattia Joseph Wolff, M.D. Berlin, gedruckt -bei G. Hayn, 1813. - -[5] The only logical connection is the fact, that the writings of -Maimonides formed the most powerful influence in the intellectual -development of Maimon. In illustration of this he writes:--"My reverence -for this great teacher went so far, that I regarded him as the ideal of -a perfect man, and looked upon his teachings as if they had been -inspired with Divine Wisdom itself. This went so far, that, when my -passions began to grow, and I had sometimes to fear lest they might -seduce me to some action inconsistent with those teachings, I used to -employ, as a proved antidote, the abjuration, 'I swear, by the reverence -which I owe my great teacher, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, not to do this -act.' And this vow, so far as I can remember, was always sufficient to -restrain me." _Lebensgeschichte_, Vol. ii., pp. 3-4. - -[6] That is, of course, the seventeenth.--_Trans._ - -[7] Maimon himself nowhere mentions the date or place of his birth; but -Wolff says that he was born at Nesvij, in Lithuania, about the year 1754 -(_Maimoniana, p. 10_). _Trans._ - -[8] This word is explained below, at the beginning of the next chapter. - -[9] The customary Jewish salutation. - -[10] The original is "ein Kalamankenes Leibserdak,"--a provincialism -which, I believe, is substantially rendered in this -translation.--_Trans._ - -[11] Till quite recently it had been almost forgotten that one of the -commonest manifestations of fanaticism against the Jews, especially in -Eastern Europe, was to charge them with the murder of Christian children -for the use of some horrid religious rite, and that scarcely ever was -the dead body of a child found in the neighbourhood of a Jewish -community without some outburst of this cruel suspicion, ending in an -indiscriminate massacre of the Jews by the infuriated mob. It is a -singularly creditable proof of the liberal government of Stephen -Batory,--one of the ablest monarchs who ever sat on the throne of -Poland,--that, so long ago as 1576, he issued an edict prohibiting the -imputation of this crime to the Jews, as being utterly inconsistent with -the principles of their religion. Yet, in spite of this enactment, the -fanatical suspicion continued to display itself at frequent intervals. -Milman supposed it had been finally quelled by the ukase of the Russian -Government in 1835, which went in the same direction as the earlier -prohibition of the Polish king (_History of the Jews_, vol. iii., p. -389). What would have been his astonishment, had he lived to learn that, -half a century after he thought it extinguished, this ancient delusion -was to revive, that an Hungarian court was to spend thirty one days in -the solemn trial of a Jewish family on the charge of sacrificing a -Christian girl in their synagogue, that a learned professor in the -Imperial and Royal University of Prague was to write in defence of the -charge, and that the trial was to form the subject of an extensive -controversial literature in the language of the most learned nation in -the world! An interesting account of this famous trial at Tisza Eszlar, -as well as of the literature connected with it, will be found in an -article by Dr. Wright, on _The Jews and the Malicious Charge of Human -Sacrifice_ in the _Nineteenth Century_, for November, 1883.--_Trans._ - -[12] It seems that Maimon gives a euphemistic explanation of this word, -as I am told its real meaning makes much more intelligible its extreme -offensiveness to his mother.--_Trans._ - -[13] The original runs: "Der Verstand sucht bloss zu _fassen_, die -Einbildungskraft aber zu _umfassen_."--_Tr._ - -[14] That is, _The Branch_ (or _Offspring_) _of David_. See Jeremiah -xxiii. 5; xxxiii. 15; Isaiah xi. 1.--_Trans._ - -[15] The Hebrew word for a globe. - -[16] This rabbi belonged to a family of eminent linguists. The father, -Joseph Kimchi, was one of the numerous Jews who were obliged to flee -from Spain to escape the cruel persecutions of the Mohades about the -middle of the twelfth century. He left two sons who both followed his -favourite studies. The elder, Moses, has the credit of having educated -his younger and more illustrious brother, David, whose Hebrew grammar -and dictionary continued in general use among scholars for centuries. -Kimchi is said to have been powerfully influenced, not only by -Maimonides, but also by Aben Esra, who preceded him by nearly a century, -and who was one of the most learned scholars, as well as one of the most -versatile authors, of his time. (Jost's _Geschichte des Judenthums_, -vol. ii., pp. 419-423; and vol. iii, pp. 30-31).--_Trans._ - -[17] That is, about 100 English miles.--_Trans._ - -[18] See above, p. 14.--_Trans._ - -[19] Solomon ben Isaac, as he is more correctly named, or Raschi, as he -is also called, was an eminent Talmudic scholar of Troyes in the latter -half of the eleventh century. It was his son-in-law, MeA-r, and the three -sons of MeA-r, who may be said to have begun the Tosaphoth, referred to -in the text.--_Trans._ - -[20] As it was at one time throughout all Christendom, and probably -under every civilisation at a certain stage of its history.--_Trans._ - -[21] This seems to be Job xxvii. 17, which in our Authorised Version -runs:--"He (a wicked man) may prepare it (raiment), but the just shall -put it on." Maimon seems to render it from memory:--"Der Gottlose -schafft sich an, und der Fromme bekleidet sich damit."--_Trans._ - -[22] Evidently viii., 12, rendered in our Authorised Version, "Thou, O -Solomon, must have a thousand (pieces of silver), and those that keep -the fruit thereof two hundred." Maimon translates apparently from -memory, "Die tausend Gulden sind fA1/4r dich, Salomo, und die Zweihundert -fA1/4r die, die seine FrA1/4chte bewahren." In my rendering of this the -pronoun "his" must be understood in its old English latitude as either -neuter or masculine.--_Trans._ - -[23] The bulk of the gift explains its costliness. "The Babylonian -Talmud is about four times as large as that of Jerusalem. Its thirty-six -treatises now cover, in our editions, printed with the most prominent -commentaries (Rashi and Tosafoth), exactly 2947 folio leaves in twelve -folio volumes." (E. Deutsch's _Literary Remains_, p. 41).--_Trans._ - -[24] Maimon gives merely the initial "R" of this name; but as he has -already (Chap. i.) told us that his prince was Radzivil, there is not -much mystery in this artifice.--_Trans._ - -[25] This horror of memory tormented Maimon to the end of his days. "He -dreamed often that he was in Poland again, deprived of all his books; -and Lucius metamorphosed into an ass was not in a more pitiable plight. -'From this agony,' said Maimon, 'I was usually aroused by a loud cry, -and my joy was indescribable on finding that it was only a dream.'" -(_Maimoniana_, p. 94). "He once received a visit from his brother, for -whom he was deeply affected. Poor as he was himself, Maimon kept him a -long while, gave him clothing and everything else that he could, besides -procuring from some friends enough money to pay his travelling expenses. -Above all, he told me, he was affected at letting his brother go back -into the wilderness; and if he had not had a wife and children at home, -he would have tried to keep him beside himself." (_Ibid._, p. -175).--_Trans._ - -[26] It was probably a reminiscence of this labour of deciphering, that -led to the following outburst of sympathy:--"One day Maimon read in an -English work, that the author had only commenced to learn the ABC when -he was eighteen years of age, and that the first book which fell into -his hands was one of Newton's works. His master (for he was a servant) -came upon him at this task, and asked, 'What are you doing with that? -you can't read?' 'O yes,' he replied, 'I have learnt to read, and I -began with the most difficult subjects.' Maimon read this in my presence -with tears in his eyes." (_Maimoniana_, pp. 230-1).--_Trans._ - -[27] Both of these Cabbalists belonged to the sixteenth century. The -former, as his name implies, belonged to Cordova in Spain; the latter, -to the German community in Jerusalem (_Jost's Geschichte des -Judenthums_, Vol. iii., pp. 137-140).--_Trans._ - -[28] Rabbi MeA-rA's teacher was Elisha ben Abuyah, "the Faust of the -Talmud," as he has been strikingly styled by Mr. Deutsch. The Talmud -preserves a beautiful story illustrative of the devoted affection which -MeA-r continued to cherish for his apostate master. Four men, so runs the -legend, entered _Paradise_; that is, according to Talmudic symbolism, -they entered upon the study of that secret science with its bewildering -labyrinth of speculative dreams, through which it is given only to a few -rare spirits to find their way. Of these four, "one beheld and died, one -beheld and lost his senses, one destroyed the young plants, one only -entered in peace and came out in peace." The destroyer of the young -plants was Elisha ben Abuyah. Once he was passing the ruins of the -temple on the great day of atonement, and heard a voice within "moaning -like a dove,"--"All men shall be forgiven this day save Elisha ben -Abuyah who, knowing me, has betrayed me." After his death flames hovered -incessantly over his grave, until his loving disciple threw himself upon -it and swore an oath of devout self-sacrifice, that he would not partake -of the joys of heaven without his master, nor move from the spot until -his master's soul had found forgiveness before the Throne of Grace. See -Emanuel Deutsch's _Literary Remains_, p. 15; and Jost's _Geshichte des -Judenthums_, Vol. ii., pp. 102-4. - -[29] _The Gates of Light._--_Trans._ - -[30] "Thus saith the Lord" in the English version.--_Trans._ - -[31] About 150 English miles.--_Trans._ - -[32] Highpriest about the time of Antiochus the Great, that is, the -first half of the third century before Christ.--_Trans._ - -[33] Also named below Jehudah Hanassi or Hakades, died probably in 219 -or 220 A.D.--_Trans._ - -[34] _Rabbina_ is a contraction for Rabbi Abina and _Rabassi_ for Rabbi -Ashe. Maimon puts Abina first, but he was the younger of the two. They -both belonged to the fifth century.--_Trans._ - -[35] This seems to be Psalm cxix., 126, rendered in our Authorised -Version:--"It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void -thy law." See Mendelssohn's _Jerusalem_, Vol. ii., p. iii., (Samuels' -translation).--_Trans._ - -[36] _Charakteristik der Asiatischen Nationen_, Theil ii., pp. 159-160. - -[37] "And Kinah and Dimonah and Adadah" in the English Authorised -Version.--_Trans._ - -[38] Here apparently Maimon makes a slip. He seems to forget the passage -he had selected for illustration; and his eye, if not his memory, -glances at the last word in verse 30, instead of verse 22.--_Trans._ - -[39] Probably Isaiah xxxiii., 6.--_Trans._ - -[40] Psalm, lxxxi., 9.--_Trans._ - -[41] In the original, "Das Kind mit dem Bade ausschA1/4tten."--_Trans._ - -[42] In the same way a fool, called Chosek, was going to starve the city -of Lemberg, against which he was enraged; and for this purpose he placed -himself behind the wall, in order to blockade the city with his body. -The result of the blockade, however, was that he nearly died of hunger, -while the city knew nothing whatever of a famine. - -[43] In our times, when so much is said both _pro_ and _contra_ about -secret societies, I believe that the history of a particular secret -society, in which I was entangled, though but a short time, should not -be passed over in this sketch of my life. - -[44] That is, of course, the 17th century.--_Trans._ - -[45] _Baalshem_ is one who occupies himself with the practical Cabbalah, -that is, with the conjuration of spirits and the writing of amulets, in -which the names of God and of many sorts of spirits are employed. - -[46] As I never attained the rank of a superior in this society, the -exposition of their plan cannot be regarded as a fact verified by -experience, but merely as an inference arrived at by reflection. How far -this inference is well founded, can be determined merely by analogy -according to the rules of probability. - -[47] The ingenuity of this interpretation consists in the fact, that in -Hebrew x x'xY may stand for the infinitive of _play_, as well as -for a _musical instrument_, and that the prefix x> may be -translated either _as_, in the sense of _when_, or _as_, in the sense of -_like_. The superiors of this sect, who _wrenched passages of the Holy -Scriptures from their context_, regarding themselves as merely vehicles -of their teachings, selected accordingly that interpretation of this -passage, which fitted best their principle of _self-annihilation_ before -God. - -[48] Maimon in a footnote here refers, by way of a parallel, to the -interpretation by a Catholic theologian of a passage in Ezekiel (xliv., -1-2) as an allegorical prophecy of the Virgin Mary; but most readers -will probably prefer to leave the exposition of the allegory to the -imagination of those who choose to follow it out.--_Trans._ - -[49] A trait of these, as of all uncultivated men, is their contempt of -the other sex. - -[50] Of this class I became acquainted with one. He was a young man of -twenty-two, of very weak bodily constitution, lean and pale. He -travelled in Poland as a missionary. In his look there was something so -terrible, so commanding, that he ruled men by means of it quite -despotically. Wherever he came he inquired about the constitution of the -congregation, rejected whatever displeased him, and made new regulations -which were punctually followed. The elders of the congregation, for the -most part old respectable men, who far excelled him in learning, -trembled before his face. A great scholar, who would not believe the -infallibility of this superior, was seized with such terror by his -threatening look, that he fell into a violent fever of which he died. -Such extraordinary courage and determination had this man attained -merely through early exercises in Stoicism. - -[51] Born 1720; died 1797. See Jost's _Geschichte des Judenthums_, Vol. -iii., pp. 248-250.--_Trans._ - -[52] _Exodus_, iii., 13, 14. - -[53] These names are taken from _Maimoniana_, p. 108.--_Trans._ - -[54] The method, in which, as before explained, I had learnt to read and -to understand books without any preparatory studies, and to which I had -been driven in Poland by the want of books, grew to such an expertness, -that I felt certain beforehand of being able to understand anything. - -[55] Here there seems in the original an evident misprint of -_Vereinigung_ for _Verneinung_.--_Trans._ - -[56] The incident referred to was the following. Lavater had translated -into German a work, which had a great reputation in its day, by the -eminent Swiss scientific writer, Bonnet, on the evidences of -Christianity. Out of respect for Mendelssohn, Lavater dedicated the -translation to him, requiring him, however, either to refute the work, -or to do "what policy, love of truth, and probity demand,--what Socrates -would doubtless have done, had _he_ read the work, and found it -unanswerable." Mendelssohn was thus placed in an awkward dilemma. He -could not well let the challenge pass unacknowledged; and yet, owing to -the disabilities under which the Jews laboured all over the world, he -would have seriously imperilled their interests by appearing even to -impugn the evidences of Christianity. He had, moreover, resolved never -to enter into religious controversy. Under the circumstances his reply -was masterly as it was dignified and candid. Lavater saw his mistake; -and it is but due to him to say, that he publicly apologised for it in -the fullest and frankest manner.--_Trans._ - -[57] This "hiatus _haud_ valde deflendus" is in the original.--_Trans._ - -[58] This name is taken from _Maimoniana_.--_Trans._ - -[59] The love of life, that is, the instinct of self-preservation, seems -rather to increase than to decrease with the diminution or uncertainty -of the means of living, inasmuch as man is thereby spurred to greater -_activity_, which developes a stronger _consciousness of life_. Only -this want must not have reached its maximum; for the necessary result of -that is _despair_, that is a conviction of the impossibility of -preserving life, and consequently a desire to put an end to it. Thus -every passion, and therefore also the love of life, is increased by the -obstacles which come in the way of its gratification: only these -obstacles must not make the gratification of the passions _impossible_, -else despair is the result. - -[60] "Afterwards when he spoke of Poland, he used to be deeply affected -in thinking of his wife, from whom he was obliged to separate. He was -really very much devoted to her, and her fate went home to his very -heart. It was easy when the subject came up in conversation, to read in -his face the deep sorrow which he felt; his liveliness then sensibly -faded away, he became by and by perfectly silent, was usually incapable -of further entertainment, and went earlier than usual home." -_Maimoniana_, p. 177. He seems, however, at a later period, to have at -least spoken to his friends about marrying a second time; but the -project was never carried out. _Ibid._, p. 248.--_Trans._ - -[61] He died 4th Jan., 1786.--_Trans._ - -[62] Kant's work must still have been quite new, as it appeared in -1781.--_Trans._ - -[63] The name is left blank by Maimon, but is known to be that which I -have inserted. See Fischer's _Geschichte der neueren Philosophie_, Vol. -v., p. 131.--_Trans._ - -[64] Samuel Levi, according to _Maimoniana_, p. 78.--_Trans._ - -[65] See above, p. 41--_Trans._ - -[66] The last few pages have been condensed from the original; in which -the author gives detailed information, which seems no longer of any -special interest, about the articles he contributed to periodicals.-- -_Trans._ - -[67] By the kindness of my friend, the Rev. Meldola de Sola, of the -Portuguese Synagogue in Montreal, I am enabled to make an interesting -note on this subject. Among the Talmudic passages enjoining industry are -the following:--"Rather skin a carcase for pay in the public streets, -than be idly dependent on charity," "Rather perform the meanest labour -than beg." As a further evidence of the estimation in which labour was -held by the sages of the Talmud, it may be mentioned that Hillel, before -being admitted to the Great College, earned his livelihood as a -wood-cutter; that Rabbi Joshua was a pinmaker; Rabbi Nehemiah Halsador, -a potter; Rabbi Judah, a tailor; Rabbi Joshua Hasandler, a shoemaker; -and Rabbi Judah Hanechtan, a baker. "Of all things," says Mr. Deutsch, -"the most hated were idleness and asceticism; piety and learning -themselves only received their proper estimation when joined to healthy, -bodily work. 'It is well to add a trade to your studies; you will then -be free from sin,' 'The tradesman at his work need not rise before the -greatest doctor,' 'Greater is he who derives his livelihood from work -than he who fears God'--are some of the most common dicta of the -period." (_Literary Remains_, p. 25, where there are some striking -stories in condemnation of asceticism). Mr. Deutsch elsewhere quotes, -"Rather live on your Sabbath as you would on a week day than be -dependent on others," (_Ibid._, p. 30).--_Trans._ - -[68] See above, pp. 140-1. - -[69] _Maimoniana_, pp. 196-200. - -[70] _Ibid._, p. 80. - -[71] _Ibid._, pp. 80, 83-4. - -[72] _Ibid._, p. 95, note. - -[73] _Ibid._, pp. 82-3. - -[74] _Ibid._, pp. 154, 157. - -[75] _Ibid._, pp. 80, 95, 104. - -[76] _Ibid._, p. 84. - -[77] _Ibid._, p. 105. - -[78] _Ibid._, p. 159. - -[79] _Ibid._, pp. 231-2. - -[80] _Ibid._, p. 96. - -[81] _Ibid._, p. 140. - -[82] _Ibid._, p. 96. - -[83] _Ibid._, p. 97. - -[84] Fischer's _Geschichte der neuern Philosophie_, vol. v., pp. 133-4. - -[85] _Maimoniana_, pp. 190-6. - -[86] _Ibid._, pp. 90-1. - -[87] _Ibid._, pp. 183-8. - -[88] _Ibid._, pp. 101-4. - -[89] _Ibid._, p. 217. - -[90] _Ibid._, pp. 109-112, 208, 212-3. - -[91] _Ibid._, p. 87. - -[92] _Ibid._, p. 213. - -[93] _Ibid._, p. 249. - -[94] _Ibid._, p. 88. - -[95] _Ibid._, p. 230. - -[96] _Ibid._, pp. 86-7. - -[97] _Ibid._, p. 89. - -[98] See, for example, _Ibid._, pp. 112, 115, 209, 250-1. - -[99] _Ibid._, p. - -[100] _Ibid._, pp. 165-6. - -[101] _Ibid._, pp. 201-210. - -[102] _Ibid._, pp. 183-8. - - * * * * * - -_Notes on some Books of Special Interest_ - -PUBLISHED BY - -ALEXANDER GARDNER, - -PAISLEY AND LONDON. - -_AT ALL LIBRARIES._ - - -_JAMES HEPBURN, Free Church Minister._ By SOPHIE F. 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An -excellent memoir of Dr. Jamieson, admirable both for the fullness of its -information and the generous warmth of its spirit, adds to the value of -a work without which, we may safely affirm, no Scottish library can -henceforth be regarded as complete."--_Leader._ - - -_IDYLL OF THE CAPTIVE KING; and Other Pieces._ With Etchings. By JAMES -SHARP. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. - -"The author gives undoubted evidence of his right to be heard, and our -perusal of this volume enables us to commend his wide reading and -knowledge of the world, both in its physical and ethical aspects. It is -needless to add that Mr. Gardner has done his part admirably."--_The -Kelso Chronicle._ - -"Whether Mr. Sharp's poetry be regarded in the abstract, or as the -product of the hours of leisure of a man of business, much of it is -commendable, and much is genuine and sound in feeling."--_The Scottish -News._ - -Mr. James Sharp does not miss the occasion in his volume of poems, _The -Captive King_ (Alexander Gardner). His Jubilee Ode, like those of -better-known bards, scarcely represents his poetic powers, as the -following couplet may show:-- - -/p - Much as we love the Prince of Wales, the Princess fair, serene, - We want no other sovereign! We want no other Queen! -p/ - -"Tullibardine's Bride," though a little diffuse, is a readable narrative -poem based on a Perthshire legend. In other lyrical pieces Mr. Sharp -sustains a patriotic vein with fervour.--_Saturday Review._ - -Mr. Sharp's lyrics and shorter pieces, are always pleasing in sentiment, -and are often sweet in expression.--_Scotsman._ - -The book of poems which we introduce to our readers to-day has, we -think, amply justified its issue in the beautiful form in which it is -presented to the public.... This delightful book will do something to -modify that conception, and to show that mercantile pursuits and the -exalted, if traditionally prosaic, dignity of Bailieship are not -incompatible with a successful cultivation of the Muses. In depicting -one of the most tragic chapters in our national annals, Mr. Sharp has -attained charming results in his use of those heroic measures which the -genius of Scott and of Edmonstone Aytoun has made classic, and through -which these masters have made the dim shadows that erewhile flitted -across the stage of Scottish history to stand forth as living men.... We -have directed the attention of our readers to these poems because of -their intrinsic merits.--_Strathearn Herald._ - -If it be the poet's task to feel pleasure in life and discern beauty in -nature, to praise virtue and rejoice in love, and make his readers do -the same, then Mr. Sharp has succeeded admirably in effecting his -purpose.--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -Mr. Sharp is seen at his best in his shorter poems. In these, as a rule, -healthy sentiment is expressed in unpretentious verse.--_Academy._ - - -SECOND AND ENLARGED EDITION. - -_LAW LYRICS._ Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d. - -"The anonymous author of the 'Lyrics'--is he not to be met with among -the sheriffs?--plays his tunes for session and vacation on the -'goose-quill of the law,' and he manages to produce from that ancient -instrument a considerable variety of expression.... His pronounced -national tastes are admirably shown in 'Oatmeal,' etc.; in lyrics like -'Stornoway Bay,' there is the true lyrical gush; while in such poems as -'A Still Lake,' there is revealed an exquisite power of -word-painting...."--_Scotsman._ - -"For neatness and aptness of expression, it is equal to anything we have -seen."--_Scots Law Review._ - -"A very agreeable little book for an idle hour. The author shows himself -equally at home in the serious as in the comic."--_Graphic._ - -"They are exceedingly clever, and brimming over with fun and humour. The -author has earned a right to be called the Laureate of the Law, for -certain it is that he invests the most prosaic of all professions with -quite a halo of poetical interest."--_Nonconformist._ - -"Unkempt enthusiasm and rollicking good humour are the chief features of -this little volume."--_Academy._ - -"A charming little book. We should seek the author on the bench, not at -the bar."--_Glasgow Daily Mail._ - -"Will please not only those 'gentlemen of the long robe' to whom the -tiny volume is dedicated, but a far larger circle. It is a delightful -book of verses daintily got up."--_Glasgow Herald._ - -"These lyrics will bear comparison with the best work that has been done -in this particular line. Will rival some of the best of Outram's lyrics -in common sense and humour."--_Scottish News._ - -"The lyrics are written for the most part with sprightliness and ease. -The more serious and imaginative pieces disclose a rich vein of poetic -fancy. There are many who will procure the second edition from a -recollection of the pleasure which the first gave them."--_Journal of -Jurisprudence._ - -"Will bear comparison with Outram's, Neave's, and Aytoun's. Faultless in -rhythm, and remarkable for rhyme."--_Evening News._ - -"The picture seems to us exquisite. Altogether, the work proves the -writer to be a true poet."--_Stirling Advertiser._ - -"The verses are inspirited and inspiring, expressive of the feelings of -many in these golden days of summer. To the second edition the author -has added some sixty pages brimful of the delightful verses which are -found so attractive in the first edition."--_Weekly Citizen._ - -"One of the two strongest and purest writers in the Scottish vernacular -that have been added to the choir of Northern minstrels during the -present century."--_Christian Leader._ - -"The admirable _Law Lyrics_ ... bright with strokes of pawky humour, and -abounding in verses each of which contains a picture, the volume is one -which will become a lasting favourite with its readers."--_The Bailie._ - -"Strongly incentive to hearty honest laughter which makes the heart grow -brighter, while to staid and grave and reverend seigniors the sweet -lark-song-like verses relating to nature, no less form subjects for -reflection."--_Ayrshire Weekly News._ - -"The little volume is interesting from the first page to the -last."--_Inverness Courier._ - -"Some of the verses exhibit a power of picturesque description which it -would be difficult to match, except out of the masters of song. Reveal -in attractive style the patriotism which animates the poet, and -establishes a claim additional to that of his undoubted genius, to a -large and appreciative Scotch audience."--_Greenock Telegraph._ - -"Such pieces as 'Scotch Porridge, etc." are amongst the most felicitous -examples of Scotch poetry we have seen in recent years."--_Brechin -Advertiser._ - -"Strong common sense pervades the whole, and the views of the author are -expressed with a directness, force, clearness, and simplicity, which -leaves nothing to be desired."--_North British Advertiser._ - -"Of a highly captivating nature, the author being possessed of a keen -sense of the humourous."--_Stirling Observer._ - -"Equal to anything of their kind known to us after Burns. A very genial -and enjoyable volume."--_Aberdeen Gazette._ - -"He expresses himself with a felicity and pawky humour that equal Lord -Neaves and Outram at their best, and in several poems the natural grace -and pith of expression remind one more of Burns than any other writer. -This may seem pitching it very high, but in our opinion, the poems will -bear out the assertion. We recommend it to all in the profession of its -author, and to everyone who can appreciate true humour and good -poetry."--_The People's Friend._ - -"Many of the lyrics which celebrate the charms of rural life and scenery -are extremely fine, displaying as they do rare observing powers, a rich -fancy, and flowing tasteful language."--_Dumfries Standard._ - -"He is a follower of Robert Burns and finds in the Court, and in the -Temple, an inspiration which the great Scotch poet found in the fields -of Ayrshire."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - -"He possesses the power of writing simple flowing verse in an eminent -degree."--_Literary World._ - - -_THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST AND THE SALVATION OF THE FEW._ A Criticism -of _Natural Law in the Spiritual World_. By Rev. A. WILSON. Crown 8vo, -cloth, 2s. 6d. Post free. - -"In a former number of this _Review_ we drew attention to two or three -of the main fallacies of Professor Drummond's shallow but attractive -book. We are glad to see that Mr. Alexander Wilson has, with a -scientific knowledge equal to Professor Drummond's, and with a logical -faculty far superior, subjected it to a far more systematic and -exhaustive analysis. Those who were interested in the dazzling pages of -_Natural Law in the Spiritual World_, but not blinded by their glitter, -will welcome this justification of their doubts in the solid form of -facts and arguments, and those who were fascinated by the Professor's -brilliant rhetoric and imagery will have a rather painful awakening. -They will see the idol shattered which they had to fall down and worship -as a condition of attaining to an intellectual standpoint from which -they might see all known facts in their harmony and continuity. It is, -no doubt, very fascinating to be able to harmonize and to systematize; -but suppose your theory of law, identical in the natural and in the -spiritual worlds, results in the necessity of assuming that man is -nothing more than a part of material nature until he is "converted," and -of believing that the survival of the fittest means the salvation of the -few (according to the analogy of the seeds of an orchid, of about one -person in a generation), would a God who has made men so be the object -of religious feeling, or this spiritual world, with its rare and lonely -tenants, be worth arguing for? It is probable that few readers of this -new "analogy" drew such inferences, but were merely interested in -Professor Drummond's spiritual and scientific gymnastics; but for the -thoughtful few who may have been disturbed by them it is well that he -has been answered by one so capable, both from a Christian and -scientific point of view, as Mr. Wilson."--_Saturday Review._ - -"It is this fallacy, the presumption that the laws of matter are -continuous through the spiritual universe, that Mr. Wilson finds himself -first called on to meet; and he does so by contending that the principle -of continuity applies only if the spiritual universe be itself material, -and not necessarily even them, inasmuch as there are in the material -universe imponderable bodies to which the law of gravitation, for -example, does not extend.... Mr. Wilson has written a very able, acute, -and temperate criticism, in a thoroughly religious spirit, with perfect -courtesy to his opponent; and we should be glad to think that his work -would be widely read."--_Scotsman._ - -"... The critique is interesting, clever, earnest, and, we may add, -respectful to Professor Drummond.... Here, we think, Mr. Wilson occupies -a very strong--indeed, an invulnerable position. This is not, however, -so much the critic's own position as that of other writers, but, he -appears to us, in great measure, to recognise and accept it. His own -words farther on are: 'The identification of the natural and spiritual -laws, if taken absolutely, would lead to the confounding together of -mind and body, God and Nature.' ... We are much interested in the -author's criticism of the Professor's arguments touching the subject -which gives the book its title. It forms an earnest and powerful -chapter...."--_Literary World._ - -"An answer to Professor Drummond, a work of some importance has just -made its appearance. It is certain that Mr. Wilson's able examination of -'Natural Law in the Spiritual World' will attract a good deal of -attention and controversy."--_London Figaro._ - -"Mr. Wilson, with great vigour and intrepidity, criticises the -Professor's conclusions.... The great question raised by Professor -Drummond's work is that of the relation of the natural law of the -survival of the fittest to the doctrine of election. His critic combats -this conclusion with much acuteness and ability."--_Glasgow Herald._ - - -WITH PORTRAIT AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. - -_DAVID KENNEDY, The Scottish Singer: Reminiscences of his Life and -Work._ By MARJORY KENNEDY. And _SINGING ROUND THE WORLD: A Narrative of -his Colonial and Indian Tours_. By DAVID KENNEDY, Junr. Demy 8vo, 480 -pages, cloth extra, 7s. 6d. Post free. - -"These unique musical tours were from time to time described by the -chief musician's son David in different books having reference to the -Colonies, to India, and to the Cape. They have now found a graceful and -appropriate preliminary chapter in the form of a memoir of David Kennedy -himself.... The memoir has been prepared by Miss Marjory Kennedy with -much taste and judgment, and will be read with interest, not only for -the sake of her father's characteristic letters and stories of early -life, but as recalling in various other ways pleasant memories -associated with a family of rare gifts and graces."--_Glasgow Herald._ - - -_LIFE IN SHETLAND._ By JOHN RUSSELL. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 3s. 6d. Post -free. - -"Contains a great quantity of very interesting information about -Shetland and its people. By a happy instinct, Mr. Russell has been led -to write about those things which he knows thoroughly--namely, his own -doings and experiences.... There follows the story of the strange -minister at the 'second diet' of a Presbytery meeting who wanted to -propose a toast, but was informed by the horrified moderator that 'God's -people in that part of the country were not in the habit of drinking -toasts.' The rebuked stranger quietly rejoined that he 'had never before -seen God's people drink so much toddy.' Much, both edifying and -entertaining, might be quoted from this unique volume, but enough may -have been said to gain for it the public attention it -deserves."--_Scotsman._ - -"We owe much to men like Mr. Russell, who, without any pretence, note -down what comes under their observation of an interesting nature -regarding curious customs, habits of life, and folk-lore, among the -people with whom they come into contact.... He is never entirely dull, -and we prefer such volumes which bring us into actual contact with a -poor but unsophisticated people to many pretentious stories. We follow -the minister as he goes out and in among the people, suffering hardship, -visiting, catechising, getting up a stock of fifty sermons, relating odd -anecdotes, and noting down peculiarities. We recommend this book to all -who are interested in the subject. It makes luminous to us the obscure -lives and labours of an interesting people."--_Pen and Pencil._ - -"An interesting and thoroughly realistic picture of life in Shetland is -presented to us in this volume by Mr. Russell, whose sojourn in those -Northern islands gave him good opportunity of observing the place and -the people.... Good stories, and brief observations and remarks on the -geology, natural history, and antiquities of the islands, and the -peculiar manners and customs of the people, ever and anon crop out in -the narrative.... It contains, however, a faithfully accurate and very -reliable description of _Ultima Thule_. And as the reader closes the -volume he will find that he has made acquaintance at once with a -singular country, and a pleasant guide to its chief points of -interest."--_Aberdeen Free Press._ - -"A bright and entertaining volume, and a valuable volume withal, anent -Shetland and the Shetlanders.... I know no book on Shetland equal to -this of Mr. Russell's. Its style is pointed and racy; the author talks -about what he knows and what he knows intimately. To put the matter in a -word, there isn't a dull page in 'Three Years in Shetland,' from the -title to the sentence at the close in which Mr. Russell expresses the -wish that 'all good things may attend' the islanders among whom he spent -three delightful years."--_Bailie._ - -"A very readable book about a very interesting people.... A minister, of -course, enjoys altogether exceptional opportunities, and Mr. Russell -seems to have made good use of them. He writes frankly about things as -he found them, which he is perhaps all the better able to do for his -change to the position of an outsider."--_Glasgow Herald._ - -"It contains some of the best clerical stories--though not always of the -most dignified nature, nor such as will tend to exalt the cloth in the -estimation of rude and irreverent laics--that we have come across, and -it gives very interesting, and for the most part accurate, details of -the everyday life of the people."--_Elgin Courant and Courier._ - - -UNIFORM WITH "BENDERLOCH." - -_LOCH CRERAN. Notes from the West Highlands._ By W. ANDERSON SMITH. -Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. Post free. - -"Readers of Mr. W. Anderson Smith's _Benderloch_ will welcome from the -same pen a second instalment of notes of natural history in the Western -Highlands entitled _Loch Creran_.... The influences of free moorland air -and buoyant water, of a spacious heaven and wide horizon, are with us, -and give zest to the study of fish and fowl and flower that are -liberally displayed. Whether it is the flight of a solitary bunting, or -the habitat of the pipe-fish (_Sygnathus_), the progress of _MyA|_ in the -refluent tide or a nested robin domiciled among strange perils, the -scenic suggestion cannot fail to persuade the senses. A large and -distinctive portion of Mr. Smith's book is devoted to the investigation -of the rich spoil of the dredger, as might be anticipated of so -enthusiastic a student of fish culture, and many of the most interesting -pages describe excursions on the waters of Etive and Creran and -Benderloch, or among the rocky pools and stretches of sand exposed by -the ebbing sea. By sea or land, on the wild hills or among the flowers -and insects of his garden, Mr. Smith has ever something to say that is -worth hearing, and he says it with admirable clearness and -force."--_Saturday Review._ - -"These charming notes from the Western Highlands are truly fascinating. -Entering into the very spirit of the life and scenery by which he is -surrounded, Mr. Smith gives his readers the benefit of the vast and -out-of-the-way stores of information he has gathered in all branches of -natural history. Each month, as it passes, has a chapter devoted to all -its manifold changes and doings, and we get many glimpses of charming -excursions, not unmixed with danger, when overtaken by those sudden -climatic changes to which that grand wild mountainous coast is often -exposed. An enthusiastic naturalist, the writer does not ride his hobby -to death, but, like a true lover of Nature, his sketches are bright and -fresh, and full of vivid descriptions, interspersed with many curious -anecdotes and facts relating to both the animal and vegetable kingdoms. -No better or more instructive guide to the fauna and flora of the -Western Highlands could be had than Mr. Anderson Smith's most pleasant -book."--_Literary World._ - -"They will be well rewarded who follow Mr. Anderson Smith along the -sea-shore, the hill-side, or the trouting stream; they will find how -much a quiet and attentive eye can glean from a loving study of the -denizens of earth, air, and water. The book is provided with a good -index, and those who have not leisure or patience to read it through at -a sitting may dip where they please. Like Mr. Smith's dredge, they -hardly ever fail to bring up something of interest."--_Scotsman._ - -"Students of natural history who read _Benderloch_, by Mr. W. A. Smith, -will give a cordial welcome to _Loch Creran_, another and even more -attractive work by the same observant author. With the exception, -perhaps, of Mr. Jefferson, no living naturalist is gifted with a more -picturesque manner of depicting the habits of birds, beasts, and fishes -than is Mr. Smith.... Then what a vast fund of entertaining instruction -is gathered in these excursions; a royal road to natural history is laid -down by Mr. Smith, and the student follows it leisurely, culling -charming bits of zoological lore here and there. One never knows what a -new day may bring forth when accompanying Mr. Smith on his rambles.... -There is, indeed, no end to the curious things observed by Mr. Smith. He -seems only to sleep at home, for, with his waterproof handy, he roams -about all day in the open air, and comes home at night with a -well-filled note-book.... The wealth of interesting matter in this -delightful volume is, however, tempting us beyond our space, and we -think we have collated enough to make all who love the country, its -sights and sounds, and health-giving breezes read the work -itself."--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -"To those who are familiar with Mr. Anderson Smith's _Benderloch_, no -introduction or recommendation will be necessary on behalf of his new -book, _Loch Creran_. The work is, in fact, as the preface explains, -simply a continuation of the natural history sketches of which -_Benderloch_ is composed.... With what a happy combination of vivacity -and patience, insight and enthusiasm, Mr. Anderson Smith scans the open -pages of that great tome of nature.... Treasure-trove of this kind, -along with notes of a more strictly scientific character, is freely -scattered through Mr. Anderson Smith's pages; and so it will have a -charm for every reader with healthy natural tastes."--_Scottish Leader._ - -"There are few books in the language more delightful than White's -_Selborne_, and in Mr. W. Anderson Smith that earnest Hampshire -naturalist has a distinguished successor. His most recent volume is -worthy of the author of _Benderloch_, a book which, it may be hoped, is -already familiar to our readers.... The variety of his researches on -land and water prevent monotony. The author has much to tell, and he -explains what he has seen and done without waste of -words."--_Illustrated London News._ - -"Mr. Anderson Smith's observations extend over 1881-2, and refer mainly -to the natural history of the district, but he deals also with other -aspects of Nature, and his book is well worth reading."--_Times._ - -"There can be no hesitation in assuring lovers of Nature that in _Loch -Creran_ they will find a work after their own heart.... The charm of the -volume before us is that it is not the hasty outcome of the bookmaker -feverishly eager to piece together into a volume odds and ends of -information. There is an air of leisureliness about _Loch Creran_. Month -by month are given the results of two years' close intercourse with loch -and sea, field and wood. The work is one to be enjoyed by those who -share the writer's tastes and spirit, and not to be rushed by the -heedless."--_Graphic._ - -"Every page has its charm, something at once to instruct the mind and to -tickle and amuse the fancy. It is not a book to be read through at one -sitting, but one to dip into occasionally and to ruminate over in -pleased contentment. Perhaps its worth will be best appreciated by those -taking a holiday in the country, or, above all, at the seaside. And it -will serve as a very efficient guide to persons beginning the study of -natural history, directing them what and how to observe. Many a capital -story he gives illustrating the remarkable intelligence of the lower -animals. Some of these border upon the marvellous."--_Perthshire -Constitutional and Journal._ - -"Chatty and discursive, rather than elaborate, the interest in 'Loch -Creran' is well maintained throughout, and the book appeals to the -general reader, by whom it will doubtless be perused with greater -pleasure than a more highly scientific disquisition."--_Pall Mall -Gazette._ - -"He is a charming companion. His descriptions are vivid and true to -nature--whether he makes us shiver and feel glad of the shelter of the -house, as he tells us of winter's storms and floods, or whether he fills -our hearts with a longing for the freshness and gladness of spring as he -notes the signs of its advent on the shores of Loch Creran."--_Glasgow -Herald._ - - -_OLD CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND: Lectures on Kirk-Session and Presbytery -Records._ _Second Series._ By ANDREW EDGAR, D.D. Demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. -6d. Post free. - -"Antiquaries may welcome the minister of Mauchline as an elder brother -of their craft. We have not seen the first series of lectures, but -certainly these contain much that is queer and quaint. Odd people, these -Scotch folks; but there is a homeliness and a reverence about them which -we greatly value. Our author is evidently of the Established Church, and -knows most about the old customs of that body, of which he writes with a -twinkle in his eye which causes our eye to twinkle also. The grim want -of humour in some of the proceedings is about the same thing as the -presence of humour: you may laugh till you cry, and cry till you laugh; -between the tremendously solemn and the ridiculous there is but a step. -We have been so interested with the lectures that we must get the former -volume. What times those must have been when guests at a funeral began -to meet at ten in the morning, though the body might not be moved till -three or four! Five or six hours! How did they spin them out? No marvel -that the Kirk-Session had to hear charges of drunkenness. Such books as -these are the best of history, leading us indeed into byways and lone -paths which the general historian never traces."--=C. H. Spurgeon.= - - -_MY COLLEGE DAYS: The Autobiography of an Old Student._ Edited by R. -MENZIES FERGUSSON, M.A., Author of "Rambles in the Far North," &c. 8vo, -cloth, 5s. Post free. - -"Mr. Fergusson, either as author or as editor, has well earned our -gratitude by giving us a volume which all may read with enjoyment and -pleasure.... Space and its limits will not allow us to dwell on many -other points of interest to be found in this entertaining volume; but we -cannot pass without mentioning the worthy dame who said, in praise of -her preacher: 'There's ae thing aboot yon man--he's a grand roarer.' Nor -must we forget the careful landlady who was always anxious to know if -her student-lodger was as yet an unengaged man, or, to use her own -graphic phrase, was 'a bund sack set by.'..."--_Literary World._ - -"We own to a suspicion that in this instance Mr. Fergusson has been his -own literary executor. Whether this be the case or not, he has no -reason to be ashamed of the bequest. The sketches have a pleasant grace -of literary style, and a good deal of power in description of -character-sketching, while there is in the writer a subtle under-strain -of pawky humour, and he has brought together and put permanently on -record a number of traditions of University life in Edinburgh and St. -Andrews that are well worth preservation.... Our old student's -reminiscences of St. Andrews, where he took the theological course after -graduating in arts at Edinburgh, are not less lively or interesting than -those he sets down respecting his Alma Mater; and his book is likely to -take a place both on the shelves and in the enduring regard of many -readers who have had similar experiences and tasted similar pleasures. A -word of praise is due to the excellence of its typography and -get-up."--_Scottish Leader._ - -"We think the verdict will be that Mr. Fergusson has done well in -publishing this thoughtful book. It abounds in vigorous, and, in many -cases, eloquent delineations of University life; it is sympathetic in -its spirit and catholic in its tone, especially when dealing with such -subjects as the stage, so frequently abused. Its author was a student of -the Universities of Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and Oxford, his -reminiscences of which are often humorous, and always interesting. Some -of the anecdotes recorded in this volume regarding the Edinburgh -Professors are exceedingly entertaining.... We venture to predict for -this autobiography a wide circulation."--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -"The book is eminently readable, very quiet for the most part, but not -without a few touches of gaiety and sprightly humour; and it betokens no -little culture together with a strong poetic tendency. The contents are -almost entirely confined to sketches of life at Scottish Universities, -with some playful personal satire, of which various Professors, some -mentioned by name and others denoted by initials, are the objects in -chief, although the peculiarities of certain landladies whose province -it is, or was, to let lodgings to students at Edinburgh or elsewhere, -come in for their share of more or less satirical delineation. But there -is nothing spiteful, nothing bitter, nothing cynical in the mode of -treatment. Two chapters are devoted to a sketch, brief but graphic and -sympathetic, of academic Oxford, whither the author went to sojourn and -to study for two months."--_Illustrated London News._ - -"This is a delightful book, calculated to afford much pleasurable -amusement of a quiet kind. It is written in a light sparkling style.... -The book itself is an enjoyable one, and perhaps none will read it with -greater relish than the old fogies who see in it much of what they -themselves passed through, and who, by the perusal are led to recall, -with mingled feelings, the aspirations, the freshness, and the frolic of -their own College days."--_Perthshire Constitutional._ - -"By those who have passed through the Universities it will be read with -considerable pleasure, affording as it does such happy reminiscences of -'College days,' with their grave, plodding seriousness, or that more -boisterous playfulness which is supposed to be the characteristic of -students as a class. Those, again, who are simply outsiders, and have -had no College days whatever, will be charmed by the recital here given -of the doings of the students, and the customs associated with the -respective Universities, the pen-portraits of the several professors, -the opinions expressed regarding men and things, the poetry, original -and selected, and the hundred and one subjects here treated of by a man -of observant nature possessing facility of expression, besides a keen -sense and appreciation of the humorous...."--_Stirling Observer._ - -"Many a 'varsity man, who has won his decree in the modest 'little city, -worn and grey,' will welcome the appearance of Mr. R. M. Fergusson's -_College Days_. Redolent every page of it, of the class-room, and the -wild Bohemianism of student life, and bristling with the 'classic' -ditties which have so often made the halls of St. Salvator's resound, -here is material for a mental revel in the past."--_Northern Chronicle._ - -"This series of autobiographical notes deserve recognition, if only -because the style is perfectly natural and perfectly good-natured.... -The book contains several capital anecdotes and some excellent -verse."--_London Figaro._ - -"But after all the charm of the volume lies in the whole life of a -student which is presented to us, for his joys and his troubles, his -amusements and his hard reading, are here written of by one who has -evidently experienced all. Scattered throughout these pages are numerous -verses, some original, some well-known students' songs. The original -verses are very good...."--_Stirling Journal._ - -"The volume contains some very excellent poems which are worthy of -finding, and doubtless will find, a place as verses to future songs. -There is not a chapter in the book which is not thoroughly -entertaining."--_The Tribune._ - -"The 'Old Student' has to speak of Scotch Universities, Edinburgh, to -wit, and St. Andrews, while he gives some impressions, gained as an -outsider, of Oxford.... There is much that is interesting and -entertaining, some good stories, and generally a pleasant picture of a -happy and busy life."--_Spectator._ - -"The writer is always entertaining and kindly, is wise in season, and -also _desipit in loco_, and tells some good stories--professors being -naturally his chief subjects."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - -"It is, to say the least, eminently probable that Mr. Fergusson relates -his own experiences in Edinburgh and St. Andrews. He does so in a -sufficiently lively and 'freshman' style.... _My College Days_ is, on -the whole, as readable as any book of the kind that has recently been -published."--_The Academy._ - -"Mr. R. Menzies Fergusson paints life as he thinks he saw it as a young -man at St. Andrews and Edinburgh, in _My College Days_. This -'autobiography of an old student' contains much interesting -reminiscence, and Mr. Fergusson has perhaps not erred in introducing -into his text specimens of the verse into which some of his Caledonian -student contemporaries were in the habit of dropping occasionally. Mr. -Fergusson's little book should find many a sympathetic reader among -former _alumni_ of the Scottish Universities, for he writes without -affectation."--_Graphic._ - -'Seldom have we had more pleasure than in the perusal of these -reminiscences of College days. No one who has gone through the -curriculum of a Scotch University can fail to attest the fidelity with -which his experience here finds expression.... 'An Old Student' was -privileged to have more than one _alma mater_. He could boast the -fostering care of Edinburgh, of St. Andrews, and of Oxford, and of all -these he has most pleasant reminiscences. Our author's experiences at -Oxford will repay perusal. The whole book, written in a most happy, -though thoughtful and affectionate strain, must incite the most cordial -sympathy of all whose student days have not been forgotten, while the -general public will peruse it with responsive hearts and a regretful -feeling that they have missed the experiences of which it -treats.'--_Brechin Advertiser._ - -'The minister of Logie, who made a decided hit with _Rambles in the Far -North_, has attempted a very difficult bit of work in _My College Days_. -This purports to be the MS. legacy of a College friend who died young -after some experience of student life in Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and -Oxford. The fiction will impose upon nobody, although it may shield the -editor from some blame, for while there is mirth and vigour and kindly -reminiscence, there is also some very sharp criticism, and much -reference to Academic dignitaries who are still in the flesh, and may be -sensitive and inclined to sting when they find some of their class jokes -not merely in print but bound in a book.... If certain Edinburgh divines -beguile a leisure hour over these pages, they will for once see -themselves as the keen-witted see them, and be amazed at the impudence -of the rising generation. Everybody who knows Edinburgh will recognise -the portrait of the preacher who is likened to Dr. Andrew Thomson in one -thing--'There's ae thing about yon man, he's a grand roarer.' The St. -Andrews part is full and cleverly done, and will have a charm for most -_alumni_ of the 'College of the scarlet gown,' because it contains a -large number of the songs, original and selected, with which the lobby -of the Natural Philosophy class-room was wont to resound."--_Elgin -Courant._ - -"The style is lively, and the descriptions of scenes of student life are -graphic. The account of the election of Rector at Edinburgh will -doubtless interest many, and the chapter dealing with landladies, their -varieties and idiosyncracies, is humorous."--_Morning Post._ - -"To recent students of our two greatest Scottish Universities--Edinburgh -and St. Andrews--_My College Days_ is charged with intense interest, -though its racy humour and chatty discursiveness will render it -attractive reading to those uninitiated in academic mysteries and -innocent of student frivolities. The life of an Edinburgh student, in -college and out of college, in the class-room, the debating society, the -theatre, and the church, is described with untiring vivacity.... Whether -author or merely editor, Mr. Menzies Fergusson is to be sincerely -congratulated upon his success. Reminiscence is a species of literature -not always instructive, not always even entertaining; in Mr. Fergusson's -hands it becomes both."--_Fifeshire Journal._ - -"We think the verdict of every impartial reader will be that Mr. -Ferguson has done well in publishing this book. It abounds in vigorous, -and, in many instances, impressive descriptions of University life; it -is enlivened at judicious intervals with original verses, which evince -lyrical power; its style is admirably condensed and clear; it is -sympathetic in its spirit and catholic in its tone, especially when -dealing with such subjects as the stage and its modern exponents by -narrow-minded writers so frequently abused."--_Ayr Observer._ - -"It is pleasantly written, is full of the fun of student life, full, -too, of its hardships, abounds with excellent stories, is very -discriminating in professional criticism, while scattered throughout the -racy pages are many snatches of jovial college songs recorded nowhere -else.... Altogether the volume is very readable, and no student, at all -events, can find a dull page in it."--_Kelso Chronicle._ - - -_THE TRAGEDY OF GOWRIE HOUSE._ An Historical Study. By LOUIS A. BARBA%. -Fcap. 4to, 6s. - -In this new work on the interesting and mysterious episode of Scottish -History, usually known as the Gowrie Conspiracy, the author has not only -submitted the old materials to a close examination, but also thrown new -light on the subject by the help of letters to be found in the Record -Office, but overlooked or suppressed by former historians, of documents -recently discovered by the Commission on Historical MSS., and also of -important papers preserved in the French Archives. - -"_A treasure of almost priceless thought and criticism._"--_Contemporary -Review._ - -In the press. Second Edition, Thoroughly Revised. Cr. 8vo, 338 pp., 7s. -6d. - - -WIT, WISDOM, AND PATHOS, - -FROM THE PROSE OF HEINRICH HEINE. - -_WITH A FEW PIECES FROM THE "BOOK OF SONGS."_ - -SELECTED AND TRANSLATED BY J. SNODGRASS. - -"Mr. Snodgrass has produced a book in which lazy people will find a -great deal to please them. They can take it up at any moment, and open -it on any page with the certainty of finding some bright epigram; they -need not turn down the page on shutting up the volume, as it matters -little where they resume. There is nothing jarring in the whole -book."--_AthenA|um, April 19, 1877._ - -"No Englishman of culture who is unacquainted with Heine can fail to -derive a new intellectual pleasure from Mr. Snodgrass's -pages."--_Contemporary Review, September 1880._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass would appear to have saturated himself with Heine -literature, to have so caught Heine's mode of thought and his turns of -expression--quaint, droll, swift, and scathing by turns--that the -translator would appear to have had no more difficulty in presenting -Heine as he was to the reader than he would have in presenting his own -thoughts."--_Glasgow Herald, March 31, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass, in his 'Wit,' &c., has dime a great service in this -respect, presenting as it were a full-length miniature of the man, clear -and effective, wherein his characteristic expression is faithfully -caught and where, if we look carefully, we can see him as he really was, -for he is made to paint his own portrait."--_British Quarterly Review, -October 1881._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has certainly done great service to English literature in -presenting us with a compact little volume like that before -us."--_Spectator._ - -"A word of cordial praise is due to the translator, Mr. J. Snodgrass, -for his admirable performance of a very difficult task. His book is one -to welcome and to keep as a treasure of almost priceless thought and -criticism."--_Contemporary Review, February 1881._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass is to be thanked for a very seasonable bit of -work."--_Examiner, April 26, 1879._ - -"We are bound to say that Mr. Snodgrass has done his work exceptionally -well."--_The Literary World, May 9, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has made a valuable addition to English literature in -this volume, and has given us a most attractive and efficient -introduction to the study of Heine."--_The Nonconformist, August 20, -1879._ - -"He has performed his task with skill, tact, and judgment; and it is -easy to perceive that he has a thorough acquaintance with his author and -sympathy for his matter."--_Notes and Queries, April 19, 1879._ - -"The result of Mr. Snodgrass's attempt has been the production of a -volume which, for variety and interest, may be pronounced one of the -most successful books of the season."--_Aberdeen Journal, March 26, -1879._ - -"In Heine, whose prose writings in German fill well on to a score of -volumes, we find in remarkable combination the best qualities of German -thought, along with the sparkle and brilliancy of an accomplished -Frenchman's style."--_Aberdeen Daily Free Press, April 21, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has done his selection and translation admirably well and -we owe him thanks for a volume which has in it mere wit of the highest -sort, and more political insight, than any book that has lately been -given to the public."--_Vanity Fair, November 8, 1879._ - -"The compiler of this interesting little volume, Mr. J. Snodgrass is -perfectly right in saying that Heine is chiefly known to English readers -as the author of the 'Book of Songs.'"--_The Week, April 19, 1879._ - -"The 'English Fragments' have a special interest for the English reader; -but the selection from Heine's prose works in general, most judiciously -made and excellently translated by Mr. Snodgrass, gives a much completer -view of the qualities of the writer's mind."--_Saturday Review._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has not essayed to give at all an exhaustive collection -of Heine's witty, wise, and pathetic sayings; but he has selected, in -the order in which they occur in the complete German edition, such -extracts as have specially commended themselves to himself. He has -produced a very enjoyable volume, exactly adapted to the taste of lazy -and luxurious persons, who can just take up the book for five minutes to -read a delightful passage, complete in itself, and not long enough to -fatigue the most fastidious attention."--_Academy, May 31, 1879._ - - -ALEX. GARDNER, PAISLEY AND LONDON. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography., by -Solomon Maimon - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOLOMON MAIMON: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. *** - -***** This file should be named 41042.txt or 41042.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/0/4/41042/ - -Produced by Charlene Taylor,Josephine Paolucci and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography. - -Author: Solomon Maimon - -Translator: J. Clark Murray, LL.D., F.R.S.C. - -Release Date: October 13, 2012 [EBook #41042] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOLOMON MAIMON: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. *** - - - - -Produced by Charlene Taylor,Josephine Paolucci and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - -_SOLOMON MAIMON._ - - - - -SOLOMON MAIMON: - -_AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY._ - -TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, WITH ADDITIONS AND NOTES, - -BY - -J. CLARK MURRAY, LL.D., F.R.S.C., - -_Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy, M'Gill College, Montreal_. - -/$ -ALEXANDER GARDNER, -PAISLEY; AND 12 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. -DAWSON BROTHERS, MONTREAL; CUPPLES AND HURD, BOSTON. - -1888. -$/ - - - - -CONTENTS. - - -/$ - PAGE - -TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE, ix. - -INTRODUCTION.--State of Poland in last century, 1 - -CHAPTER-- - -I.--My Grandfather's Housekeeping, 6 - -II.--First Reminiscences of Youth, 19 - -III.--Private Education and Independent Study, 22 - -IV.--Jewish Schools--The Joy of being released from them causes - a Stiff Foot, 32 - -V.--My Family is driven into Misery, and an old Servant loses by his - great Faithfulness a Christian Burial, 38 - -VI.--New Abode, New Misery--The Talmudist, 42 - -VII.--Joy endureth but a little while, 49 - -VIII.--The Pupil knows more than the Teacher--A theft _à la -Rousseau_, which is discovered--"The ungodly provideth, and -the righteous putteth it on," 54 - -IX.--Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals--The -Song of Solomon may be used in the service -of Matchmaking--A new _Modus Lucrandi_--Smallpox, 59 - -X.--I become an object of Contention, get two Wives -at once, and am kidnapped at last, 65 - -XI.--My Marriage in my eleventh Year makes me the -Slave of my Wife, and procures for me -Cudgellings from my Mother-in-Law--A -Ghost of Flesh and Blood, 74 - -XII.--The Secrets of the Marriage State--Prince -Radzivil, or what is not all allowed in -Poland? 79 - -XIII.--Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless -Struggles with Misery of every Kind, 89 - -XIV.--I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a -Physician, 94 - -XV.--A brief Exposition of the Jewish Religion from -its Origin down to the most recent Times, 111 - -XVI.--Jewish Piety and Penances, 132 - -XVII.--Friendship and Enthusiasm, 138 - -XVIII.--The Life of a Family Tutor, 145 - -XIX.--Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long -Chapter, 151 - -XX.--Continuation of the Former, and also Something -about Religious Mysteries, 176 - -XXI.--Journeys to Königsberg, Stettin, and Berlin, for -the purpose of extending my Knowledge of -Men, 187 - -XXII.--Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance, 197 - -XXIII.--Arrival in Berlin--Acquaintances--Mendelssohn--Desperate -Study of Metaphysics--Doubts--Lectures -on Locke and Adelung, 210 - -XXIV.--Mendelssohn--A Chapter devoted to the Memory -of a worthy Friend, 221 - -XXV.--My Aversion at first for Belles Lettres, and my -subsequent Conversion--Departure from Berlin--Sojourn -in Hamburg--I drown myself in -the same way as a bad Actor shoots himself--An -old Fool of a Woman falls in Love with -me, but her Addresses are rejected, 234 - -XXVI.--I return to Hamburg--A Lutheran Pastor -pronounces me to be a scabby Sheep, and -unworthy of Admission into the Christian -Fold--I enter the Gymnasium, and frighten -the Chief Rabbi out of his Wits, 253 - -XXVII.--Third journey to Berlin--Frustrated Plan of -Hebrew Authorship--Journey to Breslau--Divorce, 265 - -XXVIII.--Fourth journey to Berlin--Unfortunate - circumstances--Help--Study of Kant's Writings--Characteristic -of my own Works, 279 - -CONCLUDING CHAPTER, 290 -$/ - - - - -TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. - - -One effect of _Daniel Deronda_ was to make known to a wide circle of -readers the vitality of Judaism as a system which still holds sway over -the mental as well as the external life of men. During the few years -which have passed since the publication of that great fiction, the -interest in modern Judaism has continued to grow. It is but a short time -since the Western world was startled by the outbreak of an ancient -feeling against the Jews, which had been supposed to be long dead, at -least in some of the quarters where it was displayed. The popular -literature of the day also seems to indicate that the life of existing -Jewish communities is attracting a large share of attention in the -reading world. The charming pictures which Emil Franzos has drawn of -Jewish life in the villages of Eastern Galicia, are not only popular in -Germany, but some have been reproduced in a cheap form in New York to -meet the demand of German Americans, and some have also been translated -into English. The interest of English readers in the same subject is -further shown by the recent translation of Kompert's _Scenes from the -Ghetto_, as well as by Mr. Cumberland's still more recent and powerful -romance of _The Rabbi's Spell_. Among students of philosophical -literature a fresh interest has been awakened in the history of Jewish -thought by the revival of the question in reference to the sources of -Spinoza's philosophy. The affinities of this system with the familiar -tendencies of Cartesian speculation have led the historians of -philosophy generally to represent the former as simply an inevitable -development of the latter, while the affinities of Spinozism with the -unfamiliar speculations of earlier Jewish thinkers have been almost -entirely ignored. - -In these circumstances a special interest may be felt in the life of one -of the most remarkable Jews of modern times--a life which forms one of -the most extraordinary biographies in the history of literature. - -Readers of _Daniel Deronda_ may remember that, in his search among the -Jews of London for some one who could throw light on the sad story of -Mirah, the hero of the novel was attracted one day to a second-hand -book-shop, where his eye fell on "that wonderful bit of -autobiography--the life of the Polish Jew, Solomon Maimon." There are -few men so remarkable as Maimon who have met with so little recognition -in English literature. Milman, in his _History of the Jews_, refers -once[1] to the autobiography as "a curious and rare book," but -apparently he knew it only from some quotations in Franck's _La -Cabbale_. Among English metaphysical writers the only one who seems to -have studied the speculations of Maimon is Dr. Hodgson.[2] Even the new -edition of the _Encyclopedia Britannica_ gives no place to Maimon among -its biographies. And yet he is a prominent figure among the -metaphysicians of the Kantian period. Kuno Fischer, in his _Geschichte -der Neueren Philosophie_,[3] devotes a whole chapter to the life of -Maimon, while the contemporary critics of Kant are dismissed with little -or no biographical notice. Fischer's sketch is just sufficient to whet -curiosity for fuller details; but, amid the dearth of rare literature in -Colonial libraries, I certainly never expected to come, in a Canadian -town, upon "a curious and rare book" of last century, which was known -even to the learned Milman only through some quotations from a French -author. One day, however, in Toronto, in order to while away an -unoccupied hour, I was glancing, like Daniel Deronda, over the shelves -of a second-hand bookseller, when I was attracted by a small volume, in -a good state of preservation, with "S. Maimon's Lebensgeschichte" on the -back; and on taking it down I found it to be the veritable autobiography -which I had been curious to see. - -Some account of the work was given in an article in the _British -Quarterly Review_ for July, 1885; but I thought that a complete -translation would probably be welcomed by a considerable circle of -English readers. The book has many attractions. If the development of -the inner life of man can ever be characterised as a romance, the -biography of Maimon may, in the truest sense, be said to be one of the -most romantic stories ever written. Perhaps no literature has preserved -a more interesting record of a spirit imprisoned within almost -insuperable barriers to culture, yet acquiring strength to burst all -these, and even to become an appreciable power in directing the course -of speculation. The book, however, is much more than a biography; it -possesses historical interest. It opens up what, to many English -readers, must be unknown efforts of human thought, unknown wanderings of -the religious life. The light, which it throws upon Judaism especially, -both in its speculative and in its practical aspects, is probably, in -fact, unique. For the sketches, which the book contains, of Jewish -speculation and life were made at a time when the author had severed all -vital connection with his own people and their creed; and they are -therefore drawn from a point of view outside of Jewish prejudices: but -they are penned by one who had been brought up to believe the divine -mission of his people, as well as the divine authority of their -religion; and the criticism of his old faith is generally tempered by -that kindly sympathy, with which the heart is apt to be warmed on -lingering over the companionships and other associations of earlier -years. Maimon's account of Jewish philosophy and theology acquires an -additional value from the fact, that he was caught in the full tide of -the Kantian movement, and he was thus in a position to point out -unexpected affinities between many an old effort of speculative thought -among the Jews and the philosophical tendencies of modern Christendom. - -Since writing the above-mentioned article for the _British Quarterly -Review_, I learnt that a volume of _Maimoniana_ had been issued in 1813 -by an old friend of our philosopher, Dr. Wolff[4]; and through the -kindness of a friend in Leipsic, I was enabled, after some delay, to -procure a copy. It is a small volume of 260 pages, and adds extremely -little to our knowledge of Maimon. Nearly one third is simply a -condensation of the autobiography; and the remainder shows the author -with the opportunities indeed, but without the faculty, of a Boswell. He -has preserved but few of the felicities of Maimon's conversation; and -what he has preserved loses a good deal of its flavour from his want of -the lively memory by which Boswell was able to reproduce the peculiar -mannerisms of Johnson's talk. Still I have culled from the little -volume a few notes for illustration of the autobiography, and I am -indebted to it for most of the materials of the concluding chapter. All -my additions are indicated by "_Trans._" appended. - -The translation gives the whole of the biographical portion of the -original. There are, however, ten chapters which I have omitted, as they -are occupied entirely with a sketch of the great work of -Maimonides,--the _Moreh Nebhochim_, or _Guide of the Perplexed_. Owing -to their somewhat loose connection[5] with the rest, these chapters -excite just the faintest suspicion of "padding;" and at all events there -is no demand for such a sketch in English now, when our literature has -been recently enriched by Dr. Friedländer's careful translation of the -whole work. - -In the performance of my task I have endeavoured to render the original -as literally as was consistent with readable English. Only in one or -two passages I have toned down the expression slightly to suit the -tastes of our own time; but even in these I have not been unfaithful to -the author's meaning. - -In the spelling of Hebrew and other foreign words I have never, without -some good reason, interfered with the original. But as Maimon is not -always consistent with himself in this respect, I have felt myself at -liberty to disregard his usage by adopting such forms as are more -familiar, or more likely to be intelligible, to an English reader. - - - - -SOLOMON MAIMON. - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -The inhabitants of Poland may be conveniently divided into six classes -or orders:--the superior nobility, the inferior nobility, the -half-noble, burghers, peasantry and Jews. - -The superior nobility consist of the great landowners and administrators -of the high offices of government. The inferior nobility also are -allowed to own land and to fill any political office; but they are -prevented from doing so by their poverty. The half-noble can neither own -land, nor fill any high office in the State; and by this he is -distinguished from the genuine noble. Here and there, it is true, he -owns land; but for that he is in some measure dependent on the lord of -the soil, within whose estate his property lies, inasmuch as he is -required to pay him a yearly tribute. - -The burghers are the most wretched of all the orders. They are not, 'tis -true, in servitude to any man; they also enjoy certain privileges, and -have a jurisdiction of their own. But as they seldom own any property -of value, or follow rightly any profession, they always remain in a -condition of pitiable poverty. - -The last two orders, namely the peasantry and the Jews, are the most -useful in the country. The former occupy themselves with agriculture, -raising cattle, keeping bees,--in short, with all the products of the -soil. The latter engage in trade, take up the professions and -handicrafts, become bakers, brewers, dealers in beer, brandy, mead and -other articles. They are also the only persons who farm estates in towns -and villages, except in the case of ecclesiastical properties, where the -reverend gentlemen hold it a sin to put a Jew in a position to make a -living, and accordingly prefer to hand over their farms to the peasants. -For this they must suffer by their farms going to ruin, as the peasantry -have no aptitude for this sort of employment: but of course they choose -rather to bear this with Christian resignation. - -In consequence of the ignorance of most of the Polish landlords, the -oppression of the tenantry, and the utter want of economy, most of the -farms in Poland, at the end of last century,[6] had fallen into such a -state of decay, that a farm, which now yields about a thousand Polish -gulden, was offered to a Jew for ten; but in consequence of still -greater ignorance and laziness, with all that advantage even he could -not make a living off the farm. An incident, however, occurred at this -time, which gave a new turn to affairs. Two brothers from Galicia, where -the Jews are much shrewder than in Lithuania, took, under the name of -_Dersawzes_ or farmers-general, a lease of all the estates of Prince -Radzivil, and, by means of a better industry as well as a better -economy, they not only raised the estates into a better condition, but -also enriched themselves in a short time. - -Disregarding the clamour of their brethren, they increased the rents, -and enforced payment by the sub-lessees with the utmost stringency. They -themselves exercised a direct oversight of the farms; and wherever they -found a farmer who, instead of looking after his own interests and those -of his landlord in the improvement of his farm by industry and economy, -spent the whole day in idleness, or lay drunk about the stove, they soon -brought him to his senses, and roused him out of his indolence by a -flogging. This procedure of course acquired for the farmers-general, -among their own people, the name of tyrants. - -All this, however, had a very good effect. The farmer, who at the term -had hitherto been unable to pay up his ten gulden of rent without -requiring to be sent to jail about it, now came under such a strong -inducement to active exertion, that he was not only able to support a -family off his farm, but was also able to pay, instead of ten, four or -five hundred, and sometimes even a thousand gulden. - -The Jews, again, may be divided into three classes:--(1) the illiterate -working people, (2) those who make learning their profession, and (3) -those who merely devote themselves to learning without engaging in any -remunerative occupation, being supported by the industrial class. To the -second class belong the chief rabbis, preachers, judges, schoolmasters, -and others of similar profession. The third class consists of those who, -by their pre-eminent abilities and learning, attract the regard of the -unlearned, are taken by these into their families, married to their -daughters, and maintained for some years with wife and children at their -expense. Afterwards, however, the wife is obliged to take upon herself -the maintenance of the saintly idler and the children (who are usually -very numerous); and for this, as is natural, she thinks a good deal of -herself. - -There is perhaps no country besides Poland, where religious freedom and -religious enmity are to be met with in equal degree. The Jews enjoy -there a perfectly free exercise of their religion and all other civil -liberties; they have even a jurisdiction of their own. On the other -hand, however, religious hatred goes so far, that the name of Jew has -become an abomination; and this abhorrence, which had taken root in -barbarous times, continued to show its effects till about thirteen years -ago. But this apparent contradiction may be very easily removed, if it -is considered that the religious and civil liberty, conceded to the Jews -in Poland, has not its source in any respect for the universal rights -of mankind, while, on the other hand, the religious hatred and -persecution are by no means the result of a wise policy which seeks to -remove out of the way whatever is injurious to morality and the welfare -of the State. Both phenomena are results of the political ignorance and -torpor prevalent in the country. With all their defects the Jews are -almost the only useful inhabitants of the country, and therefore the -Polish people found themselves obliged, for the satisfaction of their -own wants, to grant all possible liberties to the Jews; but, on the -other hand, their moral ignorance and stupor could not fail to produce -religious hatred and persecution. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -My Grandfather's Housekeeping. - - -My grandfather, Heimann Joseph, was farmer of some villages in the -neighbourhood of the town of Mir, in the territory of Prince -Radzivil.[7] He selected for his residence one of these villages on the -river Niemen, called Sukoviborg, where, besides a few peasants' plots, -there was a water-mill, a small harbour, and a warehouse for the use of -the vessels that come from Königsberg, in Prussia. All this, along with -a bridge behind the village, and on the other side a drawbridge on the -river Niemen, belonged to the farm, which was then worth about a -thousand gulden, and formed my grandfather's _Chasakah_.[8] This farm, -on account of the warehouse and the great traffic, was very lucrative. -With sufficient industry and economical skill, _si mens non laeva -fuisset_, my grandfather should have been able, not only to support his -family, but even to gather wealth. The bad constitution of the country, -however, and his own want of all the acquirements necessary for -utilising the land, placed extraordinary obstacles in his way. - -My grandfather settled his brothers as tenants under him in the villages -belonging to his farm. These not only lived continually with my -grandfather under the pretence of assisting him in his manifold -occupations, but in addition to this they would not pay their rents at -the end of the year. - -The buildings, belonging to my grandfather's farm, had fallen into decay -from age, and required therefore to be repaired. The harbour and the -bridge also had become dilapidated. In accordance with the terms of the -lease the landlord was to repair everything, and put it in a condition -fit for use. But, like all the Polish magnates, he resided permanently -in Warsaw, and could therefore give no attention to the improvement of -his estates. His stewards had for their principal object the improvement -rather of their own condition than of their landlord's property. They -oppressed the farmers with all sorts of exactions, they neglected the -orders given for the improvement of the farms, and the moneys intended -for this purpose they applied to their own use. My grandfather indeed -made representations on the subject to the stewards day after day, and -assured them that it was impossible for him to pay his rent, if -everything was not put into proper condition according to the lease. All -this, however, was of no avail. He always received promises indeed, but -the promises were never fulfilled. The result was not only the ruin of -the farm, but several other evils arising from that. - -As already mentioned, there was a large traffic at this place; and as -the bridges were in a bad state, it happened not infrequently that these -broke down just when a Polish nobleman with his rich train was passing, -and horse and rider were plunged into the swamp. The poor farmer was -then dragged to the bridge, where he was laid down and flogged till it -was thought that sufficient revenge had been taken. - -My grandfather therefore did all in his power to guard against this evil -in the future. For this purpose he stationed one of his people to keep -watch at the bridge, so that, if any noble were passing, and an accident -of this sort should happen, the sentinel might bring word to the house -as quickly as possible, and the whole family might thus have time to -take refuge in the neighbouring wood. Every one thereupon ran in terror -out of the house, and not infrequently they were all obliged to remain -the whole night in the open air, till one after another ventured to -approach the house. - -This sort of life lasted for some generations. My father used to tell of -an incident of this sort, which happened when he was still a boy of -about eight years. The whole family had fled to their usual retreat. But -my father, who knew nothing of what had happened, and was playing at the -back of the stove, stayed behind alone. When the angry lord came into -the house with his suite, and found nobody on whom he could wreak his -vengeance, he ordered every corner of the house to be searched, when my -father was found at the back of the stove. The nobleman asked him if he -would drink brandy, and, on the boy refusing, shouted: "If you will not -drink brandy, you shall drink water." At the same time he ordered a -bucketful of water to be brought, and forced my father, by lashes with -his whip, to drink it out. Naturally this treatment brought on a quartan -fever, which lasted nearly a whole year, and completely undermined his -health. - -A similar incident took place when I was a child of three years. Every -one ran out of the house; and the housemaid, who carried me in her arms, -hurried forth. But as the servants of the nobleman who had arrived ran -after her, she quickened her steps, and in her extreme haste let me fall -from her arms. There I lay whimpering on the skirt of the wood, till -fortunately a peasant passing by lifted me up and took me home with him. -It was only after everything had become quiet again, and the family had -returned to the house, that the maid remembered having lost me in the -flight, when she began to lament and wring her hands. They sought me -everywhere, but could not find me, till at last the peasant came from -the village and restored me to my parents. - -It was not merely the terror and consternation, into which we used to be -thrown on the occasion of such a flight; to this was added the -plundering of the house when deprived of its inhabitants. Beer, brandy, -and mead were drunk at pleasure; the spirit of revenge even went so far -at times, that the casks were left to run out; corn and fowls were -carried off; and so forth. - -Had my grandfather, instead of seeking justice from a more powerful -litigant, rather borne the injustice, and built the bridge in question -at his own expense, he would have been able to avoid all these evils. He -appealed, however, persistently to the terms of his lease, and the -steward made sport of his misery. - -And now something about my grandfather's domestic economy. The manner of -life, which he led in his house, was quite simple. The annual produce of -the arable lands, pasture-lands, and kitchen-gardens, belonging to the -farm, was sufficient, not only for the wants of his own family, but also -for brewing and distilling. He could even, besides, sell a quantity of -grain and hay. His bee-hives were sufficient for the brewing of mead. He -had also a large number of cattle. - -The principal food consisted of a poor kind of corn-bread mixed with -bran, of articles made of meal and milk, and of the produce of the -garden, seldom of flesh-meat. The clothing was made of poor linen and -coarse stuff. Only the women made in these matters a slight exception, -and my father also, who was a scholar, required a different sort of -life. - -Hospitality was here carried very far. The Jews in this neighbourhood -are continually moving about from place to place; and as there was a -great traffic at our village, they were frequently passing through it, -and of course they had always to stop at my grandfather's inn. Every -Jewish traveller was met at the door with a glass of spirits; one hand -making the _salaam_,[9] while the other reached the glass. He then had -to wash his hands, and seat himself at the table which remained -constantly covered. - -The support of a numerous family along with this hospitality would have -had no serious effect in impairing my grandfather's circumstances, if at -the same time he had introduced a better economy in his house. This, -however, was the source of his misfortune. - -My grandfather was in trifles almost too economical, and neglected -therefore matters of the greatest importance. He looked upon it, for -example, as extravagance to burn wax or tallow candles; their place had -to be supplied with thin strips of resinous pine, one end of which was -stuck into the chinks of the wall, while the other was lit. Not -unfrequently by this means fires were occasioned, and much damage -caused, in comparison with which the cost of candles was not worth -taking into consideration. - -The apartment, in which beer, spirits, mead, herrings, salt and other -articles were kept for the daily account of the inn, had no windows, -but merely apertures, through which it received light. Naturally this -often tempted the sailors and carriers who put up at the inn to climb -into the apartment, and make themselves drunk gratuitously with spirits -and mead. What was still worse, these carousing heroes, from fear of -being caught in the act, often took to flight, on hearing the slightest -noise, without waiting to put in the spigot, sprang out at the holes by -which they had come in, and let the liquor run as long as it might. In -this way sometimes whole casks of spirits and mead ran out. - -The barns had no proper locks, but were shut merely with wooden bolts. -Any one therefore, especially as the barns were at some distance from -the dwelling-house, could take from them at pleasure, and even carry off -whole waggonloads of grain. The sheepfold had, all over, holes, by which -wolves (the forest being quite near) were able to slink in, and worry -the sheep at their convenience. - -The cows came very often from the pasture with empty udders. According -to the superstition which prevailed there, it was said in such cases, -that the milk had been taken from them by witchcraft,--a misfortune, -against which it was supposed that nothing could be done. - -My grandmother, a good simple woman, when tired with her household -occupations, lay down often in her clothes to sleep by the stove, and -had all her pockets full of money, without knowing how much. Of this -the housemaid took advantage, and emptied the pockets of half their -contents. Nevertheless my grandmother seldom perceived the want, if only -the girl did not play too clumsy a trick. - -All these evils could easily have been avoided of course by repairing -the buildings, the windows, the window-shutters and locks, by proper -oversight of the manifold lucrative occupations connected with the farm, -as also by keeping an exact account of receipts and disbursements. But -this was never thought of. On the other hand, if my father, who was a -scholar, and educated partly in town, ordered for himself a rabbinical -suit, for which a finer stuff was required than that in common use, my -grandfather did not fail to give him a long and severe lecture on the -vanity of the world. "Our forefathers," he used to say, "knew nothing of -these new-fashioned costumes, and yet were devout people. You must have -a coat of striped woolen cloth,[10] you must have leather hose, with -buttons even, and everything on the same scale. You will bring me to -beggary at last; I shall be thrown into prison on your account. Ay me, -poor unfortunate man! What is to become of me?" - -My father then appealed to the rights and privileges of the profession -of a scholar, and showed moreover that, in a well-arranged system of -economy, it does not so much matter whether you live somewhat better or -worse, and that even my grandfather's misfortunes arose, not from -extravagant consumption in housekeeping, but rather from the fact that -he allowed himself by his remissness to be plundered by others. All this -however was of no avail with my grandfather. He could not tolerate -innovations. Everything therefore had to be left as it was. - -My grandfather was held in the place of his abode to be a rich man, -which he could really have been if he had known how to make use of his -opportunities; and on this account he was envied and hated by all, even -by his own family, he was abandoned by his landlord, he was oppressed in -every possible way by the steward, and cheated and robbed by his own -domestics as well as by strangers. In short, he was _the poorest rich -man_ in the world. - -In addition to all this there were still greater misfortunes, which I -cannot here pass over wholly in silence. The pope, that is, the Russian -clergyman in this village, was a dull ignorant blockhead, who had -scarcely learned to read and write. He spent most of his time at the -inn, where he drank spirits with his boorish parishioners, and let his -liquor always be put down to his account, without ever a thought of -paying his score. My grandfather at last became tired of this, and made -up his mind to give him nothing more upon credit. The fellow naturally -took this very ill, and therefore resolved upon revenge. - -For this he found at length a means, at which indeed humanity shudders, -but of which the Catholic Christians in Poland were wont to make use -very often at that time. This was to charge my grandfather with the -murder of a Christian, and thus bring him to the gallows. This was done -in the following way: A beaver-trapper, who sojourned constantly in this -neighbourhood to catch beavers on the Niemen, was accustomed at times to -trade in these animals with my grandfather; and this had to be done -secretly, for the beaver is game preserved, and all that are taken must -be delivered at the manor. The trapper came once about midnight, knocked -and asked for my grandfather. He showed him a bag which was pretty heavy -to lift, and said to him with a mysterious air, "I have brought you a -good big fellow here." My grandfather was going to strike a light, to -examine the beaver, and come to terms about it with the peasant. He -however said, that this was unnecessary, that my grandfather might take -the beaver at any rate, and that they would be sure to agree about it -afterwards. My grandfather, who had no suspicion of evil, took the bag -just as it was, laid it aside, and betook himself again to rest. -Scarcely, however, had he fallen asleep again, when he was roused a -second time with a loud noise of knocking. - -It was the clergyman with some boors from the village, who immediately -began to make search all over in the house. They found the bag, and my -grandfather already trembled for the issue, because he believed nothing -else than that he had been betrayed at the manor on account of his -secret trade in beavers, and he could not deny the fact. But how great -was his horror, when the bag was opened, and, instead of a beaver, there -was found a corpse! - -My grandfather was bound with his hands behind his back, his feet were -put into stocks, he was thrown into a waggon, and brought to the town of -Mir, where he was given over to the criminal court. He was made fast in -chains, and put into a dark prison. - -At the trial my grandfather stood upon his innocence, related the events -exactly as they had happened, and, as was reasonable, demanded that the -beaver-trapper should be examined too. He, however, was nowhere to be -found, was already over the hills and far away. He was sought -everywhere. But the blood-thirsty judge of the criminal court, to whom -the time became tedious, ordered my grandfather three times in -succession to be brought to torture. He, however, continued steadfast in -his assertion. - -At last the hero of the beavers was found. He was examined; and as he -straightway denied the whole affair, he also was put to the test of -torture. Thereupon at once he blabbed the whole story. He declared that, -some time before, he had found this dead body in the water, and was -going to bring it to the parsonage for burial. The parson however had -said to him, "There is plenty of time for the burial. You know that the -Jews are a hardened race, and are therefore damned to all eternity. They -crucified our Lord Jesus Christ, and even yet they seek Christian blood, -if only they can get hold of it for their passover, which is instituted -as a sign of their triumph. They use it for their passover-cake. You -will therefore do a meritorious work, if you can smuggle this dead body -into the house of the damned Jew of a farmer. You must of course clear -out, but your trade you can drive anywhere." - -On this confession the fellow was whipped out of the place, and my -grandfather set free; but the pope remained pope. - -For an everlasting memorial of this deliverance of my grandfather from -death, my father composed in Hebrew a sort of epopee, in which the whole -event was narrated, and the goodness of God was sung. It was also made a -law, that the day of his deliverance should be celebrated in the family -every year, when this poem should be recited in the same way as the Book -of Esther at the festival of Haman.[11] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -First Reminiscences of Youth. - - -In this manner my grandfather lived for many years in the place where -his forefathers had dwelt; his farm had become, as it were, a property -of the family. By the Jewish ceremonial law the _Chazakah_, that is, the -right of property in an estate, is acquired by three years' possession; -and the right is respected even by Christians in this neighbourhood. In -virtue of this law no other Jew could try to get possession of the farm -by a _Hosaphah_, that is, an offer of higher rent, if he would not bring -down upon himself the Jewish excommunication. Although the possession of -the farm was accompanied with many hardships and even oppressions, yet -it was from another point of view very lucrative. My grandfather could -not only live as a well-to-do man, but also provide richly for his -children. - -His three daughters were well dowered, and married to excellent men. His -two sons, my uncle Moses and my father Joshua, were married likewise; -and when he became old, and enfeebled by the hardships to which he had -been exposed, he gave over the management of the house to his two sons -in common. These were of different temperaments and inclinations, my -uncle Moses being of strong bodily constitution, but inferior -intelligence, while my father was the opposite; and consequently they -could not work together well. My grandfather therefore gave over to my -uncle another village, and kept my father by himself, although from his -profession as a scholar my father was not particularly adapted for the -occupations of household-management. He merely kept accounts, made -contracts, conducted processes at law, and attended to other matters of -the same sort. My mother, on the other hand, was a very lively woman, -well disposed to all sorts of occupations. She was small of stature, and -at that time still very young. - -An anecdote I cannot avoid touching on here, because it is the earliest -reminiscence from the years of my youth. I was about three years old at -the time. The merchants, who put up constantly at the place, and -especially the _shaffers_, that is, the nobles who undertook the -navigation, the purchase and delivery of goods, for the higher nobility, -were extremely fond of me on account of my liveliness, and made all -sorts of fun with me. These merry gentlemen gave my mother, on account -of her small stature and liveliness, the nickname of _Kuza_, that is, a -young filly.[12] As I heard them often call her by this name, and knew -nothing of its meaning, I also called her _Mama Kuza_. My mother rebuked -me for this, and said, "God punishes any one who calls his mother _Mama -Kuza_." One of these _Shaffers_, Herr Piliezki, used every day to take -tea in our house, and enticed me to his side by giving me at times a bit -of sugar. One morning while he was drinking his tea, when I had placed -myself in the usual position for receiving the sugar, he said he would -give it to me only on condition that I should say _Mama Kuza_. Now as my -mother was present, I refused to do it. He made a sign therefore to my -mother to go into an adjoining room. As soon as she had shut the door, I -went to him and whispered into his ear, _Mama Kuza_. He insisted however -that I should say it out loud, and promised to give me a piece of sugar -for each time that it was spoken. Accordingly I said, "Herr Piliezki -wants me to say _Mama Kuza_; but I will not say _Mama Kuza_, because God -punishes any one who says _Mama Kuza_." Thereupon I got my three pieces -of sugar. - -My father introduced into the house a more refined mode of life, -especially as he traded with Königsberg in Prussia, where he procured -all sorts of pretty and useful articles. He provided himself with tin -and brass utensils; we began to have better meals, to wear finer -clothes, than before; I was even clad in damask. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -Private Education and Independent Study. - - -In my sixth year my father began to read the Bible with me. "In the -beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Here I interrupted my -father, and asked, "But, papa, who created God?" - -"God was not created by any one," replied my father; "He existed from -all eternity." - -"Did he exist ten years ago?" I asked again. - -"O yes," my father said, "He existed even a hundred years ago." - -"Then perhaps," I continued, "God is already a thousand years old?" - -"Silence! God was eternal." - -"But," I insisted, "He must surely have been born at some time." - -"You little fool," said my father, "No! He was for ever and ever and -ever." - -With this answer I was not indeed satisfied; but I thought "Surely papa -must know better than I, and with that I must therefore be content." - -This mode of representation is very natural in early youth, when the -understanding is still undeveloped, while the imagination is in full -bloom. The understanding seeks merely to grasp, the imagination to grasp -all round.[13] That is to say, the understanding seeks to make the -origin of an object conceivable, without considering, whether the -object, whose origin is known, can also be actually represented by us or -not. The imagination, on the other hand, seeks to gather into a complete -image something, the origin of which is to us unknown. Thus, for -example, an infinite series of numbers, which progresses according to a -definite law, is for the understanding an object, to which by this law -definite qualities are attached, and an object just as good as a finite -series, which progresses according to the same law. For the imagination, -on the other hand, the latter indeed is an object; but not the former, -because it cannot grasp the former as a completed whole. - -A long time afterwards, when I was staying in Breslau, this -consideration suggested to me a thought, which I expressed in an essay -that I laid before Professor Garve, and which, though at the time I knew -nothing of the Kantian philosophy, still constitutes its foundation. I -explained this somewhat in the following way:--The metaphysicians -necessarily fall into self-contradiction. According to the confession -of Leibnitz himself, who in this appeals to the experiment of Archimedes -with the lever, the Law of Sufficient Reason or Causality is a principle -of experience. Now, it is quite true that in experience everything is -found to have a cause; but for the very reason, that _every_ thing has a -cause, nothing can be met with in experience which is a _first_ cause, -that is, a cause which has no cause to itself. How then can the -metaphysicians infer from this law the existence of a first cause? - -Afterwards I found this objection more particularly developed in the -Kantian philosophy, where it is shown that the Category of Cause, or the -form of hypothetical judgments used in reference to the objects of -nature, by which their relation to one another is determined _a priori_, -can be applied only to objects of experience through an _a priori_ -schema. The first cause, which implies a complete infinite series of -causes, and therefore in fact a contradiction, since the infinite can -never be complete, is not an object of the understanding, but an idea of -reason, or, according to my theory, a fiction of the imagination, which, -not content with the mere knowledge of the law, seeks to gather the -multiplicity, which is subject to the law, into an image, though in -opposition to the law itself. - -On another occasion I read in the Bible the story of Jacob and Esau; and -in this connection my father quoted the passage from the Talmud, where -it is said, "Jacob and Esau divided between them all the blessings of -the world. Esau chose the blessings of this life, Jacob, on the -contrary, those of the future life; and since we are descended from -Jacob, we must give up all claim to temporal blessings." On this I said -with indignation, "Jacob should not have been a fool; he should rather -have chosen the blessings of this world." Unfortunately I got for -answer, "You ungodly rascal!" and a box on the ear. This did not of -course remove my doubt, but it brought me to silence at least. - -The Prince Radzivil, who was a great lover of the chase, came one day -with his whole court to hunt in the neighbourhood of our village. Among -the party was his daughter who afterwards married Prince Rawuzki. The -young princess, in order to enjoy rest at noon, betook herself with the -ladies of her court, the servants in waiting and the lackeys, to the -very room, where as a boy I was sitting behind the stove. I was struck -with astonishment at the magnificence and splendour of the court, gazed -with rapture at the beauty of the persons and at the dresses with their -trimmings of gold and silver lace; I could not satisfy my eyes with the -sight. My father came just as I was out of myself with joy, and had -broken into the words, "O how beautiful!" In order to calm me, and at -the same time to confirm me in the principles of our faith, he whispered -into my ear, "Little fool, in the other world the _duksel_ will kindle -the _pezsure_ for us," which means, In the future life the princess will -kindle the stove for us. No one can conceive the sort of feeling which -this statement produced in me. On the one hand, I believed my father, -and was very glad about this future happiness in store for us; but I -felt at the same time pity for the poor princess who was going to be -doomed to such a degrading service. On the other hand, I could not get -it into my head, that this beautiful rich princess in this splendid -dress should ever make a fire for a poor Jew. I was thrown into the -greatest perplexity on the subject, till some game drove these thoughts -out of my head. - -I had from childhood a great inclination and talent for drawing. True, I -had in my father's house never a chance of seeing a work of art, but I -found on the title-page of some Hebrew books woodcuts of foliage, birds -and so forth. I felt great pleasure in these woodcuts, and made an -effort to imitate them with a bit of chalk or charcoal. What however -strengthened this inclination in me still more was a Hebrew book of -fables, in which the personages who play their part in the fables--the -animals--were represented in such woodcuts. I copied all the figures -with the greatest exactness. My father admired indeed my skill in this, -but rebuked me at the same time in these words, "You want to become a -painter? You are to study the Talmud, and become a rabbi. He who -understands the Talmud, understands everything." - -This desire and faculty for painting went with me so far, that when my -father had settled in H----, where there was a manor-house with some -beautifully tapestried rooms, which were constantly unoccupied because -the landlord resided elsewhere, and very seldom visited the place, I -used to steal away from home whenever I could, to copy the figures on -the tapestries. I was found once in mid-winter half-frozen, standing -before the wall, holding the paper in one hand (for there was no -furniture in this apartment), and with the other hand copying the -figures off the wall. Yet I judge of myself at present, that, if I had -kept to it, I should have become a _great_, but not an _exact_, painter, -that is to say, I sketched with ease the main features of a picture, but -had not the patience to work it out in detail. - -My father had in his study a cupboard containing books. He had forbidden -me indeed to read any books but the Talmud. This, however, was of no -avail: as he was occupied the most of his time with household affairs, I -took advantage of the opportunity thus afforded. Under the impulse of -curiosity I made a raid upon the cupboard and glanced over all the -books. The result was, that, as I had already a fair knowledge of -Hebrew, I found more pleasure in some of these books than in the Talmud. -And this result was surely natural. Take the subjects of the Talmud, -which, with the exception of those relating to jurisprudence, are dry -and mostly unintelligible to a child--the laws of sacrifice, of -purification, of forbidden meats, of feasts, and so forth--in which the -oddest rabbinical conceits are elaborated through many volumes with the -finest dialectic, and the most absurd questions are discussed with the -highest efforts of intellectual power; for example, how many white hairs -may a red cow have, and yet remain a _red_ cow; what sorts of scabs -require this or that sort of purification; whether a louse or a flea may -be killed on the Sabbath,--the first being allowed, while the second is -a deadly sin;--whether the slaughter of an animal ought to be executed -at the neck or the tail; whether the highpriest put on his shirt or his -hose first; whether the _Jabam_, that is, the brother of a man who died -childless, being required by law to marry the widow, is relieved from -his obligation if he falls off a roof and sticks in the mire. _Ohe jam -satis est!_ Compare these glorious disputations, which are served up to -young people and forced on them even to disgust, with history, in which -natural events are related in an instructive and agreeable manner, with -a knowledge of the world's structure, by which the outlook into nature -is widened, and the vast whole is brought into a well-ordered system; -surely my preference will be justified. - -The most valuable books in the collection were four. There was a Hebrew -chronicle under the title of _Zemach David_,[14] written by a sensible -chief rabbi in Prague, named Rabbi David Gans. He was also the author -of the astronomical book spoken of in the sequel, and he had had the -honour of being acquainted with Tycho Brahe, and of making astronomical -observations with him in the Observatory at Copenhagen. There were -besides, a Josephus, which was evidently garbled, and a History of the -Persecutions of the Jews in Spain. But what attracted me most powerfully -was an astronomical work. In this work a new world was opened to me, and -I gave myself up to the study with the greatest diligence. Think of a -child about seven years of age, in my position, with an astronomical -work thrown in his way, and exciting his interest. I had never seen or -heard anything of the first elements of mathematics, and I had no one to -give me any direction in the study: for it is needless to say, that to -my father I dared not even let my curiosity in the matter be known, and, -apart from that, he was not in a position to give me any information on -the subject. How must the spirit of a child, thirsting for knowledge, -have been inflamed by such a discovery! This the result will show. - -As I was still a child, and the beds in my father's house were few, I -was allowed to sleep with my old grandmother, whose bed stood in the -above-mentioned study. As I was obliged during the day to occupy myself -solely with the study of the Talmud, and durst not take another book in -my hand, I devoted the evenings to my astronomical inquiries. -Accordingly after my grandmother had gone to bed, I put some fresh wood -on the fire, made for the cupboard, and took out my beloved astronomical -book. My grandmother indeed scolded me, because it was too cold for the -old lady to lie alone in bed; but I did not trouble myself about that, -and continued my study till the fire was burnt out. - -After I had carried this on for some evenings, I came to the description -of the celestial sphere and its imaginary circles, designed for the -explanation of astronomical phenomena. This was represented in the book -by a single figure, in connection with which the author gave the reader -the good advice, that, since the manifold circles could not be -represented in a plane figure except by straight lines, he should, for -the sake of rendering them more clearly intelligible, make for himself -either an ordinary globe or an armillary sphere. I therefore formed the -resolution to make such a sphere out of twisted rods; and after I had -finished this work, I was in a position to understand the whole book. -But as I had to take care lest my father should find out how I had been -occupied, I always hid my armillary sphere in a corner behind the -cupboard before I went to bed. - -My grandmother, who had on several occasions observed that I was wholly -absorbed in my reading, but now and then lifted my eyes to look at a -number of circles formed of twisted rods laid on one another, fell into -the greatest consternation over the matter; she believed nothing less -than that her grandson had lost his wits. She did not delay, therefore, -to tell my father, and point out to him the place where the magical -instrument was kept. He soon guessed what was the meaning of this. -Accordingly he took the sphere in his hand, and sent for me. When I -came, he asked me, "What sort of plaything is this?" - -"It is a _Kadur_,[15]" I replied. - -"What does it mean?" he asked. - -I then explained to him the use of all the circles for the purpose of -making the celestial phenomena intelligible. My father, who was a good -rabbi indeed, but had no special talent for science, could not -comprehend all that I endeavoured to make comprehensible. He was -especially puzzled, by the comparison of my armillary sphere with the -figure in the book, to understand how out of straight lines circles -should be evolved; but one thing he could see,--that I was sure of my -business. He therefore scolded me, it is true, because I had -transgressed his command to meddle with nothing beyond the Talmud; but -still he felt a secret pleasure, that his young son, without a guide or -previous training, had been able by himself to master an entire work of -science. And with this the affair came to an end. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -Jewish Schools--The Joy of being released from them causes a stiff foot. - - -My brother Joseph and I were sent to Mir to school. My brother, who was -about twelve years old, was put to board with a schoolmaster of some -repute at that time, by name Jossel. This man was the terror of all -young people, "the scourge of God;" he treated those in his charge with -unheard of cruelty, flogged them till the blood came, even for the -slightest offence, and not infrequently tore off their ears, or beat -their eyes out. When the parents of these unfortunates came to him, and -brought him to task, he struck them with stones or whatever else came to -hand, and drove them with his stick out of the house back to their own -dwellings, without any respect of persons. All under his discipline -became either blockheads or good scholars. I, who was then only seven -years old, was sent to another schoolmaster. - -An anecdote I must here relate, which shows on the one side great -brotherly love, and on the other may be viewed as expressing the -condition of a child's mind, that sways between the hope of lightening -an evil, and the fear of increasing it. One day as I came from school, -my eyes were all red with weeping, for which there was doubtless good -cause. My brother observed this, and asked the reason. At first I showed -some hesitation in answering; but at last I said, "I weep because we -dare not tell tales out of school." My brother understood me very well, -was extremely indignant at my teacher, and was going to read him a -lesson on the subject. I begged him however not to do it, because in all -probability the teacher would take his revenge on me for telling tales -out of school. - -I must now say something of the condition of the Jewish schools in -general. The school is commonly a small smoky hut, and the children are -scattered, some on benches, some on the bare earth. The master, in a -dirty blouse sitting on the table, holds between his knees a bowl, in -which he grinds tobacco into snuff with a huge pestle like the club of -Hercules, while at the same time he wields his authority. The ushers -give lessons, each in his own corner, and rule those under their charge -quite as despotically as the master himself. Of the breakfast, lunch, -and other food sent to the school for the children, these gentlemen keep -the largest share for themselves. Sometimes even the poor youngsters get -nothing at all; and yet they dare not make any complaint on the subject, -if they will not expose themselves to the vengeance of these tyrants. -Here the children are imprisoned from morning to night, and have not an -hour to themselves, except on Friday and a half-holiday at the Newmoon. - -As far as study is concerned, the reading of Hebrew at least is pretty -regularly learned. On the other hand, with the mastery of the Hebrew -language very seldom is any progress made. Grammar is not treated in the -school at all, but has to be learnt _ex usu_, by translation of the Holy -Scriptures, very much as the ordinary man learns imperfectly the grammar -of his mother-tongue by social intercourse. Moreover there is no -dictionary of the Hebrew language. The children therefore begin at once -with the explanation of the Bible. This is divided into as many sections -as there are weeks in the year, in order that the Books of Moses, which -are read in the synagogues every Saturday, may be read through in a -year. Accordingly every week some verses from the beginning of the -section proper to the week are explained in school, and that with every -possible grammatical blunder. Nor can it well be otherwise. For the -Hebrew must be explained by means of the mother-tongue. But the -mother-tongue of the Polish Jews is itself full of defects and -grammatical inaccuracies; and as a matter of course therefore also the -Hebrew language, which is learned by its means, must be of the same -stamp. The pupil thus acquires just as little knowledge of the language, -as of the contents, of the Bible. - -In addition to this the Talmudists have fastened all sorts of -extraordinary conceits on the Bible. The ignorant teacher believes with -confidence, that the Bible cannot in reality have any other meaning than -that which these expositions ascribe to it; and the pupil must follow -his teacher's faith, so that the right understanding of words -necessarily becomes lost. For example, in the first Book of Moses it is -said, "Jacob sent messengers to his brother Esau, etc." Now, the -Talmudists were pleased to give out, that these messengers were angels. -For though the word _Malachim_ in Hebrew denotes messenger as well as -angels, these marvel-mongers preferred the second signification, because -the first contains nothing marvellous. The pupil therefore holds the -belief firm and fast, that Malachim denotes nothing but angels; and the -natural meaning of messengers is for him wholly lost. A correct -knowledge of the Hebrew language and a sound exegesis can be attained -only gradually by independent study and by reading grammars and critical -commentaries on the Bible, like those of Rabbi David Kimchi[16] and Aben -Esra; but of these very few rabbis make use. - -As the children are doomed in the bloom of youth to such an infernal -school, it may be easily imagined with what joy and rapture they look -forward to their release. We, that is, my brother and I, were taken home -to the great feasts; and it was on a trip of this sort, that the -following incident happened, which in relation to me was very critical. -My mother came once before Whitsuntide to the town where we were at -school, in order to purchase sundry articles required for the house. She -then took us home with her. The release from school, and the sight of -the beauty of nature which at this season displays its best attire, -threw us into such ecstasy, that we fell upon all sorts of wanton -fancies. When we were not far from home, my brother sprang out of the -carriage, and ran forward on foot. I was going to imitate his daring -leap, but unfortunately had not sufficient strength. I fell down -therefore with violence on the carriage, so that my legs came between -the wheels, and one of these passed over my left leg, which was thereby -pitiably crushed. I was carried home half-dead. My foot became cramped, -and I was wholly unable to move it. - -A Jewish doctor was consulted, who had not indeed regularly studied and -graduated at a university, but had acquired his medical knowledge merely -by serving with a physician and reading some medical books in the -Polish language, who was nevertheless a very good practical physician, -and effected many successful cures. He said that at present he was -provided with no medicines,--the nearest apothecary's shop was about -twenty miles[17] distant,--and consequently he could prescribe nothing -in the ordinary method, but that meanwhile a simple domestic remedy -might be applied. The remedy was, to kill a dog and thrust into it the -cramped foot; this, repeated several times, was to give certain relief. -The prescription was followed with the desired result, so that after -some weeks I was able to use the foot again, and by degrees I completely -recovered. - -I think it would not be at all amiss, if medical men gave more attention -to such domestic remedies, which are used with good results in districts -where there are no regular physicians or apothecaries' shops; they might -even make special journeys with this end in view. I know many a case of -this sort, which can be in nowise explained away. This however in -passing. I return to my story. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -My Family is driven into Misery, and an old Servant loses by his great -Faithfulness a Christian Burial. - - -My father, who, as already mentioned, traded with Königsberg in Prussia, -had once shipped in a vessel of Prince Radzivil's some barrels of salt -and herrings which he had bought there. When he came home and was going -to fetch his goods, the agent, Schachna, absolutely refused to let him -take them. My father then showed the bill of lading, which he had got on -the shipment of the goods; but the agent tore it out of his hands, and -threw it into the fire. My father found himself therefore compelled to -carry on a long and costly suit, which he had to delay till the -following year, when he would again make a journey to Königsberg. Here -he obtained a certificate from the custom-house, showing that he had -shipped the said goods in a vessel of Prince Radzivil's under the -direction of Herr Schachna. On this certificate the agent was summoned -before the court, but found it convenient not to make an appearance; and -my father gained the suit in the first, second, and third instances. In -spite of this, however, as a consequence of the wretched administration -of justice in Poland at the time, my father had no power to execute -this decision, and therefore from this successful suit he did not even -recover the costs. - -To this was added the further result, that by this suit he made Herr -Schachna an enemy who persecuted him now in every possible way. This the -cunning scoundrel could accomplish very well, as by all sorts of -intrigues he had been appointed by Prince Radzivil steward of all his -estates situated in the district of Mir. He resolved therefore on my -father's ruin, and only waited for a convenient opportunity to carry out -his revenge. - -This he found soon; and indeed a Jew, who was named after his farm -Schwersen, and was known as the biggest scoundrel in the whole -neighbourhood, offered him a hand. This fellow was an ignoramus, did not -even understand the Jewish language, and made use therefore of Russian. -He occupied himself mainly in examining the farms in the neighbourhood, -and he knew how to get possession of the most lucrative among them by -offering a higher rent and bribing the steward. Without troubling -himself in the least about the laws of the _Chazakah_,[18] he drove the -old legal farmers from their possessions, and enriched himself by this -means. He thus lived in wealth and fortune, and in this state reached an -advanced age. - -The scoundrel had already for a long time had his eye on my -grandfather's farm, and waited merely for a favourable opportunity and a -plausible pretext to get possession of it himself. Unfortunately my -granduncle Jacob, who lived in another village belonging to my -grandfather's farm, had been obliged to become a debtor of the scoundrel -to the amount of about fifty rix-dollars. As he could not clear off the -debt at the time when it was due, his creditor came with some servants -of the manor, and threatened to seize the cauldron, in which my -granduncle's whole wealth consisted. In consternation he loaded a waggon -secretly with the cauldron, drove with all haste to my grandfather's, -and, without letting any of us know, hid it in the adjoining marsh -behind the house. His creditor, however, who followed on his heels, came -to my grandfather's, and made search all over, but could find the -cauldron nowhere. Irritated at this unsuccessful stroke, and breathing -vengeance against my grandfather who, he believed, had prevented his -success, he rode to the town, carried to the steward an imposing -present, and offered for my grandfather's farm double the rent, besides -an annual voluntary present to the steward. - -This gentleman, joyous over such an offer, and mindful of the disgrace -which my father, a Jew, had brought upon him, a Polish noble, by the -above-mentioned suit, made on the spot a contract with the scoundrel, by -which he not only gave over to him this farm with all the rights -pertaining to it even before the end of my grandfather's lease, but -also robbed my grandfather of all he had,--his barns full of grain, his -cattle, etc.,--and shared the plunder with the new farmer. - -My grandfather was therefore obliged with his whole family to quit his -dwelling-place in mid-winter, and, without knowing where he should -settle again, to wander about from place to place. Our departure from -this place was very affecting. The whole neighbourhood lamented our -fate. An old and faithful servant of eighty years, named Gabriel, who -had carried in his arms even my grandfather as a child, insisted on -going with us. Representations were made to him on the severity of the -season, our unfortunate situation, and the uncertainty in which we -ourselves were placed as to our future destiny. But it was of no avail. -He placed himself on the road before the gate, by which our waggons had -to pass, and lamented so long that we were obliged to take him up. He -did not however travel with us long: his advanced age, his grief over -our misery, and the severe season gave him soon the finishing stroke. He -died when we had gone scarcely two or three miles; and as no Catholic or -Russian community would allow him burial in their churchyard--he was a -Prussian and a Lutheran--he was buried at our expense in the open -field. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -New Abode, new Misery--The Talmudist. - - -We wandered about therefore in the country, like the Israelites in the -wilderness of Arabia, without knowing where or when we should find a -place of rest. At last we came to a village which belonged to two -landlords. The one part was already leased; but the landlord of the -other could not lease his, because he had still to build a house. Weary -of wandering in winter-time with a whole family, my grandfather resolved -to take a lease of this house, which was still to be built, along with -its appurtenances, and meanwhile, till the house was ready, to make -shift as well as he could. Accordingly we were obliged to take up our -quarters in a barn. The other farmer did all in his power to prevent our -settlement in the place; but it was of no avail. The building was -finished, we took possession, and began to keep house. - -Unfortunately however everything went backward here; nothing would -succeed. An addition came to our misfortunes in my mother's illness. -Being of a very lively temperament and disposed to a life of activity, -she found here the weariness of having nothing to do. This, with her -anxiety about the means of subsistence, threw her into a state of -melancholy, which developed at last into insanity. In this condition she -remained for some months. Everything was tried for her benefit, but -without success. At last my father hit upon the idea of taking her to a -celebrated doctor at Novogrod, who made a specialty of curing mental -disorders. - -The method of cure employed by this specialist is unknown to me, because -I was at the time too young to wish or be able to institute inquiries on -the subject; but so much I can declare with certainty, that in the case -of my mother, as well as most of his patients afflicted with the same -malady, the treatment was followed with success. My mother returned home -fresh and healthy, and from that time she never had an attack of the -same sort. - -Immediately after this I was sent to school at Iwenez, about fifteen -miles from our abode, and here I began to study the Talmud. The study of -the Talmud is the chief object of a learned education among our people. -Riches, bodily advantages, and talents of every kind have indeed in -their eyes a certain worth, and are esteemed in proportion; but nothing -stands among them above the dignity of a good Talmudist. He has the -first claim upon all offices and positions of honour in the community. -If he enters an assembly,--he may be of any age or rank,--every one -rises before him most respectfully, and the most honourable place is -assigned to him. He is director of the conscience, lawgiver and judge -of the common man. He, who does not meet such a scholar with sufficient -respect, is, according to the judgment of the Talmudists, damned to all -eternity. The common man dare not enter upon the most trivial -undertaking, if, in the judgment of the scholar, it is not according to -law. Religious usages, allowed and forbidden meats, marriage and divorce -are determined not only by the rabbinical laws which have already -accumulated to an enormous mass, but also by special rabbinical -judgments which profess to deduce all special cases from the general -laws. A wealthy merchant, farmer or professional man, who has a -daughter, does everything in his power to get a good Talmudist for his -son-in-law. As far as other matters are concerned, the scholar may be as -deformed, diseased, and ignorant as possible, he will still have the -advantage over others. The future father-in-law of such a phoenix is -obliged, at the betrothal, to pay to the parents of the youth a sum -fixed by previous agreement; and besides the dowry for his daughter, he -is further obliged to provide her and her husband with food, clothing, -and lodging, for six or eight years after their marriage, during which -time the interest on the dowry is paid, so that the learned son-in-law -may continue his studies at his father-in-law's expense. After this -period he receives the dowry in hand, and then he is either promoted to -some learned office, or he spends his whole life in learned leisure. In -either case the wife undertakes the management of the household and the -conduct of business; and she is content if only in return for all her -toils she becomes in some measure a partaker of her husband's fame and -future blessedness. - -The study of the Talmud is carried on just as irregularly as that of the -Bible. The language of the Talmud is composed of various Oriental -languages and dialects; there is even many a word in it from Greek and -Latin. There is no dictionary, in which you can turn up the expressions -and phrases met with in the Talmud; and, what is still worse, as the -Talmud is not pointed, you cannot even tell how such words, that are not -pure Hebrew, are to be read. The language of the Talmud, therefore, like -that of the Bible, is learned only through frequent translation; and -this constitutes the _first_ stage in the study of the Talmud. - -When the pupil has been directed for some time in translation by the -teacher, he goes on to the independent reading or explanation of the -Talmud. The teacher gives him a limited portion of the Talmud, -containing within itself a connected argument, as a task in exposition, -which he must perform within a fixed time. The particular expressions -and forms of speech occurring in the passage must either be known by the -pupil from his former lessons, or the teacher, who here takes the place -of a dictionary, explains them to him. But the tenor and the entire -connection of the prescribed passage the pupil is required to bring out -himself; and this constitutes the second stage in the study of the -Talmud. - -Two commentaries, which are commonly printed along with the text, serve -as the chief guides at this point. The author of the one is Rabbi -Solomon Isaac,[19] a man gifted with grammatical and critical knowledge -of language, with extensive and thorough Talmudic insight, and with an -uncommon precision of style. The other is known by the title of -_Tosaphoth (Additions)_, and is the work of several rabbis. Its origin -is very remarkable. A number of the most famous rabbis agreed to study -the Talmud in company. For this purpose each selected a separate -portion, which he studied by himself till he believed that he had fully -comprehended it, and retained it in memory. Afterwards all the rabbis -met, and began to study the Talmud in company according to the order of -its parts. As soon as the first part had been read out, thoroughly -explained, and settled according to the Talmudic Logic, one of the -rabbis produced, from the part of the Talmud with which he was most -familiar, anything that appeared to contradict this passage. Another -then adduced, from the part which he had made thoroughly his own, a -passage which was able to remove this contradiction by means of some -distinction or some qualification unexpressed in the preceding passage. -Sometimes the removal of such a contradiction occasioned another, which -a third rabbi disclosed, and a fourth laboured to remove, till the first -passage was explained harmoniously by all, and made perfectly clear. It -may easily be imagined, what a high degree of subtlety is required to -reduce the Talmud to first principles, from which correct inferences may -be drawn after an uniform method; for the Talmud is a voluminous and -heterogeneous work, in which even the same subject often turns up in -different passages, where it is explained in different ways. - -Besides these two there are several other commentaries which treat the -subject further, and even make corrections on the two just mentioned. -Indeed, every rabbi, if he possesses sufficient acuteness, is to be -viewed as a living commentary on the Talmud. But the highest effort of -the mind is required to prepare a selection from the Talmud or a code of -the laws deducible from it. This implies not only acuteness, but also a -mind in the highest degree systematic. Herein our Maimonides undoubtedly -deserves the first rank, as may be seen from his code, _Jad Hachazekah_. - -The _final_ stage in the study of the Talmud is that of disputation. It -consists in eternally disputing about the book, without end or aim. -Subtlety, loquacity, and impertinence here carry the day. This sort of -study was formerly very common in the Jewish high schools;[20] but in -our times along with the schools it has also fallen into decay. It is a -kind of Talmudic scepticism, and utterly incompatible with any -systematic study directed to some end. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -Joy endureth but a little while. - - -After this digression on the study of the Talmud I return to my story. -As already mentioned, I was sent to school at Iwenez. My father gave me -a letter to the chief rabbi of this place, who was a relation of ours, -requesting him to give me in charge to an able teacher, and to give some -attention to the progress of my studies. He gave me however in charge to -a common schoolmaster, and told me I was to visit him every Sabbath in -order that he might examine me himself. This injunction I punctually -followed; but the arrangement did not continue long; for at one of these -examinations I began to dispute about my lessons and suggest -difficulties, when, without replying to them, the chief rabbi asked me -if I had stated these difficulties to my teacher also. - -"Of course," I replied. - -"And what did he say?" asked the chief rabbi. - -"Nothing to the point," I replied, "except that he enjoined silence on -me, and said, 'A youngster must not be too inquisitive; he must see to -it merely that he understands his lesson, but must not overwhelm his -teacher with questions.'" - -"Ah!" said the chief rabbi, "your teacher is altogether too easy, we -must make a change. I will give you instruction myself. I will do it -merely out of friendship, and I hope that your father will have as -little to say against it as your former teacher. The fee which your -father pays for your education, will be given to your teacher without -deduction." - -In this way I got the chief rabbi for a teacher. He struck out a way of -his own with me. No weekly lessons repeated till they are impressed on -the memory, no tasks which the pupil is obliged to perform for himself, -and in which the course of his thoughts is very often arrested for the -sake of a single word or a figure of speech, which has little to do with -the main subject. His method distinguished itself from all this. He made -me explain something from the Talmud _ex tempore_ in his presence, -conversed with me on the subject, explained to me so much as was -necessary to set my own mind in activity, and by means of questions and -answers turned my attention away from all side-issues to the main -subject, so that in a short time I passed through all the three -above-mentioned stages in the study of the Talmud. - -My father, to whom the chief rabbi gave an account of his plan with me -and of my progress, went beside himself with joy. He returned his -warmest thanks to this excellent man for putting himself to so much -trouble with me out of mere friendship, and that notwithstanding his -delicate state of health, for he was consumptive. But this joy did not -last long; before a half year was ended, the chief rabbi had to betake -himself to his fathers, and I was left like a sheep without a shepherd. - -This was announced to my father, who came and fetched me home. Not, -however, to H----, from which I had been sent to school, but to Mohilna, -about six miles from H----, whither my father had meanwhile removed. -This new change of abode had taken place in the following way. - -Mohilna is a small hamlet in the territory of Prince Radzivil four miles -from Nesvij, his residence. The situation of this place is excellent. -Having the river Niemen on one side, and on the other a large quantity -of the best timber for ships, it is adapted equally for trade and for -shipbuilding. Moreover the district in itself possesses great fertility -and amenity. These facts could not escape the attention of the Prince. -The farmer or _arendant_ of the place, whose family for some generations -had been in possession of this lucrative farm, and had become rich by -means of the shipbuilding trade, and the numerous fine products of the -district, took all possible pains to prevent these great advantages from -being observed, in order that he might be able to enjoy them alone -without being disturbed. But it happened once that the prince was -travelling through the place, and was so taken with its beauty, that he -resolved to make a town of it. He sketched a plan for this, and made an -announcement that the place was to be a _Slabode_; that is, every one -was to be at liberty to settle in the place, and drive any kind of -trade, and was even to be free from all taxes for the first six years. -For a long time, however, this plan was never carried out, owing to all -sorts of intrigues on the part of the arendant, who went so far as even -to bribe the advisers of the prince to turn his attention away from the -subject. - -My father, who saw clearly that the miserable farm of H---- could not -support him and his family, and had been obliged to remain there -hitherto only from want of a better abode, rejoiced very much at the -announcement, because he hoped that Mohilna would offer him a place of -refuge, especially as the arendant was a brother-in-law of my uncle. In -this connection he made a journey to the place with my grandfather, had -a conversation with the arendant, and opened to him his proposal to -settle in Mohilna with his consent. The arendant, who had feared that, -on the announcement of the prince's wish, people would stream in from -all sides, and press him out of his possession, was delighted that at -least the first who settled there was not a stranger, but related to his -family by marriage. He therefore not only gave his consent to the -proposal, but even promised my father all possible assistance. -Accordingly my father removed with his whole family to Mohilna, and had -a small house built for himself there; but till it was ready, the family -were obliged once more to take up their quarters in a barn. - -The arendant, by whom at first we were received in a friendly manner, -had unfortunately meanwhile changed his mind, and found that his fear of -being pressed out of his possession by strangers was wholly without -ground, inasmuch as already a considerable time had passed since the -announcement of the prince's wish, and yet nobody had presented himself -besides my father. The prince, as a Polish chief and _Voivode_ in -Lithuania, was constantly burdened too much with State affairs in -Warsaw, to be able to think on the carrying out of his plan himself; and -his subordinates could be induced by bribes to frustrate the whole plan. -These considerations showed the arendant that the new-comer could not -only be spared, but was even a burden, inasmuch as he had now to share -with another what he had before held in possession alone. He sought -therefore to restrict my father, and to disturb him in his settlement, -as much as possible. With this view he built for himself a splendid -house, and succeeded in obtaining a command from the prince, in -accordance with which none of the newcomers should enjoy the rights of a -burgher till he had built a similar house. My father saw himself -therefore compelled to waste his little fortune, which was indispensably -required for the new arrangements, wholly and solely on this useless -building. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -The Pupil knows more than the Teacher--A theft _à la Rousseau_, which is -discovered--"The ungodly provideth, and the righteous putteth it on." - - -My father's condition had thus externally an improved appearance, but so -much the more doubtful did it appear internally on that account. My -mother, notwithstanding her unwearied activity, was able to make only a -very sorry provision for the family. Accordingly my father was obliged -to seek, in addition to his other duties, a position as teacher, in -which he carried on my education; and I must confess that in this -connection I gave him, on the one hand, much joy, but, on the other -hand, not a little vexation. I was then indeed only about nine years -old; still, I could not only understand the Talmud and its commentaries -correctly, but I even took delight in disputing about it, and in this I -felt a childish pleasure in triumphing over my honest father, whom I -thereby threw into no small perplexity. - -The arendant and my father lived together like neighbours; that is, they -envied and hated each other. The former looked on my father as a -vagrant, who had forced himself upon him, and disturbed him in his -undivided possession of the advantages of the place. My father took the -arendant for a wealthy blockhead, who, against the consent which he had -granted, which my father might have dispensed with altogether and had -sought merely from the love of peace, endeavoured in every way to -restrict him and to narrow his rights, notwithstanding the fact that he -received actual advantages from his settlement. For from this time -Mohilna had acquired a sort of independence, by means of which the -arendant was spared many expenses and depreciations. There was also a -small synagogue erected, and my father took the position of chief rabbi, -preacher, and director of the conscience, as he was the only scholar in -the place. He lost, indeed, no opportunity of representing all this to -the arendant, and making complaints of his conduct; but unfortunately -this was of little use. - -I must take this opportunity of mentioning the only theft which I ever -perpetrated in my life. I often went to the house of the arendant, and -played with his children. Once, when I entered a room and found no one -there, it being summer and the people of the house all busy out of -doors, I spied in an open closet a neat little medicine-box which -appeared to me uncommonly charming. When I opened it, I found, to my -very great sorrow, some money in it; for it belonged to one of the -children of the house. I could not resist the desire to carry off the -little box; but to take the money seemed to me in the highest degree -shameful. But when I considered that the theft would be all the more -easily discovered if I put the money out, full of fear and shame I took -the box as it was and thrust it in my pocket. I went home with it, and -buried it very carefully. The night following I could not sleep, and was -disquieted in conscience, especially on account of the money. I -resolved, therefore, to take it back; but in regard to the little box, I -could not conquer myself: it was a work of art, the like of which I had -never seen before. The next day I emptied the box of its contents, slunk -with them into the room already mentioned, and waited for an opportunity -when nobody was there. I was already engaged in smuggling the money into -the closet; but I had so little skill in doing this without noise and -with the necessary despatch, that I was caught in the act, and forced to -a confession of the whole theft. I was obliged to dig up again the -valuable work of art,--it must have cost about a quarter of a -groschen,--to return it to its owner, little Moses, and to hear myself -called _thief_ by the children of the house. - -Another incident, which happened to me and had a comical issue, was the -following. The Russians had been quartered for some time in Mohilna, and -as they obtained new mountings, they were allowed to sell the old. My -eldest brother Joseph and my cousin Beer applied to Russian -acquaintances of theirs, and received in a present some brass buttons, -which, being considered a fine decoration, they got sewed on to their -hose instead of the wooden buttons they had before. I also was -delighted with the decoration; but as I had not the skill to furnish -myself by my own diligence, I was compelled to make use of force. I -applied, therefore, to my father, and demanded that Joseph and Beer -should be required to share their buttons with me. My father, who, -indeed, was extremely fair, but still was fond of me above everything, -said that the buttons were, of course, the rightful property of their -owners, but that, as these had more than they required for their own -wants, it was but fair that they should give me some of those that they -did not require. To my commendation and their confusion he added the -passage of the Bible, "The ungodly provideth, and the righteous putteth -it on."[21] This decision had to be carried out in spite of the protest -of Joseph and Beer; and I had the pleasure of also shining in brass -buttons on my hose. - -Joseph and Beer however could not get over their loss. They complained -loudly of the impious wrong which had been done to them. My father, who -wished to get rid of the affair, told them therefore, that, as the -buttons had been already sewed on to Solomon's hose, they must not use -force, but that, if they could get them back again by stratagem, they -were at liberty to do so. Both were pleased with this decision. They -came to me, looked at my buttons, and both at once exclaimed in -astonishment, "Oh! what is that we see? Buttons sewed on to cloth hose -with linen instead of hemp thread! They must be taken off at once." -While they were speaking, they took off all the buttons, and went off -with joy over their successful stratagem. I ran after them, and demanded -that they should sew the buttons on again; but they laughed me to scorn. -My father said to me smiling at this, "Since you are so credulous, and -allow yourself to be deceived, I cannot help you any longer; I hope you -will be wiser in the future." With this the affair came to an end. I was -obliged to content myself with wooden buttons, and to have often -repeated to my mortification by Joseph and Beer, the biblical passage, -which my father had used to my advantage, "The ungodly provideth, and -the righteous putteth it on." - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals--The Song of Solomon may be used -in Matchmaking--A new _Modus Lucrand_i--Smallpox. - - -In my youth I was very lively, and had in my nature a good deal that was -agreeable. In my passions I was violent and impatient. Till about my -eleventh year, as I had the benefit of a very strict education, and was -kept from all intercourse with women, I never traced any special -inclination towards the fair sex. But an incident produced in me a great -change in this respect. - -A poor, but very pretty, girl about my own age was taken into our house -as a servant. She charmed me uncommonly. Desires began to stir in me, -which till this time I had never known. But in accordance with the -strict rabbinical morals, I was obliged to keep on my guard against -looking on the girl with attentive gaze, and still more against speaking -with her, so that I was able only now and then to throw at her a stolen -glance. - -It happened once however that the women of the house were going to -bathe, which by the usage of the country they are accustomed to do two -or three times a week. By chance my instinct drove me without -reflection towards the place where they bathed; and there I suddenly -perceived this beautiful girl, as she stepped out of the steam-bath and -plunged into the river flowing by. At this sight I fell into a sort of -rapture. After my feelings had calmed down again, being mindful of the -strict Talmudic laws, I wished to flee. But I could not; I remained -standing, as if rooted in the spot. As I dreaded however lest I might be -surprised here, I was obliged to return with a heavy heart. From that -time I became restless, was sometimes beside myself; and this state -continued till my marriage. - -Our neighbour, the arendant, had two sons and three daughters. The -eldest daughter, Deborah, was already married. The second, Pessel, was -about my age; the peasantry of the place professed to find even a -certain resemblance in our features, and therefore, in accordance with -all the laws of probability, conjectured that there would be a match -between us. We formed also a mutual affection. But by ill luck the -youngest daughter, Rachel, had to fall into a cellar and dislocated one -of her legs. She herself, indeed, completely recovered, but the leg -remained somewhat crooked. The arendant then started a hunt after me; he -was absolutely determined to have me for a son-in-law. My father was -quite agreeable, but he wished to have for his daughter-in-law the -straight-legged Pessel rather than Rachel of the crooked leg. The -arendant however declared that this was impracticable, inasmuch as he -had fixed on a rich husband for the elder, while the youngest was -destined for me; and as my father was unable to give me anything, he was -willing to provide for her richly out of his own fortune. Besides a -considerable sum which he agreed to give as a portion, he was willing in -addition to make me a joint-heir of his fortune, and to provide me with -all necessaries the whole of my life. Moreover he promised to pay my -father a fixed sum immediately after the betrothal, and not only to -leave him undisturbed in his rights, but also to try and promote his -domestic happiness in every possible way. The feuds between the two -families were to cease from this time, and a league of friendship was to -unite them for the future into one family. - -Had my father lent an ear to these representations, he would without -doubt have established the fortune of his house, and I should have lived -with a spouse, who, it is true, had a crooked leg, but (as I found out -some time afterwards when I was tutor in her family) was in other -respects an amiable woman. I should thus have been freed from all cares -in the midst of good fortune, and I should have been able to apply -myself without hindrance to my studies. But unhappily my father rejected -this proposal with scorn. He was absolutely determined to have Pessel -for his daughter-in-law; and since this, as already mentioned, was -impracticable, the feuds between the two families broke out afresh. But -as the arendant was rich, and my father was a poor man, the latter was -necessarily always the loser. - -Some time afterwards another matrimonial proposal for me turned up. Mr. -L---- of Schmilowitz, a learned and at the same time a rich man, who had -an only daughter, was so enchanted with my fame, that he chose me for -his son-in-law without having seen me before. He began by entering into -correspondence with my father on the subject, and left it to him to -prescribe the conditions of the union. My father answered his letter in -lofty style, made up of Biblical verses and passages from the Talmud, in -which he expressed the conditions briefly by means of the following -verses from the Canticles, "The thousand gulden are for thee, O Solomon, -and the two hundred for those who keep his fruits."[22] Consent was -given to everything. - -My father accordingly made a journey to Schmilowitz, saw his future -daughter-in-law, and had the marriage-contract drawn in accordance with -the terms agreed upon. Two hundred gulden were paid to him on the spot. -With this, however, he was not content, but insisted that in his letter -he had been obliged to limit himself to two hundred gulden merely for -the sake of the beautiful verse which he did not wish to spoil; but he -would not enter into the transaction at all unless he received for -himself twice two hundred gulden (fifty thalers in Polish money). They -had therefore to pay him two hundred gulden more, and to hand over to -him the so-called little presents for me, namely, a cap of black velvet -trimmed with gold lace, a Bible bound in green velvet with silver -clasps, etc. With these things he came home full of joy, gave me the -presents, and told me that I was to prepare myself for a disputation to -be held on my marriage day, which would be in two months' time. - -Already my mother had begun to bake the cakes she was expected to take -with her to the wedding, and to prepare all sorts of preserves; I began -also to think about the disputation I was to hold, when suddenly the -mournful news arrived that my bride had died of smallpox. My father -could easily reconcile himself to this loss, because he thought to -himself that he had made fifty thalers by his son in an honourable way, -and that now he could get fifty thalers for him again. I also, who had -never seen my bride, could not particularly mourn her loss; I thought to -myself, "The cap and the silver-clasped Bible are already mine, and a -bride will also not be awanting long, while my disputation can serve me -again." My mother alone was inconsolable about this loss. Cakes and -preserves are of a perishable nature and will not keep long. The labour -which my mother had expended was therefore rendered fruitless by this -fatal accident; and to this must be added, that she could find no place -to keep the delicious cakes from my secret attacks. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -I become an object of contention, get two wives at once, and am -kidnapped at last. - - -Meanwhile the domestic circumstances of my father became every day -worse. He saw himself, therefore, compelled to make a journey to the -town of Nesvij, and apply for a position as teacher there, whither I -also had to follow him. Here he opened under favourable conditions a -school of his own, in which he could employ me as assistant. - -A widow, celebrated for her superior talents, as well as for her -Xanthippe-like character, kept a public-house at the extremity of one of -the suburbs. She had a daughter who yielded to her in none of the -above-mentioned qualities, and who was indispensable to her in the -management of the house. Madam Rissia, (this was the widow's name), -excited by my constantly increasing reputation, fixed on me as a husband -for her daughter Sarah. Her family represented to her the impossibility -of carrying out this plan; first, my father's pride, and the demands -which he would therefore make, and which she could never satisfy; then -my fame, which had already excited the attention of the most prominent -and wealthy people of the town; and finally, the moderate character of -her own fortune, which was far from sufficient to carry out such a -proposal. All these representations, however, were of no avail with her. -She had once for all taken it into her head, to have me for a -son-in-law, let it cost her what it might; and she thought, the devil -would needs be in it, if she could not get the young man. - -She sent a proposal to my father, let him have no rest the whole time he -was in the town, discussed the matter with him herself on various -occasions, and promised to satisfy all his demands. My father, however, -sought to gain time for deliberation, and to put off the question for a -while. But the time came when we were to return home. My father went -with me to the widow's house, which was the last on our road, in order -to wait for a conveyance which started from that place. Madam Rissia -made use of the opportunity, began to caress me, introduced my bride, -and asked me how I was pleased with her. At last she pressed for a -decisive answer from my father. He was still always holding back, -however, and sought in every possible way to represent the difficulties -connected with the subject. - -While they were thus treating with one another, suddenly there burst -into the room the chief rabbi, the preacher, and the elders of the -place, with many of the most respectable people. This sudden appearance -was brought about without any magic in the following way. These -gentlemen had been invited to a circumcision at the house of a prominent -man in this very suburb. Madam Rissia, who knew this very well, sent her -son at once to the house with an invitation to the whole company to -come, immediately after rising from table, to a betrothal at her house. -They came therefore half intoxicated; and as they believed nothing else -than that all the preliminaries of the marriage-contract had been -settled, and that nothing was awanting but to write out and subscribe -the contract, they sat down to table, set my father in the midst, and -the chief rabbi began to dictate the contract to the scribe of the -community. - -My father assured them that on the main point nothing had yet been -decided, and that still less had the preliminary articles been settled. -The chief rabbi fell into a passion at this, for he supposed that it was -only a quibble, and that his sacred person and the whole honourable -company were being made sport of. He turned therefore to the company, -and said with a haughty air, "Who is this Rabbi Joshua, who makes -himself of so much consequence?" My father replied, "The Rabbi is here -superfluous. I am, 'tis true, a common man; but I believe, no man can -dispute my right to care for the welfare of my son, and to place his -future happiness on a firm footing." - -The chief rabbi was greatly offended with the ambiguity of the -expression, "The Rabbi is here superfluous." He saw clearly that he had -no right to lay down laws to my father in the matter, and that it was a -piece of rashness on the part of Madam Rissia to invite a company to a -betrothal before the parties were agreed on the preliminary articles. He -began therefore to strike a lower tone. He represented to my father the -advantages of this match, the high ancestry of the bride, (her -grandfather, father, and uncle, having been learned men, and chief -rabbis), her personal attractions, and the willingness and ability of -Madam Rissia to satisfy all his demands. - -My father, who in fact had nothing to say against all this, was -compelled to yield. The marriage-contract was made out, and in it Madam -Rissia made over to her daughter her public-house with all its -belongings as a bridal portion, and came under an obligation also to -board and clothe the newly-married couple for six years. Besides I -received as a present the entire work of the Talmud with its -appurtenances, together worth two or three hundred thalers,[23] and a -number of other gifts. My father came under no obligation at all, and in -addition received fifty thalers in cash. Very wisely he had refused to -accept a bill for this sum; it had to be paid to him before the -betrothal. - -After all this had been arranged, there was a capital entertainment, and -the brandy bottle was vigorously plied. The very next day my father and -I went home. My mother-in-law promised to send after us as soon as -possible the so-called little presents and the articles of clothing for -me, which in the hurry she had not been able to get ready. Many weeks -however passed without our hearing or seeing anything of these. My -father was perplexed about this; and as the character of my -mother-in-law had long been suspicious to him, he could think nothing -else than that this intriguing woman was seeking some subterfuge to -escape from her burdensome contract. He resolved therefore to repay like -with like. - -The following circumstance strengthened him in this resolve. A rich -arendant, who used to bring spirits to Nesvij for sale, and to lodge in -our house on his journey through Mohilna, likewise cast his eye upon me. -He had an only daughter, for whom he fixed on me in his thoughts as a -husband. He knew however what difficulties he would have to overcome, if -he were to treat on the subject directly with my father. He chose -therefore an indirect way. His plan was to make my father his debtor; -and as his critical circumstances would make it impossible for him to -clear off the debt, he expected to force him, as it were, to consent to -this union with the view of wiping out the debt by means of the amount -stipulated for the son. He offered my father therefore some barrels of -spirits on credit, and the offer was accepted with delight. - -As the date of payment approached, Hersch Dukor (this was the name of -the arendant) came and reminded my father. The latter assured him, that -at the moment he was not in a position to clear off the debt, and begged -him to have patience with him for some time yet. "Herr Joshua," said the -arendant, "I will speak with you quite frankly on this matter. Your -circumstances are growing daily worse; and if no fortunate accident -occurs, I do not see any possibility of your being able to clear off -your debt. The best thing for us both therefore is this. You have a son, -and I have a daughter who is the sole heiress of all my property. Let us -enter into an alliance. By this means not only will your debt be wiped -out, but a sum to be fixed by yourself will be paid in addition, and I -shall take a general care to improve your circumstances so far as lies -in my power." - -No one could be more joyous over this proposal than my father. -Immediately a contract was closed, in which the bride's dowry, as well -as the required presents, was decided in accordance with my father's -suggestion. The bill for the debt, which amounted to fifty thalers in -Polish money, was returned to my father, and torn on the spot, while -fifty thalers in addition were paid to him. - -Thereupon my new father-in-law went on to Nesvij to collect some debts -there. Unfortunately he had to lodge at my former mother-in-law's. She, -being a great prattler, told him of her own accord about the good match -which her daughter had made. "The father of the bridegroom," said she, -"is himself a great scholar, and the bridegroom is a young man of eleven -years, who has scarcely his equal." - -"I also," replied the arendant, "have, thank God, made a good choice for -my daughter. You have perhaps heard of the celebrated scholar, Rabbi -Joshua, in Mohilna, and of his young son, Solomon: he is my daughter's -bridegroom." - -Scarcely had these words been spoken, when she cried out, "That is a -confounded lie. Solomon is my daughter's bridegroom; and here, sir, is -the marriage-contract." - -The arendant then showed her his contract too; and they fell into a -dispute, the result of which was that Madam Rissia had my father -summoned before the court to give a categorical explanation. My father, -however, did not put in an appearance, although she had him summoned -twice. - -Meanwhile my mother died, and was brought to Nesvij for burial. My -mother-in-law obtained from the court an attachment on the dead body, by -which its interment was interdicted till the termination of the suit. My -father therefore saw himself compelled to appear in court, my -mother-in-law of course gained the suit, and I became again the -bridegroom of my former bride. And now to prevent any similar reversal -of her plans in the future, and to take from my father all occasion for -it, my mother-in-law endeavoured to satisfy all his demands in -accordance with her promise, clothed me from top to toe, and even paid -my father for my board from the date of the betrothal to the marriage. -My mother also was now buried, and we returned home again. - -My second father-in-law came too, and called upon my father for the -ratification of his contract. He however pointed out that it was null -and void, as it contravened a previous contract, and had been made by -him merely in the supposition that my mother-in-law had no intention of -fulfilling hers. The arendant seemed to give an ear to these -representations, to yield to necessity, and reconcile himself to his -loss; but in reality he was thinking of some means to get me into his -hands. Accordingly he rose by night, yoked his horses, took me in -silence from the table on which I was sleeping, packed me with all -despatch into his carriage, and made off with his booty out at the gate. -But as this could not be accomplished without some noise, the people in -the house awoke, discovered the theft, pursued the kidnapper, and -snatched me out of his hand. To me the whole incident appeared at the -time like a dream. - -In this way my father was released from his debt, and got fifty thalers -besides as a gratuity; but I was immediately afterwards carried off by -my legal mother-in-law, and made the husband of my legal bride. I must -of course confess that this transaction of my father's cannot be quite -justified in a moral point of view. Only his great need at the time can -in some measure serve as an excuse. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -My Marriage in my Eleventh Year makes me the Slave of my Wife, and -procures for me Cudgellings from my Mother-in-law--A Ghost of Flesh and -Blood. - - -On the first evening of my marriage my father was not present. As he -told me at my departure that he had still to settle some articles on my -account, and therefore I was to wait for his arrival, I refused, in -spite of all the efforts that were made, to appear that evening. -Nevertheless the marriage festivities went on. We waited the next day -for my father, but still he did not come. They then threatened to bring -a party of soldiers to drag me to the marriage ceremony; but I gave them -for an answer, that, if this were done, it would help them little, for -the ceremony would not be lawful except as a voluntary act. At last, to -the joy of all interested, my father arrived towards evening, the -articles referred to were amended, and the marriage ceremony was -performed. - -Here I must mention a little anecdote. I had read in a Hebrew book of an -approved plan for a husband to secure lordship over his better half for -life. He was to tread on her foot at the marriage ceremony; and if both -hit on the stratagem, the first to succeed would retain the upper hand. -Accordingly, when my bride and I were placed side by side at the -ceremony this trick occurred to me, and I said to myself, Now you must -not let the opportunity pass of securing for your whole lifetime -lordship over your wife. I was just going to tread on her foot, but a -certain _Je ne sais quoi_, whether fear, shame, or love, held me back. -While I was in this irresolute state, all at once I felt the slipper of -my wife on my foot with such an impression that I should almost have -screamed aloud if I had not been checked by shame. I took this for a bad -omen and said to myself, Providence has destined you to be the slave of -your wife, you must not try to slip out of her fetters. From my -faint-heartedness and the heroic mettle of my wife, the reader may -easily conceive why this prophecy had to be actually realised. - -I stood, however, not only under the slipper of my wife, but--what was -very much worse--under the lash of my mother-in-law. Nothing of all that -she had promised was fulfilled. Her house, which she had settled on her -daughter as a dowry, was burdened with debt. Of the six years' board -which she had promised me I enjoyed scarcely half a year's, and this -amid constant brawls and squabbles. She even, trusting to my youth and -want of spirit, ventured now and then to lay hands on me, but this I -repaid not infrequently with compound interest. Scarcely a meal passed -during which we did not fling at each other's head, bowls, plates, -spoons, and similar articles. - -Once I came home from the academy extremely hungry. As my mother-in-law -and wife were occupied with the business of the public house, I went -myself into the room where the milk was kept; and as I found a dish of -curds and cream, I fell upon it, and began to eat. My mother-in-law came -as I was thus occupied, and screamed in rage, "You are not going to -devour the milk with the cream!" The more cream the better, thought I, -and went on eating, without disturbing myself by her cry. She was going -to wrest the dish forcibly from my hands, beat me with her fists, and -let me feel all her ill-will. Exasperated by such treatment, I pushed -her from me, seized the dish, and smashed it on her head. That was a -sight! The curds ran down all over her. She seized in rage a piece of -wood, and if I had not cleared out in all haste, she would certainly -have beat me to death. - -Scenes like this occurred very often. At such skirmishes of course my -wife had to remain neutral, and whichever party gained the upper hand, -it came home to her very closely. "Oh!" she often complained, "if only -the one or the other of you had a little more patience!" - -Tired of a ceaseless open war I once hit upon a stratagem, which had a -good effect for a short time at least. I rose about midnight, took a -large vessel of earthenware, crept with it under my mother-in-law's bed, -and began to speak aloud into the vessel after the following -fashion:--"O Rissia, Rissia, you ungodly woman, why do you treat my -beloved son so ill? If you do not mend your ways, your end is near, and -you will be damned to all eternity." Then I crept out again, and began -to pinch her cruelly; and after a while I slipped silently back to bed. - -The following morning she got up in consternation, and told my wife, -that my mother had appeared to her in a dream, and had threatened and -pinched her on my account. In confirmation she showed the blue marks on -her arm. When I came from the synagogue, I did not find my mother-in-law -at home, but found my wife in tears. I asked the reason, but she would -tell me nothing. My mother-in-law returned with dejected look, and eyes -red with weeping. She had gone, as I afterwards learned, to the Jewish -place of burial, thrown herself on my mother's grave, and begged for -forgiveness of her fault. She then had the burial place measured, and -ordered a wax-light as long as its circumference, for burning in the -synagogue. She also fasted the whole day, and towards me showed herself -extremely amiable. - -I knew of course what was the cause of all this, but acted as if I did -not observe it, and rejoiced in secret over the success of my stratagem. -In this manner I had peace for some time, but unfortunately it did not -last long. The whole was soon forgotten again, and on the slightest -occasion the dance went on as before. In short, I was soon afterwards -obliged to leave the house altogether, and accept a position as a -private tutor. Only on the great feast-days I used to come home. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -The Secrets of the Marriage State--Prince Radzivil,[24] or what is not -all allowed in Poland? - - -In my fourteenth year I had my eldest son, David. At my marriage I was -only eleven years old, and owing to the retired life common among people -of our nation in those regions, as well as the want of mutual -intercourse between the two sexes, I had no idea of the essential duties -of marriage, but looked on a pretty girl as on any other work of nature -or art, somewhat as on the pretty medicine-box that I stole. It was -therefore natural that for a considerable time after marriage I could -not have any thought about the fulfilment of its duties. I used to -approach my wife with trembling as a mysterious object. It was therefore -supposed that I had been bewitched at the time of the wedding; and under -this supposition I was brought to a witch to be cured. She took in hand -all sorts of operations, which of course had a good effect, although -indirectly through the help of the imagination. - -My life in Poland from my marriage to my emigration, which period -embraces the springtime of my existence, was a series of manifold -miseries with a want of all means for the promotion of culture, and, -necessarily connected with that, an aimless application of my powers, in -the description of which the pen drops from my hands, and the painful -memories of which I strive to stifle.[25] - -The general constitution of Poland at the time; the condition of our -people in it, who, like the poor ass with the double burden, are -oppressed by their own ignorance and the religious prejudices connected -therewith, as well as by the ignorance and prejudices of the ruling -classes; the misfortunes of my own family;--all these causes combined to -hinder me in the course of my development, and to check the effect of my -natural disposition. - -The Polish nation, under which I comprehend merely the Polish nobility, -is of a very mixed kind. Only the very few have an opportunity of -culture by means of upbringing, instruction, and well-directed travels, -by which they can best promote at once their own welfare and that of -their tenantry. Most of them, on the other hand, spend their lives in -ignorance and immorality, and become the sport of their extravagant -passions, which are ruinous to their tenants. They make a display with -titles and orders, which they disgrace by their actions; they own many -estates which they do not understand how to manage, and they are at -perpetual feud with one another, so that the kingdom must of necessity -become the prey of its neighbours, who are envious of its greatness. - -Prince Radzivil was, as Hettmann in Poland and Voivode in Lithuania, one -of the greatest magnates, and as occupant of three inheritances in his -family owned immense estates. He was not without a certain kindness of -heart and good sense; but, through neglected training and a want of -instruction, he became one of the most extravagant princes that ever -lived. From want of occupation, which was a necessary consequence of -neglect in cultivating his tastes and widening his knowledge, he gave -himself up to drinking, by which he was tempted to the most ridiculous -and insane actions. Without any particular inclination for it he -abandoned himself to the most shameful sensuality; and without being -cruel, he exercised towards his dependents the greatest cruelties. - -He supported at great cost an army of ten thousand men, which was used -for no purpose in the world except display; and during the troubles in -Poland he took, without knowing why, the part of the Confederates. By -this means he got himself encumbered with the friendship of the -Russians, who plundered his estates, and plunged his tenants into the -greatest destitution and misery. He himself was obliged several times to -flee from the country, and to leave as booty for his enemies treasures -which had been the gathering of many generations. - -Who can describe all the excesses he perpetrated? A few examples will, I -believe, be sufficient to give the reader some idea of them. A certain -respect for my former prince does not allow me to consider his faults as -anything but faults of temperament and education, which deserve rather -our pity than our hatred and contempt. - -When he passed through a street, which he commonly did with the whole -pomp of his court, his bands of music and soldiers, no man, at the peril -of his life, durst show himself in the street; and even in the houses -people were by no means safe. The poorest, dirtiest peasant-woman, who -came in his way, he would order up into his carriage beside himself. - -Once he sent for a respectable Jewish barber, who, suspecting nothing -but that he was wanted for some surgical operation, brought his -instruments with him, and appeared before the prince. - -"Have you brought your instruments with you?" he was asked. - -"Yes, Serene Highness," he replied. - -"Then," said the prince, "give me a lancet, and I will open one of your -veins." - -The poor barber had to submit. The prince seized the lancet; and as he -did not know how to go about the operation, and besides his hand -trembled as a result of his hard drinking, of course he wounded the -barber in a pitiable manner. But his courtiers smiled their applause, -and praised his great skill in surgery. - -He went one day into a church, and being so drunk that he did not know -where he was, he stood against the altar, and commenced to ----. All who -were present became horrified. Next morning when he was sober, the -clergy brought to his mind the misdeed he had committed the day before. -"Eh!" said the prince, "we will soon make that good." Thereupon he -issued a command to the Jews of the place, to provide at their own -expense, fifty stone of wax for burning in the church. The poor Jews -were therefore obliged to bring a sin-offering for the desecration of a -Christian Church by an orthodox Catholic Christian. - -He once took it into his head to drive on the wall round the town. But -as the wall was too narrow for a coach with six horses,--and he never -drove in any other,--his hussars were obliged, with much labour and -peril of their lives, to carry the coach with their hands till he had -driven round the town in this way. - -Once he drove with the whole pomp of his court to a Jewish synagogue, -and, without any one to this day knowing the reason, committed the -greatest havoc, smashed windows and stoves, broke all the vessels, threw -on the ground the copies of the Holy Scriptures kept in the ark, and so -forth. A learned, pious Jew, who was present, ventured to lift one of -these copies from the ground, and had the honour of being struck with a -musket-ball by His Serene Highness' own hand. From here the train went -to a second synagogue, where the same conduct was repeated, and from -there they proceeded to the Jewish burial-place, where the buildings -were demolished, and the monuments cast into the fire. - -Can it be conceived, that a prince could show himself so malicious -towards his own poor subjects, whom he was in a position to punish -legally whenever they really did anything amiss? Yet this is what -happened here. - -On one occasion he took it into his head to make a trip to Mohilna, a -hamlet belonging to him, which lay four short miles from his Residence. -This had to be done with his usual suite and all the pomp of his court. -On the morning of the appointed day the train went forth. First marched -the army in order according to its usual regimental -divisions,--infantry, artillery, cavalry, and so on. Then followed his -bodyguard, Strelitzi, consisting of volunteers from the poor nobility. -After them came his kitchen-waggons, in which Hungarian wine had not -been forgotten. These were followed by the music of his janissaries, and -other bands. Then came his coach, and last of all his satraps. I give -them this name, because I can compare this train with no other than that -of Darius in the war against Alexander. Towards evening His Serene -Highness arrived at our public house in the suburb of the town which was -His Serene Highness' Residence, Nesvij. I cannot say that he arrived in -his own high person, for the Hungarian wine had robbed him of all -consciousness, in which alone of course personality rests. He was -carried into the house and thrown with all his clothes, booted and -spurred, on to my mother-in-law's dirty bed, without giving it a supply -of clean linen. - -As usual, I had to take to flight. My Amazons, however, I mean my -mother-in-law and my wife, trusted to their heroic mettle, and remained -at home alone. Riot went on the whole night. In the very room where His -Serene Highness slept, wood was chopped, cooking and baking were done. -It was well known that, when His Serene Highness slept, nothing could -waken his high person except perhaps the trumpet of the Judgment-Day. -The next morning, when he wakened, and looked around, he scarcely knew -whether to trust his eyes, when he found himself in a wretched -public-house, thrown on to a dirty bed swarming with bugs. His valets, -pages, and negroes waited on his commands. He asked how he had come -there, and was answered, that His Serene Highness had yesterday -commenced a journey to Mohilna, but had halted here to take rest, that -his whole train had meanwhile gone on, and had undoubtedly arrived in -Mohilna by this time. - -The journey to Mohilna was for the present given up, and the whole train -ordered back. They returned accordingly to the Residence in the usual -order and pomp. But the prince was pleased to hold a great banquet in -our public-house. All the foreign gentlemen, who happened to be in the -place at the time, were invited. The service used on the occasion was of -gold, and it is impossible adequately to realise the contrast which -reigned here in one house, between Asiatic splendour and Lappish -poverty. In a miserable public-house, whose walls were black as coal -with smoke and soot, whose rafters were supported by undressed round -stems of trees, whose windows consisted of some fragments of broken -panes of bad glass, and small strips of pine covered with paper,--in -this house sat princes on dirty benches at a still dirtier table, and -had the choicest dishes and the finest wines served to them on gold -plate. - -Before the banquet the prince took a stroll with the other gentlemen in -front of the house, and by chance observed my wife. She was then in the -bloom of her youth; and although I am now separated from her, still I -must do her the justice to allow that--leaving, of course, out of -account all that taste and art contribute to the heightening of a -person's charms, inasmuch as these had had no influence on her--she was -a beauty of the first rank. It was therefore natural that she should -please the prince. He turned to his companions, and said, "Really a -pretty young woman! Only she ought to get a white chemise." This was a -common signal with him, and meant as much as the throwing of a -handkerchief by the Grand Sultan. When these gentlemen therefore heard -it, they became solicitous for the honour of my wife, and gave her a -hint to clear out as fast as possible. She took the hint, slipped -silently out, and was soon over the hills and far away. - -After the banquet His Serene Highness proceeded again with the other -gentlemen into town amid trumpets, kettle-drums, and the music of his -janissaries. Then the usual order of the day was followed; that is, a -carousal was carried on the whole afternoon and evening, and then the -party went to a pleasure-house at the entrance to the prince's -zoological garden, where fire-works were set off at great expense, but -usually with accidents. As every goblet was drained, cannons were fired; -but the poor cannoneers, who knew better how to handle the plough than -the cannon, were not seldom injured. "Vivat Kschondsie Radzivil," that -is, "Long live Prince Radzivil," shouted the guests. The palm in this -Bacchanalian sport was of course awarded to the prince; and those who -awarded it were loaded by him with presents, not in perishable coin or -golden snuff-boxes or anything of that sort, but in real estate with -many hundred peasants. At the close a concert was given, during which -His Serene Highness fell gently asleep, and was carried to the castle. - -The expenses of such extravagance were of course extorted from the poor -tenantry. If this was not sufficient, debts were contracted, and estates -sold to wipe them out. Not even the twelve golden statues in -life-size,--whether they represented the twelve apostles or the twelve -giants, I do not know,--nor the golden table which had been made for -himself, were spared on such emergencies. And thus the noble estates of -this great prince were diminished, his treasures which had accumulated -during many generations were exhausted, and his tenants----But I must -break off. - -The prince died not long ago without heirs of his body. His brother's -son inherited the estates. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless Struggles with Misery of -every kind. - - -By means of the instruction received from my father, but still more by -my own industry, I had got on so well, that in my eleventh year I was -able to pass as a full rabbi. Besides I possessed some disconnected -knowledge in history, astronomy, and other mathematical sciences. I -burned with desire to acquire more knowledge, but how was this to be -accomplished in the want of guidance, of scientific books, and of all -other means for the purpose? I was obliged therefore to content myself -with making use of any help that I could by chance obtain, without plan -or method. - -In order to gratify my desire of scientific knowledge, there were no -means available but that of learning foreign languages. But how was I to -begin? To learn Polish or Latin with a Catholic teacher was for me -impossible, on the one hand because the prejudices of my own people -prohibited to me all languages but Hebrew, and all sciences but the -Talmud and the vast array of its commentators, on the other hand because -the prejudices of Catholics would not allow them to give instruction in -those matters to a Jew. Moreover I was in very low temporal -circumstances. I was obliged to support a whole family by teaching, by -correcting proofs of the Holy Scriptures, and by other work of a similar -kind. For a long time therefore I had to sigh in vain for the -satisfaction of my natural inclination. - -At last a fortunate accident came to my help. I observed in some stout -Hebrew volumes, that they contained several alphabets, and that the -number of their sheets was indicated not merely by Hebrew letters, but -that for this purpose the characters of a second and a third alphabet -had also been employed, these being commonly Latin and German letters. -Now, I had not the slightest idea of printing. I generally imagined that -books were printed like linen, and that each page was an impression from -a separate form. I presumed however that the characters, which stood in -similar places, must represent one and the same letter, and as I had -already heard something of the order of the alphabet in these languages, -I supposed that, for example, _a_, standing in the same place as -_aleph_, must likewise be an aleph in sound. In this way I gradually -learnt the Latin and German characters. - -By a kind of deciphering I began to combine various German letters into -words; but as the characters used along with the Hebrew letters might be -something quite different from these, I remained always doubtful -whether the whole of my labour in this operation would not be in vain, -till fortunately some leaves of an old German book fell into my hand. I -began to read. How great were my joy and surprise, when I saw from the -connection, that the words completely corresponded with those which I -had learned. 'Tis true, in my Jewish language many of the words were -unintelligible; but from the connection I was still able, with the -omission of these words, to comprehend the whole pretty well.[26] - -This mode of learning by deciphering constitutes still my peculiar -method of comprehending and judging the thoughts of others; and I -maintain that no one can say he understands a book, as long as he finds -himself compelled to deliver the thoughts of the author in the order and -connection determined by him, and with the expressions which he has -used. This is a mere work of memory, and no man can flatter himself with -having comprehended an author till he is roused by his thoughts, which -he apprehends at first but dimly, to reflect on the subject himself, -and to work it out for himself, though it may be under the impulse of -another. This distinction between different kinds of understanding must -be evident to any man of discernment.--For the same reason also I can -understand a book only when the thoughts which it contains harmonise -after filling up the gaps between them. - -I still always felt a want which I was not able to fill. I could not -completely satisfy my desire of scientific knowledge. Up to this time -the study of the Talmud was still my chief occupation. With this however -I found pleasure merely in view of its form, for this calls into action -the higher powers of the mind; but I took no interest in its matter. It -affords exercise in deducing the remotest consequences from their -principles, in discovering the most hidden contradictions, in hunting -out the finest distinctions, and so forth. But as the principles -themselves have merely an imaginary reality, they cannot by any means -satisfy a soul thirsting after knowledge. - -I looked around therefore for something, by which I could supply this -want. Now, I knew that there is a so-called science, which is somewhat -in vogue among the Jewish scholars of this district, namely the -Cabbalah, which professes to enable a man, not merely to satisfy his -desire of knowledge, but also to reach an uncommon perfection and -closeness of communion with God. Naturally therefore I burned with -desire for this science. As however it cannot, on account of its -sacredness, be publicly taught, but must be taught in secret, I did not -know where to seek the initiated or their writings. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a Physician. - - -Cabbalah,--to treat of this divine science somewhat more in -detail,--means, in the wider sense of the term, _tradition_; and it -comprehends, not only the occult sciences which may not be publicly -taught, but also the method of deducing new laws from the laws that are -given in the Holy Scriptures, as also some fundamental laws which are -said to have been delivered orally to Moses on Mount Sinai. In the -narrower sense of the term, however, Cabbalah means only the tradition -of occult sciences. This is divided into _theoretical_ and _practical_ -Cabbalah. The former comprehends the doctrines of God, of His attributes -which are expressed by means of His manifold names, of the origin of the -world through a gradual limitation of His infinite perfection, and of -the relation of all things to His supreme essence. The latter is the -doctrine which teaches how to work upon nature at pleasure by means of -those manifold names of God, which represent various modes of working -upon, and relations to, natural objects. These sacred names are -regarded, not as merely arbitrary, but as _natural_ signs, so that all -that is done with these signs must have an influence on the object which -they represent. - -Originally the Cabbalah was nothing but psychology, physics, morals, -politics, and such sciences, represented by means of symbols and -hieroglyphs in fables and allegories, the occult meaning of which was -disclosed only to those who were competent to understand it. By and by, -however, perhaps as the result of many revolutions, this occult meaning -was lost, and the signs were taken for the things signified. But as it -was easy to perceive that these signs necessarily had meant something, -it was left to the imagination to invent an occult meaning which had -long been lost. The remotest analogies between signs and things were -seized, till at last the Cabbalah degenerated into an art of _madness -according to method_, or a systematic science resting on conceits. The -big promise of its design, to work effects on nature at pleasure, the -lofty strain and the pomp with which it announces itself, have naturally -an extraordinary influence on minds of the visionary type, that are -unenlightened by the sciences and especially by a thorough philosophy. - -The principal work for the study of the Cabbalah is the _Zohar_, which -is written in a very lofty style in the Syrian language. All other -Cabbalistic writings are to be regarded as merely commentaries on this, -or extracts from it. - -There are two main systems of the Cabbalah,--the system of Rabbi Moses -Kordovero, and that of Rabbi Isaac Luria.[27] The former is more _real_, -that is, it approximates more closely to reason. The latter, on the -other hand, is more _formal_, that is, it is completer in the structure -of its system. The modern Cabbalists prefer the latter, because they -hold that only to be genuine Cabbalah, in which there is no rational -meaning. The principal work of Rabbi Moses Kordovero is the _Pardes_ -(Paradise). Of Rabbi Isaac Luria himself we have some disconnected -writings; but his pupil, Rabbi Chajim Vitall, wrote a large work under -the title, _Ez Chajim_ (The Tree of Life), in which the whole system of -his master is contained. This work is held by the Jews to be so sacred, -that they do not allow it to be committed to print. Naturally, I had -more taste for the Cabbalah of Rabbi Moses than for that of Rabbi Isaac, -but durst not give utterance to my opinion on this point. - -After this digression on the Cabbalah in general, I return to my story. -I learned that the under-rabbi or preacher of the place was an adept in -the Cabbalah; and therefore, to attain my object, I made his -acquaintance. I took my seat beside him in the synagogue, and as I -observed once that after prayer he always read from a small book, and -then put it past carefully in its place, I became very curious to know -what sort of book this was. Accordingly, after the preacher had gone -home, I went and took the book from the place where he had put it; and -when I found that it was a Cabbalistic work, I went with it and hid -myself in a corner of the synagogue, till all the people had gone out -and the door was locked. I then crept from my hiding-place, and, without -a thought about eating or drinking the whole day long, read the -fascinating book till the doorkeeper came and opened the synagogue again -in the evening. - -_Shaarei Kedushah_, or _The Gates of Righteousness_, was the title of -this book; and, leaving out of account what was visionary and -exaggerated, it contained the principal doctrines of psychology. I did -with it therefore as the Talmudists say Rabbi Meïr acted, who had a -heretic for his teacher, "He found a pomegranate; he ate the fruit and -threw the peel away."[28] - -In two or three days I had in this way finished the book; but instead of -satisfying my curiosity, it only excited it the more. I wished to read -more books of the same sort. But as I was too bashful to confess this to -the preacher, I resolved to write him a letter, in which I expressed my -irresistible longing for this sacred science, and therefore entreated -him earnestly to assist me with books. I received from him a very -favourable answer. He praised my zeal for the sacred science, and -assured me that this zeal, amid so little encouragement, was an obvious -sign that my soul was derived from _Olam Aziloth_ (the world of the -immediate divine influence), while the souls of mere Talmudists take -their origin from _Olam Jezirah_ (the world of the creation). He -promised, therefore, to assist me with books as far as lay in his power. -But as he himself was occupied mainly with this science, and required to -have such books constantly at hand, he could not lend them to me, but -gave me permission to study them in his house at my pleasure. - -Who was gladder than I! I accepted the offer of the preacher with -gratitude, scarcely ever left his house, and sat day and night over the -Cabbalistic books. Two representations especially gave me the greatest -trouble. One was the _Tree_, or the representation of the divine -emanations in their manifold and intricate complexities. The other was -God's _Beard_, in which the hairs are divided into numerous classes with -something peculiar to each, and every hair is a separate channel of -divine grace. With all my efforts I could not find in these -representations any rational meaning. - -My prolonged visits however were extremely inconvenient to the preacher. -He had, a short time before, married a pretty young wife; and as his -modest little house consisted of a single apartment, which was at once -parlour, study, and bedroom, and as I sat in it at times reading the -whole night, it happened not infrequently that my elevation above the -sphere of sense came into collision with his sensibility. Consequently, -he hit upon a good plan for getting rid of the incipient Cabbalist. He -said to me one day, "I observe that it necessarily puts you to a great -deal of inconvenience to spend your time constantly away from home for -the sake of these books. You may take them home with you one by one if -you please, and thus study them at your convenience." - -To me nothing could be more welcome. I took home one book after -another, and studied them till I believed that I had mastered the whole -of the Cabbalah. I contented myself not merely with the knowledge of its -principles and manifold systems, but sought also to make a proper use of -these. There was not a passage to be met with in the Holy Scriptures or -in the Talmud, the occult meaning of which I could not have unfolded, -according to Cabbalistic principles, with the greatest readiness. - -The book entitled _Shaarei Orah_[29] came to be of very good service -here. In this book are enumerated the manifold names of the ten -_Sephiroth_, which form the principal subject of the Talmud, so that a -hundred or more names are given to each. In every word of a verse in the -Bible, or of a passage in the Talmud, I found therefore the name of some -Sephirah. But as I knew the attribute of every Sephirah, and its -relation to the rest, I could easily bring out of the combination of -names their conjoint effect. - -To illustrate this by a brief example, I found in the book just -mentioned, that the name _Jehovah_ represents the six highest Sephiroth -(not including the first three), or the person of the Godhead _generis -masculini_, while the word _Koh_ means the _Shechinah_ or the person of -the Godhead _generis feminini_, and the word _amar_ denotes sexual -union. The words, "Koh amar Jehova,"[30] therefore, I explained in the -following way, "Jehovah unites with the Shechinah," and this is high -Cabbalism. Accordingly, when I read this passage in the Bible, I thought -nothing else, but that, when I uttered these words, and thought their -occult meaning, an actual union of these divine spouses took place, from -which the whole world had to expect a blessing. Who can restrain the -excesses of imagination, when it is not guided by reason? - -With the _Cabbalah Maasith_, or the _practical Cabbalah_, I did not -succeed so well as with the theoretical. The preacher boasted, not -publicly indeed, but to everybody in private, that he was master of this -also. Especially he professed _roeh veeno nireh_ (to see everything, but -not to be seen by others), that is, to be able to make himself -invisible. - -About this trick I was specially anxious, in order that I might practise -some wanton jokes on my comrades. More particularly I formed a plan for -keeping my ill-tempered mother-in-law in check by this means. I -pretended that my object was merely to do good, and guard against evil. -The preacher consented, but said at the same time, that on my part -certain preparations were required. Three days in succession I was to -feast, and every day to say some _Ichudim_. These are Cabbalistic forms -of prayer, whose occult meaning aims at producing in the intellectual -world sexual unions, through means of which certain results are to be -brought about in the physical. - -I did everything with pleasure, made the conjuration which he had taught -me, and believed with all confidence that I was now invisible. At once I -hurried to the _Beth Hamidrash_, the Jewish academy, went up to one of -my comrades, and gave him a vigorous box on the ear. He however was no -coward, and returned the blow with interest. I started back in -astonishment; I could not understand how he had been able to discover -me, as I had observed with the utmost accuracy the instructions of the -preacher. Still I thought I might, perhaps, unwittingly and -unintentionally have neglected something. I resolved, therefore, to -undertake the operation anew. This time, however, I was not going to -venture on the test of a box on the ear; I went into the academy merely -to watch my comrades as a spectator. As soon as I entered, however, one -of them came up to me, and showed me a difficult passage in the Talmud, -which he wished me to explain. I stood utterly confounded, and -disconsolate over the failure of my hopes. - -Thereupon I went to the preacher, and informed him of my unsuccessful -attempt. Without blushing, he replied quite boldly, "If you have -observed all my instructions, I cannot explain this otherwise than by -supposing that you are unfit for being thus divested of the visibility -of your body." With great grief, therefore, I was obliged to give up -entirely the hope of making myself invisible. - -This disappointed hope was followed by a new delusion. In the preface to -the _Book of Raphael_, which the angel of that name is said to have -delivered to our first father Adam at his banishment from paradise, I -found the promise, that whoever keeps the book in his house is thereby -insured against fire. It was not long, however, before a conflagration -broke out in the neighbourhood, when the fire seized my house too, and -the angel Raphael himself had to go up into heaven in this chariot of -fire. - -Unsatisfied with the literary knowledge of this science, I sought to -penetrate into its spirit; and as I perceived that the whole science, if -it is to deserve this name, can contain nothing but the secrets of -nature concealed in fables and allegories, I laboured to find out these -secrets, and thereby to raise my merely literary knowledge to a rational -knowledge. This, however, I could accomplish only in a very imperfect -manner at the time, because I had yet very few ideas of the sciences in -general. Still, by independent reflection I hit upon many applications -of this kind. Thus, for example, I explained at once the first instance -with which the Cabbalists commonly begin their science. - -It is this. Before the world was created, the divine being occupied the -whole of infinite space alone. But God wished to create a world, in -order that He might reveal those attributes of His nature which refer -to other beings besides Himself. For this purpose He contracted Himself -into the centre of His perfection, and issued into the space thereby -left void ten concentric circles of light, out of which arose afterwards -manifold figures (_Parzophim_) and gradations down to the present world -of sense. - -I could not in any way conceive that all this was to be taken in the -common sense of the words, as nearly all Cabbalists represent it. As -little could I conceive that, before the world had been created, a time -had past, as I knew from my _Moreh Nebhochim_, that time is a -modification of the world, and consequently cannot be thought without -it. Moreover, I could not conceive that God occupies a space, even -though it be infinite; or that He, an infinitely perfect being, should -contract Himself, like a thing of circular form, into a centre. - -Accordingly I sought to explain all this in the following way. God is -prior to the world, not in time, but in His necessary being as the -condition of the world. All things besides God must depend on Him as -their cause, in regard to their essence as well as their existence. The -creation of the world, therefore, could not be thought as a bringing -forth _out of nothing_, nor as a formation of something independent on -God, but only as a bringing forth _out of Himself_. And as beings are of -different grades of perfection, we must assume for their explanation -different grades of limitation of the divine being. But since this -limitation must be thought as extending from the infinite being down to -matter, we represent the beginning of the limitation in a figure as a -centre (the lowest point) of the Infinite. - -In fact, the Cabbalah is nothing but an expanded Spinozism, in which not -only is the origin of the world explained by the limitation of the -divine being, but also the origin of every kind of being, and its -relation to the rest, are derived from a separate attribute of God. God, -as the ultimate subject and the ultimate cause of all beings, is called -Ensoph (the Infinite, of which, considered in itself, nothing can be -predicated). But in relation to the infinite number of beings, positive -attributes are ascribed to Him; these are reduced by the Cabbalists to -ten, which are called the ten Sephiroth. - -In the book, _Pardes_, by Rabbi Moses Kordovero, the question is -discussed, whether the Sephiroth are to be taken for the Deity Himself -or not. It is easy to be seen, however, that this question has no more -difficulty in reference to the Deity, than in reference to any other -being. - -Under the ten circles I conceived the ten categories or predicaments of -Aristotle, with which I had become acquainted in the _Moreh -Nebhochim_,--the most universal predicates of things, without which -nothing can be thought. The categories, in the strictest critical sense, -are the logical forms, which relate not merely to a _logical_ object, -but to _real_ objects in general, and without which these cannot be -thought. They have their source, therefore, in the subject itself, but -they become an object of consciousness only by reference to a real -object. Consequently, they represent the ten Sephiroth, which belong, -indeed, to the Ensoph in itself, but of which the reality is revealed -only by their special relation to, and effect upon, objects in nature, -and the number of which can be variously determined in various points of -view. - -But by this method of explanation I brought upon myself many an -annoyance. For the Cabbalists maintain that the Cabbalah is not a human, -but a divine, science; and that, consequently, it would be degradation -of it, to explain its mysteries in accordance with nature and reason. -The more reasonable, therefore, my explanations proved, the more were -the Cabbalists irritated with me, inasmuch as they held that alone to be -divine, which had no reasonable meaning. Accordingly I had to keep my -explanations to myself. An entire work, that I wrote on the subject, I -brought with me to Berlin, and preserve still as a monument of the -struggle of the human mind after perfection, in spite of all the -hindrances which are placed in its way. - -Meanwhile this could not satisfy me. I wished to get an insight into the -sciences, not as they are veiled in fables, but in their natural light. -I had already, though very imperfectly, learned to read German; but -where was I to obtain German books in Lithuania? Fortunately for me I -learned that the chief rabbi of a neighbouring town, who in his youth -had lived for a while in Germany, and learned the German language -there, and made himself in some measure acquainted with the sciences, -continued still, though in secret, to work at the sciences, and had a -fair library of German books. - -I resolved therefore to make a pilgrimage to S----, in order to see the -chief rabbi, and beg of him a few scientific books. I was tolerably -accustomed to such journeys, and had gone once thirty miles[31] on foot -to see a Hebrew work of the tenth century on the Peripatetic philosophy. -Without therefore troubling myself in the least about travelling -expenses or means of conveyance, and without saying a word to my family -on the subject, I set out upon the journey to this town in the middle of -winter. As soon as I arrived at the place, I went to the chief rabbi, -told him my desire, and begged him earnestly for assistance. He was not -a little astonished; for, during the thirty one years which had passed -since his return from Germany, not a single individual had ever made -such a request. He promised to lend me some old German books. The most -important among these were an old work on Optics, and Sturm's _Physics_. - -I could not sufficiently express my gratitude to this excellent chief -rabbi; I pocketed the few books, and returned home in rapture. After I -had studied these books thoroughly, my eyes were all at once opened. I -believed that I had found a key to all the secrets of nature, as I now -knew the origin of storms, of dew, of rain, and such phenomena. I looked -down with pride on all others, who did not yet know these things, -laughed at their prejudices and superstitions, and proposed to clear up -their ideas on these subjects and to enlighten their understanding. - -But this did not always succeed. I laboured once to teach a Talmudist, -that the earth is round, and that we have antipodes. He however made the -objection, that these antipodes would necessarily fall off. I -endeavoured to show that the falling of a body is not directed towards -any fixed point in empty space, but towards the centre of the earth, and -that the ideas of Over and Under represent merely the removal from and -approach to this centre. It was of no avail; the Talmudist stood to his -ground, that such an assertion was absurd. - -On another occasion I went to take a walk with some of my friends. It -chanced that a goat lay in the way. I gave the goat some blows with my -stick, and my friends blamed me for my cruelty. "What is the cruelty?" I -replied. "Do you believe that the goat feels a pain, when I beat it? You -are greatly mistaken; the goat is a mere machine." This was the doctrine -of Sturm as a disciple of Descartes. - -My friends laughed heartily at this, and said, "But don't you hear that -the goat cries, when you beat it?" "Yes," I replied, "of course it -cries; but if you beat a drum, it cries too." They were amazed at my -answer, and in a short time it went abroad over the whole town, that I -had become mad, as I held that _a goat is a drum_. - -From my generous friend, the chief rabbi, I received afterwards two -medical works, Kulm's _Anatomical Tables_ and Voit's _Gaziopilatium_. -The latter is a large medical dictionary, containing, in a brief form, -not only explanations from all departments of medicine, but also their -manifold applications. In connection with every disease is given an -explanation of its cause, its symptoms, and the method of its cure, -along with even the ordinary prescriptions. This was for me a real -treasure. I studied the book thoroughly, and believed myself to be -master of the science of medicine, and a complete physician. - -But I was not going to content myself with mere theory in this matter; I -resolved to make regular application of it. I visited patients, -determined all diseases according to their circumstances and symptoms, -explained their causes, and gave also prescriptions for their cure. But -in this practice things turned out very comically. If a patient told me -some of the symptoms of his disease, I guessed from them the nature of -the disease itself, and inferred the presence of the other symptoms. If -the patient said that he could trace none of these, I stubbornly -insisted on their being present all the same. The conversation therefore -sometimes came to this:-- - -_I._ "You have headache also." - -_Patient._ "No." - -_I._ "But you _must_ have headache." - -As many symptoms are common to several diseases, I took not infrequently -_quid pro quo_. Prescriptions I could never keep in my head, so that, -when I prescribed anything, I was obliged to go home first and turn up -my _Gaziopilatium_. At length I began even to make up drugs myself -according to Voit's prescriptions. How this succeeded, may be imagined. -It had at least this good result, that I saw something more was surely -required for a practical physician than I understood at the time. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -A brief Exposition of the Jewish Religion, from its Origin down to the -most recent Times. - - -To render intelligible that part of the story of my life, which refers -to my sentiments regarding religion, I must first give in advance a -short practical _history of the Jewish religion_, and at the outset say -something of the idea of _religion in general_, as well as of the -difference between _natural_ and _positive_ religion. - -_Religion in general_ is the expression of gratitude, reverence and the -other feelings, which arise from the dependence of our weal and woe on -one or more powers to us unknown. If we look to the _expression of these -feelings in general_, without regard to the _particular mode of the -expression_, religion is certainly natural to man. He observes many -effects which are of interest to him, but whose causes are to him -unknown; and he finds himself compelled, by the universally recognised -_Principle of Sufficient Reason_, to suppose these causes, and to -express towards them the feelings mentioned. - -This expression may be of two kinds, in conformity either with the -_imagination_ or with _reason_. For either man imagines the causes to -be analogous to the effects, and ascribes to them in themselves such -attributes as are revealed through the effects, or he thinks them merely -as causes of certain effects, without seeking thereby to determine their -attributes in themselves. These two modes are both natural to man, the -former being in accordance with his earlier condition, the latter with -that of his perfection. - -The difference between these two modes of representation has as its -consequence another difference of religions. The first mode of -representation, in accordance with which the causes are supposed to be -_similar_ to the effects, is the mother of _polytheism_ or _heathenism_. -But the second is the basis of _true_ religion. For as the kinds of -effects are different, the causes also, if held to be like them, must be -represented as different from one another. On the other hand, if, in -accordance with truth, we conceive the idea of _cause in general_ for -these effects, without seeking to determine this cause, either _in -itself_ (since it is wholly unknown), or _analogically_ by help of the -imagination, then we have no ground for supposing several causes, but -require to assume merely a single subject, wholly unknown, as cause of -all these effects. - -The different philosophical systems of theology are nothing but -_detailed developments_ of these different modes of representation. The -_atheistic_ system of theology, if so it may be called, rejects -altogether this idea of a _first cause_, (as, according to the -_critical_ system at least, it is merely of _regulative use_ as a -necessary _idea of reason_). All effects are referred to particular -known or unknown causes. In this there cannot be assumed even a -_connection_ between the various effects, else the _reason_ of this -connection would require to be sought beyond the connection itself. - -The _Spinozistic_ system, on the contrary, supposes one and the same -substance as immediate cause of all various effects, which must be -regarded as predicates of one and the same subject. _Matter_ and _mind_ -are, with Spinoza, one and the same substance, which appears, now under -the former, now under the latter attribute. This single substance is, -according to him, not only the sole being that can be _self-dependent_, -that is, independent of any external cause, but also the sole -_self-subsistent_ being, all so-called beings besides it being merely -its _modes_, that is, particular limitations of its attributes. Every -particular effect in nature is referred by him, not to its proximate -cause (which is merely a _mode_), but immediately to this first cause, -which is the common substance of all beings. - -In this system _unity is real_, but _multiplicity_ is merely _ideal_. In -the atheistic system it is the opposite. _Multiplicity_ is _real_, being -founded on the _nature of things themselves_. On the other hand, the -_unity_, which is observed in the order and regularity of nature, is -merely an _accident_, by which we are accustomed to determine our -_arbitrary_ system _for the sake of knowledge_. It is inconceivable -therefore how any one can make out the Spinozistic system to be -atheistic, since the two systems are diametrically opposed to one -another. In the latter the existence of _God_ is denied, but in the -former the existence of the _world_. Spinoza's ought therefore to be -called rather the _acosmic_ system. - -The _Leibnitzian_ system holds the mean between the two preceding. In it -all _particular effects_ are referred immediately to _particular -causes_; but these various effects are thought as _connected_ in a -single system, and the cause of this connection is sought in a being -beyond itself. - -_Positive_ religion is distinguished from _natural_ in the very same way -as the positive laws of a state from natural laws. The latter are those -which rest on a self-acquired, indistinct knowledge, and are not duly -defined in regard to their application, while the former rest on a -distinct knowledge received from others, and are completely defined in -regard to their application. - -A _positive_ religion however must be carefully distinguished from a -_political_ religion. The former has for its end merely the correction -and accurate definition of knowledge, that is, _instruction_ regarding -the first cause: and the knowledge is communicated to another, according -to the measure of his capacity, just as it has been received. But the -latter has for its end mainly the welfare of the state. Knowledge is -therefore communicated, not just as it has been received, but only in so -far as it is found serviceable to this end. Politics, merely as -politics, requires to concern itself about _true religion_ as little as -about _true morality_. The injury, that might arise from this, can be -prevented by other means which influence men at the same time, and thus -all can be kept in equilibrium. Every political religion is therefore at -the same time positive, but every positive religion is not also -political. - -Natural religion has no _mysteries_ any more than merely positive -religion. For there is no mystery implied in one man being unable to -communicate his knowledge to another of defective capacity with the same -degree of completeness which he himself has attained; otherwise -mysteries might be attributed to all the sciences, and there would then -be _mysteries of mathematics_ as well as _mysteries of religion_. Only -_political religion_ can have mysteries, in order to lead men in an -indirect way to the attainment of the _political end_, inasmuch as they -are made to believe that thereby they can best attain their _private -ends_, though this is not always in reality the case. There are _lesser_ -and _greater_ mysteries in the political religions. The former consist -in the _material_ knowledge of all particular operations and their -connection with one another. The latter, on the contrary, consist in the -knowledge of the _form_, that is, of the end by which the former are -determined. The former constitute the totality of the _laws of -religion_, but the latter contains the _spirit of the laws_. - -The _Jewish religion_, even at its earliest origin among the nomadic -patriarchs, is already distinguished from the _heathen_ as _natural -religion_, inasmuch as, instead of the _many comprehensible_ gods of -heathenism, the _unity of an incomprehensible_ God lies at its -foundation. For as the particular causes of the effects, which in -general give rise to a religion, are in themselves unknown, and we do -not feel justified in transferring to the causes the attributes of the -particular effects, in order thereby to characterise them, there remains -nothing but the idea of cause in general, which must be related to all -effects without distinction. This cause cannot even be _analogically_ -determined by the effects. For the effects are opposed to one another, -and neutralise each other even in the same object. If therefore we -ascribed them all to one and the same cause, the cause could not be -analogically determined by any. - -The _heathen_ religion, on the other hand, refers every kind of effect -to a special cause, which can of course be characterised by its effect. -As a _positive_ religion the Jewish is distinguished from the heathen by -the fact, that it is not a merely political religion, that is, a -religion which has for its end the social interest (in opposition to -true knowledge and private interest); but in accordance with the spirit -of its founder, it is adapted to the theocratic form of the national -Government, which rests on the principle, that only the true religion, -based on rational knowledge, can harmonise with the interest of the -state as well as of the individual. Considered in its _purity_, -therefore, it has no mysteries in the proper sense of the word; that is -to say, it has no doctrines which, in order to reach their end, men -_will_ not disclose, but merely such as _can_ not be disclosed to all. - -After the fall of the Jewish state the religion was separated from the -state which no longer existed. The religious authorities were no longer, -as they had been before, concerned about adapting the particular -institutions of religion to the state; but their care went merely to -_preserve_ the religion, on which the existence of the _nation_ now -depended. Moved by hatred towards those nations who had annihilated the -state, and from anxiety lest with the fall of the state the religion -also might fall, they hit upon the following means for the preservation -and extension of their religion. - -1. The fiction of a method, handed down from Moses, of expanding the -laws, and applying them to particular cases. This method is not that -which reason enjoins, of modifying laws according to their intention, in -adaptation to time and circumstances, but that which rests upon certain -rules concerning their literary expression. - -2. The legislative force ascribed to the new decisions and opinions -obtained by this method, giving to them an equal rank with the ancient -laws. The subtle dialectic, with which this has been carried on down to -our times, and the vast number of laws, customs and useless ceremonies -of all sorts, which it has occasioned, may be easily imagined. - -The history of the Jewish religion can, in consequence of this, be -appropriately divided into five great epochs. The first epoch embraces -the _natural religion_, from the times of the patriarchs down to Moses -at the exodus from Egypt. The second comprehends the _positive_ or -_revealed_ religion, from Moses to the time of the _Great Synagogue_ -(_Keneseth Haggedolah_). This council must not be conceived as an -assembly of theologians at a definite time; the name applies to the -theologians of a whole epoch from the destruction of the first temple to -the composition of the Mishnah. Of these the first were the _minor -prophets_ (Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi, etc., of whom 120 are counted -altogether), and the last was _Simon the Just_.[32] These, as well as -their forerunners from the time of Joshua, took as their basis the -Mosaic laws, and added new laws according to time and circumstances, but -in conformity with the traditional method, every dispute on the subject -being decided by the _majority of voices_. - -The third epoch extends from the composition of the Mishnah by Jehudah -the Saint[33] to the composition of the Talmud by Rabina and -Rabassi.[34] Down to this epoch it was forbidden to commit the laws to -writing, in order that they might not fall into the hands of those who -could make no use of them. But as Rabbi Jehudah Hanassi, or, as he is -otherwise called, Rabbenu Hakades observed, that, in consequence of -their great multiplicity, the laws may easily fall into oblivion, he -gave himself a licence to transgress a single one of the laws in order -to preserve the whole. The law transgressed was that against committing -the laws to writing; and in this licence he defended himself by a -passage in the Psalms, "There are times, when a man shows himself -well-pleasing to God by transgressing the laws."[35] He lived in the -time of Antoninus Pius, was rich, and possessed all the faculties for -such an undertaking. He therefore composed the Mishnah, in which he -delivers the Mosaic laws in accordance either with a traditional or with -a rational method of exposition. It contains also some laws which form -the subject of dispute. - -This work is divided into six parts. The first contains the laws -relating to agriculture and horticulture; the second, those which refer -to feasts and holidays. The third part comprehends the laws which define -the mutual relations of the two sexes (marriage, divorce, and such -subjects). The fourth part is devoted to the laws which deal with the -teachers of the law; the fifth, to those which treat of the -temple-service and sacrifices; and the sixth, to the laws of -purification. - -As the Mishnah is composed with the greatest precision, and cannot be -understood without a commentary, it was natural, that in course of time -doubts and disputes should arise, regarding the exposition of the -Mishnah itself, as well as the mode of its application to cases which it -does not sufficiently determine. All these doubts and their manifold -solutions, controversies and decisions, were finally collected in the -Talmud by the above-mentioned Rabina and Rabassi; and this forms the -fourth epoch of Jewish legislation. - -The fifth epoch begins with the conclusion of the Talmud, and extends -down to our time, and so on for ever (_si diis placet_) till the advent -of the Messiah. Since the conclusion of the Talmud the rabbis have been -by no means idle. 'Tis true, they dare not alter anything in the Mishnah -or the Talmud; but they still have plenty of work to do. Their business -is to explain those two works, so that they shall harmonise; and this is -no small matter, for one rabbi, with a superfine dialectic, is always -finding contradictions in the explanations of another. They must also -disentangle, from the labyrinth of various opinions, expositions, -controversies and decisions, the laws which are applicable to every -case; and finally for new cases, by inferences from those already known, -they must bring out new laws, hitherto left indeterminate in spite of -all previous labours, and thus prepare a complete code of laws. - -It is thus that a religion, in its origin _natural_ and _conformable to -reason_, has been abused. A Jew dare not eat or drink, lie with his wife -or attend to the wants of nature, without observing an enormous number -of laws. With the books on the _slaughter_ of animals alone (the -condition of the knife and the examination of the entrails) a whole -library could be filled, which certainly would come near to the -Alexandrian in extent. And what shall I say of the enormous number of -books treating of those laws which are no longer in use, such as the -laws of sacrifice, of purification, etc.? The pen falls from my hand, -when I remember that I and others like me were obliged to spend in this -soul-killing business the best days of our lives when the powers are in -their full vigour, and to sit up many a night, to try and bring out some -sense where there was none, to exercise our wits in the discovery of -contradictions where none were to be found, to display acuteness in -removing them where they were obviously to be met, to hunt after a -shadow through a long series of arguments, and to build castles in the -air. - -The abuse of Rabbinism has, as will be seen, a twofold source. - -1. The first is an _artificial method_ of expounding the Holy -Scriptures, which distinguishes itself from the _natural_ method by the -fact, that, while the latter rests on a thorough _knowledge of the -language_ and the true _spirit of the legislator_ in view of the -circumstances of the time, as these are known from history, the former -has been devised rather for the sake of the laws passed to meet existing -emergencies. The rabbis look upon the Holy Scriptures, not only as the -source of the fundamental laws of Moses, and of those which are -deducible from these by a rational method, but also as a vehicle of the -laws to be drawn up by themselves according to the wants of the time. -The artificial method here, like every other of the same kind, is merely -a means of bringing the new laws at least into an _external connection_ -with the old, in order that they may thereby find a better introduction -among the people, be reduced to principles, divided into classes, and -therefore more easily impressed on the memory. No reasonable rabbi will -hold, that the laws, which are referred in this way to passages of the -Holy Scriptures, render the true sense of these passages; but if -questioned on this point, he will reply, "These laws are necessities of -the time, and are referred to those passages merely for this reason." - -2. The second source of the abuse of Rabbinism is to be found in the -manners and customs of other nations, in whose neighbourhood the Jews -have lived, or among whom they have been gradually scattered since the -fall of the Jewish state. These manners and customs they were obliged -to adopt in order to avoid becoming objects of abhorrence. Of this sort -are the laws, _not to uncover the head_ (at least in holy places and at -holy ceremonies), _to wash the hands_ (before meals and prayers), to -fast the whole day till sunset, to say a number of daily prayers, to -make pilgrimages, to walk round the altar, etc.,--all manifestly of -_Arabian_ origin. - -From hatred also towards those nations that destroyed the Jewish state, -and afterwards made the Jews undergo manifold oppressions, they have -adopted various customs, and among others many religious usages which -are opposite to those of the _Greeks_ and _Romans_. - -In all this the rabbis had the Mosaic laws themselves for a model, these -being sometimes in agreement, sometimes in hostility, with the Egyptian -laws which lie at their root, as has been shown in the most thorough -manner by the celebrated Maimonides in his work, _Moreh Nebhochim_. - -It is remarkable, that, with all rabbinical extravagancies in the -_practical_ department, namely the laws and customs, the _theoretical_ -department of the Jewish theology has still always preserved itself in -its purity. Eisenmenger may say what he will, it may be shown by -unanswerable arguments, that all the limited figurative representations -of God and His attributes have their source merely in an endeavour to -adapt the ideas of theology to the common understanding. The rabbis -followed in this the principle which they had established in reference -to the Holy Scriptures themselves, namely, that _the Holy Scriptures use -the language of the common people_, inasmuch as religious and moral -sentiments and actions, which form the immediate aim of theology may in -this manner be most easily extended. They therefore represent God to the -common understanding as an earthly King, who with His ministers and the -advisers of His cabinet, the angels, takes counsel concerning the -government of the world. But for the educated mind they seek to take -away all anthropomorphic representations of God, when they say, "It was -an act of high daring on the part of the prophets, to represent the -Creator as like His creature, as when, for example, it is said in -Ezekiel (i., 26), 'And upon the throne was an appearance like man.'" - -I have disclosed the abuses of the rabbis in regard to religion without -any partiality. At the same time however I must not be silent about -their good qualities, but do them justice as impartially. Compare then -Mahomed's description of the reward of the pious with the rabbinical -representation. The former runs:--"Here (in paradise) there are as many -dishes as there are stars in heaven. Maidens and boys fill the cups, and -wait on the table. The beauty of the maidens surpasses all imagination. -If one of these maidens were to appear in the sky or in the air by -night, the world would become as bright as when the sun is shining; and -if she were to spit into the sea, its salt water would be turned into -honey, and its bitter into sweet. Milk, honey, white wine will be the -rivers which water this delicious abode. The slime of these rivers will -be made of sweet-smelling nutmegs, and their pebbles of pearls and -hyacinths. The angel Gabriel will open the gates of paradise to faithful -Musselmans. The first thing to meet their eyes will be a table of -diamonds of such enormous length, that it would require 70,000 days to -run round it. The chairs, which stand around the table, will be of gold -and silver, the tablecloths of silk and gold. When the guests have sat -down, they will eat the choicest dishes of paradise, and drink its -water. When they are satisfied, beautiful boys will bring them _green_ -garments of costly stuff, and necklaces and earrings of gold. To every -one will then be given a citron; and when he has brought it to his nose -to feel its odour, a maiden of enchanting beauty will come out. Every -one will embrace his own with rapture, and this intoxication of love -will last fifty years without interruption. Each couple will obtain an -enchanting palace for a dwelling, where they will eat and drink and -enjoy all sorts of pleasure for ever and ever.[36]" This description is -beautiful; but how sensuous! The rabbis, on the other hand, say, "Above -(in the blessed abode of the pious) there is neither eating nor -drinking, but the pious sit crowned, and delight themselves with the -vision of the Godhead." - -Eisenmenger seeks, in his _Entdecktes Judenthum_ (Theil 1., Kap. 8), by -a crass exposition to throw ridicule on the Platonic doctrine of -reminiscence, which the rabbis maintain; but what may not be made -ridiculous in the same way? He also makes sport, with equal injustice, -of other rabbinical teachings. With the Stoics, for example, the rabbis -call wise men _Kings_; they say, that God does nothing without -previously taking counsel with his angels, that is, Omnipotence works -upon nature not immediately, but by means of the natural forces; they -teach, that everything is predestined by God, except the practice of -virtue. These are the subjects of Eisenmenger's mockery; but does any -reasonable theologian find in these anything ridiculous or impious? I -should be obliged to write a whole book, if I were to answer all the -unjust charges and jeers which have been brought against the Talmudists, -not by Christian writers alone, but even by Jews who wished to pass for -_illuminati_. - -To be just to the rabbis it is necessary to penetrate into the true -spirit of the Talmud, to become thoroughly familiar with the manner in -which the ancients generally, but especially the Orientals, deliver -theological, moral, and even physical truths in fables and allegories, -to become familiar also with the style of Oriental hyperbole in -reference to everything that can be of interest to man. Moreover, the -rabbis should be treated in the spirit in which they themselves excused -Rabbi Meïr who had a heretic for his teacher,--the spirit expressed in a -passage already quoted. If justice is thus dealt to the rabbis, the -Talmud will certainly not show all the absurdities which its opponents -are disposed too readily to find. - -The rabbinical method of referring theoretical or practical truths, even -by the oddest exegesis, to passages in the Holy Scriptures or any other -book in general esteem, as if they were truths brought out of such -passages by a rational exegesis,--this method, besides procuring an -introduction for the truths among common men, who are not capable of -grasping them on their own merits, and accept them merely on authority, -is also to be regarded as an excellent aid to the memory; for since, as -presumed, these passages are in everybody's mouth, the truths drawn from -them are also retained by their means. Consequently it very often occurs -in the Talmud, when the question concerns the deduction of a new law -from the Holy Scriptures, that one rabbi derives the law from this or -that passage, while another brings the objection, that this cannot be -the true meaning of the passage, inasmuch as the true meaning is this or -that. To such an objection every one is wont to reply, that it is a new -law of the rabbis, who merely refer it to the passage mentioned. - -As it is therefore universally presupposed that this method is familiar, -the Talmudists regard it as unnecessary to inculcate it anew on every -occasion. A single example will suffice to illustrate this. One -Talmudist asked another the meaning of the following passage in the -Book of Joshua (xv., 22), _Kinah Vedimonah Veadadah_.[37] The latter -replied, "Here are enumerated the then familiar places of the Holy -Land." "Of course!" rejoined the other. "I know very well that these are -names of places. But, Rabbi ---- knows how to bring out of these, -besides the proper meaning, something _useful_, namely this:--'(Kinah) -He to whom his neighbour gives occasion for revenge, (Vedimonah) and who -yet, out of generosity, keeps silence, taking no revenge, (Veadadah) to -him will the Eternal execute justice.'" What a fine opportunity this -would be for laughing at the poor Talmudist, who derives a moral -sentence from particular names of places, and besides makes in an -extraordinary manner a compound out of the last name, _Sansannah_,[38] -if he had not himself explained that he is seeking to know, not the -_true meaning_ of the passage, but merely a _doctrine_ which may be -referred to it. - -Again, the Talmudists have referred to a passage in Isaiah the important -doctrine, that in morals the principal object is, not theory, but -practice, by which theory receives its true value. The passage runs as -follows:--"The expectation of thy happiness"--that is, the happiness -promised by the prophet--"will have for its consequence strength, help, -wisdom, knowledge, and the fear of God."[39] Here they refer the first -six subjects to the six _Sedarim_ or divisions of the Mishnah, which are -the foundation of all Jewish learning. _Emunath_ (Expectation) is Seder -Seraim; _Etecho_ (Happiness) is Seder Moad, and so on. That is to say, -you may be ever so well versed in all these six _sedarim_; yet the main -point is the last, the fear of God. - -As far as rabbinical morals in other respects are concerned, I know in -truth nothing that can be urged against them, except perhaps their -excessive strictness in many cases. They form in fact genuine Stoicism, -but without excluding other serviceable principles, such as perfection, -universal benevolence, and the like. Holiness with them extends even to -the thoughts. This principle is, in the usual fashion, referred to the -following passage in the Psalms, "Thou shalt have no strange God in -thee";[40] for in the human heart, it is argued, no strange God can -dwell, except evil desires. It is not allowed to deceive even a heathen -either by deeds or by words--not even in cases where he could lose -nothing by the deceit. For example, the common form of courtesy, "I am -glad to see you well," is not to be used, if it does not express the -real sentiments of the heart. The examples of Jews who cheat Christians -and heathens, which are commonly adduced against this statement, prove -nothing, inasmuch as these Jews do not act in accordance with the -principles of their own morals. - -The commandment, "Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy -neighbour's," is so expounded by the Talmudists, that we must guard -against even the wish to possess any such thing. In short, I should -require to write a whole book, if I were to adduce all the excellent -doctrines of rabbinical morals. - -The influence of these doctrines in practical life also is unmistakable. -The Polish Jews, who have always been allowed to adopt any means of -gain, and have not, like the Jews of other countries, been restricted to -the pitiful occupation of _Schacher_ or usurer, seldom hear the reproach -of cheating. They remain loyal to the country in which they live, and -support themselves in an honourable way. - -Their charity and care for the poor, their institutions for nursing the -sick, their special societies for burial of the dead, are well enough -known. It is not nurses and grave-diggers _hired for money_, but the -_elders of the people_, who are eager to perform these acts. The Polish -Jews are indeed for the most part not yet enlightened by science, their -manners and way of life are still rude; but they are loyal to the -religion of their fathers and the laws of their country. They do not -come before you with courtesies, but their promise is sacred. They are -not gallants, but your women are safe from any snares with them. Woman, -indeed, after the manner of the Orientals in general, is by them not -particularly esteemed; but all the more on that account are they -resolved on fulfilling their duties towards her. Their children do not -learn by heart any _forms_ for expressing love and respect for their -parents--for they do not keep French _demoiselles_;--but they show that -love and respect all the more heartily. - -The sacredness of their marriages, and the ever fresh tenderness which -arises from this, deserve especially to be mentioned. Every month the -husband is wholly separated from his wife for a fortnight (the period of -monthly purification in accordance with the rabbinical laws); they may -not so much as touch one another, or eat out of the same dish or drink -out of the same cup. By this means satiety is avoided; the wife -continues to be in the eyes of her husband all that she was as maiden in -the eyes of her lover. - -Finally, what innocence rules among unmarried persons! It often happens -that a young man or woman of sixteen or eighteen years is married -without knowing the least about the object of marriage. Among other -nations this is certainly very seldom the case. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -Jewish Piety and Penances. - - -In my youth I was of a somewhat strong religious disposition; and as I -observed in most of the rabbis a good deal of pride, quarrelsomeness, -and other evil qualities, they became objects of dislike to me on that -account. I sought therefore as my model only those among them, who are -commonly known by the name of _Chasidim_, or _the Pious_. These are they -who devote the whole of their lives to the strictest observances of the -laws and moral virtues. I had afterwards occasion to remark that these -on their part do harm, less indeed to _others_, but all the more to -_themselves_, inasmuch as they root out the wheat with the tares;[41] -while they seek to suppress their desires and passions, they suppress -also their powers and cramp their activity, so much so as in most cases -by their exercises to bring upon themselves an untimely death. - -Two or three instances, of which I was myself an eye-witness, will be -sufficient to establish what has been said. A Jewish scholar, at that -time well known on account of his piety, Simon of Lubtsch, had undergone -the severest exercises of penance. He had already carried out the -_T'shubath Hakana_--the penance of Kana--which consists in fasting daily -for six years, and avoiding for supper anything that comes from a living -being (flesh, milk, honey, etc.). He had also practised _Golath_, that -is, a continuous wandering, in which the penitent is not allowed to -remain two days in the same place; and, in addition, he had worn a -hair-shirt next his skin. But he felt that he would not be doing enough -for the satisfaction of his conscience unless he further observed the -_T'shubath Hamishkal_--the penance of weighing--which requires a -particular form of penance proportioned to every sin. But as he found by -calculation, that the number of his sins was too great to be atoned in -this way, he took it into his head to starve himself to death. After he -had spent some time in this process, he came in his wanderings to the -place where my father lived, and, without anybody in the house knowing, -went into the barn, where he fell upon the ground in utter faintness. My -father came by chance into the barn, and found the man, whom he had long -known, lying half-dead on the ground, with a _Zohar_ (the principal book -of the Cabbalists) in his hand. As he knew well what sort of man this -was, he brought him at once all sorts of refreshments; but the man would -make no use of them in any way. My father came several times, and -repeated his urgent request, that Simon would take something; but it -was of no avail. My father had to attend to something in the house, -whereupon Simon, to escape from his importunity, exerted all his -strength, raised himself up, went out of the barn, and at last out of -the village. When my father came back into the barn again, and found the -man no longer there, he ran after him, and found him lying dead not far -from the village. The affair was generally made known among the Jews, -and Simon became a saint. - -Jossel of Klezk proposed nothing less than to hasten the advent of the -Messiah. To this end he performed strict penance, fasted, rolled himself -in snow, undertook night-watches and similar severities. By all sorts of -such operations he believed that he was able to accomplish the overthrow -of a legion of evil spirits, who kept guard on the Messiah, and threw -obstacles in the way of his coming.[42] To these exercises he added at -last many Cabbalistic fooleries--fumigations, conjurations, and similar -practices--till at length he lost his wits on the subject, believed that -he really saw spirits with his eyes open, calling each of them by name. -He would then beat about him, smash windows and stoves under the idea -that these were his foes, the evil spirits, somewhat after the manner of -his forerunner Don Quixote. At last he lay down in complete exhaustion, -from which he was with great difficulty restored, by the physician of -Prince Radzivil. - -Unfortunately I could never get further in pious exercises of this sort, -than to abstain for a considerable while from everything that comes from -a living being; and during the Days of Atonement I have sometimes fasted -three days together. I once resolved indeed on undertaking the -_T'shubath Hakana_; but this project, like others of the same sort, -remained unfulfilled, after I had adopted the opinions of Maimonides, -who was no friend of fanaticism or pietism. It is remarkable, that at -the time when I still observed the rabbinical regulations with the -utmost strictness, I yet would not observe certain ceremonies which have -something comical about them. Of this kind, for example, was the -_Malketh_ (Beating) before the Great Day of Atonement, in which every -Jew lays himself on his face in the synagogue, while another with a -narrow strip of leather gives him thirty-nine lashes. Of the same sort -is _Haphorath Nedarim_, or the act of setting free from vows on New -Year's Eve. In this three men are seated, while another appears before -them, and addresses to them a certain form, the general drift of which -is as follows:--"Sirs, I know what a heinous sin it is, not to fulfil -vows; and inasmuch as I have doubtless this year made some vows which I -have not fulfilled, and which I can no longer recollect, I beg of you -that you will set me free from the same. I do not indeed repent of the -good resolutions to which I have bound myself by these vows; I repent -merely of the fact, that in making such resolutions I did not add, that -they were not to have the force of a vow," etc., etc. Thereupon he -withdraws from the judgment-seat, pulls off his shoes, and sits down on -the bare ground, by which he is supposed to banish himself till his vows -are dissolved. After he has sat for some time, and said a prayer by -himself, the judges begin to call aloud, "Thou art our brother! thou art -our brother! thou art our brother! There is no vow, no oath, no -banishment any longer, after thou hast submitted thyself to the -judgment. Rise from the ground and come to us!" This they repeat three -times, and with that the man is at once set free from all his vows. - -At serio-comic scenes of this sort I could only with the greatest -difficulty refrain from laughing. A blush of shame came over me, when I -was to undertake such performances. I sought therefore, if I was pressed -on the subject, to free myself by the pretext, that I had either already -attended to it, or was going to attend to it, in another synagogue. A -very remarkable psychological phenomenon! It might be thought impossible -for any one to be ashamed of actions which he saw others performing -without the slightest blush of shame. Yet this was the case here. This -phenomenon can be explained only by the fact, that in all my actions I -had regard first to the nature of the action in itself (whether it was -right or wrong, proper or improper), then to its nature in relation to -some end, and that I justified it as a means, only when it was not in -itself incapable of being justified. This principle was developed -afterwards in my whole system of religion and morals. On the other hand, -the most of men act on the principle, that the end justifies the means. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -Friendship and Enthusiasm. - - -In the place where I resided I had a bosom friend, Moses Lapidoth by -name. We were of the same age, the same studies, and nearly the same -external circumstances, the only difference being, that at an early -period I already showed an inclination to the sciences, while Lapidoth -had indeed a love of speculation, and also great acuteness and power of -judgment, but had no wish to proceed further than he could reach by a -mere sound common sense. With this friend I used to hold many a -conversation on subjects of mutual interest, especially the questions of -religion and morals. - -We were the only persons in the place, who ventured to be not mere -imitators, but to think independently about everything. It was a natural -result of this, that, as we differed from all the rest of the community -in our opinions and conduct, we separated ourselves from them by -degrees; but, as we had still to live by the community, our -circumstances on this account became every day worse and worse. 'Tis -true, we noted this fact, but nevertheless we were unwilling to -sacrifice our favourite inclinations for any interest in the world. We -consoled ourselves therefore, as best we might, over our loss, spoke -constantly of the vanity of all things, of the religious and moral -faults of the common herd, upon whom we looked down with a sort of noble -pride and contempt. - -We used especially to open our minds, _à la Mandeville_, on the -hollowness of human virtue. For example, smallpox had been very -prevalent in the place, and thereby many children had been carried off. -The elders held a meeting to find out the secret sins, on account of -which they were suffering this punishment, as they viewed it. After -instituting an inquiry it was found, that a young widow of the Jewish -people was holding too free intercourse with some servants of the manor. -She was sent for, but no sort of inquisition could elicit from her -anything beyond the fact, that these people were in the habit of -drinking mead at her house, and that, as was reasonable, she received -them in a pleasant and polite manner, but that in other respects she was -unconscious of any sin in the matter. As no other evidence was -forthcoming, she was about to be acquitted, when an elderly matron came -flying like a fury and screamed, "Scourge her! scourge her! till she has -confessed her sin! If you do not do it, then may the guilt of the death -of so many innocent souls fall upon you!" Lapidoth was present with me -at this scene, and said, "Friend, do you suppose that Madam is making so -fierce a complaint against this woman, merely because she is seized -with a holy zeal and feeling for the general welfare? Oh no! She is -enraged, merely because the widow still possesses attractions, while she -herself can no longer make claim to any." I assured him that his opinion -was thoroughly in accordance with my own. - -Lapidoth had poor parents-in-law. His father-in-law was Jewish sexton, -and by his slender pay could support his family only in a very sorry -style. Every Friday the poor man was therefore compelled to listen to -all sorts of reproach and abuse from his wife, because he could not -provide her with what was indispensable for the holy Sabbath. Lapidoth -told me about this with the addition:--"My mother-in-law wants to make -me to believe that she is zealous merely for the honour of the holy -Sabbath. Nay, verily; she is zealous merely for the honour of her own -holy paunch, which she cannot fill as she would like; the holy Sabbath -serves her merely as a pretext." - -Once when we were taking a walk on the wall round the town, and -conversing about the tendency of men, which is evinced in such -expressions, to deceive themselves and others, I said to Lapidoth, -"Friend, let us be fair, and pass our censure on ourselves, as well as -on others. Is not the contemplative life which we lead, and which is by -no means adapted to our circumstances, to be regarded as a result of our -indolence and inclination to idleness, which we seek to defend by -reflections on the vanity of all things? We are content with our -present circumstances; why? Because we cannot alter them without first -fighting against our inclination to idleness. With all our pretence of -contempt for everything outside of us, we cannot avoid the secret wish -to be able to enjoy better food and clothing than at present. We -reproach our friends as vain men addicted to the pleasures of sense, -because they have abandoned our mode of life, and undertaken occupations -adapted to their powers. But wherein consists our superiority over them, -when we merely follow our inclination as they follow theirs? Let us seek -to find this superiority merely in the fact, that we at least confess -this truth to ourselves, while they profess as the motive of their -actions, not the satisfaction of their own particular desires, but the -impulse to general utility." Lapidoth, on whom my words produced a -powerful impression, answered with some warmth, "Friend, you are -perfectly right. If we cannot now mend our faults, we will not deceive -ourselves about them, but at least keep the way open for amendment." - -In conversations of this kind we two cynics spent our pleasantest hours, -while we made ourselves merry sometimes at the expense of the world, -sometimes at our own. Lapidoth, for example, whose old dirty clothes had -all fallen into rags, and one of whose sleeves was wholly parted from -the rest of his coat, while he was not in a position even to have it -mended, used to fix the sleeve on his back with a pin, and to ask me, -"Don't I look like a _Schlachziz_ (a Polish noble)?" I, again, could -not sufficiently commend my rent shoes, which were quite open at the -toes, because, as I said, "They do not squeeze the foot." - -The harmony of our inclinations and manner of life, along with some -difference in our talents, made our conversation all the more agreeable. -I had more talent for the sciences, made more earnest endeavours after -thoroughness and accuracy of knowledge than Lapidoth. He, on the other -hand, had the advantage of a lively imagination, and consequently more -talent for eloquence and poetry than I. If I produced a new thought, my -friend knew how to illustrate it, and, as it were, to give it embodiment -in a multitude of examples. Our affection for one another went so far, -that, whenever it was practicable, we spent day and night in each -other's company, and the first thing we did, on returning home from the -places where we severally acted as family-tutors, was to visit each -other, even before seeing our own families. At last we began to neglect -on this account the usual hours of prayer. Lapidoth first undertook to -prove, that the Talmudists themselves offered up their prayers, not -exclusively in the synagogue, but sometimes in their study-chambers. -Afterwards he pointed out also, that the prayers held to be necessary -are not all equally so, but that some may be dispensed with altogether: -even those, which are recognised as necessary, we curtailed by degrees, -till at last they were totally neglected. - -Once, when we went for a walk on the wall during the hour of prayer, -Lapidoth said to me, "Friend, what is going to become of us? We do not -pray now at all." - -"What do you mean by that?" I inquired. - -"I throw myself," said Lapidoth, "on the mercy of God, who certainly -will not punish his children severely for a slight neglect." - -"God is not merely _merciful_," I replied; "He is also _just_. -Consequently this reason cannot help us much." - -"What do you mean by that?" asked Lapidoth. - -I had by this time obtained from Maimonides more accurate ideas of God -and of our duties towards Him. Accordingly I replied, "Our destination -is merely the _attainment of perfection through the knowledge of God and -the imitation of His actions_. Prayer is simply the expression of our -knowledge of the divine perfections, and, as a result of this knowledge, -is intended merely for the common man who cannot of himself attain to -this knowledge; and therefore it is adapted to his mode of conception. -But as we see into the end of prayer, and can attain to this end -directly, we can dispense altogether with prayer as something -superfluous." - -This reasoning appeared to us both to be sound. We resolved therefore, -for the purpose of avoiding offence, to go out of the house every -morning with our _Taleth_ and _Tephilim_ (Jewish instruments of prayer), -not, however, to the synagogue, but to our favourite retreat, the wall, -and by this means we fortunately escaped the Jewish Inquisition. - -But this enthusiastic companionship, like everything else in the world, -had to come to an end. As we were both married, and our marriages were -tolerably fruitful, we were obliged, for the purpose of supporting our -families, to accept situations as family-tutors. By this means we were -not infrequently separated, and afterwards were able to spend merely a -few weeks in the year together. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -The Life of a Family-Tutor. - - -The place, where I first occupied the position of family-tutor, was at -the distance of a league from my residence. The family was that of a -miserable farmer in a still more miserable village; and my salary was -five thalers in Polish money. The poverty, ignorance, and rudeness in -the manner of life, which prevailed in this house, were indescribable. -The farmer himself was a man of about fifty years, the whole of whose -face was overgrown with hair, ending in a dirty, thick beard as black as -pitch. His language was a sort of muttering, intelligible only to the -boors, with whom he held intercourse daily. Not only was he ignorant of -Hebrew, but he could not speak a word of Jewish; his only language was -Russian, the common patois of the peasantry. His wife and children were -of the same stamp. Moreover, the apartment, in which they lived, was a -hovel of smoke, black as coal inside and out, without a chimney, but -with merely a small opening in the roof for the exit oi the smoke,--an -opening which was carefully closed as soon as the fire was allowed to go -out, so that the heat might not escape. - -The windows were narrow strips of pine laid crosswise over each other, -and covered with paper. This apartment served at once for sitting, -drinking, eating, study and sleep. Think of this room intensely heated, -and the smoke, as is generally the case in winter, driven back by wind -and rain till the whole place is filled with it to suffocation. Here -hang a foul washing and other dirty bits of clothing on poles laid -across the room in order to kill the vermin with the smoke. There hang -sausages to dry, while their fat keeps constantly trickling down on the -heads of people below. Yonder stand tubs with sour cabbage and red -beets, which form the principal food of the Lithuanians. In a corner the -water is kept for daily use, with the dirty water alongside. In this -room the bread is kneaded, cooking and baking are done, the cow is -milked, and all sorts of operations are carried on. - -In this magnificent dwelling the peasants sit on the bare ground; you -dare not sit higher if you do not wish to be suffocated with the smoke. -Here they guzzle their whiskey and make an uproar, while the people of -the house sit in a corner. I usually took my place behind the stove with -my dirty half-naked pupils, and expounded to them out of an old tattered -Bible, from Hebrew into Russian Jewish. All this together made such a -splendid group as deserved to be sketched only by a Hogarth, and to be -sung only by a Butler. - -It may be easily imagined, how pitiable my condition here must have -been. Whiskey had to form my sole comfort; it made me forget all my -misery. This was increased by the fact, that a regiment of Russians, who -were rioting at that time with every conceivable cruelty on the estates -of Prince Radzivil, was stationed in the village and its neighbourhood. -The house was constantly full of drunken Russians, who committed all -sorts of excesses, hewed to pieces tables and benches, threw glasses and -bottles into the faces of the people of the house, and so on. To give -merely one example, a Russian, who was stationed in this house as guard, -and whose charge it was to secure the house against all violence, came -home once drunk, and demanded something to eat. A dish of millet with -butter was placed before him cooked. He shoved the dish away, and -shouted an order for more butter. A whole small tub of butter was -brought, when he shouted again an order for another dish. This was -brought immediately, whereupon he threw all the butter into it, and -called for spirits. A whole bottle was brought, and he poured it -likewise into the dish. Thereafter milk, pepper, salt, and tobacco, in -large quantities had to be brought to him, the whole being put in, and -the mixture devoured. After he had taken some spoonfuls, he began to -strike about him, pulled the host by the beard, struck him in the face -with his fist, so that the blood flowed out of his mouth, poured some of -his glorious broth down his throat, and went on in this riotous manner -till he became so drunk that he could no longer support himself, and -fell to the ground. - -Such scenes were at that time very common everywhere in Poland. If a -Russian army passed a place, they took with them a _prowodnik_, or -guide, to the next place. But instead of seeking to be supplied by the -mayor or the village magistrate, they used to seize the first person -whom they met on the road. He might be young or old, male or female, -healthy or sick, it mattered nothing to them; for they knew the road -well enough from special charts, and only sought an opportunity for -outrage. If it happened that the person seized did not know the way at -all, and did not show them the right road, they did not allow themselves -to be sent astray on this account; they selected the road all right, but -they cudgelled the poor prowodnik till he was half-dead, _for not -knowing the way_! - -I was once seized as a prowodnik myself. I did not indeed know the way, -but luckily I hit upon it by chance. Fortunately, therefore, I reached -the proper place, and the only violence I suffered, besides a good many -blows and kicks from the Russian soldiers, was the threat, that, if ever -I led them astray, I should certainly be flayed alive--a threat which -they might be trusted with carrying into execution. - -The other places which I filled as tutor were more or less similar to -this. In one of these a remarkable psychological incident occurred in -which I took the principal part and which is to be described in the -sequel. An incident of the same kind, however, which happened to -another person and of which I was simply eye-witness, must be mentioned -here. - -A tutor in the next village, who was a somnambulist, rose one night from -his bed and went to the village churchyard with a volume of the Jewish -ceremonial laws in his hand. After remaining some time there he returned -to his bed. In the morning he rose up, without remembering the least of -what had happened during the night, and went to the chest where his copy -of the ceremonial laws was usually kept, in order to take out the first -part, _Orach Chajim_ or the Way of Life, which he was accustomed to read -every morning. The code consists of four parts, each of which was bound -separately, and all the four had certainly been locked up in the chest. -He was therefore astonished to find only three of the parts, _Joreh -Deah_ or the Teacher of Wisdom, being awanting. As he knew about his -disease he searched everywhere, till at last he came to the churchyard -where he found the _Joreh Deah_ lying open at the chapter, _Hilchoth -Abheloth_ or the Laws of Mourning. He took this for a bad omen and came -home much disquieted. On being asked the cause of his disquietude he -related the incident which had occurred, with the addition, "Ah! God -knows how my poor mother is!" He begged of his master the loan of a -horse and permission to ride to the nearest town, where his mother -lived, in order to enquire after her welfare. As he had to pass the -place where I was tutor, and I saw him riding in great excitement -without being willing to dismount even for a little while, I asked him -the cause of his excitement when he related to me the above-mentioned -incident. - -I was astonished, not so much about the particular circumstances of this -incident, as about somnambulism in general, of which till then I had -known nothing. My friend, on the other hand, assured me that -somnambulism was a common occurrence with him, and that it meant -nothing, but that the circumstance of the _Hilchoth Abheloth_ made him -forebode some misfortune. Thereupon he rode off, arrived at his mother's -house, and found her seated at her frame for needlework. She asked him -the reason of his coming, when he replied that he had come merely to pay -her a visit, as he had not seen her for a long time. After he had rested -for a good while, he rode back; but his disquietude was by no means -wholly removed, and the thought of the _Hilchoth Abheloth_ he could not -get out of his head. The third day after, a fire broke out in the town -where his mother lived, and the poor woman perished in the flames. -Scarcely had the son heard of the conflagration, when he began to lament -that his mother had so miserably perished. He rode off in all haste to -the town, and found what he had foreboded. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long Chapter. - - -About this time I became acquainted with a sect of my nation, called the -_New Chasidim_, which was then coming into prominence. _Chasidim_ is the -name generally given by the Hebrews to the _pious_, that is, to those -who distinguish themselves by exercising the strictest piety. These -were, from time immemorial, men who had freed themselves from worldly -occupations and pleasures, and devoted their lives to the strictest -exercise of the laws of religion and penance for their sins. As already -mentioned, they sought to accomplish this object by prayers and other -exercises of devotion, by chastisement of the body and similar means. - -But about this time some among them set themselves up for founders of a -new sect. They maintained that true piety does not by any means consist -in chastisement of the body, by which the spiritual quiet and -cheerfulness, necessary to the knowledge and love of God, are disturbed. -On the contrary, they maintained that man must satisfy all his bodily -wants, and seek to enjoy the pleasures of sense, so far as may be -necessary for the development of our feelings, inasmuch as God has -created all for his glory. The true service of God, according to them, -consists in exercises of devotion with exertion of all our powers, and -annihilation of self before God; for they maintain that man, in -accordance with his destination, can reach the highest perfection only -when he regards himself, not as a being that exists and works for -himself, but merely as an organ of the Godhead. Instead therefore of -spending their lives in separation from the world, in suppression of -their natural feelings, and in deadening their powers, they believed -that they acted much more to the purpose, when they sought to develop -their natural feelings as much as possible, to bring their powers into -exercise, and constantly to widen their sphere of work. - -It must be acknowledged, that both of these opposite methods have -something true for a foundation. Of the former the foundation is -obviously Stoicism, that is, an endeavour to determine actions by free -will in accordance with a higher principle than passion; the latter is -founded on the system of perfection. Only both, like everything else in -the world, may be abused, and are abused in actual life. Those of the -first sect drive their penitential disposition to extravagance; instead -of merely regulating their desires and passions by rules of moderation, -they seek to annihilate them; and, instead of endeavouring, like the -Stoics, to find the principle of their actions in pure reason, they seek -it rather in religion. This is a pure source, it is true; but as these -people have false ideas of religion itself, and their virtue has for its -foundation merely the future rewards and punishments of an arbitrary -tyrannical being who governs by mere caprice, in point of fact their -actions flow from an impure source, namely the principle of interest. -Moreover, in their case this interest rests merely on fancies, so that, -in this respect, they are far below the grossest Epicureans, who have, -it is true, a low, but still a real interest as the end of their -actions. Only then can religion yield a principle of virtue, when it is -itself founded on the idea of virtue. - -The adherents of the second sect have indeed more correct ideas of -religion and morals; but since in this respect they regulate themselves -for the most part in accordance with obscure feelings, and not in -accordance with distinct knowledge, they likewise necessarily fall into -all sorts of extravagances. Self-annihilation of necessity cramps their -activity, or gives it a false direction. They have no natural science, -no acquaintance with psychology; and they are vain enough to consider -themselves organs of the Godhead,--which of course they are, to an -extent limited by the degree of perfection they attain. The result is, -that on the credit of the Godhead they perpetrate the greatest excesses; -every extraordinary suggestion is to them a divine inspiration, and -every lively impulse a divine call. - -These sects were not in fact different sects of religion; their -difference consisted merely in the mode of their religious exercises. -But still their animosity went so far, that they decried each other as -heretics, and indulged in mutual persecution. At first the new sect held -the upper hand, and extended itself nearly over the whole of Poland, and -even beyond. The heads of the sect ordinarily sent emissaries -everywhere, whose duty it was to preach the new doctrine and procure -adherents. Now, the majority of the Polish Jews consist of scholars, -that is, men devoted to an inactive and contemplative life; for every -Polish Jew is destined from his birth to be a rabbi, and only the -greatest incapacity can exclude him from the office. Moreover, this new -doctrine was to make the way to blessedness easier, inasmuch as it -declared that fasts and vigils and the constant study of the Talmud are -not only useless, but even prejudicial to that cheerfulness of spirit -which is essential to genuine piety. It was therefore natural that the -adherents of the doctrine spread far and wide in a short time. - -Pilgrimages were made to K. M. and other holy places, where the -enlightened superiors of this sect abode. Young people forsook parents, -wives and children, and went in troops to visit these superiors, and -hear from their lips the new doctrine. The occasion, which led to the -rise of this sect was the following.[43] - -I have already remarked that, since the time when the Jews lost their -national position and were dispersed among other nations where they are -more or less tolerated, they have had no internal form of government but -their religious constitution, by which they are held together and still -form, in spite of their political dispersion, an organic whole. Their -leaders, therefore, have allowed themselves to be occupied with nothing -so much as with imparting additional strength to this, the only bond of -union by which the Jews still constitute a nation. But the doctrines of -their faith and the laws of their religion take their origin in the Holy -Scriptures, while these leave much that is indefinite in regard to their -exposition and application to particular cases. Consequently the aid of -tradition is of necessity called in, and by this means the method of -expounding the Holy Scriptures, as well as the deduction of cases left -undetermined by them, is made to appear as if specified in determinate -laws. This tradition could not of course be entrusted to the whole -nation, but merely to a particular body--a sort of legislative -commission. - -By this means, however, the evil was not avoided. Tradition itself left -much that was still indeterminate. The deduction of particular cases -from the general, and the new laws demanded by the circumstances of -different times, gave occasion for many controversies; but through these -very controversies and the mode of their settlement, this body became -always more numerous, and its influence on the nation more powerful. -The Jewish constitution is therefore in its form aristocratic, and is -accordingly exposed to all the abuses of an aristocracy. The unlearned -classes of the people, being burdened with the care of supporting not -only themselves but also the indispensable learned class, were unable to -give their attention to abuses of the kind. But from time to time men -have arisen out of the legislative body itself, who have not only -denounced its abuses, but have even called in question its authority. - -Of this sort was the founder of the Christian religion, who at the very -outset placed himself in opposition to the tyranny of this aristocracy, -and brought back the whole ceremonial law to its origin, namely, a pure -moral system, to which the ceremonial law stands related as means to -end. In this way the reformation at least of a part of the nation was -accomplished. Of the same sort also was the notorious Shabbethai Zebi, -who, at the close of last century[44] set himself up as Messiah, and was -going to abolish the whole ceremonial law, especially the rabbinical -institutions. A moral system founded upon reason would, owing to the -deeply rooted prejudices of the nation at that time, have been powerless -to work out a wholesome reformation. To their prejudices and fanaticism -therefore it was necessary to oppose prejudices and fanaticism. This -was done in the following way. - -A secret society, whose founders belonged to the disaffected spirits of -the nation, had already taken root in it for a long time. A certain -French rabbi, named Moses de Leon, is said, according to Rabbi Joseph -Candia, to have composed the _Zohar_, and to have foisted it upon the -nation as an old book having for its author the celebrated Talmudist, -Rabbi ben Jochai. This book contains, as stated above, an exposition of -the Holy Scriptures in accordance with the principles of the Cabbalah; -or rather, it contains these principles themselves delivered in the form -of an exposition of the Holy Scriptures, and drawn, as it were, from -these. It has, like Janus, a double face, and admits, therefore, of a -double interpretation. - -The one is that which is given with great diffuseness in Cabbalistic -writings, and has been brought into a system. Here is a wide field for -the imagination, where it can revel at will without being in the end -better instructed on the matter than before. Here are delivered, in -figurative language, many moral and physical truths, which lose -themselves at last in the labyrinth of the hyperphysical. This method of -treating the Cabbalah is peculiar to Cabbalistic scholars, and -constitutes the lesser mysteries of this secret society. - -The second method, on the other hand, concerns the secret political -meaning of the Cabbalah, and is known only to the superiors of the -secret society. These superiors themselves, as well as their operations, -remain ever unknown; the rest of the society you may become acquainted -with, if you choose. But the latter _cannot_ betray political secrets -which are unknown to themselves, while the former _will not_ do it, -because it is against their interest. Only the lesser (purely literary) -mysteries are entrusted to the people, and urged upon them as matters of -the highest importance. The greater (political) mysteries are not -taught, but, as a matter of course, are brought into practice. - -A certain Cabbalist, Rabbi Joel Baalshem[45] by name, became very -celebrated at this time on account of some lucky cures which he effected -by means of his medical acquirements and his conjuring tricks, as he -gave out that all this was done, not by natural means, but solely by -help of the _Cabbalah Maasith_ (the practical Cabbalah), and the use of -sacred names. In this way he played a very successful game in Poland. He -also took care to have followers in his art. Among his disciples were -some, who took hold of his profession, and made themselves a name by -successful cures and the detection of robberies. With their cures the -process was quite natural. They employed the common means of medicine, -but after the usual method of the conjurer they sought to turn the -attention of the spectator from these, and direct it to their -Cabbalistic hocus-pocus. The robberies they either brought about -themselves, or they discovered them by means of their detectives, who -were spread all over the country. - -Others of greater genius and a nobler mode of thinking, formed far -grander plans. They saw that their private interest, as well as the -general interest, could be best promoted by gaining the people's -confidence, and this they sought to command by enlightenment. Their plan -was therefore moral and political at the same time.[46] At first it -appeared as if they would merely do away with the abuses which had crept -into the Jewish system of religion and morals; but this drew after it of -necessity a complete abrogation of the whole system. The principal -points which they attacked were these:-- - -1. The abuse of rabbinical learning. Instead of simplifying the laws and -rendering them capable of being known by all, the learning of the rabbis -leaves them still more confused and indefinite. Moreover, being occupied -only with the study of the laws, it gives as much attention to those -which are no longer of any application, such as the laws of sacrifice, -of purification, etc., as to those which are still in use. Besides, it -is not the study, but the observance of the laws, that forms the chief -concern, since the study of them is not an end in itself, but merely a -means to their observance. And, finally, in the observance of the laws -the rabbis have regard merely to the external ceremony, not to the moral -end. - -2. The abuse of piety on the part of the so-called penitents. These -become very zealous, it is true, about the practice of virtue. Their -motive to virtue, however, is not that knowledge of God and His -perfection, which is based on reason; it consists rather in false -representations of God and His attributes. They failed therefore of -necessity to find true virtue, and hit upon a spurious imitation. -Instead of aspiring after likeness to God, and striving to escape from -the bondage of sensual passions into the dominion of a free will that -finds its motive in reason, they sought to annihilate their passions by -annihilating their powers of activity, as I have already shown by some -deplorable examples. - -On the other hand, those who sought to enlighten the people required, as -an indispensable condition of true virtue, a cheerful state of mind -disposed to every form of active exertion; and they not only allowed, -but even recommended, a moderate enjoyment of all kinds of pleasure as -necessary for the attainment of this cheerful disposition. Their worship -consisted in a voluntary elevation above the body, that is, in an -abstraction of the thoughts from all created things, even from the -individual self, and in union with God. By this means a kind of -self-denial arose among them, which led them to ascribe, not to -themselves, but to God alone, all the actions undertaken in this state. -Their worship therefore consisted in a sort of speculative adoration, -for which they held no special time or formula to be necessary, but they -left each one to determine it according to the degree of his knowledge. -Still they chose for it most commonly the hours set apart for the public -worship of God. In their public worship they endeavoured mainly to -attain that elevation above the body, which has been described; they -became so absorbed in the idea of the divine perfection, that they lost -the idea of everything else, even of their own body, and, as they gave -out, the body became in this state wholly devoid of feeling. - -Such abstraction, however, was a very difficult matter; and accordingly, -whenever they came out of this state by new suggestions taking -possession of their minds, they laboured, by all sorts of _mechanical -operations_, such as movements and cries, to bring themselves back into -the state once more, and to keep themselves in it without interruption -during the whole time of their worship. It was amusing to observe how -they often interrupted their prayers by all sorts of extraordinary tones -and comical gestures, which were meant as threats and reproaches against -their adversary, the Evil Spirit, who tried to disturb their devotion; -and how by this means they wore themselves out to such an extent, that, -on finishing their prayers, they commonly fell down in complete -exhaustion. - -It is not to be denied that, however sound may be the basis of such a -worship, it is subject to abuse just as much as the other. The internal -activity following upon cheerfulness of mind, must depend on the degree -of knowledge acquired. Self-annihilation before God is only then -well-founded, when a man's faculty of knowledge, owing to the grandeur -of its object, is so entirely occupied with that object, that he exists, -as it were, out of himself, in the object alone. If, on the contrary, -the faculty of knowledge is limited in respect of its object, so that it -is incapable of any steady progress, then the activity mentioned, by -being concentrated on this single object, is repressed rather than -stimulated. Some simple men of this sect, who sauntered about idly the -whole day with pipe in mouth, when asked, what they were thinking about -all the time, replied, "We are thinking about God." This answer would -have been satisfactory, if they had constantly sought, by an adequate -knowledge of nature, to extend their knowledge of the divine -perfections. But this was impossible in their case, as their knowledge -of nature was extremely limited; and consequently the condition, in -which they concentrated their activity upon an object which, in respect -of their capacity, was unfruitful, became of necessity unnatural. -Moreover, their actions could be ascribed to God, only when they were -the results of an accurate knowledge of God; but when they resulted from -a very limited degree of this knowledge, it was inevitable that all -sorts of excesses should be committed on the credit of God, as -unfortunately the issue has shown. - -But the fact that this sect spread so rapidly, and that the new doctrine -met with so much applause among the majority of the nation, may be very -easily explained. The natural inclination to idleness and a life of -speculation on the part of the majority, who from birth are destined to -study, the dryness and unfruitfulness of rabbinical studies, and the -great burden of the ceremonial law, which the new doctrine promised to -lighten, finally the tendency to fanaticism and the love of the -marvellous, which are nourished by this doctrine,--these are sufficient -to make this phenomenon intelligible. - -At first the rabbis and the pietists opposed the spread of this sect in -the old fashion; but in spite of this, for the reasons just mentioned, -it maintained the upper hand. Hostilities were practised on both sides. -Each party sought to gain adherents. A ferment arose in the nation, and -opinions were divided. - -I could not form any accurate idea of the new sect, and did not know -what to think of it, till I met with a young man, who had already been -initiated into the society, and had enjoyed the good fortune of -conversing with its superiors. This man happened to be travelling -through the place of my abode, and I seized the opportunity of asking -for some information about the internal constitution of the society, the -mode of admission, and so forth. The stranger was still in the lowest -grade of membership, and consequently knew nothing about the internal -constitution of the society. He was therefore unable to give me any -information on the subject; but, as far as the mode of admission was -concerned, he assured me that that was the simplest thing in the world. -Any man, who felt a desire of perfection, but did not know how to -satisfy it, or wished to remove the hindrances to its satisfaction, had -nothing to do but apply to the superiors of the society, and _eo ipso_ -he became a member. He did not even require, as you must do on applying -to a medical doctor, to say anything to these superiors about his moral -weakness, his previous life, and matters of that sort, inasmuch as -nothing was unknown to the superiors, they could see into the human -heart, and discern everything that is concealed in its secret recesses, -they could foretell the future, and bring near at hand things that are -remote. Their sermons and moral teachings were not, as these things -commonly are, thought over and arranged in an orderly manner beforehand. -This method is proper only to the man, who regards himself as a being -existing and working for himself apart from God. But the superiors of -this sect hold that their teachings are divine and therefore infallible, -only when they are the result of self-annihilation before God, that is, -when they are suggested to them _ex tempore_, by the exigence of -circumstances, without their contributing anything themselves. - -As I was quite captivated by this description I begged the stranger to -communicate to me some of these divine teachings. He clapped his hand on -his brow as if he were waiting for inspiration from the Holy Ghost, and -turned to me with a solemn mien and his arms half-bared, which he -brought into action somewhat like Corporal Trim, when he was reading the -sermon. Then he began as follows:-- - -"'Sing unto God a new song; His praise is in the congregation of saints' -(Psalm cxlix., 1). Our superiors explain this verse in the following -way. The attributes of God as the most perfect being must surpass by far -the attributes of every finite being; and consequently His praise, as -the expression of His attributes, must likewise surpass the praise of -any such being. Till the present time the praise of God consisted in -ascribing to Him supernatural operations, such as the discovery of what -is concealed, the foreseeing of the future, and the production of -effects immediately by His mere will. Now, however, the saints, that is, -the superiors, are able to perform such supernatural actions themselves. -Accordingly in this respect God has no longer preeminence over them; and -it is therefore necessary to find some new praise, which is proper to -God alone." - -Quite charmed with this ingenious method of interpreting the Holy -Scriptures, I begged the stranger for some more expositions of the same -kind. He proceeded therefore in his inspired manner:--"'When the -minstrel played, the spirit of God came upon him' (2 Kings iii. 15). -This is explained in the following way. As long as a man is self-active, -he is incapable of receiving the influence of the Holy Ghost; for this -purpose he must hold himself like an instrument in a purely passive -state. The meaning of the passage is therefore this. When the minstrel -(×”Ö·×žÖ¼Ö°× Ö·×’Ö¼Öµ×Ÿ, the servant of God), becomes like his instrument -(×›Ö¼Ö°× Ö·×’Ö¼Öµ×Ÿ), then the spirit of God comes upon him."[47] - -"Now," said the stranger again, "hear the interpretation of a passage -from the Mishnah, where it is said, 'The honour of thy neighbour shall -be as dear to thee as thine own.' Our teachers explain this in the -following way. It is certain that no man will find pleasure in doing -honour to himself: this would be altogether ridiculous. But it would be -just as ridiculous to make too much of the marks of honour received from -another, as these confer on us no more intrinsic worth than we have -already. This passage therefore means merely, that the honour of thy -neighbour (the honour which thy neighbour shows to thee) must be of as -little value in thine eyes, as thine own (the honour which thou showest -to thyself)." - -I could not help being astonished at the exquisite refinement of these -thoughts; and charmed with the ingenious exegesis, by which they were -supported.[48] My imagination was strained to the highest pitch by these -descriptions, and consequently I wished nothing so much as the pleasure -of becoming a member of this honourable society. I resolved therefore to -undertake a journey to M----, where the superior B---- resided. I waited -with the greatest impatience for the close of my period of service, -which lasted still for some weeks. As soon as this came to an end, -instead of going home (though I was only two miles away), I started at -once on my pilgrimage. The journey extended over some weeks. - -At last I arrived at M----, and after having rested from my journey I -went to the house of the superior under the idea that I could be -introduced to him at once. I was told, however, that he could not speak -to me at the time, but that I was invited to his table on Sabbath along -with the other strangers who had come to visit him; that I should then -have the happiness of seeing the saintly man face to face, and of -hearing the sublimest teachings out of his own mouth; that although this -was a public audience, yet, on account of the individual references -which I should find made to myself, I might regard it as a special -interview. - -Accordingly on Sabbath I went to this solemn meal, and found there a -large number of respectable men who had met here from various quarters. -At length the great man appeared in his awe-inspiring form, clothed in -white satin. Even his shoes and snuffbox were white, this being among -the Cabbalists the colour of grace. He gave to every new comer his -salaam, that is, his greeting. We sat down to table and during the meal -a solemn silence reigned. After the meal was over, the superior struck -up a solemn inspiriting melody, held his hand for some time upon his -brow, and then began to call out, "Z---- of H----, M---- of R----," and -so on. Every new comer was thus called by his own name and the name of -his residence, which excited no little astonishment. Each recited, as he -was called, some verse of the Holy Scriptures. Thereupon the superior -began to deliver a sermon for which the verses recited served as a text, -so that although they were disconnected verses taken from different -parts of the Holy Scriptures they were combined with as much skill as if -they had formed a single whole. What was still more extraordinary, -every one of the new comers believed that he discovered, in that part of -the sermon which was founded on his verse, something that had special -reference to the facts of his own spiritual life. At this we were of -course greatly astonished. - -It was not long, however, before I began to qualify the high opinion I -had formed of this superior and the whole society. I observed that their -ingenious exegesis was at bottom false, and, in addition to that, was -limited strictly to their own extravagant principles, such as the -doctrine of self-annihilation. When a man had once learned these, there -was nothing new for him to bear. The so-called miracles could be very -naturally explained. By means of correspondence and spies and a certain -knowledge of men, by physiognomy and skilful questions, the superiors -were able to elicit indirectly the secrets of the heart, so that they -succeeded with these simple men in obtaining the reputation of being -inspired prophets. - -The whole society also displeased me not a little by their cynical -spirit and the excess of their merriment. A single example of this may -suffice. We had met once at the hour of prayer in the house of the -superior. One of the company arrived somewhat late, when the others -asked him the reason. He replied that he had been detained by his wife -having been that evening confined with a daughter. As soon as they heard -this, they began to congratulate him in a somewhat uproarious fashion. -The superior thereupon came out of his study and asked the cause of the -noise. He was told that we were congratulating our friend, because his -wife had brought a girl into the world. "A girl!" he answered with the -greatest indignation, "he ought to be whipped."[49] The poor fellow -protested. He could not comprehend why he should be made to suffer for -his wife having brought a girl into the world. But this was of no avail: -he was seized, thrown down on the floor, and whipped unmercifully. All -except the victim fell into an hilarious mood over the affair, upon -which the superior called them to prayer in the following words, "Now, -brethren, _serve the Lord with gladness_!" - -I would not stay in the place any longer. I sought the superior's -blessing, took my departure from the society with the resolution to -abandon it for ever, and returned home. - -Now I shall say something of the internal constitution of the society. -The superiors may, according to my experience, be brought under four -heads: (1) the prudent, (2) the crafty, (3) the powerful,[50] (4) the -good. - -The highest class, which rules all the others, is of course the first. -These are men of enlightenment, who have attained a deep knowledge of -the weaknesses of men and the motives of their actions, and have early -learned the truth that prudence is better than power, inasmuch as power -is in part dependent on prudence, while prudence is independent of -power. A man may have as many powers and in as high a degree as he will, -still his influence is always limited. By prudence, however, and a sort -of psychological mechanics, that is, an insight into the best possible -use of these powers and their direction, they may be infinitely -strengthened. These prudent leaders, therefore, have devoted themselves -to the art of ruling free men, that is, of using the will and powers of -other men, so that while these believe themselves to be advancing merely -their own ends, they are in reality advancing the ends of their leaders. -This can be maintained by a judicious combination and regulation of the -powers, so that by the slightest touch upon this instrument it may -produce the greatest effect. There is here no deceit, for, as -presupposed, the others themselves reach their own ends by this means -best. - -The second class, the crafty, also use the will and the powers of others -for the attainment of their ends; but in regard to these ends they are -more short-sighted or more impetuous than the former class. It often -happens, therefore, that they seek to attain their ends at the expense -of others; and their skill consists not merely in attaining their own -ends, like the first class, but in carefully concealing from others the -fact that they have not reached theirs. - -The powerful are men who, by their inborn or acquired moral force, rule -over the weakness of others, especially when their force is such as is -seldom found in others, as, for example, the control of all the passions -but one, which is made the end of their actions. - -The good are weak men who are merely passive in respect of their -knowledge and power of will, and whose ends are reached, not by -controlling, but by allowing themselves to be controlled. - -The highest class, that of the prudent, supervising all the others -without being under their supervision, as a matter of course rules them -all. It makes use of the crafty on their good side, and seeks to make -them harmless on their other side by outwitting them, so that when they -believe they are deceiving, they themselves are deceived. It makes use, -moreover, of the powerful for the attainment of more important ends, but -seeks, when necessary, to keep them in check by the opposition of -several, it may be weaker, powers. Finally it makes use of the good for -the attainment of its ends, not merely with them but also with others, -inasmuch as it commends these weak brethren to the others as an example -of submission that is worthy of imitation, and by this means clears out -of the way those hindrances that arise from the independent activity of -the others. - -This highest class begins usually with Stoicism, and ends with -Epicureanism. Its members consist of pious men of the first sort, that -is, such as have for a considerable time devoted themselves to the -strictest exercise of religious and moral laws, to the control of their -desires and passions. But they do not, like the Stoic, look upon -Stoicism as an end in itself; they regard it merely as a means to the -highest end of man, namely, happiness. They do not therefore remain at -the Stoical stage, but, after having obtained from it all that is -necessary to the highest end, they hasten to that end itself, the -enjoyment of happiness. By their exercise in the strictest Stoicism -their sensibility for all sorts of pleasure is heightened and ennobled, -instead of becoming duller, as it is with gross Epicureans. By means of -this exercise also they are placed in a position to defer every pleasure -that presents itself till they have determined its real worth, which a -gross Epicurean will not do. - -The first impulse to Stoicism, however, must lie in the temperament, and -it is only by a kind of self-deception that it is shifted to the account -of voluntary activity. But this vanity imparts courage for actual -undertakings of a voluntary nature, and this courage is continually -fired by their successful issue. As the superiors of this sect are not -men of science, it is not to be supposed that they have hit upon their -system by the guidance of reason alone. Rather, as already said, the -motive was, in the first instance, temperament, in the second, religious -ideas; and it was only after that, that they could attain to a clear -knowledge and practice of their system in its purity. - -This sect was therefore, in regard to its end and its means, a sort of -secret society, which had nearly acquired dominion over the whole -nation; and consequently one of the greatest revolutions was to have -been expected, if the excesses of some of its members had not laid bare -many weak spots, and thus put weapons into the hands of its enemies. -Some among them, who wished to pass for genuine Cynics, violated all the -laws of decency, wandered about naked in the public streets, attended to -the wants of nature in the presence of others, and so on. By their -practice of extemporising, as a consequence of their principle of -self-annihilation, they introduced into their sermons all sorts of -foolish, unintelligible, confused stuff. By this means some of them -became insane, and believed that in fact they were no longer in -existence. To all this must be added their pride and contempt of others -who did not belong to their sect, especially of the rabbis, who, though -they had their faults, were still far more active and useful than these -ignorant idlers. Men began to find out their weaknesses, to disturb -their meetings, and to persecute them everywhere. This was brought about -especially by the authority of a celebrated rabbi, Elias of Wilna,[51] -who stood in great esteem among the Jews, so that now scarcely any -traces of the society can be found scattered here and there. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -Continuation of the Former, and also something about Religious -Mysteries. - - -After the account of the secret society in the last chapter, this seems -the most appropriate place to state, for the examination of the -thoughtful reader, my opinion about _mysteries in general_, and about -the _mysteries of religion_ in particular. - -_Mysteries in general_ are modes of the causal relation between objects -in nature,--modes which are real or held to be real, but which cannot be -disclosed to every man by the natural use of his powers of knowledge. -_Eternal truths_, that is, those necessary relations of objects which -are founded on the nature of our powers of knowledge, however few may be -familiar with them, are not, according to this definition, mysteries, -because any one can discover them by the use of his powers of knowledge. - -On the other hand, the results of _sympathy_ and _antipathy_, the -medical _specifics_, and similar effects, which some men fall upon by -mere accident, and which they afterwards find confirmed by means of -observations and experiments, are genuine _mysteries of nature_, which -can be made known to another person, not by the use of his powers of -knowledge, but only either by an accident of the same kind, or by -communication from the first discoverer. If mysteries of this sort are -not confirmed by observation and experiment, the belief in their reality -is called _superstition_. - -_Religion_ is a covenant formed between man and another moral being of a -higher genus. It presupposes a natural relation between man and this -higher moral being, so that, by the mutual fulfilment of their covenant, -they advance the interest of each other. If this natural relation (not -being merely arbitrary and conventional) is real, and the mutual -obligation of the contracting persons is founded on this relation, then -it forms a _true_, but otherwise a _false_, natural religion. If the -mutual obligation between man and the higher being or his -representatives is drawn up in a formal code, there arises a _positive_ -or _revealed religion_. - -The true religion, natural as well as revealed, which, as already -observed, constitutes Judaism, consists in a contract, at first merely -understood, but afterwards expressed, between man and the Supreme Being, -who revealed Himself to the patriarchs in person (in dreams and -prophetic appearances), and made known by them His will, the reward of -obeying it and the punishment of disobedience, regarding which a -covenant was then with mutual consent concluded. Subsequently, through -his representative Moses, He renewed His covenant with the Israelites in -Egypt, determining more precisely their mutual obligations; and this -was afterwards on both sides formally confirmed on Mount Sinai. - -To the thoughtful reader I do not need to say, that the representation -of a covenant between God and man is to be taken merely _analogically_, -and not in its strict sense. The absolutely Perfect Being can reveal -Himself merely _as idea to the reason_. What revealed itself to the -patriarchs and prophets, suitably to their power of comprehension, in -figure, in an anthropomorphic manner, was not the absolutely Perfect -Being Himself, but a representative of Him, His sensible image. The -covenant, which this Being concludes with man, has not for its end the -mutual satisfaction of wants; for the Supreme Being has no wants, and -the wants of man are satisfied, not by means of this covenant, but only -by observation of those relations between himself and other natural -objects, which are founded on the laws of nature. This covenant, -therefore, can have its foundation nowhere but in the nature of reason, -without reference to any end. - -Heathenism, in my opinion, is distinguished from Judaism mainly by the -fact, that the latter rests upon the _formal_, absolutely necessary laws -of reason, while the former (even if it be founded on the nature of -things and therefore real) rests upon the _material_ laws of nature -which are merely hypothetically necessary. From this the inevitable -result is polytheism; every particular cause is personified by -imagination, that is, represented as a moral being, and made a -particular deity. At first this result was a matter of mere -_Empiricism_; but by and by men had occasion to observe that these -causes, which were represented as particular deities, were dependent on -each other in their effects, and in a certain aspect subordinate to each -other. There thus arose gradually a whole system of heathen theology, in -which every deity maintains his rank, and his relation to the rest is -determined. - -Judaism, on the other hand, in its very origin contemplated a _system_, -that is, a unity among the forces of nature; and thereby it received at -last this _pure formal_ unity. This unity is merely of _regulative_ use, -that is, for the complete systematic connection of all the phenomena of -nature; and it presupposes a knowledge of the _multiplicity_ of the -various forces in nature. But owing to their excessive love of system, -and their anxiety for the preservation of the _principle_ in its purity, -the Israelites seem to have wholly neglected its application. The result -was that they preserved a religion which was pure indeed, but at the -same time very unfruitful, both for the extension of knowledge and for -its application in practical life. By this cause may be explained their -constant murmuring against the leaders of their religion, and their -repeated relapse into idolatry. They could not, like enlightened nations -at the present day, direct their attention to purity of principle and -useful application of their religion at the same time, and therefore of -necessity they failed either in the one or in the other. Finally the -Talmudists introduced a merely _formal_ application of religion which -aimed at no real end; and by this means they made matters worse and -worse. - -This religion, therefore, which, by the intention of its founder, should -have formed the Jews into the wisest and most intelligent of nations, -made them by its injudicious application the most ignorant and -unreasonable of all. Instead of the knowledge of nature being combined -with the knowledge of religion, and the former subordinated to the -latter merely as the material to the formal, the former was altogether -neglected; and the principle, maintained in its mere abstractness, -continued without any application. - -Mysteries of religion are objects and acts, which are adapted to ideas -and principles, and the inner meaning of which is of great importance, -but which have in their outward form something unseemly or ridiculous or -otherwise objectionable. They must therefore, even in regard to their -outward form, be kept concealed from the vulgar eye, which cannot -penetrate into the inner meaning of anything; and accordingly for it -they must be a double mystery. That is to say, the objects or acts -themselves constitute the lesser mysteries, and their inner meaning the -greater mysteries. - -Of this sort, for example, among the Jews, in the tabernacle, and -afterwards in the Holy of Holies in the temple, was the ark of the -covenant, which, according to the testimony of renowned authors, showed -much resemblance to the sacred chest in the innermost shrine of some -heathen temples. Thus we find among the Egyptians the casket of Apis, -that concealed from the vulgar eye this dead animal, which as a symbol -indeed had an important meaning, but in itself presented a repulsive -aspect. The ark of the covenant in the first temple contained, it is -true, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, nothing besides the -two tables of the law; but of the ark in the second temple, built after -the Babylonian captivity, I find in the Talmud a passage which is too -remarkable not to be adduced. According to this passage the enemies, who -seized the temple, found in the Holy of Holies the likeness of two -persons of different sex embracing, and profaned the sacred object by a -crass exposition of its inner meaning. This likeness was said to be a -vivid sensible representation of the union between the nation and God, -and, in order to guard against abuse, had to be withdrawn from the eye -of the common people, who cling to the symbol, but do not penetrate to -its inner meaning. For the same reason the _cherubim_ also were -concealed behind the veil. - -Of the same sort were the mysteries of the ancients in general. But the -greatest of all mysteries in the Jewish religion consists in the name, -Jehovah, expressing _bare existence_, in abstraction from all -_particular kinds of existence_, which cannot of course be conceived -without _existence in general_. The doctrine of the unity of God, and -the dependence of all beings on Him, in regard to their possibility as -well as their actuality, can be perfectly comprehended only in -conformity with a _single system_. When Josephus, in his apology against -Apion, says, "The first instruction of our religion relates to the -Godhead, and teaches that God comprehends all things, is an absolutely -Perfect and Blessed Being, and is the _sole cause of all existence_," I -believe that these words contain the best explanation of the otherwise -difficult passage, where Moses says to God, "Behold, when I come unto -the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers -hath sent me unto you, and they shall ask, What is his name? what shall -I answer unto them?" and God replies, "Thus shalt thou say unto the -children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of -Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob hath sent me unto you, for this is my name for -ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations."[52] For, in my -opinion, this passage means nothing more than that the Jewish religion -lays at its foundation the unity of God as the _immediate_ cause of all -existence; and it says therefore precisely the same as the remarkable -inscription on the pyramid at Sais, "I am all that is and was and shall -be; my veil has no mortal removed," and that other inscription under the -column of Isis, "I am that which is." The name, Jehovah, is called by -the Talmudists _Shem haezam_ (_nomen proprium_), the name of the -essence, which belongs to God in Himself, without reference to His -operations. The other names of God, however, are _appellative_, and -express attributes which he has in common with all His creatures, only -that they belong to Him in the most eminent degree. For example, -_Elohim_ is a lord, a judge. _El_ is a mighty one, _Adonai_, a lord; and -the same is the case with all the rest. The Talmudists drive this point -so far as to maintain, that the Holy Scriptures consist merely of the -manifold names of God. - -The Cabbalists made use of this principle. Having enumerated the chief -attributes of God, arranged them in order and brought them into a system -which they call _Olam Eziloth_ or _Sephiroth_, they not only picked out -an appropriate name for each in the Holy Scriptures, but they made in -addition all sorts of combinations of these attributes in various -relations, which they expressed by similar combinations of the -corresponding names. They could therefore easily expound the Holy -Scriptures according to their method, inasmuch as they found therein -nothing but what they had before put in themselves. - -Besides these there may also be mysteries in a religion which consist in -the knowledge that the religion, as understood by enlightened people, -has no mysteries at all. This knowledge may be connected either with an -endeavour to destroy gradually among the people the belief in mysteries, -and to banish the so-called lesser mysteries by publishing the greater, -or, on the contrary, with an endeavour to preserve among the people the -belief in mysteries, and to make the preservation of the lesser -mysteries part of the subject of the greater. - -The Jewish religion, according to the spirit of its founder, is of the -first kind. Moses, as well as the prophets who followed him, sought -constantly to inculcate that the end of religion is not _external -ceremonies_, but the knowledge of the true God as the sole -incomprehensible cause of all things, and the practice of virtue in -accordance with the prescriptions of reason. - -The heathen religions, on the other hand, show evident traces of the -second kind. Still I am not, like some, inclined to believe that -everything in these was planned for _intentional deception_, but I -believe that the founders of these religions were for the most part -deceived deceivers; and this mode of representing the matter is far more -in accordance with human nature. I am also unable to imagine that such -secret designs could be propagated, by means of a formal tradition, from -generation to generation. And, moreover, what would have been the use of -this? Have not later generations the same faculty as the earlier of -contriving schemes to reach their ends? There are princes who have never -read Macchiavelli, and yet have admirably carried his principles into -practice. - -With regard to the society of pietists described above I am persuaded -that it had as little connection with the free-masons as with any other -secret society. But conjectures are allowed, and here we have to do -merely with the _degree of probability_. In my opinion there are in -every state societies which are essentially secret, but which externally -have no appearance of being such. Every body of men with a common -interest is to me a secret society. Its aim and principal operations may -be ever so well known, still the _most important_ of these remain -concealed to the uninitiated. Of such a secret society, as of others, -much good as well as evil may therefore be said; and so long as they do -not carry their mischief too far, they are always tolerated. - -The Society of Pietists had a similar end in view to that of the Order -of Illuminati in Bavaria, and employed nearly the same means. Its aim -was to spread itself among people wandering in the dark; and it made use -of superstition in a remarkable manner, as means to this end. It sought -chiefly to attract the youth to itself, and by a sort of empirical -knowledge of men, to educate every member to that, for which he seemed -to be destined by nature, and to assign him his proper place. Every -member of the society was allowed to acquire as much knowledge of its -aim and internal constitution, as enabled him to look merely backwards -on his subordinates, but not forwards on his superiors. These superiors -understood the art of communicating truths of reason by means of sublime -figures, and of translating these figurative representations into truths -of reason. It might almost be said of them, that _they understood the -language of animals_--a very important art, which is indispensable to -every teacher of the people. By doing away with a gloomy piety, their -doctrines met with acceptance among the lively youth. The principle of -self-annihilation, taught by them, is, when well understood, nothing -else than the foundation of self-activity. By its means all the modes of -thought and action, which have become rooted by education, habit and -communication with others, and by which human activity is wont to -receive a wrong direction, are to be destroyed, and one's own free mode -of action introduced. Moral and æsthetic feeling can in fact be -preserved and perfected by this principle alone. It is only when ill -understood, that it can be injurious, as I have shown by the example of -this society itself. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -Journeys to Königsberg, Stettin and Berlin, for the purpose of extending -my knowledge of men. - - -My external circumstances were becoming worse and worse. I was unwilling -any longer to adapt myself to my ordinary occupations, and found myself -therefore everywhere out of my sphere. On the other hand, I was also -unable in the place of my abode to satisfy sufficiently my favourite -inclination to the study of the sciences. So I determined to betake -myself to Germany, there to study medicine and, as opportunity offered, -other sciences also. But the question was, how such a long journey was -to be made. I knew indeed, that some merchants in the place of my abode -were soon to make a journey to Königsberg in Prussia; but I had only a -slight acquaintance with them, and could not therefore expect that they -would take me with them for nothing. After much deliberation I fell at -last upon a capital expedient. - -I had among my friends a very learned and pious man, who stood in great -esteem among all the Jews of the town. To him I revealed my purpose, and -took him into counsel on the subject. I laid before him my miserable -circumstances, pointed out to him, that, as my inclinations had been -once directed to the knowledge of God and His works, I was no longer fit -for any ordinary occupation; and I represented to him especially, that I -was now obliged to support myself by my scholarship alone, as an -instructor in the Bible and the Talmud, which, according to the judgment -of some rabbis, was not altogether allowable. I explained to him, that -on this account I wished to study medicine as a profane art, by which -means I might be of service, not only to myself, but to the whole of the -Jews in this neighbourhood, as there was no regular physician here, and -those, who gave themselves out for such, were the most ignorant shavers, -who packed men out of the world by their cures. - -These reasons produced an extraordinary effect on so devout a man. He -went to a merchant of his acquaintance, represented to him the -importance of my undertaking, and persuaded him to take me with him to -Königsberg on his own vessel. The merchant could refuse nothing to so -godly a man, and therefore gave his consent. - -Accordingly I set out with this Jewish merchant for Königsberg in -Prussia. When I arrived there, I went to the Jewish medical doctor of -the place, opened to him my proposal to study medicine, and begged him -for advice and support. As his professional occupations prevented him -from conveniently speaking with me on the subject, and as he could not -understand me well at any rate, he referred me to some students who -lodged in his house. As soon as I showed myself to these young -gentlemen, and opened to them my proposal, they burst into loud -laughter. And certainly for this they were not to be blamed. Imagine a -man from Polish Lithuania of about five and twenty years, with a -tolerably stiff beard, in tattered dirty clothes, whose language is a -mixture of Hebrew, Jewish German, Polish and Russian, with their several -grammatical inaccuracies, who gives out that he understands the German -language, and that he has attained some knowledge of the sciences. What -were the young gentlemen to think? - -They began to poke fun at me, and gave me to read Mendelssohn's -_Phaedo_, which by chance lay on the table. I read in the most pitiful -style, both on account of the peculiar manner in which I had learned the -German language, and on account of my bad pronunciation. Again they -burst into loud laughter; but they said, I must explain to them what I -had read. This I did in my own fashion; but as they did not understand -me, they demanded that I should translate what I had read into Hebrew. -This I did on the spot. The students, who understood Hebrew well, fell -into no slight astonishment, when they saw that I had not only grasped -correctly the meaning of this celebrated author, but also expressed it -happily in Hebrew. They began therefore to interest themselves on my -account, procured for me some cast-off clothing, and board during my -stay in Königsberg. At the same time they advised me to go to Berlin, -where I should best attain my object. To make the journey suit my -circumstances, however, they advised me to go by ship from Königsberg to -Stettin, and thence to Frankfurt on the Oder, from which place I should -easily find means of getting to Berlin. - -I went therefore by ship, and had nothing for food but some toast, some -herring, and a flask of spirits. I was told in Königsberg, that the -journey might take ten or, at the most, fourteen days. This prophecy, -however, was not fulfilled. In consequence of contrary winds, the voyage -lasted five weeks. In what circumstances, therefore, I found myself, may -be easily imagined. There were in the vessel besides me no other -passengers, but an old woman, who sang hymns all the time for her -comfort. The Pomeranian German of the crew I could understand as little -as they could my medley of Jewish, Polish and Lithuanian. I got nothing -warm to eat the whole time, and was obliged to sleep on hard stuffed -bags. The vessel came also sometimes into danger. Of course the most of -the time I was seasick. - -At last I arrived at Stettin, where I was told that I could make the -journey to Frankfurt quite pleasantly on foot. But how was a Polish Jew -in the most wretched circumstances, without a pfennig to buy food, and -without knowing the language of the country, to make a journey even of a -few miles? Yet it had to be done. Accordingly I set out from Stettin, -and as I thought over my miserable situation, I sat down under a -lime-tree, and began to weep bitterly. I soon became somewhat lighter in -heart; I took courage, and went on. After I had gone two or three miles, -towards evening I arrived at an inn thoroughly worn out. It was the eve -of the Jewish fast, which falls in August. Already I was nearly starving -with hunger and thirst, and I was to fast still the whole of the next -day. I had not a pfennig to spend and nothing of any value to sell. - -After long reflection it occurred to me, that I must still have in my -coat-pocket an iron spoon, which I had taken with me on board ship. I -brought it, and begged the landlady of the inn to give me a little bread -and beer for it. She refused at first to take the spoon, but after much -importunity she was at last induced to grant a glass of sour beer in -exchange. I was obliged therefore to content myself with this, drank my -glass of beer, and went off to the stable to sleep on straw. - -In the morning I proceeded on my journey, having previously inquired for -a place, where there were Jews, in order that I might be able to go into -the synagogue, and sing with my brethren the lamentations over the -destruction of Jerusalem. This was done, and after the prayers and -singing,--about midday,--I went to the Jewish schoolmaster of the place, -and held some conversation with him. He soon discovered that I was a -full rabbi, began to interest himself about me, and procured me a -supper at the house of a Jew. He also gave me a letter of introduction -to another schoolmaster in the neighbouring town, recommending me as a -great Talmudist and an honourable rabbi. Here also I met with a fair -reception. I was invited to the Sabbath dinner by the most respectable -and richest Jew of the place, and went into the synagogue, where I was -shown to the highest seat, and received every mark of honour usually -bestowed on a rabbi. - -After the close of the service the rich Jew referred to took me to his -house, and put me in the place of honour at his table, that is between -himself and his daughter. She was a young girl of about twelve years, -dressed in the most beautiful style. I began, as rabbi, to hold a very -learned and edifying discourse; and the less the gentleman and lady -understood it, the more divine it seemed to them. All at once I -observed, to my chagrin, that the young lady began to put on a sour -look, and to make wry faces. At first I did not know how to explain -this; but, after a while, when I turned my eyes upon myself and my -miserable dirty suit of rags, the whole mystery was at once unriddled. -The uneasiness of the young lady had a very good cause. And how could it -be otherwise? Since I left Königsberg, about seven weeks before, I had -never had a clean shirt to put on; and I had been obliged to lie in the -stables of inns on bare straw, on which who knows how many poor -travellers had lain before? Now all at once my eyes were opened to see -my misery in its appalling magnitude. But what was I to do? How was I to -help myself out of this unfortunate situation? Gloomy and sad I soon -bade farewell to these good people, and proceeded on my journey to -Berlin under a continued struggle with want and misery of every kind. - -At last I reached this city. Here I believed that I should put an end to -my misery, and accomplish all my wishes. But alas I was sadly deceived. -In this capital, as is well known, no Jewish beggars were allowed. -Accordingly the Jewish community of the place, in order to make -provision for their poor, have built at the Rosenthaler gate a house, in -which the poor are received, and questioned by the Jewish elders about -what they want in Berlin. According to the results of such inquiry, they -are either taken into the city, if they are sick or want employment, or -they are sent forward on their journey. I was therefore conducted to -this house, which was filled partly with sick people, partly with a lewd -rabble. For a long while I looked round in vain for a man, with whom I -might talk about my affairs. - -At last I observed a man, who, to judge by his dress, was surely a -rabbi. I went to him, and how great was my joy to learn from him, that -he was really a rabbi, and pretty well known in Berlin! I conversed with -him on all sorts of subjects connected with rabbinical learning; and as -I was very open-hearted, I related to him the course of my life in -Poland, revealed to him my purpose of studying medicine in Berlin, -showed him my commentary on the _Moreh Nebhochim_, and so forth. He -listened to all, and seemed to interest himself very much in my behalf. -But all at once he disappeared out of sight. - -At length towards evening came the Jewish elders. Each of the persons in -the house was called, and questioned about his wants. When my turn came, -I said quite frankly, that I wished to remain in Berlin, in order to -study medicine. The elders refused my request point-blank, gave me a -pittance in charity, and went away. The reason of this conduct towards -me in particular was nothing else than the following. - -The rabbi, of whom I spoke, was a zealot in his orthodoxy. Accordingly -when he had discovered my sentiments and purposes, he went into town, -and informed the elders about my heretical mode of thinking. He told -them, that I was going to issue a new edition of the _Moreh Nebhochim_ -with a commentary, and that my intention was not so much to study -medicine, but mainly to devote myself to the sciences in general, and to -extend my knowledge. This the orthodox Jews look upon as something -dangerous to religion and good morals. They believe this to be specially -true of the Polish rabbis, who, having by some lucky accident been -delivered from the bondage of superstition, suddenly catch a gleam of -the light of reason, and set themselves free from their chains. And -this belief is to some extent well-founded. Persons in such a position -may be compared to a man, who, after being famished for a long time, -suddenly comes upon a well spread table, who will attack the food with -violent greed, and fill himself even to surfeiting. - -The refusal of permission to stay in Berlin came upon me like a -thunderclap. The ultimate object of all my hopes and wishes was all at -once removed beyond my reach, just when I had seen it so near. I found -myself in the situation of Tantalus, and did not know where to turn for -help. I was especially pained by the treatment I received from the -overseer of this poorhouse, who, by command of his superiors, urged my -speedy departure, and never left off till he saw me outside of the gate. -There I threw myself on the ground and began to weep bitterly. It was a -Sunday, and many people went, as usual, to walk outside of the city. -Most of them never turned aside to a whining worm like me, but some -compassionate souls were very much struck with the sight, and asked the -cause of my wailing. I answered them; but, partly on account of my -unintelligible language, partly because my speech was broken by frequent -weeping and sobbing, they could not understand what I said. - -I was so deeply affected by this vexation, that I fell into a violent -fever. The soldiers, who kept guard at the gate, reported this at the -poorhouse. The overseer came, and carried me in. I stayed there over the -day, and made myself glad with the hope of becoming thoroughly sick, so -as to enforce a longer sojourn in the place, during which I thought I -might form some acquaintances, by whose influence I hoped to receive -protection and permission to remain in Berlin. But alas! in this hope I -was deceived. The following day I rose quite lively again without a -trace of fever. I was therefore obliged to go. But whither? That I did -not know myself. Accordingly I took the first road that I came upon, and -surrendered myself to fate. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance. - - -In the evening I came to an inn, where I met a poor tramp who was a -Jewish beggar by profession. I was uncommonly pleased to meet one of my -brethren, with whom I could talk, and to whom this neighbourhood was -pretty well known. I resolved therefore to wander about the country with -this companion, and to preserve my life in this way, though two such -heterogeneous persons were nowhere to be met with in the world. I was an -educated rabbi; he was an idiot. I had hitherto maintained myself in an -honourable way; he was a beggar by profession. I had ideas of morality, -propriety, and decency; he knew nothing of these. Finally, I was in -sound health, it is true, but still of weakly constitution; he, on the -other hand, was a sturdy, able-bodied fellow, who would have made the -best of soldiers. - -Notwithstanding these differences, I stuck close to the man, as, in -order to prolong life, I was compelled to become a vagrant in a strange -land. In our wanderings I laboured to communicate to my companion ideas -of religion and of true morality, while he in return instructed me in -the art of begging. He taught me the usual formulas of the art, and -recommended me especially to curse and swear, whenever I was sent away -without anything. But with all the trouble, which he gave himself in the -matter, his teachings would not take any hold on me. The formulas of -begging appeared to me absurd I thought, if a man was once compelled to -beg help of others, he should express his feelings in the most simple -form. As far as cursing was concerned, I could not understand why a man, -who refused another's request, should draw a curse upon himself; and -then it seemed to me, that the man thus treated would be thereby -embittered, and the beggar be all the less likely to attain his object. -When therefore I went to beg with my comrade, I conducted myself always -as if I were begging and cursing at the same time, but in fact I never -spoke a single intelligible word. If, on the other hand, I went alone, I -had absolutely nothing to say; but from my appearance and conduct could -easily be seen what was wanted. My comrade sometimes scolded me on -account of my slowness in learning his art, and this I bore with the -greatest patience. - -In this way we wandered about in a district of a few miles for nearly -half a year. At last we resolved to turn our steps towards Poland. When -we arrived at Posen we took up our quarters in the Jewish poorhouse, the -master of which was a poor jobbing tailor. Here I formed the resolve, at -whatever cost, to bring my wandering to a close. It was harvest-time, -and already began to be pretty cold. I was almost naked and barefoot. By -this vagrant life, in which I never got any regular meals, for the most -part had to content myself with bits of mouldy bread and water, and at -night was obliged to lie on old straw, sometimes even on the bare earth, -my health had seriously suffered. Besides, the sacred seasons and -fast-days in the Jewish calendar were coming on; and as at that time I -was of a somewhat strong religious disposition, I could not endure the -thought of passing in complete idleness this period which others -employed for the welfare of their souls. - -I resolved, therefore, for the present at least, to go no farther, and, -at all events if it should come to the worst, to throw myself before the -synagogue, and either die there or excite the compassion of my brethren, -and by that means bring my sufferings to an end. Consequently as soon as -my comrade awoke in the morning, began to make arrangements for a -begging tour, and summoned me to the same, I told him that I would not -go with him at present; and when he asked how I intended to sustain life -in any other way, I was able to answer nothing but "God will surely -help." - -I then went off to the Jewish school. Here I found a number of scholars, -some of whom were reading, while others took advantage of the master's -absence to pass the time in play. I also took a book to read. The -scholars, who were struck by my strange dress, approached and asked me -whence I came and what I wanted. Their questions I answered in my -Lithuanian dialect, at which they began to laugh, and make merry at my -expense. For this I cared little. But I recollected that, some years -before, a chief rabbi from my neighbourhood had been appointed to the -same office in Posen, and that he had taken with him an acquaintance and -a good friend of mine as his secretary. Accordingly I asked the boys -about this friend. To my extreme grief I learned that he was no longer -in Posen, as the chief rabbi had been afterwards promoted to the same -office in Hamburg, and his secretary had gone with him to that place. -They told me, however, that his son, a boy about twelve years old, had -been left behind in Posen with the present chief rabbi, who was a -son-in-law of his predecessor. - -This information saddened me not a little. Still the last circumstance -gave me some hope. I inquired after the dwelling of the new chief rabbi, -and went to it; but, as I was almost naked, I shrank from entering, and -waited until I saw some one going into the house, whom I begged to be so -good as to call my friend's son out. The boy recognised me at once, and -manifested his astonishment at seeing me here in such a pitiable plight. -I replied, that this was not the time to relate all the misfortunes -which had brought me into this state, and that at present he should -consider merely how he might somewhat relieve my distress. - -This he promised to do. He went to the chief rabbi, and announced me as -a great scholar and a pious man, who by extraordinary accidents had -fallen into a very miserable condition. The chief rabbi, who was an -excellent man, an acute Talmudist, and of very gentle character, was -touched by my distress, and sent for me to come in. He conversed with me -a while, discussing some of the most important subjects in the Talmud, -and found me well versed in all branches of Jewish learning. Then he -inquired about my intentions, and I told him that I wished to be -introduced as a tutor into some family, but that meanwhile my only -desire was to be able to celebrate the sacred season here, and for this -short period at least to interrupt my travels. - -The good-hearted rabbi bade me, so far as this was concerned, to lay -aside all anxiety, spoke of my desire as a small matter, which it was -nothing more than reasonable to want. He then gave me what money he had -by him, invited me to dine with him every Sabbath, as long as I remained -here, and bade his boy procure a respectable lodging for me. The boy -came back soon, and conducted me to my lodging. I expected this to be -only a small chamber in the house of some poor man. I was therefore not -a little astonished, when I found myself in the house of one of the -oldest Jews of the town, and that here had been prepared for me a neat -little room, which was the study of the master, he and his son being -both scholars. - -As soon as I had looked round a little, I went to the housewife, and, -thrusting some coppers into her hand, I asked her to get me some gruel -for supper. She began to smile at my simplicity, and said, "No, no, sir, -that is not our agreement. The chief rabbi has not given you such a -recommendation, that you are obliged to have us making you gruel for -money." She then went on to explain, that I was not only to lodge in her -house, but also to eat and drink with them, as long as I stayed in the -town. I was astonished at this unexpected good fortune; but my delight -was still greater, when after supper I was shown to a clean bed. I could -not believe my eyes, and asked several times, "Is this really for me?" I -can say with truth, that never, before or since this incident, have I -felt such a degree of happiness, as when I lay down that night, and felt -my limbs, which for half a year had been overwearied and almost broken, -recovering their former strength in a soft bed. - -I slept till late in the day. I had scarcely risen when the chief rabbi -sent for me to come and see him. When I made my appearance he asked me -how I was pleased with my lodging. I could not find words to express my -feelings on the subject, and exclaimed in ecstasy, "I have slept in a -bed!" At this the chief rabbi was uncommonly pleased. He then sent for -the school precentor, and as soon as this man appeared he said to him, -"Go to the shop of ----, and get cloth for a suit to this gentleman." -Thereupon he turned to me and asked what sort of stuff I liked. -Overpowered by the feeling of gratitude and esteem for this excellent -man I could answer nothing. The tears streaming down my cheeks served -for my only answer. - -The chief rabbi also ordered for me some new linen. In two days -everything was ready. Dressed in my new linen and new suit I went to the -chief rabbi. I was going to express my gratitude to him, but could -scarcely get out a few broken words. For the chief rabbi this was a -charming sight. He waived my thanks, and said that I was not to think -too highly of him for this, inasmuch as what he had done for me was a -mere trifle not worth mentioning. - -Now the reader may perhaps suppose that this chief rabbi was a wealthy -man, for whom the expense to which he put himself on my account was -really a trifle; but I can give the assurance that this was far from -being the case. He had merely a moderate income; and as he occupied -himself wholly with study, his wife had the management of his affairs, -and especially the charge of housekeeping. Actions of this sort, -therefore, had to be done without the knowledge of his wife, and under -the pretext that he received from other people the money for the -purpose. Moreover, he lived a very temperate life, fasted every day -except Sabbath, and never ate flesh the whole week through. -Nevertheless, to satisfy his benevolent inclinations he could not avoid -making debts. His severe manner of life, his many studies and vigils, -weakened his strength to such a degree that he died about the -thirty-sixth year of his life. His death took place after he had been -appointed chief rabbi in Fördet, to which place he was followed by a -large number of disciples. I can never think of this godly man without -being deeply affected. - -In my former lodging at the poor tailor's I had left some trifles which -I now went to fetch. The tailor, his wife, and my former comrade in -beggary, who had already heard of the happy change in my affairs, -expected me with the greatest impatience. It was a touching scene. The -man, who three days before arrived in this poor hut, quite debilitated, -half naked, and barefoot, whom the poor inmates of the house regarded as -an outcast of nature, and whose comrade in linen blouse had looked down -upon him with mockery and contempt,--this man (his fame before him) now -comes into the same hut with a cheerful face, and in reverend garb -dressed as a chief rabbi. - -They all testified their joy and surprise at the transformation. The -poor woman took her babe in her arms and, with tears in her eyes, begged -a blessing for him. My comrade begged me very affectingly for -forgiveness on account of his rough treatment. He said that he deemed -himself fortunate in having had such a fellow-traveller, but would hold -himself unfortunate if I would not forgive the faults he had committed -in ignorance. I spoke to them all very kindly, gave the little one my -blessing, handed to my old comrade all the cash I had in my pocket, and -went back deeply affected. - -Meanwhile my fame was spread through the whole town by the conduct -towards me of the chief rabbi, as well as that of my new host, who was -himself a scholar, and had formed a high opinion of my talents and -learning from frequent conversations and discussions which we had held -together. All the scholars of the town, therefore, came to see me and -discuss with me as a famous travelling rabbi; and the more intimately -they came to know me, so much the higher rose their esteem. - -This period was undoubtedly the happiest and most honourable in my life. -The young scholars of the town passed a resolution at their meeting to -make up for me a salary, for which I was to deliver lectures to them on -the celebrated and profound work of Maimonides, _Moreh Nebhochim_. This -proposal, however, was never carried out, because the parents of these -young people were anxious lest their children should be thereby led -astray, and by independent thinking on religion be made to waver in -their faith. They acknowledged indeed that, with all my fondness for -religious speculation, I was still a pious man and an orthodox rabbi. -But they could not rely upon their children having sufficient judgment, -to be able to enter upon this course without passing from one extreme to -the other, from superstition to unbelief; and therein perhaps they were -right. - -After I had spent about four weeks in this way, the man, with whom I -lodged, came to me, and said, "Herr Solomon, allow me to make a proposal -to you. If you are inclined merely to solitary study, you may remain -here as long as you like. If, however, you do not wish to withdraw into -such complete retirement, but are inclined to be of service to the world -with your talents, there is a wealthy man here--one of the most -prominent people of the town--who has an only son, and wishes nothing so -much as to have you for his tutor. This man is my brother-in-law. If you -will not do it for his sake, please do it for mine, and to gratify the -chief rabbi, as he has deeply at heart the education of my nephew, who -is connected by marriage with his family." This offer I accepted with -delight. I came therefore into this family under advantageous conditions -as tutor, and remained with them two years in the greatest honour. -Nothing was done in the house without my knowledge. I was always met -with the greatest respect. I was held in fact to be almost something -more than human. - -Thus the two years flowed on imperceptibly and happily for me. But -during the time some little incidents took place, which I believe should -not be altogether omitted in this history. - -In the first place the esteem entertained for me in this house went so -far, that _malgré moi_ they were going to make me a prophet. My pupil -was betrothed to the daughter of a chief rabbi, who was a brother-in-law -of the chief rabbi in Posen. The bride, a girl of about twelve years, -was brought to Posen by her parents-in-law at the feast of Pentecost. On -the occasion of this visit I observed that the girl was of a very -phlegmatic temperament and somewhat consumptive. I mentioned this to the -brother of my host, and added with a significant look, that I was very -anxious for the girl, as I did not believe that her health would last -long. After the feast was over the girl was sent home, and a fortnight -afterwards a letter was received announcing her death. On this account, -not only in the house where I lived, but in the whole town, I was taken -for a prophet, who had been able to foretell the death of this girl. As -I wished nothing less than to deceive, I endeavoured to bring these -superstitious people to a different train of thought. I told them that -anybody, who had made observations in the world, would have been able to -foretell the same thing. But it was of no use. Once for all I was a -prophet, and had to remain one. - -Another incident occurred in a Jewish house one Friday when they were -preparing fish for the Sabbath. The fish was a carp, and it seemed to -the cook who was cutting it up as if it uttered a sound. This threw -everybody into a panic. The rabbi was asked what should be done with -this dumb fish that had ventured to speak. Under the superstitious idea -that the carp was possessed with a spirit, the rabbi enjoined that it -should be wrapped in a linen cloth, and buried with pomp. - -Now, in the house where I lived, this awe-inspiring event became the -subject of conversation. Having by this time emancipated myself pretty -thoroughly from superstitions of this sort by diligent study of the -_Moreh Nebhochim_, I laughed heartily over the story, and said, that, if -instead of burying the carp, they had sent it to me, I should have tried -how such an inspired carp would taste. - -This _bon mot_ became known. The learned men fell into a passion about -it, denounced me as a heretic, and sought to persecute me in every way. -But the respect, entertained for me in the house where I was tutor, made -all their efforts fruitless. As I found myself in this way safe, and the -spirit of fanaticism, instead of deterring me, rather spurred me on to -further reflection, I began to push matters a little farther, frequently -slept through the time of prayer, went seldom to the synagogue, and so -on. At last the measure of my sins became so full, that nothing could -secure me any longer from persecution. - -At the entrance to the Common Hall in Posen there has been, no one knows -for how long, a stag-horn fixed into the wall. The Jews are unanimously -of the conviction, that any one who touches this horn is sure to die on -the spot; and they relate a multitude of instances in proof. This would -not go down with me at all, and I made fun of it. So one day when I was -passing the stag-horn with some other Jews, I said to them, "You Posen -fools, do you think that any one who touches this horn must die on the -spot? See, I dare to touch it!" Horror-struck, they expected my death -on the spot; but as nothing happened, their anxiety for me was converted -into hatred. They looked on me as one who had profaned the sanctuary. - -This fanaticism stirred up in me the desire to go to Berlin, and destroy -by enlightenment the remnant of superstition which still clung to me. I -therefore begged leave of my employer. He expressed the wish indeed, -that I should remain longer in his house, and assured me of his -protection against all persecution. But as I had once for all taken my -resolution, I was determined not to alter it. I therefore bade goodbye -to my employer and his whole family, took a seat on the Frankfurt post, -and set out for Berlin. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -Arrival in Berlin--Acquaintances--Mendelssohn--Desperate Study of -Metaphysics--Doubts--Lectures on Locke and Adelung. - - -As I came to Berlin this time by post, I did not require to remain -outside the Rosenthaler Gate to be examined by the Jewish elders; I -proceeded without any difficulty into the city, and was allowed to take -up my quarters where I chose. To _remain_ in the city, however, was a -different thing. The Jewish police-officers--L. M. of those days was a -terrible fellow,--went every day round all the hotels and other houses -designed for the reception of strangers, made inquiry into the quality -and occupation of newcomers, as well as the probable length of their -stay, and allowed them no rest till they had either found some -occupation in the city, or were out of it again, or--the alternative -goes without saying. I had taken a lodging on the New Market with a Jew, -who was accustomed to receive in his house poor travellers that had not -much to spend, and who the following day received a visit of this sort. - -The Jewish police-officer, L. M., came and examined me in the strictest -manner. I told him that I wished to enter into service as a -family-tutor in Berlin, and that therefore the length of my stay could -not be exactly determined. I appeared to him suspicious; he believed he -had seen me here before, and evidently looked on me as a comet, which -comes nearer to the earth the second time than the first, and so makes -the danger more threating. But when he saw by me a _Milloth Higgayon_ or -Hebrew Logic, drawn up by Maimonides, and annotated by Mendelssohn, he -went into a perfect rage. "Yes! yes!" he exclaimed, "that's the sort of -books for me!" and as he turned to me with a threatening look, "Pack," -he said, "out of Berlin as quick as you can, if you don't wish to be led -out with all the honours!" I trembled, and knew not what to do; but as I -had learnt that there was a Polish Jew, a man of talent, residing in -Berlin for the sake of study, and received with esteem in the best -families, I paid him a visit. - -He received me as a countryman in a very friendly manner, asked about my -home in Poland, and what had brought me to Berlin. When I told him in -reply, that from my childhood I had discovered an inclination to the -sciences, had already made myself acquainted with this and that Hebrew -work which touches upon these, and now had come to Berlin in order to be -_Maamik Bechochmah_ (to become absorbed in the sciences), he smiled at -this quaint rabbinical phrase, but gave me his full approval; and after -conversing with me for some time, he begged me to visit him often, which -I very willingly promised to do, and went away rejoicing in spirit. - -The very next day I visited my Polish friend again, and found with him -some young people belonging to a prominent Jewish family, who visited -him often, and conversed with him on scientific subjects. They entered -into conversation with me, found much amusement in my jargon, as well as -in my simplicity and open-heartedness; in particular they laughed -heartily at the phrase, _Maamik Bechochmah_, of which they had heard -already. All this gave me courage, and they assured me that I should not -find myself mistaken in the expectation of being able to be _Maamik -Bechochmah_ in Berlin. And when I made known my fear about the -above-mentioned police-officer, they made me pluck up courage by -promising to obtain protection for me from their family, so that I might -remain in Berlin as long as I chose. - -They kept their word, and Herr D---- P----, a well-to-do man of -excellent character, of many attainments and fine taste, who was an -uncle of these young men, not only paid me much attention, but also -procured for me a respectable lodging, and invited me to the Sabbath -dinner. Others of the family also sent me meals at my room on fixed -days. Among these was a brother of these young men, in other respects an -honourable man, who was not without attainments. But as he was a zealous -Talmudist, he inquired earnestly whether with my inclination towards the -sciences I had not quite neglected the Talmud; and as soon as he -learnt, that I was so _Maamik Bechochmah_ as to neglect the study of the -Talmud, he gave up sending me my meals. - -As I now had permission to remain in Berlin, I thought of nothing but -how to carry my purpose into effect. Accidentally one day I went into a -butter-shop, and found the dealer in the act of anatomising a somewhat -old book for use in his trade. I looked at it, and found, to my no small -astonishment, that it was Wolff's _Metaphysics, or the Doctrine of God, -of the World, and of Man's Soul_. I could not understand, how in a city -so enlightened as Berlin such important works could be treated in this -barbarous fashion. I turned therefore to the dealer, and asked him, if -he would not sell the book. He was ready to part with it for two -groschen. Without thinking long about it I gave the price at once, and -went home delighted with my treasure. - -At the very first reading I was in raptures with the book. Not only this -sublime science in itself, but also the order and mathematical method of -the celebrated author,--the precision of his explanations, the exactness -of his reasoning, and the scientific arrangement of his exposition,--all -this struck a new light in my mind. - -With the Ontology, the Cosmology, and the Psychology all went well; but -the Theology created many difficulties, inasmuch as I found its dogmas, -not only not in harmony, but even in contradiction, with the preceding -propositions. At the very beginning I could not assent to Wolff's -argument _a posteriori_ for the existence of God in accordance with the -Principle of Sufficient Reason; and I raised the objection to it, that, -inasmuch as, according to Wolff's own confession, the Principle of -Sufficient Reason is abstracted from particular cases of experience, the -only point which can be proved by it is, that every object of experience -must have its sufficient reason in some other object of experience, but -not in an object beyond all experience. I also compared these new -metaphysical doctrines with those of Maimonides, or rather of Aristotle, -which were already known to me; and I could not bring them into harmony -at all. - -I resolved therefore to set forth these doubts in the Hebrew language, -and to send what I wrote to Herr Mendelssohn, of whom I had already -heard so much. When he received my communication, he was not a little -astonished at it, and replied to me at once, that in fact my doubts were -well founded, that I should not however allow myself to be discouraged -on their account, but should continue to study with the zeal with which -I had begun. - -Encouraged by this, I wrote in Hebrew a dissertation in which I brought -into doubt the foundations of Revealed as well as of Natural Theology. -All the thirteen articles of faith, laid down by Maimonides, I attacked -with philosophical arguments, with the exception of one, namely the -article on reward and punishment, which I conceded merely in its -philosophical interpretation, as referring to the natural consequences -of voluntary actions. I sent this dissertation to Mendelssohn, who was -not a little amazed, that a Polish Jew, who had scarcely got the length -of seeing the Metaphysics of Wolff, was already able to penetrate into -their depths so far, that he was in a position to shake their results by -means of a correct Ontology. He invited me to visit him, and I accepted -his invitation. But I was so shy, the manners and customs of the -Berliners were so new to me, it was not without fear and embarrassment, -that I ventured to enter a fashionable house. When therefore I opened -Mendelssohn's door, and saw him and other gentlefolks who were there, as -well as the beautiful rooms and elegant furniture, I shrank back, closed -the door again, and had a mind not to go in. Mendelssohn however had -observed me. He came out and spoke to me very kindly, led me into his -room, placed himself beside me at the window, and paid me many -compliments about my writing. He assured me, that, if I went on in this -way, I should in a short time make great progress in Metaphysics; and he -promised also to resolve my doubts. Not satisfied with this, the worthy -man looked after my maintenance also, recommended me to the most -eminent, enlightened and wealthy Jews, who made provision for my board -and other wants. Their tables I was at liberty to enjoy when I chose, -and their libraries were open to my use. - -Especially worthy of mention among these gentlemen was H----, a man of -many attainments and excellent disposition, who was a particular friend -and disciple of Mendelssohn. He took great pleasure in my conversation, -often discussed with me the most important subjects in Natural Theology -and Morals, on which I expressed my thoughts to him quite frankly and -without disguise. I went over with him in a conversational way all the -systems known to me that are generally denounced, and defended them with -the greatest pertinacity. He met me with objections; I answered them, -and brought in my turn objections against the opposite systems. At first -this friend regarded me as a speaking animal, and entertained himself -with me, as one is apt to do with a dog or a starling that has been -taught to speak a few words. The odd mixture of the animal in my -manners, my expressions, and my whole outward behaviour, with the -rational in my thoughts, excited his imagination more than the subject -of our conversation roused his understanding. By degrees the fun was -turned to earnest. He began to give his attention to the subjects -themselves; and as, notwithstanding his other capabilities and -attainments, he had no philosophical head, and the liveliness of his -imagination generally interfered with the ripeness of his judgment, the -results of our conversations may be readily imagined. - -A few examples will be sufficient to give an idea of the manner in which -I conducted a discussion at the time, of the ellipses in my diction -arising from my deficiency in expressions, and of the way in which I -illustrated everything by examples. I endeavoured once to make -Spinoza's system intelligible,--to show that all things are merely -accidents of a single substance. My friend interrupted me and said, -"But, good heavens! are not you and I different men, and do we not each -possess an existence of our own?" "Close the shutters," I called in -reply to his objection. This strange expression threw him into -astonishment; he did not know what I meant. At last I explained myself. -"See," said I, "the sun shines through the windows. This square window -gives you a square reflection, and the round window a round reflection. -Are they on that account different things, and not rather one and the -same sunshine?" - -On another occasion I defended Helvetius' system of self-love. He -brought against it the objection, that we surely love other persons as -well as ourselves. "For instance," said he, "I love my wife;" and to -confirm this he gave her a kiss. "That proves nothing against me," I -replied. "For, why do you kiss your wife? Because you find pleasure in -doing it." - -Herr A---- M---- also, a good honest fellow, and at that time a wealthy -man, allowed me free access to his house. Here I found Locke in the -German translation, and I was pleased with him at the first hasty -glance, for I recognised him as the best of the modern philosophers, as -a man who had no interest but the truth. Accordingly I proposed to the -tutor of Herr A---- M----, that he should take lessons from me on this -admirable work. At first he smiled at my simplicity in proposing, that -I, who had scarcely got the length of seeing Locke, should give lessons -to him whose native tongue was German, and who had been brought up in -the sciences. He acted, however, as if he found nothing offensive in the -matter, accepted my proposal, and fixed an hour for the lessons. I -presented myself at the time appointed, and began the lessons; but as I -could not read a word of German correctly, I told my pupil to read aloud -paragraph by paragraph in the text, and that then I should give him an -exposition of each. My pupil, who pretended to be in earnest, consented -to this also, to carry on the joke; but how great was his astonishment -when he found, that no joke was to be played in the matter, that in fact -my expositions and remarks, though delivered in my own peculiar -language, evinced a genuine philosophical spirit. - -It was still more amusing, when I became acquainted with the family of -Widow Levi, and made the proposal to her son, the young Herr Samuel -Levi,[53] who is still my Maecenas, that he should take lessons from me -in the German language. The studious youth, incited by my reputation, -was resolved to make a trial, and wished me to explain Adelung's _German -Grammar_. I, who had never seen Adelung's Grammar, did not allow myself -to be at all disconcerted on this account.[54] My pupil was obliged to -read Adelung bit by bit, while I not only expounded it, but added -glosses of my own. In particular I found a good deal to take exception -to in Adelung's philosophical explanation of the parts of speech; and I -drew up an explanation of my own, which I communicated to my intelligent -pupil, by whom it is still preserved. - -As a man altogether without experience I carried my frankness at times a -little too far, and brought upon myself many vexations in consequence. I -was reading Spinoza. His profound thought and his love of truth pleased -me uncommonly; and as his system had already been suggested to me by the -Cabbalistic writings, I began to reflect upon it anew, and became so -convinced of its truth, that all the efforts of Mendelssohn to change my -opinion were unavailing. I answered all the objections brought against -it by the Wolfians, brought objections against their system myself, and -showed, that, if the _nominal definition_s of the Wolfian Ontology are -converted into _real definitions_, conclusions the very opposite of -theirs are the result. Moreover, I could not explain the persistency of -Mendelssohn and the Wolfians generally in adhering to their system, -except as a political dodge and a piece of hypocrisy, by which they -studiously endeavoured to descend to the mode of thinking common in the -popular mind; and this conviction I expressed openly and without -reserve. My friends and well-wishers, who for the most part had never -themselves speculated on philosophical subjects, but blindly adopted the -results of the systems prevailing at the time as if they were -established truths, did not understand me, and therefore also were -unable to follow me in my opinions. - -Mendelssohn, whose usual course was to tack, did not wish to oppose my -love of inquiry, secretly even took pleasure in it, and said, that at -present indeed I was not on the right road, but that the course of my -thoughts must not be checked, because, as Descartes rightly remarked, -doubt is the beginning of thorough philosophical speculation. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -Mendelssohn--A chapter devoted to the memory of a worthy friend. - - -_Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus tam cari capitis?_ - -The name of Mendelssohn is too well known to the world, to make it -necessary for me here to dwell long on the portraiture of the great -intellectual and moral qualities of this celebrated man of our nation. I -shall sketch merely those prominent features of his portrait, which have -made the strongest impression upon me. He was a good Talmudist, and a -pupil of the celebrated Rabbi Israel, or, as he is otherwise named after -the title of a Talmudic work which he wrote, Nezach Israel (the strength -of Israel),--a Polish rabbi who was denounced for heresy by his -countrymen. This rabbi had, besides his great Talmudic capabilities and -acquirements, a good deal of scientific talent, especially in -mathematics, with which he had attained a thorough acquaintance, even in -Poland, from the few Hebrew writings on this science, as may be seen in -the above-mentioned work. In this work there are introduced solutions of -many important mathematical problems, which are applied either to the -explanation of some obscure passages in the Talmud, or to the -determination of a law. Rabbi Israel of course was more interested in -the extension of useful knowledge among his countrymen than in the -determination of a law, which he used merely as a vehicle for the other. -He showed, for example, that it is not right for the Jews in our part of -the world to turn exactly to the East at prayer; for the Talmudic law -requires them to turn to Jerusalem, and, as our part of the world lies -north-west from Jerusalem, they ought to turn to the south-east. He -shows also how, by means of spherical trigonometry, the required -direction may be determined with the utmost exactness in all parts of -the world, and many other truths of a similar kind. Along with the -celebrated Chief Rabbi Fränkel, he contributed much to develop the great -abilities of Mendelssohn. - -Mendelssohn possessed a thorough acquaintance with mathematics; and this -science he valued, not only for its self-evidence, but also as the best -exercise in profound reasoning. That he was a great philosopher, is well -enough known. He was not indeed an originator of new systems; he had -however amended the old systems, especially the Leibnitio-Wolfian, and -had applied it with success to many subjects in philosophy. - -It is hard to say whether Mendelssohn was endowed with more acuteness or -with depth of intellect. Both faculties were found united in him in a -very high degree. His exactness in definition and classification, and -his fine distinctions, are evidences of the former talent, while his -profound philosophical treatises afford proofs of the latter. - -In his character, as he himself confessed, he was by nature a man of -strong passions, but by long exercise in Stoical morality he had learnt -to keep them under control. A young man, under the impression that -Mendelssohn had done him a wrong, came one day to upbraid him, and -indulged in one impertinence after another. Mendelssohn stood leaning on -a chair, never turned his eye from his visitor, and listened to all his -impertinences with the utmost Stoical patience. After the young man had -vented all his passion, Mendelssohn went to him and said, "Go! You see -that you fail to reach your object here; you can't make me angry." Still -on such occasions Mendelssohn could not conceal his sorrow at the -weakness of human nature. Not infrequently I was myself overheated in my -disputes with him, and violated the respect due to such a man,--a fact -on which I still reflect with remorse. - -Mendelssohn possessed deep knowledge of human nature,--a knowledge which -consists not so much in seizing some unconnected features of a -character, and representing them in theatrical fashion, as in -discovering those essential features of a character, from which all the -others may be explained, and in some measure predicted. He was able to -describe accurately all the springs of action and the entire moral -wheelwork of a man, and understood thoroughly the mechanism of the soul. -This gave a character, not only to his intercourse and other dealings -with men, but also to his literary labours. - -Mendelssohn understood the useful and agreeable art of throwing himself -into another person's mode of thought. He could thus supply whatever was -deficient, and fill up the gaps in the thoughts of another. Jews newly -arrived from Poland, whose thoughts are for the most part confused, and -whose language is an unintelligible jargon, Mendelssohn could understand -perfectly. In his conversations with them he adopted their expressions -and forms of speech, sought to bring down his mode of thinking to -theirs, and thus to raise theirs to his own. - -He understood also the art of finding out the good side of every man and -of every event. Not infrequently, therefore, he found entertainment in -people whose intercourse, owing to the eccentric use of their powers, is -by others avoided; and only downright stupidity and dullness were -offensive to him, though they were so in the highest degree. I was once -an eye-witness of the manner in which he entertained himself with a man -of the most eccentric style of thinking and the most extravagant -behaviour. I lost all patience on the occasion, and after the man was -gone I asked Mendelssohn in wonder, "How could you have anything to do -with this fellow?" "We examine attentively," he said, "a machine whose -construction is unknown to us, and we seek to make intelligible its mode -of working. Should not this man claim a like attention? should we not -seek in the same way to render intelligible his odd utterances, since he -certainly has his springs of action and his wheelwork as well as any -machine?" - -In discussion with a reasoner who held stubbornly to a system once -adopted Mendelssohn was stubborn himself, and took advantage of the -slightest inaccuracy in his opponent's way of thinking. On the other -hand, with a more accommodating thinker he was accommodating also, and -used commonly to close the discussion with the words, "We must hold -fast, not to mere words, but to the things they signify." - -Nothing was so offensive to him as an _esprit de bagatelle_ or -affectation; with anything of this sort he could not conceal his -displeasure. H---- once invited a party, in which Mendelssohn was the -principal guest, and he entertained them the whole time with talk about -some hobby of his, which was not exactly of the choicest kind. -Mendelssohn showed his displeasure by never deigning to give the -slightest attention to the worthless creature. Madam ---- was a lady who -affected an excess of sensibility, and as is customary with such -characters, used to reproach herself in order to extort praise from -others. Mendelssohn sought to bring her to reason by showing her -impressively how exceptionable her conduct was and how she ought to -think seriously about improvement. - -In a disconnected conversation he took little part himself; he acted -rather as observer then, and took pleasure in watching the conduct of -the rest of the company. If, on the other hand, the conversation was -coherent, he took the warmest interest in it himself, and, by a skilful -turn, he could, without interrupting the conversation, give it a useful -direction. - -Mendelssohn could never take up his mind with trifles; matters of the -greatest moment kept him in restless activity, such as the principles of -Morals and of Natural Theology, the immortality of the soul, etc. In all -these branches of inquiry, in which humanity is so deeply interested, he -has also, as I hold, done as much as can be done on the principles of -the Leibnitio-Wolfian philosophy. Perfection was the compass which he -had constantly before his eyes, and which directed his course, in all -these investigations. His God is the Ideal of the highest perfection, -and the idea of the highest perfection lies at the basis of his Ethics. -The principle of his Æsthetics is sensuous perfection. - -My discussion with him on our first acquaintance referred mainly to the -following points. I was a faithful adherent of Maimonides before I -became acquainted with modern philosophy; and, as such, I insisted on -the negation[55] of all positive attributes to God, inasmuch as these -can be represented by us only as finite. Accordingly I proposed the -following dilemma: Either God is not the absolutely perfect being, in -which case his attributes may by us be not only _conceived_, but also -_known_, that is, represented as realities belonging to an object; or He -_is_ the absolutely perfect being, and then the idea of God is conceived -by us, but its reality is merely _assumed_ as problematic. Mendelssohn, -on the other hand, insisted on the affirmation, with regard to God, of -all realities,--a position which goes very well with the -Leibnitio-Wolfian philosophy, because it requires, in order to prove the -reality of an idea, nothing more than that it is thinkable, that is, -fulfils the law of Non-Contradiction. - -My moral theory was then genuine Stoicism. It aimed at the attainment of -free will and the ascendency of reason over the feelings and passions. -It made the highest destination of man to be the maintenance of his -_differentia specifica_, the knowledge of the truth; and all other -impulses, common to us with the irrational animals, were to be put in -operation merely as means to this chief end. The knowledge of the good -was not distinguished by me from the knowledge of the true; for, -following Maimonides, I held the knowledge of the truth to be the -highest good of man. Mendelssohn, on the other hand, maintained that the -idea of perfection, which lies at the basis of Ethics, is of much wider -extent than the mere knowledge of the truth. All natural impulses, -capacities and powers, as something good in themselves (not merely as -means to something good), were to be brought into exercise as realities. -The highest perfection was the idea of the maximum, or the greatest sum, -of these realities. - -The immortality of the soul, for me, following Maimonides, consisted in -the union with the Universal Spirit of that part of the faculty of -knowledge which has been brought into exercise, in proportion to the -degree of that exercise; and in accordance with this doctrine I held -those only to be partakers of this immortality, who occupy themselves -with the knowledge of eternal truths, and in the degree in which they do -so. The soul, therefore, must, with the attainment of this high -immortality, lose its individuality. That Mendelssohn, in accordance -with modern philosophy, thought differently on this subject, every one -will readily believe. - -His sentiments in reference to revealed or positive religion I can give -here, not as something made known to me by himself, but merely in so far -as I have been able to infer them from his utterances on the subject in -his writings with the assistance of my own reflections. For at that -time, as an incipient freethinker, I explained all revealed religion as -in itself false, and its use, so far as the writings of Mendelssohn had -enabled me to understand it, as merely temporary. Moreover, being a man -without experience, I thought it an easy matter to convince others in -opposition to their firmly rooted habits and long-cherished prejudices, -while I assumed the usefulness of such a reformation to be undoubted. -Mendelssohn therefore was unable to hold any conversation with me on the -subject, since he could not but fear lest, as has happened, and happens -still, in the case of several others, I should pronounce his arguments -in reply to be mere pieces of sophistry, and should attribute motives to -him on that account. From his utterances, however, in the preface to his -_Manasseh ben Israel_ as well as in his _Jerusalem_, it is clear that, -though he did not consider any revealed _doctrines_ to be eternal -truths, yet he accepted revealed laws of religion as such, and that he -held the laws of the Jewish religion, as the fundamental laws of a -theocratic constitution, to be immutable as far as circumstances allow. - -So far as I am concerned, I am led to assent entirely to Mendelssohn's -reasoning by my own reflections on the fundamental laws of the religion -of my fathers. The fundamental laws of the Jewish religion are at the -same time the fundamental laws of the Jewish state. They must therefore -be obeyed by all who acknowledge themselves to be members of this state, -and who wish to enjoy the rights granted to them under condition of -their obedience. But, on the other hand, any man who separates himself -from this state, who desires to be considered no longer a member of it, -and to renounce all his rights as such, whether he enters another state -or betakes himself to solitude, is also in his conscience no longer -bound to obey those laws. I assent moreover to Mendelssohn's remark, -that a Jew cannot, by simply passing over to the Christian religion, -free himself from the laws of his own religion, because Jesus of -Nazareth observed these laws himself and commanded his followers to -observe them. But how, if a Jew wishes to be no longer a member of this -theocratic state, and goes over to the heathen religion, or to the -philosophical, which is nothing more than pure natural religion? How, -if, merely as a member of a political state, he submits to its laws, and -demands from it his rights in return, without making any declaration -whatever about his religion, since the state is reasonable enough not to -require from him a declaration with which it has nothing to do? I do not -believe Mendelssohn would maintain that even in this case a Jew is bound -in conscience to observe the laws of his fathers' religion merely -because it is the religion of his fathers. As far as is known, -Mendelssohn lived in accordance with the laws of his religion. -Presumably, therefore, he always regarded himself as still a member of -the theocratic state of his fathers, and consequently acted up to his -duty in this respect. But any man who abandons this state is acting just -as little in violation of his duty. - -On the other hand I consider it wrong in Jews, who from family -attachments and interests profess the Jewish religion, to transgress its -laws, where, according to their own opinion, these do not stand in the -way of those motives. I cannot therefore understand the conduct of -Mendelssohn in reference to a Jew of Hamburg who openly transgressed -the laws of his religion, and who was on that account excommunicated by -the chief rabbi. Mendelssohn wanted to cancel the excommunication on the -ground that the church has no rights in civil matters. But how can he -then maintain the perpetuity of the Jewish ecclesiastical state? For -what is a state without rights, and wherein consists, according to -Mendelssohn, the rights of this ecclesiastical state? "How," says -Mendelssohn, (in the preface to _Manasseh ben Israel_, p. 48), "can a -state allow one of its useful and respected citizens to suffer -misfortune through its laws?" Surely not, I reply; but the Hamburg Jew -suffers no misfortune by virtue of the excommunication. He required only -to say or do nothing which legally leads to this result, and he would -then have avoided the sentence. For excommunication is merely tantamount -to saying:--"So long as you put yourself in opposition to the laws of -our communion, you are excluded from it; and you must therefore make up -your mind whether this open disobedience or the privileges of our -communion can most advance your blessedness." This surely cannot have -escaped a mind like Mendelssohn's, and I leave it to others to decide -how far a man may be inconsistent for the sake of human welfare. - -Mendelssohn had to endure many an injustice at the hands of otherwise -estimable men, from whom such treatment might least have been expected. -Lavater's officiousness is well enough known, and disapproved by all -right-thinking men.[56] The profound Jacobi had a predilection for -Spinozism, with which surely no independent thinker can find fault, and -wanted to make out Mendelssohn, as well as his friend Lessing, to be -Spinozists, in spite of themselves. With this view he published a -correspondence on the subject, which was never intended to appear in -print, and be subjected to public inspection. What was the use of this? -If Spinozism is true, it is so without Mendelssohn's assent. Eternal -truths have nothing to do with the majority of votes, and least of all -where, as I hold, the truth is of such a nature, that it leaves all -expression behind. - -Such an injustice must have given Mendelssohn much annoyance. A -celebrated physician maintained even, that it caused his death; but, -though I am not a physician, I venture to gainsay the assertion. -Mendelssohn's conduct in relation to Jacobi, as well as to Lavater, was -that of a hero. No, no! this hero died in the fifth act. - -The acute preacher, Jacob, in Halle published, after Mendelssohn's -death, a book entitled, _Examination of Mendelssohn's Morgenstunden_, in -which he shows that, according to the _Critique of Pure Reason_, all -metaphysical doctrines are to be rejected as baseless. But why does this -concern Mendelssohn more than any other metaphysician? Mendelssohn did -nothing but develop to greater completeness the Leibnitio-Wolfian -philosophy, apply it to many important subjects of human inquiry, and -clothe it in an attractive garb. It is just as if any one were to attack -Maimonides, who has written an excellent astronomical treatise on -Ptolemaic principles, by writing a book with the title, _Examination of -the Hilchoth Kidush Hakodesh of Maimonides_, in which he should seek to -refute his author on Newtonian principles! But enough of this. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -My aversion at first for belles lettres, and my subsequent -conversion--Departure from Berlin--Sojourn in Hamburg--I drown myself in -the same way as a bad actor shoots himself--An old fool of a woman falls -in love with me, but her addresses are rejected. - - -For _belles lettres_ I discovered not the slightest inclination; I could -not even conceive how any man was to form a science of what pleases or -displeases--a matter which, according to my opinion at the time, could -have merely a subjective ground. One day when I was taking a walk with -Mendelssohn, our conversation fell upon the subject of the poets, whom -he recommended me to read. "No," I replied, "I am going to read none of -the poets. What is a poet but a liar?" Mendelssohn smiled at this and -said, "You agree in this with Plato, who banished all poets from his -Republic. But I hope that with time you will think differently on the -subject." And so it happened soon. - -Longinus' _On the Sublime_ fell into my hand. The examples of the -sublime which he adduces from Homer, and particularly the celebrated -passage of Sappho, made a deep impression on my mind. I thought to -myself, these are but foolish trifles, it is true, but the imagery and -descriptions are really very beautiful. After that I read Homer himself, -and was forced to laugh heartily at the foolish fellow. What a serious -air, I said to myself, over such childless stories! By and by, however, -I found a great deal of pleasure in the reading. Ossian, on the other -hand, whom I got to read afterwards (of course only in German -translations) produced on me a peculiarly awe-inspiring effect. The pomp -of his style, the impressive brevity of his descriptions, the purity of -his sentiments, the simplicity of the objects described by him, and -lastly, the similarity of his poetry to that of the Hebrews, charmed me -uncommonly. Thus I found also a great deal of gratification in Gessner's -Idylls. - -My friend, the Pole of whom I spoke in the preceding chapter, who -occupied himself mainly with _belles lettres_, was greatly delighted at -my conversion. I used to dispute with him the utility of these studies; -and once, when he was reading to me as a model of vigour in expression a -passage of the Psalms, in which King David shows himself a master in -cursing, I interrupted him with the words, "What sort of an art is this? -Why, my mother-in-law--God bless her!--when she was squabbling with a -neighbour woman, used to curse much more wildly than that!" - -Now, however, he had his triumph over me. Mendelssohn also and my other -friends were uncommonly pleased at this change. They wished me to devote -myself regularly to the _humaniora_, as without these a man can -scarcely make his own intellectual productions useful to the world. It -was very difficult, however, to convince me of this. I was always in -haste to enjoy the present, without thinking that, by due preparation, I -could make this enjoyment greater and more lasting. - -I now found gratification, not only in the study of the sciences, but -generally in everything good and beautiful, with which I became -acquainted; and I carried this out with an enthusiasm which passed all -limits. The hitherto suppressed inclination to the pleasures of sense -also asserted its claims. The first occasion of this was the following. -For many years some men, who were occupied in various kinds of teaching, -had insinuated themselves into the most prominent and wealthy families -of the Jewish nation. They devoted themselves especially to the French -language (which was then regarded as the highest point of -enlightenment), to geography, arithmetic, bookkeeping, and similar -studies. They had also made themselves familiar with some phrases and -imperfectly understood results of the more profound sciences and -philosophical systems, while their intercourse with the fair sex was -marked by studious gallantry. As a result of all this, they were great -favourites in the families where they visited, and were regarded as -clever fellows. Now, they began to observe that my reputation was always -on the increase, and that the respect for my attainments and talents -went so far, that they were being thrown wholly into the shade. -Accordingly they thought of a stratagem, by which they might be able to -ward off the threatened evil. - -They resolved to draw me into their company, to show me every -demonstration of friendship, and to render me every possible service. By -this means they hoped, in the first place, as a result of our -intercourse, to win for themselves some of the respect which was shown -to me, and, in the second place, to obtain, from my frank and -communicative spirit, some additional knowledge of those sciences which -as yet they knew only in name. But, in the third place, as they knew my -enthusiasm for everything which I once recognised as good, they expected -to intoxicate me with the allurements of sensual pleasure, and to cool -in some measure my ardour in the study of science, which would at the -same time alienate my friends, my intimacy with whom made them so -jealous. - -Accordingly they invited me into their society, testified their -friendship and esteem for me, and begged the honour of my company. -Suspecting no harm, I received their advances with pleasure, especially -as I reflected that Mendelssohn and my other friends were too grand for -everyday intercourse with me. It became therefore a very desirable -object with me, to find some friends of a middle class, with whom I -could associate _sans façon_, and enjoy the charms of familiarity. My -new friends took me into gay society, to taverns, on pleasure -excursions, at last also to ----;[57] and all this at their own -expense. I, on my side, in my happy humour, opened up to them in return -all the mysteries of philosophy, explained to them in detail all the -peculiar systems, and corrected their ideas on various subjects of human -knowledge. But as things of this sort cannot be poured into a man's -head, and as these gentlemen had no special capacity for them, of course -they were not able to make any great progress by this kind of -instruction. When I observed this, I began to express some sort of -contempt for them, and made no attempt to conceal the fact, that it was -mainly the roast and the wine that gave me pleasure in their company. -This did not please them particularly; and as they were unable to reach -their object with me completely, they tried to reach it at least in -part. They told tales to my grand friends behind my back about the most -trifling incidents and expressions. For instance, they asserted that I -charged Mendelssohn with being a philosophical hypocrite, that I -declared others to be endowed with but shallow pates, that I was seeking -to spread dangerous systems, and that I was wholly abandoned to -Epicureanism. (As if they were genuine Stoics!) They even began at last -openly to manifest their enmity. - -All this of course had its effect; and to add to the impression, my -friends observed that in my studies I followed no fixed plan, but merely -my inclination. Accordingly they proposed to me that I should study -medicine, but could not induce me to do it. I observed that the theory -of medicine contains many departments as auxiliary sciences, each of -which requires a specialist for its thorough mastery, while the practice -of medicine implies a peculiar genius and faculty of judgment, that are -seldom to be met with. I observed at the same time, that the most of -physicians take advantage of the ignorance of the public. In accordance -with established usage they spend some years at the universities, where -they have an opportunity indeed of attending all the lectures, but in -point of fact attend very few. At the close of their course, by means of -money and fair words, they get a dissertation written for them; and -thus, after a very simple fashion, become medical practitioners. - -As already mentioned, I had a great liking for painting; but I was -advised against this, because I was already well advanced in years, and -consequently might not have sufficient patience for the minute exercises -required for this art. At last the proposal was made to me, to learn -pharmacy; and as I had already obtained some acquaintance with physics -as well as chemistry, I consented. My object in this, however, was not -to make any practical use of my attainments, but merely to acquire -theoretical knowledge. Accordingly, instead of setting to with my own -hands, and thereby acquiring expertness in this art, at important -chemical processes I played the part of a mere spectator. In this way I -learnt pharmacy, yet without being in the position of becoming an -apothecary. After the lapse of a three years' apprenticeship, Madame -Rosen, in whose shop I was apprenticed, was duly paid by H. J. D. the -promised fee of sixty thalers. I received a certificate, that I had -perfectly mastered the art of pharmacy; and this ended the whole matter. - -This, however, contributed not a little to alienate my friends. At last -Mendelssohn asked me to come and see him, when he informed me of this -alienation, and pointed out to me its causes. They complained, (1) that -I had not made up my mind to any plan of life, and had thereby rendered -fruitless all their exertions in my behalf; (2) that I was trying to -spread dangerous opinions and systems; and (3) that, according to -general rumour, I was leading a rather loose life, and was very much -addicted to sensual pleasures. - -The first of these complaints I endeavoured to answer by referring to -the fact, which I had mentioned to my friends at the very first, that, -in consequence of my peculiar training, I was indisposed for any kind of -business, and adapted merely for a quiet speculative life, by which I -could not only satisfy my natural inclination, but also, by teaching and -similar means, provide for my support in a certain fashion. "As to the -second point," I proceeded, "the opinions and systems referred to are -either true or false. If the former, then I do not see how the knowledge -of the truth can do any harm. If the latter, then let them be refuted. -Moreover, I have explained these opinions and systems only to gentlemen -who desire to be enlightened, and to rise above all prejudices. But the -truth is, that it is not the mischievous nature of the opinions, it is -the incapacity of those gentlemen to comprehend them, coupled with their -reluctance to make such a humiliating confession, that sets them in arms -against me. In reference to the third reproach, however, I must say with -downright honesty, Herr Mendelssohn, we are all Epicureans. The -moralists can prescribe to us merely rules of prudence; that is to say, -they can prescribe the use of means for the attainment of given ends, -but not the ends themselves. But," I added, "I see clearly that I must -quit Berlin; whither, is a matter of indifference." With this I bade -Mendelssohn farewell. He gave me a very favourable testimonial of my -capabilities and talents, and wished me a prosperous journey. - -To my other friends also I bade farewell, and in brief but emphatic -terms thanked them for the favours they had shown. One of my friends was -taken aback, when I bade him goodbye, at my using the brief form, "I -hope you will enjoy good health, my dear friend; and I thank you for all -the favours you have bestowed upon me." It seemed to this excellent, but -prosaically poetical man, as if the form were too curt and dry for all -his friendliness towards me. So he replied with evident displeasure, "Is -this all that you have learnt in Berlin?" I made no answer, however, but -went away, booked by the Hamburg post, and departed from Berlin. - -On leaving I received from Samuel Levi[58] a letter of introduction to -one of his correspondents. When I arrived in Hamburg, I went to the -merchant to whom this letter was addressed, and delivered it. He -received me well, and invited me to his table during my stay in the -city. But as he knew nothing except how to make money, and took no -particular interest in scholarship or science, he evidently entertained -me merely on account of my letter of introduction, because he had to do -something to gratify his correspondent. As I knew nothing of trade, -however, and besides made no very presentable figure, he endeavoured to -get rid of me as soon as possible, and with a view to that asked me -where I meant to go when I left Hamburg. When I replied that I was going -to Holland, he gave me the well-meant advice to hasten my departure, as -this was the best season of the year for travelling. - -Accordingly I took out a passage on a Hamburg vessel that was to sail -for Holland in two or three weeks. For travelling companions I had two -barbers, a tailor, and a shoemaker. These fellows made themselves merry, -caroused bravely, and sang all sorts of songs. In this joviality I could -not take a part; in fact they scarcely understood my language, and -teased me on that account in a thousand ways, though I bore it all with -patience. The vessel glided pleasantly down the Elbe to a village at -the mouth of the river some miles below Hamburg. Here we were obliged to -lie about six weeks, prevented by contrary winds from putting out to -sea. The ship's crew, along with the other passengers, went to the -village tavern, where they drank and played. For me, however, the time -became very dreary, and I was besides so sick, that I nearly despaired -of my recovery. - -At last we got a favourable wind, the vessel stood out to sea, and on -the third day after our departure we arrived before Amsterdam. A boat -came out to the ship to take the passengers into the city. At first I -would not trust myself to the Dutch boatman, because I was afraid of -falling into the hands of the crimps, against whom I had been warned in -Hamburg; but the captain of our ship assured me that he knew the boatman -well, and that I might trust myself to him without any anxiety. -Accordingly I came into the city; but as I had no acquaintances here, -and as I knew that at the Hague there was a gentleman belonging to a -prominent Berlin family, and that he had obtained from Berlin a tutor -with whom I was acquainted, I set out for that place in a drag-boat. - -Here I took lodgings at the house of a poor Jewish woman, but before I -had time to rest from my journey, a man of tall, spare figure, in untidy -clothing, and with a pipe in his mouth, came in, and, without observing -me, commenced to speak with my landlady. At last she said to him, "Herr -H----, here is a stranger from Berlin; pray, speak to him." The man -thereupon turned to me, and asked me who I was. With my usual -instinctive frankness and love of truth, I told him that I was born in -Poland, that my love of the sciences had induced me to spend some years -in Berlin, and that now I had come to Holland with the intention of -entering some situation, if an opportunity offered itself. When he heard -that I was a man of learning, he began to speak with me on various -subjects in philosophy, and especially in mathematics, in which he had -done a good deal. He found in me a man after his own heart, and we -formed at once a bond of friendship with one another. - -I now went to seek the tutor from Berlin, to whom I referred before. He -introduced me to his employer as a man of high talent, who had made a -great figure in Berlin, and had brought letters of introduction from -that city. This gentleman, who made much of his tutor, as well as of -everything that came from Berlin, invited me to dinner. As my external -appearance did not appear to promise much, and I was besides thoroughly -exhausted and depressed by my sea-voyage, I made a comical figure at -table, and our host evidently did not know what to think of me. But as -he put great confidence in the written recommendation of Mendelssohn and -the oral recommendation of his tutor, he suppressed his astonishment, -and invited me to his table as long as I chose to remain here. In the -evening he invited his brothers-in-law to meet me. They were children of -B----, celebrated for his wealth as well as his beneficence; and as -they were men of learning themselves, they were expected to sound me. -They conversed with me on various subjects in the Talmud, and even in -the Cabbalah. As I showed myself thoroughly initiated into the mysteries -of this sort of learning, even explained to them passages which they -regarded as inexplicable, and untied the most complicated knots of -argument, their admiration was excited, and they believed they had come -upon a great man. - -It was not long, however, before their admiration turned to hatred. The -occasion of this was the following. In connection with the Cabbalah they -told me of a godly man, who had now for many years been a resident of -London, and who was able to perform miracles by means of the Cabbalah. I -expressed some doubts on the subject, but they assured me they had been -present at performances of the kind during this man's residence at the -Hague. To this I replied as a philosopher, that I did not indeed -question the truth of their statement, but that perhaps they had not -duly investigated the matter themselves, and gave out their -pre-conceived opinions as facts. Moreover, I declared that I must regard -with scepticism the effect of the Cabbalah in general, until it is shown -that that effect is of such a kind as cannot be explained in accordance -with the known laws of Nature. This declaration they held to be heresy. - -At the end of the meal the wine-cup was passed to me, that I might, in -accordance with the usual custom, pronounce the blessing over it. This -however I declined with the explanation, that I did so not from any -false shame of speaking before a number of men, because in Poland I had -been a rabbi, and had very often held disputations and delivered sermons -before large assemblies, and, in order to prove this, was now willing to -deliver public lectures every day. It was merely, I explained further, -the love of truth and the reluctance to do anything inconsistent, that -made it impossible for me, without manifest aversion, to say prayers -which I regarded as a result of an anthropomorphic system of theology. - -At this their patience was completely exhausted; they reviled me as a -damnable heretic, and declared it would be a deadly sin to tolerate me -in a Jewish house. Our host, who was no philosopher indeed, but a -reasonable and enlightened man, did not mind much what they said; my -humble talents were of more value in his eyes than my piety. Accordingly -they broke up immediately after dinner, and left the house in deep -displeasure; but all their subsequent efforts to drive me from their -brother-in-law's house were fruitless. I remained in it about nine -months, lived at perfect freedom, but very retired, without any -occupation or any rational society. - -Here I cannot pass over in silence an event which was remarkable both in -a psychological and in a moral point of view. In Holland I wanted -nothing but an occupation suited to my powers, and naturally, therefore, -I became hypochondriac. From feelings of satiety, not infrequently I -fell upon the idea of making away with myself, and of thus putting an -end to an existence which had become a burden to me. But no sooner did I -come to action, than the love of life always assumed the upper hand -again. Once, at the Feast of Haman, in accordance with the custom of the -Jews, I had banquetted very heartily in the house where I took my meals. -After the feast, about midnight I returned to my lodging; and as I had -to pass along one of the canals that are laid out everywhere in Holland, -it occurred to me that this was a very convenient opportunity for -carrying out the design which I had often formed. I thought to myself, -"My life is a burden. At present, indeed, I have no wants; but how will -it be with me in the future, and by what means shall I preserve my life, -since I am of no use for anything in the world? I have already resolved, -on cool reflection at different times, to put an end to my life, and -nothing but my cowardice has restrained me hitherto. Now, when I am -pretty drunk, on the brink of a deep canal, the thing may be done in a -moment without any difficulty." Already I had bent my body over the -canal, in order to plunge in; but only the upper part of the body obeyed -the command of the mind, trusting that the lower part would certainly -refuse its services for such a purpose. So I stood for a good while with -half the body bent over the water, and propped myself carefully with my -legs firmly planted on the ground, so that a spectator might have -fancied I was merely making my bow to the water. This hesitation -destroyed my whole plan. I felt like a man who is going to take -medicine, but, wanting the resolution required, raises the cup time -after time to his mouth, and sets it down again. I began at last to -laugh at myself, as I reflected that my sole motive for suicide was a -real superfluity for the present and an imaginary want for the -future.[59] I therefore let the project drop for the time being, went -home, and thus brought the serio-comic scene to an end. - -Still another comical scene must be mentioned here. At the Hague there -lived at that time a woman of about forty-five, who was said to have -been very pretty in youth, and supported herself by giving lessons in -French. One day she called upon me at my lodging, introduced herself, -and expressed an irresistible desire for scientific conversation. She -declared therefore that she would visit me frequently in my lodging, and -requested the honour of a visit from me in return. - -This advance I met with great pleasure, returned her visits several -times; and thus our intercourse became more and more intimate. We -conversed usually on subjects in philosophy and _belles lettres_. As I -was still at that time a married man, and, except for her enthusiasm in -learning, Madam had little attraction for me, I thought of nothing -beyond mere entertainment. The lady, however, who had been a widow now -for a pretty long while, and had, according to her own story, conceived -an affection for me, began to express this by looks and words in a -romantic manner, which struck me as very comical. I could never believe, -that a lady could fall in love with me in earnest. Her expressions of -affection therefore I took for mere airs of affectation. She, on the -other hand, showed herself more and more in earnest, became at times -thoughtful in the midst of our conversation, and burst into tears. - -It was during a conversation of this sort, that we fell upon the subject -of love. I told her frankly, that I could not love a woman except for -the sake of womanly excellences, such as beauty, grace, agreeableness, -etc., and that any other excellences she might possess, such as talents -or learning, could excite in me only esteem, but by no means love. The -lady adduced against me arguments _a priori_ as well as instances from -experience, especially from French novels, and tried to correct my -notions of love. I could not, however, be so easily convinced; and as -the lady was carrying her airs to an absurd length, I rose and took my -leave. She accompanied me to the very door, grasped me by the hand, and -would not let me go. I asked her somewhat sharply, "What's the matter -with you, madam?" With trembling voice and tearful eyes she replied, "I -love you." - -When I heard this laconic declaration of love, I began to laugh -immoderately, tore myself from her grasp, and rushed away. Some time -afterwards she sent me the following _billet doux_:-- - -/p - "Sir, -p/ - -I have been greatly mistaken in your character. I took you for a man of -noble thoughts and exalted feelings; but I see now that you are a -genuine Epicurean. You seek nothing but pleasure. A woman can please you -only on account of her beauty. A Madame Dacier, for example, who has -studied thoroughly all the Greek and Latin authors, translated them into -her native language, and enriched them with learned annotations, could -not please you. Why? Because she is not pretty. Sir, you, who are -otherwise so enlightened, ought to be ashamed to cherish such pernicious -principles; and if you will not repent, then tremble before the revenge -of the injured love of - -/p - Yours, etc." -p/ - -To this I returned the following reply:-- - -/p - "Madam, -p/ - -That you have been mistaken, is shown by the result. You say that I am a -genuine Epicurean. In this you do me a great honour. Much as I abhor the -title of an _epicure_, on the other hand I feel proud of the title of -_genuine Epicurean_. Certainly it is beauty alone that pleases me in a -woman; but as this can be heightened by other qualities, these must also -be pleasing as means towards the chief end. On the other hand, I can -merely _esteem_ such a woman on account of her talents; _love_ her I -cannot, as I have already explained in conversation. For the learning of -Madame Dacier I have all respect: she could at all events fall in love -with the Greek heroes who were at the siege of Troy, and expect in -return the love of their _manes_ that were constantly hovering around -her; but nothing more. For the rest, Madam, as far as your revenge is -concerned, I do not fear it, since Time, which destroys all things, has -shattered your weapons, that is, your teeth and nails. - -/p - Yours, etc." -p/ - -Thus ended this strange love-affair. - -I discovered that in Holland there was nothing for me to do, inasmuch as -the main desire of the Dutch Jews is to make money, and they manifest no -particular liking for the sciences. Besides, in consequence of not -knowing the Dutch language, I was unable to give instructions in any -science. I determined therefore to return to Berlin by Hamburg, but -found an opportunity of travelling to Hanover by land. In Hanover I went -to a wealthy Jew,--a man who does not deserve even to enjoy his -riches,--showed him my letter of introduction from Mendelssohn, and -represented to him the urgency of my present circumstances. He read -Mendelssohn's letter carefully through, called for pen and ink, and, -without speaking a word to me, wrote at the foot:--"I also hereby -certify that what Herr Mendelssohn writes in praise of Herr Solomon is -perfectly correct." And with this he dismissed me. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -I return to Hamburg--A Lutheran Pastor pronounces me to be a scabby -Sheep, and unworthy of Admission into the Christian Fold--I enter the -Gymnasium, and frighten the Chief Rabbi out of his Wits. - - -I made a prosperous journey back to Hamburg, but here I fell into -circumstances of the deepest distress. I lodged in a miserable house, -had nothing to eat, and did not know what to do. I had received too much -education to return to Poland, to spend my life in misery without -rational occupation or society, and to sink back into the darkness of -superstition and ignorance, from which I had hardly delivered myself -with so much labour. On the other hand, to succeed in Germany was a -result on which I could not calculate, owing to my ignorance of the -language, as well as of the manners and customs of the people, to which -I had never yet been able to adapt myself properly. I had learnt no -particular profession, I had not distinguished myself in any special -science, I was not even master of any language in which I could make -myself perfectly intelligible. It occurred to me, therefore, that for me -there was no alternative left, but to embrace the Christian religion, -and get myself baptised in Hamburg. Accordingly I resolved to go to the -first clergyman I should come upon, and inform him of my resolution, as -well as of my motives for it, without any hypocrisy, in a truthful and -honest fashion. But as I could not express myself well orally, I put my -thoughts into writing in German with Hebrew characters, went to a -schoolmaster, and got him to copy it in German characters. The purport -of my letter was in brief as follows:-- - -"I am a native of Poland, belonging to the Jewish nation, destined by my -education and studies to be a rabbi; but in the thickest darkness I have -perceived some light. This induced me to search further after light and -truth, and to free myself completely from the darkness of superstition -and ignorance. In order to this end, which could not be attained in my -native place, I came to Berlin, where by the support of some enlightened -men of our nation I studied for some years--not indeed after any plan, -but merely to satisfy my thirst for knowledge. But as our nation is -unable to use, not only such planless studies, but even those conducted -on the most perfect plan, it cannot be blamed for becoming tired of -them, and pronouncing their encouragement to be useless. I have -therefore resolved, in order to secure temporal as well as eternal -happiness, which depends on the attainment of perfection, and in order -to become useful to myself as well as others, to embrace the Christian -religion. The Jewish religion, it is true, comes, in its articles of -faith, nearer to reason than Christianity. But in practical use the -latter has an advantage over the former; and since morality, which -consists not in opinions but in actions, is the aim of all religion in -general, clearly the latter comes nearer than the former to this aim. -Moreover, I hold the mysteries of the Christian religion for that which -they are, that is, allegorical representations of the truths that are -most important for man. By this means I make my faith in them harmonise -with reason, but I cannot believe them according to their common -meaning. I beg therefore most respectfully an answer to the question, -whether after this confession I am worthy of the Christian religion or -not. In the former case I am ready to carry my proposal into effect; but -in the latter, I must give up all claim to a religion which enjoins me -to lie, that is, to deliver a confession of faith which contradicts my -reason." - -The schoolmaster, to whom I dictated this, fell into astonishment at my -audacity; never before had he listened to such a confession of faith. He -shook his head with much concern, interrupted the writing several times, -and became doubtful, whether the mere copying was not itself a sin. With -great reluctance he copied it out, merely to get rid of the thing. I -went then to a prominent clergyman, delivered my letter, and begged for -a reply. He read it with great attention, fell likewise into -astonishment, and on finishing entered into conversation with me. - -"So," he said, "I see your intention is to embrace the Christian -religion, merely in order to improve your temporal circumstances." - -"Excuse me, Herr Pastor," I replied, "I think I have made it clear -enough in my letter, that my object is the attainment of perfection. To -this, it is true, the removal of all hindrances and the improvement of -my external circumstances form an indispensable condition. But this -condition is not the chief end." - -"But," said the pastor, "do you not feel any inclination of the soul to -the Christian religion without reference to any external motives?" - -"I should be telling a lie, if I were to give you an affirmative -answer." - -"You are too much of a philosopher," replied the pastor, "to be able to -become a Christian. Reason has taken the upper hand with you, and faith -must accommodate itself to reason. You hold the mysteries of the -Christian religion to be mere fables, and its commands to be mere laws -of reason. For the present I cannot be satisfied with your confession of -faith. You should therefore pray to God, that He may enlighten you with -His grace, and endow you with the spirit of true Christianity; and then -come to me again." - -"If that is the case," I said, "then I must confess, Herr Pastor, that I -am not qualified for Christianity. Whatever light I may receive, I shall -always make it luminous with the light of reason. I shall never believe -that I have fallen upon new truths, if it is impossible to see their -connection with the truths already known to me. I must therefore remain -what I am,--a stiffnecked Jew. My religion enjoins me to _believe_ -nothing, but to _think_ the truth and to _practise_ goodness. If I find -any hindrance in this from external circumstances, it is not my fault. I -do all that lies in my power." - -With this I bade the pastor goodbye. - -The hardships of my journey, coupled with poor food, brought on an ague. -I lay on a straw-bed in a garret, and suffered the want of all -conveniences and refreshments. My landlord, who took pity on me, called -a Jewish physician, who prescribed an emetic which soon cured me of my -fever. The doctor found that I was no common man, stayed to converse -with me for some hours, and begged me, as soon as I recovered, to visit -him. - -Meanwhile, however, a young man, who had known me in Berlin, heard of my -arrival. He called on me to say that Herr W----, who had seen me in -Berlin, was now residing in Hamburg, and that I might very properly call -upon him. I did so, and Herr W----, who was a very clever, honourable -man, of a benevolent disposition naturally, asked me what I intended to -do. I represented to him my whole circumstances, and begged for his -advice. He said that in his opinion the unfortunate position of my -affairs arose from the fact, that I had devoted myself with zeal merely -to the acquisition of scientific knowledge, but had neglected the study -of language, and therefore I was unable to communicate my knowledge to -others, or make any use of it. Meanwhile, he thought, nothing had been -lost by delay; and if I was still willing to accommodate myself to the -circumstances, I could attain my object in the gymnasium at Altona, -where his son was studying, while he would provide for my support. - -I accepted this offer with many thanks, and went home with a joyful -heart. Meanwhile Herr W---- spoke to the professors of the gymnasium, as -well as to the principal, but more particularly to the syndic, Herr -G----, a man who cannot be sufficiently praised. He represented to them, -that I was a man of uncommon talents, who wanted merely some further -knowledge of language to distinguish himself in the world, and who hoped -to obtain that knowledge by a short residence in the gymnasium. They -acceded to his request. I was matriculated, and had a room assigned to -me, in the institution. - -Here I lived for two years in peace and contentment. But the pupils in -such a gymnasium, as may be easily supposed, make very slow progress; -and it was therefore natural that I, who had already made considerable -attainments in science, should find the lessons at times somewhat -tedious. Consequently I did not attend them all, but made a selection to -suit my taste. The Director Dusch I esteemed very highly on account of -his profound scholarship and his excellent character. I therefore -attended the most of his lectures. It is true, the philosophy of -Ernesti, on which he lectured, could not give me much satisfaction, and -just as little did I receive from his lectures on Segner's Mathematical -Compendium. But I derived great benefit from his instructions in the -English language. The Rector H----, a cheerful old man, though somewhat -pedantic, was not altogether pleased with me, because I would not -perform his Latin exercises, and would not learn Greek at all. The -Professor of History began his lectures _ab ovo_ with Adam, and at the -end of the year with a great deal of effort reached as far down as the -building of the Tower of Babel. The teacher of French used for -translation Fenelon's _Sur l'existence de Dieu_,--a work for which I -conceived the greatest dislike, because the author, while appearing to -declaim against Spinozism, in reality argues in its defence. - -During the whole period of my residence in the gymnasium the professors -were unable to form any correct idea of me, because they never had an -opportunity of forming my acquaintance. By the end of the first year I -thought I had attained my object, and laid a good foundation in -languages. I had also become tired of this inactive life, and therefore -resolved to quit the gymnasium. But Director Dusch; who began by and by -to become acquainted with me, begged me to stay at least another year, -and, as I wanted for nothing, I consented. - -It was about this time that the following incident in my life took -place. My wife had sent a polish Jew in search of me, and he heard of my -residence in Hamburg. Accordingly he came and called on me at the -gymnasium. He had been commissioned by my wife to demand, that I should -either return home without delay, or send through him a bill of divorce. -At that time I was unable to do either the one or the other. I was not -inclined to be divorced from my wife without any cause; and to return at -once to Poland, where I had not yet the slightest prospect of getting on -in the world or of leading a rational life, was to me impossible. I -represented all this to the gentleman who had undertaken the commission, -and added that it was my intention to leave the gymnasium soon and go to -Berlin, that my Berlin friends would, as I hoped, give me both their -advice and assistance in carrying out this intention. He would not be -satisfied with this answer, which he took for a mere evasion. When he -thus found that he could do nothing with me, he went to the chief rabbi, -and entered a complaint against me. A messenger was accordingly sent to -summon me before the tribunal of the chief rabbi; but I took my stand, -that at present I was not under his jurisdiction, inasmuch as the -gymnasium had a jurisdiction of its own, by which my case would require -to be decided. The chief rabbi made every effort through the Government -to make me submit to his wishes, but all his efforts were in vain. When -he saw that he could not accomplish his purpose in this way, he sent me -an invitation a second time on the pretext that he wished merely to -speak with me. To this I willingly consented, and went to him at once. - -He received me with much respect; and when I made known to him my -birthplace and family in Poland, he began to lament and wring his hands. -"Alas!" said he, "you are the son of the famous Rabbi Joshua? I know -your father well; he is a pious and learned man. You also are not -unknown to me; I have examined you as a boy several times, and formed -high expectations of you. Oh! is it possible that you have altered so?" -(Here he pointed to my shaven beard). To this I replied, that I also had -the honour of knowing him, and that I still remembered his examinations -well. My conduct hitherto, I told him, was as little opposed to religion -properly understood, as it was to reason. "But," he interrupted "you do -not wear a beard, you do not go to the synagogue: is that not contrary -to religion?" "No!" I replied, and I proved to him from the Talmud that, -under the circumstances in which I was placed, all this was allowed. On -this point we entered into a lengthy dispute, in which each maintained -his right. As he could effect nothing with me by such disputation, he -adopted the style of mere sermonising; but when this also was of no -avail, he began to cry aloud, "_Shophar! Shophar!_" This is the name of -the horn which is blown on New-Year's day as a summons to repentance, -and at which it is supposed that Satan is horribly afraid. While the -chief rabbi called out the word, he pointed to a _Shophar_ that lay -before him on the table, and asked me, "Do you know what that is?" I -replied quite boldly, "Oh yes! it is a ram's horn." At these words the -chief rabbi fell back upon his chair, and began to lament over my lost -soul. I left him to lament as long as he liked, and bade him goodbye. - -At the end of my second year I began to reflect, that it would be an -advantage in view of my future success, as well as fair to the -gymnasium, that I should make myself more intimately acquainted with the -professors. Accordingly I went to Director Dusch, announced to him that -I was soon to leave, and told him that, as I wished a certificate from -him, it would be well for him to examine me on the progress I had made, -so that his certificate might be as nearly as possible in accordance -with the truth. To this end he made me translate some passages from -Latin and English works in prose as well as in verse, and was very well -pleased with the translation. Afterwards he entered into conversation -with me on some subjects in philosophy, but found me so well versed in -these, that for his own safety he was obliged to back out. At last he -asked me, "But how is it with your mathematics?" I begged him to examine -me in this also. "In our mathematical lessons," he began, "we had -advanced to somewhere about the subject of mathematical bodies. Will you -work out yourself a proposition not yet taken up in the lessons, for -example, that about the relation of the cylinder, the sphere and the -cone to one another? You may take some days to do it." I replied that -this was unnecessary, and offered to perform the task on the spot. I -then demonstrated, not only the proposition prescribed, but several -other propositions out of Segner's Geometry. The Director was very much -surprised at this, called all the pupils in the gymnasium, and -represented to them that the extraordinary progress I had made should -make them ashamed of themselves. The most of them did not know what to -say to this; but some replied, "Do not suppose, Herr Director, that -Maimon made this progress in mathematics here. He has seldom attended -the mathematical lessons, and even when he was there he paid no -attention to them." They were going to say more, but the Director -commanded silence, and gave me an honourable certificate, from which I -cannot avoid quoting a few sentences. They became to me afterwards a -constant spur to higher attainments, and I hope it will not be -considered vainglory in me to cite the opinion of this esteemed man. - -"His capacity," says he, "for learning all that is beautiful, good and -useful in general, but in particular those sciences which require severe -exertion of the mental powers, abstract and profound thought, is, I -might almost say, extraordinary. All those sorts of knowledge, which -demand in the highest degree one's own mental efforts, appear to him the -most agreeable; and intellectual occupations seem to be his chief, if -not his sole, enjoyment. His favourite studies hitherto have been -philosophy and mathematics, in which his progress has excited my -astonishment, &c." - -I now bade goodbye to the teachers and officers of the gymnasium, who -unanimously paid me the compliment, that I had done honour to their -institution. I then set out once more for Berlin. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -Third Journey to Berlin--Frustrated Plan of Hebrew Authorship--Journey -to Breslau--Divorce. - - -On my arrival in Berlin I called upon Mendelssohn, as well as some other -old friends, and begged them, as I had now acquired some knowledge of -languages, to employ me in some occupation suited to my capacity. They -hit upon the suggestion, that, in order to enlighten the Polish Jews -still living in darkness, I should prepare in Hebrew, as the only -language intelligible to them, some scientific works, which these -philanthropists were to print at their own expense, and distribute among -the people. His proposal I accepted with delight. But now the question -arose, with what sort of works a beginning should be made. On this point -my excellent friends were divided in their opinions. One of them thought -that the history of the Jewish nation would be most serviceable for this -purpose, inasmuch as the people would discover in it the origin of their -religious doctrines and of the subsequent corruption which these had -undergone, while they would thus also gain an insight into the fact, -that the fall of the Jewish state, as well as all the subsequent -persecution and oppression which they had suffered, had arisen from -their own ignorance and opposition to all rational arrangements. -Accordingly this gentleman recommended that I should translate from -French Basnage's _History of the Jews_; he gave me the work for this -purpose, and asked me to furnish a copy of my translation. The specimen -gave satisfaction to them all, even to Mendelssohn, and I was ready to -take the work in hand; but one of our friends thought that we ought to -begin with something on natural religion and rational morals, inasmuch -as this is the object of all enlightenment. Accordingly he recommended -that for this purpose I should translate the _Natural Religion_ of -Reimarus. Mendelssohn withheld his opinion, because he believed that -whatever was undertaken in this line, though it would do no harm, would -also be of little use. I myself undertook these works, not from any -conviction of my own, but at the request of my friends. - -I was too well acquainted with the rabbinical despotism, which by the -power of superstition has established its throne for many centuries in -Poland, and which for its own security seeks in every possible way to -prevent the spread of light and truth. I knew how closely the Jewish -theocracy is connected with the national existence, so that the -abolition of the former must inevitably bring with it the annihilation -of the latter. I saw therefore clearly that my labours in this direction -would be fruitless; but I undertook this commission, because, as already -stated, my friends would have it so, and because I could think of no -other means of subsistence. Accordingly without fixing anything definite -about the plan of my labours, my friends resolved to send me to Dessau, -where I could carry on my work at leisure. - -I reached Dessau in the hope, that after a few days my friends in Berlin -would resolve upon something definite about my work: but in this I was -deceived; for, as soon as I turned my back on Berlin, nothing further -was thought of the plan. I waited about a fortnight; but when during -that period I received no communication, I wrote to Berlin in the -following terms:--"If my friends cannot unite upon a plan, they might -leave the settlement of it to my own judgment. For my part I believe -that, to enlighten the Jewish nation, we must begin neither with history -nor with natural theology and morals. One of my reasons for thinking so -is, that these subjects, being easily intelligible, would not be able to -instil any regard for science in general among the more learned Jews, -who are accustomed to respect only those studies which involve a strain -upon the highest intellectual powers. But a second reason is, that, as -those subjects would frequently come into collision with religious -prejudices, they would never be admitted. Besides, sooth to say, there -is no proper history of the Jewish nation: for they have scarcely ever -stood in political relation with other civilised nations; and, with the -exception of the Old Testament and Josephus and a few fragments on the -persecutions of the Jews in the middle ages, nothing is to be found -recorded on the subject. I believe, therefore, that it would be best to -make a beginning with some science which, besides being most favourable -for the development of the mind, is also self-evident, and stands in no -connection with any religious opinions. Of this sort are the -mathematical sciences; and therefore with this object in view I am -willing to write a mathematical text-book in Hebrew." - -To this I received the answer, that I might follow my plan. Accordingly -I applied myself with all diligence to the preparation of this -text-book, using the Latin work on mathematics by Wolff as its basis; -and in two months it was finished. I then returned to Berlin, to give an -account of my work, but received immediately from one of the gentlemen -interested the disappointing information, that, as the work was very -voluminous, and as it would entail heavy expenditure especially on -account of the copper-plates required, he could not undertake the -publication at his own expense, and I might therefore do with my -manuscript whatever I chose. I complained of this to Mendelssohn; and he -thought, that certainly it was unreasonable to let my work go without -remuneration, but that I could not require my friends to undertake the -publication of a work which could not calculate on any good result in -consequence of that aversion to all science, which I myself knew to be -prevalent among the Jewish nation. His advice therefore was, that I -should get the book printed by subscription; and of course I was -obliged to content myself with this. Mendelssohn and the other -enlightened Jews in Berlin subscribed, and I received for my work merely -my manuscript and the list of subscriptions. The whole plan, however, -was thought of no more. - -On this I fell out again with my friends in Berlin. Being a man with -little knowledge of the world, who supposed that human actions must -always be determined by the laws of justice, I pressed for the -fulfilment of the bargain made. My friends, on the other hand, began, -though too late, to see, that their ill-considered project must of -necessity collapse, because they had no assurance of a market for such -voluminous and expensive works. From the religious, moral and political -condition of the Jews up to this time it was easy to foresee that the -few enlightened men among them would certainly give themselves no -trouble to study the sciences in the Hebrew language, which is very -ill-adapted for the exposition of such subjects; they will prefer to -seek science in its original sources. The unenlightened, on the other -hand,--and these form the majority,--are so swayed by rabbinical -prejudices, that they regard the study of the sciences, even in Hebrew, -as forbidden fruit, and persistently occupy themselves only with the -Talmud and the enormous number of its commentaries. - -All this I understood very well, and therefore I never thought of -demanding that the work I had prepared should be printed; I asked merely -remuneration for the labour spent on it in vain. In this dispute -Mendelssohn remained neutral, because he thought that both parties had -right on their side. He promised to use his influence with my friends, -to induce them to provide for my subsistence in some other way. But when -even this was not done, I became impatient, and resolved to quit Berlin -once more, and go to Breslau. I took with me some letters of -introduction, but they were of little service; for before I reached -Breslau myself, letters in the spirit of those which Uriah carried had -preceded me, and made a bad impression on the most of those to whom my -letters of introduction were addressed. As a natural result, therefore, -I was coldly received; and as I knew nothing of the later letters, I -found it impossible to explain my reception, and had made up my mind to -quit Breslau. - -By chance, however, I became acquainted with the celebrated Jewish poet, -the late Ephraim Kuh. This learned and high-minded man took so much -interest in me, that, neglecting all his former occupations and -enjoyments, he confined himself entirely to my society. To the wealthy -Jews he spoke of me with the greatest enthusiasm, and praised me as a -very good fellow. But when he found that all his complimentary remarks -failed to make any impression on these gentlemen, he took some trouble -to find out the cause of this, and at last discovered that the reason -lay in those friendly letters from Berlin. Their general tenor was, that -I was seeking to spread pernicious opinions. Ephraim Kuh, as a thinking -man, at once saw the reason of this charge; but with all the efforts he -made, he could not drive it out of the heads of these people. I -confessed to him that, during my first sojourn in Berlin as a young man -without experience or knowledge of the world, I had felt an irresistible -impulse to communicate to others whatever truth I knew; but I assured -him that, having for some years become wise by experience, I went to -work with great caution, and that therefore this charge was now wholly -without foundation. - -Irritated by my disheartening situation, I resolved to form the -acquaintance of Christian scholars, by whose recommendation I thought I -might find a hearing among the wealthy men of my own nation. I could not -but fear, however, that my defective language might form an obstacle to -the expression of my thoughts; so I prepared a written essay, in which I -delivered my ideas on the most important questions of philosophy in the -form of aphorisms. With this essay I went to the celebrated Professor -Garve, explained to him briefly my intention, and submitted my aphorisms -to him for examination. He discussed them with me in a very friendly -manner, gave me a good testimonial, and recommended me also orally in -very emphatic language to the wealthy banker, Lipmann Meier. This -gentleman settled a monthly allowance on me for my support, and also -spoke to some other Jews on the subject. - -My situation now improved every day. Many young men of the Jewish nation -sought my society. Among others the second son of Herr Aaron Zadig took -so much pleasure in my humble personality, that he desired to enjoy my -instruction in the sciences. This he earnestly begged his father to -allow; and the latter, being a well-to-do enlightened man of great good -sense, who wished to give his children the best German education, and -spared no expense for that object, willingly gave his consent. He sent -for me, and made the proposal that I should live at his house, and for a -moderate honorarium should give his second son lessons for two hours a -day in physics and _belles lettres_, and also a lesson in arithmetic of -an hour a day to his third and youngest son. This proposal I accepted -with great willingness; and, not long after, Herr Zadig asked me, if I -would not also consent to give lessons in Hebrew and elementary -mathematics to his children who had hitherto had for their teacher in -these subjects a Polish Jew, named Rabbi Manoth. But I thought it would -be unfair to supplant this poor man, who had a family to support, and -who was giving satisfaction at any rate; and therefore I declined this -request. Accordingly Rabbi Manoth continued his lessons, and I entered -upon mine. - -In this house I was able to carry on but little study for myself. In the -first place, there was a want of books; and, in the second place, I -lived in a room with the children, where they were occupied with other -masters every hour of the day. Besides, the liveliness of these young -people did not suit my character which had already become somewhat -stern; and therefore I had often occasion to get angry at petty -outbursts of unruliness. Consequently, as I was obliged to pass most of -my time in idleness, I sought society. I often visited Herr Hiemann -Lisse, a plump little man of enlightened mind and cheerful disposition. -With him and some other jolly companions I spent my evenings in talk and -jest and play of every sort. During the day I strolled around among the -coffee-houses. - -In other families also I soon became acquainted, particularly in those -of Herr Simon, the banker, and Herr Bortenstein, both of whom showed me -much kindness. All sought to persuade me to devote myself to medicine, -for which I had always entertained a great dislike. But when I saw from -my circumstances, that it would be difficult for me to find support in -any other way, I allowed myself to be persuaded. Professor Garve -introduced me to Professor Morgenbesser, and I attended his medical -lectures for some time; but after all I could not overcome my dislike to -the art, and accordingly gave up the lectures again. By and by I became -acquainted with other Christian scholars, especially with the late Herr -Lieberkühn, who was so justly esteemed on account of his abilities, as -well as for his warm interest in the welfare of mankind. I also made the -acquaintance of some teachers of merit in the Jesuits' College at -Breslau. - -But I did not give up wholly literary work in Hebrew. I translated into -Hebrew Mendelssohn's _Morgenstunden_. Of this translation I sent some -sheets as a specimen to Herr Isaac Daniel Itzig in Berlin; but I -received no answer because this excellent man, owing to his business -being too extensive, cannot possibly give attention to subjects that are -not of immediate interest to him, and therefore such affairs as the -answering of my letter are easily forgotten. I also wrote in Hebrew a -treatise on Natural Philosophy according to Newtonian principles; and -this, as well as the rest of my Hebrew works, I still preserve in -manuscript. - -At last, however, I fell here also into a precarious situation. The -children of Herr Zadig, in pursuance of the occupations to which they -were destined in life, entered into commercial situations, and therefore -required teachers no longer. Other means of support also gradually -failed. As I was thus obliged to seek subsistence in some other way, I -devoted myself to giving lessons; I taught Euler's _Algebra_ to a young -man, gave two children instruction in the rudiments of German and Latin, -&c. But even this did not last long, and I found myself in a sorrowful -plight. - -Meanwhile my wife and eldest son arrived from Poland. A woman of rude -education and manners, but of great good sense and the courage of an -Amazon, she demanded that I should at once return home with her, not -seeing the impossibility of what she required. I had now lived some -years in Germany, had happily emancipated myself from the fetters of -superstition and religious prejudice, had abandoned the rude manner of -life in which I had been brought up, and extended my knowledge in many -directions. I could not therefore return to my former barbarous and -miserable condition, deprive myself of all the advantages I had gained, -and expose myself to rabbinical rage at the slightest deviation from the -ceremonial law, or the utterance of a liberal opinion. I represented to -her, that this could not be done at once, that I should require first of -all to make my situation known to my friends here as well as in Berlin, -and solicit from them the assistance of two or three hundred thalers, so -that I might be able to live in Poland independent of my religious -associates. But she would listen to nothing of all this, and declared -her resolution to obtain a divorce, if I would not go with her -immediately. Here therefore it was for me to choose the less of two -evils, and I consented to the divorce. - -Meanwhile, however, I was obliged to provide for the lodging and board -of these guests, and to introduce them to my friends in Breslau. Both of -these duties I performed, and I pointed out, especially to my son, the -difference between the manner of life one leads here and that in Poland, -while I sought to convince him by several passages in the _Moreh -Nebhochim_, that enlightenment of the understanding and refinement of -manners are rather favourable than otherwise to religion. I went -further: I sought to convince him, that he ought to remain with me; I -assured him, that, with my direction and the support of my friends, he -would find opportunities of developing the good abilities with which -Nature had endowed him, and would obtain for them some suitable -employment. These representations made some impression upon him: but my -wife went with my son to consult some orthodox Jews, in whose advice she -thought she could thoroughly confide; and they recommended her to press -at once for a divorce, and on no account to let my son be induced to -remain with me. This resolution, however, she was not to disclose till -she had received from me a sufficient sum of money for household -purposes. She might then separate from me for ever, and start for home -with her booty. - -This pretty plan was faithfully followed. By and by I had succeeded in -collecting some score of ducats from my friends. I gave them to my wife, -and explained to her that, to complete the required sum, it would be -necessary for us to go to Berlin. She then began to raise difficulties, -and declared at once point-blank, that for us a divorce was best, as -neither could I live happily with her in Poland, nor she with me in -Germany. In my opinion she was perfectly right. But it still made me -sorry to lose a wife, for whom I had once entertained affection, and I -could not let the affair be conducted in any spirit of levity. I told -her therefore that I should consent to a divorce only if it were -enjoined by the courts. - -This was done. I was summoned before the court. My wife stated the -grounds on which she claimed a divorce. The president of the court then -said, "Under these circumstances we can do nothing but advise a -divorce." "Mr. President," I replied, "we came here, not to ask advice, -but to receive a judicial sentence." Thereupon the chief rabbi rose from -his seat (that what he said might not have the force of a judicial -decision,) approached me with the codex in his hand, and pointed to the -following passage:--"A vagabond, who abandons his wife for years, and -does not write to her or send her money, shall, when he is found, be -obliged to grant a divorce." "It is not my part," I replied, "to -institute a comparison between this case and mine. That duty falls to -you, as judge. Take your seat again, therefore, and pronounce your -judicial sentence on the case." - -The president became pale and red by turns, while the rest of the judges -looked at one another. At last the presiding judge became furious, began -to call me names, pronounced me a damnable heretic, and cursed me in the -name of the Lord. I left him to storm, however, and went away. Thus -ended this strange suit, and things remained as they were before. - -My wife now saw that nothing was to be done by means of force, and -therefore she took to entreaty. I also yielded at last, but only on the -condition, that at the judicial divorce the judge, who had shown himself -such a master of cursing, should not preside in the court. After the -divorce my wife returned to Poland with my son. I remained some time -still in Breslau; but as my circumstances became worse and worse, I -resolved to return to Berlin.[60] - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -Fourth Journey to Berlin--Unfortunate Circumstances--Help--Study of -Kant's Writings--Characteristic of my own Works. - - -When I came to Berlin, Mendelssohn was no longer in life,[61] and my -former friends were determined to know nothing more of me. I did not -know therefore what to do. In the greatest distress I received a visit -from Herr Bendavid, who told me that he had heard of my unfortunate -circumstances, and had collected a small sum of about thirty thalers, -which he gave to me. Besides, he introduced me to a Herr Jojard, an -enlightened and high-minded man, who received me in a very friendly -manner, and made some provision for my support. A certain professor, -indeed, tried to do me an ill turn with this worthy man by denouncing me -as an atheist; but in spite of this I gradually got on so well, that I -was able to hire a lodging in a garret from an old woman. - -I had now resolved to study Kant's _Kritik of Pure Reason_, of which I -had often heard but which I had never seen yet.[62] The method, in which -I studied this work, was quite peculiar. On the first perusal I -obtained a vague idea of each section. This I endeavoured afterwards to -make distinct by my own reflection, and thus to penetrate into the -author's meaning. Such is properly the process which is called _thinking -oneself into a system_. But as I had already mastered in this way the -systems of Spinoza, Hume and Leibnitz, I was naturally led to think of a -coalition-system. This in fact I found, and I put it gradually in -writing in the form of explanatory observations on the _Kritik of Pure -Reason_, just as this system unfolded itself to my mind. Such was the -origin of my _Transcendental Philosophy_. Consequently this book must be -difficult to understand for the man who, owing to the inflexible -character of his thinking, has made himself at home merely in one of -these systems without regard to any other. Here the important problem, -_Quid juris?_ with the solution of which the _Kritik_ is occupied, is -wrought out in a much wider sense than that in which it is taken by -Kant; and by this means there is plenty of scope left for Hume's -scepticism in its full force. But on the other side the complete -solution of this problem leads either to Spinozistic or to Leibnitzian -dogmatism. - -When I had finished this work, I showed it to Marcus Herz.[63] He -acknowledged that he was reckoned among the most eminent disciples of -Kant, and that he had given the most assiduous application while -attending Kant's philosophical lectures, as may indeed be seen from his -writings, but that yet he was not in a position to pass a judgment on -the _Kritik_ itself or on any other work relating to it. He advised me, -however, to send my manuscript directly to Kant himself, and submit it -to his judgment, while he promised to accompany it with a letter to the -great philosopher. Accordingly I wrote to Kant, sending him my work, and -enclosing the letter from Herz. A good while passed, however, before an -answer came. At length Herz received a reply, in which, among other -things, Kant said:-- - -"But what were you thinking about, my dear friend, when you sent me a -big packet containing the most subtle researches, not only to read -through, but to think out thoroughly, while I am still, in my -sixty-sixth year, burdened with a vast amount of labour in completion of -my plan! Part of this labour is to furnish the last part of the -_Kritik_,--that, namely, on the Faculty of Judgment,--which is soon to -appear; part is to work out my system of the Metaphysic of Nature, as -well as the Metaphysic of Ethics, in accordance with the requirements of -the _Kritik_. Moreover, I am kept incessantly busy with a multitude of -letters requiring special explanations on particular points; and, in -addition to all this, my health is frail. I had already made up my mind -to send back the manuscript with an excuse so well justified on all -these grounds; but a glance at it soon enabled me to recognise its -merits, and to show, not only that none of my opponents had understood -me and the main problem so well, but that very few could claim so much -penetration as Herr Maimon in profound inquiries of this sort. This -induced me...," and so on. - -In another passage of the letter Kant says:--"Herr Maimon's work -contains moreover so many acute observations, that he cannot give it to -the public without its producing an impression strongly in his favour." -In a letter to myself he said:--"Your esteemed request I have -endeavoured to comply with as far as was possible for me; and if I have -not gone the length of passing a judgment on the whole of your treatise, -you will gather the reason from my letter to Herr Herz. Certainly it -arises from no feeling of disparagement, which I entertain for no -earnest effort in rational inquiries that interest mankind, and least of -all for such an effort as yours, which, in point of fact, betrays no -common talent for the profounder sciences." - -It may easily be imagined how important and agreeable to me the -approbation of this great thinker must have been, and especially his -testimony that I had understood him well. For there are some arrogant -Kantians, who believe themselves to be sole proprietors of the Critical -Philosophy, and therefore dispose of every objection, even though -intended, not exactly as a refutation, but as a fuller elaboration of -this philosophy, by the mere assertion without proof, that the author -has failed to understand Kant. Now these gentlemen were no longer in a -position to bring this charge against my book, inasmuch as, by the -testimony of the founder himself of the Critical Philosophy, I have a -better right than they to make use of this argument. - -At this time I was living in Potsdam with a gentleman who was a -leather-manufacturer. When Kant's letters arrived, I went to Berlin, and -devoted my time to the publication of my _Transcendental Philosophy_. As -a native of Poland I dedicated this work to the king, and carried a copy -to the Polish Resident; but it was never sent, and I was put off from -time to time with various excuses. _Sapienti sat!_ - -A copy of the work was also sent, as is usually done, to the editor of -the _Allgemeine Litteraturzeitung_. After waiting a good while without -any notice appearing, I wrote to the editor, and received the following -answer:--"You know yourself how small is the number of those who are -competent to understand and judge philosophical works. Three of the best -speculative thinkers have declined to undertake the review of your book, -because they are unable to penetrate into the depths of your researches. -An application has been made to a fourth, from whom a favourable reply -was expected; but a review from him has not yet been received." - -I also began to work at this time for the _Journal für Aufklärung_. My -first article was on _Truth_, and was in the form of a letter to a -friend[64] in Berlin. The article was occasioned by a letter which I had -received from this friend during my stay in Potsdam, and in which he -wrote to me in a humorous vein, that philosophy was no longer a -marketable commodity, and that therefore I ought to take advantage of -the opportunity which I was enjoying to learn tanning. I replied, that -philosophy is not a coinage subject to the vicissitudes of the exchange; -and this proposition I afterwards developed in my article. Another -article in the same periodical was on _Tropes_, in which I show that -these imply the transference of a word not from one object to another -that is analogous, but from a relative to its correlate. I wrote also an -article on _Bacon and Kant_, in which I institute a comparison between -these two reformers of philosophy. _The Soul of the World_ was the -subject of another discussion in this journal, in which I endeavoured to -make out, that the doctrine of one universal soul common to all animated -beings has not only as much in its favour as the opposite doctrine, but -that the arguments for it outweigh those on the other side. My last -article in the journal referred to the plan of my _Transcendental -Philosophy_; and I explain in it that, while I hold the Kantian -philosophy to be irrefutable from the side of the Dogmatist, on the -other hand I believe that it is exposed to all attacks from the side of -the Scepticism of Hume. - -A number of young Jews from all parts of Germany had, during -Mendelssohn's lifetime, united to form a society under the designation, -Society _for Research into the Hebrew Language_. They observed with -truth, that the evil condition of our people, morally as well as -politically, has its source in their religious prejudices, in their want -of a rational exposition of the Holy Scriptures, and in the arbitrary -exposition to which the rabbis are led by their ignorance of the Hebrew -language. Accordingly the object of their society was to remove these -deficiencies, to study the Hebrew language in its sources, and by that -means to introduce a rational exegesis. For this purpose they resolved -to publish a monthly periodical in Hebrew under the title of [Hebrew:** -], _The Collector_, which was to give expositions of difficult passages -in Scripture, Hebrew poems, prose essays, translations from useful -works, etc. - -The intention of all this was certainly good; but that the end would -scarcely be reached by any such means, I saw from the very beginning. I -was too familiar with the principles of the rabbis and their style of -thought to believe that such means would bring about any change. The -Jewish nation is, without reference to accidental modifications, a -perpetual aristocracy under the appearance of a theocracy. The learned -men, who form the nobility in the nation, have been able, for many -centuries, to maintain their position as the legislative body with so -much authority among the common people, that they can do with them -whatever they please. This high authority is a natural tribute which -weakness owes to strength. For since the nation is divided into such -unequal classes as the common people and the learned, and since the -former, owing to the unfortunate political condition of the nation, are -profoundly ignorant, not only of all useful arts and sciences, but even -of the laws of their religion, on which their eternal welfare is -supposed to depend, it follows that the exposition of Scripture, the -deduction of religious laws from it, and the application of these to -particular cases, must be surrendered wholly to the learned class which -the other undertakes the cost of maintaining. The learned class seek to -make up for their want of linguistic science and rational exegetics by -their own ingenuity, wit and acuteness. To form an idea of the degree in -which these talents are displayed, it is necessary to read the Talmud -along with the commentary called _Tosaphoth_, that is, the additions to -the first commentary of Rabbi Solomon Isaac.[65] - -The productions of the mind are valued by them, not in proportion to -their utility, but in proportion to the talent which they imply. A man -who understands Hebrew, who is well versed in the Holy Scriptures, who -even carries in his head the whole of the Jewish _Corpus Juris_,--and -that is no trifle,--is by them but slightly esteemed. The greatest -praise that they give to such a man is _Chamor Nose Sepharim_, that is, -_An ass loaded with books_. But if a man is able, by his own ingenuity, -to deduce new laws from those already known, to draw fine distinctions, -and to detect hidden contradictions, he is almost idolised. And to tell -the truth, this judgment is well founded, so far as it concerns the -treatment of subjects that have no ulterior end in view. - -It may therefore be easily imagined, that people of this sort will -scarcely accord a hearing to an institute which aims merely at the -cultivation of taste, the study of language, or any similar object, -which to them appears mere trifling. Yet these are not the few educated -men, scattered here and there,--the steersmen of this ship which is -driven about in all seas. All men of enlightened minds, it does not -matter how much taste or knowledge they possess, are treated by them as -imbeciles. And why? Simply because they have not studied the Talmud to -that extent, and in the manner, which they require. Mendelssohn was in -some measure esteemed by them on this account, because in point of fact -he was a good Talmudist. - -I was therefore neither for, nor against, this monthly periodical; I -even contributed to it at times Hebrew articles. Among these I will -mention merely one,--an exposition of an obscure passage in the -commentary of Maimonides on the Mishnah, which I interpreted by the -Kantian philosophy. The article was afterwards translated into German, -and inserted in the _Berlinische Monatsschrift_. - -Some time after this I received from this society, which now calls -itself the _Society for the Promotion of all that is Noble and Good_, a -commission to write a Hebrew commentary on the celebrated work of -Maimonides, _Moreh Nebhochim_. This commission I undertook with -pleasure, and the work was soon done. So far, however, only a part of -the commentary has as yet appeared. The preface to the work may be -considered as a brief history of philosophy. - -I had been an adherent of all philosophical systems in succession, -Peripatetic, Spinozist, Leibnitzian, Kantian, and finally Sceptic; and I -was always devoted to that system, which for the time I regarded as -alone true. At last I observed that all these systems contain something -true, and are in certain respects equally useful. But, as the difference -of philosophical systems depends on the ideas which lie at their -foundation in regard to the objects of nature, their properties and -modifications, which cannot, like the ideas of mathematics, be defined -in the same way by all men, and presented _a priori_, I determined to -publish for my own use, as well as for the advantage of others, a -philosophical dictionary, in which all philosophical ideas should be -defined in a somewhat free method, that is, without attachment to any -particular system, but either by an explanation common to all, or by -several explanations from the point of view of each. Of this work also -only the first part has as yet appeared. - -In the popular German monthly already mentioned, the _Berlinische -Monatsschrift_, various articles of mine were inserted, on Deceit, on -the Power of Foreseeing, on Theodicy, and other subjects. On Empirical -Psychology also I contributed various articles, and at last became -associated with Herr Hofrath Moritz in the editorship of the -periodical.[66] - -So much with regard to the events which have occurred in my life, and -the communication of which, I thought, might be not without use. I have -not yet reached the haven of rest; but-- - -/p - "Quo fata trahunt retrahuntque sequamur." -p/ - - - - -CONCLUDING CHAPTER. - - -The closing words of the Autobiography themselves awaken the desire to -know the sequel of the author's life, and it seems therefore appropriate -to finish the narrative by the sketch of a few facts derived mainly from -the little volume of _Maimoniana_, to which reference has been made in -the preface. - -It is perhaps scarcely necessary to state that Maimon's life to the very -end continued to retain the stamp it bore throughout the whole period -described in the preceding chapters. That stamp had apparently been -impressed on it even before he left Poland; and the Western influences, -under which he came in Germany, never altered essentially the character -he brought with him from home. - -Even in its external features his life enjoyed no permanent improvement. -Fate had indeed been somewhat hard upon a man of so much genuine culture -and sensibility. Still the chronic poverty, which filled the largest cup -of suffering in his life, was due not wholly to circumstances: it was -partly his own nature or habits that kept him a pauper. This is all the -more remarkable, that there is perhaps no work of moral or religious -instruction which attaches more importance than the Talmud to industrial -pursuits.[67] Saturated as his mind was with Talmudic lore, and -disciplined as his early years had been by Talmudic training, Maimon -could not be ignorant of the advantage which the spiritual life derives -from financial independence on others; and it might therefore have been -expected of him that, like many of the great rabbis, and Spinoza and -Mendelssohn too, he would have devoted himself to some remunerative -occupation, however humble. This would not have been impossible even in -Poland, where the Jews were subject to no disability excluding them from -the common industries of the country; and from the Autobiography it -appears that, even at an early period of his life, he was more than half -aware that his poverty was due, not wholly to the imperious demands of a -higher culture, but to a somewhat selfish indolence.[68] In Germany, -with its more advanced civilisation, it would have been much less -difficult for him to make a tolerable living at some employment. The -Autobiography shows that he was very generously received by a large -circle of influential friends, who took a great deal of pains to secure -for him a position of independence, and that they abandoned their effort -only when they found it in vain. From the _Maimoniana_ also it appears -that some of the most eminent men of his time continued to tender their -friendly services. Among others, Plattner, Schultze (Aenesidemus), and -even Goethe, made advances towards Maimon in a way that was not only -very flattering, but might have been very helpful, if he had so -chosen.[69] But he never got rid of the habit, which he had acquired in -Poland, of depending on others; and the low standard of comfort, to -which he had accustomed himself, left him without sufficient stimulus to -seek an escape from his pauperised condition. - -His condition, therefore, never improved. He continued during his later -years to work at various literary employments; but the remuneration he -obtained for these was never sufficient for his subsistence. His works -appealed to a very limited public. He had consequently often to go -a-begging for a publisher, and to content himself with what slight -honorarium the reluctant publishers chose to give.[70] The literary -hack-work, of which he was obliged to do a good deal, brought him no -better return. That sort of labour was probably as poorly paid in Berlin -at the time as in the Grub Street of last century. He was therefore at -times reduced to utter beggary. Many of his earlier friends, as appears -from the Autobiography, had lost patience with him; and some, who had -helped him before, when he was forced by sheer starvation to apply to -them afterwards, treated him as a common beggar, dismissing him with a -copper in charity (_Zehrpfennig_), and at times with unnecessarily cold, -even insulting language.[71] If we add to this the fact, that his -irregular habits often made him the victim of unscrupulous men,[72] it -will not seem surprising that he sometimes fell into a bitter tone and -harsh judgments about his friends,[73] or that he was apt occasionally -to burst out into pretty strong language of general misanthropy.[74] - -Perhaps Maimon might have risen out of the chronic destitution, to which -he seemed doomed, if he had cultivated in any degree the virtue of -thrift. But thriftlessness, as the Autobiography shows, had been an -hereditary vice in his family, at least for two generations before him; -and though he gives vivid pictures of its pitiable results in the -households of his grandfather and father, he never made any effort to -rise above it himself. Whenever he obtained any remuneration for his -work, instead of husbanding it economically till he obtained more, he -usually squandered it at once in extravagancies, often of a useless, -sometimes of a reprehensible kind.[75] He points out in his first -chapter, that his grandfather might have been a rich man if he had kept -accounts of income and expenditure. But his friend Wolff, has to confess -that, good mathematician as Maimon was, he never seemed to think of the -difference between _plus_ and _minus_ in money-matters.[76] With such a -character one of Maimon's friends was not far from the truth, when on a -fresh application for assistance, he dismissed him, too harshly perhaps, -with the blunt remark, "People like you there is no use in trying to -help."[77] Certainly help was not to be found in Maimon himself, and it -is difficult to see how he could have avoided the chance of a miserable -death by actual starvation, had it not been that a generous home was at -last opened to him, where he closed his days in comfort and peace. - -A character like that of Maimon implied a general irregularity of -life,--an absence of that regulation by fixed rules of conduct, which is -essential to wellbeing. He was not indeed unaware of the importance of -such regularity. "I require of every man of sound mind," he said one -day, "that he should lay out for himself a plan of action." No wonder -that this requirement leads his friend to remark, that it seemed to him -as if Maimon's only plan of life had been to live without any plan at -all.[78] - -The irregularity of his habits is strikingly seen in his want of method -even at his literary work. Notwithstanding the technical culture he gave -himself in early life in drawing, he seems never to have reached any -degree of muscular expertness. Wolff remarked his awkwardness in -handling his pen, and his inability to fold a letter with tolerable -neatness.[79] In other respects also he was careless about those -mechanical conveniences by which mental work is usually facilitated. He -was commonly to be seen working at a very unsteady desk, one leg of -which was supported by a folio volume.[80] He did not even confine -himself to any particular place for work. Apparently he spent more of -his day in public taverns than in his private lodging, and he might -often be seen amid the distraction of such surroundings writing or -revising proofs, while, as a consequence, his papers sometimes were -mislaid and lost, and his work had all to be done over again. It was -said of the Autobiography itself that it had been written on an alehouse -bench.[81] He could never understand how any man could do intellectual -work by rule; and therefore, though he had to make his living as best he -could by literature, he never formed the habit of reserving one part of -the day for work. He commonly worked in the morning, at least in _his_ -morning, and that, his friend acknowledges, was not very early;[82] but -this itself was evidently no fixed rule. Probably for the same reason he -never adopted the plan, which authors find so serviceable, of first -sketching an outline of a work before it is written out in detail. "I -have," he said one day, "given up, with good result, the habit of making -a draught beforehand. You are not, by a long way, so careful about your -work when you know that you are going to write it over again; you -neglect many a thought, do not write it down, because you believe that -it will occur to you again in copying out, which frequently does not -happen."[83] It is clear, however, that, his opinion to the contrary -notwithstanding, his writings suffered from his unmethodical habits. -"The fact," says the most competent of judges on this subject, "that -Maimon is far from having attained the recognition which his importance -deserves, may be accounted for by the defective condition of his -writings. His extraordinary acuteness was designed, but was not -sufficiently cultivated, to give to his investigations the light and the -force of methodical exposition. He wrote with most pleasure in his -Talmudic fashion, commenting and disputing, without proper sifting and -arrangement of his materials. To these defects must be added the faults -of his style. It is surprising that he learned to write German as he -did. In his writings there are passages in which the thought bursts out -with really resplendent power, and actually forces the language, even -plays with it, in turns of expression that take you by surprise. But a -German author he never became; and as a philosophical author he wanted a -certain sense of order that is indispensable for exposition. He can -sometimes formulate very well, but cannot systematise, and hence his -most important opinions, in which the whole meaning of his position -rests, are often in the course of his writings found in passages the -least lucid and the least prominent."[84] - -It is perhaps only saying the same thing of Maimon in another form, that -he had no mechanical memory, that consequently he was apt to forget the -names of persons and of places, sometimes could not remember the name of -the street where he lived, or the day or even the month; and it is not -therefore surprising that he often injured himself by neglecting all -sort of engagements.[85] It may be readily inferred that he was -particularly negligent about all engagements and regulations bearing -upon the mere externals of life. That a man of his condition and -character must have been unusually careless about his personal -appearance, follows as a matter of course, and therefore we may pass -over the references of Wolff to peculiarities of Maimon's dress. He was -usually to be seen out of doors clad in an overcoat which had evidently -not been made for himself, and which, we may suspect, was intended as a -convenient covering for the defects of under-garments, his boots bearing -the weather-stains of many days, and his beard often showing that for a -good while he had forgotten his engagement with his barber. In the -latter years of his life he abandoned the use of a wig, as well as of -powder in his hair, at a time when these changes must have been regarded -as rather daring innovations on prevalent fashion. But in all his -surroundings he showed what, for a man of his intellectual attainments, -seems a most astonishing disregard of sanitary cleanliness and the -comfortable decencies of life. The state of his lodging must have raised -a shudder in any one sensitive to disorder or uncleanliness. He -acknowledged that he was constantly at war with the housemaid on this -subject, as he could never bear to have his room swept and dusted, and -he complained of the perpetual annoyance to which he was exposed in -Amsterdam from the excessive scruples of the people in regard to -tidiness.[86] It may fairly be suspected that the annoyance was -considerably greater, as it was more justifiable, on the other side. His -habits in this respect clung to him to the last, and it was evidently -difficult to keep his surroundings tolerable even in the comparatively -sumptuous home in which he closed his days. - -The frank confessions of the Autobiography reveal the fact, that the -irregularity, which characterised the life of Maimon, sometimes led to a -breach of the weightier matters of the law. The habit, which he began in -Poland, of seeking relief from external discomfort and internal -wretchedness in alcoholic stimulation, grew upon him afterwards; and as -his health began to fail, he used to treat his various complaints by a -liberal allowance of various wines and beers which he supposed adapted -to their cure.[87] The liberal allowance was very apt, especially in the -evenings, to exceed all reasonable moderation; and the sleepy -inhabitants of Berlin were not infrequently disturbed by the half-tipsy -philosopher, as he wended his way unsteadily homewards at unseasonable -hours, discoursing on all sorts of speculative themes in disagreeably -loud tones that were occasionally interrupted by the expostulations of a -night-watchman.[88] - -The peculiarly undisciplined manners of Maimon were occasionally shown -in violent outbursts of various feelings. Too frequently it was an -irritable temper that gave way. The slightest provocation, even the loss -of a game at chess,[89] was apt to cause a painful explosion; and then -his language was certainly far from being restrained by those usages -which are found essential to the pleasantness of social intercourse.[90] -The uncontrollable violence of these outbursts was amusingly exhibited -in the fact, that sometimes he could not command the intellectual calm -requisite for thinking and expressing himself in his acquired German, -and, even though it might be a Gentile with whom he quarrelled, he fell -back on his Judæo-Polish mother tongue, which came to him as if by -natural instinct.[91] It is but fair, however, to add that these -outbursts were often merely the unusually forcible, but not altogether -unjustifiable, utterances of an honest indignation at wrong.[92] - -For this strangely educated man, who in his outward manners seemed to -remain a somewhat rude child of nature, was after all ready to yield, -not only to an unkindly irritability, but also to the more genial -emotions. It is pleasing, for example, to know that he had a particular -fondness for animals; and his pets were allowed in his lodging liberties -which, however objectionable to a tidy housemaid, showed at least the -essential gentleness of his heart. Tutored as he was himself in the -severest school of poverty, it is also pleasing to know that he -cherished a kindly sympathy for the poor, and was ever ready to help -them as he could, sometimes at the cost of no small sacrifice to -himself.[93] The finer sensibilities of his nature were also easily -touched by music. Though he had no musical culture, and used to regret -that he had had none, an old Hebrew melody, long after he had broken off -all connection with the Jews, could move him so deeply that he was -obliged, even in company, to seek relief in tears.[94] For in the -uncontrolled simplicity of his nature he allowed his feelings to find -their natural vent without much restraint from circumstances; and -therefore he was seen at times in the theatre excited to loud sobbing by -a tragedy, or to boisterous laughter over a comedy.[95] - -Nor is it to be regarded as an unpleasant feature of his character, but -rather as an indication of a wholesome check on the general irregularity -of his life, that, even after he had thrown off all the peculiar -restraints of his national religion, he clung with evident fondness to -many of those rabbinical habits which he had cultivated in his earlier -years. From Fischer's account of the style of Maimon's works we have -seen how his intellectual work was affected by his Talmudic studies. The -criticism is evidently just. Maimon himself had met with it, and -acknowledged its justice. He protested indeed that it did not affect the -truth of his speculations, though he evidently felt its disadvantages, -and laboured at times to acquire a more methodical style.[96] - -The rabbinical habits of Maimon, however, were most quaintly seen in -peculiarities of outward manner. Gesticulations customary in the study -of the Talmud he was seen to adopt not infrequently when he forgot -himself in the earnestness of conversation, or when in a company he fell -into a brown study, or even in the studies of his retirement. Thus in -reading Euler's mathematical works or any other book which required -great attention, he would fall into the Talmudic singsong and rhythmical -swing of the body.[97] - -It is noteworthy also, that, with all the unrestrained rudeness which -often characterised his manners, Maimon was not without a certain -dignified courtesy; and when the occasion demanded it, he could turn a -polite phrase as prettily as the most accomplished gentleman.[98] There -was, moreover, in Maimon an intrinsic shyness which must have gone a -long way to soften the less amiable side of his social character.[99] -Then it is evident that his conversation, in his better moods at least, -had a charm which made him a welcome guest in any company. Thus, amid -all that may have been repulsive at times, there must have been in -Maimon's character a good deal to attract the friendly companionship of -others. The Autobiography itself, as well as Wolff's little book, shows -that Maimon enjoyed as much as he desired of the cultured society of his -time. Being naturally shy, indeed, he rather shrank from company in -which intercourse is regulated by a somewhat rigid social code; and the -desire of freedom from such restriction often drove him into company of -a much more objectionable kind. He also seems to have entertained a -strong dislike to any excessively demonstrative affection. He himself -was rather curt in his expressions of courtesy or friendliness towards -others, contenting himself generally, on meeting them, with a familiar -nod. The lifting of the hat appeared to him meaningless, and a -deliberate embrace "in cold blood" was intolerable.[100] Yet in many -instances the attachment of his friends was marked with an unusual -degree of warmth, and brought many an hour of sunshine to a life which -otherwise would have been shadowed with insufferable gloom. - -Among all Maimon's friends, the most conspicuous place must be given to -the man by whose generous hospitality he was able to close his -chequered life amid the comforts of a luxurious home. While he was -living in a miserable lodging in one of the suburbs of Berlin, he -learned from one of his friends that a Silesian nobleman, Graf -Kalkreuth, who had formed a high opinion of his writings, was anxious to -make his personal acquaintance. After a good deal of delay, Maimon was -at last induced to call upon the Graf at his residence in Berlin. -Fortunately he was very favourably impressed with the character of his -noble friend; and the friendship thus begun led before long to his -taking up his abode permanently with the Graf.[101] The generous -consideration which the host displayed for all the eccentricities of his -guest, made this arrangement one of the happiest for the poor -philosopher, who since his childhood had seldom enjoyed the comforts of -a home. - -But it is evident that the hardships of his life had at an early period -begun to tell upon his constitution, and that this was further shattered -by irregular habits in his later years. Symptoms of serious trouble in -the lungs excited his alarm in the winter of 1795, and he was induced to -seek medical advice. Partly from an unwise scepticism in regard to -medicine, partly from his usual failure to adhere to any fixed rule in -his conduct, the services of his physicians commonly ended with the -consultation; he seldom or never acted on their advice.[102] He lived -in indifferent health for five or six years more. When his last illness -overtook him, he was living in the house of Graf Kalkreuth at -Siegersdorf near Freistadt, in Lower Silesia. The only account of him at -this crisis was written by the pastor of Freistadt, for a monthly -periodical of the time, entitled _Kronos_. It forms the close of Wolff's -little book; and as it is the only account, it may be of some interest -here. The pastor, Herr Tscheggey, had made the acquaintance of Maimon -about the year 1795; but their intercourse had become much closer about -six weeks before Maimon's death, when he used to visit the pastor two or -three times a week. On hearing that Maimon had been confined for some -days, the good pastor at once went to see him. He found him in a state -of great weakness, unable to leave his room, and besought him earnestly, -but in vain, to take medical advice. A few days afterwards he called -again, and saw that evidently the end was drawing nigh. Curious to know -whether Maimon in this situation would remain true to his principles, he -gave the following turn to the conversation, which he professes to -report word for word. - -"I am sorry to find you so ill to-day, dear Maimon," said the pastor. - -"There will perhaps be some improvement yet," replied Maimon. - -"You look so ill," his friend proceeded, "that I am doubtful about your -recovery." - -"What matters it after all?" said Maimon. "When I am dead, I am gone." - -"Can you say that, dear friend," rejoined the clergyman, with deep -emotion. "How? Your mind, which amid the most unfavourable circumstances -ever soared to higher attainments, which bore such fair flowers and -fruits--shall it be trodden in the dust along with the poor covering in -which it has been clothed? Do you not feel at this moment that there is -something in you which is not body, not matter, not subject to the -conditions of space and time?" - -"Ah!" replied Maimon, "these are beautiful dreams and hopes"---- - -"Which will surely be fulfilled," his friend broke in; and then, after a -short pause, added, "You maintained not long ago that here we cannot -reach further than to mere _legality_. Let this be admitted; and now -perhaps you are about to pass over soon into a condition, in which you -will rise to the stage of _morality_, since you and all of us have a -natural capacity for it. Why? Should you not wish now to come into the -society of one whom you honoured so much as Mendelssohn?" - -The zealous pastor says he gave the conversation this turn on purpose, -in order to touch this side of the philosopher's heart. After a while -the dying man exclaimed, "Ay me! I have been a foolish man, the most -foolish among the most foolish--and how earnestly I wished it -otherwise!" - -"This utterance," observed the pastor, "is also a proof that you are not -yet in complete accord with your unbelief. No," he added, taking Maimon -by the hand, "you will not all die; your spirit will surely live on." - -"So far as mere faith and hope are concerned, I can go a good way; but -what does that help us?" was Maimon's reply. - -"It helps us at least to peace," urged the pastor. - -"I am at peace (_Ich bin ruhig_)," said the dying man, completely -exhausted. - -Here Tscheggey broke off the conversation, as the sufferer was evidently -unable to continue it. When he rose to leave, Maimon begged him to stay, -or at least to come back again soon. He came back the following morning, -but found the patient unconscious. At ten o'clock on the same -evening--it was the 22nd of November, 1800--this strangely tossed life -had reached its haven. - -"He died at peace," says the kindly clergyman, "though I do not venture -to say from what source the peace was derived. When a few days -afterwards I passed the castle of his noble friend, I looked up with -sadness to the window of his former room, and blessed his ashes." It is -to be regretted that the generous piety of the friendly minister was not -universal, and that the ashes of the unfortunate doubter were only with -a grudge allowed to find a decent resting-place. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Vol. iii., p. 370, note. - -[2] See the Preface to his _Philosophy of Reflection_, pp. 16-18. - -[3] Vol. v., chap. 7. - -[4] The volume bears the somewhat quaint title in full:--_Maimoniana, -oder Rhapsodien Zur Charakteristik Salomon Maimon's_. Aus Seinem -Privatleben gesammelt von Sabattia Joseph Wolff, M.D. Berlin, gedruckt -bei G. Hayn, 1813. - -[5] The only logical connection is the fact, that the writings of -Maimonides formed the most powerful influence in the intellectual -development of Maimon. In illustration of this he writes:--"My reverence -for this great teacher went so far, that I regarded him as the ideal of -a perfect man, and looked upon his teachings as if they had been -inspired with Divine Wisdom itself. This went so far, that, when my -passions began to grow, and I had sometimes to fear lest they might -seduce me to some action inconsistent with those teachings, I used to -employ, as a proved antidote, the abjuration, 'I swear, by the reverence -which I owe my great teacher, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, not to do this -act.' And this vow, so far as I can remember, was always sufficient to -restrain me." _Lebensgeschichte_, Vol. ii., pp. 3-4. - -[6] That is, of course, the seventeenth.--_Trans._ - -[7] Maimon himself nowhere mentions the date or place of his birth; but -Wolff says that he was born at Nesvij, in Lithuania, about the year 1754 -(_Maimoniana, p. 10_). _Trans._ - -[8] This word is explained below, at the beginning of the next chapter. - -[9] The customary Jewish salutation. - -[10] The original is "ein Kalamankenes Leibserdak,"--a provincialism -which, I believe, is substantially rendered in this -translation.--_Trans._ - -[11] Till quite recently it had been almost forgotten that one of the -commonest manifestations of fanaticism against the Jews, especially in -Eastern Europe, was to charge them with the murder of Christian children -for the use of some horrid religious rite, and that scarcely ever was -the dead body of a child found in the neighbourhood of a Jewish -community without some outburst of this cruel suspicion, ending in an -indiscriminate massacre of the Jews by the infuriated mob. It is a -singularly creditable proof of the liberal government of Stephen -Batory,--one of the ablest monarchs who ever sat on the throne of -Poland,--that, so long ago as 1576, he issued an edict prohibiting the -imputation of this crime to the Jews, as being utterly inconsistent with -the principles of their religion. Yet, in spite of this enactment, the -fanatical suspicion continued to display itself at frequent intervals. -Milman supposed it had been finally quelled by the ukase of the Russian -Government in 1835, which went in the same direction as the earlier -prohibition of the Polish king (_History of the Jews_, vol. iii., p. -389). What would have been his astonishment, had he lived to learn that, -half a century after he thought it extinguished, this ancient delusion -was to revive, that an Hungarian court was to spend thirty one days in -the solemn trial of a Jewish family on the charge of sacrificing a -Christian girl in their synagogue, that a learned professor in the -Imperial and Royal University of Prague was to write in defence of the -charge, and that the trial was to form the subject of an extensive -controversial literature in the language of the most learned nation in -the world! An interesting account of this famous trial at Tisza Eszlar, -as well as of the literature connected with it, will be found in an -article by Dr. Wright, on _The Jews and the Malicious Charge of Human -Sacrifice_ in the _Nineteenth Century_, for November, 1883.--_Trans._ - -[12] It seems that Maimon gives a euphemistic explanation of this word, -as I am told its real meaning makes much more intelligible its extreme -offensiveness to his mother.--_Trans._ - -[13] The original runs: "Der Verstand sucht bloss zu _fassen_, die -Einbildungskraft aber zu _umfassen_."--_Tr._ - -[14] That is, _The Branch_ (or _Offspring_) _of David_. See Jeremiah -xxiii. 5; xxxiii. 15; Isaiah xi. 1.--_Trans._ - -[15] The Hebrew word for a globe. - -[16] This rabbi belonged to a family of eminent linguists. The father, -Joseph Kimchi, was one of the numerous Jews who were obliged to flee -from Spain to escape the cruel persecutions of the Mohades about the -middle of the twelfth century. He left two sons who both followed his -favourite studies. The elder, Moses, has the credit of having educated -his younger and more illustrious brother, David, whose Hebrew grammar -and dictionary continued in general use among scholars for centuries. -Kimchi is said to have been powerfully influenced, not only by -Maimonides, but also by Aben Esra, who preceded him by nearly a century, -and who was one of the most learned scholars, as well as one of the most -versatile authors, of his time. (Jost's _Geschichte des Judenthums_, -vol. ii., pp. 419-423; and vol. iii, pp. 30-31).--_Trans._ - -[17] That is, about 100 English miles.--_Trans._ - -[18] See above, p. 14.--_Trans._ - -[19] Solomon ben Isaac, as he is more correctly named, or Raschi, as he -is also called, was an eminent Talmudic scholar of Troyes in the latter -half of the eleventh century. It was his son-in-law, Meïr, and the three -sons of Meïr, who may be said to have begun the Tosaphoth, referred to -in the text.--_Trans._ - -[20] As it was at one time throughout all Christendom, and probably -under every civilisation at a certain stage of its history.--_Trans._ - -[21] This seems to be Job xxvii. 17, which in our Authorised Version -runs:--"He (a wicked man) may prepare it (raiment), but the just shall -put it on." Maimon seems to render it from memory:--"Der Gottlose -schafft sich an, und der Fromme bekleidet sich damit."--_Trans._ - -[22] Evidently viii., 12, rendered in our Authorised Version, "Thou, O -Solomon, must have a thousand (pieces of silver), and those that keep -the fruit thereof two hundred." Maimon translates apparently from -memory, "Die tausend Gulden sind für dich, Salomo, und die Zweihundert -für die, die seine Früchte bewahren." In my rendering of this the -pronoun "his" must be understood in its old English latitude as either -neuter or masculine.--_Trans._ - -[23] The bulk of the gift explains its costliness. "The Babylonian -Talmud is about four times as large as that of Jerusalem. Its thirty-six -treatises now cover, in our editions, printed with the most prominent -commentaries (Rashi and Tosafoth), exactly 2947 folio leaves in twelve -folio volumes." (E. Deutsch's _Literary Remains_, p. 41).--_Trans._ - -[24] Maimon gives merely the initial "R" of this name; but as he has -already (Chap. i.) told us that his prince was Radzivil, there is not -much mystery in this artifice.--_Trans._ - -[25] This horror of memory tormented Maimon to the end of his days. "He -dreamed often that he was in Poland again, deprived of all his books; -and Lucius metamorphosed into an ass was not in a more pitiable plight. -'From this agony,' said Maimon, 'I was usually aroused by a loud cry, -and my joy was indescribable on finding that it was only a dream.'" -(_Maimoniana_, p. 94). "He once received a visit from his brother, for -whom he was deeply affected. Poor as he was himself, Maimon kept him a -long while, gave him clothing and everything else that he could, besides -procuring from some friends enough money to pay his travelling expenses. -Above all, he told me, he was affected at letting his brother go back -into the wilderness; and if he had not had a wife and children at home, -he would have tried to keep him beside himself." (_Ibid._, p. -175).--_Trans._ - -[26] It was probably a reminiscence of this labour of deciphering, that -led to the following outburst of sympathy:--"One day Maimon read in an -English work, that the author had only commenced to learn the ABC when -he was eighteen years of age, and that the first book which fell into -his hands was one of Newton's works. His master (for he was a servant) -came upon him at this task, and asked, 'What are you doing with that? -you can't read?' 'O yes,' he replied, 'I have learnt to read, and I -began with the most difficult subjects.' Maimon read this in my presence -with tears in his eyes." (_Maimoniana_, pp. 230-1).--_Trans._ - -[27] Both of these Cabbalists belonged to the sixteenth century. The -former, as his name implies, belonged to Cordova in Spain; the latter, -to the German community in Jerusalem (_Jost's Geschichte des -Judenthums_, Vol. iii., pp. 137-140).--_Trans._ - -[28] Rabbi MeïrÂ’s teacher was Elisha ben Abuyah, "the Faust of the -Talmud," as he has been strikingly styled by Mr. Deutsch. The Talmud -preserves a beautiful story illustrative of the devoted affection which -Meïr continued to cherish for his apostate master. Four men, so runs the -legend, entered _Paradise_; that is, according to Talmudic symbolism, -they entered upon the study of that secret science with its bewildering -labyrinth of speculative dreams, through which it is given only to a few -rare spirits to find their way. Of these four, "one beheld and died, one -beheld and lost his senses, one destroyed the young plants, one only -entered in peace and came out in peace." The destroyer of the young -plants was Elisha ben Abuyah. Once he was passing the ruins of the -temple on the great day of atonement, and heard a voice within "moaning -like a dove,"--"All men shall be forgiven this day save Elisha ben -Abuyah who, knowing me, has betrayed me." After his death flames hovered -incessantly over his grave, until his loving disciple threw himself upon -it and swore an oath of devout self-sacrifice, that he would not partake -of the joys of heaven without his master, nor move from the spot until -his master's soul had found forgiveness before the Throne of Grace. See -Emanuel Deutsch's _Literary Remains_, p. 15; and Jost's _Geshichte des -Judenthums_, Vol. ii., pp. 102-4. - -[29] _The Gates of Light._--_Trans._ - -[30] "Thus saith the Lord" in the English version.--_Trans._ - -[31] About 150 English miles.--_Trans._ - -[32] Highpriest about the time of Antiochus the Great, that is, the -first half of the third century before Christ.--_Trans._ - -[33] Also named below Jehudah Hanassi or Hakades, died probably in 219 -or 220 A.D.--_Trans._ - -[34] _Rabbina_ is a contraction for Rabbi Abina and _Rabassi_ for Rabbi -Ashe. Maimon puts Abina first, but he was the younger of the two. They -both belonged to the fifth century.--_Trans._ - -[35] This seems to be Psalm cxix., 126, rendered in our Authorised -Version:--"It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void -thy law." See Mendelssohn's _Jerusalem_, Vol. ii., p. iii., (Samuels' -translation).--_Trans._ - -[36] _Charakteristik der Asiatischen Nationen_, Theil ii., pp. 159-160. - -[37] "And Kinah and Dimonah and Adadah" in the English Authorised -Version.--_Trans._ - -[38] Here apparently Maimon makes a slip. He seems to forget the passage -he had selected for illustration; and his eye, if not his memory, -glances at the last word in verse 30, instead of verse 22.--_Trans._ - -[39] Probably Isaiah xxxiii., 6.--_Trans._ - -[40] Psalm, lxxxi., 9.--_Trans._ - -[41] In the original, "Das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten."--_Trans._ - -[42] In the same way a fool, called Chosek, was going to starve the city -of Lemberg, against which he was enraged; and for this purpose he placed -himself behind the wall, in order to blockade the city with his body. -The result of the blockade, however, was that he nearly died of hunger, -while the city knew nothing whatever of a famine. - -[43] In our times, when so much is said both _pro_ and _contra_ about -secret societies, I believe that the history of a particular secret -society, in which I was entangled, though but a short time, should not -be passed over in this sketch of my life. - -[44] That is, of course, the 17th century.--_Trans._ - -[45] _Baalshem_ is one who occupies himself with the practical Cabbalah, -that is, with the conjuration of spirits and the writing of amulets, in -which the names of God and of many sorts of spirits are employed. - -[46] As I never attained the rank of a superior in this society, the -exposition of their plan cannot be regarded as a fact verified by -experience, but merely as an inference arrived at by reflection. How far -this inference is well founded, can be determined merely by analogy -according to the rules of probability. - -[47] The ingenuity of this interpretation consists in the fact, that in -Hebrew × ×’×Ÿ may stand for the infinitive of _play_, as well as -for a _musical instrument_, and that the prefix ×› may be -translated either _as_, in the sense of _when_, or _as_, in the sense of -_like_. The superiors of this sect, who _wrenched passages of the Holy -Scriptures from their context_, regarding themselves as merely vehicles -of their teachings, selected accordingly that interpretation of this -passage, which fitted best their principle of _self-annihilation_ before -God. - -[48] Maimon in a footnote here refers, by way of a parallel, to the -interpretation by a Catholic theologian of a passage in Ezekiel (xliv., -1-2) as an allegorical prophecy of the Virgin Mary; but most readers -will probably prefer to leave the exposition of the allegory to the -imagination of those who choose to follow it out.--_Trans._ - -[49] A trait of these, as of all uncultivated men, is their contempt of -the other sex. - -[50] Of this class I became acquainted with one. He was a young man of -twenty-two, of very weak bodily constitution, lean and pale. He -travelled in Poland as a missionary. In his look there was something so -terrible, so commanding, that he ruled men by means of it quite -despotically. Wherever he came he inquired about the constitution of the -congregation, rejected whatever displeased him, and made new regulations -which were punctually followed. The elders of the congregation, for the -most part old respectable men, who far excelled him in learning, -trembled before his face. A great scholar, who would not believe the -infallibility of this superior, was seized with such terror by his -threatening look, that he fell into a violent fever of which he died. -Such extraordinary courage and determination had this man attained -merely through early exercises in Stoicism. - -[51] Born 1720; died 1797. See Jost's _Geschichte des Judenthums_, Vol. -iii., pp. 248-250.--_Trans._ - -[52] _Exodus_, iii., 13, 14. - -[53] These names are taken from _Maimoniana_, p. 108.--_Trans._ - -[54] The method, in which, as before explained, I had learnt to read and -to understand books without any preparatory studies, and to which I had -been driven in Poland by the want of books, grew to such an expertness, -that I felt certain beforehand of being able to understand anything. - -[55] Here there seems in the original an evident misprint of -_Vereinigung_ for _Verneinung_.--_Trans._ - -[56] The incident referred to was the following. Lavater had translated -into German a work, which had a great reputation in its day, by the -eminent Swiss scientific writer, Bonnet, on the evidences of -Christianity. Out of respect for Mendelssohn, Lavater dedicated the -translation to him, requiring him, however, either to refute the work, -or to do "what policy, love of truth, and probity demand,--what Socrates -would doubtless have done, had _he_ read the work, and found it -unanswerable." Mendelssohn was thus placed in an awkward dilemma. He -could not well let the challenge pass unacknowledged; and yet, owing to -the disabilities under which the Jews laboured all over the world, he -would have seriously imperilled their interests by appearing even to -impugn the evidences of Christianity. He had, moreover, resolved never -to enter into religious controversy. Under the circumstances his reply -was masterly as it was dignified and candid. Lavater saw his mistake; -and it is but due to him to say, that he publicly apologised for it in -the fullest and frankest manner.--_Trans._ - -[57] This "hiatus _haud_ valde deflendus" is in the original.--_Trans._ - -[58] This name is taken from _Maimoniana_.--_Trans._ - -[59] The love of life, that is, the instinct of self-preservation, seems -rather to increase than to decrease with the diminution or uncertainty -of the means of living, inasmuch as man is thereby spurred to greater -_activity_, which developes a stronger _consciousness of life_. Only -this want must not have reached its maximum; for the necessary result of -that is _despair_, that is a conviction of the impossibility of -preserving life, and consequently a desire to put an end to it. Thus -every passion, and therefore also the love of life, is increased by the -obstacles which come in the way of its gratification: only these -obstacles must not make the gratification of the passions _impossible_, -else despair is the result. - -[60] "Afterwards when he spoke of Poland, he used to be deeply affected -in thinking of his wife, from whom he was obliged to separate. He was -really very much devoted to her, and her fate went home to his very -heart. It was easy when the subject came up in conversation, to read in -his face the deep sorrow which he felt; his liveliness then sensibly -faded away, he became by and by perfectly silent, was usually incapable -of further entertainment, and went earlier than usual home." -_Maimoniana_, p. 177. He seems, however, at a later period, to have at -least spoken to his friends about marrying a second time; but the -project was never carried out. _Ibid._, p. 248.--_Trans._ - -[61] He died 4th Jan., 1786.--_Trans._ - -[62] Kant's work must still have been quite new, as it appeared in -1781.--_Trans._ - -[63] The name is left blank by Maimon, but is known to be that which I -have inserted. See Fischer's _Geschichte der neueren Philosophie_, Vol. -v., p. 131.--_Trans._ - -[64] Samuel Levi, according to _Maimoniana_, p. 78.--_Trans._ - -[65] See above, p. 41--_Trans._ - -[66] The last few pages have been condensed from the original; in which -the author gives detailed information, which seems no longer of any -special interest, about the articles he contributed to periodicals.-- -_Trans._ - -[67] By the kindness of my friend, the Rev. Meldola de Sola, of the -Portuguese Synagogue in Montreal, I am enabled to make an interesting -note on this subject. Among the Talmudic passages enjoining industry are -the following:--"Rather skin a carcase for pay in the public streets, -than be idly dependent on charity," "Rather perform the meanest labour -than beg." As a further evidence of the estimation in which labour was -held by the sages of the Talmud, it may be mentioned that Hillel, before -being admitted to the Great College, earned his livelihood as a -wood-cutter; that Rabbi Joshua was a pinmaker; Rabbi Nehemiah Halsador, -a potter; Rabbi Judah, a tailor; Rabbi Joshua Hasandler, a shoemaker; -and Rabbi Judah Hanechtan, a baker. "Of all things," says Mr. Deutsch, -"the most hated were idleness and asceticism; piety and learning -themselves only received their proper estimation when joined to healthy, -bodily work. 'It is well to add a trade to your studies; you will then -be free from sin,' 'The tradesman at his work need not rise before the -greatest doctor,' 'Greater is he who derives his livelihood from work -than he who fears God'--are some of the most common dicta of the -period." (_Literary Remains_, p. 25, where there are some striking -stories in condemnation of asceticism). Mr. Deutsch elsewhere quotes, -"Rather live on your Sabbath as you would on a week day than be -dependent on others," (_Ibid._, p. 30).--_Trans._ - -[68] See above, pp. 140-1. - -[69] _Maimoniana_, pp. 196-200. - -[70] _Ibid._, p. 80. - -[71] _Ibid._, pp. 80, 83-4. - -[72] _Ibid._, p. 95, note. - -[73] _Ibid._, pp. 82-3. - -[74] _Ibid._, pp. 154, 157. - -[75] _Ibid._, pp. 80, 95, 104. - -[76] _Ibid._, p. 84. - -[77] _Ibid._, p. 105. - -[78] _Ibid._, p. 159. - -[79] _Ibid._, pp. 231-2. - -[80] _Ibid._, p. 96. - -[81] _Ibid._, p. 140. - -[82] _Ibid._, p. 96. - -[83] _Ibid._, p. 97. - -[84] Fischer's _Geschichte der neuern Philosophie_, vol. v., pp. 133-4. - -[85] _Maimoniana_, pp. 190-6. - -[86] _Ibid._, pp. 90-1. - -[87] _Ibid._, pp. 183-8. - -[88] _Ibid._, pp. 101-4. - -[89] _Ibid._, p. 217. - -[90] _Ibid._, pp. 109-112, 208, 212-3. - -[91] _Ibid._, p. 87. - -[92] _Ibid._, p. 213. - -[93] _Ibid._, p. 249. - -[94] _Ibid._, p. 88. - -[95] _Ibid._, p. 230. - -[96] _Ibid._, pp. 86-7. - -[97] _Ibid._, p. 89. - -[98] See, for example, _Ibid._, pp. 112, 115, 209, 250-1. - -[99] _Ibid._, p. - -[100] _Ibid._, pp. 165-6. - -[101] _Ibid._, pp. 201-210. - -[102] _Ibid._, pp. 183-8. - - * * * * * - -_Notes on some Books of Special Interest_ - -PUBLISHED BY - -ALEXANDER GARDNER, - -PAISLEY AND LONDON. - -_AT ALL LIBRARIES._ - - -_JAMES HEPBURN, Free Church Minister._ By SOPHIE F. 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In -creating an ideal character of unmistakable flesh and blood, Miss Veitch -has achieved an unequivocal success, and one or two of the pivot -situations in the book are conceived and presented with such dramatic -power and sympathetic insight, that in virtue of them alone 'James -Hepburn' takes place among the most remarkable and admirable of recent -novels.... There are chapters in 'James Hepburn' of which we feel -convinced that the author of _Scenes of Clerical Life_ would not have -been ashamed.... Such a novel is not only a book to admire, but one for -which to be grateful."--_The Spectator._ - -"='James Hepburn' is a novel in two volumes, which is quite startling in -the freshness and beauty of its conception.... This book deserves -careful reading; there is much more in it than the mere interest of a -clever story, and only good can result from its influence.="--_Literary -World._ - -The author of 'Angus Graeme, Gamekeeper,' has produced another Scottish -novel of remarkable power. 'James Hepburn, Free Church Minister,' is at -once a striking character study, a skilful picture of the social life of -a country town and district, and a powerful sensational story. It is in -the first of these aspects that it displays most original vigour.... It -must be admitted to be one of the strongest productions of the fictional -art that have recently appeared."--_Scotsman._ - -"There can be no question that 'James Hepburn' is the most notable -Scottish story that will be issued in the jubilee year."--_The Christian -Leader._ - -"And of this tendency towards pure character-painting and everyday -incident Miss Sophie Veitch promises to be the best exponent. In the two -volumes which contain the story of episodes in the life of James -Hepburn, each character is carefully studied and presented as a finished -masterpiece.... The book is a drama palpitating with intense and real -life, whose author should have a grand professional future."--_Whitehall -Review._ - -"The book deserves the highest praise. Hepburn's relations with Lady -Ellinor--his pure and noble love for her--are fitly crowned by his -splendid self-sacrifice.... The descriptive part of this fine and often -brilliant novel is admirably done."--_London Figaro._ - -"No one who begins this story will pause till he has seen the hero -through his troubles, and we are sure no one who has done so will think -he has spent his time badly."--_The British Weekly._ - -_James Hepburn_ is a story of very unusual power, promise, and -desert.... The story of Lady Elinor is exceedingly pathetic; and all her -moods, as she gradually progresses along a path of peril, are described -with a hand at once sure and delicate.--_Academy._ - -Seldom do we meet with a novel by a comparatively unknown author which -can afford such unalloyed pleasure.... It is not every writer who can, -like Mrs. Oliphant, throw a glamour over the sordid details of -_bourgeois_ life. Amongst the few who can do so Miss Veitch may now -claim to rank; her novel is a remarkable one, and if it does not attain -to considerable popularity the fault will not be with the author.... -There is intense pathos in the loyal struggle of the beautiful young -wife who believes herself to be unsympathised with.... We had marked -more than one passage for quotation, but space warns us that the -pleasure must be forgone. We must, however, draw special attention to -Lady Ellinor's withering summary of Radicalism (vol. ii. p. 242). The -novel is one of the very few that follows Mr. Weller's recipe, and makes -us "wish that there was more of it."--_Pictorial World._ - -"A SUCCESSFUL SCOTCH NOVEL.--It is long since a Scottish novel met with -such a demand or created such a genuine sensation as has attended the -publication of 'James Hepburn, Free Church Minister,' which was issued a -few weeks ago by Mr. Gardner, of Paisley, and which we noticed in the -week of its publication. We hear that already Mr. Mudie has ordered four -separate supplies, the latest being for a large number of copies, so -great is the demand for the story on the part of the subscribers to his -library. Miss Sophie Veitch, the authoress, had already made her mark by -her fine novel of 'Angus Graeme, Gamekeeper.'"--_Daily Mail._ - -"'James Hepburn,' by Miss Veitch, is a _clever and strong_ novel.... Its -power and literary skill are undeniable."--_World._ - -"Novel-readers who may think there is not much promise of entertainment -in the title which Sophie F. Veitch has chosen for her new story, will -commit the common blunder of forming an erroneous judgment from -superficial appearances. A more interesting or vigorously-written tale -we have not met with for some time back."--_The Scottish Leader._ - -"A cleverly written story here includes both interesting incident and -well-drawn character."--_The Queen._ - - -_SUPPLEMENT TO JAMIESON'S SCOTTISH DICTIONARY._ By DAVID DONALDSON. Now -Ready, Price 25s.; Large Paper, 42s. - -"The work, taken as a whole, entitles Mr. Donaldson to the gratitude of -all interested in the study of philology, for having performed so -thoroughly and so well a difficult and laborious task."--_Scotsman._ - -"The soundness of the judgment which he has applied to this portion of -his herculean task is only equalled by the fulness of his knowledge of -those works which cover the whole period of Scottish history, during -which the vernacular was written and spoken by all classes of society. A -very large number of the words in the Supplement are recorded by Mr. -Donaldson for the first time, at least as Scottish words, and of many of -them the explanation will be found nowhere else.... Of Mr. Donaldson's -work, it may safely be said that it is the most complete and scholarly -endeavour that has thus far been made to accomplish a very difficult -task."--_Mail._ - -"On every page we find evidence that Mr. Donaldson has mastered all the -works that cover the entire period of Scottish history during which the -vernacular was written and spoken by all classes of society. He has, -furthermore, utilised an extensive personal knowledge derived from the -living speech of the people; and alike in the definitions and -illustrations he displays unfailing soundness of judgment, shown -sometimes as much in what he has omitted as in that which is given. An -excellent memoir of Dr. Jamieson, admirable both for the fullness of its -information and the generous warmth of its spirit, adds to the value of -a work without which, we may safely affirm, no Scottish library can -henceforth be regarded as complete."--_Leader._ - - -_IDYLL OF THE CAPTIVE KING; and Other Pieces._ With Etchings. By JAMES -SHARP. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. - -"The author gives undoubted evidence of his right to be heard, and our -perusal of this volume enables us to commend his wide reading and -knowledge of the world, both in its physical and ethical aspects. It is -needless to add that Mr. Gardner has done his part admirably."--_The -Kelso Chronicle._ - -"Whether Mr. Sharp's poetry be regarded in the abstract, or as the -product of the hours of leisure of a man of business, much of it is -commendable, and much is genuine and sound in feeling."--_The Scottish -News._ - -Mr. James Sharp does not miss the occasion in his volume of poems, _The -Captive King_ (Alexander Gardner). His Jubilee Ode, like those of -better-known bards, scarcely represents his poetic powers, as the -following couplet may show:-- - -/p - Much as we love the Prince of Wales, the Princess fair, serene, - We want no other sovereign! We want no other Queen! -p/ - -"Tullibardine's Bride," though a little diffuse, is a readable narrative -poem based on a Perthshire legend. In other lyrical pieces Mr. Sharp -sustains a patriotic vein with fervour.--_Saturday Review._ - -Mr. Sharp's lyrics and shorter pieces, are always pleasing in sentiment, -and are often sweet in expression.--_Scotsman._ - -The book of poems which we introduce to our readers to-day has, we -think, amply justified its issue in the beautiful form in which it is -presented to the public.... This delightful book will do something to -modify that conception, and to show that mercantile pursuits and the -exalted, if traditionally prosaic, dignity of Bailieship are not -incompatible with a successful cultivation of the Muses. In depicting -one of the most tragic chapters in our national annals, Mr. Sharp has -attained charming results in his use of those heroic measures which the -genius of Scott and of Edmonstone Aytoun has made classic, and through -which these masters have made the dim shadows that erewhile flitted -across the stage of Scottish history to stand forth as living men.... We -have directed the attention of our readers to these poems because of -their intrinsic merits.--_Strathearn Herald._ - -If it be the poet's task to feel pleasure in life and discern beauty in -nature, to praise virtue and rejoice in love, and make his readers do -the same, then Mr. Sharp has succeeded admirably in effecting his -purpose.--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -Mr. Sharp is seen at his best in his shorter poems. In these, as a rule, -healthy sentiment is expressed in unpretentious verse.--_Academy._ - - -SECOND AND ENLARGED EDITION. - -_LAW LYRICS._ Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d. - -"The anonymous author of the 'Lyrics'--is he not to be met with among -the sheriffs?--plays his tunes for session and vacation on the -'goose-quill of the law,' and he manages to produce from that ancient -instrument a considerable variety of expression.... His pronounced -national tastes are admirably shown in 'Oatmeal,' etc.; in lyrics like -'Stornoway Bay,' there is the true lyrical gush; while in such poems as -'A Still Lake,' there is revealed an exquisite power of -word-painting...."--_Scotsman._ - -"For neatness and aptness of expression, it is equal to anything we have -seen."--_Scots Law Review._ - -"A very agreeable little book for an idle hour. The author shows himself -equally at home in the serious as in the comic."--_Graphic._ - -"They are exceedingly clever, and brimming over with fun and humour. The -author has earned a right to be called the Laureate of the Law, for -certain it is that he invests the most prosaic of all professions with -quite a halo of poetical interest."--_Nonconformist._ - -"Unkempt enthusiasm and rollicking good humour are the chief features of -this little volume."--_Academy._ - -"A charming little book. We should seek the author on the bench, not at -the bar."--_Glasgow Daily Mail._ - -"Will please not only those 'gentlemen of the long robe' to whom the -tiny volume is dedicated, but a far larger circle. It is a delightful -book of verses daintily got up."--_Glasgow Herald._ - -"These lyrics will bear comparison with the best work that has been done -in this particular line. Will rival some of the best of Outram's lyrics -in common sense and humour."--_Scottish News._ - -"The lyrics are written for the most part with sprightliness and ease. -The more serious and imaginative pieces disclose a rich vein of poetic -fancy. There are many who will procure the second edition from a -recollection of the pleasure which the first gave them."--_Journal of -Jurisprudence._ - -"Will bear comparison with Outram's, Neave's, and Aytoun's. Faultless in -rhythm, and remarkable for rhyme."--_Evening News._ - -"The picture seems to us exquisite. Altogether, the work proves the -writer to be a true poet."--_Stirling Advertiser._ - -"The verses are inspirited and inspiring, expressive of the feelings of -many in these golden days of summer. To the second edition the author -has added some sixty pages brimful of the delightful verses which are -found so attractive in the first edition."--_Weekly Citizen._ - -"One of the two strongest and purest writers in the Scottish vernacular -that have been added to the choir of Northern minstrels during the -present century."--_Christian Leader._ - -"The admirable _Law Lyrics_ ... bright with strokes of pawky humour, and -abounding in verses each of which contains a picture, the volume is one -which will become a lasting favourite with its readers."--_The Bailie._ - -"Strongly incentive to hearty honest laughter which makes the heart grow -brighter, while to staid and grave and reverend seigniors the sweet -lark-song-like verses relating to nature, no less form subjects for -reflection."--_Ayrshire Weekly News._ - -"The little volume is interesting from the first page to the -last."--_Inverness Courier._ - -"Some of the verses exhibit a power of picturesque description which it -would be difficult to match, except out of the masters of song. Reveal -in attractive style the patriotism which animates the poet, and -establishes a claim additional to that of his undoubted genius, to a -large and appreciative Scotch audience."--_Greenock Telegraph._ - -"Such pieces as 'Scotch Porridge, etc." are amongst the most felicitous -examples of Scotch poetry we have seen in recent years."--_Brechin -Advertiser._ - -"Strong common sense pervades the whole, and the views of the author are -expressed with a directness, force, clearness, and simplicity, which -leaves nothing to be desired."--_North British Advertiser._ - -"Of a highly captivating nature, the author being possessed of a keen -sense of the humourous."--_Stirling Observer._ - -"Equal to anything of their kind known to us after Burns. A very genial -and enjoyable volume."--_Aberdeen Gazette._ - -"He expresses himself with a felicity and pawky humour that equal Lord -Neaves and Outram at their best, and in several poems the natural grace -and pith of expression remind one more of Burns than any other writer. -This may seem pitching it very high, but in our opinion, the poems will -bear out the assertion. We recommend it to all in the profession of its -author, and to everyone who can appreciate true humour and good -poetry."--_The People's Friend._ - -"Many of the lyrics which celebrate the charms of rural life and scenery -are extremely fine, displaying as they do rare observing powers, a rich -fancy, and flowing tasteful language."--_Dumfries Standard._ - -"He is a follower of Robert Burns and finds in the Court, and in the -Temple, an inspiration which the great Scotch poet found in the fields -of Ayrshire."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - -"He possesses the power of writing simple flowing verse in an eminent -degree."--_Literary World._ - - -_THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST AND THE SALVATION OF THE FEW._ A Criticism -of _Natural Law in the Spiritual World_. By Rev. A. WILSON. Crown 8vo, -cloth, 2s. 6d. Post free. - -"In a former number of this _Review_ we drew attention to two or three -of the main fallacies of Professor Drummond's shallow but attractive -book. We are glad to see that Mr. Alexander Wilson has, with a -scientific knowledge equal to Professor Drummond's, and with a logical -faculty far superior, subjected it to a far more systematic and -exhaustive analysis. Those who were interested in the dazzling pages of -_Natural Law in the Spiritual World_, but not blinded by their glitter, -will welcome this justification of their doubts in the solid form of -facts and arguments, and those who were fascinated by the Professor's -brilliant rhetoric and imagery will have a rather painful awakening. -They will see the idol shattered which they had to fall down and worship -as a condition of attaining to an intellectual standpoint from which -they might see all known facts in their harmony and continuity. It is, -no doubt, very fascinating to be able to harmonize and to systematize; -but suppose your theory of law, identical in the natural and in the -spiritual worlds, results in the necessity of assuming that man is -nothing more than a part of material nature until he is "converted," and -of believing that the survival of the fittest means the salvation of the -few (according to the analogy of the seeds of an orchid, of about one -person in a generation), would a God who has made men so be the object -of religious feeling, or this spiritual world, with its rare and lonely -tenants, be worth arguing for? It is probable that few readers of this -new "analogy" drew such inferences, but were merely interested in -Professor Drummond's spiritual and scientific gymnastics; but for the -thoughtful few who may have been disturbed by them it is well that he -has been answered by one so capable, both from a Christian and -scientific point of view, as Mr. Wilson."--_Saturday Review._ - -"It is this fallacy, the presumption that the laws of matter are -continuous through the spiritual universe, that Mr. Wilson finds himself -first called on to meet; and he does so by contending that the principle -of continuity applies only if the spiritual universe be itself material, -and not necessarily even them, inasmuch as there are in the material -universe imponderable bodies to which the law of gravitation, for -example, does not extend.... Mr. Wilson has written a very able, acute, -and temperate criticism, in a thoroughly religious spirit, with perfect -courtesy to his opponent; and we should be glad to think that his work -would be widely read."--_Scotsman._ - -"... The critique is interesting, clever, earnest, and, we may add, -respectful to Professor Drummond.... Here, we think, Mr. Wilson occupies -a very strong--indeed, an invulnerable position. This is not, however, -so much the critic's own position as that of other writers, but, he -appears to us, in great measure, to recognise and accept it. His own -words farther on are: 'The identification of the natural and spiritual -laws, if taken absolutely, would lead to the confounding together of -mind and body, God and Nature.' ... We are much interested in the -author's criticism of the Professor's arguments touching the subject -which gives the book its title. It forms an earnest and powerful -chapter...."--_Literary World._ - -"An answer to Professor Drummond, a work of some importance has just -made its appearance. It is certain that Mr. Wilson's able examination of -'Natural Law in the Spiritual World' will attract a good deal of -attention and controversy."--_London Figaro._ - -"Mr. Wilson, with great vigour and intrepidity, criticises the -Professor's conclusions.... The great question raised by Professor -Drummond's work is that of the relation of the natural law of the -survival of the fittest to the doctrine of election. His critic combats -this conclusion with much acuteness and ability."--_Glasgow Herald._ - - -WITH PORTRAIT AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. - -_DAVID KENNEDY, The Scottish Singer: Reminiscences of his Life and -Work._ By MARJORY KENNEDY. And _SINGING ROUND THE WORLD: A Narrative of -his Colonial and Indian Tours_. By DAVID KENNEDY, Junr. Demy 8vo, 480 -pages, cloth extra, 7s. 6d. Post free. - -"These unique musical tours were from time to time described by the -chief musician's son David in different books having reference to the -Colonies, to India, and to the Cape. They have now found a graceful and -appropriate preliminary chapter in the form of a memoir of David Kennedy -himself.... The memoir has been prepared by Miss Marjory Kennedy with -much taste and judgment, and will be read with interest, not only for -the sake of her father's characteristic letters and stories of early -life, but as recalling in various other ways pleasant memories -associated with a family of rare gifts and graces."--_Glasgow Herald._ - - -_LIFE IN SHETLAND._ By JOHN RUSSELL. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 3s. 6d. Post -free. - -"Contains a great quantity of very interesting information about -Shetland and its people. By a happy instinct, Mr. Russell has been led -to write about those things which he knows thoroughly--namely, his own -doings and experiences.... There follows the story of the strange -minister at the 'second diet' of a Presbytery meeting who wanted to -propose a toast, but was informed by the horrified moderator that 'God's -people in that part of the country were not in the habit of drinking -toasts.' The rebuked stranger quietly rejoined that he 'had never before -seen God's people drink so much toddy.' Much, both edifying and -entertaining, might be quoted from this unique volume, but enough may -have been said to gain for it the public attention it -deserves."--_Scotsman._ - -"We owe much to men like Mr. Russell, who, without any pretence, note -down what comes under their observation of an interesting nature -regarding curious customs, habits of life, and folk-lore, among the -people with whom they come into contact.... He is never entirely dull, -and we prefer such volumes which bring us into actual contact with a -poor but unsophisticated people to many pretentious stories. We follow -the minister as he goes out and in among the people, suffering hardship, -visiting, catechising, getting up a stock of fifty sermons, relating odd -anecdotes, and noting down peculiarities. We recommend this book to all -who are interested in the subject. It makes luminous to us the obscure -lives and labours of an interesting people."--_Pen and Pencil._ - -"An interesting and thoroughly realistic picture of life in Shetland is -presented to us in this volume by Mr. Russell, whose sojourn in those -Northern islands gave him good opportunity of observing the place and -the people.... Good stories, and brief observations and remarks on the -geology, natural history, and antiquities of the islands, and the -peculiar manners and customs of the people, ever and anon crop out in -the narrative.... It contains, however, a faithfully accurate and very -reliable description of _Ultima Thule_. And as the reader closes the -volume he will find that he has made acquaintance at once with a -singular country, and a pleasant guide to its chief points of -interest."--_Aberdeen Free Press._ - -"A bright and entertaining volume, and a valuable volume withal, anent -Shetland and the Shetlanders.... I know no book on Shetland equal to -this of Mr. Russell's. Its style is pointed and racy; the author talks -about what he knows and what he knows intimately. To put the matter in a -word, there isn't a dull page in 'Three Years in Shetland,' from the -title to the sentence at the close in which Mr. Russell expresses the -wish that 'all good things may attend' the islanders among whom he spent -three delightful years."--_Bailie._ - -"A very readable book about a very interesting people.... A minister, of -course, enjoys altogether exceptional opportunities, and Mr. Russell -seems to have made good use of them. He writes frankly about things as -he found them, which he is perhaps all the better able to do for his -change to the position of an outsider."--_Glasgow Herald._ - -"It contains some of the best clerical stories--though not always of the -most dignified nature, nor such as will tend to exalt the cloth in the -estimation of rude and irreverent laics--that we have come across, and -it gives very interesting, and for the most part accurate, details of -the everyday life of the people."--_Elgin Courant and Courier._ - - -UNIFORM WITH "BENDERLOCH." - -_LOCH CRERAN. Notes from the West Highlands._ By W. ANDERSON SMITH. -Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. Post free. - -"Readers of Mr. W. Anderson Smith's _Benderloch_ will welcome from the -same pen a second instalment of notes of natural history in the Western -Highlands entitled _Loch Creran_.... The influences of free moorland air -and buoyant water, of a spacious heaven and wide horizon, are with us, -and give zest to the study of fish and fowl and flower that are -liberally displayed. Whether it is the flight of a solitary bunting, or -the habitat of the pipe-fish (_Sygnathus_), the progress of _Myæ_ in the -refluent tide or a nested robin domiciled among strange perils, the -scenic suggestion cannot fail to persuade the senses. A large and -distinctive portion of Mr. Smith's book is devoted to the investigation -of the rich spoil of the dredger, as might be anticipated of so -enthusiastic a student of fish culture, and many of the most interesting -pages describe excursions on the waters of Etive and Creran and -Benderloch, or among the rocky pools and stretches of sand exposed by -the ebbing sea. By sea or land, on the wild hills or among the flowers -and insects of his garden, Mr. Smith has ever something to say that is -worth hearing, and he says it with admirable clearness and -force."--_Saturday Review._ - -"These charming notes from the Western Highlands are truly fascinating. -Entering into the very spirit of the life and scenery by which he is -surrounded, Mr. Smith gives his readers the benefit of the vast and -out-of-the-way stores of information he has gathered in all branches of -natural history. Each month, as it passes, has a chapter devoted to all -its manifold changes and doings, and we get many glimpses of charming -excursions, not unmixed with danger, when overtaken by those sudden -climatic changes to which that grand wild mountainous coast is often -exposed. An enthusiastic naturalist, the writer does not ride his hobby -to death, but, like a true lover of Nature, his sketches are bright and -fresh, and full of vivid descriptions, interspersed with many curious -anecdotes and facts relating to both the animal and vegetable kingdoms. -No better or more instructive guide to the fauna and flora of the -Western Highlands could be had than Mr. Anderson Smith's most pleasant -book."--_Literary World._ - -"They will be well rewarded who follow Mr. Anderson Smith along the -sea-shore, the hill-side, or the trouting stream; they will find how -much a quiet and attentive eye can glean from a loving study of the -denizens of earth, air, and water. The book is provided with a good -index, and those who have not leisure or patience to read it through at -a sitting may dip where they please. Like Mr. Smith's dredge, they -hardly ever fail to bring up something of interest."--_Scotsman._ - -"Students of natural history who read _Benderloch_, by Mr. W. A. Smith, -will give a cordial welcome to _Loch Creran_, another and even more -attractive work by the same observant author. With the exception, -perhaps, of Mr. Jefferson, no living naturalist is gifted with a more -picturesque manner of depicting the habits of birds, beasts, and fishes -than is Mr. Smith.... Then what a vast fund of entertaining instruction -is gathered in these excursions; a royal road to natural history is laid -down by Mr. Smith, and the student follows it leisurely, culling -charming bits of zoological lore here and there. One never knows what a -new day may bring forth when accompanying Mr. Smith on his rambles.... -There is, indeed, no end to the curious things observed by Mr. Smith. He -seems only to sleep at home, for, with his waterproof handy, he roams -about all day in the open air, and comes home at night with a -well-filled note-book.... The wealth of interesting matter in this -delightful volume is, however, tempting us beyond our space, and we -think we have collated enough to make all who love the country, its -sights and sounds, and health-giving breezes read the work -itself."--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -"To those who are familiar with Mr. Anderson Smith's _Benderloch_, no -introduction or recommendation will be necessary on behalf of his new -book, _Loch Creran_. The work is, in fact, as the preface explains, -simply a continuation of the natural history sketches of which -_Benderloch_ is composed.... With what a happy combination of vivacity -and patience, insight and enthusiasm, Mr. Anderson Smith scans the open -pages of that great tome of nature.... Treasure-trove of this kind, -along with notes of a more strictly scientific character, is freely -scattered through Mr. Anderson Smith's pages; and so it will have a -charm for every reader with healthy natural tastes."--_Scottish Leader._ - -"There are few books in the language more delightful than White's -_Selborne_, and in Mr. W. Anderson Smith that earnest Hampshire -naturalist has a distinguished successor. His most recent volume is -worthy of the author of _Benderloch_, a book which, it may be hoped, is -already familiar to our readers.... The variety of his researches on -land and water prevent monotony. The author has much to tell, and he -explains what he has seen and done without waste of -words."--_Illustrated London News._ - -"Mr. Anderson Smith's observations extend over 1881-2, and refer mainly -to the natural history of the district, but he deals also with other -aspects of Nature, and his book is well worth reading."--_Times._ - -"There can be no hesitation in assuring lovers of Nature that in _Loch -Creran_ they will find a work after their own heart.... The charm of the -volume before us is that it is not the hasty outcome of the bookmaker -feverishly eager to piece together into a volume odds and ends of -information. There is an air of leisureliness about _Loch Creran_. Month -by month are given the results of two years' close intercourse with loch -and sea, field and wood. The work is one to be enjoyed by those who -share the writer's tastes and spirit, and not to be rushed by the -heedless."--_Graphic._ - -"Every page has its charm, something at once to instruct the mind and to -tickle and amuse the fancy. It is not a book to be read through at one -sitting, but one to dip into occasionally and to ruminate over in -pleased contentment. Perhaps its worth will be best appreciated by those -taking a holiday in the country, or, above all, at the seaside. And it -will serve as a very efficient guide to persons beginning the study of -natural history, directing them what and how to observe. Many a capital -story he gives illustrating the remarkable intelligence of the lower -animals. Some of these border upon the marvellous."--_Perthshire -Constitutional and Journal._ - -"Chatty and discursive, rather than elaborate, the interest in 'Loch -Creran' is well maintained throughout, and the book appeals to the -general reader, by whom it will doubtless be perused with greater -pleasure than a more highly scientific disquisition."--_Pall Mall -Gazette._ - -"He is a charming companion. His descriptions are vivid and true to -nature--whether he makes us shiver and feel glad of the shelter of the -house, as he tells us of winter's storms and floods, or whether he fills -our hearts with a longing for the freshness and gladness of spring as he -notes the signs of its advent on the shores of Loch Creran."--_Glasgow -Herald._ - - -_OLD CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND: Lectures on Kirk-Session and Presbytery -Records._ _Second Series._ By ANDREW EDGAR, D.D. Demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. -6d. Post free. - -"Antiquaries may welcome the minister of Mauchline as an elder brother -of their craft. We have not seen the first series of lectures, but -certainly these contain much that is queer and quaint. Odd people, these -Scotch folks; but there is a homeliness and a reverence about them which -we greatly value. Our author is evidently of the Established Church, and -knows most about the old customs of that body, of which he writes with a -twinkle in his eye which causes our eye to twinkle also. The grim want -of humour in some of the proceedings is about the same thing as the -presence of humour: you may laugh till you cry, and cry till you laugh; -between the tremendously solemn and the ridiculous there is but a step. -We have been so interested with the lectures that we must get the former -volume. What times those must have been when guests at a funeral began -to meet at ten in the morning, though the body might not be moved till -three or four! Five or six hours! How did they spin them out? No marvel -that the Kirk-Session had to hear charges of drunkenness. Such books as -these are the best of history, leading us indeed into byways and lone -paths which the general historian never traces."--=C. H. Spurgeon.= - - -_MY COLLEGE DAYS: The Autobiography of an Old Student._ Edited by R. -MENZIES FERGUSSON, M.A., Author of "Rambles in the Far North," &c. 8vo, -cloth, 5s. Post free. - -"Mr. Fergusson, either as author or as editor, has well earned our -gratitude by giving us a volume which all may read with enjoyment and -pleasure.... Space and its limits will not allow us to dwell on many -other points of interest to be found in this entertaining volume; but we -cannot pass without mentioning the worthy dame who said, in praise of -her preacher: 'There's ae thing aboot yon man--he's a grand roarer.' Nor -must we forget the careful landlady who was always anxious to know if -her student-lodger was as yet an unengaged man, or, to use her own -graphic phrase, was 'a bund sack set by.'..."--_Literary World._ - -"We own to a suspicion that in this instance Mr. Fergusson has been his -own literary executor. Whether this be the case or not, he has no -reason to be ashamed of the bequest. The sketches have a pleasant grace -of literary style, and a good deal of power in description of -character-sketching, while there is in the writer a subtle under-strain -of pawky humour, and he has brought together and put permanently on -record a number of traditions of University life in Edinburgh and St. -Andrews that are well worth preservation.... Our old student's -reminiscences of St. Andrews, where he took the theological course after -graduating in arts at Edinburgh, are not less lively or interesting than -those he sets down respecting his Alma Mater; and his book is likely to -take a place both on the shelves and in the enduring regard of many -readers who have had similar experiences and tasted similar pleasures. A -word of praise is due to the excellence of its typography and -get-up."--_Scottish Leader._ - -"We think the verdict will be that Mr. Fergusson has done well in -publishing this thoughtful book. It abounds in vigorous, and, in many -cases, eloquent delineations of University life; it is sympathetic in -its spirit and catholic in its tone, especially when dealing with such -subjects as the stage, so frequently abused. Its author was a student of -the Universities of Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and Oxford, his -reminiscences of which are often humorous, and always interesting. Some -of the anecdotes recorded in this volume regarding the Edinburgh -Professors are exceedingly entertaining.... We venture to predict for -this autobiography a wide circulation."--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -"The book is eminently readable, very quiet for the most part, but not -without a few touches of gaiety and sprightly humour; and it betokens no -little culture together with a strong poetic tendency. The contents are -almost entirely confined to sketches of life at Scottish Universities, -with some playful personal satire, of which various Professors, some -mentioned by name and others denoted by initials, are the objects in -chief, although the peculiarities of certain landladies whose province -it is, or was, to let lodgings to students at Edinburgh or elsewhere, -come in for their share of more or less satirical delineation. But there -is nothing spiteful, nothing bitter, nothing cynical in the mode of -treatment. Two chapters are devoted to a sketch, brief but graphic and -sympathetic, of academic Oxford, whither the author went to sojourn and -to study for two months."--_Illustrated London News._ - -"This is a delightful book, calculated to afford much pleasurable -amusement of a quiet kind. It is written in a light sparkling style.... -The book itself is an enjoyable one, and perhaps none will read it with -greater relish than the old fogies who see in it much of what they -themselves passed through, and who, by the perusal are led to recall, -with mingled feelings, the aspirations, the freshness, and the frolic of -their own College days."--_Perthshire Constitutional._ - -"By those who have passed through the Universities it will be read with -considerable pleasure, affording as it does such happy reminiscences of -'College days,' with their grave, plodding seriousness, or that more -boisterous playfulness which is supposed to be the characteristic of -students as a class. Those, again, who are simply outsiders, and have -had no College days whatever, will be charmed by the recital here given -of the doings of the students, and the customs associated with the -respective Universities, the pen-portraits of the several professors, -the opinions expressed regarding men and things, the poetry, original -and selected, and the hundred and one subjects here treated of by a man -of observant nature possessing facility of expression, besides a keen -sense and appreciation of the humorous...."--_Stirling Observer._ - -"Many a 'varsity man, who has won his decree in the modest 'little city, -worn and grey,' will welcome the appearance of Mr. R. M. Fergusson's -_College Days_. Redolent every page of it, of the class-room, and the -wild Bohemianism of student life, and bristling with the 'classic' -ditties which have so often made the halls of St. Salvator's resound, -here is material for a mental revel in the past."--_Northern Chronicle._ - -"This series of autobiographical notes deserve recognition, if only -because the style is perfectly natural and perfectly good-natured.... -The book contains several capital anecdotes and some excellent -verse."--_London Figaro._ - -"But after all the charm of the volume lies in the whole life of a -student which is presented to us, for his joys and his troubles, his -amusements and his hard reading, are here written of by one who has -evidently experienced all. Scattered throughout these pages are numerous -verses, some original, some well-known students' songs. The original -verses are very good...."--_Stirling Journal._ - -"The volume contains some very excellent poems which are worthy of -finding, and doubtless will find, a place as verses to future songs. -There is not a chapter in the book which is not thoroughly -entertaining."--_The Tribune._ - -"The 'Old Student' has to speak of Scotch Universities, Edinburgh, to -wit, and St. Andrews, while he gives some impressions, gained as an -outsider, of Oxford.... There is much that is interesting and -entertaining, some good stories, and generally a pleasant picture of a -happy and busy life."--_Spectator._ - -"The writer is always entertaining and kindly, is wise in season, and -also _desipit in loco_, and tells some good stories--professors being -naturally his chief subjects."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - -"It is, to say the least, eminently probable that Mr. Fergusson relates -his own experiences in Edinburgh and St. Andrews. He does so in a -sufficiently lively and 'freshman' style.... _My College Days_ is, on -the whole, as readable as any book of the kind that has recently been -published."--_The Academy._ - -"Mr. R. Menzies Fergusson paints life as he thinks he saw it as a young -man at St. Andrews and Edinburgh, in _My College Days_. This -'autobiography of an old student' contains much interesting -reminiscence, and Mr. Fergusson has perhaps not erred in introducing -into his text specimens of the verse into which some of his Caledonian -student contemporaries were in the habit of dropping occasionally. Mr. -Fergusson's little book should find many a sympathetic reader among -former _alumni_ of the Scottish Universities, for he writes without -affectation."--_Graphic._ - -'Seldom have we had more pleasure than in the perusal of these -reminiscences of College days. No one who has gone through the -curriculum of a Scotch University can fail to attest the fidelity with -which his experience here finds expression.... 'An Old Student' was -privileged to have more than one _alma mater_. He could boast the -fostering care of Edinburgh, of St. Andrews, and of Oxford, and of all -these he has most pleasant reminiscences. Our author's experiences at -Oxford will repay perusal. The whole book, written in a most happy, -though thoughtful and affectionate strain, must incite the most cordial -sympathy of all whose student days have not been forgotten, while the -general public will peruse it with responsive hearts and a regretful -feeling that they have missed the experiences of which it -treats.'--_Brechin Advertiser._ - -'The minister of Logie, who made a decided hit with _Rambles in the Far -North_, has attempted a very difficult bit of work in _My College Days_. -This purports to be the MS. legacy of a College friend who died young -after some experience of student life in Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and -Oxford. The fiction will impose upon nobody, although it may shield the -editor from some blame, for while there is mirth and vigour and kindly -reminiscence, there is also some very sharp criticism, and much -reference to Academic dignitaries who are still in the flesh, and may be -sensitive and inclined to sting when they find some of their class jokes -not merely in print but bound in a book.... If certain Edinburgh divines -beguile a leisure hour over these pages, they will for once see -themselves as the keen-witted see them, and be amazed at the impudence -of the rising generation. Everybody who knows Edinburgh will recognise -the portrait of the preacher who is likened to Dr. Andrew Thomson in one -thing--'There's ae thing about yon man, he's a grand roarer.' The St. -Andrews part is full and cleverly done, and will have a charm for most -_alumni_ of the 'College of the scarlet gown,' because it contains a -large number of the songs, original and selected, with which the lobby -of the Natural Philosophy class-room was wont to resound."--_Elgin -Courant._ - -"The style is lively, and the descriptions of scenes of student life are -graphic. The account of the election of Rector at Edinburgh will -doubtless interest many, and the chapter dealing with landladies, their -varieties and idiosyncracies, is humorous."--_Morning Post._ - -"To recent students of our two greatest Scottish Universities--Edinburgh -and St. Andrews--_My College Days_ is charged with intense interest, -though its racy humour and chatty discursiveness will render it -attractive reading to those uninitiated in academic mysteries and -innocent of student frivolities. The life of an Edinburgh student, in -college and out of college, in the class-room, the debating society, the -theatre, and the church, is described with untiring vivacity.... Whether -author or merely editor, Mr. Menzies Fergusson is to be sincerely -congratulated upon his success. Reminiscence is a species of literature -not always instructive, not always even entertaining; in Mr. Fergusson's -hands it becomes both."--_Fifeshire Journal._ - -"We think the verdict of every impartial reader will be that Mr. -Ferguson has done well in publishing this book. It abounds in vigorous, -and, in many instances, impressive descriptions of University life; it -is enlivened at judicious intervals with original verses, which evince -lyrical power; its style is admirably condensed and clear; it is -sympathetic in its spirit and catholic in its tone, especially when -dealing with such subjects as the stage and its modern exponents by -narrow-minded writers so frequently abused."--_Ayr Observer._ - -"It is pleasantly written, is full of the fun of student life, full, -too, of its hardships, abounds with excellent stories, is very -discriminating in professional criticism, while scattered throughout the -racy pages are many snatches of jovial college songs recorded nowhere -else.... Altogether the volume is very readable, and no student, at all -events, can find a dull page in it."--_Kelso Chronicle._ - - -_THE TRAGEDY OF GOWRIE HOUSE._ An Historical Study. By LOUIS A. BARBÉ. -Fcap. 4to, 6s. - -In this new work on the interesting and mysterious episode of Scottish -History, usually known as the Gowrie Conspiracy, the author has not only -submitted the old materials to a close examination, but also thrown new -light on the subject by the help of letters to be found in the Record -Office, but overlooked or suppressed by former historians, of documents -recently discovered by the Commission on Historical MSS., and also of -important papers preserved in the French Archives. - -"_A treasure of almost priceless thought and criticism._"--_Contemporary -Review._ - -In the press. Second Edition, Thoroughly Revised. Cr. 8vo, 338 pp., 7s. -6d. - - -WIT, WISDOM, AND PATHOS, - -FROM THE PROSE OF HEINRICH HEINE. - -_WITH A FEW PIECES FROM THE "BOOK OF SONGS."_ - -SELECTED AND TRANSLATED BY J. SNODGRASS. - -"Mr. Snodgrass has produced a book in which lazy people will find a -great deal to please them. They can take it up at any moment, and open -it on any page with the certainty of finding some bright epigram; they -need not turn down the page on shutting up the volume, as it matters -little where they resume. There is nothing jarring in the whole -book."--_Athenæum, April 19, 1877._ - -"No Englishman of culture who is unacquainted with Heine can fail to -derive a new intellectual pleasure from Mr. Snodgrass's -pages."--_Contemporary Review, September 1880._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass would appear to have saturated himself with Heine -literature, to have so caught Heine's mode of thought and his turns of -expression--quaint, droll, swift, and scathing by turns--that the -translator would appear to have had no more difficulty in presenting -Heine as he was to the reader than he would have in presenting his own -thoughts."--_Glasgow Herald, March 31, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass, in his 'Wit,' &c., has dime a great service in this -respect, presenting as it were a full-length miniature of the man, clear -and effective, wherein his characteristic expression is faithfully -caught and where, if we look carefully, we can see him as he really was, -for he is made to paint his own portrait."--_British Quarterly Review, -October 1881._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has certainly done great service to English literature in -presenting us with a compact little volume like that before -us."--_Spectator._ - -"A word of cordial praise is due to the translator, Mr. J. Snodgrass, -for his admirable performance of a very difficult task. His book is one -to welcome and to keep as a treasure of almost priceless thought and -criticism."--_Contemporary Review, February 1881._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass is to be thanked for a very seasonable bit of -work."--_Examiner, April 26, 1879._ - -"We are bound to say that Mr. Snodgrass has done his work exceptionally -well."--_The Literary World, May 9, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has made a valuable addition to English literature in -this volume, and has given us a most attractive and efficient -introduction to the study of Heine."--_The Nonconformist, August 20, -1879._ - -"He has performed his task with skill, tact, and judgment; and it is -easy to perceive that he has a thorough acquaintance with his author and -sympathy for his matter."--_Notes and Queries, April 19, 1879._ - -"The result of Mr. Snodgrass's attempt has been the production of a -volume which, for variety and interest, may be pronounced one of the -most successful books of the season."--_Aberdeen Journal, March 26, -1879._ - -"In Heine, whose prose writings in German fill well on to a score of -volumes, we find in remarkable combination the best qualities of German -thought, along with the sparkle and brilliancy of an accomplished -Frenchman's style."--_Aberdeen Daily Free Press, April 21, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has done his selection and translation admirably well and -we owe him thanks for a volume which has in it mere wit of the highest -sort, and more political insight, than any book that has lately been -given to the public."--_Vanity Fair, November 8, 1879._ - -"The compiler of this interesting little volume, Mr. J. Snodgrass is -perfectly right in saying that Heine is chiefly known to English readers -as the author of the 'Book of Songs.'"--_The Week, April 19, 1879._ - -"The 'English Fragments' have a special interest for the English reader; -but the selection from Heine's prose works in general, most judiciously -made and excellently translated by Mr. Snodgrass, gives a much completer -view of the qualities of the writer's mind."--_Saturday Review._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has not essayed to give at all an exhaustive collection -of Heine's witty, wise, and pathetic sayings; but he has selected, in -the order in which they occur in the complete German edition, such -extracts as have specially commended themselves to himself. He has -produced a very enjoyable volume, exactly adapted to the taste of lazy -and luxurious persons, who can just take up the book for five minutes to -read a delightful passage, complete in itself, and not long enough to -fatigue the most fastidious attention."--_Academy, May 31, 1879._ - - -ALEX. GARDNER, PAISLEY AND LONDON. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography., by -Solomon Maimon - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOLOMON MAIMON: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. *** - -***** This file should be named 41042-0.txt or 41042-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/0/4/41042/ - -Produced by Charlene Taylor,Josephine Paolucci and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - http://www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/41042-0.zip b/old/41042-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 745d86c..0000000 --- a/old/41042-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/41042-8.txt b/old/41042-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8960f3c..0000000 --- a/old/41042-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8828 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography., by Solomon Maimon - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography. - -Author: Solomon Maimon - -Translator: J. Clark Murray, LL.D., F.R.S.C. - -Release Date: October 13, 2012 [EBook #41042] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOLOMON MAIMON: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. *** - - - - -Produced by Charlene Taylor,Josephine Paolucci and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - -_SOLOMON MAIMON._ - - - - -SOLOMON MAIMON: - -_AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY._ - -TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, WITH ADDITIONS AND NOTES, - -BY - -J. CLARK MURRAY, LL.D., F.R.S.C., - -_Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy, M'Gill College, Montreal_. - -ALEXANDER GARDNER, -PAISLEY; AND 12 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. -DAWSON BROTHERS, MONTREAL; CUPPLES AND HURD, BOSTON. - -1888. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - -TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE, ix. - -INTRODUCTION.--State of Poland in last century, 1 - -CHAPTER-- - -I.--My Grandfather's Housekeeping, 6 - -II.--First Reminiscences of Youth, 19 - -III.--Private Education and Independent Study, 22 - -IV.--Jewish Schools--The Joy of being released from them causes - a Stiff Foot, 32 - -V.--My Family is driven into Misery, and an old Servant loses by his - great Faithfulness a Christian Burial, 38 - -VI.--New Abode, New Misery--The Talmudist, 42 - -VII.--Joy endureth but a little while, 49 - -VIII.--The Pupil knows more than the Teacher--A theft _à la -Rousseau_, which is discovered--"The ungodly provideth, and -the righteous putteth it on," 54 - -IX.--Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals--The -Song of Solomon may be used in the service -of Matchmaking--A new _Modus Lucrandi_--Smallpox, 59 - -X.--I become an object of Contention, get two Wives -at once, and am kidnapped at last, 65 - -XI.--My Marriage in my eleventh Year makes me the -Slave of my Wife, and procures for me -Cudgellings from my Mother-in-Law--A -Ghost of Flesh and Blood, 74 - -XII.--The Secrets of the Marriage State--Prince -Radzivil, or what is not all allowed in -Poland? 79 - -XIII.--Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless -Struggles with Misery of every Kind, 89 - -XIV.--I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a -Physician, 94 - -XV.--A brief Exposition of the Jewish Religion from -its Origin down to the most recent Times, 111 - -XVI.--Jewish Piety and Penances, 132 - -XVII.--Friendship and Enthusiasm, 138 - -XVIII.--The Life of a Family Tutor, 145 - -XIX.--Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long -Chapter, 151 - -XX.--Continuation of the Former, and also Something -about Religious Mysteries, 176 - -XXI.--Journeys to Königsberg, Stettin, and Berlin, for -the purpose of extending my Knowledge of -Men, 187 - -XXII.--Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance, 197 - -XXIII.--Arrival in Berlin--Acquaintances--Mendelssohn--Desperate -Study of Metaphysics--Doubts--Lectures -on Locke and Adelung, 210 - -XXIV.--Mendelssohn--A Chapter devoted to the Memory -of a worthy Friend, 221 - -XXV.--My Aversion at first for Belles Lettres, and my -subsequent Conversion--Departure from Berlin--Sojourn -in Hamburg--I drown myself in -the same way as a bad Actor shoots himself--An -old Fool of a Woman falls in Love with -me, but her Addresses are rejected, 234 - -XXVI.--I return to Hamburg--A Lutheran Pastor -pronounces me to be a scabby Sheep, and -unworthy of Admission into the Christian -Fold--I enter the Gymnasium, and frighten -the Chief Rabbi out of his Wits, 253 - -XXVII.--Third journey to Berlin--Frustrated Plan of -Hebrew Authorship--Journey to Breslau--Divorce, 265 - -XXVIII.--Fourth journey to Berlin--Unfortunate - circumstances--Help--Study of Kant's Writings--Characteristic -of my own Works, 279 - -CONCLUDING CHAPTER, 290 - - - - -TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. - - -One effect of _Daniel Deronda_ was to make known to a wide circle of -readers the vitality of Judaism as a system which still holds sway over -the mental as well as the external life of men. During the few years -which have passed since the publication of that great fiction, the -interest in modern Judaism has continued to grow. It is but a short time -since the Western world was startled by the outbreak of an ancient -feeling against the Jews, which had been supposed to be long dead, at -least in some of the quarters where it was displayed. The popular -literature of the day also seems to indicate that the life of existing -Jewish communities is attracting a large share of attention in the -reading world. The charming pictures which Emil Franzos has drawn of -Jewish life in the villages of Eastern Galicia, are not only popular in -Germany, but some have been reproduced in a cheap form in New York to -meet the demand of German Americans, and some have also been translated -into English. The interest of English readers in the same subject is -further shown by the recent translation of Kompert's _Scenes from the -Ghetto_, as well as by Mr. Cumberland's still more recent and powerful -romance of _The Rabbi's Spell_. Among students of philosophical -literature a fresh interest has been awakened in the history of Jewish -thought by the revival of the question in reference to the sources of -Spinoza's philosophy. The affinities of this system with the familiar -tendencies of Cartesian speculation have led the historians of -philosophy generally to represent the former as simply an inevitable -development of the latter, while the affinities of Spinozism with the -unfamiliar speculations of earlier Jewish thinkers have been almost -entirely ignored. - -In these circumstances a special interest may be felt in the life of one -of the most remarkable Jews of modern times--a life which forms one of -the most extraordinary biographies in the history of literature. - -Readers of _Daniel Deronda_ may remember that, in his search among the -Jews of London for some one who could throw light on the sad story of -Mirah, the hero of the novel was attracted one day to a second-hand -book-shop, where his eye fell on "that wonderful bit of -autobiography--the life of the Polish Jew, Solomon Maimon." There are -few men so remarkable as Maimon who have met with so little recognition -in English literature. Milman, in his _History of the Jews_, refers -once[1] to the autobiography as "a curious and rare book," but -apparently he knew it only from some quotations in Franck's _La -Cabbale_. Among English metaphysical writers the only one who seems to -have studied the speculations of Maimon is Dr. Hodgson.[2] Even the new -edition of the _Encyclopedia Britannica_ gives no place to Maimon among -its biographies. And yet he is a prominent figure among the -metaphysicians of the Kantian period. Kuno Fischer, in his _Geschichte -der Neueren Philosophie_,[3] devotes a whole chapter to the life of -Maimon, while the contemporary critics of Kant are dismissed with little -or no biographical notice. Fischer's sketch is just sufficient to whet -curiosity for fuller details; but, amid the dearth of rare literature in -Colonial libraries, I certainly never expected to come, in a Canadian -town, upon "a curious and rare book" of last century, which was known -even to the learned Milman only through some quotations from a French -author. One day, however, in Toronto, in order to while away an -unoccupied hour, I was glancing, like Daniel Deronda, over the shelves -of a second-hand bookseller, when I was attracted by a small volume, in -a good state of preservation, with "S. Maimon's Lebensgeschichte" on the -back; and on taking it down I found it to be the veritable autobiography -which I had been curious to see. - -Some account of the work was given in an article in the _British -Quarterly Review_ for July, 1885; but I thought that a complete -translation would probably be welcomed by a considerable circle of -English readers. The book has many attractions. If the development of -the inner life of man can ever be characterised as a romance, the -biography of Maimon may, in the truest sense, be said to be one of the -most romantic stories ever written. Perhaps no literature has preserved -a more interesting record of a spirit imprisoned within almost -insuperable barriers to culture, yet acquiring strength to burst all -these, and even to become an appreciable power in directing the course -of speculation. The book, however, is much more than a biography; it -possesses historical interest. It opens up what, to many English -readers, must be unknown efforts of human thought, unknown wanderings of -the religious life. The light, which it throws upon Judaism especially, -both in its speculative and in its practical aspects, is probably, in -fact, unique. For the sketches, which the book contains, of Jewish -speculation and life were made at a time when the author had severed all -vital connection with his own people and their creed; and they are -therefore drawn from a point of view outside of Jewish prejudices: but -they are penned by one who had been brought up to believe the divine -mission of his people, as well as the divine authority of their -religion; and the criticism of his old faith is generally tempered by -that kindly sympathy, with which the heart is apt to be warmed on -lingering over the companionships and other associations of earlier -years. Maimon's account of Jewish philosophy and theology acquires an -additional value from the fact, that he was caught in the full tide of -the Kantian movement, and he was thus in a position to point out -unexpected affinities between many an old effort of speculative thought -among the Jews and the philosophical tendencies of modern Christendom. - -Since writing the above-mentioned article for the _British Quarterly -Review_, I learnt that a volume of _Maimoniana_ had been issued in 1813 -by an old friend of our philosopher, Dr. Wolff[4]; and through the -kindness of a friend in Leipsic, I was enabled, after some delay, to -procure a copy. It is a small volume of 260 pages, and adds extremely -little to our knowledge of Maimon. Nearly one third is simply a -condensation of the autobiography; and the remainder shows the author -with the opportunities indeed, but without the faculty, of a Boswell. He -has preserved but few of the felicities of Maimon's conversation; and -what he has preserved loses a good deal of its flavour from his want of -the lively memory by which Boswell was able to reproduce the peculiar -mannerisms of Johnson's talk. Still I have culled from the little -volume a few notes for illustration of the autobiography, and I am -indebted to it for most of the materials of the concluding chapter. All -my additions are indicated by "_Trans._" appended. - -The translation gives the whole of the biographical portion of the -original. There are, however, ten chapters which I have omitted, as they -are occupied entirely with a sketch of the great work of -Maimonides,--the _Moreh Nebhochim_, or _Guide of the Perplexed_. Owing -to their somewhat loose connection[5] with the rest, these chapters -excite just the faintest suspicion of "padding;" and at all events there -is no demand for such a sketch in English now, when our literature has -been recently enriched by Dr. Friedländer's careful translation of the -whole work. - -In the performance of my task I have endeavoured to render the original -as literally as was consistent with readable English. Only in one or -two passages I have toned down the expression slightly to suit the -tastes of our own time; but even in these I have not been unfaithful to -the author's meaning. - -In the spelling of Hebrew and other foreign words I have never, without -some good reason, interfered with the original. But as Maimon is not -always consistent with himself in this respect, I have felt myself at -liberty to disregard his usage by adopting such forms as are more -familiar, or more likely to be intelligible, to an English reader. - - - - -SOLOMON MAIMON. - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -The inhabitants of Poland may be conveniently divided into six classes -or orders:--the superior nobility, the inferior nobility, the -half-noble, burghers, peasantry and Jews. - -The superior nobility consist of the great landowners and administrators -of the high offices of government. The inferior nobility also are -allowed to own land and to fill any political office; but they are -prevented from doing so by their poverty. The half-noble can neither own -land, nor fill any high office in the State; and by this he is -distinguished from the genuine noble. Here and there, it is true, he -owns land; but for that he is in some measure dependent on the lord of -the soil, within whose estate his property lies, inasmuch as he is -required to pay him a yearly tribute. - -The burghers are the most wretched of all the orders. They are not, 'tis -true, in servitude to any man; they also enjoy certain privileges, and -have a jurisdiction of their own. But as they seldom own any property -of value, or follow rightly any profession, they always remain in a -condition of pitiable poverty. - -The last two orders, namely the peasantry and the Jews, are the most -useful in the country. The former occupy themselves with agriculture, -raising cattle, keeping bees,--in short, with all the products of the -soil. The latter engage in trade, take up the professions and -handicrafts, become bakers, brewers, dealers in beer, brandy, mead and -other articles. They are also the only persons who farm estates in towns -and villages, except in the case of ecclesiastical properties, where the -reverend gentlemen hold it a sin to put a Jew in a position to make a -living, and accordingly prefer to hand over their farms to the peasants. -For this they must suffer by their farms going to ruin, as the peasantry -have no aptitude for this sort of employment: but of course they choose -rather to bear this with Christian resignation. - -In consequence of the ignorance of most of the Polish landlords, the -oppression of the tenantry, and the utter want of economy, most of the -farms in Poland, at the end of last century,[6] had fallen into such a -state of decay, that a farm, which now yields about a thousand Polish -gulden, was offered to a Jew for ten; but in consequence of still -greater ignorance and laziness, with all that advantage even he could -not make a living off the farm. An incident, however, occurred at this -time, which gave a new turn to affairs. Two brothers from Galicia, where -the Jews are much shrewder than in Lithuania, took, under the name of -_Dersawzes_ or farmers-general, a lease of all the estates of Prince -Radzivil, and, by means of a better industry as well as a better -economy, they not only raised the estates into a better condition, but -also enriched themselves in a short time. - -Disregarding the clamour of their brethren, they increased the rents, -and enforced payment by the sub-lessees with the utmost stringency. They -themselves exercised a direct oversight of the farms; and wherever they -found a farmer who, instead of looking after his own interests and those -of his landlord in the improvement of his farm by industry and economy, -spent the whole day in idleness, or lay drunk about the stove, they soon -brought him to his senses, and roused him out of his indolence by a -flogging. This procedure of course acquired for the farmers-general, -among their own people, the name of tyrants. - -All this, however, had a very good effect. The farmer, who at the term -had hitherto been unable to pay up his ten gulden of rent without -requiring to be sent to jail about it, now came under such a strong -inducement to active exertion, that he was not only able to support a -family off his farm, but was also able to pay, instead of ten, four or -five hundred, and sometimes even a thousand gulden. - -The Jews, again, may be divided into three classes:--(1) the illiterate -working people, (2) those who make learning their profession, and (3) -those who merely devote themselves to learning without engaging in any -remunerative occupation, being supported by the industrial class. To the -second class belong the chief rabbis, preachers, judges, schoolmasters, -and others of similar profession. The third class consists of those who, -by their pre-eminent abilities and learning, attract the regard of the -unlearned, are taken by these into their families, married to their -daughters, and maintained for some years with wife and children at their -expense. Afterwards, however, the wife is obliged to take upon herself -the maintenance of the saintly idler and the children (who are usually -very numerous); and for this, as is natural, she thinks a good deal of -herself. - -There is perhaps no country besides Poland, where religious freedom and -religious enmity are to be met with in equal degree. The Jews enjoy -there a perfectly free exercise of their religion and all other civil -liberties; they have even a jurisdiction of their own. On the other -hand, however, religious hatred goes so far, that the name of Jew has -become an abomination; and this abhorrence, which had taken root in -barbarous times, continued to show its effects till about thirteen years -ago. But this apparent contradiction may be very easily removed, if it -is considered that the religious and civil liberty, conceded to the Jews -in Poland, has not its source in any respect for the universal rights -of mankind, while, on the other hand, the religious hatred and -persecution are by no means the result of a wise policy which seeks to -remove out of the way whatever is injurious to morality and the welfare -of the State. Both phenomena are results of the political ignorance and -torpor prevalent in the country. With all their defects the Jews are -almost the only useful inhabitants of the country, and therefore the -Polish people found themselves obliged, for the satisfaction of their -own wants, to grant all possible liberties to the Jews; but, on the -other hand, their moral ignorance and stupor could not fail to produce -religious hatred and persecution. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -My Grandfather's Housekeeping. - - -My grandfather, Heimann Joseph, was farmer of some villages in the -neighbourhood of the town of Mir, in the territory of Prince -Radzivil.[7] He selected for his residence one of these villages on the -river Niemen, called Sukoviborg, where, besides a few peasants' plots, -there was a water-mill, a small harbour, and a warehouse for the use of -the vessels that come from Königsberg, in Prussia. All this, along with -a bridge behind the village, and on the other side a drawbridge on the -river Niemen, belonged to the farm, which was then worth about a -thousand gulden, and formed my grandfather's _Chasakah_.[8] This farm, -on account of the warehouse and the great traffic, was very lucrative. -With sufficient industry and economical skill, _si mens non laeva -fuisset_, my grandfather should have been able, not only to support his -family, but even to gather wealth. The bad constitution of the country, -however, and his own want of all the acquirements necessary for -utilising the land, placed extraordinary obstacles in his way. - -My grandfather settled his brothers as tenants under him in the villages -belonging to his farm. These not only lived continually with my -grandfather under the pretence of assisting him in his manifold -occupations, but in addition to this they would not pay their rents at -the end of the year. - -The buildings, belonging to my grandfather's farm, had fallen into decay -from age, and required therefore to be repaired. The harbour and the -bridge also had become dilapidated. In accordance with the terms of the -lease the landlord was to repair everything, and put it in a condition -fit for use. But, like all the Polish magnates, he resided permanently -in Warsaw, and could therefore give no attention to the improvement of -his estates. His stewards had for their principal object the improvement -rather of their own condition than of their landlord's property. They -oppressed the farmers with all sorts of exactions, they neglected the -orders given for the improvement of the farms, and the moneys intended -for this purpose they applied to their own use. My grandfather indeed -made representations on the subject to the stewards day after day, and -assured them that it was impossible for him to pay his rent, if -everything was not put into proper condition according to the lease. All -this, however, was of no avail. He always received promises indeed, but -the promises were never fulfilled. The result was not only the ruin of -the farm, but several other evils arising from that. - -As already mentioned, there was a large traffic at this place; and as -the bridges were in a bad state, it happened not infrequently that these -broke down just when a Polish nobleman with his rich train was passing, -and horse and rider were plunged into the swamp. The poor farmer was -then dragged to the bridge, where he was laid down and flogged till it -was thought that sufficient revenge had been taken. - -My grandfather therefore did all in his power to guard against this evil -in the future. For this purpose he stationed one of his people to keep -watch at the bridge, so that, if any noble were passing, and an accident -of this sort should happen, the sentinel might bring word to the house -as quickly as possible, and the whole family might thus have time to -take refuge in the neighbouring wood. Every one thereupon ran in terror -out of the house, and not infrequently they were all obliged to remain -the whole night in the open air, till one after another ventured to -approach the house. - -This sort of life lasted for some generations. My father used to tell of -an incident of this sort, which happened when he was still a boy of -about eight years. The whole family had fled to their usual retreat. But -my father, who knew nothing of what had happened, and was playing at the -back of the stove, stayed behind alone. When the angry lord came into -the house with his suite, and found nobody on whom he could wreak his -vengeance, he ordered every corner of the house to be searched, when my -father was found at the back of the stove. The nobleman asked him if he -would drink brandy, and, on the boy refusing, shouted: "If you will not -drink brandy, you shall drink water." At the same time he ordered a -bucketful of water to be brought, and forced my father, by lashes with -his whip, to drink it out. Naturally this treatment brought on a quartan -fever, which lasted nearly a whole year, and completely undermined his -health. - -A similar incident took place when I was a child of three years. Every -one ran out of the house; and the housemaid, who carried me in her arms, -hurried forth. But as the servants of the nobleman who had arrived ran -after her, she quickened her steps, and in her extreme haste let me fall -from her arms. There I lay whimpering on the skirt of the wood, till -fortunately a peasant passing by lifted me up and took me home with him. -It was only after everything had become quiet again, and the family had -returned to the house, that the maid remembered having lost me in the -flight, when she began to lament and wring her hands. They sought me -everywhere, but could not find me, till at last the peasant came from -the village and restored me to my parents. - -It was not merely the terror and consternation, into which we used to be -thrown on the occasion of such a flight; to this was added the -plundering of the house when deprived of its inhabitants. Beer, brandy, -and mead were drunk at pleasure; the spirit of revenge even went so far -at times, that the casks were left to run out; corn and fowls were -carried off; and so forth. - -Had my grandfather, instead of seeking justice from a more powerful -litigant, rather borne the injustice, and built the bridge in question -at his own expense, he would have been able to avoid all these evils. He -appealed, however, persistently to the terms of his lease, and the -steward made sport of his misery. - -And now something about my grandfather's domestic economy. The manner of -life, which he led in his house, was quite simple. The annual produce of -the arable lands, pasture-lands, and kitchen-gardens, belonging to the -farm, was sufficient, not only for the wants of his own family, but also -for brewing and distilling. He could even, besides, sell a quantity of -grain and hay. His bee-hives were sufficient for the brewing of mead. He -had also a large number of cattle. - -The principal food consisted of a poor kind of corn-bread mixed with -bran, of articles made of meal and milk, and of the produce of the -garden, seldom of flesh-meat. The clothing was made of poor linen and -coarse stuff. Only the women made in these matters a slight exception, -and my father also, who was a scholar, required a different sort of -life. - -Hospitality was here carried very far. The Jews in this neighbourhood -are continually moving about from place to place; and as there was a -great traffic at our village, they were frequently passing through it, -and of course they had always to stop at my grandfather's inn. Every -Jewish traveller was met at the door with a glass of spirits; one hand -making the _salaam_,[9] while the other reached the glass. He then had -to wash his hands, and seat himself at the table which remained -constantly covered. - -The support of a numerous family along with this hospitality would have -had no serious effect in impairing my grandfather's circumstances, if at -the same time he had introduced a better economy in his house. This, -however, was the source of his misfortune. - -My grandfather was in trifles almost too economical, and neglected -therefore matters of the greatest importance. He looked upon it, for -example, as extravagance to burn wax or tallow candles; their place had -to be supplied with thin strips of resinous pine, one end of which was -stuck into the chinks of the wall, while the other was lit. Not -unfrequently by this means fires were occasioned, and much damage -caused, in comparison with which the cost of candles was not worth -taking into consideration. - -The apartment, in which beer, spirits, mead, herrings, salt and other -articles were kept for the daily account of the inn, had no windows, -but merely apertures, through which it received light. Naturally this -often tempted the sailors and carriers who put up at the inn to climb -into the apartment, and make themselves drunk gratuitously with spirits -and mead. What was still worse, these carousing heroes, from fear of -being caught in the act, often took to flight, on hearing the slightest -noise, without waiting to put in the spigot, sprang out at the holes by -which they had come in, and let the liquor run as long as it might. In -this way sometimes whole casks of spirits and mead ran out. - -The barns had no proper locks, but were shut merely with wooden bolts. -Any one therefore, especially as the barns were at some distance from -the dwelling-house, could take from them at pleasure, and even carry off -whole waggonloads of grain. The sheepfold had, all over, holes, by which -wolves (the forest being quite near) were able to slink in, and worry -the sheep at their convenience. - -The cows came very often from the pasture with empty udders. According -to the superstition which prevailed there, it was said in such cases, -that the milk had been taken from them by witchcraft,--a misfortune, -against which it was supposed that nothing could be done. - -My grandmother, a good simple woman, when tired with her household -occupations, lay down often in her clothes to sleep by the stove, and -had all her pockets full of money, without knowing how much. Of this -the housemaid took advantage, and emptied the pockets of half their -contents. Nevertheless my grandmother seldom perceived the want, if only -the girl did not play too clumsy a trick. - -All these evils could easily have been avoided of course by repairing -the buildings, the windows, the window-shutters and locks, by proper -oversight of the manifold lucrative occupations connected with the farm, -as also by keeping an exact account of receipts and disbursements. But -this was never thought of. On the other hand, if my father, who was a -scholar, and educated partly in town, ordered for himself a rabbinical -suit, for which a finer stuff was required than that in common use, my -grandfather did not fail to give him a long and severe lecture on the -vanity of the world. "Our forefathers," he used to say, "knew nothing of -these new-fashioned costumes, and yet were devout people. You must have -a coat of striped woolen cloth,[10] you must have leather hose, with -buttons even, and everything on the same scale. You will bring me to -beggary at last; I shall be thrown into prison on your account. Ay me, -poor unfortunate man! What is to become of me?" - -My father then appealed to the rights and privileges of the profession -of a scholar, and showed moreover that, in a well-arranged system of -economy, it does not so much matter whether you live somewhat better or -worse, and that even my grandfather's misfortunes arose, not from -extravagant consumption in housekeeping, but rather from the fact that -he allowed himself by his remissness to be plundered by others. All this -however was of no avail with my grandfather. He could not tolerate -innovations. Everything therefore had to be left as it was. - -My grandfather was held in the place of his abode to be a rich man, -which he could really have been if he had known how to make use of his -opportunities; and on this account he was envied and hated by all, even -by his own family, he was abandoned by his landlord, he was oppressed in -every possible way by the steward, and cheated and robbed by his own -domestics as well as by strangers. In short, he was _the poorest rich -man_ in the world. - -In addition to all this there were still greater misfortunes, which I -cannot here pass over wholly in silence. The pope, that is, the Russian -clergyman in this village, was a dull ignorant blockhead, who had -scarcely learned to read and write. He spent most of his time at the -inn, where he drank spirits with his boorish parishioners, and let his -liquor always be put down to his account, without ever a thought of -paying his score. My grandfather at last became tired of this, and made -up his mind to give him nothing more upon credit. The fellow naturally -took this very ill, and therefore resolved upon revenge. - -For this he found at length a means, at which indeed humanity shudders, -but of which the Catholic Christians in Poland were wont to make use -very often at that time. This was to charge my grandfather with the -murder of a Christian, and thus bring him to the gallows. This was done -in the following way: A beaver-trapper, who sojourned constantly in this -neighbourhood to catch beavers on the Niemen, was accustomed at times to -trade in these animals with my grandfather; and this had to be done -secretly, for the beaver is game preserved, and all that are taken must -be delivered at the manor. The trapper came once about midnight, knocked -and asked for my grandfather. He showed him a bag which was pretty heavy -to lift, and said to him with a mysterious air, "I have brought you a -good big fellow here." My grandfather was going to strike a light, to -examine the beaver, and come to terms about it with the peasant. He -however said, that this was unnecessary, that my grandfather might take -the beaver at any rate, and that they would be sure to agree about it -afterwards. My grandfather, who had no suspicion of evil, took the bag -just as it was, laid it aside, and betook himself again to rest. -Scarcely, however, had he fallen asleep again, when he was roused a -second time with a loud noise of knocking. - -It was the clergyman with some boors from the village, who immediately -began to make search all over in the house. They found the bag, and my -grandfather already trembled for the issue, because he believed nothing -else than that he had been betrayed at the manor on account of his -secret trade in beavers, and he could not deny the fact. But how great -was his horror, when the bag was opened, and, instead of a beaver, there -was found a corpse! - -My grandfather was bound with his hands behind his back, his feet were -put into stocks, he was thrown into a waggon, and brought to the town of -Mir, where he was given over to the criminal court. He was made fast in -chains, and put into a dark prison. - -At the trial my grandfather stood upon his innocence, related the events -exactly as they had happened, and, as was reasonable, demanded that the -beaver-trapper should be examined too. He, however, was nowhere to be -found, was already over the hills and far away. He was sought -everywhere. But the blood-thirsty judge of the criminal court, to whom -the time became tedious, ordered my grandfather three times in -succession to be brought to torture. He, however, continued steadfast in -his assertion. - -At last the hero of the beavers was found. He was examined; and as he -straightway denied the whole affair, he also was put to the test of -torture. Thereupon at once he blabbed the whole story. He declared that, -some time before, he had found this dead body in the water, and was -going to bring it to the parsonage for burial. The parson however had -said to him, "There is plenty of time for the burial. You know that the -Jews are a hardened race, and are therefore damned to all eternity. They -crucified our Lord Jesus Christ, and even yet they seek Christian blood, -if only they can get hold of it for their passover, which is instituted -as a sign of their triumph. They use it for their passover-cake. You -will therefore do a meritorious work, if you can smuggle this dead body -into the house of the damned Jew of a farmer. You must of course clear -out, but your trade you can drive anywhere." - -On this confession the fellow was whipped out of the place, and my -grandfather set free; but the pope remained pope. - -For an everlasting memorial of this deliverance of my grandfather from -death, my father composed in Hebrew a sort of epopee, in which the whole -event was narrated, and the goodness of God was sung. It was also made a -law, that the day of his deliverance should be celebrated in the family -every year, when this poem should be recited in the same way as the Book -of Esther at the festival of Haman.[11] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -First Reminiscences of Youth. - - -In this manner my grandfather lived for many years in the place where -his forefathers had dwelt; his farm had become, as it were, a property -of the family. By the Jewish ceremonial law the _Chazakah_, that is, the -right of property in an estate, is acquired by three years' possession; -and the right is respected even by Christians in this neighbourhood. In -virtue of this law no other Jew could try to get possession of the farm -by a _Hosaphah_, that is, an offer of higher rent, if he would not bring -down upon himself the Jewish excommunication. Although the possession of -the farm was accompanied with many hardships and even oppressions, yet -it was from another point of view very lucrative. My grandfather could -not only live as a well-to-do man, but also provide richly for his -children. - -His three daughters were well dowered, and married to excellent men. His -two sons, my uncle Moses and my father Joshua, were married likewise; -and when he became old, and enfeebled by the hardships to which he had -been exposed, he gave over the management of the house to his two sons -in common. These were of different temperaments and inclinations, my -uncle Moses being of strong bodily constitution, but inferior -intelligence, while my father was the opposite; and consequently they -could not work together well. My grandfather therefore gave over to my -uncle another village, and kept my father by himself, although from his -profession as a scholar my father was not particularly adapted for the -occupations of household-management. He merely kept accounts, made -contracts, conducted processes at law, and attended to other matters of -the same sort. My mother, on the other hand, was a very lively woman, -well disposed to all sorts of occupations. She was small of stature, and -at that time still very young. - -An anecdote I cannot avoid touching on here, because it is the earliest -reminiscence from the years of my youth. I was about three years old at -the time. The merchants, who put up constantly at the place, and -especially the _shaffers_, that is, the nobles who undertook the -navigation, the purchase and delivery of goods, for the higher nobility, -were extremely fond of me on account of my liveliness, and made all -sorts of fun with me. These merry gentlemen gave my mother, on account -of her small stature and liveliness, the nickname of _Kuza_, that is, a -young filly.[12] As I heard them often call her by this name, and knew -nothing of its meaning, I also called her _Mama Kuza_. My mother rebuked -me for this, and said, "God punishes any one who calls his mother _Mama -Kuza_." One of these _Shaffers_, Herr Piliezki, used every day to take -tea in our house, and enticed me to his side by giving me at times a bit -of sugar. One morning while he was drinking his tea, when I had placed -myself in the usual position for receiving the sugar, he said he would -give it to me only on condition that I should say _Mama Kuza_. Now as my -mother was present, I refused to do it. He made a sign therefore to my -mother to go into an adjoining room. As soon as she had shut the door, I -went to him and whispered into his ear, _Mama Kuza_. He insisted however -that I should say it out loud, and promised to give me a piece of sugar -for each time that it was spoken. Accordingly I said, "Herr Piliezki -wants me to say _Mama Kuza_; but I will not say _Mama Kuza_, because God -punishes any one who says _Mama Kuza_." Thereupon I got my three pieces -of sugar. - -My father introduced into the house a more refined mode of life, -especially as he traded with Königsberg in Prussia, where he procured -all sorts of pretty and useful articles. He provided himself with tin -and brass utensils; we began to have better meals, to wear finer -clothes, than before; I was even clad in damask. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -Private Education and Independent Study. - - -In my sixth year my father began to read the Bible with me. "In the -beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Here I interrupted my -father, and asked, "But, papa, who created God?" - -"God was not created by any one," replied my father; "He existed from -all eternity." - -"Did he exist ten years ago?" I asked again. - -"O yes," my father said, "He existed even a hundred years ago." - -"Then perhaps," I continued, "God is already a thousand years old?" - -"Silence! God was eternal." - -"But," I insisted, "He must surely have been born at some time." - -"You little fool," said my father, "No! He was for ever and ever and -ever." - -With this answer I was not indeed satisfied; but I thought "Surely papa -must know better than I, and with that I must therefore be content." - -This mode of representation is very natural in early youth, when the -understanding is still undeveloped, while the imagination is in full -bloom. The understanding seeks merely to grasp, the imagination to grasp -all round.[13] That is to say, the understanding seeks to make the -origin of an object conceivable, without considering, whether the -object, whose origin is known, can also be actually represented by us or -not. The imagination, on the other hand, seeks to gather into a complete -image something, the origin of which is to us unknown. Thus, for -example, an infinite series of numbers, which progresses according to a -definite law, is for the understanding an object, to which by this law -definite qualities are attached, and an object just as good as a finite -series, which progresses according to the same law. For the imagination, -on the other hand, the latter indeed is an object; but not the former, -because it cannot grasp the former as a completed whole. - -A long time afterwards, when I was staying in Breslau, this -consideration suggested to me a thought, which I expressed in an essay -that I laid before Professor Garve, and which, though at the time I knew -nothing of the Kantian philosophy, still constitutes its foundation. I -explained this somewhat in the following way:--The metaphysicians -necessarily fall into self-contradiction. According to the confession -of Leibnitz himself, who in this appeals to the experiment of Archimedes -with the lever, the Law of Sufficient Reason or Causality is a principle -of experience. Now, it is quite true that in experience everything is -found to have a cause; but for the very reason, that _every_ thing has a -cause, nothing can be met with in experience which is a _first_ cause, -that is, a cause which has no cause to itself. How then can the -metaphysicians infer from this law the existence of a first cause? - -Afterwards I found this objection more particularly developed in the -Kantian philosophy, where it is shown that the Category of Cause, or the -form of hypothetical judgments used in reference to the objects of -nature, by which their relation to one another is determined _a priori_, -can be applied only to objects of experience through an _a priori_ -schema. The first cause, which implies a complete infinite series of -causes, and therefore in fact a contradiction, since the infinite can -never be complete, is not an object of the understanding, but an idea of -reason, or, according to my theory, a fiction of the imagination, which, -not content with the mere knowledge of the law, seeks to gather the -multiplicity, which is subject to the law, into an image, though in -opposition to the law itself. - -On another occasion I read in the Bible the story of Jacob and Esau; and -in this connection my father quoted the passage from the Talmud, where -it is said, "Jacob and Esau divided between them all the blessings of -the world. Esau chose the blessings of this life, Jacob, on the -contrary, those of the future life; and since we are descended from -Jacob, we must give up all claim to temporal blessings." On this I said -with indignation, "Jacob should not have been a fool; he should rather -have chosen the blessings of this world." Unfortunately I got for -answer, "You ungodly rascal!" and a box on the ear. This did not of -course remove my doubt, but it brought me to silence at least. - -The Prince Radzivil, who was a great lover of the chase, came one day -with his whole court to hunt in the neighbourhood of our village. Among -the party was his daughter who afterwards married Prince Rawuzki. The -young princess, in order to enjoy rest at noon, betook herself with the -ladies of her court, the servants in waiting and the lackeys, to the -very room, where as a boy I was sitting behind the stove. I was struck -with astonishment at the magnificence and splendour of the court, gazed -with rapture at the beauty of the persons and at the dresses with their -trimmings of gold and silver lace; I could not satisfy my eyes with the -sight. My father came just as I was out of myself with joy, and had -broken into the words, "O how beautiful!" In order to calm me, and at -the same time to confirm me in the principles of our faith, he whispered -into my ear, "Little fool, in the other world the _duksel_ will kindle -the _pezsure_ for us," which means, In the future life the princess will -kindle the stove for us. No one can conceive the sort of feeling which -this statement produced in me. On the one hand, I believed my father, -and was very glad about this future happiness in store for us; but I -felt at the same time pity for the poor princess who was going to be -doomed to such a degrading service. On the other hand, I could not get -it into my head, that this beautiful rich princess in this splendid -dress should ever make a fire for a poor Jew. I was thrown into the -greatest perplexity on the subject, till some game drove these thoughts -out of my head. - -I had from childhood a great inclination and talent for drawing. True, I -had in my father's house never a chance of seeing a work of art, but I -found on the title-page of some Hebrew books woodcuts of foliage, birds -and so forth. I felt great pleasure in these woodcuts, and made an -effort to imitate them with a bit of chalk or charcoal. What however -strengthened this inclination in me still more was a Hebrew book of -fables, in which the personages who play their part in the fables--the -animals--were represented in such woodcuts. I copied all the figures -with the greatest exactness. My father admired indeed my skill in this, -but rebuked me at the same time in these words, "You want to become a -painter? You are to study the Talmud, and become a rabbi. He who -understands the Talmud, understands everything." - -This desire and faculty for painting went with me so far, that when my -father had settled in H----, where there was a manor-house with some -beautifully tapestried rooms, which were constantly unoccupied because -the landlord resided elsewhere, and very seldom visited the place, I -used to steal away from home whenever I could, to copy the figures on -the tapestries. I was found once in mid-winter half-frozen, standing -before the wall, holding the paper in one hand (for there was no -furniture in this apartment), and with the other hand copying the -figures off the wall. Yet I judge of myself at present, that, if I had -kept to it, I should have become a _great_, but not an _exact_, painter, -that is to say, I sketched with ease the main features of a picture, but -had not the patience to work it out in detail. - -My father had in his study a cupboard containing books. He had forbidden -me indeed to read any books but the Talmud. This, however, was of no -avail: as he was occupied the most of his time with household affairs, I -took advantage of the opportunity thus afforded. Under the impulse of -curiosity I made a raid upon the cupboard and glanced over all the -books. The result was, that, as I had already a fair knowledge of -Hebrew, I found more pleasure in some of these books than in the Talmud. -And this result was surely natural. Take the subjects of the Talmud, -which, with the exception of those relating to jurisprudence, are dry -and mostly unintelligible to a child--the laws of sacrifice, of -purification, of forbidden meats, of feasts, and so forth--in which the -oddest rabbinical conceits are elaborated through many volumes with the -finest dialectic, and the most absurd questions are discussed with the -highest efforts of intellectual power; for example, how many white hairs -may a red cow have, and yet remain a _red_ cow; what sorts of scabs -require this or that sort of purification; whether a louse or a flea may -be killed on the Sabbath,--the first being allowed, while the second is -a deadly sin;--whether the slaughter of an animal ought to be executed -at the neck or the tail; whether the highpriest put on his shirt or his -hose first; whether the _Jabam_, that is, the brother of a man who died -childless, being required by law to marry the widow, is relieved from -his obligation if he falls off a roof and sticks in the mire. _Ohe jam -satis est!_ Compare these glorious disputations, which are served up to -young people and forced on them even to disgust, with history, in which -natural events are related in an instructive and agreeable manner, with -a knowledge of the world's structure, by which the outlook into nature -is widened, and the vast whole is brought into a well-ordered system; -surely my preference will be justified. - -The most valuable books in the collection were four. There was a Hebrew -chronicle under the title of _Zemach David_,[14] written by a sensible -chief rabbi in Prague, named Rabbi David Gans. He was also the author -of the astronomical book spoken of in the sequel, and he had had the -honour of being acquainted with Tycho Brahe, and of making astronomical -observations with him in the Observatory at Copenhagen. There were -besides, a Josephus, which was evidently garbled, and a History of the -Persecutions of the Jews in Spain. But what attracted me most powerfully -was an astronomical work. In this work a new world was opened to me, and -I gave myself up to the study with the greatest diligence. Think of a -child about seven years of age, in my position, with an astronomical -work thrown in his way, and exciting his interest. I had never seen or -heard anything of the first elements of mathematics, and I had no one to -give me any direction in the study: for it is needless to say, that to -my father I dared not even let my curiosity in the matter be known, and, -apart from that, he was not in a position to give me any information on -the subject. How must the spirit of a child, thirsting for knowledge, -have been inflamed by such a discovery! This the result will show. - -As I was still a child, and the beds in my father's house were few, I -was allowed to sleep with my old grandmother, whose bed stood in the -above-mentioned study. As I was obliged during the day to occupy myself -solely with the study of the Talmud, and durst not take another book in -my hand, I devoted the evenings to my astronomical inquiries. -Accordingly after my grandmother had gone to bed, I put some fresh wood -on the fire, made for the cupboard, and took out my beloved astronomical -book. My grandmother indeed scolded me, because it was too cold for the -old lady to lie alone in bed; but I did not trouble myself about that, -and continued my study till the fire was burnt out. - -After I had carried this on for some evenings, I came to the description -of the celestial sphere and its imaginary circles, designed for the -explanation of astronomical phenomena. This was represented in the book -by a single figure, in connection with which the author gave the reader -the good advice, that, since the manifold circles could not be -represented in a plane figure except by straight lines, he should, for -the sake of rendering them more clearly intelligible, make for himself -either an ordinary globe or an armillary sphere. I therefore formed the -resolution to make such a sphere out of twisted rods; and after I had -finished this work, I was in a position to understand the whole book. -But as I had to take care lest my father should find out how I had been -occupied, I always hid my armillary sphere in a corner behind the -cupboard before I went to bed. - -My grandmother, who had on several occasions observed that I was wholly -absorbed in my reading, but now and then lifted my eyes to look at a -number of circles formed of twisted rods laid on one another, fell into -the greatest consternation over the matter; she believed nothing less -than that her grandson had lost his wits. She did not delay, therefore, -to tell my father, and point out to him the place where the magical -instrument was kept. He soon guessed what was the meaning of this. -Accordingly he took the sphere in his hand, and sent for me. When I -came, he asked me, "What sort of plaything is this?" - -"It is a _Kadur_,[15]" I replied. - -"What does it mean?" he asked. - -I then explained to him the use of all the circles for the purpose of -making the celestial phenomena intelligible. My father, who was a good -rabbi indeed, but had no special talent for science, could not -comprehend all that I endeavoured to make comprehensible. He was -especially puzzled, by the comparison of my armillary sphere with the -figure in the book, to understand how out of straight lines circles -should be evolved; but one thing he could see,--that I was sure of my -business. He therefore scolded me, it is true, because I had -transgressed his command to meddle with nothing beyond the Talmud; but -still he felt a secret pleasure, that his young son, without a guide or -previous training, had been able by himself to master an entire work of -science. And with this the affair came to an end. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -Jewish Schools--The Joy of being released from them causes a stiff foot. - - -My brother Joseph and I were sent to Mir to school. My brother, who was -about twelve years old, was put to board with a schoolmaster of some -repute at that time, by name Jossel. This man was the terror of all -young people, "the scourge of God;" he treated those in his charge with -unheard of cruelty, flogged them till the blood came, even for the -slightest offence, and not infrequently tore off their ears, or beat -their eyes out. When the parents of these unfortunates came to him, and -brought him to task, he struck them with stones or whatever else came to -hand, and drove them with his stick out of the house back to their own -dwellings, without any respect of persons. All under his discipline -became either blockheads or good scholars. I, who was then only seven -years old, was sent to another schoolmaster. - -An anecdote I must here relate, which shows on the one side great -brotherly love, and on the other may be viewed as expressing the -condition of a child's mind, that sways between the hope of lightening -an evil, and the fear of increasing it. One day as I came from school, -my eyes were all red with weeping, for which there was doubtless good -cause. My brother observed this, and asked the reason. At first I showed -some hesitation in answering; but at last I said, "I weep because we -dare not tell tales out of school." My brother understood me very well, -was extremely indignant at my teacher, and was going to read him a -lesson on the subject. I begged him however not to do it, because in all -probability the teacher would take his revenge on me for telling tales -out of school. - -I must now say something of the condition of the Jewish schools in -general. The school is commonly a small smoky hut, and the children are -scattered, some on benches, some on the bare earth. The master, in a -dirty blouse sitting on the table, holds between his knees a bowl, in -which he grinds tobacco into snuff with a huge pestle like the club of -Hercules, while at the same time he wields his authority. The ushers -give lessons, each in his own corner, and rule those under their charge -quite as despotically as the master himself. Of the breakfast, lunch, -and other food sent to the school for the children, these gentlemen keep -the largest share for themselves. Sometimes even the poor youngsters get -nothing at all; and yet they dare not make any complaint on the subject, -if they will not expose themselves to the vengeance of these tyrants. -Here the children are imprisoned from morning to night, and have not an -hour to themselves, except on Friday and a half-holiday at the Newmoon. - -As far as study is concerned, the reading of Hebrew at least is pretty -regularly learned. On the other hand, with the mastery of the Hebrew -language very seldom is any progress made. Grammar is not treated in the -school at all, but has to be learnt _ex usu_, by translation of the Holy -Scriptures, very much as the ordinary man learns imperfectly the grammar -of his mother-tongue by social intercourse. Moreover there is no -dictionary of the Hebrew language. The children therefore begin at once -with the explanation of the Bible. This is divided into as many sections -as there are weeks in the year, in order that the Books of Moses, which -are read in the synagogues every Saturday, may be read through in a -year. Accordingly every week some verses from the beginning of the -section proper to the week are explained in school, and that with every -possible grammatical blunder. Nor can it well be otherwise. For the -Hebrew must be explained by means of the mother-tongue. But the -mother-tongue of the Polish Jews is itself full of defects and -grammatical inaccuracies; and as a matter of course therefore also the -Hebrew language, which is learned by its means, must be of the same -stamp. The pupil thus acquires just as little knowledge of the language, -as of the contents, of the Bible. - -In addition to this the Talmudists have fastened all sorts of -extraordinary conceits on the Bible. The ignorant teacher believes with -confidence, that the Bible cannot in reality have any other meaning than -that which these expositions ascribe to it; and the pupil must follow -his teacher's faith, so that the right understanding of words -necessarily becomes lost. For example, in the first Book of Moses it is -said, "Jacob sent messengers to his brother Esau, etc." Now, the -Talmudists were pleased to give out, that these messengers were angels. -For though the word _Malachim_ in Hebrew denotes messenger as well as -angels, these marvel-mongers preferred the second signification, because -the first contains nothing marvellous. The pupil therefore holds the -belief firm and fast, that Malachim denotes nothing but angels; and the -natural meaning of messengers is for him wholly lost. A correct -knowledge of the Hebrew language and a sound exegesis can be attained -only gradually by independent study and by reading grammars and critical -commentaries on the Bible, like those of Rabbi David Kimchi[16] and Aben -Esra; but of these very few rabbis make use. - -As the children are doomed in the bloom of youth to such an infernal -school, it may be easily imagined with what joy and rapture they look -forward to their release. We, that is, my brother and I, were taken home -to the great feasts; and it was on a trip of this sort, that the -following incident happened, which in relation to me was very critical. -My mother came once before Whitsuntide to the town where we were at -school, in order to purchase sundry articles required for the house. She -then took us home with her. The release from school, and the sight of -the beauty of nature which at this season displays its best attire, -threw us into such ecstasy, that we fell upon all sorts of wanton -fancies. When we were not far from home, my brother sprang out of the -carriage, and ran forward on foot. I was going to imitate his daring -leap, but unfortunately had not sufficient strength. I fell down -therefore with violence on the carriage, so that my legs came between -the wheels, and one of these passed over my left leg, which was thereby -pitiably crushed. I was carried home half-dead. My foot became cramped, -and I was wholly unable to move it. - -A Jewish doctor was consulted, who had not indeed regularly studied and -graduated at a university, but had acquired his medical knowledge merely -by serving with a physician and reading some medical books in the -Polish language, who was nevertheless a very good practical physician, -and effected many successful cures. He said that at present he was -provided with no medicines,--the nearest apothecary's shop was about -twenty miles[17] distant,--and consequently he could prescribe nothing -in the ordinary method, but that meanwhile a simple domestic remedy -might be applied. The remedy was, to kill a dog and thrust into it the -cramped foot; this, repeated several times, was to give certain relief. -The prescription was followed with the desired result, so that after -some weeks I was able to use the foot again, and by degrees I completely -recovered. - -I think it would not be at all amiss, if medical men gave more attention -to such domestic remedies, which are used with good results in districts -where there are no regular physicians or apothecaries' shops; they might -even make special journeys with this end in view. I know many a case of -this sort, which can be in nowise explained away. This however in -passing. I return to my story. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -My Family is driven into Misery, and an old Servant loses by his great -Faithfulness a Christian Burial. - - -My father, who, as already mentioned, traded with Königsberg in Prussia, -had once shipped in a vessel of Prince Radzivil's some barrels of salt -and herrings which he had bought there. When he came home and was going -to fetch his goods, the agent, Schachna, absolutely refused to let him -take them. My father then showed the bill of lading, which he had got on -the shipment of the goods; but the agent tore it out of his hands, and -threw it into the fire. My father found himself therefore compelled to -carry on a long and costly suit, which he had to delay till the -following year, when he would again make a journey to Königsberg. Here -he obtained a certificate from the custom-house, showing that he had -shipped the said goods in a vessel of Prince Radzivil's under the -direction of Herr Schachna. On this certificate the agent was summoned -before the court, but found it convenient not to make an appearance; and -my father gained the suit in the first, second, and third instances. In -spite of this, however, as a consequence of the wretched administration -of justice in Poland at the time, my father had no power to execute -this decision, and therefore from this successful suit he did not even -recover the costs. - -To this was added the further result, that by this suit he made Herr -Schachna an enemy who persecuted him now in every possible way. This the -cunning scoundrel could accomplish very well, as by all sorts of -intrigues he had been appointed by Prince Radzivil steward of all his -estates situated in the district of Mir. He resolved therefore on my -father's ruin, and only waited for a convenient opportunity to carry out -his revenge. - -This he found soon; and indeed a Jew, who was named after his farm -Schwersen, and was known as the biggest scoundrel in the whole -neighbourhood, offered him a hand. This fellow was an ignoramus, did not -even understand the Jewish language, and made use therefore of Russian. -He occupied himself mainly in examining the farms in the neighbourhood, -and he knew how to get possession of the most lucrative among them by -offering a higher rent and bribing the steward. Without troubling -himself in the least about the laws of the _Chazakah_,[18] he drove the -old legal farmers from their possessions, and enriched himself by this -means. He thus lived in wealth and fortune, and in this state reached an -advanced age. - -The scoundrel had already for a long time had his eye on my -grandfather's farm, and waited merely for a favourable opportunity and a -plausible pretext to get possession of it himself. Unfortunately my -granduncle Jacob, who lived in another village belonging to my -grandfather's farm, had been obliged to become a debtor of the scoundrel -to the amount of about fifty rix-dollars. As he could not clear off the -debt at the time when it was due, his creditor came with some servants -of the manor, and threatened to seize the cauldron, in which my -granduncle's whole wealth consisted. In consternation he loaded a waggon -secretly with the cauldron, drove with all haste to my grandfather's, -and, without letting any of us know, hid it in the adjoining marsh -behind the house. His creditor, however, who followed on his heels, came -to my grandfather's, and made search all over, but could find the -cauldron nowhere. Irritated at this unsuccessful stroke, and breathing -vengeance against my grandfather who, he believed, had prevented his -success, he rode to the town, carried to the steward an imposing -present, and offered for my grandfather's farm double the rent, besides -an annual voluntary present to the steward. - -This gentleman, joyous over such an offer, and mindful of the disgrace -which my father, a Jew, had brought upon him, a Polish noble, by the -above-mentioned suit, made on the spot a contract with the scoundrel, by -which he not only gave over to him this farm with all the rights -pertaining to it even before the end of my grandfather's lease, but -also robbed my grandfather of all he had,--his barns full of grain, his -cattle, etc.,--and shared the plunder with the new farmer. - -My grandfather was therefore obliged with his whole family to quit his -dwelling-place in mid-winter, and, without knowing where he should -settle again, to wander about from place to place. Our departure from -this place was very affecting. The whole neighbourhood lamented our -fate. An old and faithful servant of eighty years, named Gabriel, who -had carried in his arms even my grandfather as a child, insisted on -going with us. Representations were made to him on the severity of the -season, our unfortunate situation, and the uncertainty in which we -ourselves were placed as to our future destiny. But it was of no avail. -He placed himself on the road before the gate, by which our waggons had -to pass, and lamented so long that we were obliged to take him up. He -did not however travel with us long: his advanced age, his grief over -our misery, and the severe season gave him soon the finishing stroke. He -died when we had gone scarcely two or three miles; and as no Catholic or -Russian community would allow him burial in their churchyard--he was a -Prussian and a Lutheran--he was buried at our expense in the open -field. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -New Abode, new Misery--The Talmudist. - - -We wandered about therefore in the country, like the Israelites in the -wilderness of Arabia, without knowing where or when we should find a -place of rest. At last we came to a village which belonged to two -landlords. The one part was already leased; but the landlord of the -other could not lease his, because he had still to build a house. Weary -of wandering in winter-time with a whole family, my grandfather resolved -to take a lease of this house, which was still to be built, along with -its appurtenances, and meanwhile, till the house was ready, to make -shift as well as he could. Accordingly we were obliged to take up our -quarters in a barn. The other farmer did all in his power to prevent our -settlement in the place; but it was of no avail. The building was -finished, we took possession, and began to keep house. - -Unfortunately however everything went backward here; nothing would -succeed. An addition came to our misfortunes in my mother's illness. -Being of a very lively temperament and disposed to a life of activity, -she found here the weariness of having nothing to do. This, with her -anxiety about the means of subsistence, threw her into a state of -melancholy, which developed at last into insanity. In this condition she -remained for some months. Everything was tried for her benefit, but -without success. At last my father hit upon the idea of taking her to a -celebrated doctor at Novogrod, who made a specialty of curing mental -disorders. - -The method of cure employed by this specialist is unknown to me, because -I was at the time too young to wish or be able to institute inquiries on -the subject; but so much I can declare with certainty, that in the case -of my mother, as well as most of his patients afflicted with the same -malady, the treatment was followed with success. My mother returned home -fresh and healthy, and from that time she never had an attack of the -same sort. - -Immediately after this I was sent to school at Iwenez, about fifteen -miles from our abode, and here I began to study the Talmud. The study of -the Talmud is the chief object of a learned education among our people. -Riches, bodily advantages, and talents of every kind have indeed in -their eyes a certain worth, and are esteemed in proportion; but nothing -stands among them above the dignity of a good Talmudist. He has the -first claim upon all offices and positions of honour in the community. -If he enters an assembly,--he may be of any age or rank,--every one -rises before him most respectfully, and the most honourable place is -assigned to him. He is director of the conscience, lawgiver and judge -of the common man. He, who does not meet such a scholar with sufficient -respect, is, according to the judgment of the Talmudists, damned to all -eternity. The common man dare not enter upon the most trivial -undertaking, if, in the judgment of the scholar, it is not according to -law. Religious usages, allowed and forbidden meats, marriage and divorce -are determined not only by the rabbinical laws which have already -accumulated to an enormous mass, but also by special rabbinical -judgments which profess to deduce all special cases from the general -laws. A wealthy merchant, farmer or professional man, who has a -daughter, does everything in his power to get a good Talmudist for his -son-in-law. As far as other matters are concerned, the scholar may be as -deformed, diseased, and ignorant as possible, he will still have the -advantage over others. The future father-in-law of such a phoenix is -obliged, at the betrothal, to pay to the parents of the youth a sum -fixed by previous agreement; and besides the dowry for his daughter, he -is further obliged to provide her and her husband with food, clothing, -and lodging, for six or eight years after their marriage, during which -time the interest on the dowry is paid, so that the learned son-in-law -may continue his studies at his father-in-law's expense. After this -period he receives the dowry in hand, and then he is either promoted to -some learned office, or he spends his whole life in learned leisure. In -either case the wife undertakes the management of the household and the -conduct of business; and she is content if only in return for all her -toils she becomes in some measure a partaker of her husband's fame and -future blessedness. - -The study of the Talmud is carried on just as irregularly as that of the -Bible. The language of the Talmud is composed of various Oriental -languages and dialects; there is even many a word in it from Greek and -Latin. There is no dictionary, in which you can turn up the expressions -and phrases met with in the Talmud; and, what is still worse, as the -Talmud is not pointed, you cannot even tell how such words, that are not -pure Hebrew, are to be read. The language of the Talmud, therefore, like -that of the Bible, is learned only through frequent translation; and -this constitutes the _first_ stage in the study of the Talmud. - -When the pupil has been directed for some time in translation by the -teacher, he goes on to the independent reading or explanation of the -Talmud. The teacher gives him a limited portion of the Talmud, -containing within itself a connected argument, as a task in exposition, -which he must perform within a fixed time. The particular expressions -and forms of speech occurring in the passage must either be known by the -pupil from his former lessons, or the teacher, who here takes the place -of a dictionary, explains them to him. But the tenor and the entire -connection of the prescribed passage the pupil is required to bring out -himself; and this constitutes the second stage in the study of the -Talmud. - -Two commentaries, which are commonly printed along with the text, serve -as the chief guides at this point. The author of the one is Rabbi -Solomon Isaac,[19] a man gifted with grammatical and critical knowledge -of language, with extensive and thorough Talmudic insight, and with an -uncommon precision of style. The other is known by the title of -_Tosaphoth (Additions)_, and is the work of several rabbis. Its origin -is very remarkable. A number of the most famous rabbis agreed to study -the Talmud in company. For this purpose each selected a separate -portion, which he studied by himself till he believed that he had fully -comprehended it, and retained it in memory. Afterwards all the rabbis -met, and began to study the Talmud in company according to the order of -its parts. As soon as the first part had been read out, thoroughly -explained, and settled according to the Talmudic Logic, one of the -rabbis produced, from the part of the Talmud with which he was most -familiar, anything that appeared to contradict this passage. Another -then adduced, from the part which he had made thoroughly his own, a -passage which was able to remove this contradiction by means of some -distinction or some qualification unexpressed in the preceding passage. -Sometimes the removal of such a contradiction occasioned another, which -a third rabbi disclosed, and a fourth laboured to remove, till the first -passage was explained harmoniously by all, and made perfectly clear. It -may easily be imagined, what a high degree of subtlety is required to -reduce the Talmud to first principles, from which correct inferences may -be drawn after an uniform method; for the Talmud is a voluminous and -heterogeneous work, in which even the same subject often turns up in -different passages, where it is explained in different ways. - -Besides these two there are several other commentaries which treat the -subject further, and even make corrections on the two just mentioned. -Indeed, every rabbi, if he possesses sufficient acuteness, is to be -viewed as a living commentary on the Talmud. But the highest effort of -the mind is required to prepare a selection from the Talmud or a code of -the laws deducible from it. This implies not only acuteness, but also a -mind in the highest degree systematic. Herein our Maimonides undoubtedly -deserves the first rank, as may be seen from his code, _Jad Hachazekah_. - -The _final_ stage in the study of the Talmud is that of disputation. It -consists in eternally disputing about the book, without end or aim. -Subtlety, loquacity, and impertinence here carry the day. This sort of -study was formerly very common in the Jewish high schools;[20] but in -our times along with the schools it has also fallen into decay. It is a -kind of Talmudic scepticism, and utterly incompatible with any -systematic study directed to some end. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -Joy endureth but a little while. - - -After this digression on the study of the Talmud I return to my story. -As already mentioned, I was sent to school at Iwenez. My father gave me -a letter to the chief rabbi of this place, who was a relation of ours, -requesting him to give me in charge to an able teacher, and to give some -attention to the progress of my studies. He gave me however in charge to -a common schoolmaster, and told me I was to visit him every Sabbath in -order that he might examine me himself. This injunction I punctually -followed; but the arrangement did not continue long; for at one of these -examinations I began to dispute about my lessons and suggest -difficulties, when, without replying to them, the chief rabbi asked me -if I had stated these difficulties to my teacher also. - -"Of course," I replied. - -"And what did he say?" asked the chief rabbi. - -"Nothing to the point," I replied, "except that he enjoined silence on -me, and said, 'A youngster must not be too inquisitive; he must see to -it merely that he understands his lesson, but must not overwhelm his -teacher with questions.'" - -"Ah!" said the chief rabbi, "your teacher is altogether too easy, we -must make a change. I will give you instruction myself. I will do it -merely out of friendship, and I hope that your father will have as -little to say against it as your former teacher. The fee which your -father pays for your education, will be given to your teacher without -deduction." - -In this way I got the chief rabbi for a teacher. He struck out a way of -his own with me. No weekly lessons repeated till they are impressed on -the memory, no tasks which the pupil is obliged to perform for himself, -and in which the course of his thoughts is very often arrested for the -sake of a single word or a figure of speech, which has little to do with -the main subject. His method distinguished itself from all this. He made -me explain something from the Talmud _ex tempore_ in his presence, -conversed with me on the subject, explained to me so much as was -necessary to set my own mind in activity, and by means of questions and -answers turned my attention away from all side-issues to the main -subject, so that in a short time I passed through all the three -above-mentioned stages in the study of the Talmud. - -My father, to whom the chief rabbi gave an account of his plan with me -and of my progress, went beside himself with joy. He returned his -warmest thanks to this excellent man for putting himself to so much -trouble with me out of mere friendship, and that notwithstanding his -delicate state of health, for he was consumptive. But this joy did not -last long; before a half year was ended, the chief rabbi had to betake -himself to his fathers, and I was left like a sheep without a shepherd. - -This was announced to my father, who came and fetched me home. Not, -however, to H----, from which I had been sent to school, but to Mohilna, -about six miles from H----, whither my father had meanwhile removed. -This new change of abode had taken place in the following way. - -Mohilna is a small hamlet in the territory of Prince Radzivil four miles -from Nesvij, his residence. The situation of this place is excellent. -Having the river Niemen on one side, and on the other a large quantity -of the best timber for ships, it is adapted equally for trade and for -shipbuilding. Moreover the district in itself possesses great fertility -and amenity. These facts could not escape the attention of the Prince. -The farmer or _arendant_ of the place, whose family for some generations -had been in possession of this lucrative farm, and had become rich by -means of the shipbuilding trade, and the numerous fine products of the -district, took all possible pains to prevent these great advantages from -being observed, in order that he might be able to enjoy them alone -without being disturbed. But it happened once that the prince was -travelling through the place, and was so taken with its beauty, that he -resolved to make a town of it. He sketched a plan for this, and made an -announcement that the place was to be a _Slabode_; that is, every one -was to be at liberty to settle in the place, and drive any kind of -trade, and was even to be free from all taxes for the first six years. -For a long time, however, this plan was never carried out, owing to all -sorts of intrigues on the part of the arendant, who went so far as even -to bribe the advisers of the prince to turn his attention away from the -subject. - -My father, who saw clearly that the miserable farm of H---- could not -support him and his family, and had been obliged to remain there -hitherto only from want of a better abode, rejoiced very much at the -announcement, because he hoped that Mohilna would offer him a place of -refuge, especially as the arendant was a brother-in-law of my uncle. In -this connection he made a journey to the place with my grandfather, had -a conversation with the arendant, and opened to him his proposal to -settle in Mohilna with his consent. The arendant, who had feared that, -on the announcement of the prince's wish, people would stream in from -all sides, and press him out of his possession, was delighted that at -least the first who settled there was not a stranger, but related to his -family by marriage. He therefore not only gave his consent to the -proposal, but even promised my father all possible assistance. -Accordingly my father removed with his whole family to Mohilna, and had -a small house built for himself there; but till it was ready, the family -were obliged once more to take up their quarters in a barn. - -The arendant, by whom at first we were received in a friendly manner, -had unfortunately meanwhile changed his mind, and found that his fear of -being pressed out of his possession by strangers was wholly without -ground, inasmuch as already a considerable time had passed since the -announcement of the prince's wish, and yet nobody had presented himself -besides my father. The prince, as a Polish chief and _Voivode_ in -Lithuania, was constantly burdened too much with State affairs in -Warsaw, to be able to think on the carrying out of his plan himself; and -his subordinates could be induced by bribes to frustrate the whole plan. -These considerations showed the arendant that the new-comer could not -only be spared, but was even a burden, inasmuch as he had now to share -with another what he had before held in possession alone. He sought -therefore to restrict my father, and to disturb him in his settlement, -as much as possible. With this view he built for himself a splendid -house, and succeeded in obtaining a command from the prince, in -accordance with which none of the newcomers should enjoy the rights of a -burgher till he had built a similar house. My father saw himself -therefore compelled to waste his little fortune, which was indispensably -required for the new arrangements, wholly and solely on this useless -building. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -The Pupil knows more than the Teacher--A theft _à la Rousseau_, which is -discovered--"The ungodly provideth, and the righteous putteth it on." - - -My father's condition had thus externally an improved appearance, but so -much the more doubtful did it appear internally on that account. My -mother, notwithstanding her unwearied activity, was able to make only a -very sorry provision for the family. Accordingly my father was obliged -to seek, in addition to his other duties, a position as teacher, in -which he carried on my education; and I must confess that in this -connection I gave him, on the one hand, much joy, but, on the other -hand, not a little vexation. I was then indeed only about nine years -old; still, I could not only understand the Talmud and its commentaries -correctly, but I even took delight in disputing about it, and in this I -felt a childish pleasure in triumphing over my honest father, whom I -thereby threw into no small perplexity. - -The arendant and my father lived together like neighbours; that is, they -envied and hated each other. The former looked on my father as a -vagrant, who had forced himself upon him, and disturbed him in his -undivided possession of the advantages of the place. My father took the -arendant for a wealthy blockhead, who, against the consent which he had -granted, which my father might have dispensed with altogether and had -sought merely from the love of peace, endeavoured in every way to -restrict him and to narrow his rights, notwithstanding the fact that he -received actual advantages from his settlement. For from this time -Mohilna had acquired a sort of independence, by means of which the -arendant was spared many expenses and depreciations. There was also a -small synagogue erected, and my father took the position of chief rabbi, -preacher, and director of the conscience, as he was the only scholar in -the place. He lost, indeed, no opportunity of representing all this to -the arendant, and making complaints of his conduct; but unfortunately -this was of little use. - -I must take this opportunity of mentioning the only theft which I ever -perpetrated in my life. I often went to the house of the arendant, and -played with his children. Once, when I entered a room and found no one -there, it being summer and the people of the house all busy out of -doors, I spied in an open closet a neat little medicine-box which -appeared to me uncommonly charming. When I opened it, I found, to my -very great sorrow, some money in it; for it belonged to one of the -children of the house. I could not resist the desire to carry off the -little box; but to take the money seemed to me in the highest degree -shameful. But when I considered that the theft would be all the more -easily discovered if I put the money out, full of fear and shame I took -the box as it was and thrust it in my pocket. I went home with it, and -buried it very carefully. The night following I could not sleep, and was -disquieted in conscience, especially on account of the money. I -resolved, therefore, to take it back; but in regard to the little box, I -could not conquer myself: it was a work of art, the like of which I had -never seen before. The next day I emptied the box of its contents, slunk -with them into the room already mentioned, and waited for an opportunity -when nobody was there. I was already engaged in smuggling the money into -the closet; but I had so little skill in doing this without noise and -with the necessary despatch, that I was caught in the act, and forced to -a confession of the whole theft. I was obliged to dig up again the -valuable work of art,--it must have cost about a quarter of a -groschen,--to return it to its owner, little Moses, and to hear myself -called _thief_ by the children of the house. - -Another incident, which happened to me and had a comical issue, was the -following. The Russians had been quartered for some time in Mohilna, and -as they obtained new mountings, they were allowed to sell the old. My -eldest brother Joseph and my cousin Beer applied to Russian -acquaintances of theirs, and received in a present some brass buttons, -which, being considered a fine decoration, they got sewed on to their -hose instead of the wooden buttons they had before. I also was -delighted with the decoration; but as I had not the skill to furnish -myself by my own diligence, I was compelled to make use of force. I -applied, therefore, to my father, and demanded that Joseph and Beer -should be required to share their buttons with me. My father, who, -indeed, was extremely fair, but still was fond of me above everything, -said that the buttons were, of course, the rightful property of their -owners, but that, as these had more than they required for their own -wants, it was but fair that they should give me some of those that they -did not require. To my commendation and their confusion he added the -passage of the Bible, "The ungodly provideth, and the righteous putteth -it on."[21] This decision had to be carried out in spite of the protest -of Joseph and Beer; and I had the pleasure of also shining in brass -buttons on my hose. - -Joseph and Beer however could not get over their loss. They complained -loudly of the impious wrong which had been done to them. My father, who -wished to get rid of the affair, told them therefore, that, as the -buttons had been already sewed on to Solomon's hose, they must not use -force, but that, if they could get them back again by stratagem, they -were at liberty to do so. Both were pleased with this decision. They -came to me, looked at my buttons, and both at once exclaimed in -astonishment, "Oh! what is that we see? Buttons sewed on to cloth hose -with linen instead of hemp thread! They must be taken off at once." -While they were speaking, they took off all the buttons, and went off -with joy over their successful stratagem. I ran after them, and demanded -that they should sew the buttons on again; but they laughed me to scorn. -My father said to me smiling at this, "Since you are so credulous, and -allow yourself to be deceived, I cannot help you any longer; I hope you -will be wiser in the future." With this the affair came to an end. I was -obliged to content myself with wooden buttons, and to have often -repeated to my mortification by Joseph and Beer, the biblical passage, -which my father had used to my advantage, "The ungodly provideth, and -the righteous putteth it on." - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals--The Song of Solomon may be used -in Matchmaking--A new _Modus Lucrand_i--Smallpox. - - -In my youth I was very lively, and had in my nature a good deal that was -agreeable. In my passions I was violent and impatient. Till about my -eleventh year, as I had the benefit of a very strict education, and was -kept from all intercourse with women, I never traced any special -inclination towards the fair sex. But an incident produced in me a great -change in this respect. - -A poor, but very pretty, girl about my own age was taken into our house -as a servant. She charmed me uncommonly. Desires began to stir in me, -which till this time I had never known. But in accordance with the -strict rabbinical morals, I was obliged to keep on my guard against -looking on the girl with attentive gaze, and still more against speaking -with her, so that I was able only now and then to throw at her a stolen -glance. - -It happened once however that the women of the house were going to -bathe, which by the usage of the country they are accustomed to do two -or three times a week. By chance my instinct drove me without -reflection towards the place where they bathed; and there I suddenly -perceived this beautiful girl, as she stepped out of the steam-bath and -plunged into the river flowing by. At this sight I fell into a sort of -rapture. After my feelings had calmed down again, being mindful of the -strict Talmudic laws, I wished to flee. But I could not; I remained -standing, as if rooted in the spot. As I dreaded however lest I might be -surprised here, I was obliged to return with a heavy heart. From that -time I became restless, was sometimes beside myself; and this state -continued till my marriage. - -Our neighbour, the arendant, had two sons and three daughters. The -eldest daughter, Deborah, was already married. The second, Pessel, was -about my age; the peasantry of the place professed to find even a -certain resemblance in our features, and therefore, in accordance with -all the laws of probability, conjectured that there would be a match -between us. We formed also a mutual affection. But by ill luck the -youngest daughter, Rachel, had to fall into a cellar and dislocated one -of her legs. She herself, indeed, completely recovered, but the leg -remained somewhat crooked. The arendant then started a hunt after me; he -was absolutely determined to have me for a son-in-law. My father was -quite agreeable, but he wished to have for his daughter-in-law the -straight-legged Pessel rather than Rachel of the crooked leg. The -arendant however declared that this was impracticable, inasmuch as he -had fixed on a rich husband for the elder, while the youngest was -destined for me; and as my father was unable to give me anything, he was -willing to provide for her richly out of his own fortune. Besides a -considerable sum which he agreed to give as a portion, he was willing in -addition to make me a joint-heir of his fortune, and to provide me with -all necessaries the whole of my life. Moreover he promised to pay my -father a fixed sum immediately after the betrothal, and not only to -leave him undisturbed in his rights, but also to try and promote his -domestic happiness in every possible way. The feuds between the two -families were to cease from this time, and a league of friendship was to -unite them for the future into one family. - -Had my father lent an ear to these representations, he would without -doubt have established the fortune of his house, and I should have lived -with a spouse, who, it is true, had a crooked leg, but (as I found out -some time afterwards when I was tutor in her family) was in other -respects an amiable woman. I should thus have been freed from all cares -in the midst of good fortune, and I should have been able to apply -myself without hindrance to my studies. But unhappily my father rejected -this proposal with scorn. He was absolutely determined to have Pessel -for his daughter-in-law; and since this, as already mentioned, was -impracticable, the feuds between the two families broke out afresh. But -as the arendant was rich, and my father was a poor man, the latter was -necessarily always the loser. - -Some time afterwards another matrimonial proposal for me turned up. Mr. -L---- of Schmilowitz, a learned and at the same time a rich man, who had -an only daughter, was so enchanted with my fame, that he chose me for -his son-in-law without having seen me before. He began by entering into -correspondence with my father on the subject, and left it to him to -prescribe the conditions of the union. My father answered his letter in -lofty style, made up of Biblical verses and passages from the Talmud, in -which he expressed the conditions briefly by means of the following -verses from the Canticles, "The thousand gulden are for thee, O Solomon, -and the two hundred for those who keep his fruits."[22] Consent was -given to everything. - -My father accordingly made a journey to Schmilowitz, saw his future -daughter-in-law, and had the marriage-contract drawn in accordance with -the terms agreed upon. Two hundred gulden were paid to him on the spot. -With this, however, he was not content, but insisted that in his letter -he had been obliged to limit himself to two hundred gulden merely for -the sake of the beautiful verse which he did not wish to spoil; but he -would not enter into the transaction at all unless he received for -himself twice two hundred gulden (fifty thalers in Polish money). They -had therefore to pay him two hundred gulden more, and to hand over to -him the so-called little presents for me, namely, a cap of black velvet -trimmed with gold lace, a Bible bound in green velvet with silver -clasps, etc. With these things he came home full of joy, gave me the -presents, and told me that I was to prepare myself for a disputation to -be held on my marriage day, which would be in two months' time. - -Already my mother had begun to bake the cakes she was expected to take -with her to the wedding, and to prepare all sorts of preserves; I began -also to think about the disputation I was to hold, when suddenly the -mournful news arrived that my bride had died of smallpox. My father -could easily reconcile himself to this loss, because he thought to -himself that he had made fifty thalers by his son in an honourable way, -and that now he could get fifty thalers for him again. I also, who had -never seen my bride, could not particularly mourn her loss; I thought to -myself, "The cap and the silver-clasped Bible are already mine, and a -bride will also not be awanting long, while my disputation can serve me -again." My mother alone was inconsolable about this loss. Cakes and -preserves are of a perishable nature and will not keep long. The labour -which my mother had expended was therefore rendered fruitless by this -fatal accident; and to this must be added, that she could find no place -to keep the delicious cakes from my secret attacks. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -I become an object of contention, get two wives at once, and am -kidnapped at last. - - -Meanwhile the domestic circumstances of my father became every day -worse. He saw himself, therefore, compelled to make a journey to the -town of Nesvij, and apply for a position as teacher there, whither I -also had to follow him. Here he opened under favourable conditions a -school of his own, in which he could employ me as assistant. - -A widow, celebrated for her superior talents, as well as for her -Xanthippe-like character, kept a public-house at the extremity of one of -the suburbs. She had a daughter who yielded to her in none of the -above-mentioned qualities, and who was indispensable to her in the -management of the house. Madam Rissia, (this was the widow's name), -excited by my constantly increasing reputation, fixed on me as a husband -for her daughter Sarah. Her family represented to her the impossibility -of carrying out this plan; first, my father's pride, and the demands -which he would therefore make, and which she could never satisfy; then -my fame, which had already excited the attention of the most prominent -and wealthy people of the town; and finally, the moderate character of -her own fortune, which was far from sufficient to carry out such a -proposal. All these representations, however, were of no avail with her. -She had once for all taken it into her head, to have me for a -son-in-law, let it cost her what it might; and she thought, the devil -would needs be in it, if she could not get the young man. - -She sent a proposal to my father, let him have no rest the whole time he -was in the town, discussed the matter with him herself on various -occasions, and promised to satisfy all his demands. My father, however, -sought to gain time for deliberation, and to put off the question for a -while. But the time came when we were to return home. My father went -with me to the widow's house, which was the last on our road, in order -to wait for a conveyance which started from that place. Madam Rissia -made use of the opportunity, began to caress me, introduced my bride, -and asked me how I was pleased with her. At last she pressed for a -decisive answer from my father. He was still always holding back, -however, and sought in every possible way to represent the difficulties -connected with the subject. - -While they were thus treating with one another, suddenly there burst -into the room the chief rabbi, the preacher, and the elders of the -place, with many of the most respectable people. This sudden appearance -was brought about without any magic in the following way. These -gentlemen had been invited to a circumcision at the house of a prominent -man in this very suburb. Madam Rissia, who knew this very well, sent her -son at once to the house with an invitation to the whole company to -come, immediately after rising from table, to a betrothal at her house. -They came therefore half intoxicated; and as they believed nothing else -than that all the preliminaries of the marriage-contract had been -settled, and that nothing was awanting but to write out and subscribe -the contract, they sat down to table, set my father in the midst, and -the chief rabbi began to dictate the contract to the scribe of the -community. - -My father assured them that on the main point nothing had yet been -decided, and that still less had the preliminary articles been settled. -The chief rabbi fell into a passion at this, for he supposed that it was -only a quibble, and that his sacred person and the whole honourable -company were being made sport of. He turned therefore to the company, -and said with a haughty air, "Who is this Rabbi Joshua, who makes -himself of so much consequence?" My father replied, "The Rabbi is here -superfluous. I am, 'tis true, a common man; but I believe, no man can -dispute my right to care for the welfare of my son, and to place his -future happiness on a firm footing." - -The chief rabbi was greatly offended with the ambiguity of the -expression, "The Rabbi is here superfluous." He saw clearly that he had -no right to lay down laws to my father in the matter, and that it was a -piece of rashness on the part of Madam Rissia to invite a company to a -betrothal before the parties were agreed on the preliminary articles. He -began therefore to strike a lower tone. He represented to my father the -advantages of this match, the high ancestry of the bride, (her -grandfather, father, and uncle, having been learned men, and chief -rabbis), her personal attractions, and the willingness and ability of -Madam Rissia to satisfy all his demands. - -My father, who in fact had nothing to say against all this, was -compelled to yield. The marriage-contract was made out, and in it Madam -Rissia made over to her daughter her public-house with all its -belongings as a bridal portion, and came under an obligation also to -board and clothe the newly-married couple for six years. Besides I -received as a present the entire work of the Talmud with its -appurtenances, together worth two or three hundred thalers,[23] and a -number of other gifts. My father came under no obligation at all, and in -addition received fifty thalers in cash. Very wisely he had refused to -accept a bill for this sum; it had to be paid to him before the -betrothal. - -After all this had been arranged, there was a capital entertainment, and -the brandy bottle was vigorously plied. The very next day my father and -I went home. My mother-in-law promised to send after us as soon as -possible the so-called little presents and the articles of clothing for -me, which in the hurry she had not been able to get ready. Many weeks -however passed without our hearing or seeing anything of these. My -father was perplexed about this; and as the character of my -mother-in-law had long been suspicious to him, he could think nothing -else than that this intriguing woman was seeking some subterfuge to -escape from her burdensome contract. He resolved therefore to repay like -with like. - -The following circumstance strengthened him in this resolve. A rich -arendant, who used to bring spirits to Nesvij for sale, and to lodge in -our house on his journey through Mohilna, likewise cast his eye upon me. -He had an only daughter, for whom he fixed on me in his thoughts as a -husband. He knew however what difficulties he would have to overcome, if -he were to treat on the subject directly with my father. He chose -therefore an indirect way. His plan was to make my father his debtor; -and as his critical circumstances would make it impossible for him to -clear off the debt, he expected to force him, as it were, to consent to -this union with the view of wiping out the debt by means of the amount -stipulated for the son. He offered my father therefore some barrels of -spirits on credit, and the offer was accepted with delight. - -As the date of payment approached, Hersch Dukor (this was the name of -the arendant) came and reminded my father. The latter assured him, that -at the moment he was not in a position to clear off the debt, and begged -him to have patience with him for some time yet. "Herr Joshua," said the -arendant, "I will speak with you quite frankly on this matter. Your -circumstances are growing daily worse; and if no fortunate accident -occurs, I do not see any possibility of your being able to clear off -your debt. The best thing for us both therefore is this. You have a son, -and I have a daughter who is the sole heiress of all my property. Let us -enter into an alliance. By this means not only will your debt be wiped -out, but a sum to be fixed by yourself will be paid in addition, and I -shall take a general care to improve your circumstances so far as lies -in my power." - -No one could be more joyous over this proposal than my father. -Immediately a contract was closed, in which the bride's dowry, as well -as the required presents, was decided in accordance with my father's -suggestion. The bill for the debt, which amounted to fifty thalers in -Polish money, was returned to my father, and torn on the spot, while -fifty thalers in addition were paid to him. - -Thereupon my new father-in-law went on to Nesvij to collect some debts -there. Unfortunately he had to lodge at my former mother-in-law's. She, -being a great prattler, told him of her own accord about the good match -which her daughter had made. "The father of the bridegroom," said she, -"is himself a great scholar, and the bridegroom is a young man of eleven -years, who has scarcely his equal." - -"I also," replied the arendant, "have, thank God, made a good choice for -my daughter. You have perhaps heard of the celebrated scholar, Rabbi -Joshua, in Mohilna, and of his young son, Solomon: he is my daughter's -bridegroom." - -Scarcely had these words been spoken, when she cried out, "That is a -confounded lie. Solomon is my daughter's bridegroom; and here, sir, is -the marriage-contract." - -The arendant then showed her his contract too; and they fell into a -dispute, the result of which was that Madam Rissia had my father -summoned before the court to give a categorical explanation. My father, -however, did not put in an appearance, although she had him summoned -twice. - -Meanwhile my mother died, and was brought to Nesvij for burial. My -mother-in-law obtained from the court an attachment on the dead body, by -which its interment was interdicted till the termination of the suit. My -father therefore saw himself compelled to appear in court, my -mother-in-law of course gained the suit, and I became again the -bridegroom of my former bride. And now to prevent any similar reversal -of her plans in the future, and to take from my father all occasion for -it, my mother-in-law endeavoured to satisfy all his demands in -accordance with her promise, clothed me from top to toe, and even paid -my father for my board from the date of the betrothal to the marriage. -My mother also was now buried, and we returned home again. - -My second father-in-law came too, and called upon my father for the -ratification of his contract. He however pointed out that it was null -and void, as it contravened a previous contract, and had been made by -him merely in the supposition that my mother-in-law had no intention of -fulfilling hers. The arendant seemed to give an ear to these -representations, to yield to necessity, and reconcile himself to his -loss; but in reality he was thinking of some means to get me into his -hands. Accordingly he rose by night, yoked his horses, took me in -silence from the table on which I was sleeping, packed me with all -despatch into his carriage, and made off with his booty out at the gate. -But as this could not be accomplished without some noise, the people in -the house awoke, discovered the theft, pursued the kidnapper, and -snatched me out of his hand. To me the whole incident appeared at the -time like a dream. - -In this way my father was released from his debt, and got fifty thalers -besides as a gratuity; but I was immediately afterwards carried off by -my legal mother-in-law, and made the husband of my legal bride. I must -of course confess that this transaction of my father's cannot be quite -justified in a moral point of view. Only his great need at the time can -in some measure serve as an excuse. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -My Marriage in my Eleventh Year makes me the Slave of my Wife, and -procures for me Cudgellings from my Mother-in-law--A Ghost of Flesh and -Blood. - - -On the first evening of my marriage my father was not present. As he -told me at my departure that he had still to settle some articles on my -account, and therefore I was to wait for his arrival, I refused, in -spite of all the efforts that were made, to appear that evening. -Nevertheless the marriage festivities went on. We waited the next day -for my father, but still he did not come. They then threatened to bring -a party of soldiers to drag me to the marriage ceremony; but I gave them -for an answer, that, if this were done, it would help them little, for -the ceremony would not be lawful except as a voluntary act. At last, to -the joy of all interested, my father arrived towards evening, the -articles referred to were amended, and the marriage ceremony was -performed. - -Here I must mention a little anecdote. I had read in a Hebrew book of an -approved plan for a husband to secure lordship over his better half for -life. He was to tread on her foot at the marriage ceremony; and if both -hit on the stratagem, the first to succeed would retain the upper hand. -Accordingly, when my bride and I were placed side by side at the -ceremony this trick occurred to me, and I said to myself, Now you must -not let the opportunity pass of securing for your whole lifetime -lordship over your wife. I was just going to tread on her foot, but a -certain _Je ne sais quoi_, whether fear, shame, or love, held me back. -While I was in this irresolute state, all at once I felt the slipper of -my wife on my foot with such an impression that I should almost have -screamed aloud if I had not been checked by shame. I took this for a bad -omen and said to myself, Providence has destined you to be the slave of -your wife, you must not try to slip out of her fetters. From my -faint-heartedness and the heroic mettle of my wife, the reader may -easily conceive why this prophecy had to be actually realised. - -I stood, however, not only under the slipper of my wife, but--what was -very much worse--under the lash of my mother-in-law. Nothing of all that -she had promised was fulfilled. Her house, which she had settled on her -daughter as a dowry, was burdened with debt. Of the six years' board -which she had promised me I enjoyed scarcely half a year's, and this -amid constant brawls and squabbles. She even, trusting to my youth and -want of spirit, ventured now and then to lay hands on me, but this I -repaid not infrequently with compound interest. Scarcely a meal passed -during which we did not fling at each other's head, bowls, plates, -spoons, and similar articles. - -Once I came home from the academy extremely hungry. As my mother-in-law -and wife were occupied with the business of the public house, I went -myself into the room where the milk was kept; and as I found a dish of -curds and cream, I fell upon it, and began to eat. My mother-in-law came -as I was thus occupied, and screamed in rage, "You are not going to -devour the milk with the cream!" The more cream the better, thought I, -and went on eating, without disturbing myself by her cry. She was going -to wrest the dish forcibly from my hands, beat me with her fists, and -let me feel all her ill-will. Exasperated by such treatment, I pushed -her from me, seized the dish, and smashed it on her head. That was a -sight! The curds ran down all over her. She seized in rage a piece of -wood, and if I had not cleared out in all haste, she would certainly -have beat me to death. - -Scenes like this occurred very often. At such skirmishes of course my -wife had to remain neutral, and whichever party gained the upper hand, -it came home to her very closely. "Oh!" she often complained, "if only -the one or the other of you had a little more patience!" - -Tired of a ceaseless open war I once hit upon a stratagem, which had a -good effect for a short time at least. I rose about midnight, took a -large vessel of earthenware, crept with it under my mother-in-law's bed, -and began to speak aloud into the vessel after the following -fashion:--"O Rissia, Rissia, you ungodly woman, why do you treat my -beloved son so ill? If you do not mend your ways, your end is near, and -you will be damned to all eternity." Then I crept out again, and began -to pinch her cruelly; and after a while I slipped silently back to bed. - -The following morning she got up in consternation, and told my wife, -that my mother had appeared to her in a dream, and had threatened and -pinched her on my account. In confirmation she showed the blue marks on -her arm. When I came from the synagogue, I did not find my mother-in-law -at home, but found my wife in tears. I asked the reason, but she would -tell me nothing. My mother-in-law returned with dejected look, and eyes -red with weeping. She had gone, as I afterwards learned, to the Jewish -place of burial, thrown herself on my mother's grave, and begged for -forgiveness of her fault. She then had the burial place measured, and -ordered a wax-light as long as its circumference, for burning in the -synagogue. She also fasted the whole day, and towards me showed herself -extremely amiable. - -I knew of course what was the cause of all this, but acted as if I did -not observe it, and rejoiced in secret over the success of my stratagem. -In this manner I had peace for some time, but unfortunately it did not -last long. The whole was soon forgotten again, and on the slightest -occasion the dance went on as before. In short, I was soon afterwards -obliged to leave the house altogether, and accept a position as a -private tutor. Only on the great feast-days I used to come home. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -The Secrets of the Marriage State--Prince Radzivil,[24] or what is not -all allowed in Poland? - - -In my fourteenth year I had my eldest son, David. At my marriage I was -only eleven years old, and owing to the retired life common among people -of our nation in those regions, as well as the want of mutual -intercourse between the two sexes, I had no idea of the essential duties -of marriage, but looked on a pretty girl as on any other work of nature -or art, somewhat as on the pretty medicine-box that I stole. It was -therefore natural that for a considerable time after marriage I could -not have any thought about the fulfilment of its duties. I used to -approach my wife with trembling as a mysterious object. It was therefore -supposed that I had been bewitched at the time of the wedding; and under -this supposition I was brought to a witch to be cured. She took in hand -all sorts of operations, which of course had a good effect, although -indirectly through the help of the imagination. - -My life in Poland from my marriage to my emigration, which period -embraces the springtime of my existence, was a series of manifold -miseries with a want of all means for the promotion of culture, and, -necessarily connected with that, an aimless application of my powers, in -the description of which the pen drops from my hands, and the painful -memories of which I strive to stifle.[25] - -The general constitution of Poland at the time; the condition of our -people in it, who, like the poor ass with the double burden, are -oppressed by their own ignorance and the religious prejudices connected -therewith, as well as by the ignorance and prejudices of the ruling -classes; the misfortunes of my own family;--all these causes combined to -hinder me in the course of my development, and to check the effect of my -natural disposition. - -The Polish nation, under which I comprehend merely the Polish nobility, -is of a very mixed kind. Only the very few have an opportunity of -culture by means of upbringing, instruction, and well-directed travels, -by which they can best promote at once their own welfare and that of -their tenantry. Most of them, on the other hand, spend their lives in -ignorance and immorality, and become the sport of their extravagant -passions, which are ruinous to their tenants. They make a display with -titles and orders, which they disgrace by their actions; they own many -estates which they do not understand how to manage, and they are at -perpetual feud with one another, so that the kingdom must of necessity -become the prey of its neighbours, who are envious of its greatness. - -Prince Radzivil was, as Hettmann in Poland and Voivode in Lithuania, one -of the greatest magnates, and as occupant of three inheritances in his -family owned immense estates. He was not without a certain kindness of -heart and good sense; but, through neglected training and a want of -instruction, he became one of the most extravagant princes that ever -lived. From want of occupation, which was a necessary consequence of -neglect in cultivating his tastes and widening his knowledge, he gave -himself up to drinking, by which he was tempted to the most ridiculous -and insane actions. Without any particular inclination for it he -abandoned himself to the most shameful sensuality; and without being -cruel, he exercised towards his dependents the greatest cruelties. - -He supported at great cost an army of ten thousand men, which was used -for no purpose in the world except display; and during the troubles in -Poland he took, without knowing why, the part of the Confederates. By -this means he got himself encumbered with the friendship of the -Russians, who plundered his estates, and plunged his tenants into the -greatest destitution and misery. He himself was obliged several times to -flee from the country, and to leave as booty for his enemies treasures -which had been the gathering of many generations. - -Who can describe all the excesses he perpetrated? A few examples will, I -believe, be sufficient to give the reader some idea of them. A certain -respect for my former prince does not allow me to consider his faults as -anything but faults of temperament and education, which deserve rather -our pity than our hatred and contempt. - -When he passed through a street, which he commonly did with the whole -pomp of his court, his bands of music and soldiers, no man, at the peril -of his life, durst show himself in the street; and even in the houses -people were by no means safe. The poorest, dirtiest peasant-woman, who -came in his way, he would order up into his carriage beside himself. - -Once he sent for a respectable Jewish barber, who, suspecting nothing -but that he was wanted for some surgical operation, brought his -instruments with him, and appeared before the prince. - -"Have you brought your instruments with you?" he was asked. - -"Yes, Serene Highness," he replied. - -"Then," said the prince, "give me a lancet, and I will open one of your -veins." - -The poor barber had to submit. The prince seized the lancet; and as he -did not know how to go about the operation, and besides his hand -trembled as a result of his hard drinking, of course he wounded the -barber in a pitiable manner. But his courtiers smiled their applause, -and praised his great skill in surgery. - -He went one day into a church, and being so drunk that he did not know -where he was, he stood against the altar, and commenced to ----. All who -were present became horrified. Next morning when he was sober, the -clergy brought to his mind the misdeed he had committed the day before. -"Eh!" said the prince, "we will soon make that good." Thereupon he -issued a command to the Jews of the place, to provide at their own -expense, fifty stone of wax for burning in the church. The poor Jews -were therefore obliged to bring a sin-offering for the desecration of a -Christian Church by an orthodox Catholic Christian. - -He once took it into his head to drive on the wall round the town. But -as the wall was too narrow for a coach with six horses,--and he never -drove in any other,--his hussars were obliged, with much labour and -peril of their lives, to carry the coach with their hands till he had -driven round the town in this way. - -Once he drove with the whole pomp of his court to a Jewish synagogue, -and, without any one to this day knowing the reason, committed the -greatest havoc, smashed windows and stoves, broke all the vessels, threw -on the ground the copies of the Holy Scriptures kept in the ark, and so -forth. A learned, pious Jew, who was present, ventured to lift one of -these copies from the ground, and had the honour of being struck with a -musket-ball by His Serene Highness' own hand. From here the train went -to a second synagogue, where the same conduct was repeated, and from -there they proceeded to the Jewish burial-place, where the buildings -were demolished, and the monuments cast into the fire. - -Can it be conceived, that a prince could show himself so malicious -towards his own poor subjects, whom he was in a position to punish -legally whenever they really did anything amiss? Yet this is what -happened here. - -On one occasion he took it into his head to make a trip to Mohilna, a -hamlet belonging to him, which lay four short miles from his Residence. -This had to be done with his usual suite and all the pomp of his court. -On the morning of the appointed day the train went forth. First marched -the army in order according to its usual regimental -divisions,--infantry, artillery, cavalry, and so on. Then followed his -bodyguard, Strelitzi, consisting of volunteers from the poor nobility. -After them came his kitchen-waggons, in which Hungarian wine had not -been forgotten. These were followed by the music of his janissaries, and -other bands. Then came his coach, and last of all his satraps. I give -them this name, because I can compare this train with no other than that -of Darius in the war against Alexander. Towards evening His Serene -Highness arrived at our public house in the suburb of the town which was -His Serene Highness' Residence, Nesvij. I cannot say that he arrived in -his own high person, for the Hungarian wine had robbed him of all -consciousness, in which alone of course personality rests. He was -carried into the house and thrown with all his clothes, booted and -spurred, on to my mother-in-law's dirty bed, without giving it a supply -of clean linen. - -As usual, I had to take to flight. My Amazons, however, I mean my -mother-in-law and my wife, trusted to their heroic mettle, and remained -at home alone. Riot went on the whole night. In the very room where His -Serene Highness slept, wood was chopped, cooking and baking were done. -It was well known that, when His Serene Highness slept, nothing could -waken his high person except perhaps the trumpet of the Judgment-Day. -The next morning, when he wakened, and looked around, he scarcely knew -whether to trust his eyes, when he found himself in a wretched -public-house, thrown on to a dirty bed swarming with bugs. His valets, -pages, and negroes waited on his commands. He asked how he had come -there, and was answered, that His Serene Highness had yesterday -commenced a journey to Mohilna, but had halted here to take rest, that -his whole train had meanwhile gone on, and had undoubtedly arrived in -Mohilna by this time. - -The journey to Mohilna was for the present given up, and the whole train -ordered back. They returned accordingly to the Residence in the usual -order and pomp. But the prince was pleased to hold a great banquet in -our public-house. All the foreign gentlemen, who happened to be in the -place at the time, were invited. The service used on the occasion was of -gold, and it is impossible adequately to realise the contrast which -reigned here in one house, between Asiatic splendour and Lappish -poverty. In a miserable public-house, whose walls were black as coal -with smoke and soot, whose rafters were supported by undressed round -stems of trees, whose windows consisted of some fragments of broken -panes of bad glass, and small strips of pine covered with paper,--in -this house sat princes on dirty benches at a still dirtier table, and -had the choicest dishes and the finest wines served to them on gold -plate. - -Before the banquet the prince took a stroll with the other gentlemen in -front of the house, and by chance observed my wife. She was then in the -bloom of her youth; and although I am now separated from her, still I -must do her the justice to allow that--leaving, of course, out of -account all that taste and art contribute to the heightening of a -person's charms, inasmuch as these had had no influence on her--she was -a beauty of the first rank. It was therefore natural that she should -please the prince. He turned to his companions, and said, "Really a -pretty young woman! Only she ought to get a white chemise." This was a -common signal with him, and meant as much as the throwing of a -handkerchief by the Grand Sultan. When these gentlemen therefore heard -it, they became solicitous for the honour of my wife, and gave her a -hint to clear out as fast as possible. She took the hint, slipped -silently out, and was soon over the hills and far away. - -After the banquet His Serene Highness proceeded again with the other -gentlemen into town amid trumpets, kettle-drums, and the music of his -janissaries. Then the usual order of the day was followed; that is, a -carousal was carried on the whole afternoon and evening, and then the -party went to a pleasure-house at the entrance to the prince's -zoological garden, where fire-works were set off at great expense, but -usually with accidents. As every goblet was drained, cannons were fired; -but the poor cannoneers, who knew better how to handle the plough than -the cannon, were not seldom injured. "Vivat Kschondsie Radzivil," that -is, "Long live Prince Radzivil," shouted the guests. The palm in this -Bacchanalian sport was of course awarded to the prince; and those who -awarded it were loaded by him with presents, not in perishable coin or -golden snuff-boxes or anything of that sort, but in real estate with -many hundred peasants. At the close a concert was given, during which -His Serene Highness fell gently asleep, and was carried to the castle. - -The expenses of such extravagance were of course extorted from the poor -tenantry. If this was not sufficient, debts were contracted, and estates -sold to wipe them out. Not even the twelve golden statues in -life-size,--whether they represented the twelve apostles or the twelve -giants, I do not know,--nor the golden table which had been made for -himself, were spared on such emergencies. And thus the noble estates of -this great prince were diminished, his treasures which had accumulated -during many generations were exhausted, and his tenants----But I must -break off. - -The prince died not long ago without heirs of his body. His brother's -son inherited the estates. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless Struggles with Misery of -every kind. - - -By means of the instruction received from my father, but still more by -my own industry, I had got on so well, that in my eleventh year I was -able to pass as a full rabbi. Besides I possessed some disconnected -knowledge in history, astronomy, and other mathematical sciences. I -burned with desire to acquire more knowledge, but how was this to be -accomplished in the want of guidance, of scientific books, and of all -other means for the purpose? I was obliged therefore to content myself -with making use of any help that I could by chance obtain, without plan -or method. - -In order to gratify my desire of scientific knowledge, there were no -means available but that of learning foreign languages. But how was I to -begin? To learn Polish or Latin with a Catholic teacher was for me -impossible, on the one hand because the prejudices of my own people -prohibited to me all languages but Hebrew, and all sciences but the -Talmud and the vast array of its commentators, on the other hand because -the prejudices of Catholics would not allow them to give instruction in -those matters to a Jew. Moreover I was in very low temporal -circumstances. I was obliged to support a whole family by teaching, by -correcting proofs of the Holy Scriptures, and by other work of a similar -kind. For a long time therefore I had to sigh in vain for the -satisfaction of my natural inclination. - -At last a fortunate accident came to my help. I observed in some stout -Hebrew volumes, that they contained several alphabets, and that the -number of their sheets was indicated not merely by Hebrew letters, but -that for this purpose the characters of a second and a third alphabet -had also been employed, these being commonly Latin and German letters. -Now, I had not the slightest idea of printing. I generally imagined that -books were printed like linen, and that each page was an impression from -a separate form. I presumed however that the characters, which stood in -similar places, must represent one and the same letter, and as I had -already heard something of the order of the alphabet in these languages, -I supposed that, for example, _a_, standing in the same place as -_aleph_, must likewise be an aleph in sound. In this way I gradually -learnt the Latin and German characters. - -By a kind of deciphering I began to combine various German letters into -words; but as the characters used along with the Hebrew letters might be -something quite different from these, I remained always doubtful -whether the whole of my labour in this operation would not be in vain, -till fortunately some leaves of an old German book fell into my hand. I -began to read. How great were my joy and surprise, when I saw from the -connection, that the words completely corresponded with those which I -had learned. 'Tis true, in my Jewish language many of the words were -unintelligible; but from the connection I was still able, with the -omission of these words, to comprehend the whole pretty well.[26] - -This mode of learning by deciphering constitutes still my peculiar -method of comprehending and judging the thoughts of others; and I -maintain that no one can say he understands a book, as long as he finds -himself compelled to deliver the thoughts of the author in the order and -connection determined by him, and with the expressions which he has -used. This is a mere work of memory, and no man can flatter himself with -having comprehended an author till he is roused by his thoughts, which -he apprehends at first but dimly, to reflect on the subject himself, -and to work it out for himself, though it may be under the impulse of -another. This distinction between different kinds of understanding must -be evident to any man of discernment.--For the same reason also I can -understand a book only when the thoughts which it contains harmonise -after filling up the gaps between them. - -I still always felt a want which I was not able to fill. I could not -completely satisfy my desire of scientific knowledge. Up to this time -the study of the Talmud was still my chief occupation. With this however -I found pleasure merely in view of its form, for this calls into action -the higher powers of the mind; but I took no interest in its matter. It -affords exercise in deducing the remotest consequences from their -principles, in discovering the most hidden contradictions, in hunting -out the finest distinctions, and so forth. But as the principles -themselves have merely an imaginary reality, they cannot by any means -satisfy a soul thirsting after knowledge. - -I looked around therefore for something, by which I could supply this -want. Now, I knew that there is a so-called science, which is somewhat -in vogue among the Jewish scholars of this district, namely the -Cabbalah, which professes to enable a man, not merely to satisfy his -desire of knowledge, but also to reach an uncommon perfection and -closeness of communion with God. Naturally therefore I burned with -desire for this science. As however it cannot, on account of its -sacredness, be publicly taught, but must be taught in secret, I did not -know where to seek the initiated or their writings. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a Physician. - - -Cabbalah,--to treat of this divine science somewhat more in -detail,--means, in the wider sense of the term, _tradition_; and it -comprehends, not only the occult sciences which may not be publicly -taught, but also the method of deducing new laws from the laws that are -given in the Holy Scriptures, as also some fundamental laws which are -said to have been delivered orally to Moses on Mount Sinai. In the -narrower sense of the term, however, Cabbalah means only the tradition -of occult sciences. This is divided into _theoretical_ and _practical_ -Cabbalah. The former comprehends the doctrines of God, of His attributes -which are expressed by means of His manifold names, of the origin of the -world through a gradual limitation of His infinite perfection, and of -the relation of all things to His supreme essence. The latter is the -doctrine which teaches how to work upon nature at pleasure by means of -those manifold names of God, which represent various modes of working -upon, and relations to, natural objects. These sacred names are -regarded, not as merely arbitrary, but as _natural_ signs, so that all -that is done with these signs must have an influence on the object which -they represent. - -Originally the Cabbalah was nothing but psychology, physics, morals, -politics, and such sciences, represented by means of symbols and -hieroglyphs in fables and allegories, the occult meaning of which was -disclosed only to those who were competent to understand it. By and by, -however, perhaps as the result of many revolutions, this occult meaning -was lost, and the signs were taken for the things signified. But as it -was easy to perceive that these signs necessarily had meant something, -it was left to the imagination to invent an occult meaning which had -long been lost. The remotest analogies between signs and things were -seized, till at last the Cabbalah degenerated into an art of _madness -according to method_, or a systematic science resting on conceits. The -big promise of its design, to work effects on nature at pleasure, the -lofty strain and the pomp with which it announces itself, have naturally -an extraordinary influence on minds of the visionary type, that are -unenlightened by the sciences and especially by a thorough philosophy. - -The principal work for the study of the Cabbalah is the _Zohar_, which -is written in a very lofty style in the Syrian language. All other -Cabbalistic writings are to be regarded as merely commentaries on this, -or extracts from it. - -There are two main systems of the Cabbalah,--the system of Rabbi Moses -Kordovero, and that of Rabbi Isaac Luria.[27] The former is more _real_, -that is, it approximates more closely to reason. The latter, on the -other hand, is more _formal_, that is, it is completer in the structure -of its system. The modern Cabbalists prefer the latter, because they -hold that only to be genuine Cabbalah, in which there is no rational -meaning. The principal work of Rabbi Moses Kordovero is the _Pardes_ -(Paradise). Of Rabbi Isaac Luria himself we have some disconnected -writings; but his pupil, Rabbi Chajim Vitall, wrote a large work under -the title, _Ez Chajim_ (The Tree of Life), in which the whole system of -his master is contained. This work is held by the Jews to be so sacred, -that they do not allow it to be committed to print. Naturally, I had -more taste for the Cabbalah of Rabbi Moses than for that of Rabbi Isaac, -but durst not give utterance to my opinion on this point. - -After this digression on the Cabbalah in general, I return to my story. -I learned that the under-rabbi or preacher of the place was an adept in -the Cabbalah; and therefore, to attain my object, I made his -acquaintance. I took my seat beside him in the synagogue, and as I -observed once that after prayer he always read from a small book, and -then put it past carefully in its place, I became very curious to know -what sort of book this was. Accordingly, after the preacher had gone -home, I went and took the book from the place where he had put it; and -when I found that it was a Cabbalistic work, I went with it and hid -myself in a corner of the synagogue, till all the people had gone out -and the door was locked. I then crept from my hiding-place, and, without -a thought about eating or drinking the whole day long, read the -fascinating book till the doorkeeper came and opened the synagogue again -in the evening. - -_Shaarei Kedushah_, or _The Gates of Righteousness_, was the title of -this book; and, leaving out of account what was visionary and -exaggerated, it contained the principal doctrines of psychology. I did -with it therefore as the Talmudists say Rabbi Meïr acted, who had a -heretic for his teacher, "He found a pomegranate; he ate the fruit and -threw the peel away."[28] - -In two or three days I had in this way finished the book; but instead of -satisfying my curiosity, it only excited it the more. I wished to read -more books of the same sort. But as I was too bashful to confess this to -the preacher, I resolved to write him a letter, in which I expressed my -irresistible longing for this sacred science, and therefore entreated -him earnestly to assist me with books. I received from him a very -favourable answer. He praised my zeal for the sacred science, and -assured me that this zeal, amid so little encouragement, was an obvious -sign that my soul was derived from _Olam Aziloth_ (the world of the -immediate divine influence), while the souls of mere Talmudists take -their origin from _Olam Jezirah_ (the world of the creation). He -promised, therefore, to assist me with books as far as lay in his power. -But as he himself was occupied mainly with this science, and required to -have such books constantly at hand, he could not lend them to me, but -gave me permission to study them in his house at my pleasure. - -Who was gladder than I! I accepted the offer of the preacher with -gratitude, scarcely ever left his house, and sat day and night over the -Cabbalistic books. Two representations especially gave me the greatest -trouble. One was the _Tree_, or the representation of the divine -emanations in their manifold and intricate complexities. The other was -God's _Beard_, in which the hairs are divided into numerous classes with -something peculiar to each, and every hair is a separate channel of -divine grace. With all my efforts I could not find in these -representations any rational meaning. - -My prolonged visits however were extremely inconvenient to the preacher. -He had, a short time before, married a pretty young wife; and as his -modest little house consisted of a single apartment, which was at once -parlour, study, and bedroom, and as I sat in it at times reading the -whole night, it happened not infrequently that my elevation above the -sphere of sense came into collision with his sensibility. Consequently, -he hit upon a good plan for getting rid of the incipient Cabbalist. He -said to me one day, "I observe that it necessarily puts you to a great -deal of inconvenience to spend your time constantly away from home for -the sake of these books. You may take them home with you one by one if -you please, and thus study them at your convenience." - -To me nothing could be more welcome. I took home one book after -another, and studied them till I believed that I had mastered the whole -of the Cabbalah. I contented myself not merely with the knowledge of its -principles and manifold systems, but sought also to make a proper use of -these. There was not a passage to be met with in the Holy Scriptures or -in the Talmud, the occult meaning of which I could not have unfolded, -according to Cabbalistic principles, with the greatest readiness. - -The book entitled _Shaarei Orah_[29] came to be of very good service -here. In this book are enumerated the manifold names of the ten -_Sephiroth_, which form the principal subject of the Talmud, so that a -hundred or more names are given to each. In every word of a verse in the -Bible, or of a passage in the Talmud, I found therefore the name of some -Sephirah. But as I knew the attribute of every Sephirah, and its -relation to the rest, I could easily bring out of the combination of -names their conjoint effect. - -To illustrate this by a brief example, I found in the book just -mentioned, that the name _Jehovah_ represents the six highest Sephiroth -(not including the first three), or the person of the Godhead _generis -masculini_, while the word _Koh_ means the _Shechinah_ or the person of -the Godhead _generis feminini_, and the word _amar_ denotes sexual -union. The words, "Koh amar Jehova,"[30] therefore, I explained in the -following way, "Jehovah unites with the Shechinah," and this is high -Cabbalism. Accordingly, when I read this passage in the Bible, I thought -nothing else, but that, when I uttered these words, and thought their -occult meaning, an actual union of these divine spouses took place, from -which the whole world had to expect a blessing. Who can restrain the -excesses of imagination, when it is not guided by reason? - -With the _Cabbalah Maasith_, or the _practical Cabbalah_, I did not -succeed so well as with the theoretical. The preacher boasted, not -publicly indeed, but to everybody in private, that he was master of this -also. Especially he professed _roeh veeno nireh_ (to see everything, but -not to be seen by others), that is, to be able to make himself -invisible. - -About this trick I was specially anxious, in order that I might practise -some wanton jokes on my comrades. More particularly I formed a plan for -keeping my ill-tempered mother-in-law in check by this means. I -pretended that my object was merely to do good, and guard against evil. -The preacher consented, but said at the same time, that on my part -certain preparations were required. Three days in succession I was to -feast, and every day to say some _Ichudim_. These are Cabbalistic forms -of prayer, whose occult meaning aims at producing in the intellectual -world sexual unions, through means of which certain results are to be -brought about in the physical. - -I did everything with pleasure, made the conjuration which he had taught -me, and believed with all confidence that I was now invisible. At once I -hurried to the _Beth Hamidrash_, the Jewish academy, went up to one of -my comrades, and gave him a vigorous box on the ear. He however was no -coward, and returned the blow with interest. I started back in -astonishment; I could not understand how he had been able to discover -me, as I had observed with the utmost accuracy the instructions of the -preacher. Still I thought I might, perhaps, unwittingly and -unintentionally have neglected something. I resolved, therefore, to -undertake the operation anew. This time, however, I was not going to -venture on the test of a box on the ear; I went into the academy merely -to watch my comrades as a spectator. As soon as I entered, however, one -of them came up to me, and showed me a difficult passage in the Talmud, -which he wished me to explain. I stood utterly confounded, and -disconsolate over the failure of my hopes. - -Thereupon I went to the preacher, and informed him of my unsuccessful -attempt. Without blushing, he replied quite boldly, "If you have -observed all my instructions, I cannot explain this otherwise than by -supposing that you are unfit for being thus divested of the visibility -of your body." With great grief, therefore, I was obliged to give up -entirely the hope of making myself invisible. - -This disappointed hope was followed by a new delusion. In the preface to -the _Book of Raphael_, which the angel of that name is said to have -delivered to our first father Adam at his banishment from paradise, I -found the promise, that whoever keeps the book in his house is thereby -insured against fire. It was not long, however, before a conflagration -broke out in the neighbourhood, when the fire seized my house too, and -the angel Raphael himself had to go up into heaven in this chariot of -fire. - -Unsatisfied with the literary knowledge of this science, I sought to -penetrate into its spirit; and as I perceived that the whole science, if -it is to deserve this name, can contain nothing but the secrets of -nature concealed in fables and allegories, I laboured to find out these -secrets, and thereby to raise my merely literary knowledge to a rational -knowledge. This, however, I could accomplish only in a very imperfect -manner at the time, because I had yet very few ideas of the sciences in -general. Still, by independent reflection I hit upon many applications -of this kind. Thus, for example, I explained at once the first instance -with which the Cabbalists commonly begin their science. - -It is this. Before the world was created, the divine being occupied the -whole of infinite space alone. But God wished to create a world, in -order that He might reveal those attributes of His nature which refer -to other beings besides Himself. For this purpose He contracted Himself -into the centre of His perfection, and issued into the space thereby -left void ten concentric circles of light, out of which arose afterwards -manifold figures (_Parzophim_) and gradations down to the present world -of sense. - -I could not in any way conceive that all this was to be taken in the -common sense of the words, as nearly all Cabbalists represent it. As -little could I conceive that, before the world had been created, a time -had past, as I knew from my _Moreh Nebhochim_, that time is a -modification of the world, and consequently cannot be thought without -it. Moreover, I could not conceive that God occupies a space, even -though it be infinite; or that He, an infinitely perfect being, should -contract Himself, like a thing of circular form, into a centre. - -Accordingly I sought to explain all this in the following way. God is -prior to the world, not in time, but in His necessary being as the -condition of the world. All things besides God must depend on Him as -their cause, in regard to their essence as well as their existence. The -creation of the world, therefore, could not be thought as a bringing -forth _out of nothing_, nor as a formation of something independent on -God, but only as a bringing forth _out of Himself_. And as beings are of -different grades of perfection, we must assume for their explanation -different grades of limitation of the divine being. But since this -limitation must be thought as extending from the infinite being down to -matter, we represent the beginning of the limitation in a figure as a -centre (the lowest point) of the Infinite. - -In fact, the Cabbalah is nothing but an expanded Spinozism, in which not -only is the origin of the world explained by the limitation of the -divine being, but also the origin of every kind of being, and its -relation to the rest, are derived from a separate attribute of God. God, -as the ultimate subject and the ultimate cause of all beings, is called -Ensoph (the Infinite, of which, considered in itself, nothing can be -predicated). But in relation to the infinite number of beings, positive -attributes are ascribed to Him; these are reduced by the Cabbalists to -ten, which are called the ten Sephiroth. - -In the book, _Pardes_, by Rabbi Moses Kordovero, the question is -discussed, whether the Sephiroth are to be taken for the Deity Himself -or not. It is easy to be seen, however, that this question has no more -difficulty in reference to the Deity, than in reference to any other -being. - -Under the ten circles I conceived the ten categories or predicaments of -Aristotle, with which I had become acquainted in the _Moreh -Nebhochim_,--the most universal predicates of things, without which -nothing can be thought. The categories, in the strictest critical sense, -are the logical forms, which relate not merely to a _logical_ object, -but to _real_ objects in general, and without which these cannot be -thought. They have their source, therefore, in the subject itself, but -they become an object of consciousness only by reference to a real -object. Consequently, they represent the ten Sephiroth, which belong, -indeed, to the Ensoph in itself, but of which the reality is revealed -only by their special relation to, and effect upon, objects in nature, -and the number of which can be variously determined in various points of -view. - -But by this method of explanation I brought upon myself many an -annoyance. For the Cabbalists maintain that the Cabbalah is not a human, -but a divine, science; and that, consequently, it would be degradation -of it, to explain its mysteries in accordance with nature and reason. -The more reasonable, therefore, my explanations proved, the more were -the Cabbalists irritated with me, inasmuch as they held that alone to be -divine, which had no reasonable meaning. Accordingly I had to keep my -explanations to myself. An entire work, that I wrote on the subject, I -brought with me to Berlin, and preserve still as a monument of the -struggle of the human mind after perfection, in spite of all the -hindrances which are placed in its way. - -Meanwhile this could not satisfy me. I wished to get an insight into the -sciences, not as they are veiled in fables, but in their natural light. -I had already, though very imperfectly, learned to read German; but -where was I to obtain German books in Lithuania? Fortunately for me I -learned that the chief rabbi of a neighbouring town, who in his youth -had lived for a while in Germany, and learned the German language -there, and made himself in some measure acquainted with the sciences, -continued still, though in secret, to work at the sciences, and had a -fair library of German books. - -I resolved therefore to make a pilgrimage to S----, in order to see the -chief rabbi, and beg of him a few scientific books. I was tolerably -accustomed to such journeys, and had gone once thirty miles[31] on foot -to see a Hebrew work of the tenth century on the Peripatetic philosophy. -Without therefore troubling myself in the least about travelling -expenses or means of conveyance, and without saying a word to my family -on the subject, I set out upon the journey to this town in the middle of -winter. As soon as I arrived at the place, I went to the chief rabbi, -told him my desire, and begged him earnestly for assistance. He was not -a little astonished; for, during the thirty one years which had passed -since his return from Germany, not a single individual had ever made -such a request. He promised to lend me some old German books. The most -important among these were an old work on Optics, and Sturm's _Physics_. - -I could not sufficiently express my gratitude to this excellent chief -rabbi; I pocketed the few books, and returned home in rapture. After I -had studied these books thoroughly, my eyes were all at once opened. I -believed that I had found a key to all the secrets of nature, as I now -knew the origin of storms, of dew, of rain, and such phenomena. I looked -down with pride on all others, who did not yet know these things, -laughed at their prejudices and superstitions, and proposed to clear up -their ideas on these subjects and to enlighten their understanding. - -But this did not always succeed. I laboured once to teach a Talmudist, -that the earth is round, and that we have antipodes. He however made the -objection, that these antipodes would necessarily fall off. I -endeavoured to show that the falling of a body is not directed towards -any fixed point in empty space, but towards the centre of the earth, and -that the ideas of Over and Under represent merely the removal from and -approach to this centre. It was of no avail; the Talmudist stood to his -ground, that such an assertion was absurd. - -On another occasion I went to take a walk with some of my friends. It -chanced that a goat lay in the way. I gave the goat some blows with my -stick, and my friends blamed me for my cruelty. "What is the cruelty?" I -replied. "Do you believe that the goat feels a pain, when I beat it? You -are greatly mistaken; the goat is a mere machine." This was the doctrine -of Sturm as a disciple of Descartes. - -My friends laughed heartily at this, and said, "But don't you hear that -the goat cries, when you beat it?" "Yes," I replied, "of course it -cries; but if you beat a drum, it cries too." They were amazed at my -answer, and in a short time it went abroad over the whole town, that I -had become mad, as I held that _a goat is a drum_. - -From my generous friend, the chief rabbi, I received afterwards two -medical works, Kulm's _Anatomical Tables_ and Voit's _Gaziopilatium_. -The latter is a large medical dictionary, containing, in a brief form, -not only explanations from all departments of medicine, but also their -manifold applications. In connection with every disease is given an -explanation of its cause, its symptoms, and the method of its cure, -along with even the ordinary prescriptions. This was for me a real -treasure. I studied the book thoroughly, and believed myself to be -master of the science of medicine, and a complete physician. - -But I was not going to content myself with mere theory in this matter; I -resolved to make regular application of it. I visited patients, -determined all diseases according to their circumstances and symptoms, -explained their causes, and gave also prescriptions for their cure. But -in this practice things turned out very comically. If a patient told me -some of the symptoms of his disease, I guessed from them the nature of -the disease itself, and inferred the presence of the other symptoms. If -the patient said that he could trace none of these, I stubbornly -insisted on their being present all the same. The conversation therefore -sometimes came to this:-- - -_I._ "You have headache also." - -_Patient._ "No." - -_I._ "But you _must_ have headache." - -As many symptoms are common to several diseases, I took not infrequently -_quid pro quo_. Prescriptions I could never keep in my head, so that, -when I prescribed anything, I was obliged to go home first and turn up -my _Gaziopilatium_. At length I began even to make up drugs myself -according to Voit's prescriptions. How this succeeded, may be imagined. -It had at least this good result, that I saw something more was surely -required for a practical physician than I understood at the time. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -A brief Exposition of the Jewish Religion, from its Origin down to the -most recent Times. - - -To render intelligible that part of the story of my life, which refers -to my sentiments regarding religion, I must first give in advance a -short practical _history of the Jewish religion_, and at the outset say -something of the idea of _religion in general_, as well as of the -difference between _natural_ and _positive_ religion. - -_Religion in general_ is the expression of gratitude, reverence and the -other feelings, which arise from the dependence of our weal and woe on -one or more powers to us unknown. If we look to the _expression of these -feelings in general_, without regard to the _particular mode of the -expression_, religion is certainly natural to man. He observes many -effects which are of interest to him, but whose causes are to him -unknown; and he finds himself compelled, by the universally recognised -_Principle of Sufficient Reason_, to suppose these causes, and to -express towards them the feelings mentioned. - -This expression may be of two kinds, in conformity either with the -_imagination_ or with _reason_. For either man imagines the causes to -be analogous to the effects, and ascribes to them in themselves such -attributes as are revealed through the effects, or he thinks them merely -as causes of certain effects, without seeking thereby to determine their -attributes in themselves. These two modes are both natural to man, the -former being in accordance with his earlier condition, the latter with -that of his perfection. - -The difference between these two modes of representation has as its -consequence another difference of religions. The first mode of -representation, in accordance with which the causes are supposed to be -_similar_ to the effects, is the mother of _polytheism_ or _heathenism_. -But the second is the basis of _true_ religion. For as the kinds of -effects are different, the causes also, if held to be like them, must be -represented as different from one another. On the other hand, if, in -accordance with truth, we conceive the idea of _cause in general_ for -these effects, without seeking to determine this cause, either _in -itself_ (since it is wholly unknown), or _analogically_ by help of the -imagination, then we have no ground for supposing several causes, but -require to assume merely a single subject, wholly unknown, as cause of -all these effects. - -The different philosophical systems of theology are nothing but -_detailed developments_ of these different modes of representation. The -_atheistic_ system of theology, if so it may be called, rejects -altogether this idea of a _first cause_, (as, according to the -_critical_ system at least, it is merely of _regulative use_ as a -necessary _idea of reason_). All effects are referred to particular -known or unknown causes. In this there cannot be assumed even a -_connection_ between the various effects, else the _reason_ of this -connection would require to be sought beyond the connection itself. - -The _Spinozistic_ system, on the contrary, supposes one and the same -substance as immediate cause of all various effects, which must be -regarded as predicates of one and the same subject. _Matter_ and _mind_ -are, with Spinoza, one and the same substance, which appears, now under -the former, now under the latter attribute. This single substance is, -according to him, not only the sole being that can be _self-dependent_, -that is, independent of any external cause, but also the sole -_self-subsistent_ being, all so-called beings besides it being merely -its _modes_, that is, particular limitations of its attributes. Every -particular effect in nature is referred by him, not to its proximate -cause (which is merely a _mode_), but immediately to this first cause, -which is the common substance of all beings. - -In this system _unity is real_, but _multiplicity_ is merely _ideal_. In -the atheistic system it is the opposite. _Multiplicity_ is _real_, being -founded on the _nature of things themselves_. On the other hand, the -_unity_, which is observed in the order and regularity of nature, is -merely an _accident_, by which we are accustomed to determine our -_arbitrary_ system _for the sake of knowledge_. It is inconceivable -therefore how any one can make out the Spinozistic system to be -atheistic, since the two systems are diametrically opposed to one -another. In the latter the existence of _God_ is denied, but in the -former the existence of the _world_. Spinoza's ought therefore to be -called rather the _acosmic_ system. - -The _Leibnitzian_ system holds the mean between the two preceding. In it -all _particular effects_ are referred immediately to _particular -causes_; but these various effects are thought as _connected_ in a -single system, and the cause of this connection is sought in a being -beyond itself. - -_Positive_ religion is distinguished from _natural_ in the very same way -as the positive laws of a state from natural laws. The latter are those -which rest on a self-acquired, indistinct knowledge, and are not duly -defined in regard to their application, while the former rest on a -distinct knowledge received from others, and are completely defined in -regard to their application. - -A _positive_ religion however must be carefully distinguished from a -_political_ religion. The former has for its end merely the correction -and accurate definition of knowledge, that is, _instruction_ regarding -the first cause: and the knowledge is communicated to another, according -to the measure of his capacity, just as it has been received. But the -latter has for its end mainly the welfare of the state. Knowledge is -therefore communicated, not just as it has been received, but only in so -far as it is found serviceable to this end. Politics, merely as -politics, requires to concern itself about _true religion_ as little as -about _true morality_. The injury, that might arise from this, can be -prevented by other means which influence men at the same time, and thus -all can be kept in equilibrium. Every political religion is therefore at -the same time positive, but every positive religion is not also -political. - -Natural religion has no _mysteries_ any more than merely positive -religion. For there is no mystery implied in one man being unable to -communicate his knowledge to another of defective capacity with the same -degree of completeness which he himself has attained; otherwise -mysteries might be attributed to all the sciences, and there would then -be _mysteries of mathematics_ as well as _mysteries of religion_. Only -_political religion_ can have mysteries, in order to lead men in an -indirect way to the attainment of the _political end_, inasmuch as they -are made to believe that thereby they can best attain their _private -ends_, though this is not always in reality the case. There are _lesser_ -and _greater_ mysteries in the political religions. The former consist -in the _material_ knowledge of all particular operations and their -connection with one another. The latter, on the contrary, consist in the -knowledge of the _form_, that is, of the end by which the former are -determined. The former constitute the totality of the _laws of -religion_, but the latter contains the _spirit of the laws_. - -The _Jewish religion_, even at its earliest origin among the nomadic -patriarchs, is already distinguished from the _heathen_ as _natural -religion_, inasmuch as, instead of the _many comprehensible_ gods of -heathenism, the _unity of an incomprehensible_ God lies at its -foundation. For as the particular causes of the effects, which in -general give rise to a religion, are in themselves unknown, and we do -not feel justified in transferring to the causes the attributes of the -particular effects, in order thereby to characterise them, there remains -nothing but the idea of cause in general, which must be related to all -effects without distinction. This cause cannot even be _analogically_ -determined by the effects. For the effects are opposed to one another, -and neutralise each other even in the same object. If therefore we -ascribed them all to one and the same cause, the cause could not be -analogically determined by any. - -The _heathen_ religion, on the other hand, refers every kind of effect -to a special cause, which can of course be characterised by its effect. -As a _positive_ religion the Jewish is distinguished from the heathen by -the fact, that it is not a merely political religion, that is, a -religion which has for its end the social interest (in opposition to -true knowledge and private interest); but in accordance with the spirit -of its founder, it is adapted to the theocratic form of the national -Government, which rests on the principle, that only the true religion, -based on rational knowledge, can harmonise with the interest of the -state as well as of the individual. Considered in its _purity_, -therefore, it has no mysteries in the proper sense of the word; that is -to say, it has no doctrines which, in order to reach their end, men -_will_ not disclose, but merely such as _can_ not be disclosed to all. - -After the fall of the Jewish state the religion was separated from the -state which no longer existed. The religious authorities were no longer, -as they had been before, concerned about adapting the particular -institutions of religion to the state; but their care went merely to -_preserve_ the religion, on which the existence of the _nation_ now -depended. Moved by hatred towards those nations who had annihilated the -state, and from anxiety lest with the fall of the state the religion -also might fall, they hit upon the following means for the preservation -and extension of their religion. - -1. The fiction of a method, handed down from Moses, of expanding the -laws, and applying them to particular cases. This method is not that -which reason enjoins, of modifying laws according to their intention, in -adaptation to time and circumstances, but that which rests upon certain -rules concerning their literary expression. - -2. The legislative force ascribed to the new decisions and opinions -obtained by this method, giving to them an equal rank with the ancient -laws. The subtle dialectic, with which this has been carried on down to -our times, and the vast number of laws, customs and useless ceremonies -of all sorts, which it has occasioned, may be easily imagined. - -The history of the Jewish religion can, in consequence of this, be -appropriately divided into five great epochs. The first epoch embraces -the _natural religion_, from the times of the patriarchs down to Moses -at the exodus from Egypt. The second comprehends the _positive_ or -_revealed_ religion, from Moses to the time of the _Great Synagogue_ -(_Keneseth Haggedolah_). This council must not be conceived as an -assembly of theologians at a definite time; the name applies to the -theologians of a whole epoch from the destruction of the first temple to -the composition of the Mishnah. Of these the first were the _minor -prophets_ (Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi, etc., of whom 120 are counted -altogether), and the last was _Simon the Just_.[32] These, as well as -their forerunners from the time of Joshua, took as their basis the -Mosaic laws, and added new laws according to time and circumstances, but -in conformity with the traditional method, every dispute on the subject -being decided by the _majority of voices_. - -The third epoch extends from the composition of the Mishnah by Jehudah -the Saint[33] to the composition of the Talmud by Rabina and -Rabassi.[34] Down to this epoch it was forbidden to commit the laws to -writing, in order that they might not fall into the hands of those who -could make no use of them. But as Rabbi Jehudah Hanassi, or, as he is -otherwise called, Rabbenu Hakades observed, that, in consequence of -their great multiplicity, the laws may easily fall into oblivion, he -gave himself a licence to transgress a single one of the laws in order -to preserve the whole. The law transgressed was that against committing -the laws to writing; and in this licence he defended himself by a -passage in the Psalms, "There are times, when a man shows himself -well-pleasing to God by transgressing the laws."[35] He lived in the -time of Antoninus Pius, was rich, and possessed all the faculties for -such an undertaking. He therefore composed the Mishnah, in which he -delivers the Mosaic laws in accordance either with a traditional or with -a rational method of exposition. It contains also some laws which form -the subject of dispute. - -This work is divided into six parts. The first contains the laws -relating to agriculture and horticulture; the second, those which refer -to feasts and holidays. The third part comprehends the laws which define -the mutual relations of the two sexes (marriage, divorce, and such -subjects). The fourth part is devoted to the laws which deal with the -teachers of the law; the fifth, to those which treat of the -temple-service and sacrifices; and the sixth, to the laws of -purification. - -As the Mishnah is composed with the greatest precision, and cannot be -understood without a commentary, it was natural, that in course of time -doubts and disputes should arise, regarding the exposition of the -Mishnah itself, as well as the mode of its application to cases which it -does not sufficiently determine. All these doubts and their manifold -solutions, controversies and decisions, were finally collected in the -Talmud by the above-mentioned Rabina and Rabassi; and this forms the -fourth epoch of Jewish legislation. - -The fifth epoch begins with the conclusion of the Talmud, and extends -down to our time, and so on for ever (_si diis placet_) till the advent -of the Messiah. Since the conclusion of the Talmud the rabbis have been -by no means idle. 'Tis true, they dare not alter anything in the Mishnah -or the Talmud; but they still have plenty of work to do. Their business -is to explain those two works, so that they shall harmonise; and this is -no small matter, for one rabbi, with a superfine dialectic, is always -finding contradictions in the explanations of another. They must also -disentangle, from the labyrinth of various opinions, expositions, -controversies and decisions, the laws which are applicable to every -case; and finally for new cases, by inferences from those already known, -they must bring out new laws, hitherto left indeterminate in spite of -all previous labours, and thus prepare a complete code of laws. - -It is thus that a religion, in its origin _natural_ and _conformable to -reason_, has been abused. A Jew dare not eat or drink, lie with his wife -or attend to the wants of nature, without observing an enormous number -of laws. With the books on the _slaughter_ of animals alone (the -condition of the knife and the examination of the entrails) a whole -library could be filled, which certainly would come near to the -Alexandrian in extent. And what shall I say of the enormous number of -books treating of those laws which are no longer in use, such as the -laws of sacrifice, of purification, etc.? The pen falls from my hand, -when I remember that I and others like me were obliged to spend in this -soul-killing business the best days of our lives when the powers are in -their full vigour, and to sit up many a night, to try and bring out some -sense where there was none, to exercise our wits in the discovery of -contradictions where none were to be found, to display acuteness in -removing them where they were obviously to be met, to hunt after a -shadow through a long series of arguments, and to build castles in the -air. - -The abuse of Rabbinism has, as will be seen, a twofold source. - -1. The first is an _artificial method_ of expounding the Holy -Scriptures, which distinguishes itself from the _natural_ method by the -fact, that, while the latter rests on a thorough _knowledge of the -language_ and the true _spirit of the legislator_ in view of the -circumstances of the time, as these are known from history, the former -has been devised rather for the sake of the laws passed to meet existing -emergencies. The rabbis look upon the Holy Scriptures, not only as the -source of the fundamental laws of Moses, and of those which are -deducible from these by a rational method, but also as a vehicle of the -laws to be drawn up by themselves according to the wants of the time. -The artificial method here, like every other of the same kind, is merely -a means of bringing the new laws at least into an _external connection_ -with the old, in order that they may thereby find a better introduction -among the people, be reduced to principles, divided into classes, and -therefore more easily impressed on the memory. No reasonable rabbi will -hold, that the laws, which are referred in this way to passages of the -Holy Scriptures, render the true sense of these passages; but if -questioned on this point, he will reply, "These laws are necessities of -the time, and are referred to those passages merely for this reason." - -2. The second source of the abuse of Rabbinism is to be found in the -manners and customs of other nations, in whose neighbourhood the Jews -have lived, or among whom they have been gradually scattered since the -fall of the Jewish state. These manners and customs they were obliged -to adopt in order to avoid becoming objects of abhorrence. Of this sort -are the laws, _not to uncover the head_ (at least in holy places and at -holy ceremonies), _to wash the hands_ (before meals and prayers), to -fast the whole day till sunset, to say a number of daily prayers, to -make pilgrimages, to walk round the altar, etc.,--all manifestly of -_Arabian_ origin. - -From hatred also towards those nations that destroyed the Jewish state, -and afterwards made the Jews undergo manifold oppressions, they have -adopted various customs, and among others many religious usages which -are opposite to those of the _Greeks_ and _Romans_. - -In all this the rabbis had the Mosaic laws themselves for a model, these -being sometimes in agreement, sometimes in hostility, with the Egyptian -laws which lie at their root, as has been shown in the most thorough -manner by the celebrated Maimonides in his work, _Moreh Nebhochim_. - -It is remarkable, that, with all rabbinical extravagancies in the -_practical_ department, namely the laws and customs, the _theoretical_ -department of the Jewish theology has still always preserved itself in -its purity. Eisenmenger may say what he will, it may be shown by -unanswerable arguments, that all the limited figurative representations -of God and His attributes have their source merely in an endeavour to -adapt the ideas of theology to the common understanding. The rabbis -followed in this the principle which they had established in reference -to the Holy Scriptures themselves, namely, that _the Holy Scriptures use -the language of the common people_, inasmuch as religious and moral -sentiments and actions, which form the immediate aim of theology may in -this manner be most easily extended. They therefore represent God to the -common understanding as an earthly King, who with His ministers and the -advisers of His cabinet, the angels, takes counsel concerning the -government of the world. But for the educated mind they seek to take -away all anthropomorphic representations of God, when they say, "It was -an act of high daring on the part of the prophets, to represent the -Creator as like His creature, as when, for example, it is said in -Ezekiel (i., 26), 'And upon the throne was an appearance like man.'" - -I have disclosed the abuses of the rabbis in regard to religion without -any partiality. At the same time however I must not be silent about -their good qualities, but do them justice as impartially. Compare then -Mahomed's description of the reward of the pious with the rabbinical -representation. The former runs:--"Here (in paradise) there are as many -dishes as there are stars in heaven. Maidens and boys fill the cups, and -wait on the table. The beauty of the maidens surpasses all imagination. -If one of these maidens were to appear in the sky or in the air by -night, the world would become as bright as when the sun is shining; and -if she were to spit into the sea, its salt water would be turned into -honey, and its bitter into sweet. Milk, honey, white wine will be the -rivers which water this delicious abode. The slime of these rivers will -be made of sweet-smelling nutmegs, and their pebbles of pearls and -hyacinths. The angel Gabriel will open the gates of paradise to faithful -Musselmans. The first thing to meet their eyes will be a table of -diamonds of such enormous length, that it would require 70,000 days to -run round it. The chairs, which stand around the table, will be of gold -and silver, the tablecloths of silk and gold. When the guests have sat -down, they will eat the choicest dishes of paradise, and drink its -water. When they are satisfied, beautiful boys will bring them _green_ -garments of costly stuff, and necklaces and earrings of gold. To every -one will then be given a citron; and when he has brought it to his nose -to feel its odour, a maiden of enchanting beauty will come out. Every -one will embrace his own with rapture, and this intoxication of love -will last fifty years without interruption. Each couple will obtain an -enchanting palace for a dwelling, where they will eat and drink and -enjoy all sorts of pleasure for ever and ever.[36]" This description is -beautiful; but how sensuous! The rabbis, on the other hand, say, "Above -(in the blessed abode of the pious) there is neither eating nor -drinking, but the pious sit crowned, and delight themselves with the -vision of the Godhead." - -Eisenmenger seeks, in his _Entdecktes Judenthum_ (Theil 1., Kap. 8), by -a crass exposition to throw ridicule on the Platonic doctrine of -reminiscence, which the rabbis maintain; but what may not be made -ridiculous in the same way? He also makes sport, with equal injustice, -of other rabbinical teachings. With the Stoics, for example, the rabbis -call wise men _Kings_; they say, that God does nothing without -previously taking counsel with his angels, that is, Omnipotence works -upon nature not immediately, but by means of the natural forces; they -teach, that everything is predestined by God, except the practice of -virtue. These are the subjects of Eisenmenger's mockery; but does any -reasonable theologian find in these anything ridiculous or impious? I -should be obliged to write a whole book, if I were to answer all the -unjust charges and jeers which have been brought against the Talmudists, -not by Christian writers alone, but even by Jews who wished to pass for -_illuminati_. - -To be just to the rabbis it is necessary to penetrate into the true -spirit of the Talmud, to become thoroughly familiar with the manner in -which the ancients generally, but especially the Orientals, deliver -theological, moral, and even physical truths in fables and allegories, -to become familiar also with the style of Oriental hyperbole in -reference to everything that can be of interest to man. Moreover, the -rabbis should be treated in the spirit in which they themselves excused -Rabbi Meïr who had a heretic for his teacher,--the spirit expressed in a -passage already quoted. If justice is thus dealt to the rabbis, the -Talmud will certainly not show all the absurdities which its opponents -are disposed too readily to find. - -The rabbinical method of referring theoretical or practical truths, even -by the oddest exegesis, to passages in the Holy Scriptures or any other -book in general esteem, as if they were truths brought out of such -passages by a rational exegesis,--this method, besides procuring an -introduction for the truths among common men, who are not capable of -grasping them on their own merits, and accept them merely on authority, -is also to be regarded as an excellent aid to the memory; for since, as -presumed, these passages are in everybody's mouth, the truths drawn from -them are also retained by their means. Consequently it very often occurs -in the Talmud, when the question concerns the deduction of a new law -from the Holy Scriptures, that one rabbi derives the law from this or -that passage, while another brings the objection, that this cannot be -the true meaning of the passage, inasmuch as the true meaning is this or -that. To such an objection every one is wont to reply, that it is a new -law of the rabbis, who merely refer it to the passage mentioned. - -As it is therefore universally presupposed that this method is familiar, -the Talmudists regard it as unnecessary to inculcate it anew on every -occasion. A single example will suffice to illustrate this. One -Talmudist asked another the meaning of the following passage in the -Book of Joshua (xv., 22), _Kinah Vedimonah Veadadah_.[37] The latter -replied, "Here are enumerated the then familiar places of the Holy -Land." "Of course!" rejoined the other. "I know very well that these are -names of places. But, Rabbi ---- knows how to bring out of these, -besides the proper meaning, something _useful_, namely this:--'(Kinah) -He to whom his neighbour gives occasion for revenge, (Vedimonah) and who -yet, out of generosity, keeps silence, taking no revenge, (Veadadah) to -him will the Eternal execute justice.'" What a fine opportunity this -would be for laughing at the poor Talmudist, who derives a moral -sentence from particular names of places, and besides makes in an -extraordinary manner a compound out of the last name, _Sansannah_,[38] -if he had not himself explained that he is seeking to know, not the -_true meaning_ of the passage, but merely a _doctrine_ which may be -referred to it. - -Again, the Talmudists have referred to a passage in Isaiah the important -doctrine, that in morals the principal object is, not theory, but -practice, by which theory receives its true value. The passage runs as -follows:--"The expectation of thy happiness"--that is, the happiness -promised by the prophet--"will have for its consequence strength, help, -wisdom, knowledge, and the fear of God."[39] Here they refer the first -six subjects to the six _Sedarim_ or divisions of the Mishnah, which are -the foundation of all Jewish learning. _Emunath_ (Expectation) is Seder -Seraim; _Etecho_ (Happiness) is Seder Moad, and so on. That is to say, -you may be ever so well versed in all these six _sedarim_; yet the main -point is the last, the fear of God. - -As far as rabbinical morals in other respects are concerned, I know in -truth nothing that can be urged against them, except perhaps their -excessive strictness in many cases. They form in fact genuine Stoicism, -but without excluding other serviceable principles, such as perfection, -universal benevolence, and the like. Holiness with them extends even to -the thoughts. This principle is, in the usual fashion, referred to the -following passage in the Psalms, "Thou shalt have no strange God in -thee";[40] for in the human heart, it is argued, no strange God can -dwell, except evil desires. It is not allowed to deceive even a heathen -either by deeds or by words--not even in cases where he could lose -nothing by the deceit. For example, the common form of courtesy, "I am -glad to see you well," is not to be used, if it does not express the -real sentiments of the heart. The examples of Jews who cheat Christians -and heathens, which are commonly adduced against this statement, prove -nothing, inasmuch as these Jews do not act in accordance with the -principles of their own morals. - -The commandment, "Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy -neighbour's," is so expounded by the Talmudists, that we must guard -against even the wish to possess any such thing. In short, I should -require to write a whole book, if I were to adduce all the excellent -doctrines of rabbinical morals. - -The influence of these doctrines in practical life also is unmistakable. -The Polish Jews, who have always been allowed to adopt any means of -gain, and have not, like the Jews of other countries, been restricted to -the pitiful occupation of _Schacher_ or usurer, seldom hear the reproach -of cheating. They remain loyal to the country in which they live, and -support themselves in an honourable way. - -Their charity and care for the poor, their institutions for nursing the -sick, their special societies for burial of the dead, are well enough -known. It is not nurses and grave-diggers _hired for money_, but the -_elders of the people_, who are eager to perform these acts. The Polish -Jews are indeed for the most part not yet enlightened by science, their -manners and way of life are still rude; but they are loyal to the -religion of their fathers and the laws of their country. They do not -come before you with courtesies, but their promise is sacred. They are -not gallants, but your women are safe from any snares with them. Woman, -indeed, after the manner of the Orientals in general, is by them not -particularly esteemed; but all the more on that account are they -resolved on fulfilling their duties towards her. Their children do not -learn by heart any _forms_ for expressing love and respect for their -parents--for they do not keep French _demoiselles_;--but they show that -love and respect all the more heartily. - -The sacredness of their marriages, and the ever fresh tenderness which -arises from this, deserve especially to be mentioned. Every month the -husband is wholly separated from his wife for a fortnight (the period of -monthly purification in accordance with the rabbinical laws); they may -not so much as touch one another, or eat out of the same dish or drink -out of the same cup. By this means satiety is avoided; the wife -continues to be in the eyes of her husband all that she was as maiden in -the eyes of her lover. - -Finally, what innocence rules among unmarried persons! It often happens -that a young man or woman of sixteen or eighteen years is married -without knowing the least about the object of marriage. Among other -nations this is certainly very seldom the case. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -Jewish Piety and Penances. - - -In my youth I was of a somewhat strong religious disposition; and as I -observed in most of the rabbis a good deal of pride, quarrelsomeness, -and other evil qualities, they became objects of dislike to me on that -account. I sought therefore as my model only those among them, who are -commonly known by the name of _Chasidim_, or _the Pious_. These are they -who devote the whole of their lives to the strictest observances of the -laws and moral virtues. I had afterwards occasion to remark that these -on their part do harm, less indeed to _others_, but all the more to -_themselves_, inasmuch as they root out the wheat with the tares;[41] -while they seek to suppress their desires and passions, they suppress -also their powers and cramp their activity, so much so as in most cases -by their exercises to bring upon themselves an untimely death. - -Two or three instances, of which I was myself an eye-witness, will be -sufficient to establish what has been said. A Jewish scholar, at that -time well known on account of his piety, Simon of Lubtsch, had undergone -the severest exercises of penance. He had already carried out the -_T'shubath Hakana_--the penance of Kana--which consists in fasting daily -for six years, and avoiding for supper anything that comes from a living -being (flesh, milk, honey, etc.). He had also practised _Golath_, that -is, a continuous wandering, in which the penitent is not allowed to -remain two days in the same place; and, in addition, he had worn a -hair-shirt next his skin. But he felt that he would not be doing enough -for the satisfaction of his conscience unless he further observed the -_T'shubath Hamishkal_--the penance of weighing--which requires a -particular form of penance proportioned to every sin. But as he found by -calculation, that the number of his sins was too great to be atoned in -this way, he took it into his head to starve himself to death. After he -had spent some time in this process, he came in his wanderings to the -place where my father lived, and, without anybody in the house knowing, -went into the barn, where he fell upon the ground in utter faintness. My -father came by chance into the barn, and found the man, whom he had long -known, lying half-dead on the ground, with a _Zohar_ (the principal book -of the Cabbalists) in his hand. As he knew well what sort of man this -was, he brought him at once all sorts of refreshments; but the man would -make no use of them in any way. My father came several times, and -repeated his urgent request, that Simon would take something; but it -was of no avail. My father had to attend to something in the house, -whereupon Simon, to escape from his importunity, exerted all his -strength, raised himself up, went out of the barn, and at last out of -the village. When my father came back into the barn again, and found the -man no longer there, he ran after him, and found him lying dead not far -from the village. The affair was generally made known among the Jews, -and Simon became a saint. - -Jossel of Klezk proposed nothing less than to hasten the advent of the -Messiah. To this end he performed strict penance, fasted, rolled himself -in snow, undertook night-watches and similar severities. By all sorts of -such operations he believed that he was able to accomplish the overthrow -of a legion of evil spirits, who kept guard on the Messiah, and threw -obstacles in the way of his coming.[42] To these exercises he added at -last many Cabbalistic fooleries--fumigations, conjurations, and similar -practices--till at length he lost his wits on the subject, believed that -he really saw spirits with his eyes open, calling each of them by name. -He would then beat about him, smash windows and stoves under the idea -that these were his foes, the evil spirits, somewhat after the manner of -his forerunner Don Quixote. At last he lay down in complete exhaustion, -from which he was with great difficulty restored, by the physician of -Prince Radzivil. - -Unfortunately I could never get further in pious exercises of this sort, -than to abstain for a considerable while from everything that comes from -a living being; and during the Days of Atonement I have sometimes fasted -three days together. I once resolved indeed on undertaking the -_T'shubath Hakana_; but this project, like others of the same sort, -remained unfulfilled, after I had adopted the opinions of Maimonides, -who was no friend of fanaticism or pietism. It is remarkable, that at -the time when I still observed the rabbinical regulations with the -utmost strictness, I yet would not observe certain ceremonies which have -something comical about them. Of this kind, for example, was the -_Malketh_ (Beating) before the Great Day of Atonement, in which every -Jew lays himself on his face in the synagogue, while another with a -narrow strip of leather gives him thirty-nine lashes. Of the same sort -is _Haphorath Nedarim_, or the act of setting free from vows on New -Year's Eve. In this three men are seated, while another appears before -them, and addresses to them a certain form, the general drift of which -is as follows:--"Sirs, I know what a heinous sin it is, not to fulfil -vows; and inasmuch as I have doubtless this year made some vows which I -have not fulfilled, and which I can no longer recollect, I beg of you -that you will set me free from the same. I do not indeed repent of the -good resolutions to which I have bound myself by these vows; I repent -merely of the fact, that in making such resolutions I did not add, that -they were not to have the force of a vow," etc., etc. Thereupon he -withdraws from the judgment-seat, pulls off his shoes, and sits down on -the bare ground, by which he is supposed to banish himself till his vows -are dissolved. After he has sat for some time, and said a prayer by -himself, the judges begin to call aloud, "Thou art our brother! thou art -our brother! thou art our brother! There is no vow, no oath, no -banishment any longer, after thou hast submitted thyself to the -judgment. Rise from the ground and come to us!" This they repeat three -times, and with that the man is at once set free from all his vows. - -At serio-comic scenes of this sort I could only with the greatest -difficulty refrain from laughing. A blush of shame came over me, when I -was to undertake such performances. I sought therefore, if I was pressed -on the subject, to free myself by the pretext, that I had either already -attended to it, or was going to attend to it, in another synagogue. A -very remarkable psychological phenomenon! It might be thought impossible -for any one to be ashamed of actions which he saw others performing -without the slightest blush of shame. Yet this was the case here. This -phenomenon can be explained only by the fact, that in all my actions I -had regard first to the nature of the action in itself (whether it was -right or wrong, proper or improper), then to its nature in relation to -some end, and that I justified it as a means, only when it was not in -itself incapable of being justified. This principle was developed -afterwards in my whole system of religion and morals. On the other hand, -the most of men act on the principle, that the end justifies the means. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -Friendship and Enthusiasm. - - -In the place where I resided I had a bosom friend, Moses Lapidoth by -name. We were of the same age, the same studies, and nearly the same -external circumstances, the only difference being, that at an early -period I already showed an inclination to the sciences, while Lapidoth -had indeed a love of speculation, and also great acuteness and power of -judgment, but had no wish to proceed further than he could reach by a -mere sound common sense. With this friend I used to hold many a -conversation on subjects of mutual interest, especially the questions of -religion and morals. - -We were the only persons in the place, who ventured to be not mere -imitators, but to think independently about everything. It was a natural -result of this, that, as we differed from all the rest of the community -in our opinions and conduct, we separated ourselves from them by -degrees; but, as we had still to live by the community, our -circumstances on this account became every day worse and worse. 'Tis -true, we noted this fact, but nevertheless we were unwilling to -sacrifice our favourite inclinations for any interest in the world. We -consoled ourselves therefore, as best we might, over our loss, spoke -constantly of the vanity of all things, of the religious and moral -faults of the common herd, upon whom we looked down with a sort of noble -pride and contempt. - -We used especially to open our minds, _à la Mandeville_, on the -hollowness of human virtue. For example, smallpox had been very -prevalent in the place, and thereby many children had been carried off. -The elders held a meeting to find out the secret sins, on account of -which they were suffering this punishment, as they viewed it. After -instituting an inquiry it was found, that a young widow of the Jewish -people was holding too free intercourse with some servants of the manor. -She was sent for, but no sort of inquisition could elicit from her -anything beyond the fact, that these people were in the habit of -drinking mead at her house, and that, as was reasonable, she received -them in a pleasant and polite manner, but that in other respects she was -unconscious of any sin in the matter. As no other evidence was -forthcoming, she was about to be acquitted, when an elderly matron came -flying like a fury and screamed, "Scourge her! scourge her! till she has -confessed her sin! If you do not do it, then may the guilt of the death -of so many innocent souls fall upon you!" Lapidoth was present with me -at this scene, and said, "Friend, do you suppose that Madam is making so -fierce a complaint against this woman, merely because she is seized -with a holy zeal and feeling for the general welfare? Oh no! She is -enraged, merely because the widow still possesses attractions, while she -herself can no longer make claim to any." I assured him that his opinion -was thoroughly in accordance with my own. - -Lapidoth had poor parents-in-law. His father-in-law was Jewish sexton, -and by his slender pay could support his family only in a very sorry -style. Every Friday the poor man was therefore compelled to listen to -all sorts of reproach and abuse from his wife, because he could not -provide her with what was indispensable for the holy Sabbath. Lapidoth -told me about this with the addition:--"My mother-in-law wants to make -me to believe that she is zealous merely for the honour of the holy -Sabbath. Nay, verily; she is zealous merely for the honour of her own -holy paunch, which she cannot fill as she would like; the holy Sabbath -serves her merely as a pretext." - -Once when we were taking a walk on the wall round the town, and -conversing about the tendency of men, which is evinced in such -expressions, to deceive themselves and others, I said to Lapidoth, -"Friend, let us be fair, and pass our censure on ourselves, as well as -on others. Is not the contemplative life which we lead, and which is by -no means adapted to our circumstances, to be regarded as a result of our -indolence and inclination to idleness, which we seek to defend by -reflections on the vanity of all things? We are content with our -present circumstances; why? Because we cannot alter them without first -fighting against our inclination to idleness. With all our pretence of -contempt for everything outside of us, we cannot avoid the secret wish -to be able to enjoy better food and clothing than at present. We -reproach our friends as vain men addicted to the pleasures of sense, -because they have abandoned our mode of life, and undertaken occupations -adapted to their powers. But wherein consists our superiority over them, -when we merely follow our inclination as they follow theirs? Let us seek -to find this superiority merely in the fact, that we at least confess -this truth to ourselves, while they profess as the motive of their -actions, not the satisfaction of their own particular desires, but the -impulse to general utility." Lapidoth, on whom my words produced a -powerful impression, answered with some warmth, "Friend, you are -perfectly right. If we cannot now mend our faults, we will not deceive -ourselves about them, but at least keep the way open for amendment." - -In conversations of this kind we two cynics spent our pleasantest hours, -while we made ourselves merry sometimes at the expense of the world, -sometimes at our own. Lapidoth, for example, whose old dirty clothes had -all fallen into rags, and one of whose sleeves was wholly parted from -the rest of his coat, while he was not in a position even to have it -mended, used to fix the sleeve on his back with a pin, and to ask me, -"Don't I look like a _Schlachziz_ (a Polish noble)?" I, again, could -not sufficiently commend my rent shoes, which were quite open at the -toes, because, as I said, "They do not squeeze the foot." - -The harmony of our inclinations and manner of life, along with some -difference in our talents, made our conversation all the more agreeable. -I had more talent for the sciences, made more earnest endeavours after -thoroughness and accuracy of knowledge than Lapidoth. He, on the other -hand, had the advantage of a lively imagination, and consequently more -talent for eloquence and poetry than I. If I produced a new thought, my -friend knew how to illustrate it, and, as it were, to give it embodiment -in a multitude of examples. Our affection for one another went so far, -that, whenever it was practicable, we spent day and night in each -other's company, and the first thing we did, on returning home from the -places where we severally acted as family-tutors, was to visit each -other, even before seeing our own families. At last we began to neglect -on this account the usual hours of prayer. Lapidoth first undertook to -prove, that the Talmudists themselves offered up their prayers, not -exclusively in the synagogue, but sometimes in their study-chambers. -Afterwards he pointed out also, that the prayers held to be necessary -are not all equally so, but that some may be dispensed with altogether: -even those, which are recognised as necessary, we curtailed by degrees, -till at last they were totally neglected. - -Once, when we went for a walk on the wall during the hour of prayer, -Lapidoth said to me, "Friend, what is going to become of us? We do not -pray now at all." - -"What do you mean by that?" I inquired. - -"I throw myself," said Lapidoth, "on the mercy of God, who certainly -will not punish his children severely for a slight neglect." - -"God is not merely _merciful_," I replied; "He is also _just_. -Consequently this reason cannot help us much." - -"What do you mean by that?" asked Lapidoth. - -I had by this time obtained from Maimonides more accurate ideas of God -and of our duties towards Him. Accordingly I replied, "Our destination -is merely the _attainment of perfection through the knowledge of God and -the imitation of His actions_. Prayer is simply the expression of our -knowledge of the divine perfections, and, as a result of this knowledge, -is intended merely for the common man who cannot of himself attain to -this knowledge; and therefore it is adapted to his mode of conception. -But as we see into the end of prayer, and can attain to this end -directly, we can dispense altogether with prayer as something -superfluous." - -This reasoning appeared to us both to be sound. We resolved therefore, -for the purpose of avoiding offence, to go out of the house every -morning with our _Taleth_ and _Tephilim_ (Jewish instruments of prayer), -not, however, to the synagogue, but to our favourite retreat, the wall, -and by this means we fortunately escaped the Jewish Inquisition. - -But this enthusiastic companionship, like everything else in the world, -had to come to an end. As we were both married, and our marriages were -tolerably fruitful, we were obliged, for the purpose of supporting our -families, to accept situations as family-tutors. By this means we were -not infrequently separated, and afterwards were able to spend merely a -few weeks in the year together. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -The Life of a Family-Tutor. - - -The place, where I first occupied the position of family-tutor, was at -the distance of a league from my residence. The family was that of a -miserable farmer in a still more miserable village; and my salary was -five thalers in Polish money. The poverty, ignorance, and rudeness in -the manner of life, which prevailed in this house, were indescribable. -The farmer himself was a man of about fifty years, the whole of whose -face was overgrown with hair, ending in a dirty, thick beard as black as -pitch. His language was a sort of muttering, intelligible only to the -boors, with whom he held intercourse daily. Not only was he ignorant of -Hebrew, but he could not speak a word of Jewish; his only language was -Russian, the common patois of the peasantry. His wife and children were -of the same stamp. Moreover, the apartment, in which they lived, was a -hovel of smoke, black as coal inside and out, without a chimney, but -with merely a small opening in the roof for the exit oi the smoke,--an -opening which was carefully closed as soon as the fire was allowed to go -out, so that the heat might not escape. - -The windows were narrow strips of pine laid crosswise over each other, -and covered with paper. This apartment served at once for sitting, -drinking, eating, study and sleep. Think of this room intensely heated, -and the smoke, as is generally the case in winter, driven back by wind -and rain till the whole place is filled with it to suffocation. Here -hang a foul washing and other dirty bits of clothing on poles laid -across the room in order to kill the vermin with the smoke. There hang -sausages to dry, while their fat keeps constantly trickling down on the -heads of people below. Yonder stand tubs with sour cabbage and red -beets, which form the principal food of the Lithuanians. In a corner the -water is kept for daily use, with the dirty water alongside. In this -room the bread is kneaded, cooking and baking are done, the cow is -milked, and all sorts of operations are carried on. - -In this magnificent dwelling the peasants sit on the bare ground; you -dare not sit higher if you do not wish to be suffocated with the smoke. -Here they guzzle their whiskey and make an uproar, while the people of -the house sit in a corner. I usually took my place behind the stove with -my dirty half-naked pupils, and expounded to them out of an old tattered -Bible, from Hebrew into Russian Jewish. All this together made such a -splendid group as deserved to be sketched only by a Hogarth, and to be -sung only by a Butler. - -It may be easily imagined, how pitiable my condition here must have -been. Whiskey had to form my sole comfort; it made me forget all my -misery. This was increased by the fact, that a regiment of Russians, who -were rioting at that time with every conceivable cruelty on the estates -of Prince Radzivil, was stationed in the village and its neighbourhood. -The house was constantly full of drunken Russians, who committed all -sorts of excesses, hewed to pieces tables and benches, threw glasses and -bottles into the faces of the people of the house, and so on. To give -merely one example, a Russian, who was stationed in this house as guard, -and whose charge it was to secure the house against all violence, came -home once drunk, and demanded something to eat. A dish of millet with -butter was placed before him cooked. He shoved the dish away, and -shouted an order for more butter. A whole small tub of butter was -brought, when he shouted again an order for another dish. This was -brought immediately, whereupon he threw all the butter into it, and -called for spirits. A whole bottle was brought, and he poured it -likewise into the dish. Thereafter milk, pepper, salt, and tobacco, in -large quantities had to be brought to him, the whole being put in, and -the mixture devoured. After he had taken some spoonfuls, he began to -strike about him, pulled the host by the beard, struck him in the face -with his fist, so that the blood flowed out of his mouth, poured some of -his glorious broth down his throat, and went on in this riotous manner -till he became so drunk that he could no longer support himself, and -fell to the ground. - -Such scenes were at that time very common everywhere in Poland. If a -Russian army passed a place, they took with them a _prowodnik_, or -guide, to the next place. But instead of seeking to be supplied by the -mayor or the village magistrate, they used to seize the first person -whom they met on the road. He might be young or old, male or female, -healthy or sick, it mattered nothing to them; for they knew the road -well enough from special charts, and only sought an opportunity for -outrage. If it happened that the person seized did not know the way at -all, and did not show them the right road, they did not allow themselves -to be sent astray on this account; they selected the road all right, but -they cudgelled the poor prowodnik till he was half-dead, _for not -knowing the way_! - -I was once seized as a prowodnik myself. I did not indeed know the way, -but luckily I hit upon it by chance. Fortunately, therefore, I reached -the proper place, and the only violence I suffered, besides a good many -blows and kicks from the Russian soldiers, was the threat, that, if ever -I led them astray, I should certainly be flayed alive--a threat which -they might be trusted with carrying into execution. - -The other places which I filled as tutor were more or less similar to -this. In one of these a remarkable psychological incident occurred in -which I took the principal part and which is to be described in the -sequel. An incident of the same kind, however, which happened to -another person and of which I was simply eye-witness, must be mentioned -here. - -A tutor in the next village, who was a somnambulist, rose one night from -his bed and went to the village churchyard with a volume of the Jewish -ceremonial laws in his hand. After remaining some time there he returned -to his bed. In the morning he rose up, without remembering the least of -what had happened during the night, and went to the chest where his copy -of the ceremonial laws was usually kept, in order to take out the first -part, _Orach Chajim_ or the Way of Life, which he was accustomed to read -every morning. The code consists of four parts, each of which was bound -separately, and all the four had certainly been locked up in the chest. -He was therefore astonished to find only three of the parts, _Joreh -Deah_ or the Teacher of Wisdom, being awanting. As he knew about his -disease he searched everywhere, till at last he came to the churchyard -where he found the _Joreh Deah_ lying open at the chapter, _Hilchoth -Abheloth_ or the Laws of Mourning. He took this for a bad omen and came -home much disquieted. On being asked the cause of his disquietude he -related the incident which had occurred, with the addition, "Ah! God -knows how my poor mother is!" He begged of his master the loan of a -horse and permission to ride to the nearest town, where his mother -lived, in order to enquire after her welfare. As he had to pass the -place where I was tutor, and I saw him riding in great excitement -without being willing to dismount even for a little while, I asked him -the cause of his excitement when he related to me the above-mentioned -incident. - -I was astonished, not so much about the particular circumstances of this -incident, as about somnambulism in general, of which till then I had -known nothing. My friend, on the other hand, assured me that -somnambulism was a common occurrence with him, and that it meant -nothing, but that the circumstance of the _Hilchoth Abheloth_ made him -forebode some misfortune. Thereupon he rode off, arrived at his mother's -house, and found her seated at her frame for needlework. She asked him -the reason of his coming, when he replied that he had come merely to pay -her a visit, as he had not seen her for a long time. After he had rested -for a good while, he rode back; but his disquietude was by no means -wholly removed, and the thought of the _Hilchoth Abheloth_ he could not -get out of his head. The third day after, a fire broke out in the town -where his mother lived, and the poor woman perished in the flames. -Scarcely had the son heard of the conflagration, when he began to lament -that his mother had so miserably perished. He rode off in all haste to -the town, and found what he had foreboded. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long Chapter. - - -About this time I became acquainted with a sect of my nation, called the -_New Chasidim_, which was then coming into prominence. _Chasidim_ is the -name generally given by the Hebrews to the _pious_, that is, to those -who distinguish themselves by exercising the strictest piety. These -were, from time immemorial, men who had freed themselves from worldly -occupations and pleasures, and devoted their lives to the strictest -exercise of the laws of religion and penance for their sins. As already -mentioned, they sought to accomplish this object by prayers and other -exercises of devotion, by chastisement of the body and similar means. - -But about this time some among them set themselves up for founders of a -new sect. They maintained that true piety does not by any means consist -in chastisement of the body, by which the spiritual quiet and -cheerfulness, necessary to the knowledge and love of God, are disturbed. -On the contrary, they maintained that man must satisfy all his bodily -wants, and seek to enjoy the pleasures of sense, so far as may be -necessary for the development of our feelings, inasmuch as God has -created all for his glory. The true service of God, according to them, -consists in exercises of devotion with exertion of all our powers, and -annihilation of self before God; for they maintain that man, in -accordance with his destination, can reach the highest perfection only -when he regards himself, not as a being that exists and works for -himself, but merely as an organ of the Godhead. Instead therefore of -spending their lives in separation from the world, in suppression of -their natural feelings, and in deadening their powers, they believed -that they acted much more to the purpose, when they sought to develop -their natural feelings as much as possible, to bring their powers into -exercise, and constantly to widen their sphere of work. - -It must be acknowledged, that both of these opposite methods have -something true for a foundation. Of the former the foundation is -obviously Stoicism, that is, an endeavour to determine actions by free -will in accordance with a higher principle than passion; the latter is -founded on the system of perfection. Only both, like everything else in -the world, may be abused, and are abused in actual life. Those of the -first sect drive their penitential disposition to extravagance; instead -of merely regulating their desires and passions by rules of moderation, -they seek to annihilate them; and, instead of endeavouring, like the -Stoics, to find the principle of their actions in pure reason, they seek -it rather in religion. This is a pure source, it is true; but as these -people have false ideas of religion itself, and their virtue has for its -foundation merely the future rewards and punishments of an arbitrary -tyrannical being who governs by mere caprice, in point of fact their -actions flow from an impure source, namely the principle of interest. -Moreover, in their case this interest rests merely on fancies, so that, -in this respect, they are far below the grossest Epicureans, who have, -it is true, a low, but still a real interest as the end of their -actions. Only then can religion yield a principle of virtue, when it is -itself founded on the idea of virtue. - -The adherents of the second sect have indeed more correct ideas of -religion and morals; but since in this respect they regulate themselves -for the most part in accordance with obscure feelings, and not in -accordance with distinct knowledge, they likewise necessarily fall into -all sorts of extravagances. Self-annihilation of necessity cramps their -activity, or gives it a false direction. They have no natural science, -no acquaintance with psychology; and they are vain enough to consider -themselves organs of the Godhead,--which of course they are, to an -extent limited by the degree of perfection they attain. The result is, -that on the credit of the Godhead they perpetrate the greatest excesses; -every extraordinary suggestion is to them a divine inspiration, and -every lively impulse a divine call. - -These sects were not in fact different sects of religion; their -difference consisted merely in the mode of their religious exercises. -But still their animosity went so far, that they decried each other as -heretics, and indulged in mutual persecution. At first the new sect held -the upper hand, and extended itself nearly over the whole of Poland, and -even beyond. The heads of the sect ordinarily sent emissaries -everywhere, whose duty it was to preach the new doctrine and procure -adherents. Now, the majority of the Polish Jews consist of scholars, -that is, men devoted to an inactive and contemplative life; for every -Polish Jew is destined from his birth to be a rabbi, and only the -greatest incapacity can exclude him from the office. Moreover, this new -doctrine was to make the way to blessedness easier, inasmuch as it -declared that fasts and vigils and the constant study of the Talmud are -not only useless, but even prejudicial to that cheerfulness of spirit -which is essential to genuine piety. It was therefore natural that the -adherents of the doctrine spread far and wide in a short time. - -Pilgrimages were made to K. M. and other holy places, where the -enlightened superiors of this sect abode. Young people forsook parents, -wives and children, and went in troops to visit these superiors, and -hear from their lips the new doctrine. The occasion, which led to the -rise of this sect was the following.[43] - -I have already remarked that, since the time when the Jews lost their -national position and were dispersed among other nations where they are -more or less tolerated, they have had no internal form of government but -their religious constitution, by which they are held together and still -form, in spite of their political dispersion, an organic whole. Their -leaders, therefore, have allowed themselves to be occupied with nothing -so much as with imparting additional strength to this, the only bond of -union by which the Jews still constitute a nation. But the doctrines of -their faith and the laws of their religion take their origin in the Holy -Scriptures, while these leave much that is indefinite in regard to their -exposition and application to particular cases. Consequently the aid of -tradition is of necessity called in, and by this means the method of -expounding the Holy Scriptures, as well as the deduction of cases left -undetermined by them, is made to appear as if specified in determinate -laws. This tradition could not of course be entrusted to the whole -nation, but merely to a particular body--a sort of legislative -commission. - -By this means, however, the evil was not avoided. Tradition itself left -much that was still indeterminate. The deduction of particular cases -from the general, and the new laws demanded by the circumstances of -different times, gave occasion for many controversies; but through these -very controversies and the mode of their settlement, this body became -always more numerous, and its influence on the nation more powerful. -The Jewish constitution is therefore in its form aristocratic, and is -accordingly exposed to all the abuses of an aristocracy. The unlearned -classes of the people, being burdened with the care of supporting not -only themselves but also the indispensable learned class, were unable to -give their attention to abuses of the kind. But from time to time men -have arisen out of the legislative body itself, who have not only -denounced its abuses, but have even called in question its authority. - -Of this sort was the founder of the Christian religion, who at the very -outset placed himself in opposition to the tyranny of this aristocracy, -and brought back the whole ceremonial law to its origin, namely, a pure -moral system, to which the ceremonial law stands related as means to -end. In this way the reformation at least of a part of the nation was -accomplished. Of the same sort also was the notorious Shabbethai Zebi, -who, at the close of last century[44] set himself up as Messiah, and was -going to abolish the whole ceremonial law, especially the rabbinical -institutions. A moral system founded upon reason would, owing to the -deeply rooted prejudices of the nation at that time, have been powerless -to work out a wholesome reformation. To their prejudices and fanaticism -therefore it was necessary to oppose prejudices and fanaticism. This -was done in the following way. - -A secret society, whose founders belonged to the disaffected spirits of -the nation, had already taken root in it for a long time. A certain -French rabbi, named Moses de Leon, is said, according to Rabbi Joseph -Candia, to have composed the _Zohar_, and to have foisted it upon the -nation as an old book having for its author the celebrated Talmudist, -Rabbi ben Jochai. This book contains, as stated above, an exposition of -the Holy Scriptures in accordance with the principles of the Cabbalah; -or rather, it contains these principles themselves delivered in the form -of an exposition of the Holy Scriptures, and drawn, as it were, from -these. It has, like Janus, a double face, and admits, therefore, of a -double interpretation. - -The one is that which is given with great diffuseness in Cabbalistic -writings, and has been brought into a system. Here is a wide field for -the imagination, where it can revel at will without being in the end -better instructed on the matter than before. Here are delivered, in -figurative language, many moral and physical truths, which lose -themselves at last in the labyrinth of the hyperphysical. This method of -treating the Cabbalah is peculiar to Cabbalistic scholars, and -constitutes the lesser mysteries of this secret society. - -The second method, on the other hand, concerns the secret political -meaning of the Cabbalah, and is known only to the superiors of the -secret society. These superiors themselves, as well as their operations, -remain ever unknown; the rest of the society you may become acquainted -with, if you choose. But the latter _cannot_ betray political secrets -which are unknown to themselves, while the former _will not_ do it, -because it is against their interest. Only the lesser (purely literary) -mysteries are entrusted to the people, and urged upon them as matters of -the highest importance. The greater (political) mysteries are not -taught, but, as a matter of course, are brought into practice. - -A certain Cabbalist, Rabbi Joel Baalshem[45] by name, became very -celebrated at this time on account of some lucky cures which he effected -by means of his medical acquirements and his conjuring tricks, as he -gave out that all this was done, not by natural means, but solely by -help of the _Cabbalah Maasith_ (the practical Cabbalah), and the use of -sacred names. In this way he played a very successful game in Poland. He -also took care to have followers in his art. Among his disciples were -some, who took hold of his profession, and made themselves a name by -successful cures and the detection of robberies. With their cures the -process was quite natural. They employed the common means of medicine, -but after the usual method of the conjurer they sought to turn the -attention of the spectator from these, and direct it to their -Cabbalistic hocus-pocus. The robberies they either brought about -themselves, or they discovered them by means of their detectives, who -were spread all over the country. - -Others of greater genius and a nobler mode of thinking, formed far -grander plans. They saw that their private interest, as well as the -general interest, could be best promoted by gaining the people's -confidence, and this they sought to command by enlightenment. Their plan -was therefore moral and political at the same time.[46] At first it -appeared as if they would merely do away with the abuses which had crept -into the Jewish system of religion and morals; but this drew after it of -necessity a complete abrogation of the whole system. The principal -points which they attacked were these:-- - -1. The abuse of rabbinical learning. Instead of simplifying the laws and -rendering them capable of being known by all, the learning of the rabbis -leaves them still more confused and indefinite. Moreover, being occupied -only with the study of the laws, it gives as much attention to those -which are no longer of any application, such as the laws of sacrifice, -of purification, etc., as to those which are still in use. Besides, it -is not the study, but the observance of the laws, that forms the chief -concern, since the study of them is not an end in itself, but merely a -means to their observance. And, finally, in the observance of the laws -the rabbis have regard merely to the external ceremony, not to the moral -end. - -2. The abuse of piety on the part of the so-called penitents. These -become very zealous, it is true, about the practice of virtue. Their -motive to virtue, however, is not that knowledge of God and His -perfection, which is based on reason; it consists rather in false -representations of God and His attributes. They failed therefore of -necessity to find true virtue, and hit upon a spurious imitation. -Instead of aspiring after likeness to God, and striving to escape from -the bondage of sensual passions into the dominion of a free will that -finds its motive in reason, they sought to annihilate their passions by -annihilating their powers of activity, as I have already shown by some -deplorable examples. - -On the other hand, those who sought to enlighten the people required, as -an indispensable condition of true virtue, a cheerful state of mind -disposed to every form of active exertion; and they not only allowed, -but even recommended, a moderate enjoyment of all kinds of pleasure as -necessary for the attainment of this cheerful disposition. Their worship -consisted in a voluntary elevation above the body, that is, in an -abstraction of the thoughts from all created things, even from the -individual self, and in union with God. By this means a kind of -self-denial arose among them, which led them to ascribe, not to -themselves, but to God alone, all the actions undertaken in this state. -Their worship therefore consisted in a sort of speculative adoration, -for which they held no special time or formula to be necessary, but they -left each one to determine it according to the degree of his knowledge. -Still they chose for it most commonly the hours set apart for the public -worship of God. In their public worship they endeavoured mainly to -attain that elevation above the body, which has been described; they -became so absorbed in the idea of the divine perfection, that they lost -the idea of everything else, even of their own body, and, as they gave -out, the body became in this state wholly devoid of feeling. - -Such abstraction, however, was a very difficult matter; and accordingly, -whenever they came out of this state by new suggestions taking -possession of their minds, they laboured, by all sorts of _mechanical -operations_, such as movements and cries, to bring themselves back into -the state once more, and to keep themselves in it without interruption -during the whole time of their worship. It was amusing to observe how -they often interrupted their prayers by all sorts of extraordinary tones -and comical gestures, which were meant as threats and reproaches against -their adversary, the Evil Spirit, who tried to disturb their devotion; -and how by this means they wore themselves out to such an extent, that, -on finishing their prayers, they commonly fell down in complete -exhaustion. - -It is not to be denied that, however sound may be the basis of such a -worship, it is subject to abuse just as much as the other. The internal -activity following upon cheerfulness of mind, must depend on the degree -of knowledge acquired. Self-annihilation before God is only then -well-founded, when a man's faculty of knowledge, owing to the grandeur -of its object, is so entirely occupied with that object, that he exists, -as it were, out of himself, in the object alone. If, on the contrary, -the faculty of knowledge is limited in respect of its object, so that it -is incapable of any steady progress, then the activity mentioned, by -being concentrated on this single object, is repressed rather than -stimulated. Some simple men of this sect, who sauntered about idly the -whole day with pipe in mouth, when asked, what they were thinking about -all the time, replied, "We are thinking about God." This answer would -have been satisfactory, if they had constantly sought, by an adequate -knowledge of nature, to extend their knowledge of the divine -perfections. But this was impossible in their case, as their knowledge -of nature was extremely limited; and consequently the condition, in -which they concentrated their activity upon an object which, in respect -of their capacity, was unfruitful, became of necessity unnatural. -Moreover, their actions could be ascribed to God, only when they were -the results of an accurate knowledge of God; but when they resulted from -a very limited degree of this knowledge, it was inevitable that all -sorts of excesses should be committed on the credit of God, as -unfortunately the issue has shown. - -But the fact that this sect spread so rapidly, and that the new doctrine -met with so much applause among the majority of the nation, may be very -easily explained. The natural inclination to idleness and a life of -speculation on the part of the majority, who from birth are destined to -study, the dryness and unfruitfulness of rabbinical studies, and the -great burden of the ceremonial law, which the new doctrine promised to -lighten, finally the tendency to fanaticism and the love of the -marvellous, which are nourished by this doctrine,--these are sufficient -to make this phenomenon intelligible. - -At first the rabbis and the pietists opposed the spread of this sect in -the old fashion; but in spite of this, for the reasons just mentioned, -it maintained the upper hand. Hostilities were practised on both sides. -Each party sought to gain adherents. A ferment arose in the nation, and -opinions were divided. - -I could not form any accurate idea of the new sect, and did not know -what to think of it, till I met with a young man, who had already been -initiated into the society, and had enjoyed the good fortune of -conversing with its superiors. This man happened to be travelling -through the place of my abode, and I seized the opportunity of asking -for some information about the internal constitution of the society, the -mode of admission, and so forth. The stranger was still in the lowest -grade of membership, and consequently knew nothing about the internal -constitution of the society. He was therefore unable to give me any -information on the subject; but, as far as the mode of admission was -concerned, he assured me that that was the simplest thing in the world. -Any man, who felt a desire of perfection, but did not know how to -satisfy it, or wished to remove the hindrances to its satisfaction, had -nothing to do but apply to the superiors of the society, and _eo ipso_ -he became a member. He did not even require, as you must do on applying -to a medical doctor, to say anything to these superiors about his moral -weakness, his previous life, and matters of that sort, inasmuch as -nothing was unknown to the superiors, they could see into the human -heart, and discern everything that is concealed in its secret recesses, -they could foretell the future, and bring near at hand things that are -remote. Their sermons and moral teachings were not, as these things -commonly are, thought over and arranged in an orderly manner beforehand. -This method is proper only to the man, who regards himself as a being -existing and working for himself apart from God. But the superiors of -this sect hold that their teachings are divine and therefore infallible, -only when they are the result of self-annihilation before God, that is, -when they are suggested to them _ex tempore_, by the exigence of -circumstances, without their contributing anything themselves. - -As I was quite captivated by this description I begged the stranger to -communicate to me some of these divine teachings. He clapped his hand on -his brow as if he were waiting for inspiration from the Holy Ghost, and -turned to me with a solemn mien and his arms half-bared, which he -brought into action somewhat like Corporal Trim, when he was reading the -sermon. Then he began as follows:-- - -"'Sing unto God a new song; His praise is in the congregation of saints' -(Psalm cxlix., 1). Our superiors explain this verse in the following -way. The attributes of God as the most perfect being must surpass by far -the attributes of every finite being; and consequently His praise, as -the expression of His attributes, must likewise surpass the praise of -any such being. Till the present time the praise of God consisted in -ascribing to Him supernatural operations, such as the discovery of what -is concealed, the foreseeing of the future, and the production of -effects immediately by His mere will. Now, however, the saints, that is, -the superiors, are able to perform such supernatural actions themselves. -Accordingly in this respect God has no longer preeminence over them; and -it is therefore necessary to find some new praise, which is proper to -God alone." - -Quite charmed with this ingenious method of interpreting the Holy -Scriptures, I begged the stranger for some more expositions of the same -kind. He proceeded therefore in his inspired manner:--"'When the -minstrel played, the spirit of God came upon him' (2 Kings iii. 15). -This is explained in the following way. As long as a man is self-active, -he is incapable of receiving the influence of the Holy Ghost; for this -purpose he must hold himself like an instrument in a purely passive -state. The meaning of the passage is therefore this. When the minstrel -([Hebrew: hamnaggeyn], the servant of God), becomes like his instrument -([Hebrew: kenaggeyn]), then the spirit of God comes upon him."[47] - -"Now," said the stranger again, "hear the interpretation of a passage -from the Mishnah, where it is said, 'The honour of thy neighbour shall -be as dear to thee as thine own.' Our teachers explain this in the -following way. It is certain that no man will find pleasure in doing -honour to himself: this would be altogether ridiculous. But it would be -just as ridiculous to make too much of the marks of honour received from -another, as these confer on us no more intrinsic worth than we have -already. This passage therefore means merely, that the honour of thy -neighbour (the honour which thy neighbour shows to thee) must be of as -little value in thine eyes, as thine own (the honour which thou showest -to thyself)." - -I could not help being astonished at the exquisite refinement of these -thoughts; and charmed with the ingenious exegesis, by which they were -supported.[48] My imagination was strained to the highest pitch by these -descriptions, and consequently I wished nothing so much as the pleasure -of becoming a member of this honourable society. I resolved therefore to -undertake a journey to M----, where the superior B---- resided. I waited -with the greatest impatience for the close of my period of service, -which lasted still for some weeks. As soon as this came to an end, -instead of going home (though I was only two miles away), I started at -once on my pilgrimage. The journey extended over some weeks. - -At last I arrived at M----, and after having rested from my journey I -went to the house of the superior under the idea that I could be -introduced to him at once. I was told, however, that he could not speak -to me at the time, but that I was invited to his table on Sabbath along -with the other strangers who had come to visit him; that I should then -have the happiness of seeing the saintly man face to face, and of -hearing the sublimest teachings out of his own mouth; that although this -was a public audience, yet, on account of the individual references -which I should find made to myself, I might regard it as a special -interview. - -Accordingly on Sabbath I went to this solemn meal, and found there a -large number of respectable men who had met here from various quarters. -At length the great man appeared in his awe-inspiring form, clothed in -white satin. Even his shoes and snuffbox were white, this being among -the Cabbalists the colour of grace. He gave to every new comer his -salaam, that is, his greeting. We sat down to table and during the meal -a solemn silence reigned. After the meal was over, the superior struck -up a solemn inspiriting melody, held his hand for some time upon his -brow, and then began to call out, "Z---- of H----, M---- of R----," and -so on. Every new comer was thus called by his own name and the name of -his residence, which excited no little astonishment. Each recited, as he -was called, some verse of the Holy Scriptures. Thereupon the superior -began to deliver a sermon for which the verses recited served as a text, -so that although they were disconnected verses taken from different -parts of the Holy Scriptures they were combined with as much skill as if -they had formed a single whole. What was still more extraordinary, -every one of the new comers believed that he discovered, in that part of -the sermon which was founded on his verse, something that had special -reference to the facts of his own spiritual life. At this we were of -course greatly astonished. - -It was not long, however, before I began to qualify the high opinion I -had formed of this superior and the whole society. I observed that their -ingenious exegesis was at bottom false, and, in addition to that, was -limited strictly to their own extravagant principles, such as the -doctrine of self-annihilation. When a man had once learned these, there -was nothing new for him to bear. The so-called miracles could be very -naturally explained. By means of correspondence and spies and a certain -knowledge of men, by physiognomy and skilful questions, the superiors -were able to elicit indirectly the secrets of the heart, so that they -succeeded with these simple men in obtaining the reputation of being -inspired prophets. - -The whole society also displeased me not a little by their cynical -spirit and the excess of their merriment. A single example of this may -suffice. We had met once at the hour of prayer in the house of the -superior. One of the company arrived somewhat late, when the others -asked him the reason. He replied that he had been detained by his wife -having been that evening confined with a daughter. As soon as they heard -this, they began to congratulate him in a somewhat uproarious fashion. -The superior thereupon came out of his study and asked the cause of the -noise. He was told that we were congratulating our friend, because his -wife had brought a girl into the world. "A girl!" he answered with the -greatest indignation, "he ought to be whipped."[49] The poor fellow -protested. He could not comprehend why he should be made to suffer for -his wife having brought a girl into the world. But this was of no avail: -he was seized, thrown down on the floor, and whipped unmercifully. All -except the victim fell into an hilarious mood over the affair, upon -which the superior called them to prayer in the following words, "Now, -brethren, _serve the Lord with gladness_!" - -I would not stay in the place any longer. I sought the superior's -blessing, took my departure from the society with the resolution to -abandon it for ever, and returned home. - -Now I shall say something of the internal constitution of the society. -The superiors may, according to my experience, be brought under four -heads: (1) the prudent, (2) the crafty, (3) the powerful,[50] (4) the -good. - -The highest class, which rules all the others, is of course the first. -These are men of enlightenment, who have attained a deep knowledge of -the weaknesses of men and the motives of their actions, and have early -learned the truth that prudence is better than power, inasmuch as power -is in part dependent on prudence, while prudence is independent of -power. A man may have as many powers and in as high a degree as he will, -still his influence is always limited. By prudence, however, and a sort -of psychological mechanics, that is, an insight into the best possible -use of these powers and their direction, they may be infinitely -strengthened. These prudent leaders, therefore, have devoted themselves -to the art of ruling free men, that is, of using the will and powers of -other men, so that while these believe themselves to be advancing merely -their own ends, they are in reality advancing the ends of their leaders. -This can be maintained by a judicious combination and regulation of the -powers, so that by the slightest touch upon this instrument it may -produce the greatest effect. There is here no deceit, for, as -presupposed, the others themselves reach their own ends by this means -best. - -The second class, the crafty, also use the will and the powers of others -for the attainment of their ends; but in regard to these ends they are -more short-sighted or more impetuous than the former class. It often -happens, therefore, that they seek to attain their ends at the expense -of others; and their skill consists not merely in attaining their own -ends, like the first class, but in carefully concealing from others the -fact that they have not reached theirs. - -The powerful are men who, by their inborn or acquired moral force, rule -over the weakness of others, especially when their force is such as is -seldom found in others, as, for example, the control of all the passions -but one, which is made the end of their actions. - -The good are weak men who are merely passive in respect of their -knowledge and power of will, and whose ends are reached, not by -controlling, but by allowing themselves to be controlled. - -The highest class, that of the prudent, supervising all the others -without being under their supervision, as a matter of course rules them -all. It makes use of the crafty on their good side, and seeks to make -them harmless on their other side by outwitting them, so that when they -believe they are deceiving, they themselves are deceived. It makes use, -moreover, of the powerful for the attainment of more important ends, but -seeks, when necessary, to keep them in check by the opposition of -several, it may be weaker, powers. Finally it makes use of the good for -the attainment of its ends, not merely with them but also with others, -inasmuch as it commends these weak brethren to the others as an example -of submission that is worthy of imitation, and by this means clears out -of the way those hindrances that arise from the independent activity of -the others. - -This highest class begins usually with Stoicism, and ends with -Epicureanism. Its members consist of pious men of the first sort, that -is, such as have for a considerable time devoted themselves to the -strictest exercise of religious and moral laws, to the control of their -desires and passions. But they do not, like the Stoic, look upon -Stoicism as an end in itself; they regard it merely as a means to the -highest end of man, namely, happiness. They do not therefore remain at -the Stoical stage, but, after having obtained from it all that is -necessary to the highest end, they hasten to that end itself, the -enjoyment of happiness. By their exercise in the strictest Stoicism -their sensibility for all sorts of pleasure is heightened and ennobled, -instead of becoming duller, as it is with gross Epicureans. By means of -this exercise also they are placed in a position to defer every pleasure -that presents itself till they have determined its real worth, which a -gross Epicurean will not do. - -The first impulse to Stoicism, however, must lie in the temperament, and -it is only by a kind of self-deception that it is shifted to the account -of voluntary activity. But this vanity imparts courage for actual -undertakings of a voluntary nature, and this courage is continually -fired by their successful issue. As the superiors of this sect are not -men of science, it is not to be supposed that they have hit upon their -system by the guidance of reason alone. Rather, as already said, the -motive was, in the first instance, temperament, in the second, religious -ideas; and it was only after that, that they could attain to a clear -knowledge and practice of their system in its purity. - -This sect was therefore, in regard to its end and its means, a sort of -secret society, which had nearly acquired dominion over the whole -nation; and consequently one of the greatest revolutions was to have -been expected, if the excesses of some of its members had not laid bare -many weak spots, and thus put weapons into the hands of its enemies. -Some among them, who wished to pass for genuine Cynics, violated all the -laws of decency, wandered about naked in the public streets, attended to -the wants of nature in the presence of others, and so on. By their -practice of extemporising, as a consequence of their principle of -self-annihilation, they introduced into their sermons all sorts of -foolish, unintelligible, confused stuff. By this means some of them -became insane, and believed that in fact they were no longer in -existence. To all this must be added their pride and contempt of others -who did not belong to their sect, especially of the rabbis, who, though -they had their faults, were still far more active and useful than these -ignorant idlers. Men began to find out their weaknesses, to disturb -their meetings, and to persecute them everywhere. This was brought about -especially by the authority of a celebrated rabbi, Elias of Wilna,[51] -who stood in great esteem among the Jews, so that now scarcely any -traces of the society can be found scattered here and there. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -Continuation of the Former, and also something about Religious -Mysteries. - - -After the account of the secret society in the last chapter, this seems -the most appropriate place to state, for the examination of the -thoughtful reader, my opinion about _mysteries in general_, and about -the _mysteries of religion_ in particular. - -_Mysteries in general_ are modes of the causal relation between objects -in nature,--modes which are real or held to be real, but which cannot be -disclosed to every man by the natural use of his powers of knowledge. -_Eternal truths_, that is, those necessary relations of objects which -are founded on the nature of our powers of knowledge, however few may be -familiar with them, are not, according to this definition, mysteries, -because any one can discover them by the use of his powers of knowledge. - -On the other hand, the results of _sympathy_ and _antipathy_, the -medical _specifics_, and similar effects, which some men fall upon by -mere accident, and which they afterwards find confirmed by means of -observations and experiments, are genuine _mysteries of nature_, which -can be made known to another person, not by the use of his powers of -knowledge, but only either by an accident of the same kind, or by -communication from the first discoverer. If mysteries of this sort are -not confirmed by observation and experiment, the belief in their reality -is called _superstition_. - -_Religion_ is a covenant formed between man and another moral being of a -higher genus. It presupposes a natural relation between man and this -higher moral being, so that, by the mutual fulfilment of their covenant, -they advance the interest of each other. If this natural relation (not -being merely arbitrary and conventional) is real, and the mutual -obligation of the contracting persons is founded on this relation, then -it forms a _true_, but otherwise a _false_, natural religion. If the -mutual obligation between man and the higher being or his -representatives is drawn up in a formal code, there arises a _positive_ -or _revealed religion_. - -The true religion, natural as well as revealed, which, as already -observed, constitutes Judaism, consists in a contract, at first merely -understood, but afterwards expressed, between man and the Supreme Being, -who revealed Himself to the patriarchs in person (in dreams and -prophetic appearances), and made known by them His will, the reward of -obeying it and the punishment of disobedience, regarding which a -covenant was then with mutual consent concluded. Subsequently, through -his representative Moses, He renewed His covenant with the Israelites in -Egypt, determining more precisely their mutual obligations; and this -was afterwards on both sides formally confirmed on Mount Sinai. - -To the thoughtful reader I do not need to say, that the representation -of a covenant between God and man is to be taken merely _analogically_, -and not in its strict sense. The absolutely Perfect Being can reveal -Himself merely _as idea to the reason_. What revealed itself to the -patriarchs and prophets, suitably to their power of comprehension, in -figure, in an anthropomorphic manner, was not the absolutely Perfect -Being Himself, but a representative of Him, His sensible image. The -covenant, which this Being concludes with man, has not for its end the -mutual satisfaction of wants; for the Supreme Being has no wants, and -the wants of man are satisfied, not by means of this covenant, but only -by observation of those relations between himself and other natural -objects, which are founded on the laws of nature. This covenant, -therefore, can have its foundation nowhere but in the nature of reason, -without reference to any end. - -Heathenism, in my opinion, is distinguished from Judaism mainly by the -fact, that the latter rests upon the _formal_, absolutely necessary laws -of reason, while the former (even if it be founded on the nature of -things and therefore real) rests upon the _material_ laws of nature -which are merely hypothetically necessary. From this the inevitable -result is polytheism; every particular cause is personified by -imagination, that is, represented as a moral being, and made a -particular deity. At first this result was a matter of mere -_Empiricism_; but by and by men had occasion to observe that these -causes, which were represented as particular deities, were dependent on -each other in their effects, and in a certain aspect subordinate to each -other. There thus arose gradually a whole system of heathen theology, in -which every deity maintains his rank, and his relation to the rest is -determined. - -Judaism, on the other hand, in its very origin contemplated a _system_, -that is, a unity among the forces of nature; and thereby it received at -last this _pure formal_ unity. This unity is merely of _regulative_ use, -that is, for the complete systematic connection of all the phenomena of -nature; and it presupposes a knowledge of the _multiplicity_ of the -various forces in nature. But owing to their excessive love of system, -and their anxiety for the preservation of the _principle_ in its purity, -the Israelites seem to have wholly neglected its application. The result -was that they preserved a religion which was pure indeed, but at the -same time very unfruitful, both for the extension of knowledge and for -its application in practical life. By this cause may be explained their -constant murmuring against the leaders of their religion, and their -repeated relapse into idolatry. They could not, like enlightened nations -at the present day, direct their attention to purity of principle and -useful application of their religion at the same time, and therefore of -necessity they failed either in the one or in the other. Finally the -Talmudists introduced a merely _formal_ application of religion which -aimed at no real end; and by this means they made matters worse and -worse. - -This religion, therefore, which, by the intention of its founder, should -have formed the Jews into the wisest and most intelligent of nations, -made them by its injudicious application the most ignorant and -unreasonable of all. Instead of the knowledge of nature being combined -with the knowledge of religion, and the former subordinated to the -latter merely as the material to the formal, the former was altogether -neglected; and the principle, maintained in its mere abstractness, -continued without any application. - -Mysteries of religion are objects and acts, which are adapted to ideas -and principles, and the inner meaning of which is of great importance, -but which have in their outward form something unseemly or ridiculous or -otherwise objectionable. They must therefore, even in regard to their -outward form, be kept concealed from the vulgar eye, which cannot -penetrate into the inner meaning of anything; and accordingly for it -they must be a double mystery. That is to say, the objects or acts -themselves constitute the lesser mysteries, and their inner meaning the -greater mysteries. - -Of this sort, for example, among the Jews, in the tabernacle, and -afterwards in the Holy of Holies in the temple, was the ark of the -covenant, which, according to the testimony of renowned authors, showed -much resemblance to the sacred chest in the innermost shrine of some -heathen temples. Thus we find among the Egyptians the casket of Apis, -that concealed from the vulgar eye this dead animal, which as a symbol -indeed had an important meaning, but in itself presented a repulsive -aspect. The ark of the covenant in the first temple contained, it is -true, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, nothing besides the -two tables of the law; but of the ark in the second temple, built after -the Babylonian captivity, I find in the Talmud a passage which is too -remarkable not to be adduced. According to this passage the enemies, who -seized the temple, found in the Holy of Holies the likeness of two -persons of different sex embracing, and profaned the sacred object by a -crass exposition of its inner meaning. This likeness was said to be a -vivid sensible representation of the union between the nation and God, -and, in order to guard against abuse, had to be withdrawn from the eye -of the common people, who cling to the symbol, but do not penetrate to -its inner meaning. For the same reason the _cherubim_ also were -concealed behind the veil. - -Of the same sort were the mysteries of the ancients in general. But the -greatest of all mysteries in the Jewish religion consists in the name, -Jehovah, expressing _bare existence_, in abstraction from all -_particular kinds of existence_, which cannot of course be conceived -without _existence in general_. The doctrine of the unity of God, and -the dependence of all beings on Him, in regard to their possibility as -well as their actuality, can be perfectly comprehended only in -conformity with a _single system_. When Josephus, in his apology against -Apion, says, "The first instruction of our religion relates to the -Godhead, and teaches that God comprehends all things, is an absolutely -Perfect and Blessed Being, and is the _sole cause of all existence_," I -believe that these words contain the best explanation of the otherwise -difficult passage, where Moses says to God, "Behold, when I come unto -the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers -hath sent me unto you, and they shall ask, What is his name? what shall -I answer unto them?" and God replies, "Thus shalt thou say unto the -children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of -Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob hath sent me unto you, for this is my name for -ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations."[52] For, in my -opinion, this passage means nothing more than that the Jewish religion -lays at its foundation the unity of God as the _immediate_ cause of all -existence; and it says therefore precisely the same as the remarkable -inscription on the pyramid at Sais, "I am all that is and was and shall -be; my veil has no mortal removed," and that other inscription under the -column of Isis, "I am that which is." The name, Jehovah, is called by -the Talmudists _Shem haezam_ (_nomen proprium_), the name of the -essence, which belongs to God in Himself, without reference to His -operations. The other names of God, however, are _appellative_, and -express attributes which he has in common with all His creatures, only -that they belong to Him in the most eminent degree. For example, -_Elohim_ is a lord, a judge. _El_ is a mighty one, _Adonai_, a lord; and -the same is the case with all the rest. The Talmudists drive this point -so far as to maintain, that the Holy Scriptures consist merely of the -manifold names of God. - -The Cabbalists made use of this principle. Having enumerated the chief -attributes of God, arranged them in order and brought them into a system -which they call _Olam Eziloth_ or _Sephiroth_, they not only picked out -an appropriate name for each in the Holy Scriptures, but they made in -addition all sorts of combinations of these attributes in various -relations, which they expressed by similar combinations of the -corresponding names. They could therefore easily expound the Holy -Scriptures according to their method, inasmuch as they found therein -nothing but what they had before put in themselves. - -Besides these there may also be mysteries in a religion which consist in -the knowledge that the religion, as understood by enlightened people, -has no mysteries at all. This knowledge may be connected either with an -endeavour to destroy gradually among the people the belief in mysteries, -and to banish the so-called lesser mysteries by publishing the greater, -or, on the contrary, with an endeavour to preserve among the people the -belief in mysteries, and to make the preservation of the lesser -mysteries part of the subject of the greater. - -The Jewish religion, according to the spirit of its founder, is of the -first kind. Moses, as well as the prophets who followed him, sought -constantly to inculcate that the end of religion is not _external -ceremonies_, but the knowledge of the true God as the sole -incomprehensible cause of all things, and the practice of virtue in -accordance with the prescriptions of reason. - -The heathen religions, on the other hand, show evident traces of the -second kind. Still I am not, like some, inclined to believe that -everything in these was planned for _intentional deception_, but I -believe that the founders of these religions were for the most part -deceived deceivers; and this mode of representing the matter is far more -in accordance with human nature. I am also unable to imagine that such -secret designs could be propagated, by means of a formal tradition, from -generation to generation. And, moreover, what would have been the use of -this? Have not later generations the same faculty as the earlier of -contriving schemes to reach their ends? There are princes who have never -read Macchiavelli, and yet have admirably carried his principles into -practice. - -With regard to the society of pietists described above I am persuaded -that it had as little connection with the free-masons as with any other -secret society. But conjectures are allowed, and here we have to do -merely with the _degree of probability_. In my opinion there are in -every state societies which are essentially secret, but which externally -have no appearance of being such. Every body of men with a common -interest is to me a secret society. Its aim and principal operations may -be ever so well known, still the _most important_ of these remain -concealed to the uninitiated. Of such a secret society, as of others, -much good as well as evil may therefore be said; and so long as they do -not carry their mischief too far, they are always tolerated. - -The Society of Pietists had a similar end in view to that of the Order -of Illuminati in Bavaria, and employed nearly the same means. Its aim -was to spread itself among people wandering in the dark; and it made use -of superstition in a remarkable manner, as means to this end. It sought -chiefly to attract the youth to itself, and by a sort of empirical -knowledge of men, to educate every member to that, for which he seemed -to be destined by nature, and to assign him his proper place. Every -member of the society was allowed to acquire as much knowledge of its -aim and internal constitution, as enabled him to look merely backwards -on his subordinates, but not forwards on his superiors. These superiors -understood the art of communicating truths of reason by means of sublime -figures, and of translating these figurative representations into truths -of reason. It might almost be said of them, that _they understood the -language of animals_--a very important art, which is indispensable to -every teacher of the people. By doing away with a gloomy piety, their -doctrines met with acceptance among the lively youth. The principle of -self-annihilation, taught by them, is, when well understood, nothing -else than the foundation of self-activity. By its means all the modes of -thought and action, which have become rooted by education, habit and -communication with others, and by which human activity is wont to -receive a wrong direction, are to be destroyed, and one's own free mode -of action introduced. Moral and æsthetic feeling can in fact be -preserved and perfected by this principle alone. It is only when ill -understood, that it can be injurious, as I have shown by the example of -this society itself. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -Journeys to Königsberg, Stettin and Berlin, for the purpose of extending -my knowledge of men. - - -My external circumstances were becoming worse and worse. I was unwilling -any longer to adapt myself to my ordinary occupations, and found myself -therefore everywhere out of my sphere. On the other hand, I was also -unable in the place of my abode to satisfy sufficiently my favourite -inclination to the study of the sciences. So I determined to betake -myself to Germany, there to study medicine and, as opportunity offered, -other sciences also. But the question was, how such a long journey was -to be made. I knew indeed, that some merchants in the place of my abode -were soon to make a journey to Königsberg in Prussia; but I had only a -slight acquaintance with them, and could not therefore expect that they -would take me with them for nothing. After much deliberation I fell at -last upon a capital expedient. - -I had among my friends a very learned and pious man, who stood in great -esteem among all the Jews of the town. To him I revealed my purpose, and -took him into counsel on the subject. I laid before him my miserable -circumstances, pointed out to him, that, as my inclinations had been -once directed to the knowledge of God and His works, I was no longer fit -for any ordinary occupation; and I represented to him especially, that I -was now obliged to support myself by my scholarship alone, as an -instructor in the Bible and the Talmud, which, according to the judgment -of some rabbis, was not altogether allowable. I explained to him, that -on this account I wished to study medicine as a profane art, by which -means I might be of service, not only to myself, but to the whole of the -Jews in this neighbourhood, as there was no regular physician here, and -those, who gave themselves out for such, were the most ignorant shavers, -who packed men out of the world by their cures. - -These reasons produced an extraordinary effect on so devout a man. He -went to a merchant of his acquaintance, represented to him the -importance of my undertaking, and persuaded him to take me with him to -Königsberg on his own vessel. The merchant could refuse nothing to so -godly a man, and therefore gave his consent. - -Accordingly I set out with this Jewish merchant for Königsberg in -Prussia. When I arrived there, I went to the Jewish medical doctor of -the place, opened to him my proposal to study medicine, and begged him -for advice and support. As his professional occupations prevented him -from conveniently speaking with me on the subject, and as he could not -understand me well at any rate, he referred me to some students who -lodged in his house. As soon as I showed myself to these young -gentlemen, and opened to them my proposal, they burst into loud -laughter. And certainly for this they were not to be blamed. Imagine a -man from Polish Lithuania of about five and twenty years, with a -tolerably stiff beard, in tattered dirty clothes, whose language is a -mixture of Hebrew, Jewish German, Polish and Russian, with their several -grammatical inaccuracies, who gives out that he understands the German -language, and that he has attained some knowledge of the sciences. What -were the young gentlemen to think? - -They began to poke fun at me, and gave me to read Mendelssohn's -_Phaedo_, which by chance lay on the table. I read in the most pitiful -style, both on account of the peculiar manner in which I had learned the -German language, and on account of my bad pronunciation. Again they -burst into loud laughter; but they said, I must explain to them what I -had read. This I did in my own fashion; but as they did not understand -me, they demanded that I should translate what I had read into Hebrew. -This I did on the spot. The students, who understood Hebrew well, fell -into no slight astonishment, when they saw that I had not only grasped -correctly the meaning of this celebrated author, but also expressed it -happily in Hebrew. They began therefore to interest themselves on my -account, procured for me some cast-off clothing, and board during my -stay in Königsberg. At the same time they advised me to go to Berlin, -where I should best attain my object. To make the journey suit my -circumstances, however, they advised me to go by ship from Königsberg to -Stettin, and thence to Frankfurt on the Oder, from which place I should -easily find means of getting to Berlin. - -I went therefore by ship, and had nothing for food but some toast, some -herring, and a flask of spirits. I was told in Königsberg, that the -journey might take ten or, at the most, fourteen days. This prophecy, -however, was not fulfilled. In consequence of contrary winds, the voyage -lasted five weeks. In what circumstances, therefore, I found myself, may -be easily imagined. There were in the vessel besides me no other -passengers, but an old woman, who sang hymns all the time for her -comfort. The Pomeranian German of the crew I could understand as little -as they could my medley of Jewish, Polish and Lithuanian. I got nothing -warm to eat the whole time, and was obliged to sleep on hard stuffed -bags. The vessel came also sometimes into danger. Of course the most of -the time I was seasick. - -At last I arrived at Stettin, where I was told that I could make the -journey to Frankfurt quite pleasantly on foot. But how was a Polish Jew -in the most wretched circumstances, without a pfennig to buy food, and -without knowing the language of the country, to make a journey even of a -few miles? Yet it had to be done. Accordingly I set out from Stettin, -and as I thought over my miserable situation, I sat down under a -lime-tree, and began to weep bitterly. I soon became somewhat lighter in -heart; I took courage, and went on. After I had gone two or three miles, -towards evening I arrived at an inn thoroughly worn out. It was the eve -of the Jewish fast, which falls in August. Already I was nearly starving -with hunger and thirst, and I was to fast still the whole of the next -day. I had not a pfennig to spend and nothing of any value to sell. - -After long reflection it occurred to me, that I must still have in my -coat-pocket an iron spoon, which I had taken with me on board ship. I -brought it, and begged the landlady of the inn to give me a little bread -and beer for it. She refused at first to take the spoon, but after much -importunity she was at last induced to grant a glass of sour beer in -exchange. I was obliged therefore to content myself with this, drank my -glass of beer, and went off to the stable to sleep on straw. - -In the morning I proceeded on my journey, having previously inquired for -a place, where there were Jews, in order that I might be able to go into -the synagogue, and sing with my brethren the lamentations over the -destruction of Jerusalem. This was done, and after the prayers and -singing,--about midday,--I went to the Jewish schoolmaster of the place, -and held some conversation with him. He soon discovered that I was a -full rabbi, began to interest himself about me, and procured me a -supper at the house of a Jew. He also gave me a letter of introduction -to another schoolmaster in the neighbouring town, recommending me as a -great Talmudist and an honourable rabbi. Here also I met with a fair -reception. I was invited to the Sabbath dinner by the most respectable -and richest Jew of the place, and went into the synagogue, where I was -shown to the highest seat, and received every mark of honour usually -bestowed on a rabbi. - -After the close of the service the rich Jew referred to took me to his -house, and put me in the place of honour at his table, that is between -himself and his daughter. She was a young girl of about twelve years, -dressed in the most beautiful style. I began, as rabbi, to hold a very -learned and edifying discourse; and the less the gentleman and lady -understood it, the more divine it seemed to them. All at once I -observed, to my chagrin, that the young lady began to put on a sour -look, and to make wry faces. At first I did not know how to explain -this; but, after a while, when I turned my eyes upon myself and my -miserable dirty suit of rags, the whole mystery was at once unriddled. -The uneasiness of the young lady had a very good cause. And how could it -be otherwise? Since I left Königsberg, about seven weeks before, I had -never had a clean shirt to put on; and I had been obliged to lie in the -stables of inns on bare straw, on which who knows how many poor -travellers had lain before? Now all at once my eyes were opened to see -my misery in its appalling magnitude. But what was I to do? How was I to -help myself out of this unfortunate situation? Gloomy and sad I soon -bade farewell to these good people, and proceeded on my journey to -Berlin under a continued struggle with want and misery of every kind. - -At last I reached this city. Here I believed that I should put an end to -my misery, and accomplish all my wishes. But alas I was sadly deceived. -In this capital, as is well known, no Jewish beggars were allowed. -Accordingly the Jewish community of the place, in order to make -provision for their poor, have built at the Rosenthaler gate a house, in -which the poor are received, and questioned by the Jewish elders about -what they want in Berlin. According to the results of such inquiry, they -are either taken into the city, if they are sick or want employment, or -they are sent forward on their journey. I was therefore conducted to -this house, which was filled partly with sick people, partly with a lewd -rabble. For a long while I looked round in vain for a man, with whom I -might talk about my affairs. - -At last I observed a man, who, to judge by his dress, was surely a -rabbi. I went to him, and how great was my joy to learn from him, that -he was really a rabbi, and pretty well known in Berlin! I conversed with -him on all sorts of subjects connected with rabbinical learning; and as -I was very open-hearted, I related to him the course of my life in -Poland, revealed to him my purpose of studying medicine in Berlin, -showed him my commentary on the _Moreh Nebhochim_, and so forth. He -listened to all, and seemed to interest himself very much in my behalf. -But all at once he disappeared out of sight. - -At length towards evening came the Jewish elders. Each of the persons in -the house was called, and questioned about his wants. When my turn came, -I said quite frankly, that I wished to remain in Berlin, in order to -study medicine. The elders refused my request point-blank, gave me a -pittance in charity, and went away. The reason of this conduct towards -me in particular was nothing else than the following. - -The rabbi, of whom I spoke, was a zealot in his orthodoxy. Accordingly -when he had discovered my sentiments and purposes, he went into town, -and informed the elders about my heretical mode of thinking. He told -them, that I was going to issue a new edition of the _Moreh Nebhochim_ -with a commentary, and that my intention was not so much to study -medicine, but mainly to devote myself to the sciences in general, and to -extend my knowledge. This the orthodox Jews look upon as something -dangerous to religion and good morals. They believe this to be specially -true of the Polish rabbis, who, having by some lucky accident been -delivered from the bondage of superstition, suddenly catch a gleam of -the light of reason, and set themselves free from their chains. And -this belief is to some extent well-founded. Persons in such a position -may be compared to a man, who, after being famished for a long time, -suddenly comes upon a well spread table, who will attack the food with -violent greed, and fill himself even to surfeiting. - -The refusal of permission to stay in Berlin came upon me like a -thunderclap. The ultimate object of all my hopes and wishes was all at -once removed beyond my reach, just when I had seen it so near. I found -myself in the situation of Tantalus, and did not know where to turn for -help. I was especially pained by the treatment I received from the -overseer of this poorhouse, who, by command of his superiors, urged my -speedy departure, and never left off till he saw me outside of the gate. -There I threw myself on the ground and began to weep bitterly. It was a -Sunday, and many people went, as usual, to walk outside of the city. -Most of them never turned aside to a whining worm like me, but some -compassionate souls were very much struck with the sight, and asked the -cause of my wailing. I answered them; but, partly on account of my -unintelligible language, partly because my speech was broken by frequent -weeping and sobbing, they could not understand what I said. - -I was so deeply affected by this vexation, that I fell into a violent -fever. The soldiers, who kept guard at the gate, reported this at the -poorhouse. The overseer came, and carried me in. I stayed there over the -day, and made myself glad with the hope of becoming thoroughly sick, so -as to enforce a longer sojourn in the place, during which I thought I -might form some acquaintances, by whose influence I hoped to receive -protection and permission to remain in Berlin. But alas! in this hope I -was deceived. The following day I rose quite lively again without a -trace of fever. I was therefore obliged to go. But whither? That I did -not know myself. Accordingly I took the first road that I came upon, and -surrendered myself to fate. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance. - - -In the evening I came to an inn, where I met a poor tramp who was a -Jewish beggar by profession. I was uncommonly pleased to meet one of my -brethren, with whom I could talk, and to whom this neighbourhood was -pretty well known. I resolved therefore to wander about the country with -this companion, and to preserve my life in this way, though two such -heterogeneous persons were nowhere to be met with in the world. I was an -educated rabbi; he was an idiot. I had hitherto maintained myself in an -honourable way; he was a beggar by profession. I had ideas of morality, -propriety, and decency; he knew nothing of these. Finally, I was in -sound health, it is true, but still of weakly constitution; he, on the -other hand, was a sturdy, able-bodied fellow, who would have made the -best of soldiers. - -Notwithstanding these differences, I stuck close to the man, as, in -order to prolong life, I was compelled to become a vagrant in a strange -land. In our wanderings I laboured to communicate to my companion ideas -of religion and of true morality, while he in return instructed me in -the art of begging. He taught me the usual formulas of the art, and -recommended me especially to curse and swear, whenever I was sent away -without anything. But with all the trouble, which he gave himself in the -matter, his teachings would not take any hold on me. The formulas of -begging appeared to me absurd I thought, if a man was once compelled to -beg help of others, he should express his feelings in the most simple -form. As far as cursing was concerned, I could not understand why a man, -who refused another's request, should draw a curse upon himself; and -then it seemed to me, that the man thus treated would be thereby -embittered, and the beggar be all the less likely to attain his object. -When therefore I went to beg with my comrade, I conducted myself always -as if I were begging and cursing at the same time, but in fact I never -spoke a single intelligible word. If, on the other hand, I went alone, I -had absolutely nothing to say; but from my appearance and conduct could -easily be seen what was wanted. My comrade sometimes scolded me on -account of my slowness in learning his art, and this I bore with the -greatest patience. - -In this way we wandered about in a district of a few miles for nearly -half a year. At last we resolved to turn our steps towards Poland. When -we arrived at Posen we took up our quarters in the Jewish poorhouse, the -master of which was a poor jobbing tailor. Here I formed the resolve, at -whatever cost, to bring my wandering to a close. It was harvest-time, -and already began to be pretty cold. I was almost naked and barefoot. By -this vagrant life, in which I never got any regular meals, for the most -part had to content myself with bits of mouldy bread and water, and at -night was obliged to lie on old straw, sometimes even on the bare earth, -my health had seriously suffered. Besides, the sacred seasons and -fast-days in the Jewish calendar were coming on; and as at that time I -was of a somewhat strong religious disposition, I could not endure the -thought of passing in complete idleness this period which others -employed for the welfare of their souls. - -I resolved, therefore, for the present at least, to go no farther, and, -at all events if it should come to the worst, to throw myself before the -synagogue, and either die there or excite the compassion of my brethren, -and by that means bring my sufferings to an end. Consequently as soon as -my comrade awoke in the morning, began to make arrangements for a -begging tour, and summoned me to the same, I told him that I would not -go with him at present; and when he asked how I intended to sustain life -in any other way, I was able to answer nothing but "God will surely -help." - -I then went off to the Jewish school. Here I found a number of scholars, -some of whom were reading, while others took advantage of the master's -absence to pass the time in play. I also took a book to read. The -scholars, who were struck by my strange dress, approached and asked me -whence I came and what I wanted. Their questions I answered in my -Lithuanian dialect, at which they began to laugh, and make merry at my -expense. For this I cared little. But I recollected that, some years -before, a chief rabbi from my neighbourhood had been appointed to the -same office in Posen, and that he had taken with him an acquaintance and -a good friend of mine as his secretary. Accordingly I asked the boys -about this friend. To my extreme grief I learned that he was no longer -in Posen, as the chief rabbi had been afterwards promoted to the same -office in Hamburg, and his secretary had gone with him to that place. -They told me, however, that his son, a boy about twelve years old, had -been left behind in Posen with the present chief rabbi, who was a -son-in-law of his predecessor. - -This information saddened me not a little. Still the last circumstance -gave me some hope. I inquired after the dwelling of the new chief rabbi, -and went to it; but, as I was almost naked, I shrank from entering, and -waited until I saw some one going into the house, whom I begged to be so -good as to call my friend's son out. The boy recognised me at once, and -manifested his astonishment at seeing me here in such a pitiable plight. -I replied, that this was not the time to relate all the misfortunes -which had brought me into this state, and that at present he should -consider merely how he might somewhat relieve my distress. - -This he promised to do. He went to the chief rabbi, and announced me as -a great scholar and a pious man, who by extraordinary accidents had -fallen into a very miserable condition. The chief rabbi, who was an -excellent man, an acute Talmudist, and of very gentle character, was -touched by my distress, and sent for me to come in. He conversed with me -a while, discussing some of the most important subjects in the Talmud, -and found me well versed in all branches of Jewish learning. Then he -inquired about my intentions, and I told him that I wished to be -introduced as a tutor into some family, but that meanwhile my only -desire was to be able to celebrate the sacred season here, and for this -short period at least to interrupt my travels. - -The good-hearted rabbi bade me, so far as this was concerned, to lay -aside all anxiety, spoke of my desire as a small matter, which it was -nothing more than reasonable to want. He then gave me what money he had -by him, invited me to dine with him every Sabbath, as long as I remained -here, and bade his boy procure a respectable lodging for me. The boy -came back soon, and conducted me to my lodging. I expected this to be -only a small chamber in the house of some poor man. I was therefore not -a little astonished, when I found myself in the house of one of the -oldest Jews of the town, and that here had been prepared for me a neat -little room, which was the study of the master, he and his son being -both scholars. - -As soon as I had looked round a little, I went to the housewife, and, -thrusting some coppers into her hand, I asked her to get me some gruel -for supper. She began to smile at my simplicity, and said, "No, no, sir, -that is not our agreement. The chief rabbi has not given you such a -recommendation, that you are obliged to have us making you gruel for -money." She then went on to explain, that I was not only to lodge in her -house, but also to eat and drink with them, as long as I stayed in the -town. I was astonished at this unexpected good fortune; but my delight -was still greater, when after supper I was shown to a clean bed. I could -not believe my eyes, and asked several times, "Is this really for me?" I -can say with truth, that never, before or since this incident, have I -felt such a degree of happiness, as when I lay down that night, and felt -my limbs, which for half a year had been overwearied and almost broken, -recovering their former strength in a soft bed. - -I slept till late in the day. I had scarcely risen when the chief rabbi -sent for me to come and see him. When I made my appearance he asked me -how I was pleased with my lodging. I could not find words to express my -feelings on the subject, and exclaimed in ecstasy, "I have slept in a -bed!" At this the chief rabbi was uncommonly pleased. He then sent for -the school precentor, and as soon as this man appeared he said to him, -"Go to the shop of ----, and get cloth for a suit to this gentleman." -Thereupon he turned to me and asked what sort of stuff I liked. -Overpowered by the feeling of gratitude and esteem for this excellent -man I could answer nothing. The tears streaming down my cheeks served -for my only answer. - -The chief rabbi also ordered for me some new linen. In two days -everything was ready. Dressed in my new linen and new suit I went to the -chief rabbi. I was going to express my gratitude to him, but could -scarcely get out a few broken words. For the chief rabbi this was a -charming sight. He waived my thanks, and said that I was not to think -too highly of him for this, inasmuch as what he had done for me was a -mere trifle not worth mentioning. - -Now the reader may perhaps suppose that this chief rabbi was a wealthy -man, for whom the expense to which he put himself on my account was -really a trifle; but I can give the assurance that this was far from -being the case. He had merely a moderate income; and as he occupied -himself wholly with study, his wife had the management of his affairs, -and especially the charge of housekeeping. Actions of this sort, -therefore, had to be done without the knowledge of his wife, and under -the pretext that he received from other people the money for the -purpose. Moreover, he lived a very temperate life, fasted every day -except Sabbath, and never ate flesh the whole week through. -Nevertheless, to satisfy his benevolent inclinations he could not avoid -making debts. His severe manner of life, his many studies and vigils, -weakened his strength to such a degree that he died about the -thirty-sixth year of his life. His death took place after he had been -appointed chief rabbi in Fördet, to which place he was followed by a -large number of disciples. I can never think of this godly man without -being deeply affected. - -In my former lodging at the poor tailor's I had left some trifles which -I now went to fetch. The tailor, his wife, and my former comrade in -beggary, who had already heard of the happy change in my affairs, -expected me with the greatest impatience. It was a touching scene. The -man, who three days before arrived in this poor hut, quite debilitated, -half naked, and barefoot, whom the poor inmates of the house regarded as -an outcast of nature, and whose comrade in linen blouse had looked down -upon him with mockery and contempt,--this man (his fame before him) now -comes into the same hut with a cheerful face, and in reverend garb -dressed as a chief rabbi. - -They all testified their joy and surprise at the transformation. The -poor woman took her babe in her arms and, with tears in her eyes, begged -a blessing for him. My comrade begged me very affectingly for -forgiveness on account of his rough treatment. He said that he deemed -himself fortunate in having had such a fellow-traveller, but would hold -himself unfortunate if I would not forgive the faults he had committed -in ignorance. I spoke to them all very kindly, gave the little one my -blessing, handed to my old comrade all the cash I had in my pocket, and -went back deeply affected. - -Meanwhile my fame was spread through the whole town by the conduct -towards me of the chief rabbi, as well as that of my new host, who was -himself a scholar, and had formed a high opinion of my talents and -learning from frequent conversations and discussions which we had held -together. All the scholars of the town, therefore, came to see me and -discuss with me as a famous travelling rabbi; and the more intimately -they came to know me, so much the higher rose their esteem. - -This period was undoubtedly the happiest and most honourable in my life. -The young scholars of the town passed a resolution at their meeting to -make up for me a salary, for which I was to deliver lectures to them on -the celebrated and profound work of Maimonides, _Moreh Nebhochim_. This -proposal, however, was never carried out, because the parents of these -young people were anxious lest their children should be thereby led -astray, and by independent thinking on religion be made to waver in -their faith. They acknowledged indeed that, with all my fondness for -religious speculation, I was still a pious man and an orthodox rabbi. -But they could not rely upon their children having sufficient judgment, -to be able to enter upon this course without passing from one extreme to -the other, from superstition to unbelief; and therein perhaps they were -right. - -After I had spent about four weeks in this way, the man, with whom I -lodged, came to me, and said, "Herr Solomon, allow me to make a proposal -to you. If you are inclined merely to solitary study, you may remain -here as long as you like. If, however, you do not wish to withdraw into -such complete retirement, but are inclined to be of service to the world -with your talents, there is a wealthy man here--one of the most -prominent people of the town--who has an only son, and wishes nothing so -much as to have you for his tutor. This man is my brother-in-law. If you -will not do it for his sake, please do it for mine, and to gratify the -chief rabbi, as he has deeply at heart the education of my nephew, who -is connected by marriage with his family." This offer I accepted with -delight. I came therefore into this family under advantageous conditions -as tutor, and remained with them two years in the greatest honour. -Nothing was done in the house without my knowledge. I was always met -with the greatest respect. I was held in fact to be almost something -more than human. - -Thus the two years flowed on imperceptibly and happily for me. But -during the time some little incidents took place, which I believe should -not be altogether omitted in this history. - -In the first place the esteem entertained for me in this house went so -far, that _malgré moi_ they were going to make me a prophet. My pupil -was betrothed to the daughter of a chief rabbi, who was a brother-in-law -of the chief rabbi in Posen. The bride, a girl of about twelve years, -was brought to Posen by her parents-in-law at the feast of Pentecost. On -the occasion of this visit I observed that the girl was of a very -phlegmatic temperament and somewhat consumptive. I mentioned this to the -brother of my host, and added with a significant look, that I was very -anxious for the girl, as I did not believe that her health would last -long. After the feast was over the girl was sent home, and a fortnight -afterwards a letter was received announcing her death. On this account, -not only in the house where I lived, but in the whole town, I was taken -for a prophet, who had been able to foretell the death of this girl. As -I wished nothing less than to deceive, I endeavoured to bring these -superstitious people to a different train of thought. I told them that -anybody, who had made observations in the world, would have been able to -foretell the same thing. But it was of no use. Once for all I was a -prophet, and had to remain one. - -Another incident occurred in a Jewish house one Friday when they were -preparing fish for the Sabbath. The fish was a carp, and it seemed to -the cook who was cutting it up as if it uttered a sound. This threw -everybody into a panic. The rabbi was asked what should be done with -this dumb fish that had ventured to speak. Under the superstitious idea -that the carp was possessed with a spirit, the rabbi enjoined that it -should be wrapped in a linen cloth, and buried with pomp. - -Now, in the house where I lived, this awe-inspiring event became the -subject of conversation. Having by this time emancipated myself pretty -thoroughly from superstitions of this sort by diligent study of the -_Moreh Nebhochim_, I laughed heartily over the story, and said, that, if -instead of burying the carp, they had sent it to me, I should have tried -how such an inspired carp would taste. - -This _bon mot_ became known. The learned men fell into a passion about -it, denounced me as a heretic, and sought to persecute me in every way. -But the respect, entertained for me in the house where I was tutor, made -all their efforts fruitless. As I found myself in this way safe, and the -spirit of fanaticism, instead of deterring me, rather spurred me on to -further reflection, I began to push matters a little farther, frequently -slept through the time of prayer, went seldom to the synagogue, and so -on. At last the measure of my sins became so full, that nothing could -secure me any longer from persecution. - -At the entrance to the Common Hall in Posen there has been, no one knows -for how long, a stag-horn fixed into the wall. The Jews are unanimously -of the conviction, that any one who touches this horn is sure to die on -the spot; and they relate a multitude of instances in proof. This would -not go down with me at all, and I made fun of it. So one day when I was -passing the stag-horn with some other Jews, I said to them, "You Posen -fools, do you think that any one who touches this horn must die on the -spot? See, I dare to touch it!" Horror-struck, they expected my death -on the spot; but as nothing happened, their anxiety for me was converted -into hatred. They looked on me as one who had profaned the sanctuary. - -This fanaticism stirred up in me the desire to go to Berlin, and destroy -by enlightenment the remnant of superstition which still clung to me. I -therefore begged leave of my employer. He expressed the wish indeed, -that I should remain longer in his house, and assured me of his -protection against all persecution. But as I had once for all taken my -resolution, I was determined not to alter it. I therefore bade goodbye -to my employer and his whole family, took a seat on the Frankfurt post, -and set out for Berlin. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -Arrival in Berlin--Acquaintances--Mendelssohn--Desperate Study of -Metaphysics--Doubts--Lectures on Locke and Adelung. - - -As I came to Berlin this time by post, I did not require to remain -outside the Rosenthaler Gate to be examined by the Jewish elders; I -proceeded without any difficulty into the city, and was allowed to take -up my quarters where I chose. To _remain_ in the city, however, was a -different thing. The Jewish police-officers--L. M. of those days was a -terrible fellow,--went every day round all the hotels and other houses -designed for the reception of strangers, made inquiry into the quality -and occupation of newcomers, as well as the probable length of their -stay, and allowed them no rest till they had either found some -occupation in the city, or were out of it again, or--the alternative -goes without saying. I had taken a lodging on the New Market with a Jew, -who was accustomed to receive in his house poor travellers that had not -much to spend, and who the following day received a visit of this sort. - -The Jewish police-officer, L. M., came and examined me in the strictest -manner. I told him that I wished to enter into service as a -family-tutor in Berlin, and that therefore the length of my stay could -not be exactly determined. I appeared to him suspicious; he believed he -had seen me here before, and evidently looked on me as a comet, which -comes nearer to the earth the second time than the first, and so makes -the danger more threating. But when he saw by me a _Milloth Higgayon_ or -Hebrew Logic, drawn up by Maimonides, and annotated by Mendelssohn, he -went into a perfect rage. "Yes! yes!" he exclaimed, "that's the sort of -books for me!" and as he turned to me with a threatening look, "Pack," -he said, "out of Berlin as quick as you can, if you don't wish to be led -out with all the honours!" I trembled, and knew not what to do; but as I -had learnt that there was a Polish Jew, a man of talent, residing in -Berlin for the sake of study, and received with esteem in the best -families, I paid him a visit. - -He received me as a countryman in a very friendly manner, asked about my -home in Poland, and what had brought me to Berlin. When I told him in -reply, that from my childhood I had discovered an inclination to the -sciences, had already made myself acquainted with this and that Hebrew -work which touches upon these, and now had come to Berlin in order to be -_Maamik Bechochmah_ (to become absorbed in the sciences), he smiled at -this quaint rabbinical phrase, but gave me his full approval; and after -conversing with me for some time, he begged me to visit him often, which -I very willingly promised to do, and went away rejoicing in spirit. - -The very next day I visited my Polish friend again, and found with him -some young people belonging to a prominent Jewish family, who visited -him often, and conversed with him on scientific subjects. They entered -into conversation with me, found much amusement in my jargon, as well as -in my simplicity and open-heartedness; in particular they laughed -heartily at the phrase, _Maamik Bechochmah_, of which they had heard -already. All this gave me courage, and they assured me that I should not -find myself mistaken in the expectation of being able to be _Maamik -Bechochmah_ in Berlin. And when I made known my fear about the -above-mentioned police-officer, they made me pluck up courage by -promising to obtain protection for me from their family, so that I might -remain in Berlin as long as I chose. - -They kept their word, and Herr D---- P----, a well-to-do man of -excellent character, of many attainments and fine taste, who was an -uncle of these young men, not only paid me much attention, but also -procured for me a respectable lodging, and invited me to the Sabbath -dinner. Others of the family also sent me meals at my room on fixed -days. Among these was a brother of these young men, in other respects an -honourable man, who was not without attainments. But as he was a zealous -Talmudist, he inquired earnestly whether with my inclination towards the -sciences I had not quite neglected the Talmud; and as soon as he -learnt, that I was so _Maamik Bechochmah_ as to neglect the study of the -Talmud, he gave up sending me my meals. - -As I now had permission to remain in Berlin, I thought of nothing but -how to carry my purpose into effect. Accidentally one day I went into a -butter-shop, and found the dealer in the act of anatomising a somewhat -old book for use in his trade. I looked at it, and found, to my no small -astonishment, that it was Wolff's _Metaphysics, or the Doctrine of God, -of the World, and of Man's Soul_. I could not understand, how in a city -so enlightened as Berlin such important works could be treated in this -barbarous fashion. I turned therefore to the dealer, and asked him, if -he would not sell the book. He was ready to part with it for two -groschen. Without thinking long about it I gave the price at once, and -went home delighted with my treasure. - -At the very first reading I was in raptures with the book. Not only this -sublime science in itself, but also the order and mathematical method of -the celebrated author,--the precision of his explanations, the exactness -of his reasoning, and the scientific arrangement of his exposition,--all -this struck a new light in my mind. - -With the Ontology, the Cosmology, and the Psychology all went well; but -the Theology created many difficulties, inasmuch as I found its dogmas, -not only not in harmony, but even in contradiction, with the preceding -propositions. At the very beginning I could not assent to Wolff's -argument _a posteriori_ for the existence of God in accordance with the -Principle of Sufficient Reason; and I raised the objection to it, that, -inasmuch as, according to Wolff's own confession, the Principle of -Sufficient Reason is abstracted from particular cases of experience, the -only point which can be proved by it is, that every object of experience -must have its sufficient reason in some other object of experience, but -not in an object beyond all experience. I also compared these new -metaphysical doctrines with those of Maimonides, or rather of Aristotle, -which were already known to me; and I could not bring them into harmony -at all. - -I resolved therefore to set forth these doubts in the Hebrew language, -and to send what I wrote to Herr Mendelssohn, of whom I had already -heard so much. When he received my communication, he was not a little -astonished at it, and replied to me at once, that in fact my doubts were -well founded, that I should not however allow myself to be discouraged -on their account, but should continue to study with the zeal with which -I had begun. - -Encouraged by this, I wrote in Hebrew a dissertation in which I brought -into doubt the foundations of Revealed as well as of Natural Theology. -All the thirteen articles of faith, laid down by Maimonides, I attacked -with philosophical arguments, with the exception of one, namely the -article on reward and punishment, which I conceded merely in its -philosophical interpretation, as referring to the natural consequences -of voluntary actions. I sent this dissertation to Mendelssohn, who was -not a little amazed, that a Polish Jew, who had scarcely got the length -of seeing the Metaphysics of Wolff, was already able to penetrate into -their depths so far, that he was in a position to shake their results by -means of a correct Ontology. He invited me to visit him, and I accepted -his invitation. But I was so shy, the manners and customs of the -Berliners were so new to me, it was not without fear and embarrassment, -that I ventured to enter a fashionable house. When therefore I opened -Mendelssohn's door, and saw him and other gentlefolks who were there, as -well as the beautiful rooms and elegant furniture, I shrank back, closed -the door again, and had a mind not to go in. Mendelssohn however had -observed me. He came out and spoke to me very kindly, led me into his -room, placed himself beside me at the window, and paid me many -compliments about my writing. He assured me, that, if I went on in this -way, I should in a short time make great progress in Metaphysics; and he -promised also to resolve my doubts. Not satisfied with this, the worthy -man looked after my maintenance also, recommended me to the most -eminent, enlightened and wealthy Jews, who made provision for my board -and other wants. Their tables I was at liberty to enjoy when I chose, -and their libraries were open to my use. - -Especially worthy of mention among these gentlemen was H----, a man of -many attainments and excellent disposition, who was a particular friend -and disciple of Mendelssohn. He took great pleasure in my conversation, -often discussed with me the most important subjects in Natural Theology -and Morals, on which I expressed my thoughts to him quite frankly and -without disguise. I went over with him in a conversational way all the -systems known to me that are generally denounced, and defended them with -the greatest pertinacity. He met me with objections; I answered them, -and brought in my turn objections against the opposite systems. At first -this friend regarded me as a speaking animal, and entertained himself -with me, as one is apt to do with a dog or a starling that has been -taught to speak a few words. The odd mixture of the animal in my -manners, my expressions, and my whole outward behaviour, with the -rational in my thoughts, excited his imagination more than the subject -of our conversation roused his understanding. By degrees the fun was -turned to earnest. He began to give his attention to the subjects -themselves; and as, notwithstanding his other capabilities and -attainments, he had no philosophical head, and the liveliness of his -imagination generally interfered with the ripeness of his judgment, the -results of our conversations may be readily imagined. - -A few examples will be sufficient to give an idea of the manner in which -I conducted a discussion at the time, of the ellipses in my diction -arising from my deficiency in expressions, and of the way in which I -illustrated everything by examples. I endeavoured once to make -Spinoza's system intelligible,--to show that all things are merely -accidents of a single substance. My friend interrupted me and said, -"But, good heavens! are not you and I different men, and do we not each -possess an existence of our own?" "Close the shutters," I called in -reply to his objection. This strange expression threw him into -astonishment; he did not know what I meant. At last I explained myself. -"See," said I, "the sun shines through the windows. This square window -gives you a square reflection, and the round window a round reflection. -Are they on that account different things, and not rather one and the -same sunshine?" - -On another occasion I defended Helvetius' system of self-love. He -brought against it the objection, that we surely love other persons as -well as ourselves. "For instance," said he, "I love my wife;" and to -confirm this he gave her a kiss. "That proves nothing against me," I -replied. "For, why do you kiss your wife? Because you find pleasure in -doing it." - -Herr A---- M---- also, a good honest fellow, and at that time a wealthy -man, allowed me free access to his house. Here I found Locke in the -German translation, and I was pleased with him at the first hasty -glance, for I recognised him as the best of the modern philosophers, as -a man who had no interest but the truth. Accordingly I proposed to the -tutor of Herr A---- M----, that he should take lessons from me on this -admirable work. At first he smiled at my simplicity in proposing, that -I, who had scarcely got the length of seeing Locke, should give lessons -to him whose native tongue was German, and who had been brought up in -the sciences. He acted, however, as if he found nothing offensive in the -matter, accepted my proposal, and fixed an hour for the lessons. I -presented myself at the time appointed, and began the lessons; but as I -could not read a word of German correctly, I told my pupil to read aloud -paragraph by paragraph in the text, and that then I should give him an -exposition of each. My pupil, who pretended to be in earnest, consented -to this also, to carry on the joke; but how great was his astonishment -when he found, that no joke was to be played in the matter, that in fact -my expositions and remarks, though delivered in my own peculiar -language, evinced a genuine philosophical spirit. - -It was still more amusing, when I became acquainted with the family of -Widow Levi, and made the proposal to her son, the young Herr Samuel -Levi,[53] who is still my Maecenas, that he should take lessons from me -in the German language. The studious youth, incited by my reputation, -was resolved to make a trial, and wished me to explain Adelung's _German -Grammar_. I, who had never seen Adelung's Grammar, did not allow myself -to be at all disconcerted on this account.[54] My pupil was obliged to -read Adelung bit by bit, while I not only expounded it, but added -glosses of my own. In particular I found a good deal to take exception -to in Adelung's philosophical explanation of the parts of speech; and I -drew up an explanation of my own, which I communicated to my intelligent -pupil, by whom it is still preserved. - -As a man altogether without experience I carried my frankness at times a -little too far, and brought upon myself many vexations in consequence. I -was reading Spinoza. His profound thought and his love of truth pleased -me uncommonly; and as his system had already been suggested to me by the -Cabbalistic writings, I began to reflect upon it anew, and became so -convinced of its truth, that all the efforts of Mendelssohn to change my -opinion were unavailing. I answered all the objections brought against -it by the Wolfians, brought objections against their system myself, and -showed, that, if the _nominal definition_s of the Wolfian Ontology are -converted into _real definitions_, conclusions the very opposite of -theirs are the result. Moreover, I could not explain the persistency of -Mendelssohn and the Wolfians generally in adhering to their system, -except as a political dodge and a piece of hypocrisy, by which they -studiously endeavoured to descend to the mode of thinking common in the -popular mind; and this conviction I expressed openly and without -reserve. My friends and well-wishers, who for the most part had never -themselves speculated on philosophical subjects, but blindly adopted the -results of the systems prevailing at the time as if they were -established truths, did not understand me, and therefore also were -unable to follow me in my opinions. - -Mendelssohn, whose usual course was to tack, did not wish to oppose my -love of inquiry, secretly even took pleasure in it, and said, that at -present indeed I was not on the right road, but that the course of my -thoughts must not be checked, because, as Descartes rightly remarked, -doubt is the beginning of thorough philosophical speculation. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -Mendelssohn--A chapter devoted to the memory of a worthy friend. - - -_Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus tam cari capitis?_ - -The name of Mendelssohn is too well known to the world, to make it -necessary for me here to dwell long on the portraiture of the great -intellectual and moral qualities of this celebrated man of our nation. I -shall sketch merely those prominent features of his portrait, which have -made the strongest impression upon me. He was a good Talmudist, and a -pupil of the celebrated Rabbi Israel, or, as he is otherwise named after -the title of a Talmudic work which he wrote, Nezach Israel (the strength -of Israel),--a Polish rabbi who was denounced for heresy by his -countrymen. This rabbi had, besides his great Talmudic capabilities and -acquirements, a good deal of scientific talent, especially in -mathematics, with which he had attained a thorough acquaintance, even in -Poland, from the few Hebrew writings on this science, as may be seen in -the above-mentioned work. In this work there are introduced solutions of -many important mathematical problems, which are applied either to the -explanation of some obscure passages in the Talmud, or to the -determination of a law. Rabbi Israel of course was more interested in -the extension of useful knowledge among his countrymen than in the -determination of a law, which he used merely as a vehicle for the other. -He showed, for example, that it is not right for the Jews in our part of -the world to turn exactly to the East at prayer; for the Talmudic law -requires them to turn to Jerusalem, and, as our part of the world lies -north-west from Jerusalem, they ought to turn to the south-east. He -shows also how, by means of spherical trigonometry, the required -direction may be determined with the utmost exactness in all parts of -the world, and many other truths of a similar kind. Along with the -celebrated Chief Rabbi Fränkel, he contributed much to develop the great -abilities of Mendelssohn. - -Mendelssohn possessed a thorough acquaintance with mathematics; and this -science he valued, not only for its self-evidence, but also as the best -exercise in profound reasoning. That he was a great philosopher, is well -enough known. He was not indeed an originator of new systems; he had -however amended the old systems, especially the Leibnitio-Wolfian, and -had applied it with success to many subjects in philosophy. - -It is hard to say whether Mendelssohn was endowed with more acuteness or -with depth of intellect. Both faculties were found united in him in a -very high degree. His exactness in definition and classification, and -his fine distinctions, are evidences of the former talent, while his -profound philosophical treatises afford proofs of the latter. - -In his character, as he himself confessed, he was by nature a man of -strong passions, but by long exercise in Stoical morality he had learnt -to keep them under control. A young man, under the impression that -Mendelssohn had done him a wrong, came one day to upbraid him, and -indulged in one impertinence after another. Mendelssohn stood leaning on -a chair, never turned his eye from his visitor, and listened to all his -impertinences with the utmost Stoical patience. After the young man had -vented all his passion, Mendelssohn went to him and said, "Go! You see -that you fail to reach your object here; you can't make me angry." Still -on such occasions Mendelssohn could not conceal his sorrow at the -weakness of human nature. Not infrequently I was myself overheated in my -disputes with him, and violated the respect due to such a man,--a fact -on which I still reflect with remorse. - -Mendelssohn possessed deep knowledge of human nature,--a knowledge which -consists not so much in seizing some unconnected features of a -character, and representing them in theatrical fashion, as in -discovering those essential features of a character, from which all the -others may be explained, and in some measure predicted. He was able to -describe accurately all the springs of action and the entire moral -wheelwork of a man, and understood thoroughly the mechanism of the soul. -This gave a character, not only to his intercourse and other dealings -with men, but also to his literary labours. - -Mendelssohn understood the useful and agreeable art of throwing himself -into another person's mode of thought. He could thus supply whatever was -deficient, and fill up the gaps in the thoughts of another. Jews newly -arrived from Poland, whose thoughts are for the most part confused, and -whose language is an unintelligible jargon, Mendelssohn could understand -perfectly. In his conversations with them he adopted their expressions -and forms of speech, sought to bring down his mode of thinking to -theirs, and thus to raise theirs to his own. - -He understood also the art of finding out the good side of every man and -of every event. Not infrequently, therefore, he found entertainment in -people whose intercourse, owing to the eccentric use of their powers, is -by others avoided; and only downright stupidity and dullness were -offensive to him, though they were so in the highest degree. I was once -an eye-witness of the manner in which he entertained himself with a man -of the most eccentric style of thinking and the most extravagant -behaviour. I lost all patience on the occasion, and after the man was -gone I asked Mendelssohn in wonder, "How could you have anything to do -with this fellow?" "We examine attentively," he said, "a machine whose -construction is unknown to us, and we seek to make intelligible its mode -of working. Should not this man claim a like attention? should we not -seek in the same way to render intelligible his odd utterances, since he -certainly has his springs of action and his wheelwork as well as any -machine?" - -In discussion with a reasoner who held stubbornly to a system once -adopted Mendelssohn was stubborn himself, and took advantage of the -slightest inaccuracy in his opponent's way of thinking. On the other -hand, with a more accommodating thinker he was accommodating also, and -used commonly to close the discussion with the words, "We must hold -fast, not to mere words, but to the things they signify." - -Nothing was so offensive to him as an _esprit de bagatelle_ or -affectation; with anything of this sort he could not conceal his -displeasure. H---- once invited a party, in which Mendelssohn was the -principal guest, and he entertained them the whole time with talk about -some hobby of his, which was not exactly of the choicest kind. -Mendelssohn showed his displeasure by never deigning to give the -slightest attention to the worthless creature. Madam ---- was a lady who -affected an excess of sensibility, and as is customary with such -characters, used to reproach herself in order to extort praise from -others. Mendelssohn sought to bring her to reason by showing her -impressively how exceptionable her conduct was and how she ought to -think seriously about improvement. - -In a disconnected conversation he took little part himself; he acted -rather as observer then, and took pleasure in watching the conduct of -the rest of the company. If, on the other hand, the conversation was -coherent, he took the warmest interest in it himself, and, by a skilful -turn, he could, without interrupting the conversation, give it a useful -direction. - -Mendelssohn could never take up his mind with trifles; matters of the -greatest moment kept him in restless activity, such as the principles of -Morals and of Natural Theology, the immortality of the soul, etc. In all -these branches of inquiry, in which humanity is so deeply interested, he -has also, as I hold, done as much as can be done on the principles of -the Leibnitio-Wolfian philosophy. Perfection was the compass which he -had constantly before his eyes, and which directed his course, in all -these investigations. His God is the Ideal of the highest perfection, -and the idea of the highest perfection lies at the basis of his Ethics. -The principle of his Æsthetics is sensuous perfection. - -My discussion with him on our first acquaintance referred mainly to the -following points. I was a faithful adherent of Maimonides before I -became acquainted with modern philosophy; and, as such, I insisted on -the negation[55] of all positive attributes to God, inasmuch as these -can be represented by us only as finite. Accordingly I proposed the -following dilemma: Either God is not the absolutely perfect being, in -which case his attributes may by us be not only _conceived_, but also -_known_, that is, represented as realities belonging to an object; or He -_is_ the absolutely perfect being, and then the idea of God is conceived -by us, but its reality is merely _assumed_ as problematic. Mendelssohn, -on the other hand, insisted on the affirmation, with regard to God, of -all realities,--a position which goes very well with the -Leibnitio-Wolfian philosophy, because it requires, in order to prove the -reality of an idea, nothing more than that it is thinkable, that is, -fulfils the law of Non-Contradiction. - -My moral theory was then genuine Stoicism. It aimed at the attainment of -free will and the ascendency of reason over the feelings and passions. -It made the highest destination of man to be the maintenance of his -_differentia specifica_, the knowledge of the truth; and all other -impulses, common to us with the irrational animals, were to be put in -operation merely as means to this chief end. The knowledge of the good -was not distinguished by me from the knowledge of the true; for, -following Maimonides, I held the knowledge of the truth to be the -highest good of man. Mendelssohn, on the other hand, maintained that the -idea of perfection, which lies at the basis of Ethics, is of much wider -extent than the mere knowledge of the truth. All natural impulses, -capacities and powers, as something good in themselves (not merely as -means to something good), were to be brought into exercise as realities. -The highest perfection was the idea of the maximum, or the greatest sum, -of these realities. - -The immortality of the soul, for me, following Maimonides, consisted in -the union with the Universal Spirit of that part of the faculty of -knowledge which has been brought into exercise, in proportion to the -degree of that exercise; and in accordance with this doctrine I held -those only to be partakers of this immortality, who occupy themselves -with the knowledge of eternal truths, and in the degree in which they do -so. The soul, therefore, must, with the attainment of this high -immortality, lose its individuality. That Mendelssohn, in accordance -with modern philosophy, thought differently on this subject, every one -will readily believe. - -His sentiments in reference to revealed or positive religion I can give -here, not as something made known to me by himself, but merely in so far -as I have been able to infer them from his utterances on the subject in -his writings with the assistance of my own reflections. For at that -time, as an incipient freethinker, I explained all revealed religion as -in itself false, and its use, so far as the writings of Mendelssohn had -enabled me to understand it, as merely temporary. Moreover, being a man -without experience, I thought it an easy matter to convince others in -opposition to their firmly rooted habits and long-cherished prejudices, -while I assumed the usefulness of such a reformation to be undoubted. -Mendelssohn therefore was unable to hold any conversation with me on the -subject, since he could not but fear lest, as has happened, and happens -still, in the case of several others, I should pronounce his arguments -in reply to be mere pieces of sophistry, and should attribute motives to -him on that account. From his utterances, however, in the preface to his -_Manasseh ben Israel_ as well as in his _Jerusalem_, it is clear that, -though he did not consider any revealed _doctrines_ to be eternal -truths, yet he accepted revealed laws of religion as such, and that he -held the laws of the Jewish religion, as the fundamental laws of a -theocratic constitution, to be immutable as far as circumstances allow. - -So far as I am concerned, I am led to assent entirely to Mendelssohn's -reasoning by my own reflections on the fundamental laws of the religion -of my fathers. The fundamental laws of the Jewish religion are at the -same time the fundamental laws of the Jewish state. They must therefore -be obeyed by all who acknowledge themselves to be members of this state, -and who wish to enjoy the rights granted to them under condition of -their obedience. But, on the other hand, any man who separates himself -from this state, who desires to be considered no longer a member of it, -and to renounce all his rights as such, whether he enters another state -or betakes himself to solitude, is also in his conscience no longer -bound to obey those laws. I assent moreover to Mendelssohn's remark, -that a Jew cannot, by simply passing over to the Christian religion, -free himself from the laws of his own religion, because Jesus of -Nazareth observed these laws himself and commanded his followers to -observe them. But how, if a Jew wishes to be no longer a member of this -theocratic state, and goes over to the heathen religion, or to the -philosophical, which is nothing more than pure natural religion? How, -if, merely as a member of a political state, he submits to its laws, and -demands from it his rights in return, without making any declaration -whatever about his religion, since the state is reasonable enough not to -require from him a declaration with which it has nothing to do? I do not -believe Mendelssohn would maintain that even in this case a Jew is bound -in conscience to observe the laws of his fathers' religion merely -because it is the religion of his fathers. As far as is known, -Mendelssohn lived in accordance with the laws of his religion. -Presumably, therefore, he always regarded himself as still a member of -the theocratic state of his fathers, and consequently acted up to his -duty in this respect. But any man who abandons this state is acting just -as little in violation of his duty. - -On the other hand I consider it wrong in Jews, who from family -attachments and interests profess the Jewish religion, to transgress its -laws, where, according to their own opinion, these do not stand in the -way of those motives. I cannot therefore understand the conduct of -Mendelssohn in reference to a Jew of Hamburg who openly transgressed -the laws of his religion, and who was on that account excommunicated by -the chief rabbi. Mendelssohn wanted to cancel the excommunication on the -ground that the church has no rights in civil matters. But how can he -then maintain the perpetuity of the Jewish ecclesiastical state? For -what is a state without rights, and wherein consists, according to -Mendelssohn, the rights of this ecclesiastical state? "How," says -Mendelssohn, (in the preface to _Manasseh ben Israel_, p. 48), "can a -state allow one of its useful and respected citizens to suffer -misfortune through its laws?" Surely not, I reply; but the Hamburg Jew -suffers no misfortune by virtue of the excommunication. He required only -to say or do nothing which legally leads to this result, and he would -then have avoided the sentence. For excommunication is merely tantamount -to saying:--"So long as you put yourself in opposition to the laws of -our communion, you are excluded from it; and you must therefore make up -your mind whether this open disobedience or the privileges of our -communion can most advance your blessedness." This surely cannot have -escaped a mind like Mendelssohn's, and I leave it to others to decide -how far a man may be inconsistent for the sake of human welfare. - -Mendelssohn had to endure many an injustice at the hands of otherwise -estimable men, from whom such treatment might least have been expected. -Lavater's officiousness is well enough known, and disapproved by all -right-thinking men.[56] The profound Jacobi had a predilection for -Spinozism, with which surely no independent thinker can find fault, and -wanted to make out Mendelssohn, as well as his friend Lessing, to be -Spinozists, in spite of themselves. With this view he published a -correspondence on the subject, which was never intended to appear in -print, and be subjected to public inspection. What was the use of this? -If Spinozism is true, it is so without Mendelssohn's assent. Eternal -truths have nothing to do with the majority of votes, and least of all -where, as I hold, the truth is of such a nature, that it leaves all -expression behind. - -Such an injustice must have given Mendelssohn much annoyance. A -celebrated physician maintained even, that it caused his death; but, -though I am not a physician, I venture to gainsay the assertion. -Mendelssohn's conduct in relation to Jacobi, as well as to Lavater, was -that of a hero. No, no! this hero died in the fifth act. - -The acute preacher, Jacob, in Halle published, after Mendelssohn's -death, a book entitled, _Examination of Mendelssohn's Morgenstunden_, in -which he shows that, according to the _Critique of Pure Reason_, all -metaphysical doctrines are to be rejected as baseless. But why does this -concern Mendelssohn more than any other metaphysician? Mendelssohn did -nothing but develop to greater completeness the Leibnitio-Wolfian -philosophy, apply it to many important subjects of human inquiry, and -clothe it in an attractive garb. It is just as if any one were to attack -Maimonides, who has written an excellent astronomical treatise on -Ptolemaic principles, by writing a book with the title, _Examination of -the Hilchoth Kidush Hakodesh of Maimonides_, in which he should seek to -refute his author on Newtonian principles! But enough of this. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -My aversion at first for belles lettres, and my subsequent -conversion--Departure from Berlin--Sojourn in Hamburg--I drown myself in -the same way as a bad actor shoots himself--An old fool of a woman falls -in love with me, but her addresses are rejected. - - -For _belles lettres_ I discovered not the slightest inclination; I could -not even conceive how any man was to form a science of what pleases or -displeases--a matter which, according to my opinion at the time, could -have merely a subjective ground. One day when I was taking a walk with -Mendelssohn, our conversation fell upon the subject of the poets, whom -he recommended me to read. "No," I replied, "I am going to read none of -the poets. What is a poet but a liar?" Mendelssohn smiled at this and -said, "You agree in this with Plato, who banished all poets from his -Republic. But I hope that with time you will think differently on the -subject." And so it happened soon. - -Longinus' _On the Sublime_ fell into my hand. The examples of the -sublime which he adduces from Homer, and particularly the celebrated -passage of Sappho, made a deep impression on my mind. I thought to -myself, these are but foolish trifles, it is true, but the imagery and -descriptions are really very beautiful. After that I read Homer himself, -and was forced to laugh heartily at the foolish fellow. What a serious -air, I said to myself, over such childless stories! By and by, however, -I found a great deal of pleasure in the reading. Ossian, on the other -hand, whom I got to read afterwards (of course only in German -translations) produced on me a peculiarly awe-inspiring effect. The pomp -of his style, the impressive brevity of his descriptions, the purity of -his sentiments, the simplicity of the objects described by him, and -lastly, the similarity of his poetry to that of the Hebrews, charmed me -uncommonly. Thus I found also a great deal of gratification in Gessner's -Idylls. - -My friend, the Pole of whom I spoke in the preceding chapter, who -occupied himself mainly with _belles lettres_, was greatly delighted at -my conversion. I used to dispute with him the utility of these studies; -and once, when he was reading to me as a model of vigour in expression a -passage of the Psalms, in which King David shows himself a master in -cursing, I interrupted him with the words, "What sort of an art is this? -Why, my mother-in-law--God bless her!--when she was squabbling with a -neighbour woman, used to curse much more wildly than that!" - -Now, however, he had his triumph over me. Mendelssohn also and my other -friends were uncommonly pleased at this change. They wished me to devote -myself regularly to the _humaniora_, as without these a man can -scarcely make his own intellectual productions useful to the world. It -was very difficult, however, to convince me of this. I was always in -haste to enjoy the present, without thinking that, by due preparation, I -could make this enjoyment greater and more lasting. - -I now found gratification, not only in the study of the sciences, but -generally in everything good and beautiful, with which I became -acquainted; and I carried this out with an enthusiasm which passed all -limits. The hitherto suppressed inclination to the pleasures of sense -also asserted its claims. The first occasion of this was the following. -For many years some men, who were occupied in various kinds of teaching, -had insinuated themselves into the most prominent and wealthy families -of the Jewish nation. They devoted themselves especially to the French -language (which was then regarded as the highest point of -enlightenment), to geography, arithmetic, bookkeeping, and similar -studies. They had also made themselves familiar with some phrases and -imperfectly understood results of the more profound sciences and -philosophical systems, while their intercourse with the fair sex was -marked by studious gallantry. As a result of all this, they were great -favourites in the families where they visited, and were regarded as -clever fellows. Now, they began to observe that my reputation was always -on the increase, and that the respect for my attainments and talents -went so far, that they were being thrown wholly into the shade. -Accordingly they thought of a stratagem, by which they might be able to -ward off the threatened evil. - -They resolved to draw me into their company, to show me every -demonstration of friendship, and to render me every possible service. By -this means they hoped, in the first place, as a result of our -intercourse, to win for themselves some of the respect which was shown -to me, and, in the second place, to obtain, from my frank and -communicative spirit, some additional knowledge of those sciences which -as yet they knew only in name. But, in the third place, as they knew my -enthusiasm for everything which I once recognised as good, they expected -to intoxicate me with the allurements of sensual pleasure, and to cool -in some measure my ardour in the study of science, which would at the -same time alienate my friends, my intimacy with whom made them so -jealous. - -Accordingly they invited me into their society, testified their -friendship and esteem for me, and begged the honour of my company. -Suspecting no harm, I received their advances with pleasure, especially -as I reflected that Mendelssohn and my other friends were too grand for -everyday intercourse with me. It became therefore a very desirable -object with me, to find some friends of a middle class, with whom I -could associate _sans façon_, and enjoy the charms of familiarity. My -new friends took me into gay society, to taverns, on pleasure -excursions, at last also to ----;[57] and all this at their own -expense. I, on my side, in my happy humour, opened up to them in return -all the mysteries of philosophy, explained to them in detail all the -peculiar systems, and corrected their ideas on various subjects of human -knowledge. But as things of this sort cannot be poured into a man's -head, and as these gentlemen had no special capacity for them, of course -they were not able to make any great progress by this kind of -instruction. When I observed this, I began to express some sort of -contempt for them, and made no attempt to conceal the fact, that it was -mainly the roast and the wine that gave me pleasure in their company. -This did not please them particularly; and as they were unable to reach -their object with me completely, they tried to reach it at least in -part. They told tales to my grand friends behind my back about the most -trifling incidents and expressions. For instance, they asserted that I -charged Mendelssohn with being a philosophical hypocrite, that I -declared others to be endowed with but shallow pates, that I was seeking -to spread dangerous systems, and that I was wholly abandoned to -Epicureanism. (As if they were genuine Stoics!) They even began at last -openly to manifest their enmity. - -All this of course had its effect; and to add to the impression, my -friends observed that in my studies I followed no fixed plan, but merely -my inclination. Accordingly they proposed to me that I should study -medicine, but could not induce me to do it. I observed that the theory -of medicine contains many departments as auxiliary sciences, each of -which requires a specialist for its thorough mastery, while the practice -of medicine implies a peculiar genius and faculty of judgment, that are -seldom to be met with. I observed at the same time, that the most of -physicians take advantage of the ignorance of the public. In accordance -with established usage they spend some years at the universities, where -they have an opportunity indeed of attending all the lectures, but in -point of fact attend very few. At the close of their course, by means of -money and fair words, they get a dissertation written for them; and -thus, after a very simple fashion, become medical practitioners. - -As already mentioned, I had a great liking for painting; but I was -advised against this, because I was already well advanced in years, and -consequently might not have sufficient patience for the minute exercises -required for this art. At last the proposal was made to me, to learn -pharmacy; and as I had already obtained some acquaintance with physics -as well as chemistry, I consented. My object in this, however, was not -to make any practical use of my attainments, but merely to acquire -theoretical knowledge. Accordingly, instead of setting to with my own -hands, and thereby acquiring expertness in this art, at important -chemical processes I played the part of a mere spectator. In this way I -learnt pharmacy, yet without being in the position of becoming an -apothecary. After the lapse of a three years' apprenticeship, Madame -Rosen, in whose shop I was apprenticed, was duly paid by H. J. D. the -promised fee of sixty thalers. I received a certificate, that I had -perfectly mastered the art of pharmacy; and this ended the whole matter. - -This, however, contributed not a little to alienate my friends. At last -Mendelssohn asked me to come and see him, when he informed me of this -alienation, and pointed out to me its causes. They complained, (1) that -I had not made up my mind to any plan of life, and had thereby rendered -fruitless all their exertions in my behalf; (2) that I was trying to -spread dangerous opinions and systems; and (3) that, according to -general rumour, I was leading a rather loose life, and was very much -addicted to sensual pleasures. - -The first of these complaints I endeavoured to answer by referring to -the fact, which I had mentioned to my friends at the very first, that, -in consequence of my peculiar training, I was indisposed for any kind of -business, and adapted merely for a quiet speculative life, by which I -could not only satisfy my natural inclination, but also, by teaching and -similar means, provide for my support in a certain fashion. "As to the -second point," I proceeded, "the opinions and systems referred to are -either true or false. If the former, then I do not see how the knowledge -of the truth can do any harm. If the latter, then let them be refuted. -Moreover, I have explained these opinions and systems only to gentlemen -who desire to be enlightened, and to rise above all prejudices. But the -truth is, that it is not the mischievous nature of the opinions, it is -the incapacity of those gentlemen to comprehend them, coupled with their -reluctance to make such a humiliating confession, that sets them in arms -against me. In reference to the third reproach, however, I must say with -downright honesty, Herr Mendelssohn, we are all Epicureans. The -moralists can prescribe to us merely rules of prudence; that is to say, -they can prescribe the use of means for the attainment of given ends, -but not the ends themselves. But," I added, "I see clearly that I must -quit Berlin; whither, is a matter of indifference." With this I bade -Mendelssohn farewell. He gave me a very favourable testimonial of my -capabilities and talents, and wished me a prosperous journey. - -To my other friends also I bade farewell, and in brief but emphatic -terms thanked them for the favours they had shown. One of my friends was -taken aback, when I bade him goodbye, at my using the brief form, "I -hope you will enjoy good health, my dear friend; and I thank you for all -the favours you have bestowed upon me." It seemed to this excellent, but -prosaically poetical man, as if the form were too curt and dry for all -his friendliness towards me. So he replied with evident displeasure, "Is -this all that you have learnt in Berlin?" I made no answer, however, but -went away, booked by the Hamburg post, and departed from Berlin. - -On leaving I received from Samuel Levi[58] a letter of introduction to -one of his correspondents. When I arrived in Hamburg, I went to the -merchant to whom this letter was addressed, and delivered it. He -received me well, and invited me to his table during my stay in the -city. But as he knew nothing except how to make money, and took no -particular interest in scholarship or science, he evidently entertained -me merely on account of my letter of introduction, because he had to do -something to gratify his correspondent. As I knew nothing of trade, -however, and besides made no very presentable figure, he endeavoured to -get rid of me as soon as possible, and with a view to that asked me -where I meant to go when I left Hamburg. When I replied that I was going -to Holland, he gave me the well-meant advice to hasten my departure, as -this was the best season of the year for travelling. - -Accordingly I took out a passage on a Hamburg vessel that was to sail -for Holland in two or three weeks. For travelling companions I had two -barbers, a tailor, and a shoemaker. These fellows made themselves merry, -caroused bravely, and sang all sorts of songs. In this joviality I could -not take a part; in fact they scarcely understood my language, and -teased me on that account in a thousand ways, though I bore it all with -patience. The vessel glided pleasantly down the Elbe to a village at -the mouth of the river some miles below Hamburg. Here we were obliged to -lie about six weeks, prevented by contrary winds from putting out to -sea. The ship's crew, along with the other passengers, went to the -village tavern, where they drank and played. For me, however, the time -became very dreary, and I was besides so sick, that I nearly despaired -of my recovery. - -At last we got a favourable wind, the vessel stood out to sea, and on -the third day after our departure we arrived before Amsterdam. A boat -came out to the ship to take the passengers into the city. At first I -would not trust myself to the Dutch boatman, because I was afraid of -falling into the hands of the crimps, against whom I had been warned in -Hamburg; but the captain of our ship assured me that he knew the boatman -well, and that I might trust myself to him without any anxiety. -Accordingly I came into the city; but as I had no acquaintances here, -and as I knew that at the Hague there was a gentleman belonging to a -prominent Berlin family, and that he had obtained from Berlin a tutor -with whom I was acquainted, I set out for that place in a drag-boat. - -Here I took lodgings at the house of a poor Jewish woman, but before I -had time to rest from my journey, a man of tall, spare figure, in untidy -clothing, and with a pipe in his mouth, came in, and, without observing -me, commenced to speak with my landlady. At last she said to him, "Herr -H----, here is a stranger from Berlin; pray, speak to him." The man -thereupon turned to me, and asked me who I was. With my usual -instinctive frankness and love of truth, I told him that I was born in -Poland, that my love of the sciences had induced me to spend some years -in Berlin, and that now I had come to Holland with the intention of -entering some situation, if an opportunity offered itself. When he heard -that I was a man of learning, he began to speak with me on various -subjects in philosophy, and especially in mathematics, in which he had -done a good deal. He found in me a man after his own heart, and we -formed at once a bond of friendship with one another. - -I now went to seek the tutor from Berlin, to whom I referred before. He -introduced me to his employer as a man of high talent, who had made a -great figure in Berlin, and had brought letters of introduction from -that city. This gentleman, who made much of his tutor, as well as of -everything that came from Berlin, invited me to dinner. As my external -appearance did not appear to promise much, and I was besides thoroughly -exhausted and depressed by my sea-voyage, I made a comical figure at -table, and our host evidently did not know what to think of me. But as -he put great confidence in the written recommendation of Mendelssohn and -the oral recommendation of his tutor, he suppressed his astonishment, -and invited me to his table as long as I chose to remain here. In the -evening he invited his brothers-in-law to meet me. They were children of -B----, celebrated for his wealth as well as his beneficence; and as -they were men of learning themselves, they were expected to sound me. -They conversed with me on various subjects in the Talmud, and even in -the Cabbalah. As I showed myself thoroughly initiated into the mysteries -of this sort of learning, even explained to them passages which they -regarded as inexplicable, and untied the most complicated knots of -argument, their admiration was excited, and they believed they had come -upon a great man. - -It was not long, however, before their admiration turned to hatred. The -occasion of this was the following. In connection with the Cabbalah they -told me of a godly man, who had now for many years been a resident of -London, and who was able to perform miracles by means of the Cabbalah. I -expressed some doubts on the subject, but they assured me they had been -present at performances of the kind during this man's residence at the -Hague. To this I replied as a philosopher, that I did not indeed -question the truth of their statement, but that perhaps they had not -duly investigated the matter themselves, and gave out their -pre-conceived opinions as facts. Moreover, I declared that I must regard -with scepticism the effect of the Cabbalah in general, until it is shown -that that effect is of such a kind as cannot be explained in accordance -with the known laws of Nature. This declaration they held to be heresy. - -At the end of the meal the wine-cup was passed to me, that I might, in -accordance with the usual custom, pronounce the blessing over it. This -however I declined with the explanation, that I did so not from any -false shame of speaking before a number of men, because in Poland I had -been a rabbi, and had very often held disputations and delivered sermons -before large assemblies, and, in order to prove this, was now willing to -deliver public lectures every day. It was merely, I explained further, -the love of truth and the reluctance to do anything inconsistent, that -made it impossible for me, without manifest aversion, to say prayers -which I regarded as a result of an anthropomorphic system of theology. - -At this their patience was completely exhausted; they reviled me as a -damnable heretic, and declared it would be a deadly sin to tolerate me -in a Jewish house. Our host, who was no philosopher indeed, but a -reasonable and enlightened man, did not mind much what they said; my -humble talents were of more value in his eyes than my piety. Accordingly -they broke up immediately after dinner, and left the house in deep -displeasure; but all their subsequent efforts to drive me from their -brother-in-law's house were fruitless. I remained in it about nine -months, lived at perfect freedom, but very retired, without any -occupation or any rational society. - -Here I cannot pass over in silence an event which was remarkable both in -a psychological and in a moral point of view. In Holland I wanted -nothing but an occupation suited to my powers, and naturally, therefore, -I became hypochondriac. From feelings of satiety, not infrequently I -fell upon the idea of making away with myself, and of thus putting an -end to an existence which had become a burden to me. But no sooner did I -come to action, than the love of life always assumed the upper hand -again. Once, at the Feast of Haman, in accordance with the custom of the -Jews, I had banquetted very heartily in the house where I took my meals. -After the feast, about midnight I returned to my lodging; and as I had -to pass along one of the canals that are laid out everywhere in Holland, -it occurred to me that this was a very convenient opportunity for -carrying out the design which I had often formed. I thought to myself, -"My life is a burden. At present, indeed, I have no wants; but how will -it be with me in the future, and by what means shall I preserve my life, -since I am of no use for anything in the world? I have already resolved, -on cool reflection at different times, to put an end to my life, and -nothing but my cowardice has restrained me hitherto. Now, when I am -pretty drunk, on the brink of a deep canal, the thing may be done in a -moment without any difficulty." Already I had bent my body over the -canal, in order to plunge in; but only the upper part of the body obeyed -the command of the mind, trusting that the lower part would certainly -refuse its services for such a purpose. So I stood for a good while with -half the body bent over the water, and propped myself carefully with my -legs firmly planted on the ground, so that a spectator might have -fancied I was merely making my bow to the water. This hesitation -destroyed my whole plan. I felt like a man who is going to take -medicine, but, wanting the resolution required, raises the cup time -after time to his mouth, and sets it down again. I began at last to -laugh at myself, as I reflected that my sole motive for suicide was a -real superfluity for the present and an imaginary want for the -future.[59] I therefore let the project drop for the time being, went -home, and thus brought the serio-comic scene to an end. - -Still another comical scene must be mentioned here. At the Hague there -lived at that time a woman of about forty-five, who was said to have -been very pretty in youth, and supported herself by giving lessons in -French. One day she called upon me at my lodging, introduced herself, -and expressed an irresistible desire for scientific conversation. She -declared therefore that she would visit me frequently in my lodging, and -requested the honour of a visit from me in return. - -This advance I met with great pleasure, returned her visits several -times; and thus our intercourse became more and more intimate. We -conversed usually on subjects in philosophy and _belles lettres_. As I -was still at that time a married man, and, except for her enthusiasm in -learning, Madam had little attraction for me, I thought of nothing -beyond mere entertainment. The lady, however, who had been a widow now -for a pretty long while, and had, according to her own story, conceived -an affection for me, began to express this by looks and words in a -romantic manner, which struck me as very comical. I could never believe, -that a lady could fall in love with me in earnest. Her expressions of -affection therefore I took for mere airs of affectation. She, on the -other hand, showed herself more and more in earnest, became at times -thoughtful in the midst of our conversation, and burst into tears. - -It was during a conversation of this sort, that we fell upon the subject -of love. I told her frankly, that I could not love a woman except for -the sake of womanly excellences, such as beauty, grace, agreeableness, -etc., and that any other excellences she might possess, such as talents -or learning, could excite in me only esteem, but by no means love. The -lady adduced against me arguments _a priori_ as well as instances from -experience, especially from French novels, and tried to correct my -notions of love. I could not, however, be so easily convinced; and as -the lady was carrying her airs to an absurd length, I rose and took my -leave. She accompanied me to the very door, grasped me by the hand, and -would not let me go. I asked her somewhat sharply, "What's the matter -with you, madam?" With trembling voice and tearful eyes she replied, "I -love you." - -When I heard this laconic declaration of love, I began to laugh -immoderately, tore myself from her grasp, and rushed away. Some time -afterwards she sent me the following _billet doux_:-- - - "Sir, - - I have been greatly mistaken in your character. I took you - for a man of noble thoughts and exalted feelings; but I see - now that you are a genuine Epicurean. You seek nothing but - pleasure. A woman can please you only on account of her - beauty. A Madame Dacier, for example, who has studied - thoroughly all the Greek and Latin authors, translated them - into her native language, and enriched them with learned - annotations, could not please you. Why? Because she is not - pretty. Sir, you, who are otherwise so enlightened, ought to - be ashamed to cherish such pernicious principles; and if you - will not repent, then tremble before the revenge of the - injured love of - - Yours, etc." - -To this I returned the following reply:-- - - "Madam, - - That you have been mistaken, is shown by the result. You say - that I am a genuine Epicurean. In this you do me a great - honour. Much as I abhor the title of an _epicure_, on the - other hand I feel proud of the title of _genuine Epicurean_. - Certainly it is beauty alone that pleases me in a woman; but - as this can be heightened by other qualities, these must - also be pleasing as means towards the chief end. On the - other hand, I can merely _esteem_ such a woman on account of - her talents; _love_ her I cannot, as I have already - explained in conversation. For the learning of Madame Dacier - I have all respect: she could at all events fall in love - with the Greek heroes who were at the siege of Troy, and - expect in return the love of their _manes_ that were - constantly hovering around her; but nothing more. For the - rest, Madam, as far as your revenge is concerned, I do not - fear it, since Time, which destroys all things, has - shattered your weapons, that is, your teeth and nails. - - Yours, etc." - -Thus ended this strange love-affair. - -I discovered that in Holland there was nothing for me to do, inasmuch as -the main desire of the Dutch Jews is to make money, and they manifest no -particular liking for the sciences. Besides, in consequence of not -knowing the Dutch language, I was unable to give instructions in any -science. I determined therefore to return to Berlin by Hamburg, but -found an opportunity of travelling to Hanover by land. In Hanover I went -to a wealthy Jew,--a man who does not deserve even to enjoy his -riches,--showed him my letter of introduction from Mendelssohn, and -represented to him the urgency of my present circumstances. He read -Mendelssohn's letter carefully through, called for pen and ink, and, -without speaking a word to me, wrote at the foot:--"I also hereby -certify that what Herr Mendelssohn writes in praise of Herr Solomon is -perfectly correct." And with this he dismissed me. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -I return to Hamburg--A Lutheran Pastor pronounces me to be a scabby -Sheep, and unworthy of Admission into the Christian Fold--I enter the -Gymnasium, and frighten the Chief Rabbi out of his Wits. - - -I made a prosperous journey back to Hamburg, but here I fell into -circumstances of the deepest distress. I lodged in a miserable house, -had nothing to eat, and did not know what to do. I had received too much -education to return to Poland, to spend my life in misery without -rational occupation or society, and to sink back into the darkness of -superstition and ignorance, from which I had hardly delivered myself -with so much labour. On the other hand, to succeed in Germany was a -result on which I could not calculate, owing to my ignorance of the -language, as well as of the manners and customs of the people, to which -I had never yet been able to adapt myself properly. I had learnt no -particular profession, I had not distinguished myself in any special -science, I was not even master of any language in which I could make -myself perfectly intelligible. It occurred to me, therefore, that for me -there was no alternative left, but to embrace the Christian religion, -and get myself baptised in Hamburg. Accordingly I resolved to go to the -first clergyman I should come upon, and inform him of my resolution, as -well as of my motives for it, without any hypocrisy, in a truthful and -honest fashion. But as I could not express myself well orally, I put my -thoughts into writing in German with Hebrew characters, went to a -schoolmaster, and got him to copy it in German characters. The purport -of my letter was in brief as follows:-- - -"I am a native of Poland, belonging to the Jewish nation, destined by my -education and studies to be a rabbi; but in the thickest darkness I have -perceived some light. This induced me to search further after light and -truth, and to free myself completely from the darkness of superstition -and ignorance. In order to this end, which could not be attained in my -native place, I came to Berlin, where by the support of some enlightened -men of our nation I studied for some years--not indeed after any plan, -but merely to satisfy my thirst for knowledge. But as our nation is -unable to use, not only such planless studies, but even those conducted -on the most perfect plan, it cannot be blamed for becoming tired of -them, and pronouncing their encouragement to be useless. I have -therefore resolved, in order to secure temporal as well as eternal -happiness, which depends on the attainment of perfection, and in order -to become useful to myself as well as others, to embrace the Christian -religion. The Jewish religion, it is true, comes, in its articles of -faith, nearer to reason than Christianity. But in practical use the -latter has an advantage over the former; and since morality, which -consists not in opinions but in actions, is the aim of all religion in -general, clearly the latter comes nearer than the former to this aim. -Moreover, I hold the mysteries of the Christian religion for that which -they are, that is, allegorical representations of the truths that are -most important for man. By this means I make my faith in them harmonise -with reason, but I cannot believe them according to their common -meaning. I beg therefore most respectfully an answer to the question, -whether after this confession I am worthy of the Christian religion or -not. In the former case I am ready to carry my proposal into effect; but -in the latter, I must give up all claim to a religion which enjoins me -to lie, that is, to deliver a confession of faith which contradicts my -reason." - -The schoolmaster, to whom I dictated this, fell into astonishment at my -audacity; never before had he listened to such a confession of faith. He -shook his head with much concern, interrupted the writing several times, -and became doubtful, whether the mere copying was not itself a sin. With -great reluctance he copied it out, merely to get rid of the thing. I -went then to a prominent clergyman, delivered my letter, and begged for -a reply. He read it with great attention, fell likewise into -astonishment, and on finishing entered into conversation with me. - -"So," he said, "I see your intention is to embrace the Christian -religion, merely in order to improve your temporal circumstances." - -"Excuse me, Herr Pastor," I replied, "I think I have made it clear -enough in my letter, that my object is the attainment of perfection. To -this, it is true, the removal of all hindrances and the improvement of -my external circumstances form an indispensable condition. But this -condition is not the chief end." - -"But," said the pastor, "do you not feel any inclination of the soul to -the Christian religion without reference to any external motives?" - -"I should be telling a lie, if I were to give you an affirmative -answer." - -"You are too much of a philosopher," replied the pastor, "to be able to -become a Christian. Reason has taken the upper hand with you, and faith -must accommodate itself to reason. You hold the mysteries of the -Christian religion to be mere fables, and its commands to be mere laws -of reason. For the present I cannot be satisfied with your confession of -faith. You should therefore pray to God, that He may enlighten you with -His grace, and endow you with the spirit of true Christianity; and then -come to me again." - -"If that is the case," I said, "then I must confess, Herr Pastor, that I -am not qualified for Christianity. Whatever light I may receive, I shall -always make it luminous with the light of reason. I shall never believe -that I have fallen upon new truths, if it is impossible to see their -connection with the truths already known to me. I must therefore remain -what I am,--a stiffnecked Jew. My religion enjoins me to _believe_ -nothing, but to _think_ the truth and to _practise_ goodness. If I find -any hindrance in this from external circumstances, it is not my fault. I -do all that lies in my power." - -With this I bade the pastor goodbye. - -The hardships of my journey, coupled with poor food, brought on an ague. -I lay on a straw-bed in a garret, and suffered the want of all -conveniences and refreshments. My landlord, who took pity on me, called -a Jewish physician, who prescribed an emetic which soon cured me of my -fever. The doctor found that I was no common man, stayed to converse -with me for some hours, and begged me, as soon as I recovered, to visit -him. - -Meanwhile, however, a young man, who had known me in Berlin, heard of my -arrival. He called on me to say that Herr W----, who had seen me in -Berlin, was now residing in Hamburg, and that I might very properly call -upon him. I did so, and Herr W----, who was a very clever, honourable -man, of a benevolent disposition naturally, asked me what I intended to -do. I represented to him my whole circumstances, and begged for his -advice. He said that in his opinion the unfortunate position of my -affairs arose from the fact, that I had devoted myself with zeal merely -to the acquisition of scientific knowledge, but had neglected the study -of language, and therefore I was unable to communicate my knowledge to -others, or make any use of it. Meanwhile, he thought, nothing had been -lost by delay; and if I was still willing to accommodate myself to the -circumstances, I could attain my object in the gymnasium at Altona, -where his son was studying, while he would provide for my support. - -I accepted this offer with many thanks, and went home with a joyful -heart. Meanwhile Herr W---- spoke to the professors of the gymnasium, as -well as to the principal, but more particularly to the syndic, Herr -G----, a man who cannot be sufficiently praised. He represented to them, -that I was a man of uncommon talents, who wanted merely some further -knowledge of language to distinguish himself in the world, and who hoped -to obtain that knowledge by a short residence in the gymnasium. They -acceded to his request. I was matriculated, and had a room assigned to -me, in the institution. - -Here I lived for two years in peace and contentment. But the pupils in -such a gymnasium, as may be easily supposed, make very slow progress; -and it was therefore natural that I, who had already made considerable -attainments in science, should find the lessons at times somewhat -tedious. Consequently I did not attend them all, but made a selection to -suit my taste. The Director Dusch I esteemed very highly on account of -his profound scholarship and his excellent character. I therefore -attended the most of his lectures. It is true, the philosophy of -Ernesti, on which he lectured, could not give me much satisfaction, and -just as little did I receive from his lectures on Segner's Mathematical -Compendium. But I derived great benefit from his instructions in the -English language. The Rector H----, a cheerful old man, though somewhat -pedantic, was not altogether pleased with me, because I would not -perform his Latin exercises, and would not learn Greek at all. The -Professor of History began his lectures _ab ovo_ with Adam, and at the -end of the year with a great deal of effort reached as far down as the -building of the Tower of Babel. The teacher of French used for -translation Fenelon's _Sur l'existence de Dieu_,--a work for which I -conceived the greatest dislike, because the author, while appearing to -declaim against Spinozism, in reality argues in its defence. - -During the whole period of my residence in the gymnasium the professors -were unable to form any correct idea of me, because they never had an -opportunity of forming my acquaintance. By the end of the first year I -thought I had attained my object, and laid a good foundation in -languages. I had also become tired of this inactive life, and therefore -resolved to quit the gymnasium. But Director Dusch; who began by and by -to become acquainted with me, begged me to stay at least another year, -and, as I wanted for nothing, I consented. - -It was about this time that the following incident in my life took -place. My wife had sent a polish Jew in search of me, and he heard of my -residence in Hamburg. Accordingly he came and called on me at the -gymnasium. He had been commissioned by my wife to demand, that I should -either return home without delay, or send through him a bill of divorce. -At that time I was unable to do either the one or the other. I was not -inclined to be divorced from my wife without any cause; and to return at -once to Poland, where I had not yet the slightest prospect of getting on -in the world or of leading a rational life, was to me impossible. I -represented all this to the gentleman who had undertaken the commission, -and added that it was my intention to leave the gymnasium soon and go to -Berlin, that my Berlin friends would, as I hoped, give me both their -advice and assistance in carrying out this intention. He would not be -satisfied with this answer, which he took for a mere evasion. When he -thus found that he could do nothing with me, he went to the chief rabbi, -and entered a complaint against me. A messenger was accordingly sent to -summon me before the tribunal of the chief rabbi; but I took my stand, -that at present I was not under his jurisdiction, inasmuch as the -gymnasium had a jurisdiction of its own, by which my case would require -to be decided. The chief rabbi made every effort through the Government -to make me submit to his wishes, but all his efforts were in vain. When -he saw that he could not accomplish his purpose in this way, he sent me -an invitation a second time on the pretext that he wished merely to -speak with me. To this I willingly consented, and went to him at once. - -He received me with much respect; and when I made known to him my -birthplace and family in Poland, he began to lament and wring his hands. -"Alas!" said he, "you are the son of the famous Rabbi Joshua? I know -your father well; he is a pious and learned man. You also are not -unknown to me; I have examined you as a boy several times, and formed -high expectations of you. Oh! is it possible that you have altered so?" -(Here he pointed to my shaven beard). To this I replied, that I also had -the honour of knowing him, and that I still remembered his examinations -well. My conduct hitherto, I told him, was as little opposed to religion -properly understood, as it was to reason. "But," he interrupted "you do -not wear a beard, you do not go to the synagogue: is that not contrary -to religion?" "No!" I replied, and I proved to him from the Talmud that, -under the circumstances in which I was placed, all this was allowed. On -this point we entered into a lengthy dispute, in which each maintained -his right. As he could effect nothing with me by such disputation, he -adopted the style of mere sermonising; but when this also was of no -avail, he began to cry aloud, "_Shophar! Shophar!_" This is the name of -the horn which is blown on New-Year's day as a summons to repentance, -and at which it is supposed that Satan is horribly afraid. While the -chief rabbi called out the word, he pointed to a _Shophar_ that lay -before him on the table, and asked me, "Do you know what that is?" I -replied quite boldly, "Oh yes! it is a ram's horn." At these words the -chief rabbi fell back upon his chair, and began to lament over my lost -soul. I left him to lament as long as he liked, and bade him goodbye. - -At the end of my second year I began to reflect, that it would be an -advantage in view of my future success, as well as fair to the -gymnasium, that I should make myself more intimately acquainted with the -professors. Accordingly I went to Director Dusch, announced to him that -I was soon to leave, and told him that, as I wished a certificate from -him, it would be well for him to examine me on the progress I had made, -so that his certificate might be as nearly as possible in accordance -with the truth. To this end he made me translate some passages from -Latin and English works in prose as well as in verse, and was very well -pleased with the translation. Afterwards he entered into conversation -with me on some subjects in philosophy, but found me so well versed in -these, that for his own safety he was obliged to back out. At last he -asked me, "But how is it with your mathematics?" I begged him to examine -me in this also. "In our mathematical lessons," he began, "we had -advanced to somewhere about the subject of mathematical bodies. Will you -work out yourself a proposition not yet taken up in the lessons, for -example, that about the relation of the cylinder, the sphere and the -cone to one another? You may take some days to do it." I replied that -this was unnecessary, and offered to perform the task on the spot. I -then demonstrated, not only the proposition prescribed, but several -other propositions out of Segner's Geometry. The Director was very much -surprised at this, called all the pupils in the gymnasium, and -represented to them that the extraordinary progress I had made should -make them ashamed of themselves. The most of them did not know what to -say to this; but some replied, "Do not suppose, Herr Director, that -Maimon made this progress in mathematics here. He has seldom attended -the mathematical lessons, and even when he was there he paid no -attention to them." They were going to say more, but the Director -commanded silence, and gave me an honourable certificate, from which I -cannot avoid quoting a few sentences. They became to me afterwards a -constant spur to higher attainments, and I hope it will not be -considered vainglory in me to cite the opinion of this esteemed man. - -"His capacity," says he, "for learning all that is beautiful, good and -useful in general, but in particular those sciences which require severe -exertion of the mental powers, abstract and profound thought, is, I -might almost say, extraordinary. All those sorts of knowledge, which -demand in the highest degree one's own mental efforts, appear to him the -most agreeable; and intellectual occupations seem to be his chief, if -not his sole, enjoyment. His favourite studies hitherto have been -philosophy and mathematics, in which his progress has excited my -astonishment, &c." - -I now bade goodbye to the teachers and officers of the gymnasium, who -unanimously paid me the compliment, that I had done honour to their -institution. I then set out once more for Berlin. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -Third Journey to Berlin--Frustrated Plan of Hebrew Authorship--Journey -to Breslau--Divorce. - - -On my arrival in Berlin I called upon Mendelssohn, as well as some other -old friends, and begged them, as I had now acquired some knowledge of -languages, to employ me in some occupation suited to my capacity. They -hit upon the suggestion, that, in order to enlighten the Polish Jews -still living in darkness, I should prepare in Hebrew, as the only -language intelligible to them, some scientific works, which these -philanthropists were to print at their own expense, and distribute among -the people. His proposal I accepted with delight. But now the question -arose, with what sort of works a beginning should be made. On this point -my excellent friends were divided in their opinions. One of them thought -that the history of the Jewish nation would be most serviceable for this -purpose, inasmuch as the people would discover in it the origin of their -religious doctrines and of the subsequent corruption which these had -undergone, while they would thus also gain an insight into the fact, -that the fall of the Jewish state, as well as all the subsequent -persecution and oppression which they had suffered, had arisen from -their own ignorance and opposition to all rational arrangements. -Accordingly this gentleman recommended that I should translate from -French Basnage's _History of the Jews_; he gave me the work for this -purpose, and asked me to furnish a copy of my translation. The specimen -gave satisfaction to them all, even to Mendelssohn, and I was ready to -take the work in hand; but one of our friends thought that we ought to -begin with something on natural religion and rational morals, inasmuch -as this is the object of all enlightenment. Accordingly he recommended -that for this purpose I should translate the _Natural Religion_ of -Reimarus. Mendelssohn withheld his opinion, because he believed that -whatever was undertaken in this line, though it would do no harm, would -also be of little use. I myself undertook these works, not from any -conviction of my own, but at the request of my friends. - -I was too well acquainted with the rabbinical despotism, which by the -power of superstition has established its throne for many centuries in -Poland, and which for its own security seeks in every possible way to -prevent the spread of light and truth. I knew how closely the Jewish -theocracy is connected with the national existence, so that the -abolition of the former must inevitably bring with it the annihilation -of the latter. I saw therefore clearly that my labours in this direction -would be fruitless; but I undertook this commission, because, as already -stated, my friends would have it so, and because I could think of no -other means of subsistence. Accordingly without fixing anything definite -about the plan of my labours, my friends resolved to send me to Dessau, -where I could carry on my work at leisure. - -I reached Dessau in the hope, that after a few days my friends in Berlin -would resolve upon something definite about my work: but in this I was -deceived; for, as soon as I turned my back on Berlin, nothing further -was thought of the plan. I waited about a fortnight; but when during -that period I received no communication, I wrote to Berlin in the -following terms:--"If my friends cannot unite upon a plan, they might -leave the settlement of it to my own judgment. For my part I believe -that, to enlighten the Jewish nation, we must begin neither with history -nor with natural theology and morals. One of my reasons for thinking so -is, that these subjects, being easily intelligible, would not be able to -instil any regard for science in general among the more learned Jews, -who are accustomed to respect only those studies which involve a strain -upon the highest intellectual powers. But a second reason is, that, as -those subjects would frequently come into collision with religious -prejudices, they would never be admitted. Besides, sooth to say, there -is no proper history of the Jewish nation: for they have scarcely ever -stood in political relation with other civilised nations; and, with the -exception of the Old Testament and Josephus and a few fragments on the -persecutions of the Jews in the middle ages, nothing is to be found -recorded on the subject. I believe, therefore, that it would be best to -make a beginning with some science which, besides being most favourable -for the development of the mind, is also self-evident, and stands in no -connection with any religious opinions. Of this sort are the -mathematical sciences; and therefore with this object in view I am -willing to write a mathematical text-book in Hebrew." - -To this I received the answer, that I might follow my plan. Accordingly -I applied myself with all diligence to the preparation of this -text-book, using the Latin work on mathematics by Wolff as its basis; -and in two months it was finished. I then returned to Berlin, to give an -account of my work, but received immediately from one of the gentlemen -interested the disappointing information, that, as the work was very -voluminous, and as it would entail heavy expenditure especially on -account of the copper-plates required, he could not undertake the -publication at his own expense, and I might therefore do with my -manuscript whatever I chose. I complained of this to Mendelssohn; and he -thought, that certainly it was unreasonable to let my work go without -remuneration, but that I could not require my friends to undertake the -publication of a work which could not calculate on any good result in -consequence of that aversion to all science, which I myself knew to be -prevalent among the Jewish nation. His advice therefore was, that I -should get the book printed by subscription; and of course I was -obliged to content myself with this. Mendelssohn and the other -enlightened Jews in Berlin subscribed, and I received for my work merely -my manuscript and the list of subscriptions. The whole plan, however, -was thought of no more. - -On this I fell out again with my friends in Berlin. Being a man with -little knowledge of the world, who supposed that human actions must -always be determined by the laws of justice, I pressed for the -fulfilment of the bargain made. My friends, on the other hand, began, -though too late, to see, that their ill-considered project must of -necessity collapse, because they had no assurance of a market for such -voluminous and expensive works. From the religious, moral and political -condition of the Jews up to this time it was easy to foresee that the -few enlightened men among them would certainly give themselves no -trouble to study the sciences in the Hebrew language, which is very -ill-adapted for the exposition of such subjects; they will prefer to -seek science in its original sources. The unenlightened, on the other -hand,--and these form the majority,--are so swayed by rabbinical -prejudices, that they regard the study of the sciences, even in Hebrew, -as forbidden fruit, and persistently occupy themselves only with the -Talmud and the enormous number of its commentaries. - -All this I understood very well, and therefore I never thought of -demanding that the work I had prepared should be printed; I asked merely -remuneration for the labour spent on it in vain. In this dispute -Mendelssohn remained neutral, because he thought that both parties had -right on their side. He promised to use his influence with my friends, -to induce them to provide for my subsistence in some other way. But when -even this was not done, I became impatient, and resolved to quit Berlin -once more, and go to Breslau. I took with me some letters of -introduction, but they were of little service; for before I reached -Breslau myself, letters in the spirit of those which Uriah carried had -preceded me, and made a bad impression on the most of those to whom my -letters of introduction were addressed. As a natural result, therefore, -I was coldly received; and as I knew nothing of the later letters, I -found it impossible to explain my reception, and had made up my mind to -quit Breslau. - -By chance, however, I became acquainted with the celebrated Jewish poet, -the late Ephraim Kuh. This learned and high-minded man took so much -interest in me, that, neglecting all his former occupations and -enjoyments, he confined himself entirely to my society. To the wealthy -Jews he spoke of me with the greatest enthusiasm, and praised me as a -very good fellow. But when he found that all his complimentary remarks -failed to make any impression on these gentlemen, he took some trouble -to find out the cause of this, and at last discovered that the reason -lay in those friendly letters from Berlin. Their general tenor was, that -I was seeking to spread pernicious opinions. Ephraim Kuh, as a thinking -man, at once saw the reason of this charge; but with all the efforts he -made, he could not drive it out of the heads of these people. I -confessed to him that, during my first sojourn in Berlin as a young man -without experience or knowledge of the world, I had felt an irresistible -impulse to communicate to others whatever truth I knew; but I assured -him that, having for some years become wise by experience, I went to -work with great caution, and that therefore this charge was now wholly -without foundation. - -Irritated by my disheartening situation, I resolved to form the -acquaintance of Christian scholars, by whose recommendation I thought I -might find a hearing among the wealthy men of my own nation. I could not -but fear, however, that my defective language might form an obstacle to -the expression of my thoughts; so I prepared a written essay, in which I -delivered my ideas on the most important questions of philosophy in the -form of aphorisms. With this essay I went to the celebrated Professor -Garve, explained to him briefly my intention, and submitted my aphorisms -to him for examination. He discussed them with me in a very friendly -manner, gave me a good testimonial, and recommended me also orally in -very emphatic language to the wealthy banker, Lipmann Meier. This -gentleman settled a monthly allowance on me for my support, and also -spoke to some other Jews on the subject. - -My situation now improved every day. Many young men of the Jewish nation -sought my society. Among others the second son of Herr Aaron Zadig took -so much pleasure in my humble personality, that he desired to enjoy my -instruction in the sciences. This he earnestly begged his father to -allow; and the latter, being a well-to-do enlightened man of great good -sense, who wished to give his children the best German education, and -spared no expense for that object, willingly gave his consent. He sent -for me, and made the proposal that I should live at his house, and for a -moderate honorarium should give his second son lessons for two hours a -day in physics and _belles lettres_, and also a lesson in arithmetic of -an hour a day to his third and youngest son. This proposal I accepted -with great willingness; and, not long after, Herr Zadig asked me, if I -would not also consent to give lessons in Hebrew and elementary -mathematics to his children who had hitherto had for their teacher in -these subjects a Polish Jew, named Rabbi Manoth. But I thought it would -be unfair to supplant this poor man, who had a family to support, and -who was giving satisfaction at any rate; and therefore I declined this -request. Accordingly Rabbi Manoth continued his lessons, and I entered -upon mine. - -In this house I was able to carry on but little study for myself. In the -first place, there was a want of books; and, in the second place, I -lived in a room with the children, where they were occupied with other -masters every hour of the day. Besides, the liveliness of these young -people did not suit my character which had already become somewhat -stern; and therefore I had often occasion to get angry at petty -outbursts of unruliness. Consequently, as I was obliged to pass most of -my time in idleness, I sought society. I often visited Herr Hiemann -Lisse, a plump little man of enlightened mind and cheerful disposition. -With him and some other jolly companions I spent my evenings in talk and -jest and play of every sort. During the day I strolled around among the -coffee-houses. - -In other families also I soon became acquainted, particularly in those -of Herr Simon, the banker, and Herr Bortenstein, both of whom showed me -much kindness. All sought to persuade me to devote myself to medicine, -for which I had always entertained a great dislike. But when I saw from -my circumstances, that it would be difficult for me to find support in -any other way, I allowed myself to be persuaded. Professor Garve -introduced me to Professor Morgenbesser, and I attended his medical -lectures for some time; but after all I could not overcome my dislike to -the art, and accordingly gave up the lectures again. By and by I became -acquainted with other Christian scholars, especially with the late Herr -Lieberkühn, who was so justly esteemed on account of his abilities, as -well as for his warm interest in the welfare of mankind. I also made the -acquaintance of some teachers of merit in the Jesuits' College at -Breslau. - -But I did not give up wholly literary work in Hebrew. I translated into -Hebrew Mendelssohn's _Morgenstunden_. Of this translation I sent some -sheets as a specimen to Herr Isaac Daniel Itzig in Berlin; but I -received no answer because this excellent man, owing to his business -being too extensive, cannot possibly give attention to subjects that are -not of immediate interest to him, and therefore such affairs as the -answering of my letter are easily forgotten. I also wrote in Hebrew a -treatise on Natural Philosophy according to Newtonian principles; and -this, as well as the rest of my Hebrew works, I still preserve in -manuscript. - -At last, however, I fell here also into a precarious situation. The -children of Herr Zadig, in pursuance of the occupations to which they -were destined in life, entered into commercial situations, and therefore -required teachers no longer. Other means of support also gradually -failed. As I was thus obliged to seek subsistence in some other way, I -devoted myself to giving lessons; I taught Euler's _Algebra_ to a young -man, gave two children instruction in the rudiments of German and Latin, -&c. But even this did not last long, and I found myself in a sorrowful -plight. - -Meanwhile my wife and eldest son arrived from Poland. A woman of rude -education and manners, but of great good sense and the courage of an -Amazon, she demanded that I should at once return home with her, not -seeing the impossibility of what she required. I had now lived some -years in Germany, had happily emancipated myself from the fetters of -superstition and religious prejudice, had abandoned the rude manner of -life in which I had been brought up, and extended my knowledge in many -directions. I could not therefore return to my former barbarous and -miserable condition, deprive myself of all the advantages I had gained, -and expose myself to rabbinical rage at the slightest deviation from the -ceremonial law, or the utterance of a liberal opinion. I represented to -her, that this could not be done at once, that I should require first of -all to make my situation known to my friends here as well as in Berlin, -and solicit from them the assistance of two or three hundred thalers, so -that I might be able to live in Poland independent of my religious -associates. But she would listen to nothing of all this, and declared -her resolution to obtain a divorce, if I would not go with her -immediately. Here therefore it was for me to choose the less of two -evils, and I consented to the divorce. - -Meanwhile, however, I was obliged to provide for the lodging and board -of these guests, and to introduce them to my friends in Breslau. Both of -these duties I performed, and I pointed out, especially to my son, the -difference between the manner of life one leads here and that in Poland, -while I sought to convince him by several passages in the _Moreh -Nebhochim_, that enlightenment of the understanding and refinement of -manners are rather favourable than otherwise to religion. I went -further: I sought to convince him, that he ought to remain with me; I -assured him, that, with my direction and the support of my friends, he -would find opportunities of developing the good abilities with which -Nature had endowed him, and would obtain for them some suitable -employment. These representations made some impression upon him: but my -wife went with my son to consult some orthodox Jews, in whose advice she -thought she could thoroughly confide; and they recommended her to press -at once for a divorce, and on no account to let my son be induced to -remain with me. This resolution, however, she was not to disclose till -she had received from me a sufficient sum of money for household -purposes. She might then separate from me for ever, and start for home -with her booty. - -This pretty plan was faithfully followed. By and by I had succeeded in -collecting some score of ducats from my friends. I gave them to my wife, -and explained to her that, to complete the required sum, it would be -necessary for us to go to Berlin. She then began to raise difficulties, -and declared at once point-blank, that for us a divorce was best, as -neither could I live happily with her in Poland, nor she with me in -Germany. In my opinion she was perfectly right. But it still made me -sorry to lose a wife, for whom I had once entertained affection, and I -could not let the affair be conducted in any spirit of levity. I told -her therefore that I should consent to a divorce only if it were -enjoined by the courts. - -This was done. I was summoned before the court. My wife stated the -grounds on which she claimed a divorce. The president of the court then -said, "Under these circumstances we can do nothing but advise a -divorce." "Mr. President," I replied, "we came here, not to ask advice, -but to receive a judicial sentence." Thereupon the chief rabbi rose from -his seat (that what he said might not have the force of a judicial -decision,) approached me with the codex in his hand, and pointed to the -following passage:--"A vagabond, who abandons his wife for years, and -does not write to her or send her money, shall, when he is found, be -obliged to grant a divorce." "It is not my part," I replied, "to -institute a comparison between this case and mine. That duty falls to -you, as judge. Take your seat again, therefore, and pronounce your -judicial sentence on the case." - -The president became pale and red by turns, while the rest of the judges -looked at one another. At last the presiding judge became furious, began -to call me names, pronounced me a damnable heretic, and cursed me in the -name of the Lord. I left him to storm, however, and went away. Thus -ended this strange suit, and things remained as they were before. - -My wife now saw that nothing was to be done by means of force, and -therefore she took to entreaty. I also yielded at last, but only on the -condition, that at the judicial divorce the judge, who had shown himself -such a master of cursing, should not preside in the court. After the -divorce my wife returned to Poland with my son. I remained some time -still in Breslau; but as my circumstances became worse and worse, I -resolved to return to Berlin.[60] - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -Fourth Journey to Berlin--Unfortunate Circumstances--Help--Study of -Kant's Writings--Characteristic of my own Works. - - -When I came to Berlin, Mendelssohn was no longer in life,[61] and my -former friends were determined to know nothing more of me. I did not -know therefore what to do. In the greatest distress I received a visit -from Herr Bendavid, who told me that he had heard of my unfortunate -circumstances, and had collected a small sum of about thirty thalers, -which he gave to me. Besides, he introduced me to a Herr Jojard, an -enlightened and high-minded man, who received me in a very friendly -manner, and made some provision for my support. A certain professor, -indeed, tried to do me an ill turn with this worthy man by denouncing me -as an atheist; but in spite of this I gradually got on so well, that I -was able to hire a lodging in a garret from an old woman. - -I had now resolved to study Kant's _Kritik of Pure Reason_, of which I -had often heard but which I had never seen yet.[62] The method, in which -I studied this work, was quite peculiar. On the first perusal I -obtained a vague idea of each section. This I endeavoured afterwards to -make distinct by my own reflection, and thus to penetrate into the -author's meaning. Such is properly the process which is called _thinking -oneself into a system_. But as I had already mastered in this way the -systems of Spinoza, Hume and Leibnitz, I was naturally led to think of a -coalition-system. This in fact I found, and I put it gradually in -writing in the form of explanatory observations on the _Kritik of Pure -Reason_, just as this system unfolded itself to my mind. Such was the -origin of my _Transcendental Philosophy_. Consequently this book must be -difficult to understand for the man who, owing to the inflexible -character of his thinking, has made himself at home merely in one of -these systems without regard to any other. Here the important problem, -_Quid juris?_ with the solution of which the _Kritik_ is occupied, is -wrought out in a much wider sense than that in which it is taken by -Kant; and by this means there is plenty of scope left for Hume's -scepticism in its full force. But on the other side the complete -solution of this problem leads either to Spinozistic or to Leibnitzian -dogmatism. - -When I had finished this work, I showed it to Marcus Herz.[63] He -acknowledged that he was reckoned among the most eminent disciples of -Kant, and that he had given the most assiduous application while -attending Kant's philosophical lectures, as may indeed be seen from his -writings, but that yet he was not in a position to pass a judgment on -the _Kritik_ itself or on any other work relating to it. He advised me, -however, to send my manuscript directly to Kant himself, and submit it -to his judgment, while he promised to accompany it with a letter to the -great philosopher. Accordingly I wrote to Kant, sending him my work, and -enclosing the letter from Herz. A good while passed, however, before an -answer came. At length Herz received a reply, in which, among other -things, Kant said:-- - -"But what were you thinking about, my dear friend, when you sent me a -big packet containing the most subtle researches, not only to read -through, but to think out thoroughly, while I am still, in my -sixty-sixth year, burdened with a vast amount of labour in completion of -my plan! Part of this labour is to furnish the last part of the -_Kritik_,--that, namely, on the Faculty of Judgment,--which is soon to -appear; part is to work out my system of the Metaphysic of Nature, as -well as the Metaphysic of Ethics, in accordance with the requirements of -the _Kritik_. Moreover, I am kept incessantly busy with a multitude of -letters requiring special explanations on particular points; and, in -addition to all this, my health is frail. I had already made up my mind -to send back the manuscript with an excuse so well justified on all -these grounds; but a glance at it soon enabled me to recognise its -merits, and to show, not only that none of my opponents had understood -me and the main problem so well, but that very few could claim so much -penetration as Herr Maimon in profound inquiries of this sort. This -induced me...," and so on. - -In another passage of the letter Kant says:--"Herr Maimon's work -contains moreover so many acute observations, that he cannot give it to -the public without its producing an impression strongly in his favour." -In a letter to myself he said:--"Your esteemed request I have -endeavoured to comply with as far as was possible for me; and if I have -not gone the length of passing a judgment on the whole of your treatise, -you will gather the reason from my letter to Herr Herz. Certainly it -arises from no feeling of disparagement, which I entertain for no -earnest effort in rational inquiries that interest mankind, and least of -all for such an effort as yours, which, in point of fact, betrays no -common talent for the profounder sciences." - -It may easily be imagined how important and agreeable to me the -approbation of this great thinker must have been, and especially his -testimony that I had understood him well. For there are some arrogant -Kantians, who believe themselves to be sole proprietors of the Critical -Philosophy, and therefore dispose of every objection, even though -intended, not exactly as a refutation, but as a fuller elaboration of -this philosophy, by the mere assertion without proof, that the author -has failed to understand Kant. Now these gentlemen were no longer in a -position to bring this charge against my book, inasmuch as, by the -testimony of the founder himself of the Critical Philosophy, I have a -better right than they to make use of this argument. - -At this time I was living in Potsdam with a gentleman who was a -leather-manufacturer. When Kant's letters arrived, I went to Berlin, and -devoted my time to the publication of my _Transcendental Philosophy_. As -a native of Poland I dedicated this work to the king, and carried a copy -to the Polish Resident; but it was never sent, and I was put off from -time to time with various excuses. _Sapienti sat!_ - -A copy of the work was also sent, as is usually done, to the editor of -the _Allgemeine Litteraturzeitung_. After waiting a good while without -any notice appearing, I wrote to the editor, and received the following -answer:--"You know yourself how small is the number of those who are -competent to understand and judge philosophical works. Three of the best -speculative thinkers have declined to undertake the review of your book, -because they are unable to penetrate into the depths of your researches. -An application has been made to a fourth, from whom a favourable reply -was expected; but a review from him has not yet been received." - -I also began to work at this time for the _Journal für Aufklärung_. My -first article was on _Truth_, and was in the form of a letter to a -friend[64] in Berlin. The article was occasioned by a letter which I had -received from this friend during my stay in Potsdam, and in which he -wrote to me in a humorous vein, that philosophy was no longer a -marketable commodity, and that therefore I ought to take advantage of -the opportunity which I was enjoying to learn tanning. I replied, that -philosophy is not a coinage subject to the vicissitudes of the exchange; -and this proposition I afterwards developed in my article. Another -article in the same periodical was on _Tropes_, in which I show that -these imply the transference of a word not from one object to another -that is analogous, but from a relative to its correlate. I wrote also an -article on _Bacon and Kant_, in which I institute a comparison between -these two reformers of philosophy. _The Soul of the World_ was the -subject of another discussion in this journal, in which I endeavoured to -make out, that the doctrine of one universal soul common to all animated -beings has not only as much in its favour as the opposite doctrine, but -that the arguments for it outweigh those on the other side. My last -article in the journal referred to the plan of my _Transcendental -Philosophy_; and I explain in it that, while I hold the Kantian -philosophy to be irrefutable from the side of the Dogmatist, on the -other hand I believe that it is exposed to all attacks from the side of -the Scepticism of Hume. - -A number of young Jews from all parts of Germany had, during -Mendelssohn's lifetime, united to form a society under the designation, -Society _for Research into the Hebrew Language_. They observed with -truth, that the evil condition of our people, morally as well as -politically, has its source in their religious prejudices, in their want -of a rational exposition of the Holy Scriptures, and in the arbitrary -exposition to which the rabbis are led by their ignorance of the Hebrew -language. Accordingly the object of their society was to remove these -deficiencies, to study the Hebrew language in its sources, and by that -means to introduce a rational exegesis. For this purpose they resolved -to publish a monthly periodical in Hebrew under the title of [Hebrew:** -], _The Collector_, which was to give expositions of difficult passages -in Scripture, Hebrew poems, prose essays, translations from useful -works, etc. - -The intention of all this was certainly good; but that the end would -scarcely be reached by any such means, I saw from the very beginning. I -was too familiar with the principles of the rabbis and their style of -thought to believe that such means would bring about any change. The -Jewish nation is, without reference to accidental modifications, a -perpetual aristocracy under the appearance of a theocracy. The learned -men, who form the nobility in the nation, have been able, for many -centuries, to maintain their position as the legislative body with so -much authority among the common people, that they can do with them -whatever they please. This high authority is a natural tribute which -weakness owes to strength. For since the nation is divided into such -unequal classes as the common people and the learned, and since the -former, owing to the unfortunate political condition of the nation, are -profoundly ignorant, not only of all useful arts and sciences, but even -of the laws of their religion, on which their eternal welfare is -supposed to depend, it follows that the exposition of Scripture, the -deduction of religious laws from it, and the application of these to -particular cases, must be surrendered wholly to the learned class which -the other undertakes the cost of maintaining. The learned class seek to -make up for their want of linguistic science and rational exegetics by -their own ingenuity, wit and acuteness. To form an idea of the degree in -which these talents are displayed, it is necessary to read the Talmud -along with the commentary called _Tosaphoth_, that is, the additions to -the first commentary of Rabbi Solomon Isaac.[65] - -The productions of the mind are valued by them, not in proportion to -their utility, but in proportion to the talent which they imply. A man -who understands Hebrew, who is well versed in the Holy Scriptures, who -even carries in his head the whole of the Jewish _Corpus Juris_,--and -that is no trifle,--is by them but slightly esteemed. The greatest -praise that they give to such a man is _Chamor Nose Sepharim_, that is, -_An ass loaded with books_. But if a man is able, by his own ingenuity, -to deduce new laws from those already known, to draw fine distinctions, -and to detect hidden contradictions, he is almost idolised. And to tell -the truth, this judgment is well founded, so far as it concerns the -treatment of subjects that have no ulterior end in view. - -It may therefore be easily imagined, that people of this sort will -scarcely accord a hearing to an institute which aims merely at the -cultivation of taste, the study of language, or any similar object, -which to them appears mere trifling. Yet these are not the few educated -men, scattered here and there,--the steersmen of this ship which is -driven about in all seas. All men of enlightened minds, it does not -matter how much taste or knowledge they possess, are treated by them as -imbeciles. And why? Simply because they have not studied the Talmud to -that extent, and in the manner, which they require. Mendelssohn was in -some measure esteemed by them on this account, because in point of fact -he was a good Talmudist. - -I was therefore neither for, nor against, this monthly periodical; I -even contributed to it at times Hebrew articles. Among these I will -mention merely one,--an exposition of an obscure passage in the -commentary of Maimonides on the Mishnah, which I interpreted by the -Kantian philosophy. The article was afterwards translated into German, -and inserted in the _Berlinische Monatsschrift_. - -Some time after this I received from this society, which now calls -itself the _Society for the Promotion of all that is Noble and Good_, a -commission to write a Hebrew commentary on the celebrated work of -Maimonides, _Moreh Nebhochim_. This commission I undertook with -pleasure, and the work was soon done. So far, however, only a part of -the commentary has as yet appeared. The preface to the work may be -considered as a brief history of philosophy. - -I had been an adherent of all philosophical systems in succession, -Peripatetic, Spinozist, Leibnitzian, Kantian, and finally Sceptic; and I -was always devoted to that system, which for the time I regarded as -alone true. At last I observed that all these systems contain something -true, and are in certain respects equally useful. But, as the difference -of philosophical systems depends on the ideas which lie at their -foundation in regard to the objects of nature, their properties and -modifications, which cannot, like the ideas of mathematics, be defined -in the same way by all men, and presented _a priori_, I determined to -publish for my own use, as well as for the advantage of others, a -philosophical dictionary, in which all philosophical ideas should be -defined in a somewhat free method, that is, without attachment to any -particular system, but either by an explanation common to all, or by -several explanations from the point of view of each. Of this work also -only the first part has as yet appeared. - -In the popular German monthly already mentioned, the _Berlinische -Monatsschrift_, various articles of mine were inserted, on Deceit, on -the Power of Foreseeing, on Theodicy, and other subjects. On Empirical -Psychology also I contributed various articles, and at last became -associated with Herr Hofrath Moritz in the editorship of the -periodical.[66] - -So much with regard to the events which have occurred in my life, and -the communication of which, I thought, might be not without use. I have -not yet reached the haven of rest; but-- - - "Quo fata trahunt retrahuntque sequamur." - - - - -CONCLUDING CHAPTER. - - -The closing words of the Autobiography themselves awaken the desire to -know the sequel of the author's life, and it seems therefore appropriate -to finish the narrative by the sketch of a few facts derived mainly from -the little volume of _Maimoniana_, to which reference has been made in -the preface. - -It is perhaps scarcely necessary to state that Maimon's life to the very -end continued to retain the stamp it bore throughout the whole period -described in the preceding chapters. That stamp had apparently been -impressed on it even before he left Poland; and the Western influences, -under which he came in Germany, never altered essentially the character -he brought with him from home. - -Even in its external features his life enjoyed no permanent improvement. -Fate had indeed been somewhat hard upon a man of so much genuine culture -and sensibility. Still the chronic poverty, which filled the largest cup -of suffering in his life, was due not wholly to circumstances: it was -partly his own nature or habits that kept him a pauper. This is all the -more remarkable, that there is perhaps no work of moral or religious -instruction which attaches more importance than the Talmud to industrial -pursuits.[67] Saturated as his mind was with Talmudic lore, and -disciplined as his early years had been by Talmudic training, Maimon -could not be ignorant of the advantage which the spiritual life derives -from financial independence on others; and it might therefore have been -expected of him that, like many of the great rabbis, and Spinoza and -Mendelssohn too, he would have devoted himself to some remunerative -occupation, however humble. This would not have been impossible even in -Poland, where the Jews were subject to no disability excluding them from -the common industries of the country; and from the Autobiography it -appears that, even at an early period of his life, he was more than half -aware that his poverty was due, not wholly to the imperious demands of a -higher culture, but to a somewhat selfish indolence.[68] In Germany, -with its more advanced civilisation, it would have been much less -difficult for him to make a tolerable living at some employment. The -Autobiography shows that he was very generously received by a large -circle of influential friends, who took a great deal of pains to secure -for him a position of independence, and that they abandoned their effort -only when they found it in vain. From the _Maimoniana_ also it appears -that some of the most eminent men of his time continued to tender their -friendly services. Among others, Plattner, Schultze (Aenesidemus), and -even Goethe, made advances towards Maimon in a way that was not only -very flattering, but might have been very helpful, if he had so -chosen.[69] But he never got rid of the habit, which he had acquired in -Poland, of depending on others; and the low standard of comfort, to -which he had accustomed himself, left him without sufficient stimulus to -seek an escape from his pauperised condition. - -His condition, therefore, never improved. He continued during his later -years to work at various literary employments; but the remuneration he -obtained for these was never sufficient for his subsistence. His works -appealed to a very limited public. He had consequently often to go -a-begging for a publisher, and to content himself with what slight -honorarium the reluctant publishers chose to give.[70] The literary -hack-work, of which he was obliged to do a good deal, brought him no -better return. That sort of labour was probably as poorly paid in Berlin -at the time as in the Grub Street of last century. He was therefore at -times reduced to utter beggary. Many of his earlier friends, as appears -from the Autobiography, had lost patience with him; and some, who had -helped him before, when he was forced by sheer starvation to apply to -them afterwards, treated him as a common beggar, dismissing him with a -copper in charity (_Zehrpfennig_), and at times with unnecessarily cold, -even insulting language.[71] If we add to this the fact, that his -irregular habits often made him the victim of unscrupulous men,[72] it -will not seem surprising that he sometimes fell into a bitter tone and -harsh judgments about his friends,[73] or that he was apt occasionally -to burst out into pretty strong language of general misanthropy.[74] - -Perhaps Maimon might have risen out of the chronic destitution, to which -he seemed doomed, if he had cultivated in any degree the virtue of -thrift. But thriftlessness, as the Autobiography shows, had been an -hereditary vice in his family, at least for two generations before him; -and though he gives vivid pictures of its pitiable results in the -households of his grandfather and father, he never made any effort to -rise above it himself. Whenever he obtained any remuneration for his -work, instead of husbanding it economically till he obtained more, he -usually squandered it at once in extravagancies, often of a useless, -sometimes of a reprehensible kind.[75] He points out in his first -chapter, that his grandfather might have been a rich man if he had kept -accounts of income and expenditure. But his friend Wolff, has to confess -that, good mathematician as Maimon was, he never seemed to think of the -difference between _plus_ and _minus_ in money-matters.[76] With such a -character one of Maimon's friends was not far from the truth, when on a -fresh application for assistance, he dismissed him, too harshly perhaps, -with the blunt remark, "People like you there is no use in trying to -help."[77] Certainly help was not to be found in Maimon himself, and it -is difficult to see how he could have avoided the chance of a miserable -death by actual starvation, had it not been that a generous home was at -last opened to him, where he closed his days in comfort and peace. - -A character like that of Maimon implied a general irregularity of -life,--an absence of that regulation by fixed rules of conduct, which is -essential to wellbeing. He was not indeed unaware of the importance of -such regularity. "I require of every man of sound mind," he said one -day, "that he should lay out for himself a plan of action." No wonder -that this requirement leads his friend to remark, that it seemed to him -as if Maimon's only plan of life had been to live without any plan at -all.[78] - -The irregularity of his habits is strikingly seen in his want of method -even at his literary work. Notwithstanding the technical culture he gave -himself in early life in drawing, he seems never to have reached any -degree of muscular expertness. Wolff remarked his awkwardness in -handling his pen, and his inability to fold a letter with tolerable -neatness.[79] In other respects also he was careless about those -mechanical conveniences by which mental work is usually facilitated. He -was commonly to be seen working at a very unsteady desk, one leg of -which was supported by a folio volume.[80] He did not even confine -himself to any particular place for work. Apparently he spent more of -his day in public taverns than in his private lodging, and he might -often be seen amid the distraction of such surroundings writing or -revising proofs, while, as a consequence, his papers sometimes were -mislaid and lost, and his work had all to be done over again. It was -said of the Autobiography itself that it had been written on an alehouse -bench.[81] He could never understand how any man could do intellectual -work by rule; and therefore, though he had to make his living as best he -could by literature, he never formed the habit of reserving one part of -the day for work. He commonly worked in the morning, at least in _his_ -morning, and that, his friend acknowledges, was not very early;[82] but -this itself was evidently no fixed rule. Probably for the same reason he -never adopted the plan, which authors find so serviceable, of first -sketching an outline of a work before it is written out in detail. "I -have," he said one day, "given up, with good result, the habit of making -a draught beforehand. You are not, by a long way, so careful about your -work when you know that you are going to write it over again; you -neglect many a thought, do not write it down, because you believe that -it will occur to you again in copying out, which frequently does not -happen."[83] It is clear, however, that, his opinion to the contrary -notwithstanding, his writings suffered from his unmethodical habits. -"The fact," says the most competent of judges on this subject, "that -Maimon is far from having attained the recognition which his importance -deserves, may be accounted for by the defective condition of his -writings. His extraordinary acuteness was designed, but was not -sufficiently cultivated, to give to his investigations the light and the -force of methodical exposition. He wrote with most pleasure in his -Talmudic fashion, commenting and disputing, without proper sifting and -arrangement of his materials. To these defects must be added the faults -of his style. It is surprising that he learned to write German as he -did. In his writings there are passages in which the thought bursts out -with really resplendent power, and actually forces the language, even -plays with it, in turns of expression that take you by surprise. But a -German author he never became; and as a philosophical author he wanted a -certain sense of order that is indispensable for exposition. He can -sometimes formulate very well, but cannot systematise, and hence his -most important opinions, in which the whole meaning of his position -rests, are often in the course of his writings found in passages the -least lucid and the least prominent."[84] - -It is perhaps only saying the same thing of Maimon in another form, that -he had no mechanical memory, that consequently he was apt to forget the -names of persons and of places, sometimes could not remember the name of -the street where he lived, or the day or even the month; and it is not -therefore surprising that he often injured himself by neglecting all -sort of engagements.[85] It may be readily inferred that he was -particularly negligent about all engagements and regulations bearing -upon the mere externals of life. That a man of his condition and -character must have been unusually careless about his personal -appearance, follows as a matter of course, and therefore we may pass -over the references of Wolff to peculiarities of Maimon's dress. He was -usually to be seen out of doors clad in an overcoat which had evidently -not been made for himself, and which, we may suspect, was intended as a -convenient covering for the defects of under-garments, his boots bearing -the weather-stains of many days, and his beard often showing that for a -good while he had forgotten his engagement with his barber. In the -latter years of his life he abandoned the use of a wig, as well as of -powder in his hair, at a time when these changes must have been regarded -as rather daring innovations on prevalent fashion. But in all his -surroundings he showed what, for a man of his intellectual attainments, -seems a most astonishing disregard of sanitary cleanliness and the -comfortable decencies of life. The state of his lodging must have raised -a shudder in any one sensitive to disorder or uncleanliness. He -acknowledged that he was constantly at war with the housemaid on this -subject, as he could never bear to have his room swept and dusted, and -he complained of the perpetual annoyance to which he was exposed in -Amsterdam from the excessive scruples of the people in regard to -tidiness.[86] It may fairly be suspected that the annoyance was -considerably greater, as it was more justifiable, on the other side. His -habits in this respect clung to him to the last, and it was evidently -difficult to keep his surroundings tolerable even in the comparatively -sumptuous home in which he closed his days. - -The frank confessions of the Autobiography reveal the fact, that the -irregularity, which characterised the life of Maimon, sometimes led to a -breach of the weightier matters of the law. The habit, which he began in -Poland, of seeking relief from external discomfort and internal -wretchedness in alcoholic stimulation, grew upon him afterwards; and as -his health began to fail, he used to treat his various complaints by a -liberal allowance of various wines and beers which he supposed adapted -to their cure.[87] The liberal allowance was very apt, especially in the -evenings, to exceed all reasonable moderation; and the sleepy -inhabitants of Berlin were not infrequently disturbed by the half-tipsy -philosopher, as he wended his way unsteadily homewards at unseasonable -hours, discoursing on all sorts of speculative themes in disagreeably -loud tones that were occasionally interrupted by the expostulations of a -night-watchman.[88] - -The peculiarly undisciplined manners of Maimon were occasionally shown -in violent outbursts of various feelings. Too frequently it was an -irritable temper that gave way. The slightest provocation, even the loss -of a game at chess,[89] was apt to cause a painful explosion; and then -his language was certainly far from being restrained by those usages -which are found essential to the pleasantness of social intercourse.[90] -The uncontrollable violence of these outbursts was amusingly exhibited -in the fact, that sometimes he could not command the intellectual calm -requisite for thinking and expressing himself in his acquired German, -and, even though it might be a Gentile with whom he quarrelled, he fell -back on his Judæo-Polish mother tongue, which came to him as if by -natural instinct.[91] It is but fair, however, to add that these -outbursts were often merely the unusually forcible, but not altogether -unjustifiable, utterances of an honest indignation at wrong.[92] - -For this strangely educated man, who in his outward manners seemed to -remain a somewhat rude child of nature, was after all ready to yield, -not only to an unkindly irritability, but also to the more genial -emotions. It is pleasing, for example, to know that he had a particular -fondness for animals; and his pets were allowed in his lodging liberties -which, however objectionable to a tidy housemaid, showed at least the -essential gentleness of his heart. Tutored as he was himself in the -severest school of poverty, it is also pleasing to know that he -cherished a kindly sympathy for the poor, and was ever ready to help -them as he could, sometimes at the cost of no small sacrifice to -himself.[93] The finer sensibilities of his nature were also easily -touched by music. Though he had no musical culture, and used to regret -that he had had none, an old Hebrew melody, long after he had broken off -all connection with the Jews, could move him so deeply that he was -obliged, even in company, to seek relief in tears.[94] For in the -uncontrolled simplicity of his nature he allowed his feelings to find -their natural vent without much restraint from circumstances; and -therefore he was seen at times in the theatre excited to loud sobbing by -a tragedy, or to boisterous laughter over a comedy.[95] - -Nor is it to be regarded as an unpleasant feature of his character, but -rather as an indication of a wholesome check on the general irregularity -of his life, that, even after he had thrown off all the peculiar -restraints of his national religion, he clung with evident fondness to -many of those rabbinical habits which he had cultivated in his earlier -years. From Fischer's account of the style of Maimon's works we have -seen how his intellectual work was affected by his Talmudic studies. The -criticism is evidently just. Maimon himself had met with it, and -acknowledged its justice. He protested indeed that it did not affect the -truth of his speculations, though he evidently felt its disadvantages, -and laboured at times to acquire a more methodical style.[96] - -The rabbinical habits of Maimon, however, were most quaintly seen in -peculiarities of outward manner. Gesticulations customary in the study -of the Talmud he was seen to adopt not infrequently when he forgot -himself in the earnestness of conversation, or when in a company he fell -into a brown study, or even in the studies of his retirement. Thus in -reading Euler's mathematical works or any other book which required -great attention, he would fall into the Talmudic singsong and rhythmical -swing of the body.[97] - -It is noteworthy also, that, with all the unrestrained rudeness which -often characterised his manners, Maimon was not without a certain -dignified courtesy; and when the occasion demanded it, he could turn a -polite phrase as prettily as the most accomplished gentleman.[98] There -was, moreover, in Maimon an intrinsic shyness which must have gone a -long way to soften the less amiable side of his social character.[99] -Then it is evident that his conversation, in his better moods at least, -had a charm which made him a welcome guest in any company. Thus, amid -all that may have been repulsive at times, there must have been in -Maimon's character a good deal to attract the friendly companionship of -others. The Autobiography itself, as well as Wolff's little book, shows -that Maimon enjoyed as much as he desired of the cultured society of his -time. Being naturally shy, indeed, he rather shrank from company in -which intercourse is regulated by a somewhat rigid social code; and the -desire of freedom from such restriction often drove him into company of -a much more objectionable kind. He also seems to have entertained a -strong dislike to any excessively demonstrative affection. He himself -was rather curt in his expressions of courtesy or friendliness towards -others, contenting himself generally, on meeting them, with a familiar -nod. The lifting of the hat appeared to him meaningless, and a -deliberate embrace "in cold blood" was intolerable.[100] Yet in many -instances the attachment of his friends was marked with an unusual -degree of warmth, and brought many an hour of sunshine to a life which -otherwise would have been shadowed with insufferable gloom. - -Among all Maimon's friends, the most conspicuous place must be given to -the man by whose generous hospitality he was able to close his -chequered life amid the comforts of a luxurious home. While he was -living in a miserable lodging in one of the suburbs of Berlin, he -learned from one of his friends that a Silesian nobleman, Graf -Kalkreuth, who had formed a high opinion of his writings, was anxious to -make his personal acquaintance. After a good deal of delay, Maimon was -at last induced to call upon the Graf at his residence in Berlin. -Fortunately he was very favourably impressed with the character of his -noble friend; and the friendship thus begun led before long to his -taking up his abode permanently with the Graf.[101] The generous -consideration which the host displayed for all the eccentricities of his -guest, made this arrangement one of the happiest for the poor -philosopher, who since his childhood had seldom enjoyed the comforts of -a home. - -But it is evident that the hardships of his life had at an early period -begun to tell upon his constitution, and that this was further shattered -by irregular habits in his later years. Symptoms of serious trouble in -the lungs excited his alarm in the winter of 1795, and he was induced to -seek medical advice. Partly from an unwise scepticism in regard to -medicine, partly from his usual failure to adhere to any fixed rule in -his conduct, the services of his physicians commonly ended with the -consultation; he seldom or never acted on their advice.[102] He lived -in indifferent health for five or six years more. When his last illness -overtook him, he was living in the house of Graf Kalkreuth at -Siegersdorf near Freistadt, in Lower Silesia. The only account of him at -this crisis was written by the pastor of Freistadt, for a monthly -periodical of the time, entitled _Kronos_. It forms the close of Wolff's -little book; and as it is the only account, it may be of some interest -here. The pastor, Herr Tscheggey, had made the acquaintance of Maimon -about the year 1795; but their intercourse had become much closer about -six weeks before Maimon's death, when he used to visit the pastor two or -three times a week. On hearing that Maimon had been confined for some -days, the good pastor at once went to see him. He found him in a state -of great weakness, unable to leave his room, and besought him earnestly, -but in vain, to take medical advice. A few days afterwards he called -again, and saw that evidently the end was drawing nigh. Curious to know -whether Maimon in this situation would remain true to his principles, he -gave the following turn to the conversation, which he professes to -report word for word. - -"I am sorry to find you so ill to-day, dear Maimon," said the pastor. - -"There will perhaps be some improvement yet," replied Maimon. - -"You look so ill," his friend proceeded, "that I am doubtful about your -recovery." - -"What matters it after all?" said Maimon. "When I am dead, I am gone." - -"Can you say that, dear friend," rejoined the clergyman, with deep -emotion. "How? Your mind, which amid the most unfavourable circumstances -ever soared to higher attainments, which bore such fair flowers and -fruits--shall it be trodden in the dust along with the poor covering in -which it has been clothed? Do you not feel at this moment that there is -something in you which is not body, not matter, not subject to the -conditions of space and time?" - -"Ah!" replied Maimon, "these are beautiful dreams and hopes"---- - -"Which will surely be fulfilled," his friend broke in; and then, after a -short pause, added, "You maintained not long ago that here we cannot -reach further than to mere _legality_. Let this be admitted; and now -perhaps you are about to pass over soon into a condition, in which you -will rise to the stage of _morality_, since you and all of us have a -natural capacity for it. Why? Should you not wish now to come into the -society of one whom you honoured so much as Mendelssohn?" - -The zealous pastor says he gave the conversation this turn on purpose, -in order to touch this side of the philosopher's heart. After a while -the dying man exclaimed, "Ay me! I have been a foolish man, the most -foolish among the most foolish--and how earnestly I wished it -otherwise!" - -"This utterance," observed the pastor, "is also a proof that you are not -yet in complete accord with your unbelief. No," he added, taking Maimon -by the hand, "you will not all die; your spirit will surely live on." - -"So far as mere faith and hope are concerned, I can go a good way; but -what does that help us?" was Maimon's reply. - -"It helps us at least to peace," urged the pastor. - -"I am at peace (_Ich bin ruhig_)," said the dying man, completely -exhausted. - -Here Tscheggey broke off the conversation, as the sufferer was evidently -unable to continue it. When he rose to leave, Maimon begged him to stay, -or at least to come back again soon. He came back the following morning, -but found the patient unconscious. At ten o'clock on the same -evening--it was the 22nd of November, 1800--this strangely tossed life -had reached its haven. - -"He died at peace," says the kindly clergyman, "though I do not venture -to say from what source the peace was derived. When a few days -afterwards I passed the castle of his noble friend, I looked up with -sadness to the window of his former room, and blessed his ashes." It is -to be regretted that the generous piety of the friendly minister was not -universal, and that the ashes of the unfortunate doubter were only with -a grudge allowed to find a decent resting-place. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Vol. iii., p. 370, note. - -[2] See the Preface to his _Philosophy of Reflection_, pp. 16-18. - -[3] Vol. v., chap. 7. - -[4] The volume bears the somewhat quaint title in full:--_Maimoniana, -oder Rhapsodien Zur Charakteristik Salomon Maimon's_. Aus Seinem -Privatleben gesammelt von Sabattia Joseph Wolff, M.D. Berlin, gedruckt -bei G. Hayn, 1813. - -[5] The only logical connection is the fact, that the writings of -Maimonides formed the most powerful influence in the intellectual -development of Maimon. In illustration of this he writes:--"My reverence -for this great teacher went so far, that I regarded him as the ideal of -a perfect man, and looked upon his teachings as if they had been -inspired with Divine Wisdom itself. This went so far, that, when my -passions began to grow, and I had sometimes to fear lest they might -seduce me to some action inconsistent with those teachings, I used to -employ, as a proved antidote, the abjuration, 'I swear, by the reverence -which I owe my great teacher, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, not to do this -act.' And this vow, so far as I can remember, was always sufficient to -restrain me." _Lebensgeschichte_, Vol. ii., pp. 3-4. - -[6] That is, of course, the seventeenth.--_Trans._ - -[7] Maimon himself nowhere mentions the date or place of his birth; but -Wolff says that he was born at Nesvij, in Lithuania, about the year 1754 -(_Maimoniana, p. 10_). _Trans._ - -[8] This word is explained below, at the beginning of the next chapter. - -[9] The customary Jewish salutation. - -[10] The original is "ein Kalamankenes Leibserdak,"--a provincialism -which, I believe, is substantially rendered in this -translation.--_Trans._ - -[11] Till quite recently it had been almost forgotten that one of the -commonest manifestations of fanaticism against the Jews, especially in -Eastern Europe, was to charge them with the murder of Christian children -for the use of some horrid religious rite, and that scarcely ever was -the dead body of a child found in the neighbourhood of a Jewish -community without some outburst of this cruel suspicion, ending in an -indiscriminate massacre of the Jews by the infuriated mob. It is a -singularly creditable proof of the liberal government of Stephen -Batory,--one of the ablest monarchs who ever sat on the throne of -Poland,--that, so long ago as 1576, he issued an edict prohibiting the -imputation of this crime to the Jews, as being utterly inconsistent with -the principles of their religion. Yet, in spite of this enactment, the -fanatical suspicion continued to display itself at frequent intervals. -Milman supposed it had been finally quelled by the ukase of the Russian -Government in 1835, which went in the same direction as the earlier -prohibition of the Polish king (_History of the Jews_, vol. iii., p. -389). What would have been his astonishment, had he lived to learn that, -half a century after he thought it extinguished, this ancient delusion -was to revive, that an Hungarian court was to spend thirty one days in -the solemn trial of a Jewish family on the charge of sacrificing a -Christian girl in their synagogue, that a learned professor in the -Imperial and Royal University of Prague was to write in defence of the -charge, and that the trial was to form the subject of an extensive -controversial literature in the language of the most learned nation in -the world! An interesting account of this famous trial at Tisza Eszlar, -as well as of the literature connected with it, will be found in an -article by Dr. Wright, on _The Jews and the Malicious Charge of Human -Sacrifice_ in the _Nineteenth Century_, for November, 1883.--_Trans._ - -[12] It seems that Maimon gives a euphemistic explanation of this word, -as I am told its real meaning makes much more intelligible its extreme -offensiveness to his mother.--_Trans._ - -[13] The original runs: "Der Verstand sucht bloss zu _fassen_, die -Einbildungskraft aber zu _umfassen_."--_Tr._ - -[14] That is, _The Branch_ (or _Offspring_) _of David_. See Jeremiah -xxiii. 5; xxxiii. 15; Isaiah xi. 1.--_Trans._ - -[15] The Hebrew word for a globe. - -[16] This rabbi belonged to a family of eminent linguists. The father, -Joseph Kimchi, was one of the numerous Jews who were obliged to flee -from Spain to escape the cruel persecutions of the Mohades about the -middle of the twelfth century. He left two sons who both followed his -favourite studies. The elder, Moses, has the credit of having educated -his younger and more illustrious brother, David, whose Hebrew grammar -and dictionary continued in general use among scholars for centuries. -Kimchi is said to have been powerfully influenced, not only by -Maimonides, but also by Aben Esra, who preceded him by nearly a century, -and who was one of the most learned scholars, as well as one of the most -versatile authors, of his time. (Jost's _Geschichte des Judenthums_, -vol. ii., pp. 419-423; and vol. iii, pp. 30-31).--_Trans._ - -[17] That is, about 100 English miles.--_Trans._ - -[18] See above, p. 14.--_Trans._ - -[19] Solomon ben Isaac, as he is more correctly named, or Raschi, as he -is also called, was an eminent Talmudic scholar of Troyes in the latter -half of the eleventh century. It was his son-in-law, Meïr, and the three -sons of Meïr, who may be said to have begun the Tosaphoth, referred to -in the text.--_Trans._ - -[20] As it was at one time throughout all Christendom, and probably -under every civilisation at a certain stage of its history.--_Trans._ - -[21] This seems to be Job xxvii. 17, which in our Authorised Version -runs:--"He (a wicked man) may prepare it (raiment), but the just shall -put it on." Maimon seems to render it from memory:--"Der Gottlose -schafft sich an, und der Fromme bekleidet sich damit."--_Trans._ - -[22] Evidently viii., 12, rendered in our Authorised Version, "Thou, O -Solomon, must have a thousand (pieces of silver), and those that keep -the fruit thereof two hundred." Maimon translates apparently from -memory, "Die tausend Gulden sind für dich, Salomo, und die Zweihundert -für die, die seine Früchte bewahren." In my rendering of this the -pronoun "his" must be understood in its old English latitude as either -neuter or masculine.--_Trans._ - -[23] The bulk of the gift explains its costliness. "The Babylonian -Talmud is about four times as large as that of Jerusalem. Its thirty-six -treatises now cover, in our editions, printed with the most prominent -commentaries (Rashi and Tosafoth), exactly 2947 folio leaves in twelve -folio volumes." (E. Deutsch's _Literary Remains_, p. 41).--_Trans._ - -[24] Maimon gives merely the initial "R" of this name; but as he has -already (Chap. i.) told us that his prince was Radzivil, there is not -much mystery in this artifice.--_Trans._ - -[25] This horror of memory tormented Maimon to the end of his days. "He -dreamed often that he was in Poland again, deprived of all his books; -and Lucius metamorphosed into an ass was not in a more pitiable plight. -'From this agony,' said Maimon, 'I was usually aroused by a loud cry, -and my joy was indescribable on finding that it was only a dream.'" -(_Maimoniana_, p. 94). "He once received a visit from his brother, for -whom he was deeply affected. Poor as he was himself, Maimon kept him a -long while, gave him clothing and everything else that he could, besides -procuring from some friends enough money to pay his travelling expenses. -Above all, he told me, he was affected at letting his brother go back -into the wilderness; and if he had not had a wife and children at home, -he would have tried to keep him beside himself." (_Ibid._, p. -175).--_Trans._ - -[26] It was probably a reminiscence of this labour of deciphering, that -led to the following outburst of sympathy:--"One day Maimon read in an -English work, that the author had only commenced to learn the ABC when -he was eighteen years of age, and that the first book which fell into -his hands was one of Newton's works. His master (for he was a servant) -came upon him at this task, and asked, 'What are you doing with that? -you can't read?' 'O yes,' he replied, 'I have learnt to read, and I -began with the most difficult subjects.' Maimon read this in my presence -with tears in his eyes." (_Maimoniana_, pp. 230-1).--_Trans._ - -[27] Both of these Cabbalists belonged to the sixteenth century. The -former, as his name implies, belonged to Cordova in Spain; the latter, -to the German community in Jerusalem (_Jost's Geschichte des -Judenthums_, Vol. iii., pp. 137-140).--_Trans._ - -[28] Rabbi Meïr’s teacher was Elisha ben Abuyah, "the Faust of the -Talmud," as he has been strikingly styled by Mr. Deutsch. The Talmud -preserves a beautiful story illustrative of the devoted affection which -Meïr continued to cherish for his apostate master. Four men, so runs the -legend, entered _Paradise_; that is, according to Talmudic symbolism, -they entered upon the study of that secret science with its bewildering -labyrinth of speculative dreams, through which it is given only to a few -rare spirits to find their way. Of these four, "one beheld and died, one -beheld and lost his senses, one destroyed the young plants, one only -entered in peace and came out in peace." The destroyer of the young -plants was Elisha ben Abuyah. Once he was passing the ruins of the -temple on the great day of atonement, and heard a voice within "moaning -like a dove,"--"All men shall be forgiven this day save Elisha ben -Abuyah who, knowing me, has betrayed me." After his death flames hovered -incessantly over his grave, until his loving disciple threw himself upon -it and swore an oath of devout self-sacrifice, that he would not partake -of the joys of heaven without his master, nor move from the spot until -his master's soul had found forgiveness before the Throne of Grace. See -Emanuel Deutsch's _Literary Remains_, p. 15; and Jost's _Geshichte des -Judenthums_, Vol. ii., pp. 102-4. - -[29] _The Gates of Light._--_Trans._ - -[30] "Thus saith the Lord" in the English version.--_Trans._ - -[31] About 150 English miles.--_Trans._ - -[32] Highpriest about the time of Antiochus the Great, that is, the -first half of the third century before Christ.--_Trans._ - -[33] Also named below Jehudah Hanassi or Hakades, died probably in 219 -or 220 A.D.--_Trans._ - -[34] _Rabbina_ is a contraction for Rabbi Abina and _Rabassi_ for Rabbi -Ashe. Maimon puts Abina first, but he was the younger of the two. They -both belonged to the fifth century.--_Trans._ - -[35] This seems to be Psalm cxix., 126, rendered in our Authorised -Version:--"It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void -thy law." See Mendelssohn's _Jerusalem_, Vol. ii., p. iii., (Samuels' -translation).--_Trans._ - -[36] _Charakteristik der Asiatischen Nationen_, Theil ii., pp. 159-160. - -[37] "And Kinah and Dimonah and Adadah" in the English Authorised -Version.--_Trans._ - -[38] Here apparently Maimon makes a slip. He seems to forget the passage -he had selected for illustration; and his eye, if not his memory, -glances at the last word in verse 30, instead of verse 22.--_Trans._ - -[39] Probably Isaiah xxxiii., 6.--_Trans._ - -[40] Psalm, lxxxi., 9.--_Trans._ - -[41] In the original, "Das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten."--_Trans._ - -[42] In the same way a fool, called Chosek, was going to starve the city -of Lemberg, against which he was enraged; and for this purpose he placed -himself behind the wall, in order to blockade the city with his body. -The result of the blockade, however, was that he nearly died of hunger, -while the city knew nothing whatever of a famine. - -[43] In our times, when so much is said both _pro_ and _contra_ about -secret societies, I believe that the history of a particular secret -society, in which I was entangled, though but a short time, should not -be passed over in this sketch of my life. - -[44] That is, of course, the 17th century.--_Trans._ - -[45] _Baalshem_ is one who occupies himself with the practical Cabbalah, -that is, with the conjuration of spirits and the writing of amulets, in -which the names of God and of many sorts of spirits are employed. - -[46] As I never attained the rank of a superior in this society, the -exposition of their plan cannot be regarded as a fact verified by -experience, but merely as an inference arrived at by reflection. How far -this inference is well founded, can be determined merely by analogy -according to the rules of probability. - -[47] The ingenuity of this interpretation consists in the fact, that in -Hebrew [Hebrew: nagayn] may stand for the infinitive of _play_, as well as -for a _musical instrument_, and that the prefix [Hebrew: ke] may be -translated either _as_, in the sense of _when_, or _as_, in the sense of -_like_. The superiors of this sect, who _wrenched passages of the Holy -Scriptures from their context_, regarding themselves as merely vehicles -of their teachings, selected accordingly that interpretation of this -passage, which fitted best their principle of _self-annihilation_ before -God. - -[48] Maimon in a footnote here refers, by way of a parallel, to the -interpretation by a Catholic theologian of a passage in Ezekiel (xliv., -1-2) as an allegorical prophecy of the Virgin Mary; but most readers -will probably prefer to leave the exposition of the allegory to the -imagination of those who choose to follow it out.--_Trans._ - -[49] A trait of these, as of all uncultivated men, is their contempt of -the other sex. - -[50] Of this class I became acquainted with one. He was a young man of -twenty-two, of very weak bodily constitution, lean and pale. He -travelled in Poland as a missionary. In his look there was something so -terrible, so commanding, that he ruled men by means of it quite -despotically. Wherever he came he inquired about the constitution of the -congregation, rejected whatever displeased him, and made new regulations -which were punctually followed. The elders of the congregation, for the -most part old respectable men, who far excelled him in learning, -trembled before his face. A great scholar, who would not believe the -infallibility of this superior, was seized with such terror by his -threatening look, that he fell into a violent fever of which he died. -Such extraordinary courage and determination had this man attained -merely through early exercises in Stoicism. - -[51] Born 1720; died 1797. See Jost's _Geschichte des Judenthums_, Vol. -iii., pp. 248-250.--_Trans._ - -[52] _Exodus_, iii., 13, 14. - -[53] These names are taken from _Maimoniana_, p. 108.--_Trans._ - -[54] The method, in which, as before explained, I had learnt to read and -to understand books without any preparatory studies, and to which I had -been driven in Poland by the want of books, grew to such an expertness, -that I felt certain beforehand of being able to understand anything. - -[55] Here there seems in the original an evident misprint of -_Vereinigung_ for _Verneinung_.--_Trans._ - -[56] The incident referred to was the following. Lavater had translated -into German a work, which had a great reputation in its day, by the -eminent Swiss scientific writer, Bonnet, on the evidences of -Christianity. Out of respect for Mendelssohn, Lavater dedicated the -translation to him, requiring him, however, either to refute the work, -or to do "what policy, love of truth, and probity demand,--what Socrates -would doubtless have done, had _he_ read the work, and found it -unanswerable." Mendelssohn was thus placed in an awkward dilemma. He -could not well let the challenge pass unacknowledged; and yet, owing to -the disabilities under which the Jews laboured all over the world, he -would have seriously imperilled their interests by appearing even to -impugn the evidences of Christianity. He had, moreover, resolved never -to enter into religious controversy. Under the circumstances his reply -was masterly as it was dignified and candid. Lavater saw his mistake; -and it is but due to him to say, that he publicly apologised for it in -the fullest and frankest manner.--_Trans._ - -[57] This "hiatus _haud_ valde deflendus" is in the original.--_Trans._ - -[58] This name is taken from _Maimoniana_.--_Trans._ - -[59] The love of life, that is, the instinct of self-preservation, seems -rather to increase than to decrease with the diminution or uncertainty -of the means of living, inasmuch as man is thereby spurred to greater -_activity_, which developes a stronger _consciousness of life_. Only -this want must not have reached its maximum; for the necessary result of -that is _despair_, that is a conviction of the impossibility of -preserving life, and consequently a desire to put an end to it. Thus -every passion, and therefore also the love of life, is increased by the -obstacles which come in the way of its gratification: only these -obstacles must not make the gratification of the passions _impossible_, -else despair is the result. - -[60] "Afterwards when he spoke of Poland, he used to be deeply affected -in thinking of his wife, from whom he was obliged to separate. He was -really very much devoted to her, and her fate went home to his very -heart. It was easy when the subject came up in conversation, to read in -his face the deep sorrow which he felt; his liveliness then sensibly -faded away, he became by and by perfectly silent, was usually incapable -of further entertainment, and went earlier than usual home." -_Maimoniana_, p. 177. He seems, however, at a later period, to have at -least spoken to his friends about marrying a second time; but the -project was never carried out. _Ibid._, p. 248.--_Trans._ - -[61] He died 4th Jan., 1786.--_Trans._ - -[62] Kant's work must still have been quite new, as it appeared in -1781.--_Trans._ - -[63] The name is left blank by Maimon, but is known to be that which I -have inserted. See Fischer's _Geschichte der neueren Philosophie_, Vol. -v., p. 131.--_Trans._ - -[64] Samuel Levi, according to _Maimoniana_, p. 78.--_Trans._ - -[65] See above, p. 41--_Trans._ - -[66] The last few pages have been condensed from the original; in which -the author gives detailed information, which seems no longer of any -special interest, about the articles he contributed to periodicals.-- -_Trans._ - -[67] By the kindness of my friend, the Rev. Meldola de Sola, of the -Portuguese Synagogue in Montreal, I am enabled to make an interesting -note on this subject. Among the Talmudic passages enjoining industry are -the following:--"Rather skin a carcase for pay in the public streets, -than be idly dependent on charity," "Rather perform the meanest labour -than beg." As a further evidence of the estimation in which labour was -held by the sages of the Talmud, it may be mentioned that Hillel, before -being admitted to the Great College, earned his livelihood as a -wood-cutter; that Rabbi Joshua was a pinmaker; Rabbi Nehemiah Halsador, -a potter; Rabbi Judah, a tailor; Rabbi Joshua Hasandler, a shoemaker; -and Rabbi Judah Hanechtan, a baker. "Of all things," says Mr. Deutsch, -"the most hated were idleness and asceticism; piety and learning -themselves only received their proper estimation when joined to healthy, -bodily work. 'It is well to add a trade to your studies; you will then -be free from sin,' 'The tradesman at his work need not rise before the -greatest doctor,' 'Greater is he who derives his livelihood from work -than he who fears God'--are some of the most common dicta of the -period." (_Literary Remains_, p. 25, where there are some striking -stories in condemnation of asceticism). Mr. Deutsch elsewhere quotes, -"Rather live on your Sabbath as you would on a week day than be -dependent on others," (_Ibid._, p. 30).--_Trans._ - -[68] See above, pp. 140-1. - -[69] _Maimoniana_, pp. 196-200. - -[70] _Ibid._, p. 80. - -[71] _Ibid._, pp. 80, 83-4. - -[72] _Ibid._, p. 95, note. - -[73] _Ibid._, pp. 82-3. - -[74] _Ibid._, pp. 154, 157. - -[75] _Ibid._, pp. 80, 95, 104. - -[76] _Ibid._, p. 84. - -[77] _Ibid._, p. 105. - -[78] _Ibid._, p. 159. - -[79] _Ibid._, pp. 231-2. - -[80] _Ibid._, p. 96. - -[81] _Ibid._, p. 140. - -[82] _Ibid._, p. 96. - -[83] _Ibid._, p. 97. - -[84] Fischer's _Geschichte der neuern Philosophie_, vol. v., pp. 133-4. - -[85] _Maimoniana_, pp. 190-6. - -[86] _Ibid._, pp. 90-1. - -[87] _Ibid._, pp. 183-8. - -[88] _Ibid._, pp. 101-4. - -[89] _Ibid._, p. 217. - -[90] _Ibid._, pp. 109-112, 208, 212-3. - -[91] _Ibid._, p. 87. - -[92] _Ibid._, p. 213. - -[93] _Ibid._, p. 249. - -[94] _Ibid._, p. 88. - -[95] _Ibid._, p. 230. - -[96] _Ibid._, pp. 86-7. - -[97] _Ibid._, p. 89. - -[98] See, for example, _Ibid._, pp. 112, 115, 209, 250-1. - -[99] _Ibid._, p. - -[100] _Ibid._, pp. 165-6. - -[101] _Ibid._, pp. 201-210. - -[102] _Ibid._, pp. 183-8. - - * * * * * - -_Notes on some Books of Special Interest_ - -PUBLISHED BY - -ALEXANDER GARDNER, - -PAISLEY AND LONDON. - -_AT ALL LIBRARIES._ - - -_JAMES HEPBURN, Free Church Minister._ By SOPHIE F. F. VEITCH, Author of -"Angus Graeme, Gamekeeper," etc. 2 vols., Crown 8vo., 21s. - -"=A strong story of real life and cannot fail to give Miss Veitch a -prominent position among modern novelists.... The whole story is -exceedingly powerful.="--_Saturday Review._ - -"The work of fiction which heads the list may fairly be described as =a -singularly powerful and fascinating novel=. Description by comparison is -frequently convenient, though occasionally misleading; but we do not -think we shall convey a wrong impression if we say that 'James Hepburn' -bears a strong resemblance to some of the most vigorous and -characteristic of Mrs. Oliphant's realistic Scottish stories.... James -Hepburn is one of the most truly heroic characters in recent fiction, -with a certain largeness and grandeur in his heroism which are -wonderfully impressive, and yet with a homeliness which never permits -him to slip for a moment outside the range of our imaginative belief. In -creating an ideal character of unmistakable flesh and blood, Miss Veitch -has achieved an unequivocal success, and one or two of the pivot -situations in the book are conceived and presented with such dramatic -power and sympathetic insight, that in virtue of them alone 'James -Hepburn' takes place among the most remarkable and admirable of recent -novels.... There are chapters in 'James Hepburn' of which we feel -convinced that the author of _Scenes of Clerical Life_ would not have -been ashamed.... Such a novel is not only a book to admire, but one for -which to be grateful."--_The Spectator._ - -"='James Hepburn' is a novel in two volumes, which is quite startling in -the freshness and beauty of its conception.... This book deserves -careful reading; there is much more in it than the mere interest of a -clever story, and only good can result from its influence.="--_Literary -World._ - -The author of 'Angus Graeme, Gamekeeper,' has produced another Scottish -novel of remarkable power. 'James Hepburn, Free Church Minister,' is at -once a striking character study, a skilful picture of the social life of -a country town and district, and a powerful sensational story. It is in -the first of these aspects that it displays most original vigour.... It -must be admitted to be one of the strongest productions of the fictional -art that have recently appeared."--_Scotsman._ - -"There can be no question that 'James Hepburn' is the most notable -Scottish story that will be issued in the jubilee year."--_The Christian -Leader._ - -"And of this tendency towards pure character-painting and everyday -incident Miss Sophie Veitch promises to be the best exponent. In the two -volumes which contain the story of episodes in the life of James -Hepburn, each character is carefully studied and presented as a finished -masterpiece.... The book is a drama palpitating with intense and real -life, whose author should have a grand professional future."--_Whitehall -Review._ - -"The book deserves the highest praise. Hepburn's relations with Lady -Ellinor--his pure and noble love for her--are fitly crowned by his -splendid self-sacrifice.... The descriptive part of this fine and often -brilliant novel is admirably done."--_London Figaro._ - -"No one who begins this story will pause till he has seen the hero -through his troubles, and we are sure no one who has done so will think -he has spent his time badly."--_The British Weekly._ - -_James Hepburn_ is a story of very unusual power, promise, and -desert.... The story of Lady Elinor is exceedingly pathetic; and all her -moods, as she gradually progresses along a path of peril, are described -with a hand at once sure and delicate.--_Academy._ - -Seldom do we meet with a novel by a comparatively unknown author which -can afford such unalloyed pleasure.... It is not every writer who can, -like Mrs. Oliphant, throw a glamour over the sordid details of -_bourgeois_ life. Amongst the few who can do so Miss Veitch may now -claim to rank; her novel is a remarkable one, and if it does not attain -to considerable popularity the fault will not be with the author.... -There is intense pathos in the loyal struggle of the beautiful young -wife who believes herself to be unsympathised with.... We had marked -more than one passage for quotation, but space warns us that the -pleasure must be forgone. We must, however, draw special attention to -Lady Ellinor's withering summary of Radicalism (vol. ii. p. 242). The -novel is one of the very few that follows Mr. Weller's recipe, and makes -us "wish that there was more of it."--_Pictorial World._ - -"A SUCCESSFUL SCOTCH NOVEL.--It is long since a Scottish novel met with -such a demand or created such a genuine sensation as has attended the -publication of 'James Hepburn, Free Church Minister,' which was issued a -few weeks ago by Mr. Gardner, of Paisley, and which we noticed in the -week of its publication. We hear that already Mr. Mudie has ordered four -separate supplies, the latest being for a large number of copies, so -great is the demand for the story on the part of the subscribers to his -library. Miss Sophie Veitch, the authoress, had already made her mark by -her fine novel of 'Angus Graeme, Gamekeeper.'"--_Daily Mail._ - -"'James Hepburn,' by Miss Veitch, is a _clever and strong_ novel.... Its -power and literary skill are undeniable."--_World._ - -"Novel-readers who may think there is not much promise of entertainment -in the title which Sophie F. Veitch has chosen for her new story, will -commit the common blunder of forming an erroneous judgment from -superficial appearances. A more interesting or vigorously-written tale -we have not met with for some time back."--_The Scottish Leader._ - -"A cleverly written story here includes both interesting incident and -well-drawn character."--_The Queen._ - - -_SUPPLEMENT TO JAMIESON'S SCOTTISH DICTIONARY._ By DAVID DONALDSON. Now -Ready, Price 25s.; Large Paper, 42s. - -"The work, taken as a whole, entitles Mr. Donaldson to the gratitude of -all interested in the study of philology, for having performed so -thoroughly and so well a difficult and laborious task."--_Scotsman._ - -"The soundness of the judgment which he has applied to this portion of -his herculean task is only equalled by the fulness of his knowledge of -those works which cover the whole period of Scottish history, during -which the vernacular was written and spoken by all classes of society. A -very large number of the words in the Supplement are recorded by Mr. -Donaldson for the first time, at least as Scottish words, and of many of -them the explanation will be found nowhere else.... Of Mr. Donaldson's -work, it may safely be said that it is the most complete and scholarly -endeavour that has thus far been made to accomplish a very difficult -task."--_Mail._ - -"On every page we find evidence that Mr. Donaldson has mastered all the -works that cover the entire period of Scottish history during which the -vernacular was written and spoken by all classes of society. He has, -furthermore, utilised an extensive personal knowledge derived from the -living speech of the people; and alike in the definitions and -illustrations he displays unfailing soundness of judgment, shown -sometimes as much in what he has omitted as in that which is given. An -excellent memoir of Dr. Jamieson, admirable both for the fullness of its -information and the generous warmth of its spirit, adds to the value of -a work without which, we may safely affirm, no Scottish library can -henceforth be regarded as complete."--_Leader._ - - -_IDYLL OF THE CAPTIVE KING; and Other Pieces._ With Etchings. By JAMES -SHARP. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. - -"The author gives undoubted evidence of his right to be heard, and our -perusal of this volume enables us to commend his wide reading and -knowledge of the world, both in its physical and ethical aspects. It is -needless to add that Mr. Gardner has done his part admirably."--_The -Kelso Chronicle._ - -"Whether Mr. Sharp's poetry be regarded in the abstract, or as the -product of the hours of leisure of a man of business, much of it is -commendable, and much is genuine and sound in feeling."--_The Scottish -News._ - -Mr. James Sharp does not miss the occasion in his volume of poems, _The -Captive King_ (Alexander Gardner). His Jubilee Ode, like those of -better-known bards, scarcely represents his poetic powers, as the -following couplet may show:-- - - Much as we love the Prince of Wales, the Princess fair, serene, - We want no other sovereign! We want no other Queen! - -"Tullibardine's Bride," though a little diffuse, is a readable narrative -poem based on a Perthshire legend. In other lyrical pieces Mr. Sharp -sustains a patriotic vein with fervour.--_Saturday Review._ - -Mr. Sharp's lyrics and shorter pieces, are always pleasing in sentiment, -and are often sweet in expression.--_Scotsman._ - -The book of poems which we introduce to our readers to-day has, we -think, amply justified its issue in the beautiful form in which it is -presented to the public.... This delightful book will do something to -modify that conception, and to show that mercantile pursuits and the -exalted, if traditionally prosaic, dignity of Bailieship are not -incompatible with a successful cultivation of the Muses. In depicting -one of the most tragic chapters in our national annals, Mr. Sharp has -attained charming results in his use of those heroic measures which the -genius of Scott and of Edmonstone Aytoun has made classic, and through -which these masters have made the dim shadows that erewhile flitted -across the stage of Scottish history to stand forth as living men.... We -have directed the attention of our readers to these poems because of -their intrinsic merits.--_Strathearn Herald._ - -If it be the poet's task to feel pleasure in life and discern beauty in -nature, to praise virtue and rejoice in love, and make his readers do -the same, then Mr. Sharp has succeeded admirably in effecting his -purpose.--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -Mr. Sharp is seen at his best in his shorter poems. In these, as a rule, -healthy sentiment is expressed in unpretentious verse.--_Academy._ - - -SECOND AND ENLARGED EDITION. - -_LAW LYRICS._ Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d. - -"The anonymous author of the 'Lyrics'--is he not to be met with among -the sheriffs?--plays his tunes for session and vacation on the -'goose-quill of the law,' and he manages to produce from that ancient -instrument a considerable variety of expression.... His pronounced -national tastes are admirably shown in 'Oatmeal,' etc.; in lyrics like -'Stornoway Bay,' there is the true lyrical gush; while in such poems as -'A Still Lake,' there is revealed an exquisite power of -word-painting...."--_Scotsman._ - -"For neatness and aptness of expression, it is equal to anything we have -seen."--_Scots Law Review._ - -"A very agreeable little book for an idle hour. The author shows himself -equally at home in the serious as in the comic."--_Graphic._ - -"They are exceedingly clever, and brimming over with fun and humour. The -author has earned a right to be called the Laureate of the Law, for -certain it is that he invests the most prosaic of all professions with -quite a halo of poetical interest."--_Nonconformist._ - -"Unkempt enthusiasm and rollicking good humour are the chief features of -this little volume."--_Academy._ - -"A charming little book. We should seek the author on the bench, not at -the bar."--_Glasgow Daily Mail._ - -"Will please not only those 'gentlemen of the long robe' to whom the -tiny volume is dedicated, but a far larger circle. It is a delightful -book of verses daintily got up."--_Glasgow Herald._ - -"These lyrics will bear comparison with the best work that has been done -in this particular line. Will rival some of the best of Outram's lyrics -in common sense and humour."--_Scottish News._ - -"The lyrics are written for the most part with sprightliness and ease. -The more serious and imaginative pieces disclose a rich vein of poetic -fancy. There are many who will procure the second edition from a -recollection of the pleasure which the first gave them."--_Journal of -Jurisprudence._ - -"Will bear comparison with Outram's, Neave's, and Aytoun's. Faultless in -rhythm, and remarkable for rhyme."--_Evening News._ - -"The picture seems to us exquisite. Altogether, the work proves the -writer to be a true poet."--_Stirling Advertiser._ - -"The verses are inspirited and inspiring, expressive of the feelings of -many in these golden days of summer. To the second edition the author -has added some sixty pages brimful of the delightful verses which are -found so attractive in the first edition."--_Weekly Citizen._ - -"One of the two strongest and purest writers in the Scottish vernacular -that have been added to the choir of Northern minstrels during the -present century."--_Christian Leader._ - -"The admirable _Law Lyrics_ ... bright with strokes of pawky humour, and -abounding in verses each of which contains a picture, the volume is one -which will become a lasting favourite with its readers."--_The Bailie._ - -"Strongly incentive to hearty honest laughter which makes the heart grow -brighter, while to staid and grave and reverend seigniors the sweet -lark-song-like verses relating to nature, no less form subjects for -reflection."--_Ayrshire Weekly News._ - -"The little volume is interesting from the first page to the -last."--_Inverness Courier._ - -"Some of the verses exhibit a power of picturesque description which it -would be difficult to match, except out of the masters of song. Reveal -in attractive style the patriotism which animates the poet, and -establishes a claim additional to that of his undoubted genius, to a -large and appreciative Scotch audience."--_Greenock Telegraph._ - -"Such pieces as 'Scotch Porridge, etc." are amongst the most felicitous -examples of Scotch poetry we have seen in recent years."--_Brechin -Advertiser._ - -"Strong common sense pervades the whole, and the views of the author are -expressed with a directness, force, clearness, and simplicity, which -leaves nothing to be desired."--_North British Advertiser._ - -"Of a highly captivating nature, the author being possessed of a keen -sense of the humourous."--_Stirling Observer._ - -"Equal to anything of their kind known to us after Burns. A very genial -and enjoyable volume."--_Aberdeen Gazette._ - -"He expresses himself with a felicity and pawky humour that equal Lord -Neaves and Outram at their best, and in several poems the natural grace -and pith of expression remind one more of Burns than any other writer. -This may seem pitching it very high, but in our opinion, the poems will -bear out the assertion. We recommend it to all in the profession of its -author, and to everyone who can appreciate true humour and good -poetry."--_The People's Friend._ - -"Many of the lyrics which celebrate the charms of rural life and scenery -are extremely fine, displaying as they do rare observing powers, a rich -fancy, and flowing tasteful language."--_Dumfries Standard._ - -"He is a follower of Robert Burns and finds in the Court, and in the -Temple, an inspiration which the great Scotch poet found in the fields -of Ayrshire."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - -"He possesses the power of writing simple flowing verse in an eminent -degree."--_Literary World._ - - -_THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST AND THE SALVATION OF THE FEW._ A Criticism -of _Natural Law in the Spiritual World_. By Rev. A. WILSON. Crown 8vo, -cloth, 2s. 6d. Post free. - -"In a former number of this _Review_ we drew attention to two or three -of the main fallacies of Professor Drummond's shallow but attractive -book. We are glad to see that Mr. Alexander Wilson has, with a -scientific knowledge equal to Professor Drummond's, and with a logical -faculty far superior, subjected it to a far more systematic and -exhaustive analysis. Those who were interested in the dazzling pages of -_Natural Law in the Spiritual World_, but not blinded by their glitter, -will welcome this justification of their doubts in the solid form of -facts and arguments, and those who were fascinated by the Professor's -brilliant rhetoric and imagery will have a rather painful awakening. -They will see the idol shattered which they had to fall down and worship -as a condition of attaining to an intellectual standpoint from which -they might see all known facts in their harmony and continuity. It is, -no doubt, very fascinating to be able to harmonize and to systematize; -but suppose your theory of law, identical in the natural and in the -spiritual worlds, results in the necessity of assuming that man is -nothing more than a part of material nature until he is "converted," and -of believing that the survival of the fittest means the salvation of the -few (according to the analogy of the seeds of an orchid, of about one -person in a generation), would a God who has made men so be the object -of religious feeling, or this spiritual world, with its rare and lonely -tenants, be worth arguing for? It is probable that few readers of this -new "analogy" drew such inferences, but were merely interested in -Professor Drummond's spiritual and scientific gymnastics; but for the -thoughtful few who may have been disturbed by them it is well that he -has been answered by one so capable, both from a Christian and -scientific point of view, as Mr. Wilson."--_Saturday Review._ - -"It is this fallacy, the presumption that the laws of matter are -continuous through the spiritual universe, that Mr. Wilson finds himself -first called on to meet; and he does so by contending that the principle -of continuity applies only if the spiritual universe be itself material, -and not necessarily even them, inasmuch as there are in the material -universe imponderable bodies to which the law of gravitation, for -example, does not extend.... Mr. Wilson has written a very able, acute, -and temperate criticism, in a thoroughly religious spirit, with perfect -courtesy to his opponent; and we should be glad to think that his work -would be widely read."--_Scotsman._ - -"... The critique is interesting, clever, earnest, and, we may add, -respectful to Professor Drummond.... Here, we think, Mr. Wilson occupies -a very strong--indeed, an invulnerable position. This is not, however, -so much the critic's own position as that of other writers, but, he -appears to us, in great measure, to recognise and accept it. His own -words farther on are: 'The identification of the natural and spiritual -laws, if taken absolutely, would lead to the confounding together of -mind and body, God and Nature.' ... We are much interested in the -author's criticism of the Professor's arguments touching the subject -which gives the book its title. It forms an earnest and powerful -chapter...."--_Literary World._ - -"An answer to Professor Drummond, a work of some importance has just -made its appearance. It is certain that Mr. Wilson's able examination of -'Natural Law in the Spiritual World' will attract a good deal of -attention and controversy."--_London Figaro._ - -"Mr. Wilson, with great vigour and intrepidity, criticises the -Professor's conclusions.... The great question raised by Professor -Drummond's work is that of the relation of the natural law of the -survival of the fittest to the doctrine of election. His critic combats -this conclusion with much acuteness and ability."--_Glasgow Herald._ - - -WITH PORTRAIT AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. - -_DAVID KENNEDY, The Scottish Singer: Reminiscences of his Life and -Work._ By MARJORY KENNEDY. And _SINGING ROUND THE WORLD: A Narrative of -his Colonial and Indian Tours_. By DAVID KENNEDY, Junr. Demy 8vo, 480 -pages, cloth extra, 7s. 6d. Post free. - -"These unique musical tours were from time to time described by the -chief musician's son David in different books having reference to the -Colonies, to India, and to the Cape. They have now found a graceful and -appropriate preliminary chapter in the form of a memoir of David Kennedy -himself.... The memoir has been prepared by Miss Marjory Kennedy with -much taste and judgment, and will be read with interest, not only for -the sake of her father's characteristic letters and stories of early -life, but as recalling in various other ways pleasant memories -associated with a family of rare gifts and graces."--_Glasgow Herald._ - - -_LIFE IN SHETLAND._ By JOHN RUSSELL. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 3s. 6d. Post -free. - -"Contains a great quantity of very interesting information about -Shetland and its people. By a happy instinct, Mr. Russell has been led -to write about those things which he knows thoroughly--namely, his own -doings and experiences.... There follows the story of the strange -minister at the 'second diet' of a Presbytery meeting who wanted to -propose a toast, but was informed by the horrified moderator that 'God's -people in that part of the country were not in the habit of drinking -toasts.' The rebuked stranger quietly rejoined that he 'had never before -seen God's people drink so much toddy.' Much, both edifying and -entertaining, might be quoted from this unique volume, but enough may -have been said to gain for it the public attention it -deserves."--_Scotsman._ - -"We owe much to men like Mr. Russell, who, without any pretence, note -down what comes under their observation of an interesting nature -regarding curious customs, habits of life, and folk-lore, among the -people with whom they come into contact.... He is never entirely dull, -and we prefer such volumes which bring us into actual contact with a -poor but unsophisticated people to many pretentious stories. We follow -the minister as he goes out and in among the people, suffering hardship, -visiting, catechising, getting up a stock of fifty sermons, relating odd -anecdotes, and noting down peculiarities. We recommend this book to all -who are interested in the subject. It makes luminous to us the obscure -lives and labours of an interesting people."--_Pen and Pencil._ - -"An interesting and thoroughly realistic picture of life in Shetland is -presented to us in this volume by Mr. Russell, whose sojourn in those -Northern islands gave him good opportunity of observing the place and -the people.... Good stories, and brief observations and remarks on the -geology, natural history, and antiquities of the islands, and the -peculiar manners and customs of the people, ever and anon crop out in -the narrative.... It contains, however, a faithfully accurate and very -reliable description of _Ultima Thule_. And as the reader closes the -volume he will find that he has made acquaintance at once with a -singular country, and a pleasant guide to its chief points of -interest."--_Aberdeen Free Press._ - -"A bright and entertaining volume, and a valuable volume withal, anent -Shetland and the Shetlanders.... I know no book on Shetland equal to -this of Mr. Russell's. Its style is pointed and racy; the author talks -about what he knows and what he knows intimately. To put the matter in a -word, there isn't a dull page in 'Three Years in Shetland,' from the -title to the sentence at the close in which Mr. Russell expresses the -wish that 'all good things may attend' the islanders among whom he spent -three delightful years."--_Bailie._ - -"A very readable book about a very interesting people.... A minister, of -course, enjoys altogether exceptional opportunities, and Mr. Russell -seems to have made good use of them. He writes frankly about things as -he found them, which he is perhaps all the better able to do for his -change to the position of an outsider."--_Glasgow Herald._ - -"It contains some of the best clerical stories--though not always of the -most dignified nature, nor such as will tend to exalt the cloth in the -estimation of rude and irreverent laics--that we have come across, and -it gives very interesting, and for the most part accurate, details of -the everyday life of the people."--_Elgin Courant and Courier._ - - -UNIFORM WITH "BENDERLOCH." - -_LOCH CRERAN. Notes from the West Highlands._ By W. ANDERSON SMITH. -Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. Post free. - -"Readers of Mr. W. Anderson Smith's _Benderloch_ will welcome from the -same pen a second instalment of notes of natural history in the Western -Highlands entitled _Loch Creran_.... The influences of free moorland air -and buoyant water, of a spacious heaven and wide horizon, are with us, -and give zest to the study of fish and fowl and flower that are -liberally displayed. Whether it is the flight of a solitary bunting, or -the habitat of the pipe-fish (_Sygnathus_), the progress of _Myæ_ in the -refluent tide or a nested robin domiciled among strange perils, the -scenic suggestion cannot fail to persuade the senses. A large and -distinctive portion of Mr. Smith's book is devoted to the investigation -of the rich spoil of the dredger, as might be anticipated of so -enthusiastic a student of fish culture, and many of the most interesting -pages describe excursions on the waters of Etive and Creran and -Benderloch, or among the rocky pools and stretches of sand exposed by -the ebbing sea. By sea or land, on the wild hills or among the flowers -and insects of his garden, Mr. Smith has ever something to say that is -worth hearing, and he says it with admirable clearness and -force."--_Saturday Review._ - -"These charming notes from the Western Highlands are truly fascinating. -Entering into the very spirit of the life and scenery by which he is -surrounded, Mr. Smith gives his readers the benefit of the vast and -out-of-the-way stores of information he has gathered in all branches of -natural history. Each month, as it passes, has a chapter devoted to all -its manifold changes and doings, and we get many glimpses of charming -excursions, not unmixed with danger, when overtaken by those sudden -climatic changes to which that grand wild mountainous coast is often -exposed. An enthusiastic naturalist, the writer does not ride his hobby -to death, but, like a true lover of Nature, his sketches are bright and -fresh, and full of vivid descriptions, interspersed with many curious -anecdotes and facts relating to both the animal and vegetable kingdoms. -No better or more instructive guide to the fauna and flora of the -Western Highlands could be had than Mr. Anderson Smith's most pleasant -book."--_Literary World._ - -"They will be well rewarded who follow Mr. Anderson Smith along the -sea-shore, the hill-side, or the trouting stream; they will find how -much a quiet and attentive eye can glean from a loving study of the -denizens of earth, air, and water. The book is provided with a good -index, and those who have not leisure or patience to read it through at -a sitting may dip where they please. Like Mr. Smith's dredge, they -hardly ever fail to bring up something of interest."--_Scotsman._ - -"Students of natural history who read _Benderloch_, by Mr. W. A. Smith, -will give a cordial welcome to _Loch Creran_, another and even more -attractive work by the same observant author. With the exception, -perhaps, of Mr. Jefferson, no living naturalist is gifted with a more -picturesque manner of depicting the habits of birds, beasts, and fishes -than is Mr. Smith.... Then what a vast fund of entertaining instruction -is gathered in these excursions; a royal road to natural history is laid -down by Mr. Smith, and the student follows it leisurely, culling -charming bits of zoological lore here and there. One never knows what a -new day may bring forth when accompanying Mr. Smith on his rambles.... -There is, indeed, no end to the curious things observed by Mr. Smith. He -seems only to sleep at home, for, with his waterproof handy, he roams -about all day in the open air, and comes home at night with a -well-filled note-book.... The wealth of interesting matter in this -delightful volume is, however, tempting us beyond our space, and we -think we have collated enough to make all who love the country, its -sights and sounds, and health-giving breezes read the work -itself."--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -"To those who are familiar with Mr. Anderson Smith's _Benderloch_, no -introduction or recommendation will be necessary on behalf of his new -book, _Loch Creran_. The work is, in fact, as the preface explains, -simply a continuation of the natural history sketches of which -_Benderloch_ is composed.... With what a happy combination of vivacity -and patience, insight and enthusiasm, Mr. Anderson Smith scans the open -pages of that great tome of nature.... Treasure-trove of this kind, -along with notes of a more strictly scientific character, is freely -scattered through Mr. Anderson Smith's pages; and so it will have a -charm for every reader with healthy natural tastes."--_Scottish Leader._ - -"There are few books in the language more delightful than White's -_Selborne_, and in Mr. W. Anderson Smith that earnest Hampshire -naturalist has a distinguished successor. His most recent volume is -worthy of the author of _Benderloch_, a book which, it may be hoped, is -already familiar to our readers.... The variety of his researches on -land and water prevent monotony. The author has much to tell, and he -explains what he has seen and done without waste of -words."--_Illustrated London News._ - -"Mr. Anderson Smith's observations extend over 1881-2, and refer mainly -to the natural history of the district, but he deals also with other -aspects of Nature, and his book is well worth reading."--_Times._ - -"There can be no hesitation in assuring lovers of Nature that in _Loch -Creran_ they will find a work after their own heart.... The charm of the -volume before us is that it is not the hasty outcome of the bookmaker -feverishly eager to piece together into a volume odds and ends of -information. There is an air of leisureliness about _Loch Creran_. Month -by month are given the results of two years' close intercourse with loch -and sea, field and wood. The work is one to be enjoyed by those who -share the writer's tastes and spirit, and not to be rushed by the -heedless."--_Graphic._ - -"Every page has its charm, something at once to instruct the mind and to -tickle and amuse the fancy. It is not a book to be read through at one -sitting, but one to dip into occasionally and to ruminate over in -pleased contentment. Perhaps its worth will be best appreciated by those -taking a holiday in the country, or, above all, at the seaside. And it -will serve as a very efficient guide to persons beginning the study of -natural history, directing them what and how to observe. Many a capital -story he gives illustrating the remarkable intelligence of the lower -animals. Some of these border upon the marvellous."--_Perthshire -Constitutional and Journal._ - -"Chatty and discursive, rather than elaborate, the interest in 'Loch -Creran' is well maintained throughout, and the book appeals to the -general reader, by whom it will doubtless be perused with greater -pleasure than a more highly scientific disquisition."--_Pall Mall -Gazette._ - -"He is a charming companion. His descriptions are vivid and true to -nature--whether he makes us shiver and feel glad of the shelter of the -house, as he tells us of winter's storms and floods, or whether he fills -our hearts with a longing for the freshness and gladness of spring as he -notes the signs of its advent on the shores of Loch Creran."--_Glasgow -Herald._ - - -_OLD CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND: Lectures on Kirk-Session and Presbytery -Records._ _Second Series._ By ANDREW EDGAR, D.D. Demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. -6d. Post free. - -"Antiquaries may welcome the minister of Mauchline as an elder brother -of their craft. We have not seen the first series of lectures, but -certainly these contain much that is queer and quaint. Odd people, these -Scotch folks; but there is a homeliness and a reverence about them which -we greatly value. Our author is evidently of the Established Church, and -knows most about the old customs of that body, of which he writes with a -twinkle in his eye which causes our eye to twinkle also. The grim want -of humour in some of the proceedings is about the same thing as the -presence of humour: you may laugh till you cry, and cry till you laugh; -between the tremendously solemn and the ridiculous there is but a step. -We have been so interested with the lectures that we must get the former -volume. What times those must have been when guests at a funeral began -to meet at ten in the morning, though the body might not be moved till -three or four! Five or six hours! How did they spin them out? No marvel -that the Kirk-Session had to hear charges of drunkenness. Such books as -these are the best of history, leading us indeed into byways and lone -paths which the general historian never traces."--=C. H. Spurgeon.= - - -_MY COLLEGE DAYS: The Autobiography of an Old Student._ Edited by R. -MENZIES FERGUSSON, M.A., Author of "Rambles in the Far North," &c. 8vo, -cloth, 5s. Post free. - -"Mr. Fergusson, either as author or as editor, has well earned our -gratitude by giving us a volume which all may read with enjoyment and -pleasure.... Space and its limits will not allow us to dwell on many -other points of interest to be found in this entertaining volume; but we -cannot pass without mentioning the worthy dame who said, in praise of -her preacher: 'There's ae thing aboot yon man--he's a grand roarer.' Nor -must we forget the careful landlady who was always anxious to know if -her student-lodger was as yet an unengaged man, or, to use her own -graphic phrase, was 'a bund sack set by.'..."--_Literary World._ - -"We own to a suspicion that in this instance Mr. Fergusson has been his -own literary executor. Whether this be the case or not, he has no -reason to be ashamed of the bequest. The sketches have a pleasant grace -of literary style, and a good deal of power in description of -character-sketching, while there is in the writer a subtle under-strain -of pawky humour, and he has brought together and put permanently on -record a number of traditions of University life in Edinburgh and St. -Andrews that are well worth preservation.... Our old student's -reminiscences of St. Andrews, where he took the theological course after -graduating in arts at Edinburgh, are not less lively or interesting than -those he sets down respecting his Alma Mater; and his book is likely to -take a place both on the shelves and in the enduring regard of many -readers who have had similar experiences and tasted similar pleasures. A -word of praise is due to the excellence of its typography and -get-up."--_Scottish Leader._ - -"We think the verdict will be that Mr. Fergusson has done well in -publishing this thoughtful book. It abounds in vigorous, and, in many -cases, eloquent delineations of University life; it is sympathetic in -its spirit and catholic in its tone, especially when dealing with such -subjects as the stage, so frequently abused. Its author was a student of -the Universities of Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and Oxford, his -reminiscences of which are often humorous, and always interesting. Some -of the anecdotes recorded in this volume regarding the Edinburgh -Professors are exceedingly entertaining.... We venture to predict for -this autobiography a wide circulation."--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -"The book is eminently readable, very quiet for the most part, but not -without a few touches of gaiety and sprightly humour; and it betokens no -little culture together with a strong poetic tendency. The contents are -almost entirely confined to sketches of life at Scottish Universities, -with some playful personal satire, of which various Professors, some -mentioned by name and others denoted by initials, are the objects in -chief, although the peculiarities of certain landladies whose province -it is, or was, to let lodgings to students at Edinburgh or elsewhere, -come in for their share of more or less satirical delineation. But there -is nothing spiteful, nothing bitter, nothing cynical in the mode of -treatment. Two chapters are devoted to a sketch, brief but graphic and -sympathetic, of academic Oxford, whither the author went to sojourn and -to study for two months."--_Illustrated London News._ - -"This is a delightful book, calculated to afford much pleasurable -amusement of a quiet kind. It is written in a light sparkling style.... -The book itself is an enjoyable one, and perhaps none will read it with -greater relish than the old fogies who see in it much of what they -themselves passed through, and who, by the perusal are led to recall, -with mingled feelings, the aspirations, the freshness, and the frolic of -their own College days."--_Perthshire Constitutional._ - -"By those who have passed through the Universities it will be read with -considerable pleasure, affording as it does such happy reminiscences of -'College days,' with their grave, plodding seriousness, or that more -boisterous playfulness which is supposed to be the characteristic of -students as a class. Those, again, who are simply outsiders, and have -had no College days whatever, will be charmed by the recital here given -of the doings of the students, and the customs associated with the -respective Universities, the pen-portraits of the several professors, -the opinions expressed regarding men and things, the poetry, original -and selected, and the hundred and one subjects here treated of by a man -of observant nature possessing facility of expression, besides a keen -sense and appreciation of the humorous...."--_Stirling Observer._ - -"Many a 'varsity man, who has won his decree in the modest 'little city, -worn and grey,' will welcome the appearance of Mr. R. M. Fergusson's -_College Days_. Redolent every page of it, of the class-room, and the -wild Bohemianism of student life, and bristling with the 'classic' -ditties which have so often made the halls of St. Salvator's resound, -here is material for a mental revel in the past."--_Northern Chronicle._ - -"This series of autobiographical notes deserve recognition, if only -because the style is perfectly natural and perfectly good-natured.... -The book contains several capital anecdotes and some excellent -verse."--_London Figaro._ - -"But after all the charm of the volume lies in the whole life of a -student which is presented to us, for his joys and his troubles, his -amusements and his hard reading, are here written of by one who has -evidently experienced all. Scattered throughout these pages are numerous -verses, some original, some well-known students' songs. The original -verses are very good...."--_Stirling Journal._ - -"The volume contains some very excellent poems which are worthy of -finding, and doubtless will find, a place as verses to future songs. -There is not a chapter in the book which is not thoroughly -entertaining."--_The Tribune._ - -"The 'Old Student' has to speak of Scotch Universities, Edinburgh, to -wit, and St. Andrews, while he gives some impressions, gained as an -outsider, of Oxford.... There is much that is interesting and -entertaining, some good stories, and generally a pleasant picture of a -happy and busy life."--_Spectator._ - -"The writer is always entertaining and kindly, is wise in season, and -also _desipit in loco_, and tells some good stories--professors being -naturally his chief subjects."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - -"It is, to say the least, eminently probable that Mr. Fergusson relates -his own experiences in Edinburgh and St. Andrews. He does so in a -sufficiently lively and 'freshman' style.... _My College Days_ is, on -the whole, as readable as any book of the kind that has recently been -published."--_The Academy._ - -"Mr. R. Menzies Fergusson paints life as he thinks he saw it as a young -man at St. Andrews and Edinburgh, in _My College Days_. This -'autobiography of an old student' contains much interesting -reminiscence, and Mr. Fergusson has perhaps not erred in introducing -into his text specimens of the verse into which some of his Caledonian -student contemporaries were in the habit of dropping occasionally. Mr. -Fergusson's little book should find many a sympathetic reader among -former _alumni_ of the Scottish Universities, for he writes without -affectation."--_Graphic._ - -'Seldom have we had more pleasure than in the perusal of these -reminiscences of College days. No one who has gone through the -curriculum of a Scotch University can fail to attest the fidelity with -which his experience here finds expression.... 'An Old Student' was -privileged to have more than one _alma mater_. He could boast the -fostering care of Edinburgh, of St. Andrews, and of Oxford, and of all -these he has most pleasant reminiscences. Our author's experiences at -Oxford will repay perusal. The whole book, written in a most happy, -though thoughtful and affectionate strain, must incite the most cordial -sympathy of all whose student days have not been forgotten, while the -general public will peruse it with responsive hearts and a regretful -feeling that they have missed the experiences of which it -treats.'--_Brechin Advertiser._ - -'The minister of Logie, who made a decided hit with _Rambles in the Far -North_, has attempted a very difficult bit of work in _My College Days_. -This purports to be the MS. legacy of a College friend who died young -after some experience of student life in Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and -Oxford. The fiction will impose upon nobody, although it may shield the -editor from some blame, for while there is mirth and vigour and kindly -reminiscence, there is also some very sharp criticism, and much -reference to Academic dignitaries who are still in the flesh, and may be -sensitive and inclined to sting when they find some of their class jokes -not merely in print but bound in a book.... If certain Edinburgh divines -beguile a leisure hour over these pages, they will for once see -themselves as the keen-witted see them, and be amazed at the impudence -of the rising generation. Everybody who knows Edinburgh will recognise -the portrait of the preacher who is likened to Dr. Andrew Thomson in one -thing--'There's ae thing about yon man, he's a grand roarer.' The St. -Andrews part is full and cleverly done, and will have a charm for most -_alumni_ of the 'College of the scarlet gown,' because it contains a -large number of the songs, original and selected, with which the lobby -of the Natural Philosophy class-room was wont to resound."--_Elgin -Courant._ - -"The style is lively, and the descriptions of scenes of student life are -graphic. The account of the election of Rector at Edinburgh will -doubtless interest many, and the chapter dealing with landladies, their -varieties and idiosyncracies, is humorous."--_Morning Post._ - -"To recent students of our two greatest Scottish Universities--Edinburgh -and St. Andrews--_My College Days_ is charged with intense interest, -though its racy humour and chatty discursiveness will render it -attractive reading to those uninitiated in academic mysteries and -innocent of student frivolities. The life of an Edinburgh student, in -college and out of college, in the class-room, the debating society, the -theatre, and the church, is described with untiring vivacity.... Whether -author or merely editor, Mr. Menzies Fergusson is to be sincerely -congratulated upon his success. Reminiscence is a species of literature -not always instructive, not always even entertaining; in Mr. Fergusson's -hands it becomes both."--_Fifeshire Journal._ - -"We think the verdict of every impartial reader will be that Mr. -Ferguson has done well in publishing this book. It abounds in vigorous, -and, in many instances, impressive descriptions of University life; it -is enlivened at judicious intervals with original verses, which evince -lyrical power; its style is admirably condensed and clear; it is -sympathetic in its spirit and catholic in its tone, especially when -dealing with such subjects as the stage and its modern exponents by -narrow-minded writers so frequently abused."--_Ayr Observer._ - -"It is pleasantly written, is full of the fun of student life, full, -too, of its hardships, abounds with excellent stories, is very -discriminating in professional criticism, while scattered throughout the -racy pages are many snatches of jovial college songs recorded nowhere -else.... Altogether the volume is very readable, and no student, at all -events, can find a dull page in it."--_Kelso Chronicle._ - - -_THE TRAGEDY OF GOWRIE HOUSE._ An Historical Study. By LOUIS A. BARBÉ. -Fcap. 4to, 6s. - -In this new work on the interesting and mysterious episode of Scottish -History, usually known as the Gowrie Conspiracy, the author has not only -submitted the old materials to a close examination, but also thrown new -light on the subject by the help of letters to be found in the Record -Office, but overlooked or suppressed by former historians, of documents -recently discovered by the Commission on Historical MSS., and also of -important papers preserved in the French Archives. - -"_A treasure of almost priceless thought and criticism._"--_Contemporary -Review._ - -In the press. Second Edition, Thoroughly Revised. Cr. 8vo, 338 pp., 7s. -6d. - - -WIT, WISDOM, AND PATHOS, - -FROM THE PROSE OF HEINRICH HEINE. - -_WITH A FEW PIECES FROM THE "BOOK OF SONGS."_ - -SELECTED AND TRANSLATED BY J. SNODGRASS. - -"Mr. Snodgrass has produced a book in which lazy people will find a -great deal to please them. They can take it up at any moment, and open -it on any page with the certainty of finding some bright epigram; they -need not turn down the page on shutting up the volume, as it matters -little where they resume. There is nothing jarring in the whole -book."--_Athenæum, April 19, 1877._ - -"No Englishman of culture who is unacquainted with Heine can fail to -derive a new intellectual pleasure from Mr. Snodgrass's -pages."--_Contemporary Review, September 1880._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass would appear to have saturated himself with Heine -literature, to have so caught Heine's mode of thought and his turns of -expression--quaint, droll, swift, and scathing by turns--that the -translator would appear to have had no more difficulty in presenting -Heine as he was to the reader than he would have in presenting his own -thoughts."--_Glasgow Herald, March 31, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass, in his 'Wit,' &c., has dime a great service in this -respect, presenting as it were a full-length miniature of the man, clear -and effective, wherein his characteristic expression is faithfully -caught and where, if we look carefully, we can see him as he really was, -for he is made to paint his own portrait."--_British Quarterly Review, -October 1881._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has certainly done great service to English literature in -presenting us with a compact little volume like that before -us."--_Spectator._ - -"A word of cordial praise is due to the translator, Mr. J. Snodgrass, -for his admirable performance of a very difficult task. His book is one -to welcome and to keep as a treasure of almost priceless thought and -criticism."--_Contemporary Review, February 1881._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass is to be thanked for a very seasonable bit of -work."--_Examiner, April 26, 1879._ - -"We are bound to say that Mr. Snodgrass has done his work exceptionally -well."--_The Literary World, May 9, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has made a valuable addition to English literature in -this volume, and has given us a most attractive and efficient -introduction to the study of Heine."--_The Nonconformist, August 20, -1879._ - -"He has performed his task with skill, tact, and judgment; and it is -easy to perceive that he has a thorough acquaintance with his author and -sympathy for his matter."--_Notes and Queries, April 19, 1879._ - -"The result of Mr. Snodgrass's attempt has been the production of a -volume which, for variety and interest, may be pronounced one of the -most successful books of the season."--_Aberdeen Journal, March 26, -1879._ - -"In Heine, whose prose writings in German fill well on to a score of -volumes, we find in remarkable combination the best qualities of German -thought, along with the sparkle and brilliancy of an accomplished -Frenchman's style."--_Aberdeen Daily Free Press, April 21, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has done his selection and translation admirably well and -we owe him thanks for a volume which has in it mere wit of the highest -sort, and more political insight, than any book that has lately been -given to the public."--_Vanity Fair, November 8, 1879._ - -"The compiler of this interesting little volume, Mr. J. Snodgrass is -perfectly right in saying that Heine is chiefly known to English readers -as the author of the 'Book of Songs.'"--_The Week, April 19, 1879._ - -"The 'English Fragments' have a special interest for the English reader; -but the selection from Heine's prose works in general, most judiciously -made and excellently translated by Mr. Snodgrass, gives a much completer -view of the qualities of the writer's mind."--_Saturday Review._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has not essayed to give at all an exhaustive collection -of Heine's witty, wise, and pathetic sayings; but he has selected, in -the order in which they occur in the complete German edition, such -extracts as have specially commended themselves to himself. He has -produced a very enjoyable volume, exactly adapted to the taste of lazy -and luxurious persons, who can just take up the book for five minutes to -read a delightful passage, complete in itself, and not long enough to -fatigue the most fastidious attention."--_Academy, May 31, 1879._ - - -ALEX. GARDNER, PAISLEY AND LONDON. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography., by -Solomon Maimon - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOLOMON MAIMON: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. *** - -***** This file should be named 41042-8.txt or 41042-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/0/4/41042/ - -Produced by Charlene Taylor,Josephine Paolucci and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography. - -Author: Solomon Maimon - -Translator: J. Clark Murray, LL.D., F.R.S.C. - -Release Date: October 13, 2012 [EBook #41042] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOLOMON MAIMON: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. *** - - - - -Produced by Charlene Taylor,Josephine Paolucci and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 464px;"> -<img src="images/titlepage.jpg" width="464" height="750" alt="" /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - - -<h1><i>SOLOMON MAIMON.</i></h1> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h2>SOLOMON MAIMON:</h2> - -<h2><i>AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.</i></h2> - -<h4><span class="smcap">Translated from the German, with Additions and Notes</span>,</h4> - -<h3>BY</h3> - -<h2>J. CLARK MURRAY, LL.D., F.R.S.C.,</h2> -<h4> -<i>Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy, M'Gill College, Montreal</i>.</h4> - -<p class="center"> -ALEXANDER GARDNER,<br /> -<span class="smcap">PAISLEY; and 12 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON.</span><br /> -DAWSON BROTHERS, MONTREAL; CUPPLES AND HURD, BOSTON.<br /> -<br /> -1888.<br /> -</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> - -<p> -<span class="tocnum">PAGE</span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Translator's Preface</span>, <span class="tocnum"><a href="#Page_ix">ix.</a></span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Introduction.</span>—State of Poland in last century, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_1'>1</a></span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Chapter</span>—<br /> -<br /> -I.—My Grandfather's Housekeeping, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_6'>6</a></span><br /> -<br /> -II.—First Reminiscences of Youth, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_19'>19</a></span><br /> -<br /> -III.—Private Education and Independent Study, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_22'>22</a></span><br /> -<br /> -IV.—Jewish Schools—The Joy of being released from them causes a Stiff Foot, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_32'>32</a></span><br /> -<br /> -V.—My Family is driven into Misery, and an old Servant loses by his<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">great Faithfulness a Christian Burial, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_38'>38</a></span></span><br /> -<br /> -VI.—New Abode, New Misery—The Talmudist, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_42'>42</a></span><br /> -<br /> -VII.—Joy endureth but a little while, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_49'>49</a></span><br /> -<br /> -VIII.—The Pupil knows more than the Teacher—A theft <i>à la<br /> -Rousseau</i>, which is discovered—"The ungodly provideth, and<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span>the righteous putteth it on," <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_54'>54</a></span><br /> -<br /> -IX.—Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals—The<br /> -Song of Solomon may be used in the service<br /> -of Matchmaking—A new <i>Modus Lucrandi</i>—Smallpox, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_59'>59</a></span><br /> -<br /> -X.—I become an object of Contention, get two Wives<br /> -at once, and am kidnapped at last, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_65'>65</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XI.—My Marriage in my eleventh Year makes me the<br /> -Slave of my Wife, and procures for me<br /> -Cudgellings from my Mother-in-Law—A<br /> -Ghost of Flesh and Blood, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_74'>74</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XII.—The Secrets of the Marriage State—Prince<br /> -Radzivil, or what is not all allowed in<br /> -Poland? <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_79'>79</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XIII.—Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless<br /> -Struggles with Misery of every Kind, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_89'>89</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XIV.—I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a<br /> -Physician, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_94'>94</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XV.—A brief Exposition of the Jewish Religion from<br /> -its Origin down to the most recent Times, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_111'>111</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XVI.—Jewish Piety and Penances, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_132'>132</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XVII.—Friendship and Enthusiasm, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_138'>138</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XVIII.—The Life of a Family Tutor, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_145'>145</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XIX.—Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long<br /> -Chapter, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_151'>151</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XX.—Continuation of the Former, and also Something<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span>about Religious Mysteries, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_176'>176</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XXI.—Journeys to Königsberg, Stettin, and Berlin, for<br /> -the purpose of extending my Knowledge of<br /> -Men, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_187'>187</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XXII.—Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_197'>197</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XXIII.—Arrival in Berlin—Acquaintances—Mendelssohn—Desperate<br /> -Study of Metaphysics—Doubts—Lectures<br /> -on Locke and Adelung, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_210'>210</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XXIV.—Mendelssohn—A Chapter devoted to the Memory<br /> -of a worthy Friend, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_221'>221</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XXV.—My Aversion at first for Belles Lettres, and my<br /> -subsequent Conversion—Departure from Berlin—Sojourn<br /> -in Hamburg—I drown myself in<br /> -the same way as a bad Actor shoots himself—An<br /> -old Fool of a Woman falls in Love with<br /> -me, but her Addresses are rejected, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_234'>234</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XXVI.—I return to Hamburg—A Lutheran Pastor<br /> -pronounces me to be a scabby Sheep, and<br /> -unworthy of Admission into the Christian<br /> -Fold—I enter the Gymnasium, and frighten<br /> -the Chief Rabbi out of his Wits, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_253'>253</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XXVII.—Third journey to Berlin—Frustrated Plan of<br /> -Hebrew Authorship—Journey to Breslau—Divorce, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_265'>265</a></span><br /> -<br /> -XXVIII.—Fourth journey to Berlin—Unfortunate<br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">circumstances—Help—Study of Kant's Writings—Characteristic</span><br /> -of my own Works, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_279'>279</a></span><br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Concluding Chapter</span>, <span class="tocnum"><a href='#Page_290'>290</a></span><br /> -</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2>"TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.</h2> - - -<p>One effect of <i>Daniel Deronda</i> was to make known to a wide circle of -readers the vitality of Judaism as a system which still holds sway over -the mental as well as the external life of men. During the few years -which have passed since the publication of that great fiction, the -interest in modern Judaism has continued to grow. It is but a short time -since the Western world was startled by the outbreak of an ancient -feeling against the Jews, which had been supposed to be long dead, at -least in some of the quarters where it was displayed. The popular -literature of the day also seems to indicate that the life of existing -Jewish communities is attracting a large share of attention in the -reading world. The charming pictures which Emil Franzos has drawn of -Jewish life in the villages of Eastern Galicia, are not only popular in -Germany, but some have been reproduced in a cheap form in New York to -meet the demand of German Americans, and some have also been translated -into English. The interest of English readers in the same subject is -further shown by the recent translation of Kompert's <i>Scenes from the -Ghetto</i>, as well as by Mr. Cumberland's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span> still more recent and powerful -romance of <i>The Rabbi's Spell</i>. Among students of philosophical -literature a fresh interest has been awakened in the history of Jewish -thought by the revival of the question in reference to the sources of -Spinoza's philosophy. The affinities of this system with the familiar -tendencies of Cartesian speculation have led the historians of -philosophy generally to represent the former as simply an inevitable -development of the latter, while the affinities of Spinozism with the -unfamiliar speculations of earlier Jewish thinkers have been almost -entirely ignored.</p> - -<p>In these circumstances a special interest may be felt in the life of one -of the most remarkable Jews of modern times—a life which forms one of -the most extraordinary biographies in the history of literature.</p> - -<p>Readers of <i>Daniel Deronda</i> may remember that, in his search among the -Jews of London for some one who could throw light on the sad story of -Mirah, the hero of the novel was attracted one day to a second-hand -book-shop, where his eye fell on "that wonderful bit of -autobiography—the life of the Polish Jew, Solomon Maimon." There are -few men so remarkable as Maimon who have met with so little recognition -in English literature. Milman, in his <i>History of the Jews</i>, refers -once<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> to the autobiography as "a curious and rare book," but -apparently he knew it only from some quotations in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span> Franck's <i>La -Cabbale</i>. Among English metaphysical writers the only one who seems to -have studied the speculations of Maimon is Dr. Hodgson.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> Even the new -edition of the <i>Encyclopedia Britannica</i> gives no place to Maimon among -its biographies. And yet he is a prominent figure among the -metaphysicians of the Kantian period. Kuno Fischer, in his <i>Geschichte -der Neueren Philosophie</i>,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> devotes a whole chapter to the life of -Maimon, while the contemporary critics of Kant are dismissed with little -or no biographical notice. Fischer's sketch is just sufficient to whet -curiosity for fuller details; but, amid the dearth of rare literature in -Colonial libraries, I certainly never expected to come, in a Canadian -town, upon "a curious and rare book" of last century, which was known -even to the learned Milman only through some quotations from a French -author. One day, however, in Toronto, in order to while away an -unoccupied hour, I was glancing, like Daniel Deronda, over the shelves -of a second-hand bookseller, when I was attracted by a small volume, in -a good state of preservation, with "S. Maimon's Lebensgeschichte" on the -back; and on taking it down I found it to be the veritable autobiography -which I had been curious to see.</p> - -<p>Some account of the work was given in an article in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span> the <i>British -Quarterly Review</i> for July, 1885; but I thought that a complete -translation would probably be welcomed by a considerable circle of -English readers. The book has many attractions. If the development of -the inner life of man can ever be characterised as a romance, the -biography of Maimon may, in the truest sense, be said to be one of the -most romantic stories ever written. Perhaps no literature has preserved -a more interesting record of a spirit imprisoned within almost -insuperable barriers to culture, yet acquiring strength to burst all -these, and even to become an appreciable power in directing the course -of speculation. The book, however, is much more than a biography; it -possesses historical interest. It opens up what, to many English -readers, must be unknown efforts of human thought, unknown wanderings of -the religious life. The light, which it throws upon Judaism especially, -both in its speculative and in its practical aspects, is probably, in -fact, unique. For the sketches, which the book contains, of Jewish -speculation and life were made at a time when the author had severed all -vital connection with his own people and their creed; and they are -therefore drawn from a point of view outside of Jewish prejudices: but -they are penned by one who had been brought up to believe the divine -mission of his people, as well as the divine authority of their -religion; and the criticism of his old faith is generally tempered by -that kindly sympathy, with which the heart is apt to be warmed on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span> -lingering over the companionships and other associations of earlier -years. Maimon's account of Jewish philosophy and theology acquires an -additional value from the fact, that he was caught in the full tide of -the Kantian movement, and he was thus in a position to point out -unexpected affinities between many an old effort of speculative thought -among the Jews and the philosophical tendencies of modern Christendom.</p> - -<p>Since writing the above-mentioned article for the <i>British Quarterly -Review</i>, I learnt that a volume of <i>Maimoniana</i> had been issued in 1813 -by an old friend of our philosopher, Dr. Wolff<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>; and through the -kindness of a friend in Leipsic, I was enabled, after some delay, to -procure a copy. It is a small volume of 260 pages, and adds extremely -little to our knowledge of Maimon. Nearly one third is simply a -condensation of the autobiography; and the remainder shows the author -with the opportunities indeed, but without the faculty, of a Boswell. He -has preserved but few of the felicities of Maimon's conversation; and -what he has preserved loses a good deal of its flavour from his want of -the lively memory by which Boswell was able to reproduce the peculiar -mannerisms of Johnson's talk. Still I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span> culled from the little -volume a few notes for illustration of the autobiography, and I am -indebted to it for most of the materials of the concluding chapter. All -my additions are indicated by "<i>Trans.</i>" appended.</p> - -<p>The translation gives the whole of the biographical portion of the -original. There are, however, ten chapters which I have omitted, as they -are occupied entirely with a sketch of the great work of -Maimonides,—the <i>Moreh Nebhochim</i>, or <i>Guide of the Perplexed</i>. Owing -to their somewhat loose connection<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> with the rest, these chapters -excite just the faintest suspicion of "padding;" and at all events there -is no demand for such a sketch in English now, when our literature has -been recently enriched by Dr. Friedländer's careful translation of the -whole work.</p> - -<p>In the performance of my task I have endeavoured to render the original -as literally as was consistent with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span> readable English. Only in one or -two passages I have toned down the expression slightly to suit the -tastes of our own time; but even in these I have not been unfaithful to -the author's meaning.</p> - -<p>In the spelling of Hebrew and other foreign words I have never, without -some good reason, interfered with the original. But as Maimon is not -always consistent with himself in this respect, I have felt myself at -liberty to disregard his usage by adopting such forms as are more -familiar, or more likely to be intelligible, to an English reader.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="SOLOMON_MAIMON" id="SOLOMON_MAIMON">SOLOMON MAIMON.</a></h2> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION.</a></h2> - - -<p>The inhabitants of Poland may be conveniently divided into six classes -or orders:—the superior nobility, the inferior nobility, the -half-noble, burghers, peasantry and Jews.</p> - -<p>The superior nobility consist of the great landowners and administrators -of the high offices of government. The inferior nobility also are -allowed to own land and to fill any political office; but they are -prevented from doing so by their poverty. The half-noble can neither own -land, nor fill any high office in the State; and by this he is -distinguished from the genuine noble. Here and there, it is true, he -owns land; but for that he is in some measure dependent on the lord of -the soil, within whose estate his property lies, inasmuch as he is -required to pay him a yearly tribute.</p> - -<p>The burghers are the most wretched of all the orders. They are not, 'tis -true, in servitude to any man; they also enjoy certain privileges, and -have a jurisdiction of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> their own. But as they seldom own any property -of value, or follow rightly any profession, they always remain in a -condition of pitiable poverty.</p> - -<p>The last two orders, namely the peasantry and the Jews, are the most -useful in the country. The former occupy themselves with agriculture, -raising cattle, keeping bees,—in short, with all the products of the -soil. The latter engage in trade, take up the professions and -handicrafts, become bakers, brewers, dealers in beer, brandy, mead and -other articles. They are also the only persons who farm estates in towns -and villages, except in the case of ecclesiastical properties, where the -reverend gentlemen hold it a sin to put a Jew in a position to make a -living, and accordingly prefer to hand over their farms to the peasants. -For this they must suffer by their farms going to ruin, as the peasantry -have no aptitude for this sort of employment: but of course they choose -rather to bear this with Christian resignation.</p> - -<p>In consequence of the ignorance of most of the Polish landlords, the -oppression of the tenantry, and the utter want of economy, most of the -farms in Poland, at the end of last century,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> had fallen into such a -state of decay, that a farm, which now yields about a thousand Polish -gulden, was offered to a Jew for ten; but in consequence of still -greater ignorance and laziness, with all that advantage even he could -not make a living off the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> farm. An incident, however, occurred at this -time, which gave a new turn to affairs. Two brothers from Galicia, where -the Jews are much shrewder than in Lithuania, took, under the name of -<i>Dersawzes</i> or farmers-general, a lease of all the estates of Prince -Radzivil, and, by means of a better industry as well as a better -economy, they not only raised the estates into a better condition, but -also enriched themselves in a short time.</p> - -<p>Disregarding the clamour of their brethren, they increased the rents, -and enforced payment by the sub-lessees with the utmost stringency. They -themselves exercised a direct oversight of the farms; and wherever they -found a farmer who, instead of looking after his own interests and those -of his landlord in the improvement of his farm by industry and economy, -spent the whole day in idleness, or lay drunk about the stove, they soon -brought him to his senses, and roused him out of his indolence by a -flogging. This procedure of course acquired for the farmers-general, -among their own people, the name of tyrants.</p> - -<p>All this, however, had a very good effect. The farmer, who at the term -had hitherto been unable to pay up his ten gulden of rent without -requiring to be sent to jail about it, now came under such a strong -inducement to active exertion, that he was not only able to support a -family off his farm, but was also able to pay, instead of ten, four or -five hundred, and sometimes even a thousand gulden.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Jews, again, may be divided into three classes:—(1) the illiterate -working people, (2) those who make learning their profession, and (3) -those who merely devote themselves to learning without engaging in any -remunerative occupation, being supported by the industrial class. To the -second class belong the chief rabbis, preachers, judges, schoolmasters, -and others of similar profession. The third class consists of those who, -by their pre-eminent abilities and learning, attract the regard of the -unlearned, are taken by these into their families, married to their -daughters, and maintained for some years with wife and children at their -expense. Afterwards, however, the wife is obliged to take upon herself -the maintenance of the saintly idler and the children (who are usually -very numerous); and for this, as is natural, she thinks a good deal of -herself.</p> - -<p>There is perhaps no country besides Poland, where religious freedom and -religious enmity are to be met with in equal degree. The Jews enjoy -there a perfectly free exercise of their religion and all other civil -liberties; they have even a jurisdiction of their own. On the other -hand, however, religious hatred goes so far, that the name of Jew has -become an abomination; and this abhorrence, which had taken root in -barbarous times, continued to show its effects till about thirteen years -ago. But this apparent contradiction may be very easily removed, if it -is considered that the religious and civil liberty, conceded to the Jews -in Poland, has not its source in any respect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> for the universal rights -of mankind, while, on the other hand, the religious hatred and -persecution are by no means the result of a wise policy which seeks to -remove out of the way whatever is injurious to morality and the welfare -of the State. Both phenomena are results of the political ignorance and -torpor prevalent in the country. With all their defects the Jews are -almost the only useful inhabitants of the country, and therefore the -Polish people found themselves obliged, for the satisfaction of their -own wants, to grant all possible liberties to the Jews; but, on the -other hand, their moral ignorance and stupor could not fail to produce -religious hatred and persecution.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></h2> - -<h3>My Grandfather's Housekeeping.</h3> - - -<p>My grandfather, Heimann Joseph, was farmer of some villages in the -neighbourhood of the town of Mir, in the territory of Prince -Radzivil.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> He selected for his residence one of these villages on the -river Niemen, called Sukoviborg, where, besides a few peasants' plots, -there was a water-mill, a small harbour, and a warehouse for the use of -the vessels that come from Königsberg, in Prussia. All this, along with -a bridge behind the village, and on the other side a drawbridge on the -river Niemen, belonged to the farm, which was then worth about a -thousand gulden, and formed my grandfather's <i>Chasakah</i>.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> This farm, -on account of the warehouse and the great traffic, was very lucrative. -With sufficient industry and economical skill, <i>si mens non laeva -fuisset</i>, my grandfather should have been able, not only to support his -family, but even to gather wealth. The bad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> constitution of the country, -however, and his own want of all the acquirements necessary for -utilising the land, placed extraordinary obstacles in his way.</p> - -<p>My grandfather settled his brothers as tenants under him in the villages -belonging to his farm. These not only lived continually with my -grandfather under the pretence of assisting him in his manifold -occupations, but in addition to this they would not pay their rents at -the end of the year.</p> - -<p>The buildings, belonging to my grandfather's farm, had fallen into decay -from age, and required therefore to be repaired. The harbour and the -bridge also had become dilapidated. In accordance with the terms of the -lease the landlord was to repair everything, and put it in a condition -fit for use. But, like all the Polish magnates, he resided permanently -in Warsaw, and could therefore give no attention to the improvement of -his estates. His stewards had for their principal object the improvement -rather of their own condition than of their landlord's property. They -oppressed the farmers with all sorts of exactions, they neglected the -orders given for the improvement of the farms, and the moneys intended -for this purpose they applied to their own use. My grandfather indeed -made representations on the subject to the stewards day after day, and -assured them that it was impossible for him to pay his rent, if -everything was not put into proper condition according to the lease. All -this, however, was of no avail. He always received<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> promises indeed, but -the promises were never fulfilled. The result was not only the ruin of -the farm, but several other evils arising from that.</p> - -<p>As already mentioned, there was a large traffic at this place; and as -the bridges were in a bad state, it happened not infrequently that these -broke down just when a Polish nobleman with his rich train was passing, -and horse and rider were plunged into the swamp. The poor farmer was -then dragged to the bridge, where he was laid down and flogged till it -was thought that sufficient revenge had been taken.</p> - -<p>My grandfather therefore did all in his power to guard against this evil -in the future. For this purpose he stationed one of his people to keep -watch at the bridge, so that, if any noble were passing, and an accident -of this sort should happen, the sentinel might bring word to the house -as quickly as possible, and the whole family might thus have time to -take refuge in the neighbouring wood. Every one thereupon ran in terror -out of the house, and not infrequently they were all obliged to remain -the whole night in the open air, till one after another ventured to -approach the house.</p> - -<p>This sort of life lasted for some generations. My father used to tell of -an incident of this sort, which happened when he was still a boy of -about eight years. The whole family had fled to their usual retreat. But -my father, who knew nothing of what had happened, and was playing at the -back of the stove, stayed behind alone. When<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> the angry lord came into -the house with his suite, and found nobody on whom he could wreak his -vengeance, he ordered every corner of the house to be searched, when my -father was found at the back of the stove. The nobleman asked him if he -would drink brandy, and, on the boy refusing, shouted: "If you will not -drink brandy, you shall drink water." At the same time he ordered a -bucketful of water to be brought, and forced my father, by lashes with -his whip, to drink it out. Naturally this treatment brought on a quartan -fever, which lasted nearly a whole year, and completely undermined his -health.</p> - -<p>A similar incident took place when I was a child of three years. Every -one ran out of the house; and the housemaid, who carried me in her arms, -hurried forth. But as the servants of the nobleman who had arrived ran -after her, she quickened her steps, and in her extreme haste let me fall -from her arms. There I lay whimpering on the skirt of the wood, till -fortunately a peasant passing by lifted me up and took me home with him. -It was only after everything had become quiet again, and the family had -returned to the house, that the maid remembered having lost me in the -flight, when she began to lament and wring her hands. They sought me -everywhere, but could not find me, till at last the peasant came from -the village and restored me to my parents.</p> - -<p>It was not merely the terror and consternation, into which we used to be -thrown on the occasion of such a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> flight; to this was added the -plundering of the house when deprived of its inhabitants. Beer, brandy, -and mead were drunk at pleasure; the spirit of revenge even went so far -at times, that the casks were left to run out; corn and fowls were -carried off; and so forth.</p> - -<p>Had my grandfather, instead of seeking justice from a more powerful -litigant, rather borne the injustice, and built the bridge in question -at his own expense, he would have been able to avoid all these evils. He -appealed, however, persistently to the terms of his lease, and the -steward made sport of his misery.</p> - -<p>And now something about my grandfather's domestic economy. The manner of -life, which he led in his house, was quite simple. The annual produce of -the arable lands, pasture-lands, and kitchen-gardens, belonging to the -farm, was sufficient, not only for the wants of his own family, but also -for brewing and distilling. He could even, besides, sell a quantity of -grain and hay. His bee-hives were sufficient for the brewing of mead. He -had also a large number of cattle.</p> - -<p>The principal food consisted of a poor kind of corn-bread mixed with -bran, of articles made of meal and milk, and of the produce of the -garden, seldom of flesh-meat. The clothing was made of poor linen and -coarse stuff. Only the women made in these matters a slight exception, -and my father also, who was a scholar, required a different sort of -life.</p> - -<p>Hospitality was here carried very far. The Jews in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> this neighbourhood -are continually moving about from place to place; and as there was a -great traffic at our village, they were frequently passing through it, -and of course they had always to stop at my grandfather's inn. Every -Jewish traveller was met at the door with a glass of spirits; one hand -making the <i>salaam</i>,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> while the other reached the glass. He then had -to wash his hands, and seat himself at the table which remained -constantly covered.</p> - -<p>The support of a numerous family along with this hospitality would have -had no serious effect in impairing my grandfather's circumstances, if at -the same time he had introduced a better economy in his house. This, -however, was the source of his misfortune.</p> - -<p>My grandfather was in trifles almost too economical, and neglected -therefore matters of the greatest importance. He looked upon it, for -example, as extravagance to burn wax or tallow candles; their place had -to be supplied with thin strips of resinous pine, one end of which was -stuck into the chinks of the wall, while the other was lit. Not -unfrequently by this means fires were occasioned, and much damage -caused, in comparison with which the cost of candles was not worth -taking into consideration.</p> - -<p>The apartment, in which beer, spirits, mead, herrings, salt and other -articles were kept for the daily account of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> the inn, had no windows, -but merely apertures, through which it received light. Naturally this -often tempted the sailors and carriers who put up at the inn to climb -into the apartment, and make themselves drunk gratuitously with spirits -and mead. What was still worse, these carousing heroes, from fear of -being caught in the act, often took to flight, on hearing the slightest -noise, without waiting to put in the spigot, sprang out at the holes by -which they had come in, and let the liquor run as long as it might. In -this way sometimes whole casks of spirits and mead ran out.</p> - -<p>The barns had no proper locks, but were shut merely with wooden bolts. -Any one therefore, especially as the barns were at some distance from -the dwelling-house, could take from them at pleasure, and even carry off -whole waggonloads of grain. The sheepfold had, all over, holes, by which -wolves (the forest being quite near) were able to slink in, and worry -the sheep at their convenience.</p> - -<p>The cows came very often from the pasture with empty udders. According -to the superstition which prevailed there, it was said in such cases, -that the milk had been taken from them by witchcraft,—a misfortune, -against which it was supposed that nothing could be done.</p> - -<p>My grandmother, a good simple woman, when tired with her household -occupations, lay down often in her clothes to sleep by the stove, and -had all her pockets full of money, without knowing how much. Of this -the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> housemaid took advantage, and emptied the pockets of half their -contents. Nevertheless my grandmother seldom perceived the want, if only -the girl did not play too clumsy a trick.</p> - -<p>All these evils could easily have been avoided of course by repairing -the buildings, the windows, the window-shutters and locks, by proper -oversight of the manifold lucrative occupations connected with the farm, -as also by keeping an exact account of receipts and disbursements. But -this was never thought of. On the other hand, if my father, who was a -scholar, and educated partly in town, ordered for himself a rabbinical -suit, for which a finer stuff was required than that in common use, my -grandfather did not fail to give him a long and severe lecture on the -vanity of the world. "Our forefathers," he used to say, "knew nothing of -these new-fashioned costumes, and yet were devout people. You must have -a coat of striped woolen cloth,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> you must have leather hose, with -buttons even, and everything on the same scale. You will bring me to -beggary at last; I shall be thrown into prison on your account. Ay me, -poor unfortunate man! What is to become of me?"</p> - -<p>My father then appealed to the rights and privileges of the profession -of a scholar, and showed moreover that,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> in a well-arranged system of -economy, it does not so much matter whether you live somewhat better or -worse, and that even my grandfather's misfortunes arose, not from -extravagant consumption in housekeeping, but rather from the fact that -he allowed himself by his remissness to be plundered by others. All this -however was of no avail with my grandfather. He could not tolerate -innovations. Everything therefore had to be left as it was.</p> - -<p>My grandfather was held in the place of his abode to be a rich man, -which he could really have been if he had known how to make use of his -opportunities; and on this account he was envied and hated by all, even -by his own family, he was abandoned by his landlord, he was oppressed in -every possible way by the steward, and cheated and robbed by his own -domestics as well as by strangers. In short, he was <i>the poorest rich -man</i> in the world.</p> - -<p>In addition to all this there were still greater misfortunes, which I -cannot here pass over wholly in silence. The pope, that is, the Russian -clergyman in this village, was a dull ignorant blockhead, who had -scarcely learned to read and write. He spent most of his time at the -inn, where he drank spirits with his boorish parishioners, and let his -liquor always be put down to his account, without ever a thought of -paying his score. My grandfather at last became tired of this, and made -up his mind to give him nothing more upon credit. The fellow naturally -took this very ill, and therefore resolved upon revenge.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> - -<p>For this he found at length a means, at which indeed humanity shudders, -but of which the Catholic Christians in Poland were wont to make use -very often at that time. This was to charge my grandfather with the -murder of a Christian, and thus bring him to the gallows. This was done -in the following way: A beaver-trapper, who sojourned constantly in this -neighbourhood to catch beavers on the Niemen, was accustomed at times to -trade in these animals with my grandfather; and this had to be done -secretly, for the beaver is game preserved, and all that are taken must -be delivered at the manor. The trapper came once about midnight, knocked -and asked for my grandfather. He showed him a bag which was pretty heavy -to lift, and said to him with a mysterious air, "I have brought you a -good big fellow here." My grandfather was going to strike a light, to -examine the beaver, and come to terms about it with the peasant. He -however said, that this was unnecessary, that my grandfather might take -the beaver at any rate, and that they would be sure to agree about it -afterwards. My grandfather, who had no suspicion of evil, took the bag -just as it was, laid it aside, and betook himself again to rest. -Scarcely, however, had he fallen asleep again, when he was roused a -second time with a loud noise of knocking.</p> - -<p>It was the clergyman with some boors from the village, who immediately -began to make search all over in the house. They found the bag, and my -grandfather already<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> trembled for the issue, because he believed nothing -else than that he had been betrayed at the manor on account of his -secret trade in beavers, and he could not deny the fact. But how great -was his horror, when the bag was opened, and, instead of a beaver, there -was found a corpse!</p> - -<p>My grandfather was bound with his hands behind his back, his feet were -put into stocks, he was thrown into a waggon, and brought to the town of -Mir, where he was given over to the criminal court. He was made fast in -chains, and put into a dark prison.</p> - -<p>At the trial my grandfather stood upon his innocence, related the events -exactly as they had happened, and, as was reasonable, demanded that the -beaver-trapper should be examined too. He, however, was nowhere to be -found, was already over the hills and far away. He was sought -everywhere. But the blood-thirsty judge of the criminal court, to whom -the time became tedious, ordered my grandfather three times in -succession to be brought to torture. He, however, continued steadfast in -his assertion.</p> - -<p>At last the hero of the beavers was found. He was examined; and as he -straightway denied the whole affair, he also was put to the test of -torture. Thereupon at once he blabbed the whole story. He declared that, -some time before, he had found this dead body in the water, and was -going to bring it to the parsonage for burial. The parson however had -said to him, "There is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> plenty of time for the burial. You know that the -Jews are a hardened race, and are therefore damned to all eternity. They -crucified our Lord Jesus Christ, and even yet they seek Christian blood, -if only they can get hold of it for their passover, which is instituted -as a sign of their triumph. They use it for their passover-cake. You -will therefore do a meritorious work, if you can smuggle this dead body -into the house of the damned Jew of a farmer. You must of course clear -out, but your trade you can drive anywhere."</p> - -<p>On this confession the fellow was whipped out of the place, and my -grandfather set free; but the pope remained pope.</p> - -<p>For an everlasting memorial of this deliverance of my grandfather from -death, my father composed in Hebrew a sort of epopee, in which the whole -event was narrated, and the goodness of God was sung. It was also made a -law, that the day of his deliverance should be celebrated in the family -every year, when this poem should be recited in the same way as the Book -of Esther at the festival of Haman.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></h2> - -<h3>First Reminiscences of Youth.</h3> - - -<p>In this manner my grandfather lived for many years in the place where -his forefathers had dwelt; his farm had become, as it were, a property -of the family. By the Jewish ceremonial law the <i>Chazakah</i>, that is, the -right of property in an estate, is acquired by three years' possession; -and the right is respected even by Christians in this neighbourhood. In -virtue of this law no other Jew could try to get possession of the farm -by a <i>Hosaphah</i>, that is, an offer of higher rent, if he would not bring -down upon himself the Jewish excommunication. Although the possession of -the farm was accompanied with many hardships and even oppressions, yet -it was from another point of view very lucrative. My grandfather could -not only live as a well-to-do man, but also provide richly for his -children.</p> - -<p>His three daughters were well dowered, and married to excellent men. His -two sons, my uncle Moses and my father Joshua, were married likewise; -and when he became old, and enfeebled by the hardships to which he had -been exposed, he gave over the management of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> house to his two sons -in common. These were of different temperaments and inclinations, my -uncle Moses being of strong bodily constitution, but inferior -intelligence, while my father was the opposite; and consequently they -could not work together well. My grandfather therefore gave over to my -uncle another village, and kept my father by himself, although from his -profession as a scholar my father was not particularly adapted for the -occupations of household-management. He merely kept accounts, made -contracts, conducted processes at law, and attended to other matters of -the same sort. My mother, on the other hand, was a very lively woman, -well disposed to all sorts of occupations. She was small of stature, and -at that time still very young.</p> - -<p>An anecdote I cannot avoid touching on here, because it is the earliest -reminiscence from the years of my youth. I was about three years old at -the time. The merchants, who put up constantly at the place, and -especially the <i>shaffers</i>, that is, the nobles who undertook the -navigation, the purchase and delivery of goods, for the higher nobility, -were extremely fond of me on account of my liveliness, and made all -sorts of fun with me. These merry gentlemen gave my mother, on account -of her small stature and liveliness, the nickname of <i>Kuza</i>, that is, a -young filly.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> As I heard them often call her by this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> name, and knew -nothing of its meaning, I also called her <i>Mama Kuza</i>. My mother rebuked -me for this, and said, "God punishes any one who calls his mother <i>Mama -Kuza</i>." One of these <i>Shaffers</i>, Herr Piliezki, used every day to take -tea in our house, and enticed me to his side by giving me at times a bit -of sugar. One morning while he was drinking his tea, when I had placed -myself in the usual position for receiving the sugar, he said he would -give it to me only on condition that I should say <i>Mama Kuza</i>. Now as my -mother was present, I refused to do it. He made a sign therefore to my -mother to go into an adjoining room. As soon as she had shut the door, I -went to him and whispered into his ear, <i>Mama Kuza</i>. He insisted however -that I should say it out loud, and promised to give me a piece of sugar -for each time that it was spoken. Accordingly I said, "Herr Piliezki -wants me to say <i>Mama Kuza</i>; but I will not say <i>Mama Kuza</i>, because God -punishes any one who says <i>Mama Kuza</i>." Thereupon I got my three pieces -of sugar.</p> - -<p>My father introduced into the house a more refined mode of life, -especially as he traded with Königsberg in Prussia, where he procured -all sorts of pretty and useful articles. He provided himself with tin -and brass utensils; we began to have better meals, to wear finer -clothes, than before; I was even clad in damask.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></h2> - -<h3>Private Education and Independent Study.</h3> - - -<p>In my sixth year my father began to read the Bible with me. "In the -beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Here I interrupted my -father, and asked, "But, papa, who created God?"</p> - -<p>"God was not created by any one," replied my father; "He existed from -all eternity."</p> - -<p>"Did he exist ten years ago?" I asked again.</p> - -<p>"O yes," my father said, "He existed even a hundred years ago."</p> - -<p>"Then perhaps," I continued, "God is already a thousand years old?"</p> - -<p>"Silence! God was eternal."</p> - -<p>"But," I insisted, "He must surely have been born at some time."</p> - -<p>"You little fool," said my father, "No! He was for ever and ever and -ever."</p> - -<p>With this answer I was not indeed satisfied; but I thought "Surely papa -must know better than I, and with that I must therefore be content."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> - -<p>This mode of representation is very natural in early youth, when the -understanding is still undeveloped, while the imagination is in full -bloom. The understanding seeks merely to grasp, the imagination to grasp -all round.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> That is to say, the understanding seeks to make the -origin of an object conceivable, without considering, whether the -object, whose origin is known, can also be actually represented by us or -not. The imagination, on the other hand, seeks to gather into a complete -image something, the origin of which is to us unknown. Thus, for -example, an infinite series of numbers, which progresses according to a -definite law, is for the understanding an object, to which by this law -definite qualities are attached, and an object just as good as a finite -series, which progresses according to the same law. For the imagination, -on the other hand, the latter indeed is an object; but not the former, -because it cannot grasp the former as a completed whole.</p> - -<p>A long time afterwards, when I was staying in Breslau, this -consideration suggested to me a thought, which I expressed in an essay -that I laid before Professor Garve, and which, though at the time I knew -nothing of the Kantian philosophy, still constitutes its foundation. I -explained this somewhat in the following way:—The metaphysicians -necessarily fall into self-contradiction.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> According to the confession -of Leibnitz himself, who in this appeals to the experiment of Archimedes -with the lever, the Law of Sufficient Reason or Causality is a principle -of experience. Now, it is quite true that in experience everything is -found to have a cause; but for the very reason, that <i>every</i> thing has a -cause, nothing can be met with in experience which is a <i>first</i> cause, -that is, a cause which has no cause to itself. How then can the -metaphysicians infer from this law the existence of a first cause?</p> - -<p>Afterwards I found this objection more particularly developed in the -Kantian philosophy, where it is shown that the Category of Cause, or the -form of hypothetical judgments used in reference to the objects of -nature, by which their relation to one another is determined <i>a priori</i>, -can be applied only to objects of experience through an <i>a priori</i> -schema. The first cause, which implies a complete infinite series of -causes, and therefore in fact a contradiction, since the infinite can -never be complete, is not an object of the understanding, but an idea of -reason, or, according to my theory, a fiction of the imagination, which, -not content with the mere knowledge of the law, seeks to gather the -multiplicity, which is subject to the law, into an image, though in -opposition to the law itself.</p> - -<p>On another occasion I read in the Bible the story of Jacob and Esau; and -in this connection my father quoted the passage from the Talmud, where -it is said, "Jacob<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> and Esau divided between them all the blessings of -the world. Esau chose the blessings of this life, Jacob, on the -contrary, those of the future life; and since we are descended from -Jacob, we must give up all claim to temporal blessings." On this I said -with indignation, "Jacob should not have been a fool; he should rather -have chosen the blessings of this world." Unfortunately I got for -answer, "You ungodly rascal!" and a box on the ear. This did not of -course remove my doubt, but it brought me to silence at least.</p> - -<p>The Prince Radzivil, who was a great lover of the chase, came one day -with his whole court to hunt in the neighbourhood of our village. Among -the party was his daughter who afterwards married Prince Rawuzki. The -young princess, in order to enjoy rest at noon, betook herself with the -ladies of her court, the servants in waiting and the lackeys, to the -very room, where as a boy I was sitting behind the stove. I was struck -with astonishment at the magnificence and splendour of the court, gazed -with rapture at the beauty of the persons and at the dresses with their -trimmings of gold and silver lace; I could not satisfy my eyes with the -sight. My father came just as I was out of myself with joy, and had -broken into the words, "O how beautiful!" In order to calm me, and at -the same time to confirm me in the principles of our faith, he whispered -into my ear, "Little fool, in the other world the <i>duksel</i> will kindle -the <i>pezsure</i> for us," which means, In the future life the princess will -kindle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> the stove for us. No one can conceive the sort of feeling which -this statement produced in me. On the one hand, I believed my father, -and was very glad about this future happiness in store for us; but I -felt at the same time pity for the poor princess who was going to be -doomed to such a degrading service. On the other hand, I could not get -it into my head, that this beautiful rich princess in this splendid -dress should ever make a fire for a poor Jew. I was thrown into the -greatest perplexity on the subject, till some game drove these thoughts -out of my head.</p> - -<p>I had from childhood a great inclination and talent for drawing. True, I -had in my father's house never a chance of seeing a work of art, but I -found on the title-page of some Hebrew books woodcuts of foliage, birds -and so forth. I felt great pleasure in these woodcuts, and made an -effort to imitate them with a bit of chalk or charcoal. What however -strengthened this inclination in me still more was a Hebrew book of -fables, in which the personages who play their part in the fables—the -animals—were represented in such woodcuts. I copied all the figures -with the greatest exactness. My father admired indeed my skill in this, -but rebuked me at the same time in these words, "You want to become a -painter? You are to study the Talmud, and become a rabbi. He who -understands the Talmud, understands everything."</p> - -<p>This desire and faculty for painting went with me so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> far, that when my -father had settled in H——, where there was a manor-house with some -beautifully tapestried rooms, which were constantly unoccupied because -the landlord resided elsewhere, and very seldom visited the place, I -used to steal away from home whenever I could, to copy the figures on -the tapestries. I was found once in mid-winter half-frozen, standing -before the wall, holding the paper in one hand (for there was no -furniture in this apartment), and with the other hand copying the -figures off the wall. Yet I judge of myself at present, that, if I had -kept to it, I should have become a <i>great</i>, but not an <i>exact</i>, painter, -that is to say, I sketched with ease the main features of a picture, but -had not the patience to work it out in detail.</p> - -<p>My father had in his study a cupboard containing books. He had forbidden -me indeed to read any books but the Talmud. This, however, was of no -avail: as he was occupied the most of his time with household affairs, I -took advantage of the opportunity thus afforded. Under the impulse of -curiosity I made a raid upon the cupboard and glanced over all the -books. The result was, that, as I had already a fair knowledge of -Hebrew, I found more pleasure in some of these books than in the Talmud. -And this result was surely natural. Take the subjects of the Talmud, -which, with the exception of those relating to jurisprudence, are dry -and mostly unintelligible to a child—the laws of sacrifice, of -purification, of forbidden meats, of feasts, and so forth—in which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> the -oddest rabbinical conceits are elaborated through many volumes with the -finest dialectic, and the most absurd questions are discussed with the -highest efforts of intellectual power; for example, how many white hairs -may a red cow have, and yet remain a <i>red</i> cow; what sorts of scabs -require this or that sort of purification; whether a louse or a flea may -be killed on the Sabbath,—the first being allowed, while the second is -a deadly sin;—whether the slaughter of an animal ought to be executed -at the neck or the tail; whether the highpriest put on his shirt or his -hose first; whether the <i>Jabam</i>, that is, the brother of a man who died -childless, being required by law to marry the widow, is relieved from -his obligation if he falls off a roof and sticks in the mire. <i>Ohe jam -satis est!</i> Compare these glorious disputations, which are served up to -young people and forced on them even to disgust, with history, in which -natural events are related in an instructive and agreeable manner, with -a knowledge of the world's structure, by which the outlook into nature -is widened, and the vast whole is brought into a well-ordered system; -surely my preference will be justified.</p> - -<p>The most valuable books in the collection were four. There was a Hebrew -chronicle under the title of <i>Zemach David</i>,<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> written by a sensible -chief rabbi in Prague,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> named Rabbi David Gans. He was also the author -of the astronomical book spoken of in the sequel, and he had had the -honour of being acquainted with Tycho Brahe, and of making astronomical -observations with him in the Observatory at Copenhagen. There were -besides, a Josephus, which was evidently garbled, and a History of the -Persecutions of the Jews in Spain. But what attracted me most powerfully -was an astronomical work. In this work a new world was opened to me, and -I gave myself up to the study with the greatest diligence. Think of a -child about seven years of age, in my position, with an astronomical -work thrown in his way, and exciting his interest. I had never seen or -heard anything of the first elements of mathematics, and I had no one to -give me any direction in the study: for it is needless to say, that to -my father I dared not even let my curiosity in the matter be known, and, -apart from that, he was not in a position to give me any information on -the subject. How must the spirit of a child, thirsting for knowledge, -have been inflamed by such a discovery! This the result will show.</p> - -<p>As I was still a child, and the beds in my father's house were few, I -was allowed to sleep with my old grandmother, whose bed stood in the -above-mentioned study. As I was obliged during the day to occupy myself -solely with the study of the Talmud, and durst not take another book in -my hand, I devoted the evenings to my astronomical inquiries. -Accordingly after my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> grandmother had gone to bed, I put some fresh wood -on the fire, made for the cupboard, and took out my beloved astronomical -book. My grandmother indeed scolded me, because it was too cold for the -old lady to lie alone in bed; but I did not trouble myself about that, -and continued my study till the fire was burnt out.</p> - -<p>After I had carried this on for some evenings, I came to the description -of the celestial sphere and its imaginary circles, designed for the -explanation of astronomical phenomena. This was represented in the book -by a single figure, in connection with which the author gave the reader -the good advice, that, since the manifold circles could not be -represented in a plane figure except by straight lines, he should, for -the sake of rendering them more clearly intelligible, make for himself -either an ordinary globe or an armillary sphere. I therefore formed the -resolution to make such a sphere out of twisted rods; and after I had -finished this work, I was in a position to understand the whole book. -But as I had to take care lest my father should find out how I had been -occupied, I always hid my armillary sphere in a corner behind the -cupboard before I went to bed.</p> - -<p>My grandmother, who had on several occasions observed that I was wholly -absorbed in my reading, but now and then lifted my eyes to look at a -number of circles formed of twisted rods laid on one another, fell into -the greatest consternation over the matter; she believed nothing less -than that her grandson had lost his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> wits. She did not delay, therefore, -to tell my father, and point out to him the place where the magical -instrument was kept. He soon guessed what was the meaning of this. -Accordingly he took the sphere in his hand, and sent for me. When I -came, he asked me, "What sort of plaything is this?"</p> - -<p>"It is a <i>Kadur</i>,<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a>" I replied.</p> - -<p>"What does it mean?" he asked.</p> - -<p>I then explained to him the use of all the circles for the purpose of -making the celestial phenomena intelligible. My father, who was a good -rabbi indeed, but had no special talent for science, could not -comprehend all that I endeavoured to make comprehensible. He was -especially puzzled, by the comparison of my armillary sphere with the -figure in the book, to understand how out of straight lines circles -should be evolved; but one thing he could see,—that I was sure of my -business. He therefore scolded me, it is true, because I had -transgressed his command to meddle with nothing beyond the Talmud; but -still he felt a secret pleasure, that his young son, without a guide or -previous training, had been able by himself to master an entire work of -science. And with this the affair came to an end.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></h2> - -<h3>Jewish Schools—The Joy of being released from them causes a stiff foot.</h3> - - -<p>My brother Joseph and I were sent to Mir to school. My brother, who was -about twelve years old, was put to board with a schoolmaster of some -repute at that time, by name Jossel. This man was the terror of all -young people, "the scourge of God;" he treated those in his charge with -unheard of cruelty, flogged them till the blood came, even for the -slightest offence, and not infrequently tore off their ears, or beat -their eyes out. When the parents of these unfortunates came to him, and -brought him to task, he struck them with stones or whatever else came to -hand, and drove them with his stick out of the house back to their own -dwellings, without any respect of persons. All under his discipline -became either blockheads or good scholars. I, who was then only seven -years old, was sent to another schoolmaster.</p> - -<p>An anecdote I must here relate, which shows on the one side great -brotherly love, and on the other may be viewed as expressing the -condition of a child's mind, that sways between the hope of lightening -an evil, and the fear of increasing it. One day as I came from school,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> -my eyes were all red with weeping, for which there was doubtless good -cause. My brother observed this, and asked the reason. At first I showed -some hesitation in answering; but at last I said, "I weep because we -dare not tell tales out of school." My brother understood me very well, -was extremely indignant at my teacher, and was going to read him a -lesson on the subject. I begged him however not to do it, because in all -probability the teacher would take his revenge on me for telling tales -out of school.</p> - -<p>I must now say something of the condition of the Jewish schools in -general. The school is commonly a small smoky hut, and the children are -scattered, some on benches, some on the bare earth. The master, in a -dirty blouse sitting on the table, holds between his knees a bowl, in -which he grinds tobacco into snuff with a huge pestle like the club of -Hercules, while at the same time he wields his authority. The ushers -give lessons, each in his own corner, and rule those under their charge -quite as despotically as the master himself. Of the breakfast, lunch, -and other food sent to the school for the children, these gentlemen keep -the largest share for themselves. Sometimes even the poor youngsters get -nothing at all; and yet they dare not make any complaint on the subject, -if they will not expose themselves to the vengeance of these tyrants. -Here the children are imprisoned from morning to night, and have not an -hour<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> to themselves, except on Friday and a half-holiday at the Newmoon.</p> - -<p>As far as study is concerned, the reading of Hebrew at least is pretty -regularly learned. On the other hand, with the mastery of the Hebrew -language very seldom is any progress made. Grammar is not treated in the -school at all, but has to be learnt <i>ex usu</i>, by translation of the Holy -Scriptures, very much as the ordinary man learns imperfectly the grammar -of his mother-tongue by social intercourse. Moreover there is no -dictionary of the Hebrew language. The children therefore begin at once -with the explanation of the Bible. This is divided into as many sections -as there are weeks in the year, in order that the Books of Moses, which -are read in the synagogues every Saturday, may be read through in a -year. Accordingly every week some verses from the beginning of the -section proper to the week are explained in school, and that with every -possible grammatical blunder. Nor can it well be otherwise. For the -Hebrew must be explained by means of the mother-tongue. But the -mother-tongue of the Polish Jews is itself full of defects and -grammatical inaccuracies; and as a matter of course therefore also the -Hebrew language, which is learned by its means, must be of the same -stamp. The pupil thus acquires just as little knowledge of the language, -as of the contents, of the Bible.</p> - -<p>In addition to this the Talmudists have fastened all sorts of -extraordinary conceits on the Bible. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> ignorant teacher believes with -confidence, that the Bible cannot in reality have any other meaning than -that which these expositions ascribe to it; and the pupil must follow -his teacher's faith, so that the right understanding of words -necessarily becomes lost. For example, in the first Book of Moses it is -said, "Jacob sent messengers to his brother Esau, etc." Now, the -Talmudists were pleased to give out, that these messengers were angels. -For though the word <i>Malachim</i> in Hebrew denotes messenger as well as -angels, these marvel-mongers preferred the second signification, because -the first contains nothing marvellous. The pupil therefore holds the -belief firm and fast, that Malachim denotes nothing but angels; and the -natural meaning of messengers is for him wholly lost. A correct -knowledge of the Hebrew language and a sound exegesis can be attained -only gradually by independent study and by reading grammars and critical -commentaries on the Bible, like those of Rabbi David Kimchi<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> and Aben -Esra; but of these very few rabbis make use.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> -<p>As the children are doomed in the bloom of youth to such an infernal -school, it may be easily imagined with what joy and rapture they look -forward to their release. We, that is, my brother and I, were taken home -to the great feasts; and it was on a trip of this sort, that the -following incident happened, which in relation to me was very critical. -My mother came once before Whitsuntide to the town where we were at -school, in order to purchase sundry articles required for the house. She -then took us home with her. The release from school, and the sight of -the beauty of nature which at this season displays its best attire, -threw us into such ecstasy, that we fell upon all sorts of wanton -fancies. When we were not far from home, my brother sprang out of the -carriage, and ran forward on foot. I was going to imitate his daring -leap, but unfortunately had not sufficient strength. I fell down -therefore with violence on the carriage, so that my legs came between -the wheels, and one of these passed over my left leg, which was thereby -pitiably crushed. I was carried home half-dead. My foot became cramped, -and I was wholly unable to move it.</p> - -<p>A Jewish doctor was consulted, who had not indeed regularly studied and -graduated at a university, but had acquired his medical knowledge merely -by serving with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> a physician and reading some medical books in the -Polish language, who was nevertheless a very good practical physician, -and effected many successful cures. He said that at present he was -provided with no medicines,—the nearest apothecary's shop was about -twenty miles<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> distant,—and consequently he could prescribe nothing -in the ordinary method, but that meanwhile a simple domestic remedy -might be applied. The remedy was, to kill a dog and thrust into it the -cramped foot; this, repeated several times, was to give certain relief. -The prescription was followed with the desired result, so that after -some weeks I was able to use the foot again, and by degrees I completely -recovered.</p> - -<p>I think it would not be at all amiss, if medical men gave more attention -to such domestic remedies, which are used with good results in districts -where there are no regular physicians or apothecaries' shops; they might -even make special journeys with this end in view. I know many a case of -this sort, which can be in nowise explained away. This however in -passing. I return to my story.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></h2> - -<h3>My Family is driven into Misery, and an old Servant loses by his great -Faithfulness a Christian Burial.</h3> - - -<p>My father, who, as already mentioned, traded with Königsberg in Prussia, -had once shipped in a vessel of Prince Radzivil's some barrels of salt -and herrings which he had bought there. When he came home and was going -to fetch his goods, the agent, Schachna, absolutely refused to let him -take them. My father then showed the bill of lading, which he had got on -the shipment of the goods; but the agent tore it out of his hands, and -threw it into the fire. My father found himself therefore compelled to -carry on a long and costly suit, which he had to delay till the -following year, when he would again make a journey to Königsberg. Here -he obtained a certificate from the custom-house, showing that he had -shipped the said goods in a vessel of Prince Radzivil's under the -direction of Herr Schachna. On this certificate the agent was summoned -before the court, but found it convenient not to make an appearance; and -my father gained the suit in the first, second, and third instances. In -spite of this, however, as a consequence of the wretched administration -of justice in Poland at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> the time, my father had no power to execute -this decision, and therefore from this successful suit he did not even -recover the costs.</p> - -<p>To this was added the further result, that by this suit he made Herr -Schachna an enemy who persecuted him now in every possible way. This the -cunning scoundrel could accomplish very well, as by all sorts of -intrigues he had been appointed by Prince Radzivil steward of all his -estates situated in the district of Mir. He resolved therefore on my -father's ruin, and only waited for a convenient opportunity to carry out -his revenge.</p> - -<p>This he found soon; and indeed a Jew, who was named after his farm -Schwersen, and was known as the biggest scoundrel in the whole -neighbourhood, offered him a hand. This fellow was an ignoramus, did not -even understand the Jewish language, and made use therefore of Russian. -He occupied himself mainly in examining the farms in the neighbourhood, -and he knew how to get possession of the most lucrative among them by -offering a higher rent and bribing the steward. Without troubling -himself in the least about the laws of the <i>Chazakah</i>,<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> he drove the -old legal farmers from their possessions, and enriched himself by this -means. He thus lived in wealth and fortune, and in this state reached an -advanced age.</p> - -<p>The scoundrel had already for a long time had his eye<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> on my -grandfather's farm, and waited merely for a favourable opportunity and a -plausible pretext to get possession of it himself. Unfortunately my -granduncle Jacob, who lived in another village belonging to my -grandfather's farm, had been obliged to become a debtor of the scoundrel -to the amount of about fifty rix-dollars. As he could not clear off the -debt at the time when it was due, his creditor came with some servants -of the manor, and threatened to seize the cauldron, in which my -granduncle's whole wealth consisted. In consternation he loaded a waggon -secretly with the cauldron, drove with all haste to my grandfather's, -and, without letting any of us know, hid it in the adjoining marsh -behind the house. His creditor, however, who followed on his heels, came -to my grandfather's, and made search all over, but could find the -cauldron nowhere. Irritated at this unsuccessful stroke, and breathing -vengeance against my grandfather who, he believed, had prevented his -success, he rode to the town, carried to the steward an imposing -present, and offered for my grandfather's farm double the rent, besides -an annual voluntary present to the steward.</p> - -<p>This gentleman, joyous over such an offer, and mindful of the disgrace -which my father, a Jew, had brought upon him, a Polish noble, by the -above-mentioned suit, made on the spot a contract with the scoundrel, by -which he not only gave over to him this farm with all the rights -pertaining to it even before the end of my grandfather's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> lease, but -also robbed my grandfather of all he had,—his barns full of grain, his -cattle, etc.,—and shared the plunder with the new farmer.</p> - -<p>My grandfather was therefore obliged with his whole family to quit his -dwelling-place in mid-winter, and, without knowing where he should -settle again, to wander about from place to place. Our departure from -this place was very affecting. The whole neighbourhood lamented our -fate. An old and faithful servant of eighty years, named Gabriel, who -had carried in his arms even my grandfather as a child, insisted on -going with us. Representations were made to him on the severity of the -season, our unfortunate situation, and the uncertainty in which we -ourselves were placed as to our future destiny. But it was of no avail. -He placed himself on the road before the gate, by which our waggons had -to pass, and lamented so long that we were obliged to take him up. He -did not however travel with us long: his advanced age, his grief over -our misery, and the severe season gave him soon the finishing stroke. He -died when we had gone scarcely two or three miles; and as no Catholic or -Russian community would allow him burial in their churchyard—he was a -Prussian and a Lutheran—he was buried at our expense in the open -field.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></h2> - -<h3>New Abode, new Misery—The Talmudist.</h3> - - -<p>We wandered about therefore in the country, like the Israelites in the -wilderness of Arabia, without knowing where or when we should find a -place of rest. At last we came to a village which belonged to two -landlords. The one part was already leased; but the landlord of the -other could not lease his, because he had still to build a house. Weary -of wandering in winter-time with a whole family, my grandfather resolved -to take a lease of this house, which was still to be built, along with -its appurtenances, and meanwhile, till the house was ready, to make -shift as well as he could. Accordingly we were obliged to take up our -quarters in a barn. The other farmer did all in his power to prevent our -settlement in the place; but it was of no avail. The building was -finished, we took possession, and began to keep house.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately however everything went backward here; nothing would -succeed. An addition came to our misfortunes in my mother's illness. -Being of a very lively temperament and disposed to a life of activity, -she found here the weariness of having nothing to do. This, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> her -anxiety about the means of subsistence, threw her into a state of -melancholy, which developed at last into insanity. In this condition she -remained for some months. Everything was tried for her benefit, but -without success. At last my father hit upon the idea of taking her to a -celebrated doctor at Novogrod, who made a specialty of curing mental -disorders.</p> - -<p>The method of cure employed by this specialist is unknown to me, because -I was at the time too young to wish or be able to institute inquiries on -the subject; but so much I can declare with certainty, that in the case -of my mother, as well as most of his patients afflicted with the same -malady, the treatment was followed with success. My mother returned home -fresh and healthy, and from that time she never had an attack of the -same sort.</p> - -<p>Immediately after this I was sent to school at Iwenez, about fifteen -miles from our abode, and here I began to study the Talmud. The study of -the Talmud is the chief object of a learned education among our people. -Riches, bodily advantages, and talents of every kind have indeed in -their eyes a certain worth, and are esteemed in proportion; but nothing -stands among them above the dignity of a good Talmudist. He has the -first claim upon all offices and positions of honour in the community. -If he enters an assembly,—he may be of any age or rank,—every one -rises before him most respectfully, and the most honourable place is -assigned to him. He is director of the conscience, lawgiver and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> judge -of the common man. He, who does not meet such a scholar with sufficient -respect, is, according to the judgment of the Talmudists, damned to all -eternity. The common man dare not enter upon the most trivial -undertaking, if, in the judgment of the scholar, it is not according to -law. Religious usages, allowed and forbidden meats, marriage and divorce -are determined not only by the rabbinical laws which have already -accumulated to an enormous mass, but also by special rabbinical -judgments which profess to deduce all special cases from the general -laws. A wealthy merchant, farmer or professional man, who has a -daughter, does everything in his power to get a good Talmudist for his -son-in-law. As far as other matters are concerned, the scholar may be as -deformed, diseased, and ignorant as possible, he will still have the -advantage over others. The future father-in-law of such a phoenix is -obliged, at the betrothal, to pay to the parents of the youth a sum -fixed by previous agreement; and besides the dowry for his daughter, he -is further obliged to provide her and her husband with food, clothing, -and lodging, for six or eight years after their marriage, during which -time the interest on the dowry is paid, so that the learned son-in-law -may continue his studies at his father-in-law's expense. After this -period he receives the dowry in hand, and then he is either promoted to -some learned office, or he spends his whole life in learned leisure. In -either case the wife undertakes the management of the household<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> and the -conduct of business; and she is content if only in return for all her -toils she becomes in some measure a partaker of her husband's fame and -future blessedness.</p> - -<p>The study of the Talmud is carried on just as irregularly as that of the -Bible. The language of the Talmud is composed of various Oriental -languages and dialects; there is even many a word in it from Greek and -Latin. There is no dictionary, in which you can turn up the expressions -and phrases met with in the Talmud; and, what is still worse, as the -Talmud is not pointed, you cannot even tell how such words, that are not -pure Hebrew, are to be read. The language of the Talmud, therefore, like -that of the Bible, is learned only through frequent translation; and -this constitutes the <i>first</i> stage in the study of the Talmud.</p> - -<p>When the pupil has been directed for some time in translation by the -teacher, he goes on to the independent reading or explanation of the -Talmud. The teacher gives him a limited portion of the Talmud, -containing within itself a connected argument, as a task in exposition, -which he must perform within a fixed time. The particular expressions -and forms of speech occurring in the passage must either be known by the -pupil from his former lessons, or the teacher, who here takes the place -of a dictionary, explains them to him. But the tenor and the entire -connection of the prescribed passage the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> pupil is required to bring out -himself; and this constitutes the second stage in the study of the -Talmud.</p> - -<p>Two commentaries, which are commonly printed along with the text, serve -as the chief guides at this point. The author of the one is Rabbi -Solomon Isaac,<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> a man gifted with grammatical and critical knowledge -of language, with extensive and thorough Talmudic insight, and with an -uncommon precision of style. The other is known by the title of -<i>Tosaphoth (Additions)</i>, and is the work of several rabbis. Its origin -is very remarkable. A number of the most famous rabbis agreed to study -the Talmud in company. For this purpose each selected a separate -portion, which he studied by himself till he believed that he had fully -comprehended it, and retained it in memory. Afterwards all the rabbis -met, and began to study the Talmud in company according to the order of -its parts. As soon as the first part had been read out, thoroughly -explained, and settled according to the Talmudic Logic, one of the -rabbis produced, from the part of the Talmud with which he was most -familiar, anything that appeared to contradict this passage. Another -then adduced, from the part which he had made thoroughly his own, a -passage which was able to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> remove this contradiction by means of some -distinction or some qualification unexpressed in the preceding passage. -Sometimes the removal of such a contradiction occasioned another, which -a third rabbi disclosed, and a fourth laboured to remove, till the first -passage was explained harmoniously by all, and made perfectly clear. It -may easily be imagined, what a high degree of subtlety is required to -reduce the Talmud to first principles, from which correct inferences may -be drawn after an uniform method; for the Talmud is a voluminous and -heterogeneous work, in which even the same subject often turns up in -different passages, where it is explained in different ways.</p> - -<p>Besides these two there are several other commentaries which treat the -subject further, and even make corrections on the two just mentioned. -Indeed, every rabbi, if he possesses sufficient acuteness, is to be -viewed as a living commentary on the Talmud. But the highest effort of -the mind is required to prepare a selection from the Talmud or a code of -the laws deducible from it. This implies not only acuteness, but also a -mind in the highest degree systematic. Herein our Maimonides undoubtedly -deserves the first rank, as may be seen from his code, <i>Jad Hachazekah</i>.</p> - -<p>The <i>final</i> stage in the study of the Talmud is that of disputation. It -consists in eternally disputing about the book, without end or aim. -Subtlety, loquacity, and impertinence here carry the day. This sort of -study was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> formerly very common in the Jewish high schools;<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> but in -our times along with the schools it has also fallen into decay. It is a -kind of Talmudic scepticism, and utterly incompatible with any -systematic study directed to some end.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></h2> - -<h3>Joy endureth but a little while.</h3> - - -<p>After this digression on the study of the Talmud I return to my story. -As already mentioned, I was sent to school at Iwenez. My father gave me -a letter to the chief rabbi of this place, who was a relation of ours, -requesting him to give me in charge to an able teacher, and to give some -attention to the progress of my studies. He gave me however in charge to -a common schoolmaster, and told me I was to visit him every Sabbath in -order that he might examine me himself. This injunction I punctually -followed; but the arrangement did not continue long; for at one of these -examinations I began to dispute about my lessons and suggest -difficulties, when, without replying to them, the chief rabbi asked me -if I had stated these difficulties to my teacher also.</p> - -<p>"Of course," I replied.</p> - -<p>"And what did he say?" asked the chief rabbi.</p> - -<p>"Nothing to the point," I replied, "except that he enjoined silence on -me, and said, 'A youngster must not be too inquisitive; he must see to -it merely that he understands his lesson, but must not overwhelm his -teacher with questions.'"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Ah!" said the chief rabbi, "your teacher is altogether too easy, we -must make a change. I will give you instruction myself. I will do it -merely out of friendship, and I hope that your father will have as -little to say against it as your former teacher. The fee which your -father pays for your education, will be given to your teacher without -deduction."</p> - -<p>In this way I got the chief rabbi for a teacher. He struck out a way of -his own with me. No weekly lessons repeated till they are impressed on -the memory, no tasks which the pupil is obliged to perform for himself, -and in which the course of his thoughts is very often arrested for the -sake of a single word or a figure of speech, which has little to do with -the main subject. His method distinguished itself from all this. He made -me explain something from the Talmud <i>ex tempore</i> in his presence, -conversed with me on the subject, explained to me so much as was -necessary to set my own mind in activity, and by means of questions and -answers turned my attention away from all side-issues to the main -subject, so that in a short time I passed through all the three -above-mentioned stages in the study of the Talmud.</p> - -<p>My father, to whom the chief rabbi gave an account of his plan with me -and of my progress, went beside himself with joy. He returned his -warmest thanks to this excellent man for putting himself to so much -trouble with me out of mere friendship, and that notwithstanding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> his -delicate state of health, for he was consumptive. But this joy did not -last long; before a half year was ended, the chief rabbi had to betake -himself to his fathers, and I was left like a sheep without a shepherd.</p> - -<p>This was announced to my father, who came and fetched me home. Not, -however, to H——, from which I had been sent to school, but to Mohilna, -about six miles from H——, whither my father had meanwhile removed. -This new change of abode had taken place in the following way.</p> - -<p>Mohilna is a small hamlet in the territory of Prince Radzivil four miles -from Nesvij, his residence. The situation of this place is excellent. -Having the river Niemen on one side, and on the other a large quantity -of the best timber for ships, it is adapted equally for trade and for -shipbuilding. Moreover the district in itself possesses great fertility -and amenity. These facts could not escape the attention of the Prince. -The farmer or <i>arendant</i> of the place, whose family for some generations -had been in possession of this lucrative farm, and had become rich by -means of the shipbuilding trade, and the numerous fine products of the -district, took all possible pains to prevent these great advantages from -being observed, in order that he might be able to enjoy them alone -without being disturbed. But it happened once that the prince was -travelling through the place, and was so taken with its beauty, that he -resolved to make a town of it. He sketched a plan for this, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> made an -announcement that the place was to be a <i>Slabode</i>; that is, every one -was to be at liberty to settle in the place, and drive any kind of -trade, and was even to be free from all taxes for the first six years. -For a long time, however, this plan was never carried out, owing to all -sorts of intrigues on the part of the arendant, who went so far as even -to bribe the advisers of the prince to turn his attention away from the -subject.</p> - -<p>My father, who saw clearly that the miserable farm of H—— could not -support him and his family, and had been obliged to remain there -hitherto only from want of a better abode, rejoiced very much at the -announcement, because he hoped that Mohilna would offer him a place of -refuge, especially as the arendant was a brother-in-law of my uncle. In -this connection he made a journey to the place with my grandfather, had -a conversation with the arendant, and opened to him his proposal to -settle in Mohilna with his consent. The arendant, who had feared that, -on the announcement of the prince's wish, people would stream in from -all sides, and press him out of his possession, was delighted that at -least the first who settled there was not a stranger, but related to his -family by marriage. He therefore not only gave his consent to the -proposal, but even promised my father all possible assistance. -Accordingly my father removed with his whole family to Mohilna, and had -a small house built for himself there; but till it was ready, the family -were obliged once more to take up their quarters in a barn.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> - -<p>The arendant, by whom at first we were received in a friendly manner, -had unfortunately meanwhile changed his mind, and found that his fear of -being pressed out of his possession by strangers was wholly without -ground, inasmuch as already a considerable time had passed since the -announcement of the prince's wish, and yet nobody had presented himself -besides my father. The prince, as a Polish chief and <i>Voivode</i> in -Lithuania, was constantly burdened too much with State affairs in -Warsaw, to be able to think on the carrying out of his plan himself; and -his subordinates could be induced by bribes to frustrate the whole plan. -These considerations showed the arendant that the new-comer could not -only be spared, but was even a burden, inasmuch as he had now to share -with another what he had before held in possession alone. He sought -therefore to restrict my father, and to disturb him in his settlement, -as much as possible. With this view he built for himself a splendid -house, and succeeded in obtaining a command from the prince, in -accordance with which none of the newcomers should enjoy the rights of a -burgher till he had built a similar house. My father saw himself -therefore compelled to waste his little fortune, which was indispensably -required for the new arrangements, wholly and solely on this useless -building.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></h2> - -<h3>The Pupil knows more than the Teacher—A theft <i>à la Rousseau</i>, which is -discovered—"The ungodly provideth, and the righteous putteth it on."</h3> - - -<p>My father's condition had thus externally an improved appearance, but so -much the more doubtful did it appear internally on that account. My -mother, notwithstanding her unwearied activity, was able to make only a -very sorry provision for the family. Accordingly my father was obliged -to seek, in addition to his other duties, a position as teacher, in -which he carried on my education; and I must confess that in this -connection I gave him, on the one hand, much joy, but, on the other -hand, not a little vexation. I was then indeed only about nine years -old; still, I could not only understand the Talmud and its commentaries -correctly, but I even took delight in disputing about it, and in this I -felt a childish pleasure in triumphing over my honest father, whom I -thereby threw into no small perplexity.</p> - -<p>The arendant and my father lived together like neighbours; that is, they -envied and hated each other. The former looked on my father as a -vagrant, who had forced himself upon him, and disturbed him in his -undivided<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> possession of the advantages of the place. My father took the -arendant for a wealthy blockhead, who, against the consent which he had -granted, which my father might have dispensed with altogether and had -sought merely from the love of peace, endeavoured in every way to -restrict him and to narrow his rights, notwithstanding the fact that he -received actual advantages from his settlement. For from this time -Mohilna had acquired a sort of independence, by means of which the -arendant was spared many expenses and depreciations. There was also a -small synagogue erected, and my father took the position of chief rabbi, -preacher, and director of the conscience, as he was the only scholar in -the place. He lost, indeed, no opportunity of representing all this to -the arendant, and making complaints of his conduct; but unfortunately -this was of little use.</p> - -<p>I must take this opportunity of mentioning the only theft which I ever -perpetrated in my life. I often went to the house of the arendant, and -played with his children. Once, when I entered a room and found no one -there, it being summer and the people of the house all busy out of -doors, I spied in an open closet a neat little medicine-box which -appeared to me uncommonly charming. When I opened it, I found, to my -very great sorrow, some money in it; for it belonged to one of the -children of the house. I could not resist the desire to carry off the -little box; but to take the money seemed to me in the highest degree -shameful. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> when I considered that the theft would be all the more -easily discovered if I put the money out, full of fear and shame I took -the box as it was and thrust it in my pocket. I went home with it, and -buried it very carefully. The night following I could not sleep, and was -disquieted in conscience, especially on account of the money. I -resolved, therefore, to take it back; but in regard to the little box, I -could not conquer myself: it was a work of art, the like of which I had -never seen before. The next day I emptied the box of its contents, slunk -with them into the room already mentioned, and waited for an opportunity -when nobody was there. I was already engaged in smuggling the money into -the closet; but I had so little skill in doing this without noise and -with the necessary despatch, that I was caught in the act, and forced to -a confession of the whole theft. I was obliged to dig up again the -valuable work of art,—it must have cost about a quarter of a -groschen,—to return it to its owner, little Moses, and to hear myself -called <i>thief</i> by the children of the house.</p> - -<p>Another incident, which happened to me and had a comical issue, was the -following. The Russians had been quartered for some time in Mohilna, and -as they obtained new mountings, they were allowed to sell the old. My -eldest brother Joseph and my cousin Beer applied to Russian -acquaintances of theirs, and received in a present some brass buttons, -which, being considered a fine decoration, they got sewed on to their -hose instead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> of the wooden buttons they had before. I also was -delighted with the decoration; but as I had not the skill to furnish -myself by my own diligence, I was compelled to make use of force. I -applied, therefore, to my father, and demanded that Joseph and Beer -should be required to share their buttons with me. My father, who, -indeed, was extremely fair, but still was fond of me above everything, -said that the buttons were, of course, the rightful property of their -owners, but that, as these had more than they required for their own -wants, it was but fair that they should give me some of those that they -did not require. To my commendation and their confusion he added the -passage of the Bible, "The ungodly provideth, and the righteous putteth -it on."<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> This decision had to be carried out in spite of the protest -of Joseph and Beer; and I had the pleasure of also shining in brass -buttons on my hose.</p> - -<p>Joseph and Beer however could not get over their loss. They complained -loudly of the impious wrong which had been done to them. My father, who -wished to get rid of the affair, told them therefore, that, as the -buttons had been already sewed on to Solomon's hose, they must not use -force, but that, if they could get them back again by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> stratagem, they -were at liberty to do so. Both were pleased with this decision. They -came to me, looked at my buttons, and both at once exclaimed in -astonishment, "Oh! what is that we see? Buttons sewed on to cloth hose -with linen instead of hemp thread! They must be taken off at once." -While they were speaking, they took off all the buttons, and went off -with joy over their successful stratagem. I ran after them, and demanded -that they should sew the buttons on again; but they laughed me to scorn. -My father said to me smiling at this, "Since you are so credulous, and -allow yourself to be deceived, I cannot help you any longer; I hope you -will be wiser in the future." With this the affair came to an end. I was -obliged to content myself with wooden buttons, and to have often -repeated to my mortification by Joseph and Beer, the biblical passage, -which my father had used to my advantage, "The ungodly provideth, and -the righteous putteth it on."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></h2> - -<h3>Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals—The Song of Solomon may be used -in Matchmaking—A new <i>Modus Lucrand</i>i—Smallpox.</h3> - - -<p>In my youth I was very lively, and had in my nature a good deal that was -agreeable. In my passions I was violent and impatient. Till about my -eleventh year, as I had the benefit of a very strict education, and was -kept from all intercourse with women, I never traced any special -inclination towards the fair sex. But an incident produced in me a great -change in this respect.</p> - -<p>A poor, but very pretty, girl about my own age was taken into our house -as a servant. She charmed me uncommonly. Desires began to stir in me, -which till this time I had never known. But in accordance with the -strict rabbinical morals, I was obliged to keep on my guard against -looking on the girl with attentive gaze, and still more against speaking -with her, so that I was able only now and then to throw at her a stolen -glance.</p> - -<p>It happened once however that the women of the house were going to -bathe, which by the usage of the country they are accustomed to do two -or three times a week. By chance my instinct drove me without -reflection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> towards the place where they bathed; and there I suddenly -perceived this beautiful girl, as she stepped out of the steam-bath and -plunged into the river flowing by. At this sight I fell into a sort of -rapture. After my feelings had calmed down again, being mindful of the -strict Talmudic laws, I wished to flee. But I could not; I remained -standing, as if rooted in the spot. As I dreaded however lest I might be -surprised here, I was obliged to return with a heavy heart. From that -time I became restless, was sometimes beside myself; and this state -continued till my marriage.</p> - -<p>Our neighbour, the arendant, had two sons and three daughters. The -eldest daughter, Deborah, was already married. The second, Pessel, was -about my age; the peasantry of the place professed to find even a -certain resemblance in our features, and therefore, in accordance with -all the laws of probability, conjectured that there would be a match -between us. We formed also a mutual affection. But by ill luck the -youngest daughter, Rachel, had to fall into a cellar and dislocated one -of her legs. She herself, indeed, completely recovered, but the leg -remained somewhat crooked. The arendant then started a hunt after me; he -was absolutely determined to have me for a son-in-law. My father was -quite agreeable, but he wished to have for his daughter-in-law the -straight-legged Pessel rather than Rachel of the crooked leg. The -arendant however declared that this was impracticable, inasmuch as he -had fixed on a rich husband for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> the elder, while the youngest was -destined for me; and as my father was unable to give me anything, he was -willing to provide for her richly out of his own fortune. Besides a -considerable sum which he agreed to give as a portion, he was willing in -addition to make me a joint-heir of his fortune, and to provide me with -all necessaries the whole of my life. Moreover he promised to pay my -father a fixed sum immediately after the betrothal, and not only to -leave him undisturbed in his rights, but also to try and promote his -domestic happiness in every possible way. The feuds between the two -families were to cease from this time, and a league of friendship was to -unite them for the future into one family.</p> - -<p>Had my father lent an ear to these representations, he would without -doubt have established the fortune of his house, and I should have lived -with a spouse, who, it is true, had a crooked leg, but (as I found out -some time afterwards when I was tutor in her family) was in other -respects an amiable woman. I should thus have been freed from all cares -in the midst of good fortune, and I should have been able to apply -myself without hindrance to my studies. But unhappily my father rejected -this proposal with scorn. He was absolutely determined to have Pessel -for his daughter-in-law; and since this, as already mentioned, was -impracticable, the feuds between the two families broke out afresh. But -as the arendant was rich, and my father was a poor man, the latter was -necessarily always the loser.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> - -<p>Some time afterwards another matrimonial proposal for me turned up. Mr. -L—— of Schmilowitz, a learned and at the same time a rich man, who had -an only daughter, was so enchanted with my fame, that he chose me for -his son-in-law without having seen me before. He began by entering into -correspondence with my father on the subject, and left it to him to -prescribe the conditions of the union. My father answered his letter in -lofty style, made up of Biblical verses and passages from the Talmud, in -which he expressed the conditions briefly by means of the following -verses from the Canticles, "The thousand gulden are for thee, O Solomon, -and the two hundred for those who keep his fruits."<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> Consent was -given to everything.</p> - -<p>My father accordingly made a journey to Schmilowitz, saw his future -daughter-in-law, and had the marriage-contract drawn in accordance with -the terms agreed upon. Two hundred gulden were paid to him on the spot. -With this, however, he was not content, but insisted that in his letter -he had been obliged to limit himself to two hundred gulden merely for -the sake of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> beautiful verse which he did not wish to spoil; but he -would not enter into the transaction at all unless he received for -himself twice two hundred gulden (fifty thalers in Polish money). They -had therefore to pay him two hundred gulden more, and to hand over to -him the so-called little presents for me, namely, a cap of black velvet -trimmed with gold lace, a Bible bound in green velvet with silver -clasps, etc. With these things he came home full of joy, gave me the -presents, and told me that I was to prepare myself for a disputation to -be held on my marriage day, which would be in two months' time.</p> - -<p>Already my mother had begun to bake the cakes she was expected to take -with her to the wedding, and to prepare all sorts of preserves; I began -also to think about the disputation I was to hold, when suddenly the -mournful news arrived that my bride had died of smallpox. My father -could easily reconcile himself to this loss, because he thought to -himself that he had made fifty thalers by his son in an honourable way, -and that now he could get fifty thalers for him again. I also, who had -never seen my bride, could not particularly mourn her loss; I thought to -myself, "The cap and the silver-clasped Bible are already mine, and a -bride will also not be awanting long, while my disputation can serve me -again." My mother alone was inconsolable about this loss. Cakes and -preserves are of a perishable nature and will not keep long. The labour -which my mother had expended was therefore rendered fruitless by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> this -fatal accident; and to this must be added, that she could find no place -to keep the delicious cakes from my secret attacks.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></h2> - -<h3>I become an object of contention, get two wives at once, and am -kidnapped at last.</h3> - - -<p>Meanwhile the domestic circumstances of my father became every day -worse. He saw himself, therefore, compelled to make a journey to the -town of Nesvij, and apply for a position as teacher there, whither I -also had to follow him. Here he opened under favourable conditions a -school of his own, in which he could employ me as assistant.</p> - -<p>A widow, celebrated for her superior talents, as well as for her -Xanthippe-like character, kept a public-house at the extremity of one of -the suburbs. She had a daughter who yielded to her in none of the -above-mentioned qualities, and who was indispensable to her in the -management of the house. Madam Rissia, (this was the widow's name), -excited by my constantly increasing reputation, fixed on me as a husband -for her daughter Sarah. Her family represented to her the impossibility -of carrying out this plan; first, my father's pride, and the demands -which he would therefore make, and which she could never satisfy; then -my fame, which had already excited the attention of the most prominent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> -and wealthy people of the town; and finally, the moderate character of -her own fortune, which was far from sufficient to carry out such a -proposal. All these representations, however, were of no avail with her. -She had once for all taken it into her head, to have me for a -son-in-law, let it cost her what it might; and she thought, the devil -would needs be in it, if she could not get the young man.</p> - -<p>She sent a proposal to my father, let him have no rest the whole time he -was in the town, discussed the matter with him herself on various -occasions, and promised to satisfy all his demands. My father, however, -sought to gain time for deliberation, and to put off the question for a -while. But the time came when we were to return home. My father went -with me to the widow's house, which was the last on our road, in order -to wait for a conveyance which started from that place. Madam Rissia -made use of the opportunity, began to caress me, introduced my bride, -and asked me how I was pleased with her. At last she pressed for a -decisive answer from my father. He was still always holding back, -however, and sought in every possible way to represent the difficulties -connected with the subject.</p> - -<p>While they were thus treating with one another, suddenly there burst -into the room the chief rabbi, the preacher, and the elders of the -place, with many of the most respectable people. This sudden appearance -was brought about without any magic in the following way.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> These -gentlemen had been invited to a circumcision at the house of a prominent -man in this very suburb. Madam Rissia, who knew this very well, sent her -son at once to the house with an invitation to the whole company to -come, immediately after rising from table, to a betrothal at her house. -They came therefore half intoxicated; and as they believed nothing else -than that all the preliminaries of the marriage-contract had been -settled, and that nothing was awanting but to write out and subscribe -the contract, they sat down to table, set my father in the midst, and -the chief rabbi began to dictate the contract to the scribe of the -community.</p> - -<p>My father assured them that on the main point nothing had yet been -decided, and that still less had the preliminary articles been settled. -The chief rabbi fell into a passion at this, for he supposed that it was -only a quibble, and that his sacred person and the whole honourable -company were being made sport of. He turned therefore to the company, -and said with a haughty air, "Who is this Rabbi Joshua, who makes -himself of so much consequence?" My father replied, "The Rabbi is here -superfluous. I am, 'tis true, a common man; but I believe, no man can -dispute my right to care for the welfare of my son, and to place his -future happiness on a firm footing."</p> - -<p>The chief rabbi was greatly offended with the ambiguity of the -expression, "The Rabbi is here superfluous." He saw clearly that he had -no right to lay down laws to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> my father in the matter, and that it was a -piece of rashness on the part of Madam Rissia to invite a company to a -betrothal before the parties were agreed on the preliminary articles. He -began therefore to strike a lower tone. He represented to my father the -advantages of this match, the high ancestry of the bride, (her -grandfather, father, and uncle, having been learned men, and chief -rabbis), her personal attractions, and the willingness and ability of -Madam Rissia to satisfy all his demands.</p> - -<p>My father, who in fact had nothing to say against all this, was -compelled to yield. The marriage-contract was made out, and in it Madam -Rissia made over to her daughter her public-house with all its -belongings as a bridal portion, and came under an obligation also to -board and clothe the newly-married couple for six years. Besides I -received as a present the entire work of the Talmud with its -appurtenances, together worth two or three hundred thalers,<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> and a -number of other gifts. My father came under no obligation at all, and in -addition received fifty thalers in cash. Very wisely he had refused to -accept a bill for this sum; it had to be paid to him before the -betrothal.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> -<p>After all this had been arranged, there was a capital entertainment, and -the brandy bottle was vigorously plied. The very next day my father and -I went home. My mother-in-law promised to send after us as soon as -possible the so-called little presents and the articles of clothing for -me, which in the hurry she had not been able to get ready. Many weeks -however passed without our hearing or seeing anything of these. My -father was perplexed about this; and as the character of my -mother-in-law had long been suspicious to him, he could think nothing -else than that this intriguing woman was seeking some subterfuge to -escape from her burdensome contract. He resolved therefore to repay like -with like.</p> - -<p>The following circumstance strengthened him in this resolve. A rich -arendant, who used to bring spirits to Nesvij for sale, and to lodge in -our house on his journey through Mohilna, likewise cast his eye upon me. -He had an only daughter, for whom he fixed on me in his thoughts as a -husband. He knew however what difficulties he would have to overcome, if -he were to treat on the subject directly with my father. He chose -therefore an indirect way. His plan was to make my father his debtor; -and as his critical circumstances would make it impossible for him to -clear off the debt, he expected to force him, as it were, to consent to -this union with the view of wiping out the debt by means of the amount -stipulated for the son. He offered my father therefore<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> some barrels of -spirits on credit, and the offer was accepted with delight.</p> - -<p>As the date of payment approached, Hersch Dukor (this was the name of -the arendant) came and reminded my father. The latter assured him, that -at the moment he was not in a position to clear off the debt, and begged -him to have patience with him for some time yet. "Herr Joshua," said the -arendant, "I will speak with you quite frankly on this matter. Your -circumstances are growing daily worse; and if no fortunate accident -occurs, I do not see any possibility of your being able to clear off -your debt. The best thing for us both therefore is this. You have a son, -and I have a daughter who is the sole heiress of all my property. Let us -enter into an alliance. By this means not only will your debt be wiped -out, but a sum to be fixed by yourself will be paid in addition, and I -shall take a general care to improve your circumstances so far as lies -in my power."</p> - -<p>No one could be more joyous over this proposal than my father. -Immediately a contract was closed, in which the bride's dowry, as well -as the required presents, was decided in accordance with my father's -suggestion. The bill for the debt, which amounted to fifty thalers in -Polish money, was returned to my father, and torn on the spot, while -fifty thalers in addition were paid to him.</p> - -<p>Thereupon my new father-in-law went on to Nesvij to collect some debts -there. Unfortunately he had to lodge at my former mother-in-law's. She, -being a great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> prattler, told him of her own accord about the good match -which her daughter had made. "The father of the bridegroom," said she, -"is himself a great scholar, and the bridegroom is a young man of eleven -years, who has scarcely his equal."</p> - -<p>"I also," replied the arendant, "have, thank God, made a good choice for -my daughter. You have perhaps heard of the celebrated scholar, Rabbi -Joshua, in Mohilna, and of his young son, Solomon: he is my daughter's -bridegroom."</p> - -<p>Scarcely had these words been spoken, when she cried out, "That is a -confounded lie. Solomon is my daughter's bridegroom; and here, sir, is -the marriage-contract."</p> - -<p>The arendant then showed her his contract too; and they fell into a -dispute, the result of which was that Madam Rissia had my father -summoned before the court to give a categorical explanation. My father, -however, did not put in an appearance, although she had him summoned -twice.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile my mother died, and was brought to Nesvij for burial. My -mother-in-law obtained from the court an attachment on the dead body, by -which its interment was interdicted till the termination of the suit. My -father therefore saw himself compelled to appear in court, my -mother-in-law of course gained the suit, and I became again the -bridegroom of my former bride. And now to prevent any similar reversal -of her plans in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> future, and to take from my father all occasion for -it, my mother-in-law endeavoured to satisfy all his demands in -accordance with her promise, clothed me from top to toe, and even paid -my father for my board from the date of the betrothal to the marriage. -My mother also was now buried, and we returned home again.</p> - -<p>My second father-in-law came too, and called upon my father for the -ratification of his contract. He however pointed out that it was null -and void, as it contravened a previous contract, and had been made by -him merely in the supposition that my mother-in-law had no intention of -fulfilling hers. The arendant seemed to give an ear to these -representations, to yield to necessity, and reconcile himself to his -loss; but in reality he was thinking of some means to get me into his -hands. Accordingly he rose by night, yoked his horses, took me in -silence from the table on which I was sleeping, packed me with all -despatch into his carriage, and made off with his booty out at the gate. -But as this could not be accomplished without some noise, the people in -the house awoke, discovered the theft, pursued the kidnapper, and -snatched me out of his hand. To me the whole incident appeared at the -time like a dream.</p> - -<p>In this way my father was released from his debt, and got fifty thalers -besides as a gratuity; but I was immediately afterwards carried off by -my legal mother-in-law, and made the husband of my legal bride. I must -of course confess that this transaction of my father's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> cannot be quite -justified in a moral point of view. Only his great need at the time can -in some measure serve as an excuse.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></h2> - -<h3>My Marriage in my Eleventh Year makes me the Slave of my Wife, and -procures for me Cudgellings from my Mother-in-law—A Ghost of Flesh and -Blood.</h3> - - -<p>On the first evening of my marriage my father was not present. As he -told me at my departure that he had still to settle some articles on my -account, and therefore I was to wait for his arrival, I refused, in -spite of all the efforts that were made, to appear that evening. -Nevertheless the marriage festivities went on. We waited the next day -for my father, but still he did not come. They then threatened to bring -a party of soldiers to drag me to the marriage ceremony; but I gave them -for an answer, that, if this were done, it would help them little, for -the ceremony would not be lawful except as a voluntary act. At last, to -the joy of all interested, my father arrived towards evening, the -articles referred to were amended, and the marriage ceremony was -performed.</p> - -<p>Here I must mention a little anecdote. I had read in a Hebrew book of an -approved plan for a husband to secure lordship over his better half for -life. He was to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> tread on her foot at the marriage ceremony; and if both -hit on the stratagem, the first to succeed would retain the upper hand. -Accordingly, when my bride and I were placed side by side at the -ceremony this trick occurred to me, and I said to myself, Now you must -not let the opportunity pass of securing for your whole lifetime -lordship over your wife. I was just going to tread on her foot, but a -certain <i>Je ne sais quoi</i>, whether fear, shame, or love, held me back. -While I was in this irresolute state, all at once I felt the slipper of -my wife on my foot with such an impression that I should almost have -screamed aloud if I had not been checked by shame. I took this for a bad -omen and said to myself, Providence has destined you to be the slave of -your wife, you must not try to slip out of her fetters. From my -faint-heartedness and the heroic mettle of my wife, the reader may -easily conceive why this prophecy had to be actually realised.</p> - -<p>I stood, however, not only under the slipper of my wife, but—what was -very much worse—under the lash of my mother-in-law. Nothing of all that -she had promised was fulfilled. Her house, which she had settled on her -daughter as a dowry, was burdened with debt. Of the six years' board -which she had promised me I enjoyed scarcely half a year's, and this -amid constant brawls and squabbles. She even, trusting to my youth and -want of spirit, ventured now and then to lay hands on me, but this I -repaid not infrequently with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> compound interest. Scarcely a meal passed -during which we did not fling at each other's head, bowls, plates, -spoons, and similar articles.</p> - -<p>Once I came home from the academy extremely hungry. As my mother-in-law -and wife were occupied with the business of the public house, I went -myself into the room where the milk was kept; and as I found a dish of -curds and cream, I fell upon it, and began to eat. My mother-in-law came -as I was thus occupied, and screamed in rage, "You are not going to -devour the milk with the cream!" The more cream the better, thought I, -and went on eating, without disturbing myself by her cry. She was going -to wrest the dish forcibly from my hands, beat me with her fists, and -let me feel all her ill-will. Exasperated by such treatment, I pushed -her from me, seized the dish, and smashed it on her head. That was a -sight! The curds ran down all over her. She seized in rage a piece of -wood, and if I had not cleared out in all haste, she would certainly -have beat me to death.</p> - -<p>Scenes like this occurred very often. At such skirmishes of course my -wife had to remain neutral, and whichever party gained the upper hand, -it came home to her very closely. "Oh!" she often complained, "if only -the one or the other of you had a little more patience!"</p> - -<p>Tired of a ceaseless open war I once hit upon a stratagem, which had a -good effect for a short time at least. I rose about midnight, took a -large vessel of earthenware, crept with it under my mother-in-law's bed, -and began to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> speak aloud into the vessel after the following -fashion:—"O Rissia, Rissia, you ungodly woman, why do you treat my -beloved son so ill? If you do not mend your ways, your end is near, and -you will be damned to all eternity." Then I crept out again, and began -to pinch her cruelly; and after a while I slipped silently back to bed.</p> - -<p>The following morning she got up in consternation, and told my wife, -that my mother had appeared to her in a dream, and had threatened and -pinched her on my account. In confirmation she showed the blue marks on -her arm. When I came from the synagogue, I did not find my mother-in-law -at home, but found my wife in tears. I asked the reason, but she would -tell me nothing. My mother-in-law returned with dejected look, and eyes -red with weeping. She had gone, as I afterwards learned, to the Jewish -place of burial, thrown herself on my mother's grave, and begged for -forgiveness of her fault. She then had the burial place measured, and -ordered a wax-light as long as its circumference, for burning in the -synagogue. She also fasted the whole day, and towards me showed herself -extremely amiable.</p> - -<p>I knew of course what was the cause of all this, but acted as if I did -not observe it, and rejoiced in secret over the success of my stratagem. -In this manner I had peace for some time, but unfortunately it did not -last long. The whole was soon forgotten again, and on the slightest -occasion the dance went on as before. In short, I was soon afterwards -obliged to leave the house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> altogether, and accept a position as a -private tutor. Only on the great feast-days I used to come home.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></h2> - -<h3>The Secrets of the Marriage State—Prince Radzivil,<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> or what is not -all allowed in Poland?</h3> - - -<p>In my fourteenth year I had my eldest son, David. At my marriage I was -only eleven years old, and owing to the retired life common among people -of our nation in those regions, as well as the want of mutual -intercourse between the two sexes, I had no idea of the essential duties -of marriage, but looked on a pretty girl as on any other work of nature -or art, somewhat as on the pretty medicine-box that I stole. It was -therefore natural that for a considerable time after marriage I could -not have any thought about the fulfilment of its duties. I used to -approach my wife with trembling as a mysterious object. It was therefore -supposed that I had been bewitched at the time of the wedding; and under -this supposition I was brought to a witch to be cured. She took in hand -all sorts of operations, which of course had a good effect, although -indirectly through the help of the imagination.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> -<p>My life in Poland from my marriage to my emigration, which period -embraces the springtime of my existence, was a series of manifold -miseries with a want of all means for the promotion of culture, and, -necessarily connected with that, an aimless application of my powers, in -the description of which the pen drops from my hands, and the painful -memories of which I strive to stifle.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> - -<p>The general constitution of Poland at the time; the condition of our -people in it, who, like the poor ass with the double burden, are -oppressed by their own ignorance and the religious prejudices connected -therewith, as well as by the ignorance and prejudices of the ruling -classes; the misfortunes of my own family;—all these causes combined to -hinder me in the course of my development, and to check the effect of my -natural disposition.</p> - -<p>The Polish nation, under which I comprehend merely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> the Polish nobility, -is of a very mixed kind. Only the very few have an opportunity of -culture by means of upbringing, instruction, and well-directed travels, -by which they can best promote at once their own welfare and that of -their tenantry. Most of them, on the other hand, spend their lives in -ignorance and immorality, and become the sport of their extravagant -passions, which are ruinous to their tenants. They make a display with -titles and orders, which they disgrace by their actions; they own many -estates which they do not understand how to manage, and they are at -perpetual feud with one another, so that the kingdom must of necessity -become the prey of its neighbours, who are envious of its greatness.</p> - -<p>Prince Radzivil was, as Hettmann in Poland and Voivode in Lithuania, one -of the greatest magnates, and as occupant of three inheritances in his -family owned immense estates. He was not without a certain kindness of -heart and good sense; but, through neglected training and a want of -instruction, he became one of the most extravagant princes that ever -lived. From want of occupation, which was a necessary consequence of -neglect in cultivating his tastes and widening his knowledge, he gave -himself up to drinking, by which he was tempted to the most ridiculous -and insane actions. Without any particular inclination for it he -abandoned himself to the most shameful sensuality; and without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> being -cruel, he exercised towards his dependents the greatest cruelties.</p> - -<p>He supported at great cost an army of ten thousand men, which was used -for no purpose in the world except display; and during the troubles in -Poland he took, without knowing why, the part of the Confederates. By -this means he got himself encumbered with the friendship of the -Russians, who plundered his estates, and plunged his tenants into the -greatest destitution and misery. He himself was obliged several times to -flee from the country, and to leave as booty for his enemies treasures -which had been the gathering of many generations.</p> - -<p>Who can describe all the excesses he perpetrated? A few examples will, I -believe, be sufficient to give the reader some idea of them. A certain -respect for my former prince does not allow me to consider his faults as -anything but faults of temperament and education, which deserve rather -our pity than our hatred and contempt.</p> - -<p>When he passed through a street, which he commonly did with the whole -pomp of his court, his bands of music and soldiers, no man, at the peril -of his life, durst show himself in the street; and even in the houses -people were by no means safe. The poorest, dirtiest peasant-woman, who -came in his way, he would order up into his carriage beside himself.</p> - -<p>Once he sent for a respectable Jewish barber, who, suspecting nothing -but that he was wanted for some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> surgical operation, brought his -instruments with him, and appeared before the prince.</p> - -<p>"Have you brought your instruments with you?" he was asked.</p> - -<p>"Yes, Serene Highness," he replied.</p> - -<p>"Then," said the prince, "give me a lancet, and I will open one of your -veins."</p> - -<p>The poor barber had to submit. The prince seized the lancet; and as he -did not know how to go about the operation, and besides his hand -trembled as a result of his hard drinking, of course he wounded the -barber in a pitiable manner. But his courtiers smiled their applause, -and praised his great skill in surgery.</p> - -<p>He went one day into a church, and being so drunk that he did not know -where he was, he stood against the altar, and commenced to ——. All who -were present became horrified. Next morning when he was sober, the -clergy brought to his mind the misdeed he had committed the day before. -"Eh!" said the prince, "we will soon make that good." Thereupon he -issued a command to the Jews of the place, to provide at their own -expense, fifty stone of wax for burning in the church. The poor Jews -were therefore obliged to bring a sin-offering for the desecration of a -Christian Church by an orthodox Catholic Christian.</p> - -<p>He once took it into his head to drive on the wall round the town. But -as the wall was too narrow for a coach with six horses,—and he never -drove in any other,—his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> hussars were obliged, with much labour and -peril of their lives, to carry the coach with their hands till he had -driven round the town in this way.</p> - -<p>Once he drove with the whole pomp of his court to a Jewish synagogue, -and, without any one to this day knowing the reason, committed the -greatest havoc, smashed windows and stoves, broke all the vessels, threw -on the ground the copies of the Holy Scriptures kept in the ark, and so -forth. A learned, pious Jew, who was present, ventured to lift one of -these copies from the ground, and had the honour of being struck with a -musket-ball by His Serene Highness' own hand. From here the train went -to a second synagogue, where the same conduct was repeated, and from -there they proceeded to the Jewish burial-place, where the buildings -were demolished, and the monuments cast into the fire.</p> - -<p>Can it be conceived, that a prince could show himself so malicious -towards his own poor subjects, whom he was in a position to punish -legally whenever they really did anything amiss? Yet this is what -happened here.</p> - -<p>On one occasion he took it into his head to make a trip to Mohilna, a -hamlet belonging to him, which lay four short miles from his Residence. -This had to be done with his usual suite and all the pomp of his court. -On the morning of the appointed day the train went forth. First marched -the army in order according to its usual regimental -divisions,—infantry, artillery, cavalry, and so on. Then followed his -bodyguard, Strelitzi, consisting of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> volunteers from the poor nobility. -After them came his kitchen-waggons, in which Hungarian wine had not -been forgotten. These were followed by the music of his janissaries, and -other bands. Then came his coach, and last of all his satraps. I give -them this name, because I can compare this train with no other than that -of Darius in the war against Alexander. Towards evening His Serene -Highness arrived at our public house in the suburb of the town which was -His Serene Highness' Residence, Nesvij. I cannot say that he arrived in -his own high person, for the Hungarian wine had robbed him of all -consciousness, in which alone of course personality rests. He was -carried into the house and thrown with all his clothes, booted and -spurred, on to my mother-in-law's dirty bed, without giving it a supply -of clean linen.</p> - -<p>As usual, I had to take to flight. My Amazons, however, I mean my -mother-in-law and my wife, trusted to their heroic mettle, and remained -at home alone. Riot went on the whole night. In the very room where His -Serene Highness slept, wood was chopped, cooking and baking were done. -It was well known that, when His Serene Highness slept, nothing could -waken his high person except perhaps the trumpet of the Judgment-Day. -The next morning, when he wakened, and looked around, he scarcely knew -whether to trust his eyes, when he found himself in a wretched -public-house, thrown on to a dirty bed swarming with bugs. His valets, -pages, and negroes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> waited on his commands. He asked how he had come -there, and was answered, that His Serene Highness had yesterday -commenced a journey to Mohilna, but had halted here to take rest, that -his whole train had meanwhile gone on, and had undoubtedly arrived in -Mohilna by this time.</p> - -<p>The journey to Mohilna was for the present given up, and the whole train -ordered back. They returned accordingly to the Residence in the usual -order and pomp. But the prince was pleased to hold a great banquet in -our public-house. All the foreign gentlemen, who happened to be in the -place at the time, were invited. The service used on the occasion was of -gold, and it is impossible adequately to realise the contrast which -reigned here in one house, between Asiatic splendour and Lappish -poverty. In a miserable public-house, whose walls were black as coal -with smoke and soot, whose rafters were supported by undressed round -stems of trees, whose windows consisted of some fragments of broken -panes of bad glass, and small strips of pine covered with paper,—in -this house sat princes on dirty benches at a still dirtier table, and -had the choicest dishes and the finest wines served to them on gold -plate.</p> - -<p>Before the banquet the prince took a stroll with the other gentlemen in -front of the house, and by chance observed my wife. She was then in the -bloom of her youth; and although I am now separated from her, still I -must do her the justice to allow that—leaving, of course,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> out of -account all that taste and art contribute to the heightening of a -person's charms, inasmuch as these had had no influence on her—she was -a beauty of the first rank. It was therefore natural that she should -please the prince. He turned to his companions, and said, "Really a -pretty young woman! Only she ought to get a white chemise." This was a -common signal with him, and meant as much as the throwing of a -handkerchief by the Grand Sultan. When these gentlemen therefore heard -it, they became solicitous for the honour of my wife, and gave her a -hint to clear out as fast as possible. She took the hint, slipped -silently out, and was soon over the hills and far away.</p> - -<p>After the banquet His Serene Highness proceeded again with the other -gentlemen into town amid trumpets, kettle-drums, and the music of his -janissaries. Then the usual order of the day was followed; that is, a -carousal was carried on the whole afternoon and evening, and then the -party went to a pleasure-house at the entrance to the prince's -zoological garden, where fire-works were set off at great expense, but -usually with accidents. As every goblet was drained, cannons were fired; -but the poor cannoneers, who knew better how to handle the plough than -the cannon, were not seldom injured. "Vivat Kschondsie Radzivil," that -is, "Long live Prince Radzivil," shouted the guests. The palm in this -Bacchanalian sport was of course awarded to the prince; and those who -awarded it were loaded by him with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> presents, not in perishable coin or -golden snuff-boxes or anything of that sort, but in real estate with -many hundred peasants. At the close a concert was given, during which -His Serene Highness fell gently asleep, and was carried to the castle.</p> - -<p>The expenses of such extravagance were of course extorted from the poor -tenantry. If this was not sufficient, debts were contracted, and estates -sold to wipe them out. Not even the twelve golden statues in -life-size,—whether they represented the twelve apostles or the twelve -giants, I do not know,—nor the golden table which had been made for -himself, were spared on such emergencies. And thus the noble estates of -this great prince were diminished, his treasures which had accumulated -during many generations were exhausted, and his tenants——But I must -break off.</p> - -<p>The prince died not long ago without heirs of his body. His brother's -son inherited the estates.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a></h2> - -<h3>Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless Struggles with Misery of -every kind.</h3> - - -<p>By means of the instruction received from my father, but still more by -my own industry, I had got on so well, that in my eleventh year I was -able to pass as a full rabbi. Besides I possessed some disconnected -knowledge in history, astronomy, and other mathematical sciences. I -burned with desire to acquire more knowledge, but how was this to be -accomplished in the want of guidance, of scientific books, and of all -other means for the purpose? I was obliged therefore to content myself -with making use of any help that I could by chance obtain, without plan -or method.</p> - -<p>In order to gratify my desire of scientific knowledge, there were no -means available but that of learning foreign languages. But how was I to -begin? To learn Polish or Latin with a Catholic teacher was for me -impossible, on the one hand because the prejudices of my own people -prohibited to me all languages but Hebrew, and all sciences but the -Talmud and the vast array of its commentators, on the other hand because -the prejudices<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> of Catholics would not allow them to give instruction in -those matters to a Jew. Moreover I was in very low temporal -circumstances. I was obliged to support a whole family by teaching, by -correcting proofs of the Holy Scriptures, and by other work of a similar -kind. For a long time therefore I had to sigh in vain for the -satisfaction of my natural inclination.</p> - -<p>At last a fortunate accident came to my help. I observed in some stout -Hebrew volumes, that they contained several alphabets, and that the -number of their sheets was indicated not merely by Hebrew letters, but -that for this purpose the characters of a second and a third alphabet -had also been employed, these being commonly Latin and German letters. -Now, I had not the slightest idea of printing. I generally imagined that -books were printed like linen, and that each page was an impression from -a separate form. I presumed however that the characters, which stood in -similar places, must represent one and the same letter, and as I had -already heard something of the order of the alphabet in these languages, -I supposed that, for example, <i>a</i>, standing in the same place as -<i>aleph</i>, must likewise be an aleph in sound. In this way I gradually -learnt the Latin and German characters.</p> - -<p>By a kind of deciphering I began to combine various German letters into -words; but as the characters used along with the Hebrew letters might be -something quite different from these, I remained always doubtful -whether<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> the whole of my labour in this operation would not be in vain, -till fortunately some leaves of an old German book fell into my hand. I -began to read. How great were my joy and surprise, when I saw from the -connection, that the words completely corresponded with those which I -had learned. 'Tis true, in my Jewish language many of the words were -unintelligible; but from the connection I was still able, with the -omission of these words, to comprehend the whole pretty well.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> - -<p>This mode of learning by deciphering constitutes still my peculiar -method of comprehending and judging the thoughts of others; and I -maintain that no one can say he understands a book, as long as he finds -himself compelled to deliver the thoughts of the author in the order and -connection determined by him, and with the expressions which he has -used. This is a mere work of memory, and no man can flatter himself with -having comprehended an author till he is roused by his thoughts, which -he apprehends at first but dimly, to reflect on the subject<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> himself, -and to work it out for himself, though it may be under the impulse of -another. This distinction between different kinds of understanding must -be evident to any man of discernment.—For the same reason also I can -understand a book only when the thoughts which it contains harmonise -after filling up the gaps between them.</p> - -<p>I still always felt a want which I was not able to fill. I could not -completely satisfy my desire of scientific knowledge. Up to this time -the study of the Talmud was still my chief occupation. With this however -I found pleasure merely in view of its form, for this calls into action -the higher powers of the mind; but I took no interest in its matter. It -affords exercise in deducing the remotest consequences from their -principles, in discovering the most hidden contradictions, in hunting -out the finest distinctions, and so forth. But as the principles -themselves have merely an imaginary reality, they cannot by any means -satisfy a soul thirsting after knowledge.</p> - -<p>I looked around therefore for something, by which I could supply this -want. Now, I knew that there is a so-called science, which is somewhat -in vogue among the Jewish scholars of this district, namely the -Cabbalah, which professes to enable a man, not merely to satisfy his -desire of knowledge, but also to reach an uncommon perfection and -closeness of communion with God. Naturally therefore I burned with -desire for this science. As however it cannot, on account of its -sacredness, be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> publicly taught, but must be taught in secret, I did not -know where to seek the initiated or their writings.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a></h2> - -<h3>I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a Physician.</h3> - - -<p>Cabbalah,—to treat of this divine science somewhat more in -detail,—means, in the wider sense of the term, <i>tradition</i>; and it -comprehends, not only the occult sciences which may not be publicly -taught, but also the method of deducing new laws from the laws that are -given in the Holy Scriptures, as also some fundamental laws which are -said to have been delivered orally to Moses on Mount Sinai. In the -narrower sense of the term, however, Cabbalah means only the tradition -of occult sciences. This is divided into <i>theoretical</i> and <i>practical</i> -Cabbalah. The former comprehends the doctrines of God, of His attributes -which are expressed by means of His manifold names, of the origin of the -world through a gradual limitation of His infinite perfection, and of -the relation of all things to His supreme essence. The latter is the -doctrine which teaches how to work upon nature at pleasure by means of -those manifold names of God, which represent various modes of working -upon, and relations to, natural objects. These sacred names are -regarded, not as merely arbitrary, but as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> <i>natural</i> signs, so that all -that is done with these signs must have an influence on the object which -they represent.</p> - -<p>Originally the Cabbalah was nothing but psychology, physics, morals, -politics, and such sciences, represented by means of symbols and -hieroglyphs in fables and allegories, the occult meaning of which was -disclosed only to those who were competent to understand it. By and by, -however, perhaps as the result of many revolutions, this occult meaning -was lost, and the signs were taken for the things signified. But as it -was easy to perceive that these signs necessarily had meant something, -it was left to the imagination to invent an occult meaning which had -long been lost. The remotest analogies between signs and things were -seized, till at last the Cabbalah degenerated into an art of <i>madness -according to method</i>, or a systematic science resting on conceits. The -big promise of its design, to work effects on nature at pleasure, the -lofty strain and the pomp with which it announces itself, have naturally -an extraordinary influence on minds of the visionary type, that are -unenlightened by the sciences and especially by a thorough philosophy.</p> - -<p>The principal work for the study of the Cabbalah is the <i>Zohar</i>, which -is written in a very lofty style in the Syrian language. All other -Cabbalistic writings are to be regarded as merely commentaries on this, -or extracts from it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> - -<p>There are two main systems of the Cabbalah,—the system of Rabbi Moses -Kordovero, and that of Rabbi Isaac Luria.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> The former is more <i>real</i>, -that is, it approximates more closely to reason. The latter, on the -other hand, is more <i>formal</i>, that is, it is completer in the structure -of its system. The modern Cabbalists prefer the latter, because they -hold that only to be genuine Cabbalah, in which there is no rational -meaning. The principal work of Rabbi Moses Kordovero is the <i>Pardes</i> -(Paradise). Of Rabbi Isaac Luria himself we have some disconnected -writings; but his pupil, Rabbi Chajim Vitall, wrote a large work under -the title, <i>Ez Chajim</i> (The Tree of Life), in which the whole system of -his master is contained. This work is held by the Jews to be so sacred, -that they do not allow it to be committed to print. Naturally, I had -more taste for the Cabbalah of Rabbi Moses than for that of Rabbi Isaac, -but durst not give utterance to my opinion on this point.</p> - -<p>After this digression on the Cabbalah in general, I return to my story. -I learned that the under-rabbi or preacher of the place was an adept in -the Cabbalah; and therefore, to attain my object, I made his -acquaintance. I took my seat beside him in the synagogue, and as I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> -observed once that after prayer he always read from a small book, and -then put it past carefully in its place, I became very curious to know -what sort of book this was. Accordingly, after the preacher had gone -home, I went and took the book from the place where he had put it; and -when I found that it was a Cabbalistic work, I went with it and hid -myself in a corner of the synagogue, till all the people had gone out -and the door was locked. I then crept from my hiding-place, and, without -a thought about eating or drinking the whole day long, read the -fascinating book till the doorkeeper came and opened the synagogue again -in the evening.</p> - -<p><i>Shaarei Kedushah</i>, or <i>The Gates of Righteousness</i>, was the title of -this book; and, leaving out of account what was visionary and -exaggerated, it contained the principal doctrines of psychology. I did -with it therefore as the Talmudists say Rabbi Meïr acted, who had a -heretic for his teacher, "He found a pomegranate; he ate the fruit and -threw the peel away."<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> -<p>In two or three days I had in this way finished the book; but instead of -satisfying my curiosity, it only excited it the more. I wished to read -more books of the same sort. But as I was too bashful to confess this to -the preacher, I resolved to write him a letter, in which I expressed my -irresistible longing for this sacred science, and therefore entreated -him earnestly to assist me with books. I received from him a very -favourable answer. He praised my zeal for the sacred science, and -assured me that this zeal, amid so little encouragement, was an obvious -sign that my soul was derived from <i>Olam Aziloth</i> (the world of the -immediate divine influence), while the souls of mere Talmudists take -their origin from <i>Olam Jezirah</i> (the world of the creation). He -promised, therefore, to assist me with books as far as lay in his power. -But as he himself was occupied mainly with this science, and required to -have such books constantly at hand, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> could not lend them to me, but -gave me permission to study them in his house at my pleasure.</p> - -<p>Who was gladder than I! I accepted the offer of the preacher with -gratitude, scarcely ever left his house, and sat day and night over the -Cabbalistic books. Two representations especially gave me the greatest -trouble. One was the <i>Tree</i>, or the representation of the divine -emanations in their manifold and intricate complexities. The other was -God's <i>Beard</i>, in which the hairs are divided into numerous classes with -something peculiar to each, and every hair is a separate channel of -divine grace. With all my efforts I could not find in these -representations any rational meaning.</p> - -<p>My prolonged visits however were extremely inconvenient to the preacher. -He had, a short time before, married a pretty young wife; and as his -modest little house consisted of a single apartment, which was at once -parlour, study, and bedroom, and as I sat in it at times reading the -whole night, it happened not infrequently that my elevation above the -sphere of sense came into collision with his sensibility. Consequently, -he hit upon a good plan for getting rid of the incipient Cabbalist. He -said to me one day, "I observe that it necessarily puts you to a great -deal of inconvenience to spend your time constantly away from home for -the sake of these books. You may take them home with you one by one if -you please, and thus study them at your convenience."</p> - -<p>To me nothing could be more welcome. I took home<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> one book after -another, and studied them till I believed that I had mastered the whole -of the Cabbalah. I contented myself not merely with the knowledge of its -principles and manifold systems, but sought also to make a proper use of -these. There was not a passage to be met with in the Holy Scriptures or -in the Talmud, the occult meaning of which I could not have unfolded, -according to Cabbalistic principles, with the greatest readiness.</p> - -<p>The book entitled <i>Shaarei Orah</i><a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> came to be of very good service -here. In this book are enumerated the manifold names of the ten -<i>Sephiroth</i>, which form the principal subject of the Talmud, so that a -hundred or more names are given to each. In every word of a verse in the -Bible, or of a passage in the Talmud, I found therefore the name of some -Sephirah. But as I knew the attribute of every Sephirah, and its -relation to the rest, I could easily bring out of the combination of -names their conjoint effect.</p> - -<p>To illustrate this by a brief example, I found in the book just -mentioned, that the name <i>Jehovah</i> represents the six highest Sephiroth -(not including the first three), or the person of the Godhead <i>generis -masculini</i>, while the word <i>Koh</i> means the <i>Shechinah</i> or the person of -the Godhead <i>generis feminini</i>, and the word <i>amar</i> denotes sexual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> -union. The words, "Koh amar Jehova,"<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> therefore, I explained in the -following way, "Jehovah unites with the Shechinah," and this is high -Cabbalism. Accordingly, when I read this passage in the Bible, I thought -nothing else, but that, when I uttered these words, and thought their -occult meaning, an actual union of these divine spouses took place, from -which the whole world had to expect a blessing. Who can restrain the -excesses of imagination, when it is not guided by reason?</p> - -<p>With the <i>Cabbalah Maasith</i>, or the <i>practical Cabbalah</i>, I did not -succeed so well as with the theoretical. The preacher boasted, not -publicly indeed, but to everybody in private, that he was master of this -also. Especially he professed <i>roeh veeno nireh</i> (to see everything, but -not to be seen by others), that is, to be able to make himself -invisible.</p> - -<p>About this trick I was specially anxious, in order that I might practise -some wanton jokes on my comrades. More particularly I formed a plan for -keeping my ill-tempered mother-in-law in check by this means. I -pretended that my object was merely to do good, and guard against evil. -The preacher consented, but said at the same time, that on my part -certain preparations were required. Three days in succession I was to -feast, and every day to say some <i>Ichudim</i>. These are Cabbalistic forms -of prayer, whose occult meaning aims at producing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> in the intellectual -world sexual unions, through means of which certain results are to be -brought about in the physical.</p> - -<p>I did everything with pleasure, made the conjuration which he had taught -me, and believed with all confidence that I was now invisible. At once I -hurried to the <i>Beth Hamidrash</i>, the Jewish academy, went up to one of -my comrades, and gave him a vigorous box on the ear. He however was no -coward, and returned the blow with interest. I started back in -astonishment; I could not understand how he had been able to discover -me, as I had observed with the utmost accuracy the instructions of the -preacher. Still I thought I might, perhaps, unwittingly and -unintentionally have neglected something. I resolved, therefore, to -undertake the operation anew. This time, however, I was not going to -venture on the test of a box on the ear; I went into the academy merely -to watch my comrades as a spectator. As soon as I entered, however, one -of them came up to me, and showed me a difficult passage in the Talmud, -which he wished me to explain. I stood utterly confounded, and -disconsolate over the failure of my hopes.</p> - -<p>Thereupon I went to the preacher, and informed him of my unsuccessful -attempt. Without blushing, he replied quite boldly, "If you have -observed all my instructions, I cannot explain this otherwise than by -supposing that you are unfit for being thus divested of the visibility -of your body." With great grief, therefore, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> was obliged to give up -entirely the hope of making myself invisible.</p> - -<p>This disappointed hope was followed by a new delusion. In the preface to -the <i>Book of Raphael</i>, which the angel of that name is said to have -delivered to our first father Adam at his banishment from paradise, I -found the promise, that whoever keeps the book in his house is thereby -insured against fire. It was not long, however, before a conflagration -broke out in the neighbourhood, when the fire seized my house too, and -the angel Raphael himself had to go up into heaven in this chariot of -fire.</p> - -<p>Unsatisfied with the literary knowledge of this science, I sought to -penetrate into its spirit; and as I perceived that the whole science, if -it is to deserve this name, can contain nothing but the secrets of -nature concealed in fables and allegories, I laboured to find out these -secrets, and thereby to raise my merely literary knowledge to a rational -knowledge. This, however, I could accomplish only in a very imperfect -manner at the time, because I had yet very few ideas of the sciences in -general. Still, by independent reflection I hit upon many applications -of this kind. Thus, for example, I explained at once the first instance -with which the Cabbalists commonly begin their science.</p> - -<p>It is this. Before the world was created, the divine being occupied the -whole of infinite space alone. But God wished to create a world, in -order that He might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> reveal those attributes of His nature which refer -to other beings besides Himself. For this purpose He contracted Himself -into the centre of His perfection, and issued into the space thereby -left void ten concentric circles of light, out of which arose afterwards -manifold figures (<i>Parzophim</i>) and gradations down to the present world -of sense.</p> - -<p>I could not in any way conceive that all this was to be taken in the -common sense of the words, as nearly all Cabbalists represent it. As -little could I conceive that, before the world had been created, a time -had past, as I knew from my <i>Moreh Nebhochim</i>, that time is a -modification of the world, and consequently cannot be thought without -it. Moreover, I could not conceive that God occupies a space, even -though it be infinite; or that He, an infinitely perfect being, should -contract Himself, like a thing of circular form, into a centre.</p> - -<p>Accordingly I sought to explain all this in the following way. God is -prior to the world, not in time, but in His necessary being as the -condition of the world. All things besides God must depend on Him as -their cause, in regard to their essence as well as their existence. The -creation of the world, therefore, could not be thought as a bringing -forth <i>out of nothing</i>, nor as a formation of something independent on -God, but only as a bringing forth <i>out of Himself</i>. And as beings are of -different grades of perfection, we must assume for their explanation -different grades of limitation of the divine being. But since this -limitation must be thought as extending<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> from the infinite being down to -matter, we represent the beginning of the limitation in a figure as a -centre (the lowest point) of the Infinite.</p> - -<p>In fact, the Cabbalah is nothing but an expanded Spinozism, in which not -only is the origin of the world explained by the limitation of the -divine being, but also the origin of every kind of being, and its -relation to the rest, are derived from a separate attribute of God. God, -as the ultimate subject and the ultimate cause of all beings, is called -Ensoph (the Infinite, of which, considered in itself, nothing can be -predicated). But in relation to the infinite number of beings, positive -attributes are ascribed to Him; these are reduced by the Cabbalists to -ten, which are called the ten Sephiroth.</p> - -<p>In the book, <i>Pardes</i>, by Rabbi Moses Kordovero, the question is -discussed, whether the Sephiroth are to be taken for the Deity Himself -or not. It is easy to be seen, however, that this question has no more -difficulty in reference to the Deity, than in reference to any other -being.</p> - -<p>Under the ten circles I conceived the ten categories or predicaments of -Aristotle, with which I had become acquainted in the <i>Moreh -Nebhochim</i>,—the most universal predicates of things, without which -nothing can be thought. The categories, in the strictest critical sense, -are the logical forms, which relate not merely to a <i>logical</i> object, -but to <i>real</i> objects in general, and without which these cannot be -thought. They have their source, therefore,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> in the subject itself, but -they become an object of consciousness only by reference to a real -object. Consequently, they represent the ten Sephiroth, which belong, -indeed, to the Ensoph in itself, but of which the reality is revealed -only by their special relation to, and effect upon, objects in nature, -and the number of which can be variously determined in various points of -view.</p> - -<p>But by this method of explanation I brought upon myself many an -annoyance. For the Cabbalists maintain that the Cabbalah is not a human, -but a divine, science; and that, consequently, it would be degradation -of it, to explain its mysteries in accordance with nature and reason. -The more reasonable, therefore, my explanations proved, the more were -the Cabbalists irritated with me, inasmuch as they held that alone to be -divine, which had no reasonable meaning. Accordingly I had to keep my -explanations to myself. An entire work, that I wrote on the subject, I -brought with me to Berlin, and preserve still as a monument of the -struggle of the human mind after perfection, in spite of all the -hindrances which are placed in its way.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile this could not satisfy me. I wished to get an insight into the -sciences, not as they are veiled in fables, but in their natural light. -I had already, though very imperfectly, learned to read German; but -where was I to obtain German books in Lithuania? Fortunately for me I -learned that the chief rabbi of a neighbouring town, who in his youth -had lived for a while in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> Germany, and learned the German language -there, and made himself in some measure acquainted with the sciences, -continued still, though in secret, to work at the sciences, and had a -fair library of German books.</p> - -<p>I resolved therefore to make a pilgrimage to S——, in order to see the -chief rabbi, and beg of him a few scientific books. I was tolerably -accustomed to such journeys, and had gone once thirty miles<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> on foot -to see a Hebrew work of the tenth century on the Peripatetic philosophy. -Without therefore troubling myself in the least about travelling -expenses or means of conveyance, and without saying a word to my family -on the subject, I set out upon the journey to this town in the middle of -winter. As soon as I arrived at the place, I went to the chief rabbi, -told him my desire, and begged him earnestly for assistance. He was not -a little astonished; for, during the thirty one years which had passed -since his return from Germany, not a single individual had ever made -such a request. He promised to lend me some old German books. The most -important among these were an old work on Optics, and Sturm's <i>Physics</i>.</p> - -<p>I could not sufficiently express my gratitude to this excellent chief -rabbi; I pocketed the few books, and returned home in rapture. After I -had studied these books thoroughly, my eyes were all at once opened. I -believed that I had found a key to all the secrets of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> nature, as I now -knew the origin of storms, of dew, of rain, and such phenomena. I looked -down with pride on all others, who did not yet know these things, -laughed at their prejudices and superstitions, and proposed to clear up -their ideas on these subjects and to enlighten their understanding.</p> - -<p>But this did not always succeed. I laboured once to teach a Talmudist, -that the earth is round, and that we have antipodes. He however made the -objection, that these antipodes would necessarily fall off. I -endeavoured to show that the falling of a body is not directed towards -any fixed point in empty space, but towards the centre of the earth, and -that the ideas of Over and Under represent merely the removal from and -approach to this centre. It was of no avail; the Talmudist stood to his -ground, that such an assertion was absurd.</p> - -<p>On another occasion I went to take a walk with some of my friends. It -chanced that a goat lay in the way. I gave the goat some blows with my -stick, and my friends blamed me for my cruelty. "What is the cruelty?" I -replied. "Do you believe that the goat feels a pain, when I beat it? You -are greatly mistaken; the goat is a mere machine." This was the doctrine -of Sturm as a disciple of Descartes.</p> - -<p>My friends laughed heartily at this, and said, "But don't you hear that -the goat cries, when you beat it?" "Yes," I replied, "of course it -cries; but if you beat a drum, it cries too." They were amazed at my -answer,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> and in a short time it went abroad over the whole town, that I -had become mad, as I held that <i>a goat is a drum</i>.</p> - -<p>From my generous friend, the chief rabbi, I received afterwards two -medical works, Kulm's <i>Anatomical Tables</i> and Voit's <i>Gaziopilatium</i>. -The latter is a large medical dictionary, containing, in a brief form, -not only explanations from all departments of medicine, but also their -manifold applications. In connection with every disease is given an -explanation of its cause, its symptoms, and the method of its cure, -along with even the ordinary prescriptions. This was for me a real -treasure. I studied the book thoroughly, and believed myself to be -master of the science of medicine, and a complete physician.</p> - -<p>But I was not going to content myself with mere theory in this matter; I -resolved to make regular application of it. I visited patients, -determined all diseases according to their circumstances and symptoms, -explained their causes, and gave also prescriptions for their cure. But -in this practice things turned out very comically. If a patient told me -some of the symptoms of his disease, I guessed from them the nature of -the disease itself, and inferred the presence of the other symptoms. If -the patient said that he could trace none of these, I stubbornly -insisted on their being present all the same. The conversation therefore -sometimes came to this:—</p> - -<p><i>I.</i> "You have headache also."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> - -<p><i>Patient.</i> "No."</p> - -<p><i>I.</i> "But you <i>must</i> have headache."</p> - -<p>As many symptoms are common to several diseases, I took not infrequently -<i>quid pro quo</i>. Prescriptions I could never keep in my head, so that, -when I prescribed anything, I was obliged to go home first and turn up -my <i>Gaziopilatium</i>. At length I began even to make up drugs myself -according to Voit's prescriptions. How this succeeded, may be imagined. -It had at least this good result, that I saw something more was surely -required for a practical physician than I understood at the time.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a></h2> - -<h3>A brief Exposition of the Jewish Religion, from its Origin down to the -most recent Times.</h3> - - -<p>To render intelligible that part of the story of my life, which refers -to my sentiments regarding religion, I must first give in advance a -short practical <i>history of the Jewish religion</i>, and at the outset say -something of the idea of <i>religion in general</i>, as well as of the -difference between <i>natural</i> and <i>positive</i> religion.</p> - -<p><i>Religion in general</i> is the expression of gratitude, reverence and the -other feelings, which arise from the dependence of our weal and woe on -one or more powers to us unknown. If we look to the <i>expression of these -feelings in general</i>, without regard to the <i>particular mode of the -expression</i>, religion is certainly natural to man. He observes many -effects which are of interest to him, but whose causes are to him -unknown; and he finds himself compelled, by the universally recognised -<i>Principle of Sufficient Reason</i>, to suppose these causes, and to -express towards them the feelings mentioned.</p> - -<p>This expression may be of two kinds, in conformity either with the -<i>imagination</i> or with <i>reason</i>. For either<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> man imagines the causes to -be analogous to the effects, and ascribes to them in themselves such -attributes as are revealed through the effects, or he thinks them merely -as causes of certain effects, without seeking thereby to determine their -attributes in themselves. These two modes are both natural to man, the -former being in accordance with his earlier condition, the latter with -that of his perfection.</p> - -<p>The difference between these two modes of representation has as its -consequence another difference of religions. The first mode of -representation, in accordance with which the causes are supposed to be -<i>similar</i> to the effects, is the mother of <i>polytheism</i> or <i>heathenism</i>. -But the second is the basis of <i>true</i> religion. For as the kinds of -effects are different, the causes also, if held to be like them, must be -represented as different from one another. On the other hand, if, in -accordance with truth, we conceive the idea of <i>cause in general</i> for -these effects, without seeking to determine this cause, either <i>in -itself</i> (since it is wholly unknown), or <i>analogically</i> by help of the -imagination, then we have no ground for supposing several causes, but -require to assume merely a single subject, wholly unknown, as cause of -all these effects.</p> - -<p>The different philosophical systems of theology are nothing but -<i>detailed developments</i> of these different modes of representation. The -<i>atheistic</i> system of theology, if so it may be called, rejects -altogether this idea of a <i>first cause</i>, (as, according to the -<i>critical</i> system at least, it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> merely of <i>regulative use</i> as a -necessary <i>idea of reason</i>). All effects are referred to particular -known or unknown causes. In this there cannot be assumed even a -<i>connection</i> between the various effects, else the <i>reason</i> of this -connection would require to be sought beyond the connection itself.</p> - -<p>The <i>Spinozistic</i> system, on the contrary, supposes one and the same -substance as immediate cause of all various effects, which must be -regarded as predicates of one and the same subject. <i>Matter</i> and <i>mind</i> -are, with Spinoza, one and the same substance, which appears, now under -the former, now under the latter attribute. This single substance is, -according to him, not only the sole being that can be <i>self-dependent</i>, -that is, independent of any external cause, but also the sole -<i>self-subsistent</i> being, all so-called beings besides it being merely -its <i>modes</i>, that is, particular limitations of its attributes. Every -particular effect in nature is referred by him, not to its proximate -cause (which is merely a <i>mode</i>), but immediately to this first cause, -which is the common substance of all beings.</p> - -<p>In this system <i>unity is real</i>, but <i>multiplicity</i> is merely <i>ideal</i>. In -the atheistic system it is the opposite. <i>Multiplicity</i> is <i>real</i>, being -founded on the <i>nature of things themselves</i>. On the other hand, the -<i>unity</i>, which is observed in the order and regularity of nature, is -merely an <i>accident</i>, by which we are accustomed to determine our -<i>arbitrary</i> system <i>for the sake of knowledge</i>. It is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> inconceivable -therefore how any one can make out the Spinozistic system to be -atheistic, since the two systems are diametrically opposed to one -another. In the latter the existence of <i>God</i> is denied, but in the -former the existence of the <i>world</i>. Spinoza's ought therefore to be -called rather the <i>acosmic</i> system.</p> - -<p>The <i>Leibnitzian</i> system holds the mean between the two preceding. In it -all <i>particular effects</i> are referred immediately to <i>particular -causes</i>; but these various effects are thought as <i>connected</i> in a -single system, and the cause of this connection is sought in a being -beyond itself.</p> - -<p><i>Positive</i> religion is distinguished from <i>natural</i> in the very same way -as the positive laws of a state from natural laws. The latter are those -which rest on a self-acquired, indistinct knowledge, and are not duly -defined in regard to their application, while the former rest on a -distinct knowledge received from others, and are completely defined in -regard to their application.</p> - -<p>A <i>positive</i> religion however must be carefully distinguished from a -<i>political</i> religion. The former has for its end merely the correction -and accurate definition of knowledge, that is, <i>instruction</i> regarding -the first cause: and the knowledge is communicated to another, according -to the measure of his capacity, just as it has been received. But the -latter has for its end mainly the welfare of the state. Knowledge is -therefore communicated, not just as it has been received, but only in so -far<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> as it is found serviceable to this end. Politics, merely as -politics, requires to concern itself about <i>true religion</i> as little as -about <i>true morality</i>. The injury, that might arise from this, can be -prevented by other means which influence men at the same time, and thus -all can be kept in equilibrium. Every political religion is therefore at -the same time positive, but every positive religion is not also -political.</p> - -<p>Natural religion has no <i>mysteries</i> any more than merely positive -religion. For there is no mystery implied in one man being unable to -communicate his knowledge to another of defective capacity with the same -degree of completeness which he himself has attained; otherwise -mysteries might be attributed to all the sciences, and there would then -be <i>mysteries of mathematics</i> as well as <i>mysteries of religion</i>. Only -<i>political religion</i> can have mysteries, in order to lead men in an -indirect way to the attainment of the <i>political end</i>, inasmuch as they -are made to believe that thereby they can best attain their <i>private -ends</i>, though this is not always in reality the case. There are <i>lesser</i> -and <i>greater</i> mysteries in the political religions. The former consist -in the <i>material</i> knowledge of all particular operations and their -connection with one another. The latter, on the contrary, consist in the -knowledge of the <i>form</i>, that is, of the end by which the former are -determined. The former constitute the totality of the <i>laws of -religion</i>, but the latter contains the <i>spirit of the laws</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> - -<p>The <i>Jewish religion</i>, even at its earliest origin among the nomadic -patriarchs, is already distinguished from the <i>heathen</i> as <i>natural -religion</i>, inasmuch as, instead of the <i>many comprehensible</i> gods of -heathenism, the <i>unity of an incomprehensible</i> God lies at its -foundation. For as the particular causes of the effects, which in -general give rise to a religion, are in themselves unknown, and we do -not feel justified in transferring to the causes the attributes of the -particular effects, in order thereby to characterise them, there remains -nothing but the idea of cause in general, which must be related to all -effects without distinction. This cause cannot even be <i>analogically</i> -determined by the effects. For the effects are opposed to one another, -and neutralise each other even in the same object. If therefore we -ascribed them all to one and the same cause, the cause could not be -analogically determined by any.</p> - -<p>The <i>heathen</i> religion, on the other hand, refers every kind of effect -to a special cause, which can of course be characterised by its effect. -As a <i>positive</i> religion the Jewish is distinguished from the heathen by -the fact, that it is not a merely political religion, that is, a -religion which has for its end the social interest (in opposition to -true knowledge and private interest); but in accordance with the spirit -of its founder, it is adapted to the theocratic form of the national -Government, which rests on the principle, that only the true religion, -based on rational knowledge, can harmonise with the interest of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> the -state as well as of the individual. Considered in its <i>purity</i>, -therefore, it has no mysteries in the proper sense of the word; that is -to say, it has no doctrines which, in order to reach their end, men -<i>will</i> not disclose, but merely such as <i>can</i> not be disclosed to all.</p> - -<p>After the fall of the Jewish state the religion was separated from the -state which no longer existed. The religious authorities were no longer, -as they had been before, concerned about adapting the particular -institutions of religion to the state; but their care went merely to -<i>preserve</i> the religion, on which the existence of the <i>nation</i> now -depended. Moved by hatred towards those nations who had annihilated the -state, and from anxiety lest with the fall of the state the religion -also might fall, they hit upon the following means for the preservation -and extension of their religion.</p> - -<p>1. The fiction of a method, handed down from Moses, of expanding the -laws, and applying them to particular cases. This method is not that -which reason enjoins, of modifying laws according to their intention, in -adaptation to time and circumstances, but that which rests upon certain -rules concerning their literary expression.</p> - -<p>2. The legislative force ascribed to the new decisions and opinions -obtained by this method, giving to them an equal rank with the ancient -laws. The subtle dialectic, with which this has been carried on down to -our times, and the vast number of laws, customs and useless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> ceremonies -of all sorts, which it has occasioned, may be easily imagined.</p> - -<p>The history of the Jewish religion can, in consequence of this, be -appropriately divided into five great epochs. The first epoch embraces -the <i>natural religion</i>, from the times of the patriarchs down to Moses -at the exodus from Egypt. The second comprehends the <i>positive</i> or -<i>revealed</i> religion, from Moses to the time of the <i>Great Synagogue</i> -(<i>Keneseth Haggedolah</i>). This council must not be conceived as an -assembly of theologians at a definite time; the name applies to the -theologians of a whole epoch from the destruction of the first temple to -the composition of the Mishnah. Of these the first were the <i>minor -prophets</i> (Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi, etc., of whom 120 are counted -altogether), and the last was <i>Simon the Just</i>.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> These, as well as -their forerunners from the time of Joshua, took as their basis the -Mosaic laws, and added new laws according to time and circumstances, but -in conformity with the traditional method, every dispute on the subject -being decided by the <i>majority of voices</i>.</p> - -<p>The third epoch extends from the composition of the Mishnah by Jehudah -the Saint<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> to the composition of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> the Talmud by Rabina and -Rabassi.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> Down to this epoch it was forbidden to commit the laws to -writing, in order that they might not fall into the hands of those who -could make no use of them. But as Rabbi Jehudah Hanassi, or, as he is -otherwise called, Rabbenu Hakades observed, that, in consequence of -their great multiplicity, the laws may easily fall into oblivion, he -gave himself a licence to transgress a single one of the laws in order -to preserve the whole. The law transgressed was that against committing -the laws to writing; and in this licence he defended himself by a -passage in the Psalms, "There are times, when a man shows himself -well-pleasing to God by transgressing the laws."<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> He lived in the -time of Antoninus Pius, was rich, and possessed all the faculties for -such an undertaking. He therefore composed the Mishnah, in which he -delivers the Mosaic laws in accordance either with a traditional or with -a rational method of exposition. It contains also some laws which form -the subject of dispute.</p> - -<p>This work is divided into six parts. The first contains the laws -relating to agriculture and horticulture; the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> second, those which refer -to feasts and holidays. The third part comprehends the laws which define -the mutual relations of the two sexes (marriage, divorce, and such -subjects). The fourth part is devoted to the laws which deal with the -teachers of the law; the fifth, to those which treat of the -temple-service and sacrifices; and the sixth, to the laws of -purification.</p> - -<p>As the Mishnah is composed with the greatest precision, and cannot be -understood without a commentary, it was natural, that in course of time -doubts and disputes should arise, regarding the exposition of the -Mishnah itself, as well as the mode of its application to cases which it -does not sufficiently determine. All these doubts and their manifold -solutions, controversies and decisions, were finally collected in the -Talmud by the above-mentioned Rabina and Rabassi; and this forms the -fourth epoch of Jewish legislation.</p> - -<p>The fifth epoch begins with the conclusion of the Talmud, and extends -down to our time, and so on for ever (<i>si diis placet</i>) till the advent -of the Messiah. Since the conclusion of the Talmud the rabbis have been -by no means idle. 'Tis true, they dare not alter anything in the Mishnah -or the Talmud; but they still have plenty of work to do. Their business -is to explain those two works, so that they shall harmonise; and this is -no small matter, for one rabbi, with a superfine dialectic, is always -finding contradictions in the explanations of another. They must also -disentangle, from the labyrinth of various<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> opinions, expositions, -controversies and decisions, the laws which are applicable to every -case; and finally for new cases, by inferences from those already known, -they must bring out new laws, hitherto left indeterminate in spite of -all previous labours, and thus prepare a complete code of laws.</p> - -<p>It is thus that a religion, in its origin <i>natural</i> and <i>conformable to -reason</i>, has been abused. A Jew dare not eat or drink, lie with his wife -or attend to the wants of nature, without observing an enormous number -of laws. With the books on the <i>slaughter</i> of animals alone (the -condition of the knife and the examination of the entrails) a whole -library could be filled, which certainly would come near to the -Alexandrian in extent. And what shall I say of the enormous number of -books treating of those laws which are no longer in use, such as the -laws of sacrifice, of purification, etc.? The pen falls from my hand, -when I remember that I and others like me were obliged to spend in this -soul-killing business the best days of our lives when the powers are in -their full vigour, and to sit up many a night, to try and bring out some -sense where there was none, to exercise our wits in the discovery of -contradictions where none were to be found, to display acuteness in -removing them where they were obviously to be met, to hunt after a -shadow through a long series of arguments, and to build castles in the -air.</p> - -<p>The abuse of Rabbinism has, as will be seen, a twofold source.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> - -<p>1. The first is an <i>artificial method</i> of expounding the Holy -Scriptures, which distinguishes itself from the <i>natural</i> method by the -fact, that, while the latter rests on a thorough <i>knowledge of the -language</i> and the true <i>spirit of the legislator</i> in view of the -circumstances of the time, as these are known from history, the former -has been devised rather for the sake of the laws passed to meet existing -emergencies. The rabbis look upon the Holy Scriptures, not only as the -source of the fundamental laws of Moses, and of those which are -deducible from these by a rational method, but also as a vehicle of the -laws to be drawn up by themselves according to the wants of the time. -The artificial method here, like every other of the same kind, is merely -a means of bringing the new laws at least into an <i>external connection</i> -with the old, in order that they may thereby find a better introduction -among the people, be reduced to principles, divided into classes, and -therefore more easily impressed on the memory. No reasonable rabbi will -hold, that the laws, which are referred in this way to passages of the -Holy Scriptures, render the true sense of these passages; but if -questioned on this point, he will reply, "These laws are necessities of -the time, and are referred to those passages merely for this reason."</p> - -<p>2. The second source of the abuse of Rabbinism is to be found in the -manners and customs of other nations, in whose neighbourhood the Jews -have lived, or among whom they have been gradually scattered since the -fall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> of the Jewish state. These manners and customs they were obliged -to adopt in order to avoid becoming objects of abhorrence. Of this sort -are the laws, <i>not to uncover the head</i> (at least in holy places and at -holy ceremonies), <i>to wash the hands</i> (before meals and prayers), to -fast the whole day till sunset, to say a number of daily prayers, to -make pilgrimages, to walk round the altar, etc.,—all manifestly of -<i>Arabian</i> origin.</p> - -<p>From hatred also towards those nations that destroyed the Jewish state, -and afterwards made the Jews undergo manifold oppressions, they have -adopted various customs, and among others many religious usages which -are opposite to those of the <i>Greeks</i> and <i>Romans</i>.</p> - -<p>In all this the rabbis had the Mosaic laws themselves for a model, these -being sometimes in agreement, sometimes in hostility, with the Egyptian -laws which lie at their root, as has been shown in the most thorough -manner by the celebrated Maimonides in his work, <i>Moreh Nebhochim</i>.</p> - -<p>It is remarkable, that, with all rabbinical extravagancies in the -<i>practical</i> department, namely the laws and customs, the <i>theoretical</i> -department of the Jewish theology has still always preserved itself in -its purity. Eisenmenger may say what he will, it may be shown by -unanswerable arguments, that all the limited figurative representations -of God and His attributes have their source merely in an endeavour to -adapt the ideas of theology to the common understanding. The rabbis -followed in this the principle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> which they had established in reference -to the Holy Scriptures themselves, namely, that <i>the Holy Scriptures use -the language of the common people</i>, inasmuch as religious and moral -sentiments and actions, which form the immediate aim of theology may in -this manner be most easily extended. They therefore represent God to the -common understanding as an earthly King, who with His ministers and the -advisers of His cabinet, the angels, takes counsel concerning the -government of the world. But for the educated mind they seek to take -away all anthropomorphic representations of God, when they say, "It was -an act of high daring on the part of the prophets, to represent the -Creator as like His creature, as when, for example, it is said in -Ezekiel (i., 26), 'And upon the throne was an appearance like man.'"</p> - -<p>I have disclosed the abuses of the rabbis in regard to religion without -any partiality. At the same time however I must not be silent about -their good qualities, but do them justice as impartially. Compare then -Mahomed's description of the reward of the pious with the rabbinical -representation. The former runs:—"Here (in paradise) there are as many -dishes as there are stars in heaven. Maidens and boys fill the cups, and -wait on the table. The beauty of the maidens surpasses all imagination. -If one of these maidens were to appear in the sky or in the air by -night, the world would become as bright as when the sun is shining; and -if she were to spit into the sea, its salt water would be turned into -honey, and its bitter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> into sweet. Milk, honey, white wine will be the -rivers which water this delicious abode. The slime of these rivers will -be made of sweet-smelling nutmegs, and their pebbles of pearls and -hyacinths. The angel Gabriel will open the gates of paradise to faithful -Musselmans. The first thing to meet their eyes will be a table of -diamonds of such enormous length, that it would require 70,000 days to -run round it. The chairs, which stand around the table, will be of gold -and silver, the tablecloths of silk and gold. When the guests have sat -down, they will eat the choicest dishes of paradise, and drink its -water. When they are satisfied, beautiful boys will bring them <i>green</i> -garments of costly stuff, and necklaces and earrings of gold. To every -one will then be given a citron; and when he has brought it to his nose -to feel its odour, a maiden of enchanting beauty will come out. Every -one will embrace his own with rapture, and this intoxication of love -will last fifty years without interruption. Each couple will obtain an -enchanting palace for a dwelling, where they will eat and drink and -enjoy all sorts of pleasure for ever and ever.<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a>" This description is -beautiful; but how sensuous! The rabbis, on the other hand, say, "Above -(in the blessed abode of the pious) there is neither eating nor -drinking, but the pious sit crowned, and delight themselves with the -vision of the Godhead."</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> -<p>Eisenmenger seeks, in his <i>Entdecktes Judenthum</i> (Theil 1., Kap. 8), by -a crass exposition to throw ridicule on the Platonic doctrine of -reminiscence, which the rabbis maintain; but what may not be made -ridiculous in the same way? He also makes sport, with equal injustice, -of other rabbinical teachings. With the Stoics, for example, the rabbis -call wise men <i>Kings</i>; they say, that God does nothing without -previously taking counsel with his angels, that is, Omnipotence works -upon nature not immediately, but by means of the natural forces; they -teach, that everything is predestined by God, except the practice of -virtue. These are the subjects of Eisenmenger's mockery; but does any -reasonable theologian find in these anything ridiculous or impious? I -should be obliged to write a whole book, if I were to answer all the -unjust charges and jeers which have been brought against the Talmudists, -not by Christian writers alone, but even by Jews who wished to pass for -<i>illuminati</i>.</p> - -<p>To be just to the rabbis it is necessary to penetrate into the true -spirit of the Talmud, to become thoroughly familiar with the manner in -which the ancients generally, but especially the Orientals, deliver -theological, moral, and even physical truths in fables and allegories, -to become familiar also with the style of Oriental hyperbole in -reference to everything that can be of interest to man. Moreover, the -rabbis should be treated in the spirit in which they themselves excused -Rabbi Meïr who had a heretic for his teacher,—the spirit expressed in a -passage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> already quoted. If justice is thus dealt to the rabbis, the -Talmud will certainly not show all the absurdities which its opponents -are disposed too readily to find.</p> - -<p>The rabbinical method of referring theoretical or practical truths, even -by the oddest exegesis, to passages in the Holy Scriptures or any other -book in general esteem, as if they were truths brought out of such -passages by a rational exegesis,—this method, besides procuring an -introduction for the truths among common men, who are not capable of -grasping them on their own merits, and accept them merely on authority, -is also to be regarded as an excellent aid to the memory; for since, as -presumed, these passages are in everybody's mouth, the truths drawn from -them are also retained by their means. Consequently it very often occurs -in the Talmud, when the question concerns the deduction of a new law -from the Holy Scriptures, that one rabbi derives the law from this or -that passage, while another brings the objection, that this cannot be -the true meaning of the passage, inasmuch as the true meaning is this or -that. To such an objection every one is wont to reply, that it is a new -law of the rabbis, who merely refer it to the passage mentioned.</p> - -<p>As it is therefore universally presupposed that this method is familiar, -the Talmudists regard it as unnecessary to inculcate it anew on every -occasion. A single example will suffice to illustrate this. One -Talmudist asked another the meaning of the following passage in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> the -Book of Joshua (xv., 22), <i>Kinah Vedimonah Veadadah</i>.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> The latter -replied, "Here are enumerated the then familiar places of the Holy -Land." "Of course!" rejoined the other. "I know very well that these are -names of places. But, Rabbi —— knows how to bring out of these, -besides the proper meaning, something <i>useful</i>, namely this:—'(Kinah) -He to whom his neighbour gives occasion for revenge, (Vedimonah) and who -yet, out of generosity, keeps silence, taking no revenge, (Veadadah) to -him will the Eternal execute justice.'" What a fine opportunity this -would be for laughing at the poor Talmudist, who derives a moral -sentence from particular names of places, and besides makes in an -extraordinary manner a compound out of the last name, <i>Sansannah</i>,<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> -if he had not himself explained that he is seeking to know, not the -<i>true meaning</i> of the passage, but merely a <i>doctrine</i> which may be -referred to it.</p> - -<p>Again, the Talmudists have referred to a passage in Isaiah the important -doctrine, that in morals the principal object is, not theory, but -practice, by which theory receives its true value. The passage runs as -follows:—"The expectation of thy happiness"—that is, the happiness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> -promised by the prophet—"will have for its consequence strength, help, -wisdom, knowledge, and the fear of God."<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> Here they refer the first -six subjects to the six <i>Sedarim</i> or divisions of the Mishnah, which are -the foundation of all Jewish learning. <i>Emunath</i> (Expectation) is Seder -Seraim; <i>Etecho</i> (Happiness) is Seder Moad, and so on. That is to say, -you may be ever so well versed in all these six <i>sedarim</i>; yet the main -point is the last, the fear of God.</p> - -<p>As far as rabbinical morals in other respects are concerned, I know in -truth nothing that can be urged against them, except perhaps their -excessive strictness in many cases. They form in fact genuine Stoicism, -but without excluding other serviceable principles, such as perfection, -universal benevolence, and the like. Holiness with them extends even to -the thoughts. This principle is, in the usual fashion, referred to the -following passage in the Psalms, "Thou shalt have no strange God in -thee";<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> for in the human heart, it is argued, no strange God can -dwell, except evil desires. It is not allowed to deceive even a heathen -either by deeds or by words—not even in cases where he could lose -nothing by the deceit. For example, the common form of courtesy, "I am -glad to see you well," is not to be used, if it does not express the -real sentiments of the heart. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> examples of Jews who cheat Christians -and heathens, which are commonly adduced against this statement, prove -nothing, inasmuch as these Jews do not act in accordance with the -principles of their own morals.</p> - -<p>The commandment, "Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy -neighbour's," is so expounded by the Talmudists, that we must guard -against even the wish to possess any such thing. In short, I should -require to write a whole book, if I were to adduce all the excellent -doctrines of rabbinical morals.</p> - -<p>The influence of these doctrines in practical life also is unmistakable. -The Polish Jews, who have always been allowed to adopt any means of -gain, and have not, like the Jews of other countries, been restricted to -the pitiful occupation of <i>Schacher</i> or usurer, seldom hear the reproach -of cheating. They remain loyal to the country in which they live, and -support themselves in an honourable way.</p> - -<p>Their charity and care for the poor, their institutions for nursing the -sick, their special societies for burial of the dead, are well enough -known. It is not nurses and grave-diggers <i>hired for money</i>, but the -<i>elders of the people</i>, who are eager to perform these acts. The Polish -Jews are indeed for the most part not yet enlightened by science, their -manners and way of life are still rude; but they are loyal to the -religion of their fathers and the laws of their country. They do not -come before you with courtesies, but their promise is sacred. They are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> -not gallants, but your women are safe from any snares with them. Woman, -indeed, after the manner of the Orientals in general, is by them not -particularly esteemed; but all the more on that account are they -resolved on fulfilling their duties towards her. Their children do not -learn by heart any <i>forms</i> for expressing love and respect for their -parents—for they do not keep French <i>demoiselles</i>;—but they show that -love and respect all the more heartily.</p> - -<p>The sacredness of their marriages, and the ever fresh tenderness which -arises from this, deserve especially to be mentioned. Every month the -husband is wholly separated from his wife for a fortnight (the period of -monthly purification in accordance with the rabbinical laws); they may -not so much as touch one another, or eat out of the same dish or drink -out of the same cup. By this means satiety is avoided; the wife -continues to be in the eyes of her husband all that she was as maiden in -the eyes of her lover.</p> - -<p>Finally, what innocence rules among unmarried persons! It often happens -that a young man or woman of sixteen or eighteen years is married -without knowing the least about the object of marriage. Among other -nations this is certainly very seldom the case.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a></h2> - -<h3>Jewish Piety and Penances.</h3> - - -<p>In my youth I was of a somewhat strong religious disposition; and as I -observed in most of the rabbis a good deal of pride, quarrelsomeness, -and other evil qualities, they became objects of dislike to me on that -account. I sought therefore as my model only those among them, who are -commonly known by the name of <i>Chasidim</i>, or <i>the Pious</i>. These are they -who devote the whole of their lives to the strictest observances of the -laws and moral virtues. I had afterwards occasion to remark that these -on their part do harm, less indeed to <i>others</i>, but all the more to -<i>themselves</i>, inasmuch as they root out the wheat with the tares;<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> -while they seek to suppress their desires and passions, they suppress -also their powers and cramp their activity, so much so as in most cases -by their exercises to bring upon themselves an untimely death.</p> - -<p>Two or three instances, of which I was myself an eye-witness, will be -sufficient to establish what has been said.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> A Jewish scholar, at that -time well known on account of his piety, Simon of Lubtsch, had undergone -the severest exercises of penance. He had already carried out the -<i>T'shubath Hakana</i>—the penance of Kana—which consists in fasting daily -for six years, and avoiding for supper anything that comes from a living -being (flesh, milk, honey, etc.). He had also practised <i>Golath</i>, that -is, a continuous wandering, in which the penitent is not allowed to -remain two days in the same place; and, in addition, he had worn a -hair-shirt next his skin. But he felt that he would not be doing enough -for the satisfaction of his conscience unless he further observed the -<i>T'shubath Hamishkal</i>—the penance of weighing—which requires a -particular form of penance proportioned to every sin. But as he found by -calculation, that the number of his sins was too great to be atoned in -this way, he took it into his head to starve himself to death. After he -had spent some time in this process, he came in his wanderings to the -place where my father lived, and, without anybody in the house knowing, -went into the barn, where he fell upon the ground in utter faintness. My -father came by chance into the barn, and found the man, whom he had long -known, lying half-dead on the ground, with a <i>Zohar</i> (the principal book -of the Cabbalists) in his hand. As he knew well what sort of man this -was, he brought him at once all sorts of refreshments; but the man would -make no use of them in any way. My father came several times, and -repeated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> his urgent request, that Simon would take something; but it -was of no avail. My father had to attend to something in the house, -whereupon Simon, to escape from his importunity, exerted all his -strength, raised himself up, went out of the barn, and at last out of -the village. When my father came back into the barn again, and found the -man no longer there, he ran after him, and found him lying dead not far -from the village. The affair was generally made known among the Jews, -and Simon became a saint.</p> - -<p>Jossel of Klezk proposed nothing less than to hasten the advent of the -Messiah. To this end he performed strict penance, fasted, rolled himself -in snow, undertook night-watches and similar severities. By all sorts of -such operations he believed that he was able to accomplish the overthrow -of a legion of evil spirits, who kept guard on the Messiah, and threw -obstacles in the way of his coming.<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> To these exercises he added at -last many Cabbalistic fooleries—fumigations, conjurations, and similar -practices—till at length he lost his wits on the subject, believed that -he really saw spirits with his eyes open, calling each of them by name. -He would then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> beat about him, smash windows and stoves under the idea -that these were his foes, the evil spirits, somewhat after the manner of -his forerunner Don Quixote. At last he lay down in complete exhaustion, -from which he was with great difficulty restored, by the physician of -Prince Radzivil.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately I could never get further in pious exercises of this sort, -than to abstain for a considerable while from everything that comes from -a living being; and during the Days of Atonement I have sometimes fasted -three days together. I once resolved indeed on undertaking the -<i>T'shubath Hakana</i>; but this project, like others of the same sort, -remained unfulfilled, after I had adopted the opinions of Maimonides, -who was no friend of fanaticism or pietism. It is remarkable, that at -the time when I still observed the rabbinical regulations with the -utmost strictness, I yet would not observe certain ceremonies which have -something comical about them. Of this kind, for example, was the -<i>Malketh</i> (Beating) before the Great Day of Atonement, in which every -Jew lays himself on his face in the synagogue, while another with a -narrow strip of leather gives him thirty-nine lashes. Of the same sort -is <i>Haphorath Nedarim</i>, or the act of setting free from vows on New -Year's Eve. In this three men are seated, while another appears before -them, and addresses to them a certain form, the general drift of which -is as follows:—"Sirs, I know what a heinous sin it is, not to fulfil -vows; and inasmuch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> as I have doubtless this year made some vows which I -have not fulfilled, and which I can no longer recollect, I beg of you -that you will set me free from the same. I do not indeed repent of the -good resolutions to which I have bound myself by these vows; I repent -merely of the fact, that in making such resolutions I did not add, that -they were not to have the force of a vow," etc., etc. Thereupon he -withdraws from the judgment-seat, pulls off his shoes, and sits down on -the bare ground, by which he is supposed to banish himself till his vows -are dissolved. After he has sat for some time, and said a prayer by -himself, the judges begin to call aloud, "Thou art our brother! thou art -our brother! thou art our brother! There is no vow, no oath, no -banishment any longer, after thou hast submitted thyself to the -judgment. Rise from the ground and come to us!" This they repeat three -times, and with that the man is at once set free from all his vows.</p> - -<p>At serio-comic scenes of this sort I could only with the greatest -difficulty refrain from laughing. A blush of shame came over me, when I -was to undertake such performances. I sought therefore, if I was pressed -on the subject, to free myself by the pretext, that I had either already -attended to it, or was going to attend to it, in another synagogue. A -very remarkable psychological phenomenon! It might be thought impossible -for any one to be ashamed of actions which he saw others performing -without the slightest blush of shame. Yet this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> was the case here. This -phenomenon can be explained only by the fact, that in all my actions I -had regard first to the nature of the action in itself (whether it was -right or wrong, proper or improper), then to its nature in relation to -some end, and that I justified it as a means, only when it was not in -itself incapable of being justified. This principle was developed -afterwards in my whole system of religion and morals. On the other hand, -the most of men act on the principle, that the end justifies the means.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a></h2> - -<h3>Friendship and Enthusiasm.</h3> - - -<p>In the place where I resided I had a bosom friend, Moses Lapidoth by -name. We were of the same age, the same studies, and nearly the same -external circumstances, the only difference being, that at an early -period I already showed an inclination to the sciences, while Lapidoth -had indeed a love of speculation, and also great acuteness and power of -judgment, but had no wish to proceed further than he could reach by a -mere sound common sense. With this friend I used to hold many a -conversation on subjects of mutual interest, especially the questions of -religion and morals.</p> - -<p>We were the only persons in the place, who ventured to be not mere -imitators, but to think independently about everything. It was a natural -result of this, that, as we differed from all the rest of the community -in our opinions and conduct, we separated ourselves from them by -degrees; but, as we had still to live by the community, our -circumstances on this account became every day worse and worse. 'Tis -true, we noted this fact, but nevertheless we were unwilling to -sacrifice our favourite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> inclinations for any interest in the world. We -consoled ourselves therefore, as best we might, over our loss, spoke -constantly of the vanity of all things, of the religious and moral -faults of the common herd, upon whom we looked down with a sort of noble -pride and contempt.</p> - -<p>We used especially to open our minds, <i>à la Mandeville</i>, on the -hollowness of human virtue. For example, smallpox had been very -prevalent in the place, and thereby many children had been carried off. -The elders held a meeting to find out the secret sins, on account of -which they were suffering this punishment, as they viewed it. After -instituting an inquiry it was found, that a young widow of the Jewish -people was holding too free intercourse with some servants of the manor. -She was sent for, but no sort of inquisition could elicit from her -anything beyond the fact, that these people were in the habit of -drinking mead at her house, and that, as was reasonable, she received -them in a pleasant and polite manner, but that in other respects she was -unconscious of any sin in the matter. As no other evidence was -forthcoming, she was about to be acquitted, when an elderly matron came -flying like a fury and screamed, "Scourge her! scourge her! till she has -confessed her sin! If you do not do it, then may the guilt of the death -of so many innocent souls fall upon you!" Lapidoth was present with me -at this scene, and said, "Friend, do you suppose that Madam is making so -fierce a complaint against this woman, merely because<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> she is seized -with a holy zeal and feeling for the general welfare? Oh no! She is -enraged, merely because the widow still possesses attractions, while she -herself can no longer make claim to any." I assured him that his opinion -was thoroughly in accordance with my own.</p> - -<p>Lapidoth had poor parents-in-law. His father-in-law was Jewish sexton, -and by his slender pay could support his family only in a very sorry -style. Every Friday the poor man was therefore compelled to listen to -all sorts of reproach and abuse from his wife, because he could not -provide her with what was indispensable for the holy Sabbath. Lapidoth -told me about this with the addition:—"My mother-in-law wants to make -me to believe that she is zealous merely for the honour of the holy -Sabbath. Nay, verily; she is zealous merely for the honour of her own -holy paunch, which she cannot fill as she would like; the holy Sabbath -serves her merely as a pretext."</p> - -<p>Once when we were taking a walk on the wall round the town, and -conversing about the tendency of men, which is evinced in such -expressions, to deceive themselves and others, I said to Lapidoth, -"Friend, let us be fair, and pass our censure on ourselves, as well as -on others. Is not the contemplative life which we lead, and which is by -no means adapted to our circumstances, to be regarded as a result of our -indolence and inclination to idleness, which we seek to defend by -reflections on the vanity of all things? We are content with our -present<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> circumstances; why? Because we cannot alter them without first -fighting against our inclination to idleness. With all our pretence of -contempt for everything outside of us, we cannot avoid the secret wish -to be able to enjoy better food and clothing than at present. We -reproach our friends as vain men addicted to the pleasures of sense, -because they have abandoned our mode of life, and undertaken occupations -adapted to their powers. But wherein consists our superiority over them, -when we merely follow our inclination as they follow theirs? Let us seek -to find this superiority merely in the fact, that we at least confess -this truth to ourselves, while they profess as the motive of their -actions, not the satisfaction of their own particular desires, but the -impulse to general utility." Lapidoth, on whom my words produced a -powerful impression, answered with some warmth, "Friend, you are -perfectly right. If we cannot now mend our faults, we will not deceive -ourselves about them, but at least keep the way open for amendment."</p> - -<p>In conversations of this kind we two cynics spent our pleasantest hours, -while we made ourselves merry sometimes at the expense of the world, -sometimes at our own. Lapidoth, for example, whose old dirty clothes had -all fallen into rags, and one of whose sleeves was wholly parted from -the rest of his coat, while he was not in a position even to have it -mended, used to fix the sleeve on his back with a pin, and to ask me, -"Don't I look like a <i>Schlachziz</i> (a Polish noble)?" I, again, could -not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> sufficiently commend my rent shoes, which were quite open at the -toes, because, as I said, "They do not squeeze the foot."</p> - -<p>The harmony of our inclinations and manner of life, along with some -difference in our talents, made our conversation all the more agreeable. -I had more talent for the sciences, made more earnest endeavours after -thoroughness and accuracy of knowledge than Lapidoth. He, on the other -hand, had the advantage of a lively imagination, and consequently more -talent for eloquence and poetry than I. If I produced a new thought, my -friend knew how to illustrate it, and, as it were, to give it embodiment -in a multitude of examples. Our affection for one another went so far, -that, whenever it was practicable, we spent day and night in each -other's company, and the first thing we did, on returning home from the -places where we severally acted as family-tutors, was to visit each -other, even before seeing our own families. At last we began to neglect -on this account the usual hours of prayer. Lapidoth first undertook to -prove, that the Talmudists themselves offered up their prayers, not -exclusively in the synagogue, but sometimes in their study-chambers. -Afterwards he pointed out also, that the prayers held to be necessary -are not all equally so, but that some may be dispensed with altogether: -even those, which are recognised as necessary, we curtailed by degrees, -till at last they were totally neglected.</p> - -<p>Once, when we went for a walk on the wall during the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> hour of prayer, -Lapidoth said to me, "Friend, what is going to become of us? We do not -pray now at all."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean by that?" I inquired.</p> - -<p>"I throw myself," said Lapidoth, "on the mercy of God, who certainly -will not punish his children severely for a slight neglect."</p> - -<p>"God is not merely <i>merciful</i>," I replied; "He is also <i>just</i>. -Consequently this reason cannot help us much."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean by that?" asked Lapidoth.</p> - -<p>I had by this time obtained from Maimonides more accurate ideas of God -and of our duties towards Him. Accordingly I replied, "Our destination -is merely the <i>attainment of perfection through the knowledge of God and -the imitation of His actions</i>. Prayer is simply the expression of our -knowledge of the divine perfections, and, as a result of this knowledge, -is intended merely for the common man who cannot of himself attain to -this knowledge; and therefore it is adapted to his mode of conception. -But as we see into the end of prayer, and can attain to this end -directly, we can dispense altogether with prayer as something -superfluous."</p> - -<p>This reasoning appeared to us both to be sound. We resolved therefore, -for the purpose of avoiding offence, to go out of the house every -morning with our <i>Taleth</i> and <i>Tephilim</i> (Jewish instruments of prayer), -not, however, to the synagogue, but to our favourite retreat, the wall, -and by this means we fortunately escaped the Jewish Inquisition.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> - -<p>But this enthusiastic companionship, like everything else in the world, -had to come to an end. As we were both married, and our marriages were -tolerably fruitful, we were obliged, for the purpose of supporting our -families, to accept situations as family-tutors. By this means we were -not infrequently separated, and afterwards were able to spend merely a -few weeks in the year together.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></h2> - -<h3>The Life of a Family-Tutor.</h3> - - -<p>The place, where I first occupied the position of family-tutor, was at -the distance of a league from my residence. The family was that of a -miserable farmer in a still more miserable village; and my salary was -five thalers in Polish money. The poverty, ignorance, and rudeness in -the manner of life, which prevailed in this house, were indescribable. -The farmer himself was a man of about fifty years, the whole of whose -face was overgrown with hair, ending in a dirty, thick beard as black as -pitch. His language was a sort of muttering, intelligible only to the -boors, with whom he held intercourse daily. Not only was he ignorant of -Hebrew, but he could not speak a word of Jewish; his only language was -Russian, the common patois of the peasantry. His wife and children were -of the same stamp. Moreover, the apartment, in which they lived, was a -hovel of smoke, black as coal inside and out, without a chimney, but -with merely a small opening in the roof for the exit oi the smoke,—an -opening which was carefully closed as soon as the fire was allowed to go -out, so that the heat might not escape.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> - -<p>The windows were narrow strips of pine laid crosswise over each other, -and covered with paper. This apartment served at once for sitting, -drinking, eating, study and sleep. Think of this room intensely heated, -and the smoke, as is generally the case in winter, driven back by wind -and rain till the whole place is filled with it to suffocation. Here -hang a foul washing and other dirty bits of clothing on poles laid -across the room in order to kill the vermin with the smoke. There hang -sausages to dry, while their fat keeps constantly trickling down on the -heads of people below. Yonder stand tubs with sour cabbage and red -beets, which form the principal food of the Lithuanians. In a corner the -water is kept for daily use, with the dirty water alongside. In this -room the bread is kneaded, cooking and baking are done, the cow is -milked, and all sorts of operations are carried on.</p> - -<p>In this magnificent dwelling the peasants sit on the bare ground; you -dare not sit higher if you do not wish to be suffocated with the smoke. -Here they guzzle their whiskey and make an uproar, while the people of -the house sit in a corner. I usually took my place behind the stove with -my dirty half-naked pupils, and expounded to them out of an old tattered -Bible, from Hebrew into Russian Jewish. All this together made such a -splendid group as deserved to be sketched only by a Hogarth, and to be -sung only by a Butler.</p> - -<p>It may be easily imagined, how pitiable my condition here must have -been. Whiskey had to form my sole comfort;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> it made me forget all my -misery. This was increased by the fact, that a regiment of Russians, who -were rioting at that time with every conceivable cruelty on the estates -of Prince Radzivil, was stationed in the village and its neighbourhood. -The house was constantly full of drunken Russians, who committed all -sorts of excesses, hewed to pieces tables and benches, threw glasses and -bottles into the faces of the people of the house, and so on. To give -merely one example, a Russian, who was stationed in this house as guard, -and whose charge it was to secure the house against all violence, came -home once drunk, and demanded something to eat. A dish of millet with -butter was placed before him cooked. He shoved the dish away, and -shouted an order for more butter. A whole small tub of butter was -brought, when he shouted again an order for another dish. This was -brought immediately, whereupon he threw all the butter into it, and -called for spirits. A whole bottle was brought, and he poured it -likewise into the dish. Thereafter milk, pepper, salt, and tobacco, in -large quantities had to be brought to him, the whole being put in, and -the mixture devoured. After he had taken some spoonfuls, he began to -strike about him, pulled the host by the beard, struck him in the face -with his fist, so that the blood flowed out of his mouth, poured some of -his glorious broth down his throat, and went on in this riotous manner -till he became so drunk that he could no longer support himself, and -fell to the ground.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> - -<p>Such scenes were at that time very common everywhere in Poland. If a -Russian army passed a place, they took with them a <i>prowodnik</i>, or -guide, to the next place. But instead of seeking to be supplied by the -mayor or the village magistrate, they used to seize the first person -whom they met on the road. He might be young or old, male or female, -healthy or sick, it mattered nothing to them; for they knew the road -well enough from special charts, and only sought an opportunity for -outrage. If it happened that the person seized did not know the way at -all, and did not show them the right road, they did not allow themselves -to be sent astray on this account; they selected the road all right, but -they cudgelled the poor prowodnik till he was half-dead, <i>for not -knowing the way</i>!</p> - -<p>I was once seized as a prowodnik myself. I did not indeed know the way, -but luckily I hit upon it by chance. Fortunately, therefore, I reached -the proper place, and the only violence I suffered, besides a good many -blows and kicks from the Russian soldiers, was the threat, that, if ever -I led them astray, I should certainly be flayed alive—a threat which -they might be trusted with carrying into execution.</p> - -<p>The other places which I filled as tutor were more or less similar to -this. In one of these a remarkable psychological incident occurred in -which I took the principal part and which is to be described in the -sequel. An incident of the same kind, however, which happened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> to -another person and of which I was simply eye-witness, must be mentioned -here.</p> - -<p>A tutor in the next village, who was a somnambulist, rose one night from -his bed and went to the village churchyard with a volume of the Jewish -ceremonial laws in his hand. After remaining some time there he returned -to his bed. In the morning he rose up, without remembering the least of -what had happened during the night, and went to the chest where his copy -of the ceremonial laws was usually kept, in order to take out the first -part, <i>Orach Chajim</i> or the Way of Life, which he was accustomed to read -every morning. The code consists of four parts, each of which was bound -separately, and all the four had certainly been locked up in the chest. -He was therefore astonished to find only three of the parts, <i>Joreh -Deah</i> or the Teacher of Wisdom, being awanting. As he knew about his -disease he searched everywhere, till at last he came to the churchyard -where he found the <i>Joreh Deah</i> lying open at the chapter, <i>Hilchoth -Abheloth</i> or the Laws of Mourning. He took this for a bad omen and came -home much disquieted. On being asked the cause of his disquietude he -related the incident which had occurred, with the addition, "Ah! God -knows how my poor mother is!" He begged of his master the loan of a -horse and permission to ride to the nearest town, where his mother -lived, in order to enquire after her welfare. As he had to pass the -place where I was tutor, and I saw him riding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> in great excitement -without being willing to dismount even for a little while, I asked him -the cause of his excitement when he related to me the above-mentioned -incident.</p> - -<p>I was astonished, not so much about the particular circumstances of this -incident, as about somnambulism in general, of which till then I had -known nothing. My friend, on the other hand, assured me that -somnambulism was a common occurrence with him, and that it meant -nothing, but that the circumstance of the <i>Hilchoth Abheloth</i> made him -forebode some misfortune. Thereupon he rode off, arrived at his mother's -house, and found her seated at her frame for needlework. She asked him -the reason of his coming, when he replied that he had come merely to pay -her a visit, as he had not seen her for a long time. After he had rested -for a good while, he rode back; but his disquietude was by no means -wholly removed, and the thought of the <i>Hilchoth Abheloth</i> he could not -get out of his head. The third day after, a fire broke out in the town -where his mother lived, and the poor woman perished in the flames. -Scarcely had the son heard of the conflagration, when he began to lament -that his mother had so miserably perished. He rode off in all haste to -the town, and found what he had foreboded.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</a></h2> - -<h3>Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long Chapter.</h3> - - -<p>About this time I became acquainted with a sect of my nation, called the -<i>New Chasidim</i>, which was then coming into prominence. <i>Chasidim</i> is the -name generally given by the Hebrews to the <i>pious</i>, that is, to those -who distinguish themselves by exercising the strictest piety. These -were, from time immemorial, men who had freed themselves from worldly -occupations and pleasures, and devoted their lives to the strictest -exercise of the laws of religion and penance for their sins. As already -mentioned, they sought to accomplish this object by prayers and other -exercises of devotion, by chastisement of the body and similar means.</p> - -<p>But about this time some among them set themselves up for founders of a -new sect. They maintained that true piety does not by any means consist -in chastisement of the body, by which the spiritual quiet and -cheerfulness, necessary to the knowledge and love of God, are disturbed. -On the contrary, they maintained that man must satisfy all his bodily -wants, and seek to enjoy the pleasures of sense, so far as may be -necessary for the development<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> of our feelings, inasmuch as God has -created all for his glory. The true service of God, according to them, -consists in exercises of devotion with exertion of all our powers, and -annihilation of self before God; for they maintain that man, in -accordance with his destination, can reach the highest perfection only -when he regards himself, not as a being that exists and works for -himself, but merely as an organ of the Godhead. Instead therefore of -spending their lives in separation from the world, in suppression of -their natural feelings, and in deadening their powers, they believed -that they acted much more to the purpose, when they sought to develop -their natural feelings as much as possible, to bring their powers into -exercise, and constantly to widen their sphere of work.</p> - -<p>It must be acknowledged, that both of these opposite methods have -something true for a foundation. Of the former the foundation is -obviously Stoicism, that is, an endeavour to determine actions by free -will in accordance with a higher principle than passion; the latter is -founded on the system of perfection. Only both, like everything else in -the world, may be abused, and are abused in actual life. Those of the -first sect drive their penitential disposition to extravagance; instead -of merely regulating their desires and passions by rules of moderation, -they seek to annihilate them; and, instead of endeavouring, like the -Stoics, to find the principle of their actions in pure reason, they seek -it rather in religion. This is a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> pure source, it is true; but as these -people have false ideas of religion itself, and their virtue has for its -foundation merely the future rewards and punishments of an arbitrary -tyrannical being who governs by mere caprice, in point of fact their -actions flow from an impure source, namely the principle of interest. -Moreover, in their case this interest rests merely on fancies, so that, -in this respect, they are far below the grossest Epicureans, who have, -it is true, a low, but still a real interest as the end of their -actions. Only then can religion yield a principle of virtue, when it is -itself founded on the idea of virtue.</p> - -<p>The adherents of the second sect have indeed more correct ideas of -religion and morals; but since in this respect they regulate themselves -for the most part in accordance with obscure feelings, and not in -accordance with distinct knowledge, they likewise necessarily fall into -all sorts of extravagances. Self-annihilation of necessity cramps their -activity, or gives it a false direction. They have no natural science, -no acquaintance with psychology; and they are vain enough to consider -themselves organs of the Godhead,—which of course they are, to an -extent limited by the degree of perfection they attain. The result is, -that on the credit of the Godhead they perpetrate the greatest excesses; -every extraordinary suggestion is to them a divine inspiration, and -every lively impulse a divine call.</p> - -<p>These sects were not in fact different sects of religion; their -difference consisted merely in the mode of their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> religious exercises. -But still their animosity went so far, that they decried each other as -heretics, and indulged in mutual persecution. At first the new sect held -the upper hand, and extended itself nearly over the whole of Poland, and -even beyond. The heads of the sect ordinarily sent emissaries -everywhere, whose duty it was to preach the new doctrine and procure -adherents. Now, the majority of the Polish Jews consist of scholars, -that is, men devoted to an inactive and contemplative life; for every -Polish Jew is destined from his birth to be a rabbi, and only the -greatest incapacity can exclude him from the office. Moreover, this new -doctrine was to make the way to blessedness easier, inasmuch as it -declared that fasts and vigils and the constant study of the Talmud are -not only useless, but even prejudicial to that cheerfulness of spirit -which is essential to genuine piety. It was therefore natural that the -adherents of the doctrine spread far and wide in a short time.</p> - -<p>Pilgrimages were made to K. M. and other holy places, where the -enlightened superiors of this sect abode. Young people forsook parents, -wives and children, and went in troops to visit these superiors, and -hear from their lips the new doctrine. The occasion, which led to the -rise of this sect was the following.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> -<p>I have already remarked that, since the time when the Jews lost their -national position and were dispersed among other nations where they are -more or less tolerated, they have had no internal form of government but -their religious constitution, by which they are held together and still -form, in spite of their political dispersion, an organic whole. Their -leaders, therefore, have allowed themselves to be occupied with nothing -so much as with imparting additional strength to this, the only bond of -union by which the Jews still constitute a nation. But the doctrines of -their faith and the laws of their religion take their origin in the Holy -Scriptures, while these leave much that is indefinite in regard to their -exposition and application to particular cases. Consequently the aid of -tradition is of necessity called in, and by this means the method of -expounding the Holy Scriptures, as well as the deduction of cases left -undetermined by them, is made to appear as if specified in determinate -laws. This tradition could not of course be entrusted to the whole -nation, but merely to a particular body—a sort of legislative -commission.</p> - -<p>By this means, however, the evil was not avoided. Tradition itself left -much that was still indeterminate. The deduction of particular cases -from the general, and the new laws demanded by the circumstances of -different times, gave occasion for many controversies; but through these -very controversies and the mode of their settlement, this body became -always more numerous, and its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> influence on the nation more powerful. -The Jewish constitution is therefore in its form aristocratic, and is -accordingly exposed to all the abuses of an aristocracy. The unlearned -classes of the people, being burdened with the care of supporting not -only themselves but also the indispensable learned class, were unable to -give their attention to abuses of the kind. But from time to time men -have arisen out of the legislative body itself, who have not only -denounced its abuses, but have even called in question its authority.</p> - -<p>Of this sort was the founder of the Christian religion, who at the very -outset placed himself in opposition to the tyranny of this aristocracy, -and brought back the whole ceremonial law to its origin, namely, a pure -moral system, to which the ceremonial law stands related as means to -end. In this way the reformation at least of a part of the nation was -accomplished. Of the same sort also was the notorious Shabbethai Zebi, -who, at the close of last century<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> set himself up as Messiah, and was -going to abolish the whole ceremonial law, especially the rabbinical -institutions. A moral system founded upon reason would, owing to the -deeply rooted prejudices of the nation at that time, have been powerless -to work out a wholesome reformation. To their prejudices and fanaticism -therefore it was necessary to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> oppose prejudices and fanaticism. This -was done in the following way.</p> - -<p>A secret society, whose founders belonged to the disaffected spirits of -the nation, had already taken root in it for a long time. A certain -French rabbi, named Moses de Leon, is said, according to Rabbi Joseph -Candia, to have composed the <i>Zohar</i>, and to have foisted it upon the -nation as an old book having for its author the celebrated Talmudist, -Rabbi ben Jochai. This book contains, as stated above, an exposition of -the Holy Scriptures in accordance with the principles of the Cabbalah; -or rather, it contains these principles themselves delivered in the form -of an exposition of the Holy Scriptures, and drawn, as it were, from -these. It has, like Janus, a double face, and admits, therefore, of a -double interpretation.</p> - -<p>The one is that which is given with great diffuseness in Cabbalistic -writings, and has been brought into a system. Here is a wide field for -the imagination, where it can revel at will without being in the end -better instructed on the matter than before. Here are delivered, in -figurative language, many moral and physical truths, which lose -themselves at last in the labyrinth of the hyperphysical. This method of -treating the Cabbalah is peculiar to Cabbalistic scholars, and -constitutes the lesser mysteries of this secret society.</p> - -<p>The second method, on the other hand, concerns the secret political -meaning of the Cabbalah, and is known<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> only to the superiors of the -secret society. These superiors themselves, as well as their operations, -remain ever unknown; the rest of the society you may become acquainted -with, if you choose. But the latter <i>cannot</i> betray political secrets -which are unknown to themselves, while the former <i>will not</i> do it, -because it is against their interest. Only the lesser (purely literary) -mysteries are entrusted to the people, and urged upon them as matters of -the highest importance. The greater (political) mysteries are not -taught, but, as a matter of course, are brought into practice.</p> - -<p>A certain Cabbalist, Rabbi Joel Baalshem<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> by name, became very -celebrated at this time on account of some lucky cures which he effected -by means of his medical acquirements and his conjuring tricks, as he -gave out that all this was done, not by natural means, but solely by -help of the <i>Cabbalah Maasith</i> (the practical Cabbalah), and the use of -sacred names. In this way he played a very successful game in Poland. He -also took care to have followers in his art. Among his disciples were -some, who took hold of his profession, and made themselves a name by -successful cures and the detection of robberies. With their cures the -process was quite natural.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> They employed the common means of medicine, -but after the usual method of the conjurer they sought to turn the -attention of the spectator from these, and direct it to their -Cabbalistic hocus-pocus. The robberies they either brought about -themselves, or they discovered them by means of their detectives, who -were spread all over the country.</p> - -<p>Others of greater genius and a nobler mode of thinking, formed far -grander plans. They saw that their private interest, as well as the -general interest, could be best promoted by gaining the people's -confidence, and this they sought to command by enlightenment. Their plan -was therefore moral and political at the same time.<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> At first it -appeared as if they would merely do away with the abuses which had crept -into the Jewish system of religion and morals; but this drew after it of -necessity a complete abrogation of the whole system. The principal -points which they attacked were these:—</p> - -<p>1. The abuse of rabbinical learning. Instead of simplifying the laws and -rendering them capable of being known by all, the learning of the rabbis -leaves them still more confused and indefinite. Moreover, being occupied -only with the study of the laws, it gives as much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> attention to those -which are no longer of any application, such as the laws of sacrifice, -of purification, etc., as to those which are still in use. Besides, it -is not the study, but the observance of the laws, that forms the chief -concern, since the study of them is not an end in itself, but merely a -means to their observance. And, finally, in the observance of the laws -the rabbis have regard merely to the external ceremony, not to the moral -end.</p> - -<p>2. The abuse of piety on the part of the so-called penitents. These -become very zealous, it is true, about the practice of virtue. Their -motive to virtue, however, is not that knowledge of God and His -perfection, which is based on reason; it consists rather in false -representations of God and His attributes. They failed therefore of -necessity to find true virtue, and hit upon a spurious imitation. -Instead of aspiring after likeness to God, and striving to escape from -the bondage of sensual passions into the dominion of a free will that -finds its motive in reason, they sought to annihilate their passions by -annihilating their powers of activity, as I have already shown by some -deplorable examples.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, those who sought to enlighten the people required, as -an indispensable condition of true virtue, a cheerful state of mind -disposed to every form of active exertion; and they not only allowed, -but even recommended, a moderate enjoyment of all kinds of pleasure as -necessary for the attainment of this cheerful disposition. Their worship -consisted in a voluntary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> elevation above the body, that is, in an -abstraction of the thoughts from all created things, even from the -individual self, and in union with God. By this means a kind of -self-denial arose among them, which led them to ascribe, not to -themselves, but to God alone, all the actions undertaken in this state. -Their worship therefore consisted in a sort of speculative adoration, -for which they held no special time or formula to be necessary, but they -left each one to determine it according to the degree of his knowledge. -Still they chose for it most commonly the hours set apart for the public -worship of God. In their public worship they endeavoured mainly to -attain that elevation above the body, which has been described; they -became so absorbed in the idea of the divine perfection, that they lost -the idea of everything else, even of their own body, and, as they gave -out, the body became in this state wholly devoid of feeling.</p> - -<p>Such abstraction, however, was a very difficult matter; and accordingly, -whenever they came out of this state by new suggestions taking -possession of their minds, they laboured, by all sorts of <i>mechanical -operations</i>, such as movements and cries, to bring themselves back into -the state once more, and to keep themselves in it without interruption -during the whole time of their worship. It was amusing to observe how -they often interrupted their prayers by all sorts of extraordinary tones -and comical gestures, which were meant as threats and reproaches against -their adversary, the Evil Spirit, who tried to disturb<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> their devotion; -and how by this means they wore themselves out to such an extent, that, -on finishing their prayers, they commonly fell down in complete -exhaustion.</p> - -<p>It is not to be denied that, however sound may be the basis of such a -worship, it is subject to abuse just as much as the other. The internal -activity following upon cheerfulness of mind, must depend on the degree -of knowledge acquired. Self-annihilation before God is only then -well-founded, when a man's faculty of knowledge, owing to the grandeur -of its object, is so entirely occupied with that object, that he exists, -as it were, out of himself, in the object alone. If, on the contrary, -the faculty of knowledge is limited in respect of its object, so that it -is incapable of any steady progress, then the activity mentioned, by -being concentrated on this single object, is repressed rather than -stimulated. Some simple men of this sect, who sauntered about idly the -whole day with pipe in mouth, when asked, what they were thinking about -all the time, replied, "We are thinking about God." This answer would -have been satisfactory, if they had constantly sought, by an adequate -knowledge of nature, to extend their knowledge of the divine -perfections. But this was impossible in their case, as their knowledge -of nature was extremely limited; and consequently the condition, in -which they concentrated their activity upon an object which, in respect -of their capacity, was unfruitful, became of necessity unnatural. -Moreover, their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> actions could be ascribed to God, only when they were -the results of an accurate knowledge of God; but when they resulted from -a very limited degree of this knowledge, it was inevitable that all -sorts of excesses should be committed on the credit of God, as -unfortunately the issue has shown.</p> - -<p>But the fact that this sect spread so rapidly, and that the new doctrine -met with so much applause among the majority of the nation, may be very -easily explained. The natural inclination to idleness and a life of -speculation on the part of the majority, who from birth are destined to -study, the dryness and unfruitfulness of rabbinical studies, and the -great burden of the ceremonial law, which the new doctrine promised to -lighten, finally the tendency to fanaticism and the love of the -marvellous, which are nourished by this doctrine,—these are sufficient -to make this phenomenon intelligible.</p> - -<p>At first the rabbis and the pietists opposed the spread of this sect in -the old fashion; but in spite of this, for the reasons just mentioned, -it maintained the upper hand. Hostilities were practised on both sides. -Each party sought to gain adherents. A ferment arose in the nation, and -opinions were divided.</p> - -<p>I could not form any accurate idea of the new sect, and did not know -what to think of it, till I met with a young man, who had already been -initiated into the society, and had enjoyed the good fortune of -conversing with its superiors. This man happened to be travelling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> -through the place of my abode, and I seized the opportunity of asking -for some information about the internal constitution of the society, the -mode of admission, and so forth. The stranger was still in the lowest -grade of membership, and consequently knew nothing about the internal -constitution of the society. He was therefore unable to give me any -information on the subject; but, as far as the mode of admission was -concerned, he assured me that that was the simplest thing in the world. -Any man, who felt a desire of perfection, but did not know how to -satisfy it, or wished to remove the hindrances to its satisfaction, had -nothing to do but apply to the superiors of the society, and <i>eo ipso</i> -he became a member. He did not even require, as you must do on applying -to a medical doctor, to say anything to these superiors about his moral -weakness, his previous life, and matters of that sort, inasmuch as -nothing was unknown to the superiors, they could see into the human -heart, and discern everything that is concealed in its secret recesses, -they could foretell the future, and bring near at hand things that are -remote. Their sermons and moral teachings were not, as these things -commonly are, thought over and arranged in an orderly manner beforehand. -This method is proper only to the man, who regards himself as a being -existing and working for himself apart from God. But the superiors of -this sect hold that their teachings are divine and therefore infallible, -only when they are the result of self-annihilation before God, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> is, -when they are suggested to them <i>ex tempore</i>, by the exigence of -circumstances, without their contributing anything themselves.</p> - -<p>As I was quite captivated by this description I begged the stranger to -communicate to me some of these divine teachings. He clapped his hand on -his brow as if he were waiting for inspiration from the Holy Ghost, and -turned to me with a solemn mien and his arms half-bared, which he -brought into action somewhat like Corporal Trim, when he was reading the -sermon. Then he began as follows:—</p> - -<p>"'Sing unto God a new song; His praise is in the congregation of saints' -(Psalm cxlix., 1). Our superiors explain this verse in the following -way. The attributes of God as the most perfect being must surpass by far -the attributes of every finite being; and consequently His praise, as -the expression of His attributes, must likewise surpass the praise of -any such being. Till the present time the praise of God consisted in -ascribing to Him supernatural operations, such as the discovery of what -is concealed, the foreseeing of the future, and the production of -effects immediately by His mere will. Now, however, the saints, that is, -the superiors, are able to perform such supernatural actions themselves. -Accordingly in this respect God has no longer preeminence over them; and -it is therefore necessary to find some new praise, which is proper to -God alone."</p> - -<p>Quite charmed with this ingenious method of interpreting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> the Holy -Scriptures, I begged the stranger for some more expositions of the same -kind. He proceeded therefore in his inspired manner:—"'When the -minstrel played, the spirit of God came upon him' (2 Kings iii. 15). -This is explained in the following way. As long as a man is self-active, -he is incapable of receiving the influence of the Holy Ghost; for this -purpose he must hold himself like an instrument in a purely passive -state. The meaning of the passage is therefore this. When the minstrel -(×”Ö·×žÖ°× Ö·×’Ö¼Öµ×Ÿ, the servant of God), becomes like his instrument -(×›Ö¼Ö°× Ö·×’Ö¼Öµ×Ÿ), then the spirit of God comes upon him."<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> - -<p>"Now," said the stranger again, "hear the interpretation of a passage -from the Mishnah, where it is said, 'The honour of thy neighbour shall -be as dear to thee as thine own.' Our teachers explain this in the -following way. It is certain that no man will find pleasure in doing -honour to himself: this would be altogether ridiculous. But it would be -just as ridiculous to make too much of the marks of honour received from -another, as these confer on us no more intrinsic worth than we have -already.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> This passage therefore means merely, that the honour of thy -neighbour (the honour which thy neighbour shows to thee) must be of as -little value in thine eyes, as thine own (the honour which thou showest -to thyself)."</p> - -<p>I could not help being astonished at the exquisite refinement of these -thoughts; and charmed with the ingenious exegesis, by which they were -supported.<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> My imagination was strained to the highest pitch by these -descriptions, and consequently I wished nothing so much as the pleasure -of becoming a member of this honourable society. I resolved therefore to -undertake a journey to M——, where the superior B—— resided. I waited -with the greatest impatience for the close of my period of service, -which lasted still for some weeks. As soon as this came to an end, -instead of going home (though I was only two miles away), I started at -once on my pilgrimage. The journey extended over some weeks.</p> - -<p>At last I arrived at M——, and after having rested from my journey I -went to the house of the superior under the idea that I could be -introduced to him at once. I was told, however, that he could not speak -to me at the time, but that I was invited to his table on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> Sabbath along -with the other strangers who had come to visit him; that I should then -have the happiness of seeing the saintly man face to face, and of -hearing the sublimest teachings out of his own mouth; that although this -was a public audience, yet, on account of the individual references -which I should find made to myself, I might regard it as a special -interview.</p> - -<p>Accordingly on Sabbath I went to this solemn meal, and found there a -large number of respectable men who had met here from various quarters. -At length the great man appeared in his awe-inspiring form, clothed in -white satin. Even his shoes and snuffbox were white, this being among -the Cabbalists the colour of grace. He gave to every new comer his -salaam, that is, his greeting. We sat down to table and during the meal -a solemn silence reigned. After the meal was over, the superior struck -up a solemn inspiriting melody, held his hand for some time upon his -brow, and then began to call out, "Z—— of H——, M—— of R——," and -so on. Every new comer was thus called by his own name and the name of -his residence, which excited no little astonishment. Each recited, as he -was called, some verse of the Holy Scriptures. Thereupon the superior -began to deliver a sermon for which the verses recited served as a text, -so that although they were disconnected verses taken from different -parts of the Holy Scriptures they were combined with as much skill as if -they had formed a single whole. What was still more extraordinary,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> -every one of the new comers believed that he discovered, in that part of -the sermon which was founded on his verse, something that had special -reference to the facts of his own spiritual life. At this we were of -course greatly astonished.</p> - -<p>It was not long, however, before I began to qualify the high opinion I -had formed of this superior and the whole society. I observed that their -ingenious exegesis was at bottom false, and, in addition to that, was -limited strictly to their own extravagant principles, such as the -doctrine of self-annihilation. When a man had once learned these, there -was nothing new for him to bear. The so-called miracles could be very -naturally explained. By means of correspondence and spies and a certain -knowledge of men, by physiognomy and skilful questions, the superiors -were able to elicit indirectly the secrets of the heart, so that they -succeeded with these simple men in obtaining the reputation of being -inspired prophets.</p> - -<p>The whole society also displeased me not a little by their cynical -spirit and the excess of their merriment. A single example of this may -suffice. We had met once at the hour of prayer in the house of the -superior. One of the company arrived somewhat late, when the others -asked him the reason. He replied that he had been detained by his wife -having been that evening confined with a daughter. As soon as they heard -this, they began to congratulate him in a somewhat uproarious fashion. -The superior thereupon came out of his study and asked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> the cause of the -noise. He was told that we were congratulating our friend, because his -wife had brought a girl into the world. "A girl!" he answered with the -greatest indignation, "he ought to be whipped."<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> The poor fellow -protested. He could not comprehend why he should be made to suffer for -his wife having brought a girl into the world. But this was of no avail: -he was seized, thrown down on the floor, and whipped unmercifully. All -except the victim fell into an hilarious mood over the affair, upon -which the superior called them to prayer in the following words, "Now, -brethren, <i>serve the Lord with gladness</i>!"</p> - -<p>I would not stay in the place any longer. I sought the superior's -blessing, took my departure from the society with the resolution to -abandon it for ever, and returned home.</p> - -<p>Now I shall say something of the internal constitution of the society. -The superiors may, according to my experience, be brought under four -heads: (1) the prudent, (2) the crafty, (3) the powerful,<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> (4) the -good.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> - -<p>The highest class, which rules all the others, is of course the first. -These are men of enlightenment, who have attained a deep knowledge of -the weaknesses of men and the motives of their actions, and have early -learned the truth that prudence is better than power, inasmuch as power -is in part dependent on prudence, while prudence is independent of -power. A man may have as many powers and in as high a degree as he will, -still his influence is always limited. By prudence, however, and a sort -of psychological mechanics, that is, an insight into the best possible -use of these powers and their direction, they may be infinitely -strengthened. These prudent leaders, therefore, have devoted themselves -to the art of ruling free men, that is, of using the will and powers of -other men, so that while these believe themselves to be advancing merely -their own ends, they are in reality advancing the ends of their leaders. -This can be maintained by a judicious combination and regulation of the -powers, so that by the slightest touch upon this instrument it may -produce the greatest effect. There is here no deceit, for, as -presupposed, the others themselves reach their own ends by this means -best.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> - -<p>The second class, the crafty, also use the will and the powers of others -for the attainment of their ends; but in regard to these ends they are -more short-sighted or more impetuous than the former class. It often -happens, therefore, that they seek to attain their ends at the expense -of others; and their skill consists not merely in attaining their own -ends, like the first class, but in carefully concealing from others the -fact that they have not reached theirs.</p> - -<p>The powerful are men who, by their inborn or acquired moral force, rule -over the weakness of others, especially when their force is such as is -seldom found in others, as, for example, the control of all the passions -but one, which is made the end of their actions.</p> - -<p>The good are weak men who are merely passive in respect of their -knowledge and power of will, and whose ends are reached, not by -controlling, but by allowing themselves to be controlled.</p> - -<p>The highest class, that of the prudent, supervising all the others -without being under their supervision, as a matter of course rules them -all. It makes use of the crafty on their good side, and seeks to make -them harmless on their other side by outwitting them, so that when they -believe they are deceiving, they themselves are deceived. It makes use, -moreover, of the powerful for the attainment of more important ends, but -seeks, when necessary, to keep them in check by the opposition of -several, it may be weaker, powers. Finally it makes use<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> of the good for -the attainment of its ends, not merely with them but also with others, -inasmuch as it commends these weak brethren to the others as an example -of submission that is worthy of imitation, and by this means clears out -of the way those hindrances that arise from the independent activity of -the others.</p> - -<p>This highest class begins usually with Stoicism, and ends with -Epicureanism. Its members consist of pious men of the first sort, that -is, such as have for a considerable time devoted themselves to the -strictest exercise of religious and moral laws, to the control of their -desires and passions. But they do not, like the Stoic, look upon -Stoicism as an end in itself; they regard it merely as a means to the -highest end of man, namely, happiness. They do not therefore remain at -the Stoical stage, but, after having obtained from it all that is -necessary to the highest end, they hasten to that end itself, the -enjoyment of happiness. By their exercise in the strictest Stoicism -their sensibility for all sorts of pleasure is heightened and ennobled, -instead of becoming duller, as it is with gross Epicureans. By means of -this exercise also they are placed in a position to defer every pleasure -that presents itself till they have determined its real worth, which a -gross Epicurean will not do.</p> - -<p>The first impulse to Stoicism, however, must lie in the temperament, and -it is only by a kind of self-deception that it is shifted to the account -of voluntary activity. But this vanity imparts courage for actual -undertakings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> of a voluntary nature, and this courage is continually -fired by their successful issue. As the superiors of this sect are not -men of science, it is not to be supposed that they have hit upon their -system by the guidance of reason alone. Rather, as already said, the -motive was, in the first instance, temperament, in the second, religious -ideas; and it was only after that, that they could attain to a clear -knowledge and practice of their system in its purity.</p> - -<p>This sect was therefore, in regard to its end and its means, a sort of -secret society, which had nearly acquired dominion over the whole -nation; and consequently one of the greatest revolutions was to have -been expected, if the excesses of some of its members had not laid bare -many weak spots, and thus put weapons into the hands of its enemies. -Some among them, who wished to pass for genuine Cynics, violated all the -laws of decency, wandered about naked in the public streets, attended to -the wants of nature in the presence of others, and so on. By their -practice of extemporising, as a consequence of their principle of -self-annihilation, they introduced into their sermons all sorts of -foolish, unintelligible, confused stuff. By this means some of them -became insane, and believed that in fact they were no longer in -existence. To all this must be added their pride and contempt of others -who did not belong to their sect, especially of the rabbis, who, though -they had their faults, were still far more active and useful than these -ignorant idlers. Men began<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> to find out their weaknesses, to disturb -their meetings, and to persecute them everywhere. This was brought about -especially by the authority of a celebrated rabbi, Elias of Wilna,<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> -who stood in great esteem among the Jews, so that now scarcely any -traces of the society can be found scattered here and there.</p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</a></h2> - -<h3>Continuation of the Former, and also something about Religious -Mysteries.</h3> - - -<p>After the account of the secret society in the last chapter, this seems -the most appropriate place to state, for the examination of the -thoughtful reader, my opinion about <i>mysteries in general</i>, and about -the <i>mysteries of religion</i> in particular.</p> - -<p><i>Mysteries in general</i> are modes of the causal relation between objects -in nature,—modes which are real or held to be real, but which cannot be -disclosed to every man by the natural use of his powers of knowledge. -<i>Eternal truths</i>, that is, those necessary relations of objects which -are founded on the nature of our powers of knowledge, however few may be -familiar with them, are not, according to this definition, mysteries, -because any one can discover them by the use of his powers of knowledge.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, the results of <i>sympathy</i> and <i>antipathy</i>, the -medical <i>specifics</i>, and similar effects, which some men fall upon by -mere accident, and which they afterwards find confirmed by means of -observations and experiments, are genuine <i>mysteries of nature</i>, which -can be made known to another person, not by the use of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> powers of -knowledge, but only either by an accident of the same kind, or by -communication from the first discoverer. If mysteries of this sort are -not confirmed by observation and experiment, the belief in their reality -is called <i>superstition</i>.</p> - -<p><i>Religion</i> is a covenant formed between man and another moral being of a -higher genus. It presupposes a natural relation between man and this -higher moral being, so that, by the mutual fulfilment of their covenant, -they advance the interest of each other. If this natural relation (not -being merely arbitrary and conventional) is real, and the mutual -obligation of the contracting persons is founded on this relation, then -it forms a <i>true</i>, but otherwise a <i>false</i>, natural religion. If the -mutual obligation between man and the higher being or his -representatives is drawn up in a formal code, there arises a <i>positive</i> -or <i>revealed religion</i>.</p> - -<p>The true religion, natural as well as revealed, which, as already -observed, constitutes Judaism, consists in a contract, at first merely -understood, but afterwards expressed, between man and the Supreme Being, -who revealed Himself to the patriarchs in person (in dreams and -prophetic appearances), and made known by them His will, the reward of -obeying it and the punishment of disobedience, regarding which a -covenant was then with mutual consent concluded. Subsequently, through -his representative Moses, He renewed His covenant with the Israelites in -Egypt, determining more precisely their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> mutual obligations; and this -was afterwards on both sides formally confirmed on Mount Sinai.</p> - -<p>To the thoughtful reader I do not need to say, that the representation -of a covenant between God and man is to be taken merely <i>analogically</i>, -and not in its strict sense. The absolutely Perfect Being can reveal -Himself merely <i>as idea to the reason</i>. What revealed itself to the -patriarchs and prophets, suitably to their power of comprehension, in -figure, in an anthropomorphic manner, was not the absolutely Perfect -Being Himself, but a representative of Him, His sensible image. The -covenant, which this Being concludes with man, has not for its end the -mutual satisfaction of wants; for the Supreme Being has no wants, and -the wants of man are satisfied, not by means of this covenant, but only -by observation of those relations between himself and other natural -objects, which are founded on the laws of nature. This covenant, -therefore, can have its foundation nowhere but in the nature of reason, -without reference to any end.</p> - -<p>Heathenism, in my opinion, is distinguished from Judaism mainly by the -fact, that the latter rests upon the <i>formal</i>, absolutely necessary laws -of reason, while the former (even if it be founded on the nature of -things and therefore real) rests upon the <i>material</i> laws of nature -which are merely hypothetically necessary. From this the inevitable -result is polytheism; every particular cause is personified by -imagination, that is, represented<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> as a moral being, and made a -particular deity. At first this result was a matter of mere -<i>Empiricism</i>; but by and by men had occasion to observe that these -causes, which were represented as particular deities, were dependent on -each other in their effects, and in a certain aspect subordinate to each -other. There thus arose gradually a whole system of heathen theology, in -which every deity maintains his rank, and his relation to the rest is -determined.</p> - -<p>Judaism, on the other hand, in its very origin contemplated a <i>system</i>, -that is, a unity among the forces of nature; and thereby it received at -last this <i>pure formal</i> unity. This unity is merely of <i>regulative</i> use, -that is, for the complete systematic connection of all the phenomena of -nature; and it presupposes a knowledge of the <i>multiplicity</i> of the -various forces in nature. But owing to their excessive love of system, -and their anxiety for the preservation of the <i>principle</i> in its purity, -the Israelites seem to have wholly neglected its application. The result -was that they preserved a religion which was pure indeed, but at the -same time very unfruitful, both for the extension of knowledge and for -its application in practical life. By this cause may be explained their -constant murmuring against the leaders of their religion, and their -repeated relapse into idolatry. They could not, like enlightened nations -at the present day, direct their attention to purity of principle and -useful application of their religion at the same time, and therefore of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> -necessity they failed either in the one or in the other. Finally the -Talmudists introduced a merely <i>formal</i> application of religion which -aimed at no real end; and by this means they made matters worse and -worse.</p> - -<p>This religion, therefore, which, by the intention of its founder, should -have formed the Jews into the wisest and most intelligent of nations, -made them by its injudicious application the most ignorant and -unreasonable of all. Instead of the knowledge of nature being combined -with the knowledge of religion, and the former subordinated to the -latter merely as the material to the formal, the former was altogether -neglected; and the principle, maintained in its mere abstractness, -continued without any application.</p> - -<p>Mysteries of religion are objects and acts, which are adapted to ideas -and principles, and the inner meaning of which is of great importance, -but which have in their outward form something unseemly or ridiculous or -otherwise objectionable. They must therefore, even in regard to their -outward form, be kept concealed from the vulgar eye, which cannot -penetrate into the inner meaning of anything; and accordingly for it -they must be a double mystery. That is to say, the objects or acts -themselves constitute the lesser mysteries, and their inner meaning the -greater mysteries.</p> - -<p>Of this sort, for example, among the Jews, in the tabernacle, and -afterwards in the Holy of Holies in the temple, was the ark of the -covenant, which, according to the testimony<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> of renowned authors, showed -much resemblance to the sacred chest in the innermost shrine of some -heathen temples. Thus we find among the Egyptians the casket of Apis, -that concealed from the vulgar eye this dead animal, which as a symbol -indeed had an important meaning, but in itself presented a repulsive -aspect. The ark of the covenant in the first temple contained, it is -true, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, nothing besides the -two tables of the law; but of the ark in the second temple, built after -the Babylonian captivity, I find in the Talmud a passage which is too -remarkable not to be adduced. According to this passage the enemies, who -seized the temple, found in the Holy of Holies the likeness of two -persons of different sex embracing, and profaned the sacred object by a -crass exposition of its inner meaning. This likeness was said to be a -vivid sensible representation of the union between the nation and God, -and, in order to guard against abuse, had to be withdrawn from the eye -of the common people, who cling to the symbol, but do not penetrate to -its inner meaning. For the same reason the <i>cherubim</i> also were -concealed behind the veil.</p> - -<p>Of the same sort were the mysteries of the ancients in general. But the -greatest of all mysteries in the Jewish religion consists in the name, -Jehovah, expressing <i>bare existence</i>, in abstraction from all -<i>particular kinds of existence</i>, which cannot of course be conceived -without <i>existence in general</i>. The doctrine of the unity of God, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> -the dependence of all beings on Him, in regard to their possibility as -well as their actuality, can be perfectly comprehended only in -conformity with a <i>single system</i>. When Josephus, in his apology against -Apion, says, "The first instruction of our religion relates to the -Godhead, and teaches that God comprehends all things, is an absolutely -Perfect and Blessed Being, and is the <i>sole cause of all existence</i>," I -believe that these words contain the best explanation of the otherwise -difficult passage, where Moses says to God, "Behold, when I come unto -the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers -hath sent me unto you, and they shall ask, What is his name? what shall -I answer unto them?" and God replies, "Thus shalt thou say unto the -children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of -Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob hath sent me unto you, for this is my name for -ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations."<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> For, in my -opinion, this passage means nothing more than that the Jewish religion -lays at its foundation the unity of God as the <i>immediate</i> cause of all -existence; and it says therefore precisely the same as the remarkable -inscription on the pyramid at Sais, "I am all that is and was and shall -be; my veil has no mortal removed," and that other inscription under the -column of Isis, "I am that which is." The name, Jehovah, is called by -the Talmudists <i>Shem haezam</i> (<i>nomen proprium</i>),<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> the name of the -essence, which belongs to God in Himself, without reference to His -operations. The other names of God, however, are <i>appellative</i>, and -express attributes which he has in common with all His creatures, only -that they belong to Him in the most eminent degree. For example, -<i>Elohim</i> is a lord, a judge. <i>El</i> is a mighty one, <i>Adonai</i>, a lord; and -the same is the case with all the rest. The Talmudists drive this point -so far as to maintain, that the Holy Scriptures consist merely of the -manifold names of God.</p> - -<p>The Cabbalists made use of this principle. Having enumerated the chief -attributes of God, arranged them in order and brought them into a system -which they call <i>Olam Eziloth</i> or <i>Sephiroth</i>, they not only picked out -an appropriate name for each in the Holy Scriptures, but they made in -addition all sorts of combinations of these attributes in various -relations, which they expressed by similar combinations of the -corresponding names. They could therefore easily expound the Holy -Scriptures according to their method, inasmuch as they found therein -nothing but what they had before put in themselves.</p> - -<p>Besides these there may also be mysteries in a religion which consist in -the knowledge that the religion, as understood by enlightened people, -has no mysteries at all. This knowledge may be connected either with an -endeavour to destroy gradually among the people the belief in mysteries, -and to banish the so-called lesser<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> mysteries by publishing the greater, -or, on the contrary, with an endeavour to preserve among the people the -belief in mysteries, and to make the preservation of the lesser -mysteries part of the subject of the greater.</p> - -<p>The Jewish religion, according to the spirit of its founder, is of the -first kind. Moses, as well as the prophets who followed him, sought -constantly to inculcate that the end of religion is not <i>external -ceremonies</i>, but the knowledge of the true God as the sole -incomprehensible cause of all things, and the practice of virtue in -accordance with the prescriptions of reason.</p> - -<p>The heathen religions, on the other hand, show evident traces of the -second kind. Still I am not, like some, inclined to believe that -everything in these was planned for <i>intentional deception</i>, but I -believe that the founders of these religions were for the most part -deceived deceivers; and this mode of representing the matter is far more -in accordance with human nature. I am also unable to imagine that such -secret designs could be propagated, by means of a formal tradition, from -generation to generation. And, moreover, what would have been the use of -this? Have not later generations the same faculty as the earlier of -contriving schemes to reach their ends? There are princes who have never -read Macchiavelli, and yet have admirably carried his principles into -practice.</p> - -<p>With regard to the society of pietists described above I am persuaded -that it had as little connection with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> free-masons as with any other -secret society. But conjectures are allowed, and here we have to do -merely with the <i>degree of probability</i>. In my opinion there are in -every state societies which are essentially secret, but which externally -have no appearance of being such. Every body of men with a common -interest is to me a secret society. Its aim and principal operations may -be ever so well known, still the <i>most important</i> of these remain -concealed to the uninitiated. Of such a secret society, as of others, -much good as well as evil may therefore be said; and so long as they do -not carry their mischief too far, they are always tolerated.</p> - -<p>The Society of Pietists had a similar end in view to that of the Order -of Illuminati in Bavaria, and employed nearly the same means. Its aim -was to spread itself among people wandering in the dark; and it made use -of superstition in a remarkable manner, as means to this end. It sought -chiefly to attract the youth to itself, and by a sort of empirical -knowledge of men, to educate every member to that, for which he seemed -to be destined by nature, and to assign him his proper place. Every -member of the society was allowed to acquire as much knowledge of its -aim and internal constitution, as enabled him to look merely backwards -on his subordinates, but not forwards on his superiors. These superiors -understood the art of communicating truths of reason by means of sublime -figures, and of translating these figurative representations into truths -of reason. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> might almost be said of them, that <i>they understood the -language of animals</i>—a very important art, which is indispensable to -every teacher of the people. By doing away with a gloomy piety, their -doctrines met with acceptance among the lively youth. The principle of -self-annihilation, taught by them, is, when well understood, nothing -else than the foundation of self-activity. By its means all the modes of -thought and action, which have become rooted by education, habit and -communication with others, and by which human activity is wont to -receive a wrong direction, are to be destroyed, and one's own free mode -of action introduced. Moral and æsthetic feeling can in fact be -preserved and perfected by this principle alone. It is only when ill -understood, that it can be injurious, as I have shown by the example of -this society itself.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</a></h2> - -<h3>Journeys to Königsberg, Stettin and Berlin, for the purpose of extending -my knowledge of men.</h3> - - -<p>My external circumstances were becoming worse and worse. I was unwilling -any longer to adapt myself to my ordinary occupations, and found myself -therefore everywhere out of my sphere. On the other hand, I was also -unable in the place of my abode to satisfy sufficiently my favourite -inclination to the study of the sciences. So I determined to betake -myself to Germany, there to study medicine and, as opportunity offered, -other sciences also. But the question was, how such a long journey was -to be made. I knew indeed, that some merchants in the place of my abode -were soon to make a journey to Königsberg in Prussia; but I had only a -slight acquaintance with them, and could not therefore expect that they -would take me with them for nothing. After much deliberation I fell at -last upon a capital expedient.</p> - -<p>I had among my friends a very learned and pious man, who stood in great -esteem among all the Jews of the town. To him I revealed my purpose, and -took him into counsel on the subject. I laid before him my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> miserable -circumstances, pointed out to him, that, as my inclinations had been -once directed to the knowledge of God and His works, I was no longer fit -for any ordinary occupation; and I represented to him especially, that I -was now obliged to support myself by my scholarship alone, as an -instructor in the Bible and the Talmud, which, according to the judgment -of some rabbis, was not altogether allowable. I explained to him, that -on this account I wished to study medicine as a profane art, by which -means I might be of service, not only to myself, but to the whole of the -Jews in this neighbourhood, as there was no regular physician here, and -those, who gave themselves out for such, were the most ignorant shavers, -who packed men out of the world by their cures.</p> - -<p>These reasons produced an extraordinary effect on so devout a man. He -went to a merchant of his acquaintance, represented to him the -importance of my undertaking, and persuaded him to take me with him to -Königsberg on his own vessel. The merchant could refuse nothing to so -godly a man, and therefore gave his consent.</p> - -<p>Accordingly I set out with this Jewish merchant for Königsberg in -Prussia. When I arrived there, I went to the Jewish medical doctor of -the place, opened to him my proposal to study medicine, and begged him -for advice and support. As his professional occupations prevented him -from conveniently speaking with me on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> the subject, and as he could not -understand me well at any rate, he referred me to some students who -lodged in his house. As soon as I showed myself to these young -gentlemen, and opened to them my proposal, they burst into loud -laughter. And certainly for this they were not to be blamed. Imagine a -man from Polish Lithuania of about five and twenty years, with a -tolerably stiff beard, in tattered dirty clothes, whose language is a -mixture of Hebrew, Jewish German, Polish and Russian, with their several -grammatical inaccuracies, who gives out that he understands the German -language, and that he has attained some knowledge of the sciences. What -were the young gentlemen to think?</p> - -<p>They began to poke fun at me, and gave me to read Mendelssohn's -<i>Phaedo</i>, which by chance lay on the table. I read in the most pitiful -style, both on account of the peculiar manner in which I had learned the -German language, and on account of my bad pronunciation. Again they -burst into loud laughter; but they said, I must explain to them what I -had read. This I did in my own fashion; but as they did not understand -me, they demanded that I should translate what I had read into Hebrew. -This I did on the spot. The students, who understood Hebrew well, fell -into no slight astonishment, when they saw that I had not only grasped -correctly the meaning of this celebrated author, but also expressed it -happily in Hebrew. They began therefore to interest themselves on my -account, procured for me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> some cast-off clothing, and board during my -stay in Königsberg. At the same time they advised me to go to Berlin, -where I should best attain my object. To make the journey suit my -circumstances, however, they advised me to go by ship from Königsberg to -Stettin, and thence to Frankfurt on the Oder, from which place I should -easily find means of getting to Berlin.</p> - -<p>I went therefore by ship, and had nothing for food but some toast, some -herring, and a flask of spirits. I was told in Königsberg, that the -journey might take ten or, at the most, fourteen days. This prophecy, -however, was not fulfilled. In consequence of contrary winds, the voyage -lasted five weeks. In what circumstances, therefore, I found myself, may -be easily imagined. There were in the vessel besides me no other -passengers, but an old woman, who sang hymns all the time for her -comfort. The Pomeranian German of the crew I could understand as little -as they could my medley of Jewish, Polish and Lithuanian. I got nothing -warm to eat the whole time, and was obliged to sleep on hard stuffed -bags. The vessel came also sometimes into danger. Of course the most of -the time I was seasick.</p> - -<p>At last I arrived at Stettin, where I was told that I could make the -journey to Frankfurt quite pleasantly on foot. But how was a Polish Jew -in the most wretched circumstances, without a pfennig to buy food, and -without knowing the language of the country, to make a journey even of a -few miles? Yet it had to be done.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> Accordingly I set out from Stettin, -and as I thought over my miserable situation, I sat down under a -lime-tree, and began to weep bitterly. I soon became somewhat lighter in -heart; I took courage, and went on. After I had gone two or three miles, -towards evening I arrived at an inn thoroughly worn out. It was the eve -of the Jewish fast, which falls in August. Already I was nearly starving -with hunger and thirst, and I was to fast still the whole of the next -day. I had not a pfennig to spend and nothing of any value to sell.</p> - -<p>After long reflection it occurred to me, that I must still have in my -coat-pocket an iron spoon, which I had taken with me on board ship. I -brought it, and begged the landlady of the inn to give me a little bread -and beer for it. She refused at first to take the spoon, but after much -importunity she was at last induced to grant a glass of sour beer in -exchange. I was obliged therefore to content myself with this, drank my -glass of beer, and went off to the stable to sleep on straw.</p> - -<p>In the morning I proceeded on my journey, having previously inquired for -a place, where there were Jews, in order that I might be able to go into -the synagogue, and sing with my brethren the lamentations over the -destruction of Jerusalem. This was done, and after the prayers and -singing,—about midday,—I went to the Jewish schoolmaster of the place, -and held some conversation with him. He soon discovered that I was a -full rabbi, began to interest himself about me, and procured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> me a -supper at the house of a Jew. He also gave me a letter of introduction -to another schoolmaster in the neighbouring town, recommending me as a -great Talmudist and an honourable rabbi. Here also I met with a fair -reception. I was invited to the Sabbath dinner by the most respectable -and richest Jew of the place, and went into the synagogue, where I was -shown to the highest seat, and received every mark of honour usually -bestowed on a rabbi.</p> - -<p>After the close of the service the rich Jew referred to took me to his -house, and put me in the place of honour at his table, that is between -himself and his daughter. She was a young girl of about twelve years, -dressed in the most beautiful style. I began, as rabbi, to hold a very -learned and edifying discourse; and the less the gentleman and lady -understood it, the more divine it seemed to them. All at once I -observed, to my chagrin, that the young lady began to put on a sour -look, and to make wry faces. At first I did not know how to explain -this; but, after a while, when I turned my eyes upon myself and my -miserable dirty suit of rags, the whole mystery was at once unriddled. -The uneasiness of the young lady had a very good cause. And how could it -be otherwise? Since I left Königsberg, about seven weeks before, I had -never had a clean shirt to put on; and I had been obliged to lie in the -stables of inns on bare straw, on which who knows how many poor -travellers had lain before? Now all at once my eyes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> were opened to see -my misery in its appalling magnitude. But what was I to do? How was I to -help myself out of this unfortunate situation? Gloomy and sad I soon -bade farewell to these good people, and proceeded on my journey to -Berlin under a continued struggle with want and misery of every kind.</p> - -<p>At last I reached this city. Here I believed that I should put an end to -my misery, and accomplish all my wishes. But alas I was sadly deceived. -In this capital, as is well known, no Jewish beggars were allowed. -Accordingly the Jewish community of the place, in order to make -provision for their poor, have built at the Rosenthaler gate a house, in -which the poor are received, and questioned by the Jewish elders about -what they want in Berlin. According to the results of such inquiry, they -are either taken into the city, if they are sick or want employment, or -they are sent forward on their journey. I was therefore conducted to -this house, which was filled partly with sick people, partly with a lewd -rabble. For a long while I looked round in vain for a man, with whom I -might talk about my affairs.</p> - -<p>At last I observed a man, who, to judge by his dress, was surely a -rabbi. I went to him, and how great was my joy to learn from him, that -he was really a rabbi, and pretty well known in Berlin! I conversed with -him on all sorts of subjects connected with rabbinical learning; and as -I was very open-hearted, I related to him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> the course of my life in -Poland, revealed to him my purpose of studying medicine in Berlin, -showed him my commentary on the <i>Moreh Nebhochim</i>, and so forth. He -listened to all, and seemed to interest himself very much in my behalf. -But all at once he disappeared out of sight.</p> - -<p>At length towards evening came the Jewish elders. Each of the persons in -the house was called, and questioned about his wants. When my turn came, -I said quite frankly, that I wished to remain in Berlin, in order to -study medicine. The elders refused my request point-blank, gave me a -pittance in charity, and went away. The reason of this conduct towards -me in particular was nothing else than the following.</p> - -<p>The rabbi, of whom I spoke, was a zealot in his orthodoxy. Accordingly -when he had discovered my sentiments and purposes, he went into town, -and informed the elders about my heretical mode of thinking. He told -them, that I was going to issue a new edition of the <i>Moreh Nebhochim</i> -with a commentary, and that my intention was not so much to study -medicine, but mainly to devote myself to the sciences in general, and to -extend my knowledge. This the orthodox Jews look upon as something -dangerous to religion and good morals. They believe this to be specially -true of the Polish rabbis, who, having by some lucky accident been -delivered from the bondage of superstition, suddenly catch a gleam of -the light of reason, and set themselves free from their chains.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> And -this belief is to some extent well-founded. Persons in such a position -may be compared to a man, who, after being famished for a long time, -suddenly comes upon a well spread table, who will attack the food with -violent greed, and fill himself even to surfeiting.</p> - -<p>The refusal of permission to stay in Berlin came upon me like a -thunderclap. The ultimate object of all my hopes and wishes was all at -once removed beyond my reach, just when I had seen it so near. I found -myself in the situation of Tantalus, and did not know where to turn for -help. I was especially pained by the treatment I received from the -overseer of this poorhouse, who, by command of his superiors, urged my -speedy departure, and never left off till he saw me outside of the gate. -There I threw myself on the ground and began to weep bitterly. It was a -Sunday, and many people went, as usual, to walk outside of the city. -Most of them never turned aside to a whining worm like me, but some -compassionate souls were very much struck with the sight, and asked the -cause of my wailing. I answered them; but, partly on account of my -unintelligible language, partly because my speech was broken by frequent -weeping and sobbing, they could not understand what I said.</p> - -<p>I was so deeply affected by this vexation, that I fell into a violent -fever. The soldiers, who kept guard at the gate, reported this at the -poorhouse. The overseer came, and carried me in. I stayed there over the -day, and made myself glad with the hope of becoming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> thoroughly sick, so -as to enforce a longer sojourn in the place, during which I thought I -might form some acquaintances, by whose influence I hoped to receive -protection and permission to remain in Berlin. But alas! in this hope I -was deceived. The following day I rose quite lively again without a -trace of fever. I was therefore obliged to go. But whither? That I did -not know myself. Accordingly I took the first road that I came upon, and -surrendered myself to fate.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</a></h2> - -<h3>Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance.</h3> - - -<p>In the evening I came to an inn, where I met a poor tramp who was a -Jewish beggar by profession. I was uncommonly pleased to meet one of my -brethren, with whom I could talk, and to whom this neighbourhood was -pretty well known. I resolved therefore to wander about the country with -this companion, and to preserve my life in this way, though two such -heterogeneous persons were nowhere to be met with in the world. I was an -educated rabbi; he was an idiot. I had hitherto maintained myself in an -honourable way; he was a beggar by profession. I had ideas of morality, -propriety, and decency; he knew nothing of these. Finally, I was in -sound health, it is true, but still of weakly constitution; he, on the -other hand, was a sturdy, able-bodied fellow, who would have made the -best of soldiers.</p> - -<p>Notwithstanding these differences, I stuck close to the man, as, in -order to prolong life, I was compelled to become a vagrant in a strange -land. In our wanderings I laboured to communicate to my companion ideas -of religion and of true morality, while he in return instructed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> me in -the art of begging. He taught me the usual formulas of the art, and -recommended me especially to curse and swear, whenever I was sent away -without anything. But with all the trouble, which he gave himself in the -matter, his teachings would not take any hold on me. The formulas of -begging appeared to me absurd I thought, if a man was once compelled to -beg help of others, he should express his feelings in the most simple -form. As far as cursing was concerned, I could not understand why a man, -who refused another's request, should draw a curse upon himself; and -then it seemed to me, that the man thus treated would be thereby -embittered, and the beggar be all the less likely to attain his object. -When therefore I went to beg with my comrade, I conducted myself always -as if I were begging and cursing at the same time, but in fact I never -spoke a single intelligible word. If, on the other hand, I went alone, I -had absolutely nothing to say; but from my appearance and conduct could -easily be seen what was wanted. My comrade sometimes scolded me on -account of my slowness in learning his art, and this I bore with the -greatest patience.</p> - -<p>In this way we wandered about in a district of a few miles for nearly -half a year. At last we resolved to turn our steps towards Poland. When -we arrived at Posen we took up our quarters in the Jewish poorhouse, the -master of which was a poor jobbing tailor. Here I formed the resolve, at -whatever cost, to bring my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> wandering to a close. It was harvest-time, -and already began to be pretty cold. I was almost naked and barefoot. By -this vagrant life, in which I never got any regular meals, for the most -part had to content myself with bits of mouldy bread and water, and at -night was obliged to lie on old straw, sometimes even on the bare earth, -my health had seriously suffered. Besides, the sacred seasons and -fast-days in the Jewish calendar were coming on; and as at that time I -was of a somewhat strong religious disposition, I could not endure the -thought of passing in complete idleness this period which others -employed for the welfare of their souls.</p> - -<p>I resolved, therefore, for the present at least, to go no farther, and, -at all events if it should come to the worst, to throw myself before the -synagogue, and either die there or excite the compassion of my brethren, -and by that means bring my sufferings to an end. Consequently as soon as -my comrade awoke in the morning, began to make arrangements for a -begging tour, and summoned me to the same, I told him that I would not -go with him at present; and when he asked how I intended to sustain life -in any other way, I was able to answer nothing but "God will surely -help."</p> - -<p>I then went off to the Jewish school. Here I found a number of scholars, -some of whom were reading, while others took advantage of the master's -absence to pass the time in play. I also took a book to read. The -scholars, who were struck by my strange dress,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> approached and asked me -whence I came and what I wanted. Their questions I answered in my -Lithuanian dialect, at which they began to laugh, and make merry at my -expense. For this I cared little. But I recollected that, some years -before, a chief rabbi from my neighbourhood had been appointed to the -same office in Posen, and that he had taken with him an acquaintance and -a good friend of mine as his secretary. Accordingly I asked the boys -about this friend. To my extreme grief I learned that he was no longer -in Posen, as the chief rabbi had been afterwards promoted to the same -office in Hamburg, and his secretary had gone with him to that place. -They told me, however, that his son, a boy about twelve years old, had -been left behind in Posen with the present chief rabbi, who was a -son-in-law of his predecessor.</p> - -<p>This information saddened me not a little. Still the last circumstance -gave me some hope. I inquired after the dwelling of the new chief rabbi, -and went to it; but, as I was almost naked, I shrank from entering, and -waited until I saw some one going into the house, whom I begged to be so -good as to call my friend's son out. The boy recognised me at once, and -manifested his astonishment at seeing me here in such a pitiable plight. -I replied, that this was not the time to relate all the misfortunes -which had brought me into this state, and that at present he should -consider merely how he might somewhat relieve my distress.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> - -<p>This he promised to do. He went to the chief rabbi, and announced me as -a great scholar and a pious man, who by extraordinary accidents had -fallen into a very miserable condition. The chief rabbi, who was an -excellent man, an acute Talmudist, and of very gentle character, was -touched by my distress, and sent for me to come in. He conversed with me -a while, discussing some of the most important subjects in the Talmud, -and found me well versed in all branches of Jewish learning. Then he -inquired about my intentions, and I told him that I wished to be -introduced as a tutor into some family, but that meanwhile my only -desire was to be able to celebrate the sacred season here, and for this -short period at least to interrupt my travels.</p> - -<p>The good-hearted rabbi bade me, so far as this was concerned, to lay -aside all anxiety, spoke of my desire as a small matter, which it was -nothing more than reasonable to want. He then gave me what money he had -by him, invited me to dine with him every Sabbath, as long as I remained -here, and bade his boy procure a respectable lodging for me. The boy -came back soon, and conducted me to my lodging. I expected this to be -only a small chamber in the house of some poor man. I was therefore not -a little astonished, when I found myself in the house of one of the -oldest Jews of the town, and that here had been prepared for me a neat -little room, which was the study of the master, he and his son being -both scholars.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p> - -<p>As soon as I had looked round a little, I went to the housewife, and, -thrusting some coppers into her hand, I asked her to get me some gruel -for supper. She began to smile at my simplicity, and said, "No, no, sir, -that is not our agreement. The chief rabbi has not given you such a -recommendation, that you are obliged to have us making you gruel for -money." She then went on to explain, that I was not only to lodge in her -house, but also to eat and drink with them, as long as I stayed in the -town. I was astonished at this unexpected good fortune; but my delight -was still greater, when after supper I was shown to a clean bed. I could -not believe my eyes, and asked several times, "Is this really for me?" I -can say with truth, that never, before or since this incident, have I -felt such a degree of happiness, as when I lay down that night, and felt -my limbs, which for half a year had been overwearied and almost broken, -recovering their former strength in a soft bed.</p> - -<p>I slept till late in the day. I had scarcely risen when the chief rabbi -sent for me to come and see him. When I made my appearance he asked me -how I was pleased with my lodging. I could not find words to express my -feelings on the subject, and exclaimed in ecstasy, "I have slept in a -bed!" At this the chief rabbi was uncommonly pleased. He then sent for -the school precentor, and as soon as this man appeared he said to him, -"Go to the shop of ——, and get cloth for a suit to this gentleman." -Thereupon he turned to me and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> asked what sort of stuff I liked. -Overpowered by the feeling of gratitude and esteem for this excellent -man I could answer nothing. The tears streaming down my cheeks served -for my only answer.</p> - -<p>The chief rabbi also ordered for me some new linen. In two days -everything was ready. Dressed in my new linen and new suit I went to the -chief rabbi. I was going to express my gratitude to him, but could -scarcely get out a few broken words. For the chief rabbi this was a -charming sight. He waived my thanks, and said that I was not to think -too highly of him for this, inasmuch as what he had done for me was a -mere trifle not worth mentioning.</p> - -<p>Now the reader may perhaps suppose that this chief rabbi was a wealthy -man, for whom the expense to which he put himself on my account was -really a trifle; but I can give the assurance that this was far from -being the case. He had merely a moderate income; and as he occupied -himself wholly with study, his wife had the management of his affairs, -and especially the charge of housekeeping. Actions of this sort, -therefore, had to be done without the knowledge of his wife, and under -the pretext that he received from other people the money for the -purpose. Moreover, he lived a very temperate life, fasted every day -except Sabbath, and never ate flesh the whole week through. -Nevertheless, to satisfy his benevolent inclinations he could not avoid -making debts. His severe manner of life, his many studies and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> vigils, -weakened his strength to such a degree that he died about the -thirty-sixth year of his life. His death took place after he had been -appointed chief rabbi in Fördet, to which place he was followed by a -large number of disciples. I can never think of this godly man without -being deeply affected.</p> - -<p>In my former lodging at the poor tailor's I had left some trifles which -I now went to fetch. The tailor, his wife, and my former comrade in -beggary, who had already heard of the happy change in my affairs, -expected me with the greatest impatience. It was a touching scene. The -man, who three days before arrived in this poor hut, quite debilitated, -half naked, and barefoot, whom the poor inmates of the house regarded as -an outcast of nature, and whose comrade in linen blouse had looked down -upon him with mockery and contempt,—this man (his fame before him) now -comes into the same hut with a cheerful face, and in reverend garb -dressed as a chief rabbi.</p> - -<p>They all testified their joy and surprise at the transformation. The -poor woman took her babe in her arms and, with tears in her eyes, begged -a blessing for him. My comrade begged me very affectingly for -forgiveness on account of his rough treatment. He said that he deemed -himself fortunate in having had such a fellow-traveller, but would hold -himself unfortunate if I would not forgive the faults he had committed -in ignorance. I spoke to them all very kindly, gave the little one my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> -blessing, handed to my old comrade all the cash I had in my pocket, and -went back deeply affected.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile my fame was spread through the whole town by the conduct -towards me of the chief rabbi, as well as that of my new host, who was -himself a scholar, and had formed a high opinion of my talents and -learning from frequent conversations and discussions which we had held -together. All the scholars of the town, therefore, came to see me and -discuss with me as a famous travelling rabbi; and the more intimately -they came to know me, so much the higher rose their esteem.</p> - -<p>This period was undoubtedly the happiest and most honourable in my life. -The young scholars of the town passed a resolution at their meeting to -make up for me a salary, for which I was to deliver lectures to them on -the celebrated and profound work of Maimonides, <i>Moreh Nebhochim</i>. This -proposal, however, was never carried out, because the parents of these -young people were anxious lest their children should be thereby led -astray, and by independent thinking on religion be made to waver in -their faith. They acknowledged indeed that, with all my fondness for -religious speculation, I was still a pious man and an orthodox rabbi. -But they could not rely upon their children having sufficient judgment, -to be able to enter upon this course without passing from one extreme to -the other, from superstition to unbelief; and therein perhaps they were -right.</p> - -<p>After I had spent about four weeks in this way, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> man, with whom I -lodged, came to me, and said, "Herr Solomon, allow me to make a proposal -to you. If you are inclined merely to solitary study, you may remain -here as long as you like. If, however, you do not wish to withdraw into -such complete retirement, but are inclined to be of service to the world -with your talents, there is a wealthy man here—one of the most -prominent people of the town—who has an only son, and wishes nothing so -much as to have you for his tutor. This man is my brother-in-law. If you -will not do it for his sake, please do it for mine, and to gratify the -chief rabbi, as he has deeply at heart the education of my nephew, who -is connected by marriage with his family." This offer I accepted with -delight. I came therefore into this family under advantageous conditions -as tutor, and remained with them two years in the greatest honour. -Nothing was done in the house without my knowledge. I was always met -with the greatest respect. I was held in fact to be almost something -more than human.</p> - -<p>Thus the two years flowed on imperceptibly and happily for me. But -during the time some little incidents took place, which I believe should -not be altogether omitted in this history.</p> - -<p>In the first place the esteem entertained for me in this house went so -far, that <i>malgré moi</i> they were going to make me a prophet. My pupil -was betrothed to the daughter of a chief rabbi, who was a brother-in-law -of the chief rabbi in Posen. The bride, a girl of about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> twelve years, -was brought to Posen by her parents-in-law at the feast of Pentecost. On -the occasion of this visit I observed that the girl was of a very -phlegmatic temperament and somewhat consumptive. I mentioned this to the -brother of my host, and added with a significant look, that I was very -anxious for the girl, as I did not believe that her health would last -long. After the feast was over the girl was sent home, and a fortnight -afterwards a letter was received announcing her death. On this account, -not only in the house where I lived, but in the whole town, I was taken -for a prophet, who had been able to foretell the death of this girl. As -I wished nothing less than to deceive, I endeavoured to bring these -superstitious people to a different train of thought. I told them that -anybody, who had made observations in the world, would have been able to -foretell the same thing. But it was of no use. Once for all I was a -prophet, and had to remain one.</p> - -<p>Another incident occurred in a Jewish house one Friday when they were -preparing fish for the Sabbath. The fish was a carp, and it seemed to -the cook who was cutting it up as if it uttered a sound. This threw -everybody into a panic. The rabbi was asked what should be done with -this dumb fish that had ventured to speak. Under the superstitious idea -that the carp was possessed with a spirit, the rabbi enjoined that it -should be wrapped in a linen cloth, and buried with pomp.</p> - -<p>Now, in the house where I lived, this awe-inspiring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> event became the -subject of conversation. Having by this time emancipated myself pretty -thoroughly from superstitions of this sort by diligent study of the -<i>Moreh Nebhochim</i>, I laughed heartily over the story, and said, that, if -instead of burying the carp, they had sent it to me, I should have tried -how such an inspired carp would taste.</p> - -<p>This <i>bon mot</i> became known. The learned men fell into a passion about -it, denounced me as a heretic, and sought to persecute me in every way. -But the respect, entertained for me in the house where I was tutor, made -all their efforts fruitless. As I found myself in this way safe, and the -spirit of fanaticism, instead of deterring me, rather spurred me on to -further reflection, I began to push matters a little farther, frequently -slept through the time of prayer, went seldom to the synagogue, and so -on. At last the measure of my sins became so full, that nothing could -secure me any longer from persecution.</p> - -<p>At the entrance to the Common Hall in Posen there has been, no one knows -for how long, a stag-horn fixed into the wall. The Jews are unanimously -of the conviction, that any one who touches this horn is sure to die on -the spot; and they relate a multitude of instances in proof. This would -not go down with me at all, and I made fun of it. So one day when I was -passing the stag-horn with some other Jews, I said to them, "You Posen -fools, do you think that any one who touches this horn must die on the -spot? See, I dare to touch it!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> Horror-struck, they expected my death -on the spot; but as nothing happened, their anxiety for me was converted -into hatred. They looked on me as one who had profaned the sanctuary.</p> - -<p>This fanaticism stirred up in me the desire to go to Berlin, and destroy -by enlightenment the remnant of superstition which still clung to me. I -therefore begged leave of my employer. He expressed the wish indeed, -that I should remain longer in his house, and assured me of his -protection against all persecution. But as I had once for all taken my -resolution, I was determined not to alter it. I therefore bade goodbye -to my employer and his whole family, took a seat on the Frankfurt post, -and set out for Berlin.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</a></h2> - -<h3>Arrival in Berlin—Acquaintances—Mendelssohn—Desperate Study of -Metaphysics—Doubts—Lectures on Locke and Adelung.</h3> - - -<p>As I came to Berlin this time by post, I did not require to remain -outside the Rosenthaler Gate to be examined by the Jewish elders; I -proceeded without any difficulty into the city, and was allowed to take -up my quarters where I chose. To <i>remain</i> in the city, however, was a -different thing. The Jewish police-officers—L. M. of those days was a -terrible fellow,—went every day round all the hotels and other houses -designed for the reception of strangers, made inquiry into the quality -and occupation of newcomers, as well as the probable length of their -stay, and allowed them no rest till they had either found some -occupation in the city, or were out of it again, or—the alternative -goes without saying. I had taken a lodging on the New Market with a Jew, -who was accustomed to receive in his house poor travellers that had not -much to spend, and who the following day received a visit of this sort.</p> - -<p>The Jewish police-officer, L. M., came and examined me in the strictest -manner. I told him that I wished to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> enter into service as a -family-tutor in Berlin, and that therefore the length of my stay could -not be exactly determined. I appeared to him suspicious; he believed he -had seen me here before, and evidently looked on me as a comet, which -comes nearer to the earth the second time than the first, and so makes -the danger more threating. But when he saw by me a <i>Milloth Higgayon</i> or -Hebrew Logic, drawn up by Maimonides, and annotated by Mendelssohn, he -went into a perfect rage. "Yes! yes!" he exclaimed, "that's the sort of -books for me!" and as he turned to me with a threatening look, "Pack," -he said, "out of Berlin as quick as you can, if you don't wish to be led -out with all the honours!" I trembled, and knew not what to do; but as I -had learnt that there was a Polish Jew, a man of talent, residing in -Berlin for the sake of study, and received with esteem in the best -families, I paid him a visit.</p> - -<p>He received me as a countryman in a very friendly manner, asked about my -home in Poland, and what had brought me to Berlin. When I told him in -reply, that from my childhood I had discovered an inclination to the -sciences, had already made myself acquainted with this and that Hebrew -work which touches upon these, and now had come to Berlin in order to be -<i>Maamik Bechochmah</i> (to become absorbed in the sciences), he smiled at -this quaint rabbinical phrase, but gave me his full approval; and after -conversing with me for some time, he begged me to visit him often, which -I very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> willingly promised to do, and went away rejoicing in spirit.</p> - -<p>The very next day I visited my Polish friend again, and found with him -some young people belonging to a prominent Jewish family, who visited -him often, and conversed with him on scientific subjects. They entered -into conversation with me, found much amusement in my jargon, as well as -in my simplicity and open-heartedness; in particular they laughed -heartily at the phrase, <i>Maamik Bechochmah</i>, of which they had heard -already. All this gave me courage, and they assured me that I should not -find myself mistaken in the expectation of being able to be <i>Maamik -Bechochmah</i> in Berlin. And when I made known my fear about the -above-mentioned police-officer, they made me pluck up courage by -promising to obtain protection for me from their family, so that I might -remain in Berlin as long as I chose.</p> - -<p>They kept their word, and Herr D—— P——, a well-to-do man of -excellent character, of many attainments and fine taste, who was an -uncle of these young men, not only paid me much attention, but also -procured for me a respectable lodging, and invited me to the Sabbath -dinner. Others of the family also sent me meals at my room on fixed -days. Among these was a brother of these young men, in other respects an -honourable man, who was not without attainments. But as he was a zealous -Talmudist, he inquired earnestly whether with my inclination towards the -sciences I had not quite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> neglected the Talmud; and as soon as he -learnt, that I was so <i>Maamik Bechochmah</i> as to neglect the study of the -Talmud, he gave up sending me my meals.</p> - -<p>As I now had permission to remain in Berlin, I thought of nothing but -how to carry my purpose into effect. Accidentally one day I went into a -butter-shop, and found the dealer in the act of anatomising a somewhat -old book for use in his trade. I looked at it, and found, to my no small -astonishment, that it was Wolff's <i>Metaphysics, or the Doctrine of God, -of the World, and of Man's Soul</i>. I could not understand, how in a city -so enlightened as Berlin such important works could be treated in this -barbarous fashion. I turned therefore to the dealer, and asked him, if -he would not sell the book. He was ready to part with it for two -groschen. Without thinking long about it I gave the price at once, and -went home delighted with my treasure.</p> - -<p>At the very first reading I was in raptures with the book. Not only this -sublime science in itself, but also the order and mathematical method of -the celebrated author,—the precision of his explanations, the exactness -of his reasoning, and the scientific arrangement of his exposition,—all -this struck a new light in my mind.</p> - -<p>With the Ontology, the Cosmology, and the Psychology all went well; but -the Theology created many difficulties, inasmuch as I found its dogmas, -not only not in harmony, but even in contradiction, with the preceding -propositions. At the very beginning I could not assent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> to Wolff's -argument <i>a posteriori</i> for the existence of God in accordance with the -Principle of Sufficient Reason; and I raised the objection to it, that, -inasmuch as, according to Wolff's own confession, the Principle of -Sufficient Reason is abstracted from particular cases of experience, the -only point which can be proved by it is, that every object of experience -must have its sufficient reason in some other object of experience, but -not in an object beyond all experience. I also compared these new -metaphysical doctrines with those of Maimonides, or rather of Aristotle, -which were already known to me; and I could not bring them into harmony -at all.</p> - -<p>I resolved therefore to set forth these doubts in the Hebrew language, -and to send what I wrote to Herr Mendelssohn, of whom I had already -heard so much. When he received my communication, he was not a little -astonished at it, and replied to me at once, that in fact my doubts were -well founded, that I should not however allow myself to be discouraged -on their account, but should continue to study with the zeal with which -I had begun.</p> - -<p>Encouraged by this, I wrote in Hebrew a dissertation in which I brought -into doubt the foundations of Revealed as well as of Natural Theology. -All the thirteen articles of faith, laid down by Maimonides, I attacked -with philosophical arguments, with the exception of one, namely the -article on reward and punishment, which I conceded merely in its -philosophical interpretation, as referring to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> the natural consequences -of voluntary actions. I sent this dissertation to Mendelssohn, who was -not a little amazed, that a Polish Jew, who had scarcely got the length -of seeing the Metaphysics of Wolff, was already able to penetrate into -their depths so far, that he was in a position to shake their results by -means of a correct Ontology. He invited me to visit him, and I accepted -his invitation. But I was so shy, the manners and customs of the -Berliners were so new to me, it was not without fear and embarrassment, -that I ventured to enter a fashionable house. When therefore I opened -Mendelssohn's door, and saw him and other gentlefolks who were there, as -well as the beautiful rooms and elegant furniture, I shrank back, closed -the door again, and had a mind not to go in. Mendelssohn however had -observed me. He came out and spoke to me very kindly, led me into his -room, placed himself beside me at the window, and paid me many -compliments about my writing. He assured me, that, if I went on in this -way, I should in a short time make great progress in Metaphysics; and he -promised also to resolve my doubts. Not satisfied with this, the worthy -man looked after my maintenance also, recommended me to the most -eminent, enlightened and wealthy Jews, who made provision for my board -and other wants. Their tables I was at liberty to enjoy when I chose, -and their libraries were open to my use.</p> - -<p>Especially worthy of mention among these gentlemen was H——, a man of -many attainments and excellent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> disposition, who was a particular friend -and disciple of Mendelssohn. He took great pleasure in my conversation, -often discussed with me the most important subjects in Natural Theology -and Morals, on which I expressed my thoughts to him quite frankly and -without disguise. I went over with him in a conversational way all the -systems known to me that are generally denounced, and defended them with -the greatest pertinacity. He met me with objections; I answered them, -and brought in my turn objections against the opposite systems. At first -this friend regarded me as a speaking animal, and entertained himself -with me, as one is apt to do with a dog or a starling that has been -taught to speak a few words. The odd mixture of the animal in my -manners, my expressions, and my whole outward behaviour, with the -rational in my thoughts, excited his imagination more than the subject -of our conversation roused his understanding. By degrees the fun was -turned to earnest. He began to give his attention to the subjects -themselves; and as, notwithstanding his other capabilities and -attainments, he had no philosophical head, and the liveliness of his -imagination generally interfered with the ripeness of his judgment, the -results of our conversations may be readily imagined.</p> - -<p>A few examples will be sufficient to give an idea of the manner in which -I conducted a discussion at the time, of the ellipses in my diction -arising from my deficiency in expressions, and of the way in which I -illustrated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> everything by examples. I endeavoured once to make -Spinoza's system intelligible,—to show that all things are merely -accidents of a single substance. My friend interrupted me and said, -"But, good heavens! are not you and I different men, and do we not each -possess an existence of our own?" "Close the shutters," I called in -reply to his objection. This strange expression threw him into -astonishment; he did not know what I meant. At last I explained myself. -"See," said I, "the sun shines through the windows. This square window -gives you a square reflection, and the round window a round reflection. -Are they on that account different things, and not rather one and the -same sunshine?"</p> - -<p>On another occasion I defended Helvetius' system of self-love. He -brought against it the objection, that we surely love other persons as -well as ourselves. "For instance," said he, "I love my wife;" and to -confirm this he gave her a kiss. "That proves nothing against me," I -replied. "For, why do you kiss your wife? Because you find pleasure in -doing it."</p> - -<p>Herr A—— M—— also, a good honest fellow, and at that time a wealthy -man, allowed me free access to his house. Here I found Locke in the -German translation, and I was pleased with him at the first hasty -glance, for I recognised him as the best of the modern philosophers, as -a man who had no interest but the truth. Accordingly I proposed to the -tutor of Herr A—— M——, that he should take lessons from me on this -admirable work. At<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> first he smiled at my simplicity in proposing, that -I, who had scarcely got the length of seeing Locke, should give lessons -to him whose native tongue was German, and who had been brought up in -the sciences. He acted, however, as if he found nothing offensive in the -matter, accepted my proposal, and fixed an hour for the lessons. I -presented myself at the time appointed, and began the lessons; but as I -could not read a word of German correctly, I told my pupil to read aloud -paragraph by paragraph in the text, and that then I should give him an -exposition of each. My pupil, who pretended to be in earnest, consented -to this also, to carry on the joke; but how great was his astonishment -when he found, that no joke was to be played in the matter, that in fact -my expositions and remarks, though delivered in my own peculiar -language, evinced a genuine philosophical spirit.</p> - -<p>It was still more amusing, when I became acquainted with the family of -Widow Levi, and made the proposal to her son, the young Herr Samuel -Levi,<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> who is still my Maecenas, that he should take lessons from me -in the German language. The studious youth, incited by my reputation, -was resolved to make a trial, and wished me to explain Adelung's <i>German -Grammar</i>. I, who had never seen Adelung's Grammar, did not allow myself -to be at all disconcerted on this account.<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> My pupil was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> obliged to -read Adelung bit by bit, while I not only expounded it, but added -glosses of my own. In particular I found a good deal to take exception -to in Adelung's philosophical explanation of the parts of speech; and I -drew up an explanation of my own, which I communicated to my intelligent -pupil, by whom it is still preserved.</p> - -<p>As a man altogether without experience I carried my frankness at times a -little too far, and brought upon myself many vexations in consequence. I -was reading Spinoza. His profound thought and his love of truth pleased -me uncommonly; and as his system had already been suggested to me by the -Cabbalistic writings, I began to reflect upon it anew, and became so -convinced of its truth, that all the efforts of Mendelssohn to change my -opinion were unavailing. I answered all the objections brought against -it by the Wolfians, brought objections against their system myself, and -showed, that, if the <i>nominal definition</i>s of the Wolfian Ontology are -converted into <i>real definitions</i>, conclusions the very opposite of -theirs are the result. Moreover, I could not explain the persistency of -Mendelssohn and the Wolfians generally in adhering to their system, -except as a political dodge<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> and a piece of hypocrisy, by which they -studiously endeavoured to descend to the mode of thinking common in the -popular mind; and this conviction I expressed openly and without -reserve. My friends and well-wishers, who for the most part had never -themselves speculated on philosophical subjects, but blindly adopted the -results of the systems prevailing at the time as if they were -established truths, did not understand me, and therefore also were -unable to follow me in my opinions.</p> - -<p>Mendelssohn, whose usual course was to tack, did not wish to oppose my -love of inquiry, secretly even took pleasure in it, and said, that at -present indeed I was not on the right road, but that the course of my -thoughts must not be checked, because, as Descartes rightly remarked, -doubt is the beginning of thorough philosophical speculation.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</a></h2> - -<h3>Mendelssohn—A chapter devoted to the memory of a worthy friend.</h3> - - -<p><i>Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus tam cari capitis?</i></p> - -<p>The name of Mendelssohn is too well known to the world, to make it -necessary for me here to dwell long on the portraiture of the great -intellectual and moral qualities of this celebrated man of our nation. I -shall sketch merely those prominent features of his portrait, which have -made the strongest impression upon me. He was a good Talmudist, and a -pupil of the celebrated Rabbi Israel, or, as he is otherwise named after -the title of a Talmudic work which he wrote, Nezach Israel (the strength -of Israel),—a Polish rabbi who was denounced for heresy by his -countrymen. This rabbi had, besides his great Talmudic capabilities and -acquirements, a good deal of scientific talent, especially in -mathematics, with which he had attained a thorough acquaintance, even in -Poland, from the few Hebrew writings on this science, as may be seen in -the above-mentioned work. In this work there are introduced solutions of -many important mathematical problems, which are applied either to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> -explanation of some obscure passages in the Talmud, or to the -determination of a law. Rabbi Israel of course was more interested in -the extension of useful knowledge among his countrymen than in the -determination of a law, which he used merely as a vehicle for the other. -He showed, for example, that it is not right for the Jews in our part of -the world to turn exactly to the East at prayer; for the Talmudic law -requires them to turn to Jerusalem, and, as our part of the world lies -north-west from Jerusalem, they ought to turn to the south-east. He -shows also how, by means of spherical trigonometry, the required -direction may be determined with the utmost exactness in all parts of -the world, and many other truths of a similar kind. Along with the -celebrated Chief Rabbi Fränkel, he contributed much to develop the great -abilities of Mendelssohn.</p> - -<p>Mendelssohn possessed a thorough acquaintance with mathematics; and this -science he valued, not only for its self-evidence, but also as the best -exercise in profound reasoning. That he was a great philosopher, is well -enough known. He was not indeed an originator of new systems; he had -however amended the old systems, especially the Leibnitio-Wolfian, and -had applied it with success to many subjects in philosophy.</p> - -<p>It is hard to say whether Mendelssohn was endowed with more acuteness or -with depth of intellect. Both faculties were found united in him in a -very high degree. His exactness in definition and classification, and -his fine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> distinctions, are evidences of the former talent, while his -profound philosophical treatises afford proofs of the latter.</p> - -<p>In his character, as he himself confessed, he was by nature a man of -strong passions, but by long exercise in Stoical morality he had learnt -to keep them under control. A young man, under the impression that -Mendelssohn had done him a wrong, came one day to upbraid him, and -indulged in one impertinence after another. Mendelssohn stood leaning on -a chair, never turned his eye from his visitor, and listened to all his -impertinences with the utmost Stoical patience. After the young man had -vented all his passion, Mendelssohn went to him and said, "Go! You see -that you fail to reach your object here; you can't make me angry." Still -on such occasions Mendelssohn could not conceal his sorrow at the -weakness of human nature. Not infrequently I was myself overheated in my -disputes with him, and violated the respect due to such a man,—a fact -on which I still reflect with remorse.</p> - -<p>Mendelssohn possessed deep knowledge of human nature,—a knowledge which -consists not so much in seizing some unconnected features of a -character, and representing them in theatrical fashion, as in -discovering those essential features of a character, from which all the -others may be explained, and in some measure predicted. He was able to -describe accurately all the springs of action and the entire moral -wheelwork of a man, and understood thoroughly the mechanism of the soul. -This<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> gave a character, not only to his intercourse and other dealings -with men, but also to his literary labours.</p> - -<p>Mendelssohn understood the useful and agreeable art of throwing himself -into another person's mode of thought. He could thus supply whatever was -deficient, and fill up the gaps in the thoughts of another. Jews newly -arrived from Poland, whose thoughts are for the most part confused, and -whose language is an unintelligible jargon, Mendelssohn could understand -perfectly. In his conversations with them he adopted their expressions -and forms of speech, sought to bring down his mode of thinking to -theirs, and thus to raise theirs to his own.</p> - -<p>He understood also the art of finding out the good side of every man and -of every event. Not infrequently, therefore, he found entertainment in -people whose intercourse, owing to the eccentric use of their powers, is -by others avoided; and only downright stupidity and dullness were -offensive to him, though they were so in the highest degree. I was once -an eye-witness of the manner in which he entertained himself with a man -of the most eccentric style of thinking and the most extravagant -behaviour. I lost all patience on the occasion, and after the man was -gone I asked Mendelssohn in wonder, "How could you have anything to do -with this fellow?" "We examine attentively," he said, "a machine whose -construction is unknown to us, and we seek to make intelligible its mode -of working. Should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> not this man claim a like attention? should we not -seek in the same way to render intelligible his odd utterances, since he -certainly has his springs of action and his wheelwork as well as any -machine?"</p> - -<p>In discussion with a reasoner who held stubbornly to a system once -adopted Mendelssohn was stubborn himself, and took advantage of the -slightest inaccuracy in his opponent's way of thinking. On the other -hand, with a more accommodating thinker he was accommodating also, and -used commonly to close the discussion with the words, "We must hold -fast, not to mere words, but to the things they signify."</p> - -<p>Nothing was so offensive to him as an <i>esprit de bagatelle</i> or -affectation; with anything of this sort he could not conceal his -displeasure. H—— once invited a party, in which Mendelssohn was the -principal guest, and he entertained them the whole time with talk about -some hobby of his, which was not exactly of the choicest kind. -Mendelssohn showed his displeasure by never deigning to give the -slightest attention to the worthless creature. Madam —— was a lady who -affected an excess of sensibility, and as is customary with such -characters, used to reproach herself in order to extort praise from -others. Mendelssohn sought to bring her to reason by showing her -impressively how exceptionable her conduct was and how she ought to -think seriously about improvement.</p> - -<p>In a disconnected conversation he took little part himself;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> he acted -rather as observer then, and took pleasure in watching the conduct of -the rest of the company. If, on the other hand, the conversation was -coherent, he took the warmest interest in it himself, and, by a skilful -turn, he could, without interrupting the conversation, give it a useful -direction.</p> - -<p>Mendelssohn could never take up his mind with trifles; matters of the -greatest moment kept him in restless activity, such as the principles of -Morals and of Natural Theology, the immortality of the soul, etc. In all -these branches of inquiry, in which humanity is so deeply interested, he -has also, as I hold, done as much as can be done on the principles of -the Leibnitio-Wolfian philosophy. Perfection was the compass which he -had constantly before his eyes, and which directed his course, in all -these investigations. His God is the Ideal of the highest perfection, -and the idea of the highest perfection lies at the basis of his Ethics. -The principle of his Æsthetics is sensuous perfection.</p> - -<p>My discussion with him on our first acquaintance referred mainly to the -following points. I was a faithful adherent of Maimonides before I -became acquainted with modern philosophy; and, as such, I insisted on -the negation<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> of all positive attributes to God, inasmuch as these -can be represented by us only as finite. Accordingly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> I proposed the -following dilemma: Either God is not the absolutely perfect being, in -which case his attributes may by us be not only <i>conceived</i>, but also -<i>known</i>, that is, represented as realities belonging to an object; or He -<i>is</i> the absolutely perfect being, and then the idea of God is conceived -by us, but its reality is merely <i>assumed</i> as problematic. Mendelssohn, -on the other hand, insisted on the affirmation, with regard to God, of -all realities,—a position which goes very well with the -Leibnitio-Wolfian philosophy, because it requires, in order to prove the -reality of an idea, nothing more than that it is thinkable, that is, -fulfils the law of Non-Contradiction.</p> - -<p>My moral theory was then genuine Stoicism. It aimed at the attainment of -free will and the ascendency of reason over the feelings and passions. -It made the highest destination of man to be the maintenance of his -<i>differentia specifica</i>, the knowledge of the truth; and all other -impulses, common to us with the irrational animals, were to be put in -operation merely as means to this chief end. The knowledge of the good -was not distinguished by me from the knowledge of the true; for, -following Maimonides, I held the knowledge of the truth to be the -highest good of man. Mendelssohn, on the other hand, maintained that the -idea of perfection, which lies at the basis of Ethics, is of much wider -extent than the mere knowledge of the truth. All natural impulses, -capacities and powers, as something good in themselves (not merely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> as -means to something good), were to be brought into exercise as realities. -The highest perfection was the idea of the maximum, or the greatest sum, -of these realities.</p> - -<p>The immortality of the soul, for me, following Maimonides, consisted in -the union with the Universal Spirit of that part of the faculty of -knowledge which has been brought into exercise, in proportion to the -degree of that exercise; and in accordance with this doctrine I held -those only to be partakers of this immortality, who occupy themselves -with the knowledge of eternal truths, and in the degree in which they do -so. The soul, therefore, must, with the attainment of this high -immortality, lose its individuality. That Mendelssohn, in accordance -with modern philosophy, thought differently on this subject, every one -will readily believe.</p> - -<p>His sentiments in reference to revealed or positive religion I can give -here, not as something made known to me by himself, but merely in so far -as I have been able to infer them from his utterances on the subject in -his writings with the assistance of my own reflections. For at that -time, as an incipient freethinker, I explained all revealed religion as -in itself false, and its use, so far as the writings of Mendelssohn had -enabled me to understand it, as merely temporary. Moreover, being a man -without experience, I thought it an easy matter to convince others in -opposition to their firmly rooted habits and long-cherished prejudices, -while I assumed the usefulness of such a reformation to be undoubted.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> -Mendelssohn therefore was unable to hold any conversation with me on the -subject, since he could not but fear lest, as has happened, and happens -still, in the case of several others, I should pronounce his arguments -in reply to be mere pieces of sophistry, and should attribute motives to -him on that account. From his utterances, however, in the preface to his -<i>Manasseh ben Israel</i> as well as in his <i>Jerusalem</i>, it is clear that, -though he did not consider any revealed <i>doctrines</i> to be eternal -truths, yet he accepted revealed laws of religion as such, and that he -held the laws of the Jewish religion, as the fundamental laws of a -theocratic constitution, to be immutable as far as circumstances allow.</p> - -<p>So far as I am concerned, I am led to assent entirely to Mendelssohn's -reasoning by my own reflections on the fundamental laws of the religion -of my fathers. The fundamental laws of the Jewish religion are at the -same time the fundamental laws of the Jewish state. They must therefore -be obeyed by all who acknowledge themselves to be members of this state, -and who wish to enjoy the rights granted to them under condition of -their obedience. But, on the other hand, any man who separates himself -from this state, who desires to be considered no longer a member of it, -and to renounce all his rights as such, whether he enters another state -or betakes himself to solitude, is also in his conscience no longer -bound to obey those laws. I assent moreover to Mendelssohn's remark, -that a Jew cannot, by simply<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> passing over to the Christian religion, -free himself from the laws of his own religion, because Jesus of -Nazareth observed these laws himself and commanded his followers to -observe them. But how, if a Jew wishes to be no longer a member of this -theocratic state, and goes over to the heathen religion, or to the -philosophical, which is nothing more than pure natural religion? How, -if, merely as a member of a political state, he submits to its laws, and -demands from it his rights in return, without making any declaration -whatever about his religion, since the state is reasonable enough not to -require from him a declaration with which it has nothing to do? I do not -believe Mendelssohn would maintain that even in this case a Jew is bound -in conscience to observe the laws of his fathers' religion merely -because it is the religion of his fathers. As far as is known, -Mendelssohn lived in accordance with the laws of his religion. -Presumably, therefore, he always regarded himself as still a member of -the theocratic state of his fathers, and consequently acted up to his -duty in this respect. But any man who abandons this state is acting just -as little in violation of his duty.</p> - -<p>On the other hand I consider it wrong in Jews, who from family -attachments and interests profess the Jewish religion, to transgress its -laws, where, according to their own opinion, these do not stand in the -way of those motives. I cannot therefore understand the conduct of -Mendelssohn in reference to a Jew of Hamburg who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> openly transgressed -the laws of his religion, and who was on that account excommunicated by -the chief rabbi. Mendelssohn wanted to cancel the excommunication on the -ground that the church has no rights in civil matters. But how can he -then maintain the perpetuity of the Jewish ecclesiastical state? For -what is a state without rights, and wherein consists, according to -Mendelssohn, the rights of this ecclesiastical state? "How," says -Mendelssohn, (in the preface to <i>Manasseh ben Israel</i>, p. 48), "can a -state allow one of its useful and respected citizens to suffer -misfortune through its laws?" Surely not, I reply; but the Hamburg Jew -suffers no misfortune by virtue of the excommunication. He required only -to say or do nothing which legally leads to this result, and he would -then have avoided the sentence. For excommunication is merely tantamount -to saying:—"So long as you put yourself in opposition to the laws of -our communion, you are excluded from it; and you must therefore make up -your mind whether this open disobedience or the privileges of our -communion can most advance your blessedness." This surely cannot have -escaped a mind like Mendelssohn's, and I leave it to others to decide -how far a man may be inconsistent for the sake of human welfare.</p> - -<p>Mendelssohn had to endure many an injustice at the hands of otherwise -estimable men, from whom such treatment might least have been expected. -Lavater's officiousness is well enough known, and disapproved by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> all -right-thinking men.<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> The profound Jacobi had a predilection for -Spinozism, with which surely no independent thinker can find fault, and -wanted to make out Mendelssohn, as well as his friend Lessing, to be -Spinozists, in spite of themselves. With this view he published a -correspondence on the subject, which was never intended to appear in -print, and be subjected to public inspection. What was the use of this? -If Spinozism is true, it is so without Mendelssohn's assent. Eternal -truths have nothing to do with the majority of votes, and least of all -where, as I hold, the truth is of such a nature, that it leaves all -expression behind.</p> - -<p>Such an injustice must have given Mendelssohn much annoyance. A -celebrated physician maintained even,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> that it caused his death; but, -though I am not a physician, I venture to gainsay the assertion. -Mendelssohn's conduct in relation to Jacobi, as well as to Lavater, was -that of a hero. No, no! this hero died in the fifth act.</p> - -<p>The acute preacher, Jacob, in Halle published, after Mendelssohn's -death, a book entitled, <i>Examination of Mendelssohn's Morgenstunden</i>, in -which he shows that, according to the <i>Critique of Pure Reason</i>, all -metaphysical doctrines are to be rejected as baseless. But why does this -concern Mendelssohn more than any other metaphysician? Mendelssohn did -nothing but develop to greater completeness the Leibnitio-Wolfian -philosophy, apply it to many important subjects of human inquiry, and -clothe it in an attractive garb. It is just as if any one were to attack -Maimonides, who has written an excellent astronomical treatise on -Ptolemaic principles, by writing a book with the title, <i>Examination of -the Hilchoth Kidush Hakodesh of Maimonides</i>, in which he should seek to -refute his author on Newtonian principles! But enough of this.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</a></h2> - -<h3>My aversion at first for belles lettres, and my subsequent -conversion—Departure from Berlin—Sojourn in Hamburg—I drown myself in -the same way as a bad actor shoots himself—An old fool of a woman falls -in love with me, but her addresses are rejected.</h3> - - -<p>For <i>belles lettres</i> I discovered not the slightest inclination; I could -not even conceive how any man was to form a science of what pleases or -displeases—a matter which, according to my opinion at the time, could -have merely a subjective ground. One day when I was taking a walk with -Mendelssohn, our conversation fell upon the subject of the poets, whom -he recommended me to read. "No," I replied, "I am going to read none of -the poets. What is a poet but a liar?" Mendelssohn smiled at this and -said, "You agree in this with Plato, who banished all poets from his -Republic. But I hope that with time you will think differently on the -subject." And so it happened soon.</p> - -<p>Longinus' <i>On the Sublime</i> fell into my hand. The examples of the -sublime which he adduces from Homer, and particularly the celebrated -passage of Sappho, made a deep impression on my mind. I thought to -myself, these are but foolish trifles, it is true, but the imagery<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> and -descriptions are really very beautiful. After that I read Homer himself, -and was forced to laugh heartily at the foolish fellow. What a serious -air, I said to myself, over such childless stories! By and by, however, -I found a great deal of pleasure in the reading. Ossian, on the other -hand, whom I got to read afterwards (of course only in German -translations) produced on me a peculiarly awe-inspiring effect. The pomp -of his style, the impressive brevity of his descriptions, the purity of -his sentiments, the simplicity of the objects described by him, and -lastly, the similarity of his poetry to that of the Hebrews, charmed me -uncommonly. Thus I found also a great deal of gratification in Gessner's -Idylls.</p> - -<p>My friend, the Pole of whom I spoke in the preceding chapter, who -occupied himself mainly with <i>belles lettres</i>, was greatly delighted at -my conversion. I used to dispute with him the utility of these studies; -and once, when he was reading to me as a model of vigour in expression a -passage of the Psalms, in which King David shows himself a master in -cursing, I interrupted him with the words, "What sort of an art is this? -Why, my mother-in-law—God bless her!—when she was squabbling with a -neighbour woman, used to curse much more wildly than that!"</p> - -<p>Now, however, he had his triumph over me. Mendelssohn also and my other -friends were uncommonly pleased at this change. They wished me to devote -myself regularly to the <i>humaniora</i>, as without these a man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> can -scarcely make his own intellectual productions useful to the world. It -was very difficult, however, to convince me of this. I was always in -haste to enjoy the present, without thinking that, by due preparation, I -could make this enjoyment greater and more lasting.</p> - -<p>I now found gratification, not only in the study of the sciences, but -generally in everything good and beautiful, with which I became -acquainted; and I carried this out with an enthusiasm which passed all -limits. The hitherto suppressed inclination to the pleasures of sense -also asserted its claims. The first occasion of this was the following. -For many years some men, who were occupied in various kinds of teaching, -had insinuated themselves into the most prominent and wealthy families -of the Jewish nation. They devoted themselves especially to the French -language (which was then regarded as the highest point of -enlightenment), to geography, arithmetic, bookkeeping, and similar -studies. They had also made themselves familiar with some phrases and -imperfectly understood results of the more profound sciences and -philosophical systems, while their intercourse with the fair sex was -marked by studious gallantry. As a result of all this, they were great -favourites in the families where they visited, and were regarded as -clever fellows. Now, they began to observe that my reputation was always -on the increase, and that the respect for my attainments and talents -went so far, that they were being thrown wholly into the shade. -Accordingly they thought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> of a stratagem, by which they might be able to -ward off the threatened evil.</p> - -<p>They resolved to draw me into their company, to show me every -demonstration of friendship, and to render me every possible service. By -this means they hoped, in the first place, as a result of our -intercourse, to win for themselves some of the respect which was shown -to me, and, in the second place, to obtain, from my frank and -communicative spirit, some additional knowledge of those sciences which -as yet they knew only in name. But, in the third place, as they knew my -enthusiasm for everything which I once recognised as good, they expected -to intoxicate me with the allurements of sensual pleasure, and to cool -in some measure my ardour in the study of science, which would at the -same time alienate my friends, my intimacy with whom made them so -jealous.</p> - -<p>Accordingly they invited me into their society, testified their -friendship and esteem for me, and begged the honour of my company. -Suspecting no harm, I received their advances with pleasure, especially -as I reflected that Mendelssohn and my other friends were too grand for -everyday intercourse with me. It became therefore a very desirable -object with me, to find some friends of a middle class, with whom I -could associate <i>sans façon</i>, and enjoy the charms of familiarity. My -new friends took me into gay society, to taverns, on pleasure -excursions, at last also to ——;<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> and all this at their own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> -expense. I, on my side, in my happy humour, opened up to them in return -all the mysteries of philosophy, explained to them in detail all the -peculiar systems, and corrected their ideas on various subjects of human -knowledge. But as things of this sort cannot be poured into a man's -head, and as these gentlemen had no special capacity for them, of course -they were not able to make any great progress by this kind of -instruction. When I observed this, I began to express some sort of -contempt for them, and made no attempt to conceal the fact, that it was -mainly the roast and the wine that gave me pleasure in their company. -This did not please them particularly; and as they were unable to reach -their object with me completely, they tried to reach it at least in -part. They told tales to my grand friends behind my back about the most -trifling incidents and expressions. For instance, they asserted that I -charged Mendelssohn with being a philosophical hypocrite, that I -declared others to be endowed with but shallow pates, that I was seeking -to spread dangerous systems, and that I was wholly abandoned to -Epicureanism. (As if they were genuine Stoics!) They even began at last -openly to manifest their enmity.</p> - -<p>All this of course had its effect; and to add to the impression, my -friends observed that in my studies I followed no fixed plan, but merely -my inclination. Accordingly they proposed to me that I should study -medicine, but could not induce me to do it. I observed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> that the theory -of medicine contains many departments as auxiliary sciences, each of -which requires a specialist for its thorough mastery, while the practice -of medicine implies a peculiar genius and faculty of judgment, that are -seldom to be met with. I observed at the same time, that the most of -physicians take advantage of the ignorance of the public. In accordance -with established usage they spend some years at the universities, where -they have an opportunity indeed of attending all the lectures, but in -point of fact attend very few. At the close of their course, by means of -money and fair words, they get a dissertation written for them; and -thus, after a very simple fashion, become medical practitioners.</p> - -<p>As already mentioned, I had a great liking for painting; but I was -advised against this, because I was already well advanced in years, and -consequently might not have sufficient patience for the minute exercises -required for this art. At last the proposal was made to me, to learn -pharmacy; and as I had already obtained some acquaintance with physics -as well as chemistry, I consented. My object in this, however, was not -to make any practical use of my attainments, but merely to acquire -theoretical knowledge. Accordingly, instead of setting to with my own -hands, and thereby acquiring expertness in this art, at important -chemical processes I played the part of a mere spectator. In this way I -learnt pharmacy, yet without being in the position of becoming an -apothecary. After the lapse of a three years' apprenticeship,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> Madame -Rosen, in whose shop I was apprenticed, was duly paid by H. J. D. the -promised fee of sixty thalers. I received a certificate, that I had -perfectly mastered the art of pharmacy; and this ended the whole matter.</p> - -<p>This, however, contributed not a little to alienate my friends. At last -Mendelssohn asked me to come and see him, when he informed me of this -alienation, and pointed out to me its causes. They complained, (1) that -I had not made up my mind to any plan of life, and had thereby rendered -fruitless all their exertions in my behalf; (2) that I was trying to -spread dangerous opinions and systems; and (3) that, according to -general rumour, I was leading a rather loose life, and was very much -addicted to sensual pleasures.</p> - -<p>The first of these complaints I endeavoured to answer by referring to -the fact, which I had mentioned to my friends at the very first, that, -in consequence of my peculiar training, I was indisposed for any kind of -business, and adapted merely for a quiet speculative life, by which I -could not only satisfy my natural inclination, but also, by teaching and -similar means, provide for my support in a certain fashion. "As to the -second point," I proceeded, "the opinions and systems referred to are -either true or false. If the former, then I do not see how the knowledge -of the truth can do any harm. If the latter, then let them be refuted. -Moreover, I have explained these opinions and systems only to gentlemen -who desire to be enlightened, and to rise above all prejudices. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> the -truth is, that it is not the mischievous nature of the opinions, it is -the incapacity of those gentlemen to comprehend them, coupled with their -reluctance to make such a humiliating confession, that sets them in arms -against me. In reference to the third reproach, however, I must say with -downright honesty, Herr Mendelssohn, we are all Epicureans. The -moralists can prescribe to us merely rules of prudence; that is to say, -they can prescribe the use of means for the attainment of given ends, -but not the ends themselves. But," I added, "I see clearly that I must -quit Berlin; whither, is a matter of indifference." With this I bade -Mendelssohn farewell. He gave me a very favourable testimonial of my -capabilities and talents, and wished me a prosperous journey.</p> - -<p>To my other friends also I bade farewell, and in brief but emphatic -terms thanked them for the favours they had shown. One of my friends was -taken aback, when I bade him goodbye, at my using the brief form, "I -hope you will enjoy good health, my dear friend; and I thank you for all -the favours you have bestowed upon me." It seemed to this excellent, but -prosaically poetical man, as if the form were too curt and dry for all -his friendliness towards me. So he replied with evident displeasure, "Is -this all that you have learnt in Berlin?" I made no answer, however, but -went away, booked by the Hamburg post, and departed from Berlin.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span></p> - -<p>On leaving I received from Samuel Levi<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> a letter of introduction to -one of his correspondents. When I arrived in Hamburg, I went to the -merchant to whom this letter was addressed, and delivered it. He -received me well, and invited me to his table during my stay in the -city. But as he knew nothing except how to make money, and took no -particular interest in scholarship or science, he evidently entertained -me merely on account of my letter of introduction, because he had to do -something to gratify his correspondent. As I knew nothing of trade, -however, and besides made no very presentable figure, he endeavoured to -get rid of me as soon as possible, and with a view to that asked me -where I meant to go when I left Hamburg. When I replied that I was going -to Holland, he gave me the well-meant advice to hasten my departure, as -this was the best season of the year for travelling.</p> - -<p>Accordingly I took out a passage on a Hamburg vessel that was to sail -for Holland in two or three weeks. For travelling companions I had two -barbers, a tailor, and a shoemaker. These fellows made themselves merry, -caroused bravely, and sang all sorts of songs. In this joviality I could -not take a part; in fact they scarcely understood my language, and -teased me on that account in a thousand ways, though I bore it all with -patience. The vessel glided pleasantly down the Elbe to a village<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> at -the mouth of the river some miles below Hamburg. Here we were obliged to -lie about six weeks, prevented by contrary winds from putting out to -sea. The ship's crew, along with the other passengers, went to the -village tavern, where they drank and played. For me, however, the time -became very dreary, and I was besides so sick, that I nearly despaired -of my recovery.</p> - -<p>At last we got a favourable wind, the vessel stood out to sea, and on -the third day after our departure we arrived before Amsterdam. A boat -came out to the ship to take the passengers into the city. At first I -would not trust myself to the Dutch boatman, because I was afraid of -falling into the hands of the crimps, against whom I had been warned in -Hamburg; but the captain of our ship assured me that he knew the boatman -well, and that I might trust myself to him without any anxiety. -Accordingly I came into the city; but as I had no acquaintances here, -and as I knew that at the Hague there was a gentleman belonging to a -prominent Berlin family, and that he had obtained from Berlin a tutor -with whom I was acquainted, I set out for that place in a drag-boat.</p> - -<p>Here I took lodgings at the house of a poor Jewish woman, but before I -had time to rest from my journey, a man of tall, spare figure, in untidy -clothing, and with a pipe in his mouth, came in, and, without observing -me, commenced to speak with my landlady. At last she said to him, "Herr -H——, here is a stranger from Berlin; pray, speak to him." The man -thereupon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> turned to me, and asked me who I was. With my usual -instinctive frankness and love of truth, I told him that I was born in -Poland, that my love of the sciences had induced me to spend some years -in Berlin, and that now I had come to Holland with the intention of -entering some situation, if an opportunity offered itself. When he heard -that I was a man of learning, he began to speak with me on various -subjects in philosophy, and especially in mathematics, in which he had -done a good deal. He found in me a man after his own heart, and we -formed at once a bond of friendship with one another.</p> - -<p>I now went to seek the tutor from Berlin, to whom I referred before. He -introduced me to his employer as a man of high talent, who had made a -great figure in Berlin, and had brought letters of introduction from -that city. This gentleman, who made much of his tutor, as well as of -everything that came from Berlin, invited me to dinner. As my external -appearance did not appear to promise much, and I was besides thoroughly -exhausted and depressed by my sea-voyage, I made a comical figure at -table, and our host evidently did not know what to think of me. But as -he put great confidence in the written recommendation of Mendelssohn and -the oral recommendation of his tutor, he suppressed his astonishment, -and invited me to his table as long as I chose to remain here. In the -evening he invited his brothers-in-law to meet me. They were children of -B——, celebrated for his wealth as well as his beneficence; and as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> -they were men of learning themselves, they were expected to sound me. -They conversed with me on various subjects in the Talmud, and even in -the Cabbalah. As I showed myself thoroughly initiated into the mysteries -of this sort of learning, even explained to them passages which they -regarded as inexplicable, and untied the most complicated knots of -argument, their admiration was excited, and they believed they had come -upon a great man.</p> - -<p>It was not long, however, before their admiration turned to hatred. The -occasion of this was the following. In connection with the Cabbalah they -told me of a godly man, who had now for many years been a resident of -London, and who was able to perform miracles by means of the Cabbalah. I -expressed some doubts on the subject, but they assured me they had been -present at performances of the kind during this man's residence at the -Hague. To this I replied as a philosopher, that I did not indeed -question the truth of their statement, but that perhaps they had not -duly investigated the matter themselves, and gave out their -pre-conceived opinions as facts. Moreover, I declared that I must regard -with scepticism the effect of the Cabbalah in general, until it is shown -that that effect is of such a kind as cannot be explained in accordance -with the known laws of Nature. This declaration they held to be heresy.</p> - -<p>At the end of the meal the wine-cup was passed to me, that I might, in -accordance with the usual custom,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> pronounce the blessing over it. This -however I declined with the explanation, that I did so not from any -false shame of speaking before a number of men, because in Poland I had -been a rabbi, and had very often held disputations and delivered sermons -before large assemblies, and, in order to prove this, was now willing to -deliver public lectures every day. It was merely, I explained further, -the love of truth and the reluctance to do anything inconsistent, that -made it impossible for me, without manifest aversion, to say prayers -which I regarded as a result of an anthropomorphic system of theology.</p> - -<p>At this their patience was completely exhausted; they reviled me as a -damnable heretic, and declared it would be a deadly sin to tolerate me -in a Jewish house. Our host, who was no philosopher indeed, but a -reasonable and enlightened man, did not mind much what they said; my -humble talents were of more value in his eyes than my piety. Accordingly -they broke up immediately after dinner, and left the house in deep -displeasure; but all their subsequent efforts to drive me from their -brother-in-law's house were fruitless. I remained in it about nine -months, lived at perfect freedom, but very retired, without any -occupation or any rational society.</p> - -<p>Here I cannot pass over in silence an event which was remarkable both in -a psychological and in a moral point of view. In Holland I wanted -nothing but an occupation suited to my powers, and naturally, therefore, -I became hypochondriac. From feelings of satiety, not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> infrequently I -fell upon the idea of making away with myself, and of thus putting an -end to an existence which had become a burden to me. But no sooner did I -come to action, than the love of life always assumed the upper hand -again. Once, at the Feast of Haman, in accordance with the custom of the -Jews, I had banquetted very heartily in the house where I took my meals. -After the feast, about midnight I returned to my lodging; and as I had -to pass along one of the canals that are laid out everywhere in Holland, -it occurred to me that this was a very convenient opportunity for -carrying out the design which I had often formed. I thought to myself, -"My life is a burden. At present, indeed, I have no wants; but how will -it be with me in the future, and by what means shall I preserve my life, -since I am of no use for anything in the world? I have already resolved, -on cool reflection at different times, to put an end to my life, and -nothing but my cowardice has restrained me hitherto. Now, when I am -pretty drunk, on the brink of a deep canal, the thing may be done in a -moment without any difficulty." Already I had bent my body over the -canal, in order to plunge in; but only the upper part of the body obeyed -the command of the mind, trusting that the lower part would certainly -refuse its services for such a purpose. So I stood for a good while with -half the body bent over the water, and propped myself carefully with my -legs firmly planted on the ground, so that a spectator might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> have -fancied I was merely making my bow to the water. This hesitation -destroyed my whole plan. I felt like a man who is going to take -medicine, but, wanting the resolution required, raises the cup time -after time to his mouth, and sets it down again. I began at last to -laugh at myself, as I reflected that my sole motive for suicide was a -real superfluity for the present and an imaginary want for the -future.<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> I therefore let the project drop for the time being, went -home, and thus brought the serio-comic scene to an end.</p> - -<p>Still another comical scene must be mentioned here. At the Hague there -lived at that time a woman of about forty-five, who was said to have -been very pretty in youth, and supported herself by giving lessons in -French. One day she called upon me at my lodging, introduced herself, -and expressed an irresistible desire for scientific conversation. She -declared therefore that she would visit me frequently in my lodging, and -requested the honour of a visit from me in return.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> -<p>This advance I met with great pleasure, returned her visits several -times; and thus our intercourse became more and more intimate. We -conversed usually on subjects in philosophy and <i>belles lettres</i>. As I -was still at that time a married man, and, except for her enthusiasm in -learning, Madam had little attraction for me, I thought of nothing -beyond mere entertainment. The lady, however, who had been a widow now -for a pretty long while, and had, according to her own story, conceived -an affection for me, began to express this by looks and words in a -romantic manner, which struck me as very comical. I could never believe, -that a lady could fall in love with me in earnest. Her expressions of -affection therefore I took for mere airs of affectation. She, on the -other hand, showed herself more and more in earnest, became at times -thoughtful in the midst of our conversation, and burst into tears.</p> - -<p>It was during a conversation of this sort, that we fell upon the subject -of love. I told her frankly, that I could not love a woman except for -the sake of womanly excellences, such as beauty, grace, agreeableness, -etc., and that any other excellences she might possess, such as talents -or learning, could excite in me only esteem, but by no means love. The -lady adduced against me arguments <i>a priori</i> as well as instances from -experience, especially from French novels, and tried to correct my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> -notions of love. I could not, however, be so easily convinced; and as -the lady was carrying her airs to an absurd length, I rose and took my -leave. She accompanied me to the very door, grasped me by the hand, and -would not let me go. I asked her somewhat sharply, "What's the matter -with you, madam?" With trembling voice and tearful eyes she replied, "I -love you."</p> - -<p>When I heard this laconic declaration of love, I began to laugh -immoderately, tore myself from her grasp, and rushed away. Some time -afterwards she sent me the following <i>billet doux</i>:—</p> - - -<p>"Sir,</p> - - -<p>I have been greatly mistaken in your character. I took you for a man of -noble thoughts and exalted feelings; but I see now that you are a -genuine Epicurean. You seek nothing but pleasure. A woman can please you -only on account of her beauty. A Madame Dacier, for example, who has -studied thoroughly all the Greek and Latin authors, translated them into -her native language, and enriched them with learned annotations, could -not please you. Why? Because she is not pretty. Sir, you, who are -otherwise so enlightened, ought to be ashamed to cherish such pernicious -principles; and if you will not repent, then tremble before the revenge -of the injured love of</p> - -<p class="right"> -Yours, etc." -</p> - -<p>To this I returned the following reply:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>—</p> - -<p> -"Madam, -</p> - -<p>That you have been mistaken, is shown by the result. You say that I am a -genuine Epicurean. In this you do me a great honour. Much as I abhor the -title of an <i>epicure</i>, on the other hand I feel proud of the title of -<i>genuine Epicurean</i>. Certainly it is beauty alone that pleases me in a -woman; but as this can be heightened by other qualities, these must also -be pleasing as means towards the chief end. On the other hand, I can -merely <i>esteem</i> such a woman on account of her talents; <i>love</i> her I -cannot, as I have already explained in conversation. For the learning of -Madame Dacier I have all respect: she could at all events fall in love -with the Greek heroes who were at the siege of Troy, and expect in -return the love of their <i>manes</i> that were constantly hovering around -her; but nothing more. For the rest, Madam, as far as your revenge is -concerned, I do not fear it, since Time, which destroys all things, has -shattered your weapons, that is, your teeth and nails.</p> - -<p class="right"> -Yours, etc." -</p> - -<p>Thus ended this strange love-affair.</p> - -<p>I discovered that in Holland there was nothing for me to do, inasmuch as -the main desire of the Dutch Jews is to make money, and they manifest no -particular liking for the sciences. Besides, in consequence of not -knowing the Dutch language, I was unable to give instructions in any -science. I determined therefore to return to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> Berlin by Hamburg, but -found an opportunity of travelling to Hanover by land. In Hanover I went -to a wealthy Jew,—a man who does not deserve even to enjoy his -riches,—showed him my letter of introduction from Mendelssohn, and -represented to him the urgency of my present circumstances. He read -Mendelssohn's letter carefully through, called for pen and ink, and, -without speaking a word to me, wrote at the foot:—"I also hereby -certify that what Herr Mendelssohn writes in praise of Herr Solomon is -perfectly correct." And with this he dismissed me.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.</a></h2> - -<h3>I return to Hamburg—A Lutheran Pastor pronounces me to be a scabby -Sheep, and unworthy of Admission into the Christian Fold—I enter the -Gymnasium, and frighten the Chief Rabbi out of his Wits.</h3> - - -<p>I made a prosperous journey back to Hamburg, but here I fell into -circumstances of the deepest distress. I lodged in a miserable house, -had nothing to eat, and did not know what to do. I had received too much -education to return to Poland, to spend my life in misery without -rational occupation or society, and to sink back into the darkness of -superstition and ignorance, from which I had hardly delivered myself -with so much labour. On the other hand, to succeed in Germany was a -result on which I could not calculate, owing to my ignorance of the -language, as well as of the manners and customs of the people, to which -I had never yet been able to adapt myself properly. I had learnt no -particular profession, I had not distinguished myself in any special -science, I was not even master of any language in which I could make -myself perfectly intelligible. It occurred to me, therefore, that for me -there was no alternative left, but to embrace the Christian religion, -and get myself baptised<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> in Hamburg. Accordingly I resolved to go to the -first clergyman I should come upon, and inform him of my resolution, as -well as of my motives for it, without any hypocrisy, in a truthful and -honest fashion. But as I could not express myself well orally, I put my -thoughts into writing in German with Hebrew characters, went to a -schoolmaster, and got him to copy it in German characters. The purport -of my letter was in brief as follows:—</p> - -<p>"I am a native of Poland, belonging to the Jewish nation, destined by my -education and studies to be a rabbi; but in the thickest darkness I have -perceived some light. This induced me to search further after light and -truth, and to free myself completely from the darkness of superstition -and ignorance. In order to this end, which could not be attained in my -native place, I came to Berlin, where by the support of some enlightened -men of our nation I studied for some years—not indeed after any plan, -but merely to satisfy my thirst for knowledge. But as our nation is -unable to use, not only such planless studies, but even those conducted -on the most perfect plan, it cannot be blamed for becoming tired of -them, and pronouncing their encouragement to be useless. I have -therefore resolved, in order to secure temporal as well as eternal -happiness, which depends on the attainment of perfection, and in order -to become useful to myself as well as others, to embrace the Christian -religion. The Jewish religion, it is true, comes, in its articles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> of -faith, nearer to reason than Christianity. But in practical use the -latter has an advantage over the former; and since morality, which -consists not in opinions but in actions, is the aim of all religion in -general, clearly the latter comes nearer than the former to this aim. -Moreover, I hold the mysteries of the Christian religion for that which -they are, that is, allegorical representations of the truths that are -most important for man. By this means I make my faith in them harmonise -with reason, but I cannot believe them according to their common -meaning. I beg therefore most respectfully an answer to the question, -whether after this confession I am worthy of the Christian religion or -not. In the former case I am ready to carry my proposal into effect; but -in the latter, I must give up all claim to a religion which enjoins me -to lie, that is, to deliver a confession of faith which contradicts my -reason."</p> - -<p>The schoolmaster, to whom I dictated this, fell into astonishment at my -audacity; never before had he listened to such a confession of faith. He -shook his head with much concern, interrupted the writing several times, -and became doubtful, whether the mere copying was not itself a sin. With -great reluctance he copied it out, merely to get rid of the thing. I -went then to a prominent clergyman, delivered my letter, and begged for -a reply. He read it with great attention, fell likewise into -astonishment, and on finishing entered into conversation with me.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p> - -<p>"So," he said, "I see your intention is to embrace the Christian -religion, merely in order to improve your temporal circumstances."</p> - -<p>"Excuse me, Herr Pastor," I replied, "I think I have made it clear -enough in my letter, that my object is the attainment of perfection. To -this, it is true, the removal of all hindrances and the improvement of -my external circumstances form an indispensable condition. But this -condition is not the chief end."</p> - -<p>"But," said the pastor, "do you not feel any inclination of the soul to -the Christian religion without reference to any external motives?"</p> - -<p>"I should be telling a lie, if I were to give you an affirmative -answer."</p> - -<p>"You are too much of a philosopher," replied the pastor, "to be able to -become a Christian. Reason has taken the upper hand with you, and faith -must accommodate itself to reason. You hold the mysteries of the -Christian religion to be mere fables, and its commands to be mere laws -of reason. For the present I cannot be satisfied with your confession of -faith. You should therefore pray to God, that He may enlighten you with -His grace, and endow you with the spirit of true Christianity; and then -come to me again."</p> - -<p>"If that is the case," I said, "then I must confess, Herr Pastor, that I -am not qualified for Christianity. Whatever light I may receive, I shall -always make it luminous with the light of reason. I shall never believe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> -that I have fallen upon new truths, if it is impossible to see their -connection with the truths already known to me. I must therefore remain -what I am,—a stiffnecked Jew. My religion enjoins me to <i>believe</i> -nothing, but to <i>think</i> the truth and to <i>practise</i> goodness. If I find -any hindrance in this from external circumstances, it is not my fault. I -do all that lies in my power."</p> - -<p>With this I bade the pastor goodbye.</p> - -<p>The hardships of my journey, coupled with poor food, brought on an ague. -I lay on a straw-bed in a garret, and suffered the want of all -conveniences and refreshments. My landlord, who took pity on me, called -a Jewish physician, who prescribed an emetic which soon cured me of my -fever. The doctor found that I was no common man, stayed to converse -with me for some hours, and begged me, as soon as I recovered, to visit -him.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, however, a young man, who had known me in Berlin, heard of my -arrival. He called on me to say that Herr W——, who had seen me in -Berlin, was now residing in Hamburg, and that I might very properly call -upon him. I did so, and Herr W——, who was a very clever, honourable -man, of a benevolent disposition naturally, asked me what I intended to -do. I represented to him my whole circumstances, and begged for his -advice. He said that in his opinion the unfortunate position of my -affairs arose from the fact, that I had devoted myself with zeal merely -to the acquisition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> of scientific knowledge, but had neglected the study -of language, and therefore I was unable to communicate my knowledge to -others, or make any use of it. Meanwhile, he thought, nothing had been -lost by delay; and if I was still willing to accommodate myself to the -circumstances, I could attain my object in the gymnasium at Altona, -where his son was studying, while he would provide for my support.</p> - -<p>I accepted this offer with many thanks, and went home with a joyful -heart. Meanwhile Herr W—— spoke to the professors of the gymnasium, as -well as to the principal, but more particularly to the syndic, Herr -G——, a man who cannot be sufficiently praised. He represented to them, -that I was a man of uncommon talents, who wanted merely some further -knowledge of language to distinguish himself in the world, and who hoped -to obtain that knowledge by a short residence in the gymnasium. They -acceded to his request. I was matriculated, and had a room assigned to -me, in the institution.</p> - -<p>Here I lived for two years in peace and contentment. But the pupils in -such a gymnasium, as may be easily supposed, make very slow progress; -and it was therefore natural that I, who had already made considerable -attainments in science, should find the lessons at times somewhat -tedious. Consequently I did not attend them all, but made a selection to -suit my taste. The Director Dusch I esteemed very highly on account of -his profound scholarship and his excellent character. I therefore -attended<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> the most of his lectures. It is true, the philosophy of -Ernesti, on which he lectured, could not give me much satisfaction, and -just as little did I receive from his lectures on Segner's Mathematical -Compendium. But I derived great benefit from his instructions in the -English language. The Rector H——, a cheerful old man, though somewhat -pedantic, was not altogether pleased with me, because I would not -perform his Latin exercises, and would not learn Greek at all. The -Professor of History began his lectures <i>ab ovo</i> with Adam, and at the -end of the year with a great deal of effort reached as far down as the -building of the Tower of Babel. The teacher of French used for -translation Fenelon's <i>Sur l'existence de Dieu</i>,—a work for which I -conceived the greatest dislike, because the author, while appearing to -declaim against Spinozism, in reality argues in its defence.</p> - -<p>During the whole period of my residence in the gymnasium the professors -were unable to form any correct idea of me, because they never had an -opportunity of forming my acquaintance. By the end of the first year I -thought I had attained my object, and laid a good foundation in -languages. I had also become tired of this inactive life, and therefore -resolved to quit the gymnasium. But Director Dusch; who began by and by -to become acquainted with me, begged me to stay at least another year, -and, as I wanted for nothing, I consented.</p> - -<p>It was about this time that the following incident in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> my life took -place. My wife had sent a polish Jew in search of me, and he heard of my -residence in Hamburg. Accordingly he came and called on me at the -gymnasium. He had been commissioned by my wife to demand, that I should -either return home without delay, or send through him a bill of divorce. -At that time I was unable to do either the one or the other. I was not -inclined to be divorced from my wife without any cause; and to return at -once to Poland, where I had not yet the slightest prospect of getting on -in the world or of leading a rational life, was to me impossible. I -represented all this to the gentleman who had undertaken the commission, -and added that it was my intention to leave the gymnasium soon and go to -Berlin, that my Berlin friends would, as I hoped, give me both their -advice and assistance in carrying out this intention. He would not be -satisfied with this answer, which he took for a mere evasion. When he -thus found that he could do nothing with me, he went to the chief rabbi, -and entered a complaint against me. A messenger was accordingly sent to -summon me before the tribunal of the chief rabbi; but I took my stand, -that at present I was not under his jurisdiction, inasmuch as the -gymnasium had a jurisdiction of its own, by which my case would require -to be decided. The chief rabbi made every effort through the Government -to make me submit to his wishes, but all his efforts were in vain. When -he saw that he could not accomplish his purpose in this way, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> sent me -an invitation a second time on the pretext that he wished merely to -speak with me. To this I willingly consented, and went to him at once.</p> - -<p>He received me with much respect; and when I made known to him my -birthplace and family in Poland, he began to lament and wring his hands. -"Alas!" said he, "you are the son of the famous Rabbi Joshua? I know -your father well; he is a pious and learned man. You also are not -unknown to me; I have examined you as a boy several times, and formed -high expectations of you. Oh! is it possible that you have altered so?" -(Here he pointed to my shaven beard). To this I replied, that I also had -the honour of knowing him, and that I still remembered his examinations -well. My conduct hitherto, I told him, was as little opposed to religion -properly understood, as it was to reason. "But," he interrupted "you do -not wear a beard, you do not go to the synagogue: is that not contrary -to religion?" "No!" I replied, and I proved to him from the Talmud that, -under the circumstances in which I was placed, all this was allowed. On -this point we entered into a lengthy dispute, in which each maintained -his right. As he could effect nothing with me by such disputation, he -adopted the style of mere sermonising; but when this also was of no -avail, he began to cry aloud, "<i>Shophar! Shophar!</i>" This is the name of -the horn which is blown on New-Year's day as a summons to repentance, -and at which it is supposed that Satan is horribly afraid.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> While the -chief rabbi called out the word, he pointed to a <i>Shophar</i> that lay -before him on the table, and asked me, "Do you know what that is?" I -replied quite boldly, "Oh yes! it is a ram's horn." At these words the -chief rabbi fell back upon his chair, and began to lament over my lost -soul. I left him to lament as long as he liked, and bade him goodbye.</p> - -<p>At the end of my second year I began to reflect, that it would be an -advantage in view of my future success, as well as fair to the -gymnasium, that I should make myself more intimately acquainted with the -professors. Accordingly I went to Director Dusch, announced to him that -I was soon to leave, and told him that, as I wished a certificate from -him, it would be well for him to examine me on the progress I had made, -so that his certificate might be as nearly as possible in accordance -with the truth. To this end he made me translate some passages from -Latin and English works in prose as well as in verse, and was very well -pleased with the translation. Afterwards he entered into conversation -with me on some subjects in philosophy, but found me so well versed in -these, that for his own safety he was obliged to back out. At last he -asked me, "But how is it with your mathematics?" I begged him to examine -me in this also. "In our mathematical lessons," he began, "we had -advanced to somewhere about the subject of mathematical bodies. Will you -work out yourself a proposition not yet taken up in the lessons, for -example, that about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> the relation of the cylinder, the sphere and the -cone to one another? You may take some days to do it." I replied that -this was unnecessary, and offered to perform the task on the spot. I -then demonstrated, not only the proposition prescribed, but several -other propositions out of Segner's Geometry. The Director was very much -surprised at this, called all the pupils in the gymnasium, and -represented to them that the extraordinary progress I had made should -make them ashamed of themselves. The most of them did not know what to -say to this; but some replied, "Do not suppose, Herr Director, that -Maimon made this progress in mathematics here. He has seldom attended -the mathematical lessons, and even when he was there he paid no -attention to them." They were going to say more, but the Director -commanded silence, and gave me an honourable certificate, from which I -cannot avoid quoting a few sentences. They became to me afterwards a -constant spur to higher attainments, and I hope it will not be -considered vainglory in me to cite the opinion of this esteemed man.</p> - -<p>"His capacity," says he, "for learning all that is beautiful, good and -useful in general, but in particular those sciences which require severe -exertion of the mental powers, abstract and profound thought, is, I -might almost say, extraordinary. All those sorts of knowledge, which -demand in the highest degree one's own mental efforts, appear to him the -most agreeable; and intellectual occupations seem to be his chief, if -not his sole, enjoyment.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> His favourite studies hitherto have been -philosophy and mathematics, in which his progress has excited my -astonishment, &c."</p> - -<p>I now bade goodbye to the teachers and officers of the gymnasium, who -unanimously paid me the compliment, that I had done honour to their -institution. I then set out once more for Berlin.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p> - - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.</a></h2> - -<h3>Third Journey to Berlin—Frustrated Plan of Hebrew Authorship—Journey -to Breslau—Divorce.</h3> - - -<p>On my arrival in Berlin I called upon Mendelssohn, as well as some other -old friends, and begged them, as I had now acquired some knowledge of -languages, to employ me in some occupation suited to my capacity. They -hit upon the suggestion, that, in order to enlighten the Polish Jews -still living in darkness, I should prepare in Hebrew, as the only -language intelligible to them, some scientific works, which these -philanthropists were to print at their own expense, and distribute among -the people. His proposal I accepted with delight. But now the question -arose, with what sort of works a beginning should be made. On this point -my excellent friends were divided in their opinions. One of them thought -that the history of the Jewish nation would be most serviceable for this -purpose, inasmuch as the people would discover in it the origin of their -religious doctrines and of the subsequent corruption which these had -undergone, while they would thus also gain an insight into the fact, -that the fall of the Jewish state, as well as all the subsequent -persecution and oppression which they had suffered,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> had arisen from -their own ignorance and opposition to all rational arrangements. -Accordingly this gentleman recommended that I should translate from -French Basnage's <i>History of the Jews</i>; he gave me the work for this -purpose, and asked me to furnish a copy of my translation. The specimen -gave satisfaction to them all, even to Mendelssohn, and I was ready to -take the work in hand; but one of our friends thought that we ought to -begin with something on natural religion and rational morals, inasmuch -as this is the object of all enlightenment. Accordingly he recommended -that for this purpose I should translate the <i>Natural Religion</i> of -Reimarus. Mendelssohn withheld his opinion, because he believed that -whatever was undertaken in this line, though it would do no harm, would -also be of little use. I myself undertook these works, not from any -conviction of my own, but at the request of my friends.</p> - -<p>I was too well acquainted with the rabbinical despotism, which by the -power of superstition has established its throne for many centuries in -Poland, and which for its own security seeks in every possible way to -prevent the spread of light and truth. I knew how closely the Jewish -theocracy is connected with the national existence, so that the -abolition of the former must inevitably bring with it the annihilation -of the latter. I saw therefore clearly that my labours in this direction -would be fruitless; but I undertook this commission, because, as already -stated, my friends would have it so, and because I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> could think of no -other means of subsistence. Accordingly without fixing anything definite -about the plan of my labours, my friends resolved to send me to Dessau, -where I could carry on my work at leisure.</p> - -<p>I reached Dessau in the hope, that after a few days my friends in Berlin -would resolve upon something definite about my work: but in this I was -deceived; for, as soon as I turned my back on Berlin, nothing further -was thought of the plan. I waited about a fortnight; but when during -that period I received no communication, I wrote to Berlin in the -following terms:—"If my friends cannot unite upon a plan, they might -leave the settlement of it to my own judgment. For my part I believe -that, to enlighten the Jewish nation, we must begin neither with history -nor with natural theology and morals. One of my reasons for thinking so -is, that these subjects, being easily intelligible, would not be able to -instil any regard for science in general among the more learned Jews, -who are accustomed to respect only those studies which involve a strain -upon the highest intellectual powers. But a second reason is, that, as -those subjects would frequently come into collision with religious -prejudices, they would never be admitted. Besides, sooth to say, there -is no proper history of the Jewish nation: for they have scarcely ever -stood in political relation with other civilised nations; and, with the -exception of the Old Testament and Josephus and a few fragments on the -persecutions of the Jews in the middle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> ages, nothing is to be found -recorded on the subject. I believe, therefore, that it would be best to -make a beginning with some science which, besides being most favourable -for the development of the mind, is also self-evident, and stands in no -connection with any religious opinions. Of this sort are the -mathematical sciences; and therefore with this object in view I am -willing to write a mathematical text-book in Hebrew."</p> - -<p>To this I received the answer, that I might follow my plan. Accordingly -I applied myself with all diligence to the preparation of this -text-book, using the Latin work on mathematics by Wolff as its basis; -and in two months it was finished. I then returned to Berlin, to give an -account of my work, but received immediately from one of the gentlemen -interested the disappointing information, that, as the work was very -voluminous, and as it would entail heavy expenditure especially on -account of the copper-plates required, he could not undertake the -publication at his own expense, and I might therefore do with my -manuscript whatever I chose. I complained of this to Mendelssohn; and he -thought, that certainly it was unreasonable to let my work go without -remuneration, but that I could not require my friends to undertake the -publication of a work which could not calculate on any good result in -consequence of that aversion to all science, which I myself knew to be -prevalent among the Jewish nation. His advice therefore was, that I -should get the book printed by subscription; and of course I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> -obliged to content myself with this. Mendelssohn and the other -enlightened Jews in Berlin subscribed, and I received for my work merely -my manuscript and the list of subscriptions. The whole plan, however, -was thought of no more.</p> - -<p>On this I fell out again with my friends in Berlin. Being a man with -little knowledge of the world, who supposed that human actions must -always be determined by the laws of justice, I pressed for the -fulfilment of the bargain made. My friends, on the other hand, began, -though too late, to see, that their ill-considered project must of -necessity collapse, because they had no assurance of a market for such -voluminous and expensive works. From the religious, moral and political -condition of the Jews up to this time it was easy to foresee that the -few enlightened men among them would certainly give themselves no -trouble to study the sciences in the Hebrew language, which is very -ill-adapted for the exposition of such subjects; they will prefer to -seek science in its original sources. The unenlightened, on the other -hand,—and these form the majority,—are so swayed by rabbinical -prejudices, that they regard the study of the sciences, even in Hebrew, -as forbidden fruit, and persistently occupy themselves only with the -Talmud and the enormous number of its commentaries.</p> - -<p>All this I understood very well, and therefore I never thought of -demanding that the work I had prepared should be printed; I asked merely -remuneration for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> labour spent on it in vain. In this dispute -Mendelssohn remained neutral, because he thought that both parties had -right on their side. He promised to use his influence with my friends, -to induce them to provide for my subsistence in some other way. But when -even this was not done, I became impatient, and resolved to quit Berlin -once more, and go to Breslau. I took with me some letters of -introduction, but they were of little service; for before I reached -Breslau myself, letters in the spirit of those which Uriah carried had -preceded me, and made a bad impression on the most of those to whom my -letters of introduction were addressed. As a natural result, therefore, -I was coldly received; and as I knew nothing of the later letters, I -found it impossible to explain my reception, and had made up my mind to -quit Breslau.</p> - -<p>By chance, however, I became acquainted with the celebrated Jewish poet, -the late Ephraim Kuh. This learned and high-minded man took so much -interest in me, that, neglecting all his former occupations and -enjoyments, he confined himself entirely to my society. To the wealthy -Jews he spoke of me with the greatest enthusiasm, and praised me as a -very good fellow. But when he found that all his complimentary remarks -failed to make any impression on these gentlemen, he took some trouble -to find out the cause of this, and at last discovered that the reason -lay in those friendly letters from Berlin. Their general tenor was, that -I was seeking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> to spread pernicious opinions. Ephraim Kuh, as a thinking -man, at once saw the reason of this charge; but with all the efforts he -made, he could not drive it out of the heads of these people. I -confessed to him that, during my first sojourn in Berlin as a young man -without experience or knowledge of the world, I had felt an irresistible -impulse to communicate to others whatever truth I knew; but I assured -him that, having for some years become wise by experience, I went to -work with great caution, and that therefore this charge was now wholly -without foundation.</p> - -<p>Irritated by my disheartening situation, I resolved to form the -acquaintance of Christian scholars, by whose recommendation I thought I -might find a hearing among the wealthy men of my own nation. I could not -but fear, however, that my defective language might form an obstacle to -the expression of my thoughts; so I prepared a written essay, in which I -delivered my ideas on the most important questions of philosophy in the -form of aphorisms. With this essay I went to the celebrated Professor -Garve, explained to him briefly my intention, and submitted my aphorisms -to him for examination. He discussed them with me in a very friendly -manner, gave me a good testimonial, and recommended me also orally in -very emphatic language to the wealthy banker, Lipmann Meier. This -gentleman settled a monthly allowance on me for my support, and also -spoke to some other Jews on the subject.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p> - -<p>My situation now improved every day. Many young men of the Jewish nation -sought my society. Among others the second son of Herr Aaron Zadig took -so much pleasure in my humble personality, that he desired to enjoy my -instruction in the sciences. This he earnestly begged his father to -allow; and the latter, being a well-to-do enlightened man of great good -sense, who wished to give his children the best German education, and -spared no expense for that object, willingly gave his consent. He sent -for me, and made the proposal that I should live at his house, and for a -moderate honorarium should give his second son lessons for two hours a -day in physics and <i>belles lettres</i>, and also a lesson in arithmetic of -an hour a day to his third and youngest son. This proposal I accepted -with great willingness; and, not long after, Herr Zadig asked me, if I -would not also consent to give lessons in Hebrew and elementary -mathematics to his children who had hitherto had for their teacher in -these subjects a Polish Jew, named Rabbi Manoth. But I thought it would -be unfair to supplant this poor man, who had a family to support, and -who was giving satisfaction at any rate; and therefore I declined this -request. Accordingly Rabbi Manoth continued his lessons, and I entered -upon mine.</p> - -<p>In this house I was able to carry on but little study for myself. In the -first place, there was a want of books; and, in the second place, I -lived in a room with the children, where they were occupied with other -masters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> every hour of the day. Besides, the liveliness of these young -people did not suit my character which had already become somewhat -stern; and therefore I had often occasion to get angry at petty -outbursts of unruliness. Consequently, as I was obliged to pass most of -my time in idleness, I sought society. I often visited Herr Hiemann -Lisse, a plump little man of enlightened mind and cheerful disposition. -With him and some other jolly companions I spent my evenings in talk and -jest and play of every sort. During the day I strolled around among the -coffee-houses.</p> - -<p>In other families also I soon became acquainted, particularly in those -of Herr Simon, the banker, and Herr Bortenstein, both of whom showed me -much kindness. All sought to persuade me to devote myself to medicine, -for which I had always entertained a great dislike. But when I saw from -my circumstances, that it would be difficult for me to find support in -any other way, I allowed myself to be persuaded. Professor Garve -introduced me to Professor Morgenbesser, and I attended his medical -lectures for some time; but after all I could not overcome my dislike to -the art, and accordingly gave up the lectures again. By and by I became -acquainted with other Christian scholars, especially with the late Herr -Lieberkühn, who was so justly esteemed on account of his abilities, as -well as for his warm interest in the welfare of mankind. I also made the -acquaintance of some teachers of merit in the Jesuits' College at -Breslau.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> - -<p>But I did not give up wholly literary work in Hebrew. I translated into -Hebrew Mendelssohn's <i>Morgenstunden</i>. Of this translation I sent some -sheets as a specimen to Herr Isaac Daniel Itzig in Berlin; but I -received no answer because this excellent man, owing to his business -being too extensive, cannot possibly give attention to subjects that are -not of immediate interest to him, and therefore such affairs as the -answering of my letter are easily forgotten. I also wrote in Hebrew a -treatise on Natural Philosophy according to Newtonian principles; and -this, as well as the rest of my Hebrew works, I still preserve in -manuscript.</p> - -<p>At last, however, I fell here also into a precarious situation. The -children of Herr Zadig, in pursuance of the occupations to which they -were destined in life, entered into commercial situations, and therefore -required teachers no longer. Other means of support also gradually -failed. As I was thus obliged to seek subsistence in some other way, I -devoted myself to giving lessons; I taught Euler's <i>Algebra</i> to a young -man, gave two children instruction in the rudiments of German and Latin, -&c. But even this did not last long, and I found myself in a sorrowful -plight.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile my wife and eldest son arrived from Poland. A woman of rude -education and manners, but of great good sense and the courage of an -Amazon, she demanded that I should at once return home with her, not -seeing the impossibility of what she required. I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> now lived some -years in Germany, had happily emancipated myself from the fetters of -superstition and religious prejudice, had abandoned the rude manner of -life in which I had been brought up, and extended my knowledge in many -directions. I could not therefore return to my former barbarous and -miserable condition, deprive myself of all the advantages I had gained, -and expose myself to rabbinical rage at the slightest deviation from the -ceremonial law, or the utterance of a liberal opinion. I represented to -her, that this could not be done at once, that I should require first of -all to make my situation known to my friends here as well as in Berlin, -and solicit from them the assistance of two or three hundred thalers, so -that I might be able to live in Poland independent of my religious -associates. But she would listen to nothing of all this, and declared -her resolution to obtain a divorce, if I would not go with her -immediately. Here therefore it was for me to choose the less of two -evils, and I consented to the divorce.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, however, I was obliged to provide for the lodging and board -of these guests, and to introduce them to my friends in Breslau. Both of -these duties I performed, and I pointed out, especially to my son, the -difference between the manner of life one leads here and that in Poland, -while I sought to convince him by several passages in the <i>Moreh -Nebhochim</i>, that enlightenment of the understanding and refinement of -manners are rather favourable than otherwise to religion. I went -further: I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> sought to convince him, that he ought to remain with me; I -assured him, that, with my direction and the support of my friends, he -would find opportunities of developing the good abilities with which -Nature had endowed him, and would obtain for them some suitable -employment. These representations made some impression upon him: but my -wife went with my son to consult some orthodox Jews, in whose advice she -thought she could thoroughly confide; and they recommended her to press -at once for a divorce, and on no account to let my son be induced to -remain with me. This resolution, however, she was not to disclose till -she had received from me a sufficient sum of money for household -purposes. She might then separate from me for ever, and start for home -with her booty.</p> - -<p>This pretty plan was faithfully followed. By and by I had succeeded in -collecting some score of ducats from my friends. I gave them to my wife, -and explained to her that, to complete the required sum, it would be -necessary for us to go to Berlin. She then began to raise difficulties, -and declared at once point-blank, that for us a divorce was best, as -neither could I live happily with her in Poland, nor she with me in -Germany. In my opinion she was perfectly right. But it still made me -sorry to lose a wife, for whom I had once entertained affection, and I -could not let the affair be conducted in any spirit of levity. I told -her therefore that I should consent to a divorce only if it were -enjoined by the courts.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> - -<p>This was done. I was summoned before the court. My wife stated the -grounds on which she claimed a divorce. The president of the court then -said, "Under these circumstances we can do nothing but advise a -divorce." "Mr. President," I replied, "we came here, not to ask advice, -but to receive a judicial sentence." Thereupon the chief rabbi rose from -his seat (that what he said might not have the force of a judicial -decision,) approached me with the codex in his hand, and pointed to the -following passage:—"A vagabond, who abandons his wife for years, and -does not write to her or send her money, shall, when he is found, be -obliged to grant a divorce." "It is not my part," I replied, "to -institute a comparison between this case and mine. That duty falls to -you, as judge. Take your seat again, therefore, and pronounce your -judicial sentence on the case."</p> - -<p>The president became pale and red by turns, while the rest of the judges -looked at one another. At last the presiding judge became furious, began -to call me names, pronounced me a damnable heretic, and cursed me in the -name of the Lord. I left him to storm, however, and went away. Thus -ended this strange suit, and things remained as they were before.</p> - -<p>My wife now saw that nothing was to be done by means of force, and -therefore she took to entreaty. I also yielded at last, but only on the -condition, that at the judicial divorce the judge, who had shown himself -such a master of cursing, should not preside in the court.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> After the -divorce my wife returned to Poland with my son. I remained some time -still in Breslau; but as my circumstances became worse and worse, I -resolved to return to Berlin.<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></p> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII.</a></h2> - -<h3>Fourth Journey to Berlin—Unfortunate Circumstances—Help—Study of -Kant's Writings—Characteristic of my own Works.</h3> - - -<p>When I came to Berlin, Mendelssohn was no longer in life,<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> and my -former friends were determined to know nothing more of me. I did not -know therefore what to do. In the greatest distress I received a visit -from Herr Bendavid, who told me that he had heard of my unfortunate -circumstances, and had collected a small sum of about thirty thalers, -which he gave to me. Besides, he introduced me to a Herr Jojard, an -enlightened and high-minded man, who received me in a very friendly -manner, and made some provision for my support. A certain professor, -indeed, tried to do me an ill turn with this worthy man by denouncing me -as an atheist; but in spite of this I gradually got on so well, that I -was able to hire a lodging in a garret from an old woman.</p> - -<p>I had now resolved to study Kant's <i>Kritik of Pure Reason</i>, of which I -had often heard but which I had never seen yet.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> The method, in which -I studied this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> work, was quite peculiar. On the first perusal I -obtained a vague idea of each section. This I endeavoured afterwards to -make distinct by my own reflection, and thus to penetrate into the -author's meaning. Such is properly the process which is called <i>thinking -oneself into a system</i>. But as I had already mastered in this way the -systems of Spinoza, Hume and Leibnitz, I was naturally led to think of a -coalition-system. This in fact I found, and I put it gradually in -writing in the form of explanatory observations on the <i>Kritik of Pure -Reason</i>, just as this system unfolded itself to my mind. Such was the -origin of my <i>Transcendental Philosophy</i>. Consequently this book must be -difficult to understand for the man who, owing to the inflexible -character of his thinking, has made himself at home merely in one of -these systems without regard to any other. Here the important problem, -<i>Quid juris?</i> with the solution of which the <i>Kritik</i> is occupied, is -wrought out in a much wider sense than that in which it is taken by -Kant; and by this means there is plenty of scope left for Hume's -scepticism in its full force. But on the other side the complete -solution of this problem leads either to Spinozistic or to Leibnitzian -dogmatism.</p> - -<p>When I had finished this work, I showed it to Marcus Herz.<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> He -acknowledged that he was reckoned among the most eminent disciples of -Kant, and that he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> given the most assiduous application while -attending Kant's philosophical lectures, as may indeed be seen from his -writings, but that yet he was not in a position to pass a judgment on -the <i>Kritik</i> itself or on any other work relating to it. He advised me, -however, to send my manuscript directly to Kant himself, and submit it -to his judgment, while he promised to accompany it with a letter to the -great philosopher. Accordingly I wrote to Kant, sending him my work, and -enclosing the letter from Herz. A good while passed, however, before an -answer came. At length Herz received a reply, in which, among other -things, Kant said:—</p> - -<p>"But what were you thinking about, my dear friend, when you sent me a -big packet containing the most subtle researches, not only to read -through, but to think out thoroughly, while I am still, in my -sixty-sixth year, burdened with a vast amount of labour in completion of -my plan! Part of this labour is to furnish the last part of the -<i>Kritik</i>,—that, namely, on the Faculty of Judgment,—which is soon to -appear; part is to work out my system of the Metaphysic of Nature, as -well as the Metaphysic of Ethics, in accordance with the requirements of -the <i>Kritik</i>. Moreover, I am kept incessantly busy with a multitude of -letters requiring special explanations on particular points; and, in -addition to all this, my health is frail. I had already made up my mind -to send back the manuscript with an excuse so well justified on all -these grounds; but a glance at it soon enabled me to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> recognise its -merits, and to show, not only that none of my opponents had understood -me and the main problem so well, but that very few could claim so much -penetration as Herr Maimon in profound inquiries of this sort. This -induced me...," and so on.</p> - -<p>In another passage of the letter Kant says:—"Herr Maimon's work -contains moreover so many acute observations, that he cannot give it to -the public without its producing an impression strongly in his favour." -In a letter to myself he said:—"Your esteemed request I have -endeavoured to comply with as far as was possible for me; and if I have -not gone the length of passing a judgment on the whole of your treatise, -you will gather the reason from my letter to Herr Herz. Certainly it -arises from no feeling of disparagement, which I entertain for no -earnest effort in rational inquiries that interest mankind, and least of -all for such an effort as yours, which, in point of fact, betrays no -common talent for the profounder sciences."</p> - -<p>It may easily be imagined how important and agreeable to me the -approbation of this great thinker must have been, and especially his -testimony that I had understood him well. For there are some arrogant -Kantians, who believe themselves to be sole proprietors of the Critical -Philosophy, and therefore dispose of every objection, even though -intended, not exactly as a refutation, but as a fuller elaboration of -this philosophy, by the mere assertion without proof, that the author -has failed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> to understand Kant. Now these gentlemen were no longer in a -position to bring this charge against my book, inasmuch as, by the -testimony of the founder himself of the Critical Philosophy, I have a -better right than they to make use of this argument.</p> - -<p>At this time I was living in Potsdam with a gentleman who was a -leather-manufacturer. When Kant's letters arrived, I went to Berlin, and -devoted my time to the publication of my <i>Transcendental Philosophy</i>. As -a native of Poland I dedicated this work to the king, and carried a copy -to the Polish Resident; but it was never sent, and I was put off from -time to time with various excuses. <i>Sapienti sat!</i></p> - -<p>A copy of the work was also sent, as is usually done, to the editor of -the <i>Allgemeine Litteraturzeitung</i>. After waiting a good while without -any notice appearing, I wrote to the editor, and received the following -answer:—"You know yourself how small is the number of those who are -competent to understand and judge philosophical works. Three of the best -speculative thinkers have declined to undertake the review of your book, -because they are unable to penetrate into the depths of your researches. -An application has been made to a fourth, from whom a favourable reply -was expected; but a review from him has not yet been received."</p> - -<p>I also began to work at this time for the <i>Journal für Aufklärung</i>. My -first article was on <i>Truth</i>, and was in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> the form of a letter to a -friend<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> in Berlin. The article was occasioned by a letter which I had -received from this friend during my stay in Potsdam, and in which he -wrote to me in a humorous vein, that philosophy was no longer a -marketable commodity, and that therefore I ought to take advantage of -the opportunity which I was enjoying to learn tanning. I replied, that -philosophy is not a coinage subject to the vicissitudes of the exchange; -and this proposition I afterwards developed in my article. Another -article in the same periodical was on <i>Tropes</i>, in which I show that -these imply the transference of a word not from one object to another -that is analogous, but from a relative to its correlate. I wrote also an -article on <i>Bacon and Kant</i>, in which I institute a comparison between -these two reformers of philosophy. <i>The Soul of the World</i> was the -subject of another discussion in this journal, in which I endeavoured to -make out, that the doctrine of one universal soul common to all animated -beings has not only as much in its favour as the opposite doctrine, but -that the arguments for it outweigh those on the other side. My last -article in the journal referred to the plan of my <i>Transcendental -Philosophy</i>; and I explain in it that, while I hold the Kantian -philosophy to be irrefutable from the side of the Dogmatist, on the -other hand I believe that it is exposed to all attacks from the side of -the Scepticism of Hume.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span></p> -<p>A number of young Jews from all parts of Germany had, during -Mendelssohn's lifetime, united to form a society under the designation, -Society <i>for Research into the Hebrew Language</i>. They observed with -truth, that the evil condition of our people, morally as well as -politically, has its source in their religious prejudices, in their want -of a rational exposition of the Holy Scriptures, and in the arbitrary -exposition to which the rabbis are led by their ignorance of the Hebrew -language. Accordingly the object of their society was to remove these -deficiencies, to study the Hebrew language in its sources, and by that -means to introduce a rational exegesis. For this purpose they resolved -to publish a monthly periodical in Hebrew under the title of [Hebrew:** -], <i>The Collector</i>, which was to give expositions of difficult passages -in Scripture, Hebrew poems, prose essays, translations from useful -works, etc.</p> - -<p>The intention of all this was certainly good; but that the end would -scarcely be reached by any such means, I saw from the very beginning. I -was too familiar with the principles of the rabbis and their style of -thought to believe that such means would bring about any change. The -Jewish nation is, without reference to accidental modifications, a -perpetual aristocracy under the appearance of a theocracy. The learned -men, who form the nobility in the nation, have been able, for many -centuries, to maintain their position as the legislative body with so -much authority among the common people, that they can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> do with them -whatever they please. This high authority is a natural tribute which -weakness owes to strength. For since the nation is divided into such -unequal classes as the common people and the learned, and since the -former, owing to the unfortunate political condition of the nation, are -profoundly ignorant, not only of all useful arts and sciences, but even -of the laws of their religion, on which their eternal welfare is -supposed to depend, it follows that the exposition of Scripture, the -deduction of religious laws from it, and the application of these to -particular cases, must be surrendered wholly to the learned class which -the other undertakes the cost of maintaining. The learned class seek to -make up for their want of linguistic science and rational exegetics by -their own ingenuity, wit and acuteness. To form an idea of the degree in -which these talents are displayed, it is necessary to read the Talmud -along with the commentary called <i>Tosaphoth</i>, that is, the additions to -the first commentary of Rabbi Solomon Isaac.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> - -<p>The productions of the mind are valued by them, not in proportion to -their utility, but in proportion to the talent which they imply. A man -who understands Hebrew, who is well versed in the Holy Scriptures, who -even carries in his head the whole of the Jewish <i>Corpus Juris</i>,—and -that is no trifle,—is by them but slightly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> esteemed. The greatest -praise that they give to such a man is <i>Chamor Nose Sepharim</i>, that is, -<i>An ass loaded with books</i>. But if a man is able, by his own ingenuity, -to deduce new laws from those already known, to draw fine distinctions, -and to detect hidden contradictions, he is almost idolised. And to tell -the truth, this judgment is well founded, so far as it concerns the -treatment of subjects that have no ulterior end in view.</p> - -<p>It may therefore be easily imagined, that people of this sort will -scarcely accord a hearing to an institute which aims merely at the -cultivation of taste, the study of language, or any similar object, -which to them appears mere trifling. Yet these are not the few educated -men, scattered here and there,—the steersmen of this ship which is -driven about in all seas. All men of enlightened minds, it does not -matter how much taste or knowledge they possess, are treated by them as -imbeciles. And why? Simply because they have not studied the Talmud to -that extent, and in the manner, which they require. Mendelssohn was in -some measure esteemed by them on this account, because in point of fact -he was a good Talmudist.</p> - -<p>I was therefore neither for, nor against, this monthly periodical; I -even contributed to it at times Hebrew articles. Among these I will -mention merely one,—an exposition of an obscure passage in the -commentary of Maimonides on the Mishnah, which I interpreted by the -Kantian philosophy. The article was afterwards translated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> into German, -and inserted in the <i>Berlinische Monatsschrift</i>.</p> - -<p>Some time after this I received from this society, which now calls -itself the <i>Society for the Promotion of all that is Noble and Good</i>, a -commission to write a Hebrew commentary on the celebrated work of -Maimonides, <i>Moreh Nebhochim</i>. This commission I undertook with -pleasure, and the work was soon done. So far, however, only a part of -the commentary has as yet appeared. The preface to the work may be -considered as a brief history of philosophy.</p> - -<p>I had been an adherent of all philosophical systems in succession, -Peripatetic, Spinozist, Leibnitzian, Kantian, and finally Sceptic; and I -was always devoted to that system, which for the time I regarded as -alone true. At last I observed that all these systems contain something -true, and are in certain respects equally useful. But, as the difference -of philosophical systems depends on the ideas which lie at their -foundation in regard to the objects of nature, their properties and -modifications, which cannot, like the ideas of mathematics, be defined -in the same way by all men, and presented <i>a priori</i>, I determined to -publish for my own use, as well as for the advantage of others, a -philosophical dictionary, in which all philosophical ideas should be -defined in a somewhat free method, that is, without attachment to any -particular system, but either by an explanation common to all, or by -several explanations from the point of view of each.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> Of this work also -only the first part has as yet appeared.</p> - -<p>In the popular German monthly already mentioned, the <i>Berlinische -Monatsschrift</i>, various articles of mine were inserted, on Deceit, on -the Power of Foreseeing, on Theodicy, and other subjects. On Empirical -Psychology also I contributed various articles, and at last became -associated with Herr Hofrath Moritz in the editorship of the -periodical.<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a></p> - -<p>So much with regard to the events which have occurred in my life, and -the communication of which, I thought, might be not without use. I have -not yet reached the haven of rest; but—</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i2">"Quo fata trahunt retrahuntque sequamur."<br /></span> -</div></div> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span></p> - - - -<h2><a name="CONCLUDING_CHAPTER" id="CONCLUDING_CHAPTER">CONCLUDING CHAPTER.</a></h2> - - -<p>The closing words of the Autobiography themselves awaken the desire to -know the sequel of the author's life, and it seems therefore appropriate -to finish the narrative by the sketch of a few facts derived mainly from -the little volume of <i>Maimoniana</i>, to which reference has been made in -the preface.</p> - -<p>It is perhaps scarcely necessary to state that Maimon's life to the very -end continued to retain the stamp it bore throughout the whole period -described in the preceding chapters. That stamp had apparently been -impressed on it even before he left Poland; and the Western influences, -under which he came in Germany, never altered essentially the character -he brought with him from home.</p> - -<p>Even in its external features his life enjoyed no permanent improvement. -Fate had indeed been somewhat hard upon a man of so much genuine culture -and sensibility. Still the chronic poverty, which filled the largest cup -of suffering in his life, was due not wholly to circumstances: it was -partly his own nature or habits that kept him a pauper. This is all the -more remarkable, that there is perhaps no work of moral or religious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> -instruction which attaches more importance than the Talmud to industrial -pursuits.<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> Saturated as his mind was with Talmudic lore, and -disciplined as his early years had been by Talmudic training, Maimon -could not be ignorant of the advantage which the spiritual life derives -from financial independence on others; and it might therefore have been -expected of him that, like many of the great rabbis, and Spinoza and -Mendelssohn too, he would have devoted himself to some remunerative -occupation, however humble. This would not have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> been impossible even in -Poland, where the Jews were subject to no disability excluding them from -the common industries of the country; and from the Autobiography it -appears that, even at an early period of his life, he was more than half -aware that his poverty was due, not wholly to the imperious demands of a -higher culture, but to a somewhat selfish indolence.<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> In Germany, -with its more advanced civilisation, it would have been much less -difficult for him to make a tolerable living at some employment. The -Autobiography shows that he was very generously received by a large -circle of influential friends, who took a great deal of pains to secure -for him a position of independence, and that they abandoned their effort -only when they found it in vain. From the <i>Maimoniana</i> also it appears -that some of the most eminent men of his time continued to tender their -friendly services. Among others, Plattner, Schultze (Aenesidemus), and -even Goethe, made advances towards Maimon in a way that was not only -very flattering, but might have been very helpful, if he had so -chosen.<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> But he never got rid of the habit, which he had acquired in -Poland, of depending on others; and the low standard of comfort, to -which he had accustomed himself, left him without sufficient stimulus to -seek an escape from his pauperised condition.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> - -<p>His condition, therefore, never improved. He continued during his later -years to work at various literary employments; but the remuneration he -obtained for these was never sufficient for his subsistence. His works -appealed to a very limited public. He had consequently often to go -a-begging for a publisher, and to content himself with what slight -honorarium the reluctant publishers chose to give.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> The literary -hack-work, of which he was obliged to do a good deal, brought him no -better return. That sort of labour was probably as poorly paid in Berlin -at the time as in the Grub Street of last century. He was therefore at -times reduced to utter beggary. Many of his earlier friends, as appears -from the Autobiography, had lost patience with him; and some, who had -helped him before, when he was forced by sheer starvation to apply to -them afterwards, treated him as a common beggar, dismissing him with a -copper in charity (<i>Zehrpfennig</i>), and at times with unnecessarily cold, -even insulting language.<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> If we add to this the fact, that his -irregular habits often made him the victim of unscrupulous men,<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> it -will not seem surprising that he sometimes fell into a bitter tone and -harsh judgments about his friends,<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> or that he was apt occasionally -to burst out into pretty strong language of general misanthropy.<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> - -<p>Perhaps Maimon might have risen out of the chronic destitution, to which -he seemed doomed, if he had cultivated in any degree the virtue of -thrift. But thriftlessness, as the Autobiography shows, had been an -hereditary vice in his family, at least for two generations before him; -and though he gives vivid pictures of its pitiable results in the -households of his grandfather and father, he never made any effort to -rise above it himself. Whenever he obtained any remuneration for his -work, instead of husbanding it economically till he obtained more, he -usually squandered it at once in extravagancies, often of a useless, -sometimes of a reprehensible kind.<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> He points out in his first -chapter, that his grandfather might have been a rich man if he had kept -accounts of income and expenditure. But his friend Wolff, has to confess -that, good mathematician as Maimon was, he never seemed to think of the -difference between <i>plus</i> and <i>minus</i> in money-matters.<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> With such a -character one of Maimon's friends was not far from the truth, when on a -fresh application for assistance, he dismissed him, too harshly perhaps, -with the blunt remark, "People like you there is no use in trying to -help."<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> Certainly help was not to be found in Maimon himself, and it -is difficult to see how he could have avoided the chance of a miserable -death by actual starvation, had it not been that a generous home was at -last opened to him, where he closed his days in comfort and peace.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span></p> - -<p>A character like that of Maimon implied a general irregularity of -life,—an absence of that regulation by fixed rules of conduct, which is -essential to wellbeing. He was not indeed unaware of the importance of -such regularity. "I require of every man of sound mind," he said one -day, "that he should lay out for himself a plan of action." No wonder -that this requirement leads his friend to remark, that it seemed to him -as if Maimon's only plan of life had been to live without any plan at -all.<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a></p> - -<p>The irregularity of his habits is strikingly seen in his want of method -even at his literary work. Notwithstanding the technical culture he gave -himself in early life in drawing, he seems never to have reached any -degree of muscular expertness. Wolff remarked his awkwardness in -handling his pen, and his inability to fold a letter with tolerable -neatness.<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> In other respects also he was careless about those -mechanical conveniences by which mental work is usually facilitated. He -was commonly to be seen working at a very unsteady desk, one leg of -which was supported by a folio volume.<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> He did not even confine -himself to any particular place for work. Apparently he spent more of -his day in public taverns than in his private lodging, and he might -often<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> be seen amid the distraction of such surroundings writing or -revising proofs, while, as a consequence, his papers sometimes were -mislaid and lost, and his work had all to be done over again. It was -said of the Autobiography itself that it had been written on an alehouse -bench.<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> He could never understand how any man could do intellectual -work by rule; and therefore, though he had to make his living as best he -could by literature, he never formed the habit of reserving one part of -the day for work. He commonly worked in the morning, at least in <i>his</i> -morning, and that, his friend acknowledges, was not very early;<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> but -this itself was evidently no fixed rule. Probably for the same reason he -never adopted the plan, which authors find so serviceable, of first -sketching an outline of a work before it is written out in detail. "I -have," he said one day, "given up, with good result, the habit of making -a draught beforehand. You are not, by a long way, so careful about your -work when you know that you are going to write it over again; you -neglect many a thought, do not write it down, because you believe that -it will occur to you again in copying out, which frequently does not -happen."<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> It is clear, however, that, his opinion to the contrary -notwithstanding, his writings suffered from his unmethodical habits. -"The fact," says the most competent of judges on this subject, "that -Maimon is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> far from having attained the recognition which his importance -deserves, may be accounted for by the defective condition of his -writings. His extraordinary acuteness was designed, but was not -sufficiently cultivated, to give to his investigations the light and the -force of methodical exposition. He wrote with most pleasure in his -Talmudic fashion, commenting and disputing, without proper sifting and -arrangement of his materials. To these defects must be added the faults -of his style. It is surprising that he learned to write German as he -did. In his writings there are passages in which the thought bursts out -with really resplendent power, and actually forces the language, even -plays with it, in turns of expression that take you by surprise. But a -German author he never became; and as a philosophical author he wanted a -certain sense of order that is indispensable for exposition. He can -sometimes formulate very well, but cannot systematise, and hence his -most important opinions, in which the whole meaning of his position -rests, are often in the course of his writings found in passages the -least lucid and the least prominent."<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a></p> - -<p>It is perhaps only saying the same thing of Maimon in another form, that -he had no mechanical memory, that consequently he was apt to forget the -names of persons and of places, sometimes could not remember the name of -the street where he lived, or the day or even the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> month; and it is not -therefore surprising that he often injured himself by neglecting all -sort of engagements.<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> It may be readily inferred that he was -particularly negligent about all engagements and regulations bearing -upon the mere externals of life. That a man of his condition and -character must have been unusually careless about his personal -appearance, follows as a matter of course, and therefore we may pass -over the references of Wolff to peculiarities of Maimon's dress. He was -usually to be seen out of doors clad in an overcoat which had evidently -not been made for himself, and which, we may suspect, was intended as a -convenient covering for the defects of under-garments, his boots bearing -the weather-stains of many days, and his beard often showing that for a -good while he had forgotten his engagement with his barber. In the -latter years of his life he abandoned the use of a wig, as well as of -powder in his hair, at a time when these changes must have been regarded -as rather daring innovations on prevalent fashion. But in all his -surroundings he showed what, for a man of his intellectual attainments, -seems a most astonishing disregard of sanitary cleanliness and the -comfortable decencies of life. The state of his lodging must have raised -a shudder in any one sensitive to disorder or uncleanliness. He -acknowledged that he was constantly at war with the housemaid on this -subject,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> as he could never bear to have his room swept and dusted, and -he complained of the perpetual annoyance to which he was exposed in -Amsterdam from the excessive scruples of the people in regard to -tidiness.<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> It may fairly be suspected that the annoyance was -considerably greater, as it was more justifiable, on the other side. His -habits in this respect clung to him to the last, and it was evidently -difficult to keep his surroundings tolerable even in the comparatively -sumptuous home in which he closed his days.</p> - -<p>The frank confessions of the Autobiography reveal the fact, that the -irregularity, which characterised the life of Maimon, sometimes led to a -breach of the weightier matters of the law. The habit, which he began in -Poland, of seeking relief from external discomfort and internal -wretchedness in alcoholic stimulation, grew upon him afterwards; and as -his health began to fail, he used to treat his various complaints by a -liberal allowance of various wines and beers which he supposed adapted -to their cure.<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a> The liberal allowance was very apt, especially in the -evenings, to exceed all reasonable moderation; and the sleepy -inhabitants of Berlin were not infrequently disturbed by the half-tipsy -philosopher, as he wended his way unsteadily homewards at unseasonable -hours, discoursing on all sorts of speculative themes in disagreeably<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> -loud tones that were occasionally interrupted by the expostulations of a -night-watchman.<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a></p> - -<p>The peculiarly undisciplined manners of Maimon were occasionally shown -in violent outbursts of various feelings. Too frequently it was an -irritable temper that gave way. The slightest provocation, even the loss -of a game at chess,<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> was apt to cause a painful explosion; and then -his language was certainly far from being restrained by those usages -which are found essential to the pleasantness of social intercourse.<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> -The uncontrollable violence of these outbursts was amusingly exhibited -in the fact, that sometimes he could not command the intellectual calm -requisite for thinking and expressing himself in his acquired German, -and, even though it might be a Gentile with whom he quarrelled, he fell -back on his Judæo-Polish mother tongue, which came to him as if by -natural instinct.<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> It is but fair, however, to add that these -outbursts were often merely the unusually forcible, but not altogether -unjustifiable, utterances of an honest indignation at wrong.<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a></p> - -<p>For this strangely educated man, who in his outward manners seemed to -remain a somewhat rude child of nature, was after all ready to yield, -not only to an unkindly irritability, but also to the more genial -emotions. It is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> pleasing, for example, to know that he had a particular -fondness for animals; and his pets were allowed in his lodging liberties -which, however objectionable to a tidy housemaid, showed at least the -essential gentleness of his heart. Tutored as he was himself in the -severest school of poverty, it is also pleasing to know that he -cherished a kindly sympathy for the poor, and was ever ready to help -them as he could, sometimes at the cost of no small sacrifice to -himself.<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> The finer sensibilities of his nature were also easily -touched by music. Though he had no musical culture, and used to regret -that he had had none, an old Hebrew melody, long after he had broken off -all connection with the Jews, could move him so deeply that he was -obliged, even in company, to seek relief in tears.<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> For in the -uncontrolled simplicity of his nature he allowed his feelings to find -their natural vent without much restraint from circumstances; and -therefore he was seen at times in the theatre excited to loud sobbing by -a tragedy, or to boisterous laughter over a comedy.<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></p> - -<p>Nor is it to be regarded as an unpleasant feature of his character, but -rather as an indication of a wholesome check on the general irregularity -of his life, that, even after he had thrown off all the peculiar -restraints of his national religion, he clung with evident fondness to -many of those rabbinical habits which he had cultivated in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> earlier -years. From Fischer's account of the style of Maimon's works we have -seen how his intellectual work was affected by his Talmudic studies. The -criticism is evidently just. Maimon himself had met with it, and -acknowledged its justice. He protested indeed that it did not affect the -truth of his speculations, though he evidently felt its disadvantages, -and laboured at times to acquire a more methodical style.<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a></p> - -<p>The rabbinical habits of Maimon, however, were most quaintly seen in -peculiarities of outward manner. Gesticulations customary in the study -of the Talmud he was seen to adopt not infrequently when he forgot -himself in the earnestness of conversation, or when in a company he fell -into a brown study, or even in the studies of his retirement. Thus in -reading Euler's mathematical works or any other book which required -great attention, he would fall into the Talmudic singsong and rhythmical -swing of the body.<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a></p> - -<p>It is noteworthy also, that, with all the unrestrained rudeness which -often characterised his manners, Maimon was not without a certain -dignified courtesy; and when the occasion demanded it, he could turn a -polite phrase as prettily as the most accomplished gentleman.<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> There -was, moreover, in Maimon an intrinsic shyness which must have gone a -long way to soften the less amiable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> side of his social character.<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> -Then it is evident that his conversation, in his better moods at least, -had a charm which made him a welcome guest in any company. Thus, amid -all that may have been repulsive at times, there must have been in -Maimon's character a good deal to attract the friendly companionship of -others. The Autobiography itself, as well as Wolff's little book, shows -that Maimon enjoyed as much as he desired of the cultured society of his -time. Being naturally shy, indeed, he rather shrank from company in -which intercourse is regulated by a somewhat rigid social code; and the -desire of freedom from such restriction often drove him into company of -a much more objectionable kind. He also seems to have entertained a -strong dislike to any excessively demonstrative affection. He himself -was rather curt in his expressions of courtesy or friendliness towards -others, contenting himself generally, on meeting them, with a familiar -nod. The lifting of the hat appeared to him meaningless, and a -deliberate embrace "in cold blood" was intolerable.<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> Yet in many -instances the attachment of his friends was marked with an unusual -degree of warmth, and brought many an hour of sunshine to a life which -otherwise would have been shadowed with insufferable gloom.</p> - -<p>Among all Maimon's friends, the most conspicuous place must be given to -the man by whose generous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> hospitality he was able to close his -chequered life amid the comforts of a luxurious home. While he was -living in a miserable lodging in one of the suburbs of Berlin, he -learned from one of his friends that a Silesian nobleman, Graf -Kalkreuth, who had formed a high opinion of his writings, was anxious to -make his personal acquaintance. After a good deal of delay, Maimon was -at last induced to call upon the Graf at his residence in Berlin. -Fortunately he was very favourably impressed with the character of his -noble friend; and the friendship thus begun led before long to his -taking up his abode permanently with the Graf.<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> The generous -consideration which the host displayed for all the eccentricities of his -guest, made this arrangement one of the happiest for the poor -philosopher, who since his childhood had seldom enjoyed the comforts of -a home.</p> - -<p>But it is evident that the hardships of his life had at an early period -begun to tell upon his constitution, and that this was further shattered -by irregular habits in his later years. Symptoms of serious trouble in -the lungs excited his alarm in the winter of 1795, and he was induced to -seek medical advice. Partly from an unwise scepticism in regard to -medicine, partly from his usual failure to adhere to any fixed rule in -his conduct, the services of his physicians commonly ended with the -consultation; he seldom or never acted on their advice.<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>He lived -in indifferent health for five or six years more. When his last illness -overtook him, he was living in the house of Graf Kalkreuth at -Siegersdorf near Freistadt, in Lower Silesia. The only account of him at -this crisis was written by the pastor of Freistadt, for a monthly -periodical of the time, entitled <i>Kronos</i>. It forms the close of Wolff's -little book; and as it is the only account, it may be of some interest -here. The pastor, Herr Tscheggey, had made the acquaintance of Maimon -about the year 1795; but their intercourse had become much closer about -six weeks before Maimon's death, when he used to visit the pastor two or -three times a week. On hearing that Maimon had been confined for some -days, the good pastor at once went to see him. He found him in a state -of great weakness, unable to leave his room, and besought him earnestly, -but in vain, to take medical advice. A few days afterwards he called -again, and saw that evidently the end was drawing nigh. Curious to know -whether Maimon in this situation would remain true to his principles, he -gave the following turn to the conversation, which he professes to -report word for word.</p> - -<p>"I am sorry to find you so ill to-day, dear Maimon," said the pastor.</p> - -<p>"There will perhaps be some improvement yet," replied Maimon.</p> - -<p>"You look so ill," his friend proceeded, "that I am doubtful about your -recovery."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span></p> - -<p>"What matters it after all?" said Maimon. "When I am dead, I am gone."</p> - -<p>"Can you say that, dear friend," rejoined the clergyman, with deep -emotion. "How? Your mind, which amid the most unfavourable circumstances -ever soared to higher attainments, which bore such fair flowers and -fruits—shall it be trodden in the dust along with the poor covering in -which it has been clothed? Do you not feel at this moment that there is -something in you which is not body, not matter, not subject to the -conditions of space and time?"</p> - -<p>"Ah!" replied Maimon, "these are beautiful dreams and hopes"——</p> - -<p>"Which will surely be fulfilled," his friend broke in; and then, after a -short pause, added, "You maintained not long ago that here we cannot -reach further than to mere <i>legality</i>. Let this be admitted; and now -perhaps you are about to pass over soon into a condition, in which you -will rise to the stage of <i>morality</i>, since you and all of us have a -natural capacity for it. Why? Should you not wish now to come into the -society of one whom you honoured so much as Mendelssohn?"</p> - -<p>The zealous pastor says he gave the conversation this turn on purpose, -in order to touch this side of the philosopher's heart. After a while -the dying man exclaimed, "Ay me! I have been a foolish man, the most -foolish among the most foolish—and how earnestly I wished it -otherwise!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p> - -<p>"This utterance," observed the pastor, "is also a proof that you are not -yet in complete accord with your unbelief. No," he added, taking Maimon -by the hand, "you will not all die; your spirit will surely live on."</p> - -<p>"So far as mere faith and hope are concerned, I can go a good way; but -what does that help us?" was Maimon's reply.</p> - -<p>"It helps us at least to peace," urged the pastor.</p> - -<p>"I am at peace (<i>Ich bin ruhig</i>)," said the dying man, completely -exhausted.</p> - -<p>Here Tscheggey broke off the conversation, as the sufferer was evidently -unable to continue it. When he rose to leave, Maimon begged him to stay, -or at least to come back again soon. He came back the following morning, -but found the patient unconscious. At ten o'clock on the same -evening—it was the 22nd of November, 1800—this strangely tossed life -had reached its haven.</p> - -<p>"He died at peace," says the kindly clergyman, "though I do not venture -to say from what source the peace was derived. When a few days -afterwards I passed the castle of his noble friend, I looked up with -sadness to the window of his former room, and blessed his ashes." It is -to be regretted that the generous piety of the friendly minister was not -universal, and that the ashes of the unfortunate doubter were only with -a grudge allowed to find a decent resting-place.</p> - - -<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Vol. iii., p. 370, note.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> See the Preface to his <i>Philosophy of Reflection</i>, pp. -16-18.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Vol. v., chap. 7.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> The volume bears the somewhat quaint title in -full:—<i>Maimoniana, oder Rhapsodien Zur Charakteristik Salomon -Maimon's</i>. Aus Seinem Privatleben gesammelt von Sabattia Joseph Wolff, -M.D. Berlin, gedruckt bei G. Hayn, 1813.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> The only logical connection is the fact, that the writings -of Maimonides formed the most powerful influence in the intellectual -development of Maimon. In illustration of this he writes:—"My reverence -for this great teacher went so far, that I regarded him as the ideal of -a perfect man, and looked upon his teachings as if they had been -inspired with Divine Wisdom itself. This went so far, that, when my -passions began to grow, and I had sometimes to fear lest they might -seduce me to some action inconsistent with those teachings, I used to -employ, as a proved antidote, the abjuration, 'I swear, by the reverence -which I owe my great teacher, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, not to do this -act.' And this vow, so far as I can remember, was always sufficient to -restrain me." <i>Lebensgeschichte</i>, Vol. ii., pp. 3-4.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> That is, of course, the seventeenth.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Maimon himself nowhere mentions the date or place of his -birth; but Wolff says that he was born at Nesvij, in Lithuania, about -the year 1754 (<i>Maimoniana, p. 10</i>). <i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> This word is explained below, at the beginning of the next -chapter.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> The customary Jewish salutation.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> The original is "ein Kalamankenes Leibserdak,"—a -provincialism which, I believe, is substantially rendered in this -translation.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Till quite recently it had been almost forgotten that one -of the commonest manifestations of fanaticism against the Jews, -especially in Eastern Europe, was to charge them with the murder of -Christian children for the use of some horrid religious rite, and that -scarcely ever was the dead body of a child found in the neighbourhood of -a Jewish community without some outburst of this cruel suspicion, ending -in an indiscriminate massacre of the Jews by the infuriated mob. It is a -singularly creditable proof of the liberal government of Stephen -Batory,—one of the ablest monarchs who ever sat on the throne of -Poland,—that, so long ago as 1576, he issued an edict prohibiting the -imputation of this crime to the Jews, as being utterly inconsistent with -the principles of their religion. Yet, in spite of this enactment, the -fanatical suspicion continued to display itself at frequent intervals. -Milman supposed it had been finally quelled by the ukase of the Russian -Government in 1835, which went in the same direction as the earlier -prohibition of the Polish king (<i>History of the Jews</i>, vol. iii., p. -389). What would have been his astonishment, had he lived to learn that, -half a century after he thought it extinguished, this ancient delusion -was to revive, that an Hungarian court was to spend thirty one days in -the solemn trial of a Jewish family on the charge of sacrificing a -Christian girl in their synagogue, that a learned professor in the -Imperial and Royal University of Prague was to write in defence of the -charge, and that the trial was to form the subject of an extensive -controversial literature in the language of the most learned nation in -the world! An interesting account of this famous trial at Tisza Eszlar, -as well as of the literature connected with it, will be found in an -article by Dr. Wright, on <i>The Jews and the Malicious Charge of Human -Sacrifice</i> in the <i>Nineteenth Century</i>, for November, 1883.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> It seems that Maimon gives a euphemistic explanation of -this word, as I am told its real meaning makes much more intelligible -its extreme offensiveness to his mother.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> The original runs: "Der Verstand sucht bloss zu <i>fassen</i>, -die Einbildungskraft aber zu <i>umfassen</i>."—<i>Tr.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> That is, <i>The Branch</i> (or <i>Offspring</i>) <i>of David</i>. See -Jeremiah xxiii. 5; xxxiii. 15; Isaiah xi. 1.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> The Hebrew word for a globe.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> This rabbi belonged to a family of eminent linguists. The -father, Joseph Kimchi, was one of the numerous Jews who were obliged to -flee from Spain to escape the cruel persecutions of the Mohades about -the middle of the twelfth century. He left two sons who both followed -his favourite studies. The elder, Moses, has the credit of having -educated his younger and more illustrious brother, David, whose Hebrew -grammar and dictionary continued in general use among scholars for -centuries. Kimchi is said to have been powerfully influenced, not only -by Maimonides, but also by Aben Esra, who preceded him by nearly a -century, and who was one of the most learned scholars, as well as one of -the most versatile authors, of his time. (Jost's <i>Geschichte des -Judenthums</i>, vol. ii., pp. 419-423; and vol. iii, pp. -30-31).—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> That is, about 100 English miles.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> See above, p. 14.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Solomon ben Isaac, as he is more correctly named, or -Raschi, as he is also called, was an eminent Talmudic scholar of Troyes -in the latter half of the eleventh century. It was his son-in-law, Meïr, -and the three sons of Meïr, who may be said to have begun the Tosaphoth, -referred to in the text.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> As it was at one time throughout all Christendom, and -probably under every civilisation at a certain stage of its -history.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> This seems to be Job xxvii. 17, which in our Authorised -Version runs:—"He (a wicked man) may prepare it (raiment), but the just -shall put it on." Maimon seems to render it from memory:—"Der Gottlose -schafft sich an, und der Fromme bekleidet sich damit."—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Evidently viii., 12, rendered in our Authorised Version, -"Thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand (pieces of silver), and those -that keep the fruit thereof two hundred." Maimon translates apparently -from memory, "Die tausend Gulden sind für dich, Salomo, und die -Zweihundert für die, die seine Früchte bewahren." In my rendering of -this the pronoun "his" must be understood in its old English latitude as -either neuter or masculine.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> The bulk of the gift explains its costliness. "The -Babylonian Talmud is about four times as large as that of Jerusalem. Its -thirty-six treatises now cover, in our editions, printed with the most -prominent commentaries (Rashi and Tosafoth), exactly 2947 folio leaves -in twelve folio volumes." (E. Deutsch's <i>Literary Remains</i>, p. -41).—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Maimon gives merely the initial "R" of this name; but as -he has already (Chap. i.) told us that his prince was Radzivil, there is -not much mystery in this artifice.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> This horror of memory tormented Maimon to the end of his -days. "He dreamed often that he was in Poland again, deprived of all his -books; and Lucius metamorphosed into an ass was not in a more pitiable -plight. 'From this agony,' said Maimon, 'I was usually aroused by a loud -cry, and my joy was indescribable on finding that it was only a dream.'" -(<i>Maimoniana</i>, p. 94). "He once received a visit from his brother, for -whom he was deeply affected. Poor as he was himself, Maimon kept him a -long while, gave him clothing and everything else that he could, besides -procuring from some friends enough money to pay his travelling expenses. -Above all, he told me, he was affected at letting his brother go back -into the wilderness; and if he had not had a wife and children at home, -he would have tried to keep him beside himself." (<i>Ibid.</i>, p. -175).—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> It was probably a reminiscence of this labour of -deciphering, that led to the following outburst of sympathy:—"One day -Maimon read in an English work, that the author had only commenced to -learn the ABC when he was eighteen years of age, and that the first book -which fell into his hands was one of Newton's works. His master (for he -was a servant) came upon him at this task, and asked, 'What are you -doing with that? you can't read?' 'O yes,' he replied, 'I have learnt to -read, and I began with the most difficult subjects.' Maimon read this in -my presence with tears in his eyes." (<i>Maimoniana</i>, pp. -230-1).—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Both of these Cabbalists belonged to the sixteenth -century. The former, as his name implies, belonged to Cordova in Spain; -the latter, to the German community in Jerusalem (<i>Jost's Geschichte des -Judenthums</i>, Vol. iii., pp. 137-140).—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Rabbi Meïr’s teacher was Elisha ben Abuyah, "the Faust of -the Talmud," as he has been strikingly styled by Mr. Deutsch. The Talmud -preserves a beautiful story illustrative of the devoted affection which -Meïr continued to cherish for his apostate master. Four men, so runs the -legend, entered <i>Paradise</i>; that is, according to Talmudic symbolism, -they entered upon the study of that secret science with its bewildering -labyrinth of speculative dreams, through which it is given only to a few -rare spirits to find their way. Of these four, "one beheld and died, one -beheld and lost his senses, one destroyed the young plants, one only -entered in peace and came out in peace." The destroyer of the young -plants was Elisha ben Abuyah. Once he was passing the ruins of the -temple on the great day of atonement, and heard a voice within "moaning -like a dove,"—"All men shall be forgiven this day save Elisha ben -Abuyah who, knowing me, has betrayed me." After his death flames hovered -incessantly over his grave, until his loving disciple threw himself upon -it and swore an oath of devout self-sacrifice, that he would not partake -of the joys of heaven without his master, nor move from the spot until -his master's soul had found forgiveness before the Throne of Grace. See -Emanuel Deutsch's <i>Literary Remains</i>, p. 15; and Jost's <i>Geshichte des -Judenthums</i>, Vol. ii., pp. 102-4.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> <i>The Gates of Light.</i>—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> "Thus saith the Lord" in the English version.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> About 150 English miles.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Highpriest about the time of Antiochus the Great, that is, -the first half of the third century before Christ.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Also named below Jehudah Hanassi or Hakades, died probably -in 219 or 220 A.D.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> <i>Rabbina</i> is a contraction for Rabbi Abina and <i>Rabassi</i> -for Rabbi Ashe. Maimon puts Abina first, but he was the younger of the -two. They both belonged to the fifth century.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> This seems to be Psalm cxix., 126, rendered in our -Authorised Version:—"It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have -made void thy law." See Mendelssohn's <i>Jerusalem</i>, Vol. ii., p. iii., -(Samuels' translation).—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> <i>Charakteristik der Asiatischen Nationen</i>, Theil ii., pp. -159-160.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> "And Kinah and Dimonah and Adadah" in the English -Authorised Version.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Here apparently Maimon makes a slip. He seems to forget -the passage he had selected for illustration; and his eye, if not his -memory, glances at the last word in verse 30, instead of verse -22.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> Probably Isaiah xxxiii., 6.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> Psalm, lxxxi., 9.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> In the original, "Das Kind mit dem Bade -ausschütten."—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> In the same way a fool, called Chosek, was going to starve -the city of Lemberg, against which he was enraged; and for this purpose -he placed himself behind the wall, in order to blockade the city with -his body. The result of the blockade, however, was that he nearly died -of hunger, while the city knew nothing whatever of a famine.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> In our times, when so much is said both <i>pro</i> and <i>contra</i> -about secret societies, I believe that the history of a particular -secret society, in which I was entangled, though but a short time, -should not be passed over in this sketch of my life.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> That is, of course, the 17th century.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> <i>Baalshem</i> is one who occupies himself with the practical -Cabbalah, that is, with the conjuration of spirits and the writing of -amulets, in which the names of God and of many sorts of spirits are -employed.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> As I never attained the rank of a superior in this -society, the exposition of their plan cannot be regarded as a fact -verified by experience, but merely as an inference arrived at by -reflection. How far this inference is well founded, can be determined -merely by analogy according to the rules of probability.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> The ingenuity of this interpretation consists in the fact, -that in Hebrew × ×’×Ÿ may stand for the infinitive of <i>play</i>, as -well as for a <i>musical instrument</i>, and that the prefix ×› may -be translated either <i>as</i>, in the sense of <i>when</i>, or <i>as</i>, in the sense -of <i>like</i>. The superiors of this sect, who <i>wrenched passages of the -Holy Scriptures from their context</i>, regarding themselves as merely -vehicles of their teachings, selected accordingly that interpretation of -this passage, which fitted best their principle of <i>self-annihilation</i> -before God.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Maimon in a footnote here refers, by way of a parallel, to -the interpretation by a Catholic theologian of a passage in Ezekiel -(xliv., 1-2) as an allegorical prophecy of the Virgin Mary; but most -readers will probably prefer to leave the exposition of the allegory to -the imagination of those who choose to follow it out.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> A trait of these, as of all uncultivated men, is their -contempt of the other sex.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Of this class I became acquainted with one. He was a young -man of twenty-two, of very weak bodily constitution, lean and pale. He -travelled in Poland as a missionary. In his look there was something so -terrible, so commanding, that he ruled men by means of it quite -despotically. Wherever he came he inquired about the constitution of the -congregation, rejected whatever displeased him, and made new regulations -which were punctually followed. The elders of the congregation, for the -most part old respectable men, who far excelled him in learning, -trembled before his face. A great scholar, who would not believe the -infallibility of this superior, was seized with such terror by his -threatening look, that he fell into a violent fever of which he died. -Such extraordinary courage and determination had this man attained -merely through early exercises in Stoicism.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Born 1720; died 1797. See Jost's <i>Geschichte des -Judenthums</i>, Vol. iii., pp. 248-250.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> <i>Exodus</i>, iii., 13, 14.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> These names are taken from <i>Maimoniana</i>, p. -108.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> The method, in which, as before explained, I had learnt to -read and to understand books without any preparatory studies, and to -which I had been driven in Poland by the want of books, grew to such an -expertness, that I felt certain beforehand of being able to understand -anything.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Here there seems in the original an evident misprint of -<i>Vereinigung</i> for <i>Verneinung</i>.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> The incident referred to was the following. Lavater had -translated into German a work, which had a great reputation in its day, -by the eminent Swiss scientific writer, Bonnet, on the evidences of -Christianity. Out of respect for Mendelssohn, Lavater dedicated the -translation to him, requiring him, however, either to refute the work, -or to do "what policy, love of truth, and probity demand,—what Socrates -would doubtless have done, had <i>he</i> read the work, and found it -unanswerable." Mendelssohn was thus placed in an awkward dilemma. He -could not well let the challenge pass unacknowledged; and yet, owing to -the disabilities under which the Jews laboured all over the world, he -would have seriously imperilled their interests by appearing even to -impugn the evidences of Christianity. He had, moreover, resolved never -to enter into religious controversy. Under the circumstances his reply -was masterly as it was dignified and candid. Lavater saw his mistake; -and it is but due to him to say, that he publicly apologised for it in -the fullest and frankest manner.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> This "hiatus <i>haud</i> valde deflendus" is in the -original.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> This name is taken from <i>Maimoniana</i>.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> The love of life, that is, the instinct of -self-preservation, seems rather to increase than to decrease with the -diminution or uncertainty of the means of living, inasmuch as man is -thereby spurred to greater <i>activity</i>, which developes a stronger -<i>consciousness of life</i>. Only this want must not have reached its -maximum; for the necessary result of that is <i>despair</i>, that is a -conviction of the impossibility of preserving life, and consequently a -desire to put an end to it. Thus every passion, and therefore also the -love of life, is increased by the obstacles which come in the way of its -gratification: only these obstacles must not make the gratification of -the passions <i>impossible</i>, else despair is the result.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> "Afterwards when he spoke of Poland, he used to be deeply -affected in thinking of his wife, from whom he was obliged to separate. -He was really very much devoted to her, and her fate went home to his -very heart. It was easy when the subject came up in conversation, to -read in his face the deep sorrow which he felt; his liveliness then -sensibly faded away, he became by and by perfectly silent, was usually -incapable of further entertainment, and went earlier than usual home." -<i>Maimoniana</i>, p. 177. He seems, however, at a later period, to have at -least spoken to his friends about marrying a second time; but the -project was never carried out. <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 248.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> He died 4th Jan., 1786.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Kant's work must still have been quite new, as it appeared -in 1781.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> The name is left blank by Maimon, but is known to be that -which I have inserted. See Fischer's <i>Geschichte der neueren -Philosophie</i>, Vol. v., p. 131.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Samuel Levi, according to <i>Maimoniana</i>, p. 78.—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> See above, p. 41—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> The last few pages have been condensed from the original; -in which the author gives detailed information, which seems no longer of -any special interest, about the articles he contributed to -periodicals.— <i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> By the kindness of my friend, the Rev. Meldola de Sola, of -the Portuguese Synagogue in Montreal, I am enabled to make an -interesting note on this subject. Among the Talmudic passages enjoining -industry are the following:—"Rather skin a carcase for pay in the -public streets, than be idly dependent on charity," "Rather perform the -meanest labour than beg." As a further evidence of the estimation in -which labour was held by the sages of the Talmud, it may be mentioned -that Hillel, before being admitted to the Great College, earned his -livelihood as a wood-cutter; that Rabbi Joshua was a pinmaker; Rabbi -Nehemiah Halsador, a potter; Rabbi Judah, a tailor; Rabbi Joshua -Hasandler, a shoemaker; and Rabbi Judah Hanechtan, a baker. "Of all -things," says Mr. Deutsch, "the most hated were idleness and asceticism; -piety and learning themselves only received their proper estimation when -joined to healthy, bodily work. 'It is well to add a trade to your -studies; you will then be free from sin,' 'The tradesman at his work -need not rise before the greatest doctor,' 'Greater is he who derives -his livelihood from work than he who fears God'—are some of the most -common dicta of the period." (<i>Literary Remains</i>, p. 25, where there are -some striking stories in condemnation of asceticism). Mr. Deutsch -elsewhere quotes, "Rather live on your Sabbath as you would on a week -day than be dependent on others," (<i>Ibid.</i>, p. 30).—<i>Trans.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> See above, pp. 140-1.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> <i>Maimoniana</i>, pp. 196-200.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 80.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 80, 83-4.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 95, note.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 82-3.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 154, 157.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 80, 95, 104.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 84.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 105.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 159.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 231-2.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 96.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 140.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 96.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 97.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> Fischer's <i>Geschichte der neuern Philosophie</i>, vol. v., -pp. 133-4.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> <i>Maimoniana</i>, pp. 190-6.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 90-1.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 183-8.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 101-4.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 217.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 109-112, 208, 212-3.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 87.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 213.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 249.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 88.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 230.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 86-7.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p. 89.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> See, for example, <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 112, 115, 209, 250-1.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, p.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 165-6.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 201-210.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> <i>Ibid.</i>, pp. 183-8.</p></div></div> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<h3><i>Notes on some Books of Special Interest</i></h3> - -<h4>PUBLISHED BY</h4> - -<h2>ALEXANDER GARDNER,</h2> - -<h3>PAISLEY AND LONDON.</h3> - -<h4><i>AT ALL LIBRARIES.</i></h4> - - -<p><i>JAMES HEPBURN, Free Church Minister.</i> By <span class="smcap">Sophie F. F. Veitch</span>, Author of -"Angus Graeme, Gamekeeper," etc. 2 vols., Crown 8vo., 21s.</p> - -<p>"<b>A strong story of real life and cannot fail to give Miss Veitch a -prominent position among modern novelists.... The whole story is -exceedingly powerful.</b>"—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> - -<p>"The work of fiction which heads the list may fairly be described as <b>a -singularly powerful and fascinating novel</b>. Description by comparison is -frequently convenient, though occasionally misleading; but we do not -think we shall convey a wrong impression if we say that 'James Hepburn' -bears a strong resemblance to some of the most vigorous and -characteristic of Mrs. Oliphant's realistic Scottish stories.... James -Hepburn is one of the most truly heroic characters in recent fiction, -with a certain largeness and grandeur in his heroism which are -wonderfully impressive, and yet with a homeliness which never permits -him to slip for a moment outside the range of our imaginative belief. In -creating an ideal character of unmistakable flesh and blood, Miss Veitch -has achieved an unequivocal success, and one or two of the pivot -situations in the book are conceived and presented with such dramatic -power and sympathetic insight, that in virtue of them alone 'James -Hepburn' takes place among the most remarkable and admirable of recent -novels.... There are chapters in 'James Hepburn' of which we feel -convinced that the author of <i>Scenes of Clerical Life</i> would not have -been ashamed.... Such a novel is not only a book to admire, but one for -which to be grateful."—<i>The Spectator.</i></p> - -<p>"<b>'James Hepburn' is a novel in two volumes, which is quite startling in -the freshness and beauty of its conception.... This book deserves -careful reading; there is much more in it than the mere interest of a -clever story, and only good can result from its influence.</b>"—<i>Literary -World.</i></p> - -<p>The author of 'Angus Graeme, Gamekeeper,' has produced another Scottish -novel of remarkable power. 'James Hepburn, Free Church Minister,' is at -once a striking character study, a skilful picture of the social life of -a country town and district, and a powerful sensational story. It is in -the first of these aspects that it displays most original vigour.... It -must be admitted to be one of the strongest productions of the fictional -art that have recently appeared."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> - -<p>"There can be no question that 'James Hepburn' is the most notable -Scottish story that will be issued in the jubilee year."—<i>The Christian -Leader.</i></p> - -<p>"And of this tendency towards pure character-painting and everyday -incident Miss Sophie Veitch promises to be the best exponent. In the two -volumes which contain the story of episodes in the life of James -Hepburn, each character is carefully studied and presented as a finished -masterpiece.... The book is a drama palpitating with intense and real -life, whose author should have a grand professional future."—<i>Whitehall -Review.</i></p> - -<p>"The book deserves the highest praise. Hepburn's relations with Lady -Ellinor—his pure and noble love for her—are fitly crowned by his -splendid self-sacrifice.... The descriptive part of this fine and often -brilliant novel is admirably done."—<i>London Figaro.</i></p> - -<p>"No one who begins this story will pause till he has seen the hero -through his troubles, and we are sure no one who has done so will think -he has spent his time badly."—<i>The British Weekly.</i></p> - -<p><i>James Hepburn</i> is a story of very unusual power, promise, and -desert.... The story of Lady Elinor is exceedingly pathetic; and all her -moods, as she gradually progresses along a path of peril, are described -with a hand at once sure and delicate.—<i>Academy.</i></p> - -<p>Seldom do we meet with a novel by a comparatively unknown author which -can afford such unalloyed pleasure.... It is not every writer who can, -like Mrs. Oliphant, throw a glamour over the sordid details of -<i>bourgeois</i> life. Amongst the few who can do so Miss Veitch may now -claim to rank; her novel is a remarkable one, and if it does not attain -to considerable popularity the fault will not be with the author.... -There is intense pathos in the loyal struggle of the beautiful young -wife who believes herself to be unsympathised with.... We had marked -more than one passage for quotation, but space warns us that the -pleasure must be forgone. We must, however, draw special attention to -Lady Ellinor's withering summary of Radicalism (vol. ii. p. 242). The -novel is one of the very few that follows Mr. Weller's recipe, and makes -us "wish that there was more of it."—<i>Pictorial World.</i></p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">A Successful Scotch Novel.</span>—It is long since a Scottish novel met with -such a demand or created such a genuine sensation as has attended the -publication of 'James Hepburn, Free Church Minister,' which was issued a -few weeks ago by Mr. Gardner, of Paisley, and which we noticed in the -week of its publication. We hear that already Mr. Mudie has ordered four -separate supplies, the latest being for a large number of copies, so -great is the demand for the story on the part of the subscribers to his -library. Miss Sophie Veitch, the authoress, had already made her mark by -her fine novel of 'Angus Graeme, Gamekeeper.'"—<i>Daily Mail.</i></p> - -<p>"'James Hepburn,' by Miss Veitch, is a <i>clever and strong</i> novel.... Its -power and literary skill are undeniable."—<i>World.</i></p> - -<p>"Novel-readers who may think there is not much promise of entertainment -in the title which Sophie F. Veitch has chosen for her new story, will -commit the common blunder of forming an erroneous judgment from -superficial appearances. A more interesting or vigorously-written tale -we have not met with for some time back."—<i>The Scottish Leader.</i></p> - -<p>"A cleverly written story here includes both interesting incident and -well-drawn character."—<i>The Queen.</i></p> - - -<p><i>SUPPLEMENT TO JAMIESON'S SCOTTISH DICTIONARY.</i> By <span class="smcap">David Donaldson</span>. Now -Ready, Price 25s.; Large Paper, 42s.</p> - -<p>"The work, taken as a whole, entitles Mr. Donaldson to the gratitude of -all interested in the study of philology, for having performed so -thoroughly and so well a difficult and laborious task."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> - -<p>"The soundness of the judgment which he has applied to this portion of -his herculean task is only equalled by the fulness of his knowledge of -those works which cover the whole period of Scottish history, during -which the vernacular was written and spoken by all classes of society. A -very large number of the words in the Supplement are recorded by Mr. -Donaldson for the first time, at least as Scottish words, and of many of -them the explanation will be found nowhere else.... Of Mr. Donaldson's -work, it may safely be said that it is the most complete and scholarly -endeavour that has thus far been made to accomplish a very difficult -task."—<i>Mail.</i></p> - -<p>"On every page we find evidence that Mr. Donaldson has mastered all the -works that cover the entire period of Scottish history during which the -vernacular was written and spoken by all classes of society. He has, -furthermore, utilised an extensive personal knowledge derived from the -living speech of the people; and alike in the definitions and -illustrations he displays unfailing soundness of judgment, shown -sometimes as much in what he has omitted as in that which is given. An -excellent memoir of Dr. Jamieson, admirable both for the fullness of its -information and the generous warmth of its spirit, adds to the value of -a work without which, we may safely affirm, no Scottish library can -henceforth be regarded as complete."—<i>Leader.</i></p> - - -<p><i>IDYLL OF THE CAPTIVE KING; and Other Pieces.</i> With Etchings. By <span class="smcap">James -Sharp</span>. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s.</p> - -<p>"The author gives undoubted evidence of his right to be heard, and our -perusal of this volume enables us to commend his wide reading and -knowledge of the world, both in its physical and ethical aspects. It is -needless to add that Mr. Gardner has done his part admirably."—<i>The -Kelso Chronicle.</i></p> - -<p>"Whether Mr. Sharp's poetry be regarded in the abstract, or as the -product of the hours of leisure of a man of business, much of it is -commendable, and much is genuine and sound in feeling."—<i>The Scottish -News.</i></p> - -<p>Mr. James Sharp does not miss the occasion in his volume of poems, <i>The -Captive King</i> (Alexander Gardner). His Jubilee Ode, like those of -better-known bards, scarcely represents his poetic powers, as the -following couplet may show:—</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i2">Much as we love the Prince of Wales, the Princess fair, serene,<br /></span> -<span class="i2">We want no other sovereign! We want no other Queen!<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p>"Tullibardine's Bride," though a little diffuse, is a readable narrative -poem based on a Perthshire legend. In other lyrical pieces Mr. Sharp -sustains a patriotic vein with fervour.—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> - -<p>Mr. Sharp's lyrics and shorter pieces, are always pleasing in sentiment, -and are often sweet in expression.—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> - -<p>The book of poems which we introduce to our readers to-day has, we -think, amply justified its issue in the beautiful form in which it is -presented to the public.... This delightful book will do something to -modify that conception, and to show that mercantile pursuits and the -exalted, if traditionally prosaic, dignity of Bailieship are not -incompatible with a successful cultivation of the Muses. In depicting -one of the most tragic chapters in our national annals, Mr. Sharp has -attained charming results in his use of those heroic measures which the -genius of Scott and of Edmonstone Aytoun has made classic, and through -which these masters have made the dim shadows that erewhile flitted -across the stage of Scottish history to stand forth as living men.... We -have directed the attention of our readers to these poems because of -their intrinsic merits.—<i>Strathearn Herald.</i></p> - -<p>If it be the poet's task to feel pleasure in life and discern beauty in -nature, to praise virtue and rejoice in love, and make his readers do -the same, then Mr. Sharp has succeeded admirably in effecting his -purpose.—<i>Dundee Advertiser.</i></p> - -<p>Mr. Sharp is seen at his best in his shorter poems. In these, as a rule, -healthy sentiment is expressed in unpretentious verse.—<i>Academy.</i></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> -<h4>SECOND AND ENLARGED EDITION.</h4> - -<h3><i>LAW LYRICS.</i> Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d.</h3> - -<p>"The anonymous author of the 'Lyrics'—is he not to be met with among -the sheriffs?—plays his tunes for session and vacation on the -'goose-quill of the law,' and he manages to produce from that ancient -instrument a considerable variety of expression.... His pronounced -national tastes are admirably shown in 'Oatmeal,' etc.; in lyrics like -'Stornoway Bay,' there is the true lyrical gush; while in such poems as -'A Still Lake,' there is revealed an exquisite power of -word-painting...."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> - -<p>"For neatness and aptness of expression, it is equal to anything we have -seen."—<i>Scots Law Review.</i></p> - -<p>"A very agreeable little book for an idle hour. The author shows himself -equally at home in the serious as in the comic."—<i>Graphic.</i></p> - -<p>"They are exceedingly clever, and brimming over with fun and humour. The -author has earned a right to be called the Laureate of the Law, for -certain it is that he invests the most prosaic of all professions with -quite a halo of poetical interest."—<i>Nonconformist.</i></p> - -<p>"Unkempt enthusiasm and rollicking good humour are the chief features of -this little volume."—<i>Academy.</i></p> - -<p>"A charming little book. We should seek the author on the bench, not at -the bar."—<i>Glasgow Daily Mail.</i></p> - -<p>"Will please not only those 'gentlemen of the long robe' to whom the -tiny volume is dedicated, but a far larger circle. It is a delightful -book of verses daintily got up."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> - -<p>"These lyrics will bear comparison with the best work that has been done -in this particular line. Will rival some of the best of Outram's lyrics -in common sense and humour."—<i>Scottish News.</i></p> - -<p>"The lyrics are written for the most part with sprightliness and ease. -The more serious and imaginative pieces disclose a rich vein of poetic -fancy. There are many who will procure the second edition from a -recollection of the pleasure which the first gave them."—<i>Journal of -Jurisprudence.</i></p> - -<p>"Will bear comparison with Outram's, Neave's, and Aytoun's. Faultless in -rhythm, and remarkable for rhyme."—<i>Evening News.</i></p> - -<p>"The picture seems to us exquisite. Altogether, the work proves the -writer to be a true poet."—<i>Stirling Advertiser.</i></p> - -<p>"The verses are inspirited and inspiring, expressive of the feelings of -many in these golden days of summer. To the second edition the author -has added some sixty pages brimful of the delightful verses which are -found so attractive in the first edition."—<i>Weekly Citizen.</i></p> - -<p>"One of the two strongest and purest writers in the Scottish vernacular -that have been added to the choir of Northern minstrels during the -present century."—<i>Christian Leader.</i></p> - -<p>"The admirable <i>Law Lyrics</i> ... bright with strokes of pawky humour, and -abounding in verses each of which contains a picture, the volume is one -which will become a lasting favourite with its readers."—<i>The Bailie.</i></p> - -<p>"Strongly incentive to hearty honest laughter which makes the heart grow -brighter, while to staid and grave and reverend seigniors the sweet -lark-song-like verses relating to nature, no less form subjects for -reflection."—<i>Ayrshire Weekly News.</i></p> - -<p>"The little volume is interesting from the first page to the -last."—<i>Inverness Courier.</i></p> - -<p>"Some of the verses exhibit a power of picturesque description which it -would be difficult to match, except out of the masters of song. Reveal -in attractive style the patriotism which animates the poet, and -establishes a claim additional to that of his undoubted genius, to a -large and appreciative Scotch audience."—<i>Greenock Telegraph.</i></p> - -<p>"Such pieces as 'Scotch Porridge, etc." are amongst the most felicitous -examples of Scotch poetry we have seen in recent years."—<i>Brechin -Advertiser.</i></p> - -<p>"Strong common sense pervades the whole, and the views of the author are -expressed with a directness, force, clearness, and simplicity, which -leaves nothing to be desired."—<i>North British Advertiser.</i></p> - -<p>"Of a highly captivating nature, the author being possessed of a keen -sense of the humourous."—<i>Stirling Observer.</i></p> - -<p>"Equal to anything of their kind known to us after Burns. A very genial -and enjoyable volume."—<i>Aberdeen Gazette.</i></p> - -<p>"He expresses himself with a felicity and pawky humour that equal Lord -Neaves and Outram at their best, and in several poems the natural grace -and pith of expression remind one more of Burns than any other writer. -This may seem pitching it very high, but in our opinion, the poems will -bear out the assertion. We recommend it to all in the profession of its -author, and to everyone who can appreciate true humour and good -poetry."—<i>The People's Friend.</i></p> - -<p>"Many of the lyrics which celebrate the charms of rural life and scenery -are extremely fine, displaying as they do rare observing powers, a rich -fancy, and flowing tasteful language."—<i>Dumfries Standard.</i></p> - -<p>"He is a follower of Robert Burns and finds in the Court, and in the -Temple, an inspiration which the great Scotch poet found in the fields -of Ayrshire."—<i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i></p> - -<p>"He possesses the power of writing simple flowing verse in an eminent -degree."—<i>Literary World.</i></p> - - -<p><i>THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST AND THE SALVATION OF THE FEW.</i> A Criticism -of <i>Natural Law in the Spiritual World</i>. By Rev. <span class="smcap">A. Wilson</span>. Crown 8vo, -cloth, 2s. 6d. Post free.</p> - -<p>"In a former number of this <i>Review</i> we drew attention to two or three -of the main fallacies of Professor Drummond's shallow but attractive -book. We are glad to see that Mr. Alexander Wilson has, with a -scientific knowledge equal to Professor Drummond's, and with a logical -faculty far superior, subjected it to a far more systematic and -exhaustive analysis. Those who were interested in the dazzling pages of -<i>Natural Law in the Spiritual World</i>, but not blinded by their glitter, -will welcome this justification of their doubts in the solid form of -facts and arguments, and those who were fascinated by the Professor's -brilliant rhetoric and imagery will have a rather painful awakening. -They will see the idol shattered which they had to fall down and worship -as a condition of attaining to an intellectual standpoint from which -they might see all known facts in their harmony and continuity. It is, -no doubt, very fascinating to be able to harmonize and to systematize; -but suppose your theory of law, identical in the natural and in the -spiritual worlds, results in the necessity of assuming that man is -nothing more than a part of material nature until he is "converted," and -of believing that the survival of the fittest means the salvation of the -few (according to the analogy of the seeds of an orchid, of about one -person in a generation), would a God who has made men so be the object -of religious feeling, or this spiritual world, with its rare and lonely -tenants, be worth arguing for? It is probable that few readers of this -new "analogy" drew such inferences, but were merely interested in -Professor Drummond's spiritual and scientific gymnastics; but for the -thoughtful few who may have been disturbed by them it is well that he -has been answered by one so capable, both from a Christian and -scientific point of view, as Mr. Wilson."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> - -<p>"It is this fallacy, the presumption that the laws of matter are -continuous through the spiritual universe, that Mr. Wilson finds himself -first called on to meet; and he does so by contending that the principle -of continuity applies only if the spiritual universe be itself material, -and not necessarily even them, inasmuch as there are in the material -universe imponderable bodies to which the law of gravitation, for -example, does not extend.... Mr. Wilson has written a very able, acute, -and temperate criticism, in a thoroughly religious spirit, with perfect -courtesy to his opponent; and we should be glad to think that his work -would be widely read."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> - -<p>"... The critique is interesting, clever, earnest, and, we may add, -respectful to Professor Drummond.... Here, we think, Mr. Wilson occupies -a very strong—indeed, an invulnerable position. This is not, however, -so much the critic's own position as that of other writers, but, he -appears to us, in great measure, to recognise and accept it. His own -words farther on are: 'The identification of the natural and spiritual -laws, if taken absolutely, would lead to the confounding together of -mind and body, God and Nature.' ... We are much interested in the -author's criticism of the Professor's arguments touching the subject -which gives the book its title. It forms an earnest and powerful -chapter...."—<i>Literary World.</i></p> - -<p>"An answer to Professor Drummond, a work of some importance has just -made its appearance. It is certain that Mr. Wilson's able examination of -'Natural Law in the Spiritual World' will attract a good deal of -attention and controversy."—<i>London Figaro.</i></p> - -<p>"Mr. Wilson, with great vigour and intrepidity, criticises the -Professor's conclusions.... The great question raised by Professor -Drummond's work is that of the relation of the natural law of the -survival of the fittest to the doctrine of election. His critic combats -this conclusion with much acuteness and ability."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> -<h4>WITH PORTRAIT AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS.</h4> - -<h3><i>DAVID KENNEDY, The Scottish Singer: Reminiscences of his Life and -Work.</i> By <span class="smcap">Marjory Kennedy</span>. And <i>SINGING ROUND THE WORLD: A Narrative of -his Colonial and Indian Tours</i>. By <span class="smcap">David Kennedy</span>, Junr. Demy 8vo, 480 -pages, cloth extra, 7s. 6d. Post free.</h3> - -<p>"These unique musical tours were from time to time described by the -chief musician's son David in different books having reference to the -Colonies, to India, and to the Cape. They have now found a graceful and -appropriate preliminary chapter in the form of a memoir of David Kennedy -himself.... The memoir has been prepared by Miss Marjory Kennedy with -much taste and judgment, and will be read with interest, not only for -the sake of her father's characteristic letters and stories of early -life, but as recalling in various other ways pleasant memories -associated with a family of rare gifts and graces."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> - - -<p><i>LIFE IN SHETLAND.</i> By <span class="smcap">John Russell</span>. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 3s. 6d. Post -free.</p> - -<p>"Contains a great quantity of very interesting information about -Shetland and its people. By a happy instinct, Mr. Russell has been led -to write about those things which he knows thoroughly—namely, his own -doings and experiences.... There follows the story of the strange -minister at the 'second diet' of a Presbytery meeting who wanted to -propose a toast, but was informed by the horrified moderator that 'God's -people in that part of the country were not in the habit of drinking -toasts.' The rebuked stranger quietly rejoined that he 'had never before -seen God's people drink so much toddy.' Much, both edifying and -entertaining, might be quoted from this unique volume, but enough may -have been said to gain for it the public attention it -deserves."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> - -<p>"We owe much to men like Mr. Russell, who, without any pretence, note -down what comes under their observation of an interesting nature -regarding curious customs, habits of life, and folk-lore, among the -people with whom they come into contact.... He is never entirely dull, -and we prefer such volumes which bring us into actual contact with a -poor but unsophisticated people to many pretentious stories. We follow -the minister as he goes out and in among the people, suffering hardship, -visiting, catechising, getting up a stock of fifty sermons, relating odd -anecdotes, and noting down peculiarities. We recommend this book to all -who are interested in the subject. It makes luminous to us the obscure -lives and labours of an interesting people."—<i>Pen and Pencil.</i></p> - -<p>"An interesting and thoroughly realistic picture of life in Shetland is -presented to us in this volume by Mr. Russell, whose sojourn in those -Northern islands gave him good opportunity of observing the place and -the people.... Good stories, and brief observations and remarks on the -geology, natural history, and antiquities of the islands, and the -peculiar manners and customs of the people, ever and anon crop out in -the narrative.... It contains, however, a faithfully accurate and very -reliable description of <i>Ultima Thule</i>. And as the reader closes the -volume he will find that he has made acquaintance at once with a -singular country, and a pleasant guide to its chief points of -interest."—<i>Aberdeen Free Press.</i></p> - -<p>"A bright and entertaining volume, and a valuable volume withal, anent -Shetland and the Shetlanders.... I know no book on Shetland equal to -this of Mr. Russell's. Its style is pointed and racy; the author talks -about what he knows and what he knows intimately. To put the matter in a -word, there isn't a dull page in 'Three Years in Shetland,' from the -title to the sentence at the close in which Mr. Russell expresses the -wish that 'all good things may attend' the islanders among whom he spent -three delightful years."—<i>Bailie.</i></p> - -<p>"A very readable book about a very interesting people.... A minister, of -course, enjoys altogether exceptional opportunities, and Mr. Russell -seems to have made good use of them. He writes frankly about things as -he found them, which he is perhaps all the better able to do for his -change to the position of an outsider."—<i>Glasgow Herald.</i></p> - -<p>"It contains some of the best clerical stories—though not always of the -most dignified nature, nor such as will tend to exalt the cloth in the -estimation of rude and irreverent laics—that we have come across, and -it gives very interesting, and for the most part accurate, details of -the everyday life of the people."—<i>Elgin Courant and Courier.</i></p> - - -<p>UNIFORM WITH "BENDERLOCH."</p> - -<p><i>LOCH CRERAN. Notes from the West Highlands.</i> By <span class="smcap">W. Anderson Smith</span>. -Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. Post free.</p> - -<p>"Readers of Mr. W. Anderson Smith's <i>Benderloch</i> will welcome from the -same pen a second instalment of notes of natural history in the Western -Highlands entitled <i>Loch Creran</i>.... The influences of free moorland air -and buoyant water, of a spacious heaven and wide horizon, are with us, -and give zest to the study of fish and fowl and flower that are -liberally displayed. Whether it is the flight of a solitary bunting, or -the habitat of the pipe-fish (<i>Sygnathus</i>), the progress of <i>Myæ</i> in the -refluent tide or a nested robin domiciled among strange perils, the -scenic suggestion cannot fail to persuade the senses. A large and -distinctive portion of Mr. Smith's book is devoted to the investigation -of the rich spoil of the dredger, as might be anticipated of so -enthusiastic a student of fish culture, and many of the most interesting -pages describe excursions on the waters of Etive and Creran and -Benderloch, or among the rocky pools and stretches of sand exposed by -the ebbing sea. By sea or land, on the wild hills or among the flowers -and insects of his garden, Mr. Smith has ever something to say that is -worth hearing, and he says it with admirable clearness and -force."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> - -<p>"These charming notes from the Western Highlands are truly fascinating. -Entering into the very spirit of the life and scenery by which he is -surrounded, Mr. Smith gives his readers the benefit of the vast and -out-of-the-way stores of information he has gathered in all branches of -natural history. Each month, as it passes, has a chapter devoted to all -its manifold changes and doings, and we get many glimpses of charming -excursions, not unmixed with danger, when overtaken by those sudden -climatic changes to which that grand wild mountainous coast is often -exposed. An enthusiastic naturalist, the writer does not ride his hobby -to death, but, like a true lover of Nature, his sketches are bright and -fresh, and full of vivid descriptions, interspersed with many curious -anecdotes and facts relating to both the animal and vegetable kingdoms. -No better or more instructive guide to the fauna and flora of the -Western Highlands could be had than Mr. Anderson Smith's most pleasant -book."—<i>Literary World.</i></p> - -<p>"They will be well rewarded who follow Mr. Anderson Smith along the -sea-shore, the hill-side, or the trouting stream; they will find how -much a quiet and attentive eye can glean from a loving study of the -denizens of earth, air, and water. The book is provided with a good -index, and those who have not leisure or patience to read it through at -a sitting may dip where they please. Like Mr. Smith's dredge, they -hardly ever fail to bring up something of interest."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p> - -<p>"Students of natural history who read <i>Benderloch</i>, by Mr. W. A. Smith, -will give a cordial welcome to <i>Loch Creran</i>, another and even more -attractive work by the same observant author. With the exception, -perhaps, of Mr. Jefferson, no living naturalist is gifted with a more -picturesque manner of depicting the habits of birds, beasts, and fishes -than is Mr. Smith.... Then what a vast fund of entertaining instruction -is gathered in these excursions; a royal road to natural history is laid -down by Mr. Smith, and the student follows it leisurely, culling -charming bits of zoological lore here and there. One never knows what a -new day may bring forth when accompanying Mr. Smith on his rambles.... -There is, indeed, no end to the curious things observed by Mr. Smith. He -seems only to sleep at home, for, with his waterproof handy, he roams -about all day in the open air, and comes home at night with a -well-filled note-book.... The wealth of interesting matter in this -delightful volume is, however, tempting us beyond our space, and we -think we have collated enough to make all who love the country, its -sights and sounds, and health-giving breezes read the work -itself."—<i>Dundee Advertiser.</i></p> - -<p>"To those who are familiar with Mr. Anderson Smith's <i>Benderloch</i>, no -introduction or recommendation will be necessary on behalf of his new -book, <i>Loch Creran</i>. The work is, in fact, as the preface explains, -simply a continuation of the natural history sketches of which -<i>Benderloch</i> is composed.... With what a happy combination of vivacity -and patience, insight and enthusiasm, Mr. Anderson Smith scans the open -pages of that great tome of nature.... Treasure-trove of this kind, -along with notes of a more strictly scientific character, is freely -scattered through Mr. Anderson Smith's pages; and so it will have a -charm for every reader with healthy natural tastes."—<i>Scottish Leader.</i></p> - -<p>"There are few books in the language more delightful than White's -<i>Selborne</i>, and in Mr. W. Anderson Smith that earnest Hampshire -naturalist has a distinguished successor. His most recent volume is -worthy of the author of <i>Benderloch</i>, a book which, it may be hoped, is -already familiar to our readers.... The variety of his researches on -land and water prevent monotony. The author has much to tell, and he -explains what he has seen and done without waste of -words."—<i>Illustrated London News.</i></p> - -<p>"Mr. Anderson Smith's observations extend over 1881-2, and refer mainly -to the natural history of the district, but he deals also with other -aspects of Nature, and his book is well worth reading."—<i>Times.</i></p> - -<p>"There can be no hesitation in assuring lovers of Nature that in <i>Loch -Creran</i> they will find a work after their own heart.... The charm of the -volume before us is that it is not the hasty outcome of the bookmaker -feverishly eager to piece together into a volume odds and ends of -information. There is an air of leisureliness about <i>Loch Creran</i>. Month -by month are given the results of two years' close intercourse with loch -and sea, field and wood. The work is one to be enjoyed by those who -share the writer's tastes and spirit, and not to be rushed by the -heedless."—<i>Graphic.</i></p> - -<p>"Every page has its charm, something at once to instruct the mind and to -tickle and amuse the fancy. It is not a book to be read through at one -sitting, but one to dip into occasionally and to ruminate over in -pleased contentment. Perhaps its worth will be best appreciated by those -taking a holiday in the country, or, above all, at the seaside. And it -will serve as a very efficient guide to persons beginning the study of -natural history, directing them what and how to observe. Many a capital -story he gives illustrating the remarkable intelligence of the lower -animals. Some of these border upon the marvellous."—<i>Perthshire -Constitutional and Journal.</i></p> - -<p>"Chatty and discursive, rather than elaborate, the interest in 'Loch -Creran' is well maintained throughout, and the book appeals to the -general reader, by whom it will doubtless be perused with greater -pleasure than a more highly scientific disquisition."—<i>Pall Mall -Gazette.</i></p> - -<p>"He is a charming companion. His descriptions are vivid and true to -nature—whether he makes us shiver and feel glad of the shelter of the -house, as he tells us of winter's storms and floods, or whether he fills -our hearts with a longing for the freshness and gladness of spring as he -notes the signs of its advent on the shores of Loch Creran."—<i>Glasgow -Herald.</i></p> - - -<p><i>OLD CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND: Lectures on Kirk-Session and Presbytery -Records.</i> <i>Second Series.</i> By <span class="smcap">Andrew Edgar</span>, D.D. Demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. -6d. Post free.</p> - -<p>"Antiquaries may welcome the minister of Mauchline as an elder brother -of their craft. We have not seen the first series of lectures, but -certainly these contain much that is queer and quaint. Odd people, these -Scotch folks; but there is a homeliness and a reverence about them which -we greatly value. Our author is evidently of the Established Church, and -knows most about the old customs of that body, of which he writes with a -twinkle in his eye which causes our eye to twinkle also. The grim want -of humour in some of the proceedings is about the same thing as the -presence of humour: you may laugh till you cry, and cry till you laugh; -between the tremendously solemn and the ridiculous there is but a step. -We have been so interested with the lectures that we must get the former -volume. What times those must have been when guests at a funeral began -to meet at ten in the morning, though the body might not be moved till -three or four! Five or six hours! How did they spin them out? No marvel -that the Kirk-Session had to hear charges of drunkenness. Such books as -these are the best of history, leading us indeed into byways and lone -paths which the general historian never traces."—<b>C. H. Spurgeon.</b></p> - - -<p><i>MY COLLEGE DAYS: The Autobiography of an Old Student.</i> Edited by <span class="smcap">R. -Menzies Fergusson</span>, M.A., Author of "Rambles in the Far North," &c. 8vo, -cloth, 5s. Post free.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Fergusson, either as author or as editor, has well earned our -gratitude by giving us a volume which all may read with enjoyment and -pleasure.... Space and its limits will not allow us to dwell on many -other points of interest to be found in this entertaining volume; but we -cannot pass without mentioning the worthy dame who said, in praise of -her preacher: 'There's ae thing aboot yon man—he's a grand roarer.' Nor -must we forget the careful landlady who was always anxious to know if -her student-lodger was as yet an unengaged man, or, to use her own -graphic phrase, was 'a bund sack set by.'..."—<i>Literary World.</i></p> - -<p>"We own to a suspicion that in this instance Mr. Fergusson has been his -own literary executor. Whether this be the case or not, he has no -reason to be ashamed of the bequest. The sketches have a pleasant grace -of literary style, and a good deal of power in description of -character-sketching, while there is in the writer a subtle under-strain -of pawky humour, and he has brought together and put permanently on -record a number of traditions of University life in Edinburgh and St. -Andrews that are well worth preservation.... Our old student's -reminiscences of St. Andrews, where he took the theological course after -graduating in arts at Edinburgh, are not less lively or interesting than -those he sets down respecting his Alma Mater; and his book is likely to -take a place both on the shelves and in the enduring regard of many -readers who have had similar experiences and tasted similar pleasures. A -word of praise is due to the excellence of its typography and -get-up."—<i>Scottish Leader.</i></p> - -<p>"We think the verdict will be that Mr. Fergusson has done well in -publishing this thoughtful book. It abounds in vigorous, and, in many -cases, eloquent delineations of University life; it is sympathetic in -its spirit and catholic in its tone, especially when dealing with such -subjects as the stage, so frequently abused. Its author was a student of -the Universities of Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and Oxford, his -reminiscences of which are often humorous, and always interesting. Some -of the anecdotes recorded in this volume regarding the Edinburgh -Professors are exceedingly entertaining.... We venture to predict for -this autobiography a wide circulation."—<i>Dundee Advertiser.</i></p> - -<p>"The book is eminently readable, very quiet for the most part, but not -without a few touches of gaiety and sprightly humour; and it betokens no -little culture together with a strong poetic tendency. The contents are -almost entirely confined to sketches of life at Scottish Universities, -with some playful personal satire, of which various Professors, some -mentioned by name and others denoted by initials, are the objects in -chief, although the peculiarities of certain landladies whose province -it is, or was, to let lodgings to students at Edinburgh or elsewhere, -come in for their share of more or less satirical delineation. But there -is nothing spiteful, nothing bitter, nothing cynical in the mode of -treatment. Two chapters are devoted to a sketch, brief but graphic and -sympathetic, of academic Oxford, whither the author went to sojourn and -to study for two months."—<i>Illustrated London News.</i></p> - -<p>"This is a delightful book, calculated to afford much pleasurable -amusement of a quiet kind. It is written in a light sparkling style.... -The book itself is an enjoyable one, and perhaps none will read it with -greater relish than the old fogies who see in it much of what they -themselves passed through, and who, by the perusal are led to recall, -with mingled feelings, the aspirations, the freshness, and the frolic of -their own College days."—<i>Perthshire Constitutional.</i></p> - -<p>"By those who have passed through the Universities it will be read with -considerable pleasure, affording as it does such happy reminiscences of -'College days,' with their grave, plodding seriousness, or that more -boisterous playfulness which is supposed to be the characteristic of -students as a class. Those, again, who are simply outsiders, and have -had no College days whatever, will be charmed by the recital here given -of the doings of the students, and the customs associated with the -respective Universities, the pen-portraits of the several professors, -the opinions expressed regarding men and things, the poetry, original -and selected, and the hundred and one subjects here treated of by a man -of observant nature possessing facility of expression, besides a keen -sense and appreciation of the humorous...."—<i>Stirling Observer.</i></p> - -<p>"Many a 'varsity man, who has won his decree in the modest 'little city, -worn and grey,' will welcome the appearance of Mr. R. M. Fergusson's -<i>College Days</i>. Redolent every page of it, of the class-room, and the -wild Bohemianism of student life, and bristling with the 'classic' -ditties which have so often made the halls of St. Salvator's resound, -here is material for a mental revel in the past."—<i>Northern Chronicle.</i></p> - -<p>"This series of autobiographical notes deserve recognition, if only -because the style is perfectly natural and perfectly good-natured.... -The book contains several capital anecdotes and some excellent -verse."—<i>London Figaro.</i></p> - -<p>"But after all the charm of the volume lies in the whole life of a -student which is presented to us, for his joys and his troubles, his -amusements and his hard reading, are here written of by one who has -evidently experienced all. Scattered throughout these pages are numerous -verses, some original, some well-known students' songs. The original -verses are very good...."—<i>Stirling Journal.</i></p> - -<p>"The volume contains some very excellent poems which are worthy of -finding, and doubtless will find, a place as verses to future songs. -There is not a chapter in the book which is not thoroughly -entertaining."—<i>The Tribune.</i></p> - -<p>"The 'Old Student' has to speak of Scotch Universities, Edinburgh, to -wit, and St. Andrews, while he gives some impressions, gained as an -outsider, of Oxford.... There is much that is interesting and -entertaining, some good stories, and generally a pleasant picture of a -happy and busy life."—<i>Spectator.</i></p> - -<p>"The writer is always entertaining and kindly, is wise in season, and -also <i>desipit in loco</i>, and tells some good stories—professors being -naturally his chief subjects."—<i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i></p> - -<p>"It is, to say the least, eminently probable that Mr. Fergusson relates -his own experiences in Edinburgh and St. Andrews. He does so in a -sufficiently lively and 'freshman' style.... <i>My College Days</i> is, on -the whole, as readable as any book of the kind that has recently been -published."—<i>The Academy.</i></p> - -<p>"Mr. R. Menzies Fergusson paints life as he thinks he saw it as a young -man at St. Andrews and Edinburgh, in <i>My College Days</i>. This -'autobiography of an old student' contains much interesting -reminiscence, and Mr. Fergusson has perhaps not erred in introducing -into his text specimens of the verse into which some of his Caledonian -student contemporaries were in the habit of dropping occasionally. Mr. -Fergusson's little book should find many a sympathetic reader among -former <i>alumni</i> of the Scottish Universities, for he writes without -affectation."—<i>Graphic.</i></p> - -<p>'Seldom have we had more pleasure than in the perusal of these -reminiscences of College days. No one who has gone through the -curriculum of a Scotch University can fail to attest the fidelity with -which his experience here finds expression.... 'An Old Student' was -privileged to have more than one <i>alma mater</i>. He could boast the -fostering care of Edinburgh, of St. Andrews, and of Oxford, and of all -these he has most pleasant reminiscences. Our author's experiences at -Oxford will repay perusal. The whole book, written in a most happy, -though thoughtful and affectionate strain, must incite the most cordial -sympathy of all whose student days have not been forgotten, while the -general public will peruse it with responsive hearts and a regretful -feeling that they have missed the experiences of which it -treats.'—<i>Brechin Advertiser.</i></p> - -<p>'The minister of Logie, who made a decided hit with <i>Rambles in the Far -North</i>, has attempted a very difficult bit of work in <i>My College Days</i>. -This purports to be the MS. legacy of a College friend who died young -after some experience of student life in Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and -Oxford. The fiction will impose upon nobody, although it may shield the -editor from some blame, for while there is mirth and vigour and kindly -reminiscence, there is also some very sharp criticism, and much -reference to Academic dignitaries who are still in the flesh, and may be -sensitive and inclined to sting when they find some of their class jokes -not merely in print but bound in a book.... If certain Edinburgh divines -beguile a leisure hour over these pages, they will for once see -themselves as the keen-witted see them, and be amazed at the impudence -of the rising generation. Everybody who knows Edinburgh will recognise -the portrait of the preacher who is likened to Dr. Andrew Thomson in one -thing—'There's ae thing about yon man, he's a grand roarer.' The St. -Andrews part is full and cleverly done, and will have a charm for most -<i>alumni</i> of the 'College of the scarlet gown,' because it contains a -large number of the songs, original and selected, with which the lobby -of the Natural Philosophy class-room was wont to resound."—<i>Elgin -Courant.</i></p> - -<p>"The style is lively, and the descriptions of scenes of student life are -graphic. The account of the election of Rector at Edinburgh will -doubtless interest many, and the chapter dealing with landladies, their -varieties and idiosyncracies, is humorous."—<i>Morning Post.</i></p> - -<p>"To recent students of our two greatest Scottish Universities—Edinburgh -and St. Andrews—<i>My College Days</i> is charged with intense interest, -though its racy humour and chatty discursiveness will render it -attractive reading to those uninitiated in academic mysteries and -innocent of student frivolities. The life of an Edinburgh student, in -college and out of college, in the class-room, the debating society, the -theatre, and the church, is described with untiring vivacity.... Whether -author or merely editor, Mr. Menzies Fergusson is to be sincerely -congratulated upon his success. Reminiscence is a species of literature -not always instructive, not always even entertaining; in Mr. Fergusson's -hands it becomes both."—<i>Fifeshire Journal.</i></p> - -<p>"We think the verdict of every impartial reader will be that Mr. -Ferguson has done well in publishing this book. It abounds in vigorous, -and, in many instances, impressive descriptions of University life; it -is enlivened at judicious intervals with original verses, which evince -lyrical power; its style is admirably condensed and clear; it is -sympathetic in its spirit and catholic in its tone, especially when -dealing with such subjects as the stage and its modern exponents by -narrow-minded writers so frequently abused."—<i>Ayr Observer.</i></p> - -<p>"It is pleasantly written, is full of the fun of student life, full, -too, of its hardships, abounds with excellent stories, is very -discriminating in professional criticism, while scattered throughout the -racy pages are many snatches of jovial college songs recorded nowhere -else.... Altogether the volume is very readable, and no student, at all -events, can find a dull page in it."—<i>Kelso Chronicle.</i></p> - - -<p><i>THE TRAGEDY OF GOWRIE HOUSE.</i> An Historical Study. By <span class="smcap">Louis A. Barbé</span>. -Fcap. 4to, 6s.</p> - -<p>In this new work on the interesting and mysterious episode of Scottish -History, usually known as the Gowrie Conspiracy, the author has not only -submitted the old materials to a close examination, but also thrown new -light on the subject by the help of letters to be found in the Record -Office, but overlooked or suppressed by former historians, of documents -recently discovered by the Commission on Historical MSS., and also of -important papers preserved in the French Archives.</p> - -<p>"<i>A treasure of almost priceless thought and criticism.</i>"—<i>Contemporary -Review.</i></p> - -<p>In the press. Second Edition, Thoroughly Revised. Cr. 8vo, 338 pp., 7s. -6d.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<h3>WIT, WISDOM, AND PATHOS,</h3> - -<h4>FROM THE PROSE OF HEINRICH HEINE.</h4> - -<h3><i>WITH A FEW PIECES FROM THE "BOOK OF SONGS."</i></h3> - -<h4>SELECTED AND TRANSLATED BY J. SNODGRASS.</h4> - -<p>"Mr. Snodgrass has produced a book in which lazy people will find a -great deal to please them. They can take it up at any moment, and open -it on any page with the certainty of finding some bright epigram; they -need not turn down the page on shutting up the volume, as it matters -little where they resume. There is nothing jarring in the whole -book."—<i>Athenæum, April 19, 1877.</i></p> - -<p>"No Englishman of culture who is unacquainted with Heine can fail to -derive a new intellectual pleasure from Mr. Snodgrass's -pages."—<i>Contemporary Review, September 1880.</i></p> - -<p>"Mr. Snodgrass would appear to have saturated himself with Heine -literature, to have so caught Heine's mode of thought and his turns of -expression—quaint, droll, swift, and scathing by turns—that the -translator would appear to have had no more difficulty in presenting -Heine as he was to the reader than he would have in presenting his own -thoughts."—<i>Glasgow Herald, March 31, 1879.</i></p> - -<p>"Mr. Snodgrass, in his 'Wit,' &c., has dime a great service in this -respect, presenting as it were a full-length miniature of the man, clear -and effective, wherein his characteristic expression is faithfully -caught and where, if we look carefully, we can see him as he really was, -for he is made to paint his own portrait."—<i>British Quarterly Review, -October 1881.</i></p> - -<p>"Mr. Snodgrass has certainly done great service to English literature in -presenting us with a compact little volume like that before -us."—<i>Spectator.</i></p> - -<p>"A word of cordial praise is due to the translator, Mr. J. Snodgrass, -for his admirable performance of a very difficult task. His book is one -to welcome and to keep as a treasure of almost priceless thought and -criticism."—<i>Contemporary Review, February 1881.</i></p> - -<p>"Mr. Snodgrass is to be thanked for a very seasonable bit of -work."—<i>Examiner, April 26, 1879.</i></p> - -<p>"We are bound to say that Mr. Snodgrass has done his work exceptionally -well."—<i>The Literary World, May 9, 1879.</i></p> - -<p>"Mr. Snodgrass has made a valuable addition to English literature in -this volume, and has given us a most attractive and efficient -introduction to the study of Heine."—<i>The Nonconformist, August 20, -1879.</i></p> - -<p>"He has performed his task with skill, tact, and judgment; and it is -easy to perceive that he has a thorough acquaintance with his author and -sympathy for his matter."—<i>Notes and Queries, April 19, 1879.</i></p> - -<p>"The result of Mr. Snodgrass's attempt has been the production of a -volume which, for variety and interest, may be pronounced one of the -most successful books of the season."—<i>Aberdeen Journal, March 26, -1879.</i></p> - -<p>"In Heine, whose prose writings in German fill well on to a score of -volumes, we find in remarkable combination the best qualities of German -thought, along with the sparkle and brilliancy of an accomplished -Frenchman's style."—<i>Aberdeen Daily Free Press, April 21, 1879.</i></p> - -<p>"Mr. Snodgrass has done his selection and translation admirably well and -we owe him thanks for a volume which has in it mere wit of the highest -sort, and more political insight, than any book that has lately been -given to the public."—<i>Vanity Fair, November 8, 1879.</i></p> - -<p>"The compiler of this interesting little volume, Mr. J. Snodgrass is -perfectly right in saying that Heine is chiefly known to English readers -as the author of the 'Book of Songs.'"—<i>The Week, April 19, 1879.</i></p> - -<p>"The 'English Fragments' have a special interest for the English reader; -but the selection from Heine's prose works in general, most judiciously -made and excellently translated by Mr. Snodgrass, gives a much completer -view of the qualities of the writer's mind."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> - -<p>"Mr. Snodgrass has not essayed to give at all an exhaustive collection -of Heine's witty, wise, and pathetic sayings; but he has selected, in -the order in which they occur in the complete German edition, such -extracts as have specially commended themselves to himself. He has -produced a very enjoyable volume, exactly adapted to the taste of lazy -and luxurious persons, who can just take up the book for five minutes to -read a delightful passage, complete in itself, and not long enough to -fatigue the most fastidious attention."—<i>Academy, May 31, 1879.</i></p> -<hr class="tb" /> - -<h4>ALEX. GARDNER, PAISLEY <span class="smcap">and</span> LONDON.</h4> - - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography., by -Solomon Maimon - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOLOMON MAIMON: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. *** - -***** This file should be named 41042-h.htm or 41042-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/0/4/41042/ - -Produced by Charlene Taylor,Josephine Paolucci and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography. - -Author: Solomon Maimon - -Translator: J. Clark Murray, LL.D., F.R.S.C. - -Release Date: October 13, 2012 [EBook #41042] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOLOMON MAIMON: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. *** - - - - -Produced by Charlene Taylor,Josephine Paolucci and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - -_SOLOMON MAIMON._ - - - - -SOLOMON MAIMON: - -_AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY._ - -TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, WITH ADDITIONS AND NOTES, - -BY - -J. CLARK MURRAY, LL.D., F.R.S.C., - -_Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy, M'Gill College, Montreal_. - -/$ -ALEXANDER GARDNER, -PAISLEY; AND 12 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. -DAWSON BROTHERS, MONTREAL; CUPPLES AND HURD, BOSTON. - -1888. -$/ - - - - -CONTENTS. - - -/$ - PAGE - -TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE, ix. - -INTRODUCTION.--State of Poland in last century, 1 - -CHAPTER-- - -I.--My Grandfather's Housekeeping, 6 - -II.--First Reminiscences of Youth, 19 - -III.--Private Education and Independent Study, 22 - -IV.--Jewish Schools--The Joy of being released from them causes - a Stiff Foot, 32 - -V.--My Family is driven into Misery, and an old Servant loses by his - great Faithfulness a Christian Burial, 38 - -VI.--New Abode, New Misery--The Talmudist, 42 - -VII.--Joy endureth but a little while, 49 - -VIII.--The Pupil knows more than the Teacher--A theft _A la -Rousseau_, which is discovered--"The ungodly provideth, and -the righteous putteth it on," 54 - -IX.--Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals--The -Song of Solomon may be used in the service -of Matchmaking--A new _Modus Lucrandi_--Smallpox, 59 - -X.--I become an object of Contention, get two Wives -at once, and am kidnapped at last, 65 - -XI.--My Marriage in my eleventh Year makes me the -Slave of my Wife, and procures for me -Cudgellings from my Mother-in-Law--A -Ghost of Flesh and Blood, 74 - -XII.--The Secrets of the Marriage State--Prince -Radzivil, or what is not all allowed in -Poland? 79 - -XIII.--Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless -Struggles with Misery of every Kind, 89 - -XIV.--I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a -Physician, 94 - -XV.--A brief Exposition of the Jewish Religion from -its Origin down to the most recent Times, 111 - -XVI.--Jewish Piety and Penances, 132 - -XVII.--Friendship and Enthusiasm, 138 - -XVIII.--The Life of a Family Tutor, 145 - -XIX.--Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long -Chapter, 151 - -XX.--Continuation of the Former, and also Something -about Religious Mysteries, 176 - -XXI.--Journeys to KA¶nigsberg, Stettin, and Berlin, for -the purpose of extending my Knowledge of -Men, 187 - -XXII.--Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance, 197 - -XXIII.--Arrival in Berlin--Acquaintances--Mendelssohn--Desperate -Study of Metaphysics--Doubts--Lectures -on Locke and Adelung, 210 - -XXIV.--Mendelssohn--A Chapter devoted to the Memory -of a worthy Friend, 221 - -XXV.--My Aversion at first for Belles Lettres, and my -subsequent Conversion--Departure from Berlin--Sojourn -in Hamburg--I drown myself in -the same way as a bad Actor shoots himself--An -old Fool of a Woman falls in Love with -me, but her Addresses are rejected, 234 - -XXVI.--I return to Hamburg--A Lutheran Pastor -pronounces me to be a scabby Sheep, and -unworthy of Admission into the Christian -Fold--I enter the Gymnasium, and frighten -the Chief Rabbi out of his Wits, 253 - -XXVII.--Third journey to Berlin--Frustrated Plan of -Hebrew Authorship--Journey to Breslau--Divorce, 265 - -XXVIII.--Fourth journey to Berlin--Unfortunate - circumstances--Help--Study of Kant's Writings--Characteristic -of my own Works, 279 - -CONCLUDING CHAPTER, 290 -$/ - - - - -TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. - - -One effect of _Daniel Deronda_ was to make known to a wide circle of -readers the vitality of Judaism as a system which still holds sway over -the mental as well as the external life of men. During the few years -which have passed since the publication of that great fiction, the -interest in modern Judaism has continued to grow. It is but a short time -since the Western world was startled by the outbreak of an ancient -feeling against the Jews, which had been supposed to be long dead, at -least in some of the quarters where it was displayed. The popular -literature of the day also seems to indicate that the life of existing -Jewish communities is attracting a large share of attention in the -reading world. The charming pictures which Emil Franzos has drawn of -Jewish life in the villages of Eastern Galicia, are not only popular in -Germany, but some have been reproduced in a cheap form in New York to -meet the demand of German Americans, and some have also been translated -into English. The interest of English readers in the same subject is -further shown by the recent translation of Kompert's _Scenes from the -Ghetto_, as well as by Mr. Cumberland's still more recent and powerful -romance of _The Rabbi's Spell_. Among students of philosophical -literature a fresh interest has been awakened in the history of Jewish -thought by the revival of the question in reference to the sources of -Spinoza's philosophy. The affinities of this system with the familiar -tendencies of Cartesian speculation have led the historians of -philosophy generally to represent the former as simply an inevitable -development of the latter, while the affinities of Spinozism with the -unfamiliar speculations of earlier Jewish thinkers have been almost -entirely ignored. - -In these circumstances a special interest may be felt in the life of one -of the most remarkable Jews of modern times--a life which forms one of -the most extraordinary biographies in the history of literature. - -Readers of _Daniel Deronda_ may remember that, in his search among the -Jews of London for some one who could throw light on the sad story of -Mirah, the hero of the novel was attracted one day to a second-hand -book-shop, where his eye fell on "that wonderful bit of -autobiography--the life of the Polish Jew, Solomon Maimon." There are -few men so remarkable as Maimon who have met with so little recognition -in English literature. Milman, in his _History of the Jews_, refers -once[1] to the autobiography as "a curious and rare book," but -apparently he knew it only from some quotations in Franck's _La -Cabbale_. Among English metaphysical writers the only one who seems to -have studied the speculations of Maimon is Dr. Hodgson.[2] Even the new -edition of the _Encyclopedia Britannica_ gives no place to Maimon among -its biographies. And yet he is a prominent figure among the -metaphysicians of the Kantian period. Kuno Fischer, in his _Geschichte -der Neueren Philosophie_,[3] devotes a whole chapter to the life of -Maimon, while the contemporary critics of Kant are dismissed with little -or no biographical notice. Fischer's sketch is just sufficient to whet -curiosity for fuller details; but, amid the dearth of rare literature in -Colonial libraries, I certainly never expected to come, in a Canadian -town, upon "a curious and rare book" of last century, which was known -even to the learned Milman only through some quotations from a French -author. One day, however, in Toronto, in order to while away an -unoccupied hour, I was glancing, like Daniel Deronda, over the shelves -of a second-hand bookseller, when I was attracted by a small volume, in -a good state of preservation, with "S. Maimon's Lebensgeschichte" on the -back; and on taking it down I found it to be the veritable autobiography -which I had been curious to see. - -Some account of the work was given in an article in the _British -Quarterly Review_ for July, 1885; but I thought that a complete -translation would probably be welcomed by a considerable circle of -English readers. The book has many attractions. If the development of -the inner life of man can ever be characterised as a romance, the -biography of Maimon may, in the truest sense, be said to be one of the -most romantic stories ever written. Perhaps no literature has preserved -a more interesting record of a spirit imprisoned within almost -insuperable barriers to culture, yet acquiring strength to burst all -these, and even to become an appreciable power in directing the course -of speculation. The book, however, is much more than a biography; it -possesses historical interest. It opens up what, to many English -readers, must be unknown efforts of human thought, unknown wanderings of -the religious life. The light, which it throws upon Judaism especially, -both in its speculative and in its practical aspects, is probably, in -fact, unique. For the sketches, which the book contains, of Jewish -speculation and life were made at a time when the author had severed all -vital connection with his own people and their creed; and they are -therefore drawn from a point of view outside of Jewish prejudices: but -they are penned by one who had been brought up to believe the divine -mission of his people, as well as the divine authority of their -religion; and the criticism of his old faith is generally tempered by -that kindly sympathy, with which the heart is apt to be warmed on -lingering over the companionships and other associations of earlier -years. Maimon's account of Jewish philosophy and theology acquires an -additional value from the fact, that he was caught in the full tide of -the Kantian movement, and he was thus in a position to point out -unexpected affinities between many an old effort of speculative thought -among the Jews and the philosophical tendencies of modern Christendom. - -Since writing the above-mentioned article for the _British Quarterly -Review_, I learnt that a volume of _Maimoniana_ had been issued in 1813 -by an old friend of our philosopher, Dr. Wolff[4]; and through the -kindness of a friend in Leipsic, I was enabled, after some delay, to -procure a copy. It is a small volume of 260 pages, and adds extremely -little to our knowledge of Maimon. Nearly one third is simply a -condensation of the autobiography; and the remainder shows the author -with the opportunities indeed, but without the faculty, of a Boswell. He -has preserved but few of the felicities of Maimon's conversation; and -what he has preserved loses a good deal of its flavour from his want of -the lively memory by which Boswell was able to reproduce the peculiar -mannerisms of Johnson's talk. Still I have culled from the little -volume a few notes for illustration of the autobiography, and I am -indebted to it for most of the materials of the concluding chapter. All -my additions are indicated by "_Trans._" appended. - -The translation gives the whole of the biographical portion of the -original. There are, however, ten chapters which I have omitted, as they -are occupied entirely with a sketch of the great work of -Maimonides,--the _Moreh Nebhochim_, or _Guide of the Perplexed_. Owing -to their somewhat loose connection[5] with the rest, these chapters -excite just the faintest suspicion of "padding;" and at all events there -is no demand for such a sketch in English now, when our literature has -been recently enriched by Dr. FriedlA¤nder's careful translation of the -whole work. - -In the performance of my task I have endeavoured to render the original -as literally as was consistent with readable English. Only in one or -two passages I have toned down the expression slightly to suit the -tastes of our own time; but even in these I have not been unfaithful to -the author's meaning. - -In the spelling of Hebrew and other foreign words I have never, without -some good reason, interfered with the original. But as Maimon is not -always consistent with himself in this respect, I have felt myself at -liberty to disregard his usage by adopting such forms as are more -familiar, or more likely to be intelligible, to an English reader. - - - - -SOLOMON MAIMON. - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -The inhabitants of Poland may be conveniently divided into six classes -or orders:--the superior nobility, the inferior nobility, the -half-noble, burghers, peasantry and Jews. - -The superior nobility consist of the great landowners and administrators -of the high offices of government. The inferior nobility also are -allowed to own land and to fill any political office; but they are -prevented from doing so by their poverty. The half-noble can neither own -land, nor fill any high office in the State; and by this he is -distinguished from the genuine noble. Here and there, it is true, he -owns land; but for that he is in some measure dependent on the lord of -the soil, within whose estate his property lies, inasmuch as he is -required to pay him a yearly tribute. - -The burghers are the most wretched of all the orders. They are not, 'tis -true, in servitude to any man; they also enjoy certain privileges, and -have a jurisdiction of their own. But as they seldom own any property -of value, or follow rightly any profession, they always remain in a -condition of pitiable poverty. - -The last two orders, namely the peasantry and the Jews, are the most -useful in the country. The former occupy themselves with agriculture, -raising cattle, keeping bees,--in short, with all the products of the -soil. The latter engage in trade, take up the professions and -handicrafts, become bakers, brewers, dealers in beer, brandy, mead and -other articles. They are also the only persons who farm estates in towns -and villages, except in the case of ecclesiastical properties, where the -reverend gentlemen hold it a sin to put a Jew in a position to make a -living, and accordingly prefer to hand over their farms to the peasants. -For this they must suffer by their farms going to ruin, as the peasantry -have no aptitude for this sort of employment: but of course they choose -rather to bear this with Christian resignation. - -In consequence of the ignorance of most of the Polish landlords, the -oppression of the tenantry, and the utter want of economy, most of the -farms in Poland, at the end of last century,[6] had fallen into such a -state of decay, that a farm, which now yields about a thousand Polish -gulden, was offered to a Jew for ten; but in consequence of still -greater ignorance and laziness, with all that advantage even he could -not make a living off the farm. An incident, however, occurred at this -time, which gave a new turn to affairs. Two brothers from Galicia, where -the Jews are much shrewder than in Lithuania, took, under the name of -_Dersawzes_ or farmers-general, a lease of all the estates of Prince -Radzivil, and, by means of a better industry as well as a better -economy, they not only raised the estates into a better condition, but -also enriched themselves in a short time. - -Disregarding the clamour of their brethren, they increased the rents, -and enforced payment by the sub-lessees with the utmost stringency. They -themselves exercised a direct oversight of the farms; and wherever they -found a farmer who, instead of looking after his own interests and those -of his landlord in the improvement of his farm by industry and economy, -spent the whole day in idleness, or lay drunk about the stove, they soon -brought him to his senses, and roused him out of his indolence by a -flogging. This procedure of course acquired for the farmers-general, -among their own people, the name of tyrants. - -All this, however, had a very good effect. The farmer, who at the term -had hitherto been unable to pay up his ten gulden of rent without -requiring to be sent to jail about it, now came under such a strong -inducement to active exertion, that he was not only able to support a -family off his farm, but was also able to pay, instead of ten, four or -five hundred, and sometimes even a thousand gulden. - -The Jews, again, may be divided into three classes:--(1) the illiterate -working people, (2) those who make learning their profession, and (3) -those who merely devote themselves to learning without engaging in any -remunerative occupation, being supported by the industrial class. To the -second class belong the chief rabbis, preachers, judges, schoolmasters, -and others of similar profession. The third class consists of those who, -by their pre-eminent abilities and learning, attract the regard of the -unlearned, are taken by these into their families, married to their -daughters, and maintained for some years with wife and children at their -expense. Afterwards, however, the wife is obliged to take upon herself -the maintenance of the saintly idler and the children (who are usually -very numerous); and for this, as is natural, she thinks a good deal of -herself. - -There is perhaps no country besides Poland, where religious freedom and -religious enmity are to be met with in equal degree. The Jews enjoy -there a perfectly free exercise of their religion and all other civil -liberties; they have even a jurisdiction of their own. On the other -hand, however, religious hatred goes so far, that the name of Jew has -become an abomination; and this abhorrence, which had taken root in -barbarous times, continued to show its effects till about thirteen years -ago. But this apparent contradiction may be very easily removed, if it -is considered that the religious and civil liberty, conceded to the Jews -in Poland, has not its source in any respect for the universal rights -of mankind, while, on the other hand, the religious hatred and -persecution are by no means the result of a wise policy which seeks to -remove out of the way whatever is injurious to morality and the welfare -of the State. Both phenomena are results of the political ignorance and -torpor prevalent in the country. With all their defects the Jews are -almost the only useful inhabitants of the country, and therefore the -Polish people found themselves obliged, for the satisfaction of their -own wants, to grant all possible liberties to the Jews; but, on the -other hand, their moral ignorance and stupor could not fail to produce -religious hatred and persecution. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -My Grandfather's Housekeeping. - - -My grandfather, Heimann Joseph, was farmer of some villages in the -neighbourhood of the town of Mir, in the territory of Prince -Radzivil.[7] He selected for his residence one of these villages on the -river Niemen, called Sukoviborg, where, besides a few peasants' plots, -there was a water-mill, a small harbour, and a warehouse for the use of -the vessels that come from KA¶nigsberg, in Prussia. All this, along with -a bridge behind the village, and on the other side a drawbridge on the -river Niemen, belonged to the farm, which was then worth about a -thousand gulden, and formed my grandfather's _Chasakah_.[8] This farm, -on account of the warehouse and the great traffic, was very lucrative. -With sufficient industry and economical skill, _si mens non laeva -fuisset_, my grandfather should have been able, not only to support his -family, but even to gather wealth. The bad constitution of the country, -however, and his own want of all the acquirements necessary for -utilising the land, placed extraordinary obstacles in his way. - -My grandfather settled his brothers as tenants under him in the villages -belonging to his farm. These not only lived continually with my -grandfather under the pretence of assisting him in his manifold -occupations, but in addition to this they would not pay their rents at -the end of the year. - -The buildings, belonging to my grandfather's farm, had fallen into decay -from age, and required therefore to be repaired. The harbour and the -bridge also had become dilapidated. In accordance with the terms of the -lease the landlord was to repair everything, and put it in a condition -fit for use. But, like all the Polish magnates, he resided permanently -in Warsaw, and could therefore give no attention to the improvement of -his estates. His stewards had for their principal object the improvement -rather of their own condition than of their landlord's property. They -oppressed the farmers with all sorts of exactions, they neglected the -orders given for the improvement of the farms, and the moneys intended -for this purpose they applied to their own use. My grandfather indeed -made representations on the subject to the stewards day after day, and -assured them that it was impossible for him to pay his rent, if -everything was not put into proper condition according to the lease. All -this, however, was of no avail. He always received promises indeed, but -the promises were never fulfilled. The result was not only the ruin of -the farm, but several other evils arising from that. - -As already mentioned, there was a large traffic at this place; and as -the bridges were in a bad state, it happened not infrequently that these -broke down just when a Polish nobleman with his rich train was passing, -and horse and rider were plunged into the swamp. The poor farmer was -then dragged to the bridge, where he was laid down and flogged till it -was thought that sufficient revenge had been taken. - -My grandfather therefore did all in his power to guard against this evil -in the future. For this purpose he stationed one of his people to keep -watch at the bridge, so that, if any noble were passing, and an accident -of this sort should happen, the sentinel might bring word to the house -as quickly as possible, and the whole family might thus have time to -take refuge in the neighbouring wood. Every one thereupon ran in terror -out of the house, and not infrequently they were all obliged to remain -the whole night in the open air, till one after another ventured to -approach the house. - -This sort of life lasted for some generations. My father used to tell of -an incident of this sort, which happened when he was still a boy of -about eight years. The whole family had fled to their usual retreat. But -my father, who knew nothing of what had happened, and was playing at the -back of the stove, stayed behind alone. When the angry lord came into -the house with his suite, and found nobody on whom he could wreak his -vengeance, he ordered every corner of the house to be searched, when my -father was found at the back of the stove. The nobleman asked him if he -would drink brandy, and, on the boy refusing, shouted: "If you will not -drink brandy, you shall drink water." At the same time he ordered a -bucketful of water to be brought, and forced my father, by lashes with -his whip, to drink it out. Naturally this treatment brought on a quartan -fever, which lasted nearly a whole year, and completely undermined his -health. - -A similar incident took place when I was a child of three years. Every -one ran out of the house; and the housemaid, who carried me in her arms, -hurried forth. But as the servants of the nobleman who had arrived ran -after her, she quickened her steps, and in her extreme haste let me fall -from her arms. There I lay whimpering on the skirt of the wood, till -fortunately a peasant passing by lifted me up and took me home with him. -It was only after everything had become quiet again, and the family had -returned to the house, that the maid remembered having lost me in the -flight, when she began to lament and wring her hands. They sought me -everywhere, but could not find me, till at last the peasant came from -the village and restored me to my parents. - -It was not merely the terror and consternation, into which we used to be -thrown on the occasion of such a flight; to this was added the -plundering of the house when deprived of its inhabitants. Beer, brandy, -and mead were drunk at pleasure; the spirit of revenge even went so far -at times, that the casks were left to run out; corn and fowls were -carried off; and so forth. - -Had my grandfather, instead of seeking justice from a more powerful -litigant, rather borne the injustice, and built the bridge in question -at his own expense, he would have been able to avoid all these evils. He -appealed, however, persistently to the terms of his lease, and the -steward made sport of his misery. - -And now something about my grandfather's domestic economy. The manner of -life, which he led in his house, was quite simple. The annual produce of -the arable lands, pasture-lands, and kitchen-gardens, belonging to the -farm, was sufficient, not only for the wants of his own family, but also -for brewing and distilling. He could even, besides, sell a quantity of -grain and hay. His bee-hives were sufficient for the brewing of mead. He -had also a large number of cattle. - -The principal food consisted of a poor kind of corn-bread mixed with -bran, of articles made of meal and milk, and of the produce of the -garden, seldom of flesh-meat. The clothing was made of poor linen and -coarse stuff. Only the women made in these matters a slight exception, -and my father also, who was a scholar, required a different sort of -life. - -Hospitality was here carried very far. The Jews in this neighbourhood -are continually moving about from place to place; and as there was a -great traffic at our village, they were frequently passing through it, -and of course they had always to stop at my grandfather's inn. Every -Jewish traveller was met at the door with a glass of spirits; one hand -making the _salaam_,[9] while the other reached the glass. He then had -to wash his hands, and seat himself at the table which remained -constantly covered. - -The support of a numerous family along with this hospitality would have -had no serious effect in impairing my grandfather's circumstances, if at -the same time he had introduced a better economy in his house. This, -however, was the source of his misfortune. - -My grandfather was in trifles almost too economical, and neglected -therefore matters of the greatest importance. He looked upon it, for -example, as extravagance to burn wax or tallow candles; their place had -to be supplied with thin strips of resinous pine, one end of which was -stuck into the chinks of the wall, while the other was lit. Not -unfrequently by this means fires were occasioned, and much damage -caused, in comparison with which the cost of candles was not worth -taking into consideration. - -The apartment, in which beer, spirits, mead, herrings, salt and other -articles were kept for the daily account of the inn, had no windows, -but merely apertures, through which it received light. Naturally this -often tempted the sailors and carriers who put up at the inn to climb -into the apartment, and make themselves drunk gratuitously with spirits -and mead. What was still worse, these carousing heroes, from fear of -being caught in the act, often took to flight, on hearing the slightest -noise, without waiting to put in the spigot, sprang out at the holes by -which they had come in, and let the liquor run as long as it might. In -this way sometimes whole casks of spirits and mead ran out. - -The barns had no proper locks, but were shut merely with wooden bolts. -Any one therefore, especially as the barns were at some distance from -the dwelling-house, could take from them at pleasure, and even carry off -whole waggonloads of grain. The sheepfold had, all over, holes, by which -wolves (the forest being quite near) were able to slink in, and worry -the sheep at their convenience. - -The cows came very often from the pasture with empty udders. According -to the superstition which prevailed there, it was said in such cases, -that the milk had been taken from them by witchcraft,--a misfortune, -against which it was supposed that nothing could be done. - -My grandmother, a good simple woman, when tired with her household -occupations, lay down often in her clothes to sleep by the stove, and -had all her pockets full of money, without knowing how much. Of this -the housemaid took advantage, and emptied the pockets of half their -contents. Nevertheless my grandmother seldom perceived the want, if only -the girl did not play too clumsy a trick. - -All these evils could easily have been avoided of course by repairing -the buildings, the windows, the window-shutters and locks, by proper -oversight of the manifold lucrative occupations connected with the farm, -as also by keeping an exact account of receipts and disbursements. But -this was never thought of. On the other hand, if my father, who was a -scholar, and educated partly in town, ordered for himself a rabbinical -suit, for which a finer stuff was required than that in common use, my -grandfather did not fail to give him a long and severe lecture on the -vanity of the world. "Our forefathers," he used to say, "knew nothing of -these new-fashioned costumes, and yet were devout people. You must have -a coat of striped woolen cloth,[10] you must have leather hose, with -buttons even, and everything on the same scale. You will bring me to -beggary at last; I shall be thrown into prison on your account. Ay me, -poor unfortunate man! What is to become of me?" - -My father then appealed to the rights and privileges of the profession -of a scholar, and showed moreover that, in a well-arranged system of -economy, it does not so much matter whether you live somewhat better or -worse, and that even my grandfather's misfortunes arose, not from -extravagant consumption in housekeeping, but rather from the fact that -he allowed himself by his remissness to be plundered by others. All this -however was of no avail with my grandfather. He could not tolerate -innovations. Everything therefore had to be left as it was. - -My grandfather was held in the place of his abode to be a rich man, -which he could really have been if he had known how to make use of his -opportunities; and on this account he was envied and hated by all, even -by his own family, he was abandoned by his landlord, he was oppressed in -every possible way by the steward, and cheated and robbed by his own -domestics as well as by strangers. In short, he was _the poorest rich -man_ in the world. - -In addition to all this there were still greater misfortunes, which I -cannot here pass over wholly in silence. The pope, that is, the Russian -clergyman in this village, was a dull ignorant blockhead, who had -scarcely learned to read and write. He spent most of his time at the -inn, where he drank spirits with his boorish parishioners, and let his -liquor always be put down to his account, without ever a thought of -paying his score. My grandfather at last became tired of this, and made -up his mind to give him nothing more upon credit. The fellow naturally -took this very ill, and therefore resolved upon revenge. - -For this he found at length a means, at which indeed humanity shudders, -but of which the Catholic Christians in Poland were wont to make use -very often at that time. This was to charge my grandfather with the -murder of a Christian, and thus bring him to the gallows. This was done -in the following way: A beaver-trapper, who sojourned constantly in this -neighbourhood to catch beavers on the Niemen, was accustomed at times to -trade in these animals with my grandfather; and this had to be done -secretly, for the beaver is game preserved, and all that are taken must -be delivered at the manor. The trapper came once about midnight, knocked -and asked for my grandfather. He showed him a bag which was pretty heavy -to lift, and said to him with a mysterious air, "I have brought you a -good big fellow here." My grandfather was going to strike a light, to -examine the beaver, and come to terms about it with the peasant. He -however said, that this was unnecessary, that my grandfather might take -the beaver at any rate, and that they would be sure to agree about it -afterwards. My grandfather, who had no suspicion of evil, took the bag -just as it was, laid it aside, and betook himself again to rest. -Scarcely, however, had he fallen asleep again, when he was roused a -second time with a loud noise of knocking. - -It was the clergyman with some boors from the village, who immediately -began to make search all over in the house. They found the bag, and my -grandfather already trembled for the issue, because he believed nothing -else than that he had been betrayed at the manor on account of his -secret trade in beavers, and he could not deny the fact. But how great -was his horror, when the bag was opened, and, instead of a beaver, there -was found a corpse! - -My grandfather was bound with his hands behind his back, his feet were -put into stocks, he was thrown into a waggon, and brought to the town of -Mir, where he was given over to the criminal court. He was made fast in -chains, and put into a dark prison. - -At the trial my grandfather stood upon his innocence, related the events -exactly as they had happened, and, as was reasonable, demanded that the -beaver-trapper should be examined too. He, however, was nowhere to be -found, was already over the hills and far away. He was sought -everywhere. But the blood-thirsty judge of the criminal court, to whom -the time became tedious, ordered my grandfather three times in -succession to be brought to torture. He, however, continued steadfast in -his assertion. - -At last the hero of the beavers was found. He was examined; and as he -straightway denied the whole affair, he also was put to the test of -torture. Thereupon at once he blabbed the whole story. He declared that, -some time before, he had found this dead body in the water, and was -going to bring it to the parsonage for burial. The parson however had -said to him, "There is plenty of time for the burial. You know that the -Jews are a hardened race, and are therefore damned to all eternity. They -crucified our Lord Jesus Christ, and even yet they seek Christian blood, -if only they can get hold of it for their passover, which is instituted -as a sign of their triumph. They use it for their passover-cake. You -will therefore do a meritorious work, if you can smuggle this dead body -into the house of the damned Jew of a farmer. You must of course clear -out, but your trade you can drive anywhere." - -On this confession the fellow was whipped out of the place, and my -grandfather set free; but the pope remained pope. - -For an everlasting memorial of this deliverance of my grandfather from -death, my father composed in Hebrew a sort of epopee, in which the whole -event was narrated, and the goodness of God was sung. It was also made a -law, that the day of his deliverance should be celebrated in the family -every year, when this poem should be recited in the same way as the Book -of Esther at the festival of Haman.[11] - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -First Reminiscences of Youth. - - -In this manner my grandfather lived for many years in the place where -his forefathers had dwelt; his farm had become, as it were, a property -of the family. By the Jewish ceremonial law the _Chazakah_, that is, the -right of property in an estate, is acquired by three years' possession; -and the right is respected even by Christians in this neighbourhood. In -virtue of this law no other Jew could try to get possession of the farm -by a _Hosaphah_, that is, an offer of higher rent, if he would not bring -down upon himself the Jewish excommunication. Although the possession of -the farm was accompanied with many hardships and even oppressions, yet -it was from another point of view very lucrative. My grandfather could -not only live as a well-to-do man, but also provide richly for his -children. - -His three daughters were well dowered, and married to excellent men. His -two sons, my uncle Moses and my father Joshua, were married likewise; -and when he became old, and enfeebled by the hardships to which he had -been exposed, he gave over the management of the house to his two sons -in common. These were of different temperaments and inclinations, my -uncle Moses being of strong bodily constitution, but inferior -intelligence, while my father was the opposite; and consequently they -could not work together well. My grandfather therefore gave over to my -uncle another village, and kept my father by himself, although from his -profession as a scholar my father was not particularly adapted for the -occupations of household-management. He merely kept accounts, made -contracts, conducted processes at law, and attended to other matters of -the same sort. My mother, on the other hand, was a very lively woman, -well disposed to all sorts of occupations. She was small of stature, and -at that time still very young. - -An anecdote I cannot avoid touching on here, because it is the earliest -reminiscence from the years of my youth. I was about three years old at -the time. The merchants, who put up constantly at the place, and -especially the _shaffers_, that is, the nobles who undertook the -navigation, the purchase and delivery of goods, for the higher nobility, -were extremely fond of me on account of my liveliness, and made all -sorts of fun with me. These merry gentlemen gave my mother, on account -of her small stature and liveliness, the nickname of _Kuza_, that is, a -young filly.[12] As I heard them often call her by this name, and knew -nothing of its meaning, I also called her _Mama Kuza_. My mother rebuked -me for this, and said, "God punishes any one who calls his mother _Mama -Kuza_." One of these _Shaffers_, Herr Piliezki, used every day to take -tea in our house, and enticed me to his side by giving me at times a bit -of sugar. One morning while he was drinking his tea, when I had placed -myself in the usual position for receiving the sugar, he said he would -give it to me only on condition that I should say _Mama Kuza_. Now as my -mother was present, I refused to do it. He made a sign therefore to my -mother to go into an adjoining room. As soon as she had shut the door, I -went to him and whispered into his ear, _Mama Kuza_. He insisted however -that I should say it out loud, and promised to give me a piece of sugar -for each time that it was spoken. Accordingly I said, "Herr Piliezki -wants me to say _Mama Kuza_; but I will not say _Mama Kuza_, because God -punishes any one who says _Mama Kuza_." Thereupon I got my three pieces -of sugar. - -My father introduced into the house a more refined mode of life, -especially as he traded with KA¶nigsberg in Prussia, where he procured -all sorts of pretty and useful articles. He provided himself with tin -and brass utensils; we began to have better meals, to wear finer -clothes, than before; I was even clad in damask. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -Private Education and Independent Study. - - -In my sixth year my father began to read the Bible with me. "In the -beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Here I interrupted my -father, and asked, "But, papa, who created God?" - -"God was not created by any one," replied my father; "He existed from -all eternity." - -"Did he exist ten years ago?" I asked again. - -"O yes," my father said, "He existed even a hundred years ago." - -"Then perhaps," I continued, "God is already a thousand years old?" - -"Silence! God was eternal." - -"But," I insisted, "He must surely have been born at some time." - -"You little fool," said my father, "No! He was for ever and ever and -ever." - -With this answer I was not indeed satisfied; but I thought "Surely papa -must know better than I, and with that I must therefore be content." - -This mode of representation is very natural in early youth, when the -understanding is still undeveloped, while the imagination is in full -bloom. The understanding seeks merely to grasp, the imagination to grasp -all round.[13] That is to say, the understanding seeks to make the -origin of an object conceivable, without considering, whether the -object, whose origin is known, can also be actually represented by us or -not. The imagination, on the other hand, seeks to gather into a complete -image something, the origin of which is to us unknown. Thus, for -example, an infinite series of numbers, which progresses according to a -definite law, is for the understanding an object, to which by this law -definite qualities are attached, and an object just as good as a finite -series, which progresses according to the same law. For the imagination, -on the other hand, the latter indeed is an object; but not the former, -because it cannot grasp the former as a completed whole. - -A long time afterwards, when I was staying in Breslau, this -consideration suggested to me a thought, which I expressed in an essay -that I laid before Professor Garve, and which, though at the time I knew -nothing of the Kantian philosophy, still constitutes its foundation. I -explained this somewhat in the following way:--The metaphysicians -necessarily fall into self-contradiction. According to the confession -of Leibnitz himself, who in this appeals to the experiment of Archimedes -with the lever, the Law of Sufficient Reason or Causality is a principle -of experience. Now, it is quite true that in experience everything is -found to have a cause; but for the very reason, that _every_ thing has a -cause, nothing can be met with in experience which is a _first_ cause, -that is, a cause which has no cause to itself. How then can the -metaphysicians infer from this law the existence of a first cause? - -Afterwards I found this objection more particularly developed in the -Kantian philosophy, where it is shown that the Category of Cause, or the -form of hypothetical judgments used in reference to the objects of -nature, by which their relation to one another is determined _a priori_, -can be applied only to objects of experience through an _a priori_ -schema. The first cause, which implies a complete infinite series of -causes, and therefore in fact a contradiction, since the infinite can -never be complete, is not an object of the understanding, but an idea of -reason, or, according to my theory, a fiction of the imagination, which, -not content with the mere knowledge of the law, seeks to gather the -multiplicity, which is subject to the law, into an image, though in -opposition to the law itself. - -On another occasion I read in the Bible the story of Jacob and Esau; and -in this connection my father quoted the passage from the Talmud, where -it is said, "Jacob and Esau divided between them all the blessings of -the world. Esau chose the blessings of this life, Jacob, on the -contrary, those of the future life; and since we are descended from -Jacob, we must give up all claim to temporal blessings." On this I said -with indignation, "Jacob should not have been a fool; he should rather -have chosen the blessings of this world." Unfortunately I got for -answer, "You ungodly rascal!" and a box on the ear. This did not of -course remove my doubt, but it brought me to silence at least. - -The Prince Radzivil, who was a great lover of the chase, came one day -with his whole court to hunt in the neighbourhood of our village. Among -the party was his daughter who afterwards married Prince Rawuzki. The -young princess, in order to enjoy rest at noon, betook herself with the -ladies of her court, the servants in waiting and the lackeys, to the -very room, where as a boy I was sitting behind the stove. I was struck -with astonishment at the magnificence and splendour of the court, gazed -with rapture at the beauty of the persons and at the dresses with their -trimmings of gold and silver lace; I could not satisfy my eyes with the -sight. My father came just as I was out of myself with joy, and had -broken into the words, "O how beautiful!" In order to calm me, and at -the same time to confirm me in the principles of our faith, he whispered -into my ear, "Little fool, in the other world the _duksel_ will kindle -the _pezsure_ for us," which means, In the future life the princess will -kindle the stove for us. No one can conceive the sort of feeling which -this statement produced in me. On the one hand, I believed my father, -and was very glad about this future happiness in store for us; but I -felt at the same time pity for the poor princess who was going to be -doomed to such a degrading service. On the other hand, I could not get -it into my head, that this beautiful rich princess in this splendid -dress should ever make a fire for a poor Jew. I was thrown into the -greatest perplexity on the subject, till some game drove these thoughts -out of my head. - -I had from childhood a great inclination and talent for drawing. True, I -had in my father's house never a chance of seeing a work of art, but I -found on the title-page of some Hebrew books woodcuts of foliage, birds -and so forth. I felt great pleasure in these woodcuts, and made an -effort to imitate them with a bit of chalk or charcoal. What however -strengthened this inclination in me still more was a Hebrew book of -fables, in which the personages who play their part in the fables--the -animals--were represented in such woodcuts. I copied all the figures -with the greatest exactness. My father admired indeed my skill in this, -but rebuked me at the same time in these words, "You want to become a -painter? You are to study the Talmud, and become a rabbi. He who -understands the Talmud, understands everything." - -This desire and faculty for painting went with me so far, that when my -father had settled in H----, where there was a manor-house with some -beautifully tapestried rooms, which were constantly unoccupied because -the landlord resided elsewhere, and very seldom visited the place, I -used to steal away from home whenever I could, to copy the figures on -the tapestries. I was found once in mid-winter half-frozen, standing -before the wall, holding the paper in one hand (for there was no -furniture in this apartment), and with the other hand copying the -figures off the wall. Yet I judge of myself at present, that, if I had -kept to it, I should have become a _great_, but not an _exact_, painter, -that is to say, I sketched with ease the main features of a picture, but -had not the patience to work it out in detail. - -My father had in his study a cupboard containing books. He had forbidden -me indeed to read any books but the Talmud. This, however, was of no -avail: as he was occupied the most of his time with household affairs, I -took advantage of the opportunity thus afforded. Under the impulse of -curiosity I made a raid upon the cupboard and glanced over all the -books. The result was, that, as I had already a fair knowledge of -Hebrew, I found more pleasure in some of these books than in the Talmud. -And this result was surely natural. Take the subjects of the Talmud, -which, with the exception of those relating to jurisprudence, are dry -and mostly unintelligible to a child--the laws of sacrifice, of -purification, of forbidden meats, of feasts, and so forth--in which the -oddest rabbinical conceits are elaborated through many volumes with the -finest dialectic, and the most absurd questions are discussed with the -highest efforts of intellectual power; for example, how many white hairs -may a red cow have, and yet remain a _red_ cow; what sorts of scabs -require this or that sort of purification; whether a louse or a flea may -be killed on the Sabbath,--the first being allowed, while the second is -a deadly sin;--whether the slaughter of an animal ought to be executed -at the neck or the tail; whether the highpriest put on his shirt or his -hose first; whether the _Jabam_, that is, the brother of a man who died -childless, being required by law to marry the widow, is relieved from -his obligation if he falls off a roof and sticks in the mire. _Ohe jam -satis est!_ Compare these glorious disputations, which are served up to -young people and forced on them even to disgust, with history, in which -natural events are related in an instructive and agreeable manner, with -a knowledge of the world's structure, by which the outlook into nature -is widened, and the vast whole is brought into a well-ordered system; -surely my preference will be justified. - -The most valuable books in the collection were four. There was a Hebrew -chronicle under the title of _Zemach David_,[14] written by a sensible -chief rabbi in Prague, named Rabbi David Gans. He was also the author -of the astronomical book spoken of in the sequel, and he had had the -honour of being acquainted with Tycho Brahe, and of making astronomical -observations with him in the Observatory at Copenhagen. There were -besides, a Josephus, which was evidently garbled, and a History of the -Persecutions of the Jews in Spain. But what attracted me most powerfully -was an astronomical work. In this work a new world was opened to me, and -I gave myself up to the study with the greatest diligence. Think of a -child about seven years of age, in my position, with an astronomical -work thrown in his way, and exciting his interest. I had never seen or -heard anything of the first elements of mathematics, and I had no one to -give me any direction in the study: for it is needless to say, that to -my father I dared not even let my curiosity in the matter be known, and, -apart from that, he was not in a position to give me any information on -the subject. How must the spirit of a child, thirsting for knowledge, -have been inflamed by such a discovery! This the result will show. - -As I was still a child, and the beds in my father's house were few, I -was allowed to sleep with my old grandmother, whose bed stood in the -above-mentioned study. As I was obliged during the day to occupy myself -solely with the study of the Talmud, and durst not take another book in -my hand, I devoted the evenings to my astronomical inquiries. -Accordingly after my grandmother had gone to bed, I put some fresh wood -on the fire, made for the cupboard, and took out my beloved astronomical -book. My grandmother indeed scolded me, because it was too cold for the -old lady to lie alone in bed; but I did not trouble myself about that, -and continued my study till the fire was burnt out. - -After I had carried this on for some evenings, I came to the description -of the celestial sphere and its imaginary circles, designed for the -explanation of astronomical phenomena. This was represented in the book -by a single figure, in connection with which the author gave the reader -the good advice, that, since the manifold circles could not be -represented in a plane figure except by straight lines, he should, for -the sake of rendering them more clearly intelligible, make for himself -either an ordinary globe or an armillary sphere. I therefore formed the -resolution to make such a sphere out of twisted rods; and after I had -finished this work, I was in a position to understand the whole book. -But as I had to take care lest my father should find out how I had been -occupied, I always hid my armillary sphere in a corner behind the -cupboard before I went to bed. - -My grandmother, who had on several occasions observed that I was wholly -absorbed in my reading, but now and then lifted my eyes to look at a -number of circles formed of twisted rods laid on one another, fell into -the greatest consternation over the matter; she believed nothing less -than that her grandson had lost his wits. She did not delay, therefore, -to tell my father, and point out to him the place where the magical -instrument was kept. He soon guessed what was the meaning of this. -Accordingly he took the sphere in his hand, and sent for me. When I -came, he asked me, "What sort of plaything is this?" - -"It is a _Kadur_,[15]" I replied. - -"What does it mean?" he asked. - -I then explained to him the use of all the circles for the purpose of -making the celestial phenomena intelligible. My father, who was a good -rabbi indeed, but had no special talent for science, could not -comprehend all that I endeavoured to make comprehensible. He was -especially puzzled, by the comparison of my armillary sphere with the -figure in the book, to understand how out of straight lines circles -should be evolved; but one thing he could see,--that I was sure of my -business. He therefore scolded me, it is true, because I had -transgressed his command to meddle with nothing beyond the Talmud; but -still he felt a secret pleasure, that his young son, without a guide or -previous training, had been able by himself to master an entire work of -science. And with this the affair came to an end. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -Jewish Schools--The Joy of being released from them causes a stiff foot. - - -My brother Joseph and I were sent to Mir to school. My brother, who was -about twelve years old, was put to board with a schoolmaster of some -repute at that time, by name Jossel. This man was the terror of all -young people, "the scourge of God;" he treated those in his charge with -unheard of cruelty, flogged them till the blood came, even for the -slightest offence, and not infrequently tore off their ears, or beat -their eyes out. When the parents of these unfortunates came to him, and -brought him to task, he struck them with stones or whatever else came to -hand, and drove them with his stick out of the house back to their own -dwellings, without any respect of persons. All under his discipline -became either blockheads or good scholars. I, who was then only seven -years old, was sent to another schoolmaster. - -An anecdote I must here relate, which shows on the one side great -brotherly love, and on the other may be viewed as expressing the -condition of a child's mind, that sways between the hope of lightening -an evil, and the fear of increasing it. One day as I came from school, -my eyes were all red with weeping, for which there was doubtless good -cause. My brother observed this, and asked the reason. At first I showed -some hesitation in answering; but at last I said, "I weep because we -dare not tell tales out of school." My brother understood me very well, -was extremely indignant at my teacher, and was going to read him a -lesson on the subject. I begged him however not to do it, because in all -probability the teacher would take his revenge on me for telling tales -out of school. - -I must now say something of the condition of the Jewish schools in -general. The school is commonly a small smoky hut, and the children are -scattered, some on benches, some on the bare earth. The master, in a -dirty blouse sitting on the table, holds between his knees a bowl, in -which he grinds tobacco into snuff with a huge pestle like the club of -Hercules, while at the same time he wields his authority. The ushers -give lessons, each in his own corner, and rule those under their charge -quite as despotically as the master himself. Of the breakfast, lunch, -and other food sent to the school for the children, these gentlemen keep -the largest share for themselves. Sometimes even the poor youngsters get -nothing at all; and yet they dare not make any complaint on the subject, -if they will not expose themselves to the vengeance of these tyrants. -Here the children are imprisoned from morning to night, and have not an -hour to themselves, except on Friday and a half-holiday at the Newmoon. - -As far as study is concerned, the reading of Hebrew at least is pretty -regularly learned. On the other hand, with the mastery of the Hebrew -language very seldom is any progress made. Grammar is not treated in the -school at all, but has to be learnt _ex usu_, by translation of the Holy -Scriptures, very much as the ordinary man learns imperfectly the grammar -of his mother-tongue by social intercourse. Moreover there is no -dictionary of the Hebrew language. The children therefore begin at once -with the explanation of the Bible. This is divided into as many sections -as there are weeks in the year, in order that the Books of Moses, which -are read in the synagogues every Saturday, may be read through in a -year. Accordingly every week some verses from the beginning of the -section proper to the week are explained in school, and that with every -possible grammatical blunder. Nor can it well be otherwise. For the -Hebrew must be explained by means of the mother-tongue. But the -mother-tongue of the Polish Jews is itself full of defects and -grammatical inaccuracies; and as a matter of course therefore also the -Hebrew language, which is learned by its means, must be of the same -stamp. The pupil thus acquires just as little knowledge of the language, -as of the contents, of the Bible. - -In addition to this the Talmudists have fastened all sorts of -extraordinary conceits on the Bible. The ignorant teacher believes with -confidence, that the Bible cannot in reality have any other meaning than -that which these expositions ascribe to it; and the pupil must follow -his teacher's faith, so that the right understanding of words -necessarily becomes lost. For example, in the first Book of Moses it is -said, "Jacob sent messengers to his brother Esau, etc." Now, the -Talmudists were pleased to give out, that these messengers were angels. -For though the word _Malachim_ in Hebrew denotes messenger as well as -angels, these marvel-mongers preferred the second signification, because -the first contains nothing marvellous. The pupil therefore holds the -belief firm and fast, that Malachim denotes nothing but angels; and the -natural meaning of messengers is for him wholly lost. A correct -knowledge of the Hebrew language and a sound exegesis can be attained -only gradually by independent study and by reading grammars and critical -commentaries on the Bible, like those of Rabbi David Kimchi[16] and Aben -Esra; but of these very few rabbis make use. - -As the children are doomed in the bloom of youth to such an infernal -school, it may be easily imagined with what joy and rapture they look -forward to their release. We, that is, my brother and I, were taken home -to the great feasts; and it was on a trip of this sort, that the -following incident happened, which in relation to me was very critical. -My mother came once before Whitsuntide to the town where we were at -school, in order to purchase sundry articles required for the house. She -then took us home with her. The release from school, and the sight of -the beauty of nature which at this season displays its best attire, -threw us into such ecstasy, that we fell upon all sorts of wanton -fancies. When we were not far from home, my brother sprang out of the -carriage, and ran forward on foot. I was going to imitate his daring -leap, but unfortunately had not sufficient strength. I fell down -therefore with violence on the carriage, so that my legs came between -the wheels, and one of these passed over my left leg, which was thereby -pitiably crushed. I was carried home half-dead. My foot became cramped, -and I was wholly unable to move it. - -A Jewish doctor was consulted, who had not indeed regularly studied and -graduated at a university, but had acquired his medical knowledge merely -by serving with a physician and reading some medical books in the -Polish language, who was nevertheless a very good practical physician, -and effected many successful cures. He said that at present he was -provided with no medicines,--the nearest apothecary's shop was about -twenty miles[17] distant,--and consequently he could prescribe nothing -in the ordinary method, but that meanwhile a simple domestic remedy -might be applied. The remedy was, to kill a dog and thrust into it the -cramped foot; this, repeated several times, was to give certain relief. -The prescription was followed with the desired result, so that after -some weeks I was able to use the foot again, and by degrees I completely -recovered. - -I think it would not be at all amiss, if medical men gave more attention -to such domestic remedies, which are used with good results in districts -where there are no regular physicians or apothecaries' shops; they might -even make special journeys with this end in view. I know many a case of -this sort, which can be in nowise explained away. This however in -passing. I return to my story. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -My Family is driven into Misery, and an old Servant loses by his great -Faithfulness a Christian Burial. - - -My father, who, as already mentioned, traded with KA¶nigsberg in Prussia, -had once shipped in a vessel of Prince Radzivil's some barrels of salt -and herrings which he had bought there. When he came home and was going -to fetch his goods, the agent, Schachna, absolutely refused to let him -take them. My father then showed the bill of lading, which he had got on -the shipment of the goods; but the agent tore it out of his hands, and -threw it into the fire. My father found himself therefore compelled to -carry on a long and costly suit, which he had to delay till the -following year, when he would again make a journey to KA¶nigsberg. Here -he obtained a certificate from the custom-house, showing that he had -shipped the said goods in a vessel of Prince Radzivil's under the -direction of Herr Schachna. On this certificate the agent was summoned -before the court, but found it convenient not to make an appearance; and -my father gained the suit in the first, second, and third instances. In -spite of this, however, as a consequence of the wretched administration -of justice in Poland at the time, my father had no power to execute -this decision, and therefore from this successful suit he did not even -recover the costs. - -To this was added the further result, that by this suit he made Herr -Schachna an enemy who persecuted him now in every possible way. This the -cunning scoundrel could accomplish very well, as by all sorts of -intrigues he had been appointed by Prince Radzivil steward of all his -estates situated in the district of Mir. He resolved therefore on my -father's ruin, and only waited for a convenient opportunity to carry out -his revenge. - -This he found soon; and indeed a Jew, who was named after his farm -Schwersen, and was known as the biggest scoundrel in the whole -neighbourhood, offered him a hand. This fellow was an ignoramus, did not -even understand the Jewish language, and made use therefore of Russian. -He occupied himself mainly in examining the farms in the neighbourhood, -and he knew how to get possession of the most lucrative among them by -offering a higher rent and bribing the steward. Without troubling -himself in the least about the laws of the _Chazakah_,[18] he drove the -old legal farmers from their possessions, and enriched himself by this -means. He thus lived in wealth and fortune, and in this state reached an -advanced age. - -The scoundrel had already for a long time had his eye on my -grandfather's farm, and waited merely for a favourable opportunity and a -plausible pretext to get possession of it himself. Unfortunately my -granduncle Jacob, who lived in another village belonging to my -grandfather's farm, had been obliged to become a debtor of the scoundrel -to the amount of about fifty rix-dollars. As he could not clear off the -debt at the time when it was due, his creditor came with some servants -of the manor, and threatened to seize the cauldron, in which my -granduncle's whole wealth consisted. In consternation he loaded a waggon -secretly with the cauldron, drove with all haste to my grandfather's, -and, without letting any of us know, hid it in the adjoining marsh -behind the house. His creditor, however, who followed on his heels, came -to my grandfather's, and made search all over, but could find the -cauldron nowhere. Irritated at this unsuccessful stroke, and breathing -vengeance against my grandfather who, he believed, had prevented his -success, he rode to the town, carried to the steward an imposing -present, and offered for my grandfather's farm double the rent, besides -an annual voluntary present to the steward. - -This gentleman, joyous over such an offer, and mindful of the disgrace -which my father, a Jew, had brought upon him, a Polish noble, by the -above-mentioned suit, made on the spot a contract with the scoundrel, by -which he not only gave over to him this farm with all the rights -pertaining to it even before the end of my grandfather's lease, but -also robbed my grandfather of all he had,--his barns full of grain, his -cattle, etc.,--and shared the plunder with the new farmer. - -My grandfather was therefore obliged with his whole family to quit his -dwelling-place in mid-winter, and, without knowing where he should -settle again, to wander about from place to place. Our departure from -this place was very affecting. The whole neighbourhood lamented our -fate. An old and faithful servant of eighty years, named Gabriel, who -had carried in his arms even my grandfather as a child, insisted on -going with us. Representations were made to him on the severity of the -season, our unfortunate situation, and the uncertainty in which we -ourselves were placed as to our future destiny. But it was of no avail. -He placed himself on the road before the gate, by which our waggons had -to pass, and lamented so long that we were obliged to take him up. He -did not however travel with us long: his advanced age, his grief over -our misery, and the severe season gave him soon the finishing stroke. He -died when we had gone scarcely two or three miles; and as no Catholic or -Russian community would allow him burial in their churchyard--he was a -Prussian and a Lutheran--he was buried at our expense in the open -field. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -New Abode, new Misery--The Talmudist. - - -We wandered about therefore in the country, like the Israelites in the -wilderness of Arabia, without knowing where or when we should find a -place of rest. At last we came to a village which belonged to two -landlords. The one part was already leased; but the landlord of the -other could not lease his, because he had still to build a house. Weary -of wandering in winter-time with a whole family, my grandfather resolved -to take a lease of this house, which was still to be built, along with -its appurtenances, and meanwhile, till the house was ready, to make -shift as well as he could. Accordingly we were obliged to take up our -quarters in a barn. The other farmer did all in his power to prevent our -settlement in the place; but it was of no avail. The building was -finished, we took possession, and began to keep house. - -Unfortunately however everything went backward here; nothing would -succeed. An addition came to our misfortunes in my mother's illness. -Being of a very lively temperament and disposed to a life of activity, -she found here the weariness of having nothing to do. This, with her -anxiety about the means of subsistence, threw her into a state of -melancholy, which developed at last into insanity. In this condition she -remained for some months. Everything was tried for her benefit, but -without success. At last my father hit upon the idea of taking her to a -celebrated doctor at Novogrod, who made a specialty of curing mental -disorders. - -The method of cure employed by this specialist is unknown to me, because -I was at the time too young to wish or be able to institute inquiries on -the subject; but so much I can declare with certainty, that in the case -of my mother, as well as most of his patients afflicted with the same -malady, the treatment was followed with success. My mother returned home -fresh and healthy, and from that time she never had an attack of the -same sort. - -Immediately after this I was sent to school at Iwenez, about fifteen -miles from our abode, and here I began to study the Talmud. The study of -the Talmud is the chief object of a learned education among our people. -Riches, bodily advantages, and talents of every kind have indeed in -their eyes a certain worth, and are esteemed in proportion; but nothing -stands among them above the dignity of a good Talmudist. He has the -first claim upon all offices and positions of honour in the community. -If he enters an assembly,--he may be of any age or rank,--every one -rises before him most respectfully, and the most honourable place is -assigned to him. He is director of the conscience, lawgiver and judge -of the common man. He, who does not meet such a scholar with sufficient -respect, is, according to the judgment of the Talmudists, damned to all -eternity. The common man dare not enter upon the most trivial -undertaking, if, in the judgment of the scholar, it is not according to -law. Religious usages, allowed and forbidden meats, marriage and divorce -are determined not only by the rabbinical laws which have already -accumulated to an enormous mass, but also by special rabbinical -judgments which profess to deduce all special cases from the general -laws. A wealthy merchant, farmer or professional man, who has a -daughter, does everything in his power to get a good Talmudist for his -son-in-law. As far as other matters are concerned, the scholar may be as -deformed, diseased, and ignorant as possible, he will still have the -advantage over others. The future father-in-law of such a phoenix is -obliged, at the betrothal, to pay to the parents of the youth a sum -fixed by previous agreement; and besides the dowry for his daughter, he -is further obliged to provide her and her husband with food, clothing, -and lodging, for six or eight years after their marriage, during which -time the interest on the dowry is paid, so that the learned son-in-law -may continue his studies at his father-in-law's expense. After this -period he receives the dowry in hand, and then he is either promoted to -some learned office, or he spends his whole life in learned leisure. In -either case the wife undertakes the management of the household and the -conduct of business; and she is content if only in return for all her -toils she becomes in some measure a partaker of her husband's fame and -future blessedness. - -The study of the Talmud is carried on just as irregularly as that of the -Bible. The language of the Talmud is composed of various Oriental -languages and dialects; there is even many a word in it from Greek and -Latin. There is no dictionary, in which you can turn up the expressions -and phrases met with in the Talmud; and, what is still worse, as the -Talmud is not pointed, you cannot even tell how such words, that are not -pure Hebrew, are to be read. The language of the Talmud, therefore, like -that of the Bible, is learned only through frequent translation; and -this constitutes the _first_ stage in the study of the Talmud. - -When the pupil has been directed for some time in translation by the -teacher, he goes on to the independent reading or explanation of the -Talmud. The teacher gives him a limited portion of the Talmud, -containing within itself a connected argument, as a task in exposition, -which he must perform within a fixed time. The particular expressions -and forms of speech occurring in the passage must either be known by the -pupil from his former lessons, or the teacher, who here takes the place -of a dictionary, explains them to him. But the tenor and the entire -connection of the prescribed passage the pupil is required to bring out -himself; and this constitutes the second stage in the study of the -Talmud. - -Two commentaries, which are commonly printed along with the text, serve -as the chief guides at this point. The author of the one is Rabbi -Solomon Isaac,[19] a man gifted with grammatical and critical knowledge -of language, with extensive and thorough Talmudic insight, and with an -uncommon precision of style. The other is known by the title of -_Tosaphoth (Additions)_, and is the work of several rabbis. Its origin -is very remarkable. A number of the most famous rabbis agreed to study -the Talmud in company. For this purpose each selected a separate -portion, which he studied by himself till he believed that he had fully -comprehended it, and retained it in memory. Afterwards all the rabbis -met, and began to study the Talmud in company according to the order of -its parts. As soon as the first part had been read out, thoroughly -explained, and settled according to the Talmudic Logic, one of the -rabbis produced, from the part of the Talmud with which he was most -familiar, anything that appeared to contradict this passage. Another -then adduced, from the part which he had made thoroughly his own, a -passage which was able to remove this contradiction by means of some -distinction or some qualification unexpressed in the preceding passage. -Sometimes the removal of such a contradiction occasioned another, which -a third rabbi disclosed, and a fourth laboured to remove, till the first -passage was explained harmoniously by all, and made perfectly clear. It -may easily be imagined, what a high degree of subtlety is required to -reduce the Talmud to first principles, from which correct inferences may -be drawn after an uniform method; for the Talmud is a voluminous and -heterogeneous work, in which even the same subject often turns up in -different passages, where it is explained in different ways. - -Besides these two there are several other commentaries which treat the -subject further, and even make corrections on the two just mentioned. -Indeed, every rabbi, if he possesses sufficient acuteness, is to be -viewed as a living commentary on the Talmud. But the highest effort of -the mind is required to prepare a selection from the Talmud or a code of -the laws deducible from it. This implies not only acuteness, but also a -mind in the highest degree systematic. Herein our Maimonides undoubtedly -deserves the first rank, as may be seen from his code, _Jad Hachazekah_. - -The _final_ stage in the study of the Talmud is that of disputation. It -consists in eternally disputing about the book, without end or aim. -Subtlety, loquacity, and impertinence here carry the day. This sort of -study was formerly very common in the Jewish high schools;[20] but in -our times along with the schools it has also fallen into decay. It is a -kind of Talmudic scepticism, and utterly incompatible with any -systematic study directed to some end. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -Joy endureth but a little while. - - -After this digression on the study of the Talmud I return to my story. -As already mentioned, I was sent to school at Iwenez. My father gave me -a letter to the chief rabbi of this place, who was a relation of ours, -requesting him to give me in charge to an able teacher, and to give some -attention to the progress of my studies. He gave me however in charge to -a common schoolmaster, and told me I was to visit him every Sabbath in -order that he might examine me himself. This injunction I punctually -followed; but the arrangement did not continue long; for at one of these -examinations I began to dispute about my lessons and suggest -difficulties, when, without replying to them, the chief rabbi asked me -if I had stated these difficulties to my teacher also. - -"Of course," I replied. - -"And what did he say?" asked the chief rabbi. - -"Nothing to the point," I replied, "except that he enjoined silence on -me, and said, 'A youngster must not be too inquisitive; he must see to -it merely that he understands his lesson, but must not overwhelm his -teacher with questions.'" - -"Ah!" said the chief rabbi, "your teacher is altogether too easy, we -must make a change. I will give you instruction myself. I will do it -merely out of friendship, and I hope that your father will have as -little to say against it as your former teacher. The fee which your -father pays for your education, will be given to your teacher without -deduction." - -In this way I got the chief rabbi for a teacher. He struck out a way of -his own with me. No weekly lessons repeated till they are impressed on -the memory, no tasks which the pupil is obliged to perform for himself, -and in which the course of his thoughts is very often arrested for the -sake of a single word or a figure of speech, which has little to do with -the main subject. His method distinguished itself from all this. He made -me explain something from the Talmud _ex tempore_ in his presence, -conversed with me on the subject, explained to me so much as was -necessary to set my own mind in activity, and by means of questions and -answers turned my attention away from all side-issues to the main -subject, so that in a short time I passed through all the three -above-mentioned stages in the study of the Talmud. - -My father, to whom the chief rabbi gave an account of his plan with me -and of my progress, went beside himself with joy. He returned his -warmest thanks to this excellent man for putting himself to so much -trouble with me out of mere friendship, and that notwithstanding his -delicate state of health, for he was consumptive. But this joy did not -last long; before a half year was ended, the chief rabbi had to betake -himself to his fathers, and I was left like a sheep without a shepherd. - -This was announced to my father, who came and fetched me home. Not, -however, to H----, from which I had been sent to school, but to Mohilna, -about six miles from H----, whither my father had meanwhile removed. -This new change of abode had taken place in the following way. - -Mohilna is a small hamlet in the territory of Prince Radzivil four miles -from Nesvij, his residence. The situation of this place is excellent. -Having the river Niemen on one side, and on the other a large quantity -of the best timber for ships, it is adapted equally for trade and for -shipbuilding. Moreover the district in itself possesses great fertility -and amenity. These facts could not escape the attention of the Prince. -The farmer or _arendant_ of the place, whose family for some generations -had been in possession of this lucrative farm, and had become rich by -means of the shipbuilding trade, and the numerous fine products of the -district, took all possible pains to prevent these great advantages from -being observed, in order that he might be able to enjoy them alone -without being disturbed. But it happened once that the prince was -travelling through the place, and was so taken with its beauty, that he -resolved to make a town of it. He sketched a plan for this, and made an -announcement that the place was to be a _Slabode_; that is, every one -was to be at liberty to settle in the place, and drive any kind of -trade, and was even to be free from all taxes for the first six years. -For a long time, however, this plan was never carried out, owing to all -sorts of intrigues on the part of the arendant, who went so far as even -to bribe the advisers of the prince to turn his attention away from the -subject. - -My father, who saw clearly that the miserable farm of H---- could not -support him and his family, and had been obliged to remain there -hitherto only from want of a better abode, rejoiced very much at the -announcement, because he hoped that Mohilna would offer him a place of -refuge, especially as the arendant was a brother-in-law of my uncle. In -this connection he made a journey to the place with my grandfather, had -a conversation with the arendant, and opened to him his proposal to -settle in Mohilna with his consent. The arendant, who had feared that, -on the announcement of the prince's wish, people would stream in from -all sides, and press him out of his possession, was delighted that at -least the first who settled there was not a stranger, but related to his -family by marriage. He therefore not only gave his consent to the -proposal, but even promised my father all possible assistance. -Accordingly my father removed with his whole family to Mohilna, and had -a small house built for himself there; but till it was ready, the family -were obliged once more to take up their quarters in a barn. - -The arendant, by whom at first we were received in a friendly manner, -had unfortunately meanwhile changed his mind, and found that his fear of -being pressed out of his possession by strangers was wholly without -ground, inasmuch as already a considerable time had passed since the -announcement of the prince's wish, and yet nobody had presented himself -besides my father. The prince, as a Polish chief and _Voivode_ in -Lithuania, was constantly burdened too much with State affairs in -Warsaw, to be able to think on the carrying out of his plan himself; and -his subordinates could be induced by bribes to frustrate the whole plan. -These considerations showed the arendant that the new-comer could not -only be spared, but was even a burden, inasmuch as he had now to share -with another what he had before held in possession alone. He sought -therefore to restrict my father, and to disturb him in his settlement, -as much as possible. With this view he built for himself a splendid -house, and succeeded in obtaining a command from the prince, in -accordance with which none of the newcomers should enjoy the rights of a -burgher till he had built a similar house. My father saw himself -therefore compelled to waste his little fortune, which was indispensably -required for the new arrangements, wholly and solely on this useless -building. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -The Pupil knows more than the Teacher--A theft _A la Rousseau_, which is -discovered--"The ungodly provideth, and the righteous putteth it on." - - -My father's condition had thus externally an improved appearance, but so -much the more doubtful did it appear internally on that account. My -mother, notwithstanding her unwearied activity, was able to make only a -very sorry provision for the family. Accordingly my father was obliged -to seek, in addition to his other duties, a position as teacher, in -which he carried on my education; and I must confess that in this -connection I gave him, on the one hand, much joy, but, on the other -hand, not a little vexation. I was then indeed only about nine years -old; still, I could not only understand the Talmud and its commentaries -correctly, but I even took delight in disputing about it, and in this I -felt a childish pleasure in triumphing over my honest father, whom I -thereby threw into no small perplexity. - -The arendant and my father lived together like neighbours; that is, they -envied and hated each other. The former looked on my father as a -vagrant, who had forced himself upon him, and disturbed him in his -undivided possession of the advantages of the place. My father took the -arendant for a wealthy blockhead, who, against the consent which he had -granted, which my father might have dispensed with altogether and had -sought merely from the love of peace, endeavoured in every way to -restrict him and to narrow his rights, notwithstanding the fact that he -received actual advantages from his settlement. For from this time -Mohilna had acquired a sort of independence, by means of which the -arendant was spared many expenses and depreciations. There was also a -small synagogue erected, and my father took the position of chief rabbi, -preacher, and director of the conscience, as he was the only scholar in -the place. He lost, indeed, no opportunity of representing all this to -the arendant, and making complaints of his conduct; but unfortunately -this was of little use. - -I must take this opportunity of mentioning the only theft which I ever -perpetrated in my life. I often went to the house of the arendant, and -played with his children. Once, when I entered a room and found no one -there, it being summer and the people of the house all busy out of -doors, I spied in an open closet a neat little medicine-box which -appeared to me uncommonly charming. When I opened it, I found, to my -very great sorrow, some money in it; for it belonged to one of the -children of the house. I could not resist the desire to carry off the -little box; but to take the money seemed to me in the highest degree -shameful. But when I considered that the theft would be all the more -easily discovered if I put the money out, full of fear and shame I took -the box as it was and thrust it in my pocket. I went home with it, and -buried it very carefully. The night following I could not sleep, and was -disquieted in conscience, especially on account of the money. I -resolved, therefore, to take it back; but in regard to the little box, I -could not conquer myself: it was a work of art, the like of which I had -never seen before. The next day I emptied the box of its contents, slunk -with them into the room already mentioned, and waited for an opportunity -when nobody was there. I was already engaged in smuggling the money into -the closet; but I had so little skill in doing this without noise and -with the necessary despatch, that I was caught in the act, and forced to -a confession of the whole theft. I was obliged to dig up again the -valuable work of art,--it must have cost about a quarter of a -groschen,--to return it to its owner, little Moses, and to hear myself -called _thief_ by the children of the house. - -Another incident, which happened to me and had a comical issue, was the -following. The Russians had been quartered for some time in Mohilna, and -as they obtained new mountings, they were allowed to sell the old. My -eldest brother Joseph and my cousin Beer applied to Russian -acquaintances of theirs, and received in a present some brass buttons, -which, being considered a fine decoration, they got sewed on to their -hose instead of the wooden buttons they had before. I also was -delighted with the decoration; but as I had not the skill to furnish -myself by my own diligence, I was compelled to make use of force. I -applied, therefore, to my father, and demanded that Joseph and Beer -should be required to share their buttons with me. My father, who, -indeed, was extremely fair, but still was fond of me above everything, -said that the buttons were, of course, the rightful property of their -owners, but that, as these had more than they required for their own -wants, it was but fair that they should give me some of those that they -did not require. To my commendation and their confusion he added the -passage of the Bible, "The ungodly provideth, and the righteous putteth -it on."[21] This decision had to be carried out in spite of the protest -of Joseph and Beer; and I had the pleasure of also shining in brass -buttons on my hose. - -Joseph and Beer however could not get over their loss. They complained -loudly of the impious wrong which had been done to them. My father, who -wished to get rid of the affair, told them therefore, that, as the -buttons had been already sewed on to Solomon's hose, they must not use -force, but that, if they could get them back again by stratagem, they -were at liberty to do so. Both were pleased with this decision. They -came to me, looked at my buttons, and both at once exclaimed in -astonishment, "Oh! what is that we see? Buttons sewed on to cloth hose -with linen instead of hemp thread! They must be taken off at once." -While they were speaking, they took off all the buttons, and went off -with joy over their successful stratagem. I ran after them, and demanded -that they should sew the buttons on again; but they laughed me to scorn. -My father said to me smiling at this, "Since you are so credulous, and -allow yourself to be deceived, I cannot help you any longer; I hope you -will be wiser in the future." With this the affair came to an end. I was -obliged to content myself with wooden buttons, and to have often -repeated to my mortification by Joseph and Beer, the biblical passage, -which my father had used to my advantage, "The ungodly provideth, and -the righteous putteth it on." - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -Love Affairs and Matrimonial Proposals--The Song of Solomon may be used -in Matchmaking--A new _Modus Lucrand_i--Smallpox. - - -In my youth I was very lively, and had in my nature a good deal that was -agreeable. In my passions I was violent and impatient. Till about my -eleventh year, as I had the benefit of a very strict education, and was -kept from all intercourse with women, I never traced any special -inclination towards the fair sex. But an incident produced in me a great -change in this respect. - -A poor, but very pretty, girl about my own age was taken into our house -as a servant. She charmed me uncommonly. Desires began to stir in me, -which till this time I had never known. But in accordance with the -strict rabbinical morals, I was obliged to keep on my guard against -looking on the girl with attentive gaze, and still more against speaking -with her, so that I was able only now and then to throw at her a stolen -glance. - -It happened once however that the women of the house were going to -bathe, which by the usage of the country they are accustomed to do two -or three times a week. By chance my instinct drove me without -reflection towards the place where they bathed; and there I suddenly -perceived this beautiful girl, as she stepped out of the steam-bath and -plunged into the river flowing by. At this sight I fell into a sort of -rapture. After my feelings had calmed down again, being mindful of the -strict Talmudic laws, I wished to flee. But I could not; I remained -standing, as if rooted in the spot. As I dreaded however lest I might be -surprised here, I was obliged to return with a heavy heart. From that -time I became restless, was sometimes beside myself; and this state -continued till my marriage. - -Our neighbour, the arendant, had two sons and three daughters. The -eldest daughter, Deborah, was already married. The second, Pessel, was -about my age; the peasantry of the place professed to find even a -certain resemblance in our features, and therefore, in accordance with -all the laws of probability, conjectured that there would be a match -between us. We formed also a mutual affection. But by ill luck the -youngest daughter, Rachel, had to fall into a cellar and dislocated one -of her legs. She herself, indeed, completely recovered, but the leg -remained somewhat crooked. The arendant then started a hunt after me; he -was absolutely determined to have me for a son-in-law. My father was -quite agreeable, but he wished to have for his daughter-in-law the -straight-legged Pessel rather than Rachel of the crooked leg. The -arendant however declared that this was impracticable, inasmuch as he -had fixed on a rich husband for the elder, while the youngest was -destined for me; and as my father was unable to give me anything, he was -willing to provide for her richly out of his own fortune. Besides a -considerable sum which he agreed to give as a portion, he was willing in -addition to make me a joint-heir of his fortune, and to provide me with -all necessaries the whole of my life. Moreover he promised to pay my -father a fixed sum immediately after the betrothal, and not only to -leave him undisturbed in his rights, but also to try and promote his -domestic happiness in every possible way. The feuds between the two -families were to cease from this time, and a league of friendship was to -unite them for the future into one family. - -Had my father lent an ear to these representations, he would without -doubt have established the fortune of his house, and I should have lived -with a spouse, who, it is true, had a crooked leg, but (as I found out -some time afterwards when I was tutor in her family) was in other -respects an amiable woman. I should thus have been freed from all cares -in the midst of good fortune, and I should have been able to apply -myself without hindrance to my studies. But unhappily my father rejected -this proposal with scorn. He was absolutely determined to have Pessel -for his daughter-in-law; and since this, as already mentioned, was -impracticable, the feuds between the two families broke out afresh. But -as the arendant was rich, and my father was a poor man, the latter was -necessarily always the loser. - -Some time afterwards another matrimonial proposal for me turned up. Mr. -L---- of Schmilowitz, a learned and at the same time a rich man, who had -an only daughter, was so enchanted with my fame, that he chose me for -his son-in-law without having seen me before. He began by entering into -correspondence with my father on the subject, and left it to him to -prescribe the conditions of the union. My father answered his letter in -lofty style, made up of Biblical verses and passages from the Talmud, in -which he expressed the conditions briefly by means of the following -verses from the Canticles, "The thousand gulden are for thee, O Solomon, -and the two hundred for those who keep his fruits."[22] Consent was -given to everything. - -My father accordingly made a journey to Schmilowitz, saw his future -daughter-in-law, and had the marriage-contract drawn in accordance with -the terms agreed upon. Two hundred gulden were paid to him on the spot. -With this, however, he was not content, but insisted that in his letter -he had been obliged to limit himself to two hundred gulden merely for -the sake of the beautiful verse which he did not wish to spoil; but he -would not enter into the transaction at all unless he received for -himself twice two hundred gulden (fifty thalers in Polish money). They -had therefore to pay him two hundred gulden more, and to hand over to -him the so-called little presents for me, namely, a cap of black velvet -trimmed with gold lace, a Bible bound in green velvet with silver -clasps, etc. With these things he came home full of joy, gave me the -presents, and told me that I was to prepare myself for a disputation to -be held on my marriage day, which would be in two months' time. - -Already my mother had begun to bake the cakes she was expected to take -with her to the wedding, and to prepare all sorts of preserves; I began -also to think about the disputation I was to hold, when suddenly the -mournful news arrived that my bride had died of smallpox. My father -could easily reconcile himself to this loss, because he thought to -himself that he had made fifty thalers by his son in an honourable way, -and that now he could get fifty thalers for him again. I also, who had -never seen my bride, could not particularly mourn her loss; I thought to -myself, "The cap and the silver-clasped Bible are already mine, and a -bride will also not be awanting long, while my disputation can serve me -again." My mother alone was inconsolable about this loss. Cakes and -preserves are of a perishable nature and will not keep long. The labour -which my mother had expended was therefore rendered fruitless by this -fatal accident; and to this must be added, that she could find no place -to keep the delicious cakes from my secret attacks. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -I become an object of contention, get two wives at once, and am -kidnapped at last. - - -Meanwhile the domestic circumstances of my father became every day -worse. He saw himself, therefore, compelled to make a journey to the -town of Nesvij, and apply for a position as teacher there, whither I -also had to follow him. Here he opened under favourable conditions a -school of his own, in which he could employ me as assistant. - -A widow, celebrated for her superior talents, as well as for her -Xanthippe-like character, kept a public-house at the extremity of one of -the suburbs. She had a daughter who yielded to her in none of the -above-mentioned qualities, and who was indispensable to her in the -management of the house. Madam Rissia, (this was the widow's name), -excited by my constantly increasing reputation, fixed on me as a husband -for her daughter Sarah. Her family represented to her the impossibility -of carrying out this plan; first, my father's pride, and the demands -which he would therefore make, and which she could never satisfy; then -my fame, which had already excited the attention of the most prominent -and wealthy people of the town; and finally, the moderate character of -her own fortune, which was far from sufficient to carry out such a -proposal. All these representations, however, were of no avail with her. -She had once for all taken it into her head, to have me for a -son-in-law, let it cost her what it might; and she thought, the devil -would needs be in it, if she could not get the young man. - -She sent a proposal to my father, let him have no rest the whole time he -was in the town, discussed the matter with him herself on various -occasions, and promised to satisfy all his demands. My father, however, -sought to gain time for deliberation, and to put off the question for a -while. But the time came when we were to return home. My father went -with me to the widow's house, which was the last on our road, in order -to wait for a conveyance which started from that place. Madam Rissia -made use of the opportunity, began to caress me, introduced my bride, -and asked me how I was pleased with her. At last she pressed for a -decisive answer from my father. He was still always holding back, -however, and sought in every possible way to represent the difficulties -connected with the subject. - -While they were thus treating with one another, suddenly there burst -into the room the chief rabbi, the preacher, and the elders of the -place, with many of the most respectable people. This sudden appearance -was brought about without any magic in the following way. These -gentlemen had been invited to a circumcision at the house of a prominent -man in this very suburb. Madam Rissia, who knew this very well, sent her -son at once to the house with an invitation to the whole company to -come, immediately after rising from table, to a betrothal at her house. -They came therefore half intoxicated; and as they believed nothing else -than that all the preliminaries of the marriage-contract had been -settled, and that nothing was awanting but to write out and subscribe -the contract, they sat down to table, set my father in the midst, and -the chief rabbi began to dictate the contract to the scribe of the -community. - -My father assured them that on the main point nothing had yet been -decided, and that still less had the preliminary articles been settled. -The chief rabbi fell into a passion at this, for he supposed that it was -only a quibble, and that his sacred person and the whole honourable -company were being made sport of. He turned therefore to the company, -and said with a haughty air, "Who is this Rabbi Joshua, who makes -himself of so much consequence?" My father replied, "The Rabbi is here -superfluous. I am, 'tis true, a common man; but I believe, no man can -dispute my right to care for the welfare of my son, and to place his -future happiness on a firm footing." - -The chief rabbi was greatly offended with the ambiguity of the -expression, "The Rabbi is here superfluous." He saw clearly that he had -no right to lay down laws to my father in the matter, and that it was a -piece of rashness on the part of Madam Rissia to invite a company to a -betrothal before the parties were agreed on the preliminary articles. He -began therefore to strike a lower tone. He represented to my father the -advantages of this match, the high ancestry of the bride, (her -grandfather, father, and uncle, having been learned men, and chief -rabbis), her personal attractions, and the willingness and ability of -Madam Rissia to satisfy all his demands. - -My father, who in fact had nothing to say against all this, was -compelled to yield. The marriage-contract was made out, and in it Madam -Rissia made over to her daughter her public-house with all its -belongings as a bridal portion, and came under an obligation also to -board and clothe the newly-married couple for six years. Besides I -received as a present the entire work of the Talmud with its -appurtenances, together worth two or three hundred thalers,[23] and a -number of other gifts. My father came under no obligation at all, and in -addition received fifty thalers in cash. Very wisely he had refused to -accept a bill for this sum; it had to be paid to him before the -betrothal. - -After all this had been arranged, there was a capital entertainment, and -the brandy bottle was vigorously plied. The very next day my father and -I went home. My mother-in-law promised to send after us as soon as -possible the so-called little presents and the articles of clothing for -me, which in the hurry she had not been able to get ready. Many weeks -however passed without our hearing or seeing anything of these. My -father was perplexed about this; and as the character of my -mother-in-law had long been suspicious to him, he could think nothing -else than that this intriguing woman was seeking some subterfuge to -escape from her burdensome contract. He resolved therefore to repay like -with like. - -The following circumstance strengthened him in this resolve. A rich -arendant, who used to bring spirits to Nesvij for sale, and to lodge in -our house on his journey through Mohilna, likewise cast his eye upon me. -He had an only daughter, for whom he fixed on me in his thoughts as a -husband. He knew however what difficulties he would have to overcome, if -he were to treat on the subject directly with my father. He chose -therefore an indirect way. His plan was to make my father his debtor; -and as his critical circumstances would make it impossible for him to -clear off the debt, he expected to force him, as it were, to consent to -this union with the view of wiping out the debt by means of the amount -stipulated for the son. He offered my father therefore some barrels of -spirits on credit, and the offer was accepted with delight. - -As the date of payment approached, Hersch Dukor (this was the name of -the arendant) came and reminded my father. The latter assured him, that -at the moment he was not in a position to clear off the debt, and begged -him to have patience with him for some time yet. "Herr Joshua," said the -arendant, "I will speak with you quite frankly on this matter. Your -circumstances are growing daily worse; and if no fortunate accident -occurs, I do not see any possibility of your being able to clear off -your debt. The best thing for us both therefore is this. You have a son, -and I have a daughter who is the sole heiress of all my property. Let us -enter into an alliance. By this means not only will your debt be wiped -out, but a sum to be fixed by yourself will be paid in addition, and I -shall take a general care to improve your circumstances so far as lies -in my power." - -No one could be more joyous over this proposal than my father. -Immediately a contract was closed, in which the bride's dowry, as well -as the required presents, was decided in accordance with my father's -suggestion. The bill for the debt, which amounted to fifty thalers in -Polish money, was returned to my father, and torn on the spot, while -fifty thalers in addition were paid to him. - -Thereupon my new father-in-law went on to Nesvij to collect some debts -there. Unfortunately he had to lodge at my former mother-in-law's. She, -being a great prattler, told him of her own accord about the good match -which her daughter had made. "The father of the bridegroom," said she, -"is himself a great scholar, and the bridegroom is a young man of eleven -years, who has scarcely his equal." - -"I also," replied the arendant, "have, thank God, made a good choice for -my daughter. You have perhaps heard of the celebrated scholar, Rabbi -Joshua, in Mohilna, and of his young son, Solomon: he is my daughter's -bridegroom." - -Scarcely had these words been spoken, when she cried out, "That is a -confounded lie. Solomon is my daughter's bridegroom; and here, sir, is -the marriage-contract." - -The arendant then showed her his contract too; and they fell into a -dispute, the result of which was that Madam Rissia had my father -summoned before the court to give a categorical explanation. My father, -however, did not put in an appearance, although she had him summoned -twice. - -Meanwhile my mother died, and was brought to Nesvij for burial. My -mother-in-law obtained from the court an attachment on the dead body, by -which its interment was interdicted till the termination of the suit. My -father therefore saw himself compelled to appear in court, my -mother-in-law of course gained the suit, and I became again the -bridegroom of my former bride. And now to prevent any similar reversal -of her plans in the future, and to take from my father all occasion for -it, my mother-in-law endeavoured to satisfy all his demands in -accordance with her promise, clothed me from top to toe, and even paid -my father for my board from the date of the betrothal to the marriage. -My mother also was now buried, and we returned home again. - -My second father-in-law came too, and called upon my father for the -ratification of his contract. He however pointed out that it was null -and void, as it contravened a previous contract, and had been made by -him merely in the supposition that my mother-in-law had no intention of -fulfilling hers. The arendant seemed to give an ear to these -representations, to yield to necessity, and reconcile himself to his -loss; but in reality he was thinking of some means to get me into his -hands. Accordingly he rose by night, yoked his horses, took me in -silence from the table on which I was sleeping, packed me with all -despatch into his carriage, and made off with his booty out at the gate. -But as this could not be accomplished without some noise, the people in -the house awoke, discovered the theft, pursued the kidnapper, and -snatched me out of his hand. To me the whole incident appeared at the -time like a dream. - -In this way my father was released from his debt, and got fifty thalers -besides as a gratuity; but I was immediately afterwards carried off by -my legal mother-in-law, and made the husband of my legal bride. I must -of course confess that this transaction of my father's cannot be quite -justified in a moral point of view. Only his great need at the time can -in some measure serve as an excuse. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -My Marriage in my Eleventh Year makes me the Slave of my Wife, and -procures for me Cudgellings from my Mother-in-law--A Ghost of Flesh and -Blood. - - -On the first evening of my marriage my father was not present. As he -told me at my departure that he had still to settle some articles on my -account, and therefore I was to wait for his arrival, I refused, in -spite of all the efforts that were made, to appear that evening. -Nevertheless the marriage festivities went on. We waited the next day -for my father, but still he did not come. They then threatened to bring -a party of soldiers to drag me to the marriage ceremony; but I gave them -for an answer, that, if this were done, it would help them little, for -the ceremony would not be lawful except as a voluntary act. At last, to -the joy of all interested, my father arrived towards evening, the -articles referred to were amended, and the marriage ceremony was -performed. - -Here I must mention a little anecdote. I had read in a Hebrew book of an -approved plan for a husband to secure lordship over his better half for -life. He was to tread on her foot at the marriage ceremony; and if both -hit on the stratagem, the first to succeed would retain the upper hand. -Accordingly, when my bride and I were placed side by side at the -ceremony this trick occurred to me, and I said to myself, Now you must -not let the opportunity pass of securing for your whole lifetime -lordship over your wife. I was just going to tread on her foot, but a -certain _Je ne sais quoi_, whether fear, shame, or love, held me back. -While I was in this irresolute state, all at once I felt the slipper of -my wife on my foot with such an impression that I should almost have -screamed aloud if I had not been checked by shame. I took this for a bad -omen and said to myself, Providence has destined you to be the slave of -your wife, you must not try to slip out of her fetters. From my -faint-heartedness and the heroic mettle of my wife, the reader may -easily conceive why this prophecy had to be actually realised. - -I stood, however, not only under the slipper of my wife, but--what was -very much worse--under the lash of my mother-in-law. Nothing of all that -she had promised was fulfilled. Her house, which she had settled on her -daughter as a dowry, was burdened with debt. Of the six years' board -which she had promised me I enjoyed scarcely half a year's, and this -amid constant brawls and squabbles. She even, trusting to my youth and -want of spirit, ventured now and then to lay hands on me, but this I -repaid not infrequently with compound interest. Scarcely a meal passed -during which we did not fling at each other's head, bowls, plates, -spoons, and similar articles. - -Once I came home from the academy extremely hungry. As my mother-in-law -and wife were occupied with the business of the public house, I went -myself into the room where the milk was kept; and as I found a dish of -curds and cream, I fell upon it, and began to eat. My mother-in-law came -as I was thus occupied, and screamed in rage, "You are not going to -devour the milk with the cream!" The more cream the better, thought I, -and went on eating, without disturbing myself by her cry. She was going -to wrest the dish forcibly from my hands, beat me with her fists, and -let me feel all her ill-will. Exasperated by such treatment, I pushed -her from me, seized the dish, and smashed it on her head. That was a -sight! The curds ran down all over her. She seized in rage a piece of -wood, and if I had not cleared out in all haste, she would certainly -have beat me to death. - -Scenes like this occurred very often. At such skirmishes of course my -wife had to remain neutral, and whichever party gained the upper hand, -it came home to her very closely. "Oh!" she often complained, "if only -the one or the other of you had a little more patience!" - -Tired of a ceaseless open war I once hit upon a stratagem, which had a -good effect for a short time at least. I rose about midnight, took a -large vessel of earthenware, crept with it under my mother-in-law's bed, -and began to speak aloud into the vessel after the following -fashion:--"O Rissia, Rissia, you ungodly woman, why do you treat my -beloved son so ill? If you do not mend your ways, your end is near, and -you will be damned to all eternity." Then I crept out again, and began -to pinch her cruelly; and after a while I slipped silently back to bed. - -The following morning she got up in consternation, and told my wife, -that my mother had appeared to her in a dream, and had threatened and -pinched her on my account. In confirmation she showed the blue marks on -her arm. When I came from the synagogue, I did not find my mother-in-law -at home, but found my wife in tears. I asked the reason, but she would -tell me nothing. My mother-in-law returned with dejected look, and eyes -red with weeping. She had gone, as I afterwards learned, to the Jewish -place of burial, thrown herself on my mother's grave, and begged for -forgiveness of her fault. She then had the burial place measured, and -ordered a wax-light as long as its circumference, for burning in the -synagogue. She also fasted the whole day, and towards me showed herself -extremely amiable. - -I knew of course what was the cause of all this, but acted as if I did -not observe it, and rejoiced in secret over the success of my stratagem. -In this manner I had peace for some time, but unfortunately it did not -last long. The whole was soon forgotten again, and on the slightest -occasion the dance went on as before. In short, I was soon afterwards -obliged to leave the house altogether, and accept a position as a -private tutor. Only on the great feast-days I used to come home. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -The Secrets of the Marriage State--Prince Radzivil,[24] or what is not -all allowed in Poland? - - -In my fourteenth year I had my eldest son, David. At my marriage I was -only eleven years old, and owing to the retired life common among people -of our nation in those regions, as well as the want of mutual -intercourse between the two sexes, I had no idea of the essential duties -of marriage, but looked on a pretty girl as on any other work of nature -or art, somewhat as on the pretty medicine-box that I stole. It was -therefore natural that for a considerable time after marriage I could -not have any thought about the fulfilment of its duties. I used to -approach my wife with trembling as a mysterious object. It was therefore -supposed that I had been bewitched at the time of the wedding; and under -this supposition I was brought to a witch to be cured. She took in hand -all sorts of operations, which of course had a good effect, although -indirectly through the help of the imagination. - -My life in Poland from my marriage to my emigration, which period -embraces the springtime of my existence, was a series of manifold -miseries with a want of all means for the promotion of culture, and, -necessarily connected with that, an aimless application of my powers, in -the description of which the pen drops from my hands, and the painful -memories of which I strive to stifle.[25] - -The general constitution of Poland at the time; the condition of our -people in it, who, like the poor ass with the double burden, are -oppressed by their own ignorance and the religious prejudices connected -therewith, as well as by the ignorance and prejudices of the ruling -classes; the misfortunes of my own family;--all these causes combined to -hinder me in the course of my development, and to check the effect of my -natural disposition. - -The Polish nation, under which I comprehend merely the Polish nobility, -is of a very mixed kind. Only the very few have an opportunity of -culture by means of upbringing, instruction, and well-directed travels, -by which they can best promote at once their own welfare and that of -their tenantry. Most of them, on the other hand, spend their lives in -ignorance and immorality, and become the sport of their extravagant -passions, which are ruinous to their tenants. They make a display with -titles and orders, which they disgrace by their actions; they own many -estates which they do not understand how to manage, and they are at -perpetual feud with one another, so that the kingdom must of necessity -become the prey of its neighbours, who are envious of its greatness. - -Prince Radzivil was, as Hettmann in Poland and Voivode in Lithuania, one -of the greatest magnates, and as occupant of three inheritances in his -family owned immense estates. He was not without a certain kindness of -heart and good sense; but, through neglected training and a want of -instruction, he became one of the most extravagant princes that ever -lived. From want of occupation, which was a necessary consequence of -neglect in cultivating his tastes and widening his knowledge, he gave -himself up to drinking, by which he was tempted to the most ridiculous -and insane actions. Without any particular inclination for it he -abandoned himself to the most shameful sensuality; and without being -cruel, he exercised towards his dependents the greatest cruelties. - -He supported at great cost an army of ten thousand men, which was used -for no purpose in the world except display; and during the troubles in -Poland he took, without knowing why, the part of the Confederates. By -this means he got himself encumbered with the friendship of the -Russians, who plundered his estates, and plunged his tenants into the -greatest destitution and misery. He himself was obliged several times to -flee from the country, and to leave as booty for his enemies treasures -which had been the gathering of many generations. - -Who can describe all the excesses he perpetrated? A few examples will, I -believe, be sufficient to give the reader some idea of them. A certain -respect for my former prince does not allow me to consider his faults as -anything but faults of temperament and education, which deserve rather -our pity than our hatred and contempt. - -When he passed through a street, which he commonly did with the whole -pomp of his court, his bands of music and soldiers, no man, at the peril -of his life, durst show himself in the street; and even in the houses -people were by no means safe. The poorest, dirtiest peasant-woman, who -came in his way, he would order up into his carriage beside himself. - -Once he sent for a respectable Jewish barber, who, suspecting nothing -but that he was wanted for some surgical operation, brought his -instruments with him, and appeared before the prince. - -"Have you brought your instruments with you?" he was asked. - -"Yes, Serene Highness," he replied. - -"Then," said the prince, "give me a lancet, and I will open one of your -veins." - -The poor barber had to submit. The prince seized the lancet; and as he -did not know how to go about the operation, and besides his hand -trembled as a result of his hard drinking, of course he wounded the -barber in a pitiable manner. But his courtiers smiled their applause, -and praised his great skill in surgery. - -He went one day into a church, and being so drunk that he did not know -where he was, he stood against the altar, and commenced to ----. All who -were present became horrified. Next morning when he was sober, the -clergy brought to his mind the misdeed he had committed the day before. -"Eh!" said the prince, "we will soon make that good." Thereupon he -issued a command to the Jews of the place, to provide at their own -expense, fifty stone of wax for burning in the church. The poor Jews -were therefore obliged to bring a sin-offering for the desecration of a -Christian Church by an orthodox Catholic Christian. - -He once took it into his head to drive on the wall round the town. But -as the wall was too narrow for a coach with six horses,--and he never -drove in any other,--his hussars were obliged, with much labour and -peril of their lives, to carry the coach with their hands till he had -driven round the town in this way. - -Once he drove with the whole pomp of his court to a Jewish synagogue, -and, without any one to this day knowing the reason, committed the -greatest havoc, smashed windows and stoves, broke all the vessels, threw -on the ground the copies of the Holy Scriptures kept in the ark, and so -forth. A learned, pious Jew, who was present, ventured to lift one of -these copies from the ground, and had the honour of being struck with a -musket-ball by His Serene Highness' own hand. From here the train went -to a second synagogue, where the same conduct was repeated, and from -there they proceeded to the Jewish burial-place, where the buildings -were demolished, and the monuments cast into the fire. - -Can it be conceived, that a prince could show himself so malicious -towards his own poor subjects, whom he was in a position to punish -legally whenever they really did anything amiss? Yet this is what -happened here. - -On one occasion he took it into his head to make a trip to Mohilna, a -hamlet belonging to him, which lay four short miles from his Residence. -This had to be done with his usual suite and all the pomp of his court. -On the morning of the appointed day the train went forth. First marched -the army in order according to its usual regimental -divisions,--infantry, artillery, cavalry, and so on. Then followed his -bodyguard, Strelitzi, consisting of volunteers from the poor nobility. -After them came his kitchen-waggons, in which Hungarian wine had not -been forgotten. These were followed by the music of his janissaries, and -other bands. Then came his coach, and last of all his satraps. I give -them this name, because I can compare this train with no other than that -of Darius in the war against Alexander. Towards evening His Serene -Highness arrived at our public house in the suburb of the town which was -His Serene Highness' Residence, Nesvij. I cannot say that he arrived in -his own high person, for the Hungarian wine had robbed him of all -consciousness, in which alone of course personality rests. He was -carried into the house and thrown with all his clothes, booted and -spurred, on to my mother-in-law's dirty bed, without giving it a supply -of clean linen. - -As usual, I had to take to flight. My Amazons, however, I mean my -mother-in-law and my wife, trusted to their heroic mettle, and remained -at home alone. Riot went on the whole night. In the very room where His -Serene Highness slept, wood was chopped, cooking and baking were done. -It was well known that, when His Serene Highness slept, nothing could -waken his high person except perhaps the trumpet of the Judgment-Day. -The next morning, when he wakened, and looked around, he scarcely knew -whether to trust his eyes, when he found himself in a wretched -public-house, thrown on to a dirty bed swarming with bugs. His valets, -pages, and negroes waited on his commands. He asked how he had come -there, and was answered, that His Serene Highness had yesterday -commenced a journey to Mohilna, but had halted here to take rest, that -his whole train had meanwhile gone on, and had undoubtedly arrived in -Mohilna by this time. - -The journey to Mohilna was for the present given up, and the whole train -ordered back. They returned accordingly to the Residence in the usual -order and pomp. But the prince was pleased to hold a great banquet in -our public-house. All the foreign gentlemen, who happened to be in the -place at the time, were invited. The service used on the occasion was of -gold, and it is impossible adequately to realise the contrast which -reigned here in one house, between Asiatic splendour and Lappish -poverty. In a miserable public-house, whose walls were black as coal -with smoke and soot, whose rafters were supported by undressed round -stems of trees, whose windows consisted of some fragments of broken -panes of bad glass, and small strips of pine covered with paper,--in -this house sat princes on dirty benches at a still dirtier table, and -had the choicest dishes and the finest wines served to them on gold -plate. - -Before the banquet the prince took a stroll with the other gentlemen in -front of the house, and by chance observed my wife. She was then in the -bloom of her youth; and although I am now separated from her, still I -must do her the justice to allow that--leaving, of course, out of -account all that taste and art contribute to the heightening of a -person's charms, inasmuch as these had had no influence on her--she was -a beauty of the first rank. It was therefore natural that she should -please the prince. He turned to his companions, and said, "Really a -pretty young woman! Only she ought to get a white chemise." This was a -common signal with him, and meant as much as the throwing of a -handkerchief by the Grand Sultan. When these gentlemen therefore heard -it, they became solicitous for the honour of my wife, and gave her a -hint to clear out as fast as possible. She took the hint, slipped -silently out, and was soon over the hills and far away. - -After the banquet His Serene Highness proceeded again with the other -gentlemen into town amid trumpets, kettle-drums, and the music of his -janissaries. Then the usual order of the day was followed; that is, a -carousal was carried on the whole afternoon and evening, and then the -party went to a pleasure-house at the entrance to the prince's -zoological garden, where fire-works were set off at great expense, but -usually with accidents. As every goblet was drained, cannons were fired; -but the poor cannoneers, who knew better how to handle the plough than -the cannon, were not seldom injured. "Vivat Kschondsie Radzivil," that -is, "Long live Prince Radzivil," shouted the guests. The palm in this -Bacchanalian sport was of course awarded to the prince; and those who -awarded it were loaded by him with presents, not in perishable coin or -golden snuff-boxes or anything of that sort, but in real estate with -many hundred peasants. At the close a concert was given, during which -His Serene Highness fell gently asleep, and was carried to the castle. - -The expenses of such extravagance were of course extorted from the poor -tenantry. If this was not sufficient, debts were contracted, and estates -sold to wipe them out. Not even the twelve golden statues in -life-size,--whether they represented the twelve apostles or the twelve -giants, I do not know,--nor the golden table which had been made for -himself, were spared on such emergencies. And thus the noble estates of -this great prince were diminished, his treasures which had accumulated -during many generations were exhausted, and his tenants----But I must -break off. - -The prince died not long ago without heirs of his body. His brother's -son inherited the estates. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -Endeavour after mental Culture amid ceaseless Struggles with Misery of -every kind. - - -By means of the instruction received from my father, but still more by -my own industry, I had got on so well, that in my eleventh year I was -able to pass as a full rabbi. Besides I possessed some disconnected -knowledge in history, astronomy, and other mathematical sciences. I -burned with desire to acquire more knowledge, but how was this to be -accomplished in the want of guidance, of scientific books, and of all -other means for the purpose? I was obliged therefore to content myself -with making use of any help that I could by chance obtain, without plan -or method. - -In order to gratify my desire of scientific knowledge, there were no -means available but that of learning foreign languages. But how was I to -begin? To learn Polish or Latin with a Catholic teacher was for me -impossible, on the one hand because the prejudices of my own people -prohibited to me all languages but Hebrew, and all sciences but the -Talmud and the vast array of its commentators, on the other hand because -the prejudices of Catholics would not allow them to give instruction in -those matters to a Jew. Moreover I was in very low temporal -circumstances. I was obliged to support a whole family by teaching, by -correcting proofs of the Holy Scriptures, and by other work of a similar -kind. For a long time therefore I had to sigh in vain for the -satisfaction of my natural inclination. - -At last a fortunate accident came to my help. I observed in some stout -Hebrew volumes, that they contained several alphabets, and that the -number of their sheets was indicated not merely by Hebrew letters, but -that for this purpose the characters of a second and a third alphabet -had also been employed, these being commonly Latin and German letters. -Now, I had not the slightest idea of printing. I generally imagined that -books were printed like linen, and that each page was an impression from -a separate form. I presumed however that the characters, which stood in -similar places, must represent one and the same letter, and as I had -already heard something of the order of the alphabet in these languages, -I supposed that, for example, _a_, standing in the same place as -_aleph_, must likewise be an aleph in sound. In this way I gradually -learnt the Latin and German characters. - -By a kind of deciphering I began to combine various German letters into -words; but as the characters used along with the Hebrew letters might be -something quite different from these, I remained always doubtful -whether the whole of my labour in this operation would not be in vain, -till fortunately some leaves of an old German book fell into my hand. I -began to read. How great were my joy and surprise, when I saw from the -connection, that the words completely corresponded with those which I -had learned. 'Tis true, in my Jewish language many of the words were -unintelligible; but from the connection I was still able, with the -omission of these words, to comprehend the whole pretty well.[26] - -This mode of learning by deciphering constitutes still my peculiar -method of comprehending and judging the thoughts of others; and I -maintain that no one can say he understands a book, as long as he finds -himself compelled to deliver the thoughts of the author in the order and -connection determined by him, and with the expressions which he has -used. This is a mere work of memory, and no man can flatter himself with -having comprehended an author till he is roused by his thoughts, which -he apprehends at first but dimly, to reflect on the subject himself, -and to work it out for himself, though it may be under the impulse of -another. This distinction between different kinds of understanding must -be evident to any man of discernment.--For the same reason also I can -understand a book only when the thoughts which it contains harmonise -after filling up the gaps between them. - -I still always felt a want which I was not able to fill. I could not -completely satisfy my desire of scientific knowledge. Up to this time -the study of the Talmud was still my chief occupation. With this however -I found pleasure merely in view of its form, for this calls into action -the higher powers of the mind; but I took no interest in its matter. It -affords exercise in deducing the remotest consequences from their -principles, in discovering the most hidden contradictions, in hunting -out the finest distinctions, and so forth. But as the principles -themselves have merely an imaginary reality, they cannot by any means -satisfy a soul thirsting after knowledge. - -I looked around therefore for something, by which I could supply this -want. Now, I knew that there is a so-called science, which is somewhat -in vogue among the Jewish scholars of this district, namely the -Cabbalah, which professes to enable a man, not merely to satisfy his -desire of knowledge, but also to reach an uncommon perfection and -closeness of communion with God. Naturally therefore I burned with -desire for this science. As however it cannot, on account of its -sacredness, be publicly taught, but must be taught in secret, I did not -know where to seek the initiated or their writings. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -I study the Cabbalah, and become at last a Physician. - - -Cabbalah,--to treat of this divine science somewhat more in -detail,--means, in the wider sense of the term, _tradition_; and it -comprehends, not only the occult sciences which may not be publicly -taught, but also the method of deducing new laws from the laws that are -given in the Holy Scriptures, as also some fundamental laws which are -said to have been delivered orally to Moses on Mount Sinai. In the -narrower sense of the term, however, Cabbalah means only the tradition -of occult sciences. This is divided into _theoretical_ and _practical_ -Cabbalah. The former comprehends the doctrines of God, of His attributes -which are expressed by means of His manifold names, of the origin of the -world through a gradual limitation of His infinite perfection, and of -the relation of all things to His supreme essence. The latter is the -doctrine which teaches how to work upon nature at pleasure by means of -those manifold names of God, which represent various modes of working -upon, and relations to, natural objects. These sacred names are -regarded, not as merely arbitrary, but as _natural_ signs, so that all -that is done with these signs must have an influence on the object which -they represent. - -Originally the Cabbalah was nothing but psychology, physics, morals, -politics, and such sciences, represented by means of symbols and -hieroglyphs in fables and allegories, the occult meaning of which was -disclosed only to those who were competent to understand it. By and by, -however, perhaps as the result of many revolutions, this occult meaning -was lost, and the signs were taken for the things signified. But as it -was easy to perceive that these signs necessarily had meant something, -it was left to the imagination to invent an occult meaning which had -long been lost. The remotest analogies between signs and things were -seized, till at last the Cabbalah degenerated into an art of _madness -according to method_, or a systematic science resting on conceits. The -big promise of its design, to work effects on nature at pleasure, the -lofty strain and the pomp with which it announces itself, have naturally -an extraordinary influence on minds of the visionary type, that are -unenlightened by the sciences and especially by a thorough philosophy. - -The principal work for the study of the Cabbalah is the _Zohar_, which -is written in a very lofty style in the Syrian language. All other -Cabbalistic writings are to be regarded as merely commentaries on this, -or extracts from it. - -There are two main systems of the Cabbalah,--the system of Rabbi Moses -Kordovero, and that of Rabbi Isaac Luria.[27] The former is more _real_, -that is, it approximates more closely to reason. The latter, on the -other hand, is more _formal_, that is, it is completer in the structure -of its system. The modern Cabbalists prefer the latter, because they -hold that only to be genuine Cabbalah, in which there is no rational -meaning. The principal work of Rabbi Moses Kordovero is the _Pardes_ -(Paradise). Of Rabbi Isaac Luria himself we have some disconnected -writings; but his pupil, Rabbi Chajim Vitall, wrote a large work under -the title, _Ez Chajim_ (The Tree of Life), in which the whole system of -his master is contained. This work is held by the Jews to be so sacred, -that they do not allow it to be committed to print. Naturally, I had -more taste for the Cabbalah of Rabbi Moses than for that of Rabbi Isaac, -but durst not give utterance to my opinion on this point. - -After this digression on the Cabbalah in general, I return to my story. -I learned that the under-rabbi or preacher of the place was an adept in -the Cabbalah; and therefore, to attain my object, I made his -acquaintance. I took my seat beside him in the synagogue, and as I -observed once that after prayer he always read from a small book, and -then put it past carefully in its place, I became very curious to know -what sort of book this was. Accordingly, after the preacher had gone -home, I went and took the book from the place where he had put it; and -when I found that it was a Cabbalistic work, I went with it and hid -myself in a corner of the synagogue, till all the people had gone out -and the door was locked. I then crept from my hiding-place, and, without -a thought about eating or drinking the whole day long, read the -fascinating book till the doorkeeper came and opened the synagogue again -in the evening. - -_Shaarei Kedushah_, or _The Gates of Righteousness_, was the title of -this book; and, leaving out of account what was visionary and -exaggerated, it contained the principal doctrines of psychology. I did -with it therefore as the Talmudists say Rabbi MeA-r acted, who had a -heretic for his teacher, "He found a pomegranate; he ate the fruit and -threw the peel away."[28] - -In two or three days I had in this way finished the book; but instead of -satisfying my curiosity, it only excited it the more. I wished to read -more books of the same sort. But as I was too bashful to confess this to -the preacher, I resolved to write him a letter, in which I expressed my -irresistible longing for this sacred science, and therefore entreated -him earnestly to assist me with books. I received from him a very -favourable answer. He praised my zeal for the sacred science, and -assured me that this zeal, amid so little encouragement, was an obvious -sign that my soul was derived from _Olam Aziloth_ (the world of the -immediate divine influence), while the souls of mere Talmudists take -their origin from _Olam Jezirah_ (the world of the creation). He -promised, therefore, to assist me with books as far as lay in his power. -But as he himself was occupied mainly with this science, and required to -have such books constantly at hand, he could not lend them to me, but -gave me permission to study them in his house at my pleasure. - -Who was gladder than I! I accepted the offer of the preacher with -gratitude, scarcely ever left his house, and sat day and night over the -Cabbalistic books. Two representations especially gave me the greatest -trouble. One was the _Tree_, or the representation of the divine -emanations in their manifold and intricate complexities. The other was -God's _Beard_, in which the hairs are divided into numerous classes with -something peculiar to each, and every hair is a separate channel of -divine grace. With all my efforts I could not find in these -representations any rational meaning. - -My prolonged visits however were extremely inconvenient to the preacher. -He had, a short time before, married a pretty young wife; and as his -modest little house consisted of a single apartment, which was at once -parlour, study, and bedroom, and as I sat in it at times reading the -whole night, it happened not infrequently that my elevation above the -sphere of sense came into collision with his sensibility. Consequently, -he hit upon a good plan for getting rid of the incipient Cabbalist. He -said to me one day, "I observe that it necessarily puts you to a great -deal of inconvenience to spend your time constantly away from home for -the sake of these books. You may take them home with you one by one if -you please, and thus study them at your convenience." - -To me nothing could be more welcome. I took home one book after -another, and studied them till I believed that I had mastered the whole -of the Cabbalah. I contented myself not merely with the knowledge of its -principles and manifold systems, but sought also to make a proper use of -these. There was not a passage to be met with in the Holy Scriptures or -in the Talmud, the occult meaning of which I could not have unfolded, -according to Cabbalistic principles, with the greatest readiness. - -The book entitled _Shaarei Orah_[29] came to be of very good service -here. In this book are enumerated the manifold names of the ten -_Sephiroth_, which form the principal subject of the Talmud, so that a -hundred or more names are given to each. In every word of a verse in the -Bible, or of a passage in the Talmud, I found therefore the name of some -Sephirah. But as I knew the attribute of every Sephirah, and its -relation to the rest, I could easily bring out of the combination of -names their conjoint effect. - -To illustrate this by a brief example, I found in the book just -mentioned, that the name _Jehovah_ represents the six highest Sephiroth -(not including the first three), or the person of the Godhead _generis -masculini_, while the word _Koh_ means the _Shechinah_ or the person of -the Godhead _generis feminini_, and the word _amar_ denotes sexual -union. The words, "Koh amar Jehova,"[30] therefore, I explained in the -following way, "Jehovah unites with the Shechinah," and this is high -Cabbalism. Accordingly, when I read this passage in the Bible, I thought -nothing else, but that, when I uttered these words, and thought their -occult meaning, an actual union of these divine spouses took place, from -which the whole world had to expect a blessing. Who can restrain the -excesses of imagination, when it is not guided by reason? - -With the _Cabbalah Maasith_, or the _practical Cabbalah_, I did not -succeed so well as with the theoretical. The preacher boasted, not -publicly indeed, but to everybody in private, that he was master of this -also. Especially he professed _roeh veeno nireh_ (to see everything, but -not to be seen by others), that is, to be able to make himself -invisible. - -About this trick I was specially anxious, in order that I might practise -some wanton jokes on my comrades. More particularly I formed a plan for -keeping my ill-tempered mother-in-law in check by this means. I -pretended that my object was merely to do good, and guard against evil. -The preacher consented, but said at the same time, that on my part -certain preparations were required. Three days in succession I was to -feast, and every day to say some _Ichudim_. These are Cabbalistic forms -of prayer, whose occult meaning aims at producing in the intellectual -world sexual unions, through means of which certain results are to be -brought about in the physical. - -I did everything with pleasure, made the conjuration which he had taught -me, and believed with all confidence that I was now invisible. At once I -hurried to the _Beth Hamidrash_, the Jewish academy, went up to one of -my comrades, and gave him a vigorous box on the ear. He however was no -coward, and returned the blow with interest. I started back in -astonishment; I could not understand how he had been able to discover -me, as I had observed with the utmost accuracy the instructions of the -preacher. Still I thought I might, perhaps, unwittingly and -unintentionally have neglected something. I resolved, therefore, to -undertake the operation anew. This time, however, I was not going to -venture on the test of a box on the ear; I went into the academy merely -to watch my comrades as a spectator. As soon as I entered, however, one -of them came up to me, and showed me a difficult passage in the Talmud, -which he wished me to explain. I stood utterly confounded, and -disconsolate over the failure of my hopes. - -Thereupon I went to the preacher, and informed him of my unsuccessful -attempt. Without blushing, he replied quite boldly, "If you have -observed all my instructions, I cannot explain this otherwise than by -supposing that you are unfit for being thus divested of the visibility -of your body." With great grief, therefore, I was obliged to give up -entirely the hope of making myself invisible. - -This disappointed hope was followed by a new delusion. In the preface to -the _Book of Raphael_, which the angel of that name is said to have -delivered to our first father Adam at his banishment from paradise, I -found the promise, that whoever keeps the book in his house is thereby -insured against fire. It was not long, however, before a conflagration -broke out in the neighbourhood, when the fire seized my house too, and -the angel Raphael himself had to go up into heaven in this chariot of -fire. - -Unsatisfied with the literary knowledge of this science, I sought to -penetrate into its spirit; and as I perceived that the whole science, if -it is to deserve this name, can contain nothing but the secrets of -nature concealed in fables and allegories, I laboured to find out these -secrets, and thereby to raise my merely literary knowledge to a rational -knowledge. This, however, I could accomplish only in a very imperfect -manner at the time, because I had yet very few ideas of the sciences in -general. Still, by independent reflection I hit upon many applications -of this kind. Thus, for example, I explained at once the first instance -with which the Cabbalists commonly begin their science. - -It is this. Before the world was created, the divine being occupied the -whole of infinite space alone. But God wished to create a world, in -order that He might reveal those attributes of His nature which refer -to other beings besides Himself. For this purpose He contracted Himself -into the centre of His perfection, and issued into the space thereby -left void ten concentric circles of light, out of which arose afterwards -manifold figures (_Parzophim_) and gradations down to the present world -of sense. - -I could not in any way conceive that all this was to be taken in the -common sense of the words, as nearly all Cabbalists represent it. As -little could I conceive that, before the world had been created, a time -had past, as I knew from my _Moreh Nebhochim_, that time is a -modification of the world, and consequently cannot be thought without -it. Moreover, I could not conceive that God occupies a space, even -though it be infinite; or that He, an infinitely perfect being, should -contract Himself, like a thing of circular form, into a centre. - -Accordingly I sought to explain all this in the following way. God is -prior to the world, not in time, but in His necessary being as the -condition of the world. All things besides God must depend on Him as -their cause, in regard to their essence as well as their existence. The -creation of the world, therefore, could not be thought as a bringing -forth _out of nothing_, nor as a formation of something independent on -God, but only as a bringing forth _out of Himself_. And as beings are of -different grades of perfection, we must assume for their explanation -different grades of limitation of the divine being. But since this -limitation must be thought as extending from the infinite being down to -matter, we represent the beginning of the limitation in a figure as a -centre (the lowest point) of the Infinite. - -In fact, the Cabbalah is nothing but an expanded Spinozism, in which not -only is the origin of the world explained by the limitation of the -divine being, but also the origin of every kind of being, and its -relation to the rest, are derived from a separate attribute of God. God, -as the ultimate subject and the ultimate cause of all beings, is called -Ensoph (the Infinite, of which, considered in itself, nothing can be -predicated). But in relation to the infinite number of beings, positive -attributes are ascribed to Him; these are reduced by the Cabbalists to -ten, which are called the ten Sephiroth. - -In the book, _Pardes_, by Rabbi Moses Kordovero, the question is -discussed, whether the Sephiroth are to be taken for the Deity Himself -or not. It is easy to be seen, however, that this question has no more -difficulty in reference to the Deity, than in reference to any other -being. - -Under the ten circles I conceived the ten categories or predicaments of -Aristotle, with which I had become acquainted in the _Moreh -Nebhochim_,--the most universal predicates of things, without which -nothing can be thought. The categories, in the strictest critical sense, -are the logical forms, which relate not merely to a _logical_ object, -but to _real_ objects in general, and without which these cannot be -thought. They have their source, therefore, in the subject itself, but -they become an object of consciousness only by reference to a real -object. Consequently, they represent the ten Sephiroth, which belong, -indeed, to the Ensoph in itself, but of which the reality is revealed -only by their special relation to, and effect upon, objects in nature, -and the number of which can be variously determined in various points of -view. - -But by this method of explanation I brought upon myself many an -annoyance. For the Cabbalists maintain that the Cabbalah is not a human, -but a divine, science; and that, consequently, it would be degradation -of it, to explain its mysteries in accordance with nature and reason. -The more reasonable, therefore, my explanations proved, the more were -the Cabbalists irritated with me, inasmuch as they held that alone to be -divine, which had no reasonable meaning. Accordingly I had to keep my -explanations to myself. An entire work, that I wrote on the subject, I -brought with me to Berlin, and preserve still as a monument of the -struggle of the human mind after perfection, in spite of all the -hindrances which are placed in its way. - -Meanwhile this could not satisfy me. I wished to get an insight into the -sciences, not as they are veiled in fables, but in their natural light. -I had already, though very imperfectly, learned to read German; but -where was I to obtain German books in Lithuania? Fortunately for me I -learned that the chief rabbi of a neighbouring town, who in his youth -had lived for a while in Germany, and learned the German language -there, and made himself in some measure acquainted with the sciences, -continued still, though in secret, to work at the sciences, and had a -fair library of German books. - -I resolved therefore to make a pilgrimage to S----, in order to see the -chief rabbi, and beg of him a few scientific books. I was tolerably -accustomed to such journeys, and had gone once thirty miles[31] on foot -to see a Hebrew work of the tenth century on the Peripatetic philosophy. -Without therefore troubling myself in the least about travelling -expenses or means of conveyance, and without saying a word to my family -on the subject, I set out upon the journey to this town in the middle of -winter. As soon as I arrived at the place, I went to the chief rabbi, -told him my desire, and begged him earnestly for assistance. He was not -a little astonished; for, during the thirty one years which had passed -since his return from Germany, not a single individual had ever made -such a request. He promised to lend me some old German books. The most -important among these were an old work on Optics, and Sturm's _Physics_. - -I could not sufficiently express my gratitude to this excellent chief -rabbi; I pocketed the few books, and returned home in rapture. After I -had studied these books thoroughly, my eyes were all at once opened. I -believed that I had found a key to all the secrets of nature, as I now -knew the origin of storms, of dew, of rain, and such phenomena. I looked -down with pride on all others, who did not yet know these things, -laughed at their prejudices and superstitions, and proposed to clear up -their ideas on these subjects and to enlighten their understanding. - -But this did not always succeed. I laboured once to teach a Talmudist, -that the earth is round, and that we have antipodes. He however made the -objection, that these antipodes would necessarily fall off. I -endeavoured to show that the falling of a body is not directed towards -any fixed point in empty space, but towards the centre of the earth, and -that the ideas of Over and Under represent merely the removal from and -approach to this centre. It was of no avail; the Talmudist stood to his -ground, that such an assertion was absurd. - -On another occasion I went to take a walk with some of my friends. It -chanced that a goat lay in the way. I gave the goat some blows with my -stick, and my friends blamed me for my cruelty. "What is the cruelty?" I -replied. "Do you believe that the goat feels a pain, when I beat it? You -are greatly mistaken; the goat is a mere machine." This was the doctrine -of Sturm as a disciple of Descartes. - -My friends laughed heartily at this, and said, "But don't you hear that -the goat cries, when you beat it?" "Yes," I replied, "of course it -cries; but if you beat a drum, it cries too." They were amazed at my -answer, and in a short time it went abroad over the whole town, that I -had become mad, as I held that _a goat is a drum_. - -From my generous friend, the chief rabbi, I received afterwards two -medical works, Kulm's _Anatomical Tables_ and Voit's _Gaziopilatium_. -The latter is a large medical dictionary, containing, in a brief form, -not only explanations from all departments of medicine, but also their -manifold applications. In connection with every disease is given an -explanation of its cause, its symptoms, and the method of its cure, -along with even the ordinary prescriptions. This was for me a real -treasure. I studied the book thoroughly, and believed myself to be -master of the science of medicine, and a complete physician. - -But I was not going to content myself with mere theory in this matter; I -resolved to make regular application of it. I visited patients, -determined all diseases according to their circumstances and symptoms, -explained their causes, and gave also prescriptions for their cure. But -in this practice things turned out very comically. If a patient told me -some of the symptoms of his disease, I guessed from them the nature of -the disease itself, and inferred the presence of the other symptoms. If -the patient said that he could trace none of these, I stubbornly -insisted on their being present all the same. The conversation therefore -sometimes came to this:-- - -_I._ "You have headache also." - -_Patient._ "No." - -_I._ "But you _must_ have headache." - -As many symptoms are common to several diseases, I took not infrequently -_quid pro quo_. Prescriptions I could never keep in my head, so that, -when I prescribed anything, I was obliged to go home first and turn up -my _Gaziopilatium_. At length I began even to make up drugs myself -according to Voit's prescriptions. How this succeeded, may be imagined. -It had at least this good result, that I saw something more was surely -required for a practical physician than I understood at the time. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -A brief Exposition of the Jewish Religion, from its Origin down to the -most recent Times. - - -To render intelligible that part of the story of my life, which refers -to my sentiments regarding religion, I must first give in advance a -short practical _history of the Jewish religion_, and at the outset say -something of the idea of _religion in general_, as well as of the -difference between _natural_ and _positive_ religion. - -_Religion in general_ is the expression of gratitude, reverence and the -other feelings, which arise from the dependence of our weal and woe on -one or more powers to us unknown. If we look to the _expression of these -feelings in general_, without regard to the _particular mode of the -expression_, religion is certainly natural to man. He observes many -effects which are of interest to him, but whose causes are to him -unknown; and he finds himself compelled, by the universally recognised -_Principle of Sufficient Reason_, to suppose these causes, and to -express towards them the feelings mentioned. - -This expression may be of two kinds, in conformity either with the -_imagination_ or with _reason_. For either man imagines the causes to -be analogous to the effects, and ascribes to them in themselves such -attributes as are revealed through the effects, or he thinks them merely -as causes of certain effects, without seeking thereby to determine their -attributes in themselves. These two modes are both natural to man, the -former being in accordance with his earlier condition, the latter with -that of his perfection. - -The difference between these two modes of representation has as its -consequence another difference of religions. The first mode of -representation, in accordance with which the causes are supposed to be -_similar_ to the effects, is the mother of _polytheism_ or _heathenism_. -But the second is the basis of _true_ religion. For as the kinds of -effects are different, the causes also, if held to be like them, must be -represented as different from one another. On the other hand, if, in -accordance with truth, we conceive the idea of _cause in general_ for -these effects, without seeking to determine this cause, either _in -itself_ (since it is wholly unknown), or _analogically_ by help of the -imagination, then we have no ground for supposing several causes, but -require to assume merely a single subject, wholly unknown, as cause of -all these effects. - -The different philosophical systems of theology are nothing but -_detailed developments_ of these different modes of representation. The -_atheistic_ system of theology, if so it may be called, rejects -altogether this idea of a _first cause_, (as, according to the -_critical_ system at least, it is merely of _regulative use_ as a -necessary _idea of reason_). All effects are referred to particular -known or unknown causes. In this there cannot be assumed even a -_connection_ between the various effects, else the _reason_ of this -connection would require to be sought beyond the connection itself. - -The _Spinozistic_ system, on the contrary, supposes one and the same -substance as immediate cause of all various effects, which must be -regarded as predicates of one and the same subject. _Matter_ and _mind_ -are, with Spinoza, one and the same substance, which appears, now under -the former, now under the latter attribute. This single substance is, -according to him, not only the sole being that can be _self-dependent_, -that is, independent of any external cause, but also the sole -_self-subsistent_ being, all so-called beings besides it being merely -its _modes_, that is, particular limitations of its attributes. Every -particular effect in nature is referred by him, not to its proximate -cause (which is merely a _mode_), but immediately to this first cause, -which is the common substance of all beings. - -In this system _unity is real_, but _multiplicity_ is merely _ideal_. In -the atheistic system it is the opposite. _Multiplicity_ is _real_, being -founded on the _nature of things themselves_. On the other hand, the -_unity_, which is observed in the order and regularity of nature, is -merely an _accident_, by which we are accustomed to determine our -_arbitrary_ system _for the sake of knowledge_. It is inconceivable -therefore how any one can make out the Spinozistic system to be -atheistic, since the two systems are diametrically opposed to one -another. In the latter the existence of _God_ is denied, but in the -former the existence of the _world_. Spinoza's ought therefore to be -called rather the _acosmic_ system. - -The _Leibnitzian_ system holds the mean between the two preceding. In it -all _particular effects_ are referred immediately to _particular -causes_; but these various effects are thought as _connected_ in a -single system, and the cause of this connection is sought in a being -beyond itself. - -_Positive_ religion is distinguished from _natural_ in the very same way -as the positive laws of a state from natural laws. The latter are those -which rest on a self-acquired, indistinct knowledge, and are not duly -defined in regard to their application, while the former rest on a -distinct knowledge received from others, and are completely defined in -regard to their application. - -A _positive_ religion however must be carefully distinguished from a -_political_ religion. The former has for its end merely the correction -and accurate definition of knowledge, that is, _instruction_ regarding -the first cause: and the knowledge is communicated to another, according -to the measure of his capacity, just as it has been received. But the -latter has for its end mainly the welfare of the state. Knowledge is -therefore communicated, not just as it has been received, but only in so -far as it is found serviceable to this end. Politics, merely as -politics, requires to concern itself about _true religion_ as little as -about _true morality_. The injury, that might arise from this, can be -prevented by other means which influence men at the same time, and thus -all can be kept in equilibrium. Every political religion is therefore at -the same time positive, but every positive religion is not also -political. - -Natural religion has no _mysteries_ any more than merely positive -religion. For there is no mystery implied in one man being unable to -communicate his knowledge to another of defective capacity with the same -degree of completeness which he himself has attained; otherwise -mysteries might be attributed to all the sciences, and there would then -be _mysteries of mathematics_ as well as _mysteries of religion_. Only -_political religion_ can have mysteries, in order to lead men in an -indirect way to the attainment of the _political end_, inasmuch as they -are made to believe that thereby they can best attain their _private -ends_, though this is not always in reality the case. There are _lesser_ -and _greater_ mysteries in the political religions. The former consist -in the _material_ knowledge of all particular operations and their -connection with one another. The latter, on the contrary, consist in the -knowledge of the _form_, that is, of the end by which the former are -determined. The former constitute the totality of the _laws of -religion_, but the latter contains the _spirit of the laws_. - -The _Jewish religion_, even at its earliest origin among the nomadic -patriarchs, is already distinguished from the _heathen_ as _natural -religion_, inasmuch as, instead of the _many comprehensible_ gods of -heathenism, the _unity of an incomprehensible_ God lies at its -foundation. For as the particular causes of the effects, which in -general give rise to a religion, are in themselves unknown, and we do -not feel justified in transferring to the causes the attributes of the -particular effects, in order thereby to characterise them, there remains -nothing but the idea of cause in general, which must be related to all -effects without distinction. This cause cannot even be _analogically_ -determined by the effects. For the effects are opposed to one another, -and neutralise each other even in the same object. If therefore we -ascribed them all to one and the same cause, the cause could not be -analogically determined by any. - -The _heathen_ religion, on the other hand, refers every kind of effect -to a special cause, which can of course be characterised by its effect. -As a _positive_ religion the Jewish is distinguished from the heathen by -the fact, that it is not a merely political religion, that is, a -religion which has for its end the social interest (in opposition to -true knowledge and private interest); but in accordance with the spirit -of its founder, it is adapted to the theocratic form of the national -Government, which rests on the principle, that only the true religion, -based on rational knowledge, can harmonise with the interest of the -state as well as of the individual. Considered in its _purity_, -therefore, it has no mysteries in the proper sense of the word; that is -to say, it has no doctrines which, in order to reach their end, men -_will_ not disclose, but merely such as _can_ not be disclosed to all. - -After the fall of the Jewish state the religion was separated from the -state which no longer existed. The religious authorities were no longer, -as they had been before, concerned about adapting the particular -institutions of religion to the state; but their care went merely to -_preserve_ the religion, on which the existence of the _nation_ now -depended. Moved by hatred towards those nations who had annihilated the -state, and from anxiety lest with the fall of the state the religion -also might fall, they hit upon the following means for the preservation -and extension of their religion. - -1. The fiction of a method, handed down from Moses, of expanding the -laws, and applying them to particular cases. This method is not that -which reason enjoins, of modifying laws according to their intention, in -adaptation to time and circumstances, but that which rests upon certain -rules concerning their literary expression. - -2. The legislative force ascribed to the new decisions and opinions -obtained by this method, giving to them an equal rank with the ancient -laws. The subtle dialectic, with which this has been carried on down to -our times, and the vast number of laws, customs and useless ceremonies -of all sorts, which it has occasioned, may be easily imagined. - -The history of the Jewish religion can, in consequence of this, be -appropriately divided into five great epochs. The first epoch embraces -the _natural religion_, from the times of the patriarchs down to Moses -at the exodus from Egypt. The second comprehends the _positive_ or -_revealed_ religion, from Moses to the time of the _Great Synagogue_ -(_Keneseth Haggedolah_). This council must not be conceived as an -assembly of theologians at a definite time; the name applies to the -theologians of a whole epoch from the destruction of the first temple to -the composition of the Mishnah. Of these the first were the _minor -prophets_ (Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi, etc., of whom 120 are counted -altogether), and the last was _Simon the Just_.[32] These, as well as -their forerunners from the time of Joshua, took as their basis the -Mosaic laws, and added new laws according to time and circumstances, but -in conformity with the traditional method, every dispute on the subject -being decided by the _majority of voices_. - -The third epoch extends from the composition of the Mishnah by Jehudah -the Saint[33] to the composition of the Talmud by Rabina and -Rabassi.[34] Down to this epoch it was forbidden to commit the laws to -writing, in order that they might not fall into the hands of those who -could make no use of them. But as Rabbi Jehudah Hanassi, or, as he is -otherwise called, Rabbenu Hakades observed, that, in consequence of -their great multiplicity, the laws may easily fall into oblivion, he -gave himself a licence to transgress a single one of the laws in order -to preserve the whole. The law transgressed was that against committing -the laws to writing; and in this licence he defended himself by a -passage in the Psalms, "There are times, when a man shows himself -well-pleasing to God by transgressing the laws."[35] He lived in the -time of Antoninus Pius, was rich, and possessed all the faculties for -such an undertaking. He therefore composed the Mishnah, in which he -delivers the Mosaic laws in accordance either with a traditional or with -a rational method of exposition. It contains also some laws which form -the subject of dispute. - -This work is divided into six parts. The first contains the laws -relating to agriculture and horticulture; the second, those which refer -to feasts and holidays. The third part comprehends the laws which define -the mutual relations of the two sexes (marriage, divorce, and such -subjects). The fourth part is devoted to the laws which deal with the -teachers of the law; the fifth, to those which treat of the -temple-service and sacrifices; and the sixth, to the laws of -purification. - -As the Mishnah is composed with the greatest precision, and cannot be -understood without a commentary, it was natural, that in course of time -doubts and disputes should arise, regarding the exposition of the -Mishnah itself, as well as the mode of its application to cases which it -does not sufficiently determine. All these doubts and their manifold -solutions, controversies and decisions, were finally collected in the -Talmud by the above-mentioned Rabina and Rabassi; and this forms the -fourth epoch of Jewish legislation. - -The fifth epoch begins with the conclusion of the Talmud, and extends -down to our time, and so on for ever (_si diis placet_) till the advent -of the Messiah. Since the conclusion of the Talmud the rabbis have been -by no means idle. 'Tis true, they dare not alter anything in the Mishnah -or the Talmud; but they still have plenty of work to do. Their business -is to explain those two works, so that they shall harmonise; and this is -no small matter, for one rabbi, with a superfine dialectic, is always -finding contradictions in the explanations of another. They must also -disentangle, from the labyrinth of various opinions, expositions, -controversies and decisions, the laws which are applicable to every -case; and finally for new cases, by inferences from those already known, -they must bring out new laws, hitherto left indeterminate in spite of -all previous labours, and thus prepare a complete code of laws. - -It is thus that a religion, in its origin _natural_ and _conformable to -reason_, has been abused. A Jew dare not eat or drink, lie with his wife -or attend to the wants of nature, without observing an enormous number -of laws. With the books on the _slaughter_ of animals alone (the -condition of the knife and the examination of the entrails) a whole -library could be filled, which certainly would come near to the -Alexandrian in extent. And what shall I say of the enormous number of -books treating of those laws which are no longer in use, such as the -laws of sacrifice, of purification, etc.? The pen falls from my hand, -when I remember that I and others like me were obliged to spend in this -soul-killing business the best days of our lives when the powers are in -their full vigour, and to sit up many a night, to try and bring out some -sense where there was none, to exercise our wits in the discovery of -contradictions where none were to be found, to display acuteness in -removing them where they were obviously to be met, to hunt after a -shadow through a long series of arguments, and to build castles in the -air. - -The abuse of Rabbinism has, as will be seen, a twofold source. - -1. The first is an _artificial method_ of expounding the Holy -Scriptures, which distinguishes itself from the _natural_ method by the -fact, that, while the latter rests on a thorough _knowledge of the -language_ and the true _spirit of the legislator_ in view of the -circumstances of the time, as these are known from history, the former -has been devised rather for the sake of the laws passed to meet existing -emergencies. The rabbis look upon the Holy Scriptures, not only as the -source of the fundamental laws of Moses, and of those which are -deducible from these by a rational method, but also as a vehicle of the -laws to be drawn up by themselves according to the wants of the time. -The artificial method here, like every other of the same kind, is merely -a means of bringing the new laws at least into an _external connection_ -with the old, in order that they may thereby find a better introduction -among the people, be reduced to principles, divided into classes, and -therefore more easily impressed on the memory. No reasonable rabbi will -hold, that the laws, which are referred in this way to passages of the -Holy Scriptures, render the true sense of these passages; but if -questioned on this point, he will reply, "These laws are necessities of -the time, and are referred to those passages merely for this reason." - -2. The second source of the abuse of Rabbinism is to be found in the -manners and customs of other nations, in whose neighbourhood the Jews -have lived, or among whom they have been gradually scattered since the -fall of the Jewish state. These manners and customs they were obliged -to adopt in order to avoid becoming objects of abhorrence. Of this sort -are the laws, _not to uncover the head_ (at least in holy places and at -holy ceremonies), _to wash the hands_ (before meals and prayers), to -fast the whole day till sunset, to say a number of daily prayers, to -make pilgrimages, to walk round the altar, etc.,--all manifestly of -_Arabian_ origin. - -From hatred also towards those nations that destroyed the Jewish state, -and afterwards made the Jews undergo manifold oppressions, they have -adopted various customs, and among others many religious usages which -are opposite to those of the _Greeks_ and _Romans_. - -In all this the rabbis had the Mosaic laws themselves for a model, these -being sometimes in agreement, sometimes in hostility, with the Egyptian -laws which lie at their root, as has been shown in the most thorough -manner by the celebrated Maimonides in his work, _Moreh Nebhochim_. - -It is remarkable, that, with all rabbinical extravagancies in the -_practical_ department, namely the laws and customs, the _theoretical_ -department of the Jewish theology has still always preserved itself in -its purity. Eisenmenger may say what he will, it may be shown by -unanswerable arguments, that all the limited figurative representations -of God and His attributes have their source merely in an endeavour to -adapt the ideas of theology to the common understanding. The rabbis -followed in this the principle which they had established in reference -to the Holy Scriptures themselves, namely, that _the Holy Scriptures use -the language of the common people_, inasmuch as religious and moral -sentiments and actions, which form the immediate aim of theology may in -this manner be most easily extended. They therefore represent God to the -common understanding as an earthly King, who with His ministers and the -advisers of His cabinet, the angels, takes counsel concerning the -government of the world. But for the educated mind they seek to take -away all anthropomorphic representations of God, when they say, "It was -an act of high daring on the part of the prophets, to represent the -Creator as like His creature, as when, for example, it is said in -Ezekiel (i., 26), 'And upon the throne was an appearance like man.'" - -I have disclosed the abuses of the rabbis in regard to religion without -any partiality. At the same time however I must not be silent about -their good qualities, but do them justice as impartially. Compare then -Mahomed's description of the reward of the pious with the rabbinical -representation. The former runs:--"Here (in paradise) there are as many -dishes as there are stars in heaven. Maidens and boys fill the cups, and -wait on the table. The beauty of the maidens surpasses all imagination. -If one of these maidens were to appear in the sky or in the air by -night, the world would become as bright as when the sun is shining; and -if she were to spit into the sea, its salt water would be turned into -honey, and its bitter into sweet. Milk, honey, white wine will be the -rivers which water this delicious abode. The slime of these rivers will -be made of sweet-smelling nutmegs, and their pebbles of pearls and -hyacinths. The angel Gabriel will open the gates of paradise to faithful -Musselmans. The first thing to meet their eyes will be a table of -diamonds of such enormous length, that it would require 70,000 days to -run round it. The chairs, which stand around the table, will be of gold -and silver, the tablecloths of silk and gold. When the guests have sat -down, they will eat the choicest dishes of paradise, and drink its -water. When they are satisfied, beautiful boys will bring them _green_ -garments of costly stuff, and necklaces and earrings of gold. To every -one will then be given a citron; and when he has brought it to his nose -to feel its odour, a maiden of enchanting beauty will come out. Every -one will embrace his own with rapture, and this intoxication of love -will last fifty years without interruption. Each couple will obtain an -enchanting palace for a dwelling, where they will eat and drink and -enjoy all sorts of pleasure for ever and ever.[36]" This description is -beautiful; but how sensuous! The rabbis, on the other hand, say, "Above -(in the blessed abode of the pious) there is neither eating nor -drinking, but the pious sit crowned, and delight themselves with the -vision of the Godhead." - -Eisenmenger seeks, in his _Entdecktes Judenthum_ (Theil 1., Kap. 8), by -a crass exposition to throw ridicule on the Platonic doctrine of -reminiscence, which the rabbis maintain; but what may not be made -ridiculous in the same way? He also makes sport, with equal injustice, -of other rabbinical teachings. With the Stoics, for example, the rabbis -call wise men _Kings_; they say, that God does nothing without -previously taking counsel with his angels, that is, Omnipotence works -upon nature not immediately, but by means of the natural forces; they -teach, that everything is predestined by God, except the practice of -virtue. These are the subjects of Eisenmenger's mockery; but does any -reasonable theologian find in these anything ridiculous or impious? I -should be obliged to write a whole book, if I were to answer all the -unjust charges and jeers which have been brought against the Talmudists, -not by Christian writers alone, but even by Jews who wished to pass for -_illuminati_. - -To be just to the rabbis it is necessary to penetrate into the true -spirit of the Talmud, to become thoroughly familiar with the manner in -which the ancients generally, but especially the Orientals, deliver -theological, moral, and even physical truths in fables and allegories, -to become familiar also with the style of Oriental hyperbole in -reference to everything that can be of interest to man. Moreover, the -rabbis should be treated in the spirit in which they themselves excused -Rabbi MeA-r who had a heretic for his teacher,--the spirit expressed in a -passage already quoted. If justice is thus dealt to the rabbis, the -Talmud will certainly not show all the absurdities which its opponents -are disposed too readily to find. - -The rabbinical method of referring theoretical or practical truths, even -by the oddest exegesis, to passages in the Holy Scriptures or any other -book in general esteem, as if they were truths brought out of such -passages by a rational exegesis,--this method, besides procuring an -introduction for the truths among common men, who are not capable of -grasping them on their own merits, and accept them merely on authority, -is also to be regarded as an excellent aid to the memory; for since, as -presumed, these passages are in everybody's mouth, the truths drawn from -them are also retained by their means. Consequently it very often occurs -in the Talmud, when the question concerns the deduction of a new law -from the Holy Scriptures, that one rabbi derives the law from this or -that passage, while another brings the objection, that this cannot be -the true meaning of the passage, inasmuch as the true meaning is this or -that. To such an objection every one is wont to reply, that it is a new -law of the rabbis, who merely refer it to the passage mentioned. - -As it is therefore universally presupposed that this method is familiar, -the Talmudists regard it as unnecessary to inculcate it anew on every -occasion. A single example will suffice to illustrate this. One -Talmudist asked another the meaning of the following passage in the -Book of Joshua (xv., 22), _Kinah Vedimonah Veadadah_.[37] The latter -replied, "Here are enumerated the then familiar places of the Holy -Land." "Of course!" rejoined the other. "I know very well that these are -names of places. But, Rabbi ---- knows how to bring out of these, -besides the proper meaning, something _useful_, namely this:--'(Kinah) -He to whom his neighbour gives occasion for revenge, (Vedimonah) and who -yet, out of generosity, keeps silence, taking no revenge, (Veadadah) to -him will the Eternal execute justice.'" What a fine opportunity this -would be for laughing at the poor Talmudist, who derives a moral -sentence from particular names of places, and besides makes in an -extraordinary manner a compound out of the last name, _Sansannah_,[38] -if he had not himself explained that he is seeking to know, not the -_true meaning_ of the passage, but merely a _doctrine_ which may be -referred to it. - -Again, the Talmudists have referred to a passage in Isaiah the important -doctrine, that in morals the principal object is, not theory, but -practice, by which theory receives its true value. The passage runs as -follows:--"The expectation of thy happiness"--that is, the happiness -promised by the prophet--"will have for its consequence strength, help, -wisdom, knowledge, and the fear of God."[39] Here they refer the first -six subjects to the six _Sedarim_ or divisions of the Mishnah, which are -the foundation of all Jewish learning. _Emunath_ (Expectation) is Seder -Seraim; _Etecho_ (Happiness) is Seder Moad, and so on. That is to say, -you may be ever so well versed in all these six _sedarim_; yet the main -point is the last, the fear of God. - -As far as rabbinical morals in other respects are concerned, I know in -truth nothing that can be urged against them, except perhaps their -excessive strictness in many cases. They form in fact genuine Stoicism, -but without excluding other serviceable principles, such as perfection, -universal benevolence, and the like. Holiness with them extends even to -the thoughts. This principle is, in the usual fashion, referred to the -following passage in the Psalms, "Thou shalt have no strange God in -thee";[40] for in the human heart, it is argued, no strange God can -dwell, except evil desires. It is not allowed to deceive even a heathen -either by deeds or by words--not even in cases where he could lose -nothing by the deceit. For example, the common form of courtesy, "I am -glad to see you well," is not to be used, if it does not express the -real sentiments of the heart. The examples of Jews who cheat Christians -and heathens, which are commonly adduced against this statement, prove -nothing, inasmuch as these Jews do not act in accordance with the -principles of their own morals. - -The commandment, "Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy -neighbour's," is so expounded by the Talmudists, that we must guard -against even the wish to possess any such thing. In short, I should -require to write a whole book, if I were to adduce all the excellent -doctrines of rabbinical morals. - -The influence of these doctrines in practical life also is unmistakable. -The Polish Jews, who have always been allowed to adopt any means of -gain, and have not, like the Jews of other countries, been restricted to -the pitiful occupation of _Schacher_ or usurer, seldom hear the reproach -of cheating. They remain loyal to the country in which they live, and -support themselves in an honourable way. - -Their charity and care for the poor, their institutions for nursing the -sick, their special societies for burial of the dead, are well enough -known. It is not nurses and grave-diggers _hired for money_, but the -_elders of the people_, who are eager to perform these acts. The Polish -Jews are indeed for the most part not yet enlightened by science, their -manners and way of life are still rude; but they are loyal to the -religion of their fathers and the laws of their country. They do not -come before you with courtesies, but their promise is sacred. They are -not gallants, but your women are safe from any snares with them. Woman, -indeed, after the manner of the Orientals in general, is by them not -particularly esteemed; but all the more on that account are they -resolved on fulfilling their duties towards her. Their children do not -learn by heart any _forms_ for expressing love and respect for their -parents--for they do not keep French _demoiselles_;--but they show that -love and respect all the more heartily. - -The sacredness of their marriages, and the ever fresh tenderness which -arises from this, deserve especially to be mentioned. Every month the -husband is wholly separated from his wife for a fortnight (the period of -monthly purification in accordance with the rabbinical laws); they may -not so much as touch one another, or eat out of the same dish or drink -out of the same cup. By this means satiety is avoided; the wife -continues to be in the eyes of her husband all that she was as maiden in -the eyes of her lover. - -Finally, what innocence rules among unmarried persons! It often happens -that a young man or woman of sixteen or eighteen years is married -without knowing the least about the object of marriage. Among other -nations this is certainly very seldom the case. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -Jewish Piety and Penances. - - -In my youth I was of a somewhat strong religious disposition; and as I -observed in most of the rabbis a good deal of pride, quarrelsomeness, -and other evil qualities, they became objects of dislike to me on that -account. I sought therefore as my model only those among them, who are -commonly known by the name of _Chasidim_, or _the Pious_. These are they -who devote the whole of their lives to the strictest observances of the -laws and moral virtues. I had afterwards occasion to remark that these -on their part do harm, less indeed to _others_, but all the more to -_themselves_, inasmuch as they root out the wheat with the tares;[41] -while they seek to suppress their desires and passions, they suppress -also their powers and cramp their activity, so much so as in most cases -by their exercises to bring upon themselves an untimely death. - -Two or three instances, of which I was myself an eye-witness, will be -sufficient to establish what has been said. A Jewish scholar, at that -time well known on account of his piety, Simon of Lubtsch, had undergone -the severest exercises of penance. He had already carried out the -_T'shubath Hakana_--the penance of Kana--which consists in fasting daily -for six years, and avoiding for supper anything that comes from a living -being (flesh, milk, honey, etc.). He had also practised _Golath_, that -is, a continuous wandering, in which the penitent is not allowed to -remain two days in the same place; and, in addition, he had worn a -hair-shirt next his skin. But he felt that he would not be doing enough -for the satisfaction of his conscience unless he further observed the -_T'shubath Hamishkal_--the penance of weighing--which requires a -particular form of penance proportioned to every sin. But as he found by -calculation, that the number of his sins was too great to be atoned in -this way, he took it into his head to starve himself to death. After he -had spent some time in this process, he came in his wanderings to the -place where my father lived, and, without anybody in the house knowing, -went into the barn, where he fell upon the ground in utter faintness. My -father came by chance into the barn, and found the man, whom he had long -known, lying half-dead on the ground, with a _Zohar_ (the principal book -of the Cabbalists) in his hand. As he knew well what sort of man this -was, he brought him at once all sorts of refreshments; but the man would -make no use of them in any way. My father came several times, and -repeated his urgent request, that Simon would take something; but it -was of no avail. My father had to attend to something in the house, -whereupon Simon, to escape from his importunity, exerted all his -strength, raised himself up, went out of the barn, and at last out of -the village. When my father came back into the barn again, and found the -man no longer there, he ran after him, and found him lying dead not far -from the village. The affair was generally made known among the Jews, -and Simon became a saint. - -Jossel of Klezk proposed nothing less than to hasten the advent of the -Messiah. To this end he performed strict penance, fasted, rolled himself -in snow, undertook night-watches and similar severities. By all sorts of -such operations he believed that he was able to accomplish the overthrow -of a legion of evil spirits, who kept guard on the Messiah, and threw -obstacles in the way of his coming.[42] To these exercises he added at -last many Cabbalistic fooleries--fumigations, conjurations, and similar -practices--till at length he lost his wits on the subject, believed that -he really saw spirits with his eyes open, calling each of them by name. -He would then beat about him, smash windows and stoves under the idea -that these were his foes, the evil spirits, somewhat after the manner of -his forerunner Don Quixote. At last he lay down in complete exhaustion, -from which he was with great difficulty restored, by the physician of -Prince Radzivil. - -Unfortunately I could never get further in pious exercises of this sort, -than to abstain for a considerable while from everything that comes from -a living being; and during the Days of Atonement I have sometimes fasted -three days together. I once resolved indeed on undertaking the -_T'shubath Hakana_; but this project, like others of the same sort, -remained unfulfilled, after I had adopted the opinions of Maimonides, -who was no friend of fanaticism or pietism. It is remarkable, that at -the time when I still observed the rabbinical regulations with the -utmost strictness, I yet would not observe certain ceremonies which have -something comical about them. Of this kind, for example, was the -_Malketh_ (Beating) before the Great Day of Atonement, in which every -Jew lays himself on his face in the synagogue, while another with a -narrow strip of leather gives him thirty-nine lashes. Of the same sort -is _Haphorath Nedarim_, or the act of setting free from vows on New -Year's Eve. In this three men are seated, while another appears before -them, and addresses to them a certain form, the general drift of which -is as follows:--"Sirs, I know what a heinous sin it is, not to fulfil -vows; and inasmuch as I have doubtless this year made some vows which I -have not fulfilled, and which I can no longer recollect, I beg of you -that you will set me free from the same. I do not indeed repent of the -good resolutions to which I have bound myself by these vows; I repent -merely of the fact, that in making such resolutions I did not add, that -they were not to have the force of a vow," etc., etc. Thereupon he -withdraws from the judgment-seat, pulls off his shoes, and sits down on -the bare ground, by which he is supposed to banish himself till his vows -are dissolved. After he has sat for some time, and said a prayer by -himself, the judges begin to call aloud, "Thou art our brother! thou art -our brother! thou art our brother! There is no vow, no oath, no -banishment any longer, after thou hast submitted thyself to the -judgment. Rise from the ground and come to us!" This they repeat three -times, and with that the man is at once set free from all his vows. - -At serio-comic scenes of this sort I could only with the greatest -difficulty refrain from laughing. A blush of shame came over me, when I -was to undertake such performances. I sought therefore, if I was pressed -on the subject, to free myself by the pretext, that I had either already -attended to it, or was going to attend to it, in another synagogue. A -very remarkable psychological phenomenon! It might be thought impossible -for any one to be ashamed of actions which he saw others performing -without the slightest blush of shame. Yet this was the case here. This -phenomenon can be explained only by the fact, that in all my actions I -had regard first to the nature of the action in itself (whether it was -right or wrong, proper or improper), then to its nature in relation to -some end, and that I justified it as a means, only when it was not in -itself incapable of being justified. This principle was developed -afterwards in my whole system of religion and morals. On the other hand, -the most of men act on the principle, that the end justifies the means. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -Friendship and Enthusiasm. - - -In the place where I resided I had a bosom friend, Moses Lapidoth by -name. We were of the same age, the same studies, and nearly the same -external circumstances, the only difference being, that at an early -period I already showed an inclination to the sciences, while Lapidoth -had indeed a love of speculation, and also great acuteness and power of -judgment, but had no wish to proceed further than he could reach by a -mere sound common sense. With this friend I used to hold many a -conversation on subjects of mutual interest, especially the questions of -religion and morals. - -We were the only persons in the place, who ventured to be not mere -imitators, but to think independently about everything. It was a natural -result of this, that, as we differed from all the rest of the community -in our opinions and conduct, we separated ourselves from them by -degrees; but, as we had still to live by the community, our -circumstances on this account became every day worse and worse. 'Tis -true, we noted this fact, but nevertheless we were unwilling to -sacrifice our favourite inclinations for any interest in the world. We -consoled ourselves therefore, as best we might, over our loss, spoke -constantly of the vanity of all things, of the religious and moral -faults of the common herd, upon whom we looked down with a sort of noble -pride and contempt. - -We used especially to open our minds, _A la Mandeville_, on the -hollowness of human virtue. For example, smallpox had been very -prevalent in the place, and thereby many children had been carried off. -The elders held a meeting to find out the secret sins, on account of -which they were suffering this punishment, as they viewed it. After -instituting an inquiry it was found, that a young widow of the Jewish -people was holding too free intercourse with some servants of the manor. -She was sent for, but no sort of inquisition could elicit from her -anything beyond the fact, that these people were in the habit of -drinking mead at her house, and that, as was reasonable, she received -them in a pleasant and polite manner, but that in other respects she was -unconscious of any sin in the matter. As no other evidence was -forthcoming, she was about to be acquitted, when an elderly matron came -flying like a fury and screamed, "Scourge her! scourge her! till she has -confessed her sin! If you do not do it, then may the guilt of the death -of so many innocent souls fall upon you!" Lapidoth was present with me -at this scene, and said, "Friend, do you suppose that Madam is making so -fierce a complaint against this woman, merely because she is seized -with a holy zeal and feeling for the general welfare? Oh no! She is -enraged, merely because the widow still possesses attractions, while she -herself can no longer make claim to any." I assured him that his opinion -was thoroughly in accordance with my own. - -Lapidoth had poor parents-in-law. His father-in-law was Jewish sexton, -and by his slender pay could support his family only in a very sorry -style. Every Friday the poor man was therefore compelled to listen to -all sorts of reproach and abuse from his wife, because he could not -provide her with what was indispensable for the holy Sabbath. Lapidoth -told me about this with the addition:--"My mother-in-law wants to make -me to believe that she is zealous merely for the honour of the holy -Sabbath. Nay, verily; she is zealous merely for the honour of her own -holy paunch, which she cannot fill as she would like; the holy Sabbath -serves her merely as a pretext." - -Once when we were taking a walk on the wall round the town, and -conversing about the tendency of men, which is evinced in such -expressions, to deceive themselves and others, I said to Lapidoth, -"Friend, let us be fair, and pass our censure on ourselves, as well as -on others. Is not the contemplative life which we lead, and which is by -no means adapted to our circumstances, to be regarded as a result of our -indolence and inclination to idleness, which we seek to defend by -reflections on the vanity of all things? We are content with our -present circumstances; why? Because we cannot alter them without first -fighting against our inclination to idleness. With all our pretence of -contempt for everything outside of us, we cannot avoid the secret wish -to be able to enjoy better food and clothing than at present. We -reproach our friends as vain men addicted to the pleasures of sense, -because they have abandoned our mode of life, and undertaken occupations -adapted to their powers. But wherein consists our superiority over them, -when we merely follow our inclination as they follow theirs? Let us seek -to find this superiority merely in the fact, that we at least confess -this truth to ourselves, while they profess as the motive of their -actions, not the satisfaction of their own particular desires, but the -impulse to general utility." Lapidoth, on whom my words produced a -powerful impression, answered with some warmth, "Friend, you are -perfectly right. If we cannot now mend our faults, we will not deceive -ourselves about them, but at least keep the way open for amendment." - -In conversations of this kind we two cynics spent our pleasantest hours, -while we made ourselves merry sometimes at the expense of the world, -sometimes at our own. Lapidoth, for example, whose old dirty clothes had -all fallen into rags, and one of whose sleeves was wholly parted from -the rest of his coat, while he was not in a position even to have it -mended, used to fix the sleeve on his back with a pin, and to ask me, -"Don't I look like a _Schlachziz_ (a Polish noble)?" I, again, could -not sufficiently commend my rent shoes, which were quite open at the -toes, because, as I said, "They do not squeeze the foot." - -The harmony of our inclinations and manner of life, along with some -difference in our talents, made our conversation all the more agreeable. -I had more talent for the sciences, made more earnest endeavours after -thoroughness and accuracy of knowledge than Lapidoth. He, on the other -hand, had the advantage of a lively imagination, and consequently more -talent for eloquence and poetry than I. If I produced a new thought, my -friend knew how to illustrate it, and, as it were, to give it embodiment -in a multitude of examples. Our affection for one another went so far, -that, whenever it was practicable, we spent day and night in each -other's company, and the first thing we did, on returning home from the -places where we severally acted as family-tutors, was to visit each -other, even before seeing our own families. At last we began to neglect -on this account the usual hours of prayer. Lapidoth first undertook to -prove, that the Talmudists themselves offered up their prayers, not -exclusively in the synagogue, but sometimes in their study-chambers. -Afterwards he pointed out also, that the prayers held to be necessary -are not all equally so, but that some may be dispensed with altogether: -even those, which are recognised as necessary, we curtailed by degrees, -till at last they were totally neglected. - -Once, when we went for a walk on the wall during the hour of prayer, -Lapidoth said to me, "Friend, what is going to become of us? We do not -pray now at all." - -"What do you mean by that?" I inquired. - -"I throw myself," said Lapidoth, "on the mercy of God, who certainly -will not punish his children severely for a slight neglect." - -"God is not merely _merciful_," I replied; "He is also _just_. -Consequently this reason cannot help us much." - -"What do you mean by that?" asked Lapidoth. - -I had by this time obtained from Maimonides more accurate ideas of God -and of our duties towards Him. Accordingly I replied, "Our destination -is merely the _attainment of perfection through the knowledge of God and -the imitation of His actions_. Prayer is simply the expression of our -knowledge of the divine perfections, and, as a result of this knowledge, -is intended merely for the common man who cannot of himself attain to -this knowledge; and therefore it is adapted to his mode of conception. -But as we see into the end of prayer, and can attain to this end -directly, we can dispense altogether with prayer as something -superfluous." - -This reasoning appeared to us both to be sound. We resolved therefore, -for the purpose of avoiding offence, to go out of the house every -morning with our _Taleth_ and _Tephilim_ (Jewish instruments of prayer), -not, however, to the synagogue, but to our favourite retreat, the wall, -and by this means we fortunately escaped the Jewish Inquisition. - -But this enthusiastic companionship, like everything else in the world, -had to come to an end. As we were both married, and our marriages were -tolerably fruitful, we were obliged, for the purpose of supporting our -families, to accept situations as family-tutors. By this means we were -not infrequently separated, and afterwards were able to spend merely a -few weeks in the year together. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -The Life of a Family-Tutor. - - -The place, where I first occupied the position of family-tutor, was at -the distance of a league from my residence. The family was that of a -miserable farmer in a still more miserable village; and my salary was -five thalers in Polish money. The poverty, ignorance, and rudeness in -the manner of life, which prevailed in this house, were indescribable. -The farmer himself was a man of about fifty years, the whole of whose -face was overgrown with hair, ending in a dirty, thick beard as black as -pitch. His language was a sort of muttering, intelligible only to the -boors, with whom he held intercourse daily. Not only was he ignorant of -Hebrew, but he could not speak a word of Jewish; his only language was -Russian, the common patois of the peasantry. His wife and children were -of the same stamp. Moreover, the apartment, in which they lived, was a -hovel of smoke, black as coal inside and out, without a chimney, but -with merely a small opening in the roof for the exit oi the smoke,--an -opening which was carefully closed as soon as the fire was allowed to go -out, so that the heat might not escape. - -The windows were narrow strips of pine laid crosswise over each other, -and covered with paper. This apartment served at once for sitting, -drinking, eating, study and sleep. Think of this room intensely heated, -and the smoke, as is generally the case in winter, driven back by wind -and rain till the whole place is filled with it to suffocation. Here -hang a foul washing and other dirty bits of clothing on poles laid -across the room in order to kill the vermin with the smoke. There hang -sausages to dry, while their fat keeps constantly trickling down on the -heads of people below. Yonder stand tubs with sour cabbage and red -beets, which form the principal food of the Lithuanians. In a corner the -water is kept for daily use, with the dirty water alongside. In this -room the bread is kneaded, cooking and baking are done, the cow is -milked, and all sorts of operations are carried on. - -In this magnificent dwelling the peasants sit on the bare ground; you -dare not sit higher if you do not wish to be suffocated with the smoke. -Here they guzzle their whiskey and make an uproar, while the people of -the house sit in a corner. I usually took my place behind the stove with -my dirty half-naked pupils, and expounded to them out of an old tattered -Bible, from Hebrew into Russian Jewish. All this together made such a -splendid group as deserved to be sketched only by a Hogarth, and to be -sung only by a Butler. - -It may be easily imagined, how pitiable my condition here must have -been. Whiskey had to form my sole comfort; it made me forget all my -misery. This was increased by the fact, that a regiment of Russians, who -were rioting at that time with every conceivable cruelty on the estates -of Prince Radzivil, was stationed in the village and its neighbourhood. -The house was constantly full of drunken Russians, who committed all -sorts of excesses, hewed to pieces tables and benches, threw glasses and -bottles into the faces of the people of the house, and so on. To give -merely one example, a Russian, who was stationed in this house as guard, -and whose charge it was to secure the house against all violence, came -home once drunk, and demanded something to eat. A dish of millet with -butter was placed before him cooked. He shoved the dish away, and -shouted an order for more butter. A whole small tub of butter was -brought, when he shouted again an order for another dish. This was -brought immediately, whereupon he threw all the butter into it, and -called for spirits. A whole bottle was brought, and he poured it -likewise into the dish. Thereafter milk, pepper, salt, and tobacco, in -large quantities had to be brought to him, the whole being put in, and -the mixture devoured. After he had taken some spoonfuls, he began to -strike about him, pulled the host by the beard, struck him in the face -with his fist, so that the blood flowed out of his mouth, poured some of -his glorious broth down his throat, and went on in this riotous manner -till he became so drunk that he could no longer support himself, and -fell to the ground. - -Such scenes were at that time very common everywhere in Poland. If a -Russian army passed a place, they took with them a _prowodnik_, or -guide, to the next place. But instead of seeking to be supplied by the -mayor or the village magistrate, they used to seize the first person -whom they met on the road. He might be young or old, male or female, -healthy or sick, it mattered nothing to them; for they knew the road -well enough from special charts, and only sought an opportunity for -outrage. If it happened that the person seized did not know the way at -all, and did not show them the right road, they did not allow themselves -to be sent astray on this account; they selected the road all right, but -they cudgelled the poor prowodnik till he was half-dead, _for not -knowing the way_! - -I was once seized as a prowodnik myself. I did not indeed know the way, -but luckily I hit upon it by chance. Fortunately, therefore, I reached -the proper place, and the only violence I suffered, besides a good many -blows and kicks from the Russian soldiers, was the threat, that, if ever -I led them astray, I should certainly be flayed alive--a threat which -they might be trusted with carrying into execution. - -The other places which I filled as tutor were more or less similar to -this. In one of these a remarkable psychological incident occurred in -which I took the principal part and which is to be described in the -sequel. An incident of the same kind, however, which happened to -another person and of which I was simply eye-witness, must be mentioned -here. - -A tutor in the next village, who was a somnambulist, rose one night from -his bed and went to the village churchyard with a volume of the Jewish -ceremonial laws in his hand. After remaining some time there he returned -to his bed. In the morning he rose up, without remembering the least of -what had happened during the night, and went to the chest where his copy -of the ceremonial laws was usually kept, in order to take out the first -part, _Orach Chajim_ or the Way of Life, which he was accustomed to read -every morning. The code consists of four parts, each of which was bound -separately, and all the four had certainly been locked up in the chest. -He was therefore astonished to find only three of the parts, _Joreh -Deah_ or the Teacher of Wisdom, being awanting. As he knew about his -disease he searched everywhere, till at last he came to the churchyard -where he found the _Joreh Deah_ lying open at the chapter, _Hilchoth -Abheloth_ or the Laws of Mourning. He took this for a bad omen and came -home much disquieted. On being asked the cause of his disquietude he -related the incident which had occurred, with the addition, "Ah! God -knows how my poor mother is!" He begged of his master the loan of a -horse and permission to ride to the nearest town, where his mother -lived, in order to enquire after her welfare. As he had to pass the -place where I was tutor, and I saw him riding in great excitement -without being willing to dismount even for a little while, I asked him -the cause of his excitement when he related to me the above-mentioned -incident. - -I was astonished, not so much about the particular circumstances of this -incident, as about somnambulism in general, of which till then I had -known nothing. My friend, on the other hand, assured me that -somnambulism was a common occurrence with him, and that it meant -nothing, but that the circumstance of the _Hilchoth Abheloth_ made him -forebode some misfortune. Thereupon he rode off, arrived at his mother's -house, and found her seated at her frame for needlework. She asked him -the reason of his coming, when he replied that he had come merely to pay -her a visit, as he had not seen her for a long time. After he had rested -for a good while, he rode back; but his disquietude was by no means -wholly removed, and the thought of the _Hilchoth Abheloth_ he could not -get out of his head. The third day after, a fire broke out in the town -where his mother lived, and the poor woman perished in the flames. -Scarcely had the son heard of the conflagration, when he began to lament -that his mother had so miserably perished. He rode off in all haste to -the town, and found what he had foreboded. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -Also on a Secret Society, and therefore a Long Chapter. - - -About this time I became acquainted with a sect of my nation, called the -_New Chasidim_, which was then coming into prominence. _Chasidim_ is the -name generally given by the Hebrews to the _pious_, that is, to those -who distinguish themselves by exercising the strictest piety. These -were, from time immemorial, men who had freed themselves from worldly -occupations and pleasures, and devoted their lives to the strictest -exercise of the laws of religion and penance for their sins. As already -mentioned, they sought to accomplish this object by prayers and other -exercises of devotion, by chastisement of the body and similar means. - -But about this time some among them set themselves up for founders of a -new sect. They maintained that true piety does not by any means consist -in chastisement of the body, by which the spiritual quiet and -cheerfulness, necessary to the knowledge and love of God, are disturbed. -On the contrary, they maintained that man must satisfy all his bodily -wants, and seek to enjoy the pleasures of sense, so far as may be -necessary for the development of our feelings, inasmuch as God has -created all for his glory. The true service of God, according to them, -consists in exercises of devotion with exertion of all our powers, and -annihilation of self before God; for they maintain that man, in -accordance with his destination, can reach the highest perfection only -when he regards himself, not as a being that exists and works for -himself, but merely as an organ of the Godhead. Instead therefore of -spending their lives in separation from the world, in suppression of -their natural feelings, and in deadening their powers, they believed -that they acted much more to the purpose, when they sought to develop -their natural feelings as much as possible, to bring their powers into -exercise, and constantly to widen their sphere of work. - -It must be acknowledged, that both of these opposite methods have -something true for a foundation. Of the former the foundation is -obviously Stoicism, that is, an endeavour to determine actions by free -will in accordance with a higher principle than passion; the latter is -founded on the system of perfection. Only both, like everything else in -the world, may be abused, and are abused in actual life. Those of the -first sect drive their penitential disposition to extravagance; instead -of merely regulating their desires and passions by rules of moderation, -they seek to annihilate them; and, instead of endeavouring, like the -Stoics, to find the principle of their actions in pure reason, they seek -it rather in religion. This is a pure source, it is true; but as these -people have false ideas of religion itself, and their virtue has for its -foundation merely the future rewards and punishments of an arbitrary -tyrannical being who governs by mere caprice, in point of fact their -actions flow from an impure source, namely the principle of interest. -Moreover, in their case this interest rests merely on fancies, so that, -in this respect, they are far below the grossest Epicureans, who have, -it is true, a low, but still a real interest as the end of their -actions. Only then can religion yield a principle of virtue, when it is -itself founded on the idea of virtue. - -The adherents of the second sect have indeed more correct ideas of -religion and morals; but since in this respect they regulate themselves -for the most part in accordance with obscure feelings, and not in -accordance with distinct knowledge, they likewise necessarily fall into -all sorts of extravagances. Self-annihilation of necessity cramps their -activity, or gives it a false direction. They have no natural science, -no acquaintance with psychology; and they are vain enough to consider -themselves organs of the Godhead,--which of course they are, to an -extent limited by the degree of perfection they attain. The result is, -that on the credit of the Godhead they perpetrate the greatest excesses; -every extraordinary suggestion is to them a divine inspiration, and -every lively impulse a divine call. - -These sects were not in fact different sects of religion; their -difference consisted merely in the mode of their religious exercises. -But still their animosity went so far, that they decried each other as -heretics, and indulged in mutual persecution. At first the new sect held -the upper hand, and extended itself nearly over the whole of Poland, and -even beyond. The heads of the sect ordinarily sent emissaries -everywhere, whose duty it was to preach the new doctrine and procure -adherents. Now, the majority of the Polish Jews consist of scholars, -that is, men devoted to an inactive and contemplative life; for every -Polish Jew is destined from his birth to be a rabbi, and only the -greatest incapacity can exclude him from the office. Moreover, this new -doctrine was to make the way to blessedness easier, inasmuch as it -declared that fasts and vigils and the constant study of the Talmud are -not only useless, but even prejudicial to that cheerfulness of spirit -which is essential to genuine piety. It was therefore natural that the -adherents of the doctrine spread far and wide in a short time. - -Pilgrimages were made to K. M. and other holy places, where the -enlightened superiors of this sect abode. Young people forsook parents, -wives and children, and went in troops to visit these superiors, and -hear from their lips the new doctrine. The occasion, which led to the -rise of this sect was the following.[43] - -I have already remarked that, since the time when the Jews lost their -national position and were dispersed among other nations where they are -more or less tolerated, they have had no internal form of government but -their religious constitution, by which they are held together and still -form, in spite of their political dispersion, an organic whole. Their -leaders, therefore, have allowed themselves to be occupied with nothing -so much as with imparting additional strength to this, the only bond of -union by which the Jews still constitute a nation. But the doctrines of -their faith and the laws of their religion take their origin in the Holy -Scriptures, while these leave much that is indefinite in regard to their -exposition and application to particular cases. Consequently the aid of -tradition is of necessity called in, and by this means the method of -expounding the Holy Scriptures, as well as the deduction of cases left -undetermined by them, is made to appear as if specified in determinate -laws. This tradition could not of course be entrusted to the whole -nation, but merely to a particular body--a sort of legislative -commission. - -By this means, however, the evil was not avoided. Tradition itself left -much that was still indeterminate. The deduction of particular cases -from the general, and the new laws demanded by the circumstances of -different times, gave occasion for many controversies; but through these -very controversies and the mode of their settlement, this body became -always more numerous, and its influence on the nation more powerful. -The Jewish constitution is therefore in its form aristocratic, and is -accordingly exposed to all the abuses of an aristocracy. The unlearned -classes of the people, being burdened with the care of supporting not -only themselves but also the indispensable learned class, were unable to -give their attention to abuses of the kind. But from time to time men -have arisen out of the legislative body itself, who have not only -denounced its abuses, but have even called in question its authority. - -Of this sort was the founder of the Christian religion, who at the very -outset placed himself in opposition to the tyranny of this aristocracy, -and brought back the whole ceremonial law to its origin, namely, a pure -moral system, to which the ceremonial law stands related as means to -end. In this way the reformation at least of a part of the nation was -accomplished. Of the same sort also was the notorious Shabbethai Zebi, -who, at the close of last century[44] set himself up as Messiah, and was -going to abolish the whole ceremonial law, especially the rabbinical -institutions. A moral system founded upon reason would, owing to the -deeply rooted prejudices of the nation at that time, have been powerless -to work out a wholesome reformation. To their prejudices and fanaticism -therefore it was necessary to oppose prejudices and fanaticism. This -was done in the following way. - -A secret society, whose founders belonged to the disaffected spirits of -the nation, had already taken root in it for a long time. A certain -French rabbi, named Moses de Leon, is said, according to Rabbi Joseph -Candia, to have composed the _Zohar_, and to have foisted it upon the -nation as an old book having for its author the celebrated Talmudist, -Rabbi ben Jochai. This book contains, as stated above, an exposition of -the Holy Scriptures in accordance with the principles of the Cabbalah; -or rather, it contains these principles themselves delivered in the form -of an exposition of the Holy Scriptures, and drawn, as it were, from -these. It has, like Janus, a double face, and admits, therefore, of a -double interpretation. - -The one is that which is given with great diffuseness in Cabbalistic -writings, and has been brought into a system. Here is a wide field for -the imagination, where it can revel at will without being in the end -better instructed on the matter than before. Here are delivered, in -figurative language, many moral and physical truths, which lose -themselves at last in the labyrinth of the hyperphysical. This method of -treating the Cabbalah is peculiar to Cabbalistic scholars, and -constitutes the lesser mysteries of this secret society. - -The second method, on the other hand, concerns the secret political -meaning of the Cabbalah, and is known only to the superiors of the -secret society. These superiors themselves, as well as their operations, -remain ever unknown; the rest of the society you may become acquainted -with, if you choose. But the latter _cannot_ betray political secrets -which are unknown to themselves, while the former _will not_ do it, -because it is against their interest. Only the lesser (purely literary) -mysteries are entrusted to the people, and urged upon them as matters of -the highest importance. The greater (political) mysteries are not -taught, but, as a matter of course, are brought into practice. - -A certain Cabbalist, Rabbi Joel Baalshem[45] by name, became very -celebrated at this time on account of some lucky cures which he effected -by means of his medical acquirements and his conjuring tricks, as he -gave out that all this was done, not by natural means, but solely by -help of the _Cabbalah Maasith_ (the practical Cabbalah), and the use of -sacred names. In this way he played a very successful game in Poland. He -also took care to have followers in his art. Among his disciples were -some, who took hold of his profession, and made themselves a name by -successful cures and the detection of robberies. With their cures the -process was quite natural. They employed the common means of medicine, -but after the usual method of the conjurer they sought to turn the -attention of the spectator from these, and direct it to their -Cabbalistic hocus-pocus. The robberies they either brought about -themselves, or they discovered them by means of their detectives, who -were spread all over the country. - -Others of greater genius and a nobler mode of thinking, formed far -grander plans. They saw that their private interest, as well as the -general interest, could be best promoted by gaining the people's -confidence, and this they sought to command by enlightenment. Their plan -was therefore moral and political at the same time.[46] At first it -appeared as if they would merely do away with the abuses which had crept -into the Jewish system of religion and morals; but this drew after it of -necessity a complete abrogation of the whole system. The principal -points which they attacked were these:-- - -1. The abuse of rabbinical learning. Instead of simplifying the laws and -rendering them capable of being known by all, the learning of the rabbis -leaves them still more confused and indefinite. Moreover, being occupied -only with the study of the laws, it gives as much attention to those -which are no longer of any application, such as the laws of sacrifice, -of purification, etc., as to those which are still in use. Besides, it -is not the study, but the observance of the laws, that forms the chief -concern, since the study of them is not an end in itself, but merely a -means to their observance. And, finally, in the observance of the laws -the rabbis have regard merely to the external ceremony, not to the moral -end. - -2. The abuse of piety on the part of the so-called penitents. These -become very zealous, it is true, about the practice of virtue. Their -motive to virtue, however, is not that knowledge of God and His -perfection, which is based on reason; it consists rather in false -representations of God and His attributes. They failed therefore of -necessity to find true virtue, and hit upon a spurious imitation. -Instead of aspiring after likeness to God, and striving to escape from -the bondage of sensual passions into the dominion of a free will that -finds its motive in reason, they sought to annihilate their passions by -annihilating their powers of activity, as I have already shown by some -deplorable examples. - -On the other hand, those who sought to enlighten the people required, as -an indispensable condition of true virtue, a cheerful state of mind -disposed to every form of active exertion; and they not only allowed, -but even recommended, a moderate enjoyment of all kinds of pleasure as -necessary for the attainment of this cheerful disposition. Their worship -consisted in a voluntary elevation above the body, that is, in an -abstraction of the thoughts from all created things, even from the -individual self, and in union with God. By this means a kind of -self-denial arose among them, which led them to ascribe, not to -themselves, but to God alone, all the actions undertaken in this state. -Their worship therefore consisted in a sort of speculative adoration, -for which they held no special time or formula to be necessary, but they -left each one to determine it according to the degree of his knowledge. -Still they chose for it most commonly the hours set apart for the public -worship of God. In their public worship they endeavoured mainly to -attain that elevation above the body, which has been described; they -became so absorbed in the idea of the divine perfection, that they lost -the idea of everything else, even of their own body, and, as they gave -out, the body became in this state wholly devoid of feeling. - -Such abstraction, however, was a very difficult matter; and accordingly, -whenever they came out of this state by new suggestions taking -possession of their minds, they laboured, by all sorts of _mechanical -operations_, such as movements and cries, to bring themselves back into -the state once more, and to keep themselves in it without interruption -during the whole time of their worship. It was amusing to observe how -they often interrupted their prayers by all sorts of extraordinary tones -and comical gestures, which were meant as threats and reproaches against -their adversary, the Evil Spirit, who tried to disturb their devotion; -and how by this means they wore themselves out to such an extent, that, -on finishing their prayers, they commonly fell down in complete -exhaustion. - -It is not to be denied that, however sound may be the basis of such a -worship, it is subject to abuse just as much as the other. The internal -activity following upon cheerfulness of mind, must depend on the degree -of knowledge acquired. Self-annihilation before God is only then -well-founded, when a man's faculty of knowledge, owing to the grandeur -of its object, is so entirely occupied with that object, that he exists, -as it were, out of himself, in the object alone. If, on the contrary, -the faculty of knowledge is limited in respect of its object, so that it -is incapable of any steady progress, then the activity mentioned, by -being concentrated on this single object, is repressed rather than -stimulated. Some simple men of this sect, who sauntered about idly the -whole day with pipe in mouth, when asked, what they were thinking about -all the time, replied, "We are thinking about God." This answer would -have been satisfactory, if they had constantly sought, by an adequate -knowledge of nature, to extend their knowledge of the divine -perfections. But this was impossible in their case, as their knowledge -of nature was extremely limited; and consequently the condition, in -which they concentrated their activity upon an object which, in respect -of their capacity, was unfruitful, became of necessity unnatural. -Moreover, their actions could be ascribed to God, only when they were -the results of an accurate knowledge of God; but when they resulted from -a very limited degree of this knowledge, it was inevitable that all -sorts of excesses should be committed on the credit of God, as -unfortunately the issue has shown. - -But the fact that this sect spread so rapidly, and that the new doctrine -met with so much applause among the majority of the nation, may be very -easily explained. The natural inclination to idleness and a life of -speculation on the part of the majority, who from birth are destined to -study, the dryness and unfruitfulness of rabbinical studies, and the -great burden of the ceremonial law, which the new doctrine promised to -lighten, finally the tendency to fanaticism and the love of the -marvellous, which are nourished by this doctrine,--these are sufficient -to make this phenomenon intelligible. - -At first the rabbis and the pietists opposed the spread of this sect in -the old fashion; but in spite of this, for the reasons just mentioned, -it maintained the upper hand. Hostilities were practised on both sides. -Each party sought to gain adherents. A ferment arose in the nation, and -opinions were divided. - -I could not form any accurate idea of the new sect, and did not know -what to think of it, till I met with a young man, who had already been -initiated into the society, and had enjoyed the good fortune of -conversing with its superiors. This man happened to be travelling -through the place of my abode, and I seized the opportunity of asking -for some information about the internal constitution of the society, the -mode of admission, and so forth. The stranger was still in the lowest -grade of membership, and consequently knew nothing about the internal -constitution of the society. He was therefore unable to give me any -information on the subject; but, as far as the mode of admission was -concerned, he assured me that that was the simplest thing in the world. -Any man, who felt a desire of perfection, but did not know how to -satisfy it, or wished to remove the hindrances to its satisfaction, had -nothing to do but apply to the superiors of the society, and _eo ipso_ -he became a member. He did not even require, as you must do on applying -to a medical doctor, to say anything to these superiors about his moral -weakness, his previous life, and matters of that sort, inasmuch as -nothing was unknown to the superiors, they could see into the human -heart, and discern everything that is concealed in its secret recesses, -they could foretell the future, and bring near at hand things that are -remote. Their sermons and moral teachings were not, as these things -commonly are, thought over and arranged in an orderly manner beforehand. -This method is proper only to the man, who regards himself as a being -existing and working for himself apart from God. But the superiors of -this sect hold that their teachings are divine and therefore infallible, -only when they are the result of self-annihilation before God, that is, -when they are suggested to them _ex tempore_, by the exigence of -circumstances, without their contributing anything themselves. - -As I was quite captivated by this description I begged the stranger to -communicate to me some of these divine teachings. He clapped his hand on -his brow as if he were waiting for inspiration from the Holy Ghost, and -turned to me with a solemn mien and his arms half-bared, which he -brought into action somewhat like Corporal Trim, when he was reading the -sermon. Then he began as follows:-- - -"'Sing unto God a new song; His praise is in the congregation of saints' -(Psalm cxlix., 1). Our superiors explain this verse in the following -way. The attributes of God as the most perfect being must surpass by far -the attributes of every finite being; and consequently His praise, as -the expression of His attributes, must likewise surpass the praise of -any such being. Till the present time the praise of God consisted in -ascribing to Him supernatural operations, such as the discovery of what -is concealed, the foreseeing of the future, and the production of -effects immediately by His mere will. Now, however, the saints, that is, -the superiors, are able to perform such supernatural actions themselves. -Accordingly in this respect God has no longer preeminence over them; and -it is therefore necessary to find some new praise, which is proper to -God alone." - -Quite charmed with this ingenious method of interpreting the Holy -Scriptures, I begged the stranger for some more expositions of the same -kind. He proceeded therefore in his inspired manner:--"'When the -minstrel played, the spirit of God came upon him' (2 Kings iii. 15). -This is explained in the following way. As long as a man is self-active, -he is incapable of receiving the influence of the Holy Ghost; for this -purpose he must hold himself like an instrument in a purely passive -state. The meaning of the passage is therefore this. When the minstrel -(x"Oe.xzOe1/4Oe deg.x Oe.x'Oe1/4Oe muxY, the servant of God), becomes like his instrument -(x>Oe1/4Oe deg.x Oe.x'Oe1/4Oe muxY), then the spirit of God comes upon him."[47] - -"Now," said the stranger again, "hear the interpretation of a passage -from the Mishnah, where it is said, 'The honour of thy neighbour shall -be as dear to thee as thine own.' Our teachers explain this in the -following way. It is certain that no man will find pleasure in doing -honour to himself: this would be altogether ridiculous. But it would be -just as ridiculous to make too much of the marks of honour received from -another, as these confer on us no more intrinsic worth than we have -already. This passage therefore means merely, that the honour of thy -neighbour (the honour which thy neighbour shows to thee) must be of as -little value in thine eyes, as thine own (the honour which thou showest -to thyself)." - -I could not help being astonished at the exquisite refinement of these -thoughts; and charmed with the ingenious exegesis, by which they were -supported.[48] My imagination was strained to the highest pitch by these -descriptions, and consequently I wished nothing so much as the pleasure -of becoming a member of this honourable society. I resolved therefore to -undertake a journey to M----, where the superior B---- resided. I waited -with the greatest impatience for the close of my period of service, -which lasted still for some weeks. As soon as this came to an end, -instead of going home (though I was only two miles away), I started at -once on my pilgrimage. The journey extended over some weeks. - -At last I arrived at M----, and after having rested from my journey I -went to the house of the superior under the idea that I could be -introduced to him at once. I was told, however, that he could not speak -to me at the time, but that I was invited to his table on Sabbath along -with the other strangers who had come to visit him; that I should then -have the happiness of seeing the saintly man face to face, and of -hearing the sublimest teachings out of his own mouth; that although this -was a public audience, yet, on account of the individual references -which I should find made to myself, I might regard it as a special -interview. - -Accordingly on Sabbath I went to this solemn meal, and found there a -large number of respectable men who had met here from various quarters. -At length the great man appeared in his awe-inspiring form, clothed in -white satin. Even his shoes and snuffbox were white, this being among -the Cabbalists the colour of grace. He gave to every new comer his -salaam, that is, his greeting. We sat down to table and during the meal -a solemn silence reigned. After the meal was over, the superior struck -up a solemn inspiriting melody, held his hand for some time upon his -brow, and then began to call out, "Z---- of H----, M---- of R----," and -so on. Every new comer was thus called by his own name and the name of -his residence, which excited no little astonishment. Each recited, as he -was called, some verse of the Holy Scriptures. Thereupon the superior -began to deliver a sermon for which the verses recited served as a text, -so that although they were disconnected verses taken from different -parts of the Holy Scriptures they were combined with as much skill as if -they had formed a single whole. What was still more extraordinary, -every one of the new comers believed that he discovered, in that part of -the sermon which was founded on his verse, something that had special -reference to the facts of his own spiritual life. At this we were of -course greatly astonished. - -It was not long, however, before I began to qualify the high opinion I -had formed of this superior and the whole society. I observed that their -ingenious exegesis was at bottom false, and, in addition to that, was -limited strictly to their own extravagant principles, such as the -doctrine of self-annihilation. When a man had once learned these, there -was nothing new for him to bear. The so-called miracles could be very -naturally explained. By means of correspondence and spies and a certain -knowledge of men, by physiognomy and skilful questions, the superiors -were able to elicit indirectly the secrets of the heart, so that they -succeeded with these simple men in obtaining the reputation of being -inspired prophets. - -The whole society also displeased me not a little by their cynical -spirit and the excess of their merriment. A single example of this may -suffice. We had met once at the hour of prayer in the house of the -superior. One of the company arrived somewhat late, when the others -asked him the reason. He replied that he had been detained by his wife -having been that evening confined with a daughter. As soon as they heard -this, they began to congratulate him in a somewhat uproarious fashion. -The superior thereupon came out of his study and asked the cause of the -noise. He was told that we were congratulating our friend, because his -wife had brought a girl into the world. "A girl!" he answered with the -greatest indignation, "he ought to be whipped."[49] The poor fellow -protested. He could not comprehend why he should be made to suffer for -his wife having brought a girl into the world. But this was of no avail: -he was seized, thrown down on the floor, and whipped unmercifully. All -except the victim fell into an hilarious mood over the affair, upon -which the superior called them to prayer in the following words, "Now, -brethren, _serve the Lord with gladness_!" - -I would not stay in the place any longer. I sought the superior's -blessing, took my departure from the society with the resolution to -abandon it for ever, and returned home. - -Now I shall say something of the internal constitution of the society. -The superiors may, according to my experience, be brought under four -heads: (1) the prudent, (2) the crafty, (3) the powerful,[50] (4) the -good. - -The highest class, which rules all the others, is of course the first. -These are men of enlightenment, who have attained a deep knowledge of -the weaknesses of men and the motives of their actions, and have early -learned the truth that prudence is better than power, inasmuch as power -is in part dependent on prudence, while prudence is independent of -power. A man may have as many powers and in as high a degree as he will, -still his influence is always limited. By prudence, however, and a sort -of psychological mechanics, that is, an insight into the best possible -use of these powers and their direction, they may be infinitely -strengthened. These prudent leaders, therefore, have devoted themselves -to the art of ruling free men, that is, of using the will and powers of -other men, so that while these believe themselves to be advancing merely -their own ends, they are in reality advancing the ends of their leaders. -This can be maintained by a judicious combination and regulation of the -powers, so that by the slightest touch upon this instrument it may -produce the greatest effect. There is here no deceit, for, as -presupposed, the others themselves reach their own ends by this means -best. - -The second class, the crafty, also use the will and the powers of others -for the attainment of their ends; but in regard to these ends they are -more short-sighted or more impetuous than the former class. It often -happens, therefore, that they seek to attain their ends at the expense -of others; and their skill consists not merely in attaining their own -ends, like the first class, but in carefully concealing from others the -fact that they have not reached theirs. - -The powerful are men who, by their inborn or acquired moral force, rule -over the weakness of others, especially when their force is such as is -seldom found in others, as, for example, the control of all the passions -but one, which is made the end of their actions. - -The good are weak men who are merely passive in respect of their -knowledge and power of will, and whose ends are reached, not by -controlling, but by allowing themselves to be controlled. - -The highest class, that of the prudent, supervising all the others -without being under their supervision, as a matter of course rules them -all. It makes use of the crafty on their good side, and seeks to make -them harmless on their other side by outwitting them, so that when they -believe they are deceiving, they themselves are deceived. It makes use, -moreover, of the powerful for the attainment of more important ends, but -seeks, when necessary, to keep them in check by the opposition of -several, it may be weaker, powers. Finally it makes use of the good for -the attainment of its ends, not merely with them but also with others, -inasmuch as it commends these weak brethren to the others as an example -of submission that is worthy of imitation, and by this means clears out -of the way those hindrances that arise from the independent activity of -the others. - -This highest class begins usually with Stoicism, and ends with -Epicureanism. Its members consist of pious men of the first sort, that -is, such as have for a considerable time devoted themselves to the -strictest exercise of religious and moral laws, to the control of their -desires and passions. But they do not, like the Stoic, look upon -Stoicism as an end in itself; they regard it merely as a means to the -highest end of man, namely, happiness. They do not therefore remain at -the Stoical stage, but, after having obtained from it all that is -necessary to the highest end, they hasten to that end itself, the -enjoyment of happiness. By their exercise in the strictest Stoicism -their sensibility for all sorts of pleasure is heightened and ennobled, -instead of becoming duller, as it is with gross Epicureans. By means of -this exercise also they are placed in a position to defer every pleasure -that presents itself till they have determined its real worth, which a -gross Epicurean will not do. - -The first impulse to Stoicism, however, must lie in the temperament, and -it is only by a kind of self-deception that it is shifted to the account -of voluntary activity. But this vanity imparts courage for actual -undertakings of a voluntary nature, and this courage is continually -fired by their successful issue. As the superiors of this sect are not -men of science, it is not to be supposed that they have hit upon their -system by the guidance of reason alone. Rather, as already said, the -motive was, in the first instance, temperament, in the second, religious -ideas; and it was only after that, that they could attain to a clear -knowledge and practice of their system in its purity. - -This sect was therefore, in regard to its end and its means, a sort of -secret society, which had nearly acquired dominion over the whole -nation; and consequently one of the greatest revolutions was to have -been expected, if the excesses of some of its members had not laid bare -many weak spots, and thus put weapons into the hands of its enemies. -Some among them, who wished to pass for genuine Cynics, violated all the -laws of decency, wandered about naked in the public streets, attended to -the wants of nature in the presence of others, and so on. By their -practice of extemporising, as a consequence of their principle of -self-annihilation, they introduced into their sermons all sorts of -foolish, unintelligible, confused stuff. By this means some of them -became insane, and believed that in fact they were no longer in -existence. To all this must be added their pride and contempt of others -who did not belong to their sect, especially of the rabbis, who, though -they had their faults, were still far more active and useful than these -ignorant idlers. Men began to find out their weaknesses, to disturb -their meetings, and to persecute them everywhere. This was brought about -especially by the authority of a celebrated rabbi, Elias of Wilna,[51] -who stood in great esteem among the Jews, so that now scarcely any -traces of the society can be found scattered here and there. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -Continuation of the Former, and also something about Religious -Mysteries. - - -After the account of the secret society in the last chapter, this seems -the most appropriate place to state, for the examination of the -thoughtful reader, my opinion about _mysteries in general_, and about -the _mysteries of religion_ in particular. - -_Mysteries in general_ are modes of the causal relation between objects -in nature,--modes which are real or held to be real, but which cannot be -disclosed to every man by the natural use of his powers of knowledge. -_Eternal truths_, that is, those necessary relations of objects which -are founded on the nature of our powers of knowledge, however few may be -familiar with them, are not, according to this definition, mysteries, -because any one can discover them by the use of his powers of knowledge. - -On the other hand, the results of _sympathy_ and _antipathy_, the -medical _specifics_, and similar effects, which some men fall upon by -mere accident, and which they afterwards find confirmed by means of -observations and experiments, are genuine _mysteries of nature_, which -can be made known to another person, not by the use of his powers of -knowledge, but only either by an accident of the same kind, or by -communication from the first discoverer. If mysteries of this sort are -not confirmed by observation and experiment, the belief in their reality -is called _superstition_. - -_Religion_ is a covenant formed between man and another moral being of a -higher genus. It presupposes a natural relation between man and this -higher moral being, so that, by the mutual fulfilment of their covenant, -they advance the interest of each other. If this natural relation (not -being merely arbitrary and conventional) is real, and the mutual -obligation of the contracting persons is founded on this relation, then -it forms a _true_, but otherwise a _false_, natural religion. If the -mutual obligation between man and the higher being or his -representatives is drawn up in a formal code, there arises a _positive_ -or _revealed religion_. - -The true religion, natural as well as revealed, which, as already -observed, constitutes Judaism, consists in a contract, at first merely -understood, but afterwards expressed, between man and the Supreme Being, -who revealed Himself to the patriarchs in person (in dreams and -prophetic appearances), and made known by them His will, the reward of -obeying it and the punishment of disobedience, regarding which a -covenant was then with mutual consent concluded. Subsequently, through -his representative Moses, He renewed His covenant with the Israelites in -Egypt, determining more precisely their mutual obligations; and this -was afterwards on both sides formally confirmed on Mount Sinai. - -To the thoughtful reader I do not need to say, that the representation -of a covenant between God and man is to be taken merely _analogically_, -and not in its strict sense. The absolutely Perfect Being can reveal -Himself merely _as idea to the reason_. What revealed itself to the -patriarchs and prophets, suitably to their power of comprehension, in -figure, in an anthropomorphic manner, was not the absolutely Perfect -Being Himself, but a representative of Him, His sensible image. The -covenant, which this Being concludes with man, has not for its end the -mutual satisfaction of wants; for the Supreme Being has no wants, and -the wants of man are satisfied, not by means of this covenant, but only -by observation of those relations between himself and other natural -objects, which are founded on the laws of nature. This covenant, -therefore, can have its foundation nowhere but in the nature of reason, -without reference to any end. - -Heathenism, in my opinion, is distinguished from Judaism mainly by the -fact, that the latter rests upon the _formal_, absolutely necessary laws -of reason, while the former (even if it be founded on the nature of -things and therefore real) rests upon the _material_ laws of nature -which are merely hypothetically necessary. From this the inevitable -result is polytheism; every particular cause is personified by -imagination, that is, represented as a moral being, and made a -particular deity. At first this result was a matter of mere -_Empiricism_; but by and by men had occasion to observe that these -causes, which were represented as particular deities, were dependent on -each other in their effects, and in a certain aspect subordinate to each -other. There thus arose gradually a whole system of heathen theology, in -which every deity maintains his rank, and his relation to the rest is -determined. - -Judaism, on the other hand, in its very origin contemplated a _system_, -that is, a unity among the forces of nature; and thereby it received at -last this _pure formal_ unity. This unity is merely of _regulative_ use, -that is, for the complete systematic connection of all the phenomena of -nature; and it presupposes a knowledge of the _multiplicity_ of the -various forces in nature. But owing to their excessive love of system, -and their anxiety for the preservation of the _principle_ in its purity, -the Israelites seem to have wholly neglected its application. The result -was that they preserved a religion which was pure indeed, but at the -same time very unfruitful, both for the extension of knowledge and for -its application in practical life. By this cause may be explained their -constant murmuring against the leaders of their religion, and their -repeated relapse into idolatry. They could not, like enlightened nations -at the present day, direct their attention to purity of principle and -useful application of their religion at the same time, and therefore of -necessity they failed either in the one or in the other. Finally the -Talmudists introduced a merely _formal_ application of religion which -aimed at no real end; and by this means they made matters worse and -worse. - -This religion, therefore, which, by the intention of its founder, should -have formed the Jews into the wisest and most intelligent of nations, -made them by its injudicious application the most ignorant and -unreasonable of all. Instead of the knowledge of nature being combined -with the knowledge of religion, and the former subordinated to the -latter merely as the material to the formal, the former was altogether -neglected; and the principle, maintained in its mere abstractness, -continued without any application. - -Mysteries of religion are objects and acts, which are adapted to ideas -and principles, and the inner meaning of which is of great importance, -but which have in their outward form something unseemly or ridiculous or -otherwise objectionable. They must therefore, even in regard to their -outward form, be kept concealed from the vulgar eye, which cannot -penetrate into the inner meaning of anything; and accordingly for it -they must be a double mystery. That is to say, the objects or acts -themselves constitute the lesser mysteries, and their inner meaning the -greater mysteries. - -Of this sort, for example, among the Jews, in the tabernacle, and -afterwards in the Holy of Holies in the temple, was the ark of the -covenant, which, according to the testimony of renowned authors, showed -much resemblance to the sacred chest in the innermost shrine of some -heathen temples. Thus we find among the Egyptians the casket of Apis, -that concealed from the vulgar eye this dead animal, which as a symbol -indeed had an important meaning, but in itself presented a repulsive -aspect. The ark of the covenant in the first temple contained, it is -true, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, nothing besides the -two tables of the law; but of the ark in the second temple, built after -the Babylonian captivity, I find in the Talmud a passage which is too -remarkable not to be adduced. According to this passage the enemies, who -seized the temple, found in the Holy of Holies the likeness of two -persons of different sex embracing, and profaned the sacred object by a -crass exposition of its inner meaning. This likeness was said to be a -vivid sensible representation of the union between the nation and God, -and, in order to guard against abuse, had to be withdrawn from the eye -of the common people, who cling to the symbol, but do not penetrate to -its inner meaning. For the same reason the _cherubim_ also were -concealed behind the veil. - -Of the same sort were the mysteries of the ancients in general. But the -greatest of all mysteries in the Jewish religion consists in the name, -Jehovah, expressing _bare existence_, in abstraction from all -_particular kinds of existence_, which cannot of course be conceived -without _existence in general_. The doctrine of the unity of God, and -the dependence of all beings on Him, in regard to their possibility as -well as their actuality, can be perfectly comprehended only in -conformity with a _single system_. When Josephus, in his apology against -Apion, says, "The first instruction of our religion relates to the -Godhead, and teaches that God comprehends all things, is an absolutely -Perfect and Blessed Being, and is the _sole cause of all existence_," I -believe that these words contain the best explanation of the otherwise -difficult passage, where Moses says to God, "Behold, when I come unto -the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers -hath sent me unto you, and they shall ask, What is his name? what shall -I answer unto them?" and God replies, "Thus shalt thou say unto the -children of Israel, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of -Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob hath sent me unto you, for this is my name for -ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations."[52] For, in my -opinion, this passage means nothing more than that the Jewish religion -lays at its foundation the unity of God as the _immediate_ cause of all -existence; and it says therefore precisely the same as the remarkable -inscription on the pyramid at Sais, "I am all that is and was and shall -be; my veil has no mortal removed," and that other inscription under the -column of Isis, "I am that which is." The name, Jehovah, is called by -the Talmudists _Shem haezam_ (_nomen proprium_), the name of the -essence, which belongs to God in Himself, without reference to His -operations. The other names of God, however, are _appellative_, and -express attributes which he has in common with all His creatures, only -that they belong to Him in the most eminent degree. For example, -_Elohim_ is a lord, a judge. _El_ is a mighty one, _Adonai_, a lord; and -the same is the case with all the rest. The Talmudists drive this point -so far as to maintain, that the Holy Scriptures consist merely of the -manifold names of God. - -The Cabbalists made use of this principle. Having enumerated the chief -attributes of God, arranged them in order and brought them into a system -which they call _Olam Eziloth_ or _Sephiroth_, they not only picked out -an appropriate name for each in the Holy Scriptures, but they made in -addition all sorts of combinations of these attributes in various -relations, which they expressed by similar combinations of the -corresponding names. They could therefore easily expound the Holy -Scriptures according to their method, inasmuch as they found therein -nothing but what they had before put in themselves. - -Besides these there may also be mysteries in a religion which consist in -the knowledge that the religion, as understood by enlightened people, -has no mysteries at all. This knowledge may be connected either with an -endeavour to destroy gradually among the people the belief in mysteries, -and to banish the so-called lesser mysteries by publishing the greater, -or, on the contrary, with an endeavour to preserve among the people the -belief in mysteries, and to make the preservation of the lesser -mysteries part of the subject of the greater. - -The Jewish religion, according to the spirit of its founder, is of the -first kind. Moses, as well as the prophets who followed him, sought -constantly to inculcate that the end of religion is not _external -ceremonies_, but the knowledge of the true God as the sole -incomprehensible cause of all things, and the practice of virtue in -accordance with the prescriptions of reason. - -The heathen religions, on the other hand, show evident traces of the -second kind. Still I am not, like some, inclined to believe that -everything in these was planned for _intentional deception_, but I -believe that the founders of these religions were for the most part -deceived deceivers; and this mode of representing the matter is far more -in accordance with human nature. I am also unable to imagine that such -secret designs could be propagated, by means of a formal tradition, from -generation to generation. And, moreover, what would have been the use of -this? Have not later generations the same faculty as the earlier of -contriving schemes to reach their ends? There are princes who have never -read Macchiavelli, and yet have admirably carried his principles into -practice. - -With regard to the society of pietists described above I am persuaded -that it had as little connection with the free-masons as with any other -secret society. But conjectures are allowed, and here we have to do -merely with the _degree of probability_. In my opinion there are in -every state societies which are essentially secret, but which externally -have no appearance of being such. Every body of men with a common -interest is to me a secret society. Its aim and principal operations may -be ever so well known, still the _most important_ of these remain -concealed to the uninitiated. Of such a secret society, as of others, -much good as well as evil may therefore be said; and so long as they do -not carry their mischief too far, they are always tolerated. - -The Society of Pietists had a similar end in view to that of the Order -of Illuminati in Bavaria, and employed nearly the same means. Its aim -was to spread itself among people wandering in the dark; and it made use -of superstition in a remarkable manner, as means to this end. It sought -chiefly to attract the youth to itself, and by a sort of empirical -knowledge of men, to educate every member to that, for which he seemed -to be destined by nature, and to assign him his proper place. Every -member of the society was allowed to acquire as much knowledge of its -aim and internal constitution, as enabled him to look merely backwards -on his subordinates, but not forwards on his superiors. These superiors -understood the art of communicating truths of reason by means of sublime -figures, and of translating these figurative representations into truths -of reason. It might almost be said of them, that _they understood the -language of animals_--a very important art, which is indispensable to -every teacher of the people. By doing away with a gloomy piety, their -doctrines met with acceptance among the lively youth. The principle of -self-annihilation, taught by them, is, when well understood, nothing -else than the foundation of self-activity. By its means all the modes of -thought and action, which have become rooted by education, habit and -communication with others, and by which human activity is wont to -receive a wrong direction, are to be destroyed, and one's own free mode -of action introduced. Moral and A|sthetic feeling can in fact be -preserved and perfected by this principle alone. It is only when ill -understood, that it can be injurious, as I have shown by the example of -this society itself. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -Journeys to KA¶nigsberg, Stettin and Berlin, for the purpose of extending -my knowledge of men. - - -My external circumstances were becoming worse and worse. I was unwilling -any longer to adapt myself to my ordinary occupations, and found myself -therefore everywhere out of my sphere. On the other hand, I was also -unable in the place of my abode to satisfy sufficiently my favourite -inclination to the study of the sciences. So I determined to betake -myself to Germany, there to study medicine and, as opportunity offered, -other sciences also. But the question was, how such a long journey was -to be made. I knew indeed, that some merchants in the place of my abode -were soon to make a journey to KA¶nigsberg in Prussia; but I had only a -slight acquaintance with them, and could not therefore expect that they -would take me with them for nothing. After much deliberation I fell at -last upon a capital expedient. - -I had among my friends a very learned and pious man, who stood in great -esteem among all the Jews of the town. To him I revealed my purpose, and -took him into counsel on the subject. I laid before him my miserable -circumstances, pointed out to him, that, as my inclinations had been -once directed to the knowledge of God and His works, I was no longer fit -for any ordinary occupation; and I represented to him especially, that I -was now obliged to support myself by my scholarship alone, as an -instructor in the Bible and the Talmud, which, according to the judgment -of some rabbis, was not altogether allowable. I explained to him, that -on this account I wished to study medicine as a profane art, by which -means I might be of service, not only to myself, but to the whole of the -Jews in this neighbourhood, as there was no regular physician here, and -those, who gave themselves out for such, were the most ignorant shavers, -who packed men out of the world by their cures. - -These reasons produced an extraordinary effect on so devout a man. He -went to a merchant of his acquaintance, represented to him the -importance of my undertaking, and persuaded him to take me with him to -KA¶nigsberg on his own vessel. The merchant could refuse nothing to so -godly a man, and therefore gave his consent. - -Accordingly I set out with this Jewish merchant for KA¶nigsberg in -Prussia. When I arrived there, I went to the Jewish medical doctor of -the place, opened to him my proposal to study medicine, and begged him -for advice and support. As his professional occupations prevented him -from conveniently speaking with me on the subject, and as he could not -understand me well at any rate, he referred me to some students who -lodged in his house. As soon as I showed myself to these young -gentlemen, and opened to them my proposal, they burst into loud -laughter. And certainly for this they were not to be blamed. Imagine a -man from Polish Lithuania of about five and twenty years, with a -tolerably stiff beard, in tattered dirty clothes, whose language is a -mixture of Hebrew, Jewish German, Polish and Russian, with their several -grammatical inaccuracies, who gives out that he understands the German -language, and that he has attained some knowledge of the sciences. What -were the young gentlemen to think? - -They began to poke fun at me, and gave me to read Mendelssohn's -_Phaedo_, which by chance lay on the table. I read in the most pitiful -style, both on account of the peculiar manner in which I had learned the -German language, and on account of my bad pronunciation. Again they -burst into loud laughter; but they said, I must explain to them what I -had read. This I did in my own fashion; but as they did not understand -me, they demanded that I should translate what I had read into Hebrew. -This I did on the spot. The students, who understood Hebrew well, fell -into no slight astonishment, when they saw that I had not only grasped -correctly the meaning of this celebrated author, but also expressed it -happily in Hebrew. They began therefore to interest themselves on my -account, procured for me some cast-off clothing, and board during my -stay in KA¶nigsberg. At the same time they advised me to go to Berlin, -where I should best attain my object. To make the journey suit my -circumstances, however, they advised me to go by ship from KA¶nigsberg to -Stettin, and thence to Frankfurt on the Oder, from which place I should -easily find means of getting to Berlin. - -I went therefore by ship, and had nothing for food but some toast, some -herring, and a flask of spirits. I was told in KA¶nigsberg, that the -journey might take ten or, at the most, fourteen days. This prophecy, -however, was not fulfilled. In consequence of contrary winds, the voyage -lasted five weeks. In what circumstances, therefore, I found myself, may -be easily imagined. There were in the vessel besides me no other -passengers, but an old woman, who sang hymns all the time for her -comfort. The Pomeranian German of the crew I could understand as little -as they could my medley of Jewish, Polish and Lithuanian. I got nothing -warm to eat the whole time, and was obliged to sleep on hard stuffed -bags. The vessel came also sometimes into danger. Of course the most of -the time I was seasick. - -At last I arrived at Stettin, where I was told that I could make the -journey to Frankfurt quite pleasantly on foot. But how was a Polish Jew -in the most wretched circumstances, without a pfennig to buy food, and -without knowing the language of the country, to make a journey even of a -few miles? Yet it had to be done. Accordingly I set out from Stettin, -and as I thought over my miserable situation, I sat down under a -lime-tree, and began to weep bitterly. I soon became somewhat lighter in -heart; I took courage, and went on. After I had gone two or three miles, -towards evening I arrived at an inn thoroughly worn out. It was the eve -of the Jewish fast, which falls in August. Already I was nearly starving -with hunger and thirst, and I was to fast still the whole of the next -day. I had not a pfennig to spend and nothing of any value to sell. - -After long reflection it occurred to me, that I must still have in my -coat-pocket an iron spoon, which I had taken with me on board ship. I -brought it, and begged the landlady of the inn to give me a little bread -and beer for it. She refused at first to take the spoon, but after much -importunity she was at last induced to grant a glass of sour beer in -exchange. I was obliged therefore to content myself with this, drank my -glass of beer, and went off to the stable to sleep on straw. - -In the morning I proceeded on my journey, having previously inquired for -a place, where there were Jews, in order that I might be able to go into -the synagogue, and sing with my brethren the lamentations over the -destruction of Jerusalem. This was done, and after the prayers and -singing,--about midday,--I went to the Jewish schoolmaster of the place, -and held some conversation with him. He soon discovered that I was a -full rabbi, began to interest himself about me, and procured me a -supper at the house of a Jew. He also gave me a letter of introduction -to another schoolmaster in the neighbouring town, recommending me as a -great Talmudist and an honourable rabbi. Here also I met with a fair -reception. I was invited to the Sabbath dinner by the most respectable -and richest Jew of the place, and went into the synagogue, where I was -shown to the highest seat, and received every mark of honour usually -bestowed on a rabbi. - -After the close of the service the rich Jew referred to took me to his -house, and put me in the place of honour at his table, that is between -himself and his daughter. She was a young girl of about twelve years, -dressed in the most beautiful style. I began, as rabbi, to hold a very -learned and edifying discourse; and the less the gentleman and lady -understood it, the more divine it seemed to them. All at once I -observed, to my chagrin, that the young lady began to put on a sour -look, and to make wry faces. At first I did not know how to explain -this; but, after a while, when I turned my eyes upon myself and my -miserable dirty suit of rags, the whole mystery was at once unriddled. -The uneasiness of the young lady had a very good cause. And how could it -be otherwise? Since I left KA¶nigsberg, about seven weeks before, I had -never had a clean shirt to put on; and I had been obliged to lie in the -stables of inns on bare straw, on which who knows how many poor -travellers had lain before? Now all at once my eyes were opened to see -my misery in its appalling magnitude. But what was I to do? How was I to -help myself out of this unfortunate situation? Gloomy and sad I soon -bade farewell to these good people, and proceeded on my journey to -Berlin under a continued struggle with want and misery of every kind. - -At last I reached this city. Here I believed that I should put an end to -my misery, and accomplish all my wishes. But alas I was sadly deceived. -In this capital, as is well known, no Jewish beggars were allowed. -Accordingly the Jewish community of the place, in order to make -provision for their poor, have built at the Rosenthaler gate a house, in -which the poor are received, and questioned by the Jewish elders about -what they want in Berlin. According to the results of such inquiry, they -are either taken into the city, if they are sick or want employment, or -they are sent forward on their journey. I was therefore conducted to -this house, which was filled partly with sick people, partly with a lewd -rabble. For a long while I looked round in vain for a man, with whom I -might talk about my affairs. - -At last I observed a man, who, to judge by his dress, was surely a -rabbi. I went to him, and how great was my joy to learn from him, that -he was really a rabbi, and pretty well known in Berlin! I conversed with -him on all sorts of subjects connected with rabbinical learning; and as -I was very open-hearted, I related to him the course of my life in -Poland, revealed to him my purpose of studying medicine in Berlin, -showed him my commentary on the _Moreh Nebhochim_, and so forth. He -listened to all, and seemed to interest himself very much in my behalf. -But all at once he disappeared out of sight. - -At length towards evening came the Jewish elders. Each of the persons in -the house was called, and questioned about his wants. When my turn came, -I said quite frankly, that I wished to remain in Berlin, in order to -study medicine. The elders refused my request point-blank, gave me a -pittance in charity, and went away. The reason of this conduct towards -me in particular was nothing else than the following. - -The rabbi, of whom I spoke, was a zealot in his orthodoxy. Accordingly -when he had discovered my sentiments and purposes, he went into town, -and informed the elders about my heretical mode of thinking. He told -them, that I was going to issue a new edition of the _Moreh Nebhochim_ -with a commentary, and that my intention was not so much to study -medicine, but mainly to devote myself to the sciences in general, and to -extend my knowledge. This the orthodox Jews look upon as something -dangerous to religion and good morals. They believe this to be specially -true of the Polish rabbis, who, having by some lucky accident been -delivered from the bondage of superstition, suddenly catch a gleam of -the light of reason, and set themselves free from their chains. And -this belief is to some extent well-founded. Persons in such a position -may be compared to a man, who, after being famished for a long time, -suddenly comes upon a well spread table, who will attack the food with -violent greed, and fill himself even to surfeiting. - -The refusal of permission to stay in Berlin came upon me like a -thunderclap. The ultimate object of all my hopes and wishes was all at -once removed beyond my reach, just when I had seen it so near. I found -myself in the situation of Tantalus, and did not know where to turn for -help. I was especially pained by the treatment I received from the -overseer of this poorhouse, who, by command of his superiors, urged my -speedy departure, and never left off till he saw me outside of the gate. -There I threw myself on the ground and began to weep bitterly. It was a -Sunday, and many people went, as usual, to walk outside of the city. -Most of them never turned aside to a whining worm like me, but some -compassionate souls were very much struck with the sight, and asked the -cause of my wailing. I answered them; but, partly on account of my -unintelligible language, partly because my speech was broken by frequent -weeping and sobbing, they could not understand what I said. - -I was so deeply affected by this vexation, that I fell into a violent -fever. The soldiers, who kept guard at the gate, reported this at the -poorhouse. The overseer came, and carried me in. I stayed there over the -day, and made myself glad with the hope of becoming thoroughly sick, so -as to enforce a longer sojourn in the place, during which I thought I -might form some acquaintances, by whose influence I hoped to receive -protection and permission to remain in Berlin. But alas! in this hope I -was deceived. The following day I rose quite lively again without a -trace of fever. I was therefore obliged to go. But whither? That I did -not know myself. Accordingly I took the first road that I came upon, and -surrendered myself to fate. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -Deepest Stage of Misery, and Deliverance. - - -In the evening I came to an inn, where I met a poor tramp who was a -Jewish beggar by profession. I was uncommonly pleased to meet one of my -brethren, with whom I could talk, and to whom this neighbourhood was -pretty well known. I resolved therefore to wander about the country with -this companion, and to preserve my life in this way, though two such -heterogeneous persons were nowhere to be met with in the world. I was an -educated rabbi; he was an idiot. I had hitherto maintained myself in an -honourable way; he was a beggar by profession. I had ideas of morality, -propriety, and decency; he knew nothing of these. Finally, I was in -sound health, it is true, but still of weakly constitution; he, on the -other hand, was a sturdy, able-bodied fellow, who would have made the -best of soldiers. - -Notwithstanding these differences, I stuck close to the man, as, in -order to prolong life, I was compelled to become a vagrant in a strange -land. In our wanderings I laboured to communicate to my companion ideas -of religion and of true morality, while he in return instructed me in -the art of begging. He taught me the usual formulas of the art, and -recommended me especially to curse and swear, whenever I was sent away -without anything. But with all the trouble, which he gave himself in the -matter, his teachings would not take any hold on me. The formulas of -begging appeared to me absurd I thought, if a man was once compelled to -beg help of others, he should express his feelings in the most simple -form. As far as cursing was concerned, I could not understand why a man, -who refused another's request, should draw a curse upon himself; and -then it seemed to me, that the man thus treated would be thereby -embittered, and the beggar be all the less likely to attain his object. -When therefore I went to beg with my comrade, I conducted myself always -as if I were begging and cursing at the same time, but in fact I never -spoke a single intelligible word. If, on the other hand, I went alone, I -had absolutely nothing to say; but from my appearance and conduct could -easily be seen what was wanted. My comrade sometimes scolded me on -account of my slowness in learning his art, and this I bore with the -greatest patience. - -In this way we wandered about in a district of a few miles for nearly -half a year. At last we resolved to turn our steps towards Poland. When -we arrived at Posen we took up our quarters in the Jewish poorhouse, the -master of which was a poor jobbing tailor. Here I formed the resolve, at -whatever cost, to bring my wandering to a close. It was harvest-time, -and already began to be pretty cold. I was almost naked and barefoot. By -this vagrant life, in which I never got any regular meals, for the most -part had to content myself with bits of mouldy bread and water, and at -night was obliged to lie on old straw, sometimes even on the bare earth, -my health had seriously suffered. Besides, the sacred seasons and -fast-days in the Jewish calendar were coming on; and as at that time I -was of a somewhat strong religious disposition, I could not endure the -thought of passing in complete idleness this period which others -employed for the welfare of their souls. - -I resolved, therefore, for the present at least, to go no farther, and, -at all events if it should come to the worst, to throw myself before the -synagogue, and either die there or excite the compassion of my brethren, -and by that means bring my sufferings to an end. Consequently as soon as -my comrade awoke in the morning, began to make arrangements for a -begging tour, and summoned me to the same, I told him that I would not -go with him at present; and when he asked how I intended to sustain life -in any other way, I was able to answer nothing but "God will surely -help." - -I then went off to the Jewish school. Here I found a number of scholars, -some of whom were reading, while others took advantage of the master's -absence to pass the time in play. I also took a book to read. The -scholars, who were struck by my strange dress, approached and asked me -whence I came and what I wanted. Their questions I answered in my -Lithuanian dialect, at which they began to laugh, and make merry at my -expense. For this I cared little. But I recollected that, some years -before, a chief rabbi from my neighbourhood had been appointed to the -same office in Posen, and that he had taken with him an acquaintance and -a good friend of mine as his secretary. Accordingly I asked the boys -about this friend. To my extreme grief I learned that he was no longer -in Posen, as the chief rabbi had been afterwards promoted to the same -office in Hamburg, and his secretary had gone with him to that place. -They told me, however, that his son, a boy about twelve years old, had -been left behind in Posen with the present chief rabbi, who was a -son-in-law of his predecessor. - -This information saddened me not a little. Still the last circumstance -gave me some hope. I inquired after the dwelling of the new chief rabbi, -and went to it; but, as I was almost naked, I shrank from entering, and -waited until I saw some one going into the house, whom I begged to be so -good as to call my friend's son out. The boy recognised me at once, and -manifested his astonishment at seeing me here in such a pitiable plight. -I replied, that this was not the time to relate all the misfortunes -which had brought me into this state, and that at present he should -consider merely how he might somewhat relieve my distress. - -This he promised to do. He went to the chief rabbi, and announced me as -a great scholar and a pious man, who by extraordinary accidents had -fallen into a very miserable condition. The chief rabbi, who was an -excellent man, an acute Talmudist, and of very gentle character, was -touched by my distress, and sent for me to come in. He conversed with me -a while, discussing some of the most important subjects in the Talmud, -and found me well versed in all branches of Jewish learning. Then he -inquired about my intentions, and I told him that I wished to be -introduced as a tutor into some family, but that meanwhile my only -desire was to be able to celebrate the sacred season here, and for this -short period at least to interrupt my travels. - -The good-hearted rabbi bade me, so far as this was concerned, to lay -aside all anxiety, spoke of my desire as a small matter, which it was -nothing more than reasonable to want. He then gave me what money he had -by him, invited me to dine with him every Sabbath, as long as I remained -here, and bade his boy procure a respectable lodging for me. The boy -came back soon, and conducted me to my lodging. I expected this to be -only a small chamber in the house of some poor man. I was therefore not -a little astonished, when I found myself in the house of one of the -oldest Jews of the town, and that here had been prepared for me a neat -little room, which was the study of the master, he and his son being -both scholars. - -As soon as I had looked round a little, I went to the housewife, and, -thrusting some coppers into her hand, I asked her to get me some gruel -for supper. She began to smile at my simplicity, and said, "No, no, sir, -that is not our agreement. The chief rabbi has not given you such a -recommendation, that you are obliged to have us making you gruel for -money." She then went on to explain, that I was not only to lodge in her -house, but also to eat and drink with them, as long as I stayed in the -town. I was astonished at this unexpected good fortune; but my delight -was still greater, when after supper I was shown to a clean bed. I could -not believe my eyes, and asked several times, "Is this really for me?" I -can say with truth, that never, before or since this incident, have I -felt such a degree of happiness, as when I lay down that night, and felt -my limbs, which for half a year had been overwearied and almost broken, -recovering their former strength in a soft bed. - -I slept till late in the day. I had scarcely risen when the chief rabbi -sent for me to come and see him. When I made my appearance he asked me -how I was pleased with my lodging. I could not find words to express my -feelings on the subject, and exclaimed in ecstasy, "I have slept in a -bed!" At this the chief rabbi was uncommonly pleased. He then sent for -the school precentor, and as soon as this man appeared he said to him, -"Go to the shop of ----, and get cloth for a suit to this gentleman." -Thereupon he turned to me and asked what sort of stuff I liked. -Overpowered by the feeling of gratitude and esteem for this excellent -man I could answer nothing. The tears streaming down my cheeks served -for my only answer. - -The chief rabbi also ordered for me some new linen. In two days -everything was ready. Dressed in my new linen and new suit I went to the -chief rabbi. I was going to express my gratitude to him, but could -scarcely get out a few broken words. For the chief rabbi this was a -charming sight. He waived my thanks, and said that I was not to think -too highly of him for this, inasmuch as what he had done for me was a -mere trifle not worth mentioning. - -Now the reader may perhaps suppose that this chief rabbi was a wealthy -man, for whom the expense to which he put himself on my account was -really a trifle; but I can give the assurance that this was far from -being the case. He had merely a moderate income; and as he occupied -himself wholly with study, his wife had the management of his affairs, -and especially the charge of housekeeping. Actions of this sort, -therefore, had to be done without the knowledge of his wife, and under -the pretext that he received from other people the money for the -purpose. Moreover, he lived a very temperate life, fasted every day -except Sabbath, and never ate flesh the whole week through. -Nevertheless, to satisfy his benevolent inclinations he could not avoid -making debts. His severe manner of life, his many studies and vigils, -weakened his strength to such a degree that he died about the -thirty-sixth year of his life. His death took place after he had been -appointed chief rabbi in FA¶rdet, to which place he was followed by a -large number of disciples. I can never think of this godly man without -being deeply affected. - -In my former lodging at the poor tailor's I had left some trifles which -I now went to fetch. The tailor, his wife, and my former comrade in -beggary, who had already heard of the happy change in my affairs, -expected me with the greatest impatience. It was a touching scene. The -man, who three days before arrived in this poor hut, quite debilitated, -half naked, and barefoot, whom the poor inmates of the house regarded as -an outcast of nature, and whose comrade in linen blouse had looked down -upon him with mockery and contempt,--this man (his fame before him) now -comes into the same hut with a cheerful face, and in reverend garb -dressed as a chief rabbi. - -They all testified their joy and surprise at the transformation. The -poor woman took her babe in her arms and, with tears in her eyes, begged -a blessing for him. My comrade begged me very affectingly for -forgiveness on account of his rough treatment. He said that he deemed -himself fortunate in having had such a fellow-traveller, but would hold -himself unfortunate if I would not forgive the faults he had committed -in ignorance. I spoke to them all very kindly, gave the little one my -blessing, handed to my old comrade all the cash I had in my pocket, and -went back deeply affected. - -Meanwhile my fame was spread through the whole town by the conduct -towards me of the chief rabbi, as well as that of my new host, who was -himself a scholar, and had formed a high opinion of my talents and -learning from frequent conversations and discussions which we had held -together. All the scholars of the town, therefore, came to see me and -discuss with me as a famous travelling rabbi; and the more intimately -they came to know me, so much the higher rose their esteem. - -This period was undoubtedly the happiest and most honourable in my life. -The young scholars of the town passed a resolution at their meeting to -make up for me a salary, for which I was to deliver lectures to them on -the celebrated and profound work of Maimonides, _Moreh Nebhochim_. This -proposal, however, was never carried out, because the parents of these -young people were anxious lest their children should be thereby led -astray, and by independent thinking on religion be made to waver in -their faith. They acknowledged indeed that, with all my fondness for -religious speculation, I was still a pious man and an orthodox rabbi. -But they could not rely upon their children having sufficient judgment, -to be able to enter upon this course without passing from one extreme to -the other, from superstition to unbelief; and therein perhaps they were -right. - -After I had spent about four weeks in this way, the man, with whom I -lodged, came to me, and said, "Herr Solomon, allow me to make a proposal -to you. If you are inclined merely to solitary study, you may remain -here as long as you like. If, however, you do not wish to withdraw into -such complete retirement, but are inclined to be of service to the world -with your talents, there is a wealthy man here--one of the most -prominent people of the town--who has an only son, and wishes nothing so -much as to have you for his tutor. This man is my brother-in-law. If you -will not do it for his sake, please do it for mine, and to gratify the -chief rabbi, as he has deeply at heart the education of my nephew, who -is connected by marriage with his family." This offer I accepted with -delight. I came therefore into this family under advantageous conditions -as tutor, and remained with them two years in the greatest honour. -Nothing was done in the house without my knowledge. I was always met -with the greatest respect. I was held in fact to be almost something -more than human. - -Thus the two years flowed on imperceptibly and happily for me. But -during the time some little incidents took place, which I believe should -not be altogether omitted in this history. - -In the first place the esteem entertained for me in this house went so -far, that _malgrA(C) moi_ they were going to make me a prophet. My pupil -was betrothed to the daughter of a chief rabbi, who was a brother-in-law -of the chief rabbi in Posen. The bride, a girl of about twelve years, -was brought to Posen by her parents-in-law at the feast of Pentecost. On -the occasion of this visit I observed that the girl was of a very -phlegmatic temperament and somewhat consumptive. I mentioned this to the -brother of my host, and added with a significant look, that I was very -anxious for the girl, as I did not believe that her health would last -long. After the feast was over the girl was sent home, and a fortnight -afterwards a letter was received announcing her death. On this account, -not only in the house where I lived, but in the whole town, I was taken -for a prophet, who had been able to foretell the death of this girl. As -I wished nothing less than to deceive, I endeavoured to bring these -superstitious people to a different train of thought. I told them that -anybody, who had made observations in the world, would have been able to -foretell the same thing. But it was of no use. Once for all I was a -prophet, and had to remain one. - -Another incident occurred in a Jewish house one Friday when they were -preparing fish for the Sabbath. The fish was a carp, and it seemed to -the cook who was cutting it up as if it uttered a sound. This threw -everybody into a panic. The rabbi was asked what should be done with -this dumb fish that had ventured to speak. Under the superstitious idea -that the carp was possessed with a spirit, the rabbi enjoined that it -should be wrapped in a linen cloth, and buried with pomp. - -Now, in the house where I lived, this awe-inspiring event became the -subject of conversation. Having by this time emancipated myself pretty -thoroughly from superstitions of this sort by diligent study of the -_Moreh Nebhochim_, I laughed heartily over the story, and said, that, if -instead of burying the carp, they had sent it to me, I should have tried -how such an inspired carp would taste. - -This _bon mot_ became known. The learned men fell into a passion about -it, denounced me as a heretic, and sought to persecute me in every way. -But the respect, entertained for me in the house where I was tutor, made -all their efforts fruitless. As I found myself in this way safe, and the -spirit of fanaticism, instead of deterring me, rather spurred me on to -further reflection, I began to push matters a little farther, frequently -slept through the time of prayer, went seldom to the synagogue, and so -on. At last the measure of my sins became so full, that nothing could -secure me any longer from persecution. - -At the entrance to the Common Hall in Posen there has been, no one knows -for how long, a stag-horn fixed into the wall. The Jews are unanimously -of the conviction, that any one who touches this horn is sure to die on -the spot; and they relate a multitude of instances in proof. This would -not go down with me at all, and I made fun of it. So one day when I was -passing the stag-horn with some other Jews, I said to them, "You Posen -fools, do you think that any one who touches this horn must die on the -spot? See, I dare to touch it!" Horror-struck, they expected my death -on the spot; but as nothing happened, their anxiety for me was converted -into hatred. They looked on me as one who had profaned the sanctuary. - -This fanaticism stirred up in me the desire to go to Berlin, and destroy -by enlightenment the remnant of superstition which still clung to me. I -therefore begged leave of my employer. He expressed the wish indeed, -that I should remain longer in his house, and assured me of his -protection against all persecution. But as I had once for all taken my -resolution, I was determined not to alter it. I therefore bade goodbye -to my employer and his whole family, took a seat on the Frankfurt post, -and set out for Berlin. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -Arrival in Berlin--Acquaintances--Mendelssohn--Desperate Study of -Metaphysics--Doubts--Lectures on Locke and Adelung. - - -As I came to Berlin this time by post, I did not require to remain -outside the Rosenthaler Gate to be examined by the Jewish elders; I -proceeded without any difficulty into the city, and was allowed to take -up my quarters where I chose. To _remain_ in the city, however, was a -different thing. The Jewish police-officers--L. M. of those days was a -terrible fellow,--went every day round all the hotels and other houses -designed for the reception of strangers, made inquiry into the quality -and occupation of newcomers, as well as the probable length of their -stay, and allowed them no rest till they had either found some -occupation in the city, or were out of it again, or--the alternative -goes without saying. I had taken a lodging on the New Market with a Jew, -who was accustomed to receive in his house poor travellers that had not -much to spend, and who the following day received a visit of this sort. - -The Jewish police-officer, L. M., came and examined me in the strictest -manner. I told him that I wished to enter into service as a -family-tutor in Berlin, and that therefore the length of my stay could -not be exactly determined. I appeared to him suspicious; he believed he -had seen me here before, and evidently looked on me as a comet, which -comes nearer to the earth the second time than the first, and so makes -the danger more threating. But when he saw by me a _Milloth Higgayon_ or -Hebrew Logic, drawn up by Maimonides, and annotated by Mendelssohn, he -went into a perfect rage. "Yes! yes!" he exclaimed, "that's the sort of -books for me!" and as he turned to me with a threatening look, "Pack," -he said, "out of Berlin as quick as you can, if you don't wish to be led -out with all the honours!" I trembled, and knew not what to do; but as I -had learnt that there was a Polish Jew, a man of talent, residing in -Berlin for the sake of study, and received with esteem in the best -families, I paid him a visit. - -He received me as a countryman in a very friendly manner, asked about my -home in Poland, and what had brought me to Berlin. When I told him in -reply, that from my childhood I had discovered an inclination to the -sciences, had already made myself acquainted with this and that Hebrew -work which touches upon these, and now had come to Berlin in order to be -_Maamik Bechochmah_ (to become absorbed in the sciences), he smiled at -this quaint rabbinical phrase, but gave me his full approval; and after -conversing with me for some time, he begged me to visit him often, which -I very willingly promised to do, and went away rejoicing in spirit. - -The very next day I visited my Polish friend again, and found with him -some young people belonging to a prominent Jewish family, who visited -him often, and conversed with him on scientific subjects. They entered -into conversation with me, found much amusement in my jargon, as well as -in my simplicity and open-heartedness; in particular they laughed -heartily at the phrase, _Maamik Bechochmah_, of which they had heard -already. All this gave me courage, and they assured me that I should not -find myself mistaken in the expectation of being able to be _Maamik -Bechochmah_ in Berlin. And when I made known my fear about the -above-mentioned police-officer, they made me pluck up courage by -promising to obtain protection for me from their family, so that I might -remain in Berlin as long as I chose. - -They kept their word, and Herr D---- P----, a well-to-do man of -excellent character, of many attainments and fine taste, who was an -uncle of these young men, not only paid me much attention, but also -procured for me a respectable lodging, and invited me to the Sabbath -dinner. Others of the family also sent me meals at my room on fixed -days. Among these was a brother of these young men, in other respects an -honourable man, who was not without attainments. But as he was a zealous -Talmudist, he inquired earnestly whether with my inclination towards the -sciences I had not quite neglected the Talmud; and as soon as he -learnt, that I was so _Maamik Bechochmah_ as to neglect the study of the -Talmud, he gave up sending me my meals. - -As I now had permission to remain in Berlin, I thought of nothing but -how to carry my purpose into effect. Accidentally one day I went into a -butter-shop, and found the dealer in the act of anatomising a somewhat -old book for use in his trade. I looked at it, and found, to my no small -astonishment, that it was Wolff's _Metaphysics, or the Doctrine of God, -of the World, and of Man's Soul_. I could not understand, how in a city -so enlightened as Berlin such important works could be treated in this -barbarous fashion. I turned therefore to the dealer, and asked him, if -he would not sell the book. He was ready to part with it for two -groschen. Without thinking long about it I gave the price at once, and -went home delighted with my treasure. - -At the very first reading I was in raptures with the book. Not only this -sublime science in itself, but also the order and mathematical method of -the celebrated author,--the precision of his explanations, the exactness -of his reasoning, and the scientific arrangement of his exposition,--all -this struck a new light in my mind. - -With the Ontology, the Cosmology, and the Psychology all went well; but -the Theology created many difficulties, inasmuch as I found its dogmas, -not only not in harmony, but even in contradiction, with the preceding -propositions. At the very beginning I could not assent to Wolff's -argument _a posteriori_ for the existence of God in accordance with the -Principle of Sufficient Reason; and I raised the objection to it, that, -inasmuch as, according to Wolff's own confession, the Principle of -Sufficient Reason is abstracted from particular cases of experience, the -only point which can be proved by it is, that every object of experience -must have its sufficient reason in some other object of experience, but -not in an object beyond all experience. I also compared these new -metaphysical doctrines with those of Maimonides, or rather of Aristotle, -which were already known to me; and I could not bring them into harmony -at all. - -I resolved therefore to set forth these doubts in the Hebrew language, -and to send what I wrote to Herr Mendelssohn, of whom I had already -heard so much. When he received my communication, he was not a little -astonished at it, and replied to me at once, that in fact my doubts were -well founded, that I should not however allow myself to be discouraged -on their account, but should continue to study with the zeal with which -I had begun. - -Encouraged by this, I wrote in Hebrew a dissertation in which I brought -into doubt the foundations of Revealed as well as of Natural Theology. -All the thirteen articles of faith, laid down by Maimonides, I attacked -with philosophical arguments, with the exception of one, namely the -article on reward and punishment, which I conceded merely in its -philosophical interpretation, as referring to the natural consequences -of voluntary actions. I sent this dissertation to Mendelssohn, who was -not a little amazed, that a Polish Jew, who had scarcely got the length -of seeing the Metaphysics of Wolff, was already able to penetrate into -their depths so far, that he was in a position to shake their results by -means of a correct Ontology. He invited me to visit him, and I accepted -his invitation. But I was so shy, the manners and customs of the -Berliners were so new to me, it was not without fear and embarrassment, -that I ventured to enter a fashionable house. When therefore I opened -Mendelssohn's door, and saw him and other gentlefolks who were there, as -well as the beautiful rooms and elegant furniture, I shrank back, closed -the door again, and had a mind not to go in. Mendelssohn however had -observed me. He came out and spoke to me very kindly, led me into his -room, placed himself beside me at the window, and paid me many -compliments about my writing. He assured me, that, if I went on in this -way, I should in a short time make great progress in Metaphysics; and he -promised also to resolve my doubts. Not satisfied with this, the worthy -man looked after my maintenance also, recommended me to the most -eminent, enlightened and wealthy Jews, who made provision for my board -and other wants. Their tables I was at liberty to enjoy when I chose, -and their libraries were open to my use. - -Especially worthy of mention among these gentlemen was H----, a man of -many attainments and excellent disposition, who was a particular friend -and disciple of Mendelssohn. He took great pleasure in my conversation, -often discussed with me the most important subjects in Natural Theology -and Morals, on which I expressed my thoughts to him quite frankly and -without disguise. I went over with him in a conversational way all the -systems known to me that are generally denounced, and defended them with -the greatest pertinacity. He met me with objections; I answered them, -and brought in my turn objections against the opposite systems. At first -this friend regarded me as a speaking animal, and entertained himself -with me, as one is apt to do with a dog or a starling that has been -taught to speak a few words. The odd mixture of the animal in my -manners, my expressions, and my whole outward behaviour, with the -rational in my thoughts, excited his imagination more than the subject -of our conversation roused his understanding. By degrees the fun was -turned to earnest. He began to give his attention to the subjects -themselves; and as, notwithstanding his other capabilities and -attainments, he had no philosophical head, and the liveliness of his -imagination generally interfered with the ripeness of his judgment, the -results of our conversations may be readily imagined. - -A few examples will be sufficient to give an idea of the manner in which -I conducted a discussion at the time, of the ellipses in my diction -arising from my deficiency in expressions, and of the way in which I -illustrated everything by examples. I endeavoured once to make -Spinoza's system intelligible,--to show that all things are merely -accidents of a single substance. My friend interrupted me and said, -"But, good heavens! are not you and I different men, and do we not each -possess an existence of our own?" "Close the shutters," I called in -reply to his objection. This strange expression threw him into -astonishment; he did not know what I meant. At last I explained myself. -"See," said I, "the sun shines through the windows. This square window -gives you a square reflection, and the round window a round reflection. -Are they on that account different things, and not rather one and the -same sunshine?" - -On another occasion I defended Helvetius' system of self-love. He -brought against it the objection, that we surely love other persons as -well as ourselves. "For instance," said he, "I love my wife;" and to -confirm this he gave her a kiss. "That proves nothing against me," I -replied. "For, why do you kiss your wife? Because you find pleasure in -doing it." - -Herr A---- M---- also, a good honest fellow, and at that time a wealthy -man, allowed me free access to his house. Here I found Locke in the -German translation, and I was pleased with him at the first hasty -glance, for I recognised him as the best of the modern philosophers, as -a man who had no interest but the truth. Accordingly I proposed to the -tutor of Herr A---- M----, that he should take lessons from me on this -admirable work. At first he smiled at my simplicity in proposing, that -I, who had scarcely got the length of seeing Locke, should give lessons -to him whose native tongue was German, and who had been brought up in -the sciences. He acted, however, as if he found nothing offensive in the -matter, accepted my proposal, and fixed an hour for the lessons. I -presented myself at the time appointed, and began the lessons; but as I -could not read a word of German correctly, I told my pupil to read aloud -paragraph by paragraph in the text, and that then I should give him an -exposition of each. My pupil, who pretended to be in earnest, consented -to this also, to carry on the joke; but how great was his astonishment -when he found, that no joke was to be played in the matter, that in fact -my expositions and remarks, though delivered in my own peculiar -language, evinced a genuine philosophical spirit. - -It was still more amusing, when I became acquainted with the family of -Widow Levi, and made the proposal to her son, the young Herr Samuel -Levi,[53] who is still my Maecenas, that he should take lessons from me -in the German language. The studious youth, incited by my reputation, -was resolved to make a trial, and wished me to explain Adelung's _German -Grammar_. I, who had never seen Adelung's Grammar, did not allow myself -to be at all disconcerted on this account.[54] My pupil was obliged to -read Adelung bit by bit, while I not only expounded it, but added -glosses of my own. In particular I found a good deal to take exception -to in Adelung's philosophical explanation of the parts of speech; and I -drew up an explanation of my own, which I communicated to my intelligent -pupil, by whom it is still preserved. - -As a man altogether without experience I carried my frankness at times a -little too far, and brought upon myself many vexations in consequence. I -was reading Spinoza. His profound thought and his love of truth pleased -me uncommonly; and as his system had already been suggested to me by the -Cabbalistic writings, I began to reflect upon it anew, and became so -convinced of its truth, that all the efforts of Mendelssohn to change my -opinion were unavailing. I answered all the objections brought against -it by the Wolfians, brought objections against their system myself, and -showed, that, if the _nominal definition_s of the Wolfian Ontology are -converted into _real definitions_, conclusions the very opposite of -theirs are the result. Moreover, I could not explain the persistency of -Mendelssohn and the Wolfians generally in adhering to their system, -except as a political dodge and a piece of hypocrisy, by which they -studiously endeavoured to descend to the mode of thinking common in the -popular mind; and this conviction I expressed openly and without -reserve. My friends and well-wishers, who for the most part had never -themselves speculated on philosophical subjects, but blindly adopted the -results of the systems prevailing at the time as if they were -established truths, did not understand me, and therefore also were -unable to follow me in my opinions. - -Mendelssohn, whose usual course was to tack, did not wish to oppose my -love of inquiry, secretly even took pleasure in it, and said, that at -present indeed I was not on the right road, but that the course of my -thoughts must not be checked, because, as Descartes rightly remarked, -doubt is the beginning of thorough philosophical speculation. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -Mendelssohn--A chapter devoted to the memory of a worthy friend. - - -_Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus tam cari capitis?_ - -The name of Mendelssohn is too well known to the world, to make it -necessary for me here to dwell long on the portraiture of the great -intellectual and moral qualities of this celebrated man of our nation. I -shall sketch merely those prominent features of his portrait, which have -made the strongest impression upon me. He was a good Talmudist, and a -pupil of the celebrated Rabbi Israel, or, as he is otherwise named after -the title of a Talmudic work which he wrote, Nezach Israel (the strength -of Israel),--a Polish rabbi who was denounced for heresy by his -countrymen. This rabbi had, besides his great Talmudic capabilities and -acquirements, a good deal of scientific talent, especially in -mathematics, with which he had attained a thorough acquaintance, even in -Poland, from the few Hebrew writings on this science, as may be seen in -the above-mentioned work. In this work there are introduced solutions of -many important mathematical problems, which are applied either to the -explanation of some obscure passages in the Talmud, or to the -determination of a law. Rabbi Israel of course was more interested in -the extension of useful knowledge among his countrymen than in the -determination of a law, which he used merely as a vehicle for the other. -He showed, for example, that it is not right for the Jews in our part of -the world to turn exactly to the East at prayer; for the Talmudic law -requires them to turn to Jerusalem, and, as our part of the world lies -north-west from Jerusalem, they ought to turn to the south-east. He -shows also how, by means of spherical trigonometry, the required -direction may be determined with the utmost exactness in all parts of -the world, and many other truths of a similar kind. Along with the -celebrated Chief Rabbi FrA¤nkel, he contributed much to develop the great -abilities of Mendelssohn. - -Mendelssohn possessed a thorough acquaintance with mathematics; and this -science he valued, not only for its self-evidence, but also as the best -exercise in profound reasoning. That he was a great philosopher, is well -enough known. He was not indeed an originator of new systems; he had -however amended the old systems, especially the Leibnitio-Wolfian, and -had applied it with success to many subjects in philosophy. - -It is hard to say whether Mendelssohn was endowed with more acuteness or -with depth of intellect. Both faculties were found united in him in a -very high degree. His exactness in definition and classification, and -his fine distinctions, are evidences of the former talent, while his -profound philosophical treatises afford proofs of the latter. - -In his character, as he himself confessed, he was by nature a man of -strong passions, but by long exercise in Stoical morality he had learnt -to keep them under control. A young man, under the impression that -Mendelssohn had done him a wrong, came one day to upbraid him, and -indulged in one impertinence after another. Mendelssohn stood leaning on -a chair, never turned his eye from his visitor, and listened to all his -impertinences with the utmost Stoical patience. After the young man had -vented all his passion, Mendelssohn went to him and said, "Go! You see -that you fail to reach your object here; you can't make me angry." Still -on such occasions Mendelssohn could not conceal his sorrow at the -weakness of human nature. Not infrequently I was myself overheated in my -disputes with him, and violated the respect due to such a man,--a fact -on which I still reflect with remorse. - -Mendelssohn possessed deep knowledge of human nature,--a knowledge which -consists not so much in seizing some unconnected features of a -character, and representing them in theatrical fashion, as in -discovering those essential features of a character, from which all the -others may be explained, and in some measure predicted. He was able to -describe accurately all the springs of action and the entire moral -wheelwork of a man, and understood thoroughly the mechanism of the soul. -This gave a character, not only to his intercourse and other dealings -with men, but also to his literary labours. - -Mendelssohn understood the useful and agreeable art of throwing himself -into another person's mode of thought. He could thus supply whatever was -deficient, and fill up the gaps in the thoughts of another. Jews newly -arrived from Poland, whose thoughts are for the most part confused, and -whose language is an unintelligible jargon, Mendelssohn could understand -perfectly. In his conversations with them he adopted their expressions -and forms of speech, sought to bring down his mode of thinking to -theirs, and thus to raise theirs to his own. - -He understood also the art of finding out the good side of every man and -of every event. Not infrequently, therefore, he found entertainment in -people whose intercourse, owing to the eccentric use of their powers, is -by others avoided; and only downright stupidity and dullness were -offensive to him, though they were so in the highest degree. I was once -an eye-witness of the manner in which he entertained himself with a man -of the most eccentric style of thinking and the most extravagant -behaviour. I lost all patience on the occasion, and after the man was -gone I asked Mendelssohn in wonder, "How could you have anything to do -with this fellow?" "We examine attentively," he said, "a machine whose -construction is unknown to us, and we seek to make intelligible its mode -of working. Should not this man claim a like attention? should we not -seek in the same way to render intelligible his odd utterances, since he -certainly has his springs of action and his wheelwork as well as any -machine?" - -In discussion with a reasoner who held stubbornly to a system once -adopted Mendelssohn was stubborn himself, and took advantage of the -slightest inaccuracy in his opponent's way of thinking. On the other -hand, with a more accommodating thinker he was accommodating also, and -used commonly to close the discussion with the words, "We must hold -fast, not to mere words, but to the things they signify." - -Nothing was so offensive to him as an _esprit de bagatelle_ or -affectation; with anything of this sort he could not conceal his -displeasure. H---- once invited a party, in which Mendelssohn was the -principal guest, and he entertained them the whole time with talk about -some hobby of his, which was not exactly of the choicest kind. -Mendelssohn showed his displeasure by never deigning to give the -slightest attention to the worthless creature. Madam ---- was a lady who -affected an excess of sensibility, and as is customary with such -characters, used to reproach herself in order to extort praise from -others. Mendelssohn sought to bring her to reason by showing her -impressively how exceptionable her conduct was and how she ought to -think seriously about improvement. - -In a disconnected conversation he took little part himself; he acted -rather as observer then, and took pleasure in watching the conduct of -the rest of the company. If, on the other hand, the conversation was -coherent, he took the warmest interest in it himself, and, by a skilful -turn, he could, without interrupting the conversation, give it a useful -direction. - -Mendelssohn could never take up his mind with trifles; matters of the -greatest moment kept him in restless activity, such as the principles of -Morals and of Natural Theology, the immortality of the soul, etc. In all -these branches of inquiry, in which humanity is so deeply interested, he -has also, as I hold, done as much as can be done on the principles of -the Leibnitio-Wolfian philosophy. Perfection was the compass which he -had constantly before his eyes, and which directed his course, in all -these investigations. His God is the Ideal of the highest perfection, -and the idea of the highest perfection lies at the basis of his Ethics. -The principle of his A†sthetics is sensuous perfection. - -My discussion with him on our first acquaintance referred mainly to the -following points. I was a faithful adherent of Maimonides before I -became acquainted with modern philosophy; and, as such, I insisted on -the negation[55] of all positive attributes to God, inasmuch as these -can be represented by us only as finite. Accordingly I proposed the -following dilemma: Either God is not the absolutely perfect being, in -which case his attributes may by us be not only _conceived_, but also -_known_, that is, represented as realities belonging to an object; or He -_is_ the absolutely perfect being, and then the idea of God is conceived -by us, but its reality is merely _assumed_ as problematic. Mendelssohn, -on the other hand, insisted on the affirmation, with regard to God, of -all realities,--a position which goes very well with the -Leibnitio-Wolfian philosophy, because it requires, in order to prove the -reality of an idea, nothing more than that it is thinkable, that is, -fulfils the law of Non-Contradiction. - -My moral theory was then genuine Stoicism. It aimed at the attainment of -free will and the ascendency of reason over the feelings and passions. -It made the highest destination of man to be the maintenance of his -_differentia specifica_, the knowledge of the truth; and all other -impulses, common to us with the irrational animals, were to be put in -operation merely as means to this chief end. The knowledge of the good -was not distinguished by me from the knowledge of the true; for, -following Maimonides, I held the knowledge of the truth to be the -highest good of man. Mendelssohn, on the other hand, maintained that the -idea of perfection, which lies at the basis of Ethics, is of much wider -extent than the mere knowledge of the truth. All natural impulses, -capacities and powers, as something good in themselves (not merely as -means to something good), were to be brought into exercise as realities. -The highest perfection was the idea of the maximum, or the greatest sum, -of these realities. - -The immortality of the soul, for me, following Maimonides, consisted in -the union with the Universal Spirit of that part of the faculty of -knowledge which has been brought into exercise, in proportion to the -degree of that exercise; and in accordance with this doctrine I held -those only to be partakers of this immortality, who occupy themselves -with the knowledge of eternal truths, and in the degree in which they do -so. The soul, therefore, must, with the attainment of this high -immortality, lose its individuality. That Mendelssohn, in accordance -with modern philosophy, thought differently on this subject, every one -will readily believe. - -His sentiments in reference to revealed or positive religion I can give -here, not as something made known to me by himself, but merely in so far -as I have been able to infer them from his utterances on the subject in -his writings with the assistance of my own reflections. For at that -time, as an incipient freethinker, I explained all revealed religion as -in itself false, and its use, so far as the writings of Mendelssohn had -enabled me to understand it, as merely temporary. Moreover, being a man -without experience, I thought it an easy matter to convince others in -opposition to their firmly rooted habits and long-cherished prejudices, -while I assumed the usefulness of such a reformation to be undoubted. -Mendelssohn therefore was unable to hold any conversation with me on the -subject, since he could not but fear lest, as has happened, and happens -still, in the case of several others, I should pronounce his arguments -in reply to be mere pieces of sophistry, and should attribute motives to -him on that account. From his utterances, however, in the preface to his -_Manasseh ben Israel_ as well as in his _Jerusalem_, it is clear that, -though he did not consider any revealed _doctrines_ to be eternal -truths, yet he accepted revealed laws of religion as such, and that he -held the laws of the Jewish religion, as the fundamental laws of a -theocratic constitution, to be immutable as far as circumstances allow. - -So far as I am concerned, I am led to assent entirely to Mendelssohn's -reasoning by my own reflections on the fundamental laws of the religion -of my fathers. The fundamental laws of the Jewish religion are at the -same time the fundamental laws of the Jewish state. They must therefore -be obeyed by all who acknowledge themselves to be members of this state, -and who wish to enjoy the rights granted to them under condition of -their obedience. But, on the other hand, any man who separates himself -from this state, who desires to be considered no longer a member of it, -and to renounce all his rights as such, whether he enters another state -or betakes himself to solitude, is also in his conscience no longer -bound to obey those laws. I assent moreover to Mendelssohn's remark, -that a Jew cannot, by simply passing over to the Christian religion, -free himself from the laws of his own religion, because Jesus of -Nazareth observed these laws himself and commanded his followers to -observe them. But how, if a Jew wishes to be no longer a member of this -theocratic state, and goes over to the heathen religion, or to the -philosophical, which is nothing more than pure natural religion? How, -if, merely as a member of a political state, he submits to its laws, and -demands from it his rights in return, without making any declaration -whatever about his religion, since the state is reasonable enough not to -require from him a declaration with which it has nothing to do? I do not -believe Mendelssohn would maintain that even in this case a Jew is bound -in conscience to observe the laws of his fathers' religion merely -because it is the religion of his fathers. As far as is known, -Mendelssohn lived in accordance with the laws of his religion. -Presumably, therefore, he always regarded himself as still a member of -the theocratic state of his fathers, and consequently acted up to his -duty in this respect. But any man who abandons this state is acting just -as little in violation of his duty. - -On the other hand I consider it wrong in Jews, who from family -attachments and interests profess the Jewish religion, to transgress its -laws, where, according to their own opinion, these do not stand in the -way of those motives. I cannot therefore understand the conduct of -Mendelssohn in reference to a Jew of Hamburg who openly transgressed -the laws of his religion, and who was on that account excommunicated by -the chief rabbi. Mendelssohn wanted to cancel the excommunication on the -ground that the church has no rights in civil matters. But how can he -then maintain the perpetuity of the Jewish ecclesiastical state? For -what is a state without rights, and wherein consists, according to -Mendelssohn, the rights of this ecclesiastical state? "How," says -Mendelssohn, (in the preface to _Manasseh ben Israel_, p. 48), "can a -state allow one of its useful and respected citizens to suffer -misfortune through its laws?" Surely not, I reply; but the Hamburg Jew -suffers no misfortune by virtue of the excommunication. He required only -to say or do nothing which legally leads to this result, and he would -then have avoided the sentence. For excommunication is merely tantamount -to saying:--"So long as you put yourself in opposition to the laws of -our communion, you are excluded from it; and you must therefore make up -your mind whether this open disobedience or the privileges of our -communion can most advance your blessedness." This surely cannot have -escaped a mind like Mendelssohn's, and I leave it to others to decide -how far a man may be inconsistent for the sake of human welfare. - -Mendelssohn had to endure many an injustice at the hands of otherwise -estimable men, from whom such treatment might least have been expected. -Lavater's officiousness is well enough known, and disapproved by all -right-thinking men.[56] The profound Jacobi had a predilection for -Spinozism, with which surely no independent thinker can find fault, and -wanted to make out Mendelssohn, as well as his friend Lessing, to be -Spinozists, in spite of themselves. With this view he published a -correspondence on the subject, which was never intended to appear in -print, and be subjected to public inspection. What was the use of this? -If Spinozism is true, it is so without Mendelssohn's assent. Eternal -truths have nothing to do with the majority of votes, and least of all -where, as I hold, the truth is of such a nature, that it leaves all -expression behind. - -Such an injustice must have given Mendelssohn much annoyance. A -celebrated physician maintained even, that it caused his death; but, -though I am not a physician, I venture to gainsay the assertion. -Mendelssohn's conduct in relation to Jacobi, as well as to Lavater, was -that of a hero. No, no! this hero died in the fifth act. - -The acute preacher, Jacob, in Halle published, after Mendelssohn's -death, a book entitled, _Examination of Mendelssohn's Morgenstunden_, in -which he shows that, according to the _Critique of Pure Reason_, all -metaphysical doctrines are to be rejected as baseless. But why does this -concern Mendelssohn more than any other metaphysician? Mendelssohn did -nothing but develop to greater completeness the Leibnitio-Wolfian -philosophy, apply it to many important subjects of human inquiry, and -clothe it in an attractive garb. It is just as if any one were to attack -Maimonides, who has written an excellent astronomical treatise on -Ptolemaic principles, by writing a book with the title, _Examination of -the Hilchoth Kidush Hakodesh of Maimonides_, in which he should seek to -refute his author on Newtonian principles! But enough of this. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -My aversion at first for belles lettres, and my subsequent -conversion--Departure from Berlin--Sojourn in Hamburg--I drown myself in -the same way as a bad actor shoots himself--An old fool of a woman falls -in love with me, but her addresses are rejected. - - -For _belles lettres_ I discovered not the slightest inclination; I could -not even conceive how any man was to form a science of what pleases or -displeases--a matter which, according to my opinion at the time, could -have merely a subjective ground. One day when I was taking a walk with -Mendelssohn, our conversation fell upon the subject of the poets, whom -he recommended me to read. "No," I replied, "I am going to read none of -the poets. What is a poet but a liar?" Mendelssohn smiled at this and -said, "You agree in this with Plato, who banished all poets from his -Republic. But I hope that with time you will think differently on the -subject." And so it happened soon. - -Longinus' _On the Sublime_ fell into my hand. The examples of the -sublime which he adduces from Homer, and particularly the celebrated -passage of Sappho, made a deep impression on my mind. I thought to -myself, these are but foolish trifles, it is true, but the imagery and -descriptions are really very beautiful. After that I read Homer himself, -and was forced to laugh heartily at the foolish fellow. What a serious -air, I said to myself, over such childless stories! By and by, however, -I found a great deal of pleasure in the reading. Ossian, on the other -hand, whom I got to read afterwards (of course only in German -translations) produced on me a peculiarly awe-inspiring effect. The pomp -of his style, the impressive brevity of his descriptions, the purity of -his sentiments, the simplicity of the objects described by him, and -lastly, the similarity of his poetry to that of the Hebrews, charmed me -uncommonly. Thus I found also a great deal of gratification in Gessner's -Idylls. - -My friend, the Pole of whom I spoke in the preceding chapter, who -occupied himself mainly with _belles lettres_, was greatly delighted at -my conversion. I used to dispute with him the utility of these studies; -and once, when he was reading to me as a model of vigour in expression a -passage of the Psalms, in which King David shows himself a master in -cursing, I interrupted him with the words, "What sort of an art is this? -Why, my mother-in-law--God bless her!--when she was squabbling with a -neighbour woman, used to curse much more wildly than that!" - -Now, however, he had his triumph over me. Mendelssohn also and my other -friends were uncommonly pleased at this change. They wished me to devote -myself regularly to the _humaniora_, as without these a man can -scarcely make his own intellectual productions useful to the world. It -was very difficult, however, to convince me of this. I was always in -haste to enjoy the present, without thinking that, by due preparation, I -could make this enjoyment greater and more lasting. - -I now found gratification, not only in the study of the sciences, but -generally in everything good and beautiful, with which I became -acquainted; and I carried this out with an enthusiasm which passed all -limits. The hitherto suppressed inclination to the pleasures of sense -also asserted its claims. The first occasion of this was the following. -For many years some men, who were occupied in various kinds of teaching, -had insinuated themselves into the most prominent and wealthy families -of the Jewish nation. They devoted themselves especially to the French -language (which was then regarded as the highest point of -enlightenment), to geography, arithmetic, bookkeeping, and similar -studies. They had also made themselves familiar with some phrases and -imperfectly understood results of the more profound sciences and -philosophical systems, while their intercourse with the fair sex was -marked by studious gallantry. As a result of all this, they were great -favourites in the families where they visited, and were regarded as -clever fellows. Now, they began to observe that my reputation was always -on the increase, and that the respect for my attainments and talents -went so far, that they were being thrown wholly into the shade. -Accordingly they thought of a stratagem, by which they might be able to -ward off the threatened evil. - -They resolved to draw me into their company, to show me every -demonstration of friendship, and to render me every possible service. By -this means they hoped, in the first place, as a result of our -intercourse, to win for themselves some of the respect which was shown -to me, and, in the second place, to obtain, from my frank and -communicative spirit, some additional knowledge of those sciences which -as yet they knew only in name. But, in the third place, as they knew my -enthusiasm for everything which I once recognised as good, they expected -to intoxicate me with the allurements of sensual pleasure, and to cool -in some measure my ardour in the study of science, which would at the -same time alienate my friends, my intimacy with whom made them so -jealous. - -Accordingly they invited me into their society, testified their -friendship and esteem for me, and begged the honour of my company. -Suspecting no harm, I received their advances with pleasure, especially -as I reflected that Mendelssohn and my other friends were too grand for -everyday intercourse with me. It became therefore a very desirable -object with me, to find some friends of a middle class, with whom I -could associate _sans faASec.on_, and enjoy the charms of familiarity. My -new friends took me into gay society, to taverns, on pleasure -excursions, at last also to ----;[57] and all this at their own -expense. I, on my side, in my happy humour, opened up to them in return -all the mysteries of philosophy, explained to them in detail all the -peculiar systems, and corrected their ideas on various subjects of human -knowledge. But as things of this sort cannot be poured into a man's -head, and as these gentlemen had no special capacity for them, of course -they were not able to make any great progress by this kind of -instruction. When I observed this, I began to express some sort of -contempt for them, and made no attempt to conceal the fact, that it was -mainly the roast and the wine that gave me pleasure in their company. -This did not please them particularly; and as they were unable to reach -their object with me completely, they tried to reach it at least in -part. They told tales to my grand friends behind my back about the most -trifling incidents and expressions. For instance, they asserted that I -charged Mendelssohn with being a philosophical hypocrite, that I -declared others to be endowed with but shallow pates, that I was seeking -to spread dangerous systems, and that I was wholly abandoned to -Epicureanism. (As if they were genuine Stoics!) They even began at last -openly to manifest their enmity. - -All this of course had its effect; and to add to the impression, my -friends observed that in my studies I followed no fixed plan, but merely -my inclination. Accordingly they proposed to me that I should study -medicine, but could not induce me to do it. I observed that the theory -of medicine contains many departments as auxiliary sciences, each of -which requires a specialist for its thorough mastery, while the practice -of medicine implies a peculiar genius and faculty of judgment, that are -seldom to be met with. I observed at the same time, that the most of -physicians take advantage of the ignorance of the public. In accordance -with established usage they spend some years at the universities, where -they have an opportunity indeed of attending all the lectures, but in -point of fact attend very few. At the close of their course, by means of -money and fair words, they get a dissertation written for them; and -thus, after a very simple fashion, become medical practitioners. - -As already mentioned, I had a great liking for painting; but I was -advised against this, because I was already well advanced in years, and -consequently might not have sufficient patience for the minute exercises -required for this art. At last the proposal was made to me, to learn -pharmacy; and as I had already obtained some acquaintance with physics -as well as chemistry, I consented. My object in this, however, was not -to make any practical use of my attainments, but merely to acquire -theoretical knowledge. Accordingly, instead of setting to with my own -hands, and thereby acquiring expertness in this art, at important -chemical processes I played the part of a mere spectator. In this way I -learnt pharmacy, yet without being in the position of becoming an -apothecary. After the lapse of a three years' apprenticeship, Madame -Rosen, in whose shop I was apprenticed, was duly paid by H. J. D. the -promised fee of sixty thalers. I received a certificate, that I had -perfectly mastered the art of pharmacy; and this ended the whole matter. - -This, however, contributed not a little to alienate my friends. At last -Mendelssohn asked me to come and see him, when he informed me of this -alienation, and pointed out to me its causes. They complained, (1) that -I had not made up my mind to any plan of life, and had thereby rendered -fruitless all their exertions in my behalf; (2) that I was trying to -spread dangerous opinions and systems; and (3) that, according to -general rumour, I was leading a rather loose life, and was very much -addicted to sensual pleasures. - -The first of these complaints I endeavoured to answer by referring to -the fact, which I had mentioned to my friends at the very first, that, -in consequence of my peculiar training, I was indisposed for any kind of -business, and adapted merely for a quiet speculative life, by which I -could not only satisfy my natural inclination, but also, by teaching and -similar means, provide for my support in a certain fashion. "As to the -second point," I proceeded, "the opinions and systems referred to are -either true or false. If the former, then I do not see how the knowledge -of the truth can do any harm. If the latter, then let them be refuted. -Moreover, I have explained these opinions and systems only to gentlemen -who desire to be enlightened, and to rise above all prejudices. But the -truth is, that it is not the mischievous nature of the opinions, it is -the incapacity of those gentlemen to comprehend them, coupled with their -reluctance to make such a humiliating confession, that sets them in arms -against me. In reference to the third reproach, however, I must say with -downright honesty, Herr Mendelssohn, we are all Epicureans. The -moralists can prescribe to us merely rules of prudence; that is to say, -they can prescribe the use of means for the attainment of given ends, -but not the ends themselves. But," I added, "I see clearly that I must -quit Berlin; whither, is a matter of indifference." With this I bade -Mendelssohn farewell. He gave me a very favourable testimonial of my -capabilities and talents, and wished me a prosperous journey. - -To my other friends also I bade farewell, and in brief but emphatic -terms thanked them for the favours they had shown. One of my friends was -taken aback, when I bade him goodbye, at my using the brief form, "I -hope you will enjoy good health, my dear friend; and I thank you for all -the favours you have bestowed upon me." It seemed to this excellent, but -prosaically poetical man, as if the form were too curt and dry for all -his friendliness towards me. So he replied with evident displeasure, "Is -this all that you have learnt in Berlin?" I made no answer, however, but -went away, booked by the Hamburg post, and departed from Berlin. - -On leaving I received from Samuel Levi[58] a letter of introduction to -one of his correspondents. When I arrived in Hamburg, I went to the -merchant to whom this letter was addressed, and delivered it. He -received me well, and invited me to his table during my stay in the -city. But as he knew nothing except how to make money, and took no -particular interest in scholarship or science, he evidently entertained -me merely on account of my letter of introduction, because he had to do -something to gratify his correspondent. As I knew nothing of trade, -however, and besides made no very presentable figure, he endeavoured to -get rid of me as soon as possible, and with a view to that asked me -where I meant to go when I left Hamburg. When I replied that I was going -to Holland, he gave me the well-meant advice to hasten my departure, as -this was the best season of the year for travelling. - -Accordingly I took out a passage on a Hamburg vessel that was to sail -for Holland in two or three weeks. For travelling companions I had two -barbers, a tailor, and a shoemaker. These fellows made themselves merry, -caroused bravely, and sang all sorts of songs. In this joviality I could -not take a part; in fact they scarcely understood my language, and -teased me on that account in a thousand ways, though I bore it all with -patience. The vessel glided pleasantly down the Elbe to a village at -the mouth of the river some miles below Hamburg. Here we were obliged to -lie about six weeks, prevented by contrary winds from putting out to -sea. The ship's crew, along with the other passengers, went to the -village tavern, where they drank and played. For me, however, the time -became very dreary, and I was besides so sick, that I nearly despaired -of my recovery. - -At last we got a favourable wind, the vessel stood out to sea, and on -the third day after our departure we arrived before Amsterdam. A boat -came out to the ship to take the passengers into the city. At first I -would not trust myself to the Dutch boatman, because I was afraid of -falling into the hands of the crimps, against whom I had been warned in -Hamburg; but the captain of our ship assured me that he knew the boatman -well, and that I might trust myself to him without any anxiety. -Accordingly I came into the city; but as I had no acquaintances here, -and as I knew that at the Hague there was a gentleman belonging to a -prominent Berlin family, and that he had obtained from Berlin a tutor -with whom I was acquainted, I set out for that place in a drag-boat. - -Here I took lodgings at the house of a poor Jewish woman, but before I -had time to rest from my journey, a man of tall, spare figure, in untidy -clothing, and with a pipe in his mouth, came in, and, without observing -me, commenced to speak with my landlady. At last she said to him, "Herr -H----, here is a stranger from Berlin; pray, speak to him." The man -thereupon turned to me, and asked me who I was. With my usual -instinctive frankness and love of truth, I told him that I was born in -Poland, that my love of the sciences had induced me to spend some years -in Berlin, and that now I had come to Holland with the intention of -entering some situation, if an opportunity offered itself. When he heard -that I was a man of learning, he began to speak with me on various -subjects in philosophy, and especially in mathematics, in which he had -done a good deal. He found in me a man after his own heart, and we -formed at once a bond of friendship with one another. - -I now went to seek the tutor from Berlin, to whom I referred before. He -introduced me to his employer as a man of high talent, who had made a -great figure in Berlin, and had brought letters of introduction from -that city. This gentleman, who made much of his tutor, as well as of -everything that came from Berlin, invited me to dinner. As my external -appearance did not appear to promise much, and I was besides thoroughly -exhausted and depressed by my sea-voyage, I made a comical figure at -table, and our host evidently did not know what to think of me. But as -he put great confidence in the written recommendation of Mendelssohn and -the oral recommendation of his tutor, he suppressed his astonishment, -and invited me to his table as long as I chose to remain here. In the -evening he invited his brothers-in-law to meet me. They were children of -B----, celebrated for his wealth as well as his beneficence; and as -they were men of learning themselves, they were expected to sound me. -They conversed with me on various subjects in the Talmud, and even in -the Cabbalah. As I showed myself thoroughly initiated into the mysteries -of this sort of learning, even explained to them passages which they -regarded as inexplicable, and untied the most complicated knots of -argument, their admiration was excited, and they believed they had come -upon a great man. - -It was not long, however, before their admiration turned to hatred. The -occasion of this was the following. In connection with the Cabbalah they -told me of a godly man, who had now for many years been a resident of -London, and who was able to perform miracles by means of the Cabbalah. I -expressed some doubts on the subject, but they assured me they had been -present at performances of the kind during this man's residence at the -Hague. To this I replied as a philosopher, that I did not indeed -question the truth of their statement, but that perhaps they had not -duly investigated the matter themselves, and gave out their -pre-conceived opinions as facts. Moreover, I declared that I must regard -with scepticism the effect of the Cabbalah in general, until it is shown -that that effect is of such a kind as cannot be explained in accordance -with the known laws of Nature. This declaration they held to be heresy. - -At the end of the meal the wine-cup was passed to me, that I might, in -accordance with the usual custom, pronounce the blessing over it. This -however I declined with the explanation, that I did so not from any -false shame of speaking before a number of men, because in Poland I had -been a rabbi, and had very often held disputations and delivered sermons -before large assemblies, and, in order to prove this, was now willing to -deliver public lectures every day. It was merely, I explained further, -the love of truth and the reluctance to do anything inconsistent, that -made it impossible for me, without manifest aversion, to say prayers -which I regarded as a result of an anthropomorphic system of theology. - -At this their patience was completely exhausted; they reviled me as a -damnable heretic, and declared it would be a deadly sin to tolerate me -in a Jewish house. Our host, who was no philosopher indeed, but a -reasonable and enlightened man, did not mind much what they said; my -humble talents were of more value in his eyes than my piety. Accordingly -they broke up immediately after dinner, and left the house in deep -displeasure; but all their subsequent efforts to drive me from their -brother-in-law's house were fruitless. I remained in it about nine -months, lived at perfect freedom, but very retired, without any -occupation or any rational society. - -Here I cannot pass over in silence an event which was remarkable both in -a psychological and in a moral point of view. In Holland I wanted -nothing but an occupation suited to my powers, and naturally, therefore, -I became hypochondriac. From feelings of satiety, not infrequently I -fell upon the idea of making away with myself, and of thus putting an -end to an existence which had become a burden to me. But no sooner did I -come to action, than the love of life always assumed the upper hand -again. Once, at the Feast of Haman, in accordance with the custom of the -Jews, I had banquetted very heartily in the house where I took my meals. -After the feast, about midnight I returned to my lodging; and as I had -to pass along one of the canals that are laid out everywhere in Holland, -it occurred to me that this was a very convenient opportunity for -carrying out the design which I had often formed. I thought to myself, -"My life is a burden. At present, indeed, I have no wants; but how will -it be with me in the future, and by what means shall I preserve my life, -since I am of no use for anything in the world? I have already resolved, -on cool reflection at different times, to put an end to my life, and -nothing but my cowardice has restrained me hitherto. Now, when I am -pretty drunk, on the brink of a deep canal, the thing may be done in a -moment without any difficulty." Already I had bent my body over the -canal, in order to plunge in; but only the upper part of the body obeyed -the command of the mind, trusting that the lower part would certainly -refuse its services for such a purpose. So I stood for a good while with -half the body bent over the water, and propped myself carefully with my -legs firmly planted on the ground, so that a spectator might have -fancied I was merely making my bow to the water. This hesitation -destroyed my whole plan. I felt like a man who is going to take -medicine, but, wanting the resolution required, raises the cup time -after time to his mouth, and sets it down again. I began at last to -laugh at myself, as I reflected that my sole motive for suicide was a -real superfluity for the present and an imaginary want for the -future.[59] I therefore let the project drop for the time being, went -home, and thus brought the serio-comic scene to an end. - -Still another comical scene must be mentioned here. At the Hague there -lived at that time a woman of about forty-five, who was said to have -been very pretty in youth, and supported herself by giving lessons in -French. One day she called upon me at my lodging, introduced herself, -and expressed an irresistible desire for scientific conversation. She -declared therefore that she would visit me frequently in my lodging, and -requested the honour of a visit from me in return. - -This advance I met with great pleasure, returned her visits several -times; and thus our intercourse became more and more intimate. We -conversed usually on subjects in philosophy and _belles lettres_. As I -was still at that time a married man, and, except for her enthusiasm in -learning, Madam had little attraction for me, I thought of nothing -beyond mere entertainment. The lady, however, who had been a widow now -for a pretty long while, and had, according to her own story, conceived -an affection for me, began to express this by looks and words in a -romantic manner, which struck me as very comical. I could never believe, -that a lady could fall in love with me in earnest. Her expressions of -affection therefore I took for mere airs of affectation. She, on the -other hand, showed herself more and more in earnest, became at times -thoughtful in the midst of our conversation, and burst into tears. - -It was during a conversation of this sort, that we fell upon the subject -of love. I told her frankly, that I could not love a woman except for -the sake of womanly excellences, such as beauty, grace, agreeableness, -etc., and that any other excellences she might possess, such as talents -or learning, could excite in me only esteem, but by no means love. The -lady adduced against me arguments _a priori_ as well as instances from -experience, especially from French novels, and tried to correct my -notions of love. I could not, however, be so easily convinced; and as -the lady was carrying her airs to an absurd length, I rose and took my -leave. She accompanied me to the very door, grasped me by the hand, and -would not let me go. I asked her somewhat sharply, "What's the matter -with you, madam?" With trembling voice and tearful eyes she replied, "I -love you." - -When I heard this laconic declaration of love, I began to laugh -immoderately, tore myself from her grasp, and rushed away. Some time -afterwards she sent me the following _billet doux_:-- - -/p - "Sir, -p/ - -I have been greatly mistaken in your character. I took you for a man of -noble thoughts and exalted feelings; but I see now that you are a -genuine Epicurean. You seek nothing but pleasure. A woman can please you -only on account of her beauty. A Madame Dacier, for example, who has -studied thoroughly all the Greek and Latin authors, translated them into -her native language, and enriched them with learned annotations, could -not please you. Why? Because she is not pretty. Sir, you, who are -otherwise so enlightened, ought to be ashamed to cherish such pernicious -principles; and if you will not repent, then tremble before the revenge -of the injured love of - -/p - Yours, etc." -p/ - -To this I returned the following reply:-- - -/p - "Madam, -p/ - -That you have been mistaken, is shown by the result. You say that I am a -genuine Epicurean. In this you do me a great honour. Much as I abhor the -title of an _epicure_, on the other hand I feel proud of the title of -_genuine Epicurean_. Certainly it is beauty alone that pleases me in a -woman; but as this can be heightened by other qualities, these must also -be pleasing as means towards the chief end. On the other hand, I can -merely _esteem_ such a woman on account of her talents; _love_ her I -cannot, as I have already explained in conversation. For the learning of -Madame Dacier I have all respect: she could at all events fall in love -with the Greek heroes who were at the siege of Troy, and expect in -return the love of their _manes_ that were constantly hovering around -her; but nothing more. For the rest, Madam, as far as your revenge is -concerned, I do not fear it, since Time, which destroys all things, has -shattered your weapons, that is, your teeth and nails. - -/p - Yours, etc." -p/ - -Thus ended this strange love-affair. - -I discovered that in Holland there was nothing for me to do, inasmuch as -the main desire of the Dutch Jews is to make money, and they manifest no -particular liking for the sciences. Besides, in consequence of not -knowing the Dutch language, I was unable to give instructions in any -science. I determined therefore to return to Berlin by Hamburg, but -found an opportunity of travelling to Hanover by land. In Hanover I went -to a wealthy Jew,--a man who does not deserve even to enjoy his -riches,--showed him my letter of introduction from Mendelssohn, and -represented to him the urgency of my present circumstances. He read -Mendelssohn's letter carefully through, called for pen and ink, and, -without speaking a word to me, wrote at the foot:--"I also hereby -certify that what Herr Mendelssohn writes in praise of Herr Solomon is -perfectly correct." And with this he dismissed me. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -I return to Hamburg--A Lutheran Pastor pronounces me to be a scabby -Sheep, and unworthy of Admission into the Christian Fold--I enter the -Gymnasium, and frighten the Chief Rabbi out of his Wits. - - -I made a prosperous journey back to Hamburg, but here I fell into -circumstances of the deepest distress. I lodged in a miserable house, -had nothing to eat, and did not know what to do. I had received too much -education to return to Poland, to spend my life in misery without -rational occupation or society, and to sink back into the darkness of -superstition and ignorance, from which I had hardly delivered myself -with so much labour. On the other hand, to succeed in Germany was a -result on which I could not calculate, owing to my ignorance of the -language, as well as of the manners and customs of the people, to which -I had never yet been able to adapt myself properly. I had learnt no -particular profession, I had not distinguished myself in any special -science, I was not even master of any language in which I could make -myself perfectly intelligible. It occurred to me, therefore, that for me -there was no alternative left, but to embrace the Christian religion, -and get myself baptised in Hamburg. Accordingly I resolved to go to the -first clergyman I should come upon, and inform him of my resolution, as -well as of my motives for it, without any hypocrisy, in a truthful and -honest fashion. But as I could not express myself well orally, I put my -thoughts into writing in German with Hebrew characters, went to a -schoolmaster, and got him to copy it in German characters. The purport -of my letter was in brief as follows:-- - -"I am a native of Poland, belonging to the Jewish nation, destined by my -education and studies to be a rabbi; but in the thickest darkness I have -perceived some light. This induced me to search further after light and -truth, and to free myself completely from the darkness of superstition -and ignorance. In order to this end, which could not be attained in my -native place, I came to Berlin, where by the support of some enlightened -men of our nation I studied for some years--not indeed after any plan, -but merely to satisfy my thirst for knowledge. But as our nation is -unable to use, not only such planless studies, but even those conducted -on the most perfect plan, it cannot be blamed for becoming tired of -them, and pronouncing their encouragement to be useless. I have -therefore resolved, in order to secure temporal as well as eternal -happiness, which depends on the attainment of perfection, and in order -to become useful to myself as well as others, to embrace the Christian -religion. The Jewish religion, it is true, comes, in its articles of -faith, nearer to reason than Christianity. But in practical use the -latter has an advantage over the former; and since morality, which -consists not in opinions but in actions, is the aim of all religion in -general, clearly the latter comes nearer than the former to this aim. -Moreover, I hold the mysteries of the Christian religion for that which -they are, that is, allegorical representations of the truths that are -most important for man. By this means I make my faith in them harmonise -with reason, but I cannot believe them according to their common -meaning. I beg therefore most respectfully an answer to the question, -whether after this confession I am worthy of the Christian religion or -not. In the former case I am ready to carry my proposal into effect; but -in the latter, I must give up all claim to a religion which enjoins me -to lie, that is, to deliver a confession of faith which contradicts my -reason." - -The schoolmaster, to whom I dictated this, fell into astonishment at my -audacity; never before had he listened to such a confession of faith. He -shook his head with much concern, interrupted the writing several times, -and became doubtful, whether the mere copying was not itself a sin. With -great reluctance he copied it out, merely to get rid of the thing. I -went then to a prominent clergyman, delivered my letter, and begged for -a reply. He read it with great attention, fell likewise into -astonishment, and on finishing entered into conversation with me. - -"So," he said, "I see your intention is to embrace the Christian -religion, merely in order to improve your temporal circumstances." - -"Excuse me, Herr Pastor," I replied, "I think I have made it clear -enough in my letter, that my object is the attainment of perfection. To -this, it is true, the removal of all hindrances and the improvement of -my external circumstances form an indispensable condition. But this -condition is not the chief end." - -"But," said the pastor, "do you not feel any inclination of the soul to -the Christian religion without reference to any external motives?" - -"I should be telling a lie, if I were to give you an affirmative -answer." - -"You are too much of a philosopher," replied the pastor, "to be able to -become a Christian. Reason has taken the upper hand with you, and faith -must accommodate itself to reason. You hold the mysteries of the -Christian religion to be mere fables, and its commands to be mere laws -of reason. For the present I cannot be satisfied with your confession of -faith. You should therefore pray to God, that He may enlighten you with -His grace, and endow you with the spirit of true Christianity; and then -come to me again." - -"If that is the case," I said, "then I must confess, Herr Pastor, that I -am not qualified for Christianity. Whatever light I may receive, I shall -always make it luminous with the light of reason. I shall never believe -that I have fallen upon new truths, if it is impossible to see their -connection with the truths already known to me. I must therefore remain -what I am,--a stiffnecked Jew. My religion enjoins me to _believe_ -nothing, but to _think_ the truth and to _practise_ goodness. If I find -any hindrance in this from external circumstances, it is not my fault. I -do all that lies in my power." - -With this I bade the pastor goodbye. - -The hardships of my journey, coupled with poor food, brought on an ague. -I lay on a straw-bed in a garret, and suffered the want of all -conveniences and refreshments. My landlord, who took pity on me, called -a Jewish physician, who prescribed an emetic which soon cured me of my -fever. The doctor found that I was no common man, stayed to converse -with me for some hours, and begged me, as soon as I recovered, to visit -him. - -Meanwhile, however, a young man, who had known me in Berlin, heard of my -arrival. He called on me to say that Herr W----, who had seen me in -Berlin, was now residing in Hamburg, and that I might very properly call -upon him. I did so, and Herr W----, who was a very clever, honourable -man, of a benevolent disposition naturally, asked me what I intended to -do. I represented to him my whole circumstances, and begged for his -advice. He said that in his opinion the unfortunate position of my -affairs arose from the fact, that I had devoted myself with zeal merely -to the acquisition of scientific knowledge, but had neglected the study -of language, and therefore I was unable to communicate my knowledge to -others, or make any use of it. Meanwhile, he thought, nothing had been -lost by delay; and if I was still willing to accommodate myself to the -circumstances, I could attain my object in the gymnasium at Altona, -where his son was studying, while he would provide for my support. - -I accepted this offer with many thanks, and went home with a joyful -heart. Meanwhile Herr W---- spoke to the professors of the gymnasium, as -well as to the principal, but more particularly to the syndic, Herr -G----, a man who cannot be sufficiently praised. He represented to them, -that I was a man of uncommon talents, who wanted merely some further -knowledge of language to distinguish himself in the world, and who hoped -to obtain that knowledge by a short residence in the gymnasium. They -acceded to his request. I was matriculated, and had a room assigned to -me, in the institution. - -Here I lived for two years in peace and contentment. But the pupils in -such a gymnasium, as may be easily supposed, make very slow progress; -and it was therefore natural that I, who had already made considerable -attainments in science, should find the lessons at times somewhat -tedious. Consequently I did not attend them all, but made a selection to -suit my taste. The Director Dusch I esteemed very highly on account of -his profound scholarship and his excellent character. I therefore -attended the most of his lectures. It is true, the philosophy of -Ernesti, on which he lectured, could not give me much satisfaction, and -just as little did I receive from his lectures on Segner's Mathematical -Compendium. But I derived great benefit from his instructions in the -English language. The Rector H----, a cheerful old man, though somewhat -pedantic, was not altogether pleased with me, because I would not -perform his Latin exercises, and would not learn Greek at all. The -Professor of History began his lectures _ab ovo_ with Adam, and at the -end of the year with a great deal of effort reached as far down as the -building of the Tower of Babel. The teacher of French used for -translation Fenelon's _Sur l'existence de Dieu_,--a work for which I -conceived the greatest dislike, because the author, while appearing to -declaim against Spinozism, in reality argues in its defence. - -During the whole period of my residence in the gymnasium the professors -were unable to form any correct idea of me, because they never had an -opportunity of forming my acquaintance. By the end of the first year I -thought I had attained my object, and laid a good foundation in -languages. I had also become tired of this inactive life, and therefore -resolved to quit the gymnasium. But Director Dusch; who began by and by -to become acquainted with me, begged me to stay at least another year, -and, as I wanted for nothing, I consented. - -It was about this time that the following incident in my life took -place. My wife had sent a polish Jew in search of me, and he heard of my -residence in Hamburg. Accordingly he came and called on me at the -gymnasium. He had been commissioned by my wife to demand, that I should -either return home without delay, or send through him a bill of divorce. -At that time I was unable to do either the one or the other. I was not -inclined to be divorced from my wife without any cause; and to return at -once to Poland, where I had not yet the slightest prospect of getting on -in the world or of leading a rational life, was to me impossible. I -represented all this to the gentleman who had undertaken the commission, -and added that it was my intention to leave the gymnasium soon and go to -Berlin, that my Berlin friends would, as I hoped, give me both their -advice and assistance in carrying out this intention. He would not be -satisfied with this answer, which he took for a mere evasion. When he -thus found that he could do nothing with me, he went to the chief rabbi, -and entered a complaint against me. A messenger was accordingly sent to -summon me before the tribunal of the chief rabbi; but I took my stand, -that at present I was not under his jurisdiction, inasmuch as the -gymnasium had a jurisdiction of its own, by which my case would require -to be decided. The chief rabbi made every effort through the Government -to make me submit to his wishes, but all his efforts were in vain. When -he saw that he could not accomplish his purpose in this way, he sent me -an invitation a second time on the pretext that he wished merely to -speak with me. To this I willingly consented, and went to him at once. - -He received me with much respect; and when I made known to him my -birthplace and family in Poland, he began to lament and wring his hands. -"Alas!" said he, "you are the son of the famous Rabbi Joshua? I know -your father well; he is a pious and learned man. You also are not -unknown to me; I have examined you as a boy several times, and formed -high expectations of you. Oh! is it possible that you have altered so?" -(Here he pointed to my shaven beard). To this I replied, that I also had -the honour of knowing him, and that I still remembered his examinations -well. My conduct hitherto, I told him, was as little opposed to religion -properly understood, as it was to reason. "But," he interrupted "you do -not wear a beard, you do not go to the synagogue: is that not contrary -to religion?" "No!" I replied, and I proved to him from the Talmud that, -under the circumstances in which I was placed, all this was allowed. On -this point we entered into a lengthy dispute, in which each maintained -his right. As he could effect nothing with me by such disputation, he -adopted the style of mere sermonising; but when this also was of no -avail, he began to cry aloud, "_Shophar! Shophar!_" This is the name of -the horn which is blown on New-Year's day as a summons to repentance, -and at which it is supposed that Satan is horribly afraid. While the -chief rabbi called out the word, he pointed to a _Shophar_ that lay -before him on the table, and asked me, "Do you know what that is?" I -replied quite boldly, "Oh yes! it is a ram's horn." At these words the -chief rabbi fell back upon his chair, and began to lament over my lost -soul. I left him to lament as long as he liked, and bade him goodbye. - -At the end of my second year I began to reflect, that it would be an -advantage in view of my future success, as well as fair to the -gymnasium, that I should make myself more intimately acquainted with the -professors. Accordingly I went to Director Dusch, announced to him that -I was soon to leave, and told him that, as I wished a certificate from -him, it would be well for him to examine me on the progress I had made, -so that his certificate might be as nearly as possible in accordance -with the truth. To this end he made me translate some passages from -Latin and English works in prose as well as in verse, and was very well -pleased with the translation. Afterwards he entered into conversation -with me on some subjects in philosophy, but found me so well versed in -these, that for his own safety he was obliged to back out. At last he -asked me, "But how is it with your mathematics?" I begged him to examine -me in this also. "In our mathematical lessons," he began, "we had -advanced to somewhere about the subject of mathematical bodies. Will you -work out yourself a proposition not yet taken up in the lessons, for -example, that about the relation of the cylinder, the sphere and the -cone to one another? You may take some days to do it." I replied that -this was unnecessary, and offered to perform the task on the spot. I -then demonstrated, not only the proposition prescribed, but several -other propositions out of Segner's Geometry. The Director was very much -surprised at this, called all the pupils in the gymnasium, and -represented to them that the extraordinary progress I had made should -make them ashamed of themselves. The most of them did not know what to -say to this; but some replied, "Do not suppose, Herr Director, that -Maimon made this progress in mathematics here. He has seldom attended -the mathematical lessons, and even when he was there he paid no -attention to them." They were going to say more, but the Director -commanded silence, and gave me an honourable certificate, from which I -cannot avoid quoting a few sentences. They became to me afterwards a -constant spur to higher attainments, and I hope it will not be -considered vainglory in me to cite the opinion of this esteemed man. - -"His capacity," says he, "for learning all that is beautiful, good and -useful in general, but in particular those sciences which require severe -exertion of the mental powers, abstract and profound thought, is, I -might almost say, extraordinary. All those sorts of knowledge, which -demand in the highest degree one's own mental efforts, appear to him the -most agreeable; and intellectual occupations seem to be his chief, if -not his sole, enjoyment. His favourite studies hitherto have been -philosophy and mathematics, in which his progress has excited my -astonishment, &c." - -I now bade goodbye to the teachers and officers of the gymnasium, who -unanimously paid me the compliment, that I had done honour to their -institution. I then set out once more for Berlin. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -Third Journey to Berlin--Frustrated Plan of Hebrew Authorship--Journey -to Breslau--Divorce. - - -On my arrival in Berlin I called upon Mendelssohn, as well as some other -old friends, and begged them, as I had now acquired some knowledge of -languages, to employ me in some occupation suited to my capacity. They -hit upon the suggestion, that, in order to enlighten the Polish Jews -still living in darkness, I should prepare in Hebrew, as the only -language intelligible to them, some scientific works, which these -philanthropists were to print at their own expense, and distribute among -the people. His proposal I accepted with delight. But now the question -arose, with what sort of works a beginning should be made. On this point -my excellent friends were divided in their opinions. One of them thought -that the history of the Jewish nation would be most serviceable for this -purpose, inasmuch as the people would discover in it the origin of their -religious doctrines and of the subsequent corruption which these had -undergone, while they would thus also gain an insight into the fact, -that the fall of the Jewish state, as well as all the subsequent -persecution and oppression which they had suffered, had arisen from -their own ignorance and opposition to all rational arrangements. -Accordingly this gentleman recommended that I should translate from -French Basnage's _History of the Jews_; he gave me the work for this -purpose, and asked me to furnish a copy of my translation. The specimen -gave satisfaction to them all, even to Mendelssohn, and I was ready to -take the work in hand; but one of our friends thought that we ought to -begin with something on natural religion and rational morals, inasmuch -as this is the object of all enlightenment. Accordingly he recommended -that for this purpose I should translate the _Natural Religion_ of -Reimarus. Mendelssohn withheld his opinion, because he believed that -whatever was undertaken in this line, though it would do no harm, would -also be of little use. I myself undertook these works, not from any -conviction of my own, but at the request of my friends. - -I was too well acquainted with the rabbinical despotism, which by the -power of superstition has established its throne for many centuries in -Poland, and which for its own security seeks in every possible way to -prevent the spread of light and truth. I knew how closely the Jewish -theocracy is connected with the national existence, so that the -abolition of the former must inevitably bring with it the annihilation -of the latter. I saw therefore clearly that my labours in this direction -would be fruitless; but I undertook this commission, because, as already -stated, my friends would have it so, and because I could think of no -other means of subsistence. Accordingly without fixing anything definite -about the plan of my labours, my friends resolved to send me to Dessau, -where I could carry on my work at leisure. - -I reached Dessau in the hope, that after a few days my friends in Berlin -would resolve upon something definite about my work: but in this I was -deceived; for, as soon as I turned my back on Berlin, nothing further -was thought of the plan. I waited about a fortnight; but when during -that period I received no communication, I wrote to Berlin in the -following terms:--"If my friends cannot unite upon a plan, they might -leave the settlement of it to my own judgment. For my part I believe -that, to enlighten the Jewish nation, we must begin neither with history -nor with natural theology and morals. One of my reasons for thinking so -is, that these subjects, being easily intelligible, would not be able to -instil any regard for science in general among the more learned Jews, -who are accustomed to respect only those studies which involve a strain -upon the highest intellectual powers. But a second reason is, that, as -those subjects would frequently come into collision with religious -prejudices, they would never be admitted. Besides, sooth to say, there -is no proper history of the Jewish nation: for they have scarcely ever -stood in political relation with other civilised nations; and, with the -exception of the Old Testament and Josephus and a few fragments on the -persecutions of the Jews in the middle ages, nothing is to be found -recorded on the subject. I believe, therefore, that it would be best to -make a beginning with some science which, besides being most favourable -for the development of the mind, is also self-evident, and stands in no -connection with any religious opinions. Of this sort are the -mathematical sciences; and therefore with this object in view I am -willing to write a mathematical text-book in Hebrew." - -To this I received the answer, that I might follow my plan. Accordingly -I applied myself with all diligence to the preparation of this -text-book, using the Latin work on mathematics by Wolff as its basis; -and in two months it was finished. I then returned to Berlin, to give an -account of my work, but received immediately from one of the gentlemen -interested the disappointing information, that, as the work was very -voluminous, and as it would entail heavy expenditure especially on -account of the copper-plates required, he could not undertake the -publication at his own expense, and I might therefore do with my -manuscript whatever I chose. I complained of this to Mendelssohn; and he -thought, that certainly it was unreasonable to let my work go without -remuneration, but that I could not require my friends to undertake the -publication of a work which could not calculate on any good result in -consequence of that aversion to all science, which I myself knew to be -prevalent among the Jewish nation. His advice therefore was, that I -should get the book printed by subscription; and of course I was -obliged to content myself with this. Mendelssohn and the other -enlightened Jews in Berlin subscribed, and I received for my work merely -my manuscript and the list of subscriptions. The whole plan, however, -was thought of no more. - -On this I fell out again with my friends in Berlin. Being a man with -little knowledge of the world, who supposed that human actions must -always be determined by the laws of justice, I pressed for the -fulfilment of the bargain made. My friends, on the other hand, began, -though too late, to see, that their ill-considered project must of -necessity collapse, because they had no assurance of a market for such -voluminous and expensive works. From the religious, moral and political -condition of the Jews up to this time it was easy to foresee that the -few enlightened men among them would certainly give themselves no -trouble to study the sciences in the Hebrew language, which is very -ill-adapted for the exposition of such subjects; they will prefer to -seek science in its original sources. The unenlightened, on the other -hand,--and these form the majority,--are so swayed by rabbinical -prejudices, that they regard the study of the sciences, even in Hebrew, -as forbidden fruit, and persistently occupy themselves only with the -Talmud and the enormous number of its commentaries. - -All this I understood very well, and therefore I never thought of -demanding that the work I had prepared should be printed; I asked merely -remuneration for the labour spent on it in vain. In this dispute -Mendelssohn remained neutral, because he thought that both parties had -right on their side. He promised to use his influence with my friends, -to induce them to provide for my subsistence in some other way. But when -even this was not done, I became impatient, and resolved to quit Berlin -once more, and go to Breslau. I took with me some letters of -introduction, but they were of little service; for before I reached -Breslau myself, letters in the spirit of those which Uriah carried had -preceded me, and made a bad impression on the most of those to whom my -letters of introduction were addressed. As a natural result, therefore, -I was coldly received; and as I knew nothing of the later letters, I -found it impossible to explain my reception, and had made up my mind to -quit Breslau. - -By chance, however, I became acquainted with the celebrated Jewish poet, -the late Ephraim Kuh. This learned and high-minded man took so much -interest in me, that, neglecting all his former occupations and -enjoyments, he confined himself entirely to my society. To the wealthy -Jews he spoke of me with the greatest enthusiasm, and praised me as a -very good fellow. But when he found that all his complimentary remarks -failed to make any impression on these gentlemen, he took some trouble -to find out the cause of this, and at last discovered that the reason -lay in those friendly letters from Berlin. Their general tenor was, that -I was seeking to spread pernicious opinions. Ephraim Kuh, as a thinking -man, at once saw the reason of this charge; but with all the efforts he -made, he could not drive it out of the heads of these people. I -confessed to him that, during my first sojourn in Berlin as a young man -without experience or knowledge of the world, I had felt an irresistible -impulse to communicate to others whatever truth I knew; but I assured -him that, having for some years become wise by experience, I went to -work with great caution, and that therefore this charge was now wholly -without foundation. - -Irritated by my disheartening situation, I resolved to form the -acquaintance of Christian scholars, by whose recommendation I thought I -might find a hearing among the wealthy men of my own nation. I could not -but fear, however, that my defective language might form an obstacle to -the expression of my thoughts; so I prepared a written essay, in which I -delivered my ideas on the most important questions of philosophy in the -form of aphorisms. With this essay I went to the celebrated Professor -Garve, explained to him briefly my intention, and submitted my aphorisms -to him for examination. He discussed them with me in a very friendly -manner, gave me a good testimonial, and recommended me also orally in -very emphatic language to the wealthy banker, Lipmann Meier. This -gentleman settled a monthly allowance on me for my support, and also -spoke to some other Jews on the subject. - -My situation now improved every day. Many young men of the Jewish nation -sought my society. Among others the second son of Herr Aaron Zadig took -so much pleasure in my humble personality, that he desired to enjoy my -instruction in the sciences. This he earnestly begged his father to -allow; and the latter, being a well-to-do enlightened man of great good -sense, who wished to give his children the best German education, and -spared no expense for that object, willingly gave his consent. He sent -for me, and made the proposal that I should live at his house, and for a -moderate honorarium should give his second son lessons for two hours a -day in physics and _belles lettres_, and also a lesson in arithmetic of -an hour a day to his third and youngest son. This proposal I accepted -with great willingness; and, not long after, Herr Zadig asked me, if I -would not also consent to give lessons in Hebrew and elementary -mathematics to his children who had hitherto had for their teacher in -these subjects a Polish Jew, named Rabbi Manoth. But I thought it would -be unfair to supplant this poor man, who had a family to support, and -who was giving satisfaction at any rate; and therefore I declined this -request. Accordingly Rabbi Manoth continued his lessons, and I entered -upon mine. - -In this house I was able to carry on but little study for myself. In the -first place, there was a want of books; and, in the second place, I -lived in a room with the children, where they were occupied with other -masters every hour of the day. Besides, the liveliness of these young -people did not suit my character which had already become somewhat -stern; and therefore I had often occasion to get angry at petty -outbursts of unruliness. Consequently, as I was obliged to pass most of -my time in idleness, I sought society. I often visited Herr Hiemann -Lisse, a plump little man of enlightened mind and cheerful disposition. -With him and some other jolly companions I spent my evenings in talk and -jest and play of every sort. During the day I strolled around among the -coffee-houses. - -In other families also I soon became acquainted, particularly in those -of Herr Simon, the banker, and Herr Bortenstein, both of whom showed me -much kindness. All sought to persuade me to devote myself to medicine, -for which I had always entertained a great dislike. But when I saw from -my circumstances, that it would be difficult for me to find support in -any other way, I allowed myself to be persuaded. Professor Garve -introduced me to Professor Morgenbesser, and I attended his medical -lectures for some time; but after all I could not overcome my dislike to -the art, and accordingly gave up the lectures again. By and by I became -acquainted with other Christian scholars, especially with the late Herr -LieberkA1/4hn, who was so justly esteemed on account of his abilities, as -well as for his warm interest in the welfare of mankind. I also made the -acquaintance of some teachers of merit in the Jesuits' College at -Breslau. - -But I did not give up wholly literary work in Hebrew. I translated into -Hebrew Mendelssohn's _Morgenstunden_. Of this translation I sent some -sheets as a specimen to Herr Isaac Daniel Itzig in Berlin; but I -received no answer because this excellent man, owing to his business -being too extensive, cannot possibly give attention to subjects that are -not of immediate interest to him, and therefore such affairs as the -answering of my letter are easily forgotten. I also wrote in Hebrew a -treatise on Natural Philosophy according to Newtonian principles; and -this, as well as the rest of my Hebrew works, I still preserve in -manuscript. - -At last, however, I fell here also into a precarious situation. The -children of Herr Zadig, in pursuance of the occupations to which they -were destined in life, entered into commercial situations, and therefore -required teachers no longer. Other means of support also gradually -failed. As I was thus obliged to seek subsistence in some other way, I -devoted myself to giving lessons; I taught Euler's _Algebra_ to a young -man, gave two children instruction in the rudiments of German and Latin, -&c. But even this did not last long, and I found myself in a sorrowful -plight. - -Meanwhile my wife and eldest son arrived from Poland. A woman of rude -education and manners, but of great good sense and the courage of an -Amazon, she demanded that I should at once return home with her, not -seeing the impossibility of what she required. I had now lived some -years in Germany, had happily emancipated myself from the fetters of -superstition and religious prejudice, had abandoned the rude manner of -life in which I had been brought up, and extended my knowledge in many -directions. I could not therefore return to my former barbarous and -miserable condition, deprive myself of all the advantages I had gained, -and expose myself to rabbinical rage at the slightest deviation from the -ceremonial law, or the utterance of a liberal opinion. I represented to -her, that this could not be done at once, that I should require first of -all to make my situation known to my friends here as well as in Berlin, -and solicit from them the assistance of two or three hundred thalers, so -that I might be able to live in Poland independent of my religious -associates. But she would listen to nothing of all this, and declared -her resolution to obtain a divorce, if I would not go with her -immediately. Here therefore it was for me to choose the less of two -evils, and I consented to the divorce. - -Meanwhile, however, I was obliged to provide for the lodging and board -of these guests, and to introduce them to my friends in Breslau. Both of -these duties I performed, and I pointed out, especially to my son, the -difference between the manner of life one leads here and that in Poland, -while I sought to convince him by several passages in the _Moreh -Nebhochim_, that enlightenment of the understanding and refinement of -manners are rather favourable than otherwise to religion. I went -further: I sought to convince him, that he ought to remain with me; I -assured him, that, with my direction and the support of my friends, he -would find opportunities of developing the good abilities with which -Nature had endowed him, and would obtain for them some suitable -employment. These representations made some impression upon him: but my -wife went with my son to consult some orthodox Jews, in whose advice she -thought she could thoroughly confide; and they recommended her to press -at once for a divorce, and on no account to let my son be induced to -remain with me. This resolution, however, she was not to disclose till -she had received from me a sufficient sum of money for household -purposes. She might then separate from me for ever, and start for home -with her booty. - -This pretty plan was faithfully followed. By and by I had succeeded in -collecting some score of ducats from my friends. I gave them to my wife, -and explained to her that, to complete the required sum, it would be -necessary for us to go to Berlin. She then began to raise difficulties, -and declared at once point-blank, that for us a divorce was best, as -neither could I live happily with her in Poland, nor she with me in -Germany. In my opinion she was perfectly right. But it still made me -sorry to lose a wife, for whom I had once entertained affection, and I -could not let the affair be conducted in any spirit of levity. I told -her therefore that I should consent to a divorce only if it were -enjoined by the courts. - -This was done. I was summoned before the court. My wife stated the -grounds on which she claimed a divorce. The president of the court then -said, "Under these circumstances we can do nothing but advise a -divorce." "Mr. President," I replied, "we came here, not to ask advice, -but to receive a judicial sentence." Thereupon the chief rabbi rose from -his seat (that what he said might not have the force of a judicial -decision,) approached me with the codex in his hand, and pointed to the -following passage:--"A vagabond, who abandons his wife for years, and -does not write to her or send her money, shall, when he is found, be -obliged to grant a divorce." "It is not my part," I replied, "to -institute a comparison between this case and mine. That duty falls to -you, as judge. Take your seat again, therefore, and pronounce your -judicial sentence on the case." - -The president became pale and red by turns, while the rest of the judges -looked at one another. At last the presiding judge became furious, began -to call me names, pronounced me a damnable heretic, and cursed me in the -name of the Lord. I left him to storm, however, and went away. Thus -ended this strange suit, and things remained as they were before. - -My wife now saw that nothing was to be done by means of force, and -therefore she took to entreaty. I also yielded at last, but only on the -condition, that at the judicial divorce the judge, who had shown himself -such a master of cursing, should not preside in the court. After the -divorce my wife returned to Poland with my son. I remained some time -still in Breslau; but as my circumstances became worse and worse, I -resolved to return to Berlin.[60] - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -Fourth Journey to Berlin--Unfortunate Circumstances--Help--Study of -Kant's Writings--Characteristic of my own Works. - - -When I came to Berlin, Mendelssohn was no longer in life,[61] and my -former friends were determined to know nothing more of me. I did not -know therefore what to do. In the greatest distress I received a visit -from Herr Bendavid, who told me that he had heard of my unfortunate -circumstances, and had collected a small sum of about thirty thalers, -which he gave to me. Besides, he introduced me to a Herr Jojard, an -enlightened and high-minded man, who received me in a very friendly -manner, and made some provision for my support. A certain professor, -indeed, tried to do me an ill turn with this worthy man by denouncing me -as an atheist; but in spite of this I gradually got on so well, that I -was able to hire a lodging in a garret from an old woman. - -I had now resolved to study Kant's _Kritik of Pure Reason_, of which I -had often heard but which I had never seen yet.[62] The method, in which -I studied this work, was quite peculiar. On the first perusal I -obtained a vague idea of each section. This I endeavoured afterwards to -make distinct by my own reflection, and thus to penetrate into the -author's meaning. Such is properly the process which is called _thinking -oneself into a system_. But as I had already mastered in this way the -systems of Spinoza, Hume and Leibnitz, I was naturally led to think of a -coalition-system. This in fact I found, and I put it gradually in -writing in the form of explanatory observations on the _Kritik of Pure -Reason_, just as this system unfolded itself to my mind. Such was the -origin of my _Transcendental Philosophy_. Consequently this book must be -difficult to understand for the man who, owing to the inflexible -character of his thinking, has made himself at home merely in one of -these systems without regard to any other. Here the important problem, -_Quid juris?_ with the solution of which the _Kritik_ is occupied, is -wrought out in a much wider sense than that in which it is taken by -Kant; and by this means there is plenty of scope left for Hume's -scepticism in its full force. But on the other side the complete -solution of this problem leads either to Spinozistic or to Leibnitzian -dogmatism. - -When I had finished this work, I showed it to Marcus Herz.[63] He -acknowledged that he was reckoned among the most eminent disciples of -Kant, and that he had given the most assiduous application while -attending Kant's philosophical lectures, as may indeed be seen from his -writings, but that yet he was not in a position to pass a judgment on -the _Kritik_ itself or on any other work relating to it. He advised me, -however, to send my manuscript directly to Kant himself, and submit it -to his judgment, while he promised to accompany it with a letter to the -great philosopher. Accordingly I wrote to Kant, sending him my work, and -enclosing the letter from Herz. A good while passed, however, before an -answer came. At length Herz received a reply, in which, among other -things, Kant said:-- - -"But what were you thinking about, my dear friend, when you sent me a -big packet containing the most subtle researches, not only to read -through, but to think out thoroughly, while I am still, in my -sixty-sixth year, burdened with a vast amount of labour in completion of -my plan! Part of this labour is to furnish the last part of the -_Kritik_,--that, namely, on the Faculty of Judgment,--which is soon to -appear; part is to work out my system of the Metaphysic of Nature, as -well as the Metaphysic of Ethics, in accordance with the requirements of -the _Kritik_. Moreover, I am kept incessantly busy with a multitude of -letters requiring special explanations on particular points; and, in -addition to all this, my health is frail. I had already made up my mind -to send back the manuscript with an excuse so well justified on all -these grounds; but a glance at it soon enabled me to recognise its -merits, and to show, not only that none of my opponents had understood -me and the main problem so well, but that very few could claim so much -penetration as Herr Maimon in profound inquiries of this sort. This -induced me...," and so on. - -In another passage of the letter Kant says:--"Herr Maimon's work -contains moreover so many acute observations, that he cannot give it to -the public without its producing an impression strongly in his favour." -In a letter to myself he said:--"Your esteemed request I have -endeavoured to comply with as far as was possible for me; and if I have -not gone the length of passing a judgment on the whole of your treatise, -you will gather the reason from my letter to Herr Herz. Certainly it -arises from no feeling of disparagement, which I entertain for no -earnest effort in rational inquiries that interest mankind, and least of -all for such an effort as yours, which, in point of fact, betrays no -common talent for the profounder sciences." - -It may easily be imagined how important and agreeable to me the -approbation of this great thinker must have been, and especially his -testimony that I had understood him well. For there are some arrogant -Kantians, who believe themselves to be sole proprietors of the Critical -Philosophy, and therefore dispose of every objection, even though -intended, not exactly as a refutation, but as a fuller elaboration of -this philosophy, by the mere assertion without proof, that the author -has failed to understand Kant. Now these gentlemen were no longer in a -position to bring this charge against my book, inasmuch as, by the -testimony of the founder himself of the Critical Philosophy, I have a -better right than they to make use of this argument. - -At this time I was living in Potsdam with a gentleman who was a -leather-manufacturer. When Kant's letters arrived, I went to Berlin, and -devoted my time to the publication of my _Transcendental Philosophy_. As -a native of Poland I dedicated this work to the king, and carried a copy -to the Polish Resident; but it was never sent, and I was put off from -time to time with various excuses. _Sapienti sat!_ - -A copy of the work was also sent, as is usually done, to the editor of -the _Allgemeine Litteraturzeitung_. After waiting a good while without -any notice appearing, I wrote to the editor, and received the following -answer:--"You know yourself how small is the number of those who are -competent to understand and judge philosophical works. Three of the best -speculative thinkers have declined to undertake the review of your book, -because they are unable to penetrate into the depths of your researches. -An application has been made to a fourth, from whom a favourable reply -was expected; but a review from him has not yet been received." - -I also began to work at this time for the _Journal fA1/4r AufklA¤rung_. My -first article was on _Truth_, and was in the form of a letter to a -friend[64] in Berlin. The article was occasioned by a letter which I had -received from this friend during my stay in Potsdam, and in which he -wrote to me in a humorous vein, that philosophy was no longer a -marketable commodity, and that therefore I ought to take advantage of -the opportunity which I was enjoying to learn tanning. I replied, that -philosophy is not a coinage subject to the vicissitudes of the exchange; -and this proposition I afterwards developed in my article. Another -article in the same periodical was on _Tropes_, in which I show that -these imply the transference of a word not from one object to another -that is analogous, but from a relative to its correlate. I wrote also an -article on _Bacon and Kant_, in which I institute a comparison between -these two reformers of philosophy. _The Soul of the World_ was the -subject of another discussion in this journal, in which I endeavoured to -make out, that the doctrine of one universal soul common to all animated -beings has not only as much in its favour as the opposite doctrine, but -that the arguments for it outweigh those on the other side. My last -article in the journal referred to the plan of my _Transcendental -Philosophy_; and I explain in it that, while I hold the Kantian -philosophy to be irrefutable from the side of the Dogmatist, on the -other hand I believe that it is exposed to all attacks from the side of -the Scepticism of Hume. - -A number of young Jews from all parts of Germany had, during -Mendelssohn's lifetime, united to form a society under the designation, -Society _for Research into the Hebrew Language_. They observed with -truth, that the evil condition of our people, morally as well as -politically, has its source in their religious prejudices, in their want -of a rational exposition of the Holy Scriptures, and in the arbitrary -exposition to which the rabbis are led by their ignorance of the Hebrew -language. Accordingly the object of their society was to remove these -deficiencies, to study the Hebrew language in its sources, and by that -means to introduce a rational exegesis. For this purpose they resolved -to publish a monthly periodical in Hebrew under the title of [Hebrew:** -], _The Collector_, which was to give expositions of difficult passages -in Scripture, Hebrew poems, prose essays, translations from useful -works, etc. - -The intention of all this was certainly good; but that the end would -scarcely be reached by any such means, I saw from the very beginning. I -was too familiar with the principles of the rabbis and their style of -thought to believe that such means would bring about any change. The -Jewish nation is, without reference to accidental modifications, a -perpetual aristocracy under the appearance of a theocracy. The learned -men, who form the nobility in the nation, have been able, for many -centuries, to maintain their position as the legislative body with so -much authority among the common people, that they can do with them -whatever they please. This high authority is a natural tribute which -weakness owes to strength. For since the nation is divided into such -unequal classes as the common people and the learned, and since the -former, owing to the unfortunate political condition of the nation, are -profoundly ignorant, not only of all useful arts and sciences, but even -of the laws of their religion, on which their eternal welfare is -supposed to depend, it follows that the exposition of Scripture, the -deduction of religious laws from it, and the application of these to -particular cases, must be surrendered wholly to the learned class which -the other undertakes the cost of maintaining. The learned class seek to -make up for their want of linguistic science and rational exegetics by -their own ingenuity, wit and acuteness. To form an idea of the degree in -which these talents are displayed, it is necessary to read the Talmud -along with the commentary called _Tosaphoth_, that is, the additions to -the first commentary of Rabbi Solomon Isaac.[65] - -The productions of the mind are valued by them, not in proportion to -their utility, but in proportion to the talent which they imply. A man -who understands Hebrew, who is well versed in the Holy Scriptures, who -even carries in his head the whole of the Jewish _Corpus Juris_,--and -that is no trifle,--is by them but slightly esteemed. The greatest -praise that they give to such a man is _Chamor Nose Sepharim_, that is, -_An ass loaded with books_. But if a man is able, by his own ingenuity, -to deduce new laws from those already known, to draw fine distinctions, -and to detect hidden contradictions, he is almost idolised. And to tell -the truth, this judgment is well founded, so far as it concerns the -treatment of subjects that have no ulterior end in view. - -It may therefore be easily imagined, that people of this sort will -scarcely accord a hearing to an institute which aims merely at the -cultivation of taste, the study of language, or any similar object, -which to them appears mere trifling. Yet these are not the few educated -men, scattered here and there,--the steersmen of this ship which is -driven about in all seas. All men of enlightened minds, it does not -matter how much taste or knowledge they possess, are treated by them as -imbeciles. And why? Simply because they have not studied the Talmud to -that extent, and in the manner, which they require. Mendelssohn was in -some measure esteemed by them on this account, because in point of fact -he was a good Talmudist. - -I was therefore neither for, nor against, this monthly periodical; I -even contributed to it at times Hebrew articles. Among these I will -mention merely one,--an exposition of an obscure passage in the -commentary of Maimonides on the Mishnah, which I interpreted by the -Kantian philosophy. The article was afterwards translated into German, -and inserted in the _Berlinische Monatsschrift_. - -Some time after this I received from this society, which now calls -itself the _Society for the Promotion of all that is Noble and Good_, a -commission to write a Hebrew commentary on the celebrated work of -Maimonides, _Moreh Nebhochim_. This commission I undertook with -pleasure, and the work was soon done. So far, however, only a part of -the commentary has as yet appeared. The preface to the work may be -considered as a brief history of philosophy. - -I had been an adherent of all philosophical systems in succession, -Peripatetic, Spinozist, Leibnitzian, Kantian, and finally Sceptic; and I -was always devoted to that system, which for the time I regarded as -alone true. At last I observed that all these systems contain something -true, and are in certain respects equally useful. But, as the difference -of philosophical systems depends on the ideas which lie at their -foundation in regard to the objects of nature, their properties and -modifications, which cannot, like the ideas of mathematics, be defined -in the same way by all men, and presented _a priori_, I determined to -publish for my own use, as well as for the advantage of others, a -philosophical dictionary, in which all philosophical ideas should be -defined in a somewhat free method, that is, without attachment to any -particular system, but either by an explanation common to all, or by -several explanations from the point of view of each. Of this work also -only the first part has as yet appeared. - -In the popular German monthly already mentioned, the _Berlinische -Monatsschrift_, various articles of mine were inserted, on Deceit, on -the Power of Foreseeing, on Theodicy, and other subjects. On Empirical -Psychology also I contributed various articles, and at last became -associated with Herr Hofrath Moritz in the editorship of the -periodical.[66] - -So much with regard to the events which have occurred in my life, and -the communication of which, I thought, might be not without use. I have -not yet reached the haven of rest; but-- - -/p - "Quo fata trahunt retrahuntque sequamur." -p/ - - - - -CONCLUDING CHAPTER. - - -The closing words of the Autobiography themselves awaken the desire to -know the sequel of the author's life, and it seems therefore appropriate -to finish the narrative by the sketch of a few facts derived mainly from -the little volume of _Maimoniana_, to which reference has been made in -the preface. - -It is perhaps scarcely necessary to state that Maimon's life to the very -end continued to retain the stamp it bore throughout the whole period -described in the preceding chapters. That stamp had apparently been -impressed on it even before he left Poland; and the Western influences, -under which he came in Germany, never altered essentially the character -he brought with him from home. - -Even in its external features his life enjoyed no permanent improvement. -Fate had indeed been somewhat hard upon a man of so much genuine culture -and sensibility. Still the chronic poverty, which filled the largest cup -of suffering in his life, was due not wholly to circumstances: it was -partly his own nature or habits that kept him a pauper. This is all the -more remarkable, that there is perhaps no work of moral or religious -instruction which attaches more importance than the Talmud to industrial -pursuits.[67] Saturated as his mind was with Talmudic lore, and -disciplined as his early years had been by Talmudic training, Maimon -could not be ignorant of the advantage which the spiritual life derives -from financial independence on others; and it might therefore have been -expected of him that, like many of the great rabbis, and Spinoza and -Mendelssohn too, he would have devoted himself to some remunerative -occupation, however humble. This would not have been impossible even in -Poland, where the Jews were subject to no disability excluding them from -the common industries of the country; and from the Autobiography it -appears that, even at an early period of his life, he was more than half -aware that his poverty was due, not wholly to the imperious demands of a -higher culture, but to a somewhat selfish indolence.[68] In Germany, -with its more advanced civilisation, it would have been much less -difficult for him to make a tolerable living at some employment. The -Autobiography shows that he was very generously received by a large -circle of influential friends, who took a great deal of pains to secure -for him a position of independence, and that they abandoned their effort -only when they found it in vain. From the _Maimoniana_ also it appears -that some of the most eminent men of his time continued to tender their -friendly services. Among others, Plattner, Schultze (Aenesidemus), and -even Goethe, made advances towards Maimon in a way that was not only -very flattering, but might have been very helpful, if he had so -chosen.[69] But he never got rid of the habit, which he had acquired in -Poland, of depending on others; and the low standard of comfort, to -which he had accustomed himself, left him without sufficient stimulus to -seek an escape from his pauperised condition. - -His condition, therefore, never improved. He continued during his later -years to work at various literary employments; but the remuneration he -obtained for these was never sufficient for his subsistence. His works -appealed to a very limited public. He had consequently often to go -a-begging for a publisher, and to content himself with what slight -honorarium the reluctant publishers chose to give.[70] The literary -hack-work, of which he was obliged to do a good deal, brought him no -better return. That sort of labour was probably as poorly paid in Berlin -at the time as in the Grub Street of last century. He was therefore at -times reduced to utter beggary. Many of his earlier friends, as appears -from the Autobiography, had lost patience with him; and some, who had -helped him before, when he was forced by sheer starvation to apply to -them afterwards, treated him as a common beggar, dismissing him with a -copper in charity (_Zehrpfennig_), and at times with unnecessarily cold, -even insulting language.[71] If we add to this the fact, that his -irregular habits often made him the victim of unscrupulous men,[72] it -will not seem surprising that he sometimes fell into a bitter tone and -harsh judgments about his friends,[73] or that he was apt occasionally -to burst out into pretty strong language of general misanthropy.[74] - -Perhaps Maimon might have risen out of the chronic destitution, to which -he seemed doomed, if he had cultivated in any degree the virtue of -thrift. But thriftlessness, as the Autobiography shows, had been an -hereditary vice in his family, at least for two generations before him; -and though he gives vivid pictures of its pitiable results in the -households of his grandfather and father, he never made any effort to -rise above it himself. Whenever he obtained any remuneration for his -work, instead of husbanding it economically till he obtained more, he -usually squandered it at once in extravagancies, often of a useless, -sometimes of a reprehensible kind.[75] He points out in his first -chapter, that his grandfather might have been a rich man if he had kept -accounts of income and expenditure. But his friend Wolff, has to confess -that, good mathematician as Maimon was, he never seemed to think of the -difference between _plus_ and _minus_ in money-matters.[76] With such a -character one of Maimon's friends was not far from the truth, when on a -fresh application for assistance, he dismissed him, too harshly perhaps, -with the blunt remark, "People like you there is no use in trying to -help."[77] Certainly help was not to be found in Maimon himself, and it -is difficult to see how he could have avoided the chance of a miserable -death by actual starvation, had it not been that a generous home was at -last opened to him, where he closed his days in comfort and peace. - -A character like that of Maimon implied a general irregularity of -life,--an absence of that regulation by fixed rules of conduct, which is -essential to wellbeing. He was not indeed unaware of the importance of -such regularity. "I require of every man of sound mind," he said one -day, "that he should lay out for himself a plan of action." No wonder -that this requirement leads his friend to remark, that it seemed to him -as if Maimon's only plan of life had been to live without any plan at -all.[78] - -The irregularity of his habits is strikingly seen in his want of method -even at his literary work. Notwithstanding the technical culture he gave -himself in early life in drawing, he seems never to have reached any -degree of muscular expertness. Wolff remarked his awkwardness in -handling his pen, and his inability to fold a letter with tolerable -neatness.[79] In other respects also he was careless about those -mechanical conveniences by which mental work is usually facilitated. He -was commonly to be seen working at a very unsteady desk, one leg of -which was supported by a folio volume.[80] He did not even confine -himself to any particular place for work. Apparently he spent more of -his day in public taverns than in his private lodging, and he might -often be seen amid the distraction of such surroundings writing or -revising proofs, while, as a consequence, his papers sometimes were -mislaid and lost, and his work had all to be done over again. It was -said of the Autobiography itself that it had been written on an alehouse -bench.[81] He could never understand how any man could do intellectual -work by rule; and therefore, though he had to make his living as best he -could by literature, he never formed the habit of reserving one part of -the day for work. He commonly worked in the morning, at least in _his_ -morning, and that, his friend acknowledges, was not very early;[82] but -this itself was evidently no fixed rule. Probably for the same reason he -never adopted the plan, which authors find so serviceable, of first -sketching an outline of a work before it is written out in detail. "I -have," he said one day, "given up, with good result, the habit of making -a draught beforehand. You are not, by a long way, so careful about your -work when you know that you are going to write it over again; you -neglect many a thought, do not write it down, because you believe that -it will occur to you again in copying out, which frequently does not -happen."[83] It is clear, however, that, his opinion to the contrary -notwithstanding, his writings suffered from his unmethodical habits. -"The fact," says the most competent of judges on this subject, "that -Maimon is far from having attained the recognition which his importance -deserves, may be accounted for by the defective condition of his -writings. His extraordinary acuteness was designed, but was not -sufficiently cultivated, to give to his investigations the light and the -force of methodical exposition. He wrote with most pleasure in his -Talmudic fashion, commenting and disputing, without proper sifting and -arrangement of his materials. To these defects must be added the faults -of his style. It is surprising that he learned to write German as he -did. In his writings there are passages in which the thought bursts out -with really resplendent power, and actually forces the language, even -plays with it, in turns of expression that take you by surprise. But a -German author he never became; and as a philosophical author he wanted a -certain sense of order that is indispensable for exposition. He can -sometimes formulate very well, but cannot systematise, and hence his -most important opinions, in which the whole meaning of his position -rests, are often in the course of his writings found in passages the -least lucid and the least prominent."[84] - -It is perhaps only saying the same thing of Maimon in another form, that -he had no mechanical memory, that consequently he was apt to forget the -names of persons and of places, sometimes could not remember the name of -the street where he lived, or the day or even the month; and it is not -therefore surprising that he often injured himself by neglecting all -sort of engagements.[85] It may be readily inferred that he was -particularly negligent about all engagements and regulations bearing -upon the mere externals of life. That a man of his condition and -character must have been unusually careless about his personal -appearance, follows as a matter of course, and therefore we may pass -over the references of Wolff to peculiarities of Maimon's dress. He was -usually to be seen out of doors clad in an overcoat which had evidently -not been made for himself, and which, we may suspect, was intended as a -convenient covering for the defects of under-garments, his boots bearing -the weather-stains of many days, and his beard often showing that for a -good while he had forgotten his engagement with his barber. In the -latter years of his life he abandoned the use of a wig, as well as of -powder in his hair, at a time when these changes must have been regarded -as rather daring innovations on prevalent fashion. But in all his -surroundings he showed what, for a man of his intellectual attainments, -seems a most astonishing disregard of sanitary cleanliness and the -comfortable decencies of life. The state of his lodging must have raised -a shudder in any one sensitive to disorder or uncleanliness. He -acknowledged that he was constantly at war with the housemaid on this -subject, as he could never bear to have his room swept and dusted, and -he complained of the perpetual annoyance to which he was exposed in -Amsterdam from the excessive scruples of the people in regard to -tidiness.[86] It may fairly be suspected that the annoyance was -considerably greater, as it was more justifiable, on the other side. His -habits in this respect clung to him to the last, and it was evidently -difficult to keep his surroundings tolerable even in the comparatively -sumptuous home in which he closed his days. - -The frank confessions of the Autobiography reveal the fact, that the -irregularity, which characterised the life of Maimon, sometimes led to a -breach of the weightier matters of the law. The habit, which he began in -Poland, of seeking relief from external discomfort and internal -wretchedness in alcoholic stimulation, grew upon him afterwards; and as -his health began to fail, he used to treat his various complaints by a -liberal allowance of various wines and beers which he supposed adapted -to their cure.[87] The liberal allowance was very apt, especially in the -evenings, to exceed all reasonable moderation; and the sleepy -inhabitants of Berlin were not infrequently disturbed by the half-tipsy -philosopher, as he wended his way unsteadily homewards at unseasonable -hours, discoursing on all sorts of speculative themes in disagreeably -loud tones that were occasionally interrupted by the expostulations of a -night-watchman.[88] - -The peculiarly undisciplined manners of Maimon were occasionally shown -in violent outbursts of various feelings. Too frequently it was an -irritable temper that gave way. The slightest provocation, even the loss -of a game at chess,[89] was apt to cause a painful explosion; and then -his language was certainly far from being restrained by those usages -which are found essential to the pleasantness of social intercourse.[90] -The uncontrollable violence of these outbursts was amusingly exhibited -in the fact, that sometimes he could not command the intellectual calm -requisite for thinking and expressing himself in his acquired German, -and, even though it might be a Gentile with whom he quarrelled, he fell -back on his JudA|o-Polish mother tongue, which came to him as if by -natural instinct.[91] It is but fair, however, to add that these -outbursts were often merely the unusually forcible, but not altogether -unjustifiable, utterances of an honest indignation at wrong.[92] - -For this strangely educated man, who in his outward manners seemed to -remain a somewhat rude child of nature, was after all ready to yield, -not only to an unkindly irritability, but also to the more genial -emotions. It is pleasing, for example, to know that he had a particular -fondness for animals; and his pets were allowed in his lodging liberties -which, however objectionable to a tidy housemaid, showed at least the -essential gentleness of his heart. Tutored as he was himself in the -severest school of poverty, it is also pleasing to know that he -cherished a kindly sympathy for the poor, and was ever ready to help -them as he could, sometimes at the cost of no small sacrifice to -himself.[93] The finer sensibilities of his nature were also easily -touched by music. Though he had no musical culture, and used to regret -that he had had none, an old Hebrew melody, long after he had broken off -all connection with the Jews, could move him so deeply that he was -obliged, even in company, to seek relief in tears.[94] For in the -uncontrolled simplicity of his nature he allowed his feelings to find -their natural vent without much restraint from circumstances; and -therefore he was seen at times in the theatre excited to loud sobbing by -a tragedy, or to boisterous laughter over a comedy.[95] - -Nor is it to be regarded as an unpleasant feature of his character, but -rather as an indication of a wholesome check on the general irregularity -of his life, that, even after he had thrown off all the peculiar -restraints of his national religion, he clung with evident fondness to -many of those rabbinical habits which he had cultivated in his earlier -years. From Fischer's account of the style of Maimon's works we have -seen how his intellectual work was affected by his Talmudic studies. The -criticism is evidently just. Maimon himself had met with it, and -acknowledged its justice. He protested indeed that it did not affect the -truth of his speculations, though he evidently felt its disadvantages, -and laboured at times to acquire a more methodical style.[96] - -The rabbinical habits of Maimon, however, were most quaintly seen in -peculiarities of outward manner. Gesticulations customary in the study -of the Talmud he was seen to adopt not infrequently when he forgot -himself in the earnestness of conversation, or when in a company he fell -into a brown study, or even in the studies of his retirement. Thus in -reading Euler's mathematical works or any other book which required -great attention, he would fall into the Talmudic singsong and rhythmical -swing of the body.[97] - -It is noteworthy also, that, with all the unrestrained rudeness which -often characterised his manners, Maimon was not without a certain -dignified courtesy; and when the occasion demanded it, he could turn a -polite phrase as prettily as the most accomplished gentleman.[98] There -was, moreover, in Maimon an intrinsic shyness which must have gone a -long way to soften the less amiable side of his social character.[99] -Then it is evident that his conversation, in his better moods at least, -had a charm which made him a welcome guest in any company. Thus, amid -all that may have been repulsive at times, there must have been in -Maimon's character a good deal to attract the friendly companionship of -others. The Autobiography itself, as well as Wolff's little book, shows -that Maimon enjoyed as much as he desired of the cultured society of his -time. Being naturally shy, indeed, he rather shrank from company in -which intercourse is regulated by a somewhat rigid social code; and the -desire of freedom from such restriction often drove him into company of -a much more objectionable kind. He also seems to have entertained a -strong dislike to any excessively demonstrative affection. He himself -was rather curt in his expressions of courtesy or friendliness towards -others, contenting himself generally, on meeting them, with a familiar -nod. The lifting of the hat appeared to him meaningless, and a -deliberate embrace "in cold blood" was intolerable.[100] Yet in many -instances the attachment of his friends was marked with an unusual -degree of warmth, and brought many an hour of sunshine to a life which -otherwise would have been shadowed with insufferable gloom. - -Among all Maimon's friends, the most conspicuous place must be given to -the man by whose generous hospitality he was able to close his -chequered life amid the comforts of a luxurious home. While he was -living in a miserable lodging in one of the suburbs of Berlin, he -learned from one of his friends that a Silesian nobleman, Graf -Kalkreuth, who had formed a high opinion of his writings, was anxious to -make his personal acquaintance. After a good deal of delay, Maimon was -at last induced to call upon the Graf at his residence in Berlin. -Fortunately he was very favourably impressed with the character of his -noble friend; and the friendship thus begun led before long to his -taking up his abode permanently with the Graf.[101] The generous -consideration which the host displayed for all the eccentricities of his -guest, made this arrangement one of the happiest for the poor -philosopher, who since his childhood had seldom enjoyed the comforts of -a home. - -But it is evident that the hardships of his life had at an early period -begun to tell upon his constitution, and that this was further shattered -by irregular habits in his later years. Symptoms of serious trouble in -the lungs excited his alarm in the winter of 1795, and he was induced to -seek medical advice. Partly from an unwise scepticism in regard to -medicine, partly from his usual failure to adhere to any fixed rule in -his conduct, the services of his physicians commonly ended with the -consultation; he seldom or never acted on their advice.[102] He lived -in indifferent health for five or six years more. When his last illness -overtook him, he was living in the house of Graf Kalkreuth at -Siegersdorf near Freistadt, in Lower Silesia. The only account of him at -this crisis was written by the pastor of Freistadt, for a monthly -periodical of the time, entitled _Kronos_. It forms the close of Wolff's -little book; and as it is the only account, it may be of some interest -here. The pastor, Herr Tscheggey, had made the acquaintance of Maimon -about the year 1795; but their intercourse had become much closer about -six weeks before Maimon's death, when he used to visit the pastor two or -three times a week. On hearing that Maimon had been confined for some -days, the good pastor at once went to see him. He found him in a state -of great weakness, unable to leave his room, and besought him earnestly, -but in vain, to take medical advice. A few days afterwards he called -again, and saw that evidently the end was drawing nigh. Curious to know -whether Maimon in this situation would remain true to his principles, he -gave the following turn to the conversation, which he professes to -report word for word. - -"I am sorry to find you so ill to-day, dear Maimon," said the pastor. - -"There will perhaps be some improvement yet," replied Maimon. - -"You look so ill," his friend proceeded, "that I am doubtful about your -recovery." - -"What matters it after all?" said Maimon. "When I am dead, I am gone." - -"Can you say that, dear friend," rejoined the clergyman, with deep -emotion. "How? Your mind, which amid the most unfavourable circumstances -ever soared to higher attainments, which bore such fair flowers and -fruits--shall it be trodden in the dust along with the poor covering in -which it has been clothed? Do you not feel at this moment that there is -something in you which is not body, not matter, not subject to the -conditions of space and time?" - -"Ah!" replied Maimon, "these are beautiful dreams and hopes"---- - -"Which will surely be fulfilled," his friend broke in; and then, after a -short pause, added, "You maintained not long ago that here we cannot -reach further than to mere _legality_. Let this be admitted; and now -perhaps you are about to pass over soon into a condition, in which you -will rise to the stage of _morality_, since you and all of us have a -natural capacity for it. Why? Should you not wish now to come into the -society of one whom you honoured so much as Mendelssohn?" - -The zealous pastor says he gave the conversation this turn on purpose, -in order to touch this side of the philosopher's heart. After a while -the dying man exclaimed, "Ay me! I have been a foolish man, the most -foolish among the most foolish--and how earnestly I wished it -otherwise!" - -"This utterance," observed the pastor, "is also a proof that you are not -yet in complete accord with your unbelief. No," he added, taking Maimon -by the hand, "you will not all die; your spirit will surely live on." - -"So far as mere faith and hope are concerned, I can go a good way; but -what does that help us?" was Maimon's reply. - -"It helps us at least to peace," urged the pastor. - -"I am at peace (_Ich bin ruhig_)," said the dying man, completely -exhausted. - -Here Tscheggey broke off the conversation, as the sufferer was evidently -unable to continue it. When he rose to leave, Maimon begged him to stay, -or at least to come back again soon. He came back the following morning, -but found the patient unconscious. At ten o'clock on the same -evening--it was the 22nd of November, 1800--this strangely tossed life -had reached its haven. - -"He died at peace," says the kindly clergyman, "though I do not venture -to say from what source the peace was derived. When a few days -afterwards I passed the castle of his noble friend, I looked up with -sadness to the window of his former room, and blessed his ashes." It is -to be regretted that the generous piety of the friendly minister was not -universal, and that the ashes of the unfortunate doubter were only with -a grudge allowed to find a decent resting-place. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Vol. iii., p. 370, note. - -[2] See the Preface to his _Philosophy of Reflection_, pp. 16-18. - -[3] Vol. v., chap. 7. - -[4] The volume bears the somewhat quaint title in full:--_Maimoniana, -oder Rhapsodien Zur Charakteristik Salomon Maimon's_. Aus Seinem -Privatleben gesammelt von Sabattia Joseph Wolff, M.D. Berlin, gedruckt -bei G. Hayn, 1813. - -[5] The only logical connection is the fact, that the writings of -Maimonides formed the most powerful influence in the intellectual -development of Maimon. In illustration of this he writes:--"My reverence -for this great teacher went so far, that I regarded him as the ideal of -a perfect man, and looked upon his teachings as if they had been -inspired with Divine Wisdom itself. This went so far, that, when my -passions began to grow, and I had sometimes to fear lest they might -seduce me to some action inconsistent with those teachings, I used to -employ, as a proved antidote, the abjuration, 'I swear, by the reverence -which I owe my great teacher, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, not to do this -act.' And this vow, so far as I can remember, was always sufficient to -restrain me." _Lebensgeschichte_, Vol. ii., pp. 3-4. - -[6] That is, of course, the seventeenth.--_Trans._ - -[7] Maimon himself nowhere mentions the date or place of his birth; but -Wolff says that he was born at Nesvij, in Lithuania, about the year 1754 -(_Maimoniana, p. 10_). _Trans._ - -[8] This word is explained below, at the beginning of the next chapter. - -[9] The customary Jewish salutation. - -[10] The original is "ein Kalamankenes Leibserdak,"--a provincialism -which, I believe, is substantially rendered in this -translation.--_Trans._ - -[11] Till quite recently it had been almost forgotten that one of the -commonest manifestations of fanaticism against the Jews, especially in -Eastern Europe, was to charge them with the murder of Christian children -for the use of some horrid religious rite, and that scarcely ever was -the dead body of a child found in the neighbourhood of a Jewish -community without some outburst of this cruel suspicion, ending in an -indiscriminate massacre of the Jews by the infuriated mob. It is a -singularly creditable proof of the liberal government of Stephen -Batory,--one of the ablest monarchs who ever sat on the throne of -Poland,--that, so long ago as 1576, he issued an edict prohibiting the -imputation of this crime to the Jews, as being utterly inconsistent with -the principles of their religion. Yet, in spite of this enactment, the -fanatical suspicion continued to display itself at frequent intervals. -Milman supposed it had been finally quelled by the ukase of the Russian -Government in 1835, which went in the same direction as the earlier -prohibition of the Polish king (_History of the Jews_, vol. iii., p. -389). What would have been his astonishment, had he lived to learn that, -half a century after he thought it extinguished, this ancient delusion -was to revive, that an Hungarian court was to spend thirty one days in -the solemn trial of a Jewish family on the charge of sacrificing a -Christian girl in their synagogue, that a learned professor in the -Imperial and Royal University of Prague was to write in defence of the -charge, and that the trial was to form the subject of an extensive -controversial literature in the language of the most learned nation in -the world! An interesting account of this famous trial at Tisza Eszlar, -as well as of the literature connected with it, will be found in an -article by Dr. Wright, on _The Jews and the Malicious Charge of Human -Sacrifice_ in the _Nineteenth Century_, for November, 1883.--_Trans._ - -[12] It seems that Maimon gives a euphemistic explanation of this word, -as I am told its real meaning makes much more intelligible its extreme -offensiveness to his mother.--_Trans._ - -[13] The original runs: "Der Verstand sucht bloss zu _fassen_, die -Einbildungskraft aber zu _umfassen_."--_Tr._ - -[14] That is, _The Branch_ (or _Offspring_) _of David_. See Jeremiah -xxiii. 5; xxxiii. 15; Isaiah xi. 1.--_Trans._ - -[15] The Hebrew word for a globe. - -[16] This rabbi belonged to a family of eminent linguists. The father, -Joseph Kimchi, was one of the numerous Jews who were obliged to flee -from Spain to escape the cruel persecutions of the Mohades about the -middle of the twelfth century. He left two sons who both followed his -favourite studies. The elder, Moses, has the credit of having educated -his younger and more illustrious brother, David, whose Hebrew grammar -and dictionary continued in general use among scholars for centuries. -Kimchi is said to have been powerfully influenced, not only by -Maimonides, but also by Aben Esra, who preceded him by nearly a century, -and who was one of the most learned scholars, as well as one of the most -versatile authors, of his time. (Jost's _Geschichte des Judenthums_, -vol. ii., pp. 419-423; and vol. iii, pp. 30-31).--_Trans._ - -[17] That is, about 100 English miles.--_Trans._ - -[18] See above, p. 14.--_Trans._ - -[19] Solomon ben Isaac, as he is more correctly named, or Raschi, as he -is also called, was an eminent Talmudic scholar of Troyes in the latter -half of the eleventh century. It was his son-in-law, MeA-r, and the three -sons of MeA-r, who may be said to have begun the Tosaphoth, referred to -in the text.--_Trans._ - -[20] As it was at one time throughout all Christendom, and probably -under every civilisation at a certain stage of its history.--_Trans._ - -[21] This seems to be Job xxvii. 17, which in our Authorised Version -runs:--"He (a wicked man) may prepare it (raiment), but the just shall -put it on." Maimon seems to render it from memory:--"Der Gottlose -schafft sich an, und der Fromme bekleidet sich damit."--_Trans._ - -[22] Evidently viii., 12, rendered in our Authorised Version, "Thou, O -Solomon, must have a thousand (pieces of silver), and those that keep -the fruit thereof two hundred." Maimon translates apparently from -memory, "Die tausend Gulden sind fA1/4r dich, Salomo, und die Zweihundert -fA1/4r die, die seine FrA1/4chte bewahren." In my rendering of this the -pronoun "his" must be understood in its old English latitude as either -neuter or masculine.--_Trans._ - -[23] The bulk of the gift explains its costliness. "The Babylonian -Talmud is about four times as large as that of Jerusalem. Its thirty-six -treatises now cover, in our editions, printed with the most prominent -commentaries (Rashi and Tosafoth), exactly 2947 folio leaves in twelve -folio volumes." (E. Deutsch's _Literary Remains_, p. 41).--_Trans._ - -[24] Maimon gives merely the initial "R" of this name; but as he has -already (Chap. i.) told us that his prince was Radzivil, there is not -much mystery in this artifice.--_Trans._ - -[25] This horror of memory tormented Maimon to the end of his days. "He -dreamed often that he was in Poland again, deprived of all his books; -and Lucius metamorphosed into an ass was not in a more pitiable plight. -'From this agony,' said Maimon, 'I was usually aroused by a loud cry, -and my joy was indescribable on finding that it was only a dream.'" -(_Maimoniana_, p. 94). "He once received a visit from his brother, for -whom he was deeply affected. Poor as he was himself, Maimon kept him a -long while, gave him clothing and everything else that he could, besides -procuring from some friends enough money to pay his travelling expenses. -Above all, he told me, he was affected at letting his brother go back -into the wilderness; and if he had not had a wife and children at home, -he would have tried to keep him beside himself." (_Ibid._, p. -175).--_Trans._ - -[26] It was probably a reminiscence of this labour of deciphering, that -led to the following outburst of sympathy:--"One day Maimon read in an -English work, that the author had only commenced to learn the ABC when -he was eighteen years of age, and that the first book which fell into -his hands was one of Newton's works. His master (for he was a servant) -came upon him at this task, and asked, 'What are you doing with that? -you can't read?' 'O yes,' he replied, 'I have learnt to read, and I -began with the most difficult subjects.' Maimon read this in my presence -with tears in his eyes." (_Maimoniana_, pp. 230-1).--_Trans._ - -[27] Both of these Cabbalists belonged to the sixteenth century. The -former, as his name implies, belonged to Cordova in Spain; the latter, -to the German community in Jerusalem (_Jost's Geschichte des -Judenthums_, Vol. iii., pp. 137-140).--_Trans._ - -[28] Rabbi MeA-rA's teacher was Elisha ben Abuyah, "the Faust of the -Talmud," as he has been strikingly styled by Mr. Deutsch. The Talmud -preserves a beautiful story illustrative of the devoted affection which -MeA-r continued to cherish for his apostate master. Four men, so runs the -legend, entered _Paradise_; that is, according to Talmudic symbolism, -they entered upon the study of that secret science with its bewildering -labyrinth of speculative dreams, through which it is given only to a few -rare spirits to find their way. Of these four, "one beheld and died, one -beheld and lost his senses, one destroyed the young plants, one only -entered in peace and came out in peace." The destroyer of the young -plants was Elisha ben Abuyah. Once he was passing the ruins of the -temple on the great day of atonement, and heard a voice within "moaning -like a dove,"--"All men shall be forgiven this day save Elisha ben -Abuyah who, knowing me, has betrayed me." After his death flames hovered -incessantly over his grave, until his loving disciple threw himself upon -it and swore an oath of devout self-sacrifice, that he would not partake -of the joys of heaven without his master, nor move from the spot until -his master's soul had found forgiveness before the Throne of Grace. See -Emanuel Deutsch's _Literary Remains_, p. 15; and Jost's _Geshichte des -Judenthums_, Vol. ii., pp. 102-4. - -[29] _The Gates of Light._--_Trans._ - -[30] "Thus saith the Lord" in the English version.--_Trans._ - -[31] About 150 English miles.--_Trans._ - -[32] Highpriest about the time of Antiochus the Great, that is, the -first half of the third century before Christ.--_Trans._ - -[33] Also named below Jehudah Hanassi or Hakades, died probably in 219 -or 220 A.D.--_Trans._ - -[34] _Rabbina_ is a contraction for Rabbi Abina and _Rabassi_ for Rabbi -Ashe. Maimon puts Abina first, but he was the younger of the two. They -both belonged to the fifth century.--_Trans._ - -[35] This seems to be Psalm cxix., 126, rendered in our Authorised -Version:--"It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void -thy law." See Mendelssohn's _Jerusalem_, Vol. ii., p. iii., (Samuels' -translation).--_Trans._ - -[36] _Charakteristik der Asiatischen Nationen_, Theil ii., pp. 159-160. - -[37] "And Kinah and Dimonah and Adadah" in the English Authorised -Version.--_Trans._ - -[38] Here apparently Maimon makes a slip. He seems to forget the passage -he had selected for illustration; and his eye, if not his memory, -glances at the last word in verse 30, instead of verse 22.--_Trans._ - -[39] Probably Isaiah xxxiii., 6.--_Trans._ - -[40] Psalm, lxxxi., 9.--_Trans._ - -[41] In the original, "Das Kind mit dem Bade ausschA1/4tten."--_Trans._ - -[42] In the same way a fool, called Chosek, was going to starve the city -of Lemberg, against which he was enraged; and for this purpose he placed -himself behind the wall, in order to blockade the city with his body. -The result of the blockade, however, was that he nearly died of hunger, -while the city knew nothing whatever of a famine. - -[43] In our times, when so much is said both _pro_ and _contra_ about -secret societies, I believe that the history of a particular secret -society, in which I was entangled, though but a short time, should not -be passed over in this sketch of my life. - -[44] That is, of course, the 17th century.--_Trans._ - -[45] _Baalshem_ is one who occupies himself with the practical Cabbalah, -that is, with the conjuration of spirits and the writing of amulets, in -which the names of God and of many sorts of spirits are employed. - -[46] As I never attained the rank of a superior in this society, the -exposition of their plan cannot be regarded as a fact verified by -experience, but merely as an inference arrived at by reflection. How far -this inference is well founded, can be determined merely by analogy -according to the rules of probability. - -[47] The ingenuity of this interpretation consists in the fact, that in -Hebrew x x'xY may stand for the infinitive of _play_, as well as -for a _musical instrument_, and that the prefix x> may be -translated either _as_, in the sense of _when_, or _as_, in the sense of -_like_. The superiors of this sect, who _wrenched passages of the Holy -Scriptures from their context_, regarding themselves as merely vehicles -of their teachings, selected accordingly that interpretation of this -passage, which fitted best their principle of _self-annihilation_ before -God. - -[48] Maimon in a footnote here refers, by way of a parallel, to the -interpretation by a Catholic theologian of a passage in Ezekiel (xliv., -1-2) as an allegorical prophecy of the Virgin Mary; but most readers -will probably prefer to leave the exposition of the allegory to the -imagination of those who choose to follow it out.--_Trans._ - -[49] A trait of these, as of all uncultivated men, is their contempt of -the other sex. - -[50] Of this class I became acquainted with one. He was a young man of -twenty-two, of very weak bodily constitution, lean and pale. He -travelled in Poland as a missionary. In his look there was something so -terrible, so commanding, that he ruled men by means of it quite -despotically. Wherever he came he inquired about the constitution of the -congregation, rejected whatever displeased him, and made new regulations -which were punctually followed. The elders of the congregation, for the -most part old respectable men, who far excelled him in learning, -trembled before his face. A great scholar, who would not believe the -infallibility of this superior, was seized with such terror by his -threatening look, that he fell into a violent fever of which he died. -Such extraordinary courage and determination had this man attained -merely through early exercises in Stoicism. - -[51] Born 1720; died 1797. See Jost's _Geschichte des Judenthums_, Vol. -iii., pp. 248-250.--_Trans._ - -[52] _Exodus_, iii., 13, 14. - -[53] These names are taken from _Maimoniana_, p. 108.--_Trans._ - -[54] The method, in which, as before explained, I had learnt to read and -to understand books without any preparatory studies, and to which I had -been driven in Poland by the want of books, grew to such an expertness, -that I felt certain beforehand of being able to understand anything. - -[55] Here there seems in the original an evident misprint of -_Vereinigung_ for _Verneinung_.--_Trans._ - -[56] The incident referred to was the following. Lavater had translated -into German a work, which had a great reputation in its day, by the -eminent Swiss scientific writer, Bonnet, on the evidences of -Christianity. Out of respect for Mendelssohn, Lavater dedicated the -translation to him, requiring him, however, either to refute the work, -or to do "what policy, love of truth, and probity demand,--what Socrates -would doubtless have done, had _he_ read the work, and found it -unanswerable." Mendelssohn was thus placed in an awkward dilemma. He -could not well let the challenge pass unacknowledged; and yet, owing to -the disabilities under which the Jews laboured all over the world, he -would have seriously imperilled their interests by appearing even to -impugn the evidences of Christianity. He had, moreover, resolved never -to enter into religious controversy. Under the circumstances his reply -was masterly as it was dignified and candid. Lavater saw his mistake; -and it is but due to him to say, that he publicly apologised for it in -the fullest and frankest manner.--_Trans._ - -[57] This "hiatus _haud_ valde deflendus" is in the original.--_Trans._ - -[58] This name is taken from _Maimoniana_.--_Trans._ - -[59] The love of life, that is, the instinct of self-preservation, seems -rather to increase than to decrease with the diminution or uncertainty -of the means of living, inasmuch as man is thereby spurred to greater -_activity_, which developes a stronger _consciousness of life_. Only -this want must not have reached its maximum; for the necessary result of -that is _despair_, that is a conviction of the impossibility of -preserving life, and consequently a desire to put an end to it. Thus -every passion, and therefore also the love of life, is increased by the -obstacles which come in the way of its gratification: only these -obstacles must not make the gratification of the passions _impossible_, -else despair is the result. - -[60] "Afterwards when he spoke of Poland, he used to be deeply affected -in thinking of his wife, from whom he was obliged to separate. He was -really very much devoted to her, and her fate went home to his very -heart. It was easy when the subject came up in conversation, to read in -his face the deep sorrow which he felt; his liveliness then sensibly -faded away, he became by and by perfectly silent, was usually incapable -of further entertainment, and went earlier than usual home." -_Maimoniana_, p. 177. He seems, however, at a later period, to have at -least spoken to his friends about marrying a second time; but the -project was never carried out. _Ibid._, p. 248.--_Trans._ - -[61] He died 4th Jan., 1786.--_Trans._ - -[62] Kant's work must still have been quite new, as it appeared in -1781.--_Trans._ - -[63] The name is left blank by Maimon, but is known to be that which I -have inserted. See Fischer's _Geschichte der neueren Philosophie_, Vol. -v., p. 131.--_Trans._ - -[64] Samuel Levi, according to _Maimoniana_, p. 78.--_Trans._ - -[65] See above, p. 41--_Trans._ - -[66] The last few pages have been condensed from the original; in which -the author gives detailed information, which seems no longer of any -special interest, about the articles he contributed to periodicals.-- -_Trans._ - -[67] By the kindness of my friend, the Rev. Meldola de Sola, of the -Portuguese Synagogue in Montreal, I am enabled to make an interesting -note on this subject. Among the Talmudic passages enjoining industry are -the following:--"Rather skin a carcase for pay in the public streets, -than be idly dependent on charity," "Rather perform the meanest labour -than beg." As a further evidence of the estimation in which labour was -held by the sages of the Talmud, it may be mentioned that Hillel, before -being admitted to the Great College, earned his livelihood as a -wood-cutter; that Rabbi Joshua was a pinmaker; Rabbi Nehemiah Halsador, -a potter; Rabbi Judah, a tailor; Rabbi Joshua Hasandler, a shoemaker; -and Rabbi Judah Hanechtan, a baker. "Of all things," says Mr. Deutsch, -"the most hated were idleness and asceticism; piety and learning -themselves only received their proper estimation when joined to healthy, -bodily work. 'It is well to add a trade to your studies; you will then -be free from sin,' 'The tradesman at his work need not rise before the -greatest doctor,' 'Greater is he who derives his livelihood from work -than he who fears God'--are some of the most common dicta of the -period." (_Literary Remains_, p. 25, where there are some striking -stories in condemnation of asceticism). Mr. Deutsch elsewhere quotes, -"Rather live on your Sabbath as you would on a week day than be -dependent on others," (_Ibid._, p. 30).--_Trans._ - -[68] See above, pp. 140-1. - -[69] _Maimoniana_, pp. 196-200. - -[70] _Ibid._, p. 80. - -[71] _Ibid._, pp. 80, 83-4. - -[72] _Ibid._, p. 95, note. - -[73] _Ibid._, pp. 82-3. - -[74] _Ibid._, pp. 154, 157. - -[75] _Ibid._, pp. 80, 95, 104. - -[76] _Ibid._, p. 84. - -[77] _Ibid._, p. 105. - -[78] _Ibid._, p. 159. - -[79] _Ibid._, pp. 231-2. - -[80] _Ibid._, p. 96. - -[81] _Ibid._, p. 140. - -[82] _Ibid._, p. 96. - -[83] _Ibid._, p. 97. - -[84] Fischer's _Geschichte der neuern Philosophie_, vol. v., pp. 133-4. - -[85] _Maimoniana_, pp. 190-6. - -[86] _Ibid._, pp. 90-1. - -[87] _Ibid._, pp. 183-8. - -[88] _Ibid._, pp. 101-4. - -[89] _Ibid._, p. 217. - -[90] _Ibid._, pp. 109-112, 208, 212-3. - -[91] _Ibid._, p. 87. - -[92] _Ibid._, p. 213. - -[93] _Ibid._, p. 249. - -[94] _Ibid._, p. 88. - -[95] _Ibid._, p. 230. - -[96] _Ibid._, pp. 86-7. - -[97] _Ibid._, p. 89. - -[98] See, for example, _Ibid._, pp. 112, 115, 209, 250-1. - -[99] _Ibid._, p. - -[100] _Ibid._, pp. 165-6. - -[101] _Ibid._, pp. 201-210. - -[102] _Ibid._, pp. 183-8. - - * * * * * - -_Notes on some Books of Special Interest_ - -PUBLISHED BY - -ALEXANDER GARDNER, - -PAISLEY AND LONDON. - -_AT ALL LIBRARIES._ - - -_JAMES HEPBURN, Free Church Minister._ By SOPHIE F. F. VEITCH, Author of -"Angus Graeme, Gamekeeper," etc. 2 vols., Crown 8vo., 21s. - -"=A strong story of real life and cannot fail to give Miss Veitch a -prominent position among modern novelists.... The whole story is -exceedingly powerful.="--_Saturday Review._ - -"The work of fiction which heads the list may fairly be described as =a -singularly powerful and fascinating novel=. Description by comparison is -frequently convenient, though occasionally misleading; but we do not -think we shall convey a wrong impression if we say that 'James Hepburn' -bears a strong resemblance to some of the most vigorous and -characteristic of Mrs. Oliphant's realistic Scottish stories.... James -Hepburn is one of the most truly heroic characters in recent fiction, -with a certain largeness and grandeur in his heroism which are -wonderfully impressive, and yet with a homeliness which never permits -him to slip for a moment outside the range of our imaginative belief. In -creating an ideal character of unmistakable flesh and blood, Miss Veitch -has achieved an unequivocal success, and one or two of the pivot -situations in the book are conceived and presented with such dramatic -power and sympathetic insight, that in virtue of them alone 'James -Hepburn' takes place among the most remarkable and admirable of recent -novels.... There are chapters in 'James Hepburn' of which we feel -convinced that the author of _Scenes of Clerical Life_ would not have -been ashamed.... Such a novel is not only a book to admire, but one for -which to be grateful."--_The Spectator._ - -"='James Hepburn' is a novel in two volumes, which is quite startling in -the freshness and beauty of its conception.... This book deserves -careful reading; there is much more in it than the mere interest of a -clever story, and only good can result from its influence.="--_Literary -World._ - -The author of 'Angus Graeme, Gamekeeper,' has produced another Scottish -novel of remarkable power. 'James Hepburn, Free Church Minister,' is at -once a striking character study, a skilful picture of the social life of -a country town and district, and a powerful sensational story. It is in -the first of these aspects that it displays most original vigour.... It -must be admitted to be one of the strongest productions of the fictional -art that have recently appeared."--_Scotsman._ - -"There can be no question that 'James Hepburn' is the most notable -Scottish story that will be issued in the jubilee year."--_The Christian -Leader._ - -"And of this tendency towards pure character-painting and everyday -incident Miss Sophie Veitch promises to be the best exponent. In the two -volumes which contain the story of episodes in the life of James -Hepburn, each character is carefully studied and presented as a finished -masterpiece.... The book is a drama palpitating with intense and real -life, whose author should have a grand professional future."--_Whitehall -Review._ - -"The book deserves the highest praise. Hepburn's relations with Lady -Ellinor--his pure and noble love for her--are fitly crowned by his -splendid self-sacrifice.... The descriptive part of this fine and often -brilliant novel is admirably done."--_London Figaro._ - -"No one who begins this story will pause till he has seen the hero -through his troubles, and we are sure no one who has done so will think -he has spent his time badly."--_The British Weekly._ - -_James Hepburn_ is a story of very unusual power, promise, and -desert.... The story of Lady Elinor is exceedingly pathetic; and all her -moods, as she gradually progresses along a path of peril, are described -with a hand at once sure and delicate.--_Academy._ - -Seldom do we meet with a novel by a comparatively unknown author which -can afford such unalloyed pleasure.... It is not every writer who can, -like Mrs. Oliphant, throw a glamour over the sordid details of -_bourgeois_ life. Amongst the few who can do so Miss Veitch may now -claim to rank; her novel is a remarkable one, and if it does not attain -to considerable popularity the fault will not be with the author.... -There is intense pathos in the loyal struggle of the beautiful young -wife who believes herself to be unsympathised with.... We had marked -more than one passage for quotation, but space warns us that the -pleasure must be forgone. We must, however, draw special attention to -Lady Ellinor's withering summary of Radicalism (vol. ii. p. 242). The -novel is one of the very few that follows Mr. Weller's recipe, and makes -us "wish that there was more of it."--_Pictorial World._ - -"A SUCCESSFUL SCOTCH NOVEL.--It is long since a Scottish novel met with -such a demand or created such a genuine sensation as has attended the -publication of 'James Hepburn, Free Church Minister,' which was issued a -few weeks ago by Mr. Gardner, of Paisley, and which we noticed in the -week of its publication. We hear that already Mr. Mudie has ordered four -separate supplies, the latest being for a large number of copies, so -great is the demand for the story on the part of the subscribers to his -library. Miss Sophie Veitch, the authoress, had already made her mark by -her fine novel of 'Angus Graeme, Gamekeeper.'"--_Daily Mail._ - -"'James Hepburn,' by Miss Veitch, is a _clever and strong_ novel.... Its -power and literary skill are undeniable."--_World._ - -"Novel-readers who may think there is not much promise of entertainment -in the title which Sophie F. Veitch has chosen for her new story, will -commit the common blunder of forming an erroneous judgment from -superficial appearances. A more interesting or vigorously-written tale -we have not met with for some time back."--_The Scottish Leader._ - -"A cleverly written story here includes both interesting incident and -well-drawn character."--_The Queen._ - - -_SUPPLEMENT TO JAMIESON'S SCOTTISH DICTIONARY._ By DAVID DONALDSON. Now -Ready, Price 25s.; Large Paper, 42s. - -"The work, taken as a whole, entitles Mr. Donaldson to the gratitude of -all interested in the study of philology, for having performed so -thoroughly and so well a difficult and laborious task."--_Scotsman._ - -"The soundness of the judgment which he has applied to this portion of -his herculean task is only equalled by the fulness of his knowledge of -those works which cover the whole period of Scottish history, during -which the vernacular was written and spoken by all classes of society. A -very large number of the words in the Supplement are recorded by Mr. -Donaldson for the first time, at least as Scottish words, and of many of -them the explanation will be found nowhere else.... Of Mr. Donaldson's -work, it may safely be said that it is the most complete and scholarly -endeavour that has thus far been made to accomplish a very difficult -task."--_Mail._ - -"On every page we find evidence that Mr. Donaldson has mastered all the -works that cover the entire period of Scottish history during which the -vernacular was written and spoken by all classes of society. He has, -furthermore, utilised an extensive personal knowledge derived from the -living speech of the people; and alike in the definitions and -illustrations he displays unfailing soundness of judgment, shown -sometimes as much in what he has omitted as in that which is given. An -excellent memoir of Dr. Jamieson, admirable both for the fullness of its -information and the generous warmth of its spirit, adds to the value of -a work without which, we may safely affirm, no Scottish library can -henceforth be regarded as complete."--_Leader._ - - -_IDYLL OF THE CAPTIVE KING; and Other Pieces._ With Etchings. By JAMES -SHARP. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. - -"The author gives undoubted evidence of his right to be heard, and our -perusal of this volume enables us to commend his wide reading and -knowledge of the world, both in its physical and ethical aspects. It is -needless to add that Mr. Gardner has done his part admirably."--_The -Kelso Chronicle._ - -"Whether Mr. Sharp's poetry be regarded in the abstract, or as the -product of the hours of leisure of a man of business, much of it is -commendable, and much is genuine and sound in feeling."--_The Scottish -News._ - -Mr. James Sharp does not miss the occasion in his volume of poems, _The -Captive King_ (Alexander Gardner). His Jubilee Ode, like those of -better-known bards, scarcely represents his poetic powers, as the -following couplet may show:-- - -/p - Much as we love the Prince of Wales, the Princess fair, serene, - We want no other sovereign! We want no other Queen! -p/ - -"Tullibardine's Bride," though a little diffuse, is a readable narrative -poem based on a Perthshire legend. In other lyrical pieces Mr. Sharp -sustains a patriotic vein with fervour.--_Saturday Review._ - -Mr. Sharp's lyrics and shorter pieces, are always pleasing in sentiment, -and are often sweet in expression.--_Scotsman._ - -The book of poems which we introduce to our readers to-day has, we -think, amply justified its issue in the beautiful form in which it is -presented to the public.... This delightful book will do something to -modify that conception, and to show that mercantile pursuits and the -exalted, if traditionally prosaic, dignity of Bailieship are not -incompatible with a successful cultivation of the Muses. In depicting -one of the most tragic chapters in our national annals, Mr. Sharp has -attained charming results in his use of those heroic measures which the -genius of Scott and of Edmonstone Aytoun has made classic, and through -which these masters have made the dim shadows that erewhile flitted -across the stage of Scottish history to stand forth as living men.... We -have directed the attention of our readers to these poems because of -their intrinsic merits.--_Strathearn Herald._ - -If it be the poet's task to feel pleasure in life and discern beauty in -nature, to praise virtue and rejoice in love, and make his readers do -the same, then Mr. Sharp has succeeded admirably in effecting his -purpose.--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -Mr. Sharp is seen at his best in his shorter poems. In these, as a rule, -healthy sentiment is expressed in unpretentious verse.--_Academy._ - - -SECOND AND ENLARGED EDITION. - -_LAW LYRICS._ Fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d. - -"The anonymous author of the 'Lyrics'--is he not to be met with among -the sheriffs?--plays his tunes for session and vacation on the -'goose-quill of the law,' and he manages to produce from that ancient -instrument a considerable variety of expression.... His pronounced -national tastes are admirably shown in 'Oatmeal,' etc.; in lyrics like -'Stornoway Bay,' there is the true lyrical gush; while in such poems as -'A Still Lake,' there is revealed an exquisite power of -word-painting...."--_Scotsman._ - -"For neatness and aptness of expression, it is equal to anything we have -seen."--_Scots Law Review._ - -"A very agreeable little book for an idle hour. The author shows himself -equally at home in the serious as in the comic."--_Graphic._ - -"They are exceedingly clever, and brimming over with fun and humour. The -author has earned a right to be called the Laureate of the Law, for -certain it is that he invests the most prosaic of all professions with -quite a halo of poetical interest."--_Nonconformist._ - -"Unkempt enthusiasm and rollicking good humour are the chief features of -this little volume."--_Academy._ - -"A charming little book. We should seek the author on the bench, not at -the bar."--_Glasgow Daily Mail._ - -"Will please not only those 'gentlemen of the long robe' to whom the -tiny volume is dedicated, but a far larger circle. It is a delightful -book of verses daintily got up."--_Glasgow Herald._ - -"These lyrics will bear comparison with the best work that has been done -in this particular line. Will rival some of the best of Outram's lyrics -in common sense and humour."--_Scottish News._ - -"The lyrics are written for the most part with sprightliness and ease. -The more serious and imaginative pieces disclose a rich vein of poetic -fancy. There are many who will procure the second edition from a -recollection of the pleasure which the first gave them."--_Journal of -Jurisprudence._ - -"Will bear comparison with Outram's, Neave's, and Aytoun's. Faultless in -rhythm, and remarkable for rhyme."--_Evening News._ - -"The picture seems to us exquisite. Altogether, the work proves the -writer to be a true poet."--_Stirling Advertiser._ - -"The verses are inspirited and inspiring, expressive of the feelings of -many in these golden days of summer. To the second edition the author -has added some sixty pages brimful of the delightful verses which are -found so attractive in the first edition."--_Weekly Citizen._ - -"One of the two strongest and purest writers in the Scottish vernacular -that have been added to the choir of Northern minstrels during the -present century."--_Christian Leader._ - -"The admirable _Law Lyrics_ ... bright with strokes of pawky humour, and -abounding in verses each of which contains a picture, the volume is one -which will become a lasting favourite with its readers."--_The Bailie._ - -"Strongly incentive to hearty honest laughter which makes the heart grow -brighter, while to staid and grave and reverend seigniors the sweet -lark-song-like verses relating to nature, no less form subjects for -reflection."--_Ayrshire Weekly News._ - -"The little volume is interesting from the first page to the -last."--_Inverness Courier._ - -"Some of the verses exhibit a power of picturesque description which it -would be difficult to match, except out of the masters of song. Reveal -in attractive style the patriotism which animates the poet, and -establishes a claim additional to that of his undoubted genius, to a -large and appreciative Scotch audience."--_Greenock Telegraph._ - -"Such pieces as 'Scotch Porridge, etc." are amongst the most felicitous -examples of Scotch poetry we have seen in recent years."--_Brechin -Advertiser._ - -"Strong common sense pervades the whole, and the views of the author are -expressed with a directness, force, clearness, and simplicity, which -leaves nothing to be desired."--_North British Advertiser._ - -"Of a highly captivating nature, the author being possessed of a keen -sense of the humourous."--_Stirling Observer._ - -"Equal to anything of their kind known to us after Burns. A very genial -and enjoyable volume."--_Aberdeen Gazette._ - -"He expresses himself with a felicity and pawky humour that equal Lord -Neaves and Outram at their best, and in several poems the natural grace -and pith of expression remind one more of Burns than any other writer. -This may seem pitching it very high, but in our opinion, the poems will -bear out the assertion. We recommend it to all in the profession of its -author, and to everyone who can appreciate true humour and good -poetry."--_The People's Friend._ - -"Many of the lyrics which celebrate the charms of rural life and scenery -are extremely fine, displaying as they do rare observing powers, a rich -fancy, and flowing tasteful language."--_Dumfries Standard._ - -"He is a follower of Robert Burns and finds in the Court, and in the -Temple, an inspiration which the great Scotch poet found in the fields -of Ayrshire."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - -"He possesses the power of writing simple flowing verse in an eminent -degree."--_Literary World._ - - -_THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST AND THE SALVATION OF THE FEW._ A Criticism -of _Natural Law in the Spiritual World_. By Rev. A. WILSON. Crown 8vo, -cloth, 2s. 6d. Post free. - -"In a former number of this _Review_ we drew attention to two or three -of the main fallacies of Professor Drummond's shallow but attractive -book. We are glad to see that Mr. Alexander Wilson has, with a -scientific knowledge equal to Professor Drummond's, and with a logical -faculty far superior, subjected it to a far more systematic and -exhaustive analysis. Those who were interested in the dazzling pages of -_Natural Law in the Spiritual World_, but not blinded by their glitter, -will welcome this justification of their doubts in the solid form of -facts and arguments, and those who were fascinated by the Professor's -brilliant rhetoric and imagery will have a rather painful awakening. -They will see the idol shattered which they had to fall down and worship -as a condition of attaining to an intellectual standpoint from which -they might see all known facts in their harmony and continuity. It is, -no doubt, very fascinating to be able to harmonize and to systematize; -but suppose your theory of law, identical in the natural and in the -spiritual worlds, results in the necessity of assuming that man is -nothing more than a part of material nature until he is "converted," and -of believing that the survival of the fittest means the salvation of the -few (according to the analogy of the seeds of an orchid, of about one -person in a generation), would a God who has made men so be the object -of religious feeling, or this spiritual world, with its rare and lonely -tenants, be worth arguing for? It is probable that few readers of this -new "analogy" drew such inferences, but were merely interested in -Professor Drummond's spiritual and scientific gymnastics; but for the -thoughtful few who may have been disturbed by them it is well that he -has been answered by one so capable, both from a Christian and -scientific point of view, as Mr. Wilson."--_Saturday Review._ - -"It is this fallacy, the presumption that the laws of matter are -continuous through the spiritual universe, that Mr. Wilson finds himself -first called on to meet; and he does so by contending that the principle -of continuity applies only if the spiritual universe be itself material, -and not necessarily even them, inasmuch as there are in the material -universe imponderable bodies to which the law of gravitation, for -example, does not extend.... Mr. Wilson has written a very able, acute, -and temperate criticism, in a thoroughly religious spirit, with perfect -courtesy to his opponent; and we should be glad to think that his work -would be widely read."--_Scotsman._ - -"... The critique is interesting, clever, earnest, and, we may add, -respectful to Professor Drummond.... Here, we think, Mr. Wilson occupies -a very strong--indeed, an invulnerable position. This is not, however, -so much the critic's own position as that of other writers, but, he -appears to us, in great measure, to recognise and accept it. His own -words farther on are: 'The identification of the natural and spiritual -laws, if taken absolutely, would lead to the confounding together of -mind and body, God and Nature.' ... We are much interested in the -author's criticism of the Professor's arguments touching the subject -which gives the book its title. It forms an earnest and powerful -chapter...."--_Literary World._ - -"An answer to Professor Drummond, a work of some importance has just -made its appearance. It is certain that Mr. Wilson's able examination of -'Natural Law in the Spiritual World' will attract a good deal of -attention and controversy."--_London Figaro._ - -"Mr. Wilson, with great vigour and intrepidity, criticises the -Professor's conclusions.... The great question raised by Professor -Drummond's work is that of the relation of the natural law of the -survival of the fittest to the doctrine of election. His critic combats -this conclusion with much acuteness and ability."--_Glasgow Herald._ - - -WITH PORTRAIT AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. - -_DAVID KENNEDY, The Scottish Singer: Reminiscences of his Life and -Work._ By MARJORY KENNEDY. And _SINGING ROUND THE WORLD: A Narrative of -his Colonial and Indian Tours_. By DAVID KENNEDY, Junr. Demy 8vo, 480 -pages, cloth extra, 7s. 6d. Post free. - -"These unique musical tours were from time to time described by the -chief musician's son David in different books having reference to the -Colonies, to India, and to the Cape. They have now found a graceful and -appropriate preliminary chapter in the form of a memoir of David Kennedy -himself.... The memoir has been prepared by Miss Marjory Kennedy with -much taste and judgment, and will be read with interest, not only for -the sake of her father's characteristic letters and stories of early -life, but as recalling in various other ways pleasant memories -associated with a family of rare gifts and graces."--_Glasgow Herald._ - - -_LIFE IN SHETLAND._ By JOHN RUSSELL. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 3s. 6d. Post -free. - -"Contains a great quantity of very interesting information about -Shetland and its people. By a happy instinct, Mr. Russell has been led -to write about those things which he knows thoroughly--namely, his own -doings and experiences.... There follows the story of the strange -minister at the 'second diet' of a Presbytery meeting who wanted to -propose a toast, but was informed by the horrified moderator that 'God's -people in that part of the country were not in the habit of drinking -toasts.' The rebuked stranger quietly rejoined that he 'had never before -seen God's people drink so much toddy.' Much, both edifying and -entertaining, might be quoted from this unique volume, but enough may -have been said to gain for it the public attention it -deserves."--_Scotsman._ - -"We owe much to men like Mr. Russell, who, without any pretence, note -down what comes under their observation of an interesting nature -regarding curious customs, habits of life, and folk-lore, among the -people with whom they come into contact.... He is never entirely dull, -and we prefer such volumes which bring us into actual contact with a -poor but unsophisticated people to many pretentious stories. We follow -the minister as he goes out and in among the people, suffering hardship, -visiting, catechising, getting up a stock of fifty sermons, relating odd -anecdotes, and noting down peculiarities. We recommend this book to all -who are interested in the subject. It makes luminous to us the obscure -lives and labours of an interesting people."--_Pen and Pencil._ - -"An interesting and thoroughly realistic picture of life in Shetland is -presented to us in this volume by Mr. Russell, whose sojourn in those -Northern islands gave him good opportunity of observing the place and -the people.... Good stories, and brief observations and remarks on the -geology, natural history, and antiquities of the islands, and the -peculiar manners and customs of the people, ever and anon crop out in -the narrative.... It contains, however, a faithfully accurate and very -reliable description of _Ultima Thule_. And as the reader closes the -volume he will find that he has made acquaintance at once with a -singular country, and a pleasant guide to its chief points of -interest."--_Aberdeen Free Press._ - -"A bright and entertaining volume, and a valuable volume withal, anent -Shetland and the Shetlanders.... I know no book on Shetland equal to -this of Mr. Russell's. Its style is pointed and racy; the author talks -about what he knows and what he knows intimately. To put the matter in a -word, there isn't a dull page in 'Three Years in Shetland,' from the -title to the sentence at the close in which Mr. Russell expresses the -wish that 'all good things may attend' the islanders among whom he spent -three delightful years."--_Bailie._ - -"A very readable book about a very interesting people.... A minister, of -course, enjoys altogether exceptional opportunities, and Mr. Russell -seems to have made good use of them. He writes frankly about things as -he found them, which he is perhaps all the better able to do for his -change to the position of an outsider."--_Glasgow Herald._ - -"It contains some of the best clerical stories--though not always of the -most dignified nature, nor such as will tend to exalt the cloth in the -estimation of rude and irreverent laics--that we have come across, and -it gives very interesting, and for the most part accurate, details of -the everyday life of the people."--_Elgin Courant and Courier._ - - -UNIFORM WITH "BENDERLOCH." - -_LOCH CRERAN. Notes from the West Highlands._ By W. ANDERSON SMITH. -Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. Post free. - -"Readers of Mr. W. Anderson Smith's _Benderloch_ will welcome from the -same pen a second instalment of notes of natural history in the Western -Highlands entitled _Loch Creran_.... The influences of free moorland air -and buoyant water, of a spacious heaven and wide horizon, are with us, -and give zest to the study of fish and fowl and flower that are -liberally displayed. Whether it is the flight of a solitary bunting, or -the habitat of the pipe-fish (_Sygnathus_), the progress of _MyA|_ in the -refluent tide or a nested robin domiciled among strange perils, the -scenic suggestion cannot fail to persuade the senses. A large and -distinctive portion of Mr. Smith's book is devoted to the investigation -of the rich spoil of the dredger, as might be anticipated of so -enthusiastic a student of fish culture, and many of the most interesting -pages describe excursions on the waters of Etive and Creran and -Benderloch, or among the rocky pools and stretches of sand exposed by -the ebbing sea. By sea or land, on the wild hills or among the flowers -and insects of his garden, Mr. Smith has ever something to say that is -worth hearing, and he says it with admirable clearness and -force."--_Saturday Review._ - -"These charming notes from the Western Highlands are truly fascinating. -Entering into the very spirit of the life and scenery by which he is -surrounded, Mr. Smith gives his readers the benefit of the vast and -out-of-the-way stores of information he has gathered in all branches of -natural history. Each month, as it passes, has a chapter devoted to all -its manifold changes and doings, and we get many glimpses of charming -excursions, not unmixed with danger, when overtaken by those sudden -climatic changes to which that grand wild mountainous coast is often -exposed. An enthusiastic naturalist, the writer does not ride his hobby -to death, but, like a true lover of Nature, his sketches are bright and -fresh, and full of vivid descriptions, interspersed with many curious -anecdotes and facts relating to both the animal and vegetable kingdoms. -No better or more instructive guide to the fauna and flora of the -Western Highlands could be had than Mr. Anderson Smith's most pleasant -book."--_Literary World._ - -"They will be well rewarded who follow Mr. Anderson Smith along the -sea-shore, the hill-side, or the trouting stream; they will find how -much a quiet and attentive eye can glean from a loving study of the -denizens of earth, air, and water. The book is provided with a good -index, and those who have not leisure or patience to read it through at -a sitting may dip where they please. Like Mr. Smith's dredge, they -hardly ever fail to bring up something of interest."--_Scotsman._ - -"Students of natural history who read _Benderloch_, by Mr. W. A. Smith, -will give a cordial welcome to _Loch Creran_, another and even more -attractive work by the same observant author. With the exception, -perhaps, of Mr. Jefferson, no living naturalist is gifted with a more -picturesque manner of depicting the habits of birds, beasts, and fishes -than is Mr. Smith.... Then what a vast fund of entertaining instruction -is gathered in these excursions; a royal road to natural history is laid -down by Mr. Smith, and the student follows it leisurely, culling -charming bits of zoological lore here and there. One never knows what a -new day may bring forth when accompanying Mr. Smith on his rambles.... -There is, indeed, no end to the curious things observed by Mr. Smith. He -seems only to sleep at home, for, with his waterproof handy, he roams -about all day in the open air, and comes home at night with a -well-filled note-book.... The wealth of interesting matter in this -delightful volume is, however, tempting us beyond our space, and we -think we have collated enough to make all who love the country, its -sights and sounds, and health-giving breezes read the work -itself."--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -"To those who are familiar with Mr. Anderson Smith's _Benderloch_, no -introduction or recommendation will be necessary on behalf of his new -book, _Loch Creran_. The work is, in fact, as the preface explains, -simply a continuation of the natural history sketches of which -_Benderloch_ is composed.... With what a happy combination of vivacity -and patience, insight and enthusiasm, Mr. Anderson Smith scans the open -pages of that great tome of nature.... Treasure-trove of this kind, -along with notes of a more strictly scientific character, is freely -scattered through Mr. Anderson Smith's pages; and so it will have a -charm for every reader with healthy natural tastes."--_Scottish Leader._ - -"There are few books in the language more delightful than White's -_Selborne_, and in Mr. W. Anderson Smith that earnest Hampshire -naturalist has a distinguished successor. His most recent volume is -worthy of the author of _Benderloch_, a book which, it may be hoped, is -already familiar to our readers.... The variety of his researches on -land and water prevent monotony. The author has much to tell, and he -explains what he has seen and done without waste of -words."--_Illustrated London News._ - -"Mr. Anderson Smith's observations extend over 1881-2, and refer mainly -to the natural history of the district, but he deals also with other -aspects of Nature, and his book is well worth reading."--_Times._ - -"There can be no hesitation in assuring lovers of Nature that in _Loch -Creran_ they will find a work after their own heart.... The charm of the -volume before us is that it is not the hasty outcome of the bookmaker -feverishly eager to piece together into a volume odds and ends of -information. There is an air of leisureliness about _Loch Creran_. Month -by month are given the results of two years' close intercourse with loch -and sea, field and wood. The work is one to be enjoyed by those who -share the writer's tastes and spirit, and not to be rushed by the -heedless."--_Graphic._ - -"Every page has its charm, something at once to instruct the mind and to -tickle and amuse the fancy. It is not a book to be read through at one -sitting, but one to dip into occasionally and to ruminate over in -pleased contentment. Perhaps its worth will be best appreciated by those -taking a holiday in the country, or, above all, at the seaside. And it -will serve as a very efficient guide to persons beginning the study of -natural history, directing them what and how to observe. Many a capital -story he gives illustrating the remarkable intelligence of the lower -animals. Some of these border upon the marvellous."--_Perthshire -Constitutional and Journal._ - -"Chatty and discursive, rather than elaborate, the interest in 'Loch -Creran' is well maintained throughout, and the book appeals to the -general reader, by whom it will doubtless be perused with greater -pleasure than a more highly scientific disquisition."--_Pall Mall -Gazette._ - -"He is a charming companion. His descriptions are vivid and true to -nature--whether he makes us shiver and feel glad of the shelter of the -house, as he tells us of winter's storms and floods, or whether he fills -our hearts with a longing for the freshness and gladness of spring as he -notes the signs of its advent on the shores of Loch Creran."--_Glasgow -Herald._ - - -_OLD CHURCH LIFE IN SCOTLAND: Lectures on Kirk-Session and Presbytery -Records._ _Second Series._ By ANDREW EDGAR, D.D. Demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. -6d. Post free. - -"Antiquaries may welcome the minister of Mauchline as an elder brother -of their craft. We have not seen the first series of lectures, but -certainly these contain much that is queer and quaint. Odd people, these -Scotch folks; but there is a homeliness and a reverence about them which -we greatly value. Our author is evidently of the Established Church, and -knows most about the old customs of that body, of which he writes with a -twinkle in his eye which causes our eye to twinkle also. The grim want -of humour in some of the proceedings is about the same thing as the -presence of humour: you may laugh till you cry, and cry till you laugh; -between the tremendously solemn and the ridiculous there is but a step. -We have been so interested with the lectures that we must get the former -volume. What times those must have been when guests at a funeral began -to meet at ten in the morning, though the body might not be moved till -three or four! Five or six hours! How did they spin them out? No marvel -that the Kirk-Session had to hear charges of drunkenness. Such books as -these are the best of history, leading us indeed into byways and lone -paths which the general historian never traces."--=C. H. Spurgeon.= - - -_MY COLLEGE DAYS: The Autobiography of an Old Student._ Edited by R. -MENZIES FERGUSSON, M.A., Author of "Rambles in the Far North," &c. 8vo, -cloth, 5s. Post free. - -"Mr. Fergusson, either as author or as editor, has well earned our -gratitude by giving us a volume which all may read with enjoyment and -pleasure.... Space and its limits will not allow us to dwell on many -other points of interest to be found in this entertaining volume; but we -cannot pass without mentioning the worthy dame who said, in praise of -her preacher: 'There's ae thing aboot yon man--he's a grand roarer.' Nor -must we forget the careful landlady who was always anxious to know if -her student-lodger was as yet an unengaged man, or, to use her own -graphic phrase, was 'a bund sack set by.'..."--_Literary World._ - -"We own to a suspicion that in this instance Mr. Fergusson has been his -own literary executor. Whether this be the case or not, he has no -reason to be ashamed of the bequest. The sketches have a pleasant grace -of literary style, and a good deal of power in description of -character-sketching, while there is in the writer a subtle under-strain -of pawky humour, and he has brought together and put permanently on -record a number of traditions of University life in Edinburgh and St. -Andrews that are well worth preservation.... Our old student's -reminiscences of St. Andrews, where he took the theological course after -graduating in arts at Edinburgh, are not less lively or interesting than -those he sets down respecting his Alma Mater; and his book is likely to -take a place both on the shelves and in the enduring regard of many -readers who have had similar experiences and tasted similar pleasures. A -word of praise is due to the excellence of its typography and -get-up."--_Scottish Leader._ - -"We think the verdict will be that Mr. Fergusson has done well in -publishing this thoughtful book. It abounds in vigorous, and, in many -cases, eloquent delineations of University life; it is sympathetic in -its spirit and catholic in its tone, especially when dealing with such -subjects as the stage, so frequently abused. Its author was a student of -the Universities of Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and Oxford, his -reminiscences of which are often humorous, and always interesting. Some -of the anecdotes recorded in this volume regarding the Edinburgh -Professors are exceedingly entertaining.... We venture to predict for -this autobiography a wide circulation."--_Dundee Advertiser._ - -"The book is eminently readable, very quiet for the most part, but not -without a few touches of gaiety and sprightly humour; and it betokens no -little culture together with a strong poetic tendency. The contents are -almost entirely confined to sketches of life at Scottish Universities, -with some playful personal satire, of which various Professors, some -mentioned by name and others denoted by initials, are the objects in -chief, although the peculiarities of certain landladies whose province -it is, or was, to let lodgings to students at Edinburgh or elsewhere, -come in for their share of more or less satirical delineation. But there -is nothing spiteful, nothing bitter, nothing cynical in the mode of -treatment. Two chapters are devoted to a sketch, brief but graphic and -sympathetic, of academic Oxford, whither the author went to sojourn and -to study for two months."--_Illustrated London News._ - -"This is a delightful book, calculated to afford much pleasurable -amusement of a quiet kind. It is written in a light sparkling style.... -The book itself is an enjoyable one, and perhaps none will read it with -greater relish than the old fogies who see in it much of what they -themselves passed through, and who, by the perusal are led to recall, -with mingled feelings, the aspirations, the freshness, and the frolic of -their own College days."--_Perthshire Constitutional._ - -"By those who have passed through the Universities it will be read with -considerable pleasure, affording as it does such happy reminiscences of -'College days,' with their grave, plodding seriousness, or that more -boisterous playfulness which is supposed to be the characteristic of -students as a class. Those, again, who are simply outsiders, and have -had no College days whatever, will be charmed by the recital here given -of the doings of the students, and the customs associated with the -respective Universities, the pen-portraits of the several professors, -the opinions expressed regarding men and things, the poetry, original -and selected, and the hundred and one subjects here treated of by a man -of observant nature possessing facility of expression, besides a keen -sense and appreciation of the humorous...."--_Stirling Observer._ - -"Many a 'varsity man, who has won his decree in the modest 'little city, -worn and grey,' will welcome the appearance of Mr. R. M. Fergusson's -_College Days_. Redolent every page of it, of the class-room, and the -wild Bohemianism of student life, and bristling with the 'classic' -ditties which have so often made the halls of St. Salvator's resound, -here is material for a mental revel in the past."--_Northern Chronicle._ - -"This series of autobiographical notes deserve recognition, if only -because the style is perfectly natural and perfectly good-natured.... -The book contains several capital anecdotes and some excellent -verse."--_London Figaro._ - -"But after all the charm of the volume lies in the whole life of a -student which is presented to us, for his joys and his troubles, his -amusements and his hard reading, are here written of by one who has -evidently experienced all. Scattered throughout these pages are numerous -verses, some original, some well-known students' songs. The original -verses are very good...."--_Stirling Journal._ - -"The volume contains some very excellent poems which are worthy of -finding, and doubtless will find, a place as verses to future songs. -There is not a chapter in the book which is not thoroughly -entertaining."--_The Tribune._ - -"The 'Old Student' has to speak of Scotch Universities, Edinburgh, to -wit, and St. Andrews, while he gives some impressions, gained as an -outsider, of Oxford.... There is much that is interesting and -entertaining, some good stories, and generally a pleasant picture of a -happy and busy life."--_Spectator._ - -"The writer is always entertaining and kindly, is wise in season, and -also _desipit in loco_, and tells some good stories--professors being -naturally his chief subjects."--_Pall Mall Gazette._ - -"It is, to say the least, eminently probable that Mr. Fergusson relates -his own experiences in Edinburgh and St. Andrews. He does so in a -sufficiently lively and 'freshman' style.... _My College Days_ is, on -the whole, as readable as any book of the kind that has recently been -published."--_The Academy._ - -"Mr. R. Menzies Fergusson paints life as he thinks he saw it as a young -man at St. Andrews and Edinburgh, in _My College Days_. This -'autobiography of an old student' contains much interesting -reminiscence, and Mr. Fergusson has perhaps not erred in introducing -into his text specimens of the verse into which some of his Caledonian -student contemporaries were in the habit of dropping occasionally. Mr. -Fergusson's little book should find many a sympathetic reader among -former _alumni_ of the Scottish Universities, for he writes without -affectation."--_Graphic._ - -'Seldom have we had more pleasure than in the perusal of these -reminiscences of College days. No one who has gone through the -curriculum of a Scotch University can fail to attest the fidelity with -which his experience here finds expression.... 'An Old Student' was -privileged to have more than one _alma mater_. He could boast the -fostering care of Edinburgh, of St. Andrews, and of Oxford, and of all -these he has most pleasant reminiscences. Our author's experiences at -Oxford will repay perusal. The whole book, written in a most happy, -though thoughtful and affectionate strain, must incite the most cordial -sympathy of all whose student days have not been forgotten, while the -general public will peruse it with responsive hearts and a regretful -feeling that they have missed the experiences of which it -treats.'--_Brechin Advertiser._ - -'The minister of Logie, who made a decided hit with _Rambles in the Far -North_, has attempted a very difficult bit of work in _My College Days_. -This purports to be the MS. legacy of a College friend who died young -after some experience of student life in Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and -Oxford. The fiction will impose upon nobody, although it may shield the -editor from some blame, for while there is mirth and vigour and kindly -reminiscence, there is also some very sharp criticism, and much -reference to Academic dignitaries who are still in the flesh, and may be -sensitive and inclined to sting when they find some of their class jokes -not merely in print but bound in a book.... If certain Edinburgh divines -beguile a leisure hour over these pages, they will for once see -themselves as the keen-witted see them, and be amazed at the impudence -of the rising generation. Everybody who knows Edinburgh will recognise -the portrait of the preacher who is likened to Dr. Andrew Thomson in one -thing--'There's ae thing about yon man, he's a grand roarer.' The St. -Andrews part is full and cleverly done, and will have a charm for most -_alumni_ of the 'College of the scarlet gown,' because it contains a -large number of the songs, original and selected, with which the lobby -of the Natural Philosophy class-room was wont to resound."--_Elgin -Courant._ - -"The style is lively, and the descriptions of scenes of student life are -graphic. The account of the election of Rector at Edinburgh will -doubtless interest many, and the chapter dealing with landladies, their -varieties and idiosyncracies, is humorous."--_Morning Post._ - -"To recent students of our two greatest Scottish Universities--Edinburgh -and St. Andrews--_My College Days_ is charged with intense interest, -though its racy humour and chatty discursiveness will render it -attractive reading to those uninitiated in academic mysteries and -innocent of student frivolities. The life of an Edinburgh student, in -college and out of college, in the class-room, the debating society, the -theatre, and the church, is described with untiring vivacity.... Whether -author or merely editor, Mr. Menzies Fergusson is to be sincerely -congratulated upon his success. Reminiscence is a species of literature -not always instructive, not always even entertaining; in Mr. Fergusson's -hands it becomes both."--_Fifeshire Journal._ - -"We think the verdict of every impartial reader will be that Mr. -Ferguson has done well in publishing this book. It abounds in vigorous, -and, in many instances, impressive descriptions of University life; it -is enlivened at judicious intervals with original verses, which evince -lyrical power; its style is admirably condensed and clear; it is -sympathetic in its spirit and catholic in its tone, especially when -dealing with such subjects as the stage and its modern exponents by -narrow-minded writers so frequently abused."--_Ayr Observer._ - -"It is pleasantly written, is full of the fun of student life, full, -too, of its hardships, abounds with excellent stories, is very -discriminating in professional criticism, while scattered throughout the -racy pages are many snatches of jovial college songs recorded nowhere -else.... Altogether the volume is very readable, and no student, at all -events, can find a dull page in it."--_Kelso Chronicle._ - - -_THE TRAGEDY OF GOWRIE HOUSE._ An Historical Study. By LOUIS A. BARBA%. -Fcap. 4to, 6s. - -In this new work on the interesting and mysterious episode of Scottish -History, usually known as the Gowrie Conspiracy, the author has not only -submitted the old materials to a close examination, but also thrown new -light on the subject by the help of letters to be found in the Record -Office, but overlooked or suppressed by former historians, of documents -recently discovered by the Commission on Historical MSS., and also of -important papers preserved in the French Archives. - -"_A treasure of almost priceless thought and criticism._"--_Contemporary -Review._ - -In the press. Second Edition, Thoroughly Revised. Cr. 8vo, 338 pp., 7s. -6d. - - -WIT, WISDOM, AND PATHOS, - -FROM THE PROSE OF HEINRICH HEINE. - -_WITH A FEW PIECES FROM THE "BOOK OF SONGS."_ - -SELECTED AND TRANSLATED BY J. SNODGRASS. - -"Mr. Snodgrass has produced a book in which lazy people will find a -great deal to please them. They can take it up at any moment, and open -it on any page with the certainty of finding some bright epigram; they -need not turn down the page on shutting up the volume, as it matters -little where they resume. There is nothing jarring in the whole -book."--_AthenA|um, April 19, 1877._ - -"No Englishman of culture who is unacquainted with Heine can fail to -derive a new intellectual pleasure from Mr. Snodgrass's -pages."--_Contemporary Review, September 1880._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass would appear to have saturated himself with Heine -literature, to have so caught Heine's mode of thought and his turns of -expression--quaint, droll, swift, and scathing by turns--that the -translator would appear to have had no more difficulty in presenting -Heine as he was to the reader than he would have in presenting his own -thoughts."--_Glasgow Herald, March 31, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass, in his 'Wit,' &c., has dime a great service in this -respect, presenting as it were a full-length miniature of the man, clear -and effective, wherein his characteristic expression is faithfully -caught and where, if we look carefully, we can see him as he really was, -for he is made to paint his own portrait."--_British Quarterly Review, -October 1881._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has certainly done great service to English literature in -presenting us with a compact little volume like that before -us."--_Spectator._ - -"A word of cordial praise is due to the translator, Mr. J. Snodgrass, -for his admirable performance of a very difficult task. His book is one -to welcome and to keep as a treasure of almost priceless thought and -criticism."--_Contemporary Review, February 1881._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass is to be thanked for a very seasonable bit of -work."--_Examiner, April 26, 1879._ - -"We are bound to say that Mr. Snodgrass has done his work exceptionally -well."--_The Literary World, May 9, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has made a valuable addition to English literature in -this volume, and has given us a most attractive and efficient -introduction to the study of Heine."--_The Nonconformist, August 20, -1879._ - -"He has performed his task with skill, tact, and judgment; and it is -easy to perceive that he has a thorough acquaintance with his author and -sympathy for his matter."--_Notes and Queries, April 19, 1879._ - -"The result of Mr. Snodgrass's attempt has been the production of a -volume which, for variety and interest, may be pronounced one of the -most successful books of the season."--_Aberdeen Journal, March 26, -1879._ - -"In Heine, whose prose writings in German fill well on to a score of -volumes, we find in remarkable combination the best qualities of German -thought, along with the sparkle and brilliancy of an accomplished -Frenchman's style."--_Aberdeen Daily Free Press, April 21, 1879._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has done his selection and translation admirably well and -we owe him thanks for a volume which has in it mere wit of the highest -sort, and more political insight, than any book that has lately been -given to the public."--_Vanity Fair, November 8, 1879._ - -"The compiler of this interesting little volume, Mr. J. Snodgrass is -perfectly right in saying that Heine is chiefly known to English readers -as the author of the 'Book of Songs.'"--_The Week, April 19, 1879._ - -"The 'English Fragments' have a special interest for the English reader; -but the selection from Heine's prose works in general, most judiciously -made and excellently translated by Mr. Snodgrass, gives a much completer -view of the qualities of the writer's mind."--_Saturday Review._ - -"Mr. Snodgrass has not essayed to give at all an exhaustive collection -of Heine's witty, wise, and pathetic sayings; but he has selected, in -the order in which they occur in the complete German edition, such -extracts as have specially commended themselves to himself. He has -produced a very enjoyable volume, exactly adapted to the taste of lazy -and luxurious persons, who can just take up the book for five minutes to -read a delightful passage, complete in itself, and not long enough to -fatigue the most fastidious attention."--_Academy, May 31, 1879._ - - -ALEX. GARDNER, PAISLEY AND LONDON. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography., by -Solomon Maimon - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOLOMON MAIMON: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. *** - -***** This file should be named 41042.txt or 41042.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/0/4/41042/ - -Produced by Charlene Taylor,Josephine Paolucci and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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