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Xlbe  ©pen  Court 

A  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE 

2)evote&  to  tbe  Sctence  of  iReligion,  tbc  IReligion  ot  Science,  an&  tbe 
Bitension  ot  tbe  "ReUoious  parliament  f  ^ea 

Founded  by  Edward  C.  Hegeler 


VOL.  XXXII  (No.  4)  APRIL,  1918  NO.  743 

CONTENTS: 

PAGB 

Frontispiece.    Interior  of  the  Kondo,  Chief  Sanctuary  of  Koyasan  Monastery. 

The  Word  or  the  Sivord?    Franklin  Kent  Gifford 193 

The  Koyasan  Monastery  and  its  Art  Treasures.    Harada  Jiro 203 

The  Prophecy  of  Libusha.    C.  E.  Eggert 215 

Bohemian  Independence.    Emil  Reach  222 

Hebrew  Education  in  School  and  Society.    During  the  Period  of  Reaction 

to  Foreign  Influences.    Fletcher  H.  Swift 228 

Miscellaneotis. 

A  Woman  Free  253 

Mysticism  and  Modern  Life  256 


Zhc  ©pen  Court  ff^ubUsbing  Companig 

CHICAGO 

Per  copy,  10  cents  (sixpence).    Yearly,  $1.00  (in  the  U.P.U.,  Ss.  6A). 

• — — — ■■»■- 

Entered  as  Second-Qass  Matter  March  26, 1897,  at  the  Post  Office  at  Chicago,  IlL,  under  Act  of  March  3, 1879 
Copyright  by  The  Open  Court  Publishing  Company,  1918 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  BUDDHA 

By 

DR.  PAUL  CARUS 

Pocket  Edition.    Illustrated.    Cloth,  $i.oo;  flexible  leather,  $1.30 

This  edition  is  a  photographic  reproduction  of  the  edition  de  luxe 
which  was  printed  in  Leipsic  in  1913  and  ready  for  shipment  in  time  to 
be  caught  by  the  embargo  Great  Britain  put  on  all  articles  exported 
from  Germany.  Luckily  two  copies  of  the  above  edition  escaped,  and 
these  were  used  to  make  the  photographic  reproduction  of  this  latest 
edition.  While  the  Buddhist  Bible  could  not  in  any  way  be  consid- 
ered a  contraband  of  war  yet  the  publishers  were  forced  to  hold  back 
many  hundred  orders  for  the  book  on  account  of  orders  in  council  of 
Great  Britain. 

When  the  book  was  first  published  His  Majesty,  the  King  of  Siam, 
sent  the  following  communication  through  his  private  secretary : 

"Dear  Sir:  I  am  commanded  by  His  Most  Gracious  Majesty,  the  King  of  Siam, 
to  acknowledge,  with  many  thanks,  the  receipt  of  your  letter  and  the  book,  The 
Gospel  of  Buddha,  which  he  esteems  very  much;  and  he  expresses  his  sincerest 
thanks  for  the  very  hard  and  difficult  task  of  compilation  you  have  considerately 
undertaken  in  the  interest  of  our  religion.  I  avail  myself  of  this  favorable  oppor- 
tunity to  wish  the  book  every  success." 

His  Royal  Highness,  Prince  Chandradat  Chudhadham,  official  dele- 
gate of  Siamese  Buddhism  to  the  Chicago  Parliament  of  Religions,  writes : 

"As  regards  the  contents  of  the  book,  and  as  far  as  I  could  see,  it  is  one  of  the 
best  Buddhist  Scriptures  ever  published  Those  who  wish  to  know  the  life  of 
Buddha  and  the  spirit  of  his  Dhanna  may  be  recommended  to  read  this  work  which 
is  so  ably  edited  that  it  comprises  almost  all  knowledge  of  Buddhism  itseli" 

The  book  has  been  introduced  as  a  reader  in  private  Buddhist  schools 
of  Ceylon.  Mrs.  Marie  H.  Higgins,  Principal  of  the  Musaeus  School  and 
Orphanage  for  Buddhist  Girls,  Cinnamon  Gardens,  Ceylon,  writes  as 
follows : 

"It  is  the  best  work  I  have  read  on  Buddhism.  This  opinion  !s  endorsed  by  all 
who  read  it  here.    I  propose  to  make  it  a  text-book  of  study  for  my  girls." 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

122  S.  MICHIGAN  AVENUE 
CHICAGO  ILLINOIS 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  KONDO,  CHIEF   SANCTUARY  OF  KOYASAN 

MONASTERY. 


Frontispiece  to  The  Open  Court. 


The  Open  Court 

A  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE 

Devoted,  to  the  Science  of  Religion,  the  Religion  of  Science,  and 
the  Extension  of  the  Religious  Parliament  Idea. 

VOL.  XXXII  (No.  4)  APRIL,  1918  NO.  743 

Copyright  by"  The  Open  Court  Publishing  Company,  1918 


THE  WORD  OR  THE  SWORD? 

BY  FRANKF.IN   KENT  GIFFORD. 

IN  the  year  40  A.  D.,  as  now  reckoned,  the  King  of  Parthia  sat 
in  his  cabinet,  awaiting  the  coming  of  his  Vizier,  and  meanwhile 
breaking  his  fast  with  a  small  dish  of  flat,  unleavened  bread  and  a 
cup  of  wine.  x\  noiseless  attendant  bestowed  these  things ;  and  then, 
at  a  sign  from  his  master,  withdrew,  leaving  the  King  alone. 

Though  a  cabinet,  the  room  was  spacious,  making  with  its  rare 
and  costly  hangings  a  fit  setting  for  this  majestic  man,  the  King. 
The  front  of  Moses  or  Jove,  the  calm,  stern  eye,  touched  with 
benevolence,  and  all  the  hall-marks  of  a  powerful,  reigning  personal- 
ity were  in  this  man.  Neither  was  anything  assumed ;  but  all  was 
natural,  unforced,  and  unconscious. 

Presently,  the  Mzier  entered,  saluted,  and  paused  at  attention, 
while  the  King  held  him  in  a  contemplative  glance. 

The  Vizier  was  a  young  man  of  about  thirty,  with  features 
stamped  with  idealism.  Austerely  clad,  in  spite  of  his  office,  he 
was  a  fine,  flaming  picture  of  unfallen  youth,  such  as  might  once 
have  belonged  to  the  King  yonder. 

But  if  the  thought  occurred  to  the  monarch,  his  countenance 
remained  impassive  as  he  motioned  his  minister  to  a  seat.  Then, 
drawing  from  beneath  his  robe  a  small  "roll  of  papyrus,  he  tossed 
it  down  beside  the  bread  and  the  wine,  saying: 

'This  roll  was  found  in  thy  quarters  and  handed  to  me.  I 
have  therefore  summoned  thee  to  explain  if  thou  canst,  the  presence 
of  this  revolutionary  document  among  the  papers  of  a  king's  of- 
ficer." 

The  young  man  turned  pale,  and  sat  a  moment  with  his  eyes 
held  by  the  fascination  of  the  roll  of  papyrus,  lying  on  the  table 


194  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

before  the  King.     Then  recovering  himself,  in  part,  he  began  his 
defence : 

"Your  Majesty  has  been  so  good  as  to  commend  certain  acts 
of  my  administration,  whereby  the  reahn  has  been  eased  of  in- 
justice ;  and  the  cry  of  the  poor  has  been  heard ;  and  the  hire  of 
the  laborer  is  not  kept  back.  But  Sire,  if  aught  has  been  done  that 
is  worthy  of  your  praise,  the  honor  is  due  to  the  words  of  yonder 
roll  which  men  call  'The  Good  News.' " 

A  great  shadow  swept  athwart  the  face  of  the  King;  his  eyes 
blurred,  and  his  royal  robe  heaved  with  a  powerful  emotion,  till 
presently,  it  passed  and  left  him  as  before,  serene  and  august. 

"It  is  high  praise  for  a  small  roll  of  papyrus,"  he  observed. 
"But  smaller  rolls  have  hurled  kings  from  their  thrones,  ere  now ; 
and  who  shall  say  what  this  one  may  do,  if  it  be  not  rigorously 
suppressed  ?" 

The  Vizier  was  silent. 

"Speak!"  said  the  King.  "Canst  thou  honestly  deny  that  the 
doctrine  of  this  roll  is  destructive  of  all  kingship?" 

"Sire,"  returned  the  Vizier,  like  a  man  fronting  death  without 
fear,  "the  day  will  come  when  kings  will  be  no  more ;  but  mean- 
while, even  kings  may  learn  from  this  roll  how  to  govern." 

"Well  spoken !"  said  the  King.  "It  is  weariness  to  hear  ever- 
more nothing  but  lies ;  and  because  thou  art  a  born  truth-speaker, 
I  have  chosen  thee  out  of  all  Parthia,  when  many  are  made  for  thy 
office.  But  one  fault  thou  hast :  a  too  easy  confidence  in  men.  And 
therefore  have  I  summoned  thee  before  me:  not  to  convict  thee  of 
possessing  this  notorious  document.  What  are  papyrus  rolls  to  me? 
No,  but  to  bid  thee  beware  of  thine  enemies.  Hide  yonder  roll 
where  no  eye  may  see  it  but  thine.  Or  better  yet,  burn  it  at  once 
in  yonder  brazier." 

"No!  No!  your  Majesty!  No!"  protested  the  young  man,  pale 
with  apprehension.  "Already,  this  roll  is  your  Majesty's  salvation! 
It  hath  made  us  countless  friends;  and  the  whole  people  rallies 
around  the  King.  To  burn  it  now  would  be  to  burn — nay,  to  crucify 
our  saviour!" 

Again  the  great  shadow  darkened  the  face  of  the  King,  whose 
blurred  eyes  dwelt  on  vacancy. 

"Friends!"  he  echoed,  grimly.  "Ay,  and  enemies  too!  Hide 
it,  then,  young  man,  deep  as  the  grave ;  and  learn  from  me  the  rea- 
son why.  Yea,  why  it  is  necessary  to  do  good  by  stealth,  or  be  cut 
off  untimely,  like  your  Nazarene  of  the  papyrus  yonder.  Young 
man,  I  have  read  thy  roll ;  and  thinkest  thou  it  hath  told  me  aught? 


THE  WORD  OR  THE  SWORD?  195 

Ay,  as  some  old  lesson  that  men  learn  and  teach  and  so  forget,  till 
they  hear  it,  one  day.  on  the  lips  of  others." 

The  Vizier's  trouhled  amazement  was  decently  veiled,  hut  not 
hid  from  the  King. 

"Young  man,  if  it  sound  like  madness — what  I  am  ahout  to 
relate — believe  me.  as'  thou  believest  yonder  roll,  I,  the  King  of 
Parthia.  can  tell  a  tale  which  is  fellow  to  that.  Thy  Nazarene,  his 
good  news  and  life  and  death — what  is  it  but  my  very  own?" 

The  \  izier's  face  was  a  study  in  astonishment  which  he  vainly 
stro\'e  to  curb  into  the  semblance  of  understanding. 

*Tt  is  true,  Sire,"  he  stammered,  "that  the  Nazarene  himself 
has  prophesied  concerning  many  who  should  bear  his  cross  ;  and 
.  .  .  ."  he  paused  in  confusion. 

"And  of  these,"  prompted  the  King,  "it  is  possible  1  am  one? 
Ay,  it  is  possible !""  he  smiled,  with  a  secret  irony.  "Pie  bore,  as 
thou  observest,  my  own  name  which,  indeed,  was  common  in  that 
country,  where  I  dwelt  in  my  youth.  And  1  bear,  as  thou  mayest 
note,  certain  marks  in  my  hands." 

Whereat  he  spread  them  out.  eyed  them  with  stern  thought  ful- 
ness, and  added : 

"Likewise  in  my  feet.  The  marks  of  the  Romans,  which  few 
have  borne  and  lived  to  tell  the  tale. 

"And  the  Romans  bear,"  he  continued  with  the  wild  light  of 
justice  crossing  his  countenance,  "the  marks  of  my  sword.  A 
defeat  so  crushing  as  they  have  but  newly  received  at  the  hands 
of  a  Parthian  king,  they  will  not  soon   forget." 

The  face  of  the  young  A'izier  wore  a  mingled  look  of  incred- 
ulous horror  and  compassion  for  the  King  who  Ijore  the  marks  of 
a  crucified  slave.  Then  the  King  drew  the  royal  robe  over  his  scars 
and  resumed  his  narrative. 

"Young  man,  thou  art  touched  with  this  passion  of  the  Naza- 
rene for  a  thankless  world.  Have  I  not  felt  it  ?  Yea,  and  as  good 
as  died  for  it.  These  scars  bear  me  witness  how  I  won  the  hatred 
of  the  Roman  assassins  and  the  good  people  of  the  little  province 
I  had  hoped  to  save  from  its  littleness.  I  was  a  young  dreamer, 
like  thy  Nazarene,  whose  garbled  speeches  thou  readest  in  the  little 
papyrus  thou  art  so  zealous  to  hide.  But  have  no  fear  of  the  King. 
These  thoughts  were  my  own  in  those  days.  Mine,  say  I  ?  The 
thoughts  of  all  generous  youth,  with  souls  awake  to  the  world- 
passion.     Ay,  surely,  thy  Nazarene  was  a  man." 

"Ay,  your  ^Majesty."  said  the  Vizier;  "and  some  there  be  who 
begin  to  call  him  a  god." 


196  THE  OPEN  COURT, 

The  King-  nodded  with  a  certain  colossal  irony.  "If  so,  it  would 
not  be  the  first,"  said  he.  "It  was  ever  the  way  of  men:  to  first 
crucify  and  then  deify  a  son  of  man ;  and  so  return  every  one  to  his 
own  way.  and  make  the  cross  of  none  efifect. 

"In  those  days,  mark  well,  my  sympathies  were  with  the  world. 
The  poor,  damned  world  of  suffering,  blundering  fellow  men !  What 
better  could  I  do  with  my  life  than  lay  it  down,  if  need  be,  for 
these  my  friends? 

"But  trust  me,  young  Sir,  he  who  has  given  his  life,  and  then 
contemplates  the  result,  will  feel  otherwise.  His  sympathies  will 
return,  at  last,  to  himself  ;  to  one  man  against  the  world.  Why 
not?  When  David  fought  Goliath,  that  vast  bully  and  braggart, 
is  not  our  sympathy  with  David  against  the  giant,  who  says  to  the 
generous  youth :  'Come  to  me,  and  I  will  give  thy  flesh  to  the  birds 
and  beasts.'  One  man  against  the  world,  that  vaster  Goliath !  Yet 
the  man  outwits  the  monster  and  brings  it  to  its  knees !  Harken, 
young  man,  to  the  story  of  that  battle ;  and  if  thou  art  still  convinced 
that  the  world  may  be  conquered  by  such  weapons  as  generous 
youth  would  employ — why,  go  to  your  Nazarene  and  be  crucified. 
I  warn  thee,  it  will  come  to  that." 

"Ay,  and  why  not,  O  King?"  said  the  Vizier  calmly. 

"My  tale  shall  be  thy  answer,"    returned  the  King,   with  an 
equal  calm.     "Thy  Jesus  died:    but  had  he  lived?     Had  he  sur- 
vived the  Roman  cross,  as  I  did,  by  a  sort  of  miracle,  or  chance,' 
or  favor  of  God?     Call  it  what  thou  wilt.     When  will  the  world 
cease  to  quarrel  about  words? 

"Once  upon  a  time,  a  spirit  came  to  the  young  man  yonder 
and  offered  him  a  sword.  Thinkest  thou  it  was  no  temptation?  With 
the  Romans  in  the  land,  robbing,  killing,  enslaving  a  once  free 
people?  A  people,  mark  thou,  whose  genius  was  to  the  Roman  as 
Hyperion  to  a  satyr.  With  the  sword  of  David  on  his  thigh,  what 
might  he  not  have  done  ?  Yet  the  young  man  refused  the  sword, 
and  called  him  Satan  who  offered  it. 

"Ay,  but  had  he  lived,  as  I  lived  and  survived  the  Roman  cross, 
what  would  he  then  have  called  him?  For  I  too  have  met  him  and 
turned  him  away :  and  long  afterward  I  met  him  again  :  and  his 
face  was  as  the  face  of  an  angel.  I  took  the  sword  he  offered  and 
smote  the  Romans  :  and  young  man,  I  reign  :  and  the  earth  still  holds 
a  nation  that  causes  the  Romans  to  quake  in  their  beds :  and  that 
nation  is  Parthia." 

The  Mzier  sat  pale  and  confounded  by  this  fabulous  past  of 
his  august   master,   the  greatest   mind  and   strongest  hand   of  the 


THE   WORD  OR  THE  SWORD?  197 

whole  East.  It  was  a  tale,  the  like  of  which  he  had  not  read  in 
parchment  or  vellum :  this  escape  of  the  rehel  and  gallows-hird 
to  a  throne ! 

"Ay,  thou  mayest  wonder."  said  the  King,  as  he  took  up  his  par- 
able which  he  had  lived.  "But  hast  thou  ever  wondered  howl  earned 
these  scars?  Men  say,  in  battle.  Ay,  but  no  such  battle  as  late 
I  fought  with  the  Romans,  and  rode  them  down  to  the  last  man ; 
so  that  he  who  escaped  the  sword,  the  arrow  overtook.  And  there 
was  weeping  in  proud  Rome,  and  lamentation  among  her  mothers ; 
and  as  they  had  done  to  others,  so  did  we  unto  them." 

The  young  A-'izier  winced,  and  held  his  peace  with  an  efifort ; 
but  the  wound  did  not  escape  the  keen  eye  of  the  King. 

"Thou  wincest!"  said  he.  "At  this  reversal  of  the  Christian  rule 
by  one  who  has  taught  it  to  others!  Ay,  but  hast  thou  never 
marked  how  the  baser  lesson  succeeds,  where  the  nobler  fails  with 
such  as  the  Romans?  Even  as  a  contentious  woman,  that  mocks 
at  kindness  and  rewards  the  hard  hand  with  her  obedience — ay,  and 
with  her  love! — such,  O  young  man,  is  this  Roman  world  of  ours, 
where  all  lessons  are  lost  but  one.  And  that  one?"  PTe  lifted  the 
right  hand  that  had  slain  the  Roman  legionaries,  and  let  it  fall  like 
retribution. 

The  Mzier  winced  again  ;  but  the  King  paid  no  heed,  till  pres- 
ently, rousing  as  from  a  dream,  he  resumed : 

"Not  so  was  the  battle  of  my  youth,  wherein  I  obtained  these 
scars ;  but  it  happened   in  this   wise. 

"He  that  refuseth  the  sword  hath  already  put  his  trust  in  the 
word, — a  mightier  weapon,  if  it  take  time  to  its  ally.  Such  was 
my  weapon  in  those  days ;  and  with  it.  I  braved  the  might  of  Rome  ; 
yea,  and  of  mine  own  oppressed  native  land.  And  yet,  I  made  head 
against  them  all ;  for  the  common  people  heard  me  gladly,  even  as 
your  Nazarene,  until  tribulation  and  persecution.  .  .  . 

"But  why  tell  what  is  better  told  in  yonder  roll?  Of  a  young 
man's  sublime  hope?  His  faith  in  men?  His  betrayal?  His  con- 
demnation? His  cross?  Ay,  and  why  not?  Thousands  have  hung 
there  for  less ;  and  why  not  I,  for  bearding  the  Romans  and  their 
lackeys,  and  preaching  release  to  the  captives?  This  was  ever  the 
way  to  the  cross ;  and  shall  be  for  ages  to  come.  And  yet,  I 
planned  to  right  the  ageless  wrong,  and  that  within  the  lifetime  of 
a  single  man !  Neither  did  I  shrink  from  the  utmost  penalty  of  my 
calling,  but  paid  it  in  full. 

"To  cherish  a  vain  hope,  to  fail  by  treachery,  to  bear  a  cross 
in  weakness,  to  feel  the  nails  driven  home,  to  hang  eternities  long, 


198  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

to  call  on  God  in  vain,  and  then  to  call  on  Death,  .such,  O  young 
man,  is  the  reward  laid  up  for  him  who  would  preach  release  to 
the  captives  of  a  Roman  world.  At  length  it  was  finished ;  and  the 
noble  youth  was  no  more." 

"But  his  resurrection,  Sire?"  interrupted  the  eager  Vizier. 
"Could  such  a  youth  remain  in  the  grave?" 

"Thousands  !  Whom  the  world  hath  forgot ;"  answered  the  grim 
old  King.  "Or  if  a  single  one  be  remembered,  the  hand  of  God 
must  intervene  against  the  ingratitude  of  Man.  Did  I  share  this 
intervention  with  your  dreamer?  Perhaps.  Who  can  say?  There 
remained,  however,  this  difference. 

"The  disciples  of  your  Nazarene  dispute,  I  have  heard,  as  to 
the  manner  of  his  resurrection.  Be  that  as  it  may :  I  rose  in  the 
body.  Or  to  tell  it  as  it  happened,  I  found  myself  lifted  on  the 
shoulders  of  men  or  angels  and  borne  from  the  cavern  where  I 
had  been  laid.  After  that  I  slept  and  dreamed  endlessly,  and  awoke 
at  last  in  a  remote  village  among  friends.  When  sufficiently  re- 
covered, I  joined  a  caravan  with  which  I  journeyed  to  a  far  country. 
So  I  regained  my  bodily  strength  and  practised  myself  in  feats  of 
horsemanship.     Ay,  and  of  arms !" 

The  Vizier  sat  in  growing  fascination,  his  countenance  of  a. 
marble  pallor,  while  the  King  resumed  his  tale. 

"He  that  awaketh  from  the  dead  after  his  crucifixion  will  awake 
a  new  creature.  Perha])s  a  better,  perhaps  a  worse ;  but  certes 
another  man  ;  and  which  of  these  awakened  with  me,  let  God  be 
judge. 

"I  had  died,  mark  well,  for  the  people  ;  the  world ;  the  truth  ; 
and  now  I  found  myself  alive — risen,  as  it  were,  from  the  grave — 
the  question  rose  with  me :  'Was  it  worth  while  ?'  Not  that  I  had 
died  in  vain.  At  any  rate,  I  had  died  for  the  supreme  passion 
wherewith  men  are  tempted  for  the  welfare  of  Man  ;  the  greatest, 
my  friend,  to  which  man  can  yield.  And  now  I  woke  from  death  with 
that  passion  somewhat  cooled ;  and  asking  myself :  'Was  it  worth 
while?  Is  the  world  worth  saving — in  that  way?  Was  he  a  devil 
or  was  he  an  angel  who  offered  me  the  sword?' 

"So  musing,  I  found  myself  in  another  mood  of  mind  toward 
men  I  had  formerly  condemned.  Toward  C?esar,  for  example ;  the 
great  Julius,  who  employed  the  one  force  to  which  the  men  of  his 
day  were  prepared  to  bow.  Other  talents  he  had,  as  thou  readest 
in  the  scroll  of  vellum  yonder.  If  not  so  great  as  mine,  why  great, 
none  the  less ;  but  what  availed  they  against  the  Beast  whose  name 
was  Rome?     To  plead  in  the  Roman  Senate  or  Forum  for  justice, 


THE   WORD  OR  THE   SWORD?  199 

mercy,  and  a  humble  walk  with  God, — what  should  that  bring  him 
but  the  fate  of  the  Gracchi,  of  whom  thou  readest  in  the  same 
chronicles?  Ay,  and  not  their  death  alone,  but  their  failure?  The 
fruitless  sacrifice  that  awaits  all  noble  youth  who  perish  for  brute 
beasts  which  obey  naught  but  the  lash ! 

"Yea,  and  it  came  to  me  that  the  enemies  of  mankind  do  more 
assist  them  in  these  brute  days,  than  all  the  friends  they  do  betray 
and  crucify  and  forget ! 

"Nay,  young  man,  I  know  the  word  on  thy  lips.  Thou  wouldst 
say :  the  Xazarene  is  an  exception.  Him,  at  least,  they  have  not 
forgotten  ?  Nay,  but  he  is  no  exception ;  for  what  have  they  done 
but  make  him  Caesar?  And  to  have  made  him  Caesar  is  to  have 
forgotten  him." 

So  saying,  the  King  paused  in  stern  triumph  that  challenged 
contradiction ;  while  the  young  Vizier  cleared  his  throat  and  with 
dry  lips  faltered  out : 

"It  is  true.  Sire,  that  many  have  forgotten;  and  are  content 
to  endow  him  with  a  kingly  crown ;  but  others  there  be  who  re- 
member." 

"Ay.  and  thou  art  one."  smiled  the  King.  "One  in  a  million 
of  his  followers  who  shall  more  and  more  content  themselves  with 
the  shadow  of  power  and  glory  such  as  men  squander  on  every  base 
usurper.  Thinkest  thou  he  ever  sought  such  baubles,  or  valued  them? 
Nay,  not  even  the  crown  wherewith  that  devil-angel  tempted  him, 
did  he  value  for  itself,  but  that  he  might  right  the  wrongs  of  men !" 
cried  the  King  with  an  up-wave  of  passion  that  leaped  and  fell  like 
a  dying  fire. 

Then,  as  if  ashamed  of  the  rare  outburst,  he  resumed  his  normal 
tone  of  dispassionate  calm. 

"Such  was  now  my  attitude  to  the  world  for  which  I  had 
lately  died.  I  still  retained  my  love  to  man  ;  but  touched  now  with 
contempt ;  the  love  of  a  father  for  a  froward  child  that  owns  no 
rule  but  that  of  the  rod.  Yet  for  this  thankless  child  I  had  poured 
out  my  blood!  A  wretch  had  betrayed  me;  .but  to  whom  or  what? 
To  wretches  like  himself.  To  a  world  of  traitors  with  itching 
palms,  eager  to  sell  themselves  and  one  another  for  somewhat  to 
put  in  their  craven  bellies,  ere  the  grave  should  open  and  swallow 
them. 

"Thinkest  thou  I  longer  dreamed  of  casting  pearls  before  such 
swine?  Nay,  but  for  them  that  are  unworthy  of  the  word,  God 
hath  appointed  the  sword ;  and  of  this  weapon  I  now  made  proof. 

"Long  had  I  pondered  these  things,  when  the  appointed  day 


200  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

found  me  with  the  guard  of  a  great  caravan,  traveHng  from  Arabia 
into  Parthia.  Thence,  as  we  marched,  we  encountered  the  Roman 
legionaries,  marching  toward  us.  There  was  no  escape.  We  fell 
upon  them ;  and  I, seized  with  an  ancient  fury  for  the  wrongs  of 
my  race,  caught  up  the  sword  and  shield  of  a  fallen  Parthian  and 
slew  and  slew.  I  was  as  an  avenging  angel,  and  Jehovah  strength- 
ened mine  arm.  Thrice  I  rallied  the  Parthians ;  and  when  the  battle 
was  won,  and  the  last  Roman  overtaken  and  slain,  the  bleeding 
Parthians  hailed  me  as  saviour.  They  gave  me  a  captaincy ;  and 
when  the  king  heard  of  that  way,  he  confirmed  it  with  an  oath ; 
and  in  due  time  I  was  made  captain  of  the  host.  Again  we  met  the 
Romans  ;  and  again  we  let  not  one  escape  ;  for  the  arrow  outran  their 
swiftest  horse. 

"With  this  victorious  army,  I  put  myself  where  wisdom  is  sel- 
dom found :  upon  a  throne.  The  king  was  dead  in  battle ;  the 
kingdom  torn  with  dissensions  ;  I  alone  could  save  it.  I  accepted  the 
task  ;  and  none  denied  the  conqueror  of  the  Romans  his  right  to 
reign." 

The  Vizier  cleared  his  throat  and  stammered  a  question : 

"But  Sire,  the  cross?     The  divine  sacrifice?" 

"Ay,  of  the  higher  to  the  lower!  Of  man  to  brutes!  Of  God 
to  Satan !  Young  man,"  said  the  King  sternly,  "the  saviours  of  the 
future  will  not  allow  themselves  to  be  eaten  by  dogs ;  why,  then, 
should  one  of  them  permit  it  to-day?  Lice,  it  is  said,  devoured 
Democritus ;  and  other  lice  killed  Socrates  ;  but  thinkest  thou  the 
children  of  maggots  will  forever  have  their  way  with  the  children 
of  light?  Nay,  but  already  thou  seest  how  a  single  man  has  known 
how  to  put  maggots  in  their  places." 

The  Vizier  made  no  answer,  but  sat  as  one  appalled. 

"Yet  think  not,"  said  the  King,  "that  here  in  my  day  of  power, 
I  deride  my  youth.  Never,  young  man !  Never !  And  why  have  I 
chosen  thee  out  of  all  Parthia  to  be  my  Vizier?  Because  in  thee 
have  I  seen  the  generous  purpose  that  brought  me  to  the  cross ; 
and  that  my  choice  standeth  approved,  know  all  men  by  these  signs : 
that  in  Parthia,  the  hire  of  the  laborer  is  not  kept  back ;  and  in  all 
my  realm  no  man  ventures  to  devour  widows'  houses  or  trample 
the  faces  of  the  poor,  in  whom  is  the  strength  of  the  nation.  For 
what  shall  the  king  himself  do  without  his  good,  strong  choppers 
and  fishers  and  plowmen  and  bowmen  that,  whether  in  peace  or  war, 
do  fight  his  battles?  Yea,  and  the  battles  of  all  prideful  fools  that 
call  themselves  nobles  and  are  not !  And  this,  O  young  man,  have 
I  conquered  with  my  sword,  where  once  my  word — " 


THE  WORD  OR  THE  SWORD?  201 

He  ceased  for  choking  indignation  ;  and  cleared  his  throat  with 
a  swallow  of  wine. 

"Thou  seest!"  he  observed.  "It  irks  me  yet,  to  think  how  little 
the  world  is  moved  by  a  power  which,  if  men  were  men,  and  not 
brutes,  would  reign  supreme.  Small  wonder  if  such  as  mine  was 
wasted  on  a  world  like  this.  It  was  a  pearl  cast  before  swine ;  and 
verily,  as  thy  private  papyrus  stateth,  they  trampled  it  under  foot. 
But  swine  will  have  naught  but  a  driver :  and  a  driver  they  had  in 
me  at  last ;  for  whoso  is  deaf  to  the  word  shall  barken  to  the  sword. 

"Nay,  if  they  will,  they  shall  be  men  :  but  so  long  as  they  are 
swine — "  he  lifted  his  hand  and  let  it  fall.  "They  shall  have  masters 
like  me,  seeing  they  will  have  no  other.  They  shall  lick  base  hands 
for  favors,  such  as  thou  and  I  have  granted  for  the  sake  of  noble 
youth.  Ay,  and  for  this  mustard  seed  of  justice,  the  king  may  any 
day  receive  a  dagger!     A  poisoned  cup!" 

The  A'izier  stirred,  cleared  his  throat,  and  wetted  his  dry  lips 
for  a  question : 

"O  King,  live  forever!  Yet  tell  me:  thinkest  thou,  in  the  days 
to  come,  when  men  shall  put  their  trust  in  better  things,  it  is  Parthia 
they  shall  remember,  or  Galilee?" 

"It  is  Galilee,"  said  the  stern  old  King.  "The  Nazarene,  and 
not  I.  But  thou,  O  young  man,  answer  me  this.  In  the  day  that 
now  is.  and  in  this  Parthia  of  ours,  (which  can  laugh  and  weep 
as  well  as  any  generation  unborn),  which,  think  you,  is  remembered, 
when  the  people  rejoice:  the  Nazarene  or  the  King?" 

The  young  \'izier  arose  and,  bowing  low  before  the  King,  re- 
plied : 

"Sire,  it  is  thou." 

So  saying,  he  would  have  gone  ;  but  the  King  detained  him. 

"Stay!  Thou  art  ghastly  pale!  A  morsel  of  bread  and  a  sup 
of  wine  before  thou  goest?" 

And  with  his  own  hand,  the  King  poured  a  cup  and  offered  it. 

The  youth  stood  marble-pale  in  awe-struck  fascination. 

"Look!"  said  he.  "The  unleavened  bread! — and  the  wine! 
Sire,  who  art  thou?" 

"I  am  the  King  of  Parthia,"  said  the  monarch.  "Eat,  my 
friend  and  drink — to  the  Noble  Youth." 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  TAHOTO,  SHOWING  GOCHI  NYORAL 


THE   KOYASAN    MONASTERY  AND   ITS  ART  TREASURES. 


203 


THE  KOYASAN  MONASTERY  AND  ITS  ART 
TREASURES. 

BY   HARADA  JIRO. 

THE  Koyasan  is  the  greatest  Buddhist  monastery  in  Japan.  It 
was  founded  by  Kobo  Daislii,  the  most  celebrated  of  all  Japa- 
nese Buddhist  saints,  in  816  A.  D.,  in  the  reign  of  Emperor  Saga, 
who  made  a  grant  of  an  extensive  piece  of  land  for  that  purpose. 
I^foperly  speaking,  Koyasan  is  the  name  of  a  mountain  not  very 


FUDO  MYO-0. 


GOZAXZE  AlYO-0. 


far  from  Nara,  the  capital  of  Japan  from  709  to  184  A.  D.  But  it 
is  popularly  applied  to  the  monastery  situated  on  that  mountain  on 
a  table  land  some  3000  feet  above  the  sea  level.  The  place  was 
chosen  by  Kobo  Daishi  as  best  suited  for  spiritual  meditation  and 
religious  discipline,  being  far  removed  from  human  habitations  and 


204 


THE  OPEN  COURT. 


surrounded  by  two  rows  of  eight  peaks  each,  symbolic  of  a  lotus 
flower,  the  flower  which  stands  for  the  purity  of  religion — growing 
out  of  quagmire  and  blooming,  as  it  does,  pure  and  unsoiled. 

During  the  eleven  hundred  years  of  its  existence,  the  monastery 
has  had  its  history.  Once  it  had  more  than  two  thousand  temples, 
with  an  extensive  dominion  for  its  support.  Now  there  are  only 
about  one  hundred  temples,  the  land  having  been  taken  over  by  the 
government  soon  after  the  restoration  of  1868.  However,  they  have 
thousands  of  tributary  temples  throughout  Japan  and  annually  tens 
of  thousands  of  pilgrims  from  all  over  the  empire  visit  the  mauso- 


THE  FUDO-DO. 


leum  of  Kobo  Daishi  on  Koyasan,  and  the  monastery  still  has  a 
great  influence  over  the  minds  of  the  people.  Until  about  forty- 
five  years  ago,  no  women  pilgrims  were  allowed  on  the  mountain, 
and  it  was  only  a  few  years  ago  that  they  were  permitted  to  dwell 
on  its  sacred  soil.  The  priests  have  omitted  flesh  and  fish  from 
their  diet,  strictly  following  one  of  the  Five  Rules : 

"Kill  not — for  Pity's  sake — and  lest  ye  slay 
The  meanest  thing  upon  its  upward  way." 

The  priests  and  pilgrims  to  the  present  day  subsist  on  vege- 
tables only,  still  following  the  will  of  its  founder. 


THE  KOYASAN    MONASTERY  AND   ITS  ART  TREASURES. 


205 


Repeated  conflagrations,  the  most  of  which  were  caused  by 
lightning,  destroyed  many  temples,  though  they  have  been  rebuilt 
from  time  to  time.  The  latest  great  fire  lasted  for  two  days  and  de- 
stroyed buildings  of  more  than  seventy  temples.  Such  being  the 
case,  in  spite  of  its  long  history,  the  number  of  very  old  buildings 
is  remarkably  small.  The  oldest  building  on  the  mountain  is  the 
Fudo-do  {do  meaning  a  sort  of  chapel  with  an  object  of  worship) 
now  under  the  special  protection  of  the  central  government.  It 
was  built  720  years  ago  and  now  contains  nine  wooden  images  of 
surpassing  workmanship  classed  as  "National  Treasures."  They 
are   Fudo    Myo-o,   God   Immovable,   and   Hachi    Dai   Doji,   or  the 


INTERIOR  OF  FUDO-DO,  SHOWING  FUDO  MYO-0. 


Eight  Great  Boys  attendant  on  Fudo  Alyo-o.  Of  these  Kongari 
Doji  personifies  obedience  and  wisdom  and  along  with  Seitaka  Doji 
most  usually  accompanies  Fudo  ]\Iyo-o.  The  Tahoto,  a  pagoda, 
in  the  complex  of  the  Kongo  Sammai-in,  in  meaning  "temple,"  is 
nearly  seven  hundred  years  old  and  is  also  under  special  govern- 
ment protection,  containing  five  wooden  sculptures  representative 
of  serene  religious  qualities,  known  as  Gochi  Xyorai,  Gochi  mean- 
ing "Five  Wisdoms,"  A^yorai  being  a  title  of  honor  for  all  Buddhas. 
These  figures,  in  excellent  state  of  preservation,  are  also  included 
among  the  "National  Treasures.""     The  central  figure  is  Dainichi 


206 


THE  OPEN  COURT. 


Nyorai,  the  personification  of  wisdom  and  absolute  purity,  while  to 
the  right  of  it  is  Ashiku  Nyorai,  signifying  non-movement,  non- 
anger  and  steadfastness  in  helping  to  destroy  all  evil  thoughts  and 
in  fostering  pure  religious  aspirations.  On  the  left  is  Shaku  Nyorai, 
the  founder  of  Buddhism.  Behind  them  is  visible  only  a  part  of 
the  halos  of  the  other  two:  of  Hosho  Nyorai,  controlling  the  life 


KONGARA   DOJI. 


SEITAKA    DOJI. 


of  all  things  with  the  power  to  bestow  the  enjoyment  of  life ;  and  of 
Amida  Nyorai,  an  ideal  of  boundless  light. 

The  most  stately  building  in  the  whole  monastery  is  the  Kondo, 
the  chief  sanctuary.  In  the  interior,  in  a  mass  of  flame,  stands  the 
figure  of  Gozanze  Myo-o,  who  overcame  the  evils  that  hinder  the 
soul's  upward  aspirations.  The  present  building  is  only  about  sixty 
years  old,  now  containing,  among  others,  seven  wonderful  specimens 


THE  KOYASAN   INIONASTERY  AND  ITS  ART  TREASURES. 


207 


of  wood  sculpture,  attributed  to  Kobo  Daishi  himself,  and  included 
among  the  ''National  Treasures." 

Kobo  Daishi,  the  founder  of  the  monastery,  who  died  in  <S34 


THE  KONGO  SAMMAMN,  ONE  OF  THE  OLDEST  TEMPLES. 


THE  TAHOTO. 


A.  D.,  was  celebrated  equally  as  preacher,  painter,  sculptor,  callig- 
raphist  and  traveler.  Like  Unkei,  the  famous  medieval  sculptor 
of  Buddhistic  images  in  wood,  and  like  Hidari  Jingoro,  the  left- 


208  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

handed  wood  carver  of  unusual  talent  and  skill,  who  died  in  1634, 
Kobo  Daishi,  even  if  his  life  had  lasted  six  hundred  years  instead  of 
sixty-one,  as  it  actually  did,  could  not  have  written  all  the  sutras, 


KONGO  YOSHA  MYO-0,  ONE  OF  THE  FIVE  GREAT  DIVINITIES. 

carved  all  the  sculptures  and  painted  all  the  paintings  now  popularly 
ascribed  to  him.  However,  history  conclusively  shows  that  he  was 
truly  a  wonderful  person  and  a  genius  in  art. 


THE  KOYASAN   MONASTERY  AND  ITS  ART  TREASURES. 


209 


Though  there  are  comparatively  few  really  old  buildings  on 
the  mountain,  the  monastery  is  rich  in  old  art  and  historical  relics. 
No  one  place  in  Japan  has  such  a  splendid  collection  of  Buddhist 
art.  as  emperors  and  feudal  lords  richly  endowed  and  embellished 
the  temples  in  the  days  of  yore.  The  proposed  art  museum,  the 
work  on  which  has  already  begun,  on  Koyasan  is  bound  to  be  a 
most  valuable  institution  of  the  kind. 

Beside  those  above  mentioned,  there  is  a  large  number  of 
splendid  wooden  sculptures,  as  the  Shingon  sect  of  Buddhism,  to 
which  the  Koyasan  monastery  belongs,  has  given  fitting  and  plastic 


i|pn0| 

WWSPPl4l»Pf  " 

W^ 

THE  KONDO,  THE  CHIEF  SANCTUARY  OF  KOYASAN. 

expression  to  all  forms  of  religious  ideals.  The  tenets  of  the  Shin- 
gon sect  were  introduced  into  Japan  by  Kobo  Daishi,  who  studied 
them  when  he  was  sent  to  China  as  a  student  in  804  and  was  charged 
by  his  great  teacher  Abbot  Hei-kwa  to  carry  back  to  Japan  the 
teachings  of  the  sect,  which  aims  at  the  direct  interpretation  of  the 
perfected  mind  of  Buddha,  and  occupies  itself  greatly  with  mystic 
formulas,  magic  spells  and  incantations.  The  Aizen-do  contains 
three  excellent  images  in  wood :  Aizen  Myo-o,  the  fierce-looking  god 
of  love,  and  Jinja  Taisho,  a  converted  demon  serving  as  a  guardian 
of   Buddhism   in   a   grewsome    form,   and   Kongo   Taisho,   another 


210 


THE  OPEN  COURT. 


powerful  guardian  of  Buddhism.     The  figures  are  remarkable  for 
their  expression  of  power  and  strength. 

For  the  expression  of  power,  two  small  wooden  figures  at  the 
Henjoko-in  are  also  remarkable.  They  are  Jikoku-ten  and  Tamon- 
ten,  two  of  the  four  heavenly  kings  guarding  the  four  quarters 
of  the  horizon,  Jikoku-ten  guarding  the  east  and  bringing  peace 
to  the  nation,  and  Tamon-ten,  also  called  Bishamon-ten,  guarding 


JINJA  TAISHO. 


JIKOKU-TEN. 


the  north  and  bestowing  wealth  and  happiness  on  mankind.  These 
two  figures  are  classed  as  "National  Treasures."  The  Bishamon-ten 
of  the  Bishamon-do,  belonging  to  Eko-in,  is  one  of  the  most  popular 
images  on  Koyasan.  Though  little  heed  may  be  given  to  the  popular 
belief  that  it  was  carved  by  Kobo  Daishi,  it  is  old,  possessing  some 
good  qualities  in  its  simplicity. 

There  are  a  large  number  of  excellent  images  of  Fudo  Myo-o 
(the  god  immovable)  on  the  mountain.     Perhaps  the  most  famous 


THE  KOYASAN   MONASTERY  AND  ITS  ART  TREASURES. 


211 


is  the  one  known  as  "Namikiri  Fudo"  (naini  meaning  "waves," 
kiri  "to  cut")  which  is  said  to  have  been  carved  by  Kobo  Daishi 
from  his  memory  of  a  vision  appearing  on  the  tempestuous  sea  on 
his  way  back  to  Japan  from  China.  With  his  sword,  Fudo  cut  the 
turbulent  waves  and  enabled  Kobo  Daishi  to  return  safely.  It  is 
a  standing  figure,  though  Fudo  is  usually  in  sitting  posture.  The 
famous  Fudo  of  the  Fudo-do  and  of  the  Kondo — the  former  at- 


I  — 


TAAION-TEX. 


BISHAMON-TEx\. 


tributed  to  Unkei  and  the  latter  to  Kobo  Daishi — and  of  the  Okuno- 
in,  at  the  mausoleum,  are  all  in  sitting  form  and  of  excellent  work- 
manship. It  is  invariably  with  kayen  (flames)  carved  in  wood  and 
painted  red.  Fudo  Myo-o  generally  has  two  attendants,  Seitaka 
Doji  and  Kongara  Doji,  and  is  the  highest  among  the  myo-o,  those 
closely  related  to  Dainichi  Nyorai,  the  personification  of  wisdom 
and  absolute  purity,  and  he  occupies  the  central  position  in  Godai- 
son,  or  Godai  Myo-o,  meaning  five  great  divinities.     We  have  al- 


212 


THE  OPEN  COURT. 


ready  mentioned  these  attendants  as  among  the  eight  "Great  Boys," 
among  whom  another,  Eki  Doji,  symboHzes  the  fulness  of  good  luck 
and  wisdom. 

Among  many  objects  of  worship,  which  are  said  to  have  been 
carved  by  the  founder  of  the  monastery,  there  is  a  small  portable 
shrine,  a  "National  Treasure,"  known  as  "makura  honzon,"  makura 


EKI  DOJI, 

one  of  the  eight  Great  Boys. 


JIZO  BOSATSU. 


meaning  "pillow,"  honson,  "the  main  deity,"  in  possession  of  the 
Fumon-in.  According  to  the  inscription  on  the  back  of  it,  it  was 
donated  to  the  temple  in  prayer  for  the  welfare  of  the  soul  of  Honda, 
the  lord  of  the  province  of  Hida.  The  shrine  contains  an  image 
of  Shakamuni,  the  founder  of  Buddhism,  with  Seishi,  who  awakens 
a  desire  in  the  human   soul  to   follow  the  ways  of   Buddha,  and 


THE  KOYASAN   MONASTERY  AND  ITS  ART  TREASURES. 


213 


Kwannon,  who  helps  to  foster  that  desire,  on  either  side.  These 
figures  are  covered  over  with  an  intricate  pierced  carving  of  angels, 
trees,  Niwo,  two  guardian  kings,  and  fi^ires  in  worshiping  attitude. 
The  carving  is  well  done. 

No  image  of  Amida,  a  powerful  deity,  the  ideal  of  boundless 


k 


THE  MAKURA  HONZON  AT  THE  FUMON-IN. 


light,  has  such  grace  of  form,  dignity  of  pose,  and  spritual  radiance 
of  the  countenance  as  that  of  the  Shojoshin-in.  The  work  is  at- 
tributed to  Unkei.  Remarkable  also  is  an  image  of  Jizo  Bosatsu, 
the  compassionate  Buddhist  helper  of  those  who  are  in  trouble,  in 
charge  of  the  Myo-o-in.    The  sculpture  is  classed  among  "National 


214 


THE  OPEN  COURT. 


Treasures"  and  ascribed  to  Ono  Takamura,  a  man  of  letters  and 
artist  of  high  attainment,  who  died  in  852.  It  is  a  standing  figure 
with  a  benevolent  countenance  holding  a  staff  called  shakujo  with 
metal  rings  attached  to  the  top  of  it  and  a  jewel,  hoju,  in  his  left 
hand.  The  jewel  represents  the  bodai-shin,  bodai  meaning  Buddhist 
knowledge,  shin  meaning  mind:  the  wish  to  know  the  ways  of 
Buddha,  the  righteous  awakening  of  humanity.  The  inmost  desire, 
the  yearning  of  the  human  soul,  is  kept  constantly  awake  by  the 


KYO-DO,  OR  SUTRA-BUILDING,  A  REVOLVING  LIBRARY  OF 
SACRED  BOOKS. 


sound  of  the  shakujo,  thus  assisting  the  soul  in  its  upward  struggle. 
This  masterpiece  in  sculpture  strongly  resembles  a  smaller  counter- 
part at  the  Henjoko-in,  also  included  among  "National  Treasures." 
The  exquisite  flow  of  the  lines  of  the  robe,  the  peaceful  and  benev- 
olent countenance  of  the  shaven  priest,  seem  to  express  deep  inner 
qualities  of  a  spiritual  helper,  of  which  this  is  a  visual  represen- 
tation. 


'THE  PROrHECY  OF  LIBUSHA.  215 

The  Koyasan  has  many  more  masterpieces  in  wood.  No  less 
in  number  and  in  importance  are  the  Buddhistic  paintings  which 
have  also  served  as  objects  of  worship.  The  monastery  is  justly 
proud  of  possessing  an  unusually  large  collection  of  illuminated 
sutras.  There  are  also  many  pieces  of  lacquer  and  porcelain  of 
highly  artistic  value.  All  in  all,  the  Koyasan  is  a  rare  storehouse 
of  valuable  Buddhistic  art  objects. 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  LIBUSHA. 

BY   C.   E.    EGGERT. 

LIBUSHA  is  the  legendary  ancestress  of  the  royal  family  of 
J  Bohemia,  which  bore  the  name  of  Pi'emysl  from  her  husband, 
and  ruled  until  1526,  when  the  sovereignty  passed  to  the  house  of 
Hapsburg  by  election.  This  house  founded  its  greatness  on  the 
success  of  Kaiser  Rudolf  I  in  contracting  successful  marriages  for 
his  numerous  offspring,  one  of  whom  married  the  daughter  of 
Pfemysl  Ottokar,  King  of  Bohemia,  who  was  slain  in  the  battle 
of  Diirnkrut  in  1278.  Consequently  through  this  and  other  mar- 
riages, the  present  Kaiser  Karl  of  Austria  has  in  his  veins  the 
blood  of  Libusha,  and  to  him  Bohemians  would  be  enthusiastically 
loyal  if — he  would  voluntarily  accord  Bohemia  what  he  could  not 
deny  to  Hungary. 

Unfortunately  Bohemia  occupies  a  position  analogous  to  that 
of  Ireland  toward  its  masters,  only  Ireland  has  yielded  its  Keltic 
idiom  before  the  march  of  the  all-conquering  English,  while  the 
Czechish  revival  of  the  early  nineteenth  century  arrested  a  similar 
process  of  Germanization  in  Bohemia,  and  it  too  has  its  Ulster 
in  the  fringe  of  German  counties,  which  are  as  irreconcilable  as 
ever  the  followers  of  Sir  Edward  Carson  tried  to  be.  As  in  Ireland, 
so  in  Bohemia,  the  religious  question  has  played  a  terrible  and 
decisive  role.  Cromwell  settled  by  force  a  militant  colony  of  "God- 
fearing" Scotch  Presbyterians  in  Erin  for  the  express  purpose  of 
keeping  the  Green  Island  straight  according  to  English  notions. 
Just  three  hundred  years  ago  the  harsh  attempts  of  Ferdinand  II 
to  undo  the  work  of  the  Reformation  turned  Bohemia  into  a 
shambles  for  thirty  hideous  years,  and  the  wealthy  land  of  the 
ancient  "Golden  King,"  Ottokar,  became  a  waste.  The  Catholic 
party  was  successful  and  Bohemia  is  to-day  outwardly  devotedly 
Roman  Catholic,  but  there  burns  within  the  proud  race  a  sullen 
conviction  that  the  German  has  been  the  source  of  all  their  past 


216  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

misery,  and  for  three  hundred  years  they  have  yearned  for  revenge 
and  freedom.  Do  what  it  may,  the  House  of  Hapsburg  has  been 
unable  to  concihate  das  herrliche  Bohmen,  "splendid  Bohemia." 
The  destinies  of  the  polyglot  monarchy  have  been  again  and  again 
confided  to  the  leadership  of  some  Czechish  lord,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  present  Count  Czernin  von  Chudenic,  but  not  even  this  is 
enough.     Bohemia  has  taken  to  heart  the  prophecy  of  Libusha. 

Tradition  says  that  the  Czechs  came  from  Croatia  in  the 
seventh  century  into  a  land  that  had  been  vacated  by  the  Keltic 
Boii  and  German  Marcomanni.  One  of  their  yeomanry,  Krok  by 
name,  took  up  his  abode  in  a  forest  near  three  oaks  of  striking 
beauty.  One  day  he  started  to  fell  one  of  these  when  very  hviman 
groans  caused  him  to  desist,  and  he  was  rewarded  by  the  gratitude 
and  later  by  the  helpful  counsels  of  an  unseen  form.  From  this 
time  he  prospered  and  was  finally  elevated  to  the  dukedom  of  his 
people  while  the  wood  nymph,  whose  tree  he  had  spared,  became 
his  bride  and  bore  him  three  daughters,  the  youngest  of  whom  was 
Libusha.  On  the  death  of  Krok  the  three  sisters  divided  the  realm 
between  them  but  they  soon  found  that  men  were  rough  and  little 
willing  to  yield  to  their  gentle  sway.  The  wealthy  Vladik  Domas- 
lav  would  buy  Libusha's  hand  with  his  sleek  cattle  and  though  she 
declined  to  be  purchased,  she  found  it  difficult  to  assert  her  in- 
dependence. Old  Bohemian  chronicles  relate  the  details  of  an  Ama- 
zonian war  in  which  the  Czechish  Penthesilea,  Libusha,  is  ably 
seconded  by  her  sturdy  relative,  and  later  rival  in  love,  Wlasta. 

At  length  the  queen  yields  to  pressure  and  directs  her  tor- 
mentors across  the  mountain  to  the  little  village,  Stadic,  where  they 
will  find  a  peasant  ploughing  his  field  with  two  dappled  oxen  with 
marks  easily  distinguishable. 

"So  be  it,  Lords,  I  promise  you  a  man. 
Behold  the  horse,  the  selfsame  palfrey  white, 
That  bore  me  once  to  Budesch  on  that  day 
When  I,  in  search  for  herbs,  did  find  a  crown. 

"But  lead  him  by  the  rein  to  those  three  oaks 
Where  part  the  paths  that  lead  into  the  wood, 
Then  loose  the  rein  and  follow  close  his  trail, 
And  whither  he  in  search  of  former  haunts 
And  stable  takes  his  course,  his  master's  close. 
There  enter  in.    A  yeoman  there  you'll  find 
In  plowman's  garb,  who  then,  for  noon's  the  hour. 
From  iron  table  takes  his  lonely  meal, 
Enjoying  simple  fare.     Bring  him  to  me. 
In  him  you'll  find  the  man,  your  quest  and  mine." 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  LIBUSHA.  217 

Following  this  injunction  of  their  mistress,  so  suggestive  of 
the  language  of  the  fairy  tale,  the  Wladiks,  as  they  are  called, 
followed  the  horse  which,  on  reaching  his  former  master,  dropped 
to  his  knees  and  neighed  from  joy.  Undoubtedly  awed  by  the 
prophetic  insight  of  Libusha,  the  Wladiks  made  known  their 
mission  whereupon  Premysl  invited  his  guests  to  his  simple  re- 
past, the  oxen  disappeared,  and  on  rising  he  put  the  shoes  of 
bast,  which  he  had  worn,  into  his  bosom  and  rode  away  to  the 
queen.  Their  nuptials  were  soon  celebrated,  shoes  and  plow  were 
preserved  as  honored  relics  to  show  the  people  on  solemn  occasions, 
and  the  couple  ruled  thirteen  years  when  Libusha  felt  her  end 
approach.  She  called  her  family  and  her  nobles  together,  prophe- 
sying both  good  and  evil  to  her  husband,  which  he  was  to  bear 
with  hopeful  patience,  and  requesting  the  nobles  to  afford  him  their 
obedient  assistance. 

Somewhere  about  1541  the  Czechish  chronicler  Vaclav  Hagek 
wrote  down  the  story  of  Libusha  accompanying  it  with  most  of 
those  legendary  details  which  go  to  make  the  relight  ful  story  given 
to  the  German  people  in  the  J^olksmarchcn  der  DeutscJien  of 
Musaeus  (1782-1786)  and  the  beautiful  poem.  Die  Fiirstcntaf el,  in 
Herder's  Stimmen  der  ]\ilker.  In  1815  Clemens  Brentano  dedicated 
Die  Griindung  Prags,  his  "drama"  of  upward  of  four  hundred  pages 
of  rhymed  verses,  to  a  Grand  Duchess  of  Oldenburg,  the  "most 
exalted  lady  of  Slavic  race,"  a  book  in  which  he  soon  forgot  his 
original  purpose  and  ended  by  delivering  a  compendium  of  the 
legendary  life  and  times  of  Libusha.  The  really  beautiful  poetry  of 
this  book  was  wasted  through  the  author's  mistaken  plan  of  putting 
in  one  drama  what  should  have  formed  a  trilogy:  The  Maids'  War, 
The  Founding  of  Prague,  and  Trinitas,  the  last  in  celebration  of 
the  triumph  of  Christianity  over  Slavic  paganism. 

Perhaps  this  book,  or  at  least  the  projected  Drahomira,  called 
the  attention  of  the  Austrian  Franz  Grillparzer  to  the  subject, 
which  followed  him  through  life,  somewhat  as  the  problem  of 
Faust  did  Goethe.  The  complete  drama  was  rescued  from  his 
posthumous  works  and  the  late  Richard  H.  Meyer  ventured  the 
prediction  that  it  would  prove  to  be  in  the  verdict  of  posterity  the 
most  poetical  of  the  Austrian  dramatist's  works.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  that  the  rationalist  son  of  an  enthusiastic  Voltairian 
came  near  doing  with  the  poetry  of  the  legend  what  the  eighteenth- 
century  rationalists  did  to  the  miracles  of  the  Bible.  What  a  pity 
he  did  not  save  more  of  the  fairy  poetry  of  which  the  legend  is  so 
suggestive.     Instead  we  have  a  modern  psychological  study,   for 


218  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

Grillparzer's  idea  is  the  tragedy  of  a  gentle  and  poetic  soul  amid  a 
rude  environment,  a  theme  akin  to  Goethe's  Tasso.  His  Libusha  is 
made  miserable  by  the  conflict  with  an  order  of  society  which  seeks 
its  ideal  in  material,  social  and  political  prosperity.  Realizing  the 
hopelessness  of  her  opposition  and  yet  admiring  the  consistent  per- 
severance of  her  husband  who  merited  his  name,  of  which  the  trans- 
lation is  "forethought,"  Libusha  yields  to  him  who  had  mused: 

"For  let  the  husband  be  not  thrall  of  wife, 
But  wife  means  husband's  helpmate,  so  't  is  right." 

Feeling  intuitively  the  presence  in  his  wife  of  that  warning 
power,  so  near  akin  to  the  mother  instinct,  which  enables  a  woman 
to  foresee  any  threatened  peril  for  the  beloved  object  of  her  care 
and  solicitude,  Pi^emysl  urges  Libusha  to  utter  a  prophetic  blessing 
upon  his  projected  city,  the  Prague  to  be,  and  she  utters  the  lines 
of  which,  with  apologies  to  the  great  Austrian,  I  submit  the  follow- 
ing translation : 

"Go  build  your  city,  for  it  will  thrive  and  bloom, 
Uniting  firm  the  people  like  a  banner. 
This  people  will  be  sturdy,  true  and  honest, 
Awaiting  patiently  the  coming  of  its  day. 
For  all  the  peoples  on  this  wide  flown  earth 
Shall  step  upon  the  stage  in  due  succession. 
Now  those  hold  power  who  dwell  by  Po  and  Alps, 
But  soon  their  sway  shall  pass  to  Pyrenaean  lands. 
Then  those  who  quaff  the  waters  of  the  Seine 
And  Rhone,  an  actor  race,  shall  play  the  lord. 
The  Briton  from  his  isle  then  casts  his  net 
And  drives  the  fish  into  his  golden  web. 
Yes,  e'en  the  folk  beyond  your  mountains, 
The  blue-eyed  people  full  of  brutal  power 
That  must  e'er  forward  go  or  lose  its  strength. 
But  blind,  when  it  acts,  inactive  when  it  thinks. 
It  too  receives  its  gleam  of  sun  all  ruling. 
As  heir  of  all  the  ages,  bright  its  star. 
Of  you  and  of  your  brothers  then's  the  turn. 
It  is  the  final  effort  of  a  world  tired  out. 
Long  service  brings  the  mastery  at  last. 
Yet  broad  and  far  its  range  not  high  nor  deep; 
From  its  source  and  fount,  the  distance  great, 
Its  might  recedes,  borrowed  as  it  is. 
But  you  will  rule  and  stamp  your  name  as  seal 
Upon  the  time  to  come." 

Now,  while  every  race,  people,  or  tribe  has  had  one  or  more 
prophets,  who  felt  inspired  to  regard  the  command  in  Genesis  i.  28 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  LIBUSHA.  219 

as  directed  to  his  or  their  fellow-men,  the  above  quoted  words 
had  and  have  a  deep  and  far  reaching  significance.  As  dramatic 
poet,  Grillparzer  undoubtedly  tried  to  be  objective  and  impartial, 
at  least  as  much  so  as,  say,  a  fair-minded  Englishman  could  be 
when  treating  a  dramatic  subject  from  Irish  history  or  legend. 
How  difficult  such  a  moral  tour  de  force  must  have  been  for  him, 
becomes  apparent  when  we  read  some  of  the  prose  thoughts  of  that 
ardent  follower  of  the  political  ideals  of  Joseph  II.  He  did  his 
best  to  pen  those  lines,  but  he  hoped  the  prophecy,  like  so  many 
others,  w^ould  never  reach  fulfilment,  for,  say  what  you  may,  the 
poet  was  a  German  at  heart,  and  the  German  has  been  fighting  the 
Slavic  westward  urge  since  before  the  times  of  Attila.  Whatever 
lands  he  possesses  east  of  the  Elbe  river  and  the  Alps  he  has  rewon 
from  the  stubborn  invader  by  the  fiercest  struggles  in  the  annals 
of  the  race,  and  while  he  won,  colonized  and  Germanized  the  lands 
in  which  are  located  Vienna,  Berlin,  Leipsic,  Dresden,  Breslau, 
Danzig  and  Konigsberg,  the  stubborn,  cautious  Czech  maintains  to 
this  day  the  Slavic  wedge  separateing  German  Austria  from  Prussia. 
This  is  what  the  Austrian  writer  Rudolf  Hans  Bartsch  calls  Das 
deutsche  Leid,  the  name  of  one  of  his  novels  written  not  long  before 
the  great  war. 

A  study  of  Grillparzer's  dramatic  labors  on  "Libusha"  reveals 
the  date  of  its  probable  conception  as  somewhere  after  the  Congress 
of  Vienna,  dominated  by  the  commanding  influence  of  Czar  Alexan- 
der I,  and  of  its  completion  as  falling  near  that  time  when  the  first 
Pan-Slavic  congress  met  in  Prague.  Perhaps  it  is  rather  the  warn- 
ing voice  of  the  Austrian  patriot  and  ''truer  Diener  seines  Herrn" 
than  that  of  the  Czechish  Queen  which  utters  the  prophecy  quoted 
from  the  drama. 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  Grillparzer's  studies  prehminary 
to  the  composition  of  his  drama  Konig  Ottokar's  Gliick  und  Ende  re- 
vealed to  him  the  dangers  for  his  dearly  beloved  Austria  from  a 
Bohemia  which  cherished  the  dream  of  expanding  over  Slovackian 
Hungary  to  the  East  and  down  to  Slovenian  Austria  on  the  South. 
While  the  words  which  he  puts  in  the  mouth  of  his  dying  heroine 
admit  the  possible  future  destiny  of  Slavdom,  it  is  also  easy  to 
read  between  them  the  difficulty  of  the  admission,  and  his  un- 
willingness to  concede  to  Slavic  peoples  the  same  greatness  of  his- 
torical development  to  which  other  nations  attained. 

We  do  not  care  to  discuss  whether  the  fruition  of  Libusha's 
prophecy  would  have  been  a  Slavic  federation  including  Danzig, 
Posen,  Ratibor,  Bohemia,  perhaps  even  Vienna,  and  certainly  Car- 


220  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

niola  down  to  the  Adriatic  on  the  West,  under  a  Slavic  presi- 
dent or  a  monarchy  under  a  Czar,  but  there  is  no  question  that  the 
Czechish  queen's  supposed  ideas  voice  the  hopes  of  the  Czechish 
people  and  the  dread  of  the  Germans  of  Austria  and  the  Empire. 
The  growing  power  of  mighty  Slavic  Russia  was  destined  sooner  or 
later  to  awaken  a  sense  of  solidarity,  even  though  it  be  a  fictitious 
one,  of  all  Slavic  nations.  The  great  influence  of  Alexander  I 
in  the  crushing  of  Napoleon  and  in  the  reconstruction  of  Europe 
gave  a  tremendous  impetus  to  the  growth  of  Slavic  consciousness. 
While  Germany  in  her  disintegrated  weakness  became  more  and 
more  cosmopolitan  in  the  eighteenth  century,  the  fate  of  Poland 
seemed  to  arouse  a  contrary  sentiment  in  every  Slavic  soul,  to 
which  no  less  a  German  than  Herder  gave  great  encouragement. 
The  wave  of  Romanticism  which  swept  over  Europe  from  about 
the  time  of  the  Reign  of  Terror  awakened  a  sympathetic  interest 
in  the  history,  literature  and  art  of  all  peoples,  great  and  small, 
ancient  and  contemporary.  Even  such  a  pretty  apparently  non- 
political  but  purely  literary  subject  as  Herder's  poem  Die  Fiirsten- 
tafel  helped  to  keep  alive  the  movement  which  was  later  powerfully 
strengthened  by  the  works  of  the  Slovack  poet,  John  Kollar,  from 
Mossocz  in  Slovackian  Hungary,  of  the  philologian  Dobrowsky, 
of  the  historian  Pelzel,  and  numerous  others  who  re-created  a 
Bohemian  national  literature,  to  be  sure  not  entirely  independent 
of  the  powerful  surrounding  currents,  but  yet  an  earnest  of  bet- 
ter things  to  come.  The  Czechish  revival  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury whereby  the  process  of  Germanization.  as  introduced  by  the 
Empress  Maria  Theresia  and  continued  with  headstrong  and  im- 
politic vehemence  by  her  son,  Joseph  H,  seemed  sure  of  triumph 
and  was  then  arrested,  brought  to  a  standstill,  and  changed  to  a 
Czechish  renaissance  of  political,  social,  literary  and  artistic  life, 
this  movement  is  one  of  the  marvels  of  history.  Let  us  cast  a 
glance  at  some  of  the  explanations  of  the  phenomenon. 

The  early  history  of  Bohemia  from  the  eighth  to  the  fifteenth 
centuries  was  practically  that  of  an  independent  nation  which 
owed  at  best  only  a  very  loose  allegiance  to  the  Holy  Roman  Em- 
pire. The  native  population  was  entirely  devoted  to  a  rather  primi- 
tive agriculture  while  mining,  manufacturing  and  commerce  were 
carried  on  by  German  colonists  who  came  into  the  country  and 
founded  cities  on  the  invitation  of  various  monarchs  of  the  house 
of  Premysl.  The  royal  house  itself  and  the  nobility  intermarried 
with  German  princes  and  nobles,  and  one  of  these  figures,  at  the 
mention  of  whose  name  the  Bohemian  thrills  with  pride,  Premysl 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  LIBUSHA.  .  221 

Ottokar  II  was  the  great  grandson  of  mighty  Barbarossa,  through 
his  mother,  Kimigunde,  daughter  of  the  Hohenstaufen  Kaiser  Phihp. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this  Bohemian  king  led  two  crusades 
against  the  heathen.  Pohsh-speaking  Prussians,  whom  he  converted 
to  the  true  faith,  building  in  their  midst  the  city  of  Kralove  Radec, 
or  as  it  is  now  called :  Konigsberg,  where  the  now  German-speaking 
Prussian  kings  are  crowned.  Whether  Rudolf  of  Habsburg,  later 
his  successful  rival  for  the  imperial  crown,  served  under  him  on 
this  cusade  is  possibly  a  myth,  but  certain  it  is  that  the  poet  Dante 
pictures  Ottokar  as  comforting  Rudolf  in  purgatory.  At  the  time 
of  his  greatest  power  he  ruled  over  Bohemia  and  Moravia  to  which 
he  added  by  conquest  from  the  king  of  Hungary,  the  lands  com- 
prising the  present  duchies  of  Upper  and  Lower  Austria  and 
Steiermark.  to  which  were  added  by  bequest  the  crownlands  of 
Carinthia  and  Carniola.  including  Gorz  and  Trieste.  His  power  and 
wealth  caused  him  for  many  years  to  be  known  as  the  "Golden 
King."  and  had  he  been  able  to  attain  the  highest  goal  of  his  am- 
bition, he  would  have  gathered  the  immense  Hohenstaufen  heritage 
under  his  sway  as  Holy  Roman  Emperor,  but  the  corrupt  German 
princes  thought  best  to  further  their  interests  by  electing  a  man 
who  they  thought  would  not  disturb  them,  and  in  the  ensuing  con- 
tests Ottokar  finally  fell  at  Diirnkrut  in  1278.  A  nation  with  such 
memories  cannot  be  extinguished. 

It  is  claimed  that  Czechish  literature  is  the  oldest  in  development 
of  all  the  Slavic  world,  and  the  establishment  of  the  first  German 
university  by  Kaiser  Karl  IV  at  Prague  in  1348  failed  to  accomplish 
its  task  of  becoming  a  bulwark  of  Germanization,  for  the  next 
century  finds  the  commanding  figure  of  the  later  martyr,  John 
Hus,  as  the  center  of  a  Slavic  scholastic  group  which  had  tempo- 
rarily driven  the  German  from  academic  Prague  to  the  newly 
founded  University  of  Leipsic.  In  1415  Hus  was  burned  by  the 
Council  of  Constance  in  utter  contempt  of  Kaiser  Sigismund's 
"safe  conduct."  However,  this  act  led  to  the  terrible  Hussite  wars  in 
which  the  reformers  maintained  their  religious  independence  so  that 
a  reluctant  Rome  made  concessions  in  order  to  prevent  a  schism. 
Perhaps  these  Bohemian  "Utraquists"  may  have  paved  the  way  for 
Luther's  later  success.  The  Czechish  victories  of  Prokop  and  2iska  in 
the  Hussite  Wars  were,  it  is  true,  nullified  by  the  Catholic  reaction 
during  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  a  new  Catholic  Bohemia  ap- 
parently forgot  its  patriotic  teacher  and  reformer,  but  when  in 
August  of  1903  a  monument  to  the  great  heretic  was  unveiled  in 
Prague,  a  grand  demonstration  took  place  which  might  have  re- 


222  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

suited  in  something  far  more  serious  than  the  actual  smashing  of 
the  windows  of  the  officers'  Casino,  had  not  the  vigilance  of  the 
Austrian  garrison  on  Hradschin  and  through  the  town  held  the 
situation  in  firm  control.  Hus,  the  heretic,  was  forgotten,  not  so 
the  Czechish  patriot. 

It  would  be  idle  to  speculate  upon  the  future,  and  I  shall  leave 
that  to  a  future,  or  present,  Libusha,  but  this  much  is  certain,  Czech 
and  German  must  find  some  formula  to  reconcile  their  differences. 
Would  the  Czech  have  been  happier  in  a  Pan-Slavic,  that  is  Pan- 
Muscovite  Russian  federation?  When  we  consider  the  wonderful 
development  of  the  literature  and  life  of  small  peoples  as  illustrated 
by  free,  little  Norway,  the  question  occurs,  would  larger,  richer 
Bohemia  be  willing  to  be  only  a  satellite  of  her  big  neighbor,  or 
would  she  prefer  her  independence?  The  future  must  find  some 
way  of  giving  the  little  states  the  fullest  means  of  self-expression 
while  allowing  that  same  right  in  others.  Suppose  the  idea  of 
Thomas  Jefferson  were  the  solution  of  the  European  problem:  a 
federation  of  republics,  each  with  the  fullest  amount  of  liberty  con- 
sonant with  the  safety  and  best  interests  of  the  whole? 


BOHEMIAN  INDEPENDENCE. 

BY   EMIL    REACH. 

WHAT  a  tiny  spot  on  the  map  it  is,  this  "kingdom"  of  Bohemia ! 
Georgia  is  almost  three  times  as  large,  and  Texas  thirteen 
times.  Yet  writers  of  legend  and  history  have  much  to  say  about 
it,  having  filled  page  after  page  with  its  life  and  ambition  and  tur- 
moil;  and  just  now  we  hear  the  Slav  of  Prague  blend  his  protest 
against  Teuton  domination  with  the  shrieks  of  other  nations  above 
the  deafening  clash  of  battle. 

And  when  was  it  that  Slav  and  Teuton  first  met  in  Bohemia 
and  threw  their  hats  into  the  ring  to  wrestle  in  the  fever  heat  of 
centuries?  The  answer  is  not  quite  simple.  While  it  is  averred 
in  the  fourth  volume  of  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica  (p.  123)  that 
"recent  archeological  research  has  proved  the  existence  of  Slavic 
inhabitants  in  Bohemia  as  far  back  as  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era,"  we  read  in  the  seventh  volume  (p.  723)  that  Czech  scholars 
"by  craniological  studies  and  a  thorough  examination  of  the  fields 
where  the  dead  were  burned.  ..  .have  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  parts  of  the  country  were  inhabited  by  Czechs,  or  at  least  by 


BOHEMIAN  INDEPENDENCE.  223 

Slavs,  long  before  the  Christian  era,  perhaps  about  the  year  500 
B.  C" 

But  according  to  written  tradition  the  country  up  to  the  year 
12  or  8.  B.  C.  was  inhabited  by  the  Celtic  tribe  of  the  Boii,  from 
whose  capital  Boiohemum  the  country  takes  its  name.  The  Boii 
were  conquered  by  the  Germanic  tribe  of  the  Marcomanni,  followed 
by  other  Germanic  tribes,  until  in  the  fifth  century  according  to  some, 
and  toward  the  end  of  the  sixth  according  to  others,  the  Czechs 
forcibly  took  possession  of  the  country. 

We  recall  this  fact  that  the  Germans  are  no  less  at  home  in 
Bohemia  than  the  Czechs,  because  the  former  are  opposed  to  Bo- 
hemian independence  just  as  the  Ulsterites  are  opposed  to  Irish 
independence.  The  Czechs  hope  that  the  boundaries  of  their  in- 
dependent state  will  be  so  drawn  as  to  include  Moravia  and  Silesia. 
In  1910  Z7  %  of  the  population  of  Bohemia  were  German,  of  Mo- 
ravia 27.6%,  and  of  Silesia  43.9%.  The  Germans  predominate  in 
a  number  of  towns ;  for  example,  they  are  66  %  in  Briinn,  which 
is  the  capital  and  by  far  the  largest  place  in  Moravia. 


It  was  ninety-four  years  before  the  Pilgrims  landed  on  Plymouth 
Rock,  at  a  time  in  which  religious  strife  sweeping  through  Europe 
almost  monopolized  the  political  stage,  that  the  crown  of  Bohemia 
was  given  to  a  Hapsburg  and  the  kingdom  joined  with  that  of 
Austria.  And  with  the  exception  of  one  year  these  two  crowns 
have  ever  since  remained  united ;  and  ever  since  the  Slav  element 
of  Bohemia  has  harbored  the  wish  and  hope  for  independence;  and 
ever  since,  and  even  centuries  before  that  time,  the  Czech  child, 
has  been  taught  to  hate  the  Austrian  and  the  German.  What  a 
heritage  of  hate !  Who  will  expect  anything  but  dissatisfaction  to 
grow  on  such  soil? 

When  the  American,  after  hastily  partaking  of  his  ration  of 
political  food  doled  out  by  the  daily  papers,  thinks  or  talks  about 
Bohemia,  whose  cause  as  stated  by  the  Czechish  patriots  he  is  in- 
clined to  espouse,  he  generally  fails  to  take  into  consideration  the 
well-known  and  weighty  circumstance  that  distances  in  Europe  are 
short ;  he  does  not  easily  realize  how  closely  the  capital  city  of 
Prague  is  crowded  in  between  the  great  military  and  commercial 
centers  of  the  German  nation — a  blade  of  barley  in  a  field  of  wheat. 
There  is  Vienna  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  south-east; 
Berlin,  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  miles  to  the  north ;  while  the 
beautiful  capital  of  Saxony  with  over  half  a  million  inhabitants  is 


224  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

separated  only  by  seventy-five  miles  of  rail ;  and  long  before  enter- 
ing Dresden  the  train  carries  the  traveler  through  German-speaking 
and  German-feeling  territory. 

Let  us  for  a  moment  imagine  that  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  its  sur- 
rounding counties  extending  southwestward  into  Pennsylvania  were 
to  form  an  independent  state  with  a  population  hostile  to  New 
York  City  in  the  south  and  to  Buffalo  and  Rochester  in  the  north. 
All  traffic  between  the  northern  and  southern  portion  of  New  York 
state  would  then  have  to  reckon  with  the  customs-tarififs,  railway- 
and  river-tariffs,  and  postal  regulations  of  that  unfriendly  kingdom 
or  republic  in  time  of  peace ;  and  in  time  of  war  with  a  third 
country  the  unfriendly  commonwealth  would  have  to  be  carefully 
watched,  while  the  cooperative  and  prompt  mobilization  of  the 
troops  of  Buffalo  and  New  York  would  be  impeded  to  a  degree 
that  would  imply  gravest  danger.  We  may  safely  venture  to  assert 
that  the  people  of  New  York  state  would  never  tolerate  such  an 
independent  state  of  Albany  to  exist  in  their  midst,  and  what  we 
would  not  want  for  ourselves,  we  should  hardly  desire  for  others. 

All  this  is  so  plain  as  to  render  well-nigh  superfluous  any 
further  reply  to  those  who  are  continually  advocating  the  doctrine 
about  "the  consent  of  the  governed"  and  the  right  of  populations 
lo  "self-determination."  To  be  sure,  without  weighty  and  just  pur- 
pose no  people  should  be  forced  under  a  sovereignty  under  which 
it  does  not  desire  to  live.  Would  we,  however,  permit  those  who 
inhabit  the  Panama  Canal  Zone  to  change  their  allegiance  according 
to  their  own  sweet  will?  Or  was  Lincoln  wrong  in  his  attitude 
toward  the  South  ?  And  how  about  the  patent  disinclination  among 
the  statesmen  of  the  Entente  Allies  to  favor  plebiscites  for  the 
settlement  of  the  vexed  problems  of  Ireland  and  of  Alsace-Lorraine? 
Whatever  might  be  the  proper  solutions  of  these  two  problems, 
one  fact  remains  indisputable:  namely,  that  all  the  world  over 
practical  statesmen  have  a  very  limited  confidence  in  the  ability 
of  populations  to  decide  for  themselves. 


But  the  Slavs  of  Bohemia  claim  to  be  oppressed.  The  present 
writer  has  no  precise  knowledge  of  what  happened  there  during 
the  war ;  the  distance  is  great,  the  reports  are  meagre  and  unreliable. 
A  residence  of  many  years  in  Prague  has,  however,  matured  in  him 
the  conviction  that  Austria  has  not  oppressed  the  Slav  during  the 
decades  immediately  preceding  the  terrible  bloodshed.  Of  course, 
in  a  country  where  passions  of  rival  nations  attain  the  temperature 


BOPIEMIAN  INDEPENDENCE.  225 

of  liquid  iron,  no  one  can  reasonably  expect  nearly  so  much  democ- 
racy as  in  other  countries  in  which  conditions  are  normal.  But 
when  I  say  that  the  Czechs  have  not  been  oppressed  during  the 
period  preceding  the  war,  I  simply  mean  that  the  government  of 
Vienna  has  honestly  striven  to  stand  as  a  fair-minded  and  even- 
handed  arbiter  between  Czech  and  German,  and  that  no  legislation 
whatever  has  been  enacted  with  the  purpose  of  dwarfing  the  devel- 
opment of  the  Czech  nation  in  any  way  or  needlessly  to  ofifend 
Slav  sensibilities. 

The  fact  that  the  Czechs  are  dissatisfied  proves  nothing.  Our 
South  had  also  been  dissatisfied  for  a  long  time  without  being 
treated  unjustly.  The  A''iennese  government  does  not  allow  the 
Czech  to  denationalize  the  German  inhabitants  just  as  fast  as  he 
would  like  to  do  it,  and  it  spends  Bohemian  tax  money  in  other 
provinces  of  Austria  that  are  less  wealthy  than  Bohemia  and  could 
not  well  get  along  if  dependent  exclusively  on  their  own  resources. 
It  is  my  opinion  that  this  policy  of  the  Austrian  government  is  right 
and  just,  however  wrong  it  may  appear  to  the  Czech. 


By  far  most  of  the  quarrels  between  Teuton  and  Slav  in  the 
Hapsburg  monarchy  turn  about  the  cultivation  and  use  of  their 
respective  languages.  There  is  above  all  the  eternal  complaint  that 
the  elementary  schools  are  being  used  for  the  purposes  of  Germani- 
zation. 

The  Statesman's  Ycarhopk  for  1916  records  Austrian  popu- 
lation figures  from  the  census  of  1910  and  Austrian  school  statistics 
of  1912.  The  German  population  of  Austria  is  given  as  9,950,268, 
the  Czech  population  as  6,435,983;  while  the  language  of  instruction 
was  German  in  8508  elementary  schools,  and  Czech  in  5367  ele- 
mentary schools.  Surely,  if  the  Austrian  government  made  efiforts 
to  denationalize  the  Czech  element,  if  it  did  not  compel  the  German 
municipalities  of  Bohemia  and  Moravia  to  maintain  schools  for 
the  Czech  minorities,  these  figures  would  be  very  different,  as  many 
Czech  parents,  in  spite  of  all  the  Czech  schools  within  their  reach, 
insist  on  sending  their  children  to  German  schools. 

And  zvhy  do  they  insist?  Simply  because  the  German  language 
is  needed  by  most  men  or  women  who  have  to  make  a  living  in  that 
corner  of  the  globe.  In  the  stores  of  the  principal  streets  of  Prague, 
now  an  overwhelmingly  Czechish  city,  every  clerk  has  to  know 
German.  This  knowledge  is  forced  upon  him  by  the  power  of 
circumstance;  namely,  by  the  circumstance  that  if  you  travel  from 


226  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

any  point  in  Bohemia  or  Moravia  either  north  or  south  for  a 
couple  of  hours  on  a  fast  train  you  are  sure  to  get  into  a  town 
or  county  where  German  is  spoken  more  than  Czech  or  at  least 
as  much. 

And  that  explains  also  why  Czech  students  are  constantly 
crowding  into  the  University  of  Vienna,  although  they  have  a  uni- 
versity of  their  own  in  Prague.  Naturally  enough  the  University 
of  Vienna  is  the  foremost  of  the  Austrian  Empire,  and  the  Czech 
student  has  to  know  German  anyhow,  no  matter  where  he  studies ; 
he  can  not  get  along  in  life  without  the  hated  tongue  of  his  rival. 

He  shouts  at  the  top  of  his  voice  that  all  languages  are  of  the 
same  value,  that  none  is  superior  to  his  own ;  he  considers  a  German 
street  sign  in  a  Czech  town  to  be  an  insult  to  all  right-minded 
citizens ;  he  refuses  to  understand  why  German  is  the  language  of 
debate  in  the  federal  parliament  of  Austria  and  shudders  with 
anguish  at  the  thought  that  German  is  also  the  language  of  com- 
mand in  the  army  barracks  of  Prague  or  other  Bohemian  cities. 
The  bottom  of  his  heart  is  the  color  of  a  canary  bird,  as  is  said, 
being  saturated  with  envy,  and  confluent  envy  and  pride  are  fed 
from  memories  of  shameful  wrongs  endured  by  his  nation  in  past 
centuries. 

The  result  is  a  succession  of  riot  and  revolution,  necessitating 
restrictions  of  freedom,  measures  which  form  a  basis  for  new 
grievances.     And  thus   the  vicious   circle  never   ends,   just  as   in 

Ireland. 

*       *       * 

As  the  Irish  nationalists  are  decidedly  opposed  to  the  adminis- 
trative separation  of  Ulster  from  the  rest  of  their  country,  thus 
year  after  year  have  the  Czech  politicians,  under  display  of  an 
incredible  amount  of  oratory,  made  obstinate  opposition  to  the 
establishment  of  ethnographic  frontiers  within  Bohemia.  They  have 
claimed  that  their  country  is  a  sacred  historic  unit,  one  and  in- 
divisible, now  and  forever.  At  the  same  time  the  establishment 
of  ethnographic  boundaries  outside  of  their  little  kingdom,  in- 
volving a  partition  not  of  BoJiemia  (or  Moravia)  but  of  Austria^ 
would  delight  their  hearts.  Why  is  that  so?  Simply  because  they 
want  to  denationalize  the  German  counties  of  Behemia  with  all 
possible  dispatch.  Assisted  by  a  high  birth  rate,  they  are  seeking 
national  expansion,  hiding  their  intention  under  the  ample  folds  of 
a  cloak  consisting  of  protestations  concerning  freedom  and  justice. 

British  pamphleteers  and  essayists  have  contrasted  Ireland  with 
Prussian  Poland.     They  have  not  found  it  difficult  to  review  the 


BOHEMIAN  INDEPENDENCE.  227 

admirable  efforts  Great  Britain  has  made  in  the  last  thirty-five  years 
to  placate  and  uplift  Ireland,  and  to  wind  up  with  a  panegyric  on 
Great  Britain  plus  the  customary  damnation  of  Prussianism. 

But  British  spokesmen  seem  not  to  be  inclined  to  compare 
Ireland  with  Bohemia,  and  when  clamoring  for  the  partition  of 
Austria  they  relegate  their  opposition  to  Irish  independence  to  the 
most  remote  corner  of  their  consciousness.  We  have  to  remember 
in  this  connection  that  the  enactments  of  the  Austrian  Reichsrat 
and  the  Bohemian  Landtag  favorably  compare  (as  far  as  such 
comparison  is  possible)  with  British  legislation ;  and  that  under 
Austrian  rule  and  protection  the  former  kingdom  of  Libusha  has 
risen  to  a  state  of  development  and  strength  as  yet  undreamt  of 
in  "John  Bull's  other  island." 

TJie  Saturday  Review  (London)  of  September  11,  1897,  and 
The  Engineer  (London)  of  September  25,  1914,  have  both  been 
quoted  in  previous  issues  of  The  Open  Court.  It  is  obvious  that 
the  advantages  they  expect  from  the  ruination  of  Germany  would 
likewise  result  (if  also  in  a  less  degree)  from  the  partition  of 
Austria,  especially  as  the  latter  is  a  connecting  link  between  Berlin 
and  the  East ;  and  those  who  wish  ill  to  Austria  can  point  to  the 
heterogeneity  of  her  structure  as  convenient  pretext. 

Hence  the  cry  that  Austria  has  to  go.  that  she  must  not  appear 
on  the  post  helium  map.  Still  we  hope  that  on  the  contrary  it  will 
prove  to  be  more  than  a  mere  conjecture  and  wish  of  an  Austrian 
optimist,  when  a  recent  writer  argues : 

"Universal  suft'rage  introduced  [in  Austria]  in  1907  was  in- 
tended among  other  things  as  a  cooling  application  to  the  national 
fever  heat.  The  socialists  became  the  relatively  strongest  party  of 
the  first  absolutely  democratic  parliament,  but  were  unable  to  lay 
at  once  the  nationalistic  ghosts.  But  the  process  of  healing  will 
undoubtedly  go  rapidly,  since  sooner  or  later  the  class  feeling  will 
oust  a  hypernational  sensitiveness,  in  order  finally  to  make  room 
for  a  sentiment  embracing  the  whole  state"  (Rudolf  Kommer  in 
The  Open  Court  for  June  1917).  For  sound  policy  is  not  based 
on  nationalistic  sentiments  that  constantly  have  to  be  fed  by  press 
campaigns  to  be  kept  alive,  nor  on  nationalistic  pretensions  that 
correspond  to  no  actual  need,  nor  on  the  fallacy  that  historic 
boundaries  or  ethnographic  boundaries  or  any  other  boundaries 
insure  infallibility  to  majorities.  Sound  policy  is  suggested  by  cool 
common  sense  on  the  strength  of  geographic  environment ;  on  the 
strength  of  past  social  and  economic  development  and  with  due  re- 
gard to  the  economic  interest  of  all  countries  within  the  radius  of 


228  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

its  influence ;  sound  policy  means  for  small  commonwealths  co- 
operation zvith  their  neighbors  and  a  fancied  loss  of  independence, 
zvhile  for  bigger  countries  it  means  a  certain  degree  of  centralisa- 
tion. Such  policy  will  be  productive  of  maximum  efficiency,  of 
maximum  wealth  production,  and  of  a  minimum  of  international 
friction. 


HEBREW  EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND 
SOCIETY. 

DURING  THE  PERIOD  OF  REACTION  TO  FOREIGN  INFLUENCES, 

BY   FLETCHER    H.    SWIFT. 

"Wisdom  is  the  principal  thing;  therefore  get 
wisdom." — Proverbs  iv.  7. 

"The  fear  of  Jehovah  is  -the  beginning  of  wis- 
dom, and  the  knowledge  of  the  Holy  One  is  under- 
standing."— Proverbs  ix.  10. 

"The  law  of  Jehovah  is  perfect.  ..  .The  precepts 
of  Jehovah  are  right.... The  judgments  of  Jeho- 
vah are  true.  . .  .More  to  be  desired  are  they  than 
gold,  yea  than  much  fine  gold." — Psalm  xix.  7-10 

(Extracts). 

"There  is  no  love  such  as  the  love  of  the  Torah 
The  words  of  the  Torah  are  as  difficult  to  acquire 
as  silken  garments,  and  are  lost  as  easily  as  linen 
ones."*  —  Babylonian  Talmud,  Tract  Aboth  of 
Rabbi  Nathan,  24. 

WARNED  by  the  oblivion  which  had  overtaken  the  tribes  of 
the  northern  kingdom,  the  religious  leaders  of  subject  Judah 
set  about  to  save  the  people  of  the  little  kingdom  from  a  similar 
fate.  As  the  one-time  hope  of  national  and  political  independence 
and  greatness  waned  a  new  hope  arose,  that  of  preserving  the  nation 
through  preserving  its  religion.  There  was  only  one  way  of  achiev- 
ing this  end,  that  was  by  universal  education.  Zeal  for  education 
was  further  fostered  by  three  important  beliefs:  (1)  the  belief  that 
national  calamities  were  pimishments  visited  upon  the  people  be- 
cause they  had  not  been  faithful  to  Yahweh  and  his  laws  ;^  (2)  that 

*  Or  "as  difficult  to  acquire  as  golden  vessels  and  as  easily  destroyed  as 
glass  ones." 

1  This  is  the  underlying  philosophy  of  the  book  of  Judges.    See  Judges  iv.  1 
and  2;  vi.  1  and  elsewhere. 


HEBREW   EDUCATION    IN    SCHOOL   AND   SOCIETY.  229 

if  Yahweh's  laws  were  kept,  national  prosperity  would  return; 
(3)  the  belief  that  the  divinely  appointed  mission  of  Ji^^dah  was  to 
make  known  to  the  other  nations  of  the  world  Yahweh,  the  only 
true  God.  Educational  zeal  resulted  in  an  ever  increasing  tendency 
to  organize  and  institutionalize  education.  In  this  process  of  or- 
ganization and  institutionalization,  each  of  the  following  five  move- 
ments played  an  important  part :  ( 1 )  the  development  of  a  complete 
code  of  laws  (the  Priestly  Code)  governing  every  phase  of  life; 
(2)  the  state  adoption  of  the  Priestly  Code,  which  made  its  obser- 
vance binding  upon  every  member  of  the  Jewish  state  and  conse- 
quently a  knowledge  of  it  necessary;  (3)  a  vast  growth  of  sacred 
literature,  both  oral  and  written,  including  works  specially  written 
as  texts-books,  such  as  Proverbs  and  Ecclesiasticus  ;  (4)  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Scribes  into  a  teaching  guild;  (5)  the  rise  of  schools, 
elementary  and  advanced. 

The  passages  quoted  at  the  opening  of  the  present  article  bear 
witness  to  the  supreme  importance  attached  to  the  Torah,  the  Law 
of  Yahweh,  in  the  centuries  following  the  Babylonian  Exile.  This 
position  of  supremacy  had  been  attained  gradually.  In  the  earliest 
periods  of  Hebrew  life,  religion  was  but  one.  albeit  a  most  im- 
portant one,  of  many  interests  in  life  and  education.  Gradually, 
however,  the  vision  of  Yahweh,  his  power  and  his  kingdom  enlarged. 
He  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  state  and  of  all  its 
institutions,  civic  and  political  as  well  as  religious.  He  was  accepted 
as  the  author  of  all  its  laws  whether  criminal,  moral,  or  religious, 
and  of  all  institutions.  The  Law,  in  other  words  religion,  and  with 
it  morality,  became  the  supreme  interest,  the  chief  study  and  the  all 
determining  force  in  public  and  in  private  life  at  home  and  in 
school.  It  is  doubtful  whether  history  contains  a  more  tragic  illus- 
tration of  devotion  to  an  ideal  than  the  story  of  Simon  ben  Shetach's 
son.  Certainly  no  other  incident  reveals  as  forcibly  the  supreme 
place  accorded  to  the  Law  in  the  hearts  of  the  devout  Jews.  The 
story  is  related  by  Graetz  in  the  following  words ; 

"On  account  of  his  unsparing  severity,  Simon  ben  Shetach 
brought  upon  himself  such  hatred  of  his  opponents  that  they  de- 
termined upon  a  fearful  revenge.  They  incited  two  false  witnesses 
to  accuse  his  son  of  a  crime  punishable  with  death,  in  consequence 
of  which  he  was  actually  condemned  to  die.  On  his  way  to  the 
place  of  execution  the  young  man  uttered  such  vehement  protesta- 
tions of  innocence  that  at  last  the  witnesses  themselves  were  afifected 
and  confessed  to  their  tissue  of  falsehoods.     But  when  the  judges 


230  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

were  about  to  set  free  the  condemned,  the  prisoner  himself  drew 
their  attention  to  their  violation  of  the  Law,  which  enjoined  that  no 
belief  was  to  be  given  witnesses  who  withdrew  their  previous  testi- 
mony. 'If  you  wish,'  said  the  condemned  youth  to  his  father,  'that 
the  salvation  of  Israel  should  be  wrought  by  your  hand,  consider 
me  but  the  threshold  over  which  you  must  pass  without  compunc- 
tion.' Both  father  and  son  showed  themselves  worthy  of  their 
sublime  task,  that  of  guarding  the  integrity  of  the  Law ;  for  to 
uphold  it  one  sacrificed  his  life,  and  the  other  his  paternal  love. 
Simon,  the  Judaean  Brutus,  let  the  law  pursue  its  course,  although 
he,  as  well  as  all  the  judges,  were  convinced  of  his  son's  innocence."" 

In  the  educational  ideal  of  the  Native  Period,  the  physical,  the 
esthetic  and  the  industrial  aspects  of  personality  as  well  as  the 
intellectual,  moral  and  religious  were  recognized.  The  educational 
ideal  of  the  post-Exilic  period  was  the  scribe,'^  the  man  learned  in 
and  obedient  to  the  Law.  Such  obedience  implied  complete  con- 
secration to  Yahweh  and  a  consequent  separation  from  all  duties 
and  activities  not  related  to  him.  The  vast  development  of  the  law 
during  and  following  the  Exile,  the  multitude  of  legal  interpreta- 
tions and  precedents  made  leisure  a  prerequisite  for  all  who  would 
become  learned  and  left  the  student  of  the  Law  little  time  for 
attention  to  anything  else.*  Despite  the  fact  that  the  great  cultural 
heritage  of  Greece  and  of  Hellenized  Rome  was  at  their  very  doors, 
the  faithful  Jews  not  only  remained  indifferent  to  the  physical, 
esthetic  and  intellectual  interests  of  their  pagan  conquerors  but 
studiously  excluded  them  from  their  schools  and  from  their  ambi- 
tions. Narrow  as  this  may  seem,  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  other 
course  would  have  saved  the  Jews  from  paganism,  amalgamation, 
and  oblivion. 

Had  the  native  interests  of  the  Hebrews  which  characterized 
the  pre-Exilic  period  been  allowed  free  development  it  is  possible 
that  physical  education  among  the  Hebrews  might  have  had  an 
entirely  different  history.  The  solemn  duty  resting  upon  every 
Jew  of  mastering  an  ever  increasing  body  of  sacred  literature  left 
little  time   for  anything  else.     To  be  sure,   the  high  priest  Jason 

-  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  II,  S4c-55a.  ' 

3  A  further  discussion  of  the  educational  ideal  is  given  below;  see  also 
note  15. 

4  Cf.  with  these  statements  those  relating  to  the  scribes'  attitude  toward 
manual  work  in  a  paragraph  on  Support  .endnote  IS.  An  interesting  suggestion 
of  a  broader  attitude  is  the  Ral^binical  comment  to  Genesis  ix.  27,  in  which 
("Tractate  Megillah,"  9b)  the  esthetic  clement  in  Greek  culture  is  praised. 


HEBREW   EDUCATION    IN   SCHOOL   AND   SOCIETY.  231 

who  had  purchased  his  office'^  from  Antiochus  IV,  Epiphanes  (r. 
175-164  B.C.),"  built  a  Greek  gymnasium  under  the  very  tower.'' 
Moreover  "many  of  the  priests  took  their  place  in  the  arena,"^  and 
"the  high  priest  even  sent  three  hundred  drachmas  to  Tyre  for  a 
sacrifice  to  Hercules."^  Nevertheless  the  faithful  Jews  looked 
upon  the  Greek  physical  sports  with  abhorrence/  and  the  establish- 
ment of  Greek  gymnasia,  far  from  introducing  physical  training 
into  Jewish  education,  led  to  an  identification  of  physical  education 
with  paganism  and  to  a  consequent  hostility  to  it.^^ 

TEACHERS. 

Throughout  the  period  of  foreign  influence,  education  remained 
for  the  most  part  a  masculine  privilege.  With  the  exception  of 
the  synagogue,  of  the  temple  and  of  certain  festivals,  the  home  was 
the  sole  institution  providing  training  and  instruction  for  girls  and 
women.     All  schools  were  boys'  schools  and  all  teachers  were  men. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  growth  of  the  political 
importance  of  the  priests  following  the  restoration  of  Jerusalem 
after  the  return  from  captivity.  More  and  more  their  numbers, 
wealth  and  power  increased.  It  was  no  longer  possible  for  all  the 
members  of  this  vast  army  to  be  actively  engaged  all  the  time  in 
rites  and  ceremonials.  Consequently  they  were  organized  into 
twenty-four  courses  or  families.  The  courses  rotated,  each  course 
serving  one  week  in  turn  and  beginning  its  duties  by  ofl:'ering  the 
Sabbath  evening  sacrifice.  The  existence  of  a  vast  priestly  code 
setting  forth  in  detail  regulations  governing  every  phase  of  con- 
duct did  away  with  the  need  of  the  type  of  instruction  given  by 
the  priests  and  prophets  in  earlier  times.  This  function  could  now 
be  entrusted  to  lay  teachers  whose  task  would  be  transmitting  and 
interpreting  the  already  existing  laws.  This  fact  combined  with 
the  increase  in  the  number,  complexity  and  elaborateness  of  the 
temple  rites  and  in  the  increase  of  the  political  and  administrative 
activities  of  the  priests  resulted  in  the  gradual  transfer  of  the 
major  portion  of  the  teaching  function  from  the  priests  and  proph- 
ets to  a  newly  arisen  teaching  order,  the  soferim  or  scribes. 

It  must  not  be  inferred,  however,  that  the  priests  ceased  to 

5  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  443. 
^  I.  J.  Peritz,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  293. 
'^  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  443  and  footnote, 
s  See  2  Maccabees  iv.  9-12;  cf.  1  Maccabees  i.  13-14. 
0  I.  J.  Peritz,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  294. 

1"  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jezi.'S,  I.  pp.  444-446,  gives  much  interesting 
material. 


232  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

teach.  The  soferim,  it  is  true,  became  the  teachers  of  the  Law,  but 
the  priests  still  continued  to  be  the  people's  great  teachers  in  forms 
of  worship.  In  addition  to  this,  some  of  the  priests  were  also 
famous  scribes,  and  in  this  capacity  were  professed  teachers  of 
the  Law. 

THE   SOFERIM. 

The  art  of  writing,  as  already  shown,  had  been  known  and 
employed  from  early  times  by  priests,  prophets,  secretaries  and 
others.  It  has  also  been  shown  how  the  Exilic  renaissance  increased 
greatly  the  body  of  •  literature.  The  original  meaning  of  the  term 
"soferim"  was  "people  who  know  how  to  write. "^^  It  was,  therefore, 
applied  to  court  chroniclers  or  royal  secretaries.  Because  ability  to 
write  came  to  be  generally  accepted  as  the  mark  of  the  educated 
or  learned  man,  the  term  came  to  be  emi)loyed  for  a  wise  man 
(1  Chron.  xxvii.  32)." 

Following  the  restoration,  the  Jewish  community,  under  the 
leadership  of  the  priest-scribe,  Ezra,  bound  itself  to  the  observance 
of  the  written  Law.^-  If  the  Law  was  to  be  kept  it  must  be  known 
and  understood ;  there  must  be  teachers  and  interpreters.  But  the 
Law  was  written  in  ancient  Hebrew,  a  tongue  almost  unknown  to 
the  masses,  most  of  whom  spoke  Aramaic  or  Greek.  As  the  result 
of  these  conditions,  those  able  to  read  the  Scriptures  in  the  original 
Hebrew  and  to  interpret  them  to  the  people  came  to  form  a  distinct 
teaching  class.  At  length  "soferim"  came  to  be  used  to  designate 
specifically  this  great  body  of  teachers  from  the  time  of  Ezra  to 
that  of  Simeon  the  Just  (a  contemporary  of  Alexander  the  Great). 
"It  seems  that  after  Simeon  the  Just  the  teachers  were  more  gen- 
erally styled  'Elders,'  ickcnim,  later  'the  wise  ones,'  hakhamim, 
(Shab.64b;  Suk.  46a)  while  soferim  was  sometimes  used  as  an 
honorific  appelation  (Sotah  15a).  In  still  later  times  soferim 
became  synonymous  with  'teachers  of  little  children'  {Ibid.,  49a)." 
As  conditions  became  more  settled  throughout  Judea  the  scribes 
made  their  way  to  its  remotest  parts.  In  time  a  powerful  scribe- 
guild  was  organized  to  which  all  teachers  belonged,  and  which 
monopolized  the  teaching  profession.  By  the  time  of  the  Chron- 
icler, three  ranks  of  teachers  appear:  (1)  the  hazzan  or  elementary 
teacher;   (2)   the  scribe;   (3)   the  sage.^^ 

The   following  paragraphs,   written  by   Jesus  ben    Sira    (who 

11  Max  Seligsohn,  "Scribes,"  Jczvish  Encyclopedia,  II,  123. 

12  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History,  pp.  393-5,  discredits  this  story  en- 
tirely. 

13  A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  "Education,"  Hasting' s  Bible  Dictionary,  I,  650b. 


HEBREW   EDUCATION   IN   SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY.  233 

flourished  in  the  first  third  of  the  second  century  B.  C.)^*  present 
the  most  complete  description  of  the  ideal  scribe  that  has  descended 
to  us  from  that  period.  The  divorce  made  by  Sira  between  the 
life  of  study  and  that  of  industrial  occupations,  and  his  contempt 
for  manual  labor  must  not,  however,  be  regarded  as  necessarily 
representing  a  universal  attitude.^^ 

JESUS  BEN  SIRA  ON  THE  GLORY  OF  BEING  A  SCRIBE. 
(Ecclesiasticus  xxxviii.  24--xxxix.  11.) 

"The  wisdom  of  a  learned  man  cometh  by  opportunity  of 
leisure :  and  he  that  hath  little  business  shall  become  wise. 

"How  can  he  get  wisdom  that  holdeth  the  plow,  and  that  glorieth 
in  the  goad,  that  driveth  oxen,  and  is  occupied  in  their  labors,  and 
whose  talk  is  of  bullocks  ?  He  giveth  his  mind  to  make  furrows  ; 
and  is  diligent  to  give  the  kine  fodder. 

"So  every  carpenter  and  workmaster,  that  laboreth  night  and 
day ;  and  they  that  cut  and  grave  seals,  and  are  diligent  to  make 
great  variety,  and  give  themselves  to  counterfeit  imagery,  and  watch 
to  finish  a  work  : 

"The  smith  also  sitting  by  the  anvil,  and  considering  the  iron 
work,  the  vapor  of  the  fire  wasteth  his  flesh,  and  he  fighteth  with 
the  heat  of  the  furnace ;  and  the  noise  of  hammer  and  the  anvil  is 
ever  in  his  ears,  and  his  eyes  look  still  upon  the  pattern  of  the 
thing  that  he  maketh  ;  he  setteth  his  mind  to  finish  his  work,  and 
watcheth  to  polish  it  perfectly ; 

"So  doth  the  potter  sitting  at  his  work,  and  turning  the  wheel 
about  with  his  feet,  who  is  always  carefully  set  at  his  work,  and 
maketh  all  his  work  by  number ; 

"He  fashioneth  the  clay  with  his  arm,  and  boweth  down  his 
strength  before  his  feet ;  he  applieth  himself  to  lead  it  over ;  and  he 
is  diligent  to  make  clean  his  furnace : 

"All  these  trust  in  their  hands :  and  every  one  is  wise  in  his 
work. 

"Without  these  cannot  a  city  be  inhabited :  and  they  shall  not 
dwell  where  they  will,  nor  go  up  and  down.  They  shall  not  be 
sought  for  in  public  council,  nor  sit  high  in  the  congregation ;  they 
shall  not  sit  on  the  judges  seat,   nor  understand  the  sentence  of 

!■*  I.  Levi,  "The  Wisdom  of  Jesus  Sirach,"  The  Jeidsh  Encyclopedia,  XI, 
389a. 

1^  See  Franz  Delitzsch,  Jewish  Artisan  Life  in  the  Time  of  Jesus,  pp.  76-77. 
for  opinions  opposite  to  those  of  Sira  regarding  the  possibility  of  combining 
study  with  handicraft. 


234  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

judgment;  they  cannot  declare  justice  and  judgment;  and  they  shall 
not  be  found  where  parables  are  spoken.  But  they  will  maintain 
the  state  of  the  world,  and  (all) their  desire  is  in  the  work  of  their 
craft. 

"But  he  that  giveth  his  mind  to  the  law  of  the  Most  High  and 
is  occupied  in  the  meditation  thereof,  will  seek  out  the  wisdom  of 
all  the  ancient,  and  be  occupied  in  prophecies.  He  will  keep  the 
sayings  of  renowned  men ;  and  where  subtil  parables  are,  he  will 
be  there  also. 

"He  will  seek  out  the  secrets  of  grave  sentences  and  be  con- 
versant in  dark  parables. 

"He  shall  serve  among  great  men,  and  appear  before  princes ; 
he  will  travel  through  strange  countries ;  for  he  hath  tried  the  good 
and  the  evil  among  men. 

"He  will  give  his  heart  to  resort  early  to  the  Lord  that  made 
him,  and  will  pray  before  the  Most  High,  and  will  open  his  mouth 
in  prayer,  and  make  supplication  for  his  sins. 

"He  shall  show  forth  that  which  he  hath  learned,  and  shall 
glory  in  the  law  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord. 

"If  he  die  he  shall  leave  a  greater  name  than  a  thousand:  and 
if  he  live  he  shall  increase  it." 

The  sof erim  regarded  their  work  as  a  holy  one :  to  them  had 
been  entrusted  the  sacred  task  of  transmitting  the  laws  given  by 
Yahweh  himself.  Through  their  literary  and  educational  activities 
they  eventually  gained  almost  complete  control  over  religious  thought 
and  education.  They  interpreted  the  Law  for  the  masses.  They 
furnished  the  texts  upon  which  instruction  was  based.  They  estab- 
lished elementary  schools  and  colleges.  They  taught  public  and  select 
groups  of  pupils.  It  was  their  aim  "to  raise  up  many  disciples,"  as 
is  said  in  the  Talmud,  Tract  Aboth,  I,  2.  On  occasions  of  public 
worship  they  translated  the  scriptures  written  in  a  tongue  almost 
unknown  to  the  masses  in  the  post-Exilic  period  into  the  language 
of  the  people.  In  their  teaching  and  in  their  lives  they  represented 
the  new  educational  and  religious  ideal  of  the  times,  Judaism. 
Within  their  schools  arose  that  oral  literature  which  developed  into 
the  Talmud. 

Despite  the  sincere  efforts  of  the  sof  erim  to  adjust  the  Law  to 
changing  conditions  they  soon  became  burdened  with  such  a  mass 


HEBREW   EDUCATION    IN    SCHOOL   AND   SOCIETY.  235 

of  traditions  and  precedents  that  readjustment  and  progress  became 
extremely  ditficult  if  not  impossible.  Their  standpoint  as  legalists 
led  to  such  emphasis  upon  technical  adherence  to  details  that  the 
great  principles  were  frequently  lost  sight  of.  Political,  social 
and  religious  life  came  to  be  dominated  by  a  burdensome  system 
of  traditions,  laws  and  minute  regulations,  the  external  form  of 
which  instead  of  the  spirit  and  underlying  principles  came  to  be 
the  focus  of  interest  and  attention." 

RABBIS. 

Originally  the  leader  of  any  union  of  workmen,  even  the  leader 
of  the  hangmen,  was  called  rabbi  (literally,  "my  master").  Rabbi 
was  applied  to  the  head  of  the  weavers  (Talmud,  Tract  Abodah 
Zarahl/b),  and  to  the  head  of  the  gladiators  (Talmud  Tract  Baba 
Mezia  84a).  It  was  commonly  applied  to  teachers,  but  did  not, 
however,  entitle  its  possessor  to  preach  or  teach.  It,  apparently, 
was  not  used  distinctively  as  a  teacher's  title  till  after  the  time  of 
Christ." 

THE  PERUSHBI  OR  PHARISEES. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century  B.  C.  there  came 
into  prominence  among  the  Jews  two  important  sects  or  parties, 
the  Perushim  or  Pharisees,  and  the  Zedukim  or  Saducees.^^  The 
Perushim  or  Separatists  were  simply  later  exponents  of  a  tendency 
older  than  the  time  of  Ezra.  This  tendency  had  its  beginnings 
in  the  earliest  impulses  of  a  certain  portion  of  the  Jews  to  re- 
gard the  devout  observance  of  the  laws  of  Yahweh  as  the  supreme 
aim  of  individual  and  national  life.  They  believed  the  Jews  could 
realize  this  aim  only  by  holding  themselves  aloof  from  all  for- 
eign innovations  and  b}'  emphasizing  those  elements  and  cus- 
toms of  Jewish  life  that  marked  off  the  Jews  as  a  distinct  and 
peculiar  people.  They  "insisted  upon  all  political  undertakings, 
all  public  transactions  being  tried  by  the  standard  of  religion. "^^ 
In  both  of  these  positions  they  were  opposed  by  the  Saducees. 
They  dift"ered  further  from  the  Zedukim  or  Saducees  in  accepting 
and  throwing  the  weight  of  their  influence  in  favor  of  the  oral  law 
of  the  Scribes  and  many  beliefs  not  set  forth  in  the  Pentateuch, 

16  For  a  contrary  view  see  S.  Schechter,  "The  Law  and  Recent  Criticism. . 
in  Schechter's  Studies  in  Judaism,  Vol.  I,  pp.  233-251. 

1"  A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  "Education,"  Hasting's  Bible  Dictionary,  I,  650b. 

IS  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  479. 

39  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Iczvs,  II,  17. 


236  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

such  as  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  and  the  behef  in  the  exist- 
ence of  angels  and  future  rewards  and  punishments. 

Many  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  scribes  were  Perushim, 
but  the  Perushim  were  in  no  sense  a  teaching  order.  Rather  they 
constituted  a  rehgious  sect  or  party  which  inckided  men  of  every  rank 
and  occupation.  Their  educational  importance  grew  out  of  the  sup- 
port they  gave  to  the  cause  of  Judaism  and  to  the  teachings  and 
educational  efiforts  of  the  Soferim. 

EDUCATIONAL   INSTITUTIONS. 

Universal  compulsory  education  for  the  sake  of  preserving  the 
nation  is  a  state  policy  familiar  to  the  modern  world.  The  gradual 
development  of  this  policy  among  the  Jews  of  Palestine  is  the  most 
interesting  and  most  significant  feature  of  the  history  of  education 
from  the  time  of  the  restoration  of  the  Jewish  community  in  the 
sixth  century  B.  C.  to  the  end  of  the  Jewish  state  70  A.  D.  The 
realization  of  this  policy  was  made  possible  by  two  distinct  but 
nevertheless  inseparable  movements :  first,  the  evolution  of  a  pro- 
fessional teaching  class  ;  second,  the  rise  of  educational  institutions. 
The  Native  Period  had  been  a  period  without  schools,  the  period 
of  foreign  influence  was  marked  by  the  rise  of  three  types  of  edu- 
cative institutions:  (1)  the  synagogue  ;  (2)  boys'  elementary  schools  ; 
(3)  the  scribes'  (or  higher)  schools. 

The  most  important  steps  in  the  rise  of  the  policy  of  universal 
education  may  be  stated  as  follows:  (1)  the  public  adoption  of  the 
sacred  canon  and  solemn  covenant  to  keep  the  Law  of  Yahweh ; 
(2)  the  provision  of  universal  opportunities  for  instruction  through 
the  rise  and  gradual  spread  of  the  synagogue;  (3)  the  rise  of  ele- 
mentary schools,  (attendance  voluntary)  ;  (4)  70  B.  C,  ordinance 
(of  Simon  ben  Shetach)  making  compulsory  the  education  of  orphan 
boys  over  sixteen  years  of  age;  (5)  boys'  compulsory  elementary 
education  by  edict  of  Joshua  ben  Gamala,  high  priest  64  A.  D. 

THE   SYNAGOGUE. 

Jewish  tradition  traces  the  synagogue  back  to  the  time  of  Moses. 
Nevertheless  it  is  not  expressly  mentioned  until  the  last  century 
of  the  second  Temple  but  then  as  an  institution  long  existing,  uni- 
versal, and  the  center  of  Jewish  life.-"  It  may  have  arisen  during 
the  Exile.  Sacrifice  could  be  ofifered  only  in  Jerusalem,  but  prayer 
and  the  study  of  the  Law  could  be  carried  on  regardless  of  place. 

20  W.  Baclier,  "Synagogue,"  Hasiing's  Bible  Dictionary,  IV,  636d. 


HEBREW   EDUCATION    IN    SCHOOL   AND   SOCIETY.  237 

The  Sabbath,  already  observed  as  a  day  of  rest  in  pre-Exihc  times,-^ 
offered  the  exiles  leisure  and  opportunity  for  study.  The  custom  of 
assembling  on  the  Sabbath  for  worship  and  study  may  have  arisen 
in  Babylon,  whence  it  may  have  been  carried  back  to  Jerusalem 
and  there  institutionalized  in  the  synagogue.  After  the  restoration 
of  Jerusalem,  the  synagogue  spread  throughout  Judea  and  the  entire 
Jewish  world. -- 

The  term  synagogue,  applied  originally  to  the  assembly,  came 
in  time  to  be  applied  to  the  building  in  which  the  assembly  met.  The 
use  of  the  term  "church"  illustrates  a  similar  transference  of  a  title 
from  a  group  of  people  to  the  building  occupied  by  the  group. 
Although  used  as  public  halls,  court  rooms  and  places  for  scourging 
malefactors,  the  synagogues  never  ceased  to  be  chiefly  houses  of 
instruction  and  worship.  In  communities  too  small  or  too  poor  to 
erect  a  separate  building,  a  room  in  some  building  might  be  devoted 
to  the  purpose.  The  interior  of  buildings  erected  as  synagogues 
was  generally  round  or  rectangular.-"  Beyond  the  middle  rose  the 
bema  or  platform.-*  On  the  center  of  this  stood  the  lectern  or 
pulpit.  Farther  back  stood  the  "ark,"  the  chest  containing  the 
scrolls  of  Scripture.-^  The  manner  in  which  worship  and  instruction 
were  combined  in  synagogal  religious  exercises  is  revealed  by  the 
order  of  service. 

Synagogue  services  were  held  twice  on  the  Sabbath ;  on  all 
feast  and  fast  days  ;  and  on  the  two  weekly  market  days,  Monday 
and  Thursday.-*'  Although  the  service  varied  somewhat  with  the 
day  and  the  hour,-"  the  general  order  was  the  same:  that  of  the 
Sabbath  morning  may  be  taken  as  a  type.  An  analysis  of  the 
Sabbath  morning  service  shows  that  it  consisted  of  two  main  divi- 
sions :  one,  liturgical ;  the  other,  instructional.  The  liturgical  portion 
consisted  of  the  recitation  by  all  'adult  males-'  of  the  Shema-'  pre- 
ceded and  followed  by  a  number  of  "benedictions,"  prayers  or 
eulogies-'  recited  by  one  individual  especially  deputed  for  the  occa- 

-'^  Exodus  xxiii.  12.  Nothing  is  said  in  this  earHest  legislation  about  spe- 
cial religious  observance.  See  T.  G.  Soares,  The  Social  Institutions  and  Ideals 
of  the  Bible,  pp.  168ff.  C.  H.  W.  Johns,  "The  Babylonian  and  Assyrian 
Sabbath,"  Encyclopcedia  Brittannica,  11th  edition,  XXIII,  961d-962d. 

--  W.  Bacher,  "Synagogue,"  Hasting's  Bible  Dictionary,  IV,  637b. 

23  Alfred  Edersheim,  In  the  Days  of  Christ,  p.  254. 

^*  Ibid.,  261. 

23  Ibid.,  262. 

20  Ibid.,  277d-278a. 

27  Ibid.,  268a. 

28  Ibid.,  275c. 


238  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

sion,  the  congregation  simply  responding  ''Amen."-^  The  Shema  is 
commonly  characterized  as  the  national  creed  or  confession.-^  It  is 
composed  of  three  scriptural  passages.-"  Deuteronomy  vi.  4-9 ;  Deu- 
teronomy xi.  13-21 ;  Numbers  xv.  37-41.  It  begins:  "Hear  O  Israel, 
Yahweh  is  our  God,  Yahweh  alone,"  a  passage  which  offers  many 
difficulties  in  translation  as  may  be  seen  from  the  variant  translations 
in  the  marginal  note  of  the  American*  Revised  Version.  It  is  named 
Shema  from  its  initial  Hebrew  word  shema,  meaning  "hear."  The 
liturgical  portion  of  the  service  offered  definite  systematic  training 
on  three  or  more  days  per  week  in  worship  and  acts  of  devotion.  The 
instructional  portion  consisted  in  the  reading  from  the  Law  and  then  • 
from  the  Prophets  in  the  original  Hebrew  passages  assigned  to  the 
day,  which  were  forthwith  translated  into  the  vernacular  by  the 
meturgeman  or  translator  who  stood  beside  the  reader.-^ 

It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  the  educational  significance  of 
a  custom  which  resulted  in  insuring  the  reading  to  the  Aramaic  or 
Greek  speaking  masses  their  native  literature  in  the  original  tongue. 
The  Pentateuch  was  so  divided  that  its  reading  extended  over  three 
or  three  and  a  half  years.""  The  section  for  the  day  was  subdivided  in 
such  a  manner  that  at  least  seven  persons  might  be  called  upon  to  read 
a  portion  of  not  less  than  three  verses  each.^"  The  Law  was  read 
and  translated  verse  by  verse.  The  reading  and  translating  of  the 
Prophets  was  presented  in  passages  of  three  verses  each.^^ 

The  synagogue  service  provided  training  in  worship  and  oral 
instruction  in  the  Scriptures  for  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the 
community.  Furthermore,  it  furnished  a  powerful  stimulus  to 
every  man  and  boy  to  become  an  earnest  student  of  the  native  lit- 
erature, for  any  male,  even  a  minor,  might  act  either  as  reader  or 
meturgeman,^-  and  the  public  esteem  attached  to  fulfilling  such  an 
office  made  it  the  pious  ambition  of  all,  through  the  many  oppor- 
tunities it  furnished  to  those  qualified,  for  active  participation  in  its 
services.  Moreover,  one  individual  especially  deputed  for  the  occa- 
tion  led  in  the  recitation  of  the  benedictions  or  prayers^^  which 
constituted  so  large  a  part  of  the  liturgical  portion  of  the  service, 
the  congregation  simply  responding  "Amen.""^  Finally,  the  reading 
of  the  Scriptures  was  followed  by  the  derashah,  an  address  or 
exposition  which  consisted  of  the  explanation  and  application  of 

20  Ibid.,  277-279. 

30  Ibid.,  277. 

31  Ibid.,  279a 

32  Ibid.,  278. 

33  Ibid.,  275. 


HEBREW   EDUCATION    IN    SCHOOL   AND  SOCIETY.  239 

the  day's  lesson  or  some  portion  of  it.^*  Here  again  we  find  first  a 
custom  providing,  on  the  one  hand,  instruction  for  the  mass  of  the 
people,  and  on  the  other  hand,  an  incentive  for  earnest  study,  for 
any  learned  man  present  might  be  called  upon  to  act  as  the  darshan 
or  expositor.  The  manner  in  which  the  synagogue  combined  wor- 
ship and  education,  instruction  for  the  masses  and  incentives  to  study 
for  those  having  leisure  and  ability,  will  appear  from  the  following 
outline"^  of  the  Sabbath  morning  order  of  service. 

ORDER  OF  SYNAGOGUE  SERVICE    (SABBATH   MORNING.) 
PART   1.      LITURGICAL   OR   DEVOTIONAL. 

I.  Lectern  Devotions."^ 

1.  Two  "Benedictions." 

2.  The  Shema — recited  by  all  adult  males. 

3.  One  "Benediction." 

II.  Devotions  Before  the  "Ark."36 

4.  Various  "Benedictions." 

The   number  apparently  varied   from   twelve   in   earlier   times   to 
eighteen  or  nineteen  in  later  times. 2'' 

5.  The  Priestly  Benediction  (Numbers  vi.  23-24). ^s 

To  be  recited  by  a  descendant  of  Aaron  if  any  such  were  present, 
otherwise  by  the  leader  of  the  devotions.^^ 

PART  II.    INSTRUCTIONAL. 

1.  The  Scripture  Lessons. 

1.  "Benediction"  by  first  reader.^^ 

2.  Reading  and  translation  of  selections  from  the  Law. 

3.  Reading  and  translation  of  selections  from  the  Prophets. 

4.  "Benediction"  by  the  last  reader.s^ 

2.  The  Exposition  or  Derashah. 

The  synagogue  was  the  earliest,  the  most  wide-spread  and  the 
most  enduring  of  all  the  educational  institutions  after  the  Exile. 
It  was  the  first  institution  to  offer  systematic  instruction  to  both 

34  Ibid.,  279b-c. 

35  Ibid.,  268ff.  Edersheim  states  in  a  footnote  on  page  268  that  his  descrip- 
tion is  based  on  a  study  of  the  Mishna. 

36  "The  'Shema'  and  its  accompanying  'benedictions'  seem  to  have  been 
.said....  at  the  lectern;  whereas  for  the  next  series  of  prayers  the  leader  of 
the  devotions  went  forward  and  stood  before  the  ark."     Ibid.,  272a. 

37  Ibid.,  272-275. 

38  Ibid.,  275. 

39  Ibid.,  277. 


240  THE  OPEN   COURT. 

sexes.  It  was  the  parent  of  the  scribe  college  and  the  elementary 
school.  Out  of  it  arose  the  movement  which  resulted  in  universal 
education.  Under  its  influence  and  that  of  the  scribes  all  Jews 
became  students  of  the  Law  ;  the  Law  became  the  most  reverenced 
of  all  studies,  and  the  center  of  religious  and  intellectual  interest, 

ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 

It  was  but  a  step  from  using  the  synagogue  on  Sabbaths  and 
feast  days  as  a  place  of  instruction  to  using  it  every  day  as  a  place 
for  teaching  boys  whose  parents  would  permit  them  to  come.  A 
school  was  a  common  feature  of  Babylonian  temples,  and  if  the 
synagogue  arose  during  the  Exile  it  may  be  that  the  elementary 
school  arose  at  this  time  also  as  an  adjunct  to  the  synagogue.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  may  not  have  arisen  till  after  the  Exile  and  then 
not  in  any  sense  as  a  borrowed  institution  but  merely  as  a  natural 
result  of  the  increasing  conviction  that  the  salvation  of  the  Jews 
depended  upon  every  Jew  knowing  and  keeping  the  law.**' 

When  such  schools  first  became  universal  is  still  an  open  c|ues- 
tion.  The  universality  of  teachers  in  the  first  part  of  the  first  cen- 
tury A.  D.  and,  by  inference,  of  schools  is  shown  by  passages 
in  the  New  Testament  such  as  Luke  v.  17:  "There  were  Pharisees 
and  doctors  of  the  law,  sitting  by,  who  were  come  out  of  every  vil- 
lage of  Galilee  and  Judea  and  Jerusalem."  In  the  year  64  A.  D.  the 
ordinance  of  Gamala*^  required  that  one  or  more  elementary  schools 
be  established  in  every  community.  The  elementary  school  was 
always  located  in  the  synagogue  proper,  or  in  some  room  attached 
to  the  synagogue  or  in  the  master's  house.*-  If,  as  is  generally 
agreed,  teachers  and  synagogues  were  practically  universal  in  Pal- 
estine in  the  first  century  B.C.,  it  does  not  seem  unreasonable  to 
conclude  that,  whether  elementary  education  was  compulsory  or 
not  at  this  time,  elementary  schools  were  exceedingly  wide  spread, 
perhaps  practically  universal.  Moreover,  if  the  claims  of  Shetach 
be  admitted,  and  if  his  law  refers,  as  some  maintain,  to  already 
existing  schools,  it  is  possible  that  elementary  schools  were  all  but 
universal  even  earlier  than  the  first  century  B.  C,  how  much  earlier 
cannot  be  conjectured.*^ 

*o  In  time  the  name  most  commonly  given  to  such  a  school  was  Bet  ha- 
Sefer,  or  "House  of  the  Book" ;  this  however  is  a  post-biblical  term  and  is 
consequently  avoided  in  the  present  account. 

*i  The  claims  of  Shetach  and  the  ordinance  of  Gamala  will  be  discussed 
in  the  immediately  following  paragraphs. 

42  A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  "Education,"  Hasting's  Bible  Dictionary,  I,  p.  649. 

43  Giidemann's  conclusions  given  in  a  subsequent  paragraph  should  be 
consulted  at  this  point. 


HEBREW   EDUCATION    IN   SCHOOL   AND   SOCIETY.  241 


COMPULSORY  EDUCATION. 

The  widespread  existence  of  elementary  schools  proved  in  itself 
insufficient  to  guarantee  an  education  to  every  boy.  To  insure  this 
a  law  was  passed  requiring-  every  community  to  establish  one  or 
more  elementary  schools  and  making  attendance  compulsory  for 
boys  over  seven  years.  It  is  a  matter  of  dispute  whether  this  law 
was  passed  early  in  the  first  century  B.  C.  or  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
first  century  A.  D.  Some  writers  give  the  credit  to  a  decree  issued 
75  B.  C.  by  Simon  ben  Shetach,  brother-in-law  of  the  Jewish  King 
Alexander  Jannaeus  (r.  104-78  B.  C.)  and  president  of  the  San- 
hedrin.  Kennedy,  in  his  brief  but  scholarly  account,  asserts  there 
is  no  good  reason  for  rejecting  the  tradition  regarding  Shetach's 
eiTorts  on  behalf  of  popular  education,  but  fails  to  state  what  he 
considers  this  tradition  to  include.**  Graetz,  recounting  the  reign 
of  Queen  Alexandra,  writes : 

"Simon  ben  Shetach,  the  brother  of  the  queen,  the  oracle  of  the 
Pharisaic  party,  stood  high  in  her  favor.  So  great  a  part  did  he  play 
in  the  history  of  that  time  that  it  was  called  by  many  'the  days  of 
Simon  ben  Shetach  and  of  Queen  Salome.'*^  But  Simon  was  not 
an  ambitious  man  and  he  determined  to  waive  his  own  rights  (to  the 
presidency  of  the  Great  Council) ...  .in  favor  of  Jndah  ben  Tabbai, 
who  was  then  residing  in  Alexandria,  of  whose  profound  learning 

and  excellent  character  he  had  formed  a  high  estimate These 

two  men  have,  therefore,  been  called  'Restorers  of  the  Law,'  who 
'brought  back  to  the  Crown  (the  Law)  its  ancient  splendor.**^.  . .  . 

"One  of  the  reforms  of  this  time  expressly  attributed  to  Simon 
ben  Shetach  was  the  promotion  of  better  instruction.  Li  all  large 
towns,  high  schools  for  the  use  of  young  men  from  the  age  of  six- 
teen sprang  up  at  his  instance.  But  all  study,  we  may  presume, 
was  entirely  confined  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  particularly  to  the 
Pentateuch  and  the  study  of  the  Law.  Many  details  or  smaller 
points  in  the  Law  which  had  been  partly  forgotten  and  partly 
neglected"  during  the  long  rule  of  the  Saducees,  that  is  to  say,  from 
Hyrcanus's  oppression  of  the  Pharisees  until  the  commencement  of 
Salome's  reign,  were  once  more  introduced  into  daily  life."*'' 

The  passage  in  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  which  records  the  ser- 
vices rendered  to  education  by  Simon  ben  Shetach  reads  as  follows : 

**  A.  R.  S.  Kennedj^  "Education,"  Hastiiig's  Bible  Dictionary,  I,  p.  649. 
45  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  II,  48d. 
■*•'  Ibid.,  p.  49a  and  d. 
^-  Ibid.,  pp.  50d-51a. 


242  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

"Simon  ben  Shetach  ordained  three  things :  that  a  man  may  do 
business  with  the  kethnhah  (a  sum  of  money  stipulated  in  the  mar- 
riage contract)  ;  that  people  should  send  their  children  to  school ; 
that  glassware  be  subject  to  contamination.''^* 

It  is  evident  that  the  brevity  and  vagueness  of  the  reference 
to  education  in  this  passage  are  such  as  to  furnish  basis  for  much 
discussion  but  at  the  same  time  such  as  to  make  exceedingly  difficult, 
if  not  impossible,  any  conclusions  as  to  what  Shetach  actually  did. 

Giidemann,*^  Grossmann  and  Kandel,^°  Laurie,^^  Leipziger,^- 
and  Spiers,°^  while  crediting  Shetach  with  educational  reforms,  re- 
gard the  law  issued  in  64  A.  D.  by  the  high  priest  Joshua  ben  Gamala 
as  the  ordinance  by  which  elementary  education  was  first  made 
universal  and  compulsory  for  boys  over  six  or  seven.  The  defenders 
of  the  claims  of  Gamala  assert  that  the  law  of  Shetach  applied  either 
only  to  orphan  boys  over  sixteen  years  of  age,  or  only  to  Jerusalem, 
or  only  to  Jerusalem  and  other  large  cities.  If  the  first  of  these 
positions  be  accepted,  it  would  follow  that  the  first  step  toward 
compulsory  education  was  the  establishment  in  75  B.  C.  of  higher 
schools  for  orphan  boys  over  sixteen  years  of  age.  Giidemann 
sums  up  the  situation  as  follows : 

"The  scribes,  at  first,  restricted  their  educational  activities  to 
adults,  giving  free  lectures  in  synagogues  and  schools  while  the 
education  of  children  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  parents  as  in 
olden  times.  But  as  boys  often  lacked  this  advantage,  the  state 
employed  teachers  in  Jerusalem  (B.  B.21a)  to  whose  care  the 
children  from  the  provinces  were  entrusted ;  and  as  these  did  not 
suffice,  schools  were  also  established  in  the  country  towns.  This 
arrangement  must  probably  be  referred  to  an  ordinance  of  R.  Simon 

ben  Shetach   (Yer.  Keth.  VIII  end)    These  district  schools 

were  intended  only  for  youths  of  sixteen  and  seventeen  years  of 
age  who  could  provide  for  themselves  away  from  home.  The  High 
Priest  Joshua  ben  Gamala  instituted  schools  for  boys  of  six  and 
seven  years  in  all  cities  of  Palestine.""* 

*8  Jerusalem  Tahnnd,  "Kethuboth,"  VIII,  end.  Tr.  by  Rabbi  S.  N.  Dei- 
nard. 

*^  Giidemann,  "Education,"  Jeivish  Encyclopedia,  V,  p.  43c. 

50  Grossmann  and  Kandel,  "Jewish  Education,"  Monroe,  Cyclopedia  of 
Education,  III,  p.  S42d. 

51  S.  S.  Laurie,  Pre-Christian  Education,  p.  93. 

52  H.  M.  Leipziger,  Education  of  the  Jezvs,  p.  197. 

53  B.  Spiers,  The  School  System  of  the  Talmud,  pp.  9-10. 

54  M.  Giidemann,  "Education,"  Jewish  Encyclopedia,  V,  p.  43. 


HEBREW   EDUCATION    IN   SCHOOL   AND  SOCIETY.  243 

The  section  of  the  Babylonian  Tahiiud  recounting  the  work  of 
Gamala  is  of  such  importance  in  the  history  of  Jewish  education 
that  no  account,  however  summary,  can  aiYord  to  omit  it.  The 
passage  is  valuable  not  only  for  its  account  of  Gamala's  work  but 
for  the  light  it  throws  on  earlier  conditions. 

"A'erily  let  it  be  remembered  to  that  man  for  good.  Rabbi  Joshua 
ben  Gamala  is  his  name,  for  had  he  not  been,  the  Law  would  have 
been  forgotten  in  Israel.  At  first  every  one  that  had  a  father  re- 
ceived from  him  instruction  in  the  Law,  but  he  that  had  no  father 
learned  not  the  Law.  .  .  .  Thereafter  teachers  for  the  children  were 
appointed  in  Jerusalem.  . .  .  But  even  this  measure  sufficed  not,  for 
he  that  had  a  father  was  brought  by  him  to  school  and  was  taught 
there,  but  he  that  had  no  father  was  not  brought  to  be  taught  there. 
In  consequence  of  this,  it  is  ordained  that  teachers  should  be  ap- 
pointed in  every  district,  to  whom  children  were  sent  when  they 
were  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  of  age.  When  a  teacher  became 
angry  with  a  scholar,  the  latter  stamped  his  feet  and  ran  away.  In 
this  condition  education  remained  until  the  time  of  Joshua  ben  Ga- 
mala, who  ordained  that  in  every  province  and  in  every  town  there 
should  be  teachers  appointed  to  whom  children  should  be  brought 
at  the  age  of  six  or  seven  years. "^^ 

Any  such  legislation  as  that  described  in  the  foregoing  para- 
graphs, would,  of  course,  have  been  ineffective  had  it  not  been 
supported  by  a  widespread  sentiment  in  favor  of  education. 

THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 
All  schools  were  for  boys  only  and  all  teachers  were  men.  The 
ordinance  of  Gamala  required  communities  to  provide  one  teacher 
for  twenty-five  pupils  or  less  ;  for  any  number  over  twenty-five  and 
less  than  fifty,  one  teacher  and  one  assistant ;  for  fifty  pupils,  two 
teachers  and  two  classes."*'  In  the  beginning  probably  any  scribe 
or  any  officer  of  the  synagogue  who  had  the  leisure  taught  the  ele- 
mentary classes.  In  time,  however,  the  master  of  the  elementary 
school  came  to  hold  membership  in  the  powerful  scribes'  guild  and 
to  bear  the  distinct  title  of  hazaan.^'^  Kennedy  asserts  that  the 
hazzan-  of  the  elementary  schools  was  distinct  from  the  synagogue 
officer  of  the  same  title  whose  work  consisted  largely  of  menial 
duties  connected  with  the  synagogue,  including  even  the  whipping 

^^  Der  Babylojiische  Taliitud,  "Baba  Bathra,"  tr.  by  Wiinsche;  A.  R.  S. 
Kennedy,  Hastiiig's  Bible  Dictionary,  I,  250b.  I  have  taken  Kennedy's  trans- 
lation of  Wiinsche  here  in  preference  to  Rodkinson's. 

56  Talmud,  "Baba  Bathra."  21a. 

57  A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  "Education,"  Hasting's  Bible  Dictionary,  I,  650. 


244  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

of  criminals.^®  Other  writers  consider  that  the  two  may  have  been 
identical. 

Although  the  scribes  taught  without  pay  and  supported  them- 
selves, if  necessary,  by  plying  a  trade,  the  hassan  probably  received 
a  regular  though  small  wage.^^  The  greatest  reward,  however,  of 
the  teachers  of  every  rank  was  the  love,  gratitude,  esteem  and  ven- 
eration in  which  they  were  held  by  the  community.  In  public  and 
in  private  they  were  treated  with  a  marked  and  particular  respect, 
and  no  man  in,  a  Jewish  community  occupied  a  more  esteemed  or 
a  more  enviable  position.  Moral  character,  knowledge  of  the  law 
and  pious  observance  of  all  its  ordinances  were  undoubtedly  the 
qualities  most  sought  for  in  a  teacher. 

Before  the  boy  began  going  to  school  he  had  learned  at  home 
many  passages  of  Scripture,  some  prayers,  some  songs  and  many 
sacred  traditions  of  his  race.  He  had  also  witnessed  and  partici- 
pated in  many  feasts  and  festivals  and  listened  to  the  explanations 
of  the  origin  and  significance  of  each  act.  The  aim  of  the  elemen- 
tary school  was  to  give  every  boy  a  complete  mastery  of  the  Law 
and  thus  prepare  him  for  assuming  upon  reaching  his  majority, 
responsibility  for  the  Law. 

Probably  the  only  subjects  taught  in  the  elementary  school 
were  reading,  writing  and  the  elements  of  arithmetic.  Learning  to 
read  and  to  write  was  far  from  an  easy  task.  No  language  was  per- 
mitted other  than  the  ancient  Hebrew,*^"  a  tongue  almost  unknown 
to  the  children  of  this  period,  in  the  majority  of  whose  homes  Ara- 
maic or  Greek  was  spoken.  The  difficulty  of  learning  to  read  and 
write  was  further  increased  by  the  fact  that  in  writing  ancient 
Hebrew,  vowel  sounds  were  not  indicated.  Thus  Yahweh  was 
written  YHWH.  Consequently,  a  large  element  in  reading  con- 
sisted in  reproducing  from  memory  the  vowel  sounds. 

The  work  of  the  elementary  school  centered  about  memorizing 
the  Law  in  its  threefold  content. — ceremonial,  civil  and  criminal. 
No  doubt  Hebrew  education  like  that  of  every  other  oriental  people 
made  great  demands  upon  the  child's  memory.  However,  we  should 
never  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  passages  which  the  boy  would  be 
required  to  learn  by  heart,  setting  forth  the  details  of  rites  and 
laws  and  which  to  a  Gentile  of  to-day  are  vague,  unreal  and  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  to  remember,  were  in  many  cases  merely  descrip- 

58  Ibid. 

5»D.  Eaton,  "Scribes,"  Hasfing's  Bible  Dictionary,  _IV,  422 d ;  Cf.  Acts 
xviii.  3;  M.  Schloessinger,  "Hazzan,"  Jczuish  Encyclopedia,  VI,  284c-d. 

^^  A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  "Education,"  Hasting's  Bible  Dictionary,  I,  651. 


HEBREW   EDUCATION    IN   SCHOOL   AND   SOCIETY.  245 

tions  of  acts  the  pupil  had  witnessed  from  his  earliest  years.  They 
had  been  presented  concretely  again  and  again  in  a  manner  which 
could  not  fail  to  impress  them  vividly  upon  his  mind  long  before  he 
was  assigned  the  task  of  committing  them  to  memory.  From  the 
very  first,  his  parents  had  explained  to  him,  as  far  as  his  years  and 
understanding  permitted,  the  origin,  real  or  traditional,  and  the 
significance  of  all  that  entered  into  law  or  rite.  In  view  of  the 
relation  that  the  Law  in  its  threefold  content  held  to  the  life  of  the 
community,  it  will  be  seep  that  this  work  of  the  schools,  far  from 
being  remote  from  life,  was  in  reality  a  distinctly  socializing  process. 
The  only  way  to  comprehend  the  breadth  of  studies  of  the  ele- 
mentary school  is  by  recalling  the  varied  nature  of  the  contents  of 
the  Scriptures.  Upon  this  basis,  it  will  be  seen  that  religion,  morals, 
manners,  history  and  law  as  well  as  the  three  R's  were  studied  in 
the  elementary  school,  for  all  these  are  contained  in  the  great  litera- 
ture there  taught  to  the  child. 

The  books  included  in  the  Scriptures,  especially  those  con- 
stituting the  Pentateuch,  were  the  chief  school  texts.  The  Psalms, 
owing  to  their  important  place  in  the  Temple  worship,  undoubtedly 
received  much  attention  in  the  school.  Two  other  books  which  must 
have  held  a  prominent  place  in  the  schools  were  Proverbs  and  the 
apocryphal  book,  Ecclesiasticus.  Both  arose  during  this  period ; 
both  were  specifically  designed  as  texts  for  instruction ;  both  are 
compilations  of  moral  and  religious  maxims,  instruction  in  man- 
ners, intermingled  with  eulogies  of  the  Law,  its  study,  and  its  stu- 
dents and  the  virtues  it  extols.  In  later  times  there  were  prepared 
as  texts  for  little  children  small  parchment  rolls  containing  portions 
of  the  Scriptures  such  as  the  Shema,*'^  the  Hallel  (Psalms  cxiii- 
cxviii),  history  from  the  Creation  to  the  Flood,  the  first  eight  chap- 
ters of  Leviticus.*^-  How  early  such  texts  were  employed  cannot 
be  determined. 

The  hair-splitting  methods  of  the  scholars  of  this  period,  as 
well  as  the  sanctity  attached  to  every  word  and  every  letter  of  the 
Law  made  it  necessary  that  it  be  memorized  exactly  word  for  word 
and  letter  for  letter.  Absolute  accuracy  was  imperative  owing  to 
the  fact  that  many  Hebrew  characters  are  almost  identical  (e.  g.,  Ji 
and  '^h)  and  that  the  interchange  of  two  such  characters  frequently 
gives  not  only  difl:'erent  but  opposite  meanings :  thus  Jiallel  means 
"to  praise,"  ^hallel  means  "to  desecrate."  To  achieve  this  end 
countless  memoriter  exercises  and  constant  repetitions  were  em- 
^'^  See  above  p.  237  and  note  27. 
*'- A.  Edersheim,  In  tJie  Days  of  Christ,  p.  117. 


246  THE  OPEN  COURT, 

ployed.  The  Rabbinical  saying  "to  review  one  hundred  and  one 
times  is  better  than  to  review  one  hundred  times"  indicates  much 
regarding  the  character  of  the  school  work. 

A  large  part  of  the  literature  committed  to  memory  was  no 
doubt  interesting  to  the  child,  nevertheless,  many  portions  of  it  must 
have  been  indescribably  dull  and  taxing.  The  great  veneration  in 
which  the  Law  was  held  and  the  fact  that  through  it  alone  was 
there  access  to  the  highest  positions  in  state  and  society  were  no 
doubt  sufficient  incentives  to  spur  on  the  older  boys  to  diligent  study. 

But  the  commendations  of  corporal  punishment  to  be  found 
in  the  Scriptures,^"  as  well  as  the  Jewish  conception  of  child  nature, 
leave  no  doubt  that  punishment  was  used  freely  in  the  school  to 
keep  the  younger  and  less  studious  at  their  tasks. 

The  Jews  of  this  period  have  already  been  described  as  a 
"people  of  the  book."  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  education 
in  the  schools  was  thoroughly  bookish.  The  Greeks  had  sought  in 
vain  to  induce  the  Jews  to  include  in  their  course  of  study  physical 
culture,  the  golden  classics  of  Greece,  and  Greek  science.  Never- 
theless, the  boy  who  had  completed  the  studies  of  the  elementary 
school  was  master  of  one  of  the  greatest  literatures  any  race  has 
ever  produced.  He  probably  knew  by  heart  most  of  the  Penta- 
teuch as  well  as  selections  from  many  other  books  of  the  Scriptures. 
He  was  ready  to  explain  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the  sacred 
rites  and  customs,  public  and  private,  which  played  a  part  in  the 
events  of  each  day.  He  was  steeped  in  the  religious  consciousness 
of  his  people  and  was  united  with  them  in  thought,  knowledge  and 
sympathies.    Ellis  writes : 

"An  interesting  commentary  on  the  (elementary)  education 
of  the  time  is  that  of  Jesus.  He  never  attended  one  of  the  rabbin- 
ical schools  (Mark  vi.  2,  3),  and  this  allows  us  to  see  what  advan- 
tages the  common  people  had.  His  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures 
was  remarkable  and  unchallenged.  He  could  read  Hebrew  and  was 
often  called  upon  to  officiate  in  the  synagogue  (Luke  iv.  16;  Mark 
i.  21,  etc.)."«* 

SCHOOLS   OF  THE  SOFERIM. 

From  earliest  times  it  was  necessary  for  prospective  soferim 
(scribes)    to   receive   special   professional   training.      The   increase, 

63  "Hebrew  Education  in  the  Family  After  the  Exile,"  Open  Court,  Jan- 
uary, 1918,  p.  16.  These  statements  should  be  compared  with  such  Talmudic 
statements  as  those  in  Aboth  2:6  where  it  is  asserted  that  a  hasty  (or  pas- 
sionate) man  cannot  teach. 

6^  H.  G.  Ellis,  Origin  and  Development  of  Jezvish  Education,  Pedagogical 
Seminar,  1902,  Vol.  9,  p.  58. 


HEBREW   EDUCATION    IN    SCHOOL   AND   SOCIETY.  247 

after  the  Exile,  in  the  functions  of  the  soferim,  in  their  numbers,* 
importance,  and  in  the  body  of  Hterature  to  be  mastered  by  them 
made  necessary  prolonged  and  careful  training.  Those  who  were 
called  upon  daily  to  declare  and  administer  the  Law  must  possess 
not  a  merely  superior  knowledge  of  the  Law  itself.  They  must 
know  all  possible  interpretations,  methods  of  interpretation  and 
the  precedents  created  by  former  decisions  and  applications.  In 
Temple  court  or  in  synagogue,  noted  scribes  gathered  about  them- 
selves groups  of  youth  and  men.  In  time  each  famous  scribe  appears 
to  have  had  his  own  group  or  school.*'''''  In  some  cases  the  distinc- 
tive character  of  the  master's  teaching  resulted  in  the  development 
of  rival  schools,  such  as  those  of  Shammai  and  Hillel."*'  The  latter's 
grandson,  Gamaliel,  it  will  be  recalled,  Avas  the  teacher  of  Saul  of 
Tarsus. "^ 

In  some  scribe  schools,  Greek  learning  may  have  been  given  a 
place  but  in  all  the  major  part  of  the  time  was  probably  devoted 
to  the  study  of  the  sacred  writings  of  the  Hebrews  and  to  the 
memorizing  of  the  ever  increasing  mass  of  oral  literature.  This 
mass  of  oral  learning  consisted  of  two  elements, — the  Halakah  or 
legal  element  and  the  Hagadah  or  non-legal  element. 

The  Halakah  was  composed  chiefly  of  oral  laws  growing  out 
of  the  attempts  of  the  scribes  to  adapt  the  written  law  to  the  ever 
changing  social  and  political  conditions.  In  time  these  oral  laws, 
decisions  and  interpretations  acquired  fixed  form  and  with  fixed 
form,  sanctity.  Upon  the  basis  of  Exodus  xxiv.  12  ("1  will  give 
thee  tables  of  stone  and  a  lazv')  it  was  asserted  that  Moses  had 
received  from  Yahweh  upon  Mt.  Sinai,  in  addition  to  the  written 
law,  an  oral  law,  namely,  the  halakali.^^  For  many  centuries  the 
Halakah  was  forbidden  to  be  written  and  consequently  must  be 
committed  to  memory  by  every  prospective  scribe.  Every  sentence, 
every  word  was  sacred  and  must  be  memorized  exactly  as  given  by 
the  teacher.  All  possible  interpretations  were  presented  and  dis- 
cussed. A^arious  methods  of  interpretation  must  be  learned  and 
practised. 

*  One  of  the  aims  of  the  soferim  was  "to  raise  up  many  disciples"  (Aboth. 
1:2). 

*^5  In  later  times  commonly  known  as  Beth  Hammidrash,  but  this  is  a  post- 
biblical  term  and  is  consequently  avoided  in  the  present  account. 

•"^  Associated  with    (by  tradition,   President  of)    the   Sanhedrin  30   B.  C. 
Wm.  Bacher,  "Hillel,"  Encyclopadia  Britannica,  XIII,  467  c-d. 

^"^  A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  "Education,"  Hasting's  Bible  Dictionary,  I,  6S0d. 

•^8  Arthur  Ernest  Cowley,  "Hebrew  Literature,"  EncyclopcFdia  Britannica, 
11th  edition,  XIII,  170b-c. 


248  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

The  Hagadah  (literally  "narrative")  was  not  distinguishable 
in  method  from  the  Halakah.  But  whereas  the  Halakah  was  de- 
voted to  religious  law,  the  Hagadah  included  literature  of  consider- 
able range  and  variety.  Though  much  of  it  was  ethical,  exegetical 
or  homiletical  it  included,  as  well,  proverbs,  fables,  traditions,  history 
and  science.  In  a  word  it  embraced  all  topics  except  the  more  strictly 
legal  elements,  which  might  be  drawn  into  the  discursive  discus- 
sions of  a  group  of  scholars  seeking  to  amplify  and  explain  in  a 
somewhat  popular  manner  laws,  institutions  and  customs.  This 
oral  literature  developed  into  the  two  monumental  encyclopedias, 
known  as  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  and  the  Babylonian  Talmud."^ 

The  main  theme  of  the  instruction  given  by  the  soferim  was 
the  oral  law.  Their  instruction  was  consequently  entirely  oral.  In 
order  to  assist  their  pupils  to  retain  their  words,  they  cast  many 
of  their  teachings  in  the  form  of  proverbs,  precepts,  epigrams. 
They  presented  concrete  cases,  real  or  imaginary,  to  train  their 
pupils  in  the  application  of  legal  principles.  Parable  and  allegory 
were  employed  for  illustration.  Public  discussions  between  differ- 
ent scribes  were  frequently  held.  Upon  Sabbaths  and  feast  days, 
it  was  customary  for  various  scribes  to  assemble  "on  the  terrace 
of  the  Temple  and  there  publicly  to  teach  and  expound,  the  utmost 
liberty  being  given  of  asking  questions,  discussing,  objecting  and 
otherwise  taking  intelligent  part  in  the  lectures. "'°  In  their  groups 
of  select  pupils  as  well  as  in  public  they  made  large  use  of  the 
question  and  answer  method,  the  pupils  as  well  as  the  master  asking 
questions. 

The  study  and  the  teaching  of  the  Law  were  alike  sacred  tasks. 
The  Soferim  would  have  regarded  charging  fixed  fees  for  their  ser- 
vices as  trafficking  in  the  wisdom  of  the  Most  High.  Those  without 
private  incomes  commonly  supported  themselves  by  some  craft 
or  trade.'^^ 

FESTIVALS. 

The  great  national  holidays  of  the  Jews  were  national  holy 
days.  Through  them  the  Jews  recognized  their  dependence  upon 
God  for  the  fruits  of  the  held,  for  the  joys  of  home,  for  deliver- 
ance  from   enemies   and   for   past   and   future   prosperity.      Every 

"»  In  form,  the  Talmud  consists  of  two  parts, — the  Mishna  compiled  about 
190  A.  D.,  and  the  Gemara  or  Commentary  upon  the  Mishna,  produced  during 
the  next  three  hundred  years  and  compiled  about  500  A.  D. 

■^0  Alfred  Edersheim,  In  the  Days  of  Christ,  p.  120. 

■^1  Franz  Delitzsch,  Jewish  Artisan  Life  in  the  Time  of  Jesus,  (tr.  by  B. 
Pick),  pp.  IZ,  81.  For  a  list  of  the  various  trades  followed  by  Rabbis,  see 
article  on  "Rabbi,"  Jczvish  Encyclopedia. 


HEBREW   EDUCATION    IN   SCHOOL   AND  SOCIETY. 


249 


period  in  Hebrew  history  contributed  its  portion  to  the  heritage 
of  national  festivals.  From  nomadism  came  the  Passover,  originally 
a  spring  festival  when  the  firstlings  of  the  flock  were  offered  up 
to  Yahweh.'-  From  the  agricultural  stage  came  Pentecost  and  the 
feast  of  Tabernacles. 

The  Jewish  year  included  three  hundred  and  fifty-four  days. 
In  the  period  of  later  Judaism,  more  than  thirty  days  in  the  year, 
in  addition  to  New  Moons  and  Sabbaths,  were  devoted  to  cere- 
monial observances  of  some  sort.'^^  The  following  table  shows'* 
the  more  important  of  these  feasts,  their  duration,  and  time  of 
celebration. 

Table  of  Most  Important  Jewish  Feasts  and   Festivals    (Pos/  A/accabaean 

Period. ) 


Feast 

No.  OF 
Days 

Jew 
Days 

ISH 

Month 

Approximate  Current 
Calendar  Time 

Passover  75  or 
Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread 

7 

From  even- 
ing of    I4tli 
to  2ist  of 

Nisan 
Nisan 

The   month    of    Nisan    began 

with  the  New  Moon  of  March 

and  extended  to  the  New  Moon 

of  April 

Pentecost  75 

I 

6th  of 

Sivvan 

Siwan   included   part  of   May 
and  part  of  June 

Feast  of  Trumpets 

I 

ist  of 

Tishri 

Tishri    included   part   of   Sep- 
tember and  part  October 

Day  of  Atonement 
(Strictly  a  fast,  not  a  feast) 

I 

loth 

Feast  of  Tabernacles  75 

7 

15th  to  21SI 
inclusive 

Tishri 

Shemini  Atzereth 
Eight  or  Day  of  Conclusion 

I 

22nd 

Tishri 

Feast  of  Dedication 

8 

25th  ff. 

Kislew 

Kislew  included  part  of  Nov- 
ember and  part  of  December 

Purim 

2 

14th  to  15th 

Adar 

Adar   included   parts   of    Feb- 
ruary and  March 

From  the  standpoint  of  education,  the  significance  of  the  fes- 
tivals was  manifold.  Probably  no  other  factor  in  Jewish  life  played 
a  more  important  part  in  stimulating  and  developing  the  racial  re- 
ligious consciousness,  national  and  individual.  They  formed  a 
cycle  of  religious  and  patriotic  revivals  extending  throughout  the 
year.     Through  them  each  new  generation  was  taught  the  story  of 

"-  T.  G.  Soares,  The  Social  Institutions  and  Ideals  of  the  Bible,  p.  173 ; 
Exodus  xiii.  12. 

""  T.  G.  Soares,  The  Social  Institutions  and  Ideals  of  the  Bible,  p.  178. 

■'■*  Exclusive  of  New  Moons  and  Sabbath.  The  data  in  this  table  have 
been  compiled  from  various  sources.  See  especially  Elmer  E.  Harding,  "Feasts 
and  Fasts,"  Hasting's  Bible  Dictionary,  I. 

"^^  One  of  the  three  srrcat  annual  feasts. 


250  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

the  great  religious  and  political  experiences  of  the  race.  Every 
religious  festival  was  a  period  of  training  in  connection  with  wor- 
ship; in  connection  with  many  of  them  definite  provision  was  made 
for  religious  instruction.  Parents  were  directed  to  instruct  their 
children  in  advance  or  during  the  celebration  in  the  origin  of  mean- 
ing of  the  festival.  This  private  instruction  was  frequently  supple- 
mented by  instruction  given  in  public  by  priests  and  scribes. 

THE  TEMPLE. 
Despite  the  rise  of  the  teaching  order  of  soferim  and  the  multi- 
plication of  synagogues,  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  never  ceased  to 
be  a  national  center  of  religious  education.  Hither  the  people  re- 
sorted to  celebrate  the  great  national  festivals  and  here  they  were 
trained  in  forms  of  worship.  Here,  too,  the  carefully  trained 
choirs  of  Levites  sang  the  national  songs  of  praise  and  in  singing 
them  taught  them  to  the  people.  Indeed  it  was  the  Temple,  accord- 
ing to  Graetz,  which  furnished  the  pattern  for  the  service  in  the 
thousand  synagogues  scattered  throughout  Judea  and  the  diaspora. 
"The  form  of  prayer  used  in  the  Temple  became  the  model  of  the 
services  in  all  prayer  houses  or  houses  of  gathering."^"  "The  in- 
habitants of  the  country  towns  introduced  in  their  own  congrega- 
tions an  exact  copy  of  the  divine  service  as  it  was  conducted  in 
(the  Temple  in)  Jerusalem. "'^^  More  than  this  it  was  at  the  hours 
of  temple  worship  that  the  Jews  everywhere  gathered  in  their  local 
synagogues,"  and  it  was  toward  the  Holy  City  that  every  Jew, 
alone  or  in  the  congregation,  turned  his  face  when  he  prayed.  The 
resemblance  of  the  synagogue  service  to  that  of  the  temple  will  be 
seen  by  comparing  the  outline  of  service  given  above  on  page  239 
with  the  following  order  of  the  temple  morning  song  service  which 
followed  the  dawn  sacrifice.'^ 

ORDER  OF  TEMPLE   MORNING   PRAYER  AND   SONG   SERVICE. 

1.  Selected  psalms  of  praise  and  thanksgiving. 

2.  Response  by  the  congregation. 

3.  Prayer  and  thanksgiving. 

4.  Reading  of  selections  from  the  Law. 

5.  The  Ten  Commandments. 

6.  The  Shema. 

In  addition  to  the  instruction  and  training  given  through  the 
services,  public  instruction  was  often  given  in  the  temple  courts. 
T6  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  I,  399a. 
"  Ibid.,  401a. 
78  Ibid.,  399. 


HEBREW   EDUCATION   IN   SCHOOL   AND   SOCIETY.  251 

This  custom,  probably  antedating  the  time  of  Jeremiah,  was  followed 
in  the  days  of  Jesus  and  undoubtedly  continued  till  the  final  destruc- 
tion of  the  Temple  70  A.  D. 

The  Temple  and  its  public  services  were  national  institutions. 

"The  Temple  was  the  approach  of  the  nation  to  their  God 

Its  standard  rites  were  performed  in  the  name  and  for  the  sake 
of  the  whole  people.  The  Tamid  or  standing  sacrifice  offered  twice 
a  day  on  the  high  altar  was  the  offering  of  the  nation.  Every  Jew 
contributed  to  its  maintenance.'**.  .  .  .  Each  of  its  celebrations  was 
attended  by  a  formal  committee  of  the  nation.  .  .  ."^° 

It  is  not  within  the  purpose  of  the  present  account  to  enter 
upon  a  history  of  the  Temple  and  its  varying  fortunes  nor  to  describe 
the  magnificence  of  its  structure  and  of  its  services.*^  It  arose  aloft 
above  the  city  on  its  holy  hill  like  the  temples  of  Athens.  Here  as 
in  Greece,  the  lofty  eminence  and  conspicuousness  of  its  position 
contributed  toward  keeping  it  ever  before  the  minds  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  city.  Every  day  was  ushered  in  by  a  national  sacrifice, 
marked  midway  by  a  second  one  and  closed  with  a  national  service 
of  prayer. 

"After  midnight  the  Captain  of  the  Temple  together  with  a 
number  of  priests  arose  from  their  beds  and  with  torches  in  their 
hands  went  through  the  Temple.  ...  to  see  if  everything  was  in  a 
state  of  preparation  for  worship  at  the  dawn  of  day.  As  soon  as  the 
watchers  upon  the  Tempel  ramparts  could  perceive  in  the  morning 
light  the  city  of  Hebron,  the  signal  was  given:  'the  light  shines  on 
Hebron'  and  the  sacrificial  victim  fell  under  the  hand  of  the  priest," 

"Immediately  after  the  immolation  came  a  service  of  prayer 
with  music  and  song.  This  was  followed  by  the  burning  of  incense 
upon  the  golden  altar,  at  which  the  priestly  blessing  was  pronounced. 
The  sacrificing  priest  then  performed  his  functions  at  the  Altar  of 
Burnt-oft'ering,  while  the  Levites  sang  psalms,  accompanied  by  the 
sound  of  tnnnpets.  Two  hours  and  a  half  from  mid-day  the  even- 
ing worship  began  with  the  slaughter  of  the  sacrificial  lamb.  Im- 
mediately after  sunset  the  evening  service  of  prayer  was  closed. "^^ 

^»  By  a  decree  of  the  council  issued  in  the  reign  of  Salome  Alexandria, 
every  Israelite,  proselytes  and  freed  slaves  inchided,  was  required  to  pay  at 
least  one-half  shekel  a  year  to  the  support  of  the  Temple.  H.  Graetz,  History 
of  the  Jews,  II,  52. 


80  G.  A.  Smith,  Jerusalem— to  70  A.  D.,  II,  522d-523b. 

81  For  Biblical  descriptions  see  2  Chronicles  xxix.  19-. 
[ ;  Ezekiel  xl-xli. 

82  Condensed  from  M.  Seidel,  In  the  Time  of  Jesus,  pp.  119-120. 


81  For  Biblical  descriptions  see  2  Chronicles  xxix.  19-36;  Ecclesiasticus  1 
1-21 ;  Ezekiel  xl-xli. 


252  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

Not  only  was  the  Temple  service  fraught  throughout  with  sym- 
bolism but  the  structure  and  organization  of  the  Temple  made  it  a 
monumental  object  lesson  teaching  the  holiness,  majesty  and  om- 
nipotence of  Yahweh.  "If  Josephus  be  right,  the  vast  entrance  of 
the  porch  symbolized  heaven ;  the  columns  of  the  first  veil,  the  ele- 
ments ;  the  seven  lamps,  the  seven  planets ;  the  twelve  loaves  of  the 
Presence,  the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  and  the  circuit  of  the  year ;  the 
Altar  of  Incense.  .  .  .that  God  is  the  possessor  of  all  things."*^ 

The  multitude  of  private  sacrifices  required  of  every  Jew  re- 
sulted in  making  the  influence  of  the  Temple  individual  as  well  as 
national.  To  visit  Jerusalem  and  worship  in  the  Temple  became  a 
life  desire  of  every  Jew.  Thousands  of  pilgrims  journeyed  thither 
each  year.  The  three  great  annual  festivals,  the  Passover,  the 
Pentecost,  the  Feast  of  the  Tabernacles  brought  together  Jews  from 
all  over  the  world.  Many  such  returned  home  inspired  and  strength- 
ened in  their  faith,  and  better  instructed  in  the  approved  methods 
of  religious  observances.  Thus  through  the  Temple  religion  and 
religious  education  were  unified,  standardized  and  nationalized. 

The  eft'ect  of  the  Temple  service  in  the  first  century  of  the 
Christian  era  upon  a  Hebrew  child  has  been  beautifully  set  forth 
by  Edersheim  and  forms  a  fitting  close  to  the  discussion  of  the 
educative  influence  of  the  Temple. 

"No  one  who  had  ever  worshiped  within  the  courts  of  Jehovah's 
house  at  Jerusalem  could  ever  have  forgotten  the  scenes  he  had 
witnessed  or  the  words  he  had  heard.  Standing  in  that  gorgeous, 
glorious  building,  and  looking  up  its  terraced  vista,  the  child  would 
watch  with  solemn  awe,  not  unmingled  with  wonderment  as  the 
great  throng  of  white-robed  priests  busily  moved  about,  while  the 
smoke  of  the  sacrifice  rose  from  the  altar  of  burnt-offering.  Then, 
amid  the  hushed  silence  of  that  vast  multitude,  they  had  all  fallen 
down  to  worship  at  the  time  of  incense.  Again,  on  those  steps  that 
led  up  to  the  innermost  sanctuary  the  priests  had  lifted  their  hands 
and  spoken  over  the  people  the  words  of  blessing ;  and  then,  while 
the  drink-oft'ering  was  poured  out,  the  Levites'  chant  of  Psalms  had 
risen  and  swelled  into  a  mighty  volume ;  the  exquisite  treble  of  the 
Levite  children's  voices  being  sustained  by  the  rich  round  notes  of 
the  men,  and  accompanied  by  instrumental  music.  The  Jewish  child 
knew  many  of  these  words.  They  had  been  the  earliest  songs  he 
had  heard — almost  his  first  lesson  when  clinging  at  a  'taph'  to 
his  mother.  But  now,  in  those  white-marbled,  gold-adorned  halls, 
83  G.  A.  Smith,  Jerusalem— to  70  A.  D.,  II,  p.  257. 


MISCELLANEOUS.  253 

under  heaven's  bine  canopy,  and  with  such  surroundings,  they  would 
fall  upon  his  ear  like  sounds  from  another  world,  to  wdiich  the  pro- 
longed threefold  blasts  from  the  silver  trumpets  of  the  priests  would 
seem  to  waken  him.  And  they  were  sounds  from  another  world ;  for, 
as  his  father  would  tell  him,  all  that  he  saw  was  after  the  exact 
pattern  of  heavenly  things  which  God  had  shown  to  Moses  on  Mount 
Sinai ;  all  that  he  heard  was  God-uttered,  spoken  by  Jehovah  Him- 
self through  the  mouth  of  His  servant  David,  and  of  the  other 
sweet  singers  of  Israel. "^^' 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

A  WOMAN  FREE. 
A  JVoiitaii  Free  and  Other  Pocuis^  is  a  collection  of  verses  by  Ruth  Le 
Prade  with  an  introduction  by  no  less  a  personage  than  Edwin  Markhani,  and 
indeed  the  verses  before  us  do  not  lack  poetic  inspiration  and  originality.  Per- 
haps it  is  characteristic  for  the  authoress  that  she  seeks  for  freedom  and  does 
not  know  what  freedom  means.     She  declares  her  freedom  saying: 

"I  am  a  woman  free.     Too  long 
I  was  held  captive  in  the  dust.    Too  long 
My  soul  was  surfeited  with  toil  or  ease 
And  rotted  as  the  pla3'thing  of  a  slave. 
I  am  a  woman  free  at  last 
After  the  crumbling  centuries  of  time. 
Free  to  achieve  and  understand; 
Free  to  become  and  live." 

This  is  perhaps  the  historical  explanation  of  the  development  of  woman 
and  she  now  becomes  typical  of  "the  free  woman."  Further  down  she  joyfully 
exclaims : 

"I  am  the  free  woman. 

No  longer  a  slave  to  man. 

Or  any  thing  in  all  the  universe —  •  • 

Not  even  to  myself. 

I  am  the  free  woman. 

I  hold  and  seek  that  which  is  mine : 

Strength  is  mine  and  purity; 

World  work  and  cosmic  love; 

The  glory  and  joy  of  ]\Iotherhood." 

What  is  the  woman  free?    Her  sympathy  is  broad.     She  says: 

"I  have  loved  winds  that  wander,  tossing  the  trees,  tossing  the  silver  leaves; 
Touching  my  body  softly  or  with  rude  strength ; 
Blowing  thru  my  hair;  saluting  me  and  passing  on. 

s-t  A.  Edersheim,  In  the  Days  of  Christ,  pp.  108-109. 

1  A  Woman  Free  and  Other  Poems.  By  Ruth.  Published  by  J.  F.  Rowny 
Press,  937  South  Hill  Street,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 


254  THE  OPEN  COURT. 

"I  have  loved  flowers  that  blow : 
Silver  lilies,  purple  poppies,  orange  flowers,  honeysuckles,  pansies,  lilacs, 
geraniums,  violets. 

"I  have  loved  winds  that  wander — 
But  I  have  loved  men  more. 

I  have  passionately  loved  the  flowers :  poppies,  orange  flowers,  geraniums, 
violets — • 

"But  more  passionately  have  I  loved  the  human  flowers : 
The  babies,  the  little  children,  the  schoolboy  and  the  schoolgirl,  the  young 
lovers,  the  old  lovers,  the  mother,  the  father,  the  worker. 

"Because  I  have  clasped  hands  with  nature  I  can  clasp  hands  more  know- 
ingly with  man. 

"Oh  more  than  everything  have  I  loved  man. 
I  have  loved  man  more  than  God — 
For  man  is  God  made  manifest." 

"I  am  a  woman  and  I  love : 
I  am  a  woman  and  I  love — 
Not  one  man  only,  but  all  men ; 
Not  one  child  only,  but  all  children ; 
And  not  one  nation,  but  the  world." 

One  poem  ends  with  the  italicized  lines : 

"There  is  no  price  too  great  to  pay  for  love. 
It  is  not  possible  to  love  too  much!" 

Her  patron  saint  is  Whitman : 

"Dear  Father,  you  called  for  those  who  were  to  justify  you. 
Behold  they  appear! 

"Oh  why  did  you  ask  to  be  justified? 
To  the  understanding  you  are  already  justified; 
And  to  the  rest  you  can  never  be. 

"Does  the  earth  need  to  be  justified?  or  the  sun? 
Wise  men  once  said  the  earth  was  flat. 
The  earth  in  its  greatness  was  silent. 
And  if  I,  gazing  at  the  sun, 
Contend  it  gives  no  light — 
I  merely  prove  myself  a  fool." 

Our  authoress  is  rather  hard  on  the  dry  professor  and  devotes  these  lines 
to  him : 

"I  said  to  the  dry  professor. 
In  the  midst  of  his  dust  and  cobwebs: 
'There  is  something  higher  than  reason.' 
He  laughed,  thinking  me  a  fool. 

"Oh  these  exalters  of  reason,  of  the  cold  intellect ; 
These  worshippers  at  the  tombs  of  the  dead; 
These  men  of  petty  vision  and  of  rules ! 


MISCELLANEOUS.  255 

With  dead  languages,  dead  philosophies,  dead  thoughts 
They  shut  themselves  from  the  sunlight, 
And  demand  that  others  do  likewise. 

"They  are  but  ghouls 
Feasting  on  the  dead." 

Possibly  the  professor  praises  reason  as  the  best  methods  to  argue  about 
the  truth,  but  he  may  after  all  know  that  life  is  worth  more  than  an  argument 
about  life,  and  the  health  of  the  body  better  than  an  essay  on  health. 

Formerly  the  body  was  regarded  as  the  seat  of  sin ;  the  "free  woman" 
praises  it  saying: 

"I  sing  the  beauty  of  the  body ; 
The  body  of  the  man,  of  the  woman,  of  the  child, 
The  body  of  youth,  maturity,  old  age. 
I  sing  the  beauty  of  the  body, 
The  human  body  strong  and  potent. 
The  human  body  marvelous  and  strange!" 

There  are  more  poems  containing  the  touch  of  true  poetry  such  as  lines 
on  the  caged  bird  and  the  caged  tiger  (pp.  45-46),  the  serpent  in  the  grass 
(p.  54)  ;  on  "the  pane  of  glass"  between  the  hungry  man  and  food  (p.  61),  or 
"the  man  and  the  mirror"  (p.  62),  or  "the  flower  of  love"  (p.  68)  ;  but  we 
must  leave  them  to  the  reader  to  find  out  that  the  free  woman  has  a  heart  as 
good  and  womanly  as  ever  a  woman  had.  We  will  conclude  by  quoting  the 
last  poem,  "Out  of  Chaos,"  which  refers  to  the  European  war  from  the  stand-, 
point  of  internationalism : 

Out  of  Chaos. 

"I  sit  alone  and  gaze  over  the  world, 
I  see  Europe  ravaged  by  the  Fiend  of  War. 
I  see  the  whole  world  tremble  'neath  its  feet. 

"I  see  the  men  of  Germany  hating  the  men  of  England. 
I  see  the  men  of  England  hating  the  men  of  Germany. 
I  see  them  butchering  each  other  upon  the  bloody  fields ; 
Dropping  bombs  upon  each  other ; 
Killing  each  other  with  poisonous  gases. 
I  see  the  men  in  the  submarines  sinking  the  huge  vessels. 
I  see  the  people  leap  into  the  black  water — and  disappear. 

"I  see  the  race  warring  against  itself 
With  all  the  hellish  cruelty  of  civilization. 

"Each  nation  prays  unto  its  God  for  victory. 

"I  see  the  harvest  of  the  thing  called  Patriotism 
Which  was  planted  in  the  human  heart  as  good — 
But  which  yields  only  race  hatred,  murder,  cruelty,  bestiality,  ignorance. 

"I  see  the  harvest  of  the  thing  called  Nationalism 
Which  sets  the  nations  at  each  other's  throats. 

"I  sit  alone  and  gaze  over  the  world. 
Filled  with  unutterable  anguish,  dumb  with  pain. 


J56  THE  OPEN   COURT. 

"I  sit  alone  and  gaze  over  the  world. 
And  then  my  soul  is  lifted  in  a  mighty  shout 
Prophetic  of  the  unity  of  man. 

"I  am  a  child  of  the  world. 
I  owe  allegiance  to  no  country  more  than  another  country; 
To  no  flag  more  than  another  flag; 
The  boundary  of  no  nation  hems  me  in; 

And  I  love  no  race  of  people  more  than  another  race  of  people. 
All  humanity  to  me  is  sacred, 
And  all  humanity  is  one. 

"(Shall  the  head  be  at  war  with  the  feet; 
And  the  hands  seek  to  tear  out  the  heart ; 
And  the  organism  through  ignorance  destroy  itself?) 

"Oh  a  man  is  a  man ! 
He  is  sacred  and  marvelous. 
It  matters  not  where  he  was  born ; 
Or  the  language  that  he  speaks. 
His  blood  is  precious. 
His  flesh  is  wonderful. 
He  is  the  child  of  God. 

"I  refuse  to  be  robbed  of  my  sanity. 
I  refuse  to  murder  my  brother — who  is  part  of  myself. 
I  extend  my  hands  to  him  saying, 
'You  are  my  comrade  and  I  love  you.'  " 


Mysticism  and  Modern  Life.  By  John  IVright  Buckham.  New  York:  Abing- 
don Press,  1915.  Pp.  256.  Price  $1.00  net. 
Dr.  Buckham,  for  many  years  professor  of  Christian  theology  at  Pacific 
Theological  Seminary,  has  contributed  largely  to  the  modern  literature  and 
thought  relating  to  mysticism  in  the  religious  life.  He  says  at  the  start  that 
this  volume  would,  npt  be  so  forbidding  to  the  casual  reader  if  he  had  sub- 
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forms  that  certain  popular  misconceptions  have  become  widespread  and  are  not 
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from  genuine  mysticism  to  be  even  a  parody  of  it."  In  a  chapter  on  "health 
mysticism,"  Dr.  Buckham  calls  attention  to  certain  inconsistencies  of  Christian 
Science  and  similar  mystical  cults  that  over-emphasize  the  physical  and  ma- 
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Thrilling  Tales  of  Haunted  Vessels,  Spectre 
Derelicts  and  Grewsome  Ships  of  Death 

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The 

American  Mathematical  Monthly 

OFFICIAL  ORGAN   OF 

The  Mathematical  Association  of  America 

Is  the  Only  Journal  of  Collegiate  Grade  in 
the  Mathematical  Field   in  this   Country 

This  ftieans  tliat  its  matheinatical  contributions  can  be  read  and  under- 
stood by  those  who  have  not  specialized  in  mathematics  beyond  the  Calculus. 

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grade,  are  based  upon  original  research. 

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interesting,  cover  a  wide  variety  of  topics. 

The  Book  Reviews  embrace  the  entire  field  of  collegiate 
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The  Curriculum  Content  in  the  collegiate  field  is  care- 
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ematics for  its  own  sake. 

There  are  other  journals  suited  to  the  Secondary  field,  and 
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The  Mathematical  Association  of  America  now  has  over  eleven  hundred  indi- 
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the  most  part,  hold  two  meetings  each  year.  All  meetings,  both  national  and  sectional, " 
are  reported  in  the  Official  Journal,  and  many  of  the  papers  presented  at  these  meetings 
are  published  in  full. 

Tlie  slogan  of  the  Association  is  to  include  in  its  meinbership  every  teacher 
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Application  blanks  for  membership  may  be  obtained  from  the  Secretary, 
Professor  W.  D.   Cairne,  Oberlin,  Ohio. 


The 

Origin  and  Philosophy  of  Language 

By  Ludwig  Noire 

Cloth,  $1.00 

"All  future  philosophy  will  be  a  philosophy  of  language." — Max  Muller. 


"Whoever  wishes  to  explain  humanity  must 
understand  what  is  human ;  he  must  know  the  points 
upon  which  everything  else  turns,  and  from  which 
everything  else  must  be  derived.  Language  con- 
tains the  key  to  the  problem,  and  whoever  seeks  it 
elsewhere  will  seek  in  vain." 

"  Here,"  continues  the  author,  after  showing  by 
a  number  of  well  chosen  instances  to  what  curious 
self-deceptions  reason  is  exposed  through  her  own 
creations,  "a  large  field  is  open  to  the  student  of 
language.  It  is  his  office  to  trace  the  original  mean- 
ing of  each  word,  to  follow  up  its  history,  its  changes 
of  form  and  meaning  in  the  schools  of  philosophy,  or 
in  the  market-place  and  the  senate.  He  ought  to 
know  how  frequently  the  same  idea  is  expressed  by 
different  terms.  A  history  of  such  terms  as  to  know 
and  to  believe.  Finite  and  Infinite,  Real  and  Neces- 
sary, would  do  more  than  anything  else  to  clear  the 
philosophical  atmosphere  of  our  days." 

Note. — This  edition  of  Noire's  valuable  treatise  on  lan- 
guage is  a  reprint  of  the  edition  published  by  Longmans,  Green 
&  Co.  in  London  in  1879  to  which  are  added  two  additional 
chapters  published  in  Chicago  in  1889  by  The  Open  Court 
Publishing  Company. 


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Collected  Logical  Works 

VOLUME  II 

By  GEORGE  BOOLE 

445  pages  Cloth  Price,  $3.00 


The  design  of  Collected  Logical  Works  is  to  investigate  the  funda- 
mental laws  of  those  operations  of  the  mind  by  which  reasoning  is  per- 
formed; to  give  expression  to  them  in  the  symbolical  language  of  a 
Calculus,  and  upon  this  foundation  to  establish  the  science  of  Logic  and 
construct  its  method;  to  make  that  method  itself  the  basis  of  a  general 
method  for  the  application  of  the  mathematical  doctrine  of  Probabilities ; 
and,  finally,  to  collect  from  the  various  elements  of  truth  brought  to  view 
in  the  course  of  these  inquiries  some  probable  intimations  concerning  the 
nature  and  constitution  of  the  human  mind. 

That  portion  of  this  book  which  relates  to  Logic  presupposes  in  its 
reader  a  knowledge  of  the  most  important  terms  of  the  science,  and  of  its 
general  object.  Some  acquaintance  with  the  principles  of  Algebra  is  also 
requisite,  but  it  is  not  necessary  that  this  application  should  have  been 
carried  beyond  the  solution  of  simple  equations.  For  the  study  of  those 
chapters  which  relate  to  the  theory  of  probabilities,  a  somewhat  larger 
knowledge  of  Algebra  is  required,  and  especially  of  the  doctrine  of 
Elimination,  and  the  solution  of  Equations  containing  more  than  one 
unknown  quantity. 

To  the  occupants  of  responsible  positions  where  decisive  and  logical 
thought  is  essential,  to  scholars  of  mathematics  and  philosophy,  and  to  all 
thinking  men,  this  book  is  recommended. 


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A  MODERN  JOB 

An  Essay  on  the  Problem,  of  Evil 

With  a  portrait  of  the  author  and  an  introduction  by  Archdeacon  Lilley.  92  pp.  Cloth,  75c. 

By  ETIENNE  GIRAN.     Translated  by  FRED  ROTHWELL 

PRESS  NOTES 

"A  Modern  Job"  is  a  work  which  cannot  fail  to  interest  the  clergy  and  Bible 
sttidents,  and,  no  doubt,  is  destined  to  attract  attention  in  such  quarters." — Los 
Angeles  Examiner. 

"A  powerful  essay  by  Etienne  Giran  which  presents  clearly  and  cogently  in 
impressive  language  the  problem  of  ewW." ^Mil^'aukce  Evening   Wisconsin. 

"Perhaps  this  work  is  inferior  to  tlic  original  Book  of  Job,  but,  though  we  do 
not  claim  to  be  experts,  we  like  this  Dutch  Job  better  than  his  ancient  prototype." 
— Nezv  York  Call. 

"A  cleverly  conceived   essay  on   the  problem  of   evil.". — London   Spectator. 

"Tlie  volume  is  worthy  of  careful  reading,  for  it  presents  various  tendencies 
found  in  our  world  today.  It  is  clear  and  inspiring." — International  Journal  uf 
Ethics. 

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The  Contingency  of  the  Laws  of  Nature 

By  Emile  Boutroux  of  the  French  Academy.  Translated  by  Fred  Roth- 
well.  With  a  portrait  of  the  author.   Pages,  x,  195.   Cloth,  $L50. 

COMMENTS  OF  THE  PRESS 

"There  are  some  startling  statements  in  the  book,  and  various  incidental  dis- 
cussions of  great  value. — The  Oxford  Alagaciue. 

"M.  Boutroux  wrote  this  book  in  1874  as  a  thesis  for  a  doctor's  degree  and 
expresses  surprise  at  the  attention  it  receives  after  this  interval.  The  explanation 
seems  to  be  that  the  central  idea  of  the  thesis,  deemed  paradoxical  at  the  time  of  its 
first  presentation,  is  receiving  careful  consideration  of  today's  philosophers." — Tlie 
New  York  World. 

"Prof.  Emile  Boutroux's  "Contingency  of  the  Laws  of  Nature,"  reveals  the 
action  of  the  keen  modern  intellect  on  the  ancient  problem  of  freedom  versus 
necessity." — Boston  Herald. 

"An  accurate  and  fluent  translation  of  the  philosophical  views  of  nearly  a  half  a 
century  ago." — New  York  Tribune. 

"A  valuable  contribution  to  the  literature  of  philosophy." — London  Review. 

"He  closes  his  essay  with  words  which  can  be  counted  upon  not  only  to 
astound  the  determinist,  but  to  make  even  the  average  scientist  feel  uncomfortable." 
— Boston  Transcript. 

"Thoughtful  analysis  of  natural  law." —  A^^tc  York  Times. 

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The  Polish  Peasant  in  Europe  and  America 


By     WILIjIAM     I.     THOMAS,     Professor     of     Sociology,     and     FLORIAN     ZNANIECKI, 
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Vols.  I  and  II.     Primary-Group  Organization 

The  materials  for  these  two  volumes  are  selected  from  about   15,000   peasant   letters. 
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The  Dramatization  of  Bible  Stories 


By  ELIZABETH  E.  MILLER,  Instructor  in  Art  in  the  School  of  Education,  the 
University  of  Chicago. 

An  invaluable  book  for  teachers  of  children  in  day  kindergartens  and  Sunday  schools. 
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by  which  teachers  of  history  and  literature  have  secured  such  good  results  in 
secular   education. 

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Social  Control 


SCOTT  E.  ^V.  BEDFORD,   Associate  Professor  of  Sociology,  the  University  of  Chicago, 
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Volume   XII   of   the   Publications   of   the   American    Sociological    Society. 
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Primitive    Social    Control;    and    Social    Control    of    Wealth. 

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Matthew's  Sayings  of  Jesus 


By   GEORGE   D.    CASTOR. 

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x  +  260    pages,    cloth;    $1.25,    postage   extra    (weight   1    lb.    .5    oz. ) 

The  Use  of  'J>y:^I2  in  Fifth-Century  Greek  Literature 

By  JOHN  W.    BEARDSLEE,   Jr.,   New   Brunswick   Theological   Seminary. 

The  author's  purpose  is  to  trace  the  history  of  the  Greek  word    (pvais    as  known  from 

its  actual   occurrences   in   extant   literature. 

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Scientific  Method   in  the    Reconstruction   of   Ninth -Grade 
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By  HAROLD  O.  RUGG,  Assistant  Professor  of  Education,  the  University  of  Chicago, 
and  J.  R.  CLARK,  Chairman  of  the  Department  of  Mathematics,  Harper  High  School, 
Chicago. 

A  report  of  experimentation  in  secondary  mathematics  during  1913-17,  and  an  evalua- 
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future    procedure. 

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Dawn  of  a  New  Religious  Era 

By  DR.  PAUL  CARUS 

Second  Revised  and  Enlarged  Edition.    Cloth,  $i.oo 

PRESS  NOTES 

"The  entire  conduct  of  Dr.  Carus's  life  has  been  animated  by  the  spirit  evidenced 
in  these  papers — that  of  a  scientific  search  for  truth," — Review  of  Reviews. 

"The  useful  work  which  Dr.  Carus  has  carried  on  for  so  many  years  in  The 
Open  Court  organization  and  its  publications  causes  him  to  deserve  well  of  the 
reading  public." — The  Baltimore  Evening  Sun. 

"Here  is  the  whole  religious  problem  in  a  nutshell." — Pittsburgh  Post. 

"Because  the  author  understands  that  which  is  passing  away,  we  feel  confidence 
in  his  leadership  into  the  untrodden  ways  which  open  before  the  constructive 
thinker." — New  York  Call. 

"The  volume  should  be  recommended  to  all  such  as  find  themselves  struggling 
between  religious  heredity  on  the  one  hand  and  the  freedom  of  spirit  on  the  other." 
— Bookseller,  Newsdealer  and  Stationer. 

"This  book,  the  most  able  religious  statement  of  recent  months,  is  one  which,  as  we 
have  said,  sums  up  a  life-work,  puts  on  record  the  motives  of  the  whole  Open 
Court  Publishing  House." — Fresno  Republican. 

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Early  Philosophical  Works 

By  DENIS  DIDEROT 

Translated  and  edited  by  Margaret  Jourdain 

2U  pages  PRESS  COMMENT  Price,  $1£5  net 

"Diderot's  range  is  extraordinary  and  is  worthy  to  be  studied  by  all  readers  of 
literary  tastes." — Book  Review  Digest. 

"Perhaps  the  most  comprehensive  mind  in  France  before  the  outbreak  of  the 
epoch-making  revolution  was  that  of  Diderot." — Rochester  Post  Express. 

"This  book  will  be  appreciated  by  all  who  have  philosophical  leanings." — Brook- 
lyn Eagle. 

"Miss  Jourdain  has  done  a  most  useful  piece  of  work  In  presenting  a  good 
translation  of  Diderot's  essays  with  careful  introduction,  appendices,  and  notes." 
— London  News  Statesman. 

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THREE  MEN  OF  JUDEA 

By 

HENRY  S.  STIX 

Pp.  112.     Price  $1. 00 

In  a  letter  to  the  publishers  the  author  says: 

"It  is  my  hope  that  this  little  book  may  in  a  small  measure  diminish  the  prejudice 
against  my  people.  It  is  not  written  for  scholars  but  for  those  honest  and  simple  minded 
folk  who  have  never  read  their  Bible  nor  thought  much  on  the  subject  of  religious  history, 
accepting  their  religion  like  their  politics,  as  a  sort  of  parental  heritage. 

'  'It  is  this  ignorance  that  has  created  a  wall  of  antagonism  between  Jew  and  Christian. 
If  I  could  break  down  this  barrier  between  two  great  religions  and  help  to  reconcile  their 
differences,  I  would  consider  my  humble  efforts  a  great  reward  for  many  thoughtful  hours 
I  have  spent  in  seeking  oiit  the  true  history  of  "Three  Men  of  Judea"  who  have  had  most 
to  do  with  the  founding  of  the  Christian  religion." 

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Geometrical  Lectures  of  Isaac  Barrow 

Translated  and  annotated,  with  proofs 
Cloth,  $1.25  ByJ.M.  CHILD  Pp.215 

"Isaac  Barrow  was  the  first  inventor  of  the  Infinitesimal  Calculus;  Newton  got 
the  main  idea  of  it  from  Barrow  by  personal  communication ;  and  Leibniz  also  was 
in  some  measure  indebted  to  Barrow's  work,  obtaining  confirmation  of  his  own 
ideas,  and  suggestions  for  their  further  development,  from  the  copy  of  Barrow's 
book  he  bought  in  1673." 

This  is  the  conclusion  that  forms  the  premise  from  which  Mr.  Child  works  in 
the  consideration  of  Barrow  and  his  predecessors,  and  his  advance  over  their  work, 
which  accompanies  the  translation.  Besides  the  work  of  Barrow's  predecessors, 
is  considered  the  life  of  Barrow,  his  connection  with  Newton  and  their  mutual  in- 
fluence, his  works,  his  genius,  the  sources  of  his  ideas,  the  original  from  which  the 
translation  is  made,  and  how  Barrow  made  his  construction.  It  is  a  careful  and 
thorough  working  over  of  the  material. 

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