SHYLOCK AND DERONDA.
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Daniel Deronda by George Eliott. What different conceptions of Jewish character would we form by reading them?
In Shylock his every word, expression and sentiment seems to proclaim his nationality, to label him as a Jew, and constantly, involuntarily, we associate him as such in our mind. We do not analyze and think of his qualities of heart and mind merely as those of a man but only as those of a Jew.
In Daniel Deronda this phase of the character is greatly modified, in fact almost lost sight of, although we are aware that it exists. He appears to us as a pure, unworldly man, who in daily routine of life conforms to the principles of Christianity practiced about him, instead of expressing hatred and disgust for them. Nowhere is such a spirit of antagonism displayed as when Shylock says of Antonio, "How like a fawning publican he looks! I hate him for he is a Christian." True Shylock pleads most eloquently for his race and sets forth the persecutions and intolerance of the Christian most advantageously for his cause, yet there is not the same disinterested enthusiasm and conscientious feeling as in Daniel Deronda. What a deep current of self-interest seems to pervade the whole character of Shylock,
when brought into comparison with the broad sympathies for his people displayed by Daqiel Deronda, when he says of them; "If I can see any work to be done for them that I can give my heart and soul to, I shall choose to do it." What a strong conviction and sense of duty he shows when, in expressions of gratitude to his mother for making known his nationality, he says, "You have saved me from robbing my people of my service and me of my duty."
Plainly the character of Shylock is more sharply defined and distinctively Jewish, but we must remember that Daniel Deronda although a Jew, still had lived for the greater part of his life among Christians, and had been surrounded by Christian influences. In point of feeling and disposition Mordecai is nearer Shylock.
But both Shylock and Deronda, although differing widely from each other, are strong, finely drawn characters. As the center of a tragedy the former seems particularly well fitted, giving it strength and solidity, while the latter as the hero of a novel is well calculated to preserve the interest of the reader.
IMPERIAL AVARICE.
Great Britain is the Rome of the nineteenth century. If the Roman could claim possessions in every part of the known world, so the Englishman can boast of a land on which the sun never sets. The same spirit of conquest has urged each to glory and dominion. Rome became a
mighty nation by continual subjugation and annexation. The British Empire has grown to its present dimensions by the same process. Nor was the feeling of envy nor the desire for domination any stronger in the breast of the Roman than it is in the inhabitant of the great isle to-day. Time has