Chapter 20

THE HERITAGE

One of the inherent disadvantages of premature biography is that it cannot go to the natural end of the story. This difficulty threatened me in the beginning, but now I find I do not need to tax my judgment to fix the proper stopping-place. Sudden qualms of reluctance warn me where the past and present meet. I have reached a point where my yesterdays lie in a quick heap, and I cannot bear to prod and turn them and set them up to be looked at. For that matter, I am not sure that I should add anything really new, even if I could force myself to cross the line of discretion. I have already shown what a real thing is this American freedom that we talk about, and in what manner a certain class of aliens make use of it. Anything that I might add of my later adventures would be a repetition, in substance, of what I have already described. Having traced the way an immigrant child may take from the ship through the public schools, passed on from hand to hand by the ready teachers; through free libraries and lecture halls, inspired by every occasion of civic consciousness; dragging through the slums the weight of private disadvantage, but heartened for the effort by public opportunity; welcomed at a hundred open doors of instruction, initiated with pomp and splendor and flags unfurled seeking, in American minds, the American way, and finding it in the thoughts of the noble,--striving against the odds of foreign birth and poverty, and winning, through the use of abundant opportunity, a place as enviable as that of any native child,--having traced the footsteps of the young immigrant almost to the college gate, the rest of the course may be left to the imagination. Let us say that from the Latin School on I lived very much as my American schoolmates lived, having overcome my foreign idiosyncrasies, and the rest of my outward adventures you may read in any volume of American feminine statistics.

But lest I be reproached for a sudden affectation of reserve, after having trained my reader to expect the fullest particulars, I am willing to add a few details. I went to college, as I proposed, though not to Radcliffe. Receiving an invitation to live in New York that I did not like to refuse, I went to Barnard College instead. There I took all the honors that I deserved; and if I did not learn to write poetry, as I once supposed I should, I learned at least to think in English without an accent. Did I get rich? you may want to know, remembering my ambition to provide for the family. I can reply that I have earned enough to pay Mrs. Hutch the arrears, and satisfy all my wants. And where have I lived since I left the slums? My favorite abode is a tent in the wilderness, where I shall be happy to serve you a cup of tea out of a tin kettle, and answer further questions.

And is this really to be the last word? Yes, though a long chapter of the romance of Dover Street is left untold. I could fill another book with anecdotes, telling how I took possession of Beacon Street, and learned to distinguish the lord of the manor from the butler in full dress. I might trace my steps from my bare room overlooking the lumber-yard to the satin drawing-rooms of the Back Bay, where I drank afternoon tea with gentle ladies whose hands were as delicate as their porcelain cups. My journal of those days is full of comments on the contrasts of life, that I copied from my busy thoughts in the evening, after a visit to my aristocratic friends. Coming straight from the cushioned refinement of Beacon Street, where the maid who brought my hostess her slippers spoke in softer accents than the finest people on Dover Street, I sometimes stumbled over poor Mr. Casey lying asleep in the corridor; and the shock of the contrast was like a searchlight turned suddenly on my life, and I pondered over the revelation, and wrote touching poems, in which I figured as a heroine of two worlds.

I might quote from my journals and poems, and build up the picture of that double life. I might rehearse the names of the gracious friends who admitted me to their tables, although I came direct from the reeking slums. I might enumerate the priceless gifts they showered on me; gifts bought not with gold but with love. It would be a pleasant task to recall the high things that passed in the gilded drawing-rooms over the afternoon tea. It would add a splendor to my simple narrative to weave in the portraits of the distinguished men and women who busied themselves with the humble fortunes of a school-girl. And finally, it would relieve my heart of a burden of gratitude to publish, once for all, the amount of my indebtedness to the devoted friends who took me by the hand when I walked in the paths of obscurity, and led me, by a pleasanter lane than I could have found by myself, to the open fields where obstacles thinned and opportunities crowded to meet me. Outside America I should hardly be believed if I told how simply, in my experience, Dover Street merged into the Back Bay. These are matters to which I long to testify, but I must wait till they recede into the past.

I can conjure up no better symbol of the genuine, practical equality of all our citizens than the Hale House Natural History Club, which played an important part in my final emancipation from the slums. For all I was regarded as a plaything by the serious members of the club, the attention and kindness they lavished on me had a deep significance. Every one of those earnest men and women unconsciously taught me my place in the Commonwealth, as the potential equal of the best of them. Few of my friends in the club, it is true, could have rightly defined their benevolence toward me. Perhaps some of them thought they befriended me for charity's sake, because I was a starved waif from the slums. Some of them imagined they enjoyed my society, because I had much to say for myself, and a gay manner of meeting life. But all these were only secondary motives. I myself, in my unclouded perception of the true relation of things that concerned me, could have told them all why they spent their friendship on me. They made way for me because I was their foster sister. They opened their homes to me that I might learn how good Americans lived. In the least of their attentions to me, they cherished the citizen in the making.

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The Natural History Club had spent the day at Nahant, studying marine life in the tide pools, scrambling up and down the cliffs with no thought for decorum, bent only on securing the starfish, limpets, sea-urchins, and other trophies of the chase. There had been a merry luncheon on the rocks, with talk and laughter between sandwiches, and strange jokes, intelligible only to the practising naturalist. The tide had rushed in at its proper time, stealing away our seaweed cushions, drowning our transparent pools, spouting in the crevices, booming and hissing, and tossing high the snowy foam.

From the deck of the jolly excursion steamer which was carrying us home, we had watched the rosy sun dip down below the sea. The members of the club, grouped in twos and threes, discussed the day's successes, compared specimens, exchanged field notes, or watched the western horizon in sympathetic silence.

It had been a great day for me. I had seen a dozen new forms of life, had caught a hundred fragments of the song of nature by the sea; and my mind was seething with meanings that crowded in. I do not remember to which of my learned friends I addressed my questions on this occasion, but he surely was one of the most learned. For he took up all my fragments of dawning knowledge in his discourse, and welded them into a solid structure of wisdom, with windows looking far down the past and a tower overlooking the future. I was so absorbed in my private review of creation that I hardly realized when we landed, or how we got into the electric cars, till we were a good way into the city.

At the Public Library I parted from my friends, and stood on the broad stone steps, my jar of specimens in my hand, watching the car that carried them glide out of sight. My heart was full of a stirring wonder. I was hardly conscious of the place where I stood, or of the day, or the hour. I was in a dream, and the familiar world around me was transfigured. My hair was damp with sea spray; the roar of the tide was still in my ears. Mighty thoughts surged through my dreams, and I trembled with understanding.

I sank down on the granite ledge beside the entrance to the Library, and for a mere moment I covered my eyes with my hand. In that moment I had a vision of myself, the human creature, emerging from the dim places where the torch of history has never been, creeping slowly into the light of civilized existence, pushing more steadily forward to the broad plateau of modern life, and leaping, at last, strong and glad, to the intellectual summit of the latest century.

What an awful stretch of years to contemplate! What a weighty past to carry in memory! How shall I number the days of my life, except by the stars of the night, except by the salt drops of the sea?

But hark to the clamor of the city all about! This is my latest home, and it invites me to a glad new life. The endless ages have indeed throbbed through my blood, but a new rhythm dances in my veins. My spirit is not tied to the monumental past, any more than my feet were bound to my grandfather's house below the hill. The past was only my cradle, and now it cannot hold me, because I am grown too big; just as the little house in Polotzk, once my home, has now become a toy of memory, as I move about at will in the wide spaces of this splendid palace, whose shadow covers acres. No! it is not I that belong to the past, but the past that belongs to me. America is the youngest of the nations, and inherits all that went before in history. And I am the youngest of America's children, and into my hands is given all her priceless heritage, to the last white star espied through the telescope, to the last great thought of the philosopher. Mine is the whole majestic past, and mine is the shining future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

_To my mother who bore me; to my father who endowed me; to my brothers and sisters who believed in me; to my friends who loved me; to my teachers who inspired me; to my neighbors who befriended me; to my daughter who enlarged me; to my husband who opened the door of the greater life for me;--to all these who helped to make this book, I give my thanks._

GLOSSARY

KEY TO PRONUNCIATION

a as in man ä as in far e as in met [=e] as in meet ë as long e in German Leder i as in pin [=i] as in file o as in not [=o] as in note ö as in German König u as in circus [=u] as in mute [.u] as in pull ai as in aisle oi as in joint ch as in German ach, Scotch loch [h.] as in German ach, Scotch loch l as in failure ñ as in cañon zh as z in seizure.

+----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Transcriber's Note: | | | | The diacritical marks used in the pronunciations for the | | original text are not available in the standard text | | character set. | | | | The following substitutions have been made: | | | | The macron (long bar) used over e, i, o, and u are represented | | as [=e], [=i], [=o] and [=u]. | | The diacritical u with a dot above, is represented as [.u]. | | The diacritical h with a dot below, is represented as [h.]. | | The diacritical l with a circumflex (hat ^) above, is | | represented as [^l]. | +----------------------------------------------------------------+

_Explanations_

The abbreviations _Germ._ (= German), _Hebr._ (= Hebrew), _Russ._ (= Russian), and _Yid._ (= Yiddish) indicate the origin of a word. Most of the names marked _Yiddish_ are such in form only, the roots being for the most part Hebrew.

Prop. n = proper name.

The endings _ke_ and _le_ of Yiddish proper names (Mashke, Perele) have a diminutive or endearing value, like the German _chen_ (Helenchen).

Double names are given under the first name.

The religious customs described prevail among the Orthodox Jews of European countries. In the United States they have been considerably modified, especially among the Reformed Jews.

=Ab= (äb) _Hebr._ The fifth month of the Hebrew calendar. The ninth of Ab is a day of fasting and mourning, in commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.

=Adonai= (ä-do-nai´), _Hebr._ An appellation of God.

=Aleph= (ä'-lef), _Hebr._ The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

=Atonement, Day of= (Hebrew, _Yom Kippur_). The most solemn of the Hebrew festivals, observed by fasting and an elaborate ceremonial.

=Bahur= (bä´-hur), _Hebr._ A young unmarried man, particularly a student of the Talmud. (See _Yeshibah bahur_.)

=Berl= (berl). _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Cabala= (käb-ä´-lä), _Hebr._ A system of Hebrew mystic philosophy which flourished in the Middle Ages.

=Candle Prayer= (Yiddish, _licht bentschen_). Prayer pronounced over lighted candles by the women and older girls of the household at the commencement of the Sabbath.

=Canopy, wedding= (Hebrew _huppah_). A portable canopy under which the marriage ceremony is performed, usually outdoors.

=Cossaks= (kos´-aks), _Russ._ A name given to certain Russian tribes, formerly distinguished for their freebooting habits, now best known for their position in the army.

=Dayyan= (dai´-an), _Hebr._ A judge to whom are submitted civil disputes, as distinguished from purely religious questions, which are decided by the Rav.

=Dinke= (din´-ke), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Dvina= (dv[=e]´-nä), _Russ._ Name of a river.

=Dvornik= (dvor´-nik), _Russ._ An outdoor man; a choreman.

=Dvoshe= (dvo´-she), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Earlocks= (Hebrew _peath_). Two locks of hair allowed to grow long and hang in front of the ears. Among the fanatical Hasidim, a mark of piety.

=Eidtkuhnen= (eit-koo´-ñen), _Germ._ Name of a Russo-German frontier town.

=Fetchke= (fëtch´-ke), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Fringes, sacred= (Hebrew _zizit_). Specially prepared fringes fastened to the four corners of the _arba kanfot_ (literally, "four-corners"), a garment worn by all pious males underneath the jacket or frock coat, usually with the fringes showing. The latter play a part in the daily ritual.

=Goluth= (gol´-ut), _Hebr._ Banishment; exile.

=Good Jew= (Yiddish _guter id_). Among the Hasidim, a title popularly accorded to more or less learned individuals distinguished for their piety, and credited with supernatural powers of healing, divination, etc. Pilgrimages to some renowned "Good Jew" were often undertaken by the very pious, on occasions of perplexity or trouble, for the purpose of obtaining his advice or help.

=Groschen= (gro´-shen), _Germ._ A popular name for various coins of small denomination, especially the half-kopeck.

=Gutke= (gut´-ke), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Hannah Hayye= ([h.]än´-a [h.]ai´-e), _Hebr._ Prop. n.

=Hasid=, pl. =Hasidim= ([h.]äs´-id, [h.]as-id´-im), _Hebr._ A numerous sect of Jews distinguished for their enthusiasm in religious observance, a fanatical worship of their rabbis and many superstitious practices.

=Haven Mirel= ([h.]a´-ve mirl), _Hebr._ and _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Hayye Dvoshe= ([h.]ai´-e dvo´-she), _Hebr._ and _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Hayyim= ([h.]ai´-im), _Hebr._ Prop. n.

=Hazzan= ([h.]äz-an), _Hebr._ Cantor in a synagogue.

=Heder= ([h.]ë´-der), _Hebr._ Elementary Hebrew school, usually held at the teacher's residence.

=Henne Rösel= (he´-ñe rözl), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Hirshel= (hir´-shl), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Hode= (ho´-de), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Horn, ram's= (Hebrew _shofar_). Ritual horn, used in the synagogue during the great festivals.

=Hossen= ([h.]o´-ssn), _Hebr._ Bridegroom; prospective bridegroom; betrothed.

=Humesh= ([h.][.u]´-mesh), _Hebr._ The Pentateuch.

=Icon= ([=i]´-kon) _Russ._ A representation of Christ or some saint, usually in an elaborate frame, found in every orthodox Russian house.

=Itke= (it´-ke), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Jew, Good.= See under =Good=.

=Kibart= (ki-bärt´), _Russ._ Name of a town.

=Kiddush= (kid´-ush), _Hebr._ Benediction pronounced over a cup of wine before the Sabbath evening meal.

=Kimanye= (ki-mä´-ñe), _Russ._ Name of a village.

=Kimanyer= (ki-mä´-ñer), _Yid._ Belonging to or hailing from the village of Kimanye.

=Knupf= (knupf), _Yid._ A sort of turban.

=Kopeck= (ko´-pek), _Russ._ A copper coin, the 1/100 part of a ruble, worth about half a cent.

=Kopistch= (ko´-pistch), _Russ._ Name of a town.

=Kosher= (ko´-sher), _Hebr._ Clean, according to Jewish ritual law; opposed to =tref=, unclean. Applied chiefly to articles of diet and cooking and eating vessels.

=Lamden= (läm´-den), _Hebr._ Scholar; one versed in Hebrew learning.

=Law, the= (specifically used). The Mosaic Law; the Torah.

=Lebe= (lë´-be), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Loaf, Sabbath.= See under Sabbath.

=Lozhe= (lo´-zhe), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Lubavitch= (l[.u]-bäv´-itch), _Russ._ Name of a town.

=Maryashe= (mär-yä´-she), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Mashinke= (mä´-shin-ke), _Yid._ A diminutive of Mashke.

=Mashke= (mäsh´-ke), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Mendele= (men´-del-e), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Mezuzah= (me-zu´-zä), _Hebr._ A piece of parchment inscribed with a passage of Scripture, rolled in a case and tacked to the doorpost. The pious touch or kiss this when leaving or entering a house.

=Mikweh= (mik´-we), _Hebr._ Ritual bath, constructed and used according to minute directions.

=Mirele= (mir´-e-le), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Mishka= (mish´-kä), _Russ._ Prop. n.

=Moon, blessing of.= Benediction pronounced at the appearance of the new moon.

=Moshe= (mo´-she), _Yid._ Prop, n., a form of Moses.

=Möshele= (mo´-she-le), _Yid._ Prop, n., diminutive of Moshe.

=Mulke= (m[.u][^l]´-ke), _Yid._ Prop, n., diminutive of Mulye.

=Mulye= (m[.u][^l]´-e), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Na!= (nä), _Yid._ Here you are! Take it!

=Nohem= (no´-[h.]em), _Hebr._ Prop. n.

=Nu, nu!= (n[.u], n[.u]), _Yid._ Well, well.

=Oi, weh!= (oi, vë), _Yid._ Woe is me!

=Oven, sealing of.= As no fire is kindled on the Sabbath, the Sabbath dinner is cooked on Friday afternoon and left in the brick oven overnight. The oven is tightly closed with a board or sheet of metal, wet rags being stuffed into the interstices.

=Passover= (Hebrew, _pesech_). The feast of Unleavened Bread, commemorating the escape of the Israelites from Egypt.

=Passport, foreign.= A special passport required of any Russian subject wishing to go to a foreign country. To avoid the necessity of procuring such a passport, travellers often cross the border by stealth.

=Perele= (per´-e-le), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Phylacteries= (fi-lak´-ter-is; Hebrew _tefillin_). Two small leathern boxes containing parchments inscribed with certain passages of Scripture, worn during morning prayer, one on the forehead and one on the left arm, where they are fastened by means of straps, in a manner carefully prescribed. The wearing of the _tefillin_ is obligatory on all males over thirteen years of age (the age of confirmation).

=Pinchus= (pin´-chus), _Hebr._ Prop. n.

=Pogrom= (po-grom´), _Russ._ An organized massacre of Jews.

=Poll= (pol), _Yid._ A series of steps in the bathing-room, where cupping, etc., is done under a high temperature.

=Polota= (Po-lo-tä´), _Russ._ Name of a river.

=Polotzk= (po´-lotzk), _Russ._, also spelled Polotsk. A town in the government of Vitebsk, Russia, since early times a stronghold of Jewish orthodoxy. _N.B._ Polotzk must not be confused with Plotzk (also spelled Plock), the capital of the government of Plotzk, in Russian Poland, about 400 miles southwest of Polotzk.

=Praying Shawl= (Hebrew, _tallit_). A fine white woollen shawl with sacred fringes (_zizit_), in the four corners, worn by males after marriage, during certain devotional exercises.

=Purim= (p[.u]´-rim), _Hebr._ A feast in commemoration of the deliverance of the Persian Jews, through the intervention of Esther, from the massacre planned by Haman. Masquerading, feasting, exchange of presents, and general license make this celebration the jolliest of the Jewish year.

=Questions, the Four.= At the Passover feast, the youngest son (or, in the absence of a son of suitable age, a daughter) asks four questions as to the significance of various symbolic articles used in the ceremonial, in reply to which the family read the story of Exodus.

=Rabbi= (rab´-[=i]), _Hebr._ A title accorded to men distinguished for learning and authorized to teach the Law. As used in the present work, _rabbi_ is identical with the official title of _rav_, which see.

=Rabbonim= (räb-on´-im), _Hebr._ Plural of _rabbi_.

=Rav= (räv), _Hebr._ The spiritual head of a Jewish community, whose duties include the settlement of ritualistic questions.

=Reb'= (reb), _Yid._ An abbreviation of _rebbe_, used as a title of respect, equivalent to the old-fashioned English "master."

=Rebbe= (reb´-e), _Yid._ Colloquial form of _rabbi_. A Hebrew teacher. Applied usually to teachers of lesser rank; also used as a title for a "Good Jew"; as, the Rebbe of Kopistch.

=Rebbetzin= (reb´-e-tzin), _Yid._ Female Hebrew teacher.

=Riga= (ri´-gä), _Russ._ Name of a city.

=Ruble= (r[.u]´-bl), _Russ._ The monetary unit of Russia. A silver coin (or, more commonly, a paper bill) worth a little over fifty cents.

=Sabbath Loaf= (Hebrew, _hallah_). A wheaten loaf of peculiar shape used in the Sabbath ceremonial.

=Sacred Fringes.= See under =Fringes=.

=Shadchan= (shäd´-chan), _Hebr._ Professional match-maker; marriage broker.

=Shawl, Praying.= See under =Praying=.

=Shema= (shmä), _Hebr._ The verse recited as the Jewish confession of faith ("Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One"); so called from the initial word. The "Shema" recurs constantly in the daily ritual, and is informally repeated on every occasion of distress, or as a charm to ward off evil influences.

=Shohat= (sho´-[h.]at), _Hebr._ Slaughterer of cattle according to ritual law.

=Succoth= (s[.u]´-kot), _Hebr._ The feast of Tabernacles, celebrated with many symbolic rites, among these being the eating of the festive meals outdoors, in a booth or bower of lattice work covered with evergreens.

=Talakno= (täl-äk-no´), _Russ._ Meal made of ground oats, often mixed with other grains or with weeds. An important article of diet among the peasants, generally moistened with cold water and eaten raw.

=Talmudists= (tal´-m[.u]d-ists; from Hebrew _talmud_). The compilers of the Talmud (the body of Jewish traditional lore); scholars versed in the teachings of the Talmud.

=Tav= (täv), _Hebr._ The last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

=Torah= (t[=o]´-rä), _Hebr._ The Mosaic Law; the book or scroll of the Law; sacred learning.

=Trefah= (trëf´-a), _Hebr._ Unclean, according to ritual law; opposed to kosher, clean. Chiefly applied to articles of food and eating and cooking vessels.

=Versbolovo= (vers-bo-lo´-vä), _Russ._ Name of a town.

=Verst= (vyerst), _Russ._ A measure of length, about two-thirds of an English mile.

=Vilna= (vil´-nä), _Russ._ Name of a city.

=Vitebsk= (vi´-tebsk), _Russ._ Name of a city.

=Vodka= (vod´-kä), _Russ._ A kind of whiskey distilled from barley or from potatoes, constantly indulged in by the lower classes in Russia, especially by the peasants.

=Wedding Canopy.= See under =Canopy=.

=Yachne= (Yäch´-ne), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Yakub= (yä-k[.u]b´), _Russ._ Prop. n.

=Yankel= (yän´-kl), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Yeshibah= (ye-shib´-ä), _Hebr._ Rabbinical school or seminary.

=Yeshibah Bachur=, a student in a _yeshibah_.

=Yiddish= (yid´-ish), _Yid._ Judeo-German, the language of the Jews of Eastern Europe. The basis is an archaic form of German, on which are grafted many words of Hebrew origin, and words from the vernacular of the country.

=Yochem= (yo´-chem), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Yuchovitch= (y[.u]-chov-itch´), _Russ._ Name of a village.

=Zaddik= (tzä´-dik), _Hebr._ A man of piety; a holy man.

=Zalmen= (zäl´-men), _Yid._ Prop. n.

=Zimbler= (tzim´-bler), _Yid._ A performer on the _zimble_, an instrument constructed like a wooden tray, with several wires stretched across lengthwise, and played by means of two short rods.

The Riverside Press CAMBRIDGE. MASSACHUSETTS U.S.A.

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