Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/385



all he  asked  was  to  be  let  alone,  and  here  that  bless- ing was granted  him  more  fully  than  m  any  country he had  ever  seen. Gold and  golden  opportunities, money-making and  freedom  of  thought,  speech,  and action, these  were  here,  and  these  were  the  Jews' earthly paradise.

So Jeshurun  waxed  fat  and  kicked. He did  not love work,  so  he  carefully  kept  out  of  the  mines;  but in every  mining  town  was  found  his  clothing  store, his fruit  and  trinket  shop,  his  cheap  John  establish- ment. And in  the  cities  he  built  him  a  synagogue, and warehouses  upon  the  streets  devoted  to  merchan- dise, and dwellings  in  the  choicest  suburbs. Hotels and watering-places  were  filled  with  his  presence ; secret societies  felt  his  influence ;  but  otherwise,  save in his  trafficking,  he  held  aloof  from  gentile  associa- tions.

Liberalized by  environment  the  Jews  cared  little for the  tenets  of  their  faith ;  many  of  them  forsook God; few  closed  their  shops  on  a  Saturday;  some sacrificed unto  new  gods;  few  took  to  themselves  the daughters of  gentiles  to  wife. Nevertheless they  yet retained their  ancient  rites,  which  proved  as  bands holding them  in  one  brotherhood.

True they  shared  with  the  Asiatic  and  the  Ameri- canized Spaniard the  antipathy  of  the  dominant  race, with this  difference  :  the  antipathy  manifested  toward the Jew  was  perpetual  and  unattended  by  violent demonstrations, while  repugnance  to  the  Chilean  and Chinaman broke  out  into  occasional  bloody  encounters. In this  inspiring  of  dislike  they  excelled  all  other people ; though  they  did  not  seem  to  take  it  greatly to heart,  and  disliked  as  evenly  and  serenely  in  return. Money was  the  humanizing  bond  however ;  Christian and Jew  loved  money.

Here, as  elsewhere,  they  mingled  freely  with  the people, more  freely,  perhaps,  than  anywhere  else  since the days  of  Abraham,  though  they  mixed  with  them as little  as  ever. Though crafty  and  cunni