This page has been validated.
10
George Eliot and Judaism.

attachment to the ancient land of their birth, the sentiment of a long-lost home lay in their hearts, towards which they were drawn by peaceful longing expressed in heartfelt songs and prayers, not in rebellious or perfidious efforts for freedom,—in wishes and in hopes, not in deeds and strivings. Fusion with the nations of the earth was forbidden them, even had the laws of those nations permitted it; and therefore they have brought their old facial traits down to posterity along with the teachings of their forefathers.

In this inquiry we must not overlook the fact that it is only in this century that the idea of Nationality has reappeared in all Its antique sharpness of outline; and that, so late as the end of last century, it was regarded as the highest achievement of culture to have triumphed over national narrowness by presaging Universal Humanity. Mediævalism, which in the