If the statistics are right the Jews constitute but _one per cent._ of
the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star dust lost in the
blaze of the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of;
but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the
planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is
extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His
contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science,
art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are always away out
of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous
fight in this world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands
tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it. The
Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with
sound and splendor then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek
and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and were gone; other
people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it
burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw
them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no
decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing
of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things
are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is
the secret of his immortality?
_FROM_ “CHRISTIAN SCIENCE” (1898)