Goldschmidt's double nationality, as a
Danish-born Jew, indicates his position and the source from which he
drew his weakness and his strength. As a Jew he saw and judged the
Danish character, and as a Dane he saw and judged the Jewish character
with a liberality and insight of which no autochthon would have been
capable. For all that his tales aroused anything but friendly feelings
among his own people. They felt it to be a profanation thus to expose
the secluded domestic and religious life of the children of Israel. It
is to this sentiment that Dr. Brandes has given utterance in his protest
against "perpetually serving up one's grandmother with sauce piquante."
An author who is born into an age of transition, when old faiths are
passing away and new ones are struggling for recognition, is placed in
a serious dilemma. Where he makes his choice by mere temperamental bias,
he is apt to miss that element of growth which is involved in every
spiritual struggle. But if, as is so frequently the case, he finds his
choice in a measure made for him, his education, kinships, and worldly
advantage identifying him with the established order, it takes a
tremendous amount of courage and character to break away from old
moorings and steer, without other compass than a sensitive conscience,
toward the rosy dawn of the unknown.
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