CHAPTER IV
GOVERNOR OF HAIFA
Montella was alone in his study, with books and papers scattered on the table before him; but although he was apparently reading, very little of the printed matter penetrated so far as his brain. Deep in thought, his brow was furrowed with lines which should not have appeared on the forehead of so young a man; indeed, his whole appearance bore evidence to the fact that he had been severely tried. It was possible that the responsibility of governing the English portion of Palestine weighed too heavily upon his shoulders, or that he took upon himself more than was absolutely necessary for the welfare of his people. Certain it was that his energies were boundless, and that nothing was too great for him to achieve; but he could not spend himself without losing some of his inherent vitality, and while he was indefatigable in his efforts for the public good, his own health suffered from lack of care.
There is nothing which ages a human being so quickly as worry; and of this Montella had his share. The race for wealth among the Europeans in Palestine was keener even than it had been in the West, and the unscrupulous greed of the people, who, in the ardour of competition would financially cut each other’s throats, grieved him more than he cared to own. Not satisfied with comfort and peace in the new land, their one desire was to attain to wealth, the means to which entailed the cost of suffering to hundreds less fortunate than themselves. To Montella it was like a disease, sapping the moral strength of the people at the very root; but neither he nor his colleagues were able to conquer it; all they could do was to deprecate the evil.
And now there was a new difficulty with which to contend. Montella had seen it coming almost from the first, but he had ever done his best to drive it back. It arose from the relations twixt civil and religious Judaism, and threatened to cause a serious split in the camp. The Chief Rabbi of Palestine, Ben Yetzel, desired to exercise supreme authority in imitation of the papal power, whereas Montella and his party opposed despotism in religious matters, and favoured freedom of thought. To those who wished for progress and the civilising influences of the West, rigid orthodoxy was well-nigh impossible, and they chafed beneath its yoke; but the sacerdotal dignitaries declared that the loosening of the ceremonial ties would eventually mean the downfall of Judaism, and insisted on the strict enforcement of the letter of the law. It was the old well-known quarrel between Church and State, each striving for the mastery, and neither prepared to grant the concessions which would make for peace. And the Jews, although lacking nothing in astuteness, were unable to profit by the experience of other countries once similarly placed. They were obliged to learn their hard lesson alone.
The Chief Rabbi’s recent visit to Haifa had been an inauspicious event. Although famed for his piety and scholarship, the great man’s views were of necessity cramped by his narrow surroundings. He might have been a Hillel or a Gamaliel had he lived in Hillel’s day; but he could not realise the doctrine of evolution with regard to the moral nature of man; and to him the world continued in the same stage of development as it existed two thousand years ago. Therefore there were many customs of the English Jews in Haifa of which he keenly disapproved; and that the Governor’s wife should be of Gentile birth but added to his ire. Montella, ardent upholder of Judaism though he ever remained, was at the same time clear-headed and rational, and had no patience with the Talmudic narrowness which converted a thoughtful man into a mere automaton. His principles of sincerity and truth abolished all the ceremonial observances which had degenerated into empty forms; and he hated anything approaching priest-craft, even though it were Jewish. His opinions, happily for himself, were shared by the most intelligent of his colleagues, who openly showed their resentment towards the interference of Ben Yetzel; but the majority agreed that every religious body should have its head, and respected the Chief Rabbi’s position too much to presume to criticise his views.
A Hebrew letter from Ben Yetzel lay on the young man’s desk, and it was this which caused his present thoughtful mood. Taking up a pen, he began to translate his reply, but with a sudden gesture of impatience he tossed it aside. At the same moment the door opened slowly to admit a small boy in a white frock, and accepting this as a welcome interruption to his work, he drew back his chair. The little lad ran up to him with a chuckle of delight, and clambered on to his knee.
“Daddy, I’se tum!” he exclaimed, giving voice to an obvious fact. “I’se here, daddy, wif oo!”
Montella’s face brightened.
“What a naughty little boy to run away,” he answered lovingly. “What have you done with nurse?”
“Nanna up’tairs in garden wif mammy,” was his prompt reply. “Me ’tay here.”