The great value of Pinsker’s doctrine does not lie in the fact of its originality in literature. Original to him――he undoubtedly came to his conclusion by his own reflection――it was not a discovery in the usual sense of this word: views of this kind had been expressed before him. Neither does its great value lie in its possessing the indisputable character of a scientific axiom. It may be said that although the Jews are perhaps the most perfect example of a spiritual existence in dispersion, still they are not quite unique in that respect. Other disinherited nations have existed more or less spiritually for many centuries in a degraded state of national homelessness, “lacking the essential attributes of nationality,” dispersed or dependent on other nations, and yet have not produced, even in a smaller degree, that fear which is evoked by a “disembodied spirit.” It may also be urged that the Jews were hated and branded by all sorts of calumnies and malicious accusations [Apion (_fl._ 15‒54 _c.e._), Tacitus (55?‒_post_ 117 _c.e._)], mainly on account of their distinctiveness, their isolation, their different views and customs, and the inveterate prejudices of others――even when they had a land of their own. And although they may, and probably will, meet with the sympathy of some nations, which are not entirely blinded by prejudice, and whose interests may not clash with theirs, if they succeed in establishing their own home, still the supposition that they will no longer be hated by others, plausible though it may be, cannot claim any scientific certainty. It must be remembered that, apart from “demonophobia,” which is undoubtedly an important motive, hatred of the Jews is continually stimulated by a deep-rooted religious fanaticism, by economic competition and jealousy, by racial prejudice, and that it is rather a _mixtum compositum_ of causes, conditions, passions, and interests too numerous to be destroyed by the removal of a few of them, and perhaps too various to be focussed in any single formula.