sentiment control as with invisible chords the orbits of even the most powerful characters,—­how the fracture of those threads, so far as can be accomplished by mere will, may have even a greater effect in wrecking character than moral degeneracy would itself produce,—­how the man who trusts and uses the hereditary forces which natural descent has bestowed upon him, becomes a might and a centre in the world, while the man, intrinsically the nobler, who dissipates his strength by trying to swim against the stream of his past, is neutralized and paralyzed by the vain effort,—­again, how a divided past, a past not really homogeneous, may weaken this kind of power, instead of strengthening it by the command of a larger experience—­all this George Eliot’s poem paints with tragical force.”

The main thought of The Spanish Gypsy is, that the moral and spiritual in man is the result of social conditions which, if neglected, lead to the destruction of all that is best in human nature.  In the description of Mine Host, in the opening pages of the poem, this evil result of a severing of life from tradition is described.  He was educated in the Jewish faith, but was made a Christian at the age of ten.

  So he had to be converted with his sire,
  To doff the awe he learned as Ephriam,
  And suit his manners to a Christian name.

The poet then delivers one of her doctrinal utterances, and one which is in this case the keynote of the whole poem.

  But infant awe, that unborn moving thing,
  Dies with what nourished it, can never rise
  From the dead womb and walk and seek new pasture.

That awe which grows up in childhood, if destroyed later, brings anarchy into human life.  All the characters of the poem exemplify this teaching, and each is but a product of his past, individual or social.  Don Silva, Zarca, Fedalma, the Prior, Sephardo, illustrate this idea.  The latter gives utterance to the thought of the poem, when Don Silva says to him that he has need of a friend who is not tied to sect or party, but who is capable of following his “naked manhood” into what is just and right, without regard to other considerations.

  My lord, I will be frank; there’s no such thing
  As naked manhood.  If the stars look down
  On any mortal of our shape, whose strength
  Is to judge all things without preference,
  He is a monster, not a faithful man. 
  While my heart beats, it shall wear livery—­
  My people’s livery, whose yellow badge
  Marks them for Christian scorn.  I will not say
  Man is first man to me, then Jew or Gentile: 
  That suits the rich marranos; but to me
  My father is first father and then man. 
  So much for frankness’ sake.  But let that pass. 
  ’Tis true at least, I am no Catholic
  But Salomo Sephardo, a born Jew,
  Willing to serve Don Silva.