8
I'HJK ISRAELI TE .
Atheists ,toif such th ere be, hypocrites will not
THE
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swear by all ond whats oever you
**tr isA -i * ™ ™ '
At fesg^taT ' hesitate
desire.
They
will swear , if you so decree , by
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r^WTrn ^T^r ^. the Eternal God , by Christ , bv Mahomed , by
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Buddha—provide d it be to their advanta ge.
tefL ^VliM ^H !v^l^C¥l ^Yf^
WiSLl
ou can only
exclude the man of principl e
Y
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honest
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; you can exclude only those
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conviction
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, honest persuasion , do not
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share your opinion. Our country has hitherto
been the El Dorado of freemen. Shall it now
M. M . JK OOS,
£?&) r >Lf i2)B£OC&, become the El Dor ado of thieves and hypoS> S . I. M. W18E,
SOL. j F RI ED MAJ T, criie s? Shall the thi e f, who ha s robb bd me of
my coat , have the ri ght to sue me at the Bar
r,
p
j?
r TJBLISHE RS ,
J 5LO OH & Lo ,, id
of Ju stice, becau se I refuse to deliver over to
him my cloak ?
;
Blessed are the poor in sp ir i t ! Well , abundCINCIN NATI, O
FEBR UARY 24, 1871. ance of spirit has not exactl y manifested itself
in that holy assembly 1 There was one upon
nr irii
n Fn
iTnKiAiomi . whom a faint glimme r of li ght began to da wn ,
THirni
heoloqical
aw
ku
puiTO
u^rgae (i ^hat Christ needed no recognition
-in our Constitution. Were Jesus to appear in
our mida t be> would repudiate such recognition
sub sbkiber s recei pts
—Hi s kingd om is not of this world. The
It
™,
w "***
M «*h
t0 *» more particul ar to
°ar ¦*
;
f
f™
to thi s gen«».the
npo«.
tbelr paper * t hougnt how ever , never occurred
»
notice tb,, date ^at
M
.q
t]eman that Jf Je gng
need rf ^ f
ttm. TJw E. wSTb- VSTid e ir ^ere7anT nitton , God r equir ed , much less, official act
mistake wB wiau to be notified at once. Never wait more nowledgement. God' s place is in the heart s of
than three weeks for the date to be changed after pay - the men that live in America , and therefore ,
nent in made, aa we shall , hereafter , gnnd no othe r re- He requires no place in the Constitution. Veri•alpta.
ly, the heart that loses God can not be brou ght
Dac ^ to **'m DT a aec t »on *n that official docuNotice to oar Hub
lb
We. have had of late man, complai nts from different ™n t. Let us be careful not to follow in the
parte of the countr y about the various ra tes of posta ge tra ces of the first Frenc h revolution. First ,
charges on our publications , "The Israelite and Db- God was dethroned by a majority of votes ;
¦obah." We would, therefore, call your particul ar atten- afte r a while , He was , under the name of the
tlon to tto following Laws and Regulations , giving the Goddess of Reason , again declared entitled to
rates or Pogtage within the United states:
His soverei gnty. Shall a similar procedure
ftw. 35. Q^rterlif rates 0/ P ottage, whm paid mart eriv be instituted here ? la this recognition to be£*T£wfc. °SH « ito Ki M m K£ ^ come the rolling ball of poli t ical parties , some, $haii be / ioe oenu / or three month *or time to be declared by maj ority, at another
- ^eec/p ^ltea t ioa
me
be
"
reconsidered by counter majorit y ?
*j»
vSm tbe^boTeTa990 that by paying your postage £
4» a4miu* at your Post Office, the expense is but twent y But why all this outcry ? These gentlemen
•cents per annum or Ave cent sfor three mont hs, otherwise are under the prese nt Constitution , at liberty
«ver y paper will cost two cents.
to preac h God and Christ , when and whenever
. .
. —
they choose. Nor are the American people
From and after March 3., every Fri day eve- irreg lious ? The churches and synagogues of
Americ a proclaim thfet they are built for the
»:«,.
.n. , ^.iM
dm
..™!.. in
: *v,
ain g, 7/ r.
oivine service
M., atter
ttie *««,
ternwora hip 0f God , and
ple , corner Plum and Eighth street s, the Rev pro tection of the law. they all stand under the
Dr . Wise continues his free lectures on the
He whom you call master never demands
History of the Jews , beginnin g this second aught else but to prea ch and to teac h , and truly ,
i M « -.uk
#»»ni
a <=;n,
n.u. tn
n ii they are n0 otner means to awaken conviction ,
cycie
wun tho
me w.n
MACcaoeea
10 nciose
w«n fk
tnett fxaii
reli gioU8 per suasion-an d-not mere hypocrisy
of Bethar. Seats free.
2t.
—th an the word of instructio n. Are you , then ,
~
^ "
"*
revented from exercising all the ' privile ges of
.
.
Thb edi tor of The Israelite is sill in p
instru cting under the existing laws ? Wh y,
New York . He closes his cour se of lectures on then , all this outcry ?
The gentlem en have saved us the trouble to
the origin of Chri stianity to-morrow {Satur j
,i«
inquire
in. wha t respect they expect aid and
FqIi
o>»
ir.u
in oieinway
fl^n
»«nri
•inv t ovofiimr
aay;
evening, in
xiaii witn nie grana
power fronl the rjonsthution , as amend ed.
original master production on Paul . We es- They themselves ann ounce
to us what these
pect him home earl y on Tuesda y next.
grievances are. In the name of the Constitu—
tion , th ey ask for more stringent laws to en»•-»
force a more general observance of the Sabbath ,
CHURC H AND STATE '
No.wonde r! Thes e gentlemen preach on SunM
Oe Convention to Chr istianize Oar Canstitu.* da ^ ' ",nt .ft PP arentl 7 t° empty benches. To
T
tlon—L ecturt- Delivere d by the Rev. Dr. Hum remed y t his , the
is State
to be's authority is invok ed,
Every
citizen
'
compelled , by police
'
sat fon Kenezet ^
$2, 1871.
'
mea sure , to attend Church on Sunday, and to
[concluded.]
listen to a sermon. Such a course , if adopted ,
The second moral princi ple, peculi a r to t he would not be withou t precedents in history ; in
New Testam en t a rise s fr om a misconception feet, we can not expect to learn something new
of a passage in Isaiah.
' of those Reverend gentlemen.
The prophet , speaking of the sufferings of
What then are our demands? Do we claIsrael (Is. 50; 5-6 etc., Conf. Jer emiah Lamen- m or for the introduc tion of Jewish moral printations ill), exclaims- ''Th e Lord Eternal has ci ples, or of Biblical moral princi ples ? Those
opened my ea r , and I res isted not ; I turned not gentlemen always have the Bible on their tonbackwar d ; my back I gave up to the smitera , gue ; they read it day by d ay, and yet it remains
and my cheeks to those that plucked off the to them a sealed book. Hed ged in by th eir narhair ; my face I hid not from abuse and spit- row mindednes s, th ey are entirel y un able
to
of the
e a clear -surv ey over the whole scope
ting, bu t the Lord Eternal hel pe t h m e ; thereBible, Wh y has God sent the deluge ? What
fore , 1 was not confounded ; therefore have I ^
rendered my face into flint , etc. Yes, such are tne reasons ad duced in the first book of
-was .the behavior of Israel in all times and Moses ? The earth was full of outrage , and the
^
men were t0 De pu nished for thei r immoral
such would it also be in this country, should
Messrs. Geary and Edwards succeed in carr ying actions- You see, th e men of that time were
oat thei r design*. We would suffer , and hear De 'tl responsible for their immorality. But
ed unto them moral princi
*tl adversity ; but we would not yield to iota wn0 na(^ reveal
ples?
- of wha t we recognize aa truth.
Does the Bible in any place menti on that the
Thi s passage in Isaiah has been trans plan ted generation of the deluge had received a divine
^In to the ^New Testament , bu t its meanin g and revelation ? The inha :itant s of Sodom were
-•application have undergone consider able vari - gi V€n °veJ" to tne ir dire fate , because , in their
ation at the hands of the transcri bers , Aa midst , not even ten just men could be found ;
transformed there , it reads : " Whosoever Dut according to the Bible, had Sodom received
shall smite thee on th y ri ght cheek , turn to an 7 supernatural , _ Divine revelation ? Thus,
him the other also. And if any man will sue tne Bible itself main tains that the moral pri nthee at the law and take away th y coat , let ciphM by which men are to be jud ged , ar e
n aught , bu t purel y human princi ples, princi ples
Jiim have thy cloak also,"
have not mir aculously been rtveal ed ,
Even the hypocrisy, these men do not shrink , which
ut
t )ne of them has openly declar ed, that this ^ which hy God have been inscribed into the
amendmen t could not but pass the respective heart of every man.
legislatures , for the Representatives and SenOur Constitution , our laws should be the ex
ators knew that to vote in the negativ e was to pres sion of purel y human morality. It is so
pr onounce their own political death sentence , demanded by God.a nd by the Bible. The BiThe Chris tian peop le would no longer return ble knows of no moral princi p les miraculously
such men to office. The Jesuitic al maxim , revealed and superh uman. And , thus , even
the means ha llows the end , you see, is in full he who does not believe at all in miracul ous
bloom again. To carry their pet obj ect , these revelation should ret ain the unlimited exercise
' holy men do not hesitate to employ such in- of all his ri ghts of citizensh ip. Where then
strument s- The represen tativ e is convinced lies the necessity of recognizin g God in our
that such an amendment carries the ruin of Constitution by majority of voles and States ?
' the country in its track. His conscience calls There are strong rea sons to believe that Goverupon him to vote against it. But on the other nor Geary and Jud ge Strong have been blessed
-side, there looms up the dark pr ospect of de- with special revelat ion , calling upon them to
feat at the next election. He sees the min- recognize God in the Constitution , and showing
asters of God working with-all their power to to them poor Almi ghty, compl ainin g that for
influence the7 voters to his prejud ice, and in all the benefactions heaped upon this coun try
order to avoid the hatred of these hol y men , du r ing nin ety five years the people have not
he smothers , the voice of his conscience , and even exhibited so much gratitude as to devote
votesaccordi ng to the dictates of Rev . Edwards three lines in the fundamenta l law to His reand consorts/ This is called a God pleasin g, cognition. No wonder th at Geary should
act. To bribe the representatives of the neo- have girded his loins, and gra sping his sword
pie, isa prai seworthy und ertaking. Has it io of fins should have become the cham pion of
fchia/case JJO l-been done ad majarem Diegloriamt poor Almighty 's cause.
Up to the last few years , the J ews of Rome
You wish to make America , the nursery of
hypocrisy! Men are once for all powerless , were compelled, by police authori t ies, to att end
- aaa devoid of means to control reli gious belief! every Sabbat h after noon a Christia n serm on,
^^
¦
¦
¦¦
^^
held by a missionar y in a chur ch set apart for
this verv purpose, and to enhance the outrage ,
the Jew s had to defray allexpen ses.
Mo, e stringent laws to insure the observance of
Sabbat h / You have , undoubted ly, in mind
your own Sabbath , your Sunday. Has Jesus ,
hav e the apostles ever celebrated Sabbath on
Sunday ? Show me the passage in the whole
of the New Testament where the Sunday-Sabbath celebration is ment ioned.
We know how this Sunday celebration has
ori ginated. The adherents of incipien t Christian ity, had grown tired of sharin g with thei r
Jew ish brethren oppression and persecution , on
account of their religious belief. They wished
to show to the heat hen wor ld th at they were
not J ews. They sacrificed the old Sabbath; and
as Sunday—the name shows it—had in some
manner or other been devoted to the God Sun ,
they selected this day for the devotion to a
higher , intellectual sun—the sun , which , in
thei r belief , had with the resuscitation of
Christ , risen over the world. A more general
observance of the Sabbath day! O p inions and
CUBtomf} di £er even ffUh nation8 . Upon the
whole of the European continen t , with the
millions of those that from thence have lmmigrated hither , Sunday is, like the old Jewi sh
Sabbath , a day of sp iri tual reflection and elevati on ; but at the same time also, it is a day
devoted to rejoicin g and recreation. No one
will objec t to dancing and music , to balls an(f
theatrical per formances even on Sunday , in
En gland , on the other han d, and wi th those
that are of Eng lish descent , Sunday is looked
upon as a day of atonement , of fasting and
mourning. With what ri ght can the Purit ans
of this country force upon us, G erman s,
Fre nchmen , Italia ns , Spaniards , thei r day of
mourning ? Let them mourn ; we do not diaturb them in their sorrow; bu t let them also
not disturb us in our joy and festivity.
The second demand made in the name of
the Constitution , is a cry for " more stringen t
laws against blasphemy. "' Aye , bla sp hemy,
Wa s this not the pet word since times immeznoria l , of all theologians and all inqu isitors
actuated by the love of prose cution ? Biasphemy l Ask the j uri st to define it , he can
give you no answer.
But the theolog ians
know its meaning. Yes ; in their eyes, my
sermon of to-day must be blasphemy of the
worst type ; and I can thank my g«od fortune
that the laws have not as yet reached that
standard of perfection , to which these theologian s wish to raise them ; for else a long term
of imprisonment in the Eastern Penitentiary,
if not , t he gibbet and the wheel , the rack and
the funeral pyle, would await me.
¦ Ha ppy Americ a if in thy states every free
,
.
thoug ht could be denoun ced and punished as
blasphemy. Thrice blessed America , if under
th y starry banner only snch thoughts could be
uttered , as are acceptable unt o a holy, hypocriti cal priestcraft .
c
The third- cry is for a Christian oath. Have
these gentlemen forgotten that Jesus , repeatin g
the words of the old Jewish teachers (Talmnd.
Shebe th 36, A.) has tau ght; Yes, be yes, and
No , no? * It is true , old Judaism kn ow s of no
oath of witnesses, and , never t heless, punishe s
the perjurer , in crimin al cases even with death
(Duet. 15, 19, etc.);. it is true ,, hypocri tes and
liars , wh o hold their word not sacred , will
swear any oath , whether Christian or Mohamedan ; will swear every oath , prescrib ed by y ou ,
provided it be to their advan tage ; it is true ,
only the man ol honesty and princ i ples will
draw back , because he holds his pledge sacred ,
But what matters all this? The Jew is burned I
and the d esired object is accomplis hed ad mojore m Lei gloriam. As soon as onl y Chri stian
oaths are recognized by our Courts , the J ews
are uot onl y deprived of th eir politica l , but also ,
of their civil rights. The Jews stand below
the common negr o slave I What a pleasureaffording sig ht must this be to all th e Strongs ,
Ed warde s, a n d t heir allies 1 Onl y a few days
ago , an occurrence of the kind took place in
California , and sham e upon the state that has
such laws ! A white man had robb ed a Chin ese,
nevertheles s, he wen t free of pu n ishmen t , because according to the law of that State , no
Chinese can swear a valid oath. Christian oath !
To those gentlemen , the matter looks simi-io
enough. A Christian murder in cold blood by
a Jew , if in the presence of onlv Jewish , witnesses, he can , nevertheless , not be convicte d. It
mat ters but little I One Je w less in this conntry I But pause ; if a Christian is murdered by
a Ch ristian in the prese nce of onl y Jewish wit?«««» » w ttat « t0 be dc- ne in tnat Ca8e ? Shall ,
in , nat case, too, the murdered be set at liberty
wi thou t punishment?
Finally, in order to enlist the sympathies of
the public , the Mormon question in broug ht
forth as a rea son for amendin g the Constit ution ,
God and Christ have to be recognize d , in order
successfull y to strugg le against pol ygamy . It
is urged that if Brig ham Young could clai m
tolerati on on the groun d of that liberty of
thoug ht and conscience which is now guaran teed to every one by our Constitution , and
which will , under God' s assista nce, be f.Ibo
guaranteed in the future.
Our laws against
polygamy are sufficient , and I think that if
Brigham Young were to tak e a fancy to move
with his serag li o to Phil a del phia , our Courts
wou d very quickly and successfull y* interfere.
They would tell him : "In th e name of conscient lous liberty, you may preac h and teach ,
th %t every man may, nay, is in duty bound to
take a thousand , wives. You may hold mass
meetings to discuss thb theory. But , th e moment you live with more than one wife, the
outraged dignity of the law must inter vene."
But , you may ask , wi t h wh at ri ght? With the
eternal ri ght that God has writte n u pon every
heart ; with the eternal right, that th e laws of
the State are the expression of the publi c aentiment of rig hts. No law allows that , in th e name
of reli gion, its statutes are infringed. No law ,
in the name of religion , ca n or need t olerat e
its open violation - Liberty of conscien ce has
never yet freed us from the obli gations ' again st
the laws of the State. And hence, the grea ter
must our car e be , not to transmute our State
laws into arbitrary, partisan , or , even sectaria n
regulation a ; State law should , in reality , be t he
representativ e of the public sentiments. Ar e
your proposed sectarian alterations the expression of the public conscience ? If not , what \%
their object ?
It is almost useless for me to call th e atten tion of these men to the warning voice of the
world' s record . Surh men lear n nothing from
history . Spain was , in the begin nin g of the
Fifteenth century, 41 flourishing countr y. The
fertile plains of the Pyrenean peninsula , gave
subsistence to thirty millions of men , and her
kings could boast that in their dominion , the
8un neTer 8et . In an evil hou r , t he p rinci ples
of our reverend gentlemen began to be called to
life. As now , so then , the cry was raise d to rec- ,
ognise Christ and God in th e Const ituti on,
For him , whom the pj ileof the Roman Catholic
Church—this was the only form of Christian ity
then in existence in the Western countries —
did not include there was no p lace of rest in
Spain. The nest cmzens were killed , burne d
on funeral py rea , and banished . The whole
power of the Slate was consumed in th e pro aecu tion and detection of heretics - And how man y
inhabitants counts Spain to day ? Har d ly ten
million s, and in orde r to raise herself again out
of the dust of her ruin , she pr oclaims those
princi ples to which , Ameri ca owes her great new t Shall we now banish our own pri nciples?
After 1848 Austria 's rulers , incommodate d
by ever-growing liberal movement , thou ght to
check it by havin g recourse to the prin ciples of
our Convention.
A new Concordat was coneluded in Rome; marriages and divor ces were
made subjec t to canon ical laws. The press an d
public instruction were put under th e ceneorship of the Bishops. Solferin o was the first
an swer of spirit of th e age ; SaJd owa, the second ,
to complete what Solferino had left undone.
The best men of Austria hailed these misfortu nes as the bringer of a new era. And how
else could it have turned out ? Where the lib—
erty of conscience is wanting , there every joy ful
enthu siasm, every joyful devotion to the
interests of the whol e is smothered. Austri a
only began to recover wh en she, cutting th e.
knot of the Cont iordat , inscribed liberty of
conscience on its Con stitution. Shall we, now ,
after a cenutry of successful operation , abandon
these princi ples ?
Of the Bourbons , it has been said : They
have learnt nothing ,.and forgotten nothing . It
is but too true a fact , that the same may he
sad of Jud ge Strong and his followers. From
our land , from our city, from t he st eep le of our
Independence Hall , ninety-five years ago, the
elementary princi ple was announc ed to the
world , that the State possesses no means to control the religious conscience of the citizen s.
The State can not distinguish hypocrisy fijam
honesty ! And if it try to exercise any controlling autho rity over the relig ious belief of
the inhab itants , the inevi table result will be to
banish all honest men , the best and most trustworthy of its citizens .
Hence , t o reli gion , the same princi ple should
app lied as pervades all natura l law. As ia
natural law , no one is considered guilty until
proven as such , so also the State pre suppos e
with every man human morality , honesty , and
does not all concern itself in questions of conscience. To these solutary princi ples, this
country owes its beginn ing, its growth , and its
p resent greatness ; the pilgrim fathers , Penn,
and all later immi grant s—and we, too, sought
refuge in thi s countr y, onl y because in Europe ,
instead of these liberal princi pled, those of
Messrs. Stro ng and Edwards were bearing unlimited sway. Our princi ples to-day have
conquered the world. France was the first to
accept them ; Holland and Belgium soon
followed , and the small duc hy of Luxenburg
\ hs< \ the honor of being a beacon of light suv
doned at the very frontier of Germany , yet enveloped in darkness. Then came Italy, Germany, England , Austia , and at last even Spainl
And face to face with the man ifested spiri t of
the times, in t he land , in the very city of its
birth , a Jud ge of the hig hest tribunal of this
R epublic , the Govern or of our State , and exGovernor of our Commonweal ih , da re , witj i
impious hands , g^ing fair scope to hypocrisy ,
crushing tr uth and humanitv , to deprive us of
this jewel of humanit y. Ah I for shame ! Rend
thy garmen ts and weep ! Mourn America !
Blush over the soiled honor of thy name ; for
thy sons hav e stretched out thei r hands against
thy Crown !
Whither do the gentlemen wish to lead us?
Rev. Edw ards , has , it is true , represented his
p latform to include Roman Catholics and protestan ts, Trinitarians , U niversalists and Unitarian s, only the Jews are left out in the cold«
Does this gentleman not err ? One of the gentlemen , as we have seen , has shown what we
Jews , ,as Jews , should or should not believe.
He is more thoroughly acquainted with Juda ism than- the Jews the mselves Th e same is
the case with our Dr. Edward s as to the Catk olics. Fro m his Prot estant stand of view, his
assertion is correct.
According to Protestant
doctrines their is a general CathoUo Church;
but this church is invisible and develops itself to
a greater or less degree in every Christian
denomination . Hence Protest antism recognise s