Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1861-02-07

Dr. Raphaiis Discourse at the
Synagogue.

] Hbfs Ihss
Synagogue.
The following brief extracts from the
discourse of the Jewish Rabbi, DR.. RA-
ruALL, of New York, we take pleasure in
laying before our readers. We ask that
this be read with care and attention as
coming from one of the ablest men and
finest Biblical scholars in the Union:
GAS the cry of the prophet, "Yet forty
| days and Ninevah shall be overthrown," ,"
alarmed that people, so the proclamation,
"the Union is dissolved" )" has startled the
inhabitants Of the United States.
OF all the fallacies coined in the North,
the arrogant assertion that "Ihought is
King" is the very last with which, at
the present crisis, the patience of a reflect
| ing people should have been abused. For
in fact, the material greatness of the Uni
ted States seems to have completely out
grown the grasp Of onr most gifted minds;
so that urgent as is our need, pressing as
have yet come forward capable of rising
above the narrow horizon of sectional in
! lluences and predjudiccs, and with views
enlightened, just and benefcicnt, to en-
brace the entirety of the Union, and to
secure its prosperity and preservation
No, my fricndsl Cotton" is not King,
and "lIuman Thought is not King
Adonoi Neieh. The Lord alone is King!
Umulk0OihO bdk0l m0Sholn, and His roy
atty reigneth over all. This very day of
humiliation and of prayer,-what is it
but the rec ccognition of His supremacy, the
confession of His power and onr weak
ness, the supplication which our distress
addresses to His mercy?
There can bc no doubt, my friends that
however much OF personal ambition, sell
| fshncss, pride and obstinacy, there may
enter into the present unhappy quarrel
between the two great sections of the
Commonwealth say it is certain that
the origin OF the quarrel itself is the diff
ference of opinion respecting slavehold-
ing, which the one section dcnounces as
sinful-ayc, as the most hcinous Of sins;
while the other section upholds it as per
fectly lawful. 1t is the province ofstatcs-
men to examine the circumstances under
which tho Constitution of the United
States recognized the legality of slave
holding; and under what circumstances.
any, it becomes crime against the law
of the lane. But the question whether
slaveholding is a sin before God, is one
that belongs to the theologian. | have
been requested by prominent citizens of
other denominations, that should on
this day examine tho Bible view of slav-
cry, as the religious mind of the country
requires to be enlightened on this subject.
| have done so in compliance with that
request, and after humbly praying that
the Father of Truth and of Mercy may
enlighten my mind and direct my words
for good.
The New Testament no where, directly
or indirectly, condemns slavehoding-
which indeed is proved by the universal
practice of all Christian nations during
many centuries. Receiving slavery as
one Of the conditions of society, the New
Testament nowhere ntericrcs with or con
tradicts the slave code of Moses it even
! preserves letter written by one of the
most eminent Christian teachers to u
slave owner on sending back 10 him his
runaway slave. And when we next re-
fer to the history and requirements" of
our own sacred scriptures, we find that on
the most solemn occasion therein record
ed. when God gave tho Ten Command
mcnts on Mount Sinai,
There where His finger scor,h he'd, the tablet stonc
There where Ills shadow ON His people shonc
His glory, shrouded in its garb Of fire.
Himself no eye might see and not expire,
Even on the most solemn and most
holy occasion, blaveholding is not only
recognized and sanctioned as an integral
part OF the social structure, when it is
commanded that the Sabbath of tho Lord
is to bring rest to Nydbdecha re Imathe-
CHA,
"Iell us the precise time when slave
holding ceased to be permitted, and be-
came sinful?" When wa remember the
mischief which this inventing new sin,
not known to the Bible, is causing; how
il has exasperated the feelings the South
and alarmed the conscience Of the North,
to adegree that men who should be broth
ers arc on tho point of embruing their
hands in each others blood. are we not
entitled to ask the Revcrand preacher Of
Brooklyn, "What right have you to in
suit and exasperate thousands of God
fearing law abiding citizens. whose NOR.
al worth and patriotism, whose purity of
conscience and of life, arc fully equal to
.,a.hk