The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1877-07-05
Beechcr Vindicates thc Jews.

Beecher Vindicates thc Jews.
In a sermon some days ago Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher referred to the
Hilton-Seligman affair as follows:
Now what, I ask, have this Oriental
people to be ashamed of in this Christ
ian republic where all are equal? Is it
because they are Industrious? Let the
Yankee cast the first stone. Is it be>
cause of their inordinate avarice? Have
they stolen millions from the treasury
of any city? Are our courts busy deal
ing with defaulting or criminal Jews?
Do they fill up our jails and peniten-
t~iaries? Look through the criminal list
and tiud the Jews if you can. Is it be
cause some of them are dishonorable?
What a phenomenon is this of a dis
honest man in the streets of New York?
Is it that some of them avoid paying
their debts? Hear it, We Yankees; a
mar who does not pay his debts? Is it
because they live on what you throw
away? The shame is in you for your
extravaganza. There are some dishon-
orable Jews, but the cases are fewer
than among us. They produce, l veri-
ly believe, a larger number of perfectly
trustworthy men than our race does.
Of all people these are the last who
should be subjected to insult. whether
by wholesale or retail [larghterl, and
in American of all countries. If You
had searched the world over you could
not have found a place where it would
have been so disreputable to thus insult
this race rs in America. In America,
and in q place where its aristocracy
seeks to carefully seclude itself from
common people-a hotel; and Of all ho>
tells in the world, q thousand-roomed
hotel in Saratoga! Laughter. Lis
ten, We astonished people! In Sarato-
ga, where for decades all forms of
amusements and sports ahd classes of
men have c~ongregated. Saratoga, the
Corinth of America-there, to a hotel
accessible to two thousand people. it
seems the a~ristocracy won't go except
with the persons fit to associate with
those who made their money but yester-
day selling Goldfish! Laughter. It's
not quite in taste for a man who in
herits his wealth to insult a mar who
has earned his money by his industry.
Applause.
Are these Hebrews aiding or retard-
ing civilization? Are they the benefac-
tors or the c%orruptors of society? Is it
in the Hebrew that the spawn of the
evil that is eating out social life was
generated? Or was it left for the
Christian TO throw open the door for
evil solicitations? Do you find the
Jews in our jails? Point them out if
You can. Do their women defle our
streets? No. They are temperate where
we are drunken. They are ~viltuous
where we are licentious. They educate
their children as we have not yet learn
ed to do. They are becoming land
holders in America; that means that
sooner or later they are to merge in our
race. Where a people are buying land,
the land forms them more than they
form the land. In closing, let me ask
them not to suffer themselves to be an
noyed by these petty insults. Let
there be no public meetings, 40 more
unfortunate letters. There is no place
under this government which is not
open to them, no place O position or
ambition to which they may not aspire.
Let them compose themselves, and not
be disturbed by such petty wrongs.