Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-06-20
THE PROGRESS OF LIBERALISM

THE PROGRESS OF LIBERALISM.
The tendency of the age is liberalism.
Old prejudices, born in bigotry and supersti-
| ton, are fast disappearing. With the adj
| vent of another century, the religion of the
present day will be classed with the absurd
| vagaries and fanaticisms of the BlueLaws.
| The American people are adopting new modes
of thought and more liberation of opinion.
| Sunday celebrations and amusements, which
few years ago would have shocked the
American people and caused arrests and pun
| ishments, have lost their impiety. As an
| evidence of the liberalizing spirit of the age
| upon the subject of religious faith and the
oblteratlon of distinctions between races, we
have only to refer to the recent marriage in
| Cincinnati. The daughter Of one of the most
was married to Mr.. James Mallory, lawyer,
born and raised in Hamilton county, Ohio.
Although this marriage was a clandes-
tine one, it seems to have easily
obtained the recognition of the brides
kindred. Her brother is reported to have re-
| marked of his brother-in-law: 1.-The trouble
with Jim is not that he is a christian, but
| that he is not a christian" Speaking of this
/ disposition of modern Hebrews to abandon,
| under the genial influences of perfect reli-
| gious tolerance, the peculiar tenets and ira
ditions to which they have chung with rare
fidelity through centuries of persecution, the
New York Graphic says:
So long as they were prosecuted they chung
resolutely to their faith; now that they are
perspiring under the heat of the sun of pros
kbor, l.,o.,, co,kI
much inclined to cast 1t from them. 1t is
now no uncommon thing to hear of Jews
changing their name so as to eliminate from
them their distinctive Hebrew characteristics.
They bestow christian names upon their chill
| dren. The boy who generation ago would
have been called David or Samuel, is named
| Charles or Alfred; the girl who should be
| Sarah or Rachel, becomes Agnes or Cath
| arine. So in the synagogues of the reformed
| or advanced and ntualistic Jews, much of the
| distinctive ceremonial of former times is done
away with; men and women sit together;
the music Is modern; the sermons are notice
| able chiefly for their freedom from dogma
and their inclination toward free thought. A
well-known Unitarian minister of this city
has narrowly escaped an invitation to become
the minister of a wealthy and fashionable
Jewish congregation; on the other hand, one
of the most gifted of the Jewish rabbis has
so far emancipated himself from the dog
matte letters of Hebrew theology that his
dlscourses are accepted as the expression of
the most advanced ritualism. If affairs go
on In this way certain class of good people
will be reduced to despair. They are those
who regard the isolation and individuality of
the Jewish people as an lndisputabie proof of
the plenary inspiration of the bible, and who
are continually looking for the ful6llment of
the prophecies respecting the drying up of the
Euphrates, and the triumphant return of the
Jews as nation, to Jerusalem That would
be a poetic and romantic event; but it is
one that the Jews themselves, apparently,
are not inclined to hasten. They care a great
deal more for Paris, London and New York
than they do for Jerusalem and, instead of
wishing to remain "a peculiar people" they
are anxious to amalgamate themselves with
the rest of mankind. 1t is not to be forgot
ten, however, that the christians are making
as many advances toward the Jews as the
Jews make toward the christians. More,
perhaps. We do hear of christian gentle
men marrying Jewish wives; we do not hear of
jewish gentlemen marrying christian wives.
The Jews are courted quite as much as they
court. The prejudices that were so powerful
few years ago now scarcely exist, save as
traditions; it would not be surprising if in the
next generation they should have faded out
of memory.
Intermarriages of this nature, now that an
innovation has been made, will become so
Al q lCH years JcHlsu Scullc-
men will marry christian ladies. Even in
England, where snobbery and caste do most
abound, where, until not long ago, Jews were
excluded by law from holding Office, and were
looked upon about as the Chinese now are
looked upon by California newspapers and
politicians, this transformation of sentiment
is most apparent. The premier of England
is Jew, whom the government has been
constrained to transfer from the leadership of
the conservatives In the house of commons to
a seat in the house of lords. Some of the
brightest ornaments of English literature are
of the faith which produced the glorious poe
try of the old testament, and the most nota-
bic and popular productions of living authors
Is little else than philosophical, Jealous and
tender exaltation of the historical dignity of
the once despised race. The financial power
of Europe and the world, the arbiters of war
and peace, of the prosperity or the despair of
nations, are family of Jews