Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1883-07-31

ish tale Of Moritz. But it was Easy :,
riddle its findings.
For reasons not difficult TO surmise
Moritz seems to have lost all love fol
bis passionate and cruel father and hi,
Unborn mandscity seems to have fec
on the town gossip about the los
Esther. His lies were evidently en-,
Outraged by the officials, who prom.
lsed him perfeotimmunity il the child
would but implicate his father and
his associates. Moriiz then made ur
a story suited to the fancy Of a child
but wholly at variance With the facts,
whenever any of his assertions were
tested, they were found insufficient,
and finally the Grown attorney
had to give up the case in which q
number Of Jews we're accused of hav-
ing committed murder on a religious
motive Of course, such a thing
exists in mother the Old Testament
nor the criminal codes; but the prose-
cution was bound to. convict its oppo>
nents OF that very thing, and was very
slow to see the extreme absurdity Of
its course. Nor was the crown attor-
ney misled by the boy Scharf alone.
In the course of the trial it appeared
that the witness had received special
instructions aud promises from the
police, and that the police officers had
been guilty of some extraordinary mis-
demeanors. The correspondent of the
London Times thinks the boy Moritz
Scharf peculiar case; but such boys
are not so rare as are the opportunities
for bringing them forward. Moritz
had harsh father, and was promised
especially that his father would not be
even ii convicted Of murs
der. Whether the boy ever confessed
his lies does not appear, and it is not
important, as no statement of the little
fellow can be accepted without addi-
tional evidence.
Other witnesses Of the prosecution
made equally false statements on sim.
lar grounds, and defendants counsel
had no difficulty in making them con-
Tess to lie occasioned by loss of no.
.oriety, or dislike of the Jews, or the
hope OF reward. Thus, at the very
beginning of the trial, the Immediate
hearing of Moritz Sharf was demanded
IN the ground that two Jews had
iecided to murder the young man.
IN this information the President
If the court called the boy into the
witness box, and then began series
IT truly extraordinary questions, such
IS a police justice in Boston would |
lot tolerate. The crown attorney |
Idded to the confusion, and the re. |
,orters complained of the dialects
Employed, although the language Of |
he court was pure Hungarian. On
me point all parties to |
he Christian side of the case
Gem to be agreed; namely, on the
Imposition that the Jews of Tisza-
Sszlar are very wicked; that they are
Enormously rich, and that they COM
nit crimes suitable only for the pages
II a lunatic novelist. As a matter of |
act, these Jews are not rich, they are |
lot very intelligent, and in morals
hey are about on par with their
)atholic and Lutheran neighbors. 1t
quite useless to think the Jews oil
lisa. Eszlar very good or very bad; |
tut the intelligence Of their prosecu.
ors cannot be great, for the Jews had
o defend themselves against accuse.
ion of a crime that would have
acked motive, and was not substan-
lated by any reasonable evidence |
whatsoever. And yet this miserable
fair has filled the journals of all Eu.
ope, although it proves nothing, ex.
ept that the Hungarian people east
I the Thesis river are not Solomons;
hat their officials are not Daniels;
hat they have greater dislikes than
plniOns, stronger opinions than judg,
rents, and very little sense Of the |
ldicrous.