Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-09

truth were they killed alike Sheep" for they
were always first carefully ''tieeced."
REMAINED JEWS IN THEIR HEARTS.
Tired of the humiliation and indignites tc
which they we're constantly subjected and
cowed by the terrible fear of torture and death,
| very many chose the only remaining alterns-
tive. baptism But in their hearts they re-
manned Jews. faithful to their ancestral re-
iigion practicing its sacred rites in cellars and
| behind closely shut windows and barred doors.
They we're called by their co-religionists new
! Christians or ''marannos, that Is, "cursed."
because after all they were suspected Of insin-
cerity. while the faithful Jews, preferring per-
secution to baptism. called them ''onsim,' or
forced into baptism"
| In 1863 Catholic Spain. through the marriage
Of Ferdinand OF Arragon and Isabella of Cas-
| tile, became united. and this event marked the
| beginning of the last act of the sad drama.
! Isabella, pious but also bigoted woman. was
| unfavorably disposed 20 the presence of Jews
and Mohammedans on her estates. and her hus-
/ band Joined her willingly in every effort that
! had Tor it's object the conversion Of the Jews,
/ but not SO much, perhaps. because he liked to
convert them as he was anxious for the con-
| fiscated property of the unconverted. PERMITS
| sion was asked OF Pope Sixtus " 10 set up q
tribunal or religious court of inquiry and read
lily granted. his tribunal has gone down
into history as the most shameful parody
and the most terrible perversion of jus.ic
| known by the name of the Spanish inquisition.
ilo NiCtHlS were the converted mar
amos. Through intermarriage with the best
and noblcst families of the land, the raaramos
had become rich and prosperous, and at that
time so numerous that they were supposed to
constitute almost one-third Of the whole
population They were suspected-and in
| truth. rs we have seen-of being jews in their
hearts. but the secret object of their
persecution was their wealth, despicable
system OF espionage WAS inaugurated. every
Spaniard. under penalty of accommodation
hg.r mo MA I'D - ft,r.x =. r. n
cuSed. the tate of the victim in most every
Instance was sealed He was not permitted to
have legal adviser; torture was resorted to
on mere suspicion, and conhscetion of property
by the state accompanied all degrees of punish
ment. Under the direction alone of that
monster III human form, Chief Inqulsitor Tor
quemada, monk of the Order of st. Dominic
lU,OOO persons were burnt at the stake and
nearly 100000 had 10 undergo torture and all
sorts of cruel punishment. The climax was
reached when. In the Alarch OF 1872 Il roval
edlct was Issued ProclaiminS that after the
expiration OF four months all Jews, men,
women and children, should be expelled from
Spain. The only alternative left them was to
accept baptism; but-to the honor of the
Jews be 1t said-not for an instant
At the last moment Abarbanel, the for
mer treasurer and contidant OF the
royal pair, hurried TO the palace
to secure If possible repeal of the awful SEN
heart Abarbanel promised to pay very large
sum OF money into the royal treasury and the
King seemed inclined TO consider the Offer
when suddenly 1orquemada crucitix in hand
rushed into the audience room. enchanting:
behold Him whom Judas sold for thirty pieces
OF silver Are you bargaining to sell Him again
and at q higher price?' And the doom of the
Jews was sealed! More than 3U0. 600 of Spain's
best and truest citizens were turned away
thrown at the mercy OF a dark friendiess world !!
YEAR OF SALVATION.
But great lie God and mysteriously wonderful
His ways. The year 1892. SO conspicuous in
misfortune to the Jews of Spain, again proved
wear of salvation to them and all mankind
through the discovery of America And when
AT the dawn OF October II OF the same year, one
Of Columbus sailors. supposed to have been a
jew, loyfully exclaimed, Land Land" was
this not like cry of unconscious joyful
prophecy of the happiness which the sight of
these shores was to bring to future genera
tions! legend of the TaimuG tells us that in
the same hour in which King solomon MARI d
the daughter Of Pharoah of Egypt the angel
Gabriel threw reed into the ocean. which in
the course OF time becomes entangled in weed
and through the accumulation of mud and
sand formed the nucleus of the spot on which
Rome was built That is to say. Solomon's
treason against the spirit of Judaism led to the
final overthrow of the Kingdom of Israel by
Roman conquest.
And likewise may We say at the time when
Spanish royalty committed that outrage against
the spirit of humanity God sent his messenger
to md new land from which was to emanato
liberty. tolerance and justice the inalien-
able God-given right Of all the children Of
men.
It's true, only too true, that the happiness of
being the favored recipients of these blessings
lis difnmed by the sorrowful fact of the repeti-
ton In distant Russia OF the unhappy scenes
depicted this evening as they occurred 400
years ago We wonder and stand dumb
founded at the possibility of leap backward
into the darkness Of the distant past at the
very eve Of a century characterized by sound
progression ana constant forward strides to-
ward higher and nobler goal in every direc-
ton. is then Russia blind to the teachings of
history? If she hnoweth not tine nobest OF all
sentlments-humanity-ar her eyes closed to
the injury she unquestionably is inhicting upon
herself! Does she not know that the expul-
sion OF the Jews from Spain marked the begin
ming OF constant decline Of national pros
perlty. commerce, science and art in that coun-
try! And 10. the present stagnatlon of COM
merce III many provinces of Russia, the poverty
OF the peasants the neglect OF agriculture and
the consequent famine, should they not logi-
cally be associated with and are they not in
some instances at least actually and directly
attributed to the expulsion of q class OF cti-
zens OF undoubted commercial and agricultural
abilities! Let us still cling to the hope that the
eyes of Russia will yet be opened and that ere
long the cruel laws will be revoked, the carry
ing out of which to their fullest extent must
needs rob her body polite Of a larger portion
OF healthy substance than she can afford to
sacrifice with impunity.
RUSSIA STANDS ALONE.
In the meantime let us thankfully appreciate
the fact that Russia. in her barbaric cruelty,
stands alone among the nations of the world;
that tine world sympathiZes with the exiles: that
noble hearts aud willing and able hands are
ready TO receive and aid them in their efforts
to secure homes elsewhere. and that foremost
among the lands it il again America which I'M
derstandlng her plain duty of humanity not
alone will welcome to her shores the poor in
nocent sufferers forcibly elected from houses
and homes dear and sacred to them but raise
her voice in behalf of tine many hundreds of
thousands still lingering between hope and
fear,
-Four hundred years ago Portugal, Italy, Hol-
land, Turkey and Greece were the only lands
granting admittance to the greater portion of
those hapiess Spanish exios. Every other
country. In spirit of medieval cruelty and
bigotry, closed their doors upon them, and
many (eiticr from starvation by the hands of
others or their own hands, thousands persisted.
The falresI OF all lands the queen among the
countries OF the earth. was then yet unknown.
But ships destined to find it had Sc: sail even
while tie poor exiies fled from the presence of
their Leartless tormentors. Again today
thousands vi children of the same race
are rendered homeless, while America is
about - celebrate the four huDdredth
anniversary of her discovery. We recog-
nlZcQ the discovery of Amerlca