Evening star., 1898-09-10

is bond of union, cementing anew man
to man, and the presence here of so many
of our fellow citizens of Christian faith
gives proof that we are esteemed and re-
spected in this community; that there is no
feeling of enmity or prejudice, but, on the
contrary, feelings of love and a recognition
of those attributes for which the Jewish
people have stood from time immemorial
the fatherhood of God and the brother
hood Of man.
IF this city has grown to be the most
beautiful and artistic capital; If beauty
and grace adorn it, if culture and refine
ment are its handmaidens, | am sure no
one Will dispute that in this direction we
have contributed our quota, and that what
ever appertainS to the development, to the
growth and prosperity of Washington and
of the great and free republic. We have
never shirked any duty or responsibility
but gladsomely co-operated on all the lines
that make for the uplifting of ali classes
and all shades OF opinion.
1T is glorious sight TO see, at the
close of the century, the Jew a recog-
niZed factor in the great republic of the
west; to know that they, in common with
other fellow citizens, have aided in strik-
ing off the ShackleS of the slaves in the
late civil war, and have again given up
their life blood and treasure to wrest from
the cruel oppressors hand the fair islands
that soon will blossom as the rose under
the inspirations and guidance of a free
people
And in saying this, do not wish it to
be understood that malice or a feeling of
revenge actuates any one who claims to
be true Jew; that is not the teachings
Of our SageS; that is not the spirit of our
religion. The evolution of time and the
revolution of history have taught US to be
generous, to be just, and while bowing
our heads to suffering, yet ever pray, not
only for the good, but even for those who
oppressed us. The unerring DEGREES Of
Providence mark every step of our history
Every nation that struck us down has
passed into oblivion, and the blow recently
struck at Spain is but the finger mark of
the Deity in ehastising those who have
ignored His eternal and divine precepts.
Crime of the Century.
so the great crime of the nineteenth
century. the incarceration on an island of
death of innocent citizen and soldier
has stirred the conscience of the world and
is reacting upon those who, in an hour of
bigotry and malice, thought they could
defy the laws of God and man. Clouds are
disappearing and the sun of truth and
righteousness will soon illumine the broad
expanse of France, and Dreytus, the citi-
Zen will once more clasp in his embrace
the heroic woman who will figure in the
annals of time as a heroine without COM
pare. These thoughts are not spoken be-
cause there courses through my veins the
blood of Jew, but because / am an Ameri-
man, proud of our country, proud of its
citizens, knowing that no such wrong no
such injustice, could ever be enacted under
the American flag.
THE other day l read in the Review of
Reviews an anecdote attributed to Bis
marck, and the writer says that he spoke
of the adventurer, Disraeli' 'Adventurer,
my friend? If Disraeli, maker of empires
and the crowner of empresses, the winner
in the great race of eternal fame, .ne man
who sprang from the Jewish stock and rose
supreme among the nobility of England, is
to be called an adventurer, then what are
the great men of genius who have climbed
the ladder of honor and success? What is
Napoleon, Lincoln, Grant, Mckinley and
the hundreds of others, who, springing
from the people, rose superior to their cir
cumstances and governed not only an en-
pire, but dictated terms to the world?'
"Why, my Christian friends your own
Savior sprang from the lolns of the Jew. a
commoner, a democrat, with republican
principles, and His teachings today govern
the civilized world. All, no! We are not
adventures. We are the high priests who
scattered in every part of the world by cir
cumstances beyond their control contribute
wherever situated to the glory. to the honor
and to the prosperity of the nation. notably
here, where We are SO supremely free and