The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1898-07-04
AMERICA AND her FUTURE.
TWO THOUGHTFUL DISCOURSES
LAST NIGHT.
DR.. Charles Van Norden and
Rabbi j. L. Levy Express
Their Sentiments.

crowded to it's full seating capacity
last evening, the attraction being Two
addresses. one by DR.. Charles van NOR
den, entitled 1.-THE Extension OF the
Republic or, Our Place Among the
Nations" The other was by RABBI
J. L. Levy of Philadelphia, entitled An
Anglo American Federation for Right
eousness and Liberty"
Before and after the service the choir
sang patriotic airs among which We're
1.-The Red, White and Blue and
america"
DR.. Van Norden said the first fault
he had to find was that there was too
much elation in the air. He admired
the bravery and GOODNESS of our sail
ors and soldiers, but said that II the
United States conquerS Spain, as II
will. matters will be far different than
at the close of the Revolution or the
civil war
DR.. Van Norden said the present war
is one of the strong against the weak.
and though the Spanish troops are haiE
starved and poorly cared for generally,
they fight bravely. He predicted that
when the war is over Americans Will
bow their heads and be sorry 1t was
ever waged.
Ill speaker
Americans may become imbued with
the idea that they are mighty con-
uuerors, but history proves that con-
ouerors have all followed the same
path-that of robbery. The great en-
pires of Assyria, Babylon, Rome and
that founded by Napoleon all followed
the path of robbery, and all fell.
For a nation to be conqueror
means, he said, a vast national debt,
a large standing army and conse-
quent loss of liberty. He could see no
good in subjugating people, and quoted
authorities to show that England s
colonies had been a curse to the mother
country. To conquer a people meant
to make it liable for the debt incurred,
and that was what is meant by civil
ization. India, he said, is England s
most civilized colony, viewed in that
light, as it was taxed without stint
and paid all the bills. America ought
not wage a war Of conquest
RABBI LEWIS ADDRESS
Was an eloquent effort, and held his
audience to the end. Recently, he said,
he had visited the Pyramids of Egypt,
the Acropolis at Athens and the Temple
of Neptune at Rome. He had looked
on the ruins of ancient nations, and
in each and every case the down.
fall had been caused because they
had worshiped wealth and made
Mammon their god. They fell, not
from lack of economic, but moral
relations. Their ideal had been Of
the world, and not for the world.
Their ideals were all human, and
not righteous, and for that reason
the mighty fell.
It might be deemed strange that q
Jew was allowed to stand on the ruins
of those ancient nations and view their
desolation, but the Israelites took for
their ideal morality, and have lived.
To them was given the power Of Sc
lecting a true ideal-that Of righteous
ness, and they have been allowed to
give word to that ideal. To them was
confded the oracle Of God.
Nobody, Rabbi Levy said, will &C
cuse Russia, Italy. France. Spain
or Germany Of being a benefit to
the human family, while everybody
must admit that the ideal of liberty
and religion has been and is being
spread by the English-speaking people.
England and America have many
things in common The laws of the
two countries, all based on the Bible.
are synonymous English customs
have been adopted by America, while
the English have accepted the Amer
lean common school system, and are
ever ready to laud and applaud Amer
lean progress. In the United States
there is religious tolerance for all, and
that custom is rapidly being extended
in England If ever there was people
elect of God to bear the true ideal for
ward II is the English-speaking people.
When Washington died. Rabbi Levy
said, the flags on English ships were
half-masted. When Lincoln was killed
England mourned him as her own, and
when Garfield was assassinated even
the omnibuses in London were draped
in mourning.
The English and the American peo-
pie. Rabbi Levy said, have a common
origin, a common literature, a common
Bible and common God, and, he be-
neved, a common mission. 1t was bet
ter, however. for Americans to develop
their own government before they at
tempt to assimilate other and barbar-
Gus nations which cannot affiliate.
There is plenty to be done at home