The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-11-17

Against 1t Condemned.
Rev. Madison c. Peters, d. d., of New
York, addressed a large and cultured
audience last evening at the Penn Ave-
nue. Baptist church on Justice to the
jew" A number of the prominent
Hebrews of the city were in attend
ancC.
Rev. Dr. Peters is a tail, handsome
! man. of almost military bearing, pos
seysed of clear, forceful delivery and
his words carry conviction to the most
slycpticaL He has evidently ransacked
the history of all ages with a particu-
lar desire to obtain information regard
| ing the achievements of the Jewish
race under all conditions and environ
| ments, and to say that he has sue
! ceedcd. is putting it, indeed, mildly.
| His address was principally an effort
! to show what civilization owes to the
| jew and to correct many existing
/ preiudices against this people.
| Rev. Robert +. Y. Pierce introduced
/ Or. Peters as an old associate i'm Chris
I tian work. they both having been in
| tercsted in kindred institutions in
Philadelphia several years ago.
DIR. PETERS ADDRESS.
| DR. Peters first dwelt upon the patri-
! otism of the jew and quoted historical
! data and statistics to prove his claims
+, He said that the money used to fit out
! Columbus caravels was supplied by a
! Christian Jew; the maps he sailed by
, were the work of a jew, and the first
man of the expedition to land on Amer
! lean soil was Il Jew. He referred TO
| the first immigration of Jews to this
! country in 1864 and the terrible perse-
! cutiOn they suffered from Peter Stuy-
| Vesart, the governor of New Amster-
dam.
He then referred to the fact that in
the two countries Of Europe where the
jew is not placed on a level with the
| Gentle, namely, Russia and Rouma-
mia, that the race numbers 100000, or
over one-ha!f the Jewish population OF
| the entire world. which is about II,
! 100000. This latter number is 1000 600
! more than in the time of David. PROV
| ing the truth of the assertion that a
superior people cannot be destroyed by
an inferior one.
In regard to the patriotism of the
/ Jew, the doctor said that in the middle
ages when all over Europe he could
/ hardly call his soul his own, so ter
! ribly was he prosecuted. that when
| ever he found a country a friend to
him, that country found a friend in
, him. In proof of this he told of the
! thousands of Jews who fought under
the banners Of King Philip of France
and the kings of Spain.
Dr. Peters touched lightly on the re-
cent Dreyfus affair and said that
though France was the first to grant
the Jew full civil and religious liberty
in 1898, that this late lamentablc trial
proved that she had not yet learned to
live up to the laws on her statute
books.
JEWS IN THE ARMIES.
He then told of the large proportion
cf Jews in the great armies Of Europe
and the numbers OF thcm acting as
officers. There are, n said, 9G, 200 Jews
now serving in the united armies Of
Europe, over 1000 of whom hold ofi e.
GERS commissions. The Jews did not
obtain full religious and riyr rights in
England until 1858, when Baron Rcths-
child was permitted to take his seat in
the House of Lords, and yet there are
now 700 Jews in her maie estys army,
and some Of the greatest generals who
ever fought i'll Britan's armies have
been Jews.
DIR. Peters then came t. the history
of our own country aul told interest
ingly Of the great debI we, as n ma
ton, owe to the Jews. lie told oe Isaac
Solomon of New York, who, when
America decided to throw off the
I e,o g IL,
ward and gave 5000. .)C0 for the revo-
lutionary cause, ana how not a dollar
Of this sum has ever been paid back
to his heirs.
He spoke of Brigadier General
Joseph Bloomberg, who fought in the
war of 1912 Of General David De Leon,
one Of the heroes of the Mexican war.
and Of nine generals, eighteen colonel5,
eight lieutenant colonies, forty majors,
2O5 captains and 325 lieutenants, all Of
Jewish blood, who fought for the pres
ervation of the Union in the late civil
War. There We're altogether 1857 Jews
in the Union army out Of total Jew
ish population of only $1,000, making
tn" proportion of this race greater than
that of any other who fought on the
northern side. Referring to the late
war with Spain he made mention of
the fact that fifteen of the mon whp
perished on the Maine were Jews.
PROMINENCE IN ALL FIELDS.
The prominence of the Jews in all
the various fields Of human activity
was then taken up and reviewed at
length. He told Of the actresses
Rachel and Barnhardt. the poets
Goethe and IIcine, who are the great
est figures in all German literature;
the nOvelists, Disraeli, Jules Verne and