davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-07

the highest esteem at the imperial court
Notable were his arguments on scientific
and religious questions with the wise men
of Rome (Sanhedrin, page so, with the
Elders of Athens Bechoroth - and
with the famous scholars of Alexandra
(Nidah so. The emperor's daughter Is
said to have been very fond of debating
with Rabbi Joshua (Chulin so. and she
praised him very highly for his extra
ordinary wisdom CTaanith 8; Nedarim 3d.
and Chulin ID. The following is an in
stance of dialogue passed between the
Princess of Rome and the Rabbi; "Splen-
did learning In an ugly vessel satirical-
ly observed the empcror's daughter, al
luding thereby to his deformed person.
age Rabbi Joshua asked her in what
vessels wine was kept in the royal court.
I'm earthen pots" she answered. THAT
Is real strange" retorted the Rabbi, COM
mon people keep wine in earthen pots.
and in the imperial court, too, the Same
custom should prevailY'
Tho Princess ordered the serfs to pour
the wine into golden vessels, but In very
few days the wine became sour. Now
YOU can understand" remarked Rabbi
Joshua to the Princess, that learning can
only be kept by such person who does
not pride himself on personal beauty"
To the superstitieus and untutorsd
of all ages and creeds the fantastic
appearance of the hairy body" with
it's luminous train had invariably be-
tokened the approach of public calami
ties, such as war. pestilence, earth
quake and the destruction even of the
entire world. From among the know
ing ones" also not infrequently we
hear of many that share the same
fears and misgivings at the sight Of
the mysterious wandersr of the unsnd-
ing space. So even now a certain pro-
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-07

wv HAT the Tenth Legion was to
vA/ Caesar, what the Irish brigade
w was at Fonteney, what the I'M
perial guard was In Napoleon's battles,
what the Stonewall brigade was to Lee
that and these were what the democracy
Of Indiana has been to the democracy or
the nation from 1916 to this good year
1909. OF all the states north of Mason
and Dixon line, Indiana has most south
ern blood per capita. Ohio and Kentucky
made Indiana. and southern Ohio in
those days was the child of Virginia.
Even Foraker is of Virginia extraction,
and the "Old Roman" the grandest DEM
Dcrat Of his day, was not only born in
Virginia, but he was Virginian from
skin to marrow, every moment of his life.
What pity 1t is that Allen G. Thurman
was not chief justice of the United States
supreme bench the last 40 years of his
lifel
Daniel Wolsey Voorhees, was of Bata-
Wan stock, that indomitable race that
even Julius Caesar could not conquer,
but had to absorb to overcome. In after
life they were the "beggars of the sea-
who took Spain from her high estate as
mistress of the world. Your poet will
tell you that liberty dwells on mountain
rrag amid the SHOWS, the ice, and winters
Bur1y blast. But the story of Holland
and her struggle for liberty-S0 years Of
ceaseless war when war was more hell
than even Sherman's march to the sea-
beats all that Switzerland can show, even
II William Tell actualy lived and did
the things they say of him, even If
Arnold Biedermann was a real parsonage
and dispensed the sage counsel Walter
Scott puts in his mouth in that great
story of ANN of Gierstien."
Indiana was a reliably democratic state
until $780, since when the democracy of
Indiana has been the scrappiest political
contingent In the Union, Tamnany Mt
excepted In 1880 they went down be-
fore the train load of So bills the Union
League club of New York sent out there,
and in 1884 Dudey's "block of fivese did
the Kitchen work" for them. But twice
Hendricks was elected governor. and in
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-07

a periodical visitor in 1882 It appeared
afterward in 1759 also in 1885; and again
1t is to reach its perihelion now In May
1910. The period intervening between the
regular rounds of the comet thus proves
to be a period of 70 and some odd years
(The sages were so used to be brief In the
mention of figures and things as for in
stance, In the case of the "Septuagirt'
there were u doctors-not 70-ensased in
the work of the Bibles first translation)
The suppositon, therefore, by the many
that none before HALEY had the slightest
knowledge OF the .elliptical orbit of com
cts is absolutely wrong. Even though we
should grant the possibility that Edmund
HALEY, aided by the famous Sir Isaac
Newton and other scientists of his age,
did solve this problem anew by his own
personal effort, without regard to those
who preceded him-even then the fact re-
mains that many centuries before HALEY
there lived a Rabbi Joshua who taught
precisely the same doctrine anent the
periodical revolution of the comet. And
this circumstance may likewise have some
bearing upon the wonderful thought Of
the Roman philosopher, Lucius A. Seneca,
contemporary of Rabbi Joshua, who
revolutionized the scientific world by de-
olaring his view to the effect that "the
comets had their perpetual motion along
the lines prescribed to them by nature"
"a doctrine entirely strange to the many
ages of the past. The venerable Seneca.
however, may have been associated with
Rabbi Joshua and his doctrines; as did
many another of the Reman philosophers
jurists and statesmen that caught their
inspiration from Jewish men Of learn
ing.
OF this Rabbi Joshua 1t Is related that
he was noted astronomer and maths-
matician and that on account OF his vast
eruditiop and learning he was held in
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-07

HHE scientific world is now filled with
thrilling interest at the reappear-
l ance of that mysterious wanderer
OF the upper regions known as Halley's
comet, the discovery of which is attrib-
uted to the English astronomer, Ed
mund HALEY, In the year 1882; yet none
seems to note the important fact that
some 10 centuries back the earlier sages
OF the Talmud had already given us an
explicit statement with reference to the
periodical movement of this same celestial
body that Is now nearing our habitable
GLOBE In Talmud, traetate Horoyoth,
page TO- 1t is plainly spoken that there
is q star which appears once in 10 years
7 and perplexes the sea-farers' Accord
ing to the Talmudic statement 1t was
Rabbi Joshua Ben Chananya, who once
having embarked on a ship In company
with the Patriarch Rabbon Gamliel, had
revealed to the latter this valuable bit
of Information, as he precalculated the
advent of the comet for just about that
time.
Prof. G. Zelickovitz In the Jewish Daily
News calls the attention of modern scen-
lists to this remarkable passage in the
Talmud, and he adds that at is quite
possible that Edmund HALEY, who in the
year 1852 is said to have been only 26
years Of age that he received the infor-
nation concerning the septuagesimal rev.
olution of this comet from some learned
Jew Of his time; as the Talmudical COM
pilations had been In existence then as
they are today
That the Talmud here refers to this
same heavenly wanderer as discovered
by HALEY seems to be true beyond a
doubt. 1t is the one and the same comet
that has been traced back to the years
1857 and 1881; the same as was seen by
Kepler in 1907 1t was hailed by HALEY as
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-07

many notable criminal cases. Tom Buford
of Kentucky went ''snipe shooting one
day and killed the chief justice of the
supreme bench of the state Old Phil
Thompson and Dan Voorhees, defended
him, and there was but one possible plea.
emotional insanity.
They put on the stand his brother, Alec
Buford, a graduate of West Point, vet
eran Of the Mexican war, and a command
er Of a division under Forrest In the war
between the states. He was a race horse
man ana owned the stud farm Bosque
Bfnita In Woodford county, where he bred
those matci3leSs racers Enquirer and Mo-
Whittier. Well, they put old Alec on
the stand to prove his brother Toms In
sanity and in answer to question pro-
pounded to old Phil thompson General.
when did ysu first realize that your
brother Tom was inasns?" he deposed.
with all the candor and sincerity in the
world, like this:
well, Sir, some 10 years ago Tom came
to my house one August day and after
dinner we went out to the paddock to
look at my horses, and would you be-
lieve It sir, he actually stood there till
supper time arguing with me that he
knew more about race horse than
dbl That convinced me that Tom was
insane"
That splendid old soldier would not have
deposed falsehood to save 1000 thou
sand brothers from the gallows, and the
Jury knew It, as did the Judge and the
commemorative attorney. Tom finally got
Off with a sentence to the lunatic asylum
where he remained until he was oppressed
with ennui, when he took leave and moved
across the river into Indiana.
voorhees, appeared in other notable
l(trials for murder In Kentucky, in two
of which old Phil was again his col
league. What team 1t wasi-old Phil
to examine the witnesses and Voohees to
address the jury. But in one Of the
tr1als-old Phil being retained-the Jury
brought in verdict of guilty, the court
of appeals reversed the judgment and
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-07
DANIEL WOLSEY VORHEES-By Savoyard

ordered new trial voorhees, was not
present then and John G. Carlisle took
his place. His speech to the Jury did
not require 20 inmates In delivery, and
FIVE minutes after they retired the jury
returned a verdict Of mot guilty"
There Ia q sequel to that Some years
later whon Carlisle was Speaker of Con-
eress and voorhees, Senator from Indiana,
the man they had defended went into the
speakers room with a paper and laying
It before Mr. Carlisle. said something
Like this.
This bank requires two names to a
note merely az a matter of FORM SEN
ator Voorhees, has signed 1t as my secur-
ity. 1t 10 only for $500 and I wish you
would put your name to 1t just to COM
ply with the formality."
Carlisle knew the man was perfectly
honest, but as guilefess as child. He
indorsed the note and Immediately notl-
fed his bank to pay II the day 1t was
due, which was done. Carlisle is a
Scotchman, but he has . sense of humor.
I remember many years ago when I
was a youth reading a speech delivered
by Daniel W. voohees In the Thirty
seventh Congress. or possibly the Thirty
eighth, funeral Grafton over the liberty
that he held had been bounded to death
by Abraham Lincoln. 1t was wonderful
production and grand for the perfect,
precise and ornate English of 1t. Little
did l then expect that 1 would live to
see a democratic candidate for President,
three times nominated, idealize Abe Lin
coin. and far was Il from me to imas CINE
that a democratic senator from South
Carolina Mr.. TiTlman, would pronounce
the eulogy Of the first republican Presi-
dent Of the United States. I would not
be misunderstood. Lincoln was a grand
man, but II he had had a democratic hair
IN his head he would have plucked 1t
out and cast It away.
This great big hollyhock of a govern
ment that we have is yet an experiment,
and 1 am not so certain that the corpse
was not then and there present when
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-07

are too well known for their health-pre-
serving and salutary effect, and IL were
useless for me in this brief article to at
tempt a proper elucidation thereof.
In our differentiation at these latter
ages of scientific discovery let as not
lost sight of the peers OF ancient days.
who in their abundant wisdom had paved
the way and made things possible for our
moral, mental and physical development;
who taught us how to live the life OF
reasoning beings, and how with the cul-
tivation of the physical system to Pr
vide also for the formation of the hui
man character. Those easy make-sni1ts
who do all In their power to beliftle the
Importance of the Bible, and who are SO
charry to admit that there Is anything
worth while knowing In the teachings OF
Israers prophets and sages of yore they
may we'll profit by a consideration or the
facts above mentioned. These are Just
few of the many instances wherein the
master minds of old are shown TO have
fathomed the depths of intellectual ana
moral development and to have laid their
hands upon the tree OF knowledge In all
of It's branches. distinguished Hebraist
of the past century had thus very aptiy
remarked that compared with the gigan-
tic figures of ancient thought and IDEAL
ism we OF the present are as mere dwarfs
seated upon their shoulders. who can see
farther, but can claim very little In the
way of measuring up with their towering
height.
The searching mind will readily recog-
nize in the Bible and the rabbinicai liter
allure as commentary thereof, demon
stration of the rule OF divine Provi-
denee in the entire order Of creation, and
with II revelation of truths, scientific
and natural, which the world of letters
and understanding is still destined to
learn at this time and in years to como.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-07

ships name. though known by another
On Bacon manuscript there has been
found in Bacons own handwriting tho
names of Francis Bacon and civilian
Shakespeare" as If he were trying his
pen at writing both names.
The plays were altered, revised and
variousiy changed for some years after
shakspere died; but upon Bacon's death
all this stopped suddenly.
Now, my good reader 1t is easy enough
to pooh-pooh all these facts as some peo-
pie do, but pooh-pooh is not an argu-
ment- Why does not come one rise up
and disprove themf
Here Is another curious thing. Every
body knows that there are anachron+
isms in Baoon's works. I have uneof-
lined some in his essays. Other kinds
OF mistakes, also, he certainly made.
Here is one: He says that Aristotle
taught Moral philosophy" He meant
to say Political philosophy" This
Identical mistake occurs In Trofius and
Cressida- He makes a mistake in the
realm Of physical science in his Ad-
vancement OF Learning. and those Same
errors are found in The Two Gentle
men OF Verona, and in Ceriolanus Even
in his errors Bacon seems to be Shake
speare,
call the readers attention to q re-
markahle fact. which. so far as know
has mover appeared IN any book pub
lishsd in the interest of this contro-
versy, and yet. 1t IL fact of positive
Importance,
The historian. Leclxy, In his sch olarIy
work, England in the Eigh teenth Gem
fury" tells us that from the time Of
Ben Jonson to the rebellion Of oliver
Cromwell there were certain hfstronio
comp ositions called Mosques" They
were light musical comedies, some
times quite lacking in dignity. Now,
the remarkable fact to which I re-
ferred Is thisi In the year lssI-S Prof.
John M. Doggett. an educator Of bril-
liant sch olarship and an accomplish ed
student Of Shakespeare known through
out the south, but best known in his
home state, Virginia, while abroad,
came upon Masque which had been
written by Lord Bacon. It's auth orship
was not In question at all. While close
ly scrutiniafng the faded type and the
disoolored paper hundreds Of years old,
Professor Doggetts attention was ar
rested by what seemed to be a curious
monogram. BY patient effort the let
ters in the complex combination wore
at last decipheredi they were F. "
w. s. The meaning was simple enough.
Lord Bacon was Baron of verulam, and
the monogram stood for Francis verulam
William Shakespeare. It appears.
OF initials. Bacon left on record, that
Francis of Verulam and william Shake
speare were one.
I have said nothing OF the acrostic
theory, because tho reader can but fail
In trying to discover the subtle inter-
weaving of Bacon's name in the text,
unless he should have the folio edition
of 1928, which few of us have
Who wrote Shakespeare? I do not
know. Do you?
A man discussing the question with
his wife. They reached no conclusion.
Finally she said: when get to heaven
the first thing I shall do will be TO
ask Shakspere II he wrote the plays"
But. my dear" said the husband,
"Shakspere may not be in heaven. he
may have gone to the bad place"
Then you ask him." answered the little
woman a. she took the hair pins out
Of her mouth.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-07

petty squabbles and small jealousies of
men who wrote finely and lived meanly
II anybody doubts this. let him read John
sons Lives Of the Poets" and Maocau-
lays essays.
But what indications does nature give
as to the proper way of improving cur
minds and laying in stores Of useful and
interesting information3 II you viii fair
ly consider this question. with your eyes
open, and with your mind alert, you can
hardly miss your way. Nay, "the way
farins man. though fools, shall not err
therein"
A healthy and intelligent child prob
ably learns more In the first five years of
his life than he ever learns in the same
leagth Of time afterwards. Few children
Of ysars Of age know anything about
books. How DO they accumulate so much
knowledge In SO short timer BY OBJ
serving. A healthy child Of fair INTEL
ligenos ID locomotive Interrogation point
Mr. Frederick Fairfie, In ''The woman In
white" held that childrsn were natures
eontrfvancss for the production Of noise.
II he had substituted QUESTION: for
'neiss." he would have bean right.
'whyr' ''vhsrs?" what fort" These arc
the lessons which are set the child by
Dame Nature and he soon wants to play
truAnt from her school and will never
miss his lesson If he can find out any
way to learn It,.
That 12-year-old boy, whom the school
master calls '1azy," will, on a hot August
afternoon, chase a horse over a pasture
for two hours, to ride half a mile, and
see a drove of fine blue grass trotters
that are at the station waiting for
stock train. Do you know any grown
man who Is industrious enough to do
thatf
An anecdote will illustrate my main
point here:
Many years ago student at the South
ern Baptist Theological seminary, then
at 0reenville, 8. c., was conversing with
one of his instructors, and said: "Oh, do
want to 20 to the Centennial III Phila-
delphiar" what for7" asked the doctor.
because could learn 80 much" Where
were you reared?" Tn Virginia. ''How
long have been LIVING IN Grsenvillef"
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-07

his work of compilation he was very
indiscriminate, as he borrowed the con-
tents thereof from various sources. and
from different ages and differing views.
So in this book we may find interpre-
tations of scripture and traditions
known to have been handed down from
the earlier sages-the Tanaaim-such
as Rabbi Simon and his contem poraries;
and alongside of these exegetical and
moral principles taught by Talmudists
of much later period; also some OF
the PHILOSOPHERS of Maimonides and
others of his age, and an admixture
even of some chips of Christian the
ology
While the direct authorship of this
book is still a matter of question, this
one thing, however, Is certain that In
part the zohar is a creation of most an
cient date. And, however the case may
be, the book In Its entirety came to pub
lie notice In the year 1900, when none
seemed to have had the least conception
of the newer system of astronomy, the
Revolution of the Celestial Orbs" as
promulgated by the German astronomer,
N. Copernicus, two centuries later. And
mark ye well the following passage In
Zohar, Vayikra, page 10, VIZ: Behold.
all this earth-worid is rolling itself like
q ball, Is inhabited on ell sides, and
when 1t Is light in one part 1t Is dark
in the other; and such place there is
wherein all is day and night only for a
short time, etc. Wonderful How
should one account for this sort Of dark
mysticism OF anoient times, which to-
day is as clear as daylight and known
to every school child as matter OF
TRUTH
The Rabbinical lore in many INSTANCES
has calculations such as were impos-
sible to be dectphered without the aid OF
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-07

the higher mathematics of the present
day. And SO the Ta1mud relates of a
telescope that was in use with Rabban
Camille Through which one could see
for many miles aroundabout on land as
well as on sea-" (Rosh Hashanah,
page 24)
The Pasteur system of treatment of
hydrophobia by means OF Inooulation-one
of the greatest triumphs of modern dis
covery-is likewise limited at By the Tai
4.audists In Tract Yuma, page "a, where
in 1t is stated that the dtaphrs GIN taken
out of a mad dog and administered In
ternally In certain doses. and according
to certain process of preparation, will
avail as a cure for person bitten by
such animal.
That the Talmudists have had more
than than O vague idea of the germ
theory" or the world of miscrosoopical
organisms, Is clearly shown from Tract.
Beraohoth, page g. and other sections of
the Talmud, wherein It Is spoken of the
"invisibles'' floating In the air, swarm
ing and multiplying as II they were TX
ing beings. ut Is q blessing" is further
asserted, that tho human eyes cannot
discern them, else none could withstand
their presence" Great care must be
taken of the finger nails, according to
Talmudio lore; as in them are slowed
away myriads of .-MAxiktn," the hidden
enemy of mankind. The pious one will
therefore, cut off the tips Of his finger
nails and throw them Into the fire OF
the drainage OF water. 10 . weak AND
tender person may not DO injured By this
evn effects of thsm." rhese mys<e and
hgurntive terms Of the sages In substance
present the same principles and theories
as are suhstsntisted by medical and scten-
tito researches of modern civilization
! The Mosaic hygienic and dietary rules
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-07

of law. He was a youth of hsrculean
frame and had the manly beauty and
grace of an Apollo. What a grand voice
it was and what a command of the choic-
est kings English was his. How state
ly, how beautiful, how ornate were his
sentences, and forged In a heart as big as
a mountain and as big as hers, the sister
of Lazarus, who ministered to tho Blessed
Redecmer.
It was natural and inevitable that Dan
voorhees, should become politician Mo-
body ever called him Mister Veor-
hess-hs was always "Dan," just as that
kindred supirit on the other side Of the
river was never called 'sAistsr'' Black
burn, but always joe" And what . lord
ly chap was Dan, how contsnaptucus Of
money, and had all the wealth Of either
Ind been his annual fncemo, he would
have died without osnt. 1t WAS a moral
impossibility for Dan VOORHEES, to- turn a
deaf ear to q cry of distress. Wherever
there was physical or mental pain his
great and grand heart was there to pour
out sympathy and to open his purse, IL by
chance II was not empty. And this was
the man that a human brute assaulted,
beat and bruised in 1863 because Dan
VOORHEES, was . democrat and pleaded for
q cessation of the war that was then max
ing widows and orphans by the tens of
thousands.
In 1859 Ashbel P. Willard was the DEM
ocratic governor of Ohio, and his wife 5
brother. John e. Cook, a young en-
thusiast, was one of that band that
under the lead of old John Brown levied
and waged war against the state of Vir
GINA and committed treason, murder and
arson at Harpers Ferry. Governor Will
lard appealed to Voorhees, to appear as
counsel for Cook at the trial and the
speech the young advocate made on that
occasion Is a classic Of forensic elo-
quence. 1t made him q national reputa-
ton. and when he took his seat In the
Thirty-seventh ConGrsss, two years later,
he was already . national flgurS.
VOORHEES, appeared for the defense in