The Cotton Factory Times. — 1889-10-04 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

FUNERAL OF THE MURDERED MIN. The victim of the tragedy was buried on Sunday afternoon in the Cemetery of the Manchester Hebrew Congregation, at Cramps&ll. The body was brougnt by train from Bury in the mornings and conveyed to the Great Synagague in York. street. It was from here that the funeral started. There were several mourning coaches, and a large number of carriages. conveying_ relatives and . .  friends. The chief mourners were Samuel Gordon, father of the deceased man ; Meyer Gordon, hie brother; S. Goldstone, father-in-law; and three young children cf the deceased. In the neighbourhood of York-street, the blinds in some of the houses were drawn, and there was a large gathering of people outside the Synagogue. At the cemetery the assembly consisted of over a thousand people. The ministers present were the Rev. Dr. B. Salomon, the Rev. S. Alexander, the Rev. J. Valentine, and the Rev. L. Simmons. After Mr. Alexander had said prayers fOE the dead, Dr. Salomon, minister of the Great Synagogue, addressed the assembly. With regard to the Bury tragedy he would say, to the credit of the population of that only one previous murder had ocurred there. Such a tragedy was rare among the Jews; it was equally rare for a jew to be murdered by a Christian. The Jew loved his Chrietiau brother, and in his dealinge with him behaved in a brotherly way. One religion embraced them all, and that was the religion of love. This foul murder was accounted for not by any feelings such as might have once prevailed between Christians and Jews, but by the greed of money and by drunkenness. That large crowd had not gathered together, he was sure from motives simply of curiosity, but with a desire to show their great sympathy for the bereaved family. One touching fact he could not leave out of that recollection that day was the murdered man's birthday. Cat let them say in the wprds of Ecclesiastes, that "the day of death is better than the day of birth." The father who rejoiced when his child saw the light of the word, now, bowed down, followed him to the dark chamber of death; yet he had the consolation that intense sympathy could give him. For the orphans of the murdered man God, who called himself the Father of orphans, would care. The Jewish religion was not intolerant. It did not claim revenge; all that it claimed was justice. As Holy Scripture said, " Justice, justice, shall you pursue," and justice stands also written on the banner of Judaism. It was justice and justice only that the community would ask for now. Let them draw a lesson from the sad case, remembering the words of the Rabbi Akiba that "we shall repent One day before we die ;" and when his pupils asked "Do we know the exact day of our death, the exact hour when the pulse-throb of our life shall come to a standstill, when the fire burning on the altar of our heart shall be extinguished ?" the teacher answered "We must always be in readiness." And in this case George Gordon was ready ; he had prayed and repented on the eve of the New Year. The last hours of his life taught them in the morning and the evening to say, "In Thy hand, 0 Lord, I deliver up my spirit." Dr. Salomon before closing read a telegram he had received from Dr. Adler, delegate chief rabbi, and other messages of sympathy with the family of the murdered man. Out of respect to the departed, he ended, they would now follow him silently to the grave, where he would be till the hour of resurrection struck over the earth, when all tears would be dried, all sighs hushed, and the night of mourning would give place to the beauti , ful dawn of love. Dr. Salomon's impressive address was listened to in complete silence, and with evidence of emotion on the part of many. The coffin was then taker to the grave, and when it was lowered Dr. Salomon said the words of Job, "The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." A further prayer was said by the RIM Bo Alexander. and the company Parted.  N