Year: 1876

The statue to religious liberty which our
Hebrew fellOw-citiZens are about to erect ar
rived on last Wednesday i'll the steamship
Alexandria. 1t is, appropriately, the work OF
an American Hebrew, and IL, We believe, the
first monument or visible token of any sort
given by this nation for ages to express any
poitical cause for gratitude, and We may add,
the first expression here by any sect of graft
tude for their enjoyment of religious liberty
Freedom to worship God, to the newly ar
rived Puritan and Quaker, was subject for
rejoicing and triumph, but their children are
apt to take it quite as n matter of course. Our
Hebrew friends are wise to set this tangible
reminder of our blessings before our eyes.


The Hebrew, more than man belonging to
any other race, is likely to remember vividly
his past and to contrast it with the present.
His church service, his daily actions, his very
food. are shaped and ruled by memories OF
his history The American boy must belong
TO " good family if he can tell you what
his grandfathers were doing two hundred
years back. The Hebrew has the history OF
his ancestors two thousand years before Christ
at his tongues end; he knows the story of
their flight from Egypt their flight from
Jluea, from F1tUCt, IIDHi lShSihhu' "h' ''''"
Spain. where 100000 left their homes and
great wealth behind, and went out to die as
paupers and slaves rather than ablure their
religion Hearing constantly OF the long
tragedy through which his immortal race has
always played the part of the victim, the He
brew is better qualified than any other citizen
of the United States to appreciate his repose
and liberty here. Nominally, he enjoys the
same amount of liberation In several coun-
tries of Europe; in England, France and Den
mark the highest offices of state are open to
him rs to any other citizen But there is still
the vague feeling that it is liberation, not
equality, which he enjoys. The intangible
social ban indefinable, but no less heavy to
bear, has not yet been wholly lifted from
him.


In this country the Hebrews are so thorough
" amalgamated with the great mass that they
scarcely have achieved for themselves a dis
tinctiye character. In Hungary and France
they are noted for their bravery, but here
they have wisely taken part in war or public
affairs in peace as Americans, leaving the
question of race in the background. Except in
the matter of charities, which are usually
large and well managed, they seldom move as
n body. There is, indeed, so Ear as their
literary expression is concerned, lack OF
that oriental enthusiasm or patriotism which
their history gives us "a right to expect. The
Derondas and MOrdecais are Pigments of the
imagination of Christian authoresses rather
than real Hebrews who wear white scarfs on
Sundays and decline to eat pork. This very
practical, unsentimental quality in the charac-
ter of the people makes their voluntary
acknowledgment of gratitude to their adopted
country more significant and important. 1t is
in question, we believe, whether the statue shall
be erected IN Washington OF, as was at first
intended, at Philadelphia. The latter place
would seem the fttest, as it was the first, and,
for a century, the only spot where religious
freedom was secu red on this continent.