ANNEX 5 073 I* >/ Preached at the Great Synagogue, ON THE OCCASION OF THE DIAMOND JUBILEE OF .er Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, On Sunday, fune the 2oth, Rev. Dr. B. SALOMON PRINTED BY REQUEST. For strength of Thine the King will joy For Thy salvation, Lord, Shall he be glad, for Thou didst him His heart's desire accord. Thou'st granted him his lip's request, Nor didst from him withold Blessings of goodness ; on his head Thou'st set a crown of gold. He ask'd for life from Thee, and Thou A life that never dies Hast given Him ; his glory, Lord, In Thy salvation lies. (Ps. xxi., Translated l>y Marquis of Lome). The more exalted the object, which we have to de- pict, the more difficult must it naturally be to find words which shall give us a clear impression of the superiority of the individual, whose qualities we are about to portray. And the task becomes still more difficult, when this very being belongs to that category of which our sages para- bolically say, that the gloiy of earthly majesty is a reflex of the glory of the King of Kings in Heaven. Every being has, however faintly, to follow and to imitate those exalted qualities which \ve attribute to the King of Kings, and by promoting the welfare and happiness of his fellowmen, he deserves their love and thanks. But 21 17470 4 the opportunity is not afforded to everyone to further t he- welfare and progress of mankind on a large scale ; bin few are singled out for this, and it is mostly in their power, whether they shall become a curse or a blessing to mankind. Under a Queen most religious and gracious, it has pleased God to preserve not only the Sovereign, but her dominions also, in wealth, peace, and happiness. It is historically proved that only those monarchs, who by being in sympathetic touch with their nation have become endeared to it, have been able to contribute to the beneficial development of their bodily and mental faculties, while all others who have autocratically secluded themselves from their people have been destructive to intellectual progress and social wellbeing. Kings, a few centuries ago, had a vast amount of power, for their word was absolute. " The King's wrath is as the roaring of a lion : whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul." When such a monarch happened to be wise and good, it was a great blessing to the people ; but if he were of a hard, tyrannical nature, his subjects were mere slaves, and groaned beneath a yoke of iron. And if the love of a nation for its king is fostered by the goodwill, sympathy, and magnanimity which the king exhibits, how much more must this be the case when the crown graces the head of a woman when a woman is enthroned 5 whose heart, like a blossom, opens and sheds abroad its perfume in the warm zephyr of feeling ; whose feminine heart rapidly embraces, cordially and heartily preserves, embellishes, gives a colour to everything that comes within its reach, and extends its benevolence and well- wishing to all her subjects, towards whom she cherishes a motherly love ? And when, in addition, she has devoted her warmest and sincerest feelings to the careful rearing and education of her own children, and has become the real priestess of the home sanctuary, the regulator of the household, and the first and most important pattern to the rising generation. Is there a crown which sparkles more brilliantly than the one which we acquire exclusively in the service of education, in works of virtue, in acts of benevolence, and in deeds of love ? And though such a crown can be acquired by anyone who fills cut the space of life in the proper performance of those holy duties, how much more precious must be that crown, when to it is joined the sterling gold of a royal diadem. And where do we find a pattern which answers more accurately to the words just expressed, a more sublime example of female grace, motherly devotion, queenly bearing, and regal wisdom than in our beloved Queen, who, sixty years ago, ascended the throne of Great Britain, who has swayed an unrivalled sceptre, and to follow in whose train is the highest ambition of every true-hearted man and woman in her vast empire. Yes, a sun of joy is to-day shining from the royal palace diffusing warmth and light even into the hut of the poorest of her subjects. Therefore our heart must beat with gratitude to think that the days in which our lot has been cast, "have been spanned during a reign of such memorable blessedness." I may point out to you three principal features in the life of our Queen, each one of which I think is suffi- cient to secure the greatest affection and devotion : the conscientious performance of her duties in her domestic circle; her feminine graces and intelligent kindhearted- ness ; and her great wisdom in ruling her vast dominions. Everything that is good, useful, and beautiful has been fostered and nurtured with the most careful attention wherever it presented itself, or whatever its origin, and under such influences the vast empire has been turned into a fruitful heaven-favoured garden. Of the Queen's well-known kindliness of heart, and consideration for the humblest of her people, I might multiply instances, but they are probably familiar to most of you. The periodicals and the press generally, not to mention the numerous works which have just appeared, in connection with the event we are celebrating, are full of narratives which bring prominently forward those beau tiful traits in Her Majesty's character which have so endeared her to all on her various estates, where she can without derogation mingle with her tenantry and depen- dants almost as one of themselves, visiting and relieving the indigent and sorrowing, reading the Bible to a poor, bedridden cottager, and cheering the hearts of all by her gracious presence and her words of sympathy and wise counsel. And not least among the benefits which she has conferred on her people which few but those who are old enough to remember the looseness of former courts can adequately appreciate must be counted the purity of morals and decorum which she has introduced among those who most nearly surround the throne, setting an example as wife, mother, God-fearing woman, and spotless Queen, which has exercised an enormous influ- ence for good in all ranks of society, from the highest to the lowest, through the length and breadth of the land ; she has lived a life of virtue, which crowns her with a diadem worth more than all the gold of Ophir or the mines of Golconda. In no time in the history of the nation or of the world has there been such rapid and beneficent progress in regard to justice and freedom ; I need only to remind you 8 of the " Act for the better ordering of prisons," the Corn laws, the Anti-slavery laws, the abolition of the heavy taxes on newspapers, and the greater freedom of speech secured thereby ; and the highest boon con ferred on England's prosperity that of Fiee Trade or the gigantic strides which industry, commerce, sociology, and science have made during the rule of our Queen from 1837 to 1897. What territory can I venture thoroughly to explore, pointing out the great strides which it has taken during the benign sway of our Queen ? Mighty powers have arisen during that period in the world ; science, art, social and political life, have undergone a rapid and hitherto-unheard-of development. The great guardian angel of humanity walks with gigantic strides through the world, and though it often seems as if he were preceded by the furies of war and discord, he is closely followed by the attendant spirits of intellectual culture and civilisation, which scatter the seeds of blessing every- where around. The sun of freedom and enlightenment has melted the icy barriers which retarded progress, the mighty currents have burst forth, and who can tell how long may be their course, and how far they may run ? All the years of the reign of our Queen she has cultivated, cherished, and furthered the growth of everything noble, precious, and glorious, by which the tie that binds sovereign to people has become so strong, 9 Though our hearts and minds are animated by feelings of love and duty towards our gracious ruler under the influence of reason, yet the structure erected by reason alone is often based on an unsteady foundation. Because all that reason builds up in the daytime, it can easily overturn again in the night, and a temporary gust of passion can change the brilliant light of reason into gloomy darkness, where reign aberration and distortion. But such is not the case with us; every step is guided, an lour feelings are ruled by our religion ; it is our stronghold, which gives firmness and assurance to everyone who clings to it. The maxims which are based on the unshakeable foundations of our faith cannot be uprooted by any socialistic ideas, and true reason will only shed more light upon them, exalt and elevate them. If now our religion teaches us, that every minor action is controlled and guided by the Creator, of what higher and significant importance must be the choice of a ruler, the choice of a great and powerful sovereign like ours, under whose benignant sway so many different nations willingly bow. Of such a monarch the sacred bard speaks, when he says : "His enemies with shame will I invest, whilst upon him his chaplet shall ever bloom." IO We are united here together, all presenting ourselves before the altars of the Lord, to lay down our richest gifts of thanks and praise to Him. Though there is often sufficient cause to render thanks to some of our fellow-men, yet we have to thank our Queen for a special favour, which I consider as the most beautiful flower in the field of her great, goodness, which deserves a greater acknowledgment of gratitude on our own behalf than from any other of our fellow citizens. We possess a treasure, compared to which all other treasures of the world are nought ; a treasure, which we have carried with us and preserved pure and stainless amidst all the turmoil, pressure and oppression of the most dreadful scenes and struggles ; a treasure, by which the nations of the world have been civilised and saved from utter destruction this treasure is our Bible, in the quiet possession and performance of which we arc- protected by our Queen in which she also always has found, in times of joy and sorrow, her greatest support and comfort and the greit boon of this protection lays us under the obligation to render our highest and fervent thanks to God for the preservation of our Queen. And for whom can there be more reason to hold a Thanksgiving Service than for those who belong to the II Jewish persuasion ? How many years of Jubilee have passed over the earth, without loosing the fetters, which hindered the growth of all development of the Jewish people ? And where do we find a country, even in the present age, in which with the feast of Jubilee the trumpet sound of " let freedom be proclaimed " is heard over the whole land, but in that empire over which our Queen sways her blessed sceptre ? Though fools may abuse this great word " freedom," though audacity and perversity may often have tried to annihilate it, and unbridled license and ambition have swung their baneful scourge over the earth, yet foolish and wicked people shall not deprive us of our com- prehension and appreciation of the great boon of freedom granted to us under the reign of our beloved Queen. The freedom which is given to the various peoples under the sway of our Queen is not freely granted to one party or one sect and withheld from another ; the reign of our Queen has allowed the tree of liberty to spread its root far and wide, to extend its branches in all directions, and invites one and all to take shelter under its shade. - How truthfully has she carried out the golden words she uttered, in her declaration to the country, at the accession to the throne : " Educated in England," she said, " under the tender and enlightened care of a most affectionate 12 mother, I have learned from my infancy to respect and love the constitution of my native country. It will be my unceasing duty to maintain the reformed religion as by law established, securing at the same to all the full enjoyment of religious liberty. And I shall steadily protect the rights, and promote to the utmost of my power the happiness and welfare of all classes of my subjects." Will not the year of the accession of our Queen to the throne and the present Diamond Jubilee year be still more treasured up in the memory of every Jew, when he remembers that in both those memorable years Jews held such high official positions as High Sheriff and Lord Mayor ? Four days after the Queen's accession Moses Montefiore, of ever-loving memory, was appointed Sheriff, and at the present interesting juncture the highest civic honour is held by Sir G. Faudel Phillips as Lord Mayor. Must we not be grateful to the Almighty, must we not always bear in mind the words of the prophet, " Seek the peace of the city, whither I have caused you to be carried away, and pray unto the Lord for it ; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace." The love of one's fatherland is a sacred feeling, because it is not so much by our own freewill, that we 13 have been transplanted to this place, that we have acquired these friends and surroundings, but a mightier hand has knit those bonds, which are entwined round us, a higher power prepared for us an habitation, made us a domicile here and nowhere else. And who will doubt that if children are to progress and improve, they must love the mother who supports and strengthens them, love her not only in words, but with a full heart. Having grown grey under the burthen of the crown, her heart still beats warmly for the welfare of her empire, and with unflinching activity and unswerving fidelity to her subjects, she devotes the declining day of a glorious- reign tc spreading blessing and happiness universally around. This glorious reign of freedom and light has also been a reign of love and goodness, reminding you of the beautiful desire of our Queen in her childhood, when, on her first being informed of her royal destiny, she but uttered the simple longing " to be good." May, to the crown of honour, humanity and civilisation, which graces the head of our beloved Queen, be added 14 the crown of very old age, and may the words of the holy Psalmist (xlv. 17, 18) be lasting : " Yea, those who have from Thee their birth Thou'lt make the princes of the earth. Thy name will I make known To all posterity, That men Thy name may own Through all eternity : Thus shall the people ever raise To Thee the voice of thanks and praise." " Courier" PrintiiiR Works, Cannon Street, Manchester. THE SORROWS AND SUFFERINGS OF THE RUSSIAN JEWS. A SERMON PREACHED AT THE BERKELEY STREET SYNAGOGUE, ON THE SEVENTH DAY OF PASSOVER, 29 APRIL, 56511891. REV. A. LOWY. PRINTED BY REQUEST. LONDON: WKRTHEIMER, LEA AND CO., CIRCUS PLACE, LONDON WALL. 1891. P.R.A. No. 2.] [New Series- VIVISECTION AND PERSONAL RIGHTS. A LECTURE DELIVERED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE personal IRigbts association, IN THE Conference Room of the National Liberal Club, BY J. H. LEVY. LONDON : P. S. KING & SON, ORCHARD HOUSE, GREAT SMITH STREET, WESTMINSTER. PRICE THREEPENCE. 1902. #* a IPreacbeo at tbc Great Sv?naoo0ue, SunJ>a\>, 3une tbc 20tb, 1897, \ B. Salomon. //< fa ^4