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instituted, auto da fes celebrated, tens of thousands were massacred.

The ethical sentiment, conscience, must guide, it may be maintained; but this is also an unsafe guide. Conscience, too, has misguided, and does misguide individuals and nations. The conscience of those parents who drown their new-born daughers because they cannot afford to give them the proper education and outfit; and of those barbarous sons who kill their feeble and aged parents, because they are burdensome to themselves and others; the conscience of fanatics and enraged mobs, of despots and their obedient coadjutors, is human

conscience.

Reason, the understanding, is THE guide which God has given us; the highest and last arbiter in all matters, human and divine. Reason is the supreme authority; and there is no appeal from its decisions. By reason we distinguish correctly the true from the false, right from wrong, the universal from the particular. Faith, conscience, history, and Bible must submit to reason This is the touchstone to distinguish gold from brass, the precious metal from the dross. Whatever cannot stand the test of reason is worthless, and to be cast away. This was the case in all ages of history, and will be so forever. With the progress of reason, faith and conscience are purified, humanity is elevated, and the ethical feeling sanctified. Truth is the only Messiah. Reason, says a Jewish authority, is the angel (the mediator) which stands between God and man. Reason has redeemed the human family from barbarism, and will complete the work of redemption. If I speak of reason as the highest authority, I do not mean my reason or your reason; I mean reason itself, universal and eternal, in which and through which the human family is a unit, and God is revealed to man. Reason must distinguish the universal standpoint from the particular ones in the Bible and elsewhere. Truth is the seal of God. Reason is the connecting link of God and man,-like the rays of light that connect the earth with the sun. Therefore, science, the favorite mistress of

reason, is the ally of religion and truth. Research, criticism, inquiry, and all other exertions of reason, are divinely appointed means for the progress of humanity to its lofty ideals of God, truth, and happiness.-Rabbi Isaac M. Wise, Cincinnati, Ohio.

FRATERNITY

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

EDUCATION.

Resolutions of Conference of Rabbis, Cleveland, Ohio, July 15, 1870.

These resolves, laid before the Conference by Rabbi Lilienthal, of Cincinnati, and approved by a select committee, were adopted unanimously, and engrossed and signed by all present:

At a meeting of the Rabbis of various cities of the Union, held in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, from and after July 13, in consideration of the religious commotion now agitating the public mind in both hemispheres, in accordance with the principles of Judaism, it was unanimously declared:

1. Because, with unshaken faith and firmness we believe in one indivisible and eternal God, we also believe in the common fatherhood of God, and the common brotherhood of

men.

2. We glory in the sublime doctrine of our religion, which teaches that the righteous of all nations, without distinction of creed, will enjoy eternal life and everlasting happiness.

3. The divine command, the most sublime passage of the Bible, "Thou shalt love thy fellowman as thyself," extends to the entire human family, without distinction of either race or creed.

4. Civil and religious liberty, and hence the separation of Church and State, are the inalienable rights of men, and we consider them to be the brightest gems in the Constitution of the United States.

5. We love and revere this country as our home and fatherland for us and our children; and therefore consider it our paramount duty to sustain and support the government; to favor by all means the system of free education, leaving religious instruction to the care of the different denominations.

6. We expect the universal elevation and fraternization of the human family to be achieved by the natural means of science, morality, justice, freedom and truth.

Dr. J. Mayer, President, Cleveland, Ohio; Dr. M. Lilienthal, Cincinnati, Ohio; Dr. Ad. Hubsh, New York; Dr. I. M. Wise, Cincinnati, Ohio; Dr. H. S. Sonneshein, St. Louis, Mo.; Dr. L. Kleeberg, Louisville, Ky.; Dr. L. Adler, Chicago, Ill.; Dr. S. Tuska, Memphis, Tenn.; Dr. G. Kalish, New York; Dr. M. Fluegel, Quincy, Ill.; G. M. Cohen, Cleveland, Ohio; A. L. Mayer, Richmond, Va.; Dr. L. Goldhammer, Cincinnati, Ohio.

CHAPTER VII.

GREECE.

ORPHEUS, PYTHAGORAS, PLATO, ETC.

ONE BEING.

There is One Unknown Being, prior to all beings, and exalted above all. He is the author of all things, even of the ethereal sphere, and of all things below it. He is Life, Counsel and Light, which all signify One Power, the same that drew all things visible and invisible, out of nothing. We will sing that eternal, wise, and all-perfect Love, which reduced chaos to order.

ter.

The empyrean, the deep Tartarus, the earth, the ocean, the immortal gods and goddesses, all that is, that has been, or that will be, was originally contained in the fruitful bosom of JupiHe is the first and the last, the beginning and the end. He is the Primeval Father, the immortal virgin, the life, the cause, the energy of all things. There is One only Power, One only Lord, One Universal King.—Orpheus, B. C. 1200.

ONE SOUL, AND OTHER SAYINGS.

There is One Universal Soul, diffused through all things,eternal, invisible, unchangeable; in essence like truth, in substance resembling light; not to be represented by any image, to be comprehended only by the mind; not as some conjecture, exterior to the world, but, in himself entire, pervading the universal sphere.

Unity is the principle of all things, and from this unity went forth an infinite duality.

The soul of man being between spirits who always contemplate the Divine Essence, and those incapable of such

contemplation, can raise itself to the one, or sink itself to the

other.

Truth is to be sought with a mind purified from the passions of the body. Having overcome evil things, thou shalt experience the union of the immortal God with the mortal

man.

Man is perfected, first by conversing with the gods, which he can only do when he abstains from evil, and strives to resemble the divine nature; second, by doing good to others, which is an imitation of the gods; third, by leaving this mortal body.

A man should never pray for anything for himself, because every one is ignorant of what is really good for him.

Every man ought to speak and act with such integrity that no one would have reason to doubt his simple affirmation. Do what you believe to be right, whatever people think of you.

It is either requisite to be silent or to say something better than silence.

It is impossible that he can be free who is a slave to his passions.

We should avoid and amputate by every possible artifice, by fire and sword, and all various contrivances; from the body, disease; from the soul, ignorance; from the belly, luxury; from a city, sedition; from a house, discord; and at the same time from all things, immoderation.

It is better to live lying in the grass confiding in divinity and yourself, than to lie in a golden bed with purturbation.Pithagoras, B. C. 586.

ZEUS AND DIVINE LAW.

Greatest of the gods, God with many names, God ever-ruling,

and ruling all things!

Zeus, origin of nature, governing the universe by law,
All hail! For it is right for mortals to address thee;

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