THE
AMERICAN JEW
AS
Patriot, Soldier and Citizen

BY
SIMON WOLF

EDITED BY
LOUIS EDWARD LEVY

PHILADELPHIA
THE LEVYTYPE COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

NEW YORK—CHICAGO—WASHINGTON
BRENTANO'S
1895

"And Ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free."—John, viii, 32.

Editor's Preface.

It were an error to suppose that prejudice is always the offspring of ignorance, inasmuch as the reverse is very frequently true. Not seldom is ignorance the result of prejudice, through a willful refusal to recognize such facts as run counter to the latter. A more accurate simile would, therefore, be the likening of prejudice and ignorance to twins, of whom either may be the precursor of the other, and either one the stronger of the two. The prejudices which follow ordinary ignorance give way readily before increasing knowledge of the truth, but where prejudice is the elder of the twin vices, it is usually the most obstinate as well. "None so blind as those who will not see" is an old aphorism whose truth is universally recognized. This obstinate kind of prejudice is usually but a form of self-conceit, as the latter, in turn, is but another form of ignorance.

To combat one of the most obstinate of all obstinate prejudices, and to promote enlightenment on a subject whereof ignorance has become unpardonable, has been undertaken by Hon. Simon Wolf in the work before us. His impelling motive has been to enforce a recognition of the Jewish people as a militant factor in the upbuilding of the State, and of Judaism as a primal force in the furtherance of civilization, and he has chosen as his weapons the simple truth of history and the testimony of leaders among men.

A notable French writer remarks that "La vérité historique devrait être non moins sacrée que la religion."[1] His words are just; the truth of history should, indeed, be no less sacred than that of religion. If this is true, and few or none will be found to dispute the proposition, then the records of historic truth may be regarded as part of the gospel of humanity. Such they are, in fact; as the truths of history become disentangled from the maze of sophistry and falsehood in which the passions and follies of mankind envelop them, they teach us first of all the lesson of charity and good-will to men.

The light of historic truth has been concentrated by Mr. Wolf on the part taken by his co-religionists in the development of our great republic. He shows us that the Jewish people of the New World, like their ancestors and brethren of the Old, have been unfailing in their devotion to their country's cause; that they have performed an ample part in the conquest of our liberties and have fully shared in the struggles for the preservation of our institutions. He proves beyond cavil that from an early stage of our history down to the present day, men of the Hebrew race and faith have been counted in the van of the country's progress and in the forefront of its defense, and having proved this fact by historic records and a demonstration of the truth, his task is done.

That this task was self-imposed but adds to the debt which the American Jewish community owes to Mr. Wolf for its accomplishment. It was undertaken in the spirit which has animated him throughout a long career of public usefulness, a spirit of loyalty to the faith that is in him, to his fellow-Israelites and to the land of his adoption. It has been done with all the thoroughness that an earnest purpose could impart to it, with a comprehensiveness in keeping with that purpose, and withal, in a spirit free from any shadow of sordidness or motive of self-interest. Mr. Wolf seeks no pecuniary profit from the unstinted labors he has given to this cause, not even the return of the sums expended by him in the tedious and often costly collection of his data. Whatever of monetary reward may inure to his work has been dedicated by him to the orphaned wards of the B'nai B'rith, whose asylum in Atlanta he helped to found, and of which he has long been the directing spirit and official head.

The work of gathering the material for this book having been accomplished by Mr. Wolf, the less onerous task of editing and collating it has been entrusted by him to the present writer. In the execution of the work thus outlined for me I have been guided by the spirit with which the author had imbued it, and in my introductory references to the successive subjects of the volume, I have sought to briefly elucidate the author's theme. In common with him, I have to express my regret that the army lists compiled herein remain incomplete notwithstanding his unsparing efforts to perfect them. On the other hand, the more general subject, the place of the Jewish people in the history of mankind, their influence on the current of affairs, their attitude before the world and towards it, are demonstrated by a consensus of many-voiced opinion, gathered from unquestionable sources, in such abundance and of such extent that only its necessary curtailment afforded difficulty. This varied material has been subjected to a careful reconsideration, and in eliminating some portions and including others, I have sought to render the whole in harmony with the key-note which Mr. Wolf had sounded.

Philadelphia, October, 1895.

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