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Being so near the close of the eighth volume of this
magazine, I deem it due to the cause I have been
defending, to lay a few <<526>>
considerations before
my readers. When I first commenced my editorial
career, it was with a great deal of hesitation,
amounting almost to a total unwillingness to assume
the task. Perfectly conscious of the limited range
of my knowledge, and diffident of being able to
conduct so important a work as to effect the least
good, and in view of the liability to error to which
the wisest mortal is subject, it was impossible but
that I should survey, with feelings amounting to
fearfulness almost, the field before me. Nor would I
have entered on it, had it not been that I, had good
reasons to apprehend that the attempt at Jewish
journalism would have been made by others, not so
well qualified by education and habits to diffuse
knowledge among the people. Besides, the position I
then occupied seemed to demand of me to leave no
means untried to scatter religious knowledge among
the Israelites.
But the reader may believe me sincerely, that no
object of gain spurred me on; I only endeavoured to
fulfil a duty, and the public must judge for itself
how I have discharged the self-assumed obligation,
aided, under the blessing of Providence, by a large
number of able and disinterested correspondents.
Whilst I was connected with a congregation as its
minister, I never required any pecuniary return for
my labour, as the salary I obtained for my time
spent in public life was ample for my support. This,
however, is the case no longer; and I am again one
of the people, as I was when I first arrived at
Philadelphia.
Still, I am willing to devote whatever mental power
I may have received, altogether to the service of my
people and my religion; for, in upholding and
defending them, I uphold and defend my own dignity,
and render the best service possible to the state.
At the same time; it is needless for me to
demonstrate that it will be impossible for me to
carry out this intention, unless I receive far more
encouragement from the people at large than I have
hitherto enjoyed, so that, whilst labouring for
others, I may not suffer myself from pecuniary
embarrassment, and anxiety for my subsistence. It
would be the height of folly for me to make an
especial appeal to my fellow-Israelites to second my
efforts. They either, by this time, think me worthy
of their support or not.
<<527>>
If
they have formed a favourable opinion of me, they
have now a good opportunity to prove it by their
acts. I offer to labour for them, if they are
desirous for me to do so; and it rests with them
whether I shall maintain my present position, or lay
down, in a few weeks, the pen which I have wielded
for so man years, always in behalf of Judaism and
its followers. They will see in the various works
which I propose, something to arrest their
attention; they can judge for themselves whether
they are useful, expedient, and even necessary; and
if they think that I am capable to conduct them, so
as to reflect credit on them, I fervently trust that
they will do all in their power to stimulate me to
pursue the course I have hitherto followed, and not
force me to quit the field of our literature. I
possess the same energy and capacity I have hitherto
exhibited.
There are Israelites enough in this country to
encourage duly all I have proposed, and the leisure
winter months now approaching will give my personal
friends ample time to canvass all their
acquaintance, in order to place the matter in a
proper light before them; and I hope, that when the
spring comes again to awaken dormant nature into new
life, I too may be greeted by the welcome summons of
the friends of our holy faith to persevere, as the
writer for the sacred cause, which we profess to
uphold. I have to ask, no personal favour for
myself; let Israelites decide whether my services
are useful, or whether it is better that I should be
driven into absolute retirement. If the latter be
their verdict, I shall submit without murmuring, and
then seek some pursuit congenial to my disposition,
till such time that my presence may be again
demanded in a field where I have been, I may say it
without arrogance, the unaided pioneer in America
for many years. It is true there are many more and
abler labourers now in the land; but they have each
assigned to them their proper vocation, and they
will not be injured if I continue in my present
calling. Should I be sustained, I can promise to act
as I have done hitherto, to seek for rising talent
and mature wisdom, to present them to the reading
community in the best possible manner; and the past
must be my guarantee, that no littleness of soul or
petty envy shall prevent <<528>>me from doing ample
justice to all, who claim to speak to the
people in behalf of our religion.
This is the last appeal I shall, perhaps, ever make
for the support of the public; personally it can be
but a matter of indifference whether I succeed or
not. The question is, however, not one confined to
myself only, or else I should throw my pen down in
disgust, in view of the severe trials through which
I have passed in my public career, and knowing that,
under the most favourable circumstances, I must lead
a life of dependence on the unsteady wind of public
favour. But I have asked myself, “Can I
conscientiously withdraw totally into retirement,
whilst there is no one altogether qualified to take
my place?”
And, notwithstanding the wounds which my spirit
bears, I could not answer in the affirmative. It is,
therefore, for you, fellow-Israelites, to decide the
question finally; and all I have to request of you,
is to look upon me and my efforts, not with the eye
of prejudice, with which some of you have been
taught to regard me, but to lay aside whatever
personal knowledge you may fancy you have, and judge
me according to my works, which will, perhaps, speak
for me with posterity against the judgment of the
present hour, and imagine for a moment that I am no
longer interested in the strife and jostling of the
passing time. Do this, and I wish for no more; do
this, and you, I am sure, must desire that we shall
not part company very soon, whilst you deem me
capable to gather for you the fruits of others’
wisdom, and the stores of sacred knowledge; and
whilst you desire to know something more of the
history of your people, and the behests of your
faith, than you can gather from the popular
literature of the day. In conclusion, I trust that
you will agree with me in the belief that Judaism is
something more than a sectarian creed; that it lives
not in party strife or wrangling for superiority;
and that its best friends, and those of mankind in
general, are they who, desirous of knowing their
duty for themselves, feel it a happiness to appeal
to all they can influence, to value as their highest
treasure the legacy of divine wisdom which is the
inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.
I.
Leeser. Philadelphia, December 13th, 5611. |
