Mistress of Herself: Speeches and Letters of Ernestine Rose, Early Women's Rights Leader

Debate on the Jews in the Boston Investigator

11 debate on the Jews in the boston investigator By Ernestine L. Rose and Horace Seaver October 28, 1863 to April 13, 1864 New York and Boston On October 28, 1863, Horace Seaver, editor of the freethought weekly, The Boston Investigator, published an editorial attacking “the Jews” as a people. The Civil War years, 1861–1864, were a time of rising anti-Semitism, and Seaver focused on two prevalent anti-Jewish prejudices: that Jews were more likely to buy their way out of the draft than non-Jews, and that they were war profiteers. Such prejudices had had real consequences. For example, General Ulysses S. Grant had barred Jews from certain war zones based on this canard. In his letter of February 17, Seaver combined these dual prejudices into one sentence, and further compounded the offense by mocking the accents of immigrant Jews in rendering percent as “per shent.” As the debate continued over months, it was clear that Rose and Seaver could not agree. Seaver doggedly reiterated his partiality toward the Universalists, while Rose departed from her commitment to infidelism to express a preference for the monotheism of the Jews compared to the Trinitarian views of most Christians. She makes it clear, however, that she is still an “infidel,” and is defending the Jewish people , and not the religion. Seaver, on his part, claims to be attacking the religion and not the people, but his anti-Semitism is unmistakable. Rose’s rhetoric is based on human rights and social justice for all irrespective of religion or ethnicity. The debate between Rose and Seaver is published here in full. Seaver’s original editorial is followed by Rose’s responses, which with publication of her letter of January 29 extended through eight weekly issues of the Boston Investigator, from February 10 to April 13, 1864. Seaver, as editor, controlled the discourse by cutting Rose’s letters in half and spreading them over two weeks of issues, with each half followed by Seaver’s “Remarks,” which were often longer than Rose’s letters. In the interest of keeping this text to a reasonable length, I cut some of the most repetitious parts of his “Remarks.” Seaver continued to respond as long as Rose continued to write, but the practice of following her letters with his remarks insured that he would have the last word. The letters appear here with their original headings and dates of publication ; dates of composition also appear at the end of Rose’s letters. n theJeWs,anCientand MOdern [editOriaL bY hOraCe seaVer], OCtOber 8 The ancient Jews were said to be the chosen people of God and we are further informed that he personally instructed and guided them. If this 1 ernestIne l.rose were the case, we should naturally expect to find them the best people who have ever lived, and a pattern for all nations through all time; instead of which, they were about the worst people of whom we have any account, and the poorest guides to follow. Their principal business or occupation, according to the Old Testament, seems to have been, to seize upon the lands of the surrounding communities and kill off the inhabitants. Such massacres as were committed or ordered by Moses and Joshua, destroying not only men, but women, children, sucklings and in a word, “everything that breathed,” are unparalleled in all history; and if perpetrated by our armies in this present war would convulse the world with horror. Of course, the Lord never commanded these barbarities, and it is mere superstition to suppose so. They were the work of bad men, who covered up their designs and imposed upon their dupes with a pretended message from Heaven. But the modern Jews appear much better in history than their ancient brethren. Perhaps this was owing to their loss of power and their being scattered among other nations, which has rendered them comparatively harmless. It was a lucky thing for their immediate neighbors that the Jews were scattered, for they were a troublesome people to live in proximity with, and all such persecuting people had better be scattered as much as possible, rather than kept intact to plague the peaceable and well-disposed . The Jews in these days, however, are quite an improvement upon their Israelitish ancestors, and the fact goes to show that scattering has been a decided benefit to them, though this does not appear to have been the object of “prophecy.” Yet it is somewhat singular that the Jews...