Page:The World's Most Famous Court Trial - 1925.djvu/231

Rh I am sure that if he had had time to have thought and deliberated he would not have spoken those words. He spoke those words, perhaps, just at a moment when he felt that he had suffered perhaps one of the greatest dissapointmentsdisappointments [sic] of his life when the court had held against him. Taking that view of it, I feel that I am justified in speaking for the people of the great state that I represent when I speak as I do to say to him that we forgive him and we forget it and we commend him to go back home and learn in his heart the words of the Man who said: "If you thrist come unto Me and I will give thee life." (Applause.)

I think the court should adjourn downstairs. I am afraid of the building. The court will convene down in the yard.

(Court thereupon adjourned to the stand in the courthouse lawn and upon reconvening the following proceedings occurred:)

Mr. Hays—If your honor please, I will not take very much time. I have condensed these statements considerably.

The Court—Where is my officer? Announce to the jury if any are present they must retire.

Officer Kelso Rice—Now, if any of the jurors are present please retire, by orders of the court.

Mr. Hays—Your honor, as to the next order of proof which the defense would offer I should like to say that the defense, as lawyers, take no position of this. It has to do wholly with the question of what the Bible means, and what we would be able to prove from witnesses—we wish to state that we should be able to prove from learned Biblical scholars:

(The statement of defense counsel was thereupon read, which has heretofore been multigraphed and delivered to the press.)

Mr. Hays—Next, your honor, we come to the question of what we would like to prove on the questions of translation that occur in the King James version from the original.

(The statement of Dr. Herman Rosenwasser was thereupon read, which follows on succeeding pages.)

Dr. Herman Rosenwasser is a rabbi whose qualifications are vouched for by Dr. Kaufman Kohler, president emeritus of the Hebrew Union college of Cincinnati, and the leading Hebrew Scholar of America, who says:

"I consider Rabbi Rosenwasser well qualified to interpret Genesis scientifically and fully agree with him in his endeavor to reconcile evolution with the Bible, as I did in all my teachings."

(BiographBiography [sic]—Dr. Herman Rosenwasser resides at 180 Commonwealth avenue, San Francisco, Cal. He is 46 years of age, was born in Hungary and came to the United States in 1893. He studied in the West High school of Cleveland, O. Upon graduation he went to the Hebrew Union college, where he was a pupil of Dr. Isaac M. Wise. After two years, and before graduation, he was called to the rabbinate of the congregation at Springfield, Mo., and while there, in addition to his religious duties, he taught in the public high school. He left Springfield for Cleveland in 1903 to continue his academic studies at the Western Reserve university of Cleveland. He specialized there in semitics and philosophy. In the year 1905, he received a degree of master of arts from the Western Reserve university. In 1906 he continued his rabbinical studies at the Hebrew Union college in Cincinnati, and in 1968 was there ordained a rabbi. His first charge was Lake Charles, La., two years; then Baton Rouge, three years. While there he was a member of the Protestant Ministerial alliance. Then he went to San Francisco, where he occupied for ten years the rabbinate of Temple Sholem, leaving there two years ago to devote himself to research.

During all this time he was a student and teacher of the Bible and has contributed largely to theological papers.