Page:Trial of S.M. Landis.djvu/35

 appears upon the surface, something back of this prosecution which stamps this whole business with injustice and dishonor. And it is because I have been unable to bring what is behind the curtain forward, that I am so exercised to day.

I could stand here as calm as his Honor, who sits upon the Bench, and although not as beautiful, my face would be as free from anxiety and care as his, were it not for the fact I have been unable to bring before you the whole truth of the case.

I said it looked like persecution. The witness they put upon the stand, the only one the able officers of the Commonwealth could find, in a population of eight hundred thousand, testifies that he went to the office of Doctor Landis at the corner of Girard Avenue and Thirteenth street, and purchased "." The Doc tor did not consider him a child, he thought him old enough to use properly, this information in regard to God's highest and holiest law on earth—the law of procreation. This man returns to those who sent him, made a complaint against the defendant, upon which a warrant was issued, and instead of arresting this man, who is sapping the very foundation of purity and virtue in this community, if this bill of indictment is true; this Breneiser and his wicked confederates wait until the Sabbath. Nay more, they wait till the daylight disappears and the shades of night come on. A good man, if he has work to do, seeks a proper time in which to do it. Such a man chooses the light of day, while a wicked man prefers darkness because his deeds are evil. This model preserver of purity in Philadelphia, did not choose day light, when the sun shone beautifully upon the earth, lest the brightness of the sun would be a terrible rebuke to the darkness of his own evil heart.

He waits until Doctor Landis is about to commence his religious services in order to persecute this Christian minister!

Judas, got thirty pieces of silver for betraying Jesus of Nazareth. How much did this Breneiser get for the betrayal of this preacher of the same Gospel, his prototype betrayed and his ancestors crucified. I will not speak of the avarice of this man's ancestors through all the Past; how every prayer of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was a prayer for wealth; for flocks and herds, for them selves, or for their sons. They never asked for intelligence or justice. They never prayed God to bless their children with virtue or purity, but their prayer was for territory, and flocks and herds to graze upon it. I will not refer you to Shylock who demand ed his ducats or his pound of flesh. But, Gentlemen, where, since the time of Judas Iscariot, was there ever a greater exhibition of cupidity and treachery than is seen in the course pursued by this only witness for the Commonwealth.

A minister of Christ betrayed for money! But, I have been told Doctor Landis is an unpopular minister. So was Christ and so were his apostles. So have been the world's redeemers and the world's saviours. Each generation crucifies, through ignorance and prejudice, the men who are their best friends, and who stand up in the face of authority and tyranny to defend their God given and sacred rights.

But time brings ever its retribution. The people see their mistake and mourn in sack cloth and ashes, the cruel act, ignorance and bigotry, caused them to commit. The maligned, persecuted and banished of one generation, become the heroes of the next. Doc tor Landis is unpopular with those who have riches acquired by oppressing the poor—who have power in consequence of family, favoritism, wealth or blood. They have not investigated for a lifetime the laws of God, and fearlessly declared them to the masses in order to prevent disease, misery and crime, as has this defendant, and there fore do not understand the laws of Nature as expressed in this little book.

Human nature is the same through all the ages. The same class in the community that crucified Jesus and put his apostles to death; that has persecuted reformers through all time in every nation; that same class of men are crying aloud for the punishment and imprisonment of my client.

Gentlemen of the Jury ? Every witness we called, who has known