The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-07-05
BILL ARP'S LETTER.
Bill Says There Is no Entertainment
as Cheap as Reading.
atlanta Constitution.

| Some notable persOn-I believe it was
Lady Montague-said" "there is no en-
tertainments so cheap as reading and no
pleasure as lasting" Especially is this
true nowadays when there is so much
to read that is cheap, instructive and
interesting. In fact, reading is now
the best part of a liberal education. A.
well read person is wiser, happier and
better fitted for the duties and trials of
life than the scholar who has graduated
at the top in the arts and sciences. Of
! c0urse, mean good reading-sucil as
history, ,ancientand modern; biography,
where we get both example and pre-
cept; good story books and standard
novels that teach good morals; good
magazine literature and good news
papers, whose editors are conscientious
and feel their responsibility. GAS u
man sows, SO shall he reap" and We
might as truly say what child reads,
SO Will his or her moral and emotional
| character be. The schools educate the
intellect only, but reading affects the
heart, the emotions and passions and
establishes the character Of the young
for good or for evil. Man has been
defined to be a bundle of prejudices,
and these prejudices most generally
come from the books, magazines or
newspapers that we read.
Little stories like "AndrOcles and the
Lion" or Damon and Pythias" have
nodded the character of thousands cf
children, and just 80 have "Robinson
Crusoe," the young Marooners" and
the ''Swiss Family Robinson" estab-
hshed the characters of children of
larger growth. Whether man de-
spises OF admires Napoleon depends on
whether he has read Scott or Abbott.
Whether man was o whig OF demo-
crat in the old times depended on the
newspaper he took. AS great man as
DR.. Miller, who was an old line whig,
had contempt for Thomas Jefferson
because he was per-se the founder of
the democratic party. Jefferson must
have been very great man." said I,
'fOT he wrote the declaration of inde-
pcndence." "And what is thatY' said
the doctor, "but series of ungram-
matical platitudes that any schoolboy
might have written. The first SEN
tence is ridiculous, for it says q decent
respect for the opinions of mankind.
A decent respect! Who ever heard of
an indecent respect? Why didn't he
say respect for and leave out the
decent" and he scarified the whole
document from a whig standpoint.
Well was Illuminating about this
while reading Percy Gregg's high
toned hnt InoTci;ess criticism OF Harriet
beecher Stowe, "Uncle TOMS Cabin.''
Gregg had sojourned in the south du-
ring slavery times and knew the book
was lie when it was written, and that
1T was written to inflame the northern
mind and precipitate collision. That
Beecher family was smart, unprincipled
and malignant. 1t was Henry Ward
Beecher who melted old John Brown
to his reckless deeds and daring and
who declared from his pulpit that
Sharp's rifles were better missionaries
than Bibles, and that to shoot at
slave holder and miss him was sin
against heaven. 1t was that same
Beecher who, while a preacher, seduced
the wife of one Of his members and
broke up the family, and after weeks
OF mock trial got withdrawing
verdict from packed committee.
But was ruminating about the far
reaching influence and effect of that
book and how it fired the northern
heart and the English heart against us,
and how it was lie and wholly mis-
represented our people, and how the
Lord cursed Shemaiah, one of the
prophets, because he made the people
believe lie. and how st. John said no
one should enter heaven who Ioveth or
maketh lie, and SO 1 was wondering
where the Beechers arc now.
But the trouble is they wont stop.
Almost every mail brings me news
papers with marked articles denounc-
ing us and threatening us for this
lynching business, and they all pity
the fate of Sam Hose and weep over
that incendiary scoundrel whom they
call that good, inoffensive old preacher,
Lige Strickland. May the Lord have
mercy upon us and keep us calm and
serene, is my prayer. My last comes
from The Humane Alliance, of New
York, and says:
"Three Thousand demons turned
loose upon helpless prisoner. They
cut off his ears and fingers and plncked
out his eye balls and plunged knives
into his body. His liver and heart
wore cut into small pieces and sold to
the highest bidder. Not long before
the mob took nine negro prisoners from
the guard and shot them all to death
save one. That one was Sam Haas,
who escaped. Crawford was one Of
that mob. and Sam Hose was only
avenging the death of his friends when
he killed Crawford. After burning