The Atlanta constitution., 1901-02-11

ars but very few good readers. II IS
fare 10 tnd q preacher who can e1pha-
size his text on a chapter or hymn
I'"ery college. and especially every theo-
logical seminary, should Elve a prores-
sorsh.p OF reading ana speaking. 1 re-
member hearing an eloquent divine prea- 1
q sermon from the text. My sin Is ever
before me- and such was nts utteraEce
OF that lament4Lon or 0aNic ana eU+a
mis- profound and solemn rendering o1 the
enduring consequences CT sin. that al.
his hearers were deeHIy Impressed Aiy
s4l IS ever before me- stilt rings IN oar
memcOies.
l SAID that sixty years ago there was
some excuse for ignorance. out neverthe-
lees, that age and - schools produced
many very notable men. The young peo-
pie We're eager FOR knowledge. A new
book was q treasure iD the house, ana
there was more time. more leisure, and
solomon says that in leasure there IS
But now the books are almost n the
way. They crowd U5 and surround us.
and "the cry IS still they come" Young
people read an average OF two or three
a week. and forget the contents In q
month. There are magazines IN every
huus hold, and they contain our best Ir~
erature-instructlVe and euterta ming:
newspapers GDod the country by the mi--
lions. The New YORK World boasts that
Il published 239 million copies last year
Every county in our state has county
newspaper ana the editor OF the Carroll
ton paper says the children read y great
deal more than their fathers dta and
keep up with wars and politics and muir
ders and suicides.
Then what is the matter. Bishop Can
dler wrote an excellent and Instructive
article recently ON The passing of great
men" lie never writes anything tnat
does not give as food for thought and
! am thauEfui th3t he has not passed
Yet the day of great men has passed
not only i'm Georgia. but i'm al the south
the councils of the nation forty and Hfty
years ago was our pride and our boast,
when We had among our preachers such
noble and true men as GcorSe Pierce
DR. Means. LougStrert. Jesse Mercer, n A.
than Crawford. DIT. Tucker. Bishop
Elliott and Beckwith. Joseph stiles iir-
Nilsson Dr. Goudiug and such lawyers
and statesmen as Forsyth. Troup. tho two
Cobbs. Jenkins, Ioombs. stephens, john
son. Walter Co,quitt and Ben Hin. There
are twenty names given, and many more
might be added. and IL Is IaInentaple
truth that their equals do not exist IN
Georgia today. This decay of great m n
IS apparent in every southern state, and
as for the north, there is nothing there
now but plutOcraCy who buy their way
into public office and def trial or Crit-
cism The struggle for money is the
curse OF the ge 10 has smothered the
nobler aspirations of our nature. Get
money; get money honestly 10 thou canst.
but at all events get money is now the
N0tLf. ne t0ufitoI lifNillr N .itAN 1N'itt''r
and the plutOcr1tS want more. Tho
masses of the people are on strain. I
am one Of them. and I Nu0w how II IS.
for ] have been on stra n ever s. nee
the war 1t is buckle and tongue u
keen in hailing distance of society. 50
many of our class have rich man
ways and a poor mans purse that we
have TO hang on 10 the ragged edge Of
genLIity. There are 50 many things
nowadays that we are just obliged TO
have-thines that did not exist in our
antebellum days. Our boys must go to
college TO get smattering of books and Il
fun teNt OF athletics Our girls must -c1
to get polish and make college friends
and receive visits and return visits aitrr
they graduate. and IL takes money f|r
clothes and money for railroad fare AMI
every now and then girl gets married
and chooses her college mates fnr hrr
attendants, and that Iakes more clothes
and n wedding present and so forth.
and so. fifth and sixth. and so on.