The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-04-24

fancy. No selfish design actuate1 Shartan
ana Noble Jones and Habersham and C,;av
VINO nursed it into life after the close
OF the war Of the revolution, nor the mem
pers OF the Union Society who took 1t in
cnarge when death had claimed It's found
e[s ana hrst guardians. A hundred and
hlty-one years ago ii was a house of mer-
cy. To-day it is Bethesda, a mousse ot
mercy. The same spirit of unselfsh char
lily which actuated Wesley and Whitfield
ana the Countess of Huntington in found
ing the institution has for a hundred and
nity years aetuated it's patrons and guar
olans IN supporting It, A hundred years
ago when the Union Society took WHIT
neids Bethesda under its fostering care
ana for century has nourished ana sus,
tanned it and made it indeed as in name
mouse of mercy and a home for the
homeless orphan bereft OF the love and
protection of father and mother
God has blessed and prospered the er-
forts of the society because its organiza-
ton is broader than sect or creed. Its
members are not and never have been
hampered by sectarian bonds. 1t has been
IN deed and in truth a Union Society,
whose members, Jew and Christian, Epis-
copaiian, Presbyterian, Baptist and Meth,
odlst, have been united for a century and
half In the noblest work that can eu-
gage the philanthropist and patriot. II
mas been engaged in fostering and sup
porting a home for the orphan where in
the language of the sainted Whitfield, he
may learn to labor, read and write, and
at the same time be brought up in the nu,
ture and admonition of the Lord
IN this connection will be pardoned for
turning aside for a moment to speak of
the men whose work in behalf of this
noble charity has been too much neglect
ed by those who have spoken and written
about Bethesda and its objects
and its achievements. Every body
knows that Whitfield, inspired by Charles
wesley and Oglethorpe, founded the
House of Mercy and laid the first brick
IN the foundation of the great house
more than a generation before the War
of the Revolution. Everybody knows
that when death claimed Whitfield he be-
queathed his charge to the Countess of
Huntington, whose soul was in the benev-
olent enterprise. / would not pluck lau-
rel from the brow of one of these They
were Gods own, inspired by the God of
the fatherlesS to do a noble work. But
we should not allow the respondent glory
that encircles their sainted brows to OBJ
scure that of their successors in the no.
bic work they begun. Equal credit should
be given to your Houstouns and Joneses
and Millens and Understands and TAFT
nails and Clays and Sheftalls and Mill
edges and organs and Bullochs and Ber-
rtens. These were philanthropists, men,
bers of the Union Society. who fostered
Bethesda subsequent to, during and after
the storms of revolution had swept over
the infant state. These are illustrious
names which adorn not only the history
of the House of Mercy, but that of our
glorious commonwealth.
ri eko 10. -
the American constitution that it is the
most wonderful instrument ever struck
off at a given time by the ingenuity of
man. 1t may be said with equal truth of
these Georgians who took the orphans
house in charge after the death
of its founders and who as we'll shaped
the policy and moulded the destiny of
Georgia at that time, that no state in any
age has ever produced wiser or more
patriotic or philanthropic men. Every de-
parture from the principles and practices
of the government they bequeathed to
us has been for the worse. They in
culcated no doctrine of paternalism, but
on the contrary independence and self
reliance. They thought the sole object
of government was the protection of life,
liberty and property. They believed that
the least interference with individual lib
erty possible to the protection of life,
liberty and property was best for the
state. They believed that the law should
compel each individual to contribute tC
the support of the state in its legitimate
sphere, in proportion to the value of his
estate. They believed that public opinion
and a decent regard for our moral OBJ
legations should compel each to contribute
according to his ability to the support OF
the church and charitable institutions for
the care and protection of the orphan and
the unfortunate. They divorced church
and state and supported no established
religion. The support of the state was
compulsory; all else was voluntary. No
special legislation to foster one branch
of industry at the expense of all others
was tolerated. No system of laws where
by Rockafellow, Carnegie or
Morgan many in single
life time accumulate a hundred
millions of dollars was enacted or encour-
aged by them 1t matters not if those who
possess these gigantic fortunes do endow
colleges and libraries with their surplus
millions. The system which enables a
favored few to acquire under the forms of
law such fortunes in so short time is
wrong, fer they are amassed by the rob-
berry of the toiling millions. 1 am not cast
ing reproach upon Mr.. Rockefeller or Mr..
Carnegie. I believe them to be honor
able men, but | am denouncing system
of laws under the operation of which any
individual, however honest and deligent
and benevolent, can in single life time
amass a fortune more gigantic than the
endowments of kings. Such a system is
wrong and exists in no other country in
the world. Our fathers who founded
Georgia and this noble charity here en-
couraged no such system by either pre-
cept or example. 1t is at utter variance
with their theory and practices.
1.-The enactment of such system was
crime against the common people and
against humanity. 1t robs the masses to
enrich the classes. / honor Mr.. Carne-
gle and Mr.. Rockefeller for their benevo-
fence. They are not misers. They enjoy