Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-11-10

|, the presidents come from the east, or
west, and the south has no chance at the
presidency" / want to tell you the south
has furnished a full share of presidents.
And, although southern men have been
at a disadvantage since the civil war, they
are now rapidly forging to the front in
national affairs, and the day will soon
come when some heroic son of the south
will hold the executive sceptre of this
great nation and around his name will
gather the events of time that will mark
a new epoch in American history. Why
not Atlanta send forth one of her sons to
be that hero? Why not you be that hero?
Why go away from your own city to look
for great man?
This talk about all the great men be-
ing dead is disgusting. / have heard men
say: There are no more statesmen like
Washington. Hamilton and Jefferson, they
are all dead" When. Talmage died 1 saw
a comment in a daily paper on his death.
The writer said: 1.-THE last of the worlds
four great preachers, Spurgeon, Beechen
Moody and Talmadge is dead What a
pitiful wall of woe. All the great men
dead and what viii become of us!
Some people can't find a great man.
except in the past or way of yonder
somewhere. I have attended a public
meeting in this city and seen an audience
of citizens applaud the names of illustrous
Atlantians of the past, but hiss the name
of a living patriot. Now and then a COM
mittee will run off after a Prince Henry
or some other great man from somewhere
else to bring to Atlanta to get up little
enthusiasm. Now 1 have no objection to
bringing to our city great men from other
cities and other countries. Certainly 1
honor the memory of our illustrous dead.
But let us also honor our own citizens and
recognize the great men who live to-
day.
Now what is my purpose in saying this?
Greatness emphasizes the Individual, and
we want to make every citizen of Atlanta
feel that he is called upon to be great.
My brother, whatever may be your
vocation, it is your duty to be great in
that vocation. Your fellow citizens are
expecting it of you, and the very fact that
you are expected to be great emphasizes
your individuality and calls upon you to
study yourself and to develop every pos
sibility that is manifest within you. At
lanta is looking for great men. and if
you are overlooked and a committee is
sent out to find one somewhere. run catch
the committee and tell them you are the
man they are looking for.
Great men are being sought after. LET
each man" make himself WORT seeking
after and place himself where he will be
found. don't believe a man ought to hide
himself don't think man has right
to underestimate his worth. 1t is a sin for
a man to say, 81 am nothing and can new
er be anything" Every man is something,
can be more than he is and can accom-
plish something.
Therefore, l call for a new emphasis up
on the individual An not only I'm business,
in the state and in the nation, but in the
church. In many of our churches too little
emphasis is given to the principle Of in
dividualism. We are commissioned to
preach the gospel to the whole world and
that commission reflects a tremendous
emphasis upon every individual member of
the church.
Then we must bear in mind the commits
sion Is to preach to every creature. There,
again, the individual is emphasized. 'Ev-
cry creature We cannot save the world
zen masse," but only as we preach the
gospel to EVERY creature" will we be able
to bring the world to the feet of Christ.
If we realized this and were working more
on this line, there would be more people
Joining our churches. We talk about soul
winning. We will succeed on that direc-
ton in proportion as we receive the di-
vine commission as individuals to indi-
viduals t..
'"Wherein he was called" What ire
mendous fact this is. God, before the
foundations of the world were laid, look
ed down through the ages, saw the va
rious callings of life and possibilities of
every Individual and chose one man for
this. another for that, and still another
for something else. $500.
know some limit the idea of divine