The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1903-05-10

! the hero is a young old grandparent OF
an old young person
"A Cure of Souls" is a graceful love
story by Owen Oliver. full of human in
terest
Julian Hawthorne writes a sometimes
scathing but more often sympathetic es-
say on What is Called Society In the
sense in which we are considering it
a comparatively recent and almost local
phenomenon. It's ancestor in Europe was
| feudalism-the fighting men, the natural
aristocraey-on one side, and their VIC
tins and serfs on the other.
To-day the traders and husksters, grown
rich occupy the castles of their late bar
on masters and sport their titles, though
a remnant of the genuine mobiles still sur
viye, terrible examples of what happens
to a generation that has outgrown its
era" 1t Is to be feared though that the
sweetness and purity of the early work of
this son of an illustrious father is some
what married by the sensational. Special"
work to which Mr.. Hawthorne has of late
devoted almost all of his time.
The place of honor In Scribner's for
the current month is given to General
John b. Gorden, In his magnificent arti-
Gle, my First Command. and the Out
break of the War" No one who has ever
heard General Gordon as an orator will
be In the least surprised when reading
here the vivid descriptions, fine southern
sentiment and clear-headed criticism. 1t
is an article that every southerner should
read and especially the youth Of our lano.
The frontispiece of the magazine is de-
voted to a portrait of the dashing confed-
crate general as he appeared at twenty
three; and even at that age he had the
commanding dignity of a born ehieftain
and military leader. The later pages of
General Gordon's article are q lucid expo
ion of the causes which led up to the
stupendous conflict. In part he says:
Slavery was undoubtedly the immediate
cause of the woeful American conflict
1t was the great political factor around
which the passions of the sections had
long been gathered-the tallest pine In
the political forest around whose top the
fiercest lightnings were to blaze and
whose trunk was destined to be shivered
In the earthquake shocks Of war. But
slavery was far from being the sole cause
Of the prolonged conflict Neither its de-
struction on the one hand. nor its defense
ON the other was the energizing force
that held the contending armies to four
years of bloody work. I appreheld that
If all living union soldiers were summoned
to the witness stand every one of them
would testify that 1t was the preservation
of the American Union and not the de-
struction of southern slavery that in
duced him to volunteer at the call of his
country. As for the SOUTH 1t Is enough
to say that perhaps 80 per cent of her
armies were neither Shareholders nor
had the remotest interest In that institu-
ton No other proof however, is needed
than the undeniable fact that at any per-
Tod of the war from its beginning to near
its close the south could have saved slav-
cry by simply laying down its arms and
returning to the union
Captain Mahan is the fourth contribu-
tor to a series of papers on the navy de-
partment; and a very valuable paper on
the Sorboune, the great Partisan univers-
ity, is written by Edmond r. sspearman.