The Savannah morning news., 1903-11-18
SNAKES IN PARADISE
SUBJECT OF LECTURE ON LIFE by
DIR. ROLAND II. GRANT.
CRIME TO GIVE NEGRO BALLOT
BEFORE HE HAD LEARNED HOW
TO USE HIS POWERS AND HANDS.

Lecture Filled with Wit and HumOr
and sharp Thrusts at the FOllies
and FOibIes of Humanity and the
Modern Customs of Living - All
Men Seek Happiness and All Have
Right to Expect It-Bappiness,
Life and Education Defined-BriI-
liant PerOrntion on Power of Re-
siSting Desire and Plea for Per-
sonaI Purity and Christian Man
hood.
The lecture by DR.. Roland B. Grant
at the Lawton Memorial last night
was one of the best lectures that has
been heard in Savannah in some time.
From the subject Snakes in Para
disc" he discussed life and happiness
and modern living. The lecture was
an extended metaphor, based on the
story of the expulsion of Adam and
Eve from the Garden of Eden
The faults. foibles, and fallacies of
humanity We're sharply prOdded and
yet the arrows were feathered with
delicate wit and humor that healed
any sting they might otherwise have
carried with them. State, schools, pol
iticians. and the church. all came in
for their share of criticism, yet the
criticism was kindly and it's sharpness
softened with a ready laugh-provoking
incident.
Story and anecdote filled the lecture,
though none were told without a pur-
pose. The point of the lecturer was
only made the more clear by the story
scintillating with wit and sparkling
with humor At times there was just
a touch of the pathetic woven into
the whole and all was held together
by catching eloquence-
Beginning with the story of the
Tree in Eden which was good to look
at good to eat and good to make one
wise, the lecturer called attention to
the fact that they were all placarded
with Thou shalt not touch" This was
the most marvellous mystery of it all
and yet the master piece of descrip-
ton of the causes which drove the
first parents from Eden. Curiosity
prompted them to act.
Life and Living Defined.
In speaking of life DR.. Grant said,
among OInef lnlnSS.
Life is in three parts, all common,
but all needful. 1t depends on whether
we look toward it, at it, or backward to
it.. Looking toward it, it seems oppos
ing; looking at it, it seems only our
equal, looking back to it, it seems alb
surd. At first glance life seem moth
ing but an unmitigated drudgery, an
everlasting treadmi1l. We do the same
things over day after day, do them
continually and without ceasing. Life
is a steady grind.
ION the other hand life Is a series
of surprises. Our guns are never load
ed for the game we meet. 1t is a sud
den change from one thing to its OPP
posite. The wit of life is it's emer-
gencies, and it is these which make 1t
worth living. Without its wit, We
would wish to get out of it. Chance
enters into all things. These are the
two sides of life, its drudgery and its
emergencies, its sombreness and its
wit.
Educated Men and Women.
And, now, who are the educated
men and women? The educated man
is the one who can make lifes drudg
cry seem pleasant and who can meet
successfully all its emergencies. In too
many cases to educate mean simply
ing facts into the heads of our children
and when they are filled, call them
educated. Too many of our so-called
educated men are like rivers bigger
at the mouth than at the head.
There are two definitions of
education. The shortest one consists
in knowing what you want, knowing
where to find it when you want it,
and knowing how to use 1t when you
IN, NJ hand education
means self-revelation. The first thing
that a child discovers is its hand, but
il does not know how to use it. Later
it finds it's feet. Gradually it discov-
ers it has a social nature, a moral ma
ture. a spiritual nature. But, though
we know we have them we can do
nothing till we know how to use our
faculties.
Crime to Give Negro the Ballot.
Years ago the United States saw
the outstretched hands of the negro
and put the ballot in them. The ne
gro had not yet learned how to use
his hands. He was slowly being
taught by you, his best friends how
to use them. AS l have said thous-
and times from Northern platforms,
when the United States put the ballot
in the hands of the negro it committed
a crime against humanity
Everyone in this world wants hap
piness and every man has a right to
expect it. The great trouble is that
men do not know what happiness is.
Carlyle has defined it as wanting the
whole wide universe. That is the
great trouble. Man measures his mis-
cry by what he has not, instead of his
happiness by what he has. We are
selfishly miserable miserably selfish,
and miserable because we are selfish.
Everyone is trying to get something