The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1905-08-25
BACK TO EDEN"
Paradise May be Regained by
Every Man Who Seeks it
With BeamleSS Eyes
and Loving Heart.
Wash ngton Post.

Wash ACTON POST
81 am just in from lecturlng at the
PurcellvmIe Cnautauqua, SAID Moan
W. Cooper, prominent lawyer of Nash
vile, Tenn, VINO has successfully en-
tered the lecture field. eli the city OF
Washington be surrounded by such a
couLtry ond such people as found at
Purcenville, then your city is encrcled
oy wall OF beauty, morality and good
cheer.
~ followed Capt. Hobson on the pro-
gramme, anu we differed III our plan for
perfection. He thinks that the peace oil
the world can only be secured through
big sticks and battleships. he would
turn the cd ship of Zion INTO frownlng
Oattlesnip, with the cannon OF neil
froWlng fro m her deck. de
would nave the dove of peace to drop
the olive branch, grow beak and talons
like vulture, ana carry derrlDger I'M
der each wing. To me this ls contrary
to the teaching of all high philosophy or
genuine religion. l5 may be from the
puresr motives, like Peter drawing his
sword to save mis- Lord or like the apos-
ties calling for fire TO fall from heaven
and kill the bad. | believe that melting
our cannon into church bells ana pillow
shares would give US greater prestige in
the world than all the navies that could
ever be built by the sweat ana toll OF
war-cursed people.
"My subject Is Back to Eden, and l
stand upon the proposition that the
| Garden of Eden was never closed to
man-no door was ever shut, no passage
hot mo N
may live in paradise If he Will. What
| God and the Jaw do not forbid man IS
allowed to do, and since God did not
forbid it, and since the holy record don I
deny ii, [ believe that Adam and Eve
went back to Eden ana lived and died in
paradise, Adam lived $50 years, begot
soDs and daughters and died, and there
is no proof that he lived in misery or died
| ia despair.
Eden was never destroyed. 1t still
exists in this world. 1t can be found.
Paradise can be regained by every man
who seeks it with beamless eyes anu
loving heart. Knock and the door of
Paradise shall be opened unto you
That is not only the teaching Of the ser
mon on the mountain top, the great
charter of human happiness, but 1t is
the voice of all nature and history. the
wisdom of the ages, and the revealed
word Of the incarnate Christ. This NOR
tai life was never intended to be mere
march of misery from the cradle to the
tomb, like the passage of the Baltic fleet
from Cronstadt to the japan sea. A
man who turns his back to Eden in this
world need never expect paradise IN the
next. John Milton saw he had made a
mistake when he closed and stopped
| with paradise Lost. So he took up
his pen and completed his life and his
work with paradise Regained. y And
every mans life is never complete ID
this world ana never happy as 1t was in
tended to be until paradise has been re-
gained
Turning from Eden to politics, Mr..
Cooper said: II love to read the edito-
rails iu the Washington Post. They are
the most ideal and delightful feature OF
our greatest Washington paper, but l
regret the tocsln of alarm from the Post
against the Senatorial primary system
AS a Tennessean, | am intensely inter
ested in her political, moral and indus
trial welfare. | cannot see how a pri-
mary would be contrary to the spirit or
letter of our Constitution, nor why 1t
should open the way to little men. Does
anybody think that Senators Burton, or
Patt, or Depew, or Mitchell could pe
re- nominsted at primary? Where and
| when have the people ever elected a
| worse man than the Legislature? Joe
| Brown, John b. Gordon and A. o, Ba-
con we're sent to the Senate chiefly by
che people through primaries in Geor-
ola. Senator Harris was never afraid to
| appeal to the people direct, nor was
| Andrew johnson. After all, primary
| is only a taking of the peoples voice as
| a guide for the Legislatures action ia
| election. And this is exactly what we
do in electing President The people
elect the President now. IT'S true that
our electors in the Electoral College do
the final voting, but the people have
elected and instructed the m for whom to
vote.
"The Constitution requires that the
Presidents be elected by electors, and
Senators by the Legislature, but it does
not forbid the people from instructlng
their electors or the Legislature. And
what is not forbidden to the states ano
the people they are allowed to do. Mr..
Carmack is right in saying he can trust
his people. So is Gov. Taylor Senator
Carmack's popularity may nor extend SO
far back in the coves and valleys and up
the mountains as Gov. Taylors, ano
Gov. Taylor's popularity may not extend
go far into the Areopagus and through
the Round Tables as Senator Carmacks
but they both can trust the people
Most ali of US are friends of Senator
Carmack ana Gov. Taylor. We hate to
have to choose between these two gen.
tlemen. But the people at the prima-
ries can certainly decide as intelIigently
as the Legislature-aftert they have been
heard IN the forum"