The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-01-22
POWERFUL PLEA
FOR SIMPLE LIFE
DR.. Thomas E. Green Arraigns
Commercial Spirit Of the
Present Age.
MUST RETURN TO NATURE.
Gives Splendid Portrayal Of
Mans Downfall Through
Materialism.
MUST RETURN TO NATURE

1t was crowded house yesterday
afternoon that listened to the lecture
Of Or. Thomas Z. Green, OF Chicago. who
spoke before mass-meetng OF men in
the Academy OF Music. There were pres
ent all classes and conditions of men,
from the day laborer to the professional
or business man, and representatives Of
the speaker an undivided and intereAed
attention. The services were greatly en-
HANGED by the singing Of the new male
quartette and of Miss Mabel McBain,
and by the songs in which the whole
house joined
DR.. Green is man of splendid address
and magnetic fervor. His remarks were
delivered with deep feeling and persua-
sion, under which lay the wonderful in
stinct of the man.
DR.. Green's address was delivered on
the subject "a Drama In Three Acts"
1t was. in few words. an argument
against the gross commercial spirit of
the age and an appeal for. the return
of man to nature and his God. Calling
on the imaginative powers OF his aud
fence he disclosed to them Judean hill
side, picturing 1t in all its wonderful
charm and beauty characteristic of the
Orient a Jewish homestead standing
amid the fertile fields OF Its owner, ana
finally the proprietor, the figure around
which the plot and incident "ero
grouped. He was a man rich In the
blessings and fertility of his native
heath. happy among his FAMILY ana a,
wealthy, for his barns were filled with
the sheaves of golden wheat. 1t was
evening. Just as the stars were beginning
to appear, as the farmer and his labor
ers went ,oyfully to their home after
the heat and toll Of the day. Everything
was bathed In an air OF contentment
and unauthorized happiness. for the
gnawing greed of gain had not yet en-
tered the soul OF the man.
Near to Nature and God.
The curtain fell on the first act IN
which the man was still near to nature
and to God When 1t rose again the man
was standing at his door, surveying MS
fields, which with their abounding Ter
tility had brought him wealth and pros
perity. @a 9 49, .,o
farms were not many and large enough
N contain the store. Immediately he
called his laborers and had them build
new and larger barns. AS they worked,
the greed of gain began to enter the soul
OF the man and avarice was In his heart.
He thought and dreamed of riches. ana
all his effort was conferred on the accufnu-
lation of wealth, more wealth, so that
the once happy and contented man pe
came dissatisfied and disconnected, and
always fearful of the loss of his riches.
The act ended with the man removed
from all harmony with nature. hiled
with commercialism and grasping only
for material gain. st.t
Again the curtain rose, this Tor the
last time. 1t showed the man utterly de-
void of peace and pure happiness. new
Gus wreck. exhausted by his efforts for
material increase, and untouched by the
charms OF nature. Preyed upon always
by the fear OF thieves, who might come
in the night to steal away his treasures
and fearful always of the loss of his
wealth. he at last draws near to the end
OF life's road. He dies, and his poor
empty, wretched soul goes before Its
Maker. All riches are left behind. and
for the life spent in the race for wealth
and material prosperity there is nothing
to show.
From this parable the speaker drew an
analogy to the conditions Of the present
age, when men are leaving nature. seek
ing only for material prosperity and all
forgetful of the higher and nobler pur-
poses of life. He appeals. as it were,
for return to the simpler life. He shows
the falseness and artifciality of the con-
ditions under which men, whose souls are
permeated only with commercialism. live
to-day. He makes n powerful eXhortation
for the simple conditions which make
real happiness and a pure content pos
sible, and which will give to the soul
something to show for its temporal life
and work.