Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-03-12

road, stands the magnificent monument
to Mr.. Stephens, near the grave where
| lies his body in the soil he once owned.
An Ideal Site
On these grounds an ideal place for a
| school exists, where the poor boy would
| be daily reminded of the life Of him who
himself was once poor orphan and re-
ceived his education by means of bor-
| rowed money, but who rose, to such
| greatness that he is one of Georgia's Sc
| lections for statue in the Hall of Fame,
and of whom his biographer says:
| Whose name is a household word be-
yond the boundaries of his state, and
whose honest fame speaks wider than
the dominion of the English tongue"
While the ancestors of Mr.. Stephens
| were of the best blood of the land, and
were people of the greatest refinement,
cultivation and intelligence, his parents
were of limited means at the time of their
death His mother died in his infancy,
and his father while he was in his boy
| hood. He attended school at Washington,
Ga, on money furnished by Mr.. Charles
| c.. Mills, with the distinct understand
, ing that it was to be returned. Mr..
Stephens was a Presbyterian. and his
J education was begun with the view Of
| his becoming a Presbyterian minister. A
! board of education, known as the Geor-
gia Education society. supplied the funds
with which his expenses for the first two
years at the University of Georgia were
paid. After that though Mr.. Stephens
was at the time a minor, his guardian
! paid him all of the little estate he had
in hand belonging to him, and with this
J he completed his college course. After his
| graduation he borrowed money and paid
back, with interest, the amount which
had been advanced to him to finish his
education, earning the amount with
which he returned the loan by teaching
! school
A Fitting Monument
| No more fitting monument could be
erected to Mr.. Stephens than by estab-
F.! fishing at Liberty hall school for the
I education of poor boys under the same
| plan by which he was educated, that is,
| by advancing the necessary expense with
the understanding that it is to be repaid
| in after life. But for this plan the
world would never have reaped the bene-
fit of his talents. which were developed
! by an education on borrowed money. His
| life was worth more to the world than
| all the money it would take to establish
the school proposed. There may be other
Stephenses in Georgia, with strong minds,
| high ideals, lofty character. Industrious.
ambitious, yearning and begging to be
ton necessary to develop their God-given
| faculties, would prove a blessing to the
world. as Mr.. Stephens was.
Each chapter of the Daughters of the
Confede1acy could find boys Of this kind
| in every county in the state-grandchil-
dren of Confederate sellers who were
slain in the war. children OF those who
were manned therein. their health de-
stroyed or so impoverished thereby as
to render them unable TO properly edu-
cate those dependent on them-boys. who,
by reason of the services rendered by
their ancestors, are entitled to the con-
sideration of southern people. and who
should, at least, receive an education at
their hands. Were Mr.. Stephens himself
able to speak, he would. doubtless say
that he preferred this kind of a monu-
ment to any other-the education in his
name of worthy descendants of Confed-
crate veterans whose position in life had
been so affected by the disasters of war
as to make their education by their
own efforts and those of their parents i'm
possible. To all such it is botn the duty
and the pleasure of the Daughters o. ,fie
Confederacy to lend a helping hand by
extending to them the means OF &C
curing such education as will fit them
for success in life.
No more appropriate place can be Sc
lected for the erection of the Wirz monu-
ment than Liberty Hall grounds, the
most historic spot in Georgia. the home
of the great commoner, the most noted
Georgian connected with the Confederacy,
it's vice president and counsellor, and the
place in which his ashes rest and the
monument to his memory stands.
Museum Wanted
A museum should also be established on
these grounds for the preservation Of
relics of the war, where those having
articles whose association with the wan
make them objects of interest may de-
post them for preservation and to be ex-