Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1911-07-04

ETluCeIOflB new jersey WHICH AAAl6hb nave
cost as much as 500. His grandson
Aaron Burr, lies near the same spot, his
grave being marked by a still less costly
slab. And Stockton and Witherspoon
are buried there with sepulchres no more
worthy.
But we need not go so far away for
examples of this unworthy neglect of
noble men. Our own city of Atlanta,
with population OF over 10000 souls,
has no more than three monuments, viz,
the Grady monument, the Gordon statue,
and the Spencer statue. With what diff
Guilty was the home Of Joel Chandler
Harris purchased No one after that ef-
fort has dared to suggest that statue
of Uncle Remus" should be set up there;
but it should be erected. nevertheless.
In the capitol is the statue of Benjamin
Fl. Hill and a number of portraits OF
distinguished Georgians. But why should
we not have an heroic statue OF the ma
jestic Toombs, another of the eloquent
Walter 7. Colquitt. and another of the
benignant Alfred Holt IColquitt. not to
speak OF others most worthy Of such
honour? The influence OF those mighty
lives would be such statues constantly
brought to bear upon young and old to
the uplifting of the whole community.
If we have been negligent with refer
ence to the memories of our great men
doubly so with regard to our literary
men and ecclesiastical leaders. and es-
pecialiy SO with regard to the latter
Georgia never produced a more eloquent
and elevated man than George Foster
Pierce; but what has been done by us
to perpetuate in a worthy way his men,
DRY among us?. A building at Oxford,
called pierce Hail. in honour OF the
great Bishop and his father, and a me-
No. rfa1 oh. - - a.
make up all we have done. And what has
been done to honour the name of Jesse
Mercer, beyond calling by his name the
excellent Institution of learning which he
founded by his liberality? What memorial
has been raised to the honour Of Bishop
Elliott? What mark shows the burial
place OF DR.. Talmage of Oglethorpe Uni
versity, where Sydney Lanier was edu-
Gated? If 1 am not mistaken he is buried
In a rather obscure corner. And to La
nier himself we have paid no monu-
mental tribute worthy of his great gifts
and wide fame.
If be said that we arc not yet far
enough away from these men to meas
ure them as we should according to the
true dimensions OF their real great
ness, what have we done to commence
rate the lives Of the Georgians further
removed. such for example as the men
who signed the Declaration Of Inde-
pendence, or those who represented the
commonwealth in the Convention which
framed the Federal Constitution? 1t
may, be donbted 4 there are two dozen
men in the state who can name all OF
the men who represented us in that his
tory making Convention. I give their
names: William Few, William Pierce,
William Houston, and Abraham Baldwin.
But who knows anything about them? I
John wesley and George Whitfield
did much for Georgia, and their inf1u-
ence continues even unto this day. We
have called a county after Whitfield
and the Methodists OF Georgia have call
ed a college by Wesley,s name, and
erected two large churches to his mem
Dry; but the general public has nItle
knowledge OF their deeds and has taken
no pains to mark fundamentally their
great services. Perhaps the most IA
nous man who ever trod the soil of
Georgia was John Wesley; but no where
in all our borders is there a Wesley
statue, or even a first class bust OF him.
Recently a gentleman in New York pf e.
sented to Emory College a portrait OF
Wesley. which 1t is said is a work of the
great Scotch painter. Sir Henry Rae
burn; but beyond this portrait there Is
not in Georgia one Of the paintings of
Wesley, made from life. Only one of
our public libraries contains a complete
set of his works. and so far as my
knowledge extends Their is not in Geor-
gia private library in which are more
than half of his writings.
General Oglethorpe, the founder of the
Colony, has been neglected almost as
sadly. Yet he was one of the greatest
men of his times. No American Colony
was led at the outset by a nobler
man.
1t may be said that we have been too
poor to attend to these things. We were
not poor at the outset Of the war, al |
though subsequently we passed through |
hard times in the sixties" and during |
the dark days OF the Reconstruction |
Era. But we are richer now than were |
our fathers at the beginning of the war |
between the States, and we are now well !
able to care for these things which are |
nobler and more valuable tnan the mer- |
CHI andise of silver and gold. Indeed, we
are too poor in the things OF the spirit |
to leave undeveloped these priceless
moral and spiritual resources Our ma
terial resources can not be better used |
tan in being transmitted into higher |
things by contact with these sacred re- |
mains of departed greatness
Let us touch the bones OF our glori- /
fled fathers that our languishing vir- |
tues may be revived and stand upright |
as the dead arose who touched the bones
of Elisha.
Great men exist that there may be
greater" Let us not longer neglect to
SOW for harve Of greatness better /
than all the past has known.