davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14

Sweet the moments, rich in blessing"
 It was written by Sir Walter Shirley who became clergyman of the Church of England. He also wrote that well known hymn:
 Lord, dismiss,us with Thy blessing" though some attribute it to Burder.
 Sir Walter had a brother, Lord Ferrars, who led a most licentious and abandoned life Becoming incensed with his steward, Lord Ferrars drew his pistol and shot him, although the steward had been a faithful servant in the family for 30 years, The earl was lodged in the tower until his trial, which took place at Westmin- ster and which was attended by most of the royal family After three days trial Lord Ferrars was sentenced to be hanged on Tower hill. Before the hour appointed for his execution the earl dressed himself in his wedding clothes, and when seated in his carriage accepted a note from the abandoned woman who had caused all the wretchedness. Sir Walter Shirley went to his brother and tried to offer the con- solations of the gospel, but the depraved man only sneered. He was hanged amid the derision of great throngs of on-look- CTS.
 This awful history with which Shirley was SO closely connected, had the effect of intensifying the humility, purity, and simplicity of the life that he led in his
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14

philanthropy, law, medicine and journal ism. Among the Russian Jews we may find those who make the saddest slums in our great cities. We may claim for the first the most honorable commercial standing and discover for the latter prej- udice in every fire insurance office. But, on the other hand, we must admit that generalizations like these are the most onesided, the most misleading, in which we coull indulge. You cannot accuse a people or excuse and glorify a people, especially people of another race, dwell- ing and worshipping apart among friends Probably the finest souls in America can be found among the Russian Jews. And it is little short of ludicrous for besotted vanity to plume itself on superiorities that have no broad basis of fact Who made them to differ? Again, it is confi- dently stated that family life among the Jews in general is so clean and so strong that Gentiles suffer by comparison. The ground is too delicate to be trodden. l would respectfully inquire. however, whether the young manhood of Hebrew origin is so much more wholesome than the young manhood of Japheth's seed. Perhaps none may boast over his broth CTS sons.
 I am about to concede the chief point ever urged by the Jew against the social inequality he- suffers in America. He says it is Christianity that lies at the root of that fact I have admitted the fact, reaching from school to cabinet, modifying the viewpoint of every Ameri- can man and woman. I now admit that the cause of it is religions: is, if you choose Christian. But that is not the last word The Christianity so marked however ancient, is local and tempor-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14

ary type, and has survived to this day with trail of blood on its track, the stigmas of anti-Christ on its forehead and the unchristian society which we call Christian America" is the corollary of this historic fact. Its occasion is the separation and dogmaticaly non-Chris- tion religious institutions perpetuated by the modern Jew. It is synagogue versus church.
 The New Testament writers were full of anti-Jewish animus. Speaking to their Gentle hearers, they accused "the Jews" of rejecting and crucifying the Messiah. Pharisee and Sadducee, priest and scribe, mystic Essene and rowdy zealot were massed in one sweeping condemnation. And the cause was not far to seek. For the first century Jew was not gifted with philosophic calm. When he saw coun- trymen of his own welcoming the scum of Roman galleys and gutters Into equal part in the Kingdom of God with the noblest rabbis and the heirs of prince and priest, he could not hoid his wrath. If the Christian preacher quoted against him his own scriptures, this rather in- famed than appeased him. And thus the bitterest enemies on this whole earth, in the first century were men both of Jew ish ancestry, but of different theology. Out of such state of battle have come the books most honored by the Chris tfan church By those books the opinions aud prejudices of eighteen and a half centuries of civilization have been cre- ated and nourished. along with the as- sumption that they contain the last word of authority from eternal truth. We can not be surprised when we catch such a sulphurous tongue of flame as this, re-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14

The vast throng within the building sang 1t, the thousands outside the Schloss- Kirche caught it up and soon old Witten- "erg was trembling with the thunder of the mighty song as in the days of old.
 This hymn loses much by it's translation into our own language. Perhaps, the translation by Thomas Carlyle Is the best, he having a rugged nature like the quality of the hymn Coleridge said that Luther accomplished as much by his hymns as by translating the Scriptures.
 This is one hymn that men alone should sing, think. It is strong, sturdy, pow erful. It bears a striking resemblance to the great national song of Germany. have had 1t sung many times by mixed choirs, but 1t has always been unsatis- factory. Strong mems voices, singing not in harmony, but in unison, are best-then 1t becomes powerful all must admit whether or not they admire the character of Luther.
 Light is one of the tender hymns sung by all churches. There are two melodies sung by these words. They are Lux Benigna. The latter is most generally used, and no other should be sung to this exquisite hymn, in my opinion. I think I have heard Lead Kindly Light" and Abide With Me-" sung oftener at fun erals than any other hymn. Newman wrote the hymn on the Mediterranean Sea and called the poem ''The Pillar of the Cloud" His boat was becalmed for about a week at the Straits of Bonifacio
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14

ferring to the Jewish colony at Smyrna, 'the basphemy of them which say they are Jews. and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan" A similar flash of fierce vindictive pride may be caught in the repetition of the same phrase con corning the Jews of Philadelphia, Be hold l give of the synagogue of Satan, of them which say they are Jews, and they are not but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee" The quotations, of course, are from Johns Apocalypse. They meant plainly that the only Jew worthy the name was the Jew who had become Christian, and that any Gentle Christian slave was a truer Jew than any non-Chrlstian Jew, however noble, especially if he hated the Christians. So clear and so intense are these indications that the student of first century literature can near the gnashing of teeth, the yell of mobs, the cry of victims, and can see the lambert fires that put to shame any that Nero lit.
 No wonder the Judea-C Christian churches died. No wonder the early Gentle be- lievers feared and loathed tte Jews. No wonder that all through the centuries ig- norant and priest ridden souls have thought of the Jew as the arch murderer of the world No wonder that even late in our own times it has required cour- age for a Scott, or a Dickens, or a Schil- Ter to do common justice to the Jewl No wonder that the Jew in England had to wait till the year 1858 for the final abrogation of civil disabilitiesl No won der that to this day peasant children of Russia, and of places not so far away, think that it is pious act to hurt a Jew. And no wonder that the Sunday school children of modern Birmingham
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14

IS there such a thing? Do the Jews in these United States a band dedi- \ cated to freedom. suffer obloquy or social ostracism because of religion or race? If they do, what is the cause! How far can time remedy that cause? And what can be done to hasten the remedy? By whom must the remedy De hastened. by our Jewish fellow citizens ar hv ourselves? These questions may he discussed frankly, yet without of- fence in the cold light of reason and fact.
 Many moons ago that charming post scrint to the American Magazine en- titled 'sIn the Interpreters House." was occupied with this question: About the same time a young Birmingham Jewlsh boy began to suffer from the petty per secution of upper classmen' anu was finally compelled in. self respect, to aban- don his right to a military training in our national academy, and could get no real redress from the governing body or that school.
 Jewish gentleman resident in great southern city has married Gentle lady, of excellent family. She is practically ignored by ladies of her own race. And vet, were her husband a bachelor, he would not be unacceptable in the best circles. Were the lady unmarried, she might be a social leader. It is the com bination that kills and makes dreary the proper freedom of man and woman to wed where they will among their equals.
 My readers can supply instances rom their own experience, and my Jewlsh readers can no doubt multiply others experience by at least one hundred. l am aware, however, that pious protestauons
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14

will arise in many Christian voices, dis avowing all this, assuring me that these dear people at least recognize good in all men, regardless of race" And then. if these perspectionists will closely watch themselves. they will discover their own eyebrows lifting. or their own shoulders shrugging, or their own lips drawing to sheer or smile of contempt at what they are pleased to call the "forwardness' of some Jew.
 Because this antagonism lies deep in American homes it appears even in the play of children, and hi the public schools. The sororities and the fraternities have it, and, as is evident, even Uncle Sam admits the validity of 1t in his own schools We are, in fact, "democrats' and .republicans" and "citzens of free country" but always with reserve. With all the anti-Semitism of France or Ger many, it isn likely that the social at mosphere for the Jew is more pleasant and more thoroughly democratic there than here And certainly the honors given to Jews in modern England, where the late King chose his inilmates among that people, and where many of them have won the most splendid distinction, need no advertisement.
 And yet, beneath all this, there is a difference between Je~ and Gentle, of which both are conscious, the one eager to obliterate or minimize it. the other sol emnly feeling that 1t is inevitable, irre- ducible.
 We may admit certain modifying cir cumstances. For instance, we may say that in this America there are two types of Jew, the American and the Russian. Among the former we may find names eminent in literature. art, industry,
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14

ths jail the three negro murderers in chains, accompanied by the sherlff's deputies. They took the middle of the street. On account of the irons on their ankles they could but walk very slowly They had gone but little distance, drag ging their feet slowly through the dust, when one of them began In low, tremu- lous voice to sing:
 Show pity, Lord o, Lord forglve."
 His fellow criminals soon joined him, and as they advanced to their doom the -throngs of negroes crowding the sides of the street sang also. Slowly they droned forth in their peculiar and pathetic tones the awful words: some were swaying backwards and forwards, many were weeping and all mingled their moans of distress with the slow, plaintive measure of the hymn, led by the condemned men on their way to death, who sang:
 My crimes are great, but don't surpass The power and glory of Thy grace; Great God, Thy nature hath no bound, So let Thy pardoning love be found"
 The three men were sent into eternity from the presence of hundreds of their race who surrounded the scaffold some fainting, others growing hysterical.
 I am reminded of another hymn associ- ated in my mind with a gruesome his tory. Everybody knows the hymn. It begins
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14

Britain, Germany, Ireland. It's organism permeates its modern religion. it's views of women, its patriotism, it's elementary principle of conduct But the cunning result is that society possesses the form of godliness. praises and decorates tho cross, makes a virtue of philanthropy, attends church in full paint and feathers every Easter actually listens while pray CTS are said and while a choir sings elasslcally such airs as once were hummed on the streets of Pompeii. We still need a Savonarola, a Whitfield. a John Baptist.
 Further to confuse things. the Ameri- can Jew and even the Russian Jew seek ing access to society, are themselves be- ing paganised-sellng their birthright of spiritual nobility for a mess of pottage, initiating the foolishness of the rest of the world in proof that they also are Americans.
 And the result? have told 1t in my first paragraphs.
 And the cure? A return to religion, to the religion of Jesus. the society of self-effacing servants of the living God the society of outcast Jacob, who looked up from a lonely pillow made hard by his sins and saw angels hover ing over him with loving and royal and tender ministry. The cure Is a most democratic return to personal re- liglon, till, God willing. society itself shall be converted to the spirit of Jesus. Unless I misread history. this is the real spirit, the essential spirit. of the Jewish people-the Jewish law. When God is defined as Love" the pen that writes that word is in Jewish figures. and the courage and Insight could only have been evolved in the nation that produced Isaac, Isaiah. Jesus.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14
HYMNS OF THE CHURCHES-No 2-By Dr. w. E. Evans

between Sardinia and Corsica And here was this famous hymn written. Newman was wont to say that the beautiful tune, LUX Bengna,' had made the hymn known throughout the world. But this must be received as the utterance of a very modest author. The poem has merit of it's own. It has been said that the last two lines have faint allusion to the only romance that Newman ever had in his life.
 And with the morn those angel faces
 smile,
 Which I have loved long since and lost
 awhie.'
 I think I saw this reference to these lines In an English publication. It Is said that Newman once loved beautiful young woman, whose intellect, refinement and general character were of the highest order. He loved her with all the strength of his high soul. He would have sought her in marriage but that he feared as a married man he would not be able to do the full work of the ministry. He silenced the lips that would have divulged the se- cret of his soul She passed out of his life, and soon died. unmarried. Later came the struggles of his career.
 Henry Francis Lyte was the author oi the tenderly beautiful hymn,
 Abide With Me Fast Falls the Eventide.' '
 He was a clergyman of the Church oi England and was located as curate for 2l
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14

years in Devonshire. His health falling from the coast. He remained with his humble flock as long as he could, but finally conducted his closing service among them. After a sermon of loving tenderness he celebrated the Holy Com munion. and then wearily and sorrowfully dragged himself back to the rectory and to his couch. That very day. as the shadows of eventide fell, he gave the world his beautiful hymn.
 He was desirous of seeking warm climate as his strength rallied little, and so went to Nice; but even the land of perpetual summer could not hold him long. He died with the mountain tor rents singing around him and the splen- did Mediterranean before him."
 The life of this Christian poet and clergyman stands forth as an illustration of learning coupled with humility, and both consecrated to the highest good of the poor and lowly. For 2i years he found his happiness in ministering to the bronzed faced fisher folk along the sea Trinity college, Dublin. and a man of most scholarly tastes and fine poetic in- stincts. Yet, here in the loneliness of his | life, there was awakened within him a consuming zeal for the poor, which be- came a passion till the end. The third stanza of his great hymn may have hinted at the peculiar temptation that a man of his attainments would be most likely to experiences for a scholar suffers Seenly l the absence of kindred minds.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14

If bit of sunshine hits ye After passing of cloud, When a fit of laughter gifts ye An yer spine is feeling proud, Don't fergit to up an fling 1t At a soul that's feelin' blue, For the minute that ye sling it, It's a boomerang to you.
 Which is about the best thing Capt. Jack Crawford has written. It rings true.
 Joy comes in the wake of him who dis penses cheer. It is the reflex action of go odness. II comes back many fold. As Crawford says, 1t is a boomerang that operates on the minute.
 It pays to fling it.
 Flowers grow up in the pathway of him who helps to sweeten some of the world s bitterness and to brighten some Of the worlds darkness. The principle is the old one that you have what you give away and that what you withhold from giving away you lose.
 Look you
 When you find a man who is forever sowing seeds of kindness and smiles of good cheer one who puts the soft pedal on his miseries and sings out loud on his hallelujahs-
 Follow that man!
 Follow him and find out how to im- bibe kindness. inhale cheerfulness, absorb s,;nshine-and how to dispense 1t. If you know of book by anybody, anywhere that will teach you the secret Buy that book!
 Learn the secret. Get the how of 1t into the bones of you and then give out the smiles of encouragement that set the ripples of gladness and healing into mo- ton.
 The world needs it. And the boomerang will give you bigness of spirit.
 i Smile awhile. And while you smile another smiles.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14

N'E of Isaac Watts most tenderly ' penitential hymns one scarcely O ever hears now, though years ago it was often sung. I suppose that deeply penitential hymns are not sung now, be- cause deeply penitential souls are less often found. As men come to believe that sin is merely an error of judgment their penitence, suppose, will naturally be- come less profound. The hymn to which l refer begins:
 "Show pity, Lord. o, Lord, forgive.
 Let a repenting rebel live;
 Are not thy mercies large and free? May not a sinner trust in Thee?'
 In one of my hymnals this hymn is set to a melody called Southern Tune,' and by it I am reminded of an incident that occurred many years ago in one of our southern states. It was in North Caro- lima. A murder of unusual ferocity had been committed in the county, and was charged upon three negro men. They were apprehended, tried, sentenced to death, and confessed their crime. They were to be hanged on a certain day, and on the morning of that day. before sum- rise. the negroes from all parts of the county began to pour into the village. Some came in OK carts, hundreds came on foot Early in the day these poor people lined the main thoroughfare leading from the jail to the scaffold, located on the edge of town. Later there started from
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14

pedestal, painted on each side dif- ferent color.
 When things go wrong at home you are MT. Hyde. Abroad you are pr. Jekyll Those who know you best know you have your good side. They know the pedestal revolves.
 Now
 There are rare persons who are near ly always 1t their best--a totality of personality. They put themselves all themselves--into every effort and in them all things converge to a pur- poseful end.
 That's greatness
 You and I have moments when we are at our best. when we are "all there" Every faculty works in har- mony. It is fin these sublime moments. these great moods, that masterpieces are made, audiences charmed, inyen- tions created battles wons-
 For a moment we are great But, alas
 Most of us cannot long be Dr. Jekyll. The pedestal revolves. The Mir. Hyde of us shows itself
 Rost of us are like the chameleon. We take on color, for the moment, from our surroundings. We are in- spired for time; then we lapse.
 The good man is the man who is the right side out most of the time.
 The successful man Is the man who makes the most of the best side that IS In him.
 The great man Is an ordinary man who is always at his best.
 Let us. therefore, as much as may be. keep the right and not the wrong side of us out.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14
A-CHARLES T. POLLARD-By B. F. Riley,
MEN WHO HAVE MADE

For reasons already partly assigned railroads were in their initial stages bunglingly managed as compared with the gigantic grasp with which they are now manipulated. Only occasionally was one found in those early days who was capa- ble of responding to the demands of stu pendous enterprises. Colonel Pollard was one of the few. A manager of large inter- ests and a successful conductor of enter prises through financial storms, while others went down under terrible strain he was logically called into requisition In the infant days of railroad enterprise He had faced financial hurricanes when merchants and business men generally bankers and managers of great interests as they were then accounted had been drawn into the maelstrom of ruin, and Colonel Pollard had safely piloted his af- fairs through.
 Naturally enough. when the West Point and Montgomery railway was threatened with disaster he was summoned from his
The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-07-14

r@ AID this young man:
 "The boss was always criticis- o ing my way of doing things. l wouldn't stand for it, and so quit.
 knew the youth. He had changed nlaces a number of times and always for the same reason-he could not stard criticism. When his employers found fault with his methods he was immediately up in arms trying to Jus tify himself.
 He deserved to fail.
 know another young fellow "hose attitude is entirely different. He n- vites criticism. He says 10 ms en- ployer: T am doing this way. IS It right. or would you suggest some pet ter method?. I hope you Will Watch me and correct me when l go wrong. I want to know the best and most efficient way"
 Note the difference
 One is strong enough to see his mis- takes and profit by them; the other deceives himself by fighting criticism. In general It may be stated that it is the big man who admits his error and corrects it. The small man resents the criticism and clings to his error.
 Can you endure criticism?
 Or do you get, mad at the crltic?
 You say the criticism is harsh? Sup nose 1t is Forget the harshness and ask the question: Is 1t just? Does 1t touch the spot? Can I profit by It? All of us make mistakes.
 If is only the egotist who believes in his infallibility. And he plays the fool who loses the benefit of point of flaring up at the judge.
 The wise man invites criticism
 Indeed, the wise man if he cannot get a proper analysis of his work in any other way is only too glad to pay Q competent judge to pass upon it.
 DO not get mad at the umpire
 His ruling sometimes may be un- just If so tho sequel will show But if it is just. if it Is applicable. you merely kick against the goads. If the shoe fits wear It!
 Be kind to your critic. He is a friend in disguise.
 You cannot afford to persevere along wrong lines You must know the truth.