davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

hSI5OSE cheerful Pharicees who con-
ceived that every difference from
their tradition is plainly begotten
by the Prince of Darkness upon souls
fatally surrendered to insincerities must
be allowed to still stand "in slippery
Places As the one bishop said to the
other bishop one winter morning on an
ley road. "The wicked stand In slippery
places" Yes said the other, II SEQ
they do. but I can't"
Historically 1t has been shown to the
point of WEAKNESS that the Jewish Sab
bath occurred on the seventh day of the
week, beginning at sunset on the sixth
day. With perfect accuracy my Seventh
Day Advent friends observe their Sab
bath during those hours. The Jews of
today do the same thing, holding their
chief weekly service on Friday night
And If those Baptists and Presbyterians
and others who so fatuously insist on
calling Sunday Sabbath" and courag-
eously quote the commandment to OBJ
scure the seventh day as making the first
day holy" really want the Scriptural
Sabbath they have no recourse but to
follow the way of tho Jews. But the
Jews, themselves, realizing that they are
Americans, and with characteristic intel
ligence. are fast moving toward the use
of Sunday as their day of assemblies, thus
adopting the American Sabbath. The Sab
batarian Baptist must logically become
a Seventh day Baptist. There are some
of these heroic persons in New Jersey
believe, and elsewhere. The Sabbatarian
Presbyterian must follow his argument
till he joins the Seventh Day Adventists
OF these there are some in Birmingham.
But the hoary old confidence trick of the
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

tianity Is weak and frail in its grasp on
the church itself because II confuses so
terribly between the essential Spirit and
the accidental forms and institutions with
which 1t has been connected. The gen.
tleman who writes to scold me for my
attitude, for instance, is clearly more
eager to bring me to his way of thinking
on the Sabbath than TO be kind and gen.
erous and fair The young folks who
have not learned to abstain from Judging
and condemning their teachers do not
realize that their ethical zeal turns them
away from the goal of the Master whom
they would serve Musu more disastrous
is this form worship upon the outside, I'M
converted world. Conventionality takes
the place before their minds of the fun
damental loye-gospel which they most OF
all need. Instead of a high vision of
God. they see a mean and piffling pro-
priety which they are taught is religion
Slowly and painfully the modern church
Is awakening to its real obligation, its
real Grand That errand Is to heal the
open sore of the world. its deep ulcer of
selhshness, its corrupt heart, out of
which come its corrupt politics and It's
contentment with wrong, its downright
refusal to adjust itself to the only COM
mandment now In force. I cannot help
expressing doubt whether my sabba-
tartan critics know what that commando
ment is. But, turning from the Jewish
Sabbath to the American Sabbath, there
is a good deal to be said which l must
be content TO say in briefest form. Let
US recognize that the American people
have a perfect right to adopt and adapt
any institution they choose. They have
chosen to adopt and adapt the Puritan
Sabbath, which arose In England at a
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23
5RICAN SABBATH-By George Eaves D. D.

In the old Mosaic Sense. To them Pau
utters one of his vehement expostula-
lions: .'How turn ye back again to the
weak and beggarly details whereunto We
desire to be In bondage over again? Ye
observe days and months and seasons and
years. I am afraid of you, lest by any
means I have bestowed labor upon you
In vain" I quote from Galatians. chap
ter 4. verses 8 TO IL. And l could wish
that every zealot for forms could be per-
snaded to study and understand that
whole magnificent plea for spiritual man.
hood and freedom.
At later period the same hand penned
a similar protest to another church. LET
no man Judge you therefore in meat, or
In drink, or in respect of a least day or
a new moon or a Sabbath. day; which
things are a shadow of the things to
come; but the body IL Christ" Here he
seems to repudiate the details on which
James had alone laid emphasis. except
the one particular of fundamental moral
ity. Sabbath days are to him insignin-
cant elements, documentary parabies OF
the sublime reality for which he is alone
eager He adds later: why do We sub
ject yourselves to ordinances? Handle
not, nor TASTE nor touch. All these things
perish In the using. They are among
the precepts of men. They have show
indeed of wisdom In worship of the Divine
WIN and In humility and severity to the
body, but are not of any value against
the indulgence of the f1esh'' This pass
age, which | have cut in brief sentences
without changing the meaning. is, of
course, in the letter TO the Celossians
chapter g.
1t is not without reason that I have
quoted these words. For popular Chris
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

congratulated by Gen stonewall Jackson,
who In person thanked him for his. skill
and bravery.
At the battle of sharpsburg, Pelham
was stationed on the left of the confed-
crate forces where most of the artillery
fell under his immediate command, and
the havoc wrought by his guns was fear
full. Again at shepherdstown there was
repetition of the same spirit which he
had exhibited on all occasions. Accom-
panying Stuart on this memorable march
from Aide to Markham's, Pelham was
compelled to fight against formidable
odds along the line of march, and at one
point, he kept up his firing till the enemy
was within few PAGES of his piece, when
he doggedly withdrew only short dis
lance, secured a better position for his
guns, and resumed his firing in a cool
business like way.
It was at Fredericksburg that Pelham
was more conspicuous than in any other
battle. With a single gun he went 10
the base of the heights and opened the
| fight with the same Indifference with
which he would have gone on the drill
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

diately following the July IN which the
first great battle of the war was fought.
His battery was rapidly gotten into adj
mirable shape. and he was soon ready
for effective service.
The battle of williamsburg afforded
him the first opportunity OF engaging the
men of his new command. Pelham was
SO cool and sklllful in the flercest parts
of the battle that he excited the wonder
of his superiors. With steadiness I'M
shaken by the thunders of battle. he d.
reeted his guns with unerring skill and
no Insignificant share of the glory was
his as he steadfastly held the enemy at
bay. Again at cold Harbor he displayed
so much tactical force combined with
accuracy and effectiveness that Gen.
Stonewall Jackson grasped the youthful
commander by the hand and told him of
his high appreciation of the service rem
dered. At Cold Harbor he engaged three
batteries of the enemy with single Ma
poleon. and throughout the entire day
stubbornly held his position dealing de-
struction and death to the enemy. shortly
after the battle OF Cold Harbor, Pelham s
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

battery engaged a gunboat at the white
House." and compelled 1t to withdraw.
BY this time Pelham had gained the
reputation of a famous boy fighter. and
his steadiness in battle would have done
credit to a seasoned veteran. His battery
became famous, was the subject of gem
eral comment in army circles. and the
commanders came to lean on the young
officer as one of the indispensable adj
junets to the entire command. In crisis,
or at a difficult juncture young Pelham
was thought of as one TO meet it.
When the second battle of Manassas
opened, Pelham appeared on the field with
his guns. rode TO the front as though
no danger was imminent, cody placed
his battery astonishingly near the lines
of the enemy. and while the enemy rain
ed destruction In that quarter, he took
time to get well into position, and at once
began with fatal effect on the lines of
the foe. Here he won new laurels and in
the accounts of the battle. his name was
mentioned among those of the general
commanders. A second time Pelham was
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

Conversion. It is no phase for Min
nister's Sun. It used to be-" he sed
sadly, that citizen could attend
Republican conversion and not get
talked about. Once upon a time he
could go there and discharge his duty
to his country and cum back home
and still be a promminint figger in
the Sunday School. can remember
sed the Senator, when Chieargo was
on the Rural Routes, and we used to
go to the Nashional Conversions in
stage Coaches, that a delegate stood
for EVERY thing Patryotick, loyalty
and Homer. Now he stands out till
the last minnit trying to find out
where he Gums in. 1t used to be that
Cullered Minister of the Gospil
frum Georgia could attend the Nash
ional Republican Conversion and go
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

ground for a parade. His astonishing in
trepidity won the attention of both armies.
and Pelham at once became a common
target to thesbatteries OF the enemy He
was fearfully exposed. and every moment
was filled with extreme hazard, but with
an Indifference which was sublime, he
kept up his firing and made fearful in
roads on the enemy. 1t was here that
there was evoked from General Lee the
expression which has become historic,
Observing the brave youth from an emil
nence. as he kept steadily at his destruc-
tive work. while shells were bursting
about him, General Lee said: ut Is glort-
Gus to such courage In one so young"
Without wavering, Pelham held his posi-
ton at the base of the ridge till his ann
munition was gone, and he was forced
to retire by a peremptory order. As
signed to the command of the artillery
on the right, he was throughout the day
In the thlcliest OF the fray, and won from
General Lee the designation: "The gallant
Pelham. For his gallantry on this &C.
casion Pelham was promoted from q
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

stances. Emilia, In dying. remembers
Desdemona's Willow song and exclaims:
What did thy song .node. lady?
Hark, eanst thou hear me? l will play
the swan,
And die in music-wiflow. willow, will
low
Chaucer. in his Assembly of Foules,
cannot resist the entertainments of the
swan song" and reminds us of
THE Jealous swan, ayenst his death that
singeth."
Notwithstanding. the universal use that
the poets make of this conceit as a mat
ter of fact, 1t seems to have no existence
in reality. Sir Thomss Brown, one of
the most learned men of his day, has
entered this poetic faflaey among his
Vulgar Errors" Yet, many there are
who still believe that the swan sings a
divine strain as 1t enters into the realm
of death. though proof OF the singing is
absent.
One may with great ease believe the
fable when he reads how solemniy Ten
nyson refers to II in Morte DArthur:
$50, said he, and the harge with oar and
sail
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

Let US live some part of the time in
the top story.
1t requires a little more climbing.
but the air Is better and the outlook
wider.
Lest by the law of nonuse we cease
TO want to live and enjoy the best.
Here is the story of man who shot
his wife and little boy while they were
asleep and afterwards spent the night
with a paramour. It Is stated the man
was "a highly respected citizen"
Now, let's figure.
Pull your chair up to the library ta-
BILE. sharpen your pencil and figure.
Take a sheet of paper and put down at
the top X equals ? How did the man
fall?
Now
It is scarcely to be denied that he
lost his character before lie lost his rep
utation. Is 1t not so?
a few more figures.
The body and the mind are Siamese
twins. What affects one affects the
other. This man, II is of record, poi
soned his mind by liquors. He shat
tered his nerves by dissipation and
abused his body by excesses
Another sheet of paper, please.
Working both ends--body and mind
against the middle, what wonder stand
ards of conduct were lowered, brain
cells broken down. moral sense bIunted.
Still another sheet.
The man was not all in, but he was
falling down. The process was at first
gradual, and II did not make a showing
on the outsides But on the inside he
vas a. bundle of diseased organs. erratic
impulses that led downward. a tiger
tsb appetite.
One more sheet.
1t is certain this man was not born
a derelict. He made himself what he
became. Shaping himself as he did,
might he not have made himself diff
ferent had he tried?
Certainly
Then he was personally responsible
for his fail and the foul deed? Fully
80. both legally and morally RESPONSE
BILE. Deliberately and Willingly he had
immersed himself, bsdy and soul, In
the deeps OF hell
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

her troubles. But was itf II Won
should be miserable IN Illinois would it
make You happy by moving over IN
Indiana?
Death Is only a change of venue.
which way I turn Is hell" said Mil
toms Satan Myself am hell" That's
1t. You carry your misery in yourself
The mere shifting Of the scene win nee
suffice.
What pity some one could not have
said to the poor child
Nov, my dear, you may be badly
Off. but thousands are in worse state
than you. Many have passed through
your agony OF mind and arc happy now.
The cloud viii brighten. Wait.
IF you are hungry there are places
like the Salvation army or the Associate
ed Charities. where they win feed you
until you can look around. Nay, they
will put a roof over your head until
such time as you can find fresh eour-
age.
III you are sick there are free dis
! pensaries and clinics and hospitals.
which you can employ without loss of
your self respect You are Just worn
breath or two and make a new start.
Do nothing rash.
wait a bit. Rest"
But alas, the girl was alone. driven
/ to bay, desperatei In her stress of
hopelessness IL seemed good to destroy
her young body in order to ease her
mind.
And pity it's she is only one OF thous-
ands such.
Suicide Is confession"
II Is as IL an actor. unwilling to wait
for the prompter's word. should rush
from behind the scenes and plunge into
the limelight OF the stage and shout his
lines--to the amazement of the audi
itors
How explain his presence there?
And what must be his confusion and
embarrassment? Would he not be hissed
from the stage?
How much better to wait until tf{e
caller gives the cue for the part befot...
going on,
Is it not time enough to go when OIL
Is called. trembling and hesitant.
| say ones lines?
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

that the habitues of her, court shall be
self respecting and above suspicion.
Especially Is she determined there
shall be no faint of loose morals.
King Edward, though gracious and
popular was not always particular as
to the people with whom he associated.
Extremes os dressing In women pleased
him. cer9hn eoterie Of the fast
set were always giving dinners and
L1uncheons IN honor of the king, and To
these dinners ali sorts of folks were in
vited
Queen Mary changed this.
The first lntlmaton came when the
queen laid down some rules as to the
costumes Of those who should be pre-
scented at court ~ that time the hob
ble skirt was In favor with certain of
The fashionables Size gave orders that
no women wearing hobble skirts should
be presented
The order astounded the fast set; also
she let 1t known that picture hats and
powdered faces were distasteful to her,
and the big hats and the powder disap
peared
Moreover, there should be no more
fast dinners where drink and gambling
are the principal parts of the programme.
And there should be no all night dissi-
pations. At all court functions the
guests must stay no later than II
o'clock
A certain lady of the court gave fire.
anent dinners to King Edward and by
reason Of royal favor had become tho
arbiter OF court circles. Time and again
this ambitious woman has cent her IN
yitations 3o the king and queen and
time and again have the royal couple
stayed away.
1t Is good to note how stoutly King
George stands by his queen In these
particulars.
If England must needs have a queen
pray God she may always be such as
Queen Mary.
A young ST. Louis girl wrote a brief
note. closed her windows and turned
on the gas. The note read.
Il am sick and tired and out of mon
ey. There is no hope. Goodhy."
Poor lassiel She thought self des-
tructlon was the door of escape from
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

Now let's foot up the figures.
What is the sum? Because the arith-
metic of moral decline may be just as
accurate. mind you. as the law of a
falling body
First--A man, free moral agent, may
incarnate himself into a devil IL he
chooses so to do.
Seeond-He may do this with open
eyes both as to the progress and the
outcome, knowing and even fearing
what may be the end.
Third-From the figures and the
casting up of the account we may draw
the moral that
But you have the data. Make your
own deductions.
Speaking at the memorial meeting
TO the THAMES dead, Wnllam.J. Bryan
said:
Let no man bring to my deathbed
for my consolation Darwin's Descent
of Man Rather let my friends read to
me the Twenty-third Psalm. The Lord
Is my shepherd :"
Which would you prefer?
on the one hand there Is science,
which tells you that you are descended
from a spineless, stomachless, soulIess
thing called germ; that from that
germ you were evolved by some for
tGltous concentration OF clrcumS tdnces'
into what YOU are
And science comes mighty near prov
ing It,
But
Where does such a belief land you?
Simply and merely In six feet of ground
or, like the victims of the Titanic trag-
edy, in fathoms deep of sea water.
There is no semicolon written after
your name. not even a comma, only q
period.
Death ends you. You are carrlon
flesh and nothing more. You are no
better. only more highly organized than
a brute.
No hope afterwards
Does not the prospect revolt you?
It fails to satisfy so thoughtful a man
as william J. Bryan and--you.
Because it is unjust. There must. be
an evening up Of s-compensation.
II there isn't a future life, you say,
there ought to be- And because there
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23
Evans

calls 1.-THE Signing of the She'll" with
tho same allusion Poor Hartley Cole
ridge has given us these exquisite lines:
Imperial cradles OF purpureal sheen,
And wreathed trumpets. euriously con-
volved,
Wherein the oceans mighty harmonies
Serenely murmur In a humming number"
Aytoun in Blind Old Milton, refers to
the conch's retaining
with its mystic urn, the hum
Heard In the sea -grots, where the Ne
reids DWELL
The same ooneelt is employed by nearly
all modern poets; but I do not remember
shakespeare's using 1t In any of his
dramas or in any Of his verse. Indeed.
the poetic conception did not rise until
long after shakespeare's day. so far as
I have been able to discover.
Some OF the prose writer's have appro-
priated the poetic eoneeit to their own
pages, for there we find the shell and Its
subdued murmur. DR.. oliver Wendell
Holmes makes Myrtle Hazard hold the
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

But he should be protected also on. Mons
day and every day. An abundant sup
ply of fresh air should be assured him,
as long as he is at work. For the oc-
cupatlon indues consumption by Its con-
ditions. TO protect the people from ex-
plosons and fire that young man IS sem
fenced to incarceration In metal-lined
cubby-hole, which may or may not be
constructed with any great regard TO
oxygen for him. A Sabbath amusement
which Is fun TO US and death to him
would BIO exeerable even on a Monday
All this Is elementary. I have forsaken
herein the usually impersonal note, and
have done so for an evident reason.
Therefore I may as well conclude with
the expression of personal conviction that
the American Sabbath Is of inealculabe
value TO all the people. The law OF
Moses was founded upon a wonderful
perception of the tyranny Of routine, OF
materlaism. Of work for bread aione
! would add my little voice 10 that of the.
great host Of witnesses who warn the
modern man against surrender of the
day Of rest Tho law of God Is written
on the substance OF the human nervous
system. and must be obeyed. Worship
is q function, social and unanimous.
which requires recognition But the
Sabbath of America spruging from a.
human need, must be gladstone. free.
natural, beautiful; laden with pure social
joys; increasing the civic intelligence.
the knowledge of nature and art and
life; and above all, adding TO those
forces of social righteousness which will
eliminate when they have set Justice IN
the land and broken the arm of oppres-
sion and dispersed superstition and ira
ditional ignorance.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

liean majority Thereupon Senator
Shelby Cullum left for Washington
and he has been here ever cents, just
exactly one hundred and forty-ate
yeers, eleven munts and twenty ate
days by the watch. and just to think
after all that and just as Senator Gull
lum was seriously thinking of making
his MAIDEN Speech in the Senate, a
Rude Constituency in Ilynoise rose
up and Smote him vulgar Smote rite
across his Sparkling Plug with an
Australian ballot. Wasn't it unkind
And all because he thought Senator
Lorrimer was a perfect Gentleman il
he did belong to the Y. NJ. C. A.
Senator Cullum cum to Washington
about the time Pokahuntus used to
catch MINERS in the Potomack river,
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

Moved from the brink. like some full
breasted swan--
That, fiutlng a wild carol ere her death,
Ruffles her pure cold plume. and takes
the flood
With swathy webs"
However beautiful the thought. the
swan, in dying sings only by poetic IL
eense.
There is another popular poetic conceit
quite as beautiful as that which have
been considering. That Is. that the con-
slant murmuring of the conch-shell is
the inartioulate moan OF the shell for the
sea whence It came. I never know child
that did not believe this to be the explain
alton fthe roaring within the conch.
There were two shells of extraordinary
size on the hearth of the drawing room
in my childhood's home, and I remember
how I would lie on me floor with a she'll
to each ear listening to the mystic roll
of the waves of the sea and the oonch's
Song of Its far away home" For this gen.
eral belief we are Indebted to tho poets
who have told us the story of the shell, as
they fancied 1t In their dreams Words
worth, in the Excursion" says;
o . have seen
A curious child, who dweltsu upon tract
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1912-06-23

HSHERE are certain, conceptions OF the
poets of a purely imaginary nature
1 that seem to live in the popular
faith just as certainly as II they were
actual facts. They were used at first by
the writer's In the way Of analogies, as
figures. or as SMILES; but were employed
by others, and subsequently by yet many
others. and come to be recognized at last
as references to facts existing in the
worlds of biology. astronomy. mineral
ogy and all the rest.
These poetic illusions are sometimes
very striking and often very beautiful, IL
we accept them as illustrations of the
poets imagination or of his exquisite
fancy; but when applied to matters of
fact, of course, they fail US. and men no
longer see the beauty in the alusion be-
cause the actually does not exist.
The Bible has many such references
Apply to them an ancient poetical rule.
they will hold: but expect them to convey
the teaching of fact and they will not in
struet us. The allusion was not intended
to suggest a perfect analogy, nor was
the base Of the poetic idea laid in what
was actually known. To illustrate: In
Psalm 1903 the Psalmist sings, BLESS tho
Lord who satisheth thy mouth