Newspaper Page Text
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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1906.
OUTCOME OF AGNOSTICISM
11
By REV. JAMES W. LEE,
PASTOR TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH
There I* .not In modem'-time* a
completer Illustration of the outcome of
a wrong fttlkisophlc.basU than l« fur
nished In the life and writings of Her
bert Spencor. ..
His system of phlloao'phy Is the moat
comprehensive In the English'language,
and It Is remarkable that, while Jt has
been the fashion to laugh at the only
system in modern times that can be
compared with It, that of Hegel, Eng
lish-speaking peoples have swallowed
the doctrines of Spencer, and by them
have been Influenced as by.the teach
ings of no other thinker of the past fif
ty years. Hegel and Spencer are as
unlike as two thinkers ever were. The
foundation of Hegel's system Is know-
able mind; the foundation of Spen
cer's Is unknowable force. They both,
however, worked In accordance with
the principle of evolution. Hegel's evo
lution was a logical process, a pure
dialectic movement of thought, from
premise to conclusion. He started with
the thought of the absolute Ood, and
found In nature and history the work
ing out, the gradual externallzatlon,
of the mind of God.
Spencer's evolution Is a process of
becomlng* .too, but he starts with ulti
mate, Inscrutable, persistent force, and
sees In all variety of life and mind the
manifestations of this unknowable, per
sistent energy. Hegel begins with a
knowledge of God and ends with a
knowable man, and sees In the material
universe the literature of God's mind,
which man. made In the Image of God,
has a mind to read and Interpret.
Spencer begins with Inscrutable ener
gy and throw's the universe, with life
and mind and religion. Into terms of
matter, motion and force. At the bot
tom of Hegel's universe there Is an
Idea of the Almighty God; at the bot
tom of Spencer’s there Is the boiling
fire mist of the unknowable. Hegel
Insures the mental sanity of man by
I mowing him • that the world • In which
he Urea la guided by a mind he can'iin~
derstand and adjust himself; to.
Spencer opehs the way for mental
chaos and confusion by propounding a
doctrine of the world which looks upon
all that Is or that he loves as so much
transformed heat or inscrutable ener
gy, which, If accepted, would destroy
all moral distinctions. Jf all we see Is
so much transformed force or energy
or heat, then there can be no funda
mental difference between right and
wrong. Love In the hearts of men is
transformed force, but so Is poison In
the fangs of snakes.
•Mr. Spencer's whole system of phil
osophy Is utterly contradictory. His
theory of being Is as transcendental as
Hegel’s, while his theory of knowl
edge is as sensational as John Lock's.
The truth is. Mr. Spencer's unknow
able bad nearly all* the attributes us
ually ascribed to the God of the Bible,
except It did not have any sense. It
Is a real, omnipotent, casual, omni
present, unconditioned, persistent, in
scrutable Idiot. With such a being at \
the head of the universe, what security
has man beneath or above or beyond
him? The whole material and moral
and spiritual order Is left without a re
sponsible head and guide. All things
are reduced to the meaningless level
of Indifference.
On pages 31-38 of "First Principles,’’
he says: ‘.‘Self-existenfce, therefore,
necessarily means existence without a
beginning; and to form a conception
of self-existence is to form a con
ception of existence without a begin
ning. Now, by no mental efTort can
we do this. To conceive existence
through infinite past time, implies the
conception of Infinite past time, which
is an Impossibility." Hence, belief In
a self-existent God would seem, In
Mr. Spencer's opinion, to be absurd.
Here Mr. Spencer makes the mistake
of confusing the nature of a thing with
the quantity of a thing. We can not
picture to our mind all past time, but
w'e can hold before the mind a mo
ment, an hour or a day of that time.
We thus gat at the nature of it, as
well As if we could run back through
all’past tlrpe and get an image of It.
But on page 173 of the second part of
"First Principles’’ Mr. Spencer treats
of the indestructibility of matter and
says: "The doctrine that matter is
Indestructible has now become a com
monplace. Matter never either comes
Into existence or ceases to exist. Then
matter has existed throughout all past
time and will continue to exist,
through all future time. It had no
beginning, it will have no end.’’ But to
think of matter as thus eternally exist
ent Is It not necessary to conceive
existence through Infinite past time,
which implies the conception of Infinite
past time, which Mr. Spencer says is
an impossoblllty? To rule out a self-
exlstent God, because belief In such a
God implies the conception of Infinite
past time, and then make it a mere
commonplace to believe in the inde
structibility of matter, to do which Im
plies the conception of Infinite past
time, is contradictory and absurd. It Is
just as rational to believe In a self-
existent God, and puts the faith faculty
to no greater strain, than to believe In
self-existent matter.
On page 182 of "First Principles’’ it
Is said: "The very nature of intelli
gence negatives the supposition that
motion can be conceived (much less
known) either to commence or to
cease.’’ If motion Is thought of as
never beginning and never .ceasing, are
not Infinite past time and infinite fu
ture both conceived? And If the mind
can believe In motion without begin
ning and without ending, why not in a
God without beginning and without
ending? Why rule out God and keep
In motion If the same thought condi
tions are necessary to accept the one
as the other?
On page 19. sixth chapter, of the
second part of "First Principles,” Mr.
Spencer treats of the persistence of
force, and claims that matter and mo
tion are known through force. To be
lieve In the persistence of force It Is
necessary to accept a scientific doc-
REV. JAMES W. LEE.
trine that Implies the conception of all
future time. This Mr. Spencer claims,
when treating the matter of Self-ex
istence or a self-existent God, Is an
Impossibility.
Now, the indestructibility of matter,
the continuity of motion, the persist
ence of force, constitute the fundamen-
al elements of Mr. Spencer’s philoso
phy. The acceptance of these princi
ples makes the same claims upon the
human mind and faith that acceptance
of the God of the Bible and the God
of our fathers does’ Yet belief In the
one he would claim to be rational,
while belief in the other Is absurd.
This Is certainly a contradiction.
Now,* take Mr. Spencer’s "Unknow
able." He seeks to show from the athe
istic, pantheistic arid thelstlc explana
tion of the universe that the power
which the universe manifests to us is
utterly Inscrutable, that “space and
time are wholly Incomprehensible,"
that “matterin Its Ultimate nature Is as
absolutely Incomprehensible as space
and time," that "all efforts to under
stand the essential nature of motion do
but bring us to alternative impossibili
ties, of thought," and so forth. Thus
all things are lauded by him In the
"Unknowable"—matter, motion, force,
time, space, persoriillty and conscious,
ness.
*A man jvho could construct the uni
verse out of boundless, boiling, uncon?
dltloned, Inscrutable energy and out of
this seething, illimitable, persistent
force get life and mind and art and
church and state, ii capable of accom
plishing other marvelous undertakings.
Religion, Mr. Spencfer said, was a won
derful and stupendous something, and
as he had set about accounting for all
that, is, or ever had been, he felt It to
be proper to show how religion came
to be. And though In the beginning of
his synthetic system Ife declared re
ligion to be as normal and as much a
part of man’s nature as any other fac
ulty, yet when he came to treat the
subject more fully In his sociology he
showed that It had its origin in un
real dreams, brought about In the sav
age by eating too much fresh meat.
The doctrine that we do not know
things In themselves can not stand the
test of the practical life. It never had
more thorough application to life
than was given it by Mr. Spencer. He
became an ascetic through devotion
to It. Old Simon Styletes, on his pil
lar by Antioch, standing for thirty
years through heat and cold, was never
more consecrated to his conception of
the godly life than was Mr. Spencer
given up to his view of the universe as
so much inscrutable force.
Bpt the Spencerian system when as
sumed to be true does not act In prac
tice as though It were true. Mr. Spen
cer himself lived long enou?h to see
his philosophy In ruins. He became
a pessimist, for he saw the life of his
time, domestic, political, social, Insti
tutional, taking other forms than such
as he had mapped out. for It He saw
it rising and taking other directions
than those Indicated by his philosophy.
The conclusion, therefore, to which he
came, was that as life did not advance
according to the lines of his synthetic
program. It was In a state of decadencer
Thus nothing was left him, as he con*
tempiated the distance between the
shores of his thinking and Such as the
current of human Interests was cut
ting for Itself to flow through, but a
wall. The persistent force Issulng.torih
from the dark, unfathomable unknown
had broken over.the boundaries of the
mental dykes Mr. Spencer had built to
surroupd It, and regulate It, He was
optimistic enough at the beginning to
suppose that the universe of life and
mind would move In accordance with
the program he sketched for It, but
they did not, and so nothing was left
him but disappointment and despair.
Instead of concluding that he was
wrong, that he had .failed to. see the
drift of the nature of things—he held
firmly to the view that lie was right,
and therefore the nature of things
wrong. As he left the poor old world,
which he saw refusing to remain In the
synthetic trap, he, with, so much pains,
built and sej for It, he saw nothing
ahead but collapse and ruin. What a
contrast with the pessimism of Mr.
Spencer as he left the world, Is pre
sented to us In the optimism of St. Paul
as he left It! St. Paul saw things as
they were—far from what they ought
to be, but he saw back of them and be
neath them, not inscrutable force, but
the Almighty God, and he saw them
gradually through the ages coming into
line with the Increasing and slowly
; culminating purpose of God, so he left
the world happy, buoyant, victorious
What a contrast between Herbert
Spencer and Augustine! * He saw the
Roman empire falling into ruin around
him. but he saw also the city of God
coming to take Its place, as well as
that of all other earthly empires, be
cause back of all things, and overrul
ing all things, he saw the Almighty God
working to.bring a new heaven and a
new earth In place of such as were
perishing and passing.
When the universe Is reduced to
terms of matter and force It becomes
cheap, human life on Its surface be
comes common and Omar Khayyam
voices the sentiment of all who think
when he says, "The .end of life \n a
skull and a few- fallen rose leaves."
Our highest worldly hopes are but
snow on the desert's dusty face. Beauty
is a robe to be cast oft as we pass into
the dark, cold tomb, stilling our senses
with poppies. All intellectual endeavor
is at last so many molderlng brains
and so many fine-spun theories, on
the face of every child one may
hope, but In the face of every grown
man he can read despair.
"We are no other than a moving row
Of magic show-shapes that come
and go
Round with this sun-illumined lantern
held
In midnight by the Master of the show.
Impotent pieces of the game he plav*
Upon this checker board of nights and
days.
Hither and thither moves, and checks
and slays,
And one by one back In the closet lays.”
And then the true philosophy of life
Is the old Epicurean conclusion, other
wise expressed:
"Some for the glories of this world,
and some
Sigh for the prophet’s paradise to come.
Ah! take the cash, and let the credit go,
Nor heed the rumble of a distant drum.”
MY OLD CONFEDERATE
"I, thine hurt right ae my hurt i*
with thy heart? If it be, give me thine
hand." —II KINGS 10; 15.
By REV. JOHN E. WHITE,
PASTOR SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH
'•••••••••••••••••I
!••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••I
T HERE Is an old Confederate sol
dier now passing 70, with, whom
I have been* communing of late
as one would with a rare visitor from
Another world, whose departure was
near at -hand. He represents in the
Judgment of his old comrades about as
good ns there was, and you know what
that means.- He differs In two slight
respects from some of them. He didn’t
surrender at Appomattox. I once asked
him why. "I didn't fee! like It. I ex
pect I felt about like Bill Arp's Geor
gian; who was stopped on his return.
Southward In ’65 and asked 'where he
was going and what he was going to
do.’ He said, ‘I am going back to San-
dersvllle, kiss my wife and children.
jalae a crop and If the Yankees bother
ms any mofe Til whip ’em again/
When things got "to a point at Appo
mattox It occurred to me that I hadn't
done anything to surrender for. Be
sides, I had a wound that needed a bet
ter climate than Fort Delaware, so 1
told Bob, my mess mate. If he would
lug the saddle I’d carry the blanket and
we’d go home."
My old Confederate brought back
from Virginia Intact what he carried
over there—an honest heart, a high
moral purpose, a dean Southern soul,
of which no disasters robbed him. The
war did not sour him. He hasn't been
a failure In life either. Another pecu
liarity of hls Is a pet conceit, that
compels assent when he explains him
self, that for the true Confederate sol
dier who realised the deep things of
that war there Is no such thing and
never was, as "The lost cause." To put
It In hls phrase, "The Confederate sol
dier Is the cosmopolitan of the moral
universe, alike a comrade of all the
world’s poor and all the world’s rich/*
If there are any poor he can say to
them, "I am your equal, for 1 have
lived desolate amidst a great desola
tion." If there are any rich and
proud he can say, "I, too, am your
equal, for 1 have a heritage of valor
and human glory purchased with more
than millions."
I never knew him to lower hls flag of
Aversion to the phrase, “The lost cause"
but once. I saw him throw down a
newspaper not long ago in a biasing
wrath. He was greatly stirred up. My
Inquiry calmed him Immediately. "Oh,
well,*’ he said, “the South did not have
a "lost cause" in 1865, but if some of
these politicians and newspapers keep
on the way they are going we will have
one yet, and there won’t be a place In
the moral regard of mankind big
enough for the Southern people to put
one foot on.” 1 didn't ask him what
he meant.
#I can not begin to tell you how this
grand old man has Interested me and
helped me. But, frankly. 1 stand In
awe of him when I realize what he
actually signifies. Sometimes when I
have come from my books of history on
the war between the states I have to
rub my eyes to appreciate that he Is
what I have been reading about.
We young men do not grasp the his
torical. dramatic fact of the Confeder
ate soldier. We are letting our South
ern herology slip through our fingers.
Why, over in Europe you can see at
any time great companies of people
who have made pilgrimages from all
over the world Just to look at the spot
w’here some’old knight of Insignificant
wars stood or Is burled. Do you realise
when you are In the presence of an old
Confederate soldier that you are there
in eye reach and hand touch of a real
flesh and blood of man who not only
lived In the most terrific hours and
minutes the American republic ever
bad or ever will have, but who was at
the hissing center of the vortex of It
all, an actual actor.In scenes of su
preme tragedy„ that commanded the
breathless audience of nil Christendom?
That man*yba pass on the street with
out a second look is the incarnate sur
vivor of an experience that almost
broke the nineteenth century In twain.
My old Confederate Is unconscious
of the Impression ho makes on me. He
hns wounds he can not hide, but he
never wears them for ornament. He
speaks of Manassas and Gettysburg in
the calmest sort of way. /There Is one
Impression, however, the chance to
make he never allows to go by. He
loves the Southland. Old Mortality in
Walter Scott's book went about chip
ping names off the tombstones. I
think my old Confederate would like to
go about cutting hls faith and creed
of the South on the heart of every
youngster he could find.
One day since our riot In Atlanta I
called on him very much In earnest
about seeing him. I wnnted him, if he
could, to give me out of his chastened
life and hls memory of the South’s
troubles some w’ord that might be
light, something that might guide us all
who did not live then, but who do live
now and have a man's part to bear
in the South.
I found him at hls book case. That
Is In Itself a quaint afTalr. It Is filled
with books tunny of which we younger
men do not know very well. They are
volumes w'hioh relate to tho period
when the South was the zenith star of
all the constellations, when the South
ern states were the largest moral and
political assets humanity had on the
orld's map, the hundred years of
Washington, Hancock, Jefferson, Mar
shall, Lee. Monroe, Madison, Henry,
Macon, Crawford, Preston and Mc
Duffie, when the Southerners were a
people regarding Democracy and lib
erty what the Palestinians had been
regarding religion and the Athenians
had been regarding art and culture.
When I Interrupted him he swept hls
hand along their serried titles with a
senatorial dignity he has.
"Here are some springs, my son," he
said, "that your cotton lint and coal
smoke ought never to choke. I am
thinking," he added facetiously, of let
ting them go to found a Southern cir
culating library to save your tribe from
some of your flimsy foundations. But
come, you have something. What is
It?"
When we were seated I said:
"Cgptaln, I want to talk to you about
myself.”
“Ah, a very grand subject, you
think!"
“No, I don’t mean that. I want seri
ously to ask you some things that do
concern me personally and a great
many others like me. I have the idea
that I suppose we all have that
Southern man If In some sense differ
ent from others, that to be born In the
South Is a distinction of character, a
peculiar pre-eminence. And I want to
know what It is and If it in any way
exempts me from the standards by
which men are generally justly to be
Judged?’’
His pause Indicated that he was en
couraging me to get entirely through
my speech.
"I want to know that, and what I
mean is I really want to know what is
a true Southerner?”
"I was about to be amused at you,"
lie began. “You appeared to be a bit
over conscious. But I appreciate that
you have some good reasons for per
plexity. I do not care to discuss these
recent nnd local events that I take are
at the back of your trouble, except to
say this, that the inen who are in posi
tions of leadership now nnd the people
who think among us, ought to read very
carefully the history of the South’s
council fires from 1840 to 1860. I was
here. I know the conflict of tempers
and types. The same tempers and types,
only less naturally conservative nnd
more Irresponsible in the mass, than
then, are here now.
"But you have come to a real point,
with your question. The Southerner
Is different. Hls ancestry, history and
environment have made him so. Still
you arc very wrong In your suggestion
that he Is not subject to the same judg
ments to which other men nnd other
people are finally submitted. There Is
but one God nnd therefore but one
Right. There Is but one Supreme
Code and therefore hut one Justice.
There Is neither geography, ethnology
caste nor color in morals.
"Well, then," I put in eagerly, "what
am I hound to that is peculiar to
Southerners? What ideals, or obliga
tions are my criterion? The point with
me to know If I can Just how' I may he
the truest, most loyal Southerner and
man I can."
Hls speech had been with such gravl-
REV. JOHN E. WHITE.
ty and slow'ncss that I was watching
narrowly everything he did as well as
listening keenly, it Is curious how
mUch little things Impress us some*
times. He unconsciously had laid hls
hand with the mangling wotind on the
book he had taken down as I came in.
That W'ound was symbolic—the link
between the past nnd the present.
When he began again hls emphasis
was sobering.
"The truest, .most loyal Southerner,
you want to be? Then I will tell you
what I know nnd It will be very simple.
There Is v no hard and fnst type, but
there are certain Ideals of Southern
character of an Intrinsic quality to
which every true Southerner will own
allegiance. I speak. of that which is
fundamental.
The historical Ideal of Southerners
Is the love of fair play. At the bottom
that Is Justice. This Is the romantic
basis of our civilization, the philosophy
of much that characterizes our life. It
explains the strong leaning to the
Democratic party—’Equal privilege and
no special favor.’ A Republican presi
dent wins the South to hls champion
ship of *a square deal.’ The old antl-
royullst spirit Is the later anti-monopo
ly spirit In a new dress. Our over-
exerclzed sensitiveness is, I think, a
survival in the South of an ancient re
sentment against Injustice., It was our
people, you know, who made the ear
liest and most vehement protests
against the mother country’s unfair
ness to the colonies. At Mecklenberg
and Philadelphia it w*as our cry to the
world against imposition and In behalf
of simple justice. We are the fathers
of that passion on this continent. To
be a true Southerner is to stand on that
rock always. He must follow that prin
ciple wherever it leads him. He must
be first of all, Just. He will not impose
upon the w'cak or allow others to. Re
member this when Southern people see
a human being wronged and do not
champion hls cause or when they can
be misled Into any course of injustice
and w'rong against a human being, in
short, when we fall In fair play we de
part from what Is Intrinsic and true in
Southern character. This Is the basis
of Southern knighthood. When that
goes the bottom falls out of our dls
tinctive civilization.
"Now,” he said, as he stood up for-a
moment, “that is one Southern Ideal,
but there is another that we have even
more consistently cherished.
"The son of the South has an un
common Instinct of. the claim hls home
has on him and this ideal has extended
Itself to cover hls home-land. This Is,
of course, no monopoly In the South,
but It does m'ark us more definitely
than other sections and people. I have
just been reading one of our critics,
who says: ‘Provincialism Is the vice
of the Southern character/ My son,
we have to abide that soft Impeach
ment. If it Is a vice It Is one of those
vices that is on exaggeration of a great
virtue. We are Americans, Indeed the
most typical Americans homogeneous
ly on this continent, but bur Ameri
canism will never be of the kind that
can say, without a reservation, ’No
North, no South, no East, no West.’
There is for us a South. Ood created
It. History has confirmed It. Expe
rience has sanctified it. It Is bound on
the north by a broad river, on the east
by a great ocean, on the south by a
gulf and on the west by the two great
est continental' streams. About this
South the lines of on irrevocable decree
which is written Into our heart nnd Im
agination are drawn. It has entered
Into our blood. It will remain—the
South. As Scotland Is dearer to th&
Scotchman and Ireland to the Irishman
and Wales to the Welchman, these
8outhem states are a grand division
of this earth’s surface that will always
be dearer to the Southerner than any
other section on the globe. It is our
home, our heritage? You must never
get away from that If you want to be a
true Southerner."
My old Confederate paused and
seemed to be recalling something that
was not quite clear.
“I recall a picture," he at once went
on, “an old painting I used to see when
a boy. It is the picture of one of our
earliest Southern settlements. The for
est in front of the small clearing in
the woods Is lined with savage Indians.
The settler is standing in the door of
hls cabin with a smoking rifle in his
hand and a dauntless death-defying
light is In hls face. Hls right hand is
extended backward In a gesture of
protection to hls wife and children, who
are trembling in fright Ijy the room
behind him. I suppose," he smiled,
"this Southern home love began back
there. We have in the course of our
sorrows Blmply enlarged the borders of
our passion."
He paused again reflectively. "I am
recalling an experience of mine nnd
trying to separate It distinctly frorti
later thoughts. Ono night in Virginia,
after Stonewall Jackson was killed at
I happened to lift my eyes up to the
stars and unconsciously glanced down
the array of clustering constellations
which fell away and away down the
heavenly concave to the South, and
my eyes rested therfc. Then my heart
gave a leap; I stood on my feet. I had
found the spring of my Joy In the bat
tle. ’My back Is to my home,’ I said.
’The enemy Is here on the border. I
am In defense of Dixie land.’
"My boy," he said, “I have told you
the secret of every wound I bear. It Is
the secret of my comrades, who went
with Lee. It was our white chieftain's
secret, too. So I tell you that the true
Southerner will love hls homeland and
suffer for her good nnd for her glory
if need be, no matter in w'hat form the
danger comes. With us it was our own
American brothers who • came against
us. And though you do not have"—
“But," I cried trembling, with my
heart shaken to its depths and not
comprehending the import of his last
Chancellorsvllle, I was making an .in- ; words. ”1 do love my home. I was
spection of our picket lines, and some born here. My fathers and my people
distance from our camp sat down. It are burled about me/ I have scarcely
was a beautiful night and the depres- | been elsewhere. I know no other lov
slon general at that time of loss came like this land. What Is there for me
over me strongly. I began to analyze
my zeal as a Confederate soldier.
Aid to myself, 'Are you fighting to de
fend the institution of slavery?’ My
heart yielded an Instant honest answer,
'No, God know’s there Is no satisfaction
in that idea to me. If the slave proper
ty was worth as many billions ns It Is
millions and that was all I would not
move my little finger to go to war for
It.’ Then the idea of secession as a
constitutional right occurred to me. Ts
that your Inspiration?* ’No,’ I said,
‘that doesn’t fire my heart, for though
it was a right conserved by the consti
tution In the understanding of those
w'ho formed It, n right more boisterous
ly threatened and more agitated by
Joslah Quincy, of Massachusetts, and
the Eastern statesmen. Including the
whole party of Sew England Federal
ists, than by any one else in 1S45.’
But It was a right never Intended to
be exercised. It tvas a provision such
as should bo put Into any contract, for
the statesmanlike purpose of guaran
teeing the balance of mutual Inter
state respect nnd not for the purpose
of contemplated disunion. I recalled
the message Alexander Hamilton sent
from hls death bed, ‘Tell the people of
Boston thnt I say for God’s sake to
quit trying to disrupt the Union. It
they break this Union tney will break
my heart/ That was as far back ns
1804, and I remembered that my father
used to quote It to me In hls own love
for this republic. Secession was a right,
a guaranteed privilege under the con
stitution. But I knew that this was not
the Inspiration of my soldiering In Vir
ginia.
"At that moment of my introspection
and for us? We can not now bear
arms for the South. There Is no foe
at our borders, no threat, no peril from
without!"
“But there are perils from within."
he gently sold. "The shock and dire
strait are for you as they were for us.
Our South’s sorrows are too great for
one generation only. Your fathers nt*
sour grapes, your teeth are on edge. I
will not be here to see the great moral
struggle of Southern civilization to tri
umph over temptation and besetmenf.
But get you ready for It. It Is at hand.
You will have to find your own way/
He saw my depression, for hls own
manner and speech were gloomy. Com
ing nearer, he spoke a bit more cheeri
ly: "One thing more I can say to you.
When I Yim gone nnd you come to
whnt I foresee, a time of doubt nnd
confusion and low human counsels are
at the front and false voices are clam
oring, I bJd you seek the sheltering
manhood of a man who will never die
In this land. In other days hls presents
made us all better from the heart out.
I sometimes think he may yet mean
more to the South than ever. Seek the
counsel of hls spirit, the sweet per
suasion of hls voice. He was copied
after Jesus Christ the Son of Gml and
he was a Southerner, tried nnd true,
the best shnpe of mortal hero-man any
people ever had to mark by. Follow
him and you will not go wrong.''
My old Confederate had grow n quit®
•aim and there was worship In Ids
Voice. He had spoken no name. MY
n heart was stilled. It was the calm
ness of a great Presence he bnd sum
moned to stand beside me—the groat
w hite soul of the South—Robert E. L*®-
•••••••••••••ft***!
"KEEP SMILING”
I.;-...
| By REV. EVERETT DEAN ELLENWOOD, j
PASTOR UNIVERSALIST CHURCH
0
O UT at Piedmont park this week,
in the exhibition hall of the
Carriage Builders’ National
Association, were to be seen hundreds
of persons wearing as badges or as
hatbands smalt slips of cardboard
bearing two very suggestive and sig
nificant words, “Keep Smiling." It was
noticeable, too, that In nearly every In
stance the wearers of these badges
were faithfully obeying the Injunction
which they so prominently displayed.
The wealth of beautiful and powerful
philosophy contained In this abbrevi
ated sentence must appeal at once to
any one who studies life from men
more than from books. A very Im
portant feature of this national gath
ering of carriage builders is the display
of the products of the different mem
bers for commercial purposes. It is
axiomatic In the business world that
the smiling face and the cheerful man
ner are absolutely essential to success.
The salesman most valuable to HIb
employer Is the one who always seems
to have an inexhaustible supply of good
humor and optimism, the one who be
lieves in the success of hls own right
eous efforts, which manifests itself,
constantly. In hls countenance. The
world loves cheerfulness. The busi
ness world demands it. The man with
the perpetual "grouch" Is hopelessly
handicapped. If you wish to succeed! a vigorous growth of weeds which con-
you must “keep smiling.” tested the right of existence with a
What a pity It la thnt we should oc- ' sickly. Indifferent looking crop of corn.
caslonally forget that this law is aper- In response to/ the traveler’s call the
atlve In all of life and in all of Its! boy pushed' back from hls face the
relations. Too many people cultivate j flapping rim of an Immense straw hat,
a habit of cheerfulness "for business : and, wiping the sweat from hls fore-
purposes only," and while apparently head with the sleeve of'hls shirt, he
optimism Itself In the shop or store or j came toward the fence with rapid,
factory’, seem either unable or India- > awkward strides.
posed to carry that cheerfulness be- | The traveler was a lover of men. and
yond the threshold of their own homes. I was, withal, somewhat of a phiioso-
And yet they sometimes wonder why pher. Also, it was not so long since
their society is not eugerly sought by he had himself been r boy. Therefore,
normal men. It was not at all surprising that hav-
t’heerfulncss does not depend upon Ing secured satisfactory answers to hls
circumstances. It is a condition of practical questions, and desiring to
mind possible of development any- know something of the boy's custom-
w here and under all circumstances, i ary habit of thought, hls method was
Optimism Is nothing more or less than that which would have made most suc-
a habit of thought. Born of humility»cessful Appeal to hls own heart In boy-
and strong faith in God, and constant- j hood’s days. It was a typical mldsum-
ly fed by unselfishness. It grows rap- 1 nfer day. The same late afternoon sun
idly into a power strong enough to 1 which wah the Joy of him who rode
make a happy and successful life In
any environment.
The morose and unhappy disposition
rtearly always Indicates the self-cen
tered life. 8ome people are predis
posed to be disappointed.
Here Is a homely little story which
illustrates the splendid possibilities of
the cheerful habit of thought:
A solitary horsemup, traveling an
unfrequented country road, and desir
ing to learn the direction and distance
to the town of hls destination, reigned
In Ills horse beside a field In which a
through alternate stretches of sunlit
meadow ami cool and shaded wood
beat down relentlessly upon the back
which was bept in unromatlc toll.
From the trees along the creek which
bordered the field on Its farther side
there came the clear, strident challenge
of the cat bird, strangely mingled with
the low, soothing love notes of the
turtle dove. The branches of the trees
beckoned their welcome to their cool
retreats. The little stream murmur
ing at the stones which lay In Its bed
whispered of shining trout waiting tfte
half-grown boy waged sturdy war with angler’s craft. And the man. who, not
REV. E. D. ELLENWOOD.
long since had been a ‘ boy, knew full
well the fierce tumult that raged ’neath
that sweat-streaked "hickory’" shirt.
He, too, felt strongly the wild yearning
which possessed Che boy to fling that
hoe, the symbol of hls serfdom. Into
the fence corner, and forthwith Join hls
companions of the wood and the
stream, the wild free things which
reeked not of code or convention. In
an outpouring of the heart In adoration
to Him who “glveth us richly all things
to enjoy.”
With retrospective glance he swept
field and wood and sky and then
turned to tho boy who still stood won-
deringly In the field below him. "This
would be a mighty fine day to go fish
ing, now wouldn't It?” he asked, tenta
tively. The boy gave a quick Indrawn
breath and hls glance which had In
stinctively sought the direction of the
creek swept back across the field, rest
ing for a moment upon the weeds hls
hoe had uprooted, dying quickly In the
sun’s Insistent heat. "Yes,” he said.
It sure would, but it’s a mighty good
day to hoe corn, too." With wondering
admiration the stranger changed hls
point of attack to that of this new Item
of interest. “The cut-worms seem to
have taken a good deal of your corn?”
he remarked. "Yes,” said the boy,
•so they’ hove, but, what there is left
will have more room and will make all
the better crop because of it."
Thoroughly Interested and amused,
the man replied: "But a!! of your corn
Is looking pretty yellow. It seems to
me.” “Sura/* said tlie boy, “it Is bound
to: we planted the Jailer kind.” “Well.”
said the stranger, laughingly, "It does
not look as though you would get more
than half a crop from this field." "We
never caliated to get any more than
that, stranger," cheerfully rejoined the
boy, "’cause, you see, dad’s a-farmin'
this here land on shares."
The man shook hands with the boy,
offering silent tribute of admiration
and gratitude for hls abundance of that
faith which Is powerful enough to re
move mountains, and as he continued
hls trip he thus reflected In hls mind:
"Hera Indeed Is a wonderful thing. I
stopped by the way for a few moments,
to have sport with an ignorant farm
er’s lad, and !o! I have held helpful
converse with a philosopher.” And
the boy, with one more lingering, long
ing glance in the direction of the en
ticing trout brook, settled firmly upon
hls head once more hls immense hat
of straw, and. merrily whistling an an
swer to the cat-bird’s call, broke off
from a near-by stujnp a splinter of
wood with which he began to clean bis
hoe for a fresh onslaught upon that
kingdom which, for the time, was his
alone to conquer.
And the man was right. Not always
Is it true that the men and women
whom the world with remarkable In
discrimination declares to be sages and
philosophers, are the ones who have
patiently sifted the chaff and wheat
of life's^ emotions nnd experiences, and
have unerringly arrived at the "con
clusion of the whole matter." The
Prophets of hope and cheer are not al-L
ways those whose snowy locks would!
Indicate the possibility of the compl®*/!
Justification of their faith by thelrj
wealth of experience.
The smiling goddess of cheerfulness|
knows no distinctions of rank or sta-i
Mon among those who worship eagerly]
at her shrine. Nor does she show th«|
slightest partiality In the distribution!
of her favors to the hap py* hearts-1J
The individual who, through natural
choice and not from politic neees«dtSJ
Is able to "keep smiling," is alwari
sure of a hearty welcome among nil
fellows, regardless of the cut of u't
clothes and the extent of hls acquaint*!
anre with the schools.
But let it be remembered that opj
timlsrn and buffoonery are by n
means synonymous terms. Many
man who prides himself upon
cheerfulness and hls optimism is
reality only a fool. The rattle of
empty wagon Is not nearly so pleasing
to the normal ear as the subdued huijJJ
mlng of the honey-laden pirate tR I
meadow and the hedgerow. The
who laughs the loudest at hls neignj
bor’s coarse Joke Is not usually »he nn l
to be depended upon when some grwj
moral crisis threatens the bulwarks j
civilization. The woman whose stu
cackle responds most readily *•»
pitiful inanities of so-called ”H K |
Continued on Opposite P*fl c -