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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN,
iJATLlUUl. DUCUMUKU 1. 1*
r=
THE COMMON SENSE O.
FJ
ESUS CHRIST
By REV. JOHN E. WHITE, j II
PASTOR SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH |
- - ■ ■ ■ 1 " ■ ■
"N'mrtheliH, when the Son of Man
cometh shall He find faith In the
earth?*'—Luke xvil. 8.
This question has been made the text
of much pathetic pessimism. It is n
favorite with the pre-millenarlan
•rethren, who believe that the world is
;* itltig worse and that when the Lord
• nncs without sin unto judgment very
few who believe on Him will be found
in the earth.
Without entering into that contro
versy, I want to say that this text is
not one to conjure with on either side
of it. An examination of the passage In
the light of the context, and particular
ly a glance at It In the original, will
make deal* that the “faith" here re
ferred to is not “piety" of saving faith
in God as to personal salvation or the
faith used synonomously with the Idea
of the Christian religion. Christ is not
raising the question whether when He
comes He will find piety or Christianity
In the earth. This, I say, is made clear
by the context: It Is also brought out
in the marginal rendering and
nil the revised translations. The text
is a part of the parable. Our Lord Is
teaching His disciples that they ought
always to pray and not to faint and
Ho shows how a woman perseveres
even with an august judge till she gejs
justice. Then He turns and by con
trast teaches that God’s own chosen
ones may certainly persevere In their
trust and expectation from their God,
who Is more than a Just Judge, even a
Heavenly Father. It Is fully borne out
by the use of the article with the
word translated "faith" thpt He Is
referring to this context. What Christ
really asks Is, “When the Son of Man
comoth shall He find this faith in the
earth—-the faith that has confidence
In God as one who answers prayer and
Is keeping watch over His own."
There Is much more danger that
the spirit of patient hopefulness will
die out among. Christians than thut
piety and the Christian institution will
perish.
The Pessimism of Jesus.
There is, however, no question that
In these words Christ crowds a distinct
note of misgiving: one could almost say
a note of doubt*. Does It startle you to
think that Christ ever doubted? Yet,
vith the New Teslament before us, how
can we question It? Does It startle
you to thing tttbt He was at all limited
in His knowledge of the future or that
anything was hidden from His vision 7
Yet, with His own acknowledged words
at hand, how can we doubt It? That
there were limitations to His knowl
edge and that He was subject to the
depression and even the agonies of un
certainty and that these facta are in
the record is to my mind a flawless
evidence of the trustworthiness and
the divine insplratipn of the gospels.
Writers who were conspiring, as
Renan charges, to make a God out of
Christ, who was a mere man, would
never have mentioned such matters,
would never have quoted such words as
His own. But here they are. In the
thirteenth chapter of Mark, in the thir
ty-second verse, Christ, speaking of the
time of His return, said, “But of that
day and hour knoweth no man; no, not
the angels that are In heaven, neither
the Son, bJt the Father.”
Now, we do not like to admit that
our Lord was ignorant of anything. We
forget that the evident effort of Christ
was not to make ihe world believe that
He was God, but to make them believe
the more wonderful thing that He was
man. In the ono confession of Hia
deity He made He put the emphasis
on His humanity, "Whom do men say
that I, the Son of Mam am?" Should
this disturb our ccnflaence In our
Savior? Rather It should strengthen
and greatly comfort us. Of all his ten
der words none are more tender than
these He spoke to His disciples, "Ye are
they which have continued with Me
In My temptations. Are we then to be
shnken in our loyalty because we are
told that He confessed limitations and
Ignorance? Christ is our perfect Savior,
buc He was perfected In his Savior-
hood by His identity with humanity.
"For It became Him for whom are all
things and by whom are all* things
In bringing many sons into glory to
make the Captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings."
Wherefore In all things It behooved
Him to be made like unto His brethren.
“For in that Ha himself hath suffered,
being tempted. He Is able to succor
them that are tempted. Who can have
compassion on the Ignorant and are
out of the way, for that He Himself
also Is compassed with infirmity?*
What means that cry from the depths,
“My God, my God, why hast Thou for
saken Me?" It Is a cry and more than
a cry. It Is a message. He has gone
like the' scapegoat of the old day of
atonement into the very wilderness of
sin and Is traversing the uttermost pos
sibilities of the ultimate war of God
forsakenness to which human sin can
carry the human soul and from that
depth sends back in Hfs own heart
break a message to men which means
to them that He* is their Savior no
matter how sunken In depravity the?
may have been, no matter how fat
they may have fallen.
The Enthuilaim of Jesus.
The note of doubt then in the ques
tion, "When the Son of Man cometh
shall He And faith In the earth?" wo
inay readily admit It was a sensible
question to ask off men who were be
ing trained for a religion off spiritual
faith and whose sense off danger need
ed constantly to be quickened. Indeed,
the good grounds for such a question
affe at once apparent. Christ we must
remember, was not Ignorant of the con
ditions which were to be reckoned with.
The aggravating slowness off His own
friends to grasp the spiritual meanings
of the kingdom; the moral stupefaction
of the Jewish people and their faith-
weariness with waiting for Slesslah,
and especially the difficulty Inherent In
a religion of pure spiritual faith, added
to the materialistic disposition of the
human mind, were facts to be taken
into account. To say that Christ meas.
ured these facts and realized their!
force, and -did not make His reason
blind," Is but another way of saying
that He was nQ fanatic.
Some time ago a brother pastor In
this state wrote a letter to one of our
woman societies which had advertised
a bazaar for the purpose of selling artl-
cles, made, by their osn hands, to se
cure money for a certain benevolence
to which they had subscribed. He read
them a lecture and said that he was
going to ask his church to make them
objects of special prayer. I happened
to know the brother and his variable
ways, and in answering his latter which
had referred with unjust severity to
myself as the guilty pastor of a guilty
church, 1 told him that he had turned
my attention to the study of fanatics,
a branch of religious science full of
interesting specimens, and that from
my study I had formulated a definition
of a fanatic: “A fanatic Is a man of
such elastic conscience that he cannot
help flipping it Into somebody else's
territory."
Christ was the furthest removed from
fanaticism. A fanatic would never
have taken Into consideration the diffi
culties of the situation. He would have
rushed blindly ahead without conslder-
DR. JOHN E. WHITE.
atlon or forethought for his cause.
What a wreck, sudden and disastrous,
would fanaticism have made of that
little company of disciples had a fanatic
been their leader. Peter wa* a constant
peril until he was converted from his
fanaticism. Christ could not and did
not avoid giving offense. There was a
war between Truth and Right on one
sidrand Falsehood and Wrong on the
other, and Christ kept the lines straight
In that war. “But -ever over its tu
mult," as Robert E. Speer says, “those
who 'had cars’ could always hear 'His
sweet voice colling.’"
Let me Illustrate by a famous con
trast the Important distinction between
Christ’s measurement of the difficul
ties which must have been in His mind
when He asked the question, "When
the Son of Man cometh shall He find
faith In the earth?" and the heedless
and blind methods of fanaticism which
would have taken no account of them
at all.
In the year 1094 a man of dwarfish
stature, dressed Iff the garb of a monk,
might have been seen riding upon an
ass through the vlllsgee of Europe.
That man had been at one time a sol
dier In the French army, but in pen
ance for deeds of blood he had become
a monk and had retired to the brooding
place of a cloister. Am time passed ru
mor came to him of the horrible cruel
ties practiced by the Mohammedans
against the Christian pilgrims visit
ing the Holy Sepulcher at Jerusalem,
and at his devotions he fumbled at his
rosary as If it were a sword hilt. At
length the fres of his zeal became un
controllable. He could endure the life
of the monastery no longer. Voice#
came to'him, calling, calling for help,
calling from the dungeons of the Turk
for deliverance. He mounted and rode
forth. His head and feet were bare.
In his hand he carried a white lmags
of Christ on a cross of Ivory. Passing
through the villages north of the Alps,
he told in vehement phrase the story
of the Christian captives and the de
struction of the Lord's Sepulcher. The
peasants responded with sobs and
groans. "To the rescue!" he cried.
"Deus nut." (It Is God’s will!) He
tore his red scarf Into cross-shaped
fragments and his followers, crowding
after him, pinned them as badges on
their breasts. From village to village
they went until 80,-000 men, women and
children were at his back, marching to
ue the Holy Sepulcher from the
«v»lems. "Honest! 2 * 4 Very honest-
earnest! Terribly In earnest! Relig
ious—vehemently religious! But fa
natics! That man, Peter the Hermit,
sent 2,800,000 to their death. One hun
dred thousand children perished under
his Incitement, The Turks remained
undisturbed In the end afld remain so
till this day.
What a contrast do the crusades pre
sent to the methods of Jesus. He pro
claimed a great triumph, but It was
to be a victory of patience, a victory of
faith. Twelve legions of angels stood
unsummoned ever at His calk All pow
er was His, but the bruised reea He
would not break and the smoking flax
He would not quench.
Christ wae no pessimist. Christiani
ty Is not a pessimism. Hla question,
"When the Son of Man cometh shall
He And faith In the earth?" Is not of
one who Is discouraged by the diffi
culties he takes Into account. JThe
kingdom was coming: He said "not
with observation," it was true, but it
was coming Just the same. The en
thusiasm of Christ was wonderful. Bui
It was not wonderful for notae or shout
of frenzy. It was an enthusiasm of
an eternal faith In God, marvelously
calm, and cosmic In Its quiet, relent
less, hopeful confidence that God His
father was on His throne, to be trust
ed, to be Inquired of, and to fulfil! all
that whereunto He had been sent.
The Liquor Traffic.
Let us not shun Christ’s question.
Let It come up before us today. “When
the Bon of Man cometh shall He find
faith In the earth?’’ The good grounds
are here for Its tieasking. Doubt and
fear sometimes creep over the stanch
est Christian heart. The old forces of
difficulty that encamped about Christ
in Palestine are encamped about His
cause In our own land and times. The
weakness of disciples, the impatience of
the weary world that gropes for the
golden age. the high, hard, but glo
rious standurds of a spiritual religion
over against the cross materialism of
mammon In tho hearts of men—we
cannot and should not blink the facts.
Will He find faith In the earth?" Let
ur faith in God. our confidence, our
trust and hope bo the answer. "He
would find ft should He come. He will
find It In me." Put your hand on your
heart and say, "No panic here." The
kingdom of God is coming, "not with
aberration." not with boisterous ban
ners. not with revolution and fierce
rending aftunder, not with a crushing
overwhelming denouement as the Jews
expected, but steadily, realstlesaly and
gripping Its foundations In the age aa
it comes so that Us gains are irreversi
ble. Thus the kingdom of God Is at
hand three hundred and sixty-five days
In the year, twenty-four hours In the
day, for It comes even as we sleep.
Take for Illustration the liquor traf
fic. It Is with one fell stroke, but like
the pressure of some great natural
force the anti-saloon sentiment has
quietly Invested public opinion. Space
by space the conviction against It has
seised community after community In
the South. That movement so much
unobserved because It conquers In the
hearts of men before It secured Institu
tional prohibition, Is going on today.
One county after another in Georgia
'
han come Into Jlnc*. We are not far
from the day when the state will be
covered and controlled by the convic
tion of the public conscience against
the saloon and the traffic as the
waters cover the bed of the sea.
A representative of the business has
frankly said to me. "There is a tre
mendous difference between the way
people feci now about the whisky bus
iness and the way they felt thirty
years ago, when I went Into It, and
tho sentiment against it Is growing
all the time. Every intelligent man
In the business knows It."
What is behind It? God and Hfs
will Is behind it. As His kingdom comes
In men's hearts the Institutions ..f
Satan's kingdom take down their ban
ners and depart not to return. So It Is
with every righteous cause. So It shall
be with all unrighteousness. This faith
Is In the earth. Come quickly, Lord
Jesus, It Is here, it is here becausn
the power that supports It is her*? and
at work. Evil is doomed. "To me," said
Paul, "the world Is crucified." He meant
that to him the world of evil was ns
a dead thing. It was judged, condemned
and delivered to die out before -the
cross of Christ. This Is the Christian's
faith that our Lord, would find in the
earth and He wilt find It, for It is
growing with each passing year as
we look back and see the sure gains
which the cause of the kingdom has
made over great Iniquities. As ono of
Ihe great prophets of our generation
has said, "Morally evil Is dead olreadv.
The sentence has passed 4he judge's
Ups." The weakest child of God may
safely defy It and scorn Its boasting. Its
visible force is still Immense; Its sub
jects multitudinous; Its empire to ap
pearance hardly shaken. It towers Ilk*
Goliath confronting "the armies of the .
living God, but the foundation of its
strength Is gone. Decay saps Its frame.
Despair creeps over Its heart. The con
sciousness of Its Impotence and misery
grows upon It."
Mr. Gladstone, standing in the house
of commons after the defeat of a
great moral reform said, "You have de
feated us today, but, gentlemen, tlw
future Is against you."
"Right forever on the scaffold, wrong
forever on the throne!
But that scaffold sways the future.
And behind the dim unknown
8tandeth God within the shadow
Keeping watch above his own."
WHAT IS RELIGION?—IV
By REV. JAMES W. LEE,
PASTOR TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH
The primitive man felt God’s pres-1 through the utrueture ot human lif
t-nee In the object* of nature. He wa* ha* been converted Into those great
■ - the crude forerunner of IVhlttler he- ] religion* we know a* Bnlhmlnl.ni,
k fore he had advanced sufficiently to Zoroastrianism. Confucianism and
■.write the beautiful prayer: Buddhism. tTnllke the-fetishists, who
Ho sometimes comes to soul and sense
The feeling which Is evidence,
That very near about us lies
The realm of spiritual mysteries,
The sphere of-the supernal powers
Imping—* eh tills world of: our*.
The low and dark horizon lifts
To light,- the seenlc terrer shifts
Th< breath of a diviner air
lllows down the answer to a prayer
That dllkiorrow, paln'and doubt,
A great compassion rlasps about.
He was Wordsworth before he was
developed enough to say:
* "And I have felt r
A presence that disturb* me with a Joy
of elevated thoughts, a sense sublime
of something far more deeply Inter.
■a fused.
Whose dwelling is the light of setting
And the round ocean and the living air.
And In the blue sky and In the mind of
man:
A motion and a spirit that Impels
All thinking things, all objects of all
thought.
And rolls through all things.”
2. The second divine element of re
ligion Is the revelation God makes of
Himself In the constitution nf man. The
world without Him was no greater
mystery to the primitive man thnn was
the world within him. but both con
tained for him, he felt, the revelation of
a power higher thun himself. He had
within Ihe half of everything out of
which civilisation has been built, but
It was an undeveloped half. He was
under the necessity of finding and de
veloping Ills outside half of the means
of subsistence, knowledge and re
ligion, by opening up within himself,
through struggle and trial and experi
ment, the Inside half. At the begin
ning both the inside and the outside
were unknown. History Is the record
of the gradual coming together of these
two unknowns into the unity of catho
lic religion, verifiable knowledge and
modem civilisation.
The revelation God makes of Himself
find the divine In nature, the leaden
of these faiths found God making Him
self known In the moral and mental
constitution of men. In Bnhmlnlsm,
the best example of pantheism, man
sought for God In thought; In Zoroas
trianism, Confucianism and Buddhism
he sought for God In conscience.'
a. The third divine element of re
llglon Is ths'rsvslatlon God makes of
Himself through the Old and New
Testament Scriptures, and through
Jesus Christ, who In Himself sums up
and makes direct and living and human
all revelation, whether found In nature,
the moral constitution of man, or In
tho Holy Scriptures, The whole naturo
of God, glimpses ot which the anlmlst
got In nature, and the great religious
leaders nf Persia and India and China
saw In the moral constitution of man,
and the chosen people found In tho
Scriptures, Christians believe was re
vealed In Jesus Christ. They believe
that Jesus Christ was In nature and
mind from the beginning, though tilt
world knew Him not; Just ss the laws
of gravity dominated all worlda from
the beginning, though men knew them
not.
'Ill
Knowing the facts of religion, human
and divine, we are prepared to deter
mine what the religion of science la
By the religion of science It It Implied
that the facts of religion contnln
thought bearing on the spiritual Inter
ests of man, which can be turned Into
verifiable knowledge. Just os by chem
istry H Is Implied that there are atomic
facts expressing thought bearing on
the practical Interests of man which
can be turned Into verifiable knowl
edge.
No one disputes the human facts of
religion, and even Herbert Spencer, In
whose esteem God was unknowable,
was forced to admit the unknowable
had revealed Itself in almost as com
plete a sense as professors of religion
are accuslumed to think God has re
vealed Himself.
on page- <6 of First Principles Mr,
Spencer declares:
"Common sense assert, the existence
of a reality. Objective science proves
that this reality cannot be what we
think It. Subjective science shows why
we cannot think of It as It Is, and yet
are compelled to think of It as exist
ing; and In this assertion of a reality,
utterly Inscrutable In nature, religion
flnfls an assertion essentially coinciding
with her own. We are obliged to re
gard every phenomenon os a manifes
tation of some power by which we are
acted upon. Though omnipresence Is
Unthinkable, yet as experience dis
closes no bounds to tbe diffusion of
phenomena, we are unable to tjilnk of
limits to the pretence of this powsr,
while the criticisms nf science teach us
that this power is Incomprehensible."
Analyse that sentence. Read It cars,
fully and you will find that Mr. Hpen-
cer knows there Is an ultimate reality.
Then It has being. It acts upon us.
Thsn he give* to It the attribute ac-
tlon. All phenomena are manifest!!-1
tions of It. Then It has power. All
f ihenomena are manifestations of this'
nscrutable power by which we are,
acted upon. Then It has caused ener
gy. We are unable to think ot limits
to the presence nf this power. Here
he gives It omnipresence. Ot his un-
scrutable, unknowable something, then,
he knows that It has being, power, ac
tivity, causal energy and omnipresence.
Precisely along the same lilies of rea
soning by which Mr. Spencer deduces
these attributes of what he calls his
unknowable the Christian who accepts
the God revealed In the Bible might de
duce the wisdom, tnercy, Justice and
truth of Cod. There are equally os
much data furnished for Ihe deduction
of wisdom, Justice, mercy and truth as
for being, power, activity, causal en
ergy and omnipresence.
The synthetic philosophy of Mr.
Spencer consist of two parts (1) "The
Unknown'and Unknowable," (J) "The
Known and the Knowable." He do-
votes small space to the treatment of
an Unknown and Unknowable, but out
of this dark void he manages to draw
a magnificent universe.
It Is remarkable how a man who
knew so little In the beginning ot his
system knew so much at the end nf It.
How from such a limited and meager
absolute" creed he managed to find
such a long and comprehensive relative
one. He says: "Amid the mysteries
which grow the more mysterious the
DR. J. W. LEE.
more they are thought about, there will
remain the one absolutely certainty that
man stands In the presence of an infi
nite anfi Inscrutable energy from which
all things proceed." Hut this Unknown,
Mr. Bpencer places In relation to the
known. He says that all phenomena
are manifestations of the unknown. It
would seem therefore that In so far as
tho Unknown manifested Itself In
things known, It managed to make It
self known. Think of the Unknown
manifesting Itself, uttering itself, cloth
ing Itself in form mid see If you ran
resist coming to the conclusion that
In manifesting IlsOlf and In uttering
Itself, the Unknown has come to be so
far known. You can know no more of a
man than you are able to team from
the manifestations be make* of him
self. But we hare an understanding
with ourselves that we know men from
their deeds, from their speech, from
their achievements, from the outward
expressions they make of themselves,
and we know nothing of men except
that which we learn In this way. Noth
ing ever proceed* from the Unknowable
except what was In It, and whatever
comes out of It helps us to Judge of It,
and form an opinion of Its nature
and resources. If mind comes out of
the Unknowable at we sea It in man.
then we know that mind was In the
unknowable before.lt appeared In man.
There Is no element In any legitlmato
conclusion that was not In the premise.
There Is no element In any tree that
was not In the germ nf It, and ns, ac
cording to Mr. 8pencer, all that Is, pro
ceeds from the unknowable, we have
a right to conclude that the whole
manifest universe was all In tha un
knowable before It came out and pro
ceeded to paaa before our eyea, and
provoke us to ask questions about It.
IV.
With no one questioning the reality
of the human half of rellgfoua facts,
and with the grant apostle of agnosti
cism admitting the leading facts of the
other half, we may take It as settled
that there are facts aa permanent and
fixed for constructing the religion of
science as there are facta In the heav
ens for building astronomy. In a sys
tem of thought arranged from a study
of celostlal facts and ons that accounts
for, accommodates and accords with
ths facts, we may say that ws have
the star* of science. Ho In a system of
thought, patiently arranged from n
study of religious fact*, and one that
accounts for, accommodate* and ac
cords with the facts, we may say that
we have the religion of science. Pro
fessor Huxley says: "By science I un
derstand all knowledge which rests
upon evidence and reasoning of a like
character to that which claims our as
sent to ordinary scientific propositions,
and If any man Is able lo make good
the assertion that Ms theology rests
upon valid evidence and sound reason
ing, then It appears to me that such
theology must take It* placa aa a part
of science."
Another master In science lays down
the following dlitctlons as preliminary
to a definition of science: “1. The
senses place before us the characters of
the book of nature, but these convey
no knowledge to us till we have discov
ered the alphabet by which they are to
be had. 2. The alphabet by means of
which we Interpret phenomena con
sists of the Ideas existing In dur own
minds, for these give to the phenomena
that coherence and stgnificanca which
Is hot an object of eenee. t. The two
proceeees by which science la con
structed are the explication of concep
tions and Ihe colligation of fact*.
Knowledge requires us to possess both
facts and Ideas. Every step In our
knowledge consists In applying the
Ideas and conceptions furnished by
our minds to the facts which observa
tion and experiment offer to us. When
our conceptions are clear and distinct,
when our facts are certain and suf
ficiently numerous, and when the con
ceptions being suited to the nature of
tho facts are applied to them so aa to
produce an exact and universal con
cordance, wa attain knowledge of a
precise and comprehensive kind which
we may term science.”-
It must be clearly understood, how
ever, that the Ideas and conceptions
furnished by our minds, which we are
to apply to the facts offered us, are
such as we have obtained (pom a study
of the facta themselves. We must not
come to facts with preconceived opin
ions, with a view to forcing them Into
conformity with our Ideas. That wa*
the mediaeval method. Every fact is
related to some other fact, ofid what
a fact Is for another, that It Is In
Itself. In finding what, by observa
tion and experiment, a fact Is for an
other or for a group of facts, and,
therefore, what It Is In Itself, we get a
theory of It that accords with Its na
ture. Ptolemy came to the heavens
with a theory ot them already In hla
thought, but he could never corral the
stars with It and pen them In his mind.
Copernicus came to the heavens to find
a theory through the study of the
planets, and tbe conception of them he
formed by this method enabled him to
house tha firmament In his Intelligence.
V.
It is only by reducing facts to terms
of science that we are able to get from
them all they contain for the practical
life. Fire has been hot and useful ever
since men first learned to kindle It.
But It never yletded up all that wu
In It for comfort and for service until,
by the experiment of Count Romford,
It was proven to bn a mode of motion.
He showed that things are hot or cold
In proportion to the rapidity with which
the particles composing them vibrate.
This discovery revolutionised the world.
It was the first time In tha history of
the race that a conception of heat wa**
formed In the mind by the study of
fire Itself. - That Idea alone shifted from
human shoulders to machinery half tho
burdens of toll. For thousands of years
man has stood In the presence of the
Illimitable store* of wealth he has Just
now teamed, by means ot the modem
scientific method, to take from nature.
He remained hungry In the presenco nf
bountiful supplies of food. He remained
thirsty close by water ready to gusli
from every hill. He went half clad
with raiment hidden beneath the sail
and diffused through the sunshine. Iln
shivered In the darkness with warmth
and light going to waste over every
waterfall. He painfully trudged over
muddy roads with palace cars burled
In the mountains, standing In the trees
and fulling from the sun. He housed
himself In rude shanties with mansions
concealed In the hills and rising to
heaven In the forests. He sent his
messages by meant of torches from
height to height with tbe undulations
of luminiferous ether penetrating every
recess of his body xnd every object be
fore his eye*. He remained half bent
beneath loada with forces enswathlng
him ready to bear them. He slept be
neath skies filled with constellations,
with telescopes lying In brass and saint
to bring them near. He was Ignorant
of the doings of hla brothers on tho
R lanet with movable type plied beneath
la feet to give him news every morn
ing of the activities of humanity. He
was lonely and depressed with songs
circulating In tha air and capsulate in
the woods and the metals to thrill hla
heart. Ha was slrk with msdlelnes In
minerals and waters and plants to euro
him. He waa In pain with opiates to
relieve him. And hs was thus deprived
of what belonged to him and of what
God mads for him for the simple i *a . -n
that he blindly persisted In taking to
faets self-devised theories with SBkb .
to manipulate them Instead of forcing
facts lo give up tbe theories embodied
In them.
CONFERENCE COMMENDS THE GEORGIAN FOR ITS POSITION ON LIQUOR QUESTION
At tli* closing session of tho North Geor-
gls reference nt Mlllcdgeville, the commit
tee oh temperance reported some strong
re*pultons, which were adopted.
SiMH-lal mention I* given Tbe Georgian for
Its refusal to accept liquor advertising. It
Is the only large dally In tbe state occupy
ing tbla high position.
Tbe committee calls ou tbe legislature
ta enact laws prohibiting the manufacture
or sale of liquor, within the lionndary of
Georgia, and also suggests that tbe confer
ences should 'devote wore time to this sub
ject. The resolution lu full Is as follows:
Tha Resolution.
The committee ou temperance beg* leave
to dte the following facts: balance Is now
teaching what the Bible has lieen declaring
for thousands of years, that alcohol Is n
deadly potion— 1 "at last It hiteth like a ser-
l**nt and etlngeth like an adder." Alcohol
is no more a food than chloroform and has
bat one medical property, that of a heart
stimulant, aod that only because It Is both
a narcotic and irritant poison, therefore It
« •« misnomer to apply the word temper*
**»"• to the beverage use of Intoxicating
liquors . ,
* me «»f ths grefttest delusions that ever
fflbfed our race la the alcoholic delusion;
It promises wraith and gives poverty; It
promises wisdom and gives folly; It prom
ises strength and gives weakness; It prom
I sea health slid brings disease and death.
The people of the United State* consume
annually twenty gallons of Intoxlratlng
liquors, or one gallon and three quarts of
pure alcohol per capita, and these poison
ous liquors arn putting Into their graves
approximately iw.ooo people every year.
The cost of the poisonous liquors to the
poor, deluded psople who consume them
amounts to 11*400.000,000 annually, and the
Indirect coat which falls mainly on the
community amounts to half as much more.
Oar own Dr. Powell and other experts In
this country and Europe tell us that 70 per
rent ot the Insaulty Is caused directly or In
directly by the use ot alcoholic liquors. The
courts Inform us that at least 6) per cent
of crimes are traceable to strong driuk.
The poverty, desolation and rain wrought
by this monster evil cannot be estimated.
It strikes down the rich as well as the
poor, the high as well as tbe low. *
Encouraging Facta.
ire glad to be able to call atten
tion to some facts which are encouraging:
The churches and other enemies of tbe ne-
fariuns train# were never so united and ac
tive aa at the present trme. Perhaps the
greatest achievement In the greet move*
ment for the deliverance of onr country
from this, diabolic tyrant la the fact that
the W. C. T. I, r . Ims secured a law In every
state of tbe I’nlpu requiring scientific tom
peraucp taught In the public schools.
Hlucc congress gives us denatured alco
hol for mechanics I purposes, and moat
churches no longer use fermented wine In
tbe holy communion, and doctors have
found that alcohol has but one medical
property, and may be substituted, we And
about the only remaining u*e for alcohol la
In the making of tinctures, and aa we
understand that fluid extracts are equally
as convenient and efficient, therefore It
seems to us that the time has come in our
clvlllxatlou when there ran no longer !*e
any excuse for tbe use of Intoxlratlng li
quors.
Our Information Is that tbe legalised li
quor traffic In the Imunds of onr own con
ference Is restricted to nine towns, one of
which has a hotel bar, three the open saloon
aud live one dispensary each. Wo And
that there are but twenty saloon towns
and twenty-four dispensaries In our stole,
and from this It Is evident that the vast
majority of the law-abiding, Ux-paying
FOR CHRISTMAS
“ELASTIC” BOOK CASES
=MOWER-HOBART CO.'
00000000000000000000000000
O LETTER OF APPRECIATION I.
O FROM CHA8. N. CRITTENTON.O
O O
O Milledgeville. On., Nov. 29, Hog. O
0 Mr. F. L. Ueely, Publisher of The 0
O Atlanta Georgian, Atlanta, Ga. O
O Dear Sir and Brother: Dr. Lew- O
O Is ha* went mo a clipping from O
O your paper. The Georgian, of the'O
O 28th Instant, In which there l» an 0
S extract from an address which 0
you made the day before In the 0
O First Methodist Episcopal church. O
O It certainly touched my heart, and 0
O brought tears to my' eyes, to think O
O that kind words and looks to a boy O
■** * id been remembered tor nearly O
. „ quarter of a century, and sub- O
0 stantlal evidence thereof given, O
O even In the education of a young O
- I to place herself In a position O
, . take a place in this corner of 0
O our Master's vineyard. o
O clod bless you, my boy! (I fee! 0
O like calling you such.). Should I 0
0 at any future time return to At- O
0 lanta, I shall hope to have a face O
O to face talk. 0<
O Faithfully yours. 0
0 i\ N. CRITTENTON. 01
0 0
0OOO0O0O00QOO00000000OO000
people of tbe stall? favor prohibition, there-
fore ws appeal to the legislature to give
Georgia a law prohibiting the manufacture
| and sale of liquors tbronfebont the state.
, We are the more free to urge this appeal
j because It Is the duty of the legislature to
t give to tbe people such laws as the people
need. The people need this legislation more
j that* ntiy other, and it f* the sense of the
•nfereace that It Is the duty of the tcgl*.
lature to enact such a law ami not shirk
responsibility by submitting the Issue to
s popular vote, which woubl Inevitably lead
to great strife, confusion and demoralisa
tion.
Protection of Paopla.
One of tho fundamental principles of
Democracy la the right of local self-govern
ment. and Georgia Is n Democratic state,
ruled by a Democratic legislature, and yet
the will of the people of n hundred and
twenty dry counties la defeated In tbe In
terest of the liquor dealers In a few Geor
gia towns who are piling ap great fir
tunes by the Jug trade. It Is tbe sense
of this conference that the least the legis
lature ran do Is to enact such law as will
protect the people of the dry eoautlra
against tho Jug trade.
Ilecognlalng the powerful Influence of sec
ular press, we request that In every way
possible they aid n* In farthering this great
movement. It affords us great plsasare to
GEORGIA RAILROAD
IMPORTANT CHANGES IN
SCHEDULES EFFECTIVE
DECEMBER 2nd. ARRI
VALS AND DEPART
URES, ATLANTA,
GEORGIA.
No. >1 arrives 12:43 p, m.
No. 3 arrives 5:00 a. m.
No. 27 arrives 8:30 p. m
No. 2 departs. 7:20 a. m.
No. 4 depart* ...11:45 p. m.
No. 28 departs 3;25j>. m.
R. E. MORGAN, Gan. Agsnt
commend The Atlanta Georgian and. three
other papers Id onr state whlrb refuse II
quor advertisements.
We are gratified at the great work the
Woman’s Chrfstlau Temperance 1'nlon Is
dolug lu Georgia.
We commend the Autl-Hsloon League and
Itcxpcnk for It the support of the people.
It Is an Important mission of the chnrcb
to Ineulente the principles of total absti
nence and to lie active for the suppression
of the legalised liquor traffic, aud, following
the suggestions of the Godly women of the
Women’s Ubristlau Temperance Uniuu,
designate the fourth Huiiday In April, or
^^■tlsmo as possible, to be observed
ns a day of spsclpl prayer that Goil will
move the hearts of our law-makers to give
ns state prohibition, anil we request that
all our pastors aud other ministers preach
prohibition that day. We request that
total abstinence pledge he circulated
among our yonug people at that time.
respeetfnlly request Senator Ibiron
and Senator flay and our representatives lu
congress to do all In their power to seenre
the enactment Into law of that hill now
pending in congress to prohibit the ship
ment of liquors Into states aud counties
where the state law prohlbta their sale
and that other bill designed to repeal thnt
part of the Internal rereunc law that li
censes the sale of liquors In states ami
counties where the state law prohibits thclt
sale.
It Is the sense of tbit conference that tbs
cause of temperance and prohibition I* of
such Importance ss to merit more time
and attention than It usually receives at
our conference, therefore suggest that nt
the next session of the annual conference,
tin hour bo set apart for tbe consideration
of this subject.
LONG WINTER EVENINGS
Then why not get the “whole family
group"—The Delineator. McClure’.
Magazine uml The World’* Work, to
gether with The Georgian for 16.60 per
yekr In advance. The price of there
magxxines alone tx »•;. The Georgian
lx 16.60. But *11 of them i nn b.- ob
tained for 1 year by tending Tim
Georgian now 16.64, or you < un k-i
The Jeffersonian (Walton*, new maga
zine) ahd The Georgian each one year
for S6.60.
PAUL BURKERT
Kixed over 2,000 Umbrella.-
list year. Let him fix vonrs.
1 Viaduct Place.’