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The Golden Age
(SUCCESSOR TO RELIGIOUS FORINT)
Published Ebery Thursday by the Golden f/Ige Publishing
Company (Inc.)
OFFICES: LOWNDES BUILDING. ATLANTA. GA.
Price: $2.00 a Year
WILLIAM D. UPSHfXW, .... Editor
A. E. RAMSAUR, - - . Associate Editor
W. F. UPS HA W, - - - - Business Manager
Entered at the Post Office tn Atlanta, Ga.,
as second-class matter.
To the Public: The advertising columns of The
Golden Age will have an editorial conscience. No
advertisement will be accepted which we believe
would be hurtful to either the person or the purse of
our readers.
The struggles of the race have ever been toward
emancipation and freedom. The word “obey” is now 7
being omitted from marriage ceremonies. This is
one of the things we wish would operate in an ex
post facto way—but it is too late to do us any good.
If we had only waited a little while; but it is past
mending now.
A Royal Marriage.
Americans are all especially interested in the
marriage of the young King of Spain and the pretty
daughter of the House of Guelph. We are, how
ever, a trifle amused at the panoply of state which
surrounds the young couple, but at the same time
w’e read with breathless interest of the million dol
lar wedding gift, the supurb bridal robe and the
elaborate preparations which Alphonso is making
to welcome the coming bride. Yet w 7 e feel that
even amidst all the pomp and ceremonial which
tradition makes it imperative for these young peo
ple observe, this royal marriage is signifi
cant of deeper motives than appear on the surface.
The choice of an English bride for Alphonso
means the recognition by Spain of the urgent need
of infusing some good, wholesome, unpolluted red
blood into the effete monarchial race of that Latin
country, and we believe that through Princess Ena
the w’hole future line of Spanish monarchs will be
strengthened and rejuvenated. Yet it seems a little
hard on the girl herself, even though it is said she
loves the royal suitor—w T e wonder if she truly does?
He seems so pitiably unattractive from a physical
point of view, and to the thinking mind the inevita
ble questions as to his future moral life will arise.
After all, it seems to us that the fate of some hum
ble American June bride who weds the man of her
choice in the fullness of life and the springtime of
love were preferable to that of this favored daugh
ter of “a hundred earls,” whose marriage is, de
spite all its glamour, after all merely a “marriage
de convenance.’’
The Exposition of 1910.
The entire South and particularly the State of
Georgia must regard the plans for holding a great
World’s Fair in the city of Atlanta as a most saga
cious commercial movement. The New South, with
all its limitless possibilities, is not yet fully recog
nized or understood by the North, and we fear not
nearly as much appreciated by that part of our own
country as it is by many foreign nations. Yet,
commercially, intellectually and socially, the South
is rapidly assuming prominence in the affairs of the
nation, and its resources are yearly attracting more
and more favorable attention. Hence any project
which tends to bring the Empire State of the South
into the magic circle of public interest, is a project
which should have the loyal support of all good citi
zens. We feel that the proposed Exposition of 1910,
therefore, must be recognized as a wise step in the
right direction, and we mark with pleasure the po
sition taken by the people of Atlanta which at the
present writing seems to assure the consummation
of the great enterprise and which we feel certain
will result in bringing to the South all the pros
perity, the progress and the national commendation
to which our section is clearly entitled.
Commencement Thoughts.
We recently took occasion to request our young
graduates to favor us in their graduating essays
with some information and advice on matters of
public importance and eternal moment. We are
grateful and happy to say that up to date, so far as
heard from, they are nobly meeting the demands
of their position. Many perplexing problems have
been made as bright and clear as noonday, and
the times bid fair to grow steadily better. In return
for all this we wish to give them a few hints.
Your diploma is a thing to be proud of. If you
have worked and striven sincerely and honestly de
serve it, and especially if you have had to work
your way through college, it is natural that your
heart should swell with joy when you receive it.
But it is not conclusive evidence that you are edu
cated. As Artemus Ward would say, “far differ
ent.” It is only a certificate, as some one has ex
pressed it, that you have been “exposed” to an edu
cation. Whether you caught it remains for future
events to demonstrate. There is nothing conclusive
about a degree these days. In one sense it means
more than ever it did, for the curricula of our col
leges are broader and more sensible now than ever
before, but a string of big, black letters after a
man’s name is not an absolute guarantee.
The medals you have won are now, and should
ever be a source of pride. The fact of your winning
them does not prove that you have the most massive
brain of the century, nor is it absolutely sure that
you were entitled to the medals because a commit
tee awarded them. But one thing is sure: you had
the courage and the manhood to enter the contest
for the trophies, and in that you should find your
chief pride. Let this thought nerve you for fresh
contests in the broader forum of life and citizen
ship. But don’t get the impression that diplomas
and medals will support you when you undertake
the struggle of life. You can’t rest on them for any
length of time. Bankers and railway managers
and grocers are rude, harsh folk. They don’t ap
preciate things of that kind as they should. An
armful of diplomas does seem to be of slight avail
when the matter of getting a job is up for settle
ment. The question is, “What can you do?” The
one thing the world yearns to be informed about is
■whether you can deliver the goods. If so, you are
IT; if not, you are NIT. You may as well accept
this viewpoint in the beginning. Have your diplo
mas framed and hang them on the wall—w 7 ear a
medal on your fob—be proud of your struggles and
triumphs, and cling in your heart of hearts to the
sweet, fresh, optimistic ideals of your college days;
be true to your faith, but don’t think you have won
the final victory because your final examinations are
passed. Life is but beginning. Your Commence
ment is really the commencement of your life of
duty. Be brave and true and let your ambition be to
place beside your diploma and medals in the years
to come the love and confidence of your fellow men.
The Study of Hebrew.
Rev. Amory 11. Bradford, in a recent article in the
New York Independent, attacks the policy now in
force in the theological seminaries of including the
study of Hebrew in the curriculum. He says that
a much better idea of the Bible can be gained by
the average man from translations than by studying
the original when he is possessed of only a slight
knowledge of Hebrew. He inclines to the belief that
“a little learning is a dangerous thing” in this con
nection, and says “men who do not know a language
both sympathetically and technically, should not be
allowed to palm off on others their weak attempts at
translation and interpretation as the truth.”
Many of the strong theological thinkers of the
country will go part if not all the way with Mr.
Bradford on this subject, and an increasing amount
of attention is being given the matter. It is proba-
Editor
The Golden Age for May 31, 1906.
ble that in time the thological students will be al
lowed to make this branch elective, and may de
cline to study Hebrew at all—but should they choose
to study it, will be required to take a more thor
ough and extended course in the language.
It cannot be denied that at present they secure
only the slimmest smattering of the language—and
trusting them as translators, is like calling in a
first-year medical student as family physician.
I
The Public and Dr. Torrey.
Although it may seem slightly paradoxical, there
is often a vast difference between the point of view
of the individual and that of the general public,
even though the latter is composed of the former
in larger quantities. A striking evidence of this
diversity of viewpoint may be seen in the adverse
criticism of the individual against the commendation
of the masses in regard to the revival services being
conducted in Atlanta by Dr. Torrey, of England.
No movement which has ever carried weight of
any sort has ever failed to carry also advocates both
for and against it; it is a further fact, also, that
opposition has in many instances but served to give
added force to an enterprise, a reform or a project.
And this certainly is true in the case of the few
individual opinions expressed against the great re
vival under discussion. There have been persons,
and ministers of the gospel at that, who have vigo
rously opposed Dr. Torrey’s methods; they have
attacked him from every point of creed and have
even accused his whole plan of “being a money
making project”—the latter because a few hymn
books -were sold at the entrance to the auditorium
where the great meetings were held! The absurdity
of this attack is manifest when we consider that
the books are well worth double the small sum
asked for them, and their use certainly aids the
individual in actively co-operating with the song
leader, Mr. Alexander, in conducting the services.
The readers of The Golden Age have had oppor
tunity to follow the most stirring incidents of these
wonderful meetings, and it is only our intention to
call attention to the fact here that the harsh and
unjust criticism which the meetings have evoked
in no way affected the great good being done. On
the contrary, it has hut served to call attention to
the services, in many instances, from persons who
might otherwise have let them pass unnoticed. It
is safe also to assert that many of those who pre
sumably “came to scoff, remained to pray,” and
that the extent of the good done has thus been ma
terially increased.
We do not seek immediate estimates of results,
but we do believe that the future will prove fully
that a series of deeply spiritual and strongly sensi
ble meetings such as we have in mind when thinking
of those Dr. Torrey conducts, cannot fail in ultimate
good to a community, as well as to all individuals
who have come within the influence of the great
work.
A Queen Without a Crown.
All heroines are not celebrated in song and story
and all queens are not wearing crowns.
The letter of Rev. M. K. Thornton, of Starkville,
Miss., which we publish in this issue, brings words
of gratifying endorsement concerning the editorial
in The Golden Age of May 10th, about papers that
advertise liquor. But that part of his letter which
makes us “tingle to our finger tips,” is the story
of a young lady compositor in the office of a Stark
ville paper who deliberately gave up her position and
walked out of the composing room rather than put
into type a whiskey advertisement.
Private advices give the information that, finan
cially, she was as poor as she was brave. She great
ly needed a position just then, but before she would
be in any sense a medium of curse to others she chose
to walk out beneath God’s canopy of blue without
a position, trusting for her future the God whom she
refused to dishonor.
Here’s to the brave Mississippi girl who would
not set up a liquor advertisement! She is a queen
without a crown!