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8 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!