The Golden age. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1906-1915, July 05, 1906, Image 1

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.. ... EMORY AiNIVERSiTY y - MM TJ £4 - _^aiJWF > ' hJ - Ji ~ 6 (LIBRARY! jsl—'" IN TnL- — ~ "®Mn the VOLUME ONE. NO. TWENTY. Savannah—lts Romantic Past and Its Prosperous Present. N considering the beautiful city of Sa vannah, which lies close to the edge of the broad Atlantic, as it sweeps majes tically past the borders of the Empire State of the South, one wonders almost involuntarily if the spirit of broad phi lanthropy which prompted the founding of the tiny settlement at Yamacraw Bluff, in 1733 did not in some mysterious I way color the entire history of the city? Surely the unselfish effort on the part of Gen. James Oglethorpe to establish a home for the unfortunate debtors of England, has borne fruit of unusual rarity, for there seems no city in all our land more tenderly touched with glamour of romance, more inspired with high historic purpose and more blessed with a rich prosperity than this same Savannah. That the settle ment attracted much interest from the mother country, is amply evi denced by the fact that among the very first missionaries sent to America from England, were di rected to Savannah in 1735. In that year occurred what is known as the “Great Embarcation,” which sailed from London when Gen. Oglethorpe returned after a brief visit to England, accompa nied by John Wesley, the great founder of Methodism. Wesley was +o succeed Rev. Samuel Quincy as a worker in the colonies, and he preached his first sermon in America near Tybee Island, at the mouth of the Savannah River. It was Wesley’s rigid observance of the tenets of the Church of Eng land, and the austerity of his methods which won for himself and his closest followers the title of “Methodists,” by which they are known at this time. But John Wesley and his brother, Charles, were practical, as ■well as rigid and enthusiastic workers, and to them is due the credit of founding the first Sunday School in the New World, and as this Sunday School was organized fifty years before Robert Raikes began his system of Sunday School instruction in England and 80 years before this system was adopted in New York, and as it has continued until the present time, it may be said to be the oldest Sunday School in the world. Also in Savannah was the first book of hymns written by John Wesley, the little volume being printed in Charleston in 1737, one copy of which was found to be still in existence in England in 1878. Again to the credit of the Wesley’s is the founding of the first orphan asylum in the Southern colonies, as well as the first provision for COPYRIGHTED BY P. G. SPHRECK. SLAVE tiUTS, “HERMITAGE" PLANTATION, SAVANNAH RIVER. ATLANTA, GA., JULY 5, 1906. By S. T. DALSHEIMER free education. John Wesley, because of his auster ity of manner, and his somewhat unfortunate tem per, became involved in some unpleasant happen ings, and did not remain long in Savannah, but he was succeeded by George Whitfield, who was in every way, save in piety of purpose, a contrast to Wesley, and who was the most beloved man in the early colony. Whitfield carried to the fullest com pletion the work outlined by Wesley, and his death, after years of faithful service, cast the young set tlement into the deepest grief. In writing of Whit field’s death, William Bacon Stevens, D.D., said: “It is a striking group of facts, that John Wesley, the purest and most popular hymnist of the age; that George Whitfield, whom Christian and infidel pronounced the greatest preacher of his generation; that James Oglethorpe, one of the noblest philan thropists of his country; that Christian Gottlieb Spagenburg, the first Moravian Bishop in America, and David Nitschman, the founder of the settlement of Bethlehem in Pennsylvania, were all personally and intimately connected with Georgia, and con tributed to shape its character and its institutions.” It would seem that an erily religious history, such as Savannah Ind, would in a great measure, shape its future, and it is safe to assume that this has been the ease. Brought into early prominence, the city has never been overlooked by distinguished visitors to the country, and during its existence it has been visited, not only by every notable man who visited America in the early days, but also each distinguished person in our own country. Although slightly out of the line of ordinary travel, the presidents of the United States, beginning with Gen. Washington himself, have almost without ex ception, visited Savannah at some time. In the famous journal of Gen. Washington, mention is made of his visit to Savannah, and he says on a certain date: “We were sailing slowly down the Savannah River, and when we came near the home of Gen. Nathaniel Greene, I begged to alight in or der that I might see his widow and ask her how she did!” Geographically Savan- nue to her people. But despite the fact that there is comparatively great wealth in Savannah, the city still remains as one of the very few in the en tire country whose social life has never felt the touch of commercialism. No entrance can be made into the sanctuaries of the 11 first families” by any key save that of birth and breeding, for “the po tent power c£ gold” fails to prove an open sesame in this conservative old city. Year after year there is, however, a most brilliant social life in Savannah —a life conducted on the same lines laid down by the forefathers of the present social incumbents. Stately cotillions, houseparties at the famous old Southern homes, summer outings along the coast and the summer exodus, often by sea to far off northern resorts are indulged in from year to year with but UOLLAKS A YEAH. FIVE CENTS A COPY. nah is situated so as to command the same pre-eminence in commer cial life as in the social and re ligious spheres, and to-day there is no city in the country more per fectly adapted to become a typical American center for trade as well as for the highest culture along all lines of thought and endeavor. Within eighteen miles of the ocean, the Savannah River is deep enough to offer a perfect harbor to even the deepest sea-going ves sels, and hence her trade facilities are greatly enhanced, for, with the fine rail transportation lines enter ing the city, taken in connection with the ocean routes at her very gates, she is in position to control much of the Southern commerce. As a cotton port the city ranks only third in the country, while in the matter of naval stores, this Southern city leads the world. The forests of pine which surround her, the acres and acres which, year by year, supply the large markets of the world with pitch, rosin, turpentine and tar, and are a source of almost limitless reve-