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ter, Vermont, April 15, 1816. He was of Huguenot
descent. His parents being anxious that he adopt
the ministry as his life work, directed his education
along ministerial lines. At nineteen yeais of age he
preached his first sermon to his home church (Bap
tist) and was soon called to its pastorate, but the
voice imperative seemed ever to whisper, 1 ‘Go,
Teach!”
So, after preaching two years he devoted the
remainder of his life to teaching.
He was married in 1841 to Miss Adelia C. Spen
cer, of Kingsville, Ohio. Four children blessed
their union: James R. Graves, a freshman in
Dartmouth College, joined the Confederate army
at twenty-one, and was killed at Ringgold, Ga.,
1863; Florence M. Graves, graduate of Mary Sharp
College, married Henry Sheen, of Columbus, Ga.,
and died during the early 70’s; Zunglius, a weak
minded son, lived to be thirty-six years old; Hu
bert, the youngest son, and still living, was the
only male pupil ever graduated from Mary Sharp.
He was a delicate child, and his mother, college
matron and teacher of several classes, felt that she
must keep him near her side, so he drifted smooth
ly along through the college course, as though he
had been a girl.
Dr. Graves was devoted to his wife, and after
her death (1895), he lost interest in human affairs,
seldom leaving home, save his daily walks to the
postoffice.
After a short illness he quietly passed away on
the night of May 18, 1902. Only a few days be
fore his death he remarked to the writer that of
his pilgrimage of eighty-six years, he had spent
sixty in the school room!
Verifying the fact that mental activity in the
direction of public benefaction leads to long life.
It is interesting to note that Col. A. S. Colyor
(now in his eighty-eighth year, and one of the few
surviving members of the Confederate Congress),
who, in the long ago, wrote the letter that induced
Dr. Graves to come South, was called upon to de
liver his funeral oration. He was assisted by the
late Ex-Governor Peter Turney, of Winchester. The
old college chapel was draped in mourning, and the
impressive ceremonies conducted therefrom.
Among Col. Colyor’s remarks he said: “If I
were asked to select three men who had done most
good for the old South, I would not name politi
cians, but I w T ould mention such life-long educators
as Dr. C. D. Elliott, W. E. Ward and Z. C. Graves.”
The A. M. degree was conferred upon Dr. Graves
by Madison University, New York, in 1846, and that
of LL.D., by the Union University, of Murfrees
boro, Tenn., during the early 50’s.
On the same day of his burial the remains of
his beloved wife, buried beneath her favorite red
oak trees, in the back yard of the old Graves home
stead, were exhumed and laid to rest beside those
of her distinguished husband in the cemetery at
Winchester.
“Through learning’s quiet fields their pathways
led,
Apart from strife and stern activity;
Garnerers in realms of mind were they,
Who from their plenteous harvest freely fed
Those souls that hunger after life’s true bread.”
Let us now and then “loaf and invite our souls.”
When “school is done,” when the day’s demands
on the farm have been met, when the whir of the
factory’s machinery has ceased, and the store and
office doors are closed, instead of spending the
evenings reading the newspaper because “we must
keep posted,” or else, rushing through one of the
“most successful” novels, merely to say that we
have read it, why not learn to know, more intimate
ly, the work of Browning, Tennyson, SheAOSords
worth, Bryant, Whittier, Longfellow, or Lowell?—
Exchange.
Last week’s Golden Age contained the picture
of two young men of Hartwell, Georgia, who rejoice
in the names of Robert Burns and Owen Meredith.
We learn from our esteemed contemporary, the
Hartwell Sun, that there is still another young
namesake of a literary celebrity there, namely,
Thomas Nelson Page. We are anxious to learn if
any of the girls are named for the female writers.
The Golden Age for August id, l§o6.
Love the Motif.
By Mary Pettus Thomas.
“What hast thou in thy hands?” asked He.
“A little lamb, 0 Lord, to offer Thee.”
The sweet smell of that loving sacrifice
Mounts up to heaven everlastingly.
Shepherd’s staff did Israel’s leader bring,
And wrought strange marvels ’fore Egyptian king.
Thro’ smitten, parted sea, past desert’s marge
His guided flock went slowly, wondering.
Gold, frankincense and myrrh were in the hand
Os worshipping Magi from Eastern land;
These royal gifts were offered little Babe
Found in the khan o’er which their star did stand.
“And thou, poor woman, what hast thou?” asked
He.
“Two mites—my earthly store—to give to Thee.”
Into His treasury millions since have poured
Because of her great generosity.
When pot of nard anointed Holy One,
The highest praise e’er given then was won.
In memory of pure act of love is told
His saying, “What she could, that hath she done.”
A sewing needle bright-eyed Dorcas had—
She who the suffering peer of Joppa clad.
With coats and garments made by Dorcas’ hands
The naked still are clothed and hearts kept glad.
’Tis ours—this heritage of years agone,
A destined.’ share in service yet undone;
Ours not to mar the vision radiant,
But undimmed, to those who follow, pass it on!
To every creature’s given some precious thing—
Gold on butterfly, sheen on beetle’s wing,
Melodious rhythm for the poet’s song,
For child of hers, the mother-love unchanging.
Lamb, needle, staff, and treasures (if He will),
Spikenard sweet, and mites just two—these are
still
Channels through which Almighty power will flow,
Whenever Love the giver’s heart doth fill.
’Tis when across a human violin
Calvary’s bow is drawn (0 heart of mine!),
Man’s heart is strangely stirred, for then is heard
Melody aeolian, harmony divine.
Os all the graces with which woman can clothe
herself there is none like sincerity. Many a charm
can be given to face and figure from the outside;
the fire of intellect may light the features otherwise
homely and uninteresting, and even generous im
pulse lend its attraction; but without sincerity
nothing will wear. What on first impression charms
is only momentary delusion unless the stamp of
truth be upon it. Sincerity is beauty itself—beauty
that plainness cannot conceal nor age wither.
It is not well to rate too highly our own judg
ment, to make it up independent of others. What
the world accepts or rejects may be accepted as
fairly correct. We may fancy our standards the
true ones, and the whole of society misled by a
short and distorted vision, but to do so is to be
confronted in the end by the unquestionable proof
of our own short-sightedness and the humiliation
of disappointment, if not worse. When the world
has set an estimate on a man we may as well take
him at that—the belief that we discover in him what
it has not seen is but our weakness which he recog
nizes and plays upon. In confidence in the universal
opinion alone is safety.
L. B. Abraham’s, head master of the Jews’ free
school at Spitalfields, England, has retired after
fifty-three years of service. He is 67 years old
and Israel Zangwill was once his pupil.
Caught in a school house in New Jersey, where
he was heating water for a bath, a tramp worked
several difficult problems in algebra, showing him
self to be an unusual tramp in many ways.
News of General Interest.
The . British and Foreign Bible Society now dis
tributes the Scriptures in 300 languages. Last year
the society issued a few volumes short of 6,000,000.
Married women in Central Africa are forced to
wear a close fitting cap over their heads and a wide
metal collar around their necks.
The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths have
presented $20,000 to the University of Cambridge,
to be used for the present needs of the university
library.
On October 18, at Washington, the military mon
ument in memory of Gen. George B. McClellan,
former commander of the Army of the Potomac,
will be unveiled. The General’s widow is now 71.
Some plants are affected by chloroform, just as
animals are. Sensitive plants, which shrink from
the human touch in ordinary circumstances, lose
their irritability in air charged with chloroform
vapor.
The Queen of Spain is to have a doctor of her
own. London Truth learns that a Scott is to have
the appointment. He will have a salary of $4,000 a
year; an allowance for rent, a guinea ($5.25) for
each visit to the Queen and the right to a private
(practice.
James Broadbent, mayor of Huddersfield, Eng
land, is making the proper care of babies the feat
ure of his adminsitration. He issues instructions
as to their food and has them weighed every fort
night on the mayoralty scales, to keep tab on their
nutrition.
A recent fad of Parisian high life is to have the
dinner tables decorated with growing fruit trees.
Instead of serving fruits as of old from crystal and
silver dishes the guests may now reach forward and
pluck a growing peach in midwinter or scatter the
leaves of a strawberry bed and gather the delicacy
from the edge of his plate.
The recent death of Alfred Beit, who is reputed
to have been one of the richest men in the world,
recalls the diamond monopoly of which Beit and his
partner, Cecil Rhodes, were the organizers.
Rhodes died some years ago and left behind him an
enduring memorial in the famous Rhodes Scholar
ship, which provides for the international educa
tion of students.
A kindly explanation as to the apparent “lazi
ness” of the average West Indian when he begins
life in the United States is that the cause is ill
health rather than disinclination to work. One of
the reasons for this is said to be found in the fact
that the West Indian workman is so accustomed
to living in close, ill-ventilated huts that he can
not stand the fresh air which is offered to him in
his living quarters elsewhere.
The Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain was seventy
years old on July Bth. He is a conspicuous figure
in English political life, and one of the principal
efforts of his career has been to strengthen the
union between the United Kingdon and the colo
nies. His position as Home Secretary under Lord
Salisbury fitted him to carry on this work, and he
is as active in English politics today as he was at
the beginning of his career fifty years ago.
It is pleasant to note that there has been a de
cided decrease in the number of American paupers
as shown by the Census Bureau. In 1880 there
were 132 paupers to eveiy 100,000 of population,
while in 1903 this number had decreased to 101 to
the same population. These statistics apply to pau
pers in almshouses alone, as there have been no
statements as to paupers on the outside. The num
ber in American institutions is greatly inferor to
the numbers in the almshouses of Great Britain and
those on the continent of Europe,