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The Golden Age
(SUCCESSOR TO RELIGIOUS FORUM)
Published Ebery Thursday by the Golden Hge Publishing
Company (Inc.)
OFFICES: LOWNDES BUILDING, ATLANTA, GA.
Price: $2.00 a 'Pear
Ministers $1.50 per Year.
In cases of foreign address fifty cents should be added to cobet
additional postage.
/lake all remittances payable to The Golden Age Publishing Company.
WILLIAM D. UPSHHW, - - - - Editor
A. E. RAMS A UR, - - - Managing Editor
LEM G. BROUGHTON - - - Pulpit Editor
REN S. THOMPSON, - - Business Manager
Entered at the Post Office in Atlanta, Ga.,
as second-class matter.
To the Public: The advertising columns of The
Gulden 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.
Sam Jones Memorial Volume.
The Franklin-Tufrner Publishing Company’, of
Atlanta, has just issued from its presses the au
thorized memorial volume of the great evangelist,
entitled “The Life and Sayings of Sam P. Jones—-
By His Wife.”
The book has been delayed on account of the ill
ness of Mrs. Jones, her health having been such
as to cause grave concern since her honored hus
band’s death. Mrs. Jones was ably assisted in
the preparation of this volume by Rev. Walt Hol
combe, the brilliant young preacher, who was Mr.
Jones’ last co-laborer and greatly beloved by the
famous evangelist. The memorial volume is pre
sented in three bindings—cloth, half Morocco, and
full Morocco—and is handsome for the eye and good
for the heart.
When we use the oft-rep°ated expression concern
ing new books, “this volume should be in every
home in the land,” we put that declaration into
warranted italics. Its beautiful i 1 lustrations will
delight the eye; its quaint savings. such as only Sam
Jones could utter, will entertain both young and old,
while the whole life-story of one of the most re
markable men of any age will leave in human hearts
a wholesome deposit of inspiration that will brighten
earth and breathe of heaven.
Tabernacle Bible Conference.
Dr. Len G. Broughton is now sending out the an
nouncement of the approaching Tabernacle Bible
Conference, which convenes March 21st, and ends
March 31st. In looking over the list of speakers
it would seem that he has secured ‘the best men
that the country affords for this very important
gathering. Such men as Gypsy Smith, the great
English evangelist; Dr. Goodell, of New York, pas
tor of the great Calvary Methodist church; Dr. Jas.
A. Gray, dean of the Moody Bible Institute, Chi
cago; Dr. A. C. Dixon, pastor of the Moody church,
Chicago; Melvin E. Trotter, of Grand Rapids,
Mich.; Mr. W. R. Moody, President of the North
field Schools; Miss Eleanor Stafford Millar, of Au
stralia, and Dr. H. H. Hulton, of North Carolina,
ought to make any conference gathering one of
great significance to the entire South. The music
will be in charge of Dr. D. B. Towner, of Chicago,
and Prof. B. C. Davis, of Atlanta.
We venture to say that the Conference in all of
its past history has not had a more attractive pro
gram than this. The key thought of the coming
Conference will be “Evangelism,” which is, at
present, the dominant thought of this section of
the country in religious circles.
There is, perhaps, no greater evangelist in the
wide world today than Gypsy Smith. He was born
and reared in a gypsy camp; he was converted
while but a boy, and has given his life to the work
of world wide evangelism. He is engaged by the
Free Church Council of England, and works un
der their auspices. He has held great revivals in
all parts of the world; perhaps his greatest victo-
The Golden Age for February 7, 1907.
ries were achieved in South Africa, just after the
Boer War. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan says of him
that he is one of the greatest evangelists in the
world today. We feel that this Conference will
mean much to the growth of religious thought and
the information of Bible students in this country.
Arrangements will be made for reduced railway
rates and boarding expenses. Those interested can
secure information from Mr. E. H. Peacock, At
lanta.
A New Sect.
We are a great and free-thinking people. In this
happy land every man is entitled to his own belief
and creed; he can work out his own salvation and
plan the route to a better world with none to mo
lest or make afraid. Hence we have many sects
each with its own crowd of adherents. We are
familiar with several different varieties of Bap
tists: the Missionary, the Hard Shell, the Seven
Day, the Common or Garden variety of ts;
and probably some others. A notable class of the
Baptists are the Foot Washers, which branch of the
faith has existed long and prosperously in our
midst; and the origin of this branch is clear, being
founded upon a New Testament basis, but we have
just learned of still another variety, known as the
“Muddy Heads.” A band of this kind of Baptists
have flourished in Perry County, Kentucky, for some
time, side by side with a^, strong congregation of
Foot Washers. So well did they move in harmony
that they recently joined forces and built a church
on the crest of a noble hill, contiguous to a clear and
sparkling spring’. When the church was completed
a day was set for holding the dedication ceremonies,
but as the appointed Sabbath approached a dispute
arose as to which sect was to have precedence in the
services. It does not appear just what nice point
of doctrine or etiquette was involved, but the moot
ed question was still undetermined when the day
arrived. So. early in the morning the Foot Washers
appeared on the scene, fully armed, and took posses
sion of the church. When the Muddy Heads arrived
they were also armed and a battle ensued, which
lasted for half an hour. When the smoke cleared
away the Muddy Heads were in possession, three
of their own number and two of the Foot Washers
having gone to prove the accuracy of their belief
before the Court of Final Resort. There were also
a few wounded combatants, but considering the fact
that these were Kentuckians, fully armed, it must
be admitted that wonderful Christian forbearance
was exercised on both sides. The theological ques
tion involved having been settled in favor of the
Muddy Heads, the other side cherished no hard
feelings, and it was proposed to defer the dedica
tion and substitute a dance, which was unanimously
agreed to, and the festivities lasted until Monday
morning.
The Truth About Missionaries.
People who are not informed sometimes say some
simple, foolish things about Christian missions, es
pecially that feature of preaching the Gospel abroad
known to the rural objector as “furrin mishuns. ”
They are good people, generally, but—they just
do not know. Mr. William T. Ellis is traveling in
the Orient now, evidently to give the foreign mis
sionary and his work an impartial inves‘i r,< ation
from the standpoint of a man of the world. Writ
ing in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal of last
week he gives a graphic portrayal of the facts as
he found them, and his words are so strong we
gladly give space to one of his estimates, plus the
impressions of Ambassador Wright, whose position
in Japan allows him to speak with fawness and
entitles him to speak with weight. Mr. Ellis says:
“While still on the subject of missionaries. let
me quote the opinion expressed to me by the Ameri
can ambassador to Japan, Hon. Luke E. Wright:
'When I came to the Orient I was disappointed in
the missionaries—agreeably disappointed. I ex
pected to find them, as in every other calling, all
sorts of men, with a proportion of no account ones
who had come out here because they could imt
make a living at home. But I must confess that
I have not met a single missionary who could not
pass anywhere. Both in the Philippines and in
Japan I have met many missionaries, and a finer
lot of men I have never seen anywhere. They are
first-class as men. Some of them have become my
personal friends.’ Then the ambassador went on
to speak in detail of individual missionaries. He
left upon my mind the impression that he unequivo
cally approves of the missionaries.
“My own investigations, while they have, of ne
cessity, gone more intimately into the work and
qualifications of the missionary body in Japan,
have led me to the same general conclusion as
that reached by the ambassador. I have met per
sonally 250 missionaries, of all creeds, stationed
in every part of Japan. I have seen them at work
and at play. I have sought out the criticism
against them and their work that could be heard.
Wherever I have learned of a critic or antagonist
of the missionaries. I have tried to get the worst
he had to say. From scores of Japanese, Christian
and non-Christian, I have gleaned opinions of
the missionary force. Summing all up, lam bound
to say that the missionaries, as a whole, grade
higher than even the ministry at home. Their de
votion to their work, and to the welfare of the
Japanese is vnquest : oned. The results of their la v or
are beyond doubt really great. To say their con
verts are not genuine and their work superficial
is simply to betray a lack of knowledge of condi
tions that are apparent to any unbiased observer.”
There is no answer to these impartial wo'ds ex
cept by the man who is so blind he will not see.
And that “blind man” forgets that, with all his
ignorance, or with all his culture, his fore n arents
were heathen and he would be a heathen himself
today if some “foreign missionary” had not
brought him the Light, even as God is now carrving
the Light to Japan and China through the mission
aries of the Cross.
Sub-Divide the Republic.
It is difficult to figure out which is the most
fruitful source of danger to mankind—germs and
microbes, or the legislature. There is such a thing
as disinfecting and guarding a°ain t microbes, but
there is no safeguard for the liberties of the people
when a legislature goes into action. The holiest,
most sacred and inalienable rights of man are liable
to be taken aw T ay in one full swoon and he be left
as defenseless as a shorn lamb before those who
make a mock of him, who cry, Ho, Ho! There
has been a bill introduced in the legislature of In
diana imposing a sliding scale of taxes on bachel
ors. The scale varies with the age; a young and
supposedly unhardened bachelor having to bear a
light tax, but the old ones are taxed heavilv and
their names blazoned in the public prints. We are
at a loss to understand how such a thing came to
be. If there was woman’s suffrage in the state,
or if women served in the legislature, we can eas
conceive of certain conditions which would cause
the female members of the house to champion a
thing of this kind. But as unjust as such a thing is,
consider how the cards are being stacked on poor
men in another section of our countrv. In New
York City, certain theatres are providing escorts
for ladies who have no male person to protect them
on their homeward way after the show is over.
All that is necessary is to leave a note at the box
office unon going into the theatre, stating that an
escort is desired. In return a check with a number
is given the lady, and she goes in to enjoy the play
with her mind entirely at rest. She may even
specify whether she wishes a blonde or a brunette
gentleman as her escort. When she comes out. she
has only to announce the number of her check,
and a well-dressed and we’l-behaved genH man
steps forward and accompanies her to her home.
There is no charge for this; the escort even paying
the car-fare. Os course she is at liberty to give
him a dime if she so wishes; but there is no com
pulsion. Now, think of that! As long as women
can secure an escort in this way, what argument is
there for a man to advance in favor of matrimony?
So it goes. In one state of our Union laws are made
to force men to marry; in another, mea”« °'
adopted to make them unnecessary to the fairer
sex. There is no question about that; this countrv
will have to be divided into smaller sections. A
law that is just and beneficent in one section strikes
a death-blow to liberty and hope ip another.
