The sunny South. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1875-1907, April 17, 1875, Image 6
COLUMN OF HONOR..
Georgia Lodge, Atlanta, takes twenty copies.
Grand Lodge Knights Jericho, twenty copies.
Union Lodge, Spalding county, takes twenty
copies.
Temperance Articles.—We have a number of
good temperance communications on file, which
will appear in due time.
Invincible.—Three thousand Good Templars
are in session in Georgia every night in the
week, and the number is rapidly increasing.
Executive Committee.—The Executive Com
mittee of the Grand Lodge are now in session in
this city, and their proceedings will he pub
lished in the next issue.
Important to Good Templars.—The office of
the Grand Worthy Chief Templar and Grand
Worthy Secretary has been removed from No. 3
Capitol Building to No. .3 Odd Fellows’ Building,
Marietta street, Atlanta, Ga. Visitors are invited
to call while in the city.
Interesting Occasion.
The weekly meetings of Georgia Lodge of
Good Templars, in this city, are certainly the
most enjoyable affairs of the season. On Tues
day evening last the large hall was literally
packed with tine-looking men and women,
blushing maidens and starchy young gallants,
and all in the very best humor with each other
and with themselves; and to look upon such an
assembly arrayed in beautiful white regalia is
enough to inspire an anchorite with more exalted
views of humanity and to win drunkards from
the paths of dissipation.
After the opening exercises had been con
cluded, the Worthy Marshal announced the
presence of the Grand Lodge officers in the
ante-chamber, and was instructed to introduce
them, when they were ushered in amid the im
pressive salutations of all the members stand
ing, and after a short address of welcojne from
the Worthy Chief, were escorted to the highest
positions in the lodge, and assumed control.
But soon thereafter the R. W. G. C. T. of the
World, Col. J. J. Hickman, and P. G. W. C. T.
of Kentucky, Col. Tim. Needham, were at the
door; and on being introduced by the Marshal
and welcomed by the G. W. C. T., the R. W. G.
C. T. Hickman was escorted to the chair of the
W. C. T., and presided in a dignified and com
manding manner over the deliberations of the
meeting.
Six candidates—ladies and gentlemen from
among the best citizens of the city—were then
introduced and carried through the exceedingly
impressive initiatory exercises; after which they
were clothed in the regalia of the Order, and
took their places in the great circle of unity.
And how impressive this grand chain, with its
golden links of “Faith, Hope and Charity,”
binding in fraternal love mothers, fathers, sons,
daughters and friends, and protecting them from
the influences of the arch enemy!
After these deeply interesting ceremonies,
came the congratulations and a general hurly-
burly intermingling of hearts and hands — a
flow of soul and joyous outgushingof sentiment,
fun and merriment.
But very soon the sound of the gavel brought
order out of chaos, when brother Needham was
loudly-called for and responded in a happy and
Knights of Jericho.
PRINCIPLES.
To God we owe obedience, love and worship;
to the world, justice; to our brethren, forgive
ness and fraternity; to ourselves, sustenance
and protection.
motto.
“Humanity, Temperance and Charity.”
All white persons possessing a good, moral
character, of sound health, and of the age of fif
teen years and upwards, who acknowledge and
believe in the existence of an Almighty God and
the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, shall be
eligible to membership in a subordinate lodge,
and none others.
PLEDGE.
“I do further promise that I will abstain from
and discourage the use, as a beverage, of all in
toxicating liquors, during my connection with
the Order, and so conduct myself through life
as to retain my good name and not bring the
Order into disrepute. I do further promise and
covenant that I will never, in any manner, coun
tenance or consent to the introduction of any
person or persons of color as members of this
Order. ”
An application for a dispensation charter to
open a new subordinate lodge must be made in
proper form, plainly signed by at least fifteen
white persons conforming to the above require
ments and be directed to the Grand Chief with
the fee enclosed.
For further information, address
Hoke Smith, G. C.,
Atlanta, Ga.
Social Meeting Knights of Jericho.
Another one of those gatherings so conducive
to pleasure has taken place. It was at Undine
Hall of the Knights of Jericho, and although the
rain poured, the rooms were crowded. Ladies
and gentlemen, both young and old, mingled in
the throng, enjoying the pleasures afforded by
the Order.
This was one of the few meetings which seemed
to have been gotten up for the sole purpose of
showing young men that true pleasure is not to
be found amidst the haunts of sin. Here, too,
the young ladies had an opportunity of realizing
how exalted is woman’s sphere,—drawing forth
the nobler passions of mankind and elevating
our race. There were also those present whose
locks had been tinted by the touches of time;
and how perfect must have been their happiness
beholding their children already taking promi
nent positions on the temperate side.
Lengthy speeches constituted no part of the
evening’s entertainment. On the contrary, it
was strictly a social meeting; but how com
plete must have been the satisfaction of every
true member.at finding that “the Order of the
Knights of Jericho” was the chief subject upon
which all minds seemed to be fastened.
Why are such meetings not held by all the
lodges? There is no manner by which your
members can be more securely enlisted in our
noble Order. Make preparations for the enter
tainment of those who regularly attend, and, at
times, throw' open your doors and allow visitors
to join with you. Let the outside world see a
slight glimpse of that which is within, and the
desire of seeing more will make additions to the
Order. In short, make the meeting such resorts |
for amusement and culture that all w-ithin your
neigborliood will join your fold, and those be
yond your immediate reach will establish lodges
that they too may enjoy the same privileges
which you enjoy.
New Lodges of Good Templars.
Vans Valley Lodge No. 404, in Floyd county,
was recently organized by P. G. W. C. T., Rev.
L. R. Gwaltney, of Rome, and is growing rap
idly.
Stonewall Jackson Lodge No. 405 has also
been organized in Jasper county by Rev. M. W.
Arnold. Colonel Gideon Roberts is Deputy of
this prosperous young lodge, which bids fair to
do a grand w r ork in old Jasper.
William’s Chapel Lodge No. 406, in Clayton
county, was organized by Rev. G. A. Dempsey
and G. W. C. T., James G. Thrower, with over
one hundred charter members.
Phcenix Lodge No. 407 is in Richmond county,
organized by Colonel W. Milo Olin, District
An Essay.
The following essay is from the pen of that
gifted lady, Mrs. C. F. Akers, W. V. T. of Edge-
wood Lodge No. 382, and was read before her
lodge on the occasion of a fraternal visit from
Georgia Lodge No. 132, on the evening of April
first:
To our Visitors, Members of Georgia Lodge :
The eagle builds his eyrie on the mountain
crag; there in lone melancholy brooding he tells
not to the world beneath the secrets of those sto
ried cliffs. You are not like the eagle. There
is a bird who, rising high upon light pinions
borne, sends warbling notes of melody to the
peaceful vales below. Still higher yet that bird
ascends; still clearer yet those warblings ring,
’til lost within the azure depth, naught but the
song remains. The lark ! the lark ! Like her
you pierce the sky—like her you gladden earth.
Within your sacred temple dedicated to the cause
of temperance you have learned great and start
ling truths teeming with hope and happiness
for man. Secure within your mystic circle do
you, like the eagle, fold your arms and say we
are safe, and lock within your breast the secrets
of the Order? No; like the lark you stretch
your pinions, and as you still ascend, cry in
clear, ringing notes to those who are behind,
Come with us to safety. At Edgewood that cry
was heard, and gladly did we respond. W T ith
your assistance our lodge was soon organized,
and often since have your pleasant faces cheered
us on. To-night we thank you for your presence.
We thank you for your interest. Edgewood
Lodge will ever remember your kindness. You
have learned the meaning of the simple yet all-
powerful word work. Give a man a purpose
and write upon his heart the divine precept,
“ What thy hand finds to do, do it with thy
might,” and there do you breathe into his soul
the true celestial spirit—the sacred, deifying
principle that is not content save as it rids the
man of the blindness that clings to those who
drag the garments of the soul through the dust
of the earth. Work—’tis a divine command
given to fallen man. Go with us as we paint
the scene where this command to work was first
given. ’Tis evening in the garden of paradise.
The last rays of the setting sun shone brightly
through the lofty trees, gilding with dazzling
splendor each flower and shrub and resting lin
geringly upon the sparkling streams. All
nature stood still to catch the last faint gleam of
dying day. No sound disturbed the stillness
save the rustle of the breeze among the branches,
Nature’s own music played by the hand of God.
But why this silence? Where are those who
were wont to enjoy the sweets of this heavenly
arcadia ? Alas! they crouched in fear, seeking
to hide themselves behind the trees. Suddenly
they start. A voice is heard, borne on the even
ing breeze, “Adam, where art thou?” and the
guilty culprits stand before their judge. Now
the sentence is passed, “By the sweat of thy
brow thou shalt eat bread. Go forth.” They
sorrowfully turn away. The last act is played.
The curtain falls. Paradise is lost. Adam in
mute despair folds his arms. Eve, overwhelmed
with remorse, stands silently by. Suddenly she
lifted her head, and with the divine command
still ringing in her ears, she says, “Let us go
forth to work. ”
This command has come down through ages
to us, and to-night a woman would again urge
you to action. In the glorious cause of temper
ance each and every one can find some work to
do.
There is a country the angry sea is ever trying
to devour. It roars greedily to swallow up the
smooth, low fields of grass and flax. But around
that country is raised a wall of rock which keeps
back the waves, and the people dwell in safety
and till their fields in security so long as no j
break occurs in the wall; but every peasant and
every child knows full well that the smallest
“Of what use is the Order of Good Templars?”
will never again be heard: for they who run may
read in characters of living light. Then let ns
work, and the day will come when a Good Tem
plar’s regalia will adorn the snowy neck of every
true woman and a Templar’s vow be uttered by
the lips of every noble man of earth.
The United Friends of Teinjteranee.
Fort Valley Council has been recently visited
by the Grand Lecturer, and as a result of his
labors and the indomitable service of the faithful
members, the council takes a new bound towards
greater prosperity. This is one of the largest
councils in the State.—G. S.
Redland Council, in Lowndes county, is in
good condition.—M. G. Smith.
Double-Heads Councils, in Screven county, is
live and prosperous.—G. S.
Montpelier Council, where our excellent brother
Whitaker resides, in Baldwin county, continues
on the high road to prosperity with unabated
zeal.—G. S.
Screven Resolve Council is in good working
condition.—Benjamin Lee.
The new council at Oak Grove, Lowndes
county, moves off in elegant style.—G. S.
Cairo Council, in Thomas county, sends in a
full report. It is always prompt. Brother J.
M. Tolor is the Deputy-Vice; our most respected
brother Jiles resigned.—G. S.
Of Rock Creek No. 11. brother D. Ware* Jr.,
says, “Weare now on rising ground and will
have soon an interesting council.”
Milledgeville Council No. 1 leads the band in
number, zeal and fidelity. Colonel C. P. Craw
ford and his able co-laborers are ever seeking an
opportunity to assist their council and aid the
temperance cause. For years they have stood
firm as adamant.—G. S.
Slloam Council, at Talbotton. is taking well.
It is composed of the best people in this beauti
ful town, and has nothing to fear for the future.
Stonewall Council, at Savannah, the noble
representative of the gallant old army of the Sons
of Temperance in Georgia, is an ornament to
our Order and our cause. It has a beautiful
hall, fine instrument, nice carpet and every
thing to render its meetings cheerful and pleas
ant. Brother E. L. Neidlinger, one of the true
and tried temperance men of Georgia, is the
Deputy.—G. S.
Blue Spring Council is another one of the old
divisions of Sons which united with the young
temperance union of Georgia, and made the vig
orous, progressive Order of United Friends of
Temperance. Brother W. H. Ously is our faith
ful Deputy at this point.—G. S.
Sincerity Council is our beacon-light in the
“State of Dade.” It is an excellent little coun
cil and is always prompt in making its reports
to our office.—G. S.
Etowah Council, in Lumpkin county, is in
good working order with a bright future before
us.—W. P. T. Hutcheson.
Excelsior No. 163, now the leading council of
the State, in promptness sends word: “Our
council is in a prosperous condition and is look
ing forward to many accessions.”—A. E. Choate.
Perry Council recently reorganized by Grand
Worthy Primate Parks, is now on a firm basis,
well-officered and in for the war.—G. S.
Irwinton Council would honor any cause or
order. It is prompt, zealous and prosperous.
T. N. Beall is the Deputy.—G. S.
Monticello Council, in Jasper, has just moved
to its new hall and looks for brighter days.—V. I
A. Choffin.
Old Banner Council, at Dawson, notwith
standing its recent losses by fire of a council-
room, etc., etc., continues to bear the colors
nobly. Dr. C. R. Moore presides and J. C. F.
[For The Sunny South.]
MAS WAS SOT .MADE TO MO UR A.
BT J. T. ROBERTSON.
Look ob life's sunny side,
And cast away the shroud
That wraps your soul in gloom;—
SVhy dwell beneath a cloud ?
All along life’s highway
Flowers are thickly strewn:—
Would Heaven smile so sweet.y
If man was mailt- to mourn ?
Banish the delusion,—
Man was not made to mourn!
If you take the dismal route.
The choice '11 be your own!
[For The Sunny South.]
EDUCATION.
crevice in the wall lays Holland at the mercy of Clark the Deputy of four years’ standing contin-
» i , . , , • ,„ Deputy of the Eighth Congressional district,
forcible manner-giving a deeply interesting de- Bic P hn / ond county 1 s lea aing the van in Good
tail of the triumphs and difficulties of the cause
in Kentucky. Colonel Hickman, the silver-
tongued orator, whose eloquence is proverbial
in Georgia and Kentucky, was then vociferously
called upon, but excused himself on good grounds
to the general disappoint ment of all present.
He is a universal favorite as a genial and social
gentleman and as a temperance lecturer, and is
the grand head of the Order for the world.
Rev. W. C. Dunlap and Judge J. D. McCon
nell were called out and made happy speeches.
The latter, one of the newly-initiated, paid a
glowing and beautiful tribute to woman.
Brother Yarnadoe and his i nteresting daughter,
by request, sang a beautiful duet with organ ac
companiment.
In the Vice Templar’s chair reigned with con
summate dignity and self-possession, Mrs. Lil
lie R. Clark, the G. W. V. T. for the State of
Georgia. She is a charming little woman, thor
oughly alive to the interest of the temperance
cause, and wears the honors of her position with
becoming grace.
G. W. C. T. Thrower, the great pet of the tem
perance people, was on hand as usual, and was
here, there and everywhere at the same time,
making himself useful as well as ornamental.
He is a genuine live temperance man and has
the unbounded confidence of the Order, and the
same is true of the Grand Worthy Secretary
Robinson.
This occasion was truly a delightful one, and
will be long remembered.
Templarism and we are looking for more encour
agement from there daily.
Quillian Lodge No. 408. Col. J. Wylie Quil-
j lian, of Homer, Banks county, is actively en
gaged in the interest of the Independent Order
of Good Templars, and has recently organized
! some new lodges, the most important of which
was 408, at Gillsville, in Hall county. Colonel
Quillian will organize two more new lodges in
Banks county during the next few days.
the sea.
One fair day a bright little boy was out for a
holiday. He had promised his mother to return
home at the setting of the sun. Just as he turned
towards his mother’s cottage, his keen eyes be
held a small fissure in the rock wall and he saw
that a little stream trickled through. “Ah!”
thought Hansel, “I will thrust my little finger
into the crevice until some grown-up person
comes along to stop the leak. Surely, some one
will be passing soon.”
But night came on and no one went that way.
The early moon beheld the brave boy at his post,
his finger in the wall. The night grew dark, a
storm came on, the little hand ached with cold,
but the brave little Hollander kept at his post.
All night his father and mother searched for
him, and at dawn the town folks joined the
search; and when the little boy was found at his
post, weary and numb with cold—when it was
seen that the child’s finger all night had kept
back the sea, which by that time would have
ues to represent the grand body of the State.
Long may Old Banner live to do service in the
temperance reform.—G. S.
McDonough Council has lost no members but
by removal from the place. It is an excellent
council. Brother T. C. Nolan presides and
brother W. C. Sloan ably fills the place* of Dep
uty. He is truly the right man in the right
place.—G. S.
Noble Zohola, the council of the mountains,
remains as steadfast as the towering peaks that
ornament the country round about. Our broth
ers Silton are here and one of them presides the
present quarter. Brother W. J. Warly is the
Deputy. Dahlonega, the city of schools, is proud
of her council.—G. S.
The council at Eatonton moves off well and is
destined to do much good.—State Lecturer.
Ocola Council, at Blackshear, is one of the
best, most prompt and efficient councils in the
State. Though recently “under the weather,”
Appalachee Lodge No. 409.— Rev. G. A. Nun- forced itself a great flood through the break the it has revived again with the determination to
■ - * D « . . ... DADD IA 1*111C All O C 11 /All I At O H TIT 1 TAT I 1 A TT Q TT 11 ITATA ¥¥ .1m n tt o • 7 1 Ti 4L n 4«1-2 ¥*/-\ 4 b m*
nally, of Monroe, organized, on the 23d ultimo,
with one hundred and fifty-seven charter mem
bers. This able divine is also actively engaged
in this work and has now some three hnndred
Good Templars in old Walton county, with pros
pects for other new lodges.
Lebanon Lodge No. 410 is in Cherokee county
and was organized by Rev. J. R. Myers, who has
other appointments and will organize other
lodges in North Georgia before the end of the
present month.
Thrower Lodge No. 411, at Fair Mount, in
Gordon county, was organized by Rev. Thomas
J. Simmons, and since then he has gone to other
appointments which I have not heard from.
S. C. R.
Drink and Lunacy.—Official reports are gen-
erally dry and uninteresting, but sometimes they
serve a purpose by presenting facts which point
a moral or illustrate a subject. Of peculiar ser
vice to the temperance cause was the report of a
Canadian official, which says that about fifty per
cent, of the idiots of larger towns in Canada are
the children of drunkards, while a long cata
logue of other diseases is given as especially
common with the same unfortunate class. As it
is in this regard in Canada, so is it throughout
the world.
A Scotch Soldier’s Opinion.—There are many'
who imagine they cannot brace themselves up
for any great work without a glass or two of
liquor to give them extra strength. A Scotch
soldier was once asked his honest opinion of the
strength which strong drink gave a man. His
answer is no doubt true of all who try the exper
iment: “It served to give him a kind of spirit
which made him think he could do a great deal
of work, but when he came to do it, he found he
was less able than he thought.”
Intemperance is a bad tree, and the fruit of it
is only evil—such as quarrels, fights, murders,
oaths, thefts, poverty, sorrow, tears, and death.
An Oasis.
In the great desert wastes of earth, now and
then we find a green and fertile spot where Na
ture has kindly reared a group of palm trees as
a shelter from the scorching rays of the sun and
caused a rill of life-giving water to trickle adown
its undulating slopes. It is here the traveler
rests from his journey and refreshes himself. It
is here he catches inspiration from thp merry
songsters, that even in the midst of the desert
makes nature glad with song, and animates life
anew.
Life has its desert wastes. The blight of ad
versity, the winter of sorrow and the night of
misfortune have made a wild of many a hopeful
soul.
But it has, too, its green and fertile spots,
tended by love and watered by hope, and from
its bowers faith points upward to him who made
the waters of Marah sweet and who can make
life’s deserts to blossom as with roses.
Our temperance society is an oasis. It is the
cheerful, shady home in life’s desert-—the Beer-
sheba where the pilgrim throng of Bacchus may
turn in and rest, and from around its altars,
where love’s brightest beams shine forth in song
and recitation, learn that to the total abstainer
this pleasant place extends on the journey ot life
to its remotest boundaries. Inebriety is one of
the promoters of adversity—one of the chilly
winds of the winter of sorrow—the gloomiest
pall of the night of misfortune. What life is
more barren than the drunkard’s life ? Drunk
enness bums the soul of mankind up, sears the
conscience as with a hot iron, weakens the intel
lect and diverts the man from the path of duty.
His life is one broad, desert waste.
Ye followers of Bacchus! turn into our tem
perance oasis and rest from the stings of the
cup ! Ye who have not yet become corrupted
by the glitter of the “wine-god, ’ turn into our
shaded wavs and live free from the fatal curse.
W. E. H. Searcy.
people raised a shout of admiration and bore
him in their arms to his home, welcoming him
a hero.
But I know that as truly our homes lie at the
mercy of the great Sea of Intemperance, and our
daily life of duty is the child’s finger, small but
sure, which drives back the tide and will save
the country. Despise not, then, your feeble
efforts, but each for himself at every break in the
wall stand like a hero at his post day and night,
in calm and in storm, ’til the day dawns and the
angels bear us home in triumph. Let our watch
word ever be, work, and our lodge be a tributary
stream to the grand reservoir that flows out for
the good of the world, fearing no danger, expect
ing no defeat, guided and directed by the
steady, untiring zeal of our gifted and noble
Grand Lodge officers.
The cause of temperance is neither in its in
fancy nor dotage. Not in its infancy, because
we have done much; nor in its dotage, because
we have much to do. When armies, heroes and
soldiers gather to battle, what inspires their cour
age ? To what turns the last look of the dying war
rior's eye? What lights his face with a smile of
triumph as his life-blood dyes the earth ? It is
the banner of his king—the flag of his country.
Joan d’Arc, bearing the lily flag of France amid
the clash of arms; Margaret of Anjou, in exile
and poverty, clinging to the emblems of her
royal house: the women of the South display
ing, under Federal bayonets, the colors of the
Confederacy; are but proofs that the heart of
woman is fired by the same feeling of enthusi-
asm which leads man to lay down his life for
the banner of his love. If for so poor a cause as
national glory or patriotic principle, if for so
inferior a leader as king or general, men will
follow a flag through shot and shell, and women
will dare the horrors of the battle-field, where
should we hesitate to go, Good Templars, when
led by your banner, the ensign of heaven-born
charity?—inspired by our cause, the redemp
tion of fallen man.
To woman is here open a glorious field for ac
tion. Not boldly in public as man may do, yet
still her influence may be great and felt by all.
Take the violet from the shady nook, expose it
to the sun—it wilts and soon becomes a scent
less flower; leave it under the shade of some no
ble tree or shrub—it lives and blooms and sheds :
its fragrance round. Under the protection of
the stronger, let us do our part quietly, unceas
ingly, shirk no duty, neglect no oppprtunity.
I invite you to this field of action to pluck its
brightest flowers and taste its sweetest fruits,
and with your own hands wreathe diadems for
your brows, whose richest gems will be the grat
itude of a fallen race. We have taken for our
motto, “Faith, Hope, and Charity.” Let us in
scribe-them on our own lives, and the question,
go onward undismayed in the future. Brother
J. M. Purdon writes: “The interest of every
member is fully aroused and the triumph of our
council will be glorious. ”
Lumber City Council is prosperous. The
Deputy, brother Burgsteimer, confesses: “We
have two members under fifteen years of age.”
Our laws have been changed now to twelve
years of age, and we shall move some day to
strike out twelve and insert of every age. A
temperance society is but a congregation of tem
perance families for mutual protection and to do
good to others. Why not take in the dear boys
and make noble men of them ?
Friendship Council is receiving members at
every meeting.—J. B. Thorne.
Milltown Council is one of our best and is a
living monument to the memory of brother Dor
sey, who organized it. This council is in Ber
rien county. Brother J. H. Carroll is Deputy.
Super Banner Council, at Senoia, has done
valiant service for temperance. Brother Sibley,
our good friend, the Deputy, writes that the city
government has raised the license tax to twenty-
five hundred dollars. After the old licenses ex
pire, “away with the liquor traffic at Senoia.”
Magnolia Council, near Senoia, is also a good,
faithful council and merits the approbation of
the Grand Council.
Drayton Council, fn the “State of Dooly,” is
our pet in that section. Brother J. M. Dees is
the Deputy.—G. S.
Lone Council, at the State Asylum, is in a
prosperous state. The Grand Lecturer has re
cently visited this council and cheered the
brethren on in their good work.—G. S.
Magnolia Council, at Sandersville, the good
old stand-by of yore, is always true to the order
and the cause. Brother E. A. Sullivan, the
true, tried and faithful Deputy, has recently re
organized a new council at Tennille. He is
always ready to do what he can in the good
work.—G. S.
Brother A. M. Mayo has organized a new coun
cil in Washington county at Sun Hill. He
writes that this council opens with very flatter
ing prospects. The council is named Sylania
Council No. 219. Brother Mayo is leading in the
good work now and makes a splendid Deputy.
Brother L. A. Dorsey has organized St. Mary’s
Council No. 120, and expects to revolutionize
public sentiment in this ancient and beautiful
town. Brother Dorsey is a working man, and
wherever he goes remembers the temperance
cause.
Throughout the State our councils are doing a
good work. Indeed, throughout the South our
temperence flag is waving.
I here use this term in the sense of scientific
knowledge, such as is usually acquired in good
common schools and in the various trades and
employments by which wealth is produced and
by which each member of society is raised from
being an ignorant dolt to be a more productive,
a more interesting companion, neighbor and
citizen. I say a more productive and interest
ing citizen, for it is impossible for any human
being to be counted a useful and interesting cit
izen unless he has a share of what is understood
by a useful education.
By education, then, I wish to imply two moral
and economical principles and rules of action:
First, the duty of each individual to acquire a
scientific and practical education: and second,
the duty of each citizen to provide, as far as he
may be able, for the education of others—that
is, the rising generations— for it is by the assist
ance of others, the assistance of parents and
others, that each and every one who is blessed
with an education has acquired it. For educa
tion is not a plant that springs up voluntarily, a
gem that is found in the ground, or a tool or a
machine that has been constructed by one me
chanic; but it is the heaven-born fruit, the fruit
of experience, which has come down to us unex
hausted and unconsumed through countless an
cestors. The man or the woman, then, who has
received a good education — whether he be a
farmer, a mechanic, or a professional man, or
whether she be a farmer’s, a mechanic’s, or a
professional man’s wife or daughter feels him
or herself elevated in the scale of society, and
entitled to be called a more useful citizen than
he or she would have been without such an edu
cation. And so he or she is. But this comprises
only one-lialf, and hardly one-half, the gains
arising from what we here understand by educa
tion. Let us explain.
First, an educated man or an educated woman,
to have his or her lot cast in a community where
all or nearly all the inhabitants are destitute of
any scientific knowledge, is like the learned
Frenchman in the midst of the Chinese Empire
without an interpreter, or himself able to speak
or understand one word of the Chinese lan
guage. So it is, to a great extent, with a scien
tific education in one’s own country, if all or
nearly all the community are destitute. I may
have knowledge of all the sciences and all the
arts by which physical labor is made less bur
densome and more productive, by which life
and society is made more agreeable, by which
death is rendered less gloomy, by which health
is preserved and life lengthened; and all my
neighbors utterly ignorant of these arts and sci
ences, then I am lonely and miserable, or reap
only half, or less than half, the benefits, com
forts and happiness which I would enjoy if all
were suitably educated.
Education, in the best acceptation of the term,
is not an individual boon, but a boon which be
longs to society, to the whole community, to all
human beings. A dog is better for an education.
It is a boon that must be enjoyed by all, like the
air we breathe, the water we drink, or the relig
ion we profess, to be of its greatest value to soci
ety. It is, in truth, like moral principles and
the laws of the land—too invaluable and too
universal in their application to be monopolized
or fully enjoyed by the few to the exclusion of
the many. It is what we understand by the
moral and intellectual light of the world, which
no few or privileged classes can or ought to
monopolize, if they could.
We live, thank God, in an age of scientific
education. The enlightened world is all aglow
with it. The civilized portions have become en
rapport with free schools—with common school
education. The ignorant world has scented it—
they are running for it. It is making the world
rich and glorious; it is making labor more pro
ductive; it is introducing order and prosperity
wherever it takes root, and adding happiness to
man wherever it blooms. And can Georgia, our
beautiful and glorious Georgia, remain much
longer destitute of a common school system?
The answer is, “No.”
Ah ! my dear Mr. Seals, if you wish to have,
as you ought to have, fifty thousand subscribers
in Georgia to your beautiful Sunny South, you
must tell the people and their law-makers to
establish common schools, with competent teach
ers, in all the land and in all the neighborhoods.
Why do I Dislike Hint Woman l
You ask why I hate that woman ? I should
think you might see for yourself. She has a
better complexion than mine, and I hate her for
that. Her hair is two feet longer than mine,
and I hate her for that. Her face is fresher than
mine, and that is another reason why I hate her.
Her jewelry is finer than any I have, and that is
even enough for me to talk about her. She lives
in better style than I do, and I hate her all over
for that. She has a new bonnet every month,
and I have only six in a year, and I despise her
for that. She has beautiful dresses, and they
always fit her so well, and that is another reason
why I hate her. She minds her own business
and never says mean things of any one; and a
woman who does that should be hated by every
other woman. Her husband is a more promi
nent man than mine, and I hate her for that.
She never goes about grumbling and telling
things to make others feel mean and uncom
fortable, and I hate her on this account. She
will not lend me her jewelry, and I feel above
any woman who will not cheerfully lend me her
best clothes and jewelry. Then her diamonds
are real, while mine are paste, and I hate her for
that. Hate her ? I should think I had enough
to hate her for. She can sing and I can’t, and I
hate her for that. When I offered to tell her
half a dozen lies that I had heard and twelve that
I had made about her and she would not hear
me, I was mad enough at her to bite her head
off—the stuck-up, deceitful thing ! When I give
her advice she pays no attention to it, and I hate
Her for that. When I try to tell her something
about her husband that will make her hate him
as I hate mine, she will not even listen to me,
and I hate her for that. When I would tell her
what somebody or some other body has said
against her, she says she does not care what
folks say so long as she has her husband’s devo
ted love" and confidence, then I hate her more
than ever for throwing out slurs against me.
Her breath is sweeter than mine, and I hate her
for that. And I’ll hate any woman that is hap
pier or getting along better than I am.