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Banks County Gazette. VOL 2.—NO. 10. The Sixteenth Century. BY MRS. L. A. DOROCGH. Dedicated to the Literary Societies of Banks County. In preparing this lecture on the sixteenth century the writer has copied largely from Miss Virginia Townsend’s historical sketches. Also from Agnes Strickland’s “Queens of England,” and if she could get our young people interested in history she would feel fully repaid for all labor in trving to interest them. My theme is the sixteenth century. My object in publishing this lecture, which was first written to be deliver ed to the Bushville Literary club, is to induce our young people to study history more, and I could not choose a better subject than that old century so remnrkable for the grand historic characters who acted their part so well on its stage. From my earliest childhood I had a passionate love for history, and loved to fancy a world peopled, not with the creatures of my own vivid imagination, but with the sages and heroes who have lived just such hu man lives ns we are living and who, on life’s great battle field, have come out conqueror. As I wander in and out among the hidden years of that old century how many bright gar lands of romance and poetry I could weave about the old historic figures who crowd the stage of this century. A strange fascination holds us spell bound as we unlock the door and stand on the threshold. But let us glance back just a moment to the fifteenth century. This century was in its evening twilight when an unknown adventurer, a tall, thin Genoese mariner, getting past the prime of life, with a long, sharply cut, striking face, worn by anxiety and withered hopes, was pleading at the courts of Europe for a few small vessels to sail out in quest of new'countries. His name, Chris topher Columbus, a little later and he was to give t-o the world America; youngest, fairest child of earth’s old age, and for this was to be brought home in chains, and sent at last, by coldness, suspicion and neglect, to his grave. In England the “war of the rival roses” had filled the land for long weary years, w ith the best blood of England, on twelve hotly contested battle fields. Sometimes the red rose, the symbol of the house of Lancaster, and sometimes the white badge of the house of York was successful. Richard the 111 had waded to the throne through the blood of his kin dred. The right heiress to the throne was a fair golden haired girl of nine teen, Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward the IV, and the beautiful unfortunate Elizabeth Woodville. Her father had been slain and her young brothers cruelly murdered in the dark old tower of London, by their uncle, Richard, the hunchbacked tyrant. At last a remedy was suggested. The twining of the glowing red and the pure white rose into a bridal wreath b, the manage of Henry Tuder, Earl of Richmond and the fair white rose of York as Elizabeth was called. It was in the pleasant summer days of 1482 that Henry set sail from Nor mandy in quest of a wife and a crown. It was at Bosworth the battle was fought that decided the destinies of the Tuders. It was to stand on the page of English history bathed in an atmosphere of romance and glory and at which all the Tuder line would turn afterwards with pride, for that battle field was the morning sunrise of their long day of pomp and power. Shakespeare makes all the murdered victims of Richard rise to haunt his slumhers tle night before the battle. The good angels attended the slum bers of Richmond. Richard fought with a courage worthr of a better man, knowing he was fighting for life and a Crown. Twice he was cut down before his enemies and spoke these memorable words “a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse,” and at the last he fell fighting gallantly to the last and the August sun, high in the heavens, looked down on the dying strugles of the last of the Plantagnet kings, looked down too, on four thousand of his followers lying dead on the battle field. Henry of Richmond stood at last triumphant after twenty-nine years of suffering, < f peril, of impris onment, of exile. In their wild joy a cry rent the air, “Long live King Henry the VII. For more than a century England was to hail the name and race with that old battle shout of Boswortli field, and no June roses were ever sweeter or fairer than those that were twined into a bridal wreath to crown the bow of the fail young queen a few months later. About this time Caxton, undis turbed by all the war and bloodshed around him, was setting up the first printing press, which was to do more for the world than king’s sceptre or warrior’s sword. The first figure that attracts our attention as we step into the six teenth century is coarse, self-willed Henry VIII, the modern “Bluebeard.” For reasons of state policy lie had married the widow of his brother Author, the fair, virtuous and true wife and mother, Katherine of Ara gon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, king and queen of Spain, and neiee to the great Charles V, who afterwards played such a conspicu ous part in the persecution of Luther and the Protestant religion. Among the maids of honor of the queen was a young, beautiful, and accomplished woman who had held the same office to Queen Claude of France. This woman, with rare coquetry, dissimulation and flattery, had won the heart of Henry, and he had de termined to make her his bride, though to do this the woman who had worn the crown of England for twenty years must lie dethroned and her marriage declared illegal, her idolized daughter deprived of her birth-tight and denied the title of princess. When the Pope of Home refused his sanction, Henry, with the proud, s übborn will that ever characterized his race, resisted his power and established the church of England with himself as its head. Katherine was banished from court anl her youii/, fair rival, in her proud, inso lent triumph was crowned queen of England. Never was there a gayer scene in old London than when Annie Bolen rode in her white chariot from the tower of London to he crowned queen. She had been long waiting for this day. Among the green shades of her country home it had glittered for years among all her hopes and dreams. She had reached, as few human beings ever do, the summit of h r ambition. She was queen of England. The air was fra grant with the breath of spring roses the beautiful English haw-thorn was everywhere blooming, diffusing its sweet perfume and the wreaths were still hanging on the May poles. All nature was at its fairest when Annie Bolen rode through the streets of London in her supreme loveliness that last day of the beautiful May weather. There she sits in her radiant beauty and grace, the hrido of a king. Her long fair hair fell loose upon her shoulders and her face in its youthful pride and triumph was at its fairest that May morning. The great court painter, Holbein, left it to future generations on canvass, but the real charm of the face which had fascinated the king was something which no artist ever caught in his divinest rapture of brush or chisel. And yet, as I follow the chariot and the woman who sits there, my heart aches for her with a real human pity. Yes, leaning across the dusky cen turies to where that last spring morn ing shines out in the May my' heart aches for the woman, thinking of her brief day of pomp and splendor. Thinking too of the end of it all only three Mays later. We wonder some times if, as she came out from under her rich canopy and was led up to the high altar to be anointed and crowned queen of England, 1 er long hair floating around her from its wreath of diamonds if one spectre did not rise and steal a sudden shad ow across all her bliss. The spectre HOMER, BANKS COUNTY, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1801. | of a pale, sad, broken hearted woman I whose place she had usurped. We do know' that away down at Ampt hill that fair May morning, while the guns were firing from the tower and the long glittering cavalcade was passing, Katherine of Aragon was sitting in her stately grief, lonely and desolate, denied even the presence of her child. She, the daughter of a long line of Spanish kings, who had worn the crown of England for twen ty years, to have it torn from her brow to be placed upon that of a younger, fairer rival. It must have been a bitter, galling thought to the proud woman to see the young maid of honor, of low birth, take her place on the throne as wife of Henry Tuder. What thoughts must have crowded on the stern, proud soul of the wo man as she sat in Tier loneliness and grief, while outside the woods and fields around Ampthill were bright with the joy of the May morning, she remembered her happy childhood when she played in the sunny gardens of the Alhambra. She must have thought of her autumn journey from Spain when she came a young girl in her teens to wed the heir of the English crown. But now she is a dishonored wife, an uncrowned queen. Surely Katherine must have felt her self the most insulted, the most out raged oi women. But Annie Bolen’s day of triumph was short lived. Jane Seymore, an other fair maid of honor, had won the heart of the fickle monarch, and the worst of crimes was laid to her charge. [TO UK CONTINUED.] The Issue. As much as the currency question has been agitated within the past fifteen years, but few people seem to realize the magnitude of its impor tance. The important question which every American voter should ask him self is: “How will an increase of the currency effect me?” Let us see what the answer to this question will be in the light of existing and incon trovertible facts. David 11 nine, a celebrated writer on political economy says: “We find that in every kingdom into which money begins to flow in greater abundance than formerly, everything takes anew face; labor and industry gain life, merchants be come more enterprising, the manu facturers more diligent and skillful, and the farmer follows his plow with greater attention and alaci ity. The good policy of the government con sists of keeping it, if possible still in creasing, as long as there is an emi grant, because by that means is kept alive a spirit of industry in the na tion, which increases (he stock of Libor, in which consists all real power and riches.” We might continue indefinitely to quote authorities similar to the above, but it is only necessary to add that not a single writer on political econ omy' that is respectable enough to be called authority' on the subject, hut that agrees that the increase of the volume of currency, it creases the price of property, commodities and labor. The Alliance demands an increase to SSO per capita. This would be more than double the amount we now have. According to the above authoiities this would double the value of property, products and labor. Are you a farmer. How will it effect you? If you have a farm with a SI,OOO mortgage on it which, if sold under the hammer, would not bring more than £I,OOO, it increases the value of that farm to $2,000, restor ing to you your equity of SI,OOO iu the farm. If the surplus you sell off the farm, for money to pay debts and taxes, amounts to S3OO, it increases this amount to S6OO. The bushel of wheat it requires to pay transporta tion on two bushel, will be made to pay transportation on four bushels. Everything you sell will bring you double the amount you now receive and enable you to pay twice the amount you now do on your debts. Are you a mechanic, your wages will be doubled and your surplus earnings twice wliat they now are. An increase in the volume of curren cy'to double its present volume is equivolent to scaling the rates of transportation to one-half the present rate. It is equivolent to reducing the value of railroad stocks and bonds one-half. This will take most of the water out of them. It is equivolent to reducing all salaries and fixed incomes one-half. It will go a great way in assisting to settle the land question by enabling the present occupants to pay off their mortgages and retain their farms. By adding 75 cents or $l.OO to the value of every bushel of wheat, or 8 to 10 cents to every pound of cotton it enables the farmer more readily to pay the 10 or 15 conts tariff tax on the axe he buys or the $l.OO or $2.00 on his plows. If the value of the product of labor is doubled, all the tariff tax on all the farmer has to buy will not amount to one-fifth of the increased value of the products of his labor. Thus the tariff ques tion is lade in the shade by the over shadowing importance of t.ie currency issue. In the proper solution of the finance question, the transportation problem and the land question are already a long ways towards a proper settlement. But what effect will this have on other classes of citizens? To the Congressman it means a reduc tion of his salary by decreasing the purchasing value of a dollar. To a railroad magnate it means a reduction in the value of his stocks and bonds. To a banker it means the suppres sion of the usury system and his profits from the same. To a lawyer it means a reduction of his fee. To the boodle politician it means that the corrupting influence and power “money to oppress” is broken and his avocation is gone. To every class engaged in legiti mate enterprise it means new life, happiness and prosperity. To those who absorb the profits of industry without giving an equivolent it means they must go to work and earn their money honestly. It is the living, burning issue of the hour. All others hinge more or less upon this. Herald it before the great plain people. Agitate it. Talk it, write it and sing it. Proclaim it from every hill top and in every val ley. It is the glad tidings of anew declaration of independence. Teach it to the down trodden and oppressed people and every eye will sparkle with the light of anew hope. Every heart will respond to its glorious, lib erty giving sentiment and pledge allegiance to every effort for its final eonsumatipn. There are only two sides to the question. There is no middle ground. All must be arrayed on the one side or the other. It is to see whether we will, as a govern ment, continue in the future as in the past, to increase the purchasing value of the dollar, or whether we will be gin to retrace our steps and increase the price of the products of labor. On the one side are arrayed the banker, bondholder, bullionist, boodle taker, subsidized press, subsidized lawyers, subsidized statesmen, rail road kings, standard oil kings, tele graph kings, board of trade kings and beef kings. With their great array of Pinker ton thugs, blocks of five politicians, Ward bummers, Tatnany heelers, pc. \to lawyers, pettifogging squirts, cross roads whippers-in, court house rings, smooth-tongued demagogues, ballot box staffers, party bosses and thousands of poor fools with smirk ing faces and fawning manners, who are ready to lay down on their bellies while their political masters walk over them and then get up and go and vote themselves and children in to a political hell of industrial slav ery. On the other side are the great plain people—the giant of power that has been slumbering for years— who will hurl from place the minions of the devil who have fastened upon this country a condition of industrial slavery worse than that of fuedal days. Shall the citizen or the dollar rule ?—Reformer. The Future Outlook. Notwithstanding the constant and unremitting endeavors of the parti san press to create the impression that the present active and agressive protest being made, on the part of the people, against the present condition of things is ephemeral and will soon subside, the fact remains that the word of education and agitation con tinues to progress as it never did be fore. It would seem that the great dailies of our land that have become miracles of enterprise w ould, in time learn that vituperation, abuse and rid icule are not arguments and are fit weapons only for the demagogue and political charlatan. It is possible that the people inay not he altogether right in all of their demands for relief, but it is absolutely certain that they have just cause of complaint and that much of which they complain is the result of vicious class legislation. What the outcome will be is hard to tell, but that the people are passing through an evolu tion of thought and investigation which forebodes a radical change in our economic, system is certainly plain to the most casual abserver. Never before have the bread winners, the producers, shown the degree of inter est in the political affairs of a nation that is now T so prominently visible everywhere. Education and organi zation have been going on for many years, but hitherto it has for the most part been directed to the attainment of greater efficiency iu the different avocations. Asa natural result we have not only the most skillful indus trial laborers in the world, but what is of vastly more importance the most intelligent. The fanners, who consti tute the bulk of the forces who are so vigorously protesting against existing evils are the most conservative peo ple in the world. For years they have suffered themselves to to robbed rather than seek relief from burdens which they are told would adjust themselves if they would only con tinue to vote for their party nominees. So long as their action could he swayed by arousing their passions, and they could be induced to continue their allegiance to the party leaders, the great dailies accepted the situa tion and the said leaders were happy. This, too, in the face of the fact that every session of congress was extend ing the privileges of corporate wealth and recklessly and extravagantly ad ministering the affairs of government. It is useless to review in detail the numerous laws placed upon the stat ute books at the instigation of the money power, and with the conniv ance of trusted servants of the people, of both political parties, that have enabled corporate wealth to spread tentacles over almost every industry throughout the land and absorb the profits of honest labor. How any one can imagine that the dissatisfaction everywhere prevailing, and which is the result of years of suffering and destitution, can he of momentary duration, is a character istic that was most notably prominent in Nero as he “fiddled while Rome burned.” But the educational work is rapidly going on. The people are not ouly preparing to move but to mave intelligently. Their platform of principles is the result of years of thought. Some of the men who helped to frame that platform have spent the host years of their life in the study of economic questions. They bring to the support of those principles not only the best writers of the past hut the history of successful demonstration. It is true that the adoption of their methods will revo lutionize not only the financial but the social condition. No great reform was ever instituted that did not revolutionize things. The most encouraging feature in the present reform movement is the pre vailing harmony among the different Labor organizations. There is a gen. erar desire to unite upon the promt cent measures for relief. This unfor- SINGLE CORY THREE GENTS tunately has not been the ease in past years. It is the result of education. This education has been attained through the different organizations, each in its own way imparting in struction. The watchword now' is unity, and unity will be had, for there is no hope without it. The man who attempts to promote discord m>w is unworthy of the cause lie pretends to resresent, and should be treated ac cordingly. Tho fight is on. To turn back is death. To go forward can be no worse. The perpetuation of lib erty is dependent on this struggle. The people must win. And they will win, because their cause is just. Let the move everywhere go forward. People’s Economist. The Farmers and Their Foes. In every great reform movement certain discontented and unscrupu lous fellows seek to ally themselves with it in the hope of causing strife and profiting by it. From time to time we hear rumors to the effect that in the northwest the Alliance and the third party have at tracted a good many of these hangers on. It is said that they are secretly pledged to resort to force if they can not secure their demands through the © ballot box. Now, the people of the United States will make a great mistake if they believe that these radical social ists constitute an influential element in the Alliance. They are in no sense the friends of the farmers, and the farmers as a mass will not counte nance them. Even in this, the most, tremendous popular reform eriVsado that has ever been known, our agri culturists are proceeding with that conservatism which is their distin guishing characteristic. They Would build up instead of tearing down. They would protect the millionaire as well as the pauper. They urge that labor should receive its just reward, but none of their schemes contemplate anything in the shape of communism. They demand money enough to meet the wants of legitimate bit iness, but they want honest money, and not fiat money. They propose to move along peaceful lines, exercising moderation in victory, and patience in defeat. It is an insult o the intelligence of these honest and law-abiding home owners, the backbone and mainstay of the republic, to hold thorn respon sible for the crazy anarchists in the northwest who are as thoroughly un- American as the I lay market gang of Chicago. If any hangers-on of tho Alliance begin to spread their lawless doctrines, the farmers will suppress them in short order. A great cause can not afford to shelter these com munists under its spotless banner.— Atlanta Constitution. From the records of the senior class of Yale college during the past eight years, the non-smokers have proved to have decidedly gained over the smokers in strength, weight and lung capacity. All candidates for the crews and other athletic sports were non-smokers. The non smokers were twenty per cent taller, twenty-five per cent heavier and of sixty per cent more lung capacity than the smokers. In the graduating class of Amherst college of the present vean,. those not using tobacco have gained in weight twenty per cent, in height thirty seven per cent in chest, and girt forty two per cent over those using tobacco, while they have a greater Ituung capaci ty, 8.30 cubic inches.—Medical News. A soldier wrote home for a supply of cash. Appended to tlie letter was the following postscript urn : “I felt so ashamed at having asked you to send me ten francs that I ran to the postofllce to get my letter hack. Un fortunately it had gone.”—Kecit Oral. Mrs. Solomon—“ George, I shall need anew pair of slippers this week. The sides of these, old ones are com pletely worn out.” Johnny Solomon—“ Papa, I shall need anew pair of trousers this week- The seat of these old ones is com pletely worn out.”—Puck.