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MORNING SESSION.
Third Day, Saturday, April
30, 1892.
The Congress was called to
order at 10:30 a.m. by the President, who announced that prayer would be
offered by Dr. John Hall, of New York.
Dr. John Hall:
O God Almighty, our
everlasting Father, we desire to come with one heart in prayer and
supplication and thanksgiving unto thee. We come in the name of Jesus,
whom we receive as thy mediator and the agent of thine appointment, in
whom we trust as our great high priest, whom we receive as our divine
teacher, and to whom as our king we will yield ourselves in holy
obedience.
We humbly pray that thou
wilt be with us in this meeting. Thou art making the sun from the sky to
shine upon us; within us let the rays of the Sun of righteousness shine in
our souls, filling us with light—spiritual light, divine light. We render
thanks unto thee for the goodness that has attended us individually; we
praise thee for the blessings that we have inherited. We would magnify the
grace of God to those who have gone before us and through whom in thy kind
providence we have received so much. We pray that thou wilt be with us in
all that we do, direct every movement of this Society, let it be for the
good of its members; let it be for the good of those of our own race who
are scattered over these United States; show us, we pray thee, in what way
we can best glorify thee, in what ways we can best serve our generation by
the will of God. Let thy blessing rest upon this city, to which we pray
thee to give every good and honorable prosperity. Let thy blessing be upon
the state; do thou direct all the movements of those who are intrusted
with authority by the votes of their fellow-citizens. Let thy favor rest
upon the President of the United States and upon all those who have been
called to places of trust; let them be sustained by the good will, the
loyal attachment of their fellow-citizens. Bless the whole nation; repress
and put away everything that is evil; build up, we beseech thee, and
establish everything that is good. Let us be a righteous nation to the
glory of thy great and holy name. Our Father, we wait upon thee; give ear,
we beseech thee, to our petitions; we present them in that name that is
above every name; receive us in Christ and bless us for his sake, and the
praise shall be thine through him now and forever. Amen.
President Bonner:
Rev. Dr. Bryson,
ex-Moderator of the Southern Presbyterian Church, has written a paper on
"Scotch-Irish Inventors and Their Inventions," which he will now favor us
with. During Dr. Bryson's visit to New York last summer it was my
privilege to take him through different parts of Westchester County, to
see the monument to the captors of Major Andre, to see Sunnyside, the old
home of Washington Irving, and other objects of historical interest. It is
hardly necessary for me to say that it gives me great pleasure to
introduce him here now. [Applause.]
(For Dr. Bryson's address,
see Part II., page 174.)
Rev. Dr. Cook, of Alabama:
I move that the thanks of
the Society be tendered Dr. Bryson for this excellent production.
Carried.
President Bonner:
Col. Adair, of Atlanta, who
is famed not only in this State, but adjoining ones as well, as a very
polished preacher [laughter], or speaker, I should have said, will now
address you. We have already had the pleasure of listening to him in this
spring suit and in the role of a reader. We will now take pleasure in
watching his course as a speaker.
Col. G. W. Adair:
Ladies and Gentlemen and
Mr. President: I mentioned something about talking against a dinner bell
yesterday, and I must request you now not to ring a chestnut bell on me
for appearing so often before you. I have a little announcement to make—it
is very short —which may take many of you by surprise, and that is that
there is a modest Scotch-Irishman—I have no allusion to myself—in this
hall. We have been claiming the earth and everything in it that is good
for the Scotch-Irish, and it is a surprise that there should be among us a
noted modest Scotch-Irishman; but there is. The founder of our order is
here. You do not see him because he does not present himself. He is, as I
say, a modest man, but he is always getting up good things. He formed our
society. His is what we would call the "fine Italian hand" that is always
doing something good and presenting those good things to the world. I
allude, of course, to Col. T. T. Wright, the founder of the Scotch-Irish
Society of America. [Applause.] I don't know whether he selected me on
account of my modesty or my good reading ability, but he asked me to make
a little announcement of some letters he has received from some
distinguished people abroad and to read a little poem which accompanied
the letters. "Kind messages come to this Congress through Col. T. T.
Wright from the following Scotch-Irishmen: Lord Wolseley, Lord Dufferin,
and Col. Wilson, military commander of West Point. Mr. James Logan sends a
floral tribute from the home of Gen. Andrew Jackson's father at Carrick
Fergus, Ireland; Mr. McKenna, of Belfast, sends a bunch of shamrocks; and
Wallace Bruce, of Edinburgh, Scotland, sends a poem, addressed to Col.
Wright, 'The Old Mortality of the Ulster-American Race.' "
(For Mr. Brace's poem, see
page 100.)
Col. Adair:
I move that the letters in
full be secured from Col. Wright and incorporated in the proceedings of
our meeting.
Carried.
President Bonner:
Dr. Hall has a resolution
to present to you which I think will meet with a response in every
Scotch-Irish heart.
Dr. John Hall:
You will be a little
relieved, perhaps, when I tell you that I am not going to make any speech.
I propose this resolution to be adopted and forwarded to the Directors of
the "World's Fair to be held in Chicago in 1893:
To the Directors of the
World's Fair to be held at Chicago in 1893.
The Scotch-Irish Society of
America, now in session at Atlanta, Ga., would respectfully present the
following resolution, unanimously adopted this 30th day of April, 1892:
Resolved, That we,
including in our Society representatives of the leading religious
denominations of the country, earnestly hope that you will see it to be
wise and right not to open either the grounds or the buildings of the
Exposition on the Sabbath day.
We are led to deep
conviction on this matter by the fact that as a Christian country, to
which God has given wide influence, we are bound to regard his law and
institutions, especially in a national undertaking which is commanding the
world's attention. In thus expressing our strong desire, we have regard to
the highest welfare of the multitudes of hard-working people whose day of
rest would be imperiled by so conspicuous a violation of the word of him
who said: "The Sabbath was made for man."
Rev. James Mitchell, of
Atlanta:
I move that the resolution
be adopted by a rising vote.
Judge Hamilton McWhorter:
Fully and unreservedly
concurring in the wisdom and the purpose and the spirit of that
resolution, I rise to second it, and move that the resolution be adopted
by a rising vote.
Unanimously adopted by a
rising vote.
Col. W. L. Calhoun:
I have received a telegram
from a citizen of this state who is now in Chicago, Mr. Samuel W. Small,
in which he says: "Propose me for Scotch-Irish Society membership. My
father's name was Sawney; balance of me fighting Irish." I therefore have
the honor of presenting Mr. Small for membership in this Society, and move
that he be received. [Applause.]
Motion carried.
Dr. Bryson:
I desire to present for
membership in this Society the name of Prof. W. H. Hammill, Superintendent
of the Public Schools of Illinois, and now living, I think, at Peoria, who
has expressed a desire to become a member.
Received.
Mr. George H. Frey:
I propose the name of Hon.
O. S. Kelley, of Springfield, O., for membership in the Society.
Received.
Col. John W. Echols:
I nominate Col. Lavendar E.
Ray, of Georgia, for membership.
Received.
President Bonner:
"We will now have the
pleasure of listening for a few minutes to Capt. G. B. Forbes, Chairman of
the Invitation Committee of the Scotch-Irish Society of Georgia.
[Applause.]
(For Capt. Forbes's
address, see Part II., page 235.)
President Bonner:
"We will now have the
pleasure of listening for a few minutes to Rev. Samuel Young, of Allegheny
City, Pa. Although he is from Allegheny City, he is a native of Ireland.
You may think that perhaps we are claiming everything for the
Scotch-Irish. In fact, a friend of mine in New York on my return from
Louisville last year said: "You fellows will be claiming before long that
even St. Paul was a Scotch-Irishman." Mr. Young. [Applause.]
(For Mr. Young's address,
see Part II., page 228.)
President Bonner:
The Hon. David Roper, a
distinguished lawyer and a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature, will
now address us for a few minutes. [Applause.]
(For Mr. Roper's address,
see Part II., page 237.)
President Bonner:
Col. I. W. Avery, a
well-known literary man of Atlanta, will now address us for a few minutes.
[Applause.]
(For Col. Avery's address,
see Part II., page 204.) |
