-------
_From the “Selma Times and Mail.”_
AT forty minutes past three o’clock on Monday morning Henry W. Grady,
the distinguished editor of the Atlanta _Constitution_, died at his home
of pneumonia. No announcement of the death of any leading man of the
South has ever created a more profound impression, or caused more
genuine and universal sorrow than will the sad news of the demise of
this brilliant young Georgian, coming as it does when he was at the very
zenith of his fame and usefulness. The death of Mr. Grady is a public
calamity that will be mourned by the entire country. It is no
exaggeration to say that no orator in the United States since the days
of S. S. Prentiss has had such wonderful power over his audiences as
Henry W. Grady. This fact has been most forcibly illustrated by his two
memorable speeches at the North, the first in New York something over a
year ago, the second recently delivered in Boston and with the praises
of which the country is still ringing. Sad, sad indeed to human
perception that such a brilliant light should have been extinguished
when it was shining the brightest and doing the most to dispel the mists
of prejudice. But an All-wise Providence knows best. His servant had run
his course, he had fulfilled his destiny. The heart of the South has
been made sad to overflowing in a short space of time. Davis—Grady,
types of the past and the present, two noble representatives of the
highest order of Southern manhood and intelligence, representing two
notable eras, have passed away and left a brilliant mark on the pages of
history.
Henry W. Grady was a native Georgian. He was born in Athens in 1851, and
consequently was too young to participate in the late war, but his
father lost his life in defense of the Confederate cause, and the son
was an ardent lover of the South. At an early age he developed
remarkable talent for journalism and entered the profession as the
editor of the Rome, Ga., _Commercial_. After conducting this paper for
several years he moved to Atlanta, and established the _Daily Herald_.
When Mr. Grady came to the _Constitution_ in 1880 he soon became famous
as a correspondent, and his letters were read far and wide, and when he
assumed editorial control of the _Constitution_, the paper at once felt
the impulse of his genius, and from that day has pushed steadily forward
in popular favor and in influence until both it and its brilliant editor
gained national reputation. No agencies have been more potent for the
advancement of Atlanta than Grady and the _Constitution_, the three
indissolubly linked together, and either of the three names suggests the
other.
As a type of the vigorous young Southerner of the so-called New South
Mr. Grady has won the admiration of the country and gone far to the
front, but he has been the soul of loyalty to his section, and has ever
struck downright and powerful blows for the Democratic cause and for the
rule of intelligence in the South. From the Potomac to the Rio Grande
all over our beautiful Southland to-day, there will be mourning and
sympathy with Georgia for the loss of her gifted son.
------------------