The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1851-10-10
THE PRESIDENTS VISIT TO MAS
SACUESETTS.


cicnt graveyard still cncoses few monu-
mental slabs with ell'acel inscr ipions, coy
cred with moss and rrumbinr with time.
A single tower Of the old brick church +,
rendered picturesque in its p'ainness by tie
overcrowing vines and ivy, presents an
archcd entrance to tie eunroo(rd and nnwaled
interior, choked with weeds md shaded by
the lnxuriant foliuge Of trees, seemingly of
cen'uried growth. Here over, the re-
mains Of the small and feeble bund Of adj,
vcn'urcrs who planted the frst white settle
ment in Virginia, less lhon two hundred and
fifty years before, stood the representative
Of the sovereignty Of twenty-five millions Of
people. We thought it was hardly possible
to bring the now and then into mare striking
ond impressive contrast. If the dust on
which he trod cnnld have been reinvcs'ed
with vitality. and the first tenant Of that
Green cemetery could have reassumcd the
spirit IN the flesh, nnd s'alkcd bodily by the
side Of the President the apparl'ion could
hn rdly lave suggested more vivi train Of
reflection. hon was lighted by The magnetic
spark that, knowing neither time nor dis.
lance, and running along the track of GEN.
'uries as rapidly as it traverses the line of n
continent, connects the present with the
pas, and the distant, and blends the impress
SIGN Of the scene before us with the memo
RIGS Of buried empires and ages.
But impressive as was the occasion TO
which we refer, and vivid as was the pic
tnre of con'ras, which is brought before US,
we think the recent exhibition in Boston
might have called ur the same contrast still
more strikinrly. had it not been that the
shifting, glowing. active. living drama be.
fore our eyes chained the faculties TO the
present, or with it's rnpid movement hurried
us into the future rather ,lnn the past
Jamestown. in its silent ruins, relapSing
into the vegetable dominion which so res
Gently possessed an hemisphere, invited
reflection, md recalled what we but yeSter..
day acre. Boston, in its commercial and
manufacturing greatness. suggested rather
the anticipation Of what we may become TO-
morrow. In her streets, and in view of III"
splendid pagean's with which they have
been Of late crowned. the minds eye looks
forward to the numbers numberless which
our twenty-five millions will have become
two hundred and ior'y-fonr yenrs hence,
rather than backward To thai early day when
the only type of Anglo-Saxon civilization
in the new world was feeble. sick. wave.
worn, and climate worn colony on the banks
Of TIE river James. The gooGly company
that dined in the big tent on Boston Cams
mon on Friday last oulnumborcd all the
English coonisls who were in America as
recently as the year 1850. At the COM
mpnccmrnl of The last century the entire
population Of the colonies was less lls that
which figured thin the corporate limits OF
Boston during tn, three days Of the ccle'
bralion. Aud now, from the banks of the
James, md lhe shores of the Massachusetts
Bay, the tide Of people and Of civilization
has rolled Yves, ward over half world, and
the flag Of the same mighty nation that on
the rock OF Plymouth braves the blasts of
the Atlantic, floats tranquility in the Pacific
brcczcs nl the golden gate Of San Francisco.
And TO what lave we been indebted for
this unparnlele progress And to what
must we look hereafter that our future may
correspond with our past? What should
we have been to-day if Plymouth had re'
mained separate colony from Massnchu.
seits. and New Haven from Connecticut,
and Providence from Rhode Island; and
Virginia, md New York, and South Caroli-
ma had remained severed, and there had been
no concert, association. cooperation of
these dependent colonies to ripen thereafter
into Confederacy of States, and finally
into more perfect Union 2
As we trace the rise and progress of our
country 'FRONT.' first feeble beginnings to its
present prosperity, power and greatness. we
cannot fail to see that it is to that Union we
are indebted for oil TINT we are, and all that
we can hope to be. To this conviction we
attribute the genial aud general enthusiasm
with which the citizens Of Massachusetts
have welcomed among them the Chief
Magistrate of their Republic. They have
him as the type, the symbol, the
representative Of that nationality which
resides in thirly-one States and twenty-five
millions Of people. and have sought 10 prove
their devotion to the country by their mani>
festations of kindness, respect, and cordial
loyalty to the PresIdent.-- Washington
Republic.
There are Two kinds of family jars; into
one you put your swee,meats, and into the
other. you put-your loot.