Nashville daily patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1855-1857, 1856-02-12

hifn on OCafu VI sup 1hey HOul1 DC Oh Htbe
service TO him IN so narrow a compass, even il be
disposed to use them. 1t is the head that
becomes important--the qualities of courage and
hrmness accompanied BY skill / take II, that this
tory of physical inhrmty is a meresmake-shifI-
some excuse had 20 be trumped up TO appease
indignant public opinion, and nothing else could
be FUND this was seized upon.
There in the character and services and at
tainme Is Of this dstinga shed man, enough to re.
buke the very thought of degrading him. | shall
not be extgavagant ia his praise, but il is sheer
justice to say thai few Americans now living, have
added more to the cause of science, especially as
it is connected with navigation. Few have added
more 10 the fame OF our country abroad for enter
prise and for inventive genius. Nay, | win saw he
is in advance of all. Ills career has been quiet aud
unobtrusiVe. but emitting steady stream of light
on our pathway over the land aud over the sea
His footsteps have been the waves Of the ocean,
and along our bays and harbOrs, and among the
stars, exploring the wide domain OF nature and her
phenomena and throwing out the treasures of his
thought before the eye Of the world. This has
been his employment, painfully ahd ardently pur
sued, while the demagogue has been brawling upon
the hastings, and the lucky official reclining amid
the emOluments and hOnOrs of place. Iii has been
winning victories amid the vast fields OF science,
while half his eOuntrymen were snoring in their
beds. His wind and current charts are splendid
hands Of every maritime Government in the world.
They nave enabled the navigator in certain diree-
tons and in certain attitudes, TO abbrevate his voy-
age, and have thus added Immensely to the al.
vantages Of commerce. Such was his reputation,
that in the summer of 1858, " on his simple sag
gesiiOn, the maritime Governments of Europe dep
uted delegates, skilled in the science Of navigation,
to meet him in convention in Belgium TO establish
auniiorm system of meteorological observations
4 4 l.
so that the discoveries in this dep rtment by the
navigator in the Arctic, and by the navigator in
the Southern oceans, could be mutually inteligi-
Die, and thus economist the labors Of science.
And look at the compliments he has received in
Europe, from the highest official persouages, Of the
different courts They not the empty ce-e-
monies shown to mere station, but solid tributes,
which solid merit alone extorJ man who
receives the hattering notice OF Baron humboldt,
must possess no ordinary stature among men OF
cence and intellect. The recent complimentary
letter to him from the Grand Duke Constantine Of
Russia, is within the recollection of all. Such a
uibute is rare. 1t not only comes from man of
remarkable abilities and attainmeuts and who, II he
lives will make himself felt in the Affairs of the
world, but it Is an evidence OF the sentiments OF the
Russian cOuTt-a court that with all its power and
grandeur, does not hesitate to pay its homage to
exalted merit, even in a publican Lieutenant. !
have had the question asked me by officers in Eu-
rope, why it was that so great man as Maurv,
nothing but Leutenant?' To which could
only reply, that "his ambition was not for station
Doubtless he has ambition, for without it he would
have been nothing But while / suppose his aspi-
ratiOns are OF a higher ard nOber order than a
lust for Office he cannot be and is not iurensi
BILE to those distinguishing marks OF professional
/ merit. Aud while the mariner in his voyage to the
Indies, Is blessing the name Of Naury, whom BE
never saw, as the author OF the wind and current
charts his Government is covering him with a cloud
and seeking TO destroy bin, and he is writing un>
der a keen sense OF his own dishonor. Other gov
ernments honor him-his own disgraces him! For
eign princes and statesmen aud masters of science
pay him the homage of their admiration Here he
is the subject Of jury OF inquest and treated i
he were a malriactOrl Shall we not again heal
the old charge that republics are uugratvful?"
But why, il may be asked, single him out among
al that have llllrn the peculiar subject of com
plant? Because be is the greatest of them all
YES; greater dian those who condemned him. II
his person may be represented also, the wrongs o
his fellow victims-and their companiouship will
such a man may serve even to modify their sens,
of degradation. do not know Lieutenant Maury
personally, but | know bis character and hav,
watched his career, and have felt in distant coun
tries proud of him an American when hav,
heard praises lavished upon him from high sources
In addition to this he is Tennessean, and claim,
vet believe, TO be a citizen { this commonwealth
Beneath her green turf sleep the ashes OF his kin
dred and in her log school houses and in her acade
mics he learned thr elements of that science which
has rendered him distinguished and enabled him e
do honor to his State and country. / do not hest
tate to say that | would rather have his character
and attachments, than those of any man in the
Union. He has paid his offerings in the temple o
fame, and they have been acceptable He has
burnt no gross incense upon les munifcent altars
but rendered the pure tributes of TRUTH and honor
aud fidelity and genius. He has won the favor o
the presiding divinity, and his name will be hearC
along the stately asles and spacious corridors, o
r that eternal edidce, when those who nov slight auC
malign him, shall have faded from its records for
ever
His fate has been that, which has too often be
fallen distinguished men of his class. In the Ian
guage of an eminent American writer: Thus il !
With illustrOus merit it, very ettulgeuce draw
forth the rancOrous passions Of low aud grOvelhn
minds which too often have a temporary iuhuenc
in obscuring it to the world as the emergin
with full splendor into the heavens, calls up by IN
very fetvor OF its rays the rank aud nOxous vapOr
which for time becloud its glory"
Mr.. Speaker. have You not observed, that whe
a man rises to emiuence from obscure beginning,
his worst foes are usually among his early tel
lows-his school mates, the companions Of hi
rustic sports lie mas oulHtltppcu lhetu IN III
race and they find in the light Of his fame an
merits a standing rebuke TO their own insight
canoe. They cross his path here aud there hu
I il is like mOles under the surface. Envy, tina
first spawn Of TOphct. has been, in all ages, th
bane of exalted worth rising from Obscurity-
the canker-worm, that secretly guawed and dna
~ blasted the tree OF its hopes. All cOuntril
have incurred the penalty of sighting aud pei
4 scouting men Of eminent scientific attainments-
hf rat fu pf
species into the dark realms of nature and ar
aud bring ont from their stOre-houses, treasur,
for the use of ages to come. That rare elias
whose brains are 50 many FORCES, in which th
destincs Of society are wrought The phllos
ply Of Socrates was too pure for The POlytheis
Of the Greeks, and for that he was put to dealt
/ GaIlileo for discovering the spots on the sul
proclaiming the theory Of its rotation. was d
nouuced by the learned Doctors of Rome as
hereto. and condemned to the dungeons Of Il
/ Inquisition Columbus, tor discovering a ne
world. brought around him the whole hive Of e
: vious spirits and drew down the cold neglect
the court be had served and pined in povert
and died OF broken heart-he
"Who taught mankind where future empires lay,
Beneath the confines Of descending day.
, had outstripped his competitors in the field
: discovery and reaped from 10 the usual reward
The art Of navigation had been known sine
the days Of the PhHnicians-scienee nd addt
10 its facilities from age TO age. but still q
boldest mariner trembled 10 leave the shOr
These vast territories Of the West, had. since q
birth OF time teemed with useless luxuranc
5 and the melody Of their groves had been waste
on the ear Of solitude, still no spirit bad arts,
70 sagaciOus and bold enough 10 gather the glitte
e ing prize. Columbus came in advance Of q
age confident in his theory. Too poor TO mai
+ the experiment upon his own resources, he
{ comes beggar al the ioOt-stOol Of power, plea
ing in behalf Of the claims Of science and OF Q
world. He is spurned aud derided by one eou
8 after another His theory is referred 70 an d
E sembly Of the learned doctors OF Spain. The
4 steklers for orthodoxy treat il with c0ntemI
r and the illustrious statesman narrowly eseap
4 the imputaiion aAd the penalties ofheresy. VIII
L all Others had discarded him, and the new wor
seemed about 10 be cOusi gned % eternal solitu