Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1857-09-25

NNaNAA - -
The Lest the hallO~sd haa- Of one
Who lives upon all memories,
Though VITA the buried gne.
such sr.ves as this are pilgrim shTinss-
shrines 70 n3eoie or creed connned-
Ehe Delphian wales, the P~aiestines,
The Meeeas Of the Mind"
1t has been said that America has no PAST
that with her all 10 FUTURE. True 1t is, that
as a people we are prone to forget the Past
cur national air ever breathes Of the present
and immediate, which De Toequeville declares
70 be the natural language Of Democracy. But,
II we did but sufficiently appreciate the fact
We are the inheritors OF a most glorious Past,
and as our national existence has been so brief,
the more shame for US il we forget IL, and neg
leet TO honor the memory Of those high-heaTt-
ed, and strong-minded heroes who made that
Past a glorious one. For the purpose Of hold
ing forever in grateful remembrance the deeds
and character of one-the noble chief Of those
heroes, the Mount Vernon Association y has
been formed ; It has for it's Acknowledged OBJ
jeet the "Parehass and preseTvafiOB of the home
and gTGre Of Washfngf0H. This, too, is the
work Of woman, and m i she is proving that
when prompted by right motives and high re-
solves, her arm is not feeble, and her voice il
not poweTless- 1t is but Just that this should
be her work, for woman shares the TenOwn Of
lie men she makes gSat-we stall be great
women IL we have great SINS. Thus, though
out little Is edlu IN Jul GUILTY. aludi1 OF Tue
father OF Washington, we read always OF his
mother and his wife : and though we scarcely
ever hear the name Of the father Of Clay, his
mother and bis wife are to repOse close on
either side Of him in that noble pile Of archi-
lecture which is now being erected to his mem
Ory. Nav, more, let any man live In the
hearts ofhis country men, AID the wife he loved,
the mother who bore hin, stand there also,
receiving homage together with that grand
character which they have developed and sus-
tanned, perhaps almost ereated. Who shall
dare question the Importance Of this work.
who presume to eavil at the workers? The
stole Mussulman enshrines at Mecca the earth
" remains ofhis Prophet-the volatile French
man sends his stately vessels to bear from a
" lone barren isle in tue far seas the ashes of
bis loved Napoleon-while stOut-bearted Eng
land has, and is still searching the wild
Arctic wastes for the few white bones
which were her heroic Franklin, shall
we not then, whose Prophet, Prince and
Pioneer lies neglected in view Of our fire.
sides, rouse ourselves to emulate the noble
upon Vine-clad hills, and she whose g morning
drum-beat is heard around the world?" Aye,
and verily-let there be no cavaliers now I;
though there was a Tom Paine in the days of
Washington, let there be none now let them
all be changed to noble EVeretts. This is a
mighty movement, but the Press and the people
are for it, and where the former leads, and the
latter sustains, we shall still from time to time
hear the cheering shouts 90 up to heaven
the work goes bravely on !" As for US
" Mt. Vernon Sisters" we deem it a noble
privilege thus to be able to lend cur aid in
" purchasing and preserving" the last resting
place Of him who sleeps in that gray oil tomb
BY the murmuring river; the man whom the
ploughman Of Marathon blesses as he rsmem-
bers the struggle Of his own land for liberty,
whom the Swiss peasant reverences among men
as be does Mount Blanc among the mountains
upon whose statue the deep-eyed Italian gsZes
with affectiohate enthusiasm, whom France re-
members as the bosom friend Of Lafayette,
who, while Poland has one patriot exile, will
be loved az the chief who led to the battle field
her Pulaski and her Kosciusko-whom even
the poor Iadian in his untutOred admiration has
inmortalized b. making him the only :" pale
face" who is allowed BY the Great SPIRIT to en-
ter TIE "bappy hunting grounds" Like the
little Tiils that form the mighty river, we will
unite our thousand foEees-lIke the still frost
that beauties the autumn forest, our sure and
silent influences will shed a glow over desOla
ton and decay. We will work, that our children
NAV behold with pride the fruits of our labors ;
and that the American who wanders in a for
eign land may realize how the mystery Of Nee
ca, the stateliness Of Westminster, the glory
Of the Hotel des Invalides, and even the grand
eur Of " old Imperial Rome" will grow dim at
the recollection Of that simple tomb which is
Swallowed by the green groves of " Mount Yer
non" L. VIRGINIA FRENCH.
FOREsT HOME, Sept. 10, 1851.