The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1863-09-15
wen Ideas.

dress before the Union Literary Society
of Antioch College (0hio) on 1.-THE
Scholars Vocation la New Republic"
thus sketches the two American states
men whose conflicting ideas he deems
the handspring of our present gigantic
cOnvulsion:
"Amid the thousand civil and martial
dignitaries that have figured in America
during the last half-century, each Of
whom has fondly imagined himself the
handspring Of the Union, two quiet,
scholarly statesmen have best represented
the diverging tendencies of the Republic,
and portrayed it's history az in prophecy.
First of these was John O Calhoun Of
South Carolina, the man who held in
his brain all the AristOcratic ideas of the
age, in their application to our own land.
He believed religiously in Government
OF the few, in which the laborers should
be a mental class, and the gentry the
rulers of society. In THE, he represented
the aspirations of Southern society, and
of large districts and formidable tend
encies in the North. But he saw that
the only path 20 this order of affairs was
civil war and anarchy. So he preached
Secession, not as tho final condition Of The
people, bit as the revolutionary AighlUay 10
concentrated poi0er. He has taught that
lesson 30 we'll that two years ago the
whole aristocratic class. South and North,
were ready to precipitste the country
into revolution (christened Secession,
in order TO re-establish the nation as
consol idated aristocracy. The public
life Of Calhoun was a failure. He had
little administrative ability; but he was
the philosophical teacher of generation
of statesmen and generals, indeed of the
leading classes of entire Common
wealths, in the method of accomplishing
the overthrow of the New Republic, and
the establishment of New Europe in
A nerica.
awhile Calhoun was breathing out his
last breath at Washington, the New Sem
ator from New York, William II. Seward,
was stammering through his first speech.
in the Capitol. on the admission of Cali
fornia to the Union. That speech contains
He peoples 'Olole ANSWER 10 the entire pro-
Oranme Of tho dying champion Of Southern
aristocTacy That hours talk TO con-
temptuous Senate and careless people
placed Mr.. Seward at the head of the
philosophical statesmen of the New Re-
public, and history will set him over
against the great South CarOlnian, as
the man who soonest and most complete
ly saw all through and around his elab-
crate scheme of American despotism, and
predicted its downfall at the moment of
it's apparent triumph Mr.. Seward saw
then that Secession was aiming to pre-
cipitate the country into tremendous
revolution. He told the naughty men
engaged in the conspiracy that il they
inaugurated civil war 10 establish des-
potism, the ruling class of the South,
and all they epresented, would 90 to the
bottom of bloody sea, while the people
would reach their final destiny in the
establishment of the New Republic -
This idea centralizes all ne has said,
thought, and done since that eventful
day. His great speeches have been OBJ
servations of the progress OF that Tevolu-
ton, as from q point overlooking the en-
tire field. Like all progressive philo-
sophical men, he has counted too enthu-
siAstically on the people, and often been
seemingly contradicted by events. Like
his great opponent, his chief success has
not been as an executive statesman, and
he has been disappointed in his personal
ambition. BIT when he ia dead, and all
he said and wrote, and thought about
American affairs, shall be gathered up
into one consistent whole, it will be
known how cApacious was that range OF
vision that took in the whole past, pres
emit, and future of the Republic; and how
strong was that faith in man, which in
the very turmoil of civil war could cheer
fully prophecy the complete success of
those great ideas and institutions, on
which the Union will rise to the foremost
rank among the nations of the earth"