The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-02-19


E1s. EveEssa on Esst Foaneseoe.
al tho messing Oh Wednesday oTeaing.
in Boston, to aid the suffering people Of
East Tennessee, Mr. Edward Everett
gave The following picturesque and elO-
quent description Of Esst Tennessee aud
the Tennessee river:
That river, -cilizsns, is in some
respects one of the most remarkable on
the continent It's northern afIlaents
rise in the State of Virginia, but, as if to
read lesson of Union in the very face
Of the soil-2s if to prop the fabric of
the Union by the eternal buttresses Of
the hills, instead of flowing TO the At
lantic like the other rivers of Virginia, it
gathers up the waters of its tributary
streams, and, connecting Virginia and
the Carolinas with East Tennessee, flows
southwark down to the north eastern
corner Of Georgia.
There, after kissing the feet of the
glorious bills of Chattanooga. instead of
flowing to the Gulf, its seeming natural
direction, it ccqueis with Northern Ala
bama, breaks into the Mascle Shoals,
plSnts Decatur at their head, and Flor
enee a. their feet, and then, sweeping
back to its native North, tragerses the
entire width of Tennessee 3 second time,
seemingly running up hill, for while it is
flowing northward, the Mississippi paral-
lei to it and at no great distance is roll
ing its floods southWard-enters the State
of Kentucky, and empties at last into the
Ohio. fifty miles above its junction with
the Mississippi, thus binding seven States
in it's silver circuit, and connecting them
oil with the great central basin of the
continent.
The soil Of Eastern Tennessee is rich,
the mountains are filed with coal and
almost every variety of ore; their slopes
bubble with mineral springs; the climate
is temperate and healthful; the territory
mainly divided into farms of moderate
size, fer the most part titled by frugal,
industrious men, who own the soil, which
Yields them its welcomed abundance.
In no part of the State sre there 30 few
slaves, in none is there more substantial
population; in no part Of the South is
the slave interest so feeble. East Ten
nessee grestly resembles the lower ranges
and fertile valleys of Switzerland, and
it has been often called the American
Switzerland. 1t is divided into thirty
counties, and its population does not |
think, fall short of 100000 souls. My
friend, Colonel Taylor, mods assent.
But this grand valley, with the hills
that enclose it, possesses an interest for
us far beyond that which attaches to
their geographical features, merely as
such. 1t is one of the most important
linksin that chain Of valley and noun
tain which traVerses the entire North
American continent from northeast to
southwest separating the streams which
flow into the Atlantic from those which
seek the st. Lawrence, the Ohio, and the
Mississippi. Forcing its way down into
the heart of the region whose alluvial
plains are devoted to the culture of
tobacco, cotton, rice, aud sugar, By slave
labor, this ridge of highlands, with the
valleys enclosed in them, from the time |
you leave the State of Pennsylvania, be-
gins to assume the highest political i'm
pOrtance, in reference TO the present |
struggle: Extending to the
southwest as far IS Northern Alabama,
this noble mountain tract, and the valleys
enclosed in its parallel and transverse
ridges is, by the character of its climate,
soil, and natural productions, the natural
ally of the North. Here, if nowhere I
else, we may truly say, with the German
poet:
Auf den Bergen list Freyheet der Hauch der Grufte /
SteIght NIGHT binauf, in die renen Lutte.
That means:
On the mountains is Freeon the breath Of the wales
Rises not up 10 the pure mountain gales