Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1866-10-30
from the Baltimore Transcript
The South.


If the spectacle of great soul, struggling
herolcally with the waves ofadversiIy, is pleas
! ing to the gods, the spectacle of a great peo-
! pie, translxed with the arrows of misfortune.
and bleeding at every pore. yet uttering NO
exclamation OF anguish or of anger, and neith-
f! er losing faith in Heaven, nor in its own up-
rightness, is truly sublime. Such an exhi-
bition, grand and effecting to all minds which
can appreciate moral greatness the Sonth now
| presents. If the PERCEPTION of their enemies
were not completely blinded by party passions,
/ they would teel more reverence for the South
! In its mistOrtuues than when, ut the summit
of its prosperity, it guided and controlled the
destinies of this great nation. With coln>
nun ties, as with individuals. it is only the
| fires of adversely that reveal the true charac-
ter, and prove whether it is made of gold or
dross 10 such an ordeal has the South been
subjected, and we assert that the result has
demonstrated that it is an essentially great peo-
! pie, and will be remembered and admired in
| hist 'ry as much for the serene fortitude and
noble dignity with which it has sustained the
direct calamities, for its brilliant statesman
ship in the period of its power aud influence,
and for that magnificent valor in battle which
has extorted the adlniring accamations of the
| world
What this South was in the days of her
former greatness, we all know. It was she
who gave to the world its lone Washington,"
the man raised up by Heaven for the achieve
ment OF American Independence the man
whose wonderful energies and capacity, com-,
blned with the most spotless purity of pur-
| pose and OF character, were the principal agen-
| cy Ill the successful conduct of the American
Revolution aud the triumphant estab>
lishment of the greatest Republic of mod
| ern times. 1t was her Jefferson who wrote
the Declaration of Independence; her Pat
rick Henry whose eloquent voice thrilled like
clarion blast the hearts of a struggling peo-
pie; her Madison, who illuminated with his
wisdom the true principles of the american
Constitution. and her Marshall, who remains
to this day, the unapproached and uuap-
proachable glory of American Jurisprudence.
The sagacity Of her statesmen in the Nation
al councils conducted the United States on to
a career OF progress and prosperity unexam-
pied i'll the records of nations, and the sulen-
did genius Of her soldiers in the field crown
ed with immortal chaplets, our military re-
nown 1t was her Winfield Scott, Andrew
Jackson, and Zachary Taylor, who, from the
SHOWS OF Canada to the trOpic sands of Mex
leo. gave to the world exhibitions of the SUI
periOr martial skill and prowess of our coun-
trymeh to foreign enemies which it had ever
seen, and it was the consummate statesman
ship and all embracing patriotism of Henry
Clay which three times saved the Union he
loved so we'll from the perls of division and
civil war. These, the fathers of American
greatness, were children of the sunny South
of the great and glorious mother, ut whose
breast they were nursed, on whose lap they
first stood erect, from whose lips they first
learned those lessons of patriotism, virtue
and valor which made their country great
among the nations, and their names immortal
among men.
Nor has tho South contributed less to the
material than to the political and military i'm
Portance of the nation. The vast domain of
the teeming and productive West was given
by the South to the American Union. 1t is
no figure of speech, but the literal truth, she
has been the mother not ouly of States
men but of States, and those States the most
fertile, and destined to become the most pop
ulCus and powerful OF the American com
monwealths. The wonderful variety and ex-
tent OF the peculiar productions of her own
soil, of cotton, rice, tobacco, and naval stores,
have laid the foundations of American COM
mcrce and contributed by far the greater rev.
enues of the nations Strip from American
progress and wealth the elements which the
South has contributed, and what would re.
mainf What would have been the Revolu
ton without Washington What its growth
and fortunes but for the gift of the South to
to the United States of the richest portions
OF its territory, and the commercial, manu-
featuring and national wealth derived from
the products of Southern agricultural indus
tryI Deprived of these accessories to it's
greatness. the United States, it it SO much as
existed, would be fourth or fifth rate power.
without rank or respect among nations.
All this glory of the South is past, and
how does the land sit desolate that was once
radiant with benefcent power! Stripped
of four thousand millions of property, be-
reaved of three hundred thousand of her
children, shut out from the Uuion which she
did so uiuch to build up and Zurich. she vet
maintains a composure and fortitude more
marvellous than her proudest achievements in
the council and the field. Dcspoiled of her
earthly possessions, looking back upon the
most dismal blight that ever came mon +be
fortunes of people, looking forward TO the
gathering of sombre cleuds TINT threaten her
utter destruction, with EARTHQUAKES rumblino
beneath her .eet, and at her head anguish and
despair tugging like wild beasts, no auerulous
complaint drops from her lips, no frown of
Indignation or impatience disturbs her brow;
there is sadness and resignation, but not one
abject glance in her heroic eye.
"The Nobe of nations there she stands.
~ ChIldiess and crOwntess in her voicelesssWoe,
A empty urn within her Wither'd hand
When holy dust scatterd long ago
The ScipiO tomb Contains no ashes now
The very sepnIrhres lie tenanlless
Ofiheir heroic dwtllers dOst thou flow,
Old TibeFi through a rbIe wilderness
Rise with Thy yellow waves aud mantle her dis
tress.''
SEVEN FooIs--Tbe Env;ons Nio5 ,-1,o