Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-04-15
By REV. $. II. FORD. KIT.

'f Asa'e- ~ Ae.iI It.t-
By REV. $. Il. FORD. K.T.
5rsshrea and CJlgst77l1ea We meel
today a Lodge OF Sorrow, not Of anger
or revenge.
When we have caught the last life
breath OF q departed friend snd have
closed TIE eyes in death, We naturally
pause, and permit an interval Of hours
or days % elapze ere We celebrate his OBJ
sequies, or give vent 20 our woe. And
what g strange, dream-like period that
interval is. The emotions are unsettled
and conflicting the calamity is not re
allied the hope that beamed on Us 10
the very last, though now set forever,
sIlA leaves the twilight on our soul, and
indeiiuable images still float before the
vision. At length the feelings settle
down into conscious reality Of our loss /;
The burden Of woe crushes the heart ;
the iron pierces the soul, and the fOun-
tain Of tears and OF anguish is unsealed.
lt is not till friends have gathered
silently and mOurnfuiIy around the bier
% pay the tribute Of respect TO the de-
parted, that we feel the full extent of the
calamity, and tie bitterness of the be-
reavemenL
Such interval has appropriately been
permitted to intervene since our hopes
went down in darkness and our brethren
fell in the conflict. A year has passed
since the curtain closed On the last sCrug-
gles Of a cherished cause in whose de-
fense our brethren manfuiiy and si0ri-
OUsly died. That interval, during which
our minds have been occupied with va
rled thOughts-eEciting fears-u0vel and
painful surroundings changed cOndi-
ton Of society-and broken fortunes, has
enabled Us az length 10 realize what 8p-
peared a horrid dream, and 10 remember
the absent who perished IN the strife.
We sit here Is a Lodge Of Sorrow-we
come together 10 mourn The loss Of breth-
rsu-h0w noble, how numerous What
voice can give expression to sorrow so
deep, so generate From every Lodge,
from every homestead, the bereayed have
come to mourn for fathers, husbands,
sons and brothers, who sleep In their far
of, unmarked, CORY graves, where the
hurried hand OF a cOmrade, OF the more
careless hand Of the foemsn, laid them
down in their last TEST. l. there any
sorrow Ike unto this? What words are
nit channels for It's fi0W9 What coEsO-
iation can sOothe this grief2
But with this sorrow there mingles no
bitterness, and over it by0ods no spirit Of
vengeance. Our dead heroes come not
back ike the spirit OF Hamlet, melting
revenge. No Ulysses demands the beau
riful Inhigeuia that the son Of Achilles
may offer her q bleeding sacrifice 10 ap-
pease his fathers manes. We leave
this spirit 10 the cruel superstition Of
q past age. or the more cruel fanaucism
of the present, whose vengeful thirst FOR
blood no slaughter can satisfy, and
whose heartless hatred no humiliation, no
ruin can appease. With us the conflict
has passed, its issues decided, and how
ever much we may feel the humiliation
Of our condition, Yet We accept the ar
bitrament and seek no appeal; and
though we mourn the loss Of our breth-
ren, and look around with sadness on
the darkness of the hour, We can truly
say, 10 is the subdued tenderness and re- I
gret for the lost cause we thought was
right and the friends who stood 10y it
subdued, If not repentsEt, rec0nciled, II
not changed. Il is to Us the shad0wy
evening Of a bright day Of which the
poet hath said
Who hath no, shared that calm, so stiil and
The vole5ile=s thought that would not speak, /
a holv conc5rd-and bright regret,
A glorious SPIN patly with -uus that set@
IT'S not harsh sorrUW-Dul @ tencer Wps
Nameless. but dear 10 genie hearts below,
Felt without bitteruess-uut fun and clear
a sweet dejecllon--a transparent tear.
TnmIx'd y ith worldly grief or selfish sIelu,
shed without shaine-aud secret without pain I
Even As the renderrrsE that hour lustlis.
When SINNERS day declines along the hiiis, I
- feels tie fuiuess % orr heart hud eyes,
" Mlel all OF Genius thai can perish dies.
Such is the character Of our sorrow, and 4
such is the true key by which 20 inter 4
pret our regard for the memories Of our I
fallen brethren. We know they acted .
braveIy in the full consciousness of right, /
and 10 show this is 70 vindicate their 4
memory, and 70 justify our grateful re- 1
mem brance.
Courage has ever been esteemed by all /
tribes Ia al ages. The heart Instinct I
ively warns 70 admiration Ss IL cOntem- /
plates deeds Of chivalry, or heroic endu- 4
rance. Theseus, the ancestral king OF !
Athens, received for centuries the heroic 4
worship Of his cOuntrymen for bic YOUTH /
fll exploits, and MS victory over Iaurus 1
ID the labyrinth Of MinOs and such was 1
tne reverence for his memory and the /
influence Of his example, that his phan- I
tom form was seen by the eye OF enthu- 4
siasm IN the forefront Of the Athenian I
army az Marathon, sweeping down the ]
countless hosts Of the Persians.
But courage must be measured by the 1
motive .hat prompts it, and the circum- /
r-Sroes undsr which il is exercised. /
bfere Insen-, hility to physical danger
desperate daring vliiscglt lofty aim or !
manly motive. mere love Of excitement I
or adventure, thirst for glory, ambition I
for the bubble reputation, or visions 4
Of power, OF the qualification Of national /
pride or hate-these strip the attribute 4
and It's achievements Of real virtue and 4
al true greatness. The courage and dar- 4
ing OF Arnold, beneath foreign nag, 4
ouly emblaz0ned bis infamy, and deyo-
iion 70 bis memory. were il possible 4
y ould be sacriiege.
But on the other hand, when courage
g. drawn forth by principle, and which 1
20 sustain that principle against real or
supposed suJver,iOu or aggression braves
alike the carnage Of the battlefield, the
solitude Of the bastile, or the iguominy Of
The scahold, Il invests the character with
he highest glory, and lifts Its pOssessor
10 the highest pinnacle Of human vir-
tue. And those In All ages who have
displayed such courage, have received
the hsr0's crown, have been renowned
d u poetic story, and have been held % .
a. models for the Imitation Of future gen
erations.
Now II such courage-prompted by eK-
alted principle and sustained by a sense
0f right-if such courage as this bore our
brctheren on though wasting, WEAKNESS
and want through hatue-storms, and 4
Iu,prisonment and death, then they too,
are worthy 10 receive our plaudits. 10 I
live in memory and in song, and though 4
their resting place be unknown, vet,
nav their names be entablatured ia mar
Die or in brass.
10 attempt 10 prove or even illustrate /
tnslr daring, their endurance tie+F con- ]
stancv and their i0gtitEde, were alto 4
rether qratuitoas. Their lesds have
spoken and the world has heard and
paused in admiration. Those deeds speak
stiu in tones that can never die. List
euing 10 them as they ring through the
earth. your speaker = silent They, not
!. pronounce their euiOgy to-day.
What then incited this acknowledge
COURAGE IL was the deep conviction
that they owed the first and highest
earthly allegiance 70 the sovereign State
of which they were the sons and the citi-
zens; that thew owed TO her, and % what
ever other States she united herself, their
services and theirlive Mistaken or not,
these men firmly believed that allegiance
10 other States, united or disuniiedi went
aud came only through th6ir own soYer-
eign State, and that her adoption OF an
nulment Of the general compact relieved
them Of all previous obligations, by the
conflicting claims OF the impOsesa This
brief statement, with all the facts adheI-
ing. in law and in moral relieves the
memory OF our brethren l. ON all taint
of treason, or rebellion, or wrong. We
repeat, however mistaken they may have
been in ail this, il is nevertheless true
that they went forth at the call Of their
Gfete believing that they violated no
obligations, that they forfeited no ale