Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-06-20

HA
AGEM.-The following beautiful essay,
written by Miss Bette Crawford was
read by the fair a1thoress st the CON-
mencement exercises Of the Memphis
Ladies Institute at the Greenlaw opera
hall, on Tuesday night, We publish 1t
/ this morning for the benefit OF those who
cherish
"7Ae Land We L0ve.n-0n one coast
rocked by the surging waves Of the At
lantic, on another the great waves OF the
mighty gulf successive rise to kiss the
sandy beach. When the great orb OF
day comes rejoicing In the east, his wei
come beams fall upon across the lofty
peaks Of the Allegheny and Blue Ridge,
and from the glowing portals OF the west,
his parting rays play upon it athwart the
granite towers Of the Rocky mountsins,
at whose feet the g~rsss-gr0wn p~rairies Of
Texas are spread out, till they seem to
meet the bending sky. Through its cen
ter the mighty h'Father of Waters
winds its changeful course; now parting
its waves TO circle round some
lonely island, again sweeping round
some miniature p~roHontory here bend
ing TO receive into its bosom another
tributary. there winding swiftly past the
pine bluffs, and then flowing ~sluggishly
onward till he himself is lost amid the
briny waves of the gulf Though tt y
not made bleak and bare by an Arctic
winter, nor yet scorched by the piercing
rays of q tropical sun, still, in one pOr-
ton the whitening snow in fieecy fakes
descends and wraps the earth as In a
shroud during winters reign while in
another, summer may yield to autumn,
but scarce ever abdicates her throne to
winter. Upon her soil she rears the
sturdy oak to withstand the tsmpest's
shock, and again the "Air is made
heavy with the perfume of orange
groves and flowers" she rears the
stately pine to deck the noun
tain's brow, while the queenly
magnolia, emblem of the south, forms
the forest shade, in whose evergreen
branches the mocklng bird chants her
uneeasing lay, and the echo of the whip
pOorwill's voice rssounds at twilight
hour. When hope, bright child OF the
morning, entered the breast Of the . wild
dreaming" painter, she pointed out, az
| his models, the romantic scenery of the
south, to the Cumberland, "the Rhine
of America % to the poet she gave, as
his song, the dreamy land of the south,
the land of song and flowers to the
| commercial man she spoke of its broad.
sweeping rivers and seaport towns; and
to the agriculturist of the varied and
productive soil, for she is the agricultural
spot of the world! Above her bosom the
ripening fields of grain rise and the
passing breeze bends the bearded wheat
! into golden waves; from the same soil
springs the boandless fields of rice, and
here the bursting cotton bolls throw q
| snowy mantle over the earth as far as
I the w can reach. 1t was her products
that built up the crowded cities, aud
diffused life and vigOT throughout the
land her products that have given en-
| plOyment to the poor and lured the sons
of the Emerald Islen from their
famine stricken homes; her products
that have supported the gigantic manu-
features of New England, ringing from
basement to attic with music and delight
her products that haye eaHsed the ten
thousand ships to dance upon rolling
pillows, and spread their sails to every
propitious gale! NOtOniy has she ruled the
land in this way, but how many
| of her sons has she sent to the Leg
slative halls, to mingle their voice
in the ruling Of a nation =?
sad how many has she sent TO fill the
presidential CHAIR Was not the he,
who first sat in that place, TIE hero Of
"'76?" was not the great ruler during
/ the SIIllt Vi lOlEs WA nbb 1AOlAOS ~
great statesman and soldier? was not
| the great hsFo Of the battle of New Or
leans I? were not all OF these her sons
and when the shrill clarien Tesounded
| the battle cry ITO arms" did she not as
a Spartan mother send them forth to
battle for her rights? She inspired it
! them with the very air they breathed?
Nor did shs inspire in them more han
her illustrious of " 80 and 1911 For
who could have fel If more, or
breathed it more freely than the great
chief of the armies of H'hl ~ than the
heroes of Manassas? than the cham
pions of Chicamauga? Or can the
sToUnd of "'76" be more hallOwed
| Iban that of H'6l?" Can Fort Moul-
trie be more sacred than Sumter,
to the Land we Love-" orthe plains Of
Yorktown be more hsllowed than these
of Shiloh ? or CowPens than Vicksburg ?
Even as a mother loveth her afflicted
Child aore, 50 the martyrs of the Lost
Cause afe h6se saersf 70 the Land
we Love" Not more Shafloweq by tp9
gpartans, the pass of Thermopyle-not
dearer TO the Greeks the battle Of Mara
! tbon-not more sacred to the French
| the .ia;as Of Austerlitz, than are to the
south tie bAtt1s plslEs Of hsr martyred
sous, who
"Died ere yettheir straining eyeballs saw
Their couutry's banner traiung In thedust,
Or cen thvir mighty chief compelled to trust
HE life, his fortune to an angry foe :"
Carthage could boast her Hannibal
Rome her triumphant Cesar; Mace
| donna the conqHfror Of the world
every true-bQTd + Frenchman praises
the name ( NJ Napoleon, and Eng
land pays honor to the memory
Of rthA champion of Waterloo f; yet
now elm the land can boast such leaders
god greaLand we Love-" To the SCARED
and waf-worn veteran, who lived in her
defense, whose healing wounds were
| torn to bleed afresh for her, she gives
her love, her praise and her hQpOr. To
| the departed hero who wrapped his col
ors around his breast, and laid him down
upon the battle plain, each year she
sings an anniversary dirge, for be fell,
notIslke Hannibal by the suicides
poLbDge. Ike Cesar by the assassin's
blades, IHr like Napoleon "On a lone
rocky isle in the ocean" but on the bat
tlefield! Greece was the land Of poetry
and song, the land of imagination, whose
sylvan groves were cherished shrines,
whose fountains and streams we're e2fh
q Naiad OF 3 Nymph. Rome, the s-nifYy
hilled city, extended her sway VIII
made her power felt to the "orIS
of the earth ; made the very maine of
Roman an almost sure guaranty against
outrage and oppression in every cline,
| and yet she fell England was the land
of great men and noble deeds, whose
merchant or whose warrior keels port
the waters of every sea. The "Land
we Love" resembles each Of these. Like
Greece, it is the land of song, and has too
its shaded groves, its fountains and its
streams of clear and limped waters. Like
Rome it has been torn and devastated
by wal seen her children ~dishonored ;
remains but a wreck of her once glorious
self Like England, she's the home of
the brave, the land Of great men and
noble deeds
Go view the field no longer stained with blood,
For lower grow where once the warehouse
stood.
Meath the warm sunlight glOws the golden
Where me earth was covered with the slain,
Peace DER the world hath spread her genial
rays,
Won from the poets Tyre It's sweetest praise,
Twined a bright garland ro1nd the soldiers
spear,
Checked tine deep sigh, and caught the talnng
teari
THE COURTS,