Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 186?-1872, 1868-10-02
co X X n y p GSD N CHE.


dress you nJanuary last, and now
feel impclled by the peril ofiny coun-
try to do so again. l will take as my
text o remark occurring in an edito-
rial of yours in an issue few num-
bcrs antecedent to this date. You
were speaking at the time of the
Nortlicrnand Southern markets, con-
trasting them and our interests; but
wound up by saying it was useless to
argue the question, SO long as (at
presently a dimes difierense would
turn the scale In favor of u Northern
market for Southern trade. This
sniacks of the commercial, decidedly;
and do we not nyelin an exceedingly
commercial community, Mr.. Editor?
Commercial, trading, trafficlling,
specializing, getting money fast COM
munity or losing it faster i'm the effort
to get IL too fast community. Now
let us rddfcdii-c n little on this sub
feet, go to the root of the matter, the
primitive laws and first principles
I use the term radical in its ancient
sense; not in its modern, bastard
sense. To begin at the fountain head,
the Scriptures tell us that the love of
money is the root Of all evil-and
whether thispassage may not have
been improperly translated from the
original tongue, and may,'not strictly
apply to aUapy, we will not step to
inquire, so long as the evils which
chiefly affiict our very commercial
community arise from this root And
to come down to later and essen
TALLY worldly authority, Bobbie
Burns, Scotia's favorite bard, we have
this: .nr ..rIa-e I
When self the wagering balance shakes,
/ '1'is rarely right adjusted.
And now for the political applica-
ton of these truths; for do not pro
pose to go into a lengthy disquisition
of the spiritual and ethical bearings
of the same, but simply to follow W
my political text, quoted from the
Chronicle heretofore, not verbatim c,
INterdtim, yet I think / have the sub
stance thereof, which is the main
point, as language is merely the garb
the clothing Of the idea, as the body
is of the spirit, or as the broadclotl
and silk are of our very commercial
bodies. And an idea may he just a
good though dressed in homespuI
language-nay, sometimes better, TO
may we not lose sight of the idea il
LOOKING too much at the broadcloth-
just rs beauty is most adorned whel
adorned the least. But to the appli
cation. You say the dino makes on
country kick the beam, and has pc
tential influence over the balance. /
: this he true, and shall not disput
the point, for consider it we'll taken
what follows? Why this: When
nation or community becomes S
sortlid, individually, as to lose sight G
their political interests, that nation
or that community are in a fair wa,
to lose these same interests. la.
this down as Il political axiom. Lc
us ponder it well, and let no sordi
motives Of our own weigh u feather
!. 1872 ,v'r.v. vnU-oi rne nUDies
sentiments of the heart. Cherish
through veal and woe, in darkness
well rs light, in sunshine and storm
alike. And let us adopt this as on
motto: Rctrin intellect .fdclis. The
whate'cr betiles, we will have Il con
forting consciousness that we have fC
, no loye of gain, orplaco, or favor, sol
our country into this unhappy condi
, ton. Esau, you know, sold his birtl
right for mess of pottage, and whe
Z he would have claimed it, he coul
! not have it. Let this not be our cas-
in our day of calamity; for brightt
skies await us in the not distant fl
ture, / trust, and then how comfortin
the thought that no act of ours hf
furnished our csuntry's glory, or n
tarded the advent of the happier da,
But we must not be mere passiy
:, spectators of the drama, yea, TRACED,
that is now being enacted around u
. We must bc up and doing, and by c'
cry means in our power aid the goo
work, and unborn generations wi
> yet rise up and call us blessed. TIL
' is no time for sloth on the part of tn
y faithful. We find ourselves, at IL
> close of a bloody civil war, in I'll
midst of n wreck, n moral, social an
political wreck, and party in pow
= who are graphing the very pillars
the temple, and who, rather than Il
" go their hold, seem willing to pu
down the cdiiicc upon our unfortuna
heads. Is this time for sloth? y
my countrymen, we must cling toll
" constitution our forefathers bequeatl
=, cd us as the palladium of our hope
~ and struggle to rcinstatc it in all i
" pristine beauty and purity, for upC
:, this reinstatement hinges the hope
~ sclf-govcrnment throughout the ci
ili2rd world, We present, nj tn
time, the grandcst tragedy of mode
W y times, for the life of a nation of ifc
y" mon is the stake for which we pla
y Whether the God-givcn right of Sc
= government shall be perpctuated {
IL this continent, or be handed over
u the most audacious oligarchy record