Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-06-28
SACRED HISTORY.

rising Of the morning until the stars ap
peared," the sdversaries, failing to hin
der the work by open violence, resorteC
to other means, not less in use now thar
then. Tney suboTRed false prophets and
prophetessss, To predict fsi!use and ruin
as the CONSEQUENCES Of what was de-
uounesd as disIoyslty to the king. One
in the pay of Sanballat and TobIah
proposed 10 Nehemiah to take posses
sion of aud tsrricade the Temple, for
be said, L" they will come to STAY thee
yea, in the night they will come to slay
thee" But, says the lion-hearted Gov
ernor, not deceived by his pretended di-
vine commission Of prophet, ~ said
Should 8 man holding the place DO
desert my post? What man, Governor
and Viceroy as I am, would so cut OF
the Temple to save his life? I will not
do it, For 1 saw clearly enough that
God had not commissioned him; bat
that he prophesied what he was paid to
rophesy."
But the people listened more rever-
entity to this false prophet and to others,
and 70 Noadaiah, the Prophecies, and
were dispirited, and began to say thai
they were worn out with iucesssnt Ia
bour, and there WAS much rubbish,
and that they could not build the walls
Ia all ages, the people have listened
with dependency to the predicters OF
-aI
only by privations, hsrdships and toll.
To boast when dangers and difficulties
are at q distance, and TO despOnd when
they are nefr at hand, likely to over
wheIm them, are equally their charac-
teristies. The true Leader Of men knows
this, and knows TOO the means by which
to re.animate and encourage despon-
dency and faint heartedness. Always,
the courage and self-relisnce of the
LeSder, his readiness in resources, bis
fertility o. expedIents, his daring rash
ness, restore the confidence Of his fol-
lowers and arouse their zeal anew. II
Nehemiah had listened 10 the crafty
and malignant advice Of Ssmayah, ana
resorted TO the strong walls OF the Tenn
pie for personal security, the people,
seeing his apprehension, would have
sunken into despair. Those who lead
the people into desperate undertakings,
must cast behind them all thoughts OF
personal safety. To seek security be-
yond that which they can share, is base
and ignoble, and as little becomes a
leader, as to make terms with the en-
envy for himself, and sell or abandon
them to his vengeance, either during
the war or after IL mas ended.
Yet it always has been, and always
will be, that many Of those who are
foremost Ia Persusding the people into
rash courses and dangerous adventures,
are among the first TO become discour-
aged, when success, at first deemed Ger
tain by folly ana rsshness, becomes
doubtful; and to abandon the cause, or
take measures to secure their own safety,
IN the event of failure. Nehemiah was
no political sdveDturer or Bohemian,
who having nothing to lose and every
thing TO win, plsyed game in which
success was honor and fortune, and fall
ure would leave him no poorer than he
began. He was su officer OF the Per-
Sian Court, IN favor with the King, |
possessed Of large numbers Of slaves, |
able to live without receiving any salary, !
though daily entertaining more than 8
hundred aud fifty persons, Of the Jews
and their rulers, besides others who came
as visitors; once in ten days furnishing
store Of all sorts Of wine.' He had no |
temptation, and no inclination, to plum.
der the people; and it could not profit |
him to mislead them.
Always, also, the people have been
more inclined to give credence to the |
false Prophets than to the true; TO the |
Prophets OF Basl, than to Elijah and |
Elisha; and TO listen the more reveren-
italy, and follow the more blindly, in
proportion as the title to confidence,
consideration and respect was the less. |
Boldness, impudence, aud adaptation to |
the popular humour, are the chief quail
fieatiOns Of false Prophet now, as they
were when Hilksish's predictions were
heard with distrusi, and Samayah was
deemed the Oracle OF God.
Nations owe their calamities chiefly
TO the false Prophets who become their
OrscIes and Rulers. Every man who
assumes 10 be a Statesman, acts and adj
vises for the future, and must needs pre-
dict what the future will bring forth
That is essentially to prophesy. Yet.
as Prophets, what lAmentable failures
most popular leaders have been, and
how they have cejoled and mIsled the
People, Exposed again and again, and
shown by the sOon-arriving Future TO
have bees utterly wanting in foresight
and all the qualities that make the
Statesman, they are trusted again and
again, to the Nati0E's undoing, COM
plscently laundering on, to be registered
in the CcuntEy's annals among its great
men. Nor do they lose credit or the
reputation OF ability, when the ruin
comes during their own lives; but still
insist on being trusted and, If bold
enough, continue TO be SO TO the end.
Providence has Seen impartial, in dis
trlbutiDg ouch men among the nsuouS-
Often, Posterity insists on continuing to
regard them with reverence, and their
names become heir-lsoms OF the nstioD, {
after History has pronounced its Impair
tial Judgment HpOs them, and ordered {
their images to be east dogn and trod-
len under foot.
Go back, in any country, 20 the tiSe
when = free government and discussion
lpon constitutional principles COM e
nencsd. Read the debstes upon the diff a
ersnt features and provisions OF the v