Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-08-02

.E This il a time for serious and sObel
thought, and not for the levities of har.
angues and the friYOlities Of tinselleC
rhetoric not for that sad, sombre anG
- gloomy detection into which dispiriteC
and nerveless craven soul subsidies and
sinks but for that manly and serious
gravity of thought that becomes meT
upon whom heavy responsibilities rest
and whom the ealamities Of their eOnn-
try and the Affections Of their people
grieFe and sadden. Lg -
And these calamities and Affections
are that discipline Of adyersity from
- which people may gather, if it will
the golden fruit Of the Hesperides
Prosperity eneryates and corrupts 1t is
in adyersiy that people becomes truly
great, for that strengthens and seasons
the soul, of the Nation as well as Of the
individual, if il has in itself the capacity
E to become great, if it does not become
disheartened, or yield to the plausible
persuasions of expediency, buy immu-
nifty from persecution by aspiritIess sub
mission, or accept ignominy as the con-
o, dition Of a treacherous truce with tyr
amy.
" There is perhaps no cOmpensating
= benefit and advantage which calamity
1 I'D adversely bear with themselves, so
roo ,, as this that in such seasons, the
: sdT1r,or So distress aud general misfortune
drsw and knit men more closely to-
getber rsbuke selfshness and egotism,
: ssYsIt and e1nobIe the souls of the lOwly
and the lofty alike, 'oSPlre 'nem @ win
s manly and heroic endu. @nce' Increase crease
their pity for those on whom 'ale lays a
heavier hand than on themseI, g, Inu
intensity the common sympathies Or ~
manity.
Then it is that men, purified and en-
nobled, become capable of sacrifcin-
themselves for their country and for each |
other,-not on the field Of battle, but
whore there is no glory to be won, and
the sacrifice has few witnesses or Is /
known to none and the cool heroism of .
the martyr is needed to inspire the pa
triot
1t is the highest destiny and noblest |
crown of glory of Humanity that man
can sacrifice himself for. his fellows, and .
even for those whom he is under no OBJ I
legation to serve. 1t is part of the
great system of things, in which the Di-
vine Idea continually unfolds itself, that
the innocent should suffer and often per
ish, in consequence of the sins, vices, err
rOrs, follies, faults and blunders of
{ others. Constantly this substitution of
the innocent for the guilty, or involve
ment Of the innocent in the consequences
Of guilt, vice or error, takes place. The
innocent child resps, by an infexible law
Of nature, that Is, as part of the plan
and system of the Universe. bvlhewiIIof
the Deity. unehangeable, and operating
universally, the sad consequences of
parental vices, in deformity and disease,
in misery and peHUry and this law was
announced to the Hebrews. when the
Second Commandment declared that
Jehovah was a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon their chill
dren, unto the third and fourth genera
tiOns. The detachment, sacrificed to
save the army, expiates the error of the !
General, by reseuing his battalOns from !
its consequences. The People, families, I
individuals, not partakers Of the vices, {
crimes or blunders Of their rulers. are l
yet they who suffer the consequences. /
Continually, the wife suffers, in conse- I
quence Of the d ,ipation, idleness, or {
want of foresight, Of her husband. He I
si,gns bond as surety, embarks in {
hazaa -dOus speculation, or is infatuated BY I
the fatai vice of gaming, and she and {
her children are reduced to penury. 1t 8
is of the law Of Nature, that the wife, !
loving her huss6ad, should, even if she
holds by law .Seps<ste property, be, by
naeans Of that love, stEays liable to be q
the victim of his extravaganza and vice. 7
And, of those slain, ruinsa, impover- c
ished, made miserable. ny war, hot one c
in ten thousand in any war, ever was N Z
any way instrumental in bringing st |
about Rarely do the women OF eoun
try aid in plunging it into Civd War.
1t is terrible thought, if we would bat !
reflect upon it, that in a republic every I
voter is, by his single vote, disposing, I
not only Of the fortunes, but Of the l
lives of others, wrecking househ olds and I
desolating States. Neither he nor Others !
care for responsibility divided among Il
SO many but the Deity knows precisely
how much Of il belongs to each, ard the 7
adequate punishment for it will, in some t
way, here or hereafter, be meted out,
Foremost among the innocent who d
have suffered for the guilty, have been a
those men who have, ia different ages,
eudeavOred to reform the world or 3 I
people, TO give freedom to the oppressed,
and in the true way TO serve their coun- a
try; and those men and women who 5
have died rather than deny the belief a
that was in them, and what they were v
assured was the truth. j.
The death of the wise and good has 5
often been made the efficient means of u
eonferring great benefits on men and d
Nations, by saving them from the con- n
sequences Of the crimes, vices and errors r
Of others, or of their own. Socrates p
died because he taught the truth at il
Athens, and because that truth was o
deemed impiety towards the Gods. If Fl
he had not so taught the truth, the v
world would not have possessed the phi S
losophy of Plato and he could not p
teach the truth without dying for it. p
Jeanne d Are was burned, because she a
caused the liberation of France from v
yassalage to England vassalage pro Il
duced chiefly by the follies and crimes v
Of the French mobiles, and the feebleness C
Of the Kings Madame Roland was the e
Martyr Of Liberty, and Hypatia of Phi h
lOsophy. Seneca bled himself TO death n
at the command Of Nero. Earth's fore e.
most illustriOus names are those Of the Il
Martyrs. The blood Of these is not fC
only The seed Of the Church, but also it
waters the Tree Of Liberty. Il
In putting Jesus to death, the Priests, D
Scribss, PhaTisees and people thought s.
they we're furnishing man; and they IL
did so because he preached reform, and IL
Denounced their corruptions and vices IL
He taught human brotherhood, moral IL
ity, charity and obedience aud they e,
acted precisely as the people, rulers and e.
priests have in all ages acted towards re- q
formers Regarding Jesus as a man, Il