Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-06-07

] 1
Of the Southrons. their States. Yet, ex-
!. rant in few OF the old States, this love
Of the old State was rather theoretical,
and the psrformauceof an acknowledged
dutv, than a passionate devotion. The
new States weue in theory Sovereign (;
hut in pranticetf ey were rather depend
emf Dnunicipahties, a1d inns or stations
hv tha way, on the march or Journey,
t6an homes The theory of their Sow
araigntv was like fixed star as distant
80 Arcturus. It gave little light and less
Tital heat. The people Of the South had
little loveiof home, because, with their
roigrstore habits, they had, In general,
( no nermAnRnoy of homei audit isin that
nermapenev that ardent patriotism has
its rno4 We need not expect true State
nride, Or patriotism that prefers the In
torossiof the State ab I'VE all other inter
es's, until our people cease to De nomadio
and their affections cling around the
S-nnos that belonged to their forefathers.
We NAV parhsps hereafter have some
tbin0 ike the ScotchmaD's love of his
:, Narrnn hills. the feelings reused in the
hawitzsris hosom by the RsrZ des Vaches,
Rike tha FrepehmAn's idOlizztiOn of la
Raila France like the intense nationality
bof the Englishman but we viii not
I,ove that lova and those feelings for our
'I2tatas an long as we have wildernesses
n which IN plant ney States, and as we
duova with so littls regret from State to
aEfate- IT is more likely that, unless OPP
1rassion prevents it, we shall come by
+lieOraes to look upon the whole of the
limited States as our home and country,
Nqpd that our loyalty and patriotism Will
he for the national flag and government,
and our pride be in the national glories.
/ Such, at least, was the contlnusIly ln-
croasing tendency be'ore the late war
With a common government, common
hao. a NAVY and an Army, our theory OF
/ aIlegIance to our States continued the
same. INT we were insensibly becoming
one Deople at heart; and State S)v-
/ eraignty was becoming merely theo-
! retical.
! The South struggled manfuliy to main
! tain the truth, aud failed. Unfortunate.
( ". though Truth is vast force, so also
/ is Error, and often PToEes victorious.
( Error IS often more acceptable to men
than the Truth, and the Archangel Mi
chael Is not always nor often the victor,
I ia his strife with Satan. Il Is well
enough to say, that
/ "Frror, wounded. wrthes IN pain,
And dies amid her worship peers :"
but it is not always nor very often true,
! 10 matters not within the Jurisdiction Of
the Senses. Error in philosophy and re-
IigloD have ALWAYS ruled the woT Id, and
do still rule IL, far more than the truth.
I 70 deceive aud delude the people has al.
ways been, and probably always will he,
the surest way to attain power in a Re
pnhlic a wrong construction of Con-
stitution will fiod as many advocates as
the trne one, and be quite as likely to be
accented by Lhs people. 1t little con-
soles us to be told that ssEcr only sue
eeeds beeauseit ls believed to be the truth.
It is only the less ereditabie to the hu-
man race, thsC y Is so easily and contin-
ually dupsd and misled; fog y argues
general ioeaparity to distinguish the
True from the False, as depioTable as
that common defect OF the moral sense,
that disensbIes men TO discriminate he
tween the Expedient and the Just. The
Thoughts OF the Past are the laws of the
Present and the Future; but they are as
often the High Priests Of the Erroneous
ana tbe Plausible, SIS Of the True. Laws,
Philosophy, Religions, all are the be
quests OF the Past 70 tie Eresent, and all
swarm with falsehOods sad Epseious
ulausibiIities, and palpahle absurdities
The msxims Of the Jes1its, their escO-
b1rdertes Is they we're termed in France,
after the great teacher OF vi!lsiny, the
Spanish Jesuit EsCoBAR, have had far
lore influence, and more extended do.
uini0n over mems minds, than the phi
Iossphy OF Iseibnitz. How much truth
is, after all, balieVed in Enilosophy, how
much ia religion, compared with the er-
rors2 It is not 10 the fields only, that
the weeds grow more abundantly and
rankly ard rapidly than the grain.
nj - r.-f 81 t.aA
but a little while, when errors
sprung up, and long usurped the place
of ifa Iroudest truths. A noble thought,
ringing dowa tae Iong slopes of time, IL
great force, aud often stiFs tse heart
pulses of a nation, long after the tongue
that uttered it, or the hand that wrote
il, has mOuldared into dust. Often it be-
eHI1ss 8 law for future ages. But also
base tbo1 gi.t l;ves, and an untrue word,
aud maxIms ike taoss ~ lrsehiavelli,
and find an echo In mems hearts, aud
prompt the Statesman, snd Justify to
hins-lt the Tyrant, the Z U-uFper or him
who Is worse and bsser than either, the
people fattering, people cheating dema-
gogue Bip,omscy continues to be what
it always was, a Rsase o. cyerreaching.
Where one man or Nation o0eys the
commandment Do that unto others,
which We would they should do unto
you," q huRdred accept this instead,
"Do unto men whatsoever Of harm or
wrong they do unto you, and more
The beneleent end gentle teachings OF
the G bspel do little goyern ths E.inds Of
men. compared to those which have
seemed to Justify hatred and persecution.
In all the centuries, false conceptions OF
the character Of God, as vindictive,
cruel, esvage Deity have been produc-
tive of bsFDSTities snd atrocities; and
there ia no ls9fpSttoo, aS wrong that
has not been Justified by the RlSxim that
the safety of the People ia the paramount
law.
Nothing is 40 acceptable to the major
ity of men as false maxim, If it Is but
plausible. Nothing is EaOTe ptsob isvous,
and nothing more common, than moral
and political fallacies. Some one has
said, that " Every Revolution, In its
last stage, requires Dictator, on whose
wisdom and honesty its ultimate success
will depend.p And he odds that "a
d .etRtOFs6iP boys the head OF the people
for an hour BsspotisIa 6ogs It's heart. 1
for eUerh The former saying seems 4
proven true by all experience the latter
ia false as the Father Of lies himself; and
let loose among a people suffering under
anarchy, would be like wolf among the !
sheep. incaieulsEle nisehiefs have been /
wrought by the two msXinsi thst :. 1t is
justihable TO lie for the good OF the |
Church T; " aud that "the end justifies |
the means.n How much sorGid mig !
gardliness has been fJstered and made |
habItnal by the meanness OF Poor
Richard How few men are there,
who do not act on the doctrine o
MRchisvelli and Fra Pa0lo, that We are
under no obligations Of gratitude to those /
who only do Us justice; how few who feel
bOpnd to the payment OF what they only
owe In e0ssamop with many?
What seems, more commends itself TO
men, than what is. Sophlstry has AL |
ways proved more potent and effective |
weapon than Truth. Maurice of Mas
sau, when IN extrenlis, sent for a minis
ter Of the Reformed religion and Cath
olic Priest, and caused them to engage
10 religious discussion. After listening l
70 them long while, he said, "I see
plainly that there is nothing certain |
except the msthematics % and turning
on his side, expired. The doctrines OF