Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-11-29


j the campaign Just closed merited fo
o their dead the utmost honor, within
r the power Of the people to bestOw.
r Second, That the leading part, ,whicl
i Athens had played among the Gre
clan States-her past political aScen
t dancy-her martial prOWesS-socla
# virtues and intellectual force
/, imposed on her citizens tn
D duty to fight, and nee
; be, die for the preservation o
5 this pre-eminence. He did not scOrT
; to be so sectional As to contrast Athens
f and Athenians with the people OF hel
: sister States particularly with Lace
/ demon, the stirrer-up of the hatred:
I which had plunged her into war.
g Third-He argued that if Athen
I fans desired to maintain all those ele
, ment5 of character which, in theil
} opinion, made them great, and dis
t tinguished them honorably from the
other Grecian States, they must mag
= nify those who suffered and fell in
their defense, even under the most
untOward fortunes.
There could scarcely be selected
, for the purpose in hand a line
, of reflection more entirely apt
and pertinent than that supplied
by this classical precedent. n Chris
tian age may add other cOnsid-
eratiOns, but cannot substitute better
sentiments or more striking suggest
iOns-sO far as they go-fOr those
handed down to us from the polished
Pagan. Your speaker takes the hint,
and stands instructed by this exam
pie. Would thar the power of the
superb Oratory with which these
thoughts were first presented in re-
mote antiquity had likewise been
transmitted.
Who that is conversant WithAmeri-
can history will deny that the people
of the South had, long before the civil
war, established for themselves a char
acter well defined and altogether indi-
vidual, distinguishing them from the
/ populations of their associate States?
This distinctiveness was political, So
cial and intellectual. 1t is now, per-
! haps, the fashion TO question their su-
! periOrity, and rather insist on their
inferiority; yet, for nearly eighty
years, predOmlnance in public affairs
was conceded to them by those who
now disparage them and their ances-
] tors. This argument does not neceS-
/ sarily involve any question as to the
present relative position OF our peO-
pie in these regards. It may be that
/ the population of the Southern
/ States was intended to rule In Ger
! tain era of the Republic. The age of
iron may have been only intended for
them, and thsy are, perhaps, not
adapted to the age of gold, But it
must be admitted that the genius of
the South presided over the birth of
the Republic, aud shaped and guided
its destinies for over thFea-Quartsrs
founded American liberty. What
on the plains Of Lexington was the
resistance of a selfish patriotism, was
in Virginia the assertion of princi-
pie of British freedom. To the South
was entrusted the great Captaincy
that led to the final victory of the
Colonial arms. The soldiers of the
South cheerfully served beyond the
borders of their States, and wherever
on the continent the foe could be met
To the craftsmanship Of the South
was entrusted mainly the adaptation
of new forms of government to the
doctrine of British liberty. Our po-
litical foundations are mainly its work.
Washington, jefferson, Madison,
Henry and Marshall stand out in
history the representative men Of
the early heroic age of the Republic.
They promulgated the policies at the
Inauguration of our system, which
controlled it up to l6GL 1t is worse /
than idle to shrink from historic truth
for fear Ofill-tempered criticism. En-
yiGus malice you'd alone as
sumo the responsibility OF de- /
NAL at this point. Whatever /
our late foes may hold as great and /.
glorious in the career of the American /
States for eighty years, they must at
tribute TO Southern craftsmanship. II /
their pride centeFS In any one pas /.
sage of this brilliant epOch-OF If they
boast over the grand total of these I
years, ii is a tribute, voluntary OF ia /.
voluntary to the genius of the South. I
If she withdrew from competition in 1
material enterDrises-if she shrunk /
from the struggle Of the market-place I
it was TO study free government and /
mature for freemen wise policies. All /
were the beneficiarieS Of her political
ascendancy; and a rational, wen or I
dered constitutional liberty was the 1
result. This benefcent and vigorous /
predominence furnishes the brightest |
page to American annals. What En- /
glish history would be without the
Norman era American history
would be without the Southern era.
If the SOutherner has been a great !
political power in the land, his suprem-
aoy has not been the less noted for
the raFest social and personal
virtues. What his quiet but aggres-
siye intellect might possibly have
failed entirely to command was yield
ed to his stern personal integrity and I
attractive manners. He was a Demo
crat with the breeding Of a prince,
and taught modern times that fifth,
cruelty and infidelity were
not the necessary cOncOmitants of
popular liberty. He converted the
JacObin into a Christian gentleman,
not only without injury but with inn
mense advantage to popular rights.
The purity and grace of Southern
wives and daughters have passed into
a prOverb. So profound has become
the conviction, with even our enemies,
of the great excellence of our people
in these regards, by reason of the eX-
perienceS manifest since their eXclu-
Sion from participation in the Federal
Government, that many of them la
ment our Ostracism and loudly de-
mand the return of truly Southern
Representatives to the Federal Capitol.
Their presence there is now actually
deemed necessary TO the restoration,
not only Offree government, but to an
honest administration.
We might, however, close the book
on the history Of the South that pre-
cedes 1861, and commence with the
first eannOn-shOt that, sweeping over
the waters Of Charleston harbOr, woke
to life that WOndrOus martial proves
of our people az which the world
stood amazed, and still there Is more
than enough in that heroic struggle OF
four years To exhaust monumental
marble and commemorative brass.
The records OF that brief time exhibit
a national life that will never be for
gotten. The deeds, achievements and
sufierings of those days will yet fill the
storied page, and move in accord with
the majestic periods of sober history.
Fronting a huge and eVer-deepening /
battle-line of foes stretched across a /
continent, thethin columns of gray"
rushed to the conflict, undismayed by /
the fearful odds, winning victory after /
victory until, Impoverished by their
own excess Of ValOr, human endurance |
had been taxed beyond its utmost |
limit. To-day, we may meet among /
the survivors of those stricken fields a .
Leonidas at every street-cOrner, and |
jostle Spartans In our market-places. /
To have served i'm the Confederate ar
mics is at least to be the equal Of one 4
of XenOphOn's ten thousand, With all |
the shortcomings that the over-mstidi- |
Gus may in the bitterness OF disap- |
pointment ascrihe either 70 the civic |
or military administration Of the