Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-05-11

artillery and the crash of muskesry. VI
poured out our hfe's blood for the cause
free government as we understood it. 81
TO ID that cur lives have not been lost
vainl Let constitutional liberty live fo
ever ~
A solemn reflection occurs Just hers
that while we bury on this spot the Con
federate dead, in the neighbOrhood, an
almost in sight, repose ihe dead of thei
late antagonists-enemies in life, bu
friends in the grave. And it brings int
play and just application the celebrate,
lines of the great poet of the North
Speaking Of Fox and Pitt, who were ri
walls in their lives, and had guided in thei
turn the destinies of European civilization
and died at short interval from eacl
other, he says:
All. tanning thought to human pride.
The mighty chiefs sleep side by side
The solemn echo seems to cry,
Here let their diseOrd with them die
| Drop upon FOx's grave the tear,
Twill triekie to his rivals bier;
ger Pitts the mOurnful requiem sound,
1 And F0x's will the notes rebound
Rest. ardent spirits. till the cries
| O. Ofdying nature bid you rise;
| Not even your cOuntrys groans can pierce
The leaden silenee of y0ur.hsarse-"
The lessen TO be derived from such
scenes and such associations may be made
valuable. 1t incnlcates the mortality OF
man and the utter vanity Of all his earth
ly aspirations. Where are the warriors that
have strobe the earth and made il tremble
amid the commissions of society? They
have gone down to their graves decorated
with a crown of laurels, but their names
grow DINNER and still DINNER on the
pages of history.
Where are the veteran statesmen and
orators who, for half century, held the
world spell bound, as il we're, and charm ed
the ear of the nation? They, too, have
gone down with the wreath of civic worth
upon their brows, and while they still live
the light of their glory, pales before the
lightness of new luminaries. So it is ia
all the departments of life. The exalted, the
great, the humble AID the obscure, meet at
last upon a eOEmon level. And here, at
least, withiE The precincts Of the dead, there
is repEolic Of perfect equality, and though
one monument may rise higher than an
other, and one urn show more exquisite
taste than another, the dust that sIumbers
beneath is the same. The difference con-
sists in the service rendered in the great
cause Of humanity. About this there is a
halo that outshines the splendor of the
grave, and will live while the stars main
tain their place in the sky. ..... ...t.
Is not this a fit occasion to urge the SUI
render Of all the passions and resentments
that may still linger from the late conhici?
Oh let us bury them in the graves Of
these young heroe1, and there let them
sleep for ever They had the courage to
die for their country as they believed it.
and can we not have the courage to rise
above the discords Of the hour, and erect
here a pyramid of patriotism and nation
atty, that will live on down among the
ages. This is our government. 1t was
made by our forefathers, aud under circum-
stances that have challenged the admira-
ton of all nations. This is our country.
There stand its mountains and plains, and
there they will stand forever. Yonder are
its lakes, and oceans, and gulfs There
their waves roll on, and there they will
roll for ever. This nation is in its infancy
and yet it has garnered up thousand
thrilling and glorious memories. It's virgin
forests, still echoing to the wild music of
nature, may be considered a not inapt
emblem of the youthsulness Of the govern
ment ITSELF 1t is too young to perish.
Let it live on like republican Rome,
until from its proud heights seven coun-
tries can look down and behold its glory
and its strength, with five hundred millions
of population streaming through its VAT
plains and stately cities and swsrming
upon the bosom of its oceans Let it live
on as the nursery of science and religion,
and liberty and law, and if it must at last
abide the fate of all human governments
that have preceded it, and go down the
dark road of Babylon and Tyre, let it be
late-far down among the ages. Let it
fall from agsand decrepitude, and never
from civil strife.
/ know that sentiment Low exists, and
is being inculcated with no ordinary zeal
and ability, that the form of our govern
ment must be changed-that an empire
must take she place of republic. Against
this ] protest in the most solemn manner.
[, for one, will never consent to the change;
and l VOW here to-day, amid the solemn
ceremonies, never 10 depart from the
faith Of our fathers. | vow by the free
winds that fan this grove, and by the
waves of that beautiful river that washes
the base ofthis cemetery, that | will never,
no never consent 10 the change of this re-
public into an empirel Sooner than this
/ would see the waves OF the Atlantic and
Pacific meet in their deVouring fury and
bury this continent forever. | say for
this people and this continent, no
empire, no despotism, no oppression. Bat
"lIberty and union, one and inseperable,
Il r / Iua
upon the constitution in all its putty and
all its glory. .s
- hear it said that the present evils are
intolerable, and any thing is preferable.
think otherwise. Where would have been
YOUR WashiBgtoDs, and JeflersonE, and
Adams, and Madisons, and Hdmiltons, if
they had been born under an empire?
Their names would never have figured in
the annals Of their country. To come a
little nearer home. Where would have
been Andrew Jackson and his compeers /
and SUCCESSORS in the public service if they
had been born under an empire2 They
we're all men of comparatively humble
pretentions, and had to make their way by
the force of their talents and exertiOnS,
and have, during long period, illustrated
the history of the State and nation and
their institutions. Aud where would have
been the millions that now comprise the
strength and glory of the republic |?
l have more faith than some with whom
/ converse. / believe in the capacity of
the people for self-goVernment. Constiiu-
tionsl government is not YET dead. Like
Lazarus, it. has only slumbered. 1t will
arise again in all its fullness and all its
glory. In the language of another, Like
the Last tower of ruined palace, it still
holds its head to heaven, while the walls
Of its splendor and the bowers of its de-
Iisht lie in deselatioB around" It's germ
is still alive and vigorous, and will repro
duce the same venerable tree of liberty,
beneath the broad, green shadows OF which
all these weary millions, North and South,
will nestle and find protection and repOse.
To accomplish this requires time and pa
thence. and endurasce, and charity, and JUS
lice. There never was a civil war yet that
was not followed by evils and disorders of
Greater or less magnitude. Like the ocean
when lashed by q tempest, the sturdiest
vesaels have TO drive before the wind, and
art and experience are impotent to resist,
and when the storm is over the waves still
roll and break upon the beach, but with
less and less volume, until at last the
humblest bark can ride in safety and Sc
curity. This national ocean of ours has
been disturbed by tempest such as We
never before encountered, brought on by
fate, or folly, or crime, or passion, or hy
whatever other cause. And though It's
thunders have ceased to roar, its elements
are still in commotioD, but gradually yield
ing to the mysterious laws which govern
human sOciety-laws of interest, Of justice