Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-07-05

ana seas--the praise or heroic effort an
| God-lik success. .rotl-,-s.. 80 Z
| When nations sink into slothful indif
ference. governments, become despotic.
Speculation takes the place of action
curious inquiry into abstract question:
| supersede the investigations of the rela.
tons of man to man. This subject also
becomes dangerous to the state and gives
way to the attractive studies Of material
| prosperity. Intellect and Ingenuity, ex-
pending their utmost resources IN this
pursuit, accumulate those vast reservoirs
of wealth, in scientific discovery, in cap
ital, in machinery and skilled labor,
which, in their turn, allow leisure and
case for intellectual effort, and save to
the body and soul of man their most ex,
hausiing labors. 49, -. - -.
| Thus it is in the economy of nature.
'sAN things work together for GOOD. ),
Thus it is, that out of present caIanities,
I and disorders and dangers. and suffering.
by that mysterious law which we call ma.
ture or providence, are evolved, it NAV
be like bread cast upon the waters,
"after many days." the elements of Sc
cuiiiy AID progress. The gloom of the
grave is the essential forerunner of the
.giories of the resurrection. -
/ Prejudice, custom, error, yield st last
to intellect; and to affirm that truth, in
its imperfect development, seems also TO
be for a time submerged is only to repeat
that "this mortal must put on immortali-
ty." More now than ever thought gov
ems the world. More now than ever is
1t true that 1--WE must look for the real
rulers of mankind not in the cabinets of
statesmen, but in the closet of the sage"
Mind and force may for time coalesce;
genius and liberty may for time become
the allies of disorder and CONFUSION, but
all history tells US Ito use the striking
language of another-that fthere is an
eternal reaction of independence against
the tyranny of stronghold the force of
intellect against the domination of num-
bers; and this action and reaction steadies
the march of human events, and renders
the misfor.unes of one age ct once the
means of instructing the wisdom, cor
recting the errors, and mitigating the suf-
ferings of those which succeed it.n
What else is progress2 What else is
civiiizatiOn7 This is the tribute to the
God in man. This is the homage of
physical TO moral power. This is the
subsection of ''things seen and temporal
to things not seen and eternal"
Gentlemen, if have truly depicted the |
progressive condition of our race-if l |
have rightly appreciated the dignity of |
human life-=two practical questions arise
TO every thoughtful mind: Is our age
worthy of the worlds Are we worthy |
of our age Is our age adding to the |
store of learning2 / use the term in its |
broadect sense-as cemprehending every !
advance in every department of human
experimental thus aleliorating the
condition of man. Orsre we, like thank
less Spendthrifts, living upon the accumu-
lated treasures of those who have gone
before us3 Not to press forward is to go |
back. =.
have already said that the more mate
rial developments of physical science are
particularly active in this age Never
before has the condition of the people
been so good. Bad enough it still is.
ImmeasurabiC are the opportunities for
Yet tho march of reform
has been, with some exceptions, steadily
Indeed, in this fact lies our
chiefest danger. 1t may easily make US
forget that 'tall change is not reform
1t may easily lead US TO mistake the cant
of affected humanitarianisin for gener-
Gus and active and noble charity. Il may
easily lead us to an undue partially for
the present and forgetfulness of the illus
trious past
This generation cannot equal the names
which graced the realms of imaginative
Or philosophical thought in the pre-
,eding century. We look in vain for
hat galaxy of literary talent which threw
such an etfulgence OF glory over the last
decade of the eighteenth and the beginning
Of the nineteenth century.
Where are our Byron and Scott and
Moore and Campbell and Wordsworth and
Cowper and Colerige and Shelley and
Souihcy, and Mrs. Hemans2 Who is
giving us in prose fiction works to com
pare with WGUerly, or those stories
scarcely inferior, by the author of Pei
ham and Ernest MoltrdUers3 Who
3hall strike with equal hand the chords of
human sympathy which have SO often
responded TO the touch of Dickens
Where are our essayists who compare |
With the matchless Jeffrey and Sidney
smith, and Professor Wilson and Ma
,aulsy, whose brilliant contributions gave
o the periodicals commanding position
Il English literaturel Where are our
historians who can contest the palm of
excellence with Allison and Macintosh 2
Who on the Continent to-day equals,
wen aspires to rival, the philosophical
the glowing thought, the
brilliant imagery of Madame de Stael, or
Goethe, or Chateaubrand, or Lamartine,
Or Humboldt l.
We may have an occasional fash from |
3uizot or Theirs, but these are the dying
mbers of fires which glowed in the last
Those names belong to
,reat past. ESD
In our own country who presses for
ward to fill the place of Washington r.
ing or "copper" Who will renew the
Measures of Knickerbocker and Leather s
tocking2 Who among our young men !
re to be the successors of Prescott, and :
Bancroft, and Motley-of Bryant and
Ialleck, and Longfellow, and enrich by a ]
.igher cultivation the places cleared by
heir pioneer labors9 Ii
Who aspires safely to rival will not
ay excel-the commentaries of Kent and
story, or those immortal judgments
which we owe to the genius, and learn t
ng, and fidelity, and purity of Marshall i
nd Taneyl
Young, ambitious men crowd the halls
f legislation and aspire to political hon
re. Who of them are studying the char
Cters and scclziag with all their might to Z
ttain the excellence of Webster, and c
Jalhoun, and.Clay-of Writ, and Pinck-
ey, and Benton, and Choate, and Silas
Giles, and Tazewell, and a
ohm Taylor, of Caroline, and Nathaniel
Iason-or going back 10 less approaches a
lie models, of Jefferson, and Madison, :
nd Monroe2
1t is true we are building up States in
be wilds of the Rocky Mountains with
wonderful rapidity. 1t is true we span a
be continent with rail and wire, and send
ur thoughts in an instant across the ]
tastes of old ocean itself. 1t is true We I
re advancing with unequal speed to-
yard the summit of national power and Z
enown. So much the greater reason
Why we should not lag behind in the o
.I,,-o-r sc ,D,rolyy iDfnllact,,oI o,,d Ito | I