Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-03-12
goes to pieces, as they are only pa.sen-

ST dt'tSI duu hills. lue part VI our 6ulplIt
l am now considering stretches from the
Delaware bay to the Rio Grande, compri.
sing nearly one million square miles OF
territory, extending over many degrees OF
longitude and latitude. 1t presents almost
EVERY variety of climate, soil, scenery,
and geological formation. 1t is happily
exempt from the rigors of an Arctic win
Ter and tropic sun-the nurse of fierce
Passions, enfeebled intellect and animal
existence. 1t possesses climate that in
duces the growth of intellect high moral
sentiments, and the refinements of no
Die civilization. Nature has given it a
vast coast line of ocean, sought By nu-
merous and great rivers, constituting a
perfect arterial and venous system through
Which great commerce seeks the mar
Bets Of the world. The richness and
Grandeur of its vegetable productions cor
respond to its exuberant soil, its bright
and genial skies. do not purpose, if l
Lad the power of expression adequate, to
describe this great and beautiful region.
1t is its people that concern me, and for
Whom l feel an abiding interest, and
whose past history and future glory are to
Constitute the brightest pages in the annals
Of time. They have history made by
,rest and bonored ancestors, whose mem
ries are embalmed in the hearts and souls
f their poste1ity. These were great
nen, loved and honored by the gods, who
aid the foundations of an empire bound
ess in extent, and to whose duration
years gave no limit. Their memories
nave been adored, and their bright exam
piles have Illuminated the path of duty as
heir children have spread the area of do
Union over the new and unrivaled inher-
Snce that an all-bountiful Providence had
wen to them. They are proud of their
ountry, and have sought TO render them
Ives worthy of their privileges.
The bar and the bench furnish some of
e brightest names that have ornamented
e history of jurisprudence. These be-
me the great teachers of the people, who
rowded the hastings and forum to hear
lestions of public policy and law discuss
with a grace Of manner, a briliancy of
.pression, a profundity of thought, and
outrageous independence that would chal-
5nge the age of Grecian eloquence. Men,
omen, and children, of all ages and con-
itions, caught the inspiration of their
= Na
desire of excellence, the ambition for dis
tinction. crowded the forum and the Senate
with statesmen of wisdom and orators of
unrivaled grace. These people have not
been less devoted to the eloquence of the
forum than to courage and address in the
field. They have adorned the annals Of the
field not less than the domain of letters. To
some extent they, the people, are hero
I, L., Ill
Their heroes belong to the noble and pure.
They have not been accustomed to bow
down to IDOLS made by human hands nor
10 adore the emblems of a vulgar insolence.
Their change, wrought by the rebellion
and its consequences, is one of the saddest
chastisements that can befall the human
family. No calamity is so fraught with
anguish so crushing to the spirit of proud
people, as defeat. Famine may bear its
wan and wasted thousands to the tomb:
disease may desolate its provinces; brave
men will bow with reverence to the chas-
tisement of Providence. Time will rest ore
their hopes and soothe their sorrows. De-
feat is sting whose wound cannot be
healed, and sutjugation is worse than q
universal grave. So keenly do brave and
generous victors feel for those stricken by
their own weapons that they seek by
noble sympathy to remove all evidences Of
triumph.
What agony, what grief, has been car
ried to every habitation in the Inundated
States! These were the real saddening
sorrows of the war, such as even brutes
could feel To these may be added the
overthrow of their social order, the de-
struction for the time of ancient Common
wealths, the most renowned republics on
the globe. In their places governments
were organized, not by the people and for
the people, but the slave and his leaders,
by an unexpected revolution in the wheel
of fortune, became the rulers. The States
all were placed under a race of men so diff
ferent from the former political rulers that
they regarded them with surprise and in
dignatiOn. If they had fallen from the
moon they could not have differed more
widely from the people.
One class of these nOUi h0mines regarded
no place as sacred, and rushed TO the func-
ton of government under the inspiration
that carried the swine into the sea. They
covered the land, and like VirgiIs Fame
stretched themselves from earth to the
clouds that they might fill the air with
'lies and knavery." Malice is garnered
near their hearts, that they may keep up
constant supply. Evil they never forget,
and have no memo for GOOD. The for
rner is a near relati,., vide the latter is a
stranger to their moralrCnstitution. They
are so fond of SEEM offers suffer that they
will not die lest they might please some one
who would rejoice At their death
There is another c,as5 that have a de-
gree of worldly prudence that enables them
TO entertain opinions suited to the oppor-
tunity. They are never out Of season.
They instinctively discern the proper pc
Rod for change of Gin. o., as the bird Of
passage for its flight. They are not with
out zeal which increases or diminishes in
its intensity as the times promises greater
or less reward. Thay have no knowledge
of their incompetency to manage empires,
nor have they feeling enough to be re-
strained by shame from the effort. They
are as tenacious of their purpose as a
horse-leech, which never lets go its hold
until filled with blood. They would not
leave their places though they should en-
counter all the plaques of Egypt.
They form a list of species too long for
description, and must content myself with
the mass. 1t is not in human power to do
justice to the subject. If Dante, who Gx-
plored the reccsses of the internal world,
had encountered such a race of beings his