Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-10-07


70 mat It Is the energy Of these rays which
Is iransaofmed INTO the potential energy {
energy OF position, represented by the
snemical separation Of this oxygen and car.
Doh. When we eat vegetables we assimilate
TINS energy into our systems, where 1t ulti-
hlately produces both heat and work. We
are thus enabled to trace the energy of the
suns rays, through every step of this most
wonderful process: first Of all, building up
vegetable fsod, in the next place, feeding
the OK or sheep; and lastly, through the
shape OF the very prosaic but essential Joint
OF beef or mutton, entering into and sus-
tanning these frames of ours.n
II the heat and light existing in the solar
rays are such silent and powerful chemicals
IN the separation Of certain gases, and in
combining Others, and thereby aiding in the
production of vegetable matter-thus Great
ing and transferring energy from earth
to plant, and from plant TO man, how equal
ly useful, beautiful and interesting is that
moisture which reproduces itself; how equal
! ly wonderful its power, as it beams upon
the quiet lake and ripping river and the
glistening dew, and lifts them in vaporous
form, until layer after layer, at first invisi-
| bic, thickenS into clouds, and floats through
the air like winged messengers from the
| gods on an imperial embassy; and
while they float, pour hbations upon our
earth-altar to sanctify and bless it unto the
use and service Of man.
| If such is the beautiful and mysterious
process by which vegetation is produced,
and such the equally beautiful and mysteri-
GUS process, by which it is converted into
the animal-man; and as it is not my in-
tentiOn on this occasion, TO theorize and
! speculate upon the relation and sympathy,
between mind and this converted vegetable
and animal matter, allow me to step upon
another, il not higher platform, and ex-
tend the scope Of observation and criticism.
Let us look at the influence Of soil, of food,
and Of climate, upon the Civilization Of
| man. In scanning the history Of man, We
! find the same peculiarities Of the social sys-
tenn in India, Egypt, Peru and Mexico, stu
| ated i'll the tropics where heat and moisture
cause the most exuberant Outbnrts of Vege-
/ tatiOn, and give the most seductive invita-
ton to man; hence, here We find the most
marvellous increase Of population, and the
| out-cropping Of earliest civilization, which,
stimulated by other and secondary infuen-
| ees, soon made those tropical countries the
| most populous on the globe. II would be
strange, unless attributable to climatic laws,
that We should find IN these countries the
same national foOd-dates and rice In the
old world; and bananas and maize in the
new; the same chemical compounds and
similar modes Of culture, unaided and un-
influenced by tntercOmmunication. Look
ing at the vast and teeming multitudes
which those tropical countries produce, we
readily comprehend that labor would become
subservient 10 capital; and where this is
the result Of dense population, it becomes
the more absolute in its despOtism, and the
more artful in instituting laws TO perpetuate
its sway. Hence, that system of social
caste, almost invariably found in the tropics,
from the DAYS of the inhexible laws of the
Modes and Persians, to the present absolu-
tism Of the Pachas, Viceroys, and khedives,
50 hurtful to an enlightened and healtful
progression. Considering the influence of
soil with little latitude, we find man ever
jealous of that soil which yields the most
generous returns. Therefore, We see
emerging from the unfriendly forests Of the
North, where nature, shrOuded in her frosty
winding-sheet, locks herself in her winter
tomb, the Zimmerman, Gothic, and Scandi-
nayian swarlns, which oyeTTun al Southern
Europe and parts Of Asia-producing that
midnight III civilization, historically known
as the Middle-ages. The result of these in
vasions was the old feudal system. Yet,
this, situated outside of the tropics, carried
in its own bosom its panacea. For the ig-
nOrance and superstition Of the Baron and
his serfs, gave strength and vitality to those
cTusades, which constituted the beginning Of
the end of their feudal power; and gave
birth to those democratic ideas, which have
slowly but surely advanced civilization TO its
present high standard.
These crusaders became fanatical under
the preaching of Peter, the Hermit, and, in
order TO equip their followers, sold land
grants, from which sprang Free Cities, with
social and political organizations, constitut-
ing the regeneration of mans social and
political progress.
Another marked effect was the influence
Of Asiatic civilization, especially that Of
Bagdad and Damascus, seen and felt in its
refiuX on this European world. The arts
and sciences cultivated in Asia followed the
crIIsadal waves, and in their refluent tides,
deposited in Italy, elements, from which
sprang that re-birth which made Venice,
Florence and Genoa, the rivals of Athens
and Rome, in Their palmy days. From these
centres it radiated over Europe, Influenced
everywhere by soil and climate. In the
South, on the Mediterranean, impelled by
the hot climate, aided by earthquakes, cpl
denies and volcanoes, We find it cratic and
superstitiOus; in Germany, more stable in
its progression; in Russia, slow and unap-
proachable as the stunted growth Of her
forest and the cold, isolated nature Of her
people; while in England, like Greece, in
her watery solitude, drinking the warm
moisture from the Gulf stream, produces |
one Of the highest types of European cviili- !
cation. If in the tropics We see peculiar |
civilization, as in Egypt, India, Mexico and |
Peru, and following this civilization north |
ward, observe its changes, regular as the |
climate changes, may We not conclude that |
climate has great influence upon the des- |
tiny OF man? In the tropics, nature is 4
more generous Of vast physical develop !
ment, and oftener presents wonderful phen /
omena, than elsewhere. The high noun |
tains interspersed with eruptive volcanoes; !
the impossible streams, the trembling /
earthquakes; the sweeping cyclones and |
fatal epideInics, create a superstitious /
awe In the minds of those who |
look upon and feel them, as ex-
citing to the imagination Of man as they are
paralyzing TO his reasoning faculties; and /
hence, hurtful to free inquiry and material
progression. We find the same civilization,
as soon as it passes from tropical Egypt into
milder Greece, with mountains not impas-
sible; rivers that can be bridged; epidenics
less frequent and fatal; with a soil less
fruitful, and climate more salubriOus; I'M
dergoing complete transformation. In
Egypt and India, mans imagination seizes
upon those objects Of nature, vast and mys-
teriOus to his vision, treats them more as
objects of veneration and worship than as
intended for his practical utility, and thus
throws around them a mysterious veil,
through which, the mind dare not penetrate.
But in Greece, where climate was less eX-
cessiye, soil less productive, and the face Of
nature less abrupt and marvellous, the rea-
sOning subOrdinated the imaginative facul-
ties of man, and hence no longer over-esti-
mates the powers of nature, and under
estimates his own, as in the tropics; but
seizes hold Of the former, regardless Of the
and sanctity with which they are
held in the tropics, and makes them subser-
Went to his wants, his luxuries, and his own
elevation. Here then, we might say, Is one
Of the fruitful sources Of that Grecian civil
ization, which is to the history Of the past,
what the sun is 10 the solar systematic
fountain Of light and life
To individualize. Did you ever reflect
on the fact that history tells, in all its teach
ngs, of but few men living in the tropics,
Uho ever attained in any of the walks of