Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-08-20
A TRAVELLING TENNEssEEAN.
CaudIe Letters and Lecturon.

Staunton is reached from Lexington b,
a day of boiling, burning, frying, stewine
steaming staging, when you make the triI
in the middle of July. 1t has about fiV
thousand inhabitants, OF whom, perhaps
some 1900 are blind, or deaf, or drunk
or crazy, or going to school. This singu
lar state of things being due to the exist
ence of the beautiful asylums here estab
lished, and to the fact that the place hai
been selected by each Of the churches IS the
site for high female school, Besides the foul
already in operation, there is an effort beinl
made to put up an academy of music K
contain one hundred and fifty rooms
When this practical illustration of carrying
Goals to Newcastle shall be complete anC
filed, the standing choir of three hundred
young ladies shrieking, three hundred play
ing the piano, a hundred and fifty striking
the light guitar, and fifty making melody on
the harp, each "executine" different tune,
will produce an effect which, if audible,
would soon make the town a wholesale
asylum of lunatics. This being happily
impossible, we find by little cal
culation that there will be about
five thousand miles Of metallic vibration per
diem, end fifty thousand gallons of common
air used up in singing. Horresco referens. IL
is as impossible for our minds to grasp such
amounts as it is for them to take in the as
Economical periods.
Speaking of these female schools, fail
TO meet Miss Baldwin, whose name is so
familiar in Tennessee. She is on visit TO
the North for the purpose of examining the
most celebrated schools and Incorporating
such features as are cOmmendable in the
latest improvements, upon her institution.
Miss B. has such passion for teaching that
it is said she regrets being forced to be the
head of her establishment, and would pre-
fer being one of the teachers. Her infu-
ence is vast; her school is increasing in
numbers and popularity yearly, and is
likely to eventuate in some permanent form
like Vassar College.
The Virginia Presbyterians are close kin
to the Scotch. 1t was favorite anu sement
of that canny people when they wanted,
as their Irish cousins would express it, ga
bit of beef for brile," to go across the
English border and drive-I believe they
used that soft form Of the word that has
more SYNONYMS than any other in the Ian
guage-fat cattle from the other side Of the
Tweed to within mile of Edinboro Town.
When the English would repay the compli-
ment- By visiting Scotland, after going
through fearful hardships and dangers, they
would sometimes get out with afew skinny
Old COWS, which had never had enough to eat
in their lives and which, likely as not, the
Scotch would steal back when they got fat
enough. Even thus, these good Presby-
terians of Virginia, with an eye single TO
their spiritual interest, have got Baker here
and Pratt at Lexington from the cotton
With ut Tho rlo nd
Rutherford at Petersburg from Tennessee,
while now they are trying to get McNeilly,
from Edgefeld, to go to the first church of
Lynchburg. Withal they have great gift
of keeping their own preachers, and a still
greater enc of giving in exchange for
what they "borrow" a parcel of
occurring trash, who talk 'foTeVer more"
of their native pines and heDgrass. 1t
takes, gentle reader, hundred acres of hen
grass to raise hen. After making them
selves thus ornamental and useful, they are
sure to GO back, if they get a good chance,
which they are apt to do if their practice
on the outsiders has seemed to improve
them. Your Virginian is great for bis own
people, keeps bis friendship once given to
the end, aud if there is a trife light as air
indicating worth, in one of the concern, it
is confirmation strong as Holy Writ,
to the others, of eminent merit. Just here
modesty forbids me to do more than
allude distantly to an offer of almost
thousand dollars, which a certain person
lately received from the one corner of the
State where he was fortunately not well
known and had never preached.
leave this delightful Staunton for Char
lOttesvlle. What with old friends and &C
quaintances among the citizens, Virginia
professors and Tennessee students, am at
once at hume. 1t delights me to see how
highly Tennessee students are appreciated
in the Virginia colleges. They rank second
TO none. l hear much said of Willie Will
son, of Bethany, here at Charlottesville,
and of many other Tennesseeans. At Lex
ington Frank Buford was regarded as one
OF the best, and many others were highly
commended.
As soon as arrive invite myself, after
the manner of crowned heads, to dine with
the chairman of the faculty on the day sub
sequent, in order to save that busy func-
tionary the trouble of hunting me up. 1
can take the liberty, as he is the oldest
friend have on earth, and is one of the
dearest. find quite a party. Amongst
others a somewhat portly middle-aged gen.
tleman, of very fine face, whose name / do
not catch when am introduced, save as
"Judge." The perfect simplicity of his
manners, the Wilderness of his views,
the grasp of his intellect, the ac-
curscy and extent of bis knowledge
are wonderful and delightful. l speculate
over and over who be can be, but as is the
wont of preachers try to ''improve" the oc-
casion by asking information about
variety of points on which desire TO be in
struCted. find the same readiness and
eXactness in everything suggested. How
ever make amends by a reverentisl dumb
ness, when after an hour or two, l find l
have been conversing with Judge Thur
man of Ohio, who is so likely to be the
seventh President that Virginia will give
the Union. He speaks at night to an au-
dience l think one of the most brilliant !
ever saw. The faces of the
men and women are just what
might be expected in the gathering of so
much of the wealth, intellect and beauty of
the South, Each bench of the vast han
has its attracio Judge Thurman in a
statesmanlise address advances the tremen-
dous idea that children now alive will see
the population of the Union equal that of
the five great Powers. He considers our
chief danger to arise from Capitalization.
Chief among the causes producing this, is
the Capitalization of literature. Henames
the enormous proportion of all that which
is read in America that is printed in
New York. His speech contains moth
ing sectional, but l think how
strange il is that we of the South refuse to
patronize our own write: S, unless they write
for Northern periodicals, as most Of them
in the end are forced TO do.
Nothing can give one an idea of what
mighty power the University of Virginia is,
as seeing the variety of studies on which
diplomas are granted. Every important
branch Of human research has here an able
professor. Next to Virginia, Tennessee
seems to be in the lead here. After
a noble speech from Gen. Q larles,
of Tennessee, l dine with the Chap
lain, DR.. WitherspOOn, also Of Tennessee.
take the opportunity Of consulting NC
Guiiey about point of metaphysics, and
come 10 the CONFUSION that Miss Toppit,
IN Martin ChuzzleWitt, was not so obscure
as ! had believed. sMind and matter"
said Miss T., "glide swift into the vortex Of
immensely. Howls the sublime and softly