Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-05-10

Ia sz,aasr Of the New York Herz11 or the London
Tmss The Ransr y al IN Inc d indlyfd t
srsssI,ss & no less power in the landA Bennett
is dead bat the Herald is still the gTeatestnews
paper of the world. Generations OF walters
have lived and died, but the London Times is
1 stir the Thunderer and its unknown Editor yet
| Yields BOWER before which dyuaties tremble
When we seek personal fame we destroy "a our
iet 10 represent the people we car create or
| mould publi &c sentiment for the public welfare
| When the personality Of the editor is obtruded,
paper sss only the s o so 81 an inoi
Like the coral insects, we work deep below the
surface, building mp the foundations for glorious
| structures in the future. Lake them, we ana
security and exposed to the bright sunlight Of
/ publicity. $50 oFi
We have but one permitted pleasure--the
| sense of power-a yet the moment that we
boast of this power il Yanishes, because it is not
/ ours, but is of the people whom we serve.
There are other essentials OF success. SO long
as sordid type founders and paper makers and
| hungry printers persist in demanding filthy lu-
4 ere FOR their wares and services, and until we
| ourselves can solve the problem of living without
eating, and society shall dispense with the ne
cessity for clothing, no newspaper, however ably
edited, succeed until its receipts shall equal
| and exceed its outlay.
Indeed fear that too much eloquence has
| been devoted to magnifying the sentimental
aspect OF our profession and too little work has
! been done in protecting our business interests.
| 1t is less important to glorify the office Of the
/ press as great moral engine, than to yindicate
/ Its honor as legitimate business pursuit For
| much Of the popular misconcepti0n on this point
| we ourselves re ponsible-
We did well at our last meeting to abolish the
i excursion system. The greatest drawback to
our business success is the popular belief fostered
by these excursions, that an editor rs kind OF
pauper, dependent upon the charities OF the
| comm unity, who expects to be "dead headed"
everywhere. We can never occupy our proper
| position until we pay for what we get and CON-
| pei those whom we benefit to pay for our seryf-
1 ces.
Our editorial utterances should be unpurchase-
| able. They should represent the nOblest senti-
ments Of free people jealous OF their liberties
| Every time that an editor publishes an sltem'
about the poverty of printers, the delinquency OF
subscribers; or appeals to the public for support
| in any manner other than would be considered
| legitimate in one of his mercantile advisers, he
degrades the profession and contributes to his
| own destruction.
| 1t is certainly time that the Press, of all pro-
fessions stopped "pleading the baby act" Al
| man cannot conquer success let him waste no
time in whining, but either gracefully surrender
or try again. The public has no sympathy for
unsuccessful men, and the surest way not to get
their support is to let them think that we cannot
do without 1T. We must convince the public Of
| the fact that they cannot thrive without our as
sistance. To plead poverty and beg for sympa-
| thy is simply to admit that We can do the public
| no good and thus insure our own failure
Power and wealth crown the successful jour
nalist, and above all the consciousness of having
| done EOOQ WORK 1Of SUCCESS Is WOTlu
trying for, but is only grasped by those whom no
difficulties can discourage and no failures can
daunt. loud applause.l
A selection OF music was then played,
when Col. John G. Burch, of the UNION
AND AMERICAN, was introduced and deliv-
cred the Grafton printed elsewhere.
The delivery OF the Grafton was followed
by more music, when the poetess Of the
evening, Mrs. Lide Merriwether, of Mem
phs, was introduced to the audience, her
appearance being received with great ap'
plause.
Mrs. Merriwether then read the follow
ing poem, in a manner which reflected cred
it upon her elocutionsry powers;
THE THREE WIS.
In ante-bell um days, when skies were peaceful
And suns were radiant, and blossoms gay;
When men were brave, and women fair and
And All was lovely as q summers day;
When gallants sought for language euphonistic
TO drain bumper, or adorn shit"
Our dashing corps Of knighthood journalistic,
u Chose for their watchwOrd, "WoMAN, WINE
and W.T."
Soothing in sound, soft in ALTERATION,
| mo Earring cOnsOnants its pillows break,)
Lulling in word, sweet in Interpretation;
A pleasing anodyne, F'nOt bad to take;'
} A potent draught if duns or debt should trouble
/
Or bosom friend with purse or sw, etheart fit;
Drown all your sOrrows in the triple W,
And throw care TO the winds with "WoMAN
WINE and Wit"
Womanl safe step in the right direction,
To soothe your sorrow, OF Hume your joy,
If chosen for her brain, hot her complexion,
And made home companion, not toy,
Eagerly grasped as summers fragrant flowers,
Then trampled in the mire of life's highway;
But like the pole-star, through your darkes
Guarding and guiding with loves steadfas
ray.
Wine! fair mirage, fading from the vision,
A treacheIous qnicksand, lurking for its prey
Grasping it ere it reach the fields Elysian,
Where pleasures mocking finger points thu
A Turing devil, in an angels seeming,
BlOod-red the feet that trample out the vine,
Blood-red the yintage-burning, glazing, CLEAN
Where heart and soul and brain are drowned
in wine.
Witt most potent and divine elixir,
Aiming theright, and strong in its defense;
! An empty sham, cunning, servile trickster,
Ii aiding wrong, or used at friends expense
As sudden sunrise cleaning meadows cover,
And buds and blossoms glow beneath its ray
Or, like soft summer showers, sparkling over
!, The shine and shadow Of life's changeful way
Gan things to all men, saith the revelation;
Each creed that suits its age is good and true
This suited well the Golden dispensation''-
sold things have passed away; 10, all ar
New aims, new creeds, new plans for their diff
Let the past sleep-its epitaph is writ;
For all its gloss, a snare and delusiOn
: Was yonr old NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., VIM
, and WIT"
He who stood firmest in the smoke of battle
Still flrmest stands in desolatOn's day;
Undaunted mid the lannon's roar and rattle,
Undaunted still, he works his patient way;
On blOod-stained fields our countrys brave de
Each grasping firm the colcrs of his State,
| To you l bring, for our true independence,
1 The new evangel-"WoRK, and WATCH an
WAIT"
: He comes to conquer, and our waiting eyes see
This peerless monarch whom all earth sha
hail,
: Whose 'lexicOn knows no such word as FAIL
| Doing ali Ike the works of God or devil
Bearing his sheaves to hell or heavens gate
2 Matches for good-omnipOtent for evil
8 4 triune deity, WORK, WATCH and WAIT
Under the banner of this king enlisting,
Strike from the day dawn to the setting sun,
Strong for the right, and every wrong resisting
q | Die in the battle with your armOr on.
: Manning your battements wi tn truth God
: Guard Wen your ramparts, bar your poster
gate,
And fling out to the freshening breeze of heave
. Your bold tri-color, WORK, and WATCH an
I WAIT.
a Work with the heart-each pulse-beat eve
ready
:, To yieldits pleasure for another's good;
G Work with the hand-each arm strike true an
steady.
That so it gain its honest Iivelihoodi
When hollow hearts their shallow brains shs
{ trouble,
n How best life of sloth and waste to gain,
Teach them to know that it is good and noble
To work with heart, and hand, and soul, an
:, brain.
i Work for the weak, the lowly, and the erring,
:. To lift them up that they the light may see;
IL Work for the lost, the hopeless, the despairIn
q To lead them back to God and purity.
Q | Work for each man, as for a friend and brothe
Work for the true, the beautiful, the good =
!, Blessed is laborI he who sOws shall gather,
/ Reads, in our creed, a new beatitude.
o WatchI on each tower your wakeful sentr
Q keeping,
Il (Know that no fortress is impregnable,)
s. Lest haply one should come and find you sleel
d ing,
Scale your stout WALL and take your citadel
y Watchl lest for soft and well-dssembled lying,
D, You entrance give TO smooth-tongued sophi
D. try,
a And from your ramparts o'er the world send fl
Her poisoned shafts of false philosophy