Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1873-09-27

thing unfav0rable to the prisoner, tha
you will endeavor to forget it. Popula
rumor should be entirely forgotten
that which may have been matter o
idle conversation should not worl
against the prisoner at the awful mo
ment of trial. In the weighing of evi
dence, every former feeling of you
minds against the prisoner must bt
forgotten; aad you must give him the
full benefit of any defense which ht
may make, and dispassionately consider
the nature of his vindication. You
have the life of fellow-subject in
| your hands, and, by the peculiar beRig.
nity of eur laws, he is presumed to be
innocent until your verdict shall find
him guilty. But in learning bias you
must not take a direction the other
way. You must bear in mind that you
hayea most solemn duty to discharge
to your country and to your God; aud
if 1T shall appear that the prisoner was
| the prime mover in this rebellion, that
he was the spring which gave it life
and activity, then, | say, as you regard
the obligation of the oaths which you
have taken, and the solemn response
bilities which they devolve upon you,
you must give a truthful verdict. 1t
IS not for you to separate punishment
from guilt; and you must not allow
any false pity of feeling for the man to
warp your judgment against the claims
of public justice"
Bear in mind the times and seasons,
the newspaper twaddle:
"WeII hang JEFF Davis
On sour apple tree"
the peculiar position in which our
present Governor and the majority of
our prominent men stood in relation
Ito the powers that be, and decide as
to whether there is any thing signifi-
cant suggested by its insertion in this
book. As specimen of oratory it
has no pre-eminent claim, and the mo-
tive which placed it in a Common
School Reader is too patent to be for a
moment doubted. | have let these
books speak for themselves. / object
to their Introduction in Our schools,
because,
l. BY the number and nature of their
questions they so stir and stimulate the
curiosity and inquisitiveness of chill
dren, as to make them both imperti-
nent and impudent.
2. The subject matter of some of the
lessons in the First and Second Read
ers is positively silly, while much in
the Third is beyond child's compre-
hension. The little learner is led into
dry details of science, and sits down at
the foot of the Hill discouraged and
disgusted, unwilling and unable to
scale such lofty heights.
3. They are neither just nor gener-
Gus. .f .l.
Scores of Southern writers whose
pens have evoked the loftiest enthusi-
asm are left silently slumbering, or We
hear only the shrek of few who cry
Our Country, Union, and Liberty"
Everett gives US The Voyage of the
Mayhower," Webster, Bunker Hill
Monument" but do not recall even
an allusion to Jefferson, the famous
framer of The Declaration of Inde-
pendence.
We listen to The Roll Call of the
Patriot Dead of the North,'' behold
the marble shaft that keeps alive the
memory of their deeds; witness the
triumph awarded to their returning
yictors, while our own fallen are left
unburied on the plain, prey to jack
ais and wolves, and their survivors on
ly introduced that their clanking
chains and streaming eyes may add in
tensity to the power of the passing pa
geant.
A Southern man is not even allowed
to steer the white canoe adewn the sol
emn stream of Destiny and chant the
death song of the braves of his ma
ton.
4. They seek to plunge even little
children into the muddy pool of party
politics.
5. They are sectional. Their pic
lures, prose and poetry tend to excite
passion and prejudice between the two
greatdivisiOns of our common country.
With such sowing what will the har-
vest be?
| suppose have said enough
How can one enter strong mans
house and spoil his goods, except he
first bind the strong man then he a0iH
spoil his house"
Respectfully,
Mrs. SUE f. MOONEY.