Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-05-28

themselves to all the higher and better
sentiments Of our nature, as tending to
foster and highten tho3s gentler quail
ties which shine with SO mellow light
in our domestic and social life, and hal
low and cement these blessed relations;
but IL is in another, not less beautiful,
aspect we would contemplate the iufiu-
ence of associations like yours: They
keep alive the sweet memories Of the
land of your birth; they commemorate
your national holidays and festivals;
they transmit your national songs and
the lullabies OF the cradle and
nursery TO generations yet unborn,
who, however identified with the land
OF their fathers adoption, areyet taught
by those appliances to cherish the holy
sentiment OF love for that of their birth.
In later years, when around this little
nucleus OF an "Italian brotherhood"
new friends shall gather, and its num-
| bers, wealth and influence shall demand,
as ere long they will, the erection of a
suitable structure for its meetings and
the exercise Of Its functions; when its
beautiful colonades shall be draped with
| your national ensigns and surmountei
with the eagles Of Imperial Rome;"
when the symbolic trophies of your an
| cient vietors, shall adorn its walls, and
/ nDCh tn6 olhtuCS vi uEI Atc5ATS anu
| Cicero, her Tully and Tacitus, her Pc
trarch and Plinies, her Virgil and
Horace, her Titan and COrregio shall
| look down from their lofty niches, and
when the copies OF the great masters
| whose splendid chiU '0uvreS have made
| the cities Of Italy, the worlds grand
galleries of art, shall challenge admira-
| ton from every panelt and easement,
then, sirs, will you, have erected a
| shrine where you may renew the holy
sentiment of love andi-6evotion to the
| land of your birth, and your sons and
! daughters, catching the holy flame
which burns upon its altars, may re-
kindle the hereditary principle in their
own hearts.
You suggest to me in these beautiful
| allegorical figures "Sunny Italy" and
PROGRESSIVE America" st themes for
theremarks which I might be expected
to make upon an occasion like this; and
while might speak Of America, which
is only broader name for our Union of
States, might
speak to you of the progress of the Amer
lean people in political science and the |
ethics of government; show how they
improved upon the knowledge of its |
founders, and have practically illustrated
that "all men (of whatever kindred,
tribe or tongue) are equal" of the ten |
dency of our confederation of States to |
solidify, and thus countersct the centri- |
fugal forces which have of late been dis |
covered in certain refractory members. |
1 might speak Of the f'credit mobilier, |
and the "back-salary grab" as illustra-
tions of the improvement of our men of |
to-day upon the simple arts of the found |
ers of the government, but forbear.
Progressive America needs no sdvo-
cate, no euiogist; she tresds proudly the |
path of her own high destiny, beloved at |
home and respected abroad. She is en-
inently the land of The brave and the
home of the free, and the asylum of the
oppressed OF every land and country.
But what shall | say CT "Sunny Ita-
ly@
"Tnou art the garden OF the world.
The home
OF all art yields, and nature can decree.
Even in thy desert, what is ike to thee?
The very weeds are beautiful, thy waste
More rich than other chmes' fertility;
Thy wreck glory and thy ruin graced
With an immaculate charm which cannot be
defaced."
Her history is the most remarkable
recorded of any nation or people in the
annals of time; and in the very wealth
OF the material which this history af.
fords to statesman, philosopher, orator /
or poet, for the illustration of political
science or metaphysical science; for
lofty defamation or impRssiOned verse
l stand appalled,. Wko shall rashly
venture upon ground which Gibbon has
explored, or speak of scenes which By
ron has crystalized in the glowing and
imperishahle cantos of CRille Harold,
or Rogers painted in the fsrvid verse of
his beautiful Italy, and DeStael in Cor
TiTne.
There is q profound lesson of wisdom
inculcated in every deeply traced line Of
this history, which it would be well to
apply to individual life. It is not in the
quiet, unrUffied current Of human ex-
perience that the exalted qualities of
manhood are developed, or achievements
worthy a arespectable ambition attained.
If the foundations of ancient Rome (
were laid in fierce conflict with the bar
barrie tribes, who then inhabited the
country; il through centuries, her kingly
government, amid scenes of rapine and
violence, gradually softened and shaped
the nude and finty clements, out of
which the future structure of an en-
pire was to be fashioned; yet she has
reared a colossal pile, at the ruins of
which, covered with the dust of thou
sand years, the nations OF the earth now
look in wonder.
When in the tide of time shall we wit
ness government 50 grand in its pro-
portions, So absolute in It's dominion, so
splendid in It's wealth, rs the Roman
empire during the reign Of Augustus;
while language fails rs to depict the ar
chitectural grandeur of tie Eternal City
'enriched with the spoils of hundred
nations, and the treasures of the most
potent monarchs poured into its cof-
fers?" Its mighty army held subject ma
tiOns docile at its feet, while its powerful
fleet darkened all the sea. With one
hand it reached out and gathered the
boarded treasures deep in Spanish mines
with the other it freighted its Argosy
in Indian seas, with gold and precious
stones; and "blest Araby" yielded its
tribute of frankincense and myrrh.
Italy was the foster-nother and cradle
of our blessed religion
Whom the wide nations
Have Knelt to for the keys of heaven"
and whether Catholic or Protestant, we
must alike subscribe to this important |
historical fact. Here Paul and Peter
the apostolic church, which,
through the long night of the middle
ages, survived the assaults of infidelity, |
and the throes of revolGtion; and while
the churches of Asia snd the east went
down in the "blackness of darkness"
preserving the precious word of truth as
a "pearl Of great price," and holding
fast to the traditions OF the fathers, it
has transmitted the glorious faith, sound
ing down the line Of ages, until the Mas
ter's herslds, in every cline, have caught
the echoes, and now send them ringing
through the earth.
4
In conclusion, then, 1t is a subject
worthy of the highest congratulation to
every Italian citizen that, after period
of fourteen hundred years, and since the
fall of the empire, his distracted coun-
try is once more united under our gov
ernment, and destined, under the wise
and beneficent administration OF Victor
Emanuel and his immediate SUCCESSORS,
as we humbly trust, TO attain to that
rank and position in the galaxy Of States
as United Italy, TO which her geographic
cal position, the wealth Of her resources,
the prowess and genius of her people,
and above sli, the grand role which she
has played in the world s history entitle
her.
Hail, United Italy! youngest in the
of States-thy loyal sons and
daughters greet thee on thy accession to I
the dignity of an independent State,