Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-07-06
NASHVILLE TENN TUESDAY, JULY 6, 1876.


piring convert of his mother churel
Waste answered waste, sRd into this a
into the Promised Land, al the tribes O
affection came CromWellian and Caya
lier, Puritan and Catholic, Huguenot an
Jesuit, Quaker and warrior, Mon
archist and Republican, tyTant an,
assassin, drawn together by th
same hand that had for thousand
Of years hid this land from men, uneon
sclously Obeyed the inscTutable behests OF
Him, who, in all ages, has made the Wratl
OF man to praise Him. From this stFang,
commingling of divers and hostile ele
ments, came civil and religious liberty.
Men learned to tolerate at last, in others
that for which each had tortured anC
burned the other at the stake, and the
sacred truths flashed on the minds Of
statesmen like a new revelation of man:
inalienable right TO life, liberty and the
| pursuit OF happiness, and that more sacred
right, to worship bis God according to the
| dictates of his own conscience. Without
| shedding Of blood there is no remission.
These great truths could not be established
without the baptism offlOOds Of the noblest
| blood. The declaration of them 80 years
| ago, threw the gauntlet Of the young world
into the face Of the old. Every century
hallowed despOtism, every canOnized lie,
every crowned fool, and mitned
bigOt, reused him from his sleep and
called upon the pOWerG OF darkness to
Oyerwhelm the audaciOus disturber of
tyrannic sloth. The divine right
of kings TO "lOri it over Code heri-
tage," had crushed every aspiration Of the
human heart, and quenched in blood every
spark Of individual freedom. The iron
hand had scOurged, slam and driven into
exile every rebel against It's say. Terrible
was the wrath evoked by that exile turning
at hay on the verge Of creation, and assert
ing his right 10 be free. Patriot blood
stained the deck of the Gaspee and the
sward at Alamance. Rebels were dispersed
and slain at Lexington, and the rocks of
Bunker's Hill have raised their heads Of
patriot deeds TO tel.7 Red-coats and Hes.
slams bit the dust from SARATOGA to Sayan-
nah. COntinentals froze at Valley Forge,
died in the prisOn-ships, and
on the fields of blood. And at Cam
den the dull ear Of Fate was deaf 10
the despairing cry Of ''saVe the Baron De
Kalb." The ring Of the rife has died on
Kings Mountain and the roar Of mOrtars
at Yorktown. But their memory still stirs
the heart. The grave, more ineXOrable |
than a German prison, enclOses the gener- |
Ous Gaul, who came TO ''crusade for free !
dom in freedoms holy land but his name |
still lives in the annals Of the free. The |
passing bell Of the Waye-bOrne steamer |
echoes through the leaves at Mount Vernon |
that shade the tomb Of him who is still /
''iiTst in the hearts of his cOuntrymen." A |
new crest litteis in the new world woods. |
IL is not Dian Of the silver bow, nor /
Pallas Athene with spear and shield, nor
AdhrOdite, last child Of Heaven, rising in
5eauty, ocean born. IL is a stranger on
Olympus. II is Columbia, clad in shining
steel, with her foot on the neck Of kings |
Sic semper tyrannus. Those cOlOrs are
10 heraldry. Garter King-at-
lrms looked in vain through heraldic
llazOns for her quarterings. Her ensign
,Ore no legend of Diel ct mon drOit, OUer-
iuieS cert and or, but il was
'.The flag Of the free hearts hope and home,
By angels hands 70 yalOr given,
Whose stars had lit the welkIn dome,
And all whose hues we're born in heaven"
Shall we not rejoice in the heritage Of
lory which is our birLhright? "No,' says
ne. "The principles Of self-gOyerDment,
Which the heroes Of '76 won, are lost and
etrayed.S The chasm which engulphs |
hem is filed with the eOrpses Of the brave
nd true Ii so, let us rescue them from
n untimely grave, and pick up the chatter
{ constitutional liberty from under the |
feet of higher law usuT1pers and
and restore it to its place
D the temple. Let us put il in the ark of
aud overshadow il with cheru-
i'm. What is birth to a man If il shall be
stain upon his dead ancestors To have left
Ich An offspring? asked Philip Sidney.
go sOcii-neque ignari summus ante
IalOrem fOrsan ct haec Olim me-
linesse jUvabit,n was the exclamation of
le Trojan as he pledged in wine his ship
recked followers who had come to the mad
ass Of Scylla, and tried CyclOpean rocks.
nd so over the mantling goblet Of our
,untry's glory | would say, "Oh comrades,
e are not ignorant of misfortune, perhaps
.reafter il will delight us TO remember
en these things.' Shall we despair of
e Republic Has man aspired TO self q
Mt in yail2 have poets sung and =
omen prayed, and patriots died Tor phan- c
ms OF the brain? s
ThemopylR was for naught; Greek {
berty is gone; from Poland's nerveless
asp has long since fallen the shattered
ear; France guillotined aristOcrats, the c
lIstrian woman and the son Of St. Louis '
vain. The Latin races have not attained /
Deity, and German freedom is crushed v
meath the PrIIssian helmet. The Anglo .
lxon alone has attained self-goyerDment.
lall We stand SggieeteszfF aud see a O
lave, cut-purse of the empire, and the h
lie from a shelf, the precious diadem :.
eal, and put it in his pocket" There :
e no new worlds in the HypObOrean. a
UiInd Thule has been erased. II is not =
the wantOnness of paradox, but in solemn 5
rnestucss that say our country is the 1
st spot Of earth where civil and religious I
Derty can find AN abiding-place for the p
lie Of her foot. To us is directed the eye v
the worlds hope and intellect, as the pre- e
,stined land where freemen can follow out, Y
by tradition, custom aud .
ste, the road TO perfection. Free speech,
re press, free conscience, without censor
ip or spies, are the safety-yalves which "
achinery, and keep il in motion. Q
very change of dynasty, revolution and q
or war of religion that has 0
nvulsed tue Old World from 10 TO this t
,ur, have sent to us statesmen, soldiers, 8
tests, POets-men and women joyous TO v
cape the old regime, and contribute TO the {
nor, wealth aud prosperity of our country. !,
hey will Mere be blended into a type :
hich will combine all eXcellencies and at
ia 10 the stature Of full manhood. The :
has brought here the hammer :
Thor. The TeutOn his beer mug and q
S phiiOsOphy-an intellectual autOcrat. {
be Frank his vivacity, genius and taste s
bitter eleQdntdriIHR. The Celt his pick II
:, his elOquence, his Wii -hlter Of tyTanis. 8
he AnglO-SaxOn hi- tn -ue of flame and F
Dl-like brain-tar lrIder in the attain IA
ant Of Liberty the American will be the !,
inner bearer O; the world. "IhrOugh the | :
lex gloom # the present | see the bright =
IS of the future as the sun in Heaven"
Irviving fraternal strife, triumphing ?
er foreign foes, shaking from her II
autiOus lOins the thieves which p
-dle around, she will prove that man Il
n govern himself. Her commerce 2
IN Whiten the sea, her arts adOrn the land. O
ylry language will be spoken in her con- II
res, every righteous creed tolerated. h
irish the corrup: placemen who dishOnOr 4
n; perish the factiOaist who would stab :,
n; perish the shams and frauds which -
Ould rob her s2Ls of their birthright. II
hey will all die and be forgotten, but, u
rviving cOrrUptiOns, she will be in the II
,ure, Is in the past, the home Of beauty, "
e hope OF the world, and the bUlwark Of "
vii and religious liberty. And wherever L
r. fiao may stream whether at home or on 90