Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-08-08

u 49, EANA " II vi " III LpA 1luDuku
:, heart. He will 20 into history findiI
> there no exact parallel or CouuterpsI
G Perhaps some Of what was truest al
Y hest, some Of what was weakness al
: fault, in Martin Luther, in Oliver CrOn
J, well and in Daniel O'COnnell, wOu
?, furnish more OF the elements whiC
T were confined in Mr.. Johnson's chaTa
2 ter. He was the sturdy product OF moul
0 tain air and repub lean institutions. L
r WAS, in the main, manful man, ant
7 as such, proper study and example Il
. the co ming generations A few weeE
t sirce l attended a school exhibition
/ where a youngster made a speech col
tanning these lines:
, Boys OF spirit, boys OF viii,
? Boys OF muscie, brain and power,
Fit TO cope with anything;
These are wanted every hour.
Not the weak aud whining drones,
, Who ali trouble magnify;
Not the watchword of"I can't"
: But the nobler one "l'Il try"
: Such boy was Andrew Johnson. Me-
: like Andrew Johnson such boys ms,
hope to be. They may not find thei
ambition in politics. They may liv
and die without challenging pOpula
attention or winning popular applause
but in the patient persevering pursuit o
worthy ends, they will, like AadreV
Johnson, be cheered by the conscious
ness of duty done and rewarded by th'
successes to which their work reaches
forward. The life the more eventful
and the life more quiet,
Await alike the inevitable hour;
Andrew Johnson's conflicts are all ovef
and he sleeps well. He sleeps in the
grave OF his own chOsing, over which
a willow, tTansplanted from NspOleon's
tomb, trails its weeping b1ughs. 1t is 8
lonely grave, beftting the lonely man
From the hilltop it OverlOOks the hum
bic shop in which he once piled his trade
-the shop that he would not forget him.
selfnOrlef others forget Itoverlooks, too,
! the simple home and the quiet village
! from which he went forth, through his
| lSng life, TO campaigns aud to victories
went forth now to the legislature, and
now to the gubernRtOTial chair; now TO
the halls of congress, and now to the
! Presidential mansion; lately went forth
to the senate Of the United States, in
the last grand rally Of bis powers-the
/ last flashing in the socket ol an exhaust
ed vitality. Yes, the lonely grave looks
out upon the humble shop and toward
! the senator's chair, both vacant now
upon the home and the village which
shall see him no mOre-upon the rush.
ing train that bears the busy world
through the quietude-Out toward the
hu5ting5 of every court and all the
scenes Of his stormy life. 1t looks out,
but it bushes the once strong voice in its
bosom; looks out, but holds the once
stalwaTt form close in its unyielding
embrace. The strains Of the burial
dirge still lingsr about it. The echoes
Of the funeral cannon and the refrain of
g worlds condolences float up toward
it. II sends ok only the solemn utter
ance-
THE paths of glory lead but to the grave"
JUDGE J. 0. PIERCE's SPEECH.
Major James o. Pierce was then in
troduced 10y Colonel M'Lean, and ad-
dressed the meeting as follows:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN-In the
midst Of the nations memorial eXer-
cises over the remains of her hOnOred
son, there is one thought which, like q
flower plucked beside the grave, msy
serve TO light up the darkness OF our sor-
row and inspire US with hope for the
future Of the republic drawn even from
her mourning. 1t is the reflection that
on this sad occasion patriotism gathers,
here as elsewhere, irrespective Of party
ties or past affiliations, to pay a tribute
to the memory of one who shone as a
patriot, and to recall his virtues; and
that we thereby falsify the old ssyirg,
which 1 quote merely by way of anti
thesis, that
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is of inferred with their bones,
Those are the words of great poet, so
often spoken that they have become pro-
verbal. Yet occasions like this testify
that their teaching is not received as true
in America. Why Is 1t, my country
men, that neither the familiarity of the
pTOverb nor the glamour of Snake
spe8re's poetry can make the sentiment
of this quotation popular and fashion, |
able in our land, and keep us at home at |
such time, carpiEg over the errors and |
failures OF the departed, and studiOusly |
buryiDg in his grave all that which |
made him illustrIOus? 1t is because the |
time Of which the poet wrote, and of
which. his words eXpTes sed the current |
was at the beginning of |
the decadeuce of great nation, |
when pnblic worth and private virtue |
were alike passing into desuetude, and |
when malice and envy 8sssiled as their |
rigbtful prey the dead no less than the |
living. Thank God, that whatever de, |
cadence we may now lament, America |
has not yet reached even that stage Of
Roman dtgeperscy. From the fact that |
JOhEsOn's opponents and critics |
gather in honor to his memory, and vie
with his friends in recalling and reciting |
those qualities which made him Justly |
famOus-"that they came to bury Caesar |
and to praise him from scenes like |
this l am proud to draw the inference |
that healthy tone yet animates the |
public mind-that the crOakeEs who de-
spair of the republic are in error-that |
.ne popular heart still beats true to the |
traditions of the fathers, still esteems
public virtue above the corruption of the
'ings, still honors official integrity and
patriotism for themselves alone. While
hese principles prevail, we may well
believe that "there's life in the old land
yet 1.-THE true life Of popular and ma
iCnal integrity, which, though it was
Dut as leaven, should yet insure the
of our free institutions.
cannot speak of MIR. Johnson as a
riend, either personal or political, for
here were but two periods in his WOn-
erful career when l found myself par
icularly in sympathy with HIM as a
'ublic man. One was the period of the
ate war, during which his attachment
D the Union cause, and his firm con-
iciOn that the government possessed
he constitutional means of salf-preser-
alton, were illustrated by such indom-
able courage and unwavering consist
ncy, as to bespeak for him at once the
Ill sympathy OF every man who loved
is whole country above q section.
Whatever political arrangements or
nimosities may have resulted from his {
curse during this epoch, none will now [
eny that his honesty and conscientious
ess never shOne more resplendent than
hen. The other was the period of his
.ial before the senate upon impeach- |
lent, a tragic farce, whose very presenta-
on awOke apprehension in patriot !
carts, which could not for a moment |
ndure that the gIaud inquest of the ma s
On should be used by political art to re- {
love the obstacle of blunt and un- s
official, by means of con- i
ictiOn upon charges so frivolous. The {
of this spectacle were relieved t
My by the absolute grandeur with I
'hich the President, ike a lion at bay, '
waited the onslaught of his sccusers {
nd the verdict of the court. | speak, 7
: / believe, the better sentiment OF the !
aTty in whose interest this impeach- /
rent was presented, when l congFatu- c
.ts the country that political Chi c
ineTy finds fOr its future purposes L
0 precedent in that verdict. t
ut for one quality the lamented dead L
as always entitled to large sympathy I
his native land, even among t
is political foes; and that was his ear [
est devotion to the rights Of the people,
it'll whom and with whose interests he e
, fully identified himself. I am aware q
lat, in entering upon this subject, am b
ealing with those traits OF character 4