Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1875-12-05
Crawled DER by every reptile,
General Bingham's Painting
s.Order No. 11.o

TOT the SuLudy <ApPSAJ
Art is the crest handmade of history,
and a great painting is a great orator
speaking in q language that all nations
understand and with an elOquence that
sounds down through the ages to sue
eessive generations Of peoples, never
falling to stir the human heart or rouse
its sleeping passions. 1t was by paint
ing, displayed to the pOpulace, that
Rienzi, the great tribune, rekindled the
fires Of liberty in the breasts Of the
modern Romans and induced them to
rise against the expressions Of the Orsini
and the Colonna. And to-day the
paintings and frescoed slabs, deep
dug from beneath the scoriie and
volcanic ashes which entomb POmpeii
and Herculaneum, tell US more, and
more truly of the daily life and habits OF
the Roman people than the historic
pages of Tacitus, Sallust and Caesar.
Every polished stone from the arena OF
the Coliseum tells its tale OF bloody
strife more eloquently than the voice OF
a Spartacus could speak, and though the
voice of the Delphian oracle is long
since silent, the shattered columns
and broken pilasters Of ApOllo's temple
there still teach US the taste, the senti-
mept, the religion and the culture OF
its Grecian builders. In order fully to
apDreciste the merits Of "Order No. II"
az work of ART, il is necessary to
understand something of its history, the
causes which led TO its conception, and
the truths which the artist tells with
such fearful and terrific power, during
the late civil war no section OF the Union
suffered more than Missouri. 1t was one
vast battlefield for four years 1ts
people were nearly equally divided IN
political sentiment. Father was OPP
posed in arms to SOP, brother to brother,
| the same roof tree furnishing nerce
partisans to each Of the contendlng
armies. While this was true OF tne
| State at large, it was strangely true tnaI
| in the military district around Kansas
| CITY, where this inhuman order was
| issued by Federal officer, large ma
= jority of the residents were loyal 10 Inc
! government of the United states, as
! mad been demonstrated not only by the
votes of the men, but by the service OF
| hundreds OF them in the Union army
| The good and true men OF either s1de
land prominent among them tne aEllsl
| who painted this picture, himself Union
mani, made every effort to palllate the
evils of war and protect the innocent
and HELPLESS from the "red-legs" and
HiayhsWkers" Of the one side as well as
the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES" and guerrlllas OF
the other. During this state of affairs,
| in spite of all remonstrances and pro-
! tests, the officer in command Issued ana
promulgated this order, which at once
opened the fiood-gstes of crime, licensed
and authorized rapine, arson and muir
der, and gave over the fairest andsmOst
populous section OF the west to organized
bands of cut-throats and robbers. No
description can convey correct ldea
of the ruin that it wrought, the wrongs
that it perpetTated, or the drops OF grle1
and agony that it wrung from human
hesrts, Given over to the destroyer
the helpless people fled for their lives,
the broad prairies were lurid with
the flames OF burning hOmesteads, anC
the Carcasses OF murdered men rOtteU
upon the Highways and polluted the al
with their stencil. One such scene ron
from a hundred similar this painting
depicts in language far more powerful
and touching than any words can ex
press. In the central foreground OF the
: picture lies the dead body of the muir
1ered man, weltering in his own blood
while PROSTATE upon the senseless form
is his grief-stricken wife. The gray-haireI
father stands erect; despair has glVel
him a fierce courage which dehes al
danger, and while daughter, fearing
fer has life too, pleads with MIN |,
l desist, and little grandson clings 81
friehted to his side, the old man hurl
curses and defiance upon the murderers O
his son. To the rear, sinking away IRON
the sight Of his deadly work, stands tn
scOWlIng wretch who fired the fatal shot
, and before him stands another aTme
ruffian about to take another innoeen
r life: while before the latter kneels
4 beautiful girl, with up-clssped hands
: who.
Looks to heaven with that frienZed air
t Which seems to ASK if a God is there.
. To the left, the old mother hs
2 tainted in the arms of q negr
woman, and on the foregOund {
| the right hurries away q faithful negr
man who has covered his eyes with hi
hands to hide the bloody scene. In tn
e rear the plunderers and robbers are s
work despoiiing the homestead, til
e neighboring highway is covered wit
frightened crowds of women and chi
dren who are too familiar with sue
scenes to stop for a moment, utter
;! word of protest against the wrong,
e show a tear otsympathy for the sorrow
ing ones. All around across the prairie
are burning dwellings. The sky is blsc
l. with the smoke of CONGREGATIONS an
n the work of destruction is everywhel
going on. Verify it is not often Oh cart
80 "that Satan sees his work done half
we'll" These things and many MOI
t. this painting tells. 1t will live
q history and speak its tale of outrage an
e wrong, the horrors Of war and the il
fanny Of the men who issued and ex
cuted this order, as long as the hums
breast feels for the innocent and o.
u pressed and shudders at heinOus Grim
ID 1t should be found in the home Of ever
lover of liberty and justice, and shoul
20 hang by every fireside to Warn US OF II
desoiations OF war, the ferOcious passion
. that it develops and the ruin that
OI cEusas GAEL.