Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-02-15
FATHERs OF THE REPUBrIc
An Enlightened Engiishnian's
Tribute to the Men of 10.


Tribute to the Men of 10.
! From Dean stanley's Birmingham Address
When, in the public place at Rich
i. mOnd, we see the statue of Georg'
F Washington surrounded by thu
group of the famous Virginians o
, his time, the elOquence of Patrick
Henry, the judiciOus sagacity o
Marshall, the eccentric energy O
Jefferson-when to these we add
the stern vigoF of John Adams and
Samuel, his namesake, from Boston
and last, but not least, the homely
and penetrating genius of Benjamin
; Franklin, from Philadelphia, and
the brilliant philosophic friend and
equal of Talleyrand, the gifted and
unfortunate Alexander Hamilton,
we feel that we are in the presence
of one of those intellectual constella-
tions which mark only those great
creative epochs in the history of ma
tions, such as may indeed appear in
their latter history, but usually be-
long to those moments when the
nation itself is struggling into eX-
J istence. In all the events of that
I struggle there is a dramatic move
ment which belong TO those critical
| times when mankind is going
through one of its decisive trials.
Old Martin Routh, of Oxford, who
had lived through the French revo-
luton and Napoleonic wars, when
asked in his extreme old age what
event of his time had produced i'm
England the deepest impression,
a swered: "The separation of the
American States" and when in his
hundredth year, he wandered i'm his
dying moments to the recollectiOns
of former years, his last words muir
Injured something of the war with
America. Many are the scenes
which impress on the mind the mo-
.nentOus aspect of that time. Let
me select two. One shall be that in
which the first British blood was
shed, on the 18th of April, 1775. 1t
is in the green meadows, close to
the village of Concord. A gentle
river divides the swelling hills on
either side; a rustic bridge crosses
the stream. On one side is a simple 4
pillar which marks thegraves where
the first English soldiers that were
slain still lie buried on the other
side is monument, erected in lat
ter times, representing one of the
simple American peasants, with his
musket by his side, and underneath
are written the memorable words of
One of the greatest living poets, him /
self a native of Concord and the |
grandson of the pastor of the village, /.
who was present at the time of the /
conflict:
BY the rude bridge that arched The food,
Their flag 10 a Aprilis breeze unfurled:
Here once the emhattled farmers stood,
And fred the shot heard round the world.
The other scene is Mount Vernon, [
the unadOrned yet spacious wooden 1
mansion where Washington spent /
his latest years with his devoted /
wife, with his retinue Of slaves,
with the gracious hospitality of an (
almost royal majesty; looking out
from the oaks which now OVerhang .
his grave over the broad waters Of /
the Potomac, on whose banks was /
TO rise the noble but still unfinished
capital which bears his canOniZed
name. No Englishman need grudge
the hours that he gives to the biOg- |.
raphy which Washington Irving
has given to our great cOuntryman
(for such he still was), the father of
the American Commonwealth.