The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1880-03-10
LETTER FROM WILLIAM.
EAST TEXAS, Feb. q, 1880.

have Averaged about one letter per month
10 TIE CLARION, and have said many light
things. In the main Mr.. Jones has fur
nished ali the ideas worthy Of record.
While / have been writing, the agencies
and energies Of our time and civilization
have beenquietiy at work, and | can look
back aud see the result of their operation
for ten years. When / wrote the first letter
Gov. Acorn had just been inaugurated,
and sent in his appointments. Every de-
partmeut Of the State and general govern
nent was in the hands OF the Republicans
and Mississippi was held and governed by
men unknown to her people and unfriendiy
to her history and traditions. Her Courts
were conducted by Judges, whose best quail
ifcations were to be INSCRIPTIONS in adj
vaucing the growth Of Radical power and
wrong The delegation in Congress, except
two, was made up Of aliens. Only one
member of the Federal House. at that time
IS now q private citizen Of the State. There
were iorty-six Of the most Objectionable
colorad men in the State in the Legislature.
Their highest qualification was hatred to
the white man. While cotton was at
high price, the government consumed 1t
all
To-day all IS different. In the Execu- +
tive Office sits q man, whose proudest record
j. that which he carved with his sword,
while fighting and suffering under Lee. On
the bench, Circuit and Supreme, are gen
tlemen, lawyers and judges In the Legs
lature, the preponderating element is to the
nQauner born, and taxes no longer consume
the sdRstance OF the people.
In Congress are the choice Of the home
people-ilfen who represent the feeling and
interest of the State, and who are
unfriend1y to no class Of her
citizens. How great the change!
Special agencies helped to work this change
Special agents, too were employed. !
call to mind now some persons that sacri-
feed much and ri-ked everything to bring
about the government the people now enjoy.
Among these ia General Robert Low
nv, of Brandon. He left his home early in
the action, continued to the end, spent bis
money freely, and risked his life and has re
ceived no reward, while others, who stood
aloof and watched the course Of events, but
went into the fray in time to reap reward
won by others, live and prosper. W. :.
Featherston Is another one of the same clas-
Of patriots. Many, very many others could
be named who are now in comparative re-
tiremcut, not because they did not serve
but because they asked to serve but not tc
receive recompense at the hands Of THEN
countrymen. Poor John Gully! lie went
TO bloody grave, and left a widow and
children without protection, because he de-
nounced the oppressors of his people, and
now it is almost a crime to speak in respect
and tenderness Of the one, or to suggest sym
pathy for the others.
The deep silence of the grave holds cold,
still hearts that once gave life's current to
men, that were for their country, in its
darkest hours. This is melancholy; but ii
Is still more sad to know that at as early a
day as this, we can see the work of retrbu-
tive Justice. There is hardly a man who
went with those who insulted and plundered
their country, but has met some fate that
was a compensation for treaehery. Many
are dead-died uuhonored; others are liy-
ing, but without the consideration of their
CONTEMPORARIES
promotions before them, and their sins will
fall upon their children to the third and
fourth generation "There is a divinity
that shapes our ends, rough hew them
as we may" Ten years have ploughed
many faces, and sprinkled white over
many heads. Many hopes have boon
buried, and let US trust that nlaEy errors.
have been corrected IL is too often the
case that time only petrifes wrongs; still
with thinking minds, it is the rule to ADAM
don evil
In the ten years past, since | wrote my
first letter, ! have seen households scattered,
children have assumed the duties and re-
sponsibiities of fathers and mothers, and
the old have planted shrubbery over the
graves of those whom they loved.
Many wandering feet have strayed from
home and country and have left behind the
scenes that make up the landscape of LIES
morning and noou Who can calculate the
changes of the next decade? Before that
time shall have passed Mr.. Jones with his
varied knowledge, CLEANED from books, and
gathered by observation, will have passed
into another existence, and Mrs Cornelia
will have withdrawn from life the virtues
that have adorned two generations
Brother smith who has long taught the
simple truths OF the Christian religion, will
have left the place where he has often
recited the story of the cross, and modern
thought may find utterauce i'll discussions
of illy-conceived skepticism.
Let Us hope chat in the year 1890 the
world may ue wiser and better than it is
to-day, and that Mississippi may find her
condition as much superior to that of the
present that of the present surpasses the
status of 1870.
In the meantime with prayer for the
ing respect and confidence in Barney Trice
and George Welsh l am about ready to
step upon the threshold OF series of
letters.
1t matters little when | lay down the pen, /
give all who are upright little concern
about the ills that befall them in life. /
Twelve months after death, green grass will /
grow upon our graves, but even those whom
we served most and loved best in life will
rarely call our names, occasionally some
friend may wander from home, and acc- /
IDENTIFY stand by our graves, in a strange /
land, as | dropped tear on the dust of
Charlie Smith-so be it. Let our old sing
ing school next Sunday stand and sing: |
"Let cares like wild deluge come,
Let storms of sorrow fall
SO | but safely reach my home,
BY God, my Heaven, my all.
WILLIAM