Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1885-09-12
NOTES AND COMMENTS DURING A yAcA-
TION TRAVEL.
Comment. on Matters and Modes of rAaughs.
[For the Chronicle j

Il u OF the Chrohlcte
! A months sojourn in any particula
! section OF country would hardly of il
J self justify description of the 2ccu
2 liarities Of the people OF such locality
in all respects. We all know witt
, what injustice the character, manners
) and customs OF the people of the Soutl
} have been treated in the representa-
tions made by transient resident
among US, acting MS correspondents o
Northern journals. We remember
, too, how these statements excited the
just Indignation OF those OF us who
read them, and we knew them to be
Misrepresentation Then there was
the additional aggrayation of these
wrongs done to the South, from the
fact that if Il Southern gentleman
should undertake to rectify these
abuses, by stating the true condition
Of matters, his testimony was utterly
disregarded, no matter how high his
social or moral character, and the SUI
perficial or prejudiced statements Of
these incompetent correspondents
were embraced as true, and published
widely throughout the land, as show
ing the horrible state of things in the
South. This being the case, IT be-
hooves us in giving our impressions
of she people, and their habits, and
traits, to be extremely careful on our
part while nothing TO extenuate," at
the same time not "to set down aught
in malice" 10 this latter course, this
writer certainly has no temptation.
During brief stay in New England
the environments were OF the most
enjoyable kind, and the personal asso-
Citations everywhere were refined and
hospitable. Everything ezternaily pre-
sented to view WAS of Il sort we'll calcu-
lated to excite admiration, and to
stimulate to emulation, in that mov-
ing, active, energetic population.
What may be recorded in these state
Inents of a different tendency, is not
the result OF what was witnessed and
heard merely, during brief stay
there, but besides this there were sour
ces of information accessible TO the
visitor from the columns of their own
journals and periodicals., which sttnd
us representative organs of public SEN
timent. While therefore, it may bc
safe to say that in many matters there |
is ground for us OF the South to imi-
tate these people, there is much which
it is to be hoped we shall never be dis
posed to appropriate.
To the credit of the North let it be
stated that they are justly distinguish
ed for their devotion to the cause OF
intellectual cultivation. There Is not
a town or u city among them in which
there is not first of all, liberal provis-
ion made for the education OF the peo-
pie. When they erect school house
or college building, it is done on the
most solid, enduring, and even elegant
plan, and they furnish these establish
ments with all the facilities for sue
cessful prosecution OF the purposes of
education. Hardly man of large
means dies without bequeathing TO
some already wealthy University or
college, additional amounts of money
for the endowment of some favorite
chair, or to enable the institution to
develop its objects on grander scale,
or to found some new school of the
higher learning. With regard to the
great institutions which enjoy a world
wide reputation, as for example Har-
ward University, and Yale, which
stand foremost among the seats OF
there is no disputing the fact
that they have every element OF edu-
prosperity and every attrac
ton that can be thrown around them {
TO induce patronage and secure the
favor of the public, and the benefac
tions of wealthy men of liberal minds,
who desire to erect some enduring /
memorial oi their own names. 1t was
the privilege of this writer to visit the
grounds of Harvard in company with
Il cultivated and refined gentleman,
familiar with its history and move
lnentS. Within the past 30 years vast
have been made in all {
that adorns and beauties the outward !
scene, on the campus and in the mat
ter OF material structures. There is {
one building there to which | propose t
10 devote ii small space, although ii :
might deserve more. 1t is the Memo |,
rial Hall of Harvard University. This !
structure was erected to per-. i
petuate the memory of those of the =
Alumni who fell in battle during the :
ate civil war. You enter first wide t
nall, ON either side of which are found t
marble tablets, on which are recorded l
he names, dates and places of birth, :
md times and places of the deaths. 5
These were sufficient in number to Fl
o occupy the walls of that immense 2
Hall, closely placed side by side. You .
ire introduced then to vast dining Ii
aloon, on the right of this hall, fur il
lished with tables and chairs enough u
o accommodate six hundred guests. y
4 IL ,,Sod On occasion NJ the animal :
Alumni Dinner, during commence b
nent week. Here, too, the walls of p
his saloon, on its four sides, are orna- I
nented with the portraits of all the n
,reat New Englanders who had grad b
Iated from the University during its q
'ast history, and many others who :,
we're not Alumni. But among them b
II there was but one Southern
Washington. 1t seems that the "
pirit of patriotism had still been kept d
live in so far as to induce the people !"
to cherish the memory of Il
he Father of his Country. v
After wandering along the series of II
ortraits which covered the walls OF y
his grand saloon, and recognizing such I, q
oted faces as those of John Hancock, 81
ohn Adams, John Quincy Adams, lt
amuel Adams. Beni, Franklin. and v