San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1885-04-16

With reference 10 one consider
! ton alone, wa felt most abundant
aud satisfactorily compensated by OF
recent visit 10 New Orleans-w
mean in tho extreme pleasure
! afforded us 10 revisit tho MISSISSIPPI
valley-in fact leading purpose q
, our trip, Wordsworth wrote poer
entitled "Yarrow Revisited" and W
feel almost inspired 10 attempt ON
ON THE Mississippi Revisited, iBorI
and reared and haviAg spent noarl.
all our life in tins valley, il was no
until about q dozen years since, whol
our Dyes turned Toxas.ward, that w
even dreamed Of leaving ID and foI
years after wo actually departed, w
were haunted by an indescribable ant
uncomfortable feeling OF having got
out Of our proper bounds and bear
ings The people Of the Mississippi
valley have formed the habit uncon
sciously, Of looking at everything with
reference to il; and they arc largely
excusable, for il il almost world
within itself. When small boy on.
gagged in launching mimic boats on
tho brooks and creeks Of our native
home, We remember even then think,
ing OF the great river, and how our
boats might float down tho brook and
creek into the Whitewater, thence
into tho Miami, thence down the
Ohio into the Mississippi, and at last
reach the Gulf of Mexico! Little did
we then imagine that we should ever
DO q waif to reach that distant goal!
Later on we shared the spirit of
the times and went West-oven "be-
yond the Mississippi" Our first sight
of it and the crossing of it were an
era in our life. We resided nearly
five years in the young state of Iowa.
By the way, at the Exposition We
sought some acquaintance from that
state, and though We left it in 1850,
vet if we had had q little more time,
VIC doubt not wo would have found
what We looked for.) During our
stay in Iowa wo saw the river at va
rious points from Dubuque down
wards. The Upper Mississippi is n
n beautiful stream, resembling in
clearness, gontleness of current and
fine scenery the San Marcos at our
town, but on n gigantic scale.
"There is q land of every land the
pride" says poet, and that land, ho
adds, is our home. But with the ma
tives OF the Mississippi valley this is
moro than n sontiment-it is sub
stantial verify. For what other land
can compare with it? or what other
people with it's inhabitants? From it's
far northern source in Itasca lake to
it's acknowledgements into tho Gulf of
Mexico, with it's wide stretched arms,
the Missouri, tho Ohio, tho Tennes-
SEQ, the Arkansas and many others,
where is there another such river
or valley? And how rich in history
and romance is it from the time of
DeSoto and LaSalle to the present
day. How rich too in tho profuse
production of every staple natural
product. 1t is capable of feeding the
world. Tho human race here reach
.os towards perfection, in the noblest
manhood and loveliest womanhood.
The men are giants in stature and
have a proportionato largeness of
nina ana Soul.
But it is rs tho great natural bond
of National Union that the Mississ
ippi river and valley reach their
highest distinction and glory. Aaron
Burr plotted Southwestern seces-
sion scheme early in our history. A
Now England Confederacy was talked
of during the war of 1872. Tho great
Southern Confedoracy was but of
yesterday, and during its existence
there was at one time talk ola North
western Confederacy. We believe a
Pacific Coast Confederacy has also
been contemplated. All of these va
rious movements of course had in
view tho disintcgration of the Nation
al Union. Now did anybody hear of
tho idea of Mississippi Valley Con
fedoracy' Or is it not obvious that
that valley has been the insuporable
obstacle to all these various schemes!
The soldiers of the late South.
ern Confcderacy, we believe general
Iy concede that the men who really
whipped them were they of the Miss
issippi valley, and certainly their in,
iomitablc devotion to the Union, not
less than their valor, was fatal to the