Prose and verse / by Rev. J.M. Greene, A.M.

PROSE AND VERSE,
BY
REV. J. M. GREENE, A.M.
ATLANTA. GA. THE FRANKLIN PRTO. AJ.D PUB. Co.
2901.

COPYRIGHTED.

TO
MRS. MARY S. COLQUITT GREEXE,
I*Y LOVING WIFE AND FAITHFUL HELPMEET THROUGH ALL THE YEARS OF A LONG WEDDED LIFE, AND TO WHOSE LITERARY APPRECIATION AXD JOINT LABOR IT OWES ITS EXISTENCE, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.
THE AUTHOR

PREFACE.
In the Feast of the Boughs which the ancient Athenians annually observed as having been instituted by their king Theseus in celebration of his vows to Apollo for his safe re turn from his expedition against the Cretans, they carried in the sacred procession a branch bound with wool, which was laden with all good fruits, and called Eurosyne. As they marched, they sang the strain:
The golden ear, the ambrosial hive, In fair Eurosyne thrive. See the juicy figs appear! Olives crown the wealthy year! See the cluster-bending vine! See, drink, and drop supine!
The author trusts that this volume of Prose and Verse, which he offers to the public, like that ancient sacred sym bol, may be laden with the riches of language, thoughts, fan cies, sentiments and fruits of knowledge, as gathered from the field of literature, that will afford to its readers an intel lectual feast that will regale the taste and delight the mind. He indulges the hope that it will bring pleasure to the reader of classic taste, inspire the young minds of the South with love of their own fair land, and awaken in them a noble ambition for honor and virtue, and to be worthy of their ancestral renown and rich heritage of the South.
In the selection of the writers, orators and statesmen for the notice of the pen, from the roll of the eminnnt sons and daughters of the South, strict chronological order has not been observed, but they were chosen as familiar knowledge, fancy, personal admiration or friendship might dictate. Xor has minute biographical details been followed, such as when and where they were born, when died, and all the turns of fortune with them. They lived in thoughts and deeds of the mind, and their lives are not to be measured by the fig-

vi

PREFACE.

ures set on the dial-plate of time in the dates of birth and

death, but in the immortal instruction and inspiration they

gave to mankind.

The authors, orators and statesmen, the subjects of es

say, are but few in number as compared with the shining

throng that by their genius, eloquence and wisdom adorned

the annals of the South in literature, oratory and states

manship during the past century. Among those who shine

in glorious beauty in the literary firmament of the South as

bards of song, may be mentioned George D. Prentice, Ed

gar A. Poe, Paul Hayne, Henry Timrod, Father Ryan, Sid

ney Lanier, Eugene Field and John Esten Cooke. And not

only these, but many others of melodious strain with a score

or more of female writers of prose and verse, and a long

list of orators of dulcet tongue and statesmen of brilliant

talent.

The Essays may be considered eulogies rather than

sketches of life and character and reviews of the technical

critic in literature, and not to have added anything to the

greatness and glory of their subjects. Let this be so. The

author rejoices that it has been his task to bring forward

to notice some whose lives and writings have been un-

chronicled, to reinsculp the names of others on the tablet

of time, and with loving hand to lay a fresh garland of

honor upon their cenotaphs in the field of letters and to

hold up all to the cherished remembrance due them from the

South.

THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS.
THE SOUTH: ITS POLITICAL, LITERARY AND THEOLOG
ICAL WRITERS, ORATORS AND STATESMEN.
Page SOUTHERN LITERATURE Introduction....... ................. 1
Thomas Jefferson ............................ ............... 1-
.Tames Madison..................... ......................... 2SJames Monroe ....... ....................................... 3-> George Washington.............. .................. .. ..... 37 Patrick Henry ................. .... ................ ....... 38 George Y. Mason. ....................... .. ................ 39 William Henry Wirt.......................................... 40 John G Calhoun ........ ....... ..................... .... 41 Henry Clay .................. ...................... ....... 47 Robert H. Toombs........................................... 55
Alexander H. Stephens....................................... 61 Benjamin Harvey Hill .................................. .... 70
Walter T. Colquitt....... ................................... 76 William L. Yancey......................... ................. 7S Henry W. Billiard...... ........................:........... 82
Augustus B. Longstreet.... ......... .... .................. S(>
George F. Pierce ...... ...................................... 97 Alexander Means ................................... ... ..... 102
Alexander B. Meek .......................................... 10
Daniel A. Chandler ..... ...................... ............. 10S Henry R. Jackson .............. ....................... .... 110
Weems, or "Peter Horry "........ .......... ..... ......... 312
William Gilmore Simms ..................................... Hf> Thomas M. Norwood........... ..... ........... .......... 119 Miss Penina Moise .................................... ...... ]3&
Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz.......................... .......... HO Mrs. Amelia B. Welby ........................................ 142
Mrs. Augusta J. Wilson . ................................. 144
Mrs. Loula Kendall Rogers................. ................. 133
Madnme Le Vert....... ...................................... IW

VIII

CONTENTS.

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.
Page My First Schoolmaster and Early School Days...... ......... 109 The Prophet of the Confederacy........... .................. 189 Sketches of Texas ...................... ... .............. 1S6 A Historical Etching The Hero of San Jacinto .............. 206 General P. G. T. Beauregard ................................. 230
Texas Talent ................................................. 236
Poetry,etc. ...................... .... ..................... 239 Young Men vs. Old Men...................................... 240 Pulpit Oratory No. 1....................... ................ 244 Pulpit Oratory No. 2........................................ 246 Pulpit Oratory No. 3........................................ 248 Pulpit Oratory No. 4....................................... 252 Pulpit Oratory No. 5.......... ............................. 254 Pulpit Oratory No. 6........................................ 256 Literary Criticism from Perseus Flaccus Satire I... ........ 260 Literary Criticism from Juvenal Satire I.................... 263 Poetical Contributions............................ .......... 267 Obituaries ................................................... 271 Character-Building .......................................... 273 The South ................................................... 282 Reminiscences of the War............... .................... 294 " Praying for All that are in Authority "..................... 311

VERSE.
Introduction Literary Criticism from Horace "Ars Poetica " 2J7 Why Should I Write? Part I. Inquiry.......... ........... 322 Why Should I Write? Part II. Answer..................... 323 " Look not Mournfully into the Past" ....................... 324 What Flowers Should Decorate the Grave of the Christian.... 325
Lines of Condolence to F. M. R. on the Death of His Beloved
Companion .............................................. 326 Sonnets to Shakespeare ...................................... 327 Visions of Sleep............................................. 327 Thanatokallia. Our Evie .................................... 329
Christmas Day. An Ode..................................... 331
An Elegy in Memory of Willie Oliver, Henry Smith, Oscar Taylor and Charlie Wood ............................... 332
Lines Written in an Album ............................... .. J 33

CONTEXTS.

ix

Page
The Dead Canary ............................................ 333 Epithalamium. To Mrs. Mary Greene Wilson................ 334 Address of St. Valentine to the Young Men of Linden......... 335 I Think of Thee. The Soldier to his Wife. (Sentiment) ..... 336 I Think of Thee. A Soldier to his Wife. (Fact).............. 337 The War of ]861 ....................................... ..... 338 Romance of the Times ...................................... 339

TRANSLATIONS.
The Dying Flower. (Translation from the German of Friedrich Ruckert) ............... ..... .. .................. 354
Mignon. A Song. (Translation from the German of Goethe). 356 . My Fatherland. (Translation from the German of Carl Theo
dore Korner)............................................. 357 The Minstrels Curse. A Ballad. (From the German of Lud-
wig Uhland) ...... ...................................... 358 The Shepherds Hymn. (From the German of Ludwig Th-
land) ......................... ............. ............ 360 Farewell to Life. Sonnet. (From the German of Theodore
Korner)......................... ... ....... ............ 360 The Invisible One. (From the German of Ludwig Uhland) ... 361 The Resurrection (From the German of STovalis).......... 361 The Tramp........................................ .... ..... 302 The Youth. An Ode. (From the German of Klopstock)..... 3G3 The Two Muses. An Ode. (From the German of Klopstock).. 363

EARLY POEMS.
Address of May-Day Queen .................................. 365 The Address of Flora of a May-Day Celebration .............. :-;66 Lines to One Who Said: " There is no Love Save in Home Af
fections "................................................ 367 An Acrostic....................................... .......... 38 A Valentine to Miss Mary S. Colquitt (My Betrothed)........ 363 A Poetical Epistle to Mrs. 3. M. Greene, nee Colquitt ........ 360 The Birchen Scepter; or Pedagogue Rule.................... 371 A Retrospect of Life ........................................ 382

The South: Its Political, Literary and Theological Writers, Orators and Statesmen*

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.
INTRODUCTION.
Has the south a literature of its own ? This question is well propounded in view of an article from the pen of Don Piatt, the noted litterateur of Washington City, in which he sneeringly remarks, in a comment upon Southern books: that "one village of Xew England produces more books than all the Southern States together."
It must candidly be admitted that the productions of Southern intellect are few and small. Why is this the case? may be inquired. This is an anomalous feature of the South as a political or national section. It possesses all the other elements of moral and intellectual greatness. It can not be that this deficiency in the realm of letters attributed to it, arises from want of intellectual endowments, esthetic taste or literary culture. It has produced minds during the past century which by their matchless eloquence in the forum and in the halls of Congress, by their statesmanship in the national cabinet, and in the administration of the affairs of government, have encircled the name of the South with a halo of intellectual glory. To confirm this statement needs only to mention the names of Hayne, Crawford, McDuffie, Forsyth, Preston, Berrien, Clay, Calhoun, and of many others who by their brilliant talents, not only shed lustre upon, but shaped the political destiny of the republic.
Nor can this poverty of the South in the production of books arise from lack of those resources necessary to form a literature. The beauties of scenery which it presents throughout its broad domain are as fair as those sung by old Greek Theocritus on oaten stop to the shepherds of Sicilian plains, or by Virgil in bucolic verse to the polished ear of the Roman Caesar. Its historic past is filled with

2

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

examples of patriotic virtue and deeds of heroic valor as glorious as those which have rendered those nations of clas
sic antiquity, Greece and Rome, the illustrious models of national glory to all ages and climes. In the wide field thus opened, the poet can find themes worthy of every strain of song from the lofty numbers of the Epic Muse to the melting accents of the lyre. Here, too, may the historian gather ample materials for the glowing narrative or for the
profound utterances of philosophical history. To show the causes that have led to the sparsity of the
contributions of Southern mind to the literature of the age and to consider and determine its true literary status and merits of Southern authors, will be the design of future
essays. A full and thorough investigation of the causes which
have restricted the growth and production of Southern
Literature is a task that requires more labor and research than can be given to it in a fugitive essay. They are well worthy of the philosophic inquiry of the future historian, who faithfully and justly interpreting them, may vindicate the South from the imputation of illiteracy and establish its claim as an enlightened political section, though un crowned with the laurels of literary distinction in the field of authorship.
Don Piatt, the Washington City critic, in the article to which allusion has been made, states, as it were "ex cathe
dra," what he deems to have been the radical causes of the reputed inferiority of the Southern States in the art of mak ing books. He assigns as one of these causes, the former existence of the institution of slavery. That late peculiar feature of Southern society has been to the Xorth, for a
century past, the constant source of sectional spleen, and the prolific topic of political vituperation of the South.
It has looked upon slavery as a social atrocity, and re garded it with that obliquity of moral vision that canceled all the virtues of Southern character. So diabolical was the crime thus committed by the South considered, there was not rain enough "in all the sweet heaven to wash out" its stains. So deep-rooted the prejudice it engendered, that the

INTRODUCTION.

3

fearful civil war that extirpated the institution, has not plucked the memory of it -from the Northern mind, nor the sufferings entailed upon the Southern people by that war, condoned for the guilt of their ancestors in cherishing slav
ery. Though it might have afforded grounds for the polit ical proscription of the South, but that its influence was such as to produce moral and intellectual disqualification
for the cultivation of literature, can not be readily con ceived. This notion is unsustained by theory or fact. If considered in its physical effects, it will be conceded by every enlightened mind as an axiomatic truth, that through slave labor, the Southern people, being relieved from the drudgery of manual employments, would have leisure to
devote their attention to intellectual pursuits. That in its moral effects slavery has had the tendency to
restrain and impair the intellectual energies and pursuits of a people, receives no practical demonstration in the his
tory of those nations in the past where it existed. Nor was such its result in the Southern States. Let
Southern civilization be compared with that of any nation of ancient or modern times. None exhibits a higher stand ard in respect to the general intelligence, enlightened senti ment, and religious culture of the people. It furnished to the world as noble examples of patriotic virtue and political wisdom as adorn the annals of Greece or Rome. Mediae val age with its belted knighthood produced no brighter specimens of chivalry, courtesy, and honor. Nor England with its starred and coroneted nobility and its famed middle class presented no higher degree of intelligence and Chris tian culture than was exhibited by the yeomanry and the landed proprietors of Southern society. He, whose boyish recollections extend to those days, recalls with feelings of veneration ihe men of that period, as they loom up before the mind in all the grandeur of moral worth and pure sim plicity of early republican manners. The only adverse ;nIhicncp thai slavery couk; have wrought upon literary pur
suit at the South was, that by its easy production of wealth it took away that necessity ivJvjch would prompt to the cul tivation of literature as a means of livelihood.

4

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

In connection with the influence of slavery, the enervation
of the climate is likewise assigned as a cause of the sparse contributions of the South to the literature of the age. The investigation of this charge should be a matter of interest to those Southern minds that feel deeply concerned for the fair fame of the "Sunny South," and desire every imputa
tion repelled that would unjustly tarnish its escutcheon. To this task the present article will be devoted, and though the labor performed may not meet with that responsive sym
pathy and regard which its importance deserves, yet it will
be a work of love. That climate exerts an influence upon the development
of the physical and intellectual characteristics of the human race, is an opinion currently received. But that it is at tended by all the physiological differences, so strikingly ex
hibited in color and feature which were attributed to it by early geographers, is a subject of scientific inquiry. That its effect is such as to create marked contrasts in the nor mal character of the human mind, can not be fully predicated
of it. It is demonstrated in the case of the Hindoo race,
occupying the great peninsula of Southern Asia. Though they have not the intellectual endurance of the inhabitants
of colder climates, yet they are represented as making great proficiency in books, and the remains of their ancient liter ature in the Sanscrit will compare favorably with those of
other nations of antiquity. This is an isolated example, but a representative one that fairly illustrates the principle at issue, as there is no country upon the globe whose climate can be considered more unfavorable to the healthy and vigorous development of the physical and intellectual pow ers of man.
The Southern States, geographically considered, lie within the limits of that zone, which being exempt from the ex tremes of heat and cold, has been considered as possessing a climate the most desirable for the residence of man and the
most auspicious for the maturing of all his powers. Within
this belt of the earths surface was the cradle of the human, race, and along it spread that civilization which in its west ward march, produced for the world the noblest triumphs of

INTRODUCTION.

5

art and achieved for mankind the most important discoveries of science. The near approach of the Southern States to the tropics, being counterpoised by the breezes of the Gulf of Mexico, and in extension northward by the waters of that "summer sea," the gulf stream, that flows along their line of Atlantic coast, intersected by numerous rivers, and di versified by the verdure-crowned ranges of the Alleghany mountains, they have, on account of these peculiar features, a variety of climate, and one unsurpassed by that of Italian skies or the sunlit realms of Greece. The only effect that climate could have had upon the literary pursuits of the South, was that its geniality, combined with a productive soil and a vast extent of territory, turned the intellectual energies of the people to the development of their material resources. They devoted their intellectual efforts to agri cultural pursuits, choosing from their broad cotton fields and their rice plantations to produce the staples and the .food that would clothe and feed the world, as a means of opulence, than to weave the airy fabrics of the brain and purvey mental stores for the literary market. They pre ferred the active arena of political life to the ease and re tirement of the studio. They chose rather by living elo quence, "the applause of listening senates to command," than in poetic numbers to indite their thoughts, and from the voiceless folds of the press to spread them as sybilline leaves for the instruction and admiration of mankind.
It is not to be supposed that the people of the South, in the meantime paid no attention to education. They estab lished schools to meet their wants, and erected colleges as towers of light to illuminate the land. With all these ad vantages it became to them
" A country of every land the pride, Beloved by Heaven over all the world besides."
A retrospect of the progress and development of the Southern States during the .past century will unfold the true causes that operated against their taking a high posi tion in the production of literature. At the close of the American struggle for independence, the population of the South was small and widely scattered along the line of the

6

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

Atlantic seaboard. Before them westward stretched a large territory that was almost an unbroken wilderness. Separated from the old world by a broad ocean, and their domestic resources being greatly impoverished by the long war that had just closed, they had but few of the arts of civilization. To subdue the wilderness, and from the soil to create the products necessary to supply the material wants
of life was the task that would first necessarily engage their efforts.
Because they had sprung into political existence, and at once attained a republican form of government and entered upon a national career with a rapidity unparalleled in the history of nations, it is erroneous to presume that they would, in like manner, develop and possess all the other institutions of an old established State. Many of these are the slow products of years, and especially the arts and sciences. That little State of Greece which has been so famous throughout all time as the favored abode of let ters, did not at once produce that literature which is still to the world the chosen criterion of grace, beauty and sub limity. It was four centuries from the time that the Hel lenes conquered the autochthons, the natives of the soil, be fore Homer, the blind old bard of Scios rocky isle, wander ing through the cities of Greece, sung for bread those sub lime strains of song handed down to future ages in the im
mortal Iliad. This was the spring-time of Greek literature. It was a long-like period of time before it expanded into that rich summer of learning whose immortal bloom and
exquisite luxuriance well might favor the idea that the minds which wrought it received inspiration from the Muses that were fabled to dwell on the flowery summits of Mount Helicon.
Roman Literature was likewise a many-century-blooming plant. Though grafted on the learning of Greece as its parent stock, yet many cycles of time elapsed before it flow
ered and gave to the world the stately epics of Virgil, the glowing lyrics of Horace, and the polished periods of Cicero. The literature of England, which with Nile-like munificence waters and fructifies the realms of mind throughout the

INTRODUCTION.

7

English-speaking countries of the globe, was slowly and gradually augmented to its present grand volume. Begin ning in Chaucer as its fountain-head and trickling forth as a rivulet, and constantly receiving tributaries in the produc tions of gifted minds of each succeeding generation, it has broadened and strengthened as it rolled with the lapse of ages, into that magnificent stream that bears within its bosom "the solidest treasure of learning and the noblest har vests of poesy."
There are certain laws that govern the productions of the human intellect, and they can be superseded by no artificial processes. This applies in the case of either individuals or nations. In this wonderful age of scientific progress and diffusion of knowledge, artificial aids have been tried in the various theories and systems of education that have prevailed. The hot-house experiments have failed, and it is still found that there is no royal road to learning, and he who would climb its rugged heights and drink of the Pierian fount upon the summit must endure the toil of the ascent.
In the early days of the republic, an English reviewer, in commenting upon American literature, said that Litera ture was one of those finer manufactures which a new country will find it better to import than to raise." "Xative literature," says the Reviewer, "the Americans have none. It is all imported. And why should they write books, when a six weeks passage brings them in their own tongue, our sense, science and genius in bales and hogsheads." In reply to the criticism thus quoted, a book was written t>y Robert Walsh, Esq., in 1819, titled "Strictures upon the Calumnies of British. Writers," in which this uncharitable and illiberal spirit was denounced, and it is the same that is now practiced by the North toward the South.
Besides the disadvantage which the South experienced as being a new country in the production of a literature of its own, the intellectual activity of the enlightened world was turned into the field of scientific discovery. Then com menced the era of those brilliant achievements of science which has made the nineteenth century the most marvelous

8

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

epoch of all time. The discovery of the power of steam
and its application in the steamboat, railroad and the various mechanical arts, created that revolution which directed the intellectual energies both of Europe and America into a new channel. The South participated in this movement, and devoted its attention to productive and mechanical in dustry. There was no time for indulging in the dreamy abstractions of literary pursuits. There was no leisure for
exploring the heights of Parnassus and coquetting with the . Muses. The nymphs and_ Naiads of Greek and Roman mythology, the inspiration and topic of poetic genius, de
serted their sylvan bowers and limpid streams at the ap proach of the locomotive as it moved through the wilder ness. The iron horse of science supplanted the winged
Pegasus of the poet. The fountains of traffic it opened up were more enticing to mankind than all the waters of Hippocrene.
Thus we may perceive the true causes that led to res triction of the cultivation of literature at the South.
A review of the literary productions of the South pre sents an extended field of investigation, and in view of their sparsity and the indifferent state in which they are preserved, it may be considered a task of barren and diffi cult toil. It can not boast of those massive volumes of
history which invite the student to tread the dim aisles of the past, and survey as in living panorama the men and things of other times. There are no multitudinous works
of fiction to charm with their ideal and delusive scenes of "many colored life" or beguile with their gorgeous dreams of romance. There is no epic poem to delight with its sub lime thought and majestic sweep of verse, and stand in solitary grandeur amidst the flow of centuries as the en during monument of national genius and glory.
The list of Southern authors is small. But few if any of them, in the past, claimed to be professional writers, or sought distinction in the sphere of authorship. They wrote only as leisure might permit, or fancy or inclination might prompt. Their contributions were mainly to the journals and periodicals of their day. They poured forth their

INTRODUCTION.

9

thoughts with that careless prodigality with which, in their own clime, spring scatters its floral wealth, or summer its fruits; and published in the manner they were, they often perished with the occasion that gave them birth. Those who were enamored with poetry piped in every note of the muse, and in the exulting fullness of song with which that winged child of Euterpe, the mocking-bird, pours forth
its varied melody. There is no profusion of Southern books. But what they
lack in quantity they supply in.quality. They are thickly sown with thoughts and sentiments which resemble "those
fruits and flowers which the Virgin Martyr of Massinger sent down from Paradise to earth, distinguished from the productions of other soils not only by their superior bloom and sweetness, but by their miraculous efficacy to invigorate and to heal." There are a few productions of Southern minds, which judged according to the established standard of literary excellence, exhibit that grace, beauty, and wit, which should entitle their authors to the shamrock of im mortality. Could all the writings that have emanated from
Southern pens be evoked from their hiding places, where they lie entombed in periodicals, journals, and pamphlets, or in some antiquated volume in the obscure corners of pri vate libraries or of booksellers stalls, they would, if col lected and properly arranged, form a literary Parthenon, which, if not grand in its proportions, yet would be peer less in its classic grace and beauty. To the task above men tioned the cultivated intellect of the Sou them-States should earnestly and assiduously devote itself. It is worthy of its noblest efforts to rescue from oblivion and preserve in dura ble form the works of its posthumous writers, which are gradually, and by piecemeal falling into the maw of time." It is a tribute of honor due from the South to its children of genius. It will but add to its fame. A national litera ture is the moral Xile upon which the popular mind depends for its nourishment and fertility. The Southern people should no longer submit to be held in that degrading vassalage which makes them dependent upon the educated mind of the North for their supplies of books, as they do upon its

io

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

skillful thrift for its manufactured goods. As forming one nationality, relations of peace and friendship should be cher ished and sustained between the two sections and the bonds of brotherhood be firmly knit, but "Timeo Grsecos et dona ferentes," should be the cautious spirit of the Southern heart, in view of the past. In a book of oratory designed for schools and sold in the South, the following insidious extract from a speech by a Northern writer upon the "Tri umph of the Union Cause " appears: "The flag of the Union waves in triumph over the rebel Capitol, and Davis and Lee and their guilty compeers, with brand of treason on their . brows, are seeking for a hiding place, and can find none on American soil."
What Southern parent wants his children to imbibe such sentiments in regard to the "lost cause."
ITS POLITICAL.WRITERS.
The South has produced some distinguished political writers. A consideration of their \vritings may legitimately be included in the scope of sketches of Southern literature. The intellectual taste and genius of the Southern people have been eminently political and have been largely directed to the investigation and discussion of the great principles of popular self-government from their incipiency to their present grand development in the Constitution of the republic. The treatises that have emanated from Southern writers upon these subjects are worthy of the profoundest regard. They are not ideal speculations of government, which, as in the golden dreams of Plato of his happy repub lic, portray a perfection of politics and laws which would remove all evils and secure universal happiness to mankind, but "baseless as the fabric of a vision." They present the exposition of these political immunities, the freedom of opinion and the right of suffrage, which by giving indi viduality and making each citizen a constituent element of the body politic, has wrought for the American people the largest blessings of civil liberty. They are the land marks by which the political -policy and movements of the country have been guided, and by which it has reached its

INTRODUCTION.

11

present proportions of unrivaled greatness and glory. Such is the character and merit of the political writers of the South. They are well worthy to be ranked in that line of
illustrious statesmen of past ages, who by their wisdom
laid broad and enduring the foundations" of States, and with them should occupy a noble pedestal in the worlds great
Pantheon of immortality.
The principles which produced the American Revolution and the brilliant success that attended that struggle, con stituted a new era in the political history of the civilized world. To appreciate the ideas of the political leaders of the contest it is necessary to survey the civil governments of Europe, the great centre of human civilization, for many
preceding centuries. The idea of a government for the people and by the people was obsolete. The last example of purely democratic government worthy of note was that of the ancient republic of Rome. From the twelfth to the fourteenth century there had flourished the petty republics of Genoa and Venice. Their systems of government were aris tocratic or at best oligarchical. The Podesta of one and
the Doge of the other, as chief magistrates, were but the vas sals of the will of the councils that controlled the affairs of the State. The dreaded "Council of Ten" of Venice was an "arbitrary and inquisitorial body, a standing tyranny." The
little State of Switzerland, amidst its. Alpine fastness, alone had a free government, exhibiting in contrast with the ty rannies of Europe, that miracle of its scenery, roses and myrtles blooming amid dreary and barren glaciers of ice. The mass of the people of the various kingdoms and states of Europe had no participation in the affairs of the gov ernment, and felt and had no interest save that which re
lated to the security of person and fortune. They were as "a dumb driven herd," subject to the triple tyranny of king, noble and priest.

12

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.
The task presented in a review of its political writers, and the exposition of their ability and merits, should be a mat ter of profound consideration, sacred duty and interest to the South. To their political doctrines and statesmanship this great commonwealth formed of the sisterhood of States is largely indebted for its prosperity and grandeur, and the South as a section especially owes its honor and glory.
Neither lapse of time nor any other circumstance should abate in the Southern mind the expediency and the impor tance of such a work. The interest involved is too broad and grand that it should be controlled by slight contin gencies. The torch of mind is the flame of glory.
As essential to the due consideration and the proper esti mate of the political writers of the South, in our last article a survey of the civil polity of Europe as the great centre of the worlds civilization, for several preceding centuries, was briefly presented. The retrospect then taken of the politi cal history of continental Europe, exhibited hereditary rule and "the divine right of kings" as the fundamental prin ciples, and despotism and oligarchy as the Procrustean framework of its governments, unchanged by the ceaseless rise and fall of nations as wrought by time or war. No element of civil liberty appeared, save in the little republic of Switzerland with its "league of friendly States," located amidst the ice-clad Alps and thus, girded by natures colos sal ramparts against the surging waves of despotism. It was :the boast of England, that its seagirt domains were the chosen and favored abode of liberty. It possessed one or two of the great immunities of civil liberty in the famed Magna Charta wrested from the unwilling hands of tyran ny, yet not until the "glorious revolution of 1688," that de throned the reigning dynasty and the liberties of the nation were secured by the "bill of rights" against any future ar bitrary acts of its kings, were the manacles of regal des potism fully broken.
This brief account embraces the main features of the

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

13

political history and represents the political state of the civilized world previous to that great event the American Revolution. It inaugurated a new era in the fundamental principles of human government, and wrought results in
this respect, corresponding in magnitude to those produced by the discovery of the Western Hemisphere upon the other departments of civilization. Here, on the shores of a new world, "the free spirit of mankind at length threw its last fetter off." Intimately connected with the struggle of the American colonies for independence, is the question of the merits of the political writers of the South. The colonies
of the South were nobly represented by the pen as well as the sword in that contest. The political productions of Southern minds contributed largely to its success and glory. First and foremost among those revolutionary patriots, who wielded the pen in behalf of liberty, was Thomas Jefferson, the immortal penman of that celebrated document the
Declaration of Independence. As the author of this article he receives much of his cele
brity. Is his fame ;in this respect justly deserved? To how much credit is he entitled? It is evident that this instru
ment of writing derives its prestige not alone from the na ture and character of its purpose, but possesses intrinsic literary excellence. The pure, classic and dignified style in which it is written, makes it an appropriate utterance of a people cherishing the noble spirit of liberty and protesting against the wrongs of tyranny. His literary culture and early associations qualified him for the task. "He was skillful with the pen, he was familiar with the" points of controversy; he was a Virginian."
As to the political principles which it enunciates, he can not be awarded the merit of originating them by his excur sions as sole pioneer in the fields of political speculation. They had their origin far back in the past. For centuries
they had been pulsating in the great popular heart, amid the gloom and oppression of European tyranny. The Bible evoked from its monastic seclusion by Luther and dissemi nating its soul-elevating and humanity-honoring truths had awakened and fostered them. Rousseau, about the middle

14

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

of the eighteenth century, as the great hierophant of liberty,
ministering at the altars of humanity, had written and pub lished in his "Contrat Social," the rights of man. The Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights setting forth the in alienable privileges of Englishmen had been indited. From
these sources, the genius of this great statesman may have derived inspiration in his preparation of the political docu
ment which has so greatly distinguished him. Yet when it is carefully considered, its author merits the singular dis tinction the world has given him.
It has been said "the noblest utterance of the whole com position is the reason given for making the declaration A decent respect for the opinions of mankind. " This
touches the heart. Among the best emotions that human nature knows is the veneration of man for man. This rec ognition of the public opinion of the world, as final arbiter in all such controversies, is the single phrase of the docu ment which Jefferson alone, perhaps of all the Congress
would have originated; and in point of merit it is worth all the rest. Let the Declaration of Independence, then, re main intact as the due monument to his genius and name; more noble and enduring than the slender shaft or stately pillar which the sculptor may cut from "marbled honors
caverned bed" to perpetuate the memory of departed great ness.
As a political writer, Jefferson was not the author of any elaborate or extended work upon civil government or of political economy. A summary of his views upon these sub jects must be collected from his epistolary correspondence.
Though scattered as they are in this manner, they are worthy of greatest painstaking in research and of the highest consideration.
He was not the projector of Utopian schemes of govern
ment brilliant in theory but futile in practice. He was- not the prbpounder and advocate of questions of national pol icy which were for the time being, and became obsolete with
their defeat or adoption. He was not the promoter of measures which had solely in view the aggrandizement of self or party.

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

15

The principles which he cherished and advocated have been and are yet to a certain extent, the professed political tenets of the national Democratic party which held the reins of government for twenty years, and under whose auspices the United States grew great in population, wealth and territory, and advanced with decennial speed in their career of glory until the spirit of disunion invaded the ranks of the party at the Charleston Convention in 1860 and the tocsin of civil war sounded the death-knell of its supremacy in 1861. These principles were not to be extirpated by the defeat or downfall of any political party. They lie at the foundation of the Constitution, and as long as it is held in violate, will direct in the administration of the govern ment.
The rights of man, as viewed individually and collec tively, were the basis of his political creed. He earnestly de sired and sought that the Constitution of the United States should be so framed that- it would be the Palladium- of civil liberty and extend the broad aegis of its protection over the humblest citizen of the commonwealth. He considered the first Constitution suggested to the States, and even its immediate successor, the second Constitution which was finally adopted by them, as imperfect in this respect, and urged that it should be amended by annexing a bill of civil rights which should give full specifications.
The war being closed, their independence recognized, and peace made, it was a question of momentous con cern to the Colonies what form of government should they adopt. The object of the war was to repel the ty rannical exactions imposed upon them by the British gov ernment and the result was to shake off their dependence upon it forever. The sentiments of the people were va rious as to what form of government should be adopted There were those who favored the establishment of a limited monarchy, influenced by a lingering attachment to England, the parent country. The army proposed to Washingtpn to make him king. His patriotism was too pure to grasp the splendid prize offered to his ambi tion. The leaders of the revolution had no doubt revolved

16

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

in mind, and looked forward, to the laying of the founda tion of a government which would secure the blessings of civil liberty, in the event that the struggle of the colonies for
independence should be successful. That "all men are born free and equal," was the cherished political maxim of Jef
ferson, and it could meet with full recognition only in an
elective or republican form of government. That such a model had long existed in idealistic creation in his mirid and
was familiar to his thoughts, was clearly evinced by the well-defined views and suggestions he gave in his letters from Paris to the President of the Convention that framed the original Constitution of the United States.
HavTng thrown off its allegiance to the British crown,
during the war that ensued, each colony had practically as sumed and exercised the functions of a sovereign State and conducted its public affairs upon the elective principle of government. This circumstance, perhaps, had already shaped and predetermined that the character of its "bodypolitic" should be a republic.
What should be the future relations of the infant States
to each other, was likewise an important matter to be settled. Should each be a separate and independent nationality, or should they unite and form one nation under a consolidated government. History, the "reverend chronicler" of the past, gave its warning voice, and taught that jealousy would arise and strife ensue between nations whose territories
were contiguous, and that the confederation of States gave strength and power to them.
The rivalry among the sister republics of ancient Greece gave rise to constant and extensive wars which sapped the foundation of their prosperity. Their union under the Achean league, after centuries of strife, had enabled them, even in the period of their decadence, to resist the encroach
ing power of surrounding nations. The Hanseatic league of the German cities, which resulted in converting each into a city-republic, had also demonstrated to the world the bene fits of political union.
There were many facts and circumstances to induce and urge the people of the new-born States to consider and favor

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

17

the organization of a regular and permanent national gov ernment. They had the same common ancestry, spoke the
same mother tongue, drew from the same "dug, freedoms breath of life." They together had shared in the suffer ings and triumphs of the sanguinary conflict just passed;
were in a weak and impoverished condition, and above all
had tested and realized the strength and efficacy of union in that it had enabled them to cope with and defeat a formida
ble enemy. This programme of government was pre-established by
the war and revolution, in the Articles of Confederation that had been adopted by them as colonies, and the creation
of that legislative body, the Continental Congress, which had been invested "with great and various powers" to conduct the war. This compact under which they had united was still in force and recognized, and Congress still exercised its legislative and executive functions. The seven years war had tended to give permanency of feature to this provi sional government, and the existing circumstances rendered
its perpetuation still necessary. But it was found inade quate to meet the new situation of affairs which supervened upon the recognition of their independence and the estab
lishment of peace. The necessity of a better organization. of the general government was imperative.
A convention of the States by their delegates met at Philadelphia, I4th of May, 1787, under the authority of
Congress, for the purpose of revising the Articles of Confed eration, and rendering "the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union." The result of the proceedings of that Con vention was the present Constitution of the United States, before the recent amendments.
The views of Jefferson as a distinguished patriot and an eminent statesman of that period, in regard to the Consti tution and his constructions of its various features, should elicit inquiry. The practical operation of it for a hundred
years has either confirmed or refuted his opinions. He approved the scheme of government it embodied. It co incided with the model which he had preconceived in mind.
2e i

18

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

It had its defects in the omission of certain important polit ical rights. It was concluded in too broad and general terms. He wanted the line of demarcation between the
powers of the general government and those of the States clearly drawn. The true theory of the Constitution should
be, that the Federal Government should have control of all questions of foreign relations and between other States, and the States of all that concerned themselves.
This was the point of vital interest. Upon it hinged the successful experiment of the proposed government. The proper distribution of political power, and the equipoise
thus produced, acting as the centrifugal and centripetal
forces which keep the planets in their orbits around the sun, would cause the States to move harmoniously along their respective paths around the Union, as the central source
of strength and glory.
The convention that framed the Constitution was com posed not only of men of profound and sagacious minds, but of men who differed in their schemes of government. There were those who earnestly and vigilantly guarded against the cession of any power or right to the Constitution, that would, in the least, affect the sovereignty of the States. There were those of equal ability, who desired a strong cen
tral government and the elimination of all State lines. The Constitution was the result of a compromise of these antag
onistic views, and bears the impress in the broad and general terms in which it is couched, and the two-fold construction that has been placed upon that feature of it which concerns
the rights of the States in their sovereign capacity.
The letters of Mr. Jefferson, written from Paris whilst the convention was in session, show how deeply he was con
cerned that the individual sovereignty of the States should be fully recognized and clearly denned in the constitutional fabric of the national government. He regarded it as "the barrier of civil liberty." It would serve as a check and
safeguard against all usurpation and tyrannical exercise of prerogative on the part of the general government or the role of Alexander, or Caesar, or Cromwell, by any ambitious
spirit that might hold the reins of executive power. He

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

19

-fully exemplified his views upon the question of State Tights in his opposition to the alien and sedition acts pro
jected and passed by the party in possession of the admin istration. The strong protest to these acts, offered by the Kentucky resolutions (Nov. 26, 1798), was written by Mr.
Jefferson. This celebrated paper, together with that of the Virginia resolutions written by Madison, declared that the Federal Constitution is a compact between the States as States, and that each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infraction, as of the mode and measure of redress.
As to the extreme doctrine of the right of any State or States to secede from the Union in redress of its grievances, Tie gave no expression of opinion. He supposed that pos sibly such a contingency might arise in the administration of the government that "certain States from local and oc casional discontents, might attempt to secede from the Union. But it is not probable that local discontents can spread to such an extent, as to be able to face the sound parts of so extensive an Union; and if ever they should reach the majority, they would then become the regular govern ment, acquire the ascendency in Congress, and be able to redress their own grievances by laws peaceably and con stitutionally passed."
The right of secession as a principle inherent in the
sovereignty of the States has been a doctrine more or less cherished and maintained since the foundation of the gov ernment. Massachussetts thought so once, as indicated in the Hartford resolutions, and so did South Carolina, as ex pressed in the Act of Nullification. No such right was stipulated in the Constitution, yet from the nature and ob ject of the compact it might be inferred as reserved. "The pound of flesh" might be claimed in that political bond but there was no mention of "a jot of blood." The revolt of Texas from the Republic of Mexico, and the aid and encour
agement it received in establishing its independence from the people but not the government of the United States, in cidentally illustrated the popular sentiment upon the ques
tion of the secession of a State from a Federal compact.

20

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

The Southern States tried the experiment in 1861. After a fearful civil war of four years they were subdued and co erced back into the Union. This has practically settled for a time the question of secession. The principle still exists in the minds of men. It rose invincible from the crimson
tide of war, and still shakes "its gory locks," and will not down at the bidding of any victorious party. The bonds of Union which bind the States can not be peacably untied, but like the Gordian knot must be severed by the sword. It may be well to cherish the doctrine of State sovereignty as a safeguard of civil liberty, but the State or States should, pause before they try the experiment of secession. It is a revolutionary measure that will require the arbitrament of the sword. As long as there lingers in the minds of mere the recollection of the sufferings of the South during the late war; its flower and chivalry slain upon the field of bat tle, its products of industry swept away, its towns and citiesdespoiled and its peaceful homes burned, its widows tears and its orphans cries, its final subjugation and subsequent political humiliation, no State or States will be prone to re peat the experiment of secession.
Freedom of speech is a vital element and an essential safeguard of a republican form of government. The his tory of the past demonstrates this fact. The Bema of an cient Athens was the bulwark of liberty in the little repub lic of Attica. It was from its summit the affairs of the government were presented and discussed in public assem blies of the people, the designs of demagogues and traitors were exposed, and measures of safety adopted. It was from thence, that Demosthenes poured forth those burning Phi lippics which "fulmined over Greece," shook the throne of the tyrant of Macedon and thwarted his ambitious schemes for the subjugation of the Grecian States. The Tribune or the forum was the citadel of popular liberty to ancient Rome, and for three hundred years preserved it as a repub lic from the despotism of patrician rule and military chief tains.
The first effort of the foreign or domestic tyrant in his designs to overthrow the liberties of the people, has al-

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

21

ways been to suppress the freedom of speech. Bonaparte
resorted to this trick of policy when upon "the ruins of the throne and the tribune," he formed of liberty-seeking
France an empire. His example in this respect was fol lowed by Louis Napoleon, who in more modern times bold ly projected and successfully consummated the same enter prise.
The revolutionary struggle occasioned the exercise, and obtained for the people of the United States the privilege of "freedom of speech." The modern invention of the
printing press opened for it a wider sphere of operation than presented in the viva voce of the popular assemblies
of those ancient republics, Greece and Rome. The ubiquity imparted to it by this medium of communication largely in creased its potency and restricted its mobocratic tendency. In regard to the freedom of speech or of the press, Jefferson
was a most zealous advocate. He urged that it should be
secured by an express provision in the Constitution, and to that purpose persistently directed his efforts until it was accomplished, by an amendment to the Constitution passed by the first Congress (1789).
He considered it so vitally important to the security of the institutions of a free government, that he would not ad mit of the propriety of the press being "muzzled." Al though he was often the subject of its falsehood and vitu peration during his political career, yet he was so deeply convinced of its utility in the preservation of the popular
liberty, that he would not consent to its coming under the censorship of the law, where public measures and the acts, of public men were concerned. The censorship of enlight
ened public opinion would neutralize and correct the abuses of a perverted license. The political training which it would impart, would qualify the people to judge rightly and justly of the truth of its statements.
The history of the press for the past century justifies the wisdom of Jefferson concerning its freedom. It has
been the great political educator of the people, and in an eminent degree qualified them for the critical experiment of self-government. Sending out daily and weekly through

22

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

the columns of the ubiquitous newspaper the discussion of all political topics by the enlightened wisdom of the land, it instructs and prepares the masses for the high duties of citizenship in a government, where each individual in proportion to his voice and vote, exerts his influence inshaping all public measures. Every American child is a.
born politician. The influence of the press has been largely conducive
to the tranquillity of the government. It has afforded vent to the volcanic fires of party spirit that threatened disrup tion of the republic, guiding to the bloodless contests of the ballot-box with the pen, instead of marshaling antago nistic forces to the clash of arms. However in full record
of the press it has been said,
That with the bitter, burning speech of the tongue Inflamed the South with maddened sense of wrong, And urged the North with conscious might of force To press to bloodshed its fanatic course; And between those wrought internecine strife, "VVho from same dug drew Freedoms breath of life, And same childhood of a glorious past, Its golden links of Union strong had cast.
The press has become more wary and discreet, and the public mind does not always blindly receive the utterances from the editorial tripod as oracular. It now stretches out its Briarean arms over the whole land, and no human agency of civilization can compare with it in its power to do good or evil. As an expositor of political issues it should teach the people with the moderation of wisdom, and standing; as sentinel upon the watch-tower guard with sleepless vigi lance the citadel of liberty. As a fountain of instruction it should send out streams of pure and useful knowledge, that will truly inform and elevate the popular mind. As a censor of manners, it can encourage to the cultivation of virtue and deter from the practice of vice. This is its high missionMay it perform it Well.
The question of religious faith and divine worship fiasever been one of intense interest to the human mind. What ever religion may be embraced, and whether true or false, it takes strong hold of mans pathematic nature, and exerts an

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

23

influence which can awaken his mind to highest transports
of enthusiasm or excite to wildest bursts of frenzy. In no other realm of opinion does the-spirit of bigotry exercise
a more self-exacting and imperious sway or prompt the
hand so readily to grasp the warlike weapon for the purpose
of defense or domination.
No nation has ever existed which did not possess and cherish some form of religion. .Although the nature of re
ligion is such that it involves mans relations only as an in
dividual, and that solely to the Supreme Being, yet at an early period of antiquity, the religious creed and the rites of worship of nations entered largely into their political
life and formed their national customs. Becoming thus in
separably interwoven, in many pagan nations the control and supervision of religion was made the business of the State. In ancient Greece it came under the jurisdiction of
the court of Areopagus. /Eschylns, the celebrated tragic poet, was tried by this court upon the accusation of impiety, and would have been condemned and "stoned to death by the Athenians," had not his brother, Aminias held up his
mutilated hand hewn by a Persian scimetar at Marathon, as a mute but eloquent appeal to the tribunal for clemency. The Roman republic created a college of Pontiffs to super
intend the worship of the national "gods" and to punish all acts of sacrilege.
It might be supposed that the Christian religion in view of the character of its peculiar doctrines, upon its advent into the world, would inaugurate a new state of things. Its Divine Author announced that his kingdom was not of this
world. He declared the true worship of God to be entirely spiritual-, and required no outward pomp or ceremony. Its principle was love, and its object was peace. He invested conscience with an inviolable sanctity of right, and as the
living oracle of God within the soul, in all matters of per
sonal religion, its voice was superior in authority to the edicts of kings or the arbitrary decrees of hierarchical coun
cils. It might be presumed that his followers would embrace and be guided by the principles which he so clearly enunciated. The history of Christianity shows divergencies

24

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.



from the teachings of its Divine founder. When it grew in power.and became the religion of the Roman empire, it assumed the prerogative of requiring conformity to those articles of faith and that style of worship which it might
dictate, and of punishing all recusants. The history of all religions shows the spirit of intoler
ance. It existed between Jew and Gentile, as truth and error are always antagonistic. Pagan Rome was tolerant
of the religions of the nations it conquered by its arms, and established a Pantheon at the seat of empire for the en rollment and worship of all divinities, but it issued imperial
rescripts for the extinction of Christianity. Mohammedan ism waged a war of extermination against all other creeds. "The Koran or the sword" was the battle-cry of the fierce
warriors of Yemen that gathered under the green standard
of the Prophet of Mecca for the propagation of Islamism. Oh! this spirit of religious intolerance! No plague more
fell or destructive to human happiness has ever escaped from the Stygian stream. Even heaven-born Christianity
with its proclamation of peace on earth and good-will to man, has not been exempt from its devastating work. En
gendered in corruption and sin in the bosom of the Romish church, this spirit leaped forth, armed with the implements of torture and death, and rioted in the blood of thousands
of innocent victims. The crusades for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre from Moslem power, the dungeons of the inquisition, the martyr fires of Smithfield, the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and the wars of contending religious sects
which made a battlefield of Europe for many years, all
attest the fearful woes which the spirit of sectarian bigotry has wrought for mankind.
The discovery of America opened an asylum for the op pressed. Thither fled thousands to escape the hierarchical
despotism of the old world and to have-liberty of conscience. The Puritans and Quakers from England, the Huguenots
from France, and the Roman Catholics under Lord Balti more, seeking religious freedom, sought the wilds of Amer
ica and laid the colonization of the New World. But the spirit of intolerance even here was not banished from the

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

25

ranks of Christianity. The Puritans commenced the per secution of the Quakers and Baptists. This gave rise to
that divinely inspired thought of religious toleration in the mind of Roger Williams, the leader of the Baptist refugees from Puritan tyranny. Thus from the lips of this humble man emanated a truth which embodied a political principle,
that either had escaped the attention of rulers, statesmen, and legislative bodies or had been ignored by them in the blind infatuation of power. The recognition of this truth
by the Christian world would have precluded much pain,
suffering and bloodshed to the human"1 race. In laying the foundations of a national government the
question of religion, from its importance, would necessarily present itself to the consideration of the convention that framed the constitution of the United States. As religious
toleration had been practically recognized and asserted in
the different colonies, that body left the question untouched. The attitude of Jefferson upon the subject was clearly de
fined in his epistolary correspondence. He strenuously
urged that the principle of religious freedom should be incorporated in the Constitution and be securely guarded by
an express provision, nor did he relax his efforts until it was done by an amendment to the constitution, passed the
first Congress in 1789. He said that he "contemplated with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law
respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a. wall between Church and State.
The common right of freedom of conscience was a col
umn of strength in the Constitution, and was a crowning grace to it as the peerless model of a republican form of
government. The United States was the first in time, if not the only nation in whose organic law it was embodied as a fundamental feature of its polity.
The pen may scarcely enumerate the inestimable blessings of which it has been the prolific source. It has been a heal ing remedy for those strifes engendered by differences of religious tenets, which "in times past" had convulsed king-

26

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

doms and polluted the peaceful altars of Christianity with the bloody rites of Moloch. There has been no resounding shock in arms of Protestants and Baptists on battle plain, or hounding of covenanters among mountain fastnesses -to disturb the tranquillity of the government. Each denomi nation of Christians has exercised the privilege of worship ing God according to the dictates of their conscience "under their own vine and fig-tree" and none have dared "to molest or make afraid." Armed in panoply divine and marshalled under the same celestial labarum, all sects of Christians have constituted one grand sacramental host which has advanced on its line of march with the good
of man and the glory of God in view. Freed from the shackles of ecclesiastical dogmas, theology has pressed into broader fields of inquiry and has added largely to the com mon treasury of religious knowledge.
Thus the common right of liberty of conscience guaran teed under the Constitution to all citizens, has engirdled with the bow of peace the religious life of the nation, and by its harmonizing power upon the religious creeds of men, it has come nearer than at any other epoch of the worlds history of bringing into sweet realization the golden age as sung by Virgil in the diviner strain of the Sicilian Muse or the evangelical period as depicted by rapt Isaiah in the glowing words of prophecy. Naught has occurred to mar the harmonious picture presented or to require interference on the part of the government to prevent the infringement or abuse of this privilege guaranteed under the constitution to all citizens, save in the Mormon delusion and atrocity.
How greatly favored were the United States in the con servative character as well as the political sagacity of those minds which composed the convention which framed the Constitution and laid the foundations of their national gov ernment upon such a broad and happy basis! How fortunate was it for the future glory and prosperity of the nation that in that legislative body, the religious fanaticism exhibited by the English Parliament in the days of Cromwell, or the atheistic sentiments of the French Assembly that dethroned religion and decreed the worship of the goddess of Reason,

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

27

did not reign and mould its organic structure of govern
ment! Scarcely had the Constitution been adopted by the thir
teen original States, when Jefferson, surveying the present and forecasting with prescient mind the future, pronounced the government it inaugurated "as the best existing in
the world or ever did exist." The experiment of a century has fully verified, if it has not transcended, his most san guine anticipations in regard to its happy and successful operation. How few of the many millions of beings that have enjoyed the exalted privilege and the superior bless ings of citizenship which this government bestows have fully comprehended and worthily appreciated the labors of that Convention which so successfully devised it. How few reflect and consider that it had no direct prototype in. any pre-existing models of the republican forms of govern ment, either of ancient or modern times. Simple, grand, and beautiful in its structure, the temple of freedom, it rose up amid the political fabrics of the world, marvelously springing into existence like the fair isle upheaved from the depths of the sea by the earthquakes throe or the splendid palace of fairy tale at the wave of the magicians wand.
In the light of the events of history it may not be super stitious or unreasonable to indulge the opinion, that the Divine Wisdom which by its fiat evoked earths globose mass from the formless void and elanced it along its roll ing way in all the freshness and beauty of its pristine crea tion, did likewise inspire the minds and guide the delibe rations of the legislative bodies which directed the strug gles of the Colonies for independence and which formed "that immortal league of love which bound them in one broad empire, State with State." It is a divine teaching
that God often raises up men for special purposes as he did Cyrus of old, and the "inspiration of the Lord giveth them understanding." What gratitude is due from the
American people through all time to the God of heaven and earth, the Giver of all good, that in the distribution of political blessings, he hath made their country the glory
of all lands and the joy of all people! Shall there be no

28

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

recognition of divine favor? Shall there be no gratulation to God by the people in their national capacity and at stated periods in perpetual memorial of his special favor and mercy to them in directing those events which have made them "a great nation"? Shall the Senate of pagan Rome in former times decree an offering of praise throughout all its shrines and temples to Jupiter Stator, the fabled god of their worship, for the preservation of the city and of the re public from the destruction threatened by the conspiracy of Catiline, and Christian America have no votive tribute of homage to him who is Jehovah, and to them as to the Is raelites of old, the Lord God, who broke from, their necks the yoke of the oppressor? Should his overruling Providence be ignored in national affairs and not even an altar be erected as was raised by the Athenians on Mars hill with the inscription "To the Unknown God," lest it might be construed as a political infringement of the Constitution, in that it would be uniting Church and State?
This is the closing sketch in the review of Jefferson as a political writer of the South. The task was undertaken to vindicate the South from the charge of literary pauper
ism, and not with the design to preserve the name of Jef ferson from oblivion or with the hope to add anything to his illustrious greatness. His own deeds of statesman ship have immortalized him. His political career was not
that of the meteor that shoots athwart the sky and is then
lost in darkness; but that of the luminary which, when no longer visible, leaves a hemisphere radiant with its beams of light. He has built his own monument of- fame in the productions of his pen, and one more enduring than the statue of unmouldering bronze with which Virginia has
honored him and placed within the shadow of its capitol, to perpetuate his memory to future ages.

JAMES MADISON.
It is an apothegm of the distinguished English historian and brilliant essayist Macaulay, that great men do not come singly, but appear in groups upon the worlds theater of ac-

JAMES MADISON.

29

tion, when those achievements are to be wrought which un settle or fix the destiny of nations. This was singularly il lustrated in that epoch of American history characterized
by the struggle of the Colonies for liberty and independ ence, and their erection into a nationality as the United States of America. Grand and heroic were the minds need ed for the consummation of that event which was to be " the noblest as well as the latest offspring of time," and destined to exert a renovating and exalting influence uponhumanity in all its interests throughout the habitable globe-
The human mind is accustomed to magnify the men and things of the past, and as they appear through the dim vista of vanished years, imagination attributes to them the
possession of virtues not now to mortals given. "There were giants in those days," is the record biblical history makes of the antediluvian age. Old Rome and classic Greece exalted
the heroes of their primeval days to demigods. The Amer ican people can not too highly exalt the leading spirits whoguided the Revolution to a successful issue and wisely laid the foundation of their free institutions. Their moral and intellectual greatness will stand the test when brought to the severest investigation. They were a constellation bright,, which the telescope of time has resolved into stars of the first magnitude.
The South was largely and nobly represented during the Revolution on the political arena as well as the tented field. It furnished the author that drafted the great charter of colonial rights, the orator whose impassioned eloquence gave impulse to the ball of the Revolution, and the military chief tain who with magnetic power held together the weak and scattered forces of the struggling colonies through the te dious years of the war and by his genius invested them with the might of victory. Among those revolutionary worthies may be enrolled James Madison. He was not a prominent actor in the first scenes of the stirring drama of the Revo lution, but came upon the stage of action at the darkest hour of the strife, and as a member of the Continental Con gress served his country in a legislative capacity. He was a potent master of the pen, and in his hand it became a thing

30

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

"mightier than the sword" wielded in the serried ranks of war.
Madison cherished the most advanced and enlightened ideas of political and religious freedom. He, at an early period of life, in a "local contest for religious toleration," distinguished himself as a zealous and active advocate and defender of the freedom of conscience. In 1784, when it
was projected in the Assembly of Virginia, of which he was a member, to make."a general assessment for the support of religion," he prepared a memorial and remonstrance against
the measure which utterly defeated it. He was a member of the convention that framed the Con
stitution. He first appears prominently as a political writer
in a series of articles written in connection with Jay and Hamilton in support of the Constitution and of its adoption
by the States. They were published at that time in a New York newspaper, but have since been collected and printed in book-form with the title of "The Federalists."
The Constitution was not an exponent of the theory of national government which he favored. But wisely con
sidering the exigencies of the country and the imperative necessity for a more efficient system of government than
was embraced in the Articles of Confederation, in the gran
deur of true patriotism he rose above the pride of personal opinion, and labored strenuously for the adoption of the
Constitution as the best organization of a union of the States that could be effected under the antagonism of views that existed. The Federalists "remains the most forcible
exposition upon the side espoused," and has been ranked with the "most famous political writings of the Old Eng lish worthies."
Nearly a century has elapsed since the adoption of the Constitution. As the repository of the principles which un
derlie the foundation and must ever control in the admin istration of the government as a Republic it can never be come obsolete as an old musty record of the past. The profundity of interest which must ever invest it, not sim
ply as the bond of political union to the States, but as has been decided by the umpirage of war, the fabric of national

JAMES MADISON.

31

government to whose supreme power the States in their sovereign capacity must be subordinate, has been increased
instead of being diminished by the lapse of time and the re sults of its practical operation.
The complex character of the Constitution, embodying a3 it does State and national governments, and the want of accurate delineation of the respective powers of each, has
made the construction of its principles and provisions the prolific source of controversy and the origin of the rival
political parties that under various appellations have divided
the country and have contended at each quadrennial elec tion for the reins of government. Although it has been
made through every period of the past the subject of dis cussion that immerged even into the strife of the battle field, yet from the very nature of things the question of its
construction will be constantly recurring as exigencies in the
future arise. The opinions of the founders of the Republic upon the
Consritution should be entitled to the highest regard from posterity. It is to the principles of government as enuncia
ted by them that the American people as a nation must look back, as to the Polar star, whereby to direct their political
bark, and as furnishing the criterion alone that will enable
them to judge of all aberrations from the right line of origi nal and uncontaminated republicanism. It is a sad com ment upon the political character of the times that the Con-i
stitution, the organic law of the land, is considered as pos sessed of such elastic properties that it can be so contracted or expanded in its meaning as to suit the purposes of the dom inant party, like the magic fan of fairy legend which could
be folded in the hand or spread out as a tent to shelter an army. The experience and wisdom of past generations
should serve as beacon fires to illuminate the present. The
boon of constitutional liberty should be sacredly guarded. Eternal vigilance should be exercised by a free people, not only against the insidious arts of ambitious demagogues or
the incipient designs of military despots, but against the wild schemes of reform and innovation that may threaten change to the fundamental principles of government.

32

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

The views of Madison upon the Constitution are worthy of profound consideration. He was a member of that nota ble body that framed it, and as a statesman distinguished for the conservative character of his opinions. On account of his advocacy for the adoption of the Constitution by the States he was styled a Federalist by the party who was op posed to it. His views in regard to the federal govern ment were set forth in a letter to Washington, previous to the meeting of the convention. In that letter he proposed "a scheme of thorough centralization." He expressed him self as equally opposed to "the individual independence of the States and to the consolidation of the whole into one
simple Republic." He also stated that he was in favor of investing Congrer* with power to exercise "a negative in all cases whatever on the legislative acts of the States, as here tofore exercised by kingly prerogative." He desired that the right of coercion should be expressly declared, but on account of the difficulties of "forcing the collective will of a State, it was particularly desirable that the necessity of it should be precluded."
From these extreme views Madison afterwards consci entiously departed. The conflict between the powers of the
State and the general government under the operation of the Alien and Sedition Acts enlisted him in defense of the sovereignty of the States. "Opposition to these violent
measures having been ineffectual in the federal legislature the Republican leaders determined to resort to the State, arenas for the decisive struggle." The letter now known as "the resolutions of 1798-9" was drawn up by James Mad
ison, and adopted by the Assembly of Virginia. The main features of these resolutions were the declaration "to re-, sist all attempts to enlarge the authority of the federal compact by forced construction of the general clause of the Constitution and that in the exercise of powers not clearly granted to the general government the States had a
right to interpose; and that the passage of the Alien and Sedition laws was an infraction of right." Massachusetts and New England generally declared the obnoxious laws constitutional and expedient. This drew forth Madisons

JAMES MADISOX.

33

Report in defense of his resolutions. "This elaborate pa per subjected the resolves to an exhaustive analysis and defended them with masterly vigor. It is the most famous
of his political writings, and will rank with the greatest State papers written in America."
The firm attitude which Virginia assumed, and the warlike preparations which she began to make to resist the en croachment of the Federal power after the passage by her Assembly of "the resolutions of 1788-9," together with "a
happy change in the sentiment of the country," stayed for the time the conflict of authority between the general gov ernment and the States involved in the enforcement of
the Alien and Sedition laws. The momentous struggle as
to supremacy between the government which had been created by the union of the States under the Constitution and their individual sovereignty considered as reserved, which was then portended, was delayed unto a later period in the history of the republic.
It is an inquiry suggestive of profound reflection to con
sider why in the course of events, it came not to a decisive test until the States as a nation had become multitudinous in population, colossal in power, and had stretched their
lines of territory across the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific wave. The ordinary mind without any effort of thought may readily conceive that had the internecine strife occurred then as in after years, the States separate and in
dependent would have been small and feeble and have fallen prey to the threatening powers of France and England; and even if they had been divided into two sections by the
famous geographical boundary so.often quoted as "Mason and Dixons line," and had been formed into distinct gov ernments, they would not have achieved that grand career,
which has marked their destiny as an undivided realm. The thoughtful and pious spirit that discerns the operation of the Hand Divine as equally directing the course of human events as guiding the rolling of the planets, may be deeply impressed with the conviction that he who calms the stormy seas, by a special providence held in abeyance the waves of human passion that threatened the early disrup-
:! gl

34

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

tion of the government, that he might build up in this wes
tern world a nation that would gloriously advance the civ ilization and evangelization of mankind.
The theory of the individual sovereignty of the States is now a dream of the past. Like some majestic river with its current enlarged by the spring-tide of waters, the power of the central government, under the impetus given by the exigencies and results of the civil war, making crevasses in the barrier of States rights designed to restrain it, now overspreads the whole ground of mooted prerogatives.
The writings of Madison are voluminous. His manu scripts were purchased by Congress from his widow for $30,000. Portions of them were published by the authority of Congress. This was an eminent mark of appreciation of merit rarely bestowed upon authors. Emanating from one of whom Jefferson said there was "no abler head in America," and embracing a thorough and lucid exposition of the fundamental principles of Republican Government as embodied in the Constitution, they were worthy of the
honor and preservation thus accorded them. The youth ful American burning with ambition like Athenian Alcibiades to serve his country, who would engage in politics with a nobler object in view than the guerdon of office or the advancement of the interests of party, should make the po litical writings of Madison and Jefferson the text-books of his studies.
The steady and serene progress with which Madison as cended to the loftiest height of honor and the distinguished ability with which he served his country won for him an enduring renown. No need of public sympathy wrought by an untimely death from the hand of an assassin to en circle the orb of his greatness with an aureola of magnified virtues, or to crystallize his memory in the tears of his peo ple. Virginia, with a mingled feeling of affectionate attach ment, inspired by a confidence in his integrity and admi ration for his illustrious talent, has given him an honored place in that group of her distinguished sons whose memory she has sought by the aid of statuary to immortalize in imperishable bronze.

JAMES MONROE.

35

JAMES MOXROE.
Glorious Virginia! Worthily is she called "The mother of statesmen." No State, ancient or modern, can exhibit a nobler list of civilians than those which adorned the early pages of her history. The ban of political proscription pro nounced by a dominant sectional party which has held the fasces of national power for twenty years may preclude her, as well as her sister Southern States, from all places of honor in the executive departments of government, but it can not blot out or obscure the brilliant glories of civic renown which encircle her name. The future historian, as he glances with telescopic eye over the past, will behold in the nations gallery of fame, as it runs along the line of ages, no nobler group of characters than those she fur nished to guide the affairs and shape the destiny of the country during the dark and perilous period of its infancy.
As an eminent Southern statesman, historically associ ated with Jefferson and Madison and considered as form ing with them in the consecutive administration of the government an illustrious triumvirate, stands prominently forth James Monroe. Although the productions of his pen were limited, yet as one of the leading public men of that time and honored with the Chief Magistracy of the Re public, his political views are entitled to notice.
He was a member of the convention which Virginia called to consider the adoption of the Constitution. He was opposed to the Constitution, as he thought "that without amendment it gave too great power to the general govern ment." It is worthy of remark that this has been the char acteristic sentiment of the South. It is a fact developed in history that the people of more Southern latitudes have been distinguished for their ardent love- of liberty. It may be that the fervid glow of the "suns directer ray" ma.\ impart to them that fiery nature that makes them more im patient of the restrictions of arbitrary power than are the inhabitants of frigid climates. The love of liberty as em bodied in the doctrine of State sovereignty has been a cher-

36

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

ished tenet in the political creed of the leading spirits of the South, from Jefferson to A. H. Stephens. It was in
accordance with her dignity as a sovereign State and in the spirit of her motto "sic semper tyrannis," that Virginia es
poused the cause of her sister Southern States when the Federal Government denied to them the right of secession and sought to coerce them back into the Union. Her maj esty and power made her the bulwark of the South, and her geographical position exposed her to the fierce brunt
of the civil war that ensued. She again became the theater of the battles of Freedom. Her soil was again drenched with the blood of her sons in defense of their wives, their
children, and their sacred rights. Her wooded heights, her beautiful valleys, and her peaceful plains became so many Thermopylae and Marathons. For four long, weary years
under her leadership the combined chivalry of the South
in marshaled rank and with bristling bayonets beat back from her borders the puissant armies of the North equipped
with all the armaments of war and augmented by the swell ing numbers which Europe, as a recruiting field, afforded. When the Southern Cross went down at Appomattox itsoccultation was not the ignominy of defeat, but the surren der of heroic valor to overpowering might.
Though Monroe was not a voluminous writer, yet he enunciated political principles which have largely shaped the policy of the nation and in their operation have per
haps exerted an influence on its domestic affairs that can not measurably be computed. He counseled against "en tanglement in the broils of Europe and of suffering the
powers of the old world to interfere with the affairs of the new," now generally known as the "Monroe Doc trine." These political precepts have been wisely ob
served by the United States and have contributed in no small degree to their prosperity and greatness. Espe cially has this been the case in regard to the policy of op
posing the introduction of the European system of gov ernment on this hemisphere. This idea indirectly gave origin and existence to that doctrine of the manifest des
tiny of the republic which has been a favorite tenet of

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

37

the Democratic party, and acting under which the terri torial limits of the nation have been expanded from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the green savannas of the South, to the frozen regions of the North. It has proven a Pandoras box to the republic. Whilst it has
added to its physical resources, -it has in its results dis turbed the harmony of the Union even to the threatened severance of its bonds.
The bronze vault in Greemvood cemetery, within
range of vision as seen from the acropolis of Richmond,
may hold in its chamber the ashes of Monroe, but the truths he uttered will still live and exalt their voice to future ages. He is worthily entitled to the pedestal of honor which Virginia has assigned to him in that monu ment of Fame which she has erected to her illustrious dead.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.
The three great names Jefferson, Madison, and Mon roe are not the only ones in the political history of Vir ginia deserving of the honoring tribute and notice of the pen. They were but a part of that brilliant throng whose talents and virtues as displayed in the sphere of public life shed an enduring luster upon the proud es cutcheon of the "Old Dominion State." There were many who did riot embody in elaborate treatise or state paper their views of government, having been content to act and speak in the living present without regard to a fu ture or posthumous fame. The political precepts which fell from their lips were worthily entitled to have been pre served in the cedared boards as the manuscripts of the sages of antiquity or perpetuated in the type of the printed page of modern times.
First and foremost of this order of eminent men of the American Revolution who achieved no special political distinction may be ranked Washington. His civic talents were lost "in the light of his superior glory as a military

38

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

chieftain." His "farewell address" on retiring from pub
lic life is filled with political wisdom hallowed by a spirit of sublime and eloquent patriotism. As a chart to guide the foreign and domestic policy of the United States it can never become obsolete as long as the true welfare of
the country is regarded by its rulers. His deeds alone have made him immortal. All men
stand with uncovered head and brow in reverence at the name of Washington. The North, strong and bitter as may be its sectional feeling and inappeasable rancor to ward the South, accepts him "as first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." With undivided assent of heart and mind they yield homage to him as "The Father of his Country." Side by side with him, equal in honor and glory, if not superior, they place Lincoln and hail him as the savior of his country. Washington, by his sword, defended and preserved the liberties of the colonies and secured their independence.
He was chosen and served as president of the infant republic established by the union of the States under one general government. Though at first only nine of the colonies or States had ratified the Constitution, the or
ganic framework of the republic, yet no hostile army
was employed to coerce -the remainder into the Union. Peace and harmony were the great objects and results
of his administration, and he retired from office with the benedictions of his countrymen resting upon him. When, he died a nation fell to tears.

PATRICK HENRY.
Among those potentates in the realm of thought and speech who by their labors helped to achieve American independence and lay the foundation of the government, may be mentioned Patrick Henry, styled "the forest-born Demosthenes." Scarcely a fragment remains of those burning and prescient truths which were uttered by him upon whose lips the "mystic bee had dropped the honey

GEORGE Y. MASON.

39

of persuasion." Leaving no relics of his genius enshrined
in the voiceless symbols of the press, he has floated down
upon the stream of tradition enveloped in the airy concep tion with which Apollo, the old Greek god of eloquence, is viewed.

GEORGE Y. MASON.
Equally deserving of notice is George Y. Mason, whose name was affixed in bold subscription to the Declaration of Independence. He was an ardent lover of liberty. He opposed the adoption of the Constitution because it circum scribed the sovereignty of the States and provided for the per petuation of African slavery. So great was the opposition to the Constitution that when it was adopted he would not ac cept the position of senator under it. He predicted that the government it would inaugurate would lapse into a monarchy or become tyrannical aristocracy. The experi ment of a hundred years has not confirmed his prognos tications. The curule chair of the republic has not been converted into a kingly throne, nor have any of its rulers assumed the imperial title of Augustus. A rigid exclu sion of all titles of nobility and all social distinctions of birth and fortune have precluded the growth and estab lishment of a governmental aristocracy. Mental and moral qualifications in the main have guided the people in the selection of their officials. No shadow of tyranny has /fallen upon the nation unless that of the plutocracy formed by the bondholders of the present time. Even itheir grind ing financial despotism is attended with reciprocating ben efits to the country. Their immense capital is employed in developing the physical resources of the country by the construction of vast lines of railroad through the unpeo pled wilderness.
Mason was not the only Southern man that deprecated the existence of slavery. The institution of slavery as a social feature of the Southern States is now extinct. It was abolished at the expense of a vast amount of blood

40

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

and treasure. After an interval of twenty years since its abolition, with mind unbiased by sectional passions, the question of slavery, so long the agitating source of strife between the North and South, may now be calmly considered. It may have been best for the South to have consented to its abolition at the formation of the government. The institution has been to it a mixture of good and evil, whilst it has contributed largely to the general prosperity of the nation. Without the aid of slavery Southern emigration would not have flowed so rapidly westward and would not have consummated for the United States that acquisition of territory em braced by the States of Florida and Texas with their semi-tropical climates. Without the aid of slave labor Southern industry could not have occupied the malarial districts of the lower tier of States, and transformed them
into broad belts of fertile soil, rich in the "mimic snow of the cotton," the verdurous expanse of cane, and "the golden robes of the rice field," and with these tropical products have made the American cornucopia indeed the horn of overflowing abundance.
The New England States have especially been the ben eficiaries of the products of slave labor. The staple fur nished by the cotton fields of the South built up their manufacturing establishments, and thereby gave employ ment to their teeming population, and poured wealth into their lap.



WILLIAM HENRY WIRT.

Among the distinguished characters whose brilliant tal ents gave them distinction and crowned Virginia with honor may also be mentioned William Henry Wirt, At
torney-General of the United States. He was considered
an ornament to the American bar, though he achieved no reputation as a political writer. As a lawyer, with all the accoutrements which profound legal attainments, exuber ant fancy and splendid diction could furnish, he swept in

JOHN C. CALHOUN.

41

.gallant tilt through the forensic list, like the knight of
mediaeval age, in panoply of gold and silver, upon rush ing steed in the jousts of the tournament. His speech in
the celebrated case of Burr and Blennerhasset, has been
transmitted as a model of gorgeous and eloquent compo
sition. The chief production of his pen was the biogra phy of Patrick Henry. In this loved task he culled the fairest flowers from the field of classic English that he
might weave them into a wreath of fame to encircle the
memory of the immortal Henry.

JOHX C. CALHOUX.
The astronomer, in his lonely contemplation of the noc turnal skies, observes that the stars in their constellated beauty and their apparent motion from east to west, ad vance along the cerulean vault, reach the meridian and gradually sink below the western horizon. This brilliant panorama never ceases. Whilst the various, constella tions that appear sweep across the field of vision and finally pass to their occultation, other stars are constantly rising to supply their places in the hemisphere of night. This brilliant pageantry of the stellar universe may be chosen as a fit representation of what is presented in the moral world relative to the passing generations of men. Whilst those intellects which shine as lights to the world of mankind are moving in resplendent orbit to their Oc cident to disappear beneath the horizon of time, other glo rious minds rise to view. This state of things is exhibi ted in the aspect which is presented by the political sky of America. It was so thickly sown with intellectual leading lights during the night of the revolution of 76 and in the infancy of the republic, that it blazed like a January
heaven. When these were passing away, others ascended. When Jefferson, Monroe and others of the early states men of the South passed from public life and service, they were succeeded by Calhoun, Clay and others.
None occupied a more eminent position than Calhoun,

42

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

through his long political career. He was identified
with every leading movement that had for its object the advancement of the welfare of the country. He held a high political place in the national legislature. As a mem
ber of the Senate of the United States, he adorned the councils of the country. No old Roman wore more wor thily the senatorial robe. His political writings will form
the topic of succeeding articles. Some of the political
doctrines he promulgated and advocated are to-day live issues in the administration of the government.
This distinguished statesman gave expression to his
political views in his speeches delivered before the Senat
of the United States and in his popular addresses on various occasions. The main political production of his
pen was a posthumous treatise "On the Constitution arid Government of the United States." Scarcely a quarter of a century had elapsed since the adoption of the Con
stitution and the inauguration of its policy when he en tered upon public life. His term of service in high of
ficial position extending through a generation, and con
temporaneous with an eventful period in the history of
the American republic, his opinions are entitled to the consideration of posterity, although the eloquent tongue that spoke and the facile pen that recorded them have perished from amongst men.
Like all contemporary Southern statesmen he was a zealous defender and advocate of the individual sover
eignty of the States under the compact as expressed by the Constitution. In the maintenance of this view "he fell under the accusation of pushing the doctrine of State rights to extremes."
He was not a political malcontent or revolutionary in his sentiments, but regarded State sovereignty as essen tial to maintaining an equilibrium of power among the
States and the preservation of constitutional liberty. He turned his attention to the advocacy of this doctrine in
opposing the oppression of the Southern States which
would be produced by the protective system embraced in the tariff of 1828, enacted by Congress. Building on the

JOHN C. CALHOCX.

43

Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798-99, he pro pounded the doctrine of nullification, that is to say, the right of each State to prevent the execution within her limits of such acts of Congress as she might judge uncon
stitutional. He embodied this doctrine in an elaborate paper prepared in the summer of 1828, and which became known as the "South Carolina Exposition."
The political views of Mr. Calhoun thus expressed,
"with softening modifications," were presented to the leg islature of South Carolina, and were ordered to be printed. The conduct of South Carolina during this period has been the subject of much animadversion, and has served
to excite the prejudice of her sister States against her. Yet her attitude in this eventful crisis marked her as the bold
and firm opponent of the encroachment of Federal power in the execution of a law she considered as tyrannically op pressive. It was in accordance with her past historical record that she should occupy such a position. The love of liberty was coeval with her political existence. She was
colonized by those who had fled to the wilds of America to escape the political and religious oppression of their na
tive countries in Europe. She had acted a gallant and pa triotic part in the colonial struggle for independence. She has a list of bright names on her revolutionary roll, whose deeds have entitled them to immortal renown in history.
Well may she be styled the Attica of America in view of the ardent love of her people for liberty, and their cultivation
and refinement. Though she has been made the subject of obloquy and oppression on account of her part in the late civil war, and through her discomfiture in the project of secession she has been brought low, yet every generous
spirit will do her reverence. Such a people and such a State did Mr. Calhoun represent. He was a worthy son of a noble mother.
Among the powers expressly named in the articles of the
Constitution, as granted to the general government by the States, is that of the coining of money, the establishment
and regulation of a national currency. The creation and adoption of a financial system is a matter of vital impor-

44

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

tance to every civilized nation. The institution of a com
mercial medium is an essential characteristic of civilization, and the first step of mankind from a State of barbarism. From the earliest period of antiquity some medium has been adopted for the purpose of commercial intercourse, either foreign or domestic. Gold, either in coin or bullion, has been the medium most commonly employed. It was, however, largely dependent upon the natural products of the country, whether they were agricultural or mineral. Among the enlightened nations of ancient times gold or silver coin
was used. There is one noted exception to this custom in
the case of ancient Lacedsernon. Lycurgus, in the code of laws which he devised for tl.e Spartan commonwealth, pre scribed the adoption of iron coin as the circulating medium, in order to secure the people against the corrupting influ ence of avarice and the enervsting effects of luxury. Among
savage nations we find the use of cowries, as in the case of the tribes of Africa, and wampum belts among the Amer ican Indians.
The institution and adoption of a financial system which would secure a sound and uniform currency was a question
that demanded the early consideration of the United States in their organization of a general government. The Con tinental Congress, as empowered by the "Articles of Con federation" under which the Colonies had united, had passed an act authorizing the issue of a paper currency,
at an early period of the war, in order to defray the ex penses of the government. Though the great work of in dependence had been achieved, yet at the close of the strug gle the country was in an impoverished condition and with a currency so depreciated as to be almost worthless.
Various measures were adopted by the Continental Con gress during the period of its existence to meet the commer cial exigencies of the country. The monetary condition of
the country continued to be characterized by uncertainty, depression and disaster. The financial distress of the gov
ernment became so great that in 1814 the institution of a national bank became a question much agitated. It was a measure advocated by Mr. Calhoun, and a plan for the op-

JOHN C. CALHOUN.

45

eration of a national bank was presented by him to Con
gress. The outlines and merits of the plan he proposed will be the subject of future articles.
Universality of genius is not common. Though Mr. Cal-
houn was acute, analytical, and original upon every subject, and disposed to trace out everything to its ultimate results, yet he was not considered to have been endowed with marked
or brilliant financial genius. To evolve a broad system of finance adequate to the wants of a nation, to grasp all the
details and remote bearings of its operation, is a faculty of
mind which few have been found to possess. History tells of a Necker in the past of the French government and of a Gould of the present day, whose gigantic minds were ca
pable of projecting and consummating plans of financial pol
icy with marvelously unerring intuition. Yet the present time seems to be prolific of financial talent and to furnish exception to all former exhibitions of tact. Not content with
the present financial system of the country, there are mul tiplied thousands who would address themselves to the task of improving it. The orator from the tribune or in
the halls of Congress, the editor from the tripod through the columns of his paper, with assumed oracular wisdom, descant upon the great question. If the nation will but
only adopt and follow their plans, all the present evils will
be removed, and that happy Utopian period when financial distress will be dissipated would soon be introduced every where.
The main features of the national bank proposed by Mr. Calhoun, were that it should be "specie paying, wholly under
private control, and not obliged to lend to the government
anything. The capital of this bank was to consist of 85,000,000 of specie and $45,000,000 of new treasury notes, which it was proposed to get into circulation by making them convertible into bank stock. This project prevailed
in the house by a large majority." It was finally defeated through a labored report of Mr. Dallas, Secretary of the Treasury at that time, in which he exhibited the injustice
and political danger of the scheme involved in the bill pro posed by Mr. Calhoun. However, in the compromise

46

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

scheme for a bank, which was adopted, the great points of Mr. Calhouns plan, were still preserved that is to say, the bank was not obliged to lend to the government, nor suspend specie payment. The bill which embraced this scheme was vetoed by President Madison as "being inade quate to the emergency." The project of a United States
bank was revived during the I4th Congress, resulting in
the charter of the Bank of the United States. The subsequent political history of Mr. Calhoun records
a radical change in his views of a national financial sys tem. "President Van Buren recommended to Congress the policy of discontinuing the use of banks as the fiscal agents
of the government. He proposed the custody of the public
money by officers specially appointed for that purpose, and the exclusive use of coin on the part of the government. Calhoun separating from the Whigs, with whom he had acted
in the struggle on the bank question, gave energetic support to this new system of policy." His speech in the Senate on the Independent Treasury bill in 1838 is an exhibit of his
views of the system of financial policy which the nation should adopt. To this speech Mr. Clay replied. These two colossal minds met in fierce conflict upon the arena of debate, and each delivered a speech upon the occasion which they severally regarded as a vindication of their pub lic life. Many years have elapsed since then, but time has not fully tested the views of either of these distinguished
statesmen of the past, and which system of financial policy is best adapted to the country is still to be subjected to the crucible of experiment.
As an orator Mr. Calhoun is eloquently portrayed by
two of his contemporaries and fellow-members of Con gress, and that at two different epochs of his life, which
may account for an apparent discrepancy in the two por traitures given. Thus Henry Richard Wilde, member of Congress from Georgia, in his reminiscences of "The Four
teenth Congress," says of Mr. Calhoun: "There was, also, a son of South Carolina still in the service of the republic, then, undoubtedly, the most influential member of this house. With a genius eminently metaphysical, he applied

HENRY CLAY.

47

to politics his habits of analysis, abstraction and conden sation, and thus gave to the problems of government something of that grandeur which the higher mathematics have borrowed from astronomy. Engrossed with his sub ject, careless of his words, his eloquence was sometimes followed by colloquial or provincial barbarisms. But, though often incorrect, he was always fascinating. Lan
guage, with him, was merely the scaffolding of thought, employed to raise a dome, which like Angelos, he sus pended in the heavens." At this period Mr. Calhoun was in the prime of manhood and a member of the House of Representatives.
The Hon. Henry W. Hilliard, member of Congress from Alabama (1851), and likewise a contemporary, says: "Mr. Calhoun (who was then in the Senate) was the fin est type of the pure Greek intellect which this country has ever produced. His speeches resemble Grecian sculpture, with all the purity and hardness of marble, while they show that the chisel was guided by the hand of a master.
Demosthenes transcribed the history of Thucydides eight times, that he might acquire the strength and majesty of his style, and Mr. Calhoun had evidently studied the ora tions of the great Athenian with equal fidelity. He had much of his force and ardor, and his bearing was so full of dignity that it was easy to fancy when you heard him, that you were listening to an oration from the lips otf a Roman senator who had formed his style in the severe schools of Greece."

HENRY CLAY.
No tongue or pen may add to or subtract from the honor due the illustrious dead and the memory of their virtues. As history has recorded their deeds, and the mar ble and bronze in statue and in column stand as silent memo rials to perpetuate their fame, there seems to be no need from living hand to mention their names, or render tribute of eulogy to them. It is well, however, to recall them to the

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

minds of the living, that their heroic deeds and examples of virtue may be kept fresh before the minds of men and . continue to benefit the world. It is well to revive the rec ollection of them by the relation of some personal reminis cence or incident in their lives unrecorded. This is the object of the writer in giving to the public this sketch of Henry Clay, the orator and statesman.
When a boy, he had the pleasure and privilege of seeing Mr. Clay, and of being an eye-witness of the amusing in cident that occurred with the great statesman, and which is related at the close of this article, during his southern, tour in the spring of 1844, when he was a candidate for the presidential nomination at the hands of the Whig party.
Mr. Clay traveled by stage-coach en route from Columbus to Macon, Ga. As the time at which he would pass through
Thomaston, Upson county, would be near noon, the citi zens decided to honor him with a public reception and ban quet. On the day that he was to arrive at Thomaston, men, women and children thronged the town desirous to see Mr. Clay. At the expected hour, 10 oclock a. m., the shrill winding notes of the stage-drivers bugle were heard, an nouncing the approach of the coach, and the coming and presence of the distinguished visitor and guest of the peo ple. Up into the town, to the court-house the coach is driven. All eyes are turned to the opening of the coach door to catch their first sight of him whose fame had filled the land, ixone present had ever seen him. Perhaps few had ever seen a crude engraving of him. As the occupants of the coach came forth, none needed any one to tell which one was Mr. Clay or to distinguish him from those whowere the companions of his travel. Nature had set upon him the seal of greatness in the attributes of his person, as indicated in his lofty stature, the capacious mouth, the fore head high, expansive and expressive of intellectual power, the eyes eloquent with thought and feeling, and the counte nance animate with the spirit of benevolence, all well sus tained by the dignity of dress and courtliness of manner. Ihe committee of reception received and conducted Mr. Clay into the court-room. The people greeted him with joyful acclamations. The chairman of the assembly, Cap-

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HENRY CLAY.

49

tain Edward Holloway, tall, stately, with his iron-gray locks flowing down his shoulders, in manners a gentleman of the
old school, presided with dignity worthy of the occasion. The speech of welcome was delivered by the Hon. J. J. Carey, a rising young lawyer. Mr. Clay made a short ad dress in response. One figure of speech which he employed
recurs to mind, wherein he compared himself, pursued by the malice of his political foes, to the noble stag of the for est chased by the hound with that "deep hate that never tires." The speech of Mr. Clay being ended, the large crowd of men and women present received severally an in troduction to him. Among them was an old gentleman of the name of Xasworthy, a farmer, who was fond of his dram and had freely indulged in his potations that morn ing, as his rubicund countenance showed. Being introduced
to Mr. Clay, he cries out as he shakes his hand, "Here is the old cream-a-tartar." What Mr. Clay said in reply to this salutation was lost in the hum and noise of the crowd. A broad smile was seen passing over his countenance, and we presume that it formed in after years an amusing rem iniscence of his Southern tour.
Whether or not Mr. Clay, in the brief speech he made on the occasion as recited, met the popular expectation in regard to his reputation as an eloquent orator, the writer can not-say. The voice of history and tradition places him first and foremost in the annals of American eloquence and statesmanship. This is the more wonderful, as the facts concerning his boyhood show that he had but few facilities for intellectual culture. He was born in Hanover county, Virginia, April 12, 1777. When a child his parents moved to Kentucky, which, at that time, was being settled by pio neers from the Atlantic States. From the very nature and condition of things his educational privileges were few and limited in their scope. It is said that the spirit of ambi tion and the desire for intellectual improvement appeared in him at an early age. It is also told of him that he was accustomed to declaim among the cattle in the stalls the speeches he had learned in his moments of leisure. Books, those precious instrumentalities so well fitted for training the mind and storing it with the wisdom of the past, were
4sl

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

few and difficult to be obtained. He received only the ele ments of what may be termed an English education. The study of grammar, so essential to the culture and acqui sition of strength, beauty and precision both of oral .and written speech, had but a small place in the curriculum of the common schools of that day.
It is interesting to note and consider the educational facilities and rhetorical training of this American orator for the sphere of public speaking as compared with that of
Cicero of Roman fame. In historical account of this orator of antiquity it is stated that he began the work of his in tellectual training when he was five years old under the poet Archias at Rome. The language and literature of Greece formed a part of his early studies, and were assTduously cultivated by him through life under various pre
ceptors at Rome and Athens. This was of the greatest
advantage to him, as it enabled him to "enrich his idiom with the treasures of the Hellenic tongue, and to add still
further grace and beauty to the Latin which was beginning
to assume a more polished exterior from its ancient rus ticity."
This rhetorical training is of essential value and im
portance to the orator. Language is the divine characteris tic of man. In connection with the endowment of reason the gift of articulate speech distinguishes him from the lower
orders of the animal creation. Language forms the medium
through which he communicates his thoughts, sentiments and emotions, and it is the golden link that binds the race together as social beings. "The heart of a people is in its mother tongue, and it is only by learning that mother
tongue in all its fullness, variety and beauty, that we ."an know that heart. It is while listening to the thoughts that
breathe and the words that burn from the lips of her orators and the pens of her poets, historians and dramatists that you can feel that heart beating responsive."
But in addition to this cultivation of language this an
cient orator devoted time and attention to the -special and daily training of his voice in extemporaneous declama tion under the instruction of the rhetorician Diodotus. By
this means he formed his voice, which was harsh, weak and

HENRY CLAY.

51

irregular, so that it became full and sonorous, gained suf ficient sweetness, and was brought to a proper degree of
modulation. Though Mr. Clay had not this youthful and preliminary
training in oratory as this renowned Roman, it was not by slow and insensible degrees that he gained the palm of elo
quence. His fame shot forth at once, and at the age of twenty-two years he had acquired a brilliant practice at the
law. The genius and power of his oratory lay in the at
tributes of mind and person that nature in rich munificence had granted him, and in that rare combination that rendered him "genial, cordial, courteous, gracious, magnetic, win ning," and gained for him not only the enthusiastic devotion of his friends, and the triumphs and honors of eloquence on
the arena of forensic and legislative debate, but with subtle fascination often won his political opponents to the support of his measures. In his success as an orator.he illustrated the maxims which Cicero presents in his oration for Archias, the poet, when he says: "I confess there have been many
men of superior ability and merit, and that, without the aid of learning; by the almost divine influence of nature it
self they have become, by their own exertions, discreet and
influential men. Also, I add to this, that natural abilities without the aid of learning have oftener availed more
for the purposes of fame and virtue than learning without
natural talent. And yet, says he, I, at the same time, con
tend, that when to natural abilities of an exalted and bril liant character there are added the directing influence, as it were, and the molding power of learning, fairer and
nobler results will be produced."
Though Mr. Clay in his literary pursuits had not drunk from Old Romes classic rili, nor-from the Pierian fount of Greek learning, nor deeply from the well of English litera ture, yet his language was terse, pure and of strong AngloSaxon strain, as his published speeches, his remains as a political writer, clearly show. The retort which he made in defense of his philology in reply to an opponent in debate
before the Senate, who had seen fit to criticize his diction,
was dignified and just.
It is within the bosom and under the benign influence of

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

republics, that oratory has most happily flourished, "like a flower in its native bed." The love of country and of freedom imbibed in the soul have produced the noblest strains of eloquence recorded on the pages of history. The burning Philippics of Demosthenes awoke the Athenians from their delusive dream of security, and aroused them to resist the crafty schemes and purposes of the Macedo nian king who would enslave Greece. The polished ora tions of Cicero rescued Rome and banished Catiline, and preserved the liberties of the people. The fervid elo quence .of Mirabeau stirred the great popular heart of
France, destroyed the Bastile, overthrew monarchy, and laid the foundation of a republic. Mr. Clay, in this respect, had as strong and inspiring incentives as could be offered toinflame the soul of the orator in the young American repub lic which had just sprung into political existence, and over which as his country floated the stars and stripes effulgent, with the glory of warlike achievement and of independence gained, and having the eagle as the emblem of its undaunt ed spirit and soaring ambition. The young nation, but a few millions in population, had before it a broad continent in all the pristine exuberance of nature for the scope of its expansion, and all bosoms beat responsive in heroic meas ure to the grandeur and glory that gathered in brilliant
augury around its undeveloped future.
In 1806 and 1809 Mr. Clay was elected to the Senate of the United States. The Senate chamber and the floor of the House of Representatives were to be the future scenes of his career as an orator and a statesman. He, with Calhoun and Webster, formed the triumvirate renowned in the annals of American statesmanship for their wisdom, elo quence and the leading part that they individually and con jointly played in the great measures of national legislation that affected the vital weal and political existence of the-
republic.
It was when Mr. Clay was making his speech against the Military Bill before the House of Representatives duringthe administration of Jackson, that, in order to show the danger to the liberties of the people from a standing army, he appealed to the examples of Greece and Rome in the

HENRY CLAY.

53

past in the profound interrogation "Where are they now ?" He paused for a moment, raised his hand to his brow and shaded his eyes as if he would exclude the appalling vision his inquiry had awakened, then, resuming his former atti
tude, he exclaimed:
"Gone glimmering through the dream of things that were; A schoolboy's tale--the wonder of an hour."
This action of his had a thrilling effect upon his audi tors, they presuming it to have been from deep emotion, and not, as it was, an involuntary act on his part to recall to mind the lines quoted.
In his reminiscences of the Fourteenth Congress, of which he was a member, Richard Henry Wilde of Georgia, in speaking of Mr. Clay as an orator, says: "He was de ficient in refinement rather than in strength, his style was less elegant and correct than animated and impressive. But it swept away your feelings with it like a mountain torrent, and the force of the stream left you but little lei sure to remark upon its clearness. . . On many occasions he was noble and captivating. One I can never forget. It was the fine burst of indignant eloquence with which he replied to the taunting question, What have we gained by the war ? " In commenting upon "The Illustrious Trio of Statesmen" (1852), Hon. H. W. Hilliard of Alabama, says: "As an orator, Mr. Clay stood unrivalled among the statesmen of our times, and if the power of a statesman is to be measured by the control which he exerts over an audience, he will take rank among the most illustrious men who, in ancient or modern times, have decided great ques-. tions by resistless eloquence. . . Clear, convincing, im passioned, and powerful, he spoke the language of truth in its most commanding tones, and the deductions of rea son uttered from his lips seemed to have caught the glow of inspiration." . . He realized Mr. Websters descrip tion of oratory: The clear conception outrunning the de ductions of logic; the high purpose; the firm resolve; the dauntless spirit, speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every feature and urging the whole man on ward, right onward, to his object; this, this is eloquence;

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

or, rather, it is something greater and higher than all elo
quence ; it is action, noble, sublime, godlike action." As a statesman Henry Clay was worthy to appear on the
roll in the line of immediate succession to Adams, Jeffer son and those other statesmen of revolutionary fame who
had well and wisely laid the foundations of the republic. His talents were of that order and were so well adapted to meet the exigencies that arose in the progress and develop ment of the young nation, and the service which he rendered at various times in his capacity as legislator was so vitally connected with the well-being and prosperity of the country, that it almost seems that in the plans of Divine Providence he was raised up and specially appointedfor the time, place and work.
Nurtured from boyhood amid the hardships and the easy freedom of pioneer life in the wilds of Kentucky and among a noble and chivalrous people, he came forth upon the arena of ipublic life qualified for the exercise of free and independent thought and action. His after-life showed that his intellect was too kingly and his soul too manly for him to become the slave of a political creed or the pliant minion of a party. The grand, animating principle of his public life and acts was that of a pure and fervent patriotism. All considerations of party and of personal ambition or interests were subordinated to the welfare of the people. This he exhibited in 1820, during the violent agi tation of the question of slavery in Congress upon the ap
plication of Maine and Missouri into the Union, and which threatened the dissolution of the young republic. He filled the breach as the author of the Missouri Compromise bill. Through his tact and ability the measure was adopted by Congress and quiet was restored to the country. In 1833,
when South Carolina passed a Nullification Act and civil war became imminent, he again appeared in the role of pacificator and by his diplomatic skill effected a compro
mise which restored tranquillity. So, in 1850, when the question of slavery was again agitated in Congress, by his efforts the impending struggle between the North and South was extended for ten years. These acts of Henry Clay constitute the basis of his fame and greatness as a

ROBERT H. TOOMBS.

55

statesman, and his claim upon the lasting gratitude of the American people. Neither Webster, Calhoun, McDuffie, Randolph, nor any other of his compeers, however rich in intellectual endowments, could have performed the part
which Air. Clay did in those great crises which arose in the" administration of the government. He was peculiarly fit ted for the delicate and difficult task, not only by breadth of mind but by those sympathies in life and character which give inspiration and render pathos and feeling more potent than logic and argument.
History furnishes no sublimer instance of moral heroism and pure patriotism than when in response to those friends who importuned him not to take the course he did in re gard to the tariff compromise, that it would lessen his chances for the presidency, he nobly replied, "I would rath er be right than President." He then averted civil war and saved the Union by his compromise measures. There has been no deification of his memory by the American people as of their late modern heroes. He needs no monu ment but his own simple greatness. He will be handed down to posterity as the matchless patriot, and in view of his statesmanship worthily crowned as the Sage of Ash land.

ROBERT H. TOOMBS.
It is said of Diogenes, the cynic philosopher of ancient Athens, that he was seen one day traversing the streets of that city with a lighted lamp in his hand. When interro gated as to the reason of his eccentric behavior, he replied: "I seek a man." What this noted, ascetic meant by this laconic answer awakens thoughtful inquiry. In the polite and classic city which he had chosen as his adopted home, there lived at this time Socrates and Plato, and each hour in the day he could see and meet with men of every degree of intelligence, social rank and moral excellence. It seems that he did not consider every one who bore the form of the genus homo to be entitled to the term man, which expressed

56

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

the dignity of the human race. Was it merely an expres sion of spleen on the part of this kuno-like philosopher, who made a tub his house, spurned all the delights of so cial life and physical enjoyment, and who could discern nei
ther grace nor greatness in Alexander, the Macedonian hero, who condescended to visit him at his tub domicile? Or was it. that he esteemed it was necessary that certain virtues "should set their seal to the character to give the world assurance of a man ?"
The student of history, as he treads the dim aisles of the past or moves amidst the living throngs in the shifting
drama of the present, will find many examples of a grand and noble manhood. Such did the Hon. Robert Toombs, Georgias renowned son and the invincible Southern pa
triot, present in his person, life and character. The old
Athenian philosopher mentioned above could have exclaim ed of him, "I have found a man." Those who knew him from the brilliant dawn of his political life to its meridian
glory remember well his. grand physique and majesty of intellect which gave him magnetic power and won popular
favor at a glance. It might be said of him, as Homer does of one of his heroes in the Iliad, that he looked like "one who might bare his breast to the bolts of Jove.- He was the impersonation of the genius, chivalry and fervid oratory of the South.
The writer of this article had the privilege of seeing and hearing him speak during the political campaign when Mr.
Toombs was a candidate of the Whig party for Congress. It was a hot day in July at the town of Thomaston, Upson county, Georgia. The Whigs, who were in the majority both in the county and in the congressional district, hon
ored the occasion with a good old-fashioned barbecue. Mr. Toombs was introduced to the audience by Major Grant, an old bachelor lawyer of the town, who, though he wore a
wig and his style of dress was of a dignified antiquity, yet
won all hearts with his handsome face and pleasing ad
dress. In his remarks he said that he knew that all the ladies present were Whigs and would not be Democrats. "Do you know, said he to them, what Democrat means? It is derived from two Greek words "demos," demon or de-

ROBERT H. TOOMBS.

57

vil, and "xrao," crazy, and he.knew none of them wanted
to be called a crazy devil. This burlesque analysis of the word democrat amused the crowd then, but would not now please a southern political gathering, unless it was composed of Populists. But it did not equal the witty pun that flashed from the lips of Mr. Toombs, when, during his speech in defense of Whig principles and in behalf of Mr. Clay the presidential nominee of the party, a bench
in front of the speakers platform, upon which sat the belle of the county and her fair associates, broke, and they fell upon the ground, he exclaimed, "Another tendency to the "Clay."
As a political speaker he was forcible and eloquent, and like Demosthenes of ancient Greek fame, or Mirabeau of
modern French note, he was by nature well fitted to meet the din and tumult of popular assemblies and to sway the fickle crowd with the charms-of speech. It was not how
ever in the forum of the people, but in the halls of Con
gress that he won his greatest triumphs as an orator. These triumphs as they occurred are briefly and vividly pre sented and described by Hon. A. H. Stephens in his history of the "War of the States." Mr. Stephens was the col league of Mr Toombs in a long period of congressional life,
and of his magnificent efforts of oratory could speak from
personal knowledge.
There are four of these special instances of triumphant eloquence recited by Mr. Stephens. The character and oc casion of each and every one was in defense of the doctrine
of the political and practical equality and individual sov ereignty of the States in the Union, and the full recognition of the fact in the division of territory acquired by common blood and treasure. The first mentioned by Mr. Stephens,
with an extract from speech given, occurred on the I3th of
December, during the 3ist session of Congress. It was
after nine days had been consumed in unsuccessful ballot ing for speaker. "The Southern Whigs had stood aloof,"
says Mr. Stephens, "and did all in their power to prevent and organize under circumstances existing. The position
of these Whigs at that time was well known to be for a separation of the States or the abandonment by Congress

53

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

of the general territorial restriction. The charge of being Disunionists was insinuated against them. Mr. Toombs, in his own behalf, as well as in behalf of these Southern Whigs, rose up and delivered himself in bold, dashing, impromptu, Mirabeau strain." The speech produced a profound sensa
tion in the House and in the country. It did not, however, assuage the bitterness and determination of the restrictionists or antislavery party.
The second instance of the mighty oratorical power of Mr. Toombs, recited by Mr. Stephens, in his history, was also during the same crisis in Congress, when he made a speech against the plurality resolution which had been passed by the House in order to effect an organization. "His speech," says Mr. Stephens, "was a wonderful exhi
bition of physical and intellectual powers in this, that a single man should have been able thus successfully to speak down a tumultuous crowd, and, by declamatory denun
ciation combined with solid argument, silence an infuriated assemblage."
The third instance which Mr. Stephens mentions was on the 15th of June, during the same stormy and momentous session of the 3ist Congress, when the question was put in debate, by the ultra northern advocates, of the admission of California, if they would ever, under any circumstances, vote for the admission of a slave State into the Union. They refused to say they would. It was in this condition of af fairs Mr. Toombs arose and took the floor. The time, the crisis, the audience, the question of debate, made the occasion a grand historic picture, equal in glory if not in pageantry to that of the trial of Warren Hastings por trayed by the historian in gorgeous colors and hung up in the gallery of time. Says Mr. Stephens, the 3ist Congress presented "the grandest intellectual constellation, moral qualities and all considered, which was ever beheld in the political firmament of this or any other country. The crown ing halo was imparted by Millard Fillmore, who presided over the whole as Vice-President of the United States. Mr. Clay had been returned to the Senate. He there met with Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Webster, the other two of the il lustrious trio of that day." Mr. Clay had made the greatest

ROBERT H. TOOMBS.

59

speech of his life on the 2pth of January (1850) on the crisis. Mr. Calhouns sentiments written for the occa sion, he being too feeble to speak, were read by Mr. Mason in the Senate on the 4th of March. Three days after Mr.
Webster made his famous Union speech. It was under such environments Mr. Toombs spoke on the I5th of June. It is said by Mr. Stephens that this speech produced the greatest sensation in the House that he had ever witnessed of any speech in that body.
It may justly be said of him that he was born heir to "the purple" and the crown in the realm of oratory, and may be ranked among the most illustrious orators of the nineteenth century. His fourth and last speech as reported by Mr. Stephens and with extract given, was delivered by him in the Senate of the United States on the 7th of January, 1861, more than two weeks after South Carolina had passed the ordinance of secession. "This speech," says Mr. Steph ens in his history of the war, "will take a place side by
side with that of Pericles addressed to the Athenian Coun cil just before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian war, though not analogous so far as the parties addressed are concerned. Its greatest power, however, consisted in the unquestionable facts upon which it rested."
The four speeches cited by Mr. Stephens as delivered by Mr. Toombs on the occasions mentioned should be read and studied by all southern patriots, that they may learn and know all the facts connected with secession and the
civil war, and be prepared to repel the charge of traitor and rebel with which northern fanaticism has sought to stigmatize the memory of those who fought for the South and its sacred rights. These speeches at the time were regarded as bullying, menacing and insolent." Before this criticism can be accepted, the occasion and circum stances must be considered. The peace, harmony, and perpetuity of the Union hung suspended upon the action of Congress, the legislative body which he addressed. The
hour was perilous. There was a demand for language, strong, forcible, imperative. It was no time for parleying or shuffling. Then, the style of oratory always partakes large ly of the temperament and character of the speaker. Mr.

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

Toombs by nature was frank, truthful, impulsive. He could not stop to untie the Gordian knot of debate, or seek to win by political strategy that which was based upon the
principles of truth, justice and right. As a statesman, Mr. Toombs was regarded as one of the
ablest men in the United States. He was the choice of the Georgia delegation for President in the secession conven tion that met at Montgomery, Ala., on the 4th of February, 1861, to organize a Provisional government for the South. Mr. Stephens in his history says of all the men in the Con
federate States, that he thought Mr. Toombs was by far the best fitted for that position, looking to all the qualifica tions necessary to meet its full requirements. He abso lutely forbade his name to be used for that office.
The speeches and character of Mr. Toombs have been much misrepresented. It has, however, happened that in
the decrees of Eternal Justice that obtain in the affairs of men, he found in Mr. Stephens a just and loving biogra pher, who has with historic pen vindicated his character from any and all aspersions. The tribute which Mr. Ste
phens in the ardor of his admiration and the loyalty of a lifelong friendship has paid to Mr. Toombs, is a garland of honor fitly woven to encircle his name and memory.
To Mr. Toombs the South was "the land of every land the pride" his own, his native land. With its failure to succeed and gain its independence in the great sanguinary contest, his patriotism expired. He then had no country. He became politically self-expatriated. Her cause had been so true and just he could not accept of pardon as a rebel. "The Stars and Stripes," the old flag of the Union,
might float over him, but he could not renew his allegiance
to it. The clouds which gathered around the close of life with him in the defeat and subjugation of the South ob scured his just fame and made its setting glory, less re splendent than if secession and war had never taken place.

ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.

6r

ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.
Sallust, the Latin historian, in the sparkling paragraph with which he introduces his history of the Jugurthine war, speaks of the influence the marble statues of her great men, with which Rome had adorned her capital and streets, Had upon her youth in inspiring them to heroic valor and patriot ism. The American poet JLongfellow tersely says "the lives of all great men remind us that we may make our own sublime." This is the design and should be the effect of these and all other biographical sketches. The gallery of Amer icas noted men presents to the youth of the country no one whose character and life were nobler and more worthy of imitation than that of Hon. A. H. Stephens.
Mr. Stephens needs no tongue or pen to proclaim to the people of the United States his greatness and his virtues. Mis biography has been written in full by that abk South ern author Malcolm S. Johnston. What need then to re vert to him ? Because his grand life, brilliant career, and un blemished patriotism should be held in fresh and perpetual remembrance by the American and all the Southern peo ple and be set forth to American youth to stimulate them to a like career of glory and virtue. The writer of this sketch designs to relate only those incidents and to touch only upon those points in the life of Mr. Stephens as came under his personal observation or from the lips of those who knew him well.
No period in the lives of men who stand distinguished in the annals of history forms a more interesting subject of inquiry and research than that of their boyhood. It is said the child is father to the man. Then the idiosyn crasies of mind and character begin to appear, though not discerned or noticed. The anomalies which characterize Mr. Stephens physically, and the brilliancy of his intellect environ his boyhood with more than ordinary interest. It would present him as a timid, shrinking, thoughtful boy, of slender frame, emaciated features, with nothing but his keen black eyes to light up his countenance and to give evi-

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

dence of intellect, spending not his hours in sport as other boys, but hiding in the nook afforded by the closet under the stairway of the old homestead, seated in his little chair, he passed his time in reading. Who could ait that time have predicted of him that in after-life he would reach the Senate of the United States, be chosen Vice-President in that gov ernment which the gallant people of the South sought to form for themselves, and fill this western hemisphere with the spotless renown of his name. How forcibly does this display the glory of mind and the grand possibilities which our republican institutions offer to every individual for promotion to honor and wealth.
The love of reading in a boy as in Mr. Stephens is a glo rious endowment, and the pledge and promise of future eminence. This is attested not only in the case of Mr. Stephens, but in that of Ben Franklin, Abe Lincoln and thousands of others who rose to distinction from humble poverty. Books when rightly handled are the tools neces sary to the erection of the edifice of intellectual greatness. Strange it is to observe that with the multitude of books published and literature so cheap, how few readers there are, and how few families have any books outside of the meager outfit for school purposes. Fortunate is the boy
or girl who loves to read. Still more blest are they whose taste leads them into the walks of standard English litera
ture. How few outside of the collegiate course in the En glish classics learn or know anything of the immortal mas ters of the English tongue. How few have read Milton,
Young, Addison, Goldsmith, Pope, as poets and essayists, and Hume, Gibbon, Bisset, Smollett, as historians. How few these days have read or read Plutarchs "Lives" as the pasture-ground of great souls, or the place where great souls are nourished and fed. The literary aspiration of thousands of Southern youth is confined to the study and knowledge of their text-books at school; to glean infor mation from them sufficient to secure a third-, second- or
first-grade certificate so as to teach school is the acme of
their ambition. It may be said of Mr. Stephens as it was of the youthful
English poet Chatterton, that he was "a marvelous boy."

ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.

63

The combination of the intellectual and the physical met in him in such rare disproportion that it placed him in the
realm of the wonderful. He was at once the prodigy of the family circle and the pet of admiring friends. The in tellectual light that gleamed forth in him as a boy like the lambent coruscations, as stated in ancient myth, that
played around the heads of those in childhood whom the gods designed for glorious achievement, was regarded as . prognostic of the halo of greatness and glory that would crown him in the coming years of manhood. It was de cided that he was worthy of the high privilege of being sent
to college.
In those days a collegiate course was considered as the special literary boon and prerogative of the youth whose
parents were wealthy and who with parental fondness de sired to prepare their sons for professional life and to be come statesmen. How changed are the circumstances and the condition of things since then! How great are the scholastic privileges of the present generation! So broad and general has education become in its higher immuni ties and culture, that there is no let or limit to any one who
desires to enter .the portals of learning. Proper pecuniary assistance was afforded Mr. Stephens to enable him to take a collegiate course.
He entered Old Franklin, the State University of Geor gia. Earnest and diligent as a student he drank deep from
the fountains of learning from old Romes classic rill and from the Pierian spring of Greece. The one would train
him in language to the smoothness of the Ciceronian period; the other to the lofty flights of creative fancy. The study of the classics added precision, strength and grace to the
Anglo-Saxon of Air. Stephens as manifested in his oratory and his writings.
The natural sciences have of late years in a measure superseded the ancient classics in the curriculum of the
schools. Whilst this is the case, nevertheless, he who as
a speaker and writer would have strength, purity and grace of language in the communication of thought must have the philological training which comes through the early and
assiduous studv of Greek and Latin. Ancient classical lit-

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

erature may be the "old gold" of learning, but it is pure though not garish. It has its appropriate emblem in the scepter of Mercury, the god of letters, which was composed of a rod entwined with two serpents and tipped with two wings the rod denoting power, the serpents wisdom, and the wings diligence and activity. To the orator it is the wand of power and beauty the golden rod of Hermes.
It was in 1849 that the writer of this article first saw Mr. Stephens and heard him speak. His career hitherto was known to him only in faint report. Mr. Stephens had graduated, engaged in the law, had entered the field of politics, and had been elected to Congress. He now stood as commencement orator before a large audience at Emory College, Ga. As he then appeared he seemed to be of me dium height, slenderly built, shoulders slightly stooped, hav ing his hair closely cut and combed down low to a point in front, a fashion he had brought with him from his boy hood days; in the glance and flash of his penetrating black eyes alone could be discerned life and the spirit of intel ligence: he was in full-dress suit of broadcloth, and wore a gold fob-chain conspicuous for its size and length. Fresh from the halls of Congress, the nations legislator, and with his peculiarities of person and dress, he could but strongly impress the youthful imagination. The president of the in stitution, Dr. G. F. Pierce, in opening his address, remarked to the audience that he would be brief, as he would be fol lowed by Mr. Stephens who would furnish the Chian wine for the entertainment. This pledge and promise and the full anticipation of the hour Mr. Stephens met in the pro found and eloquent address which he delivered. It stands placed on imperishable record in extracts from it being published in the school readers of the land.
The power of the orator lies much in the charm of his
voice. This was the case with Mr. Spurgeon, the mellow notes of whose voice, in a measure, made his fame as the great orator of the nineteenth century. It is said of White-
field, the eloquent preacher, that such pathos was wrapped up in his voice that in thrice repeating the word "Meso potamia," he made his congregation weep. To those who had never heard Mr. Stephens speak, his voice at first

ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.

65

would be startling on account of its treble note. Having become accustomed to it, it would ring out in silvery ac cents and fall upon the ear with fascinating spell.
Though Mr. Stephens had not the charm of voice and the grace and majesty of person which at once with subtle
magnetism penetrate and impress the popular mind, yet he acquired fame as an orator. It may have been that his power over the common mind was largely due to the marvelous combination that he presented in the union of his unique and abnormal physical man with great intellectual acumen. It is the opinion of Hazlitt, the noted English essayist, that physical deficiencies give prominence and fame to men as well as absolute qualities and solid merits. It may be well to compare Mr. Stephens with the great Apostle of the Gentiles, as he serves fitly as counterpart, a parallel and a prototype. It was said of Paul that his letters were weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence was weak and his speech contemptible." Does this com parison of the great commoner to the chief apostle of Christianity show lack f reverence? We think not. Mr. Stephens was a remarkable man; truly great in soul and wise in intellect, but had not the mystic glory of divine in spiration resting upon him as the apostle had.
The idiosyncrasy of the human mind is strikingly dis played in the fixed and invariable association by the pub lic of Mr. Stephens with a witty retort he made to an op ponent in debate in early life. This opponent, whose name was T. Fouche, in the way of taunt or ridicule, alluding to the diminutive size of Mr. Stephens, said, that "if Mr. Stephenss ears (which were unusually large) were pinned behind his head, he could swallow him whole." Mr. Stephens replied that "if he did he would have more brains in his belly than in his head." In such a trivial incident or speech is wrapped up the thing of popular fame.
The writer heard Mr. Stephens in a speech two hours in length in the Temperance Hall at Columbus, Ga., when the great question of the Missouri Compromise or the principle of non-intervention in the establishment or pro hibition of slavery in the territories was before the people
osl

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5n the political campaign of 1850. He advocated the prin
ciple of non-intervention. The grand effort of his life was the speech he delivered
on the I4th of November, 1860, at night during the seces
sion Convention at Milledgeville, Ga. The "phonographed footprints" of that address which appears in his "War of the States " show it to have been truly eloquent. One who
was present and heard it, and who was capable of judging,
spoke of the speech to the writer in glowing terms of eu logy. He said at the close when Mr. Stephens, in eloquent apostrophe addressed the Old Flag, that the convention, composed of the intelligence and patriotism of the State, was
in tears. The last public address of Mr. Stephens was delivered
at Savannah, Ga., at the dedication of the monument erec
ted to the Confederate dead. He was then Governor of Georgia, and in his official capacity represented the State in the ceremony. He was at that time in feeble health, and had to be borne about by the assistance of others. How impressive the coincidence presented by the occasion. Lifes sun was setting with him, yet during the evening hours of his earthly sojourn, at such crisis he was called upon to do honor to the memory of those who had fallen in- defense of the "Lost Cause." How the past loomed up
before him the secession of the States the eventful four years war the failure of the Confederacy which he had illustriously served as Vice-President the subjugation of
a gallant people, the devastation of their homes, and their political enslavement pass in review before him, as, with dying breath and with affectionate benediction, he vindicates the South in the righteousness of her cause and pays trib ute to her heroic dead. He points to the statue of a sol dier in Confederate uniform that surmounts the monu ment with fingers pressed on closed lips and hand pointed
to the future. He views its symbolical significance and exclaims: "The time will come when the South will be heard and be favorably judged by posterity."
The Latin poet Horace, in a poem designed as the con
cluding piece to his book of Odes and the end of his literary labors, exclaims, as expressed in English, that he had reared

ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.

67

a memorial of himself more enduring than brass and lof
tier than the regal structure of the pyramids, one which neither the corroding rain, nor the furious north wind, nor
the countless series of years and the flight of ages could
destroy. It may be said of Mr. Stephens that he is entitled
not only to the renown of the orator, but also as a writer to the beautiful and enduring fame which literature be stows. The most lasting monument to perpetuate his mem ory will no doubt be his history, "The War of the States."
This book, in view of its subject and purpose, and the political doctrine it expounds, bears in its pages the seeds of imperishability. It should continue to interest all lovers
of republican institutions and the coming generations of the United States in all the cycles of time to come. It is
both the embodiment and a tribute to patriotism. The
distinguished author in his love of the South, with the de votion that burns in the bosom of the son for the mother who gave him birth and nurtured him during the years of childhood, and from every aspersion would guard her name and memory, seeks in his history to leave a perpetual me morial in vindication of Southern honor and Southern prin
ciple. The book with the steady poise of truth and justice unfolds and weighs in the balance the causes of the most gigantic war recorded in the book of time. Not only this; it expounds the nature of that compact which binds the States
into one broad empire. It should be diligently read and studied by the youth of the land for proper and correct in formation in regard to the principles of republican gov-
.ernment according to the teachings and traditions of their revolutionary sires. Alas! how few of them have read the book or kindred works, or know anything in detail of the political principles involved in this war.
To make the discussion of the doctrine of State sov ereignty and his teachings upon the subject clearer and more emphatic, Mr. Stephens adopted what is termed the Socratic method of reasoning. In familiar colloquy with imaginary persons, as Judge Bynum, from Massachusetts, a representative of the Radical branch of the Republican
party; Professor Norton, from Connecticut, representing the Conservative branch of the same party; Major Heister

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from Pennsylvania, representing those of the party known
as war Democrats; by questions and answers, the great problems of Union and the sovereignty of the States in every feature and phase is discussed. The plan of the au thor, circumstances, time, the characters that appear, their sentiments and actions, and all that transpired in connec tion with the great civil war, all conspire to invest the
history with more than ordinary interest. Imagine the conversations given to have taken place in the portico of Liberty Hall, the home of Mr. Stephens, Crawfordville,
Ga., and you have in the book a vivid drama from life, which, though in a large measure it consists of colloquy or argument instead of incident, yet in view of the importance of the theme, the sublime discourses of illustrious speakers,
the. magnificent exploits of living actors and the vast is sues it involved in the destiny of a great nation, comes over the spirit as with enchantment. In its way it is a mas
terly treatise in support of the doctrine of State sovereignty and the true purposes of the Union, and as such enters a plea of refutation to the charge against the South of hav.ing caused the war so great, cruel and destructive, that its
outflow of blood would incarnadine old oceans depths and no atonement can wash its guilt away.
Not only as an orator, an author and a statesman, but in the attributes of his personal character does Mr. Stephens deserve the recording tribute of the pen and the transmis
sion of his name to posterity. No nobler and stronger in dices of character may be cited than the pure and exalted
friendship which he cherished for Mr. Toombs, his colleague and associate in a long period of congressional life.
The beauty and devotion of it renewed the story of Damon
and Pythias. Diametrically opposite in physical charac teristics and moral temperament, yet they were so accor
dant in their political acts and views, that they were popu
larly called the Siamese twins in politics. The magnificent physique, genius, dash and daring of Mr. Toombs had fas
cination for the milder and more considerate Stephens.
Another leading feature of the life and character of Mr. Stephens viAfthy of high commemoration, was his benefi cence to the aspiring young men and women for whom

ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS.

69

he secured the benefits of an education. It is stated upon
good authority that he expended in this manner over thirtyfive thousand dollars. This liberality is a monument to his memory more beautiful than the pure column of his literary -labors, or the shaft of marble which his beloved State in her gratitude and devotion shall erect to him. It will have a place in living hearts and memories which, like
the fabled statue of Memnon that sent forth strains of music each morning, shall repeat the notes of his praise to each succeeding generation. Its true and sure reward will
be the "crown of pure gold" which the Master shall in the kingdom place upon the head of those who upon earth fol
lowed his example and "went about doing good." The proverbial ingratitude of republics to those who
have rendered them illustrious service meets a refutation in the conduct of the people of Georgia to Mr. Stephens. Instead of ignoring his claims and casting him aside in the declining years of his life and usefulness, they elevated him to the highest office of the State and continued him in it, when he was physically incapacitated to perform its duties and meet its responsibilities. He closed his earthly career,
as it were infolded in the arms and reclining" upon the bosom of his beloved Georgia.
Glorious old Georgia! honored art thou in the names and renown of thy long list of illustrious sons! Radiant is thy history with them as thine own blue heavens with stars. Thy "old red hills" may be seamed with many a scar and rent with chasms deep by corroding rains and dis solving frosts in the flight of years, yet thy glory still re mains like the lingering glow of the golden sunsets of thy
autumnal evenings upon thy hills and valleys. Sweet mem
ories of thee still swell the hearts of thy sons who have
sought homes in other States and dwell beneath other skies. Fair as in youths bright morn rises before the mind thy
verdant plains, lucid streams and shadowy hills. With deep pathos of soul do they recall the memory of the fathers and exemplars of their youth, those venerable men of
the past, who in person and character were like the oaks that rose in massive grandeur from thy virgin soil. Be
neath thy clods repose the dear forms of their fathers and

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mothers, and others of the dear family circle that met at
the festal board and gathered at night and morning at the altar consecrated to prayer. From afar they greet thee and hold out their arms to embrace thee as they recall in sweet reminiscence the dewy freshness of lifes morning hour.

BENJAMIN HARVEY HILL.
Great is the gift of oratory. Fortunate is the mortal upon whose lips "the mystic bee has dropped the honey of per suasion," and from which in mellifluent stream flow the words and thoughts of speech. How enrapturing to the mind of such an one to be able to control, as at the wave of a magic wand, the opinions and passions of men either in the forensic arena, upon the political rostrum, or from the sacred pulpit.
The ;poet is born, the orator is made, says the old adage. Which one has the precedence and superiority in the realm of human thought and action, the speaker or the author, and whichis the most desirable intellectual endowment of the two, has been often considered and debated. The winged words and burning thoughts that come from the lips of the orator fall upon the ears and thrill the hearts of the living throngs of men. They live only for a time in the memories of the auditors. The eloquent tongue becomes mute in death, and they are forgotten. The writer who gives to the world, either in prose or verse, the sublime thoughts and enrapturing fancies of his mind, and sends out a book, has an audience in a thousand homes. He sets afloat in his book a treasure ship of knowledge upon the broad stream of time that will descend to posterity to de light mankind when his pen is consumed with rust.
The glowing clime of the South is regarded as the land of the orator. Its cerulean skies, its gorgeous sunsets, its tropical wealth of fruits and flowers, foster the glow of passion and awaken with fervid touch the imagination, more than the frigid atmosphere and ice-bound hills and valleys of the North. The Southern States have produced

BENJAMIN HARVEY HILL.

71

during the present century a number of public men distin guished for their brilliant oratory. First and foremost of the eloquent sons of the South who acquired renown as an orator in his day and generation may be mentioned the Hon. Benjamin H. Hill of Georgia.
As a lawyer at the bar Mr. Hill commenced his career as a public speaker. The training at the bar affords a fine field for the cultttre of oratory, if it is based upon early in struction and drill in the school of elocution, and supple mented by rigid study and practice in after-life. The his
tory of Athenian Demosthenes and Roman Cicero fully demonstrates that toil and industry are indispensable to the successful orator.
It is a matter worthy of remark to observe how few of the legal profession give special study to the art of oratory.
It seems as if they expect naturally to grow up into polished speakers, and they have no aspiration to become eloquent advocates before the jury. Many seek no higher proficiency than to be merely talkers, and give their attention solely to "the law and the testimony."
The personal characteristics of Mr. Hill, though pecu liar to himself, were pleasing. As in the case of Yergniaud$ the orator of the.French Revolution, the rostrum was the
pedestal of his beauty and fascination. The writer of this article had the privilege of hearing Mr. Hill speak on two occasions in his early life. One was in an extemporaneous address at the literary commencement of the LaGrange Fe male College, Ga., in 1855, being chosen to fill the va cancy in the program caused by the absence of the regular orator. His situation at that time was still further em barrassed by some speaker before him having incidentally selected his line of topics, and as he said, "taken the wind out of his sails," and he therefore had to steer a new and unexpected course in the realm of thought.
As an orator the forte of Mr. Hill was in his argumenta tive skill and power. His mind was keen and logical, and he could dexterously wield the foils, and thrust and parry
in debate. This order of mind qualified him to excel in the discussions of those points of law that would come before a court in civil suits where obscurity or intricacy of prin-

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

ciples prevailed. He was well fitted for stump oratory, where the fallacy or plausible truth of any political prin ciple must be unveiled, or ready retort must be made to
antagonist. Mr. Hill acquired reputation as a successful political speaker. Though not exactly contemporary with Hon. A. H. Stephens, yet at the commencement of his
career as a politician, he met Mr. Stephens in debate. He
was very popular with his party. There was one peculiarity
connected with Mr. Hills oratory. It was an abrupt and rapid elevation of his voice at certain times to the pitch of the Indian war-whoop, or as his admirers termed it, to
a Comanche yell. The most celebrated oratorical effort of Mr. Hill on
record was his reply to James G. Blaine, when the latter in the United States Senate made an attack upon the South. The speech of Mr. Blaine was considered by his party as
a triumphant defense of the policy that had been pursued
by the North towards the South. On the Southern side there was trepidation, uneasiness and indignation in view
of the fact that the readmission of the Southern States into
the Union was recent and their representatives in Con gress did not feel sure, confident, or at home in the halls of Congress. Then, the speech of Mr. Blaine was grand and
eloquent. In reference to this speech, Hon. Robert Ingersoll in putting Mr. Blaine as a presidential candidate before the Republican convention at Chicago, said of him, "Like an armed warrior, like a plumed knight, James G. Blaine marched into the halls of the American Congress, and hurled his shining lances full and fair in the brazen
face of the defamers of his country and the maligners of her honor."
When this notable speech was made the Southern rep resentatives felt that there should be a reply to it. It seemed that all eyes were instinctively turned to Mr. Hill, then senator from Georgia, as the proper man. He agreed to take up the gauntlet of defiance thrown down by "the
Plumed Knight," and made preparation to break a lance with him. WhaHaf daring attempt. What a trying ordeal was there before Mr. Hill! Demosthenes well could face the fickle and tumultuous populace of ancient Athens, when

BENJAMIN HARVEY HILL.

73

he delivered his Philippics against the tyrant of Macedon.
He had every true lover of Greece to back him in his patriotic zeal and purpose. Cicero, with the peril of assas
sination confronting him, could boldly assail Catiline and his associate conspirators. There was virtue enough left in the Roman Senate to participate with him in his sympathy
and effort to save Rome. But with Mr. Hffl the situation was far different. He
was the representative of a noble people, but they had been and were still denounced as rebels, as traitors to their coun
try; for nearly a decade they had undergone humiliation, rapine and political proscription at the hands of the Xorth-
ern States, who held the reins of government, and before those representatives in the halls of national legislation he must make a defense of the South. All that he might say
in defense of the South, though founded on truth and jus
tice, would be misconstrued and find no hearing before such
a partial and prejudiced tribunal as the United States Senate. He had, however, the nerve, the courage, and the
patriotism to attempt the vindication of the honor and fair
fame of his own beloved South in heroic defiance of the sectional prejudice and animosity arrayed before him. He had the intellect; the data from the public records were
in his favor, and the "Plumed Knight" went down before him in this political tilt, and the good name of the South was nobly vindicated. The high compliment of Ingersoll
to Mr. Blaine as recited, in every fact and feature was the measure of the just tribute to Mr. Hill.
The wisdom to determine the policy that will tend to the weal of the nation, to discern with accurate ken the meas ures suitable to meet the exigencies which spring up in the existing affairs of government, and to forecast the opera tions of any legislative enactment are recognized as con stituting the elements of a true and wise statesmanship. Mr. Hill evinced in his public career that he was thus en dowed. As to the ability he may have shown in his four
years service as senator from Georgia in the Confederate States Congress, nothing can be definitely known or said. The members of the first Confederate Congress were in a large measure old and experienced legislators. The limited

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experience of Mr. Hill in national legislation would pre clude his thrusting himself forward. Then, whilst the legis
lation involved solemn and weighty matters as relating to the war, all proceedings were necessarily secret, and were thus locked up in the archives of the government.
From what little is known of the Confederate Congress, it
may be inferred that Mr. Hill by his talent wielded a large influence in that body.
It was in the United States Senate after the restoration
of the Union, that a broad field was opened to him as sen ator from Georgia. In his capacity as senator he fully met the exigencies of his environment as being from a Southern
State, and a noble and gallant defense did the proscribed South receive at his hands. His reply to Blaine, previously
noticed, was a notable display of his intellectual powers and crowned him with honor in the annals of Congress.
The attitude of Mr. Hill in regard to the "Reconstruction Measures" of the federal government illustrates his politi cal sagacity. How cruel, unjust and humiliating they were;
how contrary to the terms stipulated in the surrenders of Lee and Johnston and to the expressed sentiments of the North as to the objects for which the war was waged, all
those acquainted with the history of reconstruction well
know. In his notes or philippics on the "situation," as
they may be termed, Mr. Hill gave a very correct statement,
in a few words, when, in speaking of the position of the people of the South in reference to them, he said in sub stance : "The complying accept, the resolute reject, none
approve, while all despise!" He, however, advised the Southern States to accept the terms as inevitable. This policy was unacceptable to the main body of the people. They were overpowered, brought under the yoke of subju
gation, but not conquered. The spirit of freedom still burned in their breasts. They could not forget their former
glory as sovereign States, and their political equality as an inalienable heritage and secured to them in the sacra
ment of the blood of their revolutionary sires upon the field of battle.
Those who coincided with Mr. Hill in his views and fa-

BENJAMIN HARVEY HILL.

75

vored his policy were designated as the Bourbon party. The reader is referred to history for a full explication of the
term "Bourbon." It has a remote allusion to the tyranni cal rule of the Bourbon dynasty of French kings and their oppression of the people. The proud-spirited Southerners
spurned the shackles forged for them and their children, and in their indignation as free-born men unwisely threw down the reins of State government. Provisional govern ments were established for the States under military super
vision, and aliens and carpetbaggers crept in, took posses sion and plundered the people. All Southerners remember well those years of sorrow and degradation.
Had Mr. Hills suggestions been adopted, the South, per haps to some extent, would have escaped her long duress and Spoliation at the hands of the Northern adventurers upheld by the Federal government.
The parents of Mr. Hill are said to have been in mod
erate circumstances. His father was a plain farmer and his mother of a domestic turn of mind, and as the heads of the
household were such as in ante-bellum days made the fam ily the pride and glory of the land. As a boy, Mr. Hill is represented as being fond of his books. This may be re
ceived as a prognostic of his future greatness. Books!
books! are the golden rungs in the old ladder of fame. Franklin, Lincoln and others of Americas great men found
it so. The lamp of knowledge, like the lamp of Aladdin in oriental story, brings to those who are masters of it, the services of mighty genii, who enable them to perform sub
lime marvels, as in the case of Morse in the telegraph, Bell in the telephone,Edison in the phonograph, and Roentgen in the X-rays.
The ambitious hopes of the parents clustered around the
son. It is said that his mother spun and wove the suit of
clothes which Mr. Hill wore when he entered college^ His devotion to her forms a beautiful episode in his life. When he had grown to manhood, and naught remained to him of
the devoted mother but her portrait, on retiring at night
he would go to the room where it hung, and looking at it, would silently invoke the blessing of his unseen mother, and bid her "good night." And in the morning before en-

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tering upon the duties of the day he would render to his mother as represented in the picture the same tribute of filial reverence and love. This filial virtue of Mr. Hill adorns and beautifies his life and character as the soft acan thus wreath the stately column of marble, and is as ex pressive of his greatness and as honoring to his memory as the statue worked by the chisel of the sculptor and erected by Georgia, his native State, to be a perpetual memo rial of her gifted son.

WALTER T. COLQUITT.
It is the remark of Macaulay, the English historian, that the history of the world presents the interesting fact that the great minds that have enlightened and blessed man kind by their wisdom and their deeds have not come singly, but in crowds, upon the stage of human action. They seem to have come upon the scene just at the time when their services were most needed by their country and their fellowmen. This is forcibly exemplified in the history of tho United States, severally and respectively, during the first half century after the revolutionary war. The political fir mament of that period was radiant with intellectual lights as a January sky with stars. In none of the thirteen orig inal States was it more strkingly exhibited than in the case of Georgia. "Among those who appear upon the roll of its distinguished men to claim attention in view of their in tellectual ability and moral worth may be mentioned the subject of this article, Walter T. Colquitt.
The prestige and honor which the name of Colquitt has in Georgia and in the South is mainly due to him. He was a man remarkable both for his physical and intellectual power and activity. He had not the majesty of lofty stature or high forehead which are usually considered as symbolic of greatness, but he had the broa3 brow, the wellshaped head that showed fine poise of character and mental power; and the calm grey eyes, in whose depths burned the light of genius.

WALTER T. COLQUITT.

77

As an orator he was not excelled by any of his compeers and associates at the bar in pleading before a jury. He was strong in criminal cases, and could at will open in the hearts of the jury the fountain of sympathy in behalf of his client. So noted was he for this power and influence over
a jury that upon one occasion the opposing counsel warned the jury to beware of Mr. Colquitt; that he would try to make them believe that their hearts were in their feet, hands or some other part of their body. Mr. Colquitt in reply said to the jury, that he did not want them to believe their hearts were anywhere else than in the right place, and that they were beating with warm and broad sympa thies for the unfortunate as God had designed, and that guided by them their verdict would be in favor of his client.
The writer heard Mr. Colquitt in the celebrated Hightower will case tried at the February term of the superior court, at Thomaston, Georgia, in 1847. He was counsel for the plaintiffs. The purpose was to break the will, as it was charged that, the devisor not being of "disposing mind
and memory," undue bias and influence had been used by the party who wrote the will to cause him to make unjust discrimination in the distribution of the property. The will was written by the family physician. In touching upon the action and evidence of this witness, Air. Colquitt wound up by saying, there is "the finger of Joab" in this. Finally, in seeking to cover him with ridicule and in an swer to the question who did the work, Mr. Colquitt sung
out "John Anderson, my Jo John," and by this action filled the court-room with laughter.
Air. Colquitt was master of all the arts of offense and defense in oratory. He could wield the trenchant argu ment, handle the sharp-pointed satire, or relate with rare humor the amusing anecdote. Whoever met him in the tilt of debate, either in the court-room or on the political
stump," might look well to his arms and his laurels. Few could successfully resist the impetuous shock with which he bore down upon his antagonist. He was fearless, but magnanimous in debate.
He could touch the sensibilities and stir the hearts of men

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

to tears. Many were the grand achievements he won in the court-room before a jury in criminal cases. One of the most touching instances handed down of his power and pathos was in the case of a client who had neither money nor friends to aid him. Mr. Colquitt arose to speak and the following sublime exordium fell from his lips. "Gentlemen of the jury, my client stands before you friendless as the son of God." There was no play with words, no stale preliminaries. At one stroke he associated the pitiable case of his client with the most solemn and sacred event in the worlds history. This appeal touched at once the hearts of the twelve men, and the picture presented, with the strain of sentiment that followed, made it the triumph of the hour.
With his contemporaries, those who knew him, Mr. Colquitts name was the synonym of genius in oratory and the criterion of noble simplicity of character. His name was familiar to the people as a household word. He was -hon ored of Georgia, though it may not have erected .the monu ment of marble to perpetuate his memory.- His name and honor have been nobly, represented in the life and career of his son, Alfred H. Colquitt, who held the high posi tions of Governor of Georgia and of representative in the United States Senate. The glory of the father is undimmed bv the luster of the son. There has been but one Walter T." Colquitt.

WILLIAM L. YANCEY. Although the work may be lightly esteemed by those in whose minds naught but pleasure or business can find a place, yet the recall to public attention of the names and memory of the eminent men of the South in these biograph ical touches is to the writer a task of love and patriotic duty. Especially is this the case with him in regard to the Confederate period of Southern history. Like Old Mortal ity, a character in one of Scotts novels of the same name. who- is described as frequenting country churchyards and

WILLIAM L,. YANCEY.

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the graves of the Covenanters in the south of Scotland, and whose occupation consisted in clearing the moss from the gray tombstones, renewing with his chisel the half-defaced inscriptions and repairing the emblems with which they were adorned, thus would the writer remove the incrusta tions of time and the pall of forgetfulness which may cover up or enshroud the memories of those who occupy a niche in the historic Pantheon of the South. Xot one of her heroic sons, be his deeds or virtues great or less, should the South suffer to fall into oblivion.
The cognizance of personal knowledge of Hon. William L. Yancey, the subject of this article, began with the early life of the writer. He bears well in mind the incident of having traveled with Mr. Yancey by stage from Belleview,
Talbot county, to Thomaston, Upson county, Georgia, in the summer of 1850. On entering the coach he found several passengers on board. His attention was specially attracted to one of them who was above medium height, of cor pulent body, florid complexion, and having a Roman nose, blue eyes and sandy hair. He wore a linen coat and slip pers, and his dress in full was the easy outfit of summer wear. He had that poise of quiet dignity and reticence of speech which wealth, high social rank, conscious intel lectual power, or the weighty affairs of government give
to men. As afterwards ascertained, this individual was the Hon. William L. Yancey of Alabama. He was at that time on his way to Macon, Ga., to address the Democratic Convention which was to hold the next day at that city.
This was, or those days- were, a halcyon period in the history of the country. The thunders of the Mexican war had iong subsided. The territory acquired by conquest and treaty had broadened the zone of the republic, until it rested in the full clasp of the Pacific on the west as well as the broad embrace of the Atlantic on the east. The gold-fields of California had been pouring for one or two years their tide of wealth into the lap of the country. The dream of glory and unexampled prosperity enwrapped the nation. The sea of American politics was tranquil. Northern abo litionism, "-horridus cum ore cruento" as a roaring lion greedy for his prey, was not ready to pounce upon the

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

South. The Pandora box of political strife in the newlyacquired territory had its lid opened and the evils were fledging their wings, but golden tranquillity still hovered over the land. Patriotism was paramount to political am
bition in the bosom of those statesmen who were control ling the affairs of government. Neither Mr. Yancey nor any other politician at that time could foresee or forecast the events that would transpire in another decade. Nor did he then, nor at the Charleston National Convention in 1860 fwhen that party split.
In person, life and character Mr. Yancey is environed
with the romance of the mediaeval knight. If Toombs, of Georgia, was distinguished as the Achilles of American politics, Mr. Yancey may well be characterized the cheva
lier Bayard in the field of political strife. As said of that knight of mediaeval fame, that he "was without fear and reproach," the "realized ideal" of chivalry, the combination of perfect courage with entire unselfishness, the utmost gen
erosity, and a purity of life wonderful in that age," so may it be said of Mr. Yancey in his life and political career.
Mr. Stephens says of him that "he was a man of bril liant genius, with many eminent qualities of natural as well
as acquired ability. He was amongst the ablest men of the South who zealously espoused the cause of secession at
an early day, and no one felt a deeper interest in its suc cess." He was the recognized leader of his State. After the organization of the Confederacy he was sent by the government with A. Dudly Mann of Virginia, and A. P. Rost of Louisiana, to Europe to present to France and Eng
land the Confederate cause with the view of opening ne gotiations with those powers.
As stated by Mr. Stephens in his "War of the States," Mr. Yancey, "having seen that he could not accomplish
the business for which he and his associates were commis sioned and sent to Europe, returned home, and was elected
by the legislature of Alabama to the first Confederate States Senate under the Constitution which had been adop ted for their permanent government, and which was to go
into operation the 22d of February, 1862." He was emi nently qualified by his talent and experience for a place in

WILLIAM L. YANCEY.

81

the Legislative Council of the young republic. The voca-.
tion of the statesman suited him better than that of the soldier. His impulsive nature and patriotic ardor did not override his judgment and push him out into the field of military service as in the case of some others. Genius for military affairs is not always the accompaniment of bril liant powers of mind, nor the product of culture and sci entific training. The great chieftains and the successful
warriors were developed from the bosom of war like Mi nerva, its fabled goddess, is said to have sprung from the head of Jupiter. No art of training can make them. The
worlds great generals, as they stand forth upon the pages of history, have been reduced by some writer to five in number Alexander, Caesar, Hannibal, Scipio and Bona
parte. The first and second terms of the Confederate Congress
show a constellation of old and experienced statesmen. Mr. Yancey acquired no special distinction in his new sphere as a Confederate senator. His career was brief. He died in 1863. It was whispered in subtle rumor at or before the time of his death that he had received aserious hurt in his spine in a personal rencounter with Hon. B. F. Hill on
the floor of the Senate chamber. It is to be hoped that no such thing really happened. It would be, even at this time, a sad reflection that two men, renowned as they were for in tellectual ability, should have, under any impulse, yielded to their passions and sullied their manhood and high
official dignity by resorting to brute force for the settlement
of any question of debate. Such a scene occurred years before in the Senate chamber of the United States, when the fiery Brooks, of South Carolina, assailed with his cane
the imperturbable Sumner of Massachusetts. From the
hoary past custom has savagely made blows the redoubtable weapons or arguments of champions upon the field of in tellectual as well as physical combat. The present age is becoming pugilistic in its taste and tendency.
The charge against Mr. Yancey of having, in conjunction with Toombs of Georgia, Rhett of South Carolina, Floyd
of Virginia, Davis of Mississippi, Wigfall of Texas, and
6Bl

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

other leading men of the South, conspired to overthrow the government and organized in secret junto for that purpose at Washington, the 2pth of December, 1860, is fully re futed by Mr. Stephens in his "War of the States." He states that "they aimed at nothing and desired nothing but the maintenance, in good faith, of the Constitution, with all its guarantees as they stood." He further says, "the only real conspiracy against the Constitution organized in Washington, ,as he understood it, was that of -the seven Governors from the seven Northern States, who assembled there, and by their mischievous machinations caused Mr. Lincoln to change his purpose as to the evacuation of Fort Sumter."
Let no tarnish rest upon the name and reputation of William L. Yancey, but proud and erect in the majesty of his intellect and patriotic virtue, should he stand in the annals of American history, and, if need be, to render to him the honor due, let the South enwreathe his memory with the shamrock, the chosen emblem of liberty-loving "Ould Ireland," as it comes down through the generations of the
past, wet with the hopeless tears of her people and stained with the blood of her sons.

HENRY W. HILLIARD.
It is said by Plutarch that when Cicero, the Roman orator, was serving as questor of Sicily, that he undertook the de fense of a number of young Romans of noble families, who lay under the charge of having violated the rules of dis cipline and had not behaved with sufficient courage in time of service. The orator acquitted himself with great ability and success. As he returned to Rome, meeting with a per son of some eminence with whom he was acquainted, he asked him, what they said and thought of his actions at Rome, imagining the glory of his achievements had filled the whole city. His acquaintance answered, "Where have you been, then, Cicero, all this time?" He found that the ac counts of his conduct had been lost at Rome, as in an im-

HENRY W. MILLIARD.

83

mense sea, and had made no remarkable addition to his
reputation. His ardent thirst for glory was rebuked at the thought
that his living personality in what he conceived would bring him renown had not extended the short distance that he was from Rome. Though this was the case with the Roman orator in this incident, yet his name and memory still live in the immortality of his orations. The mighty republic of Rome lives only in history. Its grandeur and glory have passed away as a dream. No longer in serried array and gleaming in purple and gold the Roman co horts are seen marching in triumphal procession along the Appian or Flaminian ways to the seven-hilled city. The senators, the conscript fathers, in their togas with purple borders, no longer occupy their curule chairs in the Capi tol. The rival armies of Caesar and Pompey no longer fill the Roman world with dread and consternation and the shock of battle. Cicero lives not in a single action nor in a single speech, but in his orations and his life devoted to virtue and liberty. Twenty centuries have transpired since he fell beneath the assassins dagger, yet his orations still live in their spirit of unfading beauty and eloquence, and form the classic text-book of the schoolboy and of the scholar of civilized and enlightened nations of to-day.
How beautiful and inspiring is the immortality that the products of the mind and the art of letters give to man! The place and hold he has in the memory of the living may be sweet and precious, but it is brief and transient. The features of the countenance taken on the iodized plate of the artist will lie in the receptacle of private mementoes, half-forgotten. The waxen cylinder of the phonograph may receive and retain for years the tones of the human voice, but shut up in silence, unless some living hand shall set it in motion. The printed or written page with its treasured
thought descends to successive generations of men. This is beautiful^ illustrated in the life career of the subject of this essay, Henry W. Hilliard, as well as that of the old Roman orator, Cicero. As photographed from the remi niscences of the past upon the tablet of memory, this distin guished son of the South was of fine personal physique, ex-

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

press and admirable in form and stature, eyes and hair black, swarthy in complexion and dignified and courtly in bearing. Thus he appeared to the author as seen by him at LaGrange, Georgia, in July, 1855. He was at that time in the full meridian of life and at the close of his public ca reer that had been crowned with civic honors. He had ac quired distinction in the law as his chosen profession, and had been elected to a seat in the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States from Alabama. He had been sent as foreign minister to the court of Austria, and had returned from that mission the year past. He had a just and equal fame among his contemporaries, and had re ceived many honors from his fellow-citizens. His course in professional and public life had been the steady and serene travel of a star and not the flashing brilliancy of a meteor.
The extracts taken from his speeches delivered upon tne floor of Congress and various addresses which appear in the school-books of oratory of the land are models of classic beauty and eloquence. As an orator he was not vehement nor orotund in his elocution. He was easy and graceful in his actions as a speaker, and the words fell from his lips, soft and gentle like the descending snowflakes that silently wrap the earth in a mantle of beauty. He delivered the address at the commencement exercises of the LaGrange Female College in July, 1854. The institution was then at the acme of its prosperity. It numbered, perhaps, twohundred" pupils upon its. register. The spectacle the col lege presented that day was grand and beautiful. There was gathered in its elegant and spacious hall an audience of two thousand people, who came from all parts of the State to attend the exercises. There were present in that large assembly the womanhood of the land in all the worshiped graces of female loveliness, educated manhood with its courtly bearing and culture, age with its reverend locks and" gathered wisdom, and learned brows crowned *^ith the hon ors of science.
The orator (the subject of this essay) said in his address that he had traveled over Europe, had visited the royal courts of its kingdoms and erripires, but did not

HENRY W. HILLIARD.

85

see any courtly array of the female sex that surpassed the women of the South. This picture of Southern life and manners has been graphically described, because of the
dark, malign and proscribed institution of African slavery that lay in the background, and on account of which sec tional spleen has sought to defame the civilization of the South.
It is as an author he forms a subject of special interest for the notice and review of the pen. Late in life he came before the public in a book of fiction titled "De Vane," or as paraphrased, "A Story of Plebeians and Patricians." It is a sweet and pleasant story to read. Considered in its general character, it has a natural and genial plot, agree ably sustained to its close, grace and beauty of diction with sparkling classical allusions, lofty tone of moral sentiment, sublime reflections on many things that form the profound
subject of human thought and inquiry, and a happy d&iouement. The entire narrative meanders through the beauties of rhetoric, treasures of thought and descriptions of natural scenery like the clear brook that glides through the flowery vale.
Specially considered, the story derives interest from its being a representation of Southern life and manners at the period when the South was emerging from its pioneer state, and had expanded into the first stages of education and refinement, and prior to the "forties" of the past cen
tury. It presents the high standard of social, moral and intellectual culture that prevailed in the society of Colum bia, South Carolina, the seat of the State University. It presents in vivid picture the literary exercises of that in stitution of learning on commencement day at that period.
The book as a work of fiction deserves special interest from the fact that the actors in the drama of life pre sented are not fictitious, but real, and as noble as ever moved upon the stage of human life. There, under the veil of fiction woven appears South Carolinas great statesman, as charming in social life as he was grand and gifted in the
legislative hall of the nation. And the female characters that appear are the true models of American womanhood, mothers and daughters that in their sovereignty as un-

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

crowned queens needed not the title of the decayed nobility of Europe to add to their charms of beauty and virtue.
The book should possess deep interest for the Methodist reader, as it presents in the fullness and apostolic grace of his character as a minister of the gospel Bishop William McKendree, one of the leaders and founders of the M. E.
Church. Also in his young manhood, William Capers, who in after years came to the Episcopal office. It portrays him in the delivery of the celebrated discourse of traditional fame, as with sweetness of speech he wraps the souls of his audience in the elysian spell of spiritual ecstasy. It like wise presents in clear and graphic description the form
of divine worship as observed by the church at that
period, in all its simplicity, solemnity and spiritual unc tion. The ministers of the gospel of the present day may read this book of fiction with profit.
"De Vane" when first issued from the press created no
sensation in reading circles iri the South, and has attracted but little attention since. Though it has received but scant recognition, yet judged according to the rules of pure taste,
it possesses a high degree of literary excellence. In Its classic grace and beauty peerless as a Corinthian shaft of
marble molded by the skill of the artist, it should have and hold a high place in Southern literature, and stand as an enduring memorial of posthumous fame to the author, as to the Latin poet Horace his lyric poems, which he presaged
would be to him monutiientum are perennius.

AUGUSTUS B. LONGSTREET.
As related by the Greek poet, Homer, in the Iliad, that during the siege of Troy, when Nestor, the clear-toned speaker of the Pylians, from whose tongue also flowed speech sweeter than honey, and who had been reared and nurtured through two generations of articulate-speaking men and was living in the third, arose in the council of the Greeks to quiet the strife which had sprung up between those intrepid warriors, Agamemnon and Achilles, in order to en-

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87

force his advice reverts to his past experience. He tells them of Pirithous, Dryas, Exardius and Polyphemus, he roes of the past, whom he had known and with whom he had associated in arms. In speaking of them he as serted that they were the bravest of earth-nourished men, and no mortals then living might contend with them. He had never seen such men since, nor was he likely to see such again.
It is the disposition of the old to look in review upon the period in which they were reared when it is passed as the golden age of time, whilst the smart and vivacious present,
especially the young, are apt.to regard it as an era of fogyism. They are not in the least disposed to accept the prop osition that men and things of seventy-five or fifty years
ago can compare in any respect with those of the present. It must readily be conceded that the present age has been ren dered marvelous by its scientific discoveries and its achieve ments in art. It can boast of the telephone which con quers space and gives ubiquity to man. It exults in the phonograph that with its waxen cylinders receives the im pression of the tones of the human voice, and after a lapse of forty years can reproduce them with living exactness. This may be the case, yet the past may and does compare favorably with the present in literature arid oratory and in
the heroic mold of its men and the virtue and beauty of its women. Especially is this true of those men who laid the foundations of this republic and of those who came
upon the stage of action as their immediate successors. On the roll of its illustrious sons of that period Georgia
does not boast a purer name or a nobler character than the Rev. A. B. Longstreet, D.D., LL.D., the distinguished sub
ject of this essay. It was the privilege of the writer of this article, in January, 1848, to have matriculated as a
student of Emory College, Oxford, Ga., when Judge Longstreet, as he was then addressed, was president of that in stitution of learning, and to have the opportunity of obtain
ing personal knowledge of him during a period of six months.
At that time he was perhaps sixty years of age; tall and venerable in person, his countenance was plain and expres
sive of benignity, and peculiarly modified by his wearing

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

his hair close-cut and combed down the forehead according to the style of his boyhood days. With these peculiarities of form and feature, and as president of a college and also author of "Georgia Scenes," he strongly impressed the
youthful imagination. The points of interest and traits of character that may
have clustered around and marked his boyhood and youth are not known to the writer. Neither is the intellectual precocity he may have displayed at school nor the literary
proficiency and the honors that may have crowned his course at college. He was an alumnus of the State University in the early period of its history. In the capacity of instruc tor he had charge of the departments of moral philosophy and political economy during the time he was president of Emory College.
To portray in full and graphic detail the personal physique,
the moral stamina, the versatile intellect and the long, varied and useful professional life and experience of this eminent man, so as to present a true picture of him with living exactness, would require a skill and touch of mind and pen like to that of the subtle and nimble sunbeam that photographs the human form and countenance. Yet this is requisite in order fully to appreciate him and comprehend that note and place of honor and esteem in which he was held by the people of Georgia and the South.
His claims to historic mention and distinction are three fold ; as a jurist and author and a minister of the Gospel. His first and chosen pursuit in life was the study and prac tice of law. The intellectual training and literary culture
of his collegiate course at the State University of Georgia, although that institution of learning was in its infancy, pre pared him to enter upon the study of the law with broad, genial and enlightened grasp of mind and thought. This lifted him at once above -the paltry chances of being a jus tice-court or case lawyer, and was a pledge of high at tainments in legal knowledge and of honorable position at
the bar. However, though this might be the propitious augury under which he engaged in the study and practice of law, there is no doubt, that in the outset of his legal ca
reer he went the rounds of the justice courts, as Georgia was

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89

then a pioneer State and its social and political institutions were in their incipiency. It affords a true and pleasing picture to the mind to present him as a tall and slender youth going the rounds of these courts on horseback and carrying with him in his saddle-bags his law books, and to
imagine him with a subtle play of humor in his eye and not over handsome face, as a youthful pleader before the justices, the- revered magnates of the law. To do this would be no draught upon the fancy or imagination. What meant that rich vein of pleasantry with him in social life, and where else did he get that living picture of the men
and manners of that day that appear in "Georgia Scenes," that production of his sportive genius?
Although at that period Georgia was a pioneer State, as has been said, yet at that time its bench and bar could boast of brilliant talent and fine legal ability. This fact
serves to demonstrate his success in the law, in that he arose to eminence amidst such contemporaries, and reached that seat of honor the judges bench. The writer heard Judge John J. Floyd, a member of the bar of the Flint circuit, superior court, Georgia, say that Judge Longstreet was an eloquent advocate before a jury. It was the privilege
of the writer when a student at Emory College to hear Dr. Longstreet, as he was then called, in his pulpit minis trations. At that time, his style and manner of oratory was not brilliant or even declamatory, but was on the conver sational order.
In a baccalaureate address delivered at the commence ment exercises of the college in 1848 there flashed forth rays of that fervid eloquence that crowned him with honor in. the palmy days of his youth and manhood. The occa sion was to him one of more than ordinary interest. It was
the closing scene and act of his official connection with that institution of learning. His resignation as President had been tendered in view of his election to the Chancellor ship of the State University of Mississippi. This would sever the sweet ties of kindred and of friends, disrupt the lifelong associations of the past, and expatriate him from his beloved State whose soil held in its embrace the ashes of the loved ones of his household and ancestry. Then, dur-

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

ing the session had occurred the death of his only son, a bright boy of nine or ten years of age. All these circum stances conspired to unseal in his bosom the deep fountain of feeling which found expression in sentiment and reflect tions which moved to tears, as his voice rose in the thrilling pathos and sweet accents of speech ascribed by Homer to Nestor, the silver-tongued speaker of the Pylians.
The taste and habits of this distinguished son of the South seem to have been of a strong literary cast. It is usually the case with the large majority of educated men, that when they graduate and leave the classic halls of learn ing to enter upon the sphere and duties of active life, they cast aside school-books with their lore. The polished lines of Cicero, the burning invectives of Demosthenes, the lyric melody of Horace and the golden dreams of Plato are for gotten amidst the whirl and engagements of busy life. Their academic and collegiate course forms only a pleasing reminiscence, and if they retain any benefit from it, it is in the intellectual training and discipline which they inciden
tally received. Though Judge Longstreet may not have kept up the
regular and daily study of his text-books as when at school, yet he seems to have cherished a fondness for the studies of his youth and to have given them such attention in review and retrospect as to keep them fresh in memory. He was a close student in his profession and in the general field of letters. So intensely absorbed in thought would he become, that the amusing anecdote is related of him that when coming into the house out of a shower of rain, he is said to have laid his umbrella upon the bed, and he himself went behind the door. On his walk to and from his house to the college building over a half mile distant, to attend the daily recitations of his department, when he met a crowd of students, he would rarely lift his eyes from their abstract pose to receive the salutation due him as the presiding officer of the faculty of the institution.
Amidst the study of the abstruse principles, dry forms and technicalities of the law, he found time to indulge his literary taste and talent in the creative realms of thought. The first production that came from his pen was

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"Georgia Scenes." This book comprises descriptions of amusing scenes and incidents in backwoods life, and of the social manners and customs that prevailed in the early and pioneer period of Georgia. The charm and merit of the sketches lie not so much in the display of the subtle power of the imagination to create, as in delineations of persons and characters taken from real life and drawn with graphic skill and touch, and in the quaint forms that appear of the
colloquial speech or dialect prevalent among the uneducated classes of that period. They portray a phase of civiliza tion prior to the reign of Websters blue-back speller with its precious gems of learning and of Lindley Murrays
grammar with its graces of culture in the log school-houses of the land. The mental contrast that naturally rises in the mind of the educated reader gives force and piquancy
and literary zest to the "Scenes." One of the notable sketches of the book is "Xed Brace."
The quizzing humor of this character whom the author as sures us was not altogether a "man of straw," but a verita ble original, delights and entertains the reader. Another sketch rich in enjoyment is the "Militia Muster." As de scribed by the author, though it might be a drilling and a preparation of the yeomary of the country for war, but from the military display made, it was as unwarlike as possible. It was a holiday spectacle for the boys, the women and chil dren. The aged survivor from that period, who then as a boy was a spectator, or served in ranks as a substitute for some older person, as did the writer of this article, remem bers well how the idle pageant captivated his youthful fancy, and how "he felt that swelling of the heart that "he should never feel again." He can tell how the sight inflamed his bosom with martial ardor, and with the war legends of 1776 and 1812 thrilling in memory, how he longed to fight with the "Britishers," the historic foe, whilom of the colo nies and then of the States. It is pleasant to recall those days of sweet tranquillity, republican simplicity and honest
patriotism. There are other pieces in "Georgia Scenes" equal in
literary merit to those that have been mentioned, but the character of these essays and the space allotted to them for-

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

bids a notice of each topic of a book. It has been stated that the author in the declining years of his life desired to call in all existing copies of the "book" and suppress all
further publications of it. The motive that would prompt
him to contemplate such a purpose can only be inferred, as there was no explanation of it given to the public. It may be briefly surmised that it was perhaps owing to that spirit of gravity that comes over the heart and mind in old age. and leads to a change in ones notions and conceptions of earthly things and actions quite different to those that guid ed and governed in youth and manhood.
When properly considered, there is nothing in "Geor gia Scenes" to which a fastidious literary taste or a rigid morality can found a fundamental objection. Some time ago a northern newspaper would base a criticism upon the South by referring to the characters and manners presented
in the "Scenes" as being descriptive or exponential of the Southerh people. The tort and injustice of such an argu ment and conclusion are too apparent to require refutation. So far as the tendency of the "Scenes" to impair taste or culture, they may be said to have the opposite effect, as in
the striking contrast presented they make an impressive appeal to the reader for the graces of education. As to
their moral tone and effect they incite to the practice of vir tue by showing the deformities of vice.
Southern wit has been fruitful in the field of comic or humorous literature. There are quite a number of authors
who have catered to the amusement of the public by the
productions of their pens. There appears first upon the
roll in the early days, Thompson in the laughable story of "Major Joness Courtship." Then Clemmens opens up a
rare fund of amusement in the racy character of "Captain Simon Suggs." Next, Harris comes out in the broad cari catures of "Sut Luvengood" and carries jocosity to its far thest extent. Bill Arp, from the -trickling fount of humor,
in his "Letters to the Constitution," now for half a cen tury has sent forth a genial current to refresh the reading public. The author of "Georgia Scenes" holds an hon
orable place among these sportive wits and purveyors of mirth for mankind. He who has never read this book has

AUGUSTUS B. LONGSTREET.

95

in reservation a store of enjoyment in the comic scenes and
pictures which it presents, fresh and glowing from rhe pages
of real life. Dr. Longstreet was likewise the author of a series of
letters on the once greatly exciting subject of the abolition of slavery at the South, published in pamphlet form, and addressed to the State of Massachusetts, under tlie abbre viated name of "Dear Mass." The writer of this article
can not speak of the political and literary merits of those "Letters," as, when he glanced over them in boyhood, he was too young to form an opinion of them. It can but be supposed that they were able papers upon the subject, as Judge Longstreet from the logical cast of his mind, legal training and social environments was well qualified to dis
cuss the question of slavery in all its phases and features. They did not however stay the tide of Northern fanati
cism upon the subject. It is unnecessary to say how it was pressed and urged until it immerged into civil war, drenched with blood the fair fields of the South, and has enslaved the country to party tyranny and in financial bondage. The virus of the old sectional hostility to the South still exists. It was but the other day, March 10, 1898,.that Dr. Edwards, editor of the Northern Christian Advocate, in an article in his paper, came out in strong opposition to the bill that had
passed the House of Representatives of Congress for in
demnification to the Southern Methodist Publishing House for the damage sustained from the occupation of its build ings by the Union army during the war.
Having considered the character and ability of this honor ed son of Georgia as a lawyer and as an author and his claims to distinction, it comes in order to view him as a minister of the gospel. The change and diversity in pro fessional pursuits that marked his career in life would seemingly indicate that he was fickle in disposition and that he necessarily could have attained only to a smooth medioc
rity, or that he had genius of intellect that enabled him to fulfill appropriately the duties of every station into which he was guided and placed by Divine Providence. The world
has produced very few minds that possessed versatility of

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talent to that degree that they could succeed or become eminent in more than one occupation or pursuit in life.
As it has been shown that he was successful both in the law and in literature, it implies stability of purpose, "high resolve, that column of majesty in man," and precludes the supposition that fickleness was an attribute of his char acter. Under this view of things it becomes fit to award to him the rare endowment of genius.
At what period in life he engaged in the work of the min istry, whether before or after he had retired from the prac tice of the law, can not be definitely stated by the writer of this article. The sentiment or persuasion has prevailed in the popular mind that the vocations of the lawyer and of the minister are incompatible with each other. Why they should be otherwise than harmonious is a matter of in quiry. The office of each is high and sacred. One is the expounder of human laws; the other of divine law. Each in his sphere is a minister for good to mankind. The law yers as mentioned in the Scriptures have unsavory records. It is said of them they stood up tempting Christ. They were the satellites of the Sanhedrin and were severely de nounced by the Saviour for their subtlety and wickedness. It is said that he commended one and told him that he was not far from the kingdom of heaven. It is not recorded as a sequel that he reached it. The popular notion, that it is the office and business of lawyers to thwart the ends of justice, and that they must stoop to dirty tricks in order to succeed in their cases, is not founded in logic or in fact, though some may do it. As a class they always hold the places of honor and preferment in a government; they bear the seals of State, give counsel to senates and kings and carry on their lips and in their hands the destinies of na tions. AH should seek to merit the eulogy given by Horace in one of his odes to Asinius Pollio, a Roman lawyer, whom he extols as being a distinguished source of aid to the sor rowful accused.
The ministry of the gospel is the highest position to which the human mind can aspire. Its occupants are to minister
as of the ability that God giveth. Its labors are reckoned as those of grace and not of debt. It has none of the hon-

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ors to bestow that awaken human ambition. It has no statues of marble or of bronze to unveil in posthumous com memoration of its servants, as the world does to the memory of its heroes and statesmen. The old wreath of fame, the
gauds of wealth, or burial in a silent crypt in Westminster Abbey arc too paltry rewards for the high service rendered. Heaven alone pronounces meet compensation in the crown of eternal life. Their skill in exegesis of Scripture, in doc trine, or in eloquent speech may awaken human admiration and applause, but the seal to their ministry is the number of souls saved and brought to God by their preaching.
This servant of Christ held his vocation as a minister of the Gospel in exalted regard. To him it was a delightful task, an absorbing desire to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation. This was fully demonstrated in the fact and circumstances that when he resigned his position as presi dent of Emory College and through some misunderstand ing failed to be elected chancellor of the University of Mis sissippi by the board of trustees of that institution, he gladly turned to the ministry. He continued thus engaged for over a year, when he was called to the chancellorship of the above-mentioned institution, the board of trustees hav ing repaired their error. He writes that the short period of his work in the ministry was the happiest of his life, and it was only through the most urgent persuasion of his friends that he consented to retire from it and accept the high position tendered him.
The position which Dr. Longstreet filled for fifteen or twenty years, first as president of Emory College, Ox ford, Ga., then as chancellor of the State University of Mis sissippi, afford ample evidence of the high consideration in which he was held by his contemporaries. The presidency of a collegiate institution, though it may not bring large re nown to the incumbent, yet it is desirable for the tranquil sphere and pursuit of literature which it presents. To per form appropriately its duties oftentimes requires the tact and executive ability requisite for the government of the State or republic. The circumstances which led to the elec
tion of Dr. Longstreet as president of Emory College are unknown to the writer of this article. The institution was

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in its infancy and could pay only small salaries to its faculty. Two things alone might have induced him to accept the position: a broad philanthropy and his love of Methodism.
The congeniality of his office as president of a college with that of the ministry of the gospel might not be ques tioned as touched upon in reference to the practice of the law. It is said of Arnold, the great Rugby schoolmaster, that he sought the clerical office in order to give weight to his character and instructions as a preceptor of youth. It is, however, considered by many not to comport with the work of teaching in the lower schools. They hold that there is an inharmony in the teacher of an academic or common school being also a preacher, as it is apt to make him too lenient in discipline so as to spoil the pupil, or that the trials to which he is exposed will so try his patience and make him so cross as to mar the preacher. In denomina tional colleges it is regarded as fit and proper that each member of the faculty should be a preacher, and especially for the president as the representative of the institution to have the grace and power of pulpit oratory, so as to gain popular favor.
His regency of Emory College, aided by his co-associatesof the faculty, amply demonstrated his executive capacity asa presiding officer. His ability in this respect perhaps led to his election as chancellor of the University of Mississippi.
It was in this last position he closed his career in the active duties of life. From all reports he administered the affairs, of that institution with due success.
Had the .ambition of Dr. Longstreet prompted him to enter the field of politics, there is no doubt but that he would
have reached a high point of preferment. He would have won and worn the tpga of the senator in Congress instead of the students gown and the bays of scholarship as the president of a literary institution. To the gifts already mentioned he added the sparkling grace and genius for music. He may be likened to Jefferson in versatility of mind as well as in person, character, and manners. He was fond of the flute and often after nightfall from hia chamber window might be heard the soft notes of his flute floating amid the dells and oak-crowned streets of the rural

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village of Oxford. This trait and habit of this gifted man opens an inner page in the volume of his life that tells of a soul of beauty and sweetness. In the closing lines of this
essay, the writer feels a sense of his failure to portray in full force, power and lineament the attributes of mind and character of this eminent man.
Many yearssince he met the inevitable fate that awaits alike the high and lowly of earth. His remains now lie in .the precincts of the grave. No doubt the column of mar ble or of bronze, insculped with worthy epitaph, has been erected to his name and memory by the citizens of Ox ford. To him as her devoted and illustrious son should
the South render her tribute of threefold honors, in token of his distinction as a jurist, author and minister of the Gospel.

GEORGE F. PIERCE.

It is said by a modern poet that "the world knows noth ing of its greatest men." Like the stars of heaven in their
mystic spaces they shine afar off, arid are unapproachable

in their greatness. They are like to Xuma, the Roman, king, who. would enwrap himself in mystery and claim toderive his wisdom from the goddess Egeria; or as it is;

said of the divine Milton, "that his soul dwelt apart, like a star, and mixed not with the common herd of men"; or as

the great Washington whose reflections as the leader of the army of the American colonies were hidden under his re served demeanor. They are known to the world in the spe cial art or function in which they have attained excellence

and won popular attention and renown as poet, orator, or

statesman. Thus it may be said of George F. Pierce, the sub

ject of this essay. He is known to the world as the great divine, the eloquent orator, matchless, grand, beautiful, and

glorious.

In contemplating the great, there is a desire in the mind

to know something of the facts and events of their lives,

and trace their path and progress to popular notice and dis-

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1

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

tinction. Such would naturally be the case in regard to Bishop Pierce, in view of his illustrious and beautiful life and unrivaled powers of oratory. To trace the elements of his greatness the mind would tend in speculative thought to
look even to his boyhoods hour, and ponder the moral and intellectual traits that marked that period. The inquiry would arise, was there a shining forth of genius and the budding grace and beauty of thought and speech in the
epoch of his early school-life? Did he exhibit the love of . learning, assiduity of study, and the intellectual precocity of "Chatterton, that marvelous boy"? Was there in the
sweet lexicon of youth which he unfolded the noble pur pose, the high resolve and the ideal dream of the soul that gave promise of a worthy manhood ? The family chronicle interrogated would no doubt bear testimony from its un
written page to the proud hopes that filled the hearts oi his parents in fond augury of the future of their son in view of the incipient indications of character and intellect.
Then, in the higher plane of his intellectual culture, when as a student he entered Franklin college, the State University at Athens, Georgia, there too would come the thought, did he with scholastic diligence trim the midnight lamp and with the supremacy of genius make learning his plaything? Did he delight in the Iliad of Greek Homer, with its voluptuous rhythm and burning picturelike words, and in the ^Eneid of Latin Virgil, with its majesty of verse and
tender touches of character ? Did he discern under the veil of an unknown language the fiery vehemence and sublime
argument of Demosthenes and the milder glow of eloquence in the polished periods of Cicero ? The grace and purity of style that marked his composition in after years evinced the
1 benefit he realized from the study of these models of classic antiquity. In pleasing inquiry the mind would ponder,
which shone the brighter, he or Toombs, the grand, chivalric son of the South, with whom he formed a lifelong friendship, and whom he received into the church in the de
clining years of his life. Then in his graduating speech was there a nascent exhibition of the power, the witchery,
the soul of elocution, the lightning of mind and the thunder of voice that gave him supremacy in the realm of ora-

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itory in after years? It may well be presumed that the ^youthful speaker on commencement day won the applause of the audience that had gathered in large concourse to attend the exercises, and they awarded him the old-time laurel with which "The Violet City" of ancient Greece crowned its orators.
Entering upon the stage of active life, as ever with noble spirits, ambition filled his mind with dreams of preferment and honor. In dazzling glow the glory of the . statesmen and orators of the revolutionary struggle of 1776 still rested upon the political horizon of the country. The establishment of schools, colleges, the diffusion of knowledge and the means of intellectual culture had awakened the ambition of the popular mind. Parents were ambitious for their sons to become great and honored in the walks of public life, and the young republic opened a broad field ; for the attainment of political distinction. Yielding to the trend of these influences, it is said in oral tradition that he chose the law as a profession, as opening a rapid and suc cessful way to eminence in civil and political affairs. This statement, however, may be a popular fiction, having no real foundation in fact.
Then transpired in his life the event that in the light of divine revelation constitutes the solemn fact of mans being, the great purpose of human existence. He embraced relig ion, accepted the salvation of the gospel, experienced the new life wrought in the heart by the Holy Ghost through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, became allied to Heaven, and was uplifted to the hope of immortal life. The fact and circumstances of his conversion, the writer of this sketch "heard him relate in a brief and incidental manner from the pulpit. It was on this wise. He said that a young man "became deeply concerned upon the subject of religion. He was attending a religious service, and the invitation being given, he went as a penitent to the altar for prayer. Such was his deep concern and wrestling of soul, that after the .-congregation was dismissed and had retired from the place <of worship, he still remained at the mourners bench bowed in prayer, with the shadows of twilight gathering around "him. At the hour of the next service as the congregation

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were assembling, the young man felt a deep calm to comeover his spirit. He arose from his kneeling posture and
retired to a seat in the rear of the congregation, and during: the service sat in silent meditation, with great peace of soul.
Then came a change of avocation. To plead in the law before the courts of human judicature was not to be his lifework and career. The Divine Being, who commissionedMoses to be the deliverer of the Israelites from Egyptianbondage, and chose Paul from his birth to grace and apostleship among the Gentiles, called the youthful Pierce to theministry of the gospel. In this high and holy vocation, as"the messenger of truth, the legate of the skies, his theme divine, his credentials clear, by him the violated law should speak out its thunders, and the gospel whisper peace ini strains as sweet as angels use." How sublime the example he set for all time. His choice was that of Moses. In hisyoung manhood, with all his charming attributes of mind arid person, and brilliant prospects of success and honor clustering around his future, he chose the humble lot of the itinerant Methodist preacher with its hardships and. sacrifice, rather than the wealth and ease of the successful lawyer.
There was a full consecration of himself to the work of the gospel. His choice was final and absolute. His devot-
edness to Christ was complete. He preached his first ser mon at Monticello, Jasper county, Georgia. This statement
the author heard him make to a group of students when in social conversation with them, the second year after his election as president of Emory College. In speaking of the sermon, he said at that time Monticello was noted for its wickedness. With a smile, he remarked, "I poured down, upon it the fires of Sodom and Gomorrah in sophomoric style." The personal knowledge the writer has of BishopPierce began in the "forties" of the past century. It was at the Upson county camp-meeting to which he came as a visiting preacher from Macon, Georgia. He was heard* with delight by the vast throngs that collected in attendance
upon his preaching. It was in the fall of 1848 that the writer as a student of

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101

3mory college came under the administration of Bishop Pierce, who had been elected president of the institution in
the place of Dr. A. B. Longstreet, who had resigned. He remembers with what interest the students gathered at the church at the first service Dr. Pierce held. During his collegiate course of two years the writer often heard him preach. He was never trite, but always eloquent and fascinating. It was in the fall of 1848, that, perhaps, he heard him at the highest pitch of his oratory. There had been a protracted meeting held and carried on for several dajrs for the religious benefit of the students. The interest of the meeting had flagged. It threatened an entire collapse. It was on Sabbath night that Dr. Pierce filled the pulpit. In the discourse he delivered for one hour or more, he held his audience mute, statuesque and in rapt attention. He seemed the impersonation of Apollo, the old Greek god of eloquence. The pleroma of divine inspiration seemed to envelop him in , its radiant glory. He appeared to stagger as it were under the burden and grandeur of his theme. His sermon was like a burning orb rolling through midheaven enveloped in its own fires and flashing incessant cor uscations. At the close of the sermon hi response to the invitation given, perhaps forty students went eagerly to the . altar for prayer.
Bishop Pierce was gifted by nature with both the physical
:and intellectual attributes that make the orator. He pos sessed grace and symmetry of person and preserved them through all the stages of life, and the very autumn of a; form once fine retained its beauties. His mind was truly
poetic. He possessed the genius, spirit and inspiration of poetry and the pictured stores of the imagination. This was the grand faculty of his intellectual composition and source of his eloquence. "It is poetry that promotes the most desirable combinations of qualities dignity and en thusiasm; power of sarcasm and the power of soothing;
philosophy which does not despise the soarings of the ima gination ; imagination which does not spurn the restraints ofphilosophy; eloquence which can thrill with terror, inflame with anger, or transport with joy; can rouse the patriotism
oi a nation or dissolve a world in tears. Judgment, genius

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and the poets make the orator." In the case of the pulpit orator add to these the live coal that touched Isaiahs hal
lowed lips with fire. Bishop Pierce had native greatness of intellect, but his-
gifts of oratory were not altogether spontaneous. He wasa hard student in the realm of thought. He studied the: Bible daily and was a diligent reader of Shakespeare. He illustrated in his practice his own theory, that "among mea those are most distinguished for thought and felicity of expression whose professions and pursuits most constantly tax the thinking faculty on the high themes of statesman-.ship, philosophy and religion. The deep thoughts, the ma ture judgments, the continuous reasonings for which great men are celebrated are not natural or spontaneous, the fa cile, untrained working of original powers. They are ac quisitions, habits, the results of hard study and long prac tise; and after "all our boasted pre-eminence, very few reach high distinction in the" departments where they claim toexcel. Profound thinkers are rare the prodigies of their generation. The present age is wholly degenerate; the race of great men is nearly extinct." In his instruction tothe classes in rhetoric, he advised them to prepare their tropes and figures of speech beforehand, and never to leaver them to the inspiration of the hour. The volume of ser mons published since his death furnish fine specimens of
the graces of his composition and eloquence of speech, and! will be a beautiful and enduring literary monument to his. name and memory.

ALEXANDER MEANS.
It lies not in the compass of the human mind to forecast the career in life or future destiny of an individual from the accidents of his birth and the conditions of his fortune. Yet: mankind, in their eager desire to know what particular al lotment in life time will develop for them, have sought this occult knowledge in -various -ways and from different sources. They have linked earthly destinies with the star*

ALEXANDER MEANS.

103

that nightly shine in mystic beauty above, and from the as pect of the planet in the ascendant at the hour of ones na tivity, they would discern what for him lies hidden in the book of fate. They have sought augurs and soothsayers, who claimed to have prescience of coming events and
knowledge of the will of the gods from various omens and signs.
To such fancies they have yielded, when plain fact and common sense, speaking from the great tripod of human experience, in oracular voice proclaims that in the economy of things divine wisdom has so arranged it, that every individual of the race has in his own hands the threads of his destiny, and is "the architect of his own fortune." Those who have accepted this theory and state of things have Secome the great and honored men of the world. They have risen to fortune and fame not by the aid of wealth and the prestige of ancestral name, but by dint of their own efforts. They are the self-made men whom the world loves so much to eulogize.
It is a beautiful thought and a better philosophy to con
sider the great purpose of being and individuality of char acter as furnishing the true principles of human action and the foundation of a just and noble life. Each one is born into the world a fresh, new soul, intended of God to de
velop himself in a new, fresh way and to be conformed to the divine image. To that end he has furnished to him all the means and aids both in the material and spiritual world to the accomplishment of the task. It is only in this way he comes up to the standard of his high prerogative as an im mortal being. This theory and principle found exemplifi cation in the life-career of Alexander Means, D.D., LL.D., the subject of this essay. Working out the life that is com mon to all, according to the character of the moral and in tellectual attributes God had given him, and with the aids of religion, literature and science, he possessed a rare and fascinating personality and a just and beautiful fame among men. Though of less than medium height, yet his broad and symmetrical brow, eyes of tender blue, vivid with the light of genius, features expressive of intellectual

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

culture and refinement, with gra.ce and dignity of man
ners, rendered him impressive in person and bearing.
He was of Irish parentage, and it is said that he was born on the voyage of his parents across the Atlantic ocean
in their immigration to America. His infancy was rocked
in the cradle of the deep and the breezes of the ocean rattling through the cordage of the vessel sung his first
lullaby. His parents came to Georgia and settled in one of the eastern counties of the State, perhaps in Greene or Putnam county. It would be pleasant to trace the period
and history of his boyhood, his struggles with poverty and his youthful efforts and progress in the work of his intellectual culture until he reached manhood, but over it rests the mantle of silence.
He appears upon the arena of public life as a stu
dent of medicine and a physician. At an early period he entered the local ministry of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. This opened to him the field of oratory, which
was the special sphere adapted to his genius and the road to distinction. What training he had, how much he stud ied and practised the arts of elocution, is not known to the writer. In a brief space of time he acquired reputation as
an orator. The exact posture of things is not known, when he was elected principal of the Manual Labor School at
Covington, Ga. The notion prevailed with some minds
at that day as well as at the present time, that it was a good thing in the work of youthful education to blend physical and intellectual training as being reciprocally ben
eficial. The experiment in this case, as usual, proved a delusion and a dream, and failed. The two, when tried in joint association, are incompatible from the nature of things.
The trained intellect and the skilled right hand in combi nation have given to civilized man his supremacy, but let the work be separate and distinct.
Early in the establishment of Emory College "as an institution of learning he was elected to the department of Physical Science. The writer as a student of the col
lege came under his instruction in this position for the period of two and a half years. It was a delightful task and source of scientific knowledge to hear him in eloquent lee-

ALEXANDER MEANS.

105

lure and with brilliant experiment in the laboratory un fold and illustrate the subtle laws of chemistry, or explain
in glowing oratory the phenomena of the great laws of mature in their operation, or in astronomical dissertation
on the soaring wing of imagination to disport among suns,
stars and systems. In the course of his lectures he related an interesting
incident that illustrated an important feature of his char acter and conveys an instructive moral lesson, as well as the secret of his success in life. He was on a tour Xorth, and at the city of New York, when Rev. Wilbur Fisk, D.D.,
of the Methodist Episcopal Church died. Two of the res ident clergymen of the city invited him to go with them to attend the funeral services of the deceased brother-min ister. He went early and at the appointed hour was at
the wharf to take the vessel. that was to convey them to the point of destination. The two clerical friends were not punctual. The boat departed at the hour set, and they
"were left. On arriving at the place of burial, as a visitor from Georgia he was invited to preach the funeral dis-
course. As ever ready, according to his habit, he re sponded to the invitation and charmed the large concourse of people present with his oratory.
He was elected president of Emory College in 1854, to fill .the vacancy occasioned by the resignation qtf Rev.
^George F. Pierce, D.D., elected Bishop at the General Conierence of the M. E. Church, South, held at Columbus, Ga., the same year.- This position he held and filled with emi
nent ability for a series of years. In gracious response to the invitation given by the author as principal of the Fort
Valley Female Seminary, he delivered the address at the
commencement exercises of that institution of learning July, 1857. He had recently returned from a tour to Eu rope. For the space of two hours or more he held the audience charmed with the literary grace and beauty of
"his address and his fascinating oratory, now stirring the *oul to tears and now awakening laughter.
He had the genius of the poet as well as the sublime
thought and mellifluent speech of the orator. In the lec ture room one day in furtherance of illustration of the

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

topic under consideration, he read a part of a poem on the
Xoachian deluge, as he said to the class, written in Miltonic verse. A poem titled "Farewell and Greeting to the Old
and New Year," published since his death, is a fair speci
men of his style and talent. His Irish genius did not revel in the blossoms of fancy in the flowering realm of thought, like the bees of Erins green isle, his fatherland, that on:
nights serene and radiant are wont to tarry in the silken-
folds of the flowers and repose on their beds of sweets un til morning. It preferred the grand and excursive flightsof the imagination in the field of oratory. His sermon as-
published in "The Methodist Pulpit, South," is a fine spec imen of his style of composition and thought, and though it is a simple shaft, yet it should be an enduring monument in the field of letters to his memory.

ALEXANDER B. MEEK.
It is an old-time adage that the poet is born and the orator is made. "It is said of Pope, the great versifier,, that he lisped in numbers from the cradle." The mind of Chatterton, "the marvelous boy that perished in his pride," is said to have burst at once into full flower. At eleven years of age he wrote verses that were equal to the earlyproductions of the master minds of any epoch of time. Like a tropic plant the genius of the poet springs up and opens into blossom in a night.
It is sometimes the case that the gift of song is slow of development in the mind and seems to be the creation of art rather than the spontaneous outgrowth of the intel lect. This is strikingly exemplified in the instances of Horace and Virgil, the renowned poets of classic Rome. These each had reached the full years of manhood before they essayed the task of writing poetry. The one excel led in lyric verse, the other in the stately epic. It requires time, matured powers of mind, and the rich harvest of thought which learning and experience give, in order to

ALEXANDER B. MEEK.

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produce those poems that carry in them the elements of
duration to other ages. It is pleasant to write IM metnoriam of the Hon. A. B..
Meek of Alabama and to pay tribute to his merits as a wri
ter. Years ago he came before the literary public in a volume of poems as the product of his talent as a poetThat amidst the study of the principles and the dry forms-
of law and the duties of the legal profession, he should
have the taste or find time to indulge in the intellectual recreation of writing poetry affords strong evidence of the. existence of the poetical faculty of his mind. It may be that
the circumstances that environed his childhood and youthfostered the poetic element of his nature. It was in theearly days of Alabama that he began his career. That his imagination was enkindled by the scenery and the graceand beauty of the various objects in nature that met -his eye may be inferred from the themes of his poems. The
names of the rivers, and even the name of the State, Ala bama, would remind him of the Indian race that but a
few years before had occupied the country, pursued their sylvan sports, built their council fires and lived in the un
tutored grace of children of the forest. Judge Meek, as a lawyer, rose to eminence at the bar.
He was distinguished and honored by the people of the State for his ability as a jurist. In his culture of literature-
he was a contributor to the Southern Literary Messenger, published at Richmond, Va., in the "forties" of the cen tury. The writer of this article, then, a boy, remembers
reading a poem from his pen upon the sad fate of a mock ing-bird slain by the cat, that "lion of the parlor." He re
calls to mind a classic figure of speech in which the poet
speaks of the mocking-bird as "Euterpes winged and frol icsome child."
He was intensely Southern in his taste and feelings as-
indicated in the topics of his poems. The flowers, the beau tiful children of nature, so lovingly regarded by the poets
in all ages, that found a place in his songs were those of" his own Southern clime. He sung the praise of the catalpa,
whose blossoms, with their delicate streaks of purple and calyxes of gold, are fit to adorn the banquet of the gods..

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He exults in the magnolia, that stands a miracle of beauty in the dark and murky swamps of his own State, forming with its varnished leaves of deep, dark green and rich pro fusion of snow-white blossoms a poem in itself and a vol ume of fragrance. The mocking-bird, the unrivaled song ster of the feathered tribe, that gladdens the day with its roundelays and breaks the stillness of the night with snatches of its varied notes of melody, is by him duly celebrated.
His book of poems embraces a variety of subjects, com prising descriptions of nature and incidents of the time that were worthy of the muse of song. The longest poem is titled "The Poets Bridal Tour." It has the merry notes of the epithalamium or marriage song with the incidents of the trip interwoven in all the glowing colors of happi ness with which that juncture and event in life are always :associated. His poems entitle him to an honorable rank .among the writers of the South, and have a place in the libraries of Southern homes.

DANIEL A. CHANDLER. It is incident in the history of poetic minds that with as siduous toil or with the sudden dazzling stroke of genius, they execute an ode or song whose rhythm and sentiment strike a responsive chord in the great heart of mankind and the one piece fixes their literary claim forever. Gray was engaged eight years in composing his elegy, and upon it rests his renown as a poet. "The Bivouac of the Dead," by OHara, seems to have been struck out and molded into its solemn majesty and sublime beauty at one inspiring glow of the mind. So with Burnss "Bonnie Doon," or "The Lass of Ballochmyle." It is usually the one and the first book or poem that marks the genius of the writer. This uniqueness of literary achievement, and honor char acterizes the claim of Hon. Daniel A. Chandler, the subject of this article, todistinction in the realm of letters. There is but one literary production known to the writer to have -emanated from his pen. This was an address upon Female

DANIEL A. CHANDLER:

109-

Education delivered by him at the commencement exercisesof the State University at Athens, Ga., in 1842. He was a graduate of that institution, and was chosen either by the
alumni as orator or by the faculty to the task. At the time this address was delivered the education of
the female sex was coequal with that of the male and went hand in hand with it through the common schools. There were boarding-schools here and there which embraced the teaching of some of the ornamental branches of education,. such as needle-work, painting and music. Ordinarily, when;
girls had passed through the school age and had received the rudiments of the education of the times, this was sup plemented by domestic training at home. A knowledge of spinning, weaving and of all the arts of housewifery was deemed essential and requisite in order for them to per form the duties of their sphere in life. There must be a laying up of supplies for the new state and preparation, for the needs which that inevitable event marriage would bring. The chest of counterpanes and bedquilts, over which they had toiled with hearts and minds filled with rosy dreams of lifes hymeneal future, was regarded as a nec essary outfit for the young couple who were to begin lifes journey together.
There were no collegiate institutions in the land opening their portals to the sex and inviting.to the higher walks of learning. Many things conspired to give magnetic force and power to the address; the theme was comparatively new and of grand social importance; the occasion was theannual literary festival of the State Institution of Learn ing ; the audience were the 61ite of the State; and the place
was Athens, .which as the abode of culture and refinement well might vie with the violet-crowned city of ancient Greece. The address in itself possessed high intrinsic ex cellence. The exordium was at once awakening and im pressive. The range of inquiry and illustration was broad and comprehensive. The eloquence of thought, the grace and beauty of diction, and the exquisite touches of fancy and feeling rendered the address a masterpiece, of compo sition, unexcelled by any of the century. As an instance

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

of its merits, the paragraphs that present man and wo man in contrast, may be cited.
The effect of its delivery upon the audience was magi cal. The applause which he received, especially from the female portion of his auditory, was as delicate and intoxicating as the perfume of flowers. This address was not
ephemeral in its effects. It is the pebble dropped into the
still bosom of the lake that produces the tiny wavelet which spreads and increases until it reaches the distant shore.
The popular mind was aroused upon the subject of female education, and this was the inauguration of that magnifi
cent era which has filled the land with colleges for women and bestowed upon them all the facilities needful for high and liberal intellectual culture.

HENRY R. JACKSON.
It was anciently the custom at the royal courts of Persia when the courtiers and others came into the presence of the monarch for them to cry out, "O king, live forever." This salutation was in the spirit of servile adulation. Diuturnity of existence is the dream and folly of expectation. "Time is the king of men," says the English poet. The re volving years plant furrows upon the brow of man, dim the luster of his eyes, fade the bloom of his cheeks, rob him of the music of his voice, shut from his ears the harmony of sounds, impair the strength and beauty of his form, and when death ensues, lay it low in the silent sepulcher. Though such is the doom and destiny of the race, yet it .is the disposition of the human heart to desire to live in the memory of the world.
A few make for themselves historic record and are re membered. The millions of each generation pass away like the flowers of spring, or fall to the ground like the leaves of autumn, and in cold obstruction rot and are soon for gotten. Those who hold a place of honor and remembrance among men have accomplished it through the medium of the pen or the sword. The poet writes a song or poem

HENRY R. JACKSON..

in

that accords with the great living heart of humanity, and Jiis name is syllabled with the music and sentiment of it to distant ages. So it is with the warrior, in the battle fought and the victory* won.
It is as a soldier, orator, poet and jurist that the distin guished subject of this sketch, Hon. Henry R. Jackson, is entitled to the preservation of his name and memory at the hands of history, the reverend chronicler of time. It may briefly be said of him that he was born at Athens, Ga., June 24, 1820. .He attended Princeton College; and grad uated at Yale College in 1839, and was admitted to the bar of Georgia in 1840. He practised at Savannah, and in 1843 was appointed U. S. district attorney. He was judge of circuit court in 1849-53, when he was appointed U. S. minister to Austria, a position which he held until 1859, when he resigned and resumed the practice of his profes sion in Savannah; during this year, he conducted the prosecution of the celebrated case of the United States gov ernment against the "slaver Wanderer," that had landed a cargo of Africans on the coast of Georgia. This brief "biographical sketch fully attests his ability as a jurist and it needs no comment or eulogium. He still resides at Savannah, actively engaged in the duties of his profes sion.
He ranks high as an orator. His style of oratory is persuasive and pleasing, being characterized by eloquent thought, polished diction and graceful delivery. The ex tracts published from his speech of a tribute to Georgia and from the one in the case of resisting probate of the will of Hester Goldsmith, upon the grounds of insanity^ are fine .specimens of eloquent composition. As a soldier he dis tinguished himself in the Mexican war and was colonel of a regiment of volunteers. In the civil war he served (by appointment of the governor) as major-general of the mil itary forces of Georgia, and then as brigadier-general of Volunteers in the Confederate army until captured in the disastrous Tennessee campaign. In his military career "he acquired a fair and just fame.
As a poet he has presented to the literary world a volume of poems as the product of his poetic talent. "Tallulah,"

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

the chief poem, comprises a description of the waterfall of
that name with an Indian legend interwoven. It has pas sages of poetic beauty. "The Red Old Hills of Georgia" is the title of a pleasing lyric, seemingly written without any touch of creative fancy or attempt at ornament. Toevery native Georgian there is magic in the appellation. His heart ever warms to the "Old Red Hills" as that of the Highlander of Old Scotland to the hills of purple heather,, and he delights to remember old Georgia as invested with all the worth, beauty and glory with which the poet has described it.
It may be said of this eminent Georgian that he was a Chevalier Bayard in the chivalry of his character, and an. "Admirable" Crichton in the graces and accomplishments of his mind and person. Having occupied four different spheres of life in which human greatness is achieved, he isentitled to fourfold honor. The diversity of his pursuits perhaps impaired that incisive impression his magnificent talents would have made, and that reputation, which he would have attained by distinguished excellence in any one department, yet his crown of honor will remain to> him.

WEEMS; OR "PETER HORRY."
"The trophies of Miltiades will not suffer me to sleep," said the young aspiring Themistocks of ancient Athens toa friend. The renown of statesmanship and of military exjploits which that eminent Athenian in the quarter of century before achieved in the war of the Grecian States, with Persia, inflamed his ambition and awakened him from the dreams and life of a voluptuary to which his taste led him and his wealth furnished the means of gratification. Old Rome placed in and around her capitol statues of her heroes, where they could at all times meet the eyes and recall their deeds and virtues to the mind of the living. "These," says Sallust, the Latin historian, "were great in centives to Roman youth to noble and worthy deeds."

WEEMS; OR "PETES. HORRY."

113

Whether their memories are handed down in history or per petuated in the monument of brass, or in the marble statue,
the lives of all great men prompt those of succeeding gen
erations to make their own sublime. The biography of the good and great, and the memorials
of bronze or of marble erected to honor them, both have an influence to stimulate posterity to virtue and high achievements. The former of the two is the more efficient. It may be pleasant to look upon the statues of men whom their country has thus honored, but few are favored with
this privilege. The thrilling narrative of biography that tells of the early life, the hardships endured, the obstacles
overcome and the final triumph of courage and energy in
the contest, will furnish more incitement to the mind than a hundred voiceless effigies though carved and molded intq rivalry of life. It may be delightful to visit the national
art gallery at Washington, and inspiring to view the statues of the illustrious and heroic men of the past sculptured in marble or portrayed on canvas, life-like and life-size, but how few of the hundreds of thousands of American,
youth can find the way and the means to make the trip. The biographer who records the life and actions of men
who have distinguished themselves by their administrative
ability in the affairs of government or by their military prowess, confers a favor upon the youth of the land. There
are thousands of such books now published. They can be had almost for the asking, yet how few read them. Among the biographies worthy of being placed in the hands of American youths are those written of Marion and Wash
ington, by Weems, the subject of this article. Each one was a patriot each one was a military chief, renowned in
his sphere each one was honored for his deeds and virtues by the American people. Of earth-born heroes, none were more worthy than they.
More extensive and ambitious volumes of their lives have been written, but none that possess more fascinating
interest for the mind of youth. The style of Weems, or "Peter Horry," as called under his nom de plume, is bold
and picturesque! It thrills with the glow and freshness of narrative like the Iliad. In the life of Marion how ani-
8al

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

mated is his description of the defense of Fort Moultrie,, when attacked by the British fleet on the 28th of June,
1776- With what patriotic fervor does he describe the dar ing feat of Jasper, who when the flag-staff was shattered and the flag on the fort fell on the outside, leaped through an entrance to the ground, picked up the flag and climbing up amidst a shower of shot and shell, carried it to the top of the wall and fixed it firmly in its place. Then how triumphantly he tells that at the close of the conflict on that long summers day, the men of the fort ran out "Long Tom" and loaded it to give the Britishers a farewell shot, and having fired it, the ball entered through the port-hole
of one of the vessels, passed through the cook-room, and after having killed and wounded seven men, pierced the opposite side of the ship and "sank with sullen joy to the bottom of the ocean."
As related in the life of Marion, the incident of Ser geant McDonald tricking the old Tory, the good friend of King George, out of his fine horse Selim, is graphically described and forms an amusing episode well remembered by every reader of the book. This noble patriot whom we have mentioned was a Scotchman by birth. He was one of Marions gallant band. Brave as a lion, he met his tragic fate in the attack made by the British fleet on Fort Moultrie. As quoted from a "Fourth of July" ora tion delivered in 1840, and which the writer of this article has now before him in manuscript, "he was cleft down by a murderous ball and with his bowels gushing out, he cried
out to his comrades, "Let not Liberty die with me." What a thrilling spectacle to awaken in the heart patriotic de votion to country!
The patriotism of the men and women of those times is strikingly displayed throughout the book. There is animation in the narrative and graphic description of war like deeds and the sacrifice of all that is dear to mankind by the revolutionary sires in their contest for liberty and struggle for independence. "It is sweet to die for ones country," is the sentiment that inspired every heart, as portrayed in speech and act. The dinner of roasted pota toes served on pine-bark as a platter, given by Marion to

WEEMS; OR "PETER HORRY."

115

Ihe British officer, and its effect in causing him to retire from the British army is an incident recorded that has ..become a gem.of American history.
"The Life of Washington," written by him, embracing .--in its scope as it does, the main body of the events of the American Revolution in their connection and dependence,
would necessarily be on grander scale, present a broader field of research and a more difficult task for the biogra pher. It has not the charm of personal adventure and ex ploit for the young mind that the life of Marion presents, but it portrays impressive scenes and records grand facts of history. The suffering of the soldiers at Valley Forge, the various battles fought, and the final triumph of the arms
of the Colonies in the siege of Yorktown and the capture -of Cornwallis and his army are duly touched upon. What .a picture does the progress of Washington present on his journey to New York to enter upon the office of president, to which he had been elected by Congress. It was a con tinual ovation. "Crowds of gayly-dressed people bearing baskets and garlands of flowers and hailing his appearance with shouts of joy met him at every village."
The lives of Francis Marion and George Washington furnish in themselves sublime topics for the pen of the bi ographer, but as written by Weems they derive peculiar interest from his personal knowledge of them, his glowing
-style and the time at which his books were published. Weems drew with bold strokes and colored with a florid brush. The republic formed of the sisterhood of States "had just begun its career. There still lingered upon the horizon of spiritual vision the luster of the mighty intel lects and of the glorious deeds of those who had founded -It. The country was largely in a pioneer state. The virgin
freshness and beauty of nature was still upon forest, lake and river. The customs and manners of the people were marked with simplicity. The arts of spinning and weaving were the domestic employments of the household. Thus Weems, as a biographer, delineated "the Past as it seemed in the eyes of men who were dubious of the Present and -afraid of the Future noble, stately, grand and inspiring,
-with the pulse of life -beating to heroic measures." .

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

To the youthful mind that might Tead these volumes at the time the writer did, there was romance in the very at mosphere as connected with the Revolution. The actors in;. it as seen through the haze of tradition or in the telescopicglance of history were exalted in the attributes of per son and character. Then that day of July upon which the Declaration of Independence was declared was celebrated as the "Glorious Fourth." With delight did the young eyes drink in the martial beauty of the "Stars and Stripes," hiscountrys flag and the radiant symbol of her glory. How grand and glorious to his young fancy were the pomp andl circumstance with which those festal days were observed, that now gleam from the past like the sunset halos of sum mer evening skies. These biographies are still published,, and parents should place them in the hands of their sons if they want enkindled in their breasts the spark of patriot ism from a vestal altar.

WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS.
It may be said of American literature that it occupiesno distinct or separate place in the realm of letters. It would necessarily occur from the nature and fundamen tal relations of things that existed, that it should be anoutgrowth of the literature of England as the mother coun try, and would harmoniously coalesce with it. The Col onies might sever the political bonds which bound them to1 the home of their ancestors, but they must still retain the mother language with all the culture and the treasures^ of learning and knowledge stored up in it as a priceless and inalienable heritage. This was no mean patrimony or indifferent boon of fortune to the enfranchised colonies when they achieved their nationality as the United States- . of America, if the "rich harvests of poesy and wit" as garnered up in the royal English .from the centuries of thepast are fully considered.
It may -naturally be presumed that American literature would present no especial characteristics save such modifi-

WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS.

117

cations as would arise from climate, soil, -and scenery, in :their influences upon the development of the intellectual
:and social life of the people. The human mind in this land of political liberty having thrown off its last fetter, in
iits environment with the freshness, beauty and magnificence
of a new world, would exult in the vigor of its freedom and .activity and gather from the outspread volume of nature
.such thoughts and fancies and elements of description as would serve to embellish the literary creations it might pro-
duce. This result has been fully exemplified by American
writers in their works, as presenting greater vivacity of :style and boldness of thought.
The main contrast would appear in the range of topics.
The border wars of the colonies with the Indians and the revolutionary struggle for independence,- with all the open
ings they presented for personal adventures and daring deeds, and with an almost unbroken wilderness, with its "beauty of mountain, lake and river, as the theater and
^background, would furnish to the imagination of the writer of romance charming elements of fiction. It is such a field for literary effort as was opened to the author who is the .subject of this article. It is said in biographical statement
of him that "no American writer in his productions has drawn more largely from local and revolutionary history."
This noted Southern author was born at Charleston,
;S. C., in 1806. He was a sickly child, and on account of his feeble health his early education was simple. At a very early age he evinced his talent for poetry in writing verses
narrating the exploits of the American army in the war of :i8i2. His is the same old story of genius developing amidst hardships and poverty. It was in the atmosphere of a drug store in the city of Charleston, S. C., where he
was employed as a clerk, that his first songs blossomed iorth. That his intellectual culture was limited to the education he received in childhood is not to be presumed.
"Like Pope, the English poet, he had pent up in a feeble "body the energy of a mighty soul, and was unceasing in his pursuit of knowledge. He manifested inhis writings that he had the divine spark of genius, but this was not liis only intellectual resource or power. He in his love of

n8

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

learning amassed large stores of knowledge, as his writings? exhibit. As we read his productions we are led to regret that he did not receive in his youth the training and polish* of mind and diction which the study of Latin and Greek always imparts.
It is stated of him that after having served several years^ as an apprentice in the drug business, he quit that, studiedlaw, and was admitted to the bar at twenty-two years of
age. He became weary of this in one year, and abandoned
it "to become editor and part proprietor in The Charleston: City Gazette." Of the genii that are fabled to preside over and direct the destinies of men, the one that led to thischange and choice of pursuit with him. may be deemed propitious. It is true in the conduct of this paper he suf
fered financial loss from having espoused the cause of the-
Union during the nullification excitement in South Carolinain 1832, yet even with this discomfiture in business, it wasfortunate for him to have chosen the peaceful pursuit of
literature for his avocation in life. It led him out into the-
enchanted realm of mind; opened to him in the exerciseof his intellectual powers and the production of his pen. a fountain of pure and exalted pleasure, whilst it secured
to him for a time ease and competence and honorable men*tion among men, with the transmission of his name to pos terity in the unfading glories of immortal thought.
He was the most industrious and prolific of modern au thors. His literary productions in prose and poetry werenumerous, and had a wide popularity when published. Hismind seemed to have the fabled fecundity of Amidass gar
den, of which it is said as soon as one flower was plucked, another one bloomed in its place. The tendency of hisliterary taste was to poetry. He wrote and published sev eral volumes of poems. He was a contributor to the South ern Literary Messenger, published at Richmond, Va., in the"forties" by J. R. Thompson. The writer remembers read
ing sonnets which he, Mr. Simms, contributed to that mag azine under the head of "Grouped Thoughts and Scattered Fancies." That he should have written some mediocre verse-
can hardly be otherwise than expected in the constant
draught he made upon his intellectual resources. It is saicE

THOMAS M. NORWOOD.

119

that Homer, the grand old Greek poet, sometimes nodded
over his lyre. "As a poet he will be best known to the world by his
"Atlantis; A Story of the Sea." No doubt the theme and its subject-matter were suggested to him from his having lived from early childhood in daily view of the ocean, be holding it spread out in dense expanse of blue to the hori zon in the dim distance, watching the green rollers, in the ebbing and flowing of the tide, moving in and receding from the beach in majestic beauty, and having their lashings re sounding constantly in his ear and with the myth -of the lost Atlantis coming into mind as it floated down upon the current of tradition from classic antiquity. The poem has passages of beauty and sweetness that charm the imagina tive mind.
It will be chiefly as a writer of prose romances that he will be known to posterity. "The Yemassee" is, perhaps, the most popular of his works of fiction. This is a story of the uprising of the tribe of Indians of that name during the colonial days of South Carolina and their attempt to destroy the settlers. It is full of thrilling adventures on the part of the leading actors. He also wrote a history and also a geography of South Carolina. Like all who hail from the Palmetto State, he had strong State pride.
At present his works, like those of other authors of the same period, are, in a measure, lost sight of in the tide of new and fresh publications that is flowing out from the press. Some of his productions have merit sufficient to se-: cure to them a renascence in the coming cycles of time. As a man of letters, William Gilmore Simms will always be honored by the literary world and his name be spoken with reverence by. the South.

THOMAS M. NORWOOD.
The- history of the United States furnishes many in stances and examples of men who arose in life from lowly poverty to a state of affluence and from social.obscurity to

I2O

SotTTHERN I/1TERATURE.

the highest political preferments in the gift of the nation.
The causes of this moral and social phenomena of Ameri can society open a pleasant field of thought and inquiry to speculative minds-. One would assign it to the genius and
influence of free government and the inspiration which it gives to intellectual effort and social ambition- in the bestowment of equal political rights and honors. The grand
possibilities that come to every American citizen from the republican institutions of the land is a glorious and inspir ing thought. He may be born in a cabin and come of hum ble parentage, yet as soon as he opens his eyes upon the light of life, he may fix his mind upon that exalted seat of honor, the presidential chair, as the goal of his ambition.
Another, under the fiat and condition of that time-hon ored maxim which asserts that every man is the builder of his own character and fortune, would attribute the success of those who rise to wealth and honor from poverty and obscurity to their push, tact and principle. This is illustra ted not only under a republican form of government but even in a monarchy.
There are those who would account for the success of the special list of Americas great men alluded to by as signing it to the circumstances that environed them, to the juncture of affairs, or to the time when they came to the
stage of human action. They would assume as mighty fac tors in their rise to eminence, that during the early part of the century this country was in process of development,
and in view of its boundless natural resources no nation in all time has afforded such grand spheres for physical and intellectual activity and for the acquisition of wealth
and political distinction. Those who reason thus would diminish the just fame that clusters around the name and memory of those men to whom their country has given high mention and well-merited record on historic page.
The life and political career of that honored son of the South, the Hon. Thomas M. Norwood of Georgia, the sub ject of this article, affords a beautiful illustration of the
benign and fostering influences of republican institutions in opening to the true and laudable ambition of all its citizens alike the avenues to wealth and honor. It likewise exempli-

THOMAS M. NORWOOD.

121

:fies the force and power of that intellectual prescience or forecast that knows how to discern the "tide in the affairsof men which, taken at the flood," gives to men preemi
nence of rank in life. The writer had the privilege of knowing Mr. Norwood
from early boyhood, had intimate association with him through youth to manhood, and with kindly eye and the fervent spirit of devoted friendship observed his progress
and rise to eminence. It was at a camp-meeting in Upson county, Georgia, in 1842, that he first saw and met him. Fresh in memory is the picture of him as a boy of thirteen or fourteen summers, of less than medium height, curlyheaded, freckled-faced, durstful gray eyes, and dressed in :suit of nankeen, with roundabout jacket and not the frock-
coat, the "virilis toga" of the youth, of to-day, and ap parently as stiff and tough as an Irish laddie, carrying, shil-
lalah in hand and spoiling for a fight. It was not in the range of human possibility for one to conceive at that time
that in the destinies- of life he would come in the space of thirty years to occupy a seat in the United States Senate ior six years and in the House of Representatives for four.
"With a full knowledge of the facts and events of Mr. Nor woods life, his brilliant career appears as marvelous as a <lream.
The moral tone and sentiments of the home sphere and the prevailing spirit and trend of social opinion and taste, as well as personal associations, have a potential influence
in giving shape and impress to the lives and characters of the young. If these are pure and good, morally elevating and socially refining, this is a fortunate boon to him who
is thus blessed. It is the solemn and sacred duty of all par ents to guard and protect their childrens lives from the "blight and contagion of social vices and vitiating compan ionships. The current of their young lives should not be
polluted by having poured into it the turbid stream of vice.
In regard to Mr. Norwood, the above factors- that make human destiny were propitious to the shaping and devel opment of a noble life. His parents were not in affluent orcumstancea, but they well knew the virtues of energy

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

and industry, arid belonged to the substantial class of sor

ciety. The father was of massive build, strong intellect

and invincible will; the mother of quiet demeanor and pos

sessed of those matronly virtues that indue with sweet and

tranquil sovereignty in the household; and the family ties

were bound together in a Gordian knot of love.

The morals and manners of that period were consistent

with the republican simplicity of the times. The more

flagrant crimes rarely occurred, and a murder perpetrated

would be a shock not only to the community, but to the

entire State. The firesides of families were the nurseries

of truth, honor and the habits of domestic economy. Indus

try and integrity of character weighed heavily in the so

cial scale. With the increase of wealth and population the

manners and customs were beginning to change. The

homespun suits and virtues were yielding to artificial style

in dress and manners. The State University and denomi

national colleges recently established were opening their

portals to the youth of the land, and parents who were

ambitious for their sons to win professional fame and honor

in life, seeking a higher literary training than the common:

school and academy afforded, were sending them to col

lege. It was at this crisis in the fall of 1847, Mr. Nor

wood entered as a student in Emory College.

It was here the writer of this article- renewed with him

the boyhood acquaintance which has been -mentioned. They

were members of the same class, and were brought into in

timate association during the two and a half years that

intervened from the time of matriculation to that of grad

uation. Then was formed that friendship that has remained

ever tender and true through life to the present hour. The

intervening years had not effaced the traits of boyhood,

and as a youth he still retained the same propensities for

fun and pranks, though curbed by the restraint .which ma-

turer years would induce.



The school period forms an important epoch in the life

of an individual, as it brings into application an array of po

tent agencies for molding the mind and shaping the char

acter. Such bearing and influence it is supposed to have,

that the mental qualities and the scholarly proficiency shown,

THOMAS M. NORWOOD.

123:

'by a student at school or college are regarded as a sure"
prognostic of his future career and success, unless as in the case of a Sir Walter Scott or an Edison, where the in
vincibility of genius refutes in after years the charge of in tellectual dullness as predicated of them by their teachers."
In the case of Mr. Norwood, it was conceded that he had brilliant talents, but he did not devote himself with that assiduity to his studies so as to attain the high point of literary excellence of which he was capable. In the buoy ancy of youth and the sparking glow of genius, he relished- the charms of music and song and social enjoyment more than the lonely vigil and the arduous toil of the student.
The literary course of the student at college is to behighly appreciated by those who desire to scale the Par nassian heights of learning and drink deeply from its Pie rian fount. Lord Byron in his advice for the education of a youth, says that he should go betimes to college, and adds as his reason, that there he "picked up his knowledge."- The rich and full benefit of intellectual training and literary culture to a student in the curriculum of a college is dependent largely upon two conditions. One, and the first condition is, that he should be prepared for enteringcollege by a thorough academic course. Otherwise the logic and symmetry of- his education will be incomplete and its efficiency abridged. The other, and second condi tion is, that he should have an invincible spirit of ambi tion, or that insatiate love of learning that will prompt him to laborious days and nights and to all sacrifices of ease and pleasure which it may be necessary to make.
It happened to Mr. Norwood, that, during the second year of his collegiate course, he formed the acquaintance and won the esteem of a Mrs. G , a lady of mature years, fine so cial culture and literary taste. This incident had, no doubt, an important bearing upon his life and future .career. As
a token of her esteem, she presented him with a lot of choice books. Among them was the life and speeches of Surges, a New England statesman, who was noted in-. Congress for his eloquence. This book was a kind of tal isman to awaken his youthful ambition, and, no doubt, in the

124

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

tright creations with which fancy filled the dream of fu ture greatness, he resolved in his mind to go to Congress.
The years of collegiate life briefly sped and the time, of graduation of the class came. It had declined in num"ber from thirty-six in the year of sophomore register to twenty-five members. To some it was a long-wished-for period. They panted for the scenes of active life, and longed to engage in the contest for wealths golden prize or fames gilded crest. Others in their love of learning desired to linger mid the classic shades of Oxford and to enjoy the sweet companionship of the Muses of science and literature. Jn the distribution of the honors of graduation, the third was awarded to Mr. Norwood, and it was well merited. It is often the case, that fault is found with the decisions of the faculties of colleges in the bestowment of Tionors. They will be found, however, in the main to be right. It should be said that the honor awarded is not always the criterion of superior scholarship, as is often proved in after years.
The class was honored with a dining given them by Mrs. Osborn Rogers, an excellent lady, who resided in the vilTage. The banquet was all that choice viands and exquisite cookery could make it. It dwells dimly in memory, and all the scenes and incidents of that hour of -convivial enjoyment. A toast was given by each member .at the x:lose. The following one was from Mr. Norwood:
" The thanks of the class for this feast, To our hostess and her fair nieces,
Weve paid it our compliment the best, For we have picked it to pieces."
In addition to the honor of a dining the courtesy was shown to the class of a supper given by Mrs. Means, wife of Dr. Alexander Means, the Professor of Natural Science. This, too, was a feast which could but please even the lux urious taste of a Sybarite. Toasts were given by the class. Mr. Norwood rose up and gave the following toast in rhyme:

THOMAS M. NORWOOD.

125

TO EMORY COLLEGE.
" Her memory let us still cherish; Though -she loses her Cooks-and her Greenes,
Yet she will continue to flourish ; To sustain her she hfcs A. Cleans."
The following beautiful toast was given by the lamented James Longstreet, nephew of Rev. A. B. Longstreet, expresident of Emory:
TO THE SENIOR CLASS.
"They now form one brilliant constellation of minds, Each of which may time with its telescopic power resolve Into a star of the first magnitude."
He, like Marcellus, nephew of Augustus Caesar, celebra ted by Virgil in the ^neid, died early in his career as a law.yer, whilst honor, with invisible hand, was weaving ior his brow the wreath of fame.
Each one went forth upon lifes arena and engaged in his chosen pursuit. Forty-seven years have elapsed since the eventful period of graduation. The several destinies and fates of the members of the class are not known in their particulars to the writer of this article. At the commence ment exercises of Emory College in July, 1896, when the alumni of the class were called forth upon the stage, Rev. W. F. Cook, D.D., of the North Georgia Conference, M. E.. Church, South, stepped out as the only representative pres ent. He writes that he knew of but two others surviving, the Hon. T. M. Norwood and the writer of this article. The weary wheels of life with them will soon cease to move.
The legal profession has ever been the brilliant road tosocial position and political preferment. It is clearly shown in the history of all civilized nations that lawyers, or those who are versed in the law, are the ones that are generally considered by the people as the most eligible for legislators, to carry the seals of the State, and as chief executive to preside over the destinies of the nations. The power and influence of lawyers prevail to that extent in social life and* over-public-opinion that even in military tactics they are supposed to possess talent superior to those of other pur-

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.
suits and avocations, as was shown during the Civil war by companies in the selection of their officers.
To be a lawyer is to be on the way of promotion, may be construed as a safe social maxim. The path to the shrine of Honor is more often found through the temple of Themis. This was particularly the case at this time. There was then a proud array of legal intellect that occu pied the bar throughout Georgia, composed equally and alike of that class who by their individual efforts had ac quired their knowledge of the law from the text-books and in the practice of the courts, as well as of the ones that had been favored with the manipulation and the antecedent training of the law school of that period. How grand and glorious was the list of them may be seen by a mere men tion of their names. There was Absalom H. Chappell, Washington A-. Poe, John J. Floyd, Walter T. Colquitt, Herschel V. Johnson and a host of others whose names and lives proudly appear upon Georgias escutcheon and her arch of Glory.
To be a lawyer then meant something in the way of legal lore. It implied a knowledge of the principles of law in their ibroad scope and application, and not as is of ten the case now, a scant} information of four or five books and applicable only to the case in hand. The law is a noble science and honorable as a profession. It may take a law yer with due diligence and effort ten years to establish himself in his profession, but then when he has done sor it is permanent. It is with him as with the wise man spoken of in the Scriptures, who built his house upon a rock. He has a sure foundation and his edifice will stand.
The law as his avocation in life was the ambition and purpose of Mr. Norwood in his boyhood, and he entered upon the study of it early after his graduation .in 1850, with Claudius J. Wilson as his associate. He read law at Culloden, Ga., under James M. Smith, who afterwards be came governor of Georgia. What a charming episode in the life of the writer of this article was the fall they read law, as being in charge of the school at Culloden, he was brought in daily social and intellectual association with;

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them, feeing a rich aftermath of pleasure in the renewal of .their companionship and the delights of college days.
Having completed the course of reading as preparatory to the practice of law, Mr. Norwood, with Mr. Wilson as liis associate, went to Savannah, Ga., and opened a law office. They had stout hearts and brave spirits, thus in the fresh flower of manhood and neophytes in the law, to go to a city like Savannah to enter a forensic field where they would have to cope with the profound legal talent andtHe Tmlliant oratory of such men as Judge Lawton and Henry M. Law. They went in 1851, and no doubt in their legal career experienced the varying fortunes of youthful soli citors of the bar. In 1861 they had begun to rise at the
"bar and acquire reputation for fine legal ability. The civil war, which arose and arrested in a measure the progress and prosperity of all peaceful pursuits at the South, closed
up their joint career in the practice, as Mr. Wilson .en tered the Confederate service and died in the army.
The faculty of ambition in man and the power to become
great or distinguished .in the eyes of his fellow-men afford .striking evidence of the divine element of his nature. It shows him akin to Deity. The old Latin poet Horace, in -speaking of the honor of the victory in the ancient chariot race, beautifully says, the goal skillfully avoided by the -glowing wheels and the ennobling palm elevate the lords of the earth to the gods. It is an old adage that has come down amid the traditions of the past, that true greatness or -meritorious distinction is not the result of chance or accident. It stands forcibly demonstrated in the history of the fame-crowned heroes, that toil, effort, sacrifice, physical or mental power, gave them their supremacy among men. It is not as the old poet represented it, that Fortune, in the <aprice of her power in human affairs, from the head of this one, with a sharp, rushing sound of her pinions, bears away the tiara in impetuous flight; and on the head of that one delights to have placed it.
These reflections and deductions, drawn, from the scenes .and vicissitudes in the fortunes of men as presented in the .shifting .panorama of real life, find a fit illustration in Mr.
Norwoods public career. As stated, he and his law.part-

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ner, C. C. Wilson had begun to rise in their profession where
the civil war opened. In the winter of 1860-61, Mr. Norwood raised a company
to go into the Confederate service. Tybee Island wasthreatened by the Union or Northern forces in the spring of 1861, and General Lawton then in command there, called for volunteers i. e., companies not then enlisted. Mr.
Norwood called his company together, read the call, sub mitted the question to them, and they refused by a major ity to go to Tybee. Thereupon he refused to command them as captain, and threw up his commission.
In 1861-62 he was a member of the legislature of Geor gia as representative from Chatham county. Without be ing asked he was elected to this position by the spontaneousvoice and will of the people. The antique and sequestered
town of Milledgeville was then the capital of the State. Mr. Norwoods first experience as a legislator was marked by a political incident of almost dramatic character in the legistative proceedings. The chief executive of the State,. Governor Joseph E. Brown, was not in harmony with Jef ferson Davis, president of the infant republic of the Con federacy, and sought to use his official power to obstruct hisadministration. Some of the leading men of the State were in sympathy with him. Governor Brown sent in to the legis lature his celebrated anti-conscription message. It waschampioned by the Hon. Linton Stephens, a member of the House, who made a magnificent speech in support of it, which demoralized the. supporters of President Davis.
The House adjourned when Mr. Stephens closed hisspeech. Within a half-hour a committee of members, headed by O. L. Smith, ex-Professor of Latin, Emory Col lege, and who was a member of the House, waited on Mr. Norwood, and requested him to reply to Mr. Stephens. This he reluctantly consented to do. The next morning" the House was packed. The Supreme Court adjourned or rather took recess, and the judges occupied seats in the legislature. Mr. Norwood replied to Mr. Stephens in a speech oftwo hours or more in length. The opponents of" Governor Browns message were entirelysatisfied; the judges/of the SupremeCourt said that-his argument on-the:

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law and the Constitution was a complete answer to Mr. Stephens. The message was overwhelmingly voted down,
L e., the resolution of Mr. Stephens to indorse the mes
sage was defeated by a large majority. This was Mr. Norwoods first effort in a legislative body.
But there is not a record of a word that he spoke. There were no stenographers present to take down his speech, and
it lives only in the memory of the members of the legisla
ture now alive who heard it. Though the incident related has no place on historic
page", and his speech, like that of Patrick Henry before the Continental Congress of 76 in behalf of the Declaration of Independence, lives only in tradition, yet not less great should be his triumph of the hour and the honor given. With patriotic and heroic emotion he can recall in thought that in the first stage of its existence he shielded the young republic of the Confederacy, the brilliant but vain dream of a gallant people for a separate and distinct government, from
the deadly thrust of political spleen and ambition, and mem ory with him in true devotion may wreathe the tomb of Dixies withered hopes with garlands of love and honor.
His patriotism has that high and delicate sense of honor that prompted him boldly to protest against the incivility
to the South on the part of the committee in inviting to the Dewey banquet at Savannah General Miles, who had
wantonly put in irons Jefferson Davis, the Soutlrs martyr president, whilst in prison at Fortress Monroe.
In February, 1862, when Fort Donelson was captured, Mr. Norwood volunteered as a private soldier in the Chat ham artillery, joined in March, took a cold the first night, which settled in his right eye, and it became inflamed from standing guard in the cold nights and drilling in clouds of dust by day. The surgeon of the company sent him home to be treated by his physician. The left eye became involved, photophobia ensued, and in brief, he was disabled for five and a half years, so that he could not use his sight in read ing or writing.
As a class there were none more gallant and patriotic than were the legal fraternity throughout the entire South, in responding to the call of their country to the tented field
9s 1

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They sought to serve their country in a military, rather
than in a civic capacity. They resigned their places of ease and official preferment to encounter the hardships of the soldiers life and the perils of battle. -They esteemed the
post of danger as the post of honor. Their patriotism was not a poetic dream that fills the mind, or a mere sentiment that plays idly upon the lips in the piping times of peace, but it found its full expression in that sentiment cherished in the patriotic speech and hearts of all lands. "Tis sweet to die for ones country." (They went forth from homes of beauty and ease and happiness to meet the carnage of battle with light cheer, as if summoned as guests to a marriage feast. By their example and by their potent influence as a
class they fired the masses of the people with zeal, and by their chivalry upon the field of battle often during the war turned the tide of defeat into victory. To mention T. R. Cobb of Georgia, who was eminent for his legal attain
ments, honored for his civic virtues, and lamented for his untimely death, is only to enumerate one of a thousand like gallant spirits who laid their lives in costly sacrifice
upon the altars of their beloved South. The capture of Savannah by General Sherman was one
of the closing events of the war. It signalized an entire re versal of the hopes of the South. The civil war having
closed and peace having resumed her easy sway over the land, Mr. Norwood returned to the profession of law and
obtained a lucrative practice.
Thus came to him, at last, the reward for the ten long
years of his patient waiting and toil in the practice of law up to the date of the war, and compensation for that syn
cope in lifes golden period and prospects in the four years
that then followed and which were to the people of the South an utter waste of time as to peaceful pursuits. The state of affluence in which he was placed by this favorable
turn of affairs enabled him to devote his attention to poli tical matters and to indulge the ambitious hopes which he
had cherished through life.
The crisis and period at which Mr. Norwood appeared upon the political arena were eventful in the history of Georgia and likewise afterwards successively of the other

THOMAS M. NORWOOD.

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."Southern States that had seceded. It was the juncture at -which was sounded the death-knell of the infamous tyr-
.anny which the people had experienced at the hands of the Federal Government for four years and the pillage of the revenues of the State by a body of .alien officials who had been put in power under the Reconstruction Measures passed by Congress. It was the second year of the admin
istration of Rufus W. Bullock as Republican governor of Georgia under "carpetbag" rule.
The people despairing of receiving justice at the hands -of Congress and of framing any State constitution that
would be acceptable to that body in its action and de mands upon the South, had with .patriotic indignation and manlv disgust thrown down the reins of government. In
stead of yielding to despair and the situation of things, with heroic courage and burning speech Mr. Norwood in public addresses sought to arouse them to rise up in their maj
esty as freemen and to throw off their ignominious politi cal subjection. When the legislature of that year con vened Bullock had fled and left the office of governor va cant. James M. Smith, representative from Muscogee
county, was chosen by the legislature to fill the unexpTred term of Bullock.
Before that body Mr. Norwood came as candidate for
the United States Senate and was elected to that position for the long term of six years. The honor thus conferred upon him, though high and distinguished, may be regarded
as a just tribute and recompense to him for the inappreci able service he had rendered to the people and State in his bold crusade against carpetbagism and his letters signed
"Nemesis." In view of the facts of his previous history, as have been recited, his success in life may seem marvelous, but such a career lies open to every American youth. He had no Fortunatus cap which, by putting on his head, at his
bidding would bring him wealth and honor, but it was the toil of that grand magician and controller of human des tiny, an energetic and well-trained intellect, that achieved
for him his splendid fortune. It may be that in the pres ent age when there is greater competition and a wider dif fusion of talent and cultured mind, the chances for fame

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

and fortune have been diminished; nevertheless, it would-,

be well for American parents to instil in the hearts of their

sons a high and laudable ambition, although they may not

obtain the emoluments of office and the brilliant trophies-

of civic honor.

Entering Congress as a member of the Senate, which

in the past as a legislative branch of government was char

acterized and renowned as having as august and as able a

body of men as ever sat in the council hall of a great na

tion, and with the settlement of many points connected

with the restoration of the Southern States to their former

status in the Union pending before it, well might the in

quiry be made, what will he do in this new and untried

1

sphere and under the glowering looks of hostile eyes ?



Though no list of particulars may be given of the bearing"

and ability of Mr. Norwood, yet that it was fully commen

surate with the dignity of Georgia and the responsibilities

of his high position, may be inferred from the speech on

the Civil Rights Bill, which he made on the floor of the

I

Senate chamber in vindication and defense of the South,

and which extorted the praise and approbation of foes.

In scanning the starry hosts of heaven at night the eye

will observe with what uniformity of size and luster they

shine forth from their cerulean depths. But few of thenr

have distinctive magnificence like Jupiter with his belts,

;

as he shines forth in radiant beauty from the gates of morn"

or of eve; or like the comet, returning from its travel

3

of centuries through space with its fiery train of flames in-

awful grandeur athwart the midnight sky.

Thus in the political firmament of a nation, whilst in its-

galaxy of great men there may be many who are shining"

lights and of useful talent, yet but few become ensphered

as great intellectual orbs to shine to after ages with fame-

and glory that will never set. There are those who seem to

have been born for a crisis and an event, and their action

under the juncture of affairs gives them distinctive renown,,

and the character of the deed imperishability of fame.

This was exhibited in the case of Patrick Henry in hisr

speech for liberty before the House of Burgesses of Vir

ginia; of Thomas Jefferson in writing the Declaration of

THOMAS M. NORWOOD.

133

Independence, and of John Adams in his speech before the Continental Congress, urging the adoption of that instru ment ; and further on in Americas history, of Henry Clay in the Missouri Compromise bill and his speech in support of that measure. Great fame has but few heirs.
Having served his senatorial period, Mr. Xorwood was elected to the House of Representatives for two successive terms. It was during this period of his congressional life that he made his most noted oratorical effort and display of his intellectual ability, as reported to the writer by the Hon. Thomas R. McCrae, member of Congress from the congres sional district, Arkansas, in reply to a one-armed Union soldier and a Republican member of Congress, who, in con gressional parlance, had in a speech "severely rattled the Democratic party." The Democratic members were sore over it and were wanting some one to reply to him. In :a day or two it was rumored that the new member from
Georgia would make a reply to Gen. David B. Henderson. Intense interest was awakened. The hour came. The hall was crowded with spectators. In walked Mr. Norwood, the new member from Georgia, with his bundle of papers.
From want of courteous bearing or for the purpose of browbeating him, General Henderson took a chair and placed himself a few feet in front of Mr. Norwood and looked him in the face. Mr. Norwood arose and spoke, and as a sequel to the story Mr. McCrae said that the speech he made was a triumphant retaliation and attended by cheers of victory for the Democratic party.
In regard to this speech, Mr. Norwood, in speaking of it to the writer, said "that as an oratorical effort it was a bagatelle, a mere trifle. That General Henderson had wantonly indulged in a diatribe or vehement invective against the South, and the only effective way to meet it was by satire, burlesque or ridicule." The spirit of satire, or to use a more comprehensive term, the exercise of zait, is a marked feature with Mr. Norwood, both in his oratory and his writings. It seems to be with him a natural trait of mind, as with John Randolph of Virginia, the master of political invective, noted in the early annals of Con-

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

gress. It emanates not from a Mephistophelian or malig nant disposition, but is blended with humor and partakes more of the spirit of ridicule than reprobation. He seems to indulge in it from mere fun.
The faculty of wit, satire, burlesque, or ridicule, single or blended, is a potent weapon from the armory of speech. Cervantes, as lord of the master-spell of irony, laughed away the chivalry of Spain. Butler, in "Hudibras," sati rized the social, political and religious vagaries of the days of Cromwell and Puritanism of England. Pope and other English poets plied the keen arrows of wit u-pon the folliesand vices of their times. Mr. Norwood, in his first speech on "The Civil Rights Bill," in the Senate of the United States, used effectively this rhetorical weapon. He elicited attention to the construction of the constitutional amend ment bearing upon the subject.
He entered the political arena with this weapon in his hands. This action on his part may have been called forth, by the crisis and character of the times, it being the period of "Carpetbag Rule in the South. It played an important part with him in the political campaign in his race for gov ernor. He was fearless in the use of it. He always struck the shield of his opponents in debate with the sharp end of his lance. Before it they quailed and fled. Though this? campaign was a memorable episode in Mr. Norwoods polit ical career, yet at this remote day we may not uplift thecurtain from it. It would be to tell of the causes, the er rors, the operations, the political confederacies of the lead ers and the game that Fortune played. As such, as the Latin poet Horace, in an ode, said to Asinius Pollio, whowas writing a history of the civil war of Caesar and Pompey:
" Periculosae plenum opus ate, Tractas, et incedis per ignes Suppositos cineri dolosi."
It is "an undertaking full of danger and hazard and you walk upon fires placed beneath deceitful ashes." Many of the actors have passed from the stage of time, and many of them are on the list of Georgias noble names. We

THOMAS M. NORWOOD.

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should cherish the memory of their virtues and let oblivion
enshroud their faults. "Nihil de mortuis nisi bonum est."
A seat in Congress is the shining goal of political aspi ration. In a few years after their congressional terms have expired, the intellectual prowess and oratorical display upon
which its incumbents have-relied for the transmission of their
name and memory to posterity will be forgotten, or lie en tombed in literary crypt in the dust-covered folios of Con
gressional Records.
It was once a proud exclamation of an American citizen to say, "I am a Congressman." It is still a high and hon orable position, though in these degenerate times unwor
thy occupants now and then creep in who prostitute the
dignity of the office. It still opens a field for the exercise of patriotic virtue and of brilliant intellect. Mr. Norwood
retired from Congress with a spotless record and full share
ef legislative honor.
The retirement of Mr. Norwood from the arena of active
political life was not to ease or -the enjoyment of the af
fluence acquired during his terms of service in Congress, as with many of their thousands. He received the appoint ment of judge of the city court of Savannah, a lucrative
and highly honorable office. In this position he will prob
ably close his career of active life-work, and the consum mation of a life that has been busy, laborious, honored and
successful. The grand factors to which he owes his wellrounded and useful life are push, tact and principle.
Amidst his duties as a legislator, Mr. Norwood found
time and leisure to devote to literary pursuits and to enter the field of authorship. He comes before the public as the
writer of a book of fiction and thus has made his claim two fold to a hold and heritage upon distant time. The political
honor and promotion which he received at the hands of the people of Georgia was not in recognition and as a reward of his literary attainments and genius. There are but few
men in public life who may strictly be called literary states men, men of renown in letters or science who have aspired to political influence and received official preferment. A survey of the governments of Europe in this respect will show Carducci and Verdi in Italy; Canovas, Castelar, Gal-

136

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

dos and Martos.in Spain; seven writers of more or less prominence in the German Reichstag, Professor Virchow being the most distinguished; Morley, Lecky, Bryce and Balfour in the English Parliament. If the United States is taken in the sweep of the survey, but few names of lit erary distinction will appear on the files of Congress. So rare are they, that when a Congressman appears in the role of an author it is made a subject of special notice by the
press. It was as an amateur that Mr. Xorwodd entered the field
of literature. The production of his pen is more the fruit and result of intellectual culture than the irrepressible out burst of genius that burns to give expression to the grand and glowing creations that fill the mind and the pathos, feeling and sentiment that thrill the heart. The history of genius in literature and art shows that it is a strange and hardy plant. It demands not the ease and leisure of wealth and place for its development. Like the cedar that grows in verdurous beauty in the scanty soil and clefts of granite cliffs, or as the delicate floweret that in miracle of Alpine scenery, blooms on the ice-bound border of the glacier, so genius thrives in the bosom of daily toil and the hardships of life.
The book which Mr. Norwood has presented to the American reading public, and especially to the South, is titled "Plutocracy, or White Slavery at the North." It is a politico-social novel, and was designed in its scope and purpose to be a reply and in retaliation for the harsh crit icisms of the Northern press upon the South in its display of the evils of African or negro slavery as it had existed, by an exhibition of the wrongs and oppression perpetra ted upon the laboring classes at the North. It is a partizan or sectional work, and therefore must necessarily fail to touch the broad heart of humanity as did "Uncle Toms Cabin" by the genius of its author.
It is scholarly written and is embellished with the wit, learning and humor of the author. It is fully stamped with the idiosyncrasies of his mind and character. There are two scenes or chapters in it which are portrayed or written with peculiar force and power. They are diametrically opposite

THOMAS M. NORWOOD.

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in their point and character. The one is a picture of the Black Friday in 1870, so well remembered in the financial history of this country as the gold panic, when thousands were cast down from a state of affluence and made beggars in a day.
The other is a description of a "Diamond Party" in the city of New York, composed of millionaires who had become rich from furnishing supplies to the government dur
ing the Civil war, and their wives and daughters. It por trays with admirable humor the coarse manners and illit erate conversation of those who had thus sprung from plebeian condition into wealth, and presents these character
istics in satiric contrast to their assumed social superiority and pompous display of dress. The scope of these essays does not allow an extended review and analysis of the merits of the book.
Mr. Norwood, since writing "Plutocracy," has found time amidst the duties of his office to write a satire titled
"Patriotism, Democracy or Empire?" Its range and scope of time and topics are broad and varied. It holds up to
reprobation the follies, vices, crimes of society of the past century iand of the present day, and more especially the political corruption that exists and the departure of the
rulers of the land from the great cardinal principles of the United States as a republic in- its past history. He cour
ageously points out and denounces these things with the
caustic force of old Roman Juvenal. So numerous and gi gantic are the vices of the age that the heaviest bolts of satire seem to be in vain, and will no more penetrate the
brazen effrontery of the day than the swords of /Eneass companions the foul bodies of the harpies as told in Virgils epic story. The author, Mr. Norwood, indulges his poetic fancy and would wreathe with flowers the javelins of reproof
which he hurls at men and things with unsparing force. The latest work from Mr. Norwoods pen is "Mother
Goose Carved by a Commentator." The task which he undertakes in this field of literature was adapted to nis
peculiar taste and genius. He uplifts these nursery rhymes from the sphere of amusing stories to please children, to
vehicles of instruction and the philosophy of life for ma-

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

turer minds. He has not despoiled them of their original charm and force by his comments. The book he has writ ten ought to go down to posterity hand in hand with "The Melodies" for the instruction and delight of the young and old of coming generations. Mr. Xorwood may justly be assigned a high rank among the satiric and humorous wri ters of the nineteenth century and first and foremost place in Southern literature.
"Plutocracy" has not met with that favor nor had that circulation at the South that its merits justly demand. It did not touch the great popular heart at its issue. The day may come when it will rise from its present obscurity and be lifted into popular notice and form a pleasing and perma nent memorial of the genius of Mr. Norwood to the gen erations to come. Every Southerner should purchase and read "Plutocracy, or White Slavery at the North."

MISS PENINA MOISE.
The literature of antiquity shows but few names of the female sex on its record, and but few contributions to its stores from their pens. In the Bible, the inspired vol ume of Hebrew literature, there, appear in the Old Testa ment Scriptures but two literary productions from female minds; one is the song of Deborah upon the overthrow and destruction of Sisera and his army by the Israelites under the leadership of Barak; the other is the prayer of Hannah in thanksgiving unto :God for the gift to heir of Samuel, her son. They are sublime and eloquent, but these quali ties may be attributed to the divine inspiration that rested upon the speakers at the time of utterance. In the NewTestament Scriptures there are likewise recorded two lit erary compositions from feminine minds: the one is the ode of praise to God by Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, upon the visit of Marv, the mother of Jesus, to her; the other is that of the Virgin in a hymn of adora tion and thanksgiving unto God for the supreme honor of being made the mother of the worlds Redeemer. They

Miss PENINA MOISE.

139

were filled with the Holy Ghost, and each sacred rhapsody
may appropriately be called "The Magnificat." The records of the literature of ancient Greece still fur
ther show the paucity of the productions of the female mind in the world of letters. Greece has been always esteemed the nurse of arts, the land of song. Nature has lavished there its charms and enriched it with variety of scenery in. the winding vale, the sloping hill, the mountain with its ver dure, or snow-crowned, the lake, the sea and sunny shore,. all spanned by the blue sky of the old ^-Egean; which, with its empurpling light, invests all objects with ethereal beauty
and repose, that awaken the soul to poetic rapture. It produced Homer with his Iliad: JEschylus with his Pro metheus Unbound; Euripides with his Alcestis; and others, who, in different walks of literature, wrote and sung in the divine Hellenic tongue with the full inspiration of the fa bled Muses of Pieria. Yet, Greek literature presents only" the name of Sappho, the "burning Sappho" as Byron callsher, a lyric poetess. Addison, the elegant author of the Spectator, says that "among the mutilated poets of antiq uity, there are none whose fragments are more beautiful
than those of Sappho." Her poetry is fragrant with the sweetest incense of the Grecian muse.
Ancient Rome presents not a single female name in itscatalogue of authors; nor does the mediaeval age, nor the period of ancient English. This anomaly of the position of woman in literature may be explained in various ways. It is easily solved in the fact that for ages past she has been made the "household drudge"; considered mans inferior
and denied the culture of her mind. She has been allowed no time, nor had she any inclination to wander in the Elysian gardens of thought to pluck the flowers and weave
them into garlands. Moreover, she is in herself a sweet volume of poetry and romance, and her bounden duty is to
give to the world copies of herself as a mother in the merry little elves that cling around her knees.
The subject of this article, Miss Penina Moise, to a sketch of whom so long a preface has been made, was a
resident of Charleston, South Carolina. She appeared as an author of a book of poems about the close of the first

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

^quarter of the present century (1825). She is, perhaps, not known now to the reading world, and her poems have not been read by any one now living save the writer. It was read by him in early boyhood. It was in the library . of a relative of his to whom the book of poems had been presented by the brother of the author.
The book was a small, thin volume. The pieces of poetry it contained were short. As to their literary merit the wri ter was too young to form any just opinion of them. He read them with the same boyish carelessness that he would pluck a wayside flower, inhale its fragrance, admire its "beauty and then cast it away. Around the "Palmetto State," and Charleston, her grand old city once in time, "have ever in the mind of the writer hung the charms of
romance. This incident of reading the book of poems by Miss Moise awakened it, and in gratitude for the pleasure "afforded he would rescue her name from oblivion and place
this tribute to her memory.

MRS. CAROLINE LEE HEXTZ.
The record which the writer has given of the lives and character of eminent men of the South in these biographical essays has been to him a pleasing task. He has confined his selection to those with whom he was entirely or in a measure contemporary, and of whom he had some personal knowledge in the way of facts and incidents in their lives, which he conceived would be matters of interest to the pub lic. He has not exhausted the list of those sons of the "South who are worthy of the notice of the historic pen and the tributes of the press. No, they are many; and to enum erate them all would be like counting the stars that adorn the azure depths of its nocturnal skies.
There are a few readers to whom the "trifling grace" and information of these essays may afford "the perfume and suppliance of a moment." With this encouragement of his literary toil and pursuit the writer with the opening of the New Year feels prompted to renewed diligence in

MRS. CAROLINE LEE HENTZ.

141

his task of paying honor to those sons and daughters o
the South to whom honor is due. Hitherto the selection and tribute of the,pen have beer*
to the "Sons" only; now, for a time, it will be directed to
the "Daughters" of the South. From the very nature and constitution of things, man, as compared with woman, must necessarily figure prominently in the worlds eye. As he is crowned with sovereignty, the sphere of mans action lies in the business affairs and the public duties of life. Wealth and power and those pursuits which bring renown; are the objects of his ambition. Woman is restricted by custom to the fireside and to the interests of the household. The welfare and the happiness of those around her en gage her heart and mind. She stands exalted in the per son of her sex and in the sacred character of her household duties, and needs no other deed or achievement to give her eminence than the faithful performance of them.
The present century, as it has often been said, in tfie awakening glow of its intelligence, has removed the re strictions which the social customs of the past had thrown around woman, and opened to her equally with man the portals of learning and the public pursuits of life. She has promptly availed herself of the concession and privi leges granted, and obtained instruction in the various pro
fessions and avocations. That of literature has been the special one, as opening to her a sphere for the exercise of her intellectual gifts and literary attainments, and as being
well adapted to the quiet seclusion of home.
In the South, among the first to appear before the public as an author is the subject of this sketch. At the time, she resided at Columbus, Ga.; afterwards at Tallahassee, Fla. Perhaps the first production of her pen and genius was a floral poem, written and arranged for the coronation of the Queen of May. The verse, the music, the sentiment, the descriptions and personifications of the flowers exhibit a rare and delicate taste and fancy, and unsurpassed by anyEnglish poet of the present or of former times. As re cited and sung in woodland bower and by nymphs of earthborn lineage, in the presence of the writer in the May morn of his life, it was to him exquisite and charming, and now

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SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

in the senile years of life it conies up before his mind still radiant with the beauty, freshness and fragrance of spring.
It was as a writer of fiction that Mrs. Hentz attracted the special attention of the reading public. This was in the early "forties." Books then were rare and the production of any pen would secure for the writer from the public the award of genius. The following are some of the works of Mrs. Hentz: "The Planters Bride," "Moss Springs," "Lgly Effie," "Robert Graham." They were read with eagerness by all lovers of fiction. They showed taste, purity of style and sentiment, easy narrative, and in a word, con stituted healthier literature for the young minds than the weird and improbable sketches of Bret Harte, the stories of Rider Haggard, with their oriental magnificence of in vention and description, or the obscure and fantastic pro ductions of Rudyard Kipling. These occupy the places of honor in the literary world to-day, whilst the works of Mrs. Hentz are scarcely known.
It is unnecessary at this period to make an analysis and review of her merits as a writer. It would be as useless to gather up the faded flowers of spring to revive their vivid tints and fragrance, as to evoke her works from their lonely nooks in the libraries of the land, and to restore them to popular favor. Her name and fame will be sweetly embalmed to posterity in the beauty and fragrance of the May-day poem she wrote, and as long as flowers bloom and birds sing should she be remembered by the daughters
of the "Sunnv South."

MRS. AMELIA B. WELBY. In his description of the "Temple of Fame," the English poet Pope represents the tuneful "Nine," the votaries of song, as ranged near the throne of the fickle goddess with eyes forever fixed on her as they sing. He says, "for fame they raise their voice and tune the string." This may be predicated of some who have essayed poetical composition, but few, alas! who sought it. could boast of success. The

MRS. AMELIA B. WELBY.

143

.glorious phantom, the dazzling cheat, to live a second life in others breath," eluded their grasp.
The true sons and daughters of song sing their notes artlessly like the birds of the forest in springtime. They
spontaneously pour forth in joyful utterance the gay fancies that fill the mind, or with thrilling pathos tell the deep feelings of the soul. They sing not for fame, but because they love to sing. Such are they to whom fame comes unlocked for, if it comes at all. Little did old blind Homer think as he wandered from city to city through
out Greece and the Ionian isles, singing for his bread, that those songs which he sung, and as now arranged in the Iliad, would with all consenting time crown him forever -with the highest honors of the epic muse. Nor is it to be supposed that Shakespeare, as he with divine genius per sonified nature with enrapturing charm in his immortal
dramas, had .the least thought that he would occupy in succeeding ages the foremost place in English literature. And thus we might mention others of lesser note.
The Southern writer, Mrs. Amelia B. Welby, the sub
ject of this essay, may be ranked with this class, if the romantic story of her life be true, as related. A native of Tennessee, she is represented as being a flower-girl and that the poetical productions that have given her a name
and place in Southern literature were written and disposed -of in the sale of her flowers. No ambition fired her soul, no dream filled her mind of winning for herself the ivy
chaplet, the reward of learned brows, by the effusions of her pen. The story goes that her pieces attracted the.no tice of a gentleman who had literary taste to perceive their
merit, and through his patronage they found their way to
the press. They were collected and published in book form in the "forties" of the present century. He afterwards made her an offer of marriage, and she became Mrs.
Welby. The poems of "Amelia, or Mrs. Welby," are character
ized by modesty of thought and of language. There is
-nothing overstrained in style or love-sick in sentiment .about them, as is generally the case with all young poets.
Her verse does not blush "rosy red," loves true color, as

144

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

said of Tom Moores, the Irish poet; nor has it the im passioned fervor of the poetry of EHa Wheeler Wilcox, sopopular at the present day. "The Pulpit" is perhaps her
most dignified piece. The vivid description it gives of true evangelic eloquence must have been taken from real life. Who it was that with the bi-ning raptures of speech awoke the inspiration and form the subject of the poem
is a matter of inquiry. It . y have been Millburn, the blind preacher, who has h*- . for many years chaplain of the Senate of the Unite-4 States. The poem is worthy of thought and stud^ _.j the minister who desires that the immortal their - of the Gospel should come flaming from his tongi" a.id his words should smite with force like arrows f. *he quiver of the far-darting Apollo as de scribed by IILM. .
There are other pieces in the volume of poems published by Mrs. Welby that have the grace and aroma of true poetry. As a writer she should be ranked among the gifted minds of the South, and her book assigned an honored place in the libraries of Southern homes.

MRS. AUGUSTA J. WILSON.
Literature opens to the mind a broad and diversified" field for thought, instruction and pleasure. In it are stored up the wisdom, virtue, learning, feelings and expe rience of past ages. Here poetry leads out into its Elysian gardens to regale with music of verse and blossoms of thought as exquisite as the warbling of birds and the flowers of spring. Here the historian in glowing narra tive tells of the mighty events of the past, the revolu tions of kingdoms, the shock and carnage of battles, and the overthrow of valiant leaders stained with no inglorious dust. Here, also, fiction upon its fascinating pages por trays in ideal creations men, things and events with vjvid touch, as if they were living entities in the shifting drama of human life.
There is no form of literature more popular and entic-

MRS. AUGUSTA J. WILSON.

145

ing to the literary world than that of fiction. Still its place in the field of letters is doubtful. There are some who hold that the reading of novels and romance is detrimen tal to the strength and vigor of the mind, and afford no
solid information. It is also maintained that it corrupts and destroys all taste for useful and substantial reading.
It is still further asserted that the young minds, who are the numerous readers of the works of fiction, obtain false views of life from the pictures given of virtue and vice being too highly colored, and the characters of men and women presented being no more real than the fabled fairies by belated peasants seen in moonlight revel upon the sum mer green. It is likewise predicated that the promis cuous reading of novels depraves the morals of society. That such is the effect is largely demonstrated in the pop ularity that "Trilby" and other novels of like character have obtained with the general American reading public.
There is another literary class who would maintain the position that novel reading is beneficial. They say that it is highly recreative to the mind when wearied with the toils and trials of the scenes of real and busy life. It is delightful to abstract your mind from the corroding cares of life and lose yourself in the pleasing dreams of the novelist, although they may be as transient and unsubstan tial as the golden exhalations of the dawn. Some, also, claim that there is intellectual benefit derived from novelreading, as it strengthens and invigorates the imagination, that imperial faculty of the mind, and that ideal represen tations are elevating and refining. Thus the matter of the merits and demerits of fiction stand in equal poise.
There are those who hold the opinion that the writing of a novel or romance is an easy task, and that it re quires no high degree or brilliancy of intellect. They as sign the fiction-writer a rank in literature inferior to that
of the poet and the historian. This may be the case with many of the works now produced and daily thrust upon the reading public, but not all of them. The framework
of the novel, say they, has been about the same through all centuries. It is the same old story of "love not run-
10 si

146

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

ning smooth" dramatized and having the same denouement or ending.
There are those who deem that it requires the highest order of mind to write a meritorious novel. Grand and sublime was the genius that produced "Ivanhoe," "Rob Roy," "Waverley," and other works of Sir Walter Scott. His creations were so marvelous and lifelike, and came forth with such rapidity of production, that he was called the "Magician of the North." It required deep, accurate
and comprehensive knowledge of human nature and of life to produce "The Newcomes" of Thackeray. What a vast and varied view and acquaintance with many-colored life
did Dickens possess to create the plots and characters in all his works from "Pickwick Papers" to "Dombey and Son." The writer of "Ben-Hur" had a fecundity of mind and of literary resources that comes within the intellectual compass of but few individuals.
As a writer of fiction the author, Mrs. Augusta J. Wilson, whose name appears at .the head of this article, has had and still retains a notable popularity in the South. She has given to the public a number of works since Beulah" came from her pen. A cursory review of the literary merits of her productions will require several articles.
The name of Beulah selected by Mrs. Wilson (ne Evans) as the title of her novel, was happily chosen. In its signification and use it might fitly predicate the delight which she would convey to the reader in the airy realm of fiction which it would open up, as Bunyan, the divine dreamer, by his Beulah or "land of rest," where the sun shines, the flowers bloom and .the birds sing "all the year round," symbolized the sweet repose of the Christian awaiting his summons to the skies. Her book was a suc cess, and established her name and reputation in the lit erary world. The reading public of the South read it with eagerness, and applauded the genius of the author. She be came a reigning star in literary circles, although it was in lonely brilliancy and beauty as that of the planet that opens the gates of the morning. As it was said of Lord Byron after the publication of his first canto of "Childe Harold," that he awoke next morning and found himself famous

MRS. AUGUSTA J. WILSOX.

147

throughout Europe, so it might have been said of Miss
"Evans then as to the South. To produce the work how many hours of thought and
toil did it cost. How many days and nights did her brain "busily work to cast the plot and in the creative power of the imagination to give form and feature, existence and personality, to the various characters that were to appear as dramatis personse. Then to secure unity of thought and correctness of expression, how often did she have to erase
and rewrite page after page. The description might well apply to her which she gives of Beulah, the heroine of the book, who was admired and eulogized for her talent as a
writer, when in speaking of her she says: "She sat be fore her desk writing industriously on an article which she had promised to complete before the end of the week; her head ached; the lines grew dim, and she laid aside
her manuscript and leaned her pale face on her palms." Then, in a review of Mrs. Wilson as an author, who would write a single line of criticism that would impair her just fame ?
Like the current of a gently meandering stream, the nar rative of the book flows smoothly on without the in tricacy of rplot, or the variety of incident, or the tragic touches of murder and mystery which enter so largely into the composition of Bulwer5 and Dickenss novels. The diction is glowing, the style rather figurative, and the range of topics and the modes of expression show the author to "have been an industrious reader. In the delineation of character, the breadth and delicacy of conception of Sir AValter Scott, Dickens, or Shakespeare could not be ex pected of her.. The two principal characters in the fiction, Beulah and Dr. Hartwell, in some respects are forcibly drawn. The sentiment of the book may be too strong and declamatory for real life.
The religious experience and the fortunes of Beulah Benton, an orphan girl from an asylum, form the theme or argument that constitutes the thread of the story, and stand associated throughout. The former topic is empha sized ; the latter is in some degree incidental. No more important matter can be presented to the mind than relig-

I

148

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

ious experience, or more worthy to be dramatized, as is-

fully exemplified in its being the purpose of the Book of



Job, the oldest and the grandest book of the Bible. Her

t

experience in a measure corresponds to that of the relig-

I

ious world generally. In childhood her faith and trust

in God were simple and fervent. Having experienced as-

,

an orphan the cold and bitter scorn of the world, it freezes-

the genial current of her piety. She can not understand

and harmonize the ways of a kind and gracious Being in

|

the diverse allotments of life.

I

She turns from God and tries to reason herself into-

a state of infidelity. The casuistry she employs is specious,

1

and runs in the same time-worn channel of all those who

I

discard the Bible and its teachings, because they can not

comprehend the providence of God. After drifting hope

lessly and aimlessly upon the restless sea of skepticism,

she is finally brought back to the moorings of her for

mer faith. Like Job and thousands of others of the human

race, she had heard of God by the hearing- of the

ear, but after she had experienced his presence and sup-

,

port in the furnace of affliction, she would not exchange

!

"her faith for the universe.

j

The first draught to an author from fames magic cup,.

!

like new wine, has an intoxicating effect, and awakens the-

i

burning resolve in the soul to repeat on a grander scale

the experiment of writing a book. This seems to have been

,

the result of Mrs. Wilson as to her brilliant success irr

i

her second literary venture before the public. As the word

|

Beulah in the Hebrew tongue signifies married, it was in

cidentally prognostic of her becoming firmly fixed in her"

choice and profession as an author. The unique case is re

corded in the history of English literature of a young lady-

writing the rare alliterative verse, "Let lovely lilacs line

Lees lonely lane, and never anything worthy of note

afterwards. The first work from a writer of ordinary tal

ent, if it has any claims as to magnitude and merit, -will

contain the vigor and freshness of his mind and the sum

and substance of his literary acquisitions. The wealth and,

empire of genius, like that of ancient Cathay, is untold^

MRS. AUGUSTA J. WILSON.

149

As in the case of Shakespeare, having exhausted old
worlds, it creates new ones. The fourth work of Mrs. Wilson bears the title of "St.
Elmo." It is a more ambitious book than Betilah" ~fn
its style and scope. Besides the ordinary phases of feeling, topics and incidents fliat usually form the staple of the
novel, it apparently has a twofold purpose and moral; the one is to exhibit the iniquity and condemn the practice of dueling; the other, and the main one, is to teach and illus
trate the theory "that all works of fiction should be didac tic, and inculcate not only sound morality but scientific theories." The custom and practice of dueling, as it has
obtained in the world, is stripped of its meretricious cov
ering and decoration as the code of honor, and in the death of its victims and the wretched misery consequent, it is presented in its true character as murder. The laws of
the land have rightly settled the criminality of dueling "by making it a felony.
As to the second purpose, nothing xvill more fitly il
lustrate it, and also the character of the book, than to quote from the gifted authoress. She says: "To write with current coldness for the mere pastime of author and
readers, without aiming to inculcate some regenerative principle or to photograph some valuable phase of pro tean truth, was in her estimation ignoble, for her high standard demanded that all books should be, to a certain
extent, didactic, wandering, like evangelists, among the people, and making some man or woman or child happier or wiser or better more patient or more hopeful by their
utterance. Believing that every earnest authors mind should prove a mint where all valuable ores are collected from rich veins of a universe, are cautiously coined, and
thence munificently circulated." Thus does the heroine
of the story, who is an enthusiastic aspirant for literary fame, speak.
Whether this was the purpose of the author in writing
"St. Elmo," it is a most admirable illustration of her theory. The chance of success in writing fiction on this plan is justly criticized by one of the characters, who says that
people read novels merely to be amused, not educated, and

150

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

they will not tolerate technicalities and abstract specula tion in lieu of exciting plots and melodramatic dnoue-
ment. The book is not an epitome of science, yet it abounds so profusely in scientific terms, quotations from: foreign languages and remote historical allusions, that the reader who sits down to read it should equip himself with, lexicons and encyclopedias, full and complete. Never theless, "St. Elmo" is the production of a mind opulent in genius and literary resources. It will be replete with in terest and pleasure to those who delight in classic lore and antiquarian research.
The human mind in its immortal vigor and fecundity,, as said of the fabled garden of Amidas, as soon as one flower is plucked, spontaneously puts forth another. 1 This is a pleasing metaphysical fact, and in the field of
literature is of infinite service, as it leads to multiplicity and variety of modes of thought and expression. It seems that there is or should be a limit to the power of invention, to the mind, and that it would be a moral impossibility for the prolific writer of books, such as was Dickens and Walter Scott, to preserve distinct and separate the lines of their plots and delineations of their numerous characters. There will sometimes be sameness and monotony, although, asin the "endless sea of human faces" there is a resemblance, there are rarely two exactly alike. There has been but one Shakespeare, of whom it is said when he had exhausted
all known world imagined new ones. Notwithstanding: there may be great similitude in the productions of fiction writers, yet it may be said that it is the attribute of genius to be fresh as the dew and reviving as the sunbeam.
The versatility that characterizes the works of Dickens,, Scott and Shakespeare may not be predicated of the writ ings of Mrs. Wilson. There may be change in the scenery that serves as the background to the stage of action uponwhich the characters that enter into the plots move and act,,
but there is at least a similarity in the moral and plan of the story. With so many works from her pen it might rea sonably be supposed that the power of invention with her
would necessarily flag and the stock of her resources would? be diminished. The title of her first book, "Inez; or the Fall

MRS. AUGUSTA J. WILSON.

151

of the Alamo," was well calculated to impress the public mind. Who has not heard of the "Alamo," that bloody tragedy in Texas history ? The scene of the book was laid in stirring times and in a land which would open up to the mind a field of daring adventure that would furnish rich material for the pen and the imagination. It is said that it is the purpose of the author to rewrite "Inez." It cer tainly does not compare in freshness of style and vigor of thought with "Heulah," nor in strength and force of plot and character with "St. Elmo," stiff and encumbered as the latter may be with its profuseness of scientific allu sions and technicalities. Regarded in itself, "Inez" has its merits and is worth the reading.
The exposure which it makes of the Roman Catholic Church in its propaganda constitutes in itself an object and purpose well worthy of the writing of the book. Rome! Papal Rome! cruel has she been in the past, if the records of history are true. She is now shorn of her tem poral power. Babylon! Babylon the great has fallen! Has she been purged of her ambition to rule the nations of the earth by a sword? There are many who say she has not, and are apprehensive that her withering touch may fall upon this American republic.
The beautiful and touching force with which Mrs. Wil son portrays the religion of the Gospel to be "a root to sustain; a foundation to support; the bond of charity; the curb of evil passions; the consolation of the wretched; the
stay of the timid; and the hope of the dying," renders her books morally and spiritually edifying to the reader. They
go forth on their holy errands to invite mankind to earthly happiness and eternal life.
High, honored, and delicately responsible is the sphere that the author occupies. As he penetrates the realm of mind and unfolds in classic prose or high immortal verse"
the unspoken thoughts and feelings that He in cradled slumber in weary human hearts, he becomes a teacher to mankind, and adds to the sum of human enjoyment. The task of the writer no doubt becomes enamoring, as in its toils the mind glances from earth and scales "the high heaven of invention, and gives to airy nothings a local hab-

152

" SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

itation and a name." It was exquisite joy to Milton, no doubt, when he composed his "Paradise Lost," as he lay down at night to let his mind soar amid immortalities spir itual and unveiled, or to brood in creative fancy over the bosom of earth and to portray that wilderness of fragrance and bloom where angels kept armed guard over the slum bers of the first pair of human lovers.
It is presumed that the work of composition is to Mrs. Wilson a delightful task, if the number of volumes she has written and published is taken as an index and as evidence. In this article the design is to call the attention of the reader to her last work. Besides this one and those already noticed, she has written three others: "Vashti," "Macaria" and "Infelice." The one now under consider
ation bears the peculiar title "At the Mercy of Tiberius."
The phrase calls up to mind the ill-famed tyrant of that name, who was the second emperor of ancient Rome, and one would infer from this circumstance, that he constituted a central figure in the story. Nothing of the kind occurs, save that the hero of the drama has an unusually imperious temper, and makes all things submit to his sway.
This work of the distinguished writer is considered by some to be her best production. It certainly has its points of literary excellence. The style is varied: now plain and simple, now flowering into poetic luxuriance of language and thought in the descriptions which are given of the beauties of nature and of the works of art presented. The moral and social teachings are pure and elevating and are
well calculated to benefit the reader. Following her theory that works of fiction should be didactic and abound in sci entific instruction, there are many erudite phrases and allu sions to awaken thought and investigation. This may be regar.ded as a feature of merit by those who have the taste and patience to consult lexicons and encyclopedias, whilst to others it forms an objection.
The literary career of Mrs. Wilson in its success and fame, the high moral sentiment that pervades her writings and the graces of her style and language, should serve
as an incentive and an example to the young female minds of the South to intellectual culture and effort. They should

MRS. Lo0LA KEXDALL ROGERS.

153

read her books, not for the ntere excitement of the story of love that each contains, but for the animation it gives to the taste for the instructive, the beautiful and the good.
As a writer she will stand in the front rank, if not at the head of Southern writers.

MRS. LOULA KEXDALL ROGERS.
Genius for poetry is classed as a distinctive endowment of mind. So exalted was this intellectual- attribute re garded by the ancient Greeks and Romans, that in their beautiful mythology the persons who were thus distin guished were considered to be chosen of the gods: imag inary divinities, as the Muses, to look with favor on the hour of their nativity, to fill their minds with poetic inspira tion, and to preside over their destinies through life. Prodigies were fabled to have marked their childhood as prophetic of their glorious calling, as the swarm of bees clustering on the cradle of the infant Plato, being prognostic of the mystic power that in after years would fill his lips with the honey of persuasion; or the doves that covered with leaves Latinian Horace, when as a child he lay wearied and sleeping in the forest.
Poets %vere the priests of the gods, the interpreters of the divine oracles, and appointed to foretell the events of futurity, and as Hesiod, Theognis and others, to point out the road of life to men. \Ye of the present day know that God our God as the divine Jehovah, made his prophets poets, and they spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
QiHZsitum cst, it has been made A subject of inquiry by poets and philosophers, says Horace in his "Ars Poetica," whether the laudable poem was produced by nature or art; he could not see what mere study could accomplish with out a rich vein, nor what uncultured genius could do: thus the one demands the aid of the other, and conspires ami cably to the same end. The design of poetry is to instruct and to please, and the full aim and glory of the art can

154

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

not be attained without unity both in genius and art, that is, instructing so as to please and pleasing so as to instruct.
As an important poetical maxim, he asserts that "wisdom, and good sense are the source and principle of good
writing," and the attainment of these is the result of study ana reflection. Bloom and elegance of language will not delight without thought and feeling. Verses devoid of
them are mere melodious trifles. It is not sufficient for poems to be beautiful; let them be sweet and whitherso ever they will lead the mind of the reader. Democritus held that genius made the poet, and those only to be true
poets who indulged in the rhapsody of song. The centuriesof the old will drive off pieces devoid of instruction; the. ranks of the young will turn away from those which delight
not the fancy or thrill with emotion. Both genius and art conspire to make the genuine poet
and to create the lofty song. Genius in its excursive flights over the flowering field of thought has been compared tothe bee as it goes out in the springtime to gather pollen, from the flowers. As the bee, guided by its unerring in stinct, seeks the fragrant calyxes which yield the desired
sweets, so does genius prompt the mind to select from the mass of topics those that contain in them the spirit and essence of poetry. As in the waxen cells of the bee, so art
must come in to aid the poet in the arrangement of his top ics and the framework of his thoughts so as to secure unity of design and beauty of expression. Insania or the
madness of genius inspires the poet to revel in song until he becomes intoxicated as the bee with the perfume of flowers, and to care nothing for glory or the gain of pelfr so enamored is he of the divine beauty and grace of the Muse. Still further, it is genius that imparts to the mind its racy wit, as the formic acid of the bee to honey its de licious sting.
It was genius in Horace, as he says of himself, after the manner and custom of the Matinian bee, with assiduous toil gathering sweet thyme around the groves and banks of the moist Tiber, that led him to explore the fields of mythic lore, the pages of heroic antiquity and the stirring events of his own illustrious age, and to gather from them honeyed

MRS. LOULA KENDALL ROGERS.

155

sweets to store away in cells of lyric poetry. It was geniusin Homer that inspired those lovely creations of character
and incident, and so molded his fictions and so blended the false and the true, that produced the Iliad, and art has so ar ranged it as to make it the brilliant wonder of all time. It
was the grand comprehensive genius of Shakespeare that enabled him to grasp nature in all its varied forms of lifeand beauty and the human character in all its features,
and to portray them with such glowing personification as to give to his dramas the fascinating touches of real life.
It is genius that in the glowing forge of thought fash
ions and produces those great truths that become current, as proverbs of wisdom among men, and those poems small or great that fill the great human heart and are cherished
through the lapse of centuries. The sons of song shine from the past which they have
made glorious. Time has gathered the productions of their genius in the glowing lyric and the stately epic intothe leaves of its imperishable volume, and has given them
a place in the hearts and memories of men forever. The Muses, the imaginary divinities of Pieria, have vanished
into the land of fable; the poet no longer invokes the aid of Melpomene, the ruler of the sweet melody of the goldenshell, as did Horace, to assist him in his tuneful labors; the
divine Apollo no longer bestows the poetic afflatus, the. name of the poet and the Delian laurels; yet the faculty for poetry still exists among men.
The general diffusion of knowledge and the progress made in mental culture that marks the present marvelousage have rendered the talent for poetical composition wide-spread. Like violets in the wild woods or roses in the
garden, poems are springing up in the nooks and cornersof the journals and the parterres of the magazines through out the land in every issue of the press. Many of them-. are sweet and beautiful; many of them will perish in the moment of their birth; some will have a place in the foldsrof the cedared boards of immortality. Talent has takenthe stead of genius; combined with toil, ever patient toil, it
develops the poetical faculty in power and beauty, if the-: germ of it is in the mind. The box with its forty divi-

356

SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

sions, through which Tom Moore had all his poetical pro ductions to pass in the process to their completion, gave to his Irish melodies a grace beyond the reach of art. The incessant plying of the shuttle of the imagination by Ten nyson in weaving into his poems new and daring forms of style, the glinting beauty of language and aH the linked harmonies and graces of versification, crowned him the pcet-laureate not only of England but of the century. .
The South as a political section presents no long array of genius or opulence of literature. It has, however, pro duced writers both of prose and poetry who deserve places of honor and distinction in letters. Among these may fitly be placed Mrs. Loula Kendall Rogers, the subject of this ar ticle. She is now a residen^of Barnesville, Ga. The home of her childhood, Bellewood, was in Upson county, of that State. As known to the writer her home was the abode of wealth, taste and refinement. All her environments were favorable to the culture of her mind and heart. Her father, Dr. David Kendall, was a man of rare mental poise that fitted him to be the guide and governor of a house hold, and with amenities of address and speech that made his companionship delightful in the studio. Her mother was endowed with those moral and mental virtues and suavity of manners that qualified her for the sweet sov ereignty of the home circle, and properly to train the young spirits committed to her maternal care and guidance for the duties of life. In an article from the pen of Mrs. Rogers, in speaking of the home of her childhood, she writes, "The best books filled our library, and it was my de light when a child to climb up to the highest shelves and capture some old antique volume that had passed a century
in the family." The solid mahogany bedstead, with its carved leaves and flowers, the cedar chest, with its fra grant odor and beauteous stain of natures dye, as heir looms from the past, told of a noble ancestry, and the bearing of the family comported with the dignity of their record.
In the fresh hours of childhood, as she has stated, the genius of her mind and taste led her to the love of books. To direct and inspire her in her early pursuit of knowl-

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edge she had neither the inspiration of Polyhymnia nor any of the other Muses, but the sound, solid and cultured sense of her mother.
In the first years of her education she attended the Cen tral Female College at Culloden, Ga.; afterward the Georgia Episcopal Institute, Montpelier, under the supervision of the Right Reverend Bishop Elliott; and graduated at Wesleyan Femaile College, Macon, Ga. Her graduating composition was the first poem ever written by a graduate of that institute.
Leaving the literary seclusion of the college she resumed her wonted place in the circle of home with its sweet ap pointments of social enjoyment and means of intellectual culture. She enters upon the threshold of active life, and to her its opening scenes expand full of hope and pleasure in the years to come. Whatever might be the aspirations of her mind, rigid custom had fixed and confined the sphere of labor for her sex to the precincts of the household. There was no choice of vocation to the educated woman of that time save that of the rare chance of employment as teacher in the schoolroom, or that to which the unfre quented walks of literature might invite. The one was con sidered an unaristocratic calling and was unsought by the sons and daughters of parents who were in affluent circum
stances, as its hireling character did not accord well with their patrician notions; the other opened an inviting field for educated minds, and was opulent in all the natural and historical resources necessary for the creation of a rich and varied literature, but there was little promise of re muneration.
There was a propensity in the youthful mind of Mrs. Rogers for literary pursuits. Either as a spontaneous out flow, or as fostered from daily association and comming ling of thought with the concourse of great minds in the perusal of their volumes of wit and wisdom in the library, the poetic faculty of her nature was stirred. It may have been awakened by the scenery around Bellewood, her dear home, upon which her eyes opened at mornings light and
reposed at evenings hour, and as described by her, present ing, when seen in the mantling beauty of spring, a broad

SOUTHERN LITERATURE,
encircling landscape of stretches of hills and vales crown ed and dotted with lofty oaks, interspersed with blooming orchards and verdant fields, and with the horizon belted with the dark-green ridge of the Pine mountains, whilst in the distance might be heard the roar of Tobler as it hur ried its waters along into the Flint, or the Fronetiska as
called in the musical tongue of the Indian, to be borne by it into the Gulf.
Mrs. Rogers became a contributor of short poems to the press. During the civil contest she gave expression to Tier fervent southern patriotism in war lyrics. The merit of these may be noticed at some future day. Her chief poem is titled "Toccoa The Beautiful." Upon it will rest Tier claim to poetic genius. It stands now laurel-crowned in the theater of literary criticism and award. It won the prize offered by the Home Economist, published at Wor cester, Mass., 1884, for the best poem. It was published in Werners Magazine, and has been recited in nearly every State in the Union.
The poem is based upon a legend that tells of the sad story and tragic fate of an Indian maiden named Toccoa. As described, she was the daughter of Hiawassee, an In dian chief, and was of superior beauty and intelligence to all her companions. Of the tribe of the Uchees, she lived in the mountains of North Georgia. The white man with ever encroaching step had not yet penetrated that region. Upon Toccoa rested the spirit of prophecy, and she had a. vision of the future. It unfolded to her the destruction of the red man. She saw the gathering storm, the ever-rolling tide of civilization, the clefting of the mountains and the rush of the iron steed, the steam locomotive.
When the "council men" heard the vision expounded that told of the destruction of their race, they decreed that the ill-omened prophetess should die. Bounding up the mountains lofty height, they found Toccoa seated upon a crag absorbed in meditation. They seized and bore her to the edge of a precipice, and having pierced her body with a hundred arrows, hurled it into the chasm below. Ere she was slain, she demanded of them to tell her father, who was then away on the war-path, when two moons had rolled

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away to look for her tears in the pearly spray of the wateriall near by.
Hence her name and story is perpetuated in that crystal .sheet of water that with a leap and a bound descends one hundred and eighty feet, and enraptures the beholder with its magnificent beauty of flood and spray.
The gifted writer was fortunate in the selection of the dactylic hexameter as the meter in which she chose to -write her poem. This was a stroke of genius, as this measure, with its long sweeping rhythm and cadence, is well fitted to give pathos and dignity to tragic narrative. The interweaving of four lines of tetrameter verse in the stanzas is a happy device to relieve the flow which would other wise become languid and monotonous. As a specimen of the poem, we quote the last stanza which gives the sequel of the story. It tells how Hiawassee hunted for his daugh ter Toccoa, when on his return he was told of her death.
" Maddened faint broken-hearted, plunged he into the crystal stream,
Resting not amid the darkness or the daylights piercing beam; Searching ever for his daughter, but he saw her face no more; Gone from earthly sght forever was the radiant Toccoa.
Ere two moons had passed in sorrow, Came a shimmering stretim of brightness, Still, so still, its silvery whiteness Seemed a bridal veil in lightness;
Twas the tear of sweet Toccoa gleaming in the rainbow hue Of the Great Hereafter telling of the Beautiful and True."
The tfieme was likewise happily chosen, as there will always be in all minds touched with sensibility a romantic and unwaning interest in the Indians as portrayed by Cooper and Irving. Their melancholy story and appar ently inevitable doom of extinction as a race will ever stir the human heart. Each song -and legend that tells of them will go down to posterity touched with all the en kindling glow of the romance of their history.
The part that the female sex has played in literature during the present century has been one of peculiar luster, and is worthy of the loftiest panegyric. They may not have produced masterpieces like those from the past that

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have stood as columns of granite firm and erect amidst the flow of centuries, the literary landmarks of a nations gloryr yet in the realm of poetry and fiction they have made large, rich and varied contributions to the general stock of litera ture. They have performed a noble service in the grand and silent temple where learning sits enthroned, adorning its columns with the soft acanthus wreaths of song and itsarches with the graceful festoons of fiction. Their poetic genius and taste have been forcibly expressed in the relig ious poem and the sacred lyric or hymn. Like Mary in the gospel with the alabaster box of precious ointment, Fran ces Ridley Havergal in sweet, poetic numbers has poured. out the fragrance of devotion at a Saviours feet and filled the world with the odor of his love and praise. Dinah Muloch, from the rich treasures of thought in holy fervor, has sweetly told of Christ the blessed Redeemer, and the joysand comforts of his grace that, like "myrrh, aloes and cassia out of the ivory palace of perfume/ make glad the heart of the sincere lovers of Jesus.
It is in the writing of sacred lyrics and gospel hymns that the female mind in literature has been strikingly dis played. -More delicate style of speech, tenderness of feel ing, and fervor of piety qualify the sex for the task. What pathos, what devotion, in the songs of Fannie J. Crosby. How touchingly expressed is the deep contrition that fills the soul of the awakened sinner in "Pass me not, O gen tle Savior"! How precious to the human heart is the love of Christ, presented in "Savior more than life to me"! What strength, what comfort in "I need thee every hour" by Annie J. Hawks! How great a source of spiritual bene diction to the church arid the world have been the songs composed by the female sex who have thus consecrated their genius to the glory of God. They have uplifted from the Christian life the gloom and formality, and dissipated1 the groans, tears, strifes, doubts, fears and the constant laying of the foundation of repentance from dead works, with which it has been associated. They have let in the sunshine, and made the path of the Christian as he wends his way heavenward to be one of triumph, joy and vic tory. They have not the solemn music, the sublime thought

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and doctrinal teaching of "Old Hundred," "How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord," and many others of the old hymns, which they should not supersede, but serve as poems of rejoicing to the Christian in his pilgrimage
through time. Among the writers of. sacred lyrics may be placed
Mrs. Rogers, the subject of this article. She is the author of a missionary poem that was sung at the convention of the delegates of the female missionary boards of the differ ent conferences of the M. E. Church, South, at Nashville, Tenn., in 1897. As an index to the character and literary merits of this composition the following stanza is quoted:
" Lovely minstrel, let the music of thy most entrancing lays Swell the triumph of Jehovah in a song of joy and praise. Like the_ voice of Miriam wafted o'er the billows of the sea; Chant his glory with timbrel, ' Who, O Lord, is like unto thee?' "
The noble life she has lived is Mrs. Rogerss grandest poem. In the sphere of Christian duty she. as a lifetime teacher in the Sabbath-school, has been leading those of her sex in the sweet bloom of girlhood toward the beautiful city, and in the responsibilities of a long period of widow hood she has fully met her parental obligations, by her energy of spirit and toil of brain securing for her children the benefits of a collegiate education. Rome will hereafter render divine honors to me as a parent said the Roman matron Cornelia to Marcus Nepos, the historian, who had written bitterly of her as the mother of the two Gracchi, that had fallen martyrs to liberty. Thus should honor and distinction crown every mother who has done her parental
duty. "Only a Fleeting Dream" is perhaps the finest production
of the genius and pen of Mrs. Rogers. It was published in "Womans Work," Athens, Ga., December, 1893. It is a poem of exquisite tenderness and beauty. If she had written nothing else it would have crowned her with the poets immortal wreath. None other may excel it in deep pathos of soul and ethereal touches, not even Poes "Anna bel Lee." As the mind scans the lines, the heart throbs with emotions too deep for utterance or tears. It sweetly
11 si

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recalls in ideal dream the years of wedded bliss of the past, and of the return of the one (the husband) so loving and true, whom death had borne away to the spirit-land in the long ago, and again are renewed the scenes and happy dreams of lifes May-morn. The blissful illusion fades, and "down lifes wean- way" the dreamer with lonely heart turns again.
The story of loves deep devotion in the poem is no fig ment of fancy, but had its realization in the life-experience of the authoress. It was written upon her birthday. As she had written the first two lines,
" Down from the hills of the Unseen Land A whisper comes to-day,"
there was a violent shaking of everything in the room, and she began to think it really was a spiritual manifestation. She arose and went out in the hall, where her sister and the children were gathered, and "we found out," she writes, "there was an earthquake" the one which shook Charles ton to its center.
The patriotic element is a marked feature of her charac ter. This was fostered by the associations and environ ments of her childhood, and by a continuity of incidents and events in after-life. Her patriotic feeling has been in terestingly illustrated in her personal history. She had the honor at two different times of presenting flags to a military company. The first was in 1860 when in the bud ding grace of womanhood she presented the United States flag to the Upson Guards. This was the last flag of "the stars and stripes" presented at the South. It was >a fair, sweet morn, no cloud flecked the blue above, and the broad land was wrapped in the golden beams of sunlight. Peace spanned the political horizon and all hearts rejoiced. The old flag, as it threw out its silken folds to the breeze, filled each bosom with patriotic joy and pride.
When the epoch of secession came and the South would set up a separate government, she again presented a flag to the same military company. This time it was the "bonnie blue." or Confederate flag. It was made with her hands and the first on Georgias soil. This flag went all through.

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ihe war, and is now folded up among her relics of the Con federacy. At a meeting" of the Daughters of the Confederacy in the fall of 1897, at Augusta, Ga., which she attended as president of the chapter of her own town, by a strange coincidence "she sat on the stage, directly under the very banner under which her deceased husband had marched. The incident unsealed the fountain of tears "when the sur viving members of the old company marched into the hall .amid the beating of drums, in the dear old jackets of gray, and canteens gracefully slung over their shoulders."
The pride of ancestry serves to foster the principle of patriotism* This influence is not properly recognized in the social structure in this government of political equality and marked individuality of the citizen. Moral and mental graces may not be always transmitted, yet more than oft the son will inherit the virtues of the sire. There is a magnetic force and power in a noble lineage and an illus trious record to inspire to worthy deeds. Such may have had its influence in fostering the patriotism of the subject of this article. She is a lineal descendant of Sir Ralph Lane, who was sent over to Roanoke, Ya., by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585. Her great uncle Joel Lane was the founder of Raleigh, X: C, and deeded 3000 acres of land fo that city. The Provisional Congress met at his house on the I2th of July, J 775- He was a full colonel in the Revolutionary war. Her grandmother had five nephews that were governors Governor Joe Lane of Oregon. Henry Lane of Indiana, Governor Colquitt of Georgia, Governor David Swane of North Carolina, and Governor Lane of Alabama.
Love of country is an ennobling principle of character. It is esteemed as the highest type of virtue. That soul is dead to every generous impulse that can not say with deep pathos of spirit, "this is my own, my native land." As em blematic of its national glory and honor, the patriot will love his countrys flag. The leal sons of the South can but love "Dixie" and cherish tender regard for the bonnie blue flag" that went down in humiliation and defeat, but they should remember that the restored union demands their love and loyalty, and that the banner which now floats above them is the "stars and stripes." and they

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should venerate it when furled in peace, and follow it whem as "the war god" it flings its folds to the breeze, and callsthem to the field of battle, and to die on "honors lofty-
bed."

MADAME LE VERT.
As the author of "Souvenirs of Travel," Madame Le Vert, the subject of this essay, has claim to literary notice and distinction in the realm of letters. Perhaps no speciesof literature is more fascinating to the mind than that, which tells the story of travel in foreign lands with a de scription of the scenery, manners, customs, laws, science,, arts and governments of the people. It is delightful with, book in hand to follow the tourist as with his pen he sketches and unfolds in beautiful panorama ihe mountain in its grandeur, the valley with its verdure, the lake with itsshimmering sheen and the river in its majestic flow; or leaving the sequestered scenes of nature with its haunts of echoing glory, he plants us in the marts and thoroughfares of towns and cities amidst >a new and strange civilization, with its ever-shifting throng of faces and actors, that par take of the fantasy of a dream.
Not every one has written or can write an interesting book of travels. It must be more than a record of jour neys or the recital of objects seen. The true tourist must be one who loves nature and has an eye observant of all: its charms and phases, and who with philosophic mind scansall the features and conditions of moral and social life. The world has produced some famous travelers. Among the first on record may be mentioned Herodotus, a Greek, who lived in the fifth century before Christ. He journeyed through Egypt and the countries of Asia, and wrote his observations of the manners, customs and lawsof the nations that he visited, and compiled them in nine volumes, named after the nine Muses. His style is so easy and graceful that it is said of him that he borrowed hislanguage from the Muses. His work is extant, and though)

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liis narratives have the air of romance, yet they display the intelligence of a shrewd observer, and are considered to be of incalculable value as shedding light upon that era of the world. Polybius, a Greek, next appears. He lived in the second century before Christ, and at the time when Rome was,by the subjugation of Greece preparing for the acquisition of universal empire. He traveled extensively and visited all countries then known and accessible. His work is highly esteemed by scholars. Marco Polo of the fifteenth century, Le Hue and Bayard Taylor of the present age and many others have added valuable books of travel to the list. "
This review of books of travel shows this class of litera ture is not worthless and ephemeral. It sustains Madame Le Verts claim and title to an honorable place in literature as the author of "Souvenirs of Travel." There are cir cumstances connected with her writing the book that add honor and luster to her name. It was at an era when at the South there were but few names in literature. When her book came forth before the public, it appeared in soli tary beauty like the star that opens the gates of mofTiing. She resided at Mobile, Ala. She made a trip to Europe, and the "Souvenirs of Travel" is the record of her observations and reflections upon what she saw and heard, with the various incidents of travel. She was distinguished for her versatility of mind and literary taste, and these qualities give glow and interest and value to her descrip tions.
At that period Europe was the great resort of American tourists. It was the old world which had been for three thousand years the theater of grand events in the history of the human race. There were the arts of civilization, the towns and cities, towers and palaces, hoar with antiquity and glorious with renown. It was to the inhabitants of the new world the home of their ancestors. There was Italy with its arts of music, painting and sculpture, with every foot of its soil hallowed by heroic deds and mighty memories. There, too, was Rome, still in its fame the impe rial city to the world after a lapse of nearly thirty centuries. This was to Madame Le Vert, the field of travel and re-

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search from which, with her graceful and cultured intellect,,
she gathered the descriptions and observations of men and:
things presented in "Le Souvenirs." Not only as a writer, but also for her attainments as a
linguist does this gifted daughter of the South. deserve literary notice. A taste and genius for the study and cul ture of modern languages was a marked feature of her ver satile intellect. These perhaps were fostered by her resi
dence in foreign lands. Traveling to Italy and sojourning
in that land of the orange and the grape, overarched by itsbeautiful blue skies, living in the midst of all in.art that
could inspire the mind and having the Italian falling upon, her ear in accents soft as the notes of the lute, she could but desire a knowledge of the language. Residing in Parisand hearing the French spoken by the polished circle of
that city, she would be charmed with the grace and deli cacy of that tongue which has given it precedence at the courts of Europe as the medium of diplomatic intercourse,, and be incited to learn it. And so with the Spanish, which
in the Castilian, the classic dialect of the nation, pleaseswith its soft lingering cadences and sonorous majesty.
The studv of these Romance languages was an object of
special pursuit with Madame Le Vert, and in her "Sou venirs of Travel" she urges the study of them upon all per-
. sons of literary taste. She speaks of the learning of them as being of easy attainment and largely repaying the scholar for his toil by opening up to him new fields of thought and modes of expression. At the time Madame Le Vert wrote
the schools and colleges in the land were in their infancy, . and French was the only modern foreign language studied, and that merely as ornamental. In-the last few years the tendency has been in the educational world to eliminate-
even the study of Latin and Greek from the curriculum? of the schools, on account of the marvelous development of the English language in its vocabulary and the increase
of its capacities and its wide diffusion making it, as it were,, cosmopolitan.
The study of foreign tongues should be promoted, not for the sake of pedantry, but for the solid benefit it renders to scholarship. It affords fine training for the mind and"

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contributes largely to the culture of voice and capacity of expression. The oral reading of Latin and Greek, not according to the curt rules of English pronunciation, but with the musical flow of their ancient vocal sounds, will add to the charm and beauty of speech. There will be a soft abrasion of the angular points of many words in the English with those who have the privilege of such training.
It is said of Emerson, the oracle in letters to Xew Eng land, that he would not read a book written in any language save the English. He considered the labor bestowed in translation from a foreign tongue a waste of time. "The intellect," says Aristotle, " is perfected, not by knowledge, but by activity"; likewise in another passage, "The arts and sciences are powers, but every power exists only for the sake of action; the end of philosophy, therefore, is not knowledge."
"If," says Malebranche, "I held truth captive in my hand, I should open my hand and let it fly, in order that I might pursue and capture it." The toil and delight of the
mind in the study of the languages find a happy illustra tion in the labors of the bee that gathers pollen from the opening flowers rather than feed upon the honey already
stored up in the cells of the hive. So far as English-speaking people are concerned, the
study of their own language is a matter of prime impor tance. It is their vernacular tongue, and in view of its grace, majesty, opulence of synonyms and vast literary wealth, it may be called the royal language. It is rich in all the elements of speech necessary to express sublime thought or tender emotion, with -every note of modulation, from "the thunders of the epic muse to the melting accents
of the lyre." Award to her the medal of the traveler and wreath of
the scholar.

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.
MY FIRST SCHOOLMASTER AND EARLY
SCHOOL DAYS.
CHAPTER I.
A dream wafts me back to my childhood. I shake my :gray head, and with wonder and delight ponder how it comes that its pictures visit me, which it seems would lor:g ago have been forgotten. As clear as pebbles in the limpid brook the incidents and scenes of that period of life ap pear mirrored forth upon the tiny stream of its memories, as if it were but yesterdav I dreamed myself ba>:k to child hood. Vividly comes up in mind the important epoch of that era, the beginning of my school days, and my :irst schoolmaster. To me. as to every one, it marked the dr.wn of my conscious intellectual being and individuality. Up to that time, as with all children, vague and indefinite were all my mental acts, and these were confined to the demands of my physical wants and functions.
This beginning and excerpt of my school life was over sixty years ago. It was among the red hills of Middle Georgia, where the skies are bluer, the air sweeter, and the flowers brighter to me than in all other lands: for there my eyes first opened upon the light; there was the scene of my boyhood and of the riper years of my manhood, with all their endearing associations, and there, in its sacred soil, repose the ashes of my father and mother and other kindred.
The old familiar schoolhouse, the humble, red-painted building, where I learned my letters, and began the ascent of the ancient hill of knowledge, rises up as clear and vivid as when viewed in the first fresh hours of childhood. T see the chimney, one at each end of the long structure.

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I see the two doors in front and the glass sash of the twowindows beyond which I sat and with boyish diligence-
and anxious heart conned my lessons for the hour, I scan again the inside of the schoolroom, with its long writing-desks fastened to the walls of the building, and the long benches in the rear of them, each with its row of pupils facing the wall. There, too, still stands at the front the large post-oak with its scarred trunk and tortuous stem, seated under which oft I took my repast at noon. There also appears the spring that received its crystal wa
ters from the hillside, with the chinquapin tree overshad owing it, as when oft with my playmates I loitered there
with boyish dalliance.
There, I see hard by the old-fashioned meeting-house, large and commodious, which Methodism, in its bold and. pioneering spirit of planting the Gospel, had reared in the early settlement of the country. I enter the door of thisbuilding and behold the venerable ministers of God in the pulpit. I again hear the Gospel in soothing strains of the
old-time ipreachers, and I devoutly praise God that I re ceived into my young heart the story of salvation through a crucified Redeemer that fell from their lips, and having realized its divine power in after years, the religion of
Christ has been my stay and comfort through the lapseof a long life, and, now when earthly hopes are waning,,
dispenses joy and peace. There adjacent also is the solemn graveyard, where
after lifes fitful fever was over the first white settlers of"
the soil were laid to sleep. Its somber pageantry and memorials of human mortality are well remembered, yet
they did not check the sports and merry shouts of theroystering young spirits that gathered at noon on the play
ground near, nor disturb their day-dreams of life and hope and joy in the years to come.
There comes up the recollection of the still loneliness-
of the locality of that schoolhouse. There was no beauty
of grove or landscape"- to charm "the eye, nor human hab itation with its enlivening sights and sounds of rural in dustry to animate the mind. The founders of this school"
gave it the name of Franklin Academy. It was called af-

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ter the American sage, the statesman of revolutionary
fame, and the philosopher, who drew down from the sky the Promethean spark of electricity, whose agency and ex
ploits in the arts have rendered marvelous the civilization of the present century. An Academy, so called from the olive garden in the suburbs of ancient Athens, where, amid the marble glories of art and the play of fountains, Plato-
taught and discoursed to his disciples so sweetly of the immortality of the soul, that it was said upon his lips had
settled the prognostic swarm of bees. Before the mind pass in retrospection the throngs of
boys and girls, young men and young ladies, who, as pupils, attended the Academy. The countenance of each one, the words, actions and incidents with which they sev
erally were connected, appear clear and distinct as in the daily association of that shifting drama of four years of
school life. Sweet and pleasant is the hearts recollection of them. At this long distance of time, memory recalls no despicable traits of character among them. Those were
the days of republican simplicity of manners and of home
spun dress. Xoble and manly were the bosoms that throbbed beneath the copperas roundabout or the jeans coat of home made cloth. The faces that peered from under fly-bonnets
were as sweet and fair as the buds and blossoms of the rose as they peep out from their green hoods in sum mer.
After sixty years the heart still throbs responsive to the ties of attachment-to the schoolmates of that happy period.
It holds them all in cherished remembrance. The career in life of many of them is not known; over some fate soon
dropped its curtain; others were the loved associates of my manhood days; a few of them still remain. All rise
up in memory from that sunny spot of childhood in the luminous haze of spiritual vision, and fondly does the heart cherish the hope and anticipation of meeting them in the land of God.

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ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

CHAPTER n.
In the forefront, and the central figure in the picture of this dream of my chifdhood days, is the master or teacher. He rises up in memory as he was then, the same tidy and ever well-dressed person, of less than medium height, form slender, lithe and well-knit, complexion fair and flush, eyes blue,-full and luminous, hair glossy black, with locks smooth and combed to the front over the ears, hands fair and soft, and finger-nails of extreme whiteness, al ways kept sharpened to a point. There was never a speck to be seen on his clothes.
He was an Irishman, and his name was Christopher Flanagan. It was said of him that he was educated for the office of a Roman Catholic priest. He had come to America, and for some reason had drifted to the South to engage in teaching school. He had the reputation of being a fine scholar and expert in the management of youth. He was a rigid disciplinarian. There was no coaxing or persuading of pupils to proper behavior or to the learning of lessons. The command was given and the rod was employed to enforce obedience. True to his Irish nature, he was bland in disposition, and spoke in a smooth and easy tone of voice.
He did not always punish with a switch, but sometimes with strokes of ferule in the hand, or with his sharpened finger-nails pinched and then boxed the ears of the cul prit. These modes of punishment inflicted on his discip line the stigma of cruelty and tyranny. To his credit it may be said that when he inflicted ipunishment upon a pupil, he did not seem to be-prompted to it by a morose and irritable temper (as many teachers are), or callous sensibilities, or for the love he bore to learning, but from a sense of his obligation as teacher to make the pupilslearn their lessons and to observe good behavior. He ac quired reputation as a model teacher, and taught not only in Georgia, but also for many years in Alabama. There are still living in both States some of his pupils, now quite

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aged, who remember him and will read this sketch with
interest. . Twenty years after this period of his schoolboy life and
its incidents had passed far back into memory the writer of this article was traveling on the train from LaGrange to Macon, Ga. When getting off at Atlanta to change cars, among the passengers on board that came thronging out, his attention was attracted to one of them who was quite tidily dressed. As if by intuition, the thought came in mind that this person was his old school-teacher. As he walked into a restaurant near by and came under the lamplight (it being then 12 oclock at night), and glanced up from the shadow of his hat brim, the fierce blue eyes and the low emphasis of voice in which he spoke con firmed the fact of his identity.
The writer, approaching him in a courteous manner,, inquired his name. He replied, "My name is Christopher Flanagan." The response from the writer was, "I am glad to see you, Mr. Flanagan; you are my old teacher." "But who are you," said he. The answer was John Greene. "Ah! John, I know you by your voice, was his reply. The writer again said, "Mr. Flanagan, I have for a long time desired to meet with you." "I dont know why, John; I used to flog you sharplv," he rejoined. "Thats all forgotten now, Mr. Flanagan."
This meeting with his old teacher and the interview
of two or three hours that followed were to the writer a
pleasing incident. In the happy constitution of things
time had effaced from memory the sharpness of the sun
dry taps and strokes of the ferule and switch, and now in
the light of thoughtful manhood and his own experience
as a teacher for several years, he could survey the pre
ceptor of his first school clays. The important service ren
dered and the high and delicate relations sustained seem to have established it as a fixed principle and sentiment
of society, that there should exist strong bonds of attach
ment between preceptor and pupil. It is said that the an
cient Athenians regarded their obligations to Corridas,,
who had taught their king Theseus the ways of virtue
and truth, to be so great, that they yearly sacrificed a

^74

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

ram to his manes. Philip, king of Macedon, congratulated himself that he lived in the same age with Aristotle, as if he had a prevision of the sublime career of his heroic son, and that the training he received from this eminent philosopher would prepare him for it.
Over sixty years have passed since that hour in child hood when the writer of this article first stood by his old masters side with Websters blue-back spelling-book in hand, and, as portrayed in frontispiece, for him to guide his young feet up the steps into the temple of Knowledge. Now. in the twilight of age, as in lonely thought he stands by the mound that covers the molclering dust of the teacher of his boyhood, in the spirit of gratitude he would render just and noble tribute to his memory. Peace be to his ashes, and may perpetual spring breathe into his urn and the early crocus crown it with clusters of its
golden blossoms.

CHAPTER III.
At the epoch mentioned in this sketch (1836 A.D.), Georgia was in the first stages of its progress and devel opment as a State. On account of the sparsity of its pop ulation, schools were few, and these were confined to towns and thickly settled communities. Teachers were scarce, and these were principally foreigners or from Xew Eng land, who came South to enlighten the land or a penny turn. Their foreign birth and manners placed them at an unso ciable distance to the youthful throng they were to teach. Their reputed learning and the discipline they exercised rendered their persons and presence dread and august to their pupils.
The rigorous extent to which some of them carried their discipline and exactions in the work of the school room rendered them grim ogres instead of genial guides to young and timid minds in the walks of learning. This should not be the case. That the great ends of educa tion may be happily accomplished, it is highly important that Ihe association of the teacher and ipupils, as far as possible, should be congenial and delightful. It should ac-

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cord with the picture that the Latin poet Persius gives
of his school life and experience in a poem addressed to Annseus Cornutus, his preceptor. In expression of his .gratitude and affection, he says to this teacher of his youth, "O, sweet friend, it delights me to show to thee how great thy part may be of my soul. In the period of youth when the path is uncertain, and error ignorant of life divides the trembling thoughts in the branching crossways, thou receivest me into thy Socratic bosom. The example apposite to my manners, skillful to lead imper ceptibly, shows to me my faults; and the mind as pressed by reason, yields to be overcome, and draws the artist and his lineaments to thy molding touch. For I remember to consume long days with thee and to spend the first hours of the night with thee in philosophical conversation, away from the banquet table."
The office of the school-teacher is highly responsible .and sacred. He stands as preceptor to his pupils in loco parcntis sancti. In his work and the results of it in train ing the mind and molding the character of the young, he has been compared to the sculptor in the quarry, who with
chisel shapes and carves the inanimate marble into sym metry and beauty of life: or to the potter, with his revolv ing wheel and deft fingers, who fashions from the plastic
clay the Etruscan vase. This strong and figurative lan.guage and the illustrations given hardly exceed the fact of the potency of the influence and the impression that the teacher makes upon pliant child-nature.
There are thousands of persons, no doubt, who bear in their own consciousness and experience ample test of the power for good or evil the teacher exerts upon his pupils. This, not only in the direct work of instruction from text books, but also from the unconscious tuition that flows from his ways, manners and personal traits of character. The writer of this sketch recalls to mind the unfortunate
bias that the discipline of his childhoods teacher gave to his own notions of school government in after years, and he would gladly have the retrospect effaced from his mem ory. Parents should be careful in selecting guides and preceptors for their children in the work of mental train-

176

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

ing and literary culture. They should be unwilling- to> delegate the high and delicate duties of these offices to any one whose traits of character and personality they would not be willing to have transferred to their own chil dren.
At that day the school life of the child usually began at eight to ten years of age, as custom in the past had fixed,, if no obstacles interposed. There are those who hold against this early invasion of childhood with the cold and harsh demands and tasks of mental toil and physical con finement. .They maintain that it should be a period sacred to innocent sports and childish joys, and that its hours should be counted on a dial woven of flowers. There is,, and always has been, a disposition and tendency on the part of parents and teachers to press the infant mind too early into the artificial realm of letters. An article from the pen of Mrs. (General) Lew Wallace, titled "Mur dered Innocents," condemning such a theory and practice,, was published some months ago, and met with a conspicu ous display and hearty indorsement from the press.
The work of training a child should begin with the dawn of intellect and the power of speech upon the tongue. The mind and spiritual affections are atrote (tireless) and instinct with divine energy. They must feed upon the dregs of passion or the pure spirit of knowledge. The butterfly may flit from flower to flower and feed upon bloom-dust and sunshine as its existence is ephemeral. Man as a moral and sentient being has higher duties to perform and nobler gratification to seek than the exercise of his animal functions. It is not necessary that childminds should engage in the mechanical routine of learn ing the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they rep-resent, and the combination of them into syllables and words, in order to acquire knowledge that will enlighten and beautify the soul. For this period of intellectual cul ture and development, there is a volume open to those of tender age, apposite, beautiful and attractive in the world of nature.
The Divine Creator in the wisdom and goodness that mark the works of His hand has provided in the blue sky

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177

above with its shining hosts of stars, and the earth below
with its flowers and varied forms of animal and insect life, a kindergarten grand and spacious in rich provi sion for the instruction, training and guidance of the young
immortals of the race. Not only this; but He has crowned this beneficience with the happy arrangement that the mother in the fullness of her love becomes the teacher and
guide to the infant minds in the task of instruction. It is her high and holy duty to teach them the existence of
God and to lisp His eternal name. She can unfold to them His goodness in the tints of the rose and the fragrance of the lily. With their growing intelligence, she can lead
them out at night under the sky, point to it, as the Great Book that God holds in His hand, upon whose azure ground their eyes may trace written in the burning hiero
glyphics of the stars the words "God is love." The mother sits at the fountain of being, and to the young life as to a rivulet, gives direction and opens up the channel in which,
as the full stream, it is to flow in after years.

CHAPTER IV.
The mother, in her capacity as the first instructor of the young immortal mind, can do an important work of culture in training her offspring to correct speech. This is a valuable and beautiful attainment. Xone, perhaps, sur passes it in literary excellence. Language is said to be the gift of the gods. It gives the human race its high, place in the scale of creation. The language of a nation, is its life and heart, and the index of its degree of enlight enment. The mother begins her task with the lisping ac cents of the cradle. The tones of her voice and the wordsof her lips will be the models to the infant being that nes tles upon her bosom, and with its coy look into her face drinks in the inspiration of love. Let the law of kind ness dwell in her tongue and the grace and beauty of speech upon her lips in daily intercourse through the years of childhood, and she will lead the young spirit to the acquisition of language sweet, chaste and dignified, that will be to its life a charm and blessing.

178

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

The family, the church and the state are three ordained educators in the provision that God has designed for the training and guidance of the human race as moral and sentient beings. Each of these has its respective sphere of work and influence. The church and state constitute what may be termed society, and in their force and effect upon the rising generation often prove greater than parentage. "Young men," said a wise Caliph of Arabia, "are more like the age they live in than they are like their fathers." This is a profound social maxim, and on careful reflection
will be found to be true. The family may be considered as the corner-stone of the
social fabric. The general characteristics and features of the household at the period in the history of Georgia mentioned in this sketch, is worthy of thoughtful consid eration, in view of its influence as an educator. It may be said of parental government, that it was patriarchal in its simplicity and authority. To command was the revered prerogative of the parent, to obey the sacred duty of the child. The father, as the husband or the band of the house, both by precept and example incited and encouraged his sons to habits of industry and economy. The mother in her matronly office beautifully exemplified the scriptural pattern of a virtuous woman. She laid her hands to the spindle and distaff; provided her family with clothing;
opened her mouth with wisdom and looked well to the ways of her household that they eat not the bread of idle ness.
The responsibility and duty of parents to provide for the moral and mental training of their children were fully recognized and appreciated. The era of childhood was not permitted to pass in void and idle sports, but little duties suited to their capacity were required at home of children. The period of boyhood and girlhood, the pro pitious vernal season of life in which the parental hand should sow in the young hearts and minds the seeds of truth and virtue, was also utilized to the full extent of its precious opportunity and to natures prescribed boundary of manhood and womanhood.
Schools were regarded as absolutely necessary to the

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179

.accomplishment of the work of training. Children were started to school as early as circumstances would per mit. They were taught to appreciate the advantages of an education and to improve their time at school. There was no provision made by the State for public schools. It was considered to be the natural prerogative and inalien able duty of parents to provide for the schooling of their own children. It became them as fathers of their house holds, and in their manly independence and sovereign capac ity as citizens of the republic, to do this.
The home culture dispensed was a fit supplement to complete their education and prepare the young for lifes duties. The sons of the grand yeomanry of that period. whether of patrician or plebeian, slave-holding or nonslave-holding class, grew up with steady habits and fixed plans in life. -To them life was no unsubstantial pageant filled with dreams of wealth to be obtained by stroke of for tune, but it was to them real, earnest, strong, and laboring and waiting, they realized that choicest boon of earthly hap piness, the spirit of contentment.
The daughters, though oftentimes returning home from fashionable boarding-schools, went quietly to the loom and spinning-wheel, and finished up their education by becom ing initiated into the domestic crafts of weaving, making bed-quilts and acquiring knowledge of the culinary art. Thus they filled up the sweet dream of womanhood inter vening between the closing of their schoolgirl life and the eventful hour of marriage with occupations that gave useful emolovment to the mind and salutary exercise to the body.
The family libraries of the land were small in that rare day of printing, but they o.ftentimes contained some of the choice works of English literature. In them might be found Milton, Cowper, Young, and others of the divine poets of the English tongue. These were studied, and helped to form the literary taste of the household. The rambler among the old family libraries will now and then find an antique volume that was published in England, whose chaste and classic binding will delight the eye, and the treasured thoughts within will be to the mind like the rich draughts from an old mellow cask of wine to the taste.

i8o

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES,

Now amidst the years of time and the waning of his;

earthly life does the writer of this sketch rejoice to do.

honor and reverence to the memory of his parents, who, in.

their parental love and devotion, provided and even made

sacrifice to give to their five sons and four daughters the

full educational advantages of those times. This they di4-

even at the risk of sneers and being called proud and pa

trician in their views and plans for their children in life-

He would pause to render tribute of filial gratitude to that

father whose family pride and deep love for his children!

prompted him to make them worthy of that ancestral line

that could proudly point to eight members of it from the,

"Old Dominion State" that served in the Revolutionary

war (one of them being his father), and three of them be

ing color-bearers. Now, after twenty-five years since his-

decease, does he rise up to mind as he was in the meridian

of his days, a man of massive frame, strong, native intel

lect, lofty integrity of character, a devout Christian, with

heart and hand open to charity as Ihe sun.

A half century has not effaced from mind the features of

a sainted mother, but has deepened them, "as streams their

channels deeper wear." She, too, was devoted to her chil--

dren and labored zealously for their moral and intellectual

welfare in her meek and quiet way. She, too, was proud

of her maiden name Wyche, as having noble record in1

southern Georgia. All the virtues and charms that are en

dearing in a mother she possessed, and memory now recalls

her in all her living grace as she moved in the household,

its guardian spirit, singing with glad heart the songs of

Zion. and with melody of voice "as sweet as an angels:

lute."

..

It was from the hand of an elder brother that the writer

in his boyhood, received the greatest literary help and

inspiration. It was he, when verging on manhood, that

served as pedagogus to conduct the little brother, then a

child, into the presence of the schoolmaster memorialized"

in this piece, and under whose sheltering arm and protect

ing love he felt secure from all harm. This beloved brother

returning home as a graduate from the University of Geor->-

gia, in all the charms and grace of manly beauty and col-

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181

legiate honor, and with a library of the works of the mas ters of English literature, still cherished his interest in that boy-brother, and brought him the "Arabian Nights" and "Tales of a Grandfather." These books read, were the "Sesame" to open the gates of knowledge to the dreaming .boy and awaken in his heart the love of reading. It was he who-in his deep fraternal affection conceived that he discovered.the marks of genius in the young bookworm and forecast for him literary distinction.
Many years have passed since then. The fond hopes which that elder brother entertained of him he loved so well, and to whom he opened up the perennial joys of cul tured mind, may not have been realized. The modest re pute o"f ^e scholar only has been attained, but no proud title won, yet to the memoryof that brother to whom he owes so much would the writer render the tenderest tribtite that love can pay, and in proud eulogy record his vir
tues and his deeds.

CHAPTER V-
The church, as the pillar and groundwork of revealed truth or Christianity, as an educator can not be fully esti mated. In and through it the Gospel as the wisdom and power of God operates in the ministry of the Word as its chief ordinance, to destroy the effects of sin and restore mankind to the divine image. The truths dispensed and the spiritual aid vouchsafed accompany them, afford gui dance and support, relieve the disabilities of mans fallen nature .and uplift to a high plane of moral and intellectual being. In the teaching of Christ its membership are styled the salt of the earth and the light of the world in emblem atic significance of the conservative moral power and en lightening influence the church would exert upon society. The atonement of Christ, the great central fact of Chris tianity, as the sublime exhibition of the love of God and the mediatorial provision He has made for the. salvation of :the race, presents the strongest incentives to virtue and piety. The doctrine of immortality as taught, received and established in the Gospel, sheds more light and joy upon

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.
the moral scene of human life than all the converging ray? from the schools of philosophy, as conveyed in the mystic theories of Pythagoras, the wise reasonings of Socrates,, or the fascinating dreams of Plato. The purity of its doc trines and the living piety of its members determine the efficiency and the moral power of the church as an educator.
It may be said of the general church, and especially of the Methodist Episcopal Church of that era (1836 to 1844), in Georgia, that its type and status were such as to invest it with spiritual power and influence upon the society of thenewly born republic. The Gospel of Christ was preached by the ministry of the M. E. Church in the simplicity of its doctrines of grace and truth. There were no dull, dead ceremonial observances to encumber its spirituality; no dark, gloomy creed of Calvinism to overshadow the glory of its full atonement; no profane immoralities of its clergy to impugn its divine verity. As the American poet has written, "Here (in this land) the free spirit of man had thrown off its last fetter." It had burst the bonds of Brit ish rule and of the ecclesiastical tyranny that had en thralled Europe for centuries. Freedom of opinion and the right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience: were secured by the Constitution of the nation formed of the sisterhood of republics. The people received the Gos pel as the Word of God, in much assurance and power. They attended reverently upon the ordinances of public" worship. Altars of prayer were reared in the Christianhome, and "kneeling down, to Heavens Eternal King, thesaint, the father, and the husband prayed" at night and morning. The corner-stone of religion was in the* house hold.
The State as an educator serves to enlighten and qualify for the duties and obligations of citizenship. Georgia was then in its pristine state as a newly formed republic. For over a half century the people, emancipated from the sov ereignty of Great Britain, had exercised the sacred rights of freemen, and had learned to love and appreciate their liberty amidst the unchecked freedom of the wilderness and of pioneer life. Their hearts burned with pure and patriotic love of country. No bitter sectional persecution of aboli-

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183

tionists and freesoilers at the north; no civil war with its sanguinary battles and costly sacrifice of human lives; no
years of political oppression and proscription of its rights in the union after the war had closed and a full amnesty pledged, had intervened to alienate the hearts of the people
of the South from the great Union and their common coun try. The Fourth of July, as the anniversary of the Declara tion of Independence and the birthday of the nation, was celebrated with joy, and the star-spangled banner, the em blem of its glory, as it threw out its silken folds upon the breeze, was hailed with patriotic delight. It may readily be assumed that such environments and influences as de scribed, and with the Anglo-Saxon stock as the base, would form and develop the highest type of character. In this light the fathers and mothers, the manhood and woman hood of that period, appeared to the writer in his youth and now through the intervening lapse of years. As recalled in
the impressions of his boyhood or seen under the telescopic eye of memory, they may appear grander and nobler than
they were, and relieved of the faults common to humanity. But like old Greek Xestor in speaking of the heroes of his early days, the writer thinks they were unequaled in the his
toric record of past generations and unexcelled by the en lightened age of the present in the nobility of their person and character.
It may be estimated of them that in their parental office they would be wise preceptors and safe guardians of the young. Their examples of lofty integrity and Christian virtue were impressive models to youth. The tone and standard of moral and social sentiment they affixed and gave to society encouraged virtue and restrained vice. All this was a grand factor in the educational agencies of that
day. The spirit of chivalry, as an attribute of Southern character, that has been the boast of the South and the source of spleen to the North, was also an educative ele
ment that had an ennobling effect. How and whence its origin is an interesting subject of inquiry and speculation. It did not emanate from the titled and coroneted nobility of Europe in the colonial settlement of the country. Aloof from the corrupting influences of the civilization of the old

184

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

world and nurtured in the bosom of the wilderness amidst
the grandeur and beauty of nature, and having the pride of family and heritage that exists in the humblest phase of life, the first settlers and their descendants grew up, clad in man hoods native honor. It was fostered in a large measure by the institution and existence of African slavery that then existed in the South. This was its effect in those sections
and in those families where it prevailed in its humane form of service. It exempted the Southern people from the Tiard and harsh demands of manual labor and employment. Not only this, but it furnished a system of labor which alone could open up those vast areas of fertile land that like so many cornucopias poured their rich agricultural wealth into the lap of the South.
The institution of slavery to perform the menial drud gery of life has entered into the social system and political fabric of every nation and people that attained eminence amd excellence in the arts of civilized life. The labor it performed and the leisure it secured produced for ancient Greece the Spartan valor of her soldiers, the renown of her Athenian statesmen, and built for her the Acropolis with its marble glories of art and the matchless beauty of its Parthenon that has served as a monument to perpetuate the genius of her people amidst the wasting years of time. It enabled ancient Rome to accomplish her sublime career of conquest and empire, and to span the ages with triumphal arch of fame in the moldering ruins of her colossal archi tecture and the songs of her bards.

CHAPTER VI.
The discipline that prevailed in the schools of that period was strict, if not rigid. It had its basis and support in the robust spirit of the times, the firm character of parental rule and the moral tone and habits of the people. It, how ever, varied with the personality of the teacher. The rod was the teachers scepter of authority, and like the Roman fasces, it girded his hand with power. The use of it was deemed essential in the schoolroom to correct ill humors, remove bad habits and enforce wholesome morality among

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185

the pupils. A tough hickory switch, well-seasoned and
well applied, was considered to have a powerful charm to expel the evil spirit from a bad boy. Whilst the primi tive infliction of the rod may sometimes be efficacious, yet
it has often brought pain and bitterness to young hearts Avhose school life should have been beautiful as a dream, and marred the hopes of a noble future.
Some indulged the fancy that the rod was needed at times to stimulate the intellect of the pupil into vigorous
activity, as if, like the fabled caduceus of Hermes, it could inspire genius in the soul at its touch, or as the flower-en twined thyrsus of Bacchus awoke the blossoms when it smote the earth, so it would arouse the dormant faculties of the boy-mind. The notion was current from rude antiquity that boys must be flogged to make them learn. Juvenal,
the Latin poet, relates that the grand Achilles of Trojan fame was (metuens virgse) fearing of the rod, when in his native mountains he was taught by Chiron, the Centaur, to .sing and play on the cithara.
It may do to use. the rod in the case of an incorrigibly lazy boy, but it is an unwise expedient to adopt it as a rule, and contrary to the law of growth and development in the realm of nature. Kind words and earnest sympathy will often unfold the hidden grace and powers of the budding youthful intellect as the dews and sunshine in springtime the fragrance and blushing beauty of the rose, when harsh measures will fail. A blow upon the cheek is an insult to
the sacred dignity of a child. The smitings of the tongue ;are worse than the strokes of the rod.
The curriculum of the schools of that day was confined to what was termed the branches of an English or common
school education. It was embraced principally in the three "Rs," as styled by Edward Everett, the American scholar. A knowledge of these, when well studied and "gone through" was considered as sufficient to prepare for the practical duties of life. When this course was finished pupils usually quit school and entered at once upon their chosen avocation, which was generally farming or some
mechanical trade. Latin and Greek were taught in the academy or high

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ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

school, and studied by those pupils who had in view theprofession of law or medicine. The literary facilities of those days were few, but they were the more diligently useii1 and applied in the work of intellectual culture. The motto .vas, that he must endure the toil of ascent who would drink ot the Pierian spring at the summit of the Parnassian hill. This enthusiasm largely pervaded the higher or wealthier
classes of society. Fathers were ambitious for their boys, and desired that they should have a liberal education, as the new country, with its elective form of government, opened a splendid arena to political aspirations. To trim the mid night lamp and to have the countenance paled with cast of thought were regarded as evidence of intellectuality.
The pride of intellect is not the sole glory of man. The-
warm affections of the heart, the lofty sensibilities of thesoul, are of a diviner spirit, and add to the grace and dig nity of his being and assimilate him to the image of his Maker. There was no formal system for the study and> culture of the moral and benevolent affections, as reduced to a science in the text-books and incorporated in the course of school study. There was ample scope for the develop
ment and exercise of them on a high and beautiful scale in home duties and the kindly offices of neighbors in the newly settled country. In the civility and hospitality of the South ern home was nurtured that delightful character, "the gen tleman of the old school," and that chivalry of character which has been the boast and pride of the South.
The early stage of society and the condition of the coun-try were propitious to the culture of patriotism and the he roic spirit in the young. The struggle of the colonies for independence and the events of the war of 1812 with Great Britain were still fresh in all their romance, daring anif glory in the minds of the people. The story of American valor and achievement as it lingered in tradition or felf from the lips of some aged veteran of those wars as told to the young would enkindle in their bosom the fervor of pa triotism. There were books of history of those eras extant that youth could read, whose pages would inspire noble sen timents. The writer remembers with what delight he read?

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187

the life of Marion written by Weems, the prose Homer of
the Revolution. As printing was in its infancy the text-books of the-
schools for that period were few in number. As the key and guide into the realm of letters may be mentioned Web sters blue-back spelling-book. It has not been excelled in its adaptation as a thumb-book for the child. The crude and silent frontispiece of the temple of knowledge with the figures of the preceptor and pupil impressed the child-mind,,
and, as it were, gave it a cordial greeting. Lindley Mur rays English grammar, then Smiths, was used. There lin gers in the mind of the writer a boyish love and reverence for Smiths grammar. Though almost obsolete, it has its merits. Smileys arithmetic and Woodbridges geography
were the remaining text-books chiefly used. The coeducation of the sexes was the prevailing feature
of the schools of that epoch. This was rendered necessary by the sparsity of the population, and it was considered in the natural order of things that boys and girls should be associated in the work and duties of the schoolroom. The two sexes mingled in the home-circle from the cradle, and
in the great problem of earthly destiny they were to be united in the holy bonds of wedlock, and to share each with the other the joys and sorrows of life. They were of equal mental capacity and should receive the same training. It was natural that the enrapturing dream of love should fill their young hearts; that the boys and girls should find the ideals of their fancy each in the other. The manners of the times favored this association of the two-sexes in
the schoolroom. The gymnasium for the physical training of the boys was
the playground, with the simple sports. The spontaneous hilarity of feeling and the muscular exercise they afforded were as enjoyable and salutary recreation as the more studied arts and games of the present day. Prison-base, hot-ball, cat. hand-over, and roll-in-the-hole had their charm in turn as the youthful mood might vary. The sport most
fascinating was the game of town-ball. This would be attended with a display of buoyancy of spirit and loud huzzas that would make the welkin ring, and when the con-

188

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

test was close and the victory was won, loud would be the

exultant shout. The teacher (Mr. Flanagan) was expert in

^knocking the ball and swift of foot in running the rounds

of the bases. He would now and then, with an under

handed lick, knock the ball skyward to a lofty height, to our

^gazing wonder and admiration.

:

At this period of school life the sport of Indian warfare

came in vogue. The martial ardor had been enkindled in

our youthful bosoms by the spectacle of members of the

Light Horse Company of Upson county in uniforms of

"blue, with dancing red plumes and stirring notes of bugle

as they passed by the scheolhouse one morning in spring

. on their way to fight the Indians in Alabama, who had risen

up to extirpate thewhite settlers. Of the troop of horse

men that greeted the vision of the writer of this sketch at

that time (1836), a boy of eight years of age, from the win-

dow where he sat ensconced behind his desk in the school

room, two of them, Thomas S. Sharman and James An

drews, were in their young manhood, and were students in

the academy the preceding year. Their records then, and

in the Civil War, Confederate service, as soldiers, and in

the private walks of life down to a tranquil old age, render

them worthy to receive amid the lonely depths of years

the tribute of honor due to heroic valor and worth.

In retrospect of the past the scenes of childhood come

up before the mind as vividly as if they transpired but yes

terday, but faded from them is the rosy light that appareled

all things with the glory and freshness of a dream. To

the soul of the whilom schoolboy, they seem to set apart

and to form a separate stage of existence. He turns away

from them with cold and joyless heart, as there is to him no

longer "splendor in the grass and glory in the flower."

This chapter ends the narrative of "My First School

master and Early School Days." The writer trusts that it

has afforded pleasure and interest to the readers of the

Advocate, and especially to those who may have been pupils

of his first schoolmaster, Christopher Flanagan. He has re

ceived a letter from one of them, an aged widow of Green

ville, Ala., who was a pupil at the same school and at

the date mentioned in this sketch (1836-40). The reading

THE PROPHET OF THE CONFEDERACY. 189-
of the sketch, she writes, stirred up with touching pathosthe memories of those school-days of which she still re tains a vivid recollection. The thoughts and reflectionsupon the great theme of the training of the young gathered"7 from the experience and observation of many years areworthy of the attention of parents and educators.
In this sketch old age and childhood met and completed for the writer the magic circle of life. In memory he traveled over the long years of the past and in musingthought wandered among the scenes of his childhood. The events and associations of that period were but the remi niscences of a dream: The spirit scattered flowers over what had passed into nothingness. There was no wish for time to turn backward in his flight and make the writer a child: once more. As he looks over the loll of vanished years he feels how mighty it was to have been, and he wants nomore to renew lifes pilgrimage. The fleeting innocence of childhood, the withered hopes of manhood, and the vain regret of old age remind him that there is a state of being for man where there is no past, no future, but one eternal now.
" That there is a time and there is a place, Beyond the skies, beyond the azure deep,
Beyond the purple verge of infinite space, The immortal soul shall live."
THE PROPHET OF THE CONFEDERACY.
CHAPTER I.
Whether war was considered as a -possible event of se cession, or after it was begun, hope burned high in every Southern bosom and made the future prophetic of victory and triumph to the South. Defeat and failure were not in the bright lexicon of the young Republic which they fondly conceived fate had designed for a noble nationality. It could not be otherwise construed by a fervent patriotism that throbbed in the heart of every man, \yoman and child but that the South would succeed.

190

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

The North, with its vast resources and superiority of
its numbers in population, was a formidable enemy to cope with, but the war waged on the part of the Southern States was in the defense of their rights and their freedom. Such being the case, "thrice armed are they whose cause is just." In the san.sruinary contest which ensued, it would be as the youthful David with his sling and with stones gathered from the brook against Goliath, the giant Philis
tine, encased in armor, and with a spear in size and weight like a weavers beam.
Then the Lord God was their strength and trust. He was the God of battles. He it is that breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder. The shields of the mighty belong unto God. In his great name they had set up their banner. Then throughout the Southland, in the mansions
of the rich and in the cabins of the poor, aged fathers and mothers, wives and children were daily lifting up their hands in holy prayer unto God and supplicating his bless ing upon those who had gone out to battle for their homes, their altars and their sacred rights. With these glorious incentives and with the thrilling spectacle of this con tinual suppliance to Almighty God, how could they but anticipate victory as the issue of the struggle to them?
>or a time, as all remember, it appeared that the victory
of the contest was "in even battle hung," and the issue of the war was doubtful. In the fall of 1863 the fortunes of the South began rapidly to recede, and gloom and doubt had begun to fill the hearts of the people. At this time in Upson county, Ga., Rev. Abel Ansley, a devout man of God and a minister of the gospel, had a marvelous dream. It had the prognostic form and the impressive symbols which characterized the divine communications which God made to his ancient prophets. He had laid down at night like Daniel, the ancient prophet of God, troubled in mind as to the fate of the South and the result of the war. Whilst meditating on these things he fell asleep, and as in a vis ion he saw two columns standing erect before him. One of these columns was inscribed "The North," and on it below the inscription were the words, "Ruin, Devastation, Power." On the other column was written, "The South,"

THE PROPHET OF THE CONFEDERACY. 191
.and below this were the words, "Ruin, Sacrifice, Triumph." This dream he related to a friend who wrote it down from his lips as the words of one whom he regarded as favored of God, if he did not have the spirit of inspiration resting upon him as a seer.
The dream did not find its way to the newspapers, but it became orally current among the people. The interpre tation of it was, that it was a favorable prediction for the South as to success and victory. The continued waning of the fortunes of the South discredited the prophetic char acter of the dream, and the seer suffered in his religious .and clerical reputation before the people. As all know, in twelve or eighteen months thereafter victory declared for the North, and subjugation, spoliation and political proscription, even to the present, have been the lot of the South as the result of the war. Xotwithstanding this was the case, the prediction contained in this dream was not altogether false, as it apparently seemed to be, either as concerning the North or the South, but there has been and is a partial, if not literal, fulfillment of it, as will be seen in the sequel of this sketch.
CHAPTER II.
It is a beautiful myth from Homer, the old Greek poet, that there are two portals of exit from the realm of sleep. One is through the gate of horn, indicating that the vis ions that were unfolded to the mind during the hours of sleep were true and of prophetic significance. The other, from the gate of ivory, implying that the things that throng the brain when sleeps soft signet seals the eyes are false, and are mere fantasies that play in the mind when conscious reason for the time lays its scepter down.
Applying this. beautiful classic legend, it may be said of him who is styled "The Prophet of the Confederacy" in the caption of this article, that his exit from the land of dreams after his aforementioned vision was from the gate of horn. Whether it was sent of God or not, the predictions it contained respecting the North and the South

192

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

have been and are being fulfilled as seen in the light o history.
As concerning the South, all know how great was the ruin the war brought to it. Had the curtain of the
future been uplifted and the war which secessioa would inaugurate been unfolded to the Southern States, not in the dancing plume, the stirring notes of the fife and the
peals of the drum, and all the pomp and circumstance of. war as painted by the youthful imagination, but in the fierce pageantry of the shout of the -warrior, of garments rolled in blood, of the devastation of their valleys and. plains, the burning.of their towns and cities, and the incal culably costly sacrifice of the "flower of the land" in the freshness of youth and the prime of manhood that would
go down in hopeless slaughter upon the field of battle, they perhaps would have paused longer before making the fear ful experiment.
But did the South "triumph," as appeared written upoa the column? If properly construed in the light of subse quent events, it may be said that it did triumph, but not in
the way and manner that was anticipated. As one feature-
of its triumph may be mentioned the time and manner of the peace to the South with which the war closed. The terms granted by Generals Grant and Sherman to Generals Lee and Johnston, and with the South crushed, had never be fore been known to warring nations. However viewed then, the abolition of the institution of slavery was a great
blessing to the South. !No greater evil could have fallen apon the South than the existence and perpetuation of slavery as it existed at the opening of the war. The negrorace in the course of time would have so increased as to-
overshadow the white, and would have blurred the civ ilization of the South in the production of a slave aristoc racy as now at the North the baneful effects of the plu
tocracy are seen. There would have been the diminution; of a substantial white yeomanry, whose homely virtues inevery government and in every country have been the bul
warks of society in peace and in war.
Again, the readmission to the Union was a great blessing to the Southern States, when they might have been still held

THE PROPHET OF THE CONFEDERACY. 193
and treated as conquered provinces. It removed the heel of military despotism from their necks and its fetters from their hands. It freed them from the plundering and igno minious rule of aliens and carpetbaggers, and put the reins of government in the hands of their own sons.
CHAPTER III.
The devastation of the fields and the homes of the South and the .prostration of the various pursuits of its industry as the result of the war did not paralyze her energies. She rose from her ashes, sublimely met the exigencies of her impoverished condition, and with invincibility of purpose entered again upon the road to prosperity. The war clouds that had hung lowering over her for four long years being dispelled, and her soldier sons returning to their homes, filled the land again with shouts of joy and the sweet "hum of a busy population. They cast aside the musket and the sword and grasped again the plow and the hoe, and in a short time her hills and valleys were covered with the rustling harvests of grain and the fleecy treasures of the cotton plant. In the years that have followed, manu factures have grown apace and have added largely to the wealth of the country.
The tide of prosperity that has flowed in upon the South since the war has caused it to be called the "Xew South," as a distinguished encomium upon her people. She is entitled to this appellation only so far as it respects the progress she has made by the development of her resources. One special feature of her triumph over adversities that came to her from the war is that she still retains the traces of that chivalry and of that hospitality for which her people were noted in the palmy days of the past. May those traits of social character ever be interwoven in her chaplet of honor.
The "Jacket of Grey" may have been folded up and laid away in silence, and the "Conquered Banner" furled forevermore, as "there is now no hand to wave it," yet the principles of those who wore the one and waved the other
13 si

194

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

are still cherished in the hearts of those Americans who have known and experienced the blessings of the Republic under that Government as it was framed and fashioned in its integrity and simplicity by their revolutionary sires. Those principles stand associated with the solid courses of nature, as with each returning spring when the nation would deck with floral tribute the hallowed mold of her sons who in battle fell during the war, honor is rendered to the memory of "The Grey" equal to and jointly with "The Blue." And may they, pure as in the past, be kept ever laid up in the temple of the great Southern heart and guarded as the palladium of Constitutional Liberty.
The great triumph to the Southern States has been in the control and management of its emancipated slave pop ulation. The negro race, ignorant, inferior in mind and morals, and being suddenly removed from bondage and elevated to equal political privileges with the whites, their former masters, living in the bosom of Southern
society, afforded a problem for solution both difficult and dangerous. The Southern people have successfully solved it. Wisely seeing the necessity of the negro race being
fitted for citizenship, the Southern States made full and liberal provisions for their intellectual training and enlight enment, and in a measure equal to those for the white. Un der this benevolent system of treatment they have been, and are peaceable, quiet, humble, and furnish to the South, the best class of labor on the globe, though violations of the laws of the land by them may largely prevail.
Such have been the features of the triumphs of the South, and in the light and glory of them within her borders, she may not envy the North in the vast number of its population, the endless variety and abundance of its arts of civilization, its full usurpation of the powers of government and the millions of dollars that are an nually poured from the public revenue into the lap of its pensioners from the war.

THE PROPHET OF THE CONFEDERACY. ~ 195
CHAPTER IV.
As it has been shown in the preceding article that the dream of the Seer of the Confederacy was fulfilled con cerning- the issues of the Civil War to the South, "was it .also the case respecting the North?" might be asked. One of the inscriptions on the column marked the Xorth was the word "Ruin." "War yields no good and works all ill," says Spenser in his "Faerie Queene." Even though the victor in the sanguinary contest, this was the result to the North in the mighty struggle. The victories she won in her hostile invasion of the South, like those of Genghis Khan, the great Tartar chieftain of the twelfth century, in his conquest of Eastern and Western Asia, should have as a monumental pile a vast pyramid of hu man skulls and bones. Such a memorial would fitly char. acterize the ruin to the country in the loss of human lives .sacrificed by the war.
The word "Devastation" was also seen inscribed upon the column by the Seer. The South knows well how fully this woe was accomplished when her fertile plains and valleys were so ravaged that in a flight of sixty miles a crow would have to carry his rations or go without food. Time with its renovating touch has in the last thirty years repaired the traces of ruin wrought by the ruthless war in the desolation of the South and wiped away the tears of orphans and healed the broken hearts of wid ows. "The Union" was preserved by the war, the great object, as alleged by the North, for which it was fought.
The Union might remain like the "bands of iron and brass" in the vision of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, but the Old Tree of Liberty which it once in the confed eration of the States girded and supported, like that one in the aforasaid vision, has suffered sad havoc in its branches, leaves and fruits.
The North, as well as the South, suffered greatly in -the sacrifice of lives of its citizens by the war, but the thinned ranks of its population were replenished by a con stant tide of foreign immigration. It has gmwn richer and

196

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES,

more powerful with each decade since the war closed. It has amassed the wealth and concentrated all political power. It has manufactures and all the arts of civiliza
tion in endless variety and unexampled abundance. Itsfinancial wealth is annually increased by the payment of. $150,000,000 in pensions to the entire Union army, as-
many as may be surviving. Through the Republican party it has and holds an iron grip upon the government and
rules with undivided sway as its millionaires may dictate. The South may not envy her big sister its wealth, power
and pomp of state. There is a spirit of unrest, tumultsand strikes among its hundreds of thousands of laborers,,
and there are heard volcanic rumblings underneath the broad surface of its society, and there are now and then throes of upheaval, threatening and disturbing the peace of the country. But "Dixie" should not rejoice in that which brings strife and detriment to any section of therepublic with its broad empire of forty-five States and five territories. Let tranquillity reign in spite of Cuba," Hawaii, and all other conflicting foreign matters thrust upon national legislation, and as an estoppel vo the prosper ity of the country.
Our prophet was not stoned by the people, althcnigh his-
dream, or vision, was not fulfilled in the way ;hat the popular mind anticipated. He was a good and true man. He was greatly honored of God in the gift of dreams of pro phetic power! Like Daniel of ancient record, he stood "in his lot at the end of the davs."

SKETCHES OF TEXAS.
No. i.
An artist was called upon to paint Italy in one grancf impressive scene. In the execution of this task he simply portrayed the Alps in their snow-clad grandeur, the sub lime boundary of nature that shuts out Italy from view onthe north, and above them a sketch of sky of exquisite:

SKETCHES OF TEXAS.

197

.hues and ethereal beauty, that with emblematical signifi cance might convey to the imagination a conception of the .loveliness of the clime it spanned with its vault of blue. He knew well, that no hand nor brush, however skillful, could present on canvas in living force and symmetry the varied scenery of that classic land upon which nature had lavished its choicest gifts, and the ages had enriched with
all the embellishments of art. Thus it may be premised of the effort to write upon or
of Texas, in view of the extent of its territory, the diver sity of its surface, soil, climate, arts of industry and the composite character of its population. The tourist commencing at the eastern boundary of the State, and con veyed by steam traveling on iron pathways to its western limit and thus throughout its borders, will have seen its mere outlines. To fill out and complete the picture demands the aid of the imagination to map out before the mind and fill the intervening spaces with apparently interminable tracts of forests and prairie, diversified with
hill, mountain, valley and river, interspersed with broad areas of tillage and dotted with towns and villages. What can the pen do towards the task, save as to give a hint and a touch here and there?
The history of Texas from its earliest period has in-
terwoven around it all the charms of romance. The vastness and beauty of the country, the possession of it by the Indians, the discovery and occupation of it by Spain, the planting of its first settlements, its subsequent career as a dependency of the republics of Mexico, opens a field of thought fascinating to the mind. The planting of an American colony on its soil forms an important event and epoch in its history. It seemed at the time not to be
a matter of much moment, but it proved to be the laying of the foundation of a great nation and people. The leader of the enterprise, Stephen Austin, was in the grace and
dignity of his person and the majesty of his intellect, wor thy to be the founder of the great State of Texas. Even now the heart and mind of the gifted will do homage to the attributes of his person and character, as they appear delineated in the portrait handed down of him.

198

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

The incipiency and establishment of Texas as a republic" with .^nglo-Saxon race and rule, was a period of heroic daring and exploit. To have been one of the band who; laid its foundations was to be immortal. The struggle of the infant people for political independence and nationality, though meager in its details, was grand in its principles and purpose and rendered illustrious by the heroism of its leaders. Chief on the list of them was General Sam Houston, the hero of San Jacinto. It was the distinguished privilege of the writer of this article to have casually met in life with this eminent American. It was in his boyhood days, in January, 1848, being then on his way to join Emory College, as he boarded the train at Barnesville, Ga., on entering the car his attention was attracted to aman of unusually tall stature and majesty of person. Dur ing the course of the day and the journey on the train,, this individual proved to be General Houston, then on his way as a member of Congress to Washington. The youthful mind of the writer was deeply impressed by this^ incident, and it has been to him a pleasing reminiscence. Half a century has passed since then and the grand old hero now sleeps in the marble silence of the sepulchre. The young heart then that looked in silent admiration on him,, now bows in reverence to do honor to his memory.

Besides Stephen F. Austin, the father of Texas, Sanr Houston, the hero of San Jacinto, or Mirabeau B. Lamar,. the poet-warrior, there were many other gallant spirits of equal fame and patriotism who helped to achieve the in dependence of Texas and lay the foundations of the young republic. There is no need of comparison of themin their martial valor and devotion to their country to the soldiers and patriots of antiquity or others of modern. times. The eulogy of the pen can not add to or detract from the honor of their memory or the luster of their vir tues. Thev were men as true and heroic as ever drew sword in defense of their homes and freedom, or "died upon hon-

SKETCHES OF TEXAS.

iyg

ors lofty bed." The humblest soldier that was in the infant
army of the republic merits this tribute. In her present grand development and preeminence
as a State, Texas feels proud of her history as a republic, and of the achievements that gave her birth. She cele
brates with each year the twenty-first cf April, the anniver sary of the battle of San Jacinto. She pays tribute of honor to the surviving veterans of that period and struggle.
The roll of them is lessening with each year, and at their last reunion did not number one hundred and fifty-. When the last one is dead, the memory of them and their deeds will be perpetuated not only in bronze or marble, but in
the millions of hearts within her borders. The glory they achieved was truly American and became a common her itage to the free-born sons and daughters of the Anglo-
Saxon race of America. Whilst Texas was a republic and after it became an
nexed to the United States, she opened wide the portals of her territory to immigration. Thousands in the United
States, friends and kindred of the combatants in the little Texan army, had been watching with eager interest and awaiting the issue of the contest. This being decided,
thousands responded to the invitation Texas extended to immigrants and the bountiful offerings made to settlers.
To them in imagination or from personal survey the coun try opened in the bewildering vastness and the enchanting loveliness of its prairies and the grandeur of its forests.
Of the immigrants who came, not all of them were com
posed of those who were destitute of homes, or needy adventurers seeking to make their fortunes, or fugitives from justice, as was currently surmised in regard to the original settlers of the State. Many of them left homes
of affluence in their native States, and all the charms and graces of civilized life, allured by the golden dreams of wealth this land of paradisiacal beauty opened upon their
vision. This character of immigrants has constituted the dominant if not the larger element of the immigration
that has been steadily pouring into the State during the past half century.
The growth of Texas in population was slow at first.

2oo

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

It lay remote from those sections of the United States from which, on account of the ties of home, kindred and country, the republic could reasonably hope for immigration. The travel to it was by land and the journey was tedious, long and perilous at that day. The charming story was abroad
of Texan hospitality, as being warm, genial, dispensed without price, and as long as the guest would bide; but also with it the ill fame, that in this new land of hope and promise had gathered the desperado and the villain. The railroad, that mighty agent of civilization, penetrating Texas with its iron pathways, opened it up to the world and the pioneer. The locomotive, with its long train of cars crowded with immigrants, supplanted the white-cov ered wagons as drawn in winding route over the prairie by slowly-moving oxen. How wonderful was the trans
formation ! The progress of Texas in population, trade, commerce and all the arts of industry became at once phe nomenal.
The broad arena it presented to those who were desirous of wealth or ambitious for distinction drew choice spirits from the older States. Under the happy system of the American government that knows no State lines, and rec ognizes each State as sovereign and independent, but coun try as one, they were entitled to full rights of citizen ship and eligible to all civic honors. How magnanimously
Texas has treated them mav be seen from the long list of chief executives of the State. But one of them, exGovernor Hogg. was a native Texan. This unique feature
in the history of the civil government of the State has prevailed also in regard to other high officials. Those thus honored possessed worthy moral and intellectual qualities, but in view of circumstances and the array of competitive talent, their success was so remarkable, that it seems as if they were favored of fortune, or with energy of soul compelled her to sit down on her tripod and pronounce an oracle in their favor as Alexander the Great did the priestess at Delphos.

SKETCHES OF TEXAS.

201

As a republic Texas showed its appreciation of the value :and importance of popular education to render a govern ment stable and to make a people happy and prosperous. To establish a system of public instruction and to provide for its support and maintenance by setting apart so many sections of land from its imperial domain, was engrafted into its first constitution, to be a fundamental principle of its government. Strange to say, provisions were made at first only for the instruction of indigent children. The progress made in the diffusion of education was quite limited up to the close of the civil war on account of the sparsity of the population.
It was after reconstruction was completed and it was again rehabilitated with the old and inalienable rights as a free and sovereign State, that Texas began to bestir her .-giant energies and to make use of her magnificent resources in the establishment of a thorough and full system of public instruction. The appropriation of land for that purpose is truly munificent, and when the revenue from the sale and disposition of it shall be materialized, Texas will have a public school fund perhaps not inferior to that of any State or nation. At the present time the amount re ceived from the various sources provided by the State is annually $4.50 per capita of the scholastic population.
Schools are now established throughout the length and
breadth of the land, and like so many artesian wells with their crystal streams, they are sending forth their vivify ing influences to beautify and gladden every home. Xormal schools have been instituted to train teachers in the art of instructing. The stream of education is broad, but not deep. It bears not upon its bosom the rich argosies of classical learning. The old-time teacher with his thor ough methods of instruction is passing out. The field of educational work is now filled with young teachers trained in the new methods. What the harvest will be, time alone -will develop.
It was largely through the agency of Roman Catholic

202

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

missions that Texas, as the abode and country of the In dian, was first settled by colonies from Spain. The In dians withered away under the methods of the motherchurch to convert them to Christianity. The political rev olution that severed the fetters that bcund Texas as a province to Mexico brought in the Anglo-Saxon race to possess the land, and also with it Protestant Christianity
to take the place of Roman Catholicism. It substituted the divine message of- peace and the love of the Gospel for the prison and. the rigors of penance.
The agents and messengers of Protestant Christianity occupied the field of evangelical labor. The Methodist missionary with his Bible and hymn-book, as the pioneer of the Gospel, was present. There, too, came the Baptist preacher, with all the zeal and fervor of the Forerunner, to preach repentance unto salvation. Ministers of the gos pel of other Protestant Christian denominations occupied, this field white unto the harvest, and to-day Texas can count its votaries of Christianity by scores of thousands, and its edifices for divine worship that catch the rays of
morning on glistening spire by the thousands. Humbleinvocation of the blessing of Almighty God is the brief pre amble of its Constitution.
The people of Texas are proud of the magnitude of their State. As having "the Lone Star" for its emblem, theSchool History of Texas compares it to Venus shining in solitary beauty on the brow of morn; but in the galaxy of States, it is rather to be likened to Jupiter in size among the planets of the solar system. It is certainly a big State, and the idea of its magnitude seems to have filled the hearts and minds of the people, and all their public enter prise must be on the magnificent scale. This is exhibited in the court-houses built by many counties of the State, cost
ing from seventy-five to over a hundred thousand dollars. This idea of magnitude and grandeur in their architectural structures reaches its climax in the capitol at Austin,, which is reputed to be the second largest public buildingon the American continent, costing six millions of dol lars. Its business world is like the great palpitating heart

SKETCHES OF TEX.-.S. .

203

of the ocean that is continually moving in tides and cur
rents. The struggle of Texas for political independence and
its brief life-period as a republic constitute the first act
cf the opening drama it was to play in time. This the student of history will find, as he glances with telescopic eye over the past, to be the initial link in the chain of
events that have transpired and followed as sequences which have involved and largely shaped the destiny of the United States for over a half century. To it directly as the cause may be traced the war with Mexico and the vast area of territory acquired; and indirectly in its results the civil war, and remotely in its effects the war with Spain
and the present Philippine imbroglio. The end is not yet of the drama.

When the task of writing these "sketches" was begun,. it was scarce^ in the range of thought as a possible event that before they were completed a flood would occur in Texas of such magnitude* that it would attract all eyesand move all hearts to compassion, so wide-spread the evil done. Yet such has been the case. The number of vic tims and the destitution caused by this calamity have been so great as to call for the benevolence and aid, not only of the State, but of the country at large.
The inundation that wrought such destruction of life and property, as quoted from the press, was from "the annual rise of the Brazos, which is caused from the volume
of water from the great watersheds of Xew Mexico and Colorado pouring in, having been superinduced by heavy
local rains."
In the face of this fearful disaster, an article that caisattention to Texas in its ordinary phases may seem to be Inopportune and void of interest. It should derive the im portance of a historical jotting from this tragic occurrence.
A flood, whether more or less disastrous, alwa}rs forms-
an epoch of time in the calendar of men. The Latin poet Horace in.one of his odes perpetuates the memory of a

:204

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

.severe tempest and an inundation of the Tiber that occurred
at Rome on the night after Octavius assumed his new title of Augustus. In the charming lyric he tells of the storm of snow and hail "the Father of gods and men" sent, and
who terrified the city by casting down with his red right hand the sacred summits of the temples. Xot only this, but
.says he saw the yellow Tiber, with waves hurled violently back on the Etruscan shore to go casting down the ven erated memorial of King Xuma. The poet regarded this visitation as a mark of divine displeasure. He cites the
crimes of the Roman people and alleges their guilt as the cause.
What mind so perverse or heart so cruel, in view of the
spectacle of havoc, desolation and floating fetid and fester ing carcasses that the flood-stricken region presents, could for a moment predicate the wickedness of its people as the cause of the calamity? It is one of those inscrutable
things in the ways of Divine Providence, as well as thou sands of others, that human reason can not penetrate or understand. In the light of the grace and mercy of God such dread events should convey needful lessons of moral instruction to the human race. They should teach the sov
ereign power of God, and fill the souls of men with sol emn awe. They should move all hearts to feel anothers woe
and to minister unto the wants of suffering humanity. They should lead all mankind to God as the fountain of life and joy and the onlv safe refuge for time and eternity.
The waters of the flood will retire, the hand of benefi cence will relieve the wants of the starving and homeless hundreds: many of them, perhaps, will seek to re-erect their domiciles on the old home site; under the recupera
tive powers of Xature and the magnetic forces of human art and industry the valley of the Brazos and other sec tions desolated by the late flood will be repeopled and in
ihe lapse of time regain their former prosperity. This area of territory is called the "Sugar Bowl" of Texas,
in view of sugar-cane being one of its chief products.
The valley of the Brazos was famed for its beauty and fertility.
The immigrant can find a home in Texas to suit him.

SKETCHES OF TEXAS.

205

The choice will be principally between the prairie and thetimbered sections of the State. Each section has its nat ural facilities and its disadvantages. Nothing can be more charming and delightful than the grand and animated spectacle that the prairie presents on a joyous day when spring makes glad the earth. The hills and valleys spread out before the eye in graceful lines and curves, in vested with natures mantle of royal green in the growing grass bedecked with flowers of various hues, and sky of cerulean depths overarches the scene as seemingly to en clasp all things with loving embrace.
Then how it thrills the spirit to ride over the prairie with its waving verdure coming up to the breast of your horse; to inhale the elastic air and to feel its silken touch in your lungs; to look upon the cattle grazing with bended neck and head down, a ihousand as one"; to have the exciting episode of a troop of horses that roam over the measureless pastures with unbounded freedom to stam pede andwith flying mane and hoofs poised in air to dash. away from sight; such and all of these are some of the
pleasures of prairie life. Then, again, to locate a home on some knoll or slope
in the verdant expanse before you; there to erect your domicile and place your household gods; to sod the land and to open a farm; to have the fertile soil in response to your fabor to bring forth the first year abundant har vest this seems to be all that the heart could desire of happiness in its earthly allotment.
But there is another side to the picture of prairie life thus portrayed. Fuel and water, those two essential things necessary to meet the wants of civilized man, are scarce and inconvenient. Then there is the drouthy summer to be endured, and the parched plain to meet the eye. Then, perchance, the crop is short. Then in the winter the bleak prairie, with scarcely a moving object to relieve the lone liness and also the mire and mud of its waxy soil. Then come the blue northers, those grim archers of the prairies, to pierce the body with their keen, invisible arrows. These are some of the discomforts of life on the prairie.
With life or a home in the timber lands there is the lo-

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.
cation amid the broad-branching forest of oak, or of the pine with its swaying tops of evergreen and fragrant odors. The facilities of wood and water are in abundance. The soil is not as fertile as that of the prairie, but productive. There is much manual labor to be done in order to build the house and open the farm, but materials are at hand. There is water for the stock and fine range in the wood and swamps. The soil is adapted to a variety of products, and the annual return to the husbandman for his labor is sure. Peace, healtTi and plenty crown his abode.
A HISTORICAL ETCHING THE HERO OF
SAX JACIXTO.
Sacred to the human heart is the memory of the dead. To perpetuate their deeds and virtues and to imitate their example is the task and duty of the living. They should not sink into the tomb and become to dumb forgetfulness .a prey, but their words, their thoughts/ their actions and wisdom should serve as links to bind the living present to the mighty past. The evil they did should be interred with their bones, the good they did should live after them. The . immortal longing in the breast even of the humblest indi vidual recoils from the thought that though his body after death may become a kneaded clod and in cold obstruction rot, that he should be forgotten among men.-
August and revered should be the memory of those whose careers in life crowned them with the name and renown of heroes. Their well-recorded worth should live on the imperishable tablets of history for instruction and example to succeeding generations, to inspire them to vir tue and honor. When Zeno, the Greek philosopher and founder of the Stoic school, consulted the oracle in what manner he should live, the answer was, he should inquire of the dead. Wisely and beautifully says a writer of mod ern fame, "To the great concourse of the dead we should come, not merely to know from them what is true, but chiefly to feel with them what is righteous." Not only those

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207

who won heroic fame in lifes broad field of battle deserve posthumous honor, but all who in the private walks of life leave to the world a spotless example.
Delicate and of high moral responsibility is the task of him who writes in memorial of the illustrious dead, and upon his pen imperils their just fame and character wheth er he may write well or ill. It is difficult to speak mod
erately where a firm belief of the truth is desired to be es-. tablished and where a living portraiture is sought to be presented. The well-disposed reader will think himself
destitute in comparison of those things that are desired and designed to be set forth. He that is ignorant and not well disposed, on account of envy, will perhaps think the writer arrogant, if he reads of anything above his reach. For thus far the praises spoken of others are endurable to that extent and to what each one may think he himself is able to accomplish; but whatever exceeds is regarded as unworthy of credit.
Xot only these obstacles as mentioned are in the way of the biographer, but the illustrious departed whom he undertakes to portray may be of such grand proportions of character, life and achievement that he is diffident of his ability to truly represent him. Such is the case in the present instance in regard to the subject of this essay.
"Quis Martem tunica tectum adamantina digne scripserit?" (Who is worthy to write of Mars clothed in adaman tine tunic?), sung in lyric verse the poet Horace, when called upon to celebrate the praises of Agrippa, the inti mate friend of Augustus, a celebrated commander, distin guished for his various exploits both by land and sea. \Yho may worthily portray the life and career of him who stands crowned in the lists of time as "The Hero of San Jacinto"?
\Yhen the memorable verse of Terence, the Latin poet, "Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto " (I am ?. man; and consider nothing of man foreign), was recited before a Roman audience composed of people of different countries, they rose up in applause of the sentiment. They felt that the expression conveyed a great truth of nature, which it was honorable to recognize. It is instinctive in the heart of man to feel an interest in the life and for-

ao8

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

tunes of his fellow man, and especially of those who at tain greatness and distinction. There is a desire to know of his ancestry, parentage and circumstances of his birth, childhood and youth. In regard to the subject of thisessay, there is the biographical statement that "his ances try is traced to the highlands of Scotland." By the side of John Knox they fought for "God and Liberty." It
is recorded of his father, that he was a man of remarkable physique, powerful in frame, lofty in bearing, and of un disputed bravery. It is said of his mother that she wasdistinguished in person, manners and mind. Beyond most-
of her sex, her intellectual and moral qualities were con spicuous. The ancestors of these two, having emigrated
to Pennsylvania, had come to Virginia and settled, and lived in close proximity to each other.
It is further a matter of biographical record, that the
subject of this etching was born near a locality known as Timber Ridge Church, seven miles east of Lexington, iir Rockbridge county, Virginia, on the 2(1 of March, 1793. There was no doubt rejoicing in the household over the event, and the parents in the fondness of their hearts, as they looked upon their child so bright, so beautiful, sir strong, predicted for him a marked destiny. Around the
head and temples of the infant Houston as he lay in the
slumbers of the cradle no marvelous coruscations played as prognostic of his future greatness as told of ./Esculapius and Democritus and others. There was, however, placed upon him the Divine eye in sweet protection the eye of Him who guarded and preserved the infant Moses in theark of bulrushes and chose him to lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage and to be the great law giver to the world, or chose Cyrus over one hundred years before the event to restore the Jews from Babylonian cap tivity.
The era of childhood conjoined and commingled with that of youth is regarded as the halcyon period in the life of the race, and one of profound interest. The young spirit ushered into existence, revels in the luxury of its new being. In the functions of its sense and by fancy-
led, it drinks in with delight, the beauty and joy of the vis-

THE HERO OF SAN JACIXTO.

209

ible world around, and then, and then only, in the allotted
term of threescore and ten years, as "untouched by sorrow and unsoiled by sin," he quaffs the cup of unalloyed pleas ure.
This joyous epoch is likewise, too, the period of develop ment and of the formation of the character of the future man or woman. As the young being grows apace the fond eyes of parents watch with interest its ever}" word and action and budding of its intellect, all along from the wee toddling walk of the child to the bold step of youth, and surmise what it will be and do in coming years. The child, as it is said, is father to the man. The projects that burn upon the youth ful fancy and fill the mind, oftentimes will engage the ener gies of manhood, and in their results form the tranquil musings or appalling visions of old age. How vigilant, active and careful should parents be to guard the childhood and youth of their children, so that no baleful blight from with out, nor cruel restraint and tyranny at home, shall make those as scarred plants and crushed blossoms who are born heirs to happiness and immortal life.
The biographical details of the boy life of Houston, the subject of this essay, are brief and meager. He inherited the grand -physique, the strong intellect and daring inde
pendence of his father, and displayed these qualities o
mind and body at an early age. Says his biographer, "not until he was eight.years old could he be induced to enter a schoolhouse." At the age of thirteen he had not at tended school more than six months. In that time, h<r learned to read and write, and acquired some knowledge of arithmetic. The schools of that period afforded but few facilities for education. It was in the early days of Virginia as a State and the thirteen States as a republic. It is not to be supposed that the lad Houston was with out genius, or that there was to him no development of mind or training for life. There were lessons of discipline to courage and self-reliance in the hardy manners of the
pioneer state of society around him; there was lovelinesa in the scenery of nature that daily met his eyes, to awaken and foster his fancy and poetic genius; and there were legends of the deeds of daring in the Revolutionary war
u si

2io

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

still fresh in the memories of men, to inspire to manliness
and patriotism. When he was thirteen years of age he sustained the
loss of his father. This bereavement, though a sad afflic tion, did not leave him in his wilful and wayward dis
position "lord of himself, that heritage of woe," as Lord Byron styles it. The father, the head of the family, and the husband, the band of the household, was removed, but the mother in her strong intellect, maternal dignity and af
fection wisely guided and governed the home.. She sold her homestead in Virginia and moved to the banks of the Tennessee river, and on the borders of civilization found
an abode for herself and children. In this change and ap parently ordinary incident in the shifting drama of life the Great Unseen Hand was weaving the thread of destiny for the boy Houston.
His biographer states that he went for a short time to an academy in East Tennessee. Whilst attending this school, translations of some of the ancient classics fell into his hands. One of them was Homers Iliad by Pope, the rhythmic genius of English verse. This opened a new world of thought to him, and inspired him not only with a love of literature, but also with admiration for martial ex ploits. It is said that he could repeat this book (the Iliad) verbatim. The reading- of this book and the brilliant narra tive of its heroes and their exploits at the impressible period of youth exercised over him a great and lasting influence. It gave to him that mold of thought and that knowledge and acquisition of pure ad classic English that characterized his oratory in after years. More than all, perhaps the unconscious tuition that would flow out from the daily contemplation of Achilles, the proud and valiant warrior, and the lordly Agamemnon, the king of men? held as models of heroes, by the poet, combined with a sense of his natural superiority of stature and intellect, gave to his character and demeanor in the years of man hood the imperious air complained of by some of his con temporaries.
The youthful Houston, fascinated with the Iliad of old
Greek Homer, as derived from an English fount, desired

THE HERO OF SAN JACIXTO.

211

lo drink deeper of the Pierian spring of ancient classical
.literature, and applied to his teacher for permission to
.study Latin. Strange to say, the teacher denied his request. Why so, it is not explained. The study of that
language would have been of large benefit to him. The
reading of the epic of Virgil, the orations of Cicero and
.the lyrics of Horace would have enlarged his vocabulary .and enriched his mind with culture and choice specimens .of literature. So indignant was he at the refusal of his
request, says his biographer, that turning upon his heel, he deliberately affirmed that he would not recite another
lesson as loner as he lived, and left the school. On returning home, his mother and brothers desired that
he should engage as a clerk in a small country store. They
had no sympathy with the aspiring hopes and dreams that
filled the mind of the youth that towered like a young giant among the household. There was nothing in his
nature that could make a menial or mechanical employ ment congenial. It would be as debasing the Arab steed in his fine blood and mettle, dray-cart to draw or yoke to bear. His proud spirit and intellectuality could not brook the domination that would coerce him into an uncongenia.1
pursuit, and he disappeared from home. After some months he was found among the Cherokee Indians in North Alabama, iust across the Tennessee river from his home. \Yhen questioned as to the motive of his conduct he re plied that he preferred "measuring deer tracks to measur ing tape that he liked the wild liberty of the red men better than the tyranny of his own brothers, and if he could
not study Latin in the academy, he could at least read a translation from the Greek in the woods, and read it in peace. So they could go home as soon as they liked."
He remained among the Indians for a year or a longer pe riod, participating- in all their sports and pursuits, and com manding their admiration and homage by his imperial attri butes of person and daring spirit. His clothing becoming worn and threadbare, he revisits his home. He is received kindly by his mother and cared for properly by his broth
ers. Being again pressed by domestic sway, he returns a . second time to his Indian friends, where he. sojourns for

2i2

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

awhile. Having incurred debts in his stay among them> in order to make the money to liquidate his indebtedness,-
he returns once more to his old home and friends and;,
opens a school. This having been accomplished, he reenters as a pupil his old school and engages in his chosen-
studies. One little incident that occurred will light uphis character and views of things at this time. The teacher gave him Euclids Elements of Geometry to study.-
Having taken it home with him at night and glanced over
its contents, he returns it next morning. He had decided; to relinquish his dream and ambition to become a scholar.
The genius of the poet was in the ascendant. This is the brief record of the important period of his
youth and school life. There was no reading in the Sibyl
line leaves of its strange and untoward features and in--
cidents that would indicate, in the least, the promise and prophetic forecast of that sublime and heroic career anddestiny, in the light of subsequent history, he fulfilled. It seems a sad and pitiless doom that this young Titan in
physical frame and intellect should have been thrust out. either by his own wilful disposition or the iron sway of
circumstances, from the benign and genial training of theschoolroom that disciplines the 3oung to habits of obedi ence and self-control, and development of the faculties of the mind so absolutely essential to the just fulfillment of
all the varied duties of life, and the pledge and prestige of success and renown in the great enterprises and public"
affairs of men.
It seems strange in the nature of things that this should
have been his adverse fate. It may be that it was better for him and so determined by the Divine Hand that guides;
and governs in the affairs of men, that he should be
trained in the rough and rugged school of experience rather than in the school of learning: that struggles with adversity
would develop strength of character and hardiness more than lettered ease; that he should learn wisdom from the lips of living men rather than the inanimate books of an
tiquity; the art .of self-control from the stoicism of the
Red Man -in the state of nature rather than from the rule?
and maxims of the White Man in the schoolroom of civil-

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213

life. Then, after all, there may be an overestimate of the power of education to make men great. Xo artifi-cial means can create moral and intellectual greatness. It lies wrapped up in the soul, and thus it was with the sub-
. ject of this etching. As now (in 1813), in his twentieth year, he stood upon
the threshold of manhood at lifes trembling crossways, with heart burning with intense desire for noble achievement, and looked down the vista of coming years, uncertain what to do, there came a tide in the affairs of the young republic of America that opened to him the career of his future greatness. The United states had declared war against Great Britain, and it was then progressing. He became a volunteer and en listed in the army. In his conduct as a soldier there shone out in him, in the lustihood of youth, valor and patriotism, attributes of character esteemed by mankind through all ages as the crowning virtues of manhood, and exalting the possessor of them, whether he wore the tattered garb or the patrician robe, whether displayed in the tranquil arts of peace or the sanguinary contests of the battle-field, to
the heights of immortal honor. "Friends," says his biographer, "remonstrated against
his becoming a common soldier, and when his resolution
was carried into effect, considered him disgraced and un worthy of future notice." But he told them, "You dont know me now, but you shall hear of me." His mother consented and stimulated him by encouraging words to aim at success by honorable effort. She did not desert him then, but handing her boy the musket, with the in flexible heroism of the ancient Spartan mother, she said to him,."There, my son, take this musket and never disgrace it; for remember I had rather all my sons should fill one honorable grave, than one of them should turn to save his life. Go, and remember, too. that while the door of my cottaere is open to brave men, it is eternallv shut to cow.ards."
The sublime sentiments of this American mother and the patriotic sacrifice she made in yielding her son to be a
soldier in the service of his country, were worthy of the young republic at that time, with its grand heritage of

2i4

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

freedom, political prestige and glory. With caressing;
pride and hope, the affections of her heart were entwined around her impetuous and erratic boy in his magnificent
youth, and deep and fervent were her petitions to God for him. Had the curtain of the future been uplifted and she could have foreseen the dangers, toils and snares through which in his eventful life the Divine Almighty Hand with protecting care would lead him, and that greatness to which he would attain and which would place her among the il lustrious mothers of history, as told in scriptural record r
of a mother of ancient Israel when she dedicated her Samuel as granted of the Lord to His service at the al tars of the sanctuary, she, too, would have poured out her heart in joyous thanksgiving and praise unto God for His loving kindness and tender mercy.
The young Houston chose the profession of arms, as hisvocation. However needful and justifiable at times, yet it appears strange and inconsistent to the humane and re
flecting mind that such an institution should exist in our enlightened, and especially a Christian nation. How mon strous and revolting to the thought and sensibility, that
man, endowed with reason and moral affections and hon ored in his attributes with assimilation to Deity, should engage in war and seek to exterminate his species. Yet it is so, and those who have thus acted have engrossed the chief applause of their fellow-men. Orators, poets and historians have vied with each other, in extolling these monsters and their inhuman deeds in highest strains of
panegyric. War is at variance with the Scripture, the re vealed will of God, given to man as a directory of his con duct. The brief injunction is, "Thou shalt love thy neigh
bor as thyself." "Peace on earth and good will to men" is the burden of the angelic proclamation of the Gospel.
Soon after Houston enlisted, his regiment (39th Infan try) proceeded to Tohopeka, a bend of the Tallapoosa . river. War had been waged unsuccessfully with the Creek Indians for a long time. Here the full force and strength
of the tribe, a thousand warriors, chose to stand and risk their destiny on a single contest. The battle fought by* them with the United States army, under General Andrew

THE HERO OF SAX JACIXTO.

215

Jackson, was severe and bloody. The issue was not un certain. Says the historian: "The last rays of the setting
sun of that day shone on the ruins of the Creek nation. Volumes of dense smoke rose heavily over the bodies of painted warriors and the burning ruins of their log fortifi
cations. Of the thousand brave warriors, the flower of In dian chivalry, there were none to scowl on death and their assailants at Tohopeka."
Young Houston, then about twenty years eld, displayed amid the perils of this hard-fought battle, such heroic
valor as excited the admiration of the entire army. In a charge with his men on the breastworks of the enemy he received two rifle balls in his right shoulder, and his arm fell shattered to his side. The wounds which he received remained unhealed to the day of his death. He was car
ried from the battle-field and placed in charge of the sur geon. The surgeon having extracted one Ball, made no effort to extract the other, as he deemed it unnecessary to torture the young hero, as he had no hope of his sur viving." That result did not follow. His life career was not yet accomplished. The heroism which he exhibited in the battle won the lifelong regard of Andrew Jackson, the hero of New Orleans, warmly shown in earnest sympa thies to him in all the fortunes of his after-life.
The muse of history and of song delights the imagination with its glowing account of the plumed troops, the serried ranks, the martial music, the din and strife of the battle field and the "pride and pomp and circumstance of glorious.
war." Especially does its holiday pageantry fascinate the youthful mind. The dazzling glory fades beneath the test
and experience of the real scenes of military life. The marches and counter-marches, the bivouac, the midnight duty of sentinel, the hardships of camp life and the carnage
of battle dissolve the dream, and the glory of war is found to be a beguiling phantom.
In the military campaign through which he had just served, there was to young Houston no realization in the least of the brilliant spectacle of war and battles that had enamored his youthful fancy in reading his favorite Iliad, and as waged by Greeks and Trojans and their allies be-

216

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

neath the walls of ancient Troy. There were no challenges to single combat from generous and valiant foes as of Ajax to Hector, Paris to Menelaus and of other doughty war riors of the Greeks and Trojans to each other, and as en cased in armor, to meet in fair and open fight and try their mutual valor and skill in arms. There was no grand pa geantry of opposing hosts moving to fierce conflict as of the Greeks in solid phalanxes, resplendent with the brilliance of their brazen armor, advancing with steady silence from their tents and ships by the sea, to meet with the Trojans as they pour out in warlike array through the Scsean gates from Ilions walls, in the puissant shock of battle on Sea manders sunny plain. In the battle (Tohopeka) fought, instead of the poets martial splendor and gallant strife, there was the dark forest, the stealthy and hidden foe, the musket with its dastardly range and the war-whoop of the Indian savage.
Such was the warlike dream and experience of Houston, now the youthful hero on account of his intrepidity and daring in battle, in the brief space of his military service. The wounds he had received were severe, and he suffered much from them. There were no comforts to be obtained in the wild state of the country through which he was borne on a litter, and naught but his invincible will bore him safe through his hardships and sufferings. After an absence of two months he again stands at the door of his mothers cottage, a physical wreck so great that maternal instinct recognized him only by "the wonted expression of his eyes." As he thus appears with his noble physique mutilated in the first fresh hours of his manhood and with an incurable wound through life, how pungent and forcible is the thought that the honors won were an ill compensation, and the triumphs of the war an inglorious meed for the sacrifice he made. Such is war its horrors and its trophies. How
strange is it, that it fascinates the imaginations and de bauches the consciences of the human race!
Beneath the sweet and sheltering repose of the parental roof and under a mothers tender care, he failed to recover his strength. As his chosen biographer (W. C. Crane, D.D., LL.D.) states, "He went to Knoxville for medical

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217

aid. Here he began to improve, and in a short time set out
for Washington City. He reached the seat of government shortly after the burning of the Capitol. He felt indignant
^because of the ruin wrought by the British army (1813),
.and regretted that his right arm was disabled while a foe was prowling throughout the country. Having recuperated sufficiently to be able to do duty, he returned to Knoxville. Here he received the news of the battle of Xew Orleans.
After peace was made and the anny reduced, his services were retained as first lieutenant. He was detailed on duty in the adjutants cffice, stationed at Nashville, from the ist of January, 1818. In the following November he was detailed on extra duty as sub-agent among the Cherokees to carry out the treaty just ratified with that nation." He discharged the duties of that mission with marked ability,
though suffering severely from his painful wounds received in the service of his country.
Conducting a delegation of Indians to Washington dur
ing that same winter, when he arrived at the seat of gov
ernment, he found that efforts had been made to lower him in the estimation of the administration (James Monroes)
for "having prevented African negroes being smuggled into the western States from Florida." He appeared be fore President Monroe and the Secretary of War (John C.
Calhoun) and vindicated himself. Revolting in his proud nature from a sense of slight, he resigned his position and retired from the army. Had he remained in the military
service of his country he would no doubt have attained to high rank and achieved distinction. His personal at tributes and invincible will would have placed him fore most in any enterprise or business of life. "He turned his attention to the law, and began his legal studies in June, 1818. He was then in his twenty-fifth year. Experience and observation had enriched his mind. In the national
struggle just closed he had gained a heros name." Hav
ing studied the law for six months, one-third of the usual time prescribed, after a most searching examination, he was
admitted to the practice. He rose rapidly in the profession, and in the presence of some of the most distinguished men of the Union.

2i8 -

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

Political life had its attractions for him, and being;
urged by his friends, he became a candidate for the UnitedStates House of Representatives (1823), and was elected. His course during his first term in Congress was so warmly approved by his constituents he was elected a second time. In 1827 he was electea governor ofthe State. In this brief time he reached the highest civic honors of his State.
At this crisis (1827) it seemed that the subject-of this etching had attained the highest point of honor, military and civil promotion and prosperity that young ambition could desire. He had engaged in the study and practice of law,, and though laboring under disadvantage from want of high, and thorough intellectual culture, he had, nevertheless, suc ceeded in the legal profession. Entering the field of poli tics, he had been twice elected to Congress, as a member of the House of Representatives. He was now Chief Ex ecutive of the young and growing State of Tennessee, and had honor ^nd troops of friends. His career of fortunehad been marvelous. Xo mind, however prescient of the future, could have forecast from the circumstances of hisboyhood and youth such a propitious destiny for him. It can not be altogether assigned to the splendid possibilitiesof promotion to rank and fortune arising from the geniusof the American government which grants to all its citizensfree and equal rights. Xor may it be considered as due alone to his personality. There is said to be a divine powerthat shapes the ends of mortals.
No one at that propitious hour could have conjectured that a reverse of fortune in the probabilities of thingswould be likely to follow. The fickleness of fortune is proverbial. The English poet portrays beautifully the un certainties of the earthly state of man. To-day, says the-, poet, man puts forth the tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms, and bears his blushing honors thick upon him; when he thinks his greatness is ripening, there comes" a. killing frost that nips the root of his prosperity. This Houston, now the popular young governor of Tennessee, realized. After an expiration of nearly two years in the
term of his office as governor there occurred an event in

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219

his life that cast a dark shadow over the honored and joy

ful present.

.

"In January, 1829," says his biographer, "he was mar

ried to a young lady of reputable connections and gentle

character. Her kindred were personal and political friends-

of General Houston, and had zealously supported him in

his political canvasses. The whole country was taken by

surprise, when, three months after marriage, a separation

took place. No publication, either from General Houston

or the lady has ever furnished a reason for this remarkable

proceeding. Unfounded reports, born of bitter malignity,

were scattered through Tennessee, and the popular feeling

was so completely inflamed that, in this strange excitement,

the State was divided into hostile parties. His name was

denounced, impertinent disturbers of the peace, curiosity-

hunting busybodies, did not hesitate to charge him with

every species of crime ever committed by man."

He never gave any public explanation of this singular

event, but was wont to say as a reply to all inquiry, "This

is a painful, but a private affair." So should it have been

considered by the public, and the matter should have passed

into oblivion. The spirit of scandal and curiosity about

the incident has "never slumbered nor slept." Xow and

then some writer in public print has endeavored to lift the

veil of secrecy from the affair, but no revelation of any

thing criminal or even immoral has been brought to view.

Since the writer of this etching began his task, three ac

counts of the matter have appeared in public print. The

only clue to the separation of General Houston and wife

is given by his biographer. It may be briefly stated, "that

she informed him, that although married to him, her af

fections had never been transferred from another to him.r

This extended notice has been given to counteract the per

verted statements still current in the public mind in refer

ence to the occurrence.

The event was no doubt fraught with tragic feeling to-

him, that could induce or cause him to make the costly sac-,

rifice of all the grand and glowing prospects of his life.

He resigned his position as governor of Tennessee and

determined to banish himself from civilized life. "When

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ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

a runaway boy among the Cherokee Indians, then residing in North Alabama, he was adopted by the chief Colooteka, who gave him shelter and protection." Now, he wends his way to the wigwam of that same chief who had moved and .settled in Arkansas with his tribe. He was warmly wel comed, and sojourned in the family of the chief while time and circumstances were weaving the threads of his future career.
He had now readied the meridian, of life, and it might .be supposed that he had touched the highest point of his greatness. It was not so decreed in the drama of coming
events, but he was to play a more glorious part where the :star of empire should hang suspended over San Jacinto.
At this juncture, it may be a courtesy and a duty the writer of this historical etching owes to the readers of the Advocate to make apology or to render an explanation for the unusual extension of this sketch. He is apprised of the fact that the literary taste of the age delights in the
ephemeral and versatile, and that the field of reading which the newspaper press daily opens up is so broad and varied that long and prosy articles are not wanted. Only the
mere mention of things that cater to the hour is desired or needed. After being glanced over by the reader, all of them will pass away like "the blossom by the poppies shed,
or the snowflakes upon the river." This may be true, yet the author as the true and faithful teacher of the public through the press will seek to impart solid and useful in struction.
No department of literature is more beneficial to mankind . than the recorded lives of the good and great. All may avail
themselves of their biography as a mirror, and learn from it to adjust and regulate their own conduct. Says Plutarch, It is like living and conversing with these illustrious men,
\vhen I invite, as it were, and receive them, one after another, under my roof: when I consider how great and wonderful they were, and select from their actions the most memorable
and glorious. What greater pleasure can there be ? What
happier road to virtue?" When the writer first applied himself to the task of writ-
jng this etching, it was for the sake of others, but in pursuing

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221

the investigation of the life and actions of the hero of Texasindependence, they have developed before him in proportionsand moral grandeur of which he had not conceived, and,. being profoundly impressed with the dignity and value of his-
theme, he pursued the study of it on his own account. It presents a biographical field so inviting to thought and reflec
tion, and for the interweaving of the rich colors of philos ophy that delight and instruct the mind, that he cannot
afford to treat it in a cursory and mechanical way. A his torical sketch, to possess any worth or merit, besides graces-
oi" style and other excellencies, should present true and accu-
tate lineaments of life and character and the deeds per formed, that the reader may discern whether or not they were the work of fortune or of fortunate virtue in the actor.
Though the century boasts of a long roll of great men,. whose achievements were highly distinguished, yet there may
be discerned in the actions of many of them a certain labor, straining effect and incongruity that diminishes their luster, In the role of public life, or of private station, there is not one action of the illustrious subject of this memorial in the way of magnanimity (but one has been excepted) to which
may not be applied that passage from Sophocles: " \Yhat Genius or what Love placed the fair parts in this harmonious whole." Though unexcelled by his compeers of the century in the luster of military achievement, sagacity of statesman
ship and eloquence of oratory, yet none have been more misconstrued as to his actions and character and suffered more from the opinions of ill-advised and malignant scrib blers. The incident that the writer had the honor and privi lege, when a youth, of seeing General Houston and hearing
him converse, whilst traveling in the same car for a whole day with him, as he was passing through Georgia on his way, in January, 1848, to attend the Senate of the United States, lends to his task a fascinating interest. (This is a.
digression, but it may have its use.)
Not the statue of bronze, nor triumphal arch of the con queror, nor the pen of the historian can add to or diminish
the honor that crowns his name and memory. His deeds, his worthy deeds, alone have rendered him immortal. Amongthese, as distinguished by heroic virtue and magnanimous-

^222

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

bearing, unique and of uncommon fame, was the true, steady, enduring friendship that he maintained for the Indians in his private sentiments. In his official capacity as a member of Congress, both in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and as president and governor of Texas, he ever exercised a just, humane and pacific policy towards them. Though a savage is nothing and a whole nation of them panoplied in all the rights of soil, life and liberty that God and nature gave to them, in the eyes of the civilized AngloSaxon may be nothing, as even now yet a true and nobler fi.me will abound to the illustrious Houston than to those who have received military honors from the extermination of helpless nations and the conquest of their territory. The
wreath of humanity is equally honoring to him as the victo rious laurels that adorn his brown as the hero of San Jacinto.
The part that General Houston performed in the struggle of Texas for independence is his chief glory. The rapidity with which events transpired, the double prize of the bless ings of a free government and the possession of a land and country for a home that spread out before the vision in ravishing beauty of forest and prairie to an interminable extent, the contest as waged by a handful of people, the efforts made towards laying the corner-stone of a State, the commencement and prosecution of hostilities, the slaughters
of the Alamo and Goliad, the decisive battle of San Jacinto, and the brief space of time in which it was fought, give to the revolution the air of brilliant romance. In all the plans, measures and movements of the Texans in the struggle, Gen eral Houston was the leading and master spirit, as the narrative of facts clearly demonstrates.
The part that he performed in this revolution was not that of an adventurer seeking fortune and fame. His course and action in the struggle was inspired and hallowed by the flame of virtue. From his retreat and sojourn among the Indians, for three years, he had watched the progress of the occu pancy of Texas soil by the people of the Anglo-Saxon race. He saw the inflowing tide of immigration reducing the wilderness and planting civilization, the arts and letters where desolation had reigned for ages. In the vast energies of his mind he grasped the thought and realization of the

THE HERO OF SAN JACINTO.

223

magnificent vision that Texas would be free, and would be peopled by sons and daughters of freedom, and the everrolling tide of civilization would move westward to the shores of the Pacific.
Being sent (1833) by President Jackson on an official mission to Texas (to the Comanche Indians), on passing through Nacogdoches, he was solicited by the people of that town to make his home with them and become a candidate for election as delegate to the convention to meet on the i st of April, 1833, to consider the matters of the Colony. He was unanimously elected as delegate.
As told in history, many things conspired to render the struggle of Texas for independence, its consequent success, and the laying of its corner-stone as a republic, a grand and noble theater for heroic daring and achievement. The terri tory of Texas as a province of Mexico was that of an empire, spreading out in vast and immeasurable tracts of prairie and forest, rich in all the pristine loveliness and opulence of nature, and possessing every variety of soil and climate. Over it roamed the Indians, the autochthons of the soil, in their savage wildness and unbounded freedom, and aiound it clustered here and there the dreams of romance as connected with the early Spanish settlers, the establishment of Roman Catholic missions and the building of churches and convents. As if in special instance, there seems to have been in this revolution the fulfillment of Bishop Berkelys notable prophecy:
" ' Westward the star of empire takes its way;' The four first acts are already past;
The fifth's but begun. Time's noblest Offspring is the last."
This might be predicated of it in view of its brilliant events and the long series of glory that would follow.
It was upon this theatre of action that General Houston, now in the meridian of life, entered to play his part. Here lie was to acquire his chief honor and renown as a soldier, a siatesman and an orator. The grandeur of the enterprise in
ich he was called to participate and to be a leader was such as to arouse his highest ambition and to enlist all tl-e energies and powers of his mind and soul. He was to aid a

224

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

population of twenty thousand of the Anglo-Saxon race;, scattered here and there in settlements throughout the broad
domain as described above, in the defense and vindication of tht political rights and privileges which had been pledged
and guaranteed unto them as immigrants, against the tyr anny and encroachments of the military despot that had seized upon the supreme government of the republic (Mex
ico).
In the part he played as statesman, it might be said of him, as ancient Roman Cato, the Censor, exclaimed of Scipio surnnmed Nasica, when in his old age he heard of the exploits-
of this rising young Roman: " He is the soul of council,, the rest are shadows vain." Yet there were men of talent and education among the leading spirits of the Texan revo
lution who had come from other States to participate in thestruggle. There were Stephen Austin, Rusk, Archer, the Whartons and others men noted for their intelligence and
ability. Houston, in the majesty of his person and intellect., towered among them and was the guiding spirit in the coimcis of the infant republic. It might be said ol him. :is it was of Bonaparte, that it was difficult to decide whether his.
genius was greater in the cabinet or in the field. In many instances his political sagacity was evoked and"
exercised at such crises and under such exigencies in the-
deliberative assemblies of the incipient nationality of which he was a member, that it served to avert the adoption of
impolitic measures that would have imperiled the fair hopes
oi liberty to Texas, and even the existence of it as a province.. So opportune were these interventions of his political fores;ght and wisdom, that it seemed that his mission as an actor and a leading spirit in the drama of Tex"as liberty was of
divine ordination and prophetic fulfillment. Those enemies
of his, who even at this remote period, in their contributions to literary magazines and newspaper articles, would assail
his reputation and bear away from him the laurels of San Jacinto, admit " that as a statesman he is entitled to much credit. They concede that he was a far-seeing man, and had
much confidence in himself, and possessed a high order of
ability." It is as the Commander-in-Chief of the little Texan army
and the achievement of the brilliant victory of San Jacinto-

THE HERO OF SAN JACINTO.

225

that have crowned in history the name of Sam Houston with honor and renown. That he possessed.high military genius and the qualities that make the great general was demon strated in the brief display of the battle of San Jacinto. The victory was won by strategy and heroism. In regard to this battle and victory fought and won in a quarter of an hour, it is said by the historian that in view of " the meagerness of the forces engaged and the amazing results that ensued, they stand unparalleled in human history. With the victory of San Jacinto a new era dawned upon the Western Continent." To be a soldier and to acquire military distinction was tho
bent and ambition of his mind. " Numerous were the devices by which he maintained dis
cipline over his brave, heroic, but too often wayward and reckless men. His methods were his own, and concealed in his own bosom. The belief became general that Houston was the only man in the world that could have kept the army in subjection, or achieved the independence of Texas, or pre served it after it was won."
It may be further said of Houston that he acquired a just fame, not only as a soldier and statesman, but also as ait orator. To use the words of Archilochus, the ancient Greek poet, he could justly claim " the palms of Mars and laurels of the Muse." In most governments in the management of public affairs the civil and military departments are kept separate and distinct. Those in the one usually confine them selves to the rostrum and tl:e arts of speech; those in the other to the honors and employments of the camp. But Phocion, the ancient Athenian statesman, chose rather to move in the walk of Pericles, Aristides and Solon, who excelled not only as orators, but as generals: for he thought this made their fame more complete. Says Pericles, Rhet oric is the art of ruling the minds of men,-and that its .principal province consists in moving the passions and affec tions of the soul, which, like so many strings in a musical instrument, require the touch of a masterly and delicate
hand."
Truly did Houston find and realize that his oratory was of excellent use to him in the station he filled and the part he performed in the revolutionary struggle of Texas. It gave
Us 1

226

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

to his talents and actions as a soldier and statesman great efficiency and power. In the deliberative assemblies of the young republic "the measures he proposed were wise and happy ones, and his counsels of the most salutary kind, yet he used no flowers of rhetoric; his speeches were concise, commanding and severe." Thrice, and again, according to historical record, did he save Texas from peril and ruin by his wise, fervent and patriotic speeches. In this special fame he may justly vie with Demosthenes, Cicero and Patrick Henry, who, as history reports, at marked crises each, by his eloquence, saved his country.
In the closing series of this historical etching, the writer profoundly realizes how inadequate they have been, in view of their brief scope, to portray in all their just proportions
and features the life and character of the hero of San Jacinto. It may be that the task accomplished has been a fruitless and an idle one, and has scarcely met with a passing notice from the public mind. The events of that obscure period in the history of the country and century will be barely observed amidst the splendor and overwhelming inter
est of the scenes and events transpiring upon the worlds stage of action at the present. However this may be. the student of history, in his walk through the gallery of the legislators and founders of States of Greek and Roman fame in " Plutarchs Lives," or even of modern times, will meet with no statesmanship wiser, more judicious and salutary than that displayed by General Houston in his administration of the government of the infant republic of Texas during his
two terms as President. " The condition of affairs after the battle of San Jacinto,"
says the historian, " was one of discord and confusion. Dis
content was universal. The Government ad interim had not been able to pursue a line of policy generally acceptable. The convention which had adopted the Constitution at Washing- . ton in the previous month of March had made provisions for the crisis, and, accordingly, writs were issued for the election
of a president by the people of Texas. Two candidates were named Gen. Stephen F. Austin and ex-Governor Henry Smith. The latter was an excellent man and a patriot; the former had the love of all parties, and will always be

THE HERO OF SAN JACIXTO.

227

regarded as the Father of Texas. Houston, importuned to "become a candidate, would not consent until twelve days "before the election. He was elected, receiving 4,374 votes; Henry Smith, 743; Stephen F. Austin, 587; total vote, 5,704." The people saw that at that time there was only one man in Texas who could sway the multitude, whose strong hand and sagacious mind could guide and steer the vessel of .State througk the boisterous surges, and that man was Sam
Houston, the hero of San Jacinto. Perhaps no founder of a State or political leader in marked
crises of the government, either in ancient or modern times, had greater difficulties to contend with than General Hous ton in his administration of the affairs of the nascent
republic. It was " without a dollar and without credit; a government was to be created from chaos." The population, heterogeneous in character and different in nativity, habits and social sentiments and accustomed to the unrestrained liberty of frontier life, were to be brought from anarchy and confusion and placed under the firm and mild control of -constitutional law. Such was said to be the personal influence of Sam Houston over the wild elements of Texas society that he ruled them as readily by the mild sway of civil law as by the rod of military power. He had the confidence of the
masses. The language of the people was "As long as Old Sam is at the helm, the ship of State is safe." Whilst he was rearing the structure of government he was much harassed
by petty intrigues and confronted by formidable combina tions of a clique of unscrupulous men, who, to accomplish their ambitions and mercenary designs and interests, would not have hesitated to sap the foundations of the young republic. He unwaveringly kept the public good in view, and
pursued the path of honor. At this period there occurred a passage in the life of Gen
eral Houston highly appropriate for transcription from his historian, as being illustrative of his eminent and varied tal ents and of the affectionate and exalted esteem in which he
was held by the people of Texas. It was the closing scenes of his first administration as president of the republic and the
inauguration of a new president. A vast concourse, larger than ever had assembled before in Texas, had gathered to

228

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

witness the ceremonies. The Inauguration Committee had made no arrangement on their program for the delivery o his valedictory address. The assembled multitudes, in a.
burst of indignation, clamored for the hero of San Jacinto, He came to the front of the Capitol. A wild shout of enthu siasm rent the sky as the people gazed upon his lofty, ample and heroic form, relieved against the portrait of George Washington, which was suspended behind him.
"For three hours he held the thousands before him under the force of his impetuous eloquence. The scroll of the history of Texas was unrolled, her future policy was por
trayed ; her future destiny, if a sound policy was pursued, was set forth in prophetic speech. .... The tears streamed! down his face as, in conclusion, he took farewell of the people he loved. Extending his broad arms over the people, he poured out from his great heart the benediction of a true patriot and invincible soldier. The vast multitude responded" with tears to tears. The still murmur of subdued feeling" closed the excitement of the solemnly moving scene. Houston
had demonstrated all the qualities of soldier, statesman and orator, and in each character had placed his name on the rolls of immortality."
His career in the United States Congress, both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, was marked with honor and luster. In each body his contemporaries were among the most illustrious statesmen of American his tory, and he held an honorable rank among them. It is said in high encomium of him, that " No man ever left Washing ton City with such unanimous esteem for mingled nobleness of character and faithfulness in action as Sam Houston."
An important event in his life, and the grand feature and
true element of greatness in his character was his profession of the Christian religion. Though it was late in life, yet ; there is no doubt but that he experienced the saving grace and power of the Gospel and became a sincere Christian. His
first marriage and abrupt divorce was a sad chapter in his life. His occasional spells of intoxication from indulgence in strong drink, resorted to as a solace for his sorrows, were spots upon the disc of his fair fame. His incurable wound, with its constant pain and issue, was a lifelong thorn in the

THE HERO OF SAX JACINTO.

229

"flesh or the shirt of Nessus to him. "These were the slings of outrageous fortune" to diminish his felicity and renown,
lest they might become too great for human pride to bear. His strong, invincible and abiding love for the Union, as evinced both in his private sentiment and public acts, was memorable. Its last gleam went out only at death. The secession of the South and his deposition from the office of Governor, like dark clouds, eclipsed the brightness of the setting sun of life with him. Yet amidst all these compli cated evils, where shall we find a man that bore his afflictions, great and majestic in his ills, like him ? On the 26th of July, 1863, his spirit passed into the presence of God. He was attended by admiring friends in his sickness and death, and he conversed fully on his souls welfare with Rev. Mr. Cock erel, pastor of the Huntsville Presbyterian Church.
To affix the standard of Houstons greatness or his place among the eminent men of the century in American history is no easy task. He was remarkable for his physical and intellectual attributes, his qualities as a soldier, an orator and a statesman. Apart from these, it must be conceded that "his military achievements in the Texan revolution, his statesmenship in laying the foundation of a republic and sustaining it through all its years of anarchy and weakness, and his diplomacy in thwarting the efforts of France and England each to establish their suzerainty over Texas soil, and his finally securing the annexation of Texas to the United States all render his public career sublime and his fame unrivaled.
To him and to him alone, in his love for the United States as the land of his nativity, and the Union as the bond and pledge of their glory, do they, as a nation, owe the extension of their territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean in its full clasp, and their present proud position among the kingdoms and principalities of the world. Only a simple marble sfab marks his last resting-place in the cemetery at Huntsville, bearing the inscription: General Sam Houston, 1x>rn March 2d, 1793. Died July the 26th, 1863.

230

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

GENERAL P. G. T. BEAUREGARD.

The historian in easy narrative may write of science, lit

erature, the arts of government, and of men and things in-

social smd public life, but when he touches upon vvarr

j

speaks of the military skill of the commanders, the points

j

of strategy in the martial exploits which determine vic-

1

tory or defeat to the opposing armies, the task becomes del

icate and difficult. Who, with mind and pen equal to the

ordeal, may describe the slow movements of mighty armies-

!

by land and sea, the advance and retreat of the serried

hosts, and the various contingencies upon which hang vic

tory or defeat? Who may portray the loud peal of the-



drum, the shrill blast of the bugle, the gleam of arms, the

charging squadrons, the flying steeds, the pallid counte

nances of men, the shouts of leaders, and all the horrific sights

and sounds with which fierce battle is waged? Who can.

with just discrimination distinguish whether the valor of

j

the soldiers, or the military skill of the leaders, or blind



chance has decided the conflict?

When civil war, or arms stained with the blood of coun

trymen unappeased, is the subject, the oft-quoted poet Hor-.

I

ace, in an ode to C. Asinius Pollio, a distinguished Roman,

who was writing a history of the wars of the two triumvi-

!

rates which had stained every sea and enriched every land

j

with Roman blood, says (as expressed in English) it is a.

1

work full of danger and peril. This to the Roman historian,

should he happen to speak unadvisedly of the "powers that

i

be, might bring confiscation of property or loss of lifer.

but not to the American or Southerner in regard to the-

late war. The political proscription following the subjuga-

',

tion of the South did not take away freedom of speech..



The tongue of the American citizen is free, and he some

times lets it wag too freely. The danger to him is that as

!

a writer, he may not do justice to the dead, to some fallen

j

hero, as he treads among the memories of the battle-fields

of the late war, or it may be to awaken unpleasant contro

versy through the press upon issues and principles claimed?

;

as causes of the war that still exists and are cherished.

GENERAL P. G. T. BEAUREGARD.

231

When the Latin poet was asked to celebrate in song the praises of Augustus Caesar and his minister Agrippa, the sentiment of his reply was that he would as soon undertake to describe in worthy strain the god of battles enwrapped
in his adamantine tunic, or any of the heroes of the Iliad as to attempt to tell of the fame of the royal Cassar^and his minister. He would not from want of talent on his part detract from the luster of their achievements. The same loftiness of theme presents itself, and the same delicacy of
feeling fills the heart and mind in speaking of the renown of the illustrious military chief, of the Confederacy, Gen
eral P. G. T. Beauregard. The battle of Manassas, the first grand battle of the civil war fought and won, gave him his fame. First of all his military compeers, his star
of glory rose above the horizon. Though it suffered no eclipse from disaster and defeat thereafter, yet the bril liancy of its dawn did not result in the glorious future predicated. Why this was the case justice to his name
and character requires due explanation. It has been ex plained upon the ground of dissatisfaction with the treat
ment he received from Confederate authorities immediately after the victory he had won. It may be said at this point he was promoted to the rank of a full general in token of his merit and his services. So far as the pageantry and
rank of title is concerned this seemed to be a full reward. Though not continued in the command of the Confederate
forces in the field of active military operations against the enemy, yet he was honored with the confidence of the government and had command of the South department of the Confederacy.
It has been and is still asserted that General Beauregard became dissatisfied after the battle of Manassas because
he was not promoted to seniority of command and rank above Generals Lee and Johnston. It is also attributed to
the assumption that he was not allowed by superior author
ity to pursue the enemy on to Washington after the battle, and thus to reap the fruits of his glory and victory. As
to the first charge it may be said, that no doubt rhe dream of military glory filled the hearts of many gallant spirits
who entered upon the tented field at the opening of the

232

ESSA.YS AND ADDRESSES.

civil war. It may well be supposed that this noble son of Louisiana felt its quickening pulse when in his deep patriotism he tendered his services to the Confederate gov ernment at an early period. The martial spirit had come down to him from his Gallic ancestors unimpaired by the ages. Though American born, yet no doubt the annals of war
like France, the mother-land, and the exploits of her heroic sons in war fired his soul with passion for glory. Now flashed before his mind the dazzling career of the first Napoleon, the world-renowned Bonaparte. Though it had been half a century since the star of this military hero had gone down upon the fatal field of Waterloo, yet it still flamed before the world like a giant comet in the sky. His in fluence and the genius of his military tactics may be traced
in the plans of the campaign General Beauregard had formed prior to the battle of Manassas. It may be said of him and other sons of the South during the war that they did not permit their ambition to mar or tarnish their de votion to their country, but with ancient Spartan virtue could rejoice that the South had nobler sons than they.
It may be said of General Beauregard that he was rather a military scientist, than a great commander. There is a magnetic power in the form, speech, and manner of the leaders of men in peace or war. Alexander had it, so did
Julius Csesar, Washington, Bonaparte, Lee, Stonewall Jackson. The appearance of Bonaparte on the field of bat tle would arouse the enthusiasm of his soldiers. When he made his escape from the island of Elba to which he had been confined by the allies after his abdication as Emperor of France, his appearance and presence to his soldiery awak
ened the shout, "Vive le Empereur," and put a hundredthousand men at his command. After the lapse of three quarters of a century his name will arouse the hearts of Frenchmen. The person and demeanor of Washington
crowned him as the king of men. Grand, glorious and un dying does Robert E. Lee live in the memory of his sol diers and in the hearts of the people of the South. Stone wall Jackson had these qualities which made him the idol of his men. Equal to any in honor, love and confidence of his soldiers was Joseph E. Johnston. The traits of

GENERAL P. G. T. BEAUREGARD.

233

character in military commanders which give inspiration,
courage and conquering might to an army might have shone forth brightly in General Beauregard had he continued in
active field service and been brought near his men in the common perils and jeopardy of battle. There was com mand in his presence, and as he would sweep on horseback in rapid gallop through the streets of Savannah and with
eagle eye take in at a glance the passers-by on the side walk, one could feel that he was a master spirit.
The battle of Manassas was to the Confederate forces a hard-fought field. The victory won was extraordinary in view of the disparity of numbers and the equipment of arms, as compared with the Union army, and will be ever notable in the annals of military achievements. The glad rews was hailed by the South with rejoicing and thanks giving to Almighty God.
The defeat, rout and panic of the Federal hosts were so great and overwhelming as reported by the press through out the land, that the inquiry arose in the popular mind why were they not pursued and the glorious triumph of the capture of Washington City added to the brilliant vic tory obtained? This sentiment found ready utterance and was strengthened by the press in its comments, and editors, self-installed as the "mappery and closet" generals of the
war, became oracular in military affairs, and prescribed that the enemy, filled with dread and consternation and with ranks shattered, should have been pursued by General Beauregard, and further stated, would have been had higher official authority not prevented him.
This opinion respecting the matter prevalent then ob tains in the minds of many even to-day, although thirtysix years have transpired since the close of the war, and liow as well as then, the conduct of high Confederate offi cials as responsible for the default is censured. The cause
of truth, immutable and obligatory ever in its claims at the hands of mankind, as well as justice to the posthu mous honor of the illustrious dead, requires a thorough in vestigation of all facts connected as made above.
The circumstances of the battle as it was fought by the Confederate army and gathered from official reports fully

234

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

show that the pursuit of the foe was impracticable. At
one time during the conflict the Confederates were defeated,,
and were saved from utter rout and ruin by the indomita ble courage of General T. J. Jackson, who here received hisbaptism of fire and acquired his soubriquet as "Stonewall," and by General Kirby Smith arriving on the field of battle
at an opportune time, and striking the enemy in flank on. the right. Again, it was not known to the Confederates
how complete was their victory until next day. Moreover,, at night when the fighting ceased, "the troops were weary,
hungry, scattered and without supplies." As if kind nature would interpose to obstruct the pursuit of the routed fee and
to prevent their rallying to return to the fight, "a rainfall ex traordinary for its violence and duration occurred the next
day, and where, during the battle, one could scarcely get a drink of water, in the afternoon of the 22d rolled tor rents difficult to cross." All these impediments obstructed
the pursuit which public surmise and speculation predicted should have been made.
The statement of General Beauregard, who was in com mand during the fight, in his report of the battle to the Con federate secretary of war, was that he did not pursue the
enemy "from want of supplies and means of transporta- tion." This, in view of other invincible facts, has been
regarded rather as an excuse to meet the complaint madeby the press and the people. General Joseph E. Johnston as in chief command, says, in his report of the battle to the
secretary of war, that the pursuit was "obstructed" by the enemys troops at Centerville, and the condition and inade
quate means of the army in ammunition, provisions, and transportation prevented any serious thought of advancing against the capital.
President Davis, who was present and on the field of
battle a part of the time, and against whom the allegation was made that he interfered and prevented pursuit of the
enemy, in his "Rise and Progress of the Confederate Gov
ernment," presents the full text of this question with all the facts and circumstances connected with it. As re viewed and reported in all its points and features by him, he
justified the military wisdom and prudence of General John-

GENERAL P. G. T. BEAUREGARD.

235

ston in his decision and action of declining to pursue the enemy. The failure of the South in this instance to reap the fruits of victory in the battles won was strangely and sadly prophetic of its fortune throughout the war.
The pen of the historian and the song of the poet record the deeds, embalm the virtues and transmit the memory of illustrious leaders to posterity. If they be silent, no one will reap his reward for what he may have laudably accom plished. Many brave men have lived before Agamemnon, but the unknown and unlamented are oppressed with a long night for the want of a poet to celebrate their praises. What would the son of Mars and Ilia be, if invidious si lence had stifled the merits of Romulus? The power, fa vor and the lays of bards consecrate to immortality, and place in the islands of the blessed the renowned warriors of the past.
The muse of song and history forbids that any one wor thy of praise should die. Thus does every true son and daughter of the South feel towards every man who shoul dered his musket, enlisted in the Confederate army, and for four long years fought for freedom and Southern independ ence. Not one, even the humblest soldier in ranks, should be omitted from the roll of fame.
Each mountain rill and each mighty river Should roll mingling with his fame forever.
Then, in writing of General P. G. T. Beauregard what pen would touch upon those points and actions in his military career that fail to preserve the luster of his early fame? They stand upon historic record. They may detract from his standing as a military man, but no unkind criticisms should be allowed to creep among the laurels of victory won at Manassas. Allusion is made to his retreat after the battle of Shiloh, when he succeeded General A. S. Johnston; to his leaving the army at Corinth in charge of General Bragg; to his being relieved of his command and General Joseph E. Johnston being appointed in his stead in the closing hours of the war. His merits will compare favorably with many of the military leaders on either side. R. E. Lee, A. S. Johnston, Stonewall Jackson, and J. E.

236

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

Johnston stand as the illustrious quartette of the Confed erate side. Many others achieved worthy fame and are entitled to high rank in point of military skill as comman
ders of regiments, brigades, and divisions, but could not have successfully planned the movements of a great army. No Southern State was more nobly represented than Lou
isiana by the talent of her sons in the cabinet of the gov ernment and the bravery of her soldiers upon the field of battle during the brief period of the Confederate republic. No State suffered more humiliation, outrage and spoliation at the hands of the conqueror when the proud hopes of the South were overthrown and defeat and subjugation came.
She perished not under the grinding heel of military desr potism, and invincible she stands erect from the ruin and
desolation of war and flood in all the years of the past. Encouched in repose upon the waters of the gulf and with "her metropolis, the Crescent City, the commercial mart of the South, she may look forward to the future with hope. - Well may she be proud of her historic record. Her sons "have guerdoned her with the glory of their deeds. Well
may she cherish them, their names and memories, with the fond tenderness which the pelican, her chosen escutcheon,
is fabled to show for her young, and to no one of them may she more worthily render the homage and perpetuation that marble and bronze and letters can give than to the
distinguished subject of this sketch.

TEXAS TALENT.
As the time of my subscription for the Advocate will soon expire, and as my stock of sense, though small, is larger than my fund of cents, I would modestly propose to pay for the extension of my subscription by contributions from my pen. It may be that you have no need of my literary aid and that my cents would be a more available asset than my sense. This should be readily inferred from the fact that the Publishing Committee, in their wisdom and judgment, considered that you were possessed of that intellectual ability and literary

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culture that would fitly qualify you to occupy the editorial tripod of the Advocate, the official organ of the five Annual
Conferences of the State of Texas. The many congratula
tions that you are receiving attest that you have been emi nently successful in your d6but and r61e as editor, and that you are fully competent for the duties and responsibilities of
the position. The tide of popular applause is always in favor of the new
man. It is an old-time trick for men to worship the risingsun. The sun, as it comes rejoicing in the east, bears the
promise of a golden day in anticipation, and should neces sarily awaken more admiration than when it declines its head
on the western horizon, though pavilioned \vith all the pomp and glory of the magic hues of light, for its work is thenfinished. The newly-crowned man of the present will more engage the public mind than he whose career is complete,.
though " his sunset be over-browed with laurels." Such may
be the case, but it must be conceded that your management of the Advocate has been a-brilliant success, and that you: justly deserve the tributes of praise which have been rendered"
you. It is superfluous for any one, theo,_to offer you the aid of his brain and pen.
Then, in your editorial capacity, you have at command as
special and enlisted contributors the itinerancy of the fiver conferences. What a proud array of intellect is here! There should be in it genius of every stamp, talent of every order
and learning of every degree. The arena of mind here pre sented, in its compass and in the variety and opulence of its flowering of thought, has a fit emblematic representation in
the prairies of the State in their unmeasured expanse of
verdure and in the flowers that in endless profusion and beauty in the springtime bedecked them in the days before they were trodden by the foot of civilized man or upturned
by his ploughshare. With such a vast list of contributors at your service, the columns of the Advocate should bourgeon
with all the graces and beauties of literature, show up every phase of spiritual experience and sweetly unfold the sublime teachings of the Scriptures. The editor, with such an equip ment of auxiliary forces, may lay claim to be Briarean-

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handed and Argus-eyed. What need has he of contributions from the pen of even a facile and polished writer ?
You truly deserve well of the itinerant brethren and should
receive the hearty support of their pen, purse and influence in youi labors as editor, in return for the splendid encomiums you passed upon them, individually and collectively, in your write-up of the five conferences. It is probable that the vital question of the spiritual decline of the Church will open up a broad and fruitful field of discussion. Many will be the opinions expressed and the theories presented in solution of the cause of the spiritual dearth and suggestions of the remedies that should be applied.
As a contributor to the Advocate, I could furnish from my literary repertoire a poem now and then for publication. There are those who regard poetry as too ephemeral, too dreamy an affair, for this practical and rushing age. With them poetic sense has no value compared with financial cents. The jingling of the guinea is sweeter to them than all the melodies of verse. The Roman poet Ovid relates that when his father would dissuade him from the culture of letters, and especially from fostering his taste and genius for writing poetry, remarked to him: " Homer left no wealth." The old biind Greek poet, who went around from city to city singing for his bread, left no estate nor riches, but he left his Iliad, an imperishable treasure of delight to mankind in all ages. The Scotch poet Bailey, in his "Festus," beautifully says, "Poetry is a thing of God. He made his prophets poets; and the more we feel of poesy the more we are like him in love and power." In the song of Solomon, or Canticles, the writer,
in the description of the graces of Christ and of the Church,
his spouse, and their mutual love for each other, reaches the climax of poetical metaphor and ideal expression. The pres ent century has been prolific of small poems, springing up
here and there in the monthlies and the nooks and corners of newspapers, like roses in the garden or violets in the wildwood. Like the flowers with which they are compared, many of them are things of beauty and gladness, and from the silent folds of the press proclaim an evangel pure and uplift ing to the souls of men. These alone should find a place in the columns of a religious journal.

POETRY, ETC.

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POETRY, ETC
Yours of the i6th of February notifying me that my poem and prose article were accepted, and that they would be published in due time, was a pleasant missive. It was " sweet as honey in my mouth," as to St. John was the " little book " seen by him in apocalyptic vision and which he was commanded by the angel to eat. The freedom of the columns of the Advocate was an honor and a privilege to be highly esteemed. It suffused my mind with the pleasing hope and anticipation that it was one step in the path to literary notice and at some day to the laurel that crowns the author. As a month has elapsed, and neither poem nor prose article has appeared in the columns of the Advocate, the thought comes in mind the "sweet" may change to the t: bitter," as did the "little book" to the apostle when he Tiad eaten it.
I really desired to see my literary productions in print, as they had met from you a favorable expression of opinion; and then I wanted to see how often the editorial stylus had been turned, and what corrections were made. In writing the little poem, I knew that I did not bestride the vaulting steed of the Muses, famed in ancient classic myth, that bears the poet to the high heaven of invention, and which ^Eschylus, the old Greek bard, so sublimely rode. Xo, my Pegasus was of pony size, and though breathing Texas air, did not have the curvettings of the fiery broncho, but with iambic step and tetrameter speed moved along with ambling gate, as shown in the melodious flow of the verse.
The poem may have but little or no merit, and though I and others who essay to write poetry may not have the gift of song, yet there is poetic genius in the South, and it should receive kind and fostering care from the Southern press and Southern literary taste. The culture of literature on the part of its sons and daughters has met with scant recognition and patronage from the South. It seems as if the manufacturing and political vassalage in which it is held by the Xorth like wise extends to literature and its pursuits. Shall Southern pens with sketches pay tribute of homage to Northern

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writers and let Southern authors pass unnoticed? Is there nc golden rod of Hermes but in Northern clime ? Is there no flowery mount of Helicon or Pierian spring save in New England ? The intellect of the South is broad, versatile and acute, and has shown itself in the past as capable of all that is beautiful in literature and profound in statesmanship, and it should not submit to literary thralldom. The ocean rolled not back when Canute gave command, nor should any earthly
power stay the freedom of the human mind. The Latin poet Horace says that neither men, nor the
gods, nor booksellers shelves, regard with favor mediocre poets. In the present day, when everywhere in the realm of letters human thought and fancy are developing and seeking publicity through the public prints, it is reasonable to suppose that some inferior literature would be written. There are those who imagine they have poetic genius, whose Pegasus, if symbolized, would have his counterpart in Rosinante, the steed of Don Quixote, or that of Hudibras, " with body long, lean, lank and limber," rather than the sun-bright courser that stands hard by the fountain of the muses. The writing of poetry is an aspiration after the ideal, and the ideal is always uplifting to the mind. Editors cannot afford to inflict the reading of poetic effusions that have neither thought nor melody upon their readers, in order to gratify the literary vanity of any individual. With the pure, the good and the beautiful in thought and language as the criterion of merit, they can readily decide what articles should be accepted or
cast into the waste-basket.

YOUNG MEN VS. OLD MEN.
" Young men for war (or action) and old men for coun sel " is a brief and sententious maxim. It bears in its origin the stamp of classic antiquity. It was some Greek sage, or perhaps Demosthenes, the sagacious and eloquent Athenian orator, who pronounced it. Whatever may be its source, it defines clearly, and no doubt wisely, the spheres of the two classes of mankind respectively as to age, in the affairs of

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life. The strength of youth and the wisdom of gray hairs are both requisite, and form a happy combination to carry on
the great enterprises of society. They have thus been con sentaneously conjoined by the centuries of the past, neither
having precedence of the other, but each having its special sphere and line of duty. This principle has been recognized and observed by those who have guided the affairs of Church or State, in their appointments to office when the adaptation of the means to the end controlled their decision.
It seems from the article of R. C. Armstrong in the Advocate of June 22 that in the cabinets and councils of the Church (M. E., S.) there appears to be a tendency to dis criminate against age and to give preference to youth in the matter of appointments. What prevalence and force such a sentiment has in the administration of the affairs of the Church, those can determine who have given the matter close attention and study. That there is and has been a decline in the deference that should be paid to the experience of age is clearly evident. This may be attributed to the trend of the age, and probably in a great measure to the peculiar phases of American society.
The disposition and tendency spoken of, however, is not confined to the policy of ecclesiastical organizations, but finds a place in the learned professions, at least in that of teaching. Teachers who have spent long years of study in the acquisition of their stores of learning, and have had large experience in the schoolroom, are often set aside for the young normalites, who, with a nimble wit and in a short
time, have compassed the text-books of the schools. The nations of antiquity paid great reverence and honor
to their old men, and it was held by them as a badge of national virtue. It was thus with Egypt, Rome and Greece. In their deliberative assemblies, the advice and opinion of their aged warriors and statesmen were held in high regard. As told in Homeric verse, often did the Greeks in the siege of ancient Troy seek counsel at the hands of Xestor, whose duration of life had extended through two and a half gener ations of men. Often did the sweet-tongued speaker of Pylia arise in the assembly, and, with the words falling from his

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lips gently as snowflakes upon their hearts and minds, did he guide in the councils of the Greeks.
Not to rise up in the presence of an aged person was regarded by the ancient Romans as a crime worthy of death; and the neglect of this observance was deemed by Juvenal as an awful mark of the degeneracy of his times. Foreigners claim to have discovered this defect of moral virtue, espe cially of the respect of children to parents, in the social status and bearing of the people of the United States. In the race for wealth, power and pleasure, and the engagement of their material and intellectual progress and interests, they have overlooked and neglected the close culture of the moral virtues. There is no doubt great reason to proclaim anew to them the Mosaic precept: "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and honor thy God."
" Deference is the most complicate, the most indirect and the most elegant of all compliments," says Shenstone. It should be rendered to the old in the amenities of social life. It may sometimes be the case that old age is too tenacious of the respect and deference due to it, and may lay claim to recognition and preferment that would be inexpedient to grant. Intellectual and moral fitness for the position or the work must necessarily control those invested with authority in their selection and appointments of men to office and duty. It is not. to be presumed that hoary locks or the bald head is always the index and token of wisdom or virtue.
With the writer, the weary wheels of life are now running their septuagenarian rounds. In his experience as a local preacher for forty years or more, with a nature as sensitive to slight or wrong as the aspen leaf to the zephyrs breath, yet he has no complaints to make as having met with discrim ination on account of age from the officials of the Church. Ha did not experience it in Georgia, nor has he in Texas, his adopted State. Whatever he may have suffered in his per sonal dignity from real or fancied slight or wrong from sor.ie, yet it has been more than counterbalanced by the honor and respect paid him by others of his itinerant brethren.
He has in pleasing reminiscence the kind treatment he received from S. J. Hawkins (of revered memory), both

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as pastor and presiding elder; the tributes of eulogy before the people paid him by Rev. D. F. Fuller, then of the East Texas Conference, and the high appreciation of his minis terial help shown him by Rev. Stuart Nelson of the Gilmer Circuit. He recalls as a cherished incident the gracious favor put upon him by Bishop George F. Pierce, m the preachers tent at the Rock Springs camp-meeting, near Denton, Texas, on Sabbath afternoon, July , 1875. Rising up before the body of preachers present, and frankly placing his arm upon the shoulder of the writer, this eminent minister of Christ and crowned monarch in the realm of oratory, said to Rev. M. H. Neely, the pastor of the Church at Dallas; " Neely, this is one of our boys (graduate of Emory), and if you need a teacher at Dallas, I can recommend him." No higher honor than this, .though bestowed by the proudest potentate of Europe, could have been conferred upon the
writer of this article. With him the sun is rapidly dipping to the west. In his
cosy home at Linden, as the days glide by, he is watching, praying and working. He occupies the pulpit of his Church once a month, teaches the senior Bible class of the Sabbathschool, and, with the assistance of a few brethren and the invariable help of devout sisters, he keeps up the prayerineeting for each Wednesday night. It is a treadmill path, "but it is one of duty and fragrant are its footings. As deeply enamored of the classics as when he first drank of their Pierian stream, he finds beauty and delight in the sweet lyrics of Horace, the stately epic of Virgil, the brilliant wonders of Homer and the burning invective of Juvenal. Nor less of favor does Shakespeare or Milton receive.
Now, in the decline of life, when the period of active use fulness is past, he realizes that the old men of the ministry may have the esteem and confidence of the Church, and live In such harmony and love as always to secure their sympathy
and aid.

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PULPIT ORATORY No. i.
Oratory, in its perfection, is the highest form and expres sion of human culture. It is the consummate flower of the grace, beauty and power of thought, speech and of the action of the body in harmonious combination, as exhibited in public discourse. In a technical sense, it is the living embodiment resulting from the principles of eloquence and elocution in harmony and combination. Some may display the skill and pathos of the orator from native powers of genius and the inspiration of the crisis and the hour, and speak eloquently, yet distinguished speakers, though they may not have been trained, will instinctively conform to the rules that guide in the art of elocution. Beneficial, as well as sublime, and the source of enrapturing delight to the mind, are the uses of oratory. Grand and glorious have been its achievements upon the worlds stage of action. " Oratory," said Pericles, the renowned Athenian statesman, " is the art of ruling the minds of men." In his own case, it -enabled him to rule the little republic of ancient Attica, at the height of its glory and supremacy, for forty years, and to enchant the fickle populace
whilst he governed them. Subtle and undefinable is the power of oratory. It may be
in the movement of the finger, in the pose of the body, in the glance of the eye, in the expression of the countenance, in the grace and beauty of person; but these are only incidental to the power and art of the orator. In the Greek, man is not only called o anthropos, but is designated phos, from phaof or pho, to cry, thus signifying that he is an articulatespeaking being, and the charm of voice is his distinctive attri bute. The human voice is the most perfect of all instruments. In its wonderful capacity when trained, it alone can reveal and portray, in vivid power and intensity of expression, the depths of thought and the inward passions of the soul. " Hence," says one, " the ordained efficiency of preaching; hence the trembling of Felix, as the great Apostle reasoned of righteousness, temperance and judgment to come."
Homer, in the Iliad, tells of Nestor, the-clear-toned speaker of the Pylians, from whose tongue flowed speech sweeter

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than honey. Not only did the words of his lips delight, but from the modulations of his voice, they fell in enrapturing sweetness of sound upon the ear. The old Greek bard like wise gives a picture and description of Menelaus and Ulysses and their style of oratory when they appeared as ambassadors before Priam and the Trojan Council seeking for the restora tion of Helen. Menelaus spoke with rapid conciseness, in clear and musical tones, since not being of many words, nor one who missed the point. When the sagacious Ulysses arose,
he stood, having his eyes fixed upon the ground, holding his scepter unmoved, like to one unskilled in art; you would have
said that he was some one exceedingly angry and devoid of reason, acting as he did. But when, now, then, he sent forth a voice from his strong breast, the words fell like wintry flakes of snow. " Xot then with Ulysses," said Trojan An tenor as narrator, " certainly, could any other mortal have vied; not then, did we wonder so much at his countenance, as now at his eloquence." The two styles of oratory presented in contrast are well worthy of the study of public speakers.
But few have attained the high and splendid accomplish ments of oratory, even in the most favored ages of the
worlds history and in the most enlightened countries. Gener ation after generation has followed, and century after century
has passed, with only solitary instances of the growth and development of stately and full cultured oratorical genius. To grasp the palm of oratorical perfection requires such intrepid
ity of character such indomitable ambition and assiduous toil,
that few have attempted it. Qassic Greece presents an illus trious example in Demosthenes. The history of his toils and training in the art and of the power of his vehement elo quence that fulmined over Greece and shook the throne of Macedon are well known to the world. Also, ancient Rome could boast of Cicero, whose oratory saved the capital and the republic and banished Catiline. To the acquirement of the art he devoted years of toil and daily training. Such were his wide, varied and delicate attainments in rhetoric and the training of his voice, " he was the very mocking-bird of elo
quence, which is his greatest distinction and glory; for who so various as he; who so sweet, so powerful, so simply elo-

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quent, or so magnificently flowing, and each and all by
turns?" To change the figure, it might be said of him, as he did of Aristotle, " That he was a river of flowing gold." In speaking of him, Brutus, old Romes famed patriot, declared he would prefer the honor of being esteemed the master of Roman eloquence to the glory of many triumphs.

PULPIT ORATORY No. 2. .
The oratory of the pulpit or of Christianity, as well as that of the bema of ancient Athens and the forum of Rome, presents an interesting field of inquiry. In the preaching of the gospel, in addition to natural endowments of mind and person, there comes in a new, vital and divine agency to guide, inspire and assist with miraculous power in the work. The old Greek myth that a special divinity or divinities, 35 Apollo and the Muses, presided over the realm of oratory to breathe upon the votaries of eloquence the divine afflatus, is realized. Said the risen Christ to his disciples before his ascension, that they should tarry at Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. The enddement came upon the day of Pentecost. The disciples were baptized with the Holy Ghost, and " began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Peter stood up and preached Christ as a risen and exalted Saviour. They that gladly received his word were baptized; and three thou sand were converted the same day. The apostles, says Peter, preached the gospel " with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." The same divine unction is vouchsafed to their successors in the ministry of the Word throughout all gen erations.
In the early stages of Christianity the Church fully appre ciated the culture of oratory, as clearly evinced in scriptural record and ecclesiastical history. It had its Paul, its Cephas, its Apollos, its Stephen, radiant with the light of high com munion and of glories unveiled and spiritual, to proclaim the gospel as learned of Christ and " in words which the Holy Ghost teacheth," with whose theme sublime and truths of

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salvation, and heavenly rhetoric, nor Pagan philosophy, nor Greek nor Roman eloquence could vie. Unskilled in the culture and depths of learning were man} of those who preached the gospel, yet they could the reason sway, the judgment convince, the bosom with loves rapture thrill, as though they had drunk of old Romes classic rill or the
sweetsof Greeces Hymettian bees of song poured in lan guage persuasive from their tongue. How grand and beneficent were the achievements of their oratory! The gospel preached, as at the touch of a magic wand, quickened
the souls of men dead in trespasses and sins, " renewed them after the image of God in righteousness and true holiness," and irradiated life with the revealed hope of immortality.
Among the instances of notable oratory after the apostolic age, which the Church presents in the progress of the gospel, may be mentioned that of St. John, the most eloquent of the fathers of the Greek Church, born at Antioch 347 A. D. He was called Chrysostomos (golden-mouthed)" on account of hit unrivaled eloquence. In the fifth century the Church btgan to wane in purity and spiritual power. Ambition for
wealth and supremacy prevailed in its episcopal ranks. As the salt of the earth, it lost its conservative power. As the light 01 the world, it failed to illumine. That epoch in the worlds history called the " Dark Ages " supervened. For five cen turies it produced but few names of eminence in learning and talent. The Church in its cloistered retreats and through its clergy preserved the remains of ancient learning to the world, and conferred on after-ages a priceless boon.
In the restoration of the world from this long night of ignorance and degeneracy, and in the dawning of the era of spiritual life and light that followed in the twelfth century, the Church, in the beneficence of its great Author, was made the source of blessing, and the oratory of an obscure monk, ir. the person of Peter the Hermit, was the cause and effect ive instrument. He had not the lofty attributes and the grand persuasive powers of gifted orators, but mere fluency of speech and burning ardor of soul; yet his simple eloquence was attended by direct and reflex results broader and deeper than ever was accomplished by that of any other man, as recorded on historic page. He aroused the enthusiasm of

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Christendom and projected the Crusades for the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. These in their effects changed the civil
ization of Europe. In the onward progress of Christianity, in the fifteenth
century there appear, consecutively, Martin Luther, the
Protestant reformer, and John Calvin, the great Geneva
preacher. These were mighty in the Scriptures, but as orators with distinguished ability they occupied the field of theolog
ical controversy. The pulpit oratory of Pascal, Bossuet and Bourdaloue, in
the sixteenth century, crowned with honor and luster the ecclesiastical annals of France and the epoch of the Revival of Learning. The first was unsurpassed in his power of pro
found and condensed thought and style of rhetoric, and in
the field of theology the potency of his pen is said "to have done more to ruin the name of Jesuit than all the contro
versies of Protestantism, or all the fulminations of the Parliament of Paris." The second, as an orator, was renowned for his lofty thoughts, fervid diction and melody of
voice. The third, for thought, learning and logical rea soning. The works of these three great French preachers
are reservoirs .of thought, reasoning and eloquence from which modern divines mav draw to fertilize their own minds.

PULPIT ORATORY No. 3.
At the same era the pulpit of Protestant England, or of the Anglican Church, produced illustrious examples of theologic eloquence, rather than of oratory proper, in the persons of Richard Hooker, Jeremy Taylor and Isaac Barrow. Hooker, the first of these great divines, was distinguished for his vast erudition, his stately and classical style, his earn est eloquence, enlivened by a natural humor lovely in its fresh simplicity. Jeremy Taylor was the poetic preacher whose genius led him to cull the flowers of thought from the fields of classic antiquity, and which blended in fragrance and beauty with those of his own imagination and fancy, and inwoven in his sermons in rich profusion, made them gar-

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lands fit to be laid in tribute of service on the altar of God, and beautifully emblematic of the grace and sweetness of the
religion of Him who in the scriptural metaphor is called the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley. The eloquence
o: Barrow, the third of this illustrious triad, with his mind
tiained in the field of abstract study and natural science, was " severe and majestic, the handmaid of the strictest and most comprehensive logic." Those who desire richness, fullness and universality of style and thought will derive benefit from
the diligent perusal of the writings of these three divines, as
models in sacred literature.
In the eighteenth century pulpit oratory in England, as the fixed and favored abode of Protestant Christianity, had
declined from its early models and had become degenerate. During the progress of that era it assumed a new style and
phase, as exhibited in the examples of John Wesley, George \Vhitefield and Robert Hall, taken at different periods. Wes
ley. the first one of these three eminent preachers, was the great expositor of the Scriptures and spiritual reformer of the Church. It may be said that his preaching was a living embodiment of the grace and power of sanctified learning
and the work of the Holy Ghost, exciting and winning the thoughtful considerations of men rather than their pane gyrics, as attested in the statement and the fact that one hun dred thousand persons were made converts to Christianity ur?der his preaching during the sixty years of his ministry.
The Methodist denomination in all its branches, that now counts its members by the millions, stands as a living evidence and monument of the efficiency and fruits of his labor and that of his coworkers in the gospel at that day.
George Whitefield stands crowned by the consentaneous voice of time as the eloquent pulpit orator. His gifts were in a large measure the spontaneous grant of nature, or rather
of divine beneficence. It is said that such was the thrilling pathos of his voice that he could make a congregation weep under his pronunciation of the word Mesopotamia three times. Robert Hall, the third one of the immortal three, was
an elder of the Baptist Church. Born in 1764, A. D., and dying in 1831, his ministry began in the eighteenth century and extended into the nineteenth. As a pulpit orator his

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discourses were characterized by broad, profound and com prehensive range of thought, long," winding periods, with grace of rhythm and diction exhibiting the full scope and wealth of the English language in its composite chaiacter, with a strong strain of Anglo-Saxon. These were delivered with such rapidity of utterance, fervor and exaltation of soul and melody of voice that at times, with magnetic power, he drew his auditors to their feet. Fervent in his piety, liberal in his doctrines, profound in his theology, eloquent in his oratory, his fame and usefulness have not been hemmed in by sectarian lines. His published sermons have been received as standards of sacred eloquence by the evangelical world, and read with delight.
During the present century, which is now closing its last round, such has been the increase of population, the general
diffusion of knowledge, the advancement of art and science, the progress of the gospel and the extension of the borders of Christianity, that there has been a large accession lo the number of pulpit orators in the deepening ranks of the min
istry. From the long list of illustrious ones throughout Christendom, we select for notice and comment, as to styles of oratory and representatives of the age, William Capers, H. B. Bascom and George F. Pierce. These three ministers of the gospel were of the M. E. Church, South, and well known in the annals of Methodism. Each one bore the palm of the orator, and has a revered and precious memory in the Church. Each one, as anointed of the Holy Ghost and in his gifts and graces of speech, won many souls to Christ. Each one has a grand record of earthly fame.
The first in order of the three, William Capers (Bishop in the M. E. Church, South), had the natural endowments of body and mind that make the orator: being tall and graceful in form, courtly in manner, classic and handsome in counte
nance, eyes radiant with the light of genius, and voice as musical as Apollos lute. There was also to him the mind glowing with thought and rich in culture, and the seraphic fire that fills the soul from knowledge and love of Christ and the grace of the Holy Spirit. In memorial sermon of him preached before the conference. Bishop Pierce said of him: "Oh, he was a charming preacher. At times he was trans-

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figured, his very form dilated, his eye beamed with celestial beauty, soft with light of love, yet radiant with the joy of his rapt and ravished spirit, and his voice, mellowed by emo tion, spell-bound while it inspired the hearing multitude."
The second of these eloquent sons of the Church, H. B. Bascom, likewise of the Episcopal College, was cast in a magnificent mold, both as an orator and as a man. He was tall and massive in frame, regal in intellect and impressive in. the majesty of his bearing. His sermons were broad and comprehensive in their scope, presenting the truths and prin
ciples of Christianity in an elaborate manner, and as adorned with tropes, metaphors and similitudes poured forth in rich exuberance by his imagination from the chambers of its imagery, they are rich mosaics and specimens of pulpit elo quence, unique, grand, novel and dazzling. His elocution was in harmony and adaptation to the magnificence and stately structure of his discourses, and placed him among the Titans of oratory.
The third one of this list of eloquent divines, Bishop George F. Pierce, possessed in rare excellence from nature the elements of the orator. There was to him grace and symmetry of form and person that gave to even- pose of his body in the pulpit the eloquence of preaching; the forehead ideal, serene and expressive of intellectual power; the eye vivid, and in its fine setting giving dreamy brilliancy and fascination to his countenance; the exquisite contour of mouth and chin and lips, expressing majesty, beauty and grace; the deep-toned voice, that in all its modulations, from the lowest note to the highest pitch, possessed magnetic
power. His imagination was bold and fervid, scaling the highest heaven of invention, and the thoughts of his mind in his " poets tropic heart" blossomed into beauty and fra
grance and richness of language. It may be said of " his
flowers they were not artificial; they all had roots, and they were redolent of the morning dew, fresh and fragrant as a vernal garden in the early day." He was a matchless orator. In natural endowments, theme and divine afflatus, he was greater than Demosthenes, greater than Cicero, and wore the purple robe and the imperial crown in the worlds wide lists of oratory.

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PULPIT ORATORY No. 4-
Xo field of art or letters can rival the pulpit, or the preach ing of the gospel, in its conditions, features, topics, incentives and purposes, for the culture and attainment of a high stand ard of oratory. An analysis and a review of the elements and principles of the art and the training required for its development will clearly demonstrate the statement. In addition to the natural endowments of mind and person, and the literary facilities they may possess, there is vouchsafed to those who preach the gospel special preparation and assist ance for the work from a divine source. This unique fact in pulpit oratory would seemingly obviate the expediency, as well as the necessity, on their part, to devote special care and attention to the art of delivery. The old time-honored maxim of Cicero that " an orator is made such " may apply in secu lar, but becomes expletive in sacred oratory. The persuasion prevails in some minds (if not many) that with the call to the ministry the enduement of the Spirit, as an unction and spiritual qualification bestowed to give power and efficacy to the preaching of the Word, dispenses with all human art or culture to that effect.
In furtherance of this opinion many quotations from the Scriptures are cited in evidence: Thus, Peter exhorts: " If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability God giveth." Then, Paul, "who profited in the learning of the Jews above his equals," writes to the Corinthian Church, that, when he came among them, he preached not " with excellency of speech" or " enticing words of mans wisdom," but " in words the Holy Ghost teacheth," that their faith might " stand not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."
On the other hand, Paul, in writing to Timothy, his son in the gospel exhorts him "not to neglect the gift that is in him by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." Also that he should study to show himself " approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." These teach ings of the Scriptures do not conflict with each other, but

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constitute one of those scriptural paradoxes which, when properly studied and construed, fit in with each other with divine harmony and beauty. Along their line of conjunction
(medium auream), the golden mean of Horace, lies as usual the truth. They exhibit the great theological principles of the agency of man and sovereignty of God conjointly in volved in the ministry of the gospel, as well as in the work of human salvation. Where each begins and each ends no boundary line may be drawn; but they are beautifully exem
plified in the declaration of St. Paul, when, in speaking of his work in the gospel, he says: "I labored more than them all: yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."
The construction of the Scriptures that would maintain that there is no personal training, effort and zealous coopera tion with the grace of God required of those who preach the gospel is the delusive dream of a Sybarite of " him that is at ease in Zion." It is the song of the Syren, deceitful anJ destructive, that would lure to the doom of the unfaithful servant in the Parable of the Talents. The doctrine of the
personal and direct agency and influence of the Holy Ghost, the Third Person in the Divine Trinity, in enduing those called to minister in the gospel with grace and power to
preach, is grand, glorious and inspiring. Nothing less could vivify their dead moral and intellectual sensibilities, illumine their understandings and enable them, with invincible energy,
to " wrestle with principalities, the power of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places." It should not be so construed and perverted as to lead those who preach the gospel to dispense with the culture of the graces and gifts of speech and person that will give them favor with men and aid them in winning souls to Christ.
Do not the bees (says Quintilian) extract honey from very
different flowers and juices? Is it any wonder that eloquence, which is one of the greatest gifts heaven has given to man, requires many arts to perfect it ? Though they do not appear in an oration nor seem to be of any use, they nevertheless are silently felt in the mind and afford an inward suppK- of strength. This elegant simile of the old Roman rhetorician conveys a just representation of the character and principles of oratory, as it incorporates in living and harmonious com-

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bination the charms and excellencies of poetry, music and statuary, and extends over a broad range of culture. That it can be acquired from the reading of books of rhetoric and eloquent extracts, reciting choice pieces of poetry and elo quence, is a delusion and a fantasy of modern elocution. The work of the elocutionist is but mere effervescence the words of the lips; the empty flagon without the wine of the soul the palace of fairy frost-work, without substance and sup
port, as compared with the temple of Parian marble, with its solid foundation and symmetrical columns.
He who would, in the language of Juvenal (necteret
quicunque canoris eloquium vocale modis), weave lofty thoughts in melodious sentences, must study the philosophy oi oratory as it lies innate in its principles in the depths of the human mind, and the practice of unadulterated goodness and truth. Says one: " None but a good man can be a perfect orator; uncorrupted and incorruptible integrity is one of the most powerful engines of persuasion." This should be the character of every minister of the gospel, and the ability which God giveth in the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit.

PULPIT ORATORY No. 5.
No automatons or intellectual imbeciles are desired or needed to preach the gospel. To perform adequately this high and holy duty requires all the gifts and graces of mind and heart that nature grants and art and grace can bestow. The religion of Christ is not a mere round of ceremonial duties and observances; nor is it a mere rhapsody of feeling or spiritual exultation. As, says the apostle, "great is the mys tery of godliness," " spiritual . things are spiritually discerned." Yet, the great truths and facts of divine reve lation address themselves to the reason. They may be above human reason, but not contrary to it. The highest culture of mind and body are requisite for the preaching of the gospel in its full force and power.
To this task and duty should every one devote himself

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who engages to preach the gospel and is divinely called, as
was Aaron. The divine record shows that it was the wise-
hearted and those who had skill that God chose to minis-fir before him or to execute his purposes and commands. It is
to be presumed that those who preach the salvation of the gospel to men should have intellectual endowments, and should bestow upon them diligent culture. It is requisite to
have the intellectual vision opened as well as the spiritual.
That they may appreciate the beauty of the divine scheme of redemption, they should cultivate the intellect or the under standing in all its functions and powers. The torch of mind
is the flame of glory in man, and assimilates him to Deity. Though it may not comprehend the plans of Infinite Wisdom in the economy of gospel in all their length and breadth, yet
in its culture it may reach that degree of assurance and knowledge of the Scriptures that fills the soul with an in crease of praise, wonder and delight. The apostle in his epis
tle to the Ephesians prays God "may give unto them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of their understanding being enlightened " that they may attain to a more perfect knowledge of his religion. " The
eyes of the understanding " in the original and in its Hebraic
character denotes the seat not only of the will and affections, but also of the understanding.
Then comes the will to be trained and disciplined. " On
reason build resolve, that column of majesty in man," says the poet. The will is the one faculty or function of the mind,
or the divine nature of man, that assimilates him to his Creator more than any other. In the exercise of it, or the act of volition, he is morally supreme. Its training or culture is to choose the right, and the right pursue; to be devoutly
submissive to the will of God; to be firm in the discharge of
duty and invincible to the persuasions of appetite or passion. It conformed to that decision of character which prompted Luther to declare " that he would attend the Diet at Wonr.s.
though there were as many devils there as there were tiles on the houses." It was exhibited in John Knox in his fearless and inflexible opposition to the dominion of popery in Scot land. " O God, give me Scotland or I die," was his prayer.
It is likewise appropriate and exalting to cultivate the

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imagination, the imperial faculty of the mind. It-is of excel lent use, and puts a wand of magic power in the hand of the orator. It enables him to body forth the forms of things and give to airy nothings a local habitation and a name. It filled the lips of Plato with ravishing discourse of the lost Atlantis, the island beyond the Hesperian wave, where the soul would repose after death " in fields immortal and groves divine." The charming myth pleased his disciples as they listened, and moved them to tears. Why may not the preachers of the gospel, in whom the Spirit of Divine Revelation has opened "faiths interior eye" and revealed the fair fields of Eden, the Christians home in glory, as seen by St. John in apoc alyptic vision, choose those words and thoughts that will portray it in the living beauty of heavens eternal spring?
Xor is this all the culture that is essential to form the
pulpit orator. He should assiduously cultivate his pathematic sensibilities, that open up in the soul the fountain of feeling. Deep, intense feeling lies at the root of eloquence," says one. Joy and grief, hope and despair, have their place in the heart and life of every one, and should have utterance in th-; words of those who minister to the souls of men. " Emotion is the soul of oratory: one flash of passion on the cheek, one beam of feeling from the eye, one thrilling note from the tongue, one stroke of hearty emphasis from the arm, have infinitely more value than all the rhetorical rules and flour
ishes of ancient or modern times. The great rule is Be in earnest. This is what Demosthenes more than intimated when thrice declaring that the most important thing in elo
quence was action. There will be no execution without fire."

PULPIT ORATORY No. 6.
The principles of oratory lie in the depths of mans corpo rate nature and in his powers as a sentient being. The science of it in the culture and development of these by the study of geometry, language, physics, theology and " the human mind profound." This lays the foundation broad and deep, for that system of reasoning, those graces of speech,

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speculations of thought, ranges of philosophy, sources of knowledge and embellishments of fancy, which sway the hearts and minds of men and lead them captive at the orators will. This calls for the high education of those who labor in the gospel. In view of this fact, the raising of the Twentieth Century Fund renders it an enterprise worthy of grand effort on the part of the Church and the world. It means a vast increase of strength and power to the operative agencies of the gospel and the evangelization of the world. Whilst the
sufficiency of the Church and the ministry must ever be of God, yet this sufficiency may be made more available by the efficiency of the instrumentalities employed.
In the work of oratory, not only the intellect, the will and the sensibilities are to be cultivated and developed, but also every sense and function of the body. Says one: " Man is
radiant with expressions. Every feature, limb, muscle and vein may tell of the energy within. The body in its connec tion with the mind speaks many languages." What a noble tribute does the poet pay to the excellence of man, as " being in form and moving, express and admirable; and in action, like an angel." It is of first importance to the orator that he can understand and skilfully employ the language of the body in its silent symbolism and expression of the emotions, and thoughts of the mind, that he may impart living force and beauty to his spoken words. Says the venerable Cud-
worth in a sermon, "There is a soul and spirit of divine truth which can not express itself sufficiently in words and sounds; but will declare and speak itself in actions, as the old manner among the Egyptians was not by words but things." What heights and depths of language may declare the glory of Christ in his mediatorship, in view of which the apostle calls him the unspeakable gift of God? The sacred poet in the rapture of his devotion exclaims, "Let earth with her ten thousand tongues the Saviours praises speak.
As the tribune was said to be the pedestal of beauty to the great French orator Vergniaud, so should the pulpit be to the preacher of the gospel. His exalted office and solemn responsibility as the divinely-appointed herald to declare the
glad tidings of the gospel, and as heavens plenipotentiary to
17 Sl

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ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

offer pardon, peace and salvation to men, should impart to him majesty and gracious bearing of person and manner. The pulpit as the visible Holy of Holies, where the Infinite God graciously deigns to speak to the congregation through his Word, with him as hierophant, should inspire the preacher with holy awe. As he arises in the pulpit at the hour of public worship, with forehead serene and thoughtful, countenance beaming with spiritual joy and gladness, and soul glowing with a message fresh from the throne, he should
greet and survey his congregation with soul steeped in his sermon, and with voice and features and gestures in sweet
harmony with his theme and thoughts and truths, as drawn
from his treasures new and old, as needs be; with the tongue of the learned, he should be able to speak words of comfort to the weary; or with flaming bolt of divine wrath as de nounced, smite the conscience of the hardened sinner as rhe lightning the unwedgeable oak"; or with the dalliance of the breeze of summer as it plays around the myrtle, woo the tender and contrite spirit to Christ.
The Bible, as the text-book of the preacher of the gospel, in view of its character, its literary excellence, its topics and teachings, is a grand instrumentality in the culture of pulpit oratory. It is called The Book, the Book of Books, the Word of God, the Scriptures, the Gospel, to indicate its
origin and supreme eminence. In its uses it is termed the Law of God, the Word of Salvation, and unfolds the great mysteries of sin, death, immortality, the resurrection of the body, and eternal life through faith in Christ as the worlds Redeemer. In its literary features it stands unrivaled by either Greek or Roman literature for lofty truths, sublime imagery and models of eloquent oratory. The truths of the gospel which the pulpit orator is called to proclaim involve, not so much the passing pageant of mans earthly life as the immortal destiny of the race, and this fact invests them with an interest paramount to that of all others.
The exercise of oratory is the sum and substance of the vocation of preaching the gospel. This happy polity prevails
in the features and conditions of the itinerancy of the M. E. Church, South (or North). To secure their undivided ser vice to the work of the ministry the Church makes provision.

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.-and pledges itself to support its ministers. This arrangement enables those who are engaged in the regular work to devote their time exclusively to preaching, and also to have leisure .and opportunity for intellectual improvement and the devel
opment of oratory. The itinerant system opens a sphere in its features and conditions unsurpassed for the culture of the rhetorical art. It keeps it before the mind and in constant practice as a daily pursuit. The knowledge which the itiner ant as a student may acquire to-day may be used in discourse
to-morrow. The sermon outlined may be developed and expanded at each successive appointment around the circuit, become indelibly fixed in mind, and with the inspiration of the occasion be always ready for future use.
In the economy of divine grace an experimental knowledge
of Christianity in its great facts and truths forms the foun.dstion and the capstone of true evangelical oratory. Without
it all the graces of speech, eloquence of thought and art of delivery as to saving power and salutary effects, will be as "the baseless fabric of a vision." There must be the experi ence of repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the two fundamental conditions of salvation; also, the work of the Holy Spirit in regenerating power; the love of God shed abroad in the heart, and the peace of God that passeth all understanding, in order to a true and effective
ministry of the Word. In this spiritual and experimental knowledge of its saving grace and power, the special call and the induement of the Spirit consists " the ability
\vhich God giveth" to preach the gospel. As the gospel is the savor of life unto life or of death unto death in those that hear, it becomes the solemn duty, and should be the holy aspiration of all who minister in the Word to seek .and cultivate such attainments of oratory as shall render their preaching persuasive and lead to Christ. It should be said of them, as it was of Lord Chatham as an orator, that " his whole delivery was such as to make the orator a part of his own eloquence; his mind was viewed inhis counte nance, and so embodied was it in every look and gesture that his words were rather felt than followed; they invested his Shearers; the weapons of his opponents fell from their hands;

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he spoke with the air and vehemence of inspiration, and the very atmosphere flamed around him."
The task to preach the gospel is mighty and the labor great when duly performed; yet how triumphant the close of life to those whoJiave consecrated heart and hand and life to the service of the Master. In the midst of pain and sufferittgv and with the light of eternity shining upon their death-couch,, they may, with Moody, the great evangelist, exclaim:
" Earth is receding; Heaven is opening."
This is my coronation day! it is glorious!

LITERARY CRITICISM FROM PERSIUS
FLACCUS SATIRE 1.
PARAPHRASE AND COMMENT.
In the prologue to his satires this Latin poet, who lived: during the reign of Xero, the Roman Emperor, says of him self: "I have not moistened my lips at the fountain of Hippocrene: nor do I remember to have dreamed upon doublepeaked Parnassus. I remit the muses and pale Pirene to those whose images the ivy entwines with its encircling chaplets. I myself, a half rustic, bring (nostrum) our song to the temple of the poets."
" What," says he, " taught the parrot his xaire (saluta tion) and the magpies to imitate human voices? As the teacher of art and dispenser of genius, a hungry stomach was the artist that prompted them to pursue after voices denied to them by nature. But if the hope of seductive money shall have enticed, you may suppose that (coryas poetas) wretched poets and (poetrias picas) boasting rhymers to sing sublime and poetic strains." At the very threshold of his task some one who could deter the poet from the writing of satires exclaims:. "D, the cares of men! O, how great vanity in things! Who will read.the.se?" ." Did you say that to me?" asks the poet. " No ori-w,ill read them." "No one?" ejacu lates the poet.. .Very .few.;, it is a .shameful and lamentable thing," replies the adviser. "Wherefore thus?" rejoins th>r

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poet. Are you afraid that I should feel uneasy because the works of worthless poets are preferred to mine ? Xonsense. If Rome, not clear in its judgment, should think lightly of
any literary work, you should not concede or attempt to cor
rect the false tongue or needle of the scale; nor seek thyself
to find, apart from thyself. For who at Rome judges not perversely? Oh, if there was only the right to speak. But
there is then the right, when I look at the gray hair and that our morose life and childish sports given up, we may exercise severity like the guardians of youth in censuring the
faults of others. The Latin satirist, in this colloquy between himself and
an imaginary friend, portrays the literary mania that pre
vailed at Rome at that time, and the pertinacity of spirit
-displayed to obtain literary honors. The exhibition which he presents of it has a faithful representation and counterpart
in the literary world at the present day. The general dif fusion of knowledge and of intellectual culture, and the wonderful facilities afforded by the press for the expression
and communication of thought, have rendered the number of writers multitudinous. The flowering of American intellect in the domain of literature has been like the blossoming
exuberance that attends the footsteps of Spring in a Southern
clime.
Many, without possessing the genius of song, essay the task of writing verse. Editors may protest against mediocre poetry; " the waste-basket" may yawn with threatening
mouth, but still they continue to send up their pieces. When the cacoethes scribcndi has seized upon the mind, and it has from the muses cup drunk deep of Pegasean nectar, it
comes under a spell of enchantment that no waving of the vvand of reason can dissipate. Of all the infirmities of the human mind this one admits of a reasonable excuse, as it is
the effort of the soul to reach forth and grasp the crown of immortality.
The poet, in the execution of his task, proceeds to satirize
-the false desire for praise that prompted the Roman nobility
to enter the walks of literature, and to expose the meretricious arts they resorted to in order to procure popular applause in the recitation of their poetical compositions. He arraigns

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ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

Xero, the Emperor, who affected the author, aspired to poetic fame and was the leader in pandering to corrupt the public taste and sentiment. " Ha, old man," says he, "dost thoit prepare lascivious baits for other ears ? For ears to whose immoderate flatteries even you without power to blush are forced to say enough ?" But, says a third person, " What good to have learned unless your knowledge shall burst forth from your (jecore) heart like leaven swelling in the dough, or the wild fig tree shooting forth its roots?" "Then thy knowledge is nothing unless another person may know theeto know this," replies the poet. "But it is beautiful to bepointed at with the finger and to have it said: This is he. Does it weigh nothing that your poems are read in theschools and committed to memory by noble boys ?"
" Men applaud. Will not the ashes of the poei be happy? Will not the sepulchral monument rest lightly upon hisbones and from his mound violets spring?" asks the satirist in gentle irony. " You deride," says the adversary, " and indulge too much in a wrinkled nose. Will there be one whodenies that he desires to have deserved the encomiums of thepeople? and having composed worthy of immortality, tO leave songs fearing not to be used for wrapping purposes at the fish market and the perfumers shop?"
Whoever thou art; O, thou whom I have made to speak from the opposite, when I write, if by chance something goes out very fit, this is a phenix: and if something still goes out very fit, I fear not to be praised, for my fiber is not insensible.
But I deny thy (euge) admirable and thy (belle) charm ing words of applause to be the end and utmost degree of virtue. Are they not applied to all sorts of writing? to ( elegidia) trifling songs which leaders filled with undigested knowledge have dictated? to everything that is written by the rich and titled from couches of citron-wood ?
The satirist severely condemns the spirit of adulation prev alent, and as an example of it depicts Nero calling upon hiscourtiers to tell him the truth about his poem just recited. He addresses the tyrant and asks him, how is it possible that such men will speak the truth when they are afraid of offend ing him? You wish that I speak? You are an old fool to write verses, when, from the sesquipedalian projection of

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your stomach, it is evident you delight more in gluttony than in intellectual pursuits.
O Janus, seeing- before and behind, whom from the rear no finger shaped as a storks bill, nor mobile hand in imitation of lofty ears, nor tongues poked out as far as that of a thirsty Apulian dog, might deride! Ye authors, who by nature have no eyes in the backs of your heads, take care lest you expose yourselves to ridicule by writing silly verses. In this apostrophe and comic pantomime, this Latin satirist counsels against vanity and ill-advised pursuit of literature.
This ancient mirror of criticism may reflect some of the foibles of the literary world of to-dav.

LITERARY CRITICISM FROM JUVENAL-
SATIRE I.
PARAPHRASE AND COMMENT.
This Satire contains a bold, graphic and animated account of the general discouragement under which literature at that time labored at Rome. The old Latin poet says the hope of reward and the reason why the learned apply themselves to literary pursuits is in Caesar (Domitian) only. For he alone in this age looks with favor upon the neglected Muses, when now distinguished and well-known poets seek to rent a bath room at Gabii or a bakers oven at Rome, in order to earn a livelihood. Some think it neither menial nor base to be made criers (pracconcs) when Clio, the Muse of song, hungry leaves Aganippe, with its lonely valleys, and moves into the halls (atria) of trade. For, if no quadrans (copper coin) is shown to the votaries of literature in the Pierian shade, they love the name and pay of ilachaera, the auctioneer, and would rather sell copper vessels, tripods, chests and baskets to the bidders standing round, for the commission on sales entrusted to them. This is more satisfactory than if, as umpires in the ideal realms of the poet, they are called upon to declare that as seen which doth not appear.
Still no one, says the poet, is compelled to perform

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unworthy labor after this who unites grand and lofty expres sions with tuneful measures, and has fed upon the laurel. " O ye youthful aspirants," he exclaims, "gather courage to yourselves: let the favor of the leader (emperor), who seeks the renown of genius for himself, descry and stimulate you.
If you think, by any means otherwise, aid and support of your affairs are to be looked for, and the vellum, with its
exterior stained to a saffron hue with oil of cedar, is filled,
you may sooner demand tablets of wood to commit to flames, or shut up and lay aside your books for the moths. Break your reeds (pens) and blot out the battles of wakeful nights,
ye wretched, who as bees store away the honey sweets of sublime strains in little cells, that the statue of your halfstarved images may be crowned with ivy and set up in the temple of Apollo."
There is no ulterior hope; the avaricious wealthy have learned only to admire, only to praise, the well-written and eloquent poem or treatise, as children the gay and dazzling plumage of Junos bird. But the time of life that is patient of the toil of the ocean, the helmet and the mattock, flows from you. Then weary cares spring up in your mind, and your old age, however eloquent, when clothed in rags, detests itself and the Muses that have left it in such a deplorable
situation. If poets, inflamed with the sweetness of fame, may desire to recite, the temple opens to them its halls of variegated marble. They may do this, and it will be tracing
furrows in the light sand and turning up the soil with a sterile plow. For, if they leave off, the habit of a hurtful
ambition holds them in its coil; an incurable passion for writing holds many, and they grow old sick in heart.
The mind devoid of anxiety, free from every bitter of life, fond of sylvan groves, and which drinks deep from Aonian fountains, makes illustrious the poet to whom there may be no common talents; who draws nothing from a vulgar source nor coins a trivial song in an ordinary style. For the poor
poet, without money, in that day and night in which his body
needs, is neither able to sing in Pierian cave nor to touch the ivy-entwined thyrsus. When Horace wrote his divinest verses he was sated with good cheer, and prospered under
the patronage of Maecenas and Augustus. What place is

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there to genius unless, when they harass it with song alone. and our breasts are inspired by the lords of Cirrha and Xysa, not admitting the double cares of poetry and business. Neither was it from a pallet spread down for a couch of
repose at night the poet was inspired to conceive that work of a great mind the chariots and horses, the countenances of the gods and what kind of scourge confounds the Rutulians. If a decent lodging-place had been wanting to Virgil
as a boy, he never would have been able to describe the snaky tresses of Alecto: the trumpet silent would have tittered nothing great of war, nor have called the Latin rustics and the Trojan bands to meet in deadly conflict.
The range and scope of literature at the present day among enlightened nations is so great that it stands unparalleled in
all epochs of time, and crowns the century as the golden age of literary progress and intellectual culture; the field it opens for survey embraces not only the vast and varied productions of modern mind and thought carried to the highest degree of culture, but also the literary stores of antiquity brought forth and spread before the reading world upon printed page, enhanced by the charms of pictorial embellishments an.l "beauty of mechanical execution. Thousands of books of even- variety are annually published. Add to this, the news
paper in its ubiquity is daily bearing its items of news, mis cellaneous intelligence and photos of many-colored life to every home and household in the land. The votaries of science in pursuit of knowledge are exploring all lands, and
the eyes of the nations are turned to them to catch and hail with delight each ray of light that falls upon the path of human progress.
The facilities which the press, at the present day. furnish to authors to bring themselves and their literary productions "before the public mind are immeasurable as compared \vifh
the stylus, the wax and parchment of the Roman or the papyrus of the Greek, and the laborious work of the hand. "They are so easy of access that no depths of poverty may
exclude any literary aspirant. The numerous journal* and magazines extant are glad to have well-written articles for their columns and the gems and blossoms of poetry for the nooks and corners. They become valued sponsors to authors

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in their career to literary distinction. They bring the writer and his book or literary production to notice, and with kind;, words and according to the degree they think fit to public
favor, and become dispensers of a temporary fame. But the permanent renown which any book may obtain will at last depend upon its own intrinsic merits and its adaptation toplease the popular taste. The generous course which the Advocate has pursued towards contributors in the use of itscolumns is worthy of high encomium. It generously designs
to foster Southern literature and home talent. In the American world of letters during the present cen
tury many distinguished names appear, and their writings
hold no mean place in the worlds literature. Among those of marked literary excellence may be mentioned Washington. Irving as a delightful prose-writer, and Henry W. Longfel low, whose works proclaim him as a full-orbed poet. They
won not only fame but wealth in their long careers as authors,, and came to a ripe and tranquil old age full of honors and the charms of letters, and in the enjoyment of ease and lux ury. They furnish fascinating examples of successful authorship, but they are not common in the realm of letters.
That Southern climes, with their sunshine and flowers,, empurpling beauty of their skies and bland climates, as Greece and Italy, are the favored abodes of literature and the arts, has not been fully verified in the literary history of the South. Though as fair a land as "ever a zephyr kissed or an ocean bathed," the contributions of Southern minds to liter ature have been limited in extent and of a transient char acter. Though the South abounds in institutions of learning and has a high standard of intellectual culture, yet its edu cated minds have engaged in literary pursuits for recrea tion only, as if sauntering into a garden and cullingflowers to form a nosegay to please a passing whim. The practical arts of life have engaged their attention and talent.. Though Southern genius has produced no grand epics, yet it has given birth to poems that will live forever. As such may be cited " The Dirge of the Old Year," by Prentice; " The Bivouac of the Dead," by OHara; " The Conquered Ban
ner." by Father Ryan, and a long list of others. But how

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few of them realized financial compensation for their literary
labors! Let it be that there is no pecuniary reward to the poetr
yet happy and blessed is he whose lips the Muse of Song has kissed and bosom inspired. To him the world is a godlike poem. The forest, water, field and air tell to him a his tory, and in his heart flow streams of delight. The eternal
love, which never has failed, shines to him in triumph upon every billow; he divests the tones of their dark veil. Silence
itself is roused and breaks forth into shouts of joy, the arch of heaven becomes an echoing glory, and the enrapturedmortal hears all the angels sing.

POETICAL CONTRIBUTIONS.
It is a question of thoughtful inquiry to literary minds v.-hy eligible poetry should not have a place in the readingmatter of a religious journal. And scruples upon this point may originate from the popular notion that poets are of light, airy minds, mere .butterflies in the blossoming field of litera ture, that alight for the hour, feeding on bloom-dust anrl sunshine, and their writings are melodious trifles that afford nc solid instruction. Also, the opinion prevails with some that the genius of song is a rare intellectual endowment that is born with the soul, and they would restrict the writing of poetry to those alone who possess the gift. They conjecture that it is as natural for such to sing their lays, as it is for the birds in springtime to fill field and grove with their carolings.
In furtherance of this thought. Pope says he sung fromthe cradle that he opened his infant lips and the numbers came. Ovid, the Latin poet, in the records of himself for the instruction of future generations, says coclestia saC'\T (poems sacred to the Muses) pleased him when a boy that he was stealthily drawn into their service. Having been often told by his father that it was a useless culture, he was moved by his words. Helicon being entirely abandoned, says he, I attempted to write words free from poetic measure; of its-

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own accord, a poem came adapted to numbers, and that which I tried to speak was verse.
That poets are of idle, vagrant mind and by fancy led has no foundation in fact. The bees that go forth in the begin ning of summer into the flowery fields to gather honey to store up in their waxen cells are not more busy and toiling than are the poetic hive in their labors in the floral realm of thought. Horace, old Romes lyric poet, compares himself to a Matinian bee that with assiduous toil gathers fragrant thyme among the groves of the moist Tiber; thus did he construct the laborious verse. The name of poet is derived from the Greek word poico, which signifies to work or to labor. It is not sufficient that poems are beautiful; they should be affecting, and whithersoever they please, lead the mind of the reader. The bloom and elegance of language will soon cease to charm. There must be beauty of moral topics and pith of thought to render poetry laudable and enduring.
In his "Ars Poetica," Horace says that good sense is both the first principle and parent-source of good writing. This is exemplified in the writings of the illustrious poets of all ages and nations, Homer, Virgil, Shakespeare, Burns and others. They drew from the great pattern of life and manners that nature unfolds to view, and wrote and spoke with oracular wisdom and truth. The %vise and pithy sayings of Shake speare and Burns, which have mixed and mingled with the English speech and language and have become a part of it, have made these poets ever-living preachers to -humanity. " To step aside is human " of Burns, and " let all the ends tl'iou aimest at be thy countrys, thy Gods, and truths " of Shakespeare, with hundreds of other like maxims from their pages, are to-day dispensing holy and loving admonitions to mankind as when they were first published to the world.
It cannot be said of poetry that it is inutile in the domain of literature. Its nature, character and history preclude any such opinion. Coleridge defines it as " the blossom and fragrance of all human knowledge, human thoughts, human passions, emotions, language." It leads out the mind into the realm of the ideal and awakens aspirations that are uplifting to the soul. Poets are interpreters of Nature, " that great

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missionary from on high that preaches to us forever in tones of love, writes truth in all colors, on manuscripts illuminated
with stars and flowers." Poetry stands divinely approved, as being the form of speech and vehicle in which the Almighty was pleased, through several of the inspired writers of the
Bible, to make known to the world revelations of His will and purposes both in providence and redemption.
The Book of Job, the oldest volume of the Scriptures, is a poem, and the most extraordinary composition of any age or country. It stands alone and unrivaled, not only in its literary excellence, but in its historical importance. In the calendar of time its epoch is the early morn of creation, and
it sheds light upon the gray cloud that rests over the dawn of the ages. Its argument is the providence of God and the duty of man. The drama which it comprises uplifts the curtain from the invisible, unveils the resplendent tribunal of the Almighty, reveals the existence of angels and their agency in the execution of the divine will, establishes the entity of a chief spirit of evil and an attendant host, as powers of darkness in the world, and exhibits the sublime spectacle of a good man severely tried with troubles and afflictions, triumphant in his fidelity and crowned of God with honor. Thus this book becomes the Depository of Patriarchal Religion.
The Psalms are also examples of metrical composition. In them poetry and music unite in the service of the sanctuary, direct into communion with God and aid in the celebration of his praise. Their excellence is so exalted that the " blessed Spirit" is assigned as originally their author. David wrote them, but spoke as he was moved by the Holy Ghost. He is therefore called " The Sweet Psalmist of Israel,"
Of the literature of all time, none is so well adapted as the Psalms to meet the spiritual and intellectual wants of the race
of mankind, situated as they are as to the trials and sorrows of earth and to the prospective hope of immortality. They are so many sources of spiritual life and comfort springing
up like fountains by the wayside to refresh and strengthen the Christian in his pilgrimage, as he journeys through time, and midst the sorrows, trials and temptations of earth they

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give him strength, courage and inspiration to achieve the victory and obtain the crown,
Some wise and thoughtful mind has said, " Let me but write the songs of a people, I care not who writes their laws." In this expression of sentiment is indicated how great the sway of music and verse joined in sweet unison have over the human mind and heart. So great is it, that it may be said the life and soul of a nation beats and throbs in responsive sympathy to its national air.
What potency has " God Save the Que,en " to quicken and strengthen the loyalty and devotion of Englishmen to the
throne and scepter and government of their ocean-bound realm, and how much has it contributed to extend its sway and to keep it firm and stable amid the fluctuations and downfall of the monarchies of Europe! The Marseillaise Hymn will to-day stir the great heart of the French people as when it aroused them to arms for liberty and to overthrow the royal tyranny that had rested for centuries like a wither ing blight on the fair land of France. How like the blast of a martial trumpet will "Scots, wha hae with Wallace bled" thrill the heart of Scotchmen! "Yankee Doodle," played with the shrill notes of the wryneck fife and the thunder beat of the drum, stirs with emotion the bosoms of New Englands sons. Oh! how " Dixie " does thrill the Southern heart, though the Bonnie Blue Flag is forever furled and .the " Grey Jacket" lies folded in the dark lap of oblivion!
Finally, what grace and benediction the hymns written by
Watts, Charles Wesley and other sacred poets have been to the Christian world! How they have cheered and strengthened millions of Christians, both in the palace and in the cabin, in their conflicts with the sorrows, sin and tempta tion of earth! They have been the paeans to victory sung by the sacramental hosts of God, as they marched onward in the advancement of the Redeemers kingdom. Alas! the grand, inspiring hymns of the days of old-fashioned religion, when all the people praised God in the worship of the sanctuary, have, in many places, been supplanted by the organ and the choir. It should be no wonder that the power and glory of God have gone up from the tabernacle and the hosts of Israel do not move forward.

OBITUARIES.

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OBITUARIES.
The obituary page of a religious journal, in view of its sacred purpose, truths and facts, should possess a high degree of interest for the church. It makes public record of the death of its members, chronicles their birth, recites their virtues, and sets forth their example as Christians. It tells of the race run, the battle fought, the goal reached, the vie- tory won by the racer or warrior in Christ, and in the prophetic vision of faith awards the crown of life. This page, with its weekly record of human mortality, is to the pious and faithful mind, a memento inori, which, amid the fasci nating dreams and busy engagements of life, all need ever to remind them that they are mortal. It is ever proclaiming to the world the sublime creed of the resurrection of the dead and eternal life.
This page may truly be represented as a literary mausoleum which holds the records and inurns the memories of the churchs dead. Not as in Westminster Abbey are its silent crypts reserved alone for monarchs, statesmen, war riors and all that are great in fame or wealth, but the poor, the obscure, the humble believers in Christ have equal place. No higher lineage than to be born of the Spirit, no greater distinction than to be called sons and daughters of God. How grand and worthy of the spirit of the gospel is the benefi cence of the church that thus honors the individuality, recognizes the immortal dignity of even the humblest mem ber within its fold, and seeks to perpetuate his name and memory with such fitting memorial. It fulfills well its work and vocation thus to point to a holy life, a triumphant death, and a heavenly diadem for the Christian.
Death enters the homes of the families of men. It lays its crown of mystery upon the brow of some member of the household. It may be the sweet-lipped babe, or the aged sire, or the silver-haired matron, or the son, or daughter in the fresh flower of manhood, that is taken. As their loved forms lie before us, pale, speechless, motionless, our souls are stirred with inexpressible pity that they are thus bereft of life

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ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

by a strange, dread, unseen power, and that we cannot helpthem. They go from us, and there is neither sight nor sound to reveal to the rational sense the route they have taken. We miss their embrace, their love and daily association. Our love for them grows tenderer; we would again clasp them in. our arms and tell them how much we loved them. It is this state of heart and mind that guides and prompts in the writing of obituaries. Hence they are often too long. The living, in the deep affection of their hearts for the dead, want all that can be said in tender tribute, and would heap eulogies-
upon their memories as they do flowers upon the turf that
wraps their clay. It is a difficult matter to prescribe the length of an obitu
ary. It must necessarily vary with the subject to be noticed. It is proper that the name, dates of birth and death, and place of residence should be mentioned. Apart from these items, that the subject of obituary was a sincere Christian, lived a holy life and died in the faith, are the main facts tobe embraced and stated.
That was a truly impressive obituary which the pastor wrote of one of his flock, a devout Christian woman, who requested that none should be written of her. Informing his church paper of her death he said that " She was as good a Christian as he ever knew. The name of Jesus was the last word upon her tongue." It rivals the simplicity and brevity with which the Scriptures record the death of its patriarchal worthies.
The sentiment that regards death as a dark calamity, and speaks of its bereavements as sharp afflictions, as expressed in obituaries and strains of condolence, is not supported by the teachings of the gospel. " For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain," says the Apostle Paul. It is natural to weep over the loss of friends. " Some pious drops the closing eye requires."
As told in pathetic story, the Greek husband to whom no light of a future state had come, as before him lay in the marble stillness of death his loved Clemanthe, whose con jugal affection had been to him earths full cup of bliss, and whom now he would no more behold in life in all the wor shipped graces of her loveliness, in the deep anguish of his

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spirit could well exclaim, "Farewell, Clemanthe! Farewell forever!" In the expression of his grief he could well indite a dirge with " every letter a tear, and every word the noise of a broken heart." But the Gospel of Christ comforts bereaved souls with the joyous hope of reunion after death with the loved and lost of earth in that world surpassing fair the land of God.

CHARACTER-BUILDING.
AS ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE PUBLIC EXERCISES OF QCEE3T
CITY NORMAL SCHOOL JULY 6, 1882.
Respected Auditory, In catering for the literary enter tainment of the hour, it would be pleasant to indulge in the airy flights of poetic fancy, to trace the scientific progress of the age in some of its marvelous features, or from the classic lore of antiquity purvey a feast of intellectual sweets, but I have preferred to choose a topic that is practical in its bear ing and of which the occasion should be an exponent. This topic or subject is Character-building, or the formation of character. It is no dead theme of the past or speculative one of the present, but involves living issues of practical impor tance. It challenges the earnest consideration equally of the eld and the young; that of the old in their solicitude as parents for the future welfare of their children; that of the young as they have their characters yet to achieve, a matter intimately connected with the great interests of life.
Character is a familiar term. Though an abstract entity, yet popular sentiment has invested it with a profound moral and social value. Its etymology presents a variety of con structions. Construed in a moral sense, it signifies the result of the possession and exercise of those qualities of heart and mind which exhibit rectitude of conduct in men and gain for them the esteem and confidence of their fellow-men. It is not to be confounded with reputation, though considered as synonymous with it by Philips, the great Irish orator, in that eloquent rhapsody, " the cost of a priceless reputation," in
1881

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the speech which he made in defense of a client whose character had been traduced. It is not .the achievement of illustrious deeds or the attainment of high social po sition, though such may be the result of it. The military hero by his warlike exploits, the man of letters by the brilliant productions of his pen, or the politician by in trigue or through the puffs of a venal press, may win re nown and acquire distinction before the people, yet in pri vate life be dissolute and devoid of the high and noble prin ciples of character. It is not what an individual is reputed to be, but what he really is, that entitles him to the proud distinction embraced in character.
Many good and distinguished virtues are estimated as nec essary to the constitution of worthy character. To be skilled in manly sports and to speak the truth were its insignia among the ancient Persians. In the old Spartan common wealth which sought to make a nation of warriors, it was affixed to martial courage alone. In the early days of the Roman republic it was comprised in the word honor. This sentiment has been adopted by mankind generally. " He is the soul of honor " is esteemed the highest tribute that can be paid to the character of an individual. It includes by impli- . cation all that which is meant in the term virtue as used by the ancients to signify the sum of all moral worth and excel lence. The old Romans so conceived of the relation between honor and virtue that in the shrines which they erected in honor to them they so arranged that he who would worship at the altars of Honor must pass through the temple of Virtue. It is an atrocious perversion of the term by the duel ist, when for some real or fancied insult or injury, he demands in reparation the blood of the aggressor and challenges him to the field of mortal combat. In Scriptural language, honor is that principle fostered in the bosom which prompts to " whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report." It is a principle whose full measure and spirit can be found alone in the teachings and practice of the precepts of Christianity.
So defined, character in the estimation of the civilized world, has been deemed the crown and glory of life. The

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great English poet long since has said that " good name in
man or woman is the immediate jewel of"the soul." The Bible with its divine oracular voice declares that it " is like
unto precious ointment." These encomiums upon character
are but the utterances of the common sentiment of mankind in regard to its moral value. The triumphs and glory of it
as based upon honor and virtue are strikingly illustrated in history. When Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, sought to induce Fabricius to desert his- country by offering him the fourth part of his kingdom, the virtuous Roman spurned the bribe.
When the physician of Pyrrhus proposed to Fabricius to
poison his master for a reward, Fabricius commanded him to be bound and led back to Pyrrhus. In admiration of the noble action, Pyrrhus exclaimed, "It is more difficult to
turn the sun from his course than Fabricius from the path of honor." American revolutionary history furnishes an exhibi
tion of exalted character in the conduct of George Reade, one
of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. When an emissary of the king of England sought to bribe him from Tiis allegiance to his country, he replied, " I am not worth
the purchasing, but the king of England is not rich enough to buy me." In what striking contrast to this example of
honor is the traitorous act of Benedict Arnold, who sold his country with himself to the king of England for fifty thou sand pounds, and purchased for himself eternal infamy.
What a noble illustration of character is presented in these modern times by the Hon. A. H. Stephens* in his public career! Unswerved from the path of rectitude and duty to his country by any alluring bribe of office or power, he has
stood, and still stands, as firm as a pillar of adamant amidst the political degeneracy of the age. What a glowing tribute of homage does the character of Garfield deserve! His virtues in private and public life won for him the esteem and
confidence of his countrymen, and when he fell by the hand
of the assassin, the nation shed the tear of universal regret and sorrow over his untimely fate. .Though his brilliant
career in life closed suddenly, yet he lived long enough to
build for himself bv his deeds and actions a monument to

.Stephens was living at the time.

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ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

perpetuate his memory more enduring than columns of Cor inthian brass or shaft of Egyptian marble.
The Southern people have been wont to boast of their chiv
alry as a proud and distinctive characteristic. The spirit of chivalry as exhibited in the code of knighthood in mediaeval times, that age of arms, required valor on the battle-field, magnanimity to foes, courtesy to woman, fidelity to truth and
honor, protection to the weak, and succor to the distressed at the peril of life and limb. As displayed in Southern character in the peaceful walks of life, it stood opposed to the servile spirit that tamely submits to wrong, to the mercenary dispo sition that barters truth and honor for gain, to the baseness of selfish ends in political promotion, whilst it practised hon esty without legal constraint, rendered knighthoods defer ence to the gentler sex in common courtesies of life, and cher ished loyalty to country with heroic devotion. This spirit
flashed forth when the United States called for volunteers in the war with Mexico. Thousands of gallant Southern spirits responded to the call, and under " the Stars and Stripes " gathered in serried array, and fell as corpses or won undying
fame in the battles of Palo Pinto, Resaca de la Palma, Cerro Gordo, Buena Vista and other fields of bloody strife. During the late war for four long and weary years the chivalrous-
spirit of the South repelled the numerous hosts of the invad ing foe from Southern soil. It had its impersonation in the great and honored Lee, and other gallant leaders of the Con
federate arms, and in the thousands of private soldiers " unknown to fame," who endured the brunt of many a hardfought battle, and who succumbed only to overpowering might when the Southern Cross went down in defeat but not in disgrace at Appomattox. It has been predicated that the light of this spirit was quenched when the flower of the
South perished upon the fatal fields of Sharpsburg and Get tysburg. It has been said that the sad changes wrought by the war in the estate and condition of the Southern people,, in bowing their proud necks to the yoke of servile drudgery, have extinguished the chivalric spirit which in other days prompted them to regard the escutcheon of a pure name and lofty virtue of more value than pelf or power. If it is dead,.

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let Southern manhood revive it and wear it as a noble grace of character.
True and worthy character is not the product of chance or
of the efforts of a few days, but the result of years of culti vation and discipline. The work of forming it begins in
childhood. This is the critical period. The training which a child receives in the nursery and during the term of youth will in a large measure determine the future cast and color ing of character in manhood or womanhood. " As the twig is bent the trees inclined" expresses a practical truth that finds a place and demonstration not only in the natural, but also in the moral world. " Train up a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it," is a declaration of the Scriptures.
Upon parents devolve the task and duty of giving the first impressions to the character of the child, for they are in a
measure the arbiters of the future destiny of their children. They cannot change the natural disposition, but they can bend the twig. How shall they perform the duty of training the
immortal germs of the home plot that they may grow up as stately:olive plants should be an important inquiry to parents. How delicate the task! how grave the responsibility! With what wise restraint should they check all vicious tendencies |
With what kindly nurture foster all good inclinations as they appear in their children! With what earnest effort should they seek to instil in the youthful minds virtuous principles
of action! With what care should they direct the childish affections, gadding like the tendrils of the unstayed vine, to noble objects to enclasp them with the ivys embrace! How diligently should they instruct them with rich and varied precepts wisely drawn from books, the volume of Xature, or
the living scenes of men and manners of the present! How correct should be the example they set, when children resem ble their parents in the moral features of character more frequently and faithfully than in the lineaments of counte nance! How vigilantly should parents guard against the
vitiating influences of evil companionship, which, like sidemagnets upon the needle of the compass, so often deflect the young from that line of duty parental advice has marked out! Above all, they should endeavor to make home the abode of

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all that is loving in association, refined in manners, elevating in morals, instructive in knowledge, and genial in Christian
piety. " Character groweth daily and all things aid its unfolding." Parents conjointly can do much, but especially the mother, in the work of shaping and impressing the char
acter of the child. With her the work begins. What may she not accomplish, and what has she not accomplished, through the potent agency of maternal love? It w|as a mothers hand that sowed in the mind of Washington those seeds of virtue and truth whose development gave his char acter its impress of greatness and made him to be the fit leader of the American people through the storms of revolu tion to Liberty and Independence. The mother gives to the youthful mind its principles of action; it goes out into the world; it acts and reacts; and the historian of after years, glancing with telescopic eye back over the past, beholds the results of a mothers influence reflected in the features of the present generation.
The schoolroom with its teachers, social surroundings and
appliances comes in to supplement the training of home in the work of character-building. Though secondary in time and place it is not in efficiency. It is a mooted question which exerts the greater influence upon the child, the parent or the teacher. As their guide in learning, their censor in manners, and invested with the reverence given to authority, the teacher certainly should exert a large influence over those whom he instructs. If he regards himself merely as their agent or instrument for the work of intellectual training, and according to the current notion, deems the full measure of his obligations performed when he has imparted the requisite amount of needful instruction, his influence upon his pupils will be restricted if not meager. But should this be the mete and bound of the teachers duty ? As with his pupils he treads the realms of knowledge or expounds to them the mysteries of science, why should he not diligently seek to inspire them with a love of all thats true and great in sentiment and action? If this he does, his work as an educator will be largely beneficent upon the development of youthful charac ter. The teacher should not only possess the necessary scho
lastic attainments, but be also an example in morals and

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manners worthy of imitation. Truly wise is that community that thus conceives of the duty and office of the teacher, and looks not to cheap tuition, but to the requisite qualifications and to the higher welfare of their children. It is a deserving compliment to Queen City, that they have this intelligent conception of the work and duty of the teacher and have exhibited it in their selection of the present principal of their school and his assistant as the educators of their children.
The idea is prevalent that it matters not what text-books are used, so they but contain the principles of the science desired to be taught or learned, and the choice of them is left to the option of the teacher or to the caprice or conve nience of the pupil. But text-books are not the mere passive instruments of mental training. They have a greater or less moral influence dependent upon their composition and arrangement. In illustration of this I would briefly refer to Websters Elementary Spelling-book. Who of those persons who were so fortunate as to use it in their childhood school days do not remember well the stories of the old man who found a rude boy up his apple tree, or of the lawyer and farmer, and especially of dog Tray, which are appended as reading exercises for the young tyro in learning? Who that has read them in his schoolboy days forgets them even in after-life ? The moral which each conveys has often served to guide in life. How often have parents used them to point the instruction and advice which they give to their children.
An invaluable aid in the formation of character is that rendered to the young by books. Whilst they add to the stores of knowledge and enlarge the circle of thought, they furnish incentives that prompt to virtue or deter from vice. Much may be done by biographical reading.
" The lives of all great men remind us, That we may make our own sublime,"
is a truth felt and seen. It is told of Themistocles that he said the glory of Miltiades would not let him sleep. Many a noble character has been wrought from the reading of Plu tarchs Lives. Many a youth has been stimulated to a noble career in life by the examples of the illustrious men that adorn the historical gallery of the past. An incident illus-

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trating this influence has come under my personal observa tion. One of my college classmates was presented by a friend with the biography and speeches of. Burges, who rose from
poverty and obscurity to a seat in the Congress of the United States and won distinction by his oratory. This awakened the dream of ambition in the breast of my friend. He resolved that he too would go to Congress. So great was the social distance between his position as a poor student and that of a place in the United States Senate, then the most august body in the world, that the expectation of ever consummating his
design seemed "the baseless fabric of a vision." Twenty years rolled away, and, strange to tell, that student realized the dream of his youth. He did reach and fill the position of
United States senator for six years. That student was the Hon. T. M. Norwood of Georgia. Books, those silent teach ers of wisdom, are printed daily by the thousands, but how
many households in the South are destitute of them. How many thousands of youth are growing up with starved intel lects and dwarfed characters for want of the nurture and
nourishment which a pure and instructive literature affords. How many thousands there" are whose only mental pabulum is that which is "furnished by " Dime Novels," or the details of outlawry and crime in the lives of Jesse James and other
books of like type, and the unhealthy, fiction in the New York Ledger with which the press weekly deluges the coun try. " The unnatural, the romantic, and the monstrous in
literature are sought with passion, and seized and devoured with a cormorant avidity, while moral paintings fresh and glowing upon the canvas of time and history, true to nature, and connected with futurity, are turned from with indiffer
ence, or looked at, at best, with half-averted eyes." The ten dency of this literary taste and reading is to corrupt the morals and prostitute the intellect, and what will be its
effects upon the character of the rising generation is a ques tion that may well awaken the serious concern of the patriot,
the moralist and the Christian. There is an agency which is indispensable in the forming
of true and lofty character. It is customary to ignore the mention of it upon occasions like the present, and to isolate it from the secular affairs of life and confine it to a separate

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theater of action. This instrumentality is the Christian relig ion. The precepts it gives are purer and wiser than ever fell from the lips of human wisdom. The incentives which it
presents to inspire to noble action and virtuous conduct in the crown of eternal life are adapted to man as immortal being. It exhibits in its author the only true and faultless example of virtue the world can boast. Search the pages of history, consider the characters of the great and good of all time; they are marred by blemishes. None such appear in the character of the author of the Christian religion, who is pre sented by divine authority to mankind as their only proper exemplar. The knowledge which the Scriptures impart, the revelation they make of the true standard of virtue in the will of God, the divine aid they afford to man in the work of uprightness, the special influence wrought upon his moral being by the Holy Spirit, the Great Energizer of universal nature, are absolutely necessary to form that character where ." every virtue sets its seal to give the world assurance of a man." However just, however moral, however honorable, however learned an individual may be, Christianity in its teachings and practice is necessary to complete the work of a symmetrical character. The beauty and grace it imparts is like that which the artist gives to Parian marble or to pol
ished ivory enchased with gold.
To the youth of this audience, as well as to the pupils of the school, would I earnestly commend the work of charac ter-building. You are in the morn and liquid dew of youth. Life spreads out before you with many an alluring object of pursuit. You fondly indulge in pleasing dreams of wealth and distinction to be won upon the arena of active life. You may not realize them. The gifts of fortune and the ped estals of fame are reserved for the few. There is one thing which all can accomplish, and which is worthy of highest effort. It is the achievement of character. You may be aided by the precepts and example of your parents and teachers, but the work is essentially your o\vn. Engage in it with zeal and diligence. Let all "your aims be truths, your countrys and your Gods," and building upon this broad foundation, the fabric of character you will rear will be as a stainless shaft of marble to perpetuate your mem-

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ory among men, when your bodies shall repose in the silent chambers of the dead.

THE SOUTH.
ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE REUNION OP THE CONFEDERATE
VETERANS, DOUGLAS8VILLE, TEXAS, JULY 21,
Ladies and Gentlemen and Confederate Veterans, The South is my theme. I love the South to admiration ! I love it, as by nature mapped out and bounded on the north by the Potomac with its arrowy current ; as girdled on the east by the Atlantic with its dark blue wall of waters ; as bordered on the south by the Gulf of Mexico with its stormy waves ; and as outlined on the west by the Rio Grande with its sinuous channel. The South is a genial clime, an imperial land, a broad and lovely domain, arched by skies of blue, traversed by limpid streams, enridged by mountain chains of majestic sweep, dotted with picturesque hills, diversified with plains and valleys "stretching in pensive quietness between," and having the sweet vicissitudes of the blossoming beauty and fragrance of spring, the prime and luxuriant verdure of summer, the golden fruits of autumn, the fireside com forts and joys of winter. The South is " the fairest land ever a zephyr kissed or an ocean bathed."
" The South is dead," said an orator on an occasion like this immediately after the close of the Civil War. The thought was, that as a sectional area with its conventional boundary line, honor and political eminence in the past, the South had ceased to be. The political outlook and situation of things seemingly warranted the opinion and assertion. The flower and chivalry of the country had gone down in hopeless slaughter on the battle-field. The land was desolate and impoverished, and in thousands of homes, widows and orphans wept tears of sorrow with unavailing regret. The Southern Confederacy, as the dream of secession, was entombed in political grave. Its chosen national emblem, " The Conquered Banner," as sung by its poet, was furled forever. The " Grey Jacket " was folded in the lap of

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oblivion. Time in its flight has fully confirmed the fact of the extinction of the republic of Southern hope and ambition, and revealed that " the South was not dead," but happily still lives and retains many of the distinctive features that characterized its people in other days days of yore.
The Jews, the once chosen and favored people of God, but now peeled and scattered of Him, without a nation, an altar, a priest or king, gather annually in a recess in the walls of Jerusalem near where the temple stood, to bewail the loss of their former kingdom and glory, and mourn for its restora tion. But Confederate veterans in their reunions lay no blooming wreath of hope upon the crumbled altars of the
republic of their dreams as smitten in its struggling throes into existence, nor do they wish to evoke it from the shadows of the past or to relay its corner-stone. In the purposes and wisdom of Almighty God, the Confederacy " was just not to be." The people of the South have long since bowed in humble submission to the divine dispensation. As lovers of liberty and patriots, the Confederate veterans hold their reunions in sacred and august memorial of " The Lost Cause," the principles which it represented, the gallant con duct of the South in the war, and its unstained escutcheon,
and to pay tribute of honor to their deceased comrades. The South, " the Sunny South," as called in its pet name,
must still live and be ever dear to all Southern hearts. As in harmonious union with the Xorth constituting the full-orbed
republic of the past, equal in honor, rights and privileges; with its sons at the helm of State guiding in the affairs of the government and by their wise statesmanship and military achievements rendering the nation great and honored, the South must ever be imperishable to us. Having been inter
woven, from the first, in its political life and history with the republic, to blot it out would despoil the nation of much of its glory. It would eliminate from its historic page the names of Washington, Patrick Henry, Jefferson, Madison, Jackson,
Clay, Calhoun, and a long list of heroes, patriots and sages,
sons of the South, whose wise and faithful public sendee to the country laid the foundation of its greatness and glory. I love the South, you love the South, and we all should love
the South. It is our country, the home of our ancestors, the

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sepulchre of our fathers, "the birthplace of Greatness, the abode of Liberty, the land of Patriotism, and the cradle of Genius." We loved it in our boyhood, we adored it in our youth, we went out to battle for it in our manhood, and we cherish an abiding affection for it in the gathering twilight of age. Nay, we do not spurn but hold it in hallowed remem brance as Dixie vanquished and despoiled by its conqueror, bereaved of its sons, voiceless and crownless, as it stands in the past, Xiobe-like in its desolation and its woe. The lan guage and sentiment of our hearts to-day is
" In Dixies land well take onr stand Ar.d Jive and die in Dixie."
No country or people has richer or grander historical rec ollections than the South. Being settled mainly by colonies from England, it derives honor and glory from its progeni tors. The English as a people in their remote ancestry sprung from the Anglo-Saxon race, a branch of the great Teutonic stock of Central Europe, with an intermingling of accessions of population from the republic of Rome, in its palmy days of renown and conquest. They derived from the one the love of personal liberty, and a sense of independence; from the other the long-established form of Roman civilization. In the process of time, these ethnic elements coalescing devel oped the modern gallant Christian nation of England, famous in arts and arms through centuries past, and that to-day from its island-realm extends its sway to all lands the sun in its circuit visits with its light. In the body of immigrants from England that planted the Southern colonies of the New World, there was a sprinkling of the chivalric Huguenots, the blithe-hearted Irish and the staid Scotch.
Nearly three centuries ago the corner-stone of the empire of republics that constitute the South as geographically designated was laid in the colony of Virginia, planted by a band of emigrants from England. It was in the year 1607 that the ship containing this cargo of human beings, seeking homes in the Western Hemisphere, bearing with them the institutions of European civilization, anchored at the mouth of the James River. Before them lay a land in all the pristine beauty and luxuriance of nature, an earthly paradise grand

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and glorious as a dream, in which to choose an abode. Sailing up the river " whose banks were covered with flowers of divers colors " and landing, they planted the settlement of Jamestown. After an intervening space of thirty years, by another band of English immigrants, the colony of Maryland was founded on the banks of a small stream tributary to the Potomac. It was established under the favorable auspices of a mild climate, a fertile soil and the friendly disposition of the Indians. Thus another altar was erected to civilization and Christianity in the New World.
After another lapse of thirty years (in 1653-65), three
colonies were planted in the Carolinas. These were founded not by emigrants direct from England, but by Protestants from Virginia who would not obey the Church of England
rule, by Presbyterians from Scotland, Quakers from Eng land, and Huguenots from France. It should not be a matter
of surprise to the historian as he considers the germs of popu lation of the Thirteen Colonies, to find the first resolution in favor of freedom and independence to originate at Mecklen burg, North Carolina.
After more than a half century (in 1732), the year that gave Washington to the world, James Oglethorpe, memor ably described as " a hater of oppression," led forth a band of a hundred emigrants, and embarked for the Xew World. Having arrived at the mouth of the Savannah River, he
sailed up that stream a short distance, and, landing upon a bluff, laid out the streets of a city.
As described, thus on the Atlantic shores of North Amer ica were planted the settlements that formed the Southern tier of the thirteen original English colonies. Amid the seclusion of the wilderness they grew and expanded, and in the onward flow of years were gradually molded into political
realms, assuming the forms and features and exercising the functions of organized government. Away from the effete
forms of the civilization of the Old World and amid the grandeur and glories of nature and trained in the hardships of pioneer life and in their struggles with the French, Span iards and Indians, they became a hardy, virtuous and libertyloving people.
After a few brief years, in the course of events oppression

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ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

came upon the colonies from the mother country. Laws were
passed selfish and unjust, that tended to check and impair
their weal and prosperity. The Southern colonies, in solemn league and covenant with the others of the Thirteen, joined
with them in petitions and remonstrances to the throne and
the Parliament of England for the redress of their griev ances. They participated in every effort and measure made for relief. They did their part in calling and forming the
Continental Congress that convened in the Senate hall of Philadelphia in May, 1775. They participated in all the pro
ceedings of that august body, that with dauntless fortitude pursued its deliberations and matured its plans for the public
weal even when the storm of war was beating at the very portals of its council chamber. The Southern Colonies by their delegates in that Congress participated in the passage of " The Declaration of Independence," of which to have
been one of its fifty-six signers was to have an imperishable place in American history.
The delegates of the Southern Colonies in that Congress are worthy of special mention. There was George Washing ton, who, being appointed as commander-in-chief of the
American forces, became the leader of the colonies through
the storms of war to liberty and independence. A man with out a model and without a peer. " First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." No clouds of
sectional prejudice have sufficed to obscure the luster of his virtue, nor civil strife and blood to efface his place in the affections of the American people. Son of the South, he
occupies the chief and most exalted place in the nations pantheon of glory. Then comes Thomas Jefferson, the author of " The Declaration of Independence." Next, Patrick
Henry, whose fervid eloquence animated the Congress to
action and inspired them with fortitude and decision as darker grew the clouds of oppression and war. The other delegates from the Southern colonies, though of less fame, yet were of not less patriotism and virtue.
The Southern colonies performed a brilliant part in the struggle for independence. It was characterized by heroic
patriotism and indomitable valor of their sons in many a warlike exploit, and the endurance by the people of cruel

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treatment, for the sake of sweet liberty, at the hands of the British soldiery. Let fancy take wings and visit the battle ments of Fort Moultrie, when the thunders of a British fleet bellowed on the shores of Charleston. See there a band of patriots struggling against the adversity of fate all hopes of a retreat cut off upon a narrow and open island a bar rier of palmetto logs their only rampart of defense. Do they shrink in dismay from a superior force ? Oh! no. They look to the wharves of their beloved city, and see them thronged with their fellow townsmen, watching with breath less anxiety the termination of that desperate game on which life and liberty are staked. The blood of Americans mantled high that day. Look around the bastions and see how well a Moultrie and a Jasper conclude the glorious strife. See McDonald cleft down by a murderous ball, and whilst he expires, hear him call to his comrades with his dying voice, " Let not liberty perish with me to-day." It thrills every bosom as an electric shock, and victory, at the close of the
conflict, perches upon the American banner. Xor less illustrious was the patriotism of the mothers and
daughters of the South in the revolutionary struggle. Do the clouds of adversity dim the prospect ? Do the hearts of the patriot soldiers wax faint under the scanty fare and hardships of war? These noble women with the inspiring words of sympathy revive their courage and dispense aid and comfort to relieve their wants and sufferings. " In conscious virtue bold," braving the disasters of the times, see Beauty bearing her cruise of wine and oil to minister unto the wounds of valor the swooning soldier revives, and finds the .angel form of Benevolence bending over his slumbers and he half forgets the cruel gashes that have marred his frame, as he beholds the gem that sparkles from her eye " The tear
most sacred shed for others pain." The virtues of the women of the revolutionary period
should be carefully embalmed in memory. They are equally deserving of fame as the sisters of Publicola, those moons of Rome, that were chaste as the icicle curdled by the frost from purest snow, and fervid as the solar beam in their devo tion to their country. May the American mother ever point the emulation of her offspring to such Spartan magnanimity

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ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

as a Brenton, an Elliott and a Motte present in the revolu tionary annals of the South.
The Southern States have a brilliant record for prowess and patriotism in the cabinet and in the tented field in the
war of 1812 with Great Britain. The victory obtained by General Andrew Jackson over the British army in the battle of XTew Orleans added to the escutcheon of national glory and Southern honor. The statue of bronze in the Crescent
City situate on the majestic " inland river " stands a per petual memorial of the triumph.
The policy of Southern statesmen and the valor of South ern soldiery in the war with Mexico aided largely in securing the annexation of Texas and the acquisition of that territory that extended the arch of empire of the United States to the
Pacific ocean. The South has thus contributed much to the power and greatness of the republic in the past, and to its present proud position among the kingdoms and empires of
the world. History records that after the Southern colonies had achieved their independence and become States or repub lics, that they grew rapidly in population and in the develop
ment of their resources. They attained a high position and
exercised a potential influence in the affairs of the republic formed from the union of the States. The spectacle of civil ization which they presented in 1860 in moral and literary
culture, in social habits and manners and in political privi leges and intelligence as a people, was never equaled in the past and never will be excelled in the future.
The people of the South at that time were to be admired in many respects. They combined elegance with frugality, cultivated refinement without effeminacy, applied wealth to purposes of utility rather than ostentation, and esteemed
poverty no disgrace provided that efforts were made to avoid it. The people mingled in unrestrained and cheerful inter course in their capacity as private citizens, whilst due respect
and reverence were had to those in authority, and especially to the unwritten laws, the usages and customs of society, the violation of which brings acknowledged disgrace upon the
offenders. They had their social entertainments and popular diversions that dissipated cares and catered to the enjoyment

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of life, whilst a genial climate and a fertile soil afforded them
all needed luxuries and delicacies. Being a democracy, the government was not administered
in the interest of the few, but for the benefit cf the man)-. Equality was shared in by all according to the laws in respect to private differences; but according to merit as each one may have honored himself; not more distinguished from rank by public estimation than from virtue; nor, on the other hand,
being able to render service to the State on account of pov erty, he was restrained and checked from public employment, being hidden by the obscurity of his rank or condition. The spirit of chivalry that pays deference and homage to the female sex, that prompts to honor and justice, and to the
defense of the weak against the strong, was a distinctive fea ture of Southern manhood. The generous hospitality that leaves the latch-string on the outside of the door and extends a cordial welcome to the guest as long as he may choose to stay, abounded in Southern life and manners. These two
social graces were the " immediate jewels" of Southern character.
This picture of the South is no figment of fancy nor
Utopian dream. It is real, and adorned with the divine light and virtues of Christianity; the South, with its sisterhood of republics, was greater than Greece save in the marble glories of art, and greater than Rome save in extent of empire, those renowned nations of antiquity. Such was the South, and such was the spectacle of national prosperity, strength and glory which it presented in 1860. It was wrapped in golden dreams of tranquillity and unapprehensive of the horrible tempest that was gathering to smite it.
As there are said to be spots on the suns burning disk, so there were blots and blurs upon the picture given of the civilization of the South. One, that has been greatly urged by the North, was the institution of African slavery. Much
has been said concerning this social feature of the South by its friends and its foes. Its friends hold that where it pre vailed in the mild and patriarchal form of servitude, the domestic relation and intercourse of master and slave were
full of the amenities of life and of reciprocal benefit to both
19sl

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ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

parties. Its foes would point out slavery as it existed in the cotton regions, where the pecuniary greed of the slave-owner crushed out the humanity of the man and barbarous treat ment of slaves prevailed. The institution is now forever extinct.
Why war fell war, with all its havoc and desolation should come upon this fair and beautiful land is one of those events and happenings that transpire in the divine adminis* tration of the affairs of the universe that the finite mind of man cannot fathom nor understand. The Civil War was so great a crime against reason, civilization, humanity, political brotherhood and Christianity, that the North and the South each discard the responsibility of it. Each section has sought to exonerate itself from the charge of first casting down the gage of battle. After vainly seeking to solve the war and its causes, the conclusion will be, that it was one of those things in the plans of Divine Omnipotence " that was just to be." In the pride of human intellect and opinion each section claimed its cause to be true, just and patriotic, and has awarded high posthumous honors to its soldiers that perished in the sanguinary strife. The South, overwhelmed by superior might, but not conquered, illustrious in martial renown, though not crowned with victory, impoverished in financial resources, but rich in patriotism, has done what she could to honor the memory of her departed heroes. She has with each returning spring, on anniversary day, with solemn ceremony, decorated their graves wherever accessible with flowers. The custom of placing floral offerings upon the bier and tomb of the dead has prevailed among civilized nations from earliest antiquity. What tribute more beautiful or more tenderly expressive of the sympathies of the human heart than to lay upon the sepulchres of our dear departed ones wreaths of flowers bearing the tints and fragrance of heaven and emblematic of purity and sweetness? Thus has the South associated and interwoven the honor rendered to its patriotic dead with the fundamental course of nature and the revolv ing years of time. So that wherever the ashes of a Confederate soldier may repose, whether in the cemetery or on the hillside or on the lonely battle-field, loving human

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hands in sweet harmony with gentle spring shall annually deck the hallowed spot with fragrant offerings.
An oration in eulogy upon the dead, as it unfolds their deeds of patriotism and keeps their memories fresh in the minds of the living, has been adopted as a fit and appropriate commemorative observance. Pericles, the Athenian states man, in his oration upon the removal of the bodies of those who fell in the Peloponnesian warfrom the battle-field to the city of Athens, says that inasmuch as they had shown their valor in deeds, that their honor should be illustrated in deeds, alluding to the honorable interment of their bodies in the suburbs of the city in view of the Acropolis, its monument of giory. He thought it more fit to erect the marble shaft or the pillar of brass in memorial than to imperil the virtues of the many on one mans oratory from year to year.
The Confederate dead are worthy of the most exalted memorials, be they tablets of marble or pillars of brass, to perpetuate their deeds and their memory. Xo braver soldiers
or truer patriots ever went out to the tented field or marched in serried array to battle. The panegyric in most cases exceeds the actions, but will not excel the meed of praise due the achievements of those whom we now celebrate. Xo motives of ambition or dreams of wealth prompted them to
leave home and all its endearments and to go out to war and risk their lives in battle. Thousands of them had no property
in slaves or broad acres of land to defend. They had no earthly possessions save the darling wife and the sweet chil dren in the home of the cot in the valley or on the mountain side or of the hovel in the city. They were animated alone by the principle of patriotism and the desire to take vengeance upon those who would despoil them of their home and country. Scorning that ignominious word cowardice, and courting danger, they rushed into the thickest of the "battle and yielded up their lives at the height of glory in the deadly contest. They deserve illustrious sepulchres, not in which they lie, but in which their fame is preserved in ever
lasting remembrance for every occasion which may offer itself in word and deed. They may be unmemorialized by tablets or epitaph, but the South, the entire South, with its "broad and beautiful domain, shall be their sepulchre, and

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" Each mountain rill and mighty river Shall roll mingling with their fame forever."
And what of the illustrious chief of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis? What tribute shall the South render that will be in equipoise to the patriotic devotion of him who in his person bore the incarceration and fetters of the dungeon and all the indignity and humiliation that a despotic political party holding the reins of government in its vindictive spleen could inflict ? Let her (the South) call " marbled honor from
its caverned bed," "bring granite, bring iron and brass dig deep " lay broad the foundation can she erect a monu ment too grand and stately to tell posterity of his virtues as a hero and a patriot ?
It is a matter of congratulation to all patriotic hearts that the women of the South have assumed the sacred duty of caring for the memory of the Confederate dead. It is a matter of high commendation that in the execution of it they are seeking to erect solid and permanent memorials of the valor and patriotism of the gallant spirits of the South who yielded up their lives in their countrys defense. Let them go on with the noble work, and in the polished marble and enduring granite rear up altars of memory to them upon which tradition shall enkindle a vestal flame to burn through time. Let the daughters of the South of generations to come guard these altars and keep burning this flame with the ceaseless vigil of the vestal virgins that guarded ancient
Vestas shrine. Among these devoted and patriotic women none deserves
higher encomium or is entitled to fairer chaplet of honor than our Mrs. Curtright. With voice and pen she has toiled through the long years of the past with unabated zeal to raise funds to build a monument to the memory of the heroic band of the sons of Cass county who went out to battle at their countrys call and died in its defense. To Mrs. Curtright is due the gratitude of Southern hearts for the consecration of mind and energy to this work. May it be told in sweet memorial of her wherever the story of the Confederacy shall come, as of Mary in the gospel, the breaking of the alabaster box of precious ointment and the pouring of it in fragrant effusion upon the Saviours head.

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The efforts of the South by secession to establish a sepa rate and independent republic is called " The Lost Cause." It may seemingly appear that the sons of the South poured
out their blood in libation upon their countrys altar and sac rificed their lives in vain. The great political principles of the sovereignty of the States and of the social compact that unite them under one government still exist in theory and prevail in fact. The recognition and observance of them are essential to the well-ordered administration of the affairs of the gov
ernment as formed from the union of States, as the centrifu gal and centripetal forces to the harmonious movements of .the planets in their orbits around a common center. When ever they are eliminated from the life of the nation, it will cease to be a republic after the manner of our forefathers.
Confederate Veterans: I tender you a cordial greeting and my sincere wishes for your serene enjoyment of this occasion. It may be to others, to the many, a festal scene, but
to you it must necessarily call up sad and painful recollec tions. This will truly be the case to those Veterans who loved the Confederacy with patriotic devotion, endured the hardships of the camp, passed through the perils of battle and
bare in their bodies the "seamy scars" of wounds received. Such sacrifice and suffering rendered the " Lost Cause " dear to them, and memory will cling around it with sad and ten der recollections. Oh! what precious memories of brothers, friends and comrades who perished in battle or died from
sickness come thronging up in mind. How vivid their images! How our hearts long and faint for the warm hand clasp as in days of yore! But they are not. How presses
upon my heart the memory of a brother, tenderly loved, the baby boy of the household, who was killed at Bentonville in the last charge of the last fight east of the Mississippi. His
manly form, his precious remains were wrapped in a blanket and buried on the battle-field with no requiem save the sough
ing of the winds through the tops of the pines overhead. This was the sad experience to thousands in the South during the
war. We sorrow not as those who have no hope. We joy fully cherish the hope of meeting them in the Great Reunion of the redeemed in that land surpassing fair the land of God.

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ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES.

Veterans, the stnds of life are rapidly running with you from the hour-glass of Time. The years of your sojourn upon earth will soon be told. Are you prepared for the solemn change and exit from time ? God grant, that having enlisted as soldiers of Christ, " fought the good fight and kept the faith," when the end to each of you shall come, that
" As you on your death couch shall lie, And as your semes slowly fading die; Before you shall stand seraphs from the cky, To waft your souls to rosy morn on high."

REMINISCENCES OF THE WAR,
In the epic story of the great Latin, poet, when the Tyrian queen solicited ^neas to relate the events of the war, which resulted in the downfall of Troy, the Trojan hero would feign decline the mournful task. His mind recoiled from the review, even in memory, of the carnage of battles which were waged through the long period of ten years, and the final destruction of his country. So must be the retrospection of the " War of the States " to every surviving soldier, whether private or officer, who participated in the struggle, though he may bear in his body, as marks of honor, " many a seamy scar" of battle and may have won military renown by his ex ploits. The humane and the patriotic heart turns away with revolting feeling from the contemplation of that "bloodiest picture" in the book of American history.
The historian, as with animated pen he writes of mighty battles fought and won, and the poet, as he tells of the "pomp and circumstance of glorious war," may dazzle the imagina tion with the charms and glory with which they deck " grimvisaged war," but these fade away when confronted with its stern realities. War is a sad reality, and not a gay pageant. It is so tragic, so full of human woe and suffering, of widows groans and orphans tears, of desolate homes, of the waste of human life in the flower of youth and the vigor of manhood, that it has been truly called the " scourge of God " for the wickedness of the nation.
Such were the horrors of the battle-fields the loathsome

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scenes of the hospitals, the immense destruction of human life, the universal gloom, anxiety and distress that hung as a heavy pall over the land during the late war, that those who experienced and witnessed the same, now with the light of reflection before them, wonder how the warring sections which breathed the same atmosphere of liberty, and were linked together in the bonds of a common brotherhood, should have been wrought up to such sectional or political frenzy as to plunge into sanguinary strife for four long years.
In essaying to write up his personal reminiscence of the war, no one at this time can expect to deeply enlist public attention, when so much has been written about it in every form and style during the last twenty-five years. History after history and sketch after sketch have been written, and by those whose civil and military positions afforded them the opportunity of knowing and gathering up all facts and details necessary to the formation of authentic history. Yet so broad is the field of investigation which the subject opens, no one mind may have grasped every incident or related everything of interest. The narrative that springs from personal expe rience and observation may turn aside from the stately style and methodical arrangement of the historian, and present what was seen and heard in living panorama as it swept before the mind. There is no design nor will there be any effort on the part of the writer, to awaken unpleasant mem ories and bitter feelings, or from the dead ashes of the past to rekindle the flame of discord. All should rejoice in the tranquillity that enwraps our national life and let the past issues of sectional strife and hatred rest
Under the sod and under the dew Under the roses with the Blue; Under the lilies with the Grey.

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CHAPTER I.

CAUSES OF THE WAR.

" Musa, mihi causas memora, quo nnmine, Iseso,

Quidve doleng, regina deum tot volvere casus

Insignera, pietate populum, tot adire labores

Impulerit.

Virgil.

The causes of the war appropriately form the initial as well as an important chapter in any historical account of it. They furnish the philosophy of events and shed light upon the subject, though in a notice of them it may not be necessary to
trace them in all their relations and ultimate bearings and their conspiration to produce that state of political feeling which led to the sad catastrophe. It is perplexing, strange, even now, and it will be a matter of profound inquiry to future generations, why the people of the United States, under the causes that existed, should engage in civil war and
seek to disrupt that bond of union under which they had become a great, prosperous and happy nation, and their terri tory had grown wider and wider and had extended farther and farther, until it stretched from the Atlantic strand to the
Pacific wave, in less than seven decades. Why was it the case ? Was it the decree of the Fates, according to the ancient
doctrine of necessity ? Or rather was it one of those myste rious events in the evolutions of time, which the Supreme Ruler of the universe, in the administration of the affairs of the world, designed should further the advancement of the human race to a higher moral and social state?
The ostensible cause of the war, as set forth in popular opinion, was the abolition of slavery at the South. The South ern people claimed it as their right to hold slaves under the original compact of the States, and none should dare to impede or molest them in the exercise of that right. There were those of the Northern people who, in their ardent love
of liberty, desired that on American soil the last fetter that bound the free spirit of man should be thrown off. This question was the subject of zealous and long-continued debate in the popular convention that framed the Constitution. It was the source of national discord through all the antecedent

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years of the republic. It was the fruitful source of fierce debate in the halls of national legislation. It was quieted only to raise its Mokanna visage, whenever an occasion was presented. With each revolving year the infatuated zeal of the North and the determined opposition of the South increased. The election of Abraham Lincoln, as a sectional president, in the opinion of the South, justified the secession of the slave-holding States from the Union.
Such is a brief statement of the principal cause of the war. It is not necessary to discuss its merits. Would either party have been so aggressive if they could have foreseen that it would kindle the flame of civil war? Would the South have consented to that holocaust of its noble sons, the flower of the land, for the maintenance of the institution of slavery? Would the North have considered its incalculable sacrifice ol blood and treasure worth the emancipation of Southern slaves ?
Though the existence of slavery at the South was the primary source of discord and ultimately of the war, yet there were other causes that served to instigate it. It is said by an English poet,
" Lands intersected by a narrow frith Abhor each other. Moun tains interposed, Make enemies of nations, who had else Like kindred drops been mingled into one."
There were no natural barriers, as lines of national demar cation, between the North and the South. They occupied one and the same territorial limits, and in race and name formed one common country. Their sires had gone together, " shoulder to shoulder," through the revolutionary struggle, and as their posterity they equally shared in the ancestral glories of their forefathers; they held in equal veneration Mount Vernon, where reposed the ashes of the Father of his Country; the same constitution spread over both the broad aegis of its protection; the same proud ensign floated over both alike in war or enwrapped them with its folds in time of peace. After all there was lacking homogeneity in their social characteristics. There was no community of sentiment or feeling, or identity of manners and customs.
The want of social affinity and the sectional prejudice and

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animosity engendered by political strife and contention formed an impassable wall, and prevented that friendly inter course and reciprocal appreciation of each other which other wise would have been promoted.
There was an apparent antagonism of industrial pursuits and interests. The North was a manufacturing, the South an agricultural people. Really, their industries were recip rocal had it not been for the tariff laid on foreign goods to protect Northern manufactures. The South complained that this legislation was in reference to them partial and unjust.
And to-day it is still an issue, the great political question before the people, involving the fasces of power.
Notwithstanding the apparent contrariety of interest, yet all might have been harmonized, and the diversity of pursuits under wise legislation would have contributed to the wealth and prosperity of each section, and the country would have continued to enjoy the blessings of peace.

CHAPTER II.
A HAPPY PEOPLE.
Glancing with telescopic eye over the past, the mind would linger awhile in silent contemplation of that state of pros perity and happiness which the United States as a nation presented before the war came upon the land with its havoc and its desolation. No epoch in history is invested with the same interesting and attractive moral and social features. It may properly be called the Golden Age of the republic. A pure and exalted spirit of patriotism marked the national life. The people still cherished republican simplicity of man ners. Private virtue and public integrity were esteemed and honored as the bright ornaments of character. Industry and thrift characterized the habits of the people. A virgin soil crowned the toils of the laborer with abundant harvests and plenty reigned throughout the land. The administration of the government was wise and economical, and no iron-clad system of taxation oppressed the people with financial bur dens.
How happy were the people! How politically blest were

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they! They had in the Constitution the organic framework of the best government the world had ever known. It embraced all the excellences without the faults of the political
fabrics of ancient Greece and Rome, those prototypes and eclectic models of republics through all ages. It afforded equal political rights, and security and protection of life and prop erty to all classes of its citizens. All participated in its bless ings, whether their homes were located among the hills of New England, arched by Southern skies, or dotted the prairies of the West. Even the slaves at the South in their bondage experienced its benign influence in the provision made for their humane treatment and the protection of their lives and persons, and whether domiciliated on the rice-fields of Carolina, the cotton farms of Mississippi, or the sugarcane plantations of Louisiana, with their happy disposition and wonted exemption from care, they cheered their toils with the wild melodies of uncultured song, and enlivened their holidays with rude festivities.
Though the dew of youth was upon her brow, even at that period, the United States as a nation had achieved distinction in the arts of war and peace, and held an honorable rank among the foremost countries of the globe. It could boast of the classic culture of Greece and the strength and majesty of Rome. The dignity and the wisdom of its legislative bodies, in which Clay, Webster and Calhoun, far nobile fratres, with a host of worthy compeers, had shone, had crowned American statesmanship with imperishable glory.
A constellation of sovereign, independent States, each State revolved in harmony in its appointed sphere. Each citizen felt a pride in his countrys greatness and prosperity. There might be strife among party leaders, but the mass of the people were content with the government. There might be political disturbances, and there might be talk of civil war, but few minds really entertained such forebodings. It was an era of joyous prosperity and hope. In view of it and enjoying its blessings well might each patriotic heart have exclaimed, "Run on, ye golden cycles! oh! ye concordant Fates! bid your spindles run on and lengthen into unmeas ured duration the years of our happy country."
But vain was the dream of tranquillity. Secession came!

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CHAPTER III.
THE CAUSE OF SECESSION.
At this day there are many thousands of persons surviv ing, both at the North and South, who remember well the prosperous condition of the country, as pictured in the last foregoing sketch. With what tender recollections do their minds dwell upon that happy period! How they exulted in the felicity of the country whilst patriotic hope spanned its future prospects with the bow of promise. How few realized that beneath this fair surface of things there slumbered the volcanic fires of civil revolution, which would suddenly burst forth, and like the lavas burning tide down the mountains fertile slope, war would pass over the land, withering its beauty and verdure!
It was the prevailing opinion that the issues of political and sectional strife between the North and the South would be settled by the peaceful solution of compromise, as they had been in other days. There was such strong confidence in the stability of the government, in the conservative power of the patriotism of the country, in the ancestral bonds of the past, in the wisdom of the national legislature, and in the gracious interposition of that God who had hitherto mani festly presided over the destinies of the republic that all confidently expected there would be a pause, nor would there be a resort to aggressive measures.
As it has often been alleged that the South, without any overt aggression upon its political rights by the North, but for the sake of mere principle or the shadow of wrong, took the decisive step of secession which inaugurated the bloody drama of the war, in justice to the South it is proper to enumerate some of the grievances of which it complained. It is a well-known fact that attacks were continually made upon the Southern people through the press of the North by the abolition party with the designs and purposes to abolish the institution of slavery. This served to stir up and keep alive sectional animosity. This spirit of mind was exasperated by the loss of both California and " bleeding Kansas " from the galaxy of the Southern States, and the exclusion of the South

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from any participation in that broad territory, won in con quest, in a large measure, by Southern valor on the battleplains of Mexico. The daring raid of John Brown upon Vir ginia, indicating the extent to which fanaticism of the Northern abolitionists would proceed to carry out their pur poses, still further inflamed the jealousy and indignation of the Southern mind. Lastly, the election of Lincoln as presi dent by a party a principle of whose political program was the extinction of slavery at the South.
These were the main grievances set forth by the Southern people. They conceived that their only hope of redress from political injustice was in seceding from the Union. They considered they had a right to retire from that confederation, when their rights were invaded. They imagined they could peaceably untie the bonds of Union, nor thought that, like the Gordian knot of Alexander the Great, it could be sev ered by the sword alone. They dreamed of peaceable seces sion. How well did Webster with the prescience of the statesman picture the fatuity of such a supposition. Seces sion was the policy. How was it accomplished ? may be in quired.
CHAPTER IV.
SECESSION.
It may have been that the secession movement on the part of the Southern people was inevitable under the existing state of things, being one of those political ground-swells emanat ing from the great popular heart which no human effort could have stayed, but was like the ocean tide which rolled not back when Canute gave command. Many things doubt less conspired to precipitate it. Among them was the defeat of the great Democratic party which had held the reins of. government for twenty years. Its leaders could not well brook the loss of power, though "it was a split in the party" which gave the Republicans the victory. They could not regard with amicable feelings that party which had tri umphed through their dissensions.
Then the Democratic party was national and con servative in its doctrines, and under its administration of the government, the Constitution had spread its shield of protec-

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tion equally over the rights of all citizens. The Republican
party was sectional in its locality and political declarations and principles. Its success served to affiliate the ranks of all parties South and array them in almost solid phalanx against a common political enemy. No doubt there was much misap prehension on the part of the Southern people as to the dan ger that threatened the institution of slavery from the admin istration of the national government passing into the hands
of the Republican party. It was a new untried party, and its oiigin and the spirit of some of its element was hostile to Southern interests. This alarmed their patriotic fears. They gave too willing an ear to their political Hotspurs who urged them to ignore the Union and form a new confederation of States under better auspices.
The attitude and sentiments of their representative in Congress exercised a large influence upon the mind of the
Southern people To whom could they more confidently look for counsel and guidance than to their national legislators, if their constitutional rights were in jeopardy by the election of Lincoln as president. They were the watchmen on the tower of Liberty. They were at the seat of government, the center
of power and all po.itical intelligence. The records of Con gress show, at no period in its past history, did the South have
a more brilliant representation in that body than at that time.
In the array of talents by which it was represented might be found the fenid eloquence of Demosthenes, the polished ora tory of Cicero, and the sagacious statesmanship of Pericles.
To demonstrate this, it is only necessary to mention the names of Toombs, Floyd, Davis, Stephens, and a number of others whose legislative ability had crowned them with honor and would have given them a distinguished place in the Pantheon of American statesmen had not the failure of the cause in which they embarked for their beloved South obscured the luster of their early fame. It is needless now to say whether they were right or wrong. After-ages will write their epitaphs and condemn or approve. One, an hon
ored name, still lives and looms up from the shadows of the past in solitary greatness, like a stately monument mark ing the buried hopes of the South. They either advocated secession or acquiesced in the popular movement.

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CHAPTER V.
THE STRIFE OF TOXGUES.
Having breathed the air of political freedom from their colonial infancy and having early learned to appreciate the blood-bought privileges transmitted from their revolutionary sires, the Southern people jealously guarded them, and were eager and impatient to resist and repel every real or fancied infringement upon their constitutional rights. Yet they did not resolve on the act of secession as the horse rusheth into battle." The measure was one of intense vital interest and involved momentous issues. The wisdom and expediency of it must be maturely considered and thoroughly discussed. In the exercise of their privileges ascitizens of a free and con stitutional republic they had been trained to consider and dis cuss all questions having a bearing on the common weal. All were qualified for this duty from the wealthiest aristocrat to the humblest yeoman in the land.
The Halls of Congress were made the chosen arena of debate. There the lists were opened to the champions of each party to discuss the rights of secession. There might have been witnessed many a glorious tilt of puissant minds. Who can portray the mighty spectacle, or report the profoundly thrilling speeches made by the gifted orators both of the North and South? How the haughty threat, the proud defiance, the bitter taunt, the keen retort and pathetic appeals of patriot bosoms might be heard in the gushing momentum of their speeches. " How like the lutes soft tones amid the cymbals clash might have been heard the voice of that son of the South whom both the North and the South have since consentingly crowned with the highest honors of patriotic virtue! Its silvery tones could not calm the heaving waves of political passion. Who does not well remember the debate of Congress at that period? All eyes were turned to Washington City. All minds watched the deliberations and actions of the legislative body of the nation at that crisis. The electric wires flashed over the country -whatever was said or done. Sensational dispatches sent out

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kept the public mind in a tumult of anxiety. The throes of political revolution pulsated throughout the land.
The press both North and South discussed the great question. Not always calmly and deliberately, but often with bitter invective and inflammatory appeals to sectional prejudice and feeling. By constitutional enactment it had been made free. It was regarded as the faithful guardian of the liberties of the people, and should not be muzzled. It had been the great educator of the people as to their political duties and rights. Now it moved its hundred tongues and Briarean hands to promote the spirit of sectional animosity.
" It, with the bitter, burning speech of tongue Inflamed the South with maddend sense of wrong, And urged tie North with conscious might of force To press to bloodshed its fanatic course; And between those wrought internecine strife, Who from same dug drew Freedoms breath of life, And same childhood of a glorious past Its golden links of Union strong had cast."

CHAPTER VI.
It is a reflection which should afford profound congratula tion to every true, enlightened, patriotic American citizen, that the act of secession on the part of the Southern States from the Union, though it involved a disorganization of the government and finally resulted in war, was not inaugurated and characterized by those excesses of popular frenzy, that turbulence in the legislative council of the nation, and that exercise of military despotism by the dominant party which marked the revolutions in government recorded in the nistory of other countries. No political leader rose up in the halls of Congress, who, like Mirabeau in the States-General of France, sought to overthrow the established government, its. institutions and its customs. There were none like Robes pierre, who, having vanquished the rival party by means of the tribune and the mob, with cool malignity of purpose doomed the opposing leaders to the guillotine. Nor like the old Roman republic did the country present the spectacle of the Senate of the Nation trembling and powerless, while

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military chieftains like Pompey and Caesar at the head of ^armies were contending for the supremacy of power.
There was another remarkable fact connected with the history of secession worthy of mention. Such was the pro found respect and reverence on the part of the people for the reign of law and government, that the National Assembly held its sessions undisturbed amidst the popular commotion. No Cromwell or Bonaparte with a body of soldiery entered its halls to interrupt its legislative functions or to disperse it. In the Capital City there was no vast mob seen traversing the streets and clamoring for blood as in Paris during the days of the overthrow of the French monarchy.
Each member of Congress from the Southern States peacefully withdrew and returned to his home and constitu ents, when his State adopted an ordinance of secession. None went like Coriolanus and Catiline with rage pent up in their hearts and plotting to return with sword and fire to destroy the metropolis of the Nation. But they rather went with hearts bowed down with mournful presages of evil, and looked back not with a spirit of revenge, but with deep, unspeakable grief that there should have come such a crisis in the history of the Republic as to sever their bonds of attachment to the proud fabric of government around which clustered so many endearing hopes and associations. Well did they remember the grandeur and symmetry of its propor tions. Now, with the secession of States,
Behold the Temple, that in grandeur shone, Its pillars rent, its pristine beauty gone; Tho lit up with glorys lingering smile, It wears but semblance of its once proud pile.
And the chief executive of the Nation, President Buchanan, who was at the helm of government and to whom was entrusted the welfare of the commonwealth how did he act * He was apprised of the movement. He heard the threats of secession. He saw the preparations made by the Southern States to withdraw from the Union. What did he do? What could he do? Did he act up to the full measure of his official authority? Of all the public men \vho were involved directly or indirectly in the drama of
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secession, none deserves more sympathy than Buchanan. Who can explain the contingencies of his official situation? Who can doubt his integrity or patriotism? He was cer tainly put to a fiery test. Should he have had the members arrested who uttered secession sentiments ? Should he have had them tried and condemned to death or imprisonment as traitors ? Should he have sent armed forces to the South to suppress the public meetings and to scatter the State conven tions that met to pass ordinances of secession? The revolt of a remote and insignificant province against a mighty dominion may be easily suppressed. There was no such parallel in the case of the Southern States. They formed an integral part of a nation which in the extent of its territory and resources rivaled antique Rome when its proud arch of empire extended from the pillar of Hercules on the west to the Euphrates on the east.
Buchanan has passed away from time. De mortuis niliil nisi bonuni. No soul was tried like his. No human power could have averted secession or war. He had faith that the North and the South would yield to reason, to interest, to the teachings of Christianity. Wreathe his memory with the laurels due to his name.
CHAPTER VII.
CROSSING THE RUBICON.
That there was a division of sentiment and opinion at the South in regard to the expediency and wisdom of seces sion as a measure that would inevitably result in war was clearly manifest. This was fully evinced by the complex character of the different State conventions, their debates and proceedings. The ruling spirit and vote was in favor of secession, and each adopted an ordinance to be referred or submitted to the people for ratification. This was never done, such was the hurry and press of events. What would have been the popular will expressed by the ballot-box cannot be definitely determined.
The first State that passed the ordinance of secession was South Carolina. Quoting the language of one of her press, she declared herself " high and dry out of the Union." Hasty,

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impetuous, and wrong she may have been, yet the impartial
mind must admire the gallant and patriotic spirit of her peo
ple. It had displayed itself during the struggle for independ ence in 1776. No brighter record than hers appears upon the pages of the history of that period. The Palmetto, her emblem as a State, will vie in the luster of its historical asso ciations with the thistle of Scotland, the lilies of France and
the shamrock of Ireland. Cum aniinis opibusque, is her motto. She at an early period, alone and single-handed, had resisted the Tariff act during the administration of Jackson,
and threatened secession. She was the Attica of the Ameri
can league of States. Other States, at various intervals,
likewise adopted ordinances of secession. The news of the action of the State conventions was received with exultant
shouts by those who favored secession. Others, who more deliberately pondered the consequences of the measure,
prophesied it as the precursor of civil war. "Many a lusty youth, who shouts so loudly, will bite the dust before this is ended," said the gray-haired men. Some were so confidently persuaded of peaceable secession that they proposed to "drink
every drop of blood that would be shed." The cold, phleg matic, money-making Northerners would not meet the fiery, impetuous Southrons in battle. Some vaunting spirit like Burnss Scotch soldier, when warmed up with "John Barley-
Corn," could kill " two Yankees at a blow." They had
formed an estimate of the whole North from those who had come down South to peddle Davis Barbers clocks or as schoolmasters to enlighten the minds of Southern youth, and
a " penny turn."
The sequel of the act of secession is known. It was the passing of the fatal Rubicon. No pen may picture the shift
ing scenes and events which transpired before the conflict of arms began. The foregoing sketches afford scarcely a glimpse of the mighty panorama, and are designed as an in
troduction to such reminiscences of the war as may linger in the mind of thewriter.

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CHAPTER VIII.
THE CONFEDERACY.
Having passed ordinances of secession, the seceding States took active and immediate steps to consummate their plan of separation from the Union and to form a Southern Confed eracy. Delegates chosen by the State convention met at Montgomery, Alabama, on the 4th of February, 1861. Geor gia, South Carolina, and the four gulf States Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida were represented in the convention. A provisional constitution and government were adopted at first. Afterwards, a permanent Constitution.
This Constitution, the organic framework of the new republic, differed not materially in its form and provisions from the original Federal compact, except in those features which were necessary to meet the exigencies in the political situation of the Southern States which had originated seces sion from the Union. It did not take months of debate and negotiation to evolve it, as there were no contrarieties of interest to be harmonized by concessive legislation in order for the States to form a national league. It did not come forth from the convention, as fabled of Minerva from the head of Jupiter, perfect and bearing the full impress of wis dom. It indicates hurried and improvident legislation and statesmanship sagacious enough to perceive the evils that would environ the new government, but not the wisdom to apply the proper legislative expedients to meet them..
The ship of State thus framed and built was launched forth, freighted with the political hopes of the South. Many thousands of hearts regarded it with deep solicitude. Many thousands of wishes and prayers were uttered for its prosper ous voyage upon the seas of time. All would cast wreaths of flowers upon the turbid element upon which it was to sail as propitiative of favoring gales. They could foresee perils,, like the tempestuous billows of the ocean, to encompass it. But whom shall the people call to the helm to guide and direct the affairs of the young republic ?
To this perilous duty and task the popular voice called Jef ferson Davis, whose military and civic talents gave him a

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distinguished position among the leaders of Southern inde pendence. Responding to the call, he became the central figure in the gigantic struggle which ensued, as a patriotic defender and finally as a martyr of the Southern cause.
Having thus become a government, as it considered, de jure and de facto, the newly-formed Confederacy seized upon the forts, arsenals and other property belonging to the Fed eral Government, which were in the bounds of its recognized territory. Commissioners were sent to Washington City to negotiate with the Federal authorities for the peaceable transfer of the forts and other property which the United States still held in possession, and the equitable adjustment of all mutual rights and obligations in which they had shared under the Union, as a common sisterhood of sovereign and independent States. The authorities of the new Confederacy were diligent and energetic in placing the country in an atti tude of defense, if hostilities should occur. The issues of secession were doubtful.
CHAPTER IX.
THE FATAL SHOT.
Each and every event gave momentum to the iron wheels of destiny, as they bore the Southern States onward to the precipice of disunion. To stay their progress, in vain did patriotic minds look for some untoward event. The work of secession was so daring and rapid that it was accomplished oefore the act was fully realized.
The Northern States had regarded the threat of seceding as an idle boast upon the part of the South. As those that dream, did they look upon the stirring scenes that were tak ing place. Xo effort was made by the United States Govern ment to arrest the movements in the South, or even to protect its property, save in the one instance, when President Buchanan dispatched the Star of the West with supplies and rein forcements for Fort Sumter.
The eventful fourth of March comes, which inaugurates the administration of the government by the obnoxious Republican party. President Lincoln is installed in office. What will he do is the anxious inquiry of the whole country.

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In his inaugural address, he declares that " he will enforce
ery-" the laws, but will not interfere with the institution of slavHowever it may be viewed by the Southern mind, the attitude and decision of President Lincoln under the appall ing circumstances that surrounded him displayed heroic grandeur and moral sublimity of character. The public senti ment of the Northern States was divided as to the course which should be pursued towards the South. Consternation sat upon every brow, and dread was in every heart. Well might the patriotic minds of the country have exclaimed:
Quern vocet Divum populus mentis Imperi rebus?
Lincoln came forth. Perhaps none other upon the roll of the great men who gathered around the republic at that hour would have stepped into the breach, and, undismayed, have resolved upon the perilous task and responsibility which he assumed. A peculiar destiny seems to have marked and trained him up for this crisis. The strong and solid attributes of mind which he derived from nature, developed and molded by the rigorous toil and training of his youthful life, had imparted to his character that moral force and inflexibility of purpose which would drive him on as the thunderbolt which rives alike the " unwedgeable oak as well as the tender myrtle tree." What luster of glory does his career shed upon the benignity of republican institutions, which open the way for obscure and untitled youth to rise to the heights of political distinction. How wonderful does it appear that he who had been a " rail-splitter " in his boyhood should have been elevated by his fellow-citizens to that exalted position in the government of a great nation, that upon his action and the fiat of his word depended the lives and fate of millions.
Which was guilty of the overt act of hostility, the North or the South ? Which section should bear the moral obloquy, the heinous guilt of inaugurating a needless and gigantic war? Which will the tribunal of posterity condemn? The charge of having committed the first act of hostility is foisted upon the South. The seizure of the forts and arsenals belong ing to the United States has been assumed by Northern his-

PRAYING FOR ALL IN AUTHORITY. 311
torians as a declaration of war. Yet, if the Southern States had irrevocably decided upon secession, there was no other course left to pursue under the emergencies of the situation. Otherwise, it was retaining an enemy in the citadel which might at any time open the gates to hostile bands. It is well known what " a thorn in the side " of the South was Fort Pickens, at Pensacola, during the whole war.
On the other hand, the Southern States maintain that the official announcement of President Lincoln that he would relieve Fort Sumter whilst negotiations were pending for its surrender, and the impression had been made on the minds of the Southern committee that their application would be granted, was the commencement of hostilities.
The Confederate authorities having been thus notified, on the 12th of April commenced the bombardment of Fort Sum ter. "Then was fired the shot heard around the world."
"PRAYIXG FOR ALL THAT ARE IX AUTHORITY!
How sublime and beneficent is the prerogative of prayer that the gospel bestows upon the Christian! " Prayer ardent,* says the poet, " opens heaven and lets down the consecrated glory upon man in audience with Deity." It allies him with God, brings the resources of Omnipotence to aid him in the duties and responsibilities of life, and renders him, though in his human nature feeble as a worm and the insect of a day, august and divine, " a distinguished link in beings endless chain."
How full, varied, precious and unstinted are the benefits that the heaven-appointed privilege and duty of prayer pro poses, in answer, to confer and secure, when duly exercised and performed. The scope of petition is broad as the circle of human needs and wants. " Ask and ye shall receive " is the language of the Scriptures. The throne of grace being established and the way of access to it for sinful men through the atonement and mediation of Christ being made, mankind are. exhorted " to come boldly to it, that they may obtain mercy and obtain grace to help in time of need." Christ not only answers and accepts, but solicits the prayers of his

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people, not reckoning them a trouble to him but an honor
and delight.
In the plenitude of divine grace, Christians can make prayers, supplications, intercessions, and giving of thanks, not only for themselves, families and friends, " but for all men everywhere lifting up holy hands, without wrath and
doubting." In view of their exalted privilege, they are instructed and enjoined by the Apostle Paul to pray " for kings, and all that are in authority," that the blessings of
quiet and peace, godliness and honesty, might be secured to the government under which they lived. In the moral con stitution of things there is to man not only the love of family and friends, but of home and country. The Scriptures
recognize the principle of patriotism as inherent in mans nature and forming an important element in his social exist ence. They assign to it that value and dignity, as to enjoin
upon Christians to invoke the blessings of heaven upon their land, and thus intertwine the love of country with the senti ments of their religion and the sacred rites of devotion. The
special manner in which this is to be done is by praying .for all that are in authority, as the government of a nation is the source of blessing or of curse to the people, as the rulers may
be wise and good, or wicked and corrupt.
The early Christians felt this law to be continually bind ing, and, therefore, scrupulously prayed for all in authority,
whether Pagan, Arian or Christian. The custom is men
tioned by many of the fathers; is mentioned in the early liturgies; and was referred to by the early apologists of
Christianity as a proof of loyalty. The custom, having been
instituted, it has no doubt prevailed in all the churches in all countries wherever Christianity has planted itself. The staid and beautiful observance stands incorporated in the liturgy of
the Church of England. It found a place in the form and
rilual of public worship at an early period. For twelve cen turies or more from the altars of Christianity of that land have been ascending daily, prayers and intercessions for the
divine favor and blessing upon the country and its rulers. The visitor who may attend the Episcopal services in city, town, or hamlet, besides the blessing in the invocation, will

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hear sung at the close of service, from the beautiful anthem, " God save the Queen ":
" Lord bless our native land; May Heavens protecting hand Still guard our shore; May peace our powers extend. Foe be transformed to friend; And may our powers depend On war no more."
The Catholics sing it in Latin " Domine, Salvam fac Reginam Xostram Victoriam."
The practise of making prayer for the President and his Cabinet, and for the officials of the State, or for the chosen blessings of God to rest upon the country, has been but par tially observed, and sometimes entirely neglected by the ministers of the different denominations of Christians in the United States, in the stated pulpit-service of the Sabbath. As the masters of assemblies and the mouth of the congregation toward God, it is for them to follow and observe the benefi cent form of petition as enjoined by the Apostle. There is no mode or process for setting forth the divine claims and principles of Christianity before the minds of the people for recognition more impressive and effective than for the min isters of the gospel, Sabbath after Sabbath, in the holy invo cations of the sanctuary, to lead their congregations in con templation away from the din and strife of earth and in devout prayer at the invisible mercy-seat to implore heavens benedictions upon their country and its rulers.
Then, it may partly be attributed to the prevalence of the opinion, that under the reign of the gospel as a dispensation of grace, human responsibility is individual and that God no more smites the nations of the earth for their wickedness, nor blesses them for their righteousness. Such doctrine does not accord with the teachings of the Bible that assert the great and salutary truth that " the Lord reigneth," and as "King of nations," He rules in all places and over all the works of His dominion.
In the ministrations of the pulpit, there seems to be a decline in the observance of the usage at the present time. This fact has prompted the writing of this article. As to

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the causes that have operated to produce the neglect of theapostolic injunction to pray for those that are in authority forms an important subject of inquiry which may be vari ously answered. In the case of some who serve at the altar, it may be that they regard the theme of petition as too high
for their modest ability and for the range of thought of their congregations; that it will do for big preachers on big oc casions and for city and town preachers and their fashion able audiences thus to soar in prayer.
Again, the remissness observable in prayers, supplications, intercessions and giving of thanks for all that are in author ity and for the country, may result from that fierce democracy of spirit which regards not the opinions of men and scorns the authority of Jehovah, that is so largely diffusive in the thoughts and habits of this American commonwealth with its vast heterogeneous population. In brief, all the causes may be summed up in the proposition, that they originate from the lack of sincere belief of the word of God by numbers of
professed Christians, and from the spirit of atheism and infi delity that pervades the land. "The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice, and the multitude of isles be glad thereof."

VERSE
ROMANCE OF THE TIMES THE BIRCHEN SCEPTRE
AND
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS

INTRODUCTION.
LITERARY CRITICISM FROM HORACE "ARS POETICA."
PARAPHRASE AND COMMENT.
Unique, genial, delightful and melodious Horace! Such strain of encomium does this poet of ancient Rome re ceive from those who have drunk deep of the Pierian stream of song that flows in his lyrics or caught the glow of wit in his satires. It is difficult to determine which to admire the most, the genius of the peot, the charming per sonality of the man, or the delicate touches of philosophy that peak out here and there in his writings and are sweet and "musical as Apollos lute." To read him is to become enamored of him as a poet. Ovid, a Roman poet, contem porary with him, in a poem says:
" Et tenuit nostiw numerqsus Horatius aures; Dum ferit Ansonia carmina culta lyra."
(And melodious Horace charms our ears whilst he strikes the lyre to his polished songs.)
No poet of ancient or modern times could so justly per form the task which he assumes in his "Ars Poetica" of setting forth the elements, precepts and principles of the art of poetry. He had the genius of song. As he says of himself in one of his odes, "Melpomene, that rulest the melody of the golden shell, looked upon him with a fa voring eye at the hour of his nativity." Still more fanci ful, when a child and wearied with play and oppressed with sleep he lay in the forests of his native Apulia, as, in prog nostic token of his destiny as a poet, the doves covered him with leaves.
The thorough and attentive training he had received in the languages and literature both of Rome and Greece en dued him with literary supremacy and prepared him emi nently for the office of critic and expounder in the realm of

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poetical composition. This proficiency is exemplified in the
fact that he says of himself that he was the first to have adapted the lyric verse to Italian measure, and lay the foun dation of his fame and be pointed at as the minstrel of the Roman lyre.
Boileau, the French scholar, who has the best art of poetry of modern times, boasts that his precepts are based upon those of Horace, and modestly says: "For me, who has
been nourished in satire, once more to manage the trum pet, or the lyre, you seek me yet in this glorious field; you report to me those lessons which my Muse and Parnassus, when young-, gathered from acquaintance of Horace."
The principal laws which govern in poetical composition and which are so genially set forth in "Ars Poetica" are as applicable to-day as when written on waxen tablet with the
stylus of the poet. The first one set forth is unity of de sign in the poem to be written. This principle should be observed, as it secures the pleasing effect of harmony in the topic, diction and logical connection in all the parts.
This should apply not only in the epic and drama, but is to be regarded in the small poem that it may be perfect as the rose or the star. As for instance Tom Moores Irish Melo dies.
Then comes next the principle of rhythm, or the harmoni ous flow of the vowel sounds. This was recognized in an cient Greek and Latin poetry as a radical element and dis tinguishing- feature of verse. Horace and Persius Flaccus
both insist that poems must flow as softly in their measure as the finger-nail glides smoothly over the joints of polished
marble. The spirit of rhythm must be in the soul of the poet, and so reign that, as at the touch of a magic wand, the thoughts that lie in the mystic chambers of the mind,
"linked in many a hidden chain," shall come forth and trip in measured round into the meter of the verse. The poet Browning says of himself, "day and night I worked
my rhythmic thought." Then the poet touches lightly upon the rhyme, the asso
nance or the ending of the lines of verse with words of similar sound. This in the popular mind and in ordinary forms of poetry is regarded as an essential feature of all

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poetry. With the Greeks and Romans it was of minor importance. In the history of English poetry it played an
important part in the day of Pope and swayed the literary taste of that age. In the hands of that poet the art of versification attained its perfection. So perfect was Horace in rhythm and meter that a modern editor of his works, the classic Anthon, detects one solitary instance of defec tive meter. Rhyme, without reason or with reason, does
not always constitute poetry. It is not a mere ornament of versification, but when used with proper skill and taste, it adds to the expression of the thought and the melody of
the verse. It may be the only claim that many of the
literary compositions of the day have to the name of poetry. It is esteemed a shackle upon true poetical genius, unless as in the case of Byron in "Don Juan" or "Childe Harold, he
rises above artificial restraints and mannerism. The poet urges upon those who enter the field of au
thorship to select a subject adapted to their intellectual ca pacity, and enforces it with the weighty comment that those who do this will secure eloquence of expression and lu cid arrangement. The chief excellence of method will en able him to say just those things he ought, and to put off
those that should be left unsaid. He satirizes Lucilius, a contemporary poet, for his muddy verse, as there was something in his verse that the reader wanted to throw away.
The poet insists upon great care and nice distinction in the selection of words. There must be grace and beauty
of diction. This is an essential characteristic of poetical composition. The Muse of Song, according to myth of classical antiquity, is of divine origin and her language is of celestial strain. Words are figuratively called the blos
soms of the lips, and there may be that selection and ar rangement of them in a sentence in the expression of thought, as in the flowers of spring in a bouquet, to secure
grace and harmony of colors. There is such a thing as word-painting in literature,
that is, the art of selecting and using words as representa tive of ideas, that will present pictures of things signified.
This gives to Homers Iliad its immortal bloom and fresh-

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ness. His words are picturesque, and even so far does he go in the selection of them that he makes the pronuncia
tion of a word an echo to the sense, as in the epithet phloisboio, the lashing of the billows of the ocean upon the shore. The song of the brook by Tennyson is a remark able exemplification of word-painting. He selects the word that portrays each change of motion in the waters of the brook in its onward flow. It "makes a sudden sally and sparkles out among the fern, bickers down the valley, slips between the ridges, chatters over stony ways, bubbles into eddying bays, babbles on the pebbles, steals by lawns, slides by hazel covers and makes the netted sunbeam dance." Thus flows the brook until it joins the river.
In his criticism Horace considers due regard must be given to choice of subjects in writing poetry. Everything, says a modern rhetorician, upon this point has its poetic side. There is spread out before the eye an endless num ber and variety of topics in the great volume of nature, and these are ever new and perennial to the successive gen erations of men. The animated spectacle of Spring with its flowers, its symphonies of birds, its hum of busy life, its Favonian breezes and cerulean depths of sky, or of Au tumn with its golden sunlight, crude colors and barbaric pomp of purple, crimson and gold, delight the miftd as much as when they were sung by Thomson, the English poet, in voluptuous strain. The great theme of the poets
of all ages has been that of love. It is the divine passion that thrills the soul with rapture, awakens all that is pure
and beautiful in man, and fills earth and heaven with joy and gladness. It was sung by Solomon in the symbolic beauty and richness of oriental speech; by Anacreon, the Greek poet, in melting accents on the Teian lyre, and in its full-orbed grandeur and glory by Milton in his matchless epics of Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. It employs the tongues of the redeemed and angels harps of gold, and when they have reached their highest note they will not have sung all its praises.
The poet gives a wise precept to those who write poetry and are ambitious of authorship. He advises them not to assume the office of poet rashly, nor to foist their produc-

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321

tions too hastily upon the reading public. Minerva, the patroness of literature, being unwilling, they can accomplish
nothing. Not every mind is a warbler in the realm of song. If -they have ever written anything they desire to descend to posterity let them keep it ("nonum prematur in annum membranis intus positis") "pressed within the folds of a sheepskin for nine years." "Delere licebit quod edideris; nescit vox missa reverti." ("It will be allowable for you to destroy that which you have not published; a. word once sent forth knows not the way of return.")
The author of this volume of verse has followed in some measure the precept of the critic. Many of the pieces were written in the long, long -ago, and have beeu-kept folded in the leaves of memory. They may be like the flowers gathered by the schoolboy or schoolgirl, pressed within the leaves of a book, dead and withered. He trusts that they are not altogether without the bloom and fra grance of song, and that the readers of his poems will find delight in them, although they may not afford the full hive of honeyed sweets that Horace stored in the cells of his lyric Poesv.

21 si

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POEMS.

WHY SHOULD I WRITE?

PART T. INQUIRY.

Why either in prose or verse indite The teeming fancies of the brain,
Vhen it may be but to re-write What has been said in better strain?

<j

The pen, in its excursive range,

Has touched on all the mind may scan

Of things sublime, or new, or strange,

The vaulted sky may circling span.

; It has in glowing diction wrought

The fancies wild, grotesque or gay.

;

That in realm of ideal thought

In airy beauty, sportive play.

It has with Briarean hand Recorded on historic page
The deeds of man in evry land, As they extend from age to age.

ng
Of feats of arms on Trojan plain. In epic of majestic swell
Like billows of the ^Egean main.

Mantuas bard, on waxen reeds, -Has piped of flocks and grassy plains,
Of purling streams and verdant meads, Of loves and sports of rural swains.
Milton in symphonies divine Has sung of Edens lost estate;
Of glories that celestial shine For man redeemed from sins dark fate.
Has not Thomson with subtle art Described the seasons as they roll;
The varied charms which they impart, As they advance from pole to pole?
Who may with truer skill portray The scene of joyous carnival,
When vernal suns with genial ray Wake earth from winters icy thrall?

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323

Who may paint with as florid brush The dazzling pomp of summertime,
The mellow tints that autumn flush, Or winters cheerless gloom and rime
The beauties of natures domains Have been the poets favored themes;
The source to them of pleasing strains, And inspiration of their dreams.
They have portrayed her charms as seen In starlit eve or golden morn,
In flowers that bedeck each scene, In stars heavens blue arch adorn.
Why then write, may one well exclaim, When time-worn has become each theme,
When so few may win lettered fame, And realize ambitions dream.

WHY SHOULD I WRITE? PART II. ANSWER.
The wit and genius of the past In countless volumes treasured He,
In evry mold of language cast. And speaking truths that can not die.
Here toiling mind in labor sweet May daily gather lore profound,
Until lifes weary wheels complete Their octogenarian round.
Why then the field of thought explore And its truths in new forms repeat?
Why seek to add to times full store Of ideas, long since replete?
The miracle of life renewed In natures blooming world is taught;
In all objects with life imbued, A periodic change is wrought.
From the decay of winters zone The flowers of springtime appear;
From fallow fields with same seed sown, The new corn comes, from year to year.
Shakespeare, in art without a peer, Long since exhausted evry age,

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And destinies of either sphere, In scenic life upon the stage;
Yet others, with dramatic art,. . May life unfold in mimic show;
Instruct the mind and teach the heart To burn with virtues holy glow.
Pope, with minds telescopic eye, Has sought the universe to scan,
And ways of God to justify In sublunary state of man;
Yet other minds, on bold wing sped, May oer this field expatiate,
And gather light which time has shed Upon the scene of human fate.
Let all who feel inspiring glow, Write their thoughts in prose or rhyme-,
Their labor is not lost who sow Truths bright germs in the soil of time.
Though the effusions of the pen, As they on printed page appear,
Win not the passing gaze of men, Yet noble is the authors sphere.

"LOOK NOT MOURNFULLY INTO THE PAST."
The sweet joys, once cherished, and deemed would last, The bright hopes that like stars have shone and set,
Will oft with "fond remembrance to the past Woo the heart and awake to sad regret.
The past may the vernal hopes of life enshrine, Witherd joys. like shatterd pearls, deck its brow,
Yet over if the spirit should not ever repine, And at its shrine in ceaseless sorrow bow.
When lifes golden cycle has almost sped, When Hopes bright dreams are lost in heaven,
And ail of beauty and glory have fled, Then may tears eer to the past be given.
But when life is in its glowing morn, And Hopes bright pictures are still fresh and fair,
When pleasures like flowers each scene adorn, One great grief should not the heart foreer sear.
Love of tenderest tie can not demand The cypress wreath the brow should eer entwine.

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325

Or Niobe-like, wrapped in grief, we should stand In lonely vigil at Memorys shrine.
Its memory we may fondly cherish With a devotion time can riot efface,
But affections flower should .not perish, And the heart become a cheerless waste.
Flowers in tender beauty may spring again Where the lava has rolled its burning tide;
The lute, whose chords in silence long have lain May echo again to the minstrels pride;
The affections which have been scathed and chilled Like those flowers may sweetly bloom again-
The heart whose silver notes sorrow has stilled, Like the lute may vibrate with joy again.
Like the star that glows with chastend beam And gilds with beauty the hours of even.
The Love thats blighted still may quenchless gleam From the soft .depths of Memorys heaven.
Thus in unison sweet, like the star of morn Upon the dawning east, Love too may rise,
And with roseate light brightly adorn Lifes .opening scenes its orient skies.

WHAT FLOWERS SHOULD DECORATE THE GRAVE OF THE CHRISTIAN?
Plant ye the rose that blooms serenely fair, And with rich perfume scents the vernal air, As token of love for departed one, Where lies the Christian but not this alone. Its fragile beauty will fade like a dream, Ere vesper gilds the west with silver beam.
Plant there the violet that urns the dew In fairy cups rich with heavens own hue, And freights the passing wind with odor sweet, But not this alone though a tribute meet It may be, and betoken modest worth; It fades with the season that gives it birth-
Plant the willow with flexile boughs that wave And bend as weeping mourners oer the grave, Expressive of grief in its deepest tone. Where lies the Christian but not this alone; For theres hope for him who in Jesus dies, And Faith whispers reunion in the sk^cs-

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POEMS.

Plant these with all that grow in dell or plot. But not these alone on the sacred spot Though tokens of grief and tributes of love, They fade and wither as the seasons move, An emblem not of Faiths mystic dream sublime, Of life again in Heavens blissful clime, Plant there the cedar with verdurous spire, Unscathed by winters cold or summers fire, As meet type of the soul that can not die, But in Heavens clime, beneath a stormless sky. Shall flower afresh like Aarons rod That budded and blossomed in sight of God."

LINES OF CONDOLENCE TO F. M. R. ON THE DEATH OF His BELOVED COMPANION. As dew falls upon the vernal flower, As melting sounds upon the dreaming ear, Would I sympathy in thy bosom pour And to thy anguished heart sweet solace bear. To deck the urn of her you loved so well, I would, too, a beautiful chaplet twine; In sweet elegy her fond praises tell, And her virtues in fadeless bloom enshrine.
Cleft from thy fond side is the gentle vine Which around thee its graceful tendrils wreathed;
Nipt is the flower which did softly twine And over thy home its sweet fragrance breathed;
Quenched the star that gladdened with its light, And made happy and joyous thy hearth-stone;
Death has brought to thee a bitter blight, With holy resignation, oh! be it borne.
Let not grief heave thy breast with ceaseless swell Nor with tears incessant bedew thy cheek.
Who of this bereavement may say or tell? But in it her good did Providence seek.
Life, with her may run a golden round. Yet soon its orb may have ceased to roll in light;
Her past may have been with flowers crowned, Yet her future been doomed to bitter blight.
The star whose departed light you now mourn Will rise to shine in a happier sphere;
The Flower which Death from you has torn Will rebloom in heaven, and ever there.

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327

May this inspire you in Christian life to toil, That the reward may to you be given.
Wheneer you throw aside this "mortal coil," Of bright reunion with her in heaven.

SONNETS TO SHAKESPEARE.
I. Shakespeare! thine were the lines whose music upon My heart and fancy in sweet boyhood won. From the blush of morn to twilights calm hour Would I unceasing labor, and when came night The charm of thy verse with magic power Would dispel all weariness. Till midnight Oer it I would pour, lighted by the blaze Of a dimly-burning fire; and would seek Some woodland shade, when the toils of the week Were oer, where sheltered from the fervid rays Of summer suns I thus would while away The fleeting moments of the holiday From allotted hours of toil I would win.
II. Oh! thine was the enchanters spell that then In golden dreams my boyhood held entranced. Its sorrows soothed, its brightest joys enhanced. As the sun calls for the vernal flowers, Tints its petals and fills them with perfume, Thy verse with as sweet and kindly power My bud of mind awakened into bloom. The beauty and incense of its bright urn The flower fair "dedicates to the sun"; Thus alike to honor the name of one Whom so much I owe in grateful return, Sweet from its aroma of Poesy. My mind would bring; unheeded they may be Amid the praises and tributes of song Brought by a thousand minds, a gifted throng.

THE VISIONS OF SLEEP. How mysterious the visions that sweep
Over the soul when from their actfve play The timbs lie fettered in the bonds of sleep,
And reason ceases its scepter to sway! In mock illusion through the mind they go;
With scenes of pain and woe our hearts they rend;

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POEMS.

Now with sweet emotions our bosoms glow, As hues of joy they to the picture lend.
Off with the shadows of night dreams depart, Broken their spell and dissolved their power;
But some to the soul an impress impart That haunts, when night has fled, the waking hour.
Thus was a dream I had of late in sleep, That to my mind a loved image brought.
To greet it with joy did my bosom leap, Yet the scene with deep sadness still was fraught.
Oh! she was not as in my boyhoods .hour I looked on her with a childs tender love.
The voice that did so oft with magic power Soothe my spirit and wayward nature move,
Had lost its music: mournful was its note As the wail that from the windharp is breathed
When through its chords the fitful breezes float, And pallid the lips that smiles ever wreathed.
Dimmd was the luster that did in her eyes eer shine. Ghastly with decay were the lips and the cheek,
That oft were pressed in tenderness to mine. Thus appeared one that was beautiful and meek,
One whom death from my heart had torn away. I knew her body was borne to the tomb
And midst chill shadows would fall to decay, Whikt the worm would batten upon its bloom.
Yet as my fancy would -pierce the dark gloom Which marks the mystic bound of earth and time,
It would paint for her pure spirit a home A blissful heaven a celestial clime.
Mine was the creed so beautiful and bright, Which deemed the portals of the grave the bound
Where the soul would leap into life and light, To run in ceaseless cycle a joyous round.
How delightful to me did this creed seem. When sleep had fled, and its vision of gloom,
And how somber were the tenets that deem That our life reaches its goal in the tomb!
Let me eer cherish those views that assign To our being a sphere where it may swell
Into a life" deeper, fuller and divine, And the good and the pure with God eer dwell.

POKMS.

329

THAXATOKALLIA.
OUR EVIE.
I.
Fair as a rosebud in its chrism of dew, In our home-plot tenderly she grew. For three short years on dial woven of llowrs Time for her had counted the fleeting hoursDay by day it was our delight to trace In her unfold each charm of infant grace. Around her, as the tendrils of the vine, Did our affections caressingly entwine, And she became to us our Evie dear. The sunbeam of our household sphere.
II.
! times rapid flight many years had sped Since love in nuptial tie our hearts had wed; Oer our home many years had brightly flow.i With no sorrow to darken our hearth-stoneLike flowerets of spring an offspring dear Had sprung up our hearts to rejoice and cheer. We had seen them, a merry-hearted band, Into the bloom of youthful life expand. Death we had seen enter in to destroy The bliss of many scenes of earthly joy. But, through divine benison, he had spared The home pur hymeneal love had reared.
III.
We knew that since lost Edens tragic scene Capricious mans earthly lot had eer beenFair as earth might be, there was not a spot Where suffering and sorrow entered notWe knew when night shone without a cloud The frost wove for plants their crystal shroud; That oft from the sea bathed in tranquil li?;lit Arose the dark-browed storm in sullen might; Thus often amid prosperitys glow Came frowning fate to deal destructive blow. We could not in our wUdest fancy deem Time with us would flow in waveless stream, With no evil to rise, as baleful star Our life of tranquillity to mar-

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IV.

Like scudding shadows cast upon the scene By the floating clouds that sail the blue serene. And veil awhile the suns golden light Would dim forebodings of coming blight Flit oer our souls. Like Job we troubled were, And felt afraid in our cloudless career. What sad event would come our hearts to try It was not within our ken to descry. It came in the form which mortals dread; It came as Death with his echqless tread, Our sunny home with cypress to entwine To the deep, dark grave our Evie to consign.

V.

:

In Deaths garments of purity arrayed

She seemed in gentle slumber to be laid.

In vain we might seek then to realize

Deaths signet had forever sealed her eyes.

That no more those tender orbs of blue,

Sweet to us as violets bathed in dew,

Would open, and with beaming looks of love

'.

Our hearts with rapturous emotion move;

That those hands folded now in placid rest

And waxen stillness on her pulseless breast,

Would no more our passing footsteps arrest;

That those lips, foreer in silence compressed,

Would no more syllable parental names

In the prattling dialect childhood frames-

VI.

With dolor which parents alone can know When first falls Deaths bereaving stroke of woe, With mournful steps to the grave we conveyd, In its precincts her body foreer laid. Until lifes sunset close our hearts will cling To her in memory, as a holy thing. Oft to our fancy in its dreaming mood. Does her voice break the dismal solitude, And prismed is her image on the air And her beloved form fills the wonted chair. We may desire once more to view her face And fold her in one long, one warm embrace; We would not her recall to life again, Had we the fabled skill of Orphean strain To break the spell of Fates dark decree, Though as beloved as lost EuryJice.

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331

CHRISTMAS DAY. AN ODE.
O joyous day! the golden band Of the revolving years of time!
Well may earth to its fairest land, Greet thy return with merry chime!
Sweetly dost thou again repeat The story of the Heavn-born King;
Who, sprung of Judahs royal line, Did to the race salvation bring."
Not now, in lowly manger laid, Enwrapt in swaddling-bands He lies;
The work of mans redemption wrought, He sits enthroned above the skies.
Not now, star-led, the wise men come To cast their tributes at His feet;
Adoring throngs before Him bow, In hymns of joy His praise repeat-
Not now, angelic hosts appear Beneath the starry arch of night,
To shepherds of Judeas hills Proclaim his advent with delight.
But now. through each successive age, The tidings of angelic strain
As caught by other lips is spread To farthest nook of earths domain.
Not now, with thorn-encircled brow Does He our deep compassion move;
But crowned with heavenly diadem He reigns supreme as God of Love.
O Saviour Divine! Prince of Peace! Shine forth amid cherubim bright,
Into the darkend homes of men. And cheer with joys serenes* ligli-

332

POEMS.

AN ELEGY IN MEMORY OF WILLIE OLIVER, HENRY SMITH, OSCAR TAYLOR AND CHARLIE WOOD, CHILDREN RECENTLY BURIED M THE LINDSN URAVEVARD. They were but budding gems on lifes frail stalk, Brushed by Death as on noiseless wings he sped, Like roses that ere their petals have blown At touch of Ice King fall withered and dead.
Should cherub innocence unheeded sink Beneath the graves deep, oblivious_ calm?
Shall the Muse of Song, with her spices sweet, The names of laureled greatness alone embalm?
Why may not love cull from Parnassian height The flowers of song that immortal bloom,
And wreathe them in a chaplet fair and bright As homage meet to childhoods sacred tomb?
These babes were tiny things in lifes broad count; A thousand such may die each hour that comes;
They wrapped in mortal frames the spark divine, And were the light of loving hearts and homes-
No more maternal love will them embrace, Receive with fond pressure the sweet caress,
Drink in with eager joy each prattling word, And on their lips the warm kiss impress.
Fond parents may not with.sad anguish mourn For the dear ones, doomed to untimely grave;
Love may have decreed the afflictive stroke, Them from evil to come perchance to save.
None as the old inspired Chaldean seer May discern from the book of future fate,
Whether joy or grief coming years will bring: What destiny shall mark their earthly state.
Their little forms will not forever lie In the chambers of the dead, still and lone;
Gethsemanes sad weeper conquered death, And from earths dark crypts rolled away the stone.
By Deaths rude hand the precious buds Were gathered for the Paradise above;
And will there in amaranthine freshness bloom Jnder the tender care of Omniscient love-

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333

LINES WRITTEN IN AN ALBUM-
A few fleeting years fade from heart and mind The vows which lovers have fondly plighted;
The sweet dreams which lifes vernal years entwined Soon cease to thrill the hearts they once delighted.
Yea, as that pale flower which sheds and renews, Each circling month, its fast-fleeting blossom,
Our hearts as quickly form and early lose Feelings cherished in the inmost bosom.
May I, who only as a friend can claim, Ask thoult not forget but remember me;
In memorys vigils recall my name; This earnest request I would make of thee.

THE DEAD CANARY.
Thy tiny minstrel of the warbling throng, In plumage bright of glossy green and gold, Thou wast a thing of beauty to behold,
And cheery were thy gushing notes of song.
The fatal shaft of death was quickly sped, And thou, gay warbler, fell among the slain; In solemn silence hushed is thy glad strain;
On floor of cage thou liest still and dead.
The round of thy brief years of song is oer; Was it full of beauty, a joyous one? From grassy nest at morn, to greet the sun,
On buoyant wing with lark thou didst not soar;
Nor from the limb of apple-tree in bloom
Didst sing with mocking-bird, that all day long Doth revel in the opulence of song.
Lone Sybarite, mid blossoms and perfume.
Immured in cage that hung upon the wall. And left with gentle mate to sport at ease, In variant mood, as thee it might please.
With trills of song to fill chamber and hall.
Is it, that all that life should be to thee Thy brief career in fleeting bound of time?

3J4

POEMS.

Or dost thou pass into another clime To an immortal life of melody?
Dear Birdie, we bid thee a brief goodnight; If there is a land beautiful arid fair, To which the souls of good birdies repair,
Be thine that home of endless joy and light.

AN EPITHALAMIUM.
To MRS. MARY GREENE WILSON.
It was a pleasing myth of olden time As told in legendof the Wishing Gate,
That those who there breathed their desires in rhyme Would realize them in their book of fate.
Ai the portals of song would Love express. In the sweetest numbers the Muse can indite.
The fondest wishes for thy happiness. All radiant with hopes prophetic light-
As at hymeneal shrine thou didst stand, In the charm of beauteous womanhood,
Attired as virgin of the vestal band; In thought and grace pure as the frost that stood
In curdled beauty on Dianas fane, What heart did not wish the sorrows that rise
Might come on thee as fall in silver rain, To bless the earth, the clouds of April skies?
Thou now art wedded. An event that bears In its grasp an increase of joy or woe,
And gives each after scene the hues it wears. Now mingles its tide with thy lifes quiet flow.
With saddened spirit, thou must bid adieu To the loved home of thy childhood and youth,
Where as the violet, softly you grew In the bright mold of love, beauty and truth.
Thou must leave those who nursed thy tender bloom. And shielded thee from each envious blight;
The brothers whose mirth chased away thy gloom, The parents who cherished thee with delight;
Their sunny smiles, loving words, counsels sweet, And greetings to all thou must bid farewell.
To another home turn thitherward thy feet, Amid new scenes, with other friends to dwell.

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335

Let not grief heave thy breast with ceaseless swell And with incessant tears bedew thy cheek;
Nor anxious on the future brooding dwell, Thy destined career to know, vainly seek.
Thou hast one in-whom thou mayst confide; On whose bosom with trust thou mayst repose.
He will be to thee a true shield and guide, The willing sharer of lifes joys and woes.
In thine abode an altar and a shrine To Love, Religion, as Lares, erect;
On them libations pour and garlands twine, The circle of its bliss they will protect.
Then will peace and happiness, as the vine With its leaves thy dwelling overshadow,
And their roseate wreaths, there trailing twine, And thy home a mimic Eden will glow-

ADDRESS OF ST. VALENTINE To THE YOUNG MEN OF LINDEN.
Now soon the year will bring the time, When happy birdies pair and mate,
And youths and maidens should in rhyme, The feelings of their hearts relate-
Come then, ye votaries of love, Choose for that day a Valentine;
The passions which your bosoms move On snowy page in verse enshrine.
Let each indite a billet-doux On scroll from pictured store of mine,
Adorned with Cupid and his bow, And wreaths in which sweet roses twine.
Let F r as old "Bach" cease to pine And dream of Hymens blissful state;
And choose for life a Valentine To cheer with smiles his lonely fate.
Let H r choose a Valentine Nor think his day of grace is past;
There are those that in beauty shine Nor are so coy, as was the last.
Let M s, so gallant and gay, As blithely with pen as with tongue,

336

POEMS.

To some fair one sweet homage pay, But choose not one that is too young.
Let H s with heart of tender stuff, Who falls in love with each new face,
Learn one Valentine is-enough, And fix his heart in but one place.
Let W. S r from despair awake, Nor think his chance is so forlorn,
Since with all the pains he may take, But faint mustache his lip adorn.
Will not H n due homage yield, And choose fair one suited to his mind-
For toils and strifes of legal field, In wedded state, a solace find?
Let S y seek to twine his brow With wedlocks crown of glory;
If he remains as he is now, Time will make him a sad story.
Let T d now inscribe with pen, Verdict versus a single state;
And follow the suit of wise men, And take unto himself a mate.

I THIXK OF THEE.
THE SOLDIER TO His WIFE
(Sentiment.)
At morn, when awaked from slumbers sweet, By the jarring drums reveille beat, And the camps blithe scenes my vision greet.
I think of thee.
When in the marshalled ranks arrayed. With musket armed and glittering blade, I move to the drum with measured tread,
I think of thee.
When sheltered from the suns noontide glow Shining upon the parched plains below, In my tent reclined upon straw-couch low,
I think of thee
Oh! then that thou wert near me to beguile The weary hours with thy joyous smile, And sweet assurance receive the while
That I love thee-

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337

At twilights calm hour of thought and rest, When Vesper gleams from the glowing west, And from my tent-door seen its silver crest,
I think of thee.
When looking up to heavens blue dome, I trace the stars that gild my Southern home, And oer-the mind bright images come,
I think of thee.
When hushed the tattoos noisy peals, And oer the camp deep silence steals, And mine eyes sleeps soft signet seals,
I dream of thee.
When wrapt in sleeps bright fantasy In thy sweet presence I seem to be, And my heart thrills with ecstasy
As I dream of thee.
At morn, noon, eve, when my thoughts arise In prayer to the Ruler of the skies And faith kindles warm the sacrifice
I think of thee.
For thee I invoke the benison, That angel-bands thy steps environ, And on thee rest the dews of Zion;
Thus I pray for thee.

I THINK OF THEE.
A SOLDIER TO His WIFE. (Fact.)
[The war of 61 forms no pleasing subject of retrospection to the Southern mind. The incidents connected with it as embraced in the following poems may, however, serve to awaken reminiscences rather amusing than painful.]
At morn, when the drum beats reveille, And Sergeants bawl, "Fall in Company," And marred sleeps sweet tranquillity,
I think of thee.
As in "the line" I fall, stretch, and gape, And muse on the pleasant morning nap Broken by warm kiss or gentle tap,
I think of thee.
When I sit -down to my soldiers fare, And no bright face to the board repair, To serve up with taste, arrange with care,
I think of thee. 22sl

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POEMS.

When the tough unlarded bread I eat, And fancy beguiles with vision sweet Of fat biscuits, broiled fowl, juicy meat,
Then think I of thee.
When pants are rent and a buttons gone And ones to mend the other sew on 7 As with needle sharp I pierce the bone,
I think of thee.
When on straw-couch, I recline my head, And miss soft embrace of snowy bed By loving wife for spouse kindly spread,
I think of thee.
When yielding to sleeps opiate charm, Im elbou-ed by some messmates stalwart form, I sigh for thy soft entwining arm
I think of thee.

THE WAR OF 1861.
[The following poem was written in the fall of 61, during a cam paign in West Virginia- The fulfillment of the results of the war as depicted at that early stage gives the lines their interest-]
What a harvest of ill! what a harvest of woe! What a dreary harvest for man this war will sow! How many hearts will it cause to languish and pine, How many brows with dark cypress will entwine, How many hearthstones will it make desolate, How many forms don with weeds of widowhoods estate, How many fond dreams of happiness will it mar, Never more to be relumed by Hopes bright star.
War is an evil, the source of bitterest woe; What a harvest of ill for man grim war doth sow; The poet of its glories may proudly tell, As triumphs of heroes the chords of his lyre swell; It may be nobler in manhood in battle to fall, Than sink in peace under diseases ignoble pall, Yet war is an evil, the source of bitterest woe; What a dreary harvest for man grim war doth sow!
What a harvest unto death will this war lend, As fever, pain, and famine dire its steps attend, And human hate to its utmost spleen gives vent, Prepares each engine of destruction art can invent, And earth becomes like some grim idol of yore, With its altars heaped with slain, its lips smeared with gore-

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339

What a harvest of ill! what a harvest of woe! What a bloody harvest for man this war will sow.
What a harvest of legislators there will rise, Who will seem as Lycurgus learned, as Solon wise; Each has stood by his country in her hour of fate, As peace now smiles they should guifle the helm of state; Not of skill or talent will they boast or display, But the seamed scars of Manassas bloody day. What a harvest of ill! what a harvest of woe! What a dreary harvest for the world grim war doth sow.
What a harvest of paper, if not of gold. Will it sow for the minions who office will hold; Fraud, corruption, will batten in each cell, And leave of honor and honesty the empty shell; New gains the greedy capitalist will reap, As the distresses of the land but augment his heap, Now is the time the golden harvest to mow, When war its varied harvest doth sow.
And will it be the harvest of ill? Will not Thou, oh God, from it some blessing distil? Shall not there spring a more vigorous shoot Of human liberty the crown the fruit? Shall not the people subdued by the chastening rod, As a nation confess Thou alone art God? In Thy name find strength in Thy law find rest, In Thine approving smile alone supremely blest?

ROMANCE OF THE TIMES.
Novel-readers oft with regretful sigh Yearn for those by-gone days when chivalry Imbued each scene of life with sweet romance, And crowned the world with brightest radiance. As adventurous knights on prancing steeds, Theyd roam the world in quest of noble deeds, Or in baronial hall, in time of peace, Recline at Beautys feet, or sport at ease, As lady fair in the latticed bower, With the lutes soft notes beguiles the hour; Or on palfrey borne, with escort of page, Or gay esquire, in sylvan chase engage, And stir, with mingled note of hound and horn, The silver echoes of the mellow morn; Or when sports of a milder mood invite, The hooded falcon loose, and urge its flight On soaring wing, its quarry to pursue,

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POEMS.

And strike from airy height the wild curlew, Thus glory in action should be their theme, And love in time of leisure crown their dream.
Ahl well may these novel-fed minds exclaim, None now care for deeds of chivalric fame; Torns their bright tracery from lifes gay page By ruthless hand of a prosaic age. Gunpowder now with its villainous smell, The whistling shrapnel and loud-bursting shell, The Minie with its long dastardly range, In lusty feats of arms, have wrought a change, And left no scope for prowess to display In single combat or battle affray; Even hinds play not bout at quarter staff, But Colts revolvers,, now champions gaff, The world responds not now to any glow, Save that embraced in the phrase, cut bono? Measured is each deed in dollars and cents. Not as of old, by knightly recompense, The valiant arm, the spirit brave and bold, Now vilely strikes and toils for sordid goldThe price of cotton, the rents of the field, What profits each sphere of trade will yield, Are questions which alone mens minds engage In this strong utilitarian age. Calmly the eye each enterprise surveys, And estimates its glory by what it pays. Mans become a calculating machine, Strives tor fame in political chicane; Romantic passion is viewed as a dream, Or else becomes a mercenary scheme. O hapless fate, to novel-fed minds! They now must drudge in life as common hinds; Appollos sun-bright coursers of the air Debased, dray-cart to draw and yoke to bear.
Age of Chivalry! Blithe days of Romance! Of steel-clad warrior, conquering lance! Of gleaming casque and the emblazond shield Of warlike glory and the tilted field! Rich flowring time of gentle courtesiel Of brave exploit and graceful idlesse! Romantic days of love and glamouriel Of palmers tale and minstrels roundelay! A gorgeous pageant indeed was thine, If real thy glories as i" the past they shine! Who has not yielded in some joyful hour To thy siren spell, thy beguiling power, And with ravished fancy has traced the page

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341

Which tells the story of that golden age, When thy influence gently swayed mankind, Their souls exalted, their manners refined? How upon the vision swells the bright display That adorned the tournaments proud array, The open lists, the trumpets thrilling blast. The breathless silence, the warders baton cast, The rushing shock of mail-clad knight and steed, The loud acclaim that marked the noble deed, The victor-chaplet won from crowning hand, Of the chosen Queen, of bright Beautys band!
How often has the heart been made to glow With tale of knight captive to Paynim foe In the lar foreign land of Palestine, And as immured in prison cell to pine, He bids carrier dove his pledge to bear Of constancy and love to lady fair. How gorgeous the scenes that to fancy rise. Of Christian host beneath Syrian skies, In battles fierce array on burning sands, To win Holy Sepulcher from pagan hands. Now the battle rages, now its furys spent, Now triumphs the Cross and now the Crescent. How charms that myth of superstitions brain, That tells of blithe Titanias fairy train, As oft to the eye of the vulgar seen In mazy dance upon the starlit green; Now upon mortals sportive tricks to play, Now to glide upon the moons silver ray, Or upon eye of maiden flowr to press, Which love excites in the passionate breast. Delighted we read of merry Sherwood, The brave exploits achieved by Robin Hood, As he succors those whom foul wrongs oppress, Or bids some sleek friar his sins confess, And makes him with just desert to restore The unrighteous gains hed wrenched from the poor. Mail-clad knights, the tourneys martial array No more are seen; nor minstrels roundelay, Nor gray palmers story, nor loud -wassail, Now in banqueting hall the ear assail, Myths of the past, bold Robin and his men, No more the by-path or sequestered glen. Nor now in flower-cups do fairies dwell, Nor elfin tricks play, nor weave the love-spell. Set is the star that shone on Knighthoods breast; On times horizon neer will gleam its crest; The glory that encircled its gay plume Has faded foreer into oblivions gloom;

342

POEMS.

Oer the mingled scenes in lists and hall, Death has drawn foreer its enshrouding pall. But should we desire those days to return, As their scenes on fancy reflected burn? Knighthood with its vows erst blessd mankind As it with courtesy their souls refined; Yet cruelty oft its escutcheon stained, Nor always wrong redressed or right maintained. That faith which for the Cross drew shining blade And with hot zeal impelled to fierce Crusade, . Was with deep ignorance mixed and combined With grossest license in the chivalric mind. And rest on priestly absolution given The pardon of crime, the hope of heaven. The lordly castle, the antique tower, Were oft the strongholds of despots power; Nor should we regret that in ruins feen The ivy weaves oer them its mantle green.
Breathes the spell of chivalry and romance Alone around the shield, the casque and lance? The ancient coat of mail may rust in gloom And time its splendors tarnish or consume; The silver-crested shield and steel-ribbed casque Win only antiquary in his task; With these moldering relics of the dead, Should we presume chivalric spirit fled? What tho mankind may now their limbs enwrap In cloth of the fofest woof and silky nao. And Beebes moleskin famed of inky sheen Protects the head instead of steely screen; What tho for jeweld sword swung by the side, Ratan now adorns the hand with polishd pride; May not as manly spirit rule the breast As when Knighthood waved- its gorgeous crest? What tho the sipn-bonrd that hanar<; or the way May proudly on its white surface display The scissors chosen as his cognisance, The thimble his helmet needle his lance. For those weapons his ancestors did wield, In bloody strife on ancient Flodden field. Is Jamie Scott less versed in manly lore Than his ancestors were in days of yore? And should he not receive the sa^e esteem Though garments of men he may fitly seam ? They with the swords mens bodies hewd and rent, He in mens breeches only makes the stitch. Should not the world to Howard honor yield. Though he should ploughshare grasp for the shield, And daily earn the bread in sweat of brow

POEMS.

343

Which his high-born race won by spear and bow? Naught avails in this money-making age. To proudly boast of highest lineage; Let famed ancestral blood flow in full pride, Its pure current will no more good betide Than it were rnuddy stream from yon green moat, If you have no funds are not worth a groatWhy should not Romance in spirit still breathe And oer lifes living scenes its splendors wreathe? Do not love, joy, sorrow yet thrill the soul, In chequered scene meet on lifes shifting scroll? Do not the hours, with shuttle swiftly sped. In web of time still weave their chanceful thread? Does not nature her robe of beauty wear, Bloom not the flowers as serenely fair? Does not the sun its morning splendor shed. Wrap not as gorgeous hues its evening bed? Wears not night as radiant coronet As when Romeo wooed fair Juliet? Do not the stars from their blue sphere above As brightly beam p.nd whisper still of love. And still conspire to weave their mystic spell. Oer tryst of moustached gent and modern belle. Though plain saloon instead of greenwood tree Their unromantic trysting-place may be? Let romantic minds sigh for greenwood bower And starlit scene, as loves blissful place and hour. Oh! who would not with wiser taste prefer To breathe the whispered vow in Beautys ear, As she, bedecked -vith silks, jewels, and laces, And witchery of late Parisian graces, In gayly attired saloon reigns supreme. Whilst brightly from gilded buildings stream The silvery rays of light from kerosene. Or gas, beauty shedding of softest sheen? Then to know with papas will, your suit is paid Who has your prospects scannd your purse has weighd. Tf there is bliss in passion romance in love, Tis here the heart the ecstasy may prove. Then modern etiquette with prudish sense Deems the lonely tryst as a grave offense. But now theres not in love that hindrance That erst to it gave zest of sweet romance: To charm its course now runs with too smooth stream. Let him. who thus of modern courtship deem. From fashions dizzy heights, "The Upper-Ten," Some millionaires daughter attempt to win. Though wit, grace, moral worth their charms may lend, Unless Wall Street stocks may his suit commend, He seeks in vain to win as vainly far

344

POEMS.

To lead from its azure throne yon bright star. The course of love has not become so squared In modern age to prevent luck ill-starred, Nor high-born lady and love-smitten swain (n the past may of blighted hopes complain

Does not woman possess as glowing charms,

As when made the prize of passage-at-arms ?

Is she not still sweet volume of romance,

Which modern culture serves but to enhance?

Romantic is she and ever has been

In every phase of life and every scene.

Romantic as schoolgirl in white pinafore.

With lesson to con and text to explore.

Romantic is she, lovely to behold.

As she sports eyes of blue or curls of gold.

Romantic when with eyes and tresses bright,

That orb the shades and wear the hues of night.

Romantic is she when maiden in bowr

She love ditties sings to beguile the hour.

Romantic is she when seen at the bridal,

As she dwells in cot or reigns in proud hall.

Romantic when, with copy of herself,

She lends to time in merry little elf.

Romantic is she viewed as Egypts queen,

Or shepherdess in dance upon the green.

Romantic, when, with jewels and laces,

She adds to Beauty Parisian graces.

Romantic clad in serge or silken gown,

As sweet bonnie lass or belle of the town.

Romantic when in cottage or palace,

With loveliness wreathed or has a plain face.

Romantic when she spreads like a balloon,

Or with change of fashion wanes like the moon.

Romantic is she as widow in weeds,

When oer buried love her heart still bleeds.

Romantic is she in midst of housewifes cares,

And very useful when she food prepares.

Unromantic is she when she lists to assume,

Like Turk of the East, the Bloomer costume.

..

False Knight is^he, and recreant to love,

Who will not with honor her claims thus prove.



But there is no scope for her to display

The daring deed as sung in minstrel lay.

Like Joan dArc, deliverer of France,

Who bade warlike hosts to victry advance;

Or Penthesilea, Amazon queen.

Who girding on armor of glittering sheen,

And fiercely grasping dart and crescent shield,

Raged in fight around old Troys battle-field.

POEMS.

345

Is there no chance left in the present day For woman the part of heroine to display? Behold! brave Dickson, Gushing and Lucy Stone Leave not heroism to the past alone. Their souls with towering ambition disdain The servile pursuits of the common train. Let others choose to -fill homes quiet sphere, They will carve in life the lofty career, In broad arena the exploits achieve, Which for their brows fames green shamrock will weave; To win for their sex political franchise Is the cause that nerves them to high emprize. Armed with effronterys brazen coat of mail. No gazing throng their dauntless spirits quail. The shafts of ridicule, though sharp and fierce, Fail the weak points of their armor to pierce, Brandishing the tongue, the shrews potent lance, They undismayed to the combat advance. Religion, morals, their sex may oppose, They cower not to such pygmean foes, Nor mouth will they close, nor place tongue in rest, Until victory won shall their cause invest. No longer shall it be their menial fate To drudge for man in hymeneal stateFlorence Nightingale may in task delight In ministering to woe as angel of light, And Heaven on the deed benison pronounce. They do such drudgery forever renounce; For them the nobler task is assigned, To aid the world with potent strength of mind, To steer the oroud ship of State clear of rocks, And live to bless the world through ballot boxAh! to win womans favoring smile and glance, None now will couch the spear or shiver lance. And like mail-clad kinghts by brave actions prove Their rightful claim to womans heart and love. Sir Knight of Love now has a harder task Than to buckle on armor, sword or casque, And on listed field martial deed perform, As in his bosom glows love fierce and warm. See him Pegasus mount, that steed of yore, With ardent zeal the Muses haunts to explore. What curvetings of thought! what toil of brain! In the task he undergoes oft in vain That he may cull poetic tribute meet To lay in homage at fair ladys feetHow many times he the fierce gauntlet runs Of those pointed spears pesky tradesmens duns, That he may with fine suit his form encase

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POEMS.

And conquer his way to the loved ones grace. How many days of penance will he pass In arts of toilet, still before the glass, To give his well-oiled hair the graceful curl, And to moustache impart a fiercer twirl; To poise his cane, to tie on his cravat, . To languish his eye, tilt his glossy hat. That he may be with grace in motion blent, From boot to hat loves star of tournament. With what fervent warmth his devoirs he pays To the female throng, as on Sabbath days With stately bearing he treads the cjiurchs aisle And seeks to gain bright Beautys blissful smile; Or devoted escort will nightly go To rout, to plays, to ball or other show.
The present age no vestige may retain Of tournament sung in troubadours strain; It still exults in sports of noblest kind, In trials of wit, the contest of mind. See where yon Hall of Justice proudly stands. And to forensic strife its lists expands. Behold! the Knights of the Green Bag convene, All worshipful in wit, merit and mien: Some tall, some spare, and some as Falstaff round; Some lately dubbed in Law, young cavaliers, Who jostle bravely mong their fogy peers, And long for occasion them to afford A chance in suit "to flash their maiden sword." Full-armd with codes of Chitty and Blackftone, And weapons all to legal warfare known. See them in squads, or twos, parade the fcene. Incased in suits of cloth of glossy sheen. The voice of Sheriff rings upon the air. And bids champions for ,the lists preoare Those who wish in legal tilt ?pear to break. To come into court and their places take; Then strike on the ear with ominous sound. And fill with gaping awe the crowd around. Rustling of papers, clattering of tongues, The opning of books and clearing of lungs, A pause for Judge as warder to decide The champions to plead case to be tried. Now their devoirs as knights of old they pay, >Tot to ranks of beauty in proud array, Unless Astra^a is deemed to preside Oer thp =cene. in crave Jud^e nersonified ; For smiles of the fair, "fat fees" ?s their meed Inspire them to perform the doughty deed. The signal given the onset is begun

POEMS.

347

Each champion gauntlet alternate run. The trenchant argument they briskly wield, The weaker points now with sophistry shield. Now with well-couched law they seek foe to press, And now they turn his Honor to address; Now they scan their clients up-peering face. And then return with fresh zeal to the case; Now they swell their voice to loudest strain, To give antagonist the coup de main; Until from sheer exhaustion forced to yield, To Judge and -Jury they leave the field. O Greece! it mayve been glorious to see In gymnastic games thy brave Athletse, With muscular limbs and deftly trained hands, Contend for the palm on Olympic sands. O Chivalry! it may have thrilled to behold Thy knights in armor all-gleaming with gold, On careering steeds to combat advance, And in the fierce joust shiver the strong lance. How nobler are the feats of mental might, With which this seen of mind greets the sight, When stately Chappell. as armed cap-a-pie In all of Laws defensive panoply, Is seen to cope in legal strife with foe, With logics strong mace deal gigantic blow, Or on imaginations wing career. And sweep in gallant tilt forensic sphere. Or when Walter T. Colquitt the field of deba:e essays, And potent skill in argument displays. Or with humor blithe, or sarcastic tongue, Excites at will, to mirth the listening throng. If with the past not worthy to enroll There are in these feats the thought to console, No stout limbs are cloven, no skulls are crashed Though justice may be stayed, indictments squashed; No blood is spilt, no bodies hewed and blent, Though well-lined purses oft with gaos are rent; At close when Sheriff makes the roll-call, It is found theres only been after all. A ranting of voices, a clashing of tongues, A grating of ears, a puffing of lungs.
Nor chivalric displays in lists of mind To Knights of the Legal Craft are confind. There are those to which other ranks belong, Whose doughty fears attract the poets song. Lo! at the wave of fancys magic wand, Behold uprise the Editorial band: Knights of the Pen, cavaliers of the Press, Pledgd truth to defend, error to redress.

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POEMS.

By party pride or rancor often swayd,

Sec them the public arena invade.

Many-handed as giant Briareus,

Their weapons of warfare are various;

Argument, gasconade, slang, fierce abuse,

They in political tilt freely use.

f

Self-dubbd, oh! how these knights of the Pen

-

Rush with hot haste into the wordy din.

They speak oracular as Pagan god,

As they mount editorial tripod.

Each rank asserts they only can devise

.- -

Those public measures equal, just, and wise,

Which will alone secure the nations weal,

And all moral and social evils heal.

True sentinels they boast themselves to be

That stand on watch-tower of Liberty,

And with prescient wisdom can descry

Each dim portent of political sky.



Should the nation heed their voice as they rave,

Tho Rome the cackling of.geese once did save?

Their wordy conflicts oft exemplify

That tale of olden days of chivalry,

Of the Knights who of shield they might behold,

One vowed it was silver, the other gold;

Each with pride their opinion to maintain.

In battle fought until they both were slain:

Their lives in foolish combat they did risk

The shield possessed both gold and silver disk.

The strifes of tongues do not like those of yore

With corses heap the field, or stain with srore-

.*

When many miles divide the warring twain,

Harmless must fall the pellets of their brain,

Nor leave any trace of batterd eye

Save that of argument knocked up in pi.

Oh! that this was the only record made

:

Of the strifes in which the Press are arrayd.

Alas! this land has sad lesson to teach

Of the wild and uncurbd license of speech.

Behold! yon Temple, that in grandeur shone,

Its pillars rent, its pristine beauty gone;

Tho lit up with glorys lingering smile,

It wears but semblance of its once proud pile.

Who like Erostratus. with direful hand

Cast into this temple the flaming brand?

Who with the bitter, burning speech of tongue

:

Inflamd the South with maddend sense of wrong,

And urgd the North with conscious might of force

To press to bloodshed its fanatic course?



And between those wrought internecine strife,



Who from same dug drew Freedoms breath of life,

POEMS.

349

And same childhood of a glorious past, Its golden links of union strong had cast. The Press the imputation may disclaim, Fills it not Erostratus niche in fame? Thou wild, unrestraind license of the Press! The boast of this age of Freedoms progress! The South, at least, has bitter cause to rue The doom thy frenzy wild upon her drew; Which placed her neck beneath the foot of foe Whose cruel spleen knows naught of pitys glow. Oh! how its minions as hyenas rave Oer South entombd in political grave; Or vilely rend her body as it lies, Lest from death-slumber the giant should rise. As smitten in the greenness of her years, Who sheds not for the South woes deepest tears? What foe but one oer her disgrace and fall Would not draw memorys forgetful pall ? Oh! my country! upon thy night of gloom Arise there no star of hope to illume? He would now thy name in song embalm, And wreathe thy brow with honors fadeless palm, As he thy horoscope of fate would turn, Thy ashes deem with phenix life to burn. Oh! Freedom, diademd with thirteen stars, Come thou as erst, to break her prison bars; Stay thou with the grasp of thine iron hand The fury of the legislative band, That in puissant might of conqueror Oer prostrate South holds the rod of terror. Ye Knighthood of the Press! the pen you sway, May to that joyful era carve the way; 'Tis mightier than sword warriors wield, And vainly error will oppose his shield, If truth, and reason calm, its strokes shall guide, And courtly grace shall oer the Press preside. Scourge from the ranks the politicians hacks, The tools of power, the slaves of greenbacks; The bright spurs of honor, hew from their heel, And let them the base doom of minions feel.
Where are the stars, plumes, titles, might one say, That marked with splendor chivalrys array? This land for civil equality renownd With these features of pageantry is crownd. The present een in its heraldic dowr Vies with the past in its full pride and powr. Not by hereditary right restraind, Nor rarely by plebeian merit obtaind, Titles in thick profusion bestud the land

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POEMS.

Like stars. Milky Way or Orions bandEach aspirant may a title possess To swell his merit, adorn his address. Can you in art fiddle-bow deftly use, Or with sleight-of-hand show the crowd amuse, With Professor, title of classic grace, You may your name pompously prefaceShould you choose military epithet, Tho you may have nes-er worn epaulette, You may Captain dub yourself, or Colonel, With its stiff, formal, curt, abrasive swell. In this land which holds men equal and free, This penchant prevails to that degree, In vagaries of modern etiquette, Lawyers are dubbed with soldiers sobriquet; Tho theyve not fought on field1; with carnage rife Nor serried ranks led to deadly strife, Their waving plume in the var flashing far, Mid storm of battle, glorys guiding star, Naught of conflict have they seen save debate, Why then thus titled it is hard to state, Unless perchance they use their tongues so well, For preeminence they are called Colonel.
Nor scan we this enlightend age in vain, For arts of glamour, superstitions train, Which romantic minds fondly deem to cast Enamoring spell oer the gloaming past. They who practise them, chill not with terror As Macbeths queen or the Witch of Endor; Or ride as others on broomsticks i" the air, Or with necromantic art charms prepare, Or curse pronounce, that like dark ban of fate Wither souls and bodies of those they hate. No ! rap! rap ! rap! on table, floor or wall Lo! the spirits throng tis their signal call, And medium, as Mercurys gloomy wand, From realms unseen evokes the ghostly band. But they weave not their spells of witchery, Through aid of cloven-footed Majesty. As Morses wires they but conquer time and space, Features of absent friends discern and trace, Or kindly converse hold with spirit-band, And messages transmit from unseen land. Though revelations they make, full of awe, Still not obnoxious to old witches law. Yet in those days of New Englands rigor, Theyd not have escaped its code of terror, Nor medium deemd mere automaton, That moves only as it is moved upon.

POEMS.

351

In sports of archery upon the green. The lusty yeomanry not now are seen. Who boasted in the quiver which they wore Twelve Scotsmens lives they at their girdle bore; Yet none may find lack of sports in this, age Worthy the manly spirit to engage. Mount thy steed snorting in his mettled pride, With faithful rifle girded to thy side. And the tangled lasso with its airy throw, And subtle coil, lashed to thy saddle bow, Seek the West, where prairies spread to the eye With boundless sweep, neath cerulean sky, And opens theater, beautiful and grand, As eer to daring spirits did expand. Hark! what sound like deep thunders distant roll, Strikes upon the ear, and startles the soul? On nearer it comes, and with trembling dread The ground shakes as to earthquakes rocking tread. Behold! the buffalo sweep oer the plain In surging tide, like billows of the main. Seek you now in fierce combat to engage The ponderous brutes whose eyes flash with rage, Look well to yourself look well to your steed, Oi nerve and thought youll stand in utmost need. Does the heart burn in gallant strife to cope With human foe here too lies ample scopeSee yon mounted troop that dots the far plain, Prairies wild cavaliers, its roving train, Trimmd in wars grim and fantastic array, On they come bearing down upon their prey With circling swoop and speed as bird on wing, To engird their foe with the hostile ring. He who meets in conflict the fierce Comanche Will surely need utmost skill, courage stanch. Tho the age only to those schemes responds Which promise an increase of lands or bonds, Yet it can boast of deeds of daring done, Which for the actors brightest fame have won. None nobler wrought than upon oceans realm By those who spread the sail or steer the helm As they braved the storm, drifted to the breeze, In torrid clime or the Souths milder seas, Or ventured the "Northwest Passage" to find, They have displayd still, the heroic mind. See Kane as he feels sympathetic glow To relieve the pangs of anothers woe. Or his bosom burns with heroism fraught, Or glows with spark from science altar caught, Resolve, the perilous task to assume

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To pierce Hyperborean tracts of gloom. And happily burst the adamantine zone Which nature round Arctic seas has thrown. See him undismayd his course still pursue Though the scenes that successive to view Grim as Alps wild wastes of glaciers expand, And dangers dire gird him on every hand. Now drifting icebergs anon loom to sight Bearing down with their dread and noiseless might, A slowly-moving fleet whose battle brunt No- iron-clad navy of earth might confront.
Now locked in fast embrace of icy plains
Whilst oer the scene darkness terrific reigns; Now booming crash of the loud-bursting floe Appals the soul as oceans knell of woe. Whilst Northern lights flashing in splendor wild, Reveals masses of ice in ruins piled; Nor ceases he, until toil and danger past, His weary ships their joyful anchors cast, And triumphant float on that placid sea, The farthest bound of Arctic mystery. Let days of ancient fable loudly boast Of Argo, that sailed from Thessalys coast, By Jason led, with chivalry of Greece Oer the Euxine in quest of Golden Fleece, As gleaming in traditions twilight haze Glory may invest it with lustrous rays. Let Medieval age proudly tell Of him whose genius burst the mystic spell Which superstition had for ages placed, And girded the Atlantics stormy waste; Undaunted by dangers that loomd to view, The storm-tossd billows and mutinous crew, He onward pressed till a new world arose And oer the eyes its rapt enchantment throws. Let Fame list the Genoese thus to enroll Highest upon its illustrious scroll, Who thus fulfilled the dream of ancient sage Whose prophetic ken foresaw in coming age Ocean would unloose to man its secret bands And disclose to his wondring gaze new lands. Upon loftiest arch of its proud fane Glory still may carve the exploit of Kane.
Still nobler lists in lifes brave tournament The busy scenes of this stirring age present; Nobler than from chivalric days portrayd; In them gallant spirits are now arrayd; No brazen trumpets their entre proclaim. No herald recounts their virtues and fame,

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No gazing throng with loud plaudits approve Their deeds of daring, their kind works of love, Save those to Faiths mystic eye is given In "cloud of witnesses" that lean from Heavn; No chaplet is wreathd to reward their strife, . Except that hope awaits in crown of life. Silent, untiring, their course they pursue, The good of man, glory of God in view. The worlds benefactors, they humbly strive To bless with good the age in which they live. Brave Templars, knighted at "science" altar, Who girded with Truths flaming scirnetar, Have gone forth, resolved the work to pursue, With toil of mind Natures realms to subdue, Until each element as vassal meet, Shall pour its hidden blessings at mans feet True Knights of the Cross, valiant and bold, In panoply wrought in Heavens own mold, With Faith as their shield word of God their lance. With the banner of Christ as they advance, Their bosoms burn with zeal to overthrow The dark hosts of Hell mans myriad foe. On, on speed ye, as dread angels of light, To chase from the world the demons of night. How vain that dreaming spirits then should yearn For by-gone days of chivalry to return. This age now so rife with thrilling events, Still to heroic minds the chance presents, To win for itself honor and renown Far brighter than the tourneys fading crown. It was the custom erst of ancient knight, As host to perform the courteous rite When those whom he had feasted in hall Bid adieu, for the stirrup-cup to call, And, as it was placed to the lips of guest, The benison of his journey express. Now for each of those, whom in the Muses bowWe have sought to regale for one brief hour, As we have evoked before them to pass, In dim reflection from weirds fancy glass, The picturd scenes of chivalric arena In bright and varied panorama, We would for them joyous blessing bespeak, As we call for cup foaming to the beak. Kind Reader! that thou mayst thy path adorn, As belted knight of the Cross be thou sworn; With its weapons divine engird thy soul, Then with honor wilt thou come to lifes goal, And when Death, dread herald, on thee shall call 23sl

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POEMS.

To hang up thy arms in his silent hall,

Pavilioned in lifes lists as a conqueror,

The summons will not be doom of terror,

But only translate thee to God above,

;

To receive crown of life, thy meed of love.

TRANSLATIONS.

THE DYING FLOWER.
(Translation from the German of Freidrich Ruckert)
[This poem consists of a dialogue between the poet or some other person and a dying flower, in which at first the repinings of the latter at her cruel fate, which would presently doom her to an nihilation, and at last her resignation and grateful ac knowledgment of all she had received from the great Source of terrestrial light and life, are most beautifully delineatedRuckert has justly acquired a very high reputation as a lyric poet, and this piece may serve as a pretty fair specimen of his style and genius.]

Hope! thou wilt yet survive to see Spring come to gladden hill and vale.
Is there not hope to every tree Stripped of its leaves by autumns gale?
They hope through winters dreary reign In the calm vigor of their gems,
Until their sap flows up again, And a new verdure crowns their stems.

Alas! I am no tree that grows

;

And lives a thousand summers through;

When broken its dream of repose,

A vernal poem weaves anew.

Alas! I am only a flower,

1

By kiss of May waked into bloom,

Of which no trace is left the hour

It falls into its snow-dug tomb.

Since thou art only a flower, Comfort thyself, O modest mind.
Is there not a full rich dower Of seeds that bloom to thef assigned?
Never mind if the storm of death Thy life-dust now shall widely strew;

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355

Thou wilt from that dust as life-breath Thyself a hundred times renew-

Yes, other flowers like to me, Will come to deck the vernal scene;
It is the One doth cease to be, The race remains forever green.
If to them I my being give, Then I exist myself no more;
Now only do I really live, Not after this, nor heretofore.

Though the suns bright glance did warm me And through me flashes yet its light;
It soothes not still my destiny, Which dooms me to deaths dismal night.
Yes, O Sun, in my crimson pride Thou didst view me with ogling look;
Why from the clouds thou dost deride, And thy cold scorn I now must brook?

Woe is me that I did rely On thee, when wakend by thy ray;
That I looked in thy burning eye, Since thou didst steal my life away.
I will myself in self enwrap, And fold my petals oer my heart,
Nor to thy pity leave this scrap Of fading life, but hence depart.

Thou wilt melt with thy fervid beam

The ice of my rage into tears;

Take my life, fleeting as a dream,

To dwell amid the upper spheres.

Yes, from out my soul thou wilt sun

My grief, and teach me to forget.

For all this for me thou hast done,

:

Now dying, I would thank thee yet;

For breezes, which at morn did rise And through the summer fanned my cheek;
For flights of all the butterflies On gay wing floating, did me seek;
For eyes which did my tints admire, For hearts which my odors drank,
For fragrant lips and rich attire; For all this, thee to-day I thank

In thy wide realm it was my doom To be an ornament obscure,

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POEMS.

As placed in the broadrfield to bloom Like star upon the Higher floor.
One more breath still before I die; It shall be without sigh or pain;
One more glance to Heaven on high, One more to the bright world again.

O Sun! from thee I being drew,

Receive now my expiring breath,

O Heaven! stretch thy tent of blue,

My faded one sinks now in death.

O Spring! blessed be thy joyous light!



O Breeze! blessd be thy morning strain!

I sink! I sink! In deaths dark night,

Without the hope to rise again.

MIGNON. A SONG. (Translation from the German of Goethe.) [Mignoh is one of the most interesting characters in Goetht Wilhelm Meister. In her earliest childhood she was secretly car ried off from her home in Italy by a company of strolling jugglers and trained to perfprm feats on the rope, etc- Meister, who one day happened to witness -the performance of this troupe, during which the child was unmercifully abused, obtained possession of her and became her protector. One morning he was surprised to find her before his door singing the following song to a cithern which accidentally had fallen into her hands- On finishing her song for the second time, she stood silent for a moment, looked keenly at Wilhelm, and asked him: "Knowst thou the land?" "It must be Italy, said Wilhelm (the history of the child was as yet a mystery to him). Where didst thou get the little song?" "Italy," said Mignon with an earnest air. "If you go to Italy, take me along with thee, for I am too cold here." "Hast thou been there already, little dear?" said Wilhelm- But the child was silent, and nothing more could be got out of her.] Knowst thou the land where the citrons bloom, And golden fruits shine through the dusky gloom? Where the wind from the blue sky softly blows And the proud laurel with the myrtle grows? Knowst thou it? O, my friend, there! oh, there! I now would go with thee, nor linger here.
Knowst thou the house with its stately halls Adorned with pictures hung upon the walls?

357
The marble statues seem to look at me, And ask, "Poor child," what have they done to thee?" Knowst thou it? O beloved one, there! oh, there! I now would go with thee -nor linger here-
Knowst thou the mountain with mist-crownd road, Along which plods the mule with weary load? In caverns where the dragons rear their brood, And torrent oer cliff pours its leaping floodKnowst thou it? O my Father, there! oh, there! I now would go with thee, nor linger here.

MY FATHERLAND.

(Translation from the. German of Carl Theodore Korner.)

[The author of this spirited poem could wield the sword and touch the lyre equally well. He took an active part in the wars against Napoleon, and was once severely wounded, and finally, when yet a young man, lost his life in the cause of his Fatherland. Many of his best lyrical productions are patriotic or martial, all of them breathing the same enthusiastic love for freedom and his country.]
Where is the minstrels Fatherland? Where sparks of noble spirits flew, Where crowns for the beautiful grew, Where stout hearts- for all that is true Enkindled as a flaming brand,
There was my Fatherland!.

How called the minstrels Fatherland? It weeps now oer its brave sons slain, It weeps now under strangers reign; Once "land of Oaks," in heralds strain, The free land, the German land!
So was called my Fatherland! :

Why weeps the minstrels Fatherland?

That before tempest of tyrant proud,

With cringing knee, its princes bowed,

{

And broke each sacred promise vowed,

And its cries no hearing command-

Therefore weeps my Fatherland!



Whom calls the minstrels Fatherland ? It calls on the mute Gods alone In desperations thunder tone,

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PoEJfS.

On freedom, each patriot son, On retributions vengeful hand. On them calls my Fatherland!

What would the minstrels Fatherland?

It would crush out the servile train,

;.

The bloodhound chase from its domain,

And make its free sons free again,

Or bed them free beneath the sand.

That would my Fatherland!

And hopes the minstrels Fatherland?

Upon its just cause it relies,

It hopes its people will arise,

.

It hopes for vengeance of the skies

Dispensed by the Almighty Hand,

For this hopes my Fatherland!

THE MINSTRELS CURSE.
A BALLAD.
(From the German of Ludwig Uhland.)
There stood in olden time a castle high and grand, It shone afar to the blue sea that rimmed the land; Around it was a wreath of blooming gardens gay, Where fountains in rainbow splendor cast up their spray.
There sat a monarch rich in lands and honors proud; He sat upon a throne with mien like wrathful cloud; Terror was his thought, and rage the glance of his eye: A scourge each word, each stroke of his pen doomed to die.
Once to this castle went a noble singing-pair; The one with golden locks, the other gray of hair; The elder with harp, rode on a nimble steed, Whilst his companion strode along with youthful-speed.
The sire to the younger said: "Be prepared, my son;" Think of your deepest lays, stir up each fullest tone, Call up the strains of joy or woe that deeply thrill; The stony heart of the king must yield to our skill."
They stood within the hall that rose with pillared pride; On a throne sat the king with the queen by his side; The king in fearful splendor as red northern light, The queen sweet and mild as appears full moon at night.
The gray-haired struck his harp and as its chords resound On the ear in rich, deep volume of tinkling sound;

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359

Like muffled tones of spirit-chorus flowed his song, And mingled with the voice of the youth clear and strong.
They sang of spring and love, and of the golden time Of freedom, valor, truth, and life unstained with crime; They sang of hopes and dreams that thrill the hearts of men, And virtues that excite honors bright crown to win.
The courtly throne in ecstasy bowed to God, Forgotten their scorn and fear of the tyrants rod; The queen, as sadness and pleasure her bosom fill, Threw down a rose, as reward of the minstrels skill.
The king, when he beheld the minstrels songs subdue His court and queen, in angry mood the youth he slew; From whose breast pierced with sword instead of dulcet strains Of song, gushed forth the purple current of his veins.
The listening throng scattered, as dust before the blast; The master, when in his arms the youth breathed his last, Placed him erect in mantle wrapped upon his steed, Then from the castle went with sorrow-laden speed-
The gray-haired minstrel paused before the lofty door, He grasped his harp, most prized of all his earthly store, And dashed against the marble column it he broke. Whilst garden and hall rang with the dread words he spoke.
"Woe to thee, proud Hall! never more may the sweet strain Of music or song through thy chambers resound again; But only sighs, and groans, and steps of timid slave, Until Fate shall crush thee to decays mouldring grave.
Woe to ye, gardens! that now bloom in Mays sweet light, I will show to you the death thy beauty will blight; That ye may wither, as you behold your fountains dry, And ye in future days, sin-cursed, desolate lie.
Woe, thou tyrant! cursed by all of the minstrel name, In vain shalt thou strive for wreaths of bloody fame; Thy name forgotten, to oblivion consigned, Be like a dying groan lost on the passing wind-"
The gray-haired minstrel cried and just Heaven did hear, The castle walls are lying low, in ruins drear; One column stands as vestige of its vanished glory; It now rent, will soon cease to tell the sad story.
Where stood the blooming gardens is now heather land; No tree or fountain decks the barren waste of sand ; No song or hero-book tells the name of the king; Such fearful doom did the curse of the minstrel bring.

360

POEMS.

THE SHEPHERDS HYMN
(From the German of Ludwig Uhland.)
It is the Sabbath of the Lord, I am alone upon the wide plain.
One morning-bell more strikes its chord, Then far and near doth stillness reign.
I bow the knee in fervent prayer, O dread and rapture that I feel!.
There is no voice upon the air, Yet with a throng unseen I kneel.
The sky spreads out serene and clear, And holds with earth such sweet accord,
It seems that Heaven opens near, It is the Sabbath of the Lord.

T

FAREWELL TO LIFE.

"*

SONNET.

(From the German of Theodore Korner-)

fWhen severely wounded, lying in a forest, helpless and in ex pectation of death.]
The wounds burn; the lips tremble white in death I feel, as the pulse of life feebly plays, Here I stand on the margin of my days;
God, as thou willstl To thee give I my breath.



To me in life what golden visions came;

How changed the dream into a death-lament;

Courage! Courage! What here I loved intent,

Must yonder surely live with me the sane-



And_ that I sacred held, as from above, Which did my soul to youthful ardor move, Whether it is called Liberty or Love.

Before me stands bright seraph from the sky,

As now my senses, slowly fading, die;

One breath wafts me to rosy morn on high.

.

POEMS.

361

THE INVISIBLE ONE.
(From the German of Ludwig Uhland.)
Thou whom we seek on mystic paths to trace, Whom our searching thoughts fail to comprehend, Thou from thy holy seat didst once descend
To earth, to meet thy people face to face.
What bliss, thine image to stamp on ones mind. And hear the words of thy lips flow so sweet I O happy they who sat with thee at meat!
O happy he who on thy breast reclined!
It was no strange desire, as told in tale, When thousands of pilgrims from land set sail, And fought on foreign shore, clad in mail, That at the tomb where once thy body lay, With deep devotion they might bow and pray, And where trod thy feet kiss the holy clay.

THE RESURRECTION. (From the German of Novalis.) Among: a thousand hours in life, That I have found with pleasure nfe, But one to me did true abide; One that, amid a thousand throes To me in heart, it did disclose Who it was that for us hath died. My world to me was desolate, As if by a worm perforate; The bud and blossom withered were, My whole of life in this you have; My wishes all were in the grave, And to my grief, I still was here. Thereupon, I in secret pined, And ever wept the way to find; Did but from fright and fancy stay. But suddenly,, as from on high, The stone that on the grave did lie, By hand unseen was rolled away. Whom I saw, and what he did grasp In his hand, let none seek to ask,

362

POEMS.

I grew immortal, this but seen. Of all the hours in lifes brief round, Will but that one, as does my wound,
Remain ever clear and serene.

THE TRAMP. Outcast! the world calls him a tramp;
All alone, the man stands there; The night is stormy, chill and damp;
Sad his heart, and lone and drear. In loving sympathy each star
Calls to him, each flower near; "Look not sorrowing off afar;
Us, O man, dost thou hear?" He bows in spirit, soft and low,
Earth and heaven on him press; In tears that warm and gushing flow,
Love relieves his deep distress.. Now the north wind lays waste the green,
And the flowrets fade to dust; The staff on which he is wont to lean
In the earth he plants with trust. Beneath the starry host he stands
And looks up with hope renewed; The tender flower now expands
From the staff of sterile wood. Those who had his companions been,
Flee from him in his distress; To share his troubles none are seen;
Age on him like ice doth press. In restless mood he seeks the hold
Where stood once his cradle sweet; To him the place is strange and cold,
None extend the hand to greet. Now with confiding trust, once more
He looks up to _starlit sphere; "My youth," he cried, "comes not as yore,
Complete is my career. "Much does grim time dissolve to dust;
Not all hopes of earthly mold;

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363

There is One I believe and trust. Him unseen the stars behold."
"Believe can I, can trust, can hope; In darkness the light I greet;
And I see heaven then to ope, When my heart shall cease to beat."

THE YOUTH.

AN ODE.

(From the German of Klopstock.)

[The month of May is personified by a young man, as represent ative of the springtime of life.]

With mute glance, May saw in the silver brook, Mirrored his wreath-encircled, waving lock; Like the east ruddy was his crown the while; He beheld himself, and did softly smile.

The storm raged, and the mountain echoes wake; The ash, the fir, the oak, now bend and break; With the cliff from the mountains trembling head, The maple from its lofty height is sped.

May tranquil, now by the brook falls asleep, And lets the thunderstorm rage loud and deep; There he lurked and slept, by the blossoms fanned, And woke when Hesperus rose oer the land.

O Youth! naught has thou felt of misery.

"

Like the Graces life now smiles upon thee.

Up and equip; with wisdom be arrayed,

For soon to thee, soon the flower will fade.

THE TWO MUSES. AN ODE.
(From the German of Klopstock.) I saw, O tell me, saw I what yet shall happn? Did I descry the future? With Britannias Saw I in rival match Deutschlands Muse Fly eager to the crowning goal. The two goals bordered far as glanced the eye Along the listed field. The forest oak Shaded the one; near to the other goal Palm trees rustled in the evening twilight. She from Albion, inured to the race, Proudly entered the lists, just as she came,

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POEMS.,

When erewhile she met on hot arena Maeonian muse, or her from the Capitol.*
She saw the youthful, trembling champion; Still this one trembled, valorous and strong; Worthy to conquer; crimson overspread Her burning cheek; and waved her golden hair.
Already she in wildly throbbing breast Held tight her breath, and leaned forward intent Upon the goal; already the herald raised The trumpet, and her eyes swam with delight
Proud of her daring, prouder-of herself, The lofty Britoness with sharp look scanned Thyself, Thuiskouet: "Yes, near the Bard, I grew up with thee in the grove of oak."
"The rumor came to me thou wert no more; Forgive, O Muse, when thou art immortal; Forgive, that I learned it not until now; Still at the goal only will I learn it.
"There it stands. Seest thou the farther one, And its crown also. The serene courage, The proud silence, the glance which fiery . Casts itself to the earth, I know them.
"Still weigh this danger to thee yet once more Before the herald sounds. Did not I run The course with the one from Thermopylae ?t And -with the grand one from the Seven Hills ?"t
She spoke. The stern, decisive moment came, The herald drawing nearer. "I love thee!" With flaming look Teutona_ quickly spoke. "I love thee, Britoness, with admiration
"Still not warmer than immortality And yonder palms; if thy genius prompts it, Touch them before me; if thou seizest them, I will then seize at once the crown also-
"How I tremble I O immortality! Perchance I first shall reach the lofty goal;
*Maeonia was one of the countries which claimed to be the birth place of Homer t. ., the Roman.
tThuiskoue, Teutona, appellations of the German muse. tCircumlocution for the Grecian and Roman muses.

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365

Then, O then, mayest them with fervid breath, Breathe upon my loosely-streaming tresses." The herald sounds. They fly with eagle speed The wide career smoked up like clouds. I saw; past the oak billowed were they In distant dust, and then were lost to sight.

EARLY POEMS.
ADDRESS OF MAY-DAY QUEEN. This crown, rich with odorous gems of Spring, I receive from you, loves pure offering; And tribute to me, chosen Queen of May, From sister flowers on this festal day. With grace and pleasure more, it shall be worn, Than jeweled crown that monarchs brow adorn. To all we now our sovereign will proclaim, An edict issue in our royal name, That our subjects now shall all unite To celebrate this day with joyous rite. Let not discord with her hideous mien, Cast a shadow upon the festal scene; Let not sorrow come with its gloomy trace To darken the soul and make sad the face; But over all let mirth now reign supreme, And life this May-day be one rosy dream. Dear Friends: Well may we with rejoicing greet the day That ushers in the smiling month of May; It heralds to earth the reign of the flowers, That came to gladden this dark world of ours. "How bright the mission they fulfill to earth: They praise the Great Being that gave them birth; Lessons of meekness and love they impart And whisper of hope to the desolate heart; In the chamber of sorrow they appear,
Their leaves impearled with affections warm tear; They hush the sad moaning and pain And restore to the cheek its bright blush again." Dear S. S. Sisters: We, too, may be flowers 5n human life, Relieving its woes and calming its strife. Our claim to be such we shall rightly prove By deeds of kindness and sweet words of love, And thus in our office as sister, friend,

366

POEMS.

To life a gracious charm we shall eer lend. Thus may each one blossom in earths Springtime And when removed to Heavens stormless clime, "May you flower afresh like Aarons rod That bloomed and budded in the sight of God."

THE ADDRESS OF FLORA OF A MAY-DAY CELEBRATION.
AT AN EXAMINATION IN THE SCHOOL IN WHICH SHE WAS A PUPIL.

Erst awhile we met in sylvan bower, To greet with festive rite and joyous strain
The month that breaks winters spell and power, And ushers in Springs soft and balmy reign;
To deck with wreath and crown with garland green, As Flora and her train bright homage pay
To the fair Myth the "rosy-footed" Queen Who presides over the sunny hours of May.

Now, to no such rites we your thoughts demand;

Mays bright scepter glowing June has taken;

:

Vanished are Flora and her fairy band

Till Spring the fair flowers shall waken.

To-day, we meet neath Science honored shrine,

To-day, its graver rites our service claim;

Oh! tis Science that gives man art divine,

The guerdon of power the wreath of fame.

Ever at its altar should woman stand, And there libations pour and garlands twine,
With the ceaseless zeal of the virgin band That watched oer ancient Vestas sacred shrine.
On womans sphere it shed its cheering ray, As winters fetters in the vernal light,
The bondage of ages melted away Which made her life, her existence, a blight

The "Rose," the "Lily," and their sister band, In mingled beauty, here will softly glow,
But not to tell how at Springs command, Their germs they shoot, and their bright blossoms blow.
No! erst they lisped the language of flowers; To-day they the fruits of science hither bear
And blossoms of knowledge, through vernal hours That they have been gathring with toil and care.

Ah! is it wearisome a senseless show

Quite a trying ordeal to go through,

:

POEMS.

367

To see girls skill in numbers deftly show, To listen to them decline I or you,
Tell where rivers run. islands stud the deep, Or that the world is round, is^proven true?
In this summertime, to inspire sleep, The gods could not distil a heavier dew.

LINES.

To ONE WHO SAID: "THERE Is No LOVE SAVE IN HOMB AFFECTIONS."

Say you no love the human heart to sway But that oer "home affections" sheds its ray, And a poets dream, arid a fiction gay,
Is the passion called Love?

What language may the heart more fitly frame For that passion which, as an electric flame, Thrills from the eyes and makes two hearts the same,
Than that of Love?

When in mutual bosoms a feeling glows, That bliss through evry emotion pours, And sweet enchantment oer the being throws,
Would you not call this Love?

The spirit which young ambition arrays



In glorys lists, and to gain the loved ones praise

Excites to win the laurel, the scholars bays,

Is not this inspiration Love?

When dealh bereaves fond lovers of their mate, Feelings oi joy no more their hearts elate, But they sink beneath this dire stroke of fate,
Is not this devotion Love?

The fervent wish will eer arise for thee,

That when you learn, it may eer sweetly be

Of the fond bliss, and not the misery,

|

Of the passion called Love-

|

May it be with you at the marriage shrine, And with flowers the sacred bands entwine, And aye give to thee the raptures divine
Of the brightest glow of Love.

And when life has run its golden round, , And thy fair form shall sleep beneath the ground, Mayst thou with the love of Him be crowned,
Who all in all is Love.

368

POEMS.

AN ACROSTIC.
As the flower that opens serenely fair. Nurtur*d by gentle dews and balmy air, Naught of envious blight to mar its grace; Thus, do I wish that thou, a human flowr, Just budding in lifes gay and sunlit bowr, On through thy circle of years may bloom, Hallowed by hope and free of blight and gloom. Nor this alone but when deaths withring hand Shall pluck thee from earth and thy sister-band, . Oh! may it be to transplant thee from time Newly to bloom in Heavens cloudless clime.

A VALENTINE TO MISS MARY S. COLQUITT. (My Betrothed.)
Love demands the votive chaplet I should twine, And render homage due to his sacred shrine; His enrapturing fire my bosom warms, And with poetic thought my mind informs. For whom shall I the tender passion breathe? For whom the bright and blooming garland wreathe; And in flowing numbers whose praise enshrine, And confess as my chosen Valentine?
From the circle where beauty softly blooms In forms as varied as bright Spring assumes; Where the fair grace that in the lily glows, And the soft splendor that infolds the rose, Now kindle the heart with admiration, Or thrill it with loves delicious passion. With faith pure as the flame of Vestas shrine Would I choose thee, a peerless Valentine.
The soft light of beauty thy cheek may warm, Its plastic hand may touch with grace thy form. And rival in thee flower, gem or star; "The light around thy heart" is lovelier far. With stronger spell than beauty can impart It sways the deepest homage of the heart. For the spirit thy bosom doth enshrine, Would I this day choose thee my Valentine.
I would not choose thee only for this brief day, That unto love I may due homage pay,

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But whilst the golden sands of life may run. In heart united in destiny one With thee each checkered scene I would share; Whateer of joy and hope life perchance may bear, Through the. term of years that fate may assign, Would I choose thee eer as my Valentine.
"Amator utque ad aras."

A POETICAL EPISTLE TO MRS. J. M. GREEN, COLQUITT.
O Muse! guardian of the tuneful lyre; With inspiration now my mind inspire; Let my measured numbers sweetly flow, And every thought with interest glow; Crown with thy favor my poetic toil. That I may win my darling Marys smile. When mere admiration would the strain inspire, My lips thou hast touched with hallowed fire. Oh! now when loves true fires in the bosom glow Upon my verse thy brightest charm bestow.
Carissime, the muse in formal style I haveinvoked to aid me in the toil, Whilst I seek the poetic wreath to twine Sweet tribute to you from "the sacred Nine." What theme unsung shall I now essay? What pleasing thoughts shall my verse convey? Poets new-fledged when first on soaring wing, Warble the praises of the blushing spring The "emerald plain," the blooming bower, The murmuring brook, the opening flower, Glide and mingle eer in the ceaseless strain, Unmarked unblest with one joyous refrain. But in times cycle the vernal seasons past And upon the ear thrills Autumns startling blast. Autumn too has been sung in pensive lay; Be mine the task rather than portray To mark with wrapt spirit and eager eye Its mellowd pomp, its cerulean sky, Its bright sunsets, its twilights purple haze, The Sabbath stillness of its cloudless days, When the circling heaven beams with love, And earth holds voiceless worship of Him above. Fancy has ranged wide the realm of thought, For a theme in each nook and corner sought, No olive-leaf or blooming flower found, With sweet reward its circling flight has crownd. 24 si

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Did I now first feel loves thrilling pain,

. ' '.

No poverty of themes I could complain.

I could celebrate then, in glowing line,

"

The circling graces that around you shine.

The "magic power" to make hearts your own;

:

Or when favor was to a rival shown,

In melancholy strain bewail the fate

i

Of slighted passion and heart desolate.

,

But Hymens ties our hearts in union bind

And "mon cher amie" is loving and kind.

I then can not sing of thy matchless charms

Of slighted passion and jealous alarms.

*

While thus for a theme perplexed in thought

-

Two letters from you the postman has brought-

Now the snowy coverings are broken

And out there falls a sweet love-token

"A violet" none more sweet could be given;

Its languages of faith its hue of heaven.

I accept the gift "which fancy endears,"

"Emblem of love and hope through future years."

Now with joyous spirit and eager haste,

Each flowing line and page I fondly trace.

What sweet talk of birds, sunshine and flower!

Surely you sat within the "Muses bower."

Or Fancy with her fair urn "hoverd round"

And with its blooming wealth your pages crowned,

When you wrote. The secret is (as you state).

You wrote with heart with happiness elate.

May your life be eer thus free from care,

,

Has been my fondest wish my fervent prayer.

Tis vain for such is life and eer has been.

That clouds will oft darken the brightest scene.

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I can wish in the picture be so wrought

Its shades of sorrow, its blendings of grief,

That life may be with more pleasure fraught,

Than if its roseate tints had no relief.

But it does not within my power lie To each thought of yours in rhyme reply. No longer I may soar with wing elate, But fall and meet Icaruss hapless fate, The ivy-wreath may not reward my toil, Content will I be to win your sweet smile.

"

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THE BIRCHEN SCEPTER; OR PEDAGOGUE RULE. The rod of birch, the smooth, well-seasoned spray, That girds the teacher with power to sway; His scepter in the narrow realm of school, As used of old to scourge the vile and prod the dull, Be it my theme as no unworthy meed Or type of praise to it should be decreed. No thing of art, or bright bauble of fame, Or object of nature, can justly claim That suffrage of place to thee is assigned In the reminiscences of mankind. Who has not cringd, as with threatening eye, The Master raised the waving rod on high ? Who has not felt, as strokes descending came, The birch had lost none of its ancient fame? Mens views in life may be for good or ill In taste, and in creeds, differ as they will, But one common chord youll not fail to touch When you stir the memory of the birch. What influence! what moral potency! The Rod exerts on human destiny! A nations weal, her glory or her shame, The arts that promote, or embalm the same; The laws which bind, and social life sustain, Conspire to peace, or selfish strife restrain; The vices that curse, or the wealth that feeds, The virtues that prompt to heroic deeds; The genius that awakes the tuneful lyre, To melting tones of love, or martial fire; Or bids beauty and grace survive the tomb, And in the canvas mimic life foreer bloom; The manners that refine, adorn with grace, And mark the civilizd from the savage race; All that trains to virtue exalts to fame May, from the Birchen Rod, their impress claim; As it is rightly swayed, or misapplied, As learning is, or not, a people's pride. Thou City! by Ilissus storied stream, Of Greece, the central light, the solar beam, When conquerd, and from thy proud glory hurled, The Delphic shrine of Learning to the world; Ye streets where Socrates taught Athens youth The force of virtue and the charm of truth; Ye Groves! where Plato talked with dulcet tongue Of the soul immortal, from Great Jove sprung, Living after death would survive the grave Some fair isle, beyond Hesperian wave,

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The lost Atlantis, its sweet place of rest; Thou City!. Streets! Groves! will ye not attest, The nobleness that I claim for my theme Is no idle fancy or sportive dream? Time-honords the Rod- No monarch of earth,. Though high his title and royal his birth. May boast a scepter more ancient to wield, Than that to which schoolboys obeisance yield. The regal symbol which Agamemnon bore As Ruler of Achaias hosts, in days of yore, May not a more remote origin claim, Or hath truer title to niche of fame. High honor, too, mankind to it have paid. In story of heroic time, tis said, When the Athenians yearly rites renewed To manes of Thesus, whom theyd endued With the radiant honors of the skies, : To Corridas, they renderd sacrifice; He, who their beloved monarchs youth had traind, His soul to virtue nursed from vice restrained. Such honors crpwnd the Birch in classic age Those now invite, inscribed on modern page. New Englands race of early schoolmasters, Bebrycian type, first on the roll appears. Quixotes of Science, her knight-errant band, Inflamed with zeal to enlighten the land. As with chivalric glow their bosoms burn Letterd ease to win, or the penny turn, From Northern hill and vale they southward pourd, Each district filled from mountain to seaboard. Of great learning, very spare of stature high With sturdy arm the Birchen Rod to ply, In log-house each set up pedagogue throne, Where to urchin brood, in clear nasal tone, Depths of Daybald and Dillsworth theyd expound, Simple lore by shallow wit made profound. In hives of Science then, there was no drone, If evinced by the hum of mingled tone, The melodious chant that smote the ear On summer morns when the day was bright and clear. Science then was wont with the charm of song, Up. its ruggd steeps to urge its dull troop along. Nor did Science then its oracles speak In mystic tongue of Latin, French and Greek, With jargon its young votaries to confound; Nor to slow-pacd minds the problem propound, Whose mystery unsolved with fruitless search, Awakes the slumbering ire of the birch. To read, to write, to know Dillsworth "by heart,"

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Be skilld in figures, was considerd "smart-" Aught they knew, or but lightly cared, I ween, For fount of Castaly or Hippocrene. Ye, who boast the culture of the present age, To whom knowledge unfolds its ampler page, Decked with richest spoils ye may not deride Their meager attainments, with scornful pride. From stately Latin or the fautless Greek, As models fair, untrained were they to speak, Yet, not devoid were they of eloquence. Taught by natural taste and common sense, Their speech could reason sway, judgment convince, The will subdue, loves bosom with rapture thrill, As though theyd drank of Romes classic rill, Or sweets of Greeces Hymettian bees of song, Poured in language persuasive from their tongue. The hidden laws which Natures realms control, Like Sybils, inscribed upon mystic scroll, Might not be revealed to their mental gaze, In the clear light of modern Science rays, Yet they could feel the life divinely breathed. Which natures various forms with beauty wreathed.
Untaught whence the rainbow its splendors drew, They could still admire its arch of varied hue, And cherish with devotion true and warm The promise divine, couched in its bright form. Unskilled, the floral realm to classify, The wondrous forms it opens to the eye: What ray of light, reflected, paints each hue, Whence nightly flow the crystal streams of dew, They might not know; yet with no less delight They could behold the hawthorns veil of white, The spotless grace that in the lily glows, The crimson splendor that infolds the rose. From fossil tablet, silent chronicle Of unrecorded time, they might not tell When yon mountain upheaved its vast form To catch the sunlight and to brave the storm; Yet not with senseless heart or listless eye They view it loom in grandeur to the sky. Now, as contestants for pedagogue command. Erins green Isle sends forth its stalwart band. The silver rills of Englands classic speech They, from day to day, would distil, and teach The learned Sciences then held high in vogue. From lips all touched with the accents of brogue. The road to learning the path they had trod The surest way with them was through the rod; Jf, as in poles of an electric way,

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Between brain and hand a mystic union lay, And each sharp stroke that with ferule was laid, To the mind, the desired impress conveyed. To record such and such the worthy praise Of pedagogic rule, in earlier days, As from ancestral tradition we learn, But to its brighter annals we now turn. When forests were felled, and arts multiplied, And cities rose from our soil in towring pride, In times cycle a happy change was wrought; An era dawned with true Science fraught, Whose meridian brightness we now greet. By Oconees wave Learning founds her seat; Builds her altars and lights her vestal fire. Spreads her banquets and strings the classic lyre, Till Franklin, full developd, takes its stand, The peerless Parthenon of Southern land. Ancient Athens is again seen to rise, Reproduced neath fair Columbias skies; The abode of learning, refinement, taste, With evry charm of wealth and beauty gracd. In each trait Athenianlike to a fault Een its pride savors of the "Attic Salt."
Thou Alma Mater! to memory dear, Shall no record of thy modest worth appear ? What chaplets for thee shall affection twine? What just meed of praise should virtue assign To that seat where Science no longer ignores To sons of Poverty its priceless stores? But, with Godlike bounty, generous hand Opens to them the realms of classic land, Equal with Wealths proud train to share the prize ;Where Religion, blest daughter of the skies, In appropriate sphere, performs her part In molding the mind and training the heart; Unseals to the soul the doom of the skies, And bids it nobly seek for a higher prize In lifes brief career than riches or fame, Or all the fleeting pleasures earth can claim. O Emory! onward thy course pursue, To dutys high behests still ever true: For the mind still light Knowledges vestal beam, And set the silver ladder of Jacobs dream. Still send forth with each year thy noble .band, To scatter light, evangelize the land. Though stern fortune, as in the past, may frown, Fame yet for thee shall weave its triple crown; On thy walls will rest the dews of Zion, And the smiles of God thy path environ.

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Science, elate, kindles its beacon-blaze, And from Penfields site flames its lucid rays, Mercer rises its effulgence to shed, And form one of a glorious triadOf learning a noble mint, that stamps its gold With clear impress of true scholastic mold. Let Mercer her well-earned fame faithful guard Alone when won, the honord meed award.

With advancing science a new light springs,

And oer womans sphere its radiance flings.

Like star of the east, its orient ray

Heralds to female mind the dawning day.

The charms of woman tribute of homagi

From mankind had won from earliest age.

.

Her softer nature was confessed to be

Impressed with fairest seal of divinity.

Yet capricious, gloomy, her lot had been,

With scarce a ray of light to gild the scene.

Each blighting trace of wrong and woe

Markd her destiny in its changeful flow:

Now caressd now under servitudes ban

An angel quite, but not the peer of man;

Idol of his love, yet in wedded state

Doomd to the curse of a menials fate.

Classic Greece, with each art and grace refined,

Her adored in the marbled Venus enshrind;

Incense burned the soft libation pourd

Yet her moral worth, her mental rights, ignord.

In later aee, when the world felt the glow

Of chivalry in its elevating flow.

Troubadours, with "piping, poetising tongue,"

In gentle lay, the praises of woman sung;

Knighthood in its waving crest wore her gauge

To manly breast, talisman of courage;

:

Exalted her, as Beautys chosen Queen,

To preside in the tourneys martial scene

:

To crown with chaplet, and bestow the meed

On victorious knight for gallant deed.

Een then a menial bondage was her fate,

Her powers of mind held in slavish state.

From woes and wrongs endured through ages past,

From Freedoms clime redemption comes at last

The Souths gifted son, with eloquent tongue,

Essays to plead her right, redress her wrong.

He proclaims, to her should be assignd

The right to equal culture of. the mind.

Religion urges, prompts the just appeal,

And inspires in the cause a holy zeal.

The great moral, social truth once expressd,

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POEMS.

It found a response in each manly breast-

By Ocmulgees tide, from Georgias soil,

The worlds first female college rears its pile,

And Learning opes to woman, as mans peer,

The treasures of its once restricted sphere.

To Georgia the tribute may be given,

.

Womans mental fetters to have riven.

One female college scarce shot up its spires

Ere others soon sprang up as beacon-fires,

Or from Cadmean teeth the armed host,

Until Georgia can its full measure boast.

And girls can now in Virgil and Horace plod,

Boast collegiate exemption from the rod,

All the lore of science its each franchise;

To the degree of A.M. can also rise,

And proudly flourish the sheepskin parchment,

That doubtful voucher of scholastic talent.

Would you learn how, as Science votaries,

They win its triumphs and wear its trophies?

Visit yon shrine, yon decorated hall,

Where, Olympiclike, they hold their festal.

See the white-robed throng move upon the scene

With pomp of music, banners silken sheen.

Vision of beauty, they rise tier bove tier,

And in bright rank enchantingly appear

Like flower-clad cliffs of tropical skies.

The fair cynosures of a thousand eyes,

The young debutants proudly tread the stage

Alike impressd, though wisdom of the sage

And the lore of science they may display,

Still in her charms lies the spell of womans sway;

Though of sparkling diamond may be the set,

Of polished gold must be the coronet.

"Beauty is vain," Solomon may have said,

Yet they must please the eye to win the head.

The modest essay, all flushd with flower,

Bespangled with stars, now claims the hour.

Then comes the speakers panegyric stream;

Woman ever woman is still the theme!

Diplomas are given the farewell spoken

The parting tear shed the spell is broken;

The actors from the scene now disappear

From Science" proud halls to Homes quiet sphere

Let not the bigot raise the mocking sneer,

That in vapor ends the promised career

Of educated woman. Science its dowr

Has not lavished for the pageant of an hour,

Nor the work of culturd woman thus expires.

What though from the public eye she retires,

As the lost Pleiad, no more to return,

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And in Learnings galaxy resplendent burn, In the sweet home circle, that orbit bright, She still shines, dispensing heavenly light. In the varied office of sister, daughter, frier.J, To each her gifts brighter charms sweetly lend. As mother, she to the youthful heart Its principles of action doth impart. /* goes out into the worlds scenes of strife It acts and reacts through the lapse of life; And when the future historian may scan With telescopic eye the past of man, Of maternal impress he views the trace Displayed in the mold of the present race.
O Empire State! though nobly hast thou done For education, thy works but begun. Press onward in thy glorious career! Of thy sister States be the pioneer. The summits have caught the enlightning ray; Still oer the valleys misty shadows play. There are still broad wastes where no flowers bloom Thousands of noble minds, ignorance their doom. No longer dally in the noble cause, Nor waste thy zeal enacting futile laws, Which promise much all that could be requird But in their execution "null and void." With views nobly conceived and wisely planned, Dispense the light of knowledge oer the land, Till there is no spot in thy broad domain Where ignorance broods with its blighting train. Science and Art, each unfolding their store Of blessings, into thy bosom will pour A truer wealth than Spains galleons bore From Mexan clime or Perus golden shore.
One has in verse the sentiment enshrined, "Delightful task to teach the infant mind-" Ye who would prove this maxim false or true, Must for awhile the "pleasant task" pursue. Day after day the same path foreer plod Which for years your weary feet have trod. With ceaseless effort strive to infix In infant mind the letters twenty-six. And find, after all your toil and trouble, They scarcely decrease if they dont double. Yon rule for the twentieth time explain, And find it types the book, but not the brain. Have Ciceros bright wit and polished line. Which rescued Rome and banished Catiline, In senseless jargon patter on the ear,

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Bereft of evry charm that taste holds dear. Now, Horace a wondrous change undergoes: Not to the bird of song he did suppose Of plumage fair, with clarion note of swan, That would soar above the envy of man; As dribbling schoolboy interprets his muse, It shakes the air with larums of a goose. Then to deal with tempers of every mold The stubborn, the shrewd, the vile and the bold; And ifyou the least impatience display, Unfit you are for the pedagogue sway; Contend with ignorance in evry shape, And hear complaints, whateer pains you take, From parents who in the fondness of their hearts Deem their children possessd of brightest parts. If any should confess, which is not usual, Their hopeful heirs are not intellectual, And that to learning they are not inclind. The teachers skill must supply want of mind"Learn their children must;" if they wont by dint Of persuasion theres the birch, parents hint. Ah, the birch! can it from stupid minds evoke Streams of intellect with its magic stroke. As prophets rod from Horebs flinty side For Israels host poured the crystal tide? Sub rosa,--let the strokes lightly fall, If birch is used; best not use it at all, If you would please. Once not less absolute Than scepter of Englands royal Canute Was the birch; none then venturd to restrict Right of pedagogue punishment to inflict. Broken now is the fasces of command That girded with power the teachers hand; Gone the terrors that made the stoutest quail, And formed for parental ear pathetic tale; No more will it blanch schoolboys cheek with fear, Twinge with pain, or start the rolling tear.
How oft restraints of the schoolroom become, As it were, the walls of a prison home. When Natures freed from Winters icy thrall, And holds in Spring her joyous carnival. On bright morns then, when to duty confind, How bitterly these restraints chafe the mind. The warbling throng may sing in tuneful strain, And beauty enamel the dreamy plain With its hue of jjreen and tint of flower The genial sun shed down its rich dower Of golden light; but it is all in vain You may not break dutys viewless chain.

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Flowers may bloom, but those on classic page Must now meet and admiring eye engage. The woodland poets may blithefully sing The laureate ode to the gladsome Spring; But song of Virgil, fair Mantuas pride, Drawled in spraddling meter by your side, Or lyric strain of him to Venusia dear, Must now claim from you the attentive ear. As prisner of Chillon thou truly art, That could gaze with loving eye and with lorn heart From dungeon cell upon the lake below, Or on mountain high with its sunlit glow, But on Lemans placid wave spread no sail, Nor mountain tread, nor inspiring breeze inhale.
Then in summer days, when in noontide glow The sun shines upon the parchd plains below; When not a zephyr quivers mong the trees, And thermic tube notches ninety degrees ; When languor steals oer and threatens to steep The brain in the opiate dews of sleep; When the voice would its languid accents lose In deeper intonations of a snooze; When burdensome is each effort at speech, O, how bitter then is the task to teach! But, through the half-closed curtains of the brain There come visions, as mirage of the plain, Of embowerd dell and murmuring stream Untouched by burning Summers noontide beam; And you would to fancy give the loose rein Indulge in dreaming; but tis all in vain. Each class must still the drowsy lesson rehearse. And to make the teachers ordeal worse, There is a call for birchen justice due To some roguish imp of his maudlin crew, Who, with teasing wit which no langour shows, Has prickd his neighbor or tickled his nose.
The birch to its votaries has ever brought Burden of irksome toil and anxious thought. Tho oer the picture drawn dark shadows loom, Yet it is not one unbroken scene of gloom. There are pleasures to gild, and hopes to cheer Een the pedagogue, in his humble sphere. He shuns the worlds dark scenes of sordid strife, The pollutions that stain ambitions life. He moves amid a throng of faces bright With youths soft bloom and joys roseate light; Their sunny smiles, their joyous notes of mirth, Yet unsubdued by the sorrows of earth;

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Their blithesome spirits, that breathe each joy out In the merry laugh or loud-ringing shout; Will oft to the scene a bright glow impart, And sweetly soothe the teachers care-worn heart. With softest tint of memory imbued, His own boyhood scenes rise to mind renewed. When he too was wont with buoyant heart, and free, To join in the playgrounds wild revelry. Again beneath youths glowing skies he stands, Again with romantic dreams his heart expands. How it thrills with joy, when the Teachers toil Meets with the reward of a grateful smile; When youthful minds with eager zest pursue, And drink in knowledge, as flowers the dew; When to a genial glow their souls are wrought, And eagerly embraced the abstruse thought; When they, as you the classic text explain, The spirit catch of Virgils epic strain, Or echo the notes of his rural quill With enthusiastic touch and gentle skill, That these fall upon the charmed ear As tuneful murmurings of brooklet clear; When their bosoms burn with patriot glow Oer polished page of peerless Cicero; Or when with lively zest they explore The honeyed sweets of the mythic lore, Which lyric Horace, bright Matinian bee, Hath stored in fragrant cells of Poesy; When thus, with success, the Teachers toils crownd, No purer pleasure than his in life is found. Then vanishthe cares then dissolves the gloom, That makes the Teachers lot a bitter doomFeelings of joy serene pervade his soul, WingM with pleasure the fleeting moments roll, And when the circling hours their course have run, The heart almost regrets its task is done. Noble and honored the office they hold, Whose task it is the youthful mind to mold. Tho oft with taunting epithet assailed, And the sentiment too long has prevailed, To Science votaries it should be assigned, Who scorn not drudgery with ease combined; Whose gross hearts cannot for dull brains conceive, The charm of those deeds which bright fame achieve, How unjust to the Teacher will appear, When are surveyed the duties of his sphere. To awake genius to a conscious glow. To inspire the dull timely prompt the slow,

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To curb the vicious and the moral guard, Assign to modest worth its meet reward, And each perform with that consummate skill Which secures all good, yet works no ill, Claim for the task, and do surely evince Highest degree of mental excellence. What merit should in his character blend, Upon whom these varied duties depend! What vast treasure of rich instructive lore Should fill the mind, increase the mental store Of him, who for youthful minds, food purveys, And would wisely guide them in Science ways! What glow of virtue should his soul inspire, Whod kindle in other breasts the sacred fire! What perfect knowledge of the human heart Its springs of action its every part, Till quivring lip and flashing eye reveal Emotions the soul would in vain conceal; That no harsh rebuke from the lips may spring, From tender natures the needless tear to wring, And wither, like a blight by mildew shed, The spirit which with kind words should be fed; That firmness with its gentle check may quell Passions that heave the breast with angry swell, Darken the eye, and fiercely knit the brow, And would convert lifes cup to one of woe, Unless to wise restraint now made to yield. Think of these duties survey the broad field, What other pursuits that worthy fame bestow, Higher qualities than those can boast and show.
The skill that from canvas wooes the eye With the pictured glories of earth and sky, Or carves from marble forms with beauty rife, That in grace and spirit they rival life, Is called divine- How then esteemed the Art Should be which molds the human mind and heart, And brighter creations from them evoke Than wrought by brush or chisels magic stroke. Let ambition the humble station spurn For lists where daring spirits meet and burn As ancient wrestlers in the fierce contest For wealths golden prize or fames gilded crest. Ye pedagogues, still your office revere, Though irksome its duties unfamed its sphere. Wisely sway ye the Rod. It is imbued With untold power for evil or good. When, with force of love and charm of Truth, To learnings heights it guides aspiring youth, "Tis rod of Hermes from which blossoms shoot,

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POEMS.

Or Aarons, crowned with heaven-inspired fruit. When by cruel stroke and despotic force It urges youthful minds in Learnings course, Tis fearful as Mercurys fabled wand, With which he erst compelled the ghostly band. When the young mind is led to Castalias fount, Or has been taught golden gains to count. Deem not thy duty done or task complete; Inspire a love of all thats true and great; Awaken aspirations that, like wings, Will bear the soul above all sordid things. In thy work engage with liveliest zeal, Tho thankless the task you oft will feel, And the applause to young ambition dear May not crown with fame your toilsome career; Yet repine not nor from thy duty swerve; To each task your noblest energies nerve. Toil on, though Hope refuse its golden meed And on thy spirit care corroding feed. Expectant await your blest boon of love From the Great Taskmaster of men above.

A RETROSPECT OF LIFE
The twilight of age gathers thick and fast, Times latest sun with me erelong will set;
Lifes busy toils and duties now are past; The retrospect moves to joy and regret.
As the vanished years pass in full survey, I feel how great the boon of life has been,
And ponder how the burdens of the way I could have borne for threescore years and ten.
Thou, O God, hast been my support and stay, Guard and guide through the lengthend chain of years,
In youths sweet morn and manhoods middle day, In sickness and in health, in joy and tears.
It was of Thee that from a mothers tongue I learned to lisp thine own Eternal Name,
As hymns of praise she at the cradle sung In accents sweet as seraph lips may frame.
In youths first hours when the desires impel And vice with siren voice and pleasing smiles
Would weave for the soul its seductive spell, Thou didst preserve me from its fatal wiles.

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Thou didst to me the love of Christ reveal, Through faith in His name of sins forgiven,
Thou didst upon my heart set THy seal, The hope sublime of life in heaven.
In gifts of fortune, neither broad estate Nor wealth of field and fold didst them assign;
Nor the behest of powr that crown the great, Nor the gold that in hoarded coffers shine.
It was Thy grace upon me to bestow The genial sympathies and traits of mind,
That lead the heart to feel anothers woe. In charms of nature purest joy to find;
And gather rich spoil from every page That in the countless volumes of learning lie;
AH the poet has sung, or spoke the sage, That lift the soul in dreams divine on high.
Thou dost now upon me the grace bestow, The elixir of earthly bliss to find
In health that fills the cheek with ruddy glow, And joys perennial of cultured mind-
Oft when from ways of virtue I had strayed, And sought the path of dalliance to tread.
Thy Spirits touch was on me gently laid And back again oft I was sweetly led.
She whom in wedlock to me Thou didst give, My other self, and my being to complete,
And through all the years of time with me to live, Has been in joy and grief a true helpmeet.
And now amidst the faded charms of age, Not less loved than when she at the altar stood,
In holy troth heart and hand to engage, In the sweet morn of gentle womanhood.
O God, to me Thou didst my being give, And from dark thrall of sin my soul redeem,
That consecrate to Thee I should live, And Thy grace in me shine with focal beam-
As planted in the garden of the Lord, In Christian life with heavenly grace endued.
And spirit fed with ichor of his Word, In the calm light of age, I should have stood.

384
As beauteous for the mind to behold, With fruits of righteousness richly crowned,
As tree in autumn with its fruit of gold Or vine that with purple clusters abound.
From the rich treasures of Thy grace how great The .blessings Thou hast upon me bestowed.
To Thee my life should have been consecrate, And at my Saviours feet its ointment pourd-
As dawns upon the scene the goal now near, From Heavenly sphere the supernal ray,
Lifes wasted opportunities appear, And duties that were slighted by the way.
Ah ! sad the thought, my weary feet no more The way that I have come again shall pass,
Time will not to me the lost chance restore To speak the kind word, do the act of grace-
In youths bright morn begin to sow thy seed, At hour of vesper withhold not .thy hand,
Then when the harvest comes, many a deed In golden sheaves on lifes fair field shall stand.
What of my dream of letters that so long Has held me fetter d in its subtle coil?
What is there save this book of prose and song As monument of many years of toil?
Infatuated dreamer ! canst thou hope The fabric you build of flowers will stand,
Like Afric Pyramid with lofty cope Amid the waste of years on Egypts sand?
Deep have I drunk of sorrows bitter cup, The Old Cup that from Edens tragic hour,
Has pressed all mortal lips from Adam up, Bequeathed to the race as sins fatal dower.
As others, never did I realize The evanescent dreams of childhoods hour ;
The burning hopes that youthful bosoms prize, That tell of honor won, wealth and power.
Oft have I felt the anguish keen and deep Of fatal stroke that severs earthly ties,
But they that die in Christ fall asleep, To wake again immortal in the skies.

385
I have felt the deeper sorrows of the mind, That fade not from memorys mystic scroll,
And solace seek in vain from earth to find ; Like eating aspics they fasten in the soul.
O alchemy of grace, so sweet, so full, That in the Gospel for the sinful flow.
That makes the sins with crimson stain like wool Or those of scarlet hue as white as snow.
O Saviour Divine! grant me faith to prize The powr of Thy blood for sin to atone,
And through the virtues of Thy sacrifice, Present me faultless before Thy pure Throne.
THE END.