The commercial., September 03, 1915, Image 1

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ttnion City Commercial , established 1890 ) r.on.ni!di.d!nt.mlir i i Q7
West Tennessee Courierestablished IM 1 n80"datl September 1. 1S97
UNION CITY, TENN, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1915.
VOL. 25, NO. 23.
HEROISM , WAR AND GREAT WARRIORS
BV EUGENE F'.; McSPEDDEN. , CONTINUED FROM I,AST WEEK.
If, we should somewhat analyze
the mind and character of even the
most" powerful; generals, and Mien
compare them to the most eminent
men. in the other .fields of world
moving achievement, we should find
. their figures rather dwarfed beside
the world's really loftiest characters
Great warriors are usually men of
well formed and powerful physique
; Alexander was fair and slightly rud
dy of complexion,-handsome of form
and face, of medium size, but well
knit, energetic of both body and
mind and capable of hard and con
tinuous exertions. "A man of ener
gy and ambition," says Curtis in his
Introduction towilliams'Life of Alex
ander, "he was the hardest worker
of his day, both in body and mind.
Caesar was slender, rather tall and
.pale, but with a thick muscular
neck;" prepossessing in appearance,
, of, quick decision, untiring energy of
both body and mind, and rapid in-
. cisive in movement. He usually,
says Fraud, brought the news him
self that he was coming. Napoleon
was low of stature, but slightly
heavy, and a galvanic battery of
physical and intellectual energy.
Josephine said that Napoleon was
never "quiet for an hour, "He was
often on horseback," says Headley"
"for eighteen hours a day, and yet
wrought up to the intensest mental
excitement all the while." Without
intermission he could march, array
his troops, fight battles and - win
victories for forty-eight hours on a
stretch. All these men planned
rapidly, moved like stormclouds, and
fell on the enemy like a thousand
thunderbolts. Hence their great
success. Our Washington was tall
and . large, of enormous physical
. force and endurance, and mentally
well balanced and sensible,1 rather
than intellectual, and usually calcu-
, lating deliberate and forceful, rath
er than rapid and incisive in move
ment of both body and mind. "He
is not the thunderbolt," Headley ob
serves, "hurled from the sky arrest
ing and startling, but the mighty
( ocean tide calm, majestic and ' re
sistless.
Great warriors, as a preponder
ating rule, are physical, energetic
and expedient, rather than highly
intellectual and. moral; men of ac
tion and iron, rather than of thought
and mercy; of will and ambition,
rather than "moderation and philan
thropy; pugnacious and volcanic,
rather than liberal and magnani
mous; destructive, rather than con
structive in genius; bold and im
petuous, delighting in the wild ex
citement of terrific battles. As the
eagle delights in the storm and is
strangely calm when the lightning
is playing on her wings, so such men
as Washington and Napoleon are
calm and self-collected amid the
most tumultous and destructive
scenes of battle and can gaze on the
wild contest with a calm eye, quick
to see any chance for advantage.
"Hold on," said Napoleon at the
battle of Austerlitz," "never inter
rupt the enemy when he is making
a false move." And at the proper
moment Napoleon charged like
thunder and the enemy, was ruined.
Caesar would rush bareheaded
among his soldiers, when, they were
disorganized and about to be ae
stroyed, wheel them into the proper
order and beat the enemy into the
dust. Washington "on his fine Charg
er would dash in front 'of his waver
ing lines, right into the teeth of the
tempest of bullets, and turn the tide
of battle amid loud huzzas. Alex
ander would leap single-handed into
the midst of an armed garrison and
fight them back till his men could
scale or tear down a wall. These
great generals all seemed to be in
capable of the sensation of fear.
Great generals as a rule, however,
are not devoid of nobility, generosity
and sympathy. Washington was al
ways noWe and generous. And it
was only the stern necessity and a
highly patriotic spirit that always
prompted mm 10 prusecuie war uiiu
lift his sword in battle. His great
heart was filled with a great sor
row whenever his soldier or fellow
people were distressed or severely
suffering. Napoleon once flung five
or six hundred dollars in gold into
the lap of a poor destitute widow,
into whose cabin he chanced one
day to come. He would sometimes
weep, like a child, at the close of a
battle, in looking over the field all
burdened with the wounded, dying
and dead. His was an uncontrollable
grief when his friend, Durock, was
mortally wounded at Bantzen. Cae
sar and Alexander were often gen
erous, and, Alexander especially,
sometimes kind and sympathetic to
ward even an enemy.' When he de
feated the Darius "at Issus and cap
tured his royal family, he cared for
them "very generously, and, when
after the battel of Arbela, he pur
sued Darius and found him dead in
his chariot, he wept for pity very
much unlike the treatment that
Achilles, one of Alexander's far
famed ancestors, gave to the slain
Hector. But Napoleon, Alexander or
Caesar never allowed the sentiment
of generosity or pity to stand in the
way of their plans of just or unjust,
or necessary or ambitious warfare.
Napoleon butchered thousands, both
sexes and all ages in Spain, mainly,
if not solely, it seemed, to satisfy
his ambition for glory, or greed for
gain. . Alexander destroyed cities
wantonly, exterminated the defeated
soldiers, killed and captured the ih
habitants (sometimes refined and
cultured) and sold them to bar
barians, as at Tyre and Thebes.
Caesar once allowed his legions to
cut to pieces a quarter of & million
of poor, homeless and defenseless
German men, women and children
fleeing for their lives, because of
small and, perhaps, accidental of
fense. Even Rome lifted up her
hands in horror at such a brutal
massacre.
Alexander, Caesar and Napoleon
(I will not mention Washington
whose whole career was on the side
of freedom, justice and God) in their
tremendous and world-shaking ca
reers all did the human race a great
service, in advancing the cause or
liberty,, justice and civilization. And
it is no doubt true that they all pos
sessed deep in their hearts an- honest
and patriotic desire to serve th
world in some such way; but to say
that they were not also ruled i
their terrific courses, and often driv
en beyond justice ana mercy, Dy
their own lust for gains, power an
glory, would be to make a wide
blunder. They heaved the world
forward, no doubt, more than they
could foresee, and knew not all the
good they wrought; but the evil
they did (and it was enormous) was
most emphatically, either directly or
indirectly, their own. They deserve
much, but not full credit for all the
good they did, and some, but far
from entire, exoneration for their
great crimes. .
Great warriors all have a genius
for military life; for organizing
eauiDDing and training armies ior
building fortifications, bridging riv
ers, crossing mountains and exe
difficult campaigns: for ob
cufcing
taming certain results by stratagem
foF"inspiring confidence and enthus
iasm in men; for manipulating armies
and taking advantage on the field
of battle, coupled with an uncon
querable will, galvanic energy
granite-like calmness amidst wildest
scenes, and a readiness for any
emergency. But we must under
starifl that all that calls for an ener
getic, gifted and judicious, rather
than a deeD and lofty exercise of
mind and soul; it requires an exer
cise of mind on a purely physical
field of action, which does not neces
Sarily call forth the nobler facul
ties of the mind or the sublimer
moral sensibilities of the soul.
The successful military leader is
apt to be quick witted, a ready
thinker and expedient. When Wil
Ham The Conqueror went to invade
England, in stepping from his ship
onto the English shore he accidently
slipped and fell, and fearing that it
would 1)e regarded as a bad omen
by his soldiers, he clutched a handful
of dirt, and rising quickly, exclaim
ed. See! by the splendor of God,
have taken possession or England.
Hannibal, being cooped up in a deep
ravine by the Romans, tied lighted
torches to the horns of some cattle
and hurried them off across the
country. Whereupon the Romans,
mistaking the torch-bearing cattle
for the Carthagenian army fleeing
bv torch light, began the pursuit
Hannibal then led his (army out in
safety, while the fortunate Romans
perhaps had the. beef the next day
for dinner. We are all acquainted
with Washington's famous feat of
crossing the Delaware one cold win
ter night, amidst floating ice, and
surprising the enemy and gaining
an important victory in a few hours,
at Trenton.
But the great general, as a gen
eral, never requires and seldom pos
sesses refined and elevated tastes
the power of profound penetration
and understanding, requisite to deep
philosophical deductions, or a large
intuition and imagination does not
reauire. and seldom possesses in
large degree, those more exalted en
dowments of mind and soul, that be
long to the constructive, rather than
the destructive, genius, and the
most conspicuous, enlightening and
moralizing lights of the human race.
Out of his camp, therefore,- the re
nowned general is often a very or
dinary, if not a very low, fellow.
Paul Jones is far from an admirable
man, apart trom nis Druuant navai
feasts and battles; so also is Nelson,
it appears, and I will not mention
Benedict Arnold, whose ability and
bravery as a general, we must all
admire. "Accordingly," says Chan-
ning, "great generals away from the
camp are often no greater men than
the mechanician away from his
shop." Many mechanicians, I will
add, are very honorable gentlemen.
The fact is, the greatest and noblest
and 'wisest souls do not, and cannot,
find their proper sphere of activity
in military life. Intellects of the
first order or magnitude, naturally
seek nobler and broader fields of
thought and activity, which are
more nearly commensurate with the
reach and scope of their powers, and
more congenial to their nature. As
the condor delights to' spread his
enormous wings and soar around the
lofty peaks of the Andes, so the
master minds delight to spread the
wings of mighty thought and soar
around the lofty peaks of intellect
ual and moral acquisition, whence
wide and far "may the vision be ex
tended and the soul dilated with the
purest and highest delights.
It is true that there are some, at
least partial, exceptions among great
military commanders, in . point of ,
high intelligence. Caesar, who was
the greatest warrior of his age, one
of the very greatest of all. ages was
also an accomplished orator, a gifteti
and concise writer, and the most
fundamental statesman of his time.
Napoleon, . Alexander and Washing
ton were also largely endowed with
the powers requisite to statesman
ship. "In eloquence and literature,"
says Channing. of Caesar, "he left
behind him almost all those who had
devoted themselves exclusively to
these pursuits." "No military nara-
tive," says Fraud, "has approached
the excellence of the history of the
war in Gaul." But one may be a
consummate orator andyet be no peer
among the mightiest intellectual
orbs. And purely historical writings
do not, and in their nature oannot,
rank with the grandest and su
blimest literary productions for in
stance, with the best poetry and
philosophy. The production of even
the best history does not require a
large employment of imagination,
reason or intuition, which are re
garded as the eminent of the intel
lectual attributes, and ' the expres
sion of which are highly pronounced
in the best poetry, fiction and phil
osophy. Neither does consummate
ability as a statesman or lawgiver,
which deals only with the material
or experimentally knowable, require
a large endowment, development or
use of the creative, intuitive or rea
soning powers a deep subtile . use
of the reason such as we find in
Plato or Bacon. Caesar, and per
haps no other statesman, has ever
appeared to be most liberally gifted
with the superior parts of mind
Even the great Webster, a powerful
intellect, does not seem to possess
a very proroundiy penetrating rea
son, that sinks its roots deep to uni
versal law and fact, or the large
imagination that "bodies forth the
form of things unknown." We must
deny to Mr. Webster," says Therea
dore Parker, "the great reason," and
further he added, "the large imagi
nation." And I have seen no reason
as yet for contradicting Mr. Parker's
statements.
Caesar was, I believe, the most
intellectual of all generals, with Na
poleon as a close second, but neither
his oratory, his literary productions
or statesmanship entities mm to
rank as a peer, or equal, among the
world's greatest characters and in
telligences. Moses, Homer, Plato
Paul, Shakespeare, Bacon, Dante,
Milton who would think of com
paring any general whomsoever, as
character or an intellect, with
these and like luminaries, 1 whose
minds with powerful sweep traveled
like a beam of glory, thru all earth
all space, all nature, all time and in
to eternity, vivifying and luminating
things most abstruse and high, and
revealing profound moral and spirit
ual depths. Generals, as a rule, and
nearly all statesmen also, are lack
ing in large moral worth, without
which the sublimest visions or deep
est insight is impossible even to a
powerful, but pure, intellect; for
morality, next to spirituality, (with
which it is closely related) is the
deepest and greatest of all universal
facts.
The exorbitant love of gain and
ambition for a glory, such as are
characteristic of nearly all renowned
generals, and which are pushed for
ward often to their ultimate goal
thru useless, enormous and utterly
unpatriotic butchery, can only be
long to an order of men below the
first. "The conqueror of Napoleon,"
says Channing, "possesses undoubt
edly great military talents: but we
do not understand that his most par
tial admirers claim for him a place
n the highest class of men." And
that is more or less true of nearly
all military geniuses. There is a
wide gulf fixed between such men
as Wellington and the man lien.
nyson) that sang of him, "O good
gray head which all men knew."
The truly great, deep, good and
wise souls of all ages have been, and
must forever be, lifted above the
brutal ambition and vain glory of
war, as the eagle with her stronger
wings and more bouyant spirit, rises
above all earthly vapors and clouds
and disports in the sun's purest
effulgence. The really great man is
constructive, more than destructive.
thinker and an orderly doer, not
whirlwind of fire or a mealstrom
of ruin. He lays his ear close to the
heaving bosom of all existence and
listens to the pulsings of the ages,
to the deep breathings of Deity, to
the dimly articulate thoughts or
God! To him, deep answers unto
deep in accents of peace and good
will. He may drive war, but it
must' be a matter of necessity, not
ambition; and it must be on the side
of justice and of God., His soul is
in harmony with the unversal order
and beauty, behind which is God,
and he would have the laws,- or kin
dred laws, that govern the con
cordant motion of the stars, to rule
among men. The wise and good
man must be for universal peace
and righteousness. Jesus Christ, be
ing the most imperial 01 an men,
the wholy wise and good, must of
necessity from his own divinely har
monious nature, full of grace, truth
nd love, be the Prince of Peace.
LOANS TO FARMERS.
Movement Started to Better Fanning
' ; Conditions.
Fpllowing up a: suggestion made
by officials of the Nashville, Chat
tanooga & St. Louis Railway at a
conference with several hankers in
Chattanooga recently, the Clearing
House banks of that city have
pledged themselves to supply a fund
of $100,000 to be loaned on long
time to, deserving and energetic
farmers iff that territory, this fund
to be used in developing the agri
cultural resources of thaf section.
Mr. Thomas R. Preston, as repre
sentative of the Chattanooga Clear
ing House banks, has explained in
a general way the purposes of the
fund and the motives which actuated
the bankers in supplying it. Brief
ly, the object in view was to permit
young and capable farmers to get a
start in life on the farms and by en
couraging them in scientific methods
and the introduction of better live
stock, to render a valuable aid to the
farmers themselves and help to build
up the land which is capable of pro
ducing splendid results. The details
of the plan, and the methods to be
followed in passing upon the appli
cants for loans are to be worked out
by representatives of the banks and
a committee of five farmers from the
membership of the Farmers' Co-oper
ative Union of Hamilton County.
The endorsement of the idea by
the Nashville, Chattanooga & St
Louis Railway, thru President John
Howe Peyton, is due to the great
interest which this road has taken
in the development of the agricul
tural resources along its lines, and
that the movement will be far-reach
ing in its effect upon the develop
ment of the farming interests has
been demonstrated by the great in
terest created thruout the farming
communities in this territory. In
general way the idea is to loan
various sums to farmers who have
character and the ability to make
good. This money will be loaned
for the purchase of better live stock,
improved farming machinery, etc.,
and at a rate of interest which the
banks are now loaning money to
other business enterprises. It is not
an attempt to give the farmers
"something for nothing." It is a
business proposition, but one which
has not been tried in this section.
It -is believed, however, that should
the plans work out successfully that
other sections will take it up. No
body is to get any commissions out
of the loans,' as the movement is one
looking to a closer co-operation be
tween the farmers and Jie bankers,
at the same time bettering agricul
tural conditions.
Already the movement has at
tracted attention in New York, and
indications are that should the de
tails work successfully that there
will be no difficulty in supplying
other such funds.
FULTON'S FAIR SEPT. 7 TO 11.
Promises to Outclass all Former Fairs
in This Section.
Death at Troy. -Mr
Horace Guy, a well known
citizen, died at his home in Troy
Sunday evening at 6 o'clock, Aug.
9, 1915.
Deceased leaves a wife and two
children. The latter are Ernest and
Mrs. Ira Young. The remains were
taken to Sardis for burial.
The Fulton County Fair at Ful
ton, Ky., Sept. 7 to 11, will be the
best ever held in that city. The Fair
Association has contracted for a fea
ture attraction by the world's most
thrilling and sensational lady bal-
loonists Madame LaFrance will
make balloon aseensions and para
chute leaps daily. This is the first
time a lady balloonists has thrilled
the crowds in this section of the
country.
Fulton will also surpass all for
mer records with fast and exciting
races each day.
The stock exhibits are better than
ever before and many interesting ex
hibitions of farm products, etc., have
been provided.
A grand time is assured all who
attend. Good music and big special
free attractions.
CHEAP RAILROAD RATES.
One fare, plus 25 cents, for round
trip on all trains.
Passenger coach on local train
leaving Wickliffe in the mornings,
returning on No. 204.
Trains Nos. 1 and 2 will stop at
Gibbs, Rives, Obion, Trimble and
Newbern to pick up and discharge
passengers to and from Fulton.
City Schools.
The examinations of the City
Schools took place last week, and
regular school work begins next
week. The children and pupils all
are requested to be on hand prompt
ly in order , that work may proceed
with system and dispatch.
Cherry-Moss Grain Co.
Winter Grown Barley,
Crimson Clover Seed,
New Crop Rye,
Rape Seed,
All Kinds Field Seeds,
Tennessee Horse Feed,
Tennessee Dairy Feed,
Corn, Chops, Oats and Bran,
All Kinds Feed.
CHERRY-MOSS GRAIN CO,
Wholesale .and Retail
Grain, Hay and Field Seeds
Telephone No. 31
nnn&m mm am on farm
IVIUIML I IU LUHIM
LANDS
I am authorized to take applications for loans on lands in
Obion and Weakley Counties, Tenn., and Fulton County, Ky.
The terms and conditions upon which this money will be loan
ed are most favorable to the borrower. All or any part of a
loan may be paid after one year, interest being stopped on
payments made.
Now is the time to arrange your farm loans while the money
car be had at a low rate of interest and on long time.
O. SPRADLIN
Attorney At Law j& Union City, Tenn.
'Quality First"
WE HAVE THE BEST GRADE
Winter Rye, Barley and Turf flats
Crimson Clover, Red and Sweet Clover
Timothy, Red-Top and Blue Grass
WE SELL THE
Improved Kentucky Brain Drill
Peering Corn Harvester, Peering Disc Harrow
International Gasoline and Oil Engines
Oliver Chilled Plows, Buggies, Wagons, &c
"Quality First"
Tisdale JacKson
Ice Cream Silver Slice
and Ices Cake
Johnston's (Milwaukee) Box Candy
The appreciated Chocolates
PHONE 539
Essandee's Cafe
The Quality Shop
Service at our fountain is pleasing to those who can - dis
criminate GOOD THINQS FROM THE ORDINARY.