‘ [264] children, instead of reverencing their fathers, will be secretly, if not openly, ashamed of them.’
The report then reviews certain publications of one of the most learned and forceful writers of the North, and points out with clearness and conclusiveness the errors of statement as to facts in our history which are beyond dispute, and which can be accounted for only by the blindness of sectional prejudice which disfigures the otherwise admirable work of that learned writer.
Dr. McGuire's life and services afford many and strong claims to the profound regard and affection of the people of the South. They offer none, however, stronger than this, that by his intelligent and persistent efforts the fountains of knowledge from which our children are supplied have been cleansed and purified, the stream has been restored to its proper channels, and its living waters will henceforward bear to the children of the South the truth that may make them free.
Thus briefly and crudely enough we have reviewed some of the grounds on which this man's wide and brilliant reputation is founded, and which, in the estimation of his people, entitle him to this earthly crown.
But his words and his works are not of themselves the man; indeed, they but dimly and most inadequately disclose the vast powers, the infinite variety and the ineffable charm of his mind and character.
He was primarily a veracious man, not in his written and spoken words alone, but in every instinct of his nature, in every impulse of his lofty soul, in every act of his noble life, as in all the varied expressions of his countenance the truth was the distinguishing feature. Deceit and guile had no place in his heart, but candor in thought and sentiment, and frankness in his declarations was his typical characteristic.
Simplicity in the operations of his mind, in the exercise of his soul, and in the conduct of his life was one of the sources of his unfailing success.
Courage of that pure and exalted type which is unconscious of self, and of that quality which grows in strength as the danger which confronts it thickens and continues; that courage which has its sanction in purity of heart, in unselfishness of aim and elevation of purpose. His soul was never daunted by the suddenness or the extremity of peril, and his eye never quailed before the face of mortal
