Daily Nashville Patriot

An Acorn from The Tomb of Washington PLANTED IN RUSSIA BY THE EMPEROR,--On the 22d of February, Gov. Pickens, of South Carolina, (who was recently minister to Russia), made a short address to a military company in Charleston, in the course of which he made the following happy allusion to the universal respect for Gen. Washington:

I remember, while in a distant court of Europe, and at the most despotic of all governments, that on a memorable occasion I visited the magnificent gardens that surround Peterhoff, near St. Petersburg. The gardens and grounds were dedicated to the enjoyment and peaceful pursuits of the greatest and most brilliant of courts. On a remote island of these magnificent grounds that had been set aside for the private enjoyment and private walks of the Emperor and Empress, a tree was pointed out to me in the garden, cultivated by particular and devoted hands, surrounded by wire-wicket work, and flowers flourishing all around it. There stood on one branch of the tree a large breastplate, and on one side of that plate, in German, and on the other side, in Slavonic, was written, "This tree was planted in 1839, by Nicholas, from an acorn that grew near the tomb of the great Washington." This was the inscription upon that tree, placed there by one of the most absolute rulers that ever swayed the sceptre of empire. And yet, in his private, secluded gardens, he paid this deep and heartfelt tribute to the memory of the greatest and purest man the world ever saw. He did not take an acorn from near the tomb of the great Elizabeth; nor did he take it from the garden of the Tuileries, grown in the time of Louis XIV; nor did he take it from the tomb of the great Napoleon; nor did he take it from the garden of the Caesars, near Rome; but he took an acorn from the tomb of a pure and mighty man in the wilds of America, who planted the seeds of a government consecrated to the freedom and independence of nations, whose every principle was directly at war with the principles of its own government; and yet so great were the virtues and integrity of Washington, that even this mighty monarch, in private and secret, paid to him his heartfelt and deep tribute. The tree was watered and cultivated with more care than any of the trees in that garden. It was flourishing and green, and I trust in God it will continue to flourish green and fresh until its branches shall overspread the civilized world.

I have also seen the Cossack of the Don and the Volga; I have seen the Lancers of Russia, and I have seen the Tartar and the Arab in the wilds of the interior, and yet, notwithstanding their semi-barbarian life, even they converse of the mighty Washington in their tents at night. There is no portion of the world that has not heard of his name, and love and admire his great and manly truthfulness and virtue.