Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1855-05-18
From tie Ne'0 H,nip&h're Patriot.
TIE COUNCIL OF TEN.

against the most vrtuous and patriotic citizens in
secret, and In secret 1t conducted its victms in ST.
lence AID in gloom,r TO sudden and mysterious
death. 1t inquired, sentenced and punished &C.
cordng TO what it called reasons of State The
public eye never penetrated its mysteries; the &C.
cused was rarely heard; he was never confronted
with witnesses the condemnation secret as
the inquiry, and the punishment undivulged like
both. This tribunal gradually acquired control Of
every branch of the government, and exercised
despotlc power over every question. 1t annulled
at pleasure all DEGREES, degraded members from
their offices, and even deposed and put TO death
the Chief Magistrate 1t was an object alike of
terror and detestaton to those whom it oppressed
under the pretext of protecting their rights And
yet its diabolcal cunning prolonged its existence
until the genius of Napoleon Frustrated it in the
dust, with so many other relics of cruelty and in
tolerance.
People of New Hampsnirei there exists at this
moment among you Council of Ten, as fearful
and as pregnant with danger to your liberties as
was that of Venice to her oppressed citizens. You
have been accustomed, in the bounty of your
hearts, to look upon this republic as beyond dan
ger. In company with your fellow-ctzens of
other States you have successfully resisted foreign
intervention, and repealed with triumph the con-
quering legions of the most arrogant nation on the
earth. You have advanced your triumphant oan-
ners to that proud city which Cortez gloried in add
| ing to the Spanish empire. You have scattered
the seeds of civilization throughout realms before
untrodden by any human footsteps but those of
| the Indian Y GU have seen your population adj
vancing, your wealth increasing, and your country
teeming with the fruits Of physical and intellectual
| iabor. And you fondy think that you are safe;
] that each of you and your children are for long
| years, to have share in government, the very
| breath of whose nostrils is freedom of opinion
| one of whose cardinal doctrines is an open and
| oc
| that you live under a constitution which permits
you to reward intelligence and uprightness by Sc
lectng for your public trusts those among you who
| are marked by such qualities.
But be not deceived The sceptre is even now
passing from your grasp, will be irrecoverably lost
unless you trampe 10 the dust the traitors who are
clutching at it with all the despair of disappointed
ambition. An unholy cabal of fifth rate pettifog-
ging lawyers, mouldy political hacks and Nam
mon seeking parsons, is seeking to wind the coils
Of the serpent around you, and to strange you in
its embrace. The grand council of know -nothings
have sworn by the only god they worship-that
| is, Misunderstanding hatred to political free
dom and popular supremacy. These decayed aris-
tocrals these shameless bigots, these ravening po
tcal banditti, these utterly desperate traitors 10
the country that gave them birth, are organizing
scheme whose details would strike terror into your
hearts, if fully disclosed. They have combined to
destroy every institution that stands in their way
and to PROSTATE every man who will not do their
| bidding. Every town has its branch of the con-
| spiracy. Secret signs and passwords and num-
meries used to impress the imagination, and un-
lawful oaths are administered binding the unhappy
members to subject themselves like slaves and vas
sails to the dictaton of this terrible oligarchy-
Meanwhile the Council of Ten, the controlling power
of this Infamous conspiracy, squats.in its noisome
retreat like toad swetering IN its own venom,
or bloated spider spinning its web over the State
1t sends forts its DEGREES to its bond slaves "Pros
trate it says "ths man, for he has too much edu-
cation Destroy that one; be is too intelligent |
Ruin your best friend, for he has too much indie
pendenceP And with the spectacle before it Of
triumphant tyranny and bgolry in Massachusetts,
it confidently expects like victory over the free
| men of New Hampshire! But you had better write
your in characters Of blood upon your thres
holds, and escape with your wives and children
to some far country by the light of your burn
ing houses, than crouch to this insolent oil
| garchy Why should you live here when life
has lost all that is worth living for when you
may be stabbed by an assassin in the back, or
slain by an unseen arrow from him you supposed
your dearest friend? Are you content to crawl
out at twilight like birds of evil omen to creep into
blind alleys to hover around the back "slums" of
your cities and villages, to start at every passing
tread lest some honest man should see you to
move with muffled face and stealthy step, and
uOuUIe upOu JOuI udChS DIS ii YOUR were d ullel
with the officers of justice in pursuit of you, and
with this sckenng consciousness of shame to grope
your way to the den where such animals herd
and with trembling hand give the mystic signal
which admits you into this community of sir? p
And when you are admitted and the door of PAN
demonium is closed, are you content to leave all
hope behng you, and renew before God the oath
GU have taken to do the bidding your disreputs-
BILE tyraats? 1t is incredible that any one worthy
of the name and rights of a freeman can do this
You will not cast this disgrace upon the mothers
who bore you, and whose veins are filed with the
bloods oi76 You will not thus bastardze your
descent from the men of the revolution No leave
that to the abolitionists, who with philanthropy
upon their tougnes, have treason and murder in
their heartsl Leave it to the traitors who prayed
that the Mexicans would welcome your fellow
citizens with bloody hand to hospitable graves ="
Is it supposed that this language is too strong
and that these are unwarrantable charges2 De-
pend upon it the half is not yet told. No faction
IN the history Of our coutry has ever struggled
through its vicious life that has been one-half SC
dangerous as this secret organization. 1t unites in
it self all the worst qualities of the various fac
tons that have aimed TO wound their country
through the democratic party Its only avoWsd
bond of union is shame and disgrace 1t is STAN
ding libel upon oil that has made America the re
fuge of the oppressed. By it every man is pro-
scrbed who is either Catholic himself or whose
wife is Catholicl This includes the patriotic Gas
ton, of North Carolina; the venerable Charles
Carroll Of Carrolton, and other sgners of the i'm.
mortal declaration ofindependence, as well as the
present admirable and learned Chief Justice of the
United States, and many others as pure ard patri
otto men as can be found in the country And
every man is to be prescribed, no matter how
honest and intelligent who came TO this country
at the age of twenty until he is forty-one years
old What shall we say then, of the devoted La
Fayette, the gallant Sterling, the chivalrous Mont
gomery-of Pulaski the brave and generous
the statesman Gallatin?-of the thousands of noble
souls who shed their blood for u.s. and counselled
with our fathers in the stormy days of the repub-
icl But mol America for the Americans, " and
the Americans for the know-nothingsr This is
the secret spur-this is the " exceeding great re-
ward" that they shall lay the rod the backs OF
the people, aud the people shall kiss it, and smile
and beg them, lift is not too much trouble to lay
it on little harder! This they anticipate, and
this they are determined to accomplish, though all
the rights of humanity, the constitution, the laws,
every public right, every private right shall stand
in their way. The paltriest petifogger-the shabi-
est political hacks CT more value than every
man among us who ever breathed the air Of Europe,
in the eyes of this ruthless and intolerant Council
Of Ten.
Hereafter when this wretched faction fills dis
honorable grave, and its carcass reeks with pot-
cal corruption, how can any man stand up before
r. h.,