Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1855-06-21
JUNE 10Th, '55.


On Monday the 9TH of May last, at the court
bous, ia Shel5yviIle, Col GENTRY, seemingly upon
the authority of pamphlet which he held IN bis
hand and from which he appeared to read, charged
Gov Johnson with having made speech before
an Industrial or Agricultural Congress in New
York. in which the principal actors and speakers
were aboii,ionists. The charge was specifically
rade in the following manner: After reading from
the pamphlet the names of several of the speak
ers, who he pronounced, in a running common
tary, sbolitionists OF the worst kind Col. GENTRY
exclaimed to his hearers, /" Who do you suppose
spohs ne1tS" Then turning to Gov. JoHssoN, said
g thou art the man.
This Gov. JOHNSON promptly denied. whereupon
Col GENTRY said that The would not Insist upon it,
denied, that he did not know it to be so, but
only had it from information"
Now, there are two prominent points in this
occurrence which deserve to be remembered az we
pass along. The irst the charge distinctly made
that Gov JOHNSON had made the speech before an
Industrial Congress" OF leading sbolltionists.
And secondly that the evidence of the truth of the
charge was contained in the book which Col. Gen
TRY held in his hand There was not, nor could
there have been, any dispute on that day, o. with
in any reasonable time thereafter, about the pre-
else terms of the charge made, nor as to the man
ner of its preferring. There could not have been
any dispute then about Col Gentrys referring to
speech supposed to have been made before an
Industrial Congress" and not at the Land re.
form meeting" for Col. Gentry held the pamphlet
in his hand containing history of the proceedings
of the Industrial Congress" and read extracts
therefrom, upon which he commented. A large
crowd was present, who heard the charge and de.
NAL who fully understood it, and saw Col. Gen.
try sink under the effect. If there had been q
| witness present who knew the charge made by
Col Gentry TO be true, and the denial false that
| witness should have been called up instantly, and
the question of veracty settled then and there il
the presence and hearing Of that great politca
jury of the country. 1t really made no difference
whether TIE charge was, that Gov. JOHNSON made
speech before the " Industrial Congress, or &c
the Land Reformers," if the charge was true snG
the denial false and if the denial, $50 promptly
and uaequioooaRy made, impugned the veracty o.
the informant present, it only made it the more
imperative upon Col Gentry's witness to vindicatt
himself upon the spot. He should have come for
ward at once and sustained his friend in the truth
if truth it was, and rebuked the falsehood, If the
| denial was untrue.
But one month is suffered to elapse, from the
eth of May until the 10th of June, before one wore
| is said and then, after the candidates have can
res.ad half tho Stats nornaa the lattar of E1var
| Cooper, Esq. and then does not come d" the teSti
noRg Of others" alluded to in his letter as SO es
sential For all that is in that letter, Mr.. Coope
might have az well delivered his testimony befor,
the crowd and in the presence of Gov JOHNSON
There was the accuser and the accused, the wit
ness and the triers. All was ready then for thu
! settlement of the question; the issue was fully
made, and Mr.. Cooper was present. Why did h'
not afford to Gov. Johnson the constitutionalrigh
to meet the witness face to face"
But, as have said, more than q month is per
mitted to elapse in silence. The excitement o
various elections has tendency to obscure to sorn'
extent the precise nature and terms Of charge
verbally made before hearers more or less warmed
by the occasion. At the least after 50 long time
squsbble might be raised as to what Col. Gentry
| did charge, and thus afford some, although ar
equivocal, avenue of escape Witness the effec
OF time and circumstances, and perhaps necessity
upon this particular case. Mr. Cooper, in his let
ter, tells Col. Gentry that &" he mag repeat on hi
authority the charge Substantially made in Shelby
vile in relation TO the speech of Gov. johnson
made in New York in the summer of 1852 to the
Lind Retor1ners" See there now what comes o
a witness not speaking at the proper time. Ar
issue, as to the most material fact in the whole
case, just because the witness chose to hold hi.
peace month. Iheard and saw the whole Ac.
cordng TO my recollection, and that of others with
whom have compared, Gentry said not one word
about the meeting Of the g land r,tormers." He
charged Gov. Johnson with having made speech
before the " Industrial Congress, an abolition con-
cern,' end twas that allegation which was repealed
/ by Gov. johnson. Now if he had only spoken
ont on the 9TH of May when the matter was fresh
when there was no time given for evasion or mis-.
! construction, forgetfulnees or lodging all would
have been settled without difficulty 1t canno. be
said that be waited to procure "tbe testimony o,
others" for after all the delay, he has INDUCED u.
with no such evidence. 1t is little singular that
Mr. Cooper does not state in any part of bis letter
that he was at the meeting Of the 4" Land Reform.
ers," or that he saw Gov. johnson there, or heard
him make the speech. And not less singular is it,
that Mr.. Brooks advising Gov. Johnson not to 90,
should be taken az proof that he was at the meet
ing. Notwithstanding this meagre proof it may be
that Gov. Johnson solicitous TO pass the Homestead
bill, and TO secure the poor settler home upon
the public lands, did attend some public demon
stration in favor Of the law. do not know that
this was so; but if he had, and Greely and other
abolitionists present. the reproach comes with
peculiar bad grace from gentlemen whose parti-
sans and allies have been for the last fortnight, if
they are not at this very moment, in the act of
fraterniZing with nearly the whole body Of abolr-
tionsts in the North in their know nothing con-
vention. One thing is certain-Mr. Cooper's
statement that Gov. Johnson spoke at the Land
reform meeting" does not sustain Col Gentrv's
charge that be was speaking in the Industrial Con-
gress, nor does it prove that Congress to be an
abolition concern. And it will be further borne in
mind, that Col Gentry had his evidence in the
shape Of book or pamphlet, and was not
relying at the time he made the charge, for evil
dence, upon the er post tacto letter of Mr. Cooper
L Il