Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1855-06-10

much as myself that this aspersion should be
thrown off. And -. ~ ~ - -, !
1 -4th. Introduce no new matter, and when this
reply Is published we will again stand on even
ground, and you viii be fully justified in refusing
anything further on the subject. p s7e- :
/. sos ts5us ESQ Yours &c, ,5q '.-l 81 i.
| 'saH zoe y e-'@1'. sa' Wm. s. LAsGDos !
To the Rev. James Smith, D. D.. Z
SIR:- psfl 8afa s8 eco s.s 81 saaf
After preparation of ten days, your labored
| production addressed to our humble self. has
! made its appearance in this wicked world That
widely circulated paper, the Union and American,
of Friday morning, the 9Th inst, is the fortunate
instrument, through which it finds its way to the
gaze ofmen. ~ m ...3 ~s9,r.s adr IN
we will inform you in the outset of our reply
thatwe reverence gray hairs, and as little as yeu
may suppose it, bow with respect to the aged and
way-worH. Hence in our former article we used
no harsh word concerning you, nor do we intend
to in this. We know our station, and the spirit
of our Saviour's teachings better. That article,
you doubtless remember, contained but few sem
tences from our own pen; but was made up, prin.-
cipaiy, of extracts from your own writings. If
that proved severe and grated harshly upon your
sensitive nature, this may prove much more so,
Notwithstanding our utmost endeayer to render it
as mild and kind as possible. The pruning knife
must be used, however, and its wounds NAV be
pail to bear. .
In the very commencement of your reply you
make statement that needs proving. You say:
Had you made your onslaught in the sheet of which
you are editor would have treated it with the same ST.
ence have heretofore observed in relation to the various
attacks which have been made upon from that
The truth of this statement, we deny We
have not made "various attacks" upon YOU in the
Banner of Peace, nor have they been made in
that paper.
The second point you make, is an attack upon
our character. You hold US up to the world as a
violator OF the Decalogue-as guilty of a crime so
dark that we "can render no apology that will
justify u.s." And what, forsooth, is this mighty
guilt that "cannot be extenuated," that we have
broughtupon US, for which there is no forgiveness.
Why, simply the publication of our article in a
paper that was dated, "Sunday morningg Now
and Publisher, we should have been disposed to
have smiled at his ignorance, and passed over the
large portion of his article, taken up with this
matter. in silence But he is well acquainted
with the printing business, and made this thurst
at our character, with a full knowledge of the
facts before him. he knew that our daily pa
pers, that are dated Sunday morning. are ell print
ed on Saturday evenng!-that the Monday morn
ing papers are the ones, that set their type on
Sunday, if any do! Aye! he well knew that every
type Of our article was set on Saturday, that the
proof was read on Saturday, and that every reyo-
luton of the press was made on Saturday, and
he alse knew, if we had delayed our article for
Monday mornings paper, that this whole work
must have been performed on Sunday -
Besides our article was first published in the
Tr-weekly Union, as this will also be, that came
out on Saturday, that being the day yofits regular
publication, and was transferred from that
issue to the Daily of Sunday morning. Poor
whited wall! How intense must have been the
venom that instigated so deadly thurst, as you
have endeavored to make! But we forbear.
The reason we did not wait for our own paper,
simply was, we understood the Assembly would
probably adjourn on Monday, and we wished you,
and all your brethren to know that your misreprs-
sentations of the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church, could not be permitted to pass in silence.
Had we waited till you and they had left, your
cry would have been, that we were afraid to meet
you face to face; but after you had gone, and
could not defend yourself, we could be very bold
What we do, we do openly. We shall not thrust
at you in the dark, nor print behind your back
If the paper containing our article was dis
tributed in the Church on Monday, it was done
withou: our knowledge, nor do we know who did
it, or hadit done we must say, we are truly thank
fol to the man who did it.
Your third point is q charge that we exhibited
ga bad spirit" and had can evil design" against
you, because you say we did not tell our "readers
what the subject under discussion in the
Assembly, that ELECTED your speech" Now so
far from this charge being we'll founded, the very
first thing we did do, was to inform our readers
what the question was on which your speech was
made. Every one who read our article knows
this to be true, and, consequently, knows what
reliance to place upon your statements. "Was
this charge honorable! Was it worthy chris
tian ministeri" |
As to exasperating many of the members of
our church against you personally, as you main |
tain was our design, you must excuse us for
saying, that the members of our church have but |
very little concern about you, except, perhaps, |
those who hold large claims against you for mo-
ney that has never been paid. 1
Instead of your speaking in terms of "high
of Cumberland Prcsbytsrians,
your whole remarks, were understood differently.
So plain was your attack upon our church, that
one Of vour own ministers turned to a C. Pres