The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1855-07-27

Hon. Aaron v. Brown.

Hon. Aaron ". Brown.
The following extract Of letter from Cover.
nor Aaron V. Brown, OF Tennessee, to Judge Tar.
Pley, Mississippi, is published in the Mississip.
plan:
NASHVILLE, May s9rh, 1855.
ALI wise and good men should depore the start.
ing of new questions and issues To distract the at.
ieniion OF our sou.hern people al the present 0.
ment. There IS not now, and cannot really be,
bot one great and absorbing question for the con-
slderafIon ot the Souh-thr question OF self pre-.
servatlnn. She cannot lose Twelve hundred mil.
lions "f slave property and live bur in poverty and
dishonor. The very next session of Congress
opens the grand attack upon her, and il will quire
the united and harmonious co-oporatnn Of every
man OF every party to make good her Defence
Now, the readiness with which many of our
people have run into the Know Nothing movement
without Inqulrng where il was to lead them,
rar, is an indication that they not conscious
OF the danger that threatens them. or are ndifF+r.
ent to The dreudiu! results. Still, we must not
despair. Ii they heed not the thunder in the dis
tance, perhaps they may awake when it breaks in
awful peas over their heads.
In no State, Of the South at least, have we ever
been endangered by the Catholic or fnrelgner-
Neither The one nor the other hns ever DENIED or
invaded our rights under the constitution. Where
few solitary exec ptIOns TO this remark be
pointed out, We can point 10 hundreds and rhous
ands in the North, native born Protestants, too,
who have, and yet daily putting the cnnstitu-
ton aside and numbering people, for other
crime than attempting lawfully TO reclaim their
own property. AT this moment and Tor years
back. the nbnlltionis aud freesoiIer hates and alb
hors his native born brethren at the South more
than he hates the Catholic foreIgner Put to
him the quesrIon al any time. which he had rnther
prevent from voting or holding ofice-the Catho-
lie and foreigner, or the Shareholder OF the South,
and he will tell you the Shareholder. Indeed, this
movement against these two prescribed classes is
only mnde the first step The final disfranchi>e-
meat OF the STAKEHOLDER. The great and
weight OF Democracy has been in the Southern
or sIavehoIding States. Ii has been so from The
time parties first formed, IN the days of JEFF
ltrson and The elder Adams. The fact that for
eigners, both Prnpsant and Catholics. after be-
coming narurHlIz~d, have most commonly (not
universally by any means) voted with the Demo
cratic parry. has cng"ndered all this hostility to
them. They rgard them having sustained the
institution of slavery, because they sustained the
Democratic party, existing mainly IN the slave
Stntcs. To get clear Of the foreigner ia therefore,
in their view get clear of the Democracy. und
thus TO get clear Of the accursed sav-tr"drr Such
IS the reasoning of The fanatic and bgOt.
Lei no man say that these are not the motives
prompting to this nefnrinus movement, but that he
same 10 be found in commended" zeal for
true ard vital religion in our land Why,it is
notorious that men Of undoubted pi"ty have had
the least TO do with mummeries and prosecutions
OF the new nrd.r. Look around you and see how
many councils have men founded by grave and
pious individuals. Who is it that has come from
d ant quarter. 70 organize and Inirinie Who are
they that observed 10 close and sly persuasIons
10 the inexperienced come forward and be ad.
mi,teG Not the moral and religious, but the no.
tnrousy ungodly, VINO never before exhib' d any
respect for true religion, and who indeed, know
and care nothing about i.
Ii anv one shall think of the name Of this or
that minister of The Gospel who has joined the
order, The exec ptons DOES not overturn, but con.
Fl irms .he rule. Al ministers not pinus, and
some administer or receive The most horrId voIun-
tary naths IN secret, who YET publicly lncuIrate
he Scriptursl Injunction. 'Swear not at all You
know my habituaI respect for tn" clerical prnes-
sion. but, far as Protestant clergy men have en-
gagged in :his prrsrcuion consider il one Of the
most discr-dilablr incidents of the age.
Very sincerely and .ulv yours.
AARON V. BROWN.