Weekly Clarksville chronicle. [volume] (Clarksville, Tenn.) 185?-1857, 1856-06-27
OF EG.GOg. NELL S. BROWN
ACCEPTING THE POST r. El.ECTcR
a1ReR THO STA-E AZ L1F'5R

LETTER OF E&.GOy. NELL S. REOWE
ACCEPTING THE POST r. El,ECTcR
~ AgR THO SEA@E AZ L1'F'5R
NAsuyiLLE, Juue 6, 1850
DEAR Srh; Your fayo5 of the i,b inst. has
been received, informing me 10 behalf OF the
Central Committee OF the American party, that
have been chosen as a candidate for Eectur tor
the State At large, TO supply one Of the existing
vacancies
While feel compIimened by this mark Of
confidence and regard, ancarcly regret .hct
The choice had not fallen oG some one clso.-
Compelled from sense Of duty To- NY private
interests, TO prosecute my profession. ard tired
0! political STRIFE 1t was mg scaled purpose
never again % participate iu Tie tolls or the
honors incident to pubic station. Besides this,
feel inadequate 10 the labor5 .. u canvass
over the State, conducted with the ordinary
diligence and spirit which have characte rsed
our past CONTESTS. These pleas have bgaied
me hitherto against any formal connection
with the electoral ticket | might rer0se upon
them now, and would be perfectly lus,iiabie
In declining the position offered me ladcr
lotdi1ary circumstances / certainly would do
so. But this is is my country. and will De the
country of my children a ter me- Aud if
have not over estimated the evils that now aElct
it, every man Is called upon to contribute his
share to the public service.
| Never, In any period of our history, hns our
government been worse conducted than during
the present administration. From a state of
profound repose, both in its foreign and domes-
tic relations, it has become an object of hatred
aud a by~word among the nations. We cou' d,
at this moment, reckon upon the countenauce
and favor of very few Among the nations of the
earth, while we are in constant danger of a
| breach with more than one. But evils of this
description are nothing Compared to those of
an internal character. ItSgss reserved to this
generation and to this year 10 witness The hrgt
instance ofeivi war 10 eas nidst. The spec
tacle is before our eyes. The infernql din has
been heard, Fraternal blood has been shed bg'
IEsiernal hands, and the strife still goes SnS.z.
Those who are Ia the possession of power,
were bound by every consideration to crush, i!
zctcfta gT5F t5sy
seem either TO be indifqseot, or 10 be under
tie dominion of some understandable fatality.
Better for our institutions and for the deetlny
of human liberty, that our whole sea coast
were occupied by foreign enemy, than that
there should be one drop u blood shed ln civil
quarrel. We could repol any foreign enemy
md repair his devgststions, and profit by the
ilOIdi DeNll5 OF Tue VlCtCIY. Dut WHAT power,
what yaloi csn repair eeetionsl breaches when
once corsunmaled ! Who can wipe out the
stain Of fratricide The chapter that records
il will be black and loathsome, but it must go
down and stand forever disgrace 10 US and our
country, and tc the cause Of popular liberty.
| 1t will not do to say that these things came OF
1 themselves, that they were una7oidabe They
had an origin, and thai origin is to be found in
an intermeddling with the question Of slavery,
unculled for by any cxigeacy Of the country.
| Under the Compromise of 1850, the differ
ent sections Of the Union that had been arr ayed
NjE fierce Gntagonism, were rapidly returning
70 a state OF harmony. Seldom has the heart
o. the nation beat freer or stronger than under
! the Ealluwed influences of those healing meas
ures Of 1850. The Union seemed TO acquire
/ new strength and new lease Of duration. But
this was not enough for those in power. They
deliberately reOpened the sources of agitation,
and from that hour to his the tendency has
been TO promote war of sections. Heart
burnlngs, civil strife and imminent danger TO
/ the Union, have been the first fruits OF their
/ legislation.
Admitting the abstract justice Of the main
| principles of the Kansas ard Nebraska act.
they are not ne y in the South, nor were they
new in the Union al large prior to the Missouri
| Sohi plbtbibt III iO@Vs i ud UleuSuTt was IG
sorted TO as a necessity to save the Union. II
( performed that Office then and since until 1854
The country, both North and South, had rep0-
sed upon il for thirty four years The Interests
of the South had not suffered by it. The opin'
ions and pTejudices of the North were respect
ed by it, 1t might have stood for centuries
as a monument of the patriotism which enacted
it, a boundary between slavery and anti slavery
until every hill aud valley TO the shorss OF the
Pacific should have felt the pressure and &C.
kn1wledged the dominion Of our advancing
population and until superior wisdom, nobleI
spirit of toleratlou and deeper love of Union
should have cbliberated the traces and ewes
the memories OF former discord.
And what have We gained by the change
Nothing. What are we to gain for the futue
Nothing. II will not make single slave State
Ii will not prevent single one from being
free. What has ii cost a fearful alienation
of feeling between the North and South, Grim
nation and recrimination- unwaraut
able denunciations of men and sections uttered
in high places, followed by personal assaults
and finally and chiefly, it cost civil war.
Who can contemplate the spectacle befor
ma without a feeling of shame and indignation
ii What will the world think of the reckless ca
reer we are now running What will pos
llerity think of tiff indeed we shall leav
pos.erhy the means of judging of our folly =
Men Of extreme opinions on both sides of th
Union, are pressing their theories with vehe
mence and spirit Of intolerance, that acknow
lodges no compromise while moderate men
national men, who sesin the wide scope @
, ,heir country and IN the visions OF glory au
happiness h at loom up In its future, somethin,
/ else to prompt their tolls and move their aspi
: rations besldes slavery or anti slavery, ar
denounced az tame subni issionistg, uutrue /
= the North OF 10 the South. What the SOFT
ueeds, what The North needs, what the Uuio
mus, have, is peace and tcPose Let the pre-