Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1858-05-09

a
The subject Of the prOpriety Of inviting the Hon
Edward Everett to the South, ard clarifying him
here is again the subject Of public discussion Ihigly
respect that sensitive Southern delicacy which is
prepared TO revolt at dseourlesy to distinguished
men, and 1 am therefore unwilling to be supposed
capable Of having WantOnly Or Improperly objected
TO having my name so used. 1 did not approve Of
Mr.. Everetfs invitation here yet the proceedings Of
public meeting here exhibited me so approving,
and inasmuch as had very recently before that
time, been required to act as a representative in
Congress on tlgo subjects, each Of which, Of great i'm
portanoe-the Sumner onslaught upon the South,
and the very qutesseDce Of AbolinOnism, as coneen
tTated mi rebellion and laWlessness in Kansas on
which l knew Mr. Everett fully Unidentified with, and
cooperating with if not leading these movements,
could not remain silent, yet 1 simply published a
subscription paper which Mr.. Everett had signed
and referred to a speech he had made for similsr
sentiments That subscription paper was as follows
sBeing DESTROYS Of expressing to Hon. Charles
Sumner, in some permanent and appropriate Iorm'
our admiration Of his spotless public and private
charscter-our lively gratitude for his dauntless
courage, in defence Of freedom on the noor Of Con
gress, and especially our unqualified appreciation
Of his speech in behalf Of Free Kansas, delivered In
the Senate on the 10th Of May mst-a speech
characterized by comprehensive knowledge Of the
subject BY logical acuteness and Spartan inrepdity
in its chastisement Of iniquity, for which he has
well nigh lost his Hfe at che brutal aud c0Wardly
hand Of crerture for which, thanks 70 the rarity
of their appearance, the Eagish tongue has as yet
no appropriate name, We deem it alike privilege
and an honor to participate in Offering him some
suitable token Of cur sentiments For this purpose,
we subscribe the several sums set Opposit cur
names"
The speech referred to, was predatory to his ad-
dress on Washington, and is as follows:
stAn irresponsible sadness takes possession my
heart at the occurrences Of the past week, and the
most serious apprehensions force themselves upon
me- that events are already in train-With impulse
too mighty 10 be resisted-Which will our
beloved country to weep tears Of blood through all
her borders for generations 10 The cival war
for such it is-Wth its horrid train Of piage, fire
and slaughter, carried on, without the slightest pro-
vocation, against tbs infant settlements Of our
brethren on the frontier Of the Union;-the worse
than civil war; which has for months ragged unre
buked at the Capitol Of the Union, andhas atlengh
by an act of lsWless violence, Of which know no
psraleln the history Of constitutional government,
stained the floor Of the Senate chamber With the
blood Of an unarmed, defencsless mau, aad Scna-
Tor of Massachusetts,. All my Is, these are
events which, for the good name, the peace the
safety of the couutryfOr the cause Of free instiu
lions throughout the world; it we're worth all the
gold Of California, to blot from the record Of the
past week"
Seeing these publications, a personal friend of
Mr. EVERETT, resident in Knoxville, sent them to
him, to which Mr. EVERETT replied and which re-
ply, having been furnished Mr. SNEED, accompanies
his card. The substance of Mr. .EvERETT's defence
is that when the intelligence Of the assault on
SUMNER reached Boston, it produced an excitement
deeper and more dangerous than he had ever wit
messed. He says:
d" It was the opinion of some persons, that if
leader daring and reckless enough, had presented
he NIGHT has
TO march on Washington. By rejecting men, the
daplorabe act was regarded the beginning Of the
end;' the spark which was but too likely 90 kindle
the train, whose explosion would rend the Union
Letters from Washington informed US that the men,
bers had generally armed themselves, and if the
predictions received by me from impartial
source had been fulfilled and the crack Of the revolt
yer been heard all round the House Of Represen-
tatives, the event would have been inevitable"
An indignation meeting was called at Fanuiel
Hall which Mr.. EVERETT declined attending but
says:
"In the course Of the following week, having
occasion to repeat my address the character Of
Washington prefaced it with few remarks on
the recent occurrences the object Of which vas TO
imPaTt 8 more chastened and sober temper to the
fiery indignation which pervaded the community.
These predatory remarks are as quoted above by
Mr. SxERD. Then follows his apology for signing
the testimonial to the spOtless public and private
character of Mr.. SUMNER, the simple purport Of
which is that the paper was presented to him at a
time wnen he was in bad health, and that he signed
it without reading it-that as he saw it in
the public prints he informed various parties that
he could not have signed the paper if he had been
aware of /" the spirit in which it was drafted and
the terms in which it was expressed" and that "as
soon as Mr.. SUMMERS health was sufficiently
stored to make it proper to do so" he wrote him to
the same effect Mr.. EVERETT then adds:
Others who subscribed the paper did it, as I am
informed, either without reading it at all, or so
hastily as not to be well Of its character
When meeting of the subscribers called, it
was agreed-partly as l understood for this reason
and 10 accordance with the expressed wishes of
Mr.. Sumner to take no further steps in the premi-
SEES and to apply the subscribed to the relief
of the sufferers in Kansas, which was accordingly
done. This meeting was held at a time when l was
absent at Newport, but fully approved its doiugs.
1 ought TO add that it is well known, that 1 have
condemned from the outset, and still most decidedly
condemn the policy Of the late Administration to-
ward Kansas l opposed the Kansas-Ne braska bill
in the Territorial Committee, Of which was mem
ber | voted against the amendment TO the bill, By
which the Missouri Compromise was repealed. l
opposed the bill, to the best Of my ability, in a
speech delivered in the Senate, on the 9Th Of Feb
should have voted sgainst it on its passage, las l
stated in my place the next meeting Of the Sen
ate } had not severe illness compelled me at half
past three O'Clock in the morning, TO leave the Sen
ate chamber before the vote was taken Informed
my Southern political friends when the bill was
brought in, that it ought to be entitled bill to
''annihilate all conservative feeling in the non
slsvholdiag States "
With these views Of the subject though as trust,
for reasons higher than any effect party politics
fully cOHcurrsd IN the main line Of argument IN Mr..
Summers speech. Abstaining, however habitually
myself, from all personalities in debate, aud be-
lieving that they always irritate, and never per
susde convince; / could not, of course, bestow
my unqualified appreciation" on the manner in
which he treated the subject, intentionally give
my saotioR the violent and offensive language of
the subscription paper alluded to, and inadvertent
ly signed by
1t will be seen from the foregoing that upon ma
turer reflection, and even now, that Mr.. EVERETT
'fuly concurs in the main line of argument in Mr.
SUMMERS speech and that it is only the "person-
alties in debate" that he could not bestow his I'M
qualified appreciation Oh. To this Mr.. SNEED calls
attention in the conclusion of his card which is as
follows
Now the matter Of public National Importance in
the Brooks and Sumner difficulty, was 1.-THE main
line Of argument in Mr. Summers speech'-all be-
yond this personal, and this Mr.. Everett approved
and even the personal involvements of that affair
are by Mr.. Everett violently denounced in his
OWE speech, and in the speech so acceptably done
in the estimation Of the PrOcurer Of signatures to
the subscription paper, that he, for that reason,
calls for Mr. Everetts signature and gets it mad.
yertently; yet l cannot see, confess, why he who
spoke and approved the week before the extract
quoted from his speech, and yet approves it, can
object to violence Of subscription paper But though
I admired BrOOks-was his friend-Was on the same
committee with him, and officially acted in bearing
his corpse to the tomb, yet 1t the public question
so UNANIMOUSLY held and published in 1.-THE main line
Of the argument in Mr. Summers speech which
operated upon me.
And now, as to Kansas had voted 50 had the
Senate OF the United States to the loss Of the Army
appropriation bill at the first session Of '34th Con-
gress and had persisted inducing necessity for an
extra session Of Congress- and all this rather than
allow "blsck repUblicauism to incorporate proviso
in it, refusing to pay the troops in Kansas. The
speech of Mr. Eyerets extract Of which is given
herein-referred d heretofore was in June before
and was the frst-the leading publication Of which
l had knowledge, assuming the ground that the use
Of the Army in Kansas ruthless waglng of
civil war and that the troops should not be maid
and this abolition provisO to the army bill was a
natural result therefrom. The Emigrant Aid Socie-
In hal 9TH