Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1860-12-14
LETTER FROM Ex-Gov. NELL S. BROWN.


inst has been received, requesting my opinions
and views upon the present condition of Our
public affairs 1 wish l were able to answer
you, as becomes the magnitude of the occasion.
Hitherto, the part L have been called TO per
form IN politics, has been OF beaten track and
In the line of precedents- We are now sum
moned to survey a field new to Us all We
are in the midst of revolution, at which the
Eisest of Us may well stand aghast- / share
with those who lament most this state of things,
and am ready to share with those who are most
willing to ascertain and apply just remedy
Our cherished Union is in danger of dissOlu-
ton, and We are required as American citizens
and patriots, by all that Is dear to Us and our
children, TO look the peril in the face and meet
It as best We can 1 am Union man, and
have been since my first lessons upon the
origin and history of our government And if
there has been any one thing on earth which
1 have worshiped more than all others, It Is the
American Union All my ideas of our strength,
progress and glory as a nation, have been con
eentrated in the Union and its preservation
1t was the Union of the American colonies that
achieved our independence 1t was this same
Union under the articles of confederation that
maintained languid national existence, until
dire necessity prompted ''the formation of
more perfect Union by the establishment of our
present constitution This last event was, in
my opinion, the greatest political achievement
in the whole history of the human race 1t was
the act of a free and enlightened people, In
augurating for the first time their existence
among the nations of the earth. It gave them
power over themselves which they had never
enjoyed before 1t gave them an influence
over others, which they had not been able to
exert. 1t supplied revenue to pay their debts
TO build navy; to erect lighthouses; to con-
struct forts; to maintain army; to conquer
the wilderness and To extend and protect the
march of settlement Under this same Union
our population has increased in seventy-one
years, from three to thirty millions. The
States have multiplied from thirteen to thirty
three Our territory has extended from the
Atlantic beach, on down far away over the
paths of the buffalo and the wild savage, to the
shores of the Participating out Ike vast
panorama, with all its yariegated beauty Our
immense mercantile marine, now Eivalling that
of the mistress of the seas, derived its origin
from the same source, and owes its unparalleled
growth and expansion to the same benignant
and fostering power. l might ask what would
have been the condition and prospects
of Tennessee to-day, but for the Union?
Would it have been a State at all2 or a
battle ground between the pioneer and the red
man of the forest? Or, if a State, would it
have contained its present population, wealth
and resources-its smiling fields and prosper
Gus cities, towns and villages? Would we be
the owners of the vast territory beyond the
Mississippi? Would the vaIlies of the South
now TEEN with cotton, rice and sugar, which en-
ter so largely into the consumption Of the world?
Would we have the full command of the great
father of waters, and the fourishing emporium |
at its mouth? These are speculatiOns which |
we cannot solve with certainty, but instead of |
possessing all these, with the boundless fruits |
vet in store, do not believe We would have |
been live nation to-day but for this same |
Union-we would long since have persisted |
from the earth by intestine feuds, or become |
an easy prey to a foreign sJoiler and gone |
back to provincial vasseIiage In point of |
material progress, orr history is without par
allel- We were few-now we are many. We |
were weaL-now we are strong and mighty |
and i.nvineible. We were pOor-now we are |
rich In all that can minister to the wants, and |
even the fancies, of man. We have by our |
growth excited the wonder of the world, and |
COMPOUNDED all the old theories of government.
And all this has been accomplished within the |
lifetime of some now living.
1t would be impossible to estimate the indi- |
viduaI wealth which owes its acquisition and |
accumulation to our present government |
Though wrought out by private effort, combin-
ed with good fortune, it was in the soil of the |
Constitution and laws that it grew, as the plants
in the garden where they are reared. Much is
due, Also in this aspect, to the power of the |
government to protect the fortunes of the ira
der or adventurer in foreign countries, and
the fidelity with which that power has been
exerted is standing testimonial in its behalf
But there is another point of view in which
the value of the gov eminent MAJ be regarded,
which though less striking to the senses, has
been of far more importance to US and to the
woodland that is, its infuenceupon the arts |
and seiences-upOn religion, civilization and
liberty. Within the period of our history, 1
maintain, that no nation has ever accomplished
so much in these respects. Look at our schools
and colleges all over the landi Look at our
newspaper press and its vast extentl 1t has
been estimated that there are more newspapers
in one single State than on the whole continent
of Europe-and that there are more books
sold in certain other State than in the whole
of Germany. This results from the combined |
free spirit of enterprise and general prosperity,
inspired and largely produced by the govern
ment itself. The fine arts, too, have been il
Illustrated by our people to an extent fattering |
to our national pride. This has been the coun-
try of inventions In all the useful and ordina-
nv branches of art; aad the traveller in distant /
portions of the earth viii find here and there |
monuments of the genius of his countrymen, |
among the devices to abridge labor and to pro
mote the comfort and happiness of man
No people can be found as intelligent as
those of the United States, or SO thoroughly
imbued with the principles of rational liberty
that liberty which needs no defence and i'm
poses no restraints but what are to be found /
in law and order. Among what other people /
on earth has religion been 50 widely diffused?
It has come down from its pampered height, |
and mingles with its votaries as companion
It's affairs are every wherein the palaces of
the city, and in the log structures of the far
west Upon its banner is emblazoned, no i'm
,,or;aI devices and no sneeiai insionia nj ,,rc