Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1860-12-31
..etters TO GeorgIa,s GREAT comnoner.

Has the Constitution, our political Union,
brought evil upon US instead of good? re-
member that the aged Langdon CheTes, ten
wears ago, perhaps in our own city of Nash
vile, characterized the Constitution of the
United States as a fetid mass, sinking in
the uostrils Of every honest man. l know
that R. Barnwell Rhett has said, that all true
craftsmanship in the South consists in so
shaping events as to bring about dissoIu-
ton of our present Union and d Southern
Confederacy. know that Northern malcon-
tents, also. from one of whom you quote in
your speech, proclaim their hostility to the
Constitution, as league with death-a COW
enant with hell. The Constitution has had
It's enemies from the beginning. It's adoption
was opposed by men of great talents and in
fiuence, and some of the States remained out
of the Union for many months. Ever since
that time the Constitution has been warred
upon openly or eovertIy by men who prefer
red license to law. 1 shall not undertake to
sert that our Constitution itself has brought
upon us the evils we now complain Of, or any
evils of consequence whatever, have never
been able to convince The people of the truth
Of their assertion. In the late Presidential
contest. even those who were at the moment
giving all diligence to so shape events as to
bring about dissolution of the Uniou-even
these were constrained to proclaim before a
Jealous people their attachment to the Con-
stitutiOn. But the positive good which our
constitutional Union has secured for us is
before the eyes of all men, Il found us a
poor little petty State, half united and hall
broken-part of iron and part of potter e
clay-with no adequate provision for the pay
ment of our public debt. for the insurance of
domestic tranquility-no adequate provision
for the common defence or general welfare
no security for the perpetuation of the bles-
sings OF liberty to ourselves and our pos
terlty-eommanding little respect at home or
abroad. 1t quickly made US the most pros
porous, happy and free people that exists or
ever existed on the face of the earth.
But as the serpent crept into Paradise, so
has the demon discord crept in among us.
We had no knowledge of good and evil-so
perfectly were we blessed. Disunion is to US
our forbidden fruit Faithfully and earnest
ly have our fathers warned US In the day
that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely
die" But they are among US who say, aye
shall no. surely die. But We shall be as
gcds.r And the foolish woman of South
Carolina is already putting forth her hand to
pluck the forbidden fruit. And then she will
give unto her husband, and he, though not de-
ceived, is expected to eat through generosity.
The evils which have grown up among US
in spite of our constitution and laws which
have simply grown out of the wicked machi-
nations and agitations OF demagogues-even
these are exaggerated and over-stated. 1t
has now become the fashion among the
friends of the Union, to vie with lite enemies
in bitter complaints against the other Sec
ton of our common country, in order to gain
the ear of sectionalism. see that you your
self have a decent respect for the current
customs of the times. But allow me to be
out of fashion. No extravagant. story is toe
| monstrous to obtain eredence among our
| people, if only it attribute something afro.
cious, in thought, word or deed, to the politi-
cal leaders or people OF the North. No
doubt many bad things are done and said. In
such world of common intercourse it were
reasonable to expect to find some evil Blu;
we should not too much fret because of evil
doors. The good things which men do. in
these times. is not mentioned; but we hear
of all the murders, rapes, robberies and other
crimes, until we would think that very bad
world is this world that we live in. But then
as if there were not enough real evil in the
land, we draw upon our imagination, and
| irfiame the minds of the people with the
most viIlainous fctions, and exaggerations o
things trivial. These things are getsen az
by wicked men, and handed round by indis-
Greet men, and believed by nearly all men
Let me give two instances by way of illns
tratien-one of the small kind, one of the
larger. But first the small, and afterwsrd:
the moro dfgniaed. Bariingame is a bad poi
tieian, Iha7e no doubt. never liked him