Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1860-01-10

nos 8. L. INSTRUMENTATION omHO,
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HON g. l.. g.ALE.ANDlGEIA1EsO OF 0EEEOs
81 nm
E,ectiun Of Speaker.
Delivered n ,s Houss Of Reprsssaaes Dssste Is, lss9.
Noi day nor an hour passes but the hoarse
cr0ang of this ravea is heard piercing the fearful
hollow 81 our ears. with moaning and dirge-like
wall the -NrvER MolG OF the Union of these statcs.
Sir in this war Of sections standing here Between I
the living and the dead we, the Democratic Repre-
aentanves OF the West and as one Of that number /
have a duty 10 perform which. tn all humbleness I
but ID al iaiihiaiIess shall be fulfilled. But toe
many Of You o. the North are striving with might
and main 70 force the South out OF this Unioa, and
too many Of you Of the South are most anxious TO
be forced out DO not deny it, either Of you.
know IL Sir. If any member should rise here and
tell me that there are disun0aists in the South
could believe il And when the gentleman from.
New York (lir. Clark,) or any one else, would pur
suade the South that there are no Abolitonists,
disunioniss in the North West he only insults the
intelligence Of the men upon whom he would inn
pose. Sir, if any colleague Of mine, or any other
gentleman from the free States upon this hool- viii
so far forget the solemn responsibilities of his Office
in midst of the great aud most alarming dangers
whercwith we are at this moment enc0mpassed and
Internationally. Of course, msrepresent the true
state Of public sentiment and public action in the
North and the northern portions of the West, J. at
least. will not consent 70 be party to the deception
tel gentlemen of the South that tire doctrines Of
Hale, Banks Seward, Giddings Chase, Lincoln, and,
above all Of the New York Tribune, the doctrines
of large majority Of the people Of the North, and
of powerful and for all efficient purposes Of POI
ltical action, controlling minority just now in the
West One c0umR Of editorial in the recognized Or
gans of the Republican party Of Ohio, circulating
every day among the masses Of the people, penerat-
ing into the homes and hearts Of every family act
ing and reacted upon by the public opinion which
they help to create and by which the public men of
this country SET up pulled dOwnat the ballot
box, is better evidence of the true Republican
tment OF OHIO han Thousand speeches from the
distinguished member for the seventh district OF that
State, gMr. COrwin)
/ Allusion has been made to the present state Of
parties and of public sentiment in the North and
West Sir, do not propose to speak &c any leugth
upOn this subject. The events are recent, and no
public man anywhere can have failed to observe
them. Ii is folly to deny that all through the North
and in many portions OF the Vest, distinct and very
4 earnest sympathy has been exhibited for John
Brown in his recent insHrrectiOnary and murderOus
invasion Of Virginia and that, too not by the yul
gar and low, but by very high in political socia
and religious positions. Funeral professions halls
draped ia mourning toling Of belsseEmons,e uloges
orations public meetings jOurnEent Of Senates and
! House of Representatives and all the other usual
nsgnsa of public SORROW bestowed only hitherto up
the great and the good, the patriots the heroes
and martyrs Of the world all these tributes, and
more, have been paid to the memory Of murderer
J ana lEiUu Even IN NY NMu lallfE otdA-s anu IN q
part of my own district, lament to say that these
sad evidences Of a corrupted public sentiment have
been exhibited. In Cleveland, fertile in revolution
airy conventions; in Akron, in Cincinnati, and else
where, in public assemblages and by other means
4 equally public and significant the svmpathy of
thousands has been expressed Sir it is vain TO at
tempt to conceal what all this means There is a
pnbc sentiment behind it all, or it never would be
tolerated. Thirty years ago John Brown. hung like
I a feGn. would have been buried like dog.
oda al 10 flfa TrniO
ings held, to be held, in the great cities Of the
North. Sir, Iw0ud not abate one jOt title from
the true value, least of ALL from the patriotism Of
these assembiages. When public meetings run along
with public sentiment they powerful to mold
and to give it efficiency but when they do not beat
responsive &c the popular heart they Of no value
No; one single page Of election returns is worth
more, index of real public sentiment than all
I the Union resolves which shall be passed between
this and the 4th of March. 1861 Let no man be de-
eeived If the distinguished gentleman from Ten
nessee OR. Nelson) be sincere-and know that he
is-in believing that the great mass of the people OF
the free states are opposed to the agitation of the
slavery question in any form and are ready to strike
hands with any party which will pur it down for
ever if he really thinks that but very small part
I of the North sympathlZe with John Brown or yield
assent-a cordial and working assent-tO the doc
trines Of William H. Seward, the 'rrepressioe con
fict' included full it is of instruction treason,
and murder if he believes that without the strong
/ arm of the Federal Government powerfully and in
coed faith stretched forth fugitive slaves could be
recaptured in half the free States of this Union
under any law Of Congress, can only say that he
I has the mild virtue of an honest heart-mOst mar
vel0us credulity. Sir, entertain for that gentleman
the very highest respect but he must alow to say
I that. aside from that portion Of his remarks the
other day. which breathed so much of earnest, sin
l cere and eloquent eulogy upon the UnOn-one such
speech, binding the eyes Of the people of the free
States to the real public sentiment the South does
more thus to keep alive the flames CT civil discOrd
between the South and the North and West, than a
hundred speeches. vehement and impassioned though
they may be, Of the gentleman from South Carolina,
CIr. Kett) Sir, when member Of this House, of
fine personal appearance Of sOnOrOus voice. of clas-
sic education and approved rhetorical excellence,
tells us with magnitcence of rhythm which reguT-
gitates through these aises peas along these gale
res perces the ceiling and loses itself amid the col
umns and scaffoldng Of the unfinished dome of the
Capitol that he will shater this Republic from tur-
ret to foundation stone, we are apt to understand
that he is executing grald rhetoric figure and
that he Is not half so much IN earnest as he would
have US imagine. But when a gentleman, mature
in years. with a cold logic calm demeanor. but a
sincere heart and earnest purpose, tells in the
midst Of invasion and murder-the legitimate and
inevitable fruits of the '-irreprcSsble conflict -
which has been proclaimed against his own section
that he is not alarmed. and believes that mis-
chief is intended we only understand that he in
vites aggression.
Sir. / am this moment reminded by the appear
ance Of the gentleman before me, (Alr. Briggs)
that need no better illustration Of the melancholy
change in pualic sentiment at the North within the
past few years. Here he sits upon the only national
side of this Chamber. sole eXemplar Of the lost pO
litcs of the Wing party. faithful among the faith
less only he sole representative of the flag Of
country solitary and alone, pjJUs mum (laugh-
. teri Sir does not all this mean something!
! But I viii pursue this subject no further find
/ no pleasure in it. | have said, and think the
dullest among cannot fail to discern it now, that
there is danger, great and most imminent danger Of
4 a speedy disruption Of the Union Of these States
Too many of you of the South desire it, and but too
many Of You of the North are either striving for
1 or reckless whother it comes Orn0t
Doyou ask me whether the election Of an ant-slav-
cry. sectional Republican President, upon a section
! al platform, pledged TO administer the government
for sectional purposes would, perse, be jLstiiabe
cause of disuni0ng cannot tell YOU But do tell YOU
as western man, and tell the gentleman from Ten
nessee. (llr. NFLsONl that when you of the South
shall have attained the numerical power and
strength in this Union, and shall then organize
Southern party, a Southern basis, and. under the
/ forms of the Constitution, shall elect Southern
President for the purpose of controlling all the
vast power and patronage and influence Of the gov
ernment by action or non-action, for the advance
ment Of Southern interests and above all. for the
purpose of extending slavery into States free.
VITA the design of making them all slave States
Will meet you the Irish patriot would have met
the invaders of lrelaud-Wth the sword in one hand
and a torch lin the Ouher dispute every inch Of
ground Duln every Dlaue OF grass Illl IN lasL IN
treuChmcnt of independence shall be my grave.
(Appause.) viii not wait for any overt act What.
Do | not know that fire will burn. that frost will
CONCEAL, that steel and poison viii DO their wolk
of destruction to the human system, that l shall
await the slow process of experiment to ascertain
their natural and inevitable effects Neyer-neyCP!
ErDaimg,tuYB ia Uh c0rpOrs
These Mr.. Clerk. are no new doctrines in the
country whence l come. Stronger sentiments, If
possible, uttered here upon this noOr ten years
,aH Of
Hon Robert c. Schenck, OF Dayton, my tellOw-eiti-
still, and the familiar friend OF the eloquent
gentleman before me, lMr. COrwin) an Old-lne
Wing now. with a slight, very slight, varnish Of Re
publcanism.
Allow me. sir to read what he said in a similar,
though not so alarming, crisis in public affairs. on
the 18th OF December, 1919:
If we of the northern States -
We had no West then sir; her existence and geo /
graphy have been asCertaIned and settled since
If we of the northern States would not vote for /
a southern man. merely because he IS southern |
man. and men OF the South will not vote for north
30.