Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1860-05-07
For the NashrilIe Pasrint

For the Nashville Patriot
Reply of Edwin H. Tenney to some
AboIitIoDists fn the North, ON be-
upon slavery. |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. May I'd, 1860.
GENTLEMEN Since babe adieu to New |
England and came to "Tenney-see," have |
often been interrogated by Abolitienists !
engagements professionally have deferred me
from expressing it. And in doing so, / must |
say to you that am not ungrateiul for your
assurance of the confidence and respect with
which my memory is cherished by those who
knew me best, mid the walled meadows and
pale landscapes of my childhood. To be the
recipient of such repose at a period when
life is all caloric, and the passions are I'M
grown. and among those who are too apt to
select the "mnister's son" as the hayward
child, and the standard of mamie cd from the
indiscrctiens of youth, is to every lover of
good name very consoling. Mid such emo
tons as these, differing Jas l widely do IRON
you in sentiment, / should, a patriot and
friend, rehearse to you the result OF my ex-
perience in a system upon which your feel
Jugs seem so volcanic, and on the perpetual
ton of which your interest and destiny de-
ponds. And in the act but perform a duty
which believe devolves upon every sou and
daughter of the MOI tn. in Southern State,
to tell to those behind the condition of the
Southern slave. and thereby disa buse their
minds of that prejudice which has only heat
ed for your frenzy, and drove your amity
away. Especially do l desire to correct this
sentiment in New Hampshire Ii l have a
partialty for that State, il is because il is the
land of my birth aHd The scenery of my
childhood. 1t is because that tile green clo-
yer il Lyme Cemetery is the cold ceiling of
my mothcr and In the alcove of its pale
granite my sweet sisters lie. Though last
SUNNI told me that The brads in my broth
er's coffin were loose and rafting, and the
CHEEK which once fed me with kisses and
blessings, q mean the cheek of my grand
motber.) is moulding aud cold, though the
meek oleander and rose-buSh, and fresh sod
del grave of neighbor aud friend, the new
scraped marble in the old church yard, the
feeble lilies, and locusts sober, and naples
and elm all weeping with decay, eloquent
with life s breyity, are there, my emotions of
AFT ctioR have not faded. and yet pray for
her welfare, though away. Fostering such
sentiments for tue spot of my nativity, with
heart treighted with sympathy, and L be-
lieve with a love to do right, l have wendell
my way through the sugar mills OF Louisiana,
the COTTON gins of Mississippi, and the plan
tations of Tennessee. Not wholly, therefore,
a stranger to its customs aud lite, consider
that tue completely of incidents in field, at
home. at the house of God, at the social gath
erIng, with all The latitude of privileges con-
ducive to the Africans health and happiness
here and hereafter. are data from which the
estimation of their physical condition should
De Judged. And Ia abiding to these scenes
cannot forget how often, in the dead twi-
light, have been lulled to repOse by their
patent songs, how high the clink of their
music has elated me, how quick their CHEEKY
whistle after honest toll is changed from
chorus TO u breakdown, how supple their
joints speak delight, and how swift Their
meaiy lips can articulate. Neither can L
forget the Gears l let go when, i'll curiosity,
first leaned in their sanctuary. heard their
prayers for their souls, and their masters,
whom they dearly love, asking just TO
meet them in heaven, then thought how in
prayers yOu We're cursiDg them, and when
they knelt before their affairs which have
b en erected everywhere have been, to COM
memorate the suferings of our Redeemcr.
certainly must tell you that thought God
was near. Matrimonial and social privileges
too, in extent with their religious, L have
found not to be otherwise. i have seen
Planters.
like Cato give their servants laws,
AID Lugh rip Int hearty mid their lar &c applause,
With laughter, su e, Democ-itus had died,
Had he behed his niggers grin so wide.
Chastiscment too. l have witnessed, but
they have ever been characterized by that
leuiency which the New England Patrial Gu
observes in disciplining his child. And here
might say that the healthy glow, the adj
pose frame, the polished skin, never a,tcn-
dants of suffering, which they very generally
wear, and the absence of those diseases local
and chronic which kill your negro North
aud our unexampled prosperity, besides the
fact that the longevity OF our slave is seven
per cent. greater than our whites, are argu
ments not insi gnificant in establishing the
fact that Southern slavery is a system which
has the appreciation of expediency and APP
prevail by God. l have thus given You my
opinion of it, pyhsica lily. and for my belief ill
it religiOusly. only refer you to the posi-
ton of Nathan Lord, of n. H.. and Parson
Brownlow, of Tennessee. Chershing such
sentiments as these, how can l but regret,
that the
ssSouth to virtue and her friends a friend,
The North forever murmur, nor commend"
How feel otherwise than sOrrowful, that
you should SO insult your intelligence as to
erect upon your suspicious a belief that
are tyrannical and uIercllesS; so rowlul lu-
d.cd. mat you should choose to be poisoned
by fabulous sentiment and 10 cackie Tor
the b, llwethers of a belligerent press; and
never at home show one drop of philanthro-
ply. The 10 600 black men in your Northern
cells, whose mouths now water for the bread
of lie, can never find salvation through your
prayers nor tell tales on your charity. Gould
they, il would have been enough for you
when in Kansas to have robbed us of our
slaves, without making widows of our wives
and curpses of our children. Enough TO
have drank of the amiable Potomac, and to
have kissed q soil fragrant with memories
that cgn never die, without making Month
cello sigh, aud Mount Vernon blush, by
making mincc meat of its citizens. Enough,
could your rapacity close here; but hear
from you again and you are invading our iir,-
sides. yes,
On tue slopes Of stream. jeweled with innocence
and petal'd with xers,
Is the city OF Nashville, where your wickedness
lowers.
Were | TO allude to this wickedness. must
refer you TO The negro, whose creduliiy was
imposed on few days since, till his deiusion
admitted him into some dry good" walls to
be nailed up for Canada, to the chcanery, 10
the departure, to the deceived Expressman,
to the detection, TO the busie. to the spoiled
OXYGEN within, aud to the disguised visage of
your adopted child. and should but give
You specimen of your treachery. All
these. with scores of others. ring in my memo
ry, tut they are only sorrowful prototypes
oi your sedItion and contumaey. They only
TOO eloquently assert, that you are IA libel on
our fame, aud a cancer in our confederacy.-
And If this mutiny against Jehovah must
still go on, If Europe with her foriorn mil
lions OF fr, ed black men don't put you 10
shane; in line, If your TON Cabins" damp
with falsrhoods and The lingo Of your pulpiIs
are 10 ner>r cease, do hope that Nh n your
Fsnst eism has eat up all their lies,
Cursed b. Thy reighOOrs, by Ctnada despisei,
10 friends, to slaves and to mank md shame.
You'll thiuk how posterity wiii treat your name;
Then buy RIPE, that future times may tell
Iau have at least bestowed one penny we'll
With firm respect for all who look to the
constitution ofmycountryas their tature hope
and with deter mination tn thrash ianatiesm
andA ickednrss wherever it NAV be found,