Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1860-10-18
THURSDAY MORNING. OCT. IS, 1860
Is the Union 10 be Dissolved

answering this question. We think we can
address our readers upon this great issue with
claim to their thoughtful attention, and we
trust that our present appeal will not be
made in vain.
We have foreseen from the outset of the
canvass that the paramount question to be
decided Icy The free and intelligent people of
the Unit-d States on the 9Th of November
would b. whether the Union of the States
uni tn Constitution, shall be continued or
not. Thai this is the real. true and para
mount issue. is now generally conceded by
ell. Being thus impressed and convinced
we have endeavored to elev ale ourselves and
the tone and matter of our discussions in
these columns 10 the seriousness and dignity
which are fitting TO decide gu stiOn of 80
great magnitude. We have gather, tUgetb-
er the evidences which have furcrd our own
mind to the conclusion above expressed, and
have laid them before those whom we hav
had the honor aud the pleasure to address, in
an entirely authentic form and with such
comment as our conviction OF truth and duty
to the country se,m med to demand. We have
sought TO avoid, as far as We Could under thr
unexanpled circumstances which surround
US. app, ar.Dg in the character of heat, d
partisan; and hence We have eschewed the
use of epithets and denunciaIion, and have
diligently ignored the idle and ephemeral
clap-Irap usually incident to merely party |
contests. We have striyen to look beyond |
the present to the future-to rise above party |
ties and associations and hopes-tO lose sight !
of the possible rewards. personal and selfish |
to any. that might attend the winning par
ty triumph, in the overwhelming considera,
tions of public and patriotic duty. We have |
Lot sung songs to the Union. regardless OF
the Constitutional rights and obligations of
individuals and States. The American peo-
pie, all, we trust, understand their rights
under the Constitution, and the reciprocal
duties and obligations growing out of their
Federal Association. We have not portrayed
the glories, the power and the blessings which
flow from the Union, and will continue to
flow from it, so long it shall exist as it
was originally designed. There is not a
patriotic American citizen from Maine to
Texas, We sincerely trust, who does not know
these, without telling. Therefore our labors
in the pending struggle have been devoted to
writing the current history, and appealing to
the common sense and common interest of
the conservative people everywhere to flee
the dangers which threaten US on the South
and the North. The Republic, we have felt
and now feel, is passing that wonderfully diff
cult and dangerous strait which separates the
rocks of Scylla from the whirlpool of Cha
rybdis. One party is telling US to shun the
one by trusting the other, and Uiee uersa. We
hsve said. the golden path Of safety lies 6et,Deen
the tiro. 1t is the art and duty of perilous
navigation to steer clear of both the fatal
dangers.
Are we warranted in our estimate of the !
true issue, Union or no longer UniOn--peace
or war? Is it true that party is nowhere in |
this contest, and that the Confederacy is the |
only issue? If We are wrong, where are your |
Banks, Tariffs, Internal improvements, Pub |
lie Lands, Strict Construction, Veto Power, |
Subtreasury? Where is your party, and what |
is it? What have the masses of the people |
dwindled into insignifcance?--are they not |
all held in allegiance, or grown altogether |
obsolete? We have none of them in NOvem- |
br. Our tickets arc silent on these ques- |
tons. We all vote in November for or |
against the Union. The fanatics on one side |
call it voting for or against The negro. and /
the fanatics on the other echo the proclama-
ton, for or against the negro. But IT Is FOR
Oh AGAINST THE UNION. r volve it, look al
ii, ponder it, and on all sides it crmes to that
at last.
What are you, patriots Of TennesseeI GO
ing to do? Are you content TO give up the
Union? Shall We appeal to you to rally to
the rescue, when the fact stares you with The
terrible glare OF Cyclop-? Do you. for mo
ment, suppose that you have no duty TO per-
form. but to go to the polls and deposit your
vote? Do you imagine that you are acting
truly to yourifellow- men to 60 silently aud
cast our ballot, when you have the slightest
reason to believe that such aeti"n will NOT
prevent dissolution and revolution? We
think we hear the echoing responses of our
readers, tar and near, coming up No! Non
Nom We think we hear you shouting to Us:
ave will go into the highways aud the by
ways, bearing the glorious flag of the
Constitution, the Union and the enforcement
OF the laws and invoking all men to make
q last stand under its ample folds. We will
go up and down the serted lines marshaled
for The struggle, and appeal to each man to
stand firmly and unfalteringly against the
coming shock. We will lay before them the
great truths which are coming to our ears
from all quarters, that the Republic is be-
leaguered, and every man must do his duty
his whole duty. We will see that man
Is left behind at the hour of the decisive on
set. We will leave no man behind. All, all,
must answer at the solemn call OF the ballot
roll. We will take our positions on the
ground at early dawn. and We will stand on
il till the last gun is fired. What mortal men
may do TO secure fair and an honorable
trismph, we will do" We feel assured that
such is the language bresthed in the inner
soul of every genuine friend of the Union
who reads the PATRIOT. Upon it we rest our
hone: upon it we build our trust; and in it
we look forward to the greeting OF most
victory. 1t is this assurance that
Flows within and warns our heart to exclaim
IN the monumental fervor of WEBRTER: LIB
,rty and Union, now and forever, one and
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