Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-01-19

men, we beg OF you to beware, least you warm 4
wiper to life that will sting you to DEATH We ars
one people, one race, one class. Wealth and power
ty are the accidents of the hour Let not our rae,
nor blood be debased by SO great a crime agains
nature the abolition of those distinctions whicI
the Almighty in his wisdom has thought proper Il
create.
| Freemen OF Tennessee, but few short weeks re
main till the contest shall be decided whether on
proud and gallant State shall be chained TO the ca
of Black Republicanism, degraded and despse,
even by those to whom we shall make our humbI
submission, or stand erect the proud peer of on
naughty adversary, masters of our own destiny
For so great boon what labor what sacrifice is to-
great The glory of the achievement, though
may not dim the laurels, will rival in lustre tn
proudest deeds of our heroic ancestors. But on
object is not now to discuss these questions but Il
indicate only the general principles and purposes o
our organization. We are no longer Wings or Dem
ocrats. appointed by men of different party asso
Citations, ourselves different as to past party ques
tons, organization knows no man, whatever
may have been his former standing, but by the par
which he shall play in this great work of the South
ern heart to plant our beloved State immovably up
on the rock of fathers, the unalienable right
freemen to dethrone despotism under whatever
guise it may seek to ensave us, and establish sucE
government and such alliances as shall best secure
/ our peace safety and happiness. ezs
We shall not stop to inquire whether the threat.
of Northern States and Northern statesmen, are in
tended only to intimidate people who love peace
rather than war, if it may honorably be avoided
whether it be the real purpose of the Black Repub
lcans, to the sovereign States Of the South
into obedience, and hold them as degraded, subju
gated provinces. The men of Tennessee whose
blades have glittered upon hundred battle fields
and who never yet turned their back upon a foe
will not now in the hour of their countrys greatest
peril sink back like the hunted wolf, into the
mountain fastness. Our houses and our cities may
be reduced to ashes, our women and children turn
ed adr to seek shelter from the peltng of the pitt
less storm, under the caverns roof yet by the he
roic endurance alone of freeuen, we should make
our very desolaon, should we be driven to such
extremity, bring ruin upon enemy. God has
given to the tiniest creature the sting Of death.
Driven to despair we may turn upon our adver-
sary and carry the war home upon him, with which
he now threatens us. The tenure of prop.
erty is there, ns here, founded in legislation
sound morality. We are no argrarians. But by the
mmutable law of Heaven it is decreed that retribu-
tive vengeance shall sooner later oYertake those
who defy the ordinances of equal and fraternal JUS
tice. The iniquty which now visited upon US may
yet turn to and blast the inventor. The SER
pent. maddened by its own venom, may yet iniict
its own death wound. But while we would nerve
hearts to the maintenance of our rights even at
the hazard of ell the dread realities of war; yet we
dare affirm that if Tennessee, shall side by side with
her sister State Virginia plant herself Enthusiastically
by. the States which shall already have seeded by
the 4th of March, the question of peace or war is
settled. For then, even should the other Southern
States hesitate for moment, they would soon fol-
ow, and the idea of coercion would be forever ban
shed from the thoughts of the most fanaiical-
Prompt action, therefore, is peace; Submission ,cdr
We may then as independent States, dictate our own
terms for reconstruction of the Union, and
not till then. If the North desire to avoid
such an issue, let them aecede to such guar
antees as viii be acceptable to the whole South,
before the purse and the sword of the Federal Coy
eminent are grasped by Black Republican Ad-
ministration. Delay is death. We will not here
call in question the motives of those. who after for
ty years of warfare upon our rights, ask US st to
wait yet while longer. We only know that any
hope based upon the repentance of Northern fanat-
icism, or an agreement of sentiment in reference
to the distracting questions by which are SO rad
ically and so unhappily divided, and worse than
idle and that without such accord of sentiment
without fraterna feeling even if concessions were
possible under mere Guress, our Union would con
tnue to be, it has been in the past only scene
of strife, of discord, of angry elimination and re-
elimination, and dangerous to our domestic peace
The bold gallant and patriotic stand which you
have assumed, has already carried terror to the
hearts of the submissonlsts; and while protesting
to agree with US in our determination to maintain
our rights, he adroity seeks to foil our purpose by
intended only for delay and ultimately
for defeat Be not deceived. Trust none but those
whom you know to be trne to your own sympa-
thies, and the great purpose of Southern deliver
ance now and forever from the VIZ ongs AMI insults
of Northern fanaticism. Fling your banner boldly
to the breeze, and let us know such word as fail
WIZ. WILLIAMS, Chairman
ARCHER CHEATHAM, |
S. G. GoDSHAII.,
JAMES r. BRUCE,
GEO. W..CuNNNGHM,
L. II. WILLIAMSON,
D. F. CHEATHAM,
WIN. S. FLIPPN,
State Central Southern Rights A1lt Coercion Committee.