Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-09-18

/ or we must oppose them. VIC must aid him in over
throwing the Constitution Of the United States or
we must oppose his usurpstions. Wemust aid him
in building upon the ruins of the fair fabric of
constitutional liberty despotic authority as arbi@
trary as that of an oriental despot, or we must
battle ike men for the preservation of the prnei-
pies of liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. We
must be his instruments to drag from their homes
and immune in his numerous dungeons. all who have
enough Of independence in their natures to express
aisapprobatioh Of his policy, or we must actively
oppose that policy We must consent in order that
his imperial will shall have undspnied sway, that
the Judicial ermiBe shah be trampled beneath bis
unhsllowed feet, or we must determine to maintain
the principles of liberty expounded by the judi
cial tribunals. ,.-...i ...s..,.s
We must aid him in revviDg the lsiire De cache.
that instrument of tyranny which banishes his po-
litical victims to the prisons Of his numerous Bias,
tiles; like the men of another day, we must wipe
away these relics of barbarian, which the advocate
Of free speech has revived as a means Of ensaEing
US. We must sustain an usurped tyranny which
has utilization with the Constitution or with jus
tice must resist the application of the letters
with which he seeks to bind US.
We must lay our lives, our fortunes, our honor,
our liberty st his feet in order that he may consent
to be the master Of willing slaves or like men who
at least are descended from freemen, we must with
our own arms make good our clam to legitimate
parentage. These, freemen of Kentucky, are the
issues which have been forced upon US. %
Hitherto Kentucky has been to great extent ex
empt from the evils with which the President has
sought to afiiet our sister Southern States We
have been lulled with the syren song of peace into
lethargy from which it was hoped we would not
awake. Wehave been told that the armies of des-
pOtism which are te encEmp upon our soil win not
eruRh petal Of the most delicate flower or bruise
a blade Of grass, that deeerates our fields Jet
wherever they have gone, though in some instances
commanded by soldiers unsurpassed in the best
ualities of men, their course is marked by desola
tion, snd lighted by the flames of burning fields
and houses. 1t might rather be said of than, as of
the hosts of Attils that where they once pass the
grass never growsl The resident promised peace
to our mother, Virginia be promised peace to our
daughter, Missouri; he now sings in our ears the
delusive sound IL is the peace which reigns in his
water.girt Bastes; it is the peace which is found
in the graves of his victims. s
Freemen of Kentucky we have been slow to OBJ
pose the usurpations of ABsAHAM LiScorN We
have heard his promises that he would observe the
neutrality Of Kentucky. and we have heard the
echoed resssurances Ct his chosen instruments. We
have seen the lzwess military organizations which
for months he has been engaged in introducing
moDgst Us, TO Overawe the true sentiment Of Ken
lucky. We have witnessed the clandestine intro
duction amongst US Of arms and munitions, and the
establishment in defiance of the Constitution, of his
military camps to subjugate to the will of a
Northern fanaticism. We have seen a portion Of
our own people, while preaching peace and good
will towards ourselves and our brethren of the
South, drawing from beneath the cloak of neutrality
the assassin dsgger, which is aimed to pierce our
hearts When It's point is already at our breast,
this mssk is at last thrown aside and we suddenly
find SON OF Kentucky, gentleman distinguished
in history, but willing servant to execute the
win Of his master, coming amongst Us to direct the
blow which other slaves have prepared. When
our own Legislature, disregarding every obligation
imposed upon them by justice, humanity and the
Constitution, have stripped us of The defences which
they were bound TO throw around US when the
gold Of PmLIIP has opened the gates of Athens
when her guardians, equally influenced by craven
fear and by vena ayarice haveas they think exposed
the fair form of Kentucky easy prey to the raw
isher, this gentleman now steps forward from his
chosen place in history to rivet the chains which
are intended 10 make her the victim and the slave
Of ustful ambition. ..t g.
Men of Kentucky are we indeed slaves, that we
thus to be dragged in chains the feet of desrotc
power? Are the virtues of ancestors buried with
them in their graves? Must loyalty to cOnstitu
tiona liberty be measured only by our seryty to the
fco Of hall hanl
our trembling knees before this modern Gesler, and
bow to the tyrant's cap which is held up the OBJ
jet of our worship? We're our liberties given us
but to be trampled beneath tbs feet Of Abraham
Lincoln? Has God so stamped his ignoble brow and
meagre intellect with His special seal that we are
fit for no higher than obey his mandates and to
fill his dungeons?
Let US rise, freemen Of Kentucky, and show that
we are worthy of our sires. Let US show the mat
rons Of kentucky that they still the mothers of
men. Let our wives still regard US as thar pro-
tectOrs from the atrocities with which they are
threatened Let the fair maidens of our beautiful
land be convinced by your deeds that the youth of
the dark and bloody ground" are worthy alike of
the smiles which they bsstow upon you living, and
of the tears with which they may water your pa
triot graves. Though we may ignobly bend our
necks to receive the CALLING yeke Of Northern
despotism, shall we not raise an arm to defend the
proud women of Kentucky from the fate which is
impending over them? 1i s /
For one, will enter the lists for freedom. Ileve
the wild hills and beautiful valleys of my native |
land Your sires and mine won them from the |
savage. 1t devolves on ua to defend them |
from the inyasions of a scarcely less msr-
ciless foe, whose hyena like yells call for |
the determination. of people. We will not |
yiel without struggle our lovely land to be de-
spoiled by the anatical hordes of the North. With
the help of God whose aid we implore in our holy
cause, we will beat back the invader from our |
sh ores cur fathers beat back the savage from |
the homes Of those whose sons now show their
gratitude by returning to easaYe u.s.
Citizens of Kentucky, we who are now contend,
ing for freedom and for constitutional liberty, have
cen true ard loyal in cur observance of the Con-
stituuon. 1t is not we who have trampled its prin-
ciples beneath our feet and called into being a mls
tary despotsm, which threatens the existence of
civil liberty. We revered the Constitution as the
ark of civil liberty We loved the Union as the
means of perpetuating its principles. When the
Union ceases to accomplish that end and instead,
serves only as the means of founding a military
des potism, it is the destruction of the Constitution