Daily Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1860-1862, 1861-02-06
S L-irer frs.n rslsr !. Holman.

d Dear Sir In the Bdnnef Of Saturday, |
found, TO my great surprises cali on me TO ex-
press my views through the medium of the
/ press upon the questions which now agitate our
beloved country. In reply 10 this request,
made by some of my friends in such fatter-
ing manner and With SO undeserved appellation,
! permit me TO state that only claim to be pri-
vate citizen, not versed in political affairs, and
7 that feel Iny embarrassment and incapacity
to express IN ! views publicly on this most inn
portant and all absorbing subject. 1t is true,
l have sometimes expressed myself, and per-
haps with some warmth and deep commisera-
ton, about the threatening destruction Of
this great Republic; but knowing that all
l can say will not add feathers weight in
the scales of either of the parties which now,
in the South, try to maintain and demand from
the general Government the rights guaranteed
to them by the Constitution, and who only
differ in the mode of redressing the wrongs
which were inflicted by the free upon the slave
holding States, mostrespectfuly would beg to
be excused from giving my humble opinions to
the public; but as an entire silence on my part
would, under the circumstances not be cour-
teous, and may place me in wrong position
with some of my friends, and being anxious
not to be misunderstood, l beg to. be
permitted to state, in a few words, my senti
ments in regard to this pending momentous
question of Union or Dissolution. The South,
have made my home, and in this good city
have lived % years, and here have learned
to love the country of my adoption. That my
heart, my feelings and my sympathies are with
the South and for Southern rights, l believe
does not require confirmation; but it is but fair
to state, that from the beginning of the pres
ent struggle, 1 was strenuously opposed to Sc
cession by separate State action, doubling and
fearing that expectancy, at the same time am
also bitterly opposed to coercion in any form
by the Government, and also to premature re-
sort to arms by any of the seeded States, and
ardently in favor of concerted action by the
fifteen sIaveholding States, unitedly to demand
their constitutional rights in the Union and
from the Government of the United States, to
which myself passiOnately attached, and
to which will cling as long as there is ray
of hope for its preservation.
|
ment, ''Sir, the subject talk of is the eye
of England. If there be speek or two in the
eve, we endeavor to take them off. He would
be strange oculst who would pull out the
eye"
If there is speck or two in the laws made
by Congress, or in the laws made by Northern
States which are unconstitutional and oppres
sive to Southern States, let the sovereign peo-
pie take them off and discard designing politi-
clans, who propose, as remedy for the evil the
destruction of this great and glorious Union.
Who can forshadOw the consequences when
| the Southern States are irrevocably separated
from the Northern States and arrayed against
each other in constant hostility, or who can
guarantee Southern Confederacy of any du-
ration when based upon the fundamental prin-
| ciple-right Of secession. Therefore, when the
/ Crittenden resolutions have entirely failed,
when all honorable means of compromise are
exhausted and the fanatical politicians of the
| North have rejected the last propositions by
which the Northern and the Southern States
may remain united Tor under the present state
of affairs may be reunited) then will l be found
| in the front rank in the defence of Southern
| rights
Which of the seeding States, permit me to
! ask, will chain and keep captive the American
Eagle, who now so majestically scars from
| the Atlantic to the Pacific, who rests
upon the granite Hills of the icy North and
bathes his pIumage in the Gulf of the sunny
South, who spreads his protecting wings over
the Stars and Stripes every ocean, and with |
| that flag, is most welcome stranger into every |
| port. -4
But what a gloomy future will not present |
| itself, when the last columns of the Constitu- |
ton are torn from under the majestic dome |
which sheltered the palladium of Liberty, that |
mighty structure, cemented by the wisdom and |
the blood OF your fathers, and which yet stands, |
the admiration of the civilized world; when |
that Temple lies in ruins and under it are |
buried all the glorious recollections OF the |
| past, then indeed will be time to weep for |
fallen greatness. And who and where Is the |
architect who, from its fragments, can erect an
| other edifce of equal grandeur, strength aud
| beauty. JESS
| There are some of my friends who, from |
| our former peculiar associations, ought to |
| know me well, and whom shall always cher
sb with the kindest feelings-to them, perhaps, |
| | may take the liberty to say:-do not act too |
rashly. Draw not your sword without just |
cause; sheath it not without honor" Go TO |
our Capitol and look upon that tattered ''blue
eagled banner" under which you have fought |
| so VIGOROUSLY in foreign land, not for Ten |
| nessee alone but as Tennesseeans, tor the |
whole Union, it was and is yet the standard of
! the United States. who, ask, dare to tear 1t |
from its resting place and trample 1t in the |
| dust None of you would do it. mol the |
sight of it would rather inspire you with addi- |
tional patriotism and love for this great Union,
which | hope through wise providence and
| the wisdom of some of our great and good
men may yet be preserved, and stand beacon
light to liberty for the whole world and an
everlasting monument to its preservers.
When the patriotism of the American peo
pie and the wisdom of their statesmen cannot
keep these States united, then it will be fallacy
for the patriots of my fatheriand who thirst for
freedom, any longer to try to unite all the
| German States into one great constitutional
Empire, and the mOnarchs of Europe will be
confirmed in their conclusions that liberty
exists only in name, and that the people are
incapable of self government
These are my convictions, and although L
may differ in some respects with many of my
fellow-citizens, l trust that they will grant me
that am not "a submissonist," and l have
before stated, when all honorable means of re-
Cancellation by the people have failed to keep
the Southern and the Northern States united,
and this now so prosperous country must be
severed land which, God forbid by the sword)
then will you find me in the darkest hour of
our peril, fighting for the Rights of the South
and a Southern Confederacy.
/ have said more than / intended, excuse me
for tresspassing so much on your valuable
space. Your obedient servant,