Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-03-29

chanze 20 be made
Letter to Henry Lord Broughsm, ny a
American Foreign Minister.
| From the PhilaSelShiA Press.
Mr. LoRD:-Two events Of recent occurrence
trfing in themselves, except when regarded in con
pection With the peculiar cireumstsnces of the time
| In which they occurred have contributed more to-
wards the Identification of your Lordship's name
with the political cOnvulsien which the year Of
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-oae II
now witnessing in America and with the sut-slsve-
ry movement, in which it has had its origin, thar
| all which you have hitherto accomplished curing
your long and brilliant career as en- English states
man.
With xeal which has known no hagging-with
resolution which was appalled, by no probable OF
possible cousequenoes-Eith an ability which is
| fully accorded by your adverssries-and with an
| esrnestness which would seem to preclude any
doubt Of your sincerity, you have lahored for the
overthrow Of that institution Of African slavery 10
America, which has existed from period long an
terror to the incorporation of the Republic in tue
family Of nations.
In this lifetime labor however, you have been
| identified with others of your compatriots, who
have exhibited the same pertnRcity Of purpose and
| equal to your own the great exponents Of Eng
| fish sentiment ald English policy.
Is has been the fortune Of your lordship through
the instrumsntsly OF the two events referred to,
to nscrihe your name far above these of your fell
low-laborers, in the roll Of the recognized exem-
| plars Of British sentiment and British policy.
The first Of these ocsacions offered 70 your lors-
ship the opportunity, in an assembly Of distinguish
ed dgniaries from almost every nation Of the civil
lxea world, Of procsiming. in effect. your belief in
the equality Of The races Of man. and the special
claims Of African then present to be regarded
worthy and ft assOciste for the noble Peers Of
Englsrd.
II your iordship had been eontented with the ut
terance Of this simple expression Of opinion, it
would probably have been forgotten by those who
we're your auditors, ALMOST ss soon as uttered. II
by any accident, representative man Of the mil
lions of Anglo-Saxon blood and Anglo. color,
who have sighed in vain to attain to that social
rank and station which you so readily accorded in
that august aseemblsge Of pFiaces and mobiles, and
statesmen, to this sooiy African, hsd bestowed q
passing notice upsn this paragraph in your lord
ships speech the subj would doubtless have been
dismissed after brief commentary. with the very
natural aud charitable { tbservstion, that Peer
Of England had an undoubted right 10 choose his
own associates, and might be expected to compre-
hend better thsn another the qualifications and
characteristics Of fthose who should be regarded s.
ssrthy Of such association.
But your lordship entertained deeper purpose
You desired to hold up to obiquy great nation On
the opposite side OF the Aflsntic and in order to
stsrtle your audience by the magnitude and the
enormity Of its crimes, you proclaimed thepresence
Of the diplomatic representative Of that nation
which held in the bonds Of slavery millions Of q
race OF people, of which you then and there Presen-
ted faithful type, and to whom you assigned an
equality of socisl rauk with the nobler order, OF
which your iordship. in the estimation Of your fell
low countrymen, is faithful representative.
Your lordship's design was skilfuly, and s-tis
tically and dramatically executed. To be received
and acknowledged as peer, in such an assembly,
was certainly, in your lordship's estimation, to bs
placed upon pinnacle OF social and moral eleva-
ton Which few could hope TO reacb while the doom
of the slaves upon the plantations OF America was
degradation bey ond which there no lower depth
The worthy representative Of the oppressed, Ind
the official representative Of the hated oppressor
were both present before you. Both we're in q for
eip land and both Strangers and your guests.
Disregsrding these pressing claims upon your for
| bearance-scting. il may be, upon the conviction
that the claims Of God and humanity were more
than paramount 10 all other considerations, you
held ihem up, SIS it Wece to the gaze Of Jour audi
snce as Of the victim and Of tie
slsycr-of virtue and Of vice-of freedom and OF
despotism-sf all that was worthy to be loved, aud
| Of all that should be mated.
The occasion was one which precluded reply or
explanation. The generous the refined, the intel
lectas, the noble representative Of despised and
down -trodden race, stood revealed before 81 mps-
thizipg audience, in sll the majesty Of injur-
| ed innocence while there, toe, stood the spoiler
the embodiment Of the stupendous crime Of his
country.
It would probably be presDmptuOus in me to
question the good taste displayed by your lordship,
either in your choice Of the occasion, in your
manner of treating one Of these stranger guests.
am willing to concede that your lordship should
| know better than the rules Of poiteness and
| good breeding proper to be observed IN an as,
semblage of mobiles aud high digsiIsries. gathered
in the great capital Of the civilized world,
| and presided over by the Prince Consort Of Eng
lands nobIest Queen. Upon this collateral point
would not dare to make up issue with your lord
ship the more especially your audience, by the
applause with which it greeted your remarks, has
| already recorded its verdict in ysur favor.
| The main purpose Of your lordship was achiev-
ed--the contrast you suggested startled she world
l by its magnitude. The Irrelevsncy Of the subject
to that which your auditors had assembled to con-
| sider gave to the incident notoriety which was
magnified by It's very isolation; while the event
| has been perpetuated in the memory Of the multi
tude by the prinsey character Of the audience be-
fore whom the scene was 30 dramatically enacted.
! From that moment, America has recognized IN the
| questionable gallsntry of your achievement the
| qualities which have made you the great champion
| Of British Abolitionism.
| will now pass to the SECOND event, which has
served. in still greater degree, By expanding the
field of your operation, to strengthen and to CEN
firm you in the position which, BY common consent,
| has been previously assigned to you. But, before
sdtering directly upon the subject, alsw me to re-
Ter to an incident which occurred, not great while
ago. at spot not more tb an three thousand miles
distant from that great centre Of civilization in
which your lordship moves.
| A Murdsrsr in another continent closed long
| career of crime under the galleWs Th-re vaa
| nothing peculiar in this fact, for such has been
| often the fate Of murderers in England, America,
| and elsewhere. But this was william Of no ordi-
| nary stamp. His victims we're not stalwart aen
| alone, but defenceisss women and little children.
He did not slay in The glare of MONDAY sun, ~
O common robber at the head cf bis haod Of retain
ers but he killed in the quiet hours of the night
and the slumbers Of innocence were startled by the
deaih-shrieks Of his u9suspectng victims. But III:
| crimes had not their beginning in these fol
| which he sutfsrsd ignominious death. They
extended over series Of years. and the Hsi
for which with his life he paid the fOrfeik
| was by means the worst. myself haVs
seen and known the unhappy victims Of his earlier
crimes have seen and known the happy wife and
| mother-happy in the innocence and purity of hel
life though humble in her ststion-sbd have seer
her again in all the desolation Of ehiidlsss wild
owhoOd. Dreadful, indeed, were the scenes ,hrougs
| which that peor woman passed during the brie
space Of one short night She was sleeping in fan
cisd security when the spoilers came to her humbl'
log cabin and peesed through the unbsrred doer Il
the bedsides Of her sleeping husband and children
Your lordship knows the rest, and will be brief
They we're four when they laid down to rest, tina
dresdfol night. The morning dswned upon th'
living woman, surrounded by the lifeless and mutt
lated bodies of her husband and children.
The chief criminal In this drama Of bleed, en-
toldened by immunity, changed the scene and en-
larged the field Of his operations. At Harper
Ferry, he again uusheaihed his bloody dagger. an,
again was the hour Of midnight made terrible b.
the death struggles Of bis unWatching victims. Am
/ NOT right, then, in ssying that John Brown was
| villain Of no ordinary stamp? Sans men, in con
temptation Of the magnitude Of his crimes, hav
said that he was mad. while @Od3n have exsltsS
the damon into q sdiHf and mourn for him as mar
tyr in holy csusel s N
II was upon the Sd dsy Of December, 1860, tbs
his friends and partisans assembled in the city 0
Boston 70 eee brate the first anniveYaaYy cf his msV