Daily Nashville union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1862, 1862-05-23
crush the Rebellion aud save the
onion.

We 90 not desire TO see merely 2
Suppression Of the Rebellion The safety
and quietude Of this great nation, long
mensced by consolidated oligarchy,
and now assailed by it with demoniac
fury, imperatiyely demands that it be
crushed TO the very earth, and stamped
upon and ground 70 powder. The day
of compromise with traitors has gone
forever, if, indeed, there ever was day
10 compromise with men who plotted
their country's ruin. We have not one
concession TO make TO the Rebel leaders.
Let them send forward their white
flags, their olive branches, their propo-
sitions for armistices and tTuces, but our
only answer TO all this shall be Sur
render Internationally, or we move on
your ranks Immediately with our army
of six hundred thousand, and our re-
serve of one hundred thousand, to be
indefinitely increased should the for
tunes of war demand it. We look up
on WEBsTER's oft-guoted sentiment
Liberty and Union, one and insepara-
ble," as more than declamatory flour
ish il is logical and laconic express
sion of grand truth, that the Federal
Union Of the States is the cOrporeal
form which embodies the soul of liberty,
and that when you give the beautiful
and god-like body a fatal stab, the di-
vine spirit which flashed from its eyes
and beamed in every motion of its inn
perial form, will take its departure for
ever Union and Liberty Union and
Free Government Union and the rights
of man You cannot separate them;
they care united by a hgament like
that which binds the twins Of Siam
in indissoluble brotherhood. They
are welded in an everlasting covenant a
marriage bond which can never be brok-.
en- unless bothpay the forfeitIof existence
We have thenfoae grand purpose to fulfill,
and thatis the salvation o.. the Federal
Union. The first step towards the at
tainment Of this purpose is to c,ush,t the
rebellion. We must keep this beacon
Light in view and for the present disre-
gard all minor issues. Our love for the
Union must not be OVershadowed by side
issues. In contending for a permanent
good we must not letit drop to grasp at
some mere accident which is only tenn
porary. 1t would seem as if the ques-
ton of African slavery, the curse of
American politics. which haunts us for
ever like some malignant ghost, is a mat
ter of more importance to some timorous
politicians, than the very existence of
the republic. They actually propose
checking the advance of our armies for
fear the slaves of some rebel who has Civ
On money and clothing and horses and
food TO the Confederate forces may run
of. They are terrified at the suggestion
that possibly some rebel who has fired
from hazel thicket on some struggling
Union soldier, and joined MORGAN or
CHANT FBRGUsoN in a midnight raid up
on some Bank, or railroad bridge should
lose a negro. They are so impressed by
The salutary effects of cancellation that
they actually turn Union soldiers
and Officers into a posse to exc
cute the fugitive slave law for the benefit
Of men whose hands are red with the
blood Of heroes who fell fighting under
the flag of the republic, Now the alter
native continually urged by rebel sym
psthizers on loyal men of the South,
care you for the Union or Slavery" is an
absurd one, and absurd because its exist
ence is utterly impossible. The most
sagacious and practical statesmen of the
South have always contended that the
sole safety of slavery was in the Union
fOr.the moment the line OF division was
drawn its swift decay was certain The
alternative Of the rebels then is prepos-
ferrous. You cen have no slavery with.
out the Union But if such an alterna-
tive as the death of this great government
with oil its free and noble institutions,
it's wise and just Constitution, its humane
and equitable laws, its guarantees of the
rights of man, its protection to all class
es and its encouragement to merit
and industry TO |rise above the acct
dents Of fortune government which
already involves the happiness Of near
30O00O0O OCwhite men, and in less than
two generations will extend over more
than I00,OOOOOo,if not destroyed by in
ternal violence; and on the other hand