Indiana State sentinel. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-10-27

might open the way for servie insurection and
overthrow Of the Institution of slavery. Nv
opinions to the uncOnstituIiohality and impol-
icy OF secession remain unchanged; but in my
last speech in Congress, and on various other
public occasions, i have vinJicated and main
tained and still maintain, the right of revolution.
On no occasion, however. did ever assert the
doctrine that violation of the Constitution by
one party would authorize or justify similar or
other violations by the opposing party. The
paramount causes which have controlled or in
hueneed my conduct and opinions we're love for
the Union and an mistaken confidence that we
| had the best Constitution and Government in the
world. But, Of all the acts of despotism of
which the civil war in which we are now engaged
has been the prolific source. there is not one
which, IN the slightest degree, equals the atrOcity
| and barbarsm of Mr.. Lincon's proclamation.
/ At one blow il deprives all the citizens of the
slave States, without distinction of the right 10
hold slaYes-a right guaranteed by the very Con-
stitutiOn he pretends to uphold. It is true he
makes an ntimation that he will recommend to
! Congress to provide Just compensation TO Union
masters in the slave States; but what right has
! he or the Government of the United States TO
deprive them OF this property without their con-
sentg And what assurance have they that his
vague and general intimation viii be applied to
them, or that an Abolition Congress, reeking
with the blood of the Sonth, aud iubilant in the
possession of uSurped power, will adopt his
OmmendatiOnf
/ We in the midst of a sea of difficulties
Many acts have been done in the South to which
we were bitterly opposed as people, and which
we who have adhered to the Union, in spite of
perils and dangers, could not justify palliate
But the Union men of East Tennessee are not
now, and never were, AbOlitiOnists The Union
men of East Tennessee not now, ana never
have been committed To the doctrines of ncen-
diarism and murder TO which Mr. Lincoln 5 proc
Iamatiop lelds What, then, is the path of duty
IN the trying circumstances which surround usl
Is 1t to belle all our past professions and to sus-
tain Mr. Lincoln's Administration, right o. wrong?
Is It to justify man whom we had no agency in
elevatug TO power, not cnly in abandoning the
Constitution of the United States but in repudi
ating the Chicago platform, his inaugural ad-
dress and messages to Congress. in which the ab
sOlute right To slavery in the States where il ex
lists was distinctly and unequivOcally concededl
Or is il in view of the many violations of the
Constitution, and this crowning act of usur-
patton, to join that side which at present af-
iords the only earthly hope of successful re-
sistancef
am aware, my cOuntrymen, that you will find
difficulties in bringing your minds to the same
CONCLUSION at which my own has arrived. Manv
wanton and unauthorized acts of cruelty and Op-
preston have been perpetrated among you which
instead of changing your opinions have only been
calculated tc aggravate and Intensity heroic
principle of endurance. Many of these acts have
been committed in remote places, without the
knowledge appreciation of the authorities at
Richmond. or OF those who have held the su-
preme command ia East Tennessee, and under
such circumstances that you have felt it danger
Gus to complain. Gradually and SLOWLY these
outrageS have at last become known, and in the
very recent proclamation issued by Major General
Nn.. IL.
plants will be heard and the most energetic meas
ures adopted to remedy the evils to which YOU
have been subjected.
Let not, then, sense of private and present
wrongs blind YOU against the enormitos already
perpetrated and still more seriously contemplated
by Mr.. Lncoln's Administration. If majority
OF the Republican party have been sinners in
their professions of determination to respect the
rights of slavery in the States and If the light of
freedom is not utterly extinsuished in the North,
may we not hope that spirit OF resistance will be
aroused in that section, which. combined with the
efforts of the South, will hurI Mr. Lincoln from
power and even yet restore peace and harmony
to our distracted and divided country? But if,
through fear or any other cause. Mr.. Lincolns in
famous proclamation is sustained, then we have
no Union, no Constitution To struggle for no
magnificent and unbroken heritage to maintain,
no peace TO expect save such as with the blessing
Of Providence we may conquer
The armies which have been sent near YOU TO
tantalize you with hope have been withdrawn,
ana with cool audacity Mr. Lincoln virtually tells
you that you have no rights. No alternative re
mains but to choose the destiny which an AFRO
giant and unprincipied Administration forces up
on Us.
1t is almost unnecessary to declare to you that
adhered to the Union amidst good report and
evil report, suffering and danger, while it was in
my power 10 support il, and that. when my efforts
were paral wed and my voice silenced by causes
beyond my control. / have cherished the hope
that all might yet be well; but ''the last link is
broken" that bound To a Government for
which my ancestors fought. and, whatever may
be the course of others, shall feel it my dury to
encourage the most persevering and determined
resistance against the tyrants and usurpers of the
Federal Administration. who have blasted our
hopes and cruelty seeking to destroy the last
vestige OF freedom among Us. 1t you would
save yourselves from a species of carnage unex-
ampled in the history of North America. but un-
equivocally invited in Mr. LncOln's prOclama
tion let every who IS able To fight buckle On
his armor, and, without awaiting the slow and te-
di0uS process Of conscription, at once volunteer
in the struggle against him. The race is not al
WAYS TO the swift the strong. and It can not,
in the nature Of things, be possible that just
God will prosper the efforts of a Gov
eminent which has hypocritically pretended to
wage war M behalf OF he Constitution, but now
throws of the mask and sets il utterly at def
ance- No despOt in Europe would dare to exer-
else the powers which Mr. Lincoln, i'm less than
two brief years, fas boldly usurped. lie has sus.
pended the writ of habeas corpus in regard to all
persons who have been may be imprisoned
by military authority. and thus destroyed The
right essential to the liberty of the citizen, right
which the mailed blrOns of England wreste5 by
force from King John, and inserted in the great
charter Of British freedom; a right which It cost
centuries of contest to engraft upon the British
constitution right for which fathers sternly
struggled, and which is incorporated in every
American constitution. He has called armies
into the field without authority. according 10 his
own acknowle, ,yment, and mas become military
dictator. lie iiow claims the prefogative TO
abolish slavery without consent; and, if he
can TINS take our negroes, why may he not take
our lands, and everything else We possess, and
reduce us To state of vassalage to which no
parallel can be found, save in the history of the
Middle Ages. THos. A. r. NELSON.
! Knoxville. October 3, 1862.
From the ST. Louis Republican
The Popular KcvOIufiOn.