The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-07-22

mlnsrity Rosponse OF the Border
state Representatives 60 President
Lincoln.
WASHINGTON CRY, July Is, 1862.
Mn. PREsiDrxr: The undersigned,
members Of Congress from the Border
States, in response 70 your address on
Saturday last, beg leave % say that they
attended meeting on the same day the
address was delivered, for The purpose OF
considering The same. The meeting APP
pointed a committee to report a response
TO your address. That report was made
on yesterday, and the action Of the ma
iority indicated clearly that the re-
spOnso reported, o. one IN substance the
same, would be adopted and presented
to you.
lnasmuch as We cannot consistently
with our own sense Of duty to the coun-
try, under The existing perils which sur
round us-concur in that response, we
feel it 10 be due 10 you and 70 ourselves,
70 make 10 a brief and candid answer
over our signatures. We believe that the
whole power Of the Government upheld
and sustained by all the influences aud
means Of an loyal men in all sections,
and Ut all parties, is essentially necessa-
~ TO put down the rebellion and preserve
She Union and Constitution. We under
stand your appeal 20 ans have been made
for the purpose Of securing this result
A very large portion Of the people in the
Northern States believe that slavery is
the clever Of the rebellion" Itmaiters
not whether this belief be well founded or
not The belief does exist, and we have to
deal with things as they are, and not as
we would have them be. In consequence
Of the existence OF this belief we under
stand that animmense pressure is brought
to bear for the purpose If striking down
this institution, through the exercise Of
cannot maintain this great struggle if the
support and influence Of the men who en-
terrain these opinions be Withdrawn
Neither can the Government hope for
success If the support Of that element
called Conservative be withdrawn
| Such being the condition Of things, the
/ President appeals to the Border State
men TO step forward and prove their pa
triotism by making the first sacrifice
No doubt like appeals have been made %
extreme men in the North to meet us
half way, in order that the whole moral,
political, pecuniary and physical force Of
the Nation may be firmly and earnestly
united in one grand effort 20 save the
Union and the Constitution. Believing
that such were the motives that prompted
your address, and such the results TO
which IL looked, we CANNOT reconcile Il
to our sense Of duty in this trying hour
to respond in a spirit Of fault-fnding or
querulousness over the things that arc
past
We are not disposed TO seek for the
cause Of present mis-. ortunes in the errors
and wrongs Of others who now propose 10
unite with us in common purpose. But
on the other hend, we meet your address
in the spirit in which il was made, and,
as loyal Americans, declare 10 you and
to the world that there is no sacrifice
that we are not ready to make TO save the
Government and the institutions Of our
fathers.
That zoe, few though we may be, will
permit no man from the North, or from
the South, TO so further than we in the
accomplishment Of the great work before
us; that in order TO carry out these views
we will, so far as may be in our power,
ask the people Of the Border States, calm
! ly, deliberately and fairly, to consider
your recommendations. We are the moro
emboldened to assume this position from
the fact, now become history, that the
leaders of che Southern rebellion have
offered to abolish slavery among them
as a condition to foreign intervention in
favor of their independence as a nation
If they can give up slavery to destros
the Union, we can surely ask our people
to consider the question of emancipation
to save the Union.
With great respect,
JNo. W. NoELL, Missouri
SAsn.. +. CASEY, Kentucky.
GEo. P. FISHER, Delaware
l A. j. CLEMENTS, Tennessee.
WIN. G. Brown, Western Virginia
JACOB B. BLAIR Western Virginia
w. L, Wiley, Western Virginia
MAYNARD, Of Tennessee, and HENDER
SON, Senators.