The daily bulletin. [volume] (Winchester, Tenn) 1862-1863, 1862-10-11
address, Of the Hon. r. A. 4.
Nelson,
TO rng PEorLs OF EAST TENNESSEE

spring and summer of 1861, as well as in
printed aldrcs" to the people Of the State,
Tor about the 3Jtn of May, 1871, | declared
substance. that 81 had believed it was the
Jet Of the North to subjugate the South and
omancipate our slaves, in violation OF the
onstitut.on, | would have gone as far as the
,rthesL in advocating resistance to the utmost
xtent'
Ny attention has just been called to a proc
nation issued by the President Of the United
.ates on the 22nd Sept, 1862, in which he de-
ares that con the first day Of January, in
re- wear Of our Lord one thousand eight hun
rcd and sixty-thrce, all persons held as slaves
ithin any State or any designated part OF a
tate, the people whereof shall then be in re-
al!ion against the United States shall be
lcnccforward and forever free, and the execu-
I'VE government of the United States, inclu-
ing the military and naval authority, will re-
ognizc Nnd maintain the freedom OF such per-
ons, and will do no act or acts, to repress such
,crsons or any of them, in any efforts they
nay make for their actual freedom.'
| need scarcely remind you that enc Of the
wills which | dreaded and predicted us the re-
uIts of the efforts which were made to dissolve
the Union was that, in the progress of war,
they might open the way for servile i~nsurrec-
ton and the overthrow Of the institution OF
slavery. My opinion as to the unconstitution-
ality and lmpolicy of Secession rcmain I'M
changed, but inmy last speech in Congress, and
on various other occasions; | have vindic&ted
and maintained. and still maintain the right OF
rcr,LiiJH. On no occasion, however, Gid |
ever assert the doctrine that u violation OF the
Constitution by one party would authorize or
Justify similar or other violations by the oppo-
sing party. The paramount causes which have
controlled and influenced my conduct and opin-
ions were love for the Union and an mistaken
confidence that we had the best government in
the world. But, of all the acts Of despotism
of which The civil war in which we are now en-
gagged has been the prolific source, there is not
one which in the slightest degree, equals the
atrocity and barbarism of Mr.. Lincoln's proc
lamation. Atone blow it deprives the citizens
of the slave States, without distinction, of the
right TO hold SLAVES, d right guaranteed by the
very Constitution he pretends TO uphold. It is
true he makes an intimatlOn that he will re-
commend to Congress to provide just compen-
sation to the Union masters in the slave States,
bu. what right has he, or the government Of
the United States, to deprive them of this
property without their consent? And what
assurance have they that his vague and general
intimation will be applied to them, or that an
abolition Congress, reeking with the blood of
the South, and jubilant in the possession of
usurped power, will adopt his recommends
ton.
We are in the midst of a sea of difficulties.
Many acts have been done in the South to
which we were bitterly opposed as a people,
and which we who have adhered to the Union
in spite of pcrils and dangers, could not justify
or palliate. But the Union men of East Ten
ncssee are notnow and never were aboiitionists
The Union men of East Tennessee are not now
and never have been committed to incendiar.
ism and murder to which Mr.. Lincoln's procla,
nation leads. What, then, is the path of duty
in the trying circumstances which surround US!
Is it to belle all our past professions and tc
sustain Mr.. Lincoln's administration, right OF
wrong? Is it to justsfy q man, whom we had
no agency in elevating to power, not only in
abandoning the Constitution of the United
States, but in repudiating the Chicago plat
form, his inaugural address and messages to
Congress in which the absolute right to slavery
in the States where it exists was distinctly and
unequivocally conceded? Or is it, in view OF
his many violations of the Constitution, and
this browning act of usurpation, to join that
side which at present affords the only earthly
hope of successful resistance?
am aware, my countrymcn, that you will
find difficulties in bringing your minds to the
same conclusion at which my own has arrived.
Many wanton and unauthorized acts of cruelty
and oppression have been perpetrated among
you, which, instead of changing your opinions,
have only been calculated to aggravate and
intensity a heroic principal of endurance
Many of these acts have been committed in re-
mote places without the knowledge or appro-
baton of the authorities at Richmond, or those
who have held the supreme command in East
Tennessee, and under such circumstance that
you have felt it dangerous to complain. Grad
ually and slowly these outrages have at last be-
come known, and in the very recent proclama'
ton isued by Major General Jones, you have
the assurance that your complaints will bt
heard, and the most energetic measures adop
ted to remedy tho evils to which you have beer
subjected.
Let not, then, q sense of private and presen
wrongs, blind you against the enormities al
ready perpetrated, and still more seriously con
templated by Mr.. Lincoln's Administrations
fla majority of the republican party hav,
been sincere in their professions of a determin
alton to respect the right of slavery in tn,
States, and if the right of freedom is not utter