The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1864-03-15

slavery Dcud I'm Tennessee. 90
Tennessee holds tie ashes OF jackson, wh,
to-day lives more potentially than when b.
sat in the White House at Washington. Hi
influence for tho Union has been and still j
immeasurable. A mournfnl commentary !
is upon human weakness and wickedness, tha
Tennessee could ever have seemed TO swerv,
from her loyalty to the Union. Great wa
her light and proportional has been her gloon
No Slate has furnished grander champion,
for the Union, and scarcely one has been o.
terribly punished for preferring'to IL the lido
of slavery. The soil of that hapcss com
monwealth has repeatedly been the scene O.
trrvorsing, deyouring, and contending armie'
till the dnest horrors OF the war seem concen
tratcd and tenaciously clnging to her fields
No school teaches SO thoroughly as experience
as scores Of thousands in the "border States
can best testify. The pressure of suffering l.
a marvellous sharpsner Of the wits, by at once
making men sincsre and in earnest. Then
GO the right questions come to be asked, and
the right answers will forco acknowlcd cement
The sophisms, however ingenious, that charm.
ed and deluded in prosperity, sink quickly to
contempt, and the heretofore despise1 truth
receives appropriate homage. This is the SO.
cret Of the sudden and pfodigious Radicalism
in Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana. and else
where--a growth whose infancy is destined
soon to reach gianthoOd, and dominate 'the
Confedcracy."
The rise and progress Of Radicalsm 10
Tennessee is not ,ss striking than ip this
State. The devotion of her patriots to the
Union is rapidly possessing her popular mas.
ses, leading them willingly 10 hate what they
cannot help knowing to be tho cause Of their
distresses. A late number of tho Memphis
Bllef'n contains letter from "Truo Union
mem" Complimentiug The editor on hio long
tried patriotism and fidelity to the welfare Of
the State, reminding him that they are slave
holders, and asking bis views on the following
points: - 80 y,,v 30 .-.q
Isl. Is it or is it not true that slavery as
an institution, is dead in Tennesseef
I'd. Do you believe that Tennessee can
ever get back in the Union as slave State
Sd. Ale you 10 favor of the policy Of
emancipation as tho proper remedy for our
State under existing circumstances?
The editor who by birth, education, and
continuous residence, has been identified with
the institution Of slavery, replies with great
candor and sincerity, and bis words cannot
fail TO have the weight to which they are en-
titled. In his judgement, slavery as an in
stitution, exists legally in Tennessee, but
practically it is dead" Though the Presi.
dents proclamation did not apply to that
State, other causes less potent have been and
are now operating there. In the absence Of
civil courts, in the arming Of the negro, the
institution is just as dead as if the rebels had
voluntarily erhancipated every slave.
The editor proceeds
In the old Bulletin the writer Of this arti-
Gle devoted considerable time to show that the
Federal Constitution was the only national
'aT or compact known 10 civilization which
recognized property in man; and that South
crt mer, in attempting 10 throw that instru-
ment aside, ~ an appeal to the sword would
lose the very Object the possession of which
,bey professed mo of all TO desire. But IA.
nat cism and madnnss ..i-i tho hvur .i.S -p
peal was deiantly made to force, and tho re-
suit has been the death Of the "institution" in
Tennessee.
AS to whether Tennessee eau get back in
TO the Union as a slave State,th writer thinks
the signs all adv,r,e, and is not in favor Of
the experiment. He is for immediate appli
cation for re-admissiou as froe State, and by
conss quencc, for getting rid Of the cncumb"r-
ing fofhs and dregs Of slavery al once, conf.
dent that thus "Tennessee may be again in
tho Union by the ides Of April" The Bul-
tefin justly commands a largo share Of the
public confidence, aud we add therefore, for
the benefit Of our pro slavery fellow citizens,
Mr. Brigham's concluding remarks.
He says:
BY birth, education and continuous residence
We have been identified with the institution
Of slavery. Though comparatively young we
have lived long enough to see that it coafers
no benefit either upon the State or the great
mass Of the people among whom it exists--
We believe there is no portion of the soil Of
Tennessee in which the white man cannot la.
Dor quite as healthily and far more successful.
y than tho slave. There is no reason. there.
fore, why our soil may not become the abode
of hardy, i1pustrious o frugal class Of
white laborers- emigrants from Europe il may
be from Europe-under whose superior man
agement our desert places may be made 10
TEEN with the rich pioduc's which make free
and wealthy communities. The "nstitution"
hoving qesn practically destroyed by its pre-.
tended friends, an emancipation" having
deem thus in augerated, we believe it to be
The true policy OF all Tonnesseans, not only to
"favor" il, but to use all legitimate means to
Grad. cate slavery from our State constitution
Of the earliest yossiblo moment,