Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1864-05-06
speech of "Par.on" BrownIow.
HIS REASONS FOR BECOMING AN ANTI-sIAvERY
MAN.

his REASONS FOR BECOMING Az ANTI-sLAvERY
MAN.
In tue East Tennessee Convention at
Knoxville, on the l4th in l.. Parsou Brown
low delivered one Of Is characteristic speeches
of which the following were the principal
points
say that for more than eighty years slavery
has ruled this Government, and that for more
than three years, because II could 10 longer rule
it has sought with fire and sword aud The assls-
SINS knife, and the dungeon, and the rack, and
the stake. and every device that he'll could su--
gest. TO ruin this Government. Since the found-
ation Of this Government there have leau y
Presidents Of these the South have lal IL. The
North had. in all, but x, and Of Ines sx we
kidnapped three, and plyughed with them our
cotton fi,lls, a. we plough with bulls ana h-.,rs
We have had mos u the foreign appointments,
aud the hind Ieats Of the feierui kue 20 uome;
and these things we had when We were lot able
10 pay cur postal exotnse 10 the general Govern
men1. Ard Why We did 10: sol-i, these
thiaEs-We demanded them. In the name Of our
superior msuh0oi, cur peculiar institution. our
higb-tone3 chivllTy, We demlndei then.
Whence tbs arroganee? We got il from
the negro. And now IN ask. / TO
let him alone as prlperty. I fu-h. address
Jackson all his life; bur T ny prayers could
bring him from his grave, l would have bad him
at the White House when the negro sut the
southern chivalry 10 hold q clu1 over the head
Of that mean, musty, miserable uocktry of
man. the Oh Pcbic tu c,iInaly. Jackson
would have raised feet In l.s boots, aud kicked
the wretched Pennsy Ivan an through south Car
DINA into the Atlantic Ocean. And ID be were
here to-diy he would kick these copperhell IT'S
buttons into the ground and grind them into
powder under his feet.
Yes, gentlemen, we Of the South are RESPONSE
bic for this war. Before God, tell yoa, that We
made il necessary, whether or no; that We forced
it upon the country, and this without the Shadow
of an excuse. have been pro-s.avery nan
the best pro-slavery man in tins house. But I
an for the Unio1. So ! told tie Alabama Legis-
lature five years ago They were then preparing
for war, and had made an appropriation Of
S250,000 for arming the State. And further
back than that, when Henry A. Wise was Gov
ernor Of Virginm, he wrote letters 10 al the
Governors in the southern States, declaring that
in the event Of the election Of Fremont 10 the
Presidency of the United States, he would head
an army, march into Washington, and in the
name Of the South seize and possess the Govern
ment.
We of the South have intended this rebellion
for more than thirty years. South Carolina and
two more cotton States have never been republican
and never had republican government South
Carolina would have seeded in Jackson's time;
but the old hero took Calhoun by the throat
and choked him down. And this choking is a
remedy that ought to have been resortei 10 in
the Congress of the United States when traitors
like that walking liquor shop, Wigfall, who had
sworn 10 support the Constitution Of the United
States were in secret caucus every night plotting
this rebellion And still you cling TO
slavery Well, SO be it. You will have good
time clinging to the negro; joy be with you A. .
for me, shall cling to the Union and let the .
niger 20. He used to be a local Institution 1
among Us: but now he is what we Methodists call
an itinerant You used to crv out
separation, and you got it; and you have it today
to your hearts content. You are separated from
your sons, some Of you, and from your farms
and houses, your ience-rails, your mules and
horses You used TO cry out representation. and
you got il. You are represented in every rebel
army in the South, in every prison and bastile
in the North, and you have more representa-
tives in hell than any other sci Of i1ea between
heaven aud hell.