The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-03-15
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/ sist with all the Constitutional power Of
/ the Commonwealth.
We do not pretend to report even
/ the most meagre synopsis of this great
speech. for great it was all the essentials
/ Of powerful oratory, running as it did
! through an hour and half A verba-
1 tim report of it would fail TO do justice
/ 70 the speaker 1t must have been
heard to be fully Appreciated the man
er as well as the matter would be neces-
sary to give TO its full effect. He spoke
with ali the earnestness, warmth and
animation of man who felt strong in
/ the consciousness Of the truth Of what
he uttered, and was prepared to stand
F by what he said regardless of personal
/ consequences. He spoke as one not
making a party harrangue to catch the
/ popular applause, but who felt that his
I country was in the midst of a terrible
+ ordeal, and that it required all the wis
dom and patriotism of her best citizens
4 10 carry ersafely through the perils
which environ her.
In the notice Of this intended presen-
/ tation, we stated that "no officer in the
United States army had more justly en-
] titled himself to such complimentary
/ token of respect and gratitude from the
1 loyal people of the State than Colonel
Frank WolfoFd, because not one had
proved himself more prompt, dashing,
I brave and gallant" If such was our
/ opinion in regard to the officer for whom
/ this compliment was designed one week
ago. our admiration has been immeasur-
{ Il i Il ~. 90
/ this noble effort in behalf of constitu-
tional freedom; and, we may add now
/ to what we then said, that by his speech
/ here on Thursday he has entitled him
self to the lasting gratitude of every
man in Kentucky who desires to see
/ the Union and the Constitution pre-
/ served, and the rights Of the people I'M
der both upheld and maintained
! against the assaults Of those, on the one
/ hand, who IRE seeking to destroy them
/ by armed rebellion, and, on the other,
Of those who are seeking to crush them
under the iron heel of military power.
A soldier of the Union army, he Is
bending all his energies to the extinc-
ton of the rebellion; but his oppo-
sition to jeff Davis, who is endeav-
oring by arms to destroy that
Union, does not make him less
sensitive to the rapid strides
which the Abolition party in charge Of
the government are making towards a
military despotisn and while he was
ready in the future, as he had in the
past, to fight the one with the weapons
he had chosen, he stood equally pre-
Z 70 Il h.
policy of the other as it deserved to be
denounced by every true loyal Ken
tuckian And he used thevery strong
est terms in which to characterize the
startling usurpations Of power by the
dominant party. He was not afraid of
the hacknied cry of giving aid and
comfort to the enemy" when he de
nounced these usUrpations, and he
warned the people that if they did not
stand up for their constitutional rights,
which had been gradually encroached
upon from the commencement of the
rebellion, the day was not distant when
they would be slaves.
Col. Wolford closed his speech by
stating that he was aware that there al
ways in every public assembly nova
days "pimps and informers," who made
it their business to report to the foun-
tains of power and patronage what was
said in opposition to them He called
upon them to report what he said faith
fully and among other things they
might inform Mr. Lincoln, if he desired
to know what those in the army whom
he considered his minions thought of
his official course, that "their opinion
was that he was a tyrant and usurper,"
who was seeking, by overriding all con-
stitutional barriers and limitations, to
trample upon the liberties of his coun-
try.
But we shall follow Col Wolford no
further, and will conclude this very
imperfect notice Of his address by re-
marking that it was one of the boldest
and most manly speeches that has ever
been made to our people 1t IS need
less to add that it was received with
the most rapturous applause by the
large audience assembled on the oc-
casiOn.