The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-03-15
COL. FRANK WOLFORB's SPEECH AT
LEXINGTON XII.
ABrler Report.
from The Lexington Observer and DopoT4er Of
Saturday.


Kentucky soldier at the Melodeon in
this city on Thursday, have lost treas
ure which can never be regained. The
time. the occasion, the circumstances
and tie man, all conspired to render it
one Of the most significant and impor-
tant efforts, that the present terrible
crisis Of the nations history has called
forth. The occasion was the presenta-
ton to him Of splendid sword, sash,
pistols and spurs, suitable to his rank,
by a portion Of four fellow-citizens; but
instead Of its being a mere common
place acknowledgement Of such a COM
pliment, it proved TO be one Of the
highest efforts Of patriot fully imbued
with that devotion 10 his country which
patriotism alone engenders-ofa states
man whose capacious mind grasps the
momentous questions Of the hour-and
ola soldier who has imperilled his life up
on innumerable battle-felds in defense
Of that glorious government which was
handed down 10 US by our ancestors as
q legacy Of blood Coming, TOO, from
Frank Wolford-a man who signalised
his devotion to his country upon the
breaking out Of the rebellion by raising
the first regiment in Kentucky TO be
welded for its suppression; who has
been uninteTruptedly in the service for
the last three years, and who, as before
remarked, has risked his life almost
every day during that periOd-it was
calculated the more TO command
the respectful attention and thought
e, -, Of ~ ~
citizens. The time, too, just after
the issuance of an order for the enroll
ment of the negroes in Kentucky to be
drafted into the United States army, in
utter violation of her State sovereignty,
and in derogation of the clearest pro
visions ever given the force Of law by
Constitutional enactment-made the
views Of this distinguished Kentuckian
deeply interesting. No puerile cry Of
"Copperhead" could be raised against
such a man by chimney-cerner heroes
who fawn upon the infallibility Of the
DEGREES of power; and yet, we venture
to say, that no man in the nation has
arraigned the dominant party with
more manly boldness and more wither-
ing invective. He charged Mr. Lincoln
with wantonly trampling upon the Con-
stitution and crushing under the iron
heel Of military power the rights of the
people guaranteed by that instrument;
he charged him with violating his
solemn pledge, as repeatedly enuncia-
ted at the commencement Of his adj
ministration, as TO the purposes of the
war he charged him with a violation
of the rules of civilized warfare in the
indiscriminate, widespread ruin which
he was sowing broadcast throughout the
South; he charged him with the inau-
guration Of policy for the prosecution
Of tho war which was not only uncon-
stitutional and unwise, but the newt
able result Of which would be to pro-
long the war, if indeed it ever ended in
peace, and, if successful would as ut
terly destroy constitutional freedom as
if it had fallen under the blows of arm
ed rebellion And not only did he
charge these things, but he cited the
acts Of the President and his party as
proof to which there could be offered
no successful refutation.
That most vile and detestable of all
the isms with which the country has
ever been NATURALIZATION
ceived no favor at the hands of this
gallant Kentuckian. He denounced
It's advocates as the enemies Of the
country; disturbers Of the public peace
and fomentors of strife; and while be
was in thought, word and deed every
inch Union man, he did not hesitate
to say that they were as dangerous TO
the repose and perpetuity of the Union
as the secessionists themselves. Their
fanaticism knew no limits to uncOn-
stitutional aggressiOns; and to acquire
for themselves power and pelf they
scrupled not at trampling upon the
laws, overturniRg constitutions, and
plunging the nation into irretrievable
anarchy and ruin.
He referred to the remark that nea0
issues had arisen since the outbreak of
the rebellion, and gave it his emphatic
contradiction The issue was the same
to-day that it was then. The question
at that time was shall the rebellion be !
put down, the Union maintained and
the Constitution preserved, with all the
guaranteed rights under it unimpaired,
or shall the rebellion be successful, the
Union dissolved and the Government
p 1t was not whether the
rebellion should be crushed, and the
which. is the bond Of the
Union at the same time destroyed, as
Mr.. Lincoln and his followers are at
but whether this glorious
fabric Of our fathers with all its clus-
tering memories and sacred guarantees
Of constitutional freedom, should stand
as an eternal monument of their wis
dom, courage and patriotism. This was
the issue then-it Is the issue now. He
no legitimate deviation
from it The purposes Of the war were
the same to-day that they were when
Mr. Lincoln in his inaugural, and Con- |
gross by resolution, declared that they |
were not for conquest or subiugatiOn, |
nor for interference with the domestic 1
institutions Of the State, but simply to /
preserve the honor and maintain the /.
of the Constitution The |
effort to pervert the war from this /
legitimate purpose, and TO make il 4
war upon slavery was an issue which |
the dominant party had no right to /
was a startling usurpation of /
for one, heshould denounce /
il as without the color Of right, justice /
or constitutional justification.
We referred 10 the recent order for 1
the enrolment Of negroes in Kentucky, /
and denounced it alike as uncOnstitu- /
tional and unjust 1t was but another /
of the series of startling usurpations /
Of power which were being made" and 4
he said it was the duty of the people of 1
to resist it as a violation of
their guaranteed rights If they were /
by force in their refusal to /
obey this order, then he advised them /
to appeal to the law for protection; and
be was mistaken in the Governor of /
the State whom he had known long
and intimately Governor Bramlette /
occupied a position on the platform
with the speaker, having come up es-
pecially for the purpose hearing him. 4
if he did not protect them in their con-
rights. If when the people /
Of Kentucky appealed TO the law for pro
lection from this unconstitutional edict, 4
Mr. Lincoln persisted in enforcing it, 1
be would himself be the rebel, and not +
the people of Kentucky. He would by /
no means offer resistance to this uncon- +
order to the throwing the
State into secession, but when Kentucky l
had fulfilled all her duties and obliga- |