The mountain Democrat., 1865-10-07
Emerson Etheridge to Andrew
johnson.
COLUMBUS, KY, July 10, 1866.


and among the best Of your present friend.
once addressed your distinguished pre-
decessor through the columns of his news
paper. He wrote in behalf of the 'coloreG
race;' am emboldened by his example tC
invoke your attention to the condition o.
the unfortunate whites. Besides, know
how you are surrounded by political and
religious patriots, who daily appr. ach the
throne Of Executive grace to assure you
of their love Of country and detestation o
place, and to offer up their fervent pray
ers for the restoration Of your health, and
the prolongation Of your invaluable life
Perhaps some one of these may see this
communication and present it to the at
tention of your Excellency. In this press
upon precious time, make no estimate o.
the intervals you so cheerfully devote to
the crowds of contrabands who constitute
so much Of the elite of the capital.
| know the magnanimous nature ol
your EXcellency, and | fear the. sad an.
nouncement have to make will prove in.
furious, if not fatal, to the delicate sensi
bilities of your noble and generous heart
was arrested at my home in Dresden,
Tennessee, on Friday last, (hangman's
day., by detachment of armed soldiers,
whose department and appearance would
do honor to any service.
They are known in the Army Regula.
tionS as colored troops but to their
shame be it spoken. your old friends still
persist in calling them 'Niggers.' They
were commanded and directed by four or
five white men who arrested me as Mr..
Adderick, from which, infer, they claim
a lager nationality. deem it my duty to
report that your old friends Of secesh per.
suasion still persist in their reasonable
practice Of calling the personnel of such
expeditions id Dutch and niggers.
You will, doubtless, be relieved to hear
that the expedition was q success.
Though | had timely warning of the
approaching raid. preferred surrender to
hopeless resistance; and the command
reached this city without material loss,
treating, ME since my arrest, with cour-
tesy and kindness, for which am CRATE
ful.
| have been here five days; and though
have not been able to obtain the names
of my accusers, or a copy Of the charges,
if any, upon which was arrested, have
obtained from other sources information
upon hich | rely Of the causes and mo-
tives Of my arrest | am charged with
using treasonable language against the
Government of the United States and the
IF
speaking diSreSpectfully Of your Excellen-
cy, and Of the Right Reverend William
&. Brownlow, who, unmindful that the
Constitution of Tennessee excludes all
ministers from civil office, is now claiming
to have successfully seized the Office of
Governor Of said State. Further and tru.
ly, that | have given professional Opin-
ion, declaring that the slaves in Tennessee
have not been made free by law. As
will, no doubt, he teld prisoner until
after the pending election farce in Tenncs
see is over, propose 10 indulge portion
Of my leisure in giving you a concise
statement Of some things | did say, and
the circumstances under which ! have
provoked the military displeaSure Of that
grand army, Of which you are the Com.
mandrr-in chief.
A public meeting Of all the citizens Of
Weakley county, Tennessee, was called at
Dresden, Saturday, the lst day Of July
last, to consider the best course to be
adopted for the interests of all. The meet
ing was very large, and was addressed by
William p. Caldwell and myself The
object of the meeting, the character Of
Mr. Caldwell'S speech, and much Of my
owD, may be easily inferred from the fol-
lowing resolutions, which We're unani-
mously adopted at the close of the meet.
in.-al but the last having been reported
from the Committee on Resolutions.
On the following Monday, July Sd,
very large meeting was held at Trenton,
Gibson county, which | addressed for
three hours. Isaac Sampson. one of Mr..
BrownlOw's newly appointed Circuit
Judges, having, as he said, full civil and
criminal jurisdiction to arrest and try all
offenders, was present He had one of
Brownlow's Sheritfs and several of his
Justices Of the Peace present. and in their
presence he addressed the multitude from
the same stand had occupied yet he
did not as much as hint at my arrest he
only threatened the people with an inva-
sion Of Federal troops (meaning negroes),
to deter them from voting for me. At the
close of the meeting resolutions precisely
similar to those passed at Dresden were
unanimously adopted. Twas unanimous
ly nominated for Congress, and the pre-
tended Senator and Representative from
the county were unanimously requested
to resign.
| was to have addressed similar meet
ing at Paris, Henry county, on Saturday
last, and would have done so had | not
been arrested. AS the offensive words
are alleged to have been spoken in my
Dresden speech (they were subsequently
repeated at Trenton), will give you, as
accurately and conciSely as | can, what |
said of you at Dresden. Indeed, | will
give you the precise words Of my exor-
dium in which you were first personally
alluded to. Addressing myself to the
audience, l said:
"You have witnessed the rise, culmi
nation and overthrow Of Rebellion, in
all respects the most astonishing in the
worlds history; astonishing, because of
the numbers engaged, the resources it so
suddenly improvised, and the duration
and intensity of the conflict. 1t was only
less astonishing than the numbers and re-
sources it encountered 1t has ended as
all rebellionS must end when opposed by
greatly superior resources and numbers.
The rebellion is over Its leaders are cap
tives, exiles, or supplicants for pardon;
its armed adherents have saluted their flag
for the last time, and its friends through
out the South have yielded the contest
Their submission has been graceful, unan-
imous, and in all apparent good faith
Not an armed Confederate is to be found
within the limits of the State. The Fed
eral Government nrofesSed to draw the