The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1865-11-16

From a remark at the end Of the preface
which We print below, it viii be feen that
those who expected curious revelations Of
pohticsl secrets from Mr.. Buchsnan, are
doomed 70 disappointment. He has "rigid-
~ abstained" from the use Of private letters.
he may have kissed, bUi he will Lot tell.
The work is, therefore, simply an areu-
ment, by Mr. Buchanan, Of his own case, on
the facts already public. The following list
OF contents Of one or two chapters will give
some idea Of the nature ofthe book:
"The rise and progress Of anti-slavery
agitaton-The higher law-Anti-alavery
soeieties-Their formation and proceeding,
Their effect destructive Of State emanei-
pation-The csse ia Nirginia-EIn ployment
Of the postoliice 20 circulate ineendiaTy pub
liestions and pictures among the slGYes-
Message Of General jackson 20 prohibit this
BY law--uis Recommendation defeated
The pulpit, the press, and other sgenc es-
Abolition petitions-1he rise Of au extreme
Southern pre-slavery party-Ihe Fugitive
Slave Law Of 1893. and the case Of Prigg
against Pennsylvania, and its psrnicious ef-
fects-The South threatened secession-The
course Of Mr. Buchanan - seuator-The
Aiimot proyiso and its coRseq uence-The
Union in serious danger st the meeting OF
Congress in December, 1919"
decision Of the 6upF-Ine Court in the
bred Scott case--Repudiated by the Repub-
lican party and the Douglas Demoeracy-
Sustained BY theold DemOcracy-The Kan
sas Nebraska Act-The policy and practice
Of Congress toward The Territories-Abuss
Of President Buchanan for not sdhering to
the Cincinnati platform without founda-
ton"
Or again, in the eighth chapter.
Congress passes no measure 70 enable the
President TO execute the laws or defend the
goyernment-They decline to revive the
authority Of the Federal judicisry in South
Carolina, suspended by the resignation Of all
the Judicial officers-They refuse suthouty
10 cali for the militia, or accept volunteers,
TO suppress instruction against the United
States, and it was never proposed 70 grant
an appropriation for this purpose. The
Senate declines throughout the entire session
TO net upon the nomination Of Collector
/ for the port Of Charleston Congress refuses
/ to grant the President the authority long
8 nee expired, which had been granted 10
/ General Jsclrsen for the collection Of the
revenue-The Thirty Congress expires
leaving the law just as they found it,
General observations"
The following is Mr.. Buchanan's preface:
fsThe following historical narrative OF the
events preceding the late rebellion was pre-
pared sooa sitter is outbreak, substantially
in the present form. II may be asked, why,
/ then, was it not published at an earlier pc
/ Rod = The answer is, that the publication
was delayed TO avoid tie possible imputa-
| ton, unjust as this would have been, that
any port on Of it was intended 10 embarrass
| Mr.. Lincoln's administration in the yigor-
Gus pro ecuiion Of pending hostiligies. Ihe
author deemed it far better TO suffer tempo
rary injustice than 70 expose himself 10 such
a charge. He never doubted the successful
event OF the war, even during its mOst
/ gloomy periods. Having drawn his first
] breath soon after the adoption Of the Fed
eral Constitution and the Union which 10
established, and having been an eye-wit-
! ness OF the blessed effects Of these-in Sc
| curing liberty and prosperity at home, aud
ia presenting an example 10 the oppressed
of other lands-he felt an abiding convic-
ton that the American people would never
suffer the great charter OF their rights 10
be destroyed. To the Constitution, as inter-
/ preted by its trainers, he has ever been de-
| voted, believing that the specific powers
which It conlers on the Federal government,
| Notwithstanding the experience Of the last
drcary years, are sufficient for almost every
pos ible enc -gency, whether ia peace OF in
war. He therefore claims the merritt
merit il be simply TO do ones duty-that
while IN the exercise Of executive functions
he never violated any OF its provisions.
o. d may be observed thai no extensive
and formidable rebellion Of an intelligent
people, against an established government,
has ever arisen without a long train Of pre-
vious and subsidiary causes. A principal
| object of the author, therefore, is to present
90 the reader historical sketch Of the ante
cedeuts ending in the late rebellion. In
performing this task, the eye naturally fxes
| itself, az the starting point, upon the exist
eLce Of domestic slavery in ths South, re-
! cognized and protected rs this was BY the
| Constitution Of The United States. We shall
| not inquire whether its patriotic and en-
| lightsned trainers acted with wise foresight
in yielding their sanction to an institution
which IS in itself great social evil, though
they considered this " as Necessary 10 avoid
! the still greater calamity Of dissolvng the
Convention without the formation OF our
| Federal Union.
4" he narrative will prove that the orig
inal and eOnsfiring causes Of all our future
| troubles are 90 be found in the long, active,
aud persistent hostility OF the Northern abo-
| olitionists, both in and out Of Congress,
| against Southern slavery, until the tinal tri
| umph of their cause n the election Of Presi-
dent Lincoln and, on the other hand. the
| couespot ding aniagonism and violence with
| which the advocates of slavery resisted these
efforts, aud yindicated as preservation and
extension up 90 the period of secession. So
excited were the parties, that had they in
| tended 10 furnish material 10 inhamo the
passions Of the one against the other, they
| could not have more etiectually succeeded
than they did by their mutual ordinations
and recriminaions. The struggle e0ntin-
| ued without iniermission for more than
quarter Of century, except within the br Of
interval between the passage of the Com
/ promise measures Ci 1890 and she repeal Of
the Missouri Compromise iu 1854, during
I which the hostile feelings OF the par
ties were greatly ellsyed, and hopes
were entertained that the strife might final
| ~ eubside. These peaceful prospects, il
| viii appear, were soon blasted bv the repeal
ct this compromise, and the struggle was
then renewed with more bitterness than
ever, until the final catastrophe. Many
| grievous errors were committed by both par
! ties from the beginning, bus the most fatal
Of them all was the secession Of the cotton
States.
The authorities cited in the work will
show that Mr.. Buchanan never failed, upon
| all suitable occasions, 20 warn his country
men Of the approaching danger, and TO ad-
| wise them OF the proper means 10 avert il.
| Both before and after he became President,
he was an earnest advocate Of compromise
| between the parties, 20 cave the Union.
| Congress disregarded the recommendation.
| Even after be had, in his message, exposed
the dangerous condition of public atlairs,
and when Il had become morally certain
I AiAAA AAa MS tNNIAh ID uNNlN TIE civil war
would be frustrated by agencies far beyond
his consrol, they persisteatly refused to
pass any measures 10 enable him or his sue
cessor 20 execute the laws against armed
resistance, or 10 defend the country against
| approaching rebellion.
{" The book concludes BY notice Of the
successful domestic and foreign policy Of the
administration. In The portion OF Il con-
ccrning our relations with the Mexican re-
public history of the origin and nature Of
The Monroe doctrine is appropriately inclu-
ded.
A" Il has been the authors intention. in
the iolloSing page, 10 verify every STATE
ment of fact by documentary or anthem
tic reference, and thus save the reader, as
far rs may be possible, from reliance on in
diYidual memory. From the use Of private
correspondence he has resolutey RETAINED.
J. B.
"Whestland, September, 1885,