Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1866-12-29
EAST TENNESSEE.
IntOlerancS and IserseCntiOh-Sa sad Pie
ture Of Aaisirs-Thc CouFt Controlled
by Passion.


IntOIeraucS and Persecution sad Pie
ture Of AaEairs-Tlbc Court Controlled
by Passion.
Knoxville Correspondence New York rimes
When the army Of the United States De
cided the surrender OF the Rebels al Appa.
maltoE and Raleigh, there began a system
Of persecution and wrong in East Tennessee
unworthy Of the cause aad the victors in
our great strife for freedmen and right
Those who had been wronged and driven
from their homes, returned 10 those homes
stung deep by the wrongs they had suffered
and emhttered against those who had en-
forced them. Their families had been
scattered, their homes made desolate and
their hearts embittercd with multiplied
wrongs, and they directed their whole
force and wrath against those who had thus
outraged them. The proud and strong.
who ruled when the Rebels were IN the as
eendancy, were in turn driven from their
homes and hunted through the mountains.
The caves aud fastnesses they had searched
FOR Union fugitives were too well known 10
afford them refuge or shelter. The vio-
lence Of public opinion drove them into
other States amid those who mad ike SYM
pathies and feelings. Their lands and
homes OF what the desolation Of war left of
them, were the spoils 10 which the returned
lOyalists directed their homeless families
The courts Of instice and the laws
Of the land, 10 which the Rebel rulers an
peaied With passion and violence 10 help
them in their unholy prosecutions, again
witnessed more violent ard impassiOned
struggles and justice became a mockery
and the temples Of justice mere arenas FOR
factous contentious. Judges and iuries
were swept into the current; the clamor
Of traitor and The plea Of loyalty hushed
the voice Of reason and Of law, and the
scales Of justice weighed an uneven ba-
lance. The most unprovoked murders. the
most apparent outrages, and the greatest
violence passed unredressed and unnoticed: /:
or If nOiiced at all, were justified under the
most inexcnsable pretexts. Juries were
impaneled and charged, the laws were read
and counsel heard, but the voice of passion
spoke louder than the voice Of the law. and
for the time the lips OF Justice we're mute
Suits were brought for damages and testi-
moEy readily conjured, by which lands and
tenements we're divested out Of the fugitive
Rebels and vested in the returned Union
lists. Some verdiots were Justly recovered.
aud some Of the guilty we're made to in
demniiy ihe injured, but many unjust and
oppressive judgments were obtained. and
under the form Of the law many fuaitives
were robbed Of their all.
A few judges became parties TO the
violence Of clients, and the laws we're con-
strued to suit the wants Of each particular
case, and those who would not lend their
talents and influence 10 further such suits
were prescribed BY political test-oaths.
Some who administered Justice gathered
about them hirelings and tools, and talent
and professional skill we're subservient 10
the cry Of the impaHioned masses. The
iuries, who should have stood up like walls
Of stone to breast the wild storm and keep
pure and unstained the records Of justice,
raised their hands 10 high Heaven and
solemnly swearing well aud faithfully
to try the issues, pandered 10 the public
tastes, aud the roll Of dishonest Jurors was
fearfuily multiplied. The officers Of fthecogrt
summoned men Of true political faith, and
the juries impaneled recalled their personal
grievances, and the cry Of their wrongs
sileneed the voice Of reason and eased
their conscience. Judges were dependent
upon the appointing powerfor the tenure Of
their Office, and the necessities and dis
cipline of the party was the ccde Of their
laws
Such has been the page of history we
have written in the past eighteen months.
Wherever there are men who detest wrong
and corruption; wherever there are men
who love right and Justice more than party
behests or official dictation wherever there
are men who are panied 10 see a Just cause
burthened by oppression and factions yio-
lence; wherever there are those who will
paint history in its true colors, that those
who come after them may learn 10 think
higher and more nobly, there will these
excesses be hated and discountenanced and
from such will ring the voice Of warning
and Of truth.
Time sufficient has passed in which the
stings Of personal wrong and the memory
grievous outragcs should have been healed
and forgotten. II men viii attemIt 10 rule
in the spirit Of tyranny and in defiance
Of the precepts Of history, then they need
not be surprised that those who have fought
This war in the hope of furiheriug true re-
publican ard Christian charity, should pro-
test againet their intolerance and refuse
them support