Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-04-05
VOLUME XXXIII.

loO4, organized q SECTIONAL party on DASH
Of representation from the Free States only
and who subsequently, struck fifteen star
from the national banner, were no miserable
fanatics, but cold blo)ded, selfish, calculating
politicians. The divisions in our own rank
that were inevitable, perhaps, helped to en-
courage those men, and so, driven BY the
wind and tide, after little, great, honora.
bic party, which is represented here, and
which time and again has saved this Union
and saved the Constitution, at its last gasp,
were overwhelmed, and others came into
power who, to-day, are represented in the
Committee Of Fifteen, and the ultra MAORI
ty in Congress. President johnson under
stood these men perfectly well. | am not
speaking Of the great Republican party now.
/ take great pleasure in distinguishing be-
tween those who occupy a moderate position
on this question and those who are carrying
out revolutionary principles. Applause. ]
! make no war on the Republican party.
am defending the great principle which con-
Germs them not less than us. President
johnson followed them along down to the
time of the war, when it would seem as if he
may have lost sight of them in the dust and
smoke Of battle, for as they wrapped the
flag Of theircountry around them they passed
for that which they were not. The contest
now being over, we find these men who pro-
fessed 10 be in favor of the war, on the
ground that it was fo, the restoration Of the
Union, proving false to their own profess
ions and endeavOring 10 shut out the States
indefinitely, so that we can make no calcula-
tons for the future But there comes a
time in the lives Of individuals, who have
practised deceit and who have worn dis
guises, when something occurs that removes
the veil and the country begins to see them
as they are.
Lord Bacon. in one of the ablest of his
works, speaks Of the case of Tiberius Cesar,
who had worn his disguises long and well,
but having been provoked by 4 speech
made 10 him on a certain occasion, BETRAYED
the secret of his heart; and, therefore, Bacon
says, quoting eloquently from the poet
Horace, that /" the passions are traitors, and
compel men 10 reveal their secrets" Now,
these men in their madness have BETRAYED
their motive, and that motive il to prevent
anything like restoration now, or at any
futuIe day. (Applause)
a word on the subject Of the Freedmen's
Bureau. That measure odious as we all
know it is, these men had an idea, confident
OF their power, having controlled individuals
and the country so long, that they could
thrust il upon the President and that he
would not have the courage to thrust it from
him. But they were mistaken; and in the
message following that odious measure, we
have almost unansweiable arguments against
it. In casting my eyes over it. l could not
help but recall the powerful view taken by
an Itch Of l,n /
of England, which bears some resemblance
to the odious features of this Freedmen's
Bureau bill. He SAYS Of it that unwhole-
some expedients were the bud, dilemmas
and depravities have been the blossoms, and
danger and despair are the bitter fruits. Its
roots reach down TO hell.
A word as to the policy of the President.
We have in it, | believe, the sentiment of
the American people. 1t is a policy which
| believe, if carried ont, will do more than
all other things toward restoring prosperity
to the entire country. / would like to see
like general amnesty for politi-
cal oflenses. The President has minated
his position on the test oath. | should like
to see that changed for a simple oath to sup
port the Constitution Of the United States.
would withdraw troops from the Southern
except where the people desired
them 10 remain. But | do not expect to
have my way in this matter | have lived
long enough to understand that no man can
havehis own way in the things that enter
into his mind and doubtless it is all for the
best There's a divinity that shapes our
ends rough hew them how We will"
Doubtless, if we lived up to the respon-
sibilities Of the present time, aud are true
to our convictions of duty everything will
come right according to our hopes; and
therefore l accept, for one, the reconstruc-
ton policy as find it before the public, and
as we all understand i. at the present time.
On the other side we have policy which is
fatal to anything like a restoration
of the Union. These men are not only for
keeping them out, but some of them are for
taxing their land. They are for taxing
them without allowing them to be represent
ed. Your own brothers and sons have gone
out there into business, and you are TO re-
collect that they are also involved in this
business. They tell Us also of these men
being conquered. This is barbarous idea.
II carries the mind back to a period Of the
world when the conquered were dragged at
the chariot wheels of the victor, impaled
alive, and nailed TO crosses; and it becomes
Us, if We have any regard for the civiliza-
ton of the age, to discard this odious policy
and come back to one that has its reflex in
the teachings of the Gospel. These gentle
men are exceedingly classic, and they give
rs quotations from Vattel and Pufendorf
and Others but they have overlooked one
which, have no doubt, they have
taken for their text. Their policy is not
American but Italian, and not the Italian
Of Garibaldi and Victor Emanuel, but the
Italian of Nicolo Machiavelli. You will
find il i'm in his article called the Prince,
TO Lorenzo De Medici, concerning
the proper way Of governing a State. He
tells Us Republic or Commonwealth
must be received in order that il may be
governed as a conquered province. That is
The doctrine of the leaders in Congress; and
in another sentence, gives the
reason. lie says: "People who have been
overcome will always endeavor TO recover
their old privileges" That is not Ameri-
can doctrine
We stand to-day upon American ground
upon the farewell message of Washington,
and take his warnings TO our heart; and
having gotten rid Of the passions of the day,
suflereth long and is kind, something to
impress US, and awfully impress, also by the
Of the day on which we are
assembled, if we have in our hearts love of
kindred, or any recognition Of that blessed
sermon upon the Mount, we are called upon
to band together for the recovery of that
which is right, and for carrying out those
principles which shall lvewhen your monu-
ments of brass and marble have crumbled
into dust What we desire now is 20 educate
the public opinion of America up tothe great
mark of its high calling in Christ Jesus.
What we want is TO carry out the precepts of
an enlightened Christianity. have spoken
harshly of those whom | have designated
as ultra. Yet if | could come near TO them
and be permitted to hold them in argument
for a while, l would rather seek to bring
them back to the principles TO which ! refer,
than TO punish them for their violation, as |
consider it, Of the great principles of civil
and religious liberty There is in Florence,
one of her heights, the ruins of
an ancient convent, whose gray old6alls,
with the ivy and the vine, receive
the first beams Of the rising sun and the last
RAYS Of his departing glory as he trails his
robes Of gold and Of purple along the slopes
Of the Apprentices. In historical point OF
view that gray old ruin is infinitely more
interesting to the philosophical traveller
than all the marvellous works of CImabue
and Michael Angelo that grace the churches
of Santa Croce and the Duomo, and the old
church Of San Lorenzo where the gigantic
shapes Of dav and night, turned into stone,