Tri-weekly union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-186?, 1866-10-27
ELECTION FOR REPRESENTATIVE.


pretend, however, TO be Indifferent to the re-
suit Of the election, nor to the favorable
opinion Of my fellow-citizens. The man
who is Indifferent to the good or bad opinion
Of his fellow-meD, is lacking in one Of those
| qualities which Cop intended his creatures
10 act we'll their part. A reasonable respect
therefore, for your good opinion, and a
reasonable desire to receive your suffrages
| induce me to present my own claims 20 youI
| consideration in this circular letter.
am sufficiently known TO the people Of
this county as a Union man. / have never
been willing to apologize for my attachment
| TO the the Union and Constitution as they
were, and to the principles of liberty and
equal rights on which they were founded
| Six years ago believed that if force or revo-
| lutiOnary measures were resorted to, in the
| effort to maintain the rights Of the South
we should lose and never be able to restore
| the Union and Constitution as they were.
| believed that if we should rely upon the
peaceable remedies of the Constitution foT
the maintenance of our rights, we should
/ find ourselves secure in them; but if we
| should resort to force, or revolution, or Sc
| cession, we should inevitably lose those
rights which were avowedly contended for,
and many others; and bring upon our coun-
| try untold evils, be the nominal result one
way or the other. l avowed these sentiments
publicly and priv ately, and was fully I'M
derstood
And being Union man, and swearing
| by our Constitution and its principles, and
adjuring our people by all manner of argu-
ment | could devise, to maintain the stabili-
ty of that Constitution and the principles OF
| freedom and equal rights upon which our
| Government was founded, / could not, in
| good conscience, favor any violation of these
| principles by those who conducted the war
for the Union. l did not fail TO oppose the
encroachments of arbitrary power at every
step. / did so publicly and earnestly, in
every year of the war, and was SO Distinctly
understood by those who ruled over u.s. A
few quotations from my writings from year
to year, during the war, will serve to show
better than anything else whether or not
there was a measure Of strength in my
position, and of consistency in my course.
In May, 1861, | wrote as follows: Many
of our best young men have been led to
believe that they were enlisting for the
war in defence of our State, and the institu-
tons and liberties of our people, and of the
people of the Southern States. While | APP
preciate the patriotic motives which have
led our friends our brothers, and our sons to
volunteer in this most unnatural warfare, /
believe they have been most cruelty deceived.
Their blood, t0hich UiH be poured out upon the
field Of their countT,ys ruin and desoIdtion, will
be required at the hands of those who have
deceived them" And again, in the same
paper: 81 do not believe this country will
be divided. We may fight and destroy
each other, and spread over this once happy
land the blackness of the shadow of death
But We shall remain one people still-sub-
dued, IL may be- at last, 10 military despotism,
ground TO the earth by enormous tdres, democrat
lied, debased, and ruined"
In 1862, June 18th, when the tables had
been turned in this State, and the power of
the Federal Government began to press
heavily upon us, l wrote as editorial for the
Union, (the regular editor being absent, a
short article, the concluding paragraph Of
which read as follows:
Let us all come together" again to restore
public order and civil liberty. At present we are
not governing ourselves. The rule of the bayOnet
Is upon US. That rule cannot long continue with
out danger that our civil liberty shall perish. Ty
rants have always been found to embrace such
opportunities 20 trample out the liberties of the
people. But il must even be so. Public order
which gives personal security is the first consde-
of unanlmity, which will insure public order, the
rule of the sword must continue. Let us all got
together then. people of Tennessee, and take the
salvation Of our liberties into our own hands
May not be permitted to claim that if
manifested disposition to weed the vices of
one party, | was not disposed TO let those of
the other grow?
Military Governor JOHNSON had lately
come among us, and had issued a concilitory
address to the people of Tennessee, in which
he pledged the Government, as he was fully
authorized to do, to the policy indicated by
the voters of all the members except one or
two who were secessionists, which declared
that "this war is not wappd in any spirit Of
oppression or subjugatiOn, nor for the pur
pose of subverting the institutions of any of
the States; but to uphold the Constitution and
preservethe Union, with all the dignity, equal
ity and rights oftheseveral States unimpaired,
and when these objects are accomplished, the
war ought to cease" Myself and those with
whom l acted, accepted this pledge in good
faith, and never consented to a departure |
from it. We, however, knew that |
party had grown up in the North which |
desired to violate this pledge, and radically |
change the policy Of the administration. |
Hence the extreme anxiety manifested by |
the leading men of our party to set on foot |
4 restoration movement in Tennessee, the |
of which might be felt in Wash |
ington, and in 4 measure relieve President |
LINCOLN of the pressure then bearing upon !
him to bring about violation of the plighted !
faith of the Government, and a change of
policy. The Union Convention which as /
;embled here that year appointed COM
nittee to prepare an address to the people /
IF Tennessee. | had the honor to be mem |
Der Of that committee, and sign that address. !
It was characterized by mildness and con-
ervatism, and pledged our party to 81 bon
)rable policy which had been indicated. But
oon the Federal army back, even to the
Ohio river, made it apparent at Washing
on that no strength for the time could be de-
lived from any movement of Union men
n the South. simultaneously with this &C.
,urrence, a meeting of the Governors of
even Northern States was held at Altoona,
Pa, the object and result of the delibera-
ions of which was to force Mr.. LINCOLN
o change his policy, and to issue his pre-
urinary proclamation of emancipation. |
relieve TO. day, that if instead of the falling
Jack of the Union army in Tennessee and
kentucky and its reverses between Wash
ngton and Richmond, we could have pre-
ented the restoration of Tennessee to the
Union, Mr.. LINCOLN would not at that
ime have been impressed into the adoption
# a Radical policy, which he had steadily
for a year. So unwilling was Mr..
lincoln to adopt this policy that even when
lie had issued his second proclamation,
ctually declaring the slaves free, he init
mated to a distinguished Unionist of our
itate, that If the war could be brought to 4
peedy close, he would not seek 10 enforce
lis proclamation by the war power, but
cave its endorsements to the courts. This
rould have been equivalent to its abandon
nent. This idea was held out most of the
ear 1868 by the New York Times, which
ras believed in that TO represent the views |
a the AuIntnIsII tt1,li, anu N7fSvOsaIaJ zrs.
SEWARD. ] refer to this matter as casting
light upon the motives which influenced
he course of many Union men in the border
'tates who continued TO advise the South
IN people to resort TO negotiations for peace
N the basis of the Constitution and the
tate Of things before the war. In the fol-
owing June | myself published a series of
rticles, urging this view, from one of which
quote the following paragraph. This
vas in June 1868, when this State was occu-
lied by the contending armies under ROsE-
RAMS aud BRAGG:
And can the Constitution be restored? II can.
its friends will unite in an effort to that end
iuch sooner can a restoration be attained than
he treaty Of temporary and delusiv G peace which |
you'd il be than such treaty. But people Of Ten
lessee aud Oft the South, no choice lies before you
S between the Constitution and separation; but
AZ hcfireen The Constitution aaR inter snbiugnfion
"a aN5 and