Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-06-16
II nion aud gispatfh.
SUNDAY. JUNE is. 1867.
Largest Circulation I'm City and st.
BROWNLOWISM,
Plain Talk by Capt. William Driver
Truths worthy TO be POudered aud


II the IOllOhlnB Is worthy, air IL gDSit
/ don't want the creatures who give me the
cold shoulder to misunderstood me. You
and they and their Dictator know that
while war was in the land, had the credit
Of being somewhat Radical Union. At
least as much so as some of those creatures
who would now rule with a black rod of
iron.
The UGr IS 0Uer. Our State restored 10
the Union without restrictions or "ifs."
Every man on her soil with some few eU-
ceptions is citizen Of the United States
and entitled to all the privileges Of such
citizenship. Knowing this would be the
case, these Radical men, or some Of them
at least know opposed our early admission,
at least until the smoke of our burning
towns cleared off and the bitterness incident
to a civil war had cooled off" Congress,
think little unwisely, admitted us with
our government, the premature offspring of
] the bayonets, etc We are in the Union,
and, therefore, my motto from that hour
| has been universal suffrage and the en-
forcement of the laws. | believed then
and believe now, that time alone could
| heal the dreadful breach. / knew the
madness of both parties and feared that
which has already come to pass-that the
| State government, composed of the bitter
est elements of minority, backed with the
bayonet and urged on by past wrongs, real
or feigned, would assert a power which
certainly does not belong to it, and disfran-
chise most of her citizens las most of them
| had participated in rebelion) and thus
make all hopes of reconciliation void.
This has been done, 1HUiseiy, mddiy done,
and the bitterness to-day, is greater, deeper
seated, than when Hood was laundering at
our gates. What is the use of our laws ?
They are made void or discarded for p0iti-
cal purposes. In them only rest the power
of DISTINGUISHING and taking away the
birth-right of a citizen Of the United
States Is it right or Just to disfranchise
one man, much less two-thirds Of people
of a State who are citizens Of the United
States in any other manner than by the
courts of the land? Has a State power
of the kind? Certainly not. Therefore
the present franchise law is a great wrong
a fraud mistake which but tyranize8 ty-
rdnny- y-condemning thousands at one
swoop, without a shadow of a hearing
closing the ballot-box against the entire
u6dlh and cultivated manhood of our State
and placing her and her future as well as
present prosperity in the hands of a few
political tricksters, and men of yesterday
and the most uneducated, unreliable mas
that ever put on citizenship.
Has there been crime in the land, We
have courts and laws for its punishment
Are we afraid 10 trust them They are ouI
strength. The,hair of our Sampson; no vile
Delilah must lay hands upon them; if We
cling TO them we are safe, if not, we shall
perish in a wild storm. They have power
on proof of guilt TO disfranchise and there
is no such power elsewhere in time ofpeace
Citizens disfranchised by other means have
a right to close their doors on assessors and
tax gatherers and it will come to that il
this madness is persisted in. We musi
look ahead and be just and law abiding il
we would prosper
The past belongsto God-its consequence
are ours-our duty while smarting under
them is 10 profit by their teachings. How
is this to be done Certainly not in angry
discussions and striies, or in the further
shedding of blood. The hour for this is
passed--that was when the footprints Of
war were warm and smoking; when teal
followed tear down the widow and orphan,
check when untold thousands of our sol
diers, with unclosed wounds, were lying il
| every city and all over this weeping land
This swift retribution was looked for an,
might have found apOlogist, even among
Christian nations. Nay, even done good
'Tis now too late-our path lies not o'e
the dark and bloody ground; tits where he
the Prince of Peace leads, saying "follov
me" Mad men and bad men only, nov
aid in stirring up hatred by dragging tn
bleeding past to view, and by openin.
every old wound and pointing at the bleed
ing corpse, 20 inAame with renewed hatre,
and love for strife!
Such are the most Of our politicians
Such was the effect of their speaking a
our capitol few DAYS since. The numbe
of these bitter Radical men, it is TO b
hoped, are few; yet few as they are, the
keep alive old hatreds, instead Of castin
the pail of forgiveness and oblivion Of
them, and Ger Our sorrows and their causes
Such men may be loyal-may have bee
so, but they certainly are no friends of thei
country or her future good. As Radical,
they certainly are the merest, smallest kin
, of minority, the minority of a minorit
! whose love of office has made them bin
TO every other lOve-every other interes
| They know a divided house can't stanl
and yet every blow they now strike wider
the breach. They know there is no nee
for armed forces here. They know there
no need of arming and paying ten thOusan
o militia men, except for political purpose
81 They know no State has a right TO keep
standing army in time Of peace, if at an
other time. They and everybody else kno
that men who in time Of peace will embar
/ IN 1t,,h nafhap.r al
that such men always have been and a
ways will be ft tools for tyrants and m,
nomaniacs Nv God iuss think of bein
a sort of something in shape Of bogI
soldier Does IL not seem incredible thl
America has brought forth such type {
man-creatures willing TO ill a sentry bo
at the corner of every street, and patr
5 every Cross-road, for twelve dollars p,
4 month, to be wrung out of the sweaty shi
and toll stained pants OF their down trodde
iellow-citizens, a ruined people.
Such men as these murdered poor Nj
Whittier in September, 1864, in sight an
sound Of our capitol-put seven bal
through him, while he was on his kne
PRAYING to them-not for himself OF h
; life-and bayonetted him three times in Il
head as he Law on has face where he hs
e fallen. Such men sacked aud burned Il
houses of Howington, the two Abe
nathys, Matt Anderson, the widow Hyde
and finally the house of old Mr. McWhil
T ter, who, with his aged wife, had seen ii
storms of eighty-four winters, and lie
these poor creatures alone, almost In slgl
Of their dead child, who was lying in h
gore, on the public highway, to be "roott
by hogs" There were forty of these ere
lures who did this. The sufferers we
harmless men, who never wronged at
one but themselves-had all taken the an
nesty oath and kept il, and had also take
the johnson OF, as il used to he called, q
Damnesty Oath, relying on the pledges
our government, which government wa
by this bloody act, most grossly wronged
these Tennesseans in blood, acting will
out any order from the Commander OF u
}, Department, or any one else, except -
Why were they not court-martialC
with their oihcers? They were of {
Rody Guard / must say no more, but
day Of retribution comes. There is
cord, and as its evidence passes in m
nights dreamy hour, my ewes an vi
/, tears The groans OF that aged pair
|, they crouch beneath the fence cover
with the dust and ashes Of their smould
ing dwelling, seems to burst upon my e
n and / inwardly cry, God keep her a
n n -. - ,,npfrv from fature scanas 4;