The Union flag. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1865-187?, 1868-10-16

What theatre Is there for the display of the |
energies Of young and aspiring citizen just |
entering upon the important duties of life, in |
country tornby civil strife2 Wen has an
eminent American statesman remarked -
"There is no path Of ambition open to me in |
divided and distracted country"
| To prove that the, real issue is peace or
war, we have only to refer to Frank P. Blair's |
Iletter, written with view TO his nomination,
and subsequently endorsed by the very fact
of his nomination by the National Demo-
bcratic Convention.
| Blair, in his letter, says;
! "There is but one way TO restore the Gov
ernment and the Constitution, and that is for
the President elect to declare these acts null
and void, compel the army t0'undo It's usur-
pations at the South, disperse the carpet-bag
State governments, allow the people toreOr-
ganize their own governments, and elect Sen
ators and Representatives. N
| of course, any attemptto subvert theg gov
ernment of these Southern States by force
would lead to war, as the Governor and all
other State officers, civil and military, are
sworn to obey support and defend the Con-
sti.utinn Of the State of North Carolina; and
we will defend it, ra-~
Further down, Blair says: ts
awe must restore the Constitution before
we can restore the finances, and to do this
we must have a President who viii execute
the will Of the people by trampling into dust
the usprpations of Congress, known as the
reconstruction acts. ] wish to stand bsfofe
the Convention upon this issue, but it is one
which embraces everything else that Is Of
value in its large and comprehensive results
Ii is the one that includes all that is worth a
contest, aud without It there is nothing that
gives dignity, honor, or value to the strug-
gle"
On this issue he was dominated. II any
other proof were needed to show the revolu-
tionary spirit Of the Conservative party, It
| could easily be found in the violent harangues
we daily hear around us, their bitter perse-
cution Of Union men, and their unrelenting
Ihatred Of the North andits loyal people.
The bitterness towards Northern men, who
prove true to their principles, and who do
not bow in selfish submission TO the opinions
of these naughty aristocratsi ssll-constitntee
Judges Of honor and morality | know from
personal experience. Though descended
4 from one of the Oldest families Of this State,
and born and partially raised in Rockingham
county, my return nearly two years ago to
4 nv native place, I was denounced as u Yam
kee, and generally received with all the cold
\ ness4aud distrust due TO one of that detested
race. Eotwithsiandlng my OWE nativity, and
| the position of my mothers family they
could never forget the Puritan birth OF my
! father, whose native State, Vermont with
her thirty thousand majority, so nobly leads
the van; and may add could never forgive
his dying efforts iu defense ct his country
4 Speaking Of him, and feeling that what
4 &C ho IA
| is derived from the name bear, and the af-
feetiOn many still feel toward enc who through
/ life proved himself the peoples friend, a few
words concerning my father maJ not De in
anpropriate. 1t was with feelings of sur
| prise. aEd must add Of Indignation, that
saw his name Inscribed upon one of the trans
pafances borne in the late Conservative pro-
cession thought that comtuon decency at
least would have prevented them from drag
vinq from the tomb the name of a man whom
| they had betrayed and denounced through
life, and after death, whose orphan children
they had prosecuted. #fL q,
Il While gazing upon that name remembered
the time when these same men declared him
/ A traitor to every principle of honor because
be preferred his country to his party, and
bitterly den6unced him tor his efforts to rally
the people Of the West for the defence Of the
Union.
remember all these things when am de-
clared degenerate son and for every quo
tation they give me from his speeches | will
give them dozan when the Sentinel paradef
a sentiment concerning white mans gov.
ernment, ! would remind them of his dying
words. When the wife bent over the scarce
breathing form Of the expiring statesman
Rnd asked him If he had no message to send
10 his children, aTell them,p said he, in q
voice rendered almost inaudible BY the neal
approach Of death, 'to obey and support the
Constitution and the laws Of the land" This
solemn injunction intend TO obey. When
see myself personally abused BY the Conser
vative press, on account of my political sen
. tinents, and called traitor to the State II
: which was born, I weuld recall TO their re
collection the times whea was declared al
alien enemy About the year s62, bill
7 was fled summoning Thomas Settle (noy
/ Associate Justice Of the Supreme COnrt) ant
: R. A. Ellington 20 Greensboro ~ show eaus'
why they should not surrender the propert
, of Robert NJ and Stephen A. Douglass, aliei
enemies Of the Oonfederacy; and when an
n denounced as q Yankee and capet-baggef,
: would remind them Of their efforts TO driV
me an exile from my native State, and rendel
me a stranger 70 the soil that gave me birth
as, however, | have Inherited my faiherI
. name, and his principles, It IS natural that
should inherit their animosity. Neyefthe
h less, Il is strange that these men, bic bittsres
!, enemies ia life, should now claim 20 be IN
: truest opponents Of his principles bat no
- more strange than that they should nov as
% sert themselves the best friends Of the Con
= stitution Of the United States, and the inial
1 lible interpreters Of its provisions, aiter the.
!, had sacrificed hundreds Of thousands OF live
= and thousands Of millions Of treasure =
q trample into the dust that sacred Instrument
4 Such is their consistency, aud sgeh u !
I throughout ali their political principles,
! a white Republican addresses a crowd of col
A. ored men, expressing his honest sentiments
= instruciing them in their rights and dutiea
= and advising them as a friend, that aetioi
Al Involves social equality, and is indlsrsPu
= table
u High.born Conservatives, however, ca
10 mineis promiseuously among eolored men a
AZ barbeeues, eat from the same sheep, en-
% drink from he same bottle, and they deserv
is the praise Of their iellow-eitifenB. II col
). ored man, followine his honest c0nTictlon'
a 1 -. -. ~. k.ak trtn-nafn ~ hfa an