Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-08-02

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'3.,ls t,e. FRANK 4, REED Z ,,ssss
a Noble speech sfrOm EIlat Glsisabt
4 YOURg TepnesseaEs.5 gssis
The follwiug eloquent and stirring sp!
peal from our young fellow.tcWuzrnan,
Frank T. Reed, delivered ia. front Of he
Maxwell Hotel, on Cherry street, ThAfsdsy
night last we publish at the.earnest request
Of large number Of our citizens. Mr..
Reed said:
| FELLoW-CITIzENs In common with many
Of those who served in the Confederate
army, was, for a long while, of the opin-
ION that honor and prudence alike required
OF us to refrain studiousiy from partiei-
pating 10 the political discussions of the
day Acting in accordance with tllis opih-
ion, /, for one, have carefully avoided
/ mingling in those heated partisaIl contrOs
versips hat have 50 infiamed and exasper-
ated the public mind as to render 1t likely
that they will culmiIiate in bleodshed. +
remember thatshoFtly after the termination
Of hostlitiesS perhaps ten or twelve months,
| wrote an article for one Of our city peri
odicals that j then thOught--and still
think-fehected the thought Of the re-
turned Confederates, in which L said
Those clouds, formed from the mias-,
matte ryapors exhaled from the lungs
OF noisy politicians, which for Efonr
years lowered upon our land, deluging
| it with great FIRE and blood drops are bnried
in the deep bosom OF the past-have disap-
peared I trust in God forever. Yet even
now, when all hands should be engaged
in macadamizing thoroughfares, quiekening
trade, distributing loaves and fishes to hun
| CRY multitudes, on all sides can be heard.
faufaronsding lip-nlterances, inhammatory,
| partisan appeals. Hoarse mntterings Of
another storm ean be heard, which may
| God avert. You can help him to avert it
not by attending mass. meetings, listening
to political harangues; not by any means. /
But perform the duty or duties nearest
thee; till the land rebuild your burnt
cities and homesteads work in this fair
Gods vineyard tO pluck up the foul upas
trees, falsehOod and wrong, and to plant
therein the evergreens truth andright. Sol
spoke then. The storm whose sullen NUT
terings ] then heard has at length overcast
almost the entire heavens, and threatens TO
burst upon us at any moment. / conceive
thai high duty rests upon those of swho
served with honor in the Confederate
armies. Convinced as l am thst in all this
broad land there Is no class Of citizens
more loyal to-day to the government and /
Constitution of the United States, more ar
deutly welded 10 constitutional republican
principles, more earnestly desirous Of see
ing substantial peace and prosperity re-
stored to the country, aud less swayed and
governed by feelings of passion and preih-
dice, than that noble body Of men who al
tested their devotion to the Southern cause
by exhibiting in its defense a courage and
an endurance that will live in the remen-
brance of posterity until the great "Heay-
ems shall be rolled up like SCROLL" Per-
shaded Of this, l say, il appears to me that 4
in this critical hour it becomes their i'm
perative duty to evidence it both by word |
and deed. know they pray the good
God that here on this continent liberty may
be able to Withstand and defy the inroads |
and encroachments of despotism. They |
wish not 70 hear the death-song Of the |
swan. They wish not 70 see the fortunes |
Of free institutions, all the world over, suf- |
fer disastrous shipwreck, and finally be |
submerged in that dark ocean OF oblivion |
where already Gin nuuabeTsnumberless, the |
graves of buried empires heaYe like pass |
ing waYes.p Believe me, they do not. |
This Of them will dare affirm, that they |
embraced the Lost Cause, and Glove TO IL
with Spartan fidelity through all its Gdays
Of danger and Distress" from the highest
and the purest motives. And putt %
you, tonight, whether you could resped
that young man who, not having attained
the sge that would enable him 10 form
his own opinion Of constitutional questions,
could vet resist the 'soul-stirring drum aud
ear-piercing fife" the cheers of his school
mates and the waving handkerchiefa pf
the beautiful girls. The emotions of rs
spirit must indeed be as dull as night and
his affections dark as Erebus The South
ern armies were mainly composed of young
men, who, in obedience To the eounsels Of
those older than themselves, and impelled
by the high impulses Of youth, shouldered
their guns in defense of what they con
ceived 10 be the liberties and rights of their
country. They wreathed their Gag around
with glory. av |
Aye twill live in song and story,
Though its folds are in the dust, %
For its fame on brightest pages f
shall go sounding down the ages
Furl its folds though now we must"
Impute not, then, TO them the dark and
malignant disposition out Of which l:lone
can spring treason Since they ground
their arms in submission 10 the viii Of /
God and the doom assigned, they have !
borne themselves, as their conduct during |
the war gave assurances they Wonid-as |
quiet, law-abiding citizens, anxious to see !
peace and good government restored. |
Only those noisy, frothy demagogues, who |
in 1861, from the stump, md even from |
the pulpit, endeavored to FIRE the Southern |
heart, aud who hsvingS raised the storm
blenched from the helmk only they since
then have ClsmOred and cried for a redress
| Of grievances; and that the thunder and
the lightning have lett the air, seek again
| TO thrust themselves forward as the repre-
sentatIyes OF the people. j say beware Of
such men. They have dugmany a bloody
grave, have caused many aching hearts aud
] desolate households. Listen not to their
incorporate and ill-advised haranguss, or
| if 80, listen with the contempt and disgust
they ought naturally TO excite.
Fellow-citizens; The picture that the South
presents, menaced and in chains, bowed to
! the earth in humiliation and silent despair,
but with the regel look even yet upon her
| brow aud in her eyes, will do more 10 touch
the great good heart Of the North than all
the screech-owl forebodiHgs and senseless
clamors CT her politicians and newspaper
scribblers.
There's a good time coming, wait a little
/ longer,
when Hight not Might shan be declared our
lord,
In tho good time coming"
Its advent, in my opinion, can only be
FASTENED in one wsy--by paying obedience
to the laws, no matter how unjust and psrti
san we may deem them 10 be. | win say
that lately passed through many Of the
Northern States, and am sure that our in
| tolerable wrongs are thoroughly understood
and appreciated there, and will be redressed
as soon as the means pointed out by
the Constitution can he put into
execution. Nothing whatever can be
| gained on onr part by acting
| intempeFately. Nor do | fear that We will
thus act. The Radical, and not the Dem
ocraiio party, preach violence. In the
hope that they may be able 60 persuade
| the Northern masses that We are insurrec-
1 tionarv turhulpnt and conseauenfly dia