Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-03-28


afraid to come in here; but this state o
affairs will nOt-cannot, in fact-iast long
and, in my opinion, East Tennessee has I
future as bright as any section of thu
country. Our superior soil and climate
together with our great mineral wealth
will be sure o attract immigration as
| soon as we become little more settled
in a political point Of view. We wanl
peace and order in the country, and more
confidence in each other. have always
been opposed to anything and everything
that would breed tumult and disorder
in short, have always been apeace man,
and opposed to war or the shedding Of
blood when it could possibly be avoided.
At the commencement OF our late I'M
happy struggle took decided grounds
against secession because | knew that it
would bring war and bloodshed. l said
to the people, let Us fight this battle in
the Union and under tho constitution;
let it be battle OF words, as it were, and
not battle ofswords. / told the South~
ern people that if they had been wronged,
they should seek redress in the Union
and under tho constitution. For taking
this stand and doing all could to kill the
secession movement and make the Poop o
stand firm by the Union, | was denounced
as a traitor and tory, and forced to leave
my home and have my property de-
stroyed. On the 18th of June, 1861,
l left this home because could stay here
no longer. | was hooted at and insulted
in every possible way, and my life threat
ened. Now, some of the very men who
were engaged in this, some Of the very
men who used to denounce me as traitor
and tory, because l stood by the gov
eminent, have since turned to be very
loyal, and denounce me as traitor be-
cause want to stand by the constitution,
as | stood by the Union. There are two
very bad classes Of men in the country"
he continued, "and they are what might
be called RebslrU nionists and Yankee
Rebels. By Rebel Unionist l mean
man who was very much of Rebel at
first, and wanted to drive every Union
man out of the country, as they did me,
and who have since turned to be so very
loyal that they are unwilling that an
honest Rebel should have any rights at
all. We have many instances of this
class of men in this State men who de-
serted the sinking fortunes of the rebels
lion, when they saw that it was sinking,
who are now so wonderfully loyal as to
denounce everybody as Rebels and
traitors who do not happen to believe
as they do. In my opinion, as said be-
fore, another bad class of men in the
South are the Yankee Rebels-that is,
men Of Northern birth and education,
who espoused the cause of rebellion.
When the worst came to the worst, and
we saw that there would have to be
war, we naturally looked to the North
ern residents of the South for assistance,
but in a majority Of instances they went
against their government"
In speaking of slavery he said Il
never bought but two or three slaves III
my life, and I never sold one. The fact
is" he said, laughing, 81 was always
more Of slave than any owned. SlaV-
cry existed here among us, and those
that | bought | bought because they
wanted me to.''
In speaking Of the country at large, he
said There never has been such GLE
rious country on the face of the earth,
and if we can only get along and pa
tiently bear with each other, all will
come right frally. If the North and the
South understood each other better there
would be nothing in the way of our be-
ing united, prosperous aud happy. That
is the greatest desire | haVe-to see the
people of all sections Of our country
living in harmony and peace. That was
one reason why was so bitterly ops
posed to the secession movement ; If sucs
cesSiul, it would have divided and forever
ruined the country. In unity there Is
strength, but in division there is weak
ness. The war was waged to preserve
our unity-to uphold the constitution.
In other words the war was waged on
the part of the Union people to compel
the Southern people to live in the Union.
The Unionists said !: You can't go, you
must live with u.s. Well, the war for
the Union was successful, and now isn't
it absurd to turn around and say to the
Southern people, We spent a good deal
of blood and treasure to make you live
in the Union, but you shan't have any
more power than if you didn't exist In
such q Union there is about as much
weakness as in no Union at all.
"There never. was" he continued,
"such a glorious opening for the Ameri-
can people, as there is now, if they will
only let the past go, and look to the fuS
ture. If we will but live together, har
monte, and be friends, we will become
the greatest nation on earth. What
splendid opportunity" he continued,
for young men just starting out in life,
if they will only be true to themselves
and use reasonable industry. | don't
care whether he is at the bar, or at the
pillow, a mechanic, or a medical student,
he lives in golden age, and an age that
he can distinguish himself in, if he will
only perseVere in the right course. Young
men are sometimes discouraged because
they think their reward for patient toll
is slow in coming, but if they will keep
right straight ahead, and not allow Them .
selves to be discouraged at any thiag
there is always some one who will dis
cover their merit and lend them he lp-
ing hand.
"There is a or eat deal sa d about educs
ton, and wealth, andl family connection,
andall that, but it a II amounts to nothing,
unless a young man is determined to
make something out of himself. Educa'
ton is, Of course, a great advantage, but
he that depends solely upon that will find
himself outstripped in the race of life. S1
young man who thinks that, becausl
his family is rich and powerful, he must
necessarily be so, will find himself mis-
taken. A wealthy family are liable to bt
broken up and their riches scattered tc
the four winds, and then what is the
condition of the young man who thought
nothing else was needed
1T matters not what pursuit young
man may follow, or what profession b.
adopts, if he will only be Industrious anC
economic his time, success will be hi!
sooner or later. Never, in the history o
| the world, has there been such an open
ing for young men as there now is il
America, The ground is already pre-
pared for the seed-all they have to d.
is to SOW good seed, and the harvest vii
come in due time"
l mentioned his own case as an illus
trstiCn Of the American system which
afforded chance to all, and told him
had been around to see the tailor shop
where he had first got a start in tn
world.
Yes" he said laughingly, the oil
shop is there yet, but great man
things connected with 1t are lost. NJ,
old, original sign, together with one o
two benches or tables, had in the eel
L l. l. L II