Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-02-19
BROWNLOW's ALLEGATION.
The Responsibility Of His Sue
ceSSOr.
VIII Mr.. Senter Rise to the
Dignity Of craftsmanship.

/
Dignity Of craftsmanship.
The retirement Of Gov. BrOwnlow from
all pretensions to the gubernatorial chat
will mark post>6ell1n epoch in th,
history of Tennessee. The abdication o
no hated monarch ever called forth /
more heartfelt thanksgiving from tn.
hearts of loDg>suffering people, thar
will swell from the very soul Of Tennes
see when the assurance of the long,
prayed for radiance shall have been made
doubly sure, by the departure of Senator
Brownlow for the National Capital. The
10Th day of February will be henceforth
marked with white stone in the Ten>
nessee calendar.
1t is not what the future is to be for US,
that SO much concerns US, for the nonce,
as the fact Of an escape from present mis-,
fortunes and calamities, which is now
youchsafed to US. The anticipation oil
future wrongs does not half so much dis
turb US, as the assurance Of present re-
lief enlivens and encourages. The feel
ing of the Tennessean, to~day, is some
thing akin to that of the jsileworn
prisoner, who gladly dares and joyfully
accepts all probable dangers, in lieu of
his wasting confinement; or, to drop all
smile, it is in very truth, the feeling of a
long PROSTATE freeman, who feels the
heavy foot Of "a tyrant withdrawn, from
his neck, and knows it can never be
pressed again by heavier one.
Gov. Brownlow's successor is Dewitt
c. Senter, of Granger county, the press
ent Speaker of the Senate. He is young
only about thirtyosix years of age, He
is native born and thoroughbred East
Tennessean, and possesses no small
share Of the fire and combative energy
Of his father, the Hon. William T. Sem
ter, who, in 1885, represented the Sec
ond District of Tennessee in the United
States Congress. He has had much leg
islative experience for one Of his years,
both before and since the war, and may
be said to be farmer by education a
lawyer, by liceAse-a politician, by expe-
rience, and Of no mean skill and ability.
He is, of course, ambitious and looks to
the future for further advancement in the
political world. Fortune has smiled upon
him hitherto, though he has, at times,
followed the light that has led him on
thus far, by tortuous and uncertain ways.
He has narrowly escaped political break
ers, upon which other mariners more eau
tious even than he, have been wrecked
and he owes his present safe mooring
rather to the favoring influence of hap
py personal embOnpoint, than to any
consistent and well-determined reckon>
ing by which he has steered his way.
But of this, no matter now.
Gov. Senter will assume the duties of
his high Office, under circumstances pc.
culiarly embarrassing and trying. An
immediate and pressing responsibility
will be cast upon him, such as has rarely
ever taxed the powers, or tried the integ-
rity of one so young. Il would be an
easy enough thing, it is true, to mount
the car of State as it now goes laundering
down the inclined plane and ride with it
to speedy ruin already 10 sight. But
to signal on the brakes, to moderate the
speed and reverse the engine without a
crash-this will require steady brain
and an iron nerve.
There is no man living on the Ameri-
can continent, nor, indeed, On any other
continent, that could duplicate the ad-
ministration of the retiring Governor.
As it never had precedent, so it will
stand in the future, without a parallel.
Brownlsw is sWi generis, and Brown
lowism is essentially and peculiarly
thing of his creation and nature. As
with him it had its origin, SO with him
itmust die; and the man who undertakes
to perpetuate or prolong it in Tennessee,
will only become noticeable in history as
an object Of ridicule for future genera
tons.
Any attempt to initiate Brownlow must
result in failure, disaster and disgrace,
and Mr.. Senter will disappoint those who
know him best, if he should venture up
on any such folly. The future is before
him, full Of promise. With the respon-
sibility cast upon him, comes his great
opportunity. He can either overwheIm
himself in ever listing disgrace, OF he may
make himself the great bensfactor of the
people of his State, and render his name
illustriOus in her history, in contrast with
that of his predecessor. The choice is
his, and it must be promptly made. If
he would show himself a statesman, he
must break loose from the shackles that
recent party associations have thrown
around him. He must look beyond
mere comparison Of tho numerical
strength of political parties. He must
forget the narrow political and personal
prejudiees upon which the party with
which he is now associated is founded,
and from which it draws its life. He
must realize the fact that he and the
people of Tennessee have yet great fu-
ture before them, and that the influences
that now determine the relations of par
ties in the State are necessarily ePhemeral
because unnatural and unjust. He must
appreciate the fact, too, that steadily and
surely the control of the State of Ten
Ressee is reverting to the true source of
political pOwer-the people of the State
and that, whether he will it so, OF 9TH
erwise, the time is not far in the future,
when the outrages the people have so long
suffered and still endure, will be reviewed
and subjected to their stern and unfet-
tered judgment.
The people will expect change Of
rulers to bring with it an amelioration of
their condition, and the incoming Gov
ernor will have the earnest support and
sincere prayers Of the people of Tennes>
see, in whatever efforts he may make to
restore to them the blessings of social
peace and constitutional liberty, which
they have well nigh lost under the ad-
ministration which is now, happily for
them, dra wing to close. Let US hope,
therefore, that Gov. Senter, when he
shall have taken upon himself the solemn
obligations Of his Office, will not feel that
he is a mere administrator de 6onis non
of the political rights of the people, but
that, in and through him, they have been
restored to their rightful estate.-KRoG-
ViHe Press and HeTOld.
ARREST OF ALLEGED KU-KLUX IN Pa
NOLA COUNTY, MIss.--We learn that two
or three days since, by order of Gen.
j. r