Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-10-10

:. Ls..sr from Horace greeley.

/ From the Dardaneile tArksJ Times.
! 1t is with great pleasure that we ca
| the attention of the public to the follow
ing letter from Hon. Horace Greeley, o.
the question of suffrage, addressed to th
editor of this paper, and published will
the consent of the distinguished author
The great talents of Mr.. Greeley-ren
dered more resplendsnt by their devotion
to the national goodwill procure fol
the letter which we subjoin that thought
full consideration at once the due OF 81
eminent publicist and so Important Z
theme. A - fgsr e ia'LEs a
"NEw YORK, Aug. 80, 1S69-My Dsal
Sir: / am at variance with some Union
lists, yourself, | judge, among them, as &c
the wise and safe course to be pursued
with regard to those disfranchised for
active prominence in the rebellion. DIFF
ferences are inevitable and not wholly
undesirable, but it is well that we should
understand each other. Here are the
heads of nay position t
al. i believe in government by the
people-the whole people. Some of
them, l know, are grossly Ignorant,
others sadly depraved some secretly
banker after monarchy and other for
hidden fruit. What then7 Shall none
have a voice in the government but
those who think as do, or are az right
as think l am? That is aristocracy-
the government of the best, perhaps
good form of government, bat not ours
not that inaugurated by the musketry of
Concord, or the cannon Of Bunker Hill;
ours is government of the whole, aAd
abide by it. 7s7 d. ..Hs.r ell Il f.f sH.
"2. l do not doubt that many of the
late Rebels are bitter, revengeful, hateful,
malignant Those who kept out of the
ranks, and 50 escaped being being whip.
ped, are Of course the worst, I assume
it was well-if you please, essential
to deny the right of suffrage to some of
these persons. Bot even you admit that
they can not be kept disfranchised for
eyer-that time must come when thew
should be allowed to vote. insist that
time has come Our difference is one Of
time and circumstance, not OF principle. 4
Let Us reason together. s5 o.. % 4
80. ! think you viii not deny that if
the Rebels areto be enfranchised, ii were
better that this should be done by the
Republicans than over them. Virginia
and Tennessee show us what it will be.
If Acknowledgement could endure any
where, why not in Tennessee2 She re-
constructed herself during the war, in
utter independence Of Congress She
had been fought over inch by inch
nearly all her men had been in the one
army or the other, majority Of them in
the Rebel and it was clear from the
outset that enfranchisement imperiled the
Union ascendency; and the very legisla<
tive acts designed to render Rebel ress
toratiOn impossible, have served to rens
der it complete, overwhelming. Can
ye not discern the signs of the times2
81 You may believe, as | scarcely think
you do, and as | do not, that continued
Rebel Acknowledgement is desirable.
only the more strenuously insist that it
is impossible History and the genius of
the age forbid it.
"5. dOnot doubt that the Rebels would
have denied the right of suffrage to
Unionists, had they triumphed-denied
IL lOE yeaIS-poTHdp5 lOE S6noIbbAOH.
But insist that ours is higher, a more
humane civilization than theirs; that they
could do many things that we cannot |
know there are blood-thirsty men among
US don't believe our safety is to be
secured by hanging them.
"6 Shakespeare says:
we teach bloody instructions.
Which return to plague the inventor -.
Z" If We, being uppermoss, prescribe,
they who viii yet be uppermost are mors
ally certain to do likewise We can not
expect them to do better than we do. If
we prescribe Rebels so long as we may,
they will in turn prescribe Radicals. We
shall have the factions of Marius and
Sylla over again
There is a more excellent way, and
We must pioneer it There is nothing
safer than maguanimity. We can hold
over by showing that ours is the higher
and more humane civilization.
4" Let US have peace Yours, truly,
HORACE GREELEY
Colonel H. L. Mcconnell" "