The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1869-04-22
Extracts from his Nashville speech.

!. ia tennessee THAI then hare been enamel
: Pdted % become the Sidues Of Loyal Leagues
f Extracts from his Nashville Speech
: There has been great deal said in the
papers and by persons orally taunting and
]. Jeering Andrew johnson as the Moses OF
the black man. | want every colored man
here to-day to give me his attention and we
VIII see If we can find out who is his true
Moses. Now, in Bible reading and church
| history we have q great many imposters.
rlous periods of the world. Now upon this
subject of Moses have q few words TO say.
and for that reason / want to do justice TO
my own reputation and TO set history right.
Ny reputation might not be much to some
but it is great deal 10 me, and while live
| intend TO appropriate good deal of my
time TO refuting the ISLANDERS cast upon me,
L want these colored men to hear me. and L
VIII tell them the truth. Who freed the
colored people in Tennessee? Let history
record the fact Did Mr.. Lincoln in his
proclamation of emancipation set you free |?
| What do you think when / tell you that
Tennessee was not embraced in Mr. Lin
coins proclamation. Who did it? When
| was it done? 1t was done on the 10Th day
of October 1864; and where was it done?
| 1t was done upon the steps of the capitOl I?
DO you remember the excited multitude
| that assembled there that night: Do you
| remember the shrieks and the cries of those
| that were shot down in the crowd: Do You
remember when the messengers of death,
borne upon the spirit of fire, were making
/ their way through the audience? Do YOU
remember who got up there in the midst of
the din and in danger of having his life ia
ken in moment and proclaimed upon the
| principles and the genius or universal eman-
cipation, which was inherent in man, that
| slavery no longer existed i'm Tennessee p
Who was it: 1t was Moses, of Tennessee?
Loud cheer from negroes, and voice
no favor to ask at your hands. | ask you
for 10 place.
Without reference to the President or any
other person, have proclamation to make,
| and standing here upon the steps of the Cap
itol with the past history of the State to wit
ness the present condition to guide. and its
future 10 encourage me, |, Andrew Johnson,
do hereby proclaim freedom full, broad and
unconditional, to every man in Tennes-
see. Looking at this vast crowd of colored
people and rejecting through what a storm
of persecution and obloquy they are COM
PEELED to pass, am almost induced to wish
tina. as in the days OF old a Moses might
arise who should lead them safely to their
promised land of freedom and happiness
{" You are our Moses" shouted several !
voices, and the exclamation was caught up
ana cheered until the capitol rung again. !
God, continued the speaker, no doubt has
prepared an instrument for the great work
he designs to perform in behalf of this out
ragged people, and in due time your leader |
will come forth Your Moses will be reserv- |
ed to you. rive want no Moses but your !
again shouted the crowd Well, then, hum |
bic and unworthy as | am, if no other or !
better should be found | will indeed be your |
Moses, and lead you through the red sea of
war and bondage to a fairer future of liber- |
ty and peace. | speak now as one who feels |
that The world is his country, and who loves /
equal rights as his friends. / speak, too, as |
a citizen of Tennessee. L am here on my |
own soil, and here / mean to stay and fight |
this great battle of truth and Justice to a |
triumphant end. Rebellion and slavery |
shall, by Gods help, no longer pollute our |
State. Loyal men, whether white or black |
shall alone control her destinies, and when |
this strife in which we are all engaged is 1
past, trust, | know, we shall have better /
state of things and shall all rejoice that hon |
est labor reapS the fruits or It's own indus |
try, and that every man has fair chance in 1
the race of life. 1t Is impossible to de- |
scribe the enthusiasm which followed these !
sentiments. Joy beamed in every counte- |
nance; tears and laughter followed each |
other in quick succession; the great throng /
moved and swayed back and forth in the in |
tensity of emotion, and shout after shout /
rent the air. man might have exchanged /
an ordinary mortality to have made such a |
speech to such an audience, aud been much /
the gamer. 1t was speech significant of /
one of the Hottest positions toward uniVer-
sal freedom yet attained. When you come |
to consider who it was that proclaimed you
n scene as has been described; and when |
Mr.. Lincoln refused to extend his proclama-
ton to Tennessee, and left her out, Andrew |
johnson, in the midst of danger and death,
proclaimed it from the capitol steps. Your
Moses did it. Laughter and applause from
the negroes | have been absent four or
five years, and if you have been delivered |
and made free by that Moses you have since
been made slaves.
come now to free you again from bond
of bD
have, since the proclamation of your free
dom, been so extremely interested in you |
who never smelled gunpOwder, who never
imperilled their lives nor sacrificed any
property, now can talk about Moses. Where |
is one of them? Has he come forward and |
proposed to be your Moses! Where is he 1
Can you tell? When danger, death and |
blood and sacrifice of life existed here your
modern Moses was away, perfectly secure |
from the smell of gunpowder. Their bow
els yearn with compassion for you. Why |
don't they be your Moses? | eXhOrt the |
colored men to read Exodus, 81, and other |
CHAPTERS. How long was Moses in freeing |
the Israelites from bondage? l completed |
their deliverance in one night and was your |
Moses. Laughter, and cries of That's so.''l /
Moses delivered the children of Israel in /
forty years. l delivered you in one night
Laug hterl--in the midst of death and dan
ger. and your Moses has deserted you
Where is the colored, the white, or the red |
man who can look in the face of Andrew |
,JO
ceiyed YOU! These newcomers might have /
sent you something They are a little anX- |
ious for the places. Laughter. L believe |
Aaron was sent into the wilderness with 1
Moses, and you havn't even an Aaron to |
come among you. DO you remember that /
when Moses was on the Mount receiving |
the twelve tables the children Of Israel MUIR |
INJURED and caused Aaron to make them a |
calf and To- and behold! it was a golden /
calf When Moses returned he was so /
an work
could and broke the calf into piecez, ground |
il into powder and cast it into the waters |
for the Israelites to drink. The modern /
Aaron made you a calf. He called upon the /
people for their gold and jewelry. Laugh |
ter and applause. These men have all your /
precious things, and have made for them |
selves a golden calf. How similar is the /
parallel. 1t is complete. They monopolize |
all the big offices and leave you the takings. |
How many are these modern Aarons? How |
many will go with you and leave these flesh /
pots? As long as they hold place they pre-
fer to stay. When gone want you to know |
who were your friends, and who sacrificed |
everything for you. When Moses came |
down and was enraged at Aaron and broke |
the golden calf, and took his stand in the |
camp, what did he say to the Israelites? He |
to come TO him. You are not going after |
these false gods-not going after these new
corners, not going after these imposters, not /
going after these false prophets, but all of
you VINO are on the LordS side come 10 me. /
Laughter and applause. But they have
poisoned your minds and made you believe |
that johnson and others were your worst |
enemies. They are so much afraid that |
they can't control you without first making /
this impression. If they succeed in doing |
this they think they are in condition to /
control you. You were proclaimed free by /
one man, but these false goods really have /
you in a worse state of slavery than you |
were in before the war. They are your /
task-masters when you ought to be free and /
you colored men were in the contest of 1856, |
when Know-N othingism prevailed as a Sc
a rat nj nd xrhaf he