Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-02-04

try's ruin Be pleased, therefore, to
give me the information / seek.
Do you find on the records of your Office
anything which shows that Mr.. Stanton
was in violent or dangerous conflict with
demons of treason and civil discord, - or
any other description of demons Did
Mr.. Stanton himself lay claim to the he
roic character you ascribe TO him, or de-
clare that he had performed those prodi-
gious feats of courage while he was in Mr..
Buchanan's Cabinet Has any other per-
son who was in condition to know the
facts, ever given you that version of them
which you repeated to the court If yes,
who are the witnesses2 What particular
danger was he exposed 10 which tested his
valor and made his 'undaunted 'front.' q
thing so wonderful in the description of
| it? Whose Efeebleness and treachery''
was it that "united to yield whatever de-
| fiant rebellion might demand?n And how
did MIR. Stanton's courage dissolve the
combination or defeat its purposes
You say that for ten weeks Che stood
manfully at his post between the living
and the dead" No, when the first law
officer of the United States addresses the
Supreme Court on a special occasion, and
after elaborate preparation, he is presumed
to mean something by what he says. How
Is this to be understood You certainly |
did not intend to assert merely that he |
stuck to his commission as long as he |
could, and gave it up only when he could |
not help it Standing n1onfatlIy at a |
post of any kind, and especially when the |
stand is made "between the Irving and |
the dead, has doubtless a deep signifi- |
canoe, if one could but manage to find !
out what it is. Who were the dead
and who were the living; and how did it
happen that Mr. Stanton got between
them9 and why did he stay there for ten
weeks? These questions you can easily
answer, and the answer is needed, for, in
the meantime. the conjectural interpreta-
tons are very various, and some of them
injurious to the dead and living aforesaid,
as well as to Mr.. Stanton, who, according
to your representation, stood between
them.
can comprehend the well-worn Si1niLe
of Ithuriel's spear; but do not see what
on earth was the use of it, unless you
thought it ornamental and original, for
you make Mr.. Stanton by his mere pres
ence, and without spear, do what Thu
riel himself could not do with the aid of
that powerful instrument. The angel
with the spear compelled demon to lay
aside his disguise, while a mortal man
dealt with many demons and not only made
them all appear in their proper shape, but
drove them ''bafiled and bowling away
out of his "'resolute presence l do not
object to this because the figures are mixed
or because it is an extravagant out
rage on good taste; the custom of ID
the times allows men who make
euiogies on tn cir political friend I
TO tear their rhetoric into rags, and if you
like the tatters you are welcome to hunt r
them. But l call your attention to it t
with the hope that you will talk like a
man of this world, and give us in plain or (
at least ineligible prose particular ac-
count of the very important transactions
TO which you refer, together with the at
tendant circumstances. suppose you
have no thought of being taken literally;
your description of Mr.. Stanton coniuring
demons is only metaphorical way you
have of saying that he frightened certain a
bad men. l beg you to tell me who they
repeat, that you are not charged, and, a
in my opinion, could not be Justly e
charged, with the great sin of fabricating
statements like these. You have, no v
doubt, seen or heard what you regard as
proof of them What fear is, Ct
that you have been mislcd by the false =
accounts which partisan writers have in n
vented, not TO honor Mr.. Stanton, but to If
SANDER others.
If you had known the truth concerning
lis conduct while Attorney General, and a a
old it simply, you might have done great
honor TO his memory. He was at that a
ime a regular-built, old-fashioned Demo- n
ratio Union saver He believed in the
Constitution as the fundamental law of \,
he land, as the bulWark of the public
liberty, and as the only bond by which
he States could be rightfulyheld together N
lie regarded his high official oath as a
Olemn covenant with God and his coun-
~, never to be violated under any cir g,
;umstances; and he had a right whole q
5ome contempt for that corrupt
,odc Of morality which teaches @
hat oaths are not binding upon the
ulers of a free country where they find as
t inconsistent with their interest to keep 81
hem. He uniformly behaved with
modest stiffness and humility" except
when his opinion was asked, and then he
poke with becoming Difference to others. :
From that part of his life at least you S,
might, by telling it, truly have derived a 4
'lOfty lesson indeed. But this quiet, s
-principled Democratic n
gentleman is converted by your maladroit
1ratory into hectoring bully of the abo-
ition school, rampaging through the
White House and around the Department,
trying to brighten people with big looks.
l besccch you to re-examine your au-
.hOrities. If you stillthink them sufficient d
to sustain you cannot doubt your willing n
ness to communicate them for The scrutiny v
Of others who are interested. If, on the L
you shall be satisfied that you '
have made great mistake, then, justice h
to all parties, and especially to the subject q
of your well-meant, but unfortunate IL
eulOgy, requires some amends to be made.
1t will be for you to say whether you viii, Il
or win not, ask the court for leave to y
that part of your speech from
the record. a
Very respectfully yours, S
J. S. BLACK. il