Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-01-29

word when he described the great Car
dinal-
LOFTY and sour to them that loved him not,
| But to those men that sought him, sweet as sum-
ner'
Now, sir, the negro is the best Judge of
q gentleman in the world. Nature, rather
than man, cast him into the position Of
mental servitude and he naturally knows
gentleman as pointer finds bird. No
1 vulgar wealth can deceive him, and the
poorest clothes can not hide the gentleman
from his instructive eye. repeat it
as nv conviction, that in their
new relations, all things else being equal,
| the negro will invariably seek his old mas
ter All things else being equal, it will be
a part of his pride to claim affinity with
the old names and people Of the country
who were here before the war. He will
vote with them in my opinion as intelli-
gently as most men vote. / must confess,
sir, as has been well said in this debate,
that it is difficult for me to form In my
mind a criterion of the measure of intelli-
gence that should entitle a man to vote. l
confess, with the delegate from Knox, that
l doubt sometimes whether have it; and
if it is to be measured by intelligence alone,
I doubt whether any man has. l have
known one or two great men In my lne,
and found only this singular difference be-
tween them and the rest of the world,
namely, that all other objects appear larger
the nearer you approach them, whereas
the nearer you see great man the smaller
he appears.
l shall vote in favor of the report of the
majority of the committee, with no fear
whatever of the consequences. have said
that in my opinion, if we will only avoid
the mistake of trying to govern too much,
the negro will soon cease to be an appre-
ciable element in the community. Let him
be as well off here as / hope he will be, he
will, nevertheless, drift South by the law
of nature. Slowly, but surely, in my opin-
ion, the semi-tropical portions of South
Carolina and the Gulf States will be aban-
doned to him, and then, in my opinion,
his doom will be sealed. His territory will
be called Little Africa, and Massachusetts
will infallibly introduce fortieth amend
ment to transport the inhabitants, and sell
them to the planters of Cuba and Brazil, as
she imported and sold their ancestors to
these States. Such, / am afraid, will be
the end of the negro question on this con-
tinent, and am sorry of it, for like him
when he behaves himself He has done
much for us withal, and we have been the
best friend he ever had.
I have now, Mr.. President, stated in all
fairness the arguments which, In the main,
have satisfied my mind TO vote for the
adoption of the report of the majority. l
can only say in conclusion, that l do not
agree with delegates who have regretted
the extent to which this discussion has
been carried. No greater question was
ever discussed, nor on more momentous
occasion. tits the question, which, beyond
all others, has called the people Of the State |
into Convention; and l rejoice that the |
arguments On all sides have been made |
here in advance, and not left to be started |
originally before the people when the new |
Constitution shall be submitted for ratifca- !
ton. l am glad of 1t for another reason. |
1t seems to be admitted that the report of |
the majority of the committee will be |
adopted by a decided vote Of five-sevenths
Of. the whole Convention. Had we voted |
on the vital question without a full |
discussion, our enemies would have /
called it sullen acquiescence, the result
not of conviction, but of fear. But sir,
the advocates of the report Of the minority
have ably and eloquently presented their
views. and, in some instances, with an ad-
mi-able eloquence. Now, no one can say /
that any false face has been worn by us.
Our friends and our enemies alike, may |
see in these debates the undisguised senti-
ment Of the State. II the world lean longer |
remain in ignorance of US after the candor
of this discussion, then 1 know of no way /
to open their eyes. Perhaps we had better |
take steps to engage the African traveller,
DR.. Livingstone, to explore US and publish |
the results of his observation to the world
which seems to me to be better informed |
as to the source Of the Nile, than as to the |
plainest and most palpable facts of our con-
dition and requirements.