Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-01-26
Confederacy lost, and the nation remained


as before.
have but word to say upon the fun
damental conditions which are sought to
be attached to this State They are use
less, or an absolute nullity. If they are
already contained in the Constitution they |
are of no value; if not, they are pernicious |
and unavailing If Virginia could come |
in upon conditions she is but conditional
State, not an independent, equal and per-
petual State. The government is not |
composed OF States absolute and contin- |
gent; it then would become mere con
tingent instead of an immortal one. You |
might as well speak of contingent man |
or woman. The fundamental conditions |
are not worth the breath it requires to
read them. /
Apart from the nature of the State and
its relations to the General Government,
we come to the question, " cui bono !?
1t is alleged by several Senators that it
will prevent the treachery of Virginia Is
this probable? History records no act of
treachery on the part of Virginia. She
has shown none i'll her effort at recOnstruc-
ton. Let her be tried by any reasonable
test. Apply to her the most searching anaiy-
sis. Let us try her colonial history. While
the British Government was upright she
was called the ever-faithful colony. When
the summons from her sister colonies
came to resist the enCroachments of the
mother country upon their rights, she flew
to their support with devotion which
carried confidence to all and eventually
won success. In the second war with
England she performed her whole duty.
In the war with Mexico she did her part,
her whole part. In war she has done all
that was asked or requested of her. In
peace her contributions to the prosperity
and glory of the nation have not been
less, but even greater. You could not
strike Virginia from our history without
tearing out its brightest pages. Every
department of the government has been
illustrated by her great names, not claimed
alone as Virginians, but Americans, by
| all who love the history of the republic.
Her history is secure in the past; in it
there is nothing to arouse suspicion or dis
trust. l could not envy the man who
could harbor such a sentiment, to say
nothing of uttering it.
The distasteful measures adopted for the
reconstruction of Virginia have been execu-
ted in good faith. Gen. Candy so reports
the case to the country. The Judiciary
| Committee, after long examination, re-
| port the same The House of Representa-
| tives have declared the same. l have no
means of knowing the facts but through the
public journals, and judging from them
| have arrived at the same conclusion. On
| what grounds shall we predicate the charge
of treachery as to the great body Of her peo-
pie or insinuate it? They have the same
literature, the same religion, the same code
of morals as ourselves. They have the
same glorious memories of the past to in
spire them, and the same bright hopes for
the future. Why, then, are whole peo-
pie to be denounced as treacherous? The
charge is ungenerous, unpatriotic, and I'M
true. II is an indignity to the spirits Of
her mighty and patriotic dead as well as to
her virtuous living.
Let us test them, again, by comparison
of her great men with those of other States.
| l will frankly concede to the Senators from
Indiana and Missouri Mr.. Motion and Mr..
| Drake that they were the grandest things
that their great States have done. They
are the fiowerage and fruitage of these great
people in the way of good faith and patriot
ism To their great patriotism and fidelity
1 would oppose two of Virginias illustrious
names-her Washington and her jefferson
The Senators being the judges, Virginia
will not suffer in the decision. Or let the
American people decide, Virginia will come
to any terms they may decree.
Another Senator would go still further,
calling to mind the circumstances of anotb-
er occasion. What similarity he discovered
in it do not know. 1t was, however, after
Duncan slept well in his grave and the
murdered BanquO would not down, that
Macbeth sought the witches in the cave
whose supernatural soliciting took his
reason prisoner" and whetted up his fears,
by the apparitiOns of an ''armed head" and
Bloody child, against Maedutf, that he
exclaimed:
| "Then live Macduf what need I felr Of thee
| But yet Il make assurances double sure,
And take bond Of fate thou shalt not live"
Could the same motive, induced
by consciousness of the same purpose, have
called for this bond of fate against Viz
| ginia, that drove the tyrant to unfold his
| frightful state of mind:
81 am in blood
| Slept in so far, that, should I wade no more,
Returning were As tedious as go Ger"
| Let us wade no further in the deluge of
| blood that has already covered her devoted
and hallowed plains. Let US 60 no further
| with this bloody business; sufficient, and
more than sufficient, has already flowed
One loving, generous prayer would do
more for peace than oceans of blood or
years of cowardly and mean suspicion.
There is a state of mind that cannot say
Amen when others say God bless us. No
man who bears hangman's hands or hang
mans heart can utter an availing prayer.
1t is not impossible that the benign and
liberal principles of party are to be main
| tanned by such a bond, or such an assur-
ance executed with such q fell purpose as
that of the degradation of the people or
Withholding from a State its rights.
ask, again, what is expected from these
conditions? Is there any privilege or i'm
munity denied to a citizen? The Federal
Government has the power to enforce it.
If an attempt is made to deprive any citi-
| zen Of his life, liberty, or property without
due process of law, the Government may
enter the State and protect him. No eI-
| cessive bail can be required, no excessive
| fines imposed, nor cruel and unjust punish
ments inflicted. The right of trial by
jury in tho district and State in which the
crime was committed, after due infOrma-
ton has been given, with every right re-
| quisite to fair trial, are guaranteedto him
The Government is fully authorized to de-
fend the State against a subversion of its
form Of government, to suppress insurec-
ton, and repel invasion. I know of no
| personal right, either in the State or in the
Federal Government, not fully guaranteed
| and protected under the Constitution.
1t may be alleged that the safety of the
citizen does not depend 50 much upon the
laws as upon their execution The citi-
zen Of one party viii be unjustly treated
| by those of the other. If such a position
were true, there would be the end Of free
| government. Our institutions cannot be
sustained without yielding TO the rule of
the majority. That rule, ODE maintained,
must be just and righteous in its execution;
any departure, any wholesale partiality
among the body of the people would ter
inmate their power. Some party must
hold the greatest amount of political pow
er, and proper regard for the laws of the
! State will render their execution generally
| just where all are alike citizens. Each
| party has Just the same right to oppose the
rule of the other. 1t would be vain to
| ottc,,,,,4 70 ractroi,, la Cta4o