Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-03-12

to their action on question that con
! Germs their own happiness and the restor
J alton of the whole country to its once
/ happy and prosperous course. The small
and benighted politicians minds
dwarfed and diseased by unreasonable
fears and petty considerations--are moi
: the men to council the policy of mighty
empires and reconcile alienated provinces
and protect the delicate machinery of 8
nation founded on the union of independ.
ent States, governed by men who admi;
no sovereign but their own reason and
conscience. t- f......g 81 ~.
! This is question that appeals to our
highest reason and dearest interest. It is
no place to consult peculiar tastes modi-
fed by resentments and selfish hopes.
Let US consider who are the parties in the
contest. They are Our countrymen, whose
whole destiny is now embarked upon the
same vessel with our own. Long since
they have abandoned their new ship;
stranded and shattered by the storm, no
trace of its existence is left save the rem
nants of its crew waited to the shore.
They have returned, with their interests,
ambitions, and hopes, to the bark built by
their fathers and ours, and are now intent
with us upon successful and peaceful
voyage down the stream of time. Peace
we must have. Reconciliation, full and
complete of heart, soul, interest, and aim.
must not, cannot be neglected. The safe
ty of all depends on the interests and
safety of each. ..t .....
These men are not now, and never were
inimical to our form of government; but
of the hearts and souls of their ancestors
it came. For its most sacred precepts
they have struggled and fought on all the
| great battle-felds that adorn our eountry's
annals. On questions of principle, which
| underlay our Government, there can be
no essential difference. On questions of
policy there may be and are differences.
There are no such differences as effect the
| good faith and prosperity of the people.
On what depends the safety and integ-
| rity of the Republic Not on the opin-
ions and purposes of individuals or parties.
1t must subsist in the love of the people
for the Constitution. Nor do l use the
term constitution in any literal sense; but
l mean by it the spirit that gives life and
form to the Government and all our politi-
cal institutions, our educational and re-
ligious establishments, our public and pri-
vate charities, our social habits, customs
and manners, the common aim and pur-
pose of our States and their inhabitants.
The people of these States are linked to-
gether by the affections of a common
blood, common language, a common
literature, religion, like privileges, and
equal protection, subsisting in the safety,
integrity, and sanctity of the Federal
Union. Let these ties be maintained, let
these privileges be extended 10 all, let
generous forgetfulress of the past sue
coed, and your whole people viii love
the Government; they will cling to it
with courage and effect as no people have
ever adhered to their Government. Neither
powers, nor municipalities, things present
nor things to come, will be able to sever
their allegiance.
Make all the people feel that their privi-
leges and the Government are insepara-
bic by honestly making this SO, and it
can have no enemies. Separate these, let
them subsist as two distinct things, and
the cords that have bound US together are
broken asunder. For what would the !
people rebel against righteous authority |
guarding and supporting their rights and |
interests Rebellion cannot take place |
without cause. A whole people cannot |
be moved without some common interest |
or some common aversion. 1t can never |
be imaginary; it must be real. Individu- |
ais may be deceived, masses cannot. In !
dividuals may be led by ambition and |
personal advancement The mass must |
be moved by same universal element, |
some profound and actual cause, address
ed to their practical interests. 1t is the |
words of fool or knave to affirm that
people are rebels from the mere love of /
abstract ideal resistance to authority.
The motives to respect and obey right
eous authority are too strongly implanted
in human nature to justify any such vim
dictive aspersion. Pride of character, re
ligion, civilization, self-loye, personal and
family interests, pronounce againt the
assertion. Remove all causes, and there
will be no rebellion.
SECTIONAL INTERESTS.
1t is the interest of the dominating
States to pursue magnanimous policy,
and especially of the commercial and car
rying States. Our prosperity as 8 COM
mercial people depends on our capacity to
produce. The amount of production de-
ponds on the contentment, happiness and
protection afforded by the Government.
The producing States, those which fur
nish the sinews of commerce, are the
ones constantly irritated by the existence
of this odious restriction. Its presence on
the statute-book as living memorial of
defeat, consigning their most cherished
friends to ignomy and inferiority, must
operate as a bond of union, cementing
discomfort and opposition to the domin-
ant party and psralyzing instead of stimu-
lating the great national industries. If
you would unfetter the energies of the
Southern States by removing all causes of
and hold out to them the in
ducement of full participation in all the
honors and blessings of the Government,
new fields would supplant the wild forest
and the old would again grow white with
the abundant harvests of cotton and grain |
and the luxuriant cane bursting with its
load of nectar. Your ports would again
swarm with ships, and all your rivers
become alive with steamers, your railways
would roll their long trains laden with
the hopes and industries of the farmer;
our tonnage would again spring up to its
former figures, and far beyond.
1t is a Universally admitted fact that |