Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1872-10-12

propose suCh q lnlhEs NO. war Is
not the natural element of my mind,
and, as l stated in my speech, my
thoughts were turned on peace. ]
want no strife. want no war. /
would IN her wear the badges Of
peace, than the gaudy epaulettes on
my shoulder, or a sword dangling
by my side, with its glittering scab-
bard the insignia of war, of blood,
of carnage Globe, p. 14S, 1860.
If ne Intended coercion then, what
hypocrisy! And yet he did wear
the insignia OF war, and held an un-
constitutional Office of Military
Governor, with a Brigadier-G ener-
ais commission, under which, sur
rounded by bristling bayOnets and
frowning battlements, with guns
commanding the capital of his own
State, in the rear of brave armies of
fighting soldiers, to oppress the in
nocent, the helpless, the defenceless,
his former friends and supporters.
He spoke truly, "war was not the
natural clement of his mind" He
wore not the "insignia Of war, of
blood, OF carnage" but of military
oppression, tyranny and cowardice.
THE LAST DITCH.
Mr.. johnson said in his speech of
December 10, 1860:
Tennessee will be found standing
firm, though for peace now, stand
ing upon principle and defending it
to the last moment. We do not
think, though, that we have sufii-
cient cause for going out of the
Union now. And when the tug
shall come, and Greek meets Greek,
and our rights have been refused af-
ter all honorable means have been
exhausted, then it is l will perish in
the last trench. Yes, in the Ian
guage Of Emmet: &" will dispute
every inch of ground; [ will burn
every blade of grass, and the last en-
trenchment of freedom shall be my
grave"
Who would have thought that he
did not hold all things second to his
devotion to his State, and a deter
mination to share the fate of her
people? He chose the path at the
end of which lay reward, pow
er, and a place for himself. If
he had differed with his people, he
should have yielded the honors they
gave him, and
RESIGNED THE sENAToRsHIP.
not turned it against them. He
clung to the Office, and his course
even procured him higher Office and
greater emoluments. Men usually
seek what they win. He sought the
Presidency in the North, which he
cOuld not obtain in the Southland
he won IL.
Many remember the violence of
his Southern advocacy of the Breck-
inridge and Lane canvass; his bit
ter attacks on Bell and his party as
unworthy ofconfidence in the South.
He said Bell would take position In
LincOln's cabinet. Bell went South
aud johnson took position under
Lincoln.
These extracts show how, pro-
claiming himself for the Union in
one breath, he melted his constitu-
ents with another, and then desert
ed them when they followed the
natural result of his teaching, and
gave to the world a declaration of
Independence, founded on his own
resolutions quoted above, on which
he proposed to stand. 1t is as fol-
low:
DECLARATIONS or INDEPENDENCE.
We, the people of Tennessee,
waving any expression of opinion
as TO the abstract doctrine of seces-
sion, but asserting that the right OF
! free and independent people to al
| ter, amend, or abolish our govern
ment in such manner as we deem
| proper, to Ordain and declare that
all the law aud ordinances by which
| the State of Tennessee became a
member of the Federal Union, are
/ hereby abrogated and annulled, and
| that all obligations on our part be
withdrawn therefrOm, and we here
by resume all our rights, and be-
come free, sovereign and indepen-
dent State.
That declaration was made with
an attempt to coerce a State, inn
| pending after the election and in
auguratiOn of a sectional President,
which Mr.. j Johnson said would leave
Tennessee defenseless.
HIS SOUTHERN RECORD BRIEFLY.
So NO see him balloted for in the
Oh arleston Convention. The Union
! ana American correspondent says:
believe johnson stands second
to Douglas, and will be nominated
if Tennessee delegates stand firm.
We have presented extracts from
his fiery speech of 1859, made Just
before the Convention at Charles
ton, attacking Trumbull, and bid
ding for the Presidency. We find
him fiercely supporting the candi-
dates of the seeding Democracy,
canvassing the State for the South
ern candidate, and yet he said, dur
ing the war, in his letter of accept
ance for Vice-Presidency in 1864:
At the beginning of this struggle
| entertained the same views of it
that l do now. The clamOr for
Southern rights was not to secure
their assumed rights under the Con-
stitution, but to disrupt the govern
ment. The disruption of the gov
ernment has been for years past the
cherished purpose of the Southern
leaders.
He quoted from Jackson:
The tariff is a mere pretext, and
slavery will be the next pretext.
Ifit was a pretext he knew it, and
had read what Jackson said as well
when he labored for the election Of
Breckinridge, with Rhett, Yancey
and Toombs, as when he wrote his
letter of acceptance.
THE wAR-HE VIOLATED EVERY
LAW OF GOD AND NAN.
This is his course up to the begin
ming of the war "a peoples man
ever talking of the rights of the peo-
people, but doing nothing for them;
leaving on record no measure OF
practical craftsmanship, and naught
save his receipts for his salary, and
his inconsistent speeches melting
to revolution with one breath, and
appealing for Union in the next, to
mark where he has spent his forty
years of public service. Ever cry
ing peace and Constitution, war,
the great talisman st whose touch
men stand disclosed in true colors,
brought him like a dark cloud, all
shoulder-strappcd and armed-this
man of peace, whose peace truly
passeth understanding - with a
Brigadier's commission, to insult
his former supporters, and oppress
his adopted State.
BECOMES MILITARY GOVERNOR.
Where was the Constitution when
he accepted the unconstitiOnal posi-
ton OF Military Governor, unheard
Of before2
You are hereby appointed Militia
ry Governor, with authority TO eX-