Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-04-22

t-dS va nAO4CAAeO III LIS
gave a motive to his hate, afterwards
turned him into a cruel conqueror, and
he made a fetish of the negro, not that
he so much loved him as that he SO
: hated his white master" The heat
r and energy of hatred as developed IN
Mr.. Sumner and Mr.. Seward, not to
: name others, will ere long become sub
: iects of curious and profound study.
i The idea that men and women
may be possessed by devils is
: not new. 1t is a species of insanity.
Nothing short of madness, apparently
incurable, could have lead the Northern
mind, following the false lights of Sew
ard and Sumner, to sacrifice three hun
bred and seventeen thousand northern
! citizens to any demon which has exist
ed in the United States during the last
twenty years. That such a sacrifice of
innocent human life has been deliber-
ately made the official records of SOL
diers' graves bear witness. Senator
Sumner pronounced slavery a "demon"
and a "harlot;" and Senator Seward
solemnly affirmed that "all the
States must become slave States,
or all become free States"
The conflict was alike '.irrepressible,"
and profoundly revolutionary IN its ma
ture.' This revolution is still in pro-
gress and the demon of hate is forever
unhappy, seeking whom it may devour.
1t is a mistake not to investigate calmy
and earnestly all the elements of civil
war in a great republic, whether OBJ
served on a small scale as in Arkansas
and Louisiana, or on a broad theatreas
when the fields and cities of many
Southern States were given to the
flames and de~solation. All these phe-
nomena have an Ineligible beginning
in the human mind. Hatred to-day
has not removed the disabilities in
fieted as punishment for secession"
Nothing but intense hatred prevents
this, and regard it as a crime unpar-
donable to believe In the old Jefferso
MAN doctrines of estate sovereignty"
None but insane men who make a
devil" and a chariot" Of an institution
older in this country than the Federal
Constitution, and as old IN the world as
the food, have a moral ightt TO say what
doctrine is political heresy. The same
morbid arrogance that built under
ground railroads twenty-five years ago
to III eolored people from the South
into Canada, is as dissatisfied to-day
after all the bloodshed to kill the
demon of slavery" as it was then.
Fighting evil spirits has long engaged
a large share of mans labor and capt.
tai and this class Of moral soldiers
come little short of worshipping such
leaders as Seward and Sumner. If it
was wise to sacrifice 81, 900 innocent
men, living in the Northern States, to
accomplish the purpose of the under
ground railroad, very high monuments
should be raised to the inventors Of the
''irrepressible conflict" and the demon
of slavery"
The character OF Sumner as por-
trayed by the writer of the NeU York
World is fully borne out by a letter
from under his own hand. The follow
ing addressed by Sumner to Count
Gurowski, at a time when good men
every where were combining to save
the country from the terrible conse-
quences of an i~nternecine war, presents
a most graphic picture of this mar of
hate remorsely demanding the degra-
dation, even in blood, of the white peo-
pie of the South:
WASHINGTON, s Jan, '6l-MyD Dear
Count: You viii pardon my seeming
negligence, and believe that whatever
you write always interests and pleases
me. !
Your book, 1 find on inquiry, has
been received by many Senators, who =
speak of it warmly. / hope that the d,
speak as well. l wish you !
were here, that 1 might have the adj :
vantage of your conversation and of !
your overfowing knowledge and SYM :
too. Daily and hourly l plead :
for frmness against concession In any 9
form. :
Sunday evening 1 had a visit from :
Thurlow Weed and Seward. The for \
.er told me that he found himself 9
alone" Nobody united with him. l !
Aspinwall and Corning are :
here for the same object. They urge !,
that we cannot have a united North un- r
less we make an effort for adjustment; +
30 which l reply: 1--WE have the verdict
IF the people last November-that is Z
enough" :
But these -compromisers do not COM {
1rehend the glory of a principle. Per- c
les colonies plutot qu' uR principe! v
That exclamation exalts a period which /
las many things to be deplored.
The slave States are mad. They Will q
ii move. Nothing now but abject hui 81
niliation on the part of the North can ii
tay them. Nobody can fOresee pre- !
isely all that is in the future, bit L do Il
sOt doubt that ohy conflict 1UiU precipi- g
ate the doom of starery. 1t WiH prOba- c.
Iy go dolCn IN blood. o.
Bon SOir! je Uoas embrdsSe de tout mon II
Ever yours,
CHARLES SUMNER.
1t will be seen from this letter that
t its date an earnest effort was being cl
lade to adjust the causes of quarrel al
the North and South, but this
fort received its death-blow from i
and his fanatical associates. u
lie struggled and prayed, not for peace o,
nd reconciliation, but for "frmness u
gainst concession" and was willing p
hat the blood and treasures of white u
hen should besquandered, eventhatthe = =
Jnion itself should perish, rather than pl
How such an opportunity topassforthe 81
of negro slaves and the deg p'
of their masters. The words VI