Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1883-12-13
TIMES MIRACLES.
The Remarkable Changes OfSentiment
Vv:<uoSooI In DNuyo noooAoo


Insult and indignlty haying been
offered to Hon. I. G. Fowler, Of the
Bristol News, and the readjuster
leader in the southwest, by cow
ardly ruffians after the recent cleo
tions, a friend wrote him, deploring
this brutal exhibition of intoller-
ance and ruffianism and pressing
him not to moye from the town,
with which intention rumor cred
tied him. Fowler's reply was a
manly one, and we present as much
of it as our space will permit:
In the % years l have lived in
this country l haye witnessed often
the compensating swing Of that pub
lie pendulum which beats and meas
ures the struggle between thought
and passion, vice and virtue. q
I have seen the American Union
denounced as yoke of tyranny and
by the same people regarded after
wand as the only ark Of refuge. 1
have seen Virginia and Tennessee
Jared from their places in the
Union by the blow that smote Fort
Sumpter, and | have lived to see
those who, against the advice of
Virginia and Tennessee, struck the
blow, enjoying fresh prosperity to
themselves while Virginia and Ten-
nessee were mourning,in great need
for means to replace themselves in
the union.
have lived to see slavery de-
clared to be Of divine origin and a
blessing to mankind, and then be-
fore the expiration Of single sena-
torial term, the Same people declare
it had been curse to our coun>
try and they would not see it re-
established If they could.
haye lived to see Abraham
Lincoln, when dead, incurred as.
great, good, and generous, by the
same people who four years pre-
vious had denounced him as q
chimpansee and an idiot. Ihave lived
to see Andrew johnson run out Of
Tennessee, pressed and pursued with
weapons, and then welcomed back
as the deliverer of the same people.
1 have liyed to see the same people
who applauded the pulling of his
nose and the slapping of his face,
in Bristol in 1861, whocp and hur-t
rah for HIM as an incorruptiblef
President in 1865.
I haye lived to see Benjamin F..
Butler crowned with the governor
ship of one of the greatest states
that fought the long battle of
American Independents, BY the par
ty, a section of which had previous
ly outlawed him as spoon thief. .
degracer Of woman and an enemy OF
man.
l have liyed to see Horace Gree>
ley denounced as the originator and
developer of National sedition, and
the author of every southern mis-
fortune and sorrow, end then
quickly proposed and pushed for the
loftiest pedestal of honor and power
by one and the same southern peo>
pie.
I have liyed to see Gen. Garfield
denounced as public thief, and
placarded with defaming and cabal-
istic "329," by the same people who
in less than a year mourned his un-
expected death as a calamity to
America.
l cherish the proud recollection
that at no time within the limits
named in this letter have I deemed
it meet to stain an hour of victory
with aught that could wound those
who had been beaten. [ have not
in the sweet hour of triumph been
guilty of an indignity to any mrn.
L propose to press on and tight
it out as you say, bearing myself
with the dignity that is born OF
self-respect and principle, a double
parentage that transmits its own
glory untarnished to all its off
spring. :,
| have been and am now engaged
in a movement which some persons
seem unequal to the task of COM
pretending or appreciating. l have
believed that liberalism and nations
al reconciliation, free suffrage, free
education, free thought, and free
speech, restored state sovereignty
and the resumption of protection
by Virginia to all her weak and un>
fortunate children were worth a
struggle and would command the
respect of mankind. l believe that
struggle cannot fail. / know pub
lie opinion will in the end always
be Just. l fear it not. Even its
failings are generally aimed to learn
to virtues side Its cruel features
that root themselves in drunkenness
and disregard of social virtue, hsye
got to go to the bottom: