The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-10-17
JOHNSON And BROW NLOW
THEIR P0LITIC tL ENTITIES AND
RECONCILIATION.
Tho War for the Union Made the
Once. Implacable Enemies Fast
and Firm Friends.

rgl l was It niing ia front of The Eo-
bi t House, Washington, and WIS ac-
60 ted b. the young st son Of Parson
Brownlow, whom ! had not 8 ca FIR
twenty years, and who inf rmed me
that he was IN an official position at
the ma ional capita. Meeting this
young man recalled to my mind the
day, twenty-iour yesrs sgo, when his
fathe-, the redoubt bic P4rson Brown
low-an illustriou fl r head during
the rebellion-came triumphant'y
through the Confederate lines inlo
Nashv lie, where the writer was on
duty at the time. There had never
been in the South more bitter enemies
thau William G. Brownlow and An.
drew Johnson-the n a resident Of
Knoxville and the other OF Greenville,
East Tennesse-lhe \ a prc-s'ave'y
Wing snd the o.her a pro slavery
Democrat. The proverbial detssta-
ton OF uncoDtaminated water by hia
Sa auic Majesty may possibly
illustrate somewhat inld, quate-
" the pre.eminent haired
of Johnson by Brownlow, and which
wa in a measure returned, exc pit
that the editor Of the Knoxville Wing
used a club, 80 to speak, and the
Greenvil'e tailor the knife. In other
words, Bfownlow was coarse and pro-
fame and Johnson polished and sever
at i east, in c%omparisoD. Only q few
months before the commencement
the secession movement Brownlow,
while addressing q po / ic4l meeting
in East Tennessee, alluded to Johns n
in an uncomplimenlary way, and
wi,hiug to brand his noble adversary
with s%uperlative stingines', concluded
by saying: why, this man Andy
johnson would wall cross the river
which leads 10 hell on a rotton rail :
q shilir g, aud if The Angel Gabriel
should come down from heaven AID
offer him his souls salvation FIR a six
pence be would hum out one With a
hole in it wi h which 10 close the bar
gain!" But the two men were true to
the flg and to their coun-
try, aud upon the occasion re-
ferred to / escorted B!ognlow
up the steps OF the Stst5 Capitol of
Tennessee and into the preeence OF
Johnson-then Military Governor OF
Tenne sea and Brigadier G neral of
yolunte.rs-and the two patriots met
cordially and fraternaliy, and ella ped
bands acrots the bloody chssm that
was then being made brosder and
deeper da ly through the fury OF inter
necine war. As a result of this meet
ing johnson planned for the recon.
s,ruction Of Tenne see, and obtained
Federal perm's.i ion for its resumption
of it's place in the Uaion; he then
brought alb nut the elevation of Brown
low as its Governor, hsd his son-in-
law Pat ers IN ard his friend Fowler
elected United S'a'es Senators, and
sent Brownlow to Baltimore to see to
it that he (Johnson) should be placed
upon the ticket with Mr.. Lincoln by
the National Republican Convention
Of 1854, which was as neatly carried
out as conceived. Upon the policy OF
recons ruction and rehabilitation these
men again entered upon scenes OF po-
litical discord AID greatly differed with
each other ss long as they lived, al
though neither ever again publicly in
dulged in personal vitupsrAtion of the
other. l saw a good deal of Parson
Bfownlow flr some months after his
arrival in Nashville at the time above
mentio ued, and found him to be one
Of the klndest, ttuest, best and most
temperate Of men at times. But he
could occasionally scatter real gems OF
profanity like she Is upon a strand.
He could erect pyramids of oaIhs that
might reich 10 the very skies. He
was the John L. Sullivan OF swearers,
and could knock ont the whole Elan
ders gang in a single round. He was,
indeed, the sovereign of the realm OF
epithets. and once said to me: eli
there is anything that l pride myself
on it lie my ability to heap epi.het
upon epithet."
The people generally of East Ten
Dessee were extremely troublesome to
the leaders of the Southern CoDfeder-
aoy from the commencement to the
| close OF hostilities. Thy were not q
| highly cultivated set on the whole,
aud few OF them ia their cradlebood
had ever tourh d gums with even the
plated implement Of table use, 10 say
nothlrg Of the s'erliDg artic'e. But
they we've energetic, Independent, in
dustrious sni fairly INTEL gent alW avs
and remained prof against the soph
| ittIies of the secession orators and ex
horters and Eever f4ltered in their de.
vntion to the Union even when tbs
| Conf .derate battalions swarmed
throughout their country and arrested
imprisoned, snot AMI hanged many Of
their mot valiant and chosen onFs
for their refusal to recognize tn;
pretended government. 1t was while
Parson Brownlow was in Knoxville
that West HUMPHREYS, who had beer
| impeschad before the Senate for trea
son, held his mockery Of justice called
the Confederate States Court, enc
one day had before him an aged Uh'
ionist named Hiram Williams, who
bad been arrested ard indicted fol
~"treason against the Confederate Gov
ernmert and adherence TO its enc.
mics" In mercy for the patriotic oc
togenarian HUMPHREYS offered to entel
a nolle pros. if the prisoner would
take the oath of allegiance 10 the Con
fed srate Government. The aged pa
triot was silent for two or three min.
utse, the throDged court room waitinl
in bresthless suspense for the Ole
mau's response. Then he rose, strsght
ened his bent form to is full hight
ran his nervous fingers through hi
long gray hair, and in trembling tonel
exclaimed: "Humphries, / will tak'
your oath, but with this reason, sir: J
have yet 10 see or hear OF q child o
rapel"
After Andrew Johnson had stepped
down and out OF the White House J
had the pleasure of aCcomp lnyipg hin
to Greenville, E. Tenn, where a re
ception WAS given him. But there
was an inside episode to that recep
ton which has never been given tC
the press and which shows the incom
patibility Of politics and pudding, anC
which / will relate. A new come.
from New England, end a genuine
representative OF the section he hsileC
from as we'll as an extreme Rapub
licau, was superintendent Of some iroI
operations in the vicinity Of Green
Vile, and had consented, as it haC
been given out that there was 10 be NJ