Year: 1867

then the deceptlOn will recOII on the heads
of the miserable creatures who have perpe-
trated it So far from being the legitimate
objects of obloquy and ungenerous imputa-
ton, the people Of Tennessee deserve the
utmost credit for the manner in which thev
have accepted the situation and the hearty
goodwill with which they have fulfilled the
obligations which the present condition of
things has imposed on them. S0ldiers who
fought, with a gallantry that has never been
surpassed, cherish no hard feelings towards
the enemy by whom. they were vanquished;
they mutter no threats they mediate no re-
venge, but to-day are ready with that mag
nanimity SO characteristic to the true soldier
to extend to them not the hand of friendly
recognition merely, but the hand of fraternal
affection. Cheers They have returned
to. their homes, and have resumed their
several vOcations with an alacrity that Is
truly sRrpfising, and the soldier Is now com
pletely merged In the citizen As [ con
template this glorious spectacle, my heart
glows with love to my native State and her
gallant sons. IF they err, tits IN excess of
nObleness, [ care not how misled man
may be, he may seek without Just cause to
change even the laws and Constitution of the
State, but if hedOes this by honest and
open means, however much / may regret his
folly, can still respect his motives. But,
designing tricksters and hOllow-hearted trail
tors, l abhor and despise. Loud cheers.


In response to a general call C. s. Came
ron then mounted the rostrum


MIR. Cameron began: In response to this
CALL l have to say that we who have come
here from Shelby county come IN the spirit
of harmony and Cancellation. We come for
one object, and that object Is to nominate
standard bearer who shall carry our banner
triumphant through all the opposition and
hostility which it may encounter at the
hands of dastardly foe, and who shall
give its folds to the breeze, and plant 1t sue
cessfully on the ramparts of freedom, on the
first Thursday in August next, at once the
symbol Of our sovereignty and the pledge of
our liberties. While we have our prefer
ence as to men, we shall cheerfully accord
to you the right to say who, that man shall
be. And whoever he is, / pledge YOU now
that Shelby county, notwithstanding the
Metropolitan police bill which. was enacted
IN these halls for our especial good, that the
outgrewth of liberty among us might receive
a timely check, and be prevented from an
undue rankness or running to seed. Not
withstanding this enactment L say-in de-
fance of a corps of mercenaries, created for
the purpose of trampling down our rights.
by depriviug US of the liberty to speak, or
dCG OF. II DOSSlDl6, 10 bLAllhs do lICG uOlIJ " e
will roll up a glorious majority for the man
on whom you shall confer the distinction of
nominating as your standard-bearer, to lead
you on to that victory which is inevitable, if
we all do our duty. Cheers.


There is one great object which we have
to contend against, and that is the indif-
ference and apathy of the people. 1t over
leaps all other objects on which the iudg-
ment of the best friends of the country
should be brought to act, in order to devise
means for overcoming 1t Liberty cannot
be preserved without vigilance, much less
can it be recovered without untiring and
earnest effort, all of which is incompatible
with apathy.


| stand before you as a Union man. l
fought to prevent fifteen States of this
Union from seeding. This war was waged
by the Federal Government to prevent dis
union; by the Confederate States with a
hope of succeeding in the establishment OF
distinct and separate government This
question thus submitted TO the arbitrament
of the sword, has been decided IN favor Of
the Federalarms. The South has accepted
the award of war and of fate. Two hun
drsd andsfftVs thousand men returned to
their homes to find their homesteads des-
poiled and desolated, perhaps destroyed
their plantations laid waste; their cattle
seized; their implements of husbandry
burned; their cities sacked; their villages
burned; their little ones helpless and hope
less without clothing, food or shelter Yet
these men, one and all, have gone to work IN
such way as only Americans can, to re
pair their misfortunes and restore their lost
property And this is the people that Mr.
Brownlow and hiss Legislature say we
can't trust" Great God Can't trust


The native ignominy of your sordid and
selfish natures, and the hideous deformity
of your characters, if they did not STAMP
YOU with an infamy too profound to come
within the range of even our contempt
might have impaired to their declaration ar
air of insolent assurance which would have
! enkindIed our Indignation. AS 1t is, it enly


excites our disgust.


Who are the men that are bounding to
| dav the Confederate soldier and e0ncoetinl
measures for gratifying their spight upon
| fallen foe? Are they the gallant soldiers o
/ the Federal army, soI the honorable states


men that mould and sway the public senti
ment of the North ? No. sir ; they, coward
! ly abolitionists Of the North, the men tina
/ brought on this war, but were themselve


too discreet to fight; the men who charac
terized the Constitution of their country a
/ a i" covenant with death and league witt
! he'll" They had no connection with tn
/ Union army, but simply followed like locust


in its wake, to pilfer and eat up your sui


stance, and destroy the fruits of your year
of toll and selEdeniaL There is anothe


class somewhat akin to these, here in ou


midst; men who were restive under tn


Constitution that class of people who dc


spised the cowardly Yankees, and wer


painting to encounter them at any odds, an


longed only for the chance being afOrde


them to illustrate their powers by chasin


them back at more than railroad spec


across the Ohio or the Potomac. Vine


they saw, however, how their greedy II


stincts might be gratified at your expense


they came back to you and furnished SUI


plies for the people and the army Of tn


South, and then, when nothing more cOul


be made out of you, became loyal, an


followed out their schemes by similar pr


ceediHgs towards the North. These are th


men that stole your cotton; these are th


men that stole your school fund, that yo
had set apart to educate the children Of th


State There is not one single outrage~witl


in the range Of their limited capacity th'


they have not perpetrated on this peOpl
This Is the class and character of men wit
whom we have to contend for our rights, an