Portrait and Biography of Parson Brownlow, The Tennessee Patriot Part 4

It being understood that the Parson would make his appearance on 'Change at 12 o'clock, long before that hour arrived large numbers of the citizens, members of the Board and others, began to gather there, and by noon the s.p.a.cious rooms were packed to their utmost capacity with persons eager to catch a glimpse of the redoubtable Parson, and pay him that respect to which his patriotic conduct has ent.i.tled him. At 12 o'clock the distinguished guest entered, arm in arm with Mayor Rumsey, and followed by the different Committees of Reception. The Parson's appearance was greeted with hearty applause, and, when order was restored, Stephen Clary, Esq., made a few appropriate introductory remarks; after which, Mayor Rumsey arose and said:

FELLOW CITIZENS:--It may have been expected that on this occasion I would make a speech before you; but such is not my intention. The condition of my health, and the hoa.r.s.eness with which I am afflicted, render it well-nigh impossible for me to speak at all. I will, therefore, only say that, in behalf of the city of Chicago, whose chief magistrate I am, it is my privilege to introduce to you Mr. W. G.

Brownlow, and in your behalf welcome, to the hospitalities of our city, this n.o.ble patriot, who has periled not only his temporal interests, but his life, for the Union cause in Tennessee. It is sufficient that I mention his name to you.

After the Mayor had concluded, J. C. Wright, Esq., on behalf of the Board of Trade, addressed Mr. Brownlow in an eloquent and stirring manner, as follows:

REV. W. G. BROWNLOW:--At the request of the officers of this Board of Trade, I have the honor, sir, of performing the most agreeable duty of welcoming you to our Exchange.

It is not, sir, because of any official position you now hold, or have held, that this vast a.s.sembly has gathered here to receive you; but, sir, it is a mark of respect and admiration for your patriotic devotion to your country. When this horrid rebellion a.s.sumed its gigantic proportions, the loyal men of the North watched with anxiety the course of many men of the South, whom we had delighted to honor with the highest positions of trust and power. With rare exceptions we saw them retreating into the ranks of the traitors, using their influence, wealth and position to strike down the mildest and most beneficent government which G.o.d in his mercy had ever permitted man to establish. They beguiled and deceived the people, who had been accustomed to look up to them, and listen to their counsels. Many of the arch traitors, not content to act with the popular voice of their States, joined the ranks of the rebels, endeavoring to force their States to disregard their allegiance to that glorious Union which, for nearly a century, had thrown its genial influence and protection over a united, happy, and prosperous people. Amidst all this horrid exhibition of treason, and malignant, h.e.l.lish hate, when the heart grew sick at contemplating the dark and dismal scene before us; when your neighbors and friends around you, in vast numbers, had deserted that old flag, consecrated by our fathers' blood, and were trampling under foot that Const.i.tution which had so long been our pride and our hope, you, sir, stood firm and unmoved in your devoted patriotism. Threatened with the halter, with your grave yawning before you, with scorn you spurned proffered freedom in such honors as traitors could confer. To you the grave had no terrors to be shunned by an act of disloyalty to your beloved and now grateful country.

We are now rapidly making undying history for future generations to read. When the history of this wicked rebellion--for I can not call it an honorable war--is written, it will be sadly deficient, if its pages do not tell, in words that burn, the story of your wrongs, your fort.i.tude, and your unswerving devotion to your country in the hour of her great trial. Our children will need no romance to stir their young hearts, but the truthful picture of your sufferings and heroism will fill the place of high wrought fiction. We shall no longer point to the cla.s.sic ages for n.o.ble examples of heroes, who laughed at the halter and rack, and scorned life at the price of dishonor.

Sir, it is because you have so loved your country, and suffered for your principles, that we this day welcome you to our Exchange, to our hearth-stones, to our hearts.

In behalf of the officers, and of the more than nine hundred loyal members of this Board, again, air, I bid you welcome. Amid the stirring, glorious news of the triumph of our arms, I bid you welcome.

At the close of Mr. Wright's address, Parson Brownlow arose, and, after pausing a few moments until the tumult of applause had subsided, in a calm, clear voice, began his remarks. His first few words were uttered in a low tone, scarcely audible except to those nearest the speaker; but presently his voice was raised to a higher key, and, with his distinct and emphatic enunciation, every person in the vast crowd could easily hear and understand.

He said he claimed no credit for his acts in Tennessee, for he had simply done his duty--nothing more--and any man who would not, under similar circ.u.mstances, do the same thing, deserved to be hung. He was a Union man from principle, not from policy. He had _always_ been a Union man; it was no new thing with him. He had opposed secession with what abilities G.o.d had given him, under all circ.u.mstances, and wherever, in his presence, it had shown its vile features. And this he should continue to do, at the risk of being mobbed and hung, if need be. He was a national man; he had no sentiments in the South that he was not willing to promulgate in the North; and none in the North that he would not proclaim upon the house-top in the Southern States. In 1828, the speaker supported John Quincy Adams for the Presidency, and for that act incurred the hatred of many of his friends in the South. At a later day, when Mr. Adams presented before Congress a pet.i.tion for the abolition of slavery, the speaker also defended him in that particular; for, though not an abolitionist, he had always contended that a Congressman's const.i.tuents had the right to pet.i.tion that body for _anything_ they might desire. He had supported that eminent statesman, Henry Clay; and, when he died, he would willingly have voted for Clay's last pair of pantaloons, stuffed with straw! He had advocated the claims of Daniel Webster, for his gigantic intellect and commanding statesmanship ent.i.tled him to the highest honors of the nation. But the _last_ ticket he had supported was the Bell-Everett ticket, which bore such a close resemblance to a kangaroo--being the strongest in its hinder parts. He should make a trip to Boston, purposely to visit Edward Everett, and to take him by the hand, for he was a patriot. But as to "Old Man Bell," he was fast traveling the road leading to a certain locality where traitors and devils are sure to land eventually. Being dest.i.tute of nerve, moral courage, of fixed patriotic principles, the weak old man had succ.u.mbed to the h.e.l.l-born and h.e.l.l-bound heresy of secession.

The speaker here made allusion to the treatment he had received from the traitorous rabble in his own State, and gave a brief sketch of his imprisonment in the Knoxville jail; of the threats of immediate execution with which his ears were daily regaled; the actual hanging of many of his companions in the prison; and many interesting particulars of the struggle between treason and loyalty in Eastern Tennessee. He stated that, for many days, he fully expected to be hung, and had become perfectly resigned to his fate, provided his persecutors would grant him one privilege, which was, that from the gallows he might be permitted to address them for one hour. "I had prepared myself for the occasion,"

said Mr. Brownlow, "and I intended to do the Southern Confederacy justice--to p.r.o.nounce a high-wrought eulogy on the concern, from Jeff.

Davis down to the smallest secession Devil among them."

The speaker thought that the Union sentiment of Eastern Tennessee had never abated one iota; that there were thousands of good Union men there, who would hail the approach of the Federal army with sincere joy.

Gen. Jackson put down the rebellion of 1832, and, though this was a much more formidable uprising, he believed Abe Lincoln would subdue it. "My friends," said the orator, "the _hanging_ must begin _on the other side_, this season, and I want to superintend it. You may think I speak harshly; but, after what I have seen and experienced among the rebels, how can I feel differently? I tell you, my hearers, I intend to go back to Tennessee, before long, under different circ.u.mstances from those under which I left the State. I want to go back in company with Gen.

Fremont; I want a big war-horse, and a military suite, and the General and myself will ride down among those rebels, and, if you will excuse my apparent egotism, I do believe the scoundrels had rather see the Devil coming after them!"

After paying his compliments to Mason and Slidell, both of whom he knows personally, the Parson remarked that, "When this rebellion is put down, England and France will have to behave themselves, or we will thrash them both."

The speaker then thanked the citizens for the kind reception given him, and closed his speech with the promise that they should hear from him again in the evening. He took his seat amid a storm of applause, that emanated from the hearts as well as the mouths of his hearers.

Gen. S. F. Cary, of Cincinnati, being present, was loudly called for, and, taking the stand, proceeded to deliver one of the most thrillingly eloquent speeches to which we have ever listened. We have not room for even a summary of this production, but those who are familiar with the celebrated Cincinnati orator will appreciate the meaning of our observation, when we say it was one of Gen. Cary's happiest efforts.

After he had closed, Frank Lumbard was called upon for a song, and, mounting the stand, gave, in his best style, "The Star Spangled Banner," the entire a.s.semblage joining in the swelling chorus, with splendid effect. The crowd then filed out past the President's desk, where sat the Parson, each individual grasping his extended hand with evident emotions of sympathy and kindly regard. Mr. Brownlow and party soon after repaired to the Sherman House, where they partook of a sumptuous dinner.

In the afternoon the party made a visit to Camp Douglas, and spent some time in making observations among the very cla.s.s of men from whose clutches the Parson had so recently escaped.