Portrait and Biography of Parson Brownlow, The Tennessee PatriotBrownlow, William Gannaway
History
Portrait and Biography of Parson Brownlow, The Tennessee Patriot
Brownlow, William Gannaway
Brownlow, William Gannaway, 1805-1877; Tennessee, East -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
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 circumstances 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 assemblage 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 class of men from whose
clutches the Parson had so recently escaped.
* * * * *
Transcriber's note
Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. Printer
errors have been changed and are listed below. All other
inconsistencies are as in the original.
Characters that could not be displayed directly in Latin-1 are
transcribed as follows:
_ - Italics
The following changes have been made to the text:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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