USA > Tennessee > Notable men of Tennessee, from 1833 to 1875, their times and their contemporaries > Part 35
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"As a limbo large and broad, since called The Paradise of Fools."
Among other things Johnson said that Democracy and Re- ligion are "moving along converging lines toward each other." This was doubtless new to some good people present who had fears that Democracy was going in an opposite direction ! "When," said he, "Democracy and Religion shall meet and unite, the Milennial morning will dawn." No doubt of that! But when shall that come to pass? He also said that "Democracy and the Divinity in Man," are the same. This may be so, but the old Whigs of that day, in their blindness, certainly had a different opinion of this "Divinity." If the "Democracy of Ten-
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nessee" was its highest manifestation, these Whigs, foolish people ! would have preferred some other "divinity."
More than two thousand years ago Plato wrote a treatise on a "Republic" conceived in his own great mind. In the fifteenth century, Sir Thomas More wrote a book entitled "Utopia" or "An Ideal Republic." Recently Edward Bellamy has written his celebrated "Looking Backward," which presents a new plan for a Republic. All these ideal forms of Government were located on this earth. Johnson, on the contrary, locates the place of the reign of Democracy somewhere in the dizzy heights of the infinite above, with no way of getting there except by Jacob's ladder. But he assuringly told the young men that they could find a position somewhere between the lower and upper extremes of the ladder, commensurate, at least, with their vir- tues and merit, if not equal to their ambition.
I doubt if Mr. Johnson could ever have gotten many to locate in this empyreal commonwealth. Jacob's ladder sets up very straight and high. Few dare try to climb it. It is hard to go upward. But turn the ladder the other way, and how easy and natural to go downward!
This enchanting vision, seen by the prophetic mind of Mr. Johnson of this "Milennial Morning," of the reign of Democracy and the "Divinity of Man," and an ideal republic in the celestial regions, was received by that hard and perverse generation only with laughter and ridicule. It only proved how far his thoughts outran his times, and adds another example to the many previous ones that a prophet is not without honor, save in his own country !
Even Nineveh, that great and wicked city, believed Jonah, and repented at his preaching, but Tennessee refused to be- lieve the words of her great prophet !
CHAPTER III.
Succeeded Himself as Governor, 1855-Campaign with Gentry-Arraign- ment of "Know-Nothing Party."
THE canvass of 1855, in the political world, was one of in- tense interest and expectation. A new party, calling itself the American, but popularly styled the "Know-Nothing Party," had mysteriously appeared, secretly manifesting a strength in cer- tain quarters that threatened the very existence of old political organizations. No one knew where this movement would end, nor what would be the extent of its destructive work. At first many aspiring persons of both the old political parties, who wished to be on the strong side, hastened to make sure of their footing by joining it. Its first impulse forward gave promise of universal victory. The old politicians were in absolute dismay.
Unfortunately for the American party an election for Gov- ernor was to take place in Virginia in the spring of that year. The celebrated Henry A. Wise was the Democratic can- didate for that position. He was too daring to be intimidated by any danger, however great. With all his energy and spirit he took the field, and assailed the new party with an audacity and a bitterness which he only could command. After one of the most intensely acrimonious contests ever known, Wise was elected, and Know-Nothingism destroyed in that State.
A general election was to take place in Tennessee in the following August. Mr. Johnson was the Democratic candidate to succeed himself as Governor. Meredith P. Gentry was nomi- nated by the American and Whig parties as his competitor. Gentry had been for a long time prior to 1853 a distinguished member of Congress. As he was known to be brave and brilliant, extraordinary things were expected of him, and it was believed that Johnson would be no match for him on the stump. Gentry was regarded indeed as one of the first orators of the time, even in that striking period of fine orators. John Quincy Adams, the sage and statesman, had pronounced him the best orator in Congress. He had come upon the stage of public life before
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the decadence in statesmanship began in Tennessee, while great men still held public sway. Jackson continued powerful, if not dominant. The profound Hugh Lawson White still held his honored seat in the Senate of the United States. The accom- plished and sweet tongued Felix Grundy, Mr. Clay's only rival in their young days, had not yet passed the meridian of his splendid career. Polk had gained a national reputation as a debater in Congress, and as Speaker of the House. The gifted John Bell, while still young, had won renown as a thinker, and as the able Speaker of the House gave sure promise of that high ability afterward conspicuously manifested. The chivalrous Ephraim H. Foster had secured the second time a seat in the United States Senate by his masterly canvass of 1840, when he traversed the State from end to end, drawing crowds literally of thousands and tens' of thousands, arousing a storm of wild enthusiasm never witnessed in this State either before or since. The intellectual giant, Spencer Jarnagin, who afterward drew, as a lawyer and a statesman, the highest com- pliments for ability from Mr. Webster and Judge Story, in that same canvass, also obtained a seat in the Senate as the col- league of Mr. Foster. The knightly Bailie Peyton was in his prime, having long since achieved national reputation as a mem- ber of Congress. Cave Johnson and Aaron V. Brown, each of whom served in Congress for many years, and each of whom be- came a Cabinet officer, and one the Governor of the State, were both distinguished for their talents. James C. Jones, the farmer, had suddenly appeared and astonished men by his dashing ora- tory and unequaled powers as a popular speaker, which enabled him in two successive canvasses for Governor to triumph signally over the adroit debater, James K. Polk. About this time Emer- son Etheridge came upon the public stage as one of the first debaters of the State, and though young, gave promise of that marked power which he afterward successfully sustained for nearly fifty years. Suddenly, too, William T. Haskell, while scarcely twenty-one years of age, began to dazzle men by the most extraordinary display of brilliant rhetoric ever heard in the State, and perhaps ever heard anywhere in this country, except from Patrick Henry and S. S. Prentiss. Besides these distin- guished men, there were also Andrew Johnson, A. O. P. Nichol- son, Milton Brown, Edwin Ewing, Gustavus A. Henry, Andrew Ewing, Robert L. Caruthers, William T. Senter, Thomas A. R. Nelson, John Netherland, Landon C. Haynes, and John H.
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Crozier, all men of ability. Certainly this is a long list of remarkable men, all in active life at one time, and all in one State. None of these, however, surpassed Gentry in power as an orator. His oratory consisted in the condensation of noble thought, presented in the boldest, most striking language, and in an irresistible manner. Evidently Tennessee has sadly degen- erated since the bright epoch of 1840.
In 1855 Mr. Johnson was regarded as the strongest man on the stump in his own party, in the State. Expectation, there- fore, stood on tip-toe in anticipation of the meeting of the two candidates for Governor.
The first discussion was to take place at Murfreesboro, Rutherford County, thirty miles East of Nashville, in the very center of the rich lands of Middle Tennessee. This was a Whig County by a few hundred majority. Its people were wealthy and intelligent. On the day fixed for the opening of the canvass the leading politicians and citizens of Nashville and of all the adjoining towns and counties flocked to Murfreesboro to hear the opening discussion. Men were already greatly excited. In no canvass, previous to the war, was there ever manifested so much bitter personal ill-will as in that of 1855. Many men came to the speaking on that day armed, expecting there would be a difficulty. Johnson knew the feverish excitement which prevailed, knew also that the new party was compact, and confident in its strength. A timid man would have been cautious in his attacks, but he adopted no such policy. Imitating the example of Henry A. Wise, he assailed Know-Nothingism with an audacity unknown before even to himself. Men were confounded at his boldness. He arraigned the party for its signs, its grips, and passwords, its oaths and secret conclaves, its midnight gatherings, its narrowness, littleness, and proscriptiveness. He charged that the members were sworn to tell a lie when they first entered the order. He exclaimed with all his bitterness: "Show me a Know-Nothing, and I will show you a loathsome reptile on whose neck every honest man should put his feet." He finally charged that they were "no better than John A. Murrell's clan of outlaws."*
*John A. Murrell had been the leader of a band of murderers and rob- bers twenty or thirty years before that time, operating in the western part of this State and in Mississippi and Arkansas, and had been sent to the penitentiary for his many offenses. His trial and the history of his life were the great sensations of that day. He is still regarded as a sort of Robin Hood.
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Under his terrible denunciations the audience had become pale with rage and as still as death, waiting to see what next would happen. At these last words, many voices burst out: "It's a lie, it's a lie." Instantly the cocking of pistols was heard on every side, followed by ominous silence. Men ceased to breathe. Their hearts stopped beating. In this terrible suspense all be- came motionless. Johnson stood for a short time unmoved, gaz- ing around on the fearful scene he had evoked, and then deliber- ately resumed his speech. All danger was now gone. At the critical moment the slightest belligerent demonstration-the movement of a finger even-would have produced a scene of blood and death. Brave and determined men were there. Fortunately no one was over hasty. All felt the danger, and its very imminence averted the calamity.
After Johnson had finished his tirade against the Know- Nothings, Gentry arose to reply. It was expected that a new scene of excitement would follow. The friends of Gentry ex- pected him to denounce in direct terms the charges and insinua- tions of Johnson as falsehoods. Yet these men should have known better. He did no such thing. In a lofty manner he proceeded to defend the principles of the American Party, and to repel the base charges brought against it. His speech was dignified, eloquent, abounding in withering sarcasm, but in not a single word or sentence did he forget his own high sense of self-respect. It was observed that he had not avowed himself a member of the new party, and his defense of it was not as earnest as had been expected.
The result, therefore, of this first debate was unfavorable to Gentry. His friends went away disappointed and discouraged. They never quite recovered from this feeling. It was believed at the time that if he had boldly identified himself with the new order, had repelled in the strongest language and with an indignant spirit the venomous attacks of Johnson, he would have been triumphantly elected. With Johnson's fearful ar- raignment of the secret order and oath-bound party, and the apparently half-hearted defense made of it by Gentry, its friends became despondent and timid all over the State. On the other hand, Johnson's daring assaults had filled his friends with the highest courage and enthusiasm. Nor was this all. At the first appearance of the order, many Democrats had hastened to join it, some because they approved of its principles, and some be-
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cause they thought it would become the highway to power. But when Andrew Johnson began thundering his terrible denuncia- tions against it, calling on all honest men to come out of the midnight dens of this wicked party, Democrats all over the State commenced hurriedly tumbling out of the order, so great was their haste to escape odium.
Gentry's course was never fully understood by his party. It is to me no mystery. He was no coward, either physically or morally. He could dare as much as any man. Indeed, in the courage and manly frankness with which he gave utterance to his opinions, he was more like Mr. Clay than any public man of his time. His thoughts were as open as day. His conduct on the stump with Johnson to some appeared cowardly, but it was far from it. He suffered his opponent to abuse his party in the most insulting manner. This had the appearance and certainly the effect of bullying on Johnson's part. Gentry's friends went away from every discussion, notwithstanding his splendid speeches, with a feeling of defeat in their hearts. His conduct was the result of his civility and sense of honor, and no earthly consideration could have induced him to depart from the principles of honorable debate.
An incident at Clinton, East Tennessee, will illustrate. When the candidates reached that place, having been over the middle and the western parts of the State, an informal meeting of Gentry's friends was held at which it was determined to send a committee to him, to urge on him a more vigorous and personal canvass. This committee was composed of two of his warmest friends, William G. Brownlow and myself. They represented to him that the people of East Tennessee were accustomed to hot discussions, that they expected them, and that it would be well to lay aside his dignity, and to treat Johnson as he was in the daily habit of being treated by him.
Mr. Gentry straightened himself up in his loftiest attitude, as- suming that majestic air and dignity natural to him and stopped the committee saying: "I know what you mean, gentlemen ; you want me to commence by denouncing Johnson as a scoundrel, and growing stronger in denunciation until I reach the grand climax. Let me say that I think I know how to act as a gentle- man, and what the rules of honorable debate among gentlemen require. I cannot degrade my manhood, even if my competitor does do so; no, not even to secure my election. If you wish
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me to get down to the level of my competitor, I beg you to hunt another to take my place, and let me retire at least with my own self-respect and with unsullied honor."
Here that part of the conference came suddenly to an end.
The discussion at Clinton passed off without any unusual incident. Johnson continued to arraign the American party with bitterness and terrible power. Gentry, on the other hand, de- fended the party against these assaults with more spirit than he had done at Murfreesboro. His speech was a splendid speci- men of argument and genuine eloquence. It required all his self-control, when answering the points of his competitor, to suppress his swelling indignation. More than once he seemed on the point of throwing away his courtesy and hurling the thunderbolts of his wrath on Johnson's head. As it was, within the limits of honorable debate, his speech bristled with keen sarcasm, biting wit, and scarcely concealed contempt. Yet, so artful and powerful had Johnson's speech been, that the friends of Gentry were far from being jubilant, rather the contrary.
The next day the debate at Jacksboro was more spirited. Johnson introduced into the discussion his celebrated "white basis" proposition, offered in the Legislature in 1842. This was that "the basis to be observed in laying off the State into Con- gressional Districts shall" (should) "be the voting population, without regard to the three-fifths of the negro population." Thus he proposed to disregard the very letter of the Constitution of the United States, which he as a member of the Legislature had taken an oath to support. His object was to strengthen himself as the white man's friend in the mountain counties, where nine-tenths of the voters were non-slaveholders. The in- troduction of that question was out of place. He was in a county and a region where there were few slaves, and he hoped to make a few votes by this appeal to the prejudices of the ignorant non-slaveholders. He always knew how to introduce principles and opinions suited to the locality where he was to speak. He had denied, as had his organ and friends, in the cotten region of the State, where there were a great many slaves, that this "white basis" resolution was an issue in the canvass. When he reached this region, he brought it up, as he said it "involved a great principle, one which concerned the rights and interests of the masses." Gentry's answer to Johnson on this question was masterly and withering.
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Johnson and Gentry traversed the counties on the North side of the State to the Virginia line, then turned westward along the Southern border. When they reached Knoxville Mr. Gentry was ill. He and his competitor on this account made an agree- ment that the canvass should close so far as speaking was con- cerned. As it was near election day, it was thought to be very generous on Johnson's part to give up speaking. They agreed that Johnson. in his own person, and Gentry, through a friend, should explain to the large crowd present the reasons for failing to speak at so important a place as Knoxville. I was requested by Mr. Gentry to represent him, and to pre- sent to the people his deep regret at being unable to make any more speeches. This I did in a little speech not ex- ceeding three minutes. We supposed Johnson would not much exceed my time. This was the spirit of the agreement. In- stead, he made almost a regular speech. He spoke from fifteen to twenty-five minutes upon matters manifestly covered by his agreement. I was indignant, but nothing could be done to stop him. Nor was this all, for he went on to the remaining appoint- ments in Blount, Monroe, and other counties, where he gathered his friends around him in public rooms and said in substance : "I am not allowed by agreement with my competitor to make a speech. If I were allowed to do so, I would say 'So and so,' " going over the grounds of discussion betwen him and his com- petitor. Thus he talked to the crowd gathered to hear him until it was time to take his departure for another county. Each day he made many speeches on the issues of the canvass. He had gained credit for great magnanimity in giving up his ap- pointments. That fact became widely known, while his subse- quent conduct, after he left Knoxville, was only heard of by a few. The National Intelligencer came out with a most com- plimentary editorial, praising him for generosity toward his ailing competitor. Ignorant of what Johnson was doing, Mr. Gentry had gone on to his home in Middle Tennessee, resting on the agreement made.
This canvass terminated with the re-election of Johnson. His majority was 2020. Looking back at it now, the result is not surprising. Gentry was known to be a Know-Nothing. At first he could not avow the fact, but after the obligation of secrecy was removed he did so. In the meantime the secrecy feature of the order had done him and his cause incalculable
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harm. There is in the minds of a majority of men a widespread and deepseated prejudice against secret, oath-bound organiza- tions. It was especially so at that time, and Johnson, by his furi- ous and vindictive denunciations intensified this feeling. Every Catholic in the State, as well as some foreign-born citizens not Catholics, voted against Gentry. These, with those who could not support a secret organization, must have amounted to at least three thousand votes, possibly to a considerably larger number. -
I doubt whether Meredith P. Gentry ever sympathized with the American Party. His was one of those big, open, generous natures that had no love for narrowness nor proscription.
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CHAPTER IV.
Elected to United States Senate, 1857-In 1860 the Democratic Delegates from Tennessee to Charleston Instructed to Vote for Johnson for Presi- dent-December 18, 19, Speech in United States Senate in Opposition to Secession-Spring of 1861, Canvass with Nelson to Save the State- Hindman's Proposition to Arrest Johnson at Rodgersville Thwarted by John R. Branner, President of Railroad-Made Brigadier General by Mr. Lincoln and Appointed Military Governor of Tennessee on Fall of Fort Donelson, February, 1862.
IN 1857, after the expiration of his second term as Gov- ernor, Mr. Johnson secured his long-coveted prize-a seat in the United States Senate. Many of the leaders of his party were opposed to his election. But how could they prevent it? He was the idol of the Democratic masses, on them he securely leaned. He trusted them. In return they honored him. On all occasions he spoke with contempt of the aristocratic leaders, rejoicing at every opportunity of humiliating them. Some- times he even denounced certain of them by name. He intimi- dated those who did not voluntarily follow him. Of all the men in his party in the State, he was the boldest toward his op- ponents, as well as intellectually the most dominant and master- ful. Isham G. Harris, his equal in courage and nearly so in brains, and with very much greater promptitude in acting, had not yet stamped his strong character upon the minds of the people of the State. In robust strength Johnson stood alone in his party. His reign at this time was absolute.
Each new success of Johnson was a surprise to all who knew him, a bitter disappointment to his enemies in his own party. Men were slow to give him credit for the ability which all now must admit he possessed. They could not realize that the poor tailor of a few years before, living in an obscure village, had, unaided by wealth or kindred, not only triumphed over the most brilliant men in the Whig party, but had also made the proud and high-born leaders of the Democratic party bow their unwilling necks, on which he planted his imperial feet in his tireless effort for higher power. At each ascending step he grew more and more haughty. In battle he asked for
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no quarter; in victory he gave none. At each new elevation he threw down on his enemies haughty looks of defiance and scorn, and triumphantly shook his fresh laurels in their faces. All that his enemies whom he had overthrown in his own party could do, was to cry: "Tailor !" "Plebeian !" "Lowborn !" and other like endearing epithets .*
But these successes were no surprise to Johnson himself. They were just what he had planned, worked for, and dreamed of, what he thought he deserved. He was not excessively vain and inflated, but he felt within himself great powers, which gave him confidence and a steady equipoise. With calm repose and undaunted courage he felt equal to any enterprise, however perilous, or to any position, however exalted. He never feared defeat.
In 1860 the Democratic Party of Tennessee, in Convention assembled, recommended to the national Democratic party the name of Mr. Johnson for the Presidency. The delegates chosen to the Charleston Convention ( April 23, 1860) were instructed to vote for him. When Mr. Breckinridge was nominated for this position at Baltimore by the ultra-Southern wing of the party, Johnson after much hesitation and long incubation, gave him his support. This may seem surprising to some, but it should not seem so. Johnson was an extreme Democrat. All his fortunes and hopes were tied up with that party. Nine- tenths of his friends in Tennessee also supported Breckinridge. He had to keep in line with them, for in three years his term in the Senate would expire. Of course, he wished a re-election. But with all his shrewdness he could not foresee the sudden- ness and the violence of the storm that was about to burst upon the country. No one could anticipate the fearful upturning and uprooting of the very foundations of political parties. Soon after the election Johnson awoke to find, with astonish- ment, everything drifting away from the old landmarks. It was too late to follow in the direction of secession if he had been inclined to do so. Other men, even more daring, had taken the lead. In revolutions he who is the quickest to act gets
*The next day after the election in 1872, in which he, Maynard, and General Frank Cheatham, a gallant Confederate officer, were candidates for Congress for the State at large, Mr. Maynard being elected, he (John- son) said with clenched teeth, in a bitter, sibilant voice and with a dreadful oath, he had accomplished by his race all he expected-he had "reduced the rebel brigadiers to the ranks."
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