Nashville Union and American, October 12, 1860

The elections recently held in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana were looked to with the deepest anxiety by every Southern patriot. Whatever may be the bitterness existing between parties in the South, it cannot be denied that they were united in a concurrent and common hope that the Old Keystone State would prove true to her ancient fame and overthrow the Black Republicans on last Tuesday. It mattered little which one of the three antagonistic parties shared most liberally and largely in the honors of the hoped for triumph. That was not the question. Like the allied forces at Sebastopol, hereditary and rival foes, with the exception of part of the BELL and DOUGLAS factions, were seen, side by side and shoulder to shoulder, advancing, amid the tumult of action to the intrenchments of the enemy. They were cheered on by the entire Southern hosts, who themselves are engaged at home in local feuds and most strange encounter. Their cause, as against the Black Republicans, is, or ought to be, a common cause. Disguise it as you may, misrepresent or smother the common sentiment of the South as interested parties may choose to do, it is the cause of “the Constitution and the equality of the States,” which the gallant BRECKINRIDGE truly says are “the symbols of everlasting union.” Let LINCOLN be elected and Black Republican rule once established, and he is infatuated who will deny that the equality of the States is virtually crushed out.Whatever effect the election of Mr. BELL or DOUGLAS might have, this will undoubtedly be the result of the triumph of a candidate who has not even a ticket in one-half the States of the Confederacy. Can any true Southern man calmly contemplate such a result without horror and the deepest humiliation? If he does not feel humiliated for himself he must feel so for his children’s sake. If this be so, has the South lost her manhood? Is she so weak, imbecile and distracted that her sons cannot unite and strike one good, strong, healthy blow for her independence and equality before this election shall forever decide her fate and consign her to the condition virtually of an inferior province in the Union, or drive her to revolution and anarchy? Every true Southern patriot will say, “strike the blow.” What can be done then? There is no resource left than to unite upon one ticket, than for all the Southern States to decide upon casting a united vote for one candidate in this contest, and thus present an unbroken front to our sectional oppressors. It is true we may not carry the election even with the united vote of the South, without the aid of some of the larger Northern States. But we may teach our enemies to beware of us. We may give them to understand that we are not so weak, divided and degenerated that we are ready to surrender to their insolent, tyrannical and insulting demands and purposes without resistance, first by every constitutional means within our power, and if it must be, by every means that honest men and patriots may adopt to save themselves from degradation and dishonor. Perchance seeing our determination and cordial union, some of the Northern States may come to our assistance in time and preserve us from the dread dilemma of submission to sectional domination, or, in the very last resort, resistance to unconstitutional oppression. It will not do in a crisis like this, to hide our heads in the sand, like the poor ostrich, and dream that there is no peril surrounding us because we have wilfully shut our eyes to it. There is danger and the South might as well look it manfully in the face. We are on the brink of a precipice, steep and dangerous. We are beset by perils that every truly enlightened and wise man does not fail to recognize. If not, what mean these unprecedented majorities in three of the great central Northern States for those who are seeking to crush out the life-blood from our section? If LINCOLN should be elected, where will be the man so disloyal to his section as to accept a commission bearing his seal? And if not, where will be Federal authority in the Southern States? We say nothing of the threats of South Carolina, the resolves of Alabama, or the purposes o£ Mississippi. We speak only of the inevitable consequences of LINCOLN’S election. Mr. BELL’S most distinguished Elector has denounced, in advance, the man who would degrade himself by accepting a Federal office under LINCOLN. The sentiment of Col. PEPTON[1] undoubtedly finds a very general response in the Southern heart. No man can accept a position under such an Administration without bringing personal odium upon himself, and, in many localities, the tone of opinion will drive him from the community, into the wilderness or among his more congenial associates, the Black Republicans.Is it not time that the South pause and take her reckoning? Is it not time to dispel prejudice and party animosities among ourselves and unite upon some one of the candidates, to show at least to the world that we are conscious of the dangers by which we are environed? And in so doing, we should discard mere personal and party preferences, and obey the unerring sentiment of our section, by yielding our support to the candidates who most fully and emphatically embody the general Southern sentiment, and who are the most acceptable to a majority of the South. If we determine on a united South, as we must now do, if we are true to ourselves, it is but just and reasonable that the majority of those, seeking to be united, should control the choice. Such a union is impractical unless we thus defer to the prevailing sentiment. Not only so, but the leader chosen to face the approaching hordes of Black Republicanism must bear upon his banner, written in unmistakable language, avowed and emphatic opposition to the claims of our enemies. The siren song of “no agitation,” the policy of ignoring the great, vital issues about which Black Republican war upon us will not do in the face of a bold, energetic, triumphant enemy. We must let them feel that we know our rights, and knowing dare maintain them. It will not do for the South, in this trying emergency to take a candidate who in all the great battles between the sections has voted side by side with those who are now coming with such dreadful pace upon us. Such a policy would be regarded by our enemies as an act of timidity, a concession of our principles through fear of them. Instead of driving them back, such a policy would but urge them on, and invite further aggression.It has now been demonstrated that it is most consummate folly to talk about the Northern strength of either BELL or DOUGLAS. Neither of them can now claim, without doing violence to public intelligence, the least show of strength in the Northern States. Mr. BRECKINRIDGE can rally to his support the whole strength of the Southern States. The late elections in Delaware, Florida, and Mississippi demonstrate, beyond question, his strength and popularity. The observation of every man, in his own section confirms this proposition. If either DOUGLAS or BELL were withdrawn singly, BRECKINRIDGE would sweep every Southern State by overwhelming majorities over his remaining competitor.We have thrown out these suggestions for the consideration of the masses. If they are worth anything, if they are available to unite us, we can at least do that, and save the honor of the South, even if all else be lost.

[1] Bailie Peyton, Presidential Elector from Tennessee on the Bell-Everett ticket.