Mr. Wise, of Virginia, gained great notoriety, in the spring of 1855, by his abuse and blackguardism, heaped upon the American party. He was successful; and Johnson, of Tennessee, whose ambition was to gain a more infamous notoriety, profiting by the example of Wise, plunged into the lowest depths of Billingsgate, and piled his vulgar epithets upon the party indiscriminately. Wise, then, like all inventors and originators, has had numerous imitators, and among the most successful of these are Johnson, of Tennessee; Stephens, of Georgia; and Clingman, of North Carolina. But as an adept in low Billingsgate slang, coarse blackguardism, and as a slanderer and maligner of better men than himself, Johnson has excelled his patron, Wise, and left far in the shades of the distant caverns of abuse, both Stephens and Clingman!
To prepare the public mind for the degree of severity we used in reference to the Governor of the State, we will introduce as many as five different extracts from his speeches, in his late canvass for Governor, at Murfreesboro' and Manchester; as reported by his partisan organ, the Nashville Union, and his pliant tool, its Abolition editor, E. G. Eastman:
"The Devil, his Satanic Majesty, the Prince of Darkness, who presides over the secret conclave held in Pandemonium, makes war upon all branches of Christ's Church. The Know Nothings advocate and defend none, but make war upon one of the Churches, and thus far BECOME THE ALLIES OF THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS."—[Speech of Andrew Johnson, at Murfreesboro'.
"A denomination like this, to set up as the guardians of the religion and morals of the country! A denomination bound together by secret and terrible oaths: the first of which, on the very initiation, FIXES AND REQUIRES THEM TO CARRY A LIE IN THEIR MOUTHS."—[Speech of Andrew Johnson, at Murfreesboro'.
"Show me the dimensions of a Know Nothing, and I will show you a HUGE REPTILE, upon whose neck the FOOT of EVERY HONEST MAN ought to be placed."—[Speech of Andrew Johnson, at Manchester.
"They are like the Hyena, and come from their lair after midnight to prey upon human carcasses."—[Speech of Andrew Johnson, at Manchester.
"I WOULD AS SOON BE FOUND IN THE CLAN OF JOHN A. MURRELL AS IN A KNOW NOTHING COUNCIL."—[Speech of Andrew Johnson, at Manchester.
The blackguard and calumniator using this language, was elected by a majority of two thousand votes: that majority being cast by Foreigners and illegal voters; and consequently, his competitor, Col. Gentry—than whom there is not a more talented, patriotic, and honorable gentleman in Tennessee—was fairly and justly elected. This, then, is the language used by the Governor of Tennessee, towards a majority of the legal voters of the State! Under these circumstances, we made the speech that follows, to an immense crowd on the Square: the correspondence preceding which, will explain itself:
Nashville, Oct. 10th, 1855.
W. G. Brownlow, Esq.:
Dear Sir:—The undersigned, having heard your speech on the Square, last night, respectfully request that you embody the substance of the same, and publish it in the Knoxville Whig. The desire to see it in print is very general; and those who heard it approved its severity, without it were such as were bitter against the American party.