Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-02-24
ENFORCEMENT or rHE Laws.

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The special pleading Of the Black Republic
cans upon the matters involved in The present
crisis, seems, at length, to have presented the
issue; Shall TIE revenue be collected and tbe
forts be held in tie secedsd States BY the Feeer-
a. Govsrnmsnt2 With much uuanimitv. the
party headed By Mr.. lincoln hold to TIE
Affirmative Of the proposition The entire
South, with TIE State rights wing Of the north
ern Democracy, assert the negative. A few.
very few, fsaeralists and terrier OF the South.
who hunger for the heshPots owned BY the in
eoming ADMINISTRATION, family aver thstunIese
the laws be enforced we cannot be said 10 have
any government, and hint that a seizure Of The
Federal forts in those States is a commence
ment Of hostilitiss by the Confederate States
We have no evidence as yet that there are any
Individuals in the South who are 50 utterlvlost
10 honor and insensible to shame a. to advo-
cate the foreshadOwed policy of Mr.L1SooLN's
administration. II is true, the aboltioBists
predict that, when their President is once
firmly in the saddle, a party Eill spring up in
the border slave States which will openly sus-
tain bis administration. They count largely
upon The corruption and weakness Of human
nature, and will not believe that the citizens
Of the South are more exen-t from corruption
than the fseulent comm mites which infest
the Northern States. We rely more upon the
integrity and virtue OF TIE southern peop!s.
We turn our eyes from that fostering sore in
the hssrto Of NJ Observation-Disclosures StLouis-
and, in behalf OF oar people, Jisclsim the
force Of the example, and reject TIE Prophesy
Of northern sssrs. Tennessee has SPOKEN
boldly and m%snfuIly through her legislature
against the now settled policy Of the next ad-
ministration, and her solemn resolves have been
communicated 10 her sister slaveholding States.
pledging herself 10 sink or swim, live or die bv
TIE principles therein contained. She has
tbrovn down the gauntlet Of defiance to New
York and Massachusetts,, and has sent a
special cartel challenging those States to meet
her on this issue, which they first thrust upon
her. She viii never forfeit her honorable en-
gaEement with her allies, nor shrink from the
hostile encounter with her enemies. No "cra-
ven and traitorous eounsels' will ever lure her
to such dishonor. She viii maintain her firm
position, though "ths heavens fall"
Tie cause which Tennessee has thus ear
nssfly espoused is historically sacred. The
heroes OF the American revolution gained i'm
mortality b. thsr devotion and their suffer-
ings in behalf OF the same immutsbIs and eter-
nal prineiple-shs right o. a free people 70 al
ter or abolish q government which has become
destrueiiTs q the ends for which T. was estab-
lshed. TIE Confederate States have but ex-
sFeissd this inalienable right. They deemed
the eoHtinued existence OF their r~eIstions with
the Mort srn States in tie Federal Union, "a
t. 70 their safety and prosperity. They have
thrown Of their allegiance. By their several
declarations o. Independence, and new union,
they have become a confederate nation, as free
and Independent as were the colonies BY the
acs Of July, I7T6. Lord North and his sovs.
reign. who resolved to sHforot The reusnue lars
Of Great Britain, and TstIin possession Of the
ksr5ors ond f~ortre8ses in the American colo
MES, occupy the zane position and End an ex-
act parallel in the incoming administration OF
Mr.. Lincoln. The British minister, like Mr..
Lincoln, diselainsd any intention Of coereing
the colonies, OF coHqusring hem by force Of
sIas. TIE eloqusncs Of CHATHAM, though it
NAFArrA ~ eAE41AI cru Transparent eucm u
TIE British csbinsi, could not divert tie intat-
ustsd monarch, and bis false advisers, from
their oppressive and disastrous policy.
he seven years. war in which the two coun-
tries were involved, viii be surpassed in the
numbsr Of its victims, the value Of its sacri-
fees, and intense aninositF, il not in duration,
By TIE modern war, which Mr.. LineOln's Cen
forcsmsnt OF the laws7 will bring upon the
country. The same disastrous destiny which
crushed the soldiers Of King George viii over
Ehsln The myrmi tens OF Lincoln. A united
South, armed in a righteous cause, viii be in
vines6le forever, ard the North win surely rue
tie dsv an hour, when, 70 satisfy the cravings
Of unhalloWed bate, infamei by fanatieism,
they determine 70 enforce the laws upon a peo-
pie who have proclaimed their independence,
and instztsz Ebsrs those laws no longer exs
Isl.