Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-02-07

I diet that should southern confeueracY be
! Formed. he African slave Trade is much more
likely 10 be re-ofeneo oy tne oid Government
/ fbsn fbs new. The eonscienee Of the North
vrIr NJ less tender when it has DO southern
SO fo bewail, and idle ships viii naturally
ioot 70 The Government TO help them ia finding
~. rssl cause Of The intense excitement Of
4 ne eortb. is not vain dreams Of national plorv
In a seoarats confed7Eaey, nor tue love OF the
4 sitb,, lpers Of ths African slave trade, il IL
| ~ 1rofound conviction that the Conslitufion.
IN ia relations 20 slavery, has been virtuallV
{ reDeslsd that the Government tas assumed 4
nsw and dangerous attitude upon this subject /;
( tbst We have. In short, new terms Of Union
I admitted TO our scceptance or rejection
4 T5sre lies the evil. TIE election Of Lineoln-
,rben properly interpreted, is nothing more nor
! less han proposition to the South to consent
10 Government, fundamentally different upon
/ me question Of slavery, from that which our
/ fathers established. II this point can be made
ont. secession becomes not only right, but
/ bourden duty. Morally it is enly the abro-
[ cation OF the forms Of contract, when its
1 essential conditions have been abolished. po-
| IiticaIlv. Il is a measure indispensable 70 tbe
safety, il not to the very existence. Of he
S5u'b It's needless 10 say that. in this issue
the Dsrs0naI character OF Mr.. Lincoln Is moi
at all involved. There are no objections 10
him as a man, or as a citizen Of the North.
He is probably entitled, In the private rsla
tions Of life, to all the commendstions which
bis friends have bestowed upon him. We. At
least, would Be the last to deirlct from his
personal worth. The issue has respect. not 20
The man, but 20 the principles upon which be
10 pledged to administer the Government. and
which, We are significantly informed. are to
be impressed upon it in al time 70 come. His
election seals the triumph Of those PRINCIPLES.
and that triumph seals the subversion Of the
Constitution, in relation to a matter of para
mount interest to the South.
This we shall proceed to show, bv showing.
first, the constitutional attitude Of the Govern
ment toward slavery, and then the att tude
which, after the inauguration OF Mr. Lincoln.
il is to assume and maints forever:
l. What, now, is its constitutional attitude
We afirm 1t to be one Of absolute Indifference
or aeatraliiy. with respect 10 an questions
connected with the moral and political aspects
OF the subject. In the eve Of the Constitu-
tion, siaveholejng and non-slaveholding stand
upon a footing Of perfect equality. The
slsvsholding State and The slsvehoIding eiti
zen are the same 70 /. ss the non-slaveholdinr.
Il protects both 10 espouses the peculiarities
Of neither. Il does not allow the North to sav
to the South Your institutions are inferior 70
ours, and should be changed. Neither does it
allow the South to say to the North You
tC both Enjoy your own opinions upon your
own soil, so that you do not interfere vita the
rights Of each other. To ne there is no differ
encs hetwiXt you. Formed BY parties whose
divisive principle was this very subject Of
slavery, it stands 20 reason, that ths Constitu-
ton. without self-condemnatiOn on the mart cf
one or the ether, could not have been made the
patron Of either From the very nature Of
the case, its position must be one Of complete
ia ~ T. a.
bF equality in the UaioB, that the General
Government shall make no difference bstvixt
its institutions and those Of the North that
slsvehOlding shall be as good to It a. non
slaveholdiHg. In other words, the Government
is the organ OF neither party, but The common
agent Of both and, as their common agent.
has DO right to pronounce an opinion as to the
merits Of their respective peculisrities. This,
yge contend, is the attitude fixed By the Con-
stitution. The Government is neither pro nor
anti-slavery. Il is simply neutral. Had it
assumed any other attitude upon this subject,
it never would have been accepted by the
slsveholdinE States. When Mr.. Pinekney
eonld rise up in the convention, and declare,
that "if slavery be wrong, it is justified BY
the example Of all the world - when be could
boldly appeal to the unanimous testimony Of
ancient and modern times-to Greece and
Rome, 70 France, Holland, and England, in
presumed that be ever would have Joined in
the construction OF a Government which was
authorized to pronounce and treat it an an
evili i is not 70 be presumed that the slave
holdiHg states, unless they seriously aimed at
the ultimate extinction Of slavery, would have
entered Into an alliance which was confesssdlv
to be turned against them. Ths. they did rot
aim at the extinction Of slavery, is clear from
the peTtiracitY with which some Of them
Il a. an Al
Iade, until foreign supplies should be no
longer demanded. When Georgia and South
Carolina made It a siae qEa non for entering
The Union, that this traffic should be kept
open for season, to say that these States
neditsted the abolition OF slavery, Is grossly
parsdoxicsl Il is remarkable, too, that the
time fixed for the prohibi ion Of this trsfie,
was time within which the representatives.
OF those States were persuaded that the stslss
themselves, II the question were left to them,
would prohibit it. These States conceded to
the Government the right to do, as their aEeHt,
only what they themselves would do ss sove-
reign communities, under the same circum-
stances. No presumption, therefore, Of an
attitude, 'on The part o. theConstitution, hostile
to slavery, can be deduced from the clause
tcurhiag the African slave trade. On the con
trary, the presumption is, that, ss the trade
was kept open for a while-kept open, in fact,
needed
The slaveholding States never meant to abolish
the institution, and never could have Goa
seuted to SCI The face Of the Government
against il. No doubt, the fathers OF the re-
public were, many Of them, not all, opposed to
slavery. But they had to frame government
which should represent, not their personal and
private opinions, but The interests OF sovereign
States They bad 70 adjust It to the institu-
tions Of South Carolina and Geor-is, a. well
n- HHrasmn 81 a.. 4 a
grace given them 10 impress upon it The only
attitude which would conciliste ant harmonic
81 Parties-the attitude # perfect indiasr-
ence.
This, at the same time, is The attitude Of
Justice. We Of the South have the same right
to our opinions as the people Of the NORTH
They appear az true to us as theirs appear to
them. We are az honest and sincere in fern
ing and maintaining them. We unite to form
government. Upon Whist principle shall it
Be formed Is It to be asked Of US to renounce
doctrines which We believe haEe come down to
rs from the earliest ages, and have the sane
ton Of The orsciss Of God? Must We give up
what we eonscisnti0usly believe to Be the
truth The thing is absurd The Govern
ment, in justice, can only say to both parties:
viii protect you both, viii be the advocate
OF neither.
To order to exempt slavery from the opera
been eontended that the right Of property in
slaves is the creature OF positive statute, and
consequently, Of force only within the limits
Of the jurisdiction OF the law ; that it is e
right snot recognized by the Constitution OF
the United s ates, and, therefore, not 10 be
pTstsctsd where Congress is thf local iegisls-
ture. r9ess two proposi' sontaih every
thing that has any show o. b. for the ex-
tTsorlinsry revolution whiLL the recent exc
ksa AsH -
the United States.
They are both grstmi ous
a. In the first place, slavery has never, in
any country, 50 far as we know, arisen under
the operation OF statute law. It is not a nu-
nieiBsl institutiOn--it Is not the arbitrary
creature OF the State, It has not sprung from
the mere force Of legislation. Law defines,
modifes and regulates il, az &c does every
other species Of property, but lac never ere
ated e. The law found il 60 existence, and
being in existence, the law subjects It to fxsd
rules. o. the contrary, what is local and
municipal is the ebolitiOn OF slavery. The
States that are now non slaFshoi ding,
have bsen made 50 BY positive statute.
Slavery exists, OF course, in every nation
in which It ia not prohibited. Il arose, 10 the
4 progress OF human events, from the operation
OF moral causes; Il has been grounded By all
ahilosophers 10 moral maxims; It has always
nfeu uElQ 10 Dc moral uN ll6 VAST ulNfofIfN OF
the race. No age has been without It. Prom
TIE FIRST dawn Of authentic histcry, until the
present period, It has come down TO us through
an the course Of ages. We fad It among DO
madio tribsE. barbarian hordss, and civilized
states. Wherever communities have been or
gsnizss, and any rights Of property have been
recognized at an, there slavery is seen. II,
therefore, there be any properly which can Be
said 70 be founded In the common consent o.
TIE human race, It ls the property Ia slaves,
n there be any property which can be called
natural, in The sense that Il spontaneously
springs up in the history of the species, It is
The property in slaves. II there be any prop
erty which is founded IN principles Of opera
tion, Il is The property IN slaves. To say of
an ilstiiu utioH, whose history is thus TIE his
tory Of mar, which has always snd evsFY-
where existed, that it is local and municipal
relation. Is Of call sbsu1ditiss ihe motliest,
The msFssl word that ever fooled the ssr froN
out Of the schoolmsstsT's isrgon.S Mankind
1 may have have been Urong--tbat is not the
question. TIE point is, whether the laB made
| slayerY-Whether Il is the poles regulation of
[ limited localities, or whether Il is q property
| founded In natural osuseE, and causes Of uni-
versal operation. We say nothiag as 70 the
moral character OF the csuses. We insist only
I on ibs fact that slavery is rooted In a common
/ law, wider and more pefva6ins thsa the com
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