Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-06-23

I oft neglect Of parents and cruelty Of their
children We might a1duce triumPhantly as a
/ osmonslration that the Institution Of marriage
I is humbng and failure, and that free love
I and women's riehlsa the tTde doctrine. This
/ Is the legitimate tendency and result OF The
abolition iogic 40 I understand It. Now We
! viii not undertake to say that the institution
/ Of slavery has not been and is not still abused
aud that the relation femaias YET 10 be fully
developed ss God has ordained IL. Here thea
7 Is tue distinct point We make. Il slavery be
an institution ordained q God in the mors
I law and clearly recognized and sanctioned u
/ the. Christian ec0nomy, then has the ao-
olidonists Of the North no divine mission
10 wage war of exterminatioH nRof
the souih. And, furthermore, if thes'
things be so, then 90 far as this mattel
is involved in the present war, God is fol H'
T and 1ot against us. And further still, il these
( shjars be so. then is tie sboiitionism Of "a,
! North wicked crusade sgainstthe South, and
7 God viii bring their counseis TO nought. II
these things Be so, then may we eoRclpde thai
: God Is with tie S5etl. tc BAkn by her pFoasn'
revolutionary Struggle tbe inssit1iian of ala.
very vhas be Sssgasi It 10 be. By partlc-
ulaF bind Of Interpretation, logic, preaching
and lscturing tbe Coincidence of the North upon
I this subject j. not our. B thia conscienes
shev have violated the federal constitution, an
y
formed political parry, cheated their presi-
deut, and IRE uog wnldiug the whole power
Z Of the federal government for the ayowsd pur-
pose Of toe destruction Of slavery, and with IL,
/ if need be, The South itself. I am aware that
many who voted FOR Mr.. Lincoln do not svm-
I pathize With this movement OF aim at this
purpose. We regret the position Of such, and
should they feel aggTieved at tie position in
which we place then, We would remind them
D -. Il
prsssib.e coBdict,7 and that the chief man of
/ bis cabinet is its great champion.
3 And now We seek an Independent Confedera-
ton to relieve this Northern conscience, and
we do believe that God is with Us in the effort.
And why shonld the North not 3ssire TO be
: relieved? Gould I Be heard in a Northern pull
pit to-dey, would appeal to Northern Chris
/ fisns, why they should not aid Us in seeking
Z for them this result.
Again, God Is with us for Che good Of The
slave. The outside pressure ard interference
Of fhe North, have materially hindered The
South in doing her duty 10 her servants.
Southern schools and systems Of instruction for
our slaves, have been broken up and laws en-
acted severely restrictive, and al 10 conse-
qnAnce OF be outside pressure and Interference
Of Northern sboiitionists Now we intend, by
T the grace Of God, to remove these hihdrsnees,
that we may 10 our dG'y to cur servants.
That hideous word, aboAtiouist, which has
( been so long whispered 70 tue preigdice OF
Southern ministers, who have YentuTsd to Ia
Dor in this behalf, we intend to expuuge from
( our vocabulary, IL we have TO do it with our
blood. We wage no war upon our neigh bore,
I but ace simply seeking to restore the church Of
God 10 her apostolic positions and have all
men enjoy the Light ard power Of the gospel 10
its true simplicity, that they may do their du ,
in all the relations and departments Of society
as GodFhss framed it.
But there is far more involved in our present
struggle than The matter Of slavery. The
great question ia directly involved whether We
shall have the Bible At ALL An ortHodox min
lister Of Brooklyn lately n ade in his pulpit this
astounding statement: " It is, said he, re-
msrksbls and instructive fact, and one al
which Christian men would do well to pause
and consider, that, Ia tkis country, ali the
prominent leaders o. abolitionism, outside Of
the ministry, have become avowod inhdes
and that all our notorious abolition pTearherl
/ have renowned the great doctrines Of grace as
they are taught in the standards Of the reform
ed ehurehes-have Tesor.ed to the most violent
process Of Interpretation to avoid the obvious
meaning of plain scriptural texts, and sscrbed
10 the anosties Of Christ principles from
which piety snd moral courage instinctively
revolt. They make that to be sin which the
Bible does not declare to be sin. They de-
nounee in language such as the stsrnest
prophets Of the law never employed, a rcla-
tiOn whch Jesus and his apostles recognized
and regulated. They seek 70 institute terms
of church membership and tests Of Christian
communion utterly atvariance with the organ
ic law Of the church, as founded by its
divine bead, and attempting to iusri-
fy this ugurpati0n Of divine prerogatiVes bv
{ an appeal from Gods law 10 the dictates Of
fallen human nature, they would set NJ a
spiritual tyranny 00re odlous ana insuferabie,
because more arbitrary and uncertain in its
decisions, than poperv itselfD We are called.
then, in this southern aud confederate move
mshtto preserve and transmit the pure word Of
God as the birth-right Of the world. For this
purpose we stand to-day with APOSTLES and
reformers OF tbe past, and as God blessed
them and made them triumphant in cnntending
for right against might, so viii he bless us.
Let US then be ffsfTong and Of a good courage,
fear not nor be afraid Of theme And here it
is worthy Of being observed that tde Constitu-
ton OF the Confederate States distinctly ac-
knowlsdgcs the God Of the Bible. which has
long since been regarded as a Iamenfab'e omis-
sion in TIE constitution Of the United States.
Neither in the preface to ihe constitution OF
the United States or in the instrument itself,
is God even named or one dependence upon
him Acknowledged. And 10 the declaration Of
Independence, we have only the acknowledg-
meut Of an inhdel in the expression 'sthe laws
Of nature and Of natures God" The Consti-
tuition OF the Confederate States invokes "the
favor and guidance OF Almighty God :" and
thus acknowledging the Gcd Of the Bible, be
will acknowledge them.
But again: it is ours to protect and preserve
intact that great principle of Eaglish and
American liberty, the writ Of habs1s corpus.
~ i. 4 Al.
to the express letter Of the constitution and
all precedent upon the subject, has suspended
the writ of habeas corpus, and has thereby in
augurated absolutely a military despotism, in
stead OF a great, free and constitutional gov
ernment. l need not here stop to recite the
facts, since, For this uslrpatioa Of power and
destruction OF the government, President Lin
cola stands before the whole world rebuked bv
the venerable ehief-justice who sWors bin into
Office. Il is ours then to preserve intact this
fundamental principle OF ell free government.
No suspension Of the ha5sGs corpus shall ever
take place in the fair land Of The sunny South
/ BY the arbitrary mandate Of executive or mill
taTy power. And here | call your attention to
the similarity Of our position for the protec-
I ton OF AGbe1s corpus 70 that Of The baroDs
4 Of England, when they extorted It from
/ the perhdous KING John upon the plain OF
1 nunnymede, June IS, 1918. TIE bsrons OF
England INST the enemy in battle array on the
I plain Of RHnaymede upon the Thames, the 18th
( Of June, 1915, and obtained the 6abeas corpas.
/ We have pitched our tents in order to defend
4 and maintain it in the great plain Of the Mis-
I sissippi, a nobler river than the Thames.
/ Theirs was a secession movement which ex-
! cited the ViEdiotive hatred Of the king. Ours
Is the same. It is worthy Of notice that the
/ historian, In describing the rebellion and revo-
lutiensTy movement Of the English barons,
which has given to the world all the civil lib
erty it enjoys to-day, employs the identical
words secession, eOnfederates and confederscy
which are now applied to our movement. See
4 MackiHtosh's history Of England vol. I, .. 1S2
/ 'LsRgton became benoesorward the guide OF
/ the confe3eratad baro1s." Again "DeYescv,
with other sufferers from the Ike out
RACES, Aoeked to the councils of the
confederates. And sgain, in Pursuance
Of their confederacy, they proceeded To
present their petition to the king0 Here you
have The terms q coRfederated,n 81 confeder-
ates,D and "confsderacy,n employed by the
historian in describing that revolution which
gave birth to civil liberty, and 50 now without
any reference donbsls's 70 history, the same
terms are employed as descriptive Of thai
revolution which is to preserve and transmit
it. Again, upon the 1S4th page Of tbe same
Z history We have this passage. 'frhe king now
looked round bis unquiet retirement with dis.
may. Appalled, az the general secession, be
at the game moment contracted a vindietivs
/ hatred against the haroRs, and discovered the
necessity Of hiding bis reyehgefm purposes
under the mask Of concilistion.o Thus vsu
! perceive that the terms secession" and fcon-
felerate" are Just as old as civil liberty, and
that they have been applied to but two Terolu-
ttons the one which gave li1erty to
the world at first, and tho otser
1 which is now i0augurated to defend
and preserve it. And when we consider The
fact that these terms have been applied in
siinctiVely to The present movement and with.
out any regard to their original use or The
analogiss Of history, may we not conclude
that the mission Ct our revolution is to lnish
the Work which the barons Of England begaui
And dc not thesp striking condolences Of his.
tory make the language Of my text personal
address TO as, g Be strong and Of good eour.
age.~ And we are thus encouraged the more
when we consider the principles Involved and
the great fact running through all history, tia
God has always aided he right, and that thi
right has ever stood opposed to might By al
the considerations presented we are forced
to conclude that cur is the right; and tht
same sort OF righ. which was conteaded for il
all tha a-snt crorhe oF fhe raet. fha uroskoIs,