Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-07-19

Sir, however much LScessity-the tyranPs
ple4-may be urged in extenuation of the
usuTpations and infractions Of the president |
in regard to public liberty, there can be no |
such apology or defense for his invasions Of
private right What OverruHng necessity re- !
quired the violation Of be sanctity Of private |
property and private confidence? What great |
public danger demanded the arrest and Impris- |
onment, without trial by common law, Of one |
single citizen, for an act dcne weeks before, |
openly, and by authority of his State2 If |
guilty of treason, Has not the judicial power |
ample enough and strong enough for his con- |
viction and punishment? What, then, was |
needed in his case but the preceden- under |
which other men, in other places, might be- |
come the victims Of executive suspicion and |
dtspleasuTe?
AS to the pretense, sir, that the President |
has the constitutional right TO suspend the |
writ of habeas corpus, will not waste time or
breath in saTsung it. The case is as plain |
as plain words can make it. It is legislative |
power, it is found only in the legislative aTti |
Gle: it belongs to congress only to do it. Sub |
ordinate officers have disobeyed il; Gen. vii |
Kinson disobeved it, but be sent his prisOEers |
on for judicial trial; Gen. Jackson dsobeYed |
It, and was reTrimaHded BY James Madison; !
but no P esident, nobody bu' congress ever be- |
fore assumed the right to suspend it And, !
sir, that other pretense of necessity, l repeat
cannot be allowed. It had no existence in fact |
Tie constitution cannot be preserved by viola
ting it. Il is an offense to the intelligence Of
this house and of the country, to pretend that all
this, and the other gross and multiplied infrac
ions Of the constitution and usurpations Of
power were done by the president and bis ad- |
viser5 out of pure love and devotion 10 the |
constitution. Bu' if so, sir, then they have
but one step farther to take, and declare, in |
the language of Sir Boyle Roche in the Irish |
house of commons, that such is the depth OF
their attachments to it. that they are prepared |
70 give up, not merely part, but the whole Of
the constitution, to pTeseTUs the remainder |
And, sir, If indeed this pretext Of necessity be
we'll founded, then let me say, that cause |
which demands the sacrHfce of the constitu- |
ton and of the dearest securities of property, |
liberty, and life, cannot be JUst or at least it |
is not worth the sacrifice.
Sir, am obliged to pass by, for want of |
time, other grave and dangerous infractions |
and usurpations of the president since the first |
Of April. / only allure casually to the quar- |
tering of soldiers in private houses without the
consent Of the owners, and without any man |
neT having been prescribed by law to the |
censorship over the telegraph, and the infringe |
ment repeatedly, in one OF more of the States, |
Of the right OF the people to keep and bear |
arms for their defense. But if all these things, !
I ask, have been done in the first two months |
after the commencement Of this war, and by |
men not military cheftains, and unused to |
arbitrary power, what may we not expect to |
see done in three years, and by the |
successful heroes Of the fight? Sir, the !
power aud rights Of the States, !
and the people, and of their repre- !
sentatives, have been usurped; the sanctity Of |
the private house and Of private property has |
been invaded; and the liberty of the person |
wantonly and wickedly stricken down; free |
speech, too. has been repea edly denied: and III |
this under the plea OF necessity Sir, the right !
OF petition will follow next-nay. it has al |
ready been shaken; and the freedom Of the |
press will soon follow after il; and let me
whisper in your ear, there will be few to mourn !
over its loss, unless, indeed, its ancient high |
and honorable character shall be rescued aud !
redeemed from its present reckless mendacity |
and degradation. Freedom Of religion will |
yield, too, at last, amid the exultant |
shouts of millions, who have seen is
holy temples dRhled and its white robes
of a former innocence trampled now
under the polluting hoofs of an ambj-
tious and fdithless or fanaticsl clergy. Mean
time national banks, bankrupt laws, vast and
permanent public debt, high tariffs, heavy
direct taXat6n, enormous eypen iiture, gigau-
tic and stupe dous speculation, anarchy first
and a strong sOTerUmeBt afterward, no more
State lines, no more State governments, and
CtilHoiiudtcu LJtldtCly OF FdAl CENT dllEeQ
military despotism, must all follow in the his
tory OF the future, as in the history OF the past
they have, centuries ago, been written. Sir, |
have said nothing and have time to say nothing
now, Of the immense Indebtedness and the
vast expenditures which have already accrued,
nor Of the folly and mismanag cement Of the
war so far, nor Of the atroclous sRd shame
less pecuatioEs an frauds which have dis
-racar t IN the State governments and the
fedora: government from the beginning. The
aveneing hour for all these will come hereaP-
ter, and pass them by now.
have finished now, Mr.. Chairman, what
proposed TO say at this time upon the message
Of the president. As to- my own position in
regard TO is most unhappy civil war, have
only to say that / stand to-day lust where |
stood on The fourth Of Aarch last; where the
whole Democratic party, and the whole con-
stitu'ional union party, and vast majority, as
| | believe, Of the people Of the United States
| stood, 100. am for peace, sDeedy, immed'-
a ?, honorable peace, with all its blessings.
! Others NAV have changed l have not. I
| question not their motives nor quarrel with
/ their course. tits vain and futile for them 70
| question or quarrel with mine. My duty shall
be discharged, calmly, firmly, quietly, and re-
/ gardless Of consequences. The approving
voice Of a conscience void Of offsnse, and the
| approving judgment which shall follow 'after
! some time be past" these, God help me, are
/ nv trust and nv support.
! Sir, have spoken freely and fe7rlessly to-
/ day, as became an American representative
/ and American citizen; one firmly resolved,
come what may, not to lose nis own constitu
/ tional liberties, nor 70 surrender bis own con
s'tutiona rights in the vain effort to impose
these rights apd liberties upon ten millions of
| unwilling people. ! have spoken earnestly,
! too, but yet not as one unmiadfu o. the
| solemni'y OF the scenes which surround us
upon every side to-day. Sir, when the con-
| gress of the United States assembled here on
! the Sd Of Dece Der, 1860, lust seven months
| ago, the senate was composed Of siXtv-six
senators, representing the thirty-three States
of the Unien, and this house Of two hum
| dred and thirty-seven membeTs-every State
! being present. II was a grand and SOL
| emn spectacle-the ambassadors Of three and
/ thirty sovsTeignties, and Of thirty-one million
people. the migbtiest republic on earth, in GEN
/ eTal congress assembled. In the senate, too,
| and this house, were some OF the ablest and
most distinguished statesmen Of the country;
men whose names were familiar to the whole
count y-some Of them destined to pass into
history. The new wings Of the capitol had
| but Just recently been finished, in all their gor-
! geous uagnihcsnce, and, except hundred ma
rines at the navy ward, not a soldier was with
in forty miles Of Washington.
Sir, the congress OF the United States meets
] mere again to-day; DUL Cow changed the scene.
| Instead Of thirty-four States, twenty-three
| only, one less than ths number forty years ago,
| are here or in the other wing of the capitol
! FoFty-siX senator's and one hundred and
! seVeuty-tbTee representatives constitute the
| congress Of the now United States. And of
| these, eight senators and twenty-fOur repre-
/ sentstves, from four ates only, linger here
! Ve' as deputies from that great South which,
! from the beginning Of the government, con-
/ trIbuted go much to mould its policy, to
| build mp its greatness, and to control its
/ destinies. All the other States of that South
! are gone. Twenty-tw senator's and sixty five
| representatives no longer answer to their
names. The vacant seats are, indeed, still
/ here and the escutcheons Of their respective
/ States look down now soemnly and sadly
! from these vaulted ceilings. But the Virginia
Of Washington and Henry and Madison, of
! Marshall and Jefferson, Of Randolph and Mon
roe, the birthplace Of Clay, the mother of
! States and of presidents; the CaroiDas of
/ Pinckney aud Sumter, and Marion, Of Cal
| hOun and Macon and Tennessee, thu home
and bur al place of Jackson and other States,
| too, once most loyal and true, are no Ienger
| here. The voices and the footsteps Of the
great dead Of the past two ages OF the re-
public, linger still, it may be in echo, along the
! stately corridors Of this capitol; but their de-
| sce1dans from nearly one-haf of the States
| Of The republic will meet with US no more
within these marble halls But in the parks
| and lawns, and upon the broad avenues of this
! spacious city, seventy thousand soldiers have
| supplied their places; and the morning drum
/ beat f5om a score Of eDcsmpments within
/ sight Of the belesgured capital, give me'an-
! choly waning TO the representatives. Of The