Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-09-21
TO RAJ FKEnmEN or kENrUoKY.

| Abraham Lincoln. We are told that We must
be for OF against him. We must give our ac-
tive support to bis arbitrary acts or we must
oppose them. We must aid him 10 overthrow
in the Constitution Of the Uaited States, or
we must oppose bis usurpatiOns. We must aid
him in building upon the ruins Of be fair fabric
OF constitutional liberty d ~desp0tic authority
as arbitrary as that Of au oriental dcspOt, or
we must battle ike men tor the preservation of
the principles OF liberty guaranteed by the
Constitution. We must be his instruments TO
drag from their homes and immune 10 his nu-
meroUs dungeons, all who have enough of indie.
pendeLcf in their natures to express dissppro-
ba ion Of his policy, or We must actively op
pose that pOli.y. We must consent, in order
that biz imperial will shall have undisputed
sEay, that the jldicialermine snail be ~trampled
beneath his uuhaiiowe3 feet, or we must de-
ts.mins to maintain The principles Of liberty as
exDoundcl by the Judicial tribunals.
We must and bin 10 r~eyivjng the Iettre dc
cacbGt, that instrument OF tyqnny which ban
isbes bis poll zeal victims to the prisons Of his
numerous Ba.tiIss; or ike TIE men Of another
day, ~ mGSt wipe away thsse relics Of bar
barism, which the advocate Of free speech bss
revived IS 8 means Of enslaving US. We must
sustain az usGrped tyranny which has no sfHl-
iation with the COnstitu ion or with justice, or
We must resist the application of the letters
With which he seeks 10 binu US.
We mus laV our lives, our fortunes, our
honor, our liberty at his feet In order that be
| may consent ts be the master Of willing slaves.
u like men who At least are descended from
frcemenJ We must with our own arms make
good our claim to a legitimate psreBtage
These treemen Of kentucky, are the issues
which have been forced upon US.
Hitherto K.n'ucky has been to a great ex-
tent exempt from the evils with which the
President hss sought to aflict our sister South
- Co., A. 80 - LIT - A
ren song If pesce, i8tO a letbaTgY from which
it was hoped we would hot awake. We have
been told that the armies of d.spotiBm which
] are to encamp upon our soil will not crush a
petal OF tue most delicate dOwer or bruIse a
blade Of grass that decorates our 6=lIs: vet
wherever d.ey have gone, though 10 some in
stances commanded by soldiers unsurpassed in
the best qualities Of men, their course is mark
ed by desoidtiOn. ald lighted bv the flames Of
burning fields anu houses. l. might rather be
said of them, as Of The hosts Of Attila, that
where they once pass the grass never grows.
The President promised PEA 2 to our mother,
Virginia be promised peace to our daughter,
Missouri be now sings in our ears the d-lu-
sive sound. 1t is The peace which Tejgns in
bis water grit Bastiles it is the peace which
is found in the graves Of his victims.
FTCemen Of Kentucky, we have been slow
to oppose the usurpations Of Abraham Lin
coin We have heard ht5 promises that he
would observe the neutrality Of Kentucky, and
We have beard the echoed Tesssursnces Of his
] chosen instruments. We have seen the law
less military organizations which for month";
be has been engaged in introducing among US,
to Overswe the true sentiment Of Kentucky
We have witGe sed the clsndestine intrOduc-
ton among US Of arms and munitions, ard the
! establishment, In defiance Of the CoHstitu.
ton, o. his military camps to subIuga : US to
the will OF northern fsnsticism. We have
seen a portion Of our vi peorle, while preach
ing peace and good will toward ourselves aud
our brethren of the South, drawing from be-
neal he cloak of neutrality The assassin dag
ger, which is aimed to pierce our hearts.
When its point i, already at our breast, this
mask is az las thrown aside; and we suddenly
fad a son Of Kentucky, a gentleman di-tin-
guished in history, but now a willing servant
60 execute the will Of bis master, coming
among rs to direct be blow whics other slaves
have prepared. When cur WI Legislature,
disregarding every obligation imposed upon
them by Justice, humanity and the C9nsttu-
ton, have stripped as of the defeGsrs which
hey were bound TO throw around Ne; when the
gold OF Phillip has opened the gates of Athens;
when her guardians, equally influenced Shy
craven fear and by yendlaVaTicp, have, as they
think, exposed the fair form Of Kentucky an
easy prey 10 the ravisher, this gentiemln now
steps forward from bis chosen place in hjgt0ry
to Tivet the chains which are intended to make
her the victim and the slave of lustful ambition.
Men OF kentucky are We indeed slaves,
that We are thus to be draggsdin chains at the
Zee OF daspOtic power? Are The virtues OF
our auccs,oTs;5uriei with them in tie T Erivss?
Must our loyalty 10 constitutional liberty be
measured only by our serJili = to the tools Of
acknowledge enemies Shall We bend our
trembling knees before this modern Gssler,
and bow TO the t~yran's cap which is beld up
as the object Of our worship? We're our lib
critics given rs but 10 be t~IamEle3 beneath the
feet Of Abraham Lincoln? Has God so
stamped bis igl2hie row and nsagre iutellec
with His special seal, that we are ct for no
higher uses han obey bis mandates and to fIl
his dungsoD2
Let US rise, freemrn Of Kenfukv, and show
that we are worthy Of our s.ras. Let US s10w
the matroCs OF Kentucky that they sre still
the mothers OF mCu. Let our wives IN re-
gard us as their protectors from TIE atrocities
with which they are threatened. 1t the fair
maidens Of our beautiful land be convinced by
your deeds that the youth of the dark aud
bloody gT0Hnd" ere woT by alike Of the sIDilss
Which they bes:ow upon you living, and Of the
tears WIKI which they may water your patriot
graves. Though We msy ignobly bend our
neUks TO receive the Calling yoke Of a 10, ib-
err ~dsspotism, shall we not rsIsA sn arm 10
defend the proud women OF Kentucky from the
tate which - impending over them?
For one, | will enter the lists for freedom.
/ love the wild hills and beautiful valleys "
my native land. Your sires and mine won
them from the savage. Il devoIvcs on u7 10
defend them from The inVasicns Of a scarcely
less me-cltess zoe, whose hyens-iiNe yeIls cali
isr the determination Of our people. We will
goJ Yield without q struggle our lovely land to
be despoi!ed by the fsHatical h0ries OF tue
North. WIKI tue help Of God, whose aid we
impICre in our holy cause, W. will beat back
the in Vadec from our shores as our fathers
beat the savage from the homes Of those
whose sons now show their gratitude by return
ing to en5laVe Us.
Citizens Of Kentucky, we who are now cen
tending for freedom and for constitutional lib
erty, have been true and loyal in our obseTv-
ance of the Constitution. IL is not we who have
trampied its principles beneath our feet and
called into being a military Gespotism, which
threatens the existence OF civil liberty. We
TeveTed he Constitution as the aTk Of civil lib
erty We loved the Union as the means of
peTpetuating its principles. When tie Onion
ceases to accomplish inst end, and instead,
serves only az the means Of founding a mill
tsTy dsspoti3m, it is the destruction Of the
Constitution. The Constitution being destroyed
by those whose tyranny We resist, We adhere
sill 10 The immuJahls principles on which it is
based. We have compromised these pTinci-
pies only TO preserve peace in Kentucky. The
a biologists Of Abraham Lincoln have construed
OUT love Of peace iG'O cOysrGice, and have
brought to bear upon us the hands Of desp0tic
power. With the poignard at cur breast they
expect usto caTegs the hand Of the assassin and
10 lick the dust from the iron heel Of tyranny,
which is raised to crush us.
Freemen Of Ken ucky, whatever our former
opinions, let Us unite on the principles Of civil
liberty. Though an Infatuated North-in order
to reduce our land to the condition OF a subject
Roman prOvince-may rear above the ruins Of
the Constitution on the rude fabric of military
des Iotism, let us recognise still as paramount
the holy principles Of civil liberty, which God
and our fathers have given us. We recognize
ia no body the right TO Cypress US. Neither
II e President OF the United States, nor the SER
vile Congress, which assembled TO register his
adic's, nor the Legislature Of Kentucky, which
has sold Tor goi& and executive favor the birth
right Of our freedom, have the authority to
snatch from rs our God given heritage Of lib
eriV.
Ffsemen Of Kentucky, let our objects be
known. We make no war upon the
We defend the principles OF the Con-
.,titutIon against the fanatics who have de-
the Uni n. We make no war upon
Jul brethren Of Kentucky who have been Sc
into alliance with that fanaticism. We
iefend ourselves only from the assaults of
hose who would tear from US the holy pHnci-
of liberty, without which there can be no {
JniOn. We make no war upon our brethren 1
# the North. We seek on'y to Tepel their {
.fJrts to subjugate US to the condition Of their