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

II becomes the epRtrcn Of the North, and al
enemy, instead Of q protector to her.
That this is the attitude which tie Govern
ment is henceforward to sESume, We shall now
proceed 10 show;
] ~ In the frat place, let US be distinctly
| understood, that we do not charge the great
body OF tbe northern people, whe have ae-
complished the recent revolution, with being
ab0litioDista, Ia the strict and technical sense.
We are willing TO eoDcede that they have no
design, for the present, to interfere directly
with slavery. IN the slaeeholding States. We
! shall give them credit for honest purpose, IN
der Mr.. LincolE's administration, to execute,
! as far a. the hostility Of the States will let
/ them, the provisions Of the fugitive slave law.
Ali this may be admitted, bat il does not az
/ feet the real issue, nor mitigate the real
! danger. We know that there are various
! types Of opinion a the North with reference
to the n oral aspect Of slavery, and we have
never apprehended that under the Constitution
I as II stands, there was any likelihood OF an
( Interference, by legislation, with our property
on our own sell.
/ (2.) But ia the second place, it must like
/ wise be conceded that the general, almost To >
universal, attitude Of the northern mind, Is
one Of hostility to slavery. Those who are
not prepared 70 condemn it IS sin, nor to
I NEEDLE with Il where It Is legally maintained,
are yet opposed to il as natural and political
evil, which every good man should desire to
/ see eXtinguishsd. They sll regard Il as ca
| lsmity, an affection, misfortune They re-
gard it as an element OF weakness, and as
I drawback upon the prosperity and glory OF
( the country. They pity The South, as caught
/ in the folds Of a serpent, which is gradually
I squeezing out her life. And, when they de-
fehd us from the reProach Of sin in sustaining
| the relation, they make 80 many distinctions
between the abstract notions Of slavery and
the system OF our own laws, that their defense
wsuld hardly avail to save US, if there were
any power competent to hang and quarter US.
We are sure that we do not misrepresent the
general tone Of northern sentiment. It is one
Of general hostility to slavery-itis is one which,
while il might not be willing to break faith,
under the present administration, with respect
to the express injunction Of the Constitution,
is utterly and absolutely opposed to any further
extension Of the system.
g., In the third place, let 1t be distinctly
understood that we have no complaint 70 make
Of the opinions Of the North, considered sim
ply as their opinions They have a right, so
Far as human authority is concerned, to think
as they please. The South has never asked
them to approve Of slavery. or 70 change their
own institutions and to introduce it among
themselves. The South has been willing to
accord to them the most perfect and unre-
strieted private judgment
al But, in the fourth place, what we do
complain Of, and what we have a right to com
plain Of, is that they should not be content
with thinking thsir own thoughts themselves,
but should undertake to make the GOuernmesf
think them likewise. We Of the South have,
also, certain though's concerning slavery, and
we cannot understand upon what principle the
thinking Of the South is totally excluded, and
the thinking Of the North made Supreme The
Government is as much ours as theirs, and W
cannot see why, in a matter that vitality con-
Germs ourselves, we shalt be allowed to do no
effective thinking at all This is the gTieV-
ance. The Government is made 10 take the
type Of northern sentiment-it is animated, in
its relations 70 slavery, by the northera mind,
and the South, henceforward, is no longer Of
the Government, but only uader the Govern
ment. The extension of slavery, In obedience
to northern prejudice, is to be forever arrested.
Congress is to treat it as an evil, an element
Of political weakness, and to restrain its infu-
ence within the limits which now clrcumscribe
it. All this because the North thinks 80
while the South, an equal party to the Gov
ernment, has quite other thoughts. And
when we Indignantly complain Of this absolute
suppression Of all right to think in and
through our own Government, upon a subject
that involves our homes and our fresides, we
are coolly reminded. that, as long as Congress
does not Usurp the rights Of our own legisla-
tures, and abolish slavery on our own soil, nor
hsrbor our fugitives when they attempt to es-
cape from US, we have reason to De grateful
for the indulgence accorded to us. The right
to breathe is as much as we should venture to
claim. You may exist, says freesoilism, az
States, and manage your slaves at heme-we
will not abrogate your sovereignty. Your
rUnsways we do not want, and we may ocea-
sioRally send them back 10 yeu. But If you
think you have right to be heard at Wash
ingtoR upon this great subject, it is time that
your presumption should be rebuked. The
North is the thinking power-ths soul Of the
Government The life Of the Government is
northern-not southern the type 10 be i'm
pressed upon all future States is northern
not southern. The North becomes the United
States, and the South subject province.
Now, we say this is a state OF feeling not
to be borne. A free people can never consent
to their own degradation. We say boldly that
the Government has no more right to adopt
northern thoughts on the subject OF slavery
than those OF the South. L has no more right
to presume that they are true. I. has no right
TO srbilrate between them. L mus treat them
both with equal respect, and give them an
equal chance. Upon DO other footing can the
South, with honor, remain in the Unjon. Il is
not to be endured for moment, that fifteen
Southern States, embodying, in proportion to
their population, as much intelligence, virtue,
public spirit and patriotism as any other peo-
pie upon the globe, should be quietly reduced
to zero in a Government which they framed
for their own protection We put the ques-
tion again to the North II the tables were
turned, and l. was y0Ur Thoughts T0aT life,
your institutions, that the Government was
heneeforEsrd to discouDtsnance 4; il non-slave-
holding was hereafter to Be prohibited in every
TeIritsTy. and the whole policy OF the Gov
sFnment shaped BY the principle that slavery
is is 2 blessing, would You endure it Would
not your blood boil. and would not yon call
upon your hungry millions to come to the
rescue And yet, this is precisely what you
have done to MS, and think we ought not to re-
sist. Youhave made Us eyphers, and are Ut
tsrly amazed that we should claim to be any
thing.
But apart from The degradation which it
infiets upon the South, II may be asked what
real injury viii result from patting the Gov
eminent in an attitude Of hostility to slavery {?
The answer is, in the first place, that It will
certainly lead to toe extinction Of tae system
You may destroy the oak as sfectusllY By
| girdllng il as by cutting it down. The North
are well assured that If they can circumscribe
the area Of slavery, il they can surround it by
a circle Of non-slaveholding States, and pre-
vent it from expanding, nothing more is re-
( quired to secure its ultimate aboli ion. "Like
the scorpion girt by fre,o it will plunge its
| fangs into its own body and perish. II, there
fore, the South is not prepared to see her insti-
tutions surrounded by enemies. and Either snd
decay under these hostile influences, if she
means to cherish and protect them, i. is her
bounden du'y to resist the revolution which
threatens them with ruin. The triumph Of the
principles which M. Lincoln is pledged 70
carry out, is the death knsli OF slavery.
In the nezt plsca, the state Of the northern
mind which has produced this revolution, can
not be expected to remain content with its
present victory. Il will hasten to other tri-
umphs. The same spirit which has prevari-
Gated with the express provisions Of the Con-
stitution, and Tesorted tc expedients to eYade
the most sacred obligations, viii not hesitate
for moment to change the Constitution when
II finds itself in possession Of the power It
will only be consistency to barmonize the fun
damentsl law Of the Government with It's cho-
sen policy, the real workings Of its life. The
same hostility t. slavery which a numerical
majority has impressed upon the Federal leris-
lation, It will not scruple to impress upon the
Federal Constitution. u the South could be
induced to submit to Lincoln, the time, We con-
hdently predict, when all grounds Of contro
versy will be removed in relation to fugitive
slaves, by ex9uneing the provision under which
they are claimed. The principle is at work
and enthroned in power, whose inevitable ten
dency is to secure this result Let as crush
the serpent in the egg.
From these considerations It is obvious that
nothing more nor less is at stake in this con-
troversy than the very life Of the South. Tie
real question is, whether she shall 5e politi-
cslly annihiiated. We are rot ST. ugziing for
feeting and temporary interests We are
struggling for cur very beingy and none know
better than the Republican party ITSELF that
il we submit to their new type Of government,
our fate as slave-holding power is forever
sealed. They have already sxuited IN the
p ospect Of this glorious contamination. They
boast that they have laid mine which must
intimately explode in our utter ruin. They
are singing songs Of victory ia advance, and
ere confidently anticipating the auspieious
hour when they shall have 10 hing to DO but
to retagn to the field and bury the deaf
The sum Of what We have said is briefly
this; We have shown that the constitutional
attitude Of the Government towards slavery is
one Of absolute neE 'ralitY or indifference In
relation 20 the moral and political aspect OF
the subject. We have shown, in the HeFt
place, that il is hereafter 0 take attitude Of
hostility; that it is to represent the opinions
ami feelings, exclusively, OF the Nerth; that
it is to become the government OF one section
over another; and that the South, as South, is
20 sustain no other relation to it bat the euty
OF obedience.
This il thorough ard radical revsIrftor