Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-10-19

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/ and family, or suffer imprisonment anu exile.
| If It is asked why did lfo meet the arrest and
| seek trial, my answer Is that l would have
| welcomed an arrest to be followed by trial be
| fore Judge and Jury; but you well know that !
| could not have secured these constitutional
rights would have been transported beyond
| the State, to anguish in some Federal fortress
| during the pleasure of the oppressor Witness
| the fate of Morehead and his Kentucky asso-
| eiates, in their distant and gloomy prison.
| The case Of the gentleman gus mentioned, Is
| an example Of many others, and il meets every
| element in a definition OF despotisnl II It
| should occur in England. it would be Tighted,
| OF itwould overtum the British Empire. lie IS
/ a citizen and native of Kentucky. As amen
/ Der of the Legislature, Speaker OF the House,
| Representative in Congress from the Ashland
district, and Governor OF the State, you nave
! known, trusted and hOnored him, during pub
| lie service Of quarter of "a century. lie Is
| eminent for ability, his amiabic character, aud
| his blamcless life Yet, this man. without IN
dctmcut. without warrant. without accusation
but by ihe order of President Lincoln was
seized ut midnight in his own house, and ia
| the mids; of his family, was led through the
streets OF Louisville, as 1 am informed, with his
hands crossed aud piuiOned before him, cgr-
red ont of the State and district, and now lies
a prisoner iu a fortress I'm New York harbor,
thousand miles away. DO vOu think that any
free Legislature ever assembled in Kentucky
since the days of Charles Scott and Isaac Shell
by, until now, would have permitted such
spectacle to dishonOr the State No Eel
l0w-citzens the Legislature could not have
been free
would speak OF these things with the sim
pie sclcmnity which their magnitude demands
yes il Is difficult TO restrain the expression OF a
iust Indignation. whewe smart under such enoT- !
hT- d. of gDl1
on our soil, nearly all from the North, and most
of them foreigners, whom he employs as his
instruments 10 do these things. But few Ken
tuckihans have enlisted under his standard for
we are not yet accustomed to his peculiar form
Of Liberty.
1 will not pursue the disgracelul subject Has
Kentucky passed out OF the control Of her own
people Shall hiTelings OF the pen, recently
imported from the North, sitting in grand Sc
curity at the Capital, force public opinion to ap-
prove these UsUpatiOns, and point out victims
Shall Mr. Lincoln, through his German neTcen-
aries, iInprisOn or exile the children of the men
who laid the foundations OF the commonwealth,
and compel our noble people TO exhaust them
selves i'm furnishing the money 30 destroy their
own freedom Never, while Kentucky remains
the Kentucky Of old-neyer. while thousands OF
her gallant sons have the viii and the nerve 10
make the STATE sing 30 the music of their rifles |
Z
these invaders uuconstituti0nally SciZr, 10 sup,
port, has been wholly abolished. i I, as much |
forgotten as If II lay away back in the twilight
Of history.
The facts have enumerated show that the /
very rights most carefully reserved BIZ it 10 I
States and individuals, have been most conspi- /
cuous:y violated And this destruction has been 4
accomplished not by the President alone, but bv /
the Congress also, and with the approval of the /
northern Stat5s aud people. They have delibe- /
rately made the contest constitutional struggle |
between SO many millions on one side and SO
many on the other-one party fighting for sub
lugatiOn, the other in selt-detense and for indie
pendence Whatever may be the future rela-
tons Of two eOnfederacies the idea of a restoTa-
ton of the Union under the old Constitution, is
wholly visionary and delusive If the North
should conquer tine South, (Which it viii per
ceiye to be impossible after a few hundred mil
lions more shall be expended and a few hun
dred thousand lives lost,) the character of the |
government wOuld be radically changed. Il
would probably not take the form even of a |
mixed government but would soon end IN a
military despOtisIn. lt must soon become ap-
parent TO all thoughtful men that the last hope
of constitutional liberty lies i'm the early recog-
milton Of these great tTuths--in an honorable
peace and friendly Intercourse.
lou declared your purpose not to engage in
the war TO subdue the South, and that vuu would
be neutral and mediate in the interests Of peace
when au opportunity shoUsd offer. This IS the
recorded viii Of the State as expressed BY the
pcopt- But those who assume 10 raprescui
you islyc yiolated that win. Thoy have atteuIpt-
Cd to burden You With enormous taxes to Dro-
secute q war you abhor, and TO sustain a GOV :
which has trampled under foot every
Of a Constitution which was the only
bond OF your political connection with IT, while !
they have allowed that government to cut Won
lff from the only avenues Of trade which would
enable you to pay these taxes. They have IN
yited a military force OF that eoygmment 70 take
possession OF TIE state, and Practically super
,ede the State government, aud they have seen !
Hith complacency, these foreign soldiers seize
mprison and pursue hundreds af your fellow
citizens fJIgitipes, with0ut crime over the
plains and mountains Of Kentucky In a word, i
hey have attempted, without consulting yon,
md against your recorded wishes, to place YOU =
n active hostility to yeuT southern llrethran and
10 L. your political dpstiGy with the North
Whatever may be the condition OF motives of
he members at Frankfort, they haye exceeded
heir authority. No legislative assembly or !
'ther body, other than one elected by your SOW
7reign voice for the purpose, has The right. in |
his great revolution, 10 deteTmne, iinallyyGur i
political future. The people, although taken by e
surprise. and almost unarnied, have risen to vim ?
hcate their wishes and expel the northern inv;- !
leTs. The eagerness with which their aid had | !
1een invoked by those who have plunged the i
state into her present unhappy condition, is the L
fgolgest proof OF flsir conviction that bpt for
iie presence Of these soldiers, the action of the
Members at Frankfort would be Tcpudiated by
lac people when the northern invaders shall ! 7
% 4ycuf back across tite Dino river. When the
state shall De relieved of all troops from abroad.
,nd the people of Kentucky, by a fair election.
lali determine their destiny, it viii be the clear !.
igiy OF every citizen to acquiescc or to retire p
rom tbe State e
For those who, denied by the Legislature The r
due 10 the hunbest citizen, have been
delivered over to the tender mercies OF foreign
nercenares, and hunted Ike partldges on the
uotutdiGs what remains hut Imprisonment,
'Nile or resistance rs one OF thom, intend
% isoisr lNillaYoid conflict with kentuckiaus. ,
.Aceps in necessary selEdefusc, but win unite
Sith lnv ielloW-citizcns 10 resist Che invaders
, io have driven Us from our homes. To this e
,0urse we ORE impolled by the highest sense Of
luiy and the irresistible instincts OF nanhood ! ,
10 defend your birtfTight and mine, which is J
lior8 precious than domestic ease, or property, G
II liie ] exchange, With proud satisfaction. a ;
erm of six years in Tue United States Scaaie.
or the musket OF "a soldier. c
This letter is written al the first moment since
ny expulslon iilm home, that could place my u
eet upon the soil of Kentucky. / have not been I
ble to see ca communicate with my friend and
oieseue, Gov. Powell, nor do / know what =
8uTse BE VIII think il proper 10 take But tiiis
'ou and I know-that his conduct win be con | p
rolled by pure motives. q
louT fellow-dtlseu,
JOHN G. BBECKINRIDGE.
BOWLING GREEN, Ky, Oct r, 1861.