Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1861-02-27


states, under the name Of "Ihe United States
+ Of America . is hereby dissolved.' .
After this simple act Of excislnn, still she
y has not been satisfied, and row still she is
i seeking sympathy, and, therefore, gentlemen,
an before you here to-day. New, gentlemen
/ Of Virginia, Notwithstanding these facts which
I ! have 90 freely grouped before you, HotWith-
( standing this patience which have endesvored
I to show you she has praeticed, my State,
throughout this whole laud, throughout all
I Chfistehdom. nv State has been charged with
I rash precIpjtSncy. Is i rash precipitsncy to
! step out Of the pathway when you hear the
thunder crsshot the falling clouds? Isitrash
/ precipitancv 10 seek for shelter when you hear
I the gushing Of the condng tempest, and see
I the storm cloud coming down upon you? Is IL
/ rash pTeclpitsncy TO raise your hands 10 pro-
/ teet you head? Loud applause.
Gentlemen Of Virginia, never since liberty
came into tie Institutions OF man have peo-
] pie berns with more patience, or forborne With
/ more fortitude than have the people OF these
! Southern States in their relation with their
| confe6erstes Of the North. Aslong as it was
merely silly fanatieism or a prurieHt philan-
/ thropy that proposed our destruction, we
/ scarcely complained. Even when long series
I Of unjust. partial and oppressive taxation was
/ grinding Us into the vsrv dust OF poverty, with
/ one convulsive struggle we bore that happily.
I Even when a number Of cur confederate States
refused to carry out The provisions OF the Con-
stitution, vital to our interests, by municipal
/ and State regulations-even when hordes of
! their people, under the sanction Of these regu-
( lstiens, robbed Us Of our property and murder
I ed our citizens, and bands Of wild fanatics,
I under the same sanction, Invaded slave tefrito-
Z II and proclaimed the destruction Of slavery
I By the snnihilation Of the slsveholdsr-sVen
| when some Of our confsderstes proclaimed in
I The federal legislature and b. their sovereign
I DEGREES that we ought to be driven from the
/ civilization In which we lived-sven when one
I OF our confederates sought to defame and Wilt
I y us before the civilized world, we bore al
these seeumulating calsmities, and continued
/ to give them our blood and our treasure to
I build up the grandeur and maintain the power
OF that republic. And, In addition TO this,
when all that malignant fanslieism, that
bafiled svITice, that moral turpitude could in
vent to defame and viliify US, was proposed by
] the people and BY the States Of our confed-
crates, stir we gave them our blood and sweat,
and offered then our hands and called them
brethren. / draw no fancy picture. / make
no declamatory assertion here. There is no
man here who cannot cite twenty cases 10 fil
every item OF this category. But when st last
this mad fsnaticlsm, this eager haste for ra-
pine, mingling their foul purposes, engendeTsd
this fell spirit which has seized the CoBstitu-
tion itself in its most sacred forms and dis
torted it into an instrument OF our instant ruin,
why, then, to hesitate one moment longer
seems to us not only base cowardice, but sbso-
lutte faulty. Applause. We felt, In the
South, that If We submitted one hour to such
domination as that, we would have merited
that destruction which we had earned by our
folly and baseness. 10 South Carolina at
least, we felt, If there was one son Of South
Carolina sire who could give counsel to such
submission ss this, that there was not hill
side OF plain from Euta to the Cozpsns,
from which the spirit Of bis venersted sire
would not have started forth to shame him
from the land which discar led him. APP
plsuse
] pray vou, gentleman Of Virginia, 10 par
don me for referring with some particularly
to the position Of my State in connection with
these matters, because she hss been much spo-
ken Of and not much praised I an here, gem
tlemen. a. the commissioner Of these people,
certainly not heir eulogist. an sent here,
as ] thought, mainly because among them I
have always, with some pride, proclaimed that
] sp-ang from this soil, and because they be-
lieTe that would tell an honest, earnest story
Of their wrongs and trials; and If you viii
permit ne, will still farther allude to IT.
Never, gentlemen OF Virginia, since liberty
begun her struggles in the world, has a might
Ter drama been enacted on The trembling stage
of mans siairs,o or been opened with spectacle
OF pureT moral sublimity, than that which has
been manifested in this revolution in which we
are now engaged. Scarcely had this derree
of our gubisction, 10 which ! call your stten-
tion, been borne to our ears on the northern
breeze, than, az IL from the very eavsrns Of
the earth, there rose up one voice, one voice
only, from the people Of South Carolina, who
shouted back resistance 20 the death. Their
legislature then 10 session, caught that spirit,
and with one voice only proclaimed resistance
to the death. The people Of the South again,
In their sovereign capacity, as you are, with
one voice, and one voice only, ordained resist
snce 70 the death. And now, gentlemen, there
Is not 10 the borders OF that little State, one
man~from sixteen 70 sixty who can walk or
stand, Nho is not srmei, standing ready to Ts-
Bist 70 the death. Applause We are very
smsll-Verv weak-but IL war. that fre-st0rin
with which we are threatened, should fall upon
and consume ns, hereafter the pilgrim Of lib
srty, perhaps from this State, who may be
searching beneath the ruins Of Charleston,
vii find the skeleton Of our sentinels standing
1t every gate. Applause
Gentlemen Of Virginia, do not believe-do
not be persuaded that in taking the steps
which ge have, we have been forgetful Of
those things which are cherished among you.
We have not been forgetful Of the great and
halowed past, nor have we been reckless Of
our duties to our children. It is eur memory
NL 4Itdt lQ laAlQhel Iidtts OF OHi bVDar OF
our sacred obligations to our children, which
has nerysd our arms to this act, and no sense
Of ourselves. For years and years, gentle
men, We have paused, we have hesitated, Al ]
have shown you. We paused and paused, as
we aised the curtain with our own hands, and
Eszed back at that great and hallowed past,
that fairest temple, as we all thought, in
which liberty had ever found a shrine-that
which Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Frank
NHHn ~ HNnn
Rutledees and the Pinckneys-thst c0nelave
Of demi-gods-hsd buildsd up as a tabernacle
for us and our children TO dwell in forever,
and which they bad consscrateG By the blood
% our fatberS-that which the father OF bis
country deemed the palladium Of human right
that precious monument and refuge Of hu-
man hope all over the world. We paused with
reverence and pity as we gszed back on all
these scenes; aad yet, gentlemen, With these
hands we have dragged them down to the
earth-wlth these feet we have trsmpled them
out Of life-with this breath we have scattered
them on the winds Of heaven and yet, we DO
Dot trembie. We are not appalled, as we gaze
on cur hands, because those hands are IN
stained, pure, clear and unterrifsd as we raise
them 10 confident appeal 10 the God Of Justice
and ef truth. Applause. Armed, then, in
tbis panoBly, with calm hearts, with uufslter-
ing step, we are ready to drop the curtain and
this solemn drama.
Gentlemen OF Virginia, believe that these
Southern States are no noisy faction clsmor-
ing FOR place and power. They are no hungry
rsbble ready to answer back IN blood 70 every
appeal to their brutal passions. We are no
shouting mob ready to take for our govern
msnt some glittering epigrsm or some fustian
and infdsl theory. We are no fostering IA
naties. With Us liberty iS not a painted
strumpet, dazzling through the streets, nor
does our truth need 70 build itself in pools Of
blood. We are eslIn, grave, deliberate and
religious people, t5e holders Of the most ma
isstic civilization and the inhsritors, BY right,
Of the fairest estate Of liberty. Fighting for
that liberty, fighting for our fathers graves,
standing athuart our hearth-stonss and before
our chamber doors, for days and weeks the
people Of cur little State stood alone-that
little State GROUND whose utternost border the
guns fred - her capital might almost be heard;
whose little scope OF sky was 50 small that
scarce one star bad space to glitter in IT, So
small, 50 few, we begun this fight alone against
millions: and had you piled millions upon mil
llons, under God, 10 this Eght we should have
triumphed. Applause. But that God, gen
tlemen, cares for bis people-cares for liberty,
and right, and just'ee-snd We are no longer
alone. Very soon our own children from Flor
ida and Alabama answer back to the maternal
caIls ana our great hlcltIf Arfplklaf Aleltlaitu
forth her gallant offspring; and from the grave
of the gallant Quitman, on the banks Of the
Mississippi, ttere cane forth his well known
clarion tones, Lspplausel, and Louisiana
proved her paternity in the appeal Of liberty;
and now youag Texas has raised her giant
form and marches 70 the right Of this ma
iestic column OF confederated soFeTeigniies.
[ Applause.
FAh, genllemon of Virginia, wherever out
side Of the borders Of Virginia, the voice Of
son Of Virginia has spoken in this fight, IL too
bss teen known, because be spoke in the an
eient tongue Of bis mother. Appliance. ],
one Of the humblsst Of ber sons, told my com
trynen. that before the spring grass grows
Icng enough to weave one ehaplst Of victory,
they will hear the sound as OF the tramp Of
uiizhtv host Of men, aEd they will see floating
before that host the banner, whose whole bis
tory Is one blaze Of glory, and not one blot OF
shame. fAPplauss. aye, they viii bear
coming zp from hat host one voice ike their
own, but It will be the resounding echo OF that
voice which has thundsrsd into the hearts OF
your god-lisCe sires-"Givs me liberty or give
me dssth.D Applause. And on that banner
will be written The unsullied name OF Virginia.
Applause.
Gentlemsu Of Virginia, have I promised too
much for our mother? To suggest doubt
would be more than blssphsmy. believe she
will come. I believe she will take her place
which she has held for one hundred yesrs-ihe
foremost % all the world in the ranks OF lib