The Memphis union appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1862-1862, 1862-07-24
aKmPHIANs ON TIE OATH.

MEMPHIANs ON THE OATH.
During the Last four days the most fsshion-
able phrase in Memphis has been, I" hate to
take that OATH Hate to take it And why
de they hate to take it7 Why do they dislike
TO forswear rebellion and return to the protec-
ton Of the freest ard best Of governments
Is it that they owe to the rebel organization
debt Of gratitude for the benefits it conferred
on this city2 When rebellion took Memphis
by storm, it found it rising and thriving
town, promising one day to rival Louisville.
Cotton crowded the quAys; well laden steam
era piled in plenty between New Orleans and
it on the one hand, between St. Louis, Cincin-
natl and it on the other. The cheerful ring OF
hammer and anvil issued from its founaries !;
lis Chamber of Commerce was the scene of
commercial activity unequalled by that of any
other city of similar population /;
in the day, it impressed the visitor with
ready belief that here was bread for the labor
of earning, assured success to enterprise and
growing wealth to both. A glance at the now
neglected commercial records of the city will
amply establish the truth Of our statement,
that if Memphis was not the happiest city on
the banks Of the Mississippi, the fault was its
own.
at night, the well filed, handsome, we'll
managed theater gave evidence of growing
taste in art scarce less rapid in improvement
than the material prosperity from which it
sprang.
On the Sabbath, the temples of the merciful
Jehovah were filed with those who had much
to be thankful for, and save forgiveness, little
earthly to demand.
And yet TO day it is fashionable in Memphis
to "hAte to take that oath y ofHdelIty to the
government which was Gods chosen instru-
ment for the securing of these blsssingsl
But mayhap the rebellion poured blessings
from more abundant cornucopis. Mayhap
it were ingratitude not to feel superior obi.
cation for the blasting Of all this prosperity, for
commerce arrested, for men outlawed, and wo-
men deserted. MayhAp it soere ungrsteful to
renounce rebellion that has shattered the
hopes Of thousands, separated wife and hus-
band, father and son, quenched the hopes Of
afianced lovers, substituted scarcity for pleE-
ty, and the prayer OF suffering for the halle
luj4h Of hsppiness.
Itis really difficult to understand why any
man should hate to take thst OATH
1t is said, may not a man mistakenly think
that the Rebellion is founded in justice? I'm
doubtedly he may. In Paris there is an indi-
vidusl who, aftel life of infamy, has come to
think and call himself the Saviour of the
world; and IN the lunatic asylum of that same
city there is one who is constantly asserting
that mans chief mission Is the mastication of
Ares. But neither laws nor orders are issued
to the few of warped Judgment, but to the ma
jority, supposed sane, and to the sane only is
argument addressed.
Rebellion as such is wrong, stamped wrong
by the DEGREES or God and the laws of al ma
tiOns, thing justified only by oppression, and
what oppression can the people of Memphis
state they had received al the hands of the
national government
Lax almost to cllpability, the very existence
of the national authority was felt in Memphis
only by the blessings it conferred. The exist
ence of rebellion was manifested by the riding
Of private property conducted in the main
street Of the city under the veil of night, by
expressions uncounted, and thefts not to be
summed. It was manifested by the loss of all
that trade. that prosperous and peaceful hap
piness which we have depicted; and yet men
hate to take that OATH" in Memphis.
After giving its best blood, after sacrificing
It's commercial activity and hopes, after SHAFT
tering the social happiness of its best citizens
for the rebellion, may we not ask, What did
rebellion do to avert from the Bluff city the
punishment to which it had rendered it liable 7
GAGE 1t up s0itholt 6Lo1O--riaed it and
then deserted it; and yet men ahate to take
the oath" in Memphis.
Men forgetting that at the bar of God they
viii be asked to give an account not of the
Southern Confederacy, but of the wife they
swore to protect, and of the children bestowed
upon them, so q hate to take that OATH that
they leave their wives unprotected, theil
children unprovided for, and gs to uplift a re
bsllious hand against the government undaI
whose benefcent rule they saw their love.
ones safe, and their city prosperous.
Think, well, father, husband and wo1ld-b
patriot, ere you iterate the fashionable CRY
and assert that you " hate TO take that oath,