Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-07-03
VOLUME XIII, NO. l57.

VI ouI victories have been hailed with pseang
ana ninlnatiOns, but, with the first tidfngs of
peaGe tneIs Is not hDvsl in the land that would
.IN. ny nave a candle IN the window, not a place
s44s eOula hoI OlaZe with splsndOr In token Of
the advent Of blessing priceless beyond an
earthly tTiumphs.
Then, sir, let US lower the points of our vic
torlous swords, and parley with the foe while the
bugle blasts Of Vict9Ty are yet ringing IN our
ears II we are free in anticipation nom tha
peril Of future reverseS; if we are saneuine tbsf
the Federal arms are henceforWard Tifed With
inyincibility, that is the nOblest reason why. We
should say to our opponents pause if you will
reject. Let Us yield them one ehance Of re-
/ eoncilement before we drive them 70 the resis-
/ tance Of despair. There can be no victory
where kith and kin, where brothers and fellow
eountrymen, where men who are bound 10 each
| other By the holhest Of past associations, are
struggling for supremacy. Al is defeat; aIl IS
disaster al is misfortune tears and mourning.
DO not let Us effsce with blood every sacred
memory that may yet bind these men 10 us IS
brothers. Give one sign Of invitation before the
dealh-stTuggle be renewed. Let the spirit Of
forgiveness pass between the lines Of those oppo-
sung hosts, and with the blessings of ProFidence,
those armed legiOns viii take a lesson from Sa-
1lnla and early Rome, whose soldiers, united by
domestic ties, threw down their weapons upon
me battles verge, and sprang to each others
embrace.
Sir, 1 have spoken freely, studying only II
make my words an index to my thought Nv
opinions have brought upon ms the censure,
often most discourte0usly expressed Of many
VINO differ with me- but for that / care but 1t
tie am content 10 bide the hour that shall
set me right before my eountrymeu. As have
believed tha prosecution Of this var TO be a
Hlloliug OF the gull tllz-t 5zrzf-s fl,a sections
have earnestly opposed it. I have always
looked upon the subJUgation Of The South as z
project whose ful6llment would strike heavy.
perhaps q fatal blow 70 true Tepublicanism aad
although / viii yield to no man in devotion to
the Unon-although I would make any and
every personal sacrifice TO restore its glory and
lntegnty-l viii never consent, even for the
sake OF that Union, to yield up my birthright aE
a freeman to sacrifice those principles Of self
government, those rights Of free thought and
personal liberty, without which Union Is but a
mOckery and name.
1t IS not grandeur and extent Of territory that
eoyet as the chief attribute Of The government
under which am to live Were I one Of but
single community, Insignificant in numbers, but
secure IN g guarantee Of pure republican minis
uatlon OF sifairs, I would be proud Of my citi-
zenshlp. But the union Of a thousand States.
each one as great and populous as the noble one
among whose representatives have the honor
to be, would detest-yes, sir, iu my mmost
heart detest-f the holding together OF comD0-
nent parts should create q necessity for the as
sumption Of despotie power
Seltgovernment is the god Of my political
Id0latry, and the Union is but templa IN which
| have woIshipped It. Should that temple be
dest7~-cd. l would not foTsake the creed, nor
would the migetv principle be buried in the
ruins love and you'd preserve the temple,
for beneath Its roof are gahered the treasures Of
holy past associations upon lis hsllowed walls
are inscribed the names Of patriots, zen the
North and from the South, whose blood has been
it- Drrk- A.
rious fabric cTumbls to the dust, than see tha
spirit Of despOtism enshrined within its sacred
precints.
I have seen already the silent but lsngthsning
shadow Of an absOlutism creeping into the spot
And when the executive hand, for the first time
N our history, was interposed between the citi-
zen and his rights, the germ was planted of a
Danger migbtier than rebellion in its most gigsn-
tic phase, for L believe encroachments By an
executive to be in itself rebellion against the
only sovereignty / acknoBledge-ths majesty
Of the people. l believe each step toward abs0-
Utism to be more fatal to the welfare Of the re-
public than any possible act within the power
Of the citizen to conceive and execute. I viii
resist every grasp that may be made upon an
attribute Of sovereignty not heretofore ackn0Wl-
edged to the chief magistTacy, for reason and
less than the fearful examples that
history has furnished from the ashes Of repub-
les, teach me that the first step, unchecked, VIII
not be the last, but only the precursor of those
yiant strides by which, over the nseks Of be
rsyed freemen, ambitious men have mounted 70
throne.
We want Union, sir, Of sovsreigns, not Of
ubjeets and that our government shall extend
Yer a vast area IS to me Of less moment than
hat it should he purely, strictly, and unsquivo-
ally republican, at all times and under all con
itiOns.
Sir, have done. have only to roiterate my
iope and my entTeatY that this COng-sssy Fl-s-,l
las in sacred charge the welfare Of our country,
vii adopt some measures which msy bring about
cessation Of hOstilties with view TO neg0tis-
ion. That done, am firm IN ny belief that
ostilities viii not be resumed.