Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-12-18
RICHMOND CORREsPONDRNCE OF
TEaE EONRON THMKs.

The L6ndon Times publishes ths first letter
/ from its special correspondent ia Richnend.
He commences by quoting frem the speech Of
Edmund Burke, in the House of Commons, in
/ 1775, in which. he said:
The spirit of liberty in the Southern States is
more high and naughty thsn in the Northern.
In the Carolinas and Virginia they have a vast
/ multitude Of slaves Whe~e this is tbs case in
any part of the world, those who are free are by
far the most proud and jealous of their freedom.
Freedom is to them not only al enjoyment, but
I a kind of rank and privilege. Not seeing there
I that freedom as IN countries where It is q COM
mon blessing, and as broad aud general as the
air. may be united vito much abiect tell, with
great misery, with sll the extt Tior of seTVitude
| liberty ooks among them ike something that
! is more noble and liberal l do not mean to
/ commend the superior morality of this senti-
ment, which has a. least as much pride as vir-
! tue in 1t, but l caunot alter the nature of man.
These people Of the Southern colonies arc much
more str 3ngly, and with higher and more stub
born spirit, attached 70 liberty than those to the
noTthward. Such were ali ancient Common
/ Wealths such were our Gothic ancestors such
/ in our days the Poles, such viii be all masters
/ Of slaves. In such people the baughtiness Of
! domination combines with the spirit OF freedom,
I fortiies il, aud renders 1t invincIbie.
He then proceeds in a very intere stisg letter,
/ from which we make some extracts
THE FEELING IN RICHMOND.
The stranger who wins his way this day to
Richmond will find the fullest realization Of
these prophetic words on q far mightier field Of
( action than was within the purview Of their in
spirsd utteTer. 1t is not too much to say that
! the most ttuatical believer in the ancient Unior,
| be he Mr. Seward himself, would despair Of the
faith that ia in hiR, and sSknswlsdge himself,
in Victer Hugs's phrase, the " sOnnambulist of
a vanished dream, f" could he walk the streets
of Richmond this day, and gUage the spirit snd
feeling Of its people after nearly niEstssn
months Of such warfare IS the world never coz
templs,ed before. The streets are crowded the
hotels refuse 10 contain their shoals of guests
everywhere the quis.sess and confidence Of
people secure in Its own strength is ineontssti-
bly, evident Everything necessary AZ hte, most
thiBgs requisite fer its luxurious enjoyment,
as il is interpreted on this continent, are 10 Be
fonHd IN abundance. There is Absolutely ozly
one commodity Of which the absence is gravely
felt, that commodity being lee. Does the Fed
eral government hsPe By such a f1sii rudder to
steer the Southern Confederacy back into the
harbor Of the Union
EFFECTS OF THE BLOCKADE.
OF course, with many of the supplies sucked
ia through the most ridiculous Of blocl1sdes and
transported over the enormous area which sepa-
rates Richmond from the cities of the Southern
seaboard prices are high The board and lodg-
ing in the hotels amount to four dollars per day;
clothing and boots are extremely dear, but are to
be had by paying for them; medical supplies
are scarce, but are constantly being introduced
in not insufficient quantities across the Potomac
and through the cities of the coast And here,
from personal experience, | may express my
conviction Of the utter impossibility of block
sding the Potomac and the Ohio, and shutting
of the South from supplies, along frontier
which from Fortress Monroe to distant Kansas
extends for some fifteen hundred miles If the
whole Federal navy was concentrated in the
Potomac, it would be utterly inadequate effect
ually to block the iRuumerable creeks and
reaches Of that river. Add to this that on both
sides the stream dWels population of which
not moro than five per cent. are in favor OF the
Union.
RAVAGES OF THE ENEMY IN VIRGINIA.
In nearly every county, the court house in
which the assiZes for each county used 10 be
held, is rudely demolished doors and windows
torn down, while within, upon the white walls
in every phase Of handwriting, are recorded the
autographs of the vanGals whose handiwork
surrounds the beholder. Stories upon stories
have reached me detailing how the wives Of the
Federal officers, represented by my exaspersted
informants as having usually ''heiled from" de-
tested New England, forced their way behind
the Federal troops into the fine family mansions
Of the Old Dominion, and personally supsrin-
tended the abstraction and transmission north
wards OF old family china, silver, glass, pictures,
books, furniture and piano fortes A Virgins
! lady, who demonstrated with one of these Yam
kee hen barriers, engaged in packing up valued
family china, was met by the rejoinder, "You
are rebel, and have no rights that l Em bound
to respect; your property, therefore, is mine ~
! In short, such picture of des0latiOn as the
northern frontier Of Virginia and the lovely
Shenandoah Valley, the Paradise of America,
Z exhibit, can be likened only to the Palatinate
after Tilly's final visit; as Thucydides paints it.
/ after the annual LacedBmOn incursion during
/ the PeloppOBnesian war
THE UNITED AND DETERMINED FEELING AT
THE SOHTH.
have travelled far and wide through Vir-
! ginis have convCrsed with men, women.
/ stTiPiings and children, in that State aud in
Maryland; / have seen men, formerly substsu-
tial and thriving, whose everything is dsvoured
! by the FedeTalS; but never IN one single in
stance have heard word of regret BY reason
of the war, timid note sounded in regard to its
issues, sigh bTeathed ever the departed Union,
ghost of desire expressed ia favor Of com
promise or reconstruction. On the contrary,
one universal chorus echoes through the length
and breadth OF the land The net is broken,
and we are delivered Mr. Everett and his
votsries, Who still believe in imprisoned loyalty,
ss existing in the South, might as well search
in the British Islands for a man who desired
them 70 be annexed to France. So united, so
homogeneous community as the States of the
Southern COnfederacy fiads no parallel 10 our
annals, No war that England has waged for a
hundred years has met with such cordial, unani-
nous, undivided support.
The war against the French republic had its
Charles Fox; the war against Russia its Richard
Golden. There is no such character in the
Southern States. The victory of the Federss
in this exasperatsd struggle means, not the De
feat of the Southern armies, not the possession
Of Richmond Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, aud
New Orleans, which would no more lead to a
conclusion Of the war than the seizure of the
Isle Of Msu. A Federal victory means nothing
on earth but the determination and snnihila latiOn
Of every man women, and child 10 the South
ern Cenfederacy. There is no passion, nc
frenzy, in the universal language The inten-
sty of the hate lushes the cheek and clsnches
the teeth, but fsds little expression in feeble
words Il anything, the exubersuce Of ami
mostly is more peTeeptble in the flashing eyes
sHd eager esrnestness Of the women, but the
settled and uncoHqueTable Grmness Of the men
, requires nothing + be added to it.
The possibility of Richmond's falling j,
calmly discussed, and preparations have ione
been made for such contingency Surprise i
expressed that the FedeTals have not lons
ago possessed themselves Of several other South
/ eTn cities as we'll as New Orleans The Dos
session Of capital city in these days Of rail
roads is 9 very different thing from what it useC
to be in the days Of Wagrsm and Jena. Grea
! suffering might be inflicted on women and chil
dren if Mobile and Charleston fell-sufferin
which there is only too much reason to fea
would be most acceptable to the Federsls, judg