Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-12-17

limpaTting to the army great deal Of his oyEi
determination and spirit. Some months befor
the expiration of the presidential term Of Gen
Pierce, the legislature of Mississippi had agsil
elected him to the United States Senafe for
period of six years, to enter upon his duties th
day of his leaving the War Department.
midday, therefore, on the 4th of March 1857
| he stepped from that department into the SenatI
chamber
What a change had there taken place sinct
he left his seat six years before His great po
| lticsl adversaTies were gone. The impsssioneC
/ elouuence of Clay had been hushed for ever
| The solemn accent and logical argument O
Webster were never more to be heard upon
earth. Little demagOgues, with little names
had, in the interval, found their way into the
Senate. This deplorsble retrogression afforded
to an observing patriot melancholy evidences
that the government OF the Union was degener-
ating; that, in fAcs, it had entered the first
phase of practical decsdence.z Dogmss, con-
flicting directly with the provisions q the Con
stitution, had been employed TO mako would be
grave senators out of fourth and ffth-Tate tap
room politicians Hopeless as might seem the
effort discOuraging as were all the signs of the
times, Senator Davis went to work with his
usual resolution and energy, to endesvor to
secure 8 new lease for constitutional union, and
to preserve, in this manner, for the benefit Of
after generations, the commonwealth Of the
American republic The federal system, while
administered in the sense in which i had its
origin-viz, one Of the sovereign States operat-
ing for the honor and interest Of all, and all
operating for the honor and interest of each (as
was the case under the presidencies of Wash
ingtOn, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe had
not an enemy in the South, and Senator Davis
was one Of its most faithful supporters. In the
plenituds of their power the sovereign States
created the Federal government, as a govern
ment of trusts merely. Unserupulous politi-
clans converted it into government of uses
That which they deemed expedient they deemed
lust. EncrOachment succeeded encroachment
in rapid succession The Federaists of the
North desired strength in Congress, in order
that they might virtually cOnsUmmate cOnsOli-
datiOn, and thereby force the South to become
theT vasSal 1t was avOwedly for the purpose
Of disturbing the sectional Equilibrium that the
Missouri restriction was conceived restriction
that was not only q violation of the COnstitu-
ton, but also of the treaty by which Louisiana
was acquired. That equilibrium, so essential
to peaceful and prosperous intercourse was sd-
verse to the ulteriOr aims of the North. These
were. chiefly the exclusion Of all foreign mer-
chandise which eonhicted with domestic manu-
fsctures from the Southern markets and the
transport of Southern products to foreign coun-
LIlees ne IOLLleE WAS WGil ulRU aCCOLQDliSloQ
by the tariffs of 1923 and 1922 the latter, as
fer az il could be effected by legislation, was.
carried out by the act Of Congress which pre-
hibited any citizen from becoming the owner Of
a foreign built bottom.
The same party, but Under various names,
has, ever since the time of the elder Adams,
shown total disregard e the written Csnstitu-
tiOn. It has increased in power, vigor and
fsrocity from year TO year, and, under the title
of Republican, has fought the battle which has
rent the Union in sunder.
Senator Davis was seldom absent from q sit
ting of the Senate, frJm the 4!h of March, until
after his State had met IN convention aud had
seeded from the Union, in January, 1861. Ses-
sion after session ais voice was raised in support
of the system Of the Central government, in the
spirit in which It was established by the states
men of 1767. But unsnswerEble as were his
eloquent appeals, they were in vain. From his
last great speech we make few extracts
We de not desire these things. We seek
not the injury of any one. We seek not to dis
turb your prosperity. We at least, TO certain
extent have looked to our agricultural labor as
that 20 which we prefer TO adhere. We have
seer, in the diversity of the occupations of the
Sra.ss, the bond of me Union. We have re-
joiaed in your prosperity. We have sent you
ou7 staples, and purchased your manufactured
a
rose of transport and navigation We have
eleried ia the extension of American commerce
everywhere; have felt proud a5 yourselves in
every achievement you made in art; on every sea
that you carried your flag, in regions to which
il had hitherto not been borne and, if we must
lecve you, we can leave you still with the good
viii which would prefer that your pos!erity
should continue. If we must part / say, we
can put our relations upon that basis which will
give yo9 the advantage Of favored trade with
us and still make the intercourse mutually
beneficial 70 each other. If you will not, then it
is an ISSUE from which we will not shrink: for
between oppression and freedom, between the
main!ensneg Of right and submission to power,
we will invoke the God of battles, ard meet our
fate, vhateve: it msy be.
On the 4th day of February seven of the
sovereign States Of the late Union met in Con-
gress at Montgomery, Alabama AS soon as
they were oIganzsd, they proceeded to elect q
Provisional President Jefferson Davis of Mis-
sissippi, who had been on his plsntation ever
since he had .aken leave of the Senate, as if by
common consent, was agreed to as the most
suitable man Ior the position. The hopes of an
infant Confederacy We're centered in him: and
its interests demanded his election. It is not
wonderful, ther'Ore, that he should have been
chosen by acciamstiOn. From his plantation
lShtCab plNAAitAy NAtAAN1 - DhC~AoAASI W VIC
public will, to occupy the executive chair
The organization of vast army, the forma-
ton of iudicstuTe, and the arrangement of the
various government departments were the mo-
mentsus matters in which he was now engaged
and taxed all his powers as 5 civilian and Com
mander-in chief IN considering the simultsue-
ous manner in which ultimately the whole of the
southern States rose to arms, it is remarkable
that, even after the meeting Of the Montgomery
Congress, there was gtil much Union feeling to
be found throughout the various States. Con
sidersble difference o. opinion existed as to the
question of secession Men of authority and
weight seemed to pause before they took the fusl
step of separating themselves from the Federal
government. They foresaw the evils of war
they knew what misery would result from civil
strife, and they NFsvered between two minds,
while the more advanced and srdent spirits were
for final and tots separation; but on the 18th of
April an event took place which banished doubt
rendered thC most prudent desperate, and united
public opinion il the slave States to an extent
unparalleled in tn history of revolutions.
Mr. Lincoln issuad a proclamation calling for
seventy-ive thousand troops to put down the
rebellion. This was the torch that lit up the
South and rendered subsequent compromise i'm
possible. In coRve,sing with intelligent and
moderate men in t.te South, it is invariably
nOLlCbADlB buAL Lucy REGARD tul5 ab sllc SbIAW
that broke the camsl's back-the reasonable
blow to State severe gnty, which is considered
in the South to be tn cornerstone of the Con-
stitdtion. Had Mr.. Davis warning voice been
listened to in January, we believe that, instead
Of passing year and half of bloodshed
enormous extravaganza, and dire calamity, we
should have found that tho seeding States
would have by this tine returned to the shadow
of the +" Star-Spangled Banner, and that an
enduring peace would have ere now been made
between the North and South. The following
remarks Of Mr. Davis, taken from the speech we
have before noticed justify this opinion
"The question which row presents itself to
the country is, what shall we do with events as
they stand Shall we allow this separation to
be total7 Shall we render it peaceful, with
A. obo-o, o. yrbou hunorsV shall