Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-01-16
AN ENGLISH GLANCE At THE
STONE FLEET.

4AL AkAEAA AAl AN YEA "a "
more evident becomes the signs tbas it IS brutal
izing at least one of the eombataats. If we had
opportunities of watching the deeds OF the Con
federates rs closely as we follow those Of the
Fedsrals, we might possibly find that the pro-
gress toward savage vengeance is not very une-
quail in both parties. So far, however, as events
have publicly tTanspiTed, 1t IS the North when Is
growing fierce and bloOdthirsty 1t Is the nigh
protesting Puritans who threaten to murder IN
cold blood; it is the citizen of New York and
Boston claiming credit for civilization and lite
rary taste, who are e1ulting IN the commission
of Hyanton destruction. WaT Is terrible enough
al hest. but even war has its ~mitigations among
civilized men. We do not in Europe when we
take a CITY cut the throats of all the women and
children, as the Talpings have done IN China
neither do we burn down the city ana SOW SAT-
upon the site, as was sometimes done even IN
Throne in barbarous days. We do not torture
our prisoners after the manner described in Dir.
CooDer's redskin novels. As civilized and
Christian men, we put some bride over the worst
instincts Of our animal nature even III our mo-
ments of most intense excitement. There
are things we are ashamed to do in the heat Of
conflict. and we count that man 3 mere villain
who. when there is no fight raging, can enjoy
revenge without danger, and can feel a f%erocious
Joy in the iudiction Of suffering.
There are bad signs in the recent news from
America. Already have the northern govern
ment threatened TO hang up all the prisoners
they may catch at sea, and already have they
filed prisons with condemned victims, whom
thew boast that they are about to put TO death.
1t is quite clear, according to all laws, divine
and human, that the Federal government have
no more right to hang these men after taking
them prisoners at sea than they have to hang
any prisoners they take ON land. Il would be
murder TO do 50. But we much fear that this
crime would have already been committed II 1t
had depended solely upon the will OF the northern
republic. The so~utherners, however, also have
prisoners, and prisoners of note. They have
chosen from them by lot a number equal to that
of the seamen threatened, who are to undergo
the same hardships and to endure the same fate.
Here are the FIRST steps taken toward a hendish
emulation in human sacrifices. Meantime the
two sets Of prisoners are tortured by comfort
less dungeons, hard usage, and prison diet
The House of Representatives takes another
eager step forward in this downward path, and
addresses the President to intict the torture OF
condemned cells and starvation upon the cap
tives taken from under the British flag. OF
course this would be but a signal for a further
retaliation. and would but send other officers Of
the northern army into close confinement in the
prisons of the South. Il is a game of torture,
the North leading off and the South following
suit Up 70 the present moment no actual
murder has been committed. We may, however,
expect every day to hear that some one of these
prisoners has died under the haTdships he Is en-
during, and that q prisoner On the other side has
been publicly hanged to revenge his death. ii
this dreadful play Of death for death is once
begun, it must 90 on till the prisons are emptied
on both sides, aud the war between tho Anglo
Saxon Americans WILDE ike a war of cannibals.
Again there are limits to the rights Of destruc-
ton which even a nation at war may exercise.
We read In Grotius, and other writers up0n the
state Of war and peace, that all people who de-
serve the name of a nation have in all times re-
speeted things which are beneficial 10 the whole
human race. Thus there is 8 rule derived from
the authority Of ifOly Writ that fruit trees shall
be spared wherever found. The implements o
the husbandman have also been held sacred. 10
conquer aud not to destroy, Is the rights Of a
beihgerent nation OF civilized beings. Yet We
are told, with a d~astsrdly exuitati0n, that fleets
have gone forth from New London and New
Bedford, laden not with soldiers and arms, but
with stones and that these fleets, with theil
stony burthens scuttled broadside, have Obhte-
rated, for years 10 come, the channei Of entry
7 by sea 10 those cursed cities. Charleston and Sa
vannah.7 The Objects to stTangle these great
ports Of not to repOssess them, bui
to destroy them for all time. " OF the effective
ness of such q stone blockade write the ex
ulting journalists Of New York, e" there can bt
no doubt. The main ship channel leading Il
Savannah is but two hundred and fifty yarde
across the narTowest place, and can be perfectly
barred by halla dozen Of these vessels. Charles
ton barber IS equally eligible to the same treat
ment. Once sunk, these old hunks become
points for the accumulation of aliuvials which
the rivers bear down, and Of the sand which thl
tides carry back. There is a natural tendency
in such ports to form distractions, and all We
have to DO Is, as the physicians say, TO assis
nature
Becoming thoroughly imbedded in the sand
these Accommodations hut advance with time
forming uneonquerable obstacles to reOpeuins
the haTbors, and establishing a blockade whicl
the highest pressure diplomacy Of the worl,
viii be utterly pow,riess TO raise" II this b
true-and we believe the fact Of the attempt i
established-it is an act Of hostility to the who'll
human race. The civilized Greek refused to pu
out I" the eye Of Greece" the savage American
sails in full security to paralyze all the senses b,
which the Southern States might communicate
in all time to COM with the outer world. Il
must be confessed" says this exulting Yandal
there is something wonderfully gratifying il
this silent, r~esistless piece of R-h0damsntheal
justice. The ealmness of the method is, and
chef Il eHDer in its way; no vulgar theatrica
vengeance, no laying Of city in ashes, as thOs
heated brsggarts of Charleston threatened, bu
a silent blight falling on them as though out 0
the night-deadly, nevitable-and leaving thos
peridious cities in a petrifed death in life.
People who would pluck the sun out of III
heavens to put their enemies in darkness, or DR.
up the rivers, that no grass might forever grow
on the soil where they had been offended. Ie
such men ask for our sympathies, and there ar
a scattered few among Us who are not ashamed
to identify themselves with them and their do
ings.
noce era;r .bs yovarnvant If the North II
agony Of its disappointment and its rage, is evi
IDENTIFY about to make an attempt TO SpreaC
massacre through the unprotected dwellings 0
their estranged brethren. That the division 0
these two vast countries must occasion the ex
%tinction Of sl,very, no one who looks thought
fully upon passing events can doubt. Two IN
dependent States cannot stand side by side with
out the element Of slavery Oozing forth. AnC
this design Of the North has nothing TO do witt
slavery az a principle. Il c~ontsmplates th'
negro only as an instrumeus of revenge. /
means, not the subsection of armed men in fai
fight, but horrible deeds committed upon defense
less whites Of every age and sex. Here, again
we believe that the success of the scheme vii
not by any means correspond with the atTOcitl
Of the conception But it is a terrible act 70
men calling themselves civilized to have ever
contemplated. II is terrible alike for whites an,
2 for blacks; tor 1t seems that, after exciting thes
hidCh h1fn " mN4h bAt bL2 uAtilNAHJ ANNDHSN
Z the North does not propose to endure theI
2 presence. Mr.. Lincoln, Ike one Of the despot
! of the old world, undertakes, 10 transport tn
whole race, slave and free, 10 some t%erritor,
r which no white man desires, but which Mr Lin
! eoln viii buy for them, that lac may never Nor
! behold a sable face.
E All these things are, as yet, but in their com
mencemeBt Some are only threatened, other
4 are only tentatively begun. They promise
J however, in their development, such scenes q
z horror a. the world has never seen since mel
l fought like wild beasts. Against such method
of war we protest at the outset. Against blood,
r~eprissls, against the wanton destruction Of thos
q harbors which a benefcent Creator has give
q for the enioyments Of all his creatures, sgains
ineitations to domestic rapine and murder, W
q protest in tho name Of humanity and ciyiliza
9 ton. There is scope enough gwen by the law
T for ruthless deeds bEt acts Of mere yengeanc
never yet decided a great war, and ought not
3 --sanT - ~. -..-1.~-e oF tIo nfvfl5guffn