Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-03-08
prrRIRUTIoN UPON NATIONS.

EErRIBUTION UPON NATIONS.
Sooner or later the bad deeds Of men
bring upon those who commit them q
reuibution Of punishment In the fun
ness Of their lusty self-suficiency, they
imscine, IL their conscience prompts
them 10 think at all, that the day is far
OF when this r~etribution viii overtake
them. But, with the ineNorable justice
Of the universal Moral Law, sooner OF
later, il overtakes them. The pursuit
may be slow. II may seem to halt al
times. Il may appear, TO the short and
imperfect vision Of mortals, 10 be thrown
30 far in the rear that there is no posi-
t,Iitv osits ever o~vertaking the fleet and
iocund offender. But when pleasure
nails and grows weary-when avariee If
sated-when revenge has glutted itself
TO satiety-when keen aud eager selfish
ness has wrapped itself up comfortably
in the repose Of self-complacency-there
comes, ever sud ever, the sure andsteady
tread Of Retribution, startling into horror
the lethargy OF the d-ebauchee, scatter
1Qg the houdes Of the sordid wretch, fill
ing the violent man with remorse for
his ruthlessuess, converting the dreams
of security Of the self-complacent egoist
into walin-s and Intellectual yearning>
for the human sympathy he had con-
temued and despised.
A. with individuals, SO with nations.
The history Of the world is fun Of exam
ples of the righteous retribution Of an
overriding Providence upon those ma
1ious (which forget God" and forsake
the right. The abominsti0n Of desola-
ton fills lands once gorgeous in their
pomp Of power, and fruitful in all that
should have commanded the gratitude
and humility towards an overriding IN
f~euigeuce. Of their inhabitants. They
were given to pleasure, were avaricious,
revengefuI. egois;ical, self-reliant, deaf
10 the p,eadiurs Of that still small voice
which whispers Of the Brotherhood OF
man. They swept on in their upright
eous career, until the measure Of their
iRiouitv was full, and then came the in
evitable end
50. TOO. both q regards individuals and
nations. there are admonitiOus and
chastissments, which, if haply they are
needed. may avert or postpone the doom
Of destruction. But the ~retribution for
their ofenses iss-ure and unacceptable.
The Empire Of Great Britain seems to
be now threatened with Of these ad-
monitions, if indeed it shall not turn out
10 be g terrible chastizement, for her
Shortcomings. Ireland, long down
trodden, j hesving with the mutterings
of a suppressed political volcano. Any
day msy bring Us intelligence Of the de-
clsratiou of its revolutionary outburst.
The Government is evidently anxious
and uneasy, if not alarmed. The meas
ures taken indicate the Consciousness on
its part Of q very grave and serious dan
ger. Insurre1lion sgainst its authority,
Of the formidable proportions Of a Revo-
tuition. are threatened. Fear has come
upon the men Of England that the men
a Ireland may ri-e up in their manhood,
and topple their pride and power into
the dust Of humiliation.
Suppose they =hould-who can say
that Il is not a most righteous retribu-
ton . Leaving out Of view the long ac-
count Of wrongs and expressions suffered
a. their hands by Ireland, as being in
some degree brought upon her by the
Irish people themselves, will it be too
much Of retri5uti0n for the part she has
borne in orr revolution, that she should
have a rev0lution-bl0ody s~anguinary,
remorselesz-at her own doors? Let Us
consider Jet Us weigh England fairly
il the scales. Wa it not she, by her
emisssries and agents, that first lighted
the torch Of sectional strife in this coun-
try? Was it not her gold and her pre-
tended philanthrophy, that first raised
the anti-Slayery standard in this
trye Did she not nurse, and warm, and
kindle the strife, until it became embit-
tered beyond cure--culminating, at last,
in the most s~anguinary and bloody Civil
War the world has ever seen?
And after that, during the Internal
carnival Of evil passions she had so
largely contributed to loose, what was
her bearing2 Was il that Of a Chris
tan Government, shocked and Mortified
at the spectacle Of fratr.eidal bloodshed-
ding2-or was it not, rather, the sardonic
glec Of the fend who sees the victims Of
bis wiles caught i'm his snare We
would wish 10 do justice 10 England, cold
and selfish in her State-poicy as she has
ever been, and ~uul0veable as she may be
amouE the nations. But we cannot for
yet how, ia the first year Of the war, She
bounded on both combatauts with the
lash Of her ridicule, and the contemp- |
tg0us expressions used when recording
the battles that We're being fought. The
first fgut Of Manassas was held up as a
farcicaI pretender to rank with European
battles, because 50 few, as she alleged,
were killed on either side. And such
continued 10 be the tone Of her potential
organs Of public sentiment, until both
sectionso OF the Union werehotly involved
10 what promised 20 be a mutual destruc-
ton. and its severance seemed u
he D certain thing Of the future.
Then her tone changed, and her
press teemed with laudations Of
American valJr. II would be curious |
10 trace how jUdiciouziy she bestowed
her announcement 10 both combatants
10 continue the fight q rovfraace-the
Coufederate, by praise Of their superhu-
man endurance, the assurance that they
must ultimately succeed, and the fleets
If blockade runners with which she en-
compa ed the Southern coast, TO supply
the rebels" with c~ontr8band Of war il
exchange Tor cotton for their mils-while
10 the Federal Government, in addition
10 seilng whatever &c wished to buy, and
winkin2 1t The recruiting Of its armies
within her dgminions, she now and then
applied re sting of q taunt Of pro-
spective failure % sustain itself, vel
calculated % nerve proud and patri-
rfic men o. renewed ezerti0ns. II
81 difficult % resist the conviction
that the policy Of England, from FIRST 10
last. was. % 20 stimulate both parties to
this Civil War, that whether the Union
was permanently destroyed or restored,
fine American Republic CT Republic, az
the ease might be, would come out ofthe
contest so weakened as to be power'e-s
Tor NJ least a generation 10 come f0rwhen
France, animated by the instincts Of a
generous civilization, proposed 10 step in,
and, by friendly mediation, stop the effu-
sion Of blood, she paitered and defeated
The humane proposition.
And now comes the ~retrlbuti0n. a
f0L4enter Of civil war IN another land 10
seihshly promote her own interests, she
is likely 10 have civil war around her
own hearthstones, justifable in the sight
Of heaven on account Of herlong oppres-
sion Of a brave and generous people. God
forbid that weshould rejoice inseeing any
people undergoing the calamities through
which we in this country have passed:
tut Il is not inconsistent with justice, nor
contrary to the best instincts Of human
ua,yre, TO wish the Fenian outbreak, if
made, complete and perfect success-aye,
even al the cost Of |humbling the pride
and power Of cold, calculating, selfish