Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1866-01-28

The following article appeared in the
/ OIssyCer ard Reporter, published al
Lexington, Ky, on the twenty-fOnrth,
inst While we do not see how there can
be any mistake in the case, says the
Nashville Gazette, We do hope, for the
honor o. human nature, 4at Gen. Fisk
viii be able, iH some way, 10 eXOnOrate
/ himself from the overwhelming burden
Of odium and disgrace here placed upon
/ him
"Ouly the day before yesterday, in
/ Lexington, thirteen discharged cUiOred
/ soldiers stood in the streets, in full sight
! of Henry Clay's monument, with their
! bodies lacerated, their backs bleeding
{ from the cruel lash, their heads cut to
! the scalp, sui one OF two Of them with
/ their eyes put out and what foE do you
suppose? Simply for going 10 their for
mer masters and asking for their wives
and children! l appealed TO thecivl au-
thorities i'm their behalf, but was told
thar there was no law in Kentucky to
help them. heard there ola slave TO be
sold on q certain day; ! made arrange
ment with the Master Commissioner 70
buy him myself as the last slave 10 be
sold in Kentucky.
Il am here to protect just such men
as those from the cruelty and barlarism
Of the 'blue grass region and do you
think [ viii see men who have been in
the war three years with myself mall
treated and butchered? No, not by any
means. Two women were shot dead by
their former master for asking and trying
TO get their children back, in Kentucky,
and fear her Legislature viii not do
justice 70 the negro. They are good men
enough in everything but the negro, and
that stirs up everything that Is bad and
bitter i'm their nature.
" I saw a little white egg the other
.lav. called the e-E Of Ph3rOah's serpentS.
You touch it with a spaTA Of fire and ont
comes a flame and a serpent that coils
around and Kisses in yOur face. The peO-
pie Of Kentucky opposed to freedmen are
a Geal like these sE-s-yeTv fair 10 look
at, but when you touch them with a
spark of liberty, ont comes the flames of
anger and the Missing serpent Of SANDER"
The above Is an extract from a speech
delivered by .sal. Fisk, in Cincinnati on
Thursday last, and reported in tIs Con-
cinnati Commercial on the nineteenth
instant The statements made are clear,
distinct and UueqUivOcal AS 20 persons,
time and place, and vel calculated by
such disraetuHss 70 obtain credence, es-
pecially among the people OF the Aorth.
Yet every statement is an unmitigaJed
falseh09l.
We have made inquiries Of both black
and white To ascertain if there was q
single grain Of truth on which the srruC-
ture CT malicious calumny could have
been built. We knew cf course that il
was impossible THAT there should have
been thirteen laCarated, bleeding and
manned discharged soldiers on the streets /
of Lexington, where there was then a
company Of negro soldiers stationed,
without some c0mmoUiOn being excited.
Our inquiries were devoted 10 whether
there was a single discharged soldier who
had received, not stripes and wounds. but
any ill usage from his former owner. Not
one was known 10 black OF white.
Gen. Fisk made a speech to the coll
uTed population Of this place last week,
but we are assured made no allusiuu %
any such harlarities. His statements
were made in Cincinnati, where there
was u0 one present 10 contradict him,
aud We're intended exclusively for North
eTu circulation and effect
We have also made inquiries OF The
Master Commissioner concerning the less
important statement as TO the sale of the
slave girl, aud round it equally destitute
of truth. IL mas too often been the habit
of the South TO treat with derisi0n OF ST. /
lent contempt the gross falsehOOdS circu-
lated a. g. tGL.T lGTha-irias iH absdi- J
euce % our duty as 3 conductor of the
press, We den0mce the statements given
above as Infamous lies, and We brand
their aul4a- as au Infamous liar.