Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-04-18

after, TO whom the people soat listen' 70
the same inquiries that these may com
plete what we can hardly bes1n' may
enforce what we may say arlgn''
and demonstrate in what resp cts we
err. cit is only,D it is said, " by afnrin
alton, negation and discussion, asae 'he
truth is attained unto in anything
Hereafter, what has been and is now
being enacted here, viii stand, hOWh-
ing, like a gigantic, ~portentous roys.
terry, in the Past shapelsss, covered
with clouds, a formless Terror, oppress-
ing the hearts Of men, like the ghost OF
a dead nation in its shrOud of bloody
mist. 1t is a great tragedy that has
been and is being enacted, TO become
more and more appalling and terrible as
it rees,des into the shadows. What has
led to this tremendous conflict, this huge
tragedy, in which so many States have
died, hacked with countless wounds, sc
many are dragged into slavery, at the
chariot wheels Of conquest, to be here
after milI-stones on the neeks Of the
victors and drag them down into one
general and ~remorseless ruin?
All is new and unexpected. The his
tory Of the world affords US no parallel
for the events Of yesterday and to-day,
for the strange war between brethren,
having the same faith, Of the same stock,
speaking the same tongue, nursed at the
same breasts,-that war Of horrors, with
its merciless cruelties, its plunderings,
burnings, assassinations, its hideous Sc
uuences. Is it inexplicable?
The field Of Inquiry is so vast as to
confuse and Cypress Us. What path
shall we follow ?
Let him who inquiries go hack to the
beginning! Let him ask history how
the Constitution was made and the
Union formed, Let him learn whether
it ever Uas a Union. Let US desiUHsion-
ner the Past! Let US see how far we
have been deluded by chimeras and the
prestige with which Time clothes even
I selfshness and the meannesses of ambi-
toni Let us inquire what features in
the Federal Constitution were intended
or calculated to insure permanency and
stability, the health, prosperity and con-
tfnuance ofthe Republic in whatrespeets
it was defective as a means Of securing
these; and how it has, in its e~xeellencies,
been departed from in practice. Then
we may inquire what grave errors were
committed in the management Of affairs,
by the people and their servants, of
which, in any degree, the present evils
are the results.
1t viii be profitable 70 inquire into the
practice under both Constitutions during
the war. We shall, perhaps, then be
able to learn whether either had suffi-
cient vitality, sufficient energy, to escape
humiliation during great commissions
and immense struggles. We shall learn
what causes Of National disaster and dis
solution are still in action. The inquiry
will Of itself make known how we may
avert the ruin, if il be stiIl possible and
may mark here and there a shoal for
other nations TO avoid.
This inquiry, so far as it involves the
character and conduct Of public men
and parties, past and present, should
possess all the cold impartiality Of his
tory. If the expression of a Just indig-
nation should sometimes seem harsh,
the miseries that surround and over
whelm Us, and are the consequences OF
what we censure, shall excuse it. It Is,
indeed, the peculiar province of history,
and its most valuable office, to trace the
causes Of the decline and fall Of nations.
In this, as in all else, to err and mistake
is to injure; and the historian should be,
not the advocate, but the judge. Vitu-
peration and indiscriminate eensure as
little become him, as to be the apologist
for weakness and imbecility, for inca
pacity, or for the criminal adoption Of a
dangerous and unsouDd policy, as the
means Of conciliating popular favour.
History should u the act, snd deem
the criminal beneath its notice.
1t is only in government and states
manship that ineompeteney and failure
constitute the highest recommendation,
and are the most certain means to secure
the continuance Of popular favour.
There, only, the master is trusted to
navigate the ship in a tempest, because
he had not foresight sufficient to prepare
for the storm, or knowledge enough to
keep his reckoning. There, only, meR
deemed best fitted to secure victory,
because they have so bluudered aud
mismanaged as to place the army in a
false position and make defeat inevita-
be. We need not be surprised, there
fore, when a country continues ia power
and place many men distinguished only
by the errors they have committed.
The blind are always fond Of being led
oy the blind. To be able to see more
and further into the future than
hose around yoG, is to wrong and insult
hem, by imPeaching their wisdom.
revenge themselves by preferriug
you those who are as short-sighted
md mole-eyed as themselves.
Nor are men more capable Of govern :
ng themselves now, than they were
centuries ago. The general diff j
usiOn Of useful knowledge none the I
more fits men to be free. The Swiss J
we're a freer people, when, unlettered, [
hey Cverthrew the Spearmen Of Charles {
he Bold, than they are now. Reading, !
arithmetic, and Poor Richard >
o not make freemen. \ free press,
whose journals are houses Of prostitu- t
ltion Of the thought, is the enemy and :
OF the ally Of liberty. II ~debauehes the !
and deadens the political con- a
The late war has proven, both {
the North and South, that men are as o
filing now, as they ever were, TO SUBJ 4
lit to the nnrestrained domination Of II
man: that now, as in all former time, a
ley need most to be defended against d
iemselyes that they will always pre- 81
= to crafty their passions, to revenge st
iemselves, to triumph, by serving, 81
.ther than to forego that qualification re
order to remain free: and that no !,
checks, restrictions, or devices Ii
N be invented, by which any depart al
ent Of a republican government can be y
pit from becoming subseryient and in
rvile to popular caprice. It seems to de
utterly impossible to keep the powers
the State from falling, after a time. ey
10 the hands Of small and inefficient sic
so many Of them, at least, as en-
all render a6Ortive the efforts of the thi
Y talented and capable in Office, to %
the swift progress Of the State to
INWARD TO ~perdition. sue
c is idle to prescribe, as a panacea for evi
political distempers, that the people Po'
al change their vicious and settled ex5,
and elect their best and greatest Coz
n te Office. The remedy would be the
sctual' If it could be applied. But II ~
Ike the tabled waters Of Immortality der
ich none ever found. The people VIII
FER have done that, and never Will sub
'ept occasionally, and as it were. acct Pr,
tally. They will always. at last caro-
fer those who are nearer the eonuon s
feeling themselves, after . - tion
exalted when these are. Uatloo-. ideI
kes the highest offices OoS'