Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-05-24

ore single oficer +: and they assert this
right by virtue of the rightOf conquest
It is an exercise of power and force, N
which no consent or contract is asked.
The very phrase, fright Of Conquest
excludes the idea of any contract, of any
duty to submit, and still more that Of
loyalty and allegiance.
vATTEB continues to say 1.-THE 6cy-
thians said &c ALEXANDER THE GREAT,
There is never any friendship between
the master and slave. in the midst OF
peace the rights OF wRr still subsist.'
should II be said thst in such a case
there may be peace, and a kind OF COM
pact by which the eonqueror ons eDts to
snare the lives Of the vanquished, on
condition that they acknowledge them
selves his slaves,-he who makes such
an assertion is ignorant that war gives
no right 10 take away the life Of an en-
envy who a LAID down his arms. =.
Men Of spirit, to whom life is nothing,
less han nsthing, unless sweetened with
liberty, will always conceive themselves
at war with thst oppressor, though actual
hostlities are suspended on their part
through want of ability"
When the Southern armies surren-
dered, the officers and men gave their
paroles not again to take mp arms during
that war, and took an oath to support,
protect and defend the Constitution Of
the United States. Thereupon the lam
guage of MATTEL applied "n the
conquered country is to be really subject
to the conqueror as to its lawful Sover-
eiyn, he must rule it according to the
ends for which civil government has
| been established If ne establishes an
unmitigated despotism over the con-
quered, he releases them from all oaths
Of obedience and fidelity. Besides, the
oath to support the Constitution creates
8 duty which cannot be performed until
the conqueror gives the opportunity. Ii
be establishes q despotism, the occasion
for observing the oath is rot offered.
How can the people of Mississippi sup
port the Constitution Of the United
States2 1t is as foreign to them as the
Constitution Of England. The obligs-
ton of their oath IS in sbeyance. Their
interest in the Constitution Is where the
fee of land was formerly said sometimes
to be, "a nubi5uS, in the clouds.
Nor are the conquered bound by their
paroIe. after the war has ended, if new
cause of war arises. The establishment
of a Despotism releases them from it.
When the Privernian ambassador told
the Roman Senate that if they granted
peace on reasonable conditions, it would
be safe and permanent otherwise it
would not last long, the wiser Senators
approved the answer. "Can it be imag-
ined,D they said, that any Nation, or
even any individual, will longer continue
in an irksome and disagreeable condi-
ton, than while compelled to submit to
it? If those to whom you give peace re-
eeive it voluntarily, it msy be relied on
what fidelity can you expect from those
whom you wish to reduce to slavery? p"
Again, VATTEL, discussing the right
Of postliminium, says: When a Ma
ton, q people, 8 State, has been entirely
subdued, it is asked whether a reyolu-
ton can entitle them to the right of
pogtliminium. If that conquered
State has not yet acquiesced in her new
subsection, has not voluntarily submit
ted, and has only ceased to resist from
inability,-if her victor has not laid aside
the sword Of conquest, and taken up the
sceptre OF peace and equlty,-such 8 peo-
pie are not really subdued they are
only defeated and oppressed and on be-
ing delivered by the arms Of an ally,
they doubtless return to their former
situation"
When the armies OF the Southern
States had surrendered, these States and
their people were willing, not merely to
cease resistance, but to return into the
Union, upon the terms then dictated.
They complied with those terms, and
sent to Congress, as their Senators and
Representative, men who could take
the oath demanded. They had then
really submitted, and were about, as
they supposed, to be re-incorporated with
the victorious States, become again
members Of the Union, and have no
longer any right to resist.
But they were not permitted to re-enter
the Union. Their Senators and Repre-
sentstives elect were refused entrance
into Congress and now all the govern
ments re-established by those States, and
all their laws, customs, courts and au-
thorities have Leen annihilated by Con-
gress, and a Military despotism estsb-
lished over them. Treated as conquered,
they are only defeated and oppressed
they are no longer bound by their offer
to return into the Union. Every thing
has been RENTED to its condition on the
day Of the surrender.
BURLAMAoUI says: War or conquest,
considered in itself, is not properly the
cause Of this acquisition that is, it is
not the immediate origin of sovereignty.
For the supreme power is founded on
the tacit or express consent Of the peo-
pie, without which the state Of war still
exists; for are caHnOt CONCEIVE hOU there
can Be an obligation to obey a person to
whom we have promised no subsection"
Again he says: Z" st is certain that no
conquest eveT authorizes a prince to
govern people tyrsnnically " a princi-
pie that needs no authority to sustain it
but whether il be true or not, il is quite
that men are never presumed
to have consented to be t~yrannicslly gov
erned, or that a Military Despotism shall
be established over them.
Ten years ago it would have been
deemed absurd to cite authority in sup
port Of the proposition that every man
has q natural and inherent right, and
one really i~nalienable, to resist the estab-
Iishment over him, his State or people of
an unbridled Military Despotism. Then
It was an axiom, that Resistance TO
Is obedience to God.u None
questioned then the right Of the people
Of the Colonies to resist the legislation
which taxed them without permitting
them TO be represented in Parliament.
Then he would have been thought in
who had suggested that in half a
Of years ten States Of the Union
would quietly submit TO a despotism as
imitless as that Of Russia under PETER
THE GREAT, or Turkey under AMURATH
II.
That the eonquerors, after fighting four
years to maintain the integrity Of the
Union, st q frightful cost in human
ives, and ineurring q debt that is to
heavily on the future generations,