The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1867-04-07

Z
yield TO despair and resign the control IF
our State into the hands of our former
slaves! This, indeed, would he selfderrada-
ton deeper than our most envenomed foes
propose to infliet- We are. by the fat of
heaven, the black mans supeIior,-and. In
the name of all that we value most. ut as
sb0lr a p0ir. No sane man doubt that Their.
VIII be convention called 10 remodel orr
constitution, and no doubt remains that the
negro will be called upon TO vote What
snali we 10 Avoid the polls and surrender
10 the negro and the renegade the power to
mould our institutions and guide future leg
lslation, thus confessing ourselves utterly
VaHquIshed not only in the physical bat in
the moral contest. and too spirItIess TO Sc
cure what's left rs God forbid
We have surrendered enough exclaim
some, let Us degrade ourselves no further!
Can you appease the tigers rage by giving
him blood - / reply that we have surren-
deTed but once, and that we have never de
graded ourselves at all. When we stacked
arms before the long lines Of federal soldleTy
when we laid down cur banners stained
with blood and rent by shot and shelI,we SUI
rendered, on that day, all and more than an
We have since been called upon to yield
Subsequent events are but the stern sequence
Of the tenth OF April, TO In obedience 70
the conclusion Of the bloody logic OF con
quest, we have destroyed a t.-usaud mn
lions Of property and shaken 20 atoms the
ia =. C of our industrial system. We nave Ie-
pp-4ated the debt for the payment OF when
the faith Of the State was solemniy pllghteu
We have declared null and void from the be-
ginning. tine fat of the people in convention
assembled These acts were done under the
shgrD incentive of the bayOnet, and without
!. dsgsradation to ourselves. Has the bayonct
been taken away Rather Is not the resist
less power OF the federal army still over US
and guided by the undivided will OF party
whose very existence has, hitherto, cepeh-
ded on its enmity to the South ana To AeI
interests and institutions
But suppose that, in the now popular par
lance. we refuse to make further concessions
to Congress. VIII that preserve rs from yet
more violent measures VIII radical hatred
he disarmed when it beholds the Southern
people sitting discousolate and defeneeless
amid the ruins Of their country Is the soul
Of Stevens strung to the chivalric pitch that
he will pause in the pursuit of his tel! pur-
poses touched with generous pity for the
vanquished brave ? If / live, he has sand,
Il shall submit to this House the question
whether the property OF rebels shall not COM
pensate loyal men for their losses = and 50
surely as his heart is full of venom, his hand
ruthless and his brain cunning, so surely
viii our refusal to accept the last proposal OF
Congress- he followed BY an edict of unspar-
ing destruction. Our rejection OF the con-
stitutional amendment, known as the four
tenth article, viii not make the negro less
a voter-it viii make him The only rot@
Are we prepared for this !
There are two things which we can save
from the general wreck; the property
which we now possess, and the right to vote
Of all who are not disfranchised by the con-
stitutional amendment. These preserved,
aud we are still masters Of the situation III
our own State-these lost and we sink to a
lower deep of humiliation than any people
ever touched before.
| have entered upon no elaborate argu-
ment to show that the Military bill is in di-
rect violation of the Constitution,-that it
sweeps away our liberties at one rude blow
that it reduces rs to a state of vassalage and
servitude more CALLING than ever tortured
the heart of Magyar, Greek or Pole. No
argument that shall be written win be half
so conclusive, or half so eloquent.
that with which the President, still cling
ing to a violated Constitution, vindicated his
disapproval of the measure. The more hoT-
Tible our condition under military rule, the
more memorable becomes the necessity i'm
posed upon Us to avoid it. Negro sutfr &c
is the solitary barrier that stands between
the South and peace A barrier il is true,
which education and reason forbid us to
pass. even as the same causes forbade the
uegTo's emancipation. BUt we have been
borne along by a wave that is sweeping
around the world. We have been in arms,
not only against the physical power of the
North, but against the moral sentiment of
the world The Gar, numbering his sub
jectS by the hundred million, and master of
an empire that stretches from the Baltic to
the steppes ofTartarv, unable to cope with
the vast forces brought to bear by the moral
convictions of christendom, by his imperial
edict emancipated the serfs. Don Pedro, in
the South is preparing to liberate his slaves.
The banner of free Italy floats from the Alps
to the gulfof laramie Selling with prophet
c eve, the vast scope oftbe revolution which
had been inaugurated, the first Napoleon
declared that Europe must become cossack
or republican From that day to this evil
hour the spirit of license, not liberty, has
been abroad,-and to-day we are the victims
of the agraTian devil that screamed for blood
through the lips of Marat; that fires the
heart of the Manchester multitudeS through
the eloquent and speeious harangues of
Bright; and that at once astOunds and ter
rifles mankind in the person of Thaddeus
Stevens, who, himself hOary with age and
stricken with its intirmities, seems inspired
with fiendish JOY at the picture which his
fancy draws of the misery and abasement of
millions.
! have written, fellOw-citizcns, at greater
length than at first proposed; but the sub
iect grows broader as I pursue it Facts,
argument; reasons and entreaties throng
upon me as | close Were it not better wis
er, to sail with tempest that RACES around
us, than, madly striving to- breast the storm
to 90 down amid the angry waters
Take we not counsel of our passions Int
let reason rule the hour that shall decide
our destiny. FELLOW-CITIZEN.