Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-09-19
Tuvo, TaE yATIOyALu CF

Z required the Chronicle TO state that 10
false papers published we're lew upOI
the files OF bis bureau, nor had any con.
aectiou with its records, mol were evel
under his control, it does not avail the
Chronicle to impUgn the truth OF the
meanest creature that ever walked COD
foot-stooL. 1t stands before the world
convicted Of fslsehOod and eemplcIty
with crime. It stands forth self-con.
victed of having lied willingly, lied in
t~eDtionaIlv. lied knowingly, and with
reconciliation and malice aforethought
lied 10 save itself, lied to screen crimi'
mails. lied to accommodate p~erjurers, lied
simnIy TO serve its memorable task
master, lied plainly, openly and une-
o~uivOcally, because the truth WOul have
cordemed il and all its clan.
Every nation, we suppose, has some
pecuIiar national vice or failing. That
OF the CaTthaginians was bad faith
that Of the Russian is drunkenness
ours. like that the Cretans, is lying.
| Every body knows it: it is patent and
palpable to all the world. The lie given,
even to a soldier, is no longer cause o.
the duellO. II Is q vice so common IS
to have ceased to be disreputsble. Gen.
ROUSSEAU lately pronounced a state,
ment made by Gen. SHERIDAN false.
In the times Of Sir JONAH BARRING
TON, Irishmen fought for infinitely less.
/ Gen. WADE HAMPTON pronounced Gen,
/ S~HERIDAN's statement as to the burn
ing Of Columbia wilfully untrue. Per,
hsps because he was 8 rebel, and there
fore no gentleman, the matter ended
so.
At every Presidential election, from
that Of JOHN QUINCY ADAMS to 1860, q
store Of lies, OF sll kinds and colours,
poured yer the country, ~unsavoury and
rancid, multiplying like vermin, and
welcome to partizans on either side. Al
| every Congressional and State election,
q similar eruption, confined within
narrower limits, Tained lies upon the
land, thick IS the frogs with which
| NOSES afflicted the land Of PHARAOH
The Press Of the North spswns lies as 6
fish does its ora, not periodically like
the fish, but without abatement or inter
mission. To invent lies for partizau
service long ago became a profitable and
paying, and therefore respectable avocs'
ton. The lie e%quivOcsl, the lie eircum.
stantial, the lie direct, all are in de-
mand, and have a msrket-value. The
lightning travels along the telegraph
wires, weary with the load OF lies il
bears from correspondents Of Northern
journals. Lately they have arrived
in focks, like birds Of passage, about
General GRANT and the President.
d" Ont Of the mouth of three or four wit
nesses only, now, is any thing estab.
lished. Afidavits and oaths were long
ago made 50 common and so continually
demanded in judicial proceedings, that
the National vice vas aggravated into
perjury, which became almost as COM
mon snd chronic as lying. II any angel
registers all the Osths that are daily
taken under acts Of Congress, he can
have little time for recreation. The ne
gro swears, snd buys the right to vote
with his oath. He would as soon swear
one thing Is another. Ii is a matter OF
perfect indifference 70 him.
Once, a question Of veracity was a Sc
rious matter. Nov, it Is altogether I'M
important, ever OH the floors Of Con-
gress. The columns Of advertisements
and the sandwiched puffs in newspapers
alike TEEN with lies. To be like q bull
letin became q common expression in
the later days OF the French Empire.
Official reports OF land and naval battles
are DO more reliable now than they were
then. We have read reports Of more
than one, which would have answered
quite as well for Waterloo or BOro-
dino. We hardly know the truth
about a single battle Of the late war.
About everything that occurred, the col
umns Of the Northern journals glittered,
and flashed and scintillated with lies.
They lied about the relative numbers OF
troops, about the details Of battle, about
the exchange Of prisoners, about every
thing which would bear being lied about.
Nor were the Southern journals free OF
that vice but those Of the North were
UNNECESSARILY their superiors in the art
Of fabrication. They continue to inn
prove, also. The New York Tribune has
printed hundreds Of lies about oUtrages
on freedmen In the Southern States.
Nobody ever dreams Of believing any
thing stated by 3 newspaper as a fact,
unless it is agreeable to him to believe it,
because it Injuries q political or personal
enemy, or recOunts some act Of d~eprsvity
or crime or some scandal, which are al
ways and equally acceptable TO the pious
and the perverse, To an impartial and
Indifferent loOker-on, truths as well as
lies now require indorsers.
You are never certain, now, whether
even a Senator or a President speaks the
truth or a lie. Daily, the Presidents We.
rscity is i~mpugned. To be q Senator is
no longer necessary to be a gentleman
or a man Of truth. To be q Member Of
the House is rather evidence Of disrepute.
The Pulpit as well as the press, lies, when
to lie is for the good Of the Church. Com.
mittees Of the House Of Representatives
are appointed for the express purpose Of
eondensing lies and p~erjuries into the
concentrated quintessenee Of falsehood
aud fabrication, in respect 10 riots In
Memphis and New Orleans, and to de-
famsand libel 8 whole people by collected,
false and exaggerated statements Of PEG.
pie OF every sort, in respect to the treat.
ment Of Northern prisoners captured by
Confederate5 while they are instructed
not 10 inquire rs TO the treatmentOf Con-
federates in Northern prisons, where they
were systematically, purposely, wilfully,
wsntonly, in pursuance OF orders, and
without the possibility Of an excuse,
starved, abused, beaten, frozen aud muir.
dered.
A Bureau ofMilitary Injustice, shoddy-
imitation Of the Star Chamber and In
QUESTION, is not choice g. 10 the sort Of
testimony which its paid pimps and
procurers purchase for it, with money
furnished by the Government; and under
It's auspices 1t is attempted, by means OF
false and perjured testimony, written out
by the Chief Of the Bureau, the Procu-
reur General dInjusfice himself, to con-
Wet the Chief Of a conquered Republic Of
eleven States, Of completely in the base,
savage, brutal crime OF assassination.
The atmosphere Of that putrid city,
which reeks with the impurities and
denominations Of a political Sodom, and
dishcnOurs the name Of WASHINGTON,
becomes heavy and oppressive with lies
that swarm thick as the sn~iulslcule that