Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-01-11

which they know not how TO use, and
imposing on them responsibilities which
they know not how to meet" If the re.
port il in fault il is not for want of 10y
atty. Its submissiveness barely escapes
the abjeci. The Northern people are
assured that, great as have been the
evils suffered in Alabama, the people
viii sti.l, continue to bear them, with
q patience little less than lamblike, until
the magnanimity of the North and West
shall come to the rescue. II is the Ian
guage of heartbroken and ruined peo-
pie, rather than that of men having the
consciousness of liberty. All the bless
ings which peace, obedience to law, and
industry can bring, were guaranteed to
them when they surrendered to the army
of the United States; for they have kept
full faith with their government. And
vet they ask nothing as mere right, they
demand nothing, but plead as suppliants
at the footstool Of power. The day once
was when it was sufficient to show the
right But now ought ard ought not
seem to be terms so obsolete that none
trust the efficacy of making either APP
parent The following is the concluding
paragraph ofthe report Surely it should
he satisfactory to the most exacting Of
the northern tyrants:
Do Won doubt us ? Look to the history
of the last two years. Since the day
that eur armies surrendered and our
people pledged their honor to the com.
pact Of submission, throughout the
South there has been no act OF hostility
TO the Government of the United States
We have been taxed without represen-
tation We have seen military despo-
tism established over us. We have seen
our laws set aside at the pleasure of mill
itary com mander. We have seen our civil
officers, the most worthy and unexcep-
tionable, deposed, and in some instances
thieves pat in their places. We have
seen the black man instigated to ra-
pine and violence. We have seen
midnight meetings of armed black
leaguers in many parts of our country
We have seen our labor demoralized by
political swindlers and cheats, we have
seen our people beggared and our land
made desolate-but still we have stood
steadfast and true to the covenant we
have made. Youth has learned to check
the fiery impulses of its impassioned
spirit, manhood to repress its natural
and jdst indignation, age has stified the
inspirations and the promptings of those
holy memories that carry it back to the
dawn of American freedom and Ameri-
can greatness, all these are hushed at
the stern bidding of our plighted faith, that
we will true allegiance bear to the gov
eminent of the United Staies-and
with the same unfaltering integrity
we will bear yet longer, and suffer more
till the knowledge Of our wrongs and the
evils we endure shall penetrate the veil
which prejudice and falsehood have
raised between us and the justice and
magnanimity of the people of the North
and West. Before this panel of our
peers-before this grand jury of Ameri-
can freemen, we present our cause.-The
cause of constitutional liberty in America
"a cause worthy of the august tribunal
to which we submit tia cause which
involves the life of the South and the
fate Of the nation. Render such YER
dict as becomes the descendants of the
men who framed the Constitution ; such
verdict as will be worthy the country
men of Washington.