Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-03-24

THE following interesting article
from the Baltimore Statesman, exhib-
its the condition of the Southern
States with justice and fidelity, with
the reasons for their keen sense of the
situation:
Gibbon, the eminent historian has
said that if he was called on to fix the
period in the history of the world,
during which the condition of the hui
man race was most happy and pros
porous, he would, without hesitation,
name that which elapsed from the
death of Domitian to the accession of
Commodus, when the vast extent OF
the Roman empire was governed by
absolute law, under the guidance of
virtue and wisdom. The Decline and
Fail of the Roman Empire was pub
Iished in 1916, the birth year of Amer
lean Independence, but, if it had been
written eighty years later, the author
might have found an exception to his
remark, so far at least as our country
is concerned, in that golden age Of
liberty and cOntentment, in which
not only the image but the spirit Of
freedom was enshrined in the hearts
as well as the institutions of a free
people.
The mean degeneracy, and vile des-
pOtism which have succeeded our for
mer high estate is rendered the more
aggravating when we contrast ii with
our former exalted perfection and
happiness. The detestable tyranny
which now prevails over the South
has sometimes been likened to an
Oriental despotism. The phrase con-
veys no adequate idea to the horrors
of the situation. 1t is related that
when Persia was governed by the de-
scendants of the SAT- race of princes
renowned for their wantOn cruelty, a
Young nObleman declared that he
never departed from the Sultan's
presence, without satisfying himself
whether his head was still on his
shoulders. 1t Is remarked by the mar
rator of this incident that the tran
guilty of the Persian does not seem
to have been disturbed by this peril
any more than by the danger of light
ming or apopleXy. He had been
trained up from infancy in the severe
discipline of the saeraglio; his
language afforded him no word
for any other form of government
except absolute monarchy and history
informed him that such hadever been
the condition of mankind. These
facts have been pointed out to show
the peculiar misery of the Romans
during the fourscore years when Rome
grOaned beneath a tyranny, which
exterminated the ancient families of
the Republic, and was fatal to almost
every virtue and every talent. We
are told how differently the minds of
the Romans were prepared for slavery
from those of the P~ersians, having
preserved, as they had, the senti-
ments, or at least the ideas, of their
freebOrn ancestors; having imbibed
from Grecian philosophy the justest
and most liberal notions of the dignity
of human nature, and the origin of
civil society, and learned from the
history of their own country to rever-
ence a free, a virtuOus and q victorious
commonwealth. There Is another an
alogy to the present condition of
things to be found in the utter impos-
sibility which existed of escaping from
the hand of the OppresSor. Rome,
like America, had no powerful neigh
Dor, to arouse apprehension, exert the
gentle restraint of example, or afford
a refuge for the oppressed. "WheT-
ever you are" said Cicero to the exile
Moreillus, remember that you are
equally within the power of the con-
querOr."
Who can fail to be struck with the
identity between the causes of the Pc
culiar misery of the Romans under
their tyrants, and those of the suffer
ings of the people Of the Southern
States. These men now enslaved, are
the descendants of the race which
achieved Magma Charta for England
and independence for this country.
1t was their Washington who won
the liberties of America their Patrick
Henry whose eloquent yUiUe reused
the nation to-rcslStance; their Jeffer-
son whose pen inscribed the Declara-
ton Of Independence; their statesmen
who led the way TO the Constitution
and the Union; their warriors, Scott,
Jackson and Taylor, who achieved
the only extraordinary successes
of the last war with England
and with Mexico; their long line
Of Presidents and political lead
ers, under whose guidance, this
attained a grandeur and pros
unequalledin its prowess in the
history of the world. How feeble an
idea does Oriental despotism give of
the moral torture of the only race in
modern times which has maintained
ages constitutional freedom,
and is now suddenly reduced to slave
"! And like the condition of the an
,ient Romans, there is no escape. Not
hat the United States is the Rome of
modern times, but because she
s so effectuually isolated by
vide oceans from the other
parts of the world, and there is prac-
ically no cheek to any antiquity that
Ter rulers may choose to p~erpetrate on
his continent. The oppressed South
IN people are always within the
Dower of the conqueror," and made
feel that CALLING fact every day of
heir unhappy and helpless lives.
THE LEGAL TENDER DECISION.