Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1876-01-13

point Of his, II Is said, has no precedent,
b1t everyone on both sides concedts its
| cOIrectre8s. Having won bis position,
Blaine wss ready with his ammunition.
II was plain to the house, which was
now crowded in the galleries, on the
floor, and in the Hobbies, that
A TREMENDOUS EFFORT
was about to be made, and aa oppressive
hush fell upon the house, ss Blaine, rad
liant, resolute and confident, strobe for
ward few benches and began the most
! Overpo Terfng hsrangue that ever fell
upon the ears OF legislative assembly.
The lines OF the speech may be read,
bcs the terrific, envanotned, narrowing
| intensity OF emphasis and motion and
gesture with which the words were &C.
compa uied, ii is not possible to repre-
sent. He protested against restoring to
citizenship JEFF Davis, not because he
Was the heId and front Of tbs southCrG
| Confederscy; rot because he was the
arch,conspirator in a CALLING rebellion,
bot because he was responsible before
man 01d God for the mnrderous slangh.
ter and unspeasah!e irismy OF Ander-
sJnville. As thsso " oEds rang out sharp,
bitter and d6 fiant, the lazy attention
which the house bad at first given was
Charged to mingled amaZsment and
anger. This wss what the speaker
wanted. With the entire assembly
eagerly attentive to every word, be
| plunged into q scathing review OF the
condition OF our prisoners, winding tp
with
THE CLIMAX OF THE HORRORS
which Andersonville presented. "1
have read" said he, recently, to re.
fresh my mind, all historical horrors OF
the past. ! have followed up the atrocl-
| ties and criTlinsltles OF Alvs in the low
! cCantries, aud l have re-resd the story
| of the slaughter of st. Bartholomew. /
have gone through the familiar horrors
OF the Spanish acquisition, and declare
before God, with a full knowledge Of
what l am saying, and in temperate
! speech, that these were humanities se
| compared with the barbsrisDo Of Ander-
| sonviIle." As these words, clear, solemn,
studied, end pathetic, brJ Jke out uponthe
! house, s hundred Iivid faces frowned on
| the Democratic benches, while the glis-
! teDing eyes and cienched hands of his
own Immediate followers and the hoarse
murmur OF applsu:e in the gallery told
only too well the baleful power Of the
tremendous philippe. Wasting no
| time on superfiu us points of Oratory, he
]
! that
sHUDDERING aoLeoTHA ct CRUELTY
and despair OF the prison stocks and
/ touched with a supremely skillful hand
| the urspeakabie miserIes of that devoted
| thirty thousand of emaciated hero mar
| tyrs who, under the burning breath of
| southern sun, which was even more
| kind than the hot breath Of southern
hate, wasted and fell away before the
| hideous barbarity Of AndeIs0nville. He
read from the committee on the conduct
| Of IL war, that grs'uitousIy one-sided
report on the treatment Of our prisoners
| in the soutb, q report manife3tly intend
| ed to hold the hatred Of the north for
| ever black and strong against all
| thought OF reconciliation; a report go
| vigorously bitter and so obviously parti-
san that tue horror which MIR. Blaine's
| recital has aroused began to recede and
the relaxing muscles OF faces, the loosen
| ing OF clenched fists, and the audible
murmurs which fell upon the hoiise in
| dicsted Il at the tension was done, and
that the speaker, though still holding
| the perfect attention of the house, had
| Jared that one chord OF fairness which
mad heretofore blinded every man, wo-
man aud child who heard him into i'm
| pulsive adhesion to his argument.
Though every paper in the land publish
this master philippe in full, without
| hearing it. it will sound tame aad i'm
| potent as compared to
ITS PRoDIGIoUs IMPRESSION
upon the house. 1t was a studied effort.
| Every line had been prepared with care.
| Every faCt had boon elaborated, 90 tho
| effoIt showed. he had made inquiries
in the war department, navy depart
ment, ard ether departments, and
| found that about seven hundred people
would come under the terms OF this bill,
and one man only would be debarred-
JEFF Davis. He was willing to extend
| the inestimable right Of citizenship to
| all who desired it, but he was not among
| those who would force ii upon a reluc-
tsnt people. He understood, on very
good authority, that Mr.. Robert To ombs
| had boasted In foreign countries, and at
fashionable watering places in this coun-
try, that he wouldn't eondescand to ac-
| cept q restoration of the privileges which
his treason and felony had forfeited.
Never in an hour was
so MUCH swELTERRD VENOM
put on the ears of listening auditory.
A more UNANIMOUSLY inhuman revival of
the hates and horrors of the past was
never attempted even by that arch dem.
agogue, Morton. 1t was utterly unex-
pected from Mr.. Blaine. AS the most
TaDeorous periods struck the ears of the
| gallery, the exclamation was, ''Butler-
this is q speech that Butter should make,
not Blaine.n He said no word that was
untrue, probably, nor did he torture to
any undue extent the hideous criminsli-
lies OF the southern treatment of Union
| soldiers, but the general sentiment of
| the house, and evidently, to some ex-
tent, CT his own party, revolted from
recrimination in every sense baleful and
harmful to the best interests and best
sentiments OF tue country. Somewhat
to the disappointment of the house,
when Mr. Blaine took his seat, the
| speaker recognized Mr.. Cox, who COW
| eted the perilous honor of the reply
| Burdened with q file OF Congressional
Globes bound In bulky volumes, and a
fiaring armful Of papers,
THAT SMALL MAN
| made bolt from his seat toward the
| center Of the house, changed his mind,
| hesitated, turned again, amid the Using
| jeers of the Republicans and the sup
| pressed murmurs OF his own side, and
| finally landed in a seat hastily va
| Gated for him Immediately behind Ran
| dali, the hignest point among the Dem
Ocrstic benches. He began in an uncer.
| tain, rambling strain, with his voice
! pitched up among the nasal uncertain
ties, and excited for few minutes mere
! ly languid contempt from the RepubIi.
can side, which was busy In congratu
lstiug Blaine, and hostile incredulity
| from the Democrats who demanded and
! expected Randall. For some time there
WAS an uncertainty whether it was the
"YOrick" or Hamlet OF the house that
had taken up the gauntlet flung down by
| Blaine. He seemed TO feel the oCZing
out of the interest, and was conscious Of
! the danger of losing his oppol tunity.
His wandering and incoherenc ce ceased.
! He lent his efforts to tbs ludicrous aspect
! Of Blsine's astounding revival Of the
horrors OF war, and in few moments
the scowling faces, hostile glances, ner.
! vous clutching of hands, and rigid bodies
! relaxed into convulsive merriment, ev-
| cry stroke OF which scored the ludicrous
side Of Bisine's broadside. 1t was not
so much the coherent argument or logi-
! cal reasoning process which Cox de.
! pended upon tn undo the thoroughly ap-
| pzrapt misc hieynuS raanlfu oF piaIpa1a