Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-05-17
WEDNESDAY, MAY II, 1926.
To the Editors ofth Phenir Gazette:

To the Editors afths Phenir Gazette:
II is not so much the encroachmens OF the
General Government upon the metes and bounds
set il, or upon the checks and balances by when
it is guarded, that we have to dread, nor even
the high ground assumed, and so resolutely
maintained by some Of the sovereignties that
we should guard against, as against the practl-
cal application Of every means, that can remove
our confidence and support from the establish
ed laws under which we live. In government,
as ours is, based upon the voluntary subsection
of Dover and intellect to the great concerns OF
social life, and depending entirely upon the vo-
iition of the people for its support, as observed
in my last letter, every administration offs al
fairs should be Justly measured. The people is
its censor, and no gusts of passion should ever
be permitted TO agitate the censor who adjusts
the balance Its acts, as those Of individuals,
must be scanned, deliberated upon, accurately
estimated before they are condemned: they must
be tested by xperience-cetermined upon by
reason Go beyond this-call in the aid those
vile agents, our passions, to warp the GOODNESS
of our judgments, and then are sowed the seeds
Of a harvest, which, flourishing in corruption
and infamy, is reaped in desolation and ruin
We are all happily taught, in infancy, the
principles upon which our constitution is found
cd-upon which our laws depend-and to which
we are to look for the preservation of the rights
which, as members of society, we RETAIN. We
are taught to look with ardent devotion to Ii
berty-to support an equality of rights, priyi-
leges aud powers--to look to the people as the
fountain from which all our blessings must flow,
as the only legitimate rulers of themselves
We grow up with these principles glowing
in our bosoms, with deep reverence for the
constitution that spreads its sheltering branch
es over ali our interests-with an ardent love to
our country-with firm confidence in the vir-
tue of our fellow-citizens.
How would every feeling Of young man en-
teripg into life buoyant with these hopes, these
sentiments. this firm confidence in the intelli-
gence, 6rmness and integrity of those around
him, revolt at the bare suggestion of an idea,
that al! this was but the impassioned arGor Of
youth: how he would loathe the mean character
of that which could deface the bright image
he had formed, and desolate the happy picture
his fancy mad delighted drawn for him lie
could not be persuaded that in this glorious
country being could be found base enough to
raise hand against the alt ars Of his devo-
tions. He would not believe that man is so de-
based as to be moved by the suggestions OF his
ambition, or the violence of his passions to des-
troy the glorious fabric his forefathers had E.
rected, or send abroad the 6end of destruction
to overwhelm all things in one undislinguisha-
BILE ruin-that man is being Of the worst or
best order Of created things as he is regulated.
Yet, even here, in this free country, the spen-
dor Of our popular elections, admirable and in
estimable as they are, when guided only by ho-
nesty and good sense, may be made an organ
Of destruction. 1t is only necessary to loosen
the confidence Of the people and awaken their
passions-to raise some man to an elevation,
conspicuous for his ardent devotion to the con-
stitution and the people-ro give him the OPP
'portunity, aud he will soon bring into operation
every means of corrupting the heart, deceiving
the understanding and prejudicing the popular
mind, that vice can suggest, or villaitN bring
INTO e1crcise.-tle will soon gather together the
hot embers OF party spirit, and scattering them
along with the vices Of his fellow men into the
world, create wide spreading conhagration
that carries with it desolation, ruin and death
while he presides over its elements, and directs
their course With daring leader, nothing
can Withstand the wild fury of maddened
people, driven to phrenzy by the natural opera
tions of its integral parts-to it nothing is sa-
cred. Property, life, reputation, are the mate
rails upon which it subsists-rights, privileges,
laws and The constitution, the luxuries in which
it reyels. LUCIUS.
PANAMA.
As this Soanish civ has hecon,e famous Of