Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1827-05-02

candidate who had received Twice as much sup
port in the popular election as their own
The Presiden, had received the vote oil the
people OF this State, and the vote a'so oi ,"eir
representatives in Congress lie mao oeeh
chosen principally by the Northern ana west
ern States, and since and organized ana extern
sive opposition had been raised ior no Reason
that he (Mr w knew Of, except simply t'af
he had been chosen, it seemed the duty OF those
who had placed him IL Office, 10 give him lar
and just support. -
If were the general sentiment, then, as ne
believed il 10 be. that the Administration ough,
10 be supported against personal or groundless
onposi,ion. the question was how should tina!
support be rendered? Speaking IN reference 10
narties that had heretofore existed in the Com
monwealth, were these parties TO Inlie, ana 10
act with concert and effect, or were they still
to preserve towards each other an attitude OF
GOODNESS and distance, if not Of hostility, al
though their sentiments and objects were now
acknowledged to be the same? For his own
part he thought such a question answered IN
the very stating Of it. Could there De case,
in which union was more necessary, or disuh-
ion more senseess? /, was said, indeed, 'hat
parties bad existed in the Commonwealth Ior
thirty years-that they had differed on leading
public questons-that these diferehces hau
gone deop and wide-& that therefore II woulc
be im2racticabe now TO reconcile them. ii
the premises be true, let not the conclusion be
too hastily admitted. What was the nature OF
these differences? On what did tins dlsllnc-
ton Of parties rest? They were not distinct
orders in the State, with separate and unequal
privileges. They were not the patrlclan and
Popular parties Of Rome, nor the teudal or land
ed n,erest, arrayed against the mercantile and
industrious classes, as III some modern Stays.
In these last instances, there were permanent
grounds of differences, arising from opposing
interests. Our differences, on the contrary, have
been mere differences of opinion, upon ques-
,ions Of government, and on It's public mea-
sures. The rich and the poor, the learned and
the unlearned, the powerful and the teeb!e,were
found on both sides of these questions. Now,
if the subjects which caused these differences
still exis,-if there still be ground for consci-
en,ous opposition of opinion, then, OF course,
il ought 10 continue Men were not to be per-
suaded 10 go where, if they did so, they must
leave their honesty behind them. he would be
the las, TO sacrifice inv lie others 10 sacrihoe,
a conscientious opinion. But what was the
gacl? Did these grounds of controversy still
suDslst? Most assurediy they did not. The
TWO great parties which had SO long divided
The country, had their origin almost contempt
rapeously with the Constitution ltsel1-ih he
French Re, olulion, and the part taken IN rela-
ZION 10 II by the government OF the Onlled
Stales-our own unhappy differences WIN 'he
revolutionary goyerrmen,s-then the misun-
Outstanding with England, and The general
embarrassment Of our foreign relations, Lead
ing 10 commercial non-ntercourse, embargo,
and finally TO war-these were the great topics
on which parties had been divided. .......,-.,...
lions. all these had ceased to exist. Should We
not expose ourselves 10 some degree of dersion,
if, forgetting the things which are around US,
and before Us, and which Immediately concern
US, we should employ our tongues. GU: pens,
and our presses, upon any one oil the topics 10
which we had alluded. And was It any more
wise in US, because we had differed IN those to-
pics, to resolve, that we would not now unite IN
regard TO those objects, in respect to which our
sentiments, our wishes, and our hopes were the
same. 1t was quite obvious TO him, that the
Administration could only be supported on its
own principles. When The President came In
TO Office, he stated, frankly and honestly, that,
in his opinion, sacrifice of party feeling and
party prejudice was 10 be made. His sen!i-
menls had been full, and his words emphatic;
setting OUT upon this basis, how oould 1t be SAID
that the Administration was supported by those
who, while they professed friendship Tor 1t, de-
nounce4 s prescribed others, who fit as much
friendship COR il as themselves. Foo his own
part, he though, il no want OF charity to dis
trust such pretensions. How was 1t to be ex-
pected Of men who had no more interest than
Others in the mater, that they would De willing
to breas, the opposition with which the Admi-
nistration was assallrd il, al the same time,
thew and their friends were 10 be held out as oo-
jecs Of distrusl and jealousy, and made The
subjects Of narrow, selfish, and exclusive po-
licy? Had we not seen enough OF the result oil
such course? In abiding 10 the inaugural
sentiments Of the President, he cid not mean 10
say tina, they were any other than might have
been expected from either Of The other candi.
dates. Most of them, if not all, he believed, had
expressed similar sentiments. Certainly the
distinguished citizen who is candidate IN OPP
position had expressed such sentiments. ne!
were The necessary result of events Differing
in many other things, all parties had agreed IN
welcoming the peace Of 1915. The French re-
volu,ion, with all its sympathies and us anti
pa,hies, was then at all end Our own foreign
relations were amicaby ad iusted, anc the AHA