Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1858-02-03
Letter TO Horace Greeley.

amls.: for y"u know You are hn extraordiha-
nv person YOU edit perhaps, the best, ana
certainly the worst, newspaper IN tie "orld.
Nobody aDIer-uUr more generally III TIE
wr0ng-than il IS yOur genius aud your MAJ
piuess to be. You are Il nOU-combatant, ana
vet exuit Buriugame, the dueisI; you "ould
hang rot even nuTderers; bit would shoot
every prO-sayery man: you e&ecrate cuIgels
in the Senate house; aud adore Slar?e'- II
hes IN the house OF Col: the Worlds Peace
Society has no member more zeauu-; while
you blow every coal of nCeiIess stslie, ana
are perfect hre brand t. your own country:
You are hJrTiGGf that nations shUU q, though
now enlightened by The TRIBUNE, still
te s. brutal aud 50 absurd a. ~ tgnt each
other and you are keen tor civil, nay
serylIe war MrthILks that, Tor 50 lnord!-
nnte a pnIiautbrrplst, you are somewhat
bloody. low Is II tna', with So goOl and
tender heart, as | know YOU to carry IN
your bosom, yUu can 80 make yourself "t'F-
lul of uIrest ciuelty!' IL nest, Will swear
you; can | say consistent! You are pa
tri, to such plch that you Will tear your
country 10 pieces and deiuge II III mutual
gore: YOU arc yIrtuuus man could you do
bat as much harm II you were villain
lou have great talents, none can deny II; yet
" hat DO II d,ylse, except errors the most
ttagrnut? You are ingenious ard astut',
beyond measure: but u what end u suttl,ty
which has eagerly adopted and propaGnted
every insane notion that has UeeH rite III our
dsy-.uch rs Fuurrlcrism aud other lOrms
Of the community OF labor, ct lands, OF
goods, of hOuschOldS OF wives anu OF progs-
nv; or Mcsmerism and Ciarv0yance; or
BloomerIsm and NegctlrlanIsm; or oman's
Rights aud Free Love; or SlrltuallS II anu
tIbie tipping; or physical and social Equal
~ auu \ ma gama.iOr; or kosSuthism and IL
rersening Nuu-!u,ervcIt lou; or Higher Law
aud Nulhfcatluu lndeed, your clpacluu-
creed has, at one time or another, embraced
everything tnat was Incredible, eYerybOdy's
revelations, except Gods: 80 that, ii you
we're not MIi!erlte, and are not Mormon,
IL can only be because even Mll'crlsm Is IL
quasi, and MurnOnlam An adulieTOuS Kind
VI sem-ChrI5laniry. Had the prophet Of
the former preached that tue coming c0nla-
grafton Ut our globe was 10 be not Fire but
Rum, you would have Ueen flaming cot
vert vi Combustion; uUr could even you COM
pound DO Smiths theory of multiplicity OF
wives with your own conJugal faith OF none
at all. Fee Love aud Poiygamy are contra
dictOus beyond even your capacity Of con
founding posItes, nd heug ut once "a Con
solrdauonist and NuiHtier.
Now, my dear Greeley, you are, rs every
one knows, a sort Of grand Elective klnk vi
every bvdy's crotcuet-; an universal emoodi-
meut of all those uLw tangled yaEarIes OF
opinion, that = by the popular name OF the
Isms; while |, wretch that am believe III
hot one of taem, except tnat sIugle one
which you lei, ct-PauiJtlsm. | sand to
hardly recent notion, "a new found truth OF
any sort; you swear by them ali. In Poll
tics, Morals Religion, | hold last to the old,
the tried; and have a horror OF all the new
discoveries that you and yours are daily
making. am no philosopher, very poor
! pnsllr turuphi.t, and 80 hEiie lover OF the
| oppressed, that pity no people WHO can be
made avus. Through some moral Or met
| tai oOiiquIty, | equally dislike the asltatorS
OF the North and those 0I tie South, the
! FreeiOm-shrick crs and the tlTc-eaters. |
| know it is a foolish prejudice; but tor my
| life | can't help booking upon all you DIS
uulonist-, Of which ever section, rs tarreu
with the same stick. 1t boots tut little how
oppo~Itely people may reason, when they
! come, no matter how, to the same wicked
conclusion. The logic mlslikes me, that
| should lead to q halter; nor do | care up
which post Northern and Southern Of the
! yallOws-;ree | nm to climb, in order to be
turned off at tie top.
For my own part, am poor timyrous
creature at the be,t. Had your courage at
diving into the very lowest depth Of all
questions, | would, upon every occasion, like
YOU. sOuse headlOng into that well, at whose
nethermost profound IIutn (lccordrng to an
| civut rep jrt.l lies whe!mJd aud IN soak; and
! if md not, IN every instance, pluck her out,
! II should at least not be for lack OF bringing
up. on my pate, half the mud at the bottom,
| to fling about me, As signs Of my ingestIga-
tons and samples Of my discoveries. Bat,
not being fish, dread pIunging over head
aud ears, when have icrTa HTmu ~ stand
upon; apd, not beng tow, 1t !Ikes me rs
| little to sOar with you Is to INK With you
| am not tighty enough to mount the empty
rean with you, d political UrOnaut, ana 20
balIoonIng after your Higher Law. Go seek
! it in the moon, II you will: It's the nk~Iiest
| place for It; since, by old repute and accord
! iug to the poets, the limbo Is there IN when
! stray ianc3cs, lost wits, aud Whatever has
been exploded down here, are laid up IN IaN-
cuder. Call Convention OF the SPIRITS
there: or ask old Welsh ulendOwer + do II;
| for be. you know, said he could CAL TEN,
while iiotspur admitted it, and only doubted
If they would come. Ii they don't, then l.
-uc, through the Trlbdne, your gubernato-
rial wrrts Tor the Legislative Assembly ri
! LunarIans. OF course, they must take your
paper up there, as al mounstruck folks do,
here below. Well, let them meet at tle
next full neon; aud, before II changes, enact
their II cher Law into supreme subiGuary
Code for not only your own jurisdiction
the Ny;tA, the Syuth, aud this narrow ter
restal sphere-but the Spirit World entire,
supernal and Internal. That done and thu
New DlspensatiUn Of law mnie tangible Uy
positive definite and downright Legislation,
our courts, our statutes, our Constitutions
will, VI course, succumb, and bc SUPERSEDED
and dissolved But until then do not eXl EFT
the like. For 50 long as you shall not, ny
direct command, have repealed all our Old
legal notions, how are We not % follow To IL!
Consider little: % DO 80 may not hut
YOU, since as It stakes mc. you do 40 enOr-
nous deal nt thinking, but no considering at
al.--.OnsIIer even il you be Il smaller Goi,
that q ID himself required not -uOnIs>I1u 10
his leu Commandments, until Moses, hi-
put Usher, had enrolled them upon et,ne.--
Ascend, then, your 81. uIy Mount SINAI ut