Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-06-27

might serve political turn by making him
udiou. to popular favor. but since he rs II"
candidate and, from present indications, not
very likely t. he. the turn must be personal,
sought 10 be served, by the assault OF the
Sentinel
The conductors Of our public Journals, for
the most part in the present day, take sides
with one or the other OF the political parties
and devote all their energies to ITS support.
They commonly stake their fortunes on the
venture, and seek their interest Iii success.
They become mere partizaDs, aud are rarely
restrained in the means to accomplish an end
by any consideration vi what il fair and due TO
Justice, or sense of the properties OF social lie
Of course it is vain to look to such quarter
for all impartial and candid judgment upon
the result Of d political discussion, when par
u interests are involved, or a lair account u
the points made, and the facts and argu-
mentS adduced III their support.
The readers Of the Sentinel have assurediy
sufficient acquaintance with the spirit with
which that journal is conducted, to know WITH
how many allowances they IRE to receive Its
statements when the leading editor Is III Pur-
suit IF an adversary for the qualification 81
political or personal i'll will. la H. case
that ma vet occurred is there more occasion
Tor liberal allowance, on thar score, than III
this notice Of "a point OF two OF Mr.. scott :
speech
In advocating the claims Of Mr. Letcher
t. the popular favor, Mr.. Pryor referred u
what he termed un,nund sentiments formerly
expressed by Mr. Bruce. Mr.. k,ves, and Mr..
Bolts, aud quoted from Mr.. Scott, speech.
liz his reply, Mr.. Scott said that the pre-
sent canvass had innu1 urated II new system
Of eertonarring-w one party had II
candidate ia whose behalf nothing good
could he said, aud competitor against whom
nothing injurious could be alleged, private
gentlemen were ussulleI for ancient opinions,
that under cover Of the distraction. the chosen
candidate might escape the rrtrlhutlon due
Ia his offences.
Necessity was SAID to be the mother OF IN
yrntlnn. and certainly the adugr WAS we'll IL
Illustrated in the present case. But he asked,
what had the speeches Of these gentlemen, or
any speech Of his own, u do with the fitness
Of Mr.. Lrtchrr to he governor al \rginin: -
Mr. Letrhrr ought t. stand Oh his own merits,
or on the dement's Of his competitor: he ought
to be ashamed 10 slip in under the cloak 81 II
| false issue. When these other gentlemen
overhaul their opinions aud look int" their IN
trrrdrnts. and he WAS sure the democracy
would not be slow To- enter upon the work. As
To himself, he said, for whatever was hrrrtiral
or obnoxious in the speech alluded Ia. he had
good plea i'll bar the speech was made IN
h- Legislative service and his own constItm-
rnts had cl,,tstrmed him tnr the offence. The
present editor Of the Sentinel. he SAID. was
AT that time resident of his county. but
whether he WAS settled in the dignity Of his
editorial chair. or was then furnishing the
birch, t. teach the young idea. he did not
know but of this he was certain, 10 one IN
the county was more forward to accuse the
offender and drnuuuce the offence But il
seemed that what was then an all sufficient
reason for rrhukins II Uhiy. WAS now avery
good one for supporting D.m"c'W.
In regard 10 the speech itself and the sen
timents 1t contained, he said injustice had
been done to him. He had advanced the
opinion, that under the constitution, Con-
grrSs had authority, in the territories, to
egslate for the admission or exclusion ii
slavery Such was then his opinion, and
now he abandoned it in Difference H. the de
cisirn III the Supreme Court III the cnsr
of bred Scott 1t WAS because Of his opln
ion on that controyrrted question of constr
srmtioual law that he had been i'Salrd
that was the sole point of the objection, not
word was ever said in all the discussions 10
which the speech gave rise. whether upon
the stump, III the newspapers ui the day, or
the legislature, touching that part ct II now
under criticism. That the prrsenccot slaves
in the Southern States dIminIshrS their
weight IN the Federal Gnsrrnmrnt and Is To
them Il source III weakness, M one can drny
In that SENSE it may be, therefore, regarded
II, n political evil, but Mr.. Scott sand he
never entertained the opinion that it was
either Il moral or II social evil. and if any
thing in his printed speech WAS suscepti
hlr OF that Interpretation. ii was inserted
through nadvertenca. lie then referred 10
II printed copy Of his speech and read the
extracts produced by Mr.. Pryor in c"nncx
ION with the context, and argued thut al
though the laCguge was ambiguous, II dad not
necessarily require the construction that had
been put upon it, Now, when "A gentleman
Of Mr.. SCOTS character, makes an aver
ment of fact, he is entitled to credit for
its truth, and there is neither justification
nor excuse for the hippancy of attributing
to him the arts of counsel practiscd I'm
modes of escape from difficult POSITIONS" or
the impsrtinence of charging him with u
'pretence" of any kind.
Mr. Scott il himself an owner Of slaves, and
his relations have held such property from
remote generations. Ii would therefore seem
very improbable that he could entertain the
opinion that to hold slaves was either II mo-
raj or social wrong He said expressly that
such was not and never had been his opin-
ion and with that declaration doubtless,
every person present was satisfied except the
editor Of the Sentinel, or such as are like unto
him, if in that assemblage his simlitude was
to DO found.
As to the editors consistency in Orpos-
ing Mr. Scott in 1919 for sentiments far less
obnoxious than those with which he sup
ported Mr.. Letcher in 1859, we have no con-
Germ He may argue himself into any c0n-
yiction, agreeable To his sell-love, or, what
perhaps will answer the purpose a. well, de-
ceive others by his sophistry, but the opposi-
ton of ls49 and the advocacy Of 1859, will
continue 10 stand out in the marked contrast
We pass by the editors criticism Oh Mr.
Scot ; consistency n ii politician lie did
not choose To become Ii candidate IN demo
cratic district, where he m ght owe his rlec-
ton to the accident Of running in between
! two other competitors and nevertheless he
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