Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1861-03-27
COMMUNICATIONS

~ lot Il lOQne ID some vast WlQeFnesSy
Some boundless contiguity Of shade,
Where runor OF oppression and deceit
| OF unsuccessful or successful war,
Might never reach me more: my ear is paiu'd,
My soul is sick with every days report
or wrong and outrage with which earth IS filed"
1t was hoped when the great Border
States came to tse rescue at Washington,
that the tide of fanaticism, rolling its waves
from the North and from the South, would
be stayed in their progress, and more espe-
clally did ii seem that wild wars deadly
blast was blown, and gentle peace return
ing" When the President of the Peace
Congress in such honeyed accents, 50 COM
plimentery and conciliatory, made his open
ing address to that body, on whose shout
,!ers seemed to hang the fate OF Empires,
this address, every word of which breathed
Of peace, did not prepare me for the high
stand taken by three Of the Virginia Com
missioners virtually rejecting ell compro-
mise; but the public surprise at this belli-
gerenJ line Of conduct contrasted with the
pacific spirit of the aforesaid speech was not
greater, than it was after the touching va
icdictory, the final voting for, signing and
recommending the proposed amendments to
Congress, that these same Plenipotentiaries
should adjourn TO the Richmond Conven-
ton, and Instantly denounce their own acts
. This is the more surprising as it is done in
contempt and defiance of the known wishes
of Virginia as expressed in the recent cleo
| tim.
! "But the ago Of riruouS politics is past,
! And we are deep in that Of cold pretence,
Patriots ure grown too shrsud TO be sincere,
And we too wise to trust them."
But what should excite our special WON
! der. when men, whose heads are silvering
over with age, rise in L grand deliberatiye
assembly, and thank Gud that they have hot
| blood, and declare the anomalous assertion
| THAT the rasher the act they are about to
commit the more they calculate. For such
"Thc brain may devise laws for the blood,
But . hot temper leaps over cold decree"
Instead Of giving dispassionate counsels
to their more youthful associates they rather
| think with GraUiano-
"Why should L man whose blood is warm within,
Sit like his grandSre cut i'll alabastcr."
An uuaccOuntable anchantment has pos
sessed our people the past few weeks.
had hoped quietus had been given to Sc
cessl0n by the recent demonstration of popu-
lar sentiment. Must we be run to the cost
| of u Convention every few weeks to ascer-
tain the latest political phase of our State
Are we SUCH weathercocks to be Veered
| about by every shifting wind Of doctrine
II LincoIn's Inaugural, so variously inter
pretaG, caused the terment, surely the eva
cuntlon ut Fort Sumter is calculated 10 con-
firm the more peaceful construction put on
1t by some. One Is at 81 loss to con lecture
the cause 0i tins sudden gust Of Secession.
Are we failing more III love with it ust as
! many In the Southern Confederacy are fall
ing out with eac;! other, selling out and
quitting in disgust, Or are sons 40 fond of
dissension and division as not only to advo-
cate division Of the Union, but division
of sections and States? Must we follow
the example of South Carolina, the least
aggrieved portion of the Union, enact the
part Of Bombastes Furioso, and provoke
war whether Or no with the Federal Govern
ment? Is not every kind of business SUI.
iicienry prosrrated to crafty the worst
wishes Of the bIttarest enemy Of our coun-
try? | verify believe, on nice calculation.
the depreciation Of real and personal pro-
perty in the United States since Lincoln's
election ill now, will far transcend the loss
OF every negro who has run off from the
foundation OF our government, and as tbs
immediate authors Of our pitiable condition,
it may be said Of South Carolina,
"Iour breath first kindlcd the dead coal Of wars,
And brought in matter that should feed this fire.
And now It's far TOO hugo, to be blown out
With that same weak wind which enkindled it "
was struck lately with the force and ap-
positencss Of Il poetical article in the Ca
zette on Cab" by Old Fogy, of Fauquier.
Ii Is the curse of the age, and has been the
most poEent cause Of our present distresses.
Foreigners say we are nation Of takers.
The evil would be bad enough and dear
enough if it We're grasuitous, bat paying, as
we are, III these stringent times, for the ar
tiale in the Virginia Legislature and Con-
vention $1,000 per diem, it would net seem
TO be at a discount. 1t may be retorted thas
scribolng is another evil under the sun.
and 50 it is; but in the first place, it is not
so expensive, and in the second, so far as
scribbers are concerned, the public would
be saved the intiiction of their querulous-
ness were it not that those to whom their in
terests are committed are frequently 30
false TO the high trust.
ANXIOUS PATRIE.
Lpudoun county, March %, 1861.