Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1861-03-07

'De1eQQ the CTULu, lOT WV Ut'. ASSS'~D
- T. Randolph.
There is prevailing opinion in the public
mind at this time, that the purest and the
wisest of the present day are lsborlng t.
SAFE the Union. while those who are seekIi 6
to destroy it are men Of little minds and less
reputation. Abnormis sapieas, they are sup
posed to belong to the mother wit, being
wonderfully wise without the schools.
We have further heard it stated, that
who are loudest in their calls for secession,
are men of ambitious purposes and unholy
motives on whom we can repose no comb
dence. Holding no property in the commu-
nity, they are supposed to have nothing at
stake, and can leave at pleasure With all their
wealth in o carpet-bag, or even less than that.
This reminds one of the old French pr"Verb:
4 bon chien IL ne rient janaats un bon os: "A
good bone does not always come to gooa
dog;" or, in other words, merit does not
always receive it's due reward.
That many excellent men, and even many
sincere Christians, some by needing the COM
plants that have been used to infame their
minds, and others by investigating the causes
of the crisis, have been brought to believe
that secession is legally and morally right,
we doubt not for a moment. .... T..
Among our best friends and intimate 40.
quaintances, are gentlemen of intelligence
and standing who warmly advocate the SO.
cession side Of the question. OF course we
are surprised that they should have brought
things to such conclusions; nevertheless,
however much We may reprobate their course,
we must commend them as gentlemen, acting
from the purest notiUes. We believe them
to be sincere, and we accord to them, as
honest men, the most perfect and unre-
stricted right of private judgment. They have
a right to their opinion, and we have too
much good sense to quarrel about mere ab-
scractions. We have no abuse to offer any
one; we leave that to the little, the low and
groveling. We seek the truth, nothing but
the truth.
There is one thing, however, which we
commend to the calm consideration of all,
and particularly our secession friends Is Sc
cession morally honest2 Is It right before
Gody 1t is no new thing in the history OF
the world that great crimes have been
MouqM right. There never was an auto de
fe which was not sanctioned even by the
ministers of religion.
Some of the greatest crimes of earth have
been perpetrated by men who have been COD.
sistent with the dictates of their consciences.
When the King of Great Britain committed
those fragrant outrages against the interests
Of this country which are so graphically set
forth in our Declaration of Independence, /
doubt not but he thought be was doing right.
But that his thinking so did not make it so,
We are all agreed.
When Saul of Tarsus, with his soul all on
fire, went from city to city, "breathing out
threatening and slaughter against the dlscl-
plies of the Lord" he thought he was doing
right. At the very time that he "persecuted
unto death, binding and delivering into pris-
ons both men and women" we have his own
testimony that he taught according to the
perfect manner of the law Of the fathers, and
was jealous towards God"
At the very time that he imprisoned and
beat in every synagogue them that believed"
on the Lord Jesus. be was Jealous member
of the Jewish Church of God. So jealous
was he, that when the blood of the martyr,
Stephen was shed, he was standing by, and
consented unto his death, and kept the raj.
ment of them that slew him." But though
he did all this. let it not be supposed that
Saul was naturally such vindictive, blood
thirsty highwayman as some represent him.
Nay, verify: "After the most straltest sect
of religion, he lived Pharisee." He had as
much religion as some of our loud professors
of the present day; for he "worshipped the
God of his fathers, believing all things which
are written in the Law and in the Prophets"
Like Saul Of Tarsus, there are many profess
sors-judging from their actions--who hold
to the opinion that, in times like these, it
were perfectly right to shed little blood for
the good of the country.
Bnt Saul lived to see the folly Of his
course, and repented of his crimes. 1t was
the painful recollection of his misdoings that
extorted from him the following confession:
For am the least Of the Apostles, that am
not meet to be called an Apostle, because /
prosecuted the Church of God" .-
The fact, therefore, that good men approve
of secession, and pray over disunion, and
rise from their knees fully resolved to COM
nit the parricidal act, does not prove it to be
right 1t behooyes us to look further yet for
the proof Thus far the investigation only
proves the depravity of the human heart and
how perverted the human mind may become
under the influence of passion and the false
force of popular prejudice.
Again and again the question recurs: Is
secession morally right? Does it involve
breach of faith, and violation of the oath
By which that faith was originally confirmed
In word, is it right before God !? Disunion
is either crime or it is not; and if the form
er, it is one that involves the whole Ameri-
can Church of God, and magnifes its helm
business beyond parallel.
CEDAR OF THE SOUTH.
Violet Dale. March 2. 1861. ...