Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1866-04-27
ALEXANDRIA.
The Neutrality-suspicious. doctrine INDUSTRIOUS
FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL q, 1856

0ppOSltlOn 10 Inc Qdnln1S{TQta0n OF the govern
ent by its agents, is opposition to the govern
ment itself-was sedulously maintained and de-
liberately upheld, by certain journals and parti-
ii zans, not veryIloDg ago. In time of war and
civil strife, and before the storm subsidized, or
its agitations were over, the impudent assump-
ton Of this nefalious dogma, we have no doubt
made some impression upon the minds Of those
who only look at the surface of things, and the
supposed requirements of the day. But no
one who knew anything of the philosophy of
history, the spirit of civil freedom, the intent
and object Of our institutions, or of the genius
Of constitutional liberty, of course, ever re-
garded such proposition, with any other feel:
ings than those of contempt and indignation.
To carry such doctrine into practical effect
would be to make any government, and espe-
.cially; republican government, a despotism,
of the meanest kind. 1t would be, often, to
set THE accidents Of an accident, above ard
beyond public censure, or even public discus
sion, and their measures out OF the reach of
disapprobation. 1t would be to bind the
people hand and foot, and compel them to lie
PROSTATE before the throne Of power. 1t would
be to subvert all true principles connected with
our ideas of government bcttomed upon the
consent Of the governed, and substitute for
them the slaylsh notions that James the End,
sought to introduce into England, and which
lost him and his descendants a crown and a
kingdom. Why, it was the BOAST Of our Eng;
hsh ancestors, from whom We derive the best
.ofour constitutional principles of iberty-the
fundamentals of personal and public liberty
that they had an admitted, a recognized,
constantly supported, OPPOSITION to the
Ministers, and the Ministry: and the Admins
tration, for the time being-''His or Her Ma
jesty's Opposition las it has been we'll term
ed and this opposition is the :salt Of the po
litical existence" of Great Brtain--as it has
been of ours. But we Will not dwell upon
these tluisms-these established maxims,
dnown, appreciated and understood, by all who
know, or appreciate, Or understand the true
principles of a constitutional government Our
object is only to call attention to the fact, that
those who formerly advocated the slavish doc
trine Of wbichwe are speaking, and bore it
aloft with such lightness of STEP and confidence
Of tread now find it a very inconvenient and
awkward load to carry, and sway and sagger
underit in the sight Of all men. Because, they
pushed the doctrine tc it's extent, and, actually,
professed to regard the President, or the Exec
,at1ue, as the government itself. To oppose the
course of the Executive, was, in their eyes, al
most to commit treason-to cri,icise his actions
was to- give aid and comfort to the rebels to
speak harshly Of him was an offence worthy OF
the Bastie-to refuse to support anything he
said and did was manifest ;;disloyalty But
the Invention, Of these. time serving pohti-
clans, has returned to plague the inventors
and it has returned speedily! They are now.
in Opposition to the President--they now
claim the right to criticise his words ard con-;
denim his actions Nay, more they claim and ex-.
ercise the right, to malign and abuse him--to
attribute to him the worst mo'iYes-and to de-
nounce him in the roundest terms, as q friend
and, ally of traitors, if not traitor himself !!
Who calls for Bastiles and Old Capitols
now? And all this is done, too, whilst
the President is engaged in the patriotic
task of endeavoring to 5''restore the Union and
re-instate the Government of the United States {
the very object which these people once said,
was the sole design of the war, as it was com
menced, carried, on and ended /
Let this be lesson to teach how necessary 1t
is, even in times Of the highest excitement, and
the most extreme danger: to keep constantly
within the bounds Of moderation, and to regard
what is right, instead of what is considered, land
frequently enormously considered, expedient or
popular. To measure out that which was
meted to Others by those to whom we speak,
would be to close their mouths, to seal their
lips, to take the pen from their hands, to con-
denim them to the silence of despair! It would
be to take from them the power they now hold,
with no prospect ofeVer regaining it-and then,
afterwards, to require them to kiss the rod
that smites them y rTT
In recent letter of Gen. Francis T.. Blair,
he makes tbs following just and truthful re-
marks :-sPeace means pardon, amnesty,
reconciliation without these we can have no
peace. Il believe that those who have done
and suffered most to secure peace by destroy
ing the power which took arms against it are
those who are now most ready to suffer and do
to maintain it. Those who have suffered moth
and done nothing but who, on the contrary,
have made the war an occasion for profit and
vehicle for personal advancemept-these are
the greatest and only obstacles to the perfect
restoration and maintenance Of peace They,
having filled their pockets and secured the best
places, talk most of compensation for the past
and security for the future. u -
MIR. Bolts, in his recent letter, constructs the
call,fort the Republican Convention here, next
month to include only those ,rho.a.o st,.aan.