The national Republican., 1866-08-06
THE AGONY OF RECONCILIA-
TION. ..

THE AGONY OF RECONCILIA.
TION.
There are times in the affairs Of nations
when the love Of country must rise above
the love Of party, Commonly called party
spirit,) or all that has been gained BY civil
xation would be lost. Our recent rebellion
was one OF them in this country. II the late
President LdxcoLs and his Cabinet hadhnot
been capable Of rising entirely above the
notions entertained by the body Of the Re
publican party Of 1856 and 1860, the integ-
rity Of our country would have been COM
promised by politicians Of the radical school.
and the national cause would have been lost.
The time has come when this great fact
should be. prominent. Humiliating as the
reflection may be to any one, it should be
borne in mind that radicalism, as II is now
called, did not because II could not save the
country.
The reasons why it did not and could not
would gil q volume. We have room for Q
very few Of them only.
l. The primary reason was that radicalism
could not understand the nature and magni-
tude Of the rebellion. or the multitude Of
conspiring causes Of it the radicals could
perceive only one--negro slavery. The idea
Of AARON Burr to break the country into
two more convenient republics; the idea Of
JEFFERSON DAVIS Of erecting out Of the
Southern States and Mexico magnificent
empire which should command the respect Of
all the nations in Christendom- nation with
arristocratic orders and castles, which was
dilated upon so extensively by Major Gen.
LEoSIDAs Polk; the germane idea Of the
Southern Roman Catholic prelates Of having
new empire in the interest Of their form Of
religion the long-cherished idea Of being
divorced from the spindles and shop-boards
Of New England, and Of opening trade with
European spindles and shop-boards direct
from Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, and
New Orleans; and the familiar idea of the
masses that they possessed the inalienable
right to throw off the yoke of q Government
which they considered oppressive, they seemed
toknow nothing Of whatever. Failing to COM
prehend the nature Of the dscontentments
which Southern politicians had famed and
condensed for upwards Of thirty years, they
failed TO comprehend the magnitude Of the
uprising-and so from this point one defcien.
cy was predicated upon another. Their in
ability to perceive that the rebellion would
be great one, limited all their notions about
reducing it-limited their ideas Of the num-
Der Of soldiers necessary to reduce it, Of the
arms and munitions requisite for the work,
and worse than all, of the military discipline
necessary before an army Of volunteers can
stand the fire Of an enemy. The first Bull
Run battle and the premature "On-to- Rich.
mond" exhortations of the New York Tri.
bune are painful "reminiscences of the reck-
lessness which resulted from the short-sighted
fanaticism of the radicals in the early stages
Of the war, which displayed itself in Con-
gress and out of it, and which nover failed to
produce lamentable mischief, and those al.
most continually.
2 The next reason why the radicals did
not save the country was because of their
disrespect for the Constitution which bound
it together This may appear, at the first
blrsh, to be harsh criticism; but we sub
init that the history of the war and current
events fully justify it. WILLIAM LLOYD
GARRISON, the. patron of all radicalism, had
poisoned the whole body polite with the
heresy that the Constitution of the United
States was nothing more than "a compact
with the devil" Radical newspapers and
radical Senators, Representatives, and stump
orators had caught the phrase and rung it in
the ears Of the people with ten thousand
changes, damaging, if not destroying, with
individuals the respect heretofore felt for
the organic law Of their country. To the
extent Of that uncircumcised influence land
it was very great in the country it was de-
moralizing and weakening to the cause of
national unity, which the Government strug.
gled to maintain.
The New York Tribune, whose senior edi-
tor lately came here to bail JEFFERSON DAVIS,
became the willing organ Of all.the infidel
notions Of the GARRIsoNIAxs, and became re-
sponsible for rivers Of blood shed in pursu.
ance OF Its ridiculous attempts to advise the
Government and to control its armies in the
field. Destitute, by common consent, of any
ability to carry on q government as well as
any respect for the laws Of nations, which the
Administration was bound to observe, he
floundered and pounded all through the war
to its end, in manner which would have
wrecked any President thousand times
over who followed bis advice His ideas that
the Union was dissolved, and that treaty
could be made with JACOB THOMPSON and
GEORGE N. SANDERS, are specimens of his
ability to understand public affairs and to
guide the ship Of State in a storm. The diff.
culties which unified him to advise The
President untitled the radicals generally to
the same if not to greater extent, to render
any substantial aid to his Administration.
Suppose, for example, the counsels Of
GARREr SMITH had guided our diplomacy
with Great Britain and France during the
war; where should we have been now 1t is
true tharhe said during the war that the re-
bellion must be put down; but he at the
same time said the rebels were out of the
Union and had organized de facto govern