Constitutional Whig. [volume], February 06, 1824, Image 2

About Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832

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lo the good of a part. Tho same difficulty
might possibly arise in the exorcise of the in
coutestible power of taxation. VVe know that
the imposition of taxes has its limits. There is a
maximum which cauuot be transcended. Sup
pose the citizen to be taxed by the General Go
ermnent to the utmost extent of his ability, or a
thiug as much as it can possibly bear, and the
state imposes a tax at the same time, which au
thority is to take it ? Extreme cases of this sort
may serve to amuse and to puzzle ; but they
wilt hm dly ever arise m practice. And wo may
safely cuutldo in tho moderation, good sense,
am! mutual good disposition, of the two govern
ments to guard against the imagined conflicts.
It is said by the President, that the power to
regulate commerce merely authorizes the lay
ing of imposts and duties, lint Congress has iio
power today imparts and duties on the trade a
mong tho several State. The grant must
mean, therefore, something else. What is
it ? The power, to regulate commerce a
moug the several States, if it has any meaning,
implies authority to foster it, to promote it, to
bestow on it facilities similar to those which have
been conceded to our foreign trade. It cannot
mean only empty authority to adopt regulations,
without the capacity to give practical effect to
them. All the |>owers of this Government should
be interpreted in reference to its first, its best,
its greatest object, the Union of these States.
And is not that Union best imigorated by an
intimate, social, and commercial connexion be
tween all the parts of the confederacy ? Can
that be accomplished, that is, can the federative
objects of this Government be attaiued, but by
the application of federative resources ?
Of all the powers bestowed on this Govern
ment, Mr. Clay thought none were more clearly
vested, than that to regulate the distribution of
the intelligence, private and otlicial, of the
country ; to regulate the distribution ofits com
merce; and to regulate the distribution of the
physical force of the Union. In the execution
of the high and solemn trust which these bene
ficial jlowers imply, wo must look to the great
ends which the framers of our admirable con
stitution bad in view. We must reject, as
wholly’’ incompatible with their enlightened and
beneficent intentions, that construction of these
powers which would resuscitate all the debility
and inefficiency’ of the ancient confederacy. In
me vi* issiiuciLb ui u'im.ui uiuurs^ who cun lore- <
see all the possible cases, in which it may be
necessary to apply the public force, within or
without the Union ? This Government is charg
ed with the use of it, to repel invasions, to sup
press insurrections, to enforce the laws of the
Union; in short, for all the unknown and (inde
finable purposes of war, foreign or intestine,
wherever and however it may rage. During
Is existence, may not Government, for its ef
fectual prosecution, order a road to he made, or
a canal to bo cut, to relieve, for example, an
exposed point of the Union ? If, when the
emergency comes, there is a power to provide
for it, that power must exist in the constitution,
ami not in the emergency. A wise, prccaution
nrv, and parental policy, anticipating danger,
will beforehand provide for the hour of need.—
Hoads and canals arc in the nature of fortifica
tions, since, if not the deposites of military re
sources, they enable ydu to bring into rapid ac
tion, the military resources of the county,
wherever they may be. They arc better than
any fortifications, because they serve the double
pnr|x»scs of peace and of war. They dispense,
in a great degree, with fortifications, since they
have all the etlect of that concentration, at
which fortitlcations aim. 1 appeal from the pre
cepts of the President to the practice of the
President. While he denies to Congress the
power in question, he does not scruple, upon his
sole authority, as numerous instances in the sta
tutc hook will testify, to order, at pleasure, the
opening of roads by the military, and then come
here to ask us to pay for them. Nay more, sir;
a subordinate but highly respectable officer o.
the Executive Government, 1 believe would not
hesitate to provide a boat or eau-a' :<. bridge 10
he erected over an inconsiderable stream, toon
sure the regular transportat ion of the mail. And
it happens to he within my pcrsoual know*lodge,
that the head of the Post Office Department, as
a prompt and vigilent officer should do, bad re
cently despatched a:i agent to ascertain the cau
ses of the late frequent i e.xatious failures of the
great northern mail, and to inquire if a provision
of a boat or bridge over certain small streams in
iSIarylaud, which have produced them, would
not prevent their recurrence.
I was much surprised at one argument of the
honorable gentleman. lie told the House, that
the Constitution had carefully guarded against
inequality, among the several states, in public
burthens, by certain restrictions upon the power
of traxation; that the effect of the adoption of a
system of internal improvements would he to
draw the resources from one part of the Union,
and to expend them in the improvement of ano
ther, and that the spirit, at least, of the consti
tutional equality would he thus violated. From
the nature of things, the constitution could not
specify the theatre of the expenditure of the pub
lic treasure. That expenditure, guided by and
looking to the public good, must he made, ne
cessarily, where it will most subserve the inte
rests of the whole Union. The argument is
that the locale of the collection of the public
contributions, and the locale of their disburse
ment, should he the same. Now, sir, let us car
ry this argumeut out: and no man is more capa
ble titan the ingenious gentleman from Virginia,
of tracing an argument to its utmost consequen
ces. The locale of the public revenue is the
pocket of the citizen; and, to abstain from the
violation of the principle of equality adverted to
by the gentleman, we should restore hack to
each man’s pocket precisely what was taken
from it. 1f the principal contended for he true
we are habitually violating it. We raise about
twenty millions of dollars, a very large revenue, I
Considering the actual distresses of the country.
\nd, sir, notwi'-listandiaff all the puffing, flou
1 ishiuig statementsof prosperity, emanating from
pri,*- *rs who aie fed upon tlie pap of the public
treasury, the whole country is in a condition of
v 'Tv great Uirtre-s. Where is this vast reve
nue expended? Boston, N. York, the great capi
tals of the North, are the theatres of its dis
bursement. There the expenditure in the
building, equipment, anil repair, of the national
vessels takes place. There all of the great ex
penditures of the government necessarily con
< cut rate. This ;< no cause or just complaint.
I* is inevitable, resulting from the accumulation !
of capital, the state of the arts, and other eir-J
curmtatices belong to our great cities. But sir,!
if there he a section of this l-nion having more j
right than any other tn complain of this transfer j
of the circulating medium from one quarter of
the Union to another, the West, the poor West i
{Here Air. Barbour explained, tic had meant i
that the Constitution limited Congress as to the j
proportions of revenue to he drawn from the j
several states; but the principle of this provision I
Would be vacated by internal improvements of^
immense expense, and yet of a local character, j
< tor public 3hips, to he sure, are built at the son- :
j> *rt q but they do not remain there.—Their |
h.Mie is the mountain wave; hut internal im-1
proyrments are essentially local; they touch the
s >d of the states, and their benefits, at least the J
I n gest, part of them arc confined to the states
where they exist.] The explanation of the
yard Ionian has not materially varied the argu
4n . it. 1 le says that the home of our ships is
the mountain wave. Bir, it the ships go to sea, j
the money with which they were built, or re
fitt »d, remains on shore, and the cities where
the equipment takes place derive the benefit of
the expenditure. It requires %io stretch of the
imagination to conceive the profitable industry
—the axes, the hammers, .the saws—the me
chanic arts which are put in motion by this
expenditure. And all these aud other collate
ral advantages are enjoyed by the seaports.
The navy is built for the interest of the whole.
Internal improvements, of that general, federa
tive character, for which we coufend, would
also be for the interest of the whole. And, l
should think their abiding with us, aud uot go
ing abroad on the vast deep was rather cause of
recommendation than objection.
Uut, Mr. Chairman, if there be any part of
this Union more likely than all others to he ben
efited by the adoption of the geutleman’s prin
ciple, regulating the public expenditure, it is the
West. There is a perpetual drain from tlr.it
embarrassed and highly distressed portion of our
country, of its circulating medium to the East.
There, but few inconsiderable expenditures of
the public money takes place. There we have
none of those public works, no magnificent edi
fices, forts, armories, arsenals, dockyards, &o.
which more or losa are to be found in every At
lantic state, hi at least seven states beyoud the
Alleghany, not «Uie solitary public work of this
Government is to he found. If by one of those
awful and terrible dis|>cnsutions of Providence,
which sometimes occur, this Government should
be unhappily' annihilated, every whereou the sea
board traces of its former existence would he
found ; whilst we should not have, in the West,
a single monument remaining on which to pour
out our alfeetions and our regrets.—Yet, sir, we
do not complain. No portion of your population
is more loyal to the Union, than ttie hardy free
men of the West. Nothing can weaken or era
dicate their ardent desire for its lasting preserva
tion. None are more prompt to vindicate the
interests and rights of the nation from all foreign
aggression. Need I remind you of the glorious
scenes in which they participated, during the late
war—a war in which they had no peculiar di
rect interest, waged for no commerce, no spa
men of theirs. Uut it was enough for them that
it was a war demanded by tin* character and the
honor of the nation. They did not stop to cal
culate its cost of blood, or of treasure. Thev
(lew to arms; they rushed down the valley of
llie Mississippi, with all the impetuosity of that
noble river. They sought the enemy. They
found liiin at the beach. They fought; they
hied; they covered them elves and their coun
try with immortal glory . They enthusiastically
shared in all the transports occasioned by our
victories, whether won on the ocean or on the
land. Tiiey felt with the keenest distress, what
ever disaster bcfel us. No, s;r, I repeat it, neg
lect, injury itself, cannot alienate the affecti
ons of the West from this Government. They
cling to it, as to their best, their greatest, their
first tiope. You may impoverish them, reduce
them to ruin, by the mistakes of vuur policy,
aud you cannot drive them from you. They do
not complain ot the expenditure of the public
money, where the public exigencies require its
disbursement. Hut, I put it to your candor, if
you ought not, by a generous and national poli
cy, to mitigate, if not prevent, the et its result
ing from the perpetual transfer of the circulating
medium of the \Ve«t totlie East. One million
and a Ira If of dollars annually, is transferred for
the public lands alone; and almost every dollar
goes, like him who goes to death—to a bourne
from w hich no traveller returns. In ten years
it will amount to fifteen millions; in twenty to
-hut 1 will uotpursuo the appalling results
of arithmetic.—Gentlemen who believe that
ihose vast sums are supplied by the emigrants
from the East, labor under great error. There
was a time when the tide of emigration from the
East bore along with it Ihe means to effect the
purchase of tiic public domain. l>ut that tide
lias, in a great measure, now stopt. And ns popu
lation advances farther & farther west, it will en
tirely cease. The greatest migratiugsta’es in the
Union, at this time, are Kentucky first, Ohio
next, and Tennessee. The emigrants from
those states eaiYy with them, to the states and
territories lying beyond them, the circulating
medium, which, being invested in the purchase
of the public land, is transmitted to the points
where the wants of government require it. If
this deliberating anil exhausting process were
inevitable, it must he borne with manly forti
tude. Hut we think that a fit exertion of the
powers of this government would mitigate the
evil. We believe that the government incon
testildy possesses the constitutional power to
execute such internal improvements as arc call
od for by the good of the whole. And wc appeal
to your equity, to your parental regard, to your
enlightened policy, to perform the high and
beneficial (rust thus sacredly reposed. I am
sensible of the delicacy of the topic to which I
have reluctantly adverted, in consequence of the
observations of the honorable gentleman from
Virginia. And I hope there will be no miscon
ception of iny motives iu dwelling upon it. A
wise and considerate government should antici
pate and prevent rather than waitc for the ope
ration cf causes of discontent.
lii't mcihk, Mr. Chairman, what has this go’
vestment done on (lie great subject of Internal
Improvements, alter «« many years of its exist
ence, and with such an inviting field before it?
You have made the Cumberland road only.—
Gentlemen appear to have considered that a
western road. They ought to recollect that
not one stone has yet been broken, not one spadq
of earth has been yet removed in tiny Western
State. The road begins in Mar\ land and it
terminates at Wheeling. It pas-cs through
the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Vir
ginia. All the direct benefit of the expenditure
of the public money on that road, has accrued
to those three stales. Not one cent in any
Western State. And yet we have had to beg,
entreat, supplicate you, session after session, to
grant the necessary appropriations to complete
the road. I have myself toiled until my powers
have been exhausted and prostrated to prevail
on you to make the grant. We were acliiiited
to make these exertions for the sake of the col
lateral benefit otily to the West; that we might
have a way by which weshonld he able to conti
nucand maintain an affectionate intercourse with
our friends and brethren—that we might have
a way to reach the Capitol of our country, and
to tiring our councils, humble as they may be,
to consult and mingle with yours in the advance
ment of the national prosperity.—Yes, Sir, the
Cumberland road has only reached the margin
of a Western State; and, from sonic indications
which have been given during this session, I
should apprehend it would there }iau«e forever,
if my confidence in you were not unbounded ;
if 1 had not before witnessed that appeals were
never unsuccessful to your justice, to your mag
nanimity, to your fraternal affection.
Hut, Sir, the tiill on your table is no Western
hill. It is emphatically a national hill, compre
hending all, looking to the interests of the whole.
The people of the West never thought of, never
desired, never asked, for a system exclusively
for their benefit. The system contemplated by
this bill looks to great national objects, and pro
poses the ultimate application to their accorn- |
plishment of the only means by which they can j
he effected, the means of the nation—means |
which, if they be withheld from such objects, |
the 1 nion, I do most solemnly believe, of these
now happy and promising states, may, at some
distant (1 trust a far, far, distant) day, be endan
gered and shaken at its centre.
riNHE annual meeting of the Stockholders of
.1. the Richmond and Osborne’s Turnpike
Company, will ho held at the Union Hotel, in
the city of Richmond, on MONDAY NEXT at j
“ix o’clock, I*. M.
GEORGE M. C IPRINGTO’V,
Fcbruarr.N; Secretary. I
RICHMOND:
FRIDAY MORN1NU, FEBRUARY 6, 1M4.
1CTA MEETING of the citizens of Rich
nomi mul Manchester, is requested at the Mer
chant’s Coffee-house on Saturday the 7th insti*
it l i o’clock, to take into consideration the pro^
prietv of forwarding a memorial to Congress, in
apposition to the Tarilf bill now before that
body.
In conformity to the wishes of some of our sub
scribers, we will publish on Tuesday next, the Re
port of Randolph Harrison, Esq. Commissioner of
tlie James anil Jackson Rivers, made to the ticncrul
Assembly, ut the commencement of the present ses
sion.
CONGRESS.
The bill, “ making prov ision for procuring
the necessary Surveys, estimates Sic. for roads
and Canals,” is still pending before the 1 louse of
Representatives, and excites un animated and
protracted discussion. Involving great Con
stitutional questions, the Virgiaia represeuta
tiou have opposed the bill with all their strength,
and with their accustomed constitutional ability.
On Tuesday Mr. Tucker and Mr. Rives spoke
in opposition to the bill, and were to be follow
ed by Mr. Archer. To our surprize, Mr. John
S. Harbour, abcr.iting from the politics of bis
family aud bis state, lias advocated the constitu
tional authority of Congress to carry on a sys
tem of internal improvement. In addition to
Mr. Tucker, Mr. Archer and Mr. ltives, the
bill has been opposed by I\ 1*. Harbour, Ran
dolph and Smyth.
In the senate the amendment proposed to the
constitution from S. Carolina, making the inode
of election of members of Congress, and of Pre
sident, and Vice President of the U. S. uniform
throughout the union, is still under debate. Mr.
Ronton of Missouri on Tuesday concluded au
able argument in favor of the proposed amend
ment, and will propably be folluwed by Mr.
Vaii Beureu in opposition.
On j esterday the House of Delegates were
occupied the greater part of the day, on Mr.
Tyler’s hill reported from a .Select Committc,
directing the contributions made for the erec
tion of a monument to Gen. Washington, to be
placed out at semiannual interest, until a fund
sulficicnt for the accomplishment of the object,
shulil be accumulated. The bill after much
discussion was fundlv passed bv a large majori
ty. The present amount of the fund is some
tiling upwards of £13000, and it is supposed that
by the shaving process authorised by the bill, it
may amount in 10 years, to a sum competent to
the object. Whether Gen. Washington would
bai e approved of this inode of raising money, is
doubted by some.
FOR THE CONSTITUTIONAI. WHIG.
J A VIES RIVER CANAL.
The course of the Legislature on the subject of
continuing or dropping this great work, excites much
interest in the country, as the time approaches for
its decision. The costs of the Canal ^s far as it has
progressed, the sources whence the money already
expended has been obtained, where the next appro
priations are to he derived, ever}' thing connected
with the subject, in short, is enveloped in obscurity ;
and the people naturally feel a curiosity proportion
ed to the importance of the design, and the mystery
[which seems to hung over its fate. Why is it that
the public anxiety is continually fed with the theo
ries, conjectures, and assumed data of anonymous
writers, instead of being quieted by the official re
turns of gentlemen employed to superintend its exe
cution? Whether these results might he favorable
or unfavorable to the diameter of the work, they
would have a favorable tendency in reconciling the
people to the prosecution of the scheme, much of
whose present dissatisfaction .arises, from their total
ignorance of what has been done, and of the ulteri
or views of the fathers of the plan. You would
therefore oblige many people, by publishing the re
port of the Commissioner, and whatever other docu
ments on this subject, you may be able to Jay your
hands on.
One difficulty has occurred to my mind, which I
have never heard suggested or discussed,and which
seems to me, to be a formidable drawback upon the
utility of the Canal. How is the produce from the
South side of James River to reach the Canal?—
That some way has been devised, I presume of
course ; but 1 and the people, are so ignorant on this
whole suhject, as to be uninformed on this particu
lar,—nor arc our imaginations competent to guess
the mode, except by surmounting obstacles involving
greater expense, than will be saved by the diminish
ed tai ilf on tolls and freight. For instance the peo
ple of Powhatan and Huckingham, will all be. under
the necessity of keeping a boat or boats on their
shores, to make an annual voyage across the River
to the opposite side—where they must cross planta
tions, ditches, hedges and gutts, to arrive at the
borders of the Canal. . When they have landed their
produce on the North bank, they must have a wa
gon and team of their own, or borrowed or hired
from some of their neighbors, to get it on to the Ca
1 nal.
It dors seem to me that tins expense of keeping
and hiring boats and wagons, and the great trouble
incident to loading and unloading twice, will not
be compensated by the rapidity and safety of the
Canal navigations when once it is reached, and that
the population on the South bank of Janies River,
are better off with the navigation that Heaven has
already provided them, than they will he, when the
golden promises of the Canal are all fulfilled. It may
bo replied to this view of the subject, that it is unrea
sonable to expect each geographical section to be
equally benefited by this or any other plan of im
provement, and that a benefit conferred on one sec
tion, is no injury to any other. It is true that every
provision of human legislation acts with inequality,
and that disregarding the hardship or injury of in
dividual and isolated cases, Legislatures ought to
consult only “the common good and general wel
fare.” But whilst the Legislature have an undoubt
ed right to promote the welfare of one section of the
State, they have nr right to do it, at the expense of
another—and if in the case before us, the South side
of tbe River is injured instead of being benefited, it
is plain, that the advantage conferred on the North
side, has been given at the direct expense of the
South : for v liilst that side of James River is receiv
ing no benefit from the Canal, they are losing the
present navigation that they have, or changing it
for a worse. For the reasons above stated 1 think
that the exchange of the Canal for the exi ting na
vigation, is injurious to all the population on the
South side of the River. I know that this will be
considered by scientific gentlemen, the “ Brin lleys
and Bridgcwaters,” n very simple and un efin.
ed objection, and simple ns it is, I am not prepared
to defend it by entering into minuhm of calculation.
—But those gentlemen will certainly remove a dif
ficulty which weighs heavily on many plain minds,
if they can prove, that the South side of the River is
not to be a loser by the Canal.
It is considered extraordinary in this part of tho
country, that the report of the Commissioner Mr.
Harrison, has never appeared in the public prints
and surmises of no very auspicious nature, to the
further prosecution of the canal, have been drawn
from the circumstance. Had the progress of the
canal been flattering, had there been work to shev
for the money expended, and if the expenditures
hVl not greatly exceeded the corresponding (Mi
niates of Moore and Briggs, it is believed that tiro
James River enthusiasts would have exhibited the
negative evidence, with triumph and exultation.
All are aware, that at the commenecmcct of so ar
duous and novel an enterprise, much money and
labor must be necessarily sacrificed, for the pur
chase of experience—and even the active zeal, and
judicious mind of Mr. Harrison, must without its
light, be. at a loss for the attainment of his objects.
Tiro great confidence of all who know him, in his
sagacity, enterprise and excellent judgment, have
contributed much to strengthen the public faith in
the utility and ultimate success of the work he has
superintended for tbe la>-t 12 months, and to redeem
it iu some degree from the unpopularity which had
n this section of the state, very generally began to 1
issail it. His report is looked for accordingly, with
an interest, corresponding to the reliance placed on
his abilities.
Jtfany conjectures have been hazarded as to the
aggregate cost of the canal to the mouth of Dunlap’s
Creek—but tire difficulty of procuring accurate
data, to fouud such calculations upon, of course
renders them liable to many errors. It seems to
me that the fairest mode of proceeding, is to take
what has been finished, and the costs of finishing it,
as a foundation for the general calculation. If,
therefore, we admit that the work already done, is
equivalent to the thorough completion of 10 miles
of the canal, and that it has cost $ 400,000—the
rule of three, will conduct Us to the result desired.
To the town of Covington along the contemplated
trace of tire canal, is a distance of 260 miles—and
if we admit that the cost of each ten miles is equal,
it will swell the whole expenditure to $ 10,0t)0,000
—Ido not pretend to say that my premises are pre
risely or even very nearly correct—but l am very
jure that I have erred on the side most favorable
lo the caual. For 1 do not believe that 10 miles
krecompleted, and I expect more than $400,000
have been expended. If it is urged that the experi
ence which is daily accruing, will demolish the
charges as the work progresses, 1 readily allow
the assumption to l>e true—hut on the other hand,
the increase of topogsaphical difficulties as the
mountains are approached, will restore the calcula
tion toits original limits. (These desultory and
crude rellecrions arc submitted by one, who has the
honor and interests of Virgiuia as much at heart,
as any one, but who is desirous of seeing this ques
tion fully understood, before the capital and reputa
tion of the state are finally embarked in it.
LUCIUS.
FOR TIIK WHIG.
The publication of the Debate upon Mr. \% eb
ster’s resolution, was looked for by every one with
considerable curiosity, and it is undoubtedly the
most interesting and animated which has been re
ported since the meeting of the present Congress. It
was expected that it would be supported with some
enthusiasm, but R would hardly have been imagin
ed that it would be opposed with such earnest and
persevering vehemence. It could hardly have been
supposed that an American statesman would think it
cither decent, becoming, or just to compare the mo
dern Greeks—a civilized,refined and lettered nation,
to the ignorant and savage barbarians of Hayti. It
could hardly have been supposed that the sad ca
lamities of an oppressed and gallant people who
have not only groaned for a long succession of un
happy years under the stern domination of a foreign
despot, but who have endured a cruel and unremit
ting religious persecution for the sake of the cross
which we profess to worship—of a people like this,
the descendants of Plato, and Milliades, and Epa
minondas should be considered on the floor of a
Christian and Republican assembly, a fit object for
cool, insulting irony—for calm and heartless scorn.
But let us not consider the want of feeling as a
sign of wisdom ; on the contrary a cold heart and
a muddy understanding are inseparable.—The great
and deserved celebrity of several of the members
who took part m the discussion must oe iny excuse
for introducing a very brief enquiry into the ten
dency of the proposition which produced it, by a few
observations concerning the principal speakers. Mr.
Webster’s speech is unquestionably the unequivocal
production of a man of great powers and great ac
quirements, and what is equally pleasing to the rea
der and honorable to the author, the whole composi
tion is wanned with the line fervor of a generous
ami honest benevolence. In his answer to the ob
jections offered to his resolution, he has also proved
that he is by no means unskilful in wielding the
lighter weapons of parliamentary warfare—the
prompt retort, the brilliaut sarcasm, the quick and
keen reply.—I am not going to flatter tfie distinguish
ed gentleman who has been lately nicknamed with
such classic felicity ‘“the Agamemnon of the West.”
Yeti must say that his declamation off the Greek
Question appears to me to be truly rhetorical, and
his argument to show that the adoption of the reso
lution, would have no tendency to Involve the na
tion in a war, quite ii resistible. Nor can I help ad
miring the frank impetuosity with which lie avowed,
and the intrepid ability with which he defended his
principles. “ Fuit et disertus, neque minus con
cianus in brevitate respondendi, quam in perpetua
oratione ornatus. Habuit obtroctatorem .We/iec/i
dnn quondam, satis cxercitatum in diccndo;—ill
Thebanum scilicet."—M r.Rundolph is far above my
censure or my praise. But for the heroic and disin
terested firmness with which he has so long steadily
pursued, not indeed the road to greatness but the
path of honor, for the splendor and versatility of his
talents, and I will and for his excellent sense and
real wisdom—I would just say that no one can pos
sibly feel a reverence and admiration more sincere
than 1 do. 1 have not accused him with a Want of
sympathy for human misery and suffering;—nor
shall 1 ever. No, I am well convinced that no man
entertains a more indignant and utter abhorrence
and detestation for every sort of tyranny, and that
his prayers and wishes arc now and have always
been on what be considers the side of truth and lib
erty. But as he has been from his first entrance
into public, life, the undeviating advocate of a pa
cific policy, he has apparently allowed . himself on
the present occasion to be alarmed by what I mnst
with due deference consider, very unnecessary ap
prehensions.—His genius is unquestioned—but I
will venture to say, that although he possesses a ve
ry fertile and noble imagination—it certainly is not
that of a Poet. Hi.; taste is very pure atid even
fastidious, but as he cannot for his life resist the
temptation of making a striking comparison, he fre
quently loses sight both of elegance and pro
priciy. tic* is never at a loss lor imagery, out then
he does not hesitate to employ illustrations invaria
bly forcible, but frequently low anti degrading, nis
calling the road to Turkey “but a sluinjn/ road for
Russia” is a good specimen of his patriotic passion
fer homespun metaphors. It has long been the
fashion w ith a certain set of sapient critics to talk
of Mr. Randolph, as a mere dcclaiiner and nothing
more—gifted to be sine witli a remarkable figure,
f.necyes, and a clear voice, and with some degree « '
smartness and sagacity too—but wholly incapable
of thinking or speaking logically. There never was
a greater mistake—and it arisuw solely from a sin
gular contempt whirh he seems to have for method
in speaking, and in leed in every thing else. Arriv
ing at his own conclusions with instinctive rapidity,
he rho.ishes tiie most unqualified disdain, for the
inferior capacity of the man wbo is obliged to get
at his, by travelling through all the ordinary forms
of systematic argument. If one however, was to
judge only from his speech on the Greek Question,
he might perhaps be inclined to admit that the
charge perpetually made against him, by his de
tractors is correct, ami that he is not able to rea
son. It is in his most scattering and desultory
style. His idea was that w e would incur the peril
of an expensive war, if the resolution had been a
dopted, or if this country were to act up to the
principleson which it was supported. Now, has
lie succeeded in proving that the adoption of a re30
’ufion, authorizing the President to send an agent
to the Mo re a, would be any just cause of war ? Or
has he succeeded in showing that it is at all likely
that the Porte, would immediately begin to plun
der our commerce on that account, before we had
afforded to its revolted subjects, the aid of a sin
gle dollar, or a solitary schooner ? It is very true
that if the people ofCanada, were to rebel and we
were to furnish them assistance ; this would be an
act of hostility against England. But if the Bri
tish government was to he wicked and foolish e
nough to attempt to reduce the inhabitants of that
province to a state of abject slavery, although we
would not consider ourselves bound to take part in
the contest, yet if tbpy were to succeed in driving
their oppressors out of the country, ought we to al
low any mean fear of the resentment of any power
on earth, to prevent tn from recognizing their inde
pendence ? And how could such an acknowledge
ment on our part be called a pledge that we would
resist any further attempt to subdue the colony ?
We have a clear right to judge for ourselves as to
the actual condition ofother states, and as soon as
they become dc J'arfo independent, no other nation
has any reasonable pretext for complaint if we
deem it cxjmdient to establish amicable relations
with them. Ah! but the Turk i* not a rational
animal—be is so incorrigibly barbarous, his feline
propensities are so easily excited, his oriental blood
is to suddenly inflamed, they bo will go to tf«r of
ten without any cause whatever ! For my part 1 j
haveno doubt that he is just as well acquainted
with his own interest as the good people of Salem
or Boston—and if our commerce with him is so
lucrative as we are told it is, I should conjecture
that he would uot very rashly relinquish it, It being
but fair to presume, that ho mokes something by the
trade as well as u*. I have no doubt that the
Barbary Powers in particular will hesitate a little
before they provoke us to send another fleet to the
.Mediterranean—unless indeed some person takes
the trouble to translate Mr. Cuthbert's speech for
their special benefit in which lie gravely protests a
gainst the folly of seud'«‘g our ^ships beyond the
Straits, least forsooth those incarnate fiends, the
English should sink, burn or take them !
But however well persuaded 1 am that the adop
tion of iur. Webster’s resolution would have done
no harm to us, l am by no means so well convinced
that it would have done any great good to the
Creeks. The resolution offered by Mr. Clay is of
infinitely greater importance. Perhaps the time has
not arrived at which it would be proper for Con
gress to express any opinion concerning the appre
hended attack, upon the Republics of South Ameri
ca. I am far from thinking that it is very probable
that such an attack will ever be made. England is
habitually jealous of Russia and Fiance; she en
joys, at this time, utmost a perfect monopoly of the
trade of the Spanish Colonics, and seems prepared
to go to war rather than resign it. It will there
fore be a question for the serious and mature con
sideration of the august Congress which is about to
assemble, how they oje to transport their armies
across the steep waves of the broad Atlantic—and
whether a French or Spanish fleet will be able to
leave the harbors of Cadiz or Toulon, without the
particular permission nnd consent, had and obtained
of hi? Britannic Majesty. But if indeed the legions
of this Holy Alliance the most iipninus and formi
dable League which ever was formed against the
freedom of mankind, should invade ths territories of
Colombia and Mexico, it will then be a question for
us to consider, whether it is “ consistent either with
our honor or our safety” to preserve a Quaker neu
trality. We shall then have to exercise, not our
generosity, bnt our prudence—we shall then have
to determine, not whether wc will protect their in
dependence and guard their liberty, but whether
we will bravely defend or tamely surrender our
own. Wc should consider a declaration of war
against //tern, on the part of these base conspirators
against the common rights of the whole human race
ns the awful clarion which calls on all who wor
ship Liberty to wake from their inglorious sleep—
which calls on the conquerors of Chippewa, and the
disciples of Jefferson—the Scotts and Jessups, who
now repine in the obscurity of peace, to revenge the
death of Riego by the side cf Bolivar. Whoever
falls in such a war will win eternal fame.
Qod prosper the cause ! Oh ! it cannot hut thrive
While the pulse of one Patriot heart is alive,
It’s devotion to feel, and it’s rights to maintain.
But it in His inscrutable wisdom he should once
more permit these atrocious tyrants to succeed, they
who die should feel no fear, but like Palmyra’s he
roic sage, consider that since the earth lias become
one vast and dreary prison,he is the happiest whom
death first frees from bondage—and they who sur
vive should show no sorrow nor idly bewail the des
tiny of those who will leave tills degraded world,
to join the bands of holy martyrs who rest in Para
dise on the flowery margin of that Elysian stream,
from which “ they quaff immortality and jov.”
policies.
FLOUR inspected in tlie city of Riclunond,
during the quarter ending 3ist January 1824.
919 half bbls. ) Q ,
52,50;', whole do { Superfine
5,179 do do Finn
1,G72 do do Middlings
202 do do unmerchantable
75 do do Shipstuils
Total G0,G32
HOUSE OF DELEGATES.
Tuesday, Feb. 3</, 1321.
On motion of Mr. Harvie, of Richmond City,
the bill concem:ng George Winston aud his se
curities was taken up. Several documents of
length in suppor of the bill were read, and its
principles were commented on and advocated by
Mr. lfarvie. Messrs. Burton, Graves, and
Branch, opposed the bill, and it was negatived.
The order of the day was then read concern
ing the bill authoriziug a loan for public im
provement—and Mr. ”ancey moved that the
consideration of the bill be now deferred, and
made the order of the day for Saturday. Messrs.
Patterson and Winston hoped that the order
would not be postponed.
Messrs. Colston and Bryce advocated the
postponement. The votes were then called,
and were, Ayes 79—Noes, 79—and the Chair
voting in the affirmative, the order of the day
was postponed until Saturday.
A Bill for altering the time of holding a
Quarterly Court for the County of Amherst was
passed.
A Bill concerning Clerks of County Courts,
and of Superior Courts of law was then read.
Mr. Thomas proposed an amendment to the
bill, which he subsequently withdrew.
Mr. Keeret moved the iudifinite postponement
| of the bill.
Mr. Garland was opposed to the postpone
ment.
Mr. Davis, of Hanover, suggested that by
some modilicatians, the objectionable feature*
in the hill might he removed, and spoke against
j the postponement.
r. n onion nopea toe postponement would
not carry, as considerable pari, of the bill could
be rejected.
Mr. hire ret withdrew his motion for postpone
ment, and
On motion of Mr. Davit, of Hanover, the
bill was laid on the table and recommitted.
Mr. Patterson, reported a bill from the com
mittee to whom it was reconrjitted, without
amendments, for the punishment of persons har
boring runaways.
On motion of Mr. Watkins, ofl’rinco Edward,
the following resolution Was adopted :
hit-wired. That the committee appointed to
examine the Lunatic Assylum, in tho City of
Williamsburg, have power to call for persons
and papers.
A BUI establishing a Lunatic Hospital to the
west of flic Blue Ridge, was then read—Some
discussion took place on the proper mode of
disposing of the bill. «. vas filially recommit
ted ami 200 copies order 1 to be printed.
PImnix.
VVkdkesdat, Feb. 4.
Yesterday, the House received a Communi
cation from tbc Senate, announcing that they
had passed the bills—1st “ changing the time of i
holding Superior Courts for the county of Kana
wha, and for other purposes’1—2nd “ concern
ing tbc Marine Insurance Company of tin; city
of Richmond”—and 3d “ changing the time of j
holding the spring quarterly court of Warwick i
county”—Also with an amendment the hill “ to j
amend an act, entitled an act appropriating a
sum of money for opening a road from Clarks
burg to Point Pleasant, and for other ptirpose*-w
—The House agreed to this amendment.
On Mr. Spooner’s motion, the committee on |
the Register’s Olfieo was discharged from the
farther consideration of the resolution on the
subject of the salaries of the Register ami his
clerks, and the other expenses of the said office.
Mr. Randoi.ph, from the committee appoint
ed to examine the Penitentiary institution pre
sented the following Report, which on Mr. f I vft
vjr.’s motion, was laid upon the table, and or
dered to be printed:
The Committee to whom have been refer
red all subjects brought before this house, in
any way connected with the Penitentiary es
tablishment of the commonwealth, including
the rrtnatks made upon the principles as weh
»9 the present condition thereof, by the. chiif
magistrate, in his annual communication ; and
he observations, and reasoning?, of the Board
jf Directors of the Penitentiary, in their re
port, ask the indulgence of the house for
*nme preliminary views, before they recom
mend to their adoption the measures deter
mined hy them to be expedient at this junc
ture. J
The community can only deplore, but the
legislative body must anticipate, and endea
vour to prevent, or must provide adequate re
medies lor the moral, aud physical evils, neces
sarily attendant upon the social state of man,
as far as their authority extends.
It would be easy to point out the plain ori
gin of the worst of human miseries, and lth«
true source of all crimes, in the ill-gaverned
passions, the inordinate desires, the unrestrain
ed appetites and the imperious wants, to which
man, hy his nature, must peihaps ever Ire
subject in some degree. But the time requi
site would be much hatter employed in shew
ing how, from the pliable nature, the docility,
anti capability of Ihe human species, a moral,
intellectual, and physical improvement of it
might reasonably be expected, proportionate,
to the fitness and force of the means applied
by constitutional authority.
Not an improvement orinfinite extent, as
has been most unphilosophically thought ;—
for the lawa imposed on the nature of mau
must eternally confine his powers, as well as
his duration, within narrow limits; but an in
definite amelioration, such as may be deserv
ed, hoped fur and expected, from a determin
ed resolution to combat (hat opposition, and
to remove those obstructions, which the ever
selfish, who profit by the folly and imbecility
of their fellow creatur.es, know so well how to
excite and to create. A new form of tyranny,
exercised in the denunciation of a benevolent
philosophy, springs from the unsocial passions
of ambitious individuals, and banishes from
the deliberations, and ihe administration of
tlm most free governments, all such enquiries,
and such reasonings. Profound thinking is
painful ; humane feelings are unprofitable ;—
disinterested labours are unwise; therefore imi-'
tative, cold and mercenary art, is substituted
for all, and man is continued lower in the
scale of nature than was intended for him, to
save ihe trouble of raising him higher ; the
j possibility of which is of course denied, to
afford an apolozv.
If would he a pleasing task to shew, that if,
all those who give religious instruction to so
ciety, instead of dwelling upon unsettled arti
cles of faith, would make it their chief labor
to demonstrate, how mildness, and innocence,
and usefulness in this world, to the full extent
of the means and powers possessed, are indis
pensable to happiness here and hereafter ;
much moral improvement, and consequent
relaxation of penal law, might jn-My be ex
ppcted. It would be no difficult labour to
prove, that if the parents, and teachers of
youth, could he induced to attend more to
the physical education of their pupils, they
might expect far greater success, in the main
object of their moral and intellectual improv e
nient. By a steady and judicious use of
means known to science for the confirmation,
maintenance and restoration of juvenile health,
the constitutional energy of the brain, and the
celerity, and certainty, of its influence over
the system might be increased, of whieh,
greater social powers, a more constant equili
brium of sensation, perception, and thought,
more uniform tranquillity of mind, and a less
active propensity to vicious indulgence, would
he the sure cnnsequeuce.
When that science, which teaches the de
pendence of mind on body, recovers its place
from the empty metaphysics at present in
favor; and is better known to the world, it
may become as easy as it is always beneficial,
to shew,that the overstrained ambition of con
stant superiority over all others, so pernicious
in free governments, and so invariably accom
panied by envy, and causeless malice, and
promptitude to caluronj’, or to injustice, is in
itself a diseased condition of mind and body,
that might have been prevented, and may be
relieved by a purifying regimen of daily em
ployment in the fields; which should ever be
enforced, before the tormenting habit of as
piring thoughts, and hopes of triumph over
equals, has rendered the propensity to en
croachment perpetual, or the inclination to
violence, obstinate and ungovernable. Ifsuch
symptoms were early marked and promptly
treated with rustication by the people, or by
distrust in popular assemblies, much of that
mischief ipight be prevented, which usurpa
tion of the. rights, or control by force or fraud
over the free will of others, in whatever de
gree it may prevail', must certainly produce,by
destrnjing that free play and consequent fair
equilibrium of influences, so necessary to tiie
preservation of popular governments. Peri
cles might thus have been rendered another,
and an abler Solon ; Caesar another, and a
greater Cato; Napoleon a second Washing
ton ; and the sweeping desolation caused by
each, throughout the sphere of his influence,
might have been effectually prevented. The
endeavor, however difficult, might nut be des
perate, to open the eyes of the public to the
certain fact that a spirited, judicious, and per
severing Legislative, encouragement of all the
useful arts, which administer to the wants of
man, and of the elegant arts which improve
h't9 taste, while their exercise cost nothing hut
unhought genius, muJ, in the end, have a
greater tendency to prevent crime, by afford
ing employment to the needy and idle, and
giving refined feelings to the gross and brutal,
than the best penal code, unsupported by such
aids.
All such views of the capacity for improve
ment of our species are apt t«> be.treated as
idle spcculatioiA or enthusiastic visions. Yet
history gives numerous authentic proofs of
the commanding influence of legislation over
the character of man,as wellasover tile destiny
of free slates. The laws advised by Lycurgua,
made every Spartan daring, intrepid, pa
tient, obedient, active and robust ; and Spar
ta long ruled the confederacy to which that
republic belonged. The. laws declared and
enforced by Win, Penn, made all Pennsylva
nia, for a long time, industrious, peaceful, and
just. The. uniform good manners and good
morals, the unvarying mildness, the never
flagging industry of the Society of Friends, af
ford a living example of the peculiar spirit,
as well as the lasting influence of that legis
lation, which modern ideas have expelled.—
We have effectually proscribed for 20 yearn
back, in all our territmy, a gnme of amuse
ment, which had fascinated, and rendered
idle, to nu alarming degree, youth, manhood,
ar.d age. We have broken, forever, after the
sanction of ages for its use, the only curb fi
ver yet found for dark, false, mid cowardly
malice; because, it was liable to misuse, by
the wildness of youth, which might have been
retrained, within the bounds requisite for the
security of honor, by a simple provision. But,
modelii notions reject, as theory, all propo
sitions for preventing the mischiefs, incident
to society, by counteracting, nr regulating their
causes. Yet, modern legislation is so active
and capricious, that important laws are some
times changed as a poet would alter a sonnet.
The main duty of legislative bodies is, to
make prevision for jhe due punishment of
those disturbances of the peace ef society.
Which, in its present state, must ever be hap
pening, from the ins.ufSpieocy of control nr cT