Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1807-02-06

rant of the sum OF political happiness or evil,
! which they may enjoy or suffer
| Your committee have turned their attention
\ to the practice OF past times and End that when
1 ever a few frccho'ders have e'it;an the legs
ature land but few indeed have ever pe,i,i,nedl
For the CALI Of convention the General Assem-.
| b'v have usually recommended TO the Frceholders
70 instruct their representatives in the next scs.
| sicn This, in toe opinion or your committee
is the only course warranted Nv considerations
| Of duty and the relation between the elec,or and
| the representative II has of,en been followed.
I and the resrl, has as of,en bscn-a cou,ple,e de.
| nous,rz,iNn that ,b- people The rseIvs, ave free
happy an contehted under their prescn, govern
/ mem.
Failing so often, Nv this -egua- ani resrpc.
J III mode Of praceedirp 70 pracu,e INV evidence
! of isc n,eut among the people the COMM rec
ask, vhe'h'r more inpoi'ic and uncons;i,u,i
onal asunptrn e power could well be devised
] ',v the General Assembly than the exercise of
| he riP,t proposed hv he House of Deera.cs TO
compel ,he people os ibis CO ',rnsuwealth 70 ne
tition- or IN declare they VIZ no, petition tor
the ctl e convention
| ri st Us his Commonwealth is with the full
possession &c al practical political hanpiuess and
freedom of : irru md .nl;ghseled government,
yonr. ccmnitie are e Opinion ,h1' he only esfcct
1 of the ptcposed reso,u,,r would he 70 disturb
| the D ,aceen =. " hasrronv and con,en men,
/
| Wealth. to awaken in the minds Of the good
citizens p -oundeSs alarms di,'urb them Wit
| h f,ar f m vii & IN The m rarq. |
| Il hapn@ community rnlcr IN. TO sea e.
" once he seeds OF discon en-, ard sh- The torch
| f d scrrd For these reasons your committee
| are opinion tha' th- evils resulting from such
measure cannat he 100 dsep'v deporc -
" Wherefore they respectfully submit the to
Owing res outiou:
Rrs wed Tina, the " solution af the Hcuss
Vt oeIega e.. for -cfe.~ing 20 the con.ide,a,ion
Vt he people, the subjet1 Vt calling convention
revise and amend the Constitution Of thu
Commonwealth, be reject. -
Before we pcrused the document recitetl,
we had, in our simplicity, supposed, as 90
members, of the House of Delegates had
voted in favor OF the resolution, and only 63
against IL; as petitions from several large
and populous counties of the state had been
presented in favor OF calling y convention
and it had been repeatedly asserted, that
majority of the people were of opinion
that their constitution was defective in ma
nv important points, particularly in the
great inequality of representation that
the senate would not nave acted disrespect.
fully to their constituents, in Consulting
them, for the purpose of ascertaining whe-
Their such was their opinion or not espe-
cially, as the most grievous complaints had
been against the inequality of representa-.
ton in the senate itself. We we're weak
enough to imagine that measure, by
which the will of the heohie was recogniz
ed as the only guide to determine whether
the constitution ought to he altered, was
truly respectful towards them, and per.
fectly consistent with the duty of their re.
IitrcSentatiUes. But in this we were terri.
bly, mistaken for the worthy members o.
the senate have said that the recommends.
tion to instruct their representatives, which
has heretofore been usually made to the
freeholders, was indeed g. regular and
respectful mode of procee ding" altho' in
tended, (as they insinu.te, ''to procure
evidences OF discomfort out that the re.
solution in question would have betn co
most impoitic AID unconstitutional assump-
ton of power by the General Assembly
. The reason Of this heavy accusation a.
gainst the resolution was that it would
"compel the people of this commonwealth
"to petition, or to declare they will not pc
tition for the call of Il convention"
Now, as there was nothing compulsory
in the words of the resolution and it only
afforded the freeholders an opportunity "a
enter their votes with the sheriff or serge
ant, without subjecting them TO any penalty
I for failing to do so this objection never
, entered our heads; and we acknowledge
, ourselves greatly indebted to the gentle.
men of the senate for revealinv it to US.
But, strange to tell althh' they inform
rs, in their first paragraph, that they ere
"pose too much confidence in the inteli-
"gence and patriotism Of the electors oI
: "this state to suppose them ignorant of the
f "sum of political happiness or evil, which
"they may enjoy OF suffer-" which intelli-
gence and patriotism, we had taken it for
granted, would enable those electors, with
, out difficulty, or the danger of any commo-
, ton, to decide on the propriety of calling a
, convention ;--thcy assure us, in the end
, "that the only eject of the proposed resolu.
elton would be to disturb the peace al state
. "oF harmony and conteptment 60 happily
5 prevailing throughoutthe commonwealth
ito scatter the seeds of discomfort anC
t"light the torch of discord ;"-and that
, the citizens would be so weak rs to be dis.
; turbed by "groundless alarms" and "the
fear OF imaginary evils."-How far the
fear, that consequences of this nature
/ might result from adopting the resolution
I can be reconciled with the confidence re
posed by the senate in the intelligence ant
s patriotism of the people, we confess We
= are not able to understand, and should b,
o happy to be informed by any member o
n that body. But, to relinQuish the tone o
. irony, and consider the subject seriously
. we trust, we shall be able to demonstrat,
- that the sentiments of the senate wore a