Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1822-03-19
RICHMOND, MARCH 10, 1899.
FOR THE ENQUIRER.
TO THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA

| hope shall be excused, fellow citizens.
Tor obtruding myself again upon your atten-
ton. The period is an important enc. 1t is
SD considered by all those who feel deep in
terest In the prosperity and welfare of this
commonwealth. Her political reputation and
happiness call loudly fer your attention.
| Will you then still slumber over her departinr
power and influence and over your own rights
and interests as members of this community !?
VIII you still goto your elections with feelings
OF perfect apathy and Indifference, and b. alto
Sether regardless by whom you are to be rep
resented In the most important branch of
your government
VIII you not call upon your great men 70
come forth and serve you for one session at
least, until some important measures are adopt
ed winch VIII be calculated to sustain your
politicai elevation and preserve to you the
character which you have long enjoyed as
one oil the members ofthis confederation
You have still many distinguished men in
your state, who could be induced to serve YOU
Make an appeal TO their love of country and
shew your Willingness to conide i'm them, and
VIII venture TO say they will not disappoint
you Men of elevated minds and refined feel
ihes ana such alone ought To serve you) will
not stoop to the arts of eectioneering aud be-
come denlagoSucs in order that thew NAV
nave an opportunity ofrendering you public
dement's. Virtue and talents are generally
united with modesty and delicacy of senti-
,nen'' ana such feelings have no place in the
bosom OF the intriguer for Office. MANY esti-
mable men, who could be of great use to YOU
IN your legislature, would he willing to serve
you, provided you would call them into your
service. And they would feel honored in the
confidence You would thus repose in them
| roo litle Importance is attached to the duties
OF member of the legislature. In many in
stances 1t is regarded as an office of very little
| consequences
IS there any opinion which can be more err
roneous or one which is attended with more
perniciotis effects upon our political welfare
! To what branch of our government belong
more important duties than that which not
only forms The iaLDs under ,chich ,pe Hue but
makes all the important appointments under
the government?
Nearly all the important powers which YOU
nave transferred you have confided to your
legislature; and yet, strange as it NAV seem, we
all regard ourselves as qualified to discharge
| tue duties helonging to member of this bo-
dy,althoush we would blush if other situations
were offered 10 MS Tor which perhaps noe are
MOI Tess qudt.fe6- When we are about to Sc
iect judicial character, for instance, with re
neral consent we look to those whose educa-
tons and professions have given them quail
t'es Tor the appointment; to those who have
read and studied the laws of their country, and
Iih whose Vrtuous principles we can place the
most implicit confidence. The man who
would presume to offer himself as candidate
ior a seat in our judiciary, who was totally ig-
norant OF the laws his country, whose situa
ton or habits in life had never led him to
mental exertfon, would be stared at as a mad
man, and would excite towards himself uni
vcrsal ridIcule. And why? Because with
one accUru I'VE HyottIJ oil 81, h. H.. -. .....i.
hcatlons Tor the appointment. And it is pre-
sumption and arrogance in the extreme that
he should solicit it. He is without talents,
without information, and without the habits
and principles altogether which qualify him
To be Judge. And yet the same man can be
Il iawgver, or can solicit the SURFACES of his
country to be placed in the situation of one.
without exciting any extra ordinary emotion.
we are all qualified to be Lycurgnses, Solons
anu Afireds, although none of us would pre-
sumo TO be Hales or MansfeIis
by no means intend to say that all the
members of our Legislature should be LAWYERS
by profession or that they should he at
tached to any particular avocation or prores-
sion. All mean to say is, that in this most
important branch of the government, that
when makes the laws by which we are all
governed, 1t IS all important to our well being
TO the prosperity and preservation of ouI
Pohtlcal institutions, and perhaps 10 our per.
mhnent existence as free people, that it should
be composed of men of intelligence-men oil
correct and virtuous principles, and men who
are qualified to perform your legislative bust
ness speedily and correctly. Any other doc.
trlne must inevitably tend to the destruction
ct our political system. It will tend to destro,
II by turning your state governments into
contempt, and by rendering all your Offices
under state authority beneath the objects of
rirtuous ambition.
Why IS seat in Congress regarded as more
dignlhed, as more honorable, and as NOR,
worthy the ambition Of men oftalents. than :
seatin your state legislature? Not because
your political happiness is more Interested in
the acts of congress than in those of your stat,
=, legislature. This consideration ought decid.
edly to give the preference to the latter. re
what laws do we owe the protection of eui
lives, our property and Our characters
TO what regulations are we indebted foI
all those institutions which tend to increase
our prosperity and to secure to us domestic
happiness! Under what authority have al
( those courts been established in which vs.,
assert our claims to those rights and interest.
which belong to us as freemen (?
To what laws are all Our public fupctiopa
I ries directed every day, and the continual be
neiits of which we experience every houf n
our lives The lars of your Stnte LEGISLATURE
And yet, fellow citizens, how does IL happer
Z that we all look to this high and important anC
uietul branch OF the government, with so it'll,
interest, and regard its duties as of 80 littl,
] importance There can be no good reason FOL
{ IT, IL IS most perDicious error, and NAV ter
e inmate at some future time in the destruction
: OF the state governments. II you do not re
. spect your own oilices--those that are essen