The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1823-08-05

| front al the accusation, aud such would il
ever remain Under the management of
those Who ARE hostile to Mr. Adams and his
" overshadowing fame," If the friends Of
truth and merit did not unfold To the com
| munliy, ali the extenuaiing fieis upon
which he stands even proudly redeemed
from reproaeb. 4 word, therefore, in my
lpoor style, respecting these grounds Of de
fence, as they would be denoHinatcd in the
forum.
In regard then, 10 the spirit of the Rights
of Man, as a dissertation upon government,
MIR. Adams has dared las he had right to
question its moderation aud its strict com
patability with the principles Of national
freedom. Whilst the right Of impugffng
this work must he conceded 10 Mr.. Adams,
and The exercise Of that right has not been
marked by the slightest hostility 10 the Sd
cred Institutions ofhs own country, where
Is the statesman muTc capable OF prOnoun-
cingnpon It's merits both political & literary?
In the examination Of the Rights Of Man,
| Mr. Adams, IT may be, was drawn into
some collateral arguments respecting the
extent Of popular sovereignty, under the
British constitution, which would be M
sound as general propositions, aud which
he certainly could not have been hardy e.
noug 10 intend for the government Of the
United States. Whether such arguments
are used in PubIicola, the only political work
ever written by Mr. Adams, and of course
the sole repository where they could be
found If they have existence at all, rs his,
am unable To say of my own knowledge,
having never either perused or even seen
| Puhlicoa.
| Ills enemies, however, in their zeal 10
put him down by arraigaing his every opin
ION and act from youth up tn manhood,
have of late ransacked this pamphlet aud
eulled 'front.' the most obnoxious passages.
Alter all their ingenious devices to torture
aud pervert the context, by animadyerting
| upon detached sentences, las might be ex
pected they convict the author of too hor-
rible mlsdemeauors the one sally OF RI
dicule upon the demon of jacobinlsm, and
| lh. other n iibe against human liberty, by
denying the right OF the people Of England
| 10 change thclr constitution. The latter
| imputation Is barely, the first not at all
| worthy Of an answer IL surely cannot
| startle the most genuine republican who is
yersed IN government as n science, aud 10
whom all the distinctions between the va
rous forms of il are familiar, to contem
plate such an argument as the above named
one. To realize It's soundncss, we need
not look very deeply into the principles of
political philosophy. 1t does not assail the
supremacy of The great body Of the people
| III social communities generally II pro
| ianesnot those heaven born, fundanentalaX
IONS OF republican polity Tor which Locke
wrote, lIdmpden ioughtand Sydney bled."
| Fo--withou' the least imaginable irreYar
cnce towards those holy, impregnllle doc-
trlues OF Plato, and Tully, among the an-
cicnts--of Locke and Franklin among the
moderns--Mr. Adams deduccd l,s argu-
mcnt entirely from the peculiar structure af
| the British constitutions. lie Was rnraEed,
! 1 presume, IN investigating The means and
the mode indicated ~ thai constitution Tor
ellcctlng us own amendment or renovation.
Ey reference to historical preeearuf-. Hs
well as the genius of the British cno9.fu.
ton, and the numerous enlightened trestl
SEES upon lis character, he found, nay, al
0n'e perceived, that there was but one con
tingency ON the happiness OF which ii
could be recognised, and bot one depart
nent in that political system, thro' which
that function could be performed. The
tcontingency alluded to is when the British
crown became diriecl IN the reisning sove
reigns. The department Of government.
whose province 1t Is to cure that evil, and
reinst,te or new modcl the constituted au-
tholitcs, Is parliament in its omnipotrnt
capacity. Wherefore, having ascertainrd
that Abe English constitution neither theo-
retical,y nor practically invested any other
portion of the body polite than parliament
with the authority to modify lis features,
he nationally enough subtracts from the
portion of power retained by the people Of
| that country, under their existing frame of
pOlity, the right to change the constitution
~ their primary character Like Black
stone, he looks not directly to those con
founding, awful emergencies which are at
hand, when nation IS involved III the
paroxysms oi reyolution--when the bands
Of social order are dissolved, and all the
primary elements of government have been
restored back 10 the hands of the people
| for in such dilapidated state of the body
lpolitic as this, Mr.. Adams would uugucs-
tionably, both with Blackstone and Locke,
have maintained that the people, even the
English people, were the sole Judges of
their own necessities and the only legiti-
mate trainers of the new regime required
! by their condition. So mitch by way of
lortIfying Dir. Adams's celebrated argu-
ment against the sophistry aud Glamour of
his inturate southern enemies.
ilatter myself that the moderate of all
parties who notice my reasoning will per
ceiye ordinary force in it, and at all events,
agree that neither the head nor the hcartof
MIR. Adams is dependent upon the pen of
any advocate for exculpation from the
doctrine Just examined into.
But a single unlucky incident has hro't
upon the author of Pubicoltl, spirit of