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


blislled by the sages Of '99-he perceived
Obstacles To the exercise of the functions
ASSUMED by congress, that appeard nsur-
lnean,al3le TO his comprehensive, deliberate
mind The treaty befNeea France and
America, entitled Louisiana To admission
into this eonfederacy Us soon as her impor-
lance would Justify il. But Nr. Adams, IN
the novelty aud abstract difficulty of the
Gaze, could not comprehend how LOUISIANA
WAS 10 be transferred over 10 This govern
ment, even for the high boon of stale sose-
rtigniy, without pfeyiDus obtainment oi
/ the consent Of her inhabitants, fully ex-
pressed, IN some mode COMFORTING with
| their supremacy. He simpllied the sub
leet he resolved the arrangement into
| those broad aud eternal inaxims which go
yefn every contract for the mailer was
nothing more nor iess than contract, em-
braciug all the reciprocities OF private
bargain. In this point of view, he saw thai
the government was violating great prinel-
piles, aud undertaking to do for a distant
people, what they had not wiled expressly
should be done for them. In other words,
he saw congress legislatiDg Louisiana into
the Union, with aslittIe ceremony as though
the assent Of the people thereof had been
obtained, when infactit had not been asked
for. Independent Of the thea prospective
danger Of cnlarglng our original c0nfcdera-
ey by new territorial acquisitions, neither
naturaIl law, nor the treaty making power,
nor the legislative authority OF congress,
as defined IN the constitution, afforded an
obvious sanction TO the proceedings in
question. II these crude suggestions be
embodied with the powerful reasoning
employed by Mr.. Adams himself in delen
| ding his votes upon Abe Louisiana bill,
they will perhaps justify a fearless appeal
to the American people for a favorable APP
probation of bis conduct Bat, say "the
, radicals a self-crea.ed body.of constita-
tfonaI priests, who anathemse every dis
senler from their creed, Mr.. Adams merits
no applause whatever for maintaining such
sentiments as the above, although they IA
vor part of the very doctrines (being the
result of limited construction upon which
they themselves are essayng TO erect, in
their taserite phrase, a broad bottomed
administration Why this inconsistent
declaration Mr.. Adams, they fancy,
would make " Il rope of sand ot the consti-
tutlon"-because he is willing to respect
rather than oppose long settled expositions
OF that acknowledgements, forsooth, the
secretary OF state israilonal enough 10 ayow
his loyalty for certain usages under the
constitution, which his own judgment as an
ndl, idual, teaches him to be of doubtful
Validity. The secretary, then, to satisfy
the riSid moral sense of " the radicals"
should have proclaimed TO jefferson, Mad
ison, Monroe and their respective hosts of
wise Conn5cllors--" Gentlemen, you are all
wrong ; you do not understand the cor
stltetiOn, aud will no longer serve the
public with such uumskulls, unless you
altogether rcnounce your ideas Of the con-
stitnion, and permit me alone 10 e4pound
1t Tor the good people of this county,
But mark the inel liable consequences of
such madness Had Mr.. Adams prepos-
tcrously sci up his opinions against the
current OF authority on disputed points in
the constitution, he weuld long suce have
bled martyrintbe puIItanicai cause of the
Craw tordItes-tnqucstlon tho, with
out eliciting one tlfrob Of their sympathy
and he would not no4v be living bugbcar
to them in their measured strides to empire.
To sum up the merits Of Mr.. Adams's OPP
position 10 the dominant party on the Lou
isIana bill Fhis arguments were iallacious,
they derived their fhllacy from close and
consienclous views of the theory of our
government. II his doctrines were unpo-
pnlar at the time of their ayowal--they are
nevertheless, AT this time, acknowledged To
be eninently congenial with the Sublime
aud authoritative precepts of '99. " If he
has wandered, il has bccnin realms of light.
III he has erred, IT has been with the dsci-
pies of philosophy y nay the disciples of
thenow true philosophy, such as Jefferson
and Madison, Taylor and Giles. Well,
then, may lie exclaim 10 ali cavaliers, in the
rapture of fully, i" .Rehercute mdlo Gun,
Pfaioae crrare guam iStiS reru sentiFe."
| have reviewed succnctly, and fear
not very persplcuousIy, the grounds oceu-
ped by Mr.. Adams on the louisiana Bill, !
Bill which elected the strongest symp-
toms, as it would seem, of his alleged
hostility 20 Jeiltrson's administration. AT
amy rate, 4he Clark insuisitorid maEcc Of
Alexander Smyth has fixed upon this scene
IN Mr., Adams's parliamentary life, as the !
one OF all others, most aAlurng to the lash
OF ridtcule aud the venom of party rancor.
In many other instances, he forsOoth, made |
SD ho'd, 10 vote and speak oct against the
majority of the day. Mr.. Adams has ex-
planned before the world, to ourchiralrous |
General even, the minute considerations |
which governed him in those obnoxious |
exercises ofhis better Judgment. But nei-
ther the General nor The oratorical Henry
has yet been touched by pen replete with |
light and knowledge, and if one were to |
rise from the dead bearing witness TO lis
ingenious reasoning, they would still nei-
thtr believe the sincerity nor forgive the
traillles OF Mr.. Adams. Our knight of the |
black book Gen. Smyth) did, by the by,
act quite consistently in omting to set
forth 40 his renowned circular, the Repub-