Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-02-26

Having proceeded 'hus far IN the hill the Com
mree rose, and having Obtained leave to sit again,
| The House adjourned.
SPEECH OF MIR. RANDOLPH,
On the Bill for obtaining The necessary Surrep
on The subject Of Roads and Canals.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 81, 1924
MIR. RANDOLPH DIVA. rose. He began nv
saying that be very much feared, that the in
diligence extended to him by the committee
few days since, might induce them to think
that he was, thereby, emboldened to throw
himself upon their attention more frequently
than was seemly or. be6tting, and that he
should, on too many occasions, offer 10 their
consideration the crude conceptions Of his We
ry feeble understanding. But, said he, I can
with the,utmost sincerity, assure the commit
tee, that they may lay aside all alarm. on that
subject; for, do not foresee, at this time,
any farther occasion, at the present session,
when It will be necessary for me to trespass
on their attention. ] shall not again, unless
some very unexpected case should arise, a.
rouse IN their breasts the feelings which such
trespass rs well calculated 10 inspire
During not very short course of public
life, Mr.. r. said, he did not know that il had
ever been his fortune to rise under as much
embarrassment, or tn address tho House with
as much repugnance, as he now felt. That
repugnance, IN part, grew out of the necessi-
ty that existed for his taking some notice, in
the course of his observations, of the argu-
ment-ifargumentit might be calIed-of an
honorable member of this House, from Ken.
lucky. And although, said Mr.. r. have not
the honor 10 know personally, or even by
name, large portion of the members of this
House, it is not necessary for me to Indicate
the canse of that repugnance. But, this ma v
Tn mia fhs>r
notice of the argument of that member, +
shall shew at least as mnch Difference to IL
as ne Showed TO the Message of the President
OF the u. States of Ame,.ca, on returning a
OIL ut nature analogous to that now before
us-l say AT least as much-I should regret If
not more. With the argument of the Presi
dent, however, Mr.. n. said, he had nothing to
do-he washed his hands of it-and would
leave 1t to the triumph, the clemency, the
mercy, of the Hon. gentleman Of Ky.-if, M
dred, to use his own language, amid the mass
OF "oros IN which II was enveloped he had
heen able to find IT. His purpose, in regard to
the argument OF the gentlemap from Kentuc-
KY, was To shew, that it lies in the compass
OF nut-shell-that II turns on the meaning
OF one OF the plainest words in the English
language He was happy 10 be able to agree
WIN mat gentleman in at least one particular,
to wit, IN the estimate the gentleman had
formed of hIs own powers as a grammaran,
phojoger, and critic particularly as those
powers had been displayed in the dissertation
with which he had favored the committee on
the Interpretation of the word establish.
Congress" says the Constitution, (" shall
have power to estobtiSh-[ergo, saws the gen.
tleman, Congress shall have power uo con-
Struct il-Post Roads" 80
Ope would suppose, said Mr. r. that if any
| CnnIh 4
cedent in Legislation, that the meaning of the
words OF the constitution must, before this
time, have been settled, by the uniform sense
IN which that power has been exercised
from the commencement ofihe government
To the present time. What is the fact Your
statute book is loaded with acts for the "es-
adjustment of post roads-and the Postmas-
Ter General is besieged with petitions, for the
" establishment" of Post Offices And vet
we are now gravely debating on what the
word establish" shall be held TO mean! A
curious predicament we are placed in-pre-
clsely the reverse Of that of Muliere's citizen
turned gentleman, who discovered, to his
great surprise, that he had been talking
"prose" all his life long, without knowing it
a common case-it is Just so with all prosers.
and hope may not exemplify it in this in
stance. But, sir, zoe have been, for fve-nnd-
thirty years, establishing post-roads, under the
nelusion mat we were exercising power spe-
cially conferred upon us by the constitution.
while we were, according TO the suggestion
OF the gentleman from Kentucky, actually
committing treason by refusing, for so long a
time, to carry into effect that very article of
the constitution
To fOrbear the exercise Of power vested
10 us for the public good-not merely for our
own ggrandizemPnt-is, according TO the ar
gunent of the gentleman from Kentucky.
treachery to the constitution. |, then, said
mr. H. must have commenced my public life
10 treason, and IN treason | am doomed to
end u. One OF the first votes that ever had
the honerto give, 10 this House, was vote
against the establishment, il gentlemen please,
of uniform system of Bankruptcy--a power
as unquestoDably given to Congress by the
constitution, as the power to lay direct tax
But, sir, my treason did not end there. About
two years after the establishment Of this uni
form system OF bankruptcy, was pdrtectps
crimtnis-with almost the unanimous voice
OF this House, IN committing another act Of
treachery 10 repeating il aud Mr.. Jefferson,
the President of the u. States, in the com
inence meDt OF bis career, contaminated the
treason by putting his signature to the act of
repeal.
Miserable, indeed, would be the condition
Of every free people. if, in expoundng the
charter &c their liberties, it were necessary to
go back to the AngIo-Saxon, to Junius and
Skinner, and other black letter etymologists.
Not, sir, that am very skilful in Language /:
although have learned from certain Gu
rate OF Brentford, whose name will survive
shen the whole contemporaneous bench of
Bishops shall be buried In oblivion, that ioords
are the counters of wise men, the money of
iools--ihat il is by the dextrOus cutting and
shuill'ug OF this pack, that is derived one half
OF the chlcanery, and more than one half OF