Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-10-16
ween Mr.. Jefferson and A. Burr were You

80 ipf me purpose OF dc, lsing means Ia en-
'nir the ultimate eleciian az him whum you
nFhefed The choice Of ihc people? W,re you
not, again, IN caucus for the presidential cleo
ton which ,pk place ia the year 1905 These
are iacts oil public notoreiy. You do not
deny them. Nay, you admit that cauc,isses
nave heretofore been Customary - Your
conscences adm0nished you of the 'incon-
s's'eDcies inio which you were plungins, and
you attempt 10 excuse yourselves" These
meetings" you say, g C no, justified were
pdaiafed by the necessity of the union - No
shuiilmg in the rauks, gentlemen. A caucus
is risht or wrong in prncple; il wrong, no
| thing can make it right. II the caucus III
| iGo8 was in direct hostility with the prin-
c'ples OF the constitution y If twas :" gross
assumption Of power not delegated by the
people" the caucuses of which you were
members, were equally in direct hostility
with the constitution - were equally "gross
assumptions OF power not delegated by the
| people, Tor the constitution has undergone
no change in this respect. II gave no more
caucusslnS power in l800-4, than il gives in
| 1908. Out of your own mouths, then. you
\ are condemned: whereas We Judge Others
ye condemn yourselves for We that Judge, do
the same things"
But this is not all-You declare with the
solsmnIty of protest, which you make in
your Official and sworn characters as members
OF congress, that, TN your opinion a caucus is
ain direct hostility with the constitution :"
| Yet, you yourselves have been guilty Of this
hostility. Are you aware, gentlemen, Of the
abyss into which you have thrown ysursely es
Were you not in t8004. bound by your off =
| cial oaths to support the constitution and
| have you not deliberately and repeatedly done
an act, which in your Judgment, violates that
| constitution? Whether a caucus, in reality,
violates the constitution or not, is in this part
| OF the enquiry. lmmaterial you believe that il
does so you have nevertheless done the
deed at the bar circumstance, therefore, YOU
are equally as guilty of breach OF your oath,
as u your opinion were correc. : For TO him
that esteemeth any thing To b. unciean, TO him
1t is uuclean" With What face then dare you
come tn our bar 10 arraign others ? l; is the
honorable office of states evidence, OF infor-
mers, that you court. With what face dare
yeu, who are demonsirably and confessed
ly guilty, 10. arraign others who are ionceont.
at least, in intention, for arghi that appears tn
the contrary? For it does not appear that
hey deem caucus breach of the consiitu-
ton the liberal and fair conclusion from Tho
Tact oil their having been in CAUCUS, is that
they deem il correct. We had drawn the
same conclusion in your favor but you have
taken The pains To disclai., that conclusion, by
clearing that you knew you were infringing
The constitution, and deliberately sinping a.
ganst The light Of knowledge Do YOU sup
pose the people OF the United States so blind
that these palpab!e and damning facts will SIS
cape their observation You seem to suppose
II but You shall find yourselves mistaken. -
Away, then, with your shutting paIliaIions: in
the opinion of plain aud honest people. there
is not upon earth circumstance which can
pail'ate voluntary, conscious, an ackno,,
lodged breach of an oath.
Again You accuse the memhers of con
siess who formed the late caucus AT Wash.
ington of attempting 10 produce san undn.
bias on the presidential eleetion-by ihesanc
tion of congressional Names" Now, nray.
what was the object your protest Of your
Indecent aud unioundaIl invecjige against Mr.
Madison! Was that in ended 10 produce no
" bias on the presidential election" and Ia PRO
duce II too, "by the sanction of congressional
| z" Blush at the Inconsistencies in winch
you have involved yuurseives--inconsisten
Giles, which prove the pure ADD noble policy
by which you are actuated, and which, rely
upon H. VIII not be shortly forgotten by your
country
But what is all this ciamor and uarnar n
bout caucusses, and which, all at once. have
become so fraught with danger 10 the coun
Try The people of the United States see
nothing IN caucus, but a conference Among
the me mbers of congress To ascertain The "a
s0rite oi majority OF the people. The pre-
siden'ial election is a prevailing topic of con
versati0n IN every quarter of the union for a
considerable time before il takes place The
professions OF the several candidates are eye
ry where publicly and freely discussed The
members OF congrss, then, will have learnt the
! sentiments OF their respective constituents
before they leave home. The object of
Ion L
less. than to bring those sentiments together
ana ny comparing them TO ascertain who has
the preponderance OF popular favor. What
odds does it make how this conference i
called; whether by an anonymous card. or
one signed with the name OF Mr. BradIey
Ihe essential object is the conference: and
so That one be fairly obtained, the peonie
care very little about the forms and cerenio-
mics which led TO it. AS To the ass,,rrioo
that the notice was private, we reuuire evil
dence. we have seen a very different state
msnt OF ihis fact-a card published in The
name OF Mr. Bradley and counter card in
tue name oil Mt. Some body-else. Aud rs Ia
you, gentlemen, we presume that il would
nave made very little difference whether the
notice was public or private since your new
born religion on this subject. YOU wouId have
oeen 100 scrupulous or too stately to have at
tended, although the notice had come tn Won
~ me form OF subpoena I'D tesiifcandum.
and, that, on the sulemn call of your country.
| where, then, are all those, ferrors which
are supposed to exist in caucusses ? Accord
Ing to our apprehension of them, their con-
clusion will flow from the people; will be the
mere echo OF the peoples voice. But shoud
1t be otherwise should they misrepresent the
opinion OF the people, they have spoken as
caucus not as congress; their conclusions
| have OnlTUafInD. m "A no