Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-01-13
RICHMOND, JANUARY rs, 1874.
HOUSE OF DELEG.4TES.

HOOoC Ut OELEGB (ES.
DEBATE ON THE hill FOR THE RELIEF OF no.
DOUTHAT.
On Mr.. Tyler's motion the bill for the re-
lief of Robert Douthat wa. taken up
MIR. TYLER rose in support Of the bill.-He
said that he had to return his thanks TO the
house for the courtesy il had extended To
him in having permitted this bin 10 pass.
without opposliion, to its present stage.-He
feared that it would not be 10 his power TO
make It suitable return-fori in addition TO the
fact that, under the most ausplcious circum-
stances, the wing ofhis fancy was feeble and
the vision of his logic obscure, he then rose to
address the house under the influence of great
personal indispositon.- When he presented
the petition out Of which the bill had grown.
he had said that il enlisted not only the feelings
oil tue house, but of the whole community Ell
fher Tor or against it-that the public claimed
deep interest in the subject.-He had been
borne out in what he had then said by the oc-
cnrrences or that day-look, said he, to the
splendid audience which attends your deli
aberations-look to the crowded gallery and
lobby overhowing with anxious and silent
spectators. Did not this spectacle shew that
Inc subject was one in which the human heart
took deep and sincere interest? He begged
the house not to expect too much at his hands,
but to exert their own judgement in pronoun-
eng the decision they were then called on to
make.
He did not present himself before the house
with the constitution in his hand TO demand
The passage Of the bill-he did not denounce
the anti-duelng law as unconstitutional. He
did not believe il to he so. The power apper-
tanning to the Legislature to punish crime, is
comprehensive and general. 1t is one which
knows no restraint. Having the power TO
punish with death the person giving chal-
ienge-to lop off the head of the Offenders
necessarily devolves on the legislature the
power of topping off any member of the nat
ural body-se the punishment of death de.
prlvIng one not only of his natural hut civil
existence, would seem to imply the right to
graduate the punishment not only in regard
10 the natural person but to the civil also. The
greater always includes the lesser power, and
the power to annihilate, the right, in part to
save. Is the civil body, he asked, more sacred
IN the eye of the constitution, than the natu-
raj Nor did he come to impugu the poll
cy of the law. He had ever considered il
botl constitutional and polite. II was an en-
anation Of the beat wisdom of Virginia. Let
II be Judged fby lis fruits. DueIling mad;
like phenix, sprung from that chivalry,
whose tales still delight the ear and captivate
the heart-sustained as il was by public senti-
ment through "a long succession of ages. il
IFS destruction. But this law had obtained
the vlctory-well might it he esteemed min
isterlnS angel, whose province it had been to
bind up the wounds inflicted on society, by
ms odIous aud barbarOus custom. Ii had
obtained for civilization the proudest triumph,
and bound around IFS brow the brightest
wreath. II had proven itself powerful aux
Il,ary TO the christian religion. If, said Mr..
Tyler, any gentleman here be disposed to
play Laertes, am prepared TO play Hamlet.
Aiy praises of this law shall be as loud as his
Fear not then that l shall approach this law
with irrererence. / approach it with all the
Difference due to Use and polite act of legs-
iation. approach il with the same reverence
that would your laws against murder, trea-
son, or piracy--laws of the most unquestiun-
able policy. But, Sir, said he, all laws are but
general rules propouDded by the legislature
Tor The government of nan-and like all other
general rules admit Of exceptions. Ii would
lie impossible to form any general law which
ought to embrace all the variety Of cases
which might fall within its operation If so,
all legislative bodies would exist but for tyran-
meal and oppressive purposes. Instead of be-
ing the guardians of the people, they would be
the devOuring wolves deIighiing in blood-in-
nocence and guilt would be COMMUNICATIVE
knew OF no rule of nature or of man which did
not admit of exceptions-frOm the phiioso-
pher IN his closet, to the dispensatons of an
all wise providence ITSELF Our beneficent Gre
atOr had given to Us the round of the seasons
each had its appointed time. 1t had been or
daIned that the fruit should follow the bios
som, and il had been consistent with divine
will that, as general rule, it should be so.
The jocund spring comes on--the bud ex-
paDds-the blossom opens into day. The
husbandman surveys the glsddening prospect,
no pat If fr,,;t
into his garner-but how often is he disap-
pointed? How often is it that the promise of
Inc spring IS blasted by cruel frost? The
philosopher will tell you that there are gene
raj rules governing the planetary system -
That according to these, those mighty and
shining orbs, poised by the hand of deity in
space immense, move ;Sithin their prescribed
orbits and tremendously perform their revo-
iutlons IN obedience to The laws Of attraction
and repulsioD, with the most wonderful GER
taInty and regularity-but even to these rules
and this harmonious system, we have an ex-
ception in the comet which now attracts our
gaze after the midnight hour. 1t seems To sci
at defiance all the laws which govern the ce-
lestial bodies-and by the ecceDtricity of its
course at one time threatens an approach to
It's centre OF gravity, and at another to wing
It's Hight, like another PhetoD, through the
immensity of space. II had been announced
that whose sheddeth mans blood, by man
shall his blood be shed, and this law was sent
forth under the influence of divine inspiration
III has been adopted into all human codes, and
yet no man ever conceived that exceptions
shonId not be made in favor of many cases
filling within its letter.
II tnen 1t be true that no general law ever
dld exist without encOunter1g exceptions in
me course Of its operation, does the dueIling
al ri re
tell me the reason. Is il alone perfect Does
It aspire to stand DISTINGUISHED ahnYe all la,rs