Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1824-03-26

qusltely horrible in contemplating such a mass
OF female wretchedness that | have no Ian
guage in which To give utteraHce to my feel
| mgs. Opposed as am in principle, to the i'm
prlsonment of a man for debt, am hundred
fold so In regard 10 a woman. The disirbu-
ton of civil rights between the sexes, gives all
to the one and nothing TO the other. Where
privileges are concerned, the woman is scarce
ly considered as sentient being she is quick
ened into life, and an independent existence
acknowledged only when she is to become
The subject of imprisonment, of penalties, and
Of pains.
Now, sir, let il he admitted, that, among
this number of females, a proportion, and "a
large one, If you will, are the victims of vice.
II Is not charitable To suppose all are so. TAX
from the group the widow of some honest IN. |.
cianic, worthy and virtuous-for, these qu 4.
tiles belong alike to every conditIon-as offer
round IN the cottage as in the paace-wh sse
husband, when alive, brought the avaiIs of his
daily labor to his humble roof, where his wife
performed her every duty /" on her ton que
Is The law of kindness-her children rs,e I'm
and call her blessed-her husband also, and
praIseth her :" but he is snatched from err by
the hand of death. Thus bereaved, she re-
sorts tn her scanty means To feed and ,:lothe
her little ones. She redoubles her efinrls-
she wastes her strength over The midnight
lamp, land, with unlisted food, supplies her
care" But all will not do. The cruel credi-
tor comes--she is unable to pay--,he Jail is
her portion-tha grave is her only ref,i ,e from
calamity. given in the mercy of God To the
sons and daughters of affection. Her children,
naked and hungry, beg the bread Of life
Equally subject to this deplorable fate are your
patrols and your heroes-men who have
guided your ,counssIs by their wisdom, or
T. Onturfeu
have consecrated the liberty you enjoy by
their blood, and whose very sacrif res for the
country have been the sole cause Q tn, ir pen
nyless condition. These, too, find their ca
reer terminate IN Jail and, while their ears
are greeted with hosannas Ia frerdom-a
freedom which they in part achieved.
portion is loathsOme captivity. Gloomy
and dark as this picture is, think il not the
mere offspring Of heated and uhchastened
imagination. The facts before you, as well as
those mentioned by my friend from Kent,c-
KY, as coming within his own Knowledge, have
lost portion of their sombre character i'm the
descriptions And is this yeur boosted land
"fi'berty, where enormities like these are com
lnItied in The name of the law Sir, there is
consideration presents itself here, far be-
y"nd The interest Ofcreditor or debtor. The
p"icy oil Tree governments should, by every
means, cherish among the people the liveli-
est regard for the liberty of the citizen. What
soever is common, either in the physical or
moral world, ceases to be striking. From the
unnrimbered victims of tn policy | am de-
noune'ns, the impression in the mind, when
fellow being is led TO captivity, is as feeble
as that produced by the rising or the setting
sun; the sense OF puhiic feeling becomes
hunted, and the loss Of liberty is cIassed "a
mDng yonr every day occurrences. The es-
sence of liberty consists in the consciousness,
OF lis possessor, that, ifhe he not criminal, il
Is surrounded by ap unapproachable inriola-
biilty. Held al the nod of worm like our
selves, tiflt he not proclamation 10 call thing
thus held liberty, il become valueless and CON
tempiibe. In confirmation of the sentiment
that liberty itself, in the eye Of mankind, is
deprecated by the frequency of its violation,
let US refer 10 our formerly bloody criminal
code. We saw death, itself, as capital pun
lshment, from its indiscriminate inHiction, and
from ITS daily occurrence, lose its terrors.-
Since, however, wisdom and humanity have
united in graduating just scale of punishments
and crimes, that of death, from its rare oc-
currenee, strikes the mind as an impressive
and awful spectacle.
Ley, then, the liberty of the citizen, like his
HE, be preserved from daily and wanton vio-
lation-its value will increase in The estimation
OF the people, and its loss strike with little
less effect than the loss oflife itself
Let us next inquire into the mass of suffer
ing WHICH have showr 10 you to exist-the
unalterable condition of our kind. Is il sac
rIflce to which poor human nature mast sub
| init Is il lesser evil compensated by a
greater good l call upon the friends of the
existing policy to answer these auestiOns.-
They repIy-it is to enforce the recovery of
debts. OF whom Not Of him who is to be
protected by this bill. For it is only the hon
est debtor, who has faithfully surrendered the
last SestIge oil his property 10 his creditor, wbe
| can profit by its provisions. The fraudulent
debtor is placed in worse situation Close
Jail, deprived ofbis bounds, is his doom. by
the bill. lf this he not sufficient. in due fine.
propose other and erer enactmenis. I will
go all lengths to punish him. But, if YOU hold
no. 10 bail, the fraudulent will escape. What
doctrine is this ? Yon are TO punish, indiscrm
lnattiy, lest the guilty should escape. How
long has this been the principle of legislation
we are taught, from the highest of all pos
sible authority. that nine guilty men should
escape rather than that one innocent should
sufier, The rule, il seems, is now TO be revers-
cd But II is urged that an honest debtor
would have no difficulty in giving bail. 10.
deeo fear the gentleman is calculating fall
Iac'ously again, on the moral sense, or, ifyou
please, the friendship Of mankind. Friend
snip, ar rather its professions, are too often
| rendered where they are not wantinc-to
wealth, rarely to distress. They are the bios
SONS Of the sunshine, but wither ia the adj
verse blast For
| What Is frindslip bot name,
ciafm thSt iuls 10 sleep;
shHur' that follows wealth fame,
| and ieases lie wretch to weep ~
But let all this pass for nothing. let II he
| granted Thai thp world has been regenerated
! lhat those who Mrrc MT Tic unrid,s frinrd.