Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1827-02-15

comfy OF Warwick with only 100 fighting men.
bss an equal representation with the county
OF .oudoun watch has l746. 30 inat every
man ia Wsrw,ck has as much influence an the
I government as IL men in Loud1un'
JgsrsoR's notes
You were not insensible OF those
gross deyiations from the principles 81
tae rsv0iUt,on, which, through haste, or
a supposed necessity, the trainers OF
the constitution had neglected 10 ex-
punge from the old colonial institutions.
No man al tia. day presumed to defend,
on pr,acipts, the limitation OF the right
of suffrage to freeholders, or old rotten
English institution of coaaty rep1sssnta'
it0n
Then, when the flag Of England wa
we'd over all the headlands OF Virginia
Ino man dared to contend that il was
right that the citizen who paid BIS share
of the burihens imposed BY the wal,
and poured out his blood in the defence
of the country, should be denied q voice
IN tine government Of that country, be-
cause he bad not freehold interest in
the soil. You had not then forgotten
the hated origin of this freehold suf'
frage Then il was still remembered j,
that the tyTant Charles had rewarded
toe colony for procaimng him klng OF
Virginia, even before his restoration in
England, by expressions and exactions
which speedily drove it into rebellion
| That one Of the first steps Of the :nsur'
/ al obi "a "
which he had caused tn be enacted,
Limiting the right Of suffrage TO free
holders and house-keepers, and to re-
store that right by a new law, to the
whole body of the treemen. That
when the rebellion had been suppressed,
a regiment Of British soldiers was sent
oyer to enforce the arbitrary measures
which had produced il. That the king
compelled the trembling burgesses, TO
whom he held out pardon and oblivion
on the one hand, and bayonets aud hal
ters on the other, to euact many oppres-
sive and arbitrary laws Finally, that
relying on his reglmtnt of mercenaries,
| he did not eonaescend to Gsk the colonial
Legislature to limit the right Of suffrage
| by law. but placed it himself on its pre-
sen, footing BY instructing his governor
that the members Of the assembly ,houid
be CHOSEN by treehoiders only" You
had not then forgotten. say, the birth
and parentage OF this limitation Of the
rights of the people-of this freehold
suffrage law, which many honest repub-
Icans to this day. regard as the very
palladium of their liberties. You view.
ed i, in its proper light, as an aristocTa-
tic institution, wholly incompatible with
the principle avowed in the declaration
of rights as the basis of the constitution
Of 1916.
NeltE r were you less satisfied Of the
absprdity, on republican principles, of
the equal representation of counties so
exceedingly unequal III population, and
promising to be still more SO.
But the same nfatuation which indu-
ced Felix to postpone, till "a more CEN
venient season." the most important OF
all concerns; operated on you. You
postpone the revision OF the constitution
ill "a more convenient season." hoping
that had as these things were in theory,
no prdct cal ecit would result from them
at least for considerable time.
You had staked your live, and for
tunes 90 the correctness ofherepudhcoa
theory Of government, and yet you were
guilty of the weakness OF supposing that
you might depart from it in essential
and vital points, without imperiIling
your liberties. You continued to be,
Ilieve devoutIy in the theory, and to dis
regard it in practice. Time, which tests
all things, has tested the prudence of
such q course.
Forty years have rolled by, and what
lis your present state1 Y'u hare lost
yo'r berries, aud you hce under an
'tsUp ng and rTe,pos sole ohgar :hy
You have changed your masters IN LIN
don Tor masters IN Richmond. The oil
garchs in London were MOI without their
friends, supporters and partisans in Vir
gina; but the majority OF the people
iwere against thea ard they utterly
disre garded the will Of that majority
So is it now. THE actual efficient 60
Ivernment is composed of bare MAORI
lily in the house Of delegates, represent
ling about 220 900 citizens This jttnta
of l07 men rules the state, and has the
boldness, while the individuals compos-
ing 1t still call themselves republicans,
openly 10 set at defiance the clearly ex-