Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1828-02-14
PROGRESS OF ERROR.

irue Nosiem from their places OF worship.
NERGINAUD.
PROGRESS OF ERROR.
The famous Tom Brown wrote very excellent
scientific work on Vulgar Errors of which new
Edition might be published every 20 or 30 wears,
with additions, emendatioas, corrections, & eff
II were to be extended into the region of politics.
the Volume might be considerably enlarged.-E-
ven IN our own government, though its powersare
defined by written Constitution, new abuses are
/ apt 10 creep IN; new dogmas 10 rise up new mis-
takes nsensibly mix with the stream OF public o.
pinion, and taipt the course of measures Practice
to-day becomes precedent tomorrow; and even
the Magma Charta itself, the Constitution which is
to keep every thing within proper limits, is liable
10 changes; sometimes by the n!iscoHStyuc-
non OF our public servants and sometimes by the
plumbers OF the printers.A case OF this latter de-
scription has recently been stated to us by a very
Intelligent gentleman, as falling within his own
knowledge
| He lately found in u tavern in Spottsvlyapia
county, where he dined, hanging up in the Bar
room, printed sheet, ornamented with a print OF
! Washington's Head and published by Robert De
Silver of Philadelphia, headed with the words
"Constsution OF the United States, arranged and
! epitomZed."-Thc sheet is divided into perpendi-
cular columns, each headed with Il summary in
dicaung the matter contained in that column, such
as :. Declared objects & ends in -:ew''-'' Powers
OF the whole Congress of tie United States'' SC
Under the last OF these heads the powers of Con-
!. gresS are arranged in distinct columns numbered
/, 2, 3, Sc, and reads thus
. LIST. To lay and collect taxes, duties imposts
and excuses, which are uniform throughout the q.
States
g ID. To provide f1r the common defence and
! general welfare OF the United States'-
| Thus representing the power in respect TO lay
ing and collecting taxes, &C., and to provide for
! the common defence, sc. as special, distinct SUBJ
! slanuye and unconnected powers whereas in the
act OF ratification, by the Virginia Convention of
the Constitution Of the United States, signed 5U
Edmund Pendiet0J,, the President of the Con-
ceHtlon, The rst clause OF the Sth article is writ
ten thus, with the punctuation we now give il ::
Sec. 8. Congress shall have power TO law and
" collect taxes, duties inlposts and cxcises 20 paw
Sc the debts and provide tor the common defence
and genera. welfare OF tn e United States; but
all duties, iInposts and excuses shall bc-unforrn
! 60 throughout the United States :" The obvious
meaning of which is that, whilst power is given to
lay and collect taxes, &c, that power is not unli
nlitcd and discretionary but confined to the pur
| pose Of providin the pccunary means of paving
| the debts and providing iog the common defence
and general welfare, and subject to the limitation
that such duties, &c shall be uniform throughout
| the U. States Knowing that the imposition OF
prohibitory duties had been attempted to be usti-
fed by this clause of the Constitution altI,o such
indirect prohibition is neither LAYING and colec
ting duties, providing any pecuniary means for
| any purpose; and that discretionary power to do
| any thing, which the Congress might think CON
ducive TO the general welfare, had been also
Cldusc ana the preamble
Constution--and that it had been imputed 10 Mr.
Adams, that whilst Secretary OF State in publish
ing copy of the Constitution from the original in
his office, under an order of Congress- ne had eli
Their by mistake, or Intentionally inspointed this
clause, by putting semicolon instead Of comma
after the word "excises," where il first occurs as
il has since been printed in our new Revised Code
our respectable informant mentioned the subject
to some of his SPotsylvania acquaintances, Stat
ing that MIR. De Silvers Analysis Of the Constitu-
i tim Nuua unf fNa.. -.
His friends informed him, that great numbers of
these papers dispersed in that quarter Of the
country at very low price, and one of the rem
tlemen informed him that upon refusing TO buy
one OF them, the person who had them for sale, a
stranger and sOjouruer, had given him one oyOsis
Although no punctuation Of this paragraph of the
9Th Art. o! the Con. fairly vary constrtlc.
ton from that which necessarily results from ia
context taken all together-yet ii has either led
Mr.. De Silver into 4 mistake, or given him 70.
lorabIe defence, for Intentional nlisrcpresenta-
ton Of the terms Of the constitution His Evilehnc
thus circulated without CORE ctun, Is well calcu-
lated TO nislead the Of those who see IL. IA
they have no suspicion that IL Is not true repra-
sentation Of the forms O! the Constitution and md
have no ready access 20 true copy Of it, in IL 5ri
gina form. This mischief, whether accidental or
intentional, ought TO be ccctuIlly count, racted
and that probably can be done in no better ,yav
than in the Pcblc manner Sse have now adopted
We should Ike know Of Mr. Bnn whether he
is the author ofthc letter addressed 20 himself from
Z" Virginia, Jan. 90 upon ihe subject Of Virgil
mia Politics :" or whether IS ii tho bona fdc com
position Of one OF his correspondents Should il
be the last, VIC would really congratulate the su-
thor upon the fecuDlity Of bis Imagination what
miracles IS the Adams Convention to achieve p
" Virginia may now be set down for Adams and
Rush! Madison and Monroe, IL is clearly az
certained, are unequivocaly with us''l--s' The
Jackson ranks present woe bcgOBe, despondnr
view, which Is rather calculated to excite COM
misseradon"!-Su are few specimens of the
writer sromance.--Now, can truly affirm that
we have never seen such perfect consciousness
OF security in any party, the friends Of Jackson
exhibit The proceedings Of the Adams Couven-
ton were witnessed with the most complete eetla-
nimity. We have not since heard single iricnd
Of Jackson express the slightest apprehension a.
bout their consequences The writer - pleased
70 bcstow his " sympathy" upon one Of the Eli.
tors OF This paper-Whcn we want il, vyo will ask
it--but instead Of his sympathy" tho aforesaid
Editor thanks him Tor the compliment be pays him
fei.ST