Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1829-11-26

t ms from st George Tucker e. Spencer Roapt. Sut
did any suppose tins was q measure OF Charles,
who cared not for his subjects beyond his own
shorcs-who never thought seriously en- any thing
but also only intent the enjoyment of his plea
sures He reminded gentlemen that it was IN the |
rerns of the most dissoute and tyranncul Soyer-
eions that liberty alwa had made the greatest strides
We had this from Charles the 2nd.,
and therefore to abandon it; must, on the
same scale, abandon the llabeas Corpus, which had
its origin with Charles the 2Rd.
Let us discuss this proposition with reference to
abstract right, on any other ground buf do not
hereafter lei discuss because came from Charles
the 2nd If we take the ground IF natural rights in
the Bill of Rights, according to the construction we
put ON them, and they rights which belong to
ALTO every individua not to those who pay taxes,
hold lands fight; but TO ever, American in this
Union The riTht of suffrage thea, he concluded is
not one Of the rights which is qua antced anon o.
the inaiicnublc rights then secured. lie ridicued
the idea thc.t these should be termed rights
of nature, which could not he brought into exercise
until man came into society. The very persons who
con end that these social rights ure oil ,ists of ma
tu.e, exclude great majority of the very persons to
whom these rights belong. All thinking, reasoning
beings IN the necessity of specific quail
ihcation: and the question Is, not whether the right o
voting is natural but whether the exclusions and
| llnat ions which about to adopt are the most
congenial to the spirit of republican iiistitu ions.
1t had been said that freehodcr who was pau
per was brought to the polls He Ind never heard q
such case before. freebooter We are told, is
sometimes idle, dSsipated worthless, vet ne votes;
while mechanic, industrious, ytuous aud valuable
is refused the right The man wbo sells his freehold
TO day, Is debarred from voting 10 is it be-
he is less deserving of confidence, than before:
He admitted that these cases would exist, and would
be found i'll ali applications Of principles to human
n"toD but nevertheless the e did notpgove hat hose
! principles were wrong. He referred 20 the ciarac-
ter which had been drawn OF the non irceoiders and
! the inference that it unjust that men so vauu
bic, forming much of the moral of society
aud of the sncw of the land, should be excluded
trDtn of al;
class oil society valuable, bu still he defended the
COURSE of exclusion adopted towards them on the
ground that ii determined Ivy wisdom, s, sanction
ed bJ time s. circumstances. He nan aimed that there
was as much natural feeling, much mora worth,
much political integrity, among The frceholdcrs; tina
they were In situation which placed them above
inducing temptations to corrupt on and that no one
had ever heard OF n Virginia reehuler who had eve
offered to briae voter, or who had himself been
approached by bribr. Il. described the usual char
acter and ordinary bearing of u freelolGer of tho
Stac without The consciousness that he is mem
Der OF an arstocracy odiors i has been desert
bed to be. He stated that go the house Of free
holder, and you meet With hospitality aud kindness
If You have shewn kindness to cl!ld Ct his, Ire viii
repay ten times over, there is God il
Heaven, or honor in man.
| Hetook view Of the exclusion OF the other sex
Is there any one vino believes hat woman, is nesessa
ry inferior to man, not merely the genter virtues
bot even in courage, III passive fo1titude but II
actual courage? He had seen them couraoeou:
IN those situations in which many politician Woulc
have shrunk. Is it Just that thu rue should cXclud,
| the intelligent as the light an! tr.iing Of the sex
No, but the exclusion rests the ground, that th
moment woman assumes political power, she ceas
es to be woman. In tie Of minors, he also re
ierred to their exclusion, ana c,atendci that the gen
eral regulation by which they are excluded is wise
although necessarily imperfect.
/ We are constantly brought back to the Bill o
Rights, iii despite oi az which car Ec slid He re
ferred to the 9th article, winch declares that oil me,
having sufficient evidence of permanent common in
Il TO h,y tbo ri,rh
of voting. On the question Of what is sufficient ev
idence, he asserted that land alone furnished it
The government of Virginia is mainly intended t.
regulate tile internal local affairs of the Common
wealth. All external relations are committed t.
the Federal Government. What remains, is TIN
main subject of interest III which the State Govern
Inent IS to operate. There are two interests-on
having reference to the u. States and the Sister
States; and the other to the different discordan in
tercsts of the State herself There are conflicting
interests between counties which even adoin eaci
other How can you identify the interests of an in
dlVidual with country, unless he has lived there
lie has horse slave, his hands hardened by labor
but these do not contne him particular sphere OF
county. There are other means of identifying al
individual with local interests, but by the possession
OF land Abandon these only means by which idcn
tty OF local interests be sustained and YOU takt
away the great guarantee against the violation of al
the great interests of the State. He repeated his
proposition: and asked if it the circumstance o
birth, which furnished this sufficient evidence? He
fiicuIed this idea, and prayed that the time may
soon come, when the philosophy of attachment to
place where the bones of their fathers lie, shoulc
cease to be relied in declamation as it was in tn,
picture of life, when men without paug, migrate T.
distant places, interest or inclination guides OF
prompts.
1t has been argued that freeholders, 90 where he,
Will never lose the right, while non freeholders thoupi
| they remain forever, can never acquire it. he as
hed II there was any thing which could prevent in
dustry from attaining this qualification; or any thing
which could prevent the possessor of tbc
freehold from losing it by vice and dissipation
or parting with 1t for profit. Any man who has fit,
dollars can buy the privilege whenever he shal! fee
disposed to acquire it. In any county it may be ac
CURED for fifty dollas; in many for twenty five dol
lars and i'll some for FIVE dollars. He referred to a
reference to case in monongaia, IN which the
whskey-drinking landholder is entitled to vote
and the worthy citizen is compile to go to free
State TO get 4 suffrage. The freehold may be
purchased for ten twenty dollars and the first IOC
miles the man travels to get vote involves an ex