Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1829-11-14

y
nave followed hnn upon the side of 10, c,,cs,ic
have fallen into very great error by attcrnrtirr
TO apply The principle or rule improperly The rule
Is opphcahle when Government is T., he to:ruH
hut can with no rropricty tc thought to be -preG;
To m're Conventional regulations, which owe
their existence 10 the viii o!thc majority as cyt1ess-
ed IN The Constitution.
Ii 1t is provided by the Constitution ,b,. ror-,
but persons possessing the freehold qualification shall
be entitled to the right Of suffrage; or tina, uuraIi,
OF votes only shall be required elect members to
the General Assembly; orif the IT, gslaiurc in p,r,-
snancc of authority derived from tie Constilop d.
clare that there must be unaninitv in Jury t,sle
Sc.--A these things rig hit and proper beca,ls,
The majority have willca that it shall be so Nrd =
the majority think proper at any time ,bev hnrn
Jul power TO vary these regulations and TO adort
others IN their steati:-thc-e can be nothn1 ,,;sco
ecu' then inconsistent With the unlimited right Of
me majority to rule IN any of these mere CoDycrs-
tionef regulations, which have been so often. snd s.,
'rlumphantiy referred to during this debate
The gentleman from Northampton attempts TO
AVOID the force and effect of This principle as ann
cable to the question before us, by ass ertng tbo,
there are in fact original Fundamental princjpes
OF government; hat the principles of our Govern
inent do moi apply to another and that the MIR
c!Pes VIII MT apply IN the country az diferer,
times and under dihcren, circumstances He Az,
asserted that this principle THAT the rnaioriy shaI
soTsI ~ uo,s not prevail IN England in Turkey
and that yet there Governments in both tben
countries beg leave to differ with tho rcn,Ie
man III every one of thcse positions Tint lie has t,,
Ken AFFIRM that there are original fundamentai
all
IN all countries, AT all times and under all crcr,r
stances And that this very principle OF the y;I,
OF the majority to envoln has prevailed at all lines,
both IN England 81 turkey. Every chance ,vhicb r.,
been effected in the British Governn. eat. from
the days of King Alfred to the present nn,,.
ment, has been made with the consent off he rnaioT
", without which 1t could not have been effected n,
all 10 Franco, this principle has been applied
IN the last half century, to chan1n The f,rrro.,
taent from an absolute Monarchy to q im1,ed Mn,
arcny, nom limited Monarchy to a Republic, from
IN
back again 10 q limited Gonarchy And nh Nv,
dreadful commissions of tina: country grey ont of M
attempt OF the minority to resist the will of the ma,
I!oly: Inc power OF the majority thc govern
nent Is unlimited, and they may. at any Tine cor
yert the government from Monarchy into a Rsnrb.
nc, or from a Republic into Mcnarchr. at r.,
pleasure; IN fine the loTity have ian nduhtabh
onaenahe, and indcfcasiblc right to reform nltey ~
ABOLISH the existing form Of government at the;,
pleasure. 1890
We have been informed by the gentleman Inst NILS
ecu TO- That there are two sorts of rajuritirs ,; -
majority of numbers and majority Of infero~, 20
confess, Sir, do not exactly understand yvhat =;
meant by majority Of interests any mere Ihon 7
should have been abi, cunlrrehend his rne,,r 4.
nc hao talked 10 nc about majority of air or Of re.
Aslen, or any thing else, in speaking Of which r..
could not, with any proPriety the term rnpory
, nnneF1?nd oy the word minority, used in tie
Bin OF Rights, precisely what nine hundred en3
D!ne y-nlne men out OF thousand thro,rhont az.
United States understands by it, that Is rior.,, -
numbers. And Ifthc gentleman had Consulted Liza
| L.
found that the whole them undo Fstnn,, IL a. 10
In order to sustain this doctrine of majority o.
interests, the gentleman advanced prorosii1on
which shall endeavor to shew is u;tcrTt, ncor.,r.
that Is that property is of the clements osocit
For the purpose ofascertanng he truth OF his nroI,
os on, we must look back 10 the original rnhts ~.
men 10 state OF nature Each man had right 70
tnat winch was IN his immediate possession and r.,
nothing more and the moment he abandoned ,fr,
possession any other individual could acouirc ~
ec tlie 10 II, 9y sezing ana aPproPriating it 10 his
state or society TO property, It's existence ana
its validity, entirely to the consent exnresnd ~ ;
pied OF the other members of the society 10 which
he belongs. For example, when tho Too;e -,
acting under authority derived from tFc 5o;.
fave said hat the possession of deed eyecuto3 ,f
certain formalities, shall entitle man 10 Lold i
esa'e' or that the possession OF bond shall Give tI
holder right to claim property in the hands rs
other; the validity of these claims depends ertre
1Pon Legislative enactment and have no fcundotinI,
whatever IN nature. And hesitate not 10 afirr,
cnao w9encFeI indivduals possessing property ha,e
entered INTO, or become members of any socnI com
pact, that hey must lave derived their title IN f,
property from The consent Of some other society m
winch they had lived. Property then is not an Sle
ment OF society, tits only ofthe strongest indcr
nents which men have, for entering into the sncsr
compact 1t was SAID by the learned gentleman from
Northampton, that we have knowledge of srr,
people since the period when Bible hisior,t conme
ced, who went into state of soc{et,, Icitbont NJ,
property do not pretend to be so accurately ac
quainted with Bible history, rs that gentleman lat
ah inccd TO think, the Israeltcs themselves must
nave had very little property TO begin with after
passing through the wilderness; and could narrt,
several otter nations who, in the commencement,
conceive Of men being.
Not being entirely satisfied with this nc,y 1octr;rio
ct majority O. interests, the gentleman from N. in
tnc neHt place, endea7onred to shcw, that there was
large majority OF numbers this sitc Of the Blro
Ridge, we take the slaves in:o lie estimate.
nave already endeavonncd TO prove that .Ee slaves
not oeng Part OF The community, q belonging 10
shey ATE 10 be counted either siic f,glIcl, rs,5f
!oIbidj what ME has he, to count tlicI on his sde3
l5 because their interests and his arc The garncl
adverse to his, and if counted al a they mrs. ~