Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1829-12-01

" 'it non ileehoider for believe sir, tiia
were ihPoss'pic you cannot convince freeman III
nus country that his neighbour has more poljticaI
rights than himself and tina, il is expedent for ar
to he gm!iy or committing the suicidal folly OF sur:
n renacfng upau or one OF his rights into the hands
d and kcePrg of oihcrs--you viii find many rnen
d wiling to admit that their neighbours are incano.
, bic OF exercising the rights ofsovcreignv blu, noe
lnaI WIZ ascfsbe that lncapacity to themselves =
anu congratulate the country upon the u.arcf Of lib
eral PRINCIPLES, that the fieeholdcrs . ,mselres arc
prepared 10 surrender these pretensous.-This ia q
!reeho!a convention, and believe that large ma
Jority or the constituent body have decided nam l,
abolition of the freehold tho, WORTHY,
ticnen who have undertaken 10 rejudpc their 7,s
Z s,ce-should succeed in tier attempts TO induce
mem TO retrace their steps. which Goi forbid Mr.
thurman, SAID The proposition affirming the rirhs
ci general suffrage could be sustained upon the pm
cipies OF reasHnaud common sense-Is il no., SOL
Saes II not command the assent of every nnprejud
ceq ana unsopiistocated mind US almost self cyl
aen truth'is it not the affirmation of a principe
written by the Pen of nature Upon the heart of eyeJv
human being, whose. spirit is not bowed down. by
oppression and po cal degradatiori,- ,lo,,b,s
the proposition, when is announced3 Not the orent
oody OF the people, in whon of right the sovereignty
resides whose polar star is right and not expedien
/ Iy.,INohe oht those statetmen who make human
rights any thing or nothing suit their VARYING ideas
Oh cXpedency, which has been in all ages the pre-.
eAt LOT every atrocity tile tyrants plea 81 the Jesus
Eatch~ord. But why need detain the Committee
mon sense, which than half century ngo
were deduced by our forefalters and 50 happily ex
pressed III our Bill of Rights Here is a text tl,at
no commentary illustrate, written in Characters
SO egibe, thae he who runs NAV read and in terms
50 SIMPLE, SO ntciiigihle and consoan to the love
OF equal hoeriy Implanted in our hearts, that it
CONES home to tue business and bosops of men,"
10 TINS text let us appeal for the evidence of that
right OF suffrage for which contend, right ines-
unable to freeInen, snnd Formidable tyrants ONLY
me Isl article OF the bill ofrghts reads thus: shat
altSen are by nature equally free and independent
land have certain inherent rights of which when
they enter into state of society. they cannot
oy any compact deprive divest their poster
Ity, namely: the enjoyment of life and liberty with
Inc means fecquiriDg, & possessing property g. Dur-
| Sung " obtaining happiness d. satety,' Sne second
declares, "that oil po,cs is vested in and consequent
" derived iIoin the people: that magistrates are
their trustees and servants and at all times nlnena-
sblc to them" The third declares the eud and ohec,
OF government to be, 'the common benefit protec-
ion and security, of the people, nation or coniu-
nlty, and aihrs the right ola Iualorty ssio reform
~aiter, or abolish it, in such manner. as shall be
deemed most conducive to the public veal"
The sixth efrms, that elections ought to be free and
That ali men, having sufficient evidence of perlna-
nens common interest with, and attachment to the
community, have the right Of stuff; age Now,
Mr.. Chairman. i'll were to asa plain man. who>yere
entitled 70 Vote under these provisions, would he an
q swer land owners only, such pe.snns as have
heretofore described, ilcudingte great BODY of the
: people, majority at least? He eertaiuy would no,
answer freeholders--there would be no doubt in hi:
mind, unless indeed, he should chance to take the
q advice of counsel, who, like Doct. Doubly. find
doubts in every thing-then perhaps a doubt would
he suggestedbut to unde stand tie Bill of Rights
requires not the aid OF counsel, or satesmen nor oil
wise, nor learned men; it is Ineligible, to
Il the most upintellgent. above the grade of non
: compos mentes-and well it is, MIR. Chairman that
1t is sof only the wise and the learned were capa-
BILE of cornprehepding the fundamental rights of a
free government, such government could never
have existed, and lift had, would necessarily been of
short duration But when quote the bill of rights
upon our opponents they do not ty deny its force
and authority, but explain it away by the constitu
tIon- They say their authors the same men, and
that they have given a contemporaDeous and prac-
teal exposition IN the one, Of what they meant by he
other in establishing freehold suffrage the constit,l-
tionA conclusive answer to thishas been furnished
by the arguments Of more than gentleman, that
has preceded me in the debate.
D The circumstances in which our forefathers were
placed, and under which they acted would have rem
dered 1t very unwse and mpoliiic to carry out at
that time to their full results all the principles estab
isbed by the Bill of Rights.-They had not the time,
bad been wise to do soThey acted in haste and it
was then more than predetermined what would be the
issue of the struggle they had just embarked imp
J Why should they then create division at home, by
disturbing the settled order of things when harmony
was essential to the of their great enter
prse9-They thought it wise leave the perfection
of their work for suspicious times this we are
told by the immortal jefferson. and every one must
infer from the instrument itsef-Is this not proved
by the ordinance of the Convention, passed only
three days after the Constitution, by which we adop-
4 ted for system of disrlbutve Justice the common
law of England and the statutes made in aid thereof
to the 4th year of James the st7 BY this, we had
: engrafted upon code the law of pruogenitlre
of entails and the institutions of the hierarchy
$ Might not the same reasons assigned o adher
ing to the freehold test, have been urged against our
statute of distributions the statute for docking en-
tails and the act of religious toleraton the work of
the irInortel Jefferson?o the same causes that we
assign for the adoption of freehold suffrage in part,
e of time for reflection and deberatioH, must be
ascrbed another perfection incUnsist ency i'll the
CONSTITUTIONS failure to prescribe any qualification
whatever for your Governor, your Judges, your Ma
o gistrates, your Militia Officers &c. Now is it not
: absurd to say that before man can vote for his
: neighbour, to represent him in the Assembly, he
must furnish test Of his independence or patriot
] ism, the possession of his SO acres?-yet no test
either of property, residence citizenship is regur-
5, ed Of your govcInor--for aught the Constitution
. contains your highest executive, your highest Judi
: cial, and yonr highest military officers may be aliens
1hs surely proves the imperfect character of the