Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1829-12-19


who ordained il, the people for whose happiness and
safety was nstuted the people TO majority Of whom
The right oil reform Is declared unquestionably TO he
ong.-tbs people the sole, the exclusive judges
IL Is their duty, admit, to listen with all difference
and respect TO the counses of their wise men, who may
tell them."we have been:ong and attentive observ-
srs OF the operations Of your governments; we have
compared IL with air the OF the world
Gent and modern; satisfied it 10 the best that
ever existed; we can demonstrate that has fulfilled
all the great ends OF its institution. that il has secured
you all the happiness and safety. watch is the pro-
vince OF government 10 secure, and that attempt 10
change IL essentially is wsnton experiment to make
that better, which is already good, beyond the
mon lot OF human institutions !. to sport with the bles
sing oil Providence, aud encounter Tire immnsnt haz
Of losing all that Is valuable in practice, in the vain
pursuit Of all that is perfect in theory" After atten
lively and mpartiaily considering all the arguments
adducsd to sustain these counses and carefully weigh
ing every fact OH which they rest, il convinced by
them, Is solemn duty tohemselvos, to posterity,
and to oil mankind to reject all propositions reform
to preserve model Of so much excellence
pie TO the world, and ne rich inheritance TO the gener
atoms that TO But il they are not convinc-
ed; If on the contrary their Judgments are Statistic
that they have not enjoyed the degree OF happiness and
safety, which good government ought to as'ure-hat
their government Is not only imperfect ia theery but
defective in practce-that its defects may be safely
remedicd and its practical good much enhanced then
there Is but one answer which they give the
| councils" We acknowledge your experience, your
wisdom, your vstue,-tho great superiority OF your
attainments, and the entire sincerity Of your opinions
we admire the plain, candid and manly language,
in which you have spoken disagrseable truths;
thank you, sincerely thank you, for the parental solicit
tue with which you have raised your warning voice;
but you must allow that too have some expert
ence In the operations OF our government, 1T that
we have enjoyed its blessings suffered its evils, and
have some opportunity of judging, whether the one
may be abaed or the other increaseG;-ysu must re-.
member that you are endeavorng TO prove to us, by
rhetoric and logic, that prosperous and happy,
when senses, and the reflections of our own
conducted "A lusio
ours is the stake in this government,ours the loss,
IL i'll should result-ours the gain. happiness should
attend our reiorm;ours therefore, is the province TO
Judge and You must US, dissenting from your
opinions, we feel bound to follow the dictates of
| own Judgments"
The people them Mr.. Chairman, must Judge for In IN.
selves when the frderis has occurred when the
defects Of the government require reform and uig.
ing that time TO have arrived, the right
to reform belongs to the majority But the majority
OF whom! majority OF the community, is the answer
which the bill oil rights gives and that
fecty ineligible, when consider in come xion the
several clauses of the i'll of Rights u. the Coustu-
ton. The community referred to in the third article,
cannot the whole people, because they never are
and never can be suited, either in the formation OF
the organic law, or in the administration oil the govern
meDt. IL can me an none other than those 10 whom in
the sixth article the right of suffrage is declared be.
ong-those to whom the Contribution itself was sub
United TO be carried into effect-the qualified voters
To those. then enjoying the right of suffrage III was
submitted, whether they would accept rel ect the
members of the General Assembly. To them, the
Cow enton held in effect this languagc-s We have
formed Constitution for your mt and have de
clared the rights which pertain to you and your pose
ry as the basis which that constitution rests Wv,
have declared that is instituted for the common bsne
fit and that when it shall be found inadequate to thi
purpose, majority Of you have an indubitabie uu
neabe and ndefeasibIe right REFORM alter or abo
II, in such manner, shall he adjudged conducive
TO the public veal I'VE believe il well suited to YOU
condition well calculated TO attain its obect;-bul i
experience shall teach you that mistaken, the
corrective Is IN the power OF majority of you who
may alter, reform or abolish, you may nudge mos
conducive to the public wea--it is referred 10 youI
wisdom 10 accept or reject" Thus submitted, il wa,
accepted 10y the frsehoders the qualified voters, with
out opp'sition:and their act by which they elec CITE,
the members OF the first General Assembly, was as ef
ectual, IL not as solemn adoption of the Conu
aud Declaration of Rights as if an unanimous vote O
appreciation had been given formal call of the ave
aud noes. never entertained any doubt OF the valid
ty of our constitution. for the of formal ratcs
tion;-or II any doubts On that subject i'm
pressed on my youthful mind, such my friend om
Chesterfield once felt, both he and NUT have been
disabused Of them, think, by the lectures of the dis
tingushed master under whom studied our proey g
s0ns, and whose memory we both revere. The coDsi.
tuition being thus accePed by the qualified VOTERS they
bscane the parties To the social com, CT they shared
the sovereignty. they constituted the con,munify te
the majority OF whom the right Of reform belongs
IL does not necessarily follow. from the right of the
majority TO reform the constitution, that the powers OF
ordinary legislation should be vested in the majority
This agree, is question Of expediency which il be
longs TO the majority to decide in deciding it, In
are bound to look to the great object Of Mt the
common benefit, and to enquire, by what organization
will be capable Of producing the greatest degree ofhap
piness and safefy and be most ef.efuaiiv see,yso
against the danger ofn,aI administration. Upon the
result OF this interesting enquiry il depends ysbetlre
the majority should hold in their own hands the power
OF legislation, conide il to the minority But this
doctrine OF expsdiency, Mr. Chairman not oil under
stood is Of dangerous tendency, and calculated gross,
to misesd u.s. In adopting The guide Of our delibe
ra tons here, II may become US to be.tpw a nome mt,
attention on its character. Enlightened nd liberal
pediency, which looks to immediate and
remote, calculates fleets, temporary and sDdur ing
and regards all Interests, partial aud general which IN
short The lasting public good for it's object and truth
and justice Tor its guides, lies at the foundation Of NOR
and political law, and is the true OF moral and d
teal that blind and narrow expedien.
cy which regards only immediate que moo
rary effects, and partial interests which has for is OBJ
jec the present good, disregars the preceps of Justice
and delivers Itself up TO The guidance OF sophislry ii
the parent Of all that Is false and in morals
and politics, teaches in the schools of modern pbsso
Phy uPholds The pernicious theories Of Condorce Rons
seau, ana GodwiD justifes usJrpaon and tyranny and
recommends The most viioDary and needless scheme
reform.
| The wise man, when he enoins rigid Observance
OF faith, strict performance cf promises, when he en-
forces hlla duty and parental love, and commands yor
to do no murder, is not unmndful that partial evi
might often be avoided and temporary good obtained
by violating your faith, disregardng your PROMISE fail
ing in duty TO your parent, forgetting you affection for
your son, and even by inbruing your hand in human
DloOdi-but looking beyond the narrow circle which
bounds the vision OF modern philosophy, he tells yot
that all these partial considerations mast he freq,ien
and that the lasting peace and happiness Of society inn
perously require that the moral duties he has laugh
should be held in constant reverence SO the wise
statesman looking beyOnd the martial AMI