Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1829-11-17
The following is the substance of Mr.. CUES re-


bate have been fully elaborated and thoroughly
exhausted it may be deemed presumption in him TO
attempt further elucidaon of them; rcpctitios too
might lie deemed intrusive the time. and even
wanting III respect to the Intelligence CT the Com
mittec
Notwithstanding these Heterogeneous, he felt
mpeliei by an irresistible sense of duty to extend
tie debate still further, not with vain hope OF
throwing new interesting lights the subject.
with the hope OF obtaining lean majority. a lean
majority OH either side would be Il poor triumph of
friends over friends, and still more SO on the uir-
NATIVE than negative side of the proposcd amend
ncn;s to the Constitutions and would be better cal
cuiacd to attract the disrust than the confidence of
our constituents But his principal inducuuent for
continuing the debate faint gii,nmerng hope
OF approaching nearer TO unanim,y in Whatever
measures may be adopted, than we seem to be at
present from any indications before us. That
wouidtndced be n" effect worthy this great OCCASION
aud worthy tue sacrifice which liz conceived every
Individual member called upon To make TO obtain
the object of the Convention. Without some ap-
preach to unanuy he feared all our labours might
be worse than unavailing. Why should we not ap-
proach this un2:litnty! All that there sufi
Gent Inducements make the best effort and frtu
nately not without the authority Of great example on
this occusion.
The existing Constitution, which, we arr called
upon 10 examine, modify, or abolish was produced by
unanimity. Our toretathes were n1agnani.nons
enough, after aboriotrs investigation. conducted
with the III 'st ardeut zeal agree TO it by an unai
nous vote: And why should not we follow their ex-
Constitution was produced by d sens Of danger, aud
was an effect of haste and alarm. He was sorry to
hear thls suggestion repeated because It IN
founded |, Is trle that forct;tters did act in
imminent peril and under lsersh of that peril, but
not true that c ig.5ri!.nent they produced was
the effect o! haste :,!arn Thc-.-h tIey were
highly sensible OF the danger, it never disturbed the
egnannlity Of their iilnlS during their whole proceed
lngs They went on coJliy AND dispn ssonately not
outstanding the dangers that sIt,urdcd them, and
iiie aal result uas the production Of tits Costilu-
ton
This danger far from foiu- ar9zIGinc. WIS viry ID
oy mem with sport. contempt and dcrision lie
hId been frequently told that 10; ming was more com
mon than hat the unbers should porvelyjn each
either, saying, we must hang all together or be hung
one by one" Is it possible that any state OF mind
Could produce stronger incentive exert their best
efforts Tor arriving at the best results. Did not this
state OF mind eord the strongest Incentives for cal
ing into action every feeling of the and every
dictate OF the head the perfection of their orgat
work, With united voice, They accordinoly
presented 10 us the best Constitution that was ever
presented to any people under the sun accunlpa-
MED too with perfect unaniioty. The history of
their proceedings Will slow that ulthouo in rbr com
mencemcnt of their discussion there was as much
difference OF opinion amongst them as oursefres-nnd
those opinions maintained with as great arlor and
ZEAL yet they MOLLY compromised al! their differ
ences and came To unanimous result
We are in different situation. We are in a state
or perfect security. No dangers threaten us. We
are left entirely free. Yes Sir perfectly free to in
aoyl
natious in search of philosophical distractions to in
tFoduce into our fundamental laws for practical
purposes. w hence arises this state Of sccurity?-
Prom the patriotic and heroic labors which our
venerable ancestors performed under such differ
cut circumstances We are so secure from the
moral tendency of those fundamental laws with
Which we we're blessed 81 years arp that there
is no tear that we shall hang one by ore even
Ii we should refuse TO hang all together. Although
we are perfectly free from the apPrchensions of per-
sona injuries, we not without Inducements to
make US combined to best efforts in producinp
unanlTnlty in our oceedings Should we fail in the
objects Tor which We are called toget!ier-we would
lose the confidence of our constituents and wha lever
political fame and standing have acquired; and
should dlsappO1nt the expectations of our fellow
citizens aud OF the world He mentioned these cir
cunstaIces to shew us the necessity Of banshng all
preudices passions and prepossessions andifpossbe
to be unanimous in results, whatever they NAV
be. He begged to be permitted to remark that he
had been delighted with all the arguments presented
to the Committee, not only on account of their Ella
borae researches and their splendid display of ia
Tents, eoQueoce and instruction, but on account of
their honorable frankness and candour This re-
mark was intended 20 apply equally to both sides
the question. The who's appeared to him to have
afforded new and suspicious example of the lust
celebrity which Virginia has obtained for morals and
tor principles The arguments both sides were
presented front TO front, and with so little dis
guIsc, equvocatIon or evasion, that to form Just
comparison OF their respective merits it was ONLY
necessary TO review them i'll their state of confEonta-
ton But while he felt this pleasure at the progress
of the argument, he could not avoid expressing the
deepest regret, that difference of local interests
should have ntcrPosed to interrupt this happy spirit
IN conducting tins discussion But such local inter
ests do e;is, and they too important either to be
overlooked or disregarded. To obIiterate them would
seem to be impossible. This difference of interests
consists Ill the unequal position of the slave
III this state; and this interest important that the
production Of the labor Of The slaves forms the foun
do'on of third of the Whole taxes of the state
But although confronted at the Threshold by this I'M
fortunate stumbling block, it the duty Of all 10
meet aud subduo the difficulty or to apply such rene
dy &c would De acceptable to oil.
The venerable gentleman from Ioudouu (AIr
MonToe) thinks emancipation impossible without the
ana OF the federal government, aud perhaps it would
be impossible even with that aid-an aid which could
it he had, could not be desirable to any He hoped
the venerable gentleman YOU'D excuse him Tor say
ING that lie did not sec thu precise applicability of his
remark to the precise subject under consideration 6