Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1829-11-14


surd, savsh and destructive Of the good and happ.
NJ of mankind.
That the right in the people, to participate in the
legislature is the best security Of liberty. mud the oun-
ia,ion Of all free governments for ,rs purpose cleo
tons ought to he FREQ and frequent, aud everv man
having property in, common interest with and attach
ment TO- the community, ought to have Right OF Sui
frage."
fear, said Mr.. M. that have wearied the attention
OF the Committee, before have reached the Bill OF
Rights of Con titutoa, If Bill of Rights and
Constitution we have, myself do not doubt what.
ever may have been the defect Of their origin THAI,
Bill oil Rights is engraven the memory Of every
member OF this Committee, anu has been often re-
ferred to in this debate. that will read il. But
protest against that construction Of the sacred truths
which II contains which seeks to impair their iorce BY
combining them with the actual details Of the
ton.
The causes Of the impcrfections Of the machine Of
government, were truly and eloqueniy unfolded, by
my honorable friend from Frederick (hr. Cooks0 But
the presence Of danger which may obstruct the la.
bour Of the most skilfl artist in the fabrication of
complicated engine need not impair his Judgment of
the plan by which he works. e-org ton of the
counties Of Virginia, census of her population al
| a time when no census had been taken, of any
people in modern Europe or, for aught know in mo.
dern times; and at such tme-when threatened in
vason, by foreign and most formidable enemy wa.
hourly expected TO drive the people from their homes
and to waste their e'tates not within the compass
OF possible events But. did il follow, that the gre a,
principles Of freedom. for which the trainers OF the
Constitution conendcd, in battle as we'll as in debate
should not be profoundly understood and ably euci.
invgorate all the operations Of the human intellect & al
though il might embarrass the movements of the prin.
cpa actors, to enighten strengthen, and confirm their
purpose'
Were the trainers Of Constitution but half edu.
Gated is contended, all their descendants are! In
such an age, truth flashes from mind to mind, with
electric activity, and force irresistible. Hence,
perceive not merely conformity Of opinion, but an
identity Of language in all the State constitutions of that
period from Massashusetts TO Georgia, in relation "a
the foundation OF my present argument, the natural
equality in which men enter society and the right of \
| majority Of numbers to govern.
The direct tendency, the obvious we'll declared
Legislative Committee, is to enable such majority OF
the people OF Virginia to govern this Commonwe alh
as, of right they should.
| The member from Chesterfield, recurring TO the
same period with myself, and reasoning from suppo,
ed inequality in the present taxes Of this Common.
wealth, nvokes the principles Of the Revolution 10 his
AID Our quarrel with the mother country, he along
with several OF his predecessors, earnestly tells u.s.
grew out OF the violation Of the principle, for which
he and they are now coniending, " Of not being
taxed without their consent" which they so define
as TO require certaiu proportion between taxation and
representation. On the other hand, il has been insisted
by my friend from Brooke, that the Revolution sprung
from total denial, on the part Of the Colonies of the
right OF the British Parliament to bind them 90 an obe
ience OF any laws whatever to which they had not gi-
ven their assent, by their colonial legislatures.
| NO two gentlemen have precisely agreed this to.
pic; anu yet, II seems to that have erred in
their statements so far as they have gone. Their d,
green ent shave arisen from their severay 10
different periods Of contest Of long duration Ii be
gan with the memorable stamp act, which imposed a
tax to operate in the interior Of each colony min
with all the transactions Of life. The tax resisted
| IN argument, on both sides Of the Atlantic, on the
ground that the colonies not represented in the
Parliament OF England; and therefore, should not be
taxed. The stamps were sent to America mob n,
Williamsburg threatened their destruction The .tamp.
master resigned his station almost as be landed
the city oil Williamsburg was uminateJ the stamps re
Shipped and the act imposing them shortly after ra
scinded.
The elder Pitt, and his eloquent o.adjutors, in OPP
position to the British ministry, Of that day, contendcd
that the mother country had right to bind the colone.
IN all cases whatever Of legislation but that
was not legislation. That taxes were free grant OF
money, by the commons TO the crown; and that ben
so, the Commons OF England could gran, AWAY the
money OF the people Of America.
fortunately, as the event proved for us, but un-
luckily for Great Britain, Charles Townsend dscov-
cred mode oil obvating the objection to the stamp
by tn" exercise Of what he considered the
ed right OF Parliament TO regulate the trade between
the colonies and tho mother country, which he deemed
an Office OF ordinary legislation Hence the imposition
duty on tea, payabs on being landed at the place
| Of importation.
The colonies found that they had nothing to gain by
this distinction, since money could well he dr. avn
from their pockets, by commercial regulations, which
were laws, as by taxation considered as what fe tax
ever are, the free grants Of those by whom, they are
paid They discovered in fact what their friends for
some time, appeared not TO have known, the other
side OF the Atlantic, that TO avoid taxation some shape
or other they must maintain the doctrine that the Bi.
fish Parliament had right TO bind them, in no shape
whatever, without their consent: That the Union OF
The Empire both sides oil the Atlantic that OF
Scotland with England, in the crown, and not in the
Parliament. My friend from Brooke had, in his able
argument, very truly described this stage of the conro
versy, at which, and not BEFORE the tender of repre-
sentaon in Parliament made TO America by Eng
land, and scornully as we'll as wisely rejected Had
similar e1Jt, at reconciliation, been made, at the pc
Rod OF the repeal OF the stamp act, different resuI
might have happened, and the subsequent controversy
delayed, if not prevented To this early stage of the
contest, between England and her colonies the gen.
| uemen from Northampton, (Mr. Upshur) from III an
over, Mr. Morrs,) and from Chesterfield, mfr Leigh
had adveried in aid Of their common opposition the
resolution in debate.
The last of these gentlemen has pushed the infer
ence which he deduced from the doctrine of the for
mer opposition in England relative the nature of
a'ion, TO length as extravagant in of its
queBces inconsistent with the modern notion of
| on on both sides Of the Atlantic.
Are we TO go back TO the decension Of the Feudal
system, imported from Normandy, or yet farther, TO
the Saxon Witenagemote TO learn from the antiquities
OF the English government the nature of taxation in
America? That taxes, not the free grants of those
who pay them, in a country where every thing is taxed
seals the keyhole Of the door of the ware of
the manufacturer, and carries away the key in his
| pocket.
That the House OF Commons, gradually acquired the
rank OF coordinate branch Of the English Parliament
by brmy uniting 10 their grants of money TO the crown
The petitions OF their constituents for dress griev
ances Is an historical fact, which reflect light
| on the path Tour present enquiry.
| The Legislative power Of the Commons is establish
ed in England, the principles Of the revolution OF
1888 Taxation is branch OF Legislative power and
the instrument Of its acquisition. In the last relation
bears no necessary affinity to the end which IL accom-
pished.