Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1829-02-05


pointed out, We recommend j, TO the sarnes,
attention Of our yesders in general.
5s the Nom s|sehoiders Of The county Of Berkeley.
FzLkow CIUzESs!
Bill has at length passed the
House OF Delegates of Virginia, proyid,ne for
ths organization OF C0Hucnaor. In this pilt.
your just claims to q participation OF sovereign
power have been treated with the habit,,sl
scorn and contumely which have characterized
the landed aristocrscy OF this State. Odious ia
many OF rs fee sIres--this bill is distinguished
by aVowed hos'il,ty TO yoiT rights by its pro.
VISIONS your voice has been siienced in the se-
lection OF Delegates TO constitute that BODY
your Figat TO suffrage has been eanyassed and
Ygsc'ed-you have been excluded from all share
intbe formatioa OF that government under which
you are to iive-and your rights have been plao
ed upon footing OF political equality with the
free negroes and hlreinss around YOU. In wha,
/ ask does NON FREEHOLDER of viret-
MA, differ from a FREE NEGRO. In mir
savs The piisicGi characfersst.es of their race -
Their politieal rights and privileges are the
same.
IN the passage OF this Bill, the old aristccra
cy Of Virginia have achieved triumph, which
they fully appreciate. The voice OF an injured
people has been again sparnsd By their oppres
sors. The language of Freedom has been pros
tltuted, TO consecrate the yilest abuses OF its
spirit What means the legislature OF Virginia
by calling hss-REFOR.Nt-fkis,a RESF0
RGIION of Human Rights! Is il Rejvrm 20
petpstuste by re newed sanctions tho very evils
Of which We complaint Is that 8 restoration oil
Rlgb,s, which recurs to the solemn mockery OF
Convention to rivet cur chains more closely
up9n us5 What was ths Refosm sought stteri
What were those rights which we expected to
have restored under the New Constitution of
Virginia? They were, the right Of the people to
selfgovernment--the right Of tbs people 10
participation OF the sovereign power of the
ssate--the right of representation coextensive
with taxation. Have thes. been restored MOI
They have been buried deeper, atill deeper,
under the accommodating mass Of political pee6dY
and corruption. The Don-ireeholders OF Virgil
MIA, nave tor years remained quiet and content
ed. under hope that this great struggle was
to result in an honest restoration of their pri,
7iisges as tFeemen. This was promised-This
. the, had every reason TO expect. And ave tbey
/ thus to be Disappointed Thus to be ehafied7
Thus Co be driven en- to madness' Is all this
clamor about freedom and popular rights to
terminate in few selfish provisions for the
i favored classes alone! Are the People TO be
excluded from all the benefits of this contes,i
/ Ave their golden dreams of Liberty thos "a
dissipste into thin arr Is it possible that in
land protesting Democracy, the people are 20
be summed as the only dangerous deposi,ories
of power' That society is still to DC distinguish
ed into lords and vsssals--men with and men
without rights--eEhbiting The anomoly Of re-
public, where the majority of its citizens are
in thraldom--are compelled to suffer the hard
ships and contribute TO the support of cum.
bersomc government, welded exslxsiyelv nv
their purse proud oppressofsi
Such, my oppressed feilew- citizens. 10 the
operation OF that Bill, which has recently re.
ceiyed the sanction OF one brsnch of this 90.
veFnment. Your just and reasonable erpec,a.
tons have been disappointed. The promise hy
which you have been seduced into ,ranonil,.y1
have been violated. PerfdJ has been aided to
oppression. and the sense Of Injustice heish.
tened by the meaness Of Fslsehood You have
but one remedy ief, without resor,ing 70 an
open add vioisct assertion Of your rights. That
canoot be TOO soon put into course OF expert
men' CaH pu6hc meetings G,ve yomselce,
she advantages II concerted action oad associated
straight Pass resolutions e1b, esstr,e of yo,.r
''shts-tei yonr silence be no longer M sconsir1ed
In'0 an Gcqsiescence in Oppression aud abbeai 10
The justice, The intelligence and uirfuous tee.ngs
81 The ireehotdrs. Bring them to a sense Of ye
justice u yoar demands, and Iet them, in he De.
hyates lohcm they mag send 10 the ConOention.
4 fass care thai yo"r ighs shall be PROPERLY trs.
4 iseisd and guaranteed
Ihe Class OF Virginia Freeholders, | am sure.
are body ofmen who would be operated upon
by such appeals 10 their Justice. They have No,
4 iose all reverence for the Bill Of Rights, and
the sacred and imperishabie principles which il
pFoc'aims. Participants of the sovereign pow
er themselves, they can see no adequate motive
Tor denying 1t to their fellow freemen. TIE
q prosperity OF State, they know mus, denend
upon the happiness and contentment Of its ci.
'zehs' such contentmegt cannot exist in the
Absence OF those inherent and iDelepsble rights
IN large majority OF the people which every
man believes and knows TO be the common at.
"oltes OF freemen Agovernment must move
w s'ewiv when one portion Of It's citixenAsare
Frayedin their interests and feelings, sgAhst
Me other--when the lsndholdep in the pride8f
us POLITICAL supremacy contemns the mechsnic;
sea the mechanic sensible of the inequality Of
VS. station responds TO the contempt. with the
'tssrness Of exssperated bate.
Inc individual who now addresses you, has
he nonor Of being enrolled auong that favored
"S'' called treeheiders,-thal is to say, it has
i us misfortune 20 inherit from his pare cts
wretched and 1ecayed dwellings in the
soNn IN which he lives, whose annual repairs
eA.eed the profits. And yet, with all The
s'defsaons Of self love to sustain the opini
az cannot Tor the soul If me, perceive, why
~; p"ssess'on of few shattered bowels,
a ~" nAd much rather see committed 10 the
'nah sts' d as so many monuments of
- Every, Should eRlitie me % the exercise
inc ro a". rgh's' dened to so many we'll mean