Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1830-03-11

wing fair and Just representation in il, proceed to
notice the course pursued by the Anti Convention
party after the meeting of the Convention.
view of the whole proceedings of the Convention
while in session; but for this have not time, is
1t necessary to my purpose. Those who have read
the speeches and proceedings of the Convention arc
already in possession of oil necessary Information
upon the subject; but as these essays are designed
for those who have not had this advantage, shall
with all plainness state the mere outlines Of that
course
Soon as the Convention went into Committee of
the Whole and began to examine and deliberate upon
the reports of the Select Committees which, they,
after two weeks debating. had reported on the Bill
Of Rights, the Legislative, Executive and Judicial
Departments of government, the great question, or
It very justly called, the "ail absorbing 1ues-
ton was brought up in the form of Resolution in
the words following, to witt
"Resolved, that, in the apporionment Of represen-
tation in the House of Delegates regard should be
had to the white population exclusively" Judge
Green by way of amendment had the resolution to
read-"that in the apportionment of representation
in the House of Delegates regard should be had to
taxation and population combined" Then the dis
cussion commenced.
The first stroke Of the policy and the Logic Of the
Anti Reforn,ists to unsetle every principle in
the science of government, taught or sanctioned,
commended or enforced, by any Republic upon earth
ono Judge asserting that there no established
principles in government, and another Judge decla-
ring that self interest was the only principle which
govern men either i'll their individual or social ca
pacity.
Thus the cable was cut and the ship driven from
her moorngs and out o the ocean we went. During
three weeks were tossed to and fro the vast
expansc, over the abyss profound. The unfathomn-
BILE ocean is not more inscru,able than the scheme of
government projected upon principle. In TIE
midst Of this "war of elements" the work Of theories
in the midst of these "discordid scnina rcrum non
bene junctarum,- Consestaque codem."* Isay in the
midst OF this conflict of principles thing most
.hokk -. I'LL
popular among the Anti Recrmsts; for the inieres,
Of The Eei ,oas the principle gfhe government which
they wlshd to impose upon the Commonwealth.
This two legged government one thigh OF brass, the
other Of flesh, with it's foot on the sea and the
other on the land one foot upon and the other
upon money, composed of taxation and population,
reminded ME of the poetic monster described by
Virgil-'Monstrum horrendum ngens, informe. cui
umen ademptumf But 1t was eulogized as the
image which fell down from Jupiter.
But it was apprehcnded that, notwithstanding
the reformsts had been crippled and manned by law,
as aforesaid, there was minority in favor of the
resolution reported by the Legislative Committee,
something must be done out Of doors to effect coun-
ter revolution. In the house nothing could be done.
The logic of the East and their rhetoric too though
of very fine polish. were wholly unavailing To
change the representatives of any district, it
cessary to change the people. This was the grand,
and to the fatal device. To prejudice those dis
trcts Fact of the Ridge, who republican in their
views and feelings, against the claims of their repub
lican brethren in the West was the only means which
could promise success To do this with effect il was
necessary to alarm them. Hence it came to pass
that the western people were represented as being
governed by the most sordid motives in urging their
plea for reform. Under the mask of Republican doc
trnes, they were like barples coming to plumber the
public treasury, claiming pol al rights for no other
purpose than 10 seize the purse OF the Common
wealth. and to carry the capital and the treasury
their shoulders over the Blue Ridge and then to tax
the slaves in the East exorbitany raise funds
f,r INN n W. pf,so
to be levelled vaies exalted aqueducts and Appian
why's, canals and railroads were to be made from
village TO vlsge md from house to house over the
western country. Some representations, quite as
byPerbocal these. were made for effect upon hose
DISTRICTS which had many slaves, and were notwitl-
standing republican, and with in calling for a Con.
vention. Runners mounted on swift horses secured
those districts which bordered on the mountains,
which from their proximity to the West, and from
the purity of their atmosphere, were inspired with
regard for equal rights than their brethren who
lived the sands and inhaled the fogs of the Attain
tic. Petitions, circumstances and approximations,
nflammatory speeches and addresses were yinp like
kites the hills, and the panic struck farmers,
alarmed for their negroes and their estates, were
invoked and provoked to sign instructions to their
representatives. 10 60 over TO the East, and to aid
them against the Barbarian and Vandal trbes of the
West, who were coming the mountains to plum
der them OF their wealth, and TO snatch the sccptve
from old Virginia.
Thus excited aroused the indignant husbandnen in the
then y the yard and finally BY the perch, enong their repre-
scnta,ives take Of their aud
canors Of the peasay Of the West" Thus was counter
revolution ultimately effected which neither logic nor the
rhetoric of all the pcadsrs could effect house Those
who plead the English politics, and the English government
without any hereditary king might have plead dooms day
wiiou, making convert had not been for this appeal
the pockets Of the slave holders for after most e,o
1uen and accomplished of the East Of the most en-
lghtened and energetic reoe that graccd our ranks
Of his seat rather than moral
against his conscience miaepresen his constituents
aer FIVE weeks debating, two in Select Committees
three in Committee Of the Whole after resignation Of Gen
eral Taylor OF Norfolk when the reso
ton of the Select Committee, the amendment Judge Green
the contrary notwithstanding, the s basis tic House
Of Delegates carried by Of forty forty seven
must in justice TO all here remark that the alarms produ.
ced Of doors in districts perhaps
cd Of speeches Of President Monroe Than from the
most nammatory of the speeches pronounced by the advo
Gates for taxation and population eonbned This venerable
gentleman who his body the Of the bsues the
Revolution, who had ed The highest office EARTH who had
for eight years sat N chair more august aud honorab. than
the throne which the C1sars the venerable and
the patriotic Of the pa'ria Of the band
Of the republican districts in tho Commonwealth
havingan immense Influence through tire State impaired in.
deed in body, and consequently in mind also, somewhat
excited by the Vchsnence and warmth those who appeared
determined 10 hold the power to divide the Staie-hc