Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1831-10-05

NV state of health does not permit me '" w
duige in the pleasures Of society. and kho" HUI
how long may continue an invalid:
must therefore decline your polite ,nVitauon
to dine with you, and ntreat you to believe 'ha'
IN doing so, submit with infinite reluctance u
a privaiiou which cannot avoid
With great and respectful esteem
am, Gentlemen,
Your obliged and obi servt.
J. MARSHALL
Mr.. Rawle, from the same com"I1ee'' 'ePo'.-
ed the following resolutions, which were uhan''
mously adopted:
Resolped, That the members of the Bar OF Phi
ladelphia, will in body, wait on Chle' justice
Marshall. and that he be requested to receive
them in the u. States Court Room, at suCh tme
as may suit his convenience: and that the char
man take the necessary steps to carry TINS resp
luton into effect
Re,oirsd, That the Chairman of this meeting
be requested to wait on Chief Justice Marshall
and express to him the request Of the Bar OF Phi
ladelphia, that he will permit his portrait to De
taken.
Resofred. that committee be appointed to
obtain the services Of an eminent artist OF this CT
ty. TO carry into execution the purpose Of the
tOTcSOtitS ICSV'uto"t S"o1'u N''N' o"S>~ $780,
shall assent thereunt0
ResolUea, that these proceedings be published.
Subuersion of Ancient Governments. Under
tins title we find, in the goth number of the Lon
don Quarterly Review, an eloquent essay, the cb-
vious intent Of which is 10 stay the progress Of
Reform in the British Empire. Ii is the object
a., ,v tn ho Eaar rod
from the power of the English arlstotracy or the
tyranny Of the government, and to prove that an
alistocracy like theirs, "checked as it is by the
know ledge and spirit OF the times, is the form of
government under which the greatest portion of
liberty IS enjoyed, and person and property most
effectually secured.'' The writer, notwithstand
ing the eloquence Of his illustrations, will not pro-
baby find a numerous body of converts, out Of
the pale of his aristocracy. The following para
graphs follow historical eptome Of the decline
H"a all # sa af spxsEnmen!if II mn,
cession while anything remains to be conceded,
is founded On fallacy Of the most pal pabe des-
of any definite and given body of men; if so, it
know with what they would rest cOntented; it Is
the emanation of countless and ever.changing
minds, mingling in perpetual agitation, and ever
stirring up some new cause Of turbulence. AS
we'll might you attempt to enter into compact
with the wave which breaks upon your shore. that
when its spray shall have vanished it shall be fol-
lowed by no succeeding pillows, as attempt BY
concession to arrest the inroads Of the governed
upon the powers which exercise coercion or re-
straint upon their will. 1t would be, by no means.
difficult to prove,-On the contrary, il is clear
as the sun at no0nday.-that were this principle
Of concession to the popular voice to be so COM
p!etey brought into action as that the actual ma
jority of indi viduals composing any community
were to possess the supreme authority, no socie-
ty could possibly subsist 1T can hardly be doubt
ed that the actual majority of every community
are at all times hostile to Ld,o; that hence every
social system carries in its own body the seed of
a natural decay-and that unless this tendency
to political dissolution had effected at some point
the process of its own cure, all society must long
since have ceased to exist, and we must again |
have gone back to the state when wild in woods |
Il noble savage ran. But this, like every other
evil arising from the necessary conditions OF our
existence, brings its remedy with it. Long
before the final contamination Of anarchy |
TedCl,oh taxes plaCej uie HulutuueS vi tne !
timid and the feeble see themselves, with horror,
left to the tender mercies OF the ferocious and the
strong. and ioyfuIIy surrender to some bold spi-
rit their unnatural and odious freedom, as the
price of protection.
Such is the cycle which all free human socie-
lies are perhaps destined to run; but we are not
mere puppets, whirled round by a machinery over
which we can exercise no control; it belongs to
every generation to accelerate or retard Its own
progress. and to render Inevitable change, gen.
lie and inoffensive, or sanguinary and disastrous.
We are all destined finally to undergo the mortal
shock which will remove US from earthly interests
md passions, yet we know that it depends in no
mali degree upon ourselves whether that change
,e premature or otherwise. and that it is mainly
our power to render the decline of life tranquil
nd even cheerful. One means alone can secure
o any society the largest amount and longest du-
alton of political happiness Of which its insttu.
ions are capable, and that is the strenuous and :
nremitting efforts Of all the governing party, aid
d by the wise and good of every class, to main
ain the sanctity of law. and the involabiIity of
ght We have seen that the fatal blow to the