Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1831-01-13

man nature ley, they would di.pel their preudiees
and decide this subject coo iy aud sionsy the
question of light This wa' ali he ssked-and this be
did ak He solicited no tavo's-hc wanted n'ne-snd
hs could 50 lar set aside the feelings which would
.mi,e hi boso ia asking their favor. he knew that
teman would uo fr forge, theis duty a. TO decide
merely prsonsi groun'-. lie had lived org enoux h
20 know hat ne has 40 iIvors TO expect. Who has
4 vots to le.,ow on others Hs had no 10 till is to
wards any oue-and although he kn- himself to be
the object OF he's ili'es o, he despe kin dh- looked
upon il as he common iot.-Fvr we advance 10 Iie
We end our c Gle o, Iii nds become borrow en- while
the circle OF our enemies becomes deeper Tb, Is
Of tIo.e fsct- VIII. makes long lie vaueless and
more than realizes the lament OF the poet For the
homer OF tts House, he would not suppose that any
m' mher coult decide such quesion on any personal
Or peliiica, feeling. lie believed there were none
who, looking al personal defects, which were many
or to hi. poll csi opinions would decide otherwise
wss now Dc ore ihemI-It was whether ireehoder Of
the county Of He.rco, residing in the town OF Rich
monj, eligible TO serve in this House member
from the coun Of II prico! The gcverpmei OF which
tits House W an important branch, was not a ne
government Whae reforms may have been made
IN the governms ut, the mother tongue, in which
lave are writer, has not been reformed II has tom
the ohjec OF no one TO reform mother TO- que,
tie mesnipg It statutory language; aud il wa, the
interest o no tha, II .houd be changed. And sup
pose he houid shew hat tbs language Of the pre-
sent Constitution wa used contemporaneously With
the first Consti u,ion-iha il uniform, and that Tho
recent Convention adopted h?-And he believed he
shcuid he able 20 -bew ~ ut its aiming ad bee
the same "a in he original Con.,uion He then read
the clause in the Oh Constitutions relative TO Il e cleo
ton OF sen tors and inemberso OF the House Of Dsls
gs'e'. H. her. observed, that in rega-d TO the FIRST
tic verb shdH reside used while in re ard 10 the
Ia ter, the noun resident was made o-The words
- duly qnsl lied accord og 10 lsw''wcre he same 10
both. Aud he begged leave to ask what the
ing o. That phrase. IL had been very of asked bat
only by those who were acquain' ed wi IT,. hi.,o
ry oil the country. Almost all the country, ,hst Pc
riod, lying beyond the A- ghapies, called West
Augusta The psoPle OF that district no, in pos
s ion ct 'reehods, they rad not received the patent
fr their laud-and the meaning of that clause, 'J.Iy
4nshhet," &c related TO a provision which snabi.d
them TO send ds'es gate before well after tn.
mad Obtained their parent. II should he remarked
tina. three and College were entitled 10 ,e nd
smember 20 h. House OF ID legates The Con,,tu.
ton also empowered the Legislature 20 give H..
right 10 her towns when their population sNou d
en- tile them TO U-This was the Old CONSTITUTION
il required that the residents of the counties should
possess freeholds be entitled vote-and entitled
towns to representatives. And how had these words
oil the Constitution been understood A citizen of James
e'y county, residing in Williamsburg had been elected
aoreprssen the county citizen Of York county. rcsid
ing IN the city OF Williamsburg, rad been elected 10
represent that county. The had taken place in
Norfolk and in the city Of Richmond over and over
ssnsn. Within his own knowledge, Liuleton w .raze
well had represented the county OF York although re-
"ding IN the city of Wiiamsburg-and Doctor jTsze.
we'll, moving into the ork part OF the town wibon
any view To being elected elected for the county
oil York. And he knew not how many similar cases
had occurred in Richmond. He recollectsd Doctor
rouchee as one, and he believed Chief Justice Mar
snail was another. Nay AZ the time Of the meeting Of
e convention, two individuals from this CITY
me county Thus we see, we have theuniform adu-
dicahon OF these words-we have the decision in The
case OF McRrea and the 'ong uninterrupted prac
nee under the old Constitution. Then auoad Al,
us' the New Constitution framed-Its trainers
knowing that this practise had become general-baving
before their eyes the fact that citizen, of RicbmonJ
mao repeatedly been elected to represent the county
OF tenrico, they adopted the words used in the
old Consttution-0nd they asked what was
!he,r meaning lie begged the House attend to the
oeiah winch lie should present In the course of the
debates in the Convention various propositicn. 70 5.
mend the Constitution had been made; they were We
W numerous, and were put into the shape of resolu-
Mons Tor discussion in the House. These proposition,
were absolutely infinite in number-and the Journal OF
mat convention would shew minute attention TO Ian
slage, which he believed never excelIed in any
body in the world. After much debe ration the Con-
vencn adopted resolution, TO appoint committee to
lake INTO consideration the various resolutions and re-
port amendments 10 them. committee of seven VAS
named-they met, and Mr.. Madison VIII, was one Of
the number, was in the Chair The question was, whe
Their New Constitution should be adopted or the reso.
unions be engraed upon the Old Constitution as a.
mendments And the committee thought il best 10 taLe
ule ga constitution, in form, and apply to it all the
propositions as agreed to by the House When The
committee reported this plan approved, and which
was remarkable, the approval YVES unanimous The
Convention then agreed that all the LANGUAGE of The
Old Constitution should be retained executing WHEN
altered By the amendments. This being done il fell
20 Mt L's) lot TO be appointed a sub. committee to
graft the legislative portion of the New Constitution
and that portion, from the preamble 10 the end of the
third article. the work of his hand. What was he
70 uT II was me duty OF the committee TO adhere
c'y to the orders OF the Convention; it was his
duty as the hand Of that committee to adhere aI,o N
those orders hen this work in progress il struck
the humb'e instrument 10 whom II confded that
II would be impossible 10 retain the language nj The
Old Constitution in its original order. The Old Con,i,u
ton in stating the qualifications, of voters and aud
Ing TO their locality simply mentioned the counties of
virginia and West Augusta. This was SO brief that
was conveniently incorporated with the detail of the
qualhcahoRs. But in the New Constitution il was ne.
cessary to insert long list of the counties. &C. What
was 10 be done! IL ives evidently TO scparae
the qualifications from the ration of the conn
ties-and this done, and this was the sole aItera
ION made by him in that portion Of the Constitution So
careful was he to take responsibility upon himself but
TO do his duty strictly according the order of the House
that words were inserted, which not adapted 10 the
new state of tbings-yet they were put in in order
that the Convention might alter them The words "dulv
qualified according to law, inserted although he
knew they were not adapted the order of things
lie mentioned this to shew the with which hi. dutv
rs periormedand he was then thinking of some bing
graver than election by the county of Iercs and did
not dream that he should offer for IT, He did mo,
chanSe the language, choosing rather that il should he
dOue IN ih+ Convention Instead If usipp n. W. n
sides, tn adopted The "a resident" i'm both The
Pa'ssgss Suiicg 10 the Senators the Dslegat.s Ooe
Of ihs oher must be adopted snd the noun having he
n'ed IN the hret. also used IN the second I, wa.
We orJ'ct of TIE committee 10 report thst pos ion
winch related TO tie Tesdencs exactly il sood in The
old Con-Uton, ard only the alteration he hid m.n !
Toned was made. When the report was submit ed t.
tbe Conven'ioo ant referred to a commits Of be
whoI' Mr.. ]. slsied that il The or.s cor dnIy on,W
nea according to law, retained rhiIdrsn or Ge
Haies might possess resids and freehold and ihns
lhd'' idua be Sdmued 10 the right Of representa-
ton Tor wh m o such right was ntepdeJ n.r tho |
committee went iato the House those words vsr. |
struck out Oh his ton, aud he here te.,d eon,.n,
.nibkihg no otheT alteration ought 10 bs mads NJ
VIshnr men moved % ms r. "by virtue OF hi eeheI