Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1832-06-22

Y
ercise Of this right Of interpretation, sufficiently
| grave, AT ienst il not well founded To- be emit
tied to- reply. 1t is that II St,to nullifcs on
its Sovereignty, the General Government is
| bound To cocrcc the multiplying State into ohedi.
ence Ivy the application of military force. This
question can, should apprehend, scarcely he
| considered an open one. IL was sculed in III.
Convention that formed tho Constitution, on
Mr.. Patcrsom's proposition To give Congress this
| power, aud upon which the Convention refused
, to act. But, IN. idea is absolutely repudiated
by the sovereign character Of the parties to the
compact, and tho character of the sovernmen,
| created ,'y them, and which is nothing more nor
| less than "a limited agency. il is n treaty be-
| tween sOvcreisns, which would he annulled by
the law OF nations, upon the firing of the first
gun. The application Of an adequate naval
force, oil port Of entry, would sybalizs tho .x-
| traordinary fact, of n blockade which would lift
itself, at the very moment OF its commencement
| by dissolution ipso )asio of the Union.
These arc not cunning devices, gentlemen, to
coax cowardirc in:O tho commission Of treason
under the notable recipe, ''"f its being made
ensy TO young beginners" / do not mean Ia
say. that n majority, drunk with power, or
That even Philip, sober Qor the President has
threatened MS much), might not, in tho insane
arrogance of power. attempt coercion But. if
ne DID, know that tho crusade can end no
where but where IL ought to end, i'm discontinue
anu disgrace. A government like ours. which
IS n government by consent, ana not by force
can have, and ought to have, bu. one alternn-
tive, either tn retracc its steps, and expunpe the
usurpation from the Statute Book, or convoke
states that created IL, thar they may saw, by the
oXact and relative force of the creating ,non.o
tnm, whether tho disputed powor is of rio int
lawful, or not. But, gentlemen if nullifca,ion
mas no other recommendation, il hrs one of M
sfhaii importance IN my eyes-that ir exercised
( II puts our adversary in the wrong, if he us.,
'orce: we sprung from people remarkably
constituted Tor tho very temperament of civil
i,nerty. We come from the old saxon stock -
Inc trial by jury. rs the first palladium of our
| rishts' u recommended tn our bosoms, nv asso-
CITATIONS "i an august and venerable character
we have not, nor had our Europcan ancestors.
the volatile temperament of that great and gal-
| liant people, who, with an enthusiasm peculiarly
Their own, can so comfortably through reyolu-
ZION every month in the year. Three DAYS
are quite enough, in Paris to accomplish VIVA,
an American or Eugshman, would take twelve
years to effect, by battle through all tho courts,
from the Star Chamber to Pie doudre. Tie
truth 49, that, like orr old sire, John Bull, we
wis''. before we fight, TO stand rectus in curie.
| IN other words, we must go into court, first if
not to iortify our pluck, at lenst to relieve our
conscience; and il, after that, the Tug then
comes, why we say, ''et the hardest then rend
oh."-The Puritans (thap whom a holier aud
truer band OF Pilgrims to the shrine of liberty
never lived) we"r, day after day. and year altar
year, INTO the Exchequer, and the court Of stan
ne'ies, TO resist the payment of tonnage, poun-
dnSr, aud ship MONIES, before, in the majesty of
Their virtue and their strength. they hurled a
iaithless aud uBgrateful mouarch from his throne
| The battles ofNaseby aud MarstUA Moor, prove
'hat those can fight, whu willing to go into
! a court OF Justice first, aud try even the way
ward hope Of "tbe Laws delay"
But, gentlemen feel that have trespassed
TOO long upon your timo. A reflection or two
| moe, and have done.-This great stru. pIe
| nj c,.,
| stitutional liberty, has fallen upon tie South
yes. upon the save-hoIling portion Of tins u
mon. Ii is certainly ono of the most curious
iar's in the roll'ica history our country, that,
since the establishment of the present coustitu.
non, II 10 IN this very region. condemned and vi
iihed for this 'besetjng sin aud curse" thar nil
the hrst impulses have been given, ia favor of
s"ch system of administration, as shall secure
to us ana our posterity. the blessings of lmi.
ted government the great rights Of property
| and persona strict accountability i'm all oub-
''c hgents-rnoderate taxation, and economical
expenditures. Who led, ia 1898? and who
leads now, in 1882? To accoun, for this SIMPLE
truth, we will not adopt the philosophical spe-
cniatIon OF Burke, however little '"lhe moral
sentiment (according TO his own word>l of the
theory is 10 he commended" But The fact is
so, aud that is quite enough for our business, 81
our duties. we have high vocation to per
form, in the effort, with such odds against u.s. 10
save this Union, by saving the Constitution from
inc polluted grasp OF cupdiy and nmb,ioD.-
we snail be hated. just in proportion as we are
respected, and our principles are known 10 be
true and feared. The edge of great and res
ponsIbie moral trust, which we find in our hands
ana Tor which we are in no degree responsible
VIII DO turned against as, in all the forms by
which ianatIcisrn, on the one side, and POLITICAL
hypocrisy aud ambition, on The other, can give
tortUriog acutenesS to this weapon. We are
lung now into caste which none are permitted
ito occupy but ourselves. The government pro-
ceeds Oh the steady policy of exercising n whole
some moral discrimination between what Is cal
icd, IN the cant of the day, slave labor and free
iabor-aud we have been told, from high places
| tnat we must compensate, to Man, for the bonn.
Ties of Iod-tiat, as the Cotton plant does nor
| eSianh Its golden blossoms 10 the sun, north
VI ID degrees OF latitude, shall not raise i,
nnlaxed on this side of that ill-fated line
| Gentemen-not many days since, ! said to
distinguished and highly gifted son Of Georgia
whom am proud to call my friend, in discussing
win bIIn, some of these deeply affecting topics
Ihe South must he content to occupy, morally
speaking, an entrencbed camp" lie replied
with an emphasis shall no: soon forget, "youd
10 God IT we're eDirenched." I was STRUCK for
chilly with bis answer, but not The less with rhe
truth of my own remark. We must continue 10
battle and war, 'to keep watch aud ward" for
ihe great principles which are TO US nor only
ife, INT more than life" Depend upon it, If
we are true to ourselves, God will bring us the
requisite faculties wherewith we are tn dis
charge our trust. 10 the TvroIese who hangs
over the brink of the avalanche he has piven an
eye That lnoks down the dizzy steep with an
n0taltrIng gaze, to the Arabian, who pushes his
generous steed across the Dcsart he has given
courage that fears neither the sandy whirlpool,