Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1834-05-01

liberty, the city and EEe ceu',' ~ :
Thev aid 50 II. f778. when the executive head
~ fbe claimed dominion oyer the
r,I,rse 81 xrel a fessword hey VIII not 90
i now when thesane claim II preferred:
ixose g,f,1v Is expression TO ieelng
a. !, 80 IS pressed when friends dear
g he were assaiIed The teebleness O. my e1-
'forf ii vindi ate them will be abundantiy sup
their virtues which have y. ;l'5'
Snd esteem Of the cofnnaunlty = ~''''''''
s u ron L iii replied, stating that he had
.|o infenfior, to call In ion the gousness
Sf resrecfabiiity .pf tie nsivI llals who we're
I'D 81 afSfbaf Ms tilia He sflould not have
done 50. lbr he dl1erst ttlle honorable sena-
tor to have been a}nang them S.
mir. CHAMBERS said: No,ssiE 4 was not.
there: should have been proudto have been
among them.
Mr. +. resumed. He was of opinion that no.
thing but a spirit of faction could have prompt
ed them to make such an exhibition on the Sab
hath day. 1t was well known fact that
the CITY of philadelphia had always acted in OPP
nostion to the rest Of Pennsylvania Now as
To the expression which he had made use Of
that they had almost committed treason" he
spoke not Of the acts, but of the indications OF
design on the part Of the people to act-not
against the Senate but to compel Congress 10
act.
mir. CLAY said Not against the Senate?J
Mr.. r. continued No; but against Congress.
He,had paper in his hand, and it was publish
ed amidst the excitement, either on sunday OF
the next day.
There Mr.. f. read two or three passages from
a Baltimore print, setting forth in strong terms
the cause which the people have to defend-one,
resembling that for which their ancestors fought,
and who had sheathed their swords only when
they had gained freedom. The President and
Congress could relieve the people, and, If they
T.. 11,,k;,o q, |
Mr. F. proceeded. Was there any other mean
ing intended by that language than this-that,
unless Congress purposed to grant relief, by
succumbing to the Bank, revolution must come!
No overt acts, it had been said, were committed,
but moral treason had been INDUCED in; and
such course of conduct, he was sure, would
be looked down upon by the indignant eye OF
the people of the United States.
Mr. CHAMBERS said: must insist on the
correction to which the remarks of the Senator
are subject. He tell us that the history OF the
country presents no parallel to the present times;
that such excitement has been unknown; that
no instance has occurred where men OF intellec-
tual, moral, and religious character had yielded
to feelings, which could not be restrained, on
the Sabbath.
Sir. repeat there has been such period in
our hstory-a period when the hand Of power
assumed the custody and control of our pro-
perry as the hand Of power now assumes when
arbitrary power, in violation of an unwritten
Constitution, seized upon the public revenue, as
arbitrary power now seizes upon the public re-
venue in violation of our written Constitution
and laws. The noble spirit Of the Wings OF that
day was excited; they knew that, if not resisted
the lawess pretension to control their money
and property would end in the destruction Of all
liberty; they met the approach of despotism at
its first step. The same spirit is now excited,
the same determined resistance will oppose the
first dawnings Of despotism now. Does the no.
norable Senator rebuke the spirit OF '76, because
it led his ancestors and mine to meet on Sun
day, to talk on Sunday, oreven to light and con-
quer battles on Sunday? No, sir, they believed
it was acceptable service to carry on the good
work by using Sunday, when an occasion pre-
sented on that day which could not be found on
any other day.
Sir, the people of Baltimore who are censur-
ed by the Senator, believe that struggle is
now going on as essentially vital to their liber-
ties as the struggle in '76 they believe this as
conscientiously as they believe in their obllga-
tons 10 their God and to the day which He has
sanctfied The Senator does not perceive it.
Quite possible. The ministers of the King and
his partzans and supporters, in rs, did not per-
ceve usurpaton then. The excitement of the
People was rebuked; it was " senseless cry"
faction" almost and altogether treason. 1t
must be so now, and the experience of all ages
ana nallOnS presented pIeClSely tlllS ulHeIelCe
Of sentiment and language between the friends
ofpower and the friends Of liberty and the law.
The Wings Of re could not correct their rulers
by the ballot box and they resorted to the only
weapon which could give them redress Thanks
to their patriotism and their wisdom for the bet
ter condition in which we live. The ballot box
is now effective, and nothing else could, at this
moment, avert civil war. Sir, if it were not
for the abiding conviction that peaceable mode
Of effectual redress is open to the People, it is
my confirmed belief they would at this moment
be in arms. 1t is notin human nature-l care
not how refined or cultivated-to witness the
prostraton Of their fortunes, the sudden annihi-
lation of their hopes, the daily regular approach
to penury and want; themselves, and those more
dear to Them denied their daily bread for their
daily labor, and to feel ank know that it is the
work of Arbitrary power grasping at the vitals of
that Constitution and the laws which they hold
sacred: It's not in human nature that men, free
men, should thus observe and feel, without
adopting the appropriate means ofredress.
The appropriate mode of redress is undoubt-
edly by calm but firm and animated express
sion of the popular will, by exciting just indig
nation against the measures which produce the
evil and NV concentrating the effective mower