Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1836-01-14
TIE E\PIiNGING SCHEME.
=. Earth hath its babbits, us tie G0!er he

i
| The resolutions introduced into the Legislature
,y the tlpun2ing committee, are elicng the mos
n,onaliied exhibitions Of public contempt and
corn Even in this age Of pro,erbal party scr,ili.
,v-,he we'll beaten and thlehly lhronged road to
oa;ce-ve have never seen more nnman>
manifestation Of that t;!nc and ductiic spirit. Yet
i is but fair to say that it is, at the time, dc
companied by some visible outward tokens that
,bosc who asscnted to these resolutions, in com.
,o;,,ee. did not do 50 without qualas Of con.
SCIENCE. which tell that the ancient elevation Of
Virgnian pride is not utterly extinct in tl,rr DO
SONS. however much il may have been warped and
pros,i,utcd by the man-worsfrpng spirit Of the
times.
When Col. Benton first brought (orw ard las en-
pupeinc Resolution, he did not attempt to Disguise
his true design, ~ qualify ,ug and iasil,ing he
meaning of that word. lie avowrd Lis object
,man,lllv, and defended it b, the force of every
precedent, which his uniiriag industry could Gull
from the annals 4 Executive dc>po,smaGd Paiin-
mentary scrvililv. He declared t;u nollliag less
than the oJAtcration of MIR. Gays obuoxiouS res
oluion from the Journal, of the Senate would salts
'ly either public vengeance or his own--and his
views then echoed by all his puppets. Wien
ii was cnquired of this Legislative Iaaa0L by
what process his object to lie Effected he an
svcred unhc>atngly that " iohicc-mort"-or
lines crossing each other diagonahy, so thic>lv as
=, erase every word and letter of the rcsoutor
wa, the only mode Which could otcc, lis design.
Ru it las been since satisfactorily demonstrated
tina, Ills facing and plotting eat &C tie I, cord
would be violation of tLat clause OF the consti-
aution, which crmpcis ihcs cnatc to keep correct
and ,mmutiIatrd Journal Of It's proceedings,
,ba, il would be q" high crime and misd,mcanor,"
which, if it did not subject its perps3atorS to trial
md punishment, it would be because they were
sayed from that fate by other considerations tlan
rbpir deserts. And i, is evident that tie commit
noe of the Virginia Legislature have Welded 10 the
force of this reasoning in laying down, in their in
,uuctions to our Senators, not only the job which
thew are to perform, but in defining the modc in
which it is to be done. They felt the Improperly
sfmu,ilating the public records and classifying the
Journals the Senatr--and hence they prefer mu-
,Iatinp the English language and lalsfyine the
meaning of IA word, by nStrnciln. eur Senators,
while they write the acord ENPUNGED' on
1he obnoxious resolution, to effect that object, by
drauing black marks around" it, which is
sotespunpne, unless our ancient and we'll apprn-
we'd Lcyicons all lie And if this be 50, we hope
a new edition W i'll be put to press Immediately,
under the Immediate supervision of the committee
which reported these cvasvc resolutions, that they
may bend the lapguagct, their timc-scrs ng views.
II expuncine' be ii legitimate process of ac-
ton on the part of a Legislative BODY which dis
approves of any portion of the proceedings Of a
prior session, where shall we aliix limits To It's OK
ercise May not every Legislative body in the
country appoint committees of revision, TO exam
inc their respective Journals from the foundations
Of the government, and erp"nee every line which
may not accord with their ideas of proprieiy and
expcdiency And at the succeeding session,
may not another horde Of Nandals, " fresh from
the people, ohitcratc those portions of the Jour
mails which their predecessors in the work Of mutt
lation may have sparcd-and thus complete the
destruction Of the Legislative records OF tie ooun-
try Ii i, idle TO say tia, this is an extreme sup
position. 1t will be found to be literally true, 50
to weak or ,yrannical President, and his corrupt
tools. Once establish this infamous precedent
infamous, because it isdc,ated by su5scrvicncy to
Executive orders, and not ly the slightest regard
Tor the public welfare or interest, and, WhcnrF-
er hereafter, an Executive Despot may be offend
ed by an independent expression of Legislative o.
1nlon, his minions and toadieS will resort to tie
same exptdicn to mitigate the wrath Of their mas
Ter, and to humble the bodies which HEY disgrace
py their membership. Nay, Ike all other prrce-
'dents, II will, in future time, be made TO embrace
cases which many Of its supporters do not now
uream OF /; and some of the .prcsPnt generation
may live TO rc-cnactcd some Of the scenes de-
Scrbed by British h;storians--one Of which Is en-
oractd IN the subjoincd extract:
From the Boston Alias,
Inc English Parliament of 1927 were lnvoI> "
Gu III dispute with their Sovereign, James |. in
..'efence to certain claims of Parliamentary pr
'"eses and liberties. The monarch had sent them
message, communicating his pleasure that none
IT. IL 'e House should presume to NEEDLE with amy
Ing concerning his government and mysteries
!, State, This excited the indignation ot a
t'Ouse quite as servre our present House OF
representatives; and perhaps, II possible, little
mO'e-so. In reply to petition which the Com
Os drew up touching this matter, the hing told
"'" politely that they were unfit for the duties OF