Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-03-18
POLITICS.
From The caa,igusse.lie .,c5s.sSaia".)

TIE INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
We publish today the Inaugural Address Of Pres
dent Harrison.
We have never so far fattered the people rs 10 as
that they cannot do wrong If reflection had not
satisfied us of their liability To great occasional error
their late unfortunate selection of President must
have convinced beyond al dispute. Regarding HIM
us mentally incompetent 10, and politically unfit for hIs
high station, greved sincerely at his cXatatlon
Our regret has been justified b. the tone and tenor oi
this, his initiatory document.
The frs, casual reading Of tsuggested The remark oil
"ihe Roman, (probably General Harrison can tel! his
name) "EE nihito nhd it,, and that other "beautiul
remark Of distinguished English writer, "Nothng
come of nothing speak again. But a more at
tentve Perusal has shown that his stndous object was
incomprehensb!c mystery. il would seem that 1t ~
the Joint production of Mr. Webster and the President
All the most important constitutional opinions, the cum
nngly devised pledges about mma.ertat things, the al
fected moderation and the general sentiment OF the
whole, are, think, attributable to the Secretary,
whilst the classical illusions history, mot always
correct, bythebyeD the egotism, the gtter and the
yelled maligny, evidently proceed from the vanity,
boastful garruty false taste, and Uncontrolled pas
sions of the supcrannua,ed Hero President.
1t is throughout party speech, almost every para
graph containing undigned illusions to his two i'm
media predecessors ard we believe is the first of
the kind that has been made 1t is moreover es-
sen,ally Federal. 'sIhe broad foundation upon which
he proceeds that people we made the Constr
tuition and from IL derive our powers of Government
both State and Federal lie says 'the majority of
people possess amount OF power precisely equal
that which has been granted to them by the powers
of the national compact, and nothing beyond In
another place he speaks OF I" the respective communi-
ties which for certain purposes constitute one natt0R
This we have ever denied A number of independent
sovereign communities have formed coniederacy for
certain specified purposes BY doing so they have not
become nation for purpose, and have not gwen
up any portion Of their original sovereignty. Sove-
reignty must be SOLE supreme and OF course undivided
has IN a.
Caroline, and 1t has been the doctrine Of the dis
ciples of Mr. Jefferson, derived from that great man
himself. He who calls nation for any purpose
and to any extent, il he understand himself and his own
language must mean 10 merge the soverelgntes Of
these independent communities, or 10 establish ncon-
sistent soveregntes, which, it It possible to sup.
pose their existence would destroy each other. And
he who would thus destroy these soveeigntes is the
dupe Of his stupidity, or of another designs, or
traitor to each and every State III the c0niederacy.
il has always been held by the Democratic party Of
Virginia. that the General Government and that alone,
derived its powers from what Gen. Harrison calls the
"Natona Compact but that "he majority Of our CT
tizens held theirs by much higher title, the title of
original right. But new light is shed upon US
by the genius of General HARRISON and if its glare be
not too strong for he Republican portion of the Wing
party, shall infer that the doctrines of Mr.. Secre
tary Webster and Mr. Chancellor Kent longer
repudiated by them. To the Democrats il is develop
ment and warning enough, and we advise them to as
sumo nj once hostile attitude.
There is more in this connection which we have not
either time space TO comment and passing by one
Of the displays of his attanmenis the lore OF Greece
and Rome, come TO the following startling an
Douncement: at is however, consolatory to reflect
that of the instances of alleged departure from
the letter spirit of the Constitution have ultimately
received the sanction of ina orty OF the people.
He seems To forget, not to know, that it requires
majority Of the States TO settle constitutional prn-
ciple. According to him tie establishment OF the
funding system, with It's trans OF corruPtions, the
charters OF Incorporation which the United
States Bank has purchased from Congress, the pro-
Tariff whose expressions had well nigh broke
up the coniederacy, that system of Internal I'M
provement, which unchecked would have ruined
ensaved us, the Alien and Sedon laws Of hls
friend John Adams, the censure of the Executive
BY hostile Senate;-these which we have thought
were "most Of the departures spoken of, have been
acquiesccd in by the people, and therefore per-
fec,ly constitutional, and General Harrison derives
consolation from the fact, If General Harrison be
sincere, what excuse such ignorance in u Pre-
sident' If he be not, what must We think of man,
who can thus assert in the face oil the whole world,
what the whole world knows 10 be untrue' il is
evident that he himself acquiesces III most of the al
legged departures 1.-The do constitutional grounds
he is stamped at once as Fedcrast If he do SO be-
cause he thinks (Which We can hardly believe) that
the people have sanctioned hem then he contempt
bic of majorlies IT any earthly thing could dis
turb the eternal of the Democrats Of former days,
il would be this monstrous assertion. Jefferson, the
greatest Of the great; Madison, with his unrvaed pow
of Argument; Spencer Roane, with his patriotic fire
and great ability; John Taylor of Caroline, with his
Keen clear vision and intuitve segaciy these and all
of old Frgnias most gifted sons directed the whole
effort of their public lives against the most of these de-
sructve heresies which this modern hero Of disastrous
victories and dsgraceful retreats mildly calls "aeged
departures from the letter spirit of the Constitution
The next paragraph is equally false and weak. As
If to divert attention from what he had Just stated he
says that the danger does not lie in usupaon BY the
EnI,r $50 NOT Cd n
usurpation of power from department by another
He says TO the people, swatch the different depart
ments in their struggle with each other and remit oil
vigilance to yourselves. This is indeed new TO u.s.
had always thought that the departments had been
expressly arranged 10 check each other, that their
spective limits had been defined with such certainty
that trespass BY any impossible. The lust of
power which he apty describes will always prevent
serious encroachments, and the impossblty Of making
them will be additional incentive attacks upon
the reserved rights OF the States-und such attacks
consists the real danger The contrary has been cease
lessly urged by the Federalists and now see the
President Ginning in with them. The malgnity and
personal insinuation of this and succeeding pa.
raeraphs merit censure and will receive it, They are
in bad taste and spirit.
Gen. H. next declares, and this is his first pledge,
that he will serve another term. We cannot give
him much credit for dsinterestedness, magnanimy,
patriotism this pledge. He elected upon it. Ii
was the only that he could be induced TO make dur
ing the canvass, and il with many the condition of
heir support Nobody has asked him; he is too old to
hnk of it, and the other prominent candidates would
rot permit it.
Upon this subject he quotes Mr.. Jefferson, we sus-