Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1843-03-30
Address Of John Whipplc
TO THE
PEOPLE OF RHODE.ISLAND.
To The CitiseEs Of Rhode Island

To produce consequences o! veal or oi
woe, which will not soon pass away, ]
feel II To be an lmperi"us duty To d" all ~
my power 10 obtain for II your calm, DIS
passionate and serious attention. fanv
apology should he deemed necessary for
intruhng the opinions of al individual
upon YOU, who neither claims nor pos
sesses means ola correct judgment not
open 10 all, ] hope IL may he found IN
the fact that ! have never been a very
ohPdicni follower Of pnrty dictatIon, nor
very warm admirer Of party leaders. -
In nine eases out of ten, the extreme
sel6.hness of Office hunters, operates IN
The double mode of impa,ring their ludg
meni aud neuiraiizing their integrity.
They easily persuade themselves that
every election is important upon which
their fate depends, and that all means
are IuslIficable which contribute to their
elevation. Without claiming a more
unerring Judgment ar more resoiute IN
tcgrIty. simply feel that ! am under
no similar temptation. am neither III
want Of an office nor Of anv of the equiv
ocaI distinctions which Office coniers,
and feel conscious Of no other ambition
Of political nature, than that the peO-
pie Of my native State may maintain the
high character which, until recently
has never been brought into question.
A further reason Cor appearing before
YOU in his uncaled for manner is, that
! am not very partial to ANONYMOUS es-
says, especially upon momentous qncs-
tions Disguise Of all sorts, is generally
resented TO for some selfish end. IL a
writer upon political subjects has no 9TH
ar object but truth and correct princi.
pies. he exposes himself TO no greater
risk by giving his name, than he does b,
an avowal Of his opinions upon ordinary
subjects, in the daily intercourse Of life
In either case, If he commits mist axes
nm acknowledgment 1f them, when point
ed out, neither impairs his dignity MOI
lessons hq influence.
But there ara higher and we ghtir'
reasons than all these for presenting my
views TO my fcllow-citzcns upon this oc
casion The principles avowed bv the
party supporting the Carpenter Prox
necessarily tend To annihilate all govern
meni, and To dcstrov the peace "f all so
ciety. They were first avowed in Rhode
Island bv man whose sole object in life
vas political power, and whose sole
means Of attaining it was hv addressing
the preludces OF the most ignorant class
Of society.
The most prominent ofrhcsc principle
arc, that all power i in the people, tha
n majority have n right at their own tim,
and in their own mode, To alter or amen'
an existing constitution, or Ia substitute
a new one without the assent Of the gov
Prment in being that constitution TIM
made becomes The supreme law Of th,
land, and that all future existing govern
mcnt, becomes arbitrary and Illegal, an,
may be lawfully resisted hv force -
Against such visionary, frantic and revo
luiIonary doctrines, ] am ANXIOUS 10 re
cord my written and most solemn protest
should not feel that had discharge
my dCtv to myself or 10 nv fellow. ciii
Zens, without eXerting the little Of p"we
possess in endeavorng to dispel the de-
fusion under which portion OF the wei
meaning Of our population labor.
That delusion is based upon rgh
which has no existence ia fact. and which
nercr can Crist, ,he natural right at a ma
joritv to govern the minority. Suppose
twelve men. by some dsaster,to he thrown
together upon an unnhabIied island would
seven men out of the twelve possess q
natural right 10 establish constitution
of government for the whole If the
five should prefer to live hy themselves
would they rot possess the right so TO do
II the majority possess the right by ma
turr to establish a constitution Tor the
whole, they must necessarily possess the
right to dictate the terms of that constIiu'
tinn. They must possess the rght r.
prove that the five should perform all the
labor, and that the seven should ENJOY
the fruits ct that labor. In such n case
would not the five possess the natura
right To resist II the whole twelv,
should agree TO be bound bv such con
stIlution as n majority should establish
they would he bound bv force Of thei
agreement alone. Nature created met
/ with instincts and wants winch impe
them To live together But the term
upon which they shall live are matter %
compact and Of compact alone.
The whole iallacy of the opposite ar
gumrni consists in surprising that gov
rrnmrnt is the work of nature. Ma,
} = the wo,k Of nature, aud government Ih'
", RI nf man, ms exclusively 80 as is I
house or ship
| hnyr asserted that no ono man, n
class 1T men, derive from nature any pow
pr over another mnn or class of mon, an'
that the power Of n majority over M
nnrity is derived from compact and n
/ rrrrn"m alone ] viii end'avor 4
make this plain and inicllp'ble.
.. Oar ancestors two hundred wears ago
became both the settlers aud The purcha
sers of Rhode Island. A. purchasers
+ they had n right to agree nnong them
. selves what form of gnvrrnmeut the
! should establish. They did agree, an
their agreement was ratified hy the ~"
lher country which claimed, either right
fully or wiongfully, jurisdiction owe
us. They agreed that n local lrp'-lH