Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1843-08-01
RICHMOND DAILY WING.
TUESDAY MORNING, AUGUST l. Isi9.
Constitution TmkeriRg.
We find the following in the Philadelphia lnqu. |
.er. rs to New Jersey:

be submitted to the people But was successful The
friends the appear be going work
aud have adopted the best OF accomplishing their
object system OF Constitutional Clubs throughout the
State At u meeting OF the citizens OF Mercer county held
at Trenton the 18Th inst, Reform Club there es
tahshcd Amongst the proceedings OF this meeting we
the following resolution in relation native, and
for many years resident OF our city.
Resolved That the thanks OF the friends OF COnstitu
onal Reform are due TO our fellow citizen John r. ThomD-
son. Esq, of Princeton for the able, ecen, and persever
ing efforts he has made advance the noble in which
have enlisted-and that part tender them the
sncerest gratitude Tor his services
Like attempts ON foot, in many other States :;
a successful one in Louisiana, and efforts of more
doubtful event in New York, Massachusetts. Nir-
GINA and several more States. The first is only
member of the Union since 1872; her present
Constitution is therefore Just ri years old. New
York made general revision of her fundamental
law in Is2O Massachusetts in 1921, and Virginia
in 1899. Taking these four as an example, how
long after one constitutional revolution before u
new one is demanded We have - years rs the
average duration of Constitutions among U.S.
Twenty-Five years. Why, many horses and some
dogs live as long as that TWENTY-FIVE years
Why, man. even in this degenerate age. may of.
ten outlivc some five such constitutions. The or
binary statutes oi country. governed with any
stcadincss. are permanent in comparison with such
Constitutions as this. What can be- said in de-
fence OF such instability Positively - years is
one-half the time requisite for settling, hy iu-
dicial into expectation, the meaning of great part
of the high rules arising out of Constitutions and
already YOU are crasing the whole instrument be-
fore you half know what it provides
Such. then. i the result in point Of fact, of Our
boa>tcd invention of written Constitutions. In
point Of Duration they prove to be the Sho-cst-liv-
cd Of all Governments; and as To the other great
distinguishing excellence. which they were suppos-
ed 10 poS>c>>-that i certainty-what is now
plainly the fac, Why, n have said, that they
never last long enough TO suffer their meaning >,
pass into regular judicial Interpretation. Nay, in
one instrument of the sort, that which has lasted
the longest. and to which Interpretation has the
most applied itself, we have positively settled al
most nothing, 10 the great questions, which are
supposed most TO concern public freedom.
Ii thi, instability were convertible term for
improvoment-and every change were an amend.
ment. no complaint could be made. But what is
the fact in respect To this Is there one OF the new.
nodded State Constitutions better than that which
it displaced Does any Of them supply in high
er degree the great essential of libcny-the pro.
lection of life, of persons, and of property Did
not the Constitutions, which were framed bv the
men ofthc Rcvoltion-thc men who were school
ed in adversely. and who valued freedom as highly
and knew we'll what were the best safeguards
for it, any who have lived since their day-Did
not the Constitutions, which were their handiwork
subservc all the purposes ola free people, in high
a degree, as any which have been since iabrica-
ted The Constitutions of the revolutionary era
were constructed for ages:-Thcy were adopted to
men they are, and not as they should be They
were based partly upon human virtue, and partly up
on human fears. They were not predcated Oh the
supposition owhat had never existed and never will
exist-human pertccon-thcy Were not in the cha.
racter of temples erected 10 the gloricaton Of the
multitudc--as soothing and flatterng offerings to
human vanity. They righliHlly supposed that men
were fal.iblc beings-lablc in the aggregate as in
the singular to cXccSscs-aganst which ii was the
part of wisdom beforehand to provide. They did
not admit that man. merely because he was an ami
NAL with only two legs, and neither cathcrcd nor
Scaly, was therefore fit to govern even him
self much less others, and to arrange and regulate
the vast, diversified and complicated machinery of
civil government. They, without an exception.
required that the man should prove his fitness. be-
fore he should he permitted to exercise this high
and important prerogative. He must have reason
and intelligence, he must give cvi.5nce that he
had substantial and abiding interest in common
with the community, whose dcsiinics his ,ice
might sway. yagrant-heTc to-day and there
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS much endowed by Nature
with Equal Rghts'-according to the Largest
Liberty notions Of the day--was not in their csti-
nation. worthy to be entrusted with the grave
charge of a nation, veal or woe. They went for
the substancc-ior stable liberty rcgli' led by
law. Orio speak in the language Of the schools.
they had regard only to the preservation Of the
seHccy Of frccdom:-thc person. the sou. md the
propcriy:--pcrsonal freedom, religious freedom,
and the undisturbcd enjoyment of the fruits Of
labor:-well knowing that, by protecting these
from invasion, all the great ends OF human freedom
would Doc attained.
The modern devices for human government are,
however, wiser than those Of oar loreftthcrs They
arc political Sh0HyS it werc,-nadc for the day,
to serve some ephemeral purpose of faction or am.
btion. They are the creatures Of parsans-ihc
oblatious OF dcmagoeucs to the -cll-loyc Of the
frcnzicd multitude. They an take for granted that
all men arc equally wise, and virtuous, and pari-
c'ic, and that all. however dcpravcd, and worthless
and ignorant, Are entitled to equal voice in dis
posing Of thc fortunes Of others, aud shaping the
legislation oftic country. Starting with tho false
premise of the perfection Of mankind, in the pur-
suit of the mischicyous abstraction Of the "largc-
liberty" they sacrifice the rights ofpropcrty and OF
persons, and lay the foundations Of calling and
intocrablc tyranny.
S,paH Po,qiors and W. Jnicr.
The "'Iadi+onan' takes exception 20 this term,
which the Enquirer applied to the removal Of the
custom.housc officers in this cily. Tho Madisonian
take, iho Enquirer very Justly to task for obccing
10 that procrcdiug--con that the Enquirer
has Tor two years witnessed the blood streaming
from Jackson's gtIIoiinc without "a murmur Of dis.