Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1844-01-04
me faculties it is entitled TO EXERT


cratic members to whom wa haye alras
:, u, ;eierfea. we hope they will have
' .ilelr weight with the House. and dsap.
punt me wretched old malcontent. who.
ius'eaa OF being grateful to the Ameri.
.a'' people Tor the unmerited wealth and
h ,., which he attained. at the expeuse
"i'Ne OF lheir welfare and the PRINCIPLES
VI the Government. would revenoe his
TALL as Luclter did his from heaven. He
would make hell upon earth: for such
"ou.u De the result Of a dissolution Of
the Union.
From the same, Dec %.
To-day, Mr.. Adams exhausted him
sen upon his mischievous propositions.
and the House proceeded to receive pc
t'tlons from other quarters, on subjects
winch form the real and proper business
OF legislation.
1t will be seen from note addressed
to US by Nj. Wise, that he was misun-
derstood and misrepresented by those
who furnish The sketches of debates
The lntelliseacer'S. as well as tie
olobe'S reporters. have mistaken the
scope of alr. WIS remarks, which, il
seems, we also have miscoustrued. In
our hasty comment upon the debate, we
md, On recurrence 10 our article, that
we did injustice To Mi Wise, in saving
that he made a proposition to receive and
refer the obnoxious papers presented By
Mr. Adams. We understood him to
make suggestion Of such course, anu
TO ask MIR. Beardsey TO propose il i'll
form, as be (Mr. Wise) could not with
propriety do it. We understood him to
intimate that he wished to see Mr.. Adj
ans, anc those who acted with him put
TO the test, aud compelled TO assume the
responsibility OF bringing forward their
odious projects in their own legislative
character, no longer screened under the
names OF others, for whom they asserted
merel y the petition privilege. This sug-
gestlOr, as we understood if. was en-
forced by Mr.. Wise with SO much pow
er. that for the moment, it staggered our
faith in regard to the p sS5bssF ,lhiot tn65;
pursuit Principle required. Congress
has no power to deal with any subject
not delegated TO it. In this respect, it
differs from the English Parliament, our
State Legislatures, and the Legislatures
OF all other Governments. Congress has
specific power granted to it, like that
conferred by power of attorney to act
on certain subjects; and its legislative
acton IN regard TO all other matters is
exhibited. The right of petition IN in
dlvlduals (although unlimited in this
country must, when demanding leglsla-
tion, be addressed to the legislative bod
les competent to entertain the matter to
be legislated upon. The right to petit
ton, when employed to bling before
Congress subjects on which Congress IS
forbidden to act, cannot enlarge the pow
ers OF Congress, and enable it to receive,
and entertain, and refer matter Tor the
action of its committees, or the body L.
sell which the Constitution denies it
the power to touch.
The majority in Congress may, al !
most every member of the body from the /
beginning of the aforementioned held |
that the abolition of slavery does not
come within the scope of its powers
What right has Congress to take action
upon IT in any way. by discussing it, or
referring or reporting upon it? The
people have right to petition; and they
have right to redress, toe, from the
power authorized to grant it. But
these rights IN the people confer no right
TO entertain petitions about grievances
in regard to which they have no authori-
ty TO legislate at all. II is not the duty
# IN, III, 4. ]
because it has different duties assigned
10 it, and because it has no right to
touch or discuss any topic not assigned
To it by the Constitution. 'Fhe Roman
Catholics might petition Congress for an
inqulsltion to coerce Protestants to sur
render what might be characterized their
heresv: and the Protestant sects might
petition for test oaths 20 compel the
Catholics to abandon their religion
We deny however. that such petitions
could be constltutionaly entertained by
Congress in any way, by receiving, re-
ferrin., reporting upon, or taking soli-
tary step IN legislation calculated to as
sumo jurisdiction in regard to the mat
ter proposed. t,
In Justice to Mr.. Wise. We must say
that he has been very badly reported in
all the papers. He expressed himself
very eloquentIy and briefly; and al
though, where a long speech is made.
what is meant as sketch cannot do JUS
tice 10 it, yet he bad right to expect,
when so little was said, and well said
that il should have been literally repor-
ted. Long speeches, in our Sketches,
must necessarily be narrowed down TO
outline.