Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1844-01-11
Congressional.
The "OId Man Eloquent"
IN DEFENCE ofthe RIGHT OF PETITION.
FRIDAY, Dec. 90, 1913.

senlrd by Mr. Adams, VIZ;
RcSoired, That the following amend
mcni to the Constitution Of The l'nitcd
States be and hereby Is recommended Ia
the consideration Of Congress, to be acted
on according 10 the iilth article. The
lhnd clause of the second section OF the
first aitlclr shall read ~ the words follow
ing Representatives aud drect taxes
shall be apP"rtloncd among the several
States w..,ch are or may be included
within dis Union according 10 i,.eIr re-
spectIyr uunLcrS of free per i,uns, nciud-
.ng Indians not taxed. The actual rnu-
merdilon shall be made within two years
from The date of the adoption ol this
amendment III the manner p divided by
the Constitution, and within every sub
scqucnt term Ol ten ycaIs IN such manner
as the Congress shall by law direct.
The number OF Representatives. shalt not
exceed one tor every lHHIy thousand,
but each State shah have at least one
Representative.
RcSoircd, That lis Excellency the
Governor bc requested To transmit u copy
oi toe foregoing resolve and the proposed
amendment Ia each of the Senators aud
members of the House of Representa-
tlvcs of this Commonwealth ia the Con-
gress Of the United States
RcSOlrcd, That His Excelency the
Governor he requeste to transmit u copy
of the SAID resolve and amendment to the
Executive OF the United Stu,cs and of
the several States.
Which resolutions Mr.. Adams had
moved to refer to a Select Committee.
MIR. Adams said IT had not been his
intention, nor was II now his desire, To
trespaas on the time of the House, nor
would this be d tit return for tne courtesy
just extended 10 him. a proposition had
been made To reler the resolutions OF the
Legislature Of Massachusetts, presented
by him last evening, to the Committee
on the Judiciary to such disposition
of them ne should very willing y submit !;
aud there had been another To refer he ~
ioa Select Committee, I" eansiAT one
member from each State oorlhad he
any objection to that. He wastwiIing
that they should 20 to any Appropriate
committee. And # the House should
send them to d select committee he Vas
wiling taat the Speaker should omit his
name as being, under the circumstances,
scarce likely 10 act with perfect Iinpar-
tialty upon the subject and besides, he
had no desire Whatever to act IN any way
on these rcsolutloEs.
But tie debate which had occupied SO
mach OF the time of the House yesterday,
had turned on matter wholly dilcrent
from these questions of reference. a
gentleman from Virginia over the way,
Mr.. VI Isr, whom ne dld uu; Eow see
IN his place, had risen and called the at.
tcn,Ion OF the House, aud had particularly
invited that of the Reporters especially
To what he was about to say, which was
that he renounced from tins time forth,
aud forever, the "wAR" which for seven
or eight years had been carried on in this
House on the subject of abolition peli.
tions, adding for one that he was heartily
sick aud tued of the manucr IN which 1t
had for some time been carried on =;
whorcup"n another gcntIenan, from the
very highest pitch OF Southern Chiyalry
had instantly sprung to his feet and dc
cldrCd that, however weary aud diSg uste d
The gentleman from Virginia might be
with the war and the way IA which II had
been managed, he was not 90 lar from
1t that, on The contrary, he was ready, at
once, to rally all his forces and to make
battle.
Now the first observation Mr. \. had
=, Y,,l. - ,i
that he regretted exceedingly that this
most martial, this most bellIgerCnt fig
ure Of speech should have been used
by either of the gentlemen. The gen
tleman trom Virginia, indeed, did say
that this was not the place Tor such
species Of warfare which was perfect
" true. This hal! was uut tit place
for bauIe Of any kind this was u place
Tor dchberalIon--ior the delberallOn Of
friends, Of brothers all citlZeus alike.
of one great nation, met 10 consult on "A
common iuterest-and where all, as
he hoped, had at heart most passion
ate desire for the good OF the country.
All battle, all conflict aud hostile op-
position between different portions of
our country represented III lhls haiI,
oJght to cease. This, Mr. \. said,
he always had hoped, and hc did still
hope, Notwithstanding the martial at
tlude assumed by the gentleman from
South Carolina, mir Holiness aud IN
part also by the gentleman from VIZ.
ginia, MIR. Wise although the latter.
gentleman had gwen notice that hc
would no longer hold the military post
ne had once occupied and commanded,
buts>y ould take another position. Ger.
jainlytihc gentleman never did wisur.
thing in has lilc, a laugh, Tor the po-.
Sition was not tenablc the people Ol
this Union never would support those
who should attempt To- hold 1t. The
gentleman had therefore done wisely ~
giving IN M uncquIvocal surrender.
rhc position was no longer tenable,
thank God Almighty The position oi
Representatives attempting TO dictate
to their constituent sovereigns, and
turning out Of doors all petitions aud
petitioners whose prayer they did not
think proDcr 10 grant, was a positlon