The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-10-13


banner of the republic, either that red ensign,
which has lpade the tour Of the "Champ do Mars"
drenched in the blood OF her citizens, or the
splendid tr color which gathers the joyful laurel
for France, while il plants the mo lrning cypress
throughout Europe! The reason IS simple.
Hers is the giant power of centrasm the
same, whether clothed in the gorgeous trappings
of royalty, the splendid gorivs of the empire, or
he simpler garb of democracy.
Take her insulated neighbor. In the history
of British progress, you will early find bitter
and fierce contention between the elements OF
her society. 1t is not for me TO do more than
to suggest some of these elements.
The ENGRAVING of Norman feudality upon the
freedom of Anglo Saxon institutions; the prin-
ciple of feudalism itself; the success of the re-
ligous reformation amongst her people the
accessions to the throne of the house PIT Stuart,
with its Popish memories and inclinations, and
It's arbitrary conceptions OF power gathered from
continental elueatiOn-these, national feuda, re-
ligious and civil ealousles, produced in England
early struggle between the elements Of her
society, resulting in their outward manifestation
and incorporation in her constitution by the glo-
rlous revolution of 1858.
And with all her faults with all her corrup-
tons; with all her oppressive and onerous sys-
TEN; where, in EUROPEAN civilization, have the
principles of a noble and conservative freedom
been more highly developed than in our own
father land
have thus briefly suggested some of the
facts which history furnishes in confirmation of
the great truth have advanced If mistake
not, they demonstrate that centralsm and ind-
vidual sm are the respective modes in which
despotisn and liberty manifest themselves and
that in the struggle between these, is to be
traced the history of the progress of free insti-
tutions.
How, then, stands Virginia's action, recalled
by the return of this day, in the history of this
mighty struggle?
TO answer this question ntelligiblv, requires
clear views Of the former relation of Virginia 10
Great Britain, and to her sister colonies
In respect to Great Britain, her relations were
those of dependence and subordination, through
the participation Of the crown in her govern.
ment, and ofParliament in the single matter of
regulating her commerce. The same relation
subssted in one form or another in each colony,
but separately and distinctly from the relations
Of every o her. The bond which bound Vr-
ginia to the parent kingdom was entirely dis.
tinct and dissimilar from that of the other col
onles. SO great vas this variety, as to give rise
to the remark, that there was scarcely any form
of government, which did not prevail in one or
other of the colonies. Certain it is that there
were three several modes of union between
England and her American colonies the royal,
the proprietary, end the charter governments;
and at one time in the early history of Carolina
the political views of Mr.. Locke were realized
in her form of government
One leading principle, inherent, it seems, in
Anglo-SaxOn liberty, was developed in them all.
| mean the invariable connection Cf taxation
with the represention Of the colonial will in its
own separate legislature.
1t is with pride that revert to the fact, that as
early as 1924, the colony of Virginia maintained
this principle, against which, few years later,
English monarchy staked its existence and fell.*
But this transient assertion of this sacred
right, was followed by an event in her history,
which should be well remembered.
Upon the death of Charles the First, and the
ascendency Of parliamentary power, Virginia, as
she had only acknowledged the external control
Of Eng lard, through the crown, refused to aG-
NIT the usurped authority of the Parliament, the
sole remaining one in that country. A strong
naval force appeared upon her cast, whci com
PEELED her to make terms in 1861, when she
could not successfully defend herselft
A treaty, the terms of which are well known,
was entered into between England and Virginia.
BY this treaty it was agreed that Virginia should
remain in due obedience and subsection to the
commonwealth of England, according to the
laws there established" and that such sub MIS-
sion "be acknowledged a voluntary act not
forced nor constrained by conquest upon the
country, and that they shall have and enjoy
such freedoms and privileges as belong to the
free born people of England" &c. Security to
her territory was agreed upon; the rights of the
grand assembly fully reco gnised - free trad as
tho papnlA nf Ennland do aui,v 70 oil nj,
and with all nations, according to the laws Of
that commonwealth" accorded to her. and the
exemption of her people from all taxes, and of
her territory from all forts or garrisons, except
by consent of her own grand assembly distinct
y acknowledged t-(Ma-ch II, 165l)
subsequently and prior to the restoration,
the colony of Virginia, by ordinance of her
grand assembly, assumed all supreme power
within her limits, and exercised it, elected all
her own officers regulated her own trade and,
in fact, during the continuance of the common
wealth of England, was not only Independent
of the other colonies, but even of the mother
country.
After the restoration of the house of Stuart,
the great principles of English liberty were in
vaded on both sides Of the Atlantic; but while
the corruptlons of a court and the depravity of
a royal Judiciary crushed the spirit of freedom
ln Tue olu world, IN the new, the struggle was
maintained with manly and noble courage The
constant asser ion by Virginia of her rights the
outbreak of Bacon; IS suppress ion; the bold
and turbulent spirit Of the noble burgesses the
sole, but obstinate opponents of the rapidly cen
Trailing tendency of the royal government, are
prominent circumstances marking her struggle
for liberty with the crown, which was finally
ended in the rapturous delight with which the
Anglo Saxon race on both sides of the Atlantic
hailed, in the accession Of the Prince of Orange,
the restoration Of free principles and the olive
branch Of peace.
The separate power Of each colony, restored
to it after this period, was never seriously in
vaded until the passage Of those acts of usur.
patton ty the Parliament Of the mother C )untry,
which finally drove Virginia to the assertion of
her individual rights as political unit, in that
event which immortalizes our anniversary. II
was the maintenance of individuasm against the
centralism Of the British government: and
stands forth prominently in history as an event
marked by the bold opposition of liberty and
right, physically weak, to despotism and ,6rong,
physically powerful.
\ - IL