Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-04-04

ri!Ilk tneE nave Deem l3iked 20 on tHlS II or
quite as plainly as they ought to. on this QGcS.
ton, ard not quite a> plainly as will tak 10
them. think it is my duty to speak to lheln
plainly. krow exactly the feelings Of W,s-
tern Virginia Upon this subject, sud if gentle
men here will listen TO Inc for q few minute i
tomorrow morning in the remarks that
shall make in all kindness to every one, they
will understand precisely lie position occu-
pied by lis in the West.
4 crisis has arisen in which it nav be ne
ceSSary that the people Of The State should be
unltsd. urd should act harmonionSly. We
ought to be united. We ough! 10 be harmo.
nious. We ought to be one in interest ard
one in determination. hope gentlemen frosn
The East vii! listen TO what We have to say ard
am sure they will concede TO Us our rights.
| will now yield the tlcor with tic purpose cf
resuming it in the morning.
FEDERAL RELATIONS.
The time Of half past | 0 ha7ing arrived. tho
Convention, in pursuance Of its standing order,
resolved itself into Committee Of the Whole
tMr. SorTHALL in the Chair.) and resumed the
consideration Of the report OF the Committee On
Federal Relations, the question being Oh the
third resolution, as follows:
''SI. The choice OF functioHaries Of a common
Government established for the COMM: 600 J,
for the rcason that they entertain opinions ard
arow purposes hostile to the institutions CT
some Of the States, necessarily excludes the
people OF one section from participation in tie
administration Of Government, subjects ths
weaker to the domination Of the stronger Sc
lion, leads TO abuse, and is incompatible with
( hp saIetr If tIns.I tchNSn ip,
led; the formation, therefore, OF geographical
or sectional parties IN respect to Federal yo:.
tics is Contrary to the principles on which our
system rests, and tends TO its overthrow"
PERSONAL EXPLANATION.
Mr.. FISHER with the permission OF the ger.
teman lrcm MiddlescX, (Mr. MoSTAGrE) who
is entitled 10 the floor, desire to correct, in
some particulars, the report of Some remarks
which submitted on Thursday last. woui
not complain Of this report, it, in certain re.
Spcc;s, it made me speak respectable nonsense,
but inasmuch as | AN made TO speak not even
that, cannot allow It 10 60 farther 10 tho
world us emanatlng from ME.
Ii the AFTERNOON session on Thursday lasl,
| tF-red Gil amendment 10 the report Of the
Committee Of Twentyonc. AS it is reported
it reads thus:
IL propose to amend it by striking ont
after the word 'instrument" tie words: .rhe
people Of each State agreed % associate with
the people Of the other States, upon icoti.g .t
exact cquaii;y;' and inserting, in lien thereof,
the following: ''cach State accedcd as State
and as an i'itrcgral party with it, co.S'atcS ftru:
.ng rs to itself the other party SO that it WI
read:
THAT The States which composed the Uni.
led States of America, when the Federal Cor.
,ltution was formed. were independent S6ve.
rcisntes, and in adopting that INSTRUMENT,
"a h Stale acccdcd," &c.
Nuw, cir, made quotation in the amcid-
nclt wlucn ot'-red, from the resi- lntlon which
vas drafted Dy Mr.. J.ifel son and presented by
Mr. Brcckinridge to the Kentucky Leg :latno
FOR adoption, i'll l19S, and if ] could nav blen
guilty Of writing such honsciSc, Mr.. J.Nvls"n
never was. The amendment ! cliercd was. ~
insert after the words This instrument" tie
following words: Each State accedcd as q
Safe, an,l is all integral p.rtv, its co.S,atr,
forming as to itself, the other party"
If this amendment Of mine had appear,L ]
upon the journal. would not a.k thul tic ,c
port of it and Of my remarks in reference tvIt,
which appear in the Enquirer" Should be cor.
rectcd i.ut it will no wE,re appear except in
the columns Of that puptr.
stated, sir, in my remarks, tina. the right
Jf secession was not derived from the CoHsll.
tuition, and could not be termed strictly legal
right, but tina. it was one over and above the
right that the States had never
parted with, and that it still resided witt. them.
urged that it was one Of the same class of
rights which are exercised by each aud every
one Of the sovereign powers of the Garth, in
iorming treaties which they might aLrogatc
tni that, although they might be held respon.
sible to the contracting parties for refusal 10
respect or aneglect to obey the injunc:icns Of
the treaty, Yet, that the power, the sovereign
power 10 abrogate, resided in each Of the par
ties and could not be controlled by the o!hcr,
although it might involve The party relusingto
obey the treaty in war with lis co.contraclius
party.
Ny idea upon this point is presented in this
report altogether different from the manner in
which cndeavored TO present it to the com.
nittcc. stated that this amendment which
then offered would not impair the beauty and
the symmetry Of the afIirnations contained in
the first section Of the report Of the committee
Of twenty-one. Instead Of that am reported
as saying: This amendment will add to the
beauty, The symmetry, and the proportion OF
he first section" &c.
Then, again, in the few remarks, submitted
in reply to the gentleman from Fauquicr, (Nr.
SCuTr) first remarked that desired to read
IN extract from letter from Mr.. Madison 10
Mr.. Everett in 1880. And supplied the re.
porter with the letter ITSELF Yet no information
is given from whence that extract is derived.
and it might be inferred by the public that I
had spoken Of some private letter, rs the gen
tlcnan from Fauquier did, and which stated
had heard of but had never seen. The qlo.
ta:ion from Mr. Madison is correct as it ap.
pears. but it does not appear rs coming from
ettcr Of Mr.. Madison TO Nj. Everett
But, sir, here is what is not respectable non
sense:
a. In ali the twenty. eight pages Of the revised
Code, what does my friend find? that the Fe.
loral Government, acting for and on behalf Of
heir constituents, who are the people, ratified
he Constitution Of the United States and de.
,lared that it shall be binding upon tue people
II the State"
Sir, not only never uttered any such con.
used idea upon a subject Of which l'profess 70
,ave some comprehension, but | never enter
aimed such an opinion as in this dcclara-
ion AN reported to have made. asked
he gentleman from Fauquier if on page
., (not IN al the pages, for have Some
Of that COde) he could ticd that
ne Frginia Convention had undertaken 10 do.
,larc that they, on behalf Of themselves and
lie people of the other States Of the Union,
hereby ratified and confirmed the Constitution,
IS presented by the Federal Convention Of
7S7. argued that the Virginia Convention
to ratiiy that Constitution in the
'ame ard on behalf Of the people Of Virginia,
,ut did not undertake 10 declare that in tha,
atiicati n, i'll any sense, they were associating
with all the other States composing
he United States.
Now, sir, there are other mistakes in this
eport, as there are in previous reports Of ro.
,arks | haze submitted, but they are Of u
haracter that most readers would correct for
themselves. | am very sure that the reporter
id not design to misrepresent me- but either
IL r.