The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-08-13
lmpoftant Letter from Hon. william
g. .Rivcs ON the Rights OF States-


lmpertant Letter. from Hon.. william
g. .Rivcs on the Rights or States
CAsNwArH, DuTcnEss COUNTY, N. Y.,(
August 10.
NY Dear Sir,-I had the pleasure Of re-
ceiving your letter of the 23d a few days
ago. Since / last wrote to you perceive
that, In nv absence from home, l nave
been named one Of the delegates OF VIZ.
ginia to the National Union Convention 10
b held in Philadelphia on the l4tn IN
slant. regret it will not be 10 my power
to attend. The state Of my health Is TOO
feeble 70 admit Of any useful participation
in the proceedings Of that body. am mere
ut present with my son and bis family, IN
tbs;r summer residence on the Nor1n
river where the congenial quiet ana pure
h;ohland air I am permitted to ENJOY VIII
Itrnsf. gradually restore me to my oroi-
nary health. In the mean time my warm
cot w;sbes and prayers shall be for the sue
cess If yoar deliberations, guided, as l am
snre they will be, by that spirit Of union,
If instice. of fraternity, and Of a broad and
comnrehensiye patriotism, which Origi-
mated the proposition Of the meeting.
The objects and principles so we'll set
forth In the call for the Convention have
nv most hearty assent and concurrence !;
and I am not less sensible Of the fitness
and propriety of such an assemblage at the
present moment to Interchange counsels
on the measures requisite for the main-
tenance Of the Constitution and the secu-
rity Of republican liberty in this land OF
ours. n so favored of Heaven. 1t GER
tainly would not be an extraordinary
thing if, after the fearful tempest OF the
unhappy civil strife through which We
have lately passed, our vessel of State,
however nobly she has withstood the
shock, and however strong and unframed
her timbcrs and clamps have proved to he,
should have been somewhat discomposcd
in her canvas, and been momcntarlly
driven by the stress Of the elements from
her straight and onward course. IL DC
comes, then, the duty of those in charge
of her, now that the star OF peace once
more beams from an unclouded SKY, 10
take q new observation to ascertain ner
precise position on the ocean, still swollen
by the recent tempest; to put her on her
original track. and to steer her, by the
chart of the Constitution, into the port Of
her destination.
The sacred observance Of the principles
of the Constitution is the highest and most
vital interest of every free country. III is
that alone which gives peace and security
to the whole and to every part; which
guarantees the public liberty which pro-
notes enterprise and Improvement by con-
fdence in the future which vivlfies PR.
yatc industry by the prospect of an assured
reward, and leaves every man free, with
out distracting apprehensions and forebod-
ings of governmental oppression, to put
forth his whole energies in providing for
the wants of himself and his family, and
in doing so to contribute most effcctually
to the aggregate wealth, revenue, and pros
perity of the nation. If this faithful adhe-
renee to the Constitution be the paramount
interest of every free people, how emphati-
cally is il ours, blessed as we are with
freer institutions than any other people,
and endowed by the wisdom and foresight
OF our ancestors with a constitution oil go.
yernment which, by a nice adjustment and
balance of State and national attributes,
e~ntrenches liberty against the encroach-
ments of power, while defending power
against the attacks of RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Every free government is necessarily a
system of checks and balances, or what
Burke happily and significantly calls a sys,-
TEN of "%reciprocal control" This princi-
pie our ancestors were enabled to apply to
a greater extent than any modern people
have done, by the fortunate division OF oul
country into separate and independent
communities. The system devised by then
has stood the test of experiment, in peace
and in war, through q period of now eighty
wears, and has proved itself adequate tc
every vicissitude and exigency of human
affairs. While some of the systems of tho
Old World, after a far shorter trial, art
crumbling into ruins before orr eyes, the
fcdero-national system of America still
survives in undiminished vigor, and bids
fair "to thrive amid the rude conclusion
of the Storm" We have every reason
then, to cherish with increased veneration
the legacy bequeathed to us by our fathers
in the Constitution framed by their wisdom,
and to surround it with new and watchful
precautions against %usurpation on the one
hand, and rash and unadviSed change on
the other.
All will now admit, in the language OF
one of the earliest and most distinguished
of our republican Presidents, when enter
ing on his high office, that "the preserva-
ton of the General Government in its
whole constitutional vigOr is the sheet
anchor of our peace at home and safety
abroad" but no attentive observer OF The
practical operation Of the government, OF
judicious student of its theory, can tail
also to agree with his immediate successor,
bred in the school of the Constitution it.
self. when, on q like solemn occasion, he
said |" the rights and authorities reserved
to the States and the people are equally
Incorporated with and essential to the sue
cess Of the general SYSTEM" 1t is this
compound organization Of the SYSTEM
the mutual dependence and reciprocal &C.
ton and reaction of the several parts on
each other-which constitutes its chief ex-
c~ellcnce and security, as well as its dis
~tinguishing characteristic compared with
other governments. One of those vcnera-
bic and able men who bore part in the
formation of the Constitution, John Dick.
inson, advertcd in the Convention, with
prophetic and far-secing sagsclty, to the
division of the country into distinct States
as "the chief source of stability" to our
political system. alt is this" he said,
(which is the ground of my consolation
for the future fate Of my country. With
out this, and in case Of the consolidation
of the States into one great republic, we
might read its fate in the history of those
which have gone before it."
The supremacy of the Constitution and
laws Of the United States within their al
lotted sphere the inyiolability and per-
petuity of the Union under the Constitu-
tsnn xho fp,nrn,a<nnny- IF a StafA ar