r
From the Charleston Gazette. ,
' ' 0 D , rr
'Written by Mr. J. Hodgkinstm, fend sung on
T the day set apart by the Citizens of Ame
' rica, to celebrate the -peaceable acquisition
of Louisiana. ' -
-TVyg ' And this is law ltpillmaintain."
1 WHEN Superstition held her rod,
O'er Europe's sons degraded 4
'Man's life depended on a nod,
His ev'ry right invaded ! .
';Fair Liberty, her exiW h.ea'.
. Hid from despotic sway' ;
And many a bitter tear she shed :j
; Upon her weary way. - .
No jettled habitation she
For ages e'er could gain ;
.The earth, o'errun with bigotry,
To hear her-would not deign :
"Till Enterprise, discovered had
A region yet unknown .
Totlmshe Hew with soul full g'ad, -
And claim'd it as her own.
Columbia she named the land, . ,,,
And vowed they'd ne'er s?ver ;
This is the soil for freedom's band,
It shall be free for ever.
And vhe.n occasion call'd her forth,
To war against oppression ;
God call'd a Washington to' earth,
T' assert her due possession, -
One dark'ningspot she saw remain,
Yielding to foreign force :
This she petition'd Jove to gain,"
To illumine Freedom's course. '
The Deities'assembled soon ;
.'1 hey heard the message given ;
And to decide upon her boon,
Was now the cause of Heaven.
Mars rose, and this opinion gave : '
I'll lead them to the field,
Columbia's sons are truly brave.
Their rights they ne'er will yield.
When Peace and 'Mercy, hand in hand,
With Pity at their "side,
Cried, let not blobd imbrue the land,
Where 1'irtaeslian ! .preside.
See Europe',nd her slaughtering hosts,
Humanity affright ! '
There let Ambition make her bonsta :
- . There lead her Sons to fight i - '
But let Columbiagreat and free.
- Away-with maddening rage :
Her rights assert with dignity ;
If forced the war then wage.
Says Jove, by. Styx, I think it b':at,
I hope vo"u will agree,
To grant fair Liberty'? r'inest
LOUISIANA'S FREE !
Peace wav'd her olive-bra'nch TiuthK cried
All sanction the decree.
jVIjy patriot JVis-lw s'ill preside,
LOUISIANA'S FREE !
SPEECH of Mr. J.veph Alston, jun. in the Le
gislature of Smuh-Carolina, n the proposed
sim e nun, cm 10 me L.onsMuito;i.
. TConcluded )
HEJECTING these attempts at reconci
ling the contradictions I have mentioned,
with the intention of those who formed the
constitution, shall we be better satisfied with
tint fotindHon the compromise between the
federative ami popular principle, which the
pret-nlTnw1e of election h said to preserve ?
No sir too many better modes of effecting
that compromise, Jiad it been desired, pre
sent themselves better modes, in as much
as they would have secured to us, with more
certainty, the advantages attributed to the
compromise ; and, at the same time, ffcct
iially have sated us fr.nn all the inconven
ience s of the p-esmt mode. These contrary
provision of the constitution, then, being
thus irreconcilable upon any olthose grounds
which have been suggested, or which, in my
opinion, may be suggested ; hey can only,
s I before observed, be 'attributed' to the o
versight of the conven'ionr-The manifest
tendency of the amendment, therefore, in-t-ad
of overturning, i. to preserve your con-litV'iJriwiMuibi-instliutanicttdi-iU
II li impossible it r:.n be earned into execu
tion, according to the vpiiit in which it Mas
firmed. This is nil that is aimed at by
amendment; it roc no farther than to ren.
der the constitution comi.sfeiit with itself, j
A failure of election by tie neonle. it is to be S
remembered Is not confined merely to the !
rase wmcn inciv occurred two pe rsohs .
having an eqi .1 number f votes, and those
a mnj-iitv of the whole. It extends also,
t' the ro'c tf no person having a'majoiiiy
of the who!- ; acme, wind,, whenever public
con un iyn tn.l private iiilii jue mke great
er progress among m, an, it U a melancholy
".t the- certainly will, "and when, in rnn
nee, instead ol't a pa -ties, many spring
, r-, will hapn-n miif h more fitqrnr.lv limn
t!. other. Here the right r.f the hoine oC
repret-tila'i6i to decide, remains unlouc li
ed. The it'iifndmer.t, in the other inManrc
ti.My n-irsi,,, thrlP rjghi of decision by
p.,enun the oc.urrrru of case lor that
decision, ;J tl.i i nl. iKCiu-w the orc.ir.
f-n'e r.fsuch a rav; hns leen found so nbc.
li'lvi.irompt.b!c with the rit-ht til election
pr'ionlf givftj n the prop!?.
Sn-sUin of the fulure of decllcn bv the
p-op!. an I eJ.rtionl.) the !I..mv of Hrpre-
ntuives. t rann'it noil not'uii: lure one
k tiU miny contradiction, ioio whi. h ih
t ' of one of the ppir of the desi ;nat
'n: '1'inciplc, Ins had the in. The Uuf-rr
1 1 .1 Ti !, (s ir the vehement p"cr of
l' amen iTint, hoe,piccli I put now
q i ?rd) whir h must alw.ys attrn I nurh an
I niinnt fli.iioi. as tl.ji'of chief ma'n'.Mte
of '.l.c United .'v.itci, j naiiri ti avoid.
eU,by dlmlnlsMng the chances ot its frequent
recurrence. So two persons are put in
condition-to act asTresident in succession,
L to prevent both the evils of vacancy and of
a recurrencejol choice more frequently th;.m
once-in four years. Yet, strange it may ap-
pear,oneof the arguments against the amend- ,
ment is, that it tends to render a choice, in
-the first instance, more certain ; and con
sequently, to diminish the clunces of that
very frequent recurrence of election, so much ,
dreaded by the constitution ! An apprehen
kbii indeed, is indulged, that if this amend
ment be adopted, two parsons both qualified
to act as president, m ly hot be selected for
President anrj Vice-President. . ,A fear is
entertained that, by-allowing tjje elector to
'designate, his obligation to Vote lor the two
ablest n2n among us, will be lessened. "As
the constitution now stands, (continues the
speech'just read) each elector is' to' write
the names of two persons o.n a piece of pa
per, called a ballot. Either of the two persons
thus voted for, may be the President, and
the elector cannot know which ; this affords
.th'e most powerful inducement to vote for
two, both of whom are qualified for the very
important office. For it is not only uncer
tain upon whom the choice will fall, at'first,
but the one renniningwill certainly be Pre
sident upon any contingency, which shall
remove or incapacitate the first The an
swer to" this, hoAveveT, has, no donlit, already
suggested itself, to every man, who has heard
the quotation. W'ere the uncertainty which
J were to be President, the only inducement
i with the elector to select two persons, both
qualified for that otnee, thu surely could
furnish no objection to his being allowed to
designate : since the very circumstance of
his designating, at the same time that it des
troyed the in luccment, would destroy also
the necessity of his voting for two persons
thus qualified. Buf this uncertainty is not
the only inducement; there is another, and
an equally strong inducement, in the contin
gency of the .Vice-President being called to
actas President. This inducement, however
will be as powerful under the amendment
as it now is ; the President will be equally
exposed to accident ; the Vice-President will
be equally certain of succeeding him. T see
tio rason there lore, lor, supposing that, by
adopting this amendment, we shall lessen the
necessity on the part of the elector, of being
as careful In selecting the persons he votes
for as heretofore.
I come now, Mr. Chairman, to the leading
argument of gentlemen ; the encroachment
which, it is suid, the amendment will make
wpon the federative principles of the consti
tution, and the consequenfdangeritthreatens
'to the small states. Let us examine this.
As a preliminary observation, 1 must remark
that, however naturnraeonsfciiuente this dan
ger to the small states many seem ol an en
croachment upon the federative principle
in theory, it is practically false. Adopting
for a moment, the common error, that the
interests of the northern and southern states
are different, and supposing all the Mnall
states coll-ried at one point, and the lnrj;e
r.tatesat the otcr, the friends cf the federa
tive priniple might, with reason, tlread every
encroKrhnunt upon it. Hut there i, oi in
nately for us, such a happy geographical
, intermixture of great mul hinall states, that
there cannot, by prtsibili'y. arise a question,
in which the interehtsorciihervrill bearrayed
in oppoificn to the i.ther. There is r.ot a
single small slate which is not completely
protected by similarity of interests with some
neighbouiingriat MMe. Thus,Nev-Hainp-
bhire and r,hodcUr.nd re closely connict
cd with M.tssnchusctri Connecticut rnd
Vermont with New-York : Pcniuvlvania
j sh Iters New-Jerey and Delaware Mary
, land is contiguous to irgmia and Nortl.
j .Carolina is nvarcly serroundrd with mall
J states. Iltnce, in all questic ns wl ich li..s e
I divided rs, each part y has ci nsisitd, ir.dis
trimii)a'( ly, cf Inrgc tnidsmi.ll states.
our elections, paitutihtly, there hae l.een,
invariid ly, as irony snujl states gratified by
the leu It of lie popnlir choice, t.s vile dis
appointed. This inmmixure f f Urge i I'd
! Yei ilr and ha not single" tat'ge .state.
fromthe-indiscriminate manner in which .we
vote, the same power in, thwarting the gener
al will ?lthas, and greater. There must be
'a great equality between parties, when a
small state can turn the fate of an election
there must be a great inequali.iv, when a
large, state cannot. Besides,-against whom
are the large states to direct these combina
tion ? Against the small states ? The small
states will not be objects of their jealousy.
If combinations do arise,-it will be combina
tions of, 'great states a gun st great states;
the small states will be cared in as auxilw
ries, and will thus always have it in their pow
er to inclin V the balance. :
Amidst the long train of horrid consequen
ces, however, which prediction has attached
to this amendment, like the .. fiery tail of a
destructive comet, these combir.ations are
not the most dreadful, The amendment
has been. seriously declared to be the fore
runner of nothing less than a total prostration
of every federative fe iture in the constitution
the prelude to a general consolidation of the
union. With the same propriety might it
have teen declared the "fort-runner, of -the
prostration of the firmament, or a prelude to
a general consolidation of the various parts
of th? earth. I do not know what extrava
gant projects the wickedness or ambition of i
individualsinsomestates may have conceived,
but that such projects may derive the smal
lest support from the adoption ol this a
mendment, appears to me one of the most
extraordinary apprehensions that ever was
indulged. There are certain measures, it is"
true, in thoacconiplishment ofa grrat design,"'
whic'i, leading naturally, one to the other,
are, each, to he as sedulously guarded against
as the ultimate object. Thus, the establish
ment of a permanent, military foicc, the' of
20,000 troops otdy,might reasonably alarm
us. Twenty thousand troops alone, are pot.
dangerous; but. they furnish the. means of
tbtalning an 1 00.000 5 10.0.000 "furnish the
,d
small sIb'cs- t an iniriiry-cfnidtrittnrr;
nut. m my cpini n, v ill nlh)s prove a lurk
as t tTeciu.il in pimn'.ing any attack by the
former upon the latter, as the fiduntivc rr
giUii7.jti n of the mk.iU would I t to '.I e ul
timate success of such on aitark. In the
finite, the tfiiM infttic rcc c f the small states
is put beyond the rrstli of h.-zaid : at least
it cannot he dt-Mrmtd iait with their .vft
rnncnt. and s ii is hardly within the Kt-pe
of irn-.'-tc possihihtun, their ) CMtsint
should be iibuintd. thai equal inline m e must
he prtnrnpit. Ai-d while it is m, where
cr may be the disposition oTihe large stsns,
-the smaller, formii-g so derided a majority
as they dn. can have little to apprehend.
Great Mrcss hat bef n l.iid upon the facility
with which the pTent amendment will tna-'
ble the large states torombincand g'nc a
surrrv-ion of Presidents to the union, to the
total cxilusion cf the smaller states. Hut
ho l.tis this been shewn ? Aierlion is the
cmly ar'ijiitne M that has been f.ffcied ; and (
confess mystlf too dull todiscotfr, frotn my
own inKtmu'yvthc mode in which this crm
hiDalmn Mill be fKHi'sted. in bit popular
clc lions, t'.c large s'aics will, iiu d-mbf,
h'je the tilvait jfrr. They hae the adran
tiire now thry will hate the dvntagc un
der the amendment but howthe Amendment
will tncrca'c ;lut adrantage, is beyond my
rompi rhrnsion. It has. indeed, bee n stated,
that, by not ,lc signst'mg, the small Mates,
in other word, the ninority. will Ury be
fc!de to select, at let, fom the two persons
voted for by the nnjoTiiy I inJ, thus, it lM
hrrti t-iHinphjnUy er.'la r.-ed. a single ima'.l
tine nuy ticicriitinc the fate of the clcciitui I
means of obtaining any number, and thus
a military despotism might be il ' -oisequen-ce.
Did this amendment f.cilit,.'te the pro
gress, a single step, towards the evil appre
hended, the same reasoning would "apply.
But is this the fact ? No Sir instead of r xK,
destroy i'.vetiy feature in the mocie of elec
ting your executive, and the enemies of state
sovereignty, will be as. far- from effecting a
consolidation as they 'now aie. " '' '
With regard to the federative principle gc
neriily, I c uidid'.y confers I preterit. I pre
fer it, however, not because 1 suppose there
ib clanger in thc-admission of the popular
principle, so far as we have admitted it the
' reasons I have mentioned forbid such an idea.
My preterence is founded merely, upon this
great political truth, that, among states as
among individuals, the smallest ihurcf ptw--,
er, the smallest right, never slxud Le sur
rendered, but where unequivocally ntcessniy
for the better maintenance cflhe right re
! lained. The surrcr.dev ur the federative
! principle, in my . pini iii. v. a; not li.tis impv
j riously necessary ; I cculd have ishid,
j therefore, the constitution had ndnpted it in
fufl force. There couldl.vc been no good
rearon for supposing that u g. vti nmciit, pre- I
j clicated upon compltle state equj.lity, organ-
ised in the same maiiiitr, Uid ir.Visticl with
the i.ame powers, as the government oi the
! present day, would have bein less ifTicicnfT
j Thii, opinion inav be rash a shot t time past,
and it certainly hud been deemed heretical.
It is worthy ofremaik, however, that those
who have been hitherto accustomed to ex
press the wannest admiration c f the 'federal
constitution llote who have deiived their
thif nietit frcni th unqualified adoration
they were incliticd to pay it ate ihe very
persons now zcabusl) opj cstd to the a
meiuimeiit, bei ante it thii.itt ns to meioach
upon ihe federative principle ! by -m, let
me ask, was not this same zeal lortl.e ledera
tivc principle displayed in 173! Where
w as the guardian genius of the smaller states
ot the momentous peiiod of considci ing the
constitution? hunk in loo deep a slumber lo
! be trousc d ! 1 he principle of state equality
was aualidourci, inc c ohm union was accept-t-di-At
lehgth. indied il wepi that fcjirit
which mver holdd hae th j t. hs aWaktn-
I ed ; but hwuktiiccl, alas ! too late, if thtje be
I daiictr in a deviation frc-m the federative
principle, to save the tniblk-r states from the
I effects of their tcmtiitv.
I repeat, sir, prefer the federative pi inci-,
pic ; and weie we, instead of amending a
single article, ul c ut to foim a constitution
Jr iic-ei, no man would be found a moie M re
run. us advceMe for it than I should, lint
having kbntidoiied that piiuriple in the great
outlines cf our constitution having consent
ed to its relinquishment, where only. the re
linquUI mcnt could lunc been attended with
danger I cannot cuiiceitc wl ctivttl.i ex
treme solicitude of pintle men for iis preer
valion in the more subordinate pails ; a soli
citude which, in puismt of an imaginary
good, would expose us to dangers, the most
real and formidable As well, it appears to
me, might the unnatural mother, whosr own
nei;lience had brouRht death upon I cr iu
tatit. affett to bewail, in strain! of loudest la
mentation, that the Egyptian art rf embalm
ing was no more, and that he could not re
tain forcicr, the loathsome tvutnmy if that I
fair, form, which, when adorned with all the
'graces of heaith and animation, she was 6
little anxious to preserve. Or, to illustrate
still more clearly the concern of gentlemen,
as well, I should rather hare said, might the
cnnrtenn why had, an hundred times, grant
ed the lat favour to her para nour, aflect to
Hush at the actiJcntal exposure of her bo
som lo his gaze. X'hatI you admit, in the
f ill confiJcnee of security, the popular pun
' ciplc in the l;plauvc brch of ) uur
. vernmentyou beholo, without . tear, t .v(r .
states forming a majority, of the whole -in the
federal house of representatives j and do you
trembie at the thoughts of committing the '
election of your executive to the people ! No,'
you have noobjections that the popular prin-,-ciple
should pie vail in the election of Presl
dent ; it is th? appointment, of Vice-President
only, about which you are thus solicit
ous. Of Vice-President I A mere spare top
mast, to use the expression of a former mem
ber of this house, speaking of your lieuten
ant" governor a mere jury-mast, to be raised
Only in case Ot some storm which may shat
terthe main-mast. Strang" contradictions !
Is the senate your shield againstnhe machi
nations of the large states in th House of
.Representatives? It forms a still stronger'
barrier to executive rencroachr.ieuls. Jts '
ineni"crs are the constitv'itional cenlinels 'oii
the conduct of the President ; .without their
consent but why should I proceed in expo
sing the fallacy of an argument which lViust
be manifest to every man? Hetbre I lake leave
of this part of the subject, however, let me
not withhold the humble tribute of my admi
ration , from the ingenuity and address, Mill
whichgentlemen have endeavored to enlist
under, their, banners the two strongest pas
sioris of a confederated republic state-jeal
ousy and state pride. 1 will not trespass" up-,
on your patience, by entering into an historij;.
al.eXiimmation.of the effecto ol these passioh:-,
but I will submit to those, who are "So' ready
to excite them, whether they have not-destroyed,
at least, as many stales as they have
preserved. Perhaps, too, it would not be diffi
cult to shew, that, in this country, more than
in any other, every unnecessary appeal to "
them is carefully to be avoided. So many
causes combine tg keep jalive a spirit of vigi
lance among the different members of the
confederacy, that there can be little appre
hension of their ever being lulled into too
credulous a security. There is far morw
danger, on the other hand, of their vigilance '
degenera' ing into an accursed jealousy . which
sit some false alarm, may burst the friendly
ties whidi connect themi and, instead of one
powerful and happy confederation, present to
the eye of afflicted philanthropy, a variety of
petty and invidious rivals.
Otic more observation and I have done. It
is respecting the manner in which the popu-'
lar and federative elections are, at present,
: conducted. In - the popular election, the
electors are appointed so short a time belore
the day on which they are to vote, that it is
impossible they can have the least communi
cation with the candidates ot each other.
They are. moreover to rniet in their respec
tive btatc-s lo vote b)1 on the same day.
Thus managed, a single avenue only is le!t
open to intrigue. I allude to the opportunity
given, by the indiscriminate manner in wmc.h
we now vote, to the person designated by ih
public voice as Vice-President, to impose
himself upon us, 'by -corrupting the electors
of his own state, as President. Thus, al ihe
late election, Mr. Rufrr's influence in New
York was supposed to he gigantic ; 1 believe
myself it was uncommonly great ; had he,
then, been less i igidlv respectful of the pub
lic w ishe s than h has shewn himself, and had
I. is influence been great as was supposed,
how t"sy would il have been for him, by cor
rupling the tlecloi-aof thai stateVor even one
of them, to have become, by tlcrteral choice
chief magistrate of the union? This, indeed,
was pos.iblc, without lh smallest corruption
on hjs port : there were many persons in
New-York who actually, from principle, pre
ferred him to the successful candidate ; there
may be many in the state, from whence a fu
ture Vice-President will be taken, who -will
prefer him to the candidate for the presiden
cy ; and, if we contiitu. to vote as heretofore,
it w ill be equally ensy for them to taker ad
vantage of the confidence with w hich other
states may vote for the two together, and ex
press their preference by voting forhiman4
.dropping the oihcr. Adopt the amendment,
however, and this avenue, as well as every
other door to intrigue, willhecloied forever.
Whatever may be the disposition of the can
didates to intrigue whatever thtir talents
.both, like arms in the. hands orhim jwiiftjiai;.
lost his sight, will he harmless. . "
I el ut now ,( le irfhl. The ppV fitl t
r"kf ehnif f I Inlwiwy i tirMioo u c.trird i"
W(hii.(ior iKf 1 11 or i, ir,fltd i feeii f loort'ii "
r; n in.a.inf- itunlry, it cot tfitd !) II oc lfl,
t4 ihii tp.i ih Iminiim tcU ol coiptior. lwl'r.il
ol btii ft chof.n (- fSon a limt l!otc the div rt
ti( tl i iMy cttmiit k fviB, fctud ol by Ot tinii-t
dnrt iKry lit knjrfl mii s tki kl te Yir.i. In
nifM' kit lull I'tre to (jind hi frii vty ft',ft it
r t.,ciy lfifr f'crr iiord ) trd h h.t'i tic It'-d
.ccoidi in jf rtii of thf pf y ity dcfijtiid
fu. Hxdty.l tiftitun nfl Tl ty, hot t
(l.iiil ihe lit ot yi-ui tuunt., mt ! in Ofir kill,
(Muklly I'm.ii ir.io uior t'ubi li-J jot it (1 fn4
iih til tlx itf ol pt S tel. plot! it loMtird irtt
chiitioni Ui on loot ; d rich, f ;.! dent J by (V
yt'trtf li 4 tcdltfl tlln l. iM!, It crtitttd (or
ht inoO ntliMiti futffUt. Sn, the iluHi t o( ao
hifpy Pvltoci hu lo itxtrlib y imp"l!fd opoa mf
r tf tt . fl'ti Ht'cri, imi i ota d',
I't.ir.i bwt fj oo bbirm, to 1C diV hnh fto
c tmitd to jSiltty ol oii tod t coflt-toi n'tf.
ttc io iht Ueuft o lttiffrit On ikti diy
lomti iktlttdiol a ci.iiuption, wbieh il ooc I tnily
cbiltd bf ihit ton iiirii, iioontti a foih ihn
o.;d do booi lo lit tut tl (oil ol tuiootl Sowtd
lit ltdi ol tuiu.ict, did 1 I y f Oo ibti dt iba
tnorlltt (jiinr-C W.io lilt, hkt btit.ftvt. Itrm lb bttia
ol Jvptt', '-'I f'o", '(ilic lo hi Uioi ted
ot. ir y too. uy with tuo t Wbniht iH cbc in
'tfkb nm oi ibo itottdidtti diidtiofd bc
a! Htt tlt wit tnnktdibt ifftA ! w.t
.Uoltid 10 o.tdoct, wi-t ttobilion tod ltw
o tty t.otf tt y. or touooy, tootd ioio lucai
,,,r t ibooltod boott iif loi lbOo'4 ot.
)ia ttdiitd bKb n boi a fa.'ilu of of
ty lobcttmd loiwtktmiioo I Woold yoo ciUfl ibtto
botn, iht'c kbtmtt lo tmliyo , i!oi ib tntrd.
tntot btlott y oi 1 bto, lodttd, will tb pif n tM,
OO dt(M 1. COIOrt'lOOIt H bit ttctntd ! Tbto, U.
ditd, mty tty iilii.ib,oMltttill,or ii-ik
fot totj ol lb titCloii tt toriopitd, to t.iit rtlo
ol d otit oH orobibtt io to; totMMiy, lomt u.
btt oataaiMMiol lnutt,
t
, f -