Newspapers / The Weekly Raleigh Register … / April 14, 1831, edition 1 / Page 1
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hs :i - 1. ft. i 4- if . ...... r i 4 PUBLISHED EVtRY jTHURSDAY, $3om&) ait $c Son, Raleigh, No (th parol ina. gntt Oottna per annum ;.de half in Rdracc. Tho" who do not, citheii at the tune of sub. scribing, or subsequently; give notice of then wish to have hr Paper discontinued at the ex piration of their year, vrili be presumed as de liriflg Us continuance unt?l countermanded. fot exceedin; sixteen lines, will be inserted three times fur a Dollar ; and twenty-five cents for each subsequent publication : those of greater length, in the same proportion. If tfie number of insertions be . not marked on them, they will be -continued until ordered . out, and charSed accordingly. MIfc WEBSTER!S S PEECH. soon as the immense cheering smi acclama tions with which the tnasjt in compliment to . Mm. Wshsteii, at the New-Vork Dinner, had subsided, that gentleman rose and addressed the Company as follows t-r0" 1 owe the honor of this occasion, pentlemen, to your patriotic and affectionate att.chment to the Constitution of-the Country. For an effort, well intended, however otherwise of unpretend ing character, made in th difcchargp of public duty and designed to-maintain the Constituiion, and vindicate its just powers, you hare been pleased to tende r me this token " of your res pect. It would be idle affectation to deny, tlist it g-iveii me siflgul 'r. gratification. Every public man must naturally Idesire tle apphoba tioH of bis fellow citizens ; j and though it may fee supposed that I should; be anxious, in the fiit place, not to disappoint the expectations of tloae whose immeoiate liepresentative I am, it is not possible that should not feel, neverthe Jess, the high value of sucl a mark of esteem as is here ;fTcved. But, gentlemen, I am conscious that the mxin purpose of this occasion is higher tl an mere manifestation of personal regard. It is to evince your attachment to the Consitution, and your just alarm, at whatever threatens to weaken its proper authority, or endanger its existence. I Gentlemen, this ceuld hardly be otherwise. It would be sti'antre. indeed, if the members of t!;is vast commercial commkmity should not be first and foremost to rally for the Constitution, whenever opinions and doctrines are advanced, hotile to its principles. Where, iouder than .Lere, may we expect a patriotic voice to be ' raVsied, vhen the Union of the States "u threat ened ? Id this great Commercial Eroporium, at this central poinj of th? united commerce of the United States, cf all places we may expect the wsrmcrt, the moat determined, , and universal feeling of attachment to the National Constitu tion. Gentlemen, no one can estimate more highly than I do, the natural advantages of your ci'y. No one entertains a higher opinion than rayself, also, of that spirit of wise and liberal policy, which has actuated the -government of the State io the accomplishment of high objects, Important to the growth and prosperity both of tne State and the ity ' But all these local ad vantages, and all this enlightened state policy eonld never have made your City what it now is, without the aid and protection of a Genera) Government, extending over all the States, and establishing, for all, a common and uniform sys tem of commercial regulation. Without nation al chr icter, witJiont public credit, without sys tematic finance, without uniformity of commer cial laws, aTl Other advantages possessed by this city, would have decayed and perished, like unripe fruit. A General Goven taeot waa, fur y- rs before it was instituted, the, great object of desire to the inhabitants of this city. New York was conscious of her local advantages for commerce she saw her d-siiny, and was ea'er to t rnbiace it ; but nothing else than a General Government 'could make free her path before lier, and set her forward on her career. She early saw; all tl;is, and to the accomplishment of lliii great and indispensable object, she bent up every faculty, and exerted every effort. She was not mistaken. Siie farmed no false judg rnent. At the moment of the adoption of the Constitution, New-York w;as the capital of one .fctatej and contained thirty two or three thou sand people. It now contains, more than two hundred thousand people,!and is justly, regiird- ed a the Commercial Capital, not only of al! the United States, but of the whole Continent also, horn the Pole to th South Sea; Every ige oi ner nistory. tor tne list tortv years. heurs hinh and irresis'ible jtestimony to the ben- e.iis and Mcssmgs of the General Government. Her astonishing growth is ireterrv d to, and quot ed, all the world over, as on of the most strik ing proofs ot the i fleets of our Federal Union. To suppose htr now to beS easy ahdlj indifferent, v.'hen notions are advanced tending to its disso lution, would be to suppose her equally forget tnl of the past, and blind to the present, alike ignorant of her own hifitory, and her own inter e&t, metamorphosed, from sail that j,he has been, into a being, tired of its prosperity, sick of its own growth and greatness, nrnl infatu.ted for its own destruction. Every bl-w aimed at the w. oiaies siriKws .on tne tend' tierve of her interest and! her happiness, brmg the Union into debate-, is to bring her union. or me Mules sinkk-u n th tnArt K a i mf i lumrg .prosperity into debate also. To speak of arreting the laws of the Union, of interpos ing State power in matters of Commerce and itcvcime, ol weakening ihje full and and just au ttiority of the General Giwernroent, would be in. I i l. . .! . 1 . . . " rejj-am io mis uny, m another mode of speaximj of commercial rj ruin,- of abandoned larves, of vacated houses, of diminished and dispersing population, of bankrupt merchants of uiv.h Vfi; out hread. the growth ot this Citv. and tl w - IC f i- I' . . f 1 1 1 . uiiscnuiion or tne unsteu states, are coe-V-U4 an;l coterunorarie-s. Thsv be 'an toHtho'r thery have flourished together, an 1 if rashness -nmoiiy d-csuoy one, the Other will follow it to iomt). ni'.cm.-n i Ijt.Ma '.AL.A idol il,..ik oi nns.city is extror liu-uy, and almost u..exam- f , .l.Ulw.,l1il Ill-11 iiic kiuwiii i tj,n0y, i believe, sixteen or seventeen year, smce I first s:iw it. Within that 'comp-r-' Veiy stjrt period, it lus kidded to . its Dumber When ".-uinea tha wtt;le ain.Mint oPils popul itiorf U Oast it til win iu.id 4f lt 1 wi .J? ,,,iv1"-lr P.'ver to check tthw prosperity, of , j,- Jii.ii jauu uiai n, of itl' t 1 ' . ot 'i'eHiiiif ttiis city to recedc -'V 1 p 11 , j .,1 ,. ..... . .1 , l- . , . . -1 till a' 'estiivri pubhi aut'uur :t-, a broken or a weakened Union of the States, wotdfp be , soveretgn. This wouKi oe cause erhitient enough, - Every thing else, in the commorl fr tunes of communities, she tnay hope to rfcsist, or tm prevent. That would be fatal as thJ ar row ol death. if ' Gentlemen, 'you have personal recollections and associations, connected with the establish ment and adoption of the Constitution, which arenecesarily called up on an ocensioni like this. It is impossible to forget the prominent agency which eminent citizens of your owif. ful filled, in regard to that great measure. IThr-y are now recorded among the illustrious Ijsad t but they have left irames never tof be f.rgt5ten, and never to be remembered without resfpect and veneratiom Least of all, can they bef for gotten' by you,' when assembled here fori the purpose of signifying your, attachment tr the Constitution, and your sense of its ine&tinfable importance to the happiness of the peopleJ I should do violence to mv own feelings, Lgen tlemen : I think I should drfend your?, if I emit ted respectful mention of great names, yet fresh in your recollections- IIow can I stand hefe, to speak of the Constitution of the United SUtes, of the wisdom of its provisions, of tUe dirBcnl ties attending its adoption,1 of the evils from which it rescued the country, and of the pros-pt-rity and power to which it has raised it ami yet pay no tribute to those who wtre highly in strumental in accomplishing the work ? Vhile we are here, to rejoice that it yet stands s firm and strong ; while we congratulate one another that we live under its influence and cherish hopes of its long duration, we cannot forget who they were that, in the day of our national infan cy, in the times : of despondency and despair, mainly assisted to work out our deliverance. 1 should feel that I disregarded the strong recol lections which the occasion presses upoii n, that 1 was not true to gratitude, not true to pa triotismviiot true to the living or the dead, not true to your feelings or my own, if I should for bear to make mention of Alexander Hamilton. Coming from the military service of the eoun try, yet a youth, but with knowledge audi ma turity, even in civil affairs, far beyond his yeurs, he made this city the place of his adoption ij and he gave the whole powers of lus mind to; the contemplftion of the weak and '. distracted, con dition of the country. Daily increasing in ac quaintance and confidence. with the people of this city, he saw, what they also S:iW, the abso lute necessity of some cloier bond of Union for the States. This was he great object of desire. He never appears to have lost sight of itl but was found in the h ad, whenever any th'.iigi was to be attempted lor its accomplishment. One experiment after another, a is well known, was .tried, and all failed. The States were urgently called on to confer such further powers uii the old Congress as would Y-nable it to redeem the public faith, or to adept tHeinselvea some gene t-id and common principle of commercial regula tion. Eat the States had not agreed, and were not likely to agree. In this posture of affairs, so full of public difficulty, arid public distress, commissioners from five or six of the States met, on the request of Virginia, a Annapolis, in Sep tember, 1786. The precise object of their ap pointment was, to take into consideration the trade of the United States ; to examine the rel ative situations ar.d trade of the several States : and to consider how far a uniform systejn of commercial regulations was necessary totheir common interest and permanent harmony Mr. Hamilton w-i one of these commissioners and T kiiJ. 1 ... . , .1 .t. V . U.I i nave liuueiMooa, tnougu l cannot assert nie fact, that thefr report was drawn by him.i- His associate from this State w:is the venraMe Judge Benson, who has lived long, audi still live?, to see the happy results of the cot.n-.eN wnicn originated in trps meetutt'. Ot its Mem bers, he avid Mr. Mad son art:, I believe, tfe on ly survivors. TheRe.comiuissioiK rs recomi tend ed, what took place the next ye:r, a general Convention of all the States, to t.ke into serious deliberation the condition of the country,, aijfd de vise such provisions as should render the Con stitution of tiie Federal Government adequate to the exigencies of the Union. I need not rlmind you, that of this Convention, Mr. Hamiltoif was ari active and efficient member. The Constitu tion was framed, and submitted to the country. And then another great work was to be under taken. The Constitution vould naturally 3 find, and did find, enemies nd oppose rs. Obj'-fitions to it were numerous, aiid powerful, aid spirited. Tiiey were to be answt-red ; and they wee ef fecmaily answered. The writers of the )num hers of the Federalist, Mr. Hamilton Mr. 1 tdi son, and Mr. Jay, so greatly distinguished liem selve in their discussions of the Constitution, that tliof; numbers sre generally received as important commentaries on the; text, and -accurate expositions, in general, of its objects and purposes. 1 hose paper. yere all wntteg and publi.-.hed in th'm city. Mr. Hamilton was select ed one of the distinguished delegation frojm the city, into the State Convention at Poughikeep sie, called to ratdy the new Constitution! Its debates Republished. Mr. Hamilton appears to have exerted, on this oqoasion, to the utmost, every power and faculty of his mind. The whole question was likely tolepend on the decision of New York He felt the ftill im portance ot the crissis ; Aiid the reports of his speeches, imperfect as they probably are, are yet lasting monuments to his genius and patriot ism, lie saw at last his hopes fulfilled : he saw the Constitution adopted, and the government Under it, established and Organized. The dis cerning eye of Washington immediate?)' called him to that post, infuutelyhhe; most important, in the administration of the new system. He wiifi made Secretary of the Treasury ; and .how he fuHillcd the duties of such a pl.ice, at such a time, the whole country perceived, With dtdiht, and the whole world saw, with admiration, lie smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of- the Public Credit, and it sprung upon its feet. The; fabledLb'nh of Minerva, from the brain of Jove, was liardly more sudden, or more perfect, than thewfinan- cul system of the United States, burst fort from tlie conceptions of AtEXWEa IUmtlto. , Your recollections, gentlemen, your respect, and your affections, all conspire to bring btfore you, at such a time as this another greatl now, too, numbered with the dead. 1 mah the !ure, the disuuerested, the patriotic Joasc'Jkx. His character is a brilliant jewel in the acred treasures of national reputation. Leaviit his profession at an early period, yet not bHbie he had singularly distinguished himself in t;from the commencement of theWvolution, his vhole lift, until his final retirement, was a life of pub hc service. A member, blithe first Congress, he Was the au hor of that political paper wljich is generally acknowledged to stand first amolig the incomparable productions of that body 4 pfapers, Which called f on li that decisive strain 0$ com mendation from the great Lord Chatham,in!which ue pronounced them not inferior to the finest productions of the master lates of the world. -lie had been abroad,and lie had also been Urn intrusted w.fa the difli;ult duties of our foreign j correspondence at fiome. He had seen and felt, in the fullest measure, and to the greatest possmie extent, tne dimoully of coudacting our foreign affairs honorably and usefully, without a stronger and more peifect Union at home. Though not a member of the Convention which framed the Constitution, he was yet present while it was in session, and looked anxiously for its result. By the choice of this City, he had a spat in the State Convention, and took an active and zealous part, for the adoption of the Cn st'.iution lie" was selected by Washington to be the frt Chief Justice t;f the United States ; and surely, the high and most responsible duties of that station, ccmJd not have been trusted to abler or safer hands. It is the duty, one of equal importance and delicacy, of that tribunal, to decide constitutional questions, arising occa sionally on State laws. The general learning and ab lity, and especially the pruuVriof, the mildness, and the firmness of his character, em ently Jilted Mr. Jay to be the head of such a Court. When the spotless ermine of the Judi cial robe fell on Ju JAT, it touched nothing not as siotles as itself. These eminent men, gentlemen, the cotemporaries of some of you, known to most, and revered by all, were so con picuous in the framing and adopting of the Constitution, and called so early to ; important stations u-ider it, that a tribute, better, indeed, than I have given, or am able to give, seemed due to them from us.-There was yet another, of whom mention is to be made. In the revolution ary history of the country, the name of Chav c kllou f.TviMftsrow became early prominent. He was a member of that Congress which de 1 1 ciara Independence ; and a member; too, of the Committee which drew and reported the immortal Declaration. At the period of the adoption of the Constitution, he was its firm friend and able advoc de. He was a member ot the State Convention, being one of that li..t of distinguished ind gifed men, who represented th s City in that body ; and threw the whole weight of his talents and irfluence into the doubtful scale of the Constitution. Gentlemen, s connected with the Constitu tion, you have also local recollections which must bind it still clostr to your attachment and aflectino. It commenced its being, and its bles sings, here. It was in this City, in the midnt of mends, anxious, hopeful, and devoted, that the new Government started in its course. To us, gentlemen, who are younger, it has c6me'don by tradition ; but some around me are old c nough to have witnessed, and did witness, the interesting scene of the tiiT inauguration. They remember what voices of gratified patriotism, what shouts" of enthusiastic hope, what accla matrons rent the . air how many eyos were suf fused with tears of joy how cordially each man pressed the hand of him. who was next to him, when, standing in the open air., in the centre of the City, in the view of assembled th usunds, the first President was he.ud solemnliy to pro nounce the words of his official 01th, repealing them from the lips of Chancellor Livingston. You th n thought, gentlemen, that the great work of the revolution was accomplished. Y-u then felt that you had a Government that the United States were then, indeed, united. Eve TV benignant star seemed to shed its Kelectest influence on tint auspicious hour. Here were heroes of the Rr volution ; here were sages ol the Convention ; here were minds, disciplined aod schooled in all the various fortunes f the country, acting now in various relations, but all co-operatii g to the same great end, the success ful administration of tl. a new and untried Con stitution. Ar.d he how shi.il I speak of him ? he was at the head, who was a!read first in war who was already first in the hearts of his coun trymen and who u:is now shown, by the unanimous suffrage of the country, to be fiist in peace. Gentlemen, how gloriously have the hopes, then indulged, been fulfilled '.' Whose expecta tion was then sos'iiguine I mav klmost ak whose imagination then so extravaganl, as to run forward and contemplate as pro'ialde, the one half of what has been accomplished in fortv years ? Who among you can go back to I7ii9, and see what this city, and this country too, then were and then beholding what they now are, cn oe ready to consent that the Constitution of the United States shall now be wenkei.ed. nulli fied, or dishonored ? Gentlemen, bt fore I leave these pleasaat re collections, I feel it an irresistible impulse of duly to pay a tribute of resp. ct to another "distinguish, ed person, not, indeed, a fellow citizen of your own, but associated with those I have ahead) mentioned, in important labours, and an early & indef'.ilig:ble friend and advocate in the great cause of the dmstitution. Gentlemen, I refer to Mr. Madison. I am aware, Gentkmen that tribute of regard f rom me to him is of little im portance ; but if it shall receive your approbation-ami sanction, it w. I! become of value. Mr. Madison, thanks to a kind Providence, is yet a mong the living, and there is certainly no othei individual living to whom the country is so much indebted fur the blessings of the Constitution. He was one of the Commissioners at Annapolis in 17S6, of the meeting of which I have already spoken a meeting which to the greit credit of Virginia, had its origin in a proceeding of that Stale. He was a member of the Convention of 1787, and of that of Virginia the following year. He was thus intimately acquainted with the whole progress of the formation of tne Constitu tion, from its very first step.to its final adoption. If ever man had the nie .us of understanding a written instrument, Mr. Madison has the means of understanding the Constitution. ; lr it bu pos sible to know what was designed by it, he can tell us. It was in this city, that in conjunction with JIr. Hamilton and Mr. Jay, h wrote the numbers of the Federalist : and itwas in this city that he commenced his brilliant career, un der the new Constitution, having been elected into the House of Representatives of the first Congress. The recorded votes and debates of those times, show his active and efficient agen cy in every important measure of that Congress. The ilecesary organization of the Government, the arrangement of the Departments,8t especial ly the paramount subject of revenue.engagedhis attention, Gt hhared hi labors. The legislative history of the first two or three years of the Gov ernment is full of instruction. It presents, in striking light, the evils intended lobe remedied by the Constitution, and the provisions which were deemed essential to the remedy of those evils. It exhibits the country, in the moment of its change.from a weak & ill-defiued confederacy of States,intoa general,efficiehtnUl still restrain ed and limited Government, tt shows the first working of our peculiar system, moved, as then was,by master hands. Gentlemen, for one, I confess, I like to dwell on this part of our history. It is good for us to he here. It is good for us to study the situ ton of the country ;it this period, to survey its ditfi cully.to look at the conduct of its public men, to see how they strugj-led: with obstacles, real St tormidabie, and how gloriously they drought the country out of it's state of depression and distress. iTulyi UcaUeavn, these founders and Uhzr of the Constitution were great men, and thorough ly furnished tor every good Work. All thai read ing and learning could do, all that talent and intelligence could do, and what is perhaps! still more all that long experience, in d.fficulf and troubled tinv a, nd a deep and intimate practical knowledge of the condition of the counrrv could do, conspired to fit them for the great business of formmg a general, but limited government, embracing common objects, extending over all the States, and yet touching the power of the States no farther than those common objects re quire. I confess, I Jove to linger around these original fountains, and to drink deep of their waten. I love, to imbibe, in as full measure as I may, the spirit of those who laid the foun.la.ions ot the government, & so. wiselr k skilfully bal anced & aiijusted its beariues, and proportions Having been afterwards, for eight veara Secre tary of State, and as long President, Mr. Madi son has had an experience in the affairs of tile Constitution, certainly second to no mau. More 1,1m any otfurman living, and perhaps more .n,.sn.V 01 her man who has lived, his whole public afe has been incorporated as it were, into the Constitution in the original conception and project of attempting to form it, in its actual fra ming in explaining and recommending i, by speak-ing and writing, in assisting at the fust or ganization of the Government under it, and in a l-ng administration of iis executive powers, in those van.. us ways he has lived near lite Consti tution, and w.th the power of imbibing its true spirit, and inhaling its very breath, fr-.m its firs,t pulsa' iou of life. Again, therefore, I ask, if he annot tel! us what the Constitution is. and what it means, who can ? He had retired with th. respect and regard of the community, and might naturally be supposed not willing to interfere a gain in matters of political concern. He has, nevertheless, not wiihhohien his opinions on the vital question discu-sed cu t hat occasion, which nas caused this meeting. He lias-stated, with an accuracy almost peculiar to himself, and so stated, as, in my opiuioii.M place almost beyond further controversy, the true doctrines of the Constitution. He has stated, not m.lions too loose and irregular to be called even u iheory .ot ideas struck out by the feeling of present mcotiveniei.ee or supposed mal-administration not suggestions of expediency, or evasions of fair and straight forward 'construction, but ele meutary principles, clear and sound distinctions, jnd indispensable truths. I am sure, Gentlemen, that I speak your sentiments as well as my own) when I say. that for making public so clearly & distinctly as he Ins done, his .-wn opinions or. thes'i vital questions of Constitutional law, Mr. Madiion has founded a new and strong claim 0.1 the grautude of a grateful country. You will think with me, that at his advanced age, and in the eujoment of general respect and' approba tion, tor a long career of public services, it was an act of distinguished: patriotism, when he saw notions promulgated and maintained, Which he deemed unsound and dangerous, not 'to hesitate to come forward, and to place the weight o! hi own opinion in what he deemed the right scale, come wh.u might. I am sure, Gentlemen, i't cannot be doubted, the manifestation is clear, that the country feels gratefully U.e force of l 'lis new obligation. Gentlemen, what I have add of the benefits of 1 he 0 mstitution toyour city, m.ght be said, with itile ch mge in every other part of the Cuuntrv. Its benefits are not exclusive. What has it le'fi undone, which sny government could do, for the whole country ? In what condition has it placed us ? Where do we now stand ? Are we eleva ted or degraded by its operation ? What is our condition under its infiuence,at the very moment When some talk of arresting its power. &, break ing its unity Do we not feel ourselves on an eminence ? Do we noi challenge the respect of th. whole woild? What has placed us thus high ? Wh.it has given us this ju,t pride What else is it, but the unrestrained and fre o peration of that same federal Constitution, which it has been proposed now to hamper, and manacle, and nullity Who is there among u-, that's!. Mild find himself on any sp t of the earth where human beings exist, and where the exis tence of other nation:; is known,, ihat would not he proud say, I am an American M am a couii- irv man ot w asin.igion f 1 am a citizen cf that Republic, which, although it has suddenly sniung up, yet there are none on the globe who 'ave ears to hear and have not heaid of it who have eyes to see and have not read of it who know any thing, and y t do not know of its .. x istence and its glory? And, Gentlemen, -let me now reverse the Picture. Let me ask, who is there amo.ig u if he were to b found to-morrow in one of the civilized countries of Europe, and were there to learn that this goodly form of goxernni' nt had been overthrown that the Uni ted States were no loi.ger united that a . death blow had been struck upon their boad of Union ih.it they themseves had destroyed their chief j oodar.d 1 heir chief honor, wh i there, whose heart would not sink within hiin ? Who is there who would not cover his face for very shame ? At this very moment, gentlemen, our country is a general refuge for the distressed andkhe persecuted of other nations. Whoever is in af fliction from political occurrences in his own country, look, here for shelter. Whether he be Republican, flying from the oppression of thrones or whether he be Moinrclior Monar chist, 'flying from thrones that crumble and fall under or around him he feels equal assuranc--, that if he get foot-hold on our soil, his person is safe, and ins rights will be respected. And woo will venture to say, that in any Go vernment, now existing in the world, there is greater secmity for persons or property than in the United Slates ? We have tried these popu lar institutions in times of great excitement and commotion; they have stood 'substantially firm and steady, while the fountains of the great political deep have been elsewhere broken up ; while thrones, resting on ages of prebciiption, have tottered and fallen ; and while, in other countries, the earthquake of unrestrained pop if I .! I . II i.ir commotion uas swauoweu up all law, and all liberty, and all right together. Our Govern ment has been tried in peace, and it has been tried in war; and has proyed itself fit for b th. It has been assailed from without, and success fully resisted the siiock ; it has been disturbed within, and has effectually quieted the disturb ance. It can stand trial it can stand assault it can stand adversity it can stand everything, but the marring of its own beauty, and the wea kening of its own strength. It can stand every thing, but the effects of odr own rashness, 81 our own folly.' It can stand every thing, but.disor ganuation, disunion, and nullification. lt 1 a striking fact, and as true as it is striking, that at this very moment, among all the princi pal civilized States of the world, tha Govern ment is most secure against the danger of popu lar commotion, which is itself entirely popular. It seems, indeed, that the submission of every tidng to the public will, under Constitutional restraints, imposed by the people themselves, fumUhes, itself,-security that that will, will de sire nothing wrung. Cena;r. it is, that nopnbt CanstHu'.brijd Li bert 1 ', as we enmv it. anDears. Jri th. nrpsnt state of the world as sure and stable a &VfZZ'ZZZW WW M ConstitoUoft, & la f . . . fnL annn.i.iit ".M MTireiu iu resr-unon. an anv ii v uovenimeni at a eiMiguienea states can hnd, pr iloes find. Qer"-" jam it is, that in these times of so much popular knowledge, and so much popular activity those Governments which do not admit the fe'ople to partake in their administration, but koep the People under and beneath, sit 011 materials for an explosion, which may take place at any tno ment, and blow them into a thousand atnss. 'Gentlemen, let any mm who would degrade and enfeeble the National Constitution let any man who would nullify its laws, stand forth and tell us what he would wish. What does he pro pose ? Whatever he may be, and whatever sub stitute he may hold forth, l j.m Mire the people of this country will decline his kind interference, and hold on to the Constitution which they po-s-s. Any one who w'ould wilb'ng-lv destrov it, I r. joice to know would be looked" upon with abhorrence. It is deeply entrenched in the re gards cf the People. 1 Doubtless, it may be unv dermine-d by artful and long continued hosti'itr"'; tt may be imperceptibly weakened by 'secret at tack ; it may be insidiously shorn cf its pWers by slow degrees ; the public .vigilaf-ce miiy be lulled, and wiie-i it "awakes, it mav fi-idthe Oon stHut.on frittered aw i. In those modes, or sime of them, it is possible that the Union of the States may be dissolved, Dut if the general at tention of the people be kept aliv -if they see' the intended mischief before it is effected, they will effectually; prevent it by their own sovereign power. They will interpose themselves be: iween tne meditated blow and the object ot ttieir regard and attachment. Gentlemen, next to the controlling authority of the People them selves, the preservation of the Government is mainly committed to those who administer it. If conducted in wisdom, it cannot but stand strong. Its genuine original spirit is a patriotic, liberal, a generous spirit a. spirit of conciliation, of moderation, of candor, and eharitv ; a spirit of friendship, and not a spirit of hostility with the .Mates; a spirit, careful not to exceed, and ' equally .careful not to relinquish, its just!pow ers. While no interest can or ought to feel it self shut out from the benefits of the Constituti on, none should consider those benefits as ex clusively its own. The interests of all must be connected, and reconciled, and provided for, as fr as p-ible, that all may perceive the bene fits of an united Government. Amnng'other things we are to remember, that since the adoption of the Constitution, new States hive ..risen, possessing already an .immense po pulation, spreading and thickening over vast regions, which were a wilderness when the Con sl.tutton was adopted. Those States are not, like New-York, directly connected with mari time commerce. Tliey are entirely. agricultural, and need markets for c .nsurnpiion, and acces to those markets. It U the duty of the Govern ment to bring the interests, of these new States into the Union, and incorporate them closely in the family compact. Gt ntlemen, it is 'not im practicable to reconcile these v nous interests, and so to administer, th? Government as to make it useful to all. lr was never easier to adminis ter tlie Government than it is now. We are beset with none, or but few, of its original dif ficulties,; and it is a time of great general pros perity and happiness.' Shall we admit ourselves incompetent to carry on the Government, so as to be satisfactory to the whole country Shall we admit that tht re has so little descended to us of the wisdom and prudence of our fathers Ifth--Government could be administered in Washing ton's time, when it was yet new, when the country was heavily in debt, when foreign relations wei c threateningi & whei Indian wars pressed on the frontiers, can it not be administered now ? Let u not acknowledge ourselves so unequal to our duties. ' -. Genllemen, on the occasion referred to, it became necessary to consider the iudieia! now. ei, -ami ua proper iunctsor.s undor the desti tution, n every free and balanced government, this is a most essential and important power.' inueea i tnuin it is a retwaik ot Mr. Hume, that the administration of justice seerni to te the leading object of institutions of government : 'that Legislatures assemble, that armies are em bodied, that bothwar and peace are made, with a sort of ulhmate'reerence to the propc-r admi nistration of laws, and the judicial protection of private rignis. 1 ne Ju liciar power comes home 10 every man. If the Legislature passes incor rect or ui.just general laws, its members bear the.eyil as well as others. Hut judicature act on individuals. It touches every private right, eve. ry private interest, and almost every private feeling. What we possess is hardly fit to be called our own, unless-we feel secure in its pos session ; and this security, this feeling of per feet safety, cannot exist under a wicked, or even under a weak and ignorant administration of the laws. There is no happiness, there is no liberty, iheTe is no enjovment of life, unles,- a man can say w'hen he rises in the morning I shall be subject to'the decision of no unjust judge to-day. But, gentlemen, the Judicial Department, un der the Constitution of the United States, pos sesses sti'l higher duties. It is true that it may be called on, and is occasionally called 01 to deckle questions, wh eh are, iu one sene, of a political nature. The General and Stale Go, ernmenls, both established by the People, arc established for different purposes, and with dif ferent powers. Iielweeji those powers ques tions may arise, and who shall" decide them ? Some provision for this end is absolutely ne cessaiy. What shall it be ? This was tho question before the Convention; and various schemes were suggested. It was foreseen, that the States might inadvertently pass laws, inconsistent with the Constitution of the United Slates, or with acts of Congress. At least, laws might be passed, which would be ciiarged with such inconsistency. How should these questi ons be diaposed of ! Where shit 11 the power .of judging, in casts of alleged interference, be lodged ? One suggestion in the Convention, was to make it an executive pow-r, and to lodge it in the hands of the President, by requiring all State laws to be submitted to him, that he might negative such as he thought appeared repugnant to the general constitution. This idea, perhaps, may have been borrow d from the power ekerv cised by the crown, over the laws of the colonies. It would evidently have been not only an inconve nient & troublesome proceeding, but dangerous, also, to the powers of tne State?. It was not piess e'd. It was thought wiser & safer.on'the whole, to require State Legislatures and State Judges to take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, and then leave the States at li berty to pass whatever laws they pleased j and if interference in points ot fact, should arise, to refer the question to judicial decision. To this end the judicial power, under the Constitu tiou iot the United States5, was made co-extensive witir the legislative power. 1 was extended to all cases arising under the Constitution and the laws ot Congress. The Judiciary became thus n.wstssed of he authority of deciding, m the t rtGi-t, i-a all ;f irtlced tntctfejrncej t o. : . . . W5 ; ClT ueiitiernen. thi is th ...! r. 4 tl, .1 f . -"niu wuiiaiiiiuion- this the r.w of the bL There may be those who think ,t tfnnecessny, or who would p' fer a d tferent mode of deciding auch qtUstiSn. Hut this is the established mode, W til I it bft altered, .he Courts can uo aiort decline their uuty, on tlteseoccHsionS,,than on other occus rfl. ?k " ' Sentlemen, can any reasonable man exiruii :y wmis provision, grst a better ? I3 it not absolutely sst or su 7. w. ,,C ot ue country, ihkt lh,s power should exist somewhere ? Where Can it exist, betteT than where u n-wdoes exist ? The national i-i-dxiiry is the common tribunal of ,he whol country. It is organized by the common auth. "'. .ans places filled by the com-non Cent.' 1 his is the plain and practical nrovision. It was framel by no biui&lers. hnr W u,,v.,;u... . l, X-.l . vl Uf nsts. And whoi can sy that it ha? failed W ce.n find substantial fault with iss ope, a ion its ri suits r The great questbtv is, whether ' - . " 7 " , . J IIJCO Whot or I . ,": l"?-ceai.e decision of cr cf coll- ion Sz they be decided by law, o- b'v h rce r Siiall the dcria.twis be decisions of pCao" or tlecisions of war f ' aOn the occasion referred Jo, the proposition contended fur was, thlt every State, under cei-taiii-sHpposed exigencies, might decide for i1 selt ti.-.d act for itself, andop,S r lt.s own f.ire-u to ihe execdiion of the Lws. By what argumen" do y.Hi imagine, gentlemen, it v?as, that uch proposition was maintained ? I should cull "t metaphysical, & suMle ; but those tPrm ..u ! imply at least ingenuity; and snnie degree" of p.auh-ouuy ; -weres .lie argument appears to -ne plain assumption, mete perverse 'construe, lion of plain language, in the bed v of the thil stitution itself. As I understand "it, when put fortii in us revised ar;d most authentic shape, it is this : that the Constitution provides that, knv amendments maybe made to it, which shall he agreed to by three fourths of the St.v.es ; there is, therefore, to be nothing inthe Constiiulioti to wh.eh three-fourths of tlie States h.ive not agreejh All this is true : hut then comes ihi inieieuce, vi. mat wiien one State dfiihc constitution ihty of any law of Congress 10 site may arrest its execution as t herself, & ke;o it arreste :, till the States can all be consulted,' by tht ir conventions, & three-fourths of them shall have decided that the law is constitutional. In deed, the inference is still stranger than this for State conventions have no authority to co struelhe Coiisiitution, though they have autho rity to amend it ; therefore the argument roust prove, if it prove any thing, that when anyone -xate denies that any particular power is includ ed in the Constitution, It , I. Co considered as not included, and cannot be'-found there t:ll three-f.urths of the States agree to insert it. i -hor, the result of the whole is, that though ic requires three fourths of the States to insert any thing into the Constitution, yet any State can strike any thing out of it. For the power to strike out, and the power of deciding, without appeal, upon the construction of what is alrea dy in, are suhsiantLdly and practically the nam. Ami, gentl, rrei, what a spectacle ahouhj WtS have exhibited, under the actual operation notions like these ! At the very moment wherj .ur Gorernn.ent was qroted, praised, and com mended all over the world $ when the friends cf Republican Li erty, everywhere, were gazing at it with d light, and were in perfect admiral iori -t the harmony of its movements, one State steps forth, and by the povVer of nulinV.at on, nie:.ksup the whole system, and scatters the; brigrit ciiain of the Union into as many sundered iinks as there ure separate States ? Seeing tiie true grounds of the Constitutlou thus attacked, I raised my voice in its favor I must confess, with no preparation or previoi& ititent.o i. I can hardly say thatl embarked in the contest from a sense of duty. It was an m staulan hius impulse of inclination, not i.c ing agai- st duty, i trust, but hardly waiting for it suggestions. I felt it tQ be a contest for the in tegrity of the Constitution ; and I ws ready to enter into it, not thi .kiig,' or caring, personally, ho v I might come out. Gentlenien, I have true ple.,nre in saying, thai I trust the crisis has, in some 'ini''asaie,ps. ed by. The doctrines of Nailifkation have re ceived a severe and stern rebuke from public o pmion. The general reprobation of the counr v nas been cast upon Hum. Receat expressions oV t!.e most numerous branch of the National Leg islature are decisive and imposing. Everywhere, the get.eial tone of public feeling is for the Con stitu ioh. While much will be yielded eytry thing, idmot, but the integrity ot tjic Cons(itii. tion, r.nd the essential infeiests of the Countr to thecau-e of mutual harmony and mutual eri e'.hation, no ground can be granted, not an inehj to menace i.nd bluster. Indeod menace a...l ..is:.ti, me puiiin lumi 01 tiaring uncoj- siituti.ina I doctrines, are at this very moment . tne chiet obstacles to mutual tisfactory accommodation. Men cannot weftra. son and confer.and.take counsel tog-i her, about he discreet exercise of a power, with those who deny that any such power rightfully $xits, arid who threaten to blow up the whole Constitution if they cifcnot otherwise get rid of its operaiion. It is a mailer of sincere unification, gentlemen, that the vice of this great Stat has ben ya ciear & strong, and her vote alt out ananimout on the most interesting of these occasions,iu the II- of R presentatives. Certainly such respect to the Ui;n ot-comes N. Y. It is consistent with her in erests and her character. Ttat shugutac ly prosperous State, which noV is, is kely to continue to be, the grealest'lmk in tEe chuia of the Union will ever be, it isjo be hVped, tlie strongest link also. The great States which lie in her neighborhood aj ree wit r her fully in this matter. Pennsylvania, I. believe, loyal to the Union to a man ; and Ohio rai-.es he voice like that of a lion.agains' whatsoever tbreatr ens disunion and dismemberment- Thia harmo ny of sentiment is truly gratifying. It is not to be gainsaid that the. u own of opinion, in this great central mass of our population, on this mo mentous point of tho Constitution, attguis well for our future prosperity and security. I have, said, gentlemen, what I vewly Ielie-e to be true jhat there is no danger to tire Uui oji from open & avowed attacks on its essential principles. Nothing is to be feared from tho who wiil mrch up boldly to their own proposi tions, and tell us that they mean to auuihi'ittc powt.s exeicied by Congress. But, crtamly there are dangers to the1 Constitution, aruj y ought not to shut our eye to them. We knt the importance f a firm and intelligent Judici ary! Rut bow shall wesecitrt thecuntifiUav.ee a, firm and inu Iltgtnt Jtuiici&ry i .Gentlemen, the Judiciary is m the appointment cf the Kxecutive' power. It tonnvt continue or ttf new itself. Its vacancies are to he fided t. the prdiiiary modes of Execuirveaptnmen. If the time shall ever ectre, which ileavin avert! when' men slufl te 'placed in tiie prt me tribunal of the countiy, who entertain' opinions hostile to the ji.t powers of me n :...: M.. 11 u., i. . an evil ' past jt. 'yi a'i :ttr. Our ca(e wdi ie Kb Ml '4 'i1 ft 3' lit i "I iy ' n '
The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 14, 1831, edition 1
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