»l8j [tlfl ifiij e. ^^ ^ 0" ° %. <'^ 'o» ^: :^^ SPEECH ^Cd- flf^ MR, POTTER, OF RHODE ISLAND, OK THE MEMORIAL OF THE DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS OF THE" LEGISLATURE OF RHODE ISLAND. DELIVEREI) JN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MARCH -7, 9, AND 12, 1844. WASHINGTON : PRINTED AT THE GLOBE OFFICE. 1844. - '7 i-.XcLuiiig'O New York Pub. Liby MAR 2 3 1934 SPEECH. FEBHUARY 19, 1844. Mr. B0RKE presented the memorial of the demo- cratic members of the legislature of Rhode Island, requestingf the House to inquire into the conduct of the President of the United States in relation to the the late troubles in Rhode Island, into any viola- tions of the post office, and forcible entering of hot»ses: also into the right of the members from said State to their seats; and further requesting Congress to execute to that State the guaranty of a republican form of government contained in tlie United States constitution in favor of the people's constitution — so called. Referred to Messrs. Burke of New Hamp- shire; Rathbuv of New York; Causik of Mary- land; McClernmkd of Illinoia; and Preston of Maryland. MARCH 7, 1844. Mr. Burke, from the select committee, moved that the committee have power to send for persons and papers; and Mr. Causin moved that the select committee be discharged from the further considera- tion of the memorial. MARCH 9 AND 12. Mr. POTTER addressed the House on the fore- going motions: Mr. S'peaker: I wi-sh to present lo the House a few reasons why these motions should not be en- tertained, and why the subject should not be any farther acted on. It appears to me that there is enough in the me- morial Itself, and apparent upon the face of it, to satisfy the House as to its character. The men who have sio;ned it are members of the present legislatui-& of Rhode Island. They have professed their submis- sion to the present lawful government of the State; they, within a year, liave publicly taken upon them- selves a solemn oath to support it. And now these same men petition Congress to overturn this very government which they have sworn to support. This alone is reason enough why any memorial coming from them should receive no attention from this House. But, sir, supposing all the facts they state to be true, what power hae this House over the matter? Tliis House has power to judge of the elcctionn a its members, but is there any pretence that we are illegally elected, that the meetings were not legally held, or that we did not receive a large majority o the legal votes.' Not the least. The memorial does not pretend to say any such thing. As to im^ieaching' the President, if that is their object, let them say so. I should like to see it tried. The only real ground then for interfering must be under that clause of tha United States constitution whicli guaranties to every State a republican form of government. But does imy one dare to assert that our present consti- tution in Rhode Island is not republican.' It is mat- ter of astonishment tliat the democratic party, who profess to be for State rights and for strict construc- tion, should undertake to interfere with a sovereign State and dictate to her what constitution she should adopt. Why, sir, a few days ago we heard a gen- tleman say he could not find in the United States constitution any power to repair Pennsylvania ave- nue; and a|day or two since, in the Grampus case, I understood one gentleman to argue that it was un- constitutional to allow the officers and sejimen of the navy a cent more than their regiilarpay. Now, sir, I want to see who of these strict constructionists can find in the United States constitution any grant of power to . Congress to dictate to us in this case. Rhode Island is a small State, it is true; but if it can be done in her case, it can be done to New York or any of the large States. Our present constitution was adopted with hardly arty opposition, although in voting upon it the doors were thrown wide open, and the suffrage was almost universal. The Dorrites being afraid of defeat, did not dare to oppose it; and there being no opposition,, its friends did not poll so large a vote as they would have done. The Dorrites — the sovereigns as we call them — have been outvoted and badly beaten every time they have tried a contest, and still they have the impudence to pretend that they are the great majority, the sovereign people of the State. And besides this, there is a most important princi- ple involved in this case; and of what use is it to send for persons and papers, before you have decided this principle, and that you have a right to interfere In case the facta are establishedi' Until our new constitution was adopted, we had Jived for one hundred and eiipon these doctrines for twenty years past. We have introduced, too, into Rhode Island, several years ago, the truly democratic principle of ■voluntary incorporation, by allowing people to in- corporate themselves for literary, scientific pur- poses, &c., without going to the legislature; and our Algerine constitution contains not only a provision prohibiting the general assembly incurring any debt, 'One of these new fashioned democrats, whose democra- cy consists in nothing but najwes and professions, must feel very uneasy if IlTiuij in Kings or Queens county, in New York, or in some places with kingly names in some cf the Southern States. CoimecUcut lived under a roy^ cliartcifuiitil I6I& but prohibits their loaning the credit of the State to any person or company, and prohibits their grant- ing any charter to any moneyed corporation until a new election shall have intervened between its pro- posal and its passage; and yet we are aristocrats, and they are the true, Simon Pure democrats. Under our charter, our freehold system of voting was regulated and defined by law. It has been charged against us that this power was liable to abuse by the legislature; and that they could arbi- trarily change it, and have done it. But this is a misrepresentation. Since its first adoption in 1723, it has always been considered and treated as a fun- damental law; and the amount has always been sub- stantially the same, although nominally varied .several times, on account of the changes in the value of the old paper currency; and yet the I)orr-democratic paper, (the Herald,) in an editorial article in Se[>- tember, 1842, asserted that before 1762 the qualifica- tion for a voter was $1,.334; and this is only one of several instances. If this is not a wilful misrepre- sentation, it shows a recklessness of truth etjuallyf censurable. Our opponents represent that, under our old char- ter the voting was so restricted that only about two- third our citizens had the right of suffrage. But! this is not a fair representation. The whole number of votes at the Harrison election in 1840 was 8,622. But this was not a full vote, as the democratic party knew beforehand that they should be defeated^ and so did not make any very violent exertion. Now, in some of the towns, although we had no legal registry, we knew exactly the number of votes; and by ascertaining the number of absentees in tliose towns, and applying the same proportion to the whole State, we should make the whole number of voters between eleven and twelve thousand, which is a fair estimate. Now, the whole number of free white persons in the State, over twenty-one, is calculated I] from the census to be 25,674, and the Dorrites them- -j selves have usually deducted 3,000 from this forr unnaturalized foreigners, paupers, &c. This would 1 make our per centage of voters, upon the free pop Illation iinder our old system, about as large as it is t in Virginia, Louisiana, and Arkansas.* And be-i sides, it was by no means an exclusive system, J and did not establish a class or an aristocracy, for the amount was fixed so low, that any young man who had the least industry and economy could ' easily obtain it. And notwithstanding all that is stud about our sufirage laws, never was there any State in the Union where the government was more com])letely controlled by public opinion; and this, in ij consequence of our frequent elections (every six months) and the frequent sessions of our legislature. I most freely admit, Mr. Speaker, that it would II have been prudent and politic for us to have ex- ' tended suffrage long ago; and this not because I be- ■ lieve it a natural right, nor that I think we should ' have been any belter or more economically governed; , but simply because the other States all around us < have done it, and because it is in accordance with - the prevailing public opinion. As I have heard the ' observation frequently made by one of our most distinguished citizens,f we have got to sink or swim together with our sister Slates, and if free suffrage 'See the interesting tables contained in the number for May 4, 1642, of the United States Commercial and Statie- tical Register, a very valuable magazine, published by Samuel Hazard, esq., at rhUadelphia. In Virginia, which is of course democratic, if a roan owns freeholds in several districtE, he can vote ia them all. tHoB. Joha Wtiipple. roins them, wc cannot expect to be saved from tlie' r^CTieral wreck. Besides, I believe that if there is not always as much intelligence and information, there is at least apt to be as much honesty and vir- tue among the middling class and the poor, as iniong the wealthier and more favored classes.* A few words now, Mr. Speaker, upon the situa- tion of jiolitical parties in Rhode Island at the time of tliis movement, because this is necessary to en- ible us to understand the complete fusion of parties M hich took place amongst us. Our parties have al- ways gone by the same names as they have in other States — whig and democratic; but the dividing lines — the test questions — have hardly ever been the same. Our parties have always been more or less influenced by causes local, and peculiar to our own Stat-. We have never been divided on the tariff or distribution. Resolutions in favor of the tarifl' and dis'.ribution, were a great number of times passed by the legislature, almost unanimously, and several times when the democrats had the majority. The ques- tion of rechartering the old United States Bank was the only one which could be said to have been a test questifjn with us, for many democrats were in favor ■of some sort of a bank, with great limitations and restrictions, and subject to taxation equally with the State banks. And as to extension of sufi'rage, the democratic party, whose ]jrincipal strength was in the country part of the State, were most bitterly op- posed to it. Of the two parties, the whigs gave it the most countenance. The democratic party had the majority in the legislature for many years, but never made the least movement to extend suffrage. On tlie contrary, when the election law was revised in 1836, and the democratic party had a majority in the House of Representatives, they voted down everything of the sort. For several years there had been a small number of persons, principally in the city of Providence, who sought to obtain some extension, and in March, 1840, they formed the suffrage association. Things were in this situation when the great Harrison hard cider campaign of 1840 came on, and the democrats were beaten. The democratic leaders and office-seekers being now out of power, both in the State and natioiuiJ governments, took up the subject of free suffrage for a political hobby. Many of the whigs joined them, especially those who, upon the coming into power of the new party, could not obtain the offices they wanted. One of the principal leaders in the enter- prise was one of the Flarrison whig electors.! Thinking that the whigs had been materially aided in the late campaign by the machinery of flags, mu- sic, &c., which they adopted, the new party resolved to adopt the same plan, and forthwith they procured some flags, (probably some of the cast-off whig flags,) published a song-book, roasted an ox,&c. They took the name of democrats, not because they were old democrats, but because the democrats had lately gained victories in several of the States; and, fis President Tyler was thought to lean towards that party, the leaders thought they should stand a bettsr chajice of getling into office. The first measures the party adopted were very wisely planned. Their two first mass meetings wer« held on public days, (election day and 4ih of July,) when there were great numbers assembled for the festivities usual on those days. From these beginnings they went on. A num- ber of individuals, with no other authority than, that of this mass meeting, undertook to call a con- vention, and to fix the number of delegates to which each town should be entitled. And by concerted management, their friends met together in the towns and elected the delegates, the rest of tlie people-ta- king no part in it. And these men met in caucus — for it had no title to be called a convention; it waa a mere political caucus, and a great deal of miscluef has arisen from giving to political and other unau-. thorized meetings the imposing name of conven- tion — and proposed a constitution, fixed a day for voting on it, and actually assumed to .say who shoidd vote upon their constitution and who should not. This attribute of sovereign power was as- sumed by a few men elected by small political cau- cuses. After the voting was over, the convention met, counted their votes, or pieces of paper, and declared it adopted. Without saying any thing now about their right to proceed in this manner, let us inquire a little into the fiict which they assert — that they did obtain a majority; and Vv'c shall find that they practised the greatest frauds, in order 'to make it up. Why, sir, Mr. Atwell, who was one of the lead- ing men among them, has declared in the legisla- ture,* and often publicly in other places, that he had never believed that their people's constitution (as they call it) ever had a majority of the people m its favor. And in the famous opinion of the nine lawyers, while defending the course they had pur- sued, and asserting its legality, they do not dare to risk their reputations upon asserting that they had obtained a majority. The paper is evidently in- tended to produce that impression, but does not say so in any part of it. Now, sir, look at the provision for regulating the. voting upon the people's constitution, and you will see that every part of it (whether designedly ornot) affords the greatest facilities for fraud: "This constitution shall be submitted to the peo- pjle, for their adoption or rejection, on Monday, the 27th day of December next, and on the two suc- ceeding days; and all persons voting are requested to deposite in the ballot-boxes printed or written tickets in the following form: I am an American citi- zen, of the age of twenty -one years, and have my permanent residence or home in this State. I am (or not) qualified to vote under the existing laws of this State. Ivote for (or against) the constitution formed by the convention of the people, assembled ■■'The few who are qualified are as likely to be found among those whom [the advocates for a property fiualifica- tion] would exclude from the elective franchise, as among those to whom they v/ould extend it. The ignorant multi- tude are as likely to be on one side of the line as the other; and vice is as prevalent among the rich as among the poor, and altogether more dangerous." — Rev. O. Jl. Protuiism. tMr. Dorr himself had been a zealous whig, and repre- sented for several years the city of Providence in the legist lature. •Jn the House of rvcpresentatives of Rhode Island, Apri 1 ■1, 184-2, Mr. Atwel!, leleningto the opinion of the nine law- yers which he had signed, s'aid that "that paper did not say that the people's constitution was the paramount law of the land; neither had he ever said so, or intended to say so. He had never spoken or written anything which said, im- plied, or included the assertion, that the people's constitu- tion was the paramount law of the land. That opinioa would depend on the fact, ■« hether a majority of tho people of this State had voted for that constitution. Of this he had never been satisfied. Many things had led him to doubt it, and especially the vote upon the last constitution. That re- sult had made it a great matter of doubt whether a majority of the people of the State were in favor of that constitution, and of course whether it had ever been adopted.'" at Providence ,in(l whicli was projwecd to tlie peo- ple by said convention on tlic 18th daj' of Novem- Wr, 1841. "Every voter is rcqested to write his name on tlie face of lus ticket; and every person, entitled to vote lis aforesaid, who, from sickness or other causes, may be unable to attend and vote in the town or ward meetings assembled for voting upon said constitu- tion, on the days aforesaid, is requested to write his name upon a ti<'.kct, and to obtain the signature up- on the back of the same of a person who has given in his vote, as a witness thereto. And the moderator (ir clerk of any to^'n or ward meeting convened for he purpose aforesaid shall receive such vote on either of the three days next succeeding the three days before named for voting on said constitution." iVow, sir, every unnaturalized foreigner in the State — and there are great numbers of them in the ' cities and about the factories — could conscienciously sign this vote, because they all believe they are American citizens, whether naturalized or not. The form did not rt.r|uire any jiarticular time of resi- dence; a person who had been m the State but a day might vote. And, to crown the whole, if they did not get votes enough on the first three days, tliey •were to send their fiiends round to pick up and bring in enough more, to make up the number; and this was the course tliey resorted to. The first three days they obtained about 9,000, ;uid in the Icist three days about 5,000 more. The convention then met again, and declared their constitution adopted. And now, Mr. Speaker, let uw lotdc at a specimen of the manner in wliich this majority was made up. Lut us take tlie town of Nev/pori. Some citizens of that town obtained from the sec- ret;iry of the people's convention a certified list of the Newport votes, and proceeded to examine it; and I have the result of that examination here — it was publislicd more than a year ago, and they have never dared to deny it — a paper containing a long list of names of unnaturalized foi-eigners, ofsoldier.s" on the United States foi't, of minors, of persons who put in two votes, of persons who were absent at sea, and even of persons who had no existence at all. Why, sir, this House will hardly believe that on the listof voters in Newport is found the name of PETEPi SClUIRT. Such a person never was known there. So utterly reckless were they, or so much of a fai-ce did they consider the whole business. And this, perhaps, is coming pretty near the truth, that, ex- cepting Mr. Dorr and a few of the leaders, the great body of them did consider it as a sort of farce, and never had any idea of going to the length they after- wards did.* In fact, we know, from their own dec- arations, that many of them voted merely as an ex- pression of opinion in favor of sufirage, and in order ' o influence the legislature; and this is proved by the fact that, when Mr. Dorr aftewards resorted to mili- tiu-y force, these were the very men who volunteered to turn out and oppose, force to force, in defence of the legal authorities. Now, recollect that all this was in only one town. The others we could never obtain. For, although tlie convention of the sovereign people of the whole Stale had ordered tlieir secretary to give copies, yet, ■ This is further proved by the fact that, ahhough they claimed to have obtained nearly 14,000 votes for the peo- ple's constitution, yet, when shortly after, they put up Mr. Dorr for ccovernor, under it, they could only get about 6,400 votes, 'dlthough they let everybody FOte, and used gitat ex- erticns to get thera in. as soon a.s they found that an invcfitigation was 30•^ riously going on, the sovereigns in Providence got together and countermanded the order. They pretend that they have always courted in- vestigation. They pretend that tliey invited the legislature to investigate their vote.-i. This is nolj true; although I have once before misialcenly stated! so myself.* A member of the legislature did indeedj move to appoint a committee to investigate, but theyi very well knew, beforehand, that they would not do' it, and that they could not do it without giving upj the {)rinciple involved. They pretend they have oflered to have them investigated by the supreme; court. So they did, indeed, and made a great parade of it, after they knew that the court had decided that all their proceedings were illegal, and that of course they would not examine them. But, as soon aai some citizens seriously set about intjuiring into these frauds, they immediately shut up their records and have kept them in secrecy ever since. For further evidence of the great frauds perpe trated in this pretended vote, we have only to ex-.' amine the vote given only three months afterwards,J on the landholders' or legal constitution, in March 1842. The people's party made every exertion tol defeat this; thinking that, if they defeated it, they: could, with the more ease, carry their own into eflfect. They a]ipealed to all sorts of prejudices,- and used all sorts of misrepresentations. In thei north part of the State they represented that the; legal constitution favored the south; and in the in-i terior of the St£\te they procured many votes against- it by representing that it deprived them of their oldi privileges of fi.shing on the shore. And there were! a great many friends of the old charter who were opposed to all reform, and who voted against the legal constitution as a matter of course. But the basest thing which they did to obtain votes agains^ it, was to circulate a handbill, with a forged ophU ion of the Attorney General of the United States,! representing the proposed constitution as com-t ing in conflict with the United States constitution^i and therefore that it would be of no force, even ifi adopted. Some of the wiser ones succeeded in parU ly suppres.sing this handbill; but I have a copy of it here. The contest was a most exciting one — no eX' ertion spared; and yet, although the peo])le's party had boasted of their 14,000 votes when they had it all their own way, yet now, when they came to vote in legal meetings, and subject to legal sera tiny, and with all the friends of the old charter to aid them, they could only muster 8,689 votes; and this, too, with an almost unlimited suffrage — only two years' residence being required, without anj^ property or tax qualification whatever.! i Sir, the Dorrites have gained a great deal of sym^ pathy abroad by representing themselves as the ex-' elusive advocates of the democratic doctrine of ex-i tended sufirage, and that we were opposing it. It must require .some impudence to assert this. That question was given up in the very beginning. This very landholders' constitution, proposed by thelegaJi convention, and voted on in March, 1842, required no property or tax qualification, nor even military) service, in order to vote, but only two years' resi- dence; and these aristocratic Algerines strained everyi *ln "(;onsiderations on the Rhode Island question.'' jThe votes were — For the legal constitution - - - 8,013 Ag-ain«t it . . ; . . 8,68C Mnjohty against it 676 nerve to get it adopted. Wc wislied not to restrict suffrage, but to have tlie extension made legally. Many oi" Mr. Dorr's party wished to adopt this constitution; but Mr. Dorr, who always ruled his party with a rod of iron, would not have anything, even free suffrage, unless he could have it his own way. As the Dorrites succeeded in defeating this consti- tution by a small Majority, the legislature afterwards called another convention; and here again the suf- frage, in voting tor the delegates, was almost as free as air. The Dorrites this time being sure of defeat, resolved to take no part in it. The constitu- tion proposed by this convention was adopted by the people in November, 1842, and is now in force. Never, sir, in the whole history of man, Viras there a more striking instance of the force of names; and that sometimes "names are things." They talked about our royal charter; they aliused us as a landed aristocracy; and they, in their caucuses, as- sumed to be the people, and gave tlieir caucus the high-sounding name of the people's convention, and called their constitution the people's constitution. There is a story told of one of the old puritan colo- nies, that when the first settlers could not obtain the Indian land by bargaining, they held a solemn meet- ing, and passed a set of resolutions quite in the mod- ern style. They resolved, first, the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; second, the Lord has given it to the saints; and, lastly, resolved that we are the .saints. And then they took possession. Now, sir, I do not suppose that this ever really hap- pened; but it will do very well for illustration. These Dorrites met together, and resolved, in all their meetings, that the people are .sovereign, as if anybo- dy had ever denied it. Their next conclusion was, that we are the people. And the third step was in- tended to have carried their leaders into office, if tliey had not run away. And, sir, these "landed aristocrats," upon whom so much abuse has been showered, are almost all of them industrious, and a great part of them hard-la- boring men. . Wc have very few men among us whose wealth would support them in idleness. But, sir, although this movement began as a farce, and was carried on and perfected in fraud, it came very near ending in tragedy. The false- hoods they circulated produced sympathy abroad. Sir, I do not blame the people abroad, who honest- ly believed the story of these oppressions, for sym- pathizing with them; but I do censure those at home, who originated the falsehoods, and the newspapers and politicians who knowingly circulated them abroad. This sympatliy, reacting upon and strength- ening the movement at home, produced the rebel- lion, which I will not attempt to describe. Sir, I have "already mentioned that a great num- ber of those who voted for the people's constitution, did it as aji expression to influence the opinion of the legislature, and never dreamed of its becoming the law of the land. And the proof it is that thosc^ men were among the first to volunteer to put down this wicked rebellion. And now, Mr. Speaker, I come to consider a few of the excuses which the Don-ites have made for the coui-se they have taken. And first comes the pretence that they had peti tioned a great while and tlial the legislature had neg lected tlieir petitions. For several years petitions had been occasionally seat hi to the legislature, but signed but by few persons. The only petition of any consequence ever in for an extension was signed by about 680, and presented in January, 1841. And who do the House think was the leader of this? A man who had been in the Massachusetts State jjrison ei"-h- teen yeai-s!! With such a man for leader, I never thought it necessary to inquire who the rest were. Sir, our neighboring States of Massachusetts and Connecticut have always exhibited a very affection- ate regard for our welfare. They always (Massa- chusetts especially) used to consider Rhode Island heathen and missionary ground; and the Connec- ticut folks, whenever they caught any of us over the line on a Sunday, used to show their zeal for our conversion by making us go to meeting all day. But, of late years, both States, not having any reli- gion to spare, have begun to meddle in our politics. And a great part of our late troubles have beea caused by interlopers from those States. One of the most active men among the Dorrites, and one of their chief lecturers, was a man who had been found guitly of forgery in Massachusetts, and only es- caped sentence by .a flaw in the indictment.* And, sir, the Providence suffrage association was not formed until March, 1840, and they never pre- sented any petition to the legislature, from first to last ! j So much for this pretence. I have already alluded to their pretences of having invited an investigation by the legislature and the court. The truth is, that the leaders, from the be- ginning, meant to take the business out of the hands of the legislature, for fear that the legislature might do something with which the people would be satis- fied, and that the.se leaders would thus be deprived of their expected glory and offices. Their followers were not let into the secrets of the leaders, all at once, but were led along, step by step, until tliey had got committed too far to retreat. That the leaders, instead of wishing the legislature to do anything, intended to anticipate them, is proved liy the dates of their proceedings. The legislature had called a convention in Jan- uary, 1841^ In May, 1841, Mr. Atwell introduced a bill§ to correct the inequalities of representation, and to extend the right of suffrage in voting for the delegates; and on his own motion, the bill was post- poned to the June session of the legislature, Vvhich. was to meet Tuesday, June 22d. But the suffrage committee were afraid to wait for this; and on the 11th June, they drew up and adopted an address, which was published in the New Age, on June ISth^ four days before the legislature met. In this, tJiey distinctly avow their intention to pursue the meas- ures they afterwards did, and announce that, in due time, they shall talce measures to call their conven- tion. These threats were probably intended to pre- vent the legislature from actuig at all in the matter. And yet they have had the impudence to assert, that they did not take these ultra-legal measures until *See Pickering's Reports, vol. 5, page 279. fSee Frieze's History of the free-suflrage niovemcut, pages .10 and 32, ^The power of the legislature to call a convention tA amend or alter the frame of government was never doubtf<-' in Rhode Island, and has been frequently exercised. L'udi-i the old charter, the general assembly 'had all th^; power which any government could have, there bein" no limita- tion but the United States constitution, the bill of rights,, and the power of the people through the frequent elections, which, under the charter, were held every six months. {-.See report of the comuuttee of the legi.?lature, Ware*. 5843. ^ after tlic June session, when all hope of redress was gone.* All these proceedings, sir, we believe to have originated from erroneous notions of liberty; from a wronff construction — a misunderstanding of the principles laid down in the declaration of indepen- dence. The declaration of independence was a revolutionary document, intended to justify a revo- lution. Do they content themselves with asserting mere natural rights as their justiiication? Do they not, on the contrary, put forth a long list of real grievances, of practical oppressionsf Sir, we in 'Rhode Island do not deny the right of revolution; but this is a right wliich belongs to oppressed mi- norities as well as majorities, provided their griev- ances are suflicient to justify them to their own and the general conscience for taking such a step. Sir, the gentleman from New York [Mi-. Ratii- Bun] rcad'from the bill of rights nf Virginia their declaration, that "a iViajorhy of the community" have a right to reform the government whenever they think proper. But, sir, docs this mean a ma- jority of a lawless mob, or the majority of the or- ganized connnunity?- Docs it mean that a majority could do it without the forms of law.j For a prac tical construction of this bill of rights, and to show what Virginia herself meant by it, as most of these doctruies have come from that land of abstractioiis, I refer the gentleman to a part of the statute of Vir- ginia for punishing the crmie of treason. Laws of Virginia, revision of 1819, chapter 162, page 561): '•Sec. 2. Also, every person or persons who shall erect or establish, or cause or procure to be erected or established, any government separate from, or independent of, the government of Virginia, within the hmits thereof, unless by act of the legislature of this CommonwetdtJi for that purpose first obtained, or who shall, in any such usTirpcd government, hold or execute any office, legislative, executive, judici- ary, or ministerial, by whatever name such office may be distmguished or called; or who shall swear, or otherwise solennily profess allegiance or fidelity to the same; or who shall, under ])retext of author- ity, derived from, or protection afforded by, such usurped government, resist or oppose the due exe- ciftion of the laws of this Commonwealth, shall be adjudged gvulty of high treason, and shall be pro- ceeded against and punished in the same manner as other traitors may be proceeded against and pun- ished. 'Dr. Brown, president of the suffrage association, makes this assertion in his statement to the President. See also the comment of the frec-suft'rage committee on the statement submitted to the President l>y Messrs. Whipple, Francis, and Potter. It is only doing Mr. JJorr justice to say that he never made any such cxcu.se. There was no concealment in him from the tirst; but the same cannot be said of the other leaders. flhave before quoted the provision of the constitution of New Hampshire: 'No alterations shall be made in this con- stitution before the same shall be laid before the towns and unincorporated places, and approved hy two-thirds of the qualified voters present and voting on the subject.'' Pennsylvania, after giving the legislature power to pro- pose amendments, has^the following proviso: "No amend- ment or amendments shall be siibmitted to the people oftener than once in five years." ■n Itentucky, the people have to vote for a convention twice lieforc one can be called. In Tennessee, the legislature shall not propose amend- ments oftener than once in six years. There are various restraints in some of the other State.t. The uew-fashioned democracy of these States must be »sleep. '•Sue 3. Every person who shall attempt to cg- tablish such government, by any other means than with the assent of the legislature of this common- wealth, and, in pursuance of such attempts,- shall join with any other person or persons in any overt act for promoting such attempts; or who shall, by writing or advised speaking, endeavor to instigate the people of this Commonwealth to erect or estab- lish sucli government, without such assent as afore- said, shall be adjudged guilty of a high crime and misdemeanor; and, on conviction, shall be subject to such pains and penalties, not extending to life or member, as the court before whom the conviction shall be, shall adjudge." Act of 1785, sec. 2 and 3. Treason in Virginia is punished with death. I am glad to be able to quote this, as we are de- nounced in Rhode Island, for having passed what was called "the Algerine law," which is not half so severe as this law of Virginia, which has now been in force there about sixty years. Yet, we are aris- tocrats and Algerines, and every thing which comes from Virginia is of course democratic. Our forefathers, when they came to establish a government, inserted none of these declarations oft natural rights in the constitution of the United State«. ! But we have them, it is true, and in very loose Ian- ■ guage,* in the constitutions of most of the States. And how have they got there.' Why, sir, if a rnem- Ijcr of a convention propo.ses them, every other mem- ■ ber is obUged to acquiesce. If he opposes them, he loses his reputation for democracy forever. Mr. Dorr proposed them in our legal convention; but we i, rejected them as out of place in a constitution. The people's constitution, made principally by Mr. Dorr, sets out with the most magnificent pro- fessions of natural rights, for (as Mr. Burke says) when you do not intend to go beyond professions, .^ it costs nothing to have them magnificent. But how '< do they carry them out? Sir, they charged our old Ij charter system of representation with being arbitary and unequal, and yet — will it be believed — the rep- resentation in both branches in Mr._ Dorr's constitu- tion is entirely arbitrary; founded on no ratio what- ever; and regard was had, only to policy and to get votes for it. And, sir, they excluded the colored I people entirely from voting! How they could con- sistently do this, after all their professions about natural equality, is rather strange. Mr. Dorr him- self, who was an abolitionist, was, in this instance, consistent, and wished to carry out his principles, and admit them to vote. But he was overruled in the convention. When we have told them that, if their principles were carried out, the negroes in the southern States would have a perfect right to overturn those State governments, they answer us triumphantly that the negroes there are not recognised by law as persons, forgetting that the very first principle they set out with, is, that the people, in the exercise of their natural rights, are above all laws whatever. As I have said, we do not deny the right of revo- lution; but we maintain that a government can only be changed in two ways — by a revolution, either with or without force, or by the forms of law. ThatJ 'Vov one instance of the loose and unmeaning way of using words in our State constitutions, see that of Tennes- see. The NAVIGATION OF THE MISSISSIPPI is there declared to be one of the irMettnt rights of the people of Teanessee. there was no oppression in Rhode Island to justify a revolution, I have already shown.* We hold, sir, that an adherence to even the forms of law ought to be a cardinal principle, especially in a republican government; that it is absolutely neces- sary to the preservation of our liberties; that liberty, regulated by law, is the only liberty worth having; that few reforms, at least in this country, are worth paying the price of revolution for them; that (to use die words of President Tyler in his letter to the Governor of Rhode Island) "changes achieved by regular, and, if necessary, repeated, appeals to the constituted authorities, in a country so much under the influence of public opinion, and by recourse to argument and remonstrance, are more likely to in- sure lasting blessings, than those accomplished by violence and bloodshed on one day, and liable to overthrow by similar agents on another." But our opponents in this case, although they at- tempted a revolution, and openly set at defiance all existing laws, yet they tried to sweeten it to the taste of their followers by calling it a peaceable and legal proceeding; and it was by this misnomer — by this new doctrine of a peaceable, legal revolutioH — that they were enabled to deceive and delude so many. We have been accused of denying the republican iloctrine of the sovereignty of the people. Sir, we believe we hold to that doctrine in its only true and practictd meaning — not that there is a sovereignty residing in every individual; that every man is a sov- reign; th.at the sovereign will is to be gathered from the wild and lawless passions of lawless factions, however large — but that, sulject to the supreme sov- ereignty a)id laws of God, the political sovereignty resides in the community as an organized body, in the whole people as a State; and that this sovereign- ty can only speak and make itself known explicitly and authentically through the constitution and the Jaws. And we have inserted in the very front of our Algerine constitution, the words of General Washington: *"No where in the world have life, liberty, and property, l)een safer than in Rhode Island.-' — Bancroft's History, vol. % p. 64. And yet Mr. Bancroft has since turned sympa- thizer, and aided to overthrow this very government he had pronounced so excellent. If restrictions upon natural rights form a justification for revolution, then there is not a State in the Union that is not an danger. If the right to vote is a natural right, 1 presume the right to hold office is as much so. In fact, this is the natural right for which most of these_ patriots are most anxious. In New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, "Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, a property qualification is required for holding certain offices, and in most of them for members of the legislature. In Massachusetts, the poll tax which voters must pay is sometimes pretty high. In New York, a freehold is re- quired for colored persons to vote. In Virginia, North Carolina, and some of the other States, freehold, household, or other (jualifications, are required; all of which are restric- tions on natural lightjj. And further: There is hardly a state in this Union where there is not some inequality (and, in some cases, gross in- equalities) in the representation in one or the other branch of the legislature. Look at Vermont and Connecticutj and, in fact, almost every constitution. In New Hampshire, the Senate is districted according to the nutwal rigUt: of wealth. "Art. 1. Sec. I. In the words of the father of hisr'-* country, we declaVe that 'the basis of our pohticol . systems, is the right of the people to make and alter their constitutions of government; but that tlie con- stitution of government, which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of thes whole, is sacredly obligatory upon all.' "* Foreigners, sir, and many of our own people, hava pretended to doubt the capacity of a people to gov- ern themselves. And, if the doctrines of Mr. Dorr could be carried out, and constitutions could be. changed every day, and change eternally follow- change, as one wave follows another, there might, indeed, be cause to fear that by-and-by the sober and considerate, weary of change and insecurity, would be willing even to rush into the arms of despotism for peace and safety. But the manner in which the people of Rhode Island — the true sovereign people of Rhode Island — arose voluntarily, and as one man, to defend the insulted laws, and to put down this: miserable humbug, aflbrds a proud answer to all the. doubts and .sneers of the enemies of democracy and popular government. It is the strongest proof of the capacity of a people to govern themselves, and to maintain law-regulated liberty against the wiles of demagogues as well as against the encroachments! of tyranny, that has happened in this country since our glorious revolution of 177G. I can now only allude to a few of the misrepre- sentations which have been circulated by the Dbrr- ites in support of their cause. They charge us with. violating the post office; if so, the United States courts are open to them for redress. During thev insurrection, the liouses of some of the insurgents were entei-ed to secure their arms. If any more violence was used than the necessity of the case would w-arrant, the law was open to them for re- dress. But, having themselves begun threatening and military preparations, long before the other par- ty did, the less they say about this the better.f " They have willed the law for punishing treason, an Jllgerine law; they have denominated us the Alg;erine party; and they have talked a great deal about Algerine cruelties! What are these Algerine cruelties.' Why, sir, almost all the prosecutions commenced against any of them, have been dropped without any trial as fast as the state of excitement produced in the public mind would admit. Mr. Dorr himself courted prosecution for the sake or political notoriety. And even the very few military fines to which some were liable, were all released by the legislature at once. So much for Algerine per- secutions. But this is a part of their policy. Ever since they were defeated, their plan has been to ridi- cule and to misrepresent. Sir, we do not wish to avoid an investigation on this memorial, for fear of any thing that these Dorrites can do at home. Having split among them- selves, they are powerless. They cannot even run. a ticket for State officers. But we do think it is time that a subject which has agitated the commu- nity as much as this, should be put at rest, that wfe may once more have peace within our borders. ' For some very striking observations upon these mat- ters, see the speech of the Hon. John C. Calhoun on 'he reto- power. fFriexe's History, page 62, G7, 5S. APPENDIX No. 1. St