to the nursery of American seamen occasioned thereby, threaten the most alarming consequences unless timely avoided by the wisdom of the Legislature."

The object of this petition, which comes from the ship-carpenters and the merchants who built vessels, is the laying of a tax on the ships of all countries trading to our ports to favor their own private gain, which, so far as that private gain is the public gain, and no farther, is commendable; and in asking for a tax on foreign tonnage, they sought what the Assembly could grant most effectually if it pleased, and was granted at the said session of 1785, no change in the Federal system being necessary for such a purpose. As for the prohibition on the West India trade, which only means that Great Britain would not allow our vessels, any more than the vessels of other nations, to engage in what she regards as her coasting trade, the petition, whether presented in 1785 or 1826, would have been beyond the power of any nation under any possible form of government to have granted. Great Britain determined to be the carrier of the productions of her Colonies in her own bottoms; but-and this is one of the bright signs of those times-all those productions were brought to our ports by her vessels, which received in return the products of our own industry, and the result was a most profitable business that greatly enhanced our prosperity. The complaint of the Norfolk merchants was that, in addition to the gains resulting from such a commerce, they could not secure the profits of the carrying trade. They sucked the orange dry, and muttered that the producer of the orange kept the rind to himself.

The petitioners further urged as a grievance that, besides their inability to substitute their own vessels for the vessels owned by the West Indians who brought their valuable cargoes to Norfolk, and took back our produce in return, "there was an almost total monopoly of other branches of trade by foreigners." The history of the case is this: Norfolk had been reduced to ashes at the beginning of the war, and the whole population sent into the interior. It was so effectually destroyed by the British and by our own people that it was a boast that in that once flourishing town a shed could not be found to shelter a cow. Let it be remembered that among the merchants and traders of the town before it was burned, comparatively few were native Virginians, who regarded mercantile employments with dislike. As soon

as the war was over, hundreds of enterprising business men of every class and of every country flocked to the town, and in a short time restored it to a degree of prosperity which it had never known before. These men from abroad brought with them a capital in money as well as skill, and the business naturally fell into their hands. They became good citizens, married good Virginia wives, and the blood of one who came to Virginia from Scotland in 1783, and helped to build up the prosperity of that era, flows in the veins of him who traces these lines. I only wish we had the same ground of complaint now that the Norfolk petitioners had then.

The Norfolk petition further urges some relief against “the decrease of American bottoms." Then the business men of that day had a choice between home and foreign bottoms, and preferred the foreign. Now, according to the received laws of free trade, for which the South has ever been such an advocate, that preference was just; as to place the home bottoms on a level with the foreign, by legislation, would be to pay the home ship-owner a bounty not only equal to the difference in the charge of freight, but to the costs of collection. But, whatever we may think of the doctrines of free trade, the Assembly was competent to apply the remedy, and no organic change was needed on this account. And let it be kept in mind that, as Norfolk was a wilderness, destitute of people, capital, and skill at the close of the war, the men, the capital, and the skill which built these home-made vessels, which were said to be diminishing, were all the result of a space of time not exceeding eighteen months.

The Portsmouth memorial, quoted by Mr. Rives, is as follows: The petitioners affirm that "the present depiorable state of trade, occasioned by the restrictions and policy of the British acts of navigation, has caused great and general distress, and threatens total ruin and decay to the several branches of commerce;" and we add from the Journal of the House of Delegates. (October session of 1785, page 24,) the mode of relief desired by the petitioners, which is "that certain restrictive acts may be imposed on the British trade, or other more adequate and effectual measures adopted for relief therein." Here we have the remedy proposed by the petitioners, which is to tax foreign tonnage to such a degree as either to drive it from our ports or to

enable them to build ships to compete with it. And Suffolk adds "that even the coasting trade and inland navigation had fallen into the hands of foreigners." What we would call attention to is the fact that these petitioners fully believed that the Assembly possessed the power, as it assuredly did, to grant the relief desired, and professed no wish for a change in our federal system. As to a business view of the matter, when we recall the fact that, on the declaration of peace, we had hardly a canoe to launch on the waters of the Elizabeth, and not a solitary dollar in specie, and that our merchants had accumulated so early a moneyed capital which inspired them with the hopes of driving all foreign bottoms from our waters-and all this in the space of eighteen months-we see in all these memorials from our seaports, not the proofs of a decreasing trade, as some would have us believe, but the most infallible indications of commercial

success.

Of all the men of his times, Mr. Madison possessed that caste of intellect best adapted for the discussions of commerce and political economy. But his sphere of personal observation was very limited. He never visited Petersburg, I believe; and, as well as I could learn from his writings, from the recollections of his intimate friends, and from conversations which I have had with him from time to time about Norfolk, he never visited our seaport in the interval between 1783 and 1788, if ever. He lived far beyond the scent of salt water in Orange, which was then as distant from Norfolk, if we measure distance by the time of ordinary travel, as Quebec or New Orleans is now. The only breath of sea air he probably ever drew was in crossing from the Jersey shore to New York to take his seat in Congress. He served but a single session in our Assembly, the October session of 1776, when he was twenty-five, and the next deliberative body of which he was a member was Congress, in which he remained the constitutional term of three years, and to which he was returned as soon as he was eligible. He was thus led to regard the Union as his patriotic stand-point-and a glorious stand-point it wasand not the State of Virginia, one more glorious still; and his occasional appearances in the Assembly, in which he rendered invaluable service to his country, but in which on federal topics he was almost powerless, did not conquer his central prepossessions. But in or out of Congress, a truer patriot never lived.

CONSTITUTION.

WE the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the United States of America.

ARTICLE I.

SECTION I. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

SECTION II. 1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

2. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

3. Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

4. When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

5. The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

SECTION III. 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years: and each Senator shall have one Vote.

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one-third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.

3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.

4. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

5. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.

6. The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present.

7. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and Disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honour, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to law.

SECTION IV. 1. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the places of chusing Senators.

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.

SECTION V. 1. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of Absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.