Constitutional Whig

TO THE EDITORS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL WHIG.

I have perused the communication in the Enquirer of the 1st inst. signed "Fidelity," and I know not whether to smile at the folly, or to be offended at the presumption of its author. It is not my intention to examine the pretensions of Mr. Taliaferro to the office which he fills, or my wish to induce the belief that the people of the Northern Neck are entirely satisfied with the course which he has pursued. Such is not the fact. The spirit of enquiry is abroad, and the public voice imperatively demands a full and candid exposition of his political opinions. But the people of the district are independent and magnanimous in their views, and will not allow their representative to compromise the dignity of his station, by enlisting under the banners of any individual. They do not ask him to abuse Mr. Adams, or to flatter Gen. Jackson. They require him, to maintain the principles of '98—to defend the true doctrines of the constitution, and to sustain the dignity of Virginia.

It is degrading to the Congress of the U. S. that its members should be the mere personal partisans of the various candidates for the Presidency: and it is equally degrading to the people who elect them, that particular opinions as to men, should constitute a passport to office. But whatever may be the opinions of the people of the Northern Neck as to the merits of Gen. Jackson, or the political sins of Mr. Adams, or however great their objections to their present representative,—they are a moral, a religious, & a reflecting people, and they cannot accept the proffered services of Henry Lee. They cannot be seduced from the path of virtue, by the most enticing allurements; not even by the offer of the public services of an individual, justly eminent for his attainments, and distinguished for his talents. "Fidelity" has mistaken both the moral and the intellectual character of the people when he addresses. They are not so ignorant as to be influenced by his dictation, nor so corrupt as to have abandoned all sense of moral propriety. They still retain the spirit of their ancestors, and will never condescend to be represented by a man, who, regardless of honour and of decency, has imparted lustre to his talents, by casting a cloud over his reputation. It is painful to make these remarks; but a sense of duty, compels me to say, that the great body of the people of the Northern Neck, would consider themselves disgraced by the mere supposition, that they are capable of forgetting so far the distinction between vice and virtue, and of losing sight of what is due to their own dignity, as to think for a moment of elevating Henry Lee to a seat in Congress. Silence might be construed by the public, as an acquiescence on the part of the people of the Northern Neck, in the pretensions of Henry Lee. I have thought it proper to make these remarks, in order to remove that impression, and to vindicate the character of the district from an indelible disgrace. They are made under the influence of no feelings personally unkind towards Henry Lee; and if they appear to be harsh, he must attribute their harshness to the folly of his pretended friends, or to his own indiscretion. Let him return to the scenes of domestic life, and his quietude will not be disturbed. Let his friends cease to obtrude him upon the notice of the public, and his sins will be forgotten, or if remembered, they will be remembered in the spirit of charity and compassion.

WESTMORELAND.