Now, if words mean any thing, here certainly are vested rights, as sacred, as substantial, and, according to the Terms of the charter (”perpetual Succession”) as durable as those of the or , for the benefit and convenience of the citizens of , and her posterity, ad infinitum. It is a wise, liberal and substantial foundation, for those who may be so fortunate as to share the salutary effects of its ordinances, and partake of its growing blessings. If has power to enact laws for the “benefit” and “convenience” of her inhabitants, so has , for her citizens! If the constitution of the , protects in her vested rights, has the same claim, and the same power to control it. And if the city council of , should pass an unconstitutional act, or ordinance, literally repugnant to the constitution of the or of the s all that could be done, would be to declare its void by some count having competent jurisdiction, and there the matter ends, without any recourse upon the charter any more than there is recourse upon the Constitution of the for unconstitutional acts, that so frequently disgrace the statutes of the several States.

When I heard that the legislature, last Winter, was laboring to repeal or modify the said charter, it put me in mind of a father and son that owned a horse which they were too lazy to prove, and bring out his good qualities, but upon a gentleman’s observing him, he purchased him, and, in a few days passed along <​by​> with <​the​> noble <​animal in full mounted harness,— <​attached to​> an an elegant​> [p. [2]]