that of millions of his suppliant creatures, who do justice, love
mercy, and walk humbly with their God! No, in the judgment of heaven
there is no other superiority among men than a superiority in wisdom
and virtue. And can we have a safer model in forming ours? The
Deity, then, has not given any order or family of men authority over
others; and if any men have given it, they only could give it for
themselves. Our forefathers, 'tis said, consented to be subject to
the laws of Great Britain. I will not, at present, dispute it, nor
mark out the limits and conditions of their submission; but will it
be denied that they contracted to pay obedience and to be under the
control of Great Britain because it appeared to them most beneficial
in their then present circumstances and situations? We, my
countrymen, have the same right to consult and provide for our
happiness which they had to promote theirs. If they had a view to
posterity in their contracts, it must have been to advance the
felicity of their descendants. If they erred in their expectations
and prospects, we can never be condemned for a conduct which they
would have recommended had they foreseen our present condition.

Ye darkeners of counsel, who would make the property, lives and
religion of millions depend on the evasive interpretations of musty
parchments; who would send us to antiquated charters of uncertain
and contradictory meaning, to prove that the present generation are
not bound to be victims to cruel and unforgiving despotism, tell us
whether our pious and generous ancestors bequeathed to us the
miserable privilege of having the rewards of our honesty, industry,
the fruits of those fields which they purchased and bled for,
wrested from us at the will of men over whom we have no check. Did
they contract for us that, with folded arms, we should expect that
justice and mercy from brutal and inflamed invaders which have been