Dunlap and Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • 2

i 4 si a 4 I i i 1 poflible cr the other alteg 10 do th wEft il tyrannical Kings of England could reverforcc from them I "They base loft whit their forefathershave been fpeodingtheir blood andtrea fore to defend for thefe tbobfiftd years! "They hare loft the greateft jewel that erer any people pol pi1 felled They hare loft their eonftitntional and Da tural liberty their birth righcaad inheritance de rivedfrom God and nature LThey have loft their conftitutiooal redrefsforall their grievances They have loft their all their every thing by that dam NABLI SEPTENNIAL To my from this invaluable efiay 'beg leave toadd the following as perfectly applicable ta America and the foregoing extra5)s will not only juftify but enforce the dodrine it contains to every honeft heart To deduce our lights from the principles of equi ty juft ice' and the conftitution is very well bats equity and juftice are no defence againft power Yony muft take your conftitutional rights under your own iproreftion and that quick' too or they wifi fsttjofl forever Pfoteft and defend them aS the apple of your eye from danger oras you would your wives and children from deftruftion And never defift from uliog every io your yower till you have eftablifhed them on a foundation never more to be fliaken either by King or A conftitution that affords no check againft its own fer vants can yield nofecuritytts us 5 He who has the nomination of the officers of go vernment has the whole power of that government in his own hard' and may do with it as he pleafes This is abundantly proved by the prefent ruinous ftate of government in every cojony where the King oraPfo prietor had the nomination Liberty will never flou rifh in fuch a government By the conftitution of the Saxon fayr the author firft quoted no officer either civil or military or even ecclefi aftical could be inverted in his office or exercife any jurifififlion or authority over reemen without the free e'eftion of thofe reemen over whom he was to exercife fuch authority and it isfor this reafori more efpecially that the people of England were de nominated free for that by the ancient laws and conrtitutioa of the kingdom they had this juft and natural right viz the free election of their Magi ftrates and Governors without which our anceftors thought all cur liberties were but a fpecits of bond age or of what ufe can liberty be to him whofe perfon or eftate is fobjeft to officers fit over him without his Howdifferent from and how much fuperior te our prefent form of government was the Saxon or old conftitution of England Thefe three confiderations form in my opinion an infurmountable obftacle againft a re union with Great Britain The man who has not thought upon thefe points is ill qualified to judge of the neceflity of independence or the inevitable ruin attendant on re union My objections are radical reaching to the root of the evil and ifa radical cure cannot be obtained in one way it ought to be obtained in another Tolkin over the wound would be madnefs I therefore once more entreat you either to point out a Compleat remedy for thefe defects and prove it more eafily attainable than a compleat delivery by a declaration of Independ ence or to give no further oppofition to the meafure He who cannot fee a fair profped of removing thefe defeds and yet withes to fee America returntoa ftate of dependence has fomething elfe in view than the liberties of his country CASSAND A No good man can agree to any terms which will not give perfed fecurity and a divjfion muft there fore be intended by everyman who attempts to prepare the minds of the ignorant and unwary to accept of any thing elfe Asevery writer on the fide of dependence has hitherto ftudioullv evaded the point it appears they defign if partible to effed a divifion Take care then ye good people of America not to be duped by dif in terms nse can oltain If fuch men are cot cdteeates foe abfolule tyranny I have no conception of the meaning Tot jibe words To be commercially connetied with friends iaGreat Britain weald doubtfefs be very pleaf ing to us all but to be fubjed to the defrayers of iijb uaswell as imerican Jjberty what none but aa igporant flave Or ah ipfidious tool would pro pcfcanrf ft rive to per fu ad you" 1 The Confitutiost of thid province is rkvSbiboleth of ibis ydry loyal party Every fenfible'man muft How thatthe King of Great Britain had fb material a fcare ini the government of this province that the nonexecutive powers in it cad proceed fne ace without him and well did a worthy Grandjuror to en Squiring any thing refpefting the Crenn and Dignity of a jman who has rendered the ideanf a Crown deteftable to the whole Weftern TheConftitution is i therefore (by' the breachof royal faith in refufing to govern according to folemn com pad with all his peo pie) broken to pieces and the Committee of Inlpettion were greatly right in propofing to cal a Convention take the fate of the province into conf deration It ealy to judge from what quarter the propofal fer a more equal reprefentation at laft came It was conclu ded this manoeuvre would fave a tendency to quiet the people by taking one of the moft unanswerable objec tions to the prefent adminiftration out of their months You cannot however forget that this partial redreft was a very late one and only conceded to prevent a radical reformatianr: ThePatriots notwlthftanding perfuaded thvmfelves that in the then critical Gtuation of affairs it was beft to acquiefcerin a meafure which the) hoped would keep us united rtther than rifque a dirtention in the too violent oppofition to rooted prejudices which was ne ceflary to dear the way for the re eftabljfbment of a real free Conftitution on the only firm bafis of our Anglo Saxon anceftors But remember fellow citi zens that in the tranfaflion of May firft you are to conlider yourfelves as rather afling upon a rcnevaedfjf tem than with too fcrupulous attention to any unrea fonable cuftom that may have crept intoycur old one On this head you will fuffer me to befomething particu lar The cuftom has been to deny the right of voting to all perfons who have come from Germany until they have been naturalized and taken fuch oaths as men now a days much objeft to and what feems pecu liar to this city alone all men belo the ertate of fifty pounds are precluded Now I muft profefs myfelf of the orefief opinion that every man i the country who maoifefts a difpoution to venture hirallforthedefenceof it Liberty ftiould have a voice in iti Councils Perfons fo abjeft as to have neither will nor fentitnent of their own are readily cjiflioguiihed and cannot give much trouble Burgiertes according to the txcelent author of an Hiftorical Eftay on the Englifh Conftitution wire eleJled by every ref dent inhabitant that paid bit fsot and bore bis lot" 28 This I will affirm is the ancient free Confitution which every honeft man will venture his blood to reftore There were three fays the fame author in the next page eflen tially mecertary to form a Saxon Government which they applied to every cafe where a combined intereft was concerned and thefe were a Court of Council a Court of Law and a Chief Magjftrate A Coiirt of Council Jo confider what way for the benefit of the'wbolefociety" Now fuch a Cojsrt of Council can hardly be expected from a Qualification Law Ike that of Queen Ann veiling the el edive power only in the hands of the optflept To fuch a pernicious partiality it is owing that thjj poor in England are loaded with Excifs on the indifpenfible ceceffiariis of life Every man vho pays bis Jhot and bears his lot is naturally a confiitutiqnaiiyiXi Elector in 3 city And more eipecidfiy I will affirm that every citizen who has armed and af fociated to defend the Commonwealth is and ihomd be an Eledor a nd every non afociatir and fl idler fer dependency on the ponxfr that is novjjn'aclual depredatitm cf our Rigrts Liberties and all that is dear to Ihould be kept fax from our Councils and un lefs they very fpeedily mend their defruflive manners fent to the haunjs of defpotifm where they may mix with their congenial Jpirit: and with all the gratification pf hif'Inferna! auguf Courtiers fdacethen? felves in conftact contemplation of hitman mifery An CTOR A A A TO A VIRGINIAN presents hrs compliments Cato and would be obliged to him for an ex planation of his favorite fcheme of that he will be pleafed to let the public know whe ther he means that America Ihould be fodependenton Britain as (agreeable to plan) to be fub jed to the Sovereign cortroulirtg power of the Britilh Parliament and that the Britilh Parliament Iball have a right to make Jaws to bind iisin all cafes whatever or even in any cafe Or whether he means that Ame rica ftiall only be dependent on the King of Great Bri tain and tbat thejeprefentatives of America with Britilh King or Ins reprefentative fhall farm a legifla tute fubjed tethe controul of no power on If he means the former he will be to let the piibic know in what manner fuch a dependency can poffibly bfc reconciled to the idea of liberty if the lat ter whetherhe or any man can entertain hces fo onreafonably as that the prefent Miniftry will ever come into the meafure To the and I de LE CTORS of the i of PHILADELPHIA TL SI fl WERE any words capable of expreffing the im portance of exerting yourfelves tamairtain the charader I have addrefied you by I could with from the bottom of my heart to find them and fet them due order before you I tremble to refled what a party there is in this city who either in plain words or tan tamount infiouations efpoufe the caufe of tyranny You have read their infidious publications: You have re marked their Zeal for a reconciliation and ttnion veils Great Britain on conf ituiional principles This propo fal Gentlemen is mere phantqn y'ure a pitfal to catch you in Is the firft place no man ever did or can lhew what this confituticmal dependence ch Great Britain is or can be which will fecute our liberties And in the fecond place no terms have been nor at all probably will fa offered ui befides thofe of uncon ditional fubmiflen is the fuprentacy of ibq Parliament in all cafes vsbatfoever Certainly io 'fatter have ap peared from the other fidethe water and when prefled on thefubjed the fticklers for reconciliation acknow ledge they know of nd other ahi yet urge you to 1 maintain obr cohnexicri with Great Britairi upon the bef A A RA i A 0 Number ill S' pfi A engaged in the prefent poHricsl controver JL ly vnth a defign to be fervice to my cotfctry an inlpartiil enquiry into he prefent ftate of the Bntiih cooftituuon tqme tlfat it is out of the power of the jBniilbli giflarure to give us fecurity fr the future cnjnment of our rights undlibertidfi aad co this ground ive eppofed ajrc tmion I have examined tiery thing advanced By yea on the fubjed ind finf 'tfamgwe'of thenarkiThc "with me hasevtr bcent vshat uili 'ficure our liberties Tbque: fttoqf iAterjfft is evrdetermined thereby National pro'pery arxt national lappincls are incompatible CwithD4tdual flaverv Ir is of fmall consequence to God has gran red a Kift rhe peo ple of Britain or not or whether the conftitution of hei governmfafl aafwirY excellently fo thff inhabi tant! of that ill Ad jdrfandence pn that excelleti of government" is big with fsiverj and ruin to A If you mean not to hoUjortr countrymen infufpence until the day of'falvati paft I califpon ynu to America until the davoffalvaii prove that Great Britain cao offer any anw conflitn tioisil depenijpnce which will not leave the futureeijcy men! of Gut liberties to hope szard and uncertain as the orefter lias finely exprelfed it And that if thera ha probability Ibe cw7 If the one is im poflible rtbr the other nlterrther imbrouab'Te yourfelf i ft 'acknowledge ir is time to part 4 By the conftiiution of Great Britain the prefent Par Jiamerit canpiake no law whic flull bind any future ooe or as the author of Paniame tarsa or Jaw of obferves page 77 when treating of the power and authority of Parliaments it be ap parent what tranfeendent power and authority the Parliament hath and though divers Parliaments have attempted to bar reftrain fufpend qualify or make vU the power of Jubfequent Parliaments yet could they never effed it or the latter Parliament hath ever power to abrogate' fifpend explain or make void th? former 10 the whole or in any part thereof fat wiihftanding any words of reftraint pro or penalty in the former or it is i max im in the law of Parliament quod leges piferpor'es ccntrarhs abrogant" Therefore Ihould any Parliament give up renounce and forever quit claim to the cf making laws to bind us in any cafe what ever ytt it can conftitntionaliy ftipiilate for no longer than that jin fitting They have as fu power and au thority to revive and enforce the claim at their next fitting as if fitch remirciation had never taken place Is it wif dim then or is there fafety in entering tipofl terms of a' cpmmodation with a power which cannot ftipulate for the performance hfil: engagements I we are foolifli enough rrurt not our suture tecuntv aeoenu entire ly on the 'HIqI a Britilh Parliament i of a Bri lifs Miffry? This in my opinion muft form an infcperable obftacle foreconciliation in the mind of every honeft man and fiocere lover of liberty on the continent A fecond reafon againft reconciliation is that tire Britilh conftitution is fo effectually undermined by the influence of the Crown that the people of Britain hare no feenrity for the enjoyment of their oven liberties and therefore America can never be fafe in being de pendent oh fitch a ftate The author of an hiftorical efiay en the Erglifli printed anno 1771 fays (ballriot hefitare to date the decline of onr conftitution from the Revolution William the jd aid hi Parliament begin the practice of reftraining the elcc tive power of the people by the legiflative author! tv A power that roisht become ten thoufanJ times more dangerous to the elective rights of the people than the crown could ever poflibly be or whenever aflive parts of a governrhent founded upon the common rights of mankind fliall ufurp 2 power to reftraiq or deftroy thofe rights from wherice they derive their auhority that fate is net far from de firndiion Thus the primary hw of ottr conftitution the firft upon which it was founded which had flood the ief of tveelve hundred year's and been the Admiraii of ages was now reduced to the common level of a nuifance to be corrected by afls of Parli ament Our leaiflative authority is bvicsownna tore confined to aft within the line of the conftitu tian btcatife it is only verted with atrnrt by the people to the end they may proteft and defend them in their rights and privileges And there fore it is a contradiction in terms to fay they have a right to copfenvto any that may reftrain or deftrey them Their confent to this law Was 4 no torions violation of the trtift repofed in or Ipon this principle nur conftitution may be one thing to day and another thing to merrovu It ibis and that or any thing that our legiflative au thority for the time being fhall think proper to male Bin the prevailing faftinn'of thofe t4fter fowing divifions among the people to deftroy their power and weaken their farce obtained a lai? under etence cf providing for the diftemperof the times CI by which they have Joft nay what have they not have loft thediftinguiffiiog character be tWeeifreemenandflaves havejoft the diftin guilhing charafter of Engliflimea They have loft I'' Ik.