valour of our fathers." A privilege so wisely secured by our constitution, we cannot hesitate to declare, the citizens of Masaachusetts will never resign.
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In the description which your Honour has drawn of the situation of our country previous to the adoption of the federal constitution, we cannot but observe the very strong resemblance which it bears to the picture of the present times. "Our government humbled and inefficient, our Union a thread, our commerce unprotected, our revenue nothing, individuals embarrassed, grievances complained of, our rulers censured, town and county resolutions published, combinations formed, non-compliance with the laws announced, property sold for one-third its value, the insolvent imprisoned, and the courts of justice stopped;" that this description applies to the present state of parts, if not the whole, of our country, we believe will not be denied.
Whence comes it that from a state of the most flourishing prosperity a few months should have produced a change so truly astonishing? It is not in the restless and unsteady habits of the people, till lately contented and happy, that we must look for the causes of these frightful calamities; it is in the pernicious and dreadful consequences of this shallow system of Embargo and Non Intercourse, that we shall find the fruitful sources of our country's ruin. We do most sincerely hope that neither Virginia or any other state may ever succeed in "dictating measures to Congress and by a convulsed state of things force their adoption." However, such an usurpation might from various causes endure for a time, the returning good sense of the people would eventually restore the equilibrium and effectually prevent those tempestuous scenes which your Honour has so eloquently described. "The importance and the interesting and perilous nature of the crisis," have excited the most alarming reflections in our minds, and we doubt not that every member of the Legislature will devote himself to the arduous yet necessary duty of "devising some reconciling expedient to quiet the agitated minds of our citizens," and relieve them from the weight of these unconstitutional restrictions. *******
