TOO
THE GREEN BAG
copy of this address, in his note book No. i, says: "This address was drawn by Mr. Wilson, who informed the transcriber [Madison] that it was meant to lead the public mind into the idea of Independence, of which the necessity was plainly foreseen by Congress." This document from beginning to end rings with the spirit of patriotism and there is hardly a line but is worthy of repetition. Space, however, will permit of but a few quo tations. At the outset we have a clear enunciation by Wilson of the teachings of George Buchanan1 of Saint Andrews: "That all Power was originally in the Peo ple — that all the Powers of government are derived from them — that all Power, which they have not disposed of, still continues theirs — are Maxims of the English Consti tution, which, we presume, will not be dis puted. The Share of Power, which the King derives from the People, or in other words, the Prerogative of the Crown, is well known and precisely ascertained : It is the same in Great Britain and in the Colonies. The Share of Power, which the House of Com mons derives from the People, is likewise well known: The Manner in which it is con veyed is by election. But the House of Commons is not elected by the Colonists; and therefore, from them that Body can de rive no Authority. "Besides; the Powers, which the House of Commons receives from its Constituents, are entrusted by the Colonists to their Assem blies in the several Provinces. Those Assem blies have Authority to propose and assent to Laws for the Government of their Electors, in the same manner as the House of Com mons has Authority to propose and assent to Laws for the Government of the Inhabitants of Great Britain. Now the same collective Body cannot delegate the same Powers to distinct representative Bodies. The unde niable Result is, that the House of Commons neither has nor can have any Power deriv'd from the Inhabitants of these Colonies." Then Wilson continues with resistless logic : "In the Instance of imposing Taxes, this Doctrine is clear and familiar: It is true and just in every other Instance. If it would be incongruous and absurd, that the same Prop erty should be liable to be taxed by two 1 Vide p. 5 supra.
Bodies independent of each other; would less incongruity and Absurdity ensue, if the same Offence were to be subjected to differ ent and perhaps inconsistent Punishments? Suppose the punishment directed by the Laws of one Body be death, and that di rected by those of the other Body be Banish ment for Life; how could both punishments be inflicted? . . . "The sentence of universal Slavery gone forth against you is; that the British Parlia ment have Power to make Laws, without your consent, binding you in all Cases whatever. Your Fortunes, your Liberties, your Reputations, your Lives, every Thing that can render you and your Posterity happy, all are the Objects of the Laws. . . . In Proportion, however, as your Oppressions were multiplied and increased, your Opposi tion to them became firm and vigourous. . . . Many of the Injuries flowing from the uncon stitutional and ill-advised Acts of the British Legislature, affected all the Provinces equally; and even in those Cases, in which the In juries were confined, by the Acts, to one or to a few, the Principles, on which they were made, extended to all. If common Rights, common Interests, common Dangers and common Sufferings are Principles of Union, what could be more natural than the Union of the Colonies? "Delegates authorized by the several Provinces from Nova Scotia to Georgia to represent them and act in their Behalf, met in general congress. It has been ob jected, that this Measure was unknown to the Constitution; that the Congress was, of Consequence, an illegal Body; and that its Proceedings could not, in any Manner, be recognized by the Government of Britain. . . . To Those, who offer this Objection, . . . we beg Leave, in our Turn, to pro pose, that they would explain the Principles of the Constitution, which warranted the Assembly of the Barons at Runningmede, when Magna Charta was signed, the Con vention-Parliament that recalled Charles II, and the Convention of Lords and Commons that placed King William on the Throne. When they shall have done this, we shall per haps, be able to apply their Principles to prove the Necessity and Propriety of a Congress." Turning to another phase of the situation he declares: "We wish for Peace — we wish for Safety : But we will not, to obtain either or both of
