I Ask, Sir, What Is The Militia?

I Have Been For Some Time In Retirement, And Shall Not Probably Return Again To Public Life; Yet My Anxiety For My Country, In These Times Of Danger, Makes Me Sometimes Dabble A Little In Politicks, And Keep Up A Correspondence With Some Men Upon The Public Stage.

That In All Capital Or Criminal Prosecutions A Man Bath A Right To Demand The Cause And Nature Of His Accusation, To Be Confronted With The Accusers And Witnesses, To Call For Evidence In His Favor, And To A Speedy Trial By An Impartial Jury Of Twelve Men Of His Vicinage, Without Whose Unanimous Consent He Cannot Be Found Guilty; Nor Can He Be Compelled To Give Evidence Against Himself; That No Man Be Deprived Of His Liberty, Except By The Law Of The Land Or The Judgment Of His Peers.

All Men Are Created Equally Free And Independent, And Have Certain Inherent Rights, Of Which They Cannot, By Any Compact, Deprive Or Divest Their Posterity; Among Which Are The Enjoyment Of Life And Liberty, With The Means Of Acquiring And Possessing Property, And Pursuing The Obtaining Of Happiness And Safety.

That The Legislative And Executive Powers Of The State Should Be Separate And Distinct From The Judiciary; And That The Members Of The Two First May Be Restrained From Oppression, By Feeling And Participating The Burdens Of The People, They Should, At Fixed Periods, Be Reduced To A Private Station, Return Into That Body From Which They Were Originally Taken, And The Vacancies Be Supplied By Frequent, Certain, And Regular Elections, In Which All, Or Any Part Of The Former Members, To Be Again Eligible, Or Ineligible, As The Laws Shall Direct.

A Few Years' Experience Will Convince Us That Those Things Which At The Time They Happened We Regarded As Our Greatest Misfortunes Have Proved Our Greatest Blessings.