The Right Of Petition Is An Old

Here, Again, As I Conceive, Gentlemen Forget That This Government Is A Republican One, Resting Exclusively In The Intelligence And Virtue Of The People.

Upon The Constitution, Upon The Pre-existing Legal Rights Of The People, As Understood In This Country And In England, I Have Argued That This House Is Bound To Revive The Petition Under Debate.

I Declare And Protest In Advance, That I Do Not Intend, At This Time At Least; To Be Drawn Or Driven Into The Question Of Slavery, In Either Of Its Subdivisions Or Forms.

Men Of Virginia, Countrymen Of Washington, Of Patrick Henry, Of Jefferson, And Of Madison, Will Ye Be True To Your Constitutional Faith?

We Are Laying The Foundations Of A Government, Which We Hope May Outlast The Pyramids.