They are nothing; and nothing cannot own something. Where
there is no substance, there can be no accident. This corporeal globe,
and every thing upon it, belong to its present corporeal inhabitants,
during their generation. They alone have a right to direct what is the
concern of themselves alone, and to declare the law of that direction:
and this declaration can only be made by their majority. That majority,
then, has a right to depute representatives to a convention, and to make
the constitution what they think will be best for themselves. But how
collect their voice? This is the real difficulty. If invited by private
authority to county or district meetings, these divisions are so large,
that few will attend; and their voice will be imperfectly or falsely
pronounced. Here, then, would be one of the advantages of the ward
divisions I have proposed. The mayor of every ward, on a question like
the present, would call his ward together, take the simple yea or nay of
its members, convey these to the county court, who would hand on those
of all its wards to the proper general authority; and the voice of
the whole people would be thus fairly, fully, and peaceably expressed,
discussed, and decided by the common reason of the society. If this
avenue be shut to the call of sufferance, it will make itself heard
through that of force, and we shall go on, as other nations are doing,
in the endless circle of oppression, rebellion, reformation; and
oppression, rebellion, reformation, again; and so on, for ever.
Pages:
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496