Declaration

“ The Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States,—the two immortal title-deeds of American liberties. Defenders of the Constitution, let us not forget the principles of the Declaration, but, for the equal support of both, in the spirit of our fathers, without compromise, and with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. ”

“ If to question everything be unlawful and dangerous, we had better undeclare our independence at once; for what the Declaration means is the right to question everything, even the truth of its own fundamental proposition. ”

“ Their declaration was simply their joint expression of their separate wills; each expressing its own will, and not that of any other; each bound by its own act, and not responsible for the act of any other. ”

“ That all and singular the rights and liberties asserted and claimed in the said declaration, are the true, ancient, and indubitable rights and liberties of the people of this kingdom, and so shall be esteemed, allowed, adjudged, deemed, and taken to be, and that all and every the particulars aforesaid shall be firmly and strictly holden and observed, as they are expressed in the said declaration; and all officers and ministers whatsoever shall serve their Majesties and their successors according to the same in all times to come. ”

“ The Bible declaration, that God hath made of one blood all the nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, so beautifully set forth in our Declaration of Independence, and teaching the great lesson of universal equality and universal freedom, forms the corner-stone of our institutions. ”

“ Supposing the author of the Declaration had asserted among his self-evident truths, that he held the heavens to be made of brass!! Certainly there are more appearances at times to justify such assertion, than there ever was to justify those he has made. Would any man have practised under such a belief? Would any man have shaped his conduct to that contingency? ”

“ Upon the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the dissolution of the ties of allegiance, the assumption of sovereign power, and the institution of civil government, are all acts of transcendent authority, which the people alone are competent to perform ”

“ Rights, Declaration of, a declaration of the fundamental principles of the constitution drawn up by the Parliament of England and submitted to William and Mary on their being called to the throne, and afterwards enacted in Parliament when they became king and queen. It secures to the people their rights as free-born citizens and to the Commons as their representatives, while it binds the sovereign to respect these rights as sacred. ”

“ Relying, then, upon this spirit of fairness, convinced of the sincerity of the opposition we encounter, and in order that there may remain a distinct and intelligible record of the aim to which we dedicate our labours, we proceed to make that declaration which may be justly asked of nameless writers, as a testimony of the purpose which has inspired our undertaking, and an abiding pledge of our consistency. ”

“ That we pledge ourselves to each other, and all to our country, by all which men know that is sacred, to take the foregoing resolutions for the rule of our conduct, and that at all opportunities, and by all constitutional means, we will support the spirit and principles of them. In testimony of this solemn declaration, we have all signed the said resolutions. ”

“ The serious injury, which the faults in the Declaration inflict upon us, arises from the fact that their position in this national document, enables them to cast their own hue on the national taste and genius. ”

“ The signers of the Declaration of Independence and the framers of the Constitution were inspired from on high to do that work. ”

“ The first supposition is always false, and the last is generally so. A declaration of perpetuity, annexed to a form of government, implies a supposition of perfect wisdom and probity in the framers; which is both arrogant and impudent; and it implies a supposed power in them, to abridge the power of a succeeding Convention, and of the future state or body of people. ”

“ In conformity with the declaration contained in the speech from the throne, and true to the sentiments of equity which this declaration attests—sentiments which you, sir, are good enough to acknowledge and to praise, His Highness is determined not to permit that any class of his subjects, whatever may be their religion, shall ever be molested with impunity on account of their creed, or for any other cause. ”

“ By the Declaration of Independence, dreaded by the foes an for a time doubtfully viewed by many of the friends of America, everything stood on a new and more respectable footing, both with regard to the operations of war or negotiations with foreign powers. ”

“ With this idea, a test was made of every book I could procure, by numbering its letters and comparing the numbers with those of the manuscript; all to no purpose, however, until the Declaration of Independence afforded the clue to one of the papers, and revived all my hopes. To enable my readers to better understand the explanation of this paper, the Declaration of Independence is given herewith, and will be of interest to those designing to follow up my investigations. ”

“ No other theory is adequate to explain or comprehend the Declaration of Independence. It is the product of the spiritual insight of the people. We live in an age of science and of abounding accumulation of material things. ”

“ Item where they desire some reasonable declaration may be made to your people, how they may, if they will, avoid the peril of heresy. No better declaration, we say, can be made than is already by our Saviour Christ, the Apostles, and the determination of the church, which if they keep, they shall not fail to eschew heresy. ”

“ And now I appeal to all—to Democrats as well as others—are you really willing that the Declaration shall thus be frittered away?—thus left no more, at most, than an interesting memorial of the dead past?—thus shorn of its vitality and practical value, and left without the germ or even the suggestion of the individual rights of man in it? ”

“ Assembled in Convention, from various sections of the American Union, for the promotion of Peace on earth and Good-will among men, We, the undersigned, regard it as due to ourselves, to the cause which we love, to the country in which we live, and to the world, to publish a Declaration, expressive of the principles we cherish, the purposes we aim to accomplish, and the measures we shall adopt to carry forward the work of peaceful, universal reformation. ”

“ All these considerations put together were sufficient to make any honest and well advised man to conceive indeed, that upon the passing of this oath and declaration, the whole sum of affairs depended. ”

“ Most of them, before proceeding to practical working details, enunciated a series of general principles upon the subject of government and political morality in what were called declarations or bills of rights. The character of these declarations may be gathered from the following excerpts:
That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, ... ”

“ But do not destroy that immortal emblem of humanity—the Declaration of American Independence." ”

“ Such declarations are necessary for the outer world and for the satisfaction of their own consciences, but they can hardly be expected to produce any effect, nor do the signataries themselves anticipate any important change being made in the new regolamento. ”

“ For as concerning the point of Religion, We aswell in the beginning of the Parliament, by a publike and open Declaration made to both Houses in the higher House of Parliament, as also shortly after, by a gracious answere vnto a former Petition of theirs, expressed to the full Our immutable resolution to maintaine true Religion, besides the vntainted practise of Our whole life in that point. ”

“ The Declaration of Independence should have read thus:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; ”

“ Liberty does not consist, my fellow-citizens, in mere general declarations of the rights of man. It consists in the translation of those declarations into definite action. ”

“ It is not the enactment, but the observance of laws, that creates the character of a nation. ”

“ Liberty, Free Agency or Will.—When deliberation has taken place—when man has taken full cognizance of the motives which present themselves to him, he takes a resolution, of which he looks upon himself as the author, which arises because he wishes it, and which would not arise unless he did wish it—here the fact of agency is shown; it resides complete in the resolution which man makes after deliberation; it is the resolution which is the proper act of man, which subsists by him alone ”

“ The extraordinary oath with which they accept each king, on his accession, is luminous: “We who are as good as you, and who are more powerful than you, elect you king, that you may protect our rights and liberties.” ”

“ Do you grant that the just Laws and Customs which are of the Folks Chusing shall be kept, and do you promise that they shall be Protected, and to the Honour of God receive Affirmance by you, to the utmost of your Power? ”

“ No government without the consent of the governed, eh? When has our consent been asked, the consent of twenty-five million people? Are we sheep, that we have let a few thousands govern us for a thousand years, without our consent? ”

“ Lord President—The Court expects you should give them a final Answer; their purpose is to adjourn to Monday next; if you do not satisfy yourself, [Pg 83] though we do tell you our authority, we are satisfied with our authority, and it is upon God's authority and the kingdom's; and that peace you speak of will be kept in the doing of justice, and that is our present work.
King—For answer, let me tell you, you have shewn no lawful authority to satisfy any reasonable man. ”

“ If this idea of authority is contradicted, counterbalanced, or checked in the constitution of a country, then the Government is founded on a basis which is opposed to reason, to nature, and to the Christian faith. ”

“ The Lord’s whole providence and government, the rising of the sun, and everything that He has created, are for the sake of the kingdom, which the elect are to inherit, for the constitution of the kingdom of peace and concord. ”

“ At last peoples have become conscious of their relations to the highest powers of the State, and have sought to give permanence and certainty to those relations by setting the conditions of their subordination fast in stubborn practices or in the solemn covenants of written documents. A constitution government has always had; but not until this latest age these deliberate formulations of principle and practice which determine the whole organization and action of the State, the domain of authority, the neutral territory85 of liberty, the postulates of obedience. ”

“ If ever there was a government upon earth it is this government, if ever there was a body upon earth it is this body, which should consider itself as composed by agreement of all, each member appointed by some, but organized by the general consent of all, sitting here, under the solemn obligations of oath and conscience, to do that which they think to be best for the good of the whole. ”

“ When I shall have learned thy righteous judgments I will keep thy statutes. We cannot keep them unless we learn them; but we learn them in vain if we do not keep them. Those have well learned God's statutes who have come up to a full resolution, in the strength of his grace, to keep them. ”

“ Have we, I say, that ingenuous and submissive respect for this authority, which not only reason and religion, but true policy, and every man’s proper interest requires? Our boasted Constitution itself, now so accurately defined and generally understood, Does it meet with that awful regard from us, which it justly deserves? Are we anxious, that, of its several parts, each should have its full play, without interfering with any other? ”