The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1849-07-04
HISTORY
OE THE
Declaration of independence,
BY WILLIAM BACON STEVENS.

BY WILLIAM BACON STEVENS
AS every thing connected with this .char.
ter of our liberties" is worthy of preservation
and as we cannot too often recur to, and
ponder over, that important event, propose
to draw up a succinct account Of the rise and
progress Of independent principles; and Of the
preparation and ultimate passage Of the memo
rable "Declaration" of them.
The doctrines Of that ''Declaraton" were
early set forth in colonial history, and the prin
ciples of republican independence, brought
over IN the Mayaower, were carefully cnshrin.
ed in the hearts Of the peopc-gra dualy en-.
grated into the civil constitutions, and at last
became the cornerstone of this great republic
Virginia, under Sir George Yeardly, and du.
ring the + Observation-Disclosures usetts in the
opposition to Sir Edmund Andres in 1859
New York in their reputation of the tax act
in 1851; and South Carolina under Governor
Moore, had each given good proof of the we'll.
| grounded and pervading principles Of civil lib
erty & elective rights which Obtained through.
| out the colonies. Chalmers, an author Of cred
it and research, has said, referring to the trou.
bles in l766, consequent on the stamp ct, that
'none of the statesmen Of that period, uor those
Of the preceding or subsequent times, had any
in the Board Of Trade and Paper office, the
most satisfactory proofs, from the epoch of the
Revolution in 1858, throughout every reign
and during every administration Of the settle
purpose of the revolted colonies TO acquire d.
rect independence" Mr.. Chalmers has not
supported this assertion by any testimony from
the offices to which he refers; but his intimate
acquaintance with those documents while pre-
pairing his "Poltical Annals" does not per-
init US to doubt the statement. Indeed this
very Board Of Trade, in a publication dated
1901, declared that "the independence the co.
lonies thirst after is now notorious" Two
years after Quarry wrote. of New Eng land
commonwealth notions improve daily, and, if
it be not checked in time, the rights and pri-
vileges of English subje Gets will be thought too
narrow" Two years later still, and the as
sertion was boldly issued from the press, that
'the colonists will, in process Of time, cast off
their allegiance to Eng land and set up a gov.
eminent Of their own" An old writer, re
cording the prevailing opinions Of the times,
says it was at last said, "by people of all con.
ditions and qualities, that their increasing
numbers and wealth, joined TO their great dis.
lance from Britain, would give them an oppor
tunity, in the course of some years, to throw off
their dependence on the nation, and declare
themselves Tree State, if not curbed in time
by being made entirely subject to the Crown"
These, however, were mostly speculatons ba
sed on the undaunted spirit ofliberty of Thought
which no authority could repress or cAtinguish
1t gave evidence of its existence in u variety
of ways; at the civil tribunal, in the lcgisla-
tive chamber-in the popu ar assembly--in the
periodical press; and though Royal Governors
menaced the people with veng eancc, and pour
ed out upon them walls Of ministerial wrath,
yet the tide Of freedom. gathering up in its
course the little rills of popular feeling, rolled
steadily onward, widening, deepening, and
hurrylng in its current, until it swept away
every landmark Of royalty. and every standard
Of oppression. One little incident, noticed by.
Bancroft, shows the jealousy Of the people to
any infraction of their rights. During the
troubles with Gov. Cosby. of New York, in
1884, "a newspaper was established to defend
the popular cause; and, in about year after
its establishment, its printer, John Peter Tren.
ger, was imprisoned, on the charge Of publish.
lug false and seditous Iibels. The grand Jury
would lind no bill against him. and the Attor-
ney General filed an information. The coun-
sci OF 1renger took exceptions TO the commits
SONS OF the Judges, because they ran during
pleasure, and because they had been granted
without consent Of counsel. The court an
swered the objection, by excluding those who
offered it from the bar. At the trial, the pub.
fishing was confessed; but the aged Andrew
Hamilton, lawyer of Philadelphia, pleading
for Irenger, Justified the publication by as
sorting its truth.
"You cannot be admitted" INTERRUPTED the
chief justice, "to give the truth of 4 libel in
evidence
"Ihen," said Hamilton to the jury, tive
appeal 10 you for witnesses Of the facts. The
jury have right to determine both the law
and the fact, and they ought TO do so.'
1.-The question before you," he added, "is
not the cause of poor printer, nor Of N. York
alone; it is the best cause.-the cause of libcr-
ty. Every man who prefers freedom to life
of slavery will bless and honor you as men,
who by an impartial verdict, lay noble foun-
dalton for securing to ourselves, our posterity,
and our neighbors, that to which nature and
he honor of our country has given US a right
the Liberty CT opposing arbitrary power, by
speaking and writing truth" The Jury. gave
their verdict mot guilty;" the people of the
Hamilton resolved of the common council of
New York the franchise of the city for "his
learned and generous defence of the rights of
patriot Of the Revolution est eeln.
ed this trial TO have been the morning star of
the American Revolution. But it was not one
light alone that lushered in the dawn of our in.
dependence: the stars of "a whole constellation
sang together for JOY" j
That colonial independence was not unthot
of in England, we gather from various writer's;
a passage from the memoirs of Horace Wal.
pole, Earl Of Oxford, will sustain this assertion.
Speaking of the designs Of the Ministry towards
America, he says:
1.-The instructions to Sir Danvers Osborn, a
new Governor of New York, seemed better cal.
culated for the latitude of Mexico, and for
Spanish tribunal, than for free, rich British
settlement. and in such opulence and such
that suspicious had long been con-
ceived of their meditating to throw off their
dependence on the mother country
1t is evident, however. from the tenor of his.
tory, that the independence Of the American
colonies was more suspected and feared in
England than entertained or acted upon in the
provinces.
DR.. Gordon in his History Of the Revolution.
has preserved part of conversation between
Mr.. Pratt (afterward Lord Camden, and ever
a friend of America) and Benz. Franklin, in
which Mr.. Pratt says:
"For all what you Americans say of your
loyalty, know you will ono day throw off
your dependence upon this country; and, not.
withstanding your boosted affection for it, will
set up for independence" Franklin replied,
"No such idea is entertained in the min Of tho
Americans; and no such idea will eyer enter
their heads, unless you grossly abuse them.'
Even during all the heated controversy which
followed the arbitrary acts Of 1856, &c. we
hear but little of throwing off alepia n ce IN the