The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1861-06-29


lie has refused, for long time after
such dissOlutiOns, to cause others TO be
elected; whereby the legislative pOwers,
incapable Of annlhllAtiOn, have returned
to the people at large for their exercise
the State remaining, In the meantime, ex-
posed to all the dangers Of invasion from
without and convulsions within.
lie has cndeavorCd to prevent the pop.
ulstton Of these States-f0r that purpose
Obstructing the laws Of naturalization Of
foreigners, refusing to pass others to en-.
courage their migration hither, and raiS-
ing the conditions Of new appropriations
Of lands.
lie has obstructed the administration
Of justice, by refusing his assent to laws
for establishing judiciary powers
He has made judges dependent on his
will alone for the tenure Of their Offices
and the amount and payment Of their
salaries.
lie has erected 4 multitude Of new Of.
fees, and sent hither swar;ns Of officers
to haraSs our people and eat out their
substance.
lie has kept among us, in times Of
peace, standing armies, without the con.
sent Of our legislatures.
lie has affected to render the military
Independent Of and superior to the civil
power.
lie has combined with others to subject
us to jurisdiction foreign to our consii.
tuition, and unacknowledged by our laws
giving his assent to their acts of pre-
tended legislation;
For quartering large bodies Of armed
troops among Us;
For protecting them. by a mock trial,
from punishment for any murders which
they should commit on tho inhabitants Of
these States;
For cutting of our trade with all parts
Of the world;
For imposing taxes on US without our
consent;
For dcPriving us, in many cases, Of the
benefits Of trial by jury;
For transporting us beyond seas to be
tried for pretended offrnscS;
For abolisling the free system of Eng.
li>h laws in a neighboring province. estab-
fishing therein an arbitrary government,
and cnlarging its boundaries, so as to
.rcnaer il at once an example and lit in
strnmcnt fnr introducing the same abso.
lutte rule into these colonies
For taking away our charters, abolish.
Ing our most valuable LAWS, and altering,
fundamentally, the forms Of our govern.
mcnt>;
For SuSpending our own legislatures,
aud declaring themselves invested with
power to lcgi>late for us in all cases what
sOcvcr.
lie has abdicatcd government here by
declaring us out of his protection, and
waGing war against us.
lie has plundered our seas, ravagcd our
coasts, burnt our towns, aud destroyed
the lives Of our people.
lie is at this time transporting large
armies Of foreign merccnaries to complete
the works Of death, desolatiOn and try.
amy, already begun, with circumstances
Of cruelty and perfidy scarcely parallele,i
in the most barbarOuS ages, and totally
unworthy the head Of a civilized nation.
lie has constrained our fellow citizens,
taken captive on the high seas, to bear
arms against their country, to become the
cxecutioners of their friends and brethren,
or to fall themselves by their hands.
lie has excited domestic instructions
among US and has endeavored to bring
on the inhabitants Of our frontiers the
mcrcilcss Indian savages, whose known
rule Of warfare Is an undistinguished de-
struction Of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage Of these expressions, We
have petitioncd for redress in the most
humble terms. Our repeated petitions
have been answered only by repeated in
jury. A prince whose character is thus
marked by every act which may define q
.yrant, is unfit to be the ruler Of a free
people. 4
Nor have we been wanting in attentions
to our British brethren. We have warned
them, from time to time, Of attempts, by
their legislature, to extend an unwarrant-
able jurisdiction over us. We have re-
minded them Of the circumstances Of our
emigration and settlement here. We
have appealed to their native justice and
magnanimitJ, and we have conjured them,
by the ties Of our common kindred, to
disavow these usurpations, which would
inevitably interrupt our connections and
correspondence. They, too. have been
deaf to the voice Of justice and Of consan.
guinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce
in the necessity which denounces our sep.
aratiOn, and hold them, as We hold the
rest Of mankind, enemies in war, in peace,
friends.
We, therefore, the representatives Of
the United States Of America, in General
Congress assembled, appealing to the Su.
preme Judge Of the World for the recti-
tude Of our intentions, do, in the name,
and by the authority Of the good people
of these colonies, sOlemnly publish and
declare that these united colonies are, and
Of right ought to be, free and independ.
ent States; that they are absolvcd from
ell allegiance to the British Crown, and
that all political connection between them
and the State Of Great Britain, is, and
ought to be, totally dissolved; and that,
as free and independent States, they have
full power to levy war. conclude peace,
contract alliances, establish commerce,
and to do all other acts and things which
independent States may Of right do.
And for the support of this declaration,
with firm reliance on the protection Of
Divine Providence, we mutually pledge
to each other our lives, our fortunes, and
our sacred honOrs.
Oliver WoLcoTT,
JoHN HANCOCK, SANUEL CHASE,
SAMUEL ADAMS, WILLIAM PAcA,
JOHN ADAMS, THOMAS SroSE.
Robert TRGAT PAINE, CHARLKa CARRoLL.
ELBRIDGE GERRY, Of Carro,LOM,
JOSIAH BARTLgTT, WILLIAM FLOYD
WILLIAM WHIPPLE, PHILIP LIVINGSTON,
MATTHEW THORXT0X, FRANcIs LEWIS,
SrEPHEN HOPKINS, LEwIs MORRIs,
WILLIAM ELLERY, GEORGE WYTHE,
C1sAR ROONEY, RICHARD HRNRY LEE,
GEORGR RRAD, THOMAS JEEEERsoN.
THoHAs M'KEAN, llEXJANIN HARRISON,
RoGER SnERxAN, THOMAS NELsoH, JR.,
SANuRl HuHrfN0ToH ERANCfs I.IGHTPoOf l.HE