The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1901-08-31
Communicated.
The Bill Of Riphts.

communicated.
The Bill Of Rights
It seems that the ghost Of poor old ,
George the Third will not down AT the
bidding of even the sage from the slashes
of Ianover-likc unto that other ghost
which has been sung OF in song and story
il hobs up sercnely even unto thisday in
our Constitutional Convention. Some
political iconoclasts in that very august
conclaye Of brilliant, talented. able,
orat0rical. splendid. maniiicent, lawyers,
jurists and orators Gi any adjectiyes
have been omitted reference II had for
them to the Richmond papers, are in
spired in their efforts 10 change, modify
aud mollify our Bill of Rights in Difference
to the memory OF old King Gcorge-he
is dead. they say--ye- dead, my lords
and Indies. quite dead but though
dead. he should not be- forgotten for the
enemies he has made and for the good he
has donc-for. perhaps. but for his stu
pidity. his arrogance and mis- tyranny, we
would today be- the subjects OF Edward
VII. His policy and practices gave "A
cause and reason Recommendation which
cemented the colonies in a more perfect
union In the next place 1t II said that
we should 80 change our Bill of Rights
a. that il shall not further offend our
English speaking cousins accross the
deep. blue sea, because they assisted US
in our war with Spain and their troops
marched with ours in China-but II ap-
pears that they did all this assisting and
marching while we were hurting our
anathemas and maranthas at old
King ticorge in our Bill Of Rights IL is
possibe that il England had paused for
lust one moment and had called 10 her
remembrance the cOntumey which we
were still heaping ON the head and
memory of the late lamented, that
she would not have helped III
i'm our war with Spain, and her
soldiers would not have marched with |
ours around the walls Of the Forbidden
City. We must confess to some doubts
and misgivings about England's assist
ance To M in our war with Spain. We
have been under what may have been |
hallucinatiOn, for we have been under the |
impression that our boys behind the guns |
had sOmething-had alto do with the |
conclusion of that brief and brilliant |
war. and we do not think that this re- |
pubico ours il under any kind ofdebt OF |
gratitude to England for the cOnsumma- |
ton of that war and its results. The !
American soldiers from the North and |
south will always gladly and Loyalty |
rally under the stars and stripes |
and i'm sufficient numbers, to sustain the |
honor and interests of our people any
where everywhere, without any of Eng
lands protectorate. The South certainly |
has nothing To thank England for for |
she turned deaf ear TO our appeals for |
recognition. she gave us neither sympa- |
thy nor assistance during the war; be- |
tween the States The England a. rep |
resented by King George in our Bill of |
Rights il the same now, "a then; she IL |
pursuing the identical policy that she did |
when that grand instrument was enned |
that Of getting all she can and keeping |
all she gets The England which fought |
the Colonies il repeating herself in the |
cruel war now being wagcd upon the un-
offending Beers and in the tyranny prac-
ticed on grand old Erin. So let what is
written of her in our Bill of Rights stay |
~ written
II is also said that this imminent OF our
title to being the first people on the earth |
who in n republican form OF government |
ever had written declaration of their
civil and political rights Is faulty |
in it's grammar, and that some
Of the words therein written have
changed their meaning. Whether this
charge il true admits of much doubt.
However, the fathers and founder of this
Republic did not pause to discuss the
meaning of words in their nicely or to
parse grammar They were engaged
in formulating grave and tremendous
issue-an issue fraught and freighted with
n peoples veal or wOe-for 1.-THE British
were at their doors
Let the grand old declaration stand
without change or alteration, save to
eliminate from it the amendments made
by the conventions of $50 and 1861. Ii
has no equal in all the tide OF time. for
while it may contain some of the things
written OF il in the Petition OF Rights by
Sir Edward Coke in 1923, and in the
Declaration of Rights on the accession of
William and Mary, in 1859, it is copy
Of neither and is more powerful in its ex-
pressions than both. Adopted on June
2gth, 1916, it antedates our Declaration
Of Independence, and by comparison to
which great jurists and statesmen have
declared the Bill OF Rights to be the better
expressed, profounder and more philo-
sopic declaration Of the basic principles
of civil liberty.
II. however it is thought that our Bill
of Rights touches too severely in these
later days on our troublesome past with
old England what shall be said OF the
Declaration of Independence That doc
ument should be more scripta non
grata to our dear English cousins than
George Mason's splendid and venerated
document. for the former instrument
speaks in much disrespect of old King
George and very harshly OF his actings
and doings. Is there anyone bold enough
to dare in the face OF the American people
to demand that our Declaration Of indie
pendence shall be changed in one jot or
tittleg So we beg that Virginia's great
declaration of mans civil and po-
litical rights as written by Viz
ginia's great Mason shall stand as
written and shall be altered not. 1t was
a splendid chart for all the people Of this
land at the commencement of their peril
Gus voyage on an unknown sea; let it
stand now that the haven has been
reached, and the victory won.
JONI r. GooLmCK.
Fredericksburg, Va, Aug 20, 1901