Men Of Virginia, Countrymen Of

The Right Of Petition Is An Old Undoubted Household Right Of The Blood Of England, Which Runs In Our Veins.

The Proceedings Of This House In 1790, In Reference To Petitions On The Matter Of The Slave Trade, And Of Slavery In The States, Have Been Cited. It Has Been Said That Those Petitions Were Not Received.

You Well Know, Sir, That When The Constitution Was Submitted To The People Of The Respective States For Their Adoption Or Rejection, It Awakened The Warmest Debates Of The Several State Conventions.

It Is Impossible, In My Mind, To Distinguish Between The Refusal To Receive A Petition, Or Its Summary Rejection By Some General Order, And The Denial Of The Right Of Petition.

Men Of New England, I Hold You To The Doctrines Of Liberty Which Ye Inherit From Your Puritan Forefathers.