There is an express provision of the constitution that Congress shall pass no law abridging the right of petition; and here is a resolution declaring that a member ought to be considered as regardless of the feelings of the house, the rights of the South, and an enemy to the Union, for presenting a petition.
Quincy argues against a resolution that he believes undermines the constitutional right to petition, highlighting the conflict between individual rights and societal pressures.
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Adams replied: "I well know this; but labor I shall not refuse so long as my hands, my eyes, and my brain, do not desert me.
Indeed, I have no idea we shall ever obtain, by compact, a better footing for our commerce with this country than that on which it now stands; and therefore the shortness of time, limited for the operation of this part of the compact, is…
The pride of Britain itself must bend to the course of events.
I have no doubt our citizens will rally a second time round the standard of Common Sense.
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