On the record
Adams said, that even admitting the object of the petitioners is abolition, as has been alleged, they had the right to petition for that too; for every individual in the country had a right to be an abolitionist.
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gutenberg.orgWilliam Seward: “Adams said, that even admitting the object of the petitioners is abolition, as has been alleged, they had the right to…”
Editor's note · Context
Seward asserts that all individuals have the right to petition for abolition, regardless of the petitioners' intentions.
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Stoicism, that had no charity for error, never converted any human society to virtue; Christianity, that remembers the true nature of man, has encompassed a large portion of the globe.
But power, confessedly derived from the people, must be exercised in obedience to their will, and must be resigned to them again, at least in death.
The recital of heroic actions loses its chief value, if we cannot discover the principles in which they were born.
By the blessing of the Author of those rights, they have prevailed over all opposition, and form the basis of thirteen independent States.
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