power, than they have already suffered, you will pardon me for thinking that you go farther out of your way to find palliatives for inhumanity than necessity seems to require; and if this be the cry of murder to which you allude, as having reached your ears, I sincerely pity your ears for being so frequently assaulted with cries of murder much more audible, because much less distant; I mean the cries of your prisoners, who are constantly perishing in the jails of New York, the coolest and most deliberate kind of murder, from the rigorous manner of their treatment.
I am, with all due respect, your most humble servant,
| WILLIAM LIVINGSTON. |
| JAMES ROBERTSON, Esq., etc., etc., etc. |
P. S. You have distinguished me by a title which I have neither authority nor ambition to assume. I know of no man, sir, who bears sway in this state. It is our peculiar felicity, and our superiority over the tyrannical system we have discarded, that we are not swayed by men. In New Jersey, sir, the laws alone bear sway.
II. JUDGE JAY'S CHARGE.
The charge delivered by John Jay, ESQ., Chief Justice of the State of New York, to the Grand Jury of the Supreme Court, held at Kingston, in Ulster County, September 9, 1777.[1]
Gentlemen:— It affords me very sensible pleasure to congratulate you on the dawn of that free, mild and equal government, which now begins to rise and break from amidst those clouds of anarchy, confusion, and licentiousness, which the arbitrary and violent domination of the king of Great Britain had spread, in greater or less degrees, throughout this and the other American states. And it gives me particular satisfaction to remark, that the first fruits of our excellent Constitution appear in a part of this state, whose inhabitants have distinguished themselves, by having unanimously endeavored to deserve them.
This is one of those signal instances, in which Divine Providence has made the tyranny of princes instrumental in breaking the chains of their subjects, and rendered the most inhuman designs, productive of the best consequences, to those against whom they were intended.
The infatuated sovereign of Britain, forgetful that kings were the servants, not the proprietors, and ought to be the fathers, not the incendiaries of their people, hath, by destroying our former Constitutions, enabled us to erect more eligible systems of government on their ruins, and, by unwarrantable attempts, to bind us, in all cases whatever, has reduced us to the happy necessity of being free from his control in any.
Whoever compares our present with our former Constitution, will find abundant reason to rejoice in the exchange, and readily admit, that all the calamities, incident to this war, will be amply compensated by the many blessings flowing from this glorious revolution. A revolution which, in the whole course of its rise and progress, is distinguished by so many marks of the Divine favor and interposition, that no doubt can remain of its being finally accomplished.
It was begun, and has been supported, in a manner so singular, and I may say, miraculous, that when future ages shall read its history, they will be tempted to consider great part of it as fabulous. What, among other things, can appear more unworthy of credit, than that in an enlightened age, in a civilized and Christian country, in a nation so celebrated for humanity, as well as love of liberty and justice, as the English once justly were, a prince should arise, who, by the influence of corruption alone, should be able to seduce them into a combination, to reduce three millions of his most loyal and affectionate subjects, to absolute slavery, under pretence of a right, appertaining to God alone, of binding them in all wises whatever, not even excepting cases of conscience and religion? What can appear more improbable, although true, than that this prince, and this people, should obstinately steel their hearts, and shut their ears, against the most humble petitions and affectionate remonstrances, and unjustly determine, by violence and force, to execute designs which were reprobated by every principle of humanity, equity, gratitude and policy—designs which would have been execrable, if intended against savages and enemies, and yet formed against men descended from the same com-
- ↑ Advertisement.—The following charge was given at a time when the Assembly and Senate were convening, and the whole system of government, established by the Constitution, about being put in motion, The Grand Inquest was composed of the most respectable characters in the country, and no less than twenty-two of them attended and were sworn.
