III. That the powers of government may be reassumed by the people whensoever it shall become necessary to their happiness. The suffrage party did not ignorantly and rashly adopt the course which they pursued in order to establish a written constitution. The subject was thoroughly examined and considered by all its leading members, and the decisive step was not taken until all other means had failed. They saw the course which they had marked out justified by the history of their own government; they saw the principles which they had adopted publicly incorporated into the constitutions of more than twenty of their sister states; they consulted able jurists in different parts of the United States; they also found themselves justified by the written declarations of the ablest statesmen and highest judges. Mr. Jefferson said, "It is not only the right, but the duty, of those now on the stage of action to change the laws and the institutions of government, to keep pace with the progress of knowledge, the light of science, and the amelioration of the condition of society. Nothing is to be considered unchangeable but the inherent inalienable rights of man." Justice Iredell, of the Supreme Court of the United States, declared that "the people may remodel their government whenever they think proper, without the consent of the government itself, not merely because it is oppressively exercised, but because they think another form is more conducive to their welfare." Justice Wilson, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and a member of the convention that framed the constitution of the United States, and afterwards one of the judges of the Supreme Court, says, "Of the right of a majority of the whole people to change their government at will there is no doubt." Again he says, "The people may change their constitution whenever and however they please." The late Hon. Thomas H. Benton said in the Senate of the United States, "The people of any state may at any time meet in convention without a law of their legislature, and without any provision, or against any provision, in their constitution, and may alter or abolish the whole frame of government as they please." The convention which formed the present constitution of the State of Virginia, by a vote of sixty-eight to twenty-five, decided that no clause providing for amendments should be inserted in their constitution, because it was held " that a majority of the people had the power at any time and in any manner they pleased to amend that constitution, or make a new one." By that act sixty-eight men, nearly three fourths of the whole number of the members of that convention, solemnly declared that the people themselves could not be bound by any constitutional provisions, but might at any time, and without any law, amend that constitution, or make a new one. Among those who voted with the majority were Chief Justice Marshall and Ex-President Madison, and, strange as it may seem, the name of John Tyler, who was afterwards president of the United States, appears in the same catalogue; and if he had not forgotten his own solemn act in that instance, he would never have been induced to lend the military forces of the United States to overthrow a constitution which a large majority of the whole people of a sovereign state had adopted. A long catalogue of illustrious names of the highest authority might be produced to show that Mr. Dorr and the suffrage party had an undoubted right to take the course which they did in forming and adopting a constitution, and in setting up a government under it. This step was not taken unadvisedly; it was no quixotic enterprise, or sudden ebullition of passion, nor was it occasioned by slight causes which had just transpired, but was a course to which the people were driven by a long train of abuses and insults, "all tending to the same.end." The great body of those who voted for the people's constitution, honestly relying upon the justice of their cause, anticipated little or no opposition to its final accomplishment; they supposed that they were doing what they had an undoubted right to do, and they expected to receive the approbation of all intelligent men; they could not believe that a constitution, so just in its provisions, so well adapted to the condition and wants of the people, and so urgently demanded by so decided a majority, would be resisted with the bayonet. But the result showed that they counted too much upon the honor and magnanimity of their opponents, and far too much upon their own firmness and fidelity. CHAPTER V. THE ALGERINE ACT. APPLICATION TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR TROOPS. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND GOVERNOR KING, AND OTHERS. MESSAGE, ETC. MR. DORR'S ELECTION. HIS As soon as it was ascertained that the landholders' constitution had been rejected, an extra session of the General Assembly was called, and convened in Providence, on the 28th of March, at which time the following act was passed : An Act in relation to Offences against the Sovereign Power of this State. Whereas in a free government it is especially necessary that the duties of the citizen to the constituted authorities should be plainly defined, so that none may confound our regulated American liberty with unbridled license; and whereas certain artful and ill-disposed persons have, for some time past, been busy with false pretences amongst the good people of this state, and have formed, and are now endeavoring to carry through, a plan for the subversion of our government under assumed forms of law, but in plain violation of the first principles of constitutional right, and many have been deceived thereby; and whereas this General Assembly, at the same time that it is desirous to awaken the honest and well meaning to a sense of their duty, is resolved by all necessary means to guard the safety and honor of the state, and, overlooking what is past, to punish such evil doers, in future, in a manner due to their offences : Be it enacted by the General Assembly as follows : SECTION 1. All town, ward, or other meetings of the freemen, inhabitants or residents of this state, or of any portion of the same, for the election of any town, county, or state officer or officers, called or held in any town of this state, or in the city of Providence, except in the manner, for the purposes, at the times, and by the freemen by law prescribed, are illegal and void; and that any person or persons who shall act as moderator or moderators, warden or wardens, clerk or clerks, in such pretended town, ward, or other meetings hereafter to be held, or in any name or manner, receive, record, or certify votes for the election of any pretended town, county, or state officers, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be punished by indictment with a fine not exceeding one thousand nor less than five hundred dollars, and be imprisoned for the term of six months: Provided, however, that this act is not intended to apply to cases in which, by accident or mistake, some prescribed form or forms of calling town or ward meetings of the freemen of the several towns of this state, and of the city of Providence, shall be omitted or overlooked. SEC. 2. Any person or persons who shall in any manner signify that he or they will accept any executive, legislative, judicial, or ministerial office or offices, by virtue of any such pretended election in any such pretended town, ward, or other meeting or meetings, or shall knowingly suffer or permit his or their name or names to be used as a candidate or candidates therefor, shall be adjudged guilty of a high crime and misde |