We claim, that, as our
own government and every person exercising authority in Great Britain is
bound by the laws of Great Britain, so every person exercising authority
in another country shall be subject to the laws of that country; since
otherwise they break the very covenant by which we hold our power there.
Even if these Institutes had been arbitrary, which they are not, they
might have been excused as the acts of conquerors. But, my Lords, he is
no conqueror, nor anything but what you see him,--a bad scribbler of
absurd papers, in which he can put no two sentences together without
contradiction. We know him in no other character than that of having
been a bullock-contractor for some years, of having acted fraudulently
in that capacity, and afterwards giving fraudulent contracts to others;
and yet I will maintain that the first conquerors of the world would
have been base and abandoned, if they had assumed such a right as he
dares to claim. It is the glory of all such great men to have for their
motto, _Parcere subjectis et debellare superbos_. These were men that
said they would recompense the countries which they had obtained through
torrents of blood, through carnage and violence, by the justice of their
institutions, the mildness of their laws, and the equity of their
government.
Pages:
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290