Wesley Corpus

“Then they so far want liberty.” I answer, (1.) Whether they do or no, they must needs be subject; and that not only for wrath, for fear of punishment, but for conscience sake. (2.) They do not want liberty; they have all the liberty they can desire, civil as well as religious. “Nay, I have no other motion of slavery, but being bound by a law to which I do not consent.” If you have not, look at that man chained to the oar: He is a slave; he cannot at all dispose of his own person. Look at that Negro sweating beneath his load: He is a slave; he has neither goods nor liberty left. Look at that wretch in the Inquisition: Then you will have a far other notion of slavery. 55. You next advance a wonderful argument to convince us that all the Americans are slaves: “All your freehold land is represented; but not a foot of theirs; “nay,’ says an eminent man, “there is not a blade of grass in England but is represented.’” This much-admired and frequently-quoted assertion is altogether new ! I really thought, not the grass, or corn, or trees, but the men of England, were represented in Parliament. I cannot comprehend, that Parliament-men represent the grass, any more than the stones or clay of the kingdom. No blade of grass but is represented 1 Pretty words ! But what do they mean? Here is Mr. Burke; pray, what does he represent? “Why, the city of Bristol.” What, the buildings so called; or the ground whereon they stand? Nay, the inhabitants of it: The ground, the houses, the stones, the grass, are not represented. Who till now ever entertained so wild a thought? But let them stand together, the independency of our colonies, and the repre sentation of every blade of grass | 56. You conclude: “Peace may be obtained upon the easy, the constitutional, and therefore the indispensable, terms of an exemption from parliamentary taxation, and an admission of the sacredness of their charters.” (Page 107.) Are not you betraying your cause ? You have been all along pleading, in the most explicit manner, for their exemp tion, not only from parliamentary taxation, but legislation also.