t of injuries, from such a
conjuncture of circumstances--the law of the land authorizes me to
declare, and it is my duty boldly to declare the law, that George III.
King of Britain, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is
thereby vacant; that is, _he has no authority over us, and we owe no
obedience to him_. . . The new constitution is wisely adapted to
enable us to trade with foreign nations, and thereby, to supply our
wants in the _cheapest_ markets in the universe; to extend our trade
infinitely beyond what it has ever been known; to encourage
manufactures among us; and it is peculiarly formed, to promote the
happiness of the people, from among whom, by virtue and merit, _the
poorest_ man may arrive at _the highest dignity_.--Oh, Carolinians!
happy would you be under this new constitution, if you knew your happy
state.

Possessed of a constitution of government, founded upon so generous,
equal, and natural a principle,--a government expressly calculated to
make the people rich, powerful, virtuous, and happy, who can wish to
change it, to return under a Royal government; the vital principles of
which, are the reverse in every particular! It was my duty to lay this
happy constitution before you, in its genuine light--it is your duty
to understand--to instruct others--and to defend it. . . . .

I think it my duty to declare in the awful seat of justice and before
Almighty God, that in my opinion, the Americans can have no safety but
by the Divine Favour, their own virtue, and their being so prudent, as
_not to leave it in the power of the British rulers to injure them_.
Indeed the ruinous and deadly injuries received on our side; and the
jealousies entertained, and which, in the nature of things, must daily
increase against us on the other; demonstrate to a mind, in the least
given to reflection upon the rise and fall of empires, that true
reconcilement never can exist between Great Britain and America, the
latter being in subjection to the former.

The Almighty created America to be independent of Britain; let us
beware of the impiety of being backward to act as instruments in the
Almighty Hand, now extended to accomplish his purpose; and by the
completion of which alone, America, in the nature of human affairs,
can be secure against the craft and insidious designs of _her enemies
who think her prosperity and power already by far too great_. In a
word, our piety and political safety are so blended, that