Page:Notes on the State of Virginia (1802).djvu/173

Rh to adviſe and aſſiſt therein, uppon long & ſerious debate, and in ſad contemplation of the great miſeries and certaine deſtruction which were ſoe neerely hovering over the whole countrey; wee the ſaid commiſſioners have thought fitt & condeſcended and granted to ſigne and confirme under our hands, ſeales & by our oath, Articles bearinge date with theiſe preſents, and do further declare that by the authoritie of the parliament and Comon wealth of England derived unto us their commiſſioners, that according to the articles in generall wee have granted an act of indemnitie and oblivion to all the inhabitants of this colloney from all words, actions, or writings that have been ſpoken acted or writ againſt the parliament or Common wealth of England or any other perſon from the beginning of the world to this daye. And this wee have done that all the inhabitants of the collonie may live quietly & ſecurely under the Common wealth of England. And wee do promiſe that the parliament and comon wealth of England ſhall confirm and make good all thoſe tranſactions of ours. Witneſs our hands & ſeales this 12th of March 1651. Richard Bennet—Seale. Wm. Claiborn—Seale. Edm. Curtis — Seale.’

The colony ſuppoſed, that, by this ſolemn convention, entered into with arms in their hands, they had ſecured the ancient limits of their country, its free trade, its exemption from taxation but by their own aſſembly, and excluſion of military force from among them. Yet in every of theſe points was this convention violated by ſubſequent kings and parliaments, and other infractions of their