Page:Sketches of the life and character of Patrick Henry.djvu/348

324 power, that debts, and contracts similar to those which existed in America, at the time the war with Great Britain broke out, may, in virtue of the eminent domain or right, be cancelled and destroyed. ''A king has a greater right in the goods of his- subjects, for the public advantage, than the proprietors themselves. And when the exigency of the state requires a supply, every man is more obliged to contribute towards it, than to satisfy his creditors. The sovereign may discharge a debtor from the obligation of paying, either for a certain time or far ever.'' What language can be more expressive than this? Can the mind of man conceive any thing more comprehensive? Rights are of two sorts, private and inferior—or eminent and superior, such as the community hold over the persons and estates of its members for the common benefit. The latter is paramount to the former.—A king or chief of a nation, has a greater right than the owner himself, over any property in the nation. The individual who owns private property cannot dispose of it, contrary to the will of his sovereign, to injure the public. This author is known to be no advocate for tyranny, yet he mentions that a king has a superior power over the property in his nation, and that by virtue thereof, he may discharge his subjects for ever from debts which they owe to an enemy.

"The instance which our author derives from the Roman history, affords a striking instance of the length to which the necessities and exigencies of a nation will warrant it to go. It was a juncture critical to the Roman affairs. But their situation was not more critical or dangerous than ours, at the time these debts were confiscated. It was after the total defeat, and dreadful slaughter at Cannæ, when the state was in the most imminent danger. Our situation in the late war was