Preamble
Let it be considered, with that serious and deliberate attention which matters of profound moral consequence demand, that we, who find ourselves the inheritors of a particular civilizational tradition—first given coherent form under the auspices of King Alfred the Great above a millennium past;
A tradition whose principles of liberty and justice were thereafter solemnly codified in the Great Charter more than eight centuries ago;
Further refined and affirmed in the English Bill of Rights and the ancient Constitution of England some three centuries past;
And whose spirit was carried across the sea to find renewed expression in the Bill of Rights and Constitution of the United States of America more than two hundred years since;
Do now find ourselves obliged, by the most solemn dictates of natural sentiment and duty, to speak concerning its preservation.
Declaration
It is, therefore, with the gravity compelled by our station as moral agents, that we declare the following: We constitute a people, united not merely by temporal circumstance, but by the shared inheritance of customs, laws, and a distinct mode of social existence. It is the duty of every society, as it is of every individual, to secure that which is necessary for its preservation and flourishing. We cannot, therefore, in good conscience, acquiesce to the alienation of our means of subsistence, our established rights, our lands, or the fruits of our collective industry, whether such alienation be attempted by overt force, clandestine artifice, or any other means contrary to natural justice.
Resolutions
From these reflections, the following resolutions arise, which commend themselves to the impartial spectator as both just and necessary:
FIRST, Whereas we are the descendants and rightful inheritors of the original cultivators and establishers of these territories, and bear the responsibility to future generations, we affirm that the ultimate and inalienable proprietorship of these ancestral lands, and all assets rightly derived therefrom, resides in our body politic. This claim is grounded not in mere conquest, but in that long and uninterrupted application of labour and care which, by the universal sentiments of mankind, forms the most respectable title to property.
SECOND, Whereas the sympathy and trust which form the bond of every stable society are undermined by the introduction of multitudes without common allegiance or shared purpose, we assert it to be our natural right and painful duty—a duty imposed by the paramount obligation of self-preservation—to regulate the composition of our community. We may thus, with profound regret but firm necessity, be compelled to exclude those persons or associations whose presence, being contrary to the collective will and established order of our society, threatens its very cohesion and the security of its native inhabitants.
THIRD, Whereas the system of property is the foundation of all improvement, and its violation a wound to the social order, we maintain a paramount claim to seek the restitution of those assets which have been unjustly alienated from the heritage descendants of these lands. Whether such alienation occurred in a recent or a more distant period, if it was effected through fraud, force, or the perversion of laws or public institutions, the original injury persists. It is therefore a demand of justice, essential for the restoration of equitable relations, that such assets be returned to the stewardship of the people from whom they were taken, for the benefit of present and future generations.
Thus, guided by the calm light of reason and a firm regard for the principles of natural justice, we set forth these considerations, not as the dictates of passion, but as the solemn conclusions of a people driven by an earnest desire to restore that just order which is the only secure foundation for the safety, prosperity, and moral rectitude of any civilized society.