The native American., 1838-07-07

dead, in immortality and eternal life, which dc
not, but believe that all life IS mortal, and tina
death is an eternal extinction of life to the indi
vidual who possesses il, and that individual life
ever was or ever will be eternal" This is CO.
lpied from the Indictment. There is another pas
sage so indecent that it cannot be published. Now,
the petition seems if it contained the whole Ii
bel when it actually contains only part, which
was thought sufficient to consider as a question
OF law, because would support conviction,
| even II the rest had been omitted. The record
| shows that he was indicted, tried, convicted and
sentenced for the aohole, and the petition informs
| the Governor that it was only for a small part.
q The whole ground of the petition is, that
the law ought not to be executed, because it is
bad. This amounts to neither more nor less than
this, that whenever in the opinion OF a number of
persons law is bad, it is then to be no law.
Laws enacted by the people, by their constituted
representatives, to be set aside by individual
opinion. How can we tell what laws are to be
in force and what are not! What is the use of
Legislature! This principle of not executing
laws because some disapprove them, makes all
law matter OF uncertainty, and threatens every
right which every citizen holds under the law.
We must give the loco-focos and dcstructives
credit, that they have never gone so far as to say,
that laws, when they are made, should not be
laws, but only that such laws should not be made
If this petition were presented to the Legislature
to repeal the law, that would be different case;
but it involves the principle that laws are to be
rendered practically null without being repealed.
That there is power above the law to prevent
its operation, while it is still law. What will
become Of all law if this is true?
8. It petition to the Governor and Council
tn nca ,Ia1 Ia thcrn tn r,ra he
operation Of law generally, not to relieve against
any peculiar hardship in its operation, under par
ticular circumstances. The Governor and Coun-
ell are called by the reasons Of the petition to
decide that law is bad and ought not to be exc
cuted, and by the pardoning power to Interfere
with its execution, not for particular reason in
the case, but because it ought not to be executed
at all. Laws to be made by two branches
of the Legislature and approved by the Governor
with the advice of the Council, and when they
have thus become laws, the Governor and Coun-
Gil are to determine, that they are bad laws and
shall not be executed. No doubt the pardoning
power may be SO abused as to do this, because
it is discretionary; but was it ever intended that
one branch Of the Government shouldusurp upon
the other two branches and determine their laws
to be bad and prevent their execution. Does not
this produce the same effect as arcpea, and would
IL not nave DeeH DeIteT 10 HaVG given the 1OVernOr
and Council the direct power to repeal the laws,
if the pardoning power is to be used to dispense
with their execution, because they are bad. We
have no fear that the Governor and Council will
thus set the laws at nought, and we could never
before this petition, have believed that any one
would ask them to do it, We did not believe
that such ignorance existed of the principles, not
Of our government only, but of all governments,
|as is shown in the attempt to array special
power of one branch against the general power
of the whole. The purpose Of the pardoning
power is to relieve against bad operation in
particular of law, which it takes for grant
ed is generally good, not to set aside laws by de-
Gliding that they are bad. In this case, the whole
government decide that the law is good, and one
branch decides that it is bad and renders it null.
The proper course is to show the Legislature that
the law which they supposed to be good is really
bad, and then it will be repealed, and not to set
at nought the force ofevery law, by denying that
any one should be executed, while it is law, es-
pecialy as the proper use ofthe pardoning power
relieves against particular evils, not one of which
is stated to exist in the petition.