Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1846-10-02
..The King can do no WrOng p

1HC hlllS CdH uU III hlUuS
This is, to the sovereign, an exceedingly
comfortable maxim. SO long as its truth is
recognized by his subjects, he can, so far as
concerns his intercourse With them, float up
on an ever calm and untroubled sea. What
would be defects in the moral character of
| other men, are none in his. The Decalogue
is to him a senseless iargon, and right and
wrong are unmeaning terms. The moral ac-
ceuntability which attaches to others has no
hold on him. No matter how vile in reality
is his character, how despicable his actions,
this maxim declares that his character is as
s~potless as snow, and his actions without
faint or blemish, for ''the king can do no
wrong" When the American people threw
off the yoke of British dependence, they
abolished the form, the letter of this maxim,
though they continued to cherish its spirit,
and apply it in another way. If any one is
disposed to doubt this, let him examine the
practical declaration Of the supporters of par
ties and secls. Is it not a generally receiv-
ed maxim among the Wings, that the wing
party can DO no wrong =! and with the Demo-
Gratis, that the democratic party can do no
wrongl Should a member of either of these
parties be SO d~isloyal as 10 declare that king
party had sinned, he would s,raightway be
expelled-not perhaps from the country-but
most certainly from the confidence and sup
port of the party. SO with regard TO sects.
We know Of no denomination who do not so
far adopt this maxim, as invariably to COM
ply with the acquisitions of its head, thus
practically admitting that King Assembly,
King Conference, King Convention, or King
Yearly Meeting can do no wrong, for 10 say
they can, would-as their subjects obey
their mandates--be to assert that the mem-
bers of these sects whose heads we have
named, do wrong, knowing it to be wrong.
Though these sects and parties practice to
a greater or less extent upon this maxim, yet
none of them would perhaps be willing to
acknowledge it as a part of their creed
The nearest approach to an avowal we have
recently seen is contained in a late letter
from James G. Birney. After describing
the kind Of person Liberty party should
choose as its nominee for the Presidency,
he goes on to say:
"When you have circumspectly chosen as
your candidate, such a man as | have only
furnished the outlines of, give him your con.
fidence. by so doing, you will prove your
selves worthy of his, and you will get it,
In this way only you will put to silence the
objection that is sometimes made-that we
have waited to- iong-tiat slavery has be-
come fastened on the nation-that we know
too well the fraud OF parties to give our con-
fdence &c dny-and that, therefore we are
not the persons for This enterprise. But with
out this confidence in each other, you will do
but litile-you had better have never been a
party, or he your candidate. Believe not, he
will attempt to deceive youi rather, believe,
that the proillgate of the other parties will at
tempt to practice on your credulity. If they
find that you can be moved by the charge OF
treachery to your candidate, he will soon be
In yonr eyes, the worst Of men-vou, the
laughing stock of your enemies. Put down,
as fabrications, all stories that make him diff.
ierent from what you supposed he was when
/, you nominated him-and do it too. at once,
Of yourselves, and without his aid, for he
VIII have enough else to attend to-"
This, rendered into plain English, would
thus stand "Whon you have chosen a par.
ty King, you must believe that your king
can do no wrong" Are not the members o.
Liberty party as Ii ,bls to be mistaken il
their man as were the Wings in Tyler, o.
the Democrats in James X. Polk
If they should chance to dominate a hypo
critic. believing him to be a good man, and i
the friends of morality should have the mos
indubitable proof that he was a vile wretch
. guilty Of the blacklist, foulest crimes which
the long catalogue of human errors presents
reject all their testimony. Aye, believe no
; though one should be raised from the dead t.
bear witness against him, discredit even tn,
evidence of an angel Of light; "Put iown, a