Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1850-11-07

understood by the People who made it-intard.IC
the government of the People, and TO be unde,a'I%
by the People who are to be governed by it IyIl
trust the People ofthe country will be induced b'
interest which this law has created, to siody' '
Constitution for themselves, TO judge for themse,'
Ito determine for themselves
have said that this right, guaranteed by the r., +
stitution. you must guard for yourselves Yop,nrs
not trnst implicitly, even to courts of Justice V
must not leave the question of the constitutiooa,.
of the Fugitive Slave Law, to the final decision sr.!
of that high tribunal, the Supreme Court Of the I'M
ed States. And yet, am far from BRINGING 6s
| spect upon courts of Justice. | know the hiGh cb
acter of our own State tribunals. Weld ali dro,a
spect 10 that other tribunal constituted though i t
in part of slayehoders--the Supreme Court cf ,E
United States Generally its decisions will bo :,
conformity with the right. But there are some o1a,,
tons, vital to liberty, which you must not enirE, /,
any repository of delegated power The are s,6t
with THE PEOPLE
The Stamp Act, which your fathers resisted wa,
that declared to be illegal and put down by in5-
: ment of court No no my friends. The bigbcoS
court of the Province sustained the ann Ac
But the people did not. Loud Cheers The FAY
on tea-did the courts decide it to be Illegal, or did
f the people annulit? Applause Well my friends
90 back as far as you trace the blood of vopr
ancestors, and you will find, that, while they Weld
ed obedience to law, and held in high res1ect tho
courts Of udicaure, yet, that there were some oues
tons, on the other side of the water, as well as on
this, that they kept in their own control and Won
will find there, that while liberty has made great
advances in the right direction she has made fbam
not through the agency of courts of Justice, Int
through the action and by the decree Of the peopq
themselves. [Sensalon.1
In closing, let me illustrate my position, by refer
ring to an occurrence in the mother country, more
than two centuries ago. The name of John Han n
den Is as familiar TO the memories OF this audience
as the name Of your own John Hancock or Benia
. min Franklin. An early champion of liberty agains
t oppressive power, he was called upon to resist tn
It enforcement of an Illegal act of the government
was no new thing in the practice of that government
. 1t had been at times submitted to for long perio,
a hut our fathers held opinion that the practice
. injustice, however long continued, does not conye
. II INTO right. The government had been accu
n toned TO exact tax called ship money for the pu
e pose of equipping the Kings feet John Hampd,
d was called upon to pay his portion of that ship mo
Of ey lie resisted and appealed 10 the courts. B
ID before his cause was decided, the king himself =
ID pealed to his judges, and demanded their opinio
ie . whether, In case of necessity for the defence
It the kingdom, he might not impose this taxation;
. whether he were not sole Judge of the necessity -
r. he historian says that these guardians of law
hpeItg Iepheu, WIN great complaiSanCe, ''that I'd
case of necessity, he might impose that taxatic
is and that he was sole Judge of the necessity Al
= afterwards. upon solemn argument the twelve iuC
ce es of England determined that the assessment
a tiampden was legal, and rendered their Judgm
re against him.
to But John IIampden and his compatriots did not
&c, peal to the judges Of England alone. They went to
'' people also They aroused the spirit Of the whole
IS ton, and short time only elapsed, before Hous,
Oh Commons declared the proceeding of the government
M be iega and the Judges themselves, who sustaine,
we were made amenabe to law. The Sherifs or Marsh
~ who were required under peaalties to assess that
he were also held responsible to law and exposed III
ma selves to dne and Imprisonment for obedience TO an
&c lawful writ. Now, the Marshals who NAV procea
age fhGry out the unjust law Of our own government
ri; lhe commissioners VINO sDaT Isse the Warrants NJ
or they shall or shall not be held responsible IN ,be
OF the country for carrying into effect that ordina,
The which Is oppressive and destructive of the rghtS
the portion OF the people, cannot saw but | believe
h;s the day is not far distant when they will he beJ
in nable and to an earthly tribunal too TcbeersI "
they shall receive the condemnation, moi Of conr "
c;, tce only but through the united voices of an The
ven people ofthe whole land. prolonged cheers.1