Litchfield enquirer., 1851-01-16
For the Enquirer.
POLITICAL DUTIES.
No. VIII.

democratic Party" at the North, ar
utterly unworthy the confidence and sup
mort Of any man protesting to be a frienC
to human freedom, I will give but on
more extract, from the organs of thai
oarty, AMI that may be found in the he
nubiican Of Dec. 10th, in which the Ed
TOR. in ;,iy leader of that date, under the
head of THE Crisis" after speaking of
the dgnger to be apprehended in case
the demands of slavery are not granted,
semarks,
L., every man calmly ask, Whether there be
an, ching ike an adequate cause tor all this FISK
and danger? What is il! Slavery, 1t IS SAID
Bn,not slavery here-not among us-not mo!es!.
ing usbu slavery a. !me " "non ines ,he States
R"t the inspired of modern days have discovered
s1svsrv m he n sin-not the inspired OF Bible
times The Bible declares no such thlng-nen
onlv declare it, And how! Not by showing
verse in the Bible to that effect; but by suesu-
tH!ng their own views ana No Bbe Or IN other
words, by placing their own interpretation OF me
R;hle nno, an equality with Gods Word II le
;mnions. This has been the conduct OF tanatlcs
alwavs. LIE, this truth be remembered ana eS-
teemed as it deserves.
With the above unscriptural, untruth"
full and slavery succumbing declarations
40 the FAITH and PLATFORM of the dem>
ocratic party, distinctly before the lntelll-
gent voters of this County, cannot be-
iieye that a single man Of them, who
makes the least p,ete nsion to a right un>
Outstanding Of the Bible, or Of hatred to
slavery, will think Of casting vote for
any man who acknowledges allegiance to
that party.
I will now finish what I propose to
saw in answer to "Jacksons" article "No.
I. on the Union.' The field is so vast,
and nv limits are so small, tina: hardly
know where to begin. The matter appli-
cable and appropriate to this subject,
conld not be condensed into querto voI-
anne of fve hundred pages. But to the
task: Jaokson's" philosophy being so
incorporated with his notions OF govern,
ment. that I shall notice the balance OF
his article under the head of Government
What is GOVERNMENT 1st, All right
full government implies that the end to
which it sustains the relation OF means,
is good. ed, 1t implies the mutual de-
pendence of euery subject of such govern
ment. whether ruler or ruled, upon such
means, for the promotion Of their res
speotive well-being; and Sd, 1t implies
a necessity for just such a government.
The ground of obligation to obey gov
eminent or law, must be the ultimate
reason for its existence, viz: its design
and tendency to promote good. Upon
what is the right Of sovereign authority,
to govern, based? Is it upon the mere
fact that it has power? Is Gods ait
thority and right to govern, based upon
the fact that he has almighty power?
Does He place it upon that ground ?
No, by no means; He bases his right to
govern. upon the equity and benevolenoe
ofhis administration, and ia urging us to
obedience, he says, come let US reason
together" &c. All human governments,
in order to possess any rigbtful authority,
must have basis SO equitable and be-
nevolent, and its administration must be
so in harmony with universal scett- beng,
as to be able to appeal to the conscience
and judgment of every one OF its SUBJ
iects for the rectitude and fitness OF its
requirements.
Such is briefly the character Of every
government that has any claim to mans
obedience or regard. Letnot Jackson
or any Of his kith, attempt to dispose OF
these fundamental principles Of govern
ment, by saying that "they are mere alb
stractions and cannot be incorporated in>
to any SYSTEM Of human government
To such an objection. the great fact pre-
sents itself, there Is no system Of govern
nsent, and no la,o, that has not these p'in-
ciples for their basis, thct IS Of any bind
inc authority sOhatever. For the high
est legal authority among men, in support
Of the above positions, and especially in
condemnation of the Fugitive Slave
Law" which is evidently an unauthorized
act of our government, read the follow
lug extract from Blackstone's introduce
ton to his Law Commentary. "Those
rights then which God and nature have
established, and are therefore called nat
ural rights, such as are life and liberty,
need not the aid of human laws to be
more effectually invested in manevery
than they are neither do they receive
any additional strength when declared by
the municipal laws to be inviolable. On
the contrary, NO HUMAN LEGISLATURE has
power to abridge or destroy them, un-
less the man shall himself commit some
act that amounts to forfeiture"
Suppose we were n people without
government, and without law, and thai
jackson were deputed to construct 9
system Of rules for the governance and
welfare Of the country: What would b.
thought of his Constitution and his laws
if it was found upon the presentation o
them. that the above great first truths
did not underlie and permeate the entir
system? How long would Constitu
ton and laws, wanting in these funda
mental requisites. hold people togeth
err? Would not their author be iustl
conv;ntad ne a total unfitnsss for the wor