The republic., 1851-07-15


killing the newborn infantsis against .the will of
Cod but il is matter of record that il ae-
cording 10 sthe law of man. Suppose the Hebrew
nurses bad come 70 ask Judge Sprague for his adj
vice? He must have said, 'Obcy bothi' His rule
Ia universal one."
Here, then, we find the teacher of piety, al
ter having vowed his entire ignorance of the
doctrines Of law, going TO work in perfectly
off hand way, and as one having full know
ledge and authority, to critcise and amend the
official opinions of one Of our most able and
learned judges.
Now have no doubt that when these pas
sages were pronounced by the teacher of piety,
the males and females in the Melodeon, espe-
cally the latter, thought him very smart fell
low. The absurdity Of sophisuy does not al
ways flash, even upon we-regalated minds, in
moment Surely such dialects as these are
the brayings of one whose diet is thstles
Let me here introduce one or two passages
from the charge OF the learned and upright
Judge:
"But. secondly, even those who go to the ex-
treme of condemning the Consf> >ction, and the
laws made under it, as unjust and immoral.
not even upon such an assumption justify resist
| ance. In their views, such laws are inconsistent
with the justice and benevolence, and against the
will of the Supreme Lawgiver, and they emphati-
cally ask which shall we obey, the law of man
the will of God 1 answer obey both. The incom-
patibility which the question assumes does not ex-
lat. UNJUST and oppressive laws may indeed be
passed by human governments. But If infinite
and inscrutable wisdom permits political society
having the power OF human legislation TO establish
such laws, may not the same infinite and inscrut-
able wsdom permit and require the individual,
! who has no such power, TO obey them?
Can you say that it is his will that we shall rise
| up in forcibe resistance, overthrow the power of
the Government; and, instead of the peace and
curity OF organized society, introduce the domin-
| ion of anarchy and violence? Are ouch the ap-
| DOinted for their abrovatiOn? Unlust laws
! have always existed. Until recent period, poor
and honest debtors were even here oppressvely
imprisoned; and in England, stealing, to the value
of more than shilling, punishable with death,
and their code numbered more than one hundred
and fifty capital offences. The wise and the good
saw that these laws cruel and unnecessary.
They did not rush to arms, or counsel disobe
! dience."
| Again:
s'lt may be asked, s resistance never justifa-
| Bile Is there exception answer, yes!
When oppression, present and prospective, is so
great to Justify resort to the ultimate right of
| revolution But this is not to be done from inn
| pulse or feeling, but from the calm and careful
confederation of the dangers and difficulties OF the
! proposed remedy. wise man will reflect that
| evils, great evils, must exist under every human
| government; that perfect fabric cannot be made
1 OF imperfect materials; and that, whatever he
| may attempt, he must still work by and with
| falible man, with all his blindness, Weakness and
passion
'sIf, after deliberate contemplation of the con-
vulsions and miseries attending the overthrow of
| the existing government, and the hazards and
certainties of establishing better its ruins he
/ firmly believes the permanent happiness OF the
! community requires the attempt, he may consc
entiously make it, Under despotsm such case
may occur not unfrequentiy, but hardly
suppose II to exist In a republic, where the laws
are made by the people themselves, through agents
freely appointed for short periods by frequent elec
| tions.
SIN our own country, if there be any who, con-
templating the nfrmities of our nature and the
! history OF the race, looking at what has been
complished in all the ages that have passed, and
what ia now the condition of mankind under all
other political institutions, and then looking at
own Government, ts history and it's hopes, it's past
performance and future promise, and then desire
its destruction, in the vain and desperate hope OF
establishing better In its stead, they must be in
cessble to reason pr remonstrance and of that un-
| fortunate class in whose minds Judgment is de-
| throned and monomana holds usurped dominion"
If these are not the words of truth and so
berness-if they are not the sayings of an up
right Judge, wise and good man, ! desire to
seek no farther--certainly not in the direction
of the Meodeon, where the teacher Of piety is
an open-nouthed preacher Of perjury and
| treason"
VIII the followers Of this madman listen for
one moment2 When Judge Sprague says,
"Obey both, the iacompatibihty aohich the
question assumes does not cGist," who but sim
pleton, dyed in the wool, ever would imagine
him to mean that the laws of God and the laws
of Baa were consistent or that it was possible
for man to yield obedience to both2
Instead Of seeking analogies from the world
as it is, we are summoned back to those days
when there were inspired prophets of God. But
where is the modern prophet who proposes to
kindle the wood beneath the sacrifice with
celestial fire--the modern Elijah? | know Of
none but the prophet Theodore of the MeodeoD
L. 4. 1. /f.J II 0L..L
Isaac, and Of Israeli let IL be knoacn this day that
Thou art God IN Israel, and that !, Theodore,
an. Thu sercant and that hare preached trea-
son and perjury at Thy ,cord
1t is the opinion Of well-advised persons in
this community that the prophet Theodore is
the prophet of the devil---that the atars he
would raise are the altars of discord, anarchy,
and civil war--that not contented, like Elijah,
with bullock for his sacrifice, he would de-
mand the sacrifice of Juggernaut, and that his
principles, extended into practice, would cause
our quiet cities and villages toss stream with hui
man blood.
He finds another analogy in the order of the
King Of Egypt to. the Hebrew midwives. In
whose bonnet but a bedlamite's would bee
like this be found? This command was pal
pable tyranny and barbarity. A command so
manifesty atrocious would justify dlsobedence,
because, if persisted in, it would justify revo-
luton. But, in the name OF common sense,
what analogy is there between such case and
a law, based ON an express fundamental provi-
sion in the Consultation of republican coun-
try. for the return of fugitive slaves to their
masters2 The institution of perpetual heredi-
tary slavery was recognised by God in the law
Of Moses. But the murder of the innocents
was obviously against the laws of God and ma
ture
/ There is no harder work than answering
mischievous fool, and must beg leave to take
off my mittens. SIGMA.
! "CoPwAy's AMERICAN INpfAN.''--W have re-
ceived the first number of a new weekly paper
started in New York, to be conducted by KAH- GE-
GA GAH-BowH, otherwise called GEORGE CONWAY,
a christianized Indian chief of the Oiibway tribe.