The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1852-08-19
PLATFORMS AND POSITIONS.

duct Of Government in respect to any partcu-
lar subjects, or subjects which fall within the
scope of simple moral principles, and an hon
orable woman never sees how there can be any
difference of opinion about it; nevertheless, 1t
has not yet proved so easy to form political
platform after the model of good conscience
and then form a party upon it, Such plat
forms are almost identical with the declara-
tons and bills of rights inserted into most OF
our State Constitutions amplihed in some
points. and specially applied in others. | say
inserted. rather than infused or incorporated,
into the working provisions of those organic
creeds As theoretical truths they are there
plainly enough but the body does not always
obey the soul some of the prescribed impulses
seem to be accidentally impracticable, and
some of the limbs have such defects and irreg-
ularities in their action, that the body polite,
! like the body natural, exhibits large mixture
of involuntary movements with those which ex-
actly answer the intention. The articles OF
faith command u general assent, but the rules
Of practice raise the difficulties, and the re-
qured accommodations open upon territory
of doubt. debate, and strife. Some of the doe
trnes Of perfect system are held in allegiance
by the best of men, and some duties they re-
fuse to reduce to general maxlms. Gerrli
Smith. for instance, would concede point OF
two of his hundred-dead creed, and our friend
Joshua Giddings is not willing to put the duty
of shooting slave atchers into the decalogue,
because he does not want to defend it upon
general principles in Congress. How often,
, indeed great policy hangs upon pm hook !;
| The Pittsburgh platform declares the Fugitive
Slave Law Of 1850 unconstitutional, repugnant
to the principles of the common law, to the spirit
of Christianity, and to the sentiments OF the
! civilized world. and therefore denies t> binding
force upon the American people yet the Con-
yention refused to pronounce it nOt lar, invalid
and utterly void, and of no force before God
and man. straightforward logic gets the
cramp in writing through he intricacies of
an argument that leads to such conclusions,
and the principle intertwisted here covers the
distinctive and fundamental idea of the Free
Democracy What is municipal Law. aud
what is its moral obligation is the question #
questions with the Anti-Slayery party; and,
Slavery existing under the regular forms Of
municipal legislation, the practical difficulty is,
what we are to do about it
Messrs. Tappan and Smith, in the Conven'
ton, following Lysander Spooner and William
Goodell in pamphlet demonstrations hold law
and equity to be identical and deny that any
wrong can have or give any right They fol-
low that beautiful blunder of Blackstone, who
defines municipal law Il rule of civil conduct
prescribed by the supreme power in State,
commanding what is right, and prohibiting
what is Wrong :" the inference being that that
which is not right is not law, either divine or
human, as Mr.. Tappan states it. The Con-
vention would not formally adopt this doctrine
and declare it, though there were not ten men
among them who would be guilty of obeying
the Fugitive Slave Law and Mr.. Giddings
specially deprecated the assertion of the sent-
ment, though he supplies pistols and advises
the fugitive to shoot his pursuers. am right
in saying that it is not easy to construct plat
form in keeping with good conscience.
Justnian says, the civil law is that which
particular people establish for themselves
This definition is both more true and demo-
cratic than Backstone's We admit no supreme
power, distinct from the people themselves
and our rendering of the idea would be, Mu-
nicipal law is n rule OF civil conduct established
! by an independent State or nation and truth
requires the excelsior of the qualifying phrase,
commanding what il right and prohibiting
what is wrong for no system of jurisprudence
can tolerate AN appeal TO conscience from the
decisions of the legitimate legislatng power.
A law regular in all the forms of enactment is
law and its subjects cannot be its judges
If they disobey for conscience sake, it must be
in some right paramount to the conventional
obligations of the civil government under which
they live, and they ought to state and main
tain it,
1t is plain enough, in such u dilemma that
platforms are not easily made out of planks
split with legal SdrS : and it is to me Just IA
plain that we need n clearer theory of civil
law and individual duty than the authorities
have provided for ms.
For myself am free to say that respect
the martyrs and heroes who have redeemed us
| from bondage and that the honor of my man
hood is concerned in maintaining my own free
dom When | cannot live in the world can
die out of it, and in fitting time and place re-
serve the right to say so. ! utterly deny that
yillanous doctrine of despOtism which teaches
that men, in entering into society surrender
certain rights always the noblest and dearcst)
for the security which is afforded in the enjoy
ment of the residue of their natural liberty |
do not say that the public peace and order of
the worst Government is not of more value in
my eyes than my private interests, but say
that no Government shall make scoundrel II
coward, and mean oppressor, of me. | will
not help to rob cradles and whip women, for
any reason that lawyer, preacher, or politician,
can invent: and in the essence and substance
of this resolve all decent men agree with me.
| i ne WORTH mas never Deen cncHteu OF lts NOM
age by any mean conformity to tyranny; it
gives its honest admiration to the rebels against
wrong--to the men who in their age and place,
resisted and defed the unjust laws of their day,
and wore their iniamy for honor till it won its
proper fame How the good men and true of
all time have shocked the stupid dignitaries
who hutchered them for disobedence! The
thing must be done again and again, until OPP
preston ceases. Gerrt Smith says non-resst-
ance is dishonesty If he had added cowardly