Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1857-08-25

who attempts to get another man into his
absolute power, does thereby put himself
in state of qOar with him - with Cud-
worth, that covenants without natural
Justice, are mere words and breath, and
therefore can they have no force 10 oblige;"
and, finally, with Milton, that our (his)
ancestors have conveyed this doctrine
down to posterity as the Foundation Of all
lars, which likewise our lawyers admit,
that if any law, or custom, be contrary to
the law of God, of nature, or of reason,
it ought to be looked upon as null and
uoid.H
Thus, as has ever been the case in the
history of every nation, did the advocates
of liberty-ef the rights of the people in
England-base their demands upon the
natural, eternal and equal rights of all
mankind to personal freedom. These doc
trines of liberty were subsequently, incor-
porated by Jefferson, and endorsed by the
''thirteen colonies" in the Declaration of
Independence our Americen fathers pla-
cling their right to resist oppression in
1916, upon the same foundation that their
progenitors had placed it a hundred years
before.
We next proceed to state the doctrines
of the Tories, in the language of one of
their great AUTHORSHIP Robt. Filmer-
who flourished, as the advocate of the "Di-
vine right of Kings" and the doctrines Of
'passive obedience" during the reign of
James l, the first of the tyranncal Stuart
family who was elevated to the throne
He wrote as follows: "The desperate an.
sertion whereby Kings are made subjective
censures and deprivations of their subjedts,
follows as a necessary consequence of,that
former position, of the natural equality
and freedom Of mankind" Again-spesk-
ing of writers before him who had '..brave-
ly vindicated the rights Of Rin9S ip most
points"-he writes "All of them when
they came to the argument drawn from
the natural liberty and equality of man
kind, with one consent, admitted II for a
truth unquestionable, not so much as once
denying or opposing it; whereas, if they
had but once eonfuted this erroneous prin-
ciple, the ,CAole fabric Of this vaSt engine
Of pop~lar sedition would haze dropped
doaCm Of tselt." (See letters on Slavery,
by o. s. Freeman, to which we are also
indebted for the quotations from Sidney
and others.
We hope this quotation from Filmer will
be read and re-read; as it not only con-
tains the fundamental principles of the
advocates of despotic power, but also ad-
missions which are of vital importance to
all lovers and supporters of free aud just
government.
In the first place, it admits that the doc
trine of the "natursl liberty of mankind
had heretofore been regarded, by writers
on government, as a 'truth unqaestiona-
dle," and that by this admission they had
estopped themselves, iu pleas which any
of them may have made for the support
of Kingly despotsm. Neither, in the
second place, would it be possible to main.
tain the despotic principle in government,
except by the practical reputation and
abrogation of what he (Filmer) terms the
erroneous ~! principle" of the natural
liberty of all mankind, when it would ne
cessarily follow in its stead.
Such was the position of those great
parties on the issue of popular rights, OF
the ground principle of self government.
The one maintaining the doctrine of the
equal rights of man, was, naturally, and
necessarily, the friend and supporter of
liberty; while the other, denying and ig-
noring these great truths, was equally the
coadjutor of despotic Kingly power.
Variations and discrepancies, in theory
and i'll practice, have ever been incidental
to humanity; and none, therefore, will be
surprised to learn that neither Wings nor
Tories were, under all circumstances, con-
sistent with their principles and profess
sions. Notwithstanding this, however,
their great leading antagonistic doctrines
oh
while the occasional departures only served
to illustrate the general principle. But
we now pass to another part of our sub
ject.
AS we have already hinted, the doctrines
of the old English Wings, in regard to the
natural rights of all men, were made the
basis Of our government, and declared to
be the foundation of our FIRE edom, when
we asserted our right to stand, independ
emily, in the family of nations. Nor was
this stand taken by portion of our peo-
pie, only; but, on the contrary, with the
unanimous consent of the original "thir
teen colonies" Said Alexander Hamil-
ton, while defending the action of the first
general Congress, in l774, against the
charges of an american Tory, ''The fun
dansent0l source of all your errors, soph
isms, and false reasonings, is total ig-
norance of the natural rights Of mankind.
Were you once to become acquainted with
these, you could never entertain thought
that all men are not, by nature, entitled to
equal prjViLegeS. You would be convinced
that natural liberty is the gift of the benif-
icent Creator to the sCItoLe human race ),
and that ciVI liberty is founded on Mat."
The practical application of these great
principles is well illustrated by the follow
ing from the pen of Thomas Jefferson,
during the same year-(v American
Archives, 4th series, vol. 1, p. 6o6-Good-
ele's Slavery and Anti, p. 19)-"The a6-
clifton of domestic slavery is the greatest
object of desire in these colonies, where it
was unAopply Introduced in their infant
state But previous to the enfranchise-