Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1858-05-11
WHOLE NUMBER $50
. ths TelegInrh.
no the People OF NIcigs.,

Va M ~ .f.
oaJ 10 the People of HEcigs.,, e1,
| "rhese United States has ing been driven
to- hostlities by the oppressive ndtytanr;
nous measures Of Great Britain, !. having
been compelled 10 commit tho ESSEN-
TIAL RIGHTS OF MAN TO the decision,
Of arms; and having been, at Nlength,.
forced To shake of a yoke which had.
grown toe burtlensome 10 bear, they de-
clared themselves To be free and iHdependS
ent."bs s7.tT gsa8s t ais:t ,uifg %rif ,.i&
1 Aga;nasr.Wbile the shadowsof hope re-
manned, tliatsour enemies could DE taught
( by our example 10 respect tlSoses hWss
which are held sacred anIosss eixilized ma.
tons. and 10 comply with the daefGeseoff
Ia rsligion, " hieIitllcy -psetsnds HcemuBans
/ with us TO bel-ive and revere. They hsye1
/ been left to the influence Of that religion,
and that example. But since their incor-i
rigible dispositions cannot be touched by
kindness and compassion, it becomes Oasr
duty by other means to pindicGte tile
4 RIGHTS OF HUMANITY"
For the above extracts, see "A MgRi-
testo | y the CoNGREss OF THE UNITED
STATES OF AMERIcA," E'done in Congress.
by unanimous consent, the thir:ieth day Of
October, one thousand seven hundred and
seventy eight" (Signed.) Henry Lau-
rens, President. Vide Principles and
A cts of the Revolution, page 476-7. by
the late Hezikiah Niles-Ed. Of "Niles,
Register" H &~
Our object, Mr. Editor, in laying the
, above quotations before your readers, is
to bring their minds for moment back TO
; those first principles upon which our Re-
; publican superstructure of government
rests. An occasional reversion 10 funda-
mental ideas-leading doctrines-to TO say
the least can result in no harm, and if;
done with an honest desire for eliciting
truth, can scarcely fail of accomplishing
=. good. Certain usa-ses or natural views.
whether We recognize their existence OF
not, form the basis of our social and p0lit-
ical organizations; and we could rs easily
evade the power of the great al am him-
self. rs to avoid the legitimate consequences
: of ignoring these foundation truths. 1t
s becomes, therefore, as we have already
said, matter of no small Importance to
recur occasionally to the doctrines which
: lie at the bottom of our social and polti-
cal philosophy.
J AS the language at the head Of this ar
8 ticle obviously indicates-taken as it is
u from an authoritative Manifesto of the
& American Congress, in l778-the great
= central foundation principle, which was
8 then regarded as absolutely indispensable
TO the conservation Of American iIeedom,
= is the Essential rights of man, and tho
y war OF the Revolution had in view simply
/, a ''rindicotion of the rights Of humanity"
u No other basis Of opposition was found
s. sufficiently compi chensive to place their
p action consistently before the civilized
s. world. Their rights under the British
y Constitution had been thoroughly and ably
re discussed on botl. sides of the Atlantic !:
Is but the decision of the Supreme power Of
n the northern country was clearly against
ii them. The same doctrines of passive
g obedience" and the ...Dnine right of the
r. governing p .wer to control absolutely, ir-
y respective of the rights of the governed.
9, which had cost one British Monarch his
III head and another his Throne, We're urged
IN upon them by Tories at home and abroad,
u, with persistnece unparalleled, except in
c, the recent attempt of the President of the
ID United States, backed by the slave power,
at TO force the American people to adopt the
Ut dictipn of Judge fancy in the Drcd Scott
y case, as the standard Of their political
10 faith. Every concession had been made
J.'l WHICH WAS dL COM DStbbOlC NAhbAC hCO-
IN dom. that belongs to every human being.
n Their powers of entreaty had been ex-
IN hausted in petitioning Parliament and the
. throne for y "redress ofgrcivances." In
III genuily had taxed itself to the UTMOST to
s. avoid the alternative which stared them
T. in the face. And they were SO fortunate 9
OF as TO secure repeal of the measures re-
re garded by them as peculiarly obnoxious
1 But that very repeal was accompanied by
G. declaration, which in the minds OF those
nc far-sreing patriots and statesmen, was as
pregnant with evil as the much abomina
k7 ble '.Siamp Act" itself. That declaration
y simply asserted the right of Britain to bind
g the colonies in all cases whatsoever. Here
ur WAS the pith of the whole controversy
IN An abstract principle was made the issue
ne of life and death, The right involved was
s. regarded as the matter of momentous and
n overwhelming Importance. AS Dir. Web
It, ster has il they fought for a Preom6 e
es Compared with this point Of natural ab.
EN- stract right-a right which Pertained
he equally to all humanity
- else seemed to sink into insigni6cance. But
T. how to meet the northern country on thi:
be issue--that was the question. -. .
IS Undoubtedly, if the statesmen Of &c
"i had counselled their own ease and conve.
10 nence, instead Of the Essential rights "i
&c man." the American people would to-day
tn have been crying "God save the King .
or bad they been governed merely by The
principles of policy, regardless Of the
n rights Of humanity" the laws for ouI
~ government would now have emanated
o9 from the British Parliament. Even ii the
60 counscls OF a certain class of political
n N teachers of the present. day, upon qurs-
y tons apparently involving a conflict he
II, tween right aud expediency, lad been fol.
No lowed by our Hancocks, Jetfersons and
,I Adamses, we might now have our L"r,is