, 1859-04-01
For the Pioneer and Democrat.
Self Government, etc.
CLARKE Co, W. T., March IS, 1853

I L OF lNe Iioueel huu DsHoCIAl.
Self Government, etc.
CLARKE Co, W. T., March ls, 1859.
MR EDroR How unmitigated is tyr.
amy, and how prcSumptuons in the uSur.
patton Of their rights as men-rghts that
cannot be conceded or Nalienated without
sin, or usurped without impiety.
| | hold it to he Sclf.evideut truth, that
all men were created free aud equal Oar
Creator endowed US with the power, and
guaranteed unto us, by the charter Of our
creation, the right Of sci-goYernment, re-
Stricted by no statutes save those imposed
by himself and more, he made it onr dnty
to preserve this right, and has made its
surrender or concession an injury Inflicted
upon our minds, our progress aud our hap
pness.
assert it as an oxiom, that 1t is mans
duty to be free aud exercise his right OF
selt.goverument, in oil nations and under
all circumstances. Ii humanity, wherever
oppressed and degraded by the pride, ra.
pacity and veuality of tyrants and usurp.
erS called kings and emperors, has right
to free itself Of its oppressors, and to rise
to the dignity and assert the rights of man.
Il speak Of the Caucasian race God, as
The common father Of mankind, has created
all men free and equal, and the proper
equality and sociul freedom Of the great
brotherhood Of the human race, in view Of
the gifts and grants of the Creator, are to
be inferred from all his dispensations to
men by the charter Of his creation, is the
equal Of his contemporaries. The essential
rights Of every generation are the same.
Man, as the child of Gods creation, con-
tinues man immpably, under ali circum-
stances aud the rights Of ancestry are
those of posterity. Man has claims, which
it becomes bis duty to assert in right Of
bis existence, such as the iudefeasibe right
of thinking and acting for himself, when
thought aud action do not infringe the
right of another, as they never will, when
truth and justice are made the basis Of hn-
man intercourse. These rights, common
TO the great family Of man, cunnot be abol-
isbed by concession, statute, precedent or
positive institutoa and when wrested or
withheld from the multitude BY their rulers,
may be reclaimed by the people whenever
they see proper to do it. Man, then, was
created sovereign /; the people aTe, and
Of right ought to be sOyereigns They
cannot with impunity surrender their natu-
raj rights. No legitimate civil government
can call upon them to do SO. God is the
author Of no government that denies to
man the esIimable aud ennobling gifts of
his Creator, in becoming a member of civil
society The exercise Of his rights may be
slightly modified, but they cannot without
injury both to himself and to the govern
ment be relinquished His sovereignty
must be recognized, and his rights exer-
ciScd, or he becomes mentally imJeclltated
and degraded, and the government speedi-
ly vitiated and curse. For example /:
While it is the right Of the American peo-
pie to enact directly every law, aud give
an expression upon every public measure
connected with the administration OF this
government, they may, to facilitate the
| legislation Of the country, modify the exer-
else of this right, and elect representatives
TO enact the requisite laws, and devise the
proper measures subject, however, to be
amended or abolished by other representa-
tives, in case they are not appreciated by
the people The great principle is in this
case preserved, that the voice of the peo-
pie is the source Of all power; their repre-
sentdtiyes and executives are but the SER
wants Of the people The power works
outward and upward from the people the
supreme power is in their voice The gov
erument in which this power is, in the
hands Of a few Of particular class, is a
tyranny in one Of its most dangerous forms.
In every community there is power which
receives the denomination Of sovereignty-
power not subject TO control, and that
controls all the subordinate power in the
government Now whether this power be
in the hands of the many or a few, it is iu-
dubitably certain that those members only
OF the community are free in whom the
sovereign power resides. The power OF q
comuNnity is essential to its freedom, and
If this power be confined to a few, freedom
is necessarially confined to the same mum
Der. All just government must be founded
upon the nature of man, and should con
suit alike the natural rights, civil wants
and moral interests of his being. All right
ful authority is founded in power and law.
All just power is founded in right, and as
one mans natural rights to the character
oflawgiver are as good as another, it follows
that all legitimatS law must have its origin
10 the expressed will Of the many.
] C.S.I,