The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1865-11-02

i nave OILY 10 Dl0c6 tu0uu ouQ0k hkc WHIT
| lions, amid the same scenes, and they will
act pretty much the same part. l find that
| our own people are almost if not entirely as
capable of losing their senses as other nations.
| They can forget what is right as we'll as 9TH
| ers They can forget themselves, their sacred
| traditions, their glorious history and holy
mission of liberty to the world. They can
| forget charity, mercy and justice as soon as
| others. They can yield to the temptations OF
| revenge, they can abuse power as signally as
| others. The evidence that this is true-true
in the letter and the spirit, is around us on
every side. If any one is inclined to doubt
| let him open and peruse a state paper known
as the Ne.u Constitution of Missouri. There
he will find exhibited In bold and terrible
| relief the proof Of what state. The Bill OF
| Rights has undergone in the hands of the
law-givers who made the new constitution
| but few changes. In the main 1t stands as
a monument of the wisdom and virtue of our
fathers. But the residue of that instrument
Is principally the work ofGoths and Vandals,
who have sought in almost every line oftheir
own work to overthrow and repu-
diate the Bill of Rights. 1t ha. been sup
posed and is probably true, that the members
OF the convention generally, had no compel
ent understanding of the office OF the Bill OF
Rights or the principle of liberty which it is
intended to proclaim and preserve. That
they found it in the old constitution and CO.
pied it into the new, something after the
manner In which a parrot repeats the words
| it has been taught to initiate with little or no
appreciation of their meaning. AT all events,
as | have said, there stands the Bill of Rights
on the one hand and the work of the conven-
ton on the other, frowning at each other in
| gcim defiance, the one asserting In the main
| the principles OF human liberty; the other,
organizing despOtism and carefully providing
! for its perpetuation.
| | said, on a recent occasion, in another
| place, there was mot one acknowledged foun-
dation of republican government which that
| convention did not boldly overturn or insidi-
| ously sap and undermine" | hold myself
pledged to make good this declaration. | do
| not know that more fitting occasion than
the present may occur. / shall therefore en-
deavor to present such reflections may
bear upon the broad proposition have laid
down.
Is there known 10 human hearts a right
more sacred, a feeling more intense, than that
of exercising ones religion, of prayer or
preaching, if one deems it his duty so to do
All will agree-l should say all but atheists
will agree-that there is not. But that very
right is the one which is most prominently
stricken at by the new constitution. The
right Is not only denied, but Is denied as q
punishment Or penalty tor offences committed
by the persons who are prescribed by the
constitution. This constitution provides that
offenders against the public law, or against
the moral sense Of the convention shall lay
down the practice of their religion, shall
abandon their pious deyotions? Heretofore 1t
had been supposed that the sinner should be
invited and encouraged TO exercise more and
more In religious service-but this constitu-
tion goes on a different idea. 1t cuts off the
sinner entirely, and sOnly allows the saint b.
worship as he wishes. If n man can swear
that he has committed no sin, then he is quail
flied to worship God. But if he admits he
has committed a sin, this constitution expells
him from the sanctuary, and bolts the door
Do you call that republicanism Or do you
cali it tyranny?
What, nv friends, is the greatest object of
government? The answer may be rendered
in different forms. A very comprehensive
one, would be the protection of the right of
property. But there is a broader answer
than this. All property is derived originally
in some way from labor. To support ones
family; to labor for ones bread is not only
virtue, but one of the cardial virtues lie
who refuses 10 maintain his family by labor
If necessary, Is by the laws of all well regu-
lated communities treated as an enemy of the
state. The bible pronounces him no better
age labor. The Bill Of Rights proclGims that
the right to labor and to the fruits thereof is
lnalienable that 1t ante dates the existence
OF human laws and is superior TO principles
and powers. But this constitution asserts
tor the state the power TO regulate labor, to
prohibit the citizen from selecting his own
employment; not only this, but attempts to
drive him from the occupation in which he has
been reared and trained In which he has
spent greater portion OF his life IN which
he was invited to engage at the instances of
the state, and in which he has invested time,
labor and money. This may be justly regard
ed as a new form of tyranny, never sacrificed
by the worst kings Of England. unknown
IN France or any other despotisu with which
we are acquainted. If the Missouri conven-
ton could exercise the power they have as
sumed In respect to certain employ ments
they can exercise the same power over every
species of labor. This power my friends, is
fatal to liberty. 1t embraces everything
An absolute control over the employment of
citizens is the distilled and concentrated es-
sence of despotism. The Chinese emperors
have, | believe, always maintained an au-
thOritY over their people nearly allied to this.
They have required the citizen to engage in
a specified employment. But when man
had learned his business, and grown gray in
its pursuits, the Chinese were never cruel
enough to debar him from earning u liveli-
hood by it.
1t is a fundamental principle of republican
liberty that ''all political power is vested in
and derived from the people that govern
ment originates from the people. is founded
on their will, and instituted solely for the
good of the WHOLE" and this is the declara-
ton of the bill OF rights. But how have our
Chinese mandarins treated this great doctrine
of epublicanism? They have done all thew