Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1875-02-10
NATIONAL TRANSGRESSORS.
OUR LIBERTIES PUT IN JEOPARDY BY
THOSE WHO SHOULD PRESERVE AND
DEFFND THEM.

OUR LIBERTIES PUT IN JEOPARDY BY
THOSE WHO SHOULD PRESERVE AND
DEFEND THEM.
Mr. EDIToR: The attitude of Pres.
ident Grant and his administration,
and his black-plumed warrior, Sheri.
idan, towards the people of the south
and especially towards Louisiana, and
the still more recent action of the Re.
publican caucus of the House of Rep.
resentatives in which martial law and
armed rule is proposed for the future
of the south, indicates an alarming
decline in the popular knowledge OF
liberty in this country.
With your permission, propose to
cite a few instances and authorizes
sustaining the absolute rights of the
States and the sovereignty of the peo,
pie. Although cannot hope to reach
the real despots of this country, il
may serve to refresh the memory Of
good men, and cause the admirers Of
monarchists to reflect over the con.
duct of their leaders.
The world seems to have retrogra.
ded more in the sciences of liberty
than in anything else. Over this bles.
sed of all matters, a pail as black rs
the night of death seems to have fall.
en-. 1t is, indeed, appalling to contem.
plate the decline in the popular knowl.
edge of liberty in the last three OF
four hundred years. 1t is the boast Of
the people of this country that the
true principles of liberty were born
with this Republic; but this is far
from being the truth, for we know that
the principles on which the American
Republic was founded, | mean the alb
solute sovereignty Of the people, was
the foundation of all the ancient gov
ernments of Europe. The principal
elements of liberty were as well un-
derstood II thousand years before the
United States were established, as they
were at the time of the revolutions,
and they were absolutely better un-
derstood and appreciated in our coun-
try IN l316 than they are in 1870
Ninety-nine years shows a tremendous
falling off in the attitude of the Uni
ted States. The Grant-Sheridan no
tons of government were never
thought Of or tolerated by any people.
Among all the wise ancients, gov
ernment was held TO be the mere crea-
ture Of the popular will, and all the
officers of the government were re-
garded as the servants, not as the mas
ters of the people. Even tho kings
were held to bc the servants of the
people, who retained their power only
by the consent of the people, and
when they abused that power, or in
any way violated the laws of the peo-
pies own ordination, they were de-
posed and dispatched with as little
ceremony as mad dog is killed in our
days.
Aristotle, who was the tutor of AL.
exander the Great, and one of the
most eminent of the Greek philoso.
pliers, and born 1884 years before the
Christian era, teaches us that, at first
the office of king was given to the
best men, by the voluntary joint con.
sent Of the people. He classes -four
sorts of kings; some possessing great
or and some lesser authority one class
elective, another successive, another
during life, another annual; but all Of
them receiving their separate jursdic.
tions, forms, limitations, &c, direct
from the people for, as he declares
all men being equal by the laws
of nature, can have no dominion orsu
periority one over another, but by
their own voluntary consent. That
the laws, not the kings or magistrates
ought to be the solelords or rulers of the
commonwealth, making this most i'm
portant declaration: "That no king
or magistrate can command what the
laws do not command" Xenophan
in bis history of the Lacedemonians
tells us that the kingdoms of the La
cedemonians hourished longer than
any other form of government, on ac
count oi the circumscribed power Of
their kings. And il seems from what
we can read concerning them, that
they meyer desired greater things
than the law. allowed them. In the
beginning the kingdom was divided
into two joint kings; but Theo
pompus left il even more easy to his
successors, by constituting the Ephon
magistracy, with power to deposo and
even execute their kings il they failed
to obey the law. By this means he
weakened the power of the king, but
strengthened the commonwealth and
fixed il on more lasting and stable
basis. When the wife of Theopomput
asked him II he were not ashamed tc
leave the kingly authority less to his
son, than ho received it from his faith
er, he replied "No; for by this
means leave II more stable and last
ing" Lycurgus took an oath once q
month to govern the kingdom accord
ing to the laws. 1t would require O
revision of the code penal in refer
ence to frauds and perjuries, if this
was imposed on Gran, else he would
have been in the penitentiary long
since.
The Cumeans had magistrate
whom they called Phylactus, whose
Office consisted in holding the kings
hands, who stood for judgment before
the senate, until their verdict for pun.
ishment or acquittal was pronounced
The ancient Carthagenians had two
kings called Suflltes, chosen annually
by the people. The Iberians and Par
thians had also two kings, one foI
judge and the other for executive, ,elec.
ted by the people.
The Sabeans confined their kings IA
their palaces, and any one who found
them beyond these limits had n right
to stone them.
The Thracians elected their kings ior
their gravity, mildncss, and wisdom
but would not allow man who had
children to reign over them, lest tho
crown should become hereditary. The
instant n king became q father he was
deposed If he broke any law he was
killed by being starved TO death
What Ii this was tho law in this
country2 A.
Strabo informs us that tho Athenians