Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1883-03-02
Liberty and Individuality.

Gay evening last on the subject of "Liber-
ty, Individuality and the Suicide of Liber-
ty," which appears to have created quite
stir in church and temperance circles
The reverend lecturer defined liberty as
1.-THE condition in which man finds himself
when nobody is allowed to interrupt, with
out his own consent The tree pay of his
Individuality" This idea Of individual
lty, he said, is a growth of modern civil
cation, and ought to be regarded as an in
alienable right which lies at the basis of
all forms of government As reported, he
maintained that any government that VIC
lates that right may be the rule of the ma
jority, but it is not free government
That the primary functions of civil gov
eminent "are simply the prevention of
force and fraud" That "a country in
which man could be compelled to pre-
tend either to believe or disbelievs in God
to perform rites which he considered sense
less msmmery, or to abstain from rites
which he considered necessary to his sal
walton; to devote certain days to what he
considered was,eful idleness, or to work
on days which he considered sacred to the
Almighty; such country would be one
in which if there were the least chance of
success, revolution would be sacred duty.
Following up his theory of individual
ity as an inalienabls right lying at the
root of all government, the lecturer IN
stanced, as "almnst absolu ely perfect ex-
amples of bad laws" those laws reguiat-
ing the observance of Sunday. and prohi
biting the sale of intoxicating liquors.
The tenor OF his argument, as reported,
was that the observance of Sunday was a
practice of the Church, with which the
State had nothing special to do And
further on he said, Religion is at the very
core of individuality. If the free play of
our individuality be interrupted there it
is 'terly worthless anywhere"
Of liquor prohibition laws, he said they
are tyrannous in principle and impossible
of execution. He thought that laws com
pelling every man to drink wine at dinner
or have drunken spree every six weeks.
or adopt a vegetable diet in accordance
with the theories of the vegetarians, would
only differ in degree, and not at all in
principle, from the proposed prohibtory
laws
In many of the pulpi's of the city on
Sunday, and at the meetings OF the tenn
perance societies, the doctor and his dis
course furnished a theme for unqualified
censure and rigorous criticism. Il is IN
derstood that in his defense he has claim
ed that he was in many respects misre-
ported by the press.
1t cannot be denied that there is mucA
sound philosophy in the lecturers iiea of
individuality as related to civil liberty
and free government. 1t was one OF the
principles recognized and promulgated by
jefferson, that 1.-The people that rs govern
ed least is governed best" This principle
appears to be a, he foundation of demo
SAa'iS ouu iePuoiiSdu g''cfHuleHls. II
must be conceded that civil government
should not assume the right to compel
men 10 believe or disbelieve in God. per
form rites that they consider sense!ess
mummery or abstain from rites that they
consider necessary 10 salvation No en-
lightened civil government in modern
times assumes 10 do this. Still II cannot
be conceded that the legitimate powers OF
civil government to restrain the free pay
of the individuality of the citizen must be
limited tn the prevention of fraud and
force. While these may he the primary
functions of civil government, they have
never been claimed by any but anarchists
to be the sole functions thereof
Many acts are, by virtue OF just aud ne
cessary laws, made bad by prohibition.
that are not bad in themselves. The in
dividual, in entering into the social com
pact which lies at the basis of self govern
ed peoples, agrees to surrender 1.-The free
play of his individuality" to the extent
that the we'll being and public morals OF
the community may require, but no fur
Their, of course. 1t is generally recognized
by all friends of free government that a
belief in an Almighty and overruling Pow
er is the only true basis upon which civil
government can safely rest, and it would
seem that those who have made theology
a study and profession ought to be the
last to controvert This principle. Hence
it is that in the SilI Of rights which is the
written compact upon which the govern
mental power of this State rests We find it
stated THAT it is the duty of every man to
worship God in such manner as he thinks
most acceptable to him." and that it is
necessary qualification of a witness or a
juror in a court of justice that 'he believe
in the existence Of God, and that under
His dispensation such person will be held
morally accountable for his acts, and be
rewarded or punished therefor, either in
this world or the world to come
1t is attributable in part no douot to
this recognized dependency of civil gov
eminent upon the principles and teachings
of Christianity, % we'll as to the manifest
public policy of it, that the power of Le-
glslatures to interdict the PROCLAMATION Of
the Christian Sunday is universally recog-
nized and submitted to. 1t may or may
not be true as an abstract principle that
there is the same obligation upon the civil
government to enforce the NINTH as the
third commandment of the decalogue, still
it cannot for a moment be overlooked tn at
reasons of public policy demand a recog-
milton and enforcement of the latter that
do not apply to the former.
In the first place it is generally admit
IL Il l.. IL