The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1894-11-28
THE CONSTITUTION
OF THE U. 5. AND ITS RELATION
TO SOCIETY.
A Lecture by the Hon Thomas McSheehy,
Delivered at G. A. X. Hall. Well
ington, o., Nov. -, 1894.

INCNGlClu Nllnli 0iiNh oOAAoAS
men:-It has been said, They who
instruct others into justice shall shine as
stars for all eternity" Ipresme 1t is
hardly necessary for me to say that the
subject which we shall consider for a
short time this evening is one in which
we are all alike interested. or at least
should be, andindeed Imay add, whether
welikeitOr moi, must be, 1.-The COnstitu-
ton the United States and Its Relation to
Society,"" fy0u will giveme yOurundivid-
edattentiOn for few moments, | will
endeavOr to show you how the cOnstitu-
ti0n was an embodiment of those princi-
pies Of the divine law in its relation TO
society, and how its acceptance from
supernatural motives tended to elevate
the moral tone Of the citizen.
To begin, therefore, at the beginning
in the discussion of this subject, 1t will
first be necessary for us to ascertain the
meaning of the word 'law." What is
law? All authorities agree in substan-
TALLY the same definition, viz, that law
is rule of action prescribed by a super
iOr power. OF course there are various
kinds of laws, and in a lecture of this
character am quite sure you do not eX-
pect me to enter into an explanation of
them, even il had the ability to do so.
The general definition of law, as just
given, will suffice for our purpose. Who
is the superior power that prescribes all
laws? God, the 0mnipOtent Ruler Ofall.
No rule of action prescribed by man, or
laws enacted by natural powers, which
are not founded on the laws of God, or
more properly speaking, on the justice of
Gods law, can last, for the reason that
to enforce such laws would be i'm
possible.
The first law of which we have any
knowledge dates back to the creation of
man, when Adam and Eve were placed
in the garden Of Eden and commanded
by their Creator not to eat the forbidden
fruit. This law, or command of God,
was violated, and oh, the awful penalty.
Adam and Eve were free agents just as
we are. They knew right from wrong
just as we do. They fully realized the
fact that they were committing sin just
as we do when we commit sin. Thus it
will be seen that Gods first command
ment, so to speak, was broken, and the
penalty was death. But you must re-
member | refer only to the natural
death, not the spiritual, for God, in his
goodness, gave Adam and Eve chance
to repent Of their sins, in fact lie
promised them redeemer, and all
Christians must agree with ME when |
say He kept His word. But, yOuwill ask,
what has all this to do with the cOnstitu-
tiOn of the United States. 1t has a great
deal to do with it. 1t illustrates clearly
the necessity of keeping the law of God,
and in having oil laws in conformity
thereto. Subsequent to the fall of Adam
and Eve, God, seeing the weakness as
well as the wickedness Of man, wrote
the ten commandments, and all I'M
believers may try to reason and argue
until their heads turn gray against the
fact, yet they can not change it, fact 1t
is and always will be, and that is that
all our laws are of necessity founded on
the ten commandments, and the Justin
ian code, or as have stated, on the law
Of God.
So then we start out with our unshaken
and unmistaken belief in the existence
Of Supreme and 0mnipOtent Judge, and
in the sOlidity of His DEGREES and His
laws. That there are many countries
and many peoples and customs on the
globe, with different habits and Ian.
guages, are undisputed facts, and that
some people and countries have been
especially favored by Divine Providence
are also facts that cannot be gainsaid.
The more intelligent and civilized are
the people, the better the government
they control, as governments depend on
the good will Of the people for their ex.
istence. | have said that some countries
and people are more favored than
others, and | hardly think that there is
one within the sound of my voice but
must admit that this country, this land
of the free and home of the brave, has
been especially favored. | feel safe in
saying, and know you will all agree
with me, that this government under
which we live is the grandest, strongest,
and most free, the most powerful as well
as the best government on the face Of the
earth. And these being undeni-
able truths, the next question for us tC
consider is, what has made its0? That il
was inhabited at one time by Il savage
people, you all know. That it was dis
covered by Christian in the fifteenth
century, you also know. 1t is not my
purpose to dwell at any great length upon
the hardshipS, trials, ,privatiOns and suffer
ings of the early settlers. In passing
simply desire to refer to it for the pur.
pose Of convincing you that it required
the sacrifices Of Christians to make this
country what it is today. The old idea
of government was that might made
right. The Christian idea was, and is
that nothing is right except that which
God sanctions as being so. Hereditary
mOnarchies existed in those days wheI
this country was founded. They exist
still. have heard somewhere, in fact
| believe, read 1t in the scripture thai
the proper standard from which to guagt
our rights is this, Give unto Caesar The
things that are Caesars, and to God thC
things that are Gods" While we art
led TO respect authority, yet those whC
are placed in authority, especially civil
authority, abuse their rights at times
that moment their subjects are justified
to consider well what their rights are
or ought to be. A man of reason BY
applying the test Of intelligent scrutiny
will invariably arrive at just cOnclu
sion in considering this most impOrtan
question. 1t was this reasoning tina
caused Washington and his cohorts to rebe
against the unwarranted assumed
authority of the king. 1t was what ma,
be termed just rebellion against tn
usurpatiOn Of power on the part Of
tyrant king. And thus we are led up il
our research Of American history to th
declaration of independence, which, a
you all know, was agreed upon on the I'll
day of July, l776. On that memOrabl
day, the old liberty bell, which, by tn