Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-05
with all that it has meant to civiliza>

with all that it has meant to civiliza~
| ton.
"The idea that the people have a
| right to choose their own rulers was
not new in political history. 1t was
the foundation Of every popular at
tempt to depose an undesirable king.
| This right was set out with a good
deal Of detail by the Dutch when as
early as July 26. 1881. they declared
their independence of Philip Of Spain.
! In their long struggle with the Stu
arts the British people asserted the
same principles. which finally culmi-
mated in the Bill of Rights, deposing
the last of that house and placing
William and Mary on the throne. In
each OF these cases sovereignty
through divine right was displaced
/ by sovereignty through the consent
or the people. Running through the
same documents, though expressed in
different terms, Is the clear inference
or 1nalienable rights. But we should
search these charters in vain for an
| assertion of the doctrine Of equality.
This principle had not before appeared
as an official political declaration Of
any nation. 1t was profoundly revo-
lutionary. 1t is one Of the corner
| stones of American institutions.
Early Origin Of Ideal.
But If these truths to which the
declaration refers have not before
! been adopted in their combined en-
tirety by national authority, 1t is
fact that they had been long pondered
and often expressed in political specu-
! lation. 1t is generally assumed that
French thought had some effect upon
our public mind during Revolution.
AIRY days. This may have been true.
But the principles Of our declaration
| lad been under discussion in the Colo
MES for nearly two generations before
the advent Of tho French political
| philosophy that characterized the mid
die of the eighteenth century. In
| fact. they como from an earlier date.
| 4 very positive echo of what the
Dutch had done in 1881, and what the
English were preparing to do. appears
in the assertion Of the Rev. Thomas
Hooker of Connecticut as early as
1888, when he said in a sermon before
the General Court that
The foundation of authority Is
laid In the free consent of the people.
The choice of public magistrates
belongs to the people by Gods own
allowance
This doctrine found wide accept
| ance among the non onformiSt clergy
who later made up the Congrega-
tional Church. The great apostle of
| this movement was the Rev. John
Wise of Massachusetts. He was one
of the leaders of the revolt against
the royal governor Andres in 1857,
for which he suffered Imprisonment.
He was a liberal in ecclesiastical con-
| troversies. He appears to have been
familiar with the writings of the pc.
litical scientist, Samuel Pofendorf,
who was born in Saxony in 1892.
| Wise published a treatise, entitled
| The Church's Quarrel Espoused,' in
17l0. which was amplified in another
| publication in 1917. In it he dealt
with the principles OF civil govern
ment. His works were reprinted in
| l172 and have been declared to have
been nothing less than a textbook of
liberty for our Revolutionary fathers.
Aided by Church Meetings.
while the written word was the
| foundation, 1t is apparent that the
spoken word was the vehicle for CON
vincing the people. This came with
great force and wide range from the
successors Of Hooker and Wise. 1t
was carried on with a missionary
spirit which did not fail TO reach the
| Scotch-IriSh of North Carolina, show
ing it's influence by significantly MAX
ing that Colony the first to give in
structions to its delegates looking to
independence. This preaching reach
ed the neighborhood of Thomas Jeffer-
son. who acknowledged that his best
ideas of democracy had been secured
| at church meetings.
That these ideas were prevalent in
| Virginia is further revealed by the
Declaration of Rights. which was
prepared by George Mason and pre-
scented to the General Assembly on
| May 81, 1875. This document assert
ed popular sovereignty and inherent
natural rights, but confined the doc
trine of equality to the assertion that
All men are created equally free and
| independent 1t can scarcely be
imagined that jefferson was unac-
quainted with what had been done in
his own Commonwealth of Virginia
| when he took up the task of drafting
| the Declaration of Independence. But
| these thoughts can very largely be
| traced back to what John Wise was
writing in ITO. He said: Every man
must be acknowledged equal to every
man. Again, The end of all good
government Is to cultivate humanity
and promote the happiness of all and
the good Of every man in all his rights,
his life, liberty, estate, honor. and SO
| forth -
| And again, For as they have a
power every man in his natural state,
so upon combination they can and do
bequeath this power to others and
settle it accordingly as their united
discretion shall determine And still
again, Democracy Is Christ's govern
!