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Show 168 George B. Cheever. demand cnnctmrnt.~ by which we can legally rc:'4ist such wick. ><lne:::;~. 'V c rightf'ully demnn<l that a' Christian ·itizens we sll:.lll not be comp ·!led to perform the COI11tn011 duties o(' hutnnn. ity, njoin •d by God upon u~, at the ri~k of pains and penal. tic.~, as j{' we were the vile;-;t criminal:-i. '"\\T • d(•mand of' out· f:ienators and Representative.' that our Constitution be brought back to its fir~t principles, that judgment be r e turned to righLcon;:; ne , and laws enacted UIH.lCI' the shiel<l of which virtuous men hall be secure from being made the prey of a tyrannical slave party for thcit· declaration of the truth, th •ir compa sion towards the oppre 'sed, their interf<>rencc against wrong, their defence of equity. How dreadful is the condition of the country where the wor t citizens arc the most ccure, whe re the noblest impul 'es of our nature arc branded a. crim<', and the mo t dcpr~wcd are rewarded and pension ·d; w hen• good men hnxc to perform good deeds by sten Ith, or expose t hcmseh- es to legal pro:-;ecution. vV c ri~htfully demand from Olll' own over igntic · the m 'ans of legal and peaceful rcsi:--tancc again ~ t unrightcou:-; and unconstitutional law -. 'Vc rightfully demand from om· own Government that it r espect the great object for which alone God ha t1 'clarcd that lie himself sanctions govcrnm n t, and gi ,·cs it any authority, the protection of men in the fr 'e<lom of obet1i •nee to Go(1. If the Gorcrnment will not do this, God II im:-;elf, will break up the Government, for lie cannot d ,ny llimselC and He ha declared tlmt the throne of' iniquity that frameth mi ~c hi ef by law shall have no fellowship with !lim, and that the nation and kingdom that will not serve Him shall peri h. The mo t preciou,' opportunity, on the vastest scale, with impregnable securities, if we would but u:-;c them, ha · been given of God in this country, to try the experiment of lil>crty hy con. ciencc, nlighten d and direct •d by Divine truth. Thi:-; is the only security of Fr edom; no writtc'n Constitution being worth any thing a~ a saf'l'guan.1, cxc<•pt th<•re l>r. tll(• :-:piril or .Fn'e<lom in the hearts of' the pc'opk, f'rom <'on:-;<'il'Jl('(' 1()\\':trd" God. Therdi.n·e, the law of' con::;ei •nee in th · \r urcl v!· God George B. Cheever. 169 wa,') to be rcgardr<l a. su prrmc ; God's will, God.' truth and righteowness, wa' to be the rrrrent, was to act in politie. as in a domain of int grity nn<l honor. Dut consci ~ncr, af'Lcr a consitle rauk power ha · bc•cn gained by thi::; profc -ion, has been ca~ hi cr d, an<l turned out of its commanding po ~ ition. The Con ' titution is perverted, and wicked precedents arc ct up as the rule, instc~a<l of righteous law, right ously interpreted. This, unquestionably, is one of our greatest dangers. In thi direction our Government i., with fearful rapidity, consolidating into a dcspoti. m, pa .-ing into a tyranny over us, and beyond our reach. Precedent. set by unprincipled judges arc allowed to tand for law, are ac eptccl a law, are appealed to as law, arc cnfort<•d as la.w. Con. rqu ntly, any tyrannical interpretation of the 'onstitution Ly the ov 'rnm ·nt ha, only to be put into the han<l~ of .:uch judges, only to be passed over to them, and their prearrangr~d and purcl1a 'Cd dictum, at com· mand of the Governm 'nt, is thenceforth published and reverberated, as with all the authority of a legislative act. A principle that could by no possibility have been got through the Senate and IIou e oC Representatives in form of a law, is thus .... urrep titiou ~ly e nthroned a law, at the will of the Government. No de:potism under heaven ever po csscd uch power a. that must wield, which i ' thu constituted under the popular delusion of a representative freedom. Nothing can with:-;tand it. Tbe people, in ubmitting to it, offer their wrists vohmtary to the Government to be manacled, their bodies and souls to be fettered.. Thus it i~, that in admitling the Drcd Scott D eci:ion as a ju ... t amllegal interpretation and execution of'• the Constitution, aloncr with the Fun-itive Slave llill, the 0 0 p('(>ple go fiu· toward.· signing their own death-warrant- they render iheir own slavery ine-vitable. The States that are Free mu 't stand against this iniquity upon their sovereignty, and a. sort their rights, ancl defend them to the ·xtrcme. The Free States mu t protect their own ci tizens in the privilege of free speech nnd a ction again 't Slavery. The ~·rec States must protect their own citizens 1.5 |