Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1877 — Equal Rights. [ARTICLE]

Equal Rights.

MARION L. SPITI.KR. The lim« was when nien could make of man, by the use of fit appliances, a king; and heshouhlruie the world. But the world is changeable, mind is tickle, truth is progressive, and he that once was a king lias become a subject—and this to teach man that the “Most High rnlelh in the kingdom of men.’’ Usurpations and perseou jions drove the freedom-loving from tf>e homes ot' their childhood into a land whet-e man might enjoy the privilege of w rshipinga justan i loving God according to the die t»tes of his own conscience, and where man' might yield to man those rights which the tree ever enjoy. On Bunker Hill, amid rifle volleys ami cannon blasts, Democracy flung to the breeze the star spangled banner of a free and united people, and sang to the tune ofYankev Doodle the birth of a new regime—a new order of things. “A long train of abuses and usurpations,” which tended to reduce the people to the condition of absolute despotism, caused a small band of patriots to announce to an astonished world the immortal proposition that “all men are created equal,” and in defence of its truth they ap| e iled to a candid world tor its judgment, and ip vindication of the justice of their cause enumerate a long list of of fences committed by the home government against the infant in America. But the king on his throne, surrounded.bv unwise counselors, unschooled in these new and startling truths, was not prepared to yield to their mild and just de-

mands. Hence men and money were sent to this unhappy land with great pomp and Rlmw to overpower the simple-minded Puritan, aud cause him to yield those principles whish were calculated to render this a great, free, prosperous ami happy people. But the love of freedom was too deepiy implanted in the breast of man to be overpowered by parliamentary enactments and tlie decrees of kings. Man de uied that king is state, and in denying resolved to conquer. Man said;' I believe that all men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable right*; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit ot happiness.” And behaving, he would not yield, but stood in “the center of immensities, ill the conflux of eternities” man-like towards his God and his fellow man. This desire to be free grew .with his growth and strengthened with his strength until, like a green bay Uee, it shadowed this broad laud of ours. The ocean-bound shore* ot America became to him a home tor freedom —an everlasting city. It was the new Jerusalem come down among men, adorned an a bride for her husband. Away down the stream of time he beliehl, not walled cities fenced rouiuli -with armed soldiers and ruled by hydruY ended tyrants, but a country grown rich nnd powerful under the ipild and genial influences of God-

given rights. A government good and strong to protect the weak from the aggressions of the powerful. Me beheld a fruitage that well repaid him tor all his sorrows and trouble, his trials and deprivations in its defense; and thongh the spirit of liberty was cradled in want, and washed in the blood of many martyrs—though the sighs of the pine-clad hills ot Maine and the moaning of the wild waves of the mad-1 ashed ocean were its only lullaby—yet its growth well repaid the cost and was a rich earnest of what the harvest should be. That spirit which prompted the heroes of 1606 and 1620 to leave home, riches and friends, and settle in a foreign land, among war-like savages, without the cimnicnest comforts of life, enabled them to resist the efforts of despots and overcome the inconveniences of poverty. They relied on the justness of their cause. They remembered that they acquired possessions in the new country at theirown expense; that they planted not alone for themselves, but also for those who should come after them;that should they fail the Joss would not be theirs alone, but one more proof would be given to the theory that man was incapable of self-govern-ment. The magna charta which t was made for tile protection of life, liberty nnd property from the spoliations of a tyrannical and dastardly sovereign, lived green in the memories of this humble but heroic people. Well understanding the principles that a government was but the reflex of the individuals composing it, they resolved that theirs should manifest those characteristics which would eminently fit it to btcorne a guiding star to all future general ious in their search for universal liberty—a true exemplor of free government. In announcing the new and truthful proposition that all men are created equal they wrought better than they designed, for this principle is the foundation stone tiiat underlies the whole superstructure of universal liberty, ft forms the adamantine walls that constitute the fciuilding of freedom, against which lire missiles of monarclis and absolutism fall powerless to harm. It repels the attacks of enemies without. It resists the encroachments of centralization and anarchy within. It forms the great covering arch of the majestic whole which bears aloft and sustains tiie Goddess of Liberty as she proclaims to the world “Here is an asylum for the oppressed of all lands; partake ye of the waters of life freely and wiihoul price.” Now for a few moments let us consider what is meant by equal rights. What is the ultima thule which is a panacea for all bad governments —the insurer of universal joys, peace and prosperity? By equal rights we under*',and those rights which the friend of humanity has ever conceded as belonging to man; those rights which are the embodiment of human liberty; which inspired the plebiau of ancieut Rome to discuss the theory of universal suffrage, the enjoyment of property, aud the common welfare of the people; which wrung the magna charter from King John and established a commonwealth of England; which gave birth to a William Tell, Itemized Kossuth, and banished a Bonaparte from the civilised world; which founded a Dutch Republic, the repository of historical and chartered liberty; which kindled anew those fires in the hearts of the American patriots that are to glow until the last vestege of ecle siasticul tyranny and universal empire shall be consumed;those rights which ctturch and slate have ever opposed with a hatred limited only by their power to harm; those rights th*» exercise of which i* destined to bring }>eaee, happiness and contentment to the whole human family—which will enable the spirit of equal nnd exact justice to prevail as the waters cover the sea; those rights which shall enable the people to Ring that joyful song of deliverance “From the uttermost parts of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous;” those rights which shall hasten the day of the Lord, when the ransomed of every clime shali .return aud come to the new temple of universal human liberty.“with songs, and everlasting joy upon tbeir hoado,” where joy and gladness shall prevail aud sorrow and sighing shall flee away. These rights may be classed as those which belong to the individual in his single or unconnected state, and those which arise from and are dependent upon his obligation* to uis fellow man and hia relations to bis government. In ti e bill of rights of 1776 —the magna charta of American inde- ■ peiidcuet —it is asserted that aft ' ' r,7, : ;: w

men are created equal and endow' ed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that for the purpose of securing these rights end enjoying the privileges growing out of a free exercise of them, governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from, the consent of the governed. Recognising the beauty and justice of the divine lew “whatsoever ye would that man should dp unto you,do ye even so to .them,” the Ameriean patriots, in order to establish justice and secure the blessings ot liberty to himself and his posterity, w*s willing to enter into ,a general onion wherein liis absolute rights might be blended so as to benefit ail who would partake of its blessings. The absolute rights are those which relate to life, personal security,; liberty of person, aud that of acquiring and enjoying property. In a government like ours these ore called unalienable and natural. They are rights vouchsafed lo all by an Allwise God in the Very Jaw of onr creation. They become Jbe rallying point for all worth and advancement iu t|)ls life, sn& the helpmeets to secure a life iti the age to come* While tbeae rights are natural and belong to the whole human family, without reference to race, color or any condition of servitude, yet they cannot be enjoyed withnut the existence of civil liberty. They roust be engendered, fostere4 and controlled Bj’ wholesome law«. It was to secure the free enjoyment of these rights, and the blessings consequent to an : intelligent acknowledgement of them by sh» people and all nations, that our forefathers were induced to dissolve tbeir connections with the mother country and establish a government for thenwlreß in which these principles should form the prime and fundamental, law ol the land. For, imtwithstanding these principles are universal, man, standing alone unaided by the sanctity and majesty of law’, was unable to exerciser them. A conflict of rights and Interest# would be constantly arising which would ever lead to qriaVrels, bloodshed and the sanction of law and the prestige and authority of goyeruincnt lo give them vitality, and insure to man the great advantages to be derived from their proper exercise. And hence we say that the protection of these rights—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—should consume the true aim of all governments. Whenever a govenfmeut becomes destructive of these ends it falls short of the object for which it was constituted; and it should be altered, or abolished, and a new one iuelUnled in it* stead organized upon *neh principles aud in suoh form as experience and thought shall dictate most likely to secure the safety and happiness of its promoters. While these righto form the basis of all free governments yet the exerciao of governmental power bring* into action auother class of rights called relative righto, such as arise from civil and domestic relations. Mad, in order to give the widest scope to his thoughts and secure the InrgeM amount of liberty, datrammeied by the device of those w hose interests are opposed to his, consents to the union of interests. Governments are instituted deriving tbeir just powers from the consent of the governed in order that each individual may mdve aloiqj harmoniously with his neighbor aud oevelUip his own mental and physical worth. A free goverumeut like ours may be called a government oi compensating privilegea. W hat it takes from the individual it divides with thw whote people, so that *aoh is made happier, freer, better. Prominent among the rights which grow out of. a union of interests and the organisation of a general government is that of universal suffrage. Man should have a voice in the waking of those laws which are to be enacted for kie government, either by direct vote or by representation. He should say what disposition is to be made of his own life and property. No taxation wnhoqt representation was the wafchword of thV r*v»U- ---\ tiouary patriot. Ibis idea, probably mure than any other, set in motion that glorious revolution which , culminated in the separation of the American colonies from the mother country, end added .nritber J.W.I » *. «► pire. It u |.rob.We t*.t our »»■ cestors would have lived on and on, with only such pri>i!a. e* *»/s§* despised and neglected condition ! afforded hod they been peri#,itted

i ■■■ lywrywwy. »; f»f »■ '■ ■ f ■—l—' <»■ jto enjoy the trusts of their labor j unmolested by the detested tax pit Inter. But when the km-; nud parliament determined in lax the and yet denied them u voice or representation in the enactment of the laws which were to deprive them of the just earnings <>f their own labor, Boston harbor .was soon filled with Brills h tea, emptied from British vessels by patriot hands into a free port to float wherever wind and tide might carry it. Then it was that King i George began U> reuUao the meaning of thwsewords—the portentous symbol of equal rights—“ Liberty nod property forever. No stamps" for free America. In order that man may make the most ot life and possess the greatest possible amount of liberty lies must enjoy the fruits of his own labor; and in order to secure thia he must he n free man. J{emcmber “that whatever day makes man a slave, takes hall his woriji away.” Important as an equal right Belonging to every subject of a government is jietsunal Veimritr—that his li*e'Bhrdhrrot be put t wire in jeopardy for the same ofTeuse; that he be entitled to a speedy and impartial trial by a Jury of his owu peers; that lie be allowed to face witnesses ngaibst him, compel the attendance of those in his own behalf, and have the assistance ot counsel; that no ■«cce»sivq fine or unnatural punishment shall be ii. dieted; that lie |difU! hot be deprive I yf life, liberty or property without due process o! law. Not only is his life to be protected, fml his liberty is to be secured. No restraint i- to be imposed upon his personal liberty, ex cept when the interests ot the whole commmrtry may seem to tiemaud it, nmi tiien lor Lite shortest possible time consistent with safety and justice. Hence the habeas corpus act, that stable bulwark of ail civil liberty. Man is nlso entitled l« the free exercise of his own religious thoughts, and should be allowed to worship God according to the dictates of Ids own conBeienct*. Theie can be no real civil liberty without freedom of religious thought and action. Civil of ail irccgovermnents, it isciaiined that no people can long remain free when subjected to religious tests. Another fundamental right which is to be secured to man by the legislation of his country is that of acquiring property and disposing «»f U In accordance with bis own wishes, aiul in that manner which lo him shah «eem best. The law of entail was one ot the f. nitlul sources of the discontent and disloyalty of monarchical subjects, and awakened .in their hearts a longing for freedom and tree gov eminent*.

]>nt, my friends, uiy time is too short to enlarge on this prolific |,hem«?. You may read it in tie wo’td's history. This war for !it>crty anil against oppression is as nhlras treat ion. Front the time tin* serpent was driven out ol the garden td‘ I’arndise down to the present moment the world baa wit jiesscd this strangle. All ages and countries hav e contributed their pages to the Ht-ory of'iirs terrible eon lliefc. You read it in Grecian myth mid heathen fable; you behold it on t.lie Homan /brum and in the Grecian school s of philosophy; you witness it ill the hi< tody* revolutions «*t France, Holland ami England. Ever in this tree laud of ours the cm; test is yet undecided. I have »ouijr' time to add: If yoh would pre-

HJrve untarnished and untramnieied <l«e great doc. -inc of equal rights, you inust sustain free governwient; l‘*r when the s'.irit of liberty has fled, amt truth and justice are dis regarded, }*riv»iu rights rm K* t*as:iy saer'.tK-ed. No govenunen t f-an be steer, j.ur.r qr better tiian Jieofde i' «.j«>j* if it. A noule jieuple wiii have noide rulers l'er at*one thing adds mo. e lustre and gtbrjr to the sjguer* of the UttJ.uaUoa of Jndepvinuuot than the fact that tt was (tot the sentiment of one in an, hos of a set id men. b'ivthe htftrsT csjirci-io;! of the ihotigiilij of every Ain ert - can, |*atiiot as made manileat at la xingtoti, Om-oord ami Hunker 11 dL A nation’s worth n il! eyer'tte tile emi odiluent ’d*‘ I'Uiitv. courage aid worth of its peifjjh . 'j he solid foundations of liheriy iiitisf rest upon individual rhsHncitf* Yonder sun that use over a nation of free men cannot -*r-*«b ttjHin a race of slaves, exceyt you are wdi.ng.