These early records challenge comparison, in spirit, form and substance, with any others made during the same period in any community, country or state in the United States. No patriotic, intelligent people can read them without being filled with admiration and inspired with respect and reverence for the men who made them. They said, on the first day of the first term of the court, the court must be respected; to the cruel son, you shall not ill-treat your father, though he be a criminal; to the vagrant without a “pass or recommendation,” you must give security for your behavior or leave the community; to the man who had abandoned his wife, you must return to your family; to the strong and influential, you must render unto the widow her own, or we will force you to do so by fines that will make you glad to obey; to the tax-dodger, you shall pay your proportion of the taxes; to a member of the court, no matter what your position is, if you cruelly beat your neighbor, we will take from you a large part of your wealth and turn it into the public treasury; to the man who was “throwing out speeches” calculated to destroy the influence of the court for good, you must not malign the court, no matter when nor where--if you do, we will lay the heavy hand of summary punishment upon you; to such as were stirring up sedition and opposition to “the common cause of liberty,” you shall not remain openly and peaceably in the community without giving security for your good conduct; to thieves, we will fine, whip, brand and hang you; to tories, we will confiscate your property and imprison you; to the British, we will meet and fight you, on every field from the mountains to the sea; to the Indians, we will fight you too, from the mountains to the lakes and the gulf. And they did it all. Who could have done more? They were heroes, one and all, but history, it seems, has long since given them over to oblivion.