be permitted, indeed no man should be base enough to claim privileges denied to his fellow, or to any class of his fellows, and the same great principle which Christ ordained should guide His followers in their personal relations, should be the only legitimate rule in their political relations. To do unto others as we would have them do to us—to recognize in all other men the rights we claim for ourselves—to admit those reciprocal obligations which, in truth, spring from the necessities of our being—in short, to demand equal rights for ourselves, and to admit the same rights on the part of our fellows, seems so obvious, so instinctive, so just, and indeed self-evident, that an intelligent and just mind wonders how it ever could be otherwise, or that systems of government can exist in our own enlightened times in utter contradiction to such simple and self-evident truths. Government, the State, the aggregate citizenship, based on the great fundamental truth of equality, becomes a simple, beneficent, and easily understood institution. It leaves all men where God and nature places them, in natural relation to each other. Its functions, however complicated the details, are simply protective, leaving individuals to ascend or descend in the social scale, just as their industry, cultivation, and moral worth may be appreciated by their fellow-citizens. It protects one man from the violence or injustice of another, and the aggregate citizenship or nation from foreign aggression. It is a misnomer to speak of government conferring rights; it may (or the thing called government in other lands may) take away, suppress, or withhold rights; but rights, as declared by Mr. Jefferson, are inherent and in fact inseparable from individual existence. God has endowed every man with the capacity of self-government, and imposed this self-government as a duty as well as a right. He has given him certain wants instincts, desires, etc., and endowed him with reason to govern and guide these things. As a citizen, he of course does not, or can not surrender any of his natural rights or control over himself. The State protects him from wrong or injustice, but himself a portion of the citizenship, he still governs himself. It is a contradiction to suppose that one man can govern another better than he can govern himself—that is, under the same circumstances, and therefore it is palpably absurd to limit suffrage or to exclude a portion of the people from participation in the government. All being naturally equal—for though some men may have more mental capacity than others, as we sometimes see some have greater physical powers—they have all the same nature; and therefore govern themselves and fulfill the purposes of their creation when they all vote at elections and participate in the making of laws. For purposes of convenience, a limited number of the people are delegated to conduct the government, but the popular will, the desire of the people,