[a] See _No Treason_, No. 2, pages 5 and 6. [b] Suppose it be "the best government on earth," does that prove its own goodness, or only the badness of all other governments? [c] The very men who drafted it, never signed it in any way to bind themselves by it, _as a contract_. And not one of them probably ever would have signed it in any way to bind himself by it, _as a contract_. [d] I have personally examined the statute books of the following States, viz.: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Nevada, California, and Oregon, and find that in all these States the English statute has been re-enacted, sometimes with modifications, but generally enlarging its operations, and is now in force. The following are some of the provisions of the Massachusetts statute: "No action shall be brought in any of the following cases, that is to say: ... "To charge a person upon a special promise to answer for the debt, default, or misdoings of another: ... "Upon a contract for the sale of lands, tenements, hereditaments, or of any interest in, or concerning them; or "Upon an agreement that is not to be performed within one year from the writing thereof: "Unless the promise, contract, or agreement, upon which such action is brought, or some memorandum or note thereof, is in writing, and signed by the party to be charged therewith, or by some person thereunto by him lawfully authorized." "No contract for the sale of goods, wares, or merchandise, for the price of fifty dollars or more, shall be good or valid, unless the purchaser accepts and receives part of the goods so sold, or gives something in earnest to bind the bargain, or in part payment; or unless some note or memorandum in writing of the bargain is made and signed by the party to be charged thereby, or by some person thereunto by him lawfully authorized." [e] And this two-thirds vote may be but two-thirds of a quorum--that is two-thirds of a majority--instead of two-thirds of the whole. [f] Of what appreciable value is it to any man, as an individual, that he is allowed a voice in choosing these public masters? His voice is only one of several millions. Transcriber's Notes: Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from the original. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected as follows: Page 22: "do" changed to "does" Punctuation has been corrected without note. End of Project Gutenberg's No Treason, Vol. VI., by Lysander Spooner