The Rise and Fall of NauvooRoberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
History
The Rise and Fall of Nauvoo
Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Latter Day Saints -- Illinois -- Nauvoo; Nauvoo (Ill.) -- History
The government has once flourished under the guidance of trusty
servants; and the Hon. Monroe, in his day, while speaking of the
Constitution, says, "Our commerce has been wisely regulated with
foreign nations and between the States. New States have been admitted
into our Union. Our territory has been enlarged by fair and honorable
treaty, and with great advantage to the original States; the States
respectively protected by the national government, under a mild
paternal system against foreign dangers, and enjoying within their
separate spheres, by a wise partition of power, a just proportion
of the sovereignty, have improved their police, extended their
settlements, and attained a strength and maturity which are the best
proofs of wholesome laws well administered. And if we look to the
condition of individuals, what a proud spectacle does it exhibit! On
whom has oppression fallen in any quarter of the Union? Who has been
deprived of any right of person or property?--who restrained from
offering his vows in the mode which he prefers to the divine Author of
his being? It is well known that all these blessings have been enjoyed
in their fullest extent; and I add, with peculiar satisfaction, that
there has been no example of a capital punishment being inflicted on
any one for the crime of high treason." What a delightful picture
of power, policy, and prosperity! Truly the wise man's proverb is
just--"_Sedaukauh teromain goy, veh-ka-sade le-u-meem khahmaut_."
(Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.)
But this is not all. The same honorable statesman, after having had
about forty years' experience in the government, under the full tide
of successful experiment, gives the following commendatory assurance
of the efficacy of the _Magna Charta_ to answer its great end and
aim--_to protect the people in their rights_. "Such, then, is the happy
government under which we live; a government adequate to every purpose
for which the social compact is formed; a government elective in all
its branches, under which every citizen may by his merit obtain the
highest trust recognized by the Constitution, which contains within
it no cause of discord, none to put at variance one portion of the
community with another; a government which protects every citizen in
the full enjoyment of his rights, and is able to protect the nation
against injustice from foreign powers."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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