take place, either on the rights of the Federal Government on the one
side, or those of the several States on the other. Instances of this
kind may happen; for infallibility is not the lot of any man or body of
men, even the best of them on earth. The human mind in its present
state, being very imperfect, is liable to a multitude of errors.
Prejudice, that great source of error, often creeps in and takes
possession of the hearts of honest men, without even their perceiving
it themselves. Honest men will not feel themselves disgusted, when
mistakes are pointed out to them with decency, candor and friendship,
nor will they, when convinced of truth, think their own dignity
degraded by correcting their own errors. Among the objects of the
Constitution of this Commonwealth, Liberty and Equality stand in a
conspicuous light. It is the first article in our Declaration of
rights, "all men are born free and equal, and have certain natural,
essential and unalienable rights." In the supposed state of nature, all
men are equally bound by the laws of nature, or to speak more properly,
the laws of the Creator:--They are imprinted by the finger of God on the
heart of man. Thou shall do no injury to thy neighbour, is the voice of
nature and reason, and it is confirmed by written revelation. In the
state of nature, every man hath an equal right by honest means to
acquire property, and to enjoy it; in general, to pursue his own
happiness, and none can consistently controul or interrupt him in the
pursuit. But, so turbulent are the passions of some, and so selfish the
feelings of others, that in such a state, there being no social
compact, the weak cannot always be protected from the violence of the
strong, nor the honest and unsuspecting from the arts and intrigues of
the selfish and cunning. Hence it is easy to conceive, that men,
naturally formed for society, were inclined to enter into mutual
compact for the better security of their natural rights. In this state
of society, the unalienable rights of nature are held sacred:--And each