{"id":1726,"date":"2011-11-22T03:20:44","date_gmt":"2011-11-22T07:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.peoplevstate.com\/?p=1726"},"modified":"2011-11-22T10:45:46","modified_gmt":"2011-11-22T14:45:46","slug":"the-law-will-never-make-men-free-it-is-men-who-have-got-to-make-the-law-free-they-are-the-lov%c2%aders-of-law-and-order-who-ob%c2%adserve-the-law-when-the-gov%c2%adern%c2%adment-breaks-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peoplevstate.com\/?p=1726","title":{"rendered":"“The law will never make men free; it is men who have got to make the law free. They are the lov\u00aders of law and order who ob\u00adserve the law when the gov\u00adern\u00adment breaks it.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Among human be\u00adings, the judge whose words seal the fate of a man fur\u00adthest into eter\u00adnity is not he who merely pro\u00adnounces the ver\u00addict of the law, but he, who\u00adever he may be, who, from a love of truth, and un\u00adprej\u00adu\u00addiced by any cus\u00adtom or en\u00adact\u00adment of men, ut\u00adters a true opin\u00adion or sen\u00adtence<\/em> con\u00adcern\u00ading him. He it is that sen\u00adtences<\/em> him. Who\u00adever can dis\u00adcern truth has re\u00adceived his com\u00admis\u00adsion from a higher source than the chief\u00adest jus\u00adtice in the world who can dis\u00adcern only law. He finds him\u00adself con\u00adsti\u00adtuted judge of the judge. Strange that it should be nec\u00ades\u00adsary to state such sim\u00adple truths! [\u00b623]<\/small><\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n

“I am more and more con\u00advinced that, with ref\u00ader\u00adence to any pub\u00adlic ques\u00adtion, it is more im\u00adpor\u00adtant to know what the coun\u00adtry thinks of it than what the city thinks. The city does not think<\/em> much. On any moral ques\u00adtion, I would rather have the opin\u00adion of Box\u00adboro\u2019<\/a> than of Bos\u00adton and New York put to\u00adgether. When the former speaks, I feel as if some\u00adbody had<\/em> spoken, as if hu\u00adman\u00adity<\/em> was yet, and a rea\u00adson\u00ada\u00adble be\u00ading had as\u00adserted its rights \u2014 as if some un\u00adprej\u00adu\u00addiced men among the coun\u00adtry\u2019s hills had at length turned their at\u00adten\u00adtion to the sub\u00adject, and by a few sen\u00adsi\u00adble words re\u00addeemed the rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtion of the race. When, in some ob\u00adscure coun\u00adtry town, the farm\u00aders come to\u00adgether to a spe\u00adcial town-meet\u00ading, to ex\u00adpress their opin\u00adion on some sub\u00adject which is vex\u00ading the land, that, I think, is the true Con\u00adgress, and the most re\u00adspect\u00ada\u00adble one that is ever as\u00adsem\u00adbled in the United States. [\u00b624]<\/small><\/a><\/p>\n

. . .<\/p>\n

“The ef\u00adfect of a good gov\u00adern\u00adment is to make life more val\u00adu\u00ada\u00adble \u2014 of a bad one, to make it less val\u00adu\u00ada\u00adble. We can af\u00adford that rail\u00adroad and all merely ma\u00adte\u00adrial stock should lose some of its value, for that only com\u00adpels us to live more sim\u00adply and ec\u00ado\u00adnom\u00adi\u00adcally; but sup\u00adpose that the value of life it\u00adself should be di\u00admin\u00adished! How can we make a less de\u00admand on man and na\u00adture, how live more ec\u00ado\u00adnom\u00adi\u00adcally in re\u00adspect to vir\u00adtue and all no\u00adble qualities, than we do? I have lived for the last month \u2014 and I think that every man in Mas\u00adsa\u00adchu\u00adsetts ca\u00adpa\u00adble of the sen\u00adti\u00adment of pa\u00adtri\u00adot\u00adism must have had a sim\u00adi\u00adlar ex\u00adpe\u00adri\u00adence \u2014 with the sense of hav\u00ading suf\u00adfered a vast and in\u00addef\u00adi\u00adnite loss. I did not know at first what ailed me. At last it oc\u00adcurred to me that what I had lost was a coun\u00adtry. I had never re\u00adspected the gov\u00adern\u00adment near to which I lived, but I had fool\u00adishly thought that I might man\u00adage to live here, mind\u00ading my pri\u00advate af\u00adfairs, and forget it. For my part, my old and wor\u00adthi\u00adest pur\u00adsuits have lost I can\u00adnot say how much of their at\u00adtrac\u00adtion, and I feel that my in\u00advest\u00adment in life here is worth many per cent less since Mas\u00adsa\u00adchu\u00adsetts last de\u00adlib\u00ader\u00adately sent back an in\u00adno\u00adcent man, Anthony Burns, to slav\u00adery. I dwelt be\u00adfore, per\u00adhaps, in the il\u00adlu\u00adsion that my life passed some\u00adwhere only be\u00adtween<\/em> heaven and hell, but now I can\u00adnot per\u00adsuade my\u00adself that I do not dwell wholly within<\/em> hell. The site of that po\u00adlit\u00adi\u00adcal or\u00adgan\u00adi\u00adza\u00adtion called Mas\u00adsa\u00adchu\u00adsetts is to me mor\u00adally cov\u00adered with vol\u00adcanic sco\u00adriae<\/a> and cin\u00adders, such as Mil\u00adton<\/a> de\u00adscribes in the in\u00adfer\u00adnal re\u00adgions. If there is any hell more un\u00adprin\u00adci\u00adpled than our rul\u00aders, and we, the ruled, I feel cu\u00adri\u00adous to see it. Life itself be\u00ading worth less, all things with it, which min\u00adis\u00adter to it, are worth less. Sup\u00adpose you have a small li\u00adbrary, with pic\u00adtures to adorn the walls \u2014 a gar\u00adden laid out around \u2014 and con\u00adtem\u00adplate sci\u00aden\u00adtific and lit\u00ader\u00adary pur\u00adsuits, &c.<\/abbr>, and dis\u00adcover all at once that your villa, with all its con\u00adtents is lo\u00adcated in hell, and that the jus\u00adtice of the peace has a clo\u00adven foot and a forked tail \u2014 do not these things sud\u00addenly lose their value in your eyes? [\u00b646]<\/small><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a> “I feel that, to some ex\u00adtent, the State has fa\u00adtally in\u00adter\u00adfered with my law\u00adful busi\u00adness. It has not only in\u00adter\u00adrupted me in my pas\u00adsage through Court Street<\/a> on er\u00adrands of trade, but it has in\u00adter\u00adrupted me and every man on his on\u00adward and up\u00adward path, on which he had trusted soon to leave Court Street far be\u00adhind. What right had it to re\u00admind me of Court Street? I have found that hol\u00adlow which even I had re\u00adlied on for solid. [\u00b647]<\/small><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a> “I am sur\u00adprised to see men go\u00ading about their busi\u00adness as if noth\u00ading had hap\u00adpened. I say to my\u00adself, \u201cUn\u00adfor\u00adtu\u00adnates! they have not heard the news.\u201d I am sur\u00adprised that the man whom I just met on horse\u00adback should be so ear\u00adnest to over\u00adtake his newly bought cows run\u00adning away \u2014 since all prop\u00aderty is in\u00adse\u00adcure, and if they do not run away again, they may be taken away from him when he gets them. Fool! does he not know that his seed-corn is worth less this year \u2014 that all be\u00adnef\u00adi\u00adcent har\u00advests fail as you ap\u00adproach the em\u00adpire of hell? No pru\u00addent man will build a stone house un\u00adder these cir\u00adcum\u00adstances, or en\u00adgage in any peace\u00adful en\u00adter\u00adprise which it re\u00adquires a long time to ac\u00adcom\u00adplish. Art is as long as ever, but life is more in\u00adter\u00adrupted and less avail\u00ada\u00adble for a man\u2019s proper pur\u00adsuits. It is not an era of re\u00adpose. We have used up all our in\u00adher\u00adited free\u00addom. If we would save our lives, we must fight for them. [\u00b648]<\/small><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a> “I walk toward one of our ponds; but what sig\u00adni\u00adfies the beauty of na\u00adture when men are base? We walk to lakes to see our se\u00adren\u00adity re\u00adflected in them; when we are not se\u00adrene, we go not to them. Who can be se\u00adrene in a coun\u00adtry where both the rul\u00aders and the ruled are with\u00adout prin\u00adci\u00adple? The re\u00admem\u00adbrance of my coun\u00adtry spoils my walk. My thoughts are mur\u00adder to the State, and in\u00advol\u00adun\u00adta\u00adrily go plot\u00adting against her. [\u00b649]<\/small><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a> “But it chanced the other day that I scented a white wa\u00adter-lily, and a sea\u00adson I had waited for had ar\u00adrived. It is the em\u00adblem of pu\u00adrity<\/a>. It bursts up so pure and fair to the eye, and so sweet to the scent, as if to show us what pu\u00adrity and sweet\u00adness re\u00adside in, and can be ex\u00adtracted from, the slime and muck of earth. I think I have plucked the first one that has opened for a mile. What con\u00adfir\u00adma\u00adtion of our hopes is in the fra\u00adgrance of this flower! I shall not so soon de\u00adspair of the world for it, not\u00adwith\u00adstand\u00ading slav\u00adery, and the cow\u00adard\u00adice and want of prin\u00adci\u00adple of North\u00adern<\/a> men. It sug\u00adgests what kind of laws have pre\u00advailed long\u00adest and wid\u00adest, and still pre\u00advail, and that the time may come when man\u2019s deeds will smell as sweet. Such is the odor which the plant emits. If Na\u00adture can com\u00adpound this fra\u00adgrance still an\u00adnually, I shall be\u00adlieve her still young and full of vigor, her in\u00adteg\u00adrity and genius un\u00adim\u00adpaired, and that there is vir\u00adtue even in man, too, who is fit\u00adted to per\u00adceive and love it. It re\u00adminds me that Na\u00adture has been part\u00adner to no Mis\u00adsouri Com\u00adpro\u00admise. I scent no com\u00adpro\u00admise in the fra\u00adgrance of the wa\u00adter-lily. It is not a Nym\u00adph\u00e6a<\/a> Doug\u00adlasii<\/a><\/em>. In it, the sweet, and pure, and in\u00adno\u00adcent are wholly sun\u00addered from the ob\u00adscene and bale\u00adful. I do not scent in this the time-serv\u00ading ir\u00adres\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion of a Mas\u00adsa\u00adchu\u00adsetts Gov\u00ader\u00adnor, nor of a Bos\u00adton Mayor. So be\u00adhave that the odor of your ac\u00adtions may en\u00adhance the gen\u00aderal sweet\u00adness of the at\u00admos\u00adphere, that when we be\u00adhold or scent a flower, we may not be re\u00adminded how in\u00adcon\u00adsis\u00adtent your deeds are with it; for all odor is but one form of ad\u00adver\u00adtise\u00adment of a moral qual\u00adity, and if fair ac\u00adtions had not been per\u00adformed, the lily would not smell sweet. The foul slime stands for the sloth and vice of man, the de\u00adcay of hu\u00adman\u00adity; the fra\u00adgrant flower that springs from it, for the pu\u00adrity and cour\u00adage which are immortal. [\u00b650]<\/small><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a> “Slav\u00adery and ser\u00advil\u00adity have pro\u00adduced no sweet-scented flower an\u00adnually, to charm the senses of men, for they have no real life: they are merely a de\u00adcay\u00ading and a death, of\u00adfen\u00adsive to all healthy nos\u00adtrils. We do not com\u00adplain that they live<\/em>, but that they do not get bur\u00adied<\/em>. Let the liv\u00ading bury them: even they are good for manure.” [\u00b651]<\/small><\/a><\/p>\n

— Henry David Thoreau’s “Slavery in Massachusetts” (1854)<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Among human be\u00adings, the judge whose words seal the fate of a man fur\u00adthest into eter\u00adnity is not he who merely pro\u00adnounces the ver\u00addict of the law, but he, who\u00adever he may be, who, from a love of truth, and un\u00adprej\u00adu\u00addiced by any cus\u00adtom or en\u00adact\u00adment of men, ut\u00adters a true opin\u00adion or sen\u00adtence con\u00adcern\u00ading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-henry-david-thoreau"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peoplevstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peoplevstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peoplevstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peoplevstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peoplevstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1726"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.peoplevstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1728,"href":"https:\/\/www.peoplevstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1726\/revisions\/1728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peoplevstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peoplevstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peoplevstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}