Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1886 [PAGE 186]

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178 thou to judge me after the law, and eommandest'me to be smitten contrary to the law." And they that stood by said, ."Revilest thou God's high priest?" Then said Paul, " I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest, for it is written, thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people." Again, in his epistle to Titus, Paul says, "Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready for every good work." And Peter also: "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's sake; whether it be the King which is supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers and for the praise of them that do well." Now I apprehend that in regard to these scriptures, whose teachings are too explicit to be explained away by glossing interpretations, there are very many of us who give assent thereto with our tongues, while our hearts rebel against them. In these days the tendencies are too often visible wherein men seek to ignore, or to evade, or to deny the law, and to cast odium or contempt upon those whose duty it is to execute its provisions. I do not speak of this here and now, because I have any fear that these young men and women who form my peculiar audience, need any instruction for themselves. But these currents of thought, like currents in the ocean, which often beset the unwary navigator and sweep him aside from his true courses and bearings, are similarly insidious in their effects. The public mind needs often to be called to consider these influences, and if you, my young friends, will help in any effort to correct public sentiment, and to keep opinions in their proper channels, there will be no way in which you can better serve the times. First, then, in rendering honor where honor is due, we ought to cultivate greater respect for the law and for laws. It is true that laws are found upon our statute books that ought never to have been placed there. They were enacted hastily, without due consideration, or to accomplish some peculiar and unfit purposes; or, inadvertently, they may contravene those organic laws which formulate the lawfulness of statutes, and the rights of men. But such laws are few, and for them there is usually some lawful way of repeal or abrogation. Wise men will usually say of even an imperfect or an unwise law, that, being the law, it should be obeyed, and that without the pressure of legal process. General Grant asserted that the enforcement of a bad law was the surest way to its repeal. Laws, good or bad, will never execute themselves. In communities like ours, where the laws are made by the people, or their representatives, their enforcement depends equally upon the popular will, according as public sentiment approves or rejects the principles which are in question. Breaking the law will not lead to its repeal or its abrogation, unless, perhaps, it be a needful step in the testing of the law by lawful means. A man may have very positive convictions in opposition to protective tariffs, but that will not, either in law or in ethics, excuse his activity in smuggling. A bad election law will not excuse the tampering with ballot-boxes. The