And not only so: the
innocent, those who have ever set their faces against violations of law
in every shape, alike with the guilty fall victims to the ravages of mob
law; and thus it goes on, step by step, till all the walls erected for
the defense of the persons and property of individuals are trodden down
and disregarded. But all this, even, is not the full extent of the evil.
By such examples, by instances of the perpetrators of such acts going
unpunished, the lawless in spirit are encouraged to become lawless in
practice; and having been used to no restraint but dread of punishment,
they thus become absolutely unrestrained. Having ever regarded
government as their deadliest bane, they make a jubilee of the suspension
of its operations, and pray for nothing so much as its total
annihilation. While, on the other hand, good men, men who love
tranquillity, who desire to abide by the laws and enjoy their benefits,
who would gladly spill their blood in the defense of their country,
seeing their property destroyed, their families insulted, and their lives
endangered, their persons injured, and seeing nothing in prospect that
forebodes a change for the better, become tired of and disgusted with a
government that offers them no protection, and are not much averse to a
change in which they imagine they have nothing to lose.
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