Cinema- Conr, Pamjlwda Dlllriét. go, In the fecond article of the Declarationof Rights, which was r7gg. made part of the late Conllitution of Pmqjlvaniu, it is declared;'~’V`·‘ ¤ That all men have a naturaland unalienable right to worihip AlmightyGod, according to the éiétates of their own confciences and underltandinp; and that no man ought or of right can be compelled, to attend any religious worlliip, orereél or fupport any place of woriliip, or maintain any minillry, contrary to, or ngainil, his own free will and confent; nor can any man, who acknowledges the being of a God, bejullly deprived or abridged of any civil right as a citizen, on account of his religious fenti- ments, or peculiar mode ofreligious worlhip; and that no au- thority can, or ought to he, veiled in, or aliiimcd, by any power whatever, that {hall, in any cafe, interfere with, or in aniy manner coutroul, the right of confcience in the free exereife 0 religious ` w0r{hip.’1£D¢·¢·. yltigbu, Art. zz _ , i In the irty-fecond fe£tion of t e fame Conilitution, it is or- dained; •¤ that all eleélions, whether by the people or in general pliitrnbly, {hall be by ballot, free and voluntary." {Cary?. Pmu.
- 8. 32. ‘
Conhfthe Legillature have annulled thefe articles, refpetling religion, the rights of confcience, and elections by ballot? Sure- ly no. As to thefe points there was no devolution of power ; e authority was purpofcly withheld, and referred by the peo- ple to themfelves. If the Legillature had pal`i`ed an a& decla- ring, that, in future, there {hould be no trial by ]ury, would it have been obligatory ? No: It would have been void for want of jurifdidtion, orconllitutional extent of power. The right of trial by ]ury is a fundamental law, made facred hy the Confli- tution, and cannot be legiilated away. The Conltitution of a g State is {table and permanent, not to be worked upon by the temper of the times, nor to rife and fall with the tide of events`; notwithllanding the competition of oppoiing interelis, and the violence of contending parties, it remains Erm and immoveable, as a mountain amidll the {lrife of {lorms, or a rock in the ocean amidll the raging of the waves. I take it to be a clear polition; that if a legillative acl oppu ns a conllitutional principle, the former mult give way, and Ee reje&ed on the fcore of repug- ‘ . nance. Ihold it to be a polition equally clear and found, that, in fuch cafe, it will be the duty of the Court to adhere to the Conllitution, and to declare the aét null and void. The Coniii- tution is the balis of legillative authority; it lies at the founda- tion of all law, and is a rule and commiiiion by which both Le- giilators and Judges are to proceed. It is an important princi- ple, which, in the tlifeuilion of queliions of the prefent kind, ought never to be loil li ht of, that the judiciary in this coun- try is not a fubordinate, int co-ordinate, branch of the govern-' Fl§¤$» _ Hwa;
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