A ship at sea in distress for provisions,
meets another having abundance, yet refusing a supply; the law of
self-preservation authorizes the distressed to take a supply by
force. In all these cases, the unwritten laws of necessity, of
self-preservation, and of the public safety, control the written laws of
_meum_ and _tuum_. Further to exemplify the principle, I will state an
hypothetical case. Suppose it had been made known to the executive of
the Union in the autumn of 1805, that we might have the Floridas for
a reasonable sum, that that sum had not indeed been so appropriated
by law, but that Congress were to meet within three weeks, and might
appropriate it on the first or second day of their session. Ought he,
for so great an advantage to his country, to have risked himself by
transcending the law and making the purchase? The public advantage
offered, in this supposed case, was indeed immense: but a reverence
for law, and the probability that the advantage might still be legally
accomplished by a delay of only three weeks, were powerful reasons
against hazarding the act. But suppose it foreseen that a John Randolph
would find means to protract the proceeding on it by Congress, until the
ensuing spring, by which time new circumstances would change the mind
of the other party. Ought the executive, in that case, and with that
foreknowledge, to have secured the good to his country, and to have
trusted to their justice for the transgression of the law? I think he
ought, and that the act would have been approved.
Pages:
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255