I saw an interesting quote about Law today, and thought I’d pass it along. It’s from a man named Coleman Cox. I don’t know anything about him, but I love his thought:
“If we could make a great bonfire of the thousands of laws we have in this country, and start all over again with only the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments, I am sure we would get along much better.”
It reminded me of a cartoon I once saw where a man was in a law library and was looking at the shelves full of law books. The caption read: “And to think in all started with 10 Commandments!”
It doesn’t get much notice these days, but John Adams actually had quite a bit to do with our country becoming independent. One very interesting letter was written by Adams in support of William Hooper’s (William Hooper, who’s he?) preparation of a new written constitution for the State of North Carolina. This letter was later published by a Philadelphia printer. Here’s one sample paragraph:
After reviewing some things I have in common with John Adams, I had to remember why I started studying the Founding Fathers anyway. As a young lawyer I was appointed by the mayor of Phoenix, Arizona, to be a member of his “Citizens Crime Commission,” a group of volunteers who met monthly and discussed methods the Mayor could use to alleviate crime in the City.
He had some interesting help along the way. Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe, General von Steuben, Nathan Hale, and even Thomas Paine. Paine was there when Washington crossed the Delaware for that famous battle of Trenton (and Princeton).
After writing my blog post about our Vice President Elect, and how he was treated by the cast of Alexander in New York, I was sent an email from a friend that originated from Maureen Dowd. She wrote about extensive background on Mike Pence, our VP elect. It was really well written and eye opening. Until that sad evening, I had wanted to go see the Broadway play. No longer!
That’s just the way General George Washington was with his men. Alexander Hamilton served with Washington in the attack on Trenton and again Princeton. And then Hamilton continued to serve as Washington’s secretary during the war. Then he served as President Washington’s Secretary of the Treasury.
When things were getting rough in the Colonies, there were a few men who stood up for things they believed in. It started with Patrick Henry in his speech as he was first elected to the house of Burgesses. Thomas Jefferson, his friend, listened in at the door of the Capitol in Williamsburg, as Henry made his speech, from notes written in the flyleaf of Jefferson’s loaned book!
The U.S. Constitution is an amazing document. It is an agreement between the States, yes, the States. Not the individuals. The Founding Fathers came up with a wise method for such transitions of power. They had to please the large States as well as the small States in their method. That’s one reason we are not a true democracy. We are a Republic—if you can keep it, as Benjamin Franklin declared.