Time Whereof The Memory Of Man Runneth

Mankind Will Not Be Reasoned Out Of The Feelings Of Humanity.

[self-defense Is] Justly Called The Primary Law Of Nature, So It Is Not, Neither Can It Be In Fact, Taken Away By The Laws Of Society.

Punishments Of Unreasonable Severity, Especially Where Indiscriminately Afflicted, Have Less Effect In Preventing Crimes, And Amending The Manners Of A People, Than Such As Are More Merciful In General, Yet Properly Intermixed With Due Distinctions Of Severity.

This Law Of Nature, Being Co-eval With Mankind And Dictated By God Himself, Is Of Course Superior In Obligation To Any Other. It Is Binding Over All The Globe, In All Countries, And At All Times: No Human Laws Are Of Any Validity, If Contrary To This; And Such Of Them As Are Valid Derive All Their Force, And All Their Authority, Mediately Or Immediately, From This Original.

Law Is The Embodiment Of The Moral Sentiment Of The People.