THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO ESTABLISH FORMS OF GOVERNMENT. MR. HALLETT'S ARGUMENT IN THE RHODE ISLAND CAUSES, BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, JANUARY, 1848. NO. 14. MARTIN LUTHER VS. LUTHER M. BORDEN AND OTHERS. NO. 77. RACHAEL LUTHER VS. THE SAME.
Boston: Beals & Greene, 1848. Large 8vo. 71, [1 blank pp. Stitched in original printed wrappers [lightly dusted]. A clean text. Near Fine.
Rhode Island authorities, acting under a decree of martial law, arrested Martin Luther, a shoemaker, for acting as moderator of the Warren Town meeting, which was held under the People's Constitution. Luther argued that the declaration of martial law was void because it had been enacted under the charter government, which had been supplanted by the People's Constitution pursuant to a vote of the citizenry. Thus the issue for decision became the legitimacy of the government under the People's Constitution. Hallett, the Jacksonian Democrat, argued for its validity and opposed Daniel Webster in the Supreme Court. Both advocates were at their best in this searching exploration of the nature of sovereignty and the derivation of the legitimacy of government.
FIRST EDITION. VII DAB 155. I Harv. Law Cat. 854. Bartlett p.144. BEAL 12001. Sabin 29889. Item #25868
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