,a ,,letter      ,,to      ,,thomas ,f4 
,,bayard      ,,challenging ,,his       
,,right--,,and ,,that ,,of ,,all ,,the  
,,other ,,so-,,called ,,senators ,,and  
,,representatives     ,,in ,,congress-- 
,,to ,,exercise ,,any ,,legislative     
,,power ,,whatever     ,,over ,,the     
,,people ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states4  
,,by ,,lysander ,,spooner4              
,,boston1 ,,mass43     ,,published ,,by 
,,the ,,author4     #ahhb4     ,a       
,letter to ,thomas ,f4 ,bayard          
,challenging his right--and that of all 
the other so-called senators     and    
representatives in ,congress--to        
exercise any legislative power          
whatever over the people of the ,united 
,states4      by ,lysander ,spooner     
,to ,thomas ,f4 ,bayard1 of ,delaware3  
,sir--,i have read your letter to ,rev4 
,lyman ,abbott1 in which you express the
 opinion that it is at least possible   
for a man to be a legislator 7under the 
,constitution of the ,united ,states7   
and yet be an honest man4  ,this        

proposition implies that you hold it to 
be at least possible that some four     
hundred men should1 by some process or  
other1 become invested with the right to
 make laws of their own--that is1 laws  
wholly of their own device1 and         
therefore necessarily distinct from the 
law of nature1 or the principles of     
natural justice2 and that these laws of 
their own making shall be really and    
truly obligatory upon the people of the 
,united ,states2 and that1 therefore1   
the people may rightfully be compelled  
to obey them4  ,all this implies that   
you are of the opinion that the         
,congress of the ,united ,states1 of    
which you are a member1 has1 by some    
process or other1 become possessed of   
some right of arbitrary dominion over   
the people of the ,united ,states2 which
 right of arbitrary dominion is not     
given by1 and is1 therefore1 necessarily
 in conflict with1 the law of nature1   
the principles of natural justice1 and  
the natural rights of men1 as           

individuals4 ,all this is necessarily   
implied in the idea that the ,congress  
now possesses any right whatever to make
 any laws whatever1 of its own          
device--that is1 any laws that shall be 
either more1 less1 or other than that   
natural law1 which it can neither make1 
unmake1 nor alter--and cause them to be 
enforced upon the people of the ,united 
,states1 or any of them1 against their  
will4  ,you assume that the right of    
arbitrary dominion--that is1 the right  
of making laws of their own device1 and 
compelling obedience to them--is a trust
 that has been delegated to those who   
now exercise that power4 ,you call it   
the trust of public power4  ,but1 ,sir1 
you are mistaken in supposing that any  
such power has ever been delegated1 or  
ever can be delegated1 by any body1 to  
any body4  ,any such delegation of power
 is naturally impossible1 for these     
reasons1 viz3  #a4 ,no man can delegate1
 or give to another1 any right of       
arbitrary dominion over himself2 for    

that would be giving himself away as a  
slave4 ,and this no one can do4 ,any    
contract to do so is necessarily an     
absurd one1 and has no validity4 ,to    
call such a contract a constitution1 or 
by any other high-sounding name1 does   
not alter its character as an absurd and
 void contract4  #b4 ,no man can        
delegate1 or give to another1 any right 
of arbitrary dominion over a third      
person2 for that would imply a right in 
the first person1 not only to make the  
third person his slave1 but also a right
 to dispose of him as a slave to still  
other persons4 ,any contract to do this 
is necessarily a criminal one1 and      
therefore invalid4 ,to call such a      
contract a constitution does not at all 
lessen its criminality1 or add to its   
validity4  ,these facts1 that no man can
 delegate1 or give away1 his own natural
 right to liberty1 nor any other man's  
natural right to liberty1 prove that he 
can delegate no right of arbitrary      
dominion whatever--or1 what is the same 

thing1 no legislative power             
whatever--over himself or anybody else1 
to any man1 or body of men4  ,this      
impossibility of any man's delegating   
any legislative power whatever1         
necessarily results from the fact that  
the law of nature has drawn the line1   
and the only line--and that1 too1 a line
 that can never be effaced nor          
removed--between each man's own interest
 and inalienable rights of person and   
property1 and each and every other man's
 inherent and inalienable rights of     
person and property4 ,it1 therefore1    
necessarily fixes the unalterable       
limits1 within which every man may      
rightfully seek his own happiness1 in   
his own way1 free from all              
responsibility to1 or interference by1  
his fellow men1 or any of them4  ,all   
this pretended delegation of legislative
 power--that is1 of a power1 on the part
 of the legislators1 so-called1 to make 
any laws of their own device1 distinct  
from the law of nature--is therefore an 

entire falsehood2 a falsehood whose only
 purpose is to cover and hide a pure    
usurpation1 by one body of men1 of      
arbitrary dominion over other men4      
,that this legislative power1 or power  
of arbitrary dominion1 is a pure        
usurpation1 on the part of those who now
 exercise it1 and not a trust delegated 
to them1 is still further proved by the 
fact that the only delegation of power1 
that is even professed or pretended to  
be made1 is made secretly--that is1 by  
secret ballot--and not in any open and  
authentic manner2 and therefore not by  
any men1 or body of men1 who make       
themselves personally responsible1 as   
principals1 for the acts of those to    
whom they profess to delegate the power4
  ,all this pretended delegation of     
power having been made secretly--that   
is1 only by secret ballot--not a single 
one of all the legislators1 so-called1  
who profess to be exercising only a     
delegated power1 has himself any legal  
knowledge1 or can offer any legal proof1

 as to who the particular individuals   
were who delegated it to him4 ,and      
having no power to identify the         
individuals who professed to delegate   
the power to him1 he cannot show any    
legal proof that anybody ever even      
attempted or pretended to delegate it to
 him4  ,plainly1 a man who exercises any
 arbitrary dominion over other men and  
who claims to be exercising only a      
delegated power1 but cannot show who his
 principals are1 nor1 consequently1     
prove that he has any principals1 must  
be presumed1 both in law and reason1 to 
have no principals2 and therefore to be 
exercising no power but his own4 ,and   
having1 of right1 no such power of his  
own1 he is1 both in law and reason1 a   
naked usurper4  ,sir1 a secret ballot   
makes a secret government2 and a secret 
government is a government by           
conspiracy2 in which the people at large
 can have no rights4 ,and that is the   
only government we now have4 ,it is the 
government of which you are a voluntary 

member and supporter1 and yet you claim 
to be an honest man4 ,if you are an     
honest man1 is not your honesty that of 
a thoughtless1 ignorant man1 who merely 
drifts with the current1 instead of     
exercising any judgment of his own8     
,for still another reason1 all          
legislators1 so-called1 under the       
,constitution of the ,united ,states1   
are exercising simply an arbitrary and  
irresponsible dominion of their own2 and
 not any authority that has been        
delegated1 or pretended to have been    
delegated1 to them4 ,and that reason is 
that the ,constitution itself 7,art4 ,i1
 ,sec4 #f7 prescribes that3       ,for  
any speech or debate 7or vote7 in either
 house1 they 7the      ,senators and    
,representatives7 shall not be          
questioned 7held to      any legal      
responsibility7 in any other place4     
,this provision makes the legislators   
constitutionally irresponsible to       
anybody2 either to those on whom they   
exercise their power1 or to those who   

may have1 either openly or secretly1    
attempted or pretended to delegate power
 to them4 ,and men who are legally      
responsible to nobody for their acts1   
cannot truly be said to be the agents of
 any body1 or to be exercising any power
 but their own2 for all real agents are 
necessarily responsible both to those on
 whom they act1 and to those for whom   
they act4  ,to say that the people of   
this country ever have bound1 or ever   
could bind1 themselves by any contract  
whatever--the ,constitution1 or any     
other--to thus give away all their      
natural rights of property1 liberty1 and
 life1 into the hands of a few men--a   
mere conclave--and that they should make
 it a part of the contract itself that  
these few men should be held legally    
irresponsible for the disposal they     
should make of those rights1 is an utter
 absurdity4 ,it is to say that they have
 bound themselves1 and that they could  
bind themselves1 by an utterly idiotic  
and suicidal contract4  ,if such a      

contract had ever been made by one      
private individual to another1 and had  
been signed1 sealed1 witnessed1         
acknowledged1 and delivered1 with all   
possible legal formalities1 no decent   
court on earth--certainly none in this  
country--would have regarded it1 for a  
moment1 as conveying any right1 or      
delegating any power1 or as having the  
slightest legal validity1 or obligation4
  ,for all the reasons now given1 and   
for still others that might be given1   
the legislative power now exercised by  
,congress is1 in both law and reason1 a 
purely personal1 arbitrary1             
irresponsible1 usurped dominion on the  
part of the legislators themselves1 and 
not a power delegated to them by        
anybody4  ,yet under the pretense that  
this instrument gives them the right of 
an arbitrary and irresponsible dominion 
over the whole people of the ,united    
,states1 ,congress has now gone on1 for 
ninety years and more1 filling great    
volumes with laws of their own device1  

which the people at large have never    
read1 nor even seen1 nor ever will read 
or see2 and of whose legal meanings it  
is morally impossible that they should  
ever know anything4 ,congress has never 
dared to require the people even to read
 these laws4 ,had it done so1 the       
oppression would have been an           
intolerable one2 and the people1 rather 
than endure it1 would have either       
rebelled1 and overthrown the government1
 or would have fled the country4 ,yet   
these laws1 which ,congress has not     
dared to require the people even to     
read1 it has compelled them1 at the     
point of the bayonet1 to obey4  ,and    
this moral1 and legal1 and political    
monstrosity is the kind of government   
which ,congress claims that the         
,constitution authorizes it to impose   
upon the people4  ,sir1 can you say that
 such an arbitrary and irresponsible    
dominion as this1 over the properties1  
liberties1 and lives of fifty millions  
of people--or even over the property1   

liberty1 or life of any one of those    
fifty millions--can be justified on any 
reason whatever8 ,if not1 with what     
color of truth can you say that you     
yourself1 or anybody else1 can act as a 
legislator1 under the ,constitution of  
the ,united ,states1 and yet be an      
honest man8  ,to say that the arbitrary 
and irresponsible dominion1 that is     
exercised by ,congress1 has been        
delegated to it by the ,constitution1   
and not solely by the secret ballots of 
the voters for the time being1 is the   
height of absurdity2 for what is the    
,constitution8 ,it is1 at best1 a       
writing that was drawn up more than     
ninety years ago2 was assented to at the
 time only by a small number of men2    
generally those few white male adults   
who had prescribed amounts of property2 
probably not more than two hundred      
thousand in all2 or one in twenty of the
 whole population4  ,those men have been
 long since dead4 ,they never had any   
right of arbitrary dominion over even   

their contemporaries2 and they never had
 any over us4 ,their wills or wishes    
have no more rightful authority over us1
 than have the wills or wishes of men   
who lived before the flood4 ,they never 
personally signed1 sealed1 acknowledged1
 or delivered1 or dared to sign1 seal1  
acknowledge1 or deliver1 the instrument 
which they imposed upon the country as  
law4 ,they never1 in any open and       
authentic manner1 bound even themselves 
to obey it1 or made themselves          
personally responsible for the acts of  
their so-called agents under it4 ,they  
had no natural right to impose it1 as   
law1 upon a single human being4 ,the    
whole proceeding was a pure usurpation4 
,in practice1 the ,constitution has been
 an utter fraud from the beginning4     
,professing to have been ordained and   
established by we1 the people of the    
,united ,states1 it has never been      
submitted to them1 as individuals1 for  
their voluntary acceptance or rejection4
 ,they have never been asked to sign1   

seal1 acknowledge1 or deliver it1 as    
their free act and deed4 ,they have     
never signed1 sealed1 acknowledged1 or  
delivered it1 or promised1 or laid      
themselves under any kind of obligation1
 to obey it4 ,very few of them have ever
 read1 or even seen it2 or ever will    
read or see it4 ,of its legal meaning   
7if it can be said to have any7 they    
really know nothing2 and never did1 nor 
ever will1 know anything4  ,why is it1  
,sir1 that such an instrument as the    
,constitution1 for which nobody has been
 responsible1 and of which few persons  
have ever known anything1 has been      
suffered to stand1 for the last ninety  
years1 and to be used for such audacious
 and criminal purposes8 ,it is solely   
because it has been sustained by the    
same kind of conspiracy as that by which
 it was established2 that is1 by the    
wealth and the power of those few who   
were to profit by the arbitrary dominion
 it was assumed to give them over       
others4 ,while the poor1 the weak1 and  

the ignorant1 who were to be cheated1   
plundered1 and enslaved by it1 have been
 told1 and some of them doubtless made  
to believe1 that it is a sacred         
instrument1 designed for the            
preservation of their rights4  ,these   
cheated1 plundered1 and enslaved persons
 have been made to feel1 if not to      
believe1 that the ,constitution had such
 miraculous power1 that it could        
authorize the majority 7or even a       
plurality7 of the male adults1 for the  
time being--a majority numbering at this
 time1 say1 five millions in all--to    
exercise1 through their agents1 secretly
 appointed1 an arbitrary and            
irresponsible dominion over the         
properties1 liberties1 and lives of the 
whole fifty millions2 and that these    
fifty millions have no rightful         
alternative but to submit all their     
rights to this arbitrary dominion1 or   
suffer such confiscation1 imprisonment1 
or death as this secretly appointed1    
irresponsible cabal1 of so-called       

legislators1 should see fit to resort to
 for the maintenance of its power4  ,as 
might have been expected1 and as was1 to
 a large degree1 at least1 intended1    
this ,constitution has been used from   
the beginning by ambitious1 rapacious1  
and unprincipled men1 to enable them to 
maintain1 at the point of the bayonet1  
an arbitrary and irresponsible dominion 
over those who were too ignorant and too
 weak to protect themselves against the 
conspirators who had thus combined to   
deceive1 plunder1 and enslave them4  ,do
 you really think1 ,sir1 that such a    
constitution as this can avail to       
justify those who1 like yourself1 are   
engaged in enforcing it8 ,is it not     
plain1 rather1 that the members of      
,congress1 as a legislative body1       
whether they are conscious of it or not1
 are1 in reality1 a mere cabal of       
swindlers1 usurpers1 tyrants and        
robbers8 ,is it not plain that they are 
stupendous blockheads1 if they imagine  
that they are anything else than such a 

cabal8 or that their so-called laws     
impose the least obligation upon        
anybody8  ,if you have never before     
looked at this matter in this light1 ,i 
ask you to do so now4 ,and in the hope  
to aid you in doing so candidly1 and to 
some useful purpose1 ,i take the liberty
 to mail for you a pamphlet entitled3   
,,natural ,,law2 ,,or ,,the ,,science   
,,of ,,justice2 a ,treatise on ,natural 
,law1 ,natural ,justice1 ,natural       
,rights1 ,natural ,liberty1 and         
,natural ,society2 ,showing ,that ,all  
,legislation ,whatsoever ,is an         
,absurdity1 a ,usurpation1 and a ,crime4
 ,part ,i4  ,in this pamphlet1 ,i have  
endeavored to controvert distinctly the 
proposition that1 by any possible       
process whatever1 any man1 or body of   
men1 can become possessed of any right  
of arbitrary dominion over other men1 or
 other men's property2 or1 consequently1
 any right whatever to make any law     
whatever1 of their own--distinct from   
the law of nature--and compel any other 

men to obey it4  ,i trust ,i need not   
suspect you1 as a legislator under the  
,constitution1 and claiming to be an    
honest man1 of any desire to evade the  
issue presented in this pamphlet4 ,if   
you shall see fit to meet it1 ,i hope   
you will excuse me for suggesting       
that--to avoid verbiage1 and everything 
indefinite--you give at least a single  
specimen of a law that either heretofore
 has been made1 or that you conceive it 
possible for legislators to make--that  
is1 some law of their own device--that  
either has been1 or shall be1 really and
 truly obligatory upon other persons1   
and which such other persons have been1 
or may be1 rightfully compelled to obey4
  ,if you can either find or devise any 
such law1 ,i trust you will make it     
known1 that it may be examined1 and the 
question of its obligation be fairly    
settled in the popular mind4  ,but if it
 should happen that you can neither find
 such a law in the existing statute     
books of the ,united ,states1 nor1 in   

your own mind1 conceive of such a law as
 possible under the ,constitution1 ,i   
give you leave to find it1 if that be   
possible1 in the constitution or statute
 book of any other people that now      
exist1 or ever have existed1 on the     
earth4  ,if1 finally1 you shall find no 
such law1 anywhere1 nor be able to      
conceive of any such law yourself1 ,i   
take the liberty to suggest that it is  
your imperative duty to submit the      
question to your associate legislators2 
and1 if they can give no light on the   
subject1 that you call upon them to burn
 all the existing statute books of the  
,united ,states1 and then to go home and
 content themselves with the exercise of
 only such rights and powers as nature  
has given to them in common with the    
rest of mankind4