ction, they should become "as gods." We
need not wonder, then, if it should be found, that an appeal to the
absolute equality of all men is the most ready way to effect the ruin of
States. We can surely conceive of none better adapted to subvert all
order among us of the South, involving the two races in a servile war,
and the one or the other in utter extinction. Hence we shall examine
this argument from the equality of all men, or rather this appeal to all
men's abhorrence of inferiority. This appeal is usually based on the
Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident:
that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness." We do not mean to play upon these words; we
intend to take them exactly as they are understood by our opponents. As
they are not found in a metaphysical document or discussion, so it would
be unfair to suppose--as is sometimes done--that they inculcate the wild
dream of Helvetius, that all men are created with equal natural
capacities of mind. They occur in a declaration of independence; and as
the subject is the doctrine of human rights, so we suppose they mean to
declare that all men are created equal with respect to natural rights.

Nor do we assert that there is no truth in this celebrated proposition
or maxim; for we believe that, if rightly understood, it contains most
important and precious truth. It is not on this account, however, the
less dangerous as a maxim of political philosophy. Nay, falsehood is
only then the more dangerous, when it is so blended with truth that its
existence is not suspected by its victims. Hence the unspeakable
importance of dissecting this pretended maxim, and separating the
precious truth it contains from the pernicious falsehood by which its
followers are deceived. Its truth is certainly very far from being
self-evident, or rather its truth is self-evident to some, while its
falsehood is equally self-evident to others, according to the side from
which it is viewed. We shall endeavor to throw some light both upon its
truth and its falsehood, and, if possible, draw the line which divides
them from each other.

This maxim does not mean, then, that all men have, by nature, an equal
right to political power or to posts of honor. No doubt the words are
often understood in this sense by those who, without reflection, merely
echo