life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness, was a "_self-evident truth_."

Now, all "_self-evident truths_," except such as may be explicitly, or
by necessary implication, denied, (and no government has a right to deny
any of them,) enter into, are taken for granted by, and constitute an
essential part of all constitutions, compacts and systems of government
whatsoever.--Otherwise it would be impossible for any systematic
government to be established; for it must obviously be impossible to
make an actual enumeration of all the "self-evident truths," that are to
be taken into account in the administration of such a government. This
is more especially true of governments founded, like ours, upon
contract. It is clearly impossible, in a contract of government, to
enumerate all the "self-evident truths" which must be acted upon in the
administration of law. And therefore they are _all_ taken for granted,
unless particular ones be plainly denied.

This principle, that all "self-evident truths," though not enumerated,
make a part of all laws and contracts, unless clearly denied, is not
only indispensable to the very existence of civil society, but it is
even indispensable to the administration of justice in every individual
case or suit, that may arise, out of contract or otherwise, between
individuals. It would be impossible for individuals to make contracts at
all, if it were necessary for them to enumerate all the "self-evident
truths," that might have a bearing upon their construction before a
judicial tribunal. All such truths are therefore taken for granted. And
it is the same in all compacts of government, unless particular truths
are plainly denied. And governments, no more than individuals, have a
right to deny them in any case. To deny, in any case, that "self-evident
truths" are a part of the law, is equivalent to asserting that
"self-evident falsehood" is law.

If, then, it be a "self-evident truth," that all men have a natural and
inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, _that
truth_ constitutes a part of all our laws and all our constitutions,
unless it have been unequivocally and authoritatively denied.

It will hereafter be shown that this "self-evident truth" has _never
been denied_ by the people of this country, in their fundamental
constitution, or in any other explicit or authoritative manner. On the
contrary, it has been reiterated, by them, annually, daily and hourly,
for the