Senator Lucius V. Bierce: "God and nature have given me the right.–No human Constitution or law can take it away.”

Ohio State Senator Lucius V. Bierce, “To give a right construction to a constitution, or a law, reference is generally had to the contemporary acts of persons engaged in framing them, or who, from their position or talents, are supposed to know the spirit of the Constitution, or law, and of the intention of those who framed and adopted it. . . . The right of self-defence is a right that God has given to every individual; it is a right which is higher than any Constitution, and which no Constitution can take away. . . . God and nature have given me the right.–No human Constitution or law can take it away.”, March 21, 1863