On general principles of law and reason, all the oaths which, since the
war, have been given by Southern men, that they will obey the laws of
Congress, support the Union, and the like, are of no validity. Such
oaths are invalid, not only because they were extorted by military
power, and threats of confiscation, and because they are in
contravention of men's natural right to do as they please about
supporting the government, _but also because they were given to nobody_.
They were nominally given to "the United States." But being nominally
given to "the United States," they were necessarily given to nobody,
because, on general principles of law and reason, there were no "United
States," to whom the oaths could be given. That is to say, there was no
open, authentic, avowed, legitimate association, corporation, or body of
men, known as "the United States," or as "the people of the United
States," to whom the oaths could have been given. If anybody says there
was such a corporation, let him state who were the individuals that
composed it, and how and when they became a corporation. Were Mr. A, Mr.
B, and Mr. C members of it? If so, where are their signatures? Where the
evidence of their membership? Where the record? Where the open,
authentic proof? There is none. Therefore, in law and reason, there was
no such corporation.
On general principles of law and reason, every corporation, association,
or organized body of men, having a legitimate corporate existence, and
legitimate corporate rights, must consist of certain known individuals,
who can prove, by legitimate and reasonable evidence, their membership.
But nothing of this kind can be proved in regard to the corporation, or
body of men, who call themselves "the United States." Not a man of them,
in all the Northern States, can prove by any legitimate evidence, such
as is required to prove membership in other legal corporations, that he
himself, or any other man whom he can name, is a member of any
corporation or association called "the United States," or "the people of
the United States," or, consequently, that there is any such
corporation. And since no such corporation can be proved to exist, it
cannot of course be proved that the oaths of Southern men were given to
any such corporation. The most that can be claimed is that the oaths
were given to a secret band of robbers and murderers, who called
themselves "the United States," and extorted those oaths. But that
certainly is not enough to prove that the oaths are of any obligation.