ner prescribed in the seventh article ofrntlie Constitution, nor adopted as anrnamendment, as prescribed b the fifth article.rnBut, without the l^eclaration, thernConstitution would be nothing but an interestingrndocument.rnHie Constitution presupposes the pronouncementsrnof the Declaration, which,rntherefore, is like a preamble that may berncalled in aid of construction. The Constitutionrnpresupposes the 13 free and inde])rnendcnt states mentioned in the [declaration;rnwithout those, the Constitutionrncould not hae been adopted.rn'[‘he Constitution presupposes thernlaws of nature and nature’s Cod mentionedrnin the Declaration. Thus, authenticrninterpretation rejects legal positivismrnand secular humanism and rests on naturalrnlaw, given objective shape by centuriesrnof legal tradition.rnh’or the same reason, the unenumeratedrnrights protected by the ConstitutionrnnecessariU’ include those certain unalienablernrights mentioned in the Declaration.rnThose unalienable rights are definedrnin terms of the existence of GodrnWho ordained natural law, the spiritualrnessence of human nature assumed b’rnnahiral law, and other moral absolutes establishedrnby natural lav,-.rnBecause the Constitution presupposesrnthe Declaration, the fundamental law ofrnthe United States is an objectie truth,rnhowever far judges may stray from it, andrnthis truth does not prohibit prayer and religionrnin public schools, does not guaranteernabortion-on-demand as a sacred right,rnand does not demand legal recognitionrnof gay marriage. Nor does it glorify thernP>ench Revolution, or adopt the teachingsrnof Kreemasonrv, the Illuminati, orrnthe Enlightenment.rnDon Liingston is right: The Declarationrnis an ordinance of secession from thernBritish Empire. And because the Constitutionrnpresupposes the Declaration, thernstates of New England had a right to secedernfrom the Union in 1815, and thernstates of the South had a right to secedernfrom the Union in 1860-61.rnClyde Wilson speaks tiie melancholyrntruth: The Declaration has been bastardizedrnby the confused and weakmindedrninto something which Jeffersonrnnever had in mind. “All men are createdrnec|ual” has been especially perxerted. Jeffersonrnowned slaves, but treated themrnlovingly, as his equals in the ees of C^od,rnexactly as taught by St. Paul in the sixthrnHAS CHRONICLES DISAPPEAREDrnFROM YOUR LOCAL NEWSSTAND?rnWe want to make sure that, since we have justrnswitched distributors, Chronicles is carried byrnnewsstands and bookstores all across the country.rnPlease send tlie name, address, and phone numberrnof any potential retailers in your town to:rnCindy Linli, Circulation ManagerrnChroniclesrn928 N. Main St.rnRockford, IL 61103rnSubscriptions@ChroniclesMagazine.orgrnEvery month, we will draw the name of one readerrnwho has sent us the name of a store.rnThe lucky winner will receive a free one-yearrnextension to his subscription.rnchapter of Ephesians, and he became thernfather of the Southern abolition movement.rn—John Remington GrahamrnSt-Agapit, QuebecrnDr. Presser Replies:rnI’ll stick to my comments as made. ThernDeclaration qua document is no more arnpart of the U.S. Constitution than werernthe Articles of Confederation, the MagnarnCarta, the English Bill of Rights of 1689,rnthe colonial charters, or the many otherrndocuments of fundamental law that havernbeen with us since the Code of Hammurabi.rnNevertheless, I think a closernreading of my piece indicates my agreementrnwith Mr. Craham’s position thatrnthe natural-law theories on which thernf^eclaration was based are very much arnpart of our continuing constitutional jurisprudencernand our tradition, and I’m inrnagreement with most, if not all, of thernconclusions he draws from that tradition.rnOn True EducationrnChronicles crackles with goodness andrnexcitement, and I hope that one of theserndays I can send it something worth includingrneither in the magazine or in thernChronicles Extra! section of our website.rnI was introduced to Chronicles thanksrnto the “critique” the Weekly Standardrngave it back in 1996, right after Pat Buchanan’srnearly success in New Hampshirern(as an example of “the way those paleosrnthink”). It’s been a remarkable experiencerncoming to terms with the ideasrnand truths expressed in Chronicles andrneven just adjusting to its overall stle andrnformat. It has been a splendid “nonacademic”rneducation (meaning, of course,rnone that is genuine) to supplement thernver’ academic one I’ve been receiving asrna graduate student at Columbia (thoughrnI’m glad to report that the study of Russianrnliterature has remained remarkablyrnimmune to the poisons seeping in fromrnother departments and disciplines). As arnmatter of fact, if and when that timerncomes, I think I’ll give my son as a graduationrngift CDs of all of Bach’s cantatas, arncomplete Thackeray, and a four-year subscriptionrnto Chronicleslrn—John Freitag IshamrnNew York, NYrnOCTOBER 2001/5rnrnrn