Naboth's Vineyard
attitude was firm, and one could mark no uncertainty upon him, but he took no step to obey what the Judge commanded.
The Judge cried out at him in a terrible voice.
"I am the representative of the law here. Go on!"
The sheriff was a plain man, and unacquainted with the nice expressions of Mr. Jefferson, but his answer could not have been better if that gentleman had written it out for him.
"I would obey the representative of the law," he said, "if I were not in the presence of the law itself!"
The Judge rose. "This is revolution," he said; "I will send to the Governor for the militia."
It was Nathaniel Davisson who spoke then. He was very old and the tremors of dissolution were on him, but his voice was steady.
"Sit down, your Honor," he said, "there is no revolution here, and you do not require troops to support your authority. We are here to support it if it ought to be lawfully enforced. But the people have elevated you to the Bench because they believed in your integrity, and if they have been mistaken they would know it." He paused, as though to collect his strength, and then went on. "The presumptions of right are all with your Honor. You administer the law upon our authority and we stand behind you. Be assured that we will not suffer our authority to be insulted in your person." His voice grew deep
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