diversified forms of Government may require, implies a mind conversant with political science no less than with Christian theology.

Civil

In examining the only infallible standard of right practice, we find that the scriptures prescribe obedience in the civil, as well as natural relations of life. They enjoin it as due to our temporal rulers, not from any inherent personal sanctity, but by virtue of their office. The original of the Prince's power is divine. society is the condition to which God has, from the beginning, destined man; and consequently the submission of the citizen to government, without which society could not exist, is no other than a submission to the will of God. Hence government is coeval with mankind, and is denominated by that eminent statesman Burke, an 'institution of divine authority!' The scriptures do not prescribe any particular mode of government, or define what constitutes a lawful governor, or to what precise extent obedience is due under all possible contingencies: its modifications are the work of human policy: but when such fundamental points are adjusted, Christianity interposes her sanction, and requires us to submit to the higher powers for conscience' sake. Their jurisdiction is of God, though it does not involve a divine, indefeasable right, or an immediate nomination from

heaven similar to what was experienced under the Jewish theocracy. An hereditary right to the throne does not imply,' says Blackstone,

a right a jure divino. Such a right may be allowed to have subsisted under the theocratic establishments of the children of Israel in Palestine, but it never yet subsisted in any other country, save only so far as kingdoms, like other human fabrics, are subject to the general and ordinary dispensations of providence.'"The hereditary right which the laws of England acknowledge, owes its origin to the founders of our constitution, and to them only.'-It appears, that all government is, in such a restricted sense, a divine institution, that the submission of the citizen is a principal branch of that religious duty which each man owes to his maker. The moral obligation to obedience arises exclusively from the authority of God, who wills the civilization and social happiness of man, and demands a faithful allegiance to the Sovereign Power, which His Providence shall, by whatever means, have set over him. Hence the divine right of government to the citizen's obedience; nor can it be withheld, without great guilt; for the denial of it is treason against the paramount authority of God. And we find, in perfect agreement with this statement, that submission is in strong, deter

minate, and unequivocal terms, enforced to civil institutions, as sanctioned by heaven, and the duty is solemnly bound upon the conscience, and not left to the vague and circuitous reasonings of political wisdom and expediency. It is indeed, the dictate of natural justice that we should conform to established regulations, in things originally indifferent; and practise not only that which is commanded, because right, but also that which is right, because commanded. Properly speaking, the magistrate does not oblige the conscience to obey the law, but God obliges the conscience to obey the magistrate.

Extreme and perilous cases may occur, which do not fall within the contemplation of the law, and for which no legislative provision has been made. These alarming phenomena call for eccentric remedies :-arising out of an uncontrollable and paramount necessity, they must be regulated by it, and according to the lights of analogy, (if any exist,) and under a full and practical recognition of sound, constitutional principles. These principles will repress an insurgent and turbulent spirit,—and constrain us to weigh, with a prospective deliberation, the ultimate consequences of actions, and to endeavour by an enlightened and comprehensive system of policy, to direct the impending storm

(which could not be averted,) and to educe from its conflicting elements, materials for future improvement. May our political hemisphere be thus purified by the adverse winds, to which it has been exposed, and England's sun continue to shine with augmented splendor!

An acknowledgment of the true basis of government, the Will of God, and not that of the multitude, is the best security for such conduct. Government is not to be regarded, according to the theory of some writers, as a common contract; neither is law to be confounded with counsel. Counsel is only matter of persuasion; Law is matter of injunction. Counsel acts only upon the willing, law upon the unwilling also. It is called a rule,' says Blackstone, to distinguish it from a compact or agreement; for a compact is a promise proceeding from us; law is a command directed to us. The language of a compact is, I will, or will not, do this; that of the law, is, thou shalt, or shalt not do it. It is true there is an obligation, which a contract carries with it, equal in point of conscience, to that of law; but then the original of the obligation is different. In compacts we ourselves determine and promise what shall be done, before we are obliged to it: In laws we are obliged to act without ourselves determining or promising any thing at

all. To build the authority of princes, or of the chief magistrate, upon any compact or agreement between the individuals of a multitude, living previously in a state of nature, is to build,' observes Bishop Horsley, 'a reality upon a fiction. That a majority obliges a minority, or that posterity are bound by acts of their progenitors, are sacred and inviolable maxims in civil society, but out of it, have no existence.?

This theory of government,' remarks Paley, 'would merit little discussion, did it not lead to conclusions unfavourable to the security and welfare of society, and serve extremely to embarrass the deliberations of the legislature, and afford a dangerous pretence for disputing the authority of the laws. Every violation of this visionary compact on the part of the governor,. releases the subject from his allegiance, and dissolves the government. In private contracts, the violation or non performance of the conditions of one of the parties, vacates the obligation of the other, and by analogy must have the same effect upon the social compact,―a doctrine pregnant with danger, inconsistent with the stability of every political fabric in the world, and has, in fact, always supplied the disaffected with a topic of seditious declamation. You will no where find the terms and articles of the social compact extant or expressed.