VII. Duties of Magistrates and Subjects; or, of Officers of Government, and Citizens.

(a.) Preliminary Discussion.

649. Duties of this class, like those of masters and servants, are founded on mutual compact; because, with the exception of parents and children, between whom nature itself has established an inequality, all men possessed of reason are naturally equal in respect of personal rights, and become subject to others either by violence, which establishes no moral obligation to submission, or by their own consent, virtually or explicitly given.

Whether Civil Government is a Human or Divine Institution.

650. Although the Scripture gives its general sanction to civil government, as necessary to the existence and good order of society, it still calls it an ordinance of man (1 Pet. ii. 13); signifying that it is a human institution, and consequently that, as in the government of masters, its claim to obedience is not established by force, but by law. The jus divinum of governments, when rationally explained, can only mean that the subjects should submit to their authority.

Yet civil government is also (Rom. xiii. 2) called an ordinance of God, and the "powers that be" are said to be ordained of God. Comparing this with what has been said above it would seem that, according to Scripture, civil government is of divine appointment, and magistrates in the exercise of their lawful authority are, by the command of God, to be obeyed. The institution, is of God yet the form, is human. Hence disobedience to just civil authority, is disobedience to God. The language of Paul in Rom. xiii is, "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers; for there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation" (punishment).

Other portions of the same chapter require to be consulted, in order to understand the will of God relating to the duties now under consideration.

Design and proper Scope of Civil Government.

651. "Rulers are not a terror to good works, but to

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the evil;" "for he (the magistrate) is the minister (servant) of God to thee for good;" "if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain, for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath (punishment) upon him that doeth evil."

The design of God, then, in the appointment of civil rulers, which he has provided for, is, to secure the good of society by the preservation of order and morality; and this is the primary object, in the administration or enactment of laws, which rulers, as such, are allowed and required to pursue. Civil government, according to this view, is designed to uphold the interests of justice and humanity by the punishment of evil doers; and on this account, as well as on account of divine appointment for this purpose, is to be supported, honored, and obeyed.

How far Civil Rulers are to be obeyed.

652. (1.) In general it may be said, that no government is lawful which does not exist with the formal or virtual consent of the people; and that a despotic government is a usurpation.

(2.) The obedience of subjects or citizens is limited by the laws of the land. No man is morally bound to submit to the arbitrary will of an individual, because he is called a king, any more than because he is called a master, or to the will of a lawful magistrate, when he orders anything contrary to the law of the land. The moment he steps beyond the boundary of law, he loses his official character, and becomes a private man or a tyrant.

(3.) The obedience of subjects, or citizens, like that of servants, is limited by the law of God. When civil rulers presume to command what He has forbidden, or to forbid what He has commanded, they become rebels against the chief magistrate of this earth, and of the universe, and have no claim, therefore, to our obedience; for the apostolic principle is, "We ought to obey God rather than

men."

(4.) So far as a government patronizes good works, and punishes such as are evil, so far as it answers the proper end of its institution by maintaining order, and justice, and peace, in civil society, it is entitled to submission; but when, instead of protecting, it oppresses the people, we can be no more bound in conscience to recognize it

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as lawful, than we are to acknowledge as a minister of Christ, the man who teaches fundamental error in doctrine, and licentiousness in practice.

653. The right of deciding when the duty of obedience ceases, and of resistance to civil authority begins, must belong, obviously, not to the ruler, but to the subject. The early Christians decided for themselves in certain cases when it was proper to resist the civil authorities of the land; and so must the citizens of any government.

When the proper design of government is systematically and repeatedly perverted; or where the form of it is incompatible with the design of its institution, the governed must have a right to remedy the evil. But they cannot have the moral right to remedy one evil by the production of a greater. And, therefore, as there are few greater evils than instability and uncertainty in governments, the cases in which revolutions are justifiable must be exceedingly rare.

Interference of Civil Government in matters of Religion.

654. The proper sphere of civil government is that of the civil and social relations of men, and their temporal welfare. Religion and morality, as such, are not within the legitimate sphere of the civil authority. To justify the interference of the civil government, therefore, it must be made out, that an opinion, or a religion, is not only false, but that its prevalence is incompatible with the rights of those members of the community who are not embraced within its communion, before the civil authority can be authorized to interfere for its suppression. It is then to be suppressed, not as a religion, but as a public nuisance.

We do not find in the New Testament any commands addressed to magistrates with regard to the suppression of heresies; nor, on the other hand, do we meet with any directions to the church, to interfere with matters pertaining to the civil government. [Dr. Hodge on Romans.]

The simple province of civil government, with regard to religion, is to protect its citizens in the liberty to worship God according to the dictates of conscience with the single limitation just expressed. It has no right beyond this to meddle with religious opinions or practices. Free toleration of all religions, except those which can be

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proved, in a social respect, to be public nuisances, is the law of the Scriptures, and the practice of our own happy form of government.

History of the Contest between Civil Rulers and Subjects.

655. The doctrines respecting the rights of civil rulers, and the line which is to be drawn between their powers and the rights of conscience, have been slow to be understood. The struggle has been long; and a thousand persecutions have shown the anxiety of the magistrate to rule the conscience and to control religion. In pagan countries it has been conceded that the civil ruler had a right to control the religion of the people; church and state there have been one. The same thing was attempted under Christianity. The magistrate still claimed this right, and attempted to enforce it. Christianity resisted the claim, and asserted the independent and original rights of conscience. A conflict ensued, of course, and the magistrate resorted to persecutions to subdue by force the claims of the new religion and the rights of conscience. Hence the ten fiery and bloody persecutions of the primitive church. The blood of the early Christians flowed like water; thousands and tens of thousands went to the stake, until Christianity triumphed, and the right of religion to a free exercise was acknowledged throughout the empire.

It is matter of devout gratitude to God that the subject is now settled, and the principle is now understood. In our own land there exists the happy and bright illustration of the true principle on this great subject. The rights of conscience are regarded, and the laws peacefully obeyed. The civil ruler understands his province; and Christians yield a cheerful obedience to the laws. The church and state move on in their own spheres, united only in the purpose to make men happy and good; and divided only as they relate to different departments, and contemplate, the one the rights of civil society, the other the interests of eternity. Thanks should be rendered without ceasing to the God of our fathers for the wondrous train of events by which this contest has been conducted to its issue; and for the clear and full understanding which we now have of the different departments pertaining to the church and the state. [Barnes on Romans.]

(b.) Duties of Rulers.

656. The duty of magistrates and rulers, is to govern according to the principles of natural equity and the particular laws of the land; to render obedience to those laws themselves, and to exact obedience of those over whom their just control extends. They are required to enact just laws, and those which are in accordance with the laws of God (if legislative power belongs to them), and to execute them impartially, if executive power be confided to them. They are to guard the rights of citizens; and faithfully to execute justice, in all things and to all men, without regard to wealth, rank, relationship, or party, that they may be a terror to evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well. They are not to infringe upon the rights of their subjects or constituents, by dictating religious sentiments, or prescribing_religious forms, or coercing to any religious practices. Toleration and protection are impartially to be extended to all sorts of religionists, except when such practices are indulged by any as may be fairly proved to be demoralizing, and pernicious to the interests of society.

They are to respect the laws of God, as well as the constitution of their country under which they act, and to exert an influence favorable to good morals and piety.

It is their duty to maintain order and peace, to patronize arts and sciences, to encourage virtue, and discourage vice, so far as their lawful influence extends.

They are to remember that they were appointed to office and power, not for their own advantage, but for the good of society, and that the latter and not the former is to be the paramount object of pursuit while they hold a public office. They are to be the fathers of their people, and thus merit their respect and willing obedience. self-seeker in the person of a public guardian, is the just abhorrence of both God and man. A public magistrate ought to have a public soul; and if he cannot or will not expand it to the extent of the public interest, with whose guardianship he is honored, he ought forthwith to retreat back from the honors of public life, within the circumference of his own little self."

[Winslow on Civil and Social Duties.] They are also to remember that they are not only, especially under our republican government, the servants