and rural populations, created the more extended forms of monarchical and republican government. The combination of republican and monarchical ideals gave rise to what are known as limited or constitutional monarchies. The sway of one ruler or one centralized government over peoples who had enjoyed an independent national life gave rise to the fact, and the theory, of the Empire. All these classes of state organization have existed in forms too numerous to be named or described in these pages.

That which stands out as an indubitable fact is that some kind of State, some measure and form of centralized government, is essential to the wellbeing and the moral development of mankind. Even if men were sinless, agreements would have to be reached, arrangements formally made and publicly announced, operations would have to be directed, from a central authority for the organization of the activities of men in their united concerns. The alternative to state government is not freedom, but chaos.

When we remember that man is inherently selfseeking, that this gives rise as a well-observed fact to universal selfishness, with all its results in vice, cruelty, deceit, greed, and their miserable consequences, we see that a central authority, which means a recognized tribunal of justice, the execution of penalties upon wrong-doing, is

absolutely essential. Only so can order of the most primitive character be established and those conditions secured in which the moral progress as well as the physical well-being of man can be made possible. Hegel, in an interesting passage, has used the illustration of a house. As wind and fire and water are used to build the house, whose object is to defend the dwellers in it against these natural forces, so the State is erected out of the passions and desires of the individual to defend the nation against them. Undisciplined, they are destructive of the nation; coordinated and controlled by law and force, they contribute to its richer life.1

"The principle of the State is the idea of Right. This does not mean that the State is the sole administrator of justice on earth; justice has also a place in the family and its discipline, in the Church, and in the life of the individual. But it administers public right, and has to express it by means of compulsion and with the certainty of a national force." 2

2. From the very beginnings of history the existence and authority of the State have been connected with the religious faith and life of every people. All kingly prerogatives have been traced to the will of the god whom the tribe or the nation

1 Hegel, "Philosophy of History." Trans. by Sibree, pp. 28, 29. * Dorner, "Christian Ethics." Trans., p. 558.

worshiped. It is natural that in the course of thought upon the subject it should become clear that much superstition was mixed up with this idea. Low ideas and primitive ideas of man and of his relations to the Creator and Lord of his life must color his conception of the State and its function. But this does not lead inevitably to the conclusion that the will of God has no relation to the existence and work of the State. It is true, we cannot hold that the chief of his tribe is in direct communication with the divine, from whom he receives immediate revelations of his duty and of the coming fortunes of his people. Nor can we fail to see defects in the view held by ancient Israel concerning the nature of the theocracy under which the noble leaders and inspired prophets of that race strove to guide the destinies and mould the character of that people. The view that God Himself announced in a supernatural way all the explicit and detailed laws of a nation cannot be maintained. But this by no means implies that the State exists outside the will of God, nor that the will of God has no relation to the development of its political and legal system.3

It must be insisted that any principle of con

The State as a Divine Institution: "The State is neither a divine creation of God nor something that is wholly secular; but it is a human product resting on a divine basis, and thus has both a divine and a human side." Dorner, "Christian Ethics." Trans., P. 555.

duct which springs from the nature of man and of that world in which he lives is essentially divine. It is an ordinance of God. The working out of that principle is indeed largely in the power of man. It is the very law of his nature that he can do what he ought to do and become what he ought to be only by discovering the needs of action and the ideals of character, by the exercise of his mind, by response to his inherent instincts and impulses and appetites. But it is also a law of his nature that the discovery of his ideals, the control and right use of his instincts and appetites, the development of his character, have never been possible without some vision of the divine law and the consciousness of relation to the divine will.

3. The State exists as the organization of a people, for the promotion of their entire well-being. Its form may change, but the end must always be the same. When this aim is lost sight of and the well-being of a dynasty or a regnant class is promoted at the cost of the community as a whole, the rulers will in course of time be overthrown and either new men take their place, and do better or worse, or the very form of government may be changed in hope of a worthier result for the mass of the people. Tyranny exercised by an autocracy, or corrupt government conducted by a representative legislature and executive, always interfere with that "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" which

are the fundamental rights of the people as a whole. The extent of that interference, when we take account also of the intelligence and virility of the nation, determines the hour of a revolution. At some point the intolerable limit is reached, and the seats of the mighty are cast down. History abundantly proves that such changes, whether violent or gradual and orderly, arise from the judgment of the people, from the working of their deep, instinctive demand for justice, freedom, and peace, that they may enjoy the fruits of their labor and secure the ideals of happiness which they cherish.

The State, then, must exist for the good of the individual and the mass of individuals which compose it. These must be protected against one another and against their enemies from without. Laws are made and executed, not to destroy, but to establish the freedom and selfhood of the citizen. Right laws are not restrictive, except upon selfishness and criminal intent. They are intended either to forbid wrongdoing or to lay down the rules, mark out the relations, which will enable all the citizens most fully to develop their individual powers and attain their lawful ambitions.

Now the fact that men are selfish and so many are vicious makes it necessary for the State to use physical force to secure the ends for which it exists. In an immoral world it is the moral duty of the State to use force. It is basic to all other