1848.] Civil Government. 93 Lynch law would soon put the offender out of existence. Acting from excitement, great injustice would generally be done, and cruel and unnatural punishments would be inflicted, and sometimes would fall upon the innocent. Civil government is just what common sense would dictate, and what the experience of mankind has always found to be necessary. Government is essential to all well-regulated communities, and would grow up from necessity among any people. Let us suppose that a man and his wife were shipwrecked upon an uninhabited island in the midst of the ocean, and were entirely ignorant of the existence of human government. Being the sole possessors of the island, and having no intercourse with the rest of the world, they would not at first see the necessity of any government. In a short time, another pair, as ignorant of all government as themselves, are cast upon the same island. Then the question of property would arise, and some arrangement would take place upon that subject. If at first they should adopt a community of goods, and agree to hunt and fish together, as their number increased, and their children arrived at manhood, they would, in all probability, separate into families, that each might manage its own affairs in its own way, and enjoy the fruits of its own industry. Living in separate families, there would naturally be a division of the soil or hunting-ground, which must be the subject of conventional arrangement. With the ordinary disposition of citizens, as their interests might come in competition, disputes would arise; and these must either be decided by brute force, or be referred to some arbiter, if one could be agreed upon. But the parties, being excited, would find it difficult, in some cases, to agree upon an arbiter. This would naturally lead to the selection of a general arbiter or judge, for all cases where the parties could not agree. It would also be found necessary to adopt some rules and regulations by which the arbiter should be governed; otherwise he might be partial, and do injustice to one of the parties. And as cases should arise for which they had no established rule, they would be led to make provision for the prevention or settlement of such cases in future. Rules would be multiplied, and regulations adopted, as new cases arose, or the wants of the people demanded. Thus we should find civil government growing up among the inhabitants of this island from necessity. If the people were sufficiently intelligent to understand their own interests, this would take But a rude and ignorant peo place as a matter of course. ple would be quite as likely to resort to brute force in cases of controversy; this would lead to war, when some master spirit, who had distinguished himself in the contest, would place himself at the head of the victorious party, and become the lawgiver of the people. But as no one man could attend to all the affairs of state in person, he would be compelled to organize some form of government, for the purpose of conducting the affairs of his kingdom. In either case, a human government would exist from the necessity of the case. Such has been the experience of every people, and such, we venture to predict, will be the fact in all coming ages. a Now, if the Bible were silent upon this subject, if it taught nothing, even by implication, in relation to the necessity of civil government, no rational man could entertain a doubt respecting it. The very nature which God has given us not only suggests, but requires, civil institutions; and the duty of establishing and maintaining them is just as important and as binding as though it were enjoined on every page of Scripture. But we maintain that the revealed will of God, as contained in the Scriptures, not only allows, but justifies and demands, the establishment and maintenance of civil institutions. If we look at the Old Testament, we shall see the Deity leaving his throne in the heavens, and coming down to establish a civil government among his chosen people, government containing a criminal code and a civil code, extending to all classes of crimes, and to the most minute police regulations. This government and these laws were established to guard the rights, preserve the peace, and promote the happiness of the people. The obligations there recognized, and the duties there enjoined, grew, in a great measure, out of the relations which society created, out of the social state of man. And if we look at the New Testament, we shall see that this last, best gift of God to man does not annul civil institutions. Christ, it is true, abrogated "the legal dispensation," as such; but he did not discard the moral elements which lay at the foundation of the Mosaic Law. dissolved the Levitical priesthood, but he retained and perfected all that was moral and spiritual in the worship of Je - He He abrogated the Jewish theocracy; but he handed over to the nations of the earth the whole department of civil institutions. He came not to destroy the Law, in any moral sense, but to enforce its obligations by higher and more holy 1848.] Argument from Scripture. 95 sanctions. He could not, therefore, revoke any of those obligations which grow out of the relations we sustain to God, to one another, and to society. The civil department of the Jewish dispensation was founded on the principle, that, living in a social state, man sustains relations and owes duties to his brother-man; and as long as man lives in society, these relations and duties must exist. The Jewish law recognized the principle, that each individual has certain rights and privileges, which no other can rightfully invade; and as long as these rights and privileges appertain to man, civil government will be necessary for his protection. In fact, as long as men live in society, as long as they have passions which they do not restrain, as long as they are imperfect beings, government and laws will be found necessary. The same causes which required civil government in the days of Moses require it under the Gospel. It may not be necessary to affix the same penalty to a law now, as was found expedient in ruder states of society; but government and laws are essential in every age of the world. Hence the Gospel as well as the Law, Christ no less than Moses, requires the establishment and maintenance of civil institutions. The Apostle expressly declares, that "the powers that be are ordained of God," and that the civil ruler is "the minister of God for good, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.' If we are right in the view we have taken, it follows, with all the force of moral demonstration, that civil institutions are not only allowed, but absolutely required, by the Supreme Lawgiver of the universe. This doctrine, as we have seen, grows necessarily out of that social and moral nature which God has given us, and is fully sustained by the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. The very law of love, which non-resistants appear to think supersedes human governments, absolutely requires their establishment. In the Divine law, man's love to himself is recognized, and is made the measure of his love to others : "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Now, if a man loves himself, in the Christian sense of that term, he will set up such institutions as will protect him in his life, liberty, and property, as will give him the greatest amount of civil, social, and moral enjoyment, consistent with the rights and interests of others. He will institute such a government, and enact such laws, as will enable him best to develop his powers, and bring him into the closest communion with his Maker. And if he loves his neighbour as himself, he will set up these same institutions for his neighbour's good. He cannot be said to "love the Lord his God with all his heart," unless he uses all the means which God has put in his power to improve himself and society, and so augment the sum of human happiness. Thus the two great commands, the summary of the Old Testament and the essence of the New, - instead of being hostile to civil governments, lay us under the most solemn obligation to establish and maintain them. We have dwelt longer upon this part of our subject than would otherwise be necessary, because we believe that our position, that God requires human governments, is fatal to the theory of non-resistance. We have endeavoured to show that civil government is designed by God, and grows necessarily out of the wants of associated man. If this be true, human government, in some form, is designed as a perpetual institution, and hence must be invested with all the powers necessary for self-preservation. It must, to answer the end for which it was designed, possess the power of defending itself and protecting its citizens, of preventing the greatest amount of evil, and of producing the greatest amount of good. It must be clothed with authority to make all laws which the condition of the people may require, and to enforce them with such penalties as may seem best calculated to secure the great end for which it was instituted. In a word, government must be invested with sovereign power. It has, and from the nature of the case must have, the right of selfdefence, even if it be by the sword. To deny to government the power of self-defence is practically to defeat the whole object for which it was instituted. Government could neither fulfil the appointment of Heaven, nor promote the welfare of the people, if it were shorn of this vital, selfsustaining prerogative. As the wants of the people demand a government, so they demand the exercise of every power necessary for its preservation. Civil institutions being a blessing to society, every thing indispensable to their preservation must, all things considered, be viewed in the same light. Even war, great as that calamity is, when undertaken in strict self-defence, is justifiable. It is a means, painful and terrific, of averting a greater evil, anarchy, or unconditional servitude. On the same principle, every sovereignty has power over the property, the liberty, and lives of its citizens. The property of an individual must yield to the paramount interest 1848.] Protection of Government. 97 of the community, they rendering him a just compensation. When an individual becomes dangerous to the community, that community have a right to abridge his liberty; and when an individual levies war against the government or its citizens, that government has the right, in virtue of its sovereignty, to take the life of the individual. These powers should not be exercised for slight or trivial causes; but when an exigency arises, and the question is presented, whether the government shall be overthrown, and the whole people exposed to all the evils of anarchy and bloodshed, or the author of all this intended misery shall be put to death, there can be no doubt of the rightful power of the government to take the life of the offender. It grows out of the right of self-defence, or, in other words, of self-preservation. We admit that taking life is, in the abstract, an evil; but viewed in connection with the good of society, it is what enlightened benevolence requires. Mr. Ballou himself allows that amputating a limb, though an evil in the abstract, is justifiable, on the ground that the limb has become a nuisance, and its removal may save the life of the individual. So society has the right to cut off one of its members that has become incurably diseased, in order to preserve the health and save the life of the body politic. To controvert this principle is to arraign the administration of the Almighty; for in the government of the world we see this doctrine daily exhibited. The Divine authority of human government teaches another important lesson, which is repugnant to Mr. Ballou's theory. We have already seen that society creates certain relations, and these relations impose certain duties; and these are, of course, binding upon each member of the community. Men living in society can no more escape from the responsibilities of citizens, than they can escape from the responsibility they are under to God. The vague notion entertained by nonresistant Come-outers, that they can live in society, and partake of all the blessings of good government, without incurring any obligation to sustain the government, is preposterous. It is founded on gross selfishness, and is at war with some of the first principles of Gospel morality. It is true, they pretend that they ask no favors of the government, and seek no protection from the magistrate. But all such persons must know that the government throws its protecting ægis over every person, without any application on his part. These men hold property under the laws of the land, and en 9 |