Page:Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission.djvu/54

 A PEOPLE, really oppreed to a great degree by their overeign, cannot well be inenible when they are o oppreed. And uch a people (if I may allude to an ancient fable) have, like the heperian fruit, a DRAGON

worhip and dicipline) of a pure and divine religion, brought from heaven to earth by the Son of God, (the only King and Head of the Chritian church) and propagated through the world by his inpired apotles. All commands running counter to the declared will of the upreme legilator of heaven and earth, are null and void: And therefore diobedience to them is a duty, not a crime. —Another thing that may be aerted with equal truth and afety, is, That no government is to be ubmitted to, at the expene of that which is the ole end of all government,—the common good and afety of ociety. Becaue, to ubmit in this cae, if it hould ever happen, would evidently be to et up the means as more valuable, and above, the end: than which there cannot be a greater olecim and contradiction. The only reaon of the intitution of civil government; and the only rational ground of ubmiion to it, is the common afety and utility. If therefore, in any cae, the common afety and utility would not be promoted by ubmiion to government, but the contrary, there is no ground or motive for obedience and ubmiion, but, for the contrary.

coniders the nature of civil government mut, indeed, be enible that a great degree of implicit confidence, mut unavoidably be placed in thoe that bear rule: this is implied in the very notion of authority's being originally a trut, committed by the people, to thoe who are veted with it, as all jut and righteous authority is; all beides, is mere lawles force and uurpation; neither God nor nature, having given any man a right of dominion over any ociety, independently of that ociety's approbation, and conent to be governed by him—Now as all men are fallible, it cannot be uppoed that the public affairs of any tate, hould be always adminitered in the bet manner poible, even by perons of the greatet widom and integrity. Nor is it ufficient to legitimate diobedience to the higher powers that they are not o adminitered; or that they are, in ome intances, very ill-managed; for upon this principle, it is carcely uppoeable that any government at all could be upported, or ubit. Such a principle manifetly tends to the diolution of government: and to throw all things into confuion and anarchy.—But it is equally evident, upon the other hand, that thoe in authority may abue their trut and power to uch a degree, that neither the law of reaon, nor of religion, requires, that any obedience or