Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/413

 vidual, but  expressly  conceded  to  the  State. St. Paul counsels obedience  to  civil  authority  as  to  God's  ordinance for  (Rom.  xiii.  4)  "  he  [the  king]  beareth  not the  sword  in  vain,  but  is  God's  avenging  minister  to execute  wrath  upon  the  evil,"  and  St. John (Apoc. xiii.  10)  reiterates  the  law  that  "  he  that  shall  kill  by the  sword,  shall  be  killed  by  the  sword." Such testimony, though  brief,  is  clear  and  convincing,  for  the Scriptures are  as  little  likely  to  contradict  themselves as they  are  to  countenance  a  "  relic  of  barbarity."

Brethren, another  objection  to  capital  punishment aims at  the  right  of  the  State  to  inflict  it. The powers of  government,  it  is  argued,  are  derived  from  or through  the  people,  and  so  cannot  exceed  those  the people themselves  enjoy. Certainly the  exercise  by a  private  individual  of  retributive  justice  to  the  extent of  taking  human  life  is  never  lawful,  and  it  is doubtful  if  the  presence  of  even  seventy  millions  of Americans  would  legalize  a  lynching. Few will  deny the soldier's  right  to  kill  his  country's  enemies,  or  the citizen's to  slay  his  assailant,  provided  each  observe a moderation  consistent  with  a  blameless  self-defence, but  apart  from  such  like  exceptions  the  right to punish  with  death  does  not  reside  with  the  people. Does this,  then,  prove  that  no  such  right  exists? By no  means. What it  does  prove  is  the  falsity  of our  theory  regarding  the  origin  of  civil  authority, and the  truth  of  St. Paul's teaching  (Rom.  xiii.  1) that "  there  is  no  power  but  from  God,  and  those that  are,  are  ordained  of  God." Disgusted with  Old World absolutism  and  the  doctrine  of  the  divine