Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/207



CHIEF DUTIES OF CHRISTIANS AS CITIZENS. 201

Honor, then, to those who shrink not from entering the arena as often as need calls, believing and being con- vinced that the violence of injustice will be brought to an end and finally give way to the sanctity of right and religion! They truly seem invested with the dignity of time-honored virtue, since they are strugghng to defend reUgion, and chiefly against the faction banded together to attack Christianity with extreme daring and without tiring, and to pursue with incessant hostility the Sovereign Pontiff, fallen into their power. But men of this high character maintain without wavering the love of obe- dience, nor are they wont to undertake anything upon their own authority. Now, since a like resolve to obey, combined with constancy and sturdy courage, is needful, so that whatever trials the pressure of events may bring about, they may be deficient in nothing,^ We greatly desire to fix deep in the minds of each one that which Paul calls the wisdom of the spirit,'^ for in controlling human actions this wisdom follows the excellent rule of modera- tion, with the happy result that no one either timidly despairs through lack of courage or presumes over-much from want of prudence. There is, however, a difference between the political prudence that relates to the general good and that which concerns the good of individuals. This latter is shown forth in the case of private persons who obey the prompting of right reason in the direction of their ovm conduct ; while the former is the characteristic of those who are set over others, and chiefly of rulers of the State, whose duty it is to exercise the power of com- mand, so that the political prudence of private individuals would seem to consist wholly in carrying out faithfully the orders issued by lawful authority.^


 * James i. 4.


 * Rom. \'iii. 6.

' ' ' Prudence proceeds from reason, and to reason it specially per- tains to guide and govern. Whence it follows that insomuch as any one takes part in the control and government of affairs, in so far ought he to be gifted with reason and prudence. But it is