Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 10.djvu/40



HE apostle having in many parts of this epistle given directions to Christians concerning the duty of subjection or obedience to superiours; in the several instances of the subject to the prince, the child to his parent, the servant to his master, the wife to her husband, and the younger to the elder; doth here, in the words of my text, sum up the whole, by advancing a point of doctrine, which at first may appear a little extraordinary; "Yea, all of you," saith he, "be subject one to another." For it should seem, that two persons cannot properly be said to be subject to each other, and that subjection is only due from inferiours to those above them: yet St. Paul hath several passages to the same purpose. For he exhorts the Romans, "in honour to prefer one another;" and the Philippians, "that in lowliness of mind they should each esteem other better than themselves;" and the Ephesians, "that they should submit themselves one to another in the fear of the "Lord."