GOVERNMENT VINDICATED BY REBELS. 245 sentences from that Address are all that are necessary for our present purpose. When the State makes wicked laws, contradicting the eternal principles of rectitude, the Church is at liberty to testify against them, and humbly to petition that they may be repealed. In like manner, if the Church becomes seditious, and a disturber of the peace, THE STATE HAS A RIGHT TO ABATE THE NUISANCE. That is good doctrine, and we commend it to Dr. Robinson's acceptance. It comes from a man for whom he has always, with ourselves, had a high admiration. And besides, it is the doctrine of the whole "Confederate General Assembly," for this Address was "unanimously adopted by the Assembly." It is true, indeed, that they write their own condemnation, for no nation under heaven ever tolerated a class of men within it who were more "seditious," and were more influential "disturbers of the peace," than these same men have been during this whole rebellion; but that does not affect the matter; it is sound doctrine, nevertheless. We insist, then, that the case shall be tried upon their own principles. The Government has done nothing more than carry out the law as here laid down. If any fact is well established, it is that the mass of the Southern Churches, led by their ministers, have gone heart and soul into the rebellion and the war against the Government. These Churches have been recruiting agents for the rebel armies, and many of their ministers are now commissioned officers in them. For this course of the Southern Church, the Government, upon their own showing, "has a right to abate the nuisance." This only is what it is doing, and the manner of the abatement is mild and gentle, infinitely more so than what simple justice would sanction, but probably dictated by sound policy. It merely forbids these "seditious" men and "disturbers of the peace" to occupy the pulpits they have profaned, and turns them over to men who will preach the Gospel instead of treason, and who will enjoin obedience to lawful authority instead of rebellion against it. Its course stands approved by the laws of God and man, as these laws are understood by the rebels themselves. It is condemned by certain men in the Border States and elsewhere, because they are hostile to the Government and in sympathy with its enemies. We have now shown, in a few examples, that there is disloyalty of the rankest kind among the ministers of the Gospel in some parts of the loyal States. These cases will serve to illustrate others. That such deeds should be permitted, is proof of the leniency of the Government; that they should pursue such a course, is proof of their deep guilt, and of their utter insensibility to the prime obligations of citizenship. We shall see, in a subsequent chapter, how such things are regarded, and what punishment is justly due them, in the judgment of their Southern friends. THE CHURCH ON DISLOYALTY. 247 CHAPTER VII. THE CHURCH, NORTH AND SOUTH, ON DISLOYALTY. THE Contest in which the nation is now engaged for its life, has brought into discussion, both among politicians and churchmen, many important principles regarding men's duties and rights under civil government. Among them are the relations of the Church and the State, in the different spheres marked out for them by that divine authority on which, as organizations, they both rest; and the responsibilities and immunities of citizens in regard to their civil and religious character. The principles involved in these branches of the general subject are always theoretically important. At the present moment, within the United States, they are more practically and vitally so than they have ever been before. They affect more numerous classes, a greater multitude of individuals, and more widely extended interests, relating to the political, social, and moral welfare of the whole people, in every section of the country, than has been the case at any previous period in our history. Personal liberty, of speech, of the press, and of action; reputation and character for good citizenship and for piety on the one hand, and a wreck of these on the other; property, and even the means of earning one's bread and educating one's family; the good or bad name which a man will consign as a heritage to his children; the punishment from the authorities of his country, if he prove false to her interests in a time of civil peril, or, if he escape that, the judgment which may overtake him from God; these are only the obvious bearings which the case presents. It is not our purpose to go into a full discussion of this broad subject in this place. Each branch of it would require more space than we can devote to the whole. There are a few points, however, which it is essential to consider, to meet the demands of the general object which this volume is designed to serve; and these we propose to view chiefly in a practical rather than a theoretical light, and to note the principle which is sanctioned from the action which is taken upon it. ALL MEN SUBJECT TO CIVIL AUTHORITY. The authority of civil government extend to all men, and all organizations of men. It rests ultimately upon the fact that civil society is ordained of God. This is declared in His word. The first civil duty of every citizen, therefore, is to render obedience to the lawful government under which he lives. When he violates this duty, he puts himself without the pale of its protection, and renders himself liable to punishment. There can be no exception, in either of these aspects,-as to the duty, or the consequences of failure to discharge it,-in the case of any persons or classes of persons. These are obvious truths, and are commonly admitted. OBEDIENCE TO CIVIL AUTHORITY A RELIGIOUS DUTY. If civil society is ordained of God, and if civil government derives its authority from Him, then obedience to civil rulers is not only a civil but a religious obligation; and hence it follows, that any infraction of this duty, either in omission or commission, is not only an offence against the laws of the land, but is a sin against God. Here, likewise, there are no exemptions. The religious as well the civil sanction binds all men, whether they believe in God or deny Him, whether they have religious affections MINISTERS TO PREACH SUBJECTION. 249 or are corrupt. The obligation is perfect, and if disregarded or violated, the sin is complete; and they rest upon God's ordinance, and not upon men's views of it or their feelings in regard to it. An atheist is bound to render obedience to civil authority as really as any one else, and if he falls short of this he sins as really as any other person. His unbelief can neither destroy his obligation nor cancel his guilt. While this is so, the weight of obligation and the heinousness of guilt may be affected by men's light and advantages. This all men admit, and this the Scriptures teach. Hence, a man who has been taught from childhood to render religious obedience to civil authority, and in whose soul dwells the power of divine grace,—who recognizes the full weight of Christian obligation in all things, and gives to it the voluntary homage of his heart,-is deemed a far more guilty man, when he commits treason against his country, than is he who commits the same crime and yet who has enjoyed none of these advantages, but has been sunk in ignorance and corrupting immoralities all his life. This doctrine commends itself to every man's common sense, and has the sanction of Scripture. MINISTERS TO PREACH SUBJECTION. The same doctrine holds good in the practical application of the principle to ministers of the Gospel. They with all other men are bound to render religious obedience to the civil authority. But in the sight of God, simple obedience on their part, while a high duty in itself, is at the lowest point in the scale in this class of their duties. They are not only to obey the powers that be, but they are in this to be an example to others; and, above all, they are to preach this truth to the people; to give instruction in all the principles of God's word in regard to obedience, to |
