and then perished. The second experiment combined much symmetry with a new feature of an important nature, the power of law. This was a marked advance upon the former. A wreath of flowers may be exquisitely beautiful, but can it restrain the frantic struggles of a madman? A glass palace, bedizzened with gold and bestudded with gems, may be exceedingly beautiful, but can it sustain the furious bombardment of a besieging army? Thus in government, mere beauty is not sufficient of itself to secure perpetuity. The boisterous heavings of human passion, and the terrific tempests of human selfishness, sooner or later defy and overleap such restraint. The addition, then, of the element of legal power, whose stern energies should restrain within defined boundaries, at least, the outward manifestations of human passion and selfishness, was a noble stride toward perfection. And we do not wonder that a government based upon this principle so long stood firm, giving hope of deathless perpetuity. It was like its own Coliseum, with its massive foundations, its stupendous columns, its vast capaciousness, the grandeur of whose ruins even now astonish the beholder.

"While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand,
When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall;
And when Rome falls-the World!"

The feelings of mankind are well expressed in this metrical version of an old prophecy. The Coliseum is now in ruins. Rome also is in ruins, but the World is not in ruins. The grand experiment has not yet been consummated, the sublime evolutions of ages have not yet reached their completion, and till this be true, great nature will calmly move forward in her simple and majestic operations.

And here we may notice one particular in which the figure of the statuary fails, when applied to these governmental experiments. It is in this; for many ages these systems were moving along parallel with each other, and not successively. Thus when Grecian Democracy perished, the Roman power was nearly at its zenith. Of course the real value of the

results in each case is not affected, since to all intents the two nations were isolated. We now enter upon an examination of the last experiment, which, for want of a more appro priate phrase, we choose to denominate Christian Republi

canism.

And here we would not fall into some common mistakes about the perfectibility of human government. It has already been remarked that the higher the mind soars, and the loftier its aspirations after its ideal perfection, the more deeply will it realize that this is found only in God. From the very nature of the case, this absolute perfection cannot be attained by creatures imperfect in knowledge and virtue. It seems an axiom, that knowledge commensurate with omniscience, and virtue pure as that enthroned in the heart of Deity, are essential to such a quality as absolute perfection. When perfection in government is mentioned, it is in a qualified and relative sense. The absolute perfection belongs only to that mighty sovereignty whose "flaming boundaries" encircle an infinity of worlds.

This last experiment belongs not to a single nation; it does not reach its perfection in a single age. Its constituent elements belong to man; they are the offspring of centuries, and all nations, directly or indirectly, have contributed to their evolution. These combined into a perfect, glorious, immortal whole, is the realized perfection in government. This experiment, in different forms, and by diverse processes, has been progressing ever since the formation of nations. According to the analogy of divine operations, ages were occupied in preparing mankind for a demonstration reaching onward through thousands of years. Sixteen centuries were employed in solving the problem of what men would be, given up to the unchecked control of vice. Then came the awful result in the whirlwind rush of tempests, the gathering fury of oceans, in an earth rent asunder, disgorging its fountains of wrath, in the stifled wail of a drowning race, whilst the Ark, with its sole representative of virtue, rode sublimely over a sepulchred world. The path of national as well as individual virtue

is hedged in with strong defences, and nations leaving that path will find broad but thorny roads leading down to ruin. The truth of this was demonstrated by the flood. Again the grand preparations were carried on for the noble experiment, and when all things were ready, its first developments were made in the history of God's chosen people. The scale upon which these things were conducted was worthy of Deity moving among men. No haste nor confusion is apparent. The movement was steady and glorious as the onward march of the sun, and when at length it was completed in the indescribable woes which burst upon the Holy City, a grand and most instructive chapter in human government was laid open before the nations. It is believed that the history of the Jews heretofore has not occupied so prominent a place in the science of government as it deserves; for this reason we crave pardon for dwelling at some length upon it, inasmuch as it has an important bearing upon our general subject.

Throughout the Jewish polity we witness one astonishing phenomenon, the union of two widely separated extremes. The democratic principle prevailed, and yet God was the Sovereign of the nation. Democracy and monarchy, in their purest forms, were combined. But we shall not be prepared justly to appreciate this government, without examining its fundamental principle. The concentrated energies of the created universe cannot produce so sublime and effective a principle. It comprehends the most distant extremes; it descends deep into the mysterious fountains of human action; it lays an authoritative hand not only upon actions apparent to human vision, but on the secret motions which no eye but God's can detect. This principle may thus be stated :-Every Jew was commanded to render heartfelt and perfect obedience to God as his King, and perfect affection to his fellow-subjects as brethren. We are not speaking in reference to the high awards of another world, upon which this principle exerts a determining influence. We refer to it simply as the controlling principle of a national government; and as such it has no parallel. It is wonderful. Its very face bears the signet

stamp of Deity. It bodies forth democracy in its divinest form, beautiful as ever filled the dreamy imagination of an enthusiast, whilst it concentrates all the executive energies of monarchy in its highest perfection. One vast obligation from heaven presses all to a common level, and the same obligation imperatively challenges a bended knee and an affectionate heart to one supreme Sovereign above. This is the fundamental principle of the theocracy, which even under the kings was never abrogated.

And here it is not asserted that the details of this system. constituted a perfect model for all nations and circumstances. These were perfect thus far, that they were precisely adapted to the wants of the nation to which they were given; but it would be the height of absurdity to suppose that all the minutiæ could be obtained for all nations from a single model. But the mighty energy, propelling steadily the complicated machinery in different governments, may be the same. In this light the Jewish history assumes a peculiar interest in the present discussion, for it may appear that in this was discovered the true principle of national immortality, the details being left for other and future ages to discover.

In all other national experiments, we have seen the elements of ruin at work;

"And history, with all her volumes vast,
Hath but one page,"

and that page has been the register of birth, of manhood, of death. The destroyer's seal was upon them from the first. What if the Greek should point exultingly to his beautiful statue its icy heart could not send the bounding blood throughout the limbs, to vivify with a generous vitality. The Roman might gaze with profoundest reverence upon the stern being whose frown and sceptre reduced all into submission to law; and yet he must acknowledge the existence of a fountain deeper than mere law can reach or human vengeance cleanse. That fountain was pregnant with national ruin.

Let us now glance at the relation of the fundamental prin-
THIRD SERIES, VOL. I. NO. I.

2

ciple of the theocracy to the great cause of national ruin. And what is that cause? The want of a pure and controlling moral power in the individuals composing a nation. Of course this assertion of a negative fact implies its opposite affirmative, an impure controlling moral power in individuals. If proof is demanded, the private virtue of the noblest representatives of Grecian Democracy and Roman Law may be cited. The first devotes his energies to live out the theory of democracy, and crowns his labors by calmly quaffing the poison, because the people commanded it. And yet Socrates, the idol of philosophy, the caressed child of natural religion, the boast of all disbelievers in revelation, even he at times indulged in low vice. The second is a living personification of Roman regard for law. To him, Law is the real Jove, at whose nod all tremble, and at whose throne all kneel. And yet Cato, whose frown made the Roman Senator quail, and whose sentence was inexorable as Roman destiny, could smilingly commend a noble issuing from a house which "inclineth unto death," could encourage gross sensuality among his numerous dependents, and himself not unfrequently stoop to the control of like passions. If such the virtue of the best, what must have been that of the multitude! These examples are adduced to show that real purity of heart was a thing unknown among Grecians and Romans, and in this we see the fruitful cause of ruin.

But mark the principle of the Theocracy when applied to this cause. It has a twofold bearing, which encompasses the whole ground. Under the weightiest sanctions it absolutely prohibits the existence of impure moral principles in individuals, it descends to the very fountain of those principles, the heart. But it stops not here; it demands, under equally weighty sanctions, the existence of a pure source of action, from which might flow continually obedience to God and love to man. In a word, it enjoined that the Israelite's heart must be so perfect toward his sovereign and his fellow subjects, that even Deity might approve. Let it be remembered that we are now considering a governmental maxim; and is any