On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Principles Of Government. 401
Principles of Government . 401
said to give nine hundred and ninety acres out of one thousand to mankind . That , AS TO NATURAL RIGHT , Every man ' s child , being the workmanship of his God , to whom we
are all infinitely indebted , has a right to his parent ' s protection during his minority . The father is only the child ' s guardian , and as such guardianship , when no longer needed , ceases , the father ' s power , and right of prescribing , ceases with it . When grown
up to manhood , ( the state which made his father free , ) the son has the same natural right belonging to him , as his father had originally . —Therefore a man ' s posterity cannot be bound by the compact of his father ; for no act of the father can give away the son s natural right , his independence ,
his liberty , his power of creating , possessing , judging , &c . Every man , when at the age of maturity , has a right to choose what country or government he pleases ; he is to choose for himself as an independent creature , born no man ' s subject , obnoxious to no man .
That , AS TO LIBERTY , All men are by nature equal and independent , and have equally a right to dispose of their actions , their properties and their persons , as they
like , with innocence and justice . It is every man ' s duty to protect and secure these natural rights and the enjoyment thereof as piously , as steadily and as industriously , to his brethren , as to himself , Exod . ii . 11 , 12 , and to transmit the same down
to posterity unembarrassed . Licentiousness , which is the greatest enemy to liberty , paying no regard to the natural equality and independence of man , but acting as though power , qu& power , gave a right to every thing , talks as follows , In armis jus fero 9 omnia fortium sunt virorum ;
who shall forbid me to appropriate to my own use the fruits of diligence ; to lay my iron yoke upon the necks of others ; to harness them into my service ; to force them to do my drudgery ? God regardeth it not .
In other words , it denies the inseparable relation between nature and liberty , and renounces the principles of humanity , equity and truth ; yea it denies the providence of God , dis-
Untitled Article
claims his impartial benevolence towards all his ' creatures , tramples upon his rule of right , defies his omniscience , challenges his vindictive
justice , and is the very kingdom of Satan triumphant . *—And , being an intolerable incendiary among man * kind , the peaceable friends of liberty form themselves into an association
against it , and lay their restraints upon it , professing that the right of resisting is always equal to the right of commanding among equals . That .
AS TO CIVIL GOVERNMENT , This is a community incorporated to prevent the evils arising from licentiousness , its individuals uniting their power , and contributing of their property , for the good of the whole , and to preserve and enlarge their freedom , and to protect each other from unnatural restraint . Hence tribute
is due to the just purposes of government , though to the unjust purposes of it , none is due . Whereas no man can transfer to others more power than he has in himself ; these
associations can only give a power to preserve , and cannot give any power to destroy , enslave , or impoverish individuals . Neither can any human sanctions be good or valid against the
* It is somewhere observed by Mr . Milton , though I cannot find the passage , that " Ignorant and wicked men are naturally lovers of licentiousness , and haters of true liberty . " From hence I eouclude , that the impetuous zeal of ignorant mobs is always to be suspected ; while ignorant
and wicked , whatever their cry may be , the spirit of violence , oppression and injustice will infallibly prove their conducting-principle ; they can never be cordially affected in favour of truth and liberty , so long * as impiety , which is the very root of
servility and meanness , thrives in their hearts : semper sola libera est virtus , Cic . Virtue only is ever free * And it is therefore a Machiavelian maxim , that If you can but debauch a man ' s morals ^ you make sure of him as a slave . I must however believe that righteous , pious , well-taught mobs ( and such mobs will most certainly
exist in every righteous , pious , well-taught country ) would be able to sustain the character of true majesty , and the reverence of a / multitude , witft an awe and dignity sufficient to confound the most violent efforts of oppression : tanium in viriute et fide fiduciab atque auctvritatis in est f
Untitled Article
vol . xn . 3 r
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1817, page 401, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2466/page/25/
-