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 1813,] Thoughtsonthe Divine Right of Kings. 197
rather take chance of neglect by that has not been either misrepre-
their not being paid, than run the sented or misunderstood. But I am
risk of jobbing, by having salaries strongly inclined to think, that the
annexedto the office. If the Com- cause of this has originated, rather
missionersare not paid, you will get in our want of candour, than in his
none to act who have not the object obscurity. One time, we inter-
sinicerelyat heart; if they are paid, pret his writings in a strictly literal
you may get the most worthlessap- sense; at another tinie, we have re.
pointed, who carefor no partof the course to figurative interpretation.
office but the-emoluments. I have One time we adduce an insulated
no doubt, but there are plenty of passage; another time, we heap t(-
philanthropiststo be had, whowould gether different passages from va-
glory in undertakingthe office, and rious parts, without hestowing on the
with such men there need be no context the least consideration. Thus
apprehensionof neglect. we constantly bewilder ourselves and
Having extended this essay to a others, and make the Apostle our au-
length which I am afraid is incon- thouity forext ravagantopi nions which
venient for your magazine,I have he neverentertainled. And whereis
been obliged to conclude, without the authorwho may notbe similarly
observing upon some other points of miscopstrued ? Where is the light
Mir. Edgeworth's Letter, but which, that may not be madedarkness? I
with your permission, I shall sub- shouldnot, perhaps,havetroubledthe
mit to the public on a future occa. public with my sentiments on this
sion. subject, but for the following cir-
I am yourobedientservant, cumstance. A personof someemi-
nencein this partof the world, con-
DhoN.
versing a short time since with a
clergymanof the establishedchurch,
To the Pr4pristors of the Befadt Magazine. respectingthe Epistles of St. Paul,
the Reverend gentleman did not
IMPRESSED with the conviction, blush to of defend the long exploded
that every friendto freedomand and the the divine
doctrine rightsof Kings,
his country, ought to contributehis an absolute ,necessityof yielding them
obedience!! And, in
literarymite towardsthe supportof supportof his opinions, he cited the
your independentpublication, es- two firstverses of the 13th chapter
pecially at the present time, when of the Epistle to the Romans. c"Let
its subversionis attempted,for the
every soul be- subject unto the
unpardonablecrimeof speakingthe higherpowers;forthereis no power
truth, I send you the followitng but of God: the that be, are
thoughts on the absurddoctrineof ordainedof God.powers Whosoever,there.
the divineright of Kings, and of in-
fore, resisteth the power, resisteth
plicit obedience to tihe higher
powers. tle ordinance of God : and they that
resist, shall receive to themselves
Lambeg. M--o.

damnation,"(condemnatiod it shou!d
be readered,iavrOs
THERE are few men nvhoseworks I had hoped, that this ,x,'pZa s'aofrvrs).
mIosttyran1ni-
have suffered more from erroneous cal, and most irrationalof all the
anti overstrained interpretations, paradoxeswhich have ever beenad-
than those of the Apostle Paul. vancedby the advocatesof slavery,
Scarcely has he written a single line and the enemiesof freedom,had ex-
SELFAST MAG. NO. LVI, CC
 198 Thoughtsonthe Divine Right of Kings. [March.
pired with its pensionedpatron, Sir power? Do that whichis good, and
RobertFilmor, in the 17thcentury; thou shalt have praiseof the same,
and that our ears were not again to For he is the ministerof God to thee
?e stunned,and our understandingsforgood: but if thou do that which
insulted, at the present enlightened is evil, be afraid; for he bearethnot
era, by sentimentswhich ivould be the swordin vaint for he-is the mi.
disgracefulto the darkesttimes: by nister of God, a revengerto execute
sentiments which can only flow wrathuponhimthatdothevil." Now,
from one of two sources: either in the name of commonsense, what
from a determinationof supporting, is there in all this, thatany ration-
from interested motives, the existing al personcan regardas bearingtes.
powers,howeverinfamoustheir con. timonyto the divinerightof.Kings?
duct, or from an extreme timiditY if, in the two firstverses, we arede.
of disposition,which would rather sired& to be subject to the higher
bend to oppression,than struggleto powers, "1for the powersthat be,
be free. are ordainedof God," the two next
In opposition to the Reverend amply explain their genuine mean-
gentleman,I deny, in the mostun- ing, by clearly showing us, that
qualified pnanner,the truth of his none, except the virtuousruler,is or.
assertion. I dqnythatit can be sup- dained of God. The viciousruleris
portedeitherby Scriptureor by rea- therefore an usurper,obnoxiousto
son. If we look to the Old Testa- divine and humanwrath. How can
pment,we shall findnumberless*in- it possiblybe said of him. " He is
stancesof wickedkings,drivenfrom. not a terrortogoodworks,but to the
their thrones, by the express com. evil: Do that which is good, and
pmand of God Almighty. And as to thou shalt have praise of thesame:
that passage in St. Paul, which he He is the ministerof God forgood,
has so confidentlyquoted in support &c. &c." Will any one affirm,that
of his vile doctrine, he has been a Nero or Caligula is nut a terror to
guilty of the crime of pervertingits the good ? That such men are only,
real meaning, by examininga part dreadfulto the wicked? That those
detached from the whole. Instead, who act honestly may be certainof
therefore, of considering the two first their That they are the
verses separatelyfrom the rest, let any chosen praises.? of God, his repre-
ministers
impartial man read them in copunctiovn sentativeson earth, clothedwith the
with the twosucceeding verses, and he robe of righteousness,armed with
WNill find, that so far from containing the swordof justice !! When,there-
a defenceof despotism,so far from fore, St. Paul commandsusto obey
enjoining a tame submissionto its the ' higher powers,"he evidently
tytannic sway, we are tacitly, (I acknow4Udges none as such, but the
might almost say, expressly,) au- upright and impartial; these he re-
thorizedto free ourselves from the gards as the vicegerents of Heaven;
oppressive burden of its galling from all othershe withholds that
yoke. The Sd and 4th verses are as title. But ,even were we to allow,
follows: " For rulersare not a ter- that bad rulersareof divineappoint-
ror to good works, but to the evil. ment, still that could be no argu-
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the ment lor deterring us from resisting
their oppressions. They are given
us, perhaps, as a punishmentfor
* Vide the Booksof Chronicles
and our sins. So, we are told, are war,
snP. famine, and disease. Yet no one in
 1813.] ThoughtsonIke Divine Right of Kings. 199
his senses will venture to assert, that be thought a declaredenemyto so-
it would be impion t6 attempt the re- ciety, and mankind,who shouldgo
moval of these plagues. No more aboutto take it away. But whether
is there any iinpiety in attempting this be fr6ma true love of mankind
the removal of a lawless Despot. and society, and such a charity as
Let it not then be affirmed, that we owe all one to another,there is
the Holy Scriptures are the advo- reasonto doubt: for this is no niore
cates of slavery and oppression. For than what every man, who loves
the sake of peace, they enjoin for- his own power, profit,or greatness,
bearancein a very high degree; but may andnaturallymustdo; namely,
they no where impose unquafied keep those
animals fromhurtingor
obedience to any man, however ele- destroyingone another,who labour
vated his rank, however princely and drudgeonly for his pleasureand
his fortune. advantage; and so are taken care
Our Saviour indeed said, " Ren- of, not out of any love the master
der unto Cesar the things that are has for them, but love of himself,
Ctesar's;" which is thus explained and the profit they bringhim: for
by a parallel passage in St.L Paul: if it be asked,
what security, what
" Render to all their dues: tribute fence, is there in such a state, a-
to whom tribute is due; custom to gainst the violence and oppression
whom custom ; fear to whbm fear; of this absolute ruler? The very
honour to wfhomhonour." That is, questioncanscarcebe borne. They
so long as you acknowledgeCesar to are readyto tell you, thatit deserves
be your King; so long as you think death, only to askafter safety. Be-
him worthyto be such, give him that twixt subjectand subject, they will
tribute, that custom, that fear, and grant, there mustbe measures,laws,
that hbnour, which should be freely add judges, for their mutualpeace
conferred on every* virtuous prince. and security: but as for the ruler,
I shail,now proceed to show, that he oughtto be absolute,and is above
the sapient axiom of the Reverend all such circumstances:becausehe
Divine' can as little be supported by has power to do more hurt and
reason, as by Scripture. And here I wrong, it is rightwhen he does it.
shall take the liberty of transcribing To ask, how you may be guarded
a passage on this subject, from that from harm or injury on that side
able advocate of freedom, Mr. Locke, where the strongesthandis to do it, is
in his invaluable Essay on the Na- presently the voice of faction and
ture and Extent of Civil Government, rebellion: as if, when men quitting
%Chap. 7, page 79. the state of nature,entered into so-
".In absolute monarchies,as well ciety, they agreed that all of them
as in othergovernments of the world, but one shouldbe underthe restraint
the stbjects, have an appeal to the of laws, but that he shouldstill re.
law and judges, to decide any con.- tain the liberty of the stateof nature,
troversies, and restrain any.violence increasedwith power, and madeli-
that may happen.between the sub- centious by impunity. This is, to
themselves, one amongst an- think that men ate so foolish, that
other. This every one thinks ne- they take care to avoid what mis-
jects
Gessary, and believes tie deserves to chiefs may
be done them by pole-
cats or foxes, but are content, nay
think it saftty, to be devoured by
STibherius did not, at this periodi de- lions..'"
serve the oppositecharactor. What then, it may be said, is the
 200 Thoughtson the DivineRBight
of Kings. [March.
existing government of every coun- Charta,and the Habeas Corpus,those
try to be opposed at the instigation bulwarks of our constitution, extort.
of each turbulent demagogue, of ed from the grasp of tyranny by the
each discontented incendiary ' If a strong arm of an insulted nation,
few individuals shall imagine them- And where is the being (I will not
selves aggrieved, must general bar- call him man,) who dares to affirm
triony and peace make way for the. that Magna Charta a d IHabeas
accursed fiends of anarchy and out. Corpus were not worth the struggle.l
rage ? God forbid: nor does Mr. Can such an outcast from liberty be
Locke, in any part of his Essay, found ?
stand forward as the friend of un. If the wretch exists who would
provoked aggression. "Force," he prefer slavery to freedom, he is cer-
says, " must not be opposed, except tainly a monster in the moral worldh:
to utlawful and unjust force," vide he should be driven from society:
page 176. Salus populi suprema he should be shunned as one pollut-
lex, is his grand, his fundamental ed! Arbitrary power, which dis.
rule: and he who regulates his con- dains the voice of reason, can only
duct, in' political matters, by this be resisted by the exercise of force.
rule, will, I should'presume, seldomin And must we not call that arbitrary,
go astray. Whether vested in one or in a thou-
If the dangers resulting to society, sand, which, swollen with the spu-
from an opposition to the higher rious pride of rank, imperiously de-
powers, exceed those which are thq mands from the reluctant subject a
effects of impticit submissionto those submission to what is incompatible.
powers, then, in my opinion, it is with 'his rights ; and if he refuse to
decidedly better, quietly to suffer submit to these demands, the fatal
the least of two ills, thaii to seek a ariathemais hurled against his head,
remedy by the dernier :esbrt of an and the blood-hounds of oppression
appeal to arms. But if calm expos, are let loose upon him : he is threat-
tulation, and rational discussion, are ened with a jail, or mulct to beg.
of no avail in procuring redress from gary ! If you require instances of
the evils inflicted by the ruler on the this tyranny, look to the government
subject, and it shall evidently ap- of Spain, under the house of Austria;
pear that those evils will be more to that of France under the family
in their conseqtuences to of the Bourbons; or to its infamous
ourselves and our descendants, than conscr:iptiois, under the dynasty of
drea.dful
any wh'ich can result from an at- Bonaparte.
tempt to remow;Pthem, then it be- In perusing the history of the
comes a duty which we owe b6th to Spanish Monarchy, among their
posterity and curselves, to make the many tyrants, Philip the Second
,n
aftempt ith determined vigour. Not arrests our attention, from his
to make it aggues a wanatof courage, pre-eminence in vice. In
and a want, of sense. As the sea is we behold a sanguinary 'ruffian, hirmdes.
purified by the agitation of its waters, titute of every principle of virtue,
so is the government of a c.ouutryby trampling on the*laws of justice and
the restless jealousies of its people, humanity,and sacrificing to i gloomy,
exciting thoee' movements which turbutlent ambition, the'welfare of
contribute to expel thie Feculence ac- his people. Wheri then wouidhave
cumulated by corrupt stagniation. been the crime of dethroning such a
Without .these, we had been st.ran- monster ? Crime, did I say ! An
of this nature could only
gers to the blessings of the 2ragna action
 1813.] Thoughtson the Divine Rightof Kings. o01
merit praise. And had not the would not leave their work unfinish-
wretched Spaniards been immersed ed ; would not suffer themselves to
in that apathy which has ever been be trampled on by an overbearing
their bane, they could not have so individual. In opposingforce to the
long submitted to his yoke. As to execution of the concript laws, they
the-government of France, prior to would only be acting in conformity
the Revolution, surely none, no, not to nature and to reason. By quietly
even the most violent stickler for the submitting, they act the part of slaves
" and fools.
divinity of Kings," not even the
reverend gentleman himself, will I shall now dismiss this question,
venture to affirm, that it did not with a few considerations relative to
loudly call for a radical reformi! ourselves. Happily for us, we are
It was a putrid mass of political cor- strangers, in a great degree, to the
ruption, spreading infection where. miseries from unbridled
ever its influence extended. And despotism. ,resulting
We have neither Bas-
were millions to suffer for the plea- tiles, Inquisitions, nor Conscriptionsi
sure of a few ? to be deprived of Nor aretthe abuses of our govern-
every comfort: overwhelmed with ment of so alarming a kind, as to
taxes : and if they dared to murmur, redider necessary an appeal toforce.
be immured in the Bastile ? I shall For though I cannot, like an impas.
not here enter on the frequently dis. sioned lover, call the " polypus of
cussed question, whether the French Agnetsa pretty little mole ;" though
nation did not push too far their re- I cannot regard our constitution in
volutionizing system. They certain- the light of a pure vestal; though I
ly committed many cruelties. But cannot shut my eyes against its pro-
I make no hesitation in affirming, minentdefects, and like a pensioned
that all the evil consequences result. hireling, cry them up as beauties:
ing from the Revolution are incalcu. yet in candour, I must acknowledge,
lably overbalanced by the good it that I know of none more perfect.
has produced. The present govern- But because it possesses manyexcel-
ment of France doubtless abounds lencies, shall we therefore extol it
with numberless abuses: it has not as a paragon of perfection? Shall
yet had leisure to be completely we sacrifice our sincerity on the al-
formed: it has been so much occu- tar of self-interest, and by unmerited
pied in foreign conquest, that it has praise, give permanence to its de-
not sufficiently attendedlto domestic formities? I dislike those men, and
regulations. Yet still it must be ad. I suspect the purity of their prin.
mirable, compared with what it was ciples, who are resolved, on every
under the dominion of its former occasion, to oppose the government
Kings. It is guilty, indeed, of one of their country, whether right or
most savage and arbitrary measure: wrong: who are lynx-eyed to its
a measure to which I have already faults, but blind to its virtues. And
mode no less-do I dislike those who adopt
allnuded;I mean the coercive the contrary system of indiscriminate
it adopts for replenishing its armies,
by tearing the subject from his fa- approbation: who think that a Prime
mily and home. This is such a vio- M inister or a Peer can never err.
lation of the liberties of man, as has Let us avoid these two extremes.
seldom been exceeded in the annals Vhlerepraise is due, let us. grant it
of Empires; and I should rejoice to freely : where censure, let not fear
hear, that a people who have already withhold it. For as the former sti-
done so much in order to be free, mulatts the mindlof man to the per.
 102 Thoughtson the Divine Rightof Ktigs. [March.
formance of noble actions, so does freedomof the press, we should never
the latter give a check to corruption, hail the lopg-expected day of Catho-
by seasonably retarding the impetu- lic Emancipation : an event, whose
osity of its progress. For which rea. consummation cannot now be far dis-
son, we may justly regard the free- tant. The justice of their claims has
domof the press as one of the great- been generally acknowledged; the
est blessings of the British constitu- number of their friends is multiply.
tion. It enables us to expose vil-
ing every moment; their Protestant
lainy unmasked : to uphold the weak brethren are petitioning in their be.
and the oppressed: to pull down
the strong and the oppressor. It halft'; and the mulishness of their
opponents will at length give way.
may not, indeed, entirely prevent Let them only pursue a firm and
abuses; bit it certainly prevents steady course : let them not be dri.
them to a considerable degree. There ven from it by petty irritations : let
breathes not the person so hardened them not infringe the laws of peace:
in iniquity, as totally to disregard and their persevering patience will
the opinion of the world; to set its be finally rewarded. Though for a
cbensuresand applauses equally at de- time, their adddresses to the Parlia-
fiance. The press being therefore ment and Regent may be unaccom,-
the vehicle of this opinion, it neces-
panied with success, let them not on
sarily follows, that it must be a pow- that account despair. Again, and
erful ally in the sacred cause of liber- again, let them renew their petitions,
ty and virtue. And one of the most till the desired object is attained :
infallible symptoms of the decline of for if ninety-nine appeals should be
both in any country, is an encroach- unsuccessful, yet the hundredth may
ment on its hallowedrights. Such an succeed. England will at last open
encroachment can proceed but from her eyes to her real interest, and by
one motive: from the consciousness an equality of rights, cement the
felt by those in authority, that their bond of union with her sister isle.
conduct cannot bear to be publicly We are justified, by analogy, in
discussed. They are therefore anx- thinking thus. Since the commence-
ious to prohibitall discussion : "they ment of the present century, we have
love darkness rather than light, be- witnessed one grand event : we have
cause their deeds are evil." Good beheld the African made free. We
God ! were it not for the freedom of are about to witness another, in the
the press, what a dreadful scene of
approaching abolition of East Indian
vice we should behold !! how would monopoly. Let us not then des-
the wicked triumph! how would the
We should pond : the seeds of virtue, we see,
upright be insulted! still live.in our constitution; still is
see the poor bowed to the very it capable of wise and noble deeds.
earth, by an iusufferable load of Its lustre may for a season be ob.
taxes heaped upon them, to support scured, by the machinations of the
the licentious prodigality of the rich.
We should see the land darkened Wicked; but it will again shine out
with its accustomed splendour. The
with a swarm of pensioners and place- halcyon days of heauen-bqrn Liberty
men: useless drones, wallowing in may yet return : the wretched pa-
wealth, enervated by- dissipation, trons of passive subjection may yet
stupefied by sloth, ephemeral in- blush at their servility: and Irishman
sects, who crawl without a name, and Freeman may be synonymous
who vegetate but to die : to die And terms.
be forgotten. Were it not for the