more comfortable and happy, they are called civilized; and the government of such country according to established written rules, is called civil government.

§ 5. The rules by which the conduct of men in civil society is to be regulated, are called laws; as the commands of the parent or householder are the laws of the family, or as the rules of the teacher are the laws of the school. A law is therefore, a rule prescribing what men are to do, or forbidding what they are not to do. A law implies two things: the right and authority of those who govern to make the law, and the duty of the governed to obey the law. § 6. To give force to a law, it must have a penalty. Penalty is the pain or suffering to be inflicted upon a person for breaking a law. For stealing, a man is imprisoned or fined; and for murder, he is hanged. Hence, the fine or imprisonment, and the hanging, are penalties. If no penalties were annexed to laws, men could not be compelled to obey them; bad men would commit the worst crimes without fear; there would be no safety to our lives or property; and general disorder would prevail in society.

§ 7. The word government, in a civil or political sense, is not, however, always used to convey precisely the same meaning. When used to express the nature or kind of government, as republican government, or monarchical government, the word means, the system or form of fundamental rules by which the people of a state or nation are governed. It means also, the exercise of the power or authority to govern; in other words, making and executing the laws of the state. And again, the persons or officers who make and administer the laws, are called the “ government.'

EXERCISES.

§ 1. What is government? Illustrate the meaning by example. Give an example of your own.

§ 2. Define the term, civil government. What is a society?

§ 3. To what does the term civil society apply? What is a state? A nation? Name a few countries that are uncivilized.

§ 4. What is meant by civilization and social improvement? Is this a civilized country? Mention a few others. § 5. What is a law? What does it imply?

6. What is penalty? Why is it necessary?

§ 7. Is the word government always used in precisely the same sense? In what different senses is it used?

CHAPTER II.

Of Rights; and the Nature and Necessity of Laws.

§ 1. THE grand object of civil government is to secure to the members of a community the free enjoyment of their rights. A right is the just claim or lawful title which we have to any thing. Hence we say, a person has a right to what he has earned by his labor, or bought with his money. Having thus acquired it, it is lawfully and justly his own, and no other person has a right to it.

§ 2. We have a right also to do things. We have a right to go where we please, and to act as we please, if by so doing we do not trespass upon the rights of others. For all men in civil society have the same natural rights, and no one has a right to disturb others in the enjoyment of their rights.

§ 3. The being free to enjoy what belongs to us, or to do as we please, is called liberty. The words, right and liberty, however, have not the same meaning. We may have a right to a thing when we have not the liberty of enjoying or of using it. John has a pencil which is justly his own; but James takes it from him by force. John's liberty to enjoy the use of his pencil is lost, but his right to it remains. And James has no right to the pencil, though he enjoys the use of it.

§ 4. All laws ought to be so made as to secure to men the liberty to enjoy and exercise their natural rights. Natural rights are those to which we are entitled by nature, rights with which we are born. Every person is born with a right to live, and freely to enjoy the fruits of his labor and whatsoever is justly his own. Hence, liberty itself is a na

tural right; that is, it is ours by nature, or by birth, and cannot be rightfully taken from us: wherefore it is also called inalienable. But we may forfeit our natural rights by crime. By stealing, a man loses his right to liberty for a time, and is justly imprisoned. If he commits murder, he forfeits his right to life, and lawfully suffers death.

§ 5. We sometimes hear of civil rights and civil liberty. Wherein do civil rights and liberty differ from those which are called natural? Rights and liberty may be both natural and civil. Speaking of them as being ours by nature, or by birth, we call them natural; when they are spoken of as being secured to us by civil government and laws, they are called civil. John's right to his pencil, being secured to him by the laws of civil society, is a civil right. It is at the same time a natural right, because, by the law of nature, he is born with a right to the free use of his property.

§ 6. The law of nature is so called, because it is a perfect rule of conduct for all moral and social beings-a rule which is right in itself, right in the nature of things, and which would be right and ought to be obeyed, if no other law, nor a positive command had ever been given. It is right in itself that all men should have the liberty of enjoying the use of what is their own; and it would be right that we should give to every man his due, if we had never been commanded to do so.

§ 7. The law of nature is the rule of conduct which we are bound to observe towards our Maker and our fellow-men, by reason of our natural relations to them. Manking being dependent upon their Creator, they owe Him duties which they ought to perform, though he had never positively enjoined these duties. To serve our Creator is a duty which arises out of the relation we sustain to Him.

§ 8. So the relation between parent and child renders it fit and proper that children obey their parents, on whom they are dependent for protection and support. And from our relations to our fellow-men, on whom also we are in a measure dependent, and who have the same rights as ourselves; it is our duty to promote their happiness as well as our own, by doing to them as we would that they should do to us.

This is required by the law of nature, which is the will of the Creator.

§ 9. But if the law of nature is the rule by which mankind ought to regulate their conduct, it may be asked, Of what use are written laws? Mankind are not capable of discovering, in all cases, what the law of nature requires. It has therefore pleased Divine Providence to reveal his will to mankind, to instruct them in their duties to himself and to each other. This will is revealed in the Holy Scriptures, and is called the law of revelation, or the Divine law.

§10. But although men have the Divine law for their guide, human laws also are necessary. God has commanded men to do right, and to deal justly with each other; but men do not always agree as to what is right: human laws are therefore necessary to say what shall be considered just between man and man. And these laws must be written, that it may always be known what they are.

§ 11. Again, it may be asked, What must be done when a human law does not agree with a Divine law? Must such law be obeyed? We may not disobey a law simply because it does not require what is strictly just between men. A law may be very imperfect, as many human laws are, and yet we ought to obey it, and may do so without breaking the Divine law. But a law clearly contrary to the command of God, we are not bound to observe. It may sometimes be

difficult to determine whether human laws and the Divine law agree. Hence the importance of having wise and good law-makers, who will make just and righteous laws.

EXERCISES.

§ 1. What is the object of civil government? What is a right? How does a person acquire a right to what he possesses? Mention some other ways of acquiring a right to property. Is there no case in which others may have a just claim upon us for a portion of what we have lawfully obtained?

§ 2. How far have we a right to act as we please? § 3. What is liberty? Explain the difference between right and liberty.

§ 4. What are natural rights? Is liberty a natural right? Why is a right called inalienable? Does the imprisonment of a man for crime deprive him of a natural right?

§ 5. What is the difference between natural and civil rights? $6. What is meant by the law of nature?

7. What course of conduct towards our Creator does the law of nature prescribe? From what do these duties arise ? § 8. Why ought children to obey and honor their parents? What duties do we owe our fellow-men? By what law are these several duties enjoined?

§ 9. Where do we find the law of revelation? Is this law infallibly right? Does it in all cases agree with the law of nature?

§ 10. Why are hunian laws necessary? Why should they be written?

§ 11. Which has superior force, the Divine law, or a human law? Must every bad law be disobeyed? Can you tell what would be an unjust law, and yet be binding?

CHAPTER III.

How Power is exercised in different Governments.

§ 1. THE people of every civilized country live under government and laws of some kind; but the modes and forms of government in different countries are very different from each other. What distinguishes one form of government from another is, that the power to govern is in different hands, and is exercised in a different manner in some governments from what it is in others.

§ 2. In some countries the power to govern is in one person, called a king, or emperor, who makes laws for the people, who, subject to his will which is their law, are hence called his subjects. A government of this kind is called a monarchy, which means a government by one man, who is called monarch. When such ruler exercises authority over his subjects in a cruel manner, he is called a despot, or ty rant, and his government is called a despotism, or tyranny.