med that wait for me. Psal. cxxii. 9. God of heaven, let it be diligently Because of the house of the Lord our done for the house of the God of hea. God, I will seek thy good. Ezra vii. ven : for why should there be wrath 23. Whatsoever is commanded by the against the realm of the king and his

The Reformed Church has declared her mind on this article as follows.

OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 1. It is the will of God, revealed by the constitution of human nature, and more clearly in the sacred scriptures, that his rational creatures, living together in one part of the world, and connected by a common interest, and by common duties, should enter into a civil association, for the better preservation of peace and order, in subserviency to godliness and honesty.

sons ? Ver. 25. And thou, Ezra, after are beyond the river, all such as know the wisdom of thy God that is in thine the laws of thy God; and teach ye hand, set magistrates and judges, them that know them not. Ver. 26. which may judge all the people that And whosoever will not do the law

6. Christian rulers, appointed to office according to a righteous civil constitution, have authority from God, to rule in subserviency to the kingdom of Christ, and are to be conscientiously supported by the persons, the property, and the prayers of the ruled, in the malntenance of the peace, the safety, and the honour of the nation.

Psalm il. 10. Be wise now, therefore, ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11. Serve the Lord with fear. 12. Kiss the son, lest he be angry. Psalm 1xxii. 11. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him. Dan. vii. 14. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peo. ple, nations, and languages, should serve him. 27. And all dorninions shall serve

and obey him. Prov. viii. 15. By me' kings reign, and princes decree justice. Rom. xiii. 4. He is the minister of God to thee for good. s. Where fore, ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. 7. Render, therefore, to all iheis dues : tribute, to whom tribute ; fear, to whom fear; honour, to whom honour.

7. It is the duty of the Christian magistrate to take order, that open blasphemy and idola. try, licentiousness and immorality, be suppressed, and that the church of Christ be supported throughout the commonwealth; and for the better discharge of these important duties, it is lawful for him to call synods, in order to consult with them; to be present at them, not in. terfering with their proceedings, (unless they become manifestly seditious and dangerous to the peace.) but supporting the independency of the church, and its righteous decisions, and preserving its anity and order against the attempts of such despisers of ecclesiastical autho. rity as should endeavour, in a riotous manner, to disturb their proceedings.

Rom. xiii. 4. For he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath apon him that doth evil. Lev. xxiv. 16. And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death. 2 Chron. xlv. 2. And A sa did that which was good and right. 3. He took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down their images. Rev. xvii. 16. These shall hate the whore, and sbalt make her desolate and naked, and sball eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. Prov. XX. 26. A wise diag scatter. oth the wicked, Psalm ci. 8. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land. Prov. xiv. 34. Righteousness exalteth a nation : but sin is a reproach to any people. Chap. xvi. 12. The throne is established by righteousness. Isa. xlix. 23. Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, ( nourishers.) Chap.IX. 10. Kings shall minister unto thee. 12. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish. Chap. Ixii. 4. And thy land shall be married. 2 Sam. xxiii. 3. He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. 2 Chron. xxix. 2. And he did right in the sight of the Lord. 4, And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together. 15. And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the cuaimandment of the king, By the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord. Chap. XXX. 22. And Hezekiah spake comfortably un. to all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of the Lord. Rev. xxi. 24. And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it, Dan. vii. 22. And the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. 2 Cor. 2. 31. Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Psalm cxxxvii. 5. If I forget thee, o Jerusalem, let muy rigbt hand forget her cunning, cxii, 7. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. We therefore condemn the following errors, and testify against all who maintain them:

1. “That civil government is not an ordinance of God.” 2. That christians owe no allegiance to civil authority.” 3. " That civil government is founded in grace."

4. “ That the scripture revelation is not the rule by which Christians should direct their civil conduct.”

5. " That the magistrate, as such, has nothing to do with the Christian religion, nor the minister a right to examine the policy of nations, and teach civil duties.”

6. " That Christians are bound to cherish, as the ordinance of God, all those who may be exalted in providence to power in a nation, although they may be tyrants and usurpers, and bound by an oath to give their power unto the beast, in the establishment of a false religion.”

7. “ That it is lawful for civil rulers to authorize the purchase and sale of any part of the kuman family, as slaves."

8. “That a constitution of government which deprives unoffending men of liberty and property is a moral institution, to be recognized as God's ordinance." OF THE RIGHT OF DISSENT FROM A CONSTITUTION OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT.

1. Civil society being a voluntary association, the nation is not bound to admit to all its peculiar privileges every person who may reside within the reach of its power, nor is every per. son dwelling within the limits of a naiion under obligation to incorporate with the national society. Every government has the right of making laws of naturalization, and every indi. vidual possesses the right of expatriation, and both these rights are to be exercised in confor. mity to the law of God, the supreme ruler and judge.

Gen. xlvii. 4. For to sojourn in the land are we come.Now, therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. Num. x. 29. And Mests said unto Hobab-Come thou with us, and we will do thee good, 30. And he said unto hiin, I will not go. Chap. xv. 1S. One ordinance shall be bain for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojournein with you. Chap. xxiv. 17. Thou shalt nut pervert the judgment of ihe stranger. Deut. xxiil. 8. The children that are begotten of them shall enter into the congregation of the Lord, in their third generation. Acts xxi. 39. A citizen of no mean city: Chap. xxii. 27. Tell me, art thou a Roman He said, Yea. 28. With a great suin ollained I this freedom. Asd Paul said, but I was freeborn. Jam. iv, 12. There is one lawgiver.

2. It is the duty of Christians, for the sake of peace and order, and in humble resignation to God's good providence, to conform to the common regulations of society in things lawful; but to profess allegiance to no constitution of government which is in hostility to the kingdom of Christ, the head of the church, and the prince of the kings of the earth.

Jer. XIi1. 4. Thus saith the Lord of bofts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, s. Duild

of thy God, and the law of the king, he that is born in the land, when he let judgment be executed speedily up- blasphemeth the name of the Lord, on him, whether it be unto death, or shall be put to death. Deut. xiii. 5. to banishment, or to confiscation of And that prophet, or that dreamer of goods, or to imprisonment. Ver. 27. dreams, shall be put te death, (because Blessed be the Lord God of our fa. he hath spoken to turn you away from thers, which hath put such a thing as the Lord your God, which brought you this in the king's heart, to beautify out of the land of Egypt, and redeemthe house of the Lord which is in ed you out of the house of bondage, Jerusalem : Ver. 28. And hath exten- to thrust thee out of the way which ded mercy unto me before the king the Lord thy God commanded thee to and his counsellors, and before all the walk in,) so shalt thou put the evil king's mighty princes ; and I was away from the midst of thee. Ver. 6. strengthened, as the hand of the Lord If thy brother, the son of thy mother, my God was upon me, and I gathered or thy son, or thy daughter, or the together out of Israel chief men to go wife of thy Bosom, or thy friend, which up with me. Lev. xxiv. 16. And he is as thine own soul, entice thee secretthat blasphemeth the name of the ly, saying, Let us go and serve other Lord, he shall surely be put to death: gods, which thou hast not known, and all the congregation shall certain- thou, nor thy fathers : Ver. 12. If thou ly stone him : as well the stranger, as shalt hear say in one of thy cities,

effecting whereof, he hath power to call synods, to be present at them, and to provide that whatsoever is transacted in them be according to the mind of God 8. *

IV. It is the duty of people to pray for magistrates ", to honour their persons i, to pay them tribute and other dues , to obey their lawful commands, and to be subject to their authority for conscience' sake! Infidelity, or difference in religion, doth not make void the magistrate's just and legal authority, nor free the people from their due obedience which the Lord thy God hath given ments, ye shall even warn them that thee to dwell there, saying, &c. 2 they trespass not against the Lord, Kings xviii. 4. He removed the high and so wrath come upon you, and upplaces, and brake the images, and cut on your brethren: this do, and ye down the groves, and brake in pieces shall not trespass. Ver. 11. And, the brasen serpent that Moses had behold, Amariah the chief priest is made: for unto those days the chil. over you in all matters of the Lord ; dren of Israel did burn. incense to it, and Zebadiah, the son of Ishmael, the and he called it Nehushtan. [1 Chron. ruler of the house of Judah, for all xiii. 1. to the 9.b Verse. 2 Kings xxiii. the king's matters: also the Levites 1. to the 26tb Verse. ] 2 Chron. xxxiv. shall be officers before you. Deal 33. And Josiah took away all the courageously, and the Lord shall be abominations out of all the countries with the good. (2 Chron. Chapters that pertained to the children of Is. xxix. and xxx.] Matth. ii. 4. And rael, and made all that were present when he had gathered all the chief in Israel to serve, even to serve the priests and scribes of the people togeLord their God. And all his days they ther, he demanded of them where departed not from following the Lord, Christ should be born. Ver. 5. And the God of their fathers. 2 Chron. they said unto him, In Bethlehem of xv. 12. And they entered into a cove. Judea : for thus it is written by the nant, to seek the Lord God of their prophet. fathers, with all their heart and with IV.61 Tim. ii. 1. I exhort there. all their soul; Ver. 13. That who fore, that, first of all, supplications, soever would not seek the Lord God prayers, intercessions, and giving of of Israel should be put to death, whe- thanks, be made for all men : Ver. 2. ther small or great, whether man or For kings, and for all that are in au. to him m: * from which ecclesiastical persons are not exempted; much less hath the Pope any power or jurisdiction needs be subject, not only for wrath, priest did the king put in the room of but also for conscience sake. Tit. Abiathar. Acts xxv. 9. But Festus, ii. 1. Put them in mind to be subject willing to do the Jews a pleasure, anto principalities and powers, to obey swered Paul, and said, Wilt thou go magistrates, to be ready to every good up to Jerusalem, and there be judged work.

of these things before me? Ver. 10. m 1 Pet. ii. 13. Submit yourselves Then said Paul, I stand at Cesar's to every ordinance of man for the judgment-seat, where I ought to be Lord's sake: whether it be to the judged; to the Jews have I done no king, as supreme ;

Ver 14. Or unto

wrong, as thou very well knowest. governors, as unto them that are sent Ver. 11. For if I be an offender, or by him for the punishment of evil have committed any thing worthy of doers, and for the praise of them that death, I refuse not to die : but if there do well. Ver. 16. As free, and not be none of these things whereof these using your liberty for a cloak of ma- accuse me, no man may deliver me liciousness, but as the servants of God. unto them. I appeal unto Cesar. 2

n Rom. xiii. 1. Let every soul be. Pet. ii. 1. - But there were false prosubject unto the higher powers. For phets also among the people, even as there is no power but of God; the there shall be false teachers among powers that be are ordained of God. you, who privily shall bring in dam1 Kings ii. 35. And the king put Be- nable heresies, even denying the Lord naiah, the son of Jehoiada, in his that bought them, and bring upon room, over the host ; and Zadok the themselves swift destruction. Ver.

* The mind of the Associate or Secession Church, on this article, is declared in her standarda, as follows.

It is the duty of Christians, plainly and frequently enjoined on them in the word of God, and acknowledged in the Confession of all the Reforined Churches,

to subunit to the government of that country in wbich Providence has ordered their jot. The civil inagistrate being an infidel, or of what we judge a false religion, does not, as our Confession most justly de clares, free us from an obligation to acknowledge his authority, and to obey himn in all law. ful commands. Civil societies may, and ought to preserve their rights and liberties; and to then it belongs to set up these forms of government, and those magistrates, whom they judge most proper. It is a sad truth, that, in doing so, nations frequently neglect to acknowledge God, and give things injurious to religion a place in their civil constitutions. Against these evils Christians ought to testify, as the Lord gives them opportunity. But they ought by no means, on account of such blemishes in any government established by the consent of a nation, to refuse submission to it in all lawful conimauds, especially while it grants the same protection to them as to the other inembers of the community.”

Testimony of the American Associate Church, Part. I. Sect. 19. “ The state is under obligations by the divine law, to the performance of such duties, as through the blessing of God may be signally useful to the Church. It is the duty of all its members, on the supposition of their being favoured with divine revelation, to embrace the truth with all their hearts, to make a scriptural profession of it, to annex themselves to the Church of Christ, and to join

with her in the celebration of all divine ordinances. It is their duty, in their

collective capacity, to withdraw any positive countenance and support, whether by legal establishments or otherwise, which they inay have formerly given to a false reli. gion; to abolish any laws that may be standing in the way of the progress of the tive; and so to regulate the whole of their civil constitution and administration, that they may prove subservient to the interests of evangelical truth, and the advancement of pure and undefiled religion. In a word, it is their duty, in the choice of their civil rulers, to have such a regard for the interests of religion, as to set none over them, but such as they have ground to think will not improve their power for the injury of the church ; but be themselves good examples to others in the ways of godliness, But though they should not only neglect, but plainly cortradict, their duty in this matter, this can never warrant a minority to refuse subjection to any whon the general body set up, in all their lawful commands."

We condemn and testify against the doctrine of those who maintain that in a nation, which has fallen from reformation once attained, the minority adhering to this reformation may lawfully refuse subjection to the powers that be, and obedience to their just commands. We reject this, as not only contrary to the general tenor of scripture, but as directly tending to introduce endless anarchy."

Testimony of the Associate Church of Scotland Chap. XXIV. Sect, 5. &c.