The Loyalty Demanded By The Present Crisis Classic Reprint PDF Download

Excerpt from The Loyalty Demanded by the Present Crisis It is very true that a government may become oppressive by subverting the liberties which it was established to protect: that a magistrate may lead the people astray by first forsaking God, as did Saul; and thus both constitution and executive become a burden so heavy that the voice of the people, as a voice from heaven, cries out against the oppression, and the yoke is justly shaken off. But in order to justify such action the perversion must be unquestionable, and the tyranny intolerable. The senseless murmurs of a restless and ambitious faction, or the disappointed hopes of shelved politicians, are not to be regarded. For these are usually nothing but the evidence that their occupation of making silver shrines for themselves is gone, and their uproarious cries are only the expression of selfishness, but do not in the least atone for the crime of rebellion, or compensate for the miseries, of a popular uprising. For governments, however well administered by fallible human agents, and over such creatures, can only be a system of compensations, effected by the surrender of individual preferences for the common good; and hence it follows, from the nature of the case, that instances must occur wherein grievances are felt, and occasions made for selfish complaining. And while such complaining is counter to the spirit and needs of civil society, it is also unreasonable because subversive of the common good, and contrary to the divine ordinance, which requires submission. Nor should the loyalty of the subject be expressed by a formal submission to authority, an outward obedience, as if extorted by fear; but a hearty support, a cordial acquiescence in those measures which the public welfare demands through personal sacrifice. This is not all, the true patriot honors the ruler as such, though differing from him in political views, because he is the visible representation of the divine power in the state. Even when the character of the magistrate be such that a good man cannot approve of it, still, while the person cannot be respected, the office must be honored and obeyed. This is without doubt the true notion of loyalty - a sentiment far too little regarded in our country since partisan rancor ran so high near the close of Washington's presidential term, and, from the absence of which, our rulers have been deprived of that moral support which is imperatively necessary to the successful working of governments when the purposes of the executive are thorughly honest. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.