power, frown away oppression, and, under any form of constitution, become essentially free. A people surrendered up to their own licentious passions, must be held in subjection by force; for every one will find that force alone can protect him from his neighbors; and he will submit to be oppressed, if he may only be protected. Thus, in the feudal ages, the small independent landholders frequently made themselves slaves of one powerful chief, to shield themselves from the incessant oppression of twenty.

CHAPTER II.

THE DUTY OF THE OFFICERS OF A

GOVERNMENT.

FROM what has been said, the duties of the officers of a government may be stated in a few words.

It will be remembered that a government derives its authority from society, of which it is the agent; that society derives its authority from the compact formed by individuals; that society, and the relations between society and individuals, are the ordinance of God; of course the officer of a government, as the organ of society, is bound as such by the law of God, and is under obligation to administer according to this law. And hence, it makes no difference how the other party to the contract may execute their engagements; he, as the servant of God, set apart for this very thing, is bound, nevertheless, to act precisely according to the principles by which God has declared that this relation should be governed.

The officers of a government are Legislative, Judicial, and Executive.

I. Of Legislative officers.

1. It is the duty of a legislator to understand the social principles of man, the nature of the relation which subsists between the individual and society, and the mutual obliga

tions of each. By these are his power and his obligations limited; and unless he thus inform himself, he can never know respecting any act, whether it be just or oppressive. Without such knowledge he can never act with a clear conscience.

2. It is the duty of a legislator to understand the precise nature of the compact which binds together the particular society for which he legislates. This involves the general conditions of the social compact, and something more. It generally specifies conditions which the former does not contain, and, besides, establishes the limit of the powers of the several branches of the government. He who enters upon the duties of a legislator without such knowledge, is not only wicked but contemptible. He is the worst of all empirics; he offers to prescribe for a malady, and knows not whether the medicine he uses be a remedy or a poison. The injury which he inflicts is not on an individual but on an entire community. There is probably no method in which mischief is done so recklessly, and on so large a scale, as by ignorant and thoughtless and wicked legisla‐ tion. Were these plain considerations duly weighed, there would be somewhat fewer candidates for legislative office, and a somewhat greater deliberation on the part of the people in selecting them.

He

3. Having made himself acquainted with his powers and his obligations, he is bound to exert that power precisely within the limits by which it is restricted, and for the purposes for which it was conferred, to the best of his knowledge and ability, and for the best good of the whole society. is bound impartially to carry into effect the principles of the general and the particular compact, just in those respects in which the carrying them into effect is committed to him. For the action of others he is not responsible, unless he has been made so responsible. He is not the organ of a section, much less of a party, but of the society at large. And he

who uses his power for the benefit of a section, or of a party, is false to his duty, to his country, and to his God. He is engraving his name on the adamantine pillar of his country's history, to be gazed upon forever as an object of universal detestation.

4. It his duty to leave every thing else undone. From no plea of present necessity, or of peculiar circumstances, may he overstep the limits of his constitutional power, either in the act itself, or the purpose for which the act is done. The moment he does this he is a tyrant. Precisely the power committed to him exists, and no other. If he may exercise one power not delegated, he may another, and all; thus, on principle, he assumes himself to be the fountain of power; restraint to encroachment ceases, and all liberty is henceforth at an end. If the powers of a legislator are insufficient to accomplish the purposes of society, inconveniences will arise. It is better that these should be endured until the necessity of some modification be made apparent, than to remedy them on principles which destroy all liberty, and thus remove one inconvenience by taking away the possibility of ever removing another.

II. Of Judicial officers.

1. The judicial officer forms an independent branch of the government, or a separate and distinct agent, for executing the contract which society has made with the individual. As I have said before, it matters not how he is appointed: as soon as he is appointed he is the agent of society, and of society alone.

The judge, precisely in the same manner as the legislator, is bound by the principles of the social contract; and by those of the particular civil compact of the society in whose behalf he acts. This is the limit of his authority; and it is on his own responsibility if he transcend it.

2. The provisions of this compact, as they are embodied in laws, he is bound to enforce.

And hence we see the relation in which the judge stands to the legislator. Both are equally limited by the principles of the original compact. The acts of both are valid, in so far as they are authorized by that compact. Hence, if the legislator violate his trust, and enact laws at variance with the constitution, the judge is bound not to enforce them. The fact, that the one has violated the constitution, imposes upon the other no obligation to do the same. Thus the judge, inasmuch as he is obliged to decide upon the constitutionality of a law before he enforces it, becomes accidentally, but in fact, a co-ordinate power, without whose concurrence the law cannot go into force.

Hence we see that the duty of a judge is to understand,

1. The principles of that contract from which he derives his power;

2. The laws of the community whose agent he is;

3. To explain these laws without fear, favor, or affection; and show their bearing upon each individual case, without bias, either towards the individual, or towards society; and,

4. To pronounce the decision of the law, according to its true intent.

5. As the jury are a part of the judicial agents of the government, they are bound in the same manner to decide upon the facts, according to their best knowledge and ability, with scrupulous and impartial integrity.

III. Of Executive officers.