Portland gazette and Maine advertiser. (Portland, Me.) 1805-1818, 1809-04-24
LESSON VII.

IL oDpN VII.
Csatinnrtioa If The Fri Commandment.
. What are the duties of Chrif-
tian with refpect to Tie Princes who
are fet over them, aud what in par
ticular, are our duties towards Napo-
leoa Firt, our Empcforr /?
A. Chriltians owe TO the Princes
who reiide over them, AMI in par,icu-
lar TO Napoleon Fra, our Emperour,
fidelity, military feryice, the payment
of contributions for the prefcrvation
and defence of the Empire, and oe
his throne we owe him moreover,
our fervent prayers for his fafety, and
for the fpiritual and temporal prof
perity Of the nation.
Q Why do we owe thefe duties
to our Emperor !
A. Becaufe, in the 6ra place, God
vino efabliihcs Empires, and difpo-
fes of them according to his will, by
comforting his blei1ings upon cur
Emperour, both in Peace and ia War,
has ordained him to be our fovereign,
has rendered him the miniter of his
power,aM bis image npon Earth.
TO honor and ferve our Emperor, is
therefore, to honour and ferve God
himfelf. Secondly, becaufe our Lord
Jefus Chrilt, as well by his doctrine
as his example, has taught US himfelf,
our duty TO our fovereign ; he was
born obeying the Decree of Auguitus
Crfar --he paid the preicribcd tribute
and as he declared that men ihould
render unto God the things which
are Gods he at the fame time ordain-
ed, that we fhould render unto Co.
far the things that are C&tar's
Q Are there not fome particular
motives, which ought ftrongly to at
zach US to Napoleon Firft, our En-
peror
a. Yes For it is he whom God
has railed up in our aitfrefs, to re-
fore us the religion of our Fathers,
and to be its defence.-He has re-
eitabliihed pubic order by his wife
and active .policy-he protects the
nation by his powerful arm aud be
h1s becov he Lerdf aqpoi1fed, by the
conftcra'ion of the fovereign Pontif,
chief of.,he Church Univerial.
o. What arrive 20 think Of ihofe
who iail in their duty to our Empe-
ror
A. According to the Holy Apoftle
Paul, they rebel againlt the order eff
ablilhcd by God himiclf, and rem
der themfeves liable to eternal dam
nation.
Q Do the obligations we owe 70
our Lmperor, bind us likewife with
rcfpea to bis lawful fuccefors in the
order efabliihed by the Contribution
Of the Empire
A. Yes = mott certainly for we
read in the Holy Scriptures, that
God the Lord Of Heaven and Earth,
by the difpenfa,ions of his fupreme
will, ard by his providence gives
Empires not only 10 an individual
pcrfon in particular, but likewiie to
his family.
TO FAY nothing of the defpotifm
which the Republican Bonaparte has
bound ,he French people--we ak
is there fSri1is man in the country
that is not ihocked at this halpbemouJ
endsavonr to faneion futmiilion UNI
dcl the cloak of Religion. Ian
r'ilge is incompetent to expre!s our
ileas of its horror. Bonaparte has
frequently ihewn, that the ties o!
Religion, Of nature, the laws of ma
irons, of morality, the faith of trea-
fiss, and in ihort every fpecics OF
,ieht, obligation, or duty, which can
bud man ~ man, IN a fo:ial fate
are 30 him +" fabnft71 b1Gds.' AZ
The head Of the mott formidable mil.
.t2yy force the world ever faw, res
trained by no law, divine or human,
~ IS waginS war, net agai:.h this OF