The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1839-03-09
MORAL Rule of Political Action

Extracts from A Discourse delivered in Hollis
street Church, Sunday, January 81, 1899. By John
Pierpont. Boston--Published by Jas. Munroe
& Co..
The celebrated Observation-Disclosures alike for
his talents and his vices-in an essay in favor Of
removing from the Jews the civil disabilities I'M
der which they have suffered through almost all
chrlstendom, arguing that it were better 10 bind
them to the state by the ties of gratitude, than to
weaken them as members of it, by Withholding
from them powers which were granted to all Chris
tians, very sagacousl remarks, for the Jew, af-
ter all, is more a man than he is Jev He is
united to society, that is, by more sympahies and
interests on the ground of common nature, than
he is separated from it, or alien to it, on the ground
of peculiar faith.
&c. inasmuch as all the members of every civil
community hold common relations to God, which
relations are earlier, closer, and more enduring
than are any that as felow-citizens, they can hold
to each other; as the duties, consequently, that re-
suit from their relations to each other as members
OF body politic,-with the same truth, if not with
the same pith and point that belong to the remark
of Mirabeau, we may say that every man, accord
ing to his nature, is more moral, than he is po
litical man. According to his nature, that is as
creature of God and subject of his moral gov
eminent, his allegiance to God is prior to any, and
stronger than any allegiance that he can owe to
any human government: and consequently, when
the laws of mon come into collision with the laws
of God the claims and obligations of the latter are
paramount to those ofthe former, and must be first
obeyed: or, in the words of the whole college of
apostles, We ought to obey God rather than men,
1t has already been remarked that this great
moral principle can be practically applied to polit
lcal action, only in where the voice of man is
in discord with the voice of God where man en-
joins what God forbids, or forbids what God re-
quires where the human law is in conflict with
the divine; where lower good is sought at the
expense of higher where politics and morals are
at issue; for where there are harmony, between
these, in obeying either, the other is obeyed. The
principle is that, inasmuch as every man is more
a moral than he is political man, he must, when
acting in his political relations, seek the attainment
of moral or spiritual good, rather than good which
is merely sensual or temporal and when the latter
stands in the way of the former, the sensual and
temporal must step out of the way or be trampled
down in the onward and triumphant march of the
moral and spiritual, the hosts of light and truth
and love.
This moral principle or rule OF political action,
propose TO apply to some, indeed to several, of the
past and present political interests parties of this
country, wishing tito be understood, however, that
in this make myself except by way of supposition,
an elementary or constituent part of no one of
them all. deal with principles and parties. II
pass no judgment upon either; but use, in rea
ton to each, what suppose will be the least often
sive names, as descriptive terms.
Take first, then, the great political parties thai
divide our nation, and which, to avoid all odious
party names, will describe as the administration
and the opposition parties Here, suppose my
self with the administration. What are the ques-
tons which are the most exciting and the most
keeny controverted between my party and the OPP
position? So far as | am informed, they are ques-
tons relating to the pecuniary interests of the
ton,-tarif or no tariff,-sub-treasur or bank
treasury,-and others of the same general nature,
connected with these, dependent upon them, or
otherwise related 10 them. Now, with my lights,
think that these interests will be most wisely and
faithfully administered by the hands to which they
are now intrusted and,-believing that if they
were to fall into the hands Of the opposition, the
public treasure would be proAigately squandered,
and used for the purpose of perpetuating its own
power by bribery and coruption,-I must adhere
to my party, because in so doing believe | shall
subserye the interests of the state, especially and
chiefly its moral interests, which are its highest
and best. But suppose the party, as a party, pro-
PoSe dlleaSure lnal ueem UNJUST. suppose lhat |
as an inducemept to me, to aid the measure, by |
my voice or my vote, am offered an Office or a
bride. What then shall do? What, indeed, but
denounce and quit it, and, taking a seat upon the
opposition benches, use my knowledge and myI
power to dispace the present ncumbents from their
office, and put in better men, But my party will
denounce me! Let them: they cannot do a bet
ter thing for me, or worse one for themselves
The city of Sodom would not have helped ITSELF
as city, or avered its own destruction, by ban
ishing the righteous Lot and after he had volun-
tarly Withdrawn from it, he was not probably,
disquieted by the hard names that his late neigh
bors called him. | ought to obey God rather than
men. | cannot shake offhs yoke that may put
on theirs. His is easy. Theirs, mo,o, will gall
to the quick.
Or, suppose me already in the opposition. l.,
with my present lights, do not believe in the ad-
believe it imbecile, let it will ev-
er SO well. believe it corrupt, as well as imbecie,
and not only corrupt but corrupdng others. What
now must do? Simply this. must use the
power and the instrunentalities that God has put
at my disposal to dispace the weak and wicked,
and put in the strong and good In this case, the
and moral interests of the people are in
harmony and in obeying the decisions of my par