The People's vindicator. [volume] (Natchitoches, La.) 1874-1883, 1878-10-19

States, in order t" form more perfect
Union. establish Justice, ensure domestic
tranquility, provide for tho common ito
fence, promote tn" general welfare, and
to secure the blessings of liberty to our
selves and to onr posterity, do or'lain and
establish this Constitution for the United
States of America" But if all We're
christians in truth, and indeed, if all
had the mind and spirit Of Christ. II"
one would desire to take anothcrs life, or
infringe on an"thers liberty, or -ndrav"r
unjustly t" obtain another mans proper
ty, or to blast the reputation Of any
individual. II all were christians these
expensive governments maintained 10y
the outlay Of millions Of dollars, and
maintaining thousands Of idIers in of.
fee, would be abolished, for they wonld
have no mans life, liberty, property or
reputation to protect. Prisons would
be unheard of. No more taxes would he
exacted, and the millions Of dollars that
annually flow into our Treasury from
taxation would remain at home to beau
tify and adorn our premises. school nous
es, colleges and churches would lie hnlIt
and maintained: we would see no more
armies mar>hallrd out to shoot ""wn
human beings like wild beast OF the
forest the sword would be beaten into
the plow share; our tabernacles w"nld
be crowded on the Sabbaths by happy
worshippers, singing and praising God,
and earth would again be an Eden. Bnt
this wickrhness slintS out this glor'"nS
reign of peacc from our borders at pres
emf, and human governments with their
strong arms must exist aud I've MAINTAIN,
ed, and no christian can sit idly ny ard
not perform his share of duty in sup
porting his government.
W. enquire then what are our duties
as christian citizens towards our govern
mpnt, remembering always that the
claims of Gods Kingdom should stand
first in all our plans and efforts; that a
sense of accountability to him should
controle ns in the discharge Of all our
civ duties and that we shonld acknowl-
edge the supremacy Of his word as our
rule Of action; with these thoughts in
view let us examine specially oar duties
First: Submission to the civil al
thoritirs and obedience to the laws, is
an Imperative duty dcvolving upon eve.
~ citizen. On this subject st. Paul says,
"Lpt every man be subject to the higher
powers, for there is no power but Of God
the powers that he, are ordained Of GHl'"
Obedience to the authority Of civil rulers
here inculcated by the Apostle, are rem
derrd imperative by two considerations,
first: without this obedience there can
I've no civil government, and civil gov
eminent ;s essential to good society
Second: civil government since tho fall
Of man is of God, hence, according to
this general principal, he that resisteth
civil authority resisteth the ordinance OF
God.
Patriotism or love Of country is OK
ppct4ul of every citizen, the same natu-
! raj tie that binds to the love of family.
Kindred and home, originates the obIiga-
ton and suggests the impulses of patri-
otism, how deep and manly was this
feeling in the hra,t of the -xilrd Jew.
"lf | forget thee. o, Jerusalem, let my
right hand forget her cunning. IT q"
not remember thee, let my tongue cIpnve
to the roof of my mouth; if prefer not
Jerusalem above my chief j"y.' He is
hot true man much less II true chris
| ii II whose soul il so dead to the gene.
,o,s emotions that link ns to Kindred
and birthplace az never t" exclaim, "this
il INV own my native land" II Paul
looking back from the world wide scene
, Il his Apostolic lah"rs to his home in
Tarsus, conld say with evident sa''sfac.
tiou. III an y citizen of no mean city,
How much more NAV We glory in this
beautiful, fertile. pleasant heritage which
the Gcd Of the whole earth has given ~:
+ Patriotism is manifested by doing all
~ our power t" sustain our institutions
and promote the prosperity Of our com
mon country. This requires of lis, 'Sf'
to give our moral support to our govern
ment. Let us point with pride to our
free and independent constitutional TOR"
Of government, with its broad princip'es
of Justice, equity and peace: with it's frrt
speech, free press. FREQ religlo" with its
elective franchise; with its vast INA