The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-08-04


cY-cATHoLIc THINKERS HAVE
UPHELD RIGHT OF PEOPLE TO
RULE THROUGH THEIR LEAD
Frs.
In an address to the Louisville, KY,
Knights of st. John, Benedict Elder
said in part:
In these stirring, patriotic times,
when democracy, liberty and the
rights of small nations are words on.
every tongue, and the great, self
governing people of America is Civ
ing its blood and treasure to have
them established as principles in
every land, it is not amiss to consider,
while we burn our offerings In sacr1-
fee upon the affairs of humanity, how.
it is that the youngest in the family
of great nations has become the
exemplar of all, to show to the rulers
of peoples the way of right govern
ment among men.
You have no doubt heard that our
immortal Jefferson learned from the
celebrated Rousseau, the democratic
principle that all governments derive
their just powers from the consent
of the governed; but did you ever
hear whence Rousseau learned that
true principle of civil authority? 1t
did not originate with him, l assure
you; nor am quite certain that he
ever stated it in such right terms;
for his political ideal, as he himself
says in his Contract Social, was ito
have an association in which each
one, while united to all, would obey
only himself and remain as free as
before" which obviously just now
would be a very welcome rule to
those who resist the thoughtful war
measures of our President, though I
can imagine it would stand the Gov
eminent in rather poor stead.
The principle of government
upon which rest our free institutions
in America, that principle which hav-
ing proved it for ourselves we are
trying to have extended to all peO-
Piles oppressed, is laid in the founda-
tons of Christian teaching as old as
the Christian religion itself. So far
from having been discovered by Rous-
seau, or in his day, it was known to
the early Fathers of the Church and
it has been taught by her Doctors
and ministers without intermission
from the earliest Christian times I'M
til now.
Testimony of Fathers.
Tertullian implicitly recognized it
in the third chapter of his Apology
where he reproaches the Roman Gov
ernors for their prosecutions of the
Christians. st. Justin likewise, in
his Apology for the Christians, where
he refers to the precept of Christ
concerning the payment of tributes
And st. Polycarp also, as he shows
by his treatment of the powers
ordained to magistrates and kings
| mentioned in the fourth book Of
| Eusebius And from more thar
i one of the forty-five books of st. Au
gustine's City of God, it is clear that
the principle of government
however disregarded by princes, was
recognized by Christian teaching.
One of the greatest authorities or
the philosophy of human rights ant
duties who ever wrote, is ST. Thomas
| Aquinas, known as the Angelic Doc
tor of the Church. For six centuries
now, his writings have been the in
exhaustible fountain of truth from
which moralists and theologians ant
jurists even, have drawn wisdom ant
i light. In his de regimine principum
i he shows as only he could show, il
La light shot through with inspira
ton, that the fundamental right o
civil rule and civil law is rooted il
nature and found in the multitude
or whole collection of men, withou
any individual or class having thu
power to govern except it be givel
| expressly or implicitly by the people
Although not consistently observed
; by them, this principle was uniforml.
acknowledged by Christian rulers TN
J til the close of the sixteenth century
Constantine, Theodosius, Charlie
magne, Ohio, Alfred the Great, Ed
Z ward the Confessor, all claimed t.
i rule by consent of the people, and il
the light of the history of their times
one would hardly now venture to dis
pute the justice of their claim. Othe
, rulers made the same claim and Will
we may well doubt the validity, il
many cases the sincerity, of thei
claims, that such claims were pu
; forth by the very tyrants is eloquen
! testimony that the consent of the pee
, pie was considered as the only RICH
/ title to civil power.
The coronation oath of Eng1an
; for eight hundred years contained tn
: express provision that the Sovereign
, Power was derived from the peopl
J of the realm, and the Sovereign be
: came oath bound to do the people
will. 1t was James /, petty tyran
If England ever had one, who change
that ancient oath and, contrary t
all precedent, in spite of English trs
: ditions and against. the law of tn
land, made it say that he was Kin
not by will of the people but by tn
will of God. And to leave no doub
that he meant to assume unto hin
II self all the honors and prerogative