Government
‹ 1 · Outline · 3 ›
2.The origin and authority of government
2a.Divine ordinance and the vicegerency of rulers
The Book of JobVol. 44
- p. 88–89God overthrows counsellors, judges, princes and nations, raising and destroying them.read · scan
The Bhagavad-Gita; or, Song CelestialVol. 45
- p. 831–834The Lord is the policy of conquerors and the potency of kings among His excellences.read · scan
Luke, The Gospel According to LukeVol. 44
- p. 355–356God puts down princes from thrones and exalts the lowly.read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36
- p. 267–268Temporal authority, ordained by God to punish the wicked, must act over clergy too, without respect of persons.read · scan
- p. 268–269Secular power, per Paul and Peter, bears the sword by God's ordinance and must punish any guilty person, pope included.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 13–14Government is God's ordinance; subverting it is condemned, and the sword must not be put in the hands of the common people.read · scan
John Winthrop, Arbitrary Government Described and the Government of the Massachusetts Vindicated from That AspersionVol. 43
- p. 90–91Governments are God's vicegerents on earth; judges in supreme authority need gifts, not mechanical rules.read · scan
- p. 93–94Judges are Gods on earth, expressing God's wisdom and mercy as well as justice; mercy upholds the throne.read · scan
- p. 99Interpreting God's laws belongs to highest commonwealth authority and subordinately to magistrates.read · scan
Sir Henry Vane, A Healing QuestionVol. 43
- p. 123Magistracy is instituted by God and trusted by the people.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 200The Christian and Jewish republic had only God as ruler, as Philo notes.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34
- p. 228Sets aside divine right sanction of sovereign authority, deducing political societies by reason.read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24
- p. 165Monarchy has no more divine sanction than other modes of government.read · scan
- p. 228Those who govern men stand in the person of God and should approximate perfection.read · scan
2b.Force, chance, paternal rule and early government
Homer, The OdysseyVol. 22
- p. 81Nausithous founded the Phaeacian city, with walls, temples and fields; Alcinous reigns with wisdom given by the gods.read · scan
- p. 293–294Telemachus claims mastery in the house as its lord, giving or denying the bow as he chooses.read · scan
Herodotus, An Account of EgyptVol. 33
- p. 69–70The blind king returns to rule after the Ethiopian's voluntary departure.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 131Aeneas founds a town on Crete, promotes marriages, gives laws and divides dwellings by lot.read · scan
- p. 197–202Aeneas founds a city, allots tenements, and appoints a senate, judges and laws.read · scan
Christopher Columbus, The Letter of Columbus to Luis de Sant Angel Announcing His DiscoveryVol. 43
- p. 21His scouts find many small communities with no kind of government.read · scan
Sir Walter Raleigh, Preface to the History of the WorldVol. 39
- p. 112–113The first ages had laws, diverse governments, kingly rule, nobility and policy in war, so history must treat them.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 155Man's rule and woman's subjection are described as true authority in filial freedom, not equal.read · scan
- p. 341–342Early men live under paternal rule in families and tribes until one usurps power.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 107–108Imagining society's formation: strife until the stronger dominates, then masters decree transmission of power by election or heredity.read · scan
- p. 108Duchies, kingships and magistracies exist because might rules, yet who rules is decided by caprice, so the principle varies.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34
- p. 166Others derived government from the strong ruling the weak without considering how notions of authority formed.read · scan
- p. 214Early government had no permanent form and was the work of chance, repaired piecemeal.read · scan
- p. 216Rejects deriving absolute government from paternal authority; civil society gives paternal authority its force.read · scan
- p. 218–219Governments did not begin in arbitrary power, which is their corruption; they were the remedy against the law of the strongest.read · scan
- p. 222Inequality progresses in three stages: laws and property, institution of magistrates, legal power turned arbitrary; rich/poor, strong/weak, master/slave.read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10
- p. 35Fortune does not by itself convey civil or military power, though it may afford means to acquire it.read · scan
Percy Bysshe Shelley, The CenciVol. 18
- p. 301Camillo says weakening paternal power would be a dangerous example, reflecting the Pope's own authority.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, CharacteristicsVol. 25
- p. 327Polities form as the ignorant submit to the wise; men yield to moral greatness, not brute force.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25
- p. 195Rulers, holding power by inheritance or conquest, were seen as necessary but dangerous.read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29
- p. 220–221The tribes have no government or chief, yet are surrounded by hostile tribes.read · scan
- p. 233–234Equality among Fuegians retards civilization; civilized races have more artificial governments and chiefs.read · scan
Edward Augustus Freeman, Race and LanguageVol. 28
- p. 246Kindred is the one basis on which all government has grown up.read · scan
Ernest Renan, The Poetry of the Celtic RacesVol. 32
- p. 141Family spirit stifled any aptitude for political life or wider organisation.read · scan
2c.Consent, contract and the revocability of rulers
See also: God 7c
Plutarch, PericlesVol. 12
- p. 71–72The people strip Pericles of command and fine him.read · scan
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales; The Nun's Priest's TaleVol. 40
- p. 31The Host proposes to guide and judge the pilgrims, who agree by common assent to obey his proposal.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 342Man was given dominion over beasts but not over men; man over men not by God's donation.read · scan
Sir Henry Vane, A Healing QuestionVol. 43
- p. 120The people may set up fit persons in supreme authority, drawing on the nation's wisdom to shape rule for the public welfare.read · scan
- p. 126Sovereignty stays with the people and army, exercised by deputation through persons they choose, in one civil incorporation.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34
- p. 220Contract of government cannot be irrevocable, lacking a superior power; the people may renounce a chief who breaks it.read · scan
- p. 225The contract of government is dissolved by despotism.read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24
- p. 153The abstract principle of popular choice threatens all governments, not just kings.read · scan
- p. 155–156Price's three rights: choose governors, cashier them for misconduct, frame a government for ourselves; Burke rejects them.read · scan
- p. 166No government could stand if removable for loosely defined 'misconduct'; James was charged with subverting the constitution.read · scan
- p. 194–195Legitimacy of government is judged by title and representation according to the theorists' system.read · scan
Friedrich Schiller, William TellVol. 26
- p. 420The free need a supreme judge; Emperor is protector by free consent.read · scan
The Declaration of IndependenceVol. 43
- p. 150–151Governments are instituted to secure rights, deriving just powers from the consent of the governed.read · scan
- p. 152–153The king has abdicated government by declaring the colonies out of his protection.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, CharacteristicsVol. 25
- p. 335Reform Bills succeed the Invaluable Constitution; treatises on social contract, suffrage and rights show a society anatomising itself.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, PoliticsVol. 5
- p. 246Governments originate in the moral identity of men, seeking the wise man's will through representation, selection or one ruler.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25
- p. 195–196Magistrates should be revocable delegates whose power is the nation's own concentrated power.read · scan
Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's First Inaugural AddressVol. 43
- p. 318Government must continue by acquiescence of minority or majority.read · scan
- p. 321The Chief Magistrate derives authority from the people; his duty is to administer the government and transmit it unimpaired; public servants have little power for mischief.read · scan
2d.Obedience, allegiance and the claims of authority
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 54Ministers' duty to their lord and the realm's vassal structure.read · scan
- p. 55When right prevails, authority flows from the Son of Heaven; usurpation by princes and ministers lasts fewer generations.read · scan
- p. 61Old man withdraws from public office; Tzu-lu says the claim of king on minister cannot be set aside.read · scan
Sophocles, AntigoneVol. 8
- p. 276Debate over whether a ruler may disregard his subjects' judgment.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 73–77Neptune rebukes the winds for acting without his authority and assigns each ruler his own domain.read · scan
Paul, The Second Epistle of Paul to the CorinthiansVol. 45
- p. 531–532Paul's authority given for building up, not casting down, used sparingly.read · scan
Luke, The Gospel According to LukeVol. 44
- p. 405–406Chief priests question by what authority Jesus acts; he counters with a question about John's baptism.read · scan
Luke, The Acts of the ApostlesVol. 44
- p. 429Rulers, elders, scribes and the high priest examine the apostles by what power they acted.read · scan
Chapters from the KoranVol. 45
- p. 974–975Obedience is owed to those in authority; disputes are referred to God and the Apostle.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 225The Sultan defers to the Khalifeh's letter, while the Wezir questions its authenticity and demands formal investiture.read · scan
- p. 299Viceroy Musa receives the caliph's letter with obedience and must appoint someone to govern his province during absence.read · scan
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of ChristVol. 7
- p. 212–213Living under authority is safer than holding it; peace lies in humble subjection.read · scan
- p. 274–275Submission to one set over you as discipline of the flesh.read · scan
William Caxton, Prefaces and EpiloguesVol. 39
- p. 5–7Obedience to a princess's dreadful command, owed as her servant and pensioner, drives him to finish the work.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 335Cellini must obtain royal leave through the Cardinal, his protector, before leaving France.read · scan
John Calvin, Dedication of the Institutes of the Christian ReligionVol. 39
- p. 27Calvin answers the calumny that the doctrine subverts kings, tribunals, order and laws.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 36–37Obedience that disputes and construes commands rather than executing them is suspect.read · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of King LearVol. 46
- p. 230Goneril complains Lear still wants to manage authorities he gave away; Kent recognizes authority in Lear's countenance.read · scan
- p. 293Lear mocks the authority of office: a dog is obeyed in office, and politicians seem to see what they do not.read · scan
John Webster, The Duchess of MalfiVol. 47
- p. 807–808Debate over whether the state of Ancona and the Pope have power over a free prince.read · scan
Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Life Is a DreamVol. 26
- p. 37Authority and order are grounded in allegiance; revolting against it is revolting against the stars.read · scan
Pierre Corneille, PolyeucteVol. 26
- p. 102Felix cites imperial power of Decius and calls Christians rebels; treason is unforgivable.read · scan
- p. 128Severus promises to protect the sect so long as loyalty endures and to reveal the innocent from the traitor to the Emperor.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise LostVol. 4
- p. 204Abdiel argues that rule is rightful when the ruler is worthiest and excels those he governsread · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 108–109Kings' guards and pomp mechanically inspire awe in subjects through habit; power's property is to protect; custom determines justice.read · scan
- p. 109Government founded on opinion versus on might; established laws are deemed just because established; civil war is the worst evil, hereditary succession of a fool the lesser.read · scan
- p. 109–110Obedience to the man in fine clothes is enforced by custom as force; deference to rank rests on power rather than reason.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, LettersVol. 48
- p. 359Kings' right of command over subjects is likened to the right of persuasion of superior minds.read · scan
John Dryden, Dedication of the AeneisVol. 13
- p. 14–15Obedience of chiefs to the supreme commander; the people suffer for the follies of kings.read · scan
Daniel Defoe, The Shortest-Way with the DissentersVol. 27
- p. 134–135Supreme authority has the right to execute laws on any part of the nation.read · scan
John Woolman, The Journal of John WoolmanVol. 1
- p. 217Taxes and paper money laid by the province to fund wars; question of obligation to civil authority.read · scan
- p. 219–220Refusing the tax may be construed as disloyalty and displease rulers in Pennsylvania and England.read · scan
- p. 221–222Woolman admits a soldier in passive obedience to legal authority but will take no pay.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, EgmontVol. 19
- p. 276–277Egmont counsels obedience, warning that power lies with the king and that privileges are not secured by sedition.read · scan
James Monroe, The Monroe DoctrineVol. 43
- p. 277–279Policy is to treat the government de facto as legitimate and to deal frankly and firmly with it.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 378The bravoes obey the Unnamed's look and command without question.read · scan
- p. 400–401The Unnamed summons his bravoes and servants, who obey with accustomed submission.read · scan
- p. 402His dependents accept his word as a will without appeal, and affection for a master mingles with fear.read · scan
- p. 443She rules her household, with everyone subject to her authority except Don Ferrante.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, Sir Walter ScottVol. 25
- p. 394Polities and loyalties rest on hero-worship, the inborn love of great men.read · scan
‹ 1 · Outline · 3 ›