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SERMON XIX.

THE CHOICE OF THEIR RULERS THE PRIVILEGE OF THE PEOPLE.

NATIONAL THANKSGIVING, APRIL 13, 1815.

AND their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them. -JEREMIAH, XXX. 21.

THE Jews were now in a state of captivity, where they were suffering a just punishment for their abuse of the peculiar favors which they had once enjoyed. Jeremiah, who had often forewarned them of this national calamity, here foretells their happy return to their native land, and to their former privileges, both civil and religious. Among their civil privileges, he mentions that of choosing and enjoying rulers of their own nation. "And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them." This phraseology imports, that they should not only have, but choose their own rulers from among themselves; which must have appeared a very signal favor to a people, who had long been under the dominion of unjust and absolute tyrants. The plain and obvious truth, which the letter and spirit of the text lead us to consider on this occasion, is,

That it is a great privilege to any people to have the power of choosing their own rulers.

To illustrate and apply this single truth, will be the business of the present discourse.

1. The power of choosing their own rulers is a privilege which but very few of mankind have ever enjoyed. It was a privilege peculiar to the Jews, while they dwelt in their own land and continued a free people. The Egyptians and Baby

lonians, the two largest nations then existing, had lost their liberties, and become subject to the most despotic rulers, while the petty states around them were subject to petty tyrants. And from that day to this, usurpation and tyranny have generally prevailed in the world. There is not one nation in all Asia and Africa, which enjoys the power of electing its own rulers; and scarcely one in all Europe, which enjoys this privilege in its full extent. Our civil government is the only one in the world which is completely elective, and which gives the people the right of choosing their own rulers, from the highest to the lowest, without the least restraint. Such a singular privilege is a singular mark of the divine favor, and ought to be considered as the very essence of a free government.

2. The power of choosing their own rulers is a privilege which all nations who are destitute of it wish to enjoy. Though many of them have been so long under arbitrary government that they have lost much of the knowledge, sensibility and spirit of men, and become almost reconciled to their low and servile condition; yet none have become totally indifferent to the treatment which they receive from their fellow mortals. They have some moral sense of right and wrong, of justice and injustice, of mercy and cruelty, of liberty and oppression, which makes them wish for the privilege of choosing their own rulers from among themselves, who would pity their condition, redress their grievances, and give them the rich blessings of civil liberty. How many oppressed nations have, in the course of a few years past, been enraptured and decoyed, at the mere sound of liberty and equality! This demonstrates, that all nations desire national freedom, and would rejoice in possessing the power of choosing the men, who should manage their public concerns. It is, therefore, the united voice of all nations, that the power of choosing their own rulers is a most precious and important privilege.

3. It must be a great privilege to any people, to have the power of choosing their best men to rule over them. Some men, among every people, are better qualified than others for places of power and trust; and it is a great privilege to have the power of filling every department of government with those whom they deem the best able and best disposed to promote the public good.

In particular, it is a great privilege for a people to have the power of choosing those into public office, who are best acquainted with their peculiar genius and disposition. Every nation has a national character, with which it is highly necessary that those who rule over them should be well acquainted. Whether civil rulers mean to govern well, or ill, they cannot

attain their object unless they understand human nature in general, and the peculiar genius and disposition of the people whom they attempt to govern. This knowledge, Oliver Cromwell, Charles V., emperor of Germany, and President Washington, possessed in a high degree; and to this peculiar trait in their character, their great success in attaining the different objects of their pursuit was greatly owing. Those eminent rulers knew how to meet the feelings of their subjects, and to select the proper men to carry their deep designs into effect. But by the want of this species of knowledge, Charles I. lost his kingdom and his head, and George III. the colonies of America. The knowledge of men is an indispensable qualification for a good ruler; because all political wisdom is founded upon it. As no man is fit to manage a machine who is ignorant of its nature, construction and use, so no man is fit to manage a people, who is ignorant of their peculiar genius, dispositions, and habits of thinking and acting. It is a great privilege, therefore, for a people to have the power of choosing their wisest men to direct their public affairs. Again,

The right of election gives them a fair opportunity of choosing from among themselves rulers who are the best acquainted with their own laws and constitution of government. This is an extensive branch of political knowledge, and essential to a good statesman. Those who are destitute of this kind of information, however well they may be disposed, are unequal to the task of guiding the helm of government. They may happen to steer right; but it is much more likely that they will steer wrong, and involve the people in great difficulties and dangers, if not in final ruin. No ruler can take his measures wisely, who is not well versed in the laws and constitutions of his country; because he must always keep these in his eye, as a pole star, to direct him to his ultimate end, the public good. Those who administer the government, are always in danger of adopting measures, through ignorance or inattention, which directly or indirectly tend to weaken or destroy the very pillars that support it. No men are qualified for the higher offices of government, but such as clearly understand its constitution, which is designed to limit the powers of both rulers and subjects. And when a people have the right of choosing their own rulers, they may fill the highest offices of government with men who have the largest share of political knowledge and experience.

Again, where a people appoint their own rulers, they have it in their power to put those men into office, who are best acquainted with their various and clashing interests. A civil community which contains a large body of people, scattered

over a large extent of territory, always has local interests, which are various, and apparently, if not really, inconsistent. And it belongs to rulers to consult all these interests, and make them, if possible, the bonds of union and harmony, instead of causes of mutual discord and complaint. But in order to do this, rulers must have a clear and extensive knowledge of such separate and jarring interests. Those who are unacquainted with these, can never know how their laws and regulations will operate, until they have made the experiment, when it may be too late to apply a remedy for their mistakes. Whereas, men of profound political knowledge and experience know how to employ local prejudices and conflicting interests, as so many means of uniting and cementing the members of the body politic. A people, therefore, enjoy a great privilege, when they have the power of appointing such peace-makers to manage their public concerns.

Furthermore, in the free exercise of the power of election, a people may appoint men of tried integrity to places of the highest trust and responsibility. Integrity is the first virtue of a civil ruler. "He that ruleth over men must be just," said David, in his dying hour. When a people choose their rulers from among themselves, they have a fair opportunity of knowing the moral principles of their fellow citizens, and of appointing those only to the first offices of government, who have an established character for integrity. Men of principle always establish their character by that time they are qualified, in point of age, to sustain offices of high trust and importance. And it is a divine maxim, that "he that is faithful in the least, will be faithful also in much."

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Now, rulers who understand the genius and disposition of their people, who are acquainted with their laws and constitutions, who have a comprehensive view of their various interests and connections, and who are men of tried integrity, are well qualified to fill every department of government. people can desire better rulers than these; and such as these, the power of election gives them the best opportunity of appointing to office. This must be a very desirable and important privilege, because they can never expect that such rulers will be appointed for them. In absolute monarchies, the distant provinces are obliged to submit to governors appointed for them, who never lived among them; who are ignorant of their customs and manners, their laws and interests; who are destitute of the principles of virtue and integrity; and who seek their own honors and emoluments, more than the peace and prosperity of their subjects. These evils we bitterly experienced, so long as the king of England appointed

our chief magistrates. But when a people are free to choose their own rulers from among themselves, they may, if they please, elect rulers who are both qualified and disposed to seek the public good, and make their constituents prosperous and happy. I must add,

4. That it is a great privilege for a people to have the power of choosing their own rulers, because good rulers are a very great blessing. The power of rulers to do good is very extensive. There is no other order of men, who have all the interests of the people so much in their power. They have greater or less influence over all those things, which can contribute to the outward prosperity and happiness of a civil community. They are the guardians of all that a people hold most dear and sacred; and so can do them greater service, and more essentially promote their temporal good, than any other men in any other public or private stations of life.

The customs and manners of a people have a direct tendency to make them happy or wretched; and these are very much under the controlling influence of civil rulers. Though they are not appointed for this purpose, yet their example has a transforming effect. They are the most respectable members in the community, to whom the lower classes look up for guidance in their common modes of conduct and social intercourse. The court in all civilized nations is the model, according to which the men of wealth and figure mean to form their customs and manners, respecting their dress, their amusements, their language, their equipage, and their various ways of spending their time and property. Rulers, therefore, of correct sentiments, virtuous habits, and exemplary conduct, may do much to promote the general good, without displeasing a single individual by the exercise of legal authority.

Every people hold their religion, whatever it is, as a matter of serious importance. And this also lies within the reach of civil rulers, who always have it in their power directly or indirectly to promote it. If they take it directly into their hands, they can establish what kind of it they please; or if they do not take it directly into their hands, they can in various ways have great influence upon it. Indeed it is a serious truth, that in every age, and in every branch of the christian church, not only the modes and forms, but the kinds of religion, have always taken the complexion of the civil powers for the time being. We know that this has been the case in Europe, and especially in England, where the popish and protestant religions have alternately been the religion of the nation, as either a popish or protestant prince held the reins of government. And it has lately been demonstrated, that infidel rulers will substitute

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