is allowable
to use tactics and strategy, to retreat as well as advance, to have
recourse to a ruse as well as open attack; but _in matters of principle
there can be no tactics, there is one straightforward course to follow,
and that course must be found and followed without swerving to the end_.

CHAPTER XVII

RESISTANCE IN ARMS--THE TRUE MEANING OF LAW

I

When we stand up to question false authority we should first make our
footing firm by showing we understand true authority and uphold it. Let
us be clear then as to the meaning of the word law. It may be defined;
an ordinance of reason, the aim of which is the public good and
promulgated by the ruling power. Let us cite a few authorities. "A human
law bears the character of law so far as it is in conformity with right
reason; and in that point of view it is manifestly derived from the
Eternal Law." (_Aquinas Ethicus,_ Vol. 1, p. 276.) Writing of laws that
are unjust either in respect to end, author or form, St. Thomas says:
"Such proceedings are rather acts of violence than laws; because St.
Augustine says: 'A law that is not just goes for no law at all.'"
(_Aquinas Ethicus_, Vol. 1, p. 292.) "The fundamental idea of all law,"
writes Balmez, "is that it be in accordance with reason, that it be an
emanation from reason, an application of reason to society" (_European
Civilisation_, Chap. 53). In the same chapter Balmez quotes St. Thomas
with approval: "The kingdom is not made for the king, but the king for
the kingdom"; and he goes on to the natural inference: "That all
governments have been established for the good of society, and that this
alone should be the compass to guide those who are in command, whatever
be the form of government." It is likewise the view of Mill, in
_Representative Government_, that the well-being of the governed is the
sole object of government. It was the view of Plato before the Christian
era: his ideal city should be established, "that the whole City might be
in the happiest condition." (_The Republic_, Book 4.) Calderwood writes:
"Political Government can be legitimately constructed only on condition
of the acknowledgment of natural obligations and rights as inviolable."
(_Handbook of Modern Philosophy, Applied Ethics_, Sec. 4.) Here all
schools and all times are in agreement. Till these conditions are
fulfilled for us we are at war. When an independent and genuine Irish
Government is established we shall yield it a full a