nor thy Father; "on the other,--"Honor the King:" on the one
hand,--"Whoso smiteth his Father, shall be put to death;"[152] on the
other,--"They that resist shall receive to themselves damnation." Well,
but, it may be farther argued, the Clergy are in a still more solemn
sense the Fathers of the People, and the People are their beloved Sons;
why should not, therefore, the Clergy have the power to govern the civil
officers?

217. For two very clear reasons.

In all human institutions certain evils are granted, as of necessity;
and, in organizing such institutions, we must allow for the consequences
of such evils, and make arrangements such as may best keep them in
check. Now, in both the civil and ecclesiastical governments there will
of necessity be a certain number of bad men. The wicked civilian has
comparatively little interest in overthrowing ecclesiastical authority;
it is often a useful help to him, and presents in itself little which
seems covetable. But the wicked ecclesiastical officer has much interest
in overthrowing the civilian, and getting the political power into his
own hands. As far as wicked men are concerned, therefore, it is better
that the State should have power over the Clergy, than the Clergy over
the State.

Secondly, supposing both the Civil and Ecclesiastical officers to be
Christians; there is no fear that the civil officer should underrate the
dignity or shorten the serviceableness of the minister; but there is
considerable danger that the religious enthusiasm of the minister might
diminish the serviceableness of the civilian. (The History of Religious
Enthusiasm should be written by someone who had a life to give to its
investigation; it is one of the most melancholy pages in human records,
and one of the most necessary to be studied.) Therefore, as far as good
men are concerned, it is better the State should have power over the
Clergy than the Clergy over the State.

218. This we might, it seems to me, conclude by unassisted reason. But
surely the whole question is, without any need of human reason, decided
by the history of Israel. If ever a body of Clergy should have received
independent authority, the Levitical Priesthood should; for they were
indeed a Priesthood, and more holy than the rest of the nation. But
Aaron is always subject to Moses. All solemn revelation is made to
Moses, the civil magistrate, and he actually commands Aaron as to the
fulfillment of his priestly office, an