GOVERNMENT.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4639, 16 November 1883, Page 2

GOVERNMENT.

'• (To the Editor of the Kvening Star.) Sir, —Discourses of morality'and re* flections upon human nature and eircum* stances are the best means we can make use of to improve our minds and gain (\ true kndwledge'of'ourgelveß* and,' consequently, to recover our hearts out of the rice, ignorance, and prejudice which naturally cleave to them. You, air, all along in your paper hare been an able promoter of these great ends. Whatever the execution may be, the Evening Stab does from time to time manifest the laud", able design of contributing something to - occupy the understanding with useful knowledge and the polishing of-. inen'i minds. One of the great advantages' of a free Press has been tbe discovery and disclosure, of the principles and impofi- . tions of governments. However great the rage for reformation amongst courtiers, ■' they have carefully preserved the fraud of their profession, and invariably repre. sented governments as composed of the profoundest mysteries, which they—be* - cause born geniuses—could alone under*: stand and administer. They hide from. the people's minds the only thing that in connection with the subject it is necessary for them to know, namely, that the government is nothing more than; i national association, acting on tbe principle of society. Tin til very recently, .and even at the present time, in some countries the monarch is regarded as the representative of the Deity, and, conse* ■ quently, as having no moral responsibility. ' Much learning has been shown in seeking ' to maintain or refute this riew. That the king or queen rules jiiredimno formi the ground work of the learned and very abusive ." Defecsno Regia pro Carlo I. of the learned Claudius Salmasius, who had for his opponent in the contro* versy the . hardly less learned John , Milton. The two great scholar-, abuse . each other freely in classical Latin— asinus (ass), pecus (beast), and such like terms being freely dealt between them. Common sense will show us that these absurd and blasphemous pretensions are altogether' inconsistent with'the history of the governments that have existed in the world, and that instead of having any divine origin or sanction, they could have had. beginning only in the violation of every sacred and moral principle. h The? origin of truthful and honorable institutions will ever be remembered, while obscurity „-- in a nation's government implies iniquity 1 and disgrace. If man to man was always just—if moral virtue regulated his conduct under all conditions and circumstances, Law and Government would be unnecessary; but men are not affectionate to each other. In large communities they relax in the performance of their social duties, vice and wrong creep in,. and render necessary the regulations of law to preserve freedom and security. The: origin of monarchical and kingly government can be traced to the power and r practice of robbers, giving: the title J' of chief of the greatest ruffian. A French bastard, landing with an armed banditti, and establishing himself King of England, has no more honourable origin. Thesis bands of robbers having at different time* and seasons divided and parcelled out the earth in dominions, quarrelled amongst themselves, and plunderers coming in, plunder has succeeded plunder. They have invaded their self-assigned dominions - and treated each other with the utmost brutality. Ruffian has tortured ruffian —the conquered being treated as property, led like; cattle in chains |to slavery, or death/Although time has ooliterated the history of their origin, the principles and objects of kings remain the same. Plunder has assumed the softer name of revenue, and usurpation is called divine right, or hereditary sue* cession. Absolute government is in many respeots better than some sO'Calted constitutional. It has the advantage of simplicity. If the; people suffer they know the source of their suffering, and the remedy, but the constitutions of England and New Zealand are so exceedingly complex that the nation may suffer without being able to discover where the r fault lies. In this country the great ew|; that threatens to reduce us to; a L wofso ; condition than any country in the world; is the gigantic landed aristocratical tyranny that is overwhelming us. Ifjwe do not effectually annihilate this power, we are lost. A truly scientific and righteous system of government must be based upon the principles of land and freedom. Without the first the second is impossible/ By their complete recognition; the whole science of government is so simplified, that almost all the intricate, cumbersome, and contradictory laws, with the crimes and miseries of life, will disappear, for politically.-land ia life, and true freedom the bestwayof living.—l am, &c,, .•'-'■"• ' BESJMtMEB.