Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. And (note well) they that resist shall receive unto themselves damnation.: For rulers are not a terrour to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: for he js the Minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the Minister of God, a revenger, to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore, ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also; for they are God’s, Ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man any thing; but to love one another. For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 2 Peter ii. 13, 14: Submit yourselves to every ordinance of men for the Lord’s sake; whether it be to the King as supreme, or unto Governours, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well. Prov. xx. 2: The fear of the. King is as the roaring of the lion; whoso provoketh him to anger, sinneth against his soul be just, be free.

New-York, March 20, 1775.

MR. HOLT: In Rivington’s Gazetteer of last week, I saw a collection of Scripture texts adduced to countenance the doctrines of passive obedience and non-resistance. This attempt reminded me of Satan’s quoting Scripture to encourage presumption; and indeed absolute passive obedience and non-resistance in all cases, is as contrary to the word of God, as presumption. That your readers may be convinced of this, I here furnish you with the following text of Scripture, which I desire you would publish the first opportunity.

Exodus i. 15—20: The Egyptian midwives disobeyed the cruel order of their King, to kill the male infants of the Israelites, and for this generous and Humane refusal, they were signally blessed of the Lord, the Israelites, with reason, disobeyed the inhuman mandate of their Monarch. 1 Sam.xiv. 15. And his footman justly disobeyed him. Also, (1 Sam. xxii. 17,) Mordecai, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego. The Prophet Daniel, and the Apostles disobeyed the unlawful commands of Kings and Magistrates. Compare Esther iii. 1—9; Daniel iii. 15—18; Daniel vi. 7—10; Acts iv. 18—20; Acts V.27—29. From these quotations, it appears that when resistance to the orders of Magistrates is forbidden in Scripture, it is meant of resistance to just and legal orders. To be convinced that oppression, tyranny, and unrighteous acts of Government, are odious to the Supreme Being, consider the following texts: 2 Sam xxiii. 3: He that ruleth over man must be just, ruling in the fear of God. Jer. xxx. 20: I will punish all that oppress my people, Isaiah x. 1: Wo unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness, which they have prescribed to torn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people. Ezek. xiv, 9: Thus saith the Lord God, remove violence and spoil, and execute judgment and justice; take away your exactions from my people, saith the Lord. Ecclesiastes vii. 7: Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad. Psalm lxxii. 4: He shall, break in pieces the oppressor. Exodus iii. 7,8,9: And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry, by reason of their task-masters, for I know their sorrows and am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land, unto a good land, and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come up unto me, and I have also seen the oppression where with the Egyptians oppress them; and accordingly he brought them out of the house of bondage with an high hand and an outstretched arm, and drowned their oppressors, Pharoah and his Egyptains, in the Red-Sea. Rehoboam took the council of the young men, and rejected the old men’s advice; and answered the people roughly, and said he would add to their burdens, and not case them; whereupon many of the tribes revolted, and the King thereupon going to fight against them to reduce them to submission, is fobidden of God. Compare 2 Chron, x and 14, with 1, Kings xii., and 2 Chron. xi. Thus saith the Lord, ye shall not go up nor fight against your brethren. A good hint for the Army! Peruse the iii. iv. v. vi. and vii. chapters of the book of Esther. Chapter iii. 8: And Haman said unto King Ahasuerus, there is a certain people scattered abroad, and dispersed among the people in all the Provinces of thy Kingdom, and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the King’s law; therefore, it is not for the King’s profit to suffer them. If if please the King, let it be written, that they may be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business to bring it into the King’s treasuries; and the King took the ring from his hand, and gave it unto haman, the Jew’s enemy: and the King said unto haman, the silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee. Haman, however, failed in his bloody designs against the Jews’; they were delivered from the meditated destruction, and he was hanged on a gallows of his own raising. A dreadful warning this to all vindictive and sanguinary Ministers! When the Jews were devoted to destruction by the edict of King Ahasuerus, all avenues to the throne were shut up, and free-access to the Monarch prohibited, on pain of death. Queen Esther, urged by absolute necessity, ventured to petition The King in these dangerous circumstances, and succeeded. An apology this, for our glorious Congress, if it needs one that it may be an example of the success of their Petition. Bribery is expressly forbidden in the word of God. Exodus xxiii. 8: Thou shalt not take a gift, for a gift blindeth the eyes of the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. Prov. xxix. 4: He that receiveth gifts overthroweth the land. See persons threatened for this sin, I Sam. viii. 3; Isaiah i. 23, v.22; Jer. xxii. 17; Ezek. xxii. 27; Hos. iv. 18; Amos v. 12; and Mich. iii. 11.

The whole tenour of the Gospel is diametrically opposite to every species of tyranny and oppression; the love of mankind is its grand peculiarity. Our Saviour informs us that the love of our neighbour is the great commandment of the Law; and he exhorts his disciples to do to others whatsoever they would that others should do unto them; this, he says, is the law and the prophets. The celebrated Doctor Newton, now Bishop of Bristol, in his Dissertations on the Prophecies, having shewn how minutely and remarkably the predictions concerning the destruction of tyrants were accomplished, adds this remark: (vol. I. p. 312:) “But not only in this particular, but in the general, the Scriptures, though often perverted to the purpose of tyranny, are yet in their own nature calculated to promote the civil, as well as the religious liberties of mankind. True religion, and virtue, and liberty, are more nearly related, and more intimately connected with each other, than people commonly consider. It is very true, as St. Paul saith., (2 Cor. iii. 17,) that where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty: or, as our Saviour expresseth it, (John viii. 31, 32,) If ye continue in my; word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” What a pity is it, that this learned, and ingenious Bishop and all the rest of his Right Reverend brethren have not acted in the legislative capacity according to those liberal, generous, and noble sentiments!

I shall conclude with an extract (torn the polite, Catholick, and elegant Doctor Balguy’s dedication of his Sermons to his Grace Doctor Thomas Herring, Archbishop of Canterbury, at the time of the last rebellion in Scotland in favour of the Pretender. “What follows, my Lord, not only seems to claim a place, but cannot be omitted without a crime—I mean that exemplary love of your Country, which burns so nobly in your own breast, and has kindled or spread that generous passion all around you. You teach us by all fit means and methods, not only to be good Clergymen, hut good Englishmen; not only to be wise and virtuous, but brave and free. You set before us, in the strongest light, the charms of liberty, and execrable evils of tyranny and bondage; inflaming our minds with an ardent love for the one, and an unconquerable aversion to the other. From your Grace we learn how to oppose the arts and intrigues of modern Rome with the spirit of ancient Romans; and cheerfully to sacrifice our lives and fortunes to the preservation of our