lies still in the power of the several states in their individual capacity. No one of these may interfere with the internal arrangements and affairs of any other, nor is any one responsible for what another may choose to do, or not to do.

Each state becomes a member of the republic, in the first place, only by its own consent; that is, by the adoption of the general constitution that binds together the whole. The transfer of its sovereignty to the whole must be its own free act. But that once done, and the state having once become a member of the republic, it has no longer a moral right to withdraw, or to refuse compliance with the general laws and regulations of the government, unless such condition is specially and specifically contained in the articles of primitive agreement; that is, in the original constitution.

"A

In the forcible and just language of Dr. Hickok: constitution with, and one without, the rights of nullification or secession, are two very different things; and if the right is not plainly expressed, then it does not exist; and those who have adopted it, have vested rights under it which no separate state can amend or disregard.” The crime of treason attaches to all deliberate and armed resistance to authority thus constituted; and the republic has the power and the right to enforce its authority against any recreant state, subject only to the limits which the constitution imposes.

PART V.

DUTIES TO GOD.

Of the general classes into which the practical duties of life were divided in our analysis, those which pertain to self, to society, or our fellow-men in general, to the family, and to the state, have already claimed our attention. It remains to consider, in the present division, those which we owe to God. In one sense, as it has been already remarked, all our duties, whether to self or to society, to the family or the state, are duties which we owe to God. He regards them as such, and will hold us responsible for their fulfillment. There is no duty in life, to whomsoever and to whatsoever it may directly pertain, the faithful performance of which he does not regard as service rendered unto him, and the neglect of which he will not count as unfaithfulness and disobedience toward himself. But, while this is true of all duties, there are some which more specially and directly pertain to God as their immediate object; and it is of these I am now to speak.

These, again, resolve themselves naturally into two classes, those which relate to the feelings which we cherish, and those which relate to the conduct which we manifest, towards God. Among the more prominent of the former class are the duties of Reverence and Love; of the

latter, the duties of Obedience and Worship. These may, perhaps, be regarded as comprehensive of all others.

Before proceeding to treat of these several duties in detail, a word ought perhaps to be said with respect to their relation and importance, as compared with other departments of duty. Of the various classes of human obligation, those which we owe to the Supreme Being are entitled to the highest rank. All other branches of duty are, in a measure, inferior and subordinate to these. These neglected, all others will be; these faithfully performed, all others will follow in their train.

This seems to have been well understood by the ancients. "It should never be thought," says Plato, "that there is any branch of human virtue of greater importance than piety towards the Deity." To the same effect, in the Memorabilia of Xenophon, Socrates speaks of the wor

ship of the gods as a duty acknowledged everywhere, and received by all men as the first command. Cicero, likewise, in his treatise De Officiis, ranks first in order of importance those duties which we owe to the immortal gods.

CHAPTER I.

OF THE FEELINGS TOWARDS GOD.

1. REVERENCE. If there is such a Being as God, the creator of all, the supreme disposer of events, the righteous ruler and judge of men, and if he is what we believe him to be, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, holy, just and good, surely this great and glorious Being is worthy of the highest reverence of the mind. The moment

the idea of such a Being presents itself to the mind, we are instinctively impressed with the grandeur of the conception, and filled with awe, as in the presence of a superior power. That mind must be deficient in self-respect, lacking in the perception of what is seemly and proper, that does not feel and acknowledge its obligation to bow in deepest reverence before the august and glorious Being who inhabiteth eternity, and filleth immensity with his presence. That mind must be sadly disordered, and thrown from its balance, that does not instinctively yield this homage.

Even bad men may do this, and have often done it. The selfish and corrupt heart, that seeks only its own ends, and lives only for itself, may still retain with reverence and fear the thought of that infinite excellence and purity, so superior to anything of which it is itself conscious. Such a fear may indeed border on superstition,-in many cases it may be nothing more, yet even a superstition such as this, is surely better and more reasonable than utter irrev

erence.

Reverence is an emotion that takes its rise in the spiritual nature of man. It is awakened in view of the spiritual, wherever manifested. The sublime aspects of nature, in so far as they express the majesty and power, and indicate the presence of the invisible One, whose breath giveth life to all creatures, and whose hand sustains the goodly fabric of creation, are fitted to awaken and call forth this emotion. The reverent mind sees God in all his works. The eternal hills are his strength; the clouds are his chariot; the lightnings are his arrows; the thunder is his voice. In the impassioned language of sacred poetry, even inanimate nature fears and adores her God. "He toucheth the hills, and they smoke." At his going forth, "the pillars of heaven

tremble, and are astonished."

"The deep uttereth his

voice, and lifteth up his hands on high."

But it is not in the external world alone that the spiritual nature of man recognizes and reveres the Infinite Spirit. God comes yet nearer than this to the soul that he hath made in the image of his own. In all the fears and hopes that agitate that soul, as it looks forward to the future; in all its aspirations for a higher excellence than it has yet attained; in all the providences of its earthly lot; in all the utterances of the sacred oracles; in all the silent and holy communing of the soul with its Maker, the devout mind recognizes the presence of its God, and adores with fear and trembling; and never is the soul of man more truly dignified and exalted, than when thus bowing low in deepest reverence before God.

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Nor is the emotion of which I speak a painful one. In this respect it differs from fear, to which it is otherwise closely analogous. There is in it more of love than fear. The majesty and the glory, that reveal to the waiting and wondering soul the presence of the Infinite, fill that soul with awe indeed, but not with fear, inspire it with a calm and holy delight. There is much, it may be, in the scene or the object contemplated, that is awful and terrible; but yet a strange and invisible attraction draws the spirit towards the object which awakens its admiring and adoring regard; and it stands in that sacred presence, as Moses before the burning bush in the desert, filled with awe, yet not choosing to turn away from a spot so holy.

The reverence of which I speak, as due to the Supreme Being, belongs also, in a degree, to all that is connected with his name and his worship, — in a word, to all sacred things. The reverent mind will never allow itself to trifle with anything that pertains to the Divine Being. His