and his associates, according to the ' record in the tenth chapter of Acts, the Holy Ghost came with miraculous gifts, was allowed to remain in the army of even a heathen emperor. If magis- trates, as we learn from the thirteenth chapter of Romans, are armed with a right or power of life and death over their own citizens, they certainly have the right to declare war in self- defence.
In the early ages of the Church there was a great disinclina- tion to engage in military service, and the fathers at times jus- tified this reluctance by calling the lawfulness of all wars into question. But the real sources of this opposition of Christians to entering the army, were that they thereby gave themselves up to the service of a power which persecuted their religion ; and that idolatrous usages were inseparably connected with mil- itary duties. When the Roman empire became Christian, and the cross was substituted for the eagle on the standards of the army, this opposition died away, till at length we hear of fight- ing prelates, and of military orders of monks.
No historical Christian Church has pronounced all war to be unlawful. The Augsburg Confession 1 expressly says that it is proper for Christians to act as magistrates, and among other things " jure bellare, militare," etc. And Presbyterians espec- ially have shown that it is not against their consciences to con- tend to the death for their rights and liberties.
Suicide. It is conceivable that men who do not believe in God or in a future state of existence, should think it allowable to take refuge in annihilation from the miseries of this life. But it is unac- countable, except on the assumption of temporary or permanent insanity, that any man should rush uncalled into the retributions of eternity. Suicide, therefore, is most frequent among those who have lost all faith in religion.2 It is a very complicated crime ; our life is not our own ; we have no more right to de- stroy our life than we have to destroy the life of a fellow-man. Suicide is, therefore, self murder. It is the desertion of the post which God has assigned us ; it is a deliberate refusal to submit to his will ; it is a crime which admits of no repentance, and consequently involves the loss of the soul.
1 I. xvi. 2 ; Hase, Libri Symbolici, 3d edit. p. 14.
a It is estimated that one death out of 175 in London is suicide; in New York, one in 172; in Vienna, on 3 in 160; in Paris, one in 72.
368 PART m. Ch. XIX. — THE LAW.
Duelling. Duelling is another violation of the sixth commandment. Its advocates defend it on the same principle on which international war is defended. As independent nations have no common tri- bunal to which they can resort for the redress of injuries, they are justifiable, on the principle of self-defence, in appealing to arms for the protection of their rights. In like manner, it is said, there are offences for which the law of the land affords no redress, and therefore, the individual must be allowed to seek redress for himself. But (1.) There is no evil for which the law does not, or should not, afford redress. (2.) The redress sought in the duel is unjustifiable. No one has the right to kill a man for a slight or an insult. Taking a man's life for a hasty word, or even for a serious injury, is murder in the sight of (?od, who has ordained the penalty of death as the punishment for only the most atrocious crimes. (3.) The remedy is preposterous ; for most frequently it is the aggrieved party who loses his life. (4.) Duelling is the cause of the greatest suffering to innocent parties, which no man has a right to inflict to gratify his pride or resentment. (5.) The survivor in a fatal duel entails on himself, unless his heart and conscience be seared, a life of misery.
§ 11. The Seventh Commandment.
This commandment, as we learn from our Lord's exposition of it, given in his sermon on the mount, forbids all impurity in thought, speech, and behaviour. As the social organization of so- ciety is founded on the distinction of the sexes, and as the well- being of the state and the purity and prosperity of the Church rest on the sanctity of the family relation, it is of the last impor- tance that the normal, or divinely constituted relation of the sexes be preserved in its integrity.
Celibacy.
Among the important questions to be considered under the head of this commandment, the first is, Whether the Bible teaches that there is any special virtue in a life of celibacy? This is really a question, whether there was an error in the cre- ation of man.
1. The very fact that God created man, male and female, de- claring that it was not good for either to be alone, and constituted marriage in paradise, should be decisive on this subject. The