By the rise of the British
colonies west of the Atlantic, against the parent country, and their
successful struggle to gain a national independence, a clear commentary
was furnished on the long-contested principle, that, in some cases, it
is lawful to resist existing civil powers. Seceders, forgetting, for the
time, their favorite theory, joined their fellow colonists in casting
off the yoke of British rule. Those who vehemently opposed Reformed
Presbyterians, for disowning the British government, joined cheerfully
in its overthrow. How fickle and inconsistent is man! During
the revolutionary struggle might be witnessed the singular
spectacle--humbling to the pride of human reason, revolting to the
sensibilities of the exercised Christian--brethren of the same
communion, on opposite sides of the Atlantic, pleading with the God of
justice to give success to the respective armies! East of the ocean the
petition would be, "Lord, prosper the British arms;" on the west, "Lord,
favor the patriots of these oppressed colonies!" Such are the
consequences natively resulting from a theory alike unscriptural and
absurd--a principle deep-laid in that system of opposition to the Lord
and his Anointed, emphatically styled "The Antichrist.
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