In what has already been
written here I have been at pains rather to lay bare all possible evils
than to hide them. But when revolt has become necessary and inevitable,
then the conclusion of the passage Dr. Murray quotes should be endorsed
by all: "An insurrection rendered necessary by oppression, and warranted
by a reasonable probability of a happy termination, is an act of public
virtue, always environed with so much peril as to merit admiration."
Yes, and given the happy termination, the right and responsibility of
establishing a new government rest with the body of the people.
V
We come, then, to this conclusion, that government is just only when
rightfully established and for the public good; that usurpation not only
may but ought to be resisted; that an authority originally legitimate
once it becomes habitually tyrannical may be resisted and deposed; and
that when from abuse or tyranny a particular government ceases to exist,
we have to re-establish a true one. It is sometimes carelessly said,
"Liberty comes from anarchy," but this is a very dangerous doctrine. It
would be nearer truth to say from anarchy inevitably comes tyranny. Men
receive a despot to quell a mob. But when a people, determined and
disciplined, resolve to have neither despotism nor anarchy but freedom,
then they act in the light of the Natural Law. It is well put in the
doctrine of St. Thomas, as given by Turner in his _History of
Philosophy_ (Chap.
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