In Regards to Civil Magistrates

"The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God." -II Samuel 23:3 [KJV]

The motto upon the escutcheon of the Earl of Lonsdale, is Magistratus indicat virum: the magistracy shows the man.  Office-holding is a test of character.  He who can resist the temptations to injustice, fraud, deceit, and self-aggrandizement generally, which beset one who either inherits office or obtains it by the popular suffrage, is unquestionably a person of deep convictions of truth, and of high moral principle.  

For this reason, public life would not be sought by one who distrusts himself.  He who puts up the petition, “Lead me not into temptation,” would be thankful for the providence that should forever keep him in the quiet and independent walks of private life.  

Should the will of God oblige him to assume the responsibility  of a judge, a magistrate, or a legislator, he would enter upon them, not because he preferred them, but because duty must be discharged toward God. It was in this spirit that the better class of public men, in the early and better era in American history, entered upon office.

-Wm. G. T. Shedd, Theological Essays, vol.2, p.263

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