authority, the wrong flag is over us.


II


"We must overthrow the arguments that might be employed against us by
the advocates of blind submission to any power that happens to be
established," writes Balmez, on resistance to _De Facto_ Governments.
(_European Civilisation_, Chap. 55.) We could not be more explicit than
the famous Spanish theologian. To such arguments let the following stand
out from his long and emphatic reply:--"Illegitimate authority is no
authority at all; the idea of power involves the idea of right, without
which it is mere physical power, that is force." He writes further: "The
conqueror, who, by mere force of arms, has subdued a nation, does not
thereby acquire a right to its possession; the government, which by
gross iniquities has despoiled entire classes of citizens, exacted undue
contributions, abolished legitimate rights, cannot justify its acts by
the simple fact of its having sufficient strength to execute these
iniquities." There is much that is equally clear and definite. What
extravagant things can be said on the other side by people in high
places we know too well. Balmez in the same book and chapter gives an
excellent example and an excellent reply: "Don Felix Amat, Archbishop of
Palmyra, in the posthumous work entitled _Idea of the Church Militant_,
makes use of these words: 'Jesus Christ, by His plain and expressive
answer, _Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's_, has sufficiently
established that the mere fact of a government's existence is sufficient
for enforcing the obedience of subjects to it....' His work was
forbidden at Rome," is Balmez' expressive comment, and he continues,
"and whatever may have been the motives for such a prohibition, we may