pursuit of happiness_ never were the _inalienable_ right of the
_individual_ man.

His self-control, in all these particulars, _from the beginning_, was
subordinate to the good of the family,--the empire. The command to Noah
was,--"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed."
(Gen. ix. 6.)

This command to shed blood was, and is, in perfect harmony with the
law,--"Thou shalt not kill." There is nothing right or wrong in _the
taking of life_, per se, or in itself considered. It may or it may not be
a natural good or evil. As a _general fact_, the taking of life is a
natural evil. Hence, "Thou shalt not kill" is the general rule, to
preserve the good there is in life. To take life under the forbidden
conditions is sin, simply because God forbids it under those conditions.
The sin is not in taking life, but in transgressing God's law.

But _sometimes_ the taking of life will secure a greater good. God, then,
commands that life be taken. Not to take life, under the commanded
conditions, is sin,--solely because God then commands it.

This power over life, for the good of the one great family of man, God
_delegated_ to Noah, and through him to the tribe, the clan, the kingdom,
the empire, the democracy, the republic, as they may be governed by chief,
king, emperor, parliament, or congress. Had Ham killed Shem, Noah would
have commanded Japheth to slay him. So much for the origin of the power
over life: now for the power over liberty.

The right to take life included the right over liberty. But God intended
the rule of the superior over the inferior, in relations of service,