Cedarville University - Miracle / Cedrus Yearbook (Cedarville, OH)

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therefore as superior to the State. Dante tried to coordinate the views; Macchiavelli insisted upon complete severence of State and Church. Spinoza said might makes right; not until 1918 was the world convinced of the falsity of this notion. The Analycists ascribed to the words of the legal statutes themselves a certain inherent right to rule—a certain “legal fibre.” Rousseau’s Social- Contract theory, of French Revolutionary times regarded the individual as the possessor of cer- tain inalienable rights which can be surrendered only upon the guaranty of other beneficial duties to be performed by the State. Today, we believe that the basis of sovereignty rests not upon any artificial compact, but upon the solidarity which characterizes the common consciousness of men. “This forms a natural foundation, and its expres- sion in sovereign law is a natural manifestation.” Twenty-two centuries ago, the first great political scientist, Aristotle, classifed the forms of government by the numerical relation between those in power and their constituency. The gov- ernment may be a monarchy, governed by one; an aristocracy governed by a very few in proportion to the whole population; or a democracy, governed by many. In general, t his classifiction still holds good today. Aristotle further divided governments according to an ethical concept, asking the question, does the governing power seek to its own advantage, or to the advantage of the whole people? The answer to this question gives us not three, but six varieties of govern- ment, for each perfect form has a corresponding depraved form. The good government of one (Monarchy) is contrasted with the depraved form (Ty- ranny) ; The good government of a few (Aristocracy) is contrasted with the depraved form (Oligarchy) ; The good government of many (Democracy) is contrasted with the depraved form (Anarchy). Human frailties have permitted the establishment of a veritable law concerning the recurrent cycle of changes through which a normal government passes. First, it is Mon- archy, under a single strong man with sovereign power. Handed down to his children, it in time degenerates to Tyranny, as they forget his wise precepts. At some Runnymede, revolt occurs, and a princely few, public-spirited in their aims, set up an Aristrocracy. This early justness in an Aristrocracy always declines in the years of its dotage into selfish Olig- archy. Oligarchy, fatal to civil liberty, goads the people to revolution, with a Democracy as its almost inevitable result. Even Democracy has its old age of degeneracy—an old age in which it loses its early respect for law,and its first amiability of mutual concession. License and Anarchy break out, and only a Caesar can bring it back to reason and order. Thus the cycle is completed, and the state is once more back at the job of cutting its legis- lative teeth. Our brief study here can only mention the problem that is perhaps the most fascinating of all: what shall be the sphere of government? To what limits shall the government’s powers extend? Vast Eight

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CHAPTER ONE Law and Government VICTORY OF SAMOTHRACE The Victory of Somothrace is one of the most sublime expressions of movement left to us by antique art. The irresistible energy, the vic- torious swing of the body, and the muscular strength and triumphant grace seem to animate the marble. The Winged Victory was carved to commemorate a naval victory of the Greeks over the Kgyptians in the fourth century B. C. The tlgure originally stood on the prow of a galley, blowing a trumpet. The statue now stands in the Louvre at Paris. ROM time immemorial, the spirit of man, born free, has everywhere been in chains. Through these social institutions, as wc call them, are conserved to future gener- ations the contributions of bygone ages; without them, social life would be disintegrated and unstable. Social order is a sacred right which serves as a basis for all others. This social order is maintained by laws, the arbitary rules established by governments. Again, law is “that portion of the established thought and habit which has gained distinct and formal recognition in the shape of uniform rules backed by the authority and power of government.” And government itself is, in its widest sense, the ruling power in a polit- ical society. It rests on the fundamental idea of control and obedience; it implies author- ity and a submission to that authority. So far as we know, government, with its attendant laws of one form or another, has existed from the first population of the world. We are told in legendary tales that Spar- ta’s government was devised by Lycurgas; that Moses, Numa, and Alfred the Great in like manner shaped the government of their respective nations. But from time to time through- out history’s pages, we find men, who, dissatisfied with mere legend, have attempted to find a metaphysical basis for the right to establish governments and enact statutes. First was the theological view, that power has been divinely delegated to the State. Next, the Church, objecting, set itself up as the only divinely ordained institution, and I‘age Seven

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This problem resolves itself into the relative advisability of a policy of laissez- faire or one of mercantilism. Shall the gov- ernment keep out of business altogether, or shall it enter into the economic life when- ever it deems it necessary? The former leads to an anarchical state; the latter, car- ried to its logical conclusion, ends in Social- ism. Obviously, the trend in the United States is toward a modified Socialization of economics; the Interstate Commerce Com- mission, the present banking reforms, gov- ernment subsidizing of marine and air transportation, government regulation of power, light, and gas rates, all point strong- ly to a decreased fear of executive and legis- lative powers. Whether this be good or bad, it is fully in accord with our previously-de- scribed cycle of government. From this study, then, of the science of government — its origin, its forms, its rights and powers—we draw three con- clusions. In the words of Woodrow Wilson, “The end of government is the facilitation o mental action is necessary cooperation. The tive adaptation, shaping old habits into new new ends.” oi.n MAIN the objects of society. The rule of govern- method of political development is conserva- ones, modifying old means to accomplish —Walter S. Kilpatrick. History Agitation for a Reformed Presbyterian College was inaugurated at the General Synod of the Church, May, 1879, by the Rev. J. F. Morton, D. D. Upon the acceptance of ROItKRT KICHAltDS Cedarville. Ohio Student llody l’re . 4: Cliu Officer I; Y. M. C. A. Cabinet 2: Mixed Chorun I: Min.trel I; 3: Hand 1. 2: Uternry 1, 2. 3: Football 1. 2. 3. 4: IlaxVetbntl 3. 4: Cloaa Flay 4: OJru. Flay 2. 4 : Ccdru Stall 2. 3. I. JOSKril FREE Clayton. Ohio Mnwbih Bible College. Grantham. Fa.. 1. 2:Cla«« F renident 4: Y. SI. C. A. Cabinet 4 : Mixed Chorus 4 ; Minstrel 3: Quartet 3. 4: l.iterary Fresident 4 : Debate 3. 4: lllble Bonding Content Winner 3: Cla » Flay 4: Ccdrux Flay 3. I: Cedrus Staff 4. ROBERT WHITE Yellow Springe. Ohio Fo«t Graduate a motion to this effect, a com- mittee. with Dr. Morton as chairman, was appointed to carry out the project. At vari- ous subsequent meetings of the General Synod, further action was taken, but the lack of funds prevented the immediate opening of such an institution. A committee was appointed in 1885 to secure a site for the college at or near Cedarville. Ohio. Seven years later, several large donations made possible further consideration of the project, and in September, 1894, Cedarville College was opened with a faculty of 6 and a student body of thirty-six. I’aet .Vine