Complete Works of REV. Thomas Smyth (Volume 4) (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: from the people, officers chosen by them; and representatives, to whom they have transferred their power, to whom they have committed their interests, and who are expected to act for the best good of the whole body of the christian people. They constitute, therefore, with the pastor of every church, the senate, or the house of representatives of that church. They also sit, vote, and act, in full terms of equality, with the ministers, in all the other courts; so that, in them all, the people are textit{fully and freely represented. But it may be said, that in the presbyterian form, ruling elders usurp the power of the people at large, and, in fact, constitute another privileged class. But these elders are elective. They are chosen by the people, and from among themselves, and have no power but that intrusted to them under the laws. Now the purest republic may delegate legislative, executive, and judicial power to certain individuals, or bodies, leaving to the community no more than the choice of these ruling officers, and still the government remain purely republican, and not at all mixed.f It has only delegated its power vO representatives. No individual in the community has power independent of the people. Nor have the people shared their powers with others, but only deputed to others the power of exercising textit{their authority. And in like manner, ruling elders, being the chosen deputies of the people, and exercising their powers in full responsibility to the people, are perfectly accordant with our republican institutions, and to the supreme power of the body of the church. SECTION VIII. textit{Presbytery eminently republican, also, in its various ecclesiastical judicatories. We come now to notice the various ecclesiastical courts by which the laws of the presbyt...