I88 CIVIL POWER IN THIN&$ SACRED. of his life, and to be made a complete member of the state. Is it reasonable that any man should enjoy all the privileges of any society who will not oblige himself to the general and necessary rules of the society ? And would not such a law be more likel to persuade and constrain parents to take some care that their children should be acquainted with these things which are so Necessary to the welfare of mankind and of the state ? And that they should have some tolerable knowledge of them be- fore they arrive at the age of man, when the law calls upon them to become complete and personal subJects of the state ? IV. Does it not seem very necessary also, that all who are constituted magistrates orofficers in the state, should not only press these things at the time of their being invested in their office, but that they should also be persons, who to all appear- ance practise according to their profession ? For how shall we suppose those persons will befit guardians or executors of the civil or moral laws, who themselves manifest by their practice that they have no regard to them ? Is it not evident that a man who abuses the name of God by profane swearing and cursing, who is given to drunkenness or lewdness, cheating and lying, acts of violence and oppression, or any scandalous crime which interferes with the good of mankind and the welfare of a govern- Iment; I say, is it not evident that such a man should never be made amagistrate or officerfor the execution of the laws of the land ? Is not this of vastly greater importance than to enquire into the speculative opinions ofmen and their peculiar formalities of worship, in order to judge whether they should be made offi- cers in the state ? V. Would there also be any unreasonable hardship or any ¡inconvenience in it, if such a civil officer who is found guilty of the public violation of the civil or moral laws of the state, should be exposed to a double penalty upon the trans- gression of any of these moral or civil laws ? Or sometimes perhaps, if the penalty be a fine, may it not be made tenfold or more according to the quality or character of such an offen- der ? Would not this be a more powerful means of keeping both magistrates and peoplewithin the rules of virtue and pub - lic safety. Seer. VI. Of Public Worship on the Principles of Natural Religion. I. Though wehave already spoken concerning the venera- tion of a God as necessary in civil government, yet we have not hitherto considered any special act of religion to be performed toward him besides the religion of an oath. It comes now to be enquired, whether the acknowledgment of a God in a sufficient manner to answer the purposes of civil government, does not
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