The Original and Institution of Civil Government, Discuss'd

Benjamin Hoadly's ""Original and Institution of Civil Government"" is a founding text for the American republic. Writing in 1710 this response to Tory High Church attempts to revive extreme monarchical theories of government, Hoadly, a Low Church Whig and Anglican clergyman, advanced new ideas of political authority. He was committed to the political settlement that followed the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the limited parliamentary monarchy it established in Great Britain; he was also responsible for popularizing John Locke's theories of government. In the Original and Institution of Civil Government, Hoadly challenged patriarchal political systems and denied that civil authority could be compared with a parent's authority over children. Instead, Hoadly argued that civil authority arose from the people and was conditionally given to a leader. He also challenged the views of High Churchmen whose teachings required passive obedience to an unjust ruler; Hoadly contended that resistance to such a ruler was both legitimate and consistent with the Bible's teachings. Controversial in their own day, Hoadly's revolutionary ideas were often cited by radical thinkers of his and later generations in both Britain and America. John Adams called Hoadly a ""preceptor of liberty,"" and historians have seen the inspiration for the American Declaration of Independence in Hoadly's work. It is also from Hoadly's writing that many founders of American democracy learned of Locke's ideas. This new edition of Hoadly's book brings it for the first time to a widespread audience. The introduction considers Hoadly's work in the context of his other publications and his career as an Anglican bishop. It also provides a fresh evaluation of Hoadly's Original and Institution of Civil Government and the place of that text in the history of Britain and America.