In the same chapter Balmez quotes St.Thomas with approval: "The kingdom is not made for the king, but the king for the kingdom"; and he goes on to the natural inference: "That all governments have been established for the good of society, and that this alone should be the compass to guide those who are in command, whatever be the form of government." It is likewise the view of Mill, in _Representative Government_, that the well-being of the governed is the sole object of government.

It was the view of Plato before the Christian era: his ideal city should be established, "that the whole City might be in the happiest condition." (_The Republic_, Book 4.) Calderwood writes: "Political Government can be legitimately constructed only on condition of the acknowledgment of natural obligations and rights as inviolable." (_Handbook of Modern Philosophy, Applied Ethics_, Sec.

4.) Here all schools and all times are in agreement.

Till these conditions are fulfilled for us we are at war.

When an independent and genuine Irish Government is established we shall yield it a full and hearty allegiance: the law shall then be in repute.