That the end of magistracy is the good of civil society, as such: That civil rulers, as such, are the ordinance and ministers of God; it being by his permission and providence that any bear rule; and agreeable to his will, that there should be some persons vested with authority in society, for the well-being of it: That which is here said concerning civil rulers, extends to all of them in common: It relates indifferently to monarchical, republican and aristocratical government; and to all other forms which truly answer the sole end of government, the happiness of society; and to all the different degrees of authority in any particular state; to inferior officers no less than to the supreme: That disobedience to civil rulers in the due exercise of their authority, is not merely a political sin, but a heinous offence against God and religion: That the true ground and reason of our obligation to be subject to the higher powers, is the usefulness of magistracy (when properly exercised) to human society, and its subserviency to the general welfare: