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DISQJJISITIONS
O N
SEVERAL SUBJECTS,
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. DODSLEY, IN PALL-MALL,
M.DCC.LXXX1I.
CONTENTS.
D I S QJJ I S I T I O N I.
Q N the Chain of Univerfal Being Page i
D I S QJJ I S I T I O N II.
On Cruelty to Inferior Animals -12
D I S QJJ I S I T I O N III.
On a Pr*-exijient State - - 27
D i s QJT i s i T i o N IV. On the Nature ofy'ime 47
3 D i s Q^U i-
3v CONTENTS.
D I S QJJ I S I T I O N V.
On the Analogy between Things Ma- terial ana Intdlettual - Page 84
D i s QJJ i s i T i o N VI.
On Rational Chrijliar.ity - i c i
D I S QJJ I S I T I O N VII.
On Government and Civil Liberty 1 1 c
D I S QJJ I S I T I ON VIII.
On Religious Eftablijhmrnts - 152
D I S QJJ *-
DISQUISITIONS, &c.
DISQJJISITION I.
ON THE CHAIN OF UNIVERSAL BEING.
TH E farther we inquire into the works of our great Crea- tor, the more evident marks we Jhall difcover of his infinite wif- dom and power, and perhaps in none more remarkable, than in. that wonderful chain of Beings, B with
[ * 3
with which this terreftrial globe is furnifhed ; rifing above each ether, from the fenfelefs clod, to the brighteft genius of human kind, in which, thos the chain itfelf is fuf- fkiently vifible, the links, which compofe it, are fo minute, and fo finely wrought, that they are quite imperceptible to our eyes. The various qualities, with which thefe various Beings are endued, we per- ceive without difficulty, but the boundaries of thofe qualities, which form this chain of fubordination, are fo mixed, that where one ends, and the next begins, we are unable to difcover. The manner by which this is performed, is a fubject well worthy of our confideration, tho*
I do
[ a J
I do not remember to have feen it much confidered ; but on an accu- rate examination appears to be this.
Jn order to diffufe all poflible happinefs, God has been pleafed to fill this earth with innumerable orders of Beings, fuperior to each other in proportion to the qualities, and faculties which he has thought proper to beftow upon them : to mere matter he has given extenfion, folidity, and gravity ; to plants, vegetation i to animals, life and in- ftinct i and to man, reafon ; each of which fuperior qualities augments the excellence, and dignity of the pofiefTor, and places him higher in the fcale of univerfal exiftence. In all thefe, it is remarkable, that B 2 he
[ 4 3
he has not formed this necefTaryv and -beautiful fubordination, by placing Beings of quite different natures above each other, but by granting fpjpe additional quality to each fuperior order, in conjunction with all thofe poffefled by their inferiors ; fo that, tho' they rife above each other in excellence, by means of thefe additional qualities, one mode of exiftence is common to them all, without which they never could have coalefced in one uniform and regular fyftem,
Thus, for inftance, in plants we find all the qualities of mere mat- ter, the only order below them, folidity, extenfion, and gravity, with the addition of vegetation ; in ani- mals, all the properties of matter, together.
'[ 5 ]
together with the vegetation of plants, to which is added, life, and inftinft; and in man we find all the properties of matter, the vege- tation of plants, the life and inftindt of animals, to all which is fuper- added reafon.
That man is endued with thefe properties of all inferior orders, will plainly appear by a flight ex- amination of his compofition j his body is material, and has all the properties of mere matter, folidity, -extenfion, and gravity -, it is alfo veiled with the quality of plants, that is, a power of vegetation, which it inceffantly exercifes without any knowledge, or confentof his : it is fown, grows up, expands, comes to maturity, withers and dies, like
B all
C 6 ]
all other vegetables : he poiTefies Jikewife the qualities of lower ani- mals, and fhares their fate ; like them, he is called into life without his knowledge or content -, like them, he is compelled by irrefifti- ble inftincls, toanfwerthe purpofes for which he was defigned ; like them, he performs his deftined courfe, partakes of it's bleffings, and endures it's fufferings fora fhort time, then dJes, and is feen no more : in him inftinct is not lefs powerful, than in them, tho' lefs vifible, by being confounded with reafon, which it fometimes concurs with, and fometimes counteracts ; by this, with the concurrence of reafon, he is taught the belief of a God, of a future itate, and the difference
t 7 ]
difference between moral good, and evil ; to purfue happinefs, to avoid danger, and to take care of himfelf, and his offspring; by this too he is frequently impelled, in contradiction to reafon, to relin- quilh eafe, and fafecy, to traverfc inhofpitable defarts and tempeftu- ous feas, to inflid, and fuffer all the miferies of war, and, like the Herring, and the Mackarel, to haften to his own deftru<5tion, for the public benefit, which he nei- ther underftands, or cares for. Thus is this wonderful chain ex- tended from the loweft to the high- eft order of terreftrial Beings, by links fo nicely fitted, that the be- ginning and end of each is invifible to- the moft Lnquifnive eye, and yet B 4 they
[ 8 3
they all together compofe one vaft and beautiful fyftem of fubordina- tion.
The manner by which the con- fummate vvifdom of the divine Ar- tificer has formed this gradation, fo extenfive in the whole, and fo imperceptible in the parts, is this : —He conftantly unites the higheft degree of the qualities of each inferior order to the lowed degree of the fame qualities, belong- ing to the order next above it; by which means, like the colours of a fkilful painter, they are fo blended together, and fhaded off into each other, that no line of dif- tinction is any where to be feen. Thus, for inftance, folidity, exten- fion, and gravity, the^qualities of 2 mere
C 9 1
mere matter, being united with the lowed degree of vegetation, compofe a ftone.; from whence this vegetative power afc.ending thro" an infinite variety of herbs, flowers, plants, and trees to its greateft per- fection in the fenfitive plant, joins there the loweft degree of animal life in the mell-fifti, which adheres to the rock ; and it is difficult to difiinrruim which polTefies the great- eft fhare, as the one mews it only by fhrinking from the finger, and the other by opening to receive the water, which furrounds it. In the fame manner this animal life rifes from this low beginning in the fhell-fim, thro* innumerable fpecies of infects, fifties, birds, and beafts to the confines of reafon, where, in
the
io
the dog, the monkey, and chim- panze, it unites fo clofely with the lowed degree of that quality in man, that they cannot eafily be diftinguifhed from each other. From this lowefb degree in the brutal Hottentot, reafon, with the affiftanee of learning and fcience, advances, thro' the various ftages of human underftanding, which rife above each other, 'till in a Bacon, or a Newton it attains the fummit.
Here we muft flop, being unable to purfue the progrefs of this a- ftonifhing chain beyond the limits of this terreftrial globe with the naked eye ; but thro* the perfpec- tive of analogy, and conjecture we may perceive that it afcends a great deal higher, to the inhabitants
of
of other planets, to angels, and archangels, the loweft orders of whom may be united by a like eafy tranfition with the higheil of our own, in whom to reafon may be added intuitive knowledge, in>- fight into futurity, with innumera- ble other faculties of which we are unable to form the lead idea ; thro* whom it may afcend, by gra- dations almoft infinite, to thofe moft exalted of created Beings, who are feated on the footftool of the celeftial throne.
D I S-
I 12 ]
DISQUISITION IL
ON CRUELTY TO INFERIOR ANIMALS.
MAN is that link of the chain of univerfal exiftence, by which fpiritual and corporeal Be- ings are united : as the numbers and variety of the latter his infe- riors are almoft infinite, (b pro- bably are thofe of the former his fuperiors ; and as we fee that the lives and happinefs of thofe below us are dependent on our wills, we may reafonably conclude, that our lives, and happinefs arc equally dependent on the wills of
thofe
rhofe above us ; accountable, like ourfelves, for the ufe of this power, to the Supreme Creator, and Gover- nor of all things. Should this ana- logy be well founded, how crimi- nal will our account appear, when laid before that juft and impartial. Judge ! How will man, that fan- guinary. tyrant, be able to excufe himfelf from the charge of thofe in- numerable cruelties inflicted on his unoffending fubjects committed to his care, formed for his benefit, and placed under his authority by their common Father ? whofe mercy is, over all his works, and who expects, that this authority mould be exer- cifed not. only with tendernefs and. mercy, but in conformity to the laws of juftice and gratitude.
But
t 14 ]
But to what horrid deviations from thefe benevolent intentions are we daily witnefies ! No fmall part of mankind derive theirchief amufe- ments from the deaths and fuffer- ings of inferior animals •, a much greater, confider them only as en- gines of wood, or iron, ufeful in their feveral occupations. The car- man drives his horfe, and the car- penter his nail, by repeated blows ; and Ib long as thefe produce the de- fired effect, and they both go, they neither reflect or care whether either of them have any fenfe of feeling. The butcher knocks down the ftately ox with no more companion than the blackfmith hammers a horfe-moe j and plunges his knife into the throat of the innocent lamb, 3 with
t <5 ]
Vith as little reluctance as the tay* lor fticks his needle into the collar of a coat.
If there are fome few, who, formed in a fofcer mould, view with pity the fufferings of thefe defence- lefs creatures, there is fcarce one who entertains the leaft idea, that juftice or gratitude can be due to their merits, or their fervices. The focial and friendly dog is hanged without remorfe, if, by barking in defence of his mailer's perfon, and property, he happens unknowingly to difturb his reft : the generous horfe, who has carried his ungrate- ful matter for many years with eafe, and fafety, worn out with age and infirmities contracted rn his fervice, is by him condemned to end his miferable
I 16 ]
miferable days in a duft-cart, where the more he exerts his little remains of -fpirit, the more he is whipped, to fave his ftnpid driver the trouble of wh :;>ping fome other, lefs obedient to the lam. Sometimes, having been taught the practice of many unna- tural and ufelefs feats in a riding- houfe, he is at laft turned out, and configned to the dominion of a hackney-coachman, by whom he is every day corrected for performing thofe tricks, which he has learned under fo long and fevere a difci- pline. The fluggifh bear, in con- tradiction to his nature, is taught to dance, for the diverfion of a ma- lignant mob, by placing red-hot irons under his feet : and the ma- jeftic bull is tortured by every
mode,
which malice can invent, for no offence, but that he is gentle, and unwilling to affail his diabolical tormentors. Thefe, with innu- merable other acts of cruelty, in- juftice, and ingratitude, are every day committed, not only with im- punity, but without cenfure, and even without obfervation ; but we may be allured, that they cannot finally pafs away unnoticed, and unretaliated.
The laws of felf-defence un- doubtedly juftify us in deftroying thofe animals who would deftroy us, who injure our properties, or annoy our perfons ; but not even thefe, whenever their fituation in- capacitates them from hurting us. J know of no right which we have to C fhoot
[ is 3
ihoot a bear on an inacceffible ifland of ice, or an eagle on the mountain's top ; whofe lives can- not injure us, nor deaths procure us any benefit. We are unable to give life, and therefore ought not wantonly to take it away from the meaneft infect, without fufficient reafon ; they all receive it from the fame benevolent hand as ourfelves, and have therefore an equal right to enjoy it.
God has been pleafed to create numberlefs animals intended for our fuftenance ; and that they are fo intended, the agreeable flavour of their flefh to our palates, and the wholefome nutriment which it ad- minifters to our (tomachs, are fuffi- cient proofs : thefe, as they are formed
f >9 3
formed for our uie, propagated by our culture, and fed by our care, we have certainly a right to de- prive of life, becaufe it is given and preferved to them on that condi- tions ; but this fhould always be performed with all the tendernefs and compaffion which fo difagree- abie an office will permit ; and no circumftances ought to be omitted, which can render their executions as quick and eafy as poffible. For this, Providence has wifely and be- nevolently provided, by forming them in fuch a manner, that their flefh becomes rancid and unpalat- able by a painful and lingering death ; and has thus compelled us to be merciful without compaffion, and cautious of their fuffering, for C2 the
*>
the fake of ourfelves : but, if there are any whofc taftes are fo vitiated, and whofe hearts are fo hardened, as to delight in fuch inhuman facri- ficcs, and to partake of them with- out remorfe, they fhov.ld be looked upon as daemons in human fhapes, and expecl a retaliation of thofe tor- tures which they have inflicted on the innocent, for the gratification of their own depraved and unna- tural appetites.
So violent are the pafllons of* an- ger and revenge in the human, breafl, that it is not wonderful that men mould perfecute their real or imaginary enemies with cruelty and malevolence; but that there mould exift in nature a Being who can re- ceive pleafure from giving pain, would
[ 21 ]
would be totally incredible, if we were not convinced, by melancholy experience, that there are not only many, but that this unaccountable difpofuion is in fome manner in- herent in the nature of man ; for, as he cannot be taught by exam- ple, nor led to it by temptation, or prompted to it by intereft, it mud be derived from his native confti* tution ; and is a remarkable con- firmation of what revelation fo fre- quently inculcates — that he brings into the world with him an original depravity, the effects of a fallen and degenerate ftate ; in proof of which we need only obferve, that the nearer he approaches to a ftate of nature, the more predominant this difpofition appears, and the C 3 more
t M ]
more violently it operates. We fee children laughing at the miferies which they inflict on every unfor- tunate animal which comes within their power : all favages are inge- nious in contriving, and happy in executing, the rnoft exqnifite tor- tures ; and the common people of all countries are delighted with no- thing fo much as bull-baitings, prize-fightings, executions, and all fpectacles of cruelty and horror. Though civilization may in fome degree abate this native ferocity, it can never quite extirpate it ; the moft polimed are not afhamed to be pleafed with fcenes of little lefs barbarity, and, to the difgrace of human nature, to dignify them with the name of fports. They
arm
arm cocks with artificial weapons, which nature had kindly denied to their malevolence, and with fhouts of applaufe and triumph, fee them plunge them into each other's hearts : they view with delight the trembling deer and defencelefs hare* flying for hours in the utmoft agonies of terror and defpair, and at laft, finking under fatigue, de- voured by their mercilefs purfuers : they fee with joy the beautifuf pheafant and harmlefs partridge drop from their flight, weltering in their blood, or perhaps pefifhing with wounds and hunger, under the cover of fome friendly thicker to which they have in vain re- treated for fafety : they triumph over the unfufpecting fifh, whom C 4 they
they have decoyed by an infidious pretence of feeding, and drag him from his native element by a hook fixed to and tearing out his en- trails : and, to add to all this, they fpare neither labour nor expence to preferve and propagate thefe inno- cent animals, for no other end, but to multiply the objects of their per- fecution.
What name mould we beftow on a fuperior Being, whofe whole en- deavours were employed, and whofe whole pleafure confifted in terrify- ing, enfnaring, tormenting, and de- ftroying mankind ? whofe fuperior faculties were exerted in fomenting animofities amongft them, in con- triving engines of deftruction, and inciting them to ufe them in maim- ing
ifig and murdering each other ? v/hofe power over them was em- ployed in afiifting the rapacious., deceiving the fimple, and opprefP ing the innocent? who, without provocation or advantage, fhould continue from day to day, void of all pity and remorfe, thus to tor- ment mankind for diverfion, and at the lame time endeavour with their utmoft care to preferve their lives, and to propagate their fpe- cies, in order to increafe the num- ber of viclims devoted to his male- volence, and be delighted in pro- portion to the miferies which he occafioned ? I fay, what namede- teflable enough could we find for fuch a Being ? Yet, if we impar- tially confider the cafe, and our in- termediate
[ 26 ]
fermediate fituation, we muft ac- knowledge, that, with regard to inferior animals, juft fuch, a, Being is a fportfman.
D I S QJJ I-
C 27 J DISQJJISITION III,
ON A PR^E-EXISTENT STATE,
THAT mankind had exifted in fome ftate previous to the prefent, was the opinion of the wifeft fages of the moft remote an- tiquity. It was held by the Gym- nofophifts of Egypt, the Brach- mans of India, the Magi of Perfia, and the greateft philofophers of Greece and Rome -, it was likewife adopted by the fathers of the Chrif- tian church, and frequently enforced by her primitive writers ; why it has been fo little noticed, fo much overlooked, rather than rejected,
by
[ *» 3
by the divines and metaphyficians of latter ages, I am at a lofs to account for, as it is undoubtedly confirmed by reafon, by all the ap- pearances of nature, and the doc- trines of revelation.
In the firft place then it is con- firmed by reafon ; which teaches us, that it is impojlible that the con- junction of a male and female can create, or bring into Being an im- mortal foul : they may prepare a material habitation for it 5 but there mutt be an immaterial pras- exiftent inhabitant ready to take pofiefiion. Reafon allures us, that an immortal foul, which will exift eternally after the diffolution of the body, muft have eternally exifted before the formation of it-, for whatever
whatever has no end, can never have had any beginning> but mult exift in fome manner which bears no relation to time, to us totally incomprehenfible : if therefore the foul will continue to exift in a fu- ture life, it muft have exifted in a former. Reafon likewife tells us, that an omnipotent and benevo- lent Creator would never have formed fuch a world as this, and filled it with fuch inhabitants, if the preient was the only, or even the firft flate of their exigence, a ftate which, if unconnected with the pad and the future, feems calculated for no one purpofe in- telligible to our underflandings ; neither of good or evil, of happi- nefs or mifery, of virtue or vice, 2 of
f 30 1
of reward or punifhment, but a confufed jumble of them all toge- ther, proceeding from no vifible caufe, and tending to no end. But, as we are certain that infinite power cannot be employed without effect, nor infinite wifdom without defign, we may rationally conclude, that this world could be defigned for nothing more than a prifon, in which we are awhile confined to re- ceive punimment for the offences committed in a former, and an op- portunity of preparing ourfelves for the enjoyment of happinefs in a future life.
Secondly. Thefe conclufions of reafon are fufficiently confirmed by the face of nature, and the appear- ances of things ; this world is evi- dently
dently formed for a place of punim- ment, as well as probation j a prifon, or houfe of correction, to which we are committed, fome for a longer, •and fome for a fhorter period j fome to the fevereft labour, others to more indulgent tafks: and if we con- fider it under this character, we fhall perceive it admirably fitted for the end for which it was intended. It is a fpacious, beautiful, and durable •ftructure: it contains many vari- ous apartments, a few very com- fortable, many tolerable, and fome extremely wretched : it is inclofed with a fence fo impaflable, that none can furmount it but with the lofs of life. It's inhabitants likewife exactly refemble thofe of other pri- fons : they come in with malignant 3 difpofuions,
[ 3* ]
difpofitions, and unruly pafiions, from whence, like other confined criminals, they receive great part of punilhment by abufing and in- juring each, other. As we may fuppofe, that they have not all been equally guilty, fo they are not all equally miferable ; the ma- jority are permitted to procure a tolerable fubfiftenee by their la- bour, and pafs thro* their confine- ment without any extraordinary penalties, except from paying their fees, at their ditlharge by death. Others, who perhaps ftand in need of more fevere chaftifement, receive k by a variety of methods ; fome by the moft acute, and fome by the mod tedious pains and difeafes ; fome by difappointments, and many by fuccefs, in their favourite pur-
fuits j
C 33 3
fuits -, fome by being condemned to fituations peculiarly unfortunate, as to thofe of extreme poverty, or fuperabundant riches, of defpica- ble meannefs, or painful pre-emi- nence, of galley- flaves in a defpotic, or minifters in a free country. IF we furvey the various regions of the globe, what dreadful icenes of wretchednefs every where prefent themfelves to. our eyes! in fome, we fee thoufands chained to the oar, and perpetually fufFering from the inclemency of all weathers, and their more inclement matters : irt fome, not fewer condemned to wear out their rniferable lives in dreary mines, deprived of air and day- light ; and in others, much greater- numbers torn from their • native country, their families, and friends, D and
[ 34 1
and fold to the moft inhuman of all tyrants, under whofe lafh they are worn out with fatigue, or expire in torments. The hiftory of mankind is indeed little more than a detail of their miferies, fome inflicted by the hand of Providence, and many more by their own wickednefs, and mutual ill-ufage. As nations, we fee them fometimes chaftifed by plagues, famines, inundations, and earthquakes ; and continually de- ftroying each other with fire and fword •, we fee fleets and armies combating with favage fury, and employing againft each other every inftrument of torture and death, which malevolence can invent, or ferocity make ufe of : we fee the dying and the dead huddled toge- ther in heaps, and weltering in each 7 other's
[ 35 1
other's blood; and can we befpe&a- tors of this horrid tragedy, without confidering the performers as con- demned criminals, compelled, like the Gladiators of the ancients, to receive their punifhment from each other's hands ? The Orator, the Poet, and the Hiilorian may celebrate them, as heroes fighting for the rights and liberties of their refpec- tive countries •, but the Chriftian Philofopher can look upon them in no other light, than as con- demned fpirits exiled into human flefli, and fent into this world to chaftife each other for paft offences. As individuals, we fee men afflicted with innumerable difeafes, which proceed not from accident, but; arc congenial with their original D 2 forma-
i 36 j
formations, and evidently the drf- pofitions of Providence, defigned for the moil important ends -, the ftone grows in the human bladder, under the fame direction as in the quarrj, and the feeds of fcurvyy rheum atifm, and gout are fown in the blood by the fame omnipo- tent hand, which has fcattered thofe of vegetables over the face of the earth. From thefe various inftru- rnents of torture, numberlefs are the miferies which mankind en- dure ;• nor are thofe perhaps lefs nu- merous, tho* lefs vifible, which they fuffer from that treachery, in- juftice, ingratitude, ill-humour, and perverfenefs, with which they every hour torment one another, interrupt the peace of fociety, and imbitter
the
[ 37 J
'•th'c comforts of domeftic life; to all which we may add, that won- derful ingenuity, which they pofleiSj of creating imaginary, in the ab- fence of real misfortunes, and that corrofive quality in the human mind, which, for want of the proper food of bufinefs or contemplation, preys upon itfelf, and makes foli- tude intolerable, and thinking a moft painful tafk. Who, that fur- veys this melancholy picture of the prefent life, can entertain a doubt, but that it is intended for a (late of punimment, and therefore muft be fubfequent to fome -former, in which this punimment was deferved.
Laftly. The opinion of prse-ex- iftence is no lefs confirmed by re- velation, than by reafon, and the D 3 appear-
I 38 1
appearances of things ; for, altho' perhaps it is no where in the New Teftament explicitly enforced, yet throughout the whole tenour of thofe writings it is every where implied : in them mankind are con- Handy reprefented as corning into -the world under a load of guilt; as condemned criminals, the chil- dren of wrath, and obje6ts of divine indignation ; placed in it for a time by the mercies of God, to give them an opportunity of expiating this guilt by fufferings, and re- gaining, by a pious and virtuous conduct,- their loft ftate of happi- nefs'and innocence: this is ftiled working out their falvation, not preventing their condemnation, for that is already paft, and their onty
hope
[ 39 ]
hope now is redemption, that is, being refcued from a date of cap- tivity and fin, in which they are univerfally involved. This is the very efience of the Chriftian difpen- fation, and the grand principle in which it differs from the religion of nature •, in every other refpect they are nearly fimilar ; they both enjoin the fame moral: duties,, and prohibit the fame vices ; both in- culcate the belief of a future ftate of rewards and puniflhments : but here they effentially difagree ; na- tural religion informs us, that a juft and benevolent Creator could have no other defign in placing us in this world, but to make us hap- py, and that, if we commit no ex- traordinary crimes, we may hope D 4 to
[ 40 ']
to be fo in another ; but Chrifti- anity teaches a feverer, and more alarming lefibn, and acquaints us, that we are admitted into this life opprefled with guilt and depravity, which we muil atone for by fuffering its ufual calamities, and work off by a£ls of poiitive virtue, before we .can hope for happinefs in another. Now, if by all this a prae-exiftent Hate is not conftantly fuppofed, that is, that mankind have exifted in fome ftate previous to the pre- fent, in which this guilt was in- curred, and this depravity con- tracted, there can be no meaning at all, or fuch a meaning as con- tradicts every principle of common Tenfe— -that guilt can be contracted without a6bng, or that we can act 2 -without
C 41 1
without exifting : fo undeniable is this inference, that it renders any, pofitive aflertion of a prse-exiftent ftate totally ufelefs-j as, if a man at the moment of his entrance into a new country was declared a cri- minal, it would furely be unnecef- fary to aflert, that he had lived in fome other before he came there.
In all our refearches into abftrufe fubjefts, there is a certain clue, without which, the further we pro- ceed the more we are bewildered, but which being fortunately dif- covered, leads us at once through the whole labyrinth, puts an end to our difficulties, and opens a fyftem perfectly clear, confident, and intelligible. The doclrine of pras-exiftence, or the acknowledgr
incut
[ 4* ]
ment of fome paft (late of guilt and difobedi^nce, I take to be this very elue ; which if we conftantly carry along with us, we (hall proceed un- embarraffed through all the intri- cate myfteries both of nature and revelation, and at laft arrive at ib clear a profpect of the wife and juft difpenfations of our Crea- tor, as cannot fail to afford com- pleat fatisfaclion to the moft inqui- fitive fceptic.
. For inftance •, Are we unable to anfwer that important queftbn, Whence came evil ? that is, why a Creator of infinite power, wifdom, •and goodrtefs, mould have formed a world replete with ib many im- perfections, and thofe fo produc- tive of calamities to its inhabitants 5
this
[ 43 ]
this clue will direct us to this fa- tisfaftory reply, as far as the quef- tion relates to the evils of the pre- fent life — becaufe he defigned it for a place of punifhment and proba- tion •, for which it is perfectly a- dapted i and we can be no more furprifed to fee fuch a world as this make a part of the univerfal fyftem, than to fee a magnificent prifon, with all its appendages of punifh- ment, whips, pillories, and gibjbets, make a part of a large, populous, and well-governed city. Are we under difficulties to comprehend why the fame omnipotent and be- nevolent Creator -mould fill this world with inhabitants fo wicked, and fo miferable? this clue will im- mediately lead us to a folution of
them.
[ 4+ 1
them, and point out the true rea^ fon— becaufe they are fent hither to be puniihed, and reformed. Do we reject all thofe pafiages in the New Teftament, as derogatory to the divine wifdom and goodnefs, • which declare, that mankind come into this world under a load of guilt and depravity, and under the difpleafure of their Creator ?— no fooner are we brought by this clue within fight of a prse-exiftent ftate, in which this guilt and depravity may have been contracted, but our incredulity vanifhes, and we per- ceive plainly, that their admiffion into this world, under thofe cir- cumftances, is not only confiftent with the juftice of God, but the ilrongeft inftance of his mercy and benevolence ;
[ 45 1
benevolence ; as by it they are en- abled to purge off this depravity, ro expiate their offences, and to re- in ftate themfelves in his favour.
Thus is a pras-exiftent ftate, I think, clearly dernonftrated, by the principles of reafon, the appear- ances of things, and the fenfe of revelation ; all which agree, that this world is intended for a place of punifhment, as well as proba- tion, and mufl therefore refer to ibme former period ; for, as pro- bation implies a future life, for which it is preparatory, fo punim- ment mud imply a former ftate, in which offences were committed, for which it is due ; and indeed there is not a fingle argument drawn from the juftice of God, and the feemingly
[ 46 ]
feemingly undeferved fufferings of many in the prefent ftate, which can be urged in proof of a future life, which proves not with fupe- rior force the exigence of another, which is already paft.
D I S Q U I-
t 47 3 D I S QJJ I S I T I O N IV.
ON THE NATURE OF TIME.'
WE are fo accuflomed to con- nect our ideas of time with the hiftory of what paffes in it, that is, to miftake a fuccefHon of thoughts and actions for time, that we find it extremely difficult, per- haps impoffible, totally to feparate or diftinguifh them from each other: and indeed, had we power to effect this in our minds, all human lan- guage is fo formed, that it would fail us in our exprdfion: yet cer- tain
[ 48 I
tain it is, that time, abfirafted from the thoughts, aflions, and mo- tions which pals in it, is actually nothing : it is only the mode in which fome created Beings are or- dained to exiflv but in itfelf has really no exiftence at all.
Though this opinion may feem chimerical to many, who have not much confidered the Tubject, yet
.'it is by no means new,, for it was long fince adopted by fome of the
"moft celebrated philofophers of an- tiquity, particularly by the Epicu- reans -,.and is thus well exprefTed by
Xucretius :
%empus Item per fe nan eft ; fed rebus ab ipfis fynfequitur.fenfm, tranfaclum quod fit in eevo, Turn qu<t res mjlat, quid ptnoJtinde fequatur*, Xtc t erfe, quemquamtempusfentire, fateudum efl> Stmatum ab ufum, msiui pldcidayie quietf.
Tim*
[ 49 J
Time of itfelf is nothing ; but from thought Receives its rife, by lab'ring fancy wrought, From things confidered: while we think on fomc As prefent, fome as paft, and fome to come .- No thought can think on Time, that's dill coa-
fefs'd, But thinks on things in motion, or at reft.
ClEECH.
From obferving the diurnal re- volutions of the fun, and the vari- ous tranfa&ions which pafs during thofe revolutions, we acquire con- ceptions of days; by dividing thefe days we form hours, minutes, and feconds -, and by multiplying them, months, years, and ages j then by meafuring thefe imaginary periods againft each other, and bellowing on each diftinct denominations, we give them the appearance of fome- thing real : yefterday, which is paft, E and
[ 5° 3
and to-morrow, which is not yet come, afiume the fame reality as the prefent day -, and thus we ima- gine time to refemble a great book, one of whofe pages is every day wrote on, and the reft remain blank, to be filled up in their turns with the events of futurity j whilft \n fact this is all but the delufion of our own imaginations, and time is nothing more, than the manner in which paft, prefent, and future events fucceed .each other : yet is this delufion fo correfpondent with our prefent (late, and fo woven up with all human language, that with- out much reflection it cannot be perceived, nor when perceived can it be- remedied : nor can I, while' endeavouring to prove time to be nothing,
t £r ]
nothing, avoid treating it as fome- thing in almoft every line.
There feems to be in the nature of things, two modes of exiftence ; one, in which all events, paft, pre- fent, and to come, appear in one view ; which, if the expreffion may be allowed, I Ihall call perpetually inftantaneous ; and which, as I ap- prehend, conftitutes Eternity ; the other, in which all things are pre- fented feparately, and fuccefJively, ' which produces what we call Time. '
Of the firft of thefe human rea- fon can afford us no manner of conception; yet it afiures us, on the ftrongeft evidence, that fuch mud be the exiftence of the fu- preme Creator of all things, that iuch probably may be the exiftence £2 of
[ 52 1
of many fuperior orders of creat-ed Beings, and that fuch pofTibly may be our own in another ftate : to Beings fo conftituted, all events paft, prefent, and future are pre- fented in one congregated mafs, which to us are fprcad out in fuc- ceffion to adapt them to our tem- porary mode of perception: in thefe ideas have no fuccefllon, and there- fore to their thoughts, actions, or exiftence, time, which is fucceffion only, can bear not the leaft relation wliatfoever. To exiftence of this kind alone can eternity belong; for eternity can never be compofed of finite parts, which, however multi- plied, can never become infinite ; but muft be fornething fimple, uni- form, invariable, and indivifible-, permanent.
I 53 'J
permanent, tho' inftantaneoils, and endlefs without progrefllon. There are fome remarkable expreffions both in the Old and New Tefta- ment, alluding to this mode of ex- iftence ; in the former, God is de- nominated / am * ; and in the lat- ter, Chrift fays, before Abraham was, I awf: both evidently implying duration without fuccefifion : from whence the fdioolmen probably derive their obfcure notions of fuch a kind of duration, which they explain by the more obfcure term of a punfium ftans.
With the other mode of exiflence we are fufficiently acquainted, be- ing that in which Providence has placed us, and all things around
* Pxod. iv. 14. f John viii. 58.
E 3 us,
[ 54 3
us, during our refidence on this terreftrial globe j in which ail ideas follow each other in our minds in a regular and uniform fuccefiion, not unlike the tickings of a clock » and by that means all objects are prefented to our imaginations in the fame progreflive manner : and if any vary much from that deftin- ed pace, by too rapid, or too flow a motion, they immediately be- come to us totally imperceptible. We now perceive every one, as it paifes, thro* a. fmall aperture fe- parately, as. in the Camera Ob- fcura, and this we call time ; but at the conclufion of this ftate we may probably exift in a manner quite different ; the window may be thrown open, the whole profp.eft appear
[ 55 ]
appear at one view, and all this ap- paratus, which we call time, be totally done away : for time is cep- tainly nothing more, than the fhift> ing of fcenes neceffary for the per- formance of this tragi-comical farce, which we are here exhibiting, and mud undoubtedly end with the con- el ufion of the drama. It has no more a real effence,independent of thought and action, than fight, hearing, and fmell have independent of their pro- per organs, and the animals to whom they belong, and when they ceafe to exift, time can be no more. There are alfo feveral pafTages in the fcriptures, declaring this anni- hilation of time, at the corifumma- tion of all things : And the Angel., which I faw ft and upon the fea and £4 the
[ 56 3
tbe earth, lifted up his hand towards heaven, and fwcre by him that liveth for ever and ever, &c. that there jhould be time no longer *.
To this opinion of the non-entity of time it has by fome been ob- jected, that time has many attri- butes and powers inherent in its nature ; and that whatever has at- tributes and powers, inuft itfelf ex- ift : it is infinite, fay they, and eternal ; it contains all things ; and forces itfelf on our imaginations in the abience of all other exiftence : but to this it may be anfwered, that the human mind is able in the very fame manner to realize no- thing j and then all the fame attri- butes and powers are applicable *Rev. x, 5.
jo with
[ 57 3
with equal propriety to that nothing, thus fuppofed to be fomething :
* Nothing, thou elder brother ev^n to (hade! Thou had'fl a Being, ere the world was made, And well fixM are alone of ending not afraid.
I^vothmg is infinite, and eternal ; that is, hath neither beginning, nor end: it contains all things; that is, it be- gins where all exiftence ends ; and therefore furrounds, and contains all things : it/orces itfelf on the mind, in the abfence of all exiftence-, that is, where we fuppofe there is no ex- iftence, w.e muft fuppofe there is nothing: this exact refemblance of their attributes and powers, more plainly demenftrates, that time is nothing.
From this non-exiftence of time thus , many conclufions will
• Lord Rochefter.
arife,
[ 58 ]
arife, both ufeful and entertaining k, from whence perhaps new lights may be thrown on feveral fpeculations re- ligious and metaphyfical, whole out- lines I fhall juft venture to trace, and leave them to be filled up by abler pens.
i ft. If time be no more than the •fuccefiion of ideas, and actions, however thefe may be accelerated, or retarded, time will be juft the fame : that is, neither longer or ftiorter, provided the fame ideas, and actions, fucceed one another, as far, I mean, as it relates to Be- ings fo thinking and acting. For inftance, were the earth, and all the celeftial bodies, to perform the fame revolutions in one day, which they now perform in a whole year; and were all the ideas, actions, and
lives
[ 59 ]
lives of mankind haftened on in the lame proportion, the period of our lives would not be in the lead ftior- tened ; but that day would be ex- actly equal to the prefent year : if in the fpace of feventy or eighty of thefe days a man was born, edu- cated, and grown up, had exercifed a profefiion, had feen his children come to maturity, his grand-chil- dren fucceed them3 and, during this period had had all his ideas and ac- tions, all his enjoyments and fuffer- ings, accelerated in the fame pro- portion, he would not only feem to himfelf, and to all who lived in the fame ftate with him, and mea- fiired time by the fame ftandard, to have lived as long, but actually and in fad would have lived as
long
C 60 ]
Song as one, who refides on this globe as great a number of ou-r prefent years.
2dly. This being the cafe, it fol- lows, that the life of every man mult be longer, or fhorter, in proportion to the number of his thoughts, and actions : for was it poflible for a man to think and aft as much in an hour, as in a year, that hour, as far as it related to him, would not only feem, but actually become a year. On the other hand, was it poflible for a man totally to abftain from thinking and acting for an hour, or a year, time, with regard to him, for that period, would have no exiftence •, or, could he keep one idea fixed in his mind, and continue on-e fingle act during
[ 61 ]
the fame fpace, time, which is a fucceflion only of ideas and ac- tions, muft be equally annihilated : whether thefe ideas and actions are exercifed on great or little occa- iions, whether they are productive of pleafing or painful ienfations, with regard to this purpofe their effects will be the fame : neither their importance or confequences will add any thing to time, but their numbers and celerity moil un- doubtedly will. Our lives there- fore, when diversified with a vari- ety of objects, and bufied in a mul- tiplicity of purfuits, thoV perhaps lefs happy, will certainly be longer, than when dofcd away in floth, in- activity, and apathy.
gdl.y. From hence it is evident,
that
[ 62 ]
that we can form no judgment of the duration of the. lives, enjoy- ments, and iufferings of other ani- mals, with the progrefiion of whofe ideas we are totally unacquainted, and who may be framed in that re- fpect, as well as in many others, fo widely different from ourfelves. The gaudy butterfly, that flutters in the funfhine but for a few months, may live as long as the flupid tortoife, that breathes for a century ; the infecl, that furvives not one diurnal revolution of the fun, may, for any thing we know, enjoy an age of happinefs j and the miferable horfe, that appears to us to furTer the drudgery of ten or twenty years, may finifli his labo- rious tafk in as many months, day?, or hours. 4thly.
[ 63 ]
4thly. For the like reafons we can judge but very imperfectly of what are real evils in the univerfal fyftem, whilft we remain in this temporal ftate of exiftence, in which all things are exhibited to us by fcraps, one after the other : for thefe detached portions, which viewed fepa.ately, feem but mif- fhapen blotches, may to Beings, who in an eternal ftate fee paft^ prefent, and future, all delineated on one canvafs, appear as well-dif- pofed fhades neceflary to render per feel: the whole mod beautiful landfldp. Nay, even pain, that taken fmgly is fo pungent and difagreeable a potion, when thrown into the cup of univerfal happijnefs, 3
[ 64 T
may perhaps add to it a flavour, which without this infufion it could not have acquired.
5thlV. If time has itfelf no ex- iftence, it can never put an end to the exiftence of any thing elfe ; and this feems no inconclufive argu- ment for the immortality of the foul : for if any thing is, and no caufe appears to us why it fhould ceafe to be, we can have no good reafon to believe, that it will not continue. Whatever has no con<- nection with time muft be eternal : now the only property of the foul, with which we are acquainted, is thought, which bears no relation to m time; whence ic is reafonable to fuppofe, that the foul itfelf is equally unconnected with ir, and
conic-
confequently eternal, Even in ma- terial Beings we fee continual muta- tions, but can perceive no fymp- toms of annihilation; and therefore we have furely leis caufe to fufped it in immaterial r from whence I am inclined to think, that the efiences of all things are eternal, that is, unrelative to time, and that it is only our manner of perceiving them, that caufes them to appear temporal to us; pad, prefent, and future being not inherent in their natures, but only in our progrei- five mode of perception.
6thly. From what has been faiti* we may perceive into what amazing abfurdities many of our ableft divines and metaphyficians have plunged, in their inveftigations of eternity, for making which their receipt is ufually F this :
I 66 ]
this : they take of time a fufficient quantity, and, chopping it in fmall pieces, they difpofe them in ima- ginary lengths, which they diftin- guifh by the names of minutes, hours, days, years, and ages : then feeling in their own minds a power of multiplying thefe as often as they think fit, they heap millions upon millions ; and finding this power to be a machine, that may be worked backwards and forwards with e- qual facility, they extend their line both ways, and fo their eternity is compleated, and fit for ufe: they then divide it in the middle, and out of a fingle eternity they make two, as they term them, a parts ante, and apartepoft ; each of which •having one end, may be drawn out, like a Juggler's ribband, as long as
they
C 67 ]
they pleafe. The contradictions fo manifeft in this fyftem, fufficiently declare its falfhood : for in adopt- ing it we muft acknowledge, that each half of this eternity is equal to the whole ; that in each the number of days cannot exceed that of the months, nor the months be more numerous than the years, they be- ing all alike infinite •, that whether it commenced ye(terday,or ten thou- land years fince, the length of its duration muft be the fame; for the length depends not on the begin- ning, but on the end, but that can- not be different, where there is no end at all : the abfurdity of all thefe proportions is too glaring, to Hand in need of any refutation; for it is evident, that whatever contains F 2 parts,
parts, length, or numbers, can never be infinite-, whatever had a begin- ning muft have an end, becaufe beginning and ending are the modes 6f temporary exiftence : what has no end could have no beginning, becaufe both are equally incon- fiftent with eternity. In truth, all (heie abfurdities arife from apply- ing to eternity our ideas of time,, which, being two modes of exift- ence intirely different,, bear not the leaft relation to each other : time is in its nature finite, and iuccelTive ; eternity infinite, and inftantaneous -, and therefore their properties arc no more applicable to each other, than thofc of founds to colours, or of colours to founds ; and we can no more form eternity out of time,
than,
than, by mixing red, blue, and -green, we can compofe an anthem or an opera.
ythly. From hence appears the necefllcy, in our confide rations on thefe fubjecls, of keeping our ideas of thefe two modes of exigence in- tirely and conflantly diftinci, as they thernfelves are in nature : by which means we ihall prefently fweep away many of thofe theolo- gical and metaphyfical cobwebs, which now encumber and difgrace our moft learned libraries -, and cut fhort many impertinent enquiries concerning the creation of the uni- verfe, God's foreknowledge and predeftination, the pras-exiftent. and future (tate of fouls, the in- juftice of eternal punilhments, and F 3 the
[ 70 ]
the fleep of the foul, with number- lefs others of the fame kind, all de- rived from injudicioufly blending and confounding thefe two kinds of exiftence together, and applying notions and expreflions to one, which can only with propriety be- long to the other.
To enter largely into thefe ab- flrufe and intricate fubjects, would require a folio ; I lhall therefore only fay one word or two to each.
It has been frequently afked, why God created the univerfe at the time in which he did create it, and why he fuffered millions of ages to pafs away before the commence- ment of fo glorious a work ? to this it may be replied with equal con- cifenefs and truth, that in facl: no
fuch
C 7i ]
fuch ages ever did or could pafs before it was created; nor was it created in any time at all ; for nei- ther the eflence or actions of God have the moft diftant relation to time ; he has been pleafed in his infinite wifdom to bellow on fome parts of his creation a temporal mode of exiftence, and from this alone time derives its origin : to iuppofe time antecedent to temporal exiftence, is to fuppofe effects to precede their caufes; and not lefs abfurd, than to imagine, that there could be perception before fenfitive Beings, or thought before intelli- gent Beings exifted. This very queftion proves the abfurd ity of connecting time and eternity toge- ther j for if God's power of creating F -i is
t 7' ]
is co&val with his exiftence, that exiftence eternal, and that eternity only time extended ; this evident contradiction follows, that God, tho' always equally able, yet in fact never could create any thing fo foon, but that he might have created it fooner: that is in other words, that he never could create any thing as foon as he could. All this puz- zle arifes from our foolifhly fuppo- fing, that eternal and temporal Be- ings mud aft in a manner fimilar to each other : if we do any thing, it mud be done at fome time or other ; but God acts in ways as dif- ferent from ours, as inconceivable to us ; his ways are not like our ways, nor his thoughts like our thoughts : one day is to him as a •thoufand
[ 73 ]
thoufand years, and a thoufand years as one day j that is, neither of them, with his manner of exifting, think- ing, oracling, have any connection whatever.
All difputes about God's fore- knowledge rind predeftination, are of the fame fpecies, and derive their birth intirely from the fame abfurd fuppofition. Foreknowledge and predeftination imply fuccefllon, and are relative to time, which has no relation to the efience or perception of the Creator of all things -, and therefore, in the fenfe ufually ap- plied to them, cannot with any pro- priety be attributed to him. He knows all things, and ordains all things; but as all things are equally prefent to the divine intuition, it is impoffiblc
[ 74 }
impofiible that he can foreknow or predeftinate any thing.
Of the fame kind are all quefti- ons concerning the pras-exiftent,. and future ftate of the foul, arifing likewife from confounding our ideas of thefe two modes of exiftence, temporal and eternal : whenever the foul is united with a body, perceiv- ing all things by fticceffion thro* material organs, it acquires ideas of time, and can form none of ex- iftence unconnected with it ; but whenever this union is diffolved,. it probably returns again to its na* tlve mode of eternal exiftence, in which the whole circle of its per- ception being at once vifible, it has nothing further to do with time ; it. is neither old or young, it lives
no
[ 75 ]
no more in the feventeenth than in the feventh century, no nearer to* the end than the beginning of the world : all ideas of years and ages, of prse-exiftence and futurity, of beginning and ending, will be to- tally obliterated : and poffibly it will be as incapable of forming any conceptions of time, as it is now of eternity. The foul therefore being quite unconnected with time, when- ever it is unconnected with a body, cannot properly be faid to exift in another time, either prior or pofteri- or, but only in another manner. ' Every argument alfo endeavour- ing to prove the injuftice and dif- proportion of eternal punimments for temporal offences, is founded on the fame erroneous principles, and
admit
[ 76 1
admits of the fame anfwer •, that all computations of the magnitude of fuch punifhments from their dura- tion, by heaping years and ages upon each other, are abfurd, and inconfiftent with that (late in which they are to be inflicted : crimes will there be punifhed according to the degrees of their malignity, but nei- ther for a long, or a fhort, nor for any time at all: for all punifhments muft be correfpondent to the ftate in which they are fuffered : in an eternal ftate, they muft be eternal, in a temporal they muft be tempo- ral ; for it is equally impofllble, that a Being can be punifhed for a time, where no time is, as that it ihould be punifhed everlaftingly in a ftate which itfelf cannot laft. As therefore,
[ 77 ]
therefore, from the nature of things, this difpenfation is necefiary, it can- not be unjuft, and from the infinite wifdom and goodnefs of the Author of nature, we may reafonably pre- fume that it cannot be difpropor- tioned to its feveral objects.
The non-entity of time will ferve likewife to fettle a late ingenious conrroverfy, and fhew, that, like mod others of the kind, it is a dif- pute only upon words : this contro- verly is concerning the fleep of the foul j that is, whether it enters into a ftate of happinefs or mifery kn mediately on its diflblution from the body, or remains in a ftate of profound infenfibility, till the ge- neral judgment, and then receives its final fentence, and luffers its ex- ecution :
[ 78 ]
edition ; for if time is nothing but the thoughts and actions which pals in it, the condition of the foul, whether it fleeps or not, will be ex- actly the fame ; nor will the final fentence be one moment deferred by fuch a ftate of infenfibility, how long foever it may continue •, for tho', during that period, many revo- lutions of the fun, and of empires, may take place, many millions of thoughts and actions may pals, which not only meafure time, but create it ; yet with regard to the Ibul fo deeping, none of thefe, that is, no time will pafs at all j and, if no time intervenes, judgment, however remote with regard to others, will as inftantly follow its difiblution, as if that had happened 3 the
t 79 1
the precedent moment. But if, ac* cording to the foregoing principles,, the foul in a feparate ftate bears no relation to time, then no event in which it is there concerned can be be- fore or after another, either nearer or farther from any period, from death or judgment, from the creation or diffolution of this planetary fyftem: this we fee muft at once put an end to all difputes on this fubject, and render the ufe of foporiiics intire- ly needlefs.
After all that has been here ad- vanced, I am not infenfible, that we are here fo constantly converfant with temporal objects, and fo to- tally unacquainted with eternal, that few, very few will ever be
able
[ so ]
able to abftract exiftence from time, or comprehend that any thing can cxift out of, and unconnected with it: in vain fhould I fuggeft, that the various planets are peopled by the divine wiidom with a variety of Beings, and even this terreftrial globe with innumerable creatures, \vhofe fituations are fo different, that their manner of exiftence is quite unknown and incomprehen- fible to each other-, that millions inhabit the impenetrable recedes of the unfathomable ocean, who can? no more form conceptions of any exiftence beyond the limits of that their native element, than we our- ielves can beyond the boundaries of time ; and that therefore in reality, time may be no more ne-
ceiTary
C 81 ]
ceffary to exiftence than water, tho* the mode of that exiftence we are unable to comprehend. But, I well know, thefe analogous arguments have little weight; the prejudice of education, the flrength of habit, and the force of language, all form- ed on the fuppofed union of exift- ence with time, will perfuade men to reject this hypothefis as vain and chimerical. To all bufy men, and men of bufmefs, to all jogging on in the beaten roads or profeffions, or fcrambling up the precipices of ambition, thefe confiderations muft appear unprofitable illufions, if not incomprehensible nonfenfe •, for to endeavour to convince a merchant fubfifting on long credit, a lawyer G inriched
[ 32 ]
inricbed by delay, a divine who .has purchafed a next prefentation, a general who is in no hurry to fight, or a minifter whofe object is the continuance cf his power, that time is nothing, is an arduous tafk, and very unlikely to be attended with fuccefs. Whoever defires to tafte or underftand fuch abftracted fpeculations, muft leave for a while the noify buftle of worldly occu- pations, and retire into the fe- queftered fhades of folitude and contemplation : from whence he will return certainly not richer, poflibly not wifer, but probably more fufceptible of amufement from his own company for want of better, and more able to draw entertain-
entertainment from his own imagin- ations : which in his journey thro* life he will often find an acquifition not altogether inconfiderable.
r, 2 DIS
[ 84 3
DISQJJISITION V.
ON THE ANALOGY BETWEEN THINGS MATERIAL AND INTELLECTUAL.
AS all things, both material and intellectual, are derived from the fame omnipotent author, we lhall find, on an accurate examina- tion, that there is a certain analogy, which runs thro' them all, well worthy of our attention and admi- ration ; that is, that there are in the elements of the material world, and in the paffions and actions of mankind, powers and propenfities of a fimilar nature, which operate
in
t 85 3
in a fimilar manner, throughout every part of the material, moral, and political fyftem. But this theory, rather abftrufe, is difficult to be explained, and will be beft elucidated' b> examples, which eve- ry day fall within our obferva- tion.
In the material world, for in- ftance, we lee all diforders- cured by their own excefTes : a fultry calm fails not to produce a ftorm, which diffi pates the noxious vapours, and reftores a purer air; the fierceft tem- ped, exh-aufted by its own violence, at length fubfides ; and an intenfc fun-fl>ine, wftiift it parches up the thirfty earth, exhales clouds, which quickly water it with refrefhing (howers. Juft fo in the moral G 3 world,
[ 86 ]
world, all our paffions and vices, by their excefles, defeat themfelves; excefnve rage renders men impo- tent to execute the mifchiefs which they threaten ; repeated treacheries make them unable to deceive, be- caufe none will truft them ; and extreme profligacy, by the difeafes which it occafions, deflroys their appetites and works an unwilling reformation.
Asjn the natural world, the ele- ments are reftrained in their molt deltrudtive effects, by their mutual oppofition ; fo in the moral, are the vices of mankind prevented from being totally fubverfive of fociety, by their continually counteracting each other : profufion reftores to the public the wealth which ava- rice
[ 8? ]
rice has detained from it for a time; envy clips the towering wings of ambition ; and even revenge, by it's terrors, prevents many injuries and oppreffions : the treachery of the thief difcovers his accomplices; the perfidy of the proftitute brings the highwayman to juftice ; and the villainy of the affaflm puts an end to the cruelty of a tyrant.
In the material world, the mid- dle climates,, fartheft removed from the extremes of heat and cold, are the moft falubrious, and moft plea- lant : fo in life, the middle ranks a-re ever moil favourable to virtue, a-nd to happinels ; which dwell noc in the extremes of " poverty or riches.
. G 4 As
[ 88 ]
As throughouc the various regi- ons of the earth, advantages and inconveniences are diftributed with a more impartial hand than we on a tranfitory view are apt to ima- gine ; fo are they to the various conditions of human life : if the more fouthern climates are gilded with a brighter fun-mine, perfumed with more fragrant gales, and de- corated with a greater profufion of plants and flowers, they are at the fame time perpetually expofed to peftilential heats, infefted with noxious animals, torn ,by hurri- canes, and rocked by earthquakes, unknown to the rougher regions of the North. In like manner, if the rich enjoy luxuries, from which the poor are debarred, they fuffer many difeafes
I 89 ]
difeafes and difquietudes, from which thofe are fortunately ex- empted.
We behold with admiration the vivid azure of the vaulted fky, and variegated colours of the diftant clouds ; but, if we approach them on the fummit of fome lofty moun^ tain, we difcover that the beaute- ous fcene is all illufion} and find ourfelves involved only in a dreary fog or a tempeftuous whirlwind: j.uft fo, in youth, we look up with pleafing expectation to the plea- fures and honours, which we fond- ly imagine will attend rnaturer age», at which, if we arrive, the brilliant profpect vanifhcs in dilappointment, ^nd we meet with nothing more
than'
[ So ]
than a dull inactivity or turbulent contentions.
The properties of the variousr feafons of the year, the gaiety of fpring, the vigour of fummer, the ferenity of autumn, and the gloom of winter, have been fo often afli- milated to the correfponding periods of human life ; the dangers and dif- quietudes of grandeur fo often com- pared to the tempeftuous fituation of lofty mountains; and the quiet fafety of inferior itations, to the calm fecurity of the humbler vale, that a repetition of them here would be impertinent, and ufelefs-, yet they all contribute to point out that analogy which uniformly pervades- every part of the . creation wit!* which we are acquainted.
Between
Between the material and politi- cal world, this analogy is ftill more confpicuous : in the former, every particle of matter, of which the vaft machine is compofed, is actuated by that wonderful principle of at- traction, which reftrains, impels, and' directs its progrefs to the deftined end ; in the latter, every individual of which the great political body is formed,' is actuated by felf-intereft, a principle exactly fimilar, which, by a conftant endeavour to draw all things to itfelf, reflrains, impels, and directs his paffions, defigns, and actions to the important ends of government and fociety. As the firft operates with force in propor- tion to the contents of the body in which it refides, fo does the latter -,.
in
t 9» 1
in individuals it is fmall, in focie- lies greater, and in populous and extenfive empires moft powerful. As the one ads with power in pro- portion to its diftance, fo does the other ; for we conftantly find, that a fmall benefit beftowed on men- 3s individuals, will influence them much more than a larger, which they may receive from national profperity ; and a trifling lofs, which immediately affects themfelves, is more regretted, than one more con- fiderable, which they feel only thro* the medium of public calamities. In another refpect, alfo, they great- ly refemble each other •, they are both productive of many mifchiefs, yet both necefiary to the well-being ^nd prefervatior. of the whole. It 3 is
{ 93 ]
is attraction that plunges us in the ocean ; dalhes us againft the rocks ; tumbles us from the precipice ; and pulls down the tottering fabric on our heads : but it is this, alfo, that conftitutes all bodyj that binds to- gether the terreftrial globe, guides the revolving planets in their courfes, and without it not only the whole material fyftenl would be difiblved, but I am inclined to think, that matter itfelf muft be annihilated ; for, matter being in- finitely divifible, without this pro-* perty, it muft be infinitely divided; and infinite divifion feems to be nothing lefs than annihilation: for without attraction there could be no cohefion, without cohefion no folidity, and without folidity nd matter.
t 94 ]
matter. In like manner, felf-in- tereft, or what we miftake for it, is the fource of all our crimes, and moft of our fufferings. It is this, that {educes the 'profligate, by the profpect of pleafure -, tempts the villain, by the hopes df gain •, and bribes the hero with the voice of fame : but it is this alfo that is the fource of all our connections, civil, religious, political, and commercial • that binds us together in families, in cities, and in nations, and directs our uni- ted labours to the public benefit : and without its influence, arts and learning, trade and manufactures, would be at an end, and all govern- ment, like matter by infinite divi- Con, would be annihilated.
I 9.5 .3
. The natural world fubfifts by a perpetual contention of the ele- ments of which it is compofed, the political by as conftant a conteft of its internal parties, ftruggling for fuperiority. In the former, the great fyftem is carried on by a con- tinual rotation of good and evil, alternately producing, and fucceed- ing each other : continued fun thine produces tempefts ; thefe discharge themfelves in refreshing rains; rains caufe inundations, which, after fome ravages, fubfiding, afllft commerce and agriculture, by fcouring out the beds of rivers, and fertilizing lands ; and funfhine returns again : fo in the latter, long peace, the political funfhine, generates corruption, lux- ury, and faction, the parents of ckftruclive
I 96 ]
•deftrudYive wars ;•. war for a time awakens national vigour, and pours down wealth and plunder,, then taufes inundations of poverty and diftreis; diilrefs calls forth induftry, agriculture, and commerce, and peace returns once more. , As night and day, winter and fummer, are alternately circulated over the various regions of the globe ; fo are poverty and wealth, idlenefs and induftry, ignorance and fcience, defpotilm and liberty, by an uniform procefs arifmg from their own natural constitutions, and their invariable effects upon each other. In poor countries, neceflity incites induftry, and cheapnefs of provifions invites traders and ma- nufacturers to refide j this foon in- troduces
[ 97 3
•troduccs wealth, learning, and li- berty ; and thefe are as foon follow- ed by profufion, faction, and licen- tioufnefs •, commerce will keep no fiich company, bus, like a bird of paffage, migrates to climes by po- verty and cheapnefs better adapted to her conftitution : thefe, in their turns, grow rich, civilized, free, difiblete, and licentious in the fame manner, and arc fucceflively de- ferted for the fame reafori, and the Kime circle is again renewed.
In the material world, the con- ftant circulation of the air, and flux and reflux of the tides, preferve thofe elements from a putrid flag- nation i fo in the political, contro- verfies, civil and religious, keep up vhc fpirirs of national communities^ H and
[98] ;
and prevent them from finking into a ftate of indolence and ignorance : but if either exceed the bounds of moderation, their confequences are extremely fatal ; the former pro- ducing ftorms and inundations, and the latter anarchy and confu- iion. Lord Bacon obferves, that war is to ftates, what exercife is to individuals ; and in this they are extremely fimilar ; a proper pro- portion may contribute to health and vigour, but too much emaci- ates, and wears out a conftitution. Thus, by a wife and wonderful difpofition of things material and intellectual, God has infufed into them all powers and propenfities greatly analogous, by which they are enabled and compelled, in a
fimilar
[ 99 3:
iimilar manner, to perform their re- fpeclive parts in the general fyftem, to reftrain their own excefTes, and to call back each other, whenever they too far deviate from their deftined ends ; and has faid unto every thing, as well as to the ocean, to night and day, to winter and iummer, to heat and cold, to rain and funmine, to happinefs and mifery, to fcience and ignorance, to war and peace, to liberty and defpotifm, " Hitherto (halt thou go, and no far- ther." Thefe amazing inftances of infinite wifdom in the ceconomy of things, prefenting every where *a» analogy fo remarkable, are well worthy of our higheft admiration j yet have been but little obferved, becaufe thefe divine difpofitions ap- H 2 pear
[ 100 ]
poar to us to be no more than the neceflary confequences of previous caufes, and the invariable opera- tions of nature, and we forget that nature is nothing more than the art of her omnipotent author.
DIS'QU'I-
[ 101 ]
DISQUISITION VI.
ON RATIONAL CHRISTIANITY.
TO feveral learned and. ingeni- ous writers, ,fome .doctrines of the Chriftian religion have ap- peared fo contradictory to all the principles of reafon and equity, that they , cannot aflent to them, nor believe that they can be derived from the Fountain of all truth and juftice. . In order therefore to fa- tisfy them felves and- others, who may labour under the fame difficul- ties, they have undertaken the ar- duous talk of reconciling revelation and reafon ; and great .would have H 3 been
[ 102 ]
been their merits, had they begun at the right end, that is, had they endeavoured to exalt the human un- derftanding to the comprehenfion of the fublime doctrines of the gof- pel, rather than to reduce thofe doctrines to the low ftandard of human reafon -, but, unfortunately for themfeives and many others, they have made choice of the latter method, and, as the fhorteft way to effect it, have with inconfiderate raihnefs expunged from the New Teitament every divine declaration, which agrees not exactly with their own notions of truth and rectitude; and this they have attempted by no other means, than by abfurd ex- planations, or by bold affertions that they are not there, in direct - -contradiction
[ io3 3
contradiction to the fenfe of lan- guage, and the whole tenour of thole writings-, as fomephilofophers have ventured, in oppofition to all men's fenfes, and even to their own, to deny the exiftence of matter, for no other reafon, but becaufe they find in it properties which they arc unable to account for. Thus they have reduced Chriftianity to a mere fyftem of ethics, and retain no pare of it but the moral, which in fatl is no chara&eriftic part of it at all, as this, though in a manner lefs perfect, makes a part of every re- ligion which ever appeared in the world. This ingenious method of •converting Chrittianity into Deiim, cannot fail of acquiring many rc- ipedlable profelytes ; for every vir- H 4 tuous
C 304. ]
tuous and pious man, who would be a Chriftian if he could, that is, who reverences the name of. Chrif- tianity,, but cannot, aiTent to it's tenets,, is gjad to lift under the itaadard .of .any leader, who can teach him. to-be a. Chriftian, .with- out believing, any one principle, .of that inftitution.
Whoever will look back into the theological annals of this .country, will find, that during the laft. cen- tury, the fashionable philosophers were, for the mod part Atheifb, who afcribed every thing, to chance, fate, or neceffity j exclufive of all intelligence or defign : thefe mighty Giants, who fought'againft Heaven, being at length overthrown by the abfurdity of their owa principles,
and
[ 105 ---]•
and the fuperior abilities of their ^ adverfaries, retreated, about the be- ginning of" the prefent, to the more tenable fort of Deifm ; .but here again, being frequently . worfted, they at laft took .flicker, under the covert-way of rational Chriftiamty, , where they now make, their ftand, , and attack . revelation- with, lefs . odium,. ... and more fuccefs, . than . from the open .plains of profefiol . Deifm, becaufe many are, jeady to -• rejeft the whole- fubftance of the Chriftian inftitution, whowould.be ftiocked at the thought of relin- quiming the. name.
If Chriftianity is to be. learned out of the New Teftament, and . words, have any meaning affixed to them, . the . fundamental principles
"of
I 106 ]
FoFit are thefe,— * -That: mankind come into this world in a depraved and fallen condition ;— that they are placed here for a while, to give them an opportunity to work out their falvation, that is, by a virtu- ous and pious life to purge off this guilt and depravity, and recover their loft Hate of happinefs and in- nocence, in a future life j— that this they are unable to perform, without the grace and affiftance of God ;— - and that after their bed endeavours, they cannot hope for pardon from their own merits, but only from the merits of Chrift, and the atonement made for their tranfgreffions by his fufferings and death. This is >clearly the fum and fubftance of the Chriftian difpenfation •, and fo -adverfc
io7 ]
adverfe is it to all the principles of human reafon, that, if brought be- fore her tribunal, it muft inevita- bly be condemned. If we give no credit to its divine authority, any attempt to reconcile them is ufe- lefs; and, if we believe it, pre-
•fu-mptuous in the higheft degree. To prove the reafonablenefs of a revelation, is in fact to deftroy it; becaule a revelation implies in- formation of fomething which rea-
•fon cannot difcover, and therefore muft be different from 4ts deduc- tions, or it would be no revelation. If God had told us, that -we come into this world in a (late of perfect innocence, void of all propenfities to evil-, that our depravity proceeds
•entirely from the abufeof that free- will,
will; with which he has been pleafsd < to endue us •, that, if in this life we purfue a virtuous, conduct, we have a right to be rewarded, and if ;a vicious, we may expect to be pu- nifhed in another, except we prevent it. by repentance and reformation, and that thefe are always in our own power — if God had informed us of nothing more,, this would have been no. revelation, . becaufe it is. juft what our reafon, properly employed, might have taught us^: but if he has thought proper, by fupernatural means, to allure us, that ou-r fituation, our relations, pur depravity, our merits, and our powers, are all of a kind extremely different from what we imagine,-,, and that his.difpenfations towards
us.
•us are founded on principles which cannot be explained to us, becaufe, in our prefent flate, \ve are unable to comprehend them; this is a revelation, which we may believe, or not, according to our opinion of its authority j but let us not reafon it into no revelation at all
The writers of the New Tefta- ment frequently declare, that the religion which they teach, is a myf- tery, that is, a revelation of the dif- penfations of God to mankind, which without fupernatural infor- mation we never could have^ dif- covered ; thus St. Paul fays, " Ha- " ving made known to us the myf- " tery of his will." What then -is this myftery? net the moral pre-
- c,epts
C no. J
oepts of the gofpel -, for they- are • no more a myftery tHan the Ethics of Ariftotle, or the Offices of Ci- cero : the myftery confifts alone in thele very doctrines, which the Ra- tionalift explodes, becauie they dif- agree with the conclufions of his reafon; that is, becaufe they are myfteries, as they are avowed to be by thofe who taught them.
But thefe bold advocates for rea- fon, underftand not its extent, its powers, or the proper application of them. The utmoft perfection of human reafon, is the knowledge of it's own defects, and the limits of its own confined powers, which are extremely narrow. It is a lamp which ferves us very well for the common occupations of life, which 7 are
L MI 1
arc near at hand, but can fhew us no- profpect at a diflance : on all fpe~ cuiative fubjedts, it is exceedingly; fallacious, but in none fo frequent- ly mifleads us, as in our religious and political inquiries j becaufe, in the former, we draw conclufions without premifes ; and in the latter, upon falfe ones. Thus, for inftance,- reafon tells us, that a Creator, in- finitely powerful and good, could never permit any evil, natural or moral, to have a place in his works; becaufe his goodnefs muft induce him, and his power enable him, to exclude them : this argument is unanfwerable by any thing, but experience, which every hour con- futes it. Thus again, reafon affures us, that fufferings, though they
may
[ in 3
aiaybe juft punifhments for paft. crimes, and a means to prevent, them for the future, can never be compenfations for them -, much lefs can the fufferings of one Being atone for the guilt of another: a- gainft this no objection can be urged, except the belief of man- kind, in all ages and nations, and the exprefs declarations of revela- tion; which unanimoufly contradict it, and afford fufficient grounds for our concurrence. In thefe two in- ftances we are deceived by mifap- plying our reafon to fubjects in which we have no premifes to rea- fon upon; for, being totally igno- rant on what plan the univerfa! fyftem is formed and fupported, we can be Jio judges of .what is
good
t 113 3
good or evil with regard to the whole; and, as we know not for what ends either guilt or fuflferings 'were ever admitted, we muft be unable to comprehend what con- nections between them may poffi- bly be derived from thofe ends. In our political difcuflions, reafon e- •qually mifleads us •, in thefe, fhe prefents us with fchemes of govern- ment, in which, by the moft ad- mirable contrivances, juftice is fo impartially adminiftered, property fo well guarded, and liberty fo ef- fectually fecured, that in theory it feems impoffible, that any people under fuch v/ife regulations ca:n poflibly fail of being happy, virtu- ous, and free •, but experiment foon convinces us, that they are inade- I quate
[ H4 ]
•q-jate to thcfe falutary purpofes, and that, in practice, they are pro- ductive only of anarchy and con- fufion. Here our errors arife frora reafoning on falfe premifes, that is, from fuppofmg thap mankind will act on principles incompatible with the vices, the follies, and the paf- fions of human nature. If realbn, therefore, is fo fallible a judge in the little and low concerns of hu- man policy, with which fhe is daily converfanr, how abfurd is the Ra- tionalift, who conftitutes her fole ar- bicer in the difcuffions of the moil fu blim fubjefts, of which fhe has not the leafb comprehension, the at- tributes and difpenfations of the Almighty, cur relations to him, and
our
our connections with pad and fu- ture ftates of exiftence !
Of all men, who are called Chrif- tians, the Rationalift feems to have the lead pretence to that denomina- tion : the Church of England ac- knowledges the belief of all the doctrines of this inftitution in her Articles, though in them they are ill explained, and worfe exprefled ; the Church of Rome afTents to them all, but adds many without fufficient authority -, the Calvinift denies them not, but difgraces them by harfh, obfcure, and abfurd com- ments •, the Quaker admits them, but is bewildered by enthufiaftic notions of partial infpirations ; and the Method ill fubfcribes to them all with the utmoft veneration, but I 2 (incon-
(inconfiftently) depreciates the me- rit of moral duties, at the fame time that he infifts on the practice of the moft rigid •, but the Ration- alift reprobates the whole, as im- pious, ridiculous, and contradicto- ry to the juftice of God, and the reafon of man. Nor is he lefs ad- verfe to the fpirit, than to the letter of this religion : the true Chriftian is humble, teachable, and diffi- dent-, the Rationalift is affuming, obftinate, and felf-fufficient : the Chriftian hopeth all things, feareth all things, and believeth all things ^ the Rationalift hopeth for nothing, but from his own merits, feareth nothing from his own depravity., and believeth nothing, the grounds of which he cannot perfectly under- Hand.
[ H7 I
(land. Why then muft he be a Chrlftian ? no man is now com- pelled to come in, nor more obliged to be a Chriftian, than a Free- Mafon j the belief of it is not ne- ceflary to his advancement in life, nor his progrefs in any profeffion ; we know, that he may be a lawyer, a phyfician, or even a divine, with- out it. If, on an impartial enqui- ry, he is a religions and moral Deift, why not own it ? Such were Socrates, Plato, and Cicero ; and it is (till a character by no means difgraceful to a virtuous man. I blame no one for. want of. faith, but for want of fincerity ; not for being no Chriftian,, but; for pretending to be one, without be- lieving. The profeffed Deiit gives- 13 Chriftianity
Chriftianity fair play ; if fhe cannot defend herfelf, let her fall -, but the rational Chriitian afiaflinates her in the dark : the firft attacks Chrift, as did the multitude, with fwords and (laves ; the latter, like Judas, betrays him with a kifs.
B ! S-
DISQJJ1SITION VII.
ON GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL LIBERTY.
IF any one cafts his eye on the title of this eflay, ihort as it is, he will fcarcely be perfuaded to read any farther ; as he will ration- ally conclude, that, on a fubject fo hackneyed by the beft and word writers of all ages, from Ariftotle to the news-paper politicians of the prefent times, nothing can be added, which can afford either in- ftruftion or entertainment : but fo many abfurd principles, concerning government and liberty, have of late been diffcminated with unufual I 4 induftry;
induftry, principles as falfe as mif- chievous, as inconfiftent with com- mon fenfe as with all human foci- ety ; that it feems neceffary that they fhould not pafs quite unno- ticed, efpecially as they require no- thing more, than to be fairly dated, to be refuted. The moft confidera- ble of them are the following ; to each of which I mall fay a few words.
ift. That all men are born equal. 2dly. That all men are born free. ^dly. That all government is de- rived from the people. 4thly. That all government is a compact between the governors and the governed. 5thly. That no government ought to laft any longer, than it con- tinues
tinues to be of equal advantage to the two contracting parties, that is, to the governed, as to the governors.
Firft then ; That all men are born- equal ; by which proportion, if it is only meant, that all men are equally born, that is, that one man, is as much born as another, I mall not difpute its truth : but in every other fenfe it is intirely falfe ; for we daily fee, that fome are born with beautiful and healthy bodies, and fome with frames diftorted, and filled with the mod deplorable dif- eafes ; fome with minds fraught with the feeds of wifdom and genius, others with thofe of idiotifm and madnefs -, fome, by the laws and conftitutions of their countries, are 3 born
[ 122 ]
born to the inheritance of af- fluent fortunes and diftinguilhed honours, others to a life of poverty, labour, and obfcurity. How thefe can be faid to be born equal, I can- not comprehend. If by this propo- fition is to be underftood, that, at the time of their birth, all men are poffelTed of an equal fhare of power, wealth, wifdom, learning, and vir- rue ; when they are -equally incapa- ble of pofleffing any j this would be no lefs ridiculous, than to afferr, that all men are born with teeth of the fame length, when none of them are born with any teeth at all. Bur, fuppofing they were all born equal ; would this prove, what is always intended to be proved by it, that they ought always to continue fo ?
or
t 123 3
or can any argument be drawn from thence, againft their future inequa- lity, and fubordination ? mult no man prefume to be fix feet high, •becaufe perhaps he was born of the fame fize as another, who is now but four ? m« ft no man aflume power 'over another, becanfe they were •born equal, that is, becaufe an •their birth they were both incapable of exercifing any .power whatever ? Thus, we fee, this mighty argument, drawn from the fuppofed natural equality of mankind, by which all powers and principalities are threa- tened to be overthrown, is intirely falfe, and if true, is nothing to the ;piirpofe for which it has been ftf •often and fo pompoufly intro- duced.
Secondly *
[ 124 ]
Secondly ; That all men are born free. This is fofar from being true, that the firft infringement of this liberty is being born at all •, which is impofed upon them, without their confent, given either by themfelves or their reprefentatives •, and it may eafily be fhewn, that man, by the conftitution of his nature, never fubfifts a free and independent Be- ing,, from the firft to the laft mo- ment of his refidence on this ter- reftrial globe : where, during the firft nine months of his exiftence» he is confined in a dark and fultry prifon, debarred from light and air; 'till at length, by an Habeas Corpus •brought by the hand of fome kind deliverer, he is fet at liberty : but what kind of liberty does he then
enjoy ?
T. «s 3
enjoy ? he is bound hand and foot, and fed upon bread and water, for as long a period ; no fooner is he unbound, than he makes fo bad a ufe of his liberty, that it becomes neceffary that he mould be placed in a (late of the fevereft difcipline, firil under a nurfe, and then a fchoo 1m after, both equal tyrants in their feveral departments ; by whom he is again confined without law, condemned without a jury, and whipt without mercy. In this itate of flavery he continues many years5 and at the expiration of it, he is obliged to commence an involun*- tary iubject of ibme civil govern, •ment-, to whole authority he muft fubmit, however ingeniouily he -may difpiue lier right, or be juftly hanged
[ 126 ]
hanged for difobedience to her laws. And this is the fum total of human liberty. Perhaps it may be faid, that all this may be ingenious ridi- cule, but cannot be intended for ferious argument; to which I reply, that it is the moft ferious argument that can be offered, becaufe it is derived from the works, and the will of our Creator-, and evidently mews, that man was never defigned by him to be an independent and felf-go- verned Being, but to be trained up in a ftate of fubordination and go- vernment in the prefent life, to fit him for one more perfect in ano- ther : and, if it was not a reflection too ferious, I mould add, that, in the numerous catalogue of human vices, there is not one, which fo compleatly 2 difqnalifies
c i27 i
difqualifies him from being a mem- ber of that celeftial community, as a factious and turbulent difpofnion, and an impatience of controul -, which frequently afTumes the ho- nourable title of the love of liberty. Thirdly ; That all government is derived from the people. This is another fallacious propofition ; which in onefenfe is true, but, with regard to the principles fo often eftablimed upon it, intirely falfe. It is true, indeed, that all govern- ment is fo far derived from the peo- ple, that there could be no govern- ment if there were no people to be governed : if there were no fub- jects there could be no kings, nor parliaments if there were no con- ftituents, nor fhepherds if there were no Iheep j but the inference ufually
I 128 ]
"•u'fually drawn from this propofi- tion is utterly falfe, which is, that, becaufe all government is derived from the people, the people have a right to refume it, and adminifter it •themfelves, whenever they pleafe. But whatever claim they may have to this right, the exercife of it is impracticable, from the very na- ture of government -, for all go- vernment mud confift of the go- vernors, and the governed ; if the people at large are the governors, •where mail we be able to find the governed ? All government is power, with which fome are in- truded, to controul the actions of others ; but how is it poffible that every man fhould have a power to controul the actions .of every :man ? this would be a form of government^
[ "9 3
government, which we have heard fometimes recommended as the moft perfect, in which all are go- verned by all j that is, in other words, where there is no govern- ment at all. I agree with thefe pre- tended patriots, that the people in every country have a right to refifl. manifeft grievances and opprefllons,. to change their governors, and even their conftitutions, on great and ex*- traordinary occafions ;, whenever they groan under the rod of tyran- ny, they have a right to make it off, and form a conilitution more productive of liberty •, and, in like, manner, if they find themfelves torn by irreconcileable factions, and' debilitated by internal contentions,, they have an equal right to change K it
£ ^3° J
it for a government more arbitrary and decifive. But we (hall not agree fb well in our definition of that im- portant and mifapplied term c the people;' by which I would be un- derftood to mean the whole body of a nation, advifed and directed by the moft refpcdable members of it ; who are pofTeffed of rank, property, wifdom, and experience : But who are thofe in this country, whom our modern demagogues dif- tinguifh by this name, and veil with this fupreme dominion ? Not the hereditary peers of the realm ; not the reprefentatives of this very peo- ple in parliament aflembled ; not the pallors of the church, the fages of the law, or the magi ft rates who are guardians of the public iafety ;
not
not the poffefTors of landed proper- ty, the opulent ftockholder, or the wealthy merchant. Thefe are all reprefented as tools of minifters, lovers of flavery, united in a con- fpiracy to deftroy their country and ruin themfelves ^ they point out to us no defenders of our liberties *>r properties, but thofe who have themfelves neither; no public- fpirit, but in the garrets of Grub-ftreet ; no reformation, but from the pur- lieus of St. Giles's ; nor one Solon, or Lycurgus, but who is to emerge from the tin-mines of Cornwal, or the coal-pits of Newcastle. Thefe are not the people whom I mould chufe to truft with unlimited power, becaufe I know they are totally in- capable of employing it to any fa- K 2 lutary
[ I32 J
lutary purpofe, even for themfelves; and, whatever might be our griev- ances, redrefs from fuch hands would be much more intolerable.
Fourthly •, That all government is a compact, between the governors and the governed. This imaginary compact is reprefented by fome, as a formal agreement entered into by the two contracting parties, by which the latter gives up part of their natural independence, in ex- change for protection granted by the former j without which vo- luntary furrender, no one man, or body of men, could have a right to controul the . actions of another ; and fome have gone fo far as to aflert, that this furrender cannot be made binding by reprcfentation,
that
[ 133 ]
that parents cannot confent to it for their children, or nations for indi- viduals, but that every one mud give his perfonal concurrence, and that on this alone the conftitution of every government is or ought to be founded : but all this is a ridi- culous fiction, intended only to fubvert all government, and let mankind loofe to prey upon each other •, for, in fact, no fuch com- pact ever was propofed or agreed to, no fuch natural independence ever pofieffed, and confequent- ly can never have been given up. We hear a great deal about the conftitutions of different Hates, by which are underftood fome particu- lar modes of government, fettled at fome particular times, which ought Kg to
f 134 3
to be fupported with religious ve- neration through all fucceeding ages : in fome of thefe, the people are fuppofed to have a right to greater degrees of liberty than in others, having made better bargains for themfelves, and given up leis of their natural independence : but this, and all conclufions drawn from thefe premifes, muft be falfe, be- caufe the fads on which they are founded are not true ; for no fuch conflitutions, eftablifhed on general confent, are any where to be found » all which, we fee, are the offsprings offeree or fraud, of accident, and the circumltances of the times, and muft perpetually change with thofe circumftances : in all of them, the people have an equal right to pre-
ferve
C 135 I
ferve or regain their liberty, vrheri* ever they are able. But the quei- tion is not> what right they have to liberty, but, what degree of it they are capable of enjoying, without ac* complifhing their own deftrudtion* In Tome countries this is very fmall, and in none can it be very great, becaufe the depravity of human nature will not permit it. Compact is repugnant to the very nature of government; whofe efience is com* puliion, and which originates al- ways from neceffity, and never from choice or compact ; and it is the rnoft egregious abfurdky, to reafon from the fuppofcd rights of man- kind in an imaginary flate of na- ture, a ftate the moil unnatural, becaufe ii> fuch, a ftate they never, K4 did
did or can fubfift, or were ever defigned for. The natural ftate of man is by no means a ftate of foli- tude and independence, but of fo- ciety and fubordination •, all the effects of human art are parts of his nature, becaufe the power of producing them is beftowed upon him by the author of it. It is as natural for men to build cities, as for birds to build nejls; and to live under fome kind of government, as for bees and ants ; without which he can no more fubfift than thofc focial and induftrious infects ; nor has he either more right, or power, than they, to refufe his fubmiflion. But if every man was pofieiTed of this natural independence, and had .a right to furrender it on a bargain,
he
t 137 3
he muft have an equal right to re- tain it ; then he has a right to chufe, whether he will purchafe protection at the price of freedom, or whether he prefers liberty and plunder to fafety and conftraint : a large majority of mankind, who have neither property nor prin- ciples, would undoubtedly make choice of the ktter, and all thefe might rob, and murder, and com- mit all manner of crimes with im- punity -, for, if this their claim to natural independence is well found- ed, they could not be juftly amena- ble to any tribunal upon earth, and thus the world would foon become a fcene of univerfal rapine and bloodfhed. This fliews into what absurdities we run,' whenever we
reafon
[ 13» 3
reaibn from fpeculative principles, without attending to practicability and experience: for the real truth is no more than this, Every man, by the conftitution of human nature, comes into the world under fuch a degree of authority and reftraint as is ne- cefTary for the prefervation and hap- pinefs of his fpecies and himfelf ; this is no more left to his choice, than whether he will come into the world, or not ; and this obligation he carries about with him, fo long as he continues in it. Hence he is bound to fubmit to the laws and conftitution of every country in which he refides, and is juftly pun- ilhable for difobedience to them. To afk a man whether he chufes to be fubject to any law or government,
is
.£ 139 ]
ia to afk him, whether he chufes to be a man, or a wild beaft, and wifhes to be treated accordingly. So far are men from being poflefTed of this natural independence, on which fo many fyftems of anarchy have been erected, that fubmiffion to authority is eflential to humanity, and a principal condition on which it is beftowed : man is evidently made for fociety, and fociety can- not fubfift without government, and therefore government is as much a part of human nature, as a hand, a heartr or a head ; all thefe are frequently applied to the worfl of purpofes, and fo is government j but it would be ridiculous from thence to argue, that we mould live longer and happier without them. The Supreme Governor of
the
[ 140 3
'the world has not determined who ihall be his vicegerents, nor what forms of government fhall be a- dopted-, but he has unalterably de- creed that there mall be fome ; and therefore, though no particular governors can lay claim to a divine right of ruling, yet government it- fclf is of divine inftitution, as much as eating, and for the fame reafon, becaufe we cannot fubfift without it.
Fifthly ; That no government ought to fubfift any longer, than it continues to be of equal advan- tage to the governed as to the go- vernors. If this propofition is a- dopted, and by advantage wealth and power are to be underftood, there is an end of all government 3 . at
[ '4i J
at once y for the greateft lhare o£ thele muft be poffefTed by the go- vernors ; becaufe without it they could not govern : power and pro- perty always accompany each other, and power is government ; thefe therefore muft refide with thofe who govern ; and, how often foever thele may change hands, and the condi- tion of individuals be altered, with regard to the community, the cafe muft eternally be the fame : on this principle, therefore, the governed would have a perpetual right to refift, and every government ought to be difiblved at the moment of its commencement : on this prin- ciple, the lowefi of the people, in every country, may at any time be incited to rebel, and their rebellion
foe
be juftified ; for, while they feel themfelves opprefled with poverty, and condemned to labour, and be- hold their fuperiors enjoying all the pomps and luxuries of life, it will be eafy to perfuade them, that they receive greater benefits from go- vernment than themfelves, and that, for that reafon, they have a right to fubvert it : this right they are always ready to aflert, and will not fo eafily be difTuaded from the attempt, by being told, what is cer- tainly true, that they really receive as much benefit from government as thofe who govern ; becaufe, by that alone, they are every day prevented from tearing one another to pieces : but this argument will have but little weight, becaufe they will 6 never
I »« ]
-never be convinced, that this is any benefit, and not rather an infringe- ment of their natural rights.
In fhort, all thele wild and ex- travagant principles are the pro- duction of ignorance, or ambition, invented and propagated either by thofe who are unacquainted with human nature, and human govern- ment, or thofe who endeavour to render it impracticable in the hands of others, that it may fall -into their own •, and all terminate in one ab- furd conclufion, which is, That go^1 vernment is an unjuftifiable impo- fition, and violation of the rights of nature, and ought to be eradi- cated from the face of the earth. But, happily for the world, when- ever men prefume to reafon againft
the
the courfe of nature, and the de^ crees of Providence, their argu- ments, however ingenious, have but little effect; for government there mud be, fo long as there are men, and the difpute will ftill con- tinue to be, that only of who (hall govern.
It is an old and. a jufl obfervar tion, that the loudeft advocates for liberty have always been the great- eft tyrants whenever they have got power into their hands ; and this mufl neceflarily be ; becaufe a love of liberty is an impatience of con- troul, and, when this impatience of controul is united with power, re- fiftance is an infringement of their liberty who pofiefs it, and is treated by them with feverity, in proper-
tion
tion to their impatience of controul; and thus the fame difpofition, which in a fubject conftitutes a patriot, in a prince creates a tyrant. This (hews, that an extraordinary zeal for liberty is nothing mose than an extraordinary fondnefs for pow- er, that is, a power to controul the actions of others, uncontrolled ourfelves ; and this love of liberty does not arife fo much from our fears of being ill-governed, as from our diflike of being governed at all. So true is this, that I am fully per- fuaded, that if an angel was fent from heaven, veiled with irrefifti- ble power, to govern any country upon earth, and was to execute his commiffion with the utmoft degree of vvifdom, juftice, and bcne- L voknce,
volcnce, his dominions would very foon be deferted by moft of the in- habitants ; who would rather chufe to fbffer mutual injuries and op- prcffions, however grievous, under any government in which they themfelves had a mare, than to be compelled to be virtuous and hap- py by any fuperior authority what- ever.
The nfual fallacy of which de- mocratic writers avail themfelves, is this— they constantly charge all the numerous evils inherent in all hu- man governments to the account of the governors; which for the moft part are imputable with more propriety to the governed: it is ow- ing to theif vices that there is any (uch thing as government, or an\r occafion
f «*7 ]
O'ccafion for it; and confequently all it's attendant evils muft be derived from the fame fource. It is their crimes, which require punifhment, and their venality which makes corruption necefiary ; war, with ail its horrors, fprings from their de- pravity, the violence of faction, the avarice of commerce, the ambition of the rich, and the profligacy and idlenefs of the poor : princes are made tyrants by the perverfenefs and difobedience of their fubjecls, and fubjefts become flaves from their incapacity to enjoy liberty. Every governor is in the fituation of a gaoler, whofe very office arifes from the criminality of thofe over whom he prefides •, thefe fometimes fuffer much from the abufe of his L 2 power j
power j but they would fuffer more from their mutual ill-ufage, if un- reftrained by his fuperintendant authority. A vicious and corrupt people can never be free, becaufc they are obliged to take ihelter \mder defpotifm, which alone can defend them from the oppreflions and injuries which they would every hour inflict upon eacii other-, and a virtuous people will never be flaves, becaufe they ftand in need of r.o fuch defence.
We cannot fall into a more com- mon, or more pernicious error, than to imagine, that, becaufe liberty is our fupreme blefTing, we, for that reafon, can never have too much: if this was true, government would indeed be a grievance, and ought
every
[ 149 3
every where to be aboliflied ; but the bleffings of liberty, like all others beftowed upon mankind, are circumfcribed within certain bounds, and become misfortunes by excefs : dominion is not allotted to the few, for their own, but for the benefit of the many over whom they rule, and no greater degree of power mould ever be trufted in the hands of man, than is requifite for that end ; but to fo much every community muft fubmit for it's own prefervation •, and this is. the only ftandard by which a juft pro- portion of liberty can be afcertain- ed. Every nation is by no means happy in proportion to the degree of freedom which it enjoys, but, as that degree is adapted to the cir- L 3 cumftances
C '50 ]
and the difpofitions of the people j and with them muft frequently change. The fame degree of power, which happily governs a fmall, induflrious, virtuous, and frugal ftate, is totally unable to re- ftrain the avarice, ambition, and fac- tion of an extenfive, rich, and luxu- rious empire : as the ftill and cryf- tal lake is quietly bounded by the flowery banks which furround it; whilft the turbulent and tempeftu- ous ocean can be confined only by tremendous rocks and afpiring mountains. The greateft degree of liberty, which any people can enjoy, is, to be governed by equi- table and impartial laws ; but thefe cannot be adminiflered, but either by their voluntary fubmiflion, or
by
by fuperior force j if the firft is re- filled, the latter muft be exerted, and then liberty fubfifts no more : and hence it is evident, that thoTe who will not be contented with the greateil degree of this invaluable bleffing, muft quickly find them- felves deprived of the leaft ; and that every people, who, from falfe and impracticable notions of liberr ty, refufe to fubmit to any govern-^ ment of their own, muft very foon, from the constitution of human na- ture, be obliged to receive it under the yoke of fome foreign power, which is wifcr, and therefore ftrong- er, than themfelves.
L 4. D I S-
152
DISQJJISITION VIII.
t)N RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENTS.
THE zealous advocates for re- ligious liberty, frequently at- tack us with this triumphant quef- tion, What has government to do •with men's religion ? to which I an- fwer, Nothing •, provided men's reli- gion had nothing to do with go- vernment : but our religious and political opinions and interefts are fo intimately connected, and fo blended together, that it is impofli- ble to divide them. Were religious controverfies relative to fpcculativc doctrines
•[ «53 3
doctrines only, government would have neither right or inclination to interfere in them ; but fuch are by no means the objects of contention : thefe doctrines, believed by few, and underftood by fewer, are nothing more than the fignals of parties ftruggling for fuperiority, not for truth •, for, as in civil contefts men perfecute each other for wearing ribands of different colours, fo do they in religious, for profeffing dif- ferent opinions ; not that they have any objections to the ribands, or the opinions, but becaufe both are the marks by which thofe are dif- tinguifhed who are adverfe to their purfuits. Proteftants never inftitute fevere penal laws agamft Papifts becaufe they believe tranfubftantia-
tion,
t 154 ]
tion, (for why ihould they not be- lieve it, if they can r) but, becaufe the profeffion of that doctrine is the tefl, by which thofc are known 10 be members of * church which would infringe their, liberties, and devour a great part of their proper- ty ; on the other hand, the Church of Rome does not perfecute Pro- teftants becaufe they cannot affect to this doctrine, but, becaufe the difavowal of it is the %na] that they are defirous to pull down that fabric of wealth and power, which they have creeled for rhemfelves, and are unwilling to part with - opinions are held forth as marks of diiti nc~ti.cn, but ambition and in- tereli are the real caufes of the dik pute,
It
I '55 3
It will perhaps be faid, that, not- withftanding this may be true, there are many, very many pious and honeft peribns, who, on the ftricteft examination, and cleared convic- tion, have adopted opinions on re- ligious fubjects, of which they arc laudably tenacious, and cannot re- linquifh without violating both their reafon and their confcience •, and that of thefe, for which they are accountable to God alone, no government can have a right to take cognizance, much lefs to con- troul. To all this I readily agree, fo long as they continue to be opi- nions only ; but whenever they fhoot up into actions, which is their natural procefs, they then come within the line of human jurifdic-
tion,
I 156 ]
tion, and government is obliged to take notice of them, not from choice, but from necefihy, and felf- prefervation : for every religious feet holds principles more or lefs productive of arbitrary power, li- berty, or anarchy, which muft ne- ceffarily affect the civil constitutions under which they are profefied j as they are the moft dangerous, as well as the moft common combufti- bles, which knavery employs to fet folly and ignorance in a flame, whenever it may be fubfervient to her intereft. All religious feds, how- ever they may differ in other points, agree in one, which is the purfuit of power, and this by the fame prO- grefiive fteps"— by firft imploring toleration, next claiming equality,
and
[ 157 ]
and then ftruggling for fuperiority over all the reft. Government can- not remain an unconcerned fpecta- tor of thefe contentions, in which her own exiftence is at flake,, but muft ftretc'h out a pacific hand to compofe them : this Ihe can ef- fect by no other method, than by taking one, which Ihe moft ap- proves, under her protection, maintaining it's minifters, and forming her public worlhip agree- able to it's doctrines ; that is, in other words, by an eftablifhment : and thus we fee, that fome religious eftablimment muft neceffarily make a part of every national conftitu- tion ; which necefiity proceeds not from any natural connection be- tween religion and government, 5 but,
[ 158 ]
but, becaufe the artifice, ignorance, and fuperftition of mankind never fails to unite them : and hence, T apprehend, arifes that alliance be- tween church and {.late, which has been fo much dilcuiTcd, and fo little underftood.
The eftablifhment of one religion ought always to be accompanied by an unlimited toleration of ail others, on the principles of both juftice and policy -, of juftice, be- caufe, although every government has a right to beftow her protection and emoluments on any .mode of religion which me moil approves, fhe can have no right to enforce the belief or exercife of that, or to pro- hibit the profefllon of any other, by compulfive penalties-, of policy, 9 bccaufc
[ 159 1
becaufe fuch a toleration is the' m6flr effectual mears of putting an end to all rcligiou." difTenfions, which fpringing, for the noft part, from a love of fingularity and contra- diction, thrive under perfecution, and, when they "rufe tc beoppofed, they ceafe to exiiL
If fome eftablifhment is thus ne- cefTary, fo muft be feme ttfls, or fubfcriprions, by which the friends of this eftablifliment may be diftin- guifhed, and the principles of thole who are admitted into it afcertain- cd ; without which it would be no "tftablifhment at all : but every wife government will take care to make thefe as comprehenfrve as the rta- ture of their inftitutions will adnv:, m order to IcfTcn the number of her enemies ;
C 160. ]
enemies-, for moft affuredly fuch< will all be who are excluded. Who- ever are enemies to the religious conftitution of any country, what- ever they may pretend, can never be friends to it's civil ; for it is im- poffible that an honeft man, who Relieves his own religious profeffion to be true, and moft acceptable to his Creator, fnould ever be cor- dially attached to a conftitution which difcourages the exercife of it, and patronizes another, which appears to him to be falfe and im- pious. Extend this comprehenfioa as widely as poffible, it will exclude, many pious and worthy perfons, who are tenacious of different prin- ciples ; and narrow it to any degree, it will Hill admit all thofe who have
none :
L i6i 3
none: nor is it inexpedient that they fhould be admitted ; for every flate has a right to avail itfelf of their affiftance, who, though they are not fo good men, may be better fubjects ; as thefe may be induced by intereft to fupport the constitution of their country, while thofe are compelled by principle to fubvert it.
Thofe who will not conform to any Chriftian eftabliihment,. give thefe reafons for their difienti— that the religion fo eftablifhed is imper- fect, corrupted, and difiimilar to the genuine purity of that holy in- flitution ; and that they are in duty bound to rejeclfuch a religion, and to fearch for another^ which ap- pears to them to be more perfect M. and
[ 162 3
and pure. The firft of thefe rea- fons is unhappily true, but no apo- logy for their conduct ; the latter, intirely a miftake, and therefore ought not to be regarded.
Firft then, the charge of imper- fection and corruption may be made good againft any eftablifhed reli- gion that ever exifted. It muft be liable to many imperfections from k's own nature, and the nature of man ; in it's original inftitution, it muft lean to the errors and preju- dices of the times; and, how much foever it is then approved, it cannot long preierve that approbation, be- caufe, human fcience being continu- ally fluctuating, mankind grow more or lefs knowing in every ge- neration, and confequently mud change
I- 163 1
change their opinions on religious, as well as on all other fubjects ; la that, however wifely any eftablifhed fyftem may beformedatfirftjitmuft, from the natural increafe or decreafe of human knowledge, be found or thought to be erroneous in the courfe of a few years ^ and yet the change of national religions cannot keep* pace with the alterations of na- tional opinions, becaufe fuch fre- quent reviews and reformations would totally unhinge men's prin- ciples, and iubvert the foundations of all religion and morality what- ever. It mud likewiie be corrupted by the very eftablifhment which protects it, becaufe by that it will be mixed with the worldly purfuits of it's degenerate votaries ; and it M 2 muft
C 1.64, 1
znuft be extremely diffimilar to iiV original purity, or it would be in- capable of being eftablilhedj for pure and genuine Chriftianity never was, nor ever can be the national religion of any country upon eartru Ir is a. gold too refined to be work> ed up with any human institution, without a. large portion of alloy. ; for, no fooner is this fmall grain of muftard-feed watered with the fer^ tile fiiowers of civil emoluments,, than it grows up into a large and fpreading tree, under the fhelter of whole branches the birds of prey and plunder will not fail to make for themfelves comfortable habits tions, and thence deface it's beauty;, and deftroy it's fruits.
Tbde
I -i«5 ]
Theie imputations on religious -eftablimments are certainly juft, but no reafons for diflenfions, be- caufe the inference which makes the latter propofition is intirely a miftake ; for no man can be bound in duty to deferc .a national reli- gion, on account of defects .conge- nial to it's nature, nor to fearch for perfection, which is no where to be found. Some religious filabliih- mentis abfolutely necffiary to the exiftence of every ftate-, but it is not necefiary that this mould be per- fect, and free from all errors and corruption, nor even that it fhould be fo efteemed by thofe who con- form to it : it is fufficiently perfect for this purpofe, if it contains no- thing repugnant to the principles of M found
found morality, and the doctrines of Chrift. The mafs of the people in every country, being incapable of making any accurate inquiry into religious fubjects, muft have a religion ready made, or none at all ; and in this, thofe of fuperior abilities may confcientioufly join, without impeding their further re- fearches into the difpenfations of Providence, and the duties of man. Great and numerous muft be the inconveniences of any religious ef- tablilhment in the hands of men ; but what would be the condition of any nation in which there was none ? No uniform mode of public worfhip Could there be adopted $ no edifices built or repaired for the celebration •f it^ nor cjinifters maintained to perform
C 167 3
perform it, except at the will of an ignorant and difcordant multitude, the majority of whom would chufe rather to have neither worfhip, churches, or minifters, than to in- cur the expences which muft at- tend them. Every man, who had any fenfe of religion, would make one for himfelf \ from whence in- numerable feels would fpring up, each of which would chufe a mi- nifter for themfelves; who, being de- pendent for fubfiftence on the vo- luntary and precarious liberality of his congregation, muft indulge their humours, fubmit to their paf!ion$3 participate of their vices, and learn of them what doctrines they would • chufe to be taught; and confequent- Jy none but the moft ignorant and M 4. illiterate-
illiterate would undertake fo mean and beggarly an employment. A people thus left to the dominion of their own imaginations and paffions, and the inftru&ions of fuch teachers, would fplit into as many feels and parties, .iivificns ard fubdivifions, as knavtry and folly, arrifice, ab- furdity, and enthuiiufrra, can pro- duce j each of \vhich would be at- tacked with violence, and iupported .with obftinacy by all the reft. This evidently demonftrates, that feme religious eftablifhment muft be an- nexed to every civil government •> the members of which are lo far from being bound in duty to defer t it, becaufe it falls fhort of their ideas of purity and perfection, that they are obliged by all the ties of , 2 bene vole ace
[ i69 ]
-benevolence and fociety to conform rto and fupport it, unlefs it requires any conceffions pofitively criminal. Should it ftill be infifted on, that every man is obliged to profefs and exercife that religion which ap- pears to him moft confonant to rea- fon, and moft acceptable to God, wirh which no government can have a right to meddle, or power to controul ; in anfwer 1 fhall unly fay, that all this is undoubtedly a •miftake, which arifes from apply- ing propofitions to men, as mem- bers of national communities, which are applicable to them only as in- dividuals. Mankind, fo long as they refide on this terreftrial globe, sought always to be confidered in capacity, as individual^ .and
r 170 ]
and as members of fociety, that is, as men, and as citizens : in which different fituations, fo different are their relations and duties, that there is fcarce a propofition which we can affirm of them with truth in one, which is not falfe if applied to them in the other. It is by this mifapplication that the zealous ad- vocates for unbounded liberty, .civil and religious, deceive their follow- ers, and ibmetimes themielves, and draw conclufions equally .deftruG- tive of all government and religion. Thus, for inftance, they afiert that all men are by nature free, equal, and independent: this, when ap- plied to men as a general fpeeies, is true ; they then apply this afTertion SO men who are members of civil communities>
t i7r ]
communities, to whom fubordina*- tion is necefiary, and obedience to their fuperiors an indifpenfableduty, and therefore in regard to whom 11 is abfolutely falfe •, and yet from hence they endeavour to prove, that government is an infringement of the natural rights cf mankind. In. like manner they affirm, that every man is obliged to make choice of that religion, and to adhere to that mode of worfhip, which appear to his judgment to be the pureft, and moft acceptable to his Creator : this proportion, likewife, with regard to men confidered as individuals, is true ; but this again they apply to members of national communities, and eftabliilied churches : with re- gard to whom it is not truej for, as £ ftich,
t 17* ]
$uch, they are bound in duty t& .profefs that religion, and .practice that mode of wormip, which the laws of that community enjoin, pro- vided they find nothing in them po- •fitively evil : yet from hence they would perfuade us, that -every indi- vidual has a right to defert, or even tooppofe, the eftablifhed religion of •his country, whenever he finds, or fancies he can find a better. Thus are their unwary admirers deceived : the truth of thefe propofitions they cannot deny, and have not perhaps fagacity fufficient to difcover their jnifapplication.
It is remarkable, that Chriftianity
conftantly addrefles us as men, never
.as citizens; the only duty it requires
-•of us under that character, is fub-
•mifiion
[ '73 I
million to power in general, but prefcribes no rules for our political conduct : all thofe divine precepts of patience, meeknefs, long-fuffer- ing, non-refiftance of evil, contempt of the world, and indifference to the things of it, are given us as indivi* duals,, but not as- members of na-» tional communities j becaufein that character they would have been im- practicable: for no Rate can adr minifter her, internal policy, and much lefs regulate her conduct with regard to foreign powers, in con- formity to thefe commands j be^ caufe the imperfections, the pak fions, and the vices of mankind will not permit it. Any one as an indi* vidual may pay obedience to them; to thofe who have little to do with
the.-
[ m 3
the bufy occupations of the world, it is an eafy and a pleating tafk ; for thofe who are deeply and earneftly engaged in the moft innocent of them, it is extremely difficult ; but for thofe who are employed in the great concerns of political commu- nities, in carrying on war, negotia- ting peace, and managing the in- trigues of contending factions, it is abfolutely impracticable. This I take to be the caufe of thofe fre- -quent declarations from the Author of this religion, that neither himfelf nor his doctrines are of this world ; but adverfe to all it's purfuits : and this perhaps may be the reafon of that aflertion, that it is eafier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter
into
1 »75 1
into the kingdom of God j becatife, rich men being ufually moft engag- ed in thefe purfuits, moft attached to the world, and moft involved in the bufinefs of it, the extreme diffi- culty of their admifiion is thus forci- bly exprefled: or, if by a rich man, is here meant a great man, that is, a conqueror, a hero, or a ftatefman, this declaration may perhaps be li1- terally true-, and that it mould ift this place be ib underftood, ieeme -no improbable conjecture, as a rich -man, and a great man, in moft lan- guages are fynonymous terms. The iirft Chriftians law .their religion in this light, and refuied to have any concern with government, unlefs to obey it; they inquired not into the rights of thofe who ruled, nor their
own
f 176 J
own to liberty, and wifhed for no- thing, but to pals thro' this life un- incumbered with it's bufinefs, and well prepared for a better : fo long as they were a fmall fed:, diflenting from the religions of the countries in which they lived, this- inoffen five conduct was eafily preferved ; but, when princes, and nobles adopted their religion, and by fuch illuftrious examples it became almoft. univer- fal, thefe principles of inactivity •were no longer tenable, without the total diffolution of all government ; for, if no man would govern, there could be none : neceffity therefore obliged them to take a part; a part foon awakened ambition, and love of power, thofe paflions fo natural to the human heart, and induced them
to.
[ 177 3
to feize the whole; Chriftianity was eftabliftied, in confequence corrupt- ed, and little more of it remained, except the name.
To this opinion of the incompati- bility of Chriftianity with the oc- cupations and cuftoms of the world, were all thofe numerous monaftic inftitutions, which every where ac- companied it's progrefs", indebted for their origin i inftitutions certainly favourable to the genuine fpirit of that religion, but, like the religion itfelf, fo adverfe to the nature of man, that they can never be made fit for general ufe : could they have been confined to thofe few, who arc capable of employing folitude in devotion and religious contempla- tion, they would undoubtedly have N been
[ '78 ]
been conducive to the practice of every Chriftian virtue ; but, as all were indifcriminately admitted, who pretended to fanclity, or who mif- took enthufiafm for piety, and a quarrel with the world for the love of God, they could not fail very foon to become nothing better than retreats for lazinefs, and femi- naries of fuperftition and vice : yet, notwithftanding all their abufes, I am inclined to think there are ftill within their walls fome few in- flances of patience and refignation, devotion and charity, carried to a higher degree of perfection than they are or can be in any other fituation, in which the fafhions, the pleafures, and bufmefs of life, and the corruptions of national efta- blifhments,
t 179 3
blifliments, muft more or lefs ob- ftruct their progrefs ; where our virtue muft be endangered by con- tinual temptations, our meditations diverted from celeftial objefls by worldly purOits-, our devotions in- terrupted by amufements and im- pertinence -, and that ferene chear- fulnefs and happy complacency, fo efiential to the Chriftian profefiion, muft frequently be difturbed by in- juries and difappointments. The voluntary hardfhips which many of thefe reclufes impofed upon themfelves, were probably derived from a miftaken notion, that fuf- fering was an eflential part of their religion ; a notion which they had perhaps contracted from that con- ftant connection between them, N 2 which
which they had fo long obferyed and felt during their perfecutions* and were not able fuddenly to a- bandon, in happier and more indul- gent times.
But why then eftablifh a reli- gion, which is. fo improper for the purpofe ? Becaufe it is lefs impro- per than any other. The eftablifh- ment of fome religion is neceilary to the exigence of every ftate, and it is as neceflary that this fhould be, or be thought, a revelation from God. Mere Deifm never was, or can be, the eftablifhed religion of any country ; for, as all it's principles muft be derived from the reafon of fome, they will always be controverted by the rea- fon of others, and can therefore 6 never
uever obtain a general acquiefcence. The philofophcr, by learned in- veftigations, and the fprce of his own underftanding, may be con- vinced of the great truths of natu- ral religion ; but, without the fanc- tion of fupernatural authority, he will never be able to convince o- thers, who will neither believe his doctrines, or obey his precepts. If Chriftianity, therefore, is not adopted, fome fabulous fyftem muft fupply it's place ; and, if fome efta- blifhed religion there muft be, it is furely more eligible to make a true than a fictitious revelation the bafis of it. Nor will any one, I fuppofe, aflfert, that it would be preferable to eftablifh Paganifm or Mahometifm, and lay Chriftianity by for private
ufe;
[ 182 ]
ufe ; which, disfigured as it is by worldly connections, is ftill fupe- rior to all other inftitutions. As members therefore of political com- munities, we are bound to accept it with all it's imperfections j tho', as individuals, we ought always to approach as near to it's original purity, as our own imperfections will permit.
FINIS.
ANSWER
D I S QJJ I S I T I O N
GOVERNMENT and CIVIL LIBERTY, &c,
ANSWER
TO THE
D I S CU I S i T I O N
•GOVERNMENT and CIVIL LIBERTY;
IS A
LETTER
TO THE AUTHOR OF
D I S CLU I S I T I O N S
8N
SEVERAL SUBJECTS.
LONDON:
Printed for J. D E B RE T T, (SuccefTor to Mr. Almon/ oppofits Burlington-Houfe in Piccadilly.
MDCCiXXXII.
ANSWER,
SIR,
JL Yefterday read your Difquifitions on ieveral Subjects : I pafs over them all without animadverfion, except the feventh, which you have entitled — on government and civil liberty — nor would this have attracted my notice, but from its tendency to difieminate prin- ciples abfurd, falfe^ mtjchkvous^ as inconjiftent with common-fenje as< with all human Jociety . I f y ou t h i n k thcfe are hard terms, you muft be B content
( O
content to fubmit to them ; they are not of my coinage; they bear the ftamp of your own authority, for they are the very terms you have thought proper to beflow on thofe who differ from you in opi- nion.
I make no queftion of your fin- cerity in what you write, nor do I queftion your ability, but you have given every body great occafion to queftion your modefty and good manners ; the principles of Locke and Lord Somers, of Hooker, and of Puffendorf, to fay nothing of living authors, as honeft and as in- telligent, probably, as yourfelf, de- fervcd to be treated with refpecl: j harfh language is a difgrace to a good caufe, and the worft cannot fupport
( 3 )
fupport a bad one : I will endea- vour not to imitate your example.
You have undertaken to fubvert the principles of Mr, Locke and his difciples by ridicule and by rea- ibnj your ridicule is mifplaced, and your reafoning is inconclufive : Your ridicule is mifplaced, for the fubjecl is of great importance j whether your reaioning be inconclufive or not, let the public judge.
You have reduced your adverfa- ries principles of government to the five following proportions :
I. That all men are born equal.
II. That all men are born free.
III. That all government is de- rived from the people.
B 2 IV. That
( 4 )
IV. That all government is a compact between the governors and the governed.
V. That no government ought to laft any longer than it continues to be of equal advantage to the two contracting parties -, that is, to the governed, as to the governors.
I acknowledge that mod of thefe propofitions are fairly and perfpicu- oufly dared ; and I hope to fhew that you have no other merit in treating them.
That all men are born equal. — This is the firft proportion which you are determined to demolifh; but you do not feem to me, from the nature of your attack, to compre- hend
( 5 )
bend its meaning; if you cannot admit its truth, except upon the poor quibble of all men being equally born, you had better deny it altogether. You fpeak of the different fituations in which men are born with refpect to beauty, health, wifdom, genius, fortunes, and honours, and profcfs that you cannot underftand how they can be laid to be born equal ; — nor was there ever a man of common fenfe who could underftand it ; nor can you produce a fingle author of any credit, or of no credit, fromAriftotle to the newfpaper politicians of the prefcnt times, who ever contended that men were born to this kind of equality. No, Sir, the ftate of equality we fpeak of is quite a dif- ferent 3
( 6 )
fcrent thing-, it is that ftate "where- in all power and jurifdiction is re- ciprocal, no one having more than another," it refpects that freedom from fubordination, which, ante- cedent to civil compact, belongs to every individual of our fpecies, who is arrived at years of difcretion ; it has not the moft diftant relation to one man's being two feet taller, or twice as ftrong as another ; the tall man may overlook the little man, but he has not thereby acquired the right of prohibiting him the ufe of his eyes •, the ftrong man may over- come the weak one in a fingle com- bat, but that gives him no right to commence it •, he can have no right to kick and cuff his fellow, becaufe he may be able to dp it with im- punity.
Power,
( 7 )
Power, wealth, and wifdom may be the means of introducing a fub- ordination amongft mankind, but thisfubordination muft be 'voluntary on one fide,or it will be nothing but#»- juft force > rank tyranny, on the other. You are born a duke, marquis, earl, vifcount, baron, or what is more de- fpotic than all thefe put together, a tory country gentleman ; you have power enough to do a peafanr, or a mechanic, any poor plebeian, an injury ; — but did your birth, when it gave you the power, give you alia the right of doing it. You are born to wealth ; thank your ancef- tors for your good fortune, but do not think that it entitles you to do- mineer over him who was born to none. You are poflefled of a great natural genius, your brain has been
caft
( 3 )
caft in a better mould than that of your neighbour j thank God for your intellectual pre-eminence ; ufe your wifdom for your own benefit and the good of others •, but leave them to be judges of that good ; they may have no relifh for the good which your wifdom may point out; you can be no judge of rheir feelings, can have no right to com- pel them to be wife in your way, againft their will.
But this natural freedom from fubordination, and that is the equa- lity contended for, is fo clear that no more need be laid on the fub- jeft, and you yourfelf feem to admit it, when you afk, — *• but, fup- pofing they were all born equal, would this prove what is always in- tended
( 9 )
tended to be proved by it, that they ought always to continue fo?" — Intended ! by whom ? 1 never yet faw a writer on the fubjed who had any intention of the kind. You again miftake, I will not fay mifre- prefent, for that implies a principle of which I hope you are incapable 5 but you miftake the meaning of your opponents., and difplay your valour iq fighting a phantom of your own forming. Who has ever- laid that men, becaufe they were born equal, ought, were under an obligation, to continue equal ? Be- caufe we do not grant that any man has a natural right to rule over another, muft we of neceffity grant that he cannot have an adventitious one? You have no right to rule me, C nor
nor have I any right to rule you ; we are at this inftant in a flate of equality with refpect to each other, the next may introduce a ftate of fubordination 3 for my own advan- tage I make an agreement with you, for a fum of money, or other con- fideration, I give you a right to difpofe of my time and labour ; I am no longer your equal, but it was my own -voluntary act which made me your inferior. Men are born equal ; for their own advan- tage, for the fake of enjoying peace and protection, they elect a magif- trate; they are no longer his equals, but it was their own volun- tary act \vhich made them his in- feriors j and they ought, (if that be the meaning of your ought) they
ought
ought take permitted to continue equal till they have conftituted to them- felves a fuperior. — You triumph- antly afk, " muft no man ajjume power over another becaufe they were born equal ?" I plainly tell you, no — he muft noti — if he does, he a/fames what he has no right to : God has not given him the right, man cannot give it him ; nor can he acquire it by any other means than the concefiion of him over whom it is to be exerted. This concefiion is the only firm and true principle of civil fubordina- tion; it will laft, and bow down a man's neck to the voluntary yoke of legal government, when the ftrug- gles to fhake off an involuntary bondage, fhall burft into a thoufand C 2 pieces
pieces the chains of defpotifrru Thus may you fee that this mighty argument, drawn from the equality of mankind, by which all powers and principalities are eftablifhad on their fureft bafes, is entirely true, and cannot be too often or too fo- lemnly introduced, efpecially when " many abfurd principles concerning government and flavery, have of late been dljjemlnated 'with mufual in- duftry"
That all men are born free — is the fecond proportion which of- fends you. I think the proof of this is included in that of the for- mer: For, if all men are born equal to each other, with refpect to their want of power over each other, they certainly muft be equally free :
where
C '3 )
»vhere there is no natural fubordi- nation, there can be no natural go- vernment, for government of every kind implies fubordination, and where there is no natural govern- ment there is natural freedom. In your endeavours to refute this pro- pofition, you have not, indeed, tri- fled with Sir Robert Filmer, by at- tempting to prove that men are not born naturally free, from children being born in fubjection to their parents, or in deriving royal defpo- tic authority from the paternal au- thority of Adam, you have not plagued your readers with this fo- lemn nonfenfe; but you certainly do trifle with their patience, in pro- ving the little claim man can have to freedom, from his being confined
in
( 14 )
in the wombxfwathed by his nurfe> flogged by his fchoolmafter, or hanged by his magiftrate. All this is humour, but it is not argument : it is wit, but without judgment : I cannot employ my time in refuting it. — You grow ferious, and repre- fent a factious and turbulent difpofi- tion, and an impatience of comroul, as difqualifying a man from being a member of a future celeftial com- munity.— So, then, the affair is quite over with us, both here and hereafter : The Tories only are to go to heaven : they have long fhut the door of St. James in the face of the Whigs, and they think that St. Peter will be their porter, and per- form the fame fervice for them in an higher place. Sad reafoning
this!
( 15 )
this! Is every man who raifes a tu- mult, to tumble from his throne a tyrant oran ufurper unfit for heaven? Is every man who groans when he is opprefTed, or kicks when he is unjuftly goaded, turbulent and un- fit for heaven ? Is an impatience of controul, which may neither be di- rected by wifdom, nor prompted by goodnefs, nor founded in juftice, to be profcribed as unfit for the communion of the blefled ? On this fuppofition what mud become of St.Paul and the apoftles, and all the Chriftian martyrs ? they were men of turbulent difpofitions, for they turned the world upfide down ! Be a little charitable, I befeech you, and do not fo haftily confign to the company of the devil and his an- gels,
( 16 )
gels, thofe factious men, lords fpi- ritual and temporal, knights and citizens, gentlemen and yeomen, who were impatient of tke controul of James the Second, and who by that very impatience have featcd the Houfe of Hanover on the throne of Great-Britain.
That all government is derived from the people — is the third propofition, which you take upon you to pronounce to be entirely falfc. I do not fee that you bring any proof of what you afiert, or refer us to any other origin of go- vernment. All government, you fay, is power, with which fome are intrufted to controul the actions of others. — Agreed — but tell us by whom they are intrufted with this .2 power,
po\ver. Truft is a relative term •, it implies at lead two perfons, him who truftsj as well as him who is trufted ; the governors you fay are the perfons intruded, but you do not mention the perfons who in- truft. We fay, the people are the perfons who intruft ; this you de- ny, but you do not fubftitute any other perfon in the place of the peo- ple. Perhaps, in your language, the governors ajfumed this truft, that is, they took it by force or by fraud ; had they affumed your horfe or your coat in the fame way, I verily believe you would have faid> they ought to have been hanged for their aflumption ; and yet, an af- fumption of power over your li- berty and life is of more confe- D quence
quence to your felicity and well- being, than a thoufand coats or horfes. Perhaps they afTumed it by divine appointment ; let them pro- duce their title to it, and ihew us, that God has conveyed by a deed of truft the lives and for- tunes of millions of his creatures to be difpofed of by the arbitrary wills of any of the fons of Adam : It is lucky for the defenders of this doc- trine, that Sir Robert Filmed s Patri- arcba has not yet been thrown into the flames by the common hang- man. God, we acknowledge it with thankfulnefs and humility, has an unlimited right over us ; he has formed us with capacities for hap- pinefs which cannot be fully at- tained without fociety, and fociety 4 can-
( '9 )
cannot fubfift without fome being intrufted with power to controul the actions of others ; in this way government, as well as every other conftitudon of nature, may be truly faid to be the appointment of God ; but what has this to do with the form of any particular government, with the degree of truft, the extent of the controul neceffary for the exiftence of government ? thele we know are infinitely various in different coun- tries ; and we contend, that in all jujl governments, the people have delegated to their governors the par- ticular degree of truft with which they are inverted, have limited the extent of the controul to which they are to be fubjeded. This truth for- ces itfelf upon your own mind, its D 2 power
C 20 )
power is great, you cannot refift it ; you acknowledge in its full extent all that the \varmefl of your oppo- nents ever contended for •, and you acknowledge it in the very place •where you are reafoning againft it. In one page you fay, that " the in- ference ufually drawn from this propofition (that all government is derived from the people) is utterly falfe ; which is, that, becaufe all government is derived from the people, the people have a right to refume it, and adminifter it them- felves whenever they pleafe." In the oppofite page you acknowledge* *' that the people in every country have a right to refift manifeft grie- vances and oppreffions, to change their governors, and even their con-
ftitu-
( 21 )
flitution, on great and extraordinary occafions." Now what does this amount to, but a right to refume and adminifter the government as they lliall fee fit, and whenever they are pleafed to think the occafion great and extraordinary ? for if they are pleafed to think it fo, it is fo in effect ; their thinking it fo does not make it fo, but the confluence '; e the &rr.e as if it was fo ; the governed may be in an error in: thinking any particular occafion great and extraordinary, or the go- vernors may be in an error in think- ing it not fo ; but there being no judge on earth to decide which is in the right, the adlions of bofh fides muft be the fame as if both were in the right, Thus you ao know-
( 22 )
knowledge, with the moft zealous Lockian amongft us, the abftract right of the people ; as to the prac- ticability of exercifing it, that is quite another queftion, in the deci- fion of which a great many circum- ftances may arife, which cannot be forefeen in fpeculation or generally eftimated •, it was exercifed at the Revolution ; and we truft that there will never, in this country, be occa- fion to exercife it again ; for we hope, arid are perfuaded, that the wifdom of the Houfe of Hanover will keep at an awful diftance from the throne, men profeffing princi- ples which have levelled with the duft the Houfe of Steuart.
You are very fevere upon thofe, whom you are pleafed to call our mo- dem
( 23 )
dern demagogues, becaufe they have not explained to your fatisfa&ion \vhat they mean by the terms " the people." You reprefent them, inju- rioufly enough, as excluding from that denomination the peers of the realm, and the reprefentatives of the people, the paftors of the church, and the fages of the law, the ma- giftrates, the land-holders, the ftock- holders, and the merchants, as ex- pecting public fpirit from the gar- rets of Grub-ftreet, reformation from the purlieus of St. Giles, a So- lon from the tin-mines of Cornwall, and a Lycurgus from the coal-pits of Newcaftle. This is mere decla- mation, if not fomething worfe, defamation. I never heard, nor, I will take upon me to fay, did you
ever
«ver hear any one of the demagogues you fpeak of, annexing to the terms " the people," the fenfe you have here reprefented them as annexing. Your imagination has in this, as in other parts of your Difquifition, run away with your good fenfe ; your defcription is lively, but it is not juft ; you may have fupported your point, but you will have ruined^ with thinking men, the opinion they might have been difyofed to entertain of your candour. But that you may not be at a lofs to know what your modern demagogues un- ccrftand by the people; I will tell you what the Prince of Orange un- cierftood by them, for that, I take it, is the 1'cnfe in which they un- derftar.d the terms, and in which
every
every man of fenfe muft under- Hand them. The Prince explains his fentiment, in the 25th para- graph of his declaration, wherein lie invites and requires all perfons whatfcever, (here is no exclufion even of tinners and colliers) all the peers of the realm, both fpi- ritual and temporal all lords, lieu- tenants, deputy-lieutenants, and all gentlemen, citizens, and other com- mons of all ranks, to come and aflift him in the execution of his defign, to re-eftablifh the conftitution of the Englifh government.
We come to the fourth propofi- tion, that all government is a corn- pad between the governors and the governed. — You would have better exprefled our meaning had E you
( 26 )
you put into your proportion one little word more, and inftead of all government, faid, all juft go- vernment j for none of us are fo ignorant as not to know the effects of conqueft and violence, of cir- cumvention and fraud, in the infringement or fufcverfion of na- tural rights.
You have the modefty to (tile all that has been written on this fu'bjecl:, by men of the moft com- prehenfive intellects, and the deep- eft penetration, " a ridiculous fc- //0#, intended only to fubvert all government, and let mankind loofe to prey upon each other." I do not believe that any one of thofe, in any age or country, who have embraced the opinion in queftion,
ever
( 27 )
ever entertained the lead particle of that intention which you have, with fo much liberality, and fo lit- tle delicacy, attributed to them alt. I can certainly, however, anfwer for one of the chief fupporters of this doctrine, that he had no inten- tion to fubvert government. Hear his own words when he is fpeak- ing of the papers which contained the beginning and end of hisTrea- tife of Government -, " Thefe (pa- pers) which remain, I hope, are fufficient to eftablijh the throne of our great reftorer, our prefent king William \ to make good his title in the confent of the people ; which, being the only one of all lawful governments, he has more fully and clearly than any prince in E ^ Chriften-
Chriftendom." I have fo great an opinion of Mr. Locke's fincerity, that I cannot believe he fpeaks of a ridiculous fiflion^ when he derives the title of king William to the throne, from the confent of the people, and prefers it to that of every other prince in Chriftendom. I cannot believe that he intended tofufoert all government, becaufe he fays, he hoped not to fubverr, but to isftablijh the throne of our great reftorer. lr would be eafy to purfue this matter, and to (hew that all the other diftinguifhed pa- trons of a focial compact had as little intention to let mankind loofe to prey upon each other as Mr. Locke had.
You
You call this compact a fiction; an hundred inftances might be produced of its reality, both in the hiftory of our own and other countries, and the coronation-oath dill fubfifts as a proof of it. But meaning to make this Anfwer as fhort as poffible, I will not take rip your time on this head, bun refer you to the eighth chapter of the fecond book of Mr. Locke's Treadle on Government ; and to a little book which has either never fallen into your hands, or you have forgotten its contents, and. from the perufal of which, you will fee abundant reafon to retract your hafty aflerdon, that a compact be- tween the people and their rulers h a ridiculous fiction. This book
is
is intttled, The Judgment of whole Kingdoms and Nations, concern- ing the Rights, Power, and Pre- rogative of Kings, and the Rights, Privileges, and Properties of the People. This book is faid to be the work of I ord Somers ; but whether it be fo or not, I do not enquire; certain I am, that the learning and good reafoning cori.- fained in it would have done ho- nour to him, or any other man.
In treating this fourth propofi- tion, you feem not to comprehend its meaning; it is painful to me to make this remark; — on any ether fubjedt you would have reafoned better-, but this is a fubjeft which requires deep and ferious reflec- tion, more than a brilliancy of
fancy
( 3' )
fancy or exprefiion. " Compact, you fay, is repugnant to the very nature of government, whole ef~ fence is compulfion." The efience of government, after it is eftabiijhed, is compulfion ; but the eflence of the efiablifhm~nt of government is compact, tacit, or exprefs. Thefe are quite different things ; you will prefently underftand the diftinc- tion. Suppofe an hundred com- mon failors to be iliipwrecked upon an ifland inhabited by favages, it is evident that there is no manner of government amongit tliele men ; fome may be taller, or ftronger, or younger, or wifer, than the refl, but ftill they arc all equal to each other with refpect to fubordina- tion; no one has any authority to regulate
( 3* )
regulate the actions of his fellow. For mutual prefervation they will ibon wilh to withdraw themfelves from this ftate of equality, and, in the ftricteft fenfe of the word, anarchy; they will elect a leader -, the wifeft probably and the boldeft man amongft them, will, by thtir common fuffrage, be made their governor; and, in order that this governor may be of ufe to them, they will promife to obey him whilft he acts for the common good. Now begins cpmpulfion, but it is cornpulfion arifmg from confent and compact; it is in its exiftence Jubjequent to the efta- blifnment of that government of which it conftitutes the cfTence.
3 YOU
( 33 )
You fay, by way of invalidating the notion of compact, that " if every man had a right to furrender his independence on bargain, he mud have an equal right to retain it." I admit that he has that right, but it is a right which his intereft will not fuffer him to retain for any length of time ; or if he does retain it, it mufl be at his own peril. Suppofe one of our hundred failors Ihould refufe to elect any leader, that one is in a date of na- tural independence with refpe<5t to all the reft •, the leader has no au- thority over him; he is at liberty to protect himfelf, by his own ilrength, from the attacks of fa- vages and wild beads ; but a very few days experience would con- F vince
r 34 >
vince~ him, that his protection would be better fecured by an hundred arms than by one; he would foon be induced to become a member of that community into which the reft had entered ; he would be induced to it, but he ought not to be compelled to it.
You feem to apprehend that robberies, and murders, rapine and bloodfhed, would univerfally take •place if this right of retaining their independence belonged to man- kind-, this is an 'idle fear. Men would not retain it, becaufe it \vould be for their intereft to give ' it tip; they would not retain if, becaufe, inftead of their not being amenable to any human tribunal for their enormities, as you afferc,
they
( 35 )
they would be anfwerable for them to every man they met. Every man would have a right to kill a murderer, to apprehend a robber, and to inflidt an adequate punifh- ment upon every other violator of the law of nature. This right which, in the words of Mr. Locke, " every man hath to punifli the offender, and to be the execu- tioner of the law of nature," r&- moves at once all the abfurdities you think your opponents have fallen into; and had you read often, and thoroughly digefted, the writings of that great man, who Hands unmoved as a rock •of adamant amid the frothy ebul- Jitions of cenfure which have of been levelled at his principles, F 2 you
( 36 )
you would neither have been fo free in the ufe of fuch unbecom- ing terms, as abfurdities, ridicu- lous fictions, extravagant princi- ples, fallacious proportions, &c. nor have thereby fet an example which the writer of this Letter dif- dains to imitate, though you have afforded him abundant opportunity of doing it with fuccefs.
That no government ought to fubfift any longer than it continues to be of equal advantage to the governed as to the governors. — This is the lad propofition which has become the object of your ani- madverfion •, it is not fo clearly flated as the preceding ones ; nor does your attempt to refute it, render ic more intelligible; it
makes
( 37 )
makes a diftinction where there- ought to be no difference; it in- timates that the advantage of a governor may be different from that of the governed, whereas they ought always to be the fame •, but ihould the cafe happen to be other- wife, who can have any hefitation in faying, that the advantage of the governor will be as light as air, when weighed againfl that of the people j the fa/us populi is, and ought to be, the fupreme law. Confider the advantage which each of the contracting parties expects to enjoy. The people look for the protection of their perfons and pro- perties, not only from foreign and domeftic violence, but from the • encroachments of the prince him-
felf.
( ai )
feif. The prince expefts pre-emi- nence j it a may be a painful pre- eminence, but he deems it defire- able, and accepts it. Put the pre- eminence of the prince, and the means of fuftaining it, to become incompatible with the protection of the people and the common fafety, and fhew us, if you can, the nature of the chain which, in fuch a circumftance, will bind the people to their prince ; it will be a chain unjuftly formed, by the will of one, to gall the necks of millions. The Handing armies of France, or Spain, or Rufiia, or Pruflia, or Germany, or Turkey, may rivet it in their refpeftive countries, but in all of them (for all thefe kinds of government. are
the
C 39 )
the offsprings of force or fraud) according to your own moft juft, candid, and liberal conceffion, cc the people have an equal right to pre- ferve or regain their liberty when- ever they are able." Whofe prin- ciples now, think you, lay a foun- dation for fedition, treafon, tumulr*, rebellion, and fubverfion of govern- ment? Thofe of the man who aflerts, that " all the governments - we fee (no exception, you per- ceive, for our own) are the off- fprings of force or fraud, of acci- dent, and the circumftances of the times, and muft perpetually change with thofe circumftances; that in all of them, the people have an equal right to preferve or regain their liberty whenever they are
able."
C 40 )
able;" or thofe of him who con- tends, that the Houfe of Hanover reigns here by the content of the people, ' and that whilft it main- tains the conditions on which it was exalted to the throne invio- late, the compact ought to be per- petual.
You have not well explained the nature of the advantage which go- vernors and the governed derive from the instituted relation which they bear to each other j it does not confift in the pofleffing, or not pofleffmg, wealth and power. The pooreft man has fome property ; he has a perfon at lead which he wifhes to protect from violence. It is the fecurity of this little pro- perty, the protection of limb and
life
,( 4« )
life from pain and extinction, which "conftitute the advantage he hopes to obtain by entering into fociety ; he knows that wealth either def- cends from anceftry, is flung into his lap by Fortune, or is to be ac- quired by induftry; he expects that government will fecurc to him the poflefiion of what he can ho- neftly get, but'he is1 not wild enough to expect that it will put him in pofifefiion of what docs not belong to him. The principal advantage which the governor derives from his ftatibn, is the confcioufnefs of difcharging his high trufl with fide- lity. His power of executing, oV even of ordaining laws, of making war or peace, of conferring ho* nours or -rewarding merit; thefc G fend
( 4*')
and other apdendages of his high office, can be of no fort of advan- tage to him as an individual, ex- cept fo far as they are exerted in perfect coincidence with the ad- vantage of the community, as they enable him to fulfil the greateft of all human duties, the duty of the fupreme magi (Irate to the peo- ple, over whom he prefides. ' Jn the difcuffion of this lafl queftion I really expected, for the fubject na- turally led to it, that you would have taken a larger field, that you would have entered upon our Irifh or American difputes, and flbewn that it was the duty of both thefe people to have fufFered our govern- ment over them to fubfift, when the advantages refuking to them
the
( 43 )
rhe governed, and to us the gover- nors, were no longer equal, or, which may be as true, were thought to be no longer equal : I expected that: you would have cleared up a doubt which has occupied the minds of our beft politicians, — whether men have a natural right, a civil right is nothing to the pur- pofe, to withdraw themfelves from any civil community, when they are of opinion they can better fe- cure to themfelves the advantages of civil fociety elfewhere. Had you taken fuch a route as this, you might probably have bewildered me in brakes and thickets; I might have loft both fight and fcent of you ; but as you. have contented yo-urfelf wich running on in the G 2. beaten.
C 44 )
beaten track j there is no need why upon this occafion j I fhould en- tangle myfelf in thorns and briers which lie out of my way.
Having done with the propofi- tions, you come to general obfer- vations, and deicend, I fear, from rpafoning to railing, for what other name will the world give to the following extract, — " In fhort, all thefe wild and extravagant prin- ciples are the production of igno- rance or ambition, .invented and propagated, either by thofe who arc unacquainted with human nature and human government, or thofe who endeavour to render it imprac- ticable in the hands of others, that it may fall into their own." — I can hardly forbear the ufe of fome
of 4
( 45 )
of your appellations. — ConfiderT Sir, what you have faid -, — were ill thofe Uluftrious men, who by the moft consummate virtue, and at the hazard of every thing that was dear to them, accomplished the Revolution, ignorant or ambitious ? Are the lords and commons of the p relent times, their number is not fittall, who refolutely maintain thofe principles, ignorant or ambitious ? Is there not one grain of public virtue, one ipark of pure patriot- •ifm amongft them? Are they diftin- guifhed by nothing but ignorance or ambition? Do you think that they are not as well acquainted with human nature and human go- vernment as youril-lf? Muft every man be a fool or a knave, ignorant
o*
( 46 >
of mankind, or defirous of rendering government impra<5ticable in the hands of others, that ft may fall into his own, who cannot fubfcribe to the political creed of the author ofDifquifitionson ieveral Subjects ? But you feem to me to entertain a bad opinion of human kind] this ap- pears in many parts of your Difqui- fiiion, but in none more remarkably than where you fay you are perfua- ded, that if an angel were fent from heaven, vefted with irrefiftible power to govern any country upon earth, and was to execute his corn- mi flion with the utmoft degree of wifdom, juftice, and benevolence, his dominions would very foon be deferted by mod of the inhabi- tants i who WQuld rather choofe to
fuffcr
( 47 )
furTer mutual injuries and oppref- fions, however grievous, under any government in which they them- felves had a fhare, than to be com- pelled to be virtuous and happy by any fuperior authority whatever.'* What, if I Ihould (imply fay, that compulfion and happinefs could not «xift together, there would be an end of your fine period ; and yet it is true, you may as foon compel a man not to feel compulfion, as to be happy when he is compelled to be fo. But the whole obfervation is without foundation j I conceive, that in the government you de- fcribe there would not be a (ingle murmur, there would be no com- pelling men to be virtuous, they would be virtuous out of choice ;
their
( 48 )
their virtue would confift in a. per- fect obedience to this angel, and they could have no temptation to be difobcdient. The angel, on your fuppofuion, would have the utmoft wifdom to provide for the happinefs of each individual, the utmofl benevolence to induce him to make this proviiion, and irre- fiftible power to effect his purpofe. Shew me in all the world a prince with the perfections of this angel, and I will fliew you a people hap- py, content, grateful, and obedient, even to a degree beyond the paffive conceptions of the moll determined Tory.
I have not wilfully rhifreprefented any thing you have faid, or de- fignediy treated .you with difref-
( 49 )
pect; I have, therefore, no apolo- gies to make to you on that fcore ; but I ought to beg your pardon for my prefumption on another. — I have indulged a fond hope, that by printing this Brochure in the manner I have done, it may have forne chance of arrefting the cu- riofity of pofteriry, by its exigence being continued to it under the covering and protection of your book ; that the feeble antidote it contains may reftore the conftitu- tion of fome Whig fuccumbing under the virulence of your poi- fon, when this mortal coil fhall be no more, and the authors of the poifon and its antidote fhall in peace.
London, March 16, 1784^ H
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