From utility then we may denominate a principle, that may ſerve to preſide over and govern, as it were, ſuch arrangement as ſhall be made of the ſeveral inſtitutions or combinations of inſtitutions that compoſe the matter of this ſcience: and it is this principle, that by putting its ſtamp upon the ſeveral names given to thoſe combinations, can alone render ſatisfactory and clear any arrangement that can be made of them.
Governed in this mannner by a principle that is recognized by all men, the ſame arrangement that would ſerve for the juriſprudence of any one country, would ſerve with little variation for that of any other.
Yet more. The miſchievouſneſs of a bad Law would be detected, at leaſt the utility of it would be rendered ſuſpicious, by the difficulty of finding a place for it in ſuch an arrangement: while, on the other hand, a technical arrangement is a ſink that with equal facility will ſwallow any garbage that is thrown into it. 5 That That this advantage may be poſſeſſed by a nn. ral arrangement, is not difficult to conceive. Inſti- rural ar- 1 « rangement. tutions would be characterized by it in the only 5 univerſal way in which they can be characterized; by the nature of the ſeveral modes of conduct which, by prohibiting, they conſtitute offences [x].
Theſe offences would be collected into claſſes denominated by the various modes of their diver- gency from the common end; that is, as we have ſaid, by their various forms and degrees of miſchie- wouſneſs in a word, by thoſe properties which are reaſins for their being made offences and whether any Wch mode of conduct poſſeſſes any ſuch pro- perty is a queſtion of experienceſ[y]. Now, a bad Law is that which prohibits a mode of conduct that is not miſchievous [z]. Thus would it be found impracticable to place the mode of conduct prohibited by a bad law under any denomination of x] Offences, the reader will remember, may as well be offences of omiſſion, as of commiſſion. I would avoid the embarraſſment of making ſeparate mention of ſuch Laws as exert themſelves in commanding. *Tis on this account I uſe the phraſe ** mode of conduct, which includes mien or forbearances, as well as acts, [o] See note [ee].
Iz] See note [x].
8 To A DO 1 Alvin PREFACE.
5 — offence, without aſſerting ſuch a matter of fact as is Idea of a na-; |;; tural ar- contradicted by experience. Thus cultivated, in en. ſhort, the ſoil of Juriſprudence would be found to | repel in a manner every evil inſtitution; like that country which refuſes, we are told, to harbour any thing venomous in its boſom. | The /ynop/is of ſuch an arrangement would at once be a compendium of expo/itory and of cenſorial Jutiſ- prudence: nor would it ſerve more effectually to in- ſtruct the /ubjed, than it would to juſtify or re- prove the Zegi/lator.
Such a ſynopſis, in ſhort, would be at once a map, and that an univerſal one, of Juriſprudence a3 it is, and a ſlight but comprehenſive ſketch of what it ought to be. For, the reaſons of the ſeveral inſtie — — — 5 ————— —- Re. moo on meh oonnkng one > api SS on OS pe nf ns en hone Sen ey ns tn tutions comprized under it would ſtand expreſſed, [ we ſee, and that uniformly (as in our Author's ſy- nopſis they do in ſcattered inſtances) by the names given to the ſeveral claſſes under which thoſe in- 'F ſtitutions are comprized. And what reaſons? Not ? | technical reaſons, ſuch as none but a Lawyer gives, nor any but a Lawyer would put up with [aa]; but reaſons, Laa] Technical reaſons: ſo called from the Greek re X, which fignifies an art, ſcience, or pro- feſſion.
Utility „ reaſons ſuch as were they in themſelves what they might and ought to be, and expreſſed too in the manner they might and ought to be, any man might ſee the force of as well as he.
Nor in this is there any thing that need ſur- prize us. The conſequences of any Law, or of any act which is made the object of a Law, the only conſequences that men are at all intereſted in, what are they but pain and pleaſure By ſome ſuch words then as pain and pleaſure, they may be expreſſed: and pain and pleaſure at leaſt, are words which a man has.no need, we may hope, to go to a Utility is that ſtandard to which men in general, (except in here and there an inſtance where they are deterred by prejudices of the religious claſs, or hur- 3 ned- away by the force of what is called /entiment or = feeling.) Utility, as we have ſaid, is the ſtandard to which they refer a Law or inſtitution in judging of its title to approbation or diſapprobation. Men of Law, corrupted by intereſts, or ſeduced by illuſions, which it is not here our buſineſs to diſplay, have deviated from it much more frequently, and with much leſs reſerve. Hence it is that ſuch reaſons as paſs with Lawyers, and with no one elſe, have got the name of technical reaſons; reaſons peculiar to the art, peculiar to the profeſſion. | 4 Lawyer SSV ͥ ͤ VVG r ny xlix Idea of a na- tural ar- rangement, * .
—.
F FAC EE, Lawyer to know the meaning of [55]. In the ſynopſis then of that ſort of arranzement which alone deſerves the name of a natural one, terms ſuch as theſe, terms which if they can be ſaid to be- long to any ſcience, belong rather to Ethics than to Juriſprudence, even than to univerſal Juriſprudence, will engroſs the m ſt commanding ſtations, What then is to be done with thoſe names of claſſes that are purely technical?—With offences, for example, againſt prerogative, with miſpriſions contempts, felonies, premunires [cc]? What relation is it that theſe mark out between the Laws that concern the ſorts of acts they are reſpectively put to ſignify, and that common end we have been ſpeaking of? Not any. In a natural arrangement what then would become of them? They would either be ba- — [5] The reaſon of a Law, in ſhort, is no other than the good produced by the mode of conduct which it en- joins, or (which comes to the ſame thing) the 1c, This 27/chief or this good, if they be real, cannot but ſhew themſelves ſomewhere or other in the ſhape of pain or pleaſure, | [cc] See in the Synoptical Table prefixed to ot Author's Analy/s, the laſt page comprehending Book IV.
niſhes niſhed at once to the region of quiddities and ſub- ikke Hs hg; Idea of a na- ftantial farms; or if, and in deference to attachments rural arrangement.
too inveterate to be all at once diſſolved, they were Rill to be indulged a place, they would be ſtationed in the corners and bye-places of the Synopſis: ſta- tioned, not as now to give light, but to receive its But more of this, perhaps, at ſome future time.
To. return to our Author. Embarraſſed, as a man muſt needs be, by this blind and intractable nomenclature, he will be found, I conceive, to have done as much as could reaſonably be expected of a writer ſo circumſtanced; and more and better than was ever done before by any one, In one part, particularly, of his Synopſis &, ſeve- Merits of the ral fragments of a ſort of method which is, or at — leaſt comes near to, what may be termed a natural one [dd], are actually to be found. We there read of corporal injuries; of“ offences againſt peace; againſt. health; e & perſonal ſecurity [ee]; liberty: liberty: lt is that which comprizes his IVth Book, in- titled PupL1c WRoxcs. [dd] Fragmenta methodi naturalis.—LIx NI Phil. Bot. Tit. Sy/temata, par. 77. lee] This title affords a pertinent inſtance to exem- Plify the uſe that a natural arrangement may be of in d 2 repelling 'Þ 1 4 Merits of the work re- ſumed.
R E E. « liberty?“ property: light is let in, though irregularly, at various places. In an unequal imitation of this Synopſis that has lately been performed upon what is called the Civil! Law, all is technical. All, in ſhort, is darkneſs.
Scarce a ſyllable by which a man would be led to ſuſpect, that the affair in hand were an affair that happineſs or unhappineſs was at all concerned in IF]..
— ES Ty of 9 repelling an incompetent inſtitution, What I mean is the ſort of filthineſs that is termed unatural. This our Author has ranked in his claſs of Ofznces againſt cc perſenal ſecurity,” and, in a ſubdiviſion of it, intitled % Corporal Injuries.” In ſo doing, then, Le has aſſerted a fat: he has aſſerted that the offence in queſiidn I$ an offence againſt perſonal ſecurity; is a corporal in- jury; is, in ſhort, productive of unhappineſs in hat way. Now this is what, in the caſe where the act is com- mitted Ey conſent, is manifeſtly not true. Volenti non fit injuria. If then the Law againſt the offence in queſ- tion had no other title to a place in the ſyſtem than what was founded on this fad, it is plain it would have none. It would be a bad Law altogether. The miſchief the offence is of to the community in this caſe is in truth of quite another nature, and would come under quite another claſs, When «gainj# conſent, there indeed it does belong really to this claſs: but then it would come under another name. It would come under that of Rape. | | [7] I think it is Selden, ſomewhere in his Ta#- 7 tall, F R 1 li To return, once more, to our Author's Com- Merits of the mentaries. Noc even in a cenſorial view would I be work re- ,:. ſumed. underſtood to deem them altogether without merit, For the inſtitutions commented on, where they are capable of good reaſons, good reaſons are every / now and then given: in which way, fo far as it goes, one-half of the Cenſor's taſk is well accom- pliſh2d. Nor is the dark fide of the picture left ab- ſolutely untouched. Under the head of Trial « by Jury,” are ſome very juſt and intereſting re- marks/ on the yet-remaining imperfections of that * 8 ung ns mode mode talk, that ſpeaks of a whimſical notion he had hit upon when a fchool boy, that with regard to Cz/ar and Tuſtin, and thoſe other perſonages of antiquity that gave him ſo much trouble, there was not a ſyllable of truth in any thing they Wi id, nor in fact were there ever really any ſuch perſons; but that the whole affair was a contrivance of parents to find employment for their chiidren, Much the ſame fort of notion is that which theſe technical arrangements are calculated to 2.
ve us of Juriſprudence: which in them ſtands re pre- A rather as a game at Crambo for Lawyers to whet their wits at, than as that Science which holds in her hand che happineſs of nations.
b Let us, however, do no man wrong. Where the ſucceſs has been worſe, the Ciſiculty was greater. That d 3 deteſtable j 2 . AAA wt 1 Ie ere bet pf ed 64 liv — Merits of the work reſumed.
A "DR. E ET SE mode of trial“: and under that of © Aſſuranceg „ by matter of Record,” on the lying and extortious jargon of Recoveries t. So little, however, are theſe particular remarks of a piece with the general diſpoſition, that ſhews itſelf ſo ftrongly throughout the work, indeed ſo plainly adverſe to the general maxims that we have ſeen, that I can ſcarce bring myſelf to attribute them to our Au— thor, Not only diſorder is announced by them, but remedies, well-imagined remedies, are pointed out. One would think ſome Angel had been fowing wheat among our Author's tares | 2g]. With deteſtable chaos of inſtitutions which the Analyſt laſt- mentioned had to do with, is ſtill more embaraſſed with a technical nomenclature than our own.
[22] The difference between a generous and deter- mined affection, and an occaſional, and as it were forced contribution, to the cauſe of reformation, may be ſeen, I think, in theſe Commentaries, compared with another celebrated work on the ſubject of our Juriſprudence. Mr, Barrington, whoſe agree- able Miſcellany has done fo much towards opening men's eyes upon this ſubje&; Mr, Barrington, like an aftive General in the ſervice of the Public, ſtorms the ſtrong- holde R C E. ie With regard to this Eſſay itſelf, I have not much PR 144 to ſay, The principal and profeſſed purpoſe of it which the preſent Eſſay has been CON» Author. The buſineſs of it is therefore rather to ducted.
is, to expoſe the errors and inſufficiencies of our overthrow than to ſet up; which latter taſk can ſel- dom be performed to any great advantage where the former is the principal one.
To guard againſt the danger of miſrepreſentation, and to make ſure of doing our Author no injuſtice, his own words are given all along: and, as ſcarce any ſentence 1s left unnoticed, the whole comment wears the form of what is called 1 one. ˖ Wich regard to a diſcourſe that is ſimply inſtitutional, and in which the writer builds upon a plan of his own, a great part of the ſatisfaction it can be made to afford depends upan the order and con- nection that are eſtabliſhed between the ſeveral parts of it. In a comment upon the work of another, no ; Frong-holds of chicane, whereſoever they preſent ' themſelves, and particularly fictions, without reſerve. Our Author, like an artful partizan in the ſervice of the profeſſion, ſacrifices a few, as if it were to ſave the wm j Deplorable, indeed, would have been the ſtudent's chance for ſalutary inſtruction, did not Mr. Barrington's work in ſo many inſtances, furniſh the antidote to our Author's poiſons, 5 | ſuch * 5 | ſuch * 9 n reg — * tvi Manner in which the preſent Eſſay has been conducted.
PRE TAC E, ſuch connection, or at leaſt no ſuch order, can be eſtabliſhed commodiouſly, if at all. The order of the comment is preſcribed by the order, perhaps the diſorder, of the text.
The chief employment of this Eſſay, as we have faid, has neceſſarily been to overthrow. In the lite, therefore, which has been done by it in the way of ſetting np, my view has been not ſo much to think for the Reader, as to put him upon thinking for himſelf. This I flatter myſelf with having done on ſeveral intereſting topics; and this is all that at preſent I propoſe. - Among the few poſitions of my own which [I have found occaſion td, Wance, ſome I obſerve which promiſe to be far from popular. Theſe it is likely may give rife to very warm objections: ob- jections which in themſelves I do not wonder at, and which in their motive I cannot but approve. The people are a ſet of maſters whom it is not in a man's power in every inſtance fully to pleaſe, and at the ſame time faithfully to ſerve, He that is re- ſolved to perſevere without deviation in the line of truth and utility, muſt have learnt to prefer the {il whiſper of enduring approbation, to the ſhort-lived buſtle of tumultuous applauſe.
Other paſſages too there may be, of which ſome farther explanation may perhaps not unreaſonably "= YE RE | Ivii be demanded. But to give theſe explanations, and : | Manner in to obviate thoſe objections, is a taſk which; if exe- which the preſent Eſſay has been contunity. Conſiſtency forbad our expatiating ſo far ducted.
cuted at all, muſt be referred to ſome other opporas to loſe ſight of our Author: ſince it was the line of his courſe that marked the boundaries of ours.
COMMENTARIES INTRODUCTION.
HE ſubject of this examination, IsTRoDuc- is a paſſage contained in that part. 5 of Sir W. BLACKSTONE 1 Diviſion of On the Laws of our Author's TION, 8 ENGLAND, which the Author has ſtiled Introduction. the INTRODUCTION.
This Introduction I | of his ſtands divided into four Sections. The fit contains his diſcourſe * On 3 * the STUDY of the Law.” . | entitled © Of the NATURE of Laws 77 general,“ contains his ſpeculations con- The Second, B | cerning — —— tne Pry, 4 Loh 4 #; : ZX 13 19 N FR e — noo conn Woeghnitng AD "Ee 7 . . n umme 88 n TED — ore edBcod — E Ä 2 IxrRODuc- TION.
II.
What part of it is here to be examined.
III. His defini- tion of Law Municipal.
4 FRAGMENT on GOVERNMENT.
cerning the various objects, real or imagi- _ nary, that are in uſe to be mentioned under the common name of Law. The 2hHrd, entitled Of the Laws ff ENGLAND,“ contains ſuch general obſervations, rela- tive to theſe laſt mentioned Laws, as ſeemed proper to be premiſed before he entered into the details of any parts of them in particular. In the fourth, en- titled, © Of the CouNTRIES ſubject to the «© Laws of ENGLAND,” is given a ſtate- ment of the different territorial extents. of different branches of thoſe Laws.
IT.
"Tis in the ſecond of theſe Sections, that we ſhall find the paſſage propoſed for ex- amination. It occupies in the edition! happen to have before me, which is the firſt: (and all the editions, I believe, are paged alike) the ſpace of ſever pages; from the 47th, to the 5 3d, incluſive. III.
After treating of Law in general,” of the Law of Nature, Law of Reve-* & ation, and © Law of Nations, branches of that imaginary whole, our = —- * Author INTRODUCTION. 3 Author comes at length to what he calls IxrRODUe- « Law municipal: that ſort of Law, to en. which men in their ordinary diſcourſe would give the name of Law without addition; the only ſort perhaps of them all (unleſs it be that of Revelgtion) to which the name can, with ſtrict propri- ety, be applied: in a word, that ſort which we fee made in each nation, to expreſs the will of that body in it which governs. On this ſubject of Law Muni- cipal he ſets out, as a man ought, with a definition of the phraſe itſelf; an import- ant and fundamental phraſe, which ſtood highly in need of a definition, and never ſo much as ſince our Author has. hned it. 1. = IV. IV.
This definition is uſhered in with no A digreſfon mall diſplay of accuracy. Firſt, it is die 1 given entire: it is then taken to pieces, e clauſe by clauſe; and every clauſe, by itſelf, juſtified and explained. In the very midſt of theſe explanations, in the very midſt of the definition, he makes a BY: ſudden n 1 rr D r A TI.
ITT. pn Sao in” 3 ABEL TRL E=0 N * wat + oe oats * 8 » Ab 4 A FRAGMENT on GOVERNMENT.
InTRopuc- ſudden ſtand. And now it bethinks him TION. that it is a good time to give a diſſerta- tion, or rather a bundle of diſſertations, upon various ſubjects On the manner in which Governments were eſtabliſhed=On the different forms they aſſume when they are eſtabliſhed—On the peculiar excel- lence of that form which is eſtabliſhed in this country—On the right, which he thinks it neceſſary to tell us, the Go- VERNMENT in every country has, of making Laws—On the duty of making Laws; which, he ſays, is alſo incum- bent on the Government.—In ſtating theſe two laſt heads, I give, as near as poſſible, his own words; thinking it premature to engage in diſcuſſions, and not daring to decide without diſcuſſion, on the 2 a a — v. This digref The digreſſion we are about to ex- ſion the ſub-::: | | 8 ject of the amine, is, as it happens, not at all in— _ volved with the body of the work from which it ſtarts. No mutual references or alluſions: no ſupports or illuſtrations communicated ere, Sa g INTRODUCTION.
communicated or received. It may be conſidered as one ſmall work inſerted into a large one; the containing and the contained, having ſcarce any other con- nection than what the operations of the preſs have given them. It is this diſ- connection that will enable us the better to beſtow on the latter a ſeparate exami- nation, without breaking in upon any thread of reaſoning, or any principle of Order. VI. | A general ſtatement of the topics touched upon in the digreſſion we are about to examine, has been given above. It will be found, I truſt, a faithful one. It will not be thought, however, much of a piece, perhaps, with the following, which our Author himſelf has given us. This,” (lays he &, meaning an explanation he had been giving of a part of the definition above ſpoken of) * will naturally lead .* us into a ſhort enquiry into the nature 3 InTRODUCe TION, VL Our Author's ſketch of the contents, — a n EE am: oats.
6 A FRAGMENT on GOVERNMENT, InTrRonuc- of ſociety and civil government [2]; TION.
Oe.
VII. Inadequate.
* and the natural inherent right that belongs to the ſovereignty of a ſtate, * wherever that ſovereignty be lodged, of making and enforcing Laws.”
VII. No very explicit mention here, we may obſerve, of the manner in which Go- vernments have been eſtabliſhed, or of the different forms they aſſume when eſtabliſhed: no very explicit intimation that theſe were among the topics to be diſcuſſed. None at all of the duty of Government to make Laws: none at all N ſa] To make ſure of doing our Author no injuſtice, and to ſhew what it is that he thought would“ na- „ turally lead us into” this “ enquiry,” it may be proper to give the paragraph containing the explanation above mentioned. It is as follows:“ But farther: © municipal Law is a rule of civil conduct, preſcribed « by the ſupreme power in a tate. For Legiſlature, „as was before cbſerved, is the greateſt act of ſuperi- * ority that can be exerciſed by one being-over another, «© Wherefore it is requiſite, to the very eſſence of a „ Law, that it be made”! (he might have added, 44 or at « leeft ſupported” ) ** by the ſupreme power. Sovereignty and Legiſlature are indeed convertible terms; one cannot ſubſiſt without the other,” 1. Comm. p. 46.
INTRODUCTION.
INTRODUCTION.
the four other topics we have mentioned, there is no one on which he has been near ſo copious as on this laſt, The right of Government to make Laws, that delicate and invidious topic, as we 7 of the Britiſh conſtitution; though, of InTRODUC- TION, ſhall find it when explained, is that which, for the moment, ſeems to have ſwallowed up almoſt the whole of his attention. f 5 VIII. | Be this as it may, the contents of the diſſertation before us, taken as I have ſtated them, will furniſh us with the matter of five chapters:—one, which I ſhall entitle © FORMATION of GoOvERN= © MENT —a ſecond, © FoRMs of Go- © YERNMENT —a third, BRITISH © ConNSTITUTION' —a fourth, RIGHT * of the SurREME PowER 7% make e Laws'—a fifth, DuTy of the Su- © PREME POWER fo make LAWS.”
Fat oo” NS Sd LT ett OR SEATS —_— 10 e rr 9 ron Lo Fo; — w oor he's * S8 5 8 ml = SE \ : SIT my oe n FF 8 FCC EA VIII.
Diviſion of the preſent eſſay.
Subject of the paſſage to be ex- amined in the preſent chapter.
A FRAGMENT ox GOVERNMENT.
CHAT TL FoRMATION of GOVERNMENT.
HE firſt object which our Author ſeems to have propoſed to himſelf in the diſſertation we are about to ex- amine, is to give us an idea of the manner in which Governments were formed.
This occupies the firſt paragraph, together with part of the ſecond: for the typographical diviſion does not ſeem to quadrate very exactly with the zutellectual.
II. The paſſige recited As the examination of this paſſage will unavoidably turn in great meaſure upon the words, it will be proper the reader ſhould have it under his eye. * The only true and natural founda- tions of fcrety,” (ſays our Author“ „% are the wants and the fears of indivi- & duals. Not that we can believe, with « ſome theoretical writers, that there Eper 2 Wh ce 60 66 ce 66 = cc.
60 66 6c cc cc cc cc cc ” c6 FoRMATION of GovkRNMENT.
ever was a time when there was no ſuch thing as ſociety; and that, from the impulſe of reaſon, and through a ſenſe of their wants and weakneſ- ſes, individuals met together in a large plain, entered into an original con- tract, and choſe the talleſt man pre- ſent to be their governor. This no- tion, of an actually exiſting uncon- nected /tate of nature, is too wild to be ſeriouſly admitted; and beſides, it is plainly contradictory to the reveal- ed accounts of the primitive origin of mankind, and their preſervation two thouſand years afterwards; both which were effected by the means of ſingle families. Theſe formed the firſt * ſocrety, among themſelves; which every wy cc 6 day extended its limits, and when it grew too large to ſubſiſt with conve- nience in that paſtoral ſtate, wherein the Patriarchs appear to have lived, it neceſſarily ſubdivided itſelf by various migrations into more. After- wards, as agriculture increaſed, which «© employs CIC r - LON on hed ea T3. 1 12 ms — y ele, ry Ie wy *.
— ” Led bs 2 IF. aj 2 2 nn ns is 2-7 - Haw — r rr — —— w EE" ATE ESD IT n:?
9 r OO PU AAA: EF Fn —— —— — A r ys e bo - el 4 2 3 one EE pn „ — cc A FRAGMENT on GOVERNMENT, employs and can maintain a much greater number of hands, migrations became leſs frequent; and various tribes, which had formerly ſeparated, re-united again; ſometimes by com- pulſion and conqueſt, ſometimes by ac- cident, and ſometimes perhaps by com- pact. But though Society had not its formal beginning from any convention of individuals, actuated by their wants and their fears; yet it is the /en/e of their weaknoſs and imperfection that keeps mankind together; that demon- ſtrates the neceſſity of this union; and that therefore 1s the ſolid and natural foundation, as well as the cement, of * foctety. And this is what we mean by cc «c *C cc 66 cc cc cc the original contract of ſociety; which, though perhaps in no inſtance it has ever been formally expreſſed at the firſt inſtitution of a ſtate, yet in nature and reaſon mult always be underſtood and implied, in the very act of aſſo- ciating. together: namely, that the whole ſhould protect all its parts, and e that FoRMATION of GOVERNMENT.
that every part ſhould pay obedi- « ence to the will of the whole; or, in « other words, that the community « ſhould guard the rights of each indi- « yidual member, and that (in return for « this protection) each individual ſhould « ſubmit to the laws of the commu- « nity; without which ſubmiſſion of all « it was impoſſible that protection could « be certainly extended to any.
« For when ſociety is once formed, « government reſults of courſe, as neceſ- % fary to preſerve and to keep that ſociety in order. Unleſs ſome ſuperior were % conſtituted, whoſe commands and de- « cifions all the members are bound to * obey, they would ſtill remain as in a ate of nature, without any judge upon * earth to define their ſeveral rights, and * redreſs their ſeveral wrongs.” — Thus far our Author.
III. When leading terms are made to chop and change their ſeveral ſignifications; ſometimes meaning one thing, ſometimes another, J 1 ff od III.
Confuſion among the leading terms of it.
another, at the upſhot perhaps nothing; and this in the compaſs of a paragraph; IV. © Society” mous {tO a is ridiculous: at the ſame time that there put ſynony- A FRAGMENT on GOVERNMENT.
one may judge what will be the complect- ion of the whole context. This, we ſhall ſee, is the caſe with the chief of thoſe we have been reading: for inſtance, with the words * Society,” —*< State of «« nature,” —*© original contract,” —not to tire the reader with any more. 0 * ciety,” in one place means the ſame thing as @ flate of nature” does: in another place it means the ſame as G. C vernment. Here, we are required to believe there never was ſuch a ſtate as a ftate of nature: there, we are given to underſtand there has been. In like man- ner with reſpect to an original contra we are given to underſtand that ſuch a thing never exiſted; that the notion of it is NO ſpeaking nor ſtirring without ſup- poſing that there was one. „ 17. Society means a flate of nature. For if by © a tate of nature a man means 8 2 FORMATION of GOVERNMENT.
means any thing, it is the ſtate, I take it, men are in or ſuppoſed to be in, before they are under government: the ſtate men quit when they enter into a ſtate of go- vernment; and in which were it not for government they would remain. But by the word. /ocrety” it is plain at one time that he means that ſtate. Firſt, accord- ing to him, comes Hciety; then after- wards comes government. « ſociety,” ſays our Author, is once « formed, government reſults of courſe; « as neceſſary to preſerve and keep that e fociety in order *. And again, immediately afterwards, — A ſtate in which te a ſuperior has been conſtituted, whoſe « commands and decifions all the mem- © bers are bound to obey,” he puts as an explanation (nor is it an inapt one) of a ſtate of government: and “ unle(s” men were in a ſtate of that deſcription, they would ſtill “ remain“ he ſays, “as in * a flate of nature.” By fociety, there- fore, he means, once more, the ſame as by a © fate of nature: he oppoſes it to v. ſupra p. 11.
government.
% For when 13 CHAP. 1 ſtate of na- ture. oppoſed to „ Govern- © ment. —and ſpok- en of as having exiſt- ed.
r nr end 4 A FRAGMENT on GOVERNMENT.
Cnay. government, And he ſpeaks of it as a I. ſtate which, in this ſenſe, has actually ex- iſted.
< Society”— 2dly, This 1s what he tells us in the * beginning of the ſecond of the two para- vernment. graphs: but all the time the „fi para- graph laſted, ſociety meant the ſame as government. In ſhifting then from one paragraph to another, it has changed its nature. "Tis © the foundations of /- ciety *,” that he firſt began to ſpeak of; and immediately he goes on to explain to us, after his manner of explaining, the foundations of government. Tis of a“ for- « mal beginning” of Society Þ,” that he ſpeaks ſoon after; and by this formal beginning, he tells us immediately, that.
he means, the original contract of fe- * crety, which contract entered into, « a fate d, he gives us to underſtand, is thereby “ inſtituted,” and men have undertaket: * FoxMATION of GOVERNMENT. 15 = " undertaken to © ſubmit to Laws *.“ So CHAP. long then as this firſt paragraph laſts, « ſociety, 1 think, it is plain cannot but have been n the ſame as go- « yernment.”
- ”- hd wg RAY 0 Bn £, — cy POL RESTS VI. 1 vi. Za, All this while too, this ſame A ſtate of na- fate of nature to which we have ſeen 5 « Society (a ſtate ſpoken of as exiſting) _— wy put ſynonymous, and in which were it not for government, men, he informs us, in the next page, would © remain +,” is a ſtate in which they never were. So he expreſſly tells us. This © notion,” ſays he, „of an actually exiſting unconnected. e ſtate of nature; (that is, as he ex- plains himſelf afterwards | © a ſtate in; * which men have no judge to define * their rights, and redreſs their wrongs,) * 18 too wild to be ſeriouſly admitted ||.” When he admits it then himſelf, as he f does in his next page, we are to under- ſtand, it ſeems, that he is bantering us: and that the next paragraph is (what one ſhould.
16 A FRAGMENT on GOVERNMENT.
Cn. ſhould not otherwiſe have taken it for) a 4 IJ. piece of pleaſantry. | = VII.
| Original con. 4thly, The original contract is a thing, Vas, it's re- we are to underſtand, that never had exality de- 8 — iſtence; perhaps not in any ſtate: certainly therefore not in all. * Perhaps, t in no inftance,” ſays our Author, “ has #4 * it ever been formally 1 at the 4 firſt inſtitution of a ſtate *.” - VIII. —afſerted. g, Notwithſtanding all this, we muſt ſuppoſe, it ſeems, that it had in every ſtate: © yet in nature and reaſon,” (fays our Author) © it muſt always be *« underſtood and implied +.” Growing bolder in the compaſs of four or five pages, where he is ſpeaking of our own Government, he aſſerts roundly 4, that ſuch a Contract was actually made at the firſt formation of it. The legiſlature e would be changed, he ſays, from ce that which was originally ſet up by —— — — Saas. r .. r prior —— 2 EE” ls nr en RIA: N — the ee non -. ae CR OE IE 2 —— EL 2 nn robe K INC. — wy 2 FoRMAT ION of GOVERNMENT.
the general conſent and fundamental act of the ſociety.” 6 | IX. Let us try whether it be not poſſible for ſomething to be done towards drawing the import of theſe terms out of the miſt in which our Author has involved them. The word * SocitTy,” I think, it appears, is uſed by him, and that without notice, in two ſenſes that are oppo- 17 CHAP.
+