presented to (The Xtbrar^ of UlnfpersftB of Toronto in 2007 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation E NQU I RY COMCBBNnra POLITICAL JUSTICE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON MORALS AND HAPPINESS. BY WILLIAM GODWIN.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. IL lEontton: J. WATSON, 5, PAUL'S ALLEY, PATERNOSTER ROW, 1842.
3C 1062483 f CONTFNTS OF VOL. II. V Pa»e. CHAP. II.
CHAP. III.
Of the Suppression of Erroneous Opinions in Religion and Government 115 CHAP. IV.
Of Tests 121 CHAP. V.
Of Oaths 125 CHAP. VI.
Of Libels 128 CHAP. VII.
Of Constitutions 135 CHAP. VIII.
Of National Education 142 CHAP. IX.
Of Pensions and Salaries 146 CHAP. X.
Of the Modes of Deciding a Question on the Part of the Community 151 BOOK VII.
OF CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS. " CHAP. I.
Limitations of the Doctrine of Punishment which Result from the Principles of Morality 154 CHAP. II.
General Disadvantages of Punishment 157 CHAP. III.
Of the Purposes of Punishment 161 CHAP. IV.
Of the Applicationr of Punishment 166 CHAP. V.
Of Punishment Considered as a Temporary Expedient 172 CHAP. VI.
Scale of Punishment 181 VI CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
Page. CHAP. VII.
Of Evidence j g9 CHAP. VIII.
Of Law 190 CHAP. IX.
Of Pardons 199 BOOK VIII.
OF PROPERTY. CHAP. I.
Preliminary Observations 202 CHAP. II.
Principles of Property 207 CHAP. III.
Benefits Attendant on a System of Equality 218 CHAP. IV.
Objection to this System from the Frailty of the Human Mind 225 CHAP. V.
Objection to this System from the Question of Permanence. 228 CHAP. VI.
Objection to this System from the Allurements of Sloth...230 CHAP. VII.
Objection to this System from the Benefits of Luxury 230 CHAP. vm. Objection to this System from the Inflexibility of its Re- strictions 238 Appendix. Of Co-operation, Cohabitation and Marriage.. 239 CHAP. IX.
Objection to this System from the Principle of Population. 247 Appendix. Of Health and the Prolongation of Human Life 249 CHAP. x.
Reflections 254 ENQUIRY CONXERNXNG POLITICAL JUSTICE.
BOOK V.
OF LEGISLA.TIVE AND EXECUTIVE POWER. CHAP. I.
INTRODUCTION.
Retrospect of principles already established.— Distribution of the re- • maining subjects. — Subject of the present book. — Foi'ms of govei'ii- merit. — Method of examination to be adopted.
In the preceding divisions of tliis work the ground has been suf- ficiently cleared, to enable us to proceed, with considei-ablo explicitness and satisfaction, to the practical detail: in other words, to attempt the tracing out that application of the laws of general justice, which may best conduce to the gradual improve- ment of mankind.
It has appeared, that an enquiry concerning the principles and conduct of social intercourse is the most important topic upon which the mind of man can be exercised;* that, upon tliesc principles, well or ill conceived, and the manner in which they are administered, the vices and virtues of individuals depend;t that political institution, to be good, must have constant relation, to the mles of immutable justice; J and that those rules, uniform in their nature, are equally applicable to the whole human race.§ The different topics of political institution cannot perhaps be more perspicuously distributed, than imder the four following heads: provisions for general administration; provisions for the intellectual and moral improvement of individuals; provisions for the administration of criminal justice; and provisions for the regulation of property. Under each of these heads it will be our business, in proportion as we adhere to the great and comprehen- * Book T. + Book IT., Chap. II.
t Book I., Chap. YI. YII. J Book lU., Chap. VII.
IC— VOL. 11. B 2 OF LEGISLATIVE AND sive principles already established, rather to clear away abuses, than to recommend further and more precise regulations, rather to simplify, than to complicate. Above all, we should not forget that government is, abstractedly taken, an evil, an usurpation ■upon the private judgment and individual conscience of man- kind; * and that, however we may be obliged to admit it as a necessary evil for the present, it behoves us, as the friends of rea- son and the human species, to admit as little of it as possible, and carefully to observe, whether, in consequence of the gradual illu- mination of the human mind, that little may not hereafter be diminished.
And first we are to consider the different provisions that may be made for general administration; including, under the phrase general administration, all that shall be found necessary, of what has usually been denominated, legislative and executive power. Legislation has already appeared to be a term not applicable to human society.f Men cannot do more than declare and inter- pret law; nor can there be an authority so paramount, as to have the prerogative of making that to be law, which abstract and im- mutable justice had not made to be law previously to that inter- position. But it might, notwithstanding this, be foimd necessary, that there should be an authority empowered to declare those general principles, by which the equity of the community will be regulated, in particular cases upon which it may be compelled to decide. The question concerning the reality and extent of this necessity, it is proper to reserve for after consideration. J Execu- tive power consists of two very distinct parts: general delibera- tions relative to particular emergencies, which, so far as practicability is concerned, may be exercised either by one indi- vidual or a body of individuals, such as peace and war, taxation,§ and the selection of proper periods for convoking deliberative assemblies: and particular functions, such as those of financial detail, or minute superintendence, which caimot be exercised unless by one or a small number of persons.
In reviewing these several branches of authority, and con- sidering the persons to whom they may be most properly confided, we cannot perhaps do better, than adopt the ordinary distribution of forms of government, into monarchy, aristocracy, and de- mocracy. Under each of these heads we may enquire into the merits of their respective principles, first absolutely, and upon the hypothesis of their standing singly for the whole administration; and secondly, in a limited view, upon the supposition of their constituting one branch only of the system of government. It is usually alike incident to them all, to confide the minuter branches of executive detail to inferior agents.
* Book II. t Book in., Chap. V. t Book VII., Chap. VIII.
\ I state the article of taxation as a branch of executive government, since it is not, like law or the declaration of law, a promulgating of some general principle, but is a temporary regulation for some particular emergence.
EXECUTIVE POWER. 3 P m One thing more it is necessary to premise. The merits of each ■ of the three heads I have enumerated, are to be considered nega- m lively. The corporate duties of mankind, are the result of their ■ irregularities and follies in their individual capacity. If they had no imperfection, or if men were so constituted, as to he sufficiently, and sufficiently early, corrected by persuasion alone, society •would cease from its functions. Of consequence, of the three forms of government, and their compositions, that is the best, which shall least impede the activity and application of our intel- lectual powers. It was in the recollection of this truth that I have preferred the term political institution to that of government, the former appearing to be sufficiently expressive of that relative form, whatever it be, into which individuals would fall, when there was no need of force to direct them into their proper chan- nel, and were no refractory members to correct.
CHAP. II.
OF EDUCATION, THE EDUCATION OT A PRINCE.
Nature of monarchy delineated. — School of adversity. — Tendency of superfluity to inspire effeminacy — to depi-ive us of the benefit of eX' verience — illustrated in the case of princes. — Manner in which they are addressed. — Inefficacy of the instruction bestowed upon them.
First then of monarchy; and we will first suppose the succession to the monarchy to he hereditary. It this case we have the ad- ditional advantage, of considering this distinguished mortal, who is thus set over the heads of the rest of his species, from the period of his birth.
The abstract idea of a king, is of an extremely momentous and extraordinary nature; and, though the idea has, by the accident of education, been rendered familiar to us from our infancy, yet perhaps the majority of readers can recollect the period, when it struck them with astonishment, and confounded their powers of apprehension. It being sufficiently evident, that some species of government was necessary, and that individuals must concede a part of that sacred and important privilege, by which each man is constituted judge of his own words and actions, for the sake of general good, it was next requisite to consider what expedients might be substituted in the room of this original claim. One of these expedients, has been monarchy. It was the interest of each individual, that his individuality should be invaded as rarely as possible; that no invasion shoidd be permitted to flow from wan- ton caprice, from sinister and disingenuous views, or from the in- stigation of anger, partiality and passion; and that this bank, severely levied upon the peculium of each member of the society, B 2 4 OF EDUCATION, should be administered with frugality and discretion. It was, therefore, without doubt, a very bold adventure, to commit this precious deposit to the custody of a single man. If we contemplate the human powers, whether of body or mind, we shall find thera much better suited to the siTperintendence of our private concerns and to the administering occasional assistance to others, than to the accepting the formal trust of superintending the affairs and watching for the happiness of millions. If we recollect the physi- cal and moral equality of mankind, it will appear a vei-y violent usurpation upon this principle, to place one individual at so vast an interval from the rest of his species. Let us then consider how such persons are usually educated, or may be expected to be educated, and how well they are prepared for this illustrious office.
It is a common opinion, " That adversity is the school, in which all extraordinary virtue must be formed. Henry the Fourth of France, and Elizabeth of England, experienced a long series of calamities, before they were elevated to a throne. Alfred, of whom the obscure chronicles of a barbarous age record such -superior virtues, passed through tlie vicissitudes of a vagabond and a fugitive. Even the mixed, and, upon the whole, the vicious, yet accomplished, characters of Frederic and Alexander, were not formed, without the interference of injustice and persecution.'* This hypothesis however seems to have been pushed too far. It is no more reasonable to suppose that virtue cannot be matured without injustice, than to believe, which has been another pre- vailing opinion, that human happiness cannot be secured without imposture and deceit.* Botli these errors have a common source, a distrust of the omnipotence of truth. If their advocates had reflected more deeply upon the nature of the human mind, they would have perceived, that all our voluntary' actions are judg- ments of the understandmg, and that actions of the most judicious and useful nature, must infallibly flow fa-om a real and genuine conviction of truth.
But, though the exaggerated opinion here stated, of the useful- ness of adversity, be erroneous, it is, like many other of our errors, allied to important truth. If adversity be not necessary, it must be allowed that prosperity is pernicious. Not a genuine and philosophical prosperity, which requires no more than sound health with a sound intellect, the capacity of procuring for our- selves, by a moderate and well regulated industry, the means of subsistence, virtue, and wisdom: but prosperity as it is usually understood, that is, a competence, provided for us by tlie caprice of human institution, inviting our bodies to indolence, and our minds to lethargj-; and still more prosperity, as it is imderstood in the case of noblemen and princes, that is, a superfluity of wealth, which deprives us of all intercourse with our fellow men upon equal terms, and makes us prisoners of state, gratified indeed • Chap. XV F THB EDUCATION OF A PRINCE.
•with baubles and splendour, but shut out from the real benefits of society, and the perception of truth. If truth be so intrinsically powerful, as to make adversity unnecessary to excite our attention to it, it is nevertheless certain, that luxury and wealth have the most fatal effects in distorting it. If it require no foreign aid to assist its energies, we ought however to be upon our guard, against principles and situations, tlie tendency of which may be per- petually to counteract it.
Nor is this all. One of the most essential ingredients of virtue is fortitude. It was the plan of many of the Grecian philosophers, and most of all of Diogenes, to show to mankind, how veiy limited is the supply that our necessities require, and how little dependent our real welfare and prosperity are upon the caprice of others. Among innumerable incidents upon record that illus- trate this principle, a single one may suffice to suggest to our minds its general spirit, Diogenes had a slave whose name was Menas, and Menas thought proper upon some occasion to elope. " Ha I" said the philosopher, " can Menas live without Diogenes, and cannot Diogenes live without Menas?" There can be no lesson more important, tban that which is here conveyed. The man that docs not know himself not to be at the mercy of other men, that does not feel that he is invulnerable to all the vicissi- tudes of fortune, is incapable of a constant and inflexible virtue. He, to whom the rest of his species can reasonably look up with confidence, must be firm, because his mind is filled with the ex- cellence of the object he pursues; and cheerful, because he knows that it is out of the power of events to injure him. If any one should choose to imagine that this idea of virtue is strained too high, yet all must allow, that no man can be entitled to our confidence, who trembles at every wind, who can endure no adversity, and whose very existence is linked to the artificial character he sustains. Nothing can more reasonably excite our contempt, than a man who, if he were once reduced to the genuine and simple condition of man, would be driven to despair, and find himself incapable of consulting and providing for his own subsistence. Fortitude is a habit of mind that grows out of a sense of our independence. If there be a man, who dares not even trust his own imagination with the fancied change of his circumstances, he must necessarily be effeminate, irresolute and temporising. He that loves sensuality or ostentation better than virtue, may be entitled to our pity, but a madman only would intrust to his disposal anytliing that was dear to him.
Again, the only means by which truth can be communicated to the human mind, is through the inlet of the senses. It is per- haps impossible, that a man shut up in a cabinet, can ever be wise. If we would acquire knowledge, we must open our eyes, and contemplate tlie universe. Till we are acquainted with the meaning of terms, and the nature of the objects around us, we cannot understand the propositions tliat may be formed concern- ing them. Till we are acquainted with the natiure of the objects 6 OP EDUCATION, around us, we cannot compare them with the principles we have formed, and understand the modes of employing them. There are other ways of attaining wisdom and ability beside the school of adversity, but there is no way of attaining them, but through the medium of experience. That is, experience brings in the ma- terials with which intellect works; for it must be granted, that a man of limited experience, will often be more capable, than he who has gone through the greatest variety of scenes; or rather per- haps, that one man may collect more experience in a sphere of a few miles square, than another who has sailed round the world.
To conceive truly the value of experience, we must recollect tlie numerous improvements the human mind has received, and how far an enlightened European differs from a solitary savage. However multifarious are these improvements, there are but two ways in which they can be appropriated by any individual; either at second hand by books and conversation, or at first hand by our own observations of men and things. The improvement we receive in the first of these modes is unlimited; but it will not do alone. We cannot understand books, till we have seen the subjects of which they treat.
He that knows the mind of man, must have observed it for himself; he that knows it most intimately, must have observed it in its greatest variety of situations. He must have seen it without disguise, when no exterior situation puts a curb upon its passions, and induces the individual to exhibit a studied, not a spontaneous character. He must have seen men in their un- guarded moments, when the eagerness of temporary resentment tips their tongue with fire, when they are animated and dilated by hope, when they are tortured and wrung with despair, when the soul pours out its inmost self into the bosom of an equal and a friend. Lastly, he must himself have been an actor in the scene, have had his own passions brought into play, have known, the anxiety of expectation and the transport of success, or he will feel and understand about as much of what he sees, as mankind in general would of the transactions of the vitrified inhabitants of the planet Mercury, or the salamanders that live in the sun. — Such is the education of the true philosopher, the genuine politician, the friend and benefactor of human kind.
What is the education of a prince? Its j&rst quality is extreme tenderness. The Minds of heaven are not permitted to blow upon him. He is dressed and undressed by his lacqueys and valets. His wants are carefully anticipated; his desires, without any effort of his, profusely supplied. His health is of too much importance to the community, to permit him to exert any con- siderable effort either of body or mind. He must not hear the voice of reprimand or blame. In all things it is first of all to be remembered, that he is a prince, that is, some rare and precious creature, but not of human kind.
As he is the heir to a throne, it is never forgotten by those about him, that considerable importance is to be annexed to his favour THE EDUCATION OF A PRINCE.
i ^F or his displeasure. Accordingly, they never express themselves ^^ in his presence frankly and naturally, either respecting him or ■ themselves. They are supporting a part. They play under a M mask. Their own fortime and emolument is always uppermost ■ in their minds, at the same time that they are anxious to appear mi generous, disinterested, and sincere. All his caprices are to be ■ complied with. All his gratifications are to be studied. They E find him a depraved and sordid mortal; they judge of his appe- ■ tites and capacities by their own; and the gratifications they ■ recommend, serve to sink him deeper in folly and vice.
" "What is the result of such an education? Having never experienced contradiction, the young prince is arrogant and pre- sumptuous. Having always been accustomed to the slaves of necessity or the slaves of choice, he does not understand even the meaning of the word freedom. His temper is insolent, and impatient of parley and expostulation. Knowing nothing, he be- lieves himself sovereignly informed, and runs headlong into danger, not froLi firmness and courage, but from the most egre- gious wilfulness and vanity. Like Pyrrho among the ancient phi- losophers, if his attendants were at a distance, and he trusted himself alone in the open air, he would perhaps be run over by the next coach, or fall down the first precipice. His violence and presumption, are strikingly contrasted with the extreme timidity of his disposition. The first opposition terrifies him, the first difficulty, seen and imderstood, appears insuperable. He trembles at a shadow, and at the very semblance of adversity is dissolved into tears. It has accordingly been observed, that princes are commonly superstitious beyond the rate of ordinary mortals.
Above all, simple, unqualified truth is a stranger to his ear. It either never approaches; or, if so unexpected a guest should once appear, it meets with so cold a reception, as to afi"ord little encouragement to a second visit. The longer he has been accus tomed to falsehood and flattery, the more grating will it sound The longer he has been accustomed to falsehood and flattery, the more terrible will the task appear to him, to change his tastes, and discard his favourites. He will either place a blind con- fidence in all men, or, having detected the insincerity of those who were most agreeable to him, will conclude that all men are knavish and designing. As a consequence of this last opinion, he will become indifferent to mankind, and callous to their suffer- ings, and will believe tha,t even the virtuous are knaves under a craftier mask. Such is the education of an individual, who is destined to superintend the affairs, and watch for the happiness of millions.
In this picture are contained tlie features which most obviously constitute the education of a prince, into the conduct of which no person of energy and virtue has by accident been introduced. In real life it will be variously modified, but the majority of the features, unless in rare instances, will remain the same. In no 8 OF EDUCATION, case can the education of a friend and benefactor of human kind, as sketched in a preceding page, by any speculative contrivance be communicated.
Nor is there any difficulty in accounting for the universal mis- carriage. The wisest perceptor, thus circumstanced, must labour under insuperable disadvantages. No situation can be so artifi- cial as that of a prince, so difficult to be understood by him who occupies it, so irresistibly propelling the mind to mistake. The first ideas it suggests, are of a tranquillising and soporific nature. It fills him with the opinion, of his secretly possessing some inherent advantage over the rest of his species, by which he is formed to command, and they to obey. If you assure him of the contrary, you can expect only an imperfect and temporary credit; for facts when, as in this case, they are continually de- posing against you, speak a language more emphatic and intelli- gible, than words. If it were not as he supposes, why should every one that approaches, be eager to serve him? The sordid and selfish motives by which they are really actuated, he is very late in detecting. It may even be doubted, whether the indi- vidual, who was never led to put the professions of others to the test, by his real wants, has, in any instance, been completely aware of the little credit that is usually due to them. A prince finds himself courted and adored, long before he can have acquired a merit entitling him to such distinctions. By what arguments can you persuade him laboriously to pursue, what appears so completely superfluous? How can you induce him to be dissatisfied with his present acquisitions, while every other person assures him, that his accomplishments are admirable, and his mind a mirror of sagacity? How will you persuade him who finds all his wishes anticipated, to engage in any arduous under- taking, or propose any distant object for his ambition?
But, even should you succeed in this, his pursuits may be expected to be either mishievous or useless. His understanding is distorted; and the basis of all morality, the recollection that other men are beings of the same order with himself, is extir- pated. It would be unreasonable to expect from him anything generous and humane. Unfortunate as he is, his situation is continually propelling him to vice, and destroying the germs of integrity and virtue, before they are unfolded. If sensibility begin to discover itself, it is immediately poisoned by the blight- ing winds of flattery. Amusement and sensuality call with an imperious voice, and will not allow him time to feel. Artificial as is the character he fills, even should he aspire to fame, it will be by the artificial methods of false refinement, or the barbarous inventions of usurpation and conquest, not by the plain and unornamented road of benevolence.
Some idea of the methods usually pursued, and the eflects produced in the education of a prince, may be collected from a late publication of Madame de Genlis, in which she gives an ac- count of her own proceedings in relation to the children of the THE EDUCATION OF A PUINCE. 9 Duke of Orleans. She thus describes the features of their dis- position and liabits, at the time they were committed to her care. "The Duke de Valois (the eldest) is frequently coarse in his manners, and ignoble in his expressions. He finds great humour in calling mean and common objects by their most vulgar appellations; all this seasoned with the proverbial pro- pensity of Sancho, and set off with a loud forced laugh. His prate is eternal, nor does he suspect but that it must be an exqui- site gratification to any one to be entertained with it; and he fre- quently heightens the jest by a falsehood uttered in the gi-avest manner imaginable. Neither he nor his brother has the least regard for any body but themselves; they are selfish and grasping, considering everything that is done for them as their due, and imagining that they are in no respect obliged to consult the happiness of others. The slightest reproof is beyond measure shocking to them, and the indignation tliey conceive at it, im- mediately vents itself in suUenness or tears. They are in an un- common degree effeminate, afraid of the wind or the cold, unable to run or leap, or even so much as to walk at a round pace, or for more than half an hour at a time. The Duke de Valois has an extreme terror of dogs to such a degree as to turn pale and shriek at the sight of one." " When the children of the Duke of Orleans were committed to my care, they had been ac- customed in winter to wear imder- waistcoats, two pair of stock- ings, gloves, muffs, &c. The eldest, who was eight of age, never came down stairs, without being supported by the arm of one or two persons; the domestics were obliged to render them the meanest services, and, for a cold or any slight indisposition, sat up with ihem for nights together."* • " M. de ralois a encore des manieres hien desagreables, des expressions ignobles, et de terns en terns le plus mauvais ton. A present qu'il est d son aise avec moi, il me debite avec confiance toutes les gentillesses qu'on lui a apprises. Tout cela assaisonnc de tous les proverbes de Sancho, et d'un eros rire force, qui n'est pas le moindre de ses desagremems. En outre, il est ires bavard, grand conteur, et il ment souvent pour se divertir; avec cela la plus grande indifference pour M. et Mde. Chartres, n'tj pensant jamais, les voyant froidement ne desirant point les voir. — //* etoient Vun et Vautre de la plus grande impolitesse, oui et non tout court, ou un signe de tite, peu re- connoissant, parce qu'ils croient qu'il n'est point de soins, d' attentions, ni d'egards qu'on ne les doive. II n'etoit pas possible de les reprendre sans les mettre au d^sepoir; dans ce cas, toujours despleurs ou de Vhumeur. lis (toient tres douillets, craignant le vent, le froid, ne pouvant, non seulement m courir ni sauter, mais meme ni marcher d'un bon pas, et plus d'une demi- heure. Et M. le due de Faloii ayant une peur affreuse des chiens au point de pdlir et de crier quand il en voyoit un,"