§ 12. I come now to consider that together with the knowledge of this visible World of which our selves make but a small part there is likewise convey'd into our minds by our Senses a certain knowledge 1. Of divers natural outward goods 2. And those not only peculiar to our selves alone but common to all those of our own kind 3. Of which goods some are greater than others and that good which hath none that we know excels it we may call the greatest or highest 4. Also of those some are commonly in our Power others we understand to exceed the narrow limits of our humane forces but since the Nature of these things is by two several ways discovered to us either more confusedly by common experience and daily Observation or else more distinctly from experimental Philosophy and the Mathematicks the former of these methods being easie and obvious to every one I shall rather make use of that whereas the other would be only proper for Philosophers and Mathematicians since the Grounds or Principles of the Law of Nature ought to be alike evident to the Illiterate as well as to the Learned for all are under the like obligation to observe them and therefore I shall only put you in mind of such vulgar and easie Observations which no Rational Man can dispute or deny and such as from which I undertake to prove that the Knowledge and Coherence of the Terms of this Proposition may evidently be deduced § 13. Our first Natural Observation therefore is that by our free use and enjoyment of those products of the Earth that come under the general Titles of Food Clothing Houses c. and also by that help or assistance which one or more Persons can afford each other Men may be preserved and live as happily and contentedly for several years as their frail Nature will permit And in the next place that these effects being not only agreeable but necessary to our Natures are naturally good as tending to their Preservation or Perfection and therefore by the same reason Men's affections from whence these outward things and acts do proceed and which produce all these good effects are conceiv'd under the notion of good Will or Benevolence which must be also good since whatever goodness is contain'd in the effects must be likewise in the cause And we are also sensible that by this Benevolence we are not only able to help our selves or some few Persons but many others as well by our advice as by our strength and industry especially when we see divers others of our own kind who are able and seem also willing to requite us in the like manner So that each of us in particular may be provided with a sufficient stock of all the necessaries of Life by our mutual help and assistance all which would not only be wanting to us but we should be expos'd to innumerable mischiefs and hazards as also to a great want even of necessaries if all Persons looking only to themselves should always shew themselves ill-natur'd malevolent and enemies towards other Rational Beings whereas the contrary endeavours being thus helpful and necessary to so many others may easily and naturally produce in our minds a notion of this Common good of Rationals which from the obvious Similitude of Rational Beings to each other must equally respect all those which we have opportunity or occasion of knowing or conversing with as also those with whom we have not § 14. And I may add farther from constant experience that we are able to contribute more to the good and assistance of those of our own kind than any other Creatures because their Nature and consequently what is good or destructive to it is more evident to us from the knowledge we have of our selves than of other Creatures For as our Nature is capable of more and greater goods than they and in the attaining of which we can better assist each other so we must also confess it to be liable to greater Dangers and Calamities for the declining and removing of which God hath appointed our mutual Benevolence expressed by our endeavours and assistance of each other as the most suitable and necessary means thereunto § 15. And we may also observe that by our Advice and Counsel communicated by apt Signs or Words we are able to contribute many helps and conveniencies of Life to those of our own kind of which other Animals are altogether uncapable either of acting or receiving And farther because of the Similitude of those of our own kind with our selves we cannot but think it agreeable to our Rational Natures to do or to procure the like things for them as for our selves and can also be sensible of greater Motives to benefit Men than other Creatures since we have all the reason to hope that those we have thus done good to or obliged being moved by our benefits will make us a suitable return whenever it lies in their power and that they may one time or other in the like or some other way oblige us So that it is evident from Common Experience that there can be no larger Possession nor any surer defence for Mankind than the most sincere Piety towards God the Head of Rational beings and the most diffusive Love and sincere Benevolence of all Persons towards each other since if they prove malevolent or ill-natur'd they may easily bereave us of all things we enjoy together with our Life it self nor can the Love or Good-will of others be obtained by any more certain or powerful means than that every one should shew himself so affected in his Actions towards others as he desires they should be towards himself That is Loving and Benevolent upon all occasions though more particularly to those to whom we are obliged by Friendship or Relation § 16. Last of all the same Experience that demonstrates the mutual Benevolence of particular Persons to be the most powerful Cause of their Felicity does as necessarily teach us from a like parity of Reason that the Love or Good-will of any greater number of Men towards any the like number hath a-like proportionable effect so on the other side the constant Malice or Ill-will of all Men towards all express'd by suitable Actions would soon bring destruction to the whole Race of Mankind since it would soon destroy all the Causes requisite to their Happiness and Well-being and introduce a perpetual Enmity and War which are the certain Causes of the greatest Miseries and Calamities which can befall Mankind all which though Mr. H. himself acknowledges yet he will not own the necessity of Men's mutual Love and Concord to be also as necessary to their Preservation But why the Causes of Men's Preservation and Happiness as being Prior in Nature should not be more evident than those of their Destruction since the one is altogether as evident and necessary and may be as easily foreseen and prevented as the other I can see no reason and I should be
are commonly received and practised by most Nations for their general usefulness and conveniency Yet it must be acknowledged that there is still required the Knowledge of God as a Legislator by whose Authority alone they can obtain the force of Laws The Proof of which tho' the most material part of the Question hath been hitherto omitted or but slightly touch'd by former Writers on this Subject But besides the Objections of some of the Ancients Mr. Selden and Mr. Hobbs have also argued against this Method tho' upon divers Principles and from different Designs the latter intending that no body should receive these Dictates of Reason as obligatory to outward Actions before a Supreme Civil Power be instituted who shall ordain them to be observed as Laws And tho' he sometimes vouchsafes them that Title yet in his De Cive cap. 14. he tells us That in the state of Nature they are but improperly called so and that tho' the Laws of Nature may be found largely described in the Writings of Philosophers yet are they not for this cause to be called Laws any more than the Writings or Opinions of Lawyers are Laws till confirmed and made so by the Supreme Powers But on the other side Mr. Selden more fairly finds fault with the want of Authority in these Dictates of Reason considered only as such that he may from hence shew us a necessity of recurring to the Legislative Power of God and that he may thereby make out that those Dictates of Reason do only acquire the force of Laws because all our knowledge of them is to be derived from God alone who when he makes these Rules known to us does then and not before promulgate them to us as Laws And so far I think he is in the right and hath well enough corrected our common Moralists who are wont to consider these Dictates of Reason as Laws without any sufficient proof that they have all the Conditions required to make them so viz. That they are established and declared to us by God as a Legislator who hath annexed to them sufficient Rewards and Punishments But I think it is evident that if these Rational Dictates can by any means be proved to proceed from the Will of God the Author of Nature as Rules for all our Moral Actions they will not need any Humane Authority much less the Consent or Tradition of any one or many Nations to make them known to be so Therefore tho' I grant this learned Author hath taken a great deal of pains to prove from divers general Traditions of the Iewish Rabbins that God gave certain Commands to Adam and after to Noah contained in these seven Precepts called by his Name and that those various Quotations this learned Author hath there produced do clearly prove that the Iews believe that all Nations whatever altho' they do not receive the Laws of Moses yet are obliged to observe the same Moral Laws which they conceive to be all contained under the Precepts above mentioned and tho' this Work is indeed most learnedly and judiciously performed and may prove of great use in Christian Theology yet I must confess it still seems to me that he hath not sufficiently answered his own Objection concerning Mens Ignorance or want of Discovery of the Law-giver for altho' it should be granted that those Traditions they call the Precepts of Noah should be never so generally or firmly believed by the whole Iewish Nation yet are they not therefore made known to the rest of Mankind and one of them viz. That of not eating any Part or Member of a living Creature is justly derided and received with scorn by all other Nations So that it seems evident to me that the unwritten Traditions of the learned Men of any one Nation cannot be looked upon as a sufficient promulgation made by God as a Law-giver of those Laws or Precepts therein contained and that all Nations who perhaps have never heard of Adam or Noah should be condemned for not living according to them especially when we consider that it is but in these latter Ages of the World that the Iewish Rabbins began to commit these Traditions to Writing and that it is most probable the ancient Iews knew nothing of them since neither Josephus nor Philo Judaeus take any notice of these Precepts in their Writings Therefore that the Divine Authority of those Dictates of Right Reason or Rules of Life called the Laws of Nature may more evidently be demonstrated to all considering Men it seemed to me the best and fittest Method to inquire first into their Natural Causes as well internal as external remote as near since by this Series of Causes and Effects we may at last be more easily brought to the knowledge of the Will of God their first Cause from whose intrinsick Perfections and extrinsick Sanctions by fit Rewards and due Punishments we have endeavoured to shew that as well their Authority as Promulgation is derived I know indeed that the greatest part of former Writers have been content to suppose that these Dictates of Reason and all Acts conformable thereunto are taught us by Nature or at most do only affirm in general that they proceed from God without shewing us which way or the manner how Therefore it seemed highly necessary to us that we ought to inquire more exactly how the force of Objects from without and of our own Notions or Idea's from within us do both concur towards the imprinting and fixing these Principles in our Minds as Laws derived from the Will of God himself which Work if it be well performed we hope may prove of great use not only to our own Nation but to all Mankind because from hence it may appear both by what means Men's Vnderstandings may attain to a true and natural Knowledge of the Divine Will or Laws of God So that if they practise them not they may be left without excuse And this Principle will likewise serve for a general Rule by which the Municipal Laws of every Common-wealth may be tryed whether they are Iust and Right or not that is agreeable with the Laws of Nature and so may be corrected and amended by the supreme Powers when-ever they have deviated from this great End of the common Good And from hence may also be demonstrated that there is somewhat in the Nature of God as also in our own and all other Men's Natures which administers present Comfort and Satisfaction to our Minds from good Actions as also firm Hopes or Presages of a future Happiness as a Reward for them when this Life is ended whereas on the other side the greatest Misery and most dismal Fears do proceed from wicked or evil Actions from whence the Conscience seems furnished as it were with Whips and Scorpions to correct and punish all Vice and Improbity So that it may from hence appear that Men are not deluded in their moral Notions either by Clergy-men or Politicians I grant the Platonists undertake to dispatch
be the same infinite good and wise Disposer and Governour of the whole System of rational Beings and this our benevolence by giving him Glory Love Reverence and Obedience fulfils all the Duties of humanity towards those of our own kind which answers both the Tables of the moral or natural Law and in this consent of our minds with the divine Intellect consists that compleat harmony of the Vniverse of intellectual Beings The great influence of these Principles upon all the parts of natural Religion may be more fully express'd and made out by these following considerations 1. The voluntary acknowledgment and consent of our minds to the Perfections of the divine Nature and Actions include the agreement and concurrence of our chief Faculties viz. The understanding and will therewith and moreover naturally excite all our Affections to comply with them and so strongly dispose us in our future Life and Actions to compose our selves to the imitation thereof to the utmost of our Abilities particularly these Principles naturally produce in us First Praises and Thanksgivings to God private and publick for goods already done to our selves or others wherein the Essence of Prayer is contained 2. Hence also arise Hope Affiance or Trust in God which I willingly acknowledge is fullest of assurance when founded not only on observations or past experience of Providence but hath also revealed promises annex'd relating to future Good 3. To conclude when our Acknowledgment and high esteem of the divine Attributes move us to the imitation thereof we must needs thereby arise to those high degrees of Charity or the endeavour of the greatest publick good which we observe in God to prosecute and such Charity imports not only exact Iustice to all but that overflowing bounty tenderness and sympathy with others beyond which humane Nature cannot arrive because these not only harmoniously consent with the like Perfections in God but also co-operate with him to the improvement of the finite parts of the rational System whereof he is the infinite yet Sympathizing head who declares he takes all that is done to the Members of this intellectual Society as done to himself Nevertheless I profess my self to understand this Sympathy or compassion in God in such a Sence only as it is understood in Holy Writ for that infinite concern for the good of his best Creatures which is contained in his infinite goodness and is a real perfection of his Nature not implying any mistake of others for himself nor any capacity of being lessened or hurt by the power of any mans malice but yet fully answers nay infinitely exceeds that solicitous care and concern for the good of others which Charity and Compassion work in the best of men In short if the Reader will take the pains to peruse the Three first Chapters of this Discourse he will find that we have in explaining the terms of this Proposition not only given a bare interpretation of Words but also have proposed the true Notions and Natures of those things from whence they are taken as far as is necessary for our purpose and may observe that by one and the same labour we have directly and immediately explained the Power and necessity of those humane Actions which are required to the common Happiness of all men and also to the private good and necessity of particular Persons Altho' it seemed most convenient to use such general words which may in some Sence be attributed to the Divine Majesty and to have done it with that Design that by the help of this Analogy thus supposed not only our obligation to Piety and Vertue but also the Nature of Divine Iustice and Dominion may be from hence better understood But as for what concerns the form of this Proposition it is evident that it is wholly practical as that which determines concerning the certain effects of humane Actions But it is also to be noted that altho' the words conduces or renders in either of these Propositions are put in the present Tense Yet it is not limited to any time present but abstracts from it And because its truth doth chiefly depend upon the Identity of the whole with the parts it is as plainly true of all future time and is as often used by us in this Discourse with respect to future as well as present Actions And therefore this Proposition is more fit for our purpose because built upon no particular Hypothesis for it doth not suppose men born in a Civil State nor yet out of it neither see any Kindred or Relation to be among men as derived from the same common Parents as we are taught by the Holy Scriptures since the obligation of the Laws of Nature is to be demonstrated to those who do not yet acknowledge them Neither on the other side doth it suppose as Mr. H. doth in his de Cive a great many men already grown and sprung up out of the Earth like Mushrooms But our Proposition and all those things which we have deduced from it might have been understood and acknowledged by the first Parents of mankind if they had only considered themselves together with God and their Posterity which was to come into the world Neither may it less easily be understood and admitted by those Nations which have not yet heard of Adam and Eve Neither may it be amiss to observe concerning the Sence of this Proposition that in the same words in which the Cause of the greatest and best effect is laid down there is also delivered in short the means to the chiefest end because the effect of a rational Agent after it is conceived in its mind and that it hath determined to bestow its endeavours in producing it is called the End and the Acts or Causes by which it endeavours to effect it are called the means and from this observation may be shown a true method of reducing all those things which Moral Philosophers have spoken about the means to the best end into natural Theorems concerning the Power of humane Actions in producing such Effects and in this form they may more easily be examined whether they are true or not and may be more evidently demonstrated so to be and also we may hence learn by the like Reason how easily all true knowledge of the force of those natural Causes which we may any way apply to our use does suggest fit Mediums for the attaining of the end intended and so may be applyed to Practice according to occasion Lastly from thence it appears that either of these Propositions which we have now laid down do so far approach to the nature of a Law as they respect an end truly worthy of it viz. The common good of all rational Beings or else if you please to word it otherwise the Honour or Worship of God conjoyned with the common Good and Happiness of mankind And tho' it doth not yet appear that this Proposition is a Law because the Lawgiver is not yet mentioned nevertheless I doubt
and obvious Observations from the Nature of those things without us which we daily stand in need and make use of as may serve to prove after what manner we ought to make use of them and whence that Right arises we have to them I come now to make the like Observations from the Nature of Mankind in order to the proving that we are designed by God for the Good and Preservation of others besides our selves and that in the doing of this we procure as far as lies in our Power the Good and Happiness of all Rational Beings in which our own is likewise included To perform this task I shall first take notice of those Qualities or Properties that belong to man 1 as a meer Natural Body 2 such as belong to him as an Animal 3 such as are peculiar to him as a Rational Creature endued with a higher and nobler Principle than Brutes viz. an Immortal Soul § 2. To begin with the first of these it is evident that as a Natural Body he is endued with these Properties common to all other Natural Bodies First that all his motions in which his Life Strength and Health consist do all proceed from God the first and Original or Cause of them and are necessarily complicated with and depend upon the motions of innumerable other Bodies among which the Corporeal motions of others which do often limit and restrain our own are first and chiefly to be considered 2 That from them as from other Bodies motion may be propagated Indefinitely and which does not perish but concur with other motions to perpetuate the Succession of things that is contribute to the conservation of the Universe and as the former teaches us that a particular end viz. our own Preservation depends upon our Common or joynt Forces or Natural Powers so this latter instructs us that such Powers and motions of particular Persons are often most Beneficial and conducing to the Common Good of all men The first of these Conclusions forbids us to hope for or endeavour our own private Good or Happiness as separate and distinct from that of all others and so excites us to seek the Common Good of Rationals as the Original of our own particular Happiness The other Conclusion shews that this endeavour of the Common Good can never prove in vain or to no purpose since it concurrs with the Will of God and conduces to the Preservation of the Universe and of all Humane Creatures therein contain'd and farther that in each complicated motion as well in that towards which divers Causes concurr for the Preservation of any Body for a certain time as also in that whereby each particular Body concurrs to the Conservation of the whole System There is a certain order still observed whereby some motions are necessarily determined by others in a continual Series or Succession all which are yet governed or over-ruled by the motion of the whole System of Natural Bodies And although this sort of Contemplation may seem remote from common use yet is it not to be contemned as altogether unprofitable in Humane Affairs for it makes us more distinctly perceive from some certain general Principles how necessary a constant and certain order is amongst those Causes that Act from Corporeal forces so that many of them may each in their order Successively concurr to an effect foreseen or designed by us and farther shews us a rule how we may certainly judge what Cause does more or less contribute to the Effect sought for or desired so that from the Natural Power of these Causes their Order Dignity or Power in respect to each Effect are to be determined and judged of and we are taught from the Nature of things as well what Causes are to be most esteemed for those good Effects they have or may produce as also which are most diligently to be sought for the obtaining those ends which we desire and by which means it may be also known that those Causes which Philosophers call Universal viz. God the first Cause and the motion of the Celestial Bodies as proceeding from Him are the Original Causes of the Common Good or Happiness of Mankind a part of which we either always do actually or can hope to enjoy § 3. But omitting those Motions which are not in our Power to influence or alter it is certain that among the things which are in either our Power to do or forbear those voluntary Humane motions proceeding from an Universal Benevolence of all Men towards all others are the principal Causes of their Common Happiness and in which every one's private Good is included Since from this source proceed all those Actions by which Men's Innocence and Fidelity towards each other are preserved as also by which Humanity Gratitude and almost all the other Vertues are exerted and performed after as certain a manner as the Natural motions of the Spirits Bowels Nerves and Joynts in an Animal do wholly proceed from the motion of the Heart and Circulation of the Blood which judgment or determination being taken from the Nature of things duly considered should without doubt cause us to yield Obedience to all the Laws of Nature as contributing to this Common Good of Rational Agents and may make us also diligently to take care that the same be observed by others so that there may be nothing wanting that can be done by us whereby we may not be rendered as happy as our frail Natures in this will allow since right reason can propose no higher or nobler End than this of all our moral Actions § 4. Yet whilst we compare the Aggregate Body of mankind as far as we can Act by Corporeal force with the Natural Systems of other Bodies I am not unmindful of the manifest difference there is between them viz. That all the Effects of meer Corporeal Systems are produced by the Contiguity and immediate Operation of Bodies moving upon others that are to be moved by them without any Sense Deliberation or Liberty which are only to be found in Humane Actions in whose Motions and Operations on each other though a great difference often intervenes yet for all that it is evident that the Corporeal Powers of Men when exerted are subject to the same Laws of motion with other Bodies and that divers Men may often cooperate to one certain Effect relating to the Good or Hurt of others so that there is the same necessity of a Subordination between Humane motions as there is between those of other Bodies And I must here farther take notice that Men have frequent opportunities of meeting together and also many other means by which they may hurt or help each other by Words Writing or other Actions So that if we consider the Nature of Mankind in the whole course of their Lives it ought to be considered as one entire System of Bodies consisting of several particular parts So that nothing almost can be done in Relation to any Man's Life Family or Fortune which doth
and that the Loss or Deprivation of this Felicity doth necessarily adhere as a Punishment to the opposite Actions The former of these which declares the true Causes of all that Felicity which particular Persons can thereby obtain we have proved from Natural Effects found by Experience The latter viz. that Piety to God and Charity or Benevolence towards all Men are contained in the Endeavour of the common Good and we have also proved in the fourth Chapter that all Vertues both private and publick are contained in this Endeavour But because the Connexion of Rewards and Punishments which follow those Acts which are for the common Good or opposite to it is something obscured by those Evils which often befall good Men and those good Things which too frequently happen to Evil ones it is enough to our Purpose to shew that notwithstanding all these the Connexion between them is so sufficiently constant and manifest in the Nature of things that from thence may be certainly gathered the Sanction of the Law of Nature commanding the former and prohibiting the latter Actions And we may suppose those Punishments to suffice for its Sanction which all things rightly weighed much exceed the Gain that may arise from any Act done contrary to this Law But in comparing of the Effects which do follow good Actions on one hand and Evil ones on the other those good or evil Things ought not to be reckoned in to the Account which either cannot be acquired or avoided by any humane Prudence or Industry such as are those which proceeding from the Natural Necessity of External Causes may happen to any one by mere Chance which are wont to fall out alike both to good and bad Therefore we shall only take those into our Account which may be foreseen and prevented by humane Foresight as some way depending upon our own Wills or Acts. But I must also acknowledge that these Effects do not all depend upon our own particular Powers but many of them do also proceed from the good Will and Endeavours of other Rationals yet since it may be known from their Natures as they are is agreeable to our own that the common Good is the best and greatest End which they can propose to themselves and that their Natural Reason requires that they should act for an End and rather for this than any other less good or less perfect And that it is moreover known by Experience that such Effects of Vniversal Benevolence may be for the most part obtained from others by our own benevolent Actions it is just that those Effects should be numbred or esteemed among those Consequences which do for the most part so fall out because every Man is esteemed able to do whatever he can perform or obtain by the Assistance of others So that the whole Reward which is connected to good Actions by the natural Constitution of Things is somewhat like those Tributes of which the publick Revenues consist which do not only arise out of constant Rents but also out of divers contingent Payments such as Custom or Excise upon Commodities whose value although it be very great yet is not always certain though they are often farmed out at a certain Rate Therefore in the reckoning up of these Rewards not only those parts thereof ought to come into Account which immutably adhere to good Actions such as are that Happiness which consists in the Knowledge and Love of God and good Men the absolute Government of our Passions the sweet Harmony and Agreement betwixt the true Principles of our Actions and all the parts of our Lives the Favour of the Deity and the Hopes of a blessed Immortality proceeding from all these But there ought also to be taken into the Account all those Goods which do though contingently adhere to them and which may either happen to us from the good Will of others or flow from that Concord and Society which is either maintained between divers Nations or those of the same Common-wealth and which we do as far as we are able procure for our selves by such benevolent Actions And by the like Reason we may also understand of what particulars all that Misery or those Punishments may consist which is connected with those Acts that are hurtfull to the common Good So that all of us may learn from the Necessity of the Condition in which we are born and live to esteem contingent Goods and to be drawn to act by the Hopes of them for the Air it self which is so necessary for our subsistence and Preservation doth not always benefit our Bloud or Spirits but is sometimes infected with deadly Steams and Vapours Nor can our Meat Drink or Exercise always preserve our Lives but do often generate Diseases And Agriculture it self doth not always pay the Husband-man's Toyl with the expected Gain but sometimes he even loses by it And sure we are not less naturally drawn to the Endeavour of the common Good than we are to such natural Actions from the Hope of a Good that may but probably proceed from them But how justly we may hope for a considerable Return from all others joyntly considered for all our Labours bestowed upon the common Good we shall be able to make the best Account of when we consider what our own Experience and the History of all Nations for the time past may teach us to have befallen those who have either regarded or despised this great End But because the whole Endeavour of this common Good contains no more but the Worship of the Deity the Care of Fidelity Peace and Commerce betwixt Nations and the instituting and maintaining Government both Civil and Domestick as also particular Friendships as the parts thereof taken together it is manifest that the Endeavour thereof exprest by a mutual Love and Assistance must in some Degree be found among all Nations as necessary to their own Happiness and Preservation Nay it seems farther manifest to me that those who attain but to the Age of Manhood do owe all those past Years much more to the Endeavour of others bestowed upon the common Good than to their own Care which in their tender Age was almost none at all For we then do altogether depend upon and owe our Preservation to that Obedience which others yield as well to Oeconomical Precepts as to all Laws both Civil and Religious which do wholly proceed from this Care of the common Good Whereas it is certain that if afterwards we expose our Lives to danger Yea if we lose them for the publick Good we should lose far less for its sake than we did before receive from it for we do then only lose the uncertain Hopes of future Enjoyments whereas it is certain that scarce so much as the Hope of them can remain to particular Persons where the common Good is destroyed for we have thence received the real Possession of all those Contentments of Life with which we are blest And therefore we are bound in
the like Good-will from them than by doing them the same good Offices as often as it lies in our Power which we desire they should do for us and that this constitutes the happiest state Men are capable of in this Life viz. Peace and Concord not only among particular Men but also between all Common-wealths and Nations of which the whole body of Mankind consists so that it evidently appears that the true and Natural state of Mankind is That of Peace Love or mutual Benevolence and which indeed would require no other Rewards than what proceeds from it self were Man a Creature always governed by right reason and his own true Good Rewards and Punishments being Ordained for Men as too often govern'd by their Passions and Sensual Appetites and not according to the perfection of their Rational Nature Yet since it pleased God to Create Man a mixt Creature consisting of a Body and a Soul and being too often drawn aside by Passions not directed by right reason and to stand in need of Punishments as well as Rewards to keep him to his duty thence arises a necessity of His dealing with Man as a Legislator and of giving him certain natural Laws or Rules whereby to govern his Actions with certain Penalties and Rewards annext to them which Laws may be very well contracted into one single Proposition or practical Conclusion drawn from the Nature of God our own Nature and that of things without us by the Observations already laid down viz. That God wills or commands that all reasonable Persons should endeavour the Common Good of Rational Beings as the great End for which they were Created and in pursuance of which consists their own true Good or Happiness as in its neglect or violation their greatest Misery § 2. Having given you this summary description of the Laws of Nature as coming from its first Cause God I shall now explain the terms therein contain'd to avoid all Ambiguity and Exception 1 By Wills and Commands I do not mean any Commands by Words that being the method of God's Revealed and not Natural Will and so is not the Subject of this Discourse and therefore I do here only understand that Will or Command of God which is to be learned from the Consideration of his Divine Nature our own and that of all other things consisting not in Words but in Idea's that is true Conclusions drawn from right Reason but that words are not always Essential to a Law or that it cannot be made known to the Subjects without some set form of Speech may appear by Persons born Deaf and Dumb whom we often find to have Notions of a God and a Law of Nature though they were not convey'd in their Minds by Words or Writing for it is sufficient if the Will of the Legislator may be discovered by any other sit means or signs especially when as in this Law we now treat of there are such certain Rewards and Punishments annexed to their Observation or Transgression as may make it their Interest rather to observe than transgress them which is not only visible in Men but Brutes Since we see that by certain Signs imprinted in their Minds by the means of fit Rewards and Corrections Elephants Horses Dogs c. are made Susceptible of Humane Commands and as far as their Natures permit are governable by Laws of our Prescribing For we can shew them by such signs what Actions are to be done or omitted by them and certainly God hath not left us less plain demonstrations of his Will in reference to our Duty towards him from that Knowledge he hath given us of his Existence as also of our own Nature as I shall farther prove in this Discourse By Rational Persons I mean all those though of never so mean a Capacity who are able to make such easie and natural Observations and Conclusions as I have already laid down And therefore Children under the Years of Discretion Idiots and Mad-folks are still to be excepted from this Law who not having the actual use of right reason are not able to draw those Observations and Consequences from the Nature of things as are already laid down and which are necessary for the right understanding thereof By Endeavour I mean all such voluntary Actions which Persons of sound Minds can knowingly and deliberately perform towards the good of others without destroying or hurting their own true Happiness which endeavours though by many unforeseen accidents in the Course of Nature they may be often frustrated and so fail of their intended design yet when we have done the utmost we are able we have sufficiently perform'd our Duty since no Laws require the performance of more than is in our Power to perform By the Common Good of Rational Beings I understand the collective Happiness of the Deity as the head of them and that of all the individual Persons of Mankind existing together with us as the constituent parts or members and in which each Man 's particular Good and Happiness is included since it is impossible to endeavour the Happiness of others as voluntary Agents unless each particular Person whose duty it is so to do have first a right to preserve and make himself happy jointly with others in his Proportion to the whole Body of Mankind By true Good or Happiness I mean all those Goods whether of Body or Mind by which Men may be rendred truly Happy and contented in this Life and in that to come but in which whenever the former stand in Competition with the latter the Goods of the Soul are to be preferred that is the good of our better or Eternal part before that of our Body which is less valuable and temporal But I need add nothing here to prove That God is the Head of all Rational Beings and in what Sence we may be said to procure or endeavour his Good and Happiness since I have spoken so largely of that in the Preface to this Discourse and as for the difference between Natural and Moral good I have said so much concerning it in the Second Part in the Confutation of Mr. H's Sixth Principle that by Nature nothing is Good or Evil that it would be impertinent to repeat it here I shall now prove that this Proposition containing this Description of the Law of Nature is true that is agreeable to the Will of God as far as it is declared to us by what we are able to know of His Divine Nature or can collect from our own and the Natures of all things without us and that all the Moral Duties we owe either to God ourselves or others are contained in or may be reduced to this one Proposition Of our endeavouring the Common Good of Rationals in order to which I shall lay down these Propositions § 3. 1. That God in the first place Wills and Intends His own Glory and Service and in the next the Good and Preservation of all Mankind and of all particular Persons
therein contain'd as far as consists with that frail and Mortal state wherein He hath Created them This Proposition hath already been made out in the First Part of this Discourse wherein I have proved that the Preservation and continuance of all the Species of Creatures and consequently of Mankind as one of them does wholly depend upon God's Providence And as for the Individuals or particular Persons since God's Knowledge is Infinite and extends even to the least things and also that of these Particulars each Species of Creatures is made up and consists It is likewise as evident that God designs their Good and Preservation as well as that of the whole kind though I grant He prefers the Good of the whole Species before that of the Individuals 2. It is the Will of God that all Men of sound Minds should be made conscious of this His intention of the Good and Preservation of Mankind and that they should operate as His Subordinate means or Instruments towards this great End Which I shall prove thus 1. It is evident that all Men of sound Minds have a notion of the Good and Happiness of others as well as of themselves 2dly That this Notion or Idea when truly pursued will at last extend it self to all Mankind for it can never stop short of it as long as it may still proceed farther and find new and fit Objects to work on every Individual Member of Mankind making a part of this Universal Idea 3. That this Notion of endeavouring the Common Good of Rational Beings is not only possible to be performed but is also highly Rational and the greatest and noblest End we can imagine or propose to our selves as comprehending the Good and Happiness of the whole System of Rational Beings and is also true i. e. agreeable with the Divine Intellect which I thus make out these grounds being supposed § 4. First It is certain that all the truths our Minds are endued with or capable of are from God since whatever perfection is found in the effect must needs have been first more eminently in its Cause Therefore if the Knowledge of Truth be a perfection as doubtless it is it must be much more so in God the Original Cause thereof so that if this Idea of the Common Good of Rational Beings as the highest Good we Men are capable of knowing it being a clear and perfect though complext Idea drawn from the Nature of God and all other things and being a Collection of the Good and Happiness of the Deity and of all other Rational Agents it must be true and consequently from God And the Divine Intellect doth as certainly agree with our Idea's concerning it as it doth when we judge that the Base of an Equilateral Triangle is equal to either of the Crura or Legs Therefore this Idea of the Common Good is true and that it is also certain that all Truth is from God as likewise that He hath made us truly to understand that he Wills the Good and Happiness of Mankind it is likewise as certain that he would have us act as Rational Agents conscious of this His great design § 5. The Second Part of this Proposition viz. That God would have us Operate as his Instruments to this End will be likewise as clear when you consider what I have already said That God who hath made nothing in vain would not have endued us with an Idea of this Common Good as the greatest End we can propose our selves for mere Speculation but rather for some practical End in order to our own Good and Happiness with that of others especially since God hath placed it so much in our Power to promote and procure this Common Good since as far as we endeavour the Good and Happiness of particular Persons we do so far contribute our share to that of Mankind considered as one aggregate Body Thus whatsoever does good to any one Member does so far benefit the whole Body and the Good and Happiness of an aggregate Body consisting of divers distinct Members consists in that of each of its parts So then if God intends the End viz. the Common Good of Mankind as I have already proved he designs likewise the means to produce it Nor can there be any better means or fitter Instruments for this End than the joint Endeavours of all Men expressed by all the Acts of Benevolence and Kindness towards each other since it is certain as I said before that Men can contribute more to the Hurt or Benefit of each other than all the rest of the Creatures put together Therefore as God hath designed the End and ordained sufficient means to produce it viz. Men's kind and benevolent Actions so it is as evident That he will make use of Men as the necessary means for this End Tho' I grant he hath ordained us to operate not only as mechanick Causes but rather as free and voluntary Agents to produce it that is as true Subjects to this Law of Nature Thus by the same steps that we arrive at the knowledge of God the Supreme Being we are likewise brought to an acknowledgment of this his great Design of the Common Good of Rational Beings And if from all the wonderful Observations and curious Contrivances observed in this last Chapter drawn from the Nature of Things and Mankind we cannot but conclude That they were so disposed by a most Wise Intelligent Being towards this great End And the very same appearances that discover these Things must likewise declare his Intention of making use of us men as necessary means thereunto § 7. The last Proposition for the proving this Description of the Law of Nature to be true is this That GOD having made this Discovery of his Will unto us we thereupon lie under a sufficient Obligation to observe this great Law of endeavouring this Common Good To prove which I first suppose that Obligation to an Action enjoyned by the natural Law is the necessary and constant effect thereof upon every Person subject to it and that this immediately results from its own Nature this Law being always just and right as the Will of GOD the Legislator is from whence it proceeds So that I understand Obligation to Active Obedience to be the immediate effect of this Law yet that it primarily flows from that Will of GOD which ordained this Law and made Man a Creature subject to it as Heat in us is the immediate Effect or Action of Fire upon us but originally both the Fire and Heat is from the first Cause Now there is no legal Liberty left us in the case of natural Laws to chuse whether we will be obliged to the Actions therein commanded or rather will submit to the Punishment attending the Violation thereof and although our natural Liberty of Will be not destroyed thereby yet we have no Right left us to determine our selves otherwise than natural Law directs because all Moral Truth or Rectitude is comprehended
besides himself and that he doth truly observe the Laws of Nature towards himself by a temperate and a rational Life As also towards his Neighbour by observing that great Rule of doing as he would be done by in all cases towards others I say such a man tho' never so simple and ignorant in other things doth really contribute his share of endeavour towards procuring the common good And tho' he may not distinctly know all the true reasons and grounds of his own Actions yet if he thus lead his Life and observe all these Rules tending to this End I doubt not but that he will meet with all those Rewards intended by God for Vertuous Actions provided he have never heard of or at least wilfully refused the more perfect Law of the Gospel delivered by our Saviour Jesus Christ when duly proposed to him Thus a Countrey Carpenter may deserve sufficient Wages and Commendation if he can build a House and honestly perform his Work according to those few practical Rules he hath learnt tho' he doth not understand all the Principles of Geometry or Architecture according to which all that he hath wrought may easily be demonstrated to him if he will but take the pains to understand them § 6. There is another Objection which this sort of men may make against our Method of finding out and demonstrating this great Law of Nature in that I make every man's obligation to endeavour it to arise from its being good or evil to himself alone whereby it may seem as if we supposed the honour of God and the common good of mankind were to be postponed and made subservient to the happiness of any particular person To satisfie which Scruple I do in the first place affirm that we do not intend any such thing since we have all along endeavoured to establish the quite contrary Doctrine For I assert that no man hath any Right properly so called to his own Life or Being but in order and as it conduces to the honour and service of God and the common good of mankind I shall therefore now more distinctly declare how these tho' some may think them contrary to each other do very well consist In the first place therefore I desire you to take notice that our Natural Obligation to this Law is not discovered by us in the same order and method as it is constituted by God in the nature of Things for our weak finite Understandings when acting without the assistance of Divine Revelation do slowly enough at first attain to the knowledge of Individual or Single Things and thence taking rise from such common effects as are most obvious to our Senses proceed to their more obstruse Causes until at length discovering one Infinite Being called God to be the first Cause and Creator of all things We from thence collect not only what is his Nature but also what is his Will whereby we do not only find that he is the best and most perfect Being But that as such he willeth and procures the good and preservation not of some few Singulars alone but of the whole Species of Mankind And lastly that he would have us men cooperate as subordinate tho free Agents to this End as the greatest and worthiest we can undertake Which tho' it be the last thing we come to the knowledge of yet is that which is first and chiefly intended by God as the principal object of our Knowledge and the main End of all our Moral Actions So that it seems evident this knowledge of our selves and of things thus learnt from experience and observation was intended by God only to serve as steps to raise us to that larger knowledge and nobler desire of pursuing the common good of Rationals as the sum of all our Moral Duties And that our Wills and Affections towards this end are not to be regulated or directed in the same order by which this common good comes to be discovered i. e. with a respect to our selves alone but from a true judgment concerning the measures of that natural good and perfection therein contained So that tho' we are at first indeed excited to the procuring our own happiness as the prime and most natural motive of all our Actions yet we come at last upon better consideration to discover that this happiness of ours is contained in our endeavours of the Common good of Rational Beings and is inseparable from it as the conservation of any of our particular Members is contained in the health and preservation of the whole Body § 7. And this Proposition that every single man's good is contained in the common-good proves indeed that the sanction of this general Law is by rewards and punishments to Every single man But that Every is not to be restrained to my self or any one man alone but extends alike to each other man or all men Since it is evident that these words Every man collectively taken amount to all men as every part collectively taken signifies the whole And tho' the main end intended by God the Legislator from such Rewards and Punishments are obedience to his Laws and the preservation of Mankind as his Subjects which are indeed of much greater value to him than the happiness of any one single person Yet will it not detract from the perfection or sincerity of this obedience if from the consideration of a man 's own particular happiness or misery he thereby comes to consider and understand that God hath commanded him to pursue an higher and nobler end than that alone yet to which his own happiness or misery are inseparably connected § 8. I come in the last place to these objections that may be made by men of quite contrary Principles and who will not acknowledge that we either can or ought to propose this common good as the Sum of all the Laws of Nature and the main end of all our Moral Actions Their first objection may be this That it seems not suitable to God's Infinite Goodness and Power and Wisdom in the Government of Mankind if he did really intend its good and happiness as we here suppose to permit so great a Design to be so often disturbed if not quite frustrated in divers parts of the World by the various Passions and unreasonable Appetites of so many violent wicked and unjust men which if Mankind is well considered do make up the greatest part of this Aggregate Body In answer to this objection I might tell those that make it that the true original of that depraved State of Mankind and from which all that Disorder which we now find in Humane Nature is derived was the Fall of Adam the first Father of Mankind who thereby conveyed a weakness of Reason and that prevailing Power which we feel in our sensual Appetites and Passions to all his Posterity whereby man is become very prone to Evil and too apt to transgress the Laws of Nature But I shall not insist upon this because the
to reckon beyond their ten Fingers Now setting aside Innate Ideas and Consent of Nations as proofs of the Laws of Nature what other means do there remain but the uncertain Tradition of a God and these Moral Laws from their Parents or Ancestors or else to discover them by Reason and taking observation from the Nature of things according to the method here laid down The former of these if they had ever any such thing it is certain that they have now quite lost so that no Footsteps of it now remains among them And as for the latter these ignorant and barbarous Nations being wholly taken up through the whole course of their lives either in procuring for themselves the common necessaries for life or else in brutish and sensual Lusts and Pleasures it is no wonder that they give themselves no time or opportunity to think of these things nor yet employ their thoughts in considering the cause of their Being or for what end they came into the World So that it is not strange that they should be so little sensible of the Being of a God and what Worship or Duties he requires of them Nor can I give a better account of this ignorance than what you may find in the Author last mentioned who thus concludes his Paragraph against the necessity of Innate Principles already cited in the beginning of this Chapter Had you or I been born says he at the Bay of Soldania possibly our Thoughts and Notions had not exceeded these brutish ones of the Hoteutots that inhabit there And had the Virginian King Apochancana been educated in England he had perhaps been as knowing a Divine and as good a Mathematician as any in it The difference between him and a more improved English-man lying barely in this That the exercise of his Faculties was bounded within the Ways Modes and Notions of his own Countrey and was never directed to any other or farther Enquiries And if he had not any Idea of a God as we have it was only because he pursued not those Thoughts that would certainly have led him to it § 12. Which account tho' it were sufficient alone to take off this difficulty yet I shall farther add That altho it is true the Existence of a God and the Laws of Nature are to be discovered by Natural Reason yet this must be exerted and made use of according to a right Method and is like the Talent in the Gospel either to be infinitely increased or else may be buried without ever being made use of as it ought So that mens not making use of their Reason and those Faculties which God hath given them is no more an Argument against God 's not having given men sufficient Means and Faculties to attain to the knowledge of these things than if a man who by perpetual sitting still should have lost the use of his Legs had reason to find fault with God for not giving him sufficient means of going and helping himself So that it seems evident to me that it is left in most mens power whether they will by a due use of their Reason raise themselves to the highest perfection and happiness that thei human nature is capable of or else by employing their minds about meer sensual objects and carnal enjoyments debase themselves into the state of Brutes For I am satisfied that it is not reasoning about common and outward things that constitutes the only difference between us and them since they reason right about those things that are the objects of their Senses but that it rather consists in the more excellent Faculties of framing Universal Ideas and by a due enquiry into the causes and nature of things of coming to the knowledge of God and of his Will either naturally declared according to the method here laid down or else supernaturally revealed in the Holy Scripture And indeed I think a Dog or a Horse to be a much better Creature than a Man who hath never had or else hath totally extinguished the belief of a God and of his Duty towards him for the one lives according to its nature and those Faculties God hath given it But a Man who wants the knowledge of God and of his duty towards him by neglecting the chief end of his Creation and by giving himself wholly up to the government of his Passions and unreasonable Appetites debases his nature and so becomes by his own fault like a Brute § 13. The last Objection that I can think of and which may be also made by Mr. Hobs's Disciples is That they look upon this endeavour of the Common Good of Mankind as a meer Platonick Idea or Term of Art without any reality in nature to support it Of which opinion Mr. Hobs seems to be when he tells us in his Leviath Book I. chap. 4. That of Names some are proper and singular to ore only thing as Peter John This Man this Tree and some are common to many things as Man Horse Tree every of which though but one name is nevertheless the name of divers particular things in respect of all which together it is called an universal there being nothing in the World universal but Names For the things named are every one of them individual and singular So that on these Principles we can have no knowledge of any common good out of a Commonwealth where it arises merely from Compacts every man being naturally determined to seek his own particular preservation and satisfaction without the least consideration of any thing else § 14. In answer to which Objection I desire you to take notice That if in our Description of the Law of Nature or Explication of it we had any where supposed that in this endeavour of the common Good a Man either could or ought to neglect his own preservation and true happiness there might have been some reason for this Objection But since I have proved that the true good and happiness of every particular person is included in the Common Good of Rationals and depends inseparably upon it though I grant every man 's own happiness and misery is a main motive of his acting to this end and also consists in a right endeavour of it which if it be so this part of the Objection falls of it self unless they will affirm That a Man's self-preservation and happiness only consists in the present satisfaction of his own sensual Appetites and Passions let what will be the consequence which how false and unreasonable a thing it is any rational Man may judge 2dly We have also sufficiently made out that there is an unalterable Common Good and Evil established by God in the nature of things necessary for the preservation or tending to the destruction not only of this or that particular man but for all the men in the World conceived under the collective Idea of Mankind and that in the state of Nature and out of a Civil State or Common-wealth Since by comparing our own particular Natures
above-cited He there in the first place supposes that Man is not a Sociable Creature because it could not be otherwise in Nature but only by accident for if Man loved Man naturally there could be no reason given why every one should not love every one alike as being alike Man or why he should rather frequent those in whose Society Honour and Profit is conferred rather on himself than others Therefore we do not by nature seek Companions but to be either honoured or profited by them These in the first place but those in the second And this he thinks he hath sufficiently proved by shewing us for what end men herd together and what they do when they are met for if they come together for Commerce-sake every one minds not his Companion 's but his own Interest If for Publick Affairs there arises a certain Court-friendship having more of mutual fear than love from whence often Faction but never Good-will is produced If for the sake of Mirth and Pleasure every one is wont to please himself in those things which raise laughter from whence he may as it is the nature of what is ridiculous by the comparison of another's weakness or infirmity become more acceptable to himself And he there proceeds to shew from several Observations he had made in the Companies he had kept That all men that converse together either for the sake or the instruction of others do only seek Company for their own profit or glory and not the good of others that is for the love of himself not of his Companions And therefore since Man can never seek Civil Society only out of a desire of glory and although the Profits and Conveniences of life may be encreased by mens mutual assistance yet since that may be much better procured by a dominion over others than by their Society no body can doubt but that men are more vehemently carried by their Nature when fear is removed to dominion than Society therefore it is to be laid down for a Principle That the original of all great and lasting Societies did not proceed from the mutual Benevolence of Men but their mutual Fear And by Fear as he tells us in the Annotation to this Paragraph he doth not mean only to be frightned but under that word Fear he comprehends any prospect of a future Evil as to distrust suspect beware and to provide that they may not fear to be also the part of those who are afraid § 2. Having given you the Author's Sense and in great part his own words I shall now proceed to make some Observations upon them and in the first place must observe That the main strength of his Arguments consists in the ill or false use of these words unapt for Society For if he only understands by them that Men are born actually unapt for Civil Society because they are Infants or else unexperienced of the Evils proceeding from the Wants thereof this is indeed a great discovery and worthy a Philosopher that Children or People without experience are not able to understand the meaning or force of Compacts or are unable immediately to enter into a Civil State Nor is his Reason any better That though Infants and persons of full Age though unexperienced partake of Human Nature yet being thus unapt for Society Man is not made fit for it by Nature but Discipline § 3. From whence I observe That he only takes the measure of Humane Nature from those Passions which precede the use of Reason Experience and Discipline And as they first and chiefly shew themselves in Children and Fools or persons unexperienced Whereas according to the Opinion of the best Philosophers we suppose the truer nature of Man ought rather to be taken from his utmost Perfection viz. his Reason or the power of deducing Effects from their Causes by which alone he is distinguished from Brutes And so the Will may incline us to those things which Reason shall judge most fit and convenient for our Natures And therefore Mr. H. doth very absurdly to oppose Experience and Discipline to Nature since whatever men learn by either of these they must still attain to it by the force of their Rational Natures and those Faculties of Reason and Speech which Brutes are not capable of And therefore the nature of a Creature is best judged of from the utmost Perfection it attains to As the Nature of a Plant is not to be taken from its first appearance or as soon as ever it peeps out of the Earth but from its utmost state of perfection when it comes to bear Flowers Seed or Fruit. And even that Experience to which Mr. H. attributes all our Reason he himself grants to be a natural and not acquired Power See his Leviathan Chap. 8. where treating of Intellectual Vertues he hath these Words The Intellectual Vertues are of two sorts Natural and acquired By Natural I mean not that which a man hath from his Birth for that is nothing else but sense wherein men differ so little from one another and from brute Beasts as it is not to be reckoned amongst the Virtues But I mean that Wit which is gotten by use only and experience without method culture or Instruction § 4. To conclude this Head I desire those Gentlemen of his Opinion to take notice That all Philosophers and Writers of Politicks as well as Mr. H. were not ignorant how unfit Infants and Grown Persons without experience or labouring under any unruly Passion were to enter into Leagues or Compacts or to perform any of the Duties of a Civil Society But yet for all that they supposed man to be born for those ends which by the force of his Rational Nature he may at last attain to unless something preternatural such as are those disorderly Passions or Diseases of the Mind intervene And Iuvenal's Saying is as old as true Non aliud Natura aliud Sapientia dictat And sure it is a childish Inference and favours more of Sophistry than true Philosophy to say Men are born Infants and therefore unapt for Civil Society Since any Country Fellow could have taught him better who thinks his Son born apt to be a Plough-man or a Grasier though he knows he will not be able to hold the Plough until he is twelve or thirteen years of age Nor yet to understand Grazing until he is able to ride and go to Market § 5. But let us now more particularly examine the Reasons this Author there gives us why Man is a Creature naturally unapt for Society which he will have to be only by accident Because if one man loved another naturally as man there could be no reason why every man should not love every man alike or wherefore he should rather frequent those in whose company he is most likely to get Honour and Profit Therefore we do not naturally seek Companions i. e. for their own sakes but either to gain Honour or Prosit by them These in the first place
else that they followed him and obeyed his Commands as their Father or Grandfather out of reverence to his Wisdom or Gratitude for his Benefits § 9. To conclude He himself there objects that men cannot grow up or live contentedly without the society and assistance of others And therefore cannot deny but men desire the society of each other their Nature compelling them thereunto But to come off from this Objection he will have nothing called Society but Commonwealths which says he are not meer Meetings but Leagues for making of which Compacts are necessary And therefore still argues that Infants and those that are unexperienced are uncapable of them c. Upon which I shall only observe That Mr. H. imposes upon himself and others by confounding that first and most natural amity and sociableness of Persons of one and the same Family as of Husband and Wife Parents and Children c. towards each other with that artificial Society which proceeding wholly from Compacts we call a Commonwealth So likewise he imposes on his Readers in the use of the words Nature and Natural as I have partly shewn already for by these words is commonly understood either something that is by Nature inseparably proper to its subject as to a Fish to swim and other things are natural and proper to a Creature not as a meer Animal but as of such a Species and at such an Age as for a Man to go upon two Legs and speak Lastly It sometimes signifies an aptness in a Subject to receive some farther perfection by culture and discipline with which Nature intended it should be endued So the Earth is intended by Nature for the production of Vegetables yet it doth not naturally bring forth all Plants in all places alike without Plowing or Setting yet are not these Plants so sown or set less natural for all that So likewise I have already proved that whatever perfection we attain to by the power of our Reason or Experience it is not less natural notwithstanding PRINCIPLE II. All Men by Nature are equal § 1. WHich he thus undertakes to make out in the Chapter last cited § 3. The cause of mutual Fear consists partly in mens natural equality partly in their mutual Will of hurting from whence it happens that we are neither able to expect security from others nor yet afford it to our selves For if we consider Men grown up and take notice how frail the Frame of a Man's Body is which failing all his force strength and wisdom fails together with it and how easie it is for any the most weak to kill the strongest Man there is no reason that any man trusting in his own strength should suppose himself superior by Nature to others For those are equal who are able to do the like things against each other but those who can do the greatest thing that is take away life are able to do like or equal things to each other therefore all men are by nature equal that unequality which now is being introduced by Civil Laws § 2. Before I answer which I shall first make these Concessions and Limitations First I grant That all Civil unequality of â—â—rsons is introduced by Civil Laws 2 dly â—â—at there is also such a natural equality among Men that there is nothing which one man can arrogate to himself as a Man but by the same reason which he judges it fit or necessary for himself he must also judge it alike fit and necessary for another man who stands in like need of it Thus if Victuals Cloaths and Liberty are things necessary for his own being and preservation they are likewise equally necessary for the well-being and preservation of all other men and consequently that they have a like right to them from which natural equality proceeds that great Rule of the Law of Nature To do to others as we would have others do to us And in this sense I agree with him that all men are equal so that in this sense it is so far from being a cause of war or dissention among men that it rather perswades to amity and concord Yet doth not this equality hinder but that there is notwithstanding a natural unequality of strength or power amongst men both in body and mind since any man that doth but observe the great difference there is in both the strength and understanding of some persons above others but will grant that there is as great or greater difference between some men and others than there is between some Brutes supposing Apes or Elephants and men in understanding Yet does there not any natural equality follow from the Reason Mr. H. here gives us That those are equal that are able to do the like things to each other to wit take away their lives For besides that there are some born maimed and cripled or else so void of understanding as not to have either the will or ability to hurt or kill others and if a Coward and a stout man are to fight or a very weak man and a strong will any man say that they are an equal match And this Mr. H. tells us That it is easie for the weakest to kill the strongest man he grants it must either be by chance cunning or surprize I grant indeed it may happen by chance and yet this will not make the match to be equal any more than it is in Cockfighting where the Gamesters will lay five to one on such a Cock's side against another set down to fight with him and though perhaps the weaker Cock may happen to kill the stronger by a chance stroke yet no man will therefore affirm that both these Cocks were equal by nature the same may be said of Men. But it may be replied That there is a great difference between Men and Beasts since though Brutes cannot yet a Man weaker in body or mind than another he would be revenged of may join or combine with one as wise and strong as his Adversary and then they will be an equal Match in point of strength If this were a good Argument it would prove more or rather contrary to that for which it is designed for this weaker man may combine with one as strong and wise as the other and then the odds will be apparently on the weaker man's side But if I should grant the utmost that can be asked that both these mens wit and strength taken together are still but an equal match to the other may not this wiser and stronger man as well also combine with others as wise and strong as himself and then will not the unequality be much greater than it was before And as for cunning or surprize it signifies as little since the stronger man may be as cunning as the other and may have also as good luck in surprising him at unawares but it is indeed a very trivial Argument to prove this natural equality because those are equal that are able to do the like things to
Reason is That these Creatures having not as man the use of Reason do not see or at least think they see any fault in the administration of their Common business Whereas amongst men there are very many that think themselves Wiser and Abler to govern the Publick better than the rest and those strive to Reform and Innovate one this way another that way and thereby bring it into Distraction and Civil War To which we may thus Reply That this Reason offers nothing whereby men may live less peaceably among themselves if they were in the state of Nature and Subjects to no Civil Government than Brutes But in this state mens Natural Propensions to universal Benevolence and to the Laws of Nature would have some place notwithstanding what he hath here alledged to the contrary as I have sufficiently proved in the precedent Discourse Nor doth he here offer any thing whereby men could less agree among themselves to institute a Common-wealth for this is the thing whose causes we are now seeking for But he only objects something which will hinder them from preserving it when it is instituted and therefore this will also shake all the foundations of Peace even in a Commonwealth when it is made never so firm according to his own model But we do well to consider whether mens Reason does not more powerfully promote Peace and Concord by detecting many errors of the Imaginations and Passions than it doth Discord by its fallibility about those things which are necessary being but few and those plain enough Besides men do not presently make War as soon as they suppose they spy out somewhat they may blame in the Administration of publick Affairs for the same reason which discovers the fault does also tell them that many things are to be born with for Peace sake and sugggests divers means whereby an emendation of that fault or miscarriage may be peaceably procured So that I dare appeal to the Judgment of the indifferent Reader whether the condition of Mankind is worse than that of Brutes because it is Rational and whether Mr. H. doth not judge very hardly of all men by making their Reason guilty of all these miseries which in other places he imputes only to the Passions and from this cause would prove that men must live less peaceably with each other than Brute Creatures In short Mr. H's Answer is nothing to the purpose for our inquiry is concerning the obligation of the precepts of Reason in the state of Nature and his Answer is That most mens Reason is so false as that it would dissolve all Commonwealths already constituted § 13. His fourth Reason is That these Creatures tho they have some use of voice in making known to one another their desires and other affections yet they want that art of words by which some men can represent to others that which is Good in the likeness of Evil and Evil in the likeness of Good and augment or diminish the apparent greatness of Good and Evil discontenting men and troubling their peace at their pleasure The force of which Answer is no more than this That because it sometimes falls out that the common People are moved to Mutiny and Sedition by a specious or sophistical Sermon or Oration that therefore men as having the use of Speech cannot maintain peace among themselves which consequence is certainly very loose for he ought to prove that all men do necessarily and constantly make such Speeches tending to Civil War and Sedition and also that such Speeches when heard do constantly prevail on their Auditors or the most part of them that they should presently take up Arms For it may be that even the Vulgar may see through such false and specious Speeches and may not suffer themselves to be deluded by them It may also happen that they may rather give credit to the peaceable Speeches of the more wise and moderate as founded upon more solid Reasons And it may be that they will rather consider the true weight of the Arguments than the empty sound of the Words and certainly mens rational Nature leads them to do this for they know they cannot be fed or defended by Words but by Actions proceeding from mutual Benevolence What then doth hinder but that the Eloquence and Reason of the Good and Peaceable may not often prevail with which both the Reason of the Speaker the true interest of the Auditors and the nature of things do all agree But I shall speak no more of this Subject now having in the precedent Discourse sufficiently proved That men receive much greater Benefits from the use of Speech though it may sometimes be the cause of Civil Discords and Wars than they do Evils and Mischiefs thereby And I suppose Mr. H. himself were he alive would confess that Mankind would not be rendered more peaceable or easie to be governed had they been all created dumb or else had all their Tongues been cut out by the irresistible power of his great Leviathan the Civil Soveraign § 14. His fifth Reason is That irrational Creatures cannot distinguish between Injury and Damage and therefore as long as they be at ease they are not offended at their Fellows Whereas man is then most troublesome when he is most at ease for then it is that he loves to shew his wisdom and controul the Actions of them that govern the Commonwealth By which Antithesis he would infer That men live together less peaceably than Brutes because they distinguish between Injury and Damage But we think much otherwise and that most men would more willingly suffer some damage even done by other men so it be not done injuriously And I acknowledge that all the distinction between these two is founded in the knowledge of Right and Law which indeed is only proper to men But that this Knowledge should make them more prone to violate the publick Peace and to trample upon the Laws and Rights of their Superiors I can by no means admit much less that Subjects that abound in peace and riches are more apt to envy their Superiors and to shew their wisdom in finding fault with their Rulers or that the Subjects of England for example who God be thanked enjoy both sufficient peace and plenty are more apt to find fault with their Governors than those in France or Turkey where they are poor and miserable by Taxes and other Severities or that they can even there forbear repining at the cruel Treatment of their Rulers though perhaps their Spirits may be so debased and their Powers so weakned by this oppression that they may not be so able to shew it by publick discourse much less by resistance and so free themselves from this Tyranny as perhaps they would do if they had sufficient Riches and Courage And that I conceive is the true reason why this Author is such an Enemy in all his Books to the happiness and wealth of the People whom he would all along make Slaves
that purpose by God Now let us at present suppose which of these we please to be the true Original of Mankind we cannot from thence with any reason conclude that it was at any time such a state of War of all men against all for if according to the first Hypothesis we suppose Mankind to be Eternal they were likewise from all Eternity propagated by distinct Families and divided into several Nations and Common-wealths as they are at this day But if it be objected that those distinct Nations or Commonwealths were always such from all Eternity Then it will likewise follow that they were also from all Eternity in the same state they now are that is not of War but Peace But we shall further shew the absurdity of that Supposition before we have concluded our Considerations upon this Head So on the other side if we proceed upon the Epicurean Hypothesis of Mankind's springing out of the Earth if we do not likewise suppose them to have been made like Game-Cocks or those Earth-born men I have already mentioned who presently fell a fighting and destroying each other without any Cause it will not do the business And therefore let us now with Mr. H. suppose these men being all made of equal strength both of body and mind it is plain that they must be at first in a state of Peace before they could ever fall together by the Ears so then the state of Peace was Prior in Nature to that of War and also more agreeable to Human Nature 2 dly Supposing these Earth-born men to have been all rational Creatures and equal in strength and cunning they would never have entered into a state of War and have fallen a cutting each others Throats without some just Cause or Provocation first given For if they were all equal every man would consider each of his Fellows as of a like ability with himself and that if he struck him first without any cause he would be as well able to resist and make his party good with him as he could be to hurt him the fear of which would have rather caused Peace than War Since whoever struck first could not be sure of the Victory And if any two should have fallen to Cuffs this could be no reason for all the rest to have also fallen together by the Ears since there was no cause why they should suppose a Will or Inclination in each other to War till they had expressed it by some outward signs so that this natural Equality among men and mutual fear of each other which Mr. H. supposes to be the chief causes of War would certainly have rather inclined these men to Peace But if we follow the Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures it is then certain That all Mankind being derived from one Man and one Woman their Children could never be in this state of war towards their Parents by Mr. H's own confession much less could the Parents ever be so unnatural towards their Children who were made out of their own Substance nor yet could the Brothers or Sisters who partake of the same Human Nature derived from their Common Parents and who were bred up together from their Infancy in a state of Peace and Amity be rationally supposed presently to have fallen together by the ears without any other cause or provocation given than Mr. Hs Passions of mutual distrust and desire of glory Therefore when after the Fall of Adam man's Nature was degenerated into that state we now find it wherein mens Passions I own do too often domineer over their Reason and that Cain through Malice and Envy slew his Brother as we read in Genesis Of this state of War as it is the first Example of man's Degeneracy so it is also of God's dislike and punishment of this cruel Sin of Murther which is indeed but the effect of this Author's state of War But I beg the Reader 's pardon if I have been too prolix in the confutation of this Principle this being the main foundation of all those Evil and False Opinions contained in this Author 's Moral and Political Works if therefore this is throughly destroyed all that is built upon it will fall of it self But since Mr. H. hath by his Supposition of certain Compacts or Covenants undertaken to shew a Method how men got out of this wretched state of War in which let us see whether his next Principle answers the Designs he proposes PRINCIPLE VIII § 1. That mutual Compacts of Fidelity in the State of Nature are void but not so in a Commonwealth WHich Principle he expresses and proves at large in his de Cive cap. in these words But those Covenants that are made by Contract where there is a mutual Trust neither party performing any thing presently in the state of Nature if any just Fear shall arise on either side are void For he who first performs because of the evil disposition of the greatest part of men only studying their own profit no matter whether by right or wrong betrays himself to the lust of him with whom he contracts For there is no reason that any man should perform first if it is not likely that the other will perform afterwards which whether it be likely or not he who fears must judge as it is shewn in the former Chapter Art 9. I say things are thus in the state of nature but in a Civil state where there is one who can compel them both he who by Contract is first to perform ought first to do it For since the other may be compelled the reason ceases for which he feared the other would not perform Which Principle is somewhat otherwise expressed in his Lev. chap. 14. which since it differs something from the other in the manner of expression I shall likewise give in you his own words If a Covenant be made wherein neither of the Parties perform presently but trust one another in the condition of mere nature which is a condition of War of every man against every man upon any reasonable supposition it is void but if there be a common Power set over them both with right and force sufficient to compel performance it is not void for he that performeth first hath no assurance the other will perform afterwards because the mere bonds of words are too weak to bridle mens Ambition Avarice Anger and other Passions without the fear of some coercive Power which in the condition of mere Nature where all men are equal and judges of the justness of their own fears cannot possibly be supposed and he which performs first doth but betray himself to his enemy contrary to the Right he can never abandon of defending his life and means of living § 2. You may now more plainly see the reason why he supposes in the foregoing Chapter That all Kings and persons of Soveraign Authority are always in a posture or state of War which he more plainly expresses in his de Cive chap. 10. §