only to discern the Reasonableness of all Vertue and Morality which is their Duty and Ornament as they are Men but also they may here see the true Foundations of Civil Government and Property which they are most obliged to understand because as Gentlemen they are born to the greatest Interest in them both I need add no more to give you Assurance that I freely consent to your Printing of this Book and am Your affectionate Friend Ric. Peterborough The Contents of the First Chapter A Brief Repetition of the Preface That the Law of Nature can only be learnt from the Knowledge of a God and from the Nature of Things and of Mankind in general § 1. A state of the Question between us and the Epicureans and Scepticks § 2. The method proposed in what manner we are to enquire into the Nature of things and of mankind in order to prove certain general Propositions that shall carry with them the Obligation of Natural Laws § 3. The Soul supposed to be rafa Tabula without any innate Idea's Our method proposed of considering God as the Cause of the World and all Things and humane Actions as subordinate causes and effects either hindring or promoting our common Happiness and Preservation § 4. All the Laws of Nature deduceable from hence as so many practical Propositions and all our observations or knowledge of it reduceable to one Proposition of the highest Benevolence of rational Beings towards each other as the summ of all the Laws of Nature and what is meant by this Benevolence § 5. What things are necessary to be known or supposed in order to the knowledge of this universal Benevolence § 6. The Connexion of the Terms of this Proposition proved and what is to be collected from thence The true happiness of single Persons inseparable from that of Mankind The general Causes of its Happiness to be considered in the first place § 7. Therefore no Man's particular Happiness can be opposed or preferred before the Happiness of all other rational Beings The contrary practice unreasonable and unjust § 8. Yet that this Proposition cannot be of sufficient efficacy till we have proposed the Common Good of Rationals for the great End of all our Actions § 9. The Effects of this Proposition not prejudiced by the ill use of Men's Free-wills § 10 11. By what steps and degrees the Knowledge of this Common Good comes to be conveyed into our minds from the nature of things § 12. First Natural Observation that in our free use and enjoyment of all the outward Necessaries of Life and in our mutual administring them to each other consists all men's happiness and preservation from whence also proceeds a Notion of the Common Good of Rationals § 13. That Men are able to contribute more to the good and happiness of those of their own kind than any other Creatures § 14. Nothing a surer help and defence to Mankind than the most sincere and diffusive Benevolence § 15. Nor any thing more destructive to it than their constant Malice and Ill-will § 16. That these Principles are as certain as any in Arithmetick and Geometry notwithstanding the supposition of Men's free-will § 17. Yet that they are only Laws as proceeding from God the first Cause and as establish'd with fit Rewards and Punishments § 18. That from these natural and general Observations we attain to a true knowledge of the Causes of all Men's happiness and that by the Laws of Matter and Motion these Causes act as certainly as any other § 19,20 Hence arises a true notion of things naturally and unalterably good or evil § 21. That Men's natural Powers and the things necessary for life can neither be exerted nor made use of contrary to the known rules of Matter and Motion § 22. Some Conclusions deduceable from hence as that we chiefly concern our selves about those things and actions that are in our Powers § 23. No man self-sufficient to procure all things necessary for his own preservation and happiness and therefore needs the good-will and assistance of others § 24. None of these necessaries for Life can produce the Ends design'd but as they are appropriated to Man's particular uses and necessities for the time they make use of them § 25. From whence arises the Right of Occupancy or Possession which may be exercised even during a natural Community of most things § 26. That as this natural Division and Propriety in things is necessary to the preservation of particular Persons so it is also of Mankind considered as an aggregate Body § 27. That these Principles destroy Mr. H's Hypothesis of the Right of all Men to all things in the state of nature § 28. The necessity of a farther Division and Appropriation of things now Mankind is multiplyed on the Earth § 29. No Man hath a Right to any thing any farther than as it conduces or at least consists with the common good of rational Beings § 30. The knowledge of these natural Causes and Effects alike certain in a natural as civil State with a brief Recapitulation of the Grounds and Arguments insisted on in this Chapter § 31. The Contents of the Second Chapter MAN to be considered as a natural Body as an Animal and also as a rational Creature Some Observations from the first of these Considerations as that humane Bodies and Actions are subject to the same Laws of Matter and Motion with other things § 1 2. No Actions or Motions more conducive to Man's happiness than what proceed from the most diffusive Benevolence § 3. Mankind considered as a System of natural Bodies doth not make any considerable difference between them when considered as voluntary Agents endued with sense but that they rather act more powerfully thereby § 4. Men's greatest security from Evils and hopes of obtaining Good depends upon the good-will and voluntary Assistance of others § 5. Several natural Conclusions drawn from these Observations § 6. The like being found true in animate as well as inanimate Bodies will make us more sollicitous towards the general good of those of our own kind § 7. That loving or benevolent Actions towards each other constitute the happiest state we can enjoy and also it is ordained by a concourse of Causes that all rational Beings should be sensible of these Indications § 8. This proved from several natural Observations as 1. That the bulk of the Bodies of Animals being but narrow the things necessary for their preservation can be but few and most of them communicable to many at once and so requires a limited self-love consistent with the safety and happiness of others § 9. 2. That Creatures of the same kind cannot but be moved to the like affections towards others as towards themselves from the sense of the similitude of their natures § 10. Animals do never deviate from this natural state but when they are seized with some preternatural Disease or Passion which as oft as it happens are absolutely destructive to
that of all others though such cases being Indefinite cannot be certainly or distinctly known § 8. But indeed the care of any particular Persons or a few Men's happiness is rendred useless for the present nor can be hoped for the future if it is sought by opposing or postponing the happiness of all other Rationals because the mind being thus affected a main and essential part of its own felicity must needs still be wanting viz. That inward Peace of Conscience proceeding from a solid Reason and true Prudence always constant and agreeable to it self For whilst such a Person resolves to act by one rule towards himself and by another towards all others who are of the same Nature and therefore need and require the same things with himself he must needs contradict his own Reason and so wants that true Joy and Satisfaction constantly springing in the mind of a Just Benevolent and Good-natur'd Person from the sense of another's good and happiness when promoted or procured by himself So that it is impossible for any Man to be truly happy who not only neglects the necessary causes thereof God and all other Men on whose Help and Assistance his true Happiness and Well-being wholly depends but also provokes them to his certain ruine and destruction so that there is no surer way which can bring any Man to the attaining his own particular Happiness but that which leads him also to endeavour the Common Good of all other men as well as his own § 9. But I here acknowledge that this Proposition concerning Universal Benevolence cannot be of sufficient efficacy for the due ordering our Actions and correcting our Manners until we have first propos'd to our selves this Common Good of Rational Beings viz. Our own Felicity in conjunction with that of others as our main end and that we are convinced that the various Acts contain'd under this general Love or Benevolence are the only true means to procure it The truth of which Proposition is in the first place to be made manifest to us in the next all those other Propositions that can be deduced from thence such as are those less general ones which determine concerning the Natural Power of Fidelity Gratitude Paternal and Filial Affection as also of all other particular Vertues necessary for the obtaining any part of this humane Felicity for as well the whole truth of this Proposition as of all those which follow from thence depend upon the Natural and Necessary Power of such Actions as real Causes producing such Effects § 10. And though perhaps it may at first sight seem to detract from their certainty that they depend upon such an uncertain Cause as Man's Will Yet however it suffices for their truth and certainty that whenever such voluntary Causes shall exert themselves such Effects will certainly be produced Thus in Arithmetick we freely Add and Subtract that is we can choose whether we will perform those Operations or not but if we reckon truly we shall always find the Total equal to all the particulars either Added or Subtracted And there is a like certain and true Connexion between all the Causes and Effects which can be known in any other Science And this I have likewise imitated in this Treatise of Moral Philosophy by reducing all the parts of which it consists to this one Head or Summ viz. Love or Benevolence which Idea I shall improve by enquiring into its several Kinds and shewing the necessary Connexion of this or that particular Action with the Common Good of Rationals which ought to be the great end sought for by us § 11. But since our voluntary Actions alone can be govern'd by Reason and those only which concern intelligent Agents are to be considered in Morals it is evident that from none of all these Actions we can frame a higher or more comprehensive Idea than this of Universal Benevolence which comprehends the willing and endeavouring of all good things and the removal or hindring of all evil ones from those Objects about which it is conversant And this Benevolence extends its self to all Moral Actions as well those of considering and comparing divers goods with each other as of inquiring into the means by which they may be produced nor is it more certainly true that the Addition of several numbers makes a Summ Total than that this Benevolence produces a general good effect to all those towards whom we exert it Thus it is as certain that Piety Fidelity Gratitude paternal and conjugal Affection together with filial Duty make up the chief and constituent parts of this Benevolence as that Addition Substraction Multiplication and Division are several parts of Arithmetick so that it is no material Objection That this Universal Benevolence may be prejudiced or lessened by the wickedness or ill-nature of Men. So that the great end or Summ of the Law of Nature cannot be thereby generally obtain'd as it ought any more than it is an Objection against the certainty or usefulness of Arithmetick or Geometry that some Men should through Lazyness and Inadvertency altogether neglect their Rules or make false Conclusions from those Sciences or should through Ignorance or prejudice deny their certainty So likewise it is in the Science of Morality as contain'd in the Law of Nature which is chiefly imploy'd in weighing and taking a true account of those humane Powers that contribute to the Common Good of Rational Beings which since they may vary somewhat in so great a variety of possible Cases he may be said and that deservedly to have well performed this task who first affirms in general that all those Powers are comprehended under the most general and diffusive Benevolence though he may be able afterwards more particularly to demonstrate that a just division of things Fidelity Gratitude and all the other vertues are contain'd under it and also shew in what Cases they become useful to this end by which means Religion and humane Society with all other things which may render Men's lives happy and safe will be certainly improved and advanced And herein consists the Solution of that most useful Problem concerning the Common good of Rationals procur'd by the most diffusive Benevolence which Moral Philosophy teaches us to search after Nor is the truth or authority of such Precepts at all prejudic'd or diminisht though very many Persons will not obey them or will set themselves to oppose them since this only can be the consequence of it That they will thereby lose their own happiness and perhaps may draw others by their false reasons into the same misery and so I doubt not on the other side but that Men would think themselves oblig'd to perform all the Acts that constitute this Benevolence if they were but once convinced that so great and noble an end as the Common Good of Rational Beings and in which their own happiness is likewise contained will be certainly procured thereby and cannot be had by any other or contrary means
§ 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
Occupancy or Possession since it is evident That this more exact Property or Dominion consisting in a stricter and more limitted use of these Things hath a greater efficacy in order to the Happiness and Preservation of that Nation or part of Mankind which have thus agreed to it than the bare Occupancy or Possession of these Things had before such a Division made or agreed upon nor can it now be altered however perhaps hard and unequal it may prove to some particular Persons since it will always conduce to the Happiness and Tranquility of each particular Civil Society or Commonweal that it should continue as it doth than it should be still altered according to every Man 's particular Fancy or Interest since such a Change can never be made without inconceivable Discontents and Civil Dissentions which would quickly end in open Violence and Hostility § 30. So that from these Principles here laid down there is no Right conferred upon any Man of doing whatever his own wild Fancy or unbounded Appetite may prompt him to but only what he shall according to right Reason truly judge necessary to his own or Family's Happiness and Preservation in order to the Common Good of Mankind Therefore I here desire you to take notice that whatever Right we enjoy even to the things most necessary for our Preservation it is founded if not in the Precept yet at least permission of this great Law of Nature of endeavouring the Common Good of Rational Beings when we truly judge according to the Nature of things concerning the means necessary and conducing to this great End so that it can never be proved that any one hath a right of Preserving himself unless it be first made out how this Right of Self-preservation conduces to or at least consists with this Common Good Since no Rational Man can ever believe that God intended the Preservation much less the Sensual Pleasures of any one Man as the Sole End of His Creation Which Principle being once established as the Foundation and Original of all the Natural or Civil Rights we enjoy our own natural Powers and Rights will appear so limitted thereby that we cannot without injury and injustice violate or invade the Rights of others much less break out into open War against them without just Cause nay all those Arguments by which any one Man can assume a Right to Preserve himself by the Law of Nature will likewise be of the same force to prove that he ought to Preserve others also and that it can never become lawful for us in any State to rob Innocent Persons of what is necessary for their Well-being and Preservation but rather on the contrary that all Men's natural Rights should be secured from the mischiefs of unreasonable Violence and War and Contention which natural Security in a Civil State or Commonweal is highly improved and encreased by the Assistance of Humane Skill and Industry according to the established Laws of Property or Dominion § 31. I have spoken thus much concerning the necessary Connexion between the particular Actions above mentioned and the Common Good of Mankind that by considering their relation to this Great End the Nature of all Humane Actions may more certainly be known and predetermined Since the Dependance of natural Effects on their Causes are absolutely necessary and immutable for as well in the state of Nature or Community as of Civil Society or separate Property those Humane Actions which cause or procure that the minds of all other Persons should not be prejudiced by Errors Lyes or Perfidiousness nor their Bodies hurt nor their Lives Goods Fames and Chastities violated or taken away and also by which a grateful return is rendred to those that have done us good or in short all those Actions by which the true happiness of any one Man or more is procured without injury to others as they always were so they ever will be the certain Causes of the Common Good and Happiness of Mankind and are therefore distinguished by the Titles of moral Vertues as I shall more at large demonstrate in this Discourse when I come to shew how all moral Vertues are derived from and at last resolved into this Principle of the Common Good of Rational Beings But least the variousness of the Observations treated of in this Chapter and their Independance upon each other should render them perplext and consequently unconvincing to Common Readers who may not be able to carry so long a train of consequences in their minds I shall contract what hath been now said into these few plain Propositions 1. That though all particular men are mortal and but of a short duration yet that God hath still preserved mankind without any sensible failure or decay 2. That in Order to this God hath made man to be propagated by Generation and also to be preserved by divers outward means which we call necessaries of Life 3. That these Natural means can no way answer this End but as they are allowed or appropriated to the uses and occasions of particular Persons during the time they stand in need of them and so cannot at the same time answer the different or contrary desires and necessities of divers men endeavouring to use these things after contrary or different manner 4. That the taking away those necessaries of Life which another is rightly possessed of doth not only cause the ruine and destruction of that Person and his Family who were thus possessed of them but by causing a perpetual strife among Mankind will render these things uncapable of being made use of at all for their Common Good and Preservation 5. That such a Strife if prosecuted to the utmost will certainly end in the destruction not only of particular Persons and Nations but of all mankind contrary to God's design 6. From all which we may Rationally collect that God designs the Preservation and Happiness of Mankind as also of all Individual Persons as parts of it as far as their frail and mortal Natures will permit and in subordination to the good of the whole body thereof 7. That therefore there are no surer means to procure this great End of the Common Good of Mankind than an Universal Benevolence towards Rational Beings consisting First in Divine Love or Piety towards God and in Respect of Men not only in permitting each other quietly to enjoy all the necessaries of Life but also in making a settled division of them to others so as to be appropriated to several mens uses or occasions which dictates being given us by God as a rule of all our moral Actions in the exercise of which is contained our truest Happiness as in its violation our greatest Misery is therefore truly and properly a Law and indeed the Summ of all the Laws of Nature CHAP. II. Observations and Conclusions drawn from the consideration of Humane Nature and Right Reason as also from the Nature of God § 1. HAving in the former Chapter drawn such easie
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
glad if any of Mr. H's Disciples could shew us any sufficient Reason for that Opinion § 17. So that these things which I have now laid down concerning the Natural means of Men's happiness do appear so evident from our common Reason and daily Experience that they are of like certainty with the Principles of Arithmetick and Geometry in all whose Operations there are still supposed certain Acts depending upon our free humane Faculties and yet neither of these Sciences are rendred the more uncertain from the supposition of Men's Free-will whether they will draw Lines or cast up Sums or not since it suffices for their truth and certainty that there is an inseparable Connexion between such Acts which are supposed to be in our Power to exert and all the effects sought for To the finding of which both the pleasure annexed to their Contemplation and the various uses of Humane Life do at once invite us And in the like manner the truth of all Moral Knowledge is founded in the Immutable Coherence between the highest Felicity which Humane Power can attain to with those Acts of universal Benevolence that is of Love towards God and Men and which exerts it self in all the particular moral Vertues yet in the mean time these two things are still supposed That Men desire and seek the highest Felicity they are capable of and also That they are able to exercise this Benevolence not only towards themselves but God and Men as partakers with them of the same Rational or Intelligent Nature This I have thought fit to add to prevent all those Cavils which Mr. H's Disciples are used to make against Morality from the necessity of our Wills § 18. But before I proceed farther to inquire into the Nature of things I desire you to remember what I have already hinted in the Introduction to this Discourse That this truth concerning the efficacy of Universal Benevolence for the Preservation and Happiness of Rational Beings as also all other Propositions alike evident and contained under it do all proceed from God as the first Cause and Ordainer of all things and consequently of our Humane Understanding and of all truths therein contained And since these Rules drawn from the Natures of things tend to the procuring God's End and Design viz. The Preservation and Happiness of Mankind and also that it hath pleased Him to annex certain natural Rewards to the Observation of these Dictates of Reason and Punishments to their Transgression so that they thereby becoming apt and sufficient for the due ordering of our Thoughts and governing our Actions towards God our selves and all others as I shall farther make out in this Discourse I see nothing wanting to give it the Essence and Vigour of a Law And I shall farther shew before I have done that under this general Rule of endeavouring the Common Good of Rational Beings or Universal Benevolence is contained Piety towards God and the highest Good-will or Charity towards Men and is the Summ both of the Moral Law of Moses and of the Gospel of our Saviour Iesus Christ. § 19. These Things being thus proposed in general I come now more particularly to shew that a due Observation and Knowledge of these natural Things without us will truly and clearly teach us what Operations or Motions of them are good or evil for all other Men as well as our selves and also shew us how necessarily and unalterably all these Things are produced for Natural Knowledge searches into the true Causes of that Generation and Corruption which daily happens to all Natural Bodies and especially to Men and so can demonstrate the necessary coherence of these Effects with their Causes and therefore those Causes that help to generate or preserve Men and that make them live happily in this Life are Natural Goods as the Causes of their Misery and Dissolution are Natural Evils And it then as plainly follows That by this Knowledge we can as certainly demonstrate and foretell what Things are naturally Good or Evil for all Mankind as for any single Person § 20. Therefore we may truly conclude That the Knowledge of all these Effects which either Nature or Humane Industry can produce for Men's Food Clothing Habitation and Medicine is part of this Natural Knowledge To which we may also add the understanding of all other Humane Operations and of the Effects proceeding from thence for the Uses of Humane Life For although the voluntary Actions of Men as they exert themselves towards Things without them do not work exactly after the same manner as meer Mechanick Motions viz. from the Pulsion or Motion of other Bodies but either from their Reasons or Wills yet since all the outward Motions we exert receive their Measure and Force from the Natural Powers of Humane Bodies which are of the same Nature with others and so must perform their Natural Functions as they are regulated by the necessary Laws of Matter and Motion much after the same manner as other Natural Motions it is evident that these voluntary Actions whenever they are thus exerted are regulated by the same Natural Laws And it is commonly known how much Men's Industry by the various Motions of their Bodies which a Philosopher can easily resolve into mechanick ones does contribute to their own and other Men's Preservation by providing and administring Victuals Cloths Physick Houses c. In performing which Effects Men's Strength and Skill in Husbandry Building Navigation and other manual Trades are chiefly employ'd Nor are the Liberal Arts absolutely free from these Laws of Motion since by the help of certain sensible Signs and articulate Notes or Marks as Words Letters or Cyphers the Minds of Men come to be endued with Knowledge and directed in most of their Civil and Moral Duties I have only thought fit to hint thus much concerning Humane Actions considered as meer Natural Things existing without us but I shall treat more fully of them in the next Chapter when I come to treat of the Nature of Man considered as a voluntary Agent § 21. Hence it plainly appears That all these Natural Things and the mutual Helps by which they are procured may be certainly known and foreseen by us to be naturally and unalterably Good that is tending to the Preservation and Happiness of Mankind And for the same Reason all those contrary Causes or Motions by which Men's Bodies are weakened or destroyed by lessening or taking away the Necessaries and Conveniences of Life such as Food Rayment Liberty Quiet c. And also those Actions by which Vertue and Knowledge may be rooted out of Men's Minds and Errours and unbridled Passions destructive to the Common Good of Mankind introduced into their Rooms are necessarily and in their own Nature Evil. Therefore when we determine of Natural Goods or Evils according to the Law of Nature we are not only to consider the Preservation of a few particular Persons since the Punishment nay Death of these may often conduce to the Common Good
Example than Nature I desire them to shew me any Nation in the World so barbarous that doth not go upon two Legs as well as we And though Children 't is true before they can go must crawl yet it is not upon their Hands and Feet but Knees For a Man's Legs as is notorious to Anatomists are so much longer than his Arms and are likewise so set on that they cannot be brought to move in Right-Angles with the Arms or Fore-legs as in Brutes And though I grant that some Beasts as Apes Monkeys and Bears can sometimes go upon their Hind-feet yet is not this constant but as soon as the present Necessity is over they soon return to their natural posture To conclude I think I may leave it to any indifferent Reader to judge whether from all these natural Observations from the Frame of Humane Bodies and the Nature of their Passions it doth not evidently appear That Man's Happiness and Subsistence in this Life was not designed by GOD to depend upon his own particular sensual Pleasure or the meer satisfaction of his present Appetites and Passions restrained to himself without any Consideration of others of his own Kind but was rather intended for the Common Good and Preservation of the whole Species of Mankind § 20. Having now dispatched those natural Observations that may be drawn from the Constitution or Frame of Man's Body in order to the rendring him capable of serving the Common Good in the propagation of his Species I shall proceed to the next Head before laid down viz. those Excellencies or Prerogatives of the Humane Soul or Mind and in which he excels all other Creatures And in the first place Mr. H. very well observes That it is peculiar to the Nature of Man to be inquisitive into the Causes of the Events they see and that upon the sight of any thing that hath a beginning to judge also that it had a Cause which determined the same to begin when it did And also whereas there is no other Felicity amongst Beasts but the enjoying their daily Food Ease and Lust as having little or no foresight of the time to come for want of Observation and Memory of the Order Consequence and Dependance of the Things they see Man alone observes how one Event hath been produced by another and therein remembers the Antecedence and Consequence Whence he certainly must be endued with a larger Capacity for observing the natures of Things without himself and is also able to make more curious and exact Searches into their Causes and Effects than the most sagacious Brutes who though they are endued with some few Appetites or Inclinations towards those Things that are necessary for their Preservation and an Aversion for others that are hurtful to them yet this seems to proceed from some natural instinct or impression stampt by GOD on their very Natures and not from Reason or Deliberation As young Wild-Ducks they say will run away from a Man as soon as they are hatch'd and Chickens know the Kite though they never saw her before and this not from any Experience or Rational Deduction But as for Man it is his Faculty alone to proceed from some known Principles to draw Rational Deductions or Conclusions which were not known before The exercise of which Faculty we call Right Reason or Ratiocination which though I grant is not born with him and so is not a Property belonging to him as a meer Animal since we see Children 'till they come to some Years and Fools and mad Folks act without it so long as they live yet is it not therefore Artificial as some would have it since all Persons of Years of Discretion and who will give themselves leisure to think may attain to a sufficient degree of it for the well-Government of their Actions in order to their own Preservation and the discovering that Duty they owe to GOD and the rest of Mankind Which Notions being peculiar to Man and also common to the greater part of Mankind either from Men's own particular Observations or Rational Deductions or else from the Instructions of others who themselves first found out such Rational Conclusions and taught them to their Children or Scholars with their first Elements of Speech come in process of time having forgot when those early Notions were first instill'd into them to be taken for connate Idea's So that I doubt they have been by too many who have not well considered their Original mistaken for Idea's or Notions impressed by GOD upon their Souls But leaving this of which others have said enough it cannot be denied but that from this Faculty of deducing Effects from their Causes Man hath been always able to find out sufficient Remedies for his own natural Weakness by the Invention of several Arts such as Physick and Chyrurgery for his Preservation and Cure when sick or hurt And also those of a more publick Nature such are the Knowledge of Policies or the well-Government of Common-weals of Navigation Warfare or the Art Military for his Happiness and defence as a Sociable Creature So that though Man is born naked and without those natural defences and Weapons with which divers Brutes are furnished by Nature yet by the power of this Faculty he is able not only much better to secure himself from the violence and injury of the Weather by providing himself with Cloths Houses and Victuals before-hand since Nature hath not made him to live like Beasts upon those Fruits of the Earth which it spontaneously produces but can also tame subdue and kill the strongest fiercest and cunningest Brutes and make them subservient to those Ends and Designs for which he pleases to employ them So likewise from this Faculty of Judging of Consequences from their Antecedents and foreseeing the Probability or Improbability of future Events he thereby distinguishes between real and apparent Goods that is between such Things that may please for the present and do afterwards hurt him and those which though they may seem displeasing for a time yet may after do him a greater Benefit which Principles since they contain Foundations of all Morality and the Laws of Nature which we now treat of it will not be amiss here particularly to set down as the Grounds of what I have to say on this Subject § 21. First It hath been already proved That every Animal is endued with a Natural Principle whereby it is necessarily inclined to promote his own Preservation and Well-being yet not excluding that of others of their own Kind that therefore which most conduces to this end is called a natural Good and on the contrary that which is apt to obstruct and hinder it is evil Among which Goods and Evils there are several kinds or degrees according as Things are endued with more or less fitness or power to promote or hinder this End All which may be reduced to these plain Maxims or Propositions as I have taken them out of Dr. Moor's Enchiridion
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
not but you will find in the Body of this Discourse that it hath all things necessary to render it so viz. God considered as a Legislator and his Will or Commands sufficiently declared to us as a Law from the very constitution of our Natures as also of other things without us and likewise established by sufficient Rewards and Punishments both in this life and the next neither do we suppose it can be more evidently proved that God is the Author of all things than that he is also the Author of this Proposition concerning the common good of rational Beings or concerning his own Honour and Worship conjoyned with the common Good of mankind And tho' I confess we have been more exact and have dwelt longer upon the Rewards that we may expect from the observation of this Law than upon the Punishments which are appointed for the breach of it and tho' I know the Civilians have rather placed the Sanction of Civil Laws in Punishments than Rewards yet I hope we have not offended tho' we a little deviate from their Sense and make it part of the Sanction of this Law that it is established by Rewards as well as Punishments since it seems more agreeable to the Nature of things whose foot-steps are strictly to be followed to consider the positive Idea's of Causes and Effects in our minds and which do not receive either Negations or Privations by our outward Senses and our Affections ought rather to be moved by the Love or Hopes of a present or future Good than by the Fear or hatred of the contrary Evil For as no man is said to Love Life Health and those grateful motions of the Nerves or Spirits which are called corporeal Pleasures because he may avoid Death Sickness or Pain but rather from their own intrinsick Goodness or Agreeableness with our humane Natures so likewise no rational Man desires the Perfections of the mind to wit the more ample and distinct knowledge of the most noble Objects the most happy State of rational Beings can only give him and all this not only that he may avoid the mischiefs of Ignorance Envy and Malevolence but because of that great Happiness which he finds by experience to spring from such vertuous Actions and Habits and which render it most ungrateful to us to be deprived of them and so the Causes also of such Privations are judg'd highly grievous and troublesome From whence it also appears that even Civil Laws themselves when they are established by Punishments e. g. by the fear of Death or loss of Goods if we consider the thing truly do indeed force men to yield obedience to them from the love of Life or Riches which they find can only be preserved by their observation So that the avoiding of Death and Poverty is but in other words love of Life and Riches as he who by two Negatives would say he would not want Life means no more but that he desires to enjoy it To which we may likewise add that Civil Laws themselves ought to be considered from the end which the Law-makers regard in making them as also which all good Subjects design in observing them to wit the publick Good of the Commonwealth part of which is communicated to all of them in particular and so brings with it a natural Reward of their obedience rather than from the Punishments they threaten by whose fear some only are deterred from violating them and those of the worst and most wicked sort of Men. But tho' we have shewn that the Sum of all the Precepts or Laws of Nature as also of the Sanctions annexed to them are briefly contained in this Proposition yet it s Subject is still but an endeavour to the utmost of our Power of the common Good of the whole System of rational Beings this limitation of the utmost of our Power implies that we do not think our selves capable of adding any thing to the Divine Perfections which we willingly acknowledge to be beyond our Power So that here is at once exprest both our Love towards God and Good will to mankind who are the constituent parts of this System But the Predicate of this Proposition is that which conduces to the good of all its singular Parts or Members and in which our own Happiness is contained as one part thereof Since all those good things which we can do for others are but the Effects of this endeavour so that the Sum of all those Goods of which also our own Felicity consists can never be mist of either in this Life or a better as the Reward of our obedience thereunto So to the contrary Actions Misery in this Life or in that to come are the Punishments naturally due But the Connexion of the Predicate with the Subject is both the Foundation of the truth of this Proposition and also a Demonstration of the natural Connexion between this obedience and the Rewards as also between the Transgression and the Punishments From whence the Readers will easily observe the true Reason for which this practical Proposition and all others which may be drawn from thence do oblige all rational Creatures to know and understand it whilst other Propositions suppose Geometrical ones tho' found out by right Reason and so are Truths proceeding from God himself yet do not oblige men to any Act or Practice pursuant to them but may be safely neglected by most Men to whom the Science of Geometry may not be necessary whereas the Effects of the endeavour of the common Good do intimately concern the Happiness of all mankind upon whose joynt or concurrent Wills and Endeavours every single mans Happiness doth after some sort depend so that this Endeavour can by no means be neglected without endangering the losing all those hopes of Happiness which God hath made known to us from our own Nature and the Nature of things and so hath sufficiently declared the Connexion of Rewards and Punishments with all our Moral Actions from whose Authority as well this general Proposition as all others which are contained in it must be understood to become Laws So that from the terms of this Proposition it is apparent that the adequate and immediate effect of our thus acting and concerning which this Law is established is whatever is grateful to God and beneficial to Men that is the natural Good of all the parts of the whole System of rational Beings Nay further is the greatest of all Goods which we can imagine or perform for them since it is greater than the like good of any particular part or Member of the same System And farther it is thereby sufficiently declared that the Felicity of particular Persons is derived from this happy State of the whole System as the Nutrition of any one Member of an Animal is produced by a due Distribution of the whole Mass of Blood diffused through all the parts of the Body From whence it appears that this Effect must needs be the best since it
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
their natures § 11. All Creatures express a delight in the society of others of the same kind some cases or intervals wherein Nature seems to act otherwise no contradiction to this general Rule § 12. All Animals impelled by the natural Constitution of their parts to a Love of those of a different Sex and to a natural Affection to their Offspring § 13. All Animals take delight in the sweeter Passions of Love Ioy Desire c. as helpfull to their natural Constitution whereas the contrary Passions when inordinate are highly destructive to it § 14. Mr. H. cannot deny these natural Propensions and therefore is forced to suppose somewhat in Man's nature that renders him more unsociable than Brutes § 15. Other peculiar Observations relating to Man whereby he is made more capable of promoting the common good as first from the greater quantity of Brains in Men than in Brutes § 16. 2. From the natural Constitution of their Bloud and Spermatick Vessels from whence arises a Necessity of Marriage and of a more constant and lasting Love to their Offspring § 17. 3. From the wonderfull structure of Men's hands it is proved that this Instrument was given us for some more noble use than bare self-preservation § 18. Lastly From the upright posture of Men's bodies and way of motion § 19. The next Set of Observations tending to prove Men more fitted for the promoting of this common good is taken from the natural and peculiar faculties of Men's Souls above those of Brutes And 1. from that of deducing effects from their Causes and vice versa especially in that of distinguishing of real or natural from apparent Goods § 20. What is understood by us by a natural or moral Good or Evil. Certain Axioms for the plainer understanding their Nature and Degrees § 21. How we arrive to an Idea of a species or kind of Creatures and also to a notion of the general or common good of Mankind § 22. Speech and the Invention of Letters peculiar faculties of Man's nature § 23. And the great Benefits arising from thence in order to the common good § 24. Men do infinitely exceed Beasts in their discursive Faculties as also in the knowledge and use of Numbers § 25. As also in the Power of Vnderstanding the different Quantities and Proportions between Bodies which we call Geometry § 26. The two great remaining Prerogatives of humane Souls Freedom of Will as to moral Actions and the Knowledge of a God § 27 28. What knowledge we can have of his Attributes which can never be truly understood but with respect to their great End the Prosecution of the common good of the Vniverse § 29. The Contents of the Third Chapter A Brief recapitulation of the former Chapters and a summing up all those Observations into a general Proposition of God's Willing and Commanding the Common Good of rational Beings as the main End of all our Actions § 1. A brief Explanation of the Terms of our Description of the Law of Nature and that words are not always essential to Laws § 2. That all moral Truths or Duties as declared by God are contained in this one Proposition of Endeavouring the common good certain Principles laid down for the proving it § 3 4 5 6. That this being once discovered to us we lie under a sufficient Obligation to observe this Proposition as a natural Law with the Explanation of the Term Obligation and who hath Authority to oblige us § 7 8 9. Yet that this Obligation may well consist with the freedom of our wills the difference between a mere animal and a rational or natural Good the neglect of which distinction is the Cause of Epicurus and Mr. H's Errors § 10. The last part of the Obligation to this Law viz. its Sanction by Rewards and Punishments certain Axioms necessary to be known in order to the right understanding the true nature of a moral Good or Evil and of Man's true happiness and perfection with its difference from that of other Beings § 11. That though all moral Obligation does not consist in Rewards or Punishments Yet that by reason of the weakness of humane Nature it is insignificant without them with a Scale of Nature shewing the difference between Vegetables and inanimate Bodies and between Men and Brutes § 12. The strictest Sanction and consequently Obligation to all Laws consists in Rewards and Punishments duly distributed God's right of Dominion not to be resolved into his irresistible Power § 13. The internal Rewards ordained by God in Nature are first the inward satisfaction of the Soul and also the pleasure all men take in the exercise of the sweeter passions of Love c. § 14 15. The external Rewards are all the like returns of this Benevolence from others with the praise or commendation of all good men together with the peace and protection of the civil Government § 16 17. Lastly from God Soundness of mind and body with all those outward blessings he usually bestows on the peaceable and vertuous with a Solution to the difficulty why God often afflicts Good men § 18. The internal Punishments ordained by God for the transgression of this Law are the absence or privation of the former good things which is an Evil and a Punishment § 19. Errour and being governed by the Passions a real Evil and an internal Punishment § 20. 3. That such evil Actions cannot but be often displeasing to the Person that doth them § 21. 4. That Vices and Crimes seldom come alone but let in a train of others of the same kind or worse along with them § 22. 5. That such an Offender cannot get out of this state when he will at least not without the trouble of Repentance § 23. 6. The fear of Punishment both from God and Man § 24. The external Punishments are 1. The Evils thot happen to the body from violent and unsociable Passions § 25. The 2d Those returns of hatred or contempt which all such men must expect from others § 26. The 3d. Returns of revenge from those they have injured § 27. Lastly Those Punishments which are often inflicted by the civil Powers all which natural Punishments Mr. H. himself acknowledges to be ordained by God § 28. That where these Punishments fail in this Life they will be supplied by others infinitely more grievous and durable in that to come § 29. A brief recapitulation of this Chapter that this Proposition of our Endeavouring the common good c. is truly a Law as containing all the Conditions requisite thereunto § 30. The Contents of the Fourth Chapter A Brief repetition of what hath been said in the first Chapter That no man can have a right to preserve his own Life but as it conduces to the common good c. That in all Societies the good of the lesser part must give place and be subordinate to that of the greater § 1. That a due consideration of this Law will lead us to a
knowledge of the reason and grounds of all the particular Laws of nature § 2. And also that all moral Vertues are contained under this one Law of endeavouring the common good That Prudence is nothing but the knowledge of our duty in order to the graet End the Common Good as Constancy in the prosecution of it is therefore true fortitude § 3. That Temperance or Moderation in all corporeal Pleasures is no otherwise a Vertue than as it conduces to the happiness and preservation of Mankind That under Love and Benevolence are contained the Vertues of Innocence Meekness c. § 4 5. Equity a Vertue as it promotes the common good of mankind § 6. The same proved likewise of Iustice since nothing can be called ours either by natural or civil Laws but as it conduces to this great End and a natural and civil Property necessary thereunto the one in a natural state the other in a civil society § 7. From Property arises the necessity of Contracts Promises Gifts c. all which are still to be governed by this great Law § 8. From this natural Property arises the Vertue of Moderation setting bounds to inordinate self-love in order to the common good Frugality no otherwise a Vertue than as it renders us not burthensome not injurious to others § 9. The natural Love of Parents to their Children to be exercised and limitted with respect to the common good § 10. All the rest of the moral Vertues such as Temperance Frugality c. more particularly explained to proceed from the same original and not to be understood without it § 11. The same more particularly applyed and made out in every particular Vertue which constitutes Iustice § 12. All the homolitical Vertues i. e. such as respect conversation or the due use of speech explained after the same manner with a like respect to the common good § 13 14 15. Self-love and Self-preservation only lawfull in order to this End § 16. Some farther Explanations of the nature of Temperance and wherein it consists § 17. That part of it called Chastity a Vertue only as it tends to the good and propagation of mankind § 18. Another part of it viz. Modesty in seeking of riches honour c. Vertues only as they limit our self-love from pretending to more than we have need of or deserve in order to the common good § 19. That a regard to this great Rule runs through all the moral Vertues which are all of them contained under the most diffusive Benevolence towards rational Beings § 20. Right Reason explained to be only a due consideration of this End in all moral actions towards God or Men and that the knowledge of these moral rules is as certain as that of the knowledge of any other natural causes and effects concerning the preservation of Animals § 21. And that from their true understanding proceeds all the certainty we can have of natural Laws notwithstanding there may be a sufficient latitude left us for indifferent actions § 22. The Common Good as it is a collection of all other goods so it is a true standard or measure of them as shewing what goods are to be sought for or desired before others § 23. It is only to be learnt from hence what degrees of passions or affections are lawfull that is consistent with the Common Good and consequently thereby to judge of the several degrees and proportions of goodness and happiness § 24. Piety towards God a Vertue as it conduces to the common good and happiness of rational Beings § 25. Nothing a Good but as it contributes to this great End § 26. The reason of this disquisition into the true grounds of Good and Evil as being that which makes all moral Philosophy a practical Science and not merely speculative like that of the Stoicks § 27. A brief Conclusion out of Dr. Parker's Demonstration of the Laws of Nature § 28. The Contents of the Fifth Chapter THE Objections of two sorts of Men Platonists and Epicureans against this Notion of the Common Good the Objections of the former to be first considered their first Objection That it is more suitable to God's goodness to imprint certain Innate Idea's of good and evil on our minds § 1. Answer thereunto out of Mr. Lock 's Essay c. § 2. A farther Answer from St. Paul That the visible things of the Creation are a sufficient proof of the Being of a God and of the Laws of Nature § 3. The laboriousness of our Method no material Objection § 4. An explicit Idea of this Common Good not always necessary to its observation § 5. Another Objection against our Method That it makes every man's obligation to endeavour this Common Good to arise from its being chiefly good to himself Answer That this if it be considered will prove a mistake though I grant our Obligation to it as a Law cannot extend farther than as it concerns our happiness or misery § 6 7. A Reply to the Objections of the Epicureans The first Objection That it seems not suitable to God's goodness c. to permit this great End of the Common Good to depend upon the unreasonable Passions and Lusts of mankind Answ. That God intended Man for a voluntary Creature to be moved by moral Evil as well as Good and that God notwithstanding all this restrains his Actions by his infinite Power and Providence § 8 9. Second Objection If this Law of Nature is so easie to be known how comes it to pass that so many Nations seem wholly ignorant of it many living without any knowledge of a God or of a moral Good or Evil § 10. Answer This Objection is of no more weight against the Certainty of this Law than it is against that of Arithmetick and Geometry but that if they are guilty of this ignorance it proceeds either from the Loss of the Tradition of the Creation or else from want of time or opportunities to consider these things § 11. Men's not making a due use of their faculties in discovering these Truths no objection against their certainty § 12. The last Objection That this Notion of the Common Good is a mere Platonick Idea without any reality in Nature § 13. This Objection in vain if it be considered That this Notion of the Common Good is made up of particulars and that from thence arises an Idea of a common or general Good which though a complex one is as true and real as any other and as agreeable to the Nature of things farther proved from Lock 's Essay and that Mr. H. himself cannot deny the Truth of this Notion § 14. Mr. H's great Rule of doing as you would be done by signifies nothing without respect to the Common Good of Mankind § 15. So neither that of preserving a Man's self or any other innocent person unless as it conduces to the Common Good of Mankind § 16. Not only the whole Law of Nature but the revealed Law of Moses and
Case proposed unless first all those Effects which may proceed from it in all its various Circumstances be duly considered and compared together So that the Contemplation both of the Causes on which Men's Safety and Happiness depends as also of the Effects which may be produced by their joint or concurring Forces and Endeavours must necessarily lead our Minds first to the Consideration of all other Men and next of our selves as a very small part of Mankind And in the next place that we proceed to contemplate this System of Things called the Visible World but more especially GOD as its Creator and Governour according to the Method laid down in the Introduction to this Discourse the Idea's of which being duly considered and digested in our Minds we may draw from thence certain Conclusions by which we may judge or determine what Humane Things and Actions are certainly and necessarily conducing to the Common Good and Happiness of all Rational Beings and in which every particular Person 's Felicity or Well-being is contained as a part thereof and in which Rational Dictates or Conclusions I shall hereafter prove this Law of Nature to consist § 5. No body I suppose will think it necessary to the matter in hand that I should here make Physical Disquisitions into the Natures of all Things that are the Objects of our Senses that being the Business of profess'd Naturalists It is sufficient for us to shew That all the Rules of Moral Philosophy and the Laws of Nature may be at last resolved into certain natural and easie Observations gathered from common Experience or else into certain Conclusions established upon the known Principles of Mathematicks and Physicks by which I do not only mean all those natural Laws of Matter and Motion in Bodies but also the Operations of our own Souls as far as we are able to know or enquire into them From all which by the Order of Natural Causes we may be led to the Knowledge of GOD their Creator and Ordainer and so may acknowledge Him as the only Cause of all these excellent Effects since this Nature of Things doth as well suggest to our Minds the Idea of a Creator as of the Things created and so supplies us with sufficient matter from which we may deduce all the Laws of Nature as so many true Practical Propositions though it is only the Knowledge of the First Cause or Creator that can stamp any Authority or Obligation upon them Now although there may be many Things collected from our Knowledge of several Beings in the World that may serve for our Moral Instruction and the cultivating of our Manners yet I shall for Brevity's sake only select some of the most material of them and such as may serve to explain our short account of the Law of Nature which notwithstanding several Authors have so much enlarged upon it I think may very well be reduced to this single Proposition viz. The most universal Love or most diffusive Benevolence of all Rational Beings towards each other constitutes the happiest State they can be capable of So that their Endeavour of the Common Good by this Benevolence is the sum of all the Laws of Nature and in which they are all contained Note That by this Love or Benevolence I do not mean only a fruitless Desire or Well-wishing but an active Affection exerting it self in all the Acts of Piety towards God Duty towards Parents Kindness and Gratitude towards our Country Friends and Relations and of Charity and Humanity towards all the rest of Mankind as often as any opportunity offers it self § 6. In the making out of which Description of the Law of Nature it is here needless to inquire into the Nature of our Souls and the manner of our Knowledge and Understanding since the former hath been so Learnedly perform'd by the Reverend Dr. Ward late Bishop of Salisbury and the latter so exactly done already in English by the above mentioned Author of the Essay of Humane Vnderstanding I shall only briefly suppose upon his Principles that our Souls do 1. From the very birth by degrees receive Idea's drawn from outward Objects by our Senses 2. That it is their faculty from divers single Notions or Idea's put together to come to make complex ones that is to make divers Propositions or Conclusions not only concerning their own inward Actings but also about all those outward Objects with which they are daily conversant and which may tend to the finding out the readiest means of attaining to and preserving themselves in the happiest State and Condition they are able to acquire These things being suppos'd it were needless to trouble you with any farther descriptions of this Love or Benevolence since every Person cannot but be sufficiently sensible of its Nature Degrees and various Operations that will but make any Self-reflection upon his own Inward Affections § 7. But as for the due Connexion of the Terms of this Proposition in which its Truth does chiefly consist it seems to me plain enough It being no more than to affirm That our endeavour of procuring all the good things in our Power and which are most conducing to our own preservation and Happiness and of all other Rational Beings is the best or chiefest thing that all Persons can do to render both themselves and all others as happy as their Natures will permit or can require and that there is no surer or more powerful means to be discovered by us whereby we may obtain a full enjoyment of all the good things of this Life and the hopes of that to come than by endeavouring our own Felicity in Conjunction with that of others So that from what I have already advanced the Reader may Collect these two Propositions 1. That the Foundation of all our Natural Happiness consists in an habitual determination of the Will to the utmost of its Ability and Perfection whereby we may be always ready and prepared to endeavour this Common good of Rationals 2. That the true Happiness of each Individual Person cannot be separated from that of other Rationals since the whole doth not differ from all its parts taken together so that this Proposition concerning this general or diffusive Benevolence is thus to be understood viz. Not to mean or only intend what any single or a few Persons may perform towards the procuring of their own private Happiness or that of their own Party or Faction distinct from that of the rest of Mankind but what all particular Persons may jointly contribute to render themselves and others happy that is what each of them may rationally perform towards the obtaining this Common Felicity For it ought first to be known in general what all Men are able to do or not to do towards any common end such as is the common happiness of Rationals and then what it is possible for any particular Person in this or that Case to perform for example towards his own private happiness as separate from
not some way or other either benefit or prejudice those things which are most dear to others also as the motion of any one Body in the System of the World Communicates it self to many others For that great Prerogative of Knowledge and Understanding with which Man is endued supplies the Contiguity required for motion in other Bodies Men being often excited to Action by certain Arbitrary signs or words by which they understand what hath been done by others in places far distant So also our Intellect apprehending a likeness of Desires and Aversions between those of the same Species with it self as to things necessary or hurtful to Life as also being able to remember other Men's Actions towards themselves or those they love are from thence excited to hope for or expect the like things from them and are also provoked to a requital when occasion is offered Such Properties being plainly Natural and constant in Humane Nature are no less efficacious to excite Men to such Actions or motions than a mutual contact between Bodies is to Communicate motion between all the parts of any Corporeal System § 5. From which Natural Observations it is plainly manifest that particular Men may hence Learn that both their greatest Security from Evil and all their hopes of obtaining any Good or Assistance from others towards making themselves Happy doth truly and necessarily depend upon voluntary Actions proceeding from the Benevolence of others who do likewise themselves stand in need of the like means for their Happiness and Safety From whence we easily perceive that these mutual Helps and Assistances of Men towards each other are highly beneficial to all of them and answer that Concourse of Natural Bodies and that Cession or giving place to each other which is so necessary for the performance of their motions So that from this necessity of these mutual helps it as necessarily follows that he who would consult his own Happiness and Preservation should procure as far as he is able the Good will and Assistance of others since he cannot but be sensible that he is able to afford and perform to others divers like Offices of kindness and so is able to conspire with the whole System of Rational Beings towards the same End viz. the Common Good of Rational Beings and that on the contrary the weak and inconsiderable forces of any one Man are not sufficient to compel so many others each of them equal if not Superiour to himself both in Wit and Power to yield him their help and assistance to their own prejudice whether they will or no which would prove as impossible as that a hundred pound weight placed in one Scale of a Balance should bear down several other hundred weights put on the opposite Scale So likewise the force and cunning of any single Person is of no sufficient Power or Force against the several Necessities Counsels and Endeavours of innumerable others towards their own and the Common Good without any consideration of his particular Happiness alone Therefore it is manifest from this natural Balance of Humane Powers that men may be more certainly induced by our Benevolence or Endeavour of the Common Good to yield us those things and assistances we stand in need of than by using force or deceit which Mr. H. supposes even the Good and Vertuous may lawfully exercise in the State of Nature as the only natural means of Self-preservation in his Imaginary State of Nature § 6. So that from these Natural Observations concerning all the means necessary to the Conservation of the Corporeal Universe and of the several sorts of Beings therein contained we may draw these conclusions 1. That all things are so disposed that not the least quantity of matter and motion can ever be lost but the same Species of Animals are still continued and are rather encreased than lessened notwithstanding all the opposition of the cruel Passions and unruly Appetites of some other Animals so that in this perpetuity of matter and motion by a continual succession of things the Natural Good or Conservation of the Corporeal Universe consists and towards which it is carried according to the immutable Laws of motion nor can there be any sufficient reason given why the Conservation of Mankind may not be looked upon as established by as certain and natural a Power of Causes as the Successive Generations of any other Creatures since they depend alike upon the lasting Nature of the Corporeal Universe and agree in all the Essentials of Animals And certainly the Addition of a Rational Soul to our Bodies does very often put us in a better Condition than that of Brutes but can never make us in a worse which will be evident to any Man that considers the benefits which accrew to our Bodies from the Government of our Reason and which do abundantly recompense some inconveniencies which may happen to them from the errours of our minds Nay it is most certain that its errours concerning Food Pleasure and other things which concern the Preservation of our Bodies proceed from the Soul 's yielding against the Admonitions of Reason to Carnal Appetites and Corporeal or Animal Passions 2. That the matter and motion of all Bodies as also of Men considered only as such do Mechanically or whether they will or no promote the motion of that of the Corporeal Universe since the motion of all particular Bodies is determined by the general motion of the whole System In short our Judgments concerning the necessary means of the Happiness of Mankind may be convinced from these Natural causes operating after the same manner and by the same Natural Laws by which the Corporeal Universe is preserved since they consist in these two Rules 1. That the endeavours of particular Persons towards their own Preservation are as plainly necessary for the Conservation of the whole Species of Mankind as the mechanick motions of particular Bodies are to the general motion of the whole Corporeal System 2. That the Powers of particular Persons by which they defend themselves against the force of others should be so equally Balanced as that like the motion of other Bodies none of them should be destroyed or lost to the Prejudice or Detriment of the whole Somewhat like which is seen in all the motions of the Corporeal System of the World which proceed from its Plenitude and the mutual Contact of Bodies and so extend themselves through the whole mass of matter but it is the proper Talent of Humane Reason and Understanding to observe that each Man 's particular Happiness does depend upon the voluntary Actions of other Rationals after a much nobler manner even when they are far distant and can therefore take care that all Humane Actions may in like manner conduce to the Common Good of Rational Agents as the motions of all Bodies do to the Conservation of the whole Corporeal System which will be truly performed if in all voluntary Actions which respect others those two Rules
aforegoing be observed So that we are taught from the real Natures of things as well as that of Inanimate Bodies after what manner and to what Degree we ought to pursue our own particular Happiness that is only as it conduces to and is included in that of the Common Good of Rational Agents So we are hence also instructed what Actions are prescribed or forbid by the Laws of Nature since such Actions only are thereby commended as promote this great End and the contrary Actions forbidden which disturb or hinder it which is also supposed by all Princes and States in their Deliberations and Treaties of Peace it being that in which they all agree as contributing to their Common Safety and Preservation viz. That the Powers of all the several states concerned should be so justly moderated and equally balanced that none may destroy or oppress each other Thus between neighbouring Nations not Subject to the same Common Power it is chiefly provided in all their Leagues and Treaties that the Forces of each particular Common-wealth should be so equally balanced by the Assistance and Support of their Consederates and Allies that it should be impossible for any one of them to swallow up or destroy another but that there should be still left to each of them Power and means sufficient to preserve themselves and their Subjects in Peace and Safety as being the main ends for which they were at first ordained by God and Instituted by Men. § 7. And as it is proper to all Natural Bodies that whilst they persevere in their own motion there is likewise a necessity they should also contribute and be subservient to the motions of innumerable other Bodies from the general Laws of motion for the Conservation of the Universe and which Rule being also found true in Animals it seems to admonish us not only as meer Animals but rational Agents that we contribute our particular endeavours towards the general Good or Preservation of all those of their own Kind since it is not only a possible effect but also such a one as depending upon Causes so perfect and certain we may with reason believe that it will endure to the end of the World But if we farther add to these Observations those things that distinguish Animate from Inanimate Bodies they will yet more strongly convince us and make us see more sufficient reasons wherefore not so much concerning our selves with other Corporeal Beings we should be chiefly sollicitous in giving our assistance to those of our own Kind First then the Nature of Animate is distinguished from that of Inanimate Bodies by such a fit disposition of parts and an apt conformation of their Natural Organs as suffices for their Generation Sensation Imagination Affections Nourishment and also all spontaneous motions And it is by these Actions that all sorts of Animals endeavour their Conservation and Happiness for the time that is appointed them and thereby procure the Preservation of the whole Species § 8. But I shall not dwell too long upon these common obvious things which are so evident in themselves but shall from hence deduce something more material to our purpose viz. that from the same intrinseck Constitution of all Animals whereby they are determined to this Endeavour of Preserving themselves there are besides given manifest Declarations that Loving and Benevolent Actions towards those of their own Kind are also necessary for their own defence and constitute the happiest State of Life they can enjoy And likewise that it is farther ordained from the same concourse of External and Internal Causes that all Rational Agents cannot but be sensible or mindful of these Indications The first of these Conclusions contains the Sense and Sanction of the Law of Nature as the latter regards its Promulgation or the manner whereby it comes to be made known to us I shall explain each of them in their order § 9. It is therefore first to be observed That the corporeal Bulk even of the largest Animals is contained within a small and narrow compass as also that the space of Time wherein they can live or be preserved is not long From whence it follows That but a few Things and a small quantity of them are really necessary for their Nourishment and Preservation or where there is need of a Concurrence of more of them they are only such as may be freely communicated to many at once whence they are naturally led to desire but a few particular Things but daily stand in need of divers others in common whose use may yet be well communicated to many at once without exhausting their store such as are the free Enjoyment of Air Light Fire Water c. And farther if we consider the Structure of their Bodies we may observe That the same superficies of the Skin which hinders the effusion governs also the Circulation of the Blood and does at the same time fix bounds to those Appetites and Necessities by which they are urged to seek their own Preservation So that those few Things that suffice to repair the vital Flame which daily consumes are likewise sufficient not only for the Conservation of their life and natural strength but also for inabling them to contribute their Help and Assistance to others of the same kind And lastly the Structure and Capacity of the Vessels in which their Aliment is digested and of those that convey the Chyle as also of the Veins and Arteries that receive it being but narrow require but a small quantity to fill them So that I think no Brute can be guilty of Mr. H's Errour of judging or desiring all Things whatever as necessary for its own Preservation since from the intrinseck and constituent Parts of all Animals it plainly appears That but a few Things suffice to allay their Hunger and Thirst and to prevent the Injuries of the Weather And if so few Things are necessary for their Happiness and Preservation they may very well leave the rest of those Products which the Earth so plentifully brings forth to be enjoyed by others of their own kind since the finite quantity of their Bodies limitting their Appetites to the desiring and their Powers only to the using a few necessary Things From this Use and Necessity there arises a natural Division or Appropriation of Things amongst divers Animals of the same kind as I shewed before in the last Chapter The allowance or permission of which Distribution is the Foundation of all that mutual Concord and Benevolence amongst them and which their Nature requires for their Preservation So that if this innate Love or Desire of Self-preservation in Animals be limited after the manner we have now described this once satisfied there can be no Reason why they should withstand or obstruct the Conservation of others of the same kind either by hindring their Enjoyment of those Things which they themselves do not need or in refusing to lend them their Help and Assistance when there is occasion and that it
is not needful for themselves § 10. The next Observation we make is from the Effects of the Senses as also the Imagination and Memory in Animals when they are taken up and employed about others of the same kind For since from the Impressions made on their Organs of Sense they cannot but perceive that such Creatures are of the same Nature with themselves such Notions must from the Constitution of their Nature move them to somewhat a like affection towards them as towards themselves But I shall here avoid all Controversies concerning the Knowledge of Brutes or which way their Affections are moved by their Imaginations and shall only suppose That their Imagination excites their Passions and that these Passions do likewise often produce the like Motions or Inclinations in their fellow Animals From whence I collect That this Similitude of Nature does highly conduce to the procuring of Benevolence or Concord amongst those of the same kind unless there be some unaccountable Antipathy or Dissimilitude of Disposition which may happen to excite Enmity or Discord between them which yet not often happens Whence it follows That Animals as long as they are in their Right Senses and are mindful of themselves cannot forget others of the same kind since under the same Idea's by which they conceive their own Nature and the Necessities thereof they cannot but have an Idea of that of others of the same Species with themselves and must also be sensible that such Animals being urged by the like Appetites of Hunger and Thirst as themselves are thereby moved to seek Food when hungry or thirsty and cannot but be also sensible that it is highly grateful to them when the use of these Necessaries is left free and undisturbed or else is administred to them by others or that they are any ways assisted by them in the obtaining them § 11. But since Idea's of this sort do constantly spring in the Minds of Animals as also produce perpetual motions to love or Good-will arising necessarily from this similitude of Nature it also follows that they never so far deviate from their natural state as when through Madness or any other violent Appetite or Passion they act contrary to these first and most natural Dictates as all Men grant it to be a preternatural Disease in a Dog when seized with Madness he bites all other Dogs he meets with or when a Sow through a depraved Appetite eats her own Pigs Nor indeed can I see any reason why all other kinds of inordinate Passions which disturb the natural Disposition of an Animal so as to make it do extravagant Actions and hurtful to its own Species without any just Cause such as Anger and vehement Envy often times produce may not be justly esteemed as preternatural Distempers of the Blood or Brain very like to that of a mad Dog for there often appears in those that are transported with these Passions all the Symptoms of those Diseases that proceed from an overflowing of Choler or a violent effervescence of the Blood such as an icterial blackness of the Face paralytick Tremblings and other Signs well enough known to Physicians Nor is an immoderate needless Fear of Animals of the same kind to be less reckoned among such Diseases since it is not only preternatural or besides their Constitution when in Health but doth likewise as well as other Diseases destroy the Body by driving them into an immoderate Sadness unseasonable Solitude and Watchings with other Symptoms of predominant Melancholy whence an untimely Death is often accelerated Neither can there be any Mean or End put to this unreasonable Fear when once the Mind is touch'd and infected with a false Imagination that all other Men design to kill and destroy them which Madness is very like that of those who being bitten by a mad Dog are afraid of Water and all Liquids though they cannot live without them of which I have met with a famous Example in the French Chronicles of King Charles VI. who being seized with a violent apprehension that all his Servants were bribed by his Son the Dauphin to poison him did quite abstain from all Food 'till at last he died as truly of Hunger as Fear § 12. And it is evident and Mr. H. himself confesses it that Men as well as other sociable Animals do more or less delight in the society of each other of the same kind as may be observed from those signs of Joy and Satisfaction which they express when they meet after any long absence But since it is as plain that the Causes of this Association and Agreement proceed from the intrinseck Nature of the Creatures and are no other than those by which the Blood Spirits and Nerves are continued and preserved in a due and healthy state it as evidently follows That the Safety and Preservation of each of them cannot be separated from a Propension at least to a friendly Association with those of their own kind so that though they sometimes quarrel about the same Meat or Female yet this does not any ways cross or contradict this great End of Nature of procuring the Common Good of the Universe but is rather in order to it viz. when the Desire of Food in order to their own Preservation or Lust to propagate their Species prompts them to fight and sometimes to destroy each other the time of which Contention is yet but small in comparison of the greater part of their Lives in which they are observed to live in peace And that all Animals are determin'd by Nature to prosecute and endeavour the Common Good of their own Species by the same Causes that preserve the Lives of each of them in particular appears from the great Love and Kindness which Creatures of the same Species but of different Sexes express towards each other and by virtue of which they perform the Act of Generation so highly grateful and pleasing to each other and thereby propagate their Off-spring which when brought forth they love and defend as part of themselves unless some unusual Distemper intervene which may sometimes disturb or change these natural Propensions as when Sows or Rabbets eat or destroy their young ones which happening but seldom is rather to be accounted among the Diseases of the Brain or Distempers of the Appetite than to be ascribed to their natural State or Constitution and does no more contradict this general Law of Nature than the ascent of Water in a Pump does oppose that general Rule of the constant descent of heavy Bodies So that we may for all that affirm That the Procreation of their young and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or natural Affection they have for them and desire of breeding them up 'till they are able to shift for themselves are seldom or never separated for Preservation is but as it were the Generation of the same Creature still continued So that the same natural Causes excite Animals to the one as well as the other But
instead of Subjects But suppose that the lawful Rights of Princes are sometimes violated by the unbridled Lusts of some evil men yet I do not see how this knowledge of the difference between those things which are done by right and those which are done by wrong do render them more apt to do Injuries to others But he tells us That man is then most troublesome when he is at ease But sure it is not without Injustice that he imputes the Faults of some men to all Mankind and that without any proof unless perhaps finding such Passions in himself he thence concluded that they must likewise be natural to all others according to the method he makes use of in his Introduction to this Book which I have before taken notice of when he bids us examine this similitude of Passions and so whether they do not agree with his own Thoughts But I must freely confess they do not agree with mine let me be but happy and want nothing and though others may be richer or happier I shall not envy them nor am I at all the worse for it But indeed Mr. H. does very preposterously to alledge this fault of mens love to shew their wisdom and controul the Actions of them that govern the Commonwealth against all Mankind whilst he yet supposes men in the state of Nature which sure according to his own Hypothesis precedes all Civil Government But we are now come to Mr. H's last Reason and let us see if he can thereby prove any better That Mankind is less prone to Peace than Brute Creatures § 15. Lastly The agreement of these Creatures is natural that of Men is by Covenant only which is artificial and therefore it is no wonder if there be somewhat else required besides Covenants to make their Agreement constant and lasting which is a Common Power to keep them in awe and to direct their Actions to the common benefit To which I reply That the true natural Causes intrinsical to Men as they are Animals and which can bring them to consent to the exercise of Peace and mutual Benevolence amongst themselves are alike with those that are found in other Animals even the fiercest and cruellest suppose Lions or Bears if you will as I hope I have sufficiently proved in the former part of this Treatise Nor can Mr. H. shew any thing which is wanting to man but yet is found in Brutes as a cause of their peaceable agreement for that which he urges That the Agreement of these Creatures is natural that of men is by Covenant only and therefore artificial may perhaps impose upon the Vulgar but may easily be confuted by any one that will but consider to the next Consequence For those very Compacts or Covenants he mentions are made by the power as well of mens Rational as Animal Natures And certainly if there had been no Covenants made among men and that they had not the use of Reason yet the common Nature of Animals of the same kind would have had as much force with them as with other Creatures that they should agree to maintain a mutual benevolence as well as Brutes of the same kind without destroying each other whose agreement is by him acknowledged to be natural What then hinders but after there is besides added to Mankind Reason and the use of Speech but that the same natural agreement may still remain Reason sure doth not take away the natural endeavours and propensions to Concord in Man more than other Animals neither is this agreement less natural or constant because it is expressed by words As our Appetite and taking in of Food do not cease to be natural Actions in us although we may express this Appetite by words or signs and may also appoint the time place and what sort of Meat we will eat And Mr. H. himself as well as others does sometimes acknowledge Reason to be a natural Faculty as he does in his De Cive in the place already quoted From whence it follows That this stricter Society or Agreement which Reason dictates should be established by Compacts wholly proceeds from the rational Nature of Mankind But it will farther appear That this Agreement proceeding from the use of Speech is therefore more fitly called natural if we consider our practical Reason to be altogether determined from the nature of the best End we can foresee or propose and the best means we can use thereunto And farther there is nothing more can be effected by the utmost endeavours of our Reason than that those propensions to concord with others of our own kind which are so natural to all Animals should be directed to their fit object viz. all other rational Creatures and that all our particular actions should be thence exerted according to their due place time and other circumstances So that the very taking in of Meat and Drink is most natural and proceeds from the natural constitution of an Animal Yet this in all particular cases is best governed and directed by a man's Reason taking care of his own Health without any irregularities in his Diet whilst those precepts of thus regulating his Diet whose force and certainty he observes from the Nature of things and his own particular Constitution may very well deserve in some cases the name of an Art Therefore Mr. H. hath done very ill in making that agreement among men which is expressed by Compacts to be so artificial as it must be quite opposed to what is natural I shall not indeed deny those words by which Compacts are expressed to have proceeded from the Arbitrary agreements of men Yet that consent of their minds concerning the mutual offices of Benevolence of which words are only the signs is altogether Natural For in that consent of minds concerning the mutual commutation of Duties consists the whole Nature of Compacts as all its obligation proceeds from thence But the knowledge and will of constituting some signs either by words or Actions whereby this sort of consent may be declared is so natural and easy to men without any Teaching that it may be observed in persons born Deaf and Dumb as I have given some instances in the foregoing Discourse In short this consent express'd by Compacts concerning these most general acts of Benevolence which may be considered in any disquition concerning the Laws of Nature is either not to be called Artificial or if it be so termed that Term is so to be understood as it agrees with all mens natural Consents and not as it may be opposed to them that so it may become thereby less firm and durable as Mr. H. supposes it for the signification of a natural Consent constituted by words tho with some kind of Art doth not at all diminish its firmness or duration and therefore I think it doth sufficiently appear that Mr. H. is very much mistaken when he supposes that the agreement of Brutes of the same kind is more constant and natural than that among men
make war upon all men will be very improperly called a Right for they cannot be properly so but as they are granted or permitted us by some Laws properly so called which in this state can only be those of God or Nature § 7. But we are weary of such Contradictions and therefore let us now farther examine the only Reason he brings why he denies their obligation to external Acts in the state of Nature viz. Because we cannot be secured that others will observe them in those things which are necessary to our preservation and therefore infers that every man's hopes of his own Security are placed in this That by his own Force or Wiles he may prevent his Neighbour openly or at unawares This is that invincible Argument which seems strong enough in his Judgment to destroy all outward Obligations to the whole Law of Nature Yet I think for all that it is easy enough to be answered And therefore in the first place we reply That there is no need of supposing such a perfect Security to be afforded by the Laws of Nature concerning other mens observing them as must needs be free from all Fear before we can be obliged to external Actions conformable to them for the Will of God the first Cause being known whereby he establishes these Laws there will arise a certain obligation to the performance of such external Actions though some men may be so wicked as to break or neglect them and to practice evil and violent Actions towards those that would observe them But I shall now farther prove notwithstanding this Objection that we are under a greater obligation to the Laws of Nature than we are to the Civil Laws of our Country to whose external obedience he will have all men whatsoever obliged For all Persons although they are not under the same Commonwealth yet are all Members of the same more large Empire of God himself Now it is most notorious that those that are Subjects to the same Civil Power cannot be perfectly secure either that their Fellow-subjects will observe all the Civil Laws by abstaining from Murther Robbery or Rebellion c. or that the Civil Sovereign can or will always punish all the Transgressors of his Laws especially where Factions are potent though he is never so watchful over the Publick Good So that if to these cautious Men of Mr. H's Principles it seems a sufficient Reason for their outward obligation to the Civil Laws if it appears more probable that the Civil Sovereign both will and can take care of the Authority of his Laws by protecting the Obedient and punishing the Refractory than that he will forbear or neglect so to do it will likewise follow That to all men who exercise true Piety and Obedience to God's Natural Laws their obligation to observe them will not prove the more infirm though God doth not always presently and immediately punish all the Transgressions and Violations of his Natural Laws it being a sufficient security to them of his Goodness and Justice since he will certainly inflict more severe Punishments upon their Transgressors either in this life or in that to come than any Humane Power can do upon Offenders against their Civil Laws So that if Mr. H's Argument were valid not only the outward obligation of all Natural but also of all Civil Laws would be quite destroyed since in neither State we can be perfectly secure that all others will observe them and indeed he demands that which is altogether impossible when he requires an absolute and perfect Security concerning future voluntary Actions either in a Civil or a Natural State which as such can be only contingent § 8. But if he will permit us to call that a State of security which is the most free of any from the fear of future Danger or Misery we assert That God has made it manifest to all men by all those signs which we have already shown to be sufficient to evince our Obligation that even out of a Civil Government he shall be much more safe from all sorts of Evil who shall most strictly and constantly observe all the Laws of Nature in his outward Actions as well as internal Inclinations than he who according to Mr. H's Doctrine shall seek this Security by endeavouring to prevent and assault all other men by force or fraud But it is necessary when we compare the dangers or security of the good or just men which are only those who observe the Laws of Nature in their outward Actions as also of the wicked or unjust who do otherwise to make a true Experiment which of these will give most certain security there is not only to be reckoned into this account those Evils which may happen to them from the Violence of other men but also those which such wicked men bring upon themselves by their inconstant and unreasonable way of living as also by their inordinate Passions such as Envy Anger Intemperance c. and moreover all those Evils or Punishments which may with reason be feared from God both in this Life and in that to come which also are to be compared not in any one particular case or in a few circumstances only but in all those that may happen through the whole course of their Lives for otherwise it is impossible that we should truly judge which course of Life either that of constant Justice or Injustice would be more secure But we have I hope already sufficiently made out that their condition is much more happy and secure who observe the Laws of Nature in the whole course of their Actions than those who act otherwise To which I shall only add That altho Mr. H. himself when he treats of the security requisite to the outward Observation of the Laws of Nature doth wholly insist upon a perfect security from the Invasion of other men and affirms Because it is not to be had in the State of Nature that therefore no body is obliged in that State to outward acts of Justice but hath still a right to all things and of making War upon all Men Yet in other places of his Book as if he had forgot himself he doth acknowledge altho but sparingly that he himself perceived that there was a sufficient Obligation to an external Conformity to the Laws of Nature even out of a Civil State lest we should fall into other Evils besides those which may be feared from the violence of men As for Example when he endeavours to prove in his De Cive Cap. 3. § 2 3. That Faith is to be kept with all men he fetches his reason from hence That he who violates his Covenant commits a Contradiction which he acknowledges to be an Absurdity in Humane Conversation And therefore if he can admit in this case that it is better to observe than to violate our Covenants lest we should fall into a Contradiction what reason is there why we should not also universally infer the same consequence from
the Gospel of Jesus Christ reducible to this one Proposition of Endeavouring the Common Good and that this was the great design of Christ's coming into the World § 17 18. A Conclusion of the whole § 19. TO THE BOOKSELLER THE Learned Authour of this Treatise sent it to me then being in a Private Station above a year ago but then concealed his Name from me either through his great Modesty or because in his Prudence he thought that if I knew him I might be biassed in my judgment by the Honour which I am obliged to have to his Family and especially to his Grandfather by his Mother's side the most Learned Primate of Ireland Wherefore I read the Book without any respect to the unknown Writer and considered only the Merits of the Performance Thus I found that he had not only well translated and epitomized in some places what I had written in Latin but had fully digested the chief things of my Design in a well-chosen Method of his own with great Perspicuity and had added some Illustrations of his own or from other Learned Authours with a Philosophical Liberty which I must needs allow For this Reason I judged that the then unknown Authour had given too low a Title to his Book and that I was to esteem him a good Hyperaspistes or able Second in this Combat for Truth and Justice rather than a Translater or Epitomizer of what I had written This obliged me to enquire diligently after the Authour's Name and Quality and then I soon obtained the Favour and Honour of a more intimate Conversation with him Hereby I soon found that I might safely leave the Maintenance of that good Cause in which I was engaged to his great Abilities and Diligence And I hope that since this Learned Gentleman hath conquer'd the Difficulties of the Search into the Rise of the Laws of Nature now many of our younger Gentry will be encouraged to follow him in the way which this his Treatise makes plain before them For from thence they may receive assistance not only to discern the Reasonableness of all Vertue and Morality which is their Duty and Ornament as they are Men but also they may here see the true Foundations of Civil Government and Property which they are most obliged to understand because as Gentlemen they are born to the greatest Interest in them both I need add no more to give you Assurance that I freely consent to your Printing of this Book and am Your affectionate Friend Ric. Peterborough OF THE Law of NATURE And its OBLIGATION CHAP. I. Of the first Means of discovering the Law of Nature viz. the Nature of Things § 1. HAving in the Introduction to this Discourse shewn you those several Methods by which divers Authors have endeavoured to prove a Law of Nature and having also given my Reasons tho' in short why I cannot acquiesce in any of them as laying too weak Foundations whereon to raise so great and weighty a Building and having likewise given you the only true Grounds by which it can as I suppose be made out viz. from the Existence of a GOD declaring his Will to us from the Frame of the World or by the Nature of all Things without us as also from our own Natures or that of Mankind in general we by the Power of our natural Faculties or Reasons drawing true Conclusions from all these This being premised I shall now proceed particularly to declare in the first place what I understand by the Frame of the World or Nature of Things in order to the proving the Existence and Obligation of the Law of Nature and that it is really and truly a Law obliging all Persons of Years of Discretion and sound Minds to its Observation Which being performed I shall then proceed to our own Nature as included in that of all Mankind § 2. But though the ancient as well as modern Scepticks and Epicureans have of old and do still at this day deny the Existence of any Law of Nature properly so called yet I suppose that we are both sufficiently agreed what we understand by this Term since we both thereby mean certain Principles of immutable Truth and Certainty which direct our voluntary Actions concerning the election of good and the avoiding of evil Things and so lay an Obligation as to our external Actions even in the state of Nature and out of a Civil Society or Common-weal That such eternal Truths are necessarily and unavoidably presented to and perceived by Men's Minds and retained in their Memories for the due ordering or governing of their Actions is what is here by us affirmed and by them as confidently denied And I farther conceive That the Actions so directed and chosen are first known to be naturally good as productive of the greatest publick Benefits and afterwards are called morally Good because they agree with those Dictates of Reason which are here proved to be the Laws or Rules of our Manners or voluntary Actions So also the Evil to be avoided is first the greatest natural Evil which afterwards for the like Reason is called Moral § 3. Therefore that the Existence of such Propositions may more plainly appear and be demonstrated to the Understandings of all indifferent Readers it is necessary that we first carefully consider the Nature of divers Things without us as also that of Mankind and what we mean by Good and Evil whether Natural or Moral Lastly we shall shew what those general Propositions are which we affirm carry with them the Force or Obligation of Natural Laws as declaring their Exercise or Performance necessary to the compassing of an End that ought to be endeavoured or sought after in order to our true and greatest Happiness § 4. Nor let it seem strange that I suppose the Nature of divers Things about which we are daily conversant ought first to be looked into and considered For I will here suppose the Soul or Mind of Man to be at first rasa Tabula like fair Paper that hath no connate Character or Idea's imprinted upon it as that noble Theorist Mr. Lock hath I suppose fully proved and that it is not sensible of any thing at its coming into the World but it s own Existence and Action but receives all its Idea's afterwards from such Objects as it hath received in by the Senses So that our Understandings being naturally destitute of all Notions or Idea's we cannot comprehend how they can operate unless they be first excited by outward Objects And indeed how can we understand what may be helpful and agreeable or else hurtful and destructive to Men's Minds and Bodies unless we first consider as far as we are able all the Causes as well near as remote which have made constitute and still preserve Mankind or else may tend to its destruction either for the time present or to come Nor indeed can it be understood what is the fittest and best Thing or Action any Person can perform in a
God had given him a right to all things they should in any passion or rash and inconsiderate humour fancy necessary for that end tho it really tended to their destruction or that of other innocent men So that if a man should think the blood of his dearest Friend would cure him of some Distemper he lay under he might lawfully upon this Principle murther him if he could do it safely And then God should have given men a right of destroying themselves and others whenever they thought though falsly that it conduced to their preservation the satisfaction of their unreasonable Appetites or Humours since such an unlimited Right or rather License can be so far from conducing to any man's preservation that if any men should ever have gone about to put it in practice it would have long since produced not only their own destruction but that of all Mankind § 3. And if Mr. H. his own definition of right Reason be true Art 7th of this Chapter That it is a liberty of using a man's Faculties according to right Reason then certainly right Reason can never judge contradictory Propositions to be true as that I should in the state of Nature have a right to all things my Neighbour was possessed of and his life into the bargain if I thought it might conduce to my self-preservation and that this should be likewise as true and rational a conclusion that he should have the like right against me since the word right is never used by any Writers of this Subject but with respect to some Law either Natural or Civil which Mr. H. acknowledges in the next Chapter Art 1st in these words But since all do grant that to be done by Right which is not done contrary to right Reason we ought to suppose that done by Injury which is repugnant to right reason or which contradicts some truth collected from true Principles by right Reason but that is done by Injury which is done against some Law therefore right Reason is a certain Law which is called natural since it is not less a part of Humane Nature than any other Faculty or Affection of the Mind as Mr. H. himself confesses in this 2d Chapter of this Treatise De Cive § 1. tho he strives to avoid the force of it in his Annotations to this Article where by right Reason in the state of Nature he tells us He does not thereby understand as many do any infallible Faculty in men but the Act of Ratiocination that is every man 's own true reason concerning his own Actions as they may redound to the profit or hurt of himself or other men and the reason why he calls it a mans own Reason is that though in a Commonwealth the reason thereof that is the Civil Law is to be taken as right by all the Subjects yet out of a Common-wealth where no man can distinguish right Reason from false but by comparing it with his own every man 's own Reason is not only to be taken for the Rule of his own Actions but also in his own Affairs for the measure of all other mens Reason But how this will agree with what follows I cannot tell When he calls right Reason that which concludes from true Principles because that in false ratiocination or in the folly of men not observing those duties towards others which are necessary to their own preservation consists all the violation of natural Laws But how false ratiocination or folly should give them a right to all they have a mind to act thus towards others I cannot apprehend but from these words of Mr. H. I shall only observe That though I do not suppose Reason to be any infallible Faculty any more than the casting up of an Account into a Sum total though false to be right Arithmetick or true Counting yet by right Reason when it is not erroneous is to be understood the true exercise of that Faculty not erroneous in its judgments and therefore doth not consist in the bare act of Ratiocination but in its true effects that is when true Propositions or Premises being laid up in the memory those Conclusions are drawn from thence which when they are practical and contain true moral Rules of life are called Laws of Nature § 4. And therefore it is not true that in a Commonwealth the publick Reason or Law thereof are to be always taken for Right for then if the Laws of the Common-wealth should enact Parricide Ingratitude and breach of Faith to be exercised as Vertues and to conduce to the good and preservation of Mankind they would presently become so which I suppose neither this Author nor any rational Man would affirm Nor is his other Proposition any truer that out of a Commonwealth no man can distinguish right Reason from false but by comparing it with his own and therefore that must be the measure of all his Actions from whence he deduces the right of all men to all things which Argument I shall reduce into the form of a Syllogism that you may the better judge of its truth It is lawful in the state of Nature for every one to possess all things and to do all things towards all men which some Iudge shall judge necessary for the preservation of his own life and Members But those things that every man himself shall judge to be necessary to his preservation those the only Iudge in this case judges to be necessary for this end for he had proved before that himself is the only Judge in the state of Nature what things are necessary for his preservation therefore to have and do all things c. is necessary for a man 's own preservation In which Syllogism the major is certainly false because though a man's self be the sole Judge in the state of Nature yet he may give a false Sentence and suppose those things to be necessary for his preservation which really are not neither is there any reason that in the state of Nature any more than in a Civil State the bare Sentence of a Judge should confer a true and equitable Right on any man to an Estate if the Judge determines contrary to all the Rules of Law and Equity So likewise in the state of Nature a man 's own judgment can confer no Right upon him when he quits the only true Rules of his Judgment which in this State can only be the Laws of Nature or right Reason and the nature of things and Mankind from whence only they are drawn Nor can there be any State supposed either Natural or Civil in which there is no Rule of Humane Judgment or that whatsoever a man's mind shall rashly suppose things to be that they must presently become such as he hath fancied them Since the utility of things necessary for the preservation of Humane Nature depend not upon mens rash judgments but upon the force of their natural Causes and a man by thus falsly judging that he had a right
to all things that he hath a mind to and that they are absolutely necessary for his preservation can no more make them become so than if he should judge that Ratsbane were Sugar-candy it would be thereby presently turned into wholsome Food So likewise those general and universal Causes which procure the preservation or mischief of Mankind do depend upon such fixt Principles in Nature as are not to be altered by the judgment of any Judge whether he be a single man in the state of Nature or the Supream Powers in a Commonwealth § 5. But this Error of Mr. H. concerning the force of his Sentence which thus falsly pronounces an absolute Dominion over all men and all things to be necessary for his preservation and thereby to confer a Right thereunto seems to proceed from hence That he having observed in a Civil State the Sentence of the Supream Magistrate or Judge had that force with the Subjects that whether his Sentence were according to the Rules of Law or natural Equity or not it was nevertheless to be obeyed and submitted to Whereas this Submission proceeds wholly from their Consents who instituted the Commonwealth in order to the publick Good and for the putting some end to Controversies since all the Subjects must submit to the Judgment of the Supream Power or Magistrate whether it be right or wrong because they are all satisfied that it conduces more to their common quiet and safety that some few should sometimes suffer through an unjust Judgment than that Controversies should be endless or at least not without Civil Wars or Disturbances So that it is evident That it is only from a greater care of the Common Good than of the Lives or Estates of any particular person that lays a foundation for this Prerogative which though I grant belongs to all Supream Powers yet if this once come to be generally and notoriously abused by constant course of wilful Violence Oppression and Injustice so that the Subjects cannot longer bear it they will quickly make their appeal somewhere else unless they are hindred by some predominant Power or Force over them § 6. But on the other side it is certain That men in the state of Nature cannot admit of any final Judgment or determination of a doubt or difference besides an evidence either from the things themselves or from that trust or credit they place in some mens either Judgment or Testimony whereby all manner of doubt or scruple is clearly removed out of the minds of the Parties concerned and that it appears evident to them that they are not imposed upon neither can there be any end of debates amongst divers Pretenders unless one Party being convinced by the strength of the other's Reasons come over to his or their Opinion or else being satisfied of the Knowledge and Integrity of some third Person as an Arbitrator do willingly submit to his Sentence § 7. For Humane Nature will ever acknowledge a difference between right Reason and false and between a just and an unjust Judgment and 't is only Truth and right Reason that have this Prerogative that they can confer a right on us of doing those things which they prescribe For even Mr. H. in his definition of Right acknowledges that it is only a liberty of using our Faculties according to right Reason whereas all Error or false Judgment whether it be concerning Necessaries for the preservation of Life or in any other practical matter can give no man a right of doing that which he then falsly judges necessary for his preservation And therefore Mr. H's Conclusion where he acknowledges at last That right Reason is that which concludes from true Principles and likewise that in the false reasoning and folly of men in not understanding their Duties towards other men consists all the violation of the Laws of Nature grants as much as I can desire but how this will agree with that loose definition of Reason where he supposes every man's reason to be alike right I desire any of his Disciples to shew me Therefore to conclude I can only allow that to be practical right Reason which gives us leave to undertake things reasonable and possible and that forbids a man to arrogate to himself alone a dominion over all men and all things which is needless and impossible indeed wholly pernicious to his preservation § 8. But to avoid this difficulty Mr. H. and his Followers fly to the Subterfuge of a natural necessity in men that so judge thus falsly and act contrary to the Laws of Nature or Reason And therefore in his Preface to this Treatise he supposes all men to be evil by Nature and makes them necessarily determined by their Appetites and Passions before they are endued with Reason and Discipline to act mischievously and unreasonably and therefore tells us that Children unless you give them every thing they desire cry and are angry and will strike their very Fathers and Mothers and it is by nature they do so and yet are blameless as well because they cannot hurt as also that wanting the use of Reason they are yet free from all its Duties But the same persons when grown up and having got strength enough to hurt if they hold on to do the same things they then begin both to be and to be called evil So that a wicked man is almost the same thing as an overgrown Child or a man of a childish disposition because there is the same defect of Reason at that age in which by Nature improved by Discipline and experience of its inconveniencies it commonly happens to be amended So likewise the Author of Tractatus Theologico Politicus who more openly than Mr. H. but upon the same Principles endeavours to destroy all Religion both Natural and Revealed argues to this purpose in the 16th Chap. of the said Treatise First By the Law of Nature He understands nothing but the Nature of every Individual according to which we conceive each of them naturally determined to exist after a certain manner Thus Fishes are ordained to swim and the great ones to devour the less Therefore Fishes live in the Water and devour each other by the highest Right For Nature considered simply hath a right to all things it can do or its right extends it self as far as its power Since the power of Nature is but the power of God who hath the highest right to all things But because the power of Vniversal Nature is nothing but the power of all the Individual Creatures together it follows that every Individual hath the highest right to all things it can do that is it extends it self as far as its power And since it is the first Law of Nature that every thing should endeavour as far as it is able to preserve it self in its Natural State and that without any consideration of other Creatures but only of it self Therefore it follows that every Individual hath the highest right to exist and operate as