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
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
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
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
all these Difficulties a much easier way only by supposing certain innate Idea's of moral Good and Evil imprest by God upon the Souls of Men. But I must indeed confess my self not yet so happy as to be able thus easily to attain to so great a Perfection as the Knowledge of the Laws of Nature by this natural Instinct or Impression And it doth not seem to me either safe or convenient to lay the whole Stress of Natural Religion and Morality upon an Hypothesis which hath been exploded by all Philosophers except themselves and which can never alone serve to convince those of Epicurean Principles for whom we chiefly design this Work But whosoever will take the Pains to peruse what hath been written against these innate Idea's by the inquisitive and sagacious Author of the late Essay of humane Understanding will find them very hard if not impossible to be proved to have ever been innate in the Souls of Men before they came into the World Therefore as I shall not take upon me absolutely to deny the Being or Impossibility of such Idea's so I shall not make use of any Arguments drawn from thence in this Discourse Though I heartily wish that any Reasons or Motives which may serve to promote true Vertue and Piety may prevail as far as they deserve with all sincere and honest Men. And the same Reasons which deterred me from supposing any natural Laws innate in our Minds have also made me not presently suppose as many do without any due proof That such Idea's have existed in the Divine Intellect from all Eternity And therefore I looked upon it as more proper and necessary to begin from those things which are most known and familiar to us by our Senses and from thence to prove that certain Propositions of immutable Truth prescribing our Care of the Happiness or common Good of all rational Agents considered together are necessarily imprinted upon our Minds from the Nature of things and which the first Cause perpetually determines so to act upon them And that in the Terms of these Propositions are intrinsecally included an evident Declaration of their Truth and certainty as proceeding from God the first Cause in the very intrinsick Constitution of things From whence it will be also manifest that such practical Propositions are truly and properly Laws as being declared and established by due Rewards and Punishments annexed to them by him as the supreme Legislator But after it shall appear that the Knowledge of these Laws and a Practice conformable to them are the highest Perfection or most happy State of our Rational Natures It will likewise follow that a Perfection Analogous to this Knowledge and a Practice conformable to these Laws must necessarily be in the first Cause from whence proceeds not only our own Natural Perfections but also the most wise Ordination of all Effects without us for the common Conservation and Perfection of the whole Natural System or Vniverse which our Eyes daily behold For that is look'd upon by me among the things most certainly prov'd That it must be first known what Iustice is and what those Laws enjoyn in whose Observation all Iustice consists before we can distinctly know that Iustice is to be attributed to God and that his Iustice is to be considered by us as a Pattern or Example for us to imitate Since we do not know God by an immediate Intuition of his Essence or Perfections but only from the outward Effects of his Providence first known by our Senses and Experience Neither is it safe to affix Attributes to him which we cannot sufficiently understand or make out from things without us Having now shewn you in general the difference between our Method and that which others have hitherto followed it is fit we here declare in as few words as we can the chief Heads of those things which we have delivered in this Treatise Supposing therefore those natural Principles concerning the Laws of Motion and Rest sufficiently demonstrated by Naturalists especially such as depend upon Mathematical Principles since we have only here undertaken to demonstrate the true Grounds of Moral Philosophy and to deduce them from some supposed Knowledge of Nature and as they refer to our Moral Practice I have here therefore supposed all the Effects of corporeal Motions which are natural and necessary and performed without any Intervention of humane Liberty to be derived from the Will of the first Cause And 2dly which Mr. H. himself likewise in his Leviathan admits that from the Consideration and Inquisition into these Causes and from the Powers and Operations of natural Bodies may be discovered the Existence of one Eternal Infinite Omnipotent Being which we call God So that every Motion impress'd upon the Organs of our Senses whereby the Mind is carried on to apprehend things without us and to give a right Iudgment upon them is a natural Effect which by the Mediation of other inferiour Causes owes its Original to the first Cause From whence it follows that God by these natural Motions of Causes and Effects delineates the Idea's or Images of all natural and moral Actions on our Minds And that the same God after he hath thus made us draw various Notions from the same Objects does then excite us to compare them with each other and then joyn them together and so determines us to form true Propositions of the things thus singly received and understood So that sometimes a thing is exposed whole and all at once to our View and sometimes it is more naturally considered successively or according to its several parts And the Mind thereby perceives that the Notion of awhole signifies the same with that of all the several Idea's of the particular parts put together and so is thence carried on to make a Proposition of the Identity of the whole with all its parts And can truly affirm that the same Causes which preserve the whole must also conserve all its constituent parts and then from a diligent Contemplation of all these Propositions which may justly challenge the Title of the more general Laws of Nature we may observe that they are all reduceable to one Proposition from whose fit and just Explication all the Limits or Exceptions under which the particular Propositions are proposed may be sought for and discovered as from the Evidence of that one Proposition which may be reduced into this or the like Sence viz. The endeavour as far as we are able of the common good of the whole System of Rational Beings conduces as far as lies in our Power to the good of all its several Parts or Members in which our own Felicity is also contained as part thereof Whereas the Acts opposite to this Endeavour do bring along with them Effects quite opposite thereunto and will certainly procure our own Ruine or Misery at last Therefore the whole Summ of this Proposition may be reduced to these three Things 1. That which concerns the Matter of it
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
§ 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
and obvious Observations from the Nature of those things without us which we daily stand in need and make use of as may serve to prove after what manner we ought to make use of them and whence that Right arises we have to them I come now to make the like Observations from the Nature of Mankind in order to the proving that we are designed by God for the Good and Preservation of others besides our selves and that in the doing of this we procure as far as lies in our Power the Good and Happiness of all Rational Beings in which our own is likewise included To perform this task I shall first take notice of those Qualities or Properties that belong to man 1 as a meer Natural Body 2 such as belong to him as an Animal 3 such as are peculiar to him as a Rational Creature endued with a higher and nobler Principle than Brutes viz. an Immortal Soul § 2. To begin with the first of these it is evident that as a Natural Body he is endued with these Properties common to all other Natural Bodies First that all his motions in which his Life Strength and Health consist do all proceed from God the first and Original or Cause of them and are necessarily complicated with and depend upon the motions of innumerable other Bodies among which the Corporeal motions of others which do often limit and restrain our own are first and chiefly to be considered 2 That from them as from other Bodies motion may be propagated Indefinitely and which does not perish but concur with other motions to perpetuate the Succession of things that is contribute to the conservation of the Universe and as the former teaches us that a particular end viz. our own Preservation depends upon our Common or joynt Forces or Natural Powers so this latter instructs us that such Powers and motions of particular Persons are often most Beneficial and conducing to the Common Good of all men The first of these Conclusions forbids us to hope for or endeavour our own private Good or Happiness as separate and distinct from that of all others and so excites us to seek the Common Good of Rationals as the Original of our own particular Happiness The other Conclusion shews that this endeavour of the Common Good can never prove in vain or to no purpose since it concurrs with the Will of God and conduces to the Preservation of the Universe and of all Humane Creatures therein contain'd and farther that in each complicated motion as well in that towards which divers Causes concurr for the Preservation of any Body for a certain time as also in that whereby each particular Body concurrs to the Conservation of the whole System There is a certain order still observed whereby some motions are necessarily determined by others in a continual Series or Succession all which are yet governed or over-ruled by the motion of the whole System of Natural Bodies And although this sort of Contemplation may seem remote from common use yet is it not to be contemned as altogether unprofitable in Humane Affairs for it makes us more distinctly perceive from some certain general Principles how necessary a constant and certain order is amongst those Causes that Act from Corporeal forces so that many of them may each in their order Successively concurr to an effect foreseen or designed by us and farther shews us a rule how we may certainly judge what Cause does more or less contribute to the Effect sought for or desired so that from the Natural Power of these Causes their Order Dignity or Power in respect to each Effect are to be determined and judged of and we are taught from the Nature of things as well what Causes are to be most esteemed for those good Effects they have or may produce as also which are most diligently to be sought for the obtaining those ends which we desire and by which means it may be also known that those Causes which Philosophers call Universal viz. God the first Cause and the motion of the Celestial Bodies as proceeding from Him are the Original Causes of the Common Good or Happiness of Mankind a part of which we either always do actually or can hope to enjoy § 3. But omitting those Motions which are not in our Power to influence or alter it is certain that among the things which are in either our Power to do or forbear those voluntary Humane motions proceeding from an Universal Benevolence of all Men towards all others are the principal Causes of their Common Happiness and in which every one's private Good is included Since from this source proceed all those Actions by which Men's Innocence and Fidelity towards each other are preserved as also by which Humanity Gratitude and almost all the other Vertues are exerted and performed after as certain a manner as the Natural motions of the Spirits Bowels Nerves and Joynts in an Animal do wholly proceed from the motion of the Heart and Circulation of the Blood which judgment or determination being taken from the Nature of things duly considered should without doubt cause us to yield Obedience to all the Laws of Nature as contributing to this Common Good of Rational Agents and may make us also diligently to take care that the same be observed by others so that there may be nothing wanting that can be done by us whereby we may not be rendered as happy as our frail Natures in this will allow since right reason can propose no higher or nobler End than this of all our moral Actions § 4. Yet whilst we compare the Aggregate Body of mankind as far as we can Act by Corporeal force with the Natural Systems of other Bodies I am not unmindful of the manifest difference there is between them viz. That all the Effects of meer Corporeal Systems are produced by the Contiguity and immediate Operation of Bodies moving upon others that are to be moved by them without any Sense Deliberation or Liberty which are only to be found in Humane Actions in whose Motions and Operations on each other though a great difference often intervenes yet for all that it is evident that the Corporeal Powers of Men when exerted are subject to the same Laws of motion with other Bodies and that divers Men may often cooperate to one certain Effect relating to the Good or Hurt of others so that there is the same necessity of a Subordination between Humane motions as there is between those of other Bodies And I must here farther take notice that Men have frequent opportunities of meeting together and also many other means by which they may hurt or help each other by Words Writing or other Actions So that if we consider the Nature of Mankind in the whole course of their Lives it ought to be considered as one entire System of Bodies consisting of several particular parts So that nothing almost can be done in Relation to any Man's Life Family or Fortune which doth
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
it is evident That their Off-spring can neither be generated or preserved unless those of different Sexes do for some time maintain Peace and a Co-habitation with each other which in many others of them continues much longer than the bare time of Generation viz. for the whole season of Coupling and Breeding up of their young ones and in divers others as Doves Pigeons c. This Affection continues like Marriage as long as their Lives And that Creatures are excited to generate their like from the same natural Causes for which their own Preservation is procured appears from this anatomical Observation that part of the same nutritious Juice passes into the Nourishment of the Body and the rest to the Propagation of Seed and the whole Circulation of the Blood with the Causes that produce and promote it as the muscular force of the Heart and that strange and wonderful Artifice of the Valves in the Veins do by one and the same Action serve for the particular Nutrition of the Animal and also perform the more publick Duty of Propagation of the Species whilst it does at the same time send down part of that matter to the Spermatick Vessels out of which the Seed is produced § 13. But leaving the nicer Disquisition of these anatomical Observations to Naturalists and Physicians I shall only add this one Observation That it is evident that all Animals are by these means impelled to the Love of those of a different Sex and also of their own Off-spring and so are brought to impart some of that Self-love with which they are first endued to others of their own kind from an irresistible instinct of Nature And hence it is truly observed of Men That after they are married and have got Children they are more prone to and sollicitous after Peace than before but that this desire of Propagation disposes Men to a greater Affection towards those of the Female Sex is so evident that it needs no proof But since Mr. H. and others of his Opinion do grant these Observations concerning the natural Propensions of Creatures to be true but are wont to evade them by affirming That they only proceed from the sole Love of their own Pleasure and Satisfaction and that all the Actions proceeding from thence tend to no higher end than the Love and Preservation of themselves as I do not in this part of the Discourse intend to dispute so have I not omitted to answer this Objection in the last Chapter which is designed on purpose for answering all those Objections that can well be made against our Definition of the Law of Nature § 14. The last general Observation to be drawn from the Nature of Living Creatures may be taken from that Sweetness and Pleasure they take and enjoy in those Actions and Passions that tend to the Common Good of their own Kind since it is very well known to Naturalists that in those sweeter Passions of Love Desire Hope Joy especially when employed about any great Good towards others the vital Motions of the Blood and Heart are then highly helped and promoted So that the Veins and Arteries are filled with a milder and nobler Juice whilst brisker and more active Spirits are thereby generated and the Circulation of the Blood and consequently all the other animal Functions are more easily and nimbly performed So that by those very Affections by which they do good to Animals of their own Kind they themselves are also satisfied and delighted and as far as they feel this naturally rooted in their very Natures they must needs incline to these Affections so highly conducing to their own Happiness and Preservation whereas on the contrary in Hatred Envy Fear and that Sadness and Ill-humour which necessarily springs from those sour and immoderate Passions the Circulation of the Blood is obstructed and the Heart rendred more heavy and unapt to motion So that it thereby expels the Blood with greater difficulty in its Systole from whence proceeds meagerness and paleness of the Countenance with innumerable Inconveniencies to the whole Oeconomy of the Body but chiefly in the Functions of the Brain and Nerves such as are those Diseases which are attributed to the Spleen deep Melancholy and Discontent But these things being rather of a medicinal Consideration I shall but only just mention them though the Writings of Physicians may yield us divers Examples of such who have hastened their own Fate through immoderate Envy and Regret that they could not satisfie their Malice or Revenge of which I may chance to give you a taste when I come to consider the Sanction of the Law of Nature by Punishments proceeding from the undue and immoderate exercise of those Passions § 15. But as Mr. H. and his Disciples cannot deny these Natural Propensions in Brute Creatures towards mutual Concord so they have no other way to evade these Instances but by supposing some things in Man's Nature that render him worse Natur'd and more unmanageable than Bears Wolves c. That so being naturally in a perpetual state of War they can no way be kept from destroying each other but by some Common Supreme Power set over them to keep them all in awe which Arguments and the Answers to them since by their length they would too much perplex the Connexion of this Discourse I shall refer you to the Second part wherein I hope I have made it appear that there is nothing in Man's Nature considered as an Animal that ought to be governed by right Reason and in which alone he excels other Creatures that can lay any necessity upon him of being more fierce and unsociable than Brutes § 16. Having now dispatched these common and easie Observations concerning Man considered as a meer Body and also such as concern his Nature as an Animal tending to prove that the endeavour of the Common Good of his own Species was one great End and Design of God in His Creation I come in the next place to consider those particulars in which the Nature of Man excels that of Brutes and whereby he is rendred much more capable than they of promoting and performing this great End viz. the Common Good of Rational Agents which I shall divide into two Heads either those belonging to the Body or else to the Soul or Mind as to the former though there are divers Anatomical Observations made by curious Anatomists and Learned Physicians concerning the differences between the Constitution of the inward parts or vessels in Men and Brutes yet I shall take notice of no more than what are absolutely necessary to our purpose and which may serve to shew what are the natural Causes of that Excellency and Superiority that is commonly found in Humane Intellects above those of Brutes The first of which Observations may be drawn from the large quantity of brains which is found in Humane Bodies and which bears a much greater proportion in respect of their bulk than in any other Creatures for though the weight
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
unto and which is most inseparably conjoyned with his own particular Conservation and Happiness But whereas God hath Created other Creatures to act for their own present Satisfaction and Preservation without any consideration of that of others He hath made man alone not only able to contribute to the good and Preservation of his own kind but hath also made him sensible of this Ability and I shall farther shew in this Discourse that he hath laid a sufficient Obligation on him to exert it § 22. Another faculty of the Rational Soul and only proper to Man as a sociable Creature is That of Speech or expressing our Notions by significant Words or Sounds which though it be not born with us yet however may be reckoned amongst the Natural faculties of Mankind as well as going with two legs since we find no Brute Creatures capable of it though divers of them are endued with Tongues like ours and that divers Birds can pronounce whole Sentences yet have they no notion of what they say whereas there is no Nation though never so Barbarous but hath the use of Speech And to shew you farther how natural some sort of Speech is to Mankind I have heard of two young Gentlemen that were Brothers and I knew one of them my self who though born deaf and consequently dumb yet by often and long Conversation with each other came to frame a certain Language between themselves which though it seemed perfect Gibberish to the standers by yet by the sole motion of their Lips and other signs they perfectly understood each other which was likewise evident from this that in the dark they were not able to converse at all So that this faculty seems to have been bestowed by God on Mankind not for his Preservation as a meer Animal Since divers Brutes are able to subsist for more years without it and therefore seems to be intended to render Man a Sociable Creature and who was by this Faculty to benefit others of his own kind as well as himself for we are not only hereby able to impose certain Arbitrary names to particular things but having first framed Universal Idea's can likewise give names to them as to this general Idea applicable to all particular Men in the World we can give the name of Man and herein consists the main difference between Men and Brutes and not in Ratiocination alone Since I suppose even Brutes have right Idea's of those Objects they have received by their Senses and can likewise inferr or reason right about them As when a Dog by often seeing his Master take down his stick before he goes abroad does thence argue when ever he does so that his going abroad will follow expressing his Joy by barking and leaping yet we cannot find that Brutes have any general or complex Idea's much less names for them having no more but a few Ordinary signs whereby to express their present Appetites and Passions but the main benefit of Speech seems to respect others more than our selves since we are hereby able to instruct them in many Arts and Sciences necessary for their Happiness and Preservation and also to advise and admonish them in all Civil and Moral Duties and there is scarce any one so Brutish who is not sensible that in the exercise of this Faculty consists one of the greatest pleasures of Humane Life viz. Conversation and supposing Men in a state of War I do not see how they could ever well get out of it again were it not for Treaties and Articles of Peace but must like game Cocks and Bulls fight it out till one side were either quite destroyed or forced to run away and quit that Territory or Country where they Liv'd § 23. Nor can we omit another great benefit we receive from Speech viz. the Invention of Letters by which we are not only able to Register our present Thoughts for our own remembrance but can likewise Profit and Instruct not only the present but also all future Generations by Books or Writings as we do now make use of the Knowledge and Experience of those who dyed some Thousands of Years before we were born But since Mr. H. and others have made some Objections against the benefit of Speech and Letters as that they tend oftentimes to promote false Opinions and War amongst Mankind Granting it to be so it is no more an Objection against the benefits we receive by them than it were to say that the Air Water or Food the only means of Life are hurtful to Mankind since by the necessary course of Nature or else our own Intemperance they often become the causes of Plagues Surfeits and divers other diseases whereby Mankind is destroyed Yet since that Author hath made the use of Speech one great Reason why Men cannot live so peaceably as Brutes and therefore fansies they must be in a Natural state of War I shall therefore referr the Answering it to the Second Part since my Intention is not here to Argue but Instruct § 24. Men do also far exceed Brutes in their Rational or discoursive Faculty as appears in the Knowledge of Numbers or Collecting divers single things into one Total Summ which we call Arithmetick so necessary for all Affairs of a Civil Life and the Duties of distributive Justice And though I grant it is an Art and that divers Barbarous Nations want that exact knowledge of it which we have yet by reckoning upon their fingers they have a sufficient use of it as much as is necessary for their purpose or business and if they did but apply their Minds to it I doubt not but that they would arrive to the same perfection in Arithmetick as we do But I look upon this Faculty as peculiar to Mankind since we cannot perceive Brutes to have any knowledge of it Thus if from Bitches or Sows you take away never so many of their Young ones yet if you leave them but one or two they do not miss the rest which shews that they have no Idea's of Numbers whatever they may have of Quantity § 26. To this Observation may likewise be added as a Consequence thereof that Faculty so proper to Mankind of measuring the quantities of Bodies the distances between them and the Proportions they bear to each other which Science we call Geometry or Mathematicks which Arts were certainly invented by Man as a Creature intended for a Sociable Life since on some of these depend most Trades all Commerce Architecture Navigation and most of the Rules of distributive Justice with other Arts needless here to be set down So that whoever will but seriously reflect upon the excellency of these Sciences as well in the certainty of their Demonstrations as in the vast and Stupendious effects they produce cannot but acknowledge that our Rational Faculty exceeds that of Brutes by many degrees § 27. But there yet remain behind two of the greatest Prerogatives of Man's Soul and in respect of which alone he is made a sit
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
there hath been some signs or tokens of hostility expressed § 7. Yet he grants there was never such a condition of War as this that he describes generally all over the World But that there are many places where men live so now and Instances in many savage People of America where except the Government of small Families the concord whereof depends on Natural Lust they have no Government at all and live at this day in that brutish manner he hath before described But were it so as he affirms that brutish way of living which is in too many Particulars practised by these Savage People both in Affrica and America where they have almost lost all knowledge of a God or of a Moral Good and Evil Ought the Practice of such Barbarous People to be of sufficient Authority to prove that they live according to the true state of Human Nature or that they have a right to live and act thus in all things they thus unreasonably practice But had this Author read any true or exact relations of those Places in America he mentions he might have found that in many of those Nations even where there is no Civil Power to keep them in awe and tho' they have no other Government in time of Peace but that of the Fathers or Heads of Families Yet doth not their concord wholly depend upon Natural Lust For besides the Government of Husbands over their Wives and those conjugal Duties and Services which their Wives yield them in these Places Parents are more fond of their Children and Children again are more dutiful and kind to their Parents and take more care of them when they are sick or old than they commonly do with us And though there be no Common Power to keep them in awe yet having no Riches but the meer necessary Utensils of Living nor any Honours except Military to contend for and which are not obtained without great hardships and sufferings and having also few Words of contempt or disgrace among them whole Towns nay Nations have lived together for many Ages in sufficient Amity and Concord without ever falling together by the ears And if there be any Murthers and Adulteries committed among them every particular person injured or else the Relations of the Party slain are their own Judges and Executioners the mutual fear of which joyned with the Natural Peaceable Temper of the People causes fewer of those Crimes to be committed among them than with us where there are Laws and Publick Officers appointed to punish all such Injuries And for the Truth of this I refer you to two Authors of undoubted Credit viz. Lerius in his History of his Navigation to Brazil Chap. 18. and the French Author of the Natural History of the Caribbè Islands Part. 2d Chap. 11. and § 19. besides other Authors on this Subject whom you may consult in Purchas's Pilgrimes in his Volume of America And though these People have often Wars with their Neighbours yet is it not with all but only some particular Nations with whom they have constant Wars and eat them when they can take them Prisoners Yet do they at the same time maintain Peace with all others So remote is it from Truth that any Nation in the World can live and subsist by maintaining a constant War against all others Nor did I ever hear of any more than one People or Nation in the West-Indies near Carolina called the Westoes that made this Fatal Experiment by making war upon all their Neighbours one after another till they were in a short time reduced from 7000 Fighting Men to 700 and were afterwards quite extirpated by those Nations they had injured Which Relation I receiv'd from a Gentleman of Quality who hath a considerable Interest in those parts So impossible a thing it is for Mankind to subsist or be preserved a year together in Mr. H's imaginary State of War §. 8 Nor is his other Instance from the Actions of Kings and Persons of a Soveraign Authority any better whom he makes like Gladiators Having their Weapons pointing and their eyes fixed on each other That is their Forts Garrisons and Guns upon the Frontieres of their Kingdoms and continual Spies upon their Neighbours which is a posture of War Where I may first observe that he doth not directly affirm That all Princes are in a State but only in a Posture of War which I grant is both lawful and necessary Since no Prince or Common-wealth can be secure that his Neighbours will constantly observe the Laws of Nature and not invade his Territories without any just cause given Yet I think no Prince or other Supreme Power whom he makes the only Judges of Good and Evil will be so wicked or unreasonable to affirm that they have a natural right to invade the Territories Lives and Estates of all Neighbouring Princes and their Subjects much less when they have made Leagues or Compacts of Peace with each other that they are not obliged to observe them only for prevention that they may not do the like to them and break their Compacts first For that he himself confesses to be absolutely contrary to the Laws of Nature and of Right Reason But that upon Mr. H's Principles such Compacts being made in the meer State of Nature and without any Common Power to see them observed do not at all oblige I shall shew you more particularly by and by § 9. I come now to his last Passion viz. Glory for which he would have all men to be naturally in a State of War But admitting that divers men look that their Companions should value them at the same rate as they do themselves and upon the least signs of Contempt or undervaluing naturally endeavour as far as they dare to extort a greater value from their Contemners which amongst them that have no Common Power to keep them quiet may be enough to make them destroy each other Yet doth not this hold true in every man for even among those that labour under this Passion of Vain-glory there are many in whom fear of others is a much more predominate passion and such will rather take an affront than venture to beat or kill another to revenge it Since the hazard is certain but the Victory supposing the person every way his equal uncertain And if this Vain-glory may be so far mastered by another stronger Passion why may it not also be overpowered by Reason For a rational man will consider that he cannot force men to have a better esteem of his Words or Actions by fighting every one that shall declare their dislike of them or else knows that he is not at all the worse for the foolish censures of unreasonable men or that he is obliged to take for an affront whatsoever every scurrilous impertinent Fellow shall intend so And he himself doth here likewise suppose that there are other as strong Passions that incline men to Peace as fear of Death desire of such things
the breach of every Law of Nature and consequently an Obligation to all their outward Actions So that it will be better to observe than to transgress them in the State of Nature because their Violation doth still imply a Contradiction or Absurdity in all Humane Society or Conversation for whosoever will seriously consider the Nature of rational Agents will acknowledge that all the Felicity possible for them doth depend upon the Common Good and Happiness of the whole System as its necessary and adequate Cause and therefore every man ought to seek both of them together for whensoever he transgresses any Law of Nature he then separates his own private Good or Advantage from that of the publick which being contradictory ways of acting must needs raise a Civil War or Contest in a mans own Conscience between his Reason and his Passions which must grievously disturb its Tranquility which Evil since it also takes away his Peace and Security is no contemptible Punishment naturally inflicted by God for such Offences § 9. I shall now only propose two Reasons more whereby I think we may demonstrate the falseness of this Argument of Mr. H. The first is That Presumption of the Civil Laws both in our own and all other Kingdoms which sufficiently declares what Judgment Civil Sovereigns whom this Author makes the only Judges of right or wrong have made of Humane Nature to wit that every one is presumed to be good until the contrary be proved by some outward Action and that made out by sufficient Proof or Testimony and therefore if their Judgment be true he must own all other men ought not to be esteemed as Enemies or so wicked as he is pleased to suppose so that they may be set upon and killed tho never so innocent for any private mans security And this Presumption is more strong against Mr. H. because he founds that Security which he acknowledges to be sufficient in Commonwealths upon those Punishments by which the Supreme Powers can restrain all Invaders of other mens Rights but it is certain that no Punishments are inflicted in Civil States unless according to the Sentence of some Judges who always give Sentence according to this Presumption This therefore is either a true Presumption and so able to direct our Actions in the State of Nature or else even in Commonwealths there is not to be found a sufficient security by the Laws made and Punishments inflicted according to this Presumption and so neither Civil Laws themselves do oblige us to outward Acts and thus every Commonwealth would soon be dissolved But since we are satisfied that publick Judgments given according to this Presumption do for the most part render mens Lives secure enough and certainly much more safe than if all who are arraigned at the Bar were presumed to be Enemies and according to Mr. H's rule of prevention should be all forthwith condemned to suffer as guilty therefore it also follows that the private Judgments of particular men concerning others made according to this Presumption do more conduce to the security of all men than this Authors rash Presumption of the Universal Pravity of all men and would thence persuade us that all others in the State of Nature are to be prevented and set upon by force and fraud § 10. A second reason to prove that the violation of the Laws of Nature as to outward acts will procure us less security than their exact observation may be drawn from hence That Mr. H. himself confesses there will thence necessarily follow a War of all men against all which War being once supposed he rightly acknowledges that all men would become miserable and must presently perish From whence it appears that all security is sought for in vain by this mad state so that there can remain no more hopes of it tho Mr. H. teaches otherwise in his de Cive cap. 5. § 1. and Lev. cap. 13. viz. That in the mutual fear of men no body hath a better way of security than by this anticipation or prevention that is every one may endeavour so long to subject all others by force or fraud as he sees any man left of whom he ought to beware that is as long as there is one man left alive and so the whole earth would soon become a desart and the common sepulchre of mankind for no man can provide any aid or assistance for himself from other men in this state because Covenants of mutual Faith by which alone others can be joined in Society with him will not oblige to external acts in this state as I have shewed he acknowledges and therefore there remains no security by this way of anticipation So that if there be any security in Nature I appeal to the reasons and consciences of men whether this is not more likely to be had by the endeavour of the common Good of Mankind by doing good and not evil to those who have done us no harm than by Mr. H.'s method of Anticipation which can yield no security at all PRINCIPLE X. That the Laws of Nature are alterable at the Will of the Civil Soveraign § 1. THis is a natural consequence from what he hath already laid down That nothing is morally good or evil in the state of Nature before the Institution of a Commonwealth Yet that you may see that I do not impose upon Mr. H. in this Assertion I will give you his own words in his de Cive cap. 14. § 9 10. But because it arises from Civil Laws that as well every one should have a proper Right to himself distinct from that of another as also that he may be forbidden to invade other mens Properties it follows that these Precepts Honour thy Parents Thou shalt not defraud any man in that which is appointed by the Laws Thou mayest not kill a man whom the Laws forbid thee to kill Thou shalt avoid all Carnal Copulation forbidden by the Laws Thou shalt not take away another mans Goods without his consent Thou shalt not frustrate Laws and Iudgments by false Witness are all Civil Laws It is true the Laws of Nature prescribe the same things but immplicity for the Law of Nature as is said before Cap. 3. § 2. commands Compacts to be observed and therefore also to yield Obedience when Obedience was covenanted and to abstain from what is anothers when it is defined by the Civil Law what it is but all the Subjects do Covenant from the Constitution oi the Commonwealth to yield Obedience to his Commands who hath the supream Power that is to the Civil Laws For the Law of Nature did oblige in the state of Nature where first of all where Nature gave all things to all men nothing was anothers and therefore impossible to invade it and in the next place where all things were common therefore also all Carnal Copulations were lawful Thirdly Where there was a state of War it was then lawful to kill any man Fourthly Where all things