their natures § 11. All Creatures express a delight in the society of others of the same kind some cases or intervals wherein Nature seems to act otherwise no contradiction to this general Rule § 12. All Animals impelled by the natural Constitution of their parts to a Love of those of a different Sex and to a natural Affection to their Offspring § 13. All Animals take delight in the sweeter Passions of Love Ioy Desire c. as helpfull to their natural Constitution whereas the contrary Passions when inordinate are highly destructive to it § 14. Mr. H. cannot deny these natural Propensions and therefore is forced to suppose somewhat in Man's nature that renders him more unsociable than Brutes § 15. Other peculiar Observations relating to Man whereby he is made more capable of promoting the common good as first from the greater quantity of Brains in Men than in Brutes § 16. 2. From the natural Constitution of their Bloud and Spermatick Vessels from whence arises a Necessity of Marriage and of a more constant and lasting Love to their Offspring § 17. 3. From the wonderfull structure of Men's hands it is proved that this Instrument was given us for some more noble use than bare self-preservation § 18. Lastly From the upright posture of Men's bodies and way of motion § 19. The next Set of Observations tending to prove Men more fitted for the promoting of this common good is taken from the natural and peculiar faculties of Men's Souls above those of Brutes And 1. from that of deducing effects from their Causes and vice versa especially in that of distinguishing of real or natural from apparent Goods § 20. What is understood by us by a natural or moral Good or Evil. Certain Axioms for the plainer understanding their Nature and Degrees § 21. How we arrive to an Idea of a species or kind of Creatures and also to a notion of the general or common good of Mankind § 22. Speech and the Invention of Letters peculiar faculties of Man's nature § 23. And the great Benefits arising from thence in order to the common good § 24. Men do infinitely exceed Beasts in their discursive Faculties as also in the knowledge and use of Numbers § 25. As also in the Power of Vnderstanding the different Quantities and Proportions between Bodies which we call Geometry § 26. The two great remaining Prerogatives of humane Souls Freedom of Will as to moral Actions and the Knowledge of a God § 27 28. What knowledge we can have of his Attributes which can never be truly understood but with respect to their great End the Prosecution of the common good of the Vniverse § 29. The Contents of the Third Chapter A Brief recapitulation of the former Chapters and a summing up all those Observations into a general Proposition of God's Willing and Commanding the Common Good of rational Beings as the main End of all our Actions § 1. A brief Explanation of the Terms of our Description of the Law of Nature and that words are not always essential to Laws § 2. That all moral Truths or Duties as declared by God are contained in this one Proposition of Endeavouring the common good certain Principles laid down for the proving it § 3 4 5 6. That this being once discovered to us we lie under a sufficient Obligation to observe this Proposition as a natural Law with the Explanation of the Term Obligation and who hath Authority to oblige us § 7 8 9. Yet that this Obligation may well consist with the freedom of our wills the difference between a mere animal and a rational or natural Good the neglect of which distinction is the Cause of Epicurus and Mr. H's Errors § 10. The last part of the Obligation to this Law viz. its Sanction by Rewards and Punishments certain Axioms necessary to be known in order to the right understanding the true nature of a moral Good or Evil and of Man's true happiness and perfection with its difference from that of other Beings § 11. That though all moral Obligation does not consist in Rewards or Punishments Yet that by reason of the weakness of humane Nature it is insignificant without them with a Scale of Nature shewing the difference between Vegetables and inanimate Bodies and between Men and Brutes § 12. The strictest Sanction and consequently Obligation to all Laws consists in Rewards and Punishments duly distributed God's right of Dominion not to be resolved into his irresistible Power § 13. The internal Rewards ordained by God in Nature are first the inward satisfaction of the Soul and also the pleasure all men take in the exercise of the sweeter passions of Love c. § 14 15. The external Rewards are all the like returns of this Benevolence from others with the praise or commendation of all good men together with the peace and protection of the civil Government § 16 17. Lastly from God Soundness of mind and body with all those outward blessings he usually bestows on the peaceable and vertuous with a Solution to the difficulty why God often afflicts Good men § 18. The internal Punishments ordained by God for the transgression of this Law are the absence or privation of the former good things which is an Evil and a Punishment § 19. Errour and being governed by the Passions a real Evil and an internal Punishment § 20. 3. That such evil Actions cannot but be often displeasing to the Person that doth them § 21. 4. That Vices and Crimes seldom come alone but let in a train of others of the same kind or worse along with them § 22. 5. That such an Offender cannot get out of this state when he will at least not without the trouble of Repentance § 23. 6. The fear of Punishment both from God and Man § 24. The external Punishments are 1. The Evils thot happen to the body from violent and unsociable Passions § 25. The 2d Those returns of hatred or contempt which all such men must expect from others § 26. The 3d. Returns of revenge from those they have injured § 27. Lastly Those Punishments which are often inflicted by the civil Powers all which natural Punishments Mr. H. himself acknowledges to be ordained by God § 28. That where these Punishments fail in this Life they will be supplied by others infinitely more grievous and durable in that to come § 29. A brief recapitulation of this Chapter that this Proposition of our Endeavouring the common good c. is truly a Law as containing all the Conditions requisite thereunto § 30. The Contents of the Fourth Chapter A Brief repetition of what hath been said in the first Chapter That no man can have a right to preserve his own Life but as it conduces to the common good c. That in all Societies the good of the lesser part must give place and be subordinate to that of the greater § 1. That a due consideration of this Law will lead us to a
for any man to hurt or kill any other Person who had educated or maintained him or otherwise highly obliged him since the same Laws of Gratitude that make it injurious to hurt or murther his Father in the state of Nature do also command the like duty towards any other Benefactor § 4. But his Argument in his Leviathan is much more false and precarious when he argues That where there is no common Power there is no Law and where there is no Law there is no Injustice All which he brings to prove the necessity of his natural state of War For first though I grant where there is no Common Power that is no Legislator there is no Law yet that is not true of the Laws of Nature since if they proceed from God as a Legislator as I hope we have proved in the precedent Discourse they are truly Laws before any Civil Power was instituted to make Laws or to see them observed and consequently that it is the highest injury and injustice to take away any thing from others being innocent and doing us no hurt that is necessary for their Life or preservation which they are already possest of and though it is true that Justice and Injustice are no natural Faculties of the Mind yet right Reason is from whence all Justice is deduced and which a man is always bound to exercise as soon as he becomes capable of being a Member of Humane Society I do not mean a Civil one and if there be a natural Equity as this Author acknowledges De Cive cap. 14. § 14. there is likewise a natural Justice and Injustice too but I shall say more of this in the next Principle PRINCIPLE VI. That in the state of Nature there is nothing Good or Evil. § 1. I Shall here give you Mr. H's Opinion and his Reasons for it in his own words as they are in his Leviathan cap. 6. Whatsoever is the object of any man's Appetite or Desire that is it which he for his part calls Good and the object of his Hate and Aversion Evil and of his Contempt Vile and Inconsiderable For these words of Good Evil and Contemptible are ever used with relation to the Person that useth them there being nothing simply and absolutely so Nor any common Rule of Good and Evil to be taken from the nature of the Objects themselves but from the person of the Man where there is no Commonwealth or in a Commonwealth from the Person that represents it or from an Arbitrator or Iudge whom men by disagreeing shall by consent set up and make his Sentence the Rule thereof He speaks to the same effect in all his other Works as in De Cive cap. 4. § 17. in his De Homine cap. 11. which it were tedious here to repeat and therefore I refer you to the places I have here cited § 2. But this he endeavours Physically to explain in his little Treatise of Humane Nature cap. 7. § 1. compared with Chap. 3. where he supposes That the motion in which consists the conception of things without any intervention of the Iudgment passes from the Brain to the Heart and as it there hinders or helps its vital motion it is said to please or displease But that which so pleases any one he calls Good And that which displeases him Evil and hence from the diversity of Constitutions or Temperaments there are divers Opinions of Good that is naturally and necessarily so And in the state of Nature unblameably from his Opinion that judges it § 3. There is nothing that Mr. H. hath written more loosely and unlike a Philosopher than these unstable Opinions both of natural and moral Good and Evil. And therefore it is a matter of great moment to have a fixed and constant notion of Good because as long as this is fluctuating and uncertain all knowledge of our true Felicity which is the greatest Good of every man as also of the Laws of Nature and of all particular Vertues which are nothing but the means and causes of obtaining this Good will be likewise various wandring and uncertain § 4. Therefore although it must be confest that because of some peculiarity in the divers Temperaments of men it sometimes happens that one sort of Diet or Medicines may be hurtful to one which may not prove so to another yea which Experience hath approved not only to be innocent but wholsome for others Something like which may be observed in the Genius and Manners of Nations quite different from others in some particular Customs and Constitutions yet this doth not any more take away the common Consent of Mankind concerning the nature of Good and its constituent parts and degrees than the small difference of mens Faces takes away the agreement between them in their common Natures as Men or that general likeness that is between them in the conformation and use of their principal Parts For sure there is no Nation so barbauros which will not own that there are greater hopes and satisfaction in loving and obeying God than in blaspheming and disobeying of him There is scarce any Nation that is not sensible that filial duty towards Parents gratitude to their Benefactors love and kindness to their Friends and Neighbours fidelity in their Promises and Agreements are good and necessary for their own welfare and preservation and consequently of Mankind No difference of Temper makes any man in his Senses not perceive it to be good for all men that the Lives Liberties Estates and Members of all innocent Persons should be preserved And therefore that the killing or robbing of them should be every-where prohibited under the most severe Penalties Or lastly What peculiar humour in men can make them not think it good and beneficial for particular Families and Nations that the Conjugal Fidelity of the Marriage-bed the Chastity should be preserved inviolated The same may be said concerning the right of using and enjoying all those outward things that are necessary for life or conduce to our health fame honour the education of our Children and the preservation of Friendship since in their Judgment concerning the goodness of these things about which the whole business of the Laws of Nature and of most Civil Laws is taken up all rational men do as equally agree in their Opinions as concerning the whiteness of Snow or the brightness of the Sun Though I do not lay the main stress of their obligation to these Actions on this general Agreement since I have laid down contrary Principles in the foregoing Discourse § 5. But I shall now proceed to give you a more true and setled Notion of Good and Evil both natural and moral I therefore define Good in general to be that which preserves encreases or perfects the Faculties and Powers of one or more things for by these effects that peculiar agreeableness of one thing with another declares it self to us and which is requisite to make any thing to be truly called good for
within that Law But in Humane Laws because they may enjoyn something amiss there a Right is often left to us to chuse rather to bear the Penalty than to obey them because we are obliged rather to obey GOD than Man in case they command any Action contrary to the Divine Law whether Natural or Revealed § 8. For the further clearing of this I shall premise somewhat to explain this Word Obligation which the Civilians thus define Obligatio est vinculum Iuris quo quis astringitur debitum persolvere That is an Obligation is that Bond of Law whereby every one is obliged to pay his Debt or Due Which Definition doth well include all sorts of Obligations if by the Word Ius or Law we understand that Law whose Obligation we propose to define So that by vinculum Iuris in this Definition we understand that Bond or Tye of the Law of Nature by which every one is obliged to pay this natural Debt i. e. to perform that Duty which he owes to GOD his Creator by reason of his own Rational Nature or else to undergo those Punishments which are ordained for his Disobedience or Neglect So that there is a twofold Tye or Obligation in all Laws the one active in the Debt or Duty the other passive in a patient submission to the Punishment in case of any wilful neglect or omission thereof Of both which we shall speak in their order § 9. But you are first to take notice That none can oblige us to do or forbear any Action but such who have a right to Command us So that this Obligation proceeds from that just Right of Dominion which a superiour Power hath over us and our Actions and as far as we are subject to others we are so far under an Obligation to their lawful Commands which obliges us to a discharge of that Debt or Duty we owe them that is when we are obliged to do or forbear any Action from the Will or Command of a Supreme Power or Legislator to whom when sufficiently made known to us we are bound to yield Obedience to the utmost of our Power And herein consists the Obligation or Duty viz. in the Conformity of our Actions to a Rule such as is declared by the Will of the Legislator So that all our Obligation to the Laws of Nature is at last resolved into that absolute Dominion which GOD as he is the Great Creator and Preserver of Mankind hath over us For I cannot understand a Right especially of Dominion to be invested or seated in any Supreme Power but by virtue of something which may be called at least analogically a Law 2. That every Dictate of the Divine Wisdom concerning Matter fit to be established by a Law is such a Law And so Cicero the best Master of Language speaks towards the end of his First Book de Legibus 3. That the Eternal Wisdom of GOD contains eminently or analogically in it all that we can know to be Natural Law 4. But to know that it is Natural Law or the Dictate of true Reason concerning the fittest means to the best End or greatest Good it is necessary to this purpose That the Supreme Government of all Things and especially of Rational Creatures should be in him who is most able and willing to pursue and attain that greatest End that is it must be setled in GOD. 5. So that by this Dictate of Eternal Wisdom or of performing all Things for the best End the Soveraignty becomes his Right and our Knowledge that this Dictate of Eternal Wisdom is in him assures us That this Right is immutably fix'd and vested in him 6. Although in the method of investigating the Laws of Nature as they subsist in our Minds the first Law respects the End and this concerning the Means comes in the second place Yet in our Thoughts concerning GOD we know that infinite Wisdom comprehends all these Dictates together and therefore that the Dictate or Law setling Universal Dominion in GOD is co-eternal with him and so is as early in his Nature as the first Natural Law the Obligation of which we are establishing in this Chapter And here arises the difference between a Moral Obligation which is that we now treat of and a Civil one or that by which we are obliged to Laws in Civil Governments the former being in respect to GOD's immediate Will as the Supreme Legislator whereas all the Duty we owe to our Civil Magistrates Parents and Masters c. is only in subordination to GGD's Will so declared unto us and who hath ordained this Obedience for his own Worship and Glory and in order to the Common Good of all Humane Societies and Commonwealths that is of Mankind in general § 10. Yet I think notwithstanding all we have said of the Force and Nature of this Obligation it may well enough consist with the natural Freedom of Man's Will since all these Considerations do still but excite not necessitate Him to act one way or other For it is still left in his Power either to chuse that which is absolutely the best in obeying this Will of God or else to preferr a less present Good before it in the satisfaction of his Appetites or Passions And herein likewise consists the difference between an Animal Good or Evil and a Moral one the former being those natural Means conducing to each Man's preservation or destruction considered as a mere Animal without any respect to God as their Author or the Common Good of Rationals as their Rule The latter that is of all Humane Moral Actions or Habits considered as agreeable or disagreeable unto the Laws of Nature ordained by God as a Legislator and made known to Man in order to the Common Good of Rational Beings so that they are thus morally Good or Evil only in respect of their Conformity or Disagreement with the Will of God and as their Observance or Neglect brings either Good or Evil that is Happiness or Misery upon us in this Life or in that to come From whence you may observe the necessity of putting God in all our descriptions or definitions of the Law of Nature as the Author thereof For were it not for his existence in whose divine Intellect the Idea's of Moral Good and Evil are eternally established and into whose will so ordaining them they are ultimately to be resolved Mr. H.'s or rather Epicurus's Assertion would certainly be true That there is nothing morally Good or Evil in its own Nature And it may here be also observed That the great omission of divers Writers on this Subject in not placing God as the Cause or Author of the Law of Nature in their definitions hath been perhaps the main if not only Reason of that false Assertion That the Laws of Nature are not properly so 'till they are established by the Authority of the Supreme Civil Power so on the other side if it be made evident That God Wills or Commands all Men should
Health of the whole Body So from the knowledge of this Order of divers subordinate Goods and the proportion which any one of them bears to the Common or Greatest Good may easily be deduced how much the Well-being or Happiness of every single Person may contribute to that of the whole Family the Felicity of a Family to that of a Commonwealth that of a Common-weal to the Happiness of all Nations and of all these considered together what proportion they may bear to the Common Felicity of Mankind So that hence you may be easily satisfied how much the knowledge of this one Truth conduces to our right prosecution of this great End and indeed Sum of all the Laws of Nature § 25. Lastly which yet ought rather to have been put in the first place of all let us consider the chief and principal of all the moral Vertues Love or Piety towards God expressed in all the Acts of Divine Worship as Prayer Praise Thanksgiving c. This must needs be a Vertue since it does that which is highly grateful and pleasing to God the Head of all Rational Beings and speaking after the manner of us Men performing somewhat Good and agreeable to his Divine Nature and which also in respect of our selves makes us most happy not only by rendring the Deity propitious to us but also by a nearer spiritual approach and conversation with it in those holy Exercises it puts us in the happiest state we can be capable of in this mortal Life and so makes us more able to perform the great End of our Creation viz. Our contributing to the Common Good of Rational Beings § 26. I have been the larger in laying down and explaining this Law as a Measure or Standard of all good Actions to the end that we should esteem all Good or Evil not as it more or less profits or hurts our own particular Bodies alone but as it may more or less add to or detract from this Common Good So that in comparing of all Goods together whether Natural or Moral we ought still to look upon that as the greatest Good which conferrs most and that to be the least which contributes least to this great End which is therefore to be desired or prosecuted by us with proportionable Affections and Endeavours From whence also may be drawn a general and powerful Remedy against all those inordinate Passions proceeding from excessive Self-Love by which Men are most commonly drawn to hurt or injure others For a Man who thus governs himself will not extravagantly desire any of these outward Things nor suffer his Soul to be disturbed by the consciousness of any Crime who judges nothing truly Good but what really conduces to the common Good of Rationals § 27. Thus I hope I have demonstrated the true Reasons and Grounds of Moral Good and Evil or of Vertue and Vice and have endeavoured to render Moral Philosophy or the true Knowledge of the Laws of Nature a practical Science and not merely Speculative or Notional like that of the Stoicks who whilst they allowed nothing to be really good but Vertue or Evil except Vice and kept such a pother to extol the real Good of the former and declaim against the certain Evil of the latter yet by not giving us the true Reasons or Grounds why Vertue should be embraced and Vice avoided they rendred their Philosophy merely speculative and only fit for those idle Porches in which they declaimed scarce having any farther influence upon the Actions of Life when either their own Affections or any powerful outward Temptation did at any time prompt them to act contrary thereunto For Vertue is only to be esteemed as the highest or most perfect Good not as it is a well-sounding Word or that fills our Minds with some vain empty Notions but as it determines our Actions to their utmost influeence upon the Common Good of Rational Beings which is the only true Piety as consisting in the Performance of the Commands and Will of God by the imitation of his Divine Goodness and Beneficence § 28. So that I shall conclude this Chapter with Dr. Parker's excellent Consideration on this Subject and which being better than any thing that I can now think of I shall make bold to give it you almost in his own Words with a little alteration So that it is now demonstratively certain by induction of Particulars according to the method we have now taken that every Vertue hath some natural Efficacy to promote the Common Good of Rationals and is no otherwise a Vertue but as it contributes to this great End and that each Man 's true private Interest and Happiness is therein contained and inseparably connected with it by the necessary order of Nature i. e by the Contrivance and Wisdom of Divine Providence So that nothing can be more evident than that its Author commands all his Rational Creatures that are capable of any knowledge of his Will and sence of their Duty to act suitably to that Order of Things which he hath established in the World and to that Declaration of his Will which he hath made by that Establishment in order to the bringing about this great End of the Common Good of Rational Beings CHAP. V. Containing an Answer to such Objections as may be made against the Law of Nature thus explained and reduc'd into this Proposition Of Endeavouring the Common Good of Rational Beings with a Conclusion proving this to be the sum of all Laws whether Natural or Revealed § 1. SInce there are two sorts of men who according to their several Principles and Inclinations may make different Objections against this our Method of proving and deducing the Law of Nature and contracting it into this sing'e easie Proposition of our endeavouring the common good of Rational Beings I shall therefore divide them into Platonists or Epicureans Those who put the whole stress of their belief of the Laws of Nature upon innate Ideas or Principles of Moral Good and Evil imprest by God upon mens Souls and who I doubt not may have a true zeal though without knowledge for this Common Good which is more than I can promise for those who falâ—ing into the other extream will not acknowledge that we can have any true or certain notion or idea of this Common Good so as to make it the main end of all our Actions I shall therefore in the first place consider those Objections that may be made by the former sort of Men whose first Objection may be this That it is most suitable to the goodness of God to imprint upon the minds of men certain Characters and Notions of himself and also of those Moral Duties which he requires of them and not to leave them in the dark and in doubt about things of so great a Concernment to them since by that means he would not only have secured himself of that Worship and Veneration which is due from so Intelligent a Creature as Man
by the due observation of Justice and Charity or the most diffusive Benevolence towards others of our own Kind according to the Order we have already laid down in the former Chapter All which is but our endeavouring to procure as far as we are able this Common Good of Rational Agents 'T is true Mr. H. in his Lev. Chap. 13. contracts all the Laws of Nature into this short and easy Rule which he says is intelligible even by the meanest capacities viz. Do not that to another thou wouldest not have done to thy self Which Rule tho' very true and the same in effect which was given by our Blessed Saviour himself yet without the consideration of the Common Good of Mankind would too often fail For if this Rule were strictly and literally to be understood no Prince Judge or other Magistrate could condemn a Malefactor to death for in so doing he did that to another which he would not have done to himself in the like State Since he himself as well as the Criminal he condemns would then desire to be pardoned if he could But indeed the reason why all Judges and other inferior Officers of Justice are excused from the observation of this Rule in their publick Capacities is Because they do not then act as private persons but as publick Representatives or Trustees with whom the Common Good and Peace of the whole Kingdom or Commonwealth is intrusted which as I have already shewn makes but a small part of the Common Good of all Rational Agents § 16. There are likewise others who reduce the Laws of Nature into this single Rule or Precept Preserve or do good to thy self and any other innocent persons as to thy self Which tho' I grant to be a true Rule as containing our Saviour's Epitome of the Commandments of the Second Table Love thy Neighbour as thy self Yet doth it not express the Reason or Principle on which it is founded for we have no reason to love our Neighbour but as they partake of the same Common Rational Nature with our selves and that our doing them good doth conduce to the preservation and happiness of the whole Body of Mankind of which that person as well as our selves are but small parts or Members Nor have we any particular obligation to endeavour our own particular Good but as it conduces to and is part of the Common Good of Mankind § 17. And as the whole Law of Nature so likewise the Revealed Law given from God by Moses to the Iews and intended in due time to be made known to all Mankind tends to no other end than this great Law of endeavouring the Common Good of Rational Agents For all the Precepts of the First Table of the Decalogue which prescribe our Duty towards God and which our Saviour hath so excellently well contracted into this single Precept Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength c. contain nothing more than this great Rule For as God before he thought fit to create the World and whilst there was yet no Creature to worship or serve him was not then less happy or perfect so neither now he hath created them is he the happier if we worship him or the more unhappy if we omit it For man being created as an Object for the Divine Goodness to exert it self upon it must necessarily follow that all the Precepts of the First Table as well as of the Second are in some sort intended for Man's Good and Happiness as well as God's Honour and Service So that even that Great Commandment of keeping holy the Seventh day which most chiefly respects God's own Glory and Service did also promote the Good and Happiness not only of the Iews God's particular Subjects but also of all Mankind whensoever this Law should be discovered to them So that tho' it commands the dedicating of that day to the Worship and Service of God and is observed in obedience to his Commands Yet even in this he does not design his own Glory and Honour alone nay according to Saint Austin Our Good only but also our Good and Happiness which is then most perfect and compleat when we bestow our time in the contemplation of his Infinite Perfections and Goodness towards us and in rendring him thanks for his unspeakable Benefits So that though I grant he hath made and ordained us for his Service yet he hath so constituted our Nature as to make our highest happiness inseparably connected with all the particular Acts of his Worship And therefore our Saviour reproves the Iews when they found fault with him for suffering his Disciples to pluck the Ears of Corn on the Sabbath day expresly telling them That if they hâ—d known what this means I will have mercy and not sacrifice they would not have condemned the guiltless for the Son of Man i. e. not Christ alone but every Christian is Lord even of the Sabbath-day And in St. Mark That the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath Thereby teaching us that the Sabbath it self was also instituted for Man's sake and that in cases of necessity he is Master of it And so likewise our Saviour himself by chusing to do his greatest Miracles of healing on the Sabbath-day hath taught us that the performance of acts of Charity and Mercy on that Day is a great and necessary part of God's Service § 18. But as for the Precepts of the Second Table I need not insist upon them because our Saviour himself hath contracted them all even that of honouring our Parents into this short Precept Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self Which is no more than to bid us endeavour the common good of Mankind to the utmost of our power So that as this Law of the most diffusive Benevolence of Rational Agents contains the Sum of all the Laws of Nature as also of the Moral Law contained in the Ten Commandments so likewise is it the Sum of the whole Gospel delivered by our Saviour Christ and his Apostles For as one great design of our Saviour's coming into the World was by his most excellent Precepts and Examples to exalt the Law of Nature to a higher perfection than what Men by the common use of Reason could generally attain to so likewise was it one of the main designs of his coming to restore the Law of Moses to its Primitive Purity and Perfection and to free it from those false Interpretations and Traditions with which the Pharisees had corrupted it For whereas they had confined the observation of that Command of loving our Neighbours only to outward Acts or at least restrained it only to those of their own Nation or Religion our Saviour Christ commands a greater perfection and forbids even so much as the thoughts or desires of Murder Adultery c. And whereas the Iews did suppose that they were not obliged to shew Acts of Charity or
the Laws of Nature or Reason proceeding from God himself are truly Laws and the Actions prohibited by them are Sins although men will not through wilful Ignorance discover this Legislator nor will consent to his Laws And Mr. H. himself acknowledges in his Chapter of Laws that the Subjects lie under an obligation to obey them if it can be made appear to them that the Legislator is endued with a Supream Power over them and hath both sufficiently established and promulgated his Laws both which may be truly affirmed of the Laws of Nature § 12. But indeed Mr. H. and his Followers have done very cunningly in taking away all freedom from Mankind and to suppose an absolute necessity of all moral Actions since they could not otherwise destroy the Laws of Nature and equal Men with Brutes but by pulling up all the Foundations of moral Good and Evil. But I need say no more on this Subject to shew the folly and unreasonableness of this Opinion than to put down Mr. H's words on this Subject in Art 11. of this Chapter Where he confesses that this Right of all men to all things is absolutely unprofitable for Mankind because the effect of this Right is all one as if there were no such Right at all For although any man might say of every thing This is mine yet could he not use it because of his Neighbour who might by an equal Right pretend that it was his Which is as good as to own that this right is none at all For he himself in the Article before-going makes Utility to be the measure of all Right but here is a Right without any Utility at all therefore these words Right and Vnprofitable are contradictory for Right refers in this definition to some use or profit that a man may make of his natural Liberty but to be unprofitable owns that there is no use or need of this natural Liberty in that matter PRINCIPLE V. That in the state of Nature whatsoever any one doth to another cannot be injurious to any Person § 1. BEcause says he Injustice towards men supposes Humane Laws none of which are yet in being in the meer state of Nature De Cive Cap. 1. Annot. ad § 10. which he thus likewise endeavours to prove in his Leviathan Chap. 13. Where there is no common Power there is no Law where there is no Law no Injustice Force and Fraud are in War the two Cardinal Vertues Iustice and Injustice are none of the Faculties either of the Body or Mind If they were they might be in a man that were alone in the World as well as his Senses and Passions They are all Qualities that relate to men in Society not in Solitude It is consequent also to the same condition that there be no Propriety no Dominion no Mine and Thine distinct but only that to be every man 's that he can get and for so long as he can keep it All which is no more than what Epicurus long ago asserted as Diogenes Laertius hath told us in the Account he gives of his Life and Opinions To this effect That between those Animals which cannot be joined by any Compact or Bargain that they should not hurt each other there is no Right or Injury So it is likewise amongst Nations which either will not or cannot enter into Compact that they do neither hurt nor are hurt For Injustice is nothing in it self although in some places such a Bargain is made by mutual Compacts that they should not hurt each other So that Injury is no evil in it self but only consists in a fear or suspicion lest it should not be concealed from those who are appointed Revengers of such Injuries § 2. In answer to all which I doubt not to prove that these Principles of Epicurus as well as of Mr. H. and his Disciples are taken up without any just or solid grounds for by the dictates of right Reason considered as they are the natural Laws of God a perfect Right is given to every man to his Life and all those necessary means thereunto without which he cannot subsist For whatever a man enjoys by the right of Nature it must needs be injury and injustice to take it away for every invasion or violation of another's Right or Property is Injury by whatever Law he enjoys it And much more if that Right be conferred upon him by the Law of Nature given by God as a Legislator than if it proceeded from meer Humane Compacts And though Mr. H. here asserts That no injury can be done to any man with whom we have made no Compact yet Chap. 2. Art 1. of his De Cive he says That since all men will grant that to be done by Right which is not contrary to right Reason we ought to believe that to be done by Injury which is repugnant to right Reason that is which contradicts any Truth collected by right Reason from true Principles But what is done by Injury we acknowledge to be done contrary to some Law So that here he grants that an Injury may be done contrary to the Laws of Nature before any Compact or translation of our Right to another and since he there acknowledges those Dictates of Reason to be Laws I would fain see how those can give any man such a right to invade or violate the Rights of another For Right as he himself well defines it being a Liberty granted by right Reason requires that men who pretend to act or speak according to its Dictates cannot act contradictorily to its other Principles or Conclusions And 't were to no purpose for him to say that the Injury is done to God alone when his Laws are broken unless he can shew that those Laws of God do not confer a right on men to their Lives and all the necessaries thereof and do not likewise prohibit others from violating this Right so granted § 3. But yet this Author when he is prest hard does acknowledge that there may be injury done to another out of Civil Government For it being objected whether if a Son should kill his Father in the state of Nature he should not do him an injury he answers That a Son cannot be understood to be in a natural State in respect of his Parents he being as soon as ever he is born under their power and command to whom he owes his being and preservation Yet sure a man's Parents by begetting and breeding him up do not thereby acquire a property or dominion over him as long as he lives though I grant Children when they either marry or otherwise become lawfully discharged from the government of their Parents still owe a filial piety and gratitude to them and that it is a great impiety and injury in Children towards them to hurt or destroy them though they are no longer under their power and command So likewise the same Law of Nature which prescribes gratitude to these our natural Benefactors doth make it injurious
endeavour the Common Good of Rationals as the greatest they are capable of it must necessarily follow That we lie under a sufficient Obligation by all the Tyes of Duty and Gratitude to concurr with God's Will and Design in pursuing and endeavouring this great End § 11. But since God hath thought fit to make Man a Creature consisting of two different and distinct Parts or Principles a Soul and a Body both capable of Good and Evil i. e. of Rewards and Punishments I come now to the other part of this Duty or Obligation by which we are bound by all the Rational Motives or Rewards that Man's Nature is capable of to observe this great Law and deterred by all the contrary Evils or Punishments from neglecting or transgressing it In order to which I shall lay down these plain Axioms drawn from the Nature of Moral Good and Evil which you may find in the Learned Bishop Wilkin's excellent Discourse of Natural Religion Axiom 1. That which is morally good i.e. agreeable to the Will of God is to be desired and prosecuted and that which is evil i. e. contrary to his Will is to be avoided Ax. 2. The greater congruity there is in any thing to the Reason of Mankind and the greater tendency it hath to promote or hinder the Perfection of Man's Nature in the endeavour of the Common Good so much greater degrees it hath of moral Good or Evil and according to which we ought to proportion our Inclinations or Aversions thereunto Ax. 3. So that it is suitable both to the Reason and Interest of Mankind that all Persons should submit themselves to God's Will upon whom they depend for their Happiness and Well-being by doing such Things as may render them acceptable to Him and avoiding those contrary Actions which may provoke his Displeasure that is in short in prosecuting the Common Good of Rational Beings Ax. 4. Hence the Rational Nature and the Perfections belonging to it being more Noble than the Sensitive a moral Good is to be preferred before an animal Pleasure and that which is morally evil is more to be avoided than that which is merely animal Ax. 5. A present animal Good may be parted with upon a probable Expectation of a greater future moral Good Ax. 6. A present Evil is to be endured for the probable avoiding of a greater though future Evil. But since all the Rewards which God can bestow upon us for our observing this fundamental Law of endeavouring the Common Good of Rationals does only amount to the truest and highest Happiness that Man's Nature is capable of it is fit that we sufficiently state that Happiness and wherein it consists For the clearing of which I shall lay down these two plain Propositions § 12. Prop. 1. That which gives or constitutes the Essence of any thing and distinguisheth it from all other things is called the essential form of that thing Prop. 2. That State or Condition by which the Nature of any thing is advanced to the utmost perfection which it is capable of according to its kind is called the Chief End Good or Happiness of such a Being Thus for Example to give you a Scale drawn from the Nature of those Beings we know to be endued with Life or Motion 1. The Nature of Plants consists in having a vegetative Life by which they receive Nourishment and Growth and are enabled to multiply their kind The utmost Perfection which this kind of Being is capable of is to grow up to a state of Maturity to continue unto its natural Period and to propagate its kind 2. The Nature of Brutes besides what is common to them with Plants consists in their being endued with Faculties whereby they are capable of apprehending external Objects and of receiving Pain or Pleasure from them in order to their own Preservation and the propagation of their Species The utmost Perfection of these consists in mere sensitive Pleasures i. e. of doing and enjoying such Things as are grateful to their Appetites and Senses But the Nature of Man besides what is common to him with Plants and Brutes both in the vegetative and sensitive Life consists in the Faculty of Right Reason whereby he is made capable of understanding the Law of Nature and of its Rewards and Punishments either in this Life or that to come to induce him to their Observation and deterr him from the transgression of them Which Sentiments as no Creature in this visible World except Man does partake of so his Chief Good or Happiness consists in the improvement and perfection of this Faculty that is in such Actions as are most agreeable to Right Reason and as may best entitle him to the Divine Favour and afford him the greatest Assurance of a lasting Happiness both in this Life and after it is ended So that all the Actions of Man considered as voluntary and subject to the Law of Nature and thereby capable of Rewards and Punishments are called Moral as being directed by God the Supreme Legislator to the greatest and most excellent End viz. the Common Good of Rational Beings § 13. Having laid down these Principles of moral Good and Evil in order to the setling and clearing the Nature of this Obligation and wherein it consists I shall in the next place particularly declare the Sanction of this Law viz. those Rewards which God hath ordained for the Observation of this Law of Nature of endeavouring the Common Good and those Punishments he hath appointed for its Breach or Transgression But I have already laid down That all Obligation upon the Soul of Man arises properly from the Commands of some rightful Superior Power that is such a one who hath not only force sufficient to inflict what Evils he pleases upon the Disobedient but who hath also given us just Grounds or Reasons wherefore he requires us to determine the natural Liberties of our Wills according to his Pleasure both which whenever they meet in any Supreme Power and that he hath once signified his Will to us ought to produce in our Minds not only fear to offend but also a love of and obedience to his Commands The former from the Consideration of his irresistible Power The latter from their own intrinseck Goodness as also from all those Motives which ought to persuade us to perform his Will For as one who hath no other Reason than down-right force why he will have me perform and submit to his Commands whether I will or no may indeed so far terrifie me that to avoid a greater Evil I may think it best to obey him yet that fear once removed there will then remain nothing that can hinder me from acting according to my own rather than his Will or Humour So on the other side he who can give me never so good Reasons why I ought to obey him yet if destitute of Power to inflict any Punishment upon me for my Disobedience such his Commands may without any outward inconvenience be neglected by