Empire But further Were every man supposed loose even from the yoke of Paternal Government yet in such a state there would be place for the Natural Laws of good and evil For first There is in Mankind an ability of Soul to ascend unto the knowledg of the first invisible Cause by the effects of his Power and Wisdom and Goodness which are conspicuous in all the parts of his Creation I say an ability to know not an actual acknowledgment of the Being of a God For the Acrothoitae are said by Theophrasius to have been a Nation of Atheists as also to have been swallow'd up by the gaping Earth undergoing a Judgment worthy that God whom their Imaginations banish'd out of the World If then there be such ability in the Mind of Man he is capable of sinning by himself in the secretest retirement from the Societies and Laws of his Fellow-creatures either by the supiness of his mind in being secure in Atheism for want of exerting those Powers by exercise which God hath implanted in him or by the ingratitude of his mind by want of Love and Thankfulness to God whom in speculation he confesseth to exist the notion of a Deity including that of a Benefactor Mr. H. I must acknowledg that it is not impossible in the state of Nature to sin against God Stud. A man may also in that state fin by being injurious to himself Mr Hobb Neither is that denied because hec may pretend that to be for his preservation which neither is so nor is so judged by himself Stud. But he may likewise sin with reference to himself in matters wherein no prejudice accrueth to his health or outward safety The Instance may be made in Buggery with a Beaâ—â— which seemeth to be a sin against the order oâ— God in Nature This monstrous Indecency this detestable and abhominable Vice as the Statute calls it is by our Law made Felony without Clergy and this surely in regard it is rather a sin against Nature than Commonwealth it being less noxious to Society to humble than to kill the owners beast the latter of which is but a treâ—pass Lastly In relation to otâ—ers I cannot but judg that one man espying another and not discerniâ—g in him any tokens of mischief but rather of submission if being thus secure unassaulted he rusheth upon him so to display his power and please his tyrannous mind bereaveâ—h him of life he is a murdâ—rer in the account of God Man The reason seemeth unstâ—ained cogent For there is no such neer propriety to a man in any possession as in that of life which a man as to this state can no more forego then he can part with himself neither can the Right be more confirmed to him than his own Peâ—â—â—nality Wherefore in no condition of Mankind can it be forfeited but by his own default or consent But in meer self defence there 's no murther because one life being apparently in hazard it is reason that the assaulted man should esteem his own more dearly than his Enemy's It is eâ—sie to understand on which side to act when it is come to this pass that as the Italians say of War We must either be spectators of other meâ—s deaths or spectacles of our own Moreover it appeareâ—h unto me not altogether improbable that in this feigned state of nature unjust robbery may have place For in this community there being sufficient portions both for the necessity convenience of all men if one shall intrude into the possessiâ—n of another who is contented with a modest share being moved only by ambition wantonness of mind he seemeth to be no other than an unrighteous aggressoâ— For all men being by you supposed of equal righâ— the advantage of pre-occupancy on the one sidâ— do's turn the scale if natural justice holds the ballance For it is in Law an old maxim In pari jure melior est conditio Possidentis Wherefore if any person endeavours by such unnatural practises as I have mention'd to encrease his outward safety or brutish delight he in truth destroyeth by his iniquity more of himself than he can preserve by his ambition and lust And he may be resembled to a rash Seaman who out of presumed pleasure in swimming throws himself headlong into a boisterous Sea temporal delight and preservation by sin being the ready way to bottomless ruin By what hath been said I am induced to believe that there is not only iniquity but injustice too in a meer state of Nature although neither of them be capable of such aggravations or are extended to so many Instances as in that state where men live under Positive Commands For to make Instance not in the lower restraints of fishing fowling hunting but in the more considerable case of promiscuous mixtures such practice seemeth not so much condemned by the Law of Nature as by Custom the commands of Moses Christ Christian Magistrates and heathen Powers For the most holy God would never have begun the World by one Man and Woman whose Posterity must needs be propagated by the mixtures of their Sons Dâ—ughters if what we call Incest had been inconsistent with any immutable Law of Reason Nature Neither would â—e have allowed the Patriarchs in Polygamy if it had been in truth an absolute evil and not rather in some Circumstances of time and place and persons fit and convenient Neither is there in these matters any consent of Nations who have no other instructor besides Nature for the Garamantici married not but engendred as the Monsters at the Springs of Africa And Sâ—leucus gave his own Wife to his son Antiochus then passed it into a Law And Socrates the great pretender to Moral Prudence esteemed it a civility to his Friend to permit his wife to enter into his imbraces Wherefore St. Paul affirming that the taking of the Father's wife was a Forâ—ication not once named amongst the Gentiles is to be understood of those Heathens whose manners conversations he had observed in his Travels And Aelian's Reading or Memory was but narrow when in contemplation of the victorious Sicyâ—â—ians deflouring the Pollenaearian Virgins he cried out These Practices by the gods of Graecia are very cruel and as far as I remember not approved of by the veriest Barbarians And as I think it must be granted to you that such consent of Nations as may seem to argue a common principle whence it is derived is not easily in many cases found by those who look beyond the usages of Europe the Colonies planted by the Europâ—ans For Pagans unless it be in the acknowledgment of God in which most agree do infinitly differ not only from Jews Christians but from one another â—rom their very selves also in process of time And those who liv'd but an hundred years ago before the strange improvement of Navigation and Merchandize could understand but little
is himself protected in time of Peace Stud. That Law was forgotten in the body of your Leviathan and cometh late into the review the wound is first made and then you endeavour to skin it over but neither can it so be closed for this and all other Laws of Nature obliging no further as hath been already noted then they promote the first the Law of self-interest it is in the choice of every subject whom you make Judge of the means to preserve himself to apply himself to the stronger side or for a company combin'd in arms and counsel when an Heir and a Traytor are ingag'd in Battle with equal success as was the practice of the Lord Stanley and Sir William Stanley and their adherents in the Engagement at Bosworth-Field to give the day to the side they presume will most favour them by over-poising the power of the other side by their fresh supply Fear will not keep men from such attempts especially fear of outward punishment whilst every one hopes to conquer and to mend his game as you well know by a new shuffle and is by you misperswaded that failing in the enterprize to his temporal peril is his only offence against the Law of Nature There is no tye so strong as that of Religion which eternally bindeth a conscientious subject in allegiance to his Soveraign and Wars arise from mens self-interests and lusts and true goodness is both the Creator and Preserver of Peace unless a man obeyeth for Conscience sake all the cords of outward Pacts â—nd Covenants will not hold him when he â—reameth that the Philistins are upon him and â—hat he can deliver himself by force from the â—ower of his Enemies in which number the Prince himself is reckon'd by ambitious subjects â—ut of favour neither will such Covenants hold the people that pretend unto Religion if â—hey be mis-taught that God is glorified in their private good and that their private good is to â—e valued before the life of a Prince if they can â—afely deprive him of it For it is truely said â—y a Friend of yours That zeal like lead â—s as ready to drop into bullets as to mingle with a composition fit for medicine Mr. Hobbes Covenants being but words and breath have no force to oblige contain constrain or protect any man but what it has from the publick Sword The Laws of Nature as Justice Equity Modesty Mercy and in sum doing to others as we would be done to of themselves without the terror of some power to cause them to be observed are contrary to our natural passions that carry us to partiality pride revenge and the like And Covenants without the Sword are but words and of no strength to secure a man at all Stud. The matter is much mended by this answer and you who cause or permit for with you they are the same a person of none of the best manners in a Preface to your Book of Destiny to revile the Embassadors of our Lord and to levie against them not the force of argument but of foaming malice and to reproach them by saying that they are ignorant Tinkers and Soderers of Conscience how do you merit the same mock-name by making wide holes and passages for every rebellious spirit instead of stopping an Objection which charged your Doctrine with disloyalty For thus Society is like a State of Nature and all is managed still by force notwithstanding the formalities of transferring Right by Pacts and every man is to stand no longer to his bargain when he can break it to his advantage And thus the Prince is always in a state of danger because he cannot be a day secure of remaining uppermost seeing the people are taught by you to believe that the right of Authority is a deceit and that every one would have as good a title if he had as long a sword For the many-headed Beast will throw the Rider when he burthens and galls them having no check of inward Law For the Prince has but the strength of a single man and the people can't confer irresistible Power unless when they lift up their hands on high they can give up their nerves and muscles and spirits as well as testifie their present approbation Wo to all the Princes upon earth if this doctrine be true and becometh popular if the multitude believe this the Prince not armed with the scales of the Leviathan that is with irresistible power can never be safe from the Spears and Barbed irons which their ambition and presumed interest will provide and their malice will sharpen and their passionate violence throw against him If the Beast we speak of come but to know its own strength it will never be managed Wherefore such as own these pernicious doctrines destructive to all Societies of men may be said to have Wolves heads as the Laws of old were wont to speak concerning excommunicated Persons and are like those ravenous beasts so far from deserving our love and care that they ought to be destroyed at the common charge What you have written three times over in your de cive de corpore politico and Leviathan ought rather to be esteemed seeds of sedition then Elements of government and societie the Principles of the Zelots amongst the Papists who obey a Forrein Power against the King are not consistent with the government of England yet like the Elements in Aristotle they are not burthensome in their proper place of Italy but of such large infection is the doctrine that it will endanger the life of the Common-wealth wheresoever it is entertained in the consequences of it Mr. Hobbes At Paris I wrote my Book de cive in Latine and I know no book more magnified then that beyond the Seas Natural Philosophie is but young but civil Philosophie yet much younger as being no older I say it provoked and that my detractors may know how little they have wrought upon me then my own book de Cive a short sum of that book of mine now publiquely in French done by a Gentleman I never saw carrieth the title of Aethics demonstrated accuse not then such Politics as are though new yet of sure foundation Stud. Your Doctrine is old enough and I wish it had one propertie of Age to be attended with decay Carneades and divers others bottom'd Policy and self-Interest and you have only wire-drawn that which is delivered by them in a lump and for this as is the manner of divers who have an itch of writing you claw your self I could repeat to you divers sayings of the ancient deceivers in Moralitie such as are Armatus leges ut oâ—gitem nec natura potest justo secernere iniquum utilitas justi prope mater aequi and the like but you would then turn all off by deriding me for having made a motly Oration I have somtimes by my self made this conjecture that you being so conversant with Thuâ—ydides the Oration of
and the Successors of the Apostles who could bind them upon the Church with sufficient right though not with outward force propounded them as necessary Rules of life But methinks 't is enough to constitute a Canon to any particular man if he may by any means attain unto a certain belief of any Rule as delivered by Christ without a superadded Decree Ecclesiastical or Civil Mr. Hobbes That the new Testament should in this sense be Canonical that is to say a Law in any place where the Law of the Commonwealth had not made it so is contrary to the nature of a Law For a Law is the Commandment of that Man or Assembly to whom we have given Soveraign Authority to make such Rules for the direction of our Actions as he shall think fit and to punish us when we do any thing contrary to the same When therefore any other man shall offer unto us any other Rules which the Soveraign Ruler hath not prescribed they are but Counsel and Advice which whether good or bad he that is counselled may without injustice refuse to observe and when contrary to the Laws already established without injustice cannot observe how good soever he conceiveth it to be I say he cannot in this case observe the same in his actions nor in his discourse with other men though he may without blame believe his private Teachers and wish he had the liberty to practise their advice and that it were publickly received for Law Stud. Then it seems before the days of Constantine a private man was obliged to be a Jew or a Gentile according to the Civil Authority under which he was and that Christianity did not obligeâ—â—e conversation of any man Mr. Hobbes Christ hath not subjected us to other Laws then those of the Common-wealth that is the Jews to the Law of Moses which he saith Mat. 5. he came not to destroy but to fulfil and other Nations to the Laws of their several Soveraigns Stud. That Christ subjected the Jews to the Laws of Moses considered as such is a saying which relisheth both of ignorance and irreligion It is evident that the very Law of the Ten Commandments obligeth not any Christian man though he be supposed to live under a Jewish Soveraign as delivered by Moses but as the designe of them agreeth with the Law of Nature and of Christ who advanced both Laws and filled them up adding as 't were his last hand to an imperfect Draught And for the Cerâ—monial Law our Saviour came to put an end to it because it was but an estate of expectation and consisted in shadows of good things to come and if he had established that as an enduring Law he had in effect denied himself to be the true Messiah For the sprinkling of the Altar with the bloud of Bulls and Goats after the ancient manner of the Jews importeth manifestly that the effectual Oblation is not yet offered wherefore S. Paul bespeaketh his Galatians after this manner Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage Behold I Paul say unto you that if you be circumcised Christ shall profit you nothing Moses himself foretold that our Saviour should arise after him and become a Prophet to be obeyed in whatsoever he taught the people wherefore Caesar Vanin who suffered as an Atheist said in his Dialogues that Moses was not so politic as the Messiah in delivering his Laws because he foretold the abrogation of them whilst Christ propounded his as everlasting Then for Christs subjecting the Gentiles to the Law of their Civil Soveraign of what perswasion soever it is contrary to the great designe of our Saviours coming for amongst the Heathen the worship of false Gods was the Law of their Country It was one of the Laws of the twelve Tables that no man could have a personal Religion but worship â—â—ch Gods and in such manner as the Law of his Country did prescribe And Cicero shews â—ow in his days it was not lawful to worship any sort of Gods lest a confusion should be brought into Religion Hence Augustus traâ—elling in Aegypt would not step out of his way to visit Apis and Caius his Nephew passing through Iudea would not worship at Ierusalem Hence Socrates and Protagoras mainâ—aining opinions disagreeing with the Religion of their Country were condemned and Anaâ—â—arsis also suffered in Scythia for celebrating the Feast of Bacchus by the Forraign Ceremonies of Greece Hence Christ was not registred in the Calendar of the Gods though Tiberius understanding his Divinity from Pontius Pilate gave his suffrage for it because it pleased not the Senate and because saith Tertullian it was an old Decree of Rome that no man should be consecrated for a Deity by the Emperour without their Approbation If then all persons were to be outwardly obedient to the Civil powers they were to worship false Deities Idolatry being then established by a Law but on the contrary it is evident that one main end of our Saviours coming was to destroy the works of the devil and to bring the Gentiles from the worship of Daemons to the service of the true God Idolaters therefore are reckon'd amongst those who shall not inherit the kingdom of Christ and S. Paul wrote so much particularly to the Corinthians and Ephesians of those days when the Powers were Heathen and not merely to such as should read his Epistles in and after the Reign of Constantine and preaching at Athens against the Altar To the unknown God set up no doubt by publicâ— Authority and declaiming against the honour paid to false Gods he lets them understand that the times of the ignorance of the Gentiles God winked at but now he commandet all men everywhere to repent because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom hâ— hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead Mr. Hobbes Such discourses are Counsels and not Laws Our Saviour and his Apostles left no new Laws to oblige us in this world but new Doctrine to prepare us for the next the Books of the New Testament which contain that Doctrine until obedience to them was commanded by them that God had given power to on earth to be Legislators were not obligatory Canons that is Laws but onely good and safe advice for the direction of sinners in the way to salvation which every man might take and refuse at his peril without injustice Stud. The Doctrines of Christ avail not at all towards an entrance into his kingdom without obedience to his Laws and besides those of mere Nature he hath left new Laws unto the world such are those of forgiving enemies and against private Revenge those concerning Baptism and his holy Supper concerning Divorce and Polygamy concerning a professing of faith in him as the Messiah
the hearty belief of it he may with his mouth renounce it out of a tender regard to flesh and bloud To proceed in this Argument there is yet remaining another objection to which I know not what answer can be by you returned It is the Argument used by St. Peter and St. Iohn to the Rulers of the people and Elders of Israel when by menaces they urg'd them to desist from the propagation of the holy Gospel Whether it be right said those Apostles in the sight of God to hearken unto you more then unto God judge ye Mr. Hobbes If the command of the Civil Soveraign be such as that it may be obeyed without the forfeiture of life eternal not to obey it is unjust but if it be such as cannot be obeyed without being damned to eternal death then it were madness to obey it All men therefore that would avoid both the punishments that are to be in this world inflicted for disobedience to their earthly Soveraign and those that shall be inflicted in the world to come for disobedience to God have need to be taught to distinguish well between what is and what is not necessary to eternal Salvation Now all that is necessary to Salvation is contained in two Vertues Faith in Christ and Obedience to Laws Now our Saviour Christ hath given us no new Laws but counsel to observe those we are subject to that is to say the Laws of Nature and the Laws of our several Soveraigns and for Faith The Vnum necessarium onely Article of Faith which the Scripture maketh simply necessary to Salvation is this That Jesus is the Christ. Having thus shown what is necessary to Salvation it is not hard to reconcile our obedience to God with our obedience to the civil Soveraign who is either Christian or Infideld If he be a Christian he alloweth the belief of this Article that Jesus is the Christ and of all the Articles that are contained in it or are by evident consequence deduced from it which is all the Faith necessary to Salvation and because he is a Soveraign he requireth obedience to all his own that is to all the Civil Laws in which also are contained all the Laws of Nature that is all the Laws of God for besides the Laws of Nature and the Laws of the Church which are part of the Civil Law for the Church that can make Laws is the Common-wealth there be no other Laws Divine And when the civil Soveraign is an Infidel every one of his own subjects that resisteth him sinneth against the Laws of God And for their Faith it â—s internal and invisible they have the Liâ—ense that Naaman had and need not put themselves into danger for it But if they do they ought to expect their reward in Heaven â—nd not to complain of their lawful Soveraign In the mean time they are to intend to obey Christ at his coming but at present they are bound to obey the Laws of that Infidel King all Christians are bound in Conscience â—o to do Thought is free but when it comes to confession of Faith the private Reason must submit to the publick that is to say to Gods Lieutenant Stud. Instead of the resolution of this Queâ—y when we are to obey God rather then man you shew that we may very well do both together and so â—ndirectly you accuse the Apostles of falshood or folly in their suggestion And here again you repeat your errors that Christ hath not made any new Laws and that the Faith of a Christian is intire without or contrary to profession and you suppose what the experience of the World refuteth that Infidel Kings command not sometimes against the Laws of Nature Also whilst here you remit the Martyrs scoffingly to heaven for a reward you fall unawares into the mock of Iulian the Apostate who amidst his persecution us'd this taunt It becometh not you Christians to enjoy any thing in this world for your Kingdom is in Heaven But if such persons as suffer for Christianity shall be rewarded in Heaven their constancie then was noble and excellent whilst they chose trouble rather then base compliance and those who inflicted evils on them for doing what God approved were unjust If then you remit the Martyrs to Heaven you send the civil Soveraigns who shed the bloud of the Apostles for disobedience to their unrighteous Edicts to a place of less refreshment Mr. Hobbes You have made your instance in the Apostles of whose Martyrdom I approve because of their Commission For others who hazard their lives for Christianity I praise them not he that is not sent to preach the fundamental Article but taketh it upon him of his private Authority though he be a witness and consequently a Martyr either primary of Christ or secondary of his Apostles or their Successors yet is he not obliged to suffer death for that cause because being not called thereto 't is not required at his hands nor ought he to complain if he looseth the reward he expecteth from those that never set him on work None therefore can be a Martyr neither of the first nor second degree that have not a warrant to preach Christ come in the Flesh that is to say none but such as are sent to the conversion of Infidels Stud. Every Member of the Christian Society is bound to profess the Gospel as hath been proved and therefore a private man though he hath not right not having Commission to exercise the Offices of a Priest yet hath he a command to own the truth when he is adjur'd to confess of what faith he is not onely in relation to Christianity in general but also in relation to the Doctrines of Moment in it which sometimes the Christian Powers do erre in And every person will with readiness make such profession notwithstanding the terrours of the Civil Sword who hath sworn in his heart and tongue Allegiance unto Christ who is sincere in his Religion who valueth his soul more then his body who is heartily perswaded of a life or death eternal the latter of which is Our eleventh Subject Mr. Hobbes The maintainance of civil Society depending on Justice and Justice on the powâ—r of life and death and other less rewards and punishments residing in them that have the Soveraignty of the Common-wealth it is impossible a Common-wealth should stand where any other then the Soveraign hath a power of giving greater rewards then life and of inflicting greater punishments then death Now seeing eternal life is a greater reward then the life present and eternal torment a greater punishment then the death of Nature it is a thing worthy to be well considered of all men that desiâ—e by obeying Authority to avoid the calamities of confusion and Civil War what is meant in holy Scripture by life eternal and torment eternal Stud. What is then to be understood by eternal Torment if we aright interpret the Holy
exactly turned that they touch but in a point in the right line of them and that therefore according to Mechanick Laws the Motion from the first Globulus is convâ—igh'd directly through the Center of the second and so in succession 'till it hath describ'd such a right line as is required in Vision without other variation in the pressure than out ward impediments shall occasion But not to digress too much or to conjure up such Objections as we cannot easily dismiss by Solution let us attend to what is plain And first to speak more generally to me it is plain that all this while you have describ'd the Apparatus for Sensation and not the inward Substance which hath a faculty to perceive that it has been variously pressed by Objects Aristotle enquiring how the first principles of Knowledg should be Images doth cut in sundeâ— rather than untie the knot by saying that in truth they are noâ— Phantasms yet not without them And Descartes supposing Beasts without a Soul does therefore notwithstanding the curious workmanship of their Machin not much inâ—erior unto Man's deny that they have Perception but only move as the Dove of Archytas or the Eagle of Regiomontanus I enquire then not after the instruments of Sensation but the Substance perceiving Neither do I yet understand after all your words about it what is properly sense Mr. Hobbes Sense is a Phantasm made by the Re-action and endeavour outwards in the Organ of Sense caused by an endeavour inwards from the Object remaining for some time more or less Stud. There is not only excited in the Brain an apparence of the Object but also a Perception of that Image or apparence as all who have their Senses find by daily experience If Impressions were not only Instruments but acts of Sense might we not strongly argue that a Looking-glass saw and a Lute heard But to descend unto particulars I will endeavour to make it evident that neither Sense nor Imagination nor Memory noâ— Reason nor Will can ever become the results of moving and rebounding Matter without the presence of an Immaterial Mind First Sensation is not made neither can it be by the meer re-action of Matter It would thence follow Thâ—t every part of the World being capable of moving and rebounding is also so often as there is this counter-prâ—ssure sensible Then the springs of all Engins the Elastic air resisted wind and an echoed vâ—ice are so many perceiving Essences and it is an act almost of as great unmercifulness though not of so great detriment to the Common-wealthâ— to knock a nail as a man on the head for either nail or hammer would exâ—reamly smart for 't Mr. Hâ—bbes I know there have been Philosophers and thoâ—e learned men who have maintain'd that all Bodies are endued with Sense Nor can I see how they can be refuted if the nature of Sense be placed in Re-action only And though by the Re-action of Bodies inanimate a Phantasm might be made it would nevertheless cease as soon as ever the Object were removed For unless those Bodies had Organs as living Creatures haveâ— fit for the retaining of such Motion as is made in â—hem their Sense would be such as that they should never remember the same And therefore this hath nothing to do with that sense which is the Subject of my Discourse Stud. If this be good Doctrine we must â—bove most persecuted Mâ—n pity the Hammer or Anvil of Vulcâ—n they being for the most paâ—t tormented by repeated Strokes But let this ludicrous Argument give place to more sober Reasoning Consider then that Corporeal motion in all things as in water arisâ—th not further in its effects than the Spring-head of its own causal Energy Mr. Hobbes It is confessed that Motion produceth nothing but Motion Stud. Then the part counter-pressed being still only moved it doth not perceive either that or how it sâ—lf is moved unless Motion be the perceiving of it self and the apprehending of Mâ—tion and of all the varieties of Motion which is a phrase of greater insignificancy than any you have notâ—d amongst the Aristotâ—lians or School-Doctors In whatsoever Matters we are at difference I 'm sure we are of the same judgment in this That a Body at rest will always be at rest unless there be some other body which by getting into its place suffers it no longer to remain at rest So that Matter in its own nature is thoroughly dull and stupid and in receiving Motion it is meerly passive for a Body when moved only suffers it self to be crouded from a first place to a second Mr. Hobbes In that also we differ not for Motion is by me defined to be the continual privation of one place and acquisition of another Stud. How then does passive Matter by being crouded more slowly or swiftly containing in its own Idea only impenetrable extention obtain an infused power from that Motion to perceive that it is crouded and in what degree and thereby also to have an active Concâ—ption of the Varieties in Nature But what avâ—ileth Rebounding to the very Act of Sense â—or to have Re-action is no more than for passive Matter to be thrust first forward and then backward And why then may not the part which is crouded forward perceive as well in proceeding â—rom one term in a right line as in receding from the other term the difference not consisting in any Physical causality but in relation or respect to divers Terms The purest parts of the Blood thrust forward to the spinal Marrow have the same virtue imparted to them as when they are beaten backward towards the Retina in relation to the Object of Sight if we suppose their force unbroken and unaltered The difference is respâ—ctive as in the way which leads from Cambridge to London the way is the same and the Hackney coming to Cambridge may be almost as well imagined to be wiser when he is whipped and spurred back towards London as that a part of the Matter thrust from the influence of the Object into the Brain may be thought more to pâ—rceive in its return to the Optick-nerve than in its direct course The like Arguments are to be used against Fancy or Imagination as a material attribute it being but a Perception of Phantasms especiaâ—ly in Vision when the Object is removed Hâ—re we must say again that A perceiving of an Image and a perceiving that it still dwells with us and a perceiving that we perceive it that is to say a feeling of a motion and a knowing that we feel it and in what manner in the Organs of Sense is not the Motion it self which we perceive we feel and yet Motion is all that is introduced into the Senseless Unâ—ctive Matter and not any new Principle capable of perceiving Motion For Motion as was granted begets nothing but Motion You hâ—ve somewhere said That Colour is but an Apparition to Vs of that Motion Agitation or
of the manners of distant Nations the Traffick being then in a few Port-Towns which held littlâ— Commerce with the Inland-inhabitants at any remoteness Yet is there not hence to be taken such licentious advantage as if there were no Law of Nature For how various soever the opinions and customs of several Nations are in this they all agree that good is to be done and evil to be shunned which were a vain determination if it never descended from a general sense to particularness of direction which is the immediate rule of manners for it is this or that good which is to be done and good in general is an unpracticable notion Again there may be eternal Laws of good and evil though all consent not in them because the understanding and manners of men are depraved and debauch'd by â—â—stom and the several arts of our common Enemy inâ—omuch that divers appear to be men rather in shape and speech than by severe Reason the law rule of Life And here let it be noted also that such virtues as a man out of society cannot practise as some sorts of justice gratitude modesty and mercy are laws eternal in the reason of them because it can never come to pass that with advantage to society they may be banish'd out of a Common-wealth And indeed all the Laws of nature which relate to certain states though alterable in the alteration of Circumstances yet in the reasons of them they are everlasting And Reason that bids a man obey his Father bids him in some cases obey not Man but God and yet the reason is unchangable on which both depend to wit of allegiance to the higher Authority Mr. Hobbes If now it were agree'd upon amongst men what right Reason is the controversie would be immediately ended Reason it self is always right reason But no one mans reason nor the reason of any one number of men makes the certainty But the Reason of some Arbitrator or Judg to whose sentence men will stand When men that think themselvs wiser than all others clamor demand right Reason for Judg they seek no more but that things should be determin'd by no other meâ—s reason but their own and this is as intolerable in the society of men as it is in play after trump is turned to use for trump on every occasion that suit whereof they have most in their hand For they do nothing else that will have every of their passions as it comes to bear sway in them to be taken for right reason and that in their own controversies bewraying their want of right reason by the claim they lay to it Stud. I cannot but say that prejudice self-interest doth blind the understanding and cause it to put evil for good humor education profit for reason and that an unconcerned Judg decideth a difference to the commodity not only of peace but of truth and right Butâ—seeing it is supposed that an Arbitrator can pronounce such a righteous sentence it followeth that he hath some standing Rule whereby to guide his judgment This is not always the bâ—hoâ—f of society but it may be known and it may oblige a man considered by himself and it concerneth the Hermite and the shipwraâ—kt person who is unfortunately cast upon an uninhabited Island Now this dictate of right Reason which â—ogether with the superadded act of Conscience is the Law of Nature consisteth in that moral congruity or proportion which is betwixt the action of mind or â—ongue or hand and the object considered relatively in their proper circumstances That ouâ— minds can compare the act object or discern whether they are congrous or incongruous equal or unequal is plain enough by the daily operations of our Faculties the truth of which none but a professed Sceptick calleth in question being mov'd thereto rather by capricious humor than strength of his argument the reason of which is destroy'd by his very Hypothesis that Nothing is certain And he that calleth ouâ— Faculties into question doth raze the foundations of the Mathematicks as well as of moral doctrine and leaves no more place for the foot of Archimedes than of Socrates For it is as manifest by the comparative operations of our minds that hatred for instance and disrespect towards that Being on which we depend for what we are and have is an ununiform incongruous unequal disproportion'd carriage as that a crooked line is unequal to a straight one laying between the same terms The like may be said of killing an innocent man whom we know to have bin such and whose continuance in integrity we suspect not and of the abusing a benefactor And he that justifieth such returns may with equal truth reason maintain that the shortest Garment of David is well proportion'd to the properest statâ—re of Saul or Goliah Now to this perception of moral congruity betwixt the action and the object considered in their proper circumstances in relation to mens manners is added an act of conscience in all those who attend to the Laws of their Nature as rules imprinted in them by the Governour of the World who made them what they are consequently as the rules of his will in such manner declared to them and from thence what is reasonable passeth into a Law And as the mind of man perceiveth this proportion or conformity greater or less he knoweth in some sort the measure of hiâ— obligation And when he perceiveth the incongruity to be very little he concludeth it to be a counsel rather than a law yet will he be moved by that which Ovid calleth decor Recti if he be endued with a generous nature From hence it is manifest that some primary rules of good and evil carry a reason with them so immutable in the eternâ—l connexion of their terms that with modesty enough we may use concerning them that boast of Ovid touching his owâ— works affirming that neither the rage of Iupiter nor the most devouring fire or War nor what consumeth more than they both even Time it self can abolish and destroy them And this was the meaning of those in Aristotle who believed that what was natural was immoveable and of the same force in â—ll places as fire burneth here also in Persia. And this they mean who affirm that God cannot lie or deny or hate himself or approve of him that hateth him or adoreth him contrary to his declared will and that he cannot torture a man supposed innocent with never-ceasing misery Mr. Hobbes There is no rule which God may not most justly break because he iâ— Almighty This I know God cannot sin because his doing a thing makes it just and consequently no sin Power irresiâ—tible justifieth all actions really and properly in whomsoever it be found less power does not â— and because such Power is in God only he must needs be just in all his actions and we who not comprehending his Counsels call him to the Bar