354
reafon, with refpect to which thefe
perfons were upon a level with the
meaneft of their fellow citizens; and
knowing their right to the title of ra-
tional and free beings, they had no
thoughts of implicit fubmiffion to a-
nother when they prefcribed laws to A
themselves: And though they volun-
tarily fubmitted to thefe laws, and
thus rendered themselves dependant
upon fociety, in which they found not
only fubfiftence but comfort, they
were not willing to acknowledge any
other king or monarch than God, B
and it was to him and to him on-
ly, that they fubmitted themselves and
their new legiflation.

Origin of Public Laws.

Many fentiments dictated by reafon, many religious impreffions which were then very ftrong, and the influence of a certain fuperftition pecu-C liar to thofe early ages, concurred to produce fo extraordinary a determination.

As man was very foon convinced by his wants, that he could not fubfift but in fociety, he confented to be bound by the firft fimple ties that held fociety together; preferring the ad- D vantages of a neceffary and reasonable compact, to his natural liberty and independance.

When fociety became numerous and extenfive, it was found neceffary, that the tacit contract which each individual had made with the reft by incorporating himself with them, fhould receive a folemn and exprefs confirmation, that it might be authentic and irrefragable, and that order and harmony might be preferved; to this therefore, mankind alfo confented,and renewed in favour of society, the facrifice which had before been made of their liberty and natural equality; they acknowledged fuperiors and magiftrates, and fubmitted to a civil and political fubordination; they proceeded yet farther, and fought a fovereign, because they were even then fenfible, that a great fociety without a chief, and without a king, was like a body without a head; or rather a monfte, the members of which, when put into motion, could produce nothing but abfurdity and diforder.

For the difcovery of this great truth, nothing more was neceflary, than to take a view of the fociety that was already formed: We cannot fee an aflembly without looking for a chief; it is natural, it is even invo funtary; and we alfo neceffarily contemplate this chief with pleafine when

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we have found him, because it is fosi ety, and ourselves as a part of it, that we behold in this permanent or acle of public reason, of which, as a mirrour, he is the auguff reprefentation.

The idea of a king was then, one of the first which mankind directed by reafon, and aggregated into fociety conceived; in these early ages, mankind bad their attention continually fixed upon the heavens, and they were perpetually watching the motion of the planets, as upon the regularity of their revolutions, the fubfiftence and well being of the earth depended; they fometimes contemplated the Sun, fometimes the Moon, and fometimes the vast number of Stars fcattered over the firmament; but remarking above all the Sun, that fingle and glothe hoft of heaven, they imagined rious body, which feems to command they faw the reprefentation of a good government, and that here they found the plan which ought to be followed by focieties upon earth, which would be rendered happy and immutable by eftablishing the fame order,

Religion alfo came in with auxiliary motives, mankind seeing in all nature but one Sun, was naturally led to acknowledge in the univerfe but one God: They faw, therefore, that fomething was wanting to their legislation, that fociety was not perfect; in a word, that it was neceflary to have a king, one who fhould be the chief, the father of this great family, and who fhould conduct and regulate it, as the Sun regulates all nature, and as God conducts and regulates the universe.

Such were the indications which nature and religion concurred to give to mankind in the first ages, but mankind, notwithstanding, rather, eluded than followed them, whether they juftly imagined, that a mortal was not capable of reprefenting God upon earth; whether they feared to lofe their liberty at once, not dreaming that there were means of rendering. their fecurity compatible with a thione, or whether they were irrefiftably influenced by fuperftition, inftead of chufing a king from among themfelves, with whom fociety might have made the fame contract which every individual had before made with fociety, they thought fit to proclaim the fu preme being, and determined, that there fhould be no other monarch upon earth, than he who prefided in heaven..

Such was the conduct of fociety when

Their minds, being wholly occupied with ideas of heaven, they did not at that moment remember that they were ftill upon earth; instead of giving their government a natural tie, E they fought one that was fupernatural, and not to lofe fight of the celeftial kingdom to which they inceffantly afpired, they imagined they could reprefent it below; when they determined to acknowledge no other monarch but God, they thought, with out doubt, by that fublime fpeculation to anticipate their glory and their happinefs, to enjoy heaven upon earth, and bring forward the lingering hereafter which religion had fo often painted in fuch brilliant colours.

This, however, was the fource of all their evils and all their errors; in confequence of their choice they applied principles, which could belong only to the reign above, to the reign below, the greateft part of which were falfe, becaufe they were misplaced: Their mode of government was a mere fiction, which it was neceffary to maintain by a great number of fuppofitions, and thefe fuppofitions were, in procefs of time, taken for truths, whence a crowd of religious and po

When the Theocratical ftate was adopted by mankind, and confidered as both civil and political, one of their first cares was to place in the middle of their city, the houfe of their divine fovereign, to chufe a place in it for his refidence, and to diftinguish it by a throne; at this houfe they used to affemble to render him homage, to receive his commands, and to implore his favour.

Thefe inftitutions were at firft no more than an allegorical ceremony, but were at length understood literai ly; every civil custom became a reGligious one, recourfe was had to God in his vifible habitation upon all publick, and even private occafions; re ligion abforbed the police of which it commenced the fovereign, and in preportion as it augmented its temporal rights, it corrupted itfelf, and changed its nature. The houfe of the divine monarch, and his throne, became by degrees his temple and his fan&tu-ary, and man imagining that he favoured this place more than any o ther

Scheme for raifing the Stocks.

fore them, and before them was per-
formed every religious and judicial
act; they were, however, as yet, con-
fidered in no other light than em-
blems, and the people conducted
themfelves before them with a religi- A
ous and intelligent circumfpection;
and if every nation had taken the
fame fymbol or emblem of the reign-
ing deity, the unity of worship, tho
degenerated, might have been prefer-
ved; the fame fupreme Being was in-
deed for a time worshipped under the
figure of the fun, the moon, a tone, a
ftatue, and an ox; but thefe fymbols
by which he was reprefented were ve-
ry different from each other.

zle him to the people's mind; and then you know the fkirmishings between the Pruffians and Auftrians are in themfelves fo happily confounded, that it will be an eafy matter to fend a letter from the Hague, with an account of the defeat of the Prufians in a general engagement. You may eafily make this up from any of the Bruffels Gazettes; omitting their authority, which will be needlefs and improper. A good fubftantial letter too against German connections and continental meafures, will be of great fervice, and two or three reports that Gibraltar is betrayed to the Spaniards, will help us forward; for many folks here believe that if our enemies had Gibraltar, they might foon make good their landing in England. I would alfo have you fupport and keep up the memory of the lofs of Newfoundland, and give us an effay on its importance, and the difficulty of retaking it. Two or three hints from Holland that the Dutch are going to join our enemies, and will take their money out of our ftocks, may alfo be of fervice, and I think will eafily gain credit, as any thing treacherous or bafe in a Dutchman will be at once believed. A bloody mar facre or two in Portugal will fit our caufe: it matters not whether it be faid to be committed by Spaniards or Portuguese they either of them are capable of it. Á ftorm too might be raif E ed at fea to deftroy our Mediterranean fleet, and a junction of the Spanish and French fleets may be abfolutely afferted, with a pompous lift of their fhips. I think you may report too that there. are great diffentions in the allied army, and hint at the exorbitant revenues of Prince Fd; and if you F think fit, we may venture to affirm, that the Cherokee captain or king, which ever you pleafe to call him, has dropt feveral hints that their whole nation will revolt, for there we never can be detected, as nobody underftands them; and you may add, that they have a method of poisoning every body who fhakes hands with them, which will put the wife and felf-fufficient citizens of London into a cold fweat, and lower their fpirits at least 3 per cent. and 5 eights, if not the whole pound. Then two or three whispers against a certain great man, Hand a fhrewd guefs that there will be dreadful doings in the North foon, and fome talk of a Scotch and that will be elected next that poor Mr Me, the great bridge. architect,

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