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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Theological-Political Treatise [Part IV], by Benedict of Spinoza
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
+of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you
+will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
+using this eBook.
+
+Title: A Theological-Political Treatise [Part IV]
+
+Author: Benedict of Spinoza
+
+Translator: R. H. M. Elwes
+
+Release Date: July, 1997 [eBook #992]
+[Most recently updated: January 23, 2021]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+Produced by: Joseph B. Yesselman. HTML version by Al Haines.
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A THEOLOGICAL-POLITICAL TREATISE, 4 ***
+
+
+
+
+Sentence Numbers, shown thus (1), have been added by volunteer.
+
+
+
+
+A Theologico-Political Treatise
+
+Part IV of IV - Chapters XVI to XX
+
+by Baruch Spinoza
+
+
+
+
+TABLE OF CONTENTS: Search strings are shown thus [16:x].
+                   Search forward and back with the same string.
+
+
+
+[16:0] CHAPTER XVI - Of the Foundations of a State;
+   of the Natural and  Civil Rights of Individuals;
+   and of the Rights of the Sovereign Power.
+
+[16:1]  In Nature right co-extensive with power.
+
+[16:2]  This principle applies to mankind in the state of Nature.
+
+[16:3]  How a transition from this state to a civil state is possible.
+
+[16:4]  Subjects not slaves.
+
+[16:5]  Definition of private civil right - and wrong.
+
+[16:6]  Of alliance.
+
+[16:7]  Of treason.
+
+[16:8]  In what sense sovereigns are bound by Divine law.
+
+[16:9]  Civil government not inconsistent with religion.
+
+
+
+[17:0]  CHAPTER XVII.- It is shown, that no one can or need
+   transfer all his Rights to the Sovereign Power. Of the
+   Hebrew Republic, as it was during  the lifetime of Moses,
+   and after his death till the foundation of the Monarchy;
+   and of its Excellence. Lastly, of the Causes why the
+   Theocratic Republic fell, and why it could hardly have
+   continued without Dissension.
+
+[17:1]  The absolute theory, of Sovereignty ideal - No one can
+        in fact transfer all his rights to the Sovereign power.
+        Evidence of this.
+
+[17:2]  The greatest danger in all States from within,
+        not without.
+
+[17:3]  Original independence of the Jews after the Exodus.
+
+[17:4]  Changed first to a pure democratic Theocracy.
+
+[17:5]  Then to subjection to Moses.
+
+[17:6]  Then to a Theocracy with the power divided
+        between the high priest and the captains.
+
+[17:7]  The tribes confederate states.
+
+[17:8]  Restraints on the civil power.
+
+[17:9]  Restraints on the people.
+
+[17:A]  Causes of decay involved in the constitution
+        of the Levitical priesthood.
+
+
+
+[18:0]  CHAPTER XVIII.- From the Commonwealth of the Hebrews and
+   their History certain Lessons are deduced.
+
+[18:1]  The Hebrew constitution no longer possible or desirable,
+        yet lessons may be derived from its history.
+
+[18:2]  As the danger of entrusting any authority in politics
+        to ecclesiastics - the danger of identifying
+        religion with dogma.
+
+[18:3]  The necessity of keeping all judicial power with
+        the sovereign - the danger  of changes in the
+        form of a State.
+
+[18:4]  This last danger illustrated from the history of
+        England - of Rome.
+
+[18:5]  And of Holland.
+
+
+
+[19:0] CHAPTER XIX -  It is shown that the Right
+   over Matters Spiritual lies wholly with the
+   Sovereign, and that the Outward Forms of
+   Religion should be in accordance with Public
+   Peace, if we would worship God aright.
+
+[19:1]  Difference between external and inward religion.
+
+[19:2]  Positive law established only by agreement.
+
+[19:3]  Piety furthered by peace and obedience.
+
+[19:4]  Position of the Apostles exceptional.
+
+[19:5]  Why Christian States, unlike the Hebrew,
+        suffer from disputes between the civil
+        and ecclesiastical powers.
+
+[19:6]  Absolute power in things spiritual of modern rulers.
+
+
+
+[20:0]  CHAPTER XX -  That in a Free State every man
+may Think what he Likes, and Say what he Thinks.
+
+[20:1]  The mind not subject to State authority.
+
+[20:2]  Therefore in general language should not be.
+
+[20:3]  A man who disapproving of a law, submits his adverse opinion
+        to the judgment of the authorities, while acting in
+        accordance  with the law, deserves well of the State.
+
+[20:4]  That liberty of opinion is beneficial, shown from
+        the history of Amsterdam.
+
+[20:5]  Danger to the State of withholding it. -
+        Submission of the Author to the
+        judgment of his country's rulers.
+
+
+
+[Author's Endnotes] to the Treatise.
+
+
+
+
+
+[16:0] CHAPTER XVI - OF THE FOUNDATIONS OF A STATE; OF THE
+NATURAL AND CIVIL RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS; AND OF THE
+RIGHTS OF THE SOVEREIGN POWER.
+
+(1) Hitherto our care has been to separate philosophy from theology, and to
+show the freedom of thought which such separation insures to both. (2) It is
+now time to determine the limits to which such freedom of thought and
+discussion may extend itself in the ideal state. (3) For the due
+consideration of this question we must examine the foundations of a State,
+first turning our attention to the natural rights of individuals, and
+afterwards to religion and the state as a whole.
+
+(16:4) By the right and ordinance of nature, I merely mean those natural
+laws wherewith we conceive every individual to be conditioned by nature, so
+as to live and act in a given way. (5) For instance, fishes are naturally
+conditioned for swimming, and the greater for devouring the less; therefore
+fishes enjoy the water, and the greater devour the less by sovereign natural
+right. [16:1] (6) For it is certain that nature, taken in the abstract, has
+sovereign right to do anything she can; in other words, her right is
+co-extensive with her power. (7) The power of nature is the power of God,
+which has sovereign right over all things; and, inasmuch as the power of nature
+is simply the aggregate of the powers of all her individual components, it
+follows that every individual has sovereign right to do all that he can; in
+other words, the rights of an individual extend to the utmost limits of his
+power as it has been conditioned. (8) Now it is the sovereign law and right
+of nature that each individual should endeavour to preserve itself as it is,
+without regard to anything but itself; therefore this sovereign law and
+right belongs to every individual, namely, to exist and act according
+to its natural conditions. (9) We do not here acknowledge any
+difference between mankind and other individual natural entities, nor
+between men endowed with reason and those to whom reason is unknown; nor
+between fools, madmen, and sane men. (10) Whatsoever an individual does by
+the laws of its nature it has a sovereign right to do, inasmuch as it
+acts as it was conditioned by nature, and cannot act otherwise. [16:2] (11)
+Wherefore among men, so long as they are considered as living under the sway
+of nature, he who does not yet know reason, or who has not yet acquired the
+habit of virtue, acts solely according to the laws of his desire with as
+sovereign a right as he who orders his life entirely by the laws of reason.
+
+(16:12) That is, as the wise man has sovereign right to do all that reason
+dictates, or to live according to the laws of reason, so also the ignorant
+and foolish man has sovereign right to do all that desire dictates, or to
+live according to the laws of desire. (13) This is identical with the
+teaching of Paul, who acknowledges that previous to the law - that is, so
+long as men are considered of as living under the sway of nature, there is
+no sin.
+
+(16:14) The natural right of the individual man is thus determined, not by
+sound reason, but by desire and power. (15) All are not naturally
+conditioned so as to act according to the laws and rules of reason; nay, on
+the contrary, all men are born ignorant, and before they can learn the
+right way of life and acquire the habit of virtue, the greater part of their
+life, even if they have been well brought up, has passed away. (16)
+Nevertheless, they are in the meanwhile bound to live and preserve
+themselves as far as they can by the unaided impulses of desire. (17) Nature
+has given them no other guide, and has denied them the present power of
+living according to sound reason; so that they are no more bound to live by
+the dictates of an enlightened mind, than a cat is bound to live by the laws
+of the nature of a lion.
+
+(16:18) Whatsoever, therefore, an individual (considered as under the sway
+of nature) thinks useful for himself, whether led by sound reason or
+impelled by the passions, that he has a sovereign right to seek and to take
+for himself as he best can, whether by force, cunning, entreaty, or any
+other means; consequently he may regard as an enemy anyone who hinders
+the accomplishment of his purpose.
+
+(16:19) It follows from what we have said that the right and ordinance of
+nature, under which all men are born, and under which they mostly live, only
+prohibits such things as no one desires, and no one can attain: it does not
+forbid strife, nor hatred, nor anger, nor deceit, nor, indeed, any of
+the means suggested by desire.
+
+(16:20) This we need not wonder at, for nature is not bounded by the laws of
+human reason, which aims only at man's true benefit and preservation; her
+limits are infinitely wider, and have reference to the eternal order of
+nature, wherein man is but a speck; it is by the necessity of this alone
+that all individuals are conditioned for living and acting in a particular
+way. (21) If anything, therefore, in nature seems to us ridiculous, absurd,
+or evil, it is because we only know in part, and are almost entirely
+ignorant of the order and interdependence of nature as a whole, and also
+because we want everything to be arranged according to the dictates of our
+human reason; in reality that which reason considers evil, is not evil in
+respect to the order and laws of nature as a whole, but only in respect to
+the laws of our reason.
+
+(16:22) Nevertheless, no one can doubt that it is much better for us to live
+according to the laws and assured dictates of reason, for, as we said, they
+have men's true good for their object. (23) Moreover, everyone wishes to
+live as far as possible securely beyond the reach of fear, and this would be
+quite impossible so long as everyone did everything he liked, and reason's
+claim was lowered to a par with those of hatred and anger; there is no one
+who is not ill at ease in the midst of enmity, hatred, anger, and deceit,
+and who does not seek to avoid them as much as he can. [16:3] (24) When we
+reflect that men without mutual help, or the aid of reason, must needs live
+most miserably, as we clearly proved in Chap. V., we shall plainly see that
+men must necessarily come to an agreement to live together as securely and
+well as possible if they are to enjoy as a whole the rights which naturally
+belong to them as individuals, and their life should be no more conditioned
+by the force and desire of individuals, but by the power and will of the
+whole body. (25) This end they will be unable to attain if desire be
+their only guide (for by the laws of desire each man is drawn in a different
+direction); they must, therefore, most firmly decree and establish that they
+will be guided in everything by reason (which nobody will dare openly to
+repudiate lest he should be taken for a madman), and will restrain any
+desire which is injurious to a man's fellows, that they will do to all as
+they would be done by, and that they will defend their neighbour's rights as
+their own.
+
+(16:26) How such a compact as this should be entered into, how ratified and
+established, we will now inquire.
+
+(27) Now it is a universal law of human nature that no one ever neglects
+anything which he judges to be good, except with the hope of gaining a
+greater good, or from the fear of a greater evil; nor does anyone endure an
+evil except for the sake of avoiding a greater evil, or gaining a greater
+good. (28) That is, everyone will, of two goods, choose that which he thinks
+the greatest; and, of two evils, that which he thinks the least. (29) I say
+advisedly that which he thinks the greatest or the least, for it does not
+necessarily follow that he judges right. (30) This law is so deeply
+implanted in the human mind that it ought to be counted among eternal truths
+and axioms.
+
+(16:31) As a necessary consequence of the principle just enunciated, no one
+can honestly promise to forego the right which he has over all things
+[Endnote 26], and in general no one will abide by his promises, unless under
+the fear of a greater evil, or the hope of a greater good. (32) An example
+will make the matter clearer. (33) Suppose that a robber forces me to
+promise that I will give him my goods at his will and pleasure. (34) It is
+plain (inasmuch as my natural right is, as I have shown, co-extensive with
+my power) that if I can free myself from this robber by stratagem, by
+assenting to his demands, I have the natural right to do so, and to pretend
+to accept his conditions. (35) Or again, suppose I have genuinely promised
+someone that for the space of twenty days I will not taste food or any
+nourishment; and suppose I afterwards find that was foolish, and cannot be
+kept without very great injury to myself; as I am bound by natural law and
+right to choose the least of two evils, I have complete right to break my
+compact, and act as if my promise had never been uttered. (36) I say that I
+should have perfect natural right to do so, whether I was actuated by true
+and evident reason, or whether I was actuated by mere opinion in thinking I
+had promised rashly; whether my reasons were true or false, I should be in
+fear of a greater evil, which, by the ordinance of nature, I should strive
+to avoid by every means in my power.
+
+(16:37) We may, therefore, conclude that a compact is only made valid by its
+utility, without which it becomes null and void. (38) It is, therefore,
+foolish to ask a man to keep his faith with us for ever, unless we also
+endeavour that the violation of the compact we enter into shall involve for
+the violator more harm than good. (39) This consideration should have very
+great weight in forming a state. (40) However, if all men could be easily
+led by reason alone, and could recognize what is best and most useful for a
+state, there would be no one who would not forswear deceit, for everyone
+would keep most religiously to their compact in their desire for the chief
+good, namely, the shield and buckler of the commonwealth. (41) However, it
+is far from being the case that all men can always be easily led by reason
+alone; everyone is drawn away by his pleasure, while avarice, ambition,
+envy, hatred, and the like so engross the mind that, reason has no place
+therein. (42) Hence, though men make promises with all the appearances of
+good faith, and agree that they will keep to their engagement, no one can
+absolutely rely on another man's promise unless there is something behind
+it. (43) Everyone has by nature a right to act deceitfully, and to break his
+compacts, unless he be restrained by the hope of some greater good, or the
+fear of some greater evil.
+
+(16:44) However, as we have shown that the natural right of the individual
+is only limited by his power, it is clear that by transferring, either
+willingly or under compulsion, this power into the hands of another, he in
+so doing necessarily cedes also a part of his right; and further, that the
+Sovereign right over all men belongs to him who has sovereign power,
+wherewith he can compel men by force, or restrain them by threats of the
+universally feared punishment of death; such sovereign right he will
+retain only so long as he can maintain his power of enforcing his will;
+otherwise he will totter on his throne, and no one who is stronger than he
+will be bound unwillingly to obey him.
+
+(16:45) In this manner a society can be formed without any violation of
+natural right, and the covenant can always be strictly kept - that is, if
+each individual hands over the whole of his power to the body politic, the
+latter will then possess sovereign natural right over all things; that is,
+it will have sole and unquestioned dominion, and everyone will be bound to
+obey, under pain of the severest punishment. (46) A body politic of this
+kind is called a Democracy, which may be defined as a society which wields
+all its power as a whole. (47) The sovereign power is not restrained by any
+laws, but everyone is bound to obey it in all things; such is the state of
+things implied when men either tacitly or expressly handed over to it all
+their power of self-defence, or in other words, all their right. (48) For if
+they had wished to retain any right for themselves, they ought to have taken
+precautions for its defence and preservation; as they have not done so,
+and indeed could not have done so without dividing and consequently ruining
+the state, they placed themselves absolutely at the mercy of the sovereign
+power; and, therefore, having acted (as we have shown) as reason and
+necessity demanded, they are obliged to fulfil the commands of the sovereign
+power, however absurd these may be, else they will be public enemies, and
+will act against reason, which urges the preservation of the state as a
+primary duty. (49) For reason bids us choose the least of two evils.
+
+(16:50) Furthermore, this danger of submitting absolutely to the dominion
+and will of another, is one which may be incurred with a light heart: for we
+have shown that sovereigns only possess this right of imposing their will,
+so long as they have the full power to enforce it: if such power be lost
+their right to command is lost also, or lapses to those who have assumed it
+and can keep it. (51) Thus it is very rare for sovereigns to impose
+thoroughly irrational commands, for they are bound to consult their own
+interests, and retain their power by consulting the public good and
+acting according to the dictates of reason, as Seneca says, "violenta
+imperia nemo continuit diu." (52) No one can long retain a tyrant's sway.
+
+(16:53) In a democracy, irrational commands are still less to be feared: for
+it is almost impossible that the majority of a people, especially if it be a
+large one, should agree in an irrational design: and, moreover, the basis
+and aim of a democracy is to avoid the desires as irrational, and to bring
+men as far as possible under the control of reason, so that they may live in
+peace and harmony: if this basis be removed the whole fabric falls to ruin.
+
+(16:54) Such being the ends in view for the sovereign power, the duty of
+subjects is, as I have said, to obey its commands, and to recognize no right
+save that which it sanctions.
+
+[16:4] (55) It will, perhaps, be thought that we are turning subjects into
+slaves: for slaves obey commands and free men live as they like; but this
+idea is based on a misconception, for the true slave is he who is led away
+by his pleasures and can neither see what is good for him nor act
+accordingly: he alone is free who lives with free consent under the entire
+guidance of reason.
+
+(16:56) Action in obedience to orders does take away freedom in a certain
+sense, but it does not, therefore, make a man a slave, all depends on the
+object of the action. (57) If the object of the action be the good of the
+state, and not the good of the agent, the latter is a slave and does
+himself no good: but in a state or kingdom where the weal of the whole
+people, and not that of the ruler, is the supreme law, obedience to the
+sovereign power does not make a man a slave, of no use to himself, but a
+subject. (58) Therefore, that state is the freest whose laws are founded on
+sound reason, so that every member of it may, if he will, be free [Endnote
+27]; that is, live with full consent under the entire guidance of reason.
+
+(16:59) Children, though they are bound to obey all the commands of their
+parents, are yet not slaves: for the commands of parents look generally to
+the children's benefit.
+
+(60) We must, therefore, acknowledge a great difference between a slave, a
+son, and a subject; their positions may be thus defined. (61) A slave is one
+who is bound to obey his master's orders, though they are given solely in
+the master's interest: a son is one who obeys his father's orders, given
+in his own interest; a subject obeys the orders of the sovereign power,
+given for the common interest, wherein he is included.
+
+(16:62) I think I have now shown sufficiently clearly the basis of a
+democracy: I have especially desired to do so, for I believe it to be of all
+forms of government the most natural, and the most consonant with individual
+liberty. (63) In it no one transfers his natural right so absolutely that he
+has no further voice in affairs, he only hands it over to the majority of a
+society, whereof he is a unit. Thus all men remain as they were in the state
+of nature, equals.
+
+(16:64) This is the only form of government which I have treated of at
+length, for it is the one most akin to my purpose of showing the benefits of
+freedom in a state.
+
+(65) I may pass over the fundamental principles of other forms of
+government, for we may gather from what has been said whence their right
+arises without going into its origin. (66) The possessor of sovereign power,
+whether he be one, or many, or the whole body politic, has the sovereign
+right of imposing any commands he pleases: and he who has either
+voluntarily, or under compulsion, transferred the right to defend him to
+another, has, in so doing, renounced his natural right and is therefore
+bound to obey, in all things, the commands of the sovereign power; and will
+be bound so to do so long as the king, or nobles, or the people preserve the
+sovereign power which formed the basis of the original transfer. (67) I need
+add no more.
+
+[16:5] (68) The bases and rights of dominion being thus displayed, we shall
+readily be able to define private civil right, wrong, justice, and
+injustice, with their relations to the state; and also to determine what
+constitutes an ally, or an enemy, or the crime of treason.
+
+(16:69) By private civil right we can only mean the liberty every man
+possesses to preserve his existence, a liberty limited by the edicts of the
+sovereign power, and preserved only by its authority: for when a man has
+transferred to another his right of living as he likes, which was only
+limited by his power, that is, has transferred his liberty and power of
+self-defence, he is bound to live as that other dictates, and to trust to
+him entirely for his defence. (70) Wrong takes place when a citizen, or
+subject, is forced by another to undergo some loss or pain in contradiction
+to the authority of the law, or the edict of the sovereign power.
+
+(16:71) Wrong is conceivable only in an organized community: nor can it ever
+accrue to subjects from any act of the sovereign, who has the right to do
+what he likes. (72) It can only arise, therefore, between private persons,
+who are bound by law and right not to injure one another. (73) Justice
+consists in the habitual rendering to every man his lawful due: injustice
+consists in depriving a man, under the pretence of legality, of what the
+laws, rightly interpreted, would allow him. (74) These last are also called
+equity and iniquity, because those who administer the laws are bound to show
+no respect of persons, but to account all men equal, and to defend every
+man's right equally, neither envying the rich nor despising the poor.
+
+[16:6](75) The men of two states become allies, when for the sake of
+avoiding war, or for some other advantage, they covenant to do each other no
+hurt, but on the contrary, to assist each other if necessity arises, each
+retaining his independence. (76) Such a covenant is valid so long as its
+basis of danger or advantage is in force: no one enters into an engagement,
+or is bound to stand by his compacts unless there be a hope of some accruing
+good, or the fear of some evil: if this basis be removed the compact thereby
+becomes void: this has been abundantly shown by experience. (77) For
+although different states make treaties not to harm one another, they always
+take every possible precaution against such treaties being broken by the
+stronger party, and do not rely on the compact, unless there is a
+sufficiently obvious object and advantage to both parties in observing it.
+(78) Otherwise they would fear a breach of faith, nor would there be any
+wrong done thereby: for who in his proper senses, and aware of the right of
+the sovereign power, would trust in the promises of one who has the will and
+the power to do what he likes, and who aims solely at the safety and
+advantage of his dominion? (79) Moreover, if we consult loyalty and
+religion, we shall see that no one in possession of power ought to abide by
+his promises to the injury of his dominion; for he cannot keep such promises
+without breaking the engagement he made with his subjects, by which both he
+and they are most solemnly bound. (80) An enemy is one who lives apart from
+the state, and does not recognize its authority either as a subject or as an
+ally. It is not hatred which makes a man an enemy, but the rights of the
+state. (81) The rights of the state are the same in regard to him who
+does not recognize by any compact the state authority, as they are against
+him who has done the state an injury: it has the right to force him as best
+it can, either to submit, or to contract an alliance.
+
+[16:7] (82) Lastly, treason can only be committed by subjects, who by
+compact, either tacit or expressed, have transferred all their rights to the
+state: a subject is said to have committed this crime when he has attempted,
+for whatever reason, to seize the sovereign power, or to place it in
+different hands. (83) I say, has attempted, for if punishment were not to
+overtake him till he had succeeded, it would often come too late, the
+sovereign rights would have been acquired or transferred already.
+
+(16:84) I also say, has attempted, for whatever reason, to seize the
+sovereign power, and I recognize no difference whether such an attempt
+should be followed by public loss or public gain. (85) Whatever be his
+reason for acting, the crime is treason, and he is rightly condemned: in
+war, everyone would admit the justice of his sentence. (86) If a man does
+not keep to his post, but approaches the enemy without the knowledge of his
+commander, whatever may be his motive, so long as he acts on his own motion,
+even if he advances with the design of defeating the enemy, he is rightly
+put to death, because he has violated his oath, and infringed the rights of
+his commander. (87) That all citizens are equally bound by these rights in
+time of peace, is not so generally recognized, but the reasons for obedience
+are in both cases identical. (88) The state must be preserved and directed
+by the sole authority of the sovereign, and such authority and right have
+been accorded by universal consent to him alone: if, therefore, anyone else
+attempts, without his consent, to execute any public enterprise, even though
+the state might (as we said) reap benefit therefrom, such person has none
+the less infringed the sovereign’s right, and would be rightly punished for
+treason.
+
+(16:89) In order that every scruple may be removed, we may now answer the
+inquiry, whether our former assertion that everyone who has not the
+practice of reason, may, in the state of nature, live by sovereign natural
+right, according to the laws of his desires, is not in direct opposition to
+the law and right of God as revealed. (90) For as all men absolutely
+(whether they be less endowed with reason or more) are equally bound by the
+Divine command to love their neighbour as themselves, it may be said that
+they cannot, without wrong, do injury to anyone, or live according to their
+desires.
+
+(16:91) This objection, so far as the state of nature is concerned, can be
+easily answered, for the state of nature is, both in nature and in time,
+prior to religion. (92) No one knows by nature that he owes any obedience to
+God [Endnote 28], nor can he attain thereto by any exercise of his reason,
+but solely by revelation confirmed by signs. (93) Therefore, previous to
+revelation, no one is bound by a Divine law and right of which he is
+necessarily in ignorance. (94) The state of nature must by no means be
+confounded with a state of religion, but must be conceived as without
+either religion or law, and consequently without sin or wrong: this is how
+we have described it, and we are confirmed by the authority of Paul. (95) It
+is not only in respect of ignorance that we conceive the state of nature as
+prior to, and lacking the Divine revealed law and right; but in respect of
+freedom also, wherewith all men are born endowed.
+
+(16:96) If men were naturally bound by the Divine law and right, or if the
+Divine law and right were a natural necessity, there would have been no need
+for God to make a covenant with mankind, and to bind them thereto with an
+oath and agreement.
+
+(16:97) We must, then, fully grant that the Divine law and right originated
+at the time when men by express covenant agreed to obey God in all things,
+and ceded, as it were, their natural freedom, transferring their rights to
+God in the manner described in speaking of the formation of a state.
+
+(98) However, I will treat of these matters more at length presently.
+
+[16:8] (99) It may be insisted that sovereigns are as much bound by the
+Divine law as subjects: whereas we have asserted that they retain their
+natural rights, and may do whatever they like.
+
+(16:100) In order to clear up the whole difficulty, which arises rather
+concerning the natural right than the natural state, I maintain that
+everyone is bound, in the state of nature, to live according to Divine law,
+in the same way as he is bound to live according to the dictates of sound
+reason; namely, inasmuch as it is to his advantage, and necessary for his
+salvation; but, if he will not so live, he may do otherwise at his own risk.
+(101) He is thus bound to live according to his own laws, not according to
+anyone else's, and to recognize no man as a judge, or as a superior in
+religion. (102) Such, in my opinion, is the position of a sovereign, for he
+may take advice from his fellow-men, but he is not bound to recognize any as
+a judge, nor anyone besides himself as an arbitrator on any question of
+right, unless it be a prophet sent expressly by God and attesting his
+mission by indisputable signs. (103) Even then he does not recognize a man,
+but God Himself as His judge.
+
+[16:9] (104) If a sovereign refuses to obey God as revealed in His law,
+he does so at his own risk and loss, but without violating any civil or
+natural right. (105) For the civil right is dependent on his own decree; and
+natural right is dependent on the laws of nature, which latter are not
+adapted to religion, whose sole aim is the good of humanity, but to the
+order of nature - that is, to God's eternal decree unknown to us.
+
+(16:106) This truth seems to be adumbrated in a somewhat obscurer form by
+those who maintain that men can sin against God's revelation, but not
+against the eternal decree by which He has ordained all things.
+
+(107) We may be asked, what should we do if the sovereign commands anything
+contrary to religion, and the obedience which we have expressly vowed to
+God? should we obey the Divine law or the human law? (108) I shall treat of
+this question at length hereafter, and will therefore merely say now, that
+God should be obeyed before all else, when we have a certain and
+indisputable revelation of His will: but men are very prone to error on
+religious subjects, and, according to the diversity of their dispositions,
+are wont with considerable stir to put forward their own inventions, as
+experience more than sufficiently attests, so that if no one were bound to
+obey the state in matters which, in his own opinion concern religion,
+the rights of the state would be dependent on every man's judgment
+and passions. (109) No one would consider himself bound to obey laws framed
+against his faith or superstition; and on this pretext he might assume
+unbounded license. (110) In this way, the rights of the civil authorities
+would be utterly set at nought, so that we must conclude that the sovereign
+power, which alone is bound both by Divine and natural right to preserve and
+guard the laws of the state, should have supreme authority for making any
+laws about religion which it thinks fit; all are bound to obey its behests
+on the subject in accordance with their promise which God bids them to keep.
+
+(16:111) However, if the sovereign power be heathen, we should either enter
+into no engagements therewith, and yield up our lives sooner than transfer
+to it any of our rights; or, if the engagement be made, and our rights
+transferred, we should (inasmuch as we should have ourselves transferred the
+right of defending ourselves and our religion) be bound to obey them, and to
+keep our word: we might even rightly be bound so to do, except in those
+cases where God, by indisputable revelation, has promised His special aid
+against tyranny, or given us special exemption from obedience. (112) Thus we
+see that, of all the Jews in Babylon, there were only three youths who were
+certain of the help of God, and, therefore, refused to obey Nebuchadnezzar.
+(113) All the rest, with the sole exception of Daniel, who was beloved by
+the king, were doubtless compelled by right to obey, perhaps thinking that
+they had been delivered up by God into the hands of the king, and that the
+king had obtained and preserved his dominion by God's design. (114) On the
+other hand, Eleazar, before his country had utterly fallen, wished to give a
+proof of his constancy to his compatriots, in order that they might follow
+in his footsteps, and go to any lengths, rather than allow their right and
+power to be transferred to the Greeks, or brave any torture rather than
+swear allegiance to the heathen. (115) Instances are occurring every day in
+confirmation of what I here advance. (116) The rulers of Christian
+kingdoms do not hesitate, with a view to strengthening their dominion, to
+make treaties with Turks and heathen, and to give orders to their subjects
+who settle among such peoples not to assume more freedom, either in
+things secular or religious, than is set down in the treaty, or allowed by
+the foreign government. (117) We may see this exemplified in the Dutch
+treaty with the Japanese, which I have already mentioned.
+
+
+
+
+[17:0] CHAPTER XVII - IT IS SHOWN THAT NO ONE CAN, OR
+NEED, TRANSFER ALL HIS RIGHTS TO THE SOVEREIGN POWER.
+OF THE HEBREW REPUBLIC, AS IT WAS DURING THE LIFETIME
+OF MOSES, AND AFTER HIS DEATH, TILL THE FOUNDATION
+OF THE MONARCHY; AND   OF ITS EXCELLENCE. LASTLY, OF
+THE CAUSES WHY THE THEOCRATIC REPUBLIC FELL, AND WHY
+IT COULD HARDLY HAVE CONTINUED WITHOUT DISSENSION.
+
+[17:1] (1) The theory put forward in the last chapter, of the universal
+rights of the sovereign power, and of the natural rights of the individual
+transferred thereto, though it corresponds in many respects with actual
+practice, and though practice may be so arranged as to conform to it more
+and more, must nevertheless always remain in many respects purely ideal. (2)
+No one can ever so utterly transfer to another his power and, consequently,
+his rights, as to cease to be a man; nor can there ever be a power so
+sovereign that it can carry out every possible wish. (3) It will always be
+vain to order a subject to hate what he believes brings him advantage, or to
+love what brings him loss, or not to be offended at insults, or not to wish
+to be free from fear, or a hundred other things of the sort, which
+necessarily follow from the laws of human nature. (4) So much, I think, is
+abundantly shown by experience: for men have never so far ceded their power
+as to cease to be an object of fear to the rulers who received such power
+and right; and dominions have always been in as much danger from their own
+subjects as from external enemies. (5) If it were really the case, that men
+could be deprived of their natural rights so utterly as never to have any
+further influence on affairs [Endnote 29], except with the permission of the
+holders of sovereign right, it would then be possible to maintain with
+impunity the most violent tyranny, which, I suppose, no one would for an
+instant admit.
+
+(17:6) We must, therefore, grant that every man retains some part of his
+right, in dependence on his own decision, and no one else's.
+
+(7) However, in order correctly to understand the extent of the sovereign's
+right and power, we must take notice that it does not cover only those
+actions to which it can compel men by fear, but absolutely every action
+which it can induce men to perform: for it is the fact of obedience, not the
+motive for obedience, which makes a man a subject.
+
+(17:8) Whatever be the cause which leads a man to obey the commands of the
+sovereign, whether it be fear or hope, or love of his country, or any other
+emotion - the fact remains that the man takes counsel with himself, and
+nevertheless acts as his sovereign orders. (9) We must not, therefore,
+assert that all actions resulting from a man's deliberation with himself are
+done in obedience to the rights of the individual rather than the sovereign:
+as a matter of fact, all actions spring from a man's deliberation with
+himself, whether the determining motive be love or fear of punishment;
+therefore, either dominion does not exist, and has no rights over its
+subjects, or else it extends over every instance in which it can prevail on
+men to decide to obey it. (10) Consequently, every action which a subject
+performs in accordance with the commands of the sovereign, whether such
+action springs from love, or fear, or (as is more frequently the case) from
+hope and fear together, or from reverence, compounded of fear and
+admiration, or, indeed, any motive whatever, is performed in virtue of his
+submission to the sovereign, and not in virtue of his own authority.
+
+(17:11) This point is made still more clear by the fact that obedience does
+not consist so much in the outward act as in the mental state of the person
+obeying; so that he is most under the dominion of another who with his whole
+heart determines to obey another's commands; and consequently the firmest
+dominion belongs to the sovereign who has most influence over the minds of
+his subjects; if those who are most feared possessed the firmest dominion,
+the firmest dominion would belong to the subjects of a tyrant, for they are
+always greatly feared by their ruler. (12) Furthermore, though it is
+impossible to govern the mind as completely as the tongue, nevertheless
+minds are, to a certain extent, under the control of the sovereign, for he
+can in many ways bring about that the greatest part of his subjects should
+follow his wishes in their beliefs, their loves, and their hates. (13)
+Though such emotions do not arise at the express command of the sovereign
+they often result (as experience shows) from the authority of his power, and
+from his direction; in other words, in virtue of his right; we may,
+therefore, without doing violence to our understanding, conceive men who
+follow the instigation of their sovereign in their beliefs, their loves,
+their hates, their contempt, and all other emotions whatsoever.
+
+(17:14) Though the powers of government, as thus conceived, are sufficiently
+ample, they can never become large enough to execute every possible wish of
+their possessors. (15) This, I think, I have already shown clearly enough.
+(16) The method of forming a dominion which should prove lasting I do not,
+as I have said, intend to discuss, but in order to arrive at the object I
+have in view, I will touch on the teaching of Divine revelation to Moses in
+this respect, and we will consider the history and the success of the Jews,
+gathering therefrom what should be the chief concessions made by sovereigns
+to their subjects with a view to the security and increase of their
+dominion.
+
+[17:2] (17) That the preservation of a state chiefly depends on the
+subjects' fidelity and constancy in carrying out the orders they receive, is
+most clearly taught both by reason and experience; how subjects ought to be
+guided so as best to preserve their fidelity and virtue is not so obvious.
+(18) All, both rulers and ruled, are men, and prone to follow after their
+lusts. (19) The fickle disposition of the multitude almost reduces those who
+have experience of it to despair, for it is governed solely by emotions, not
+by reason: it rushes headlong into every enterprise, and is easily corrupted
+either by avarice or luxury: everyone thinks himself omniscient and wishes
+to fashion all things to his liking, judging a thing to be just or unjust,
+lawful or unlawful, according as he thinks it will bring him profit or loss:
+vanity leads him to despise his equals, and refuse their guidance: envy of
+superior fame or fortune (for such gifts are never equally distributed)
+leads him to desire and rejoice in his neighbour's downfall. (20) I need
+not go through the whole list, everyone knows already how much crime
+results from disgust at the present - desire for change, headlong anger,
+and contempt for poverty - and how men's minds are engrossed and kept
+in turmoil thereby.
+
+(17:21) To guard against all these evils, and form a dominion where no room
+is left for deceit; to frame our institutions so that every man, whatever
+his disposition, may prefer public right to private advantage, this is the
+task and this the toil. (22) Necessity is often the mother of invention, but
+she has never yet succeeded in framing a dominion that was in less danger
+from its own citizens than from open enemies, or whose rulers did not fear
+the latter less than the former. (23) Witness the state of Rome, invincible
+by her enemies, but many times conquered and sorely oppressed by her own
+citizens, especially in the war between Vespasian and Vitellius. (24) (See
+Tacitus, Hist. bk. iv. for a description of the pitiable state of the city.)
+
+(17:25) Alexander thought prestige abroad more easy to acquire than prestige
+at home, and believed that his greatness could be destroyed by his own
+followers. (26) Fearing such a disaster, he thus addressed his friends:
+"Keep me safe from internal treachery and domestic plots, and I will front
+without fear the dangers of battle and of war. (27) Philip was more secure
+in the battle array than in the theatre: he often escaped from the hands of
+the enemy, he could not escape from his own subjects. (28) If you think over
+the deaths of kings, you will count up more who have died by the assassin
+than by the open foe." (Q. Curtius, chap. vi.)
+
+(17:29) For the sake of making themselves secure, kings who seized the
+throne in ancient times used to try to spread the idea that they were
+descended from the immortal gods, thinking that if their subjects and the
+rest of mankind did not look on them as equals, but believed them to be
+gods, they would willingly submit to their rule, and obey their commands.
+(30) Thus Augustus persuaded the Romans that he was descended from Æneas,
+who was the son of Venus, and numbered among the gods. (31) "He wished
+himself to be worshipped in temples, like the gods, with flamens and
+priests." (Tacitus, Ann. i. 10.)
+
+(17:32) Alexander wished to be saluted as the son of Jupiter, not from
+motives of pride but of policy, as he showed by his answer to the invective
+of Hermolaus: "It is almost laughable," said he, "that Hermolaus asked me to
+contradict Jupiter, by whose oracle I am recognized. (33) Am I responsible
+for the answers of the gods? (34) It offered me the name of son;
+acquiescence was by no means foreign to my present designs. (35) Would that
+the Indians also would believe me to be a god! (36) Wars are carried through
+by prestige, falsehoods that are believed often gain the force of truth."
+(Curtius, viii,. Para. 8.) (37) In these few words he cleverly contrives to
+palm off a fiction on the ignorant, and at the same time hints at the motive
+for the deception.
+
+(17:38) Cleon, in his speech persuading the Macedonians to obey their king,
+adopted a similar device: for after going through the praises of Alexander
+with admiration, and recalling his merits, he proceeds, "the Persians are
+not only pious, but prudent in worshipping their kings as gods: for kingship
+is the shield of public safety," and he ends thus, "I, myself, when the king
+enters a banquet hall, should prostrate my body on the ground; other men
+should do the like, especially those who are wise" (Curtius, viii.
+Para. 66). (39) However, the Macedonians were more prudent - indeed, it is
+only complete barbarians who can be so openly cajoled, and can suffer
+themselves to be turned from subjects into slaves without interests of their
+own. (40) Others, notwithstanding, have been able more easily to spread the
+belief that kingship is sacred, and plays the part of God on the earth, that
+it has been instituted by God, not by the suffrage and consent of men; and
+that it is preserved and guarded by Divine special providence and aid.
+(41) Similar fictions have been promulgated by monarchs, with the object of
+strengthening their dominion, but these I will pass over, and in order to
+arrive at my main purpose, will merely recall and discuss the teaching on
+the subject of Divine revelation to Moses in ancient times.
+
+[17:3] (42) We have said in Chap. V. that after the Hebrews came up out of
+Egypt they were not bound by the law and right of any other nation, but were
+at liberty to institute any new rites at their pleasure, and to occupy
+whatever territory they chose. (43) After their liberation from the
+intolerable bondage of the Egyptians, they were bound by no covenant to any
+man; and, therefore, every man entered into his natural right, and was free
+to retain it or to give it up, and transfer it to another. (44) Being, then,
+in the state of nature, they followed the advice of Moses, in whom they
+chiefly trusted, and decided to transfer their right to no human being, but
+only to God; without further delay they all, with one voice, promised to
+obey all the commands of the Deity, and to acknowledge no right that He did
+not proclaim as such by prophetic revelation. (45) This promise, or
+transference of right to God, was effected in the same manner as we have
+conceived it to have been in ordinary societies, when men agree to divest
+themselves of their natural rights. (46) It is, in fact, in virtue of a set
+covenant, and an oath (see Exod. xxxiv:10), that the Jews freely, and not
+under compulsion or threats, surrendered their rights and transferred them
+to God. (47) Moreover, in order that this covenant might be ratified
+and settled, and might be free from all suspicion of deceit, God did not
+enter into it till the Jews had had experience of His wonderful power by
+which alone they had been, or could be, preserved in a state of prosperity
+(Exod. xix:4, 5). (48) It is because they believed that nothing but
+God's power could preserve them that they surrendered to God the natural
+power of self-preservation, which they formerly, perhaps, thought they
+possessed, and consequently they surrendered at the same time all their
+natural right.
+
+[17:4] (49) God alone, therefore, held dominion over the Hebrews, whose state
+was in virtue of the covenant called God's kingdom, and God was said to be
+their king; consequently the enemies of the Jews were said to be the enemies of
+God, and the citizens who tried to seize the dominion were guilty of treason
+against God; and, lastly, the laws of the state were called the laws and
+commandments of God. (50) Thus in the Hebrew state the civil and religious
+authority, each consisting solely of obedience to God, were one and the same.
+(51) The dogmas of religion were not precepts, but laws and ordinances; piety
+was regarded as the same as loyalty, impiety as the same as disaffection. (52)
+Everyone who fell away from religion ceased to be a citizen, and was, on that
+ground alone, accounted an enemy: those who died for the sake of religion, were
+held to have died for their country; in fact, between civil and religious law
+and right there was no distinction whatever. (53) For this reason the
+government could be called a Theocracy, inasmuch as the citizens were not bound
+by anything save the revelations of God.
+
+(17:54) However, this state of things existed rather in theory than in
+practice, for it will appear from what we are about to say, that the
+Hebrews, as a matter of fact, retained absolutely in their own hands the
+right of sovereignty: this is shown by the method and plan by which the
+government was carried on, as I will now explain.
+
+(17:55) Inasmuch as the Hebrews did not transfer their rights to any other
+person but, as in a democracy, all surrendered their rights equally, and
+cried out with one voice, "Whatsoever God shall speak (no mediator or
+mouthpiece being named) that will we do," it follows that all were equally
+bound by the covenant, and that all had an equal right to consult the Deity,
+to accept and to interpret His laws, so that all had an exactly equal share
+in the government. [17:5] (56) Thus at first they all approached God
+together, so that they might learn His commands, but in this first
+salutation, they were so thoroughly terrified and so astounded to hear God
+speaking, that they thought their last hour was at hand: full of fear,
+therefore, they went afresh to Moses, and said, "Lo, we have heard God
+speaking in the fire, and there is no cause why we should wish to die:
+surely this great fire will consume us: if we hear again the voice of God,
+we shall surely die. (57) Thou, therefore, go near, and hear all the words
+of our God, and thou (not God) shalt speak with us: all that God shall tell
+us, that will we hearken to and perform."
+
+(17:58) They thus clearly abrogated their former covenant, and absolutely
+transferred to Moses their right to consult God and interpret His commands:
+for they do not here promise obedience to all that God shall tell them, but
+to all that God shall tell Moses (see Deut. v:20 after the Decalogue, and
+chap. xviii:15, 16). (59) Moses, therefore, remained the sole promulgator
+and interpreter of the Divine laws, and consequently also the sovereign
+judge, who could not be arraigned himself, and who acted among the Hebrews
+the part of God; in other words, held the sovereign kingship: he alone
+had the right to consult God, to give the Divine answers to the
+people, and to see that they were carried out. (60) I say he alone, for if
+anyone during the life of Moses was desirous of preaching anything in the
+name of the Lord, he was, even if a true prophet, considered guilty and a
+usurper of the sovereign right (Numb. xi:28) [Endnote 30]. (61) We may here
+notice, that though the people had elected Moses, they could not rightfully
+elect Moses's successor; for having transferred to Moses their right of
+consulting God, and absolutely promised to regard him as a Divine oracle,
+they had plainly forfeited the whole of their right, and were bound to
+accept as chosen by God anyone proclaimed by Moses as his successor. (62) If
+Moses had so chosen his successor, who like him should wield the sole right
+of government, possessing the sole right of consulting God, and consequently
+of making and abrogating laws, of deciding on peace or war, of sending
+ambassadors, appointing judges - in fact, discharging all the functions of a
+sovereign, the state would have become simply a monarchy, only differing
+from other monarchies in the fact, that the latter are, or should be,
+carried on in accordance with God's decree, unknown even to the monarch,
+whereas the Hebrew monarch would have been the only person to whom the
+decree was revealed. (63) A difference which increases, rather than
+diminishes the monarch's authority. (64) As far as the people in both cases
+are concerned, each would be equally subject, and equally ignorant of
+the Divine decree, for each would be dependent on the monarch's words, and
+would learn from him alone, what was lawful or unlawful: nor would the fact
+that the people believed that the monarch was only issuing commands in
+accordance with God's decree revealed to him, make it less in subjection,
+but rather more. [17:6] (65) However, Moses elected no such successor, but
+left the dominion to those who came after him in a condition which could not
+be called a popular government, nor an aristocracy, nor a monarchy, but a
+Theocracy. (66) For the right of interpreting laws was vested in one man,
+while the right and power of administering the state according to the
+laws thus interpreted, was vested in another man (see Numb. xxvii:21)
+[Endnote 31].
+
+(17:67) In order that the question may be thoroughly understood, I will duly
+set forth the administration of the whole state.
+
+(68) First, the people were commanded to build a tabernacle, which should
+be, as it were, the dwelling of God - that is, of the sovereign authority of
+the state. (69) This tabernacle was to be erected at the cost of the whole
+people, not of one man, in order that the place where God was consulted
+might be public property. (70) The Levites were chosen as courtiers and
+administrators of this royal abode; while Aaron, the brother of Moses, was
+chosen to be their chief and second, as it were, to God their King, being
+succeeded in the office by his legitimate sons.
+
+(17:71) He, as the nearest to God, was the sovereign interpreter of the
+Divine laws; he communicated the answers of the Divine oracle to the people,
+and entreated God's favour for them. (72) If, in addition to these
+privileges, he had possessed the right of ruling, he would have been neither
+more nor less than an absolute monarch; but, in respect to government, he
+was only a private citizen: the whole tribe of Levi was so completely
+divested of governing rights that it did not even take its share with the
+others in the partition of territory. (73) Moses provided for its support by
+inspiring the common people with great reverence for it, as the only tribe
+dedicated to God.
+
+(17:74) Further, the army, formed from the remaining twelve tribes, was
+commanded to invade the land of Canaan, to divide it into twelve portions,
+and to distribute it among the tribes by lot. (75) For this task twelve
+captains were chosen, one from every tribe, and were, together with
+Joshua and Eleazar, the high priest, empowered to divide the land into
+twelve equal parts, and distribute it by lot. (76) Joshua was chosen for the
+chief command of the army, inasmuch as none but he had the right to consult
+God in emergencies, not like Moses, alone in his tent, or in the
+tabernacle, but through the high priest, to whom only the answers of God
+were revealed. (77) Furthermore, he was empowered to execute, and cause the
+people to obey God's commands, transmitted through the high priests; to
+find, and to make use of, means for carrying them out; to choose as many
+army captains as he liked; to make whatever choice he thought best; to
+send ambassadors in his own name; and, in short, to have the entire control
+of the war. (78) To his office there was no rightful successor - indeed, the
+post was only filled by the direct order of the Deity, on occasions of
+public emergency. (79) In ordinary times, all the management of peace and
+war was vested in the captains of the tribes, as I will shortly point out.
+(80) Lastly, all men between the ages of twenty and sixty were ordered to
+bear arms, and form a citizen army, owing allegiance, not to its
+general-in-chief, nor to the high priest, but to Religion and to God.
+(81) The army, or the hosts, were called the army of God, or the hosts of
+God. (82) For this reason God was called by the Hebrews the God of Armies;
+and the ark of the covenant was borne in the midst of the army in important
+battles, when the safety or destruction of the whole people hung upon the
+issue, so that the people might, as it were, see their King among them,
+and put forth all their strength.
+
+(17:83) From these directions, left by Moses to his successors, we plainly
+see that he chose administrators, rather than despots, to come after him;
+for he invested no one with the power of consulting God, where he liked and
+alone, consequently, no one had the power possessed by himself of ordaining
+and abrogating laws, of deciding on war or peace, of choosing men to fill
+offices both religious and secular: all these are the prerogatives of a
+sovereign. (84) The high priest, indeed, had the right of interpreting laws,
+and communicating the answers of God, but he could not do so when he liked,
+as Moses could, but only when he was asked by the general-in-chief of the
+army, the council, or some similar authority. (85) The general-in-chief and
+the council could consult God when they liked, but could only receive His
+answers through the high priest; so that the utterances of God, as reported
+by the high priest, were not decrees, as they were when reported by Moses,
+but only answers; they were accepted by Joshua and the council, and only
+then had the force of commands and decrees.
+
+(17:86) The high priest, both in the case of Aaron and of his son Eleazar,
+was chosen by Moses; nor had anyone, after Moses' death, a right to elect to
+the office, which became hereditary. (87) The general-in-chief of the army
+was also chosen by Moses, and assumed his functions in virtue of the
+commands, not of the high priest, but of Moses: indeed, after the death of
+Joshua, the high priest did not appoint anyone in his place, and the
+captains did not consult God afresh about a general-in-chief, but each
+retained Joshua's power in respect to the contingent of his own tribe,
+and all retained it collectively, in respect to the whole army. (88) There
+seems to have been no need of a general-in-chief, except when they were
+obliged to unite their forces against a common enemy. (89) This occurred
+most frequently during the time of Joshua, when they had no fixed dwelling.
+place, and possessed all things in common. [17:7] (90) After all the tribes
+had gained their territories by right of conquest, and had divided their
+allotted gains, they, became separated, having no longer their possessions
+in common, so that the need for a single commander ceased, for the
+different tribes should be considered rather in the light of confederated
+states than of bodies of fellow-citizens. (91) In respect to their God and
+their religion, they, were fellow-citizens; but, in respect to the rights
+which one possessed with regard to another, they were only confederated:
+they, were, in fact, in much the same position (if one excepts the Temple
+common to all) as the United States of the Netherlands {or United States of
+America}. (92) The division of property held in common is only another
+phrase for the possession of his share by each of the owners singly, and the
+surrender by the others of their rights over such share. (93) This is why
+Moses elected captains of the tribes - namely, that when the dominion was
+divided, each might take care of his own part; consulting God through the
+high priest on the affairs of his tribe, ruling over his army, building and
+fortifying cities, appointing judges, attacking the enemies of his own
+dominion, and having complete control over all civil and military affairs.
+(94) He was not bound to acknowledge any superior judge save God
+[Endnote 32], or a prophet whom God should expressly send. (95) If he
+departed from the worship of God, the rest of the tribes did not arraign him
+as a subject, but attacked him as an enemy. (95) Of this we have examples in
+Scripture. (96) When Joshua was dead, the children of Israel (not a fresh
+general-in-chief) consulted God; it being decided that the tribe of Judah
+should be the first to attack its enemies, the tribe in question contracted
+a single alliance with the tribe of Simeon, for uniting their forces, and
+attacking their common enemy, the rest of the tribes not being included in
+the alliance (Judges i:1, 2, 3). (97) Each tribe separately made war against
+its own enemies, and, according to its pleasure, received them as subjects
+or allies, though it had been commanded not to spare them on any conditions,
+but to destroy them utterly. (98) Such disobedience met with reproof from
+the rest of the tribes, but did not cause the offending tribe to be
+arraigned: it was not considered a sufficient reason for proclaiming a civil
+war, or interfering in one another's affairs. (99) But when the tribe of
+Benjamin offended against the others, and so loosened the bonds of peace
+that none of the confederated tribes could find refuge within its borders,
+they attacked it as an enemy, and gaining the victory over it after three
+battles, put to death both guilty and innocent, according to the laws of
+war: an act which they subsequently bewailed with tardy repentance.
+
+(17:100) These examples plainly confirm what we have said concerning the
+rights of each tribe. (101) Perhaps we shall be asked who elected the
+successors to the captains of each tribe; on this point I can gather no
+positive information in Scripture, but I conjecture that as the tribes were
+divided into families, each headed by its senior member, the senior of all
+these heads of families succeeded by right to the office of captain, for
+Moses chose from among these seniors his seventy coadjutors, who formed with
+himself the supreme council. (102) Those who administered the government
+after the death of Joshua were called elders, and elder is a very common
+Hebrew expression in the sense of judge, as I suppose everyone knows;
+however, it is not very important for us to make up our minds on this point.
+(103) It is enough to have shown that after the death of Moses no one man
+wielded all the power of a sovereign; as affairs were not all managed by one
+man, nor by a single council, nor by the popular vote, but partly by one
+tribe, partly by the rest in equal shares, it is most evident that the
+government, after the death of Moses, was neither monarchic, nor
+aristocratic, nor popular, but, as we have said, Theocratic.
+(104) The reasons for applying this name are:
+
+(17:105) I. Because the royal seat of government was the Temple, and in
+respect to it alone, as we have shown, all the tribes were fellow-citizens.
+
+(106) II. Because all the people owed allegiance to God, their supreme
+Judge, to whom only they had promised implicit obedience in all things.
+
+(17:107) III. Because the general-in-chief or dictator, when there was need
+of such, was elected by none save God alone. (108) This was expressly
+commanded by Moses in the name of God (Deut. xix:15), and witnessed by the
+actual choice of Gideon, of Samson, and of Samuel; wherefrom we may conclude
+that the other faithful leaders were chosen in the same manner, though it is
+not expressly told us.
+
+(17:109) These preliminaries being stated, it is now time to inquire the
+effects of forming a dominion on this plan, and to see whether it so
+effectually kept within bounds both rulers and ruled, that the former were
+never tyrannical and the latter never rebellious.
+
+(17:110) Those who administer or possess governing power, always try to
+surround their high-handed actions with a cloak of legality, and to persuade
+the people that they act from good motives; this they are easily able to
+effect when they are the sole interpreters of the law; for it is evident
+that they are thus able to assume a far greater freedom to carry out their
+wishes and desires than if the interpretation if the law is vested in
+someone else, or if the laws were so self-evident that no one could be in
+doubt as to their meaning. [17:8] (111) We thus see that the power of
+evil-doing was greatly curtailed for the Hebrew captains by the fact that the
+whole interpretation of the law was vested in the Levites (Deut. xxi:5),
+who, on their part, had no share in the government, and depended for all
+their support and consideration on a correct interpretation of the laws
+entrusted to them. (112) Moreover, the whole people was commanded to come
+together at a certain place every seven years and be instructed in the law
+by the high-priest; further, each individual was bidden to read the book of
+the law through and through continually with scrupulous care. (Deut. xxxi:9,
+10, and vi:7.)
+
+(113) The captains were thus for their own sakes bound to take great care to
+administer everything according to the laws laid down, and well known to all,
+if they wished to be held in high honour by the people, who would regard them
+as the administrators of God's dominion, and as God's vicegerents; otherwise
+they could not have escaped all the virulence of theological hatred. (114)
+There was another very important check on the unbridled license of the
+captains, in the fact, that the army was formed from the whole body, of the
+citizens, between the ages of twenty and sixty, without exception, and that the
+captains were not able to hire any foreign soldiery. (115) This I say was very
+important, for it is well known that princes can oppress their peoples with the
+single aid of the soldiery in their pay; while there is nothing more formidable
+to them than the freedom of citizen soldiers, who have established the freedom
+and glory of their country, by their valour, their toil, and their blood. (116)
+Thus Alexander, when he was about to make wax on Darius, a second time, after
+hearing the advice of Parmenio, did not chide him who gave the advice, but
+Polysperchon, who was standing by. (117) For, as Curtius says (iv. Para. 13),
+he did not venture to reproach Parmenio again after having shortly before
+reproved him too sharply. (118) This freedom of the Macedonians, which he so
+dreaded, he was not able to subdue till after the number of captives enlisted
+in the army surpassed that of his own people: then, but not till then, he gave
+rein to his anger so long checked by the independence of his chief
+fellow-countrymen.
+
+(17:119) If this independence of citizen soldiers can restrain the princes
+of ordinary states who are wont to usurp the whole glory of victories, it
+must have been still more effectual against the Hebrew captains, whose
+soldiers were fighting, not for the glory of a prince, but for the glory of
+God, and who did not go forth to battle till the Divine assent had been
+given.
+
+(17:120) We must also remember that the Hebrew captains were associated only
+by the bonds of religion: therefore, if any one of them had transgressed,
+and begun to violate the Divine right, he might have been treated by the
+rest as an enemy and lawfully subdued.
+
+(17:121) An additional check may be found in the fear of a new prophet
+arising, for if a man of unblemished life could show by certain signs that
+he was really a prophet, he ipso facto obtained the sovereign right to rule,
+which was given to him, as to Moses formerly, in the name of God, as
+revealed to himself alone; not merely through the high priest, as in the
+case of the captains. (122) There is no doubt that such an one would easily
+be able to enlist an oppressed people in his cause, and by trifling signs
+persuade them of anything he wished: on the other hand, if affairs were well
+ordered, the captain would be able to make provision in time; that the
+prophet should be submitted to his approval, and be examined whether he were
+really of unblemished life, and possessed indisputable signs of his mission:
+also, whether the teaching he proposed to set forth in the name of the Lord
+agreed with received doctrines, and the general laws of the country; if his
+credentials were insufficient, or his doctrines new, he could lawfully be
+put to death, or else received on the captain's sole responsibility and
+authority.
+
+(17:123) Again, the captains were not superior to the others in nobility or
+birth, but only administered the government in virtue of their age and
+personal qualities. (124) Lastly, neither captains nor army had any reason
+for preferring war to peace. (125) The army, as we have stated, consisted
+entirely of citizens, so that affairs were managed by the same persons both
+in peace and war. (126) The man who was a soldier in the camp was a citizen
+in the market-place, he who was a leader in the camp was a judge in the law
+courts, he who was a general in the camp was a ruler in the state. (127)
+Thus no one could desire war for its own sake, but only for the sake of
+preserving peace and liberty; possibly the captains avoided change as far as
+possible, so as not to be obliged to consult the high priest and submit to
+the indignity of standing in his presence.
+
+(17:128) So much for the precautions for keeping the captains within bounds.
+[17:9] (129) We must now look for the restraints upon the people: these,
+however, are very clearly indicated in the very groundwork of the social
+fabric.
+
+(17:130) Anyone who gives the subject the slightest attention, will see that
+the state was so ordered as to inspire the most ardent patriotism in the
+hearts of the citizens, so that the latter would be very hard to persuade to
+betray their country, and be ready to endure anything rather than
+submit to a foreign yoke. (131) After they had transferred their right
+to God, they thought that their kingdom belonged to God, and that they
+themselves were God's children. (132) Other nations they looked upon as
+God's enemies, and regarded with intense hatred (which they took
+to be piety, see Psalm cxxxix:21, 22): nothing would have been more
+abhorrent to them than swearing allegiance to a foreigner, and promising him
+obedience: nor could they conceive any greater or more execrable crime than
+the betrayal of their country, the kingdom of the God whom they adored.
+
+(17:133) It was considered wicked for anyone to settle outside of the
+country, inasmuch as the worship of God by which they were bound could not
+be carried on elsewhere: their own land alone was considered holy, the rest
+of the earth unclean and profane.
+
+(17:134) David, who was forced to live in exile, complained before Saul as
+follows: "But if they be the children of men who have stirred thee up
+against me, cursed be they before the Lord; for they have driven me out this
+day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other
+gods." (I Sam. xxvi:19.) (135) For the same reason no citizen, as we should
+especially remark, was ever sent into exile: he who sinned was liable to
+punishment, but not to disgrace.
+
+(17:136) Thus the love of the Hebrews for their country was not only
+patriotism, but also piety, and was cherished and nurtured by daily rites
+till, like their hatred of other nations, it must have passed into their
+nature. (137) Their daily worship was not only different from that of other
+nations (as it might well be, considering that they were a peculiar people
+and entirely apart from the rest), it was absolutely contrary. (138) Such
+daily reprobation naturally gave rise to a lasting hatred, deeply implanted
+in the heart: for of all hatreds none is more deep and tenacious than
+that which springs from extreme devoutness or piety, and is itself cherished
+as pious. (139) Nor was a general cause lacking for inflaming such hatred
+more and more, inasmuch as it was reciprocated; the surrounding nations
+regarding the Jews with a hatred just as intense.
+
+(17:140) How great was the effect of all these causes, namely, freedom from
+man's dominion; devotion to their country; absolute rights over all
+other men; a hatred not only permitted but pious; a contempt for their
+fellow-men; the singularity of their customs and religious rites; the
+effect, I repeat, of all these causes in strengthening the hearts of the
+Jews to bear all things for their country, with extraordinary constancy and
+valour, will at once be discerned by reason and attested by experience.
+(141) Never, so long as the city was standing, could they endure to remain
+under foreign dominion; and therefore they called Jerusalem "a rebellious
+city" (Ezra iv:12). (142) Their state after its reestablishment (which was a
+mere shadow of the first, for the high priests had usurped the rights of the
+tribal captains) was, with great difficulty, destroyed by the Romans, as
+Tacitus bears witness (Hist. ii:4):- "Vespasian had closed the war against
+the Jews, abandoning the siege of Jerusalem as an enterprise difficult
+and arduous rather from the character of the people and the obstinacy of
+their superstition, than from the strength left to the besieged for meeting
+their necessities." (143) But besides these characteristics, which are
+merely ascribed by an individual opinion, there was one feature
+peculiar to this state and of great importance in retaining the affections
+of the citizens, and checking all thoughts of desertion, or abandonment of
+the country: namely, self-interest, the strength and life of all human
+action. (144) This was peculiarly engaged in the Hebrew state, for
+nowhere else did citizens possess their goods so securely, as did the
+subjects of this community, for the latter possessed as large a share in the
+land and the fields as did their chiefs, and were owners of their plots of
+ground in perpetuity; for if any man was compelled by poverty to sell his
+farm or his pasture, he received it back again intact at the year of
+jubilee: there were other similar enactments against the possibility of
+alienating real property.
+
+(17:145) Again, poverty was nowhere more endurable than in a country where
+duty towards one's neighbour, that is, one's fellow-citizen, was practised
+with the utmost piety, as a means of gaining the favour of God the King.
+(146) Thus the Hebrew citizens would nowhere be so well off as in their own
+country; outside its limits they met with nothing but loss and disgrace.
+
+(17:147) The following considerations were of weight, not only in keeping
+them at home, but also in preventing civil war and removing causes of
+strife; no one was bound to serve his equal, but only to serve God, while
+charity and love towards fellow-citizens was accounted the highest piety;
+this last feeling was not a little fostered by the general hatred with which
+they regarded foreign nations and were regarded by them. (148) Furthermore,
+the strict discipline of obedience in which they were brought up, was a very
+important factor; for they were bound to carry on all their actions
+according to the set rules of the law: a man might not plough when he liked,
+but only at certain times, in certain years, and with one sort of beast at a
+time; so, too, he might only sow and reap in a certain method and season -
+in fact, his whole life was one long school of obedience (see Chap. V. on
+the use of ceremonies); such a habit was thus engendered, that conformity
+seemed freedom instead of servitude, and men desired what was commanded
+rather than what was forbidden. (149) This result was not a little aided by
+the fact that the people were bound, at certain seasons of the year, to give
+themselves up to rest and rejoicing, not for their own pleasure, but in
+order that they might worship God cheerfully.
+
+(17:150) Three times in the year they feasted before the Lord; on the
+seventh day of every week they were bidden to abstain from all work and to
+rest; besides these, there were other occasions when innocent rejoicing and
+feasting were not only allowed but enjoined. (151) I do not think any better
+means of influencing men's minds could be devised; for there is no more
+powerful attraction than joy springing from devotion, a mixture of
+admiration and love. (152) It was not easy to be wearied by constant
+repetition, for the rites on the various festivals were varied and recurred
+seldom. (153) We may add the deep reverence for the Temple which all most
+religiously fostered, on account of the peculiar rites and duties that they
+were obliged to perform before approaching thither. (154) Even now, Jews
+cannot read without horror of the crime of Manasseh, who dared to place an
+idol in the Temple. (155) The laws, scrupulously preserved in the inmost
+sanctuary, were objects of equal reverence to the people. (156) Popular
+reports and misconceptions were, therefore, very little to be feared
+in this quarter, for no one dared decide on sacred matters, but all
+felt bound to obey, without consulting their reason, all the commands given
+by the answers of God received in the Temple, and all the laws which God
+had ordained.
+
+(17:157) I think I have now explained clearly, though briefly, the main
+features of the Hebrew commonwealth. (158) I must now inquire into the
+causes which led the people so often to fall away from the law, which
+brought about their frequent subjection, and, finally, the complete
+destruction of their dominion. (159) Perhaps I shall be told that it sprang
+from their hardness of heart; but this is childish, for why should this
+people be more hard of heart than others; was it by nature?
+
+[17:A] (160) But nature forms individuals, not peoples; the latter are
+only distinguishable by the difference of their language, their customs, and
+their laws; while from the two last - i.e., customs and laws, - it may arise
+that they have a peculiar disposition, a peculiar manner of life, and
+peculiar prejudices. (161) If, then, the Hebrews were harder of heart than
+other nations, the fault lay with their laws or customs.
+
+(17:162) This is certainly true, in the sense that, if God had wished their
+dominion to be more lasting, He would have given them other rites and laws,
+and would have instituted a different form of government. (163) We can,
+therefore, only say that their God was angry with them, not only, as
+Jeremiah says, from the building of the city, but even from the founding of
+their laws.
+
+(17:164) This is borne witness to by Ezekiel xx:25: "Wherefore I gave them
+also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not
+live; and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass
+through the fire all that openeth the womb; that I might make them desolate,
+to the end that they might know that I am the Lord."
+
+(17:165) In order that we may understand these words, and the destruction of
+the Hebrew commonwealth, we must bear in mind that it had at first been
+intended to entrust the whole duties of the priesthood to the firstborn, and
+not to the Levites (see Numb. viii:17). (166) It was only when all the
+tribes, except the Levites, worshipped the golden calf, that the
+firstborn were rejected and defiled, and the Levites chosen in their stead
+(Deut. x:8). (167) When I reflect on this change, I feel disposed to break
+forth with the words of Tacitus. (168) God's object at that time was not the
+safety of the Jews, but vengeance. (169) I am greatly astonished that the
+celestial mind was so inflamed with anger that it ordained laws, which
+always are supposed to promote the honour, well-being, and security of a
+people, with the purpose of vengeance, for the sake of punishment; so that
+the laws do not seem so much laws - that is, the safeguard of
+the people - as pains and penalties.
+
+(17:170) The gifts which the people were obliged to bestow on the Levites
+and priests - the redemption of the firstborn, the poll-tax due to the
+Levites, the privilege possessed by the latter of the sole performance of
+sacred rites - all these, I say, were a continual reproach to the people, a
+continual reminder of their defilement and rejection. (171) Moreover, we may
+be sure that the Levites were for ever heaping reproaches upon them: for
+among so many thousands there must have been many importunate dabblers in
+theology. (172) Hence the people got into the way of watching the acts of
+the Levites, who were but human; of accusing the whole body of the faults of
+one member, and continually murmuring.
+
+(17:173) Besides this, there was the obligation to keep in idleness men
+hateful to them, and connected by no ties of blood. (174) Especially would
+this seem grievous when provisions were dear. What wonder, then, if in times
+of peace, when striking miracles had ceased, and no men of paramount
+authority were forthcoming, the irritable and greedy temper of the people
+began to wax cold, and at length to fall away from a worship, which, though
+Divine, was also humiliating, and even hostile, and to seek after something
+fresh; or can we be surprised that the captains, who always adopt the
+popular course, in order to gain the sovereign power for themselves by
+enlisting the sympathies of the people, and alienating the high priest,
+should have yielded to their demands, and introduced a new worship? (175) If
+the state had been formed according to the original intention, the rights
+and honour of all the tribes would have been equal, and everything would
+have rested on a firm basis. (176) Who is there who would willingly violate
+the religious rights of his kindred? (177) What could a man desire more than
+to support his own brothers and parents, thus fulfilling the duties of
+religion? (178) Who would not rejoice in being taught by them the
+interpretation of the laws, and receiving through them the answers of God?
+
+(17:179) The tribes would thus have been united by a far closer bond, if all
+alike had possessed the right to the priesthood. (180) All danger would have
+been obviated, if the choice of the Levites had not been dictated by anger
+and revenge. (181) But, as we have said, the Hebrews had offended their God,
+Who, as Ezekiel says, polluted them in their own gifts by rejecting all that
+openeth the womb, so that He might destroy them.
+
+(17:182) This passage is also confirmed by their history. As soon as the
+people in the wilderness began to live in ease and plenty, certain men of no
+mean birth began to rebel against the choice of the Levites, and to make it
+a cause for believing that Moses had not acted by the commands of God, but
+for his own good pleasure, inasmuch as he had chosen his own tribe before
+all the rest, and had bestowed the high priesthood in perpetuity on his own
+brother. (183) They, therefore, stirred up a tumult, and came to him, crying
+out that all men were equally sacred, and that he had exalted himself above
+his fellows wrongfully. (184) Moses was not able to pacify them with
+reasons; but by the intervention of a miracle in proof of the faith, they
+all perished. (185) A fresh sedition then arose among the whole people, who
+believed that their champions had not been put to death by the judgment of
+God, but by the device of Moses. (186) After a great slaughter, or
+pestilence, the rising subsided from inanition, but in such a manner that
+all preferred death to life under such conditions.
+
+(17:187) We should rather say that sedition ceased than that harmony was
+re-established. (188) This is witnessed by Scripture (Deut. xxxi:21), where
+God, after predicting to Moses that the people after his death will fall
+away from the Divine worship, speaks thus: "For I know their imagination
+which they go about, even now before I have brought them into the land which
+I sware;" and, a little while after (xxxi:27), Moses says: "For I know thy
+rebellion and thy stiff neck: behold while I am yet alive with you this
+day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my
+death!"
+
+(17:189) Indeed, it happened according to his words, as we all know.
+(190) Great changes, extreme license, luxury, and hardness of heart grew up;
+things went from bad to worse, till at last the people, after being
+frequently conquered, came to an open rupture with the Divine right, and
+wished for a mortal king, so that the seat of government might be the Court,
+instead of the Temple, and that the tribes might remain fellow-citizens in
+respect to their king, instead of in respect to Divine right and the high
+priesthood.
+
+(17:191) A vast material for new seditions was thus produced, eventually
+resulting in the ruin of the entire state. Kings are above all things
+jealous of a precarious rule, and can in nowise brook a dominion within
+their own. (192) The first monarchs, being chosen from the ranks of private
+citizens, were content with the amount of dignity to which they had risen;
+but their sons, who obtained the throne by right of inheritance, began
+gradually to introduce changes, so as to get all the sovereign rights into
+their own hands. (193) This they were generally unable to accomplish, so
+long as the right of legislation did not rest with them, but with the high
+priest, who kept the laws in the sanctuary, and interpreted them to the
+people. (194) The kings were thus bound to obey the laws as much as were the
+subjects, and were unable to abrogate them, or to ordain new laws of equal
+authority; moreover, they were prevented by the Levites from administering
+the affairs of religion, king and subject being alike unclean. (195) Lastly,
+the whole safety of their dominion depended on the will of one man, if that
+man appeared to be a prophet; and of this they had seen an example, namely,
+how completely Samuel had been able to command Saul, and how easily, because
+of a single disobedience, he had been able to transfer the right of
+sovereignty to David. (196) Thus the kings found a dominion within their
+own, and wielded a precarious sovereignty.
+
+(17:197) In order to surmount these difficulties, they allowed other temples
+to be dedicated to the gods, so that there might be no further need of
+consulting the Levites; they also sought out many who prophesied in the name
+of God, so that they might have creatures of their own to oppose to the true
+prophets. (198) However, in spite of all their attempts, they never
+attained their end. (199) For the prophets, prepared against every
+emergency, waited for a favourable opportunity, such as the beginning of a
+new reign, which is always precarious, while the memory of the previous
+reign remains green. (200) At these times they could easily pronounce by
+Divine authority that the king was tyrannical, and could produce a champion
+of distinguished virtue to vindicate the Divine right, and lawfully to claim
+dominion, or a share in it. (201) Still, not even so could the prophets
+effect much. (202) They could, indeed, remove a tyrant; but there were
+reasons which prevented them from doing more than setting up, at great cost
+of civil bloodshed, another tyrant in his stead. (203) Of discords and civil
+wars there was no end, for the causes for the violation of Divine right
+remained always the same, and could only be removed by a complete
+remodelling of the state.
+
+(17:204) We have now seen how religion was introduced into the Hebrew
+commonwealth, and how the dominion might have lasted for ever, if the just
+wrath of the Lawgiver had allowed it. (205) As this was impossible, it was
+bound in time to perish. (206) I am now speaking only of the first
+commonwealth, for the second was a mere shadow of the first, inasmuch as the
+people were bound by the rights of the Persians to whom they were subject.
+(207) After the restoration of freedom, the high priests usurped the rights
+of the secular chiefs, and thus obtained absolute dominion. (208) The
+priests were inflamed with an intense desire to wield the powers of the
+sovereignty and the high priesthood at the same time. (209) I have,
+therefore, no need to speak further of the second commonwealth. (210)
+Whether the first, in so far as we deem it to have been durable, is capable
+of imitation, and whether it would be pious to copy it as far as possible,
+will appear from what fellows. (211) I wish only to draw attention, as a
+crowning conclusion, to the principle indicated already - namely, that it is
+evident, from what we have stated in this chapter, that the Divine right, or
+the right of religion, originates in a compact: without such compact,
+none but natural rights exist. (212) The Hebrews were not bound by their
+religion to evince any pious care for other nations not included in the
+compact, but only for their own fellow-citizens.
+
+
+
+
+[18:0] CHAPTER XVIII - FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE HEBREWS, AND
+THEIR HISTORY,  CERTAIN POLITICAL DOCTRINES ARE DEDUCED.
+
+[18:1] (1) Although the commonwealth of the Hebrews, as we have conceived
+it, might have lasted for ever, it would be impossible to imitate it at the
+present day, nor would it be advisable so to do. (2) If a people wished to
+transfer their rights to God it would be necessary to make an express
+covenant with Him, and for this would be needed not only the consent of
+those transferring their rights, but also the consent of God. (3) God,
+however, has revealed through his Apostles that the covenant of God is no
+longer written in ink, or on tables of stone, but with the Spirit of God in
+the fleshy tables of the heart.
+
+(18:4) Furthermore, such a form of government would only be available for
+those who desire to have no foreign relations, but to shut themselves up
+within their own frontiers, and to live apart from the rest of the world; it
+would be useless to men who must have dealings with other nations; so that
+the cases where it could be adopted are very few indeed.
+
+(18:5) Nevertheless, though it could not be copied in its entirety, it
+possessed many excellent features which might be brought to our notice, and
+perhaps imitated with advantage. (6) My intention, however, is not to write
+a treatise on forms of government, so I will pass over most of such points
+in silence, and will only touch on those which bear upon my purpose.
+
+(18:7) God's kingdom is not infringed upon by the choice of an earthly ruler
+endowed with sovereign rights; for after the Hebrews had transferred their
+rights to God, they conferred the sovereign right of ruling on Moses,
+investing him with the sole power of instituting and abrogating laws in
+the name of God, of choosing priests, of judging, of teaching, of
+punishing - in fact, all the prerogatives of an absolute monarch.
+
+(18:8) Again, though the priests were the interpreters of the laws, they had
+no power to judge the citizens, or to excommunicate anyone: this could only
+be done by the judges and chiefs chosen from among the people. (9) A
+consideration of the successes and the histories of the Hebrews will bring
+to light other considerations worthy of note. To wit:
+
+(18:9) I. That there were no religious sects, till after the high priests,
+in the second commonwealth, possessed the authority to make decrees, and
+transact the business of government. (10) In order that such authority might
+last for ever, the high priests usurped the rights of secular rulers, and
+at last wished to be styled kings. (11) The reason for this is ready to
+hand; in the first commonwealth no decrees could bear the name of the high
+priest, for he had no right to ordain laws, but only to give the answers of
+God to questions asked by the captains or the councils: he had, therefore,
+no motive for making changes in the law, but took care, on the contrary, to
+administer and guard what had already been received and accepted. (12) His
+only means of preserving his freedom in safety against the will of the
+captains lay in cherishing the law intact. (13) After the high priests had
+assumed the power of carrying on the government, and added the rights of
+secular rulers to those they already possessed, each one began both in
+things religious and in things secular, to seek for the glorification of his
+own name, settling everything by sacerdotal authority, and issuing every
+day, concerning ceremonies, faith, and all else, new decrees which he sought
+to make as sacred and authoritative as the laws of Moses. (14) Religion thus
+sank into a degrading superstition, while the true meaning and
+interpretation of the laws became corrupted. (15) Furthermore, while the
+high priests were paving their way to the secular rule just after the
+restoration, they attempted to gain popular favour by assenting to
+every demand; approving whatever the people did, however impious, and
+accommodating Scripture to the very depraved current morals. (16) Malachi
+bears witness to this in no measured terms: he chides the priests of his
+time as despisers of the name of God, and then goes on with his invective as
+follows (Mal ii:7, 8): "For the priest's lips should keep knowledge,
+and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of
+the Lord of hosts. (17) But ye are departed out of the way; ye have
+caused many to stumble at the law, ye have corrupted the covenant of
+Levi, saith the Lord of hosts." (18) He further accuses them of interpreting
+the laws according to their own pleasure, and paying no respect to God but
+only to persons. (19) It is certain that the high priests were never so
+cautious in their conduct as to escape the remark of the more shrewd among
+the people, for the latter were at length emboldened to assert that no
+laws ought to be kept save those that were written, and that the decrees
+which the Pharisees (consisting, as Josephus says in his "Antiquities,"
+chiefly of the common people), were deceived into calling the traditions of
+the fathers, should not be observed at all. (20) However this may be, we can
+in nowise doubt that flattery of the high priest, the corruption of religion
+and the laws, and the enormous increase of the extent of the last-named,
+gave very great and frequent occasion for disputes and altercations
+impossible to allay. (21) When men begin to quarrel with all the ardour of
+superstition, and the magistracy to back up one side or the other, they can
+never come to a compromise, but are bound to split into sects.
+
+(18:22) II. It is worthy of remark that the prophets, who were in a private
+station of life, rather irritated than reformed mankind by their freedom of
+warning, rebuke, and censure; whereas the kings, by their reproofs and
+punishments, could always produce an effect. (23) The prophets were often
+intolerable even to pious kings, on account of the authority they assumed
+for judging whether an action was right or wrong, or for reproving the kings
+themselves if they dared to transact any business, whether public or
+private, without prophetic sanction. (24) King Asa who, according to
+the testimony of Scripture, reigned piously, put the prophet Hanani into a
+prison-house because he had ventured freely to chide and reprove him for
+entering into a covenant with the king of Armenia.
+
+(18:25) Other examples might be cited, tending to prove that religion
+gained more harm than good by such freedom, not to speak of the further
+consequence, that if the prophets had retained their rights, great
+civil wars would have resulted.
+
+(26) III. It is remarkable that during all the period, during which the
+people held the reins of power, there was only one civil war, and that one
+was completely extinguished, the conquerors taking such pity on the
+conquered, that they endeavoured in every way to reinstate them in their
+former dignity and power. (27) But after that the people, little accustomed
+to kings, changed its first form of government into a monarchy, civil war
+raged almost continuously; and battles were so fierce as to exceed all
+others recorded; in one engagement (taxing our faith to the utmost)
+five hundred thousand Israelites were slaughtered by the men of Judah, and
+in another the Israelites slew great numbers of the men of Judah (the
+figures are not given in Scripture), almost razed to the ground the walls of
+Jerusalem, and sacked the Temple in their unbridled fury. (28) At length,
+laden with the spoils of their brethren, satiated with blood, they took
+hostages, and leaving the king in his well-nigh devastated kingdom, laid
+down their arms, relying on the weakness rather than the good faith of their
+foes. (29) A few years after, the men of Judah, with recruited strength,
+again took the field, but were a second time beaten by the Israelites, and
+slain to the number of a hundred and twenty thousand, two hundred thousand
+of their wives and children were led into captivity, and a great booty again
+seized. (30) Worn out with these and similar battles set forth at length in
+their histories, the Jews at length fell a prey to their enemies.
+
+(18:31) Furthermore, if we reckon up the times during which peace prevailed
+under each form of government, we shall find a great discrepancy. (32)
+Before the monarchy forty years and more often passed, and once eighty years
+(an almost unparalleled period), without any war, foreign or civil. (33)
+After the kings acquired sovereign power, the fighting was no longer for
+peace and liberty, but for glory; accordingly we find that they all, with
+the exception of Solomon (whose virtue and wisdom would be better displayed
+in peace than in war) waged war, and finally a fatal desire for power gained
+ground, which, in many cases, made the path to the throne a bloody one.
+
+(18:34) Lastly, the laws, during the rule of the people, remained
+uncorrupted and were studiously observed. (35) Before the monarchy there
+were very few prophets to admonish the people, but after the establishment
+of kings there were a great number at the same time. (36) Obadiah saved a
+hundred from death and hid them away, lest they should be slain with the
+rest. (37) The people, so far as we can see, were never deceived by false
+prophets till after the power had been vested in kings, whose creatures many
+of the prophets were. (38) Again, the people, whose heart was generally
+proud or humble according to its circumstances, easily corrected itself
+under misfortune, turned again to God, restored His laws, and so freed
+itself from all peril; but the kings, whose hearts were always equally
+puffed up, and who could not be corrected without humiliation, clung
+pertinaciously to their vices, even till the last overthrow of the city.
+
+[18:2] (39) We may now clearly see from what I have said:-
+
+(40) I. How hurtful to religion and the state is the concession to ministers
+of religion of any power of issuing decrees or transacting the business of
+government: how, on the contrary, far greater stability is afforded, if the
+said ministers are only allowed to give answers to questions duly put
+to them, and are, as a rule, obliged to preach and practise the received and
+accepted doctrines.
+
+(18:41) II How dangerous it is to refer to Divine right matters merely
+speculative and subject or liable to dispute. (42) The most tyrannical
+governments are those which make crimes of opinions, for everyone has an
+inalienable right over his thoughts - nay, such a state of things leads to
+the rule of popular passion.
+
+(18:43) Pontius Pilate made concession to the passion of the Pharisees in
+consenting to the crucifixion of Christ, whom he knew to be innocent. (44)
+Again, the Pharisees, in order to shake the position of men richer than
+themselves, began to set on foot questions of religion, and accused the
+Sadducees of impiety, and, following their example, the vilest hypocrites,
+stirred, as they pretended, by the same holy wrath which they called zeal
+for the Lord, persecuted men whose unblemished character and distinguished
+virtue had excited the popular hatred, publicly denounced their opinions,
+and inflamed the fierce passions of the people against them.
+
+(18:45) This wanton licence being cloaked with the specious garb of
+religion could not easily be repressed, especially when the sovereign
+authorities introduced a sect of which they were not the head; they were
+then regarded not as interpreters of Divine right, but as sectarians - that
+is, as persons recognizing the right of Divine interpretation assumed by the
+leaders of the sect. (46) The authority of the magistrates thus became of
+little account in such matters in comparison with the authority of sectarian
+leaders before whose interpretations kings were obliged to bow.
+
+(18:47) To avoid such evils in a state, there is no safer way, than to make
+piety and religion to consist in acts only - that is, in the practice of
+justice and charity, leaving everyone's judgment in other respects free.
+(48) But I will speak of this more at length presently.
+
+[18:3] (49) III. We see how necessary it is, both in the interests of the
+state and in the interests of religion, to confer on the sovereign power the
+right of deciding what is lawful or the reverse. (50) If this right of
+judging actions could not be given to the very prophets of God without great
+injury to the state and religion, how much less should it be entrusted to
+those who can neither foretell the future nor work miracles! (51) But this
+again I will treat of more fully hereafter.
+
+(18:52) IV. Lastly, we see how disastrous it is for a people unaccustomed
+to kings, and possessing a complete code of laws, to set up a monarchy. (53)
+Neither can the subjects brook such a sway, nor the royal authority submit
+to laws and popular rights set up by anyone inferior to itself. (54) Still
+less can a king be expected to defend such laws, for they were not framed to
+support his dominion, but the dominion of the people, or some council which
+formerly ruled, so that in guarding the popular rights the king would seem
+to be a slave rather than a master. (55) The representative of a new
+monarchy will employ all his zeal in attempting to frame new laws, so
+as to wrest the rights of dominion to his own use, and to reduce the people
+till they find it easier to increase than to curtail the royal prerogative.
+(56) I must not, however, omit to state that it is no less dangerous to
+remove a monarch, though he is on all hands admitted to be a tyrant. (57)
+For his people are accustomed to royal authority and will obey no other,
+despising and mocking at any less august control.
+
+(18:58) It is therefore necessary, as the prophets discovered of old, if one
+king be removed, that he should be replaced by another, who will be a tyrant
+from necessity rather than choice. (59) For how will he be able to endure
+the sight of the hands of the citizens reeking with royal blood, and to
+rejoice in their regicide as a glorious exploit? (60) Was not the deed
+perpetrated as an example and warning for himself?
+
+(18:61) If he really wishes to be king, and not to acknowledge the people as
+the judge of kings and the master of himself, or to wield a precarious sway,
+he must avenge the death of his predecessor, making an example for his own
+sake, lest the people should venture to repeat a similar crime. (62) He will
+not, however, be able easily to avenge the death of the tyrant by the
+slaughter of citizens unless he defends the cause of tyranny and approves
+the deeds of his predecessor, thus following in his footsteps.
+
+(18:63) Hence it comes to pass that peoples have often changed their
+tyrants, but never removed them or changed the monarchical form of
+government into any other.
+
+[18:4] (64) The English people furnish us with a terrible example of this
+fact. (65) They sought how to depose their monarch under the forms of law,
+but when he had been removed, they were utterly unable to change the form of
+government, and after much bloodshed only brought it about, that a new
+monarch should be hailed under a different name (as though it had been a
+mere question of names); this new monarch could only consolidate his power
+by completely destroying the royal stock, putting to death the king's
+friends, real or supposed, and disturbing with war the peace which might
+encourage discontent, in order that the populace might be engrossed with
+novelties and divert its mind from brooding over the slaughter of the king.
+(66) At last, however, the people reflected that it had accomplished nothing
+for the good of the country beyond violating the rights of the lawful king
+and changing everything for the worse. (67) It therefore decided to retrace
+its steps as soon as possible, and never rested till it had seen a
+complete restoration of the original state of affairs.
+
+(18:68) It may perhaps be objected that the Roman people was easily able to
+remove its tyrants, but I gather from its history a strong confirmation of
+my contention. (69) Though the Roman people was much more than
+ordinarily capable of removing their tyrants and changing their
+form of government, inasmuch as it held in its own hands the power of
+electing its king and his successor, and being composed of rebels and
+criminals had not long been used to the royal yoke (out of its six kings it
+had put to death three), nevertheless it could accomplish nothing
+beyond electing several tyrants in place of one, who kept it groaning under
+a continual state of war, both foreign and civil, till at last it changed
+its government again to a form differing from monarchy, as in England, only
+in name.
+
+[18:5] (70) As for the United States of the Netherlands, they have never, as
+we know, had a king, but only counts, who never attained the full rights of
+dominion. (71) The States of the Netherlands evidently acted as principals
+in the settlement made by them at the time of the Earl of Leicester's
+mission: they always reserved for themselves the authority to keep the
+counts up to their duties, and the power to preserve this authority
+and the liberty of the citizens. (72) They had ample means of vindicating
+their rights if their rulers should prove tyrannical, and could impose
+such restraints that nothing could be done without their consent and
+approval.
+
+(18:73) Thus the rights of sovereign power have always been vested in the
+States, though the last count endeavoured to usurp them. (74) It is
+therefore little likely that the States should give them up, especially as
+they have just restored their original dominion, lately almost lost.
+
+(18:75) These examples, then, confirm us in our belief, that every dominion
+should retain its original form, and, indeed, cannot change it without
+danger of the utter ruin of the whole state. (76) Such are the points I have
+here thought worthy of remark.
+
+
+
+
+[19:0] CHAPTER XIX - IT IS SHOWN THAT THE RIGHT OVER MATTERS
+  SPIRITUAL LIES WHOLLY WITH THE SOVEREIGN, AND THAT
+  THE OUTWARD FORMS OF RELIGION SHOULD BE IN ACCORDANCE
+  WITH PUBLIC PEACE, IF WE WOULD OBEY GOD ARIGHT.
+
+(1) When I said that the possessors of sovereign power have rights over
+everything, and that all rights are dependent on their decree, I did not
+merely mean temporal rights, but also spiritual rights; of the latter, no
+less than the former, they ought to be the interpreters and the
+champions. (2) I wish to draw special attention to this point, and to
+discuss it fully in this chapter, because many persons deny that the right
+of deciding religious questions belongs to the sovereign power, and refuse
+to acknowledge it as the interpreter of Divine right. (3) They
+accordingly assume full licence to accuse and arraign it, nay, even to
+excommunicate it from the Church, as Ambrosius treated the Emperor
+Theodosius in old time. (4) However, I will show later on in this chapter
+that they take this means of dividing the government, and paving the
+way to their own ascendancy. (5) I wish, however, first to point out that
+religion acquires its force as law solely from the decrees of the sovereign.
+(6) God has no special kingdom among men except in so far as He reigns
+through temporal rulers. [19:1] (7) Moreover, the rites of religion and the
+outward observances of piety should be in accordance with the public peace
+and well-being, and should therefore be determined by the sovereign power
+alone. (8) I speak here only of the outward observances of piety and the
+external rites of religion, not of piety, itself, nor of the inward worship
+of God, nor the means by which the mind is inwardly led to do homage to God
+in singleness of heart.
+
+(19:9) Inward worship of God and piety in itself are within the sphere of
+everyone's private rights, and cannot be alienated (as I showed at the end
+of Chapter VII.). (10) What I here mean by the kingdom of God is, I
+think, sufficiently clear from what has been said in Chapter XIV.
+(11) I there showed that a man best fulfils God's law who worships Him,
+according to His command, through acts of justice and charity; it follows,
+therefore, that wherever justice and charity have the force of law and
+ordinance, there is God's kingdom.
+
+(19:12) I recognize no difference between the cases where God teaches and
+commands the practice of justice and charity through our natural faculties,
+and those where He makes special revelations; nor is the form of the
+revelation of importance so long as such practice is revealed and becomes a
+sovereign and supreme law to men. (13) If, therefore, I show that justice
+and charity can only acquire the force of right and law through the rights
+of rulers, I shall be able readily to arrive at the conclusion (seeing that
+the rights of rulers are in the possession of the sovereign), that religion
+can only acquire the force of right by means of those who have the right to
+command, and that God only rules among men through the instrumentality of
+earthly potentates. (14) It follows from what has been said, that the
+practice of justice and charity only acquires the force of law through the
+rights of the sovereign authority; for we showed in Chapter XVI. that in the
+state of nature reason has no more rights than desire, but that men living
+either by the laws of the former or the laws of the latter, possess rights
+co-extensive with their powers.
+
+(19:15) For this reason we could not conceive sin to exist in the state of
+nature, nor imagine God as a judge punishing man's transgressions; but we
+supposed all things to happen according to the general laws of universal
+nature, there being no difference between pious and impious, between him
+that was pure (as Solomon says) and him that was impure, because there was
+no possibility either of justice or charity.
+
+[19:2] (16) In order that the true doctrines of reason, that is (as we
+showed in Chapter IV.), the true Divine doctrines might obtain absolutely
+the force of law and right, it was necessary that each individual should
+cede his natural right, and transfer it either to society as a whole, or to
+a certain body of men, or to one man. (17) Then, and not till then,
+does it first dawn upon us what is justice and what is injustice,
+what is equity and what is iniquity.
+
+(19:18) Justice, therefore, and absolutely all the precepts of reason,
+including love towards one's neighbour, receive the force of laws and
+ordinances solely through the rights of dominion, that is (as we showed in
+the same chapter) solely on the decree of those who possess the right to
+rule. (19) Inasmuch as the kingdom of God consists entirely in rights
+applied to justice and charity or to true religion, it follows that (as we
+asserted) the kingdom of God can only exist among men through the means of
+the sovereign powers; nor does it make any difference whether religion be
+apprehended by our natural faculties or by revelation: the argument is sound
+in both cases, inasmuch as religion is one and the same, and is equally
+revealed by God, whatever be the manner in which it becomes known to men.
+
+(19:20) Thus, in order that the religion revealed by the prophets might have
+the force of law among the Jews, it was necessary that every man of them
+should yield up his natural right, and that all should, with one accord,
+agree that they would only obey such commands as God should
+reveal to them through the prophets. (21) Just as we have shown to take
+place in a democracy, where men with one consent agree to live according to
+the dictates of reason. (22) Although the Hebrews furthermore transferred
+their right to God, they were able to do so rather in theory than in
+practice, for, as a matter of fact (as we pointed out above) they
+absolutely retained the right of dominion till they transferred it to Moses,
+who in his turn became absolute king, so that it was only through him that
+God reigned over the Hebrews. (23) For this reason (namely, that religion
+only acquires the force of law by means of the sovereign power) Moses was
+not able to punish those who, before the covenant, and consequently while
+still in possession of their rights, violated the Sabbath (Exod. xvi:27),
+but was able to do so after the covenant (Numb. xv:36), because everyone had
+then yielded up his natural rights, and the ordinance of the
+Sabbath had received the force of law.
+
+(19:24) Lastly, for the same reason, after the destruction of the Hebrew
+dominion, revealed religion ceased to have the force of law; for we cannot
+doubt that as soon as the Jews transferred their right to the king of
+Babylon, the kingdom of God and the Divine right forthwith ceased. (25)
+For the covenant wherewith they promised to obey all the utterances of God
+was abrogated; God's kingdom, which was based thereupon, also ceased. (26)
+The Hebrews could no longer abide thereby, inasmuch as their rights no
+longer belonged to them but to the king of Babylon, whom (as we showed in
+Chapter XVI.) they were bound to obey in all things. (27) Jeremiah (chap.
+xxix:7) expressly admonishes them of this fact: "And seek the peace of the
+city, whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto
+the Lord for it; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace." (28) Now,
+they could not seek the peace of the City as having a share in its
+government, but only as slaves, being, as they were, captives; by
+obedience in all things, with a view to avoiding seditions, and by observing
+all the laws of the country, however different from their own. (29) It is
+thus abundantly evident that religion among the Hebrews only acquired the
+form of law through the right of the sovereign rule; when that rule was
+destroyed, it could no longer be received as the law of a particular
+kingdom, but only as the universal precept of reason. (30) I say of reason,
+for the universal religion had not yet become known by revelation. (31) We
+may therefore draw the general conclusion that religion, whether revealed
+through our natural faculties or through prophets, receives the force of a
+command solely through the decrees of the holders of sovereign power; and,
+further, that God has no special kingdom among men, except in so far as He
+reigns through earthly potentates.
+
+(19:32) We may now see in a clearer light what was stated in Chapter IV.,
+namely, that all the decrees of God involve eternal truth and necessity, so
+that we cannot conceive God as a prince or legislator giving laws to
+mankind. (33) For this reason the Divine precepts, whether revealed through
+our natural faculties, or through prophets, do not receive immediately from
+God the force of a command, but only from those, or through the mediation of
+those, who possess the right of ruling and legislating. (34) It is only
+through these latter means that God rules among men, and directs human
+affairs with justice and equity.
+
+(19:35) This conclusion is supported by experience, for we find traces of
+Divine justice only in places where just men bear sway; elsewhere the same
+lot (to repeat, again Solomon's words) befalls the just and the unjust, the
+pure and the impure: a state of things which causes Divine Providence to be
+doubted by many who think that God immediately reigns among men, and
+directs all nature for their benefit.
+
+[19:3] (36) As, then, both reason and experience tell us that the Divine
+right is entirely dependent on the decrees of secular rulers, it follows
+that secular rulers are its proper interpreters. (37) How this is so we
+shall now see, for it is time to show that the outward observances of
+religion, and all the external practices of piety should be brought into
+accordance with the public peace and well-being if we would obey God
+rightly. (38) When this has been shown we shall easily understand how the
+sovereign rulers are the proper interpreters of religion and piety.
+
+(19:39) It is certain that duties towards one's country are the highest that
+man can fulfil; for, if government be taken away, no good thing can last,
+all falls into dispute, anger and anarchy reign unchecked amid universal
+fear. (40) Consequently there can be no duty towards our neighbour which
+would not become an offence if it involved injury to the whole state, nor
+can there be any offence against our duty towards our neighbour, or anything
+but loyalty in what we do for the sake of preserving the state. (41) For
+instance: it is in the abstract my duty when my neighbour quarrels with me
+and wishes to take my cloak, to give him my coat also; but if it be thought
+that such conduct is hurtful to the maintenance of the state, I ought to
+bring him to trial, even at the risk of his being condemned to death.
+
+(19:42) For this reason Manlius Torquatus is held up to honour, inasmuch as
+the public welfare outweighed with him his duty towards his children. (43)
+This being so, it follows that the public welfare is the sovereign law to
+which all others, Divine and human, should be made to conform. (44) Now, it
+is the function of the sovereign only to decide what is necessary for the
+public welfare and the safety of the state, and to give orders accordingly;
+therefore it is also the function of the sovereign only to decide the limits
+of our duty towards our neighbour - in other words, to determine how we
+should obey God. (45) We can now clearly understand how the sovereign
+is the interpreter of religion, and further, that no one can obey God
+rightly, if the practices of his piety do not conform to the public welfare;
+or, consequently, if he does not implicitly obey all the commands of the
+sovereign. (46) For as by God's command we are bound to do our duty to all
+men without exception, and to do no man an injury, we are also bound not
+to help one man at another's loss, still less at a loss to the whole state.
+(47) Now, no private citizen can know what is good for the state, except he
+learn it through the sovereign power, who alone has the right to transact
+public business: therefore no one can rightly practise piety or obedience to
+God, unless he obey the sovereign power's commands in all things. (48) This
+proposition is confirmed by the facts of experience. (49) For if the
+sovereign adjudge a man to be worthy of death or an enemy, whether he be a
+citizen or a foreigner, a private individual or a separate ruler, no subject
+is allowed to give him assistance. (50) So also though the Jews were
+bidden to love their fellow-citizens as themselves (Levit. xix:17, 18), they
+were nevertheless bound, if a man offended against the law, to point him out
+to the judge (Levit. v:1, and Deut. xiii:8, 9), and, if he should be
+condemned to death, to slay him (Deut. xvii:7).
+
+(19:51) Further, in order that the Hebrews might preserve the liberty they
+had gained, and might retain absolute sway over the territory they had
+conquered, it was necessary, as we showed in Chapter XVII., that their
+religion should be adapted to their particular government, and that they
+should separate themselves from the rest of the nations: wherefore it was
+commanded to them, "Love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy" (Matt. v:43),
+but after they had lost their dominion and had gone into captivity in
+Babylon, Jeremiah bid them take thought for the safety of the state into
+which they had been led captive; and Christ when He saw that they would be
+spread over the whole world, told them to do their duty by all men without
+exception; all of which instances show that religion has always been made to
+conform to the public welfare. [19:4] (52) Perhaps someone will ask: By what
+right, then, did the disciples of Christ, being private citizens, preach
+a new religion? (53) I answer that they did so by the right of the
+power which they had received from Christ against unclean spirits (see Matt.
+x:1). (54) I have already stated in Chapter XVI. that all are bound to obey
+a tyrant, unless they have received from God through undoubted revelation a
+promise of aid against him; so let no one take example from the Apostles
+unless he too has the power of working miracles. (55) The point is brought
+out more clearly by Christ's command to His disciples, "Fear not those who
+kill the body" (Matt. x:28). (56) If this command were imposed on everyone,
+governments would be founded in vain, and Solomon's words (Prov. xxiv:21),
+"My son, fear God and the king," would be impious, which they certainly are
+not; we must therefore admit that the authority which Christ gave to His
+disciples was given to them only, and must not be taken as an example for
+others.
+
+(19:57) I do not pause to consider the arguments of those who wish to
+separate secular rights from spiritual rights, placing the former under the
+control of the sovereign, and the latter under the control of the universal
+Church; such pretensions are too frivolous to merit refutation. (58) I
+cannot however, pass over in silence the fact that such persons are woefully
+deceived when they seek to support their seditious opinions (I ask pardon
+for the somewhat harsh epithet) by the example of the Jewish high priest,
+who, in ancient times, had the right of administering the sacred offices.
+(59) Did not the high priests receive their right by the decree of Moses
+(who, as I have shown, retained the sole right to rule), and could they not
+by the same means be deprived of it? (60) Moses himself chose not only
+Aaron, but also his son Eleazar, and his grandson Phineas, and bestowed on
+them the right of administering the office of high priest. (61) This right
+was retained by the high priests afterwards, but none the less were they
+delegates of Moses - that is, of the sovereign power. (62) Moses, as we have
+shown, left no successor to his dominion, but so distributed his
+prerogatives, that those who came after him seemed, as it were, regents who
+administer the government when a king is absent but not dead.
+
+(19:62) In the second commonwealth the high priests held their right
+absolutely, after they had obtained the rights of principality in addition.
+(63) Wherefore the rights of the high priesthood always depended on the
+edict of the sovereign, and the high priests did not possess them till
+they became sovereigns also. (64) Rights in matters spiritual always
+remained under the control of the kings absolutely (as I will show at the
+end of this chapter), except in the single particular that they were not
+allowed to administer in person the sacred duties in the Temple, inasmuch
+as they were not of the family of Aaron, and were therefore considered
+unclean, a reservation which would have no force in a Christian community.
+
+(19:65) We cannot, therefore, doubt that the daily sacred rites (whose
+performance does not require a particular genealogy but only a special mode
+of life, and from which the holders of sovereign power are not excluded as
+unclean) are under the sole control of the sovereign power; no one,
+save by the authority or concession of such sovereign, has the right or
+power of administering them, of choosing others to administer them, of
+defining or strengthening the foundations of the Church and her doctrines;
+of judging on questions of morality or acts of piety; of receiving
+anyone into the Church or excommunicating him therefrom, or, lastly, of
+providing for the poor.
+
+(19:66) These doctrines are proved to be not only true (as we have already
+pointed out), but also of primary necessity for the preservation of religion
+and the state. (67) We all know what weight spiritual right and authority
+carries in the popular mind: how everyone hangs on the lips, as it were, of
+those who possess it. (68) We may even say that those who wield such
+authority have the most complete sway over the popular mind.
+
+(19:69) Whosoever, therefore, wishes to take this right away from the
+sovereign power, is desirous of dividing the dominion; from such division,
+contentions, and strife will necessarily spring up, as they did of old
+between the Jewish kings and high priests, and will defy all attempts to
+allay them. (70) Nay, further, he who strives to deprive the sovereign power
+of such authority, is aiming (as we have said), at gaining dominion for
+himself. (71) What is left for the sovereign power to decide on, if this
+right be denied him? (72) Certainly nothing concerning either war or
+peace, if he has to ask another man's opinion as to whether what he
+believes to be beneficial would be pious or impious. (73) Everything would
+depend on the verdict of him who had the right of deciding and judging what
+was pious or impious, right or wrong.
+
+(19:74) When such a right was bestowed on the Pope of Rome absolutely, he
+gradually acquired complete control over the kings, till at last he himself
+mounted to the summits of dominion; however much monarchs, and especially
+the German emperors, strove to curtail his authority, were it only by a
+hairsbreadth, they effected nothing, but on the contrary by their very
+endeavours largely increased it. (75) That which no monarch could accomplish
+with fire and sword, ecclesiastics could bring about with a stroke of the
+pen; whereby we may easily see the force and power at the command of the
+Church, and also how necessary it is for sovereigns to reserve such
+prerogatives for themselves.
+
+(19:76) If we reflect on what was said in the last chapter we shall see that
+such reservation conduced not a little to the increase of religion and
+piety; for we observed that the prophets themselves, though gifted with
+Divine efficacy, being merely private citizens, rather irritated than
+reformed the people by their freedom of warning, reproof, and denunciation,
+whereas the kings by warnings and punishments easily bent men to their will.
+(77) Furthermore, the kings themselves, not possessing the right in question
+absolutely, very often fell away from religion and took with them nearly the
+whole people. (78) The same thing has often happened from the same cause in
+Christian states.
+
+(19:79) Perhaps I shall be asked, "But if the holders of sovereign power
+choose to be wicked, who will be the rightful champion of piety? (80) Should
+the sovereigns still be its interpreters?" I meet them with the
+counter-question, "But if ecclesiastics (who are also human, and private
+citizens, and who ought to mind only their own affairs), or if others whom
+it is proposed to entrust with spiritual authority, choose to be wicked,
+should they still be considered as piety's rightful interpreters?" (81) It
+is quite certain that when sovereigns wish to follow their own pleasure,
+whether they have control over spiritual matters or not, the whole state,
+spiritual and secular, will go to ruin, and it will go much faster if
+private citizens seditiously assume the championship of the Divine rights.
+
+(19:82) Thus we see that not only is nothing gained by denying such rights
+to sovereigns, but on the contrary, great evil ensues. (83) For (as happened
+with the Jewish kings who did not possess such rights absolutely) rulers are
+thus driven into wickedness, and the injury and loss to the state become
+certain and inevitable, instead of uncertain and possible. (84) Whether we
+look to the abstract truth, or the security of states, or the increase of
+piety, we are compelled to maintain that the Divine right, or the right of
+control over spiritual matters, depends absolutely on the decree of the
+sovereign, who is its legitimate interpreter and champion. (85) Therefore
+the true ministers of God's word are those who teach piety to the people in
+obedience to the authority of the sovereign rulers by whose decree it has
+been brought into conformity with the public welfare.
+
+[19:5] (86) There remains for me to point out the cause for the frequent
+disputes on the subject of these spiritual rights in Christian states;
+whereas the Hebrews, so far as I know, never, had any doubts about the
+matter. (87) It seems monstrous that a question so plain and vitally
+important should thus have remained undecided, and that the secular rulers
+could never obtain the prerogative without controversy, nay, nor without
+great danger of sedition and injury to religion. (88) If no cause for this
+state of things were forthcoming, I could easily persuade myself that all I
+have said in this chapter is mere theorizing, or a kind of speculative
+reasoning which can never be of any practical use. (89) However, when we
+reflect on the beginnings of Christianity the cause at once becomes
+manifest. (90) The Christian religion was not taught at first by kings, but
+by private persons, who, against the wishes of those in power, whose
+subjects they were, were for a long time accustomed to hold meetings in
+secret churches, to institute and perform sacred rites, and on their own
+authority to settle and decide on their affairs without regard to the state,
+(91) When, after the lapse of many years, the religion was taken up by the
+authorities, the ecclesiastics were obliged to teach it to the emperors
+themselves as they had defined it: wherefore they easily gained recognition
+as its teachers and interpreters, and the church pastors were looked upon as
+vicars of God. (92) The ecclesiastics took good care that the Christian
+kings should not assume their authority, by prohibiting marriage to the
+chief ministers of religion and to its highest interpreter. (93) They
+furthermore elected their purpose by multiplying the dogmas of religion to
+such an extent and so blending them with philosophy that their chief
+interpreter was bound to be a skilled philosopher and theologian, and to
+have leisure for a host of idle speculations: conditions which could only be
+fulfilled by a private individual with much time on his hands.
+
+(19:94) Among the Hebrews things were very differently arranged: for their
+Church began at the same time as their dominion, and Moses, their absolute
+ruler, taught religion to the people, arranged their sacred rites, and chose
+their spiritual ministers. (95) Thus the royal authority carried very great
+weight with the people, and the kings kept a firm hold on their spiritual
+prerogatives.
+
+(19:96) Although, after the death of Moses, no one held absolute sway, yet
+the power of deciding both in matters spiritual and matters temporal was in
+the hands of the secular chief, as I have already pointed out. (97) Further,
+in order that it might be taught religion and piety, the people was bound to
+consult the supreme judge no less than the high priest (Deut. xvii:9, 11).
+(98) Lastly, though the kings had not as much power as Moses, nearly the
+whole arrangement and choice of the sacred ministry depended on their
+decision. (99) Thus David arranged the whole service of the Temple (see 1
+Chron. xxviii:11, 12, &c.); from all the Levites he chose twenty-four
+thousand for the sacred psalms; six thousand of these formed the
+body from which were chosen the judges and proctors, four thousand were
+porters, and four thousand to play on instruments (see 1 Chron. xxiii:4, 5).
+(100) He further divided them into companies (of whom he chose the chiefs),
+so that each in rotation, at the allotted time, might perform the sacred
+rites. (101) The priests he also divided into as many companies; I will not
+go through the whole catalogue, but refer the reader to 2 Chron. viii:13,
+where it is stated, "Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to the Lord . . .
+. . after a certain rate every day, offering according to the commandments
+of Moses;" and in verse 14, "And he appointed, according to the order
+of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service . . . .
+. . for so had David the man of God commanded." (102) Lastly, the historian
+bears witness in verse 15: "And they departed not from the commandment of
+the king unto the priests and Levites concerning any matter, or
+concerning the treasuries."
+
+[19:6] (103) From these and other histories of the kings it is abundantly
+evident, that the whole practice of religion and the sacred ministry
+depended entirely on the commands of the king.
+
+(19:104) When I said above that the kings had not the same right as Moses to
+elect the high priest, to consult God without intermediaries, and to condemn
+the prophets who prophesied during their reign; I said so simply because the
+prophets could, in virtue of their mission, choose a new king and give
+absolution for regicide, not because they could call a king who offended
+against the law to judgment, or could rightly act against him [Endnote 33].
+
+(19:105) Wherefore if there had been no prophets who, in virtue of a special
+revelation, could give absolution for regicide, the kings would have
+possessed absolute rights over all matters both spiritual and temporal.
+(106) Consequently the rulers of modern times, who have no prophets and
+would not rightly be bound in any case to receive them (for they are not
+subject to Jewish law), have absolute possession of the spiritual
+prerogative, although they are not celibates, and they will always retain
+it, if they will refuse to allow religious dogmas to be unduly multiplied or
+confounded with philosophy.
+
+
+
+
+[20:0] CHAPTER XX - THAT IN A FREE STATE EVERY MAN
+   MAY THINK WHAT HE LIKES, AND SAY WHAT HE THINKS.
+
+[20:1] (1) If men's minds were as easily controlled as their tongues, every
+king would sit safely on his throne, and government by compulsion would
+cease; for every subject would shape his life according to the intentions of
+his rulers, and would esteem a thing true or false, good or evil, just or
+unjust, in obedience to their dictates. (2) However, we have shown already
+(Chapter XVII.) that no man's mind can possibly lie wholly at the
+disposition of another, for no one can willingly transfer his natural right
+of free reason and judgment, or be compelled so to do. (3) For this
+reason government which attempts to control minds is accounted tyrannical,
+and it is considered an abuse of sovereignty and a usurpation of the rights
+of subjects, to seek to prescribe what shall be accepted as true, or
+rejected as false, or what opinions should actuate men in their worship of
+God. (4) All these questions fall within a man's natural right, which he
+cannot abdicate even with his own consent.
+
+(20:5) I admit that the judgment can be biassed in many ways, and to an
+almost incredible degree, so that while exempt from direct external control
+it may be so dependent on another man's words, that it may fitly be said to
+be ruled by him; but although this influence is carried to great lengths, it
+has never gone so far as to invalidate the statement, that every man's
+understanding is his own, and that brains are as diverse as palates.
+
+(20:6) Moses, not by fraud, but by Divine virtue, gained such a hold over
+the popular judgment that he was accounted superhuman, and believed to speak
+and act through the inspiration of the Deity; nevertheless, even he could
+not escape murmurs and evil interpretations. (7) How much less then can
+other monarchs avoid them! (8) Yet such unlimited power, if it exists at
+all, must belong to a monarch, and least of all to a democracy, where the
+whole or a great part of the people wield authority collectively. (9) This
+is a fact which I think everyone can explain for himself.
+
+(20:10) However unlimited, therefore, the power of a sovereign may be,
+however implicitly it is trusted as the exponent of law and religion, it can
+never prevent men from forming judgments according to their intellect, or
+being influenced by any given emotion. (11) It is true that it has the right
+to treat as enemies all men whose opinions do not, on all subjects, entirely
+coincide with its own; but we are not discussing its strict rights, but its
+proper course of action. (12) I grant that it has the right to rule in the
+most violent manner, and to put citizens to death for very trivial causes,
+but no one supposes it can do this with the approval of sound judgment. (13)
+Nay, inasmuch as such things cannot be done without extreme peril to itself,
+we may even deny that it has the absolute power to do them, or,
+consequently, the absolute right; for the rights of the sovereign are
+limited by his power.
+
+[20:2] (14) Since, therefore, no one can abdicate his freedom of judgment
+and feeling; since every man is by indefeasible natural right the master of
+his own thoughts, it follows that men thinking in diverse and contradictory
+fashions, cannot, without disastrous results, be compelled to speak only
+according to the dictates of the supreme power. (15) Not even the most
+experienced, to say nothing of the multitude, know how to keep silence. (16)
+Men's common failing is to confide their plans to others, though there be
+need for secrecy, so that a government would be most harsh which deprived
+the individual of his freedom of saying and teaching what he thought; and
+would be moderate if such freedom were granted. (17) Still we cannot deny
+that authority may be as much injured by words as by actions; hence,
+although the freedom we are discussing cannot be entirely denied to
+subjects, its unlimited concession would be most baneful; we must,
+therefore, now inquire, how far such freedom can and ought to be conceded
+without danger to the peace of the state, or the power of the rulers; and
+this, as I said at the beginning of Chapter XVI., is my principal object.
+(18) It follows, plainly, from the explanation given above, of the
+foundations of a state, that the ultimate aim of government is not to
+rule, or restrain, by fear, nor to exact obedience, but contrariwise, to
+free every man from fear, that he may live in all possible security; in
+other words, to strengthen his natural right to exist and work without
+injury to himself or others.
+
+(20:19) No, the object of government is not to change men from rational
+beings into beasts or puppets, but to enable them to develope their minds
+and bodies in security, and to employ their reason unshackled; neither
+showing hatred, anger, or deceit, nor watched with the eyes of jealousy and
+injustice. (20) In fact, the true aim of government is liberty.
+
+(20:21) Now we have seen that in forming a state the power of making laws
+must either be vested in the body of the citizens, or in a portion of them,
+or in one man. (22) For, although men's free judgments are very diverse, each
+one thinking that he alone knows everything, and although complete unanimity
+of feeling and speech is out of the question, it is impossible to preserve
+peace, unless individuals abdicate their right of acting entirely on their
+own judgment. [20:3] (23) Therefore, the individual justly cedes the right
+of free action, though not of free reason and judgment; no one can act
+against the authorities without danger to the state, though his feelings and
+judgment may be at variance therewith; he may even speak against them,
+provided that he does so from rational conviction, not from fraud, anger, or
+hatred, and provided that he does not attempt to introduce any change on his
+private authority.
+
+(20:24) For instance, supposing a man shows that a law is repugnant to sound
+reason, and should therefore be repealed; if he submits his opinion to the
+judgment of the authorities (who, alone, have the right of making and
+repealing laws), and meanwhile acts in nowise contrary to that law, he has
+deserved well of the state, and has behaved as a good citizen should; but if
+he accuses the authorities of injustice, and stirs up the people against
+them, or if he seditiously strives to abrogate the law without their
+consent, he is a mere agitator and rebel.
+
+(20:25) Thus we see how an individual may declare and teach what he
+believes, without injury to the authority of his rulers, or to the public
+peace; namely, by leaving in their hands the entire power of legislation as
+it affects action, and by doing nothing against their laws, though he
+be compelled often to act in contradiction to what he believes, and
+openly feels, to be best.
+
+(20:26) Such a course can be taken without detriment to justice and
+dutifulness, nay, it is the one which a just and dutiful man would adopt.
+(27) We have shown that justice is dependent on the laws of the authorities,
+so that no one who contravenes their accepted decrees can be just, while the
+highest regard for duty, as we have pointed out in the preceding chapter, is
+exercised in maintaining public peace and tranquillity; these could not be
+preserved if every man were to live as he pleased; therefore it is no less
+than undutiful for a man to act contrary to his country's laws, for if the
+practice became universal the ruin of states would necessarily follow.
+
+(20:28) Hence, so long as a man acts in obedience to the laws of his rulers,
+he in nowise contravenes his reason, for in obedience to reason he
+transferred the right of controlling his actions from his own hands to
+theirs. (29) This doctrine we can confirm from actual custom, for in a
+conference of great and small powers, schemes are seldom carried
+unanimously, yet all unite in carrying out what is decided on, whether they
+voted for or against. (30) But I return to my proposition.
+
+(20:31) From the fundamental notions of a state, we have discovered how a
+man may exercise free judgment without detriment to the supreme power: from
+the same premises we can no less easily determine what opinions would be
+seditious. (32) Evidently those which by their very nature nullify the
+compact by which the right of free action was ceded. (33) For instance, a
+man who holds that the supreme power has no rights over him, or that
+promises ought not to be kept, or that everyone should live as he pleases,
+or other doctrines of this nature in direct opposition to the
+above-mentioned contract, is seditious, not so much from his actual opinions
+and judgment, as from the deeds which they involve; for he who maintains
+such theories abrogates the contract which tacitly, or openly, he made with
+his rulers. (34) Other opinions which do not involve acts violating the
+contract, such as revenge, anger, and the like, are not seditious, unless
+it be in some corrupt state, where superstitious and ambitious persons,
+unable to endure men of learning, are so popular with the multitude
+that their word is more valued than the law.
+
+(20:35) However, I do not deny that there are some doctrines which, while
+they are apparently only concerned with abstract truths and falsehoods, are
+yet propounded and published with unworthy motives. (36) This question we
+have discussed in Chapter XV., and shown that reason should nevertheless
+remain unshackled. (37) If we hold to the principle that a man's loyalty to
+the state should be judged, like his loyalty to God, from his actions only -
+namely, from his charity towards his neighbours; we cannot doubt that the
+best government will allow freedom of philosophical speculation no less than
+of religious belief. (38) I confess that from such freedom inconveniences
+may sometimes arise, but what question was ever settled so wisely that no
+abuses could possibly spring therefrom? (39) He who seeks to regulate
+everything by law, is more likely to arouse vices than to reform them. (40)
+It is best to grant what cannot be abolished, even though it be in itself
+harmful. (41) How many evils spring from luxury, envy, avarice, drunkenness,
+and the like, yet these are tolerated - vices as they are - because they
+cannot be prevented by legal enactments. (42) How much more then should free
+thought be granted, seeing that it is in itself a virtue and that it cannot
+be crushed! (43) Besides, the evil results can easily be checked, as I will
+show, by the secular authorities, not to mention that such freedom
+is absolutely necessary for progress in science and the liberal arts: for no
+man follows such pursuits to advantage unless his judgment be entirely free
+and unhampered.
+
+(20:44) But let it be granted that freedom may be crushed, and men be so
+bound down, that they do not dare to utter a whisper, save at the bidding of
+their rulers; nevertheless this can never be carried to the pitch of making
+them think according to authority, so that the necessary consequences would
+be that men would daily be thinking one thing and saying another, to the
+corruption of good faith, that mainstay of government, and to the fostering
+of hateful flattery and perfidy, whence spring stratagems, and the
+corruption of every good art.
+
+(20:45) It is far from possible to impose uniformity of speech, for the more
+rulers strive to curtail freedom of speech, the more obstinately are
+they resisted; not indeed by the avaricious, the flatterers, and other
+numskulls, who think supreme salvation consists in filling their stomachs
+and gloating over their money-bags, but by those whom good education, sound
+morality, and virtue have rendered more free. (46) Men, as generally
+constituted, are most prone to resent the branding as criminal of opinions
+which they believe to be true, and the proscription as wicked of that which
+inspires them with piety towards God and man; hence they are ready to
+forswear the laws and conspire against the authorities, thinking it not
+shameful but honourable to stir up seditions and perpetuate any sort of
+crime with this end in view. (47) Such being the constitution of human
+nature, we see that laws directed against opinions affect the generous
+minded rather than the wicked, and are adapted less for coercing criminals
+than for irritating the upright; so that they cannot be maintained without
+great peril to the state.
+
+(20:48) Moreover, such laws are almost always useless, for those who hold
+that the opinions proscribed are sound, cannot possibly obey the law;
+whereas those who already reject them as false, accept the law as a kind of
+privilege, and make such boast of it, that authority is powerless to repeal
+it, even if such a course be subsequently desired.
+
+(20:49) To these considerations may be added what we said in Chapter XVIII.
+in treating of the history of the Hebrews. (50) And, lastly, how many
+schisms have arisen in the Church from the attempt of the authorities to
+decide by law the intricacies of theological controversy! (51) If men were
+not allured by the hope of getting the law and the authorities on their
+side, of triumphing over their adversaries in the sight of an applauding
+multitude, and of acquiring honourable distinctions, they would not strive
+so maliciously, nor would such fury sway their minds. (52) This is taught
+not only by reason but by daily examples, for laws of this kind prescribing
+what every man shall believe and forbidding anyone to speak or write to the
+contrary, have often been passed, as sops or concessions to the anger of
+those who cannot tolerate men of enlightenment, and who, by such harsh and
+crooked enactments, can easily turn the devotion of the masses into fury and
+direct it against whom they will. (53) How much better would it be
+to restrain popular anger and fury, instead of passing useless laws,
+which can only be broken by those who love virtue and the liberal arts, thus
+paring down the state till it is too small to harbour men of talent. (54)
+What greater misfortune for a state can be conceived then that honourable
+men should be sent like criminals into exile, because they hold diverse
+opinions which they cannot disguise? (55) What, I say, can be more hurtful
+than that men who have committed no crime or wickedness should, simply
+because they are enlightened, be treated as enemies and put to death, and
+that the scaffold, the terror of evil-doers, should become the arena where
+the highest examples of tolerance and virtue are displayed to the
+people with all the marks of ignominy that authority can devise?
+
+(20:56) He that knows himself to be upright does not fear the death of a
+criminal, and shrinks from no punishment; his mind is not wrung with
+remorse for any disgraceful deed: he holds that death in a good cause
+is no punishment, but an honour, and that death for freedom is glory.
+
+(20:57) What purpose then is served by the death of such men, what example
+in proclaimed? the cause for which they die is unknown to the idle and the
+foolish, hateful to the turbulent, loved by the upright. (58) The only
+lesson we can draw from such scenes is to flatter the persecutor, or else to
+imitate the victim.
+
+(20:58) If formal assent is not to be esteemed above conviction, and if
+governments are to retain a firm hold of authority and not be compelled to
+yield to agitators, it is imperative that freedom of judgment should be
+granted, so that men may live together in harmony, however diverse, or
+even openly contradictory their opinions may be. (59) We cannot doubt that
+such is the best system of government and open to the fewest objections,
+since it is the one most in harmony with human nature. (60) In a democracy
+(the most natural form of government, as we have shown in Chapter XVI.)
+everyone submits to the control of authority over his actions, but not over
+his judgment and reason; that is, seeing that all cannot think alike, the
+voice of the majority has the force of law, subject to repeal if
+circumstances bring about a change of opinion. (61) In proportion as the
+power of free judgment is withheld we depart from the natural
+condition of mankind, and consequently the government becomes more
+tyrannical.
+
+[20:4] (62) In order to prove that from such freedom no inconvenience
+arises, which cannot easily be checked by the exercise of the sovereign
+power, and that men's actions can easily be kept in bounds, though their
+opinions be at open variance, it will be well to cite an example. (63) Such
+an one is not very, far to seek. (64) The city of Amsterdam reaps the fruit
+of this freedom in its own great prosperity and in the admiration of all
+other people. (65) For in this most flourishing state, and most splendid
+city, men of every nation and religion live together in the greatest
+harmony, and ask no questions before trusting their goods to a
+fellow-citizen, save whether he be rich or poor, and whether he generally
+acts honestly, or the reverse. (66) His religion and sect is considered of
+no importance: for it has no effect before the judges in gaining or losing
+a cause, and there is no sect so despised that its followers, provided that
+they harm no one, pay every man his due, and live uprightly, are deprived
+of the protection of the magisterial authority.
+
+(20:67) On the other hand, when the religious controversy between
+Remonstrants and Counter-Remonstrants began to be taken up by politicians
+and the States, it grew into a schism, and abundantly showed that laws
+dealing with religion and seeking to settle its controversies are much more
+calculated to irritate than to reform, and that they give rise to extreme
+licence: further, it was seen that schisms do not originate in a love of
+truth, which is a source of courtesy and gentleness, but rather in an
+inordinate desire for supremacy, (68) From all these considerations it is
+clearer than the sun at noonday, that the true schismatics are those who
+condemn other men's writings, and seditiously stir up the quarrelsome masses
+against their authors, rather than those authors themselves, who generally
+write only for the learned, and appeal solely to reason. (69) In fact, the
+real disturbers of the peace are those who, in a free state, seek to curtail
+the liberty of judgment which they are unable to tyrannize over.
+
+(20:70) I have thus shown:-
+
+(71) I. That it is impossible to deprive men of the liberty of saying what
+they think.
+
+(72) II. That such liberty can be conceded to every man without injury
+to the rights and authority of the sovereign power, and that every man
+may retain it without injury to such rights, provided that he does not
+presume upon it to the extent of introducing any new rights into the
+state, or acting in any way contrary, to the existing laws.
+
+(20:73) III. That every man may enjoy this liberty without detriment to the
+public peace, and that no inconveniences arise therefrom which cannot easily
+be checked.
+
+(74) IV. That every man may enjoy it without injury to his allegiance.
+
+(75) V. That laws dealing with speculative problems are entirely useless.
+
+(76) VI. Lastly, that not only may such liberty be granted without prejudice
+to the public peace, to loyalty, and to the rights of rulers, but that it is
+even necessary, for their preservation. (77) For when people try to take it
+away, and bring to trial, not only the acts which alone are capable of
+offending, but also the opinions of mankind, they only succeed in
+surrounding their victims with an appearance of martyrdom, and raise
+feelings of pity and revenge rather than of terror. (78) Uprightness and
+good faith are thus corrupted, flatterers and traitors are encouraged, and
+sectarians triumph, inasmuch as concessions have been made to their
+animosity, and they have gained the state sanction for the doctrines of
+which they are the interpreters. (79) Hence they arrogate to themselves the
+state authority and rights, and do not scruple to assert that they have been
+directly chosen by God, and that their laws are Divine, whereas the laws of
+the state are human, and should therefore yield obedience to the laws of God
+- in other words, to their own laws. (80) Everyone must see that this is not
+a state of affairs conducive to public welfare. (81) Wherefore, as we have
+shown in Chapter XVIII., the safest way for a state is to lay down the rule
+that religion is comprised solely in the exercise of charity and justice,
+and that the rights of rulers in sacred, no less than in secular matters,
+should merely have to do with actions, but that every man should think what
+he likes and say what he thinks.
+
+(20:82) I have thus fulfilled the task I set myself in this treatise.
+[20:5] (83) It remains only to call attention to the fact that I have
+written nothing which I do not most willingly submit to the examination and
+approval of my country's rulers; and that I am willing to retract anything
+which they shall decide to be repugnant to the laws, or prejudicial to the
+public good. (84) I know that I am a man, and as a man liable to error, but
+against error I have taken scrupulous care, and have striven to keep in
+entire accordance with the laws of my country, with loyalty, and with
+morality.
+
+End of Part 4 of 4.
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S ENDNOTES TO THE THEOLOGICO-POLITICAL TREATISE
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+[Endnote 26]. (1) "No one can honestly promise to forego the right which
+he has over all things." (2) In the state of social life, where general
+right determines what is good or evil, stratagem is rightly distinguished as
+of two kinds, good and evil. (3) But in the state of Nature, where every man
+is his own judge, possessing the absolute right to lay down laws for
+himself, to interpret them as he pleases, or to abrogate them if he thinks
+it convenient, it is not conceivable that stratagem should be evil.
+
+[Endnote 27]. (1) "Every member of it may, if he will, be free." (2)
+Whatever be the social state a man finds himself in, he may be free. (3)
+For certainly a man is free, in so far as he is led by reason. (4) Now
+reason (though Hobbes thinks otherwise) is always on the side of peace,
+which cannot be attained unless the general laws of the state be respected.
+(5) Therefore the more he is free, the more constantly will he respect the
+laws of his country, and obey the commands of the sovereign power to which
+he is subject.
+
+[Endnote 28]. (1) "No one knows by nature that he owes any obedience to
+God." (2) When Paul says that men have in themselves no refuge, he speaks as
+a man: for in the ninth chapter of the same epistle he expressly teaches
+that God has mercy on whom He will, and that men are without excuse, only
+because they are in God's power like clay in the hands of a potter, who out
+of the same lump makes vessels, some for honour and some for dishonour, not
+because they have been forewarned. (3) As regards the Divine natural law
+whereof the chief commandment is, as we have said, to love God, I have
+called it a law in the same sense, as philosophers style laws those general
+rules of nature, according to which everything happens. (4) For the love of
+God is not a state of obedience: it is a virtue which necessarily exists in
+a man who knows God rightly. (5) Obedience has regard to the will of a
+ruler, not to necessity and truth. (6) Now as we are ignorant of the nature
+of God's will, and on the other hand know that everything happens solely by
+God's power, we cannot, except through revelation, know whether God wishes
+in any way to be honoured as a sovereign.
+
+(7) Again; we have shown that the Divine rights appear to us in the light of
+rights or commands, only so long as we are ignorant of their cause: as soon
+as their cause is known, they cease to be rights, and we embrace them no
+longer as rights but as eternal truths; in other words, obedience passes
+into love of God, which emanates from true knowledge as necessarily as
+light emanates from the sun. (8) Reason then leads us to love God, but
+cannot lead us to obey Him; for we cannot embrace the commands of God as
+Divine, while we are in ignorance of their cause, neither can we rationally
+conceive God as a sovereign laying down laws as a sovereign.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+[Endnote 29]. (1) "If men could lose their natural rights so as to be
+absolutely unable for the future to oppose the will of the sovereign" (2)
+Two common soldiers undertook to change the Roman dominion, and did change
+it. (Tacitus, Hist. i:7.)
+
+[Endnote 30]. (1) See Numbers xi. 28. In this passage it is written that
+two men prophesied in the camp, and that Joshua wished to punish them. (2)
+This he would not have done, if it had been lawful for anyone to deliver the
+Divine oracles to the people without the consent of Moses. (3) But Moses
+thought good to pardon the two men, and rebuked Joshua for exhorting him to
+use his royal prerogative, at a time when he was so weary of reigning, that
+he preferred death to holding undivided sway (Numb. xi:14). (4) For he made
+answer to Joshua, "Enviest thou for my sake? (5) Would God that all the
+Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put His spirit upon
+them." (6) That is to say, would God that the right of taking counsel of God
+were general, and the power were in the hands of the people. (7) Thus Joshua
+was not mistaken as to the right, but only as to the time for using it, for
+which he was rebuked by Moses, in the same way as Abishai was rebuked by
+David for counselling that Shimei, who had undoubtedly been guilty of
+treason, should be put to death. (8) See 2 Sam. xix:22, 23.
+
+[Endnote 31]. (1) See Numbers xxvii:21. (2) The translators of the Bible
+have rendered incorrectly verses 19 and 23 of this chapter. (3) The passage
+does not mean that Moses gave precepts or advice to Joshua, but that he made
+or established him chief of the Hebrews. (4) The phrase is very frequent in
+Scripture (see Exodus, xviii:23; 1 Sam. xiii:15; Joshua i:9; 1 Sam.
+xxv:80).
+
+[Endnote 32] (1) "There was no judge over each of the captains save
+God." (2) The Rabbis and some Christians equally foolish pretend that the
+Sanhedrin, called "the great" was instituted by Moses. (3) As a matter of
+fact, Moses chose seventy colleagues to assist him in governing, because he
+was not able to bear alone the burden of the whole people; but he
+never passed any law for forming a college of seventy members; on the
+contrary he ordered every tribe to appoint for itself, in the cities which
+God had given it, judges to settle disputes according to the laws which he
+himself had laid down. (4) In cases where the opinions of the judges
+differed as to the interpretation of these laws, Moses bade them take
+counsel of the High Priest (who was the chief interpreter of the law), or of
+the chief judge, to whom they were then subordinate (who had the right of
+consulting the High Priest), and to decide the dispute in accordance with
+the answer obtained. (5) If any subordinate judge should assert, that he was
+not bound by the decision of the High Priest, received either directly or
+through the chief of his state, such an one was to be put to death (Deut.
+xvii:9) by the chief judge, whoever he might be, to whom he was a
+subordinate. (6) This chief judge would either be Joshua, the supreme
+captain of the whole people, or one of the tribal chiefs who had been
+entrusted, after the division of the tribes, with the right of consulting
+the high priest concerning the affairs of his tribe, of deciding on peace or
+war, of fortifying towns, of appointing inferior judges, &c. (7) Or, again,
+it might be the king, in whom all or some of the tribes had vested their
+rights.
+
+(8) I could cite many instances in confirmation of what I here advance. (9) I
+will confine myself to one, which appears to me the most important of all. (10)
+When the Shilomitish prophet anointed Jeroboam king, he, in so doing, gave him
+the right of consulting the high priest, of appointing judges, &c. (11) In fact
+he endowed him with all the rights over the ten tribes, which Rehoboam retained
+over the two tribes. (12) Consequently Jeroboam could set up a supreme council
+in his court with as much right as Jehoshaphat could at Jerusalem (2 Chron.
+xix:8). (13) For it is plain that neither Jeroboam, who was king by God's
+command, nor Jeroboam's subjects, were bound by the Law of Moses to accept the
+judgments of Rehoboam, who was not their king. (14) Still less were they under
+the jurisdiction of the judge, whom Rehoboam had set up in Jerusalem as
+subordinate to himself. (15) According, therefore, as the Hebrew dominion was
+divided, so was a supreme council set up in each division. (16) Those who
+neglect the variations in the constitution of the Hebrew States, and confuse
+them all together in one, fall into numerous difficulties.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+[Endnote 33]. (1) I must here bespeak special attention
+for what was said in Chap. XVI. concerning rights.
+
+
+End of Part IV Endnotes.
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A THEOLOGICAL-POLITICAL TREATISE, 4 ***
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