civilized. The invention of fire-arms, an
invention which at first sight appears to be so
pernicious, is certainly favourable, both to
the permanency and to the extension of civilisation.
PART II.
Of the Expense of Justice.
The second duty of the sovereign, that of
protecting, as far as possible, every member
of the society from the injustice or oppression
of every other member of it, or the duty of
establishing an exact administration of justice,
requires two very different degrees of expense
in the different periods of society.
Among nations of hunters, as there is
scarce any property, or at least none that exceeds
the value of two or three days labour;
so there is seldom any established magistrate,
or any regular administration of justice.
Men who have no property, can injure one
another only in their persons or reputations.
But when one man kills, wounds, beats, or
defames another, though he to whom the injury
is done suffers, he who does it receives
no benefit. It is otherwise with the injuries
to property. The benefit of the person who
does the injury is often equal to the loss of
him who suffers it. Envy, malice, or resentment,
are the only passions which can prompt
one man to injure another in his person or
reputation. But the greater part of men are
not very frequently under the influence of
those passions; and the very worst men are
so only occasionally. As their gratification,
too, how agreeable soever it may be to certain
characters, is not attended with any real
or permanent advantage, it is, in the greater
part of men, commonly restrained by prudential
considerations. Men may live together
in society with some tolerable degree of security,
though there is no civil magistrate to
protect them from the injustice of those passions.
But avarice and ambition in the rich,
in the poor the hatred of labour and the love
of present ease and enjoyment, are the passions
which prompt to invade property; passions
much more steady in their operation,
and much more universal in their influence.
Wherever there is a great property, there is
great inequality. For one very rich man,
there must be at least five hundred poor, and
the affluence of the few supposes the indigence
of the many. The affluence of the rich
excites the indignation of the poor, who are
often both driven by want, and prompted by
envy to invade his possessions. It is only
under the shelter of the civil magistrate, that
the owner of that valuable property, which is
acquired by the labour of many years, or
perhaps of many successive generations, can
sleep a single night in security. He is at all
times surrounded by unknown enemies,
whom, though he never provoked, he can
never appease, and from whose injustice he
can be protected only by the powerful arm of
the civil magistrate, continually held up to
chastise it. The requisition of valuable and
extensive property, therefore, necessarily
requires the establishment of civil government.
Where there is no property, or at least none
that exceeds the value of two or three days
labour, civil government is not so necessary.
Civil government supposes a certain
subordination. But as the necessity of civil
government gradually grows up with the acquisition
of valuable property, so the principal
causes, which naturally introduce subordination,
gradually grow up with the growth of
that valuable property.
The causes or circumstances which naturally
introduce subordination, or which naturally
and antecedent to any civil institution, give
some men some superiority over the greater
part of their brethren, seem to be four in
number.
The first of those causes or circumstances,
is the superiority of personal qualifications,
of strength, beauty, and agility of body; of
wisdom and virtue of prudence, justice,
fortitude, and moderation of mind. The
qualifications of the body, unless supported
by those of the mind, can give little authority
in any period of society. He is a very strong
man, who, by mere strength of body, can
force two weak ones to obey him. The
qualifications of the mind can alone give very
great authority. They are however, invisible
qualities; always disputable, and generally
disputed. No society, whether barbarous or
civilized, has ever found it convenient to settle
the rules of precedency of rank and subordination,
according to those invisible qualities;
but according to something that is more
plain and palpable.
The second of those causes or circumstances
is the superiority of age. An old man, provided
his age is not so far advanced as to give
suspicion of dotage, is everywhere more
respected than a young man of equal rank, fortune,
and abilities. Among nations of hunters,
such as the native tribes of North America,
age is the sole foundation of rank and
precedency. Among them, father is the
appellation of a superior; brother, of an equal;
and son, of an inferior. In the most opulent
and civilized nations, age regulates rank
among those who are in every other respect
equal; and among whom, therefore, there is nothing
else to regulate it. Among brothers and
among sisters, the eldest always takes place;
and in the succession of the paternal estate,
every thing which cannot be divided, but must
go entire to one person, such as a title of honour,
is in most cases given to the eldest.
Age is a plain and palpable quality, which admits
of no dispute.