Thoughts on civil liberty, on licentiousness, and faction

Front matter

O N

O N

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I. The Design

THOUGHTS

ON

CIVIL LIBERTY, &c.

SECTION

The Desig

THERE are two Causes, essentially distinct, though often interwoven, by which a free State may perish. These are, external and internal Violence: Invasions from Abroad, or Dissentions at Home: The Rage of foreign War, or domestic Faction.

After a dangerous and exhausting War, Victory hath at length restored Peace to our bleeding Country. But in vain the Sword of War is sheathed, if in Time of Peace the Poignard of Licentiousness and Faction is drawn, and madly level'd by many of our Countrymen, at the Breads of their Fellow-Subjects.

To prevent the fatal Consequences of this deluded or deluding Spirit, is the Purpose of this Essay: In which the Writer will endeavour to trace the present State of Things to its general Foundations: By pointing out the real Basis and genuine Characteristics of true Liberty; by unmasquing the Pretences, and laying open the secret Sources and distinctive Marks of Licentiousness and Faction.

As the political Principles here laid down and inforced, will be found strictly connected with Religion and Morals; no Apology will be made for endeavouring to establish the public Happiness of Mankind on the solid Basis of Virtue, which is the End of Religion itself.—In this Point the Writer confirms himself on the Authority of an excellent and learned Prelate, whose political Researches were of like Tendency.

"As the Sum of human Happiness is supposed to consist in the Goods of Mind, Body, and Fortune, I would fain make my Studies of some Use to Mankind, with Regard to each of these three Particulars; and hope it will not be thought faulty or indecent in any Man, of what Profession soever, to offer his Mite towards improving the Manners (I will add, the Religion) Health, and Prosperity of his Fellow-Creatures"

II. Of the Nature of civil Liberty.

SEC II.

Of the Nature of Civil Liberty.

TO some it will doubtless appear a superfluous Labour, to fix the true Idea of civil Liberty, in a Country which boasts itself free.

Yet the Writer esteems it a necessary though obvious Task: Not only that he may appeal to his Idea of it, thus established; but also, because in the Conduct (at least) if not in the Writings of his Countrymen, it seems to have been sometimes mistaken.

The natural Liberty of Man, considered merely as a solitary and savage Individual, would generally lead him to a full and unbounded Prosecution of all his Appetites. Some Savages there are, though few, who live nearly, if not altogether, in this brutal State of Nature.

These last Expressions, it must be confessed, are inadequate to their Subject: For such a State of Man is worse than that of Brutes, and in the strict Sense, is also contrary to Nature. For Brutes are endowed with unerring Instincts, which Man possesseth not: Therefore such a solitary and wretched State is strictly unnatural; because it prevents the Exertion of those Powers, which his Nature is capable of at

But those Powers Society alone can call forth into Action.

Man is therefore formed for Society: That is, Man is formed for Intercourse with Man: Hence, through the natural Developement of the human Powers, a Variety of new Wants, a Necessity for mutual Aids and distinct Properties, must arise: From these, a new Accession, as well as a frequent Disagreement and Clashing of Desires must inevitably ensue. Hence the Necessity of curbing and fixing the Desires of Man in the social State; by such equal Laws, as may compel the Appetites of each Individual to yield to the common Good of all.

From this salutary Restraint, civil Liberty is derived. Every natural Desire which might in any Respect be inconsistent with the general Weal, is given up as a voluntary Tax, paid for the higher, more lasting, and more important Benefits, which we reap from social Life.

III. Of Licentiousness and Faction.

SEC III.

Of Licentiousness and Faction.

FROM the Nature of civil Liberty, thus delineated, the Nature of Licentiousness will easily be fixed: Being indeed no other than "Every Desire carry'd into Action, which in any Respect violates those equal Laws, established for the common Benefit of the Whole."

Thus, an unlimited Indulgence of Appetite, which in the savage State is called natural Liberty, in the social State is stiled Licentiousness.

And Licentiousness, when its immediate Object is That of "thwarting the Ends of civil Liberty," is distinguished by the Name of Faction.

IV. Unassisted Laws no permanent Foundation of civil Liberty.

SEC IV.

Unassisted Laws no permanent Foundation of Civil Liberty.

THESE Remarks are obvious; and clear to every Man possessed of the common Degrees of Understanding. Let us now consider, "What are the permanent Foundations of civil Liberty:" That is, in other Words, "What are the effectual Means by which every Member of Society may be uniformly sway'd, impelled, or induced, to sacrifice his private Desires or Appetites, to the Welfare of the Public."—This is a Subject, which deserves a particular Elucidation, because in our own Country, and our own Times, it seems to have been much and dangerously mistaken.

It hath been affirmed as a first Principle by certain Writers, and hath been artfully or weakly suggested by others, "that the coercive Power of human Laws is sufficient to sustain itself: That the Legislator or Magistrate hath properly no Concern with the private Opinions, Sentiments, or Operations of the Mind: And that Actions alone fall under the legal Cognizance of those in Power."

The Author of the Fable of the Bees hath boldly laid down this; which, as a ruling Principle, pervades his whole Work. He professes himself the Friend of Liberty: He derides private Virtue, as the Offspring of Flattery, begotten upon Pride: He discards Religion, as a political Fable; he treats the Principle of Honour, as an empty Chimera; he recommends private Vices as public Benefits; and having thus level'd the whole Fabric of Manners and Principles; what, do you think, is the grand Arcanum of his Policy, for the Prevention of such Crimes as would indanger the Grandeur and Stability of the State? Why;—"se Laws, rugged Officers, Pillories, Whipping-Posts, Jails, and Gibbets."

This Principle, of the Sufficiency of human Laws to sufsain their own Efficacy and Power, without Regard to the Opinions or Principles of Men, hath been, at least, indirectly held forth by other Writers.

An Author, who although a sincere, was certainly an imprudent Friend of Liberty, 'peaks in the following ambiguous Stile; which, if not designed to impress the Principle here called in Question, is at least very liable to be interpreted into it. "It is foolish to say, that Government is concerned to meddle with the private Thoughts and Actions of Men, while they injure neither the Society, nor any of its Members. Every Man is in Nature and Reason, the Judge and Disposer of his own domestic Affairs; and according to the Rules of Religion and Equity, every Man must carry his own Conscience: So that neither has the Magistrate a Right to direct the private Behaviour of Men; nor has the Magistrate, or any Body else, any Manner of Power to model People's Speculations, no more than their Dreams. Government being intended to protect Men from the Injuries of one another, and not to direct them in their own Affairs; in which no one is interred but themselves, it is plain, that their Thoughts and domestic Concerns are exempted entirely from its Jurisdiction: In Truth, Men's Thoughts are not subject to their own Jurisdiction."— "Let People alone, and they will take Care of themselves, and do it best: And if they do not, a suificient Punishment will follow their Neglect, without the Magistrate's Interposition and Penalties. It is plain, that such busy Care and officious Intrusion into the personal Affairs, or private Actions, Thoughts, and Imaginations of Men, has in it more Craft than Kindness:—To quarrel with any Man for his Opinions, Humours, or the Fashion of his Cloaths, is an Offence taken without being given."—"True and impartial Liberty is therefore the Right of every Man, to pursue the natural, reasonable, and religious Dictates of his own Mind: To think what he will, and act as he thinks, provided he acts not to the Prejudice of another.

These Expressions are crude, inaccurate, and ambiguous; leaving the thoughtful Reader at a Loss for the Author's precise and determined Meaning. For, first, they may possibly imply, "that the Magistrate hath no Right to violate the Laws of what is commonly called religious Toleration or christian Liberty; but that every Man hath an unalienable Right to worship God in that Manner which accords to the Dictates of his own Conscience."—In this Sense they are rational and true: And to this Truth the Writer hath more than once born public Testimony.

But, secondly, they may imply, "that Thoughts, Speculations, Opinions, Principles, however received and imbibed by the Mind of Man, have no Connexion with his Actions; at most, no Connexion so necessary and strong as to give the Magistrate a Right to regulate them by any Means whatever. That no Direction is to be given either to the grown or the infant Mind; that as every Member of Society hath a Right to hold what Opinions and Principles he pleaseth, so he hath the same Privilege to communicate them to his Family and Children: That they are to think what they will, because Thoughts and Opinions are a private and personal Affair: That the Magistrate is only concerned to regulate their Actions."

This is not only a possible Interpretation, but in all Appearance, the more natural of the two. For it is not here once suggested by this Author, that Opinions have any Influence on Actions; but rather, that they concern nobody but Him who holds them. 'Tis true, he speaks of them as being reasonable, and religious: But if they be the mere Result of private and fortuitous Thought, unaided by the Regulations of civil Policy, I see not why they may not more probably be unreasonable and irreligious: Because they are more likely to be model'd by ruling Appetites than rational Deduction.

At the same Time, it is but Justice to this Author to say, that he certainly meant not (like the Author of the Fable of the Bees) to discard all moral Principles as groundless and chimerical; whatever his Intentions were with Regard to Religion. But his Expressions are ambiguous, and have been laid hold of by Men of the most libertine Opinions: Therefore in whatever Sense they were written, it is necessary to oppose them, in that Sense in which they have been received.

And farther, this is certain: That the Principle implied in this second Interpretation hath passed into a general Maxim in this Kingdom, among those who pique themselves on unlimited Freedom of Thought. These Men have long and openly derided every Regulation of Opinion and Principle; have discarded all moral and religious Instruction, under the despised Idea, of Prejudice of Education; have laid it down as their fundamental Maxim, "that you are to think what you will: Only to act honestly." Not attending to that essential Connexion which subsists between Thoughts, Opinions, Principles, and Actions.

Doubtless, any Society of Men, aiming at the Establishment of civil Liberty, have a Right to unite themselves on what Conditions they please. But it is the Purpose of this Essay, to prove, by Reasonings confirmed by Facts, that a free Commu built on the Maxims above delivered, cannot be of long Duration: That the mere coercive Power of human Laws is not sufficient to sustain itself: That there is a strong and unalterable Connexion between Opinions and Actions: That a certain Regulation of Principles is necessary to check the selfish Passions of Man; and prevent Liberty from degenerating into Licentiousness: And that "a certain System of Manners and Principles, mutually supporting each other, and pervading the whole Community, are the only permanent Foundation on which true civil Liberty can arise."

The natural Appetites, Passions, and Desires of Man, are the universal Fountain of his Actions: Without the Impulse which he receives from those, he would be at once unfeeling and inactive. Consequently, according to the State and Character of his Desires, his Actions will naturally be good or evil; innocent, useful, or destructive.

Were these Desires universally coincident with the Welfare and Happiness of others, no coercive Power would be wanting, as the Means of producing and securing perfect Liberty.

But the acknowledged Necessity of penal Laws affords an incontestable Proof, that the unbridled Desires of Man are utterly inconsistent with the Welfare and Happiness of his Fellow Creatures.

Whatever Means, therefore, are most effectual in curbing and subduing the selfish Desires of Man, are the most effectual Means of regulating his Actions, and establishing civil Liberty on its most permanent Foundations.

The mere coercive Power of human Laws, without an assistant Regulation of the Passions and Desires, is utterly inadequate to the great Ends either of private Happiness or public Liberty.

It cannot produce private Happiness to the Individual, because while it leaves his Mind open to be infested by every unruly Passion that may arise, it forbids him the Gratification: Thus it sets the distracted Soul at Variance with itself. The best Consequence that can be hoped for, is a continued Conflict of Fear and Appetite; of a Dread of human Laws, warring with inordinate and selfish Passions.

It cannot be a permanent Foundation of public Liberty; because while the Passions are thus left without an inward Controul, they will often be too strong for Fear, even where a legal Punishment is the certain Consequence: For as they are suffered to subsist in their full Vigour, and when kindled in the Soul are blind and headlong, they will often carry away the whole Man; will bear him down in their Gratification, even to unavoidable Destruction.

Still farther, and chiefly: Human Power cannot penetrate the secret Recesses of the Soul, nor reach the dark Intentions of the Heart of Man, nor always be of Weight to combat the Strength of Indi

Hence Cunning will often evade, and Force will often defy, the coercive Power of the best-formed Laws. Thus public Wisdom must give Way to private Gratification, the Innocent must become a Prey to the Guilty; that is, in other Words, Liberty must be destroyed, and Licentiousness must triumph.

V. Virtuous Manners and Principles the only permanent Foundation of civil Liberty.

SEC V.

Virtuous Manners and Principles the only permanent Foundation of civil Liberty.

WHAT, then, are the permanent Foundations, on which perfect Liberty can arise?—I answer, it can only arise on the Power of such a System of Manners and Principles effectually impressed on the human Mind, as may be an inward Curb to every inordinate Desire; or rather, such as may so frame and model the Human Heart, that its ruling Desires may correspond, coincide, or coalesce, with all the great and essential Appointments of public Law.

The Nature of Man admits of this Improvement, though not in a perfect, yet in a considerable Degree. He is born with Appetites suited to his own Preservation, and the Continuance of his Species: Beyond this, he is by Nature at once selfish and social; compassionate and resentful; docile, either to Good or Evil; and hence, capable of acquiring new Habits, new Passions, new Desires, either to the Welfare or Destruction of his Fellow-Creatures.

Virtuous Manners I call such acquired Habits of Thought and correspondent Action, as lead to a steady Prosecution of the general Welfare.

Virtuous Principles I call such as tend to confirm these Habits, by superinducing the Idea of Duty.

Virtuous Manners are a permanent Foundation for civil Liberty, because they lead the Passions and Desires themselves to coincide with the Appointments of public Law. The infant Mind is pregnant with a Variety of Passions: But it is in the Power of those who are intrusted with the Education of Youth, in a considerable Degree, to determine the Bent of the nascent Passions; to fix them on salutary Objects, or let them loose to such as are pernicious or destructive.

Here, then, lie the first Foundations of civil Liberty: In forming the Habits of the youthful Heart, to a Coincidence with the general Welfare: In checking every rising Appetite that is contrary to This, and in forwarding every Passion that may promote the Happiness of the Community: In implanting and improving Benevolence, Self-Controul, Humility, Integrity, and Truth; in preventing or suppressing the contrary Habits of Selfishness, Intemperance, Pride, Dishonesty, and Falsehood: In teaching the young Mind to delight, as far as is possible, in every Virtue for its own Sake: In a Word, in so forming the Pleasures and Displeasures of the opening Heart, that they may coalesce and harmonize with the Laws of public Freedom.

Above all, This will give Stability to civil Liberty, if the social Passions of Individuals can be so far extended, as to include the Welfare of the whole Community, as their chief and primary Object. This Affection is distinguished by the Name of public Spirit, or the Love of our Country; the highest Passion that can sway the human Heart, considered as a permanent Foundation of true Liberty.

But in some Minds the selfish Passions are strong, and the social ones weak or wanting: And in the best formed Heart incidental Temptations may arise, and overturn its pre-established Habits: Therefore it is a necessary Measure for the Security of private Virtue and public Freedom, that virtuous Principles be likewise implanted in the Heart. Such Principles, I mean, as may strengthen the good Habits of Thought and Action already contracted, by superinducing the Idea of Duty.

Of these there are but three, which can sway the Manners of Men, and confirm the Foundation of civil Liberty. These are Religion, Honour, and natural Conscience. The first has the Deity for its Object; the second, the Applause of Men; the third, the Approbation of our own Heart. The Frame and Situation of Man admits of no other Principle, from whence the Idea of Duty can arise.

The Principle of Religion tends to this End of confirming civil Liberty, as it induces the Idea of Duty; and urges the Performance of it, on the Belief of a just, omnipotent, and all-seeing God; who approves and condemns, will reward or punish, according as our Thoughts and Actions are Good or Evil.

But, as the Means of rendering Religion, a firm Ally and Support of Liberty, it is necessary that their Dictates should be coincident: That is, that the Thoughts and Actions which Religion prescribes as Duties, and forbids as Sins, should coincide with the Dictates and Appointments of public Law. In free Countries, this is the natural State of Religion; which commonly either bends to the established Laws of the Community, or moulds them into its own Genius and Complexion.

The Principle of Honour affords a concomitant Support of civil Liberty, when properly directed. It works by a powerful and universal Passion, "our Fondness for the Applause of Men:" But in free Countries, this Principle is much more liable to abuse than that of Religion: Because it is apt be be warped by the fashionable and ruling Manners of the Times: For whatever is fashionable is apt to draw Respect and Applause: Whatever is unfashionable is for the present intitled only to Contempt. Hence the Principle of Honour becomes fluctuating and uncer in its Nature, and therefore in its Effects: A Regulation of this Principle, therefore, is of the most important Consequence; because, if left to its own fantastic Dictates, it will often endanger instead of strengthening the Foundations of public Freedom.

The third Principle, that of natural Conscience, which tends to confirm the Establishment of Liberty, is founded in the Approbation of our own Heart. This Principle is in one Respect independent on the other two, but in another Respect seems to stand intimately related to them. It is independent of them, as it neither looks out for the Approbation of God, nor the Applause of Men: It seems intimately related to them, because on a strict Examination of the human Frame, as well as the History of Mankind, it appears generally to be the Result of the one, or other, or both. We transplant the acknowledged Approbation of Heaven and the Applause of Men into our own Heart; and from this, through the fertile Power of Association, springs a new Principle of Self-Approbation and Self-Reproof, as an additional Regulator of our Thoughts and Actions.

'Tis true, many Writers have resolved the particular Dictates of natural Conscience into an unchangeable Principle of Right and Wrong, arising universally in the human Heart. There is no Doubt, but the general Principle of Self-Approbation or Self-Rebuke ariseth in an universal Manner, in some Degree or other: But as it appears from the History of human Nature, that the particular Dictates of this Conscience vary with the other received Principles of the Mind, it is not necessary to debate or dwell on this speculative Point: We may take it as a Truth confirmed by Facts, that the particular Dictates of natural Conscience will generally be founded on those of Religion and Honour.

Hence, then, it appears, that this Principle of Conscience stands in Need of a Guide, in the same Degree as those Principles on which it is founded. If it be founded on the Religion of a free State, it will generally coincide with the Principles of Freedom: If its Foundations are laid in the mere Principle of Honour, its Dictates will be fantastic as those of its Parent; and will therefore require a parallel Regulation.

Each of these Principles, singly taken, is of Power, in some Degree or other, to strengthen the Basis of civil Liberty. On their united Influence, added to the Force of pre-established Habits of Thought and Manners, public Freedom might seem to arise on immoveable and everlasting Foundations.

But as the Nature of Man, even in his most virtuous State, is imperfect and inconsistent; so, in Spite of the most salutary Institutions, some Defects will intrude. Hence, from an unavoidable Alloy of Vice, civil Liberty must ever be imperfect: A certain Degree of Licentiousness (that is, of private Will, opposing the Public) will always mix itself, and in some Degree contaminate the Purity of every Commonwealth.

Yet, while virtuous Manners and Principles clearly predominate in their Effects, a State may still be justly called free.

But in Proportion as these Manners and Principles decay, and their Contraries rise into Power and Action, public Freedom must necessarily decline. For in that Case, the Passions and Powers of the human Mind are all set in Conspiracy against the Dictates of public Law. Hence unbridled Passions will have their Course; every Man's Heart and Hand will be set against his Brethren; and the general Cement of Society, which bound all together, being thus dissolved; even without any external Violence offered, the Commonwealth through its internal Corruption must fall in Pieces.

VI. An Objection considered.

SEC VI.

An Objection considered.

DOubtless, it will be objected (nay, it hath been objected) by the Patrons of unlimited Freedom of Thought, that This is indeed a System of Slavery; that it is building civil Liberty on the Servitude of the Mind, and shackling the infant Soul with early Prejudice.

In Answer to this plausible Objection, the Writer replies (what he hath elsewhere advanced) "That a Prejudice doth not imply, as is generally supposed, the Falsehood of the Opinion instilled, but only that it is taken up, and held, without its proper Evidence. Thus the infant Mind may be prejudiced in Favour of Truth as well as Falsehood; and neither can the one or the other, thus instilled, be properly called more than an Opinion."

Farther: The infant Mind cannot remain in a State of Indifference and Inaction, either with Regard to Habits of Conduct, or Principles and Opinions. Habits, Impressions, Beliefs, Principles, of one Kind or other, the growing Mind will inevitably contract, from its Communication with Mankind: If therefore rational Habits and Principles be not infused, in order to preclude Absurdities; it is Odds, but Absurdities will get the Start, and preclude all rational Habits and Opinions. The Passions and the Reason of a Child will put themselves in Action, however wretched and inconsistent; in the same Manner, as his Limbs will make an Effort towards walking, however awkward and absurd. The same Objection, therefore, that lies against instilling salutary Habits and Principles, will arise against teaching him to walk erect: This being indeed a Violation of the natural Freedom of the Body, as the other is of the natural Liberty of the Passions and the Mind. The Consequences, too, are of the same Nature: For sure, a Child left to the Direction of his own Appetites and Reason would stand the same Chance to grovel in Absurdities, as to crawl on Hands and Knees, and wallow in the Mire.

Neither is there any Difference, with Respect to the real and internal Freedom of the Mind, between Opinions instilled, and Opinions caught by Accident. For in Truth, the Mind cannot be compelled to receive any Habit of Thought, Principle, or Opinion. These may indeed be offered to the infant Mind, but the Reception of them is its own voluntary Act; and is equally so, whether they be presented by fortuitous Incidents, or designed Instruction. All the Difference is, that in the first Case such a System of Habits and Opinions will certainly arise, as tend to the Destruction of Society: In the second, such a System of Habits and Opinions may be infused into the free Mind, as will lay a sure and lasting Foundation of public Liberty and Happiness.

Nay, if any Difference could arise, with Respect to the true Freedom of the Mind; surely, That Mind ought, in the Eye of Reason, to be adjudged most free, which adopts a System of Thought and Action, founded on the Wisdom of the agreeing Society; rather than That which is suffered to be incurably tainted with the vague and random Conceptions of untutor'd Infancy.—This, at least, is consonant with the old Stoic Principle, that "The wise Man alone is free."

Much hath been said in our Times, indeed, concerning the Force of unassisted human Reason: The Writer would not willingly either flatter or degrade its Powers. But to Him it appears, that they are superficially informed of the Frame and Tenor of the human Mind, who think that mere Reason (as it exists in Man) is more than a Power of dis and chusing the properest Means for obtaining his desired Ends, whether these Ends be Good or Evil. The Passions, pre-established Habits, and infused Principles of the Soul are the universal Motives to human Action. Where these point not to an End desired, Reason may indolently exercise its Eye; but can never find nor create an Object, of Force sufficient to put the Powers of the Soul and Body in Motion. Hence, human Reason must always receive its particular Cast and Colour from the pre-established Passions, Habits, and Principles; will ever form its ruling Ideas of Good and Evil, Right and Wrong, Just and Unjust, from these great Fountains of human Action.

The History of human Nature confirms this Truth: Hence it is, that this boasted human Reason is indeed so poor and unprofitable a Possession; being warped and moulded into that particular Form, which the varying Accidents of Climate, Soil, established Manners, Religion, Policy, bodily Frame, or prevailing Passions and Principles, chance to give it.

Hence, then, it appears, that the private Freedom of the infant Mind is not violated but only directed to its best End, by early and salutary Instruction. Hence it appears to be the proper Destination of Man, that he shall not be left to the Follies of his own weak Understanding and nascent Passions; that he shall not be left fortuitously to imbibe the Maxims of corrupt Times and Manners; Maxims which, setting aside all Regard to their speculative Truth or Falsehood, do lead to the Dissolution of Law and Freedom: But that he shall be conducted voluntarily to adopt those Habits and Principles, which have been consecrated by the Approbation of the best and wisest Men, in every Age and Nation; such, in particular, as are suitable to the Laws, the Customs, the Genius, of his own free Country; such, in a Word, as are a secure Foundation of public Liberty.

VII. A Confirmation of these Principles, drawn from the History of free States. 1st of Sparta.

SEC VII.

A Confirmation of these Principles, drawn from the History of free States.

1st. Of Sparta.

THESE Reasonings, founded on the Nature and Constitution of Man, will receive a strong and unanswerable Confirmation from the History of free States. Hence we shall obtain the clearest Evidences of Fact, that while virtuous Manners and Principles retained their Efficacy and Power, civil Liberty remained unshaken: That as these decayed, Liberty declined: That as soon as these were lost, Liberty was no more; Licentiousness crept in; Faction triumphed; and overwhelmed these degenerate States in one common Ruin.

To this Purpose I shall briefly analyze the Genius of the three most eminent Republics that are recorded in Story: Those of Sparta, Athens, and Rome. The Events are sufficiently known to those who are conversant in ancient History: But the fundamental and leading Causes of these Events deserve a particular Investigation: They will form a concurrent Proof of the Principles here given.

The Republic of Sparta claims the first Place; both on Account of its Antiquity, and Perfection. By its Perfection is meant, not the moral Perfection of its particular Institutions, but of the Means and Principles by which These Institutions were secured.

The leading Institutions which Lycurgus fixed as the Essence of his Commonwealth, were these which follow.

1. He established a Senate of twenty-eight, as an intermediate Power between that of Prince and People... 2. He made an equal Partition of Lands and Goods, among the free Members of the Community... 3. He introduced the Use of Iron Money, instead of Gold and Silver... 4. He banished or prevented all the Arts of Commerce, Elegance, and Luxury... 5. He ordained, that all the Members of the Society should eat together, and partake alike of the same coarse Fare... 6. He established an occasional Community of Wives: So that a Wife was not so much the Property of her Husband, as of the Republic, to the End of Population... 7. With a parallel View, he ordained a Kind of Community of Children: By This, no Father had the Care of his own Child; which, on its Birth, was immediately delivered over to the Officers of the State; and was either preserved or destroyed according to their Decree... 8. A continued Attention to the Preservation of the State, and an unremitted Preparation and Readiness for defensive War, formed the chief Employment of the Spartan State... 9. He committed the Cultivation of their Lands to a large Body of Slaves, who dwelt in the surrounding Country, were deprived of all the natural Rights of Men, and were often laid in Wait for, and butchered in cold Blood by the young Men of Sparta.