144 



NATURAL LAW. 



the use, in common with the rest of mankind, of air, 

 light, water, and the common means of subsistence. 

 Adventitious rights are those, which are accidental, 

 or arise from peculiar situations and relations, and 

 presuppose some act of man, from which they spring ; 

 such as the rights of a magistrate, of a judge, of elec- 

 tors, of representatives.of legislators, &c. We call those 

 rights alienable, which may be transferred, by law, to 

 others, such as the right to property, to debts, houses, 

 lands, and money. We call those rights unalienable, 

 which are incapable, by law, of such transfer, such 

 as the right to life, liberty, and the enjoyment of hap- 

 piness. We call those riglits perfect, which are de- 

 terminate, and which may be asserted by force, or in 

 civil society by the operation of law ; and imperfect, 

 those which are indeterminate and vague, and which 

 may not be asserted by force or by law, but are obli- 

 gatory only upon the consciences of parties. Thus 

 ;t man has a perfect right to his life, to his personal 

 liberty, and to his property; and he may by force assert 

 aiul vindicate those rights against every aggressor. 

 But he has but an imperfect right to gratitude for fav- 

 ours bestowed on others, or to charity, if he is in want, 

 or to the affection of others, even if he is truly deserv- 

 ing of it. It is difficult to make any exact enumeration 

 of what may be deemed the general rights of mankind, 

 which may not admit of some exceptions, or which may 

 not be deemed capable of modification under peculiar 

 circumstances. Thus the most general rights, which 

 belong to all mankind, may be said to be the right to 

 life, to liberty, to property, and to the use of air, 

 li^ht, water, and to the fruits of the earth. And yet, 

 under certain circumstances, life, and liberty, and 

 property, may justly be taken away ; as, for instance, 

 in order to prevent crimes, to enforce the rights of' 

 other persons, or to secure the safety and happiness 

 of society. And in like manner the free use of 

 air, light, and water, may be interdicted. In regard 

 to imperfect rights, although the sanction is wholly 

 upon the conscience of the party under a sense of 

 religious responsibility, the obligation tq perform the 

 duties corresponding to them is, nevertheless, to be 

 deemed as imperative, as if they also possessed the 

 strongest earthly sanctions ; since they arise from the 

 commands of God, and are to be done in obedience to 

 his will. Every man is, therefore, bound to exercise 

 charity in its largest sense ; to be just, grateful, kind, 

 and benevolent ; to promote the general happiness ; 

 to speak the truth, and to abstain from falsehood ; to 

 abstain from oppression, anger, revenge, hatred, 

 malice, slander, uncharitableness, persecution, and 

 every other injurious act or passion. These are 

 duties, which are incumbent on him in respect to all 

 the human race. There are others, again, which 

 arise from peculiar relations to others; such. are 

 those, which belong to him in the character of master 

 or servant, magistrate or subject, parent or child, 

 husband or wife. Among the duties of masters and 

 servants, we may enumerate, on the part of the mas- 

 ter, the duty to enjoin on servants no unnecessary 

 labour or confinement, from caprice, or wantonness, 

 or passion ; to insult no servants by harsh, oppro- 

 brious, or scornful language ; to refuse them no 

 harmless pleasures ; to promote their welfare by all 

 reasonable means. On the part of servants, the 

 duty to be industrious, and punctual in the discharge 

 of their duty, faithful and honest ; and to yield a 

 ready obedience to all just commands. On the part 

 of magistrates, the duty of exercising power with 

 moderation and mercy as well as justice. On the 

 part of subjects, the duty of obeying the laws and 

 supporting the institutions of society. On the part 

 of parents, the duty of maintaining, educating, and 

 otherwise providing for the intellectual, moral, and 

 physical improvement of their children. On the 



part of children, the duty to render their parents a 

 just homage, love, and reverence, to obey their com- 

 mands, to lighten their labours, assuage their sor- 

 rows, and, as far as may be in their power, to admin- 

 ister to their infirmities, and to support and succour 

 them when in poverty. On the part of husband and 

 wife, the duty to promote domestic peace and har- 

 mony ; to cultivate mutual love and forbearance ; 

 and in prosperity and in adversity, in sickness and in 

 health, in life and in death, to be true, and watchful, 

 and tender, as those whom God has united in bonds 

 of permanent obligation and sanctity. And this 

 leads us to the consideration of the subject of mar- 

 riage, and some of the rights and duties flowing from 

 it. Marriage is an institution, which may properly 

 be deemed to arise from the law of nature. It pro- 

 motes the private comfort of both parties, and espe- 

 cially of the female sex. It tends to the procreation 

 of the greatest number of healthy citizens, and to 

 their proper maintenance and education. It secures 

 the peace of society, by cutting ofl' a great source of 

 contention, by assigning to one man the exclusive 

 right to one woman. It promotes the cause of sound 

 morals, by cultivating domestic affections and vir- 

 tues. It distributes the whole of society into fami- 

 lies, and creates a permanent union of interests, and 

 a mutual guardianship of the same. It binds chil- 

 dren together by indissoluble ties, and adds new 

 securities to the good order of society, by connecting 

 the happiness of the whole family with the good 

 behaviour of all. It furnishes additional motives for 

 honesty industry and economy in private life, and for 

 a deeper love of the country of our birth. It has, in 

 short, a deep foundation in all our best interests, feel- 

 ings, sentiments, and even sensual propensities ; and 

 in whatever country it has been introduced, it has 

 always been adhered to with an unfailing and increas- 

 ing attachment. Polygamy, on the other hand, seems 

 utterly repugnant to the law of nature. It neces- 

 sarily weakens, and, in most cases, destroys the prin- 

 cipal benefits and good influences resulting from 

 marriage. It generates contests and jealousies among 

 wives ; divides the affections of parents ; introduces 

 and perpetuates a voluptuous caprice. It has a ten- 

 dency to dissolve the vigour of the intellectual facul- 

 ties, and to produce languor and indolence. It 

 stimulates the sensual appetites to an undue extent, 

 and thus impairs the strength and healthiness of the 

 physical functions. It debases the female sex. It 

 retards, rather than advances, a healthy and numer- 

 ous population. It weakens the motives to female 

 chastity, and to exclusive devotion to one husband. 

 Besides; the very equality in point of numbers of the 

 sexes, seems to point out the law of God to be, that 

 one woman shall be assigned to one man. And in 

 point of fact, the countries, where polygamy has 

 been allowed, have been uniformly debased, indolent, 

 and enervate, having neither great physical, nor 

 great intellectual ability. If marriage be an institu- 

 tion derived from the law of nature, then, whatever 

 has a natural tendency to discourage it, or to destroy 

 its value, is by the same law prohibited. H ence we 

 may deduce the criminality of fornication, incest, 

 adultery, seduction, and other lewdness ; although 

 there are many independent grounds, on which such 

 criminality may be rested. It follows that the right 

 of divorce must be a very limited right ; and that 

 divorces are forbidden by the law of nature, except 

 for causes of a very extraordinary character. It is 

 manifest, that a power on either side to dissolve the 

 marriage at will, would rob the state of matrimony of 

 many of its principal blessings and advantages. It 

 would deprive one of the parents of the comfort and 

 gratitude of the children of the marriage. It would 

 defeat the main purposes of their union, and weaken 



