GOVERNMENT. 



ftitutam rempublicam, qiire e^f tribiis generibus illis, re- 

 gal!, optiino ct populari, fit niodice contufa.'' Of this kind 

 }$ the Britidi conllitution, which lodges the executive pewer 

 of the laws in a fingle perfon, and the legiflative in three 

 ditlinfl powers, entirely independent of each other ; viz. 

 the king ; the lords fpiritual and temporal, forming an arifto- 

 craticnl affembly ; and the houfe of commons, freely chofen 

 by the people, which renders it a kind of democracy ; and 

 each brancii of this aggregate body, aftuated by different 

 views, and attentive to different interefts, is armed with a 

 negative power, fiifficient to repel any innovation which it 

 Ihall think inexpedient or dangerous. Nothing can endan- 

 ger or hurt the conftitutional government of Britain, but 

 dellroying the equilibrium of power between one branch of 

 the legiflature and the reft : for if ever it (liould happen that 

 the independence of any one of the three flioukl be loll, or that 

 it (liould become fubfervient to the views of the other two, 

 there would foon be aH end of our conllitution: thelegilla- 

 ture would be changed from that which wasoriginallyfetupby 

 the general confent and fundamental aft of the fociety ; and 

 fuch a change, however effcfted, is, according to Mr. 

 Locke, at once an entire dilfolution of the bands of govern- 

 ment, and the people are thereby reduced to a flate of anar- 

 chy, with hbcrty to conlf itute to themfelves a new legiflative 

 power. Locke on Government, book ii. chap. 19. Blacktl. 

 Com. vol. i. Intriid. 



Another excellent writer gives a different account of the 

 prigin of civil government from that which has been above 

 Ihued. Accordingly, he obferves, that government, at 

 lirft, was either patriarchal or mihtary ; that of a parent 

 over his fapiily, or of a commander over his fellow-warriors, 

 r'aternal authority, and the order of domeftic life, fays Dr. 

 Paky, (Moral Philofophy, vol. ii.) fupplied the foundation 

 of civil government. The condition of human infancy pre- 

 pares men for fociety, by combining individuals into imall 

 comniuniticG, and by placing them frtim the beginning under 

 dired^ion and controul. A family contains the rudiments of 

 an empire. The authority of one over many, and the dif- 

 pofitiou to govern aid to be governed, are in this way inci- 

 dental to the very nature, and coeval, no doubt, with the 

 *xillence, of the human fpecies. Befules, a parent would 

 retain a confiderable part of his autiiority after his children 

 ■were grown up, and had formed families of their own. Tliis 

 is the fecond llage in the progrefs of dominion. The tirll 

 was that of a parent over his young children ; this that of 

 an antpflor prefiding over his adult defcendarts The afiocia- 

 tion, thus formed, would naturally be continued after the 

 death of the original progenitor ; and the members of it, 

 accuftomed to the beneiits refulting from it, might be induced 

 to fupply his place by a formal choice ot a fuccefTor, or 

 ihey might voluntarily, and almoft imperceptibly, transfer 

 their obedience to one of the family, which had claimed 

 their refpeft and confidence, or, again, they might receive 

 ■with due deference a fucceflbr, appointed by the firfl ancef- 

 tor. Thus we have a tribe or clan, incorporated under one 

 chief, and fulfilling the purpofes of civil union, without any 

 other or more regular convention, conftitution, or fc.rrm of 

 government than what has now been defcribed. Two or 

 tiiree of thefe clans would frequently, by marriage, cnnqueit, 

 mutual defence, common diltrefs, or fome otlier accidental 

 circumftances, be united into a fociety of larger extent. 

 Another fource of perfonal authority, which might extend, 

 or fuperfedc, the patriarchal, is that which refuks from mi- 

 litary arrangemtnt. A popular and fuccefsful leader, in 

 •very aftion of aggreffion or defence, would gain a powerful 

 and permanent influence among his followers. This advan- 



tage, added to the authority of the patriarchal chief, or fa.' 

 voured by any previous diflinC^xion of anceftry, would enable 

 the perfon who pofleffed it to acquire the almoit abfolute di- 

 reftion of the affairs of the community ; more efpecially if 

 he took care to affociate to himfelf proper auxiliaries, and 

 to gratify or remove thofe who oppofed his pretenfions. 



The caufes which have contributed to introduce heredi- 

 tary doiTiinion, are principally the influence of aflbciation* 

 which communicates to the fon a portion of the refpect that 

 was paid to the virtues or flation of the father, the nnituai 

 jealouiy of other competitors, the greater envy with which 

 all behold the exaltation of an equal, than the continuance 

 of an acknowledged fuperiority, and the number of adhe- 

 rents left by a reigning prince, wlio preferve their own im- 

 portance, merely by fupporting the fucceffion of his children, 

 and the apprelieniion of calamities that are incidental to 

 contefted elections. The ancient ftate of fociety in moft 

 countries, fays our author, and the modern condition of 

 fome uncivilized parts of the world, exhibit that appearance, 

 which this account of the original of civil government would 

 lead us to expeft. The earlieft hiftories of Paleftir.c, 

 Greece, Italy, Gaul, and Britain, inform us that thele 

 countries were occupied by many fmall independent nations, 

 refembling thofe which are now found among the favage in- 

 habitants of North America, and upon the coait of Africa. 

 Tliis theory, it is added, affords a prefumption, that the 

 earlied; governments were monarchies, bccaufe the govern- 

 ment of families, and of armies, from which, according to 

 the preceding llatement, civil government derived its inllitu- 

 tion, and probably its form, is univerfally monarchical. 



Our readers will obferve tiiat tiiis theory is very different 

 from fir Robert Filmer's patriarchal fcheme, now, indeed, 

 almoft forgotten and fcarcely deferving to be recorded ; the 

 refutation of which conftitutes the firft part of the admirable 

 Locke's Treatife on Government. According to this fcheme, 

 all government is abfolute monarchy, w hich tlie anther founds 

 on this previous principle, that no man is born free. The 

 abfolute fovereignty of Adam was the refult of a divine ap- 

 pointment and donation, and this fovereignty has been re- 

 gularly conveyed by a divine hereditary right to all fucceeding 

 monarchs. Tlie notion, that kings reign by a divine right, in- 

 dependently of the defignation of the people, and not account- 

 able to them for theexercife of their power, abfurd as it will 

 now very generally be thought, was, however, for a long 

 time not only admitted, but prevalent even in this country. 

 It is ftrongly inculcated in the Homilies of cur eftablilbed 

 church, and was ftrenuoufly maintained by feveral of its 

 refpeftable divines. Dr. Tillotfon, enlightened and excellent 

 as he was in other refpefts, could not, in the middle part of 

 his life, emancipate himfelf from the idea, that it was finful 

 to refill government, as is evident from his letter to lord 

 Ruffel. That power originates with the people was con- 

 demned as an abominable tenet by the famous Oxford decree 

 of 1683 ; but this is a topic on which it is ncedlefs to en- 

 large. 



In the moft popular forms of government, fays Dr. Paley, 

 the phyfical ftrength refides in the governed ; and it therefore 

 becomes an inquiry of confiderable importance, among poli- 

 ticians, wliat motives induce the many to fubmit to the few. 

 In the difcuffion of this queftion our author diftributes the 

 fubjefts of a ftate into three different claffes, -viz. 1. Thofe 

 who obey from prejudice, or who are determined by an opi- 

 nion of right in their governors, which opinion is founded 

 upon prefcripiioii : this prefcriptive title, in hereditary mo- 

 narchies, is corroborated, and its influence confiderably aug- 

 mented, by an acccffion of religious fentinients, and by ihaf 



facredncts 



