GOVERNMENT. 



lacrednefa which wen are apt to afcribe to the perfon8 of 

 princes. 2. Thof- whoobey from reafon, by a confidcration 

 et the iijcefilty or fome government or oth^-r, and of the 

 certain mifchief of civil comtnotions. 3. Tliofe who obey 

 from felf-intereft, and who are kept in order by a variety of 

 ecnltderationa that immediately afFedl themfelves. 



Concerning the moral obligation of fubmidlon to civil pro- 

 Ternment, thofe who adopt the principles of Mr. Locke, 

 and many other political writers, allege a compact between 

 the citizen and the ftate, as the ground of the relation 

 between them ; and this compafl binding the parties, like 

 private contracts, refolves the duty of fubmifiion into the 

 uiiiverfal obhgation of fidelity in the performance of pro- 

 rnilcs. This compaA is either, i. Exprefs, on the part of 

 the primitive founders of the ftate, who are fuppofed to have 

 met together for the declared purpofe of fettling the terras 

 of their political union, and a future conftitution Of govern- 

 ment. The whole body is fuppoied to have unanimoufly 

 confented to be bound by the refolutions sf the majority ; 

 and that majority is luppofed to have fixed certain fumia- 

 mental regulations, and thus to have conllituted, either in 

 one perfon, or in an aiTembly, ^Ji.mdir.g legijlalnre, to wliicli, 

 under thefe pre-eftabli(lied reftrictions, the government of 

 the ifate was thenceforward committed, and w hofe laws the 

 feveral members of tlie convention were, by their firll under- 

 taking, thus perfonally engaged to obey. — This tranfaclion 

 is fometimes called the " Social compact," and thefe fup- 

 pofed original regulations compofe what are meant by the 

 "conftitution," the "fundamental laws of the conftitution ;" 

 and form, on one fide, the " inherent indefeafible prerogative 

 of the crown,'' and, on the otlicr, the unahenable " birth- 

 right" of the fubjecl ; /. «. a tacit or implied compaA by all fuc- 

 ceeding members of the ftate, who, by accepting its pro- 

 teftion, confent to be bound by its laws. " This account of 

 the fubjeft," fays Dr. P;Jey, " although fpecious, and pa- 

 tronized by names the moil refpeftable, appears to labour 

 under the following objections ; that it is founded upon 

 a fuppofition falfe in fa(ft ; and leading to dangerous confe- 

 quences." No fuch focial compaft was ever really made, 

 nor any fuch original convention of the people ever aftually 

 held, or could be held in any country, antecedent to the ex- 

 iilence of civil government in that country. It is to fup- 

 pofe it poflible to caU favages out of caves and defarts, to 

 deliberate and vote upon topics, which the experience, and 

 lludies, and refinements of civil life, alone fuggell : therefore 

 no government in the univerfeif^^in from this original. At 

 a Revolution fome imitation of a focial compacl may have 

 taken place. The eftabhfhmeiit of the United States of 

 North America bears the neareft referablance of it. Should 

 it be laid, that the original compaft is not propofed as a fact, 

 but as a fiction, for tiie commodious exphcation of the mutual 

 rights and duties of tovereigns and fubjects ; to this reprefen- 

 tation it may be replied, that the original compaft, if it be 

 not a faft, is nothing ; it can confer no aftual authority upon 

 laws or raagiftrates, nor afford any foundation to rights, 

 which are fuppofed to be real and exiiling. But in the books, 

 and alfo in the apprehenfion of thofe who deduce our civil 

 riglits and obhgations ti padis, the original convention is ap- 

 pealed to, and treated of, as a reality. 



Moreover, it is alleged, that the theory of government, 

 which affirms the exillence and the obligation of a focial 

 compact, leads to conclufions unfavourable to the improve- 

 ment, and to the peace, of human fociety. Upon tliis 

 theorv- it may be prefunieJ that many points, called " funda- 

 .lenlals" of the conftitution, were fettled by a convention of 

 ihe people, anterior to the eftablilhmeiit tii the fubfifting 



legidature.and which the legiflature has no right to alter, or 

 interfere with. This circumftance affords a dar.;rerous pre- 

 tence for difputing the authority of the laws, ftence arofe 

 the doubt, which fo much agitated the mindj of men in the 

 reign of Charles II., whether an aft of parUamcnt could of 

 right alter or limit the fuccelTion of the crown. Ecfidcs, if it 

 be by virtue of a compact that the fubjed owes obedience 

 to civil government, he ought to abide by the power of 

 government which he finds eftabliflied, however abfurd or 

 inconvenient it may be. Moreover, every violation of the 

 compaft on the part of the governor releafcs the fubjedt from 

 his allegiance, and diffolves the government. 



Dr. Paley, rejecting the intervention of a compact, a< un- 

 founded in Its principle, and dangerous in the application, 

 afilgns for the only ground of the fubjed's obligation, 

 " the will of God as collected from expediency." Accor- 

 dingly the author reafons in tlie following manner. It is the 

 "!'■.' °^ ^°^ '''^^ ''"^ happinefs of human life be promoted ; 

 civil fociety conduces to that end ; civil focieties cannot be 

 upheld, unlefs in each, the intereit of the whole fociety be 

 binding upon every part and member of it ; and thi» 

 ftep of the argument conducts us to the conclufion, 

 namely, that fo long as the intereft of the whole fociety 

 requires it, that is, fo long as the eftablifhed government 

 cannot be refitted or changed without public inconvcniency, 

 it is the will of God (which •U'/// univcrfally determines our 

 duty) that the eilabhihed government be obeyed; and no 

 longer. This principle being admitted, the jufticc of every 

 particular cafe of refiftance is reduced to a computation o£ 

 the quantity of the danger and grievance on the one fide, 

 and of the probability and expence of redrelFing it on the 

 other. If it be alked, who (hall judge of this I tiie an- 

 fwer is, " Every man for himfclf." In contentions be- 

 tween the fovereign and ilie fubjecl:, the parties acknowledge 

 no common arbitrator ; and it would be abfurd to refer the 

 decifion to ihofe whofe conduct has provoked the queftion, 

 and whofe own intereft, authority, and fate, are immedi- 

 ately concerned in it. From the fubftitution of " public 

 expediency" into the place of all imphed compacts, 

 promifes, or conventions wliatfoevcr, our author infers, 

 I. That it may be as much a duty at one time to refift go- 

 vernment as to obey it, -viz. when more advantage will i> 

 our opinion accrue to the community from rcfiilance, thaa 

 mifchief. 2. That the lawfulnefs of refiftance, or the lawful- 

 nefs of a revak, does not depend alone upon the grievance 

 which is fultained or found, but alfo upon the probable 

 expence and event of the conteih Hence thofe who con- 

 certed the revolution in England were juftifiable in tiieir cotin- 

 fels. 3. That irregularity in tlie firft foundnlioii of a 

 ftate, or fubfequent violence, fraud, or injufticc in getting 

 pofiefiion of the fupieme power, arc not fufficient reafont 

 for refiftance, after the government is once peaceably 

 fettled. 4. Tliat refiftance is not juftified by every iin-afioa 

 of the fubjcdl's lights, or hberty, or of the conftituliun ; 

 by every breach of promife, or of oath ; by every ftretch 

 of prerogative, abufe of power, or neglect of duty on 

 the part of thu chief m.igifti-ate ; unlefs thefe crimes draw 

 after them pubhc confequenccs of fufBcient magnitude to 

 outweigh the evils ot civil ditturbance. j. That no ufage, 

 law, or autiiority whatever, is fo binding, that it need or 

 ought to be continued, when it may be changed with ad- 

 vantage to the comnuinity. 6. As all civil obligation is 

 refolved into expediency, what, it may be afkcd, is tiie dif- 

 ference between tlie obligation of an Engliftiman and a 

 Frenchman, or why Ls a Frenchman bound 1:; conictence t« 

 bear any tiling from hi* king, which an En^lilhrnan would 

 3 S : Bot 



