But my power depends upon the disposition of the men by whom I am surrounded.

excitedby the stimulus of gain, we have certainly very little considered the motivesthat at present govern the human mind. viii. — In what manner the consent of the districts is to be declared.

I may be persuaded of the propriety of yielding compliance to a requisition the justice of which I cannot discern, as I may be persuaded to yield compliance to a requisition which I know to be unjust.

CHAP. Monarchy founded in imposture. But there is perhaps no instance in which such men have not had a few friends of tried and zealous attachment. Entitles each man to the supply of his animal wants, as far as the general stock will afford it: Its pernicious effects on the individual who partakes of it. It is commonly said, “that positive institutions ought to leaveProvince of conscience considered me perfectly free in matters of conscience, but may properly interfere with my conduct in civil concerns.” But this distinction seems to have been very lightly taken up. In the relief he wishes to communicate is he prompted by reflecting on the pleasures of generosity?

VIII. [7] In 1820 Godwin answered with Of Population: An Enquiry Concerning the Power of Increase in the Numbers of Mankind which disputed Malthus' population growth predictions.[8]. The true philanthropist will be eager, instead of suppressing discussion, to take an active share in the scene, to exert the full strength of his faculties in discovery, and to contribute by his exertions to render the operation of thought at once perspicuous and profound. The instruction arising from the perusal of history would be absolutely none; since instruction implies in its very nature the classing and generalising of objects. If vigilance were able fully to countermine the subterfuges of art, themagistrates, who thus pertinaciously adhered to the practice of their duty, wouldnot fail to be torn in pieces. Of how many parts does mind consist? book v. chap. Deliberate proceeding the proper antidote. But it is certain that truth is adequate to awaken the mindbook vii. Death has hitherto been the common lot of men, and I expect at some time or other to submit to it. The possibilities as to this termination are as wide as the various schemes of society which the human imagination can conceive.
VI. Mind is in its infancy nearly what these philosophers describe, the creature of contingencies.

CHAP. Upon enquiry I am happy to find it confirmed to me by Mr. William Morgan, the nephew of Dr. Price, who recollects to have heard it repeatedly mentioned by his uncle. By resisting this plea you may prove yourself unjust, but in yielding to it you grant me but my due. The inutility of attempting restraint. Edition: current; Page: [213] If we would either promote or enjoy the happiness of others, we must seek to know in what it consists. They have a multitude of followers to draw after them, whose humours they must consult, and to whose slowness of apprehension they must accommodate themselves. If it could be proved, that it produced no advantages in equal proportion, and that its abolition would not lead to mischief, anarchy and disorder, is there a nation upon the face of the earth to whom these propositions were rendered palpable, that would endure to submit to it? BOOK IV.

The treatment to which men are entitled is to be measured by their merits and their virtues.

While we only dispute about the best way of doing a thing in itself wrong, we shall indeed make but a trifling progress; but, when we are once persuaded that nothing is too sacred to be brought to the touchstone of examination, science will advance with rapid strides. CHAP. This is neither desirable, nor even possible. Coercion exercised in the name of the state upon its respective members cannot be the duty of the community; but coercion may be the duty of individuals within the community.

One of the claimants is an unmarried woman past the age of childbearing. book viii. sounding nonsense in the balance against the best interests of mankind, which will always suffer a mortal wound, when dexterity, artifice and concealment are made topics of admiration and applause? book vi.

In that case it becomes us to weigh the neglect and cultivation together, and to cast the balance on that side to which upon mature examination it shall appear to belong. Edition: current; Page: [271] Edition: current; Page: [514] Its Atrociousness.

It is to be presumed that the inequality of mind would in a certain degree be permanent; but it is reasonable to believe that the geniuses of such an age would far surpass the grandest exertions of intellect that are at present known.
The last of these assertions cannot be avowed, but upon the unequivocal principles of tyranny. Declarations of war and treaties of peace are inventions of a barbarous age, and would never have grown into established usages, if war had customarily gone no farther than to the limits of defence. BOOK IV. One of the most obvious remarks that suggests itself upon

It acts upon insufficient and partial information, it generates intrigue, corruption, adulation and servility. He must study the laws of nature and the necessary consequence of actions, not the arbitrary caprice of his superior. Why spread a restless commotion over the face of a nation, which may lead to the most destructive consequences?

We do not so much as eat and drink, from the recollection that these functions are necessary to our support. VIII. He that is accustomed to utter what he knows to be false or to suppress what he knows to be true, is in a perpetual state of degradation. book viii. But does justice confirm this award?

The true interest of mind demands the annihilation of all factitious and imaginary distinctions; it is inseparable from monarchy to support and render them more palpable than ever. Motives of duelling. Edition: current; Page: [153] Each of these atrocities would be in another way precluded by the doctrine of simple defence. I perceive in what manner they are received by others, and this perception acts by rebound upon my own progress. He that takes into his estimate present things alone, will be the perpetual slave of sensuality and selfishness.

It is because this was a principal requisite, that many persons It will render those the confederates, support and security of our rectitude, who were before its most formidable enemies. Though in some sense an exception, it tends to the same — Ideas of the future state of cooperation. CHAP. Before this principle officers of the army and the navy, ambassadors and negociators, and all the train of artifices that has been invented to hold other nations at bay, to penetrate their secrets, to traverse their machinations, to form alliances and counter alliances, sink into nothing. alphabetical, and this from the very nature of their language, which is considerably monosyllabic, the same found being made to signify a great variety of objects, by means of certain shadings of tone too delicate for any alphabet to be able to represent.