LETTER V.

On POLITICAL EVILS.

SIR,

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CCORDING to my propofed Plan there ftill remain two forts of Evils to be accounted for, Political and Religious; under which heads, (if you are not already tired with fo abftrufe and unentertaining a correfpondence) I fhall endeavour to frew you, that it is utterly impoffible, even for Omnipotence itself, to give a perfect Government, or a perfect Religion to an imperfect Creature; and therefore, that the numberless imperfections inherent in all human Governments and Religions, are not imputable to God, nor any defect of power, wifdom, or goodness in Him; but only to the inferiority of Man's station in the Universe, which neceffarily expofes him to Natural and Moral Evils, and muft, for the fame Reafon, to Political and Religious; which are Y 2 indeed

indeed but the Confequences of the other. Superior Beings may probably form to themselves, or receive from their Creator, Government without Tyranny or Corruption, and Religions without Delusions or Abfurdities; but Man cannot: God indeed may remove him into fo exalted a Society; but whilft he continues to be Man, he must be subject to innumerable Evils; amongst which those I call Political and Religious are far from being the leaft.

BUT as these two kinds of Evils are very different, they will require different confiderations; I fhall therefore in the prefent confine myself to the Political only; by which I mean all those grievous burthens of Tyranny and Oppreffion, of Violence and Corruption, of War and Defolation, under which all Ages and Nations have ever groaned on account of Government: little lefs deftructive perhaps to the happiness of Mankind, than even Anarchy itself; but which, notwithftanding, are so woven into the very Effence of all Human Governments from the Depravity of Man, that without them none can be either established, maintained or administered, nor confequently can they be prevented without changing that Depravity into perfection; that is, without a compleat Alteration in Human Nature. How this comes to pafs may be eafily explained by a fhort examination first into the nature and origin of Government in

general,

general, and afterwards into those of particular Forms and Policies; than which nothing has been more commonly misunderstood and misrepresented.

As to Government in general, it is no wonder, that it is so productive of Evil, fince its very Nature confifts of Power trufted in the hands of fuch imperfect and vicious Creatures as Men, and exercised over others as imperfect and vicious as themselves; in which there must be Pride, Avarice and Cruelty on one Side; Envy, Ignorance and Obftinacy on the other; and Injustice and SelfInterest on both. Its Origin alfo arifes from the fame impure fource of human Imperfection; that is, Men being neither wife nor honest enough, to pursue their common or mutual interefts without Compulfion, are obliged to fubmit to fome, in order to fecure their lives and properties from the depredations of all: but tho' this Neceffity drives them into fome kind of Government, yet it can never decide who fhall govern, because all Men being by nature equal, every one has an equal right to this fuperiority: this therefore can be determined only by more Imperfections; that is, by the Struggles of Ambition, Treachery, Violence and Corruption; from fuccefs in which univerfal scramble are derived all the mighty Empires of the Earth: One Man at first by fome of these methods acquiring the command over a few, then by their aid extending his power over greater numbers,

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numbers, and at last by the affistance of those numbers, united by the advantage of plundering others, fubduing all oppofition: and thus we see all human Government is the Offspring of Violence and Corruption, and muft inherit the imperfection of both its parents. It is plain also that national Governments can never be supported by any other methods than thofe by which they were at first raised; for, being all independent of each other, and retaining ftill their original inclination to devour each other; and having no fuperior tribunal to refer to for juftice, they can have no means to fecure their own poffeffions, or to repel their mutual encroachments, but by force, which is called the Right of War; that is, the right of doing all the wrong that lies in their power for war, however dignified with honours and encomiums by conquerors and their flatterers, is in fact nothing elfe but robbery and murder. Nations having no more right to plunder each other than Parishes, nor Men to kill one another. in their political than in their private capacities.

If we look into the internal conftitutions of all thefe Governments, we fhall find likewife, that they must be adminiftered by the fame violence and corruption to which they are indebted for their Origin; that is, by hiring one part of the fociety to force the other into fubjection; and

that

that none of them ever fubfifted any longer than whilst the stronger part, not always the most numerous, found it for their advantage to keep the weaker in obedience: for it fhould be ever remembered, as the fundamental of all politics, that Men will never fubmit to each other merely for the fake of public Utility, too remote a benefit to make any impreffion on the dull fenfes of the multitude; but must be always beat or bribed into obedience. Higher orders of Beings may submit to each other on nobler motives, from their sense of Virtue or of univerfal Benefit; but Man can be governed by nothing but the Fear of Punishment or the hopes of Reward; that is, by Self-intereft, the great Principle that operates in the political World in the fame manner that Attraction does in the natural, preserving order and restraining every thing to its proper courfe by the

a If any one is fo ignorant of human nature, as to fancy that they will, let him make the experiment in a single parish, and there, if without Power or Compulfion, Intereft or Gratuity, folely by the ftrength of Reafon, and motives of public Advantage, he can perfuade the Inhabitants to fubmit to equal and neceffary taxes, to repair roads, build bridges, inclofe commons, drain marshes, employ their poor, or perform any works of general Utility: if he can accomplish this, let him retain his opinion; but if he finds it utterly impracticable, let him not expect, that it can ever be done in a whole Nation, in which there are fo many more factions, interefts and abfurdities to contend with.