We are now prepared for investigating the laws that refult from the foregoing. principles. The several duties we owe to others fhall be first difcuffed, taking them in order according to the extent of their influence. And for the fake of perfpicu

ity, I fhall first present them in a general view, and then proceed to particulars. Of our duties to others, one there is fo extenfive, as to have for its object all the innocent part of mankind. It is the duty that prohibits us to hurt others: than which no law is more clearly dictated by the moral fenfe; nor is the tranfgreffion of any other law more deeply ftamped with the character of wrong. A man may be hurt externally in his goods, in his perfon, in his relations, and in his reputation. Hence the laws, Do not steal; Defraud not others; Do not kill nor wound; Be not guilty of defamation. A man may be hurt internally, by an action that occafions to him diftress of mind, or by be

"weights, nicely adjusted and balanced, enter into "the movement, and require allowance to be made "for their several clogs and impulfes, ere you can "define its operation and effects." Enquiry into the life and writings of Homer.

ing

ing impreffed with falfe notions of men and things. Therefore confcience dictates, that we ought not to treat men difrefpect-fully; that we ought not causelessly to alienate their affections from others; and, in general, that we ought to forbear whatever may tend to break their peace of mind, or tend to unqualify them for being good men and good citizens.

The duties mentioned are duties of re-. ftraint. Our active duties regard particular perfons; fuch as our relations, our friends, our benefactors, our masters, our fervants. It is our duty to honour and obey our parents; and to establish our children in the world, with all advantages internal and external: we ought to be faithful to our friends, grateful to our benefactors, submissive to our masters, kind to our fervants; and to aid and comfort every one of these persons when in distress. To be obliged to do good to others beyond thefe bounds, muft depend on pofitive en-. gagement; for, as will appear afterward, univerfal benevolence is not a duty.

This general sketch will prepare us for particulars. The duty of restraint comes first in view, that which bars us from harming

harming the innocent; and to it correfponds a right in the innocent to be safe from harm. This is the great law preparatory to fociety; becaufe without it, fociety could never have exifted. Here the moral fenfe is inflexible: it dictates, that we ought to fubmit to any distress, even 'death itself, rather than procure our own fafety by laying violent hands upon an innocent perfon. And we are under the fame restraint with refpect to the property of another; for robbery and theft are never upon any pretext indulged. It is indeed true, that in extreme hunger I may lawfully take food where it can be found; and may freely lay hold of my neighbour's horse, to carry me from an enemy who threatens death. But it is his duty as a fellow-creature to affift me in diftrefs; and when there is no time for delay, I may lawfully ufe what he ought to offer were he prefent, and what I may prefume he would offer. For the fame reafon, if in a storm my ship be driven among the anchor-ropes of another fhip, I may lawfully cut the ropes in order to get free. But in every cafe of this kind, it would be a wrong in me to ufe my neighbour's

VOL. IV.

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property,

property, without refolving to pay the value. If If my neighbour be bound to aid me in diftrefs, confcience binds me to make up his lofs*.

The

*This doctrine is obviously founded on juftice; and yet, in the Roman law, there are two paffages which deny any recompence in fuch cafes. "Item "Labeo fcribit, fi cum vi ventorum navis impulfa "effet in funes anchorarum alterius, et nautæ fu"nes præcidiffent; fi nullo alio modo, nifi præcifis

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funibus, explicare fe potuit, nullam actionem "dandam;" /. 29. § 3. ad leg. Aquil. " Quod di"citur damnum injuria datum Aquilia perfequi, fic "erit accipiendum, ut videatur damnum injuria da"tum quod cum damno injuriam attulerit; nifi "magna vi cogente, fuerit factum. Ut Celfus * fcribit circa eum, qui incendii arcendi gratia ❝ vicinas ædes intercidit: et five pervenit ignis, "five antea extinctus eft, exiftimat legis Aqui"liæ liæ actionem ceffare." I. 49. § 1. eod. [In Englib thus: "In the opinion of Labeo, if a ship " is driven by the violence of a tempeft among the

anchor-ropes of another fhip, and the failors cut "the ropes, having no other means of getting free, "there is no action competent. -The Aquilian

law must be understood to apply only to fuch da"mage as carries the idea of an injury along with "it, unless such injury has not been wilfully done, "but from neceffity. Thus Celfus puts the cafe of a person who, to stop the progrefs of a fire, pulls "down his neighbour's houfe; and whether the

The prohibition of hurting others internally, is perhaps not effential to the formation of focieties, because the tranfgreffion of that law doth not much alarm plain people: but where manners and refined sentiments prevail, the mind is fufceptible of more grievous wounds than the body; and therefore, without that law, a polished fociety could have no long endu

rance.

By adultery, mischief is done both external and internal. Each fex is fo conftituted, as to require ftrict fidelity and attachment in a mate. The breach of these duties is the greatest external harm

"fire had reached that houfe which is pulled down, "or was extinguished before it got to it, in neither "cafe, he thinks, will an action be competent from "the Aquilian law."]-- Thefe opinions are undoubtedly erroneous. And it is not difficult to fay what has occafioned the error: the cafes mentioned are treated as belonging to the lex Aquilia; which being confined to the reparation of wrongs, lays it justly down for a rule, That no action for reparation çan lie, where there is no culpa. But had Labeo and Celfus adverted, that these cafes belong to a different head, viz. the duty of recompence, where one fuffers lofs by benefiting another, they themselves would have had no difficulty of fuftaining a claim for making up that lofs.