very fouls into the wounds we give an enemy*? And what a malignant philofophy muft it be, that will not allow to humanity and friendship the fame privileges which are indifputably granted to the darker paffions of enmity and refentment? Such a philofophy is more like a fatire than a true delineation or description of human nature; and may be a good foundation for paradoxical wit and raillery, but is a very bad one for any ferious argument or reasoning.

APPENDIX III.

SOME FARTHER CONSIDERATIONS with regard to JUSTICE.

THE

HE intention of this Appendix is to give fome more particular explication of the origin and nature of Justice, and to mark fome differences between it and the other virtues.

The focial virtues of humanity and benevolence exert their influence immediately, by a direct tendency or instinct, which chiefly keeps in view the fimple object, moving the affections, and comprehends not any scheme or fyftem, nor the confequences refulting from the concurrence, imitation, or example, of others. A parent flies to the relief of his child; transported by that natural fympathy which actuates him, and which affords no leisure to reflect on the fentiments or conduct of the rest of mankind in like circumftances. A generous man cheerfully embraces X 3

VIRG.

an

* Animafque in vulnere ponunt. Dum alteri noceat, fui negligens, fays SENECA of anger. De Ira, lib. i.

an opportunity of ferving his friend; because he then feels himself under the dominion of the beneficent affections, nor is he concerned whether any other perfon in the universe were ever before actuated by fuch noble motives, or will ever afterwards prove their influence. In all these cafes, the focial paffions have in view a fingle individual object, and purfue the fafety or happiness alone of the perfon loved and efteemed. With this they are fatisfied: In this they acquiefce. And as the good refulting from their benign influence, is in itself complete and entire, it alfo excites the moral fentiment of approbation, without any reflection on farther confequences, and without any more enlarged views of the concurrence or imitation of the other members of fociety. On the contrary, were the generous friend or difinterested patriot to stand alone in the practice of beneficence; this would rather inhance his value in our eyes, and join the praise of rarity and novelty to his other more exalted merits.

The cafe is not the fame with the focial virtues of justice and fidelity. They are highly useful, or indeed abfolutely neceffary, to the well-being of mankind: But the benefit, refulting from them, is not the confequence of every individual fingle act; but arifes from the whole scheme or fyftem, concurred in by the whole, or the greater part, of the fociety. General peace and order are the attendants of juftice, or a general abftinence from the poffeffions of others: But a particular regard to the particular right of one individual citizen may frequently, confidered in itself, be productive of pernicious confequences. The refult of the individual acts is here, in many inftances, directly oppofite to that of the whole fyftem of actions; and the former may be extremely hurtful, while the latter is, to the highest degree, advantageous. Riches, inherited from a parent, are, in abad man's hand, the inftrument of mifchief. The right of fucceffion may, in one inftance, be hurtful. Its benefit arifes only from

from the obfervance of the general rule; and it is fufficient, if compenfation be thereby made for all the ills and inconveniences which flow from particular characters and fituations.

CYRUS, young and unexperienced, confidered only the individual cafe before him, and reflected on a limited fitnefs and convenience, when he affigned the long coat to the tall boy, and the fhort coat to the other of smaller fize. His governor inftructed him better; while he pointed out more enlarged views and confequences, and informed his pupil of the general, inflexible rules, neceffary to fupport general peace and order in fociety.

The happiness and profperity of mankind, arising from the focial virtue of benevolence and its fubdivisions, may be compared to a wall, built by many hands; which still rises by each stone that is heaped upon it, and receives increase proportional to the diligence and care of each workman. The fame

happiness, raised by the focial virtue of juftice and its fubdivifions, may be compared to the building of a vault, where each individual stone would, of itself, fall to the ground; nor is the whole fabric fupported but by the mutual affiftance and combination of its correfponding parts.

All the laws of nature, which regulate property, as well as all civil laws, are general, and regard alone fome effential circumftances of the cafe, without taking into confideration the characters, fituations, and connections of the perfon concerned, or any particular confequences which may refult from the determination of thefe laws, in any particular cafe which offers. They deprive, without fcruple, a beneficent man of all his poffeffions, if acquired by miftake, without a good title; in order to bestow them on a selfish mifer, who has already heaped up immense stores of fuperfluous riches. Public utility requires, that property fhould be regulated by general inflexible rules; and though fuch rules are adopt

ed as best serve the fame end of public utility, it is impoffible for them to prevent all particular hardfhips, or make beneficial confequences refult from every individual cafe. It is fufficient, if the whole plan or scheme be neceffary to the fupport of civil fociety, and if the balance of good, in the main, do thereby preponderate much above that of evil. Even the general laws of the univerfe, though planned by infinite wisdom, cannot exclude all evil or inconvenience in every particular operation.

It has been afferted by fome, that juftice arifes from HUMAN CONVENTIONS, and proceeds from the voluntary choice, confent, or combination of mankind. If by convention be here meant a promife (which is the most usual sense of the word), nothing can be more abfurd than this pofition. The obfervance of promises is itself one of the most confiderable parts of juftice; and we are not furely bound to keep our word, because we have given our word to keep it. But if by convention be meant a sense of common intereft; which fenfe each man feels in his own breast, which he remarks in his fellows, and which carries him, in concurrence with others, into a general plan or fyftem of actions, which tends to public utility; it must be owned, that, in this fenfe, juftice arifes from human conventions. For if it be allowed (what is, indeed, evident), that the particular confequences of a particular act of juftice may be hurtful to the public as well as to individuals; it follows, that every man, in embracing that virtue, must have an eye to the whole plan or fyftem, and must expect the concurrence of his fellows in the fame conduct and behaviour. Did all his views terminate in the confequences of each act of his own, his benevolence and humanity, as well as his felf-love, might often prefcribe to him measures of conduct very different from those which are agreeable to the strict rules of right and justice.

Thus two men pull the oars of a boat by common convention, for common intereft, without any pro

mife or contract: Thús gold and filver are made the measures of exchange; thus fpeech and words and language are fixed, by human convention and agreement. Whatever is advantageous to two or more perfons, if all perform their part; but what lofes all advantage, if only one perform, can arife from no other principle. There would otherwise be no motive for any one of them to enter into that scheme of conduct*. The word natural, is commonly taken in fo many fenfes, and is of fo loose a fignification, that it seems vain to dispute whether juftice be natural or not. If felf-love, if benevolence, be natural to man; if reafon and forethought be alfo natural; then may the fame epithet be applied to justice, order, fidelity, property, fociety. Mens inclination, their neceffities, lead them to combine; their understanding and experience tell them, that this combination is impoffible, where each governs himself by no rule, and pays no regard to the poffeffions of others: And from thefe paffions and reflections conjoined, as foon as we observe like paffions and reflections in others, the fentiment of juftice, throughout all ages, has infallibly and certainly had place, to fome degree or other, in every individual of the human fpecies. In fo fagacious an animal, what neceffarily arifes from the exertion of his intellectual faculties, may juftly be efteemed natural f.

Among all civilized nations, it has been the constant endeavour to remove every thing arbitrary and partial from the decifion of property, and to fix the fentence of judges by fuch general views and confiderations, as may be equal to every member of the fociety. For befides, that nothing could be more dangerous than to accustom the bench, even in the fmallest inftance, to regard private friendship or enmity; it is certain, that men, where they imagine that there was no other reason for the preference of their adversary but perfonal favour, are apt to entertain the strongest ill-will against the magiftrates and judges.

See NOTE [PP].

+ See NOTE Q0].