benevolent men whose word or promise cannot safely be trusted; and many men of but little benevolence. very strict in fulfilling their engagements.

13. But when falsehood is employed as a means of inflicting other additional injuries, as in the case of Slander, False Testimony, and Fraud, it has always and for obvious reasons been denounced as among the greatest of crimes.

Of

14. We may here remark, that cheating in trade does not always spring, as is commonly supposed, from a mere sordid cupidity or desire of gain. To make a good bargain, as it is called, implies a certain degree of superior dexterity, a dexterity which, in a community of traders, comes to be highly prized, to be regarded, in fact, as the great test of talent. course, its possession and exercise produce a certain pleasure of superiority. Hence it often happens that men of princely fortunes, and above every imputation of meanness, who will entertain you as a guest for weeks together with the most profuse liberality, and who are constantly performing acts of charity and munificence, when you come to deal with them as merchants, will be highly delighted at cheating you out of a sixpence.

What is esteemed allowable sharpness, and what shall be reckoned fraud, varies greatly in different systems of morals. Among savages, moral sentiment. upon this point, is, in general, sufficiently delicate. The European code of honor admits upon this point no chicanery nor subtle distinctions. But the practice of commerce has led to the introduction, among merchants and lawyers, of many refinements and

many quibbles unknown to the simplicity of ruder times.

15. Closely related to frauds are what are called unfair advantages; as when I take advantage of a man's ignorance or his necessities, to induce him to make a disadvantageous contract, sale, or purchase. Upon this point, the mercantile and legal standard of moral obligation is exceedingly low. Men who would shrink from a positive fraud or a positive false statement, do not feel themselves obliged to communicate information which would cut them off from an advantageous bargain; or to pay a higher price, when, by concealing certain information in their possession, they can compel or induce the acceptance of a lower one.

16. The doctrine of contracts, and the doctrine of frauds constitute two of the most important branches of legal learning, both of which have been very much complicated by the subtleties of scholastic lawyers, and by a profound ignorance, so universal among lawyers, of the real nature and foundation of moral distinctions.

CHAPTER IV.

POLITICAL DUTIES.

1. WE come now to the consideration of a class of duties of the most interesting and important character, called Political Duties. The duty of obedience to civil magistrates, and of conformity to the laws, and the correlative duty of legislators to make just and equal laws, and of magistrates to administer those laws with equity, are evidently founded upon the benefits which society derives from a settled government, and from just laws faithfully administered and submissively obeyed.

Hence, in all forensic codes of morals, when the government is administered in such a way as to produce more harm than good, or much less good than it might or ought to produce; when laws are enacted injurious to the public; when government, instead of contributing to the benefit of all, is made an instrument for elevating or enriching one or a few at the expense of the many, civil obedience is no longer esteemed a duty; in fact, it may become a duty to disobey, and even to rebel.

It is, however, a matter so nice and difficult to determine when that point is reached which makes rebellion, civil war, and the danger of anarchy preferable to further submission to a tyrannical government and unjust, or in other words, unequal laws, that all cases of disobedience and rebellion give rise

to infinite controversies and disputes, both as to the rectitude of the rebellion itself, and as to the motives and moral character of those engaged in it. In this case, as in several others, for want of any better test, vulgar opinion is commonly decided by the failure or success of the enterprise; though that success often depends upon circumstances impossible for those who commence a revolution to foresee. We shall show, however, in the Theory of Politics, that in this particular case, this vulgar method of judging is not destitute of a solid foundation.

2. Mystic morality views this matter in a very different light. Having laid it down as a first principle, that man has been created by God, solely for God's pleasure, hence it follows, as we have seen already, that it is man's duty to serve God in every thought, word, and deed, and to obey him in all things. But how are the will and wishes of God to be known, except from those to whom he specially communicates them, and whom he has established as a separate and distinct order, peculiarly devoted to his service, and the special interpreters of his will ? Hence the duty which priests have always taught, of an implicit and absolute submission on the part of the laity, not only so far as regards actions, but even as regards thoughts, to the control of the priesthood, the select and inspired interpreters of the will and pleasure of God.

3. Thus, wherever mystical doctrines have obtained complete sway, a theocratic despotism has been the result; as, at one time, in ancient Egypt, among the Jews, among the Mexicans, and Peruvians, and

at present, in the territories of the Pope and the Lama. The Saracen Caliphs, the successors of Mahomet, claimed to be God's supreme vicegerants upon earth, and the present Turkish sultans pretend to be the successors of the caliphs, and to be entitled to exercise the same spiritual despotism. The emperor of Russia is head of the church as well as of the state, and there can be no perfect and permanent despotism, where these functions are not united. It seems likely that theocracy prevailed at one time throughout India. It existed among the Druids, in ancient Gaul and Britain, and, perhaps, had some influence in making the inhabitants of those countries, already accustomed to servitude, fall a prey to Roman conquerors whom the freer Germans successfully resisted.

Wherever theocracy has long prevailed, it has produced an enervating effect, against which even the fervors of religious enthusiasm, which are always limited to a few, and which soon become exhausted, furnish but a doubtful and unsteady counterbalance. Theocracy, during the Middle Ages, came to the very point of consolidating all Europe into one great papal monarchy. Evident traces, even very perfect specimens of it, are to be found among the most savage tribes of Africa, America, and the South Sea. It has laid the foundation of many empires, and has prevailed so universally, that even the candid, acute, and philosophic Guizot has been seduced into the conclusion, that it is an element essential to civilization. Without stopping here to controvert that opinion, we will only remark, that wherever theocracy has been permanently established, or has approached