he morality, to impel us to just actions, and deter us
from unjust ones. Let those motives, therefore, be what they will, they
must accommodate themselves to circumstances, and must admit of all the
variations, which human affairs, in their incessant revolutions, are
susceptible of. They are consequently a very improper foundation for
such rigid inflexible rules as the laws of nature; and it is evident
these laws can only be derived from human conventions, when men have
perceived the disorders that result from following their natural and
variable principles.

Upon the whole, then, we are to consider this distinction betwixt
justice and injustice, as having two different foundations, viz, that
of interest, when men observe, that it is impossible to live in society
without restraining themselves by certain rules; and that of morality,
when this interest is once observed and men receive a pleasure from the
view of such actions as tend to the peace of society, and an uneasiness
from such as are contrary to it. It is the voluntary convention
and artifice of men, which makes the first interest take place;
and therefore those laws of justice are so far to be considered as
artifrial. After that interest is once established and acknowledged, the
sense of morality in the observance of these rules follows naturally,
and of itself; though it is certain, that it is also augmented by a
new artifice, and that the public instructions of politicians, and the
private education of parents, contribute to the giving us a sense of
honour and duty in the strict regulation of our actions with regard to
the properties of others.

SECT. VII OF THE ORIGIN OF GOVERNMENT

Nothing is more certain, than that men are, in a great measure, governed
by interest, and that even when they extend their concern beyond
themselves, it is not to any great distance; nor is it usual for
them, in common life, to look farther than their nearest friends and
acquaintance. It is no less certain, that it is impossible for men to
consult, their interest in so effectual a manner, as by an universal and
inflexible observance of the rules of justice, by which alone they can
preserve society, and keep themselves from falling into that wretched
and savage condition, which is commonly represented as the state of
nature. And as this interest, which all men have in the upholding of
society, and the observation of the rules of justice, is great, so is
it palpable and e