t establishment, would naturally be supposed.
to derive its obligation from those laws of nature, and, in particular,
from that concerning the performance of promises. When men have once
perceived the necessity of government to maintain peace, and
execute justice, they would naturally assemble together, would chuse
magistrates, determine power, and promise them obedience. As a promise
is supposed to be a bond or security already in use, and attended with
a moral obligation, it is to be considered as the original sanction of
government, and as the source of the first obligation to obedience. This
reasoning appears so natural, that it has become the foundation of our
fashionable system of politics, and is in a manner the creed of a party
amongst us, who pride themselves, with reason, on the soundness of their
philosophy, and their liberty of thought. All men, say they, are born
free and equal: Government and superiority can only be established by
consent: The consent of men, in establishing government, imposes on them
a new obligation, unknown to the laws of nature. Men, therefore, are
bound to obey their magistrates, only because they promise it; and if
they had not given their word, either expressly or tacitly, to preserve
allegiance, it would never have become a part of their moral duty. This
conclusion, however, when carried so far as to comprehend government in
all its ages and situations, is entirely erroneous; and I maintain, that
though the duty of allegiance be at first grafted on the obligation
of promises, and be for some time supported by that obligation, yet
it quickly takes root of itself, and has an original obligation and
authority, independent of all contracts. This is a principle of moment,
which we must examine with care and attention, before we proceed any
farther.

It is reasonable for those philosophers, who assert justice to be a
natural virtue, and antecedent to human conventions, to resolve all
civil allegiance into the obligation of a promise, and assert that it is
our own consent alone, which binds us to any submission to magistracy.
For as all government is plainly an invention of men, and the origin of
most governments is known in history, it is necessary to mount higher,
in order to find the source of our political duties, if we would assert
them to have any natural obligation of morality. These philosophers,
therefore, quickly observe, that society is as antient as the human
species, and tho