cated in the political
works of Hobbes, are contained in the following propositions:--All men
are by nature equal, and, prior to government, they had all an equal
right to enjoy the good things of this world. Man, too, is by nature, a
solitary and purely selfish animal; the social union being entirely an
interested league, suggested by prudential views of personal advantage.
The necessary consequence is, that a state of nature must be a state of
perpetual warfare, in which no individual has any other means of safety
than his own strength or ingenuity; and in which there is no room
for regular industry, because no secure enjoyment of its fruits. In
confirmation of this view of the origin of society, Hobbes appeals to
facts falling daily within the cycle of our experience. "Does not a
man, (he asks) when taking a journey, arm himself, and seek to go well
accompanied? When going to sleep, does he not lock his doors? Nay, even
in his own house, does he not lock his chests? Does he not there accuse
mankind by his action, as I do by my words?" For the sake of peace and
security, it is necessary that each individual should surrender a part
of his natural right, and be contented with such a share of liberty
as he is willing to allow to others; or, to use Hobbes's own language,
"every man must divest himself of the right he has to all things by
nature; the right of all men to all things, being in effect no better
than if no man had a right to anything." In consequence of this
transference of natural rights to an individual, or to a body of
individuals, the multitude become one person, under the name of a State,
or Republic, by which person the common will and power are exercised for
the common defence. The ruling power cannot be withdrawn from those to
whom it has been committed; nor can they be punished for misgovern-ment.
The interpretation of the laws is to be sought, not from the comments
of philosophers, but from the authority of the ruler; otherwise society
would every moment be in danger of resolving itself into the discordant
elements of which it was at first composed.--The will of the magistrate,
therefore, is to be regarded as the ultimate standard of right and
wrong, and his voice to be listened to by every citizen as the voice of
conscience."

* Leviathan. Ed. 1651.

** Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Science, p. 41.

Such are the words of one of Hobbes's most powerful opponents. Dr.
Warburton