might be varied and regulated by that contract which unites man and wife in that fociety, as far as may confift with procreation and the bringing up of children till they could fhift for themfelves; nothing being neceffary to any fociety, that is not neceffary to the ends for which it is made.

§. 84. The fociety betwixt parents and children, and the diftinct rights and powers belonging refpectively to them, I have treated of fo largely, in the foregoing chapter, that I fhall not here need to fay any thing of it. And I think it is plain, that it is far different from a politic fociety.

§. 85. Mafter and fervant are names as old as hiftory, but given to thofe of far different condition; for a freeman makes himself a fervant to another, by felling him, for a certain time, the fervice he undertakes to do, in exchange for wages he is to receive: and though this commonly puts him into the family of his mafter, and under the ordinary discipline thereof; yet it gives the mafter but a temporary power over him, and no greater than what is contained in the contract between them. But there is another fort of fervants, which by a peculiar name we call flaves, who being captives taken in a juft war, are by the right of nature subjected to the abfolute dominion and arbitrary power of their masters. These men having, as I fay, forfeited their lives, and with it their

5

liberties,

liberties, and loft their eftates; and being in the state of flavery, not capable of any property, cannot in that ftate be confidered as any part of civil fociety; the chief end whereof is the prefervation of property.

§. 86. Let us therefore confider a mafter of a family with all these fubordinate relations of wife, children, fervants, and flaves, united under the domeftic rule of a family; which, what refemblance foever it may have in its order, offices, and number too, with a little common-wealth, yet is very far from it, both in its conftitution, power and end: or if it must be thought a monarchy, and the paterfamilias the abfolute monarch in it, abfolute monarchy will have but a very fhattered and fhort power, when it is plain, by what has been faid before, that the mafter of the family has a very distinct and differently limited power, both as to time and extent, over those several perfons that are in it; for excepting the flave (and the family is as much a family, and his power as paterfamilias as great, whether there be any flaves in his family or no) he has no legislative power of life and death over any of them, and none too but what a mistress of a family may have as well as he. And he certainly can have no abfolute power over the whole family, who has but a very limited one over every individual in it. But how a family, or any other fociety of men, differ from that which is properly

perly political Society, we fhall beft fee, by confidering wherein political Society itself confifts.

>

§. 87. Man being born, as has been proved, with a title to perfect freedom, and an uncontrouled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of nature, equally with any other man, or number of men in the world, hath by nature a power, not only to preferve his property, that is, his life, liberty and eftate, against the injuries and attempts of other men; but to judge of, and punish the breaches of that law in others, as he is perfuaded the offence deferves, even with death itself, in crimes where the heinoufness of the fact, in his opinion, requires it. But becaufe no political fociety can be, nor subsist, without having in itself the power to préferve the property, and in order thereunto, punish the offences of all thofe of that fociety; there, and there only is political fociety, where every one of the members hath quitted this natural power, refigned it up into the hands of the community in all cafes that exclude him not from appealing for tection to the law established by it. And thus all private judgment of every particular member being excluded, the community comes to be umpire, by fettled ftanding rules, indifferent, and the fame to all parties; and by men having authority from the commu

pro

nity, for the execution of those rules, decides all the differences that may happen between any members of that fociety concerning any matter of right; and punishes those offences which any member hath committed against the fociety, with fuch penalties as the law has established: whereby it is easy to discern, who are, and who are not, in political fociety together. Those who are united into one body, and have a common established law and judicature to appeal to, with authority to decide controverfies between them, and punifh offenders, are in civil fociety one with another but those who have no fuch common people, I mean on earth, are ftill in the state of nature, each being, where there is no other, judge for himself, and executioner; which is, as I have before fhewed it, the perfect state of nature.

§. 88. And thus the common-wealth comes by a power to fet down what punishment shall belong to the several tranfgreffions which they think worthy of it, committed amongst the members of that fociety, (which is the power of making laws) as well as it has the power to punish any injury done unto any of its members, by any one that is not of it, (which is the power of war and peace ;) and all this for the prefervation of the property of all the members of that fociety, as far as is poffible. But though every man who has

entered

entered into civil fociety, and is become a member of any common-wealth, has thereby quitted his power to punish offences, against the law of nature, in profecution of his own private judgment, yet with the judgment of offences, which he has given up to the legiflative in all cafes, where he can appeal to the magiftrate, he has given a right to the common-wealth to employ his force, for the execution of the judgments of the commonwealth, whenever he fhall be called to it; which indeed are his own judgments, they being made by himself, or his reprefentative. And herein we have the original of the legiflative and executive power of civil fociety, which is to judge by standing laws, how far offences are to be punished, when committed within the common-wealth; and also to determine, by occafional judgments founded on the prefent circumstances of the fact, how far injuries from without are to be vindicated; and in both these to employ all the force of all the members, when there fhall be need.

§. 89. Where-ever therefore any number of men are fo united into one fociety, as to quit every one his executive power of the law of nature, and to refign it to the public, there and there only is a political, or civil Society. And this is done, where-ever any number of men, in the state of nature, enter into fociety to make one people, one body

politic,