LESSONS ON LAW, PROPERTY, AND THE

CONSTITUTION.

OF SECURITY. (JEREMY BENTHAM.)

THIS inestimable good is the distinctive mark of civilisation; it is entirely the work of the laws. Without law there is no security; consequently no abundance, nor even certain subsistence. And the only equality which can exist in such a condition is the equality of misery.

In order rightly to estimate this great benefit of the laws, it is only necessary to consider the condition of savages. They struggle without ceasing against famine, which sometimes cuts off, in a few days, whole nations. Rivalry with respect to the means of subsistence produces among men the most cruel wars; and, like the most ferocious beasts, men pursue men, that they may feed on one another. The dread of this horrible calamity destroys amongst them the gentlest sentiments of nature: pity connects itself with insensibility in putting the old persons to death, because they can no longer follow their prey.

Examine also, what passes at those periods, during which civilized societies almost return into the savage state;-I refer to a time of war, when the laws which give security are in part suspended. Every instant of its duration is fruitful in calamity : at every step which it imprints upon the globe, at every movement which it makes, the existing mass of riches-the foundation of abundance and subsistence-is decreased, and disappears: the lowly cottage and the lofty palace are alike subject to its ravages;

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and often the anger or caprice of a moment consigns to destruction the slow productions of an age of labour.

The law does not say to a man, “Work, and I will reward you," but it says to him, "Work, and, by stopping the hand that would take them from you, I will insure to you the fruits of your labour, its natural and sufficient reward, which without me, you could not preserve." If industry creates, it is the law which preserves; if at the first moment, we owe everything to labour, at the second and every succeeding moment, we owe everything to the law.

In order to form a clear idea of the whole extent which ought to be given to the principle of security, it is necessary to consider that man is not like the brutes, limited to the present time either in enjoyment or suffering; but that he is susceptible of pleasure and pain by anticipation, and that it is not enough to guard him against an actual loss, but we must also guarantee to him, as much as possible, his possessions against future losses. The idea of his security must be prolonged to him throughout the whole vista that his imagination can measure.

North America presents the most striking contrast of a state of society with and without law, and the security which it gives savage nature is there placed by the side of civilisation. The interior of this immense region presents only a frightful solitude; impenetrable forest or barren tracts, standing waters, noxious exhalations, venomous reptiles-such is the land left to itself. The barbarous hordes who traverse these deserts, without fixed habitation, always occupied in the pursuit of their prey, and always filled with implacable rivalry, only meet to attack and to destroy each other; so that the wild beasts are not so dangerous to man, as man himself. But upon the borders of these solitudes what a different prospect presents itself! One could almost believe that one saw, at one view, the two empires of good and evil. The forests have given place to cultivated fields; the morass is dried up; the land has become solid, is covered with meadows, pastures, domestic animals, smiling and healthy habitations; cities have risen up on regular plans; wide roads are traced between them; everything shows that men are seeking the means of drawing near to one another; they no longer dread or seek to murder each other. The sea-ports are filled with vessels receiving all the productions of the earth, and serving to exchange its riches.

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countless multitude, living in peace and abundance upon the fruits of their labours, has succeeded to the nations of hunters who were always struggling between war and famine. What has produced these wonders? What has renovated the surface of the earth? What has given to man this dominion over embellished, fruitful, and perfectionated nature? The benevolent genius is security. It is security which has wrought out this great metamorphosis. How rapid have been its operations! It is scarcely two centuries since William Penn reached these savage wilds with a colony of true conquerors; for they were men of peace, who sullied not their establishment by force, and who made themselves respected only by acts of benevolence and justice.

THE ADVANTAGES OF THE INSTITUTION OF PROPERTY.1

The chief advantages connected with the institution of property are the following :

I. It increases the produce of the earth.-The earth, in climates like ours, produces little without cultivation, and none would be found willing to cultivate the ground if others were to be admitted to an equal share of the produce. The same is true of the care of flocks and herds of tame animals.

Crabs and acorns, red deer, rabbits, game, and fish, are all which we should have to subsist upon in this country if we trusted to the spontaneous productions of the soil; and it fares not much better with other countries. A nation of North American savages, consisting of two or three hundred, will take up and be half starved upon, a tract of land which, in Europe, and with European management, would be sufficient for the maintenance of as many thousands.

In some fertile soils, together with great abundance of fish upon their coasts, and in regions where clothes are unnecessary, a considerable degree of population may subsist without property in land, which is the case in the islands of Tahiti.

II. It preserves the produce of the earth to maturity.-We may

1 Abridged from Paley.

judge what would be the effects of a community of right to the productions of the earth, from the trifling specimens which we see of it at present. A cherry-tree in a hedgerow, nuts in a wood, the grass of an unstinted pasture, are seldom of much advantage to anybody, because people do not wait for the proper season of reaping them. Corn, if any were sown, would never ripen ; lambs and calves would never grow up to sheep and cows, because the first person that met them would reflect that he had better take them as they are, than leave them for another.

III. It prevents contests.-War and want, tumult and confusion, must be unavoidable or eternal, where there is not enough for all, and where there are no rules to adjust the division.

IV. It improves the conveniency of living.-This it does in two ways. It enables mankind to divide themselves into distinct professions, which is impossible, unless a man can exchange the productions of his own art for what he wants from others; and exchange implies property. Much of the advantage of civilized over savage life depends upon this. When a man is from necessity his own tailor, tentmaker, carpenter, cook, huntsman, and fisherman, it is not probable that he will be expert at any of his callings. Hence the rude habitations, furniture, clothing, and implements of savages, and the tedious length of time which all their operations require.

It likewise encourages those arts by which the accommodations of human life are supplied, by appropriating to the artist the benefit of his discoveries and improvements, without which appropriation ingenuity will never be exerted with effect.

Upon these several accounts we may venture, with a few exceptions, to pronounce, that even the poorest and the worst provided in countries where property, and the consequences of property, prevail, are in a better situation, with respect to food, raiment, houses, and what are called the necessaries of life, than any are in places where most things remain in common.

THE BRITISH CONSTITUTION.-KING, LORDS, AND COMMONS.

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The British Constitution is what is called a limited monarchy, being the government of a hereditary king or queen, in conjunction with a parliament. If there were no parliament, and the regal power were unlimited, it would be an absolute monarchy, and iť there were only a parliament it would be a republic. In consequence of both being found in co-existence, our government is said to be mixed.

The functions of government, that is, all that a government does for a people, are usually distributed under three heads, the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial.

To the Legislative branch of government belongs the enacting and repealing of laws; to the Executive (or administrative) belongs the maintenance of public peace and good order, the directing of fleets and armies, in short, the execution of all that is required to be done from day to day for the public service; to the Judicial branch of government belongs the deciding of causes between man and man, and the trying of persons accused of crime.

The Legislature.

The Legislative power exists with Parliament, that is, the Houses of Lords and Commons.

The House of Lords, or Upper House, is composed of the Spiritual and Temporal Peers.

The House of Commons consists of 658 members, chosen by the people as their representatives. Of these England and Wales are represented by 500, Ireland by 105, and Scotland by 53. The members are returned separately, by counties, cities, and boroughs. When a new Parliament has to be called together, "writs" are issued by the Lord Chancellor to the sheriffs of counties, and these again send orders to officers called "returning officers," commanding them to elect their members within eight days after receipt of the order.2 On the day fixed, called the nomination-day, the candidates appear on a public platform, called the "hustings," and having been proposed and seconded by two

1 Partly abridged and adapted from Lessons on the British Constitution (Parker). 2 In counties sixteen days are allowed.