BOOK III PART II
establishes in society. And even every individ-
ual person must find himself a gainer, on bal-
lancing the account; since, without justice soci-
ety must immediately dissolve, and every one
must fall into that savage and solitary condi-
tion, which is infinitely worse than the worst
situation that can possibly be supposed in soci-
ety. When therefore men have had experience
enough to observe, that whatever may be the
consequence of any single act of justice, per-
formed by a single person, yet the whole sys-
tem of actions, concurred in by the whole so-
ciety, is infinitely advantageous to the whole,
and to every part; it is not long before justice
and property take place. Every member of so-
ciety is sen sible of this interest: Every one ex-
presses this sense to his fellows, along with the
resolution he has taken of squaring his actions
by it, on condition that others will do the same.