BOOK III PART II
ceived the necessity of government to main-
tain peace, and execute justice, they would nat-
urally assemble together, would chuse mag-
istrates, 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 sys-
tem of politics, and is in a manner the creed
of a party amongst us, who pride themselves,
with reason, on the soundness of their philos-
ophy, and their liberty of thought. All men,
say they, are born free and equal: Government
and superiority can only be established by con-
sent: The consent of men, in establishing gov-
ernment, imposes on them a new obligation,