The safety of the people requireth further,from him or them that have the sovereign power,that justice be equally administered to all degrees of people;that is,that as well the rich and mighty,as poor and obscure persons,may be righted of the injuries done them;so as the great may have no greater hope of impunity,when they do violence,dishonour,or any injury to the meaner sort,than when one of these does the like to one of them:for in this consisteth equity;to which,as being a precept of the law of nature,a sovereign is as much subject as any of the meanest of his people.All breaches of the law are offences against the Commonwealth:but there be some that are also against private persons.Those that concern the Commonwealth only may without breach of equity be pardoned;for every man may pardon what is done against himself,according to his own discretion.But an offence against a private man cannot in equity be pardoned without the consent of him that is injured;or reasonable satisfaction.
The inequality of subjects proceedeth from the acts of sovereign power,and therefore has no more place in the presence of the sovereign;that is to say,in a court of justice,than the inequality between kings and their subjects in the presence of the King of kings.The honour of great persons is to be valued for their beneficence,and the aids they give to men of inferior rank,or not at all.And the violences,oppressions,and injuries they do are not extenuated,but aggravated,by the greatness of their persons,because they have least need to commit them.The consequences of this partiality towards the great proceed in this manner.Impunity maketh insolence;insolence,hatred;and hatred,an endeavour to pull down all oppressing and contumelious greatness,though with the ruin of the Commonwealth.
To equal justice appertaineth also the equal imposition of taxes;the equality whereof dependeth not on the equality of riches,but on the equality of the debt that every man oweth to the Commonwealth for his defence.It is not enough for a man to labour for the maintenance of his life;but also to fight,if need be,for the securing of his labour.They must either do as the Jews did after their return from captivity,in re-edifying the Temple,build with one hand and hold the sword in the other,or else they must hire others to fight for them.For the impositions that are laid on the people by the sovereign power are nothing else but the wages due to them that hold the public sword to defend private men in the exercise of several trades and callings.Seeing then the benefit that every one receiveth thereby is the enjoyment of life,which is equally dear to poor and rich,the debt which a poor man oweth them that defend his life is the same which a rich man oweth for the defence of his;saving that the rich,who have the service of the poor,may be debtors not only for their own persons,but for many more.Which considered,the equality of imposition consisteth rather in the equality of that which is consumed,than of the riches of the persons that consume the same.For what reason is there that he which laboureth much and,sparing the fruits of his labour,consumeth little should be more charged than he that,living idly,getteth little and spendeth all he gets;seeing the one hath no more protection from the Commonwealth than the other?But when the impositions are laid upon those things which men consume,every man payeth equally for what he useth;nor is the Commonwealth defrauded by the luxurious waste of private men.
And whereas many men,by accident inevitable,become unable to maintain themselves by their labour,they ought not to be left to the charity of private persons,but to be provided for,as far forth as the necessities of nature require,by the laws of the Commonwealth.
For as it is uncharitableness in any man to neglect the impotent;so it is in the sovereign of a Commonwealth,to expose them to the hazard of such uncertain charity.
But for such as have strong bodies the case is otherwise;they are to be forced to work;and to avoid the excuse of not finding employment,there ought to be such laws as may encourage all manner of arts;as navigation,agriculture,fishing,and all manner of manufacture that requires labour.The multitude of poor and yet strong people still increasing,they are to be transplanted into countries not sufficiently inhabited;where nevertheless they are not to exterminate those they find there;but constrain them to inhabit closer together,and not range a great deal of ground to snatch what they find,but to court each little plot with art and labour,to give them their sustenance in due season.And when all the world is overcharged with inhabitants,then the last remedy of all is war,which provideth for every man,by victory or death.
To the care of the sovereign belongeth the making of good laws.
But what is a good law?By a good law,I mean not a just law:for no law can be unjust.The law is made by the sovereign power,and all that is done by such power is warranted and owned by every one of the people;and that which every man will have so,no man can say is unjust.It is in the laws of a Commonwealth,as in the laws of gaming:
whatsoever the gamesters all agree on is injustice to none of them.
A good law is that which is needful,for the good of the people,and withal perspicuous.