The Online Library of Liberty

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• The Preface.
• Part I.: The Notions of Mr. Locke, &c.
• Chap. I.: Quotations From Mr. Locke.
• Chap. IX.: Of the Ends of Political Society and Government.
• Chap. XI.: Of the Extent of the Legislative Power.
• Chap. XVII.: Extracts From Mr. Molyneux’s Case of Ireland Being Bound By Acts of Parliament In England. Dublin, Printed 1698, and Dedicated to King William: and Lately Reprinted By Mr. Almon, With a Long Preface, Exciting the Irish to Rebel
• Extracts From Dr. Priestly’s Essay On the First Principles of Government. Second Edition. London, Printed For J. Johnson, 1771.
• Section I.: Of the First Principles of Government, and the Different Kinds of Liberty.
• Section II.: Of Political Liberty.
• Extracts From Dr. Price ’s Famous Treatise, Observations On the Nature of Civil Liberty, &c. a New Edition, 12 Mo. Corrected By the Author, Price Three-pence, Or One Guinea Per Hundred.
• Preface to the Fifth Edition.
• Section I.: Of the Nature of Liberty In General.
• Section II.: Of Civil Liberty, and the Principles of Government.
• Section III.: Of the Authority of One Country Over Another.
• Observations On the Foregoing Extracts.
• Chap II.: Several Very Gross Errors and Absurdities Chargeable On the Lockian System.
• Chap. III.: An Enquiry How Far Either the Revolution In England,— Or the Reduction of Ireland,— Or the Present Proceedings of the Congress In America, Can Or May Be Justified According to the Leading Principles of Mr. Locke, and His Followers.
• I.: Of the Revolution In England.
• II.: The Reduction of Ireland.
• III.: The Cafe of the Present Congress In America.
• Chap. IV.: On the Abuse of Words, and the Perversion of Language, Chargeable On the Lockian System.
• Conclusion.
• Part II.: Containing the True Basis of Civil Government, In Opposition to the System of Mr. Locke and His Followers, By Josiah Tucker, D. D. Dean of Glocester.
• The Preface to the Second Part.
• Chap. I.: Concerning Those Principles In Human Nature, Which May Serve As a Basis For Any Species of Civil Government to Stand Upon, Without the Actual Choice, Or Personal Election of Every Member of the Community Either Towards the First Erection, Or the
• Chap. II.: Objections Answered.
• Objection I.
• Objection II.
• Objection III.
• Objection IV.
• Chap. III.: A Comparison of the Different Forms of Government With Each Other,—a Preference Given to the Mixt, and the Reasons Why,—the Republics of Sparta, Athens, and Rome, Proved to Be Improper Models For a Commercial State,—the Supp
• I.: Monarchy.
• II.: On Aristocracy.
• III.: A Mere Democracy.
• Chap. IV.: Of a Limited Monarchy, and Mixt Government. Its Component Parts, Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy. of the Comparative Influence of Each:—on Which Side the Greatest Danger Is Now to Be Apprehended.—the Remedy Proposed, and Proper Regulations
• The Qualifications of Voters.
• The Qualification of Candidates.
• Part III.: Divers Collateral Circumstances Corroborating the Foregoing System, and Confuting the Lockian
• Chap. I.: The General Nature of the Gothic Constitution Described, Which the Barbarous Nations Introduced and Settled In Every Part of Europe, and Particularly In England.—various Antiquated Customs and Laws Explained Relative Thereto.—these Laws Either N
• Chap. II.: Certain Objections and Cavils Answered and Confuted.
• Chap. III.: An Enquiry How Far the Authorities of Great Names, and Particularly How Far the Opinions of Aristotle, Cicero, Grotius, and Hooker Can Be Serviceable to the Lockian Cause.
• Chap. IV.: The Doctrine of Scripture Relative to the Obedience Due From Subjects to Their Sovereigns; Together With the Grounds Of, and Reasons For the Duty.

CONCLUSION.

UPON the whole, if this new political System of Mr. Locke and his Followers hath not received a full and ample Confutation in the preceding Sheets, I must ingenuously acknowledge, that nothing could have prevented it, but the Inability or Incapacity of the Author. For surely a more pernicious Set of Opinions than the Lockian.—[I mean, with regard to the Peace and Tranquility of the present Life] could hardly be broached by Man. And it is but small Consolation to reflect, that probably the original Author, and several of his Disciples never meant to draw Conclusions so horrid in their Nature, and so full of wanton Treason and Rebellion, as the Congresses have actually drawn from it in America, and as the Republican Factions are daily endeavouring to draw from it here in England, had they Power equal to their Will.

Moreover what greatly aggravates the Crime of every Attempt of this Nature, and renders it utterly inexcusable, is, that there is no Manner of Need of having Recourse to such Measures, or to such Principles, for the Sake of confuting either the patriarchal Scheme of Sir R. Filmer, or the absolutely passive Obedience Creed of the Jacobites; Insomuch as both these erroneous Systems may be, at least, as fully and effectually confuted without Mr. Locke’s Principles, as with them. Nay, if the Lockians had been content with their own Set of Opinions, and had left others undisturbed in the quiet Enjoyment of theirs, something might have been pleaded in their Favour. For though one may easily see, that theirs is an impracticble Scheme in any Society whatever, great or small; yet, if they think otherwise, and are firmly persuaded that the Affair is of such Importance as to merit a fair and open Trial;—Let a fair Trial be given it; and let those unpeopled Regions of America, those vacua loca, mentioned by Mr. Locke, be the Theatre for exhibiting this curious Phœnomenon, a Lockian Republic! Where all Taxes are to be Free-Gifts! and every Man is to obey no farther, and no otherwise, than he himself chuses to obey! In such a Case, inconsiderable as I am, I will venture to promise [or to use the Language of an Arch-Patriot, I will pledge myself to the Public] that all the Sons and Daughters of genuine Freedom shall be at Liberty to remove thither as soon as they please;—and that Thousands and Tens of Thousands of their Fellow-Citizens will be heartily glad of their Departure.

But if not content with this Liberty for themselves, they will be indefatigable in disturbing the Repose of others, and will incessantly excite the Subjects of every State to rebel, under the shameful Pretence, that their Governors are Usurpers of their unalienable Rights;—they must expect to have their Sophistry detected, and themselves exposed in their proper Colours. Indeed, happy it is for them;—happy it is for us all [notwithstanding some petty Inconveniencies] that we live in such an Age, and such a Country, where Men may dare to say and do such Things with Impunity. I own, the very Contemplation of this Circumstance always gives me Pleasure: For rejoice to find, that on every Comparison between the Liberty pretended to be enjoyed under the patriotic Congress in America, and the Slavery, which it seems, we daily suffer here in England, every Instance is a Demonstration that English Slavery is infinitely preferable to American Liberty: So that in short, while I find, that here in England, a Man may say or do, may write or print, a thousand Things with the utmost Security, for which his Liberty and Property, and even his Life itself would be in the most imminent Danger, were he to do the like in America, I want no other Proofs, that Englishmen are still a Nation of Freemen, and not of Slaves. Sorry I am, that any of my Fellow-Subjects should misapply so great a Blessing as Liberty is, both civil and religious: But at the same Time, I am sincerely glad, that they themselves are such undeniable Evidences of the Existence of Liberty among us, by the Security they enjoy in their manifold Abuses of it. May they grow wiser and better every Day; But may we, on our Parts, never attempt to weed out these Tares from among the Wheat, lest by so doing, we should root out the Wheat also.

PART II.

CONTAINING THE TRUE BASIS OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT,

In OPPOSITION to the SYSTEM of Mr. LOCKE and his Followers, By JOSIAH TUCKER, D. D. DEAN of GLOCESTER.