exiſted before the Laws themſelves, is a Suppoſition too ridiculous to deſerve I ſhould ſeriouſly refute it.
It would be equally unreaſonable to imagine that Men at firſt threw themſelves into the Arms of an abſolute Maſter, without any Conditions or Conſideration on his Side; and that the firſt Means contrived by jealous and unconquered Men for their common Safety was to run hand over head into Slavery. In fact, why did they give themſelves Superiors, if it was not to be defended by them againſt Oppreſſion, and protected in their Lives, Liberties, and Properties, which are in a manner the conſtitutional Elements of their Being? Now in the Relations between Man and Man, the worſt that can happen to one Man being to ſee himſelf at the Diſcretion of another, would it not have been contrary to the Dictates of good Senſe to
