it belongs not to Slaves to argue concerning Liberty.
As to paternal Authority, from which ſeveral have derived abſolute Government and every other mode of Society, it is ſufficient, without having recourſe to Locke and Sidney, to obſerve that nothing in the World differs more from the cruel Spirit of Deſpotiſm than the Gentleneſs of that Authority, which looks more to the Advantage of him who obeys than to the Utility of him who commands; that by the Law of Nature the Father continues Maſter of his Child no longer than the Child ſtands in need of his Aſſiſtance; that after that Term they become equal, and that then the Son, entirely independent of the Father, owes him no Obedience, but only Reſpect. Gratitude is indeed a Duty which we are bound to pay, but which Benefactors cannot exact. Inſtead of ſaying that civil Society is derived from
