ſecretion, and all other branches of vital oeconomy;—are not left to chance, or the will of the creature itſelf, but are performed in a wondrous involuntary manner, and guided by unerring rules laid down by the great creator.
This then is the general ſignification of law, a rule of action dictated by ſome ſuperior being; and in thoſe creatures that have neither the power to think, nor to will, ſuch laws muſt be invariably obeyed, ſo long as the creature itſelf ſubſiſts, for it’s exiſtence depends on that obedience. But laws, in their more confined ſenſe, and in which it is our preſent buſineſs to conſider them, denote the rules, not of action in general, but of human action or conduct: that is, the precepts by which man, the nobleſt of all ſublunary beings, a creature endowed with both reaſon and freewill, is commanded to make uſe of thoſe faculties in the general regulation of his behaviour.
Man, conſidered as a creature, muſt neceſſarily be ſubject to the laws of his creator, for he is entirely a dependent being. A being, independent of any other, has no rule to purſue, but ſuch as he preſcribes to himſelf; but a ſtate of dependance will inevitably oblige the inferior to take the will of him, on whom he depends, as the rule of his conduct: not indeed in every particular, but in all thoſe points wherein his dependance conſiſts. This principle therefore has more or leſs extent and effect, in proportion as the ſuperiority of the one and the dependance of the other is greater or leſs, abſolute or limited. And conſequently, as man depends abſolutely upon his maker for every thing, it is neceſſary that he ſhould in all points conform to his maker’s will.
This will of his maker is called the law of nature. For as God, when he created matter, and endued it with a principle of mobility, eſtabliſhed certain rules for the perpetual direction of that motion; ſo, when he created man, and endued him with freewill to conduct himſelf in all parts of life, he laid down cer-
