[17:1] (1) The theory put forward in the last chapter, of the universal
rights of the sovereign power, and of the natural rights of the individual
transferred thereto, though it corresponds in many respects with actual
practice, and though practice may be so arranged as to conform to it more
and more, must nevertheless always remain in many respects purely ideal. (2)
No one can ever so utterly transfer to another his power and, consequently,
his rights, as to cease to be a man; nor can there ever be a power so
sovereign that it can carry out every possible wish. (3) It will always be
vain to order a subject to hate what he believes brings him advantage, or to
love what brings him loss, or not to be offended at insults, or not to wish
to be free from fear, or a hundred other things of the sort, which
necessarily follow from the laws of human nature. (4) So much, I think, is
abundantly shown by experience: for men have never so far ceded their power
as to cease to be an object of fear to the rulers who received such power
and right; and dominions have always been in as much danger from their own
subjects as from external enemies. (5) If it were really the case, that men
could be deprived of their natural rights so utterly as never to have any
further influence on affairs [Endnote 29], except with the permission of the
holders of sovereign right, it would then be possible to maintain with
impunity the most violent tyranny, which, I suppose, no one would for an
instant admit.
(17:6) We must, therefore, grant that every man retains some part of his
right, in dependence on his own decision, and no one else's.
(7) However, in order correctly to understand the extent of the sovereign's
right and power, we must take notice that it does not cover only those
actions to which it can compel men by fear, but absolutely every action
which it can induce men to perform: for it is the fact of obedience, not the
motive for obedience, which makes a man a subject.
(17:8) Whatever be the cause which leads a man to obey the commands of the
sovereign, whether it be fear or hope, or love of his country, or any other
emotion - the fact remains that the man takes counsel with himself, and
nevertheless acts as his sovereign orders. (9) We must not, therefore,
assert that all actions resulting from a man's deliberation with himself are
done in obedience to the rights of the individual rather than the sovereign:
as a matter of fact, all actions spring from a man's deliberation with
himself, whether the determining motive be love or fear of punishment;
therefore, either dominion does not exist, and has no rights over its
subjects, or else it extends over every instance in which it can prevail on
men to decide to obey it. (10) Consequently, every action which a subject
performs in accordance with the commands of the sovereign, whether such
action springs from love, or fear, or (as is more frequently the case) from
hope and fear together, or from reverence, compounded of fear and
admiration, or, indeed, any motive whatever, is performed in virtue of his
submission to the sovereign, and not in virtue of his own authority.
(17:11) This point is made still more clear by the fact that obedience does
not consist so much in the outward act as in the mental state of the person
obeying; so that he is most under the dominion of another who with his whole
heart determines to obey another's commands; and consequently the firmest
dominion belongs to the sovereign who has most influence over the minds of
his subjects; if those who are most feared possessed the firmest dominion,
the firmest dominion would belong to the subjects of a tyrant, for they are
always greatly feared by their ruler. (12) Furthermore, though it is
impossible to govern the mind as completely as the tongue, nevertheless
minds are, to a certain extent, under the control of the sovereign, for he
can in many ways bring about that the greatest part of his subjects should
follow his wishes in their beliefs, their loves, and their hates. (13)
Though such emotions do not arise at the express command of the sovereign
they often result (as experience shows) from the authority of his power, and
from his direction; in other words, in virtue of his right; we may,
therefore, without doing violence to our understanding, conceive men who
follow the instigation of their sovereign in their beliefs, their loves,
their hates, their contempt, and all other emotions whatsoever.
(17:14) Though the powers of government, as thus conceived, are sufficiently
ample, they can never become large enough to execute every possible wish of
their possessors. (15) This, I think, I have already shown clearly enough.
(16) The method of forming a dominion which should prove lasting I do not,
as I have said, intend to discuss, but in order to arrive at the object I
have in view, I will touch on the teaching of Divine revelation to Moses in
this respect, and we will consider the history and the success of the Jews,
gathering therefrom what should be the chief concessions made by sovereigns
to their subjects with a view to the security and increase of their
dominion.
[17:2] (17) That the preservation of a state chiefly depends on the
subjects' fidelity and constancy in carrying out the orders they receive, is
most clearly taught both by reason and experience; how subjects ought to be
guided so as best to preserve their fidelity and virtue is not so obvious.
(18) All, both rulers and ruled, are men, and prone to follow after their
lusts. (19) The fickle disposition of the multitude almost reduces those who
have experience of it to despair, for it is governed solely by emotions, not
by reason: it rushes headlong into every enterprise, and is easily corrupted
either by avarice or luxury: everyone thinks himself omniscient and wishes
to fashion all things to his liking, judging a thing to be just or unjust,
lawful or unlawful, according as he thinks it will bring him profit or loss:
vanity leads him to despise his equals, and refuse their guidance: envy of
superior fame or fortune (for such gifts are never equally distributed)
leads him to desire and rejoice in his neighbour's downfall. (20) I need
not go through the whole list, everyone knows already how much crime
results from disgust at the present - desire for change, headlong anger,
and contempt for poverty - and how men's minds are engrossed and kept
in turmoil thereby.
(17:21) To guard against all these evils, and form a dominion where no room
is left for deceit; to frame our institutions so that every man, whatever
his disposition, may prefer public right to private advantage, this is the
task and this the toil. (22) Necessity is often the mother of invention, but
she has never yet succeeded in framing a dominion that was in less danger
from its own citizens than from open enemies, or whose rulers did not fear
the latter less than the former. (23) Witness the state of Rome, invincible
by her enemies, but many times conquered and sorely oppressed by her own
citizens, especially in the war between Vespasian and Vitellius. (24) (See
Tacitus, Hist. bk. iv. for a description of the pitiable state of the city.)
(17:25) Alexander thought prestige abroad more easy to acquire than prestige
at home, and believed that his greatness could be destroyed by his own
followers. (26) Fearing such a disaster, he thus addressed his friends:
"Keep me safe from internal treachery and domestic plots, and I will front
without fear the dangers of battle and of war. (27) Philip was more secure
in the battle array than in the theatre: he often escaped from the hands of
the enemy, he could not escape from his own subjects. (28) If you think over
the deaths of kings, you will count up more who have died by the assassin
than by the open foe." (Q. Curtius, chap. vi.)
(17:29) For the sake of making themselves secure, kings who seized the
throne in ancient times used to try to spread the idea that they were
descended from the immortal gods, thinking that if their subjects and the
rest of mankind did not look on them as equals, but believed them to be
gods, they would willingly submit to their rule, and obey their commands.
(30) Thus Augustus persuaded the Romans that he was descended from Æneas,
who was the son of Venus, and numbered among the gods. (31) "He wished
himself to be worshipped in temples, like the gods, with flamens and
priests." (Tacitus, Ann. i. 10.)
(17:32) Alexander wished to be saluted as the son of Jupiter, not from
motives of pride but of policy, as he showed by his answer to the invective
of Hermolaus: "It is almost laughable," said he, "that Hermolaus asked me to
contradict Jupiter, by whose oracle I am recognized. (33) Am I responsible
for the answers of the gods? (34) It offered me the name of son;
acquiescence was by no means foreign to my present designs. (35) Would that
the Indians also would believe me to be a god! (36) Wars are carried through
by prestige, falsehoods that are believed often gain the force of truth."
(Curtius, viii,. Para. 8.) (37) In these few words he cleverly contrives to
palm off a fiction on the ignorant, and at the same time hints at the motive
for the deception.
(17:38) Cleon, in his speech persuading the Macedonians to obey their king,
adopted a similar device: for after going through the praises of Alexander
with admiration, and recalling his merits, he proceeds, "the Persians are
not only pious, but prudent in worshipping their kings as gods: for kingship
is the shield of public safety," and he ends thus, "I, myself, when the king
enters a banquet hall, should prostrate my body on the ground; other men
should do the like, especially those who are wise" (Curtius, viii.
Para. 66). (39) However, the Macedonians were more prudent - indeed, it is
only complete barbarians who can be so openly cajoled, and can suffer
themselves to be turned from subjects into slaves without interests of their
own. (40) Others, notwithstanding, have been able more easily to spread the
belief that kingship is sacred, and plays the part of God on the earth, that
it has been instituted by God, not by the suffrage and consent of men; and
that it is preserved and guarded by Divine special providence and aid.
(41) Similar fictions have been promulgated by monarchs, with the object of
strengthening their dominion, but these I will pass over, and in order to
arrive at my main purpose, will merely recall and discuss the teaching on
the subject of Divine revelation to Moses in ancient times.
[17:3] (42) We have said in Chap. V. that after the Hebrews came up out of
Egypt they were not bound by the law and right of any other nation, but were
at liberty to institute any new rites at their pleasure, and to occupy
whatever territory they chose. (43) After their liberation from the
intolerable bondage of the Egyptians, they were bound by no covenant to any
man; and, therefore, every man entered into his natural right, and was free
to retain it or to give it up, and transfer it to another. (44) Being, then,
in the state of nature, they followed the advice of Moses, in whom they
chiefly trusted, and decided to transfer their right to no human being, but
only to God; without further delay they all, with one voice, promised to
obey all the commands of the Deity, and to acknowledge no right that He did
not proclaim as such by prophetic revelation. (45) This promise, or
transference of right to God, was effected in the same manner as we have
conceived it to have been in ordinary societies, when men agree to divest
themselves of their natural rights. (46) It is, in fact, in virtue of a set
covenant, and an oath (see Exod. xxxiv:10), that the Jews freely, and not
under compulsion or threats, surrendered their rights and transferred them
to God. (47) Moreover, in order that this covenant might be ratified
and settled, and might be free from all suspicion of deceit, God did not
enter into it till the Jews had had experience of His wonderful power by
which alone they had been, or could be, preserved in a state of prosperity
(Exod. xix:4, 5). (48) It is because they believed that nothing but
God's power could preserve them that they surrendered to God the natural
power of self-preservation, which they formerly, perhaps, thought they
possessed, and consequently they surrendered at the same time all their
natural right.
[17:4] (49) God alone, therefore, held dominion over the Hebrews, whose state
was in virtue of the covenant called God's kingdom, and God was said to be
their king; consequently the enemies of the Jews were said to be the enemies of
God, and the citizens who tried to seize the dominion were guilty of treason
against God; and, lastly, the laws of the state were called the laws and
commandments of God. (50) Thus in the Hebrew state the civil and religious
authority, each consisting solely of obedience to God, were one and the same.
(51) The dogmas of religion were not precepts, but laws and ordinances; piety
was regarded as the same as loyalty, impiety as the same as disaffection. (52)
Everyone who fell away from religion ceased to be a citizen, and was, on that
ground alone, accounted an enemy: those who died for the sake of religion, were
held to have died for their country; in fact, between civil and religious law
and right there was no distinction whatever. (53) For this reason the
government could be called a Theocracy, inasmuch as the citizens were not bound
by anything save the revelations of God.
(17:54) However, this state of things existed rather in theory than in
practice, for it will appear from what we are about to say, that the
Hebrews, as a matter of fact, retained absolutely in their own hands the
right of sovereignty: this is shown by the method and plan by which the
government was carried on, as I will now explain.
(17:55) Inasmuch as the Hebrews did not transfer their rights to any other
person but, as in a democracy, all surrendered their rights equally, and
cried out with one voice, "Whatsoever God shall speak (no mediator or
mouthpiece being named) that will we do," it follows that all were equally
bound by the covenant, and that all had an equal right to consult the Deity,
to accept and to interpret His laws, so that all had an exactly equal share
in the government. [17:5] (56) Thus at first they all approached God
together, so that they might learn His commands, but in this first
salutation, they were so thoroughly terrified and so astounded to hear God
speaking, that they thought their last hour was at hand: full of fear,
therefore, they went afresh to Moses, and said, "Lo, we have heard God
speaking in the fire, and there is no cause why we should wish to die:
surely this great fire will consume us: if we hear again the voice of God,
we shall surely die. (57) Thou, therefore, go near, and hear all the words
of our God, and thou (not God) shalt speak with us: all that God shall tell
us, that will we hearken to and perform."
(17:58) They thus clearly abrogated their former covenant, and absolutely
transferred to Moses their right to consult God and interpret His commands:
for they do not here promise obedience to all that God shall tell them, but
to all that God shall tell Moses (see Deut. v:20 after the Decalogue, and
chap. xviii:15, 16). (59) Moses, therefore, remained the sole promulgator
and interpreter of the Divine laws, and consequently also the sovereign
judge, who could not be arraigned himself, and who acted among the Hebrews
the part of God; in other words, held the sovereign kingship: he alone
had the right to consult God, to give the Divine answers to the
people, and to see that they were carried out. (60) I say he alone, for if
anyone during the life of Moses was desirous of preaching anything in the
name of the Lord, he was, even if a true prophet, considered guilty and a
usurper of the sovereign right (Numb. xi:28) [Endnote 30]. (61) We may here
notice, that though the people had elected Moses, they could not rightfully
elect Moses's successor; for having transferred to Moses their right of
consulting God, and absolutely promised to regard him as a Divine oracle,
they had plainly forfeited the whole of their right, and were bound to
accept as chosen by God anyone proclaimed by Moses as his successor. (62) If
Moses had so chosen his successor, who like him should wield the sole right
of government, possessing the sole right of consulting God, and consequently
of making and abrogating laws, of deciding on peace or war, of sending
ambassadors, appointing judges - in fact, discharging all the functions of a
sovereign, the state would have become simply a monarchy, only differing
from other monarchies in the fact, that the latter are, or should be,
carried on in accordance with God's decree, unknown even to the monarch,
whereas the Hebrew monarch would have been the only person to whom the
decree was revealed. (63) A difference which increases, rather than
diminishes the monarch's authority. (64) As far as the people in both cases
are concerned, each would be equally subject, and equally ignorant of
the Divine decree, for each would be dependent on the monarch's words, and
would learn from him alone, what was lawful or unlawful: nor would the fact
that the people believed that the monarch was only issuing commands in
accordance with God's decree revealed to him, make it less in subjection,
but rather more. [17:6] (65) However, Moses elected no such successor, but
left the dominion to those who came after him in a condition which could not
be called a popular government, nor an aristocracy, nor a monarchy, but a
Theocracy. (66) For the right of interpreting laws was vested in one man,
while the right and power of administering the state according to the
laws thus interpreted, was vested in another man (see Numb. xxvii:21)
[Endnote 31].
(17:67) In order that the question may be thoroughly understood, I will duly
set forth the administration of the whole state.
(68) First, the people were commanded to build a tabernacle, which should
be, as it were, the dwelling of God - that is, of the sovereign authority of
the state. (69) This tabernacle was to be erected at the cost of the whole
people, not of one man, in order that the place where God was consulted
might be public property. (70) The Levites were chosen as courtiers and
administrators of this royal abode; while Aaron, the brother of Moses, was
chosen to be their chief and second, as it were, to God their King, being
succeeded in the office by his legitimate sons.
(17:71) He, as the nearest to God, was the sovereign interpreter of the
Divine laws; he communicated the answers of the Divine oracle to the people,
and entreated God's favour for them. (72) If, in addition to these
privileges, he had possessed the right of ruling, he would have been neither
more nor less than an absolute monarch; but, in respect to government, he
was only a private citizen: the whole tribe of Levi was so completely
divested of governing rights that it did not even take its share with the
others in the partition of territory. (73) Moses provided for its support by
inspiring the common people with great reverence for it, as the only tribe
dedicated to God.
(17:74) Further, the army, formed from the remaining twelve tribes, was
commanded to invade the land of Canaan, to divide it into twelve portions,
and to distribute it among the tribes by lot. (75) For this task twelve
captains were chosen, one from every tribe, and were, together with
Joshua and Eleazar, the high priest, empowered to divide the land into
twelve equal parts, and distribute it by lot. (76) Joshua was chosen for the
chief command of the army, inasmuch as none but he had the right to consult
God in emergencies, not like Moses, alone in his tent, or in the
tabernacle, but through the high priest, to whom only the answers of God
were revealed. (77) Furthermore, he was empowered to execute, and cause the
people to obey God's commands, transmitted through the high priests; to
find, and to make use of, means for carrying them out; to choose as many
army captains as he liked; to make whatever choice he thought best; to
send ambassadors in his own name; and, in short, to have the entire control
of the war. (78) To his office there was no rightful successor - indeed, the
post was only filled by the direct order of the Deity, on occasions of
public emergency. (79) In ordinary times, all the management of peace and
war was vested in the captains of the tribes, as I will shortly point out.
(80) Lastly, all men between the ages of twenty and sixty were ordered to
bear arms, and form a citizen army, owing allegiance, not to its
general-in-chief, nor to the high priest, but to Religion and to God.
(81) The army, or the hosts, were called the army of God, or the hosts of
God. (82) For this reason God was called by the Hebrews the God of Armies;
and the ark of the covenant was borne in the midst of the army in important
battles, when the safety or destruction of the whole people hung upon the
issue, so that the people might, as it were, see their King among them,
and put forth all their strength.
(17:83) From these directions, left by Moses to his successors, we plainly
see that he chose administrators, rather than despots, to come after him;
for he invested no one with the power of consulting God, where he liked and
alone, consequently, no one had the power possessed by himself of ordaining
and abrogating laws, of deciding on war or peace, of choosing men to fill
offices both religious and secular: all these are the prerogatives of a
sovereign. (84) The high priest, indeed, had the right of interpreting laws,
and communicating the answers of God, but he could not do so when he liked,
as Moses could, but only when he was asked by the general-in-chief of the
army, the council, or some similar authority. (85) The general-in-chief and
the council could consult God when they liked, but could only receive His
answers through the high priest; so that the utterances of God, as reported
by the high priest, were not decrees, as they were when reported by Moses,
but only answers; they were accepted by Joshua and the council, and only
then had the force of commands and decrees.
(17:86) The high priest, both in the case of Aaron and of his son Eleazar,
was chosen by Moses; nor had anyone, after Moses' death, a right to elect to
the office, which became hereditary. (87) The general-in-chief of the army
was also chosen by Moses, and assumed his functions in virtue of the
commands, not of the high priest, but of Moses: indeed, after the death of
Joshua, the high priest did not appoint anyone in his place, and the
captains did not consult God afresh about a general-in-chief, but each
retained Joshua's power in respect to the contingent of his own tribe,
and all retained it collectively, in respect to the whole army. (88) There
seems to have been no need of a general-in-chief, except when they were
obliged to unite their forces against a common enemy. (89) This occurred
most frequently during the time of Joshua, when they had no fixed dwelling.
place, and possessed all things in common. [17:7] (90) After all the tribes
had gained their territories by right of conquest, and had divided their
allotted gains, they, became separated, having no longer their possessions
in common, so that the need for a single commander ceased, for the
different tribes should be considered rather in the light of confederated
states than of bodies of fellow-citizens. (91) In respect to their God and
their religion, they, were fellow-citizens; but, in respect to the rights
which one possessed with regard to another, they were only confederated:
they, were, in fact, in much the same position (if one excepts the Temple
common to all) as the United States of the Netherlands {or United States of
America}. (92) The division of property held in common is only another
phrase for the possession of his share by each of the owners singly, and the
surrender by the others of their rights over such share. (93) This is why
Moses elected captains of the tribes - namely, that when the dominion was
divided, each might take care of his own part; consulting God through the
high priest on the affairs of his tribe, ruling over his army, building and
fortifying cities, appointing judges, attacking the enemies of his own
dominion, and having complete control over all civil and military affairs.
(94) He was not bound to acknowledge any superior judge save God
[Endnote 32], or a prophet whom God should expressly send. (95) If he
departed from the worship of God, the rest of the tribes did not arraign him
as a subject, but attacked him as an enemy. (95) Of this we have examples in
Scripture. (96) When Joshua was dead, the children of Israel (not a fresh
general-in-chief) consulted God; it being decided that the tribe of Judah
should be the first to attack its enemies, the tribe in question contracted
a single alliance with the tribe of Simeon, for uniting their forces, and
attacking their common enemy, the rest of the tribes not being included in
the alliance (Judges i:1, 2, 3). (97) Each tribe separately made war against
its own enemies, and, according to its pleasure, received them as subjects
or allies, though it had been commanded not to spare them on any conditions,
but to destroy them utterly. (98) Such disobedience met with reproof from
the rest of the tribes, but did not cause the offending tribe to be
arraigned: it was not considered a sufficient reason for proclaiming a civil
war, or interfering in one another's affairs. (99) But when the tribe of
Benjamin offended against the others, and so loosened the bonds of peace
that none of the confederated tribes could find refuge within its borders,
they attacked it as an enemy, and gaining the victory over it after three
battles, put to death both guilty and innocent, according to the laws of
war: an act which they subsequently bewailed with tardy repentance.
(17:100) These examples plainly confirm what we have said concerning the
rights of each tribe. (101) Perhaps we shall be asked who elected the
successors to the captains of each tribe; on this point I can gather no
positive information in Scripture, but I conjecture that as the tribes were
divided into families, each headed by its senior member, the senior of all
these heads of families succeeded by right to the office of captain, for
Moses chose from among these seniors his seventy coadjutors, who formed with
himself the supreme council. (102) Those who administered the government
after the death of Joshua were called elders, and elder is a very common
Hebrew expression in the sense of judge, as I suppose everyone knows;
however, it is not very important for us to make up our minds on this point.
(103) It is enough to have shown that after the death of Moses no one man
wielded all the power of a sovereign; as affairs were not all managed by one
man, nor by a single council, nor by the popular vote, but partly by one
tribe, partly by the rest in equal shares, it is most evident that the
government, after the death of Moses, was neither monarchic, nor
aristocratic, nor popular, but, as we have said, Theocratic.
(104) The reasons for applying this name are:
(17:105) I. Because the royal seat of government was the Temple, and in
respect to it alone, as we have shown, all the tribes were fellow-citizens.
(106) II. Because all the people owed allegiance to God, their supreme
Judge, to whom only they had promised implicit obedience in all things.
(17:107) III. Because the general-in-chief or dictator, when there was need
of such, was elected by none save God alone. (108) This was expressly
commanded by Moses in the name of God (Deut. xix:15), and witnessed by the
actual choice of Gideon, of Samson, and of Samuel; wherefrom we may conclude
that the other faithful leaders were chosen in the same manner, though it is
not expressly told us.
(17:109) These preliminaries being stated, it is now time to inquire the
effects of forming a dominion on this plan, and to see whether it so
effectually kept within bounds both rulers and ruled, that the former were
never tyrannical and the latter never rebellious.
(17:110) Those who administer or possess governing power, always try to
surround their high-handed actions with a cloak of legality, and to persuade
the people that they act from good motives; this they are easily able to
effect when they are the sole interpreters of the law; for it is evident
that they are thus able to assume a far greater freedom to carry out their
wishes and desires than if the interpretation if the law is vested in
someone else, or if the laws were so self-evident that no one could be in
doubt as to their meaning. [17:8] (111) We thus see that the power of
evil-doing was greatly curtailed for the Hebrew captains by the fact that the
whole interpretation of the law was vested in the Levites (Deut. xxi:5),
who, on their part, had no share in the government, and depended for all
their support and consideration on a correct interpretation of the laws
entrusted to them. (112) Moreover, the whole people was commanded to come
together at a certain place every seven years and be instructed in the law
by the high-priest; further, each individual was bidden to read the book of
the law through and through continually with scrupulous care. (Deut. xxxi:9,
10, and vi:7.)
(113) The captains were thus for their own sakes bound to take great care to
administer everything according to the laws laid down, and well known to all,
if they wished to be held in high honour by the people, who would regard them
as the administrators of God's dominion, and as God's vicegerents; otherwise
they could not have escaped all the virulence of theological hatred. (114)
There was another very important check on the unbridled license of the
captains, in the fact, that the army was formed from the whole body, of the
citizens, between the ages of twenty and sixty, without exception, and that the
captains were not able to hire any foreign soldiery. (115) This I say was very
important, for it is well known that princes can oppress their peoples with the
single aid of the soldiery in their pay; while there is nothing more formidable
to them than the freedom of citizen soldiers, who have established the freedom
and glory of their country, by their valour, their toil, and their blood. (116)
Thus Alexander, when he was about to make wax on Darius, a second time, after
hearing the advice of Parmenio, did not chide him who gave the advice, but
Polysperchon, who was standing by. (117) For, as Curtius says (iv. Para. 13),
he did not venture to reproach Parmenio again after having shortly before
reproved him too sharply. (118) This freedom of the Macedonians, which he so
dreaded, he was not able to subdue till after the number of captives enlisted
in the army surpassed that of his own people: then, but not till then, he gave
rein to his anger so long checked by the independence of his chief
fellow-countrymen.
(17:119) If this independence of citizen soldiers can restrain the princes
of ordinary states who are wont to usurp the whole glory of victories, it
must have been still more effectual against the Hebrew captains, whose
soldiers were fighting, not for the glory of a prince, but for the glory of
God, and who did not go forth to battle till the Divine assent had been
given.
(17:120) We must also remember that the Hebrew captains were associated only
by the bonds of religion: therefore, if any one of them had transgressed,
and begun to violate the Divine right, he might have been treated by the
rest as an enemy and lawfully subdued.
(17:121) An additional check may be found in the fear of a new prophet
arising, for if a man of unblemished life could show by certain signs that
he was really a prophet, he ipso facto obtained the sovereign right to rule,
which was given to him, as to Moses formerly, in the name of God, as
revealed to himself alone; not merely through the high priest, as in the
case of the captains. (122) There is no doubt that such an one would easily
be able to enlist an oppressed people in his cause, and by trifling signs
persuade them of anything he wished: on the other hand, if affairs were well
ordered, the captain would be able to make provision in time; that the
prophet should be submitted to his approval, and be examined whether he were
really of unblemished life, and possessed indisputable signs of his mission:
also, whether the teaching he proposed to set forth in the name of the Lord
agreed with received doctrines, and the general laws of the country; if his
credentials were insufficient, or his doctrines new, he could lawfully be
put to death, or else received on the captain's sole responsibility and
authority.
(17:123) Again, the captains were not superior to the others in nobility or
birth, but only administered the government in virtue of their age and
personal qualities. (124) Lastly, neither captains nor army had any reason
for preferring war to peace. (125) The army, as we have stated, consisted
entirely of citizens, so that affairs were managed by the same persons both
in peace and war. (126) The man who was a soldier in the camp was a citizen
in the market-place, he who was a leader in the camp was a judge in the law
courts, he who was a general in the camp was a ruler in the state. (127)
Thus no one could desire war for its own sake, but only for the sake of
preserving peace and liberty; possibly the captains avoided change as far as
possible, so as not to be obliged to consult the high priest and submit to
the indignity of standing in his presence.
(17:128) So much for the precautions for keeping the captains within bounds.
[17:9] (129) We must now look for the restraints upon the people: these,
however, are very clearly indicated in the very groundwork of the social
fabric.
(17:130) Anyone who gives the subject the slightest attention, will see that
the state was so ordered as to inspire the most ardent patriotism in the
hearts of the citizens, so that the latter would be very hard to persuade to
betray their country, and be ready to endure anything rather than
submit to a foreign yoke. (131) After they had transferred their right
to God, they thought that their kingdom belonged to God, and that they
themselves were God's children. (132) Other nations they looked upon as
God's enemies, and regarded with intense hatred (which they took
to be piety, see Psalm cxxxix:21, 22): nothing would have been more
abhorrent to them than swearing allegiance to a foreigner, and promising him
obedience: nor could they conceive any greater or more execrable crime than
the betrayal of their country, the kingdom of the God whom they adored.
(17:133) It was considered wicked for anyone to settle outside of the
country, inasmuch as the worship of God by which they were bound could not
be carried on elsewhere: their own land alone was considered holy, the rest
of the earth unclean and profane.
(17:134) David, who was forced to live in exile, complained before Saul as
follows: "But if they be the children of men who have stirred thee up
against me, cursed be they before the Lord; for they have driven me out this
day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other
gods." (I Sam. xxvi:19.) (135) For the same reason no citizen, as we should
especially remark, was ever sent into exile: he who sinned was liable to
punishment, but not to disgrace.
(17:136) Thus the love of the Hebrews for their country was not only
patriotism, but also piety, and was cherished and nurtured by daily rites
till, like their hatred of other nations, it must have passed into their
nature. (137) Their daily worship was not only different from that of other
nations (as it might well be, considering that they were a peculiar people
and entirely apart from the rest), it was absolutely contrary. (138) Such
daily reprobation naturally gave rise to a lasting hatred, deeply implanted
in the heart: for of all hatreds none is more deep and tenacious than
that which springs from extreme devoutness or piety, and is itself cherished
as pious. (139) Nor was a general cause lacking for inflaming such hatred
more and more, inasmuch as it was reciprocated; the surrounding nations
regarding the Jews with a hatred just as intense.
(17:140) How great was the effect of all these causes, namely, freedom from
man's dominion; devotion to their country; absolute rights over all
other men; a hatred not only permitted but pious; a contempt for their
fellow-men; the singularity of their customs and religious rites; the
effect, I repeat, of all these causes in strengthening the hearts of the
Jews to bear all things for their country, with extraordinary constancy and
valour, will at once be discerned by reason and attested by experience.
(141) Never, so long as the city was standing, could they endure to remain
under foreign dominion; and therefore they called Jerusalem "a rebellious
city" (Ezra iv:12). (142) Their state after its reestablishment (which was a
mere shadow of the first, for the high priests had usurped the rights of the
tribal captains) was, with great difficulty, destroyed by the Romans, as
Tacitus bears witness (Hist. ii:4):- "Vespasian had closed the war against
the Jews, abandoning the siege of Jerusalem as an enterprise difficult
and arduous rather from the character of the people and the obstinacy of
their superstition, than from the strength left to the besieged for meeting
their necessities." (143) But besides these characteristics, which are
merely ascribed by an individual opinion, there was one feature
peculiar to this state and of great importance in retaining the affections
of the citizens, and checking all thoughts of desertion, or abandonment of
the country: namely, self-interest, the strength and life of all human
action. (144) This was peculiarly engaged in the Hebrew state, for
nowhere else did citizens possess their goods so securely, as did the
subjects of this community, for the latter possessed as large a share in the
land and the fields as did their chiefs, and were owners of their plots of
ground in perpetuity; for if any man was compelled by poverty to sell his
farm or his pasture, he received it back again intact at the year of
jubilee: there were other similar enactments against the possibility of
alienating real property.
(17:145) Again, poverty was nowhere more endurable than in a country where
duty towards one's neighbour, that is, one's fellow-citizen, was practised
with the utmost piety, as a means of gaining the favour of God the King.
(146) Thus the Hebrew citizens would nowhere be so well off as in their own
country; outside its limits they met with nothing but loss and disgrace.
(17:147) The following considerations were of weight, not only in keeping
them at home, but also in preventing civil war and removing causes of
strife; no one was bound to serve his equal, but only to serve God, while
charity and love towards fellow-citizens was accounted the highest piety;
this last feeling was not a little fostered by the general hatred with which
they regarded foreign nations and were regarded by them. (148) Furthermore,
the strict discipline of obedience in which they were brought up, was a very
important factor; for they were bound to carry on all their actions
according to the set rules of the law: a man might not plough when he liked,
but only at certain times, in certain years, and with one sort of beast at a
time; so, too, he might only sow and reap in a certain method and season -
in fact, his whole life was one long school of obedience (see Chap. V. on
the use of ceremonies); such a habit was thus engendered, that conformity
seemed freedom instead of servitude, and men desired what was commanded
rather than what was forbidden. (149) This result was not a little aided by
the fact that the people were bound, at certain seasons of the year, to give
themselves up to rest and rejoicing, not for their own pleasure, but in
order that they might worship God cheerfully.
(17:150) Three times in the year they feasted before the Lord; on the
seventh day of every week they were bidden to abstain from all work and to
rest; besides these, there were other occasions when innocent rejoicing and
feasting were not only allowed but enjoined. (151) I do not think any better
means of influencing men's minds could be devised; for there is no more
powerful attraction than joy springing from devotion, a mixture of
admiration and love. (152) It was not easy to be wearied by constant
repetition, for the rites on the various festivals were varied and recurred
seldom. (153) We may add the deep reverence for the Temple which all most
religiously fostered, on account of the peculiar rites and duties that they
were obliged to perform before approaching thither. (154) Even now, Jews
cannot read without horror of the crime of Manasseh, who dared to place an
idol in the Temple. (155) The laws, scrupulously preserved in the inmost
sanctuary, were objects of equal reverence to the people. (156) Popular
reports and misconceptions were, therefore, very little to be feared
in this quarter, for no one dared decide on sacred matters, but all
felt bound to obey, without consulting their reason, all the commands given
by the answers of God received in the Temple, and all the laws which God
had ordained.
(17:157) I think I have now explained clearly, though briefly, the main
features of the Hebrew commonwealth. (158) I must now inquire into the
causes which led the people so often to fall away from the law, which
brought about their frequent subjection, and, finally, the complete
destruction of their dominion. (159) Perhaps I shall be told that it sprang
from their hardness of heart; but this is childish, for why should this
people be more hard of heart than others; was it by nature?
[17:A] (160) But nature forms individuals, not peoples; the latter are
only distinguishable by the difference of their language, their customs, and
their laws; while from the two last - i.e., customs and laws, - it may arise
that they have a peculiar disposition, a peculiar manner of life, and
peculiar prejudices. (161) If, then, the Hebrews were harder of heart than
other nations, the fault lay with their laws or customs.
(17:162) This is certainly true, in the sense that, if God had wished their
dominion to be more lasting, He would have given them other rites and laws,
and would have instituted a different form of government. (163) We can,
therefore, only say that their God was angry with them, not only, as
Jeremiah says, from the building of the city, but even from the founding of
their laws.
(17:164) This is borne witness to by Ezekiel xx:25: "Wherefore I gave them
also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not
live; and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass
through the fire all that openeth the womb; that I might make them desolate,
to the end that they might know that I am the Lord."
(17:165) In order that we may understand these words, and the destruction of
the Hebrew commonwealth, we must bear in mind that it had at first been
intended to entrust the whole duties of the priesthood to the firstborn, and
not to the Levites (see Numb. viii:17). (166) It was only when all the
tribes, except the Levites, worshipped the golden calf, that the
firstborn were rejected and defiled, and the Levites chosen in their stead
(Deut. x:8). (167) When I reflect on this change, I feel disposed to break
forth with the words of Tacitus. (168) God's object at that time was not the
safety of the Jews, but vengeance. (169) I am greatly astonished that the
celestial mind was so inflamed with anger that it ordained laws, which
always are supposed to promote the honour, well-being, and security of a
people, with the purpose of vengeance, for the sake of punishment; so that
the laws do not seem so much laws - that is, the safeguard of
the people - as pains and penalties.
(17:170) The gifts which the people were obliged to bestow on the Levites
and priests - the redemption of the firstborn, the poll-tax due to the
Levites, the privilege possessed by the latter of the sole performance of
sacred rites - all these, I say, were a continual reproach to the people, a
continual reminder of their defilement and rejection. (171) Moreover, we may
be sure that the Levites were for ever heaping reproaches upon them: for
among so many thousands there must have been many importunate dabblers in
theology. (172) Hence the people got into the way of watching the acts of
the Levites, who were but human; of accusing the whole body of the faults of
one member, and continually murmuring.
(17:173) Besides this, there was the obligation to keep in idleness men
hateful to them, and connected by no ties of blood. (174) Especially would
this seem grievous when provisions were dear. What wonder, then, if in times
of peace, when striking miracles had ceased, and no men of paramount
authority were forthcoming, the irritable and greedy temper of the people
began to wax cold, and at length to fall away from a worship, which, though
Divine, was also humiliating, and even hostile, and to seek after something
fresh; or can we be surprised that the captains, who always adopt the
popular course, in order to gain the sovereign power for themselves by
enlisting the sympathies of the people, and alienating the high priest,
should have yielded to their demands, and introduced a new worship? (175) If
the state had been formed according to the original intention, the rights
and honour of all the tribes would have been equal, and everything would
have rested on a firm basis. (176) Who is there who would willingly violate
the religious rights of his kindred? (177) What could a man desire more than
to support his own brothers and parents, thus fulfilling the duties of
religion? (178) Who would not rejoice in being taught by them the
interpretation of the laws, and receiving through them the answers of God?
(17:179) The tribes would thus have been united by a far closer bond, if all
alike had possessed the right to the priesthood. (180) All danger would have
been obviated, if the choice of the Levites had not been dictated by anger
and revenge. (181) But, as we have said, the Hebrews had offended their God,
Who, as Ezekiel says, polluted them in their own gifts by rejecting all that
openeth the womb, so that He might destroy them.
(17:182) This passage is also confirmed by their history. As soon as the
people in the wilderness began to live in ease and plenty, certain men of no
mean birth began to rebel against the choice of the Levites, and to make it
a cause for believing that Moses had not acted by the commands of God, but
for his own good pleasure, inasmuch as he had chosen his own tribe before
all the rest, and had bestowed the high priesthood in perpetuity on his own
brother. (183) They, therefore, stirred up a tumult, and came to him, crying
out that all men were equally sacred, and that he had exalted himself above
his fellows wrongfully. (184) Moses was not able to pacify them with
reasons; but by the intervention of a miracle in proof of the faith, they
all perished. (185) A fresh sedition then arose among the whole people, who
believed that their champions had not been put to death by the judgment of
God, but by the device of Moses. (186) After a great slaughter, or
pestilence, the rising subsided from inanition, but in such a manner that
all preferred death to life under such conditions.
(17:187) We should rather say that sedition ceased than that harmony was
re-established. (188) This is witnessed by Scripture (Deut. xxxi:21), where
God, after predicting to Moses that the people after his death will fall
away from the Divine worship, speaks thus: "For I know their imagination
which they go about, even now before I have brought them into the land which
I sware;" and, a little while after (xxxi:27), Moses says: "For I know thy
rebellion and thy stiff neck: behold while I am yet alive with you this
day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord; and how much more after my
death!"
(17:189) Indeed, it happened according to his words, as we all know.
(190) Great changes, extreme license, luxury, and hardness of heart grew up;
things went from bad to worse, till at last the people, after being
frequently conquered, came to an open rupture with the Divine right, and
wished for a mortal king, so that the seat of government might be the Court,
instead of the Temple, and that the tribes might remain fellow-citizens in
respect to their king, instead of in respect to Divine right and the high
priesthood.
(17:191) A vast material for new seditions was thus produced, eventually
resulting in the ruin of the entire state. Kings are above all things
jealous of a precarious rule, and can in nowise brook a dominion within
their own. (192) The first monarchs, being chosen from the ranks of private
citizens, were content with the amount of dignity to which they had risen;
but their sons, who obtained the throne by right of inheritance, began
gradually to introduce changes, so as to get all the sovereign rights into
their own hands. (193) This they were generally unable to accomplish, so
long as the right of legislation did not rest with them, but with the high
priest, who kept the laws in the sanctuary, and interpreted them to the
people. (194) The kings were thus bound to obey the laws as much as were the
subjects, and were unable to abrogate them, or to ordain new laws of equal
authority; moreover, they were prevented by the Levites from administering
the affairs of religion, king and subject being alike unclean. (195) Lastly,
the whole safety of their dominion depended on the will of one man, if that
man appeared to be a prophet; and of this they had seen an example, namely,
how completely Samuel had been able to command Saul, and how easily, because
of a single disobedience, he had been able to transfer the right of
sovereignty to David. (196) Thus the kings found a dominion within their
own, and wielded a precarious sovereignty.
(17:197) In order to surmount these difficulties, they allowed other temples
to be dedicated to the gods, so that there might be no further need of
consulting the Levites; they also sought out many who prophesied in the name
of God, so that they might have creatures of their own to oppose to the true
prophets. (198) However, in spite of all their attempts, they never
attained their end. (199) For the prophets, prepared against every
emergency, waited for a favourable opportunity, such as the beginning of a
new reign, which is always precarious, while the memory of the previous
reign remains green. (200) At these times they could easily pronounce by
Divine authority that the king was tyrannical, and could produce a champion
of distinguished virtue to vindicate the Divine right, and lawfully to claim
dominion, or a share in it. (201) Still, not even so could the prophets
effect much. (202) They could, indeed, remove a tyrant; but there were
reasons which prevented them from doing more than setting up, at great cost
of civil bloodshed, another tyrant in his stead. (203) Of discords and civil
wars there was no end, for the causes for the violation of Divine right
remained always the same, and could only be removed by a complete
remodelling of the state.
(17:204) We have now seen how religion was introduced into the Hebrew
commonwealth, and how the dominion might have lasted for ever, if the just
wrath of the Lawgiver had allowed it. (205) As this was impossible, it was
bound in time to perish. (206) I am now speaking only of the first
commonwealth, for the second was a mere shadow of the first, inasmuch as the
people were bound by the rights of the Persians to whom they were subject.
(207) After the restoration of freedom, the high priests usurped the rights
of the secular chiefs, and thus obtained absolute dominion. (208) The
priests were inflamed with an intense desire to wield the powers of the
sovereignty and the high priesthood at the same time. (209) I have,
therefore, no need to speak further of the second commonwealth. (210)
Whether the first, in so far as we deem it to have been durable, is capable
of imitation, and whether it would be pious to copy it as far as possible,
will appear from what fellows. (211) I wish only to draw attention, as a
crowning conclusion, to the principle indicated already - namely, that it is
evident, from what we have stated in this chapter, that the Divine right, or
the right of religion, originates in a compact: without such compact,
none but natural rights exist. (212) The Hebrews were not bound by their
religion to evince any pious care for other nations not included in the
compact, but only for their own fellow-citizens.