combine their joint Wisdom, Authority, and Power, and each apart to employ thofe Talents which are the peculiar Excellency and Ornament of their respective Sex. The Father ought to lay out and fuperintend their Education, the Mother to execute and manage the Detail of which fhe is capable. The former fhould direct the manly Exertion of the intellectual and moral Powers of the Child. His Imagination, and the manner of thofe Exertions, are the peculiar Province of the latter. The former fhould advife, protect, command, and by his Experience, mafculine Vigour, and that fuperior Authority which is commonly afcribed to his Sex, brace and ftrengthen his Pupil for active Life, for Gravity, Integrity, and Firmness in Suffering. The Business of the latter is to bend and foften her Male Pupil, by the Charms of her Converfation, and the Softnefs and Decency of her Manners, for focial Life, for Politeness of Tafte, and the elegant Decorums of and Enjoyments of Humanity; and to improve and refine the Tenderness and Modefty of her Female Pupil, and form her to to all thofe mild domestic Virtues, which are the peculiar Characteristics and Ornaments of her Sex. Delightful Tafk! to rear the tender Thought, To conduct the opening Minds of their fweet Charge through the feveral Periods of their Progress, to affift them in each Period in throwing out the latent Seeds of Reason and Ingenuity, and in gaining fresh Acceffions of Light and Virtue; and at length, with all thefe Advantages, to produce the young Adventurers upon the great Theatre of human Life, to play their several Parts in the Sight of their Friends, of Society, and Mankind! How gloriously does Heaven reward the Task, when the Parents behold those dear Images and Representatives of themfelves, inheriting their Virtues as well as Fortunes, fuftaining their refpective Characters gracefully and worthily, and giving them the agreeable Profpect of tranfmitting their Name with growing Honour and Advantage to a Race yet unborn! СНАР. The Ground of this Connection. CHA P. IV. Herile and Servile Duty. N the natural Courfe of hu INt man Affairs it must neceffarily happen, that some of Mankind will live in Plenty and Opulence, and others be reduced to a State of Indigence and Poverty. The former need the Labours of the latter, and the latter the Provision and Support of the former. This mutual Neceffity is the Foundation of that Connection, whether we call it Moral or Civil, which fubfifts between The Conditions of Service. Mafters and Servants. He who feeds another has a Right to fome Equivalent, the Labour of him whom he maintains, and the Fruits of it. And he who labours for another, has a Right to expect that he fhould fupport him. But as the Labours of a Man of ordinary Strength are certainly of greater Value than mere Food and Cloathing; because they would actually produce more, even the Maintenance of a Family, were the Labourer to em ploy ploy them in his own Behalf; therefore, he has an undoubted Right to rate and difpofe of his Service for certain Wages above mere Maintenance; and if he has incautiously difpofed of it for the latter only, yet the Contract being of the onerous kind, he may equitably claim a Supply of that Deficiency. If the Service be fpecified, the Servant is bound to that only; if not, then he is to be conftrued as bound only to fuch Services as are confiftent with the Laws of Juftice and Humanity. By the voluntary Servitude to which he fubjects himself, he forfeits no Rights but fuch as are neceffarily included in that Servitude, and is obnoxious to no Punishment but fuch as a voluntary Failure in the Service may be fuppofed reasonably to require. The Offspring of fuch Servants have a Right to that Liberty which neither they, nor their Parents, have forfeited. As to thofe, who because of The Cafe of fome heinous Offence, or for great Offenfome notorious Damage, for ders. which they cannot otherwife compenfate, are condemned to perpetual Service, they do not, on that account, forfeit all the Rights of Men; but thofe, the Lofs of which which is neceffary to fecure Society against the like Offences for the future, or to repair the Damage they have done. The Cafe of With regard to Captives. taken in War, it is barbarous and inhuman to make perpetual Slaves of them, unless fome peculiar and aggravated Circumftances of Guilt have attended their Hoftility. The Bulk of the Subjects of any Government engaged in War, may be fairly esteemed innocent Enemies, and therefore they have a Right to that Clemency which is confiftent with the common Safety of Mankind, and the particular Security of that Society against which they are engaged. Though ordinary Captives have a Grant of their Lives, yet to pay their Liberty as an Equivalent, is much too high a Price. There are other Ways of acknowledging or returning the Favour, than by furrendering what is far dearer than Life itself. * To thofe, who under Pretext of the Neceffities of Commerce, drive the unnatural Trade of bargaining for human Flesh, and configning their innocent, but unfortunate Fellow-creatures, to eternal Servitude * Vid. Hutchef. Moral Inftit. Phil. Lib. iii. Cap. 3. |