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                       A DISCOURSE

                            ON

                         THE STUDY

                          OF THE

                 LAW OF NATURE AND NATIONS.

                            BY

                 SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH, M.P.

                     _SECOND EDITION._

                          LONDON:
                     HENRY GOODE AND CO.

            QUEEN'S HEAD PASSAGE, PATERNOSTER-ROW.

   SOLD BY T. CLARK, EDINBURGH; AND WARDLAW AND CO. GLASGOW.

                       M.DCCC.XXVIII.





                        A DISCOURSE,

                            ETC.


                  *     *     *     *     *

Before I begin a course of lectures on a science of great extent and
importance, I think it my duty to lay before the public the reasons
which have induced me to undertake such a labour, as well as a short
account of the nature and objects of the course which I propose to
deliver. I have always been unwilling to waste in unprofitable
inactivity that leisure which the first years of my profession usually
allow, and which diligent men, even with moderate talents, might often
employ in a manner neither discreditable to themselves, nor wholly
useless to others. Desirous that my own leisure should not be consumed
in sloth, I anxiously looked about for some way of filling it up, which
might enable me, according to the measure of my humble abilities, to
contribute somewhat to the stock of general usefulness. I had long been
convinced that public lectures, which have been used in most ages and
countries to teach the elements of almost every part of learning, were
the most convenient mode in which these elements could be taught; that
they were the best adapted for the important purposes of awakening the
attention of the student, of abridging his labours, of guiding his
inquiries, of relieving the tediousness of private study, and of
impressing on his recollection the principles of science. I saw no
reason why the Law of England should be less adapted to this mode of
instruction, or less likely to benefit by it, than any other part of
knowledge. A learned gentleman, however, had already occupied that
ground,[1] and will, I doubt not, persevere in the useful labour which
he has undertaken. On his province it was far from my wish to intrude.
It appeared to me that a course of lectures on another science closely
connected with all liberal professional studies, and which had long been
the subject of my own reading and reflection, might not only prove a
most useful introduction to the law of England, but might also become an
interesting part of general study, and an important branch of the
education of those who were not destined for the profession of the law.
I was confirmed in my opinion by the assent and approbation of men,
whose names, if it were becoming to mention them on so slight an
occasion, would add authority to truth, and furnish some excuse even for
error. Encouraged by their approbation, I resolved without delay to
commence the undertaking, of which I shall now proceed to give some
account; without interrupting the progress of my discourse by
anticipating or answering the remarks of those who may, perhaps, sneer
at me for a departure from the usual course of my profession; because I
am desirous of employing in a rational and useful pursuit that leisure,
of which the same men would have required no account, if it had been
wasted on trifles, or even abused in dissipation.

The science which teaches the rights and duties of men and of states,
has, in modern times, been called the Law of Nature and Nations. Under
this comprehensive title are included the rules of morality, as they
prescribe the conduct of private men towards each other in all the
various relations of human life; as they regulate both the obedience of
citizens to the laws, and the authority of the magistrate in framing
laws and administering government; as they modify the intercourse of
independent commonwealths in peace, and prescribe limits to their
hostility in war. This important science comprehends only that part of
_private ethics_ which is capable of being reduced to fixed and general
rules. It considers only those general principles of _jurisprudence_ and
_politics_ which the wisdom of the lawgiver adapts to the peculiar
situation of his own country, and which the skill of the statesman
applies to the more fluctuating and infinitely varying circumstances
which affect its immediate welfare and safety. "For there are in nature
certain fountains of justice whence all civil laws are derived, but as
streams; and like as waters do take tinctures and tastes from the soils
through which they run, so do civil laws vary according to the regions
and governments where they are planted, though they proceed from the
same fountains."[2]--_Bacon's Dig. and Adv. of Learn._ Works, vol. i. p.
101.

On the great questions of morality, of