PART XIII. ETICURUS^

fear into their minds^ the reafon of which was not fo tnanifefi as the other, declaring that fucb as had kil¬ led a man, by what means or accident foever,fhould be impure until they had ufed luflrations.
Thus the brutijh part of the Soul, in which the ajfeSions and pajftons reftde, being injiruded and rejorm'd, came at length to that Centlenejs which now flour i/heth amongft u$,by applying the arts of taming and civiliz^ing our favage affections, which were invented, and praClifed at flrjty by thofe who ruled the multitude-, of which, this is one chief ait among the reft, that menfhould not defir oy one ano¬ ther without any difiinition.
CHAP. XXVIl.
between whom. Right and jufiice is to be exercifed.
NOw fince, it may be demanded. Betwixt what Perfons,as well Right, and the vio¬ lation of it, which is Injury, as Juftice, and what is oppofite to it, Injuftice, properly confift ? We fhall therefore explicate this, by compar¬ ing men with other living Creatures.
As therefore, there is no reafon of Right or iajury,or juft and unjuft betwixt Animals ,that could not make a common agreement, not to hurt nor be hurt by mutual invafion : So neither, is' there between thofe nations which neitherwould not, or could not, enter into a mutual engag- jnent, not to hurt, nor be hurt by one another.
For juft, or right, the confervation whereof is Jufti(;e,hath no being at all, but in mutual So- . ciety -, whence Juftice is the good of a Society, infomuch as by it, every one of the faid af- fociated Perfons live fccurely, free from that anxiety,which is caufed by the continual fear of harm. Whence it follows, that whatever Ani¬ mals, or what Men foever,either cannot, or will not make an aflbciation,nor enter into Covenant among themlelvcs,muft want this good, not be¬ ing reciprocally oblig’d by any bond of right or Juftice,whereby they might live fecurely. And fo to them,there can remain no other reafon of fccurity, than only this, to do harm to others, that they be not harmed thcrafclves;
As therefore, when ohe of thofe brute Ani¬ mals, amongft which there hath paft no fuch a- greeraent or padk, doth hurt another,though it may be faid that one hurts the other,yet it can¬ not be faid that one doth an injury to the other, becaufe one was not bound by any right, com' pact, or Law, not to hurt the other : In like manner,if one man of that nation, among whom there is no Covenant, or affbeiation, hurt ano¬ ther, it may be faid that he hurts him, but not that he wrongs or doth him an injury becaufe he was not obliged by any compaft or Law,not to hurt him.
I fpeak of brute Animals, not as if there were any even of thofe who life in heards or flocks, that are capable of entring into Covenant, not to harm or be hurt by each other,and fo might be conceived to be juft if they do not hurt each other, and unjuft if they do • but only to the end, that from thence it may be the better un¬ der ftood, that, even among men, juftice in itfelf is nothing, for that it is found only in mutual Societies, according to the amplitude of every
Country, in which the inhabitants may conve¬
niently enter into agreements, and Cavenants of not doing, or receiving any hurt -, fince other- wife, and in a man fingly confidered, there is no Juftice at all j and what is Juftice in one So¬ ciety of men,*many times is in refpeft of contra¬ ry Covenants, Injuftice in another.
But can there be Juftice betwixt Men and o- ther Animals? Certainly not. For if men could make a covenant with bruteAnimals,as they cart with other men, that they ftiould not kill, nor be killed by them,withouc any diftindion: then indeed,might the reafon ofjuft or right be found¬ ed betwixt them and us, fince the end of that co¬ venant would be the fecurity of both parties • Buc,becaufe it is impoffible, that Animals void' of reafon ihould be obliged by oneLaw with us^ it muft alfo be impoflible,for us to obtain more alTurance of fecurity from Animals, than even from inanimate beings. So that, there is no o- ther way for us to fecure ourfelves from brute Beafts, but only to execute that power ofde- ftroyingthem,which Nature hath given us.
Perhaps you will, by the way, demand, why we kill even fuch Animals, as can give us nooc- cafionof fear ? This we may do either through intemperance, and a certain natural favagenefs or cruelty ,as we exercife cruelty even upon men, who live out of our Society and cannot give us any fear. But it is one thing,to break the rules of Temperance, or any of its kinds, as Sobiiety, Lenity,or Manfiietude,or, (if you pleafe,) mere: humanity or goo^uefs of nature- another,to vi¬ olate Juftice, which prefupofeth Laws and Co¬ venants eftablilhed by mutual confent.
* Nor can it be alledg^d, that we have a power * porphj granted us by Law, to deftroy any fuch Animals, as are not offenfive or defiruBive to mankind. I con- fefs, there is not any kind of living Creatures, a- mong all thofe we are allowed to defiroy^which being permitted to increafe to vaft multitudes, would not prove pernicious to mankind, but being perferved in fuch number as ordinarily they are, are not fame ways ufeful to life.
For fheep, kine, and all fuch like, as long as they are preferv'd to a moderate number, afford us many neceffaries for life : But if they were fuffered to mul¬ tiply in a far greater manner •, certainly, they could . not but prove very hurtful to us, as well in regard of their firength,asfor that they would devour the fruits of the eart\that/hould fervefor our fubftfience. And for this very caufe is it, that we are not prohibited to defiroy fuch Animals, yet preferiie fo many of themas may be ufeful to us, and eafily ruled by us.
For, of Lyons, Wolves, and all fuch as are called wild Beafis, ( whether little or great, ) we cannot take a certain number, which being preferved^ may , afford us any relife neceffary to life, as we may of kine, horfes,and the refi, that are called tame Crea¬ tures. Whence it comes to pafs, that we endeavour wholly to exterminate thofe, and ofthefe cutoff only fo many as are over and above a Competent flock.
Hereupon, ( to touch briefly on this alfo,) we may conceive, that even among thofe Nations who make their choice of certain forts of Ani¬ mals for food, the matter was determined andpre- feribed by certain Laws, grounded upon reafon cor- refpondent to thofe we have now given. And as for thofe Animals that were not to be eaten,there was ref- peCl bad to their utility and inutility, and for fome
reafon
EPICURUS.