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ESSAY XII
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Essay_451-500.indd 465 12/27/11 9:18 PM ESSAY XII OF THE ORIGINAL CONTRACT AS no party, in the present age, can well support itself, 1'"'\. without a philosophical or speculative system of principles , annexed to its political or practical one; we accordingly find, that each of the factions, into which this nation is divided , has reared up a fabric of the former kind, in order to protect and cover that scheme of actions, which it pursues. 1 1[Having previously sketched the differences between the Whigs and the Tories (see "Of the Parties of Great Britain," in Part 1), Hume takes up their speculative, practical, and historical controversies in this essay and the two that follow. Hume suggests that it is a contradiction in terms to speak of those who have embraced a party as philosophers (p. 469). Since his own approach is philosophical, he seeks to avoid taking sides or being a mere partisan. The philosopher's task, as Hume understands it, is to Essay_451-500.indd 466 12/27/11 9:18 PM 466 ESSAY XII The people being commonly very rude builders, especially in this speculative way, and more especially still, when actuated by party-zeal; it is natural to imagine, that their workmanship must be a little unshapely, and discover evident marks of that violence and hurry, in which it was raised. The one party, by tracing up government to the DEITY, endeavour to render it so sacred and inviolate, that it must be little less than sacrilege, however tyrannical it may become, to touch or invade it, in the smallest article. The other party, by founding government altogether on the consent of the PEOPLE, suppose that there is a kind of originalcontract, by which the subjects have tacitly reserved the power of resisting their sovereign, whenever they find themselves aggrieved by that authority, with which they have, for certain purposes, voluntarily entrusted him. These are the speculative principles of the two parties; and these too are the practical consequences deduced from them. I shall venture to affirm, That both these systems of speculative principles are just; though not in the sense, intended by the parties: And, That both the schemes ofpractical consequences are prudent; though not in the extremes, to which each party, in opposition to the other, has commonly endeavoured to carry them. That the DEITY is the ultimate author of all government, will never be denied by any, who admit a general providence, and allow, that all events in the universe are conducted by an uniform plan, and directed to wise purposes. As it is impossible for the human race to subsist, at least in any comfortable or secure state, without the protection of government; this serve as a mediator between contending parties and to promote compromise or accommodation. This is accomplished by a balanced appraisal of party controversies in which each side is led to see that its views are not completely right and that the opposing views are not completely wrong. Compromise is possible only if neither party triumphs over the other. This may help to explain why Hume sometimes seems to be more critical of the Whigs, the stronger party of his day, than of the Tories. Hume's design and guiding principles are made explicit at the beginning of the third essay of this sequence, "Of the Coalition of Parties."] [18.191.216.163] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 21:02 GMT) Essay_451-500.indd 467 12/27/11 9:18 PM 467 OF THE ORIGINAL CONTRACT institution must certainly have been intended by that beneficent Being, who means the good of all his creatures: And as it has universally, in fact, taken place, in all countries, and all ages; we may conclude, with still greater certainty, that it was intended by that omniscient Being, who can never be deceived by any event or operation. But since he gave rise to it, not by any particular or miraculous interposition, but by his concealed and universal efficacy; a sovereign cannot, properly speaking, be called his vice-gerent, in any other sense than every power or force, being derived from him, may be said to act by his commission. Whatever actually happens is comprehended in the general plan or intention of providence; nor has the greatest and most lawful prince any more reason, upon that account, to plead a peculiar sacredness or inviolable authority , than an inferior magistrate, or even an usurper, or even a robber and a...