Free Political Propositions

passions: For where one human is found to be another’s * Devil, or Deceiver, and Tyrant, there is not the least pleasure or peace of life; but much rather a continuous bumping and knocking against one another, experienced toward their own ultimate ruin and downfall. Indeed, even the ordinary human impulse of Love and Joy, in which all of animal humanity’s salvation may be deemed and said to consist, remains—outside of any measure of a common-good—as if blocked, and as if without its true natural breath, stifled in the hearts or souls of humans as in smoke-pots, and found without any least worthy effect. I understand, then, the Common-good of an assembly of people, after the preceding foundation of an equal freedom, to include such an equality of orders, laws, and assistances between more and less wise, more and less wealthy, male and female gender, Elders and Children, Served and Serving, Ruler and Ruled, to be discovered through reason and experience, from which one may most surely conclude and be able to find that every Member in his degree is thereby not only not weakened and disadvantaged; but on the contrary, for the common benefit, strengthened and according to desire and inclination more and more helped, and both according to Soul and Body may always be promoted toward greater welfare: For each being well noted in his particular state; all will be found to be equally in need of improvement, primarily according to the soul, in their state. According to which description of a common-good, I ask all humans of judgment who grasp reason and are uncorrupted by superstition, as well as by immoderate desire for honor and wealth, whether it would not be desirable to live under such an assembly of people where all laws, orders, and assistances to one another were attempted to be regulated in such a way that they were harmful to no one; but to all and everyone highly advantageous? So that everyone, without distinction, in his natural equal freedom, remained most carefully unprejudiced or unshortened? And furthermore, could be provided to all and everyone, according to the utmost ability of that assembly, opportunity * to be able to bestow his own welfare according to his own reasonable desire, inclination, and disposition? If anyone, through bad fortune, or also otherwise through natural aversion, were found unenthusiastic for adventurous Trading, or otherwise practiced handling, that one should provide such a person—according to his own sensibility—quiet opportunity, either for War, or for useful Agriculture, or otherwise being judged better inclined and capable, to be able to live quietly with all his own, willing, without all shame and contempt? And consequently, so I also judge the sole and true objective of a true Policy to be that a people, in an endless general improvement of welfare according to Body and Soul, shall always be able to grow and flourish toward an invincible strengthening: indeed allowing that in this respect one human may indeed be able to excel above the other in welfare; but yet never so far

• Without humans being able to be given employment in the Republic according to their own disposition, reasonable desire, and inclination, it will be clear and true everywhere that such pretended Republics and contented multitudes of people will bump and knock against each other in continuous misery, and finally, all, falling short, or after some time, be destined for downfall.