"[A]ll Laws that were ever framed for the good Government of Men (even with the divine Decalogue) are no other than faint Transcripts of that eternal Law of Benevolence, which was written and again retraced in the Bosom of the first Man"
— Brooke, Henry (c. 1703-1783)
Author
Place of Publication
Dublin
Publisher
Printed for the Author by Dillon Chamberlaine
Date
Published serially, 1765-1770
Metaphor
"[A]ll Laws that were ever framed for the good Government of Men (even with the divine Decalogue) are no other than faint Transcripts of that eternal Law of Benevolence, which was written and again retraced in the Bosom of the first Man"
Metaphor in Context
If these were not, my Harry, the natural, inheritable, and indefeasible Rights of all Men, there would be no Wrong, no Injustice, in depriving All you should meet, of their Liberty, their Lives, and Properties at Pleasure. For, all Laws that were ever framed for the good Government of Men (even with the divine Decalogue) are no other than faint Transcripts of that eternal Law of Benevolence, which was written and again retraced in the Bosom of the first Man, and which all his Posterity ought to observe, without further Obligation.
The capital Apostle, Saint Paul, bears Testimony, also, to the Impression of this Law of Rights on the Consciences and Hearts of all Men, where he says in the second Chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, "Not the Hearers of the Law are just before God, but the Doers of the Law shall be justified. For, when the Gentiles, which have not the Law, do by Nature the Things contained in the Law, These, having not the Law, are a Law unto themselves. Which shew the work of the Law written in their Hearts, Consciences also bearing Witness, and their Thoughts, the mean while, accusing or else excusing One another."
(pp. 96-7)
The capital Apostle, Saint Paul, bears Testimony, also, to the Impression of this Law of Rights on the Consciences and Hearts of all Men, where he says in the second Chapter of his Epistle to the Romans, "Not the Hearers of the Law are just before God, but the Doers of the Law shall be justified. For, when the Gentiles, which have not the Law, do by Nature the Things contained in the Law, These, having not the Law, are a Law unto themselves. Which shew the work of the Law written in their Hearts, Consciences also bearing Witness, and their Thoughts, the mean while, accusing or else excusing One another."
(pp. 96-7)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "bosom" and "law" in HDIS (Prose)
Citation
17 entries in the ESTC (1765, 1766, 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1776, 1777, 1782, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794).
Text from The Fool of Quality, or, the History of Henry Earl of Moreland. (Dublin: Printed for the Author by Dillon Chamberlaine, 1765-1770). <Link to ECCO>. Note, vol. 2 is dated 1766, vol. 3 1768, vol. 4 1769, vol. 5 1770.
Text from The Fool of Quality, or, the History of Henry Earl of Moreland. (Dublin: Printed for the Author by Dillon Chamberlaine, 1765-1770). <Link to ECCO>. Note, vol. 2 is dated 1766, vol. 3 1768, vol. 4 1769, vol. 5 1770.
Date of Entry
04/25/2005
