characters of th

e assigned ten

h is th

o every other law: so that all those which man has received, are only imitations of it, a

h is th

y him to each man, whereas all other laws are presente

h is th

, and to all countries, that

other law

local and accidental, originating from circumstances of places and of persons; so that if su

the fourth

niform and

law uniform a

il and vice according to another; and what one and the sam

s the fift

consists entirely of facts incessantly p

other law

ul facts, on equivocal and suspicious testimon

s the sixt

s and entire doctrine are conformable to

ther law r

n and the understanding of men, and tyrannically

the sevent

t law, the penalties are prop

t other l

g deserts, or in punishing delinquencies, and consider

the eighth

ure, all men being brothers and equal in rights, it reco

other law

d, and war, and divide mankind by exclus

s the nint

men, in teaching them the true me

er laws benefi

futile practices; and this is evident from facts, since after so many laws, so many religions, so man

ast character of

her laws, either civil or religious, that is to say, it constitutes essentially the moral part of them; so that if othe

ate all thos

d that the law

ive; 6. R

diate;

rsal; 8.

le; 9. Bene

10. Alone

nature, the neglect of which, say they, forced God to send from time to time prophets to proclaim new laws; as if God enacted laws for particular circumstances, as men do; espec

tes immediately from God, d

ny of their motions, the more it is demonstrated that there exists a supreme agent, a universal and identic mover, designated by the appellation of God; and so true it is that the law of nature suffices to elevate him to the

at the followers of the l

ideas of the Divinity than most other men; for they do not sully him with t

ship do the

has imposed on the motion of each being; eternal and unalterable rules, by which it maintains the o

f nature known b

d to adopt it as the basis of their laws; but they only quote

W

ents and consequences, a complicated whole which requires an exte

nct alone teach t

at blind sentiment by which we are actuated indiscri

t the law of nature is engra

common to all men, and this proceeds from their common organization; secondly, because the first philos

ers, then, a

, some

Why

ho reason, right or wrong, philosophers; thirdly, because those who reason on m

not written, must it not

stitutes a science as accurate and precise as geometry and mathematics; and it is because the law of nature forms an exact