PHI LOS 0 P H Y . - Classic Works of Apologetics Online

The Djtt'isi~n of Rights. 79
him the judge of his own qualifications. You can·
not do this, but you must make all other ~ndidates
rhe same; which would open a door to demands
without number, reason, or right. In like manner,
a poor man has a right to relief from the rich; but
the mode, ~eason! and quantum of that relief, who
shall contribute to it, or how much, ru-e not ascer­
Wned. Y et these points must be ascertained, before
a claim to relief can be prosecuted by force. For
[0 allow the poor to ascertdin them for themselves,
would be to expose property to so many of these ·
;.:laims, that it would lose its value, or cease indeed
to be property. The same observation holds of all
other cases of impe~ect rights; not to mention,
that in the instances of gratitude, aft"ection, rever"
ence, and the like, force is excluded by the very
idea of the duty, which must be voluntary, or net
at all~
Where~r the ri~h~~~2erfect, th~ co~nd-_
I am obliged to . prefer the
i~,!ililigatiotUs so~.
best candidate, to relieve the poor, be gratefnl to
my benefactors, take care of my children, and reverence
my parents; but in all these cases, my obliga-, J7"-- ,
tion, like their right, is imperfect. /"", ' .. '
I call these obligations "imperfect,~' in conf!>rm ..
ity to the established language Of writers upon the
subject. The term, however, seems ill chosen on
this account, that it leads many to imagine, that
there is less guilt in the violation of an imperfect
obligation, than of a perfect one; which is a groundless
notion. ~Q! an ob~tion .hein$ ~rf~ct?t:._~= ~
perfect, d~ter~e_s. only . wh~ther V,10ren~~ Illay or_ ..
may-not he, employed to enforce it ; and_det~nnines
notliing else. The degree of guilt-ilK,.u-red by viC.'·'
lating the obligation is a different thiD.g. It is determined
by circumstances altoietb~r independent
of this distinction. A man, who by a partial, prejudiced,
or corrupt vote, disappoints a worthy candidate
of a station in life, UpOJl which bis hopes, pos-
I"