Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (4th ed, 1770, vol IV).djvu/20

8 the firt murderer Cain was o enible, that we find him expreing his apprehenions, that whoever hould find him would lay him. In a tate of ociety this right is transferred from individuals to the overeign power ; whereby men are prevented from being judges in their own caues, which is one of the evils that civil government was intended to remedy. Whatever power therefore individuals had of punihing offences againt the law of nature, that is now veted in the magitrate alone ; who bears the word of jutice by the conent of the whole community. And to this precedent natural power of individuals mut be referred that right, which ome have argued to belong to every tate, (though, in fact, never exercied by any) of punihing not only their own ubjects, but alo foreign embaadors, even with death itelf ; in cae they have offended, not indeed againt the municipal laws of the country, but againt the divine laws of nature, and become liable thereby to forfeit their lives for their guilt.

to offences merely againt the laws of ociety, which are only mala prohibita, and not mala in e ; the temporal magitrate is alo empowered to inflict coercive penalties for uch trangreions : and this by the conent of individuals ; who, in forming ocieties, did either tacitly or exprely invet the overeign power with a right of making laws, and of enforcing obedience to them when made, by exerciing, upon their non-obervance, everities adequate to the evil. The lawfulnes therefore of punihing uch criminals is founded upon this principle, that the law by which they uffer was made by their own conent ; it is a part of the original contract into which they entered, when firt they engaged in ociety ; it was calculated for, and has long contributed to, their own ecurity.

right therefore, being thus conferred by univeral conent, gives to the tate exactly the ame power, and no more, over all it's members, as each individual member had naturally Rh