The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 03 (of 11)
Thomas Hobbes · en
And that which men do, when they demand, as it is now called, _quarter_,
which the Greeks called Ζωγρία, _taking alive_, is to evade the present
fury of the victor, by submission, and to compound for their life, with
ransom, or service: and therefore he that hath quarter, hath not his
life given, but deferred till farther deliberation; for it is not a
yielding on condition of life, but to discretion. And then only is his
life in security, and his service due, when the victor hath trusted him
with his corporal liberty. For slaves that work in prisons; or fetters,
do it not of duty, but to avoid the cruelty of their task-masters.
The master of the servant, is master also of all he hath: and may exact
the use thereof; that is to say, of his goods, of his labour, of his
servants, and of his children, as often as he shall think fit. For he
holdeth his life of his master, by the covenant of obedience; that is,
of owning, and authorizing whatsoever the master shall do. And in case
the master, if he refuse, kill him, or cast him into bonds, or otherwise
punish him for his disobedience, he is himself the author of the same;
and cannot accuse him of injury.
In sum, the rights and consequences of both _paternal_ and _despotical_
dominion, are the very same with those of a sovereign by institution;
and for the same reasons: which reasons are set down in the precedent
chapter. So that for a man that is monarch of divers nations, whereof he
hath, in one the sovereignty by institution of the people assembled, and
in another by conquest, that is by the submission of each particular, to
avoid death or bonds; to demand of one nation more than of the other,
from the title of conquest, as being a conquered nation, is an act of
ignorance of the rights of sovereignty; for the sovereign is absolute
over both alike; or else there is no sovereignty at all; and so every
man may lawfully protect himself, if he can, with his own sword, which
is the condition of war.
[Sidenote: Difference between a family and a kingdom.]