Ramsay ’ s Spiritual Entourage in France
In the same vein , Ramsay published an Essai philosophique sur le gouvernement civil selon les principes de feu M . François de Salignac de La Mothe- Fénelon in which he stated that “ the only merit of the author is to have been brought up many years , in the bright sentiments of the late Messire François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon , Archbishop of Cambray . He hath taken the advantage of the instructions of that illustrious prelate to write this Essay .” 23 The ambiguity of the word “ instructions ” created some confusion , and for a long time the book was included in Fénelon ’ s body of work . In his preface , Ramsay declared that :
The design of this Essay is to unfold the philosophical principles of civil government [ ... ]. This is what makes it necessary , to search into the laws of nature , and foundations of civil right ; and not into the facts of historians , nor the customs of nations ; but in the ideas of the divine perfection and humane weakness : The one is the rule of the law of nature , the other the cause of civil laws .
It is this divine philosophy , which is the only sure and immutable foundation of all duties . It is this philosophy , independent of all revelation , which makes us regard the Supreme Being as the common Father of all humane society ; and all men as children , brethren , and members of one and the same family . It is this philosophy , which makes us no more regard ourselves as independent beings , created only for ourselves ; but as a small part of the whole , which composes mankind ; the publick good in general of which is to be preferr ’ d to one ’ s own private interest , this is the source of all noble sentiments and all heroic virtues . [ ... ] Without a respect to the Divinity , all the ideas of justice , truth and virtue , which render society amiable , are of no signification . 24
The issue concerns a search into the effects of natural law on the principles that should govern human law . We are not yet at the point reached in Ramsay ’ s final project , which will set out these very principles of natural law , but the terms used to define the philosophical method are getting closer . The approach reflects Fénelon in that natural law is simply Pure Love : “ I don ’ t speak here of the motive of love , which may be pleasure , or the agreeable sensation , which the object beloved excites in us . I only speak of the rule of love , which ought to be the perfection of objects .” 25
23 Andrew Michael Ramsay , An Essay upon Civil Government ( London : printed for Randall Minshull , 1822 ) preface , p . viii . The French original , Essay philosophique sur le gouvernement civil , où l ’ on traite de la nécessité , de l ’ origine , des droits , des bornes , & des différentes formes de la souveraineté selon les principes de feu M . François de Salignac de La Motthe-Fénelon , can be consulted on the Gallica website . There is a critical edition by Georges Lamoine , Essais de politique ( Paris : H . Champion , 2009 ), pp . 159 ff .
24 Ramsay , An Essay upon Civil Government , p . v . 25 Ramsay , An Essay upon Civil Government , p . 12 .
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