The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 06 (of 11)

In Short

This volume gathers three distinct yet thematic works that explore the architecture of society and influence. It opens with a dialogue interrogating the English legal tradition, moves into a historical account of the English Civil Wars, and concludes with a precise manual on rhetoric. Rather than a singular narrative, the book functions as a unified investigation into how power is justified, how it collapses into violence, and how language is weaponized to maintain or overthrow authority. It endures as a primary window into the mind of a thinker who sought to strip away romanticism and myth, demanding that law and government be understood through the lens of human nature and cold necessity.

The Story

The volume begins with a sharp exchange between a Philosopher and a Lawyer. The Philosopher challenges the common law’s reliance on precedent and "artificial reason," arguing that true law must be plain, declared by the sovereign, and rooted in the necessity of the people’s security. He rejects the notion that judicial autonomy can supersede the King’s authority, framing the law as a tool for the state to prevent the chaos of conflicting interpretations.

This theoretical tension—the conflict between central authority and competing centers of power—explodes into the historical reality of Behemoth. Here, the focus shifts to the English Civil Wars. The account traces the descent from political discord into total war, identifying the "seditious" influence of Presbyterian ministers, ambitious gentry, and the hypocrisy of Parliamentary rhetoric as the true architects of the collapse. The narrative follows the breakdown of the state: the King’s desperate attempts to maintain his prerogative, the rise of the "democraticals" who used the language of liberty to consolidate their own arbitrary power, and the eventual transition from monarchy to the Protectorate under Cromwell. The story is not one of progress, but of the recurring fragility of peace, ending with the suppression of insurrections and the cynical realization that once the sovereign authority is broken, the resulting vacuum is filled by whichever faction possesses the most effective military and propagandistic force.

The volume concludes by pivoting to the mechanism of that very force: rhetoric. This final section functions as a manual for influence. Having established in the previous works how power is maintained or destroyed, the author now defines the "faculty" of winning belief. He dissects the nature of persuasion, breaking down orations into their deliberative, judicial, and demonstrative forms. He explores the mechanics of human passion—anger, joy, and fear—and instructs the reader on how to manipulate these emotions to lead an audience toward a desired judgment. The arc of the book is thus complete: it starts with the high philosophy of law, moves through the brutal reality of its failure during the seventeenth-century insurrections, and ends with the cold, technical instructions on how to persuade the minds of the men who occupy those shifting, unstable seats of power.

How It Unfolds

The critique of law The Philosopher and the Lawyer debate whether law derives its authority from ancient custom or from the clear, sovereign command of the ruler. The discussion highlights the danger of judges acting as independent legislators, which the Philosopher identifies as a source of national instability.

The descent into chaos The history of the Civil War begins by identifying the structural weaknesses that allowed Presbyterian ministers and ambitious nobles to challenge the crown. It details the gradual erosion of the King’s power through the manipulation of religious conscience and the misuse of legislative language.

The military collapse The account moves through the formation of rival armies and the tragic breakdown of traditional governance into open warfare. It captures the rise of Cromwell as a tactical necessity born of the total collapse of the monarchical order.

The anatomy of rhetoric The text transitions into a clinical guide on the art of persuasion, defining how a speaker can control an audience’s perception of justice and profit. It treats the human mind as a system of predictable passions that can be mapped and redirected through the correct use of examples and logical shortcuts.

The People

The Philosopher acts as the primary voice of the author’s own skepticism. He is consistently critical of historical myth, legal obfuscation, and the "enthusiasm" of religious leaders. He values security above abstract liberty, viewing the law as a necessary instrument to keep the peace.

The Lawyer serves as the foil, defending the traditional English common law and the perceived wisdom of figures like Sir Edward Coke. He seeks to maintain the dignity and independence of the judicial system, ultimately failing to satisfy the Philosopher’s demand for a purely rational, sovereign-based legal order.

Cromwell appears not as a hero, but as a symptom of a failed state—the man who succeeds only because the existing power structures allowed themselves to be dismantled. He represents the triumph of force over legitimacy.

The Presbyterian ministers are cast as the villains of the Civil War. They are portrayed as hypocrites who used the pulpit to incite the populace against the King, not out of true spiritual conviction, but for the sake of their own political influence and social advancement.

In Its Own Voice

"I say not that; for all study is rational, or nothing worth: but I say, that the great masters of the mathematics do not so often err as the great professors of the law."

The Philosopher argues for the superiority of logical consistency over the traditional, often contradictory, practices of the legal profession.

"If upon some prediction, the people should have been made confident that Oliver Cromwell and his army should be, upon a day to come, utterly defeated; would not every one have endeavoured to assist, and to deserve well of the party that should give him that defeat?"

The author highlights how prophecies and rhetoric can function as self-fulfilling mechanisms of political control.

"The principles of rhetoric out of which enthymemes are to be drawn, are the common opinions that men have concerning profitable and unprofitable; just and unjust; honourable and dishonourable."

Here, the author defines the tactical foundation of persuasion, emphasizing that rhetoric succeeds by mirroring the existing prejudices of the judge.

What It's Really About

At its core, this volume is an inquiry into the nature of sovereignty and the fragility of peace. It asks what keeps a society from falling into the "behemoth"—the monstrous, uncontrolled violence of civil war. The book argues that stability is impossible when multiple, competing authorities claim the right to interpret the law or define morality. It posits that the "fundamental laws" often cited by rebellious factions are merely rhetorical constructs designed to mask the pursuit of power. The ultimate question posed is one of necessity: when the sovereign power is challenged, the state either reinforces its singular authority or disintegrates. The rhetorical manual at the end serves as an essential companion, suggesting that power is not just held by force, but by the ability to manage the perceptions and passions of the people—a task that is as much a craft as it is a science.

Why Read It Today

Readers who value clear, unsentimental analysis will find a bracing clarity here. The writing is profoundly direct, free from the ornamentation typical of the period, and reflects a mind that sees through the pretensions of both royalists and parliamentarians. It is essential for anyone interested in the foundations of political theory or the mechanics of propaganda. However, the reader should be prepared for the book's stark, often cold assessment of human nature. It does not offer the comfort of moralizing; instead, it presents a view of history as a series of power struggles fueled by predictable human failings.

The text is challenging not because of its prose, which is surprisingly crisp for the seventeenth century, but because of its intense focus on the specifics of English law and history. Readers without a background in the English Civil War may find some sections dense with names and institutional conflicts. Yet, the reward is an unvarnished look at the transition from medieval to modern politics. You will walk away with a lasting, somewhat unsettling awareness of how easily a society’s shared language—its laws, its religion, its concepts of justice—can be turned into a tool for its own destruction. It is a book for those who prefer to look at the machinery of power directly, rather than through the polished lens of later, more romanticized historical narratives.