Indeed，allareagreedthattheyoughttobedisobeyedwhentheycommandwhatiswrong:thoughwedonotseemabletoelicitanycleargeneralviewastowhatremainswrongafterithasbeencommandedbythesovereign。
And，again，thepositivelawsthatoughttobeobeyedassuchmustbethecommandsissuedbyamorallyrightfulauthority:andthoughthesewillordinarilycoincidewiththecommandslegallyenforced，wecannotsaythatthisisalwaysthecaseforthecourtsmaybetemporarilysubservienttoausurper；or，again，thesovereignhithertohabituallyobeyedmaybeoneagainstwhomithasbecomerighttorebelsinceitisgenerallyadmittedthatthisissometimesright。Werequire，then，principlesfordeterminingwhenusurpationbecomeslegitimateandwhenrebellionisjustifiable:andwedonotseemabletoelicitthesefromCommonSense——exceptsofarasitmaybefairlysaidthatonthiswholesubjectCommonSenseinclinesmoretotheUtilitarianmethodthanitdoesinmattersofprivatemorality。
Stilllesscanwestatethegeneraldutyofsatisfying`naturalexpectations’——i。e。suchexpectationsasanaveragemanwouldformundergivencircumstances——intheformofaclearandprecisemoralaxiom。Nodoubtajustmanwillgenerallysatisfycustomaryclaims:
butitcanhardlybemaintainedthatthemereexistenceofacustomrendersitclearlyobligatorythatanyoneshouldconformtoitwhohasnotalreadypromisedtodoso；especiallysincebadcustomscanonlybeabolishedbyindividualsventuringtodisregardthem。
WehavestilltoexaminewhetherasabranchofJusticeorunderaseparateheadthedutyoffulfillingexpresspromisesanddistinctunderstandings。Thepeculiarconfidencewhichmoralistshavegenerallyfeltinthisprincipleisstrikinglyillustratedbythoseendeavourstoextenditsscopewhichwehavejusthadoccasiontonotice:anditcertainlyseemstosurpassinsimplicity，certainty，anddefinitenessthemoralrulesthatwehavehithertodiscussed。Here，then，ifanywhere，weseemlikelytofindoneofthoseethicalaxiomsofwhichweareinsearch。NowwesawthatthenotionofaPromiserequiresseveralqualificationsnotcommonlynoticedtomakeitprecise:butthisaloneisnoreasonwhyitmaynotbefitlyusedinframingamaxim，whichwhenenunciatedandunderstoodwillproperlyclaimuniversalacceptanceasself-evident。Forsimilarlytheuninstructedmajorityofmankindcouldnotdefineacircleasafigureboundedbyalineofwhicheverypointisequidistantfromthecentre:butnevertheless，whenthedefinitionisexplainedtothem，theywillacceptitasexpressingtheperfecttypeofthatnotionofroundnesswhichtheyhavelonghadintheirminds。Andthesamepotentialuniversalityofacceptancemay，Ithink，befairlyclaimedforthepropositionsthatthepromisewhichtheCommonSenseofmankindrecognisesasbindingmustbeunderstoodbypromiserandpromiseeinthesamesenseatthetimeofpromising，andthatitisrelativetothepromiseeandcapableofbeingannulledbyhim，andthatitcannotoverridedeterminatepriorobligations。