liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; and that, when any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happi

§ 10. The rights of mankind are variously denominated : first, natural rights; secondly, political rights; and thirdly, civil rights. Natural rights are those which are founded in the laws of our nature; and are said to consist in the right of personal liberty, or the right to be free in our persons or bodies, and to use them as we think fit; in the right of personal security, which is the right to be protected against injury to our bodies or good name; and in the right of property, the right to enjoy and dispose of whatsoever belongs to us, as we think proper. These rights are also called unalienable, as they cannot be alienated, or justly taken from us. They may, however, be forfeited by crime. A man may be deprived of his liberty, to prevent his injuring others; and he may be justly fined or imprisoned for crimes committed against the good and wholesome laws of the community.

§ 11. Political rights are defined to be the rights and powers retained by the people in the constitution or fundamental law of the state. The right of electing or appointing the officers of the government, and the power of altering or amending the constitution, are rights conferred by the constitution, and are therefore called political rights. The distinction between political and civil rights is not made by all political writers. There is, however, an obvious distinction, which will be made more clearly to appear from the definition given, in another place, of the political and civil powers of government. (§ 41-47.)

§12. Civil rights are those which are secured to citizens

government? § 10. How are the various classes of human rights denominated? What are natural rights? § 11. What are political rights? § 12. What are civil rights? What is meant by the civil

by the civil compact. By civil compact is meant the agreement or contract, by the terms of which the members of a community are governed. The rights of personal liberty, personal security, and of private property, though denominated natural rights because they originate in the laws of social nature, are, when we speak of them as being guarantied by civil laws, properly called civil rights.

§ 13. Liberty, in a general sense, is freedom from restraint, and is applicable to the body, will, or mind. It consists in the free exercise and enjoyment of one's rights; or in being free to act and think as he pleases. There is this difference between right and liberty: Right respects the claim or title which a person has to a thing; liberty, the free use and enjoyment of that right. A man's liberty may be destroyed; but his right to freedom will still remain. His property may be wrested from him; but his right to the same will not thereby be lost.

§ 14. Natural liberty consists in being free to act without constraint, except that which is imposed by the laws of social nature: or, moral or natural liberty is the permission which nature gives to all mankind of disposing of their persons and property in the manner they shall judge most consonant to their own happiness; on condition that they act according to the laws of nature; that they do not abuse this liberty to the injury of other men; and that they practise towards others those moral duties which these laws enjoin.

§ 15. It is a common sentiment, that mankind, in a state of civil society, do not enjoy natural liberty to its full extent. They imagine it to be that liberty which gives rein to the wicked passions of men, and leaves them free to pursue their own interest and happiness, to the prejudice of other men. Hence, it is maintained, that, on entering into civil society, man gives up a portion of his natural liberty, and of.his natural rights. But the correctness of this sentiment does not clearly appear. If man be, by the laws of his nature, constituted a moral and social being, he can have no natural right to injure himself or others. Natural liberty accords with the principles of justice, which require every

compact? 13. What is liberty? §14. Wherein does natural liberty consist? § 15. Does natural liberty imply the right of man to injure

man to love his neighbor as himself, and to seek the happiness of every other member of society as carefully as he seeks his own.

§ 16. Civil liberty is the liberty of men, in a state of society, to exercise and enjoy civil rights-rights guarantied by civil institutions. It is the liberty which a man enjoys, as a member of society, restrained by laws so far only as is necessary and expedient for the general advantage of the public. Civil liberty can exist in perfection only under laws which secure, in the highest degree possible, the welfare and happiness of the whole community.

17. Political liberty is sometimes improperly spoken of as synonymous with civil liberty. But, though often confounded, these terms are distinct in their meaning. Political liberty denotes the free exercise and enjoyment of political rights and powers reserved to the people by the fundamental laws, the constitution of the state. It is by this liberty that the civil and religious liberties of the citizens of a nation or state are secured to them.

§ 18. Among the most important rights of mankind, is the right of opinion. This is a natural right; and, in all free governments, is secured by the civil and political laws. Hence, it is also called a civil and political right. It is the right which a man has to express and to publish his religious opinions, and his opinions on all subjects relating to the government. In exercising this right, however, he may not violate the rights of others, or disturb the good order of society. The right of a person to act agreeably to his religious opinion, is called the right of conscience; and his freedom to exercise and enjoy this right, is denominated religious liberty. This liberty, called also the liberty of conscience, is defined to be "the liberty which a man has of discussing and maintaining his religious opinions, and of worshiping God in that way and manner which he believes in his conscience to be most acceptable to his Maker." The liberty of speech and of the press, and the liberty of conscience, are duly guarantied to the people of the United States.

his fellow man? §16. What is civil liberty? § 17. What is political liberty? 18. What is understood by the right of opinion? What particular rights does it include? What is religious liberty?

CHAPTER III.

Laws.-The Law of Nature-Law of Revelation-Munici pal Law-Law of Nations.

§ 19. Law, in its widest sense, signifies a rule of action, and is applied to all kinds of action, whether animate or inanimate, rational or irrational. According to established principles in nature, all matter tends to decay; all ponderous bodies determine towards the centre of the earth; heat and moisture promote the growth of plants. This invariable tendency of all species of matter to certain motions, changes, and relations, as well as those which govern human conduct, are called physical laws, or the laws of nature. Law, in a more limited sense, denotes the rules of human action; the precepts by which man, as a moral, social, and accountable being, is commanded to regulate his behavior.

§ 20. The law of nature, as applied to man, is a rule of action arising out of the natural relations which he sustains to his Creator and to his fellow men. As a creature, he must be subject to the laws of his Creator, on whom he is dependent. The will of the Creator is his law, and is called the law of nature. This law is founded in those relations of justice which existed in the nature of things prior to any positive precept; that is, it is a perfect rule for all rational and moral beings, and is right in itself, without depending on any positive command to make it so. It is that eternal law of right to which God himself conforms. Man, as a social being, is subject to the same law. He is in a measure dependent on his fellow beings. All men being created equal, each is bound by the unchangeable principles of natural justice, to render to all others that assistance which is necessary to make them as happy as himself.

§ 21. The law of revelation is that which is found in the Holy Scriptures, in which Divine Providence has directly revealed his will to mankind. This law is designed to aid man, in his present imperfect state, in acquiring a know

§ 19. What is law? § 20. What is meant by the law of nature? § 21. What is the law of revelation? What is the tendency of these

T

ledge of his duty to his Maker, and to his fellow men. This revealed or divine law agrees with the original law of nature. Both originate from the same source, are equally binding, and tend alike to promote the good of mankind. All human laws derive their force from the laws of nature and revelation; and so far as they are contrary to the natural or divine law, they are not morally binding upon men.

§22. Law, as the word is generally used, has reference to the government of men as members of the body politic; and signifies an established rule, prescribed by a competent authority in the state, commanding what its citizens are to do, and prohibiting what they are not to do. As it is designed to regulate the conduct of the members of a community, and to secure to them their civil rights, it is called municipal, or civil law. Civil law originally signified the Roman law; and it is sometimes still used to designate that law. Municipal, derived from a Latin word, had reference to the particular customs of a single municipium, or free town; but it is now, with sufficient propriety, applied to a state or nation governed by the same laws and customs.

§ 23. Of municipal or civil law there are two kinds; the written law, and the unwritten or common law. A written law is a law or rule prescribed or enacted by authority, and published and recorded in writing. It means nearly the same as statute. Statute is usually applied to acts of a legislative body consisting of representatives. In a monarchy, the laws of a sovereign are called edicts, decrees, ordinances. The common law is not written: it is founded on the principles of justice, and derives its binding force from long usage, established customs, and the consent of the nation. The common law of England was brought hither by our ancestors; and it is still the law of this country, except such portions as have been repealed by positive enactments or statutes.

§ 24. As all mankind cannot be united in a single community, they must necessarily divide into many, and form separate states and nations, independent of each other, and

laws? § 22. To what has law generally reference? What is it called when used in this sense? §23. Define written law, and common law. § 24. What is meant by the law of nations? Whence arises