And again, _self-control_, we say, is the principle of liberty. Practical freedom is the exercise of the _right_ of self-control. How far does the right of self-control extend? I say that an instance in which a body of men emerged from a state of nature, (so called,) and formed a government by an original act, is unknown to history. It never occurred. Man was placed originally by Jehovah himself under political law. The very moment that he placed the first being in a relation to another by giving him a “_helpmeet_,” he gave him a law to govern that relation, as we have seen; and all the subsequent acts of men in the matter of government-making, have been such modifications of the existing form of government as they supposed would better suit their circumstances. But it is said that when society meets in convention to agree upon certain principles called a constitution, under which the laws shall be made, men do virtually, for the time being, resolve themselves into their original position or state without government; and that the constitution so formed is virtually an original formation. Well, for the sake of the argument, let it be so. When, therefore, society thus falls back upon its original position, men stand upon the basis of what are supposed their _original rights_! What is that? Why, the right that each man has to do as he may please. They form a government: that is, give up a part, more or less, of their _original right_. Of course a part remains ungiven up, and the giving up cannot be to secure the possession of that which is already in possession! What is it that invests these questions with difficulty? Is it not the ambiguity of the term rights? Let us then define _rights_, if we would not be for ever entoiled by these absurdities. And still again: Is liberty the right of self-control? Is not man--accountable man--free in virtue of his very humanity? Does this freedom imply absolute liberty? If so, absolute liberty is inherent in his very constitution--it is inalienable. What right, then, can he have to give it up, or any part of it? If so, he has the right to do that which subjectively he cannot do. If, then, government be a concession of the _right_ of self-control in this sense, it is the concession of an inalienable right, and should be abandoned as a piece of folly. It is entirely obvious, therefore, that we cannot advance in these inquiries at all without first settling the question, _What are rights?_