It is consequently a system contrary to natural law as well as to the Christian conscience. According to Rousseau, the great French philosopher, man is a being by nature loving justice and order. In his opinion, in an ideal state of society each member would be free and the equal of every other--_equal_ because no person or family or class would seek for any rights or privileges of which any other was deprived; and _free_ because each one would have his share in determining the rule common to all. It was these doctrines, taking root in the minds and convictions of men, that gave us our modern state of society, and that gave us our Nation, with its free thought, free speech, free press, and free Institutions. The first public official document in which these opinions were clearly set forth was our "Declaration of Independence," which proclaimed that all men are "equal" and that "they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The same views also formed the element of strength in the French Revolution. The first article of the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen," adopted in 1789, at the beginning of the Revolution, asserts: "Men are born free and equal, and have the same rights." Indeed, these doctrines have been the source of all the social reforms of the past century. They are the guiding-star of modern civilization. They are the basis, not only of our Government, but also of our social system, which is one of liberty and equal rights. They are the spring of all noble thoughts given forth to the world and all the splendid achievements. To be majestic and ennobling, thought must be unrestrained; to be praiseworthy, deeds must be uncontrolled. In England the dominant party at present (June, 1886) is the Liberal Party, whose able leader is that "Grand Old Man," William E. Gladstone. Last fall, just before their great election, that party issued a manifesto of a very unusual character. It took the shape of a book entitled "Why am I a Liberal?" and contained definitions and confessions of political faith by the foremost leaders of the party. Among them Robert Browning answered the question in this characteristic sonnet: "Why? Because all I haply can and do, All that I am now, all I hope to be, Whence comes it, save from fortune setting free Body and soul, the purpose to pursue God-traced for both? Of fetters not a few, Of prejudice, convention, fall from me. These shall I bid men, each in his degree Also God-guided, bear, and gayly too? "_But little do or can the best of us; That little is achieved through liberty._ Who then dares hold, emancipated thus, His fellow shall continue bound? Not I, Who live, love, labor freely, nor discuss A brother's right to freedom. That is why."