he same rights. These limits can only be determined by law.

_Article VI._--The law is the expression of the general will. All
citizens have a right to take part (_concourir_), personally or by their
representatives, in its formation.

The remainder of this article insists on the impartiality of law and the
equal admission of all citizens to office. The Declaration of 1793 is
more emphatic about equality, and more rhetorical. Article III reads,
"All men are equal by nature and before the law."

It is easy to subject these articles to a niggling form of criticism in
which their spirit is altogether missed. I would ask attention only to
one or two points of principle.

(_a_) What are the rights actually claimed? "Security" and "resistance
to oppression" are not in principle distinct, and, moreover, may be
taken as covered by the definition of liberty. The meaning at bottom is
"Security for liberty in respect of his person and property is the right
of every man." So expressed, it will be seen that this right postulates
the existence of an ordered society, and lays down that it is the duty
of such a society to secure the liberty of its members. The right of the
individual, then, is not something independent of society, but one of
the principles which a good social order must recognize.

(_b_) Observe that equality is limited by the "common utility," and that
the sphere of liberty is ultimately to be defined by "law." In both
cases we are referred back from the individual either to the needs or to
the decision of society as a whole. There are, moreover, two
definitions of liberty. (1) It is the power to do what does not injure
others. (2) It is a right limited by the consideration that others must
enjoy the same rights. It is important to bear in mind that these two
definitions are highly discrepant. If my right to knock a man down is
only limited by his equal right to knock me down, the law has no
business to interfere when we take to our fists. If, on the other hand,
I have no right to injure another, the law should interfere. Very little
reflection suffices to show that this is the sounder principle, and that
respect for the equal liberty of another is not an adequate definition
of liberty. My right to keep my neighbour awake by playing the piano all
night is not satisfactorily counterbalanced by his right to keep a dog
which howls all the time the piano is being played. The right of a
"sweater" to pay starvation wage