- Such is the august
personage into whose hands, according to the theory, I am called upon
to surrender my will, my will in full; certainly, if self-renunciation
were necessary, I should risk less in giving myself up to a king or to
an aristocracy, even hereditary; for then would my representatives be
at least recommended by their evident rank and their probable
competency. - Democracy, in its nature and composition, is a system
in which the individual awards to his representatives the least trust
and deference; hence, it is the system in which he should entrust them
with the least power. Conscience and honor everywhere enjoin a man to
retain for himself some portion of his independence; but nowhere is
there so little be ceded. If a modern constitution ought to clearly
define and limit the domain of the State, it is in respect of
contemporary democracy that it ought to be the most restrictive.
III.
Origin and nature of the modern State. - Its functions, rights and
limits.
Let us try to define these limits. - After the turmoil of invasions
and conquest, at the height of social disintegration, amidst the
combats daily occurring between private parties, there arose in every
European community a public force , which force, lasting for
centuries, still persists to our day.
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