235 



nied by the connected passions of suspicion, jealousy, anger, and revenge 

 — followed by insolence, fraud, and cruelty, and, if not prevented by 

 some controlling power, ending in a state of universal discord and con- 

 fusion, destructive of the social State, and the ends for which it is 

 ordained. This controlling power, wherever vested, or by whomsoever 

 exercised, is government. 



"It follows, then, that government has its origin in this twofold consti- 

 tution of our nature : the sympathetic or social feelings, constituting the 

 remote, and the individual or direct, the proximate cause."* 



§ 18. Of the So-called Organic Nature of the State. 



As the State is but a certain kind of aggregation of men, it is clear that 

 the nature of the State, as well as its genesis, is determined by, and must 

 besought in the nature of individual man.(e) Proceeding on this piinciple, 

 we investigated, in a preceding section, what we called the carinal origin, 

 or, as it may be called, the genetic, or generating cause, of the State ; and 

 this we have found to consist in certain traits of human nature, which 

 may be called social, that irresistibly compel men to live in a State of 

 society ; and hence, that the State is to be regarded as a natural phenome- 

 non, that — given the existence of man — must necessarily exist. Which 

 indeed might have been inferred from the term itself, which — according 

 to the eiymology — signifies nothing more than a state, or condition of 

 men. In like manner, we also investigated the causal origin of govern- 

 ment ; which we found to consist in certain traits or tendencies of human 

 nature (which may be called anti social), that render political organiza-. 

 tion a necessary condition to the existence of society. In solving these 

 problems, we have necessarily, to a certain extent, ascertained the nature 

 of the Slate ; that is to say, we have ascertained it to be merely an autono- 

 mous society of men, always existing under a political organization, or 

 government; and from these propositions — meagre as they are — some 

 negative inferences may be drawn, that will, at least, serve to dissipate 

 more eSectually certain false notions of the nature of the State, already 

 touched upon, and thus to preserve us from error. 



The Slate being a mere aggregation of men, living under certain condi- 

 tions, cannot, strictly speaking, be said to have intellect, or conscience, 

 or will, or consciousness, or power, either iu the sens6 of right or might, 

 or any human quality, moral, mental, or physical ; nor can it be regarded 

 as an actual individual being, or as having an actual independent exist- 

 ence. Like other collective terms, such as army, church, family, gens, 

 race, etc., the term denotes merely a certain number of human beings, 

 aggregated in a certain way ; and hence, all human qualities and acts 

 ascribed to the State, or to the government, are in reality merely qualities 



* Disquisition on Government, 5. This is justly described by Mr. Mill as " a posthumous 

 work of great ability ;" and the author as " a mau who has displayed powers, as a spec- 

 ulative political thinker, superior to any who has appeared in American politics since 

 the authors of TIte Federalist" (Representative Government, p. 329). 



