Ashereditarygovernmentcouldnotbeginasanaturalrightinanyfamily，norderiveafteritscommencementanyrightfromtime，wehaveonlytoexaminewhetherthereexistinanationarighttosetitup，andestablishitbywhatiscalledlaw，ashasbeendoneinEngland。IanswerNO；andthatanylaworanyconstitutionmadeforthatpurposeisanactoftreasonagainsttherightofeveryminorinthenation，atthetimeitismade，andagainsttherightsofallsucceedinggenerations。
Ishallspeakuponeachofthosecases。First，oftheminoratthetimesuchlawismade。Secondly，ofthegenerationsthataretofollow。
Anation，inacollectivesense，comprehendsalltheindividualsofwhateverage，fromjustborntojustdying。Ofthese，onepartwillbeminorsandtheotheraged。Theaverageoflifeisnotexactlythesameineveryclimateandcountry，butingeneraltheminorityinyearsarethemajorityinnumbers；thatis，thenumberofpersonsundertwenty-oneyears，isgreaterthanthenumberofpersonsabovethatage。
ThisdifferenceinnumberisnotnecessarytotheestablishmentoftheprincipleImeantolaydown，butitservestoshowthejusticeofitmorestrongly。Theprinciplewouldbeequallyasgoodifthemajorityinyearswerealsothemajorityinnumbers。
Therightsofminorsareassacredastherightsoftheaged。Thedifferenceisaltogetherinthedifferentageofthetwoparties，andnothinginthenatureoftherights；therightsarethesamerights；andaretobepreservedinviolatefortheinheritanceoftheminorswhentheyshallcomeofage。