Thedutyofmanisnotawildernessofturnpikegates,throughwhichheistopassbyticketsfromonetotheother。Itisplainandsimple,andconsistsbutoftwopoints。HisdutytoGod,whicheverymanmustfeel;
andwithrespecttohisneighbor,todoashewouldbedoneby。Ifthosetowhompowerisdelegateddowell,theywillberespected:ifnot,theywillbedespised;andwithregardtothosetowhomnopowerisdelegated,butwhoassumeit,therationalworldcanknownothingofthem。
Hithertowehavespokenonly（andthatbutinpart）ofthenaturalrightsofman。Wehavenowtoconsiderthecivilrightsofman,andtoshowhowtheoneoriginatesfromtheother。Mandidnotenterintosocietytobecomeworsethanhewasbefore,nortohavefewerrightsthanhehadbefore,buttohavethoserightsbettersecured。Hisnaturalrightsarethefoundationofallhiscivilrights。Butinordertopursuethisdistinctionwithmoreprecision,itwillbenecessarytomarkthedifferentqualitiesofnaturalandcivilrights。
Afewwordswillexplainthis。Naturalrightsarethosewhichappertaintomaninrightofhisexistence。Ofthiskindarealltheintellectualrights,orrightsofthemind,andalsoallthoserightsofactingasanindividualforhisowncomfortandhappiness,whicharenotinjurioustothenaturalrightsofothers。Civilrightsarethosewhichappertaintomaninrightofhisbeingamemberofsociety。Everycivilrighthasforitsfoundationsomenaturalrightpre—existingintheindividual,buttotheenjoymentofwhichhisindividualpowerisnot,inallcases,sufficientlycompetent。Ofthiskindareallthosewhichrelatetosecurityandprotection。
Fromthisshortreviewitwillbeeasytodistinguishbetweenthatclassofnaturalrightswhichmanretainsafterenteringintosocietyandthosewhichhethrowsintothecommonstockasamemberofsociety。