do so any further than is consistent with the rights of others. Hence we
see the necessity of some established rules for securing to every member
of society the free enjoyment of what justly belongs to him, and for
regulating his conduct toward his fellow-members.

§6. These rules for regulating the social actions of men, are called
laws. _Law_, in a general sense, is a rule of action, and is applied to
all kinds of action. But in its limited and proper sense, it denotes the
rules of human action prescribing what men are to do, and forbidding
what they are not to do.

§7. We have seen that man is fitted for society, and that laws are
necessary to govern the conduct of men in the social state. We see also
that mankind are fitted by nature for government and laws. Man is also a
moral being. The word _moral_ has various significations. Sometimes it
means only virtuous, or just; as, a moral man; that is, a man of moral
character, or who lives a moral life; by which is meant that the conduct
of the man is just and right.

§8. But in a wider sense, the word moral relates to the social actions
of men, both right and wrong. Thus, in speaking of the character of a
man, we say, his morals are good, or his morals are bad. And of an
action, we say, it is morally right, or it is morally wrong. Man's
having a moral nature implies that he has a sense of right and wrong, or
at least the power or faculty of acquiring it; and, being a moral agent,
he is accountable for his actions.

§9. Thus we have seen that men are social, reasonable, and moral beings.
They have power to discern their own wants and the wants of their fellow
men; to perceive what is right and what is wrong; and to know that they