different terms applied to rights and liberty. John's right to his
pencil, being guarantied to him by the laws of civil society, is a
_civil_ right. It is with equal propriety called a _natural_ right,
because, by the law of nature, he has a right to the use of his pencil.




Chapter III.

Laws, defined.



§1. Law has been briefly defined. (Chap. 1. §6.) As in the case of
rights and liberty, laws are distinguished by different names; as, the
law of nature, or natural law; the moral law; the law of revelation, or
revealed law; the political law; the civil or municipal law.

§2. The _law of nature_, is of the highest possible authority, being
established by the supreme Lawgiver himself. It is called the law of
nature, because it is right in itself--right in the nature of things,
and ought to be obeyed, though no positive command had ever been given
to men. It is a perfect rule of right for all moral and social beings.
It is that eternal rule of right to which God himself conforms.

§3. The law of nature, as a rule of human action, arises out of man's
relation to his Maker and to his fellow men. As a creature, he must be
subject to the laws of his Creator, on whom he is dependent. He is also
in a measure dependent upon his fellow beings. All being created equal,