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M6ON THE RISE, PROGRESS, ETC.tertained, could have been entertained by none but " thecitizen of Geneva;" not that the principles which he advocated were those which obtained a practical influence inGeneva, but if any speculativethinker had set himself tomould the opinionsfavoured by the democratical and opposition party into a political system, and to establish themupon philosophical grounds, such a work as the " ContratSocial" must inevitably have been the result. It requires avery slight acquaintance with this treatise to perceive thatRousseau had continuallybefore his eyes a small and freestate, as being, in fact, the only one in which his principlescould, to their full extent, become applicable. We maytherefore justly say,that had it not been for the politicalprogress of Geneva, the " Contrat Social" would never havebeen written. While, on the other hand, the already great,although indirect, influence of this little republic upon thepractical politics of Europe, became itby immense.It was not Rousseau's design,as it was Montesquieu's, toproduce a rich collection of political rules and maxims,scientifically arranged he sought rather to establish thegeneral principles of government upon a philosophicalfoundation. In accordance with the object of our presentwork, it must be shown how he accomplished this, and moreespecially, how, in so doing, he diverged from the paths ofhis predecessors, and was thus led off to a different conclusion.Rousseau, although he differs from both Hobbes and Lockein his description of it, proceeds, like them, from a " state ofnature," out of which he supposes men to have advanced intocivil society by a voluntary contract. This contract, however, is not concluded between the people and their rulers,but between the different members of the community itself,and must, as no man has a natural right over his fellow, bethe result of unanimous agreement This "pacte social"has no other object than to procure social institutions, underwhich the power of all may be exercised for the protectionof the persons and property of each. Each individual,while he thus associates himself with all, being yet underthe authority of none but himself, and thus as free as before.All the articles of the contract may be reduced to this one :that every man resigns himself and his rights, without reserve, to the society ; or, in other words, that he puts him-