De Maistre is right only as to the
constitution the nation starts with, and as to the control which
that constitution necessarily exerts over the constitutional
changes the nation can successfully introduce.
The disciples of Jean Jacques Rousseau recognize no providential
constitution, and call the written instrument drawn up by a
convention of sovereign individuals the constitution, and the
only constitution, both of the people and the government. Prior
to its adoption there is no government, no state, no political
community or authority. Antecedently to it the people are an
inorganic mass, simply individuals, without any political or
national solidarity. These individuals, they suppose, come
together in their own native right and might, organize themselves
into a political community, give themselves a constitution, and
draw up and vote rules for their government, as a number of
individuals might meet in a public hall and resolve themselves
into a temperance society or a debating club. This might do very
well if the state were, like the temperance society or debating
club, a simple voluntary association, which men are free to join
or not as they please, and which they are bound to obey no
farther and no longer than suits their convenience. But the
state is a power, a sovereignty; speaks to all within its
jurisdiction with an imperative voice; commands, and may use
physical force to compel obedience, when not voluntarily yielded.
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