Excerpt from Political Science, Vol. 1: Or the State Theoretically and Practically Considered The present work grew out of lectures, delivered in successive courses, while the author was president of Yale College, between the years 1846 and 1871. On his resignation of his office in the year last named, it was suggested to him to prepare his notes for publication. When he came to the task, the large mass of materials which was on hand was almost entirely laid aside; and the book has been composed after new examination of the subject, and with consultation of a number of the most approved recent writers. With regard to the plan of the work the author desires to say a few words. The division into three parts, which somewhat answers to the Naturrecht, Staatslehre, and Politik of the Germans, seemed to be necessary, unless the results of the first or introductory part on rights should either be taken for granted, or discussed somewhat at length here and there within the second part, which treats of the theory of the state. It seemed more advisable to begin the theory of the state on the foundation of a conception of justice, than to work at this foundation while the theory was in the process of construction. The relations of the second part of the work to the third need a word of explanation, if not of defence. A leading thought of this second part lies in the distinction between that which the state must do, if it would fulfil the essential office of the state, and that which it may and perhaps ought to do, without prohibiting individuals or associations, where the nature of the case allows, from doing the same things. After endeavoring to establish this distinction, it seemed best to leave the particulars to be considered in the appropriate section of the third or practical part. Thus, for example, it being established that some immoral actions ought to be forbidden by state law, it remained in the third to consider what these were. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.