FOWLERS AND WELLS,
PHRENOLOGICAL CABINET, 131 NASSAU STREET

AND BY BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

CHAPTER I.

THE ORIGIN OF HUMAN RIGHTS.....
..Page 7 to 27

Rights are not created by the law. It cannot prescribe a duty or declare a

right except in consonance with the Natural Laws.-The law ought to be

merely declaratory of Natural Rights and Wrongs.-The necessity of a Men-

tal Philosophy to a proper understanding of Human Rights.-Phrenology

adopted as the true Philosophy of Mind.-Mr. Bentham's error in denying

Natural Rights.-Theory of Human Rights based on the innate powers and

dispositions of the mind.-The fundamental rights of man are, the Right to

Existence and the Right to Happiness.-The Argument stated.-The Natural

Depravity of Man denied.-The faculties of Mankind considered in reference

to the Social State.-The Argument.-Right to live in Society inferred.-And

such being the right of mankind, the State cannot require the surrender of

any Natural Rights from the Social Man.

CHAPTER II.

THE TRUE FUNCTION OF GOVERNMENT.
.p. 28-46

Government is a thing of Moral Necessity, arising from inferior intellectual and

Moral organizations in a portion of Mankind. The doctrine of Equality con-

sidered. What degree of moral restraint may be imposed by Government.

-A good man needs no coercion from the law.-The true idea of Civil Liber-

ty. The adaptation of the Laws to the Constitution of the Human Mind.-

The laws ought to be general, equal, and impartial.-Privileges at war with

Rights. The usurpation and injustice of Special Legislation.

CHAPTER III.

THE CONSTITUTION OF GOVERNMENT
..p. 46-61

The people as Sovereign by the Constitution delegate the power of govern-

ment to their representatives or agents. In a pure Democracy there is no ne-

cessity for a written Constitution.-Reasons for a written Constitution in a

Representative Government.-The office of the Constitution.-It is not irre-

vocable-but may be altered or changed at the pleasure of the majority of

the people.-The people cannot bind themselves irrevocably to any form of

Government or mode of administration.-The distribution of the powers of

Government by the Constitution.-Appointment of officers-Their choice by

the people.-Reflections upon American imitations of the British Constitution.