A  further  result   of   our    inquiry   into  the   Evolution
of  the   Law  should  be   a  3SK  clearer  and  easier  understanding
of  the   abstractions  which  envelope   and  yet  express  its
fundamental  principles.      The  one  word     which  includes  them
all  in  its  almost  unlimited  generalizat'ioo  is  the  word
"Right".      With   its  correlative    "Duty"  which  is  always  im-
plied  it  pervades  and  dominates  the  whold  area  of  Ethics,
the  entire   thought  of  Religion,   as  well  as  the   substantive
doctrines   of  the   Law.      In  the   latter   aspect  only  it  comes
within  the   scope   of  our   study,   and  we   are   to  ascertain  how
much  and  what    help  the   historical  mirtthod  furnishes  to  our


76'=^


understanding  of  that   word.      If  cur   theory  of  the   Law  ie  a
correct   one    it  becomes  apparent  that   the   legal  Right   is  so
much  of  the  moral  right  pervading  the   social  organism  as
the  governing  authority  deems  essential  to  the   safety  and
prosperity  of  the   organism  and  which   it  therefore   selects
out,   carefully  defines,   and  then  enforces  by  a  Sanction
much  beyotid  mere  public  disapprobation.      The  moral  rights
thus  chosen  are   quite   too  nimerous  for  mention,  but  are
almost,    if  not   quite   all,   derivatives  from  those  primitive
and  natural  rights  of  life   and  liberty  which  we   have
claimed  are   inherent   in  the  man's  personality.      That  per-
sonality,  as  we  have   als©  said  gradually  extends  over
property,  movable  and  immovable,   carrying  its  rights  with
it,   and  to  wife,   children  and  slaves  whose  obedience   is
rendered  or  compelled.      These  natural  rights  at   first   come
into  the  manAs    cconsciousness   only  when  invaded  or  assailed.
