BOOK III PART II
power for above two reigns; and yet nothing
will appear more extravagant to Frenchmen
than to talk of their liberties. If we consider
what has been said concerning accession, we
shall easily account for this phaenomenon.
When there is no form of government es-
tablished by long possession, the present pos-
session is sufficient to supply its place, and
may be regarded as the second source of all
public authority. Right to authority is noth-
ing but the constant possession of authority,
maintained by the laws of society and the in-
terests of mankind; and nothing can be more
natural than to join this constant possession
to the present one, according to the princi-
ples above-mentioned. If the same principles
did not take place with regard to the property
of private persons, it was because these prin-