BOOK III PART II
and succession of princes. At first sight it may
be thought, that this must resolve into some
of the preceding titles of authority. The leg-
islative power, whence the positive law is de-
rived, must either be established by original
contract, long possession, present possession,
conquest, or succession; and consequently the
positive law must derive its force from some
of those principles. But here it is remarkable,
that though a positive law can only derive its
force from these principles, yet it acquires not
all the force of the principle from whence it is
derived, but loses considerably in the transi-
tion; as it is natural to imagine. For instance; a
government is established for many centuries
on a certain system of laws, forms, and meth-
ods of succession. The legislative power, estab-
lished by this long succession, changes all on a
sudden the whole system of government, and