order to attain the fairest representation possible of our wills and our
interests, let it be numerous, and composed of men resembling ourselves.

Having made the election of a numerous body of delegates, the people
thus addressed them:

We have hitherto lived in a society formed by chance, without fixed
agreements, without free conventions, without a stipulation of rights,
without reciprocal engagements,--and a multitude of disorders and evils
have arisen from this precarious state. We are now determined on forming
a regular compact; and we have chosen you to adjust the articles.
Examine, then, with care what ought to be its basis and its conditions;
consider what is the end and the principles of every association;
recognize the rights which every member brings, the powers which he
delegates, and those which he reserves to himself. Point out to us the
rules of conduct--the basis of just and equitable laws. Prepare for us a
new system of government; for we realize that the one which has
hitherto guided us is corrupt. Our fathers have wandered in the paths
of ignorance, and habit has taught us to follow in their footsteps.
Everything has been done by fraud, violence, and delusion; and the true
laws of morality and reason are still obscure. Clear up, then, their
chaos; trace out their connection; publish their code, and we will adopt
it.

And the people raised a large throne, in the form of a pyramid, and
seating on it the men they had chosen, said to them:

We raise you to-day above us, that you may better discover the whole of
our relations, and be above the reach of our passions. But remember that
you are our fellow-citizens; that the power we confer on you is our own;