The Antonines pass away and Commodus and Heliogabalus rule in their place.
Permanent strength and settled liberty are best secured when the acts of Government are the expression of the conscious will of the nation as a whole, where the people think out for themselves the general lines of action and the Government is their minister.

It is not enough that there should be a just rule in which they acquiesce, but it is they themselves who should act--through agents, no doubt--and learn the habit of forming right judgments and acting justly.

To deny him a share in political life--that is, in deciding the action of the State to which he belongs--is to deprive a man of one of those "activities of the soul which constitute happiness," to take from him one of the things that makes a full life for those who really live among their fellows.

There may always be a few who live apart, contemplative souls insphered In regions mild, of calm and serene air, Above the smoke and stir of this dim spot Which men call earth.
Some may build themselves a Palace of Art where they may live alone; some may sink themselves in luxury or repose in sluggish indifference, careless of the life of others round them, with neither the heart to feel nor head to understand anything beyond their own immediate wants.
But the highest aim and fullest life for man generally--as "an animal more social than the bee"-- is To go and join head and heart and hand, Active and firm to fight the bloodless fight Of science, freedom, and the truth in Christ.
Political action may be one of the means of carrying on that fight.

Is it not one of the "rights of man" to be allowed to join in it?
It is, however, not to be forgotten that men acting in the mass, just as men acting individually, may act under sudden impulse, may do under the influence of temporary passion, even of a generous emotion, things which they would regret afterwards, and feel to be an error.