This appearance is doubtless misleading if taken without the universally understood postulate on the basis of which negative demands are formulated.

There is a good deal of what would be called historical accident in all this.

The indispensable demands of this modern manhood take the form of refusal to obey extraneous authority on compulsion; of exemption from coercive direction and subservience; of insubordination, in short.

But it is always understood as a matter of course that this insubordination is a refusal to submit to irresponsible or autocratic rule.

Stated from the positive side it would be freedom from restraint by or obedience to any authority not constituted by express advice and consent of the governed.