Every day, man, pressing forward more eagerly in civil careers, is less disposed to put up with any obstacle that interferes with his aims; if he still consents to be a soldier it is not to become an invader, but to provide against invasion.

Meanwhile, war has become more scientific and, through the complications of its machinery, more costly; the State can no longer call out and enlist for life every able-bodied man without ruining itself, nor put too many obstacles in the way of the free industry which, through taxation, provides for its expenses; however short-sighted the State may be, it consults civil interests, even in its military interest .-- Thus, of the two nets in which it has enveloped all human activity, one is rent asunder and the other has slackened its meshes.

There is no longer any reason for making the community omnipotent; the individual need not alienate himself entirely; he may, without inconvenience, reserve to himself a part of himself, and, if now called upon to sign a social contract, you may be sure that he would make this reservation.
II.

Changed minds.
Changed minds .-- Conscience and its Christian origin .-- Honor and its feudal origin .-- The individual of to-day refuses to surrender himself entirely .-- His motives .-- Additional motives in modern democracy .-- Character of the elective process and the quality of the representative.
And so have not only outward circumstances changed, but the very human attitudes are now different.

In the mind of modern man a feeling, distasteful to the antique pact, has evolved .-- Undoubtedly, in extreme cases and under the pressure of brutal necessity I may, momentarily, sign a blank check.