§. 173. Nature gives the first of these — viz., paternal power to parents
for the benefit of their children during their minority, to supply their want
of ability and understanding how to manage their property. (By property I must
be understood here, as in other places, to mean that property which men have in
their persons as well as goods.) Voluntary agreement gives the second —
viz., political power to governors, for the benefit of their subjects, to
secure them in the possession and use of their properties. And forfeiture gives
the third — despotical power to lords for their own benefit over those who
are stripped of all property.
