VI

many members as the assembly contains votes, and receiving from this act its unity, its common identity, its life and its will. This public person, so formed by the union of all other persons, formerly took the name of “city,” and now takes that of “Republic” or “body politic”; it is called by its members “State” when passive, “Sovereign” when active, and “Power” when compared with others like itself. Those who are associated in it take collectively the name of “people,” and severally are called “citizens,” as sharing in the sovereign power, and “subjects,” as being under the laws of the State. But these terms are often confused and taken one for another: it is enough to know how to distinguish them when they are being used with precision.