 All of this underscores Grotius’ real but uneven contributions to the doctrines of political liberalism which were being formulated in his time. To the emerging theory of liberalism, he gave the idea that individuals—both individual persons and individual groups of persons—are bearers of rights. Also, he advanced the compelling second-order account of the nature of those rights described above. And he argued strongly in support of the attribution of several specific first-order rights: for example, besides those which have already been mentioned (such as self-defense), he vigorously defended rights to property. However, as important as these and other contributions to liberalism are, they must be balanced against some of Grotius’ other views. For instance, while it is true that he thought individuals had rights, it is also true that he thought there were a number of circumstances in which those rights might be surrendered or even just overridden. So the rights that we are supposed to have in Grotius’ theory are not completely assured. More sinister are his views on slavery, which is or at least can be an entirely just institution. In the DIP he writes that Aristotle is not “mistaken when he says that certain persons are by nature slaves” (Chap. Six, Quest. V, Art. One). While Grotius may have repudiated this thought in the DIB (see III.7.1—but see also I.3.8.4), a simple argument continued to convince him that slavery is compatible with a just society. If individuals may sell their labor, Grotius reasons, then they should also be able to sell their liberty. If they sell all of their liberty, then they are of course slaves (I.3.8.1). A final weight to be placed on the balance of Grotius’ liberalism is his view on the status of rulers or sovereigns. Because sovereignty is “that power… whose actions are not subject to the legal control of another” (DIB I.3.7.1), it follows as a necessary truth that those who hold sovereignty are necessarily superior to all others. Because they are necessarily superior to the rest, Grotius considers rebarbative the suggestion that sovereigns are answerable to their subjects. They may wish to take the needs of her or his subjects into account (III.15) but this is only “praiseworthy” and not imperative. In sum, then, Grotius’ contributions to political liberalism are comparable to Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke and other seventeenth century luminaries. They are genuine and significant while mixed with decidedly non-liberal themes.