man from doing miſchief to his fellow citizens, though it diminiſhes the natural, increaſes the civil liberty of mankind: but every wanton and cauſeleſs reſtraint of the will of the ſubject, whether practiced by a monarch, a nobility, or a popular aſſembly, is a degree of tyranny. Nay, that even laws themſelves, whether made with or without our conſent, if they regulate and conſtrain our conduct in matters of mere indifference, without any good end in view, are laws deſtructive of liberty: whereas if any public advantage can ariſe from obſerving ſuch precepts, the control of our private inclinations, in one or two particular points, will conduce to preſerve our general freedom in others of more importance; by ſupporting that ſtate, of ſociety, which alone can ſecure our independence. Thus the ſtatute of king Edward IV[1], which forbad the fine gentlemen of thoſe times (under the degree of a lord) to wear pikes upon their ſhoes or boots of more than two inches in length, was a law that favoured of oppreſſion; becauſe, however ridiculous the faſhion then in uſe might appear, the reſtraining it by pecuniary penalties could ſerve no purpoſe of common utility. But the ſtatute of king Charles II[2], which preſcribes a thing ſeemingly as indifferent; viz. a dreſs for the dead, who are all ordered to be buried in woollen; is a law conſiſtent with public liberty, for it encourages the ſtaple trade, on which in great meaſure depends the univerſal good of the nation. So that laws, when prudently framed, are by no means ſubverſive but rather introductive of liberty; for (as Mr Locke has well obſerved[3]) where there is no law, there is no freedom. But then, on the other hand, that conſtitution or frame of government, that ſyſtem of laws, is alone calculated to maintain civil liberty, which leaves the ſubject entire maſter of his own conduct, except in thoſe points wherein the public good requires ſome direction or reſtraint.
The idea and practice of this political or civil liberty flouriſh in their higheſt vigour in theſe kingdoms, where it falls little
- ↑ 3 Edw. IV. c. 5.
- ↑ 30 Car. II. ſt. 1. c. 3.
- ↑ on Gov. p. 2. §. 57.
