law. Which is alſo declared by the ſame ſtatute 1 W. & M. ſt. 2. c. 2. and is indeed a public allowance, under due reſtrictions, of the natural right of reſiſtance and ſelf-preſervation, when the ſanctions of ſociety and laws are found inſufficient to reſtrain the violence of oppreſſion.
In theſe ſeveral articles conſiſt the rights, or, as they are frequently termed, the liberties of Engliſhmen: liberties more generally talked of, than thoroughly underſtood; and yet highly neceſſary to be perfectly known and conſidered by every man of rank or property, leſt his ignorance of the points whereon they are founded ſhould hurry him into faction and licentiouſneſs on the one hand, or a puſillanimous indifference and criminal ſubmiſſion on the other. And we have ſeen that theſe rights conſiſt, primarily, in the free enjoyment of perſonal ſecurity, of perſonal liberty, and of private property. So long as theſe remain inviolate, the ſubject is perfectly free; for every ſpecies of compulſive tyranny and oppreſſion muſt act in oppoſition to one or other of theſe rights, having no other object upon which it can poſſſibly be employed. To preſerve theſe from violation, it is neceſſary that the conſtitution of parliaments be ſupported in it’s full vigor; and limits, certainly known, be ſet to the royal prerogative. And, laſtly, to vindicate theſe rights, when actually violated or attacked, the ſubjects of England are entitled, in the firſt place, to the regular adminiſtration and free courſe of juſtice in the courts of law; next to the right of petitioning the king and parliament for redreſs of grievances; and laſtly to the right of having and uſing arms for ſelf-preſervation and defence. And all theſe rights and liberties it is our birthright to enjoy entire; unleſs where the laws of our country have laid them under neceſſary reſtraints. Reſtraints in themſelves ſo gentle and moderate, as will appear upon farther enquiry, that no man of ſenſe or probity would wiſh to ſee them ſlackened. For all of us have it in our choice to do every thing that a good man would deſire to do; and are reſtrained from nothing, but what would be pernicious either to ourſelves or our fellow citizens. So that this review of our ſitua-
