LIBERTY. 



consist in a number of private immuni- 

 ties, which will appear, from what has 

 been premised, to be indeed no other 

 than either that residuum of natural liber- 

 ty, which is not required by the laws of 

 society to be sacrificed to public conve- 

 nience, or else those civil privileges, 

 which society hath engaged to provide in 

 lieu of the natural liberties so given up 

 by individuals. These, therefore, were 

 formerly, either by inheritance or pur- 

 chase, the rights of all mankind ; but in 

 most other countries of the world, being 

 now more or less debased or destroyed, 

 they at present may be said to remain, in 

 a peculiar and emphatical manner, the 

 rights of the people of England. 



These rights may be reduced to three 

 principal or primary articles : 



The right of personal security. The 

 right of personal liberty. The right of 

 private property. 



The right of personal security consists 

 in a person's legal and uninterrupted en- 

 joyment of his life, his limbs, his body, 

 his health, and his reputation. The en- 

 joyment of this right is secured to every 

 subject by the various laws made for the 

 punishment of those injuries, by which it 

 is any way violated ; for a particular de- 

 tail of which, see ASSAULT, HOMICIDE, 

 MAIHEM, LIBEL, NUISANCE, &c. 



The words of the Great Charter, c. 29, 

 are, " Nullus liber homo capialur, impn- 

 sonetur, vel aliquo modo destruatur, nisi 

 per legale judicium parium suorum aut 

 per legem terra;." No freeman shall be 

 taken, imprisoned, or any way destroyed, 

 unless by the lawful judgment of his 

 peers, or by the law of the land ; which 

 words, " aliquo modo destruatur," ac- 

 cording to Coke, include a prohibition, not 

 only of killing or maiming, but also of tor- 

 turing, (to which our laws are strangers), 

 and of every oppression by colour of an 

 illegal authority. And it is enacted by 

 stat. 5 Edward III. c. 9, that no man shall 

 be attached by any accusation, nor fore- 

 judged of lite or limb, nor shall his lands 

 or goods be seized into the King's hands 

 contrary to the Great Charter, and the 

 law of the land. And again, by statute 

 28 Edward 111 c. 3, that no man shall be 

 put to death without being brought to an- 

 swer by due process of law. 



The right of personal liberty consists 

 in the power of loco-motion, of changing 

 situation, or moving one's person to what- 

 soever place one's own inclination may 

 direct, without imprisonment or restraint, 

 unless by due course of law. This right 

 there is at present no occasion to enlarge 



upon. For the provisions made by thr 

 laws of England to secure it, see HA- 

 BEAS corpus, FALSE imprit<mment,1$\-ii t9 

 ARREST, &.C. 



The absolute right of property, inherent 

 in every Englishman, consists in the free 

 use, enjoyment, and disposal of all his ac- 

 quisitions, without any controul or dimi- 

 nution, save only by the laws of the land. 



Another effect of this right of private 

 property is, that no subject of England 

 can be constrained to pay any aids or 

 taxes, even for the defence of the realm, 

 or the support of the government, but 

 such as are imposed by his own consent, 

 or that of his representatives in parlia- 

 ment. By statute 25 Edward I. c. 5, 6, it 

 is provided, that the King shall not take 

 any aids, or tasks, but by the common 

 assent of the realm. And what that com- 

 mon assent is, is more fully explained by 

 statute 34 Edward I. statute 4, c. 1 ; 

 which enacts, that no talliage or aid shall 

 be taken, without the assent of the Arch- 

 bishops, Bishops, Earls, Barons, Knights, 

 Burgesses, and other freemen of the land: 

 and again, by statute 14 Edw. III. statute 

 2, c. 1, the Prelates, Earls, Barons, and 

 Commons, Citizens, Burgesses, and Mer- 

 chants, shall not be charged to make any 

 aid, if it be not by the common assent of 

 the great men and commons in parlia- 

 ment And as this fundamental law had 

 been shamefully evaded, under many pre- 

 ceding princes, by compulsive loans and 

 benevolences, extorted without a real and 

 voluntary consent, it was made an article 

 in the petition of right, 3 Charles I. that 

 no man shall be compelled to yield any 

 gift, loan, or benevolence, tax, or such 

 like charge, without common consent by 

 act of parliament. And, lastly, by the 

 Bill of Rights, statute 1 William and 

 Mary, statute 2, c. 2, it is declared, that 

 levying money for or to the use of the 

 crown, by pretence of prerogative, with- 

 out grant of parliament, or for longer 

 time, or in other manner than the same 

 is or shall be granted, is illegal. 



The above is a short view of the prin- 

 cipal absolute rights which appertain to 

 every Englishman : and the constitution 

 has provided for the security of their ac- 

 tual enjoyment, by establishing certain 

 other auxiliary, subordinate rights, which 

 serve principally as out-works or barriers 

 to protect and maintain those principal 

 rights inviolate. These are, 



The constitution, powers, and privi- 

 leges of parliament. The limitation of 

 the King's prerogative. The right of ap- 

 plying to courts of justice for redress of 



