The people of England have a firm re liance that this civil liberty is secured to them under the constitution of the go vernment.
First. By the great charter of liberties, which was obtained, sword in hand, from King ,John ; and afterwards, with some al teratidns, confirmed in parliament by King Henry III. his son ; which charter contained very few new grants ; but, as Sir Edward Coke observes, was for the most part declaratory of the principal grounds of the fundamental laws of Eng land. Afterwards, by the statute called Confrmatio Cartarum, 25 Edward I. whereby the great charter is directed to be allowed as the common law : all judg ments contrary to it are declared void ; copies of it are ordered to be sent to all the cathedral churches, and read twice a year to the people ; and sentence of ex communication is directed to be as con stantly denounced against all those who, by word, deed, or counsel, act contrary thereto, or in any degree infringe it. Next, by a multitude of subsequent cor roborating statutes from Edward I. to Henry IV. ; of which the following are the most forcible.
Statute 25 Edward HI. statute 5, c. 4. None shall be taken by petition or sug gestion made to the King or his council, unless it be by indictment of lawful peo ple of the neighbourhood, or by process made by writ original at the common law. And none shall be put out of his fran chises or freehold, unless he be duly brought to answer, and fore-judged by course of law ; and if any thing be done to the contrary, it shall be redressed and holden for none.
Statute 42 Edward III. c. 3. No man shall be put to answer without present ment before justices, or matter of record of due process, or writ original, accord ing to the ancient law of the land. And if any thing be done to the contrary, it shall be void in law, and held for error. After a long interval these liberties were still further confirmed by the petition of right ; which was a parliamentary de ion of the liberties of the people, assented to by King Charles I. in the be ginning of his reign. This was closely fiAlowed by the still more ample conces sions made by that unhappy Prince to his parliament; (particularly the dissolution of the Star Chamber, by statute 16 Charles I. c. 10); before the fatal rupture between them ; and by the many salutary laws, particularly the Habeas Corpus Act, pass ed under King Charles II.
To these succeeded the Bill of Rights, or declaration delivered by the Lords and Commons to the Prince and Princess of Orange, February 13, 1688; and 'after wards enacted in parliament, when they became King and Queen ; which, as peculiarly interesting, is here inserted at length.
Statute 1 William and Mary, statute 2, C. 2, § Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, assembled at Westminster, representing all the estates of the pen* of this realm, did, upon the 13th of February 1688, present unto their Majesties, then Prince and Princess of Orange, a declaration, con taining, that the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, being assem bled in a full and free representative of this nation, for the vindicating their ancient rights and liberties, declare, that• the pretended power of suspending of laws, or the execution of laws, by legal au. thority, without consent of parliament, is illegal ; that the pretended power of dispensing with laws, or the execution of laws, by regal authority, as it bath been assumed and exercised of late, is illegal ; that the commission for erecting the late court of commissioners for ecclesiastical causes, and all other commissions and court s of like nature, are illegal and per nicious.
That levying money for, or to the use of the crown, by pretence of prerogative, without grant of parliament, for longer time, or in other manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal ; that it is the right of the subjects to petition the King, and all commitments and prosecu tions for such petitioning, are illegal ; that the raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace, un less it be with consent of parliament, is against law ; that the subjects which are protestants may have arms for their de fence, suitable to their conditions, and as allowed by law ; that election of members of parliament ought to be free ; that the freedom of speech, and debates or pro ceedings in parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of parliament ; that excessive bail ought not to be required, nor exces sive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted ; that jurors ought to be duly impannelled and returned, and jurors which pass upon men in trials for high treason, ought to be freeholders; that all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction, are illegal and void ; and fur redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening, and preserving of the laws, parliaments ought to be held frequently ; and they do claim, demand, and insist upon all and singular the premises, as their undoubted rights and liberties ; and that no declarations, judg ments, doings, or proceedings, to the prejudice of the people in any of the said premises, ought in anywise to be drawn hereafter into consequence or example; Sect. 6. All and singular the rights and liberties asserted and claimed in the said declaration are the true, ancient, and in dubitable.rights and liberties of the peo ple of this kingdom, and so shall be es teemed, allowed, adjudged, and taken to be ; and all the particulars aforesaid shall be firmly holden as they are expressed in the said declaration ; and all officers shall serve their majesties according to the same in all times to come. Sect. 12. No dispensation by non obstante of any statute shall be allowed, except a dispensation be allowed of in such statute; and except in such cases as shall be especially provided for during session of parliament. Sect. 13. No charter granted before the 23d of October 1689, shall be invalidated by this act, but shall remain of the same force as if this act had never been made. Lastly, these liberties were again asserted at the commencement of the present century, in the Act of Settlement, statute 12 and 13 William III. c. 2, whereby the crown was limited to his present Majesty's illustrious house ; and some new provisions were added at the same fortunate nra, for bet ter securing our religion, laws, and liber ties, which the statute declares to be "the birthright of the people of England;" according to the ancient doctrine of the common law.