Thus much for the declaration of our rights and liberties. The rights themselves, thus defined by these several statutes, 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, ItAIHEM, LIBEL, NUISANCE, &C.
The words of the Great Charter, c. 29, are, " Nullus liber homo capiatur, impri sonetur, vel aliquo modo destruatur, nisi per legate judicium parium suorum sot per legem term." 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 life 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 III. 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 the
laws of England to secure it, WC HA BEAS ClnpuS, FALSE BAIL, 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 L 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 injuries. The right of petitioning the King or parliament. The right of having arms for defence.