under the notice of the sovereign, he had
little opportunity to redress them. The restrictions, for some there
are, which are laid upon petitioning in England, are of a nature
extremely different; and while they promote the spirit of peace, they
are no check upon that of liberty. Care only must be taken, lest,
under the pretence of petitioning, the subject be guilty of any riot
or tumult; as happened in the opening of the memorable parliament in
1640: and, to prevent this, it is provided by the statute 13 Car. II.
st. 1. c. 5. that no petition to the king, or either house of
parliament, for any alterations in church or state, shall be signed by
above twenty persons, unless the matter thereof be approved by three
justices of the peace or the major part of the grand jury, in the
country; and in London by the lord mayor, aldermen, and common
council; nor shall any petition be presented by more than two persons
at a time. But under these regulations, it is declared by the statute
1 W. & M. st. 2. c. 2. that the subject hath a right to petition; and
that all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are
illegal.

[Footnote w: Montesq. Sp. L. 12. 26.]

5. THE fifth and last auxiliary right of the subject, that I shall at
present mention, is that of having arms for their defence, suitable to
their condition and degree, and such as are allowed by 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 it is 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 ob