In this form, the first grand right is that of the People having a share in their own Government, by their Representatives chose by themselves, and, in consequence, of being ruled by laws which they themselves approve; not by edicts of men, over whom they have no control. This is a bulwark surrounding and defending their property, which, by their honest cares and labours they have acquired, so that no portions of it can legally be taken from them but with their own full and free consent, when they, in their judgment, deem it just and necesssary to give them for publick services, and precisely direct the easiest, cheapest, and most equal methods in which they shall be collected.

The influence of this right extends still farther. If money is wanted by Rulers who have in any manner oppressed the people, they may retain it until their grievances are redressed; and thus peaceably procure relief, without trusting to despised Petitions, or disturbing the publick tranquillity.

The next great right is that of Trial by Jury. This provides that neither life, liberty, nor property can be taken from the possessor, until twelve of his unexceptionable countrymen and peers of his vicinage, who, from that neighbourhood, may reasonably be supposed to be acquainted with his character, and the characters of the witnesses, upon a fair trial, and full inquiry, face to face, in open Court, before as many of the people as choose to attend, shall pass their sentence, upon oath, against him; a sentence that cannot injure him, without injuring their own reputation, and probably their interest also; as the question may turn on points that, in some degree, concern the general welfare; and, if it does not, their verdict may form a precedent, that, on a similar trial of their own, may militate against themselves.

Another right relates merely to the Liberty of the Person. If a subject is seized and imprisoned, though by order of Government, he may, by virtue of this right, immediately obtain a writ, termed a Habeas Corpus, from a Judge, whose sworn duty it is to grant it, and thereupon procure any illegal restraint to be quickly inquired into, and redressed.

A fourth right is that of holding Lands by the tenure of Easy Rents, and not by rigorous and oppressive services, frequently forcing the possessors from their families and their business, to perform what ought to be done, in all well regulated states, by men hired for the purpose.

The last right we shall mention regards the Freedom of the Press. The importance of this consists, besides the advancement of truth, science, morality, and arts in general, in its diffusion of liberal sentiments, on the administration of Government, its ready communication of thoughts between subjects, and its consequential promotion of union among them, whereby oppressive officers are shamed or intimidated into more honourable and just modes of conducting affairs.

These are the invaluable rights that form a considerable part of our mild system of Government; that, sending its equitable energy through all ranks and classes of men, defends the poor from the rich, the weak from the powerful, the industrious from the rapacious, the peaceable from the violent, the tenants from the lords, and all from their superiours.

These are the rights, without which a People cannot be free and happy, and under the protecting and encouraging influence of which these Colonies have hitherto so amazingly flourished and increased. These are the rights a profligate Ministry are now striving, by force of arms, to ravish from us, and which we are, with one mind, resolved never to resign but with our lives.

These are the rights you are entitled to, and ought, at this moment, in perfection, to exercise. And what is offered to you, by the late Act of Parliament, in their place? Liberty of conscience in your Religion? No. God gave it to you; and the temporal powers with which you have been, and are connected, firmly stipulated for your enjoyment of it. If laws, divine and human, could secure it against the despotick caprices of wicked men, it was secured before. Are the French Laws, in civil cases, restored? It seems so. But observe the cautious kindness of the Ministers, who pretend to be your benefactors: The words of the Statute are—that those "laws shall be the rule, until they shall be varied or altered by any ordinances of the Governour and Council." Is the certainty and lenity of the Criminal Law of England and its benefits and advantages," commended in the said Statute, and said to "have been sensibly felt by you," secured to you and your descendants? No. They too are subjected to arbitrary "alterations" by the Governour and Council; and a power is expressly reserved of appointing "such Courts of criminal, civil, and ecclesiastical jurisdiction as shall be thought proper." Such is the precarious tenure of mere will, by which you hold your Lives and Religion. The Crown and its Ministers are empowered, as far as they could be by Parliament, to establish even the Inquisition itself among you. Have you an Assembly composed of worthy men, elected by yourselves, and in whom you can confide, to make laws for you, to watch over your welfare, and to direct in what quantity, and in what manner your money shall be taken from you? No. The power of making laws for you is lodged in the Governour and Council, all of them dependent upon, and removable at the pleasure of a Minister. Besides another late Statute, made without your consent, has subjected you to the impositions of Excise—the horrour of all free states; thus wresting your property from you by the most odious of Taxes, and laying open to insolent Tax Gatherers, houses, the scenes of domestick peace and comfort, and called the castles of English subjects in the books of their law. And in the very Act for altering your Government, and intended to flatter you, you are not authorized to "assess, levy, or apply any Rates and Taxes but for the inferiour purposes of making roads, and erecting and repairing publick buildings, or for other local conveniences, within your respective Towns and Districts." Why this degrading distinction? Ought not the property, honestly acquired by Canadians, to be held as sacred as that of Englishmen? Have not Canadians sense enough to attend to any other publick affairs, than gathering stones from one place and piling them up in another? Unhappy people! who are not only injured, but insulted. Nay, more!—With such a superlative contempt of your understanding and spirit has an insolent Ministry presumed to think of you, our respectable fellow-subjects, according to the information we have received, as firmly to persuade themselves that your gratitude for the injuries and insults they have recently offered to you, will engage you to take up arms, and render yourselves the ridicule and detestation of the world, by becoming tools, in their hands, to assist them in taking that freedom from us, which they have treacherously denied to you; the unavoidable consequence of which attempt, if successful, would be the extinction of all hopes of you or your posterity being ever restored to freedom; for idiocy itself cannot believe, that when their drudgery is performed, they will treat you with less cruelty than they have us, who are of the same blood with themselves.

What would your countryman, the immortal Montesquieu, have said to such a plan of domination as has been framed for you? Hear his words, with an intenseness of thought suited to the importance of the subject: "In a free state, every man, who is supposed a free agent, ought to be concerned in his own government: Therefore the Legislative should reside in the whole body" of the People or their Representatives." "The political liberty of the subject is a tranquillity of mind, arising from the opinion each person has of his safety. In order to have this liberty, it is requisite the Government be so constituted, as that one man need not be afraid of another. When the power of making laws and the power of executing them, are united in the same person, or in the same body of Magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise, lest the same Monarch or Senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner."

"The power of judging should be exercised by persons taken from the body of the people, at certain times of the year, and pursuant to a form and manner prescribed by law. There is no liberty, if the power of judging be not separated from the Legislative and Executive powers."

"Military men belong to a profession which may be useful, but is often dangerous." "The enjoyment of liberty, and even its support and preservation, consists in