 Estates, of King, Lords, and Commons, are Parts of the People, under Covenant with the People, and accountable to the People; but the People, as a People, make not any of the said Estates. They are as a perpetual Fountain from whence the three Estates arise; or rather as a Sea of Waters, in which three exalted Waves should claim Preeminence; which yet shall not be able to depart from their Fund, but, in Rotation, are dissoluble and resolvable therein.
Thus, however complicated the System of
England
's Polity may be, it is all rooted in and branches from the TRUST OF THE PEOPLE, the Trust of Powers which they have granted to be returned in Protection. And, in Truth, it makes little Difference whether the Powers, in such Cases, be granted or assumed: Whoever either receives or assumes such Powers, save to the Ends of Beneficence, is equally guilty of Usurpation and Tyranny.
Government can have no Powers, save the Powers of the People; to wit, the Power of their Numbers, Strength, and Courage, in Time of War, and in Peace, of their Art and Industry, and the Wealth arising therefrom. Whoever assumes to himself these Powers, or any Part thereof, without the Consent of the Proprietors, is a Robber, and should, at least, be divested of the Spoil.
On the other Hand, if such Powers are granted by the People, the People cannot granted them for Purposes to which they, themselves, cannot lawfully apply them. No Man, for Instance, can arbitrarily dispose of his own Life or Liberty, neither of the whole Product of his own Labours; forasmuch as the Lives of himself and his Family should be first sustained thereby, and his Obligations to Others fairly and fully discharged. He cannot, therefore, grant an arbitrary Disposal of what he hath not an arbitrary Disposal in himself. Much less can any Man grant a Power over the Lives, Liberties, or Properties of other People, as it would be criminal and highly punishable in himself to assail them.
Hence it follows, as evident as any Object at Noon, that
no Man or Body of Men can rightfully assume,
or even accept,
what no Man or Body of Men can rightfully grant,
to wit, a Power that is arbitrary or injurious to Others. And hence it necessarily follows, that all Usurpations of such Powers, throughout the Earth; with all actual or pretended Covenants, Trusts, or Grants, for the Investiture or Conveyance of such illicit Powers, are null and void, on
