upon the indulgence of a liberal and discerning public. He sensibly feels his presumption in undertaking such a task, and is fully aware that he is incapable of doing complete justice to the subject. He will only add, that the more the English Constitution is investigated, the better it will be understood, and the better it is understood, the more it will be valued. All ranks and classes of persons should get at a knowledge of its fundamental principles, because every Englishman is interested in the preservation of the Government; without that knowledge, he exposes himself to the censure and inconvenience of living in society, without understanding his own relation to it, and hence political discontents; with it, he will be convinced that " England is the favoured soil which early received the seeds, gradually nourished the plant, and, at length, matured, the only TRee of LIBERTY, that has been found to shelter beneath its branches, person, property, and life, from the scorching beams of every kind of tyranny." TEMPLE, (1, FIG TREE COURT,) May, 1838. Causes of the Liberty of the English Nation. Reasons of the difference between the Government of England and that of France before the Revolution there in the reign of Louis XVI. In England the great power of the Crown under the 49 SECTION I.-Of Private Liberty, or the Liberty of Individuals. 122 |