to all other powers, and it opened to Parliament the door to complete control of the government. In this provision of Magna Charta we have, too, the assertion of the principle that taxes are only to be levied by the representatives of the people. The violation of this principle by the English government was one of the chief causes of the American war of independence.

Merchants were to be allowed to carry on their business without being subject to arbitrary licenses and tolls imposed by the king.

All freemen were to be allowed to go out of the country and return to it at pleasure.

A man might dispose of his property by will in such manner as he saw fit. In case a man died without making a will, his property should go to his legal heirs.

The king's officers were prohibited from taking a man's property without his consent. Courts of justice were to remain in fixed and known spots, and were not to be moved about the country to suit the pleasure of the king. They were to be open to every one without fear or favor, and justice was no longer to be refused or delayed. No one was to be put on trial from mere rumor or suspicion, but only upon the evidence of lawful witnesses.

Excessive fines were forbidden. They were to be in proportion to the fault committed, and no man was to be utterly ruined by a fine.

And, most important of all, no freeman was to be arrested, or imprisoned, or deprived of his property, or outlawed, or banished, or suffer injury of any kind, except by the lawful judgment of his peers (jury) or in accordance with the law of the land.

The tendency to disregard these provisions of Magna Charta was so great that later kings of England were compelled to ratify them as many as thirty times. They form the basis of our personal and political liberty.

The more important of the acknowledgments, in subsequent years in England, of the rights of the people are the Petition of Right, the Habeas Corpus Act, the Bill of Rights, and the Act of Settlement.

189. The Petition of Right.-The Petition of Right, passed by Parliament in 1628, declared that all loans extorted from the people by the king, all taxes levied without the consent of Parliament, all arbitrary arrests and imprisonments, the quartering of soldiers on private citizens, trials and condemnations by martial law, were illegal and tended to overthrow the rights of the people and the fundamental laws of the country.

190. The Habeas Corpus Act.-The kings had caused the guarantees of the Magna Charta and the Petition of Right to be disregarded by denying any redress to persons who had been imprisoned, no matter how unjustly, by the king's officers. The Habeas Corpus Act, passed during the reign of Charles II., was intended to correct this abuse and to afford the means of release in case of illegal imprisonment.

The writ of habeas corpus, provided for by this Act, is an order from a judge to an officer who holds a person in custody, to bring the prisoner into court on a certain day. The judge then examines into the matter and decides whether the person has been rightfully or wrongfully arrested. If he finds him to have been wrongfully deprived of his liberty, he orders him to be set free; but if he finds him to have been rightfully detained, he has him sent back to prison.

191. The Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement, enacted by Parliament in the reign of William III., repeated the declarations of the previous statutes, adding some others.

192. America Learns England's Lesson. — This series of great laws passed from time to time by the Parliament of England make up the important part of what may be called the Constitution of England. It formed part of the common law of England, and was, therefore, the law of the colonies in America. The lesson to be learned from this history is that England found it necessary to have these great laws enacted in order to have the liberties of the people protected. Consequently, when the Americans declared themselves independent and found it necessary to establish a government, they decided to make a Constitution which should be the supreme law of the land, and which should declare just what the officers of the government might do and what they might not do.

§3. Protection of Personal Rights in the United States.

193. Constitutional Guarantees.-The operation. of the Constitution itself is to restrain the action of the government within certain definite limits. But besides this general mode of setting barriers to the possible tyrannical action of the government, the Constitution proceeds in divers places to define and guarantee the rights which English history had taught were peculiarly liable to abuse. The Constitutions of the several States reinforce these securities with additional bulwarks.

Thus, the Constitution of the State of California declares the existence of these rights in these words: "All men are by nature free and independent, and have certain inalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness." The Federal Constitution insures the security of these rights by declaring that "no person

shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law."

194. Right of Personal Security.-Under the right of personal security are included security of life, of body and limb, and of reputation. No man shall be deprived of these without due process of law. This means that no person may be held for a capital offense, or for any offense above the common-law degree of larceny, except upon the presentment, or indictment, of a grand jury, or the regular mode provided by law. In criminal trials the accused shall be entitled to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district in which the crime shall have been committed. He shall be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation. He shall be confronted by the witnesses who testify against him; he may compel the attendance of witnesses in his favor; and he shall not be compelled to be a witness against himself. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed. Cruel and unusual punishments shall not be inflicted. No man shall be twice put in jeopardy of his life for the same offense; that is to say, if, after a proper trial before a proper tribunal, he has been acquitted or not convicted, he shall not be put on trial again for the same offense.

195. Right of Personal Liberty.-The right of freely moving from place to place according to one's inclination is a right of the highest importance. The writ of habeas corpus affords a means of speedy redress for any violation of this right.

As a further means of securing the freedom of the individual, the Constitution prohibits the quartering of soldiers in any house in time of peace without the owner's consent, or in time of war otherwise than in the manner provided by law. The Constitution upholds

the right of bearing arms, and the right of publicly assembling and petitioning the government for a redress. of grievances.

196. Bills of Attainder.-Both Congress and the State Legislatures are forbidden to pass bills of attainder. These were common in English history, and, between the years 1776 and 1789, were not unknown in this country. By a bill of attainder the legislative authority took upon itself to sentence a man charged with an offense, usually of a political nature. The sentence carried with it the penalty of death and the confiscation of the man's property, and it placed a stain upon the blood of his descendants so that they could not inherit property. Besides these cruel features there is a special wrong in the fact that such proceedings belong to courts of justice and not to legislative bodies. Legislative bodies can never in such cases rid themselves of their political character, and can not give that free, full, and fair trial to which every accused person is entitled.

197. Ex Post Facto Laws.-The Constitution also prohibits the passing of what are called ex post facto laws. Such laws are laws which make an act punishable that was not punishable when the act was committed, or which increase the punishment for an act after its commission.

198. Right to Reputation.-Not only are a man's life and body protected but his character as well. The freedom of speech and of the press are guaranteed by both the Federal and State Constitutions, but any abuse of this right by the false and unjustifiable slander or libel of a man's character may be punished.

199. Right of Religious Belief.-The very essence of our government is that there shall be no interference