(2) That the right of petition shall not be denied.

(3) That a standing army shall not be kept in time of peace.

(4) That subjects shall not be deprived of the right of carrying arms.

(5) That freedom of speech and debate in Parliament shall not be impeached or questioned in any place out of Parliament.

(6) That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

(7) That Parliament ought to assemble frequently.

IV. The Declaration of Independence. The rights won in England accrued of course to the English colonists in America. When the time for independence arrived the Americans had several important items to add to the list of human rights. These they announced in the Declaration of Independence. They declared:

(1) That all men are equal.

(2) That governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.

(3) That for good reasons the people may abolish the old form of government and institute a new form.

In these three propositions are wrapped up the whole doctrine of democracy. In them we see equality before the law, universal suffrage, democratic government and constitutional conventions. When we consider the world-wide influence of these three declarations we must regard them as the greatest enlargement of civil liberty recorded in the history of politics.

V. State Constitutions. When the people of the revolting colonies were ready to begin government on their own account, the Great Charter, the Petition of Right, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence served as texts for a new and complete declaration of American civil liberty. This declaration was made in the State constitution

of the newly formed States. If you will examine the bill of rights in any State constitution-the newer States have fashioned their constitutions after those of the older States -you will find that it declares the rights affirmed in the three great English liberty documents and in the Declaration of Independence. If it does more than this it simply adds several additional rights which have been evolved from American experience.

VI. The Federal Constitution. We have seen that the first ten amendments were hurriedly added to the Constitution as a check upon the power of the federal government. The first eight of these amendments bear a strong resemblance to the bill of rights of a State constitution, and are regarded as the bill of rights of the federal Constitution. It ought to be clearly understood, however, that the rights declared in these amendments do not belong to the American citizen unless they are also declared in the constitution of the State in which the citizen lives. The federal government cannot deprive a citizen of any of these rights, but the State can. For example, Congress cannot abridge the freedom of speech, but a State legislature can do so if the State constitution does not forbid. The federal government cannot guarantee the rights which the Constitution forbids it to infringe. It is to the State constitution we must look for most of the positive guarantees of our civil liberty.

Constitutional Liberty and its Preservation. Thus it is seen that civil liberty in America means constitutional liberty. In the constitutions we find set down in black and white precisely the rights we are to enjoy. The constitutions, however, do not create civil liberty. Liberty is not an artificial creation of a convention. It is a divine gift bestowed only upon those who make themselves worthy of it by being true to the nobler impulses and longings of their nature. All the constitution can do is to give liberty a voice. It states in plain words the rights which the people claim. When rulers are tempted to act tyrannically the solemn

prohibitions of the constitution bid them pause; when the majority is tempted to ignore the rights of the minority or of the individual, the words of the constitution stare it in the face. If people or rulers violate the bill of rights, then the constitution is a mockery and civil liberty does not exist.

Constitutions do not create rights, nor do they preserve them. We have seen that American civil liberty is the fruitage of many centuries of costly and patriotic endeavor. As it has been acquired, so will it be maintained. The preservation of human rights will always depend upon the watchfulness and zeal of those who love freedom. If we do not love freedom well enough to fight for it, if we prefer the quietude of despotism to the boisterousness of liberty, we may be sure that the lovers of power will sooner or later fasten a despotism upon us. We ought, therefore, to cultivate the habit of keeping our eyes upon our constitutions, and protesting whenever a right is denied, and we ought not to rest content until the right is regarded and the violator of the constitution punished.

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

1. Define civil liberty.

2. What is the Great Charter? What are its important provisions? 3. What is the Petition of Right? Name its most important provisions.

4. What is the Bill of Rights? Name its most important declarations. 5. What great principles of democracy are declared in the Declaration of Independence?

6. Of what is the bill of rights in the State constitution composed? 7. What is the origin of the bill of rights of the federal Constitution? How does this differ from the bill of rights of a State constitution? 8. Explain the statement that civil liberty is constitutional liberty. 9. How may constitutional liberty be preserved?

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES

1. Prepare a bill of rights for a State constitution, using Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence as a basis, and after it is prepared compare it with the

bill of rights of your State constitution, and with the first eight amendments of the federal Constitution.

2. Bring into the class for inspection a facsimile of Magna Carta. 3. Prepare a five-minute paper on "The Reign of John." Green's "Short History," pp. 147-156.

4. Prepare a five-minute paper on ❝Charles First and the Petition of Right." Green, pp. 485-495.

5. In what respects are men equal?

6. What great names are connected with the cause of American liberty?

Topics for Special Work.-The Principles of the Fathers: 3, 1–45. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: 4, 78–87.

XIII

CIVIL RIGHTS AND DUTIES

Civil Rights and Political Rights. The rights flowing from American civil liberty may be divided into two classes, civil rights and political rights. Civil rights are those which a person enjoys as a private citizen, as an individual. They are enjoyed under the authority and sanction of government, but they are not related to the subject of government. Political rights are those which belong to a citizen regarded as a participator in the affairs of government: they may be called the public rights of citizenship. Citizenship does not necessarily carry with it the whole body of civil liberty. Minors and incapables do not have all the civil rights, and the political rights belong to only about one fifth of the total number of citizens.

Who are Citizens. Who are American citizens? This question was left in doubt by the Constitution until the adoption of the fourteenth amendment in 1868. That amendment declares (150) that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." Under this definition the following have been adjudged to be citizens of the United States :

(1) All persons born in the United States excepting the children of diplomatic agents and of hostile aliens.

(2) Children born in foreign countries whose parents at the time of their birth were citizens of the United States.