Humbly shew unto our sovereign lord the King, the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled,

 III. By the statute called the Great Chart of Liberties of England, it is declared and enacted, That no freeman may be taken or imprisoned, or be dismissed of his freehold or liberties, or his free customs, or be outlawed or exiled, or in manner destroyed, but by the lawful judgement of his peers, or by the law of the land ;

 VII. And whereas also by authority of Parliament, it is declared and enacted, That no man ought to be adjudged to death but by acts of parliament ;

 X. They humbly pray your most excellent Majesty, That no man be compelled to make any gift, loan, benevolence, tax, or such-like charge, without consent by act of parliament ;

 Petition of Right, June 7, 1628.

 Whereas great delays have been used by Sheriffes, Jailers and other Officers to release many of the King’s subjects detained in prison,

 Be it enacted :

 I. That when any person shall bring any Habeas Corpus directed unto any Sheriff, the Sheriff shall release him within three days upon charges fixed by the Judge or Court, unless commitment for treason or fellony ;

 The Habeas Corpus Amendment Act 1679,An Act for better securing the Liberty of the Subjects and for Prevention of Imprisonments beyond the Seas.

 Whereas the Lords and Commons assembled at Westminster, lawfully, fully and freely representing all the estates of the people of this realm, did upon the thirteenth day of february in the Year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty-eight present unto their Majesties (...) William and Mary, prince and princess of Orange, being present in their proper persons, a certain declaration in writing, made by the said Lords and Commons in the words following :

 II. By assuming and exercising a power of dispending with and suspending of laws and the execution of laws without consent of Parliament ;

 IV. By levying money for and to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative for other time and in other manner than the same was granted by Parliament

 V. By raising and keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace without consent of Parliament ;

 VII. By violating the freedom of election of members to serve the Parliament ;

 English Bill of Rights 1689, An Act declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subjects and settling the Succession of the Crown.

Man being born, as been proved, with a Title to perfect Freedom, and an uncontrolled enjoyment of all the Rights
and Privileges of the Law of Nature, equally with any other Man has by Nature a Power, not only to preserve his
Property, that is, his Life, Liberty and Estate, against the injuries and attempts of other Men ; but to judge of, and
punish the breaches (beaking or neglect) of that Law in others.
John Locke, Two treatises of Government, 1690

In every government there are three sorts of power ; the legislative, the executive and the judicial … 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 one man need not be afraid of another...
When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates,
there can be no liberty because apprehensions may anse, lest the same monarch or senate should enact
tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.
Again, there is no liberty, if the power of judging be not separated from the legislative and executive powers. Were
it joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control, for the judge
would then be the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with all the violence of
an oppressor…
Must kingdoms in Europe enjoy a moderate government, because the prince, who is invested with the two first
powers, leaves the third to his subjects. In Turkey, where these three powers are united in the sultan’s person the
subjects groan under the weight of a most frightful oppression…
The executive power ought to be in the hands of a monarch ; because this branch of government, which has
always need of expedition, is better administered by one than by many ; whereas, whatever depends on the
legislative power is often better regulated by many than by a single person… His (the King’s) person should be
sacred, because as it is necessary for the good of the state to prevent the legislative body from rendering
themselves arbitrary, the moment he is accused of tried, there is an end of liberty.
Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws (1748)

I see first of all thing that seems to me to be acknowledged both by good and evil persons : that we must reason
in everything because man is not simply an animal but an animal who reasons....
It is to the general will that the individual must address himself to learn how to be a man, citizen, subject, father,
child. It fixes the limits on all duties.. Everything that you conceive, everything that you meditate upon will be
good, elevated, sublime, if it is in the general and common interest... Tell yourself often : I am a man, and I have
no other true, inalienable natural rights than those of humanity.
But, you will say to me, where is this general will kept ? Where can I consult it ? In the principles of written laws
of all the organized nations ... The laws should be made for everyone, and not for one person.
Denis Diderot, the Encyclopedia, 1755

« I am one hundred and seventy-two years old », said the old man. « The kingdom where we live used to be
inhabited by the Incas, who imprudently left it to subdue another part of the world, and were finally exterminated
by the Spaniards. A few noblemen had been wise enough to stay behind in their native country… and that is how
our innocence and happiness have been preserved. The Spaniards had a confused knowledge of the existence of
this country, which they named Eldorado. »
At last, Candide asked wether any religion was practised in the country. The old man blushed slightly. « Religion
! » he exclaimed. « Why, of course, there’s a religion. »
« Do you worship only one God ? »
« Of course we do », said the old man. « What odd questions you foreigners ask ! »
Candide was curious to see some of their priests, and asked where they could be found. The old man smiled.
« My friends », said he, « we are all priests ; the King and the heads of each family perform solemn hymn of
thanksgiving every morning. »
« Do you mean to say you have no monks teaching and disputing, governing and intriguing, and having people
burned if they don’t subscribe to their opinions ? »
« We should be stupid if we had ! We are all the same opinion here, and we don’t know what you mean by
monks. »
Voltaire, Candide or Optimism, 1758