The Court of Sessions of ye peace is appointed by our Constitution for ye better Securing of ye persons & properly of ye Subjects from Violence & Wrong, & for ye maintaining of publick order within ye Compass of its Juridiction. It is ye happiness of this Nation to have Justice as it were brought to our doors by ye many Settled Courts yt are all over ye Kingdom & by ye Itinerant Jurisdiction of ye Judges in their Circuits. That Justice is near at hand to us & ye Course of it cannot be obstructed even by our Princes, for if ye Sovereign should send any illegal message to ye Judges to stop their proceedings, it is their duty to go on in their business without having regard to ye same. In this manner has our wise & Excellent Government secured ye Subjects from abuses from one another & from Tyranny in ye Prince. But for an age past this happy State of things amongst us has been attempted to be overturned by too many persons racking their brains for inventions to discharge our princes from all humane obligations of doing right to their people. And tho ye notions for this purpose have been chiefly advanced by such as have had their particular View in making their Court to their prince in this manner, yet many well meaning persons have given into them & been so far imposed upon therein, as to make it a point of Conscience to be slaves, when God & ye Laws of ye Land Suffer them to be free. Upon this account it may be a piece of good Service to our dear Country to endeavour to rectifie these mistakes about Civil Government wch are so dangerous to ye publick liberty. And this it may be no hard matter to do, if we consider ye Original & End of Government. As to ye Original of it, since by nature men are equal, Sovereignty could not be introduced, but by ye appointment of God, or ye Consent of Men Express or Implied. (For as to Conquest, in Such a case ye people may be called prisoners or slaves, but not properly Subjects till their wills be brought to Submit to ye Government. So ye Conquest may make way for a Governmt but cannot institute it.)