Page:A Declaration of the People's Natural Right to a Share in the Legislature (1775) (IA declarationofpeo00shar).djvu/289

 yet I think myself bound most heartily to concur with him in what he has mentioned in the same page — ‘That it is a matter most essential to the liberties of this kingdom, that such members be delegated to this important Trust, as are most eminent for their probity, their fortitude, and their knowledge; for it was a known apophthegm of the great Lord Treasurer Burleigh, “that England could never be ruined but by a Parliament," &c.

But, before I conclude this second part of my Declaration, it may, perhaps, be expected that I should apologize for the tedious length of it; and yet, when my Readers consider that it was necessary for me to answer the assertions of some of the most eminent Law-Writers that this nation, perhaps, ever produced, they will not think their time ill spent (I hope) in following