Page:A History and Defence of Magna Charta.djvu/183

Rh ſatisfied, that no wiſe King, after he has read that little book, would change governments with the Grand Seignior.

, as the prince has recommended the uſefulneſs of this diſcourſe to all future Kings; ſo I heartily recommend it to the careful peruſal of all Engliſhmen, who having ſeen a ſucceſſion of bad reigns, think there is ſomewhat in the mill, and that the Engliſh form of government is amiſs; whereas the fault lies only in the mal-adminiſtration; or if there ſhould happen to be any flaw or defect in any of the occaſional laws, it may eaſily, and ought to be rectified every parliament that ſits down, as the book ſays.

heard of any that diſliked the Engliſh government but ſome of the prince’s progenitors Kings of England; who thinking themſelves ſhackled and manacled by the Engliſh laws, endeavoured to throw off this ſtate-yoke, that they might rule or rather rage over their ſubjects in regal wiſe only, not conſidering that to govern the people by the laws of the ſtate, is not a yoke, but liberty; and the greateſt ſecurity, not only to the ſubject