Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/139

Ch. 1. the rights of perons that are commanded to be oberved by the municipal law are of two orts; firt, uch as are due from every citizen, which are uually called civil duties; and, econdly, uch as belong to him, which is the more popular acceptation of rights or . Both may indeed be comprized in this latter diviion; for, as all ocial duties are of a relative nature, at the ame time that they are due from one man, or et of men, they mut alo be due to another. But I apprehend it will be more clear and eay, to conider many of them as duties required from, rather than as rights belonging to, particular perons. Thus, for intance, allegiance is uually, and therefore mot eaily, conidered as the duty of the people, and protection as the duty of the magitrate; and yet they are, reciprocally, the rights as well as duties of each other. Allegiance is the right of the magitrate, and protection the right of the people.

alo are divided by the law into either natural perons, or artificial. Natural perons are uch as the God of nature formed us; artificial are uch as are created and devied by human laws for the purpoes of ociety and government; which are called corporations or bodies politic.

rights of perons conidered in their natural capacities are alo of two orts, abolute, and relative. Abolute, which are uch as appertain and belong to particular men, merely as individuals or ingle perons: relative, which are incident to them as members of ociety, and tanding in various relations to each other. The firt, that is, abolute rights, will be the ubject of the preent chapter.

the abolute rights of individuals we mean thoe which are o in their primary and trictet ene; uch as would belong to their perons merely in a tate of nature, and which every man is intitled to enjoy whether out of ociety or in it. But with regard to the abolute duties, which man is bound to perform con- Rh