Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/68

52 oon be an end of our contitution. The legilature would be changed from that, which was originally et up by the general conent and fundamental act of the ociety; and uch a change, however effected, is according to Mr Locke (who perhaps carries his theory too far) at once an entire diolution of the bands of government; and the people would be reduced to a tate of anarchy, with liberty to contitute to themelves a new legilative power. thus curorily conidered the three uual pecies of government, and our own ingular contitution, elected and compounded from them all, I proceed to oberve, that, as the power of making laws contitutes the upreme authority, o wherever the upreme authority in any tate reides, it is the right of that authority to make laws; that is, in the words of our definition, to precribe the rule of civil action. And this may be dicovered from the very end and intitution of civil tates. For a tate is a collective body, compoed of a multitude of individuals, united for their afety and convenience, and intending to act together as one man. If it therefore is to act as one man, it ought to act by one uniform will. But, inamuch as political communities are made up of many natural perons, each of whom has his particular will and inclination, thee everal wills cannot by any natural union be joined together, or tempered and dipoed into a lating harmony, o as to contitute and produce that one uniform will of the whole. It can therefore be no otherwie produced than by a political union; by the conent of all perons to ubmit their own private wills to the will of one man, or of one or more aemblies of men, to whom the upreme authority is entruted: and this will of that one man, or aemblage of men, is in different tates, according to their different contitutions, undertood to be law.

far as to the right of the upreme power to make laws; but farther, it is it’s duty likewie. For ince the repec- tive