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THE BILL OF RIGHTS (1689) AND OTHER CRITICAL LAWS THAT ESTABLISHED GREAT BRITAIN'S CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY. Folio (10.5 inches). First edition. // 1 William & Mary, Session 1 (1688-1689): 499 pages + 6 pages (Index) = 34 Acts. // 1 William & Mary, Session 2 (1689): 282 pages + 3 pages (Index) = 9 Acts. // 2 William & Mary, Session 1 (1690): 158 pages + 4 pages (Index) = 10 Acts. // A total of 53 Acts, complete with all general title leaves and conjugate blanks. Royal coats of arms, headbands and decorative initials. Text in Black Letter. Watermarked paper, with fool's cap court jester watermarks visible on several leaves. Contemporary full calf binding, sympathetically re-spined in the late 18th century. First leaf guarded along outer edge. Corners and rear board edge gently bumped. Scattered light spotting and toning, but generally clean. Near fine. This volume contains the first three sessions of parliament of William & Mary following the Glorious Revolution. The most notable statute is the BILL OF RIGHTS, 1689: An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject, and Settling the Succession of the Crown. 1 William & Mary, Session 2, Chapter 2. General title leaf + pages 187-202 + conjugate blank leaf. This cornerstone Act guaranteed rights and liberties for all British citizens and put an end to the Divine Right of Kings by asserting the supremacy of Parliament over the British monarchy. The legislation was an outcome of the Glorious Revolution, wherein James II, the self-proclaimed Catholic King of England, was deposed and replaced by his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange. The BILL OF RIGHTS, 1689 confirmed that the House of Lords and House of Commons had expressed their full confidence in the capabilities of William and Mary as the King and Queen of England, France and Ireland, and the Dominions thereunto belonging. The terms of Protestant succession of the Crown were also clearly established by the Act. Most significantly, the rights and liberties of British citizens were listed in detail, including: Freedom from royal interference with the law; Freedom from taxation by royal prerogative without agreement by Parliament; Freedom to petition the Sovereign without fear of retribution; Freedom from a peace-time standing army without agreement of Parliament; Freedom for Protestant Subjects to bear arms for self-defense as allowed by law; Freedom to elect Members of Parliament without interference of the Sovereign; Freedom of speech during debates and proceedings in Parliament; Freedom from excessive bail and fines, and from cruel and unusual punishment; Jurors for trials of high treason were to be property owners; Freedom from fines and forfeitures without trial: due process was to be followed; Parliament was to be held frequently to address grievances, and to amend, strengthen, and preserve existing laws, and create new laws. The BILL OF RIGHTS, 1689 served as an inspirational model in France for the DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN AND OF THE CITIZEN (1789), in the United States for the AMERICAN BILL OF RIGHTS (created in 1789; ratified in 1791), and is fully entrenched in CANADIAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW. Other important Acts in the volume include: The Convention Parliament Declared a Legitimate Parliament (1 William & Mary, Session 1, Chapter 1); Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus (1 William & Mary, Session 1, Chapters 2, 7, and 19); First Mutiny and Desertion Act (1 William & Mary, Session 1, Chapter 5); Coronation Oath Act (1 William & Mary, Session 1, Chapter 6); Oaths Act (1 William & Mary, Session 1, Chapter 8); Taxation of Jewish Merchants (1 William & Mary, Session 1, Chapter 13); Toleration Act (1 William & Mary, Session 1, Chapter 18); Great Seal Act (1 William & Mary, Session 1, Chapter 21); Crown and Parliament Recognition Act (2 William & Mary, Session 1, Chapter 1); and Further Taxation of Jewish Merchants (2 William & Mary, Session 2, Chapter 2). A full inventory is available.
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