Wesley Corpus

“But the King and Parliament can take them all away.” But they do not; and, till it is done, they are freemen. The supreme power of my country can take away either my religious or civil liberty; but, till they do, I am free in both respects: I am free now, whatever I may be by and by. Will any man face me down, I have no money now, because it may be taken from me to-morrow? 6. But the truth is, what they claim is not liberty; it is independency. They claim to be independent of England; no longer to own the English supremacy. A while ago, they vehemently denied this; for matters were not then ripe: And I was severely censured for supposing they intended any such thing. But now the mask is thrown off: They frankly avow it; and Englishmen applaud them for so doing ! Nay, you will prove, that not only the colonies, but all * See a tract, entitled, “Thoughts upon Liberty.” mankind, have a right to it; yea, that independency is of the very essence of liberty; and that all who are not independent are slaves. Nay, if all who are not independent are slaves, then there is no free nation in Europe; then all in every nation are slaves, except the supreme powers. All in France, for instance, except the King; all in Holland, except the Senate; yea, and these too; King and Senate both are slaves, if (as you say) they are dependent upon the people. So, if the people depend on their governors, and their governors on them, they are all slaves together. Mere play with words. This is not what all the world means by liberty and slavery; therefore, to say, “If the Parliament taxes you without your consent, you are a slave,” is mere quibbling. Whoever talks thus, should say honestly, “Reader, I give you warning, I affix a new sense, not the common one, to these words, liberty and slavery.” Take the words in this sense, and you may prove there are slaves enough in England, as well as America; but if we take them in the old, common sense, both the Americans and we are free men. 7.