Note 35 — DIALOGUE VI. ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT. SIR JOHN MAYNARD, MR. SOMERS, BISHOP BURNET.

A great lawyer, however, and one of the ornaments of Mr. Somers’s own house, is not afraid to indulge in these generous expectations. In a late treatise, in which he explains, with exquisite learning, the genius of the feudal policy, “These principles, says he, are the principles of freedom, of justice, and safety. The English constitution is formed upon them. Their reason will subsist, as long as the frame of it shall stand; and being maintained in purity and vigour, will preserve it from the usual mortality of government.” Considerations on the Law of Forfeiture, 3d ed. Lond. 1748.