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Civil Society.

B. IL

be faid of children , who are not capable of choice,nor of confent ? They are proteded ; and protectionimplies the reciprocal duty of paying taxes. As foonas a young man is capable of acting for himfelf,he is at liberty to chufe other protectors, if thofewho have hitherto protected him be not to his tafte.

If a legal power to impofe taxes without confentof the people, did neceffarily imply a legal powerto impofe taxes at pleafure , without limitation,Locke’s argument would be invincible, in a countryof freedom at leaft. A power to impofe taxes atpleafure, would indeed be an invafion of the fun.damental law of property ; becaufe , under pretextof taxing, it would fubjed every man’s propertyto the arbitrary will of the fovereign. But theargument has no weight , were the fovereign’spower is limited The reciprocal duties betweenfovereign and fubjed imply, that the people oughtto contribute what fums are necelfary for the fup.port of government, and that the fovereign oughtnot to demand more. It is true , that there is noregular check againft him, when he tranfgrelfes hisduty in this particular : but there is an effedualcheck in the nature of every government that isnot legally defpotic, viz a general concert amongall ranks, to vindicate their liberty againft a courfeof violence and oppreffion; and multiplied ads olthat kind have more than once brought aboutfuch a concert.

As every member of the body-politic is underprotedion of the government, every one of them,as obferved above , ought to pay for being pro*