ABSTRACT
There has been a warm Contest, concerning The Right of the Inhabitants of Maryland, to the Benefit of the English Laws; as well Statute as Common: And as the Matter is in Dispute, and it is of utmost Consequence to be at a Certainty about it. The People of Maryland are Freemen, and will certainly continue to be such, as long as they enjoy the Benefit of Laws; calculated for the Security of Liberty, and Property and the Rights of Mankind. The Statute Law, consists of such Acts of Parliament, as have been made from Time, to Time, by the whole Legislature; some of which, are declaratory, or alter the Common Law. The Power of Legislation, granted to the Lord Proprietary, and the People of Maryland, was design’d as a Benefit, and not as a Prejudice. For it could hardly be suppos’d, that a New Colony, distant from their Mother-Country, exposed to the Insults of a cruel and savage Enemy.
