Excerpt from Life of Algernon Sidney: With Sketches of Some of His Contemporaries and Extracts From His Correspondence and Political Writings<br><br>The writings of Sidney - Introductory remarks - Extracts - Com mon notions of liberty are derived from nature - Men are by na ture free - Choice of forms of government originally left to the people - The social contract considered - Such as enter into society in some degree diminish their liberty - The natural equality of man - Virtue only gives a preference of one man to another There is no hereditary right of dominion - Men join together and frame greater or less societies, and give them such forms and laws as they please - They who have the right of choosing a king, have the right of making a king - As to the forms of government - Those best which comprise the three simple elements - Bemoe racy considered - Sidney in favor of a popular or mixed govern ment - Civil governments admit of changes in their superstruc ture Man's natural love of liberty IS tempered by reason Seditions, tumults, and wars considered - In what cases justified When necessary to overthrow a tyranny, or depose a Wicked magistrate-the right of insurrection traced to the social con tract - The contracts between the magistrates and the nations which created them were real, solemn, and obligatory - Same subject continued - The general revolt of a nation cannot be called a rebellion - Duties of magistrates as representatives of the people - No people that is not free can substitute delegates The representative system - Legislative power not to be trusted in the hands of any who are not bound to obey the laws they make - Reflections on the writings and political opinions of Sid they - The sincerity of his motives - His religious sentiments itiis private character - Conclusion.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.