[1] This is also the definition given in the United States, by Sec. 126
of the general act relating to negotiable instruments, prepared by
the conference of state commissioners on uniform legislation, and it
has been adopted in the leading states.
BILL OF RIGHTS, an important statute in English constitutional history.
On the 13th of February 1689 the Declaration of Right, a document drawn
up by a committee of the commons, and embodying the fundamental
principles of the constitution, was delivered by the lords and commons
to the prince and princess of Orange, afterwards William III. and Mary.
In December 1689 the rights claimed by the declaration were enacted
with some alterations by the Bill of Rights, next to Magna Carta the
greatest landmark in the constitutional history of England and the
nearest approach to the written constitutions of other countries. The
act (the full name of which is An Act declaring the Rights and Liberties
of the Subject, and settling the Succession of the Crown), after
reciting the unconstitutional proceedings of James II., the abdication
of that king, the consequent vacancy of the crown, and the summons of
the convention parliament, declared, on the part of the lords and
commons, "for the vindicating and asserting their ancient rights and
liberties"--
"(1) That the pretended power of suspending of laws or the execution
of laws by regal authority without consent of parliament is illegal.
(2) That the pretended power of dispensing with laws or the execution
of laws by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of
late, is illegal. (3) That the commission for erecting the late court
of commissioners for ecclesiastical causes, and all other commissions
and courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious. (4) That
levying money for or to the use of the crown, by pretence of
prerogative, without grant of parliament, for longer time or in other
manner than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal. (5) That it
is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and all commitments
and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal. (6) That the
raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of
peace, unless it be with consent of parliament, is against law. (7)
That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their
defence suitable to their conditions, and as allowed by law. (8) That
elections of members of parliament ought to be free. (9) That the
freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings in parliament, ought not
to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of parliament.
(10) That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. (11) That jurors
ought to be duly impanelled and returned and jurors which pass upon
men in trials for high treason ought to be freeholders. (12) That all
grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons
before conviction are illegal and void. (13) And that for redress of
all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening and preserving of
the laws, parliament ought to be held frequently. And they do claim,
demand and insist upon all and singular the premises, as their
undoubted rights and liberties."
The further provisions of the act were concerned with the settlement of
the crown upon the prince and princess of Orange, with the exception of
Sec. 12, which negatived the right of dispensation by _non obstante_[1] to
or of any statute or any part thereof, unless a dispensation be allowed
in the statute itself or by bill or bills to be passed during the then
session of parliament.
It is to be noticed that the Declaration of Right and the Bill of Rights
introduced no new principle into the English constitution; it was merely
a declaration of the law as it stood. In the United States, the main
provisions of the Bill of Rights, so far as they are applicable, have
been adopted both in the constitution of the United States and in the
state constitutions.