thorlty that renders an ad obligatory. Lord Coke fays, * an article of the ftatute 1 1 R. II. c. 5. that no perfon fhould attempt to revoke any ordinance then made, is repealed, for that fuch reftraint is againft the jurifdiiSion and power of the parliament,' 4 Inft. 42. and again, * though divers parliaments have attempted to re- flrain fubfequent parliaments, yet could they never effefl: it; for the latter parliament hath ever power to abrogate, fuf- pend, qualify, explain, or make void the former in the whole or in any part there- of, notwithftanding any words of reftraint, prohibition, or penalty, in the former:
for it is a maxim in the laws of the par- liament, quod leges pofteriores priores con- trarias abrogant/ 4 Inft. 43.—To get rid of the magic fuppofed to be in the word conjlitution, let us tranflate it into its definition as given by thofe who think it above the power of the law; and let us fuppofe the convention, inftead of faying, * We the ordinary legiflature eftablifli a conftitittiony* had faid, * We the ordinary legiflature, eftablifh an ad above the power of the ordinary legiJlatureJ^ Does not this expofe the abfurdity of the attempt? 3.
But, fay they, the people have acquiefced, and this has given it an authority fuperior to the laws. It is true, that the people did not rebel againfl: it : and was that a time for the people to rife in rebellion?
Should a prudent acquiefcence, at a criti- cal time, be conftrued into a confirmation of every illegal thing done during that period? Befides, why fhould they rebel? At an annual eleftion, they had chofen delegates for the year, to exercife the or- dinary powers of legiflation, and to man- age the great conteft in which they were engaged. Thefe delegates thought the conteft would be beft managed by an or- ganized government. They therefore, among others, paffed an ordinance of government. They did