Sec. 119. Every man being, as has been shewed, naturally
free, and nothing being able to put him into subjection to any
earthly power, but only his own consent; it is to be considered,
what shall be understood to be a sufficient declaration of a
man's consent, to make him subject to the laws of any government.
There is a common distinction of an express and a tacit consent,
which will concern our present case. No body doubts but an
express consent, of any man entering into any society, makes him
a perfect member of that society, a subject of that government.
The difficulty is, what ought to be looked upon as a tacit
consent, and how far it binds, i.e. how far any one shall be
looked on to have consented, and thereby submitted to any
government, where he has made no expressions of it at all. And
to this I say, that every man, that hath any possessions, or
enjoyment, of any part of the dominions of any government, cloth
thereby give his tacit consent, and is as far forth obliged to
obedience to the laws of that government, during such enjoyment,
as any one under it; whether this his possession be of land, to
him and his heirs for ever, or a lodging only for a week; or
whether it be barely travelling freely on the highway; and in
effect, it reaches as far as the very being of any one within the
territories of that government.
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