APPENDIX IV
THE VIRGINIA DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
OF 1776, AND THE FRENCH DECLARATION
OF RIGHTS OF 1789Below are printed, in such a way as to show the resemblances, most of the Virginia
Declaration of Rights drafted by George Mason and adopted by the Virginia as-
sembly on June 12, 1776, and most of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and
Citizen adopted by the French National Assembly on August 26, 1789.
The Virginia declaration differs from the French in its emphasis on freedom and
frequency of elections and on jury trial, in its concrete warnings against excessive
bail, general warrants, suspending of laws and standing armies, and its more ex-
plicit reference to Christian and moral virtues. The French declaration differs from
that of Virginia in its clearer formulation of citizenship, its definition of law as the
expression of the general will, its definition of liberty as the right to do what does
not harm another, its more explicit provision that the law must be the same for all
and public office open to all alike on the basis of abilities, its greater reserve in re-
lating freedom of thought and religion to law and order, its provision that property
may be taken for public use only with due compensation, its less explicit reference
to moral virtues and its adoption of a deistic rather than a Christian tone.
The resemblance remains remarkable. Resemblance in the sequence in which
ideas are presented is a stronger indication of filiation than resemblance in
content.