Internal convulsions have arisen in many countries by which the decisive power of the State has been thrown, for a short while, at least, into the hands of the collective power of the people. In these junctures they might have obtained a just re-establishment of their natural rights to independence of cultivation and to property in land, had they been themselves aware of their title to such rights, and had there been any leaders prepared to direct them in the mode of stating their just claim, and supporting it with necessary firmness and becoming moderation.
— PROF. WILLIAM OGILVIE, of Aberdeen, Essay on the Right of Property in Land,
(1781) Part II., Section 3, Paragraph 57.
The document is at http://www.wealthandwant.com/docs/Ogilvie_Essay_1782.html. I commend it to your attention.
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