In his Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-1769), the foundation of all legal education in England and the U.S. for a century, the great English jurist, Sir William Blackstone, discussed "the principle absolute rights which appertain to every Englishman" under the English Bill of Rights of 1689, and observed, "[T]o vindicate these rights, when actually violated or attacked, the subjects of England are entitled . . . lastly, to the right of having and using arms for self-preservation and defense."