Every man that is to live under a govern ment ought first by his own consent to put himself under that government; and I do think that the poorest man in England is not at all bound in a strict sense to that government that he hath not had a voice to put himself under." Replying to this, Ireton, the chief speaker of the more conservative group, did not dispute the principle of consent but argued that the right of consent belonged solely to those who have a "fixed permanent interest in this kingdom. One hundred and thirty years later, the American Declaration of Independence opened with the words: