rather than natural law grounds to justify the removal of James II from power.16 Locke‟s argument made the legitimacy of William of Orange highly conditional, for „The great and chief end of Men‟s uniting into Commonwealths and putting themselves under Government is „the Preservation of their Property‟.17 Locke‟s formal „contractual‟ view of government was one that, as much as absolutism, could threaten the unwritten constitution as an organic informal arrangement of overlapping ancient liberties.18 Contemporaries were far from convinced that the creation of formal parliamentary checks and balances was „progress‟, and the Bill of Rights of 1689 declared its aim was „the vindicating and asserting [of] ancient rights and liberties.‟