… is from page 589 of the 1988 collection of Lord Acton’s writings (edited by the late J. Rufus Fears), Essays in Religion, Politics, and Morality; specifically, it’s a note drawn from Acton’s extensive papers at Cambridge University; (I can find no date for this passage):
American Revolution: The great point is that the letter of the law was against them. The absence of real oppression likewise. It was definitely an appeal to unwritten law, unchartered rights.
