xt7ghx15n565_113 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7ghx15n565/data/mets.xml https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7ghx15n565/data/0000ua001.dao.xml unknown 9.56 Cubic Feet 33 boxes archival material 0000ua001 English University of Kentucky Property rights reside with the University of Kentucky. The University of Kentucky holds the copyright for materials created in the course of business by University of Kentucky employees. Copyright for all other materials has not been assigned to the University of Kentucky. For information about permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Special Collections Research Center.  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. James K. Patterson papers Patterson Speeches text Patterson Speeches 2024 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7ghx15n565/data/0000ua001/Box_11/Folder_4/Multipage10143.pdf undated section false xt7ghx15n565_113 xt7ghx15n565  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

  

  

 

 -25-

armor and to repair their own defenses. In the laboratories of
and physics
the agricultural college, chemistry and biology/took on a new
expansion and a new significance. The tea here in the new
learning taught the teachers of the old. In order to hold
their own and prevent their being elbcwed out of court, the
older institutions found themselves congelled to imprcve and
enlarge their spheres of scientific study. to create new
laboratories and place in them men abreast of the discoveries
for the most part

which workers in the new field had made. Who/are the ranking
chemists and biologists and physicists of today? Not,certain-
ly,the exponents and expositcrs of these subjects in the old

colleges and universities, but the active, en rgetic bands of

enthusiastic workers and discoverers in the new.

No radical change is'the growth of a day or a month

 

  

  

  

 

 

  

  

  

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

  

  

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"William, though a man of great executive ability, soon found that, alone,.

he was unequal to the task of government in all its manifold relations. With

a»
the assistance of his council he made lawsfgsuperyised the collection and

expenditure of revenues, but to attend to all the other functions of govern-
ment was beyond the capacity of any one man. He, therefore, appointed a min-
ister who would stand to him in the whole kingdom in the same relation in
which the sheriff did in each shire. This person, called the Justiciar, was
the kings deputy in all matters and the supreme administrator in law and
finances. The Justiciar had a staff of assistants, the chief of whom bore the
title of Chancellor. This staff, formed from the chief vassals of the crown,
consisted of those most learned in the law and most efficient in its admin—
istration. The body so selected was called the Curie Regis. When it sat to
consider questions of finance it was called the Court of fixcheuquer. Its
members in their collective capacity, were called justices, their head being
Chief Justice. This was the germ of the entire judicial system. Out of this
were developed in time, besides the Court of Excheuquer, the Court of Ying's
Bench and of Common Pleas. When any of these courts rendered deliveranees
unsatisfactory to either of the litigants, an appeal was made to the king

in eounei1.This was the original of the judicial functions of the Lord Chanc-
ellor, of the judicial body of the Privy Council and of the Appellate juris—
diction of the House of Lords.

"Another phase in the administration of justice is the jury system, which
grew out of conflicting claims to estates. The person whose title was impug—
nated might challenge the adverse claimant to mortal combat, or he might
submit the cause in controversy to twelve men, called recognitors, who were
appointed by four knights of the Shire selected by the sheriff acting under
a royal trit. By the assize of Clarend0n a like principle is applied to crim-
inal jurisdiction. Twelve men of each hundred, with four lawful men from each

township, vere sworn to present criminals from their district in each county

 

 L; (73’

court. From this arrangement the Grand Jury was evolved. A special applica-
tion of the jury system under Henry I€., grandson of the conqueror, laid the
foundation of taxation and representation. Disputes had arisen as to the tax-
able value of freeholds and chattels. Henry directed the liability of each
man to be estimated by a sworn body of knights of lawful men of the venue. A
writ issued by John in the 15th year of his reign directed the sheriff to
select four discreet men from each shire 'for deliberation with us,“ so goes
the writ, 'concerning the affairs of our kingdom.’ This was an extension of
the usage introduced by Henry lI.;and in 1254 under Henry III. two knights
from each shire were summoned to parliament, and upon the report made by these
knights the amount of the tax was detérmined. .

"Arbitrary and unscrupulous kings like John, and weak ones like Tenry 111.,
did not hesitate oftentimes to ignore the unwritten law, whichkormed the basis

in DY
of groundwork of legislation by the great Council a: Parliament of the realm.

Exaetions were levied upon the great barons and upon the lesser barons with

no means of redress.

"Fundamental usages and recent charters were alike ignored. The money der—

....-1
\an

ived from the commutation of feudal services were often applied by unscrup-
ulous monarchs to procure the means of Oppressing their subjects. When these
oppressions and exactions passed beyond the bounds of endurance, all classes
made common cause to bring the arbitrary king to terms. In this way it happen-
ed oftentimes that under the worst kings the greatest advances were made in
strengthening and consolidating the freedom of the nation.

"During the reign of John and his son Henry these irregularities became
so odious that all classes were ready to rise in vindication of their ancient
liberties. The revenues of the crown were lavished and wasted upon the throng
of foreign favorites, who flocked to the royal courts, or consumed in enter-

uceless and fruitless. enterprises bringing neither reputation or

profit to king or people.

"An arbitrary invasion of John of the privileges of the church afforded
the opportunity of which his outraged subjects were not slow to take advantage.

"On the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1205. the junior monks
of Christ Church met clandestinely and elected Reginald, their sub-prior,

his successor. John, diapleased with their temerity, required the chapter to

elect John de Grey Bishop of Horwich. The Pope refused to ratify either choice

 

 (a);

and compelled the men , under pain of excommunication, to choose Stephen

Langton, a name ever memorable in the annals of English freedom. John vented

his rage upon the monks of Christ Church for consenting to Langferd's app-

' ”Z
ointment, expelled them from the convent and took possessi‘heir revenues,

whereupon Pope Innocent lII. placed the kingdom under an int iict. John
retaliated by seizing the property of the clergy who obeyed the interdict.
Innocent replied by issuing a bull of excommunication, absolved his subjects
from their allegiance and called upon Philip of France to carry out the sen—
tence of deposition. John made his submission and agreed to hold his king-

dom upon the payment of 1,000 marks a year as the vassal of the holy see.
Smarting under his humiliation, he crossed over into France to avenge him—
self upon Philip, by whom he was signally defeated at the battle of Bovines,
and returned in disgrace to England. He had provoked the barons by his exac—
tions, enraged the clergy by his invasions of their privileges, alienated the
rising power of the towns by his impositions and incurred the contempt of all
class as by his wanton firefigacy. An unusual levy on the barons without the
consent of his parliament roused a fierce spirit of opposition, and detirmined
them to seek redress of grievances. They found in Stephen Langton an able and
willing ally. Inimeeting at St.Paul's he showed the barons a copy of the
charter of Henry 1., which he had found in a monastery. At a subsequent meet-
ing the barons swore to obtain from the king a new charter confirming the
ancient liberties of England.

"Both sides prepared for war. London, always on the side of freedom, Opened
its gates to the insurgents. John consented to a conference near the field of
Runnymede, and finding himself powerless to resist, at last signed Magna Charts.
the great charter of English liberty and of the English speaking race through-
out the world.

"Let us look for a moment at some of its provisions:

The liberty of the church is assured.

No tax shall be laid in our kingdom unless by the common council of the
realm.

No one shall be compelled to do greater military service than the law
requires.

Freeman shall not be subjected for offences to arbitrary fines, but every

punishment shall be proportionate to the offence.

No one shall be compelled to labor on the public works except in conformity

 

 (9".
with the requirements of the ancient law.

No property shall be approPetated for public use unless paid for.
Just weights and measures shall be used.

No freeman shall be seized or imprisoned, or diSpossessed, or outlawed,

or exiled, or otherwise destroyed, norfiill we pass upon him or send upon him

unless by the legal judgment odhis peers or by the law of the land. We will
deny to no man, we will delay to no man, justice and right.

"In all casesmof aid, money for the‘public service, earls and barons
shall be summoned to the great Council, each by a special writ, and all other
tenants-in— chief by a summons of the sheriff.

"On this piece of parchment, egg—years ago were inscribed the liberties of
England, signed. by the king,the great dignitaries of the churc1 and the rep-
resentative barons. b.1fi is guaranteed the privileges of the church the
freedom of the citizen, the rights of preperty and the omnipotence of parli—
ament. Herein is guaranteed the administration of justice, trial by jury,
immunity from arbitrary arrest and from excessive punishment. Herein is guar-
anteed redress of all wrongs by whomsoever inflicted. Herein, in embryo, is
found all that is valuable, all that is sacred in the unwritten constitution
of all English speaking peeple throughout the world. Herein is found, says
Hallam, Habeas Corpus. Herein is found the basis of the Petition of Right and
the Bill of Rights. All of the legislation of England, unfolding and develop-
ing and safeguarding the rights of property, has its roots in Hagna Charta.
All the legislation of anland, unfolding and defining and guaranteeing the
liberty of their subjects, has its roots in the same venerable charter.

"And here let it be observed that Magna Charta was not considered as confer-
ring upon the people and guaranteeing to them any new privileges. It reaffirmed
3§§§iand defined in more explicit terms the immunities and franchises set
forth in the charter of Henry 11.. Henry I. and William the Conqueror, and
these rested upon and reaffirmed the immemorial pri ivileges of England @QQ rec—
ognized by Edward and Alfred and Offs and Ina, the immemorial heritage of the
men who brought them into Britain from the shores of the Weser and the banks
of the Saale. The seals of the king, the prelates and the barons were attached.
and Magma Charta became the law of the land. The stout Englishmen who extorted
it, the good swords whichfifiiigiiiii maintained it,

Alas:

Their bones are dust,

 

 Their good swords rust,‘but1

Their souls are with the saints, we
trust.

"Their work remains a monument more durable than brass, loftier than the
regal structure of the pyramids. Bacon and Newton and Nelson and Wellington,
in the old world; Franklin and Washington and Lincoln in the new world, have
been possible through Magna Charta.lts influence is today paramount in five
continents. On the Thames, the Mississippi and the St.Lawrenee its supremacy
is unquestioned. It has inspired a sense of manhood in the yeomanry of England,
of dignity in the citizens of the great Republic and of courage and self—re-
liance in the founders of British rule in far—off Hindostan. It has founded
commonwealths in Canada and Australia and in South Africa. It has gone forth
conquering and to conquer. And the glory of its 3§§§§§§§§§§_conquests and
the prowess of its achievements, great as these have been, are but the prelude
to greater things yet to be. The rights guaranteed to the barons of England
by Magma Charts were not for themselves alone. And here I may be allowed to
digress a little, to considefithe effects of Primogeniture and Entail upon the
evolution of English institutions. The oldest sons only succeeded to the titles,
estates and privileges of the fathers. The oldest son succeeded his father as
duke, marquis, earl, viscount or baron. The younger sons had neither hereditary
rank, title nor estate. These then, were relatively much more numerous than
the titled nobility, and became the lesser but untitled aristocracy of the
realm. The became empl oyes of the crown in the military and civil service,
acquired wealth by escommunseataen or by marriage and settled down as country
gentleman maintaining a close connection with the stratum above them and ad—

mitting into their numbers the successful merchants or craftsmen who pushed

9

«forward from the ranks below. Thus was formed the substantial middle classes
of England. And what the barons wrung from King John the middle classes con-
strained the barons to concede to them. Thus the middle classese recruited
both from above and below, became the conservators of the liberties of England.

"On the continent neither Primogeniture nor Entail obtained. The result
::§§§:was a numerous nobility with small estates on the one hand and a peasantry
, a proletariat on the other, with againtermediate class to form a connecting
link between the extremes.

"Not a life was lost in the English revolution of 1688 when James was deposed

 

 (1,1)
. ' r;
by Parliament and William of Orange elected tefhis stead. Why? because the dis-

C“; ; \ 4C...
tinction of classes, merged by imperceptible graduations one into another“\

great middle class recruited from the ranks of the nobility and from the ranks
of the lower strata, made a collision of class and rank impossible.
"In France at the beginning of the French revolution, there was no middle
(in. mat ;-' :5...

class.J¥here were nobles, proud, imperious, disdainful; so numerous that their

.,.-‘

small estates, cultivated by a starving peasantry wasirack-rented to provide

a éfieeeaaéé for them. Law and custom alike forbade them to engage in trade or
in any other useful occupation except the Church and the army. On the other
side a hungry, impoverished, ignorant proletariat, exasPerated by ages of
oppression and misrule. When the revolution came and the lower classes felt
their power they exacted from their oppressors in a carnival of blood a fearful
expiation for the political and social crimes of centuries.

"One more important stage in the developement of constitutional government
remains. Parliament had since the conquest admitted but little of what might
be called the popular element into its composition. In theory every freeman
was entitled to attend the great council; in practice only the barons and
clergy were present.The early Norman kings in their frequent contests with the
barons found it expedient to court the favor of the smaller- freeholders and
feudal tenants in order to form a counterpoise to the might and turbulence of
the great tenants of the crown. They likewise encouraged the grotth of the towns
by granting them special privileges of trade and manufactures. Hitherto serf—
dom had obtained, most of the serfs being attached to the soil and passing
with the estates if they changed ownership. Many of the serfs who escaped
from their masters took refuge in the towns. where if they remained unclaimed
for a year, they became freemen. The towns depending upon the king for their
chartered privileges, were generally found on his side in his contests with
the nobility. These towns were called boroughs, their citizenship was limited
by certain conditions, expressed in their respective charters, and all their
citizens were denominated Burgesses. The privileges of self government and
immunities from certain obligations restingupon rural communities varied.
These boroughs grew space in wealth and influence, from both of which consid-
erations they begun to attract the attention of the State.

"John had no sooner signed Magna Charta than he sent a messenger to Home

with a cOpy, asking the Pepe to annul it. This the Pope did on the ground that

it had been extorted from his vessel and was therefore derogatory to the

 

 (1.12)

rights of the Holy See. Civil war was again rekindled. John resolved on a

last desperate effort to throw off the yoke of the Barons, but his career was
cut short by a sudden illness contracted while at the head of the army. His
son, Henry, a weak prince and the dupe of unworthy favorites, succeeded him.
He confirmed the great Charter under the most solemn sanction, but violated it
again and again. Simon de Montfort, a name famous in the parliamentary annals
of England, placed himself at the head of the aggrieved nubility and common-
alty and defeated the king and his adherents at the battle of Lewes. The Earl
had long known the importance of the growing civic element in the political
society of his age. His first steps were taken in his efforts to check the
oppressions of Henry and his foreign favorites by the help of the Barons. But
he soon discovered that he must seek a broader platform on which to stand. In
the parliament which he summoned in 1265 there appear ed for the first time

not the barons only, but knights of the shire and burgesses of the towns, side
by side in the great council of the realm. A bold innovation indeed, but one
destined to bear ample fruit in later years. The triumph on the field of

Lewes we: followed soon a fterward by the overt:helming defeat of Evesham where
Earl Simmon fell a martyr to freedom. During the remainder of Wenry's reign
things went on in their old way, but soon after the accession of his son
Edward First, the innovation made by Earl Simmon was revived and sanctioned.
Edward, finding that the introduction of the element added by Earl Simmon
greatly assisted him in the matter of supplies, of which he stood in constant
need, permanently ongrafted the country and borough representation upon par—
liament. It must not be forgotten, howeVer, that the intention of Edward in
summoning the Knights and Burgesses Was not for legislation, but for voting
supplies, Law making was still the exclusiVe prerogative of the prelates, earls
and barons. But the power of the purse soon brought with it larger privileges.
As it was in their competency to refuse supplies, these were often granted

only on condition that grievances should he redressed. Gradually, the assent of

the Ynights and Burgesses, now collectively known as the Commons, became nec—
essary for the enactment of laws. This was for a time accomplished indirectly
through petition, but during the reign of Edward III. the Commons gained ground,
and before its close the three essential principles of concurrent authority

were established. viz: 'The control of the public purse by the Commons, the

concurrence of the two houses in all matters relating tn the public weal, and

 

  

the right to enquire into all abuses and to impeach public officials.‘ In the
times of Edward II, Edward III. Richard II and Henry IV the authority and
influence of the Commons varied. Sometimes it seemed to go back somewhat, and
again to recover all that had been lost. But when one period is compared with
another it is found that substanéial progress had been made. During the Wars
of the Roses court was paid to Parliament by the heads of the contending fac—
tions. And each of the gfiggggi leaders in turn sought to justify his assump—
tion of authority by parliamentry sanction. In the reign of Henry VI. the
commons at last obtained the power of legislative initiative by bills rather
than by petition and immunity for responsibility for anything said or done in
the chamber during parliamentary proceedings.

"The idea of constitutional government in the time of Edward I. and his
immediate successors, and summed up in the legal meaning of the word, parlia—
ment, implies four principles which I wish you carefully to note.

"IFirst—The existence of a central assembly, a 'commune concilium regni,‘
the great assembly of the realm.

"Second—The representation in that assembly of all classes of people, earls.
barons, knights of the shire and burgesses of boroughs regularly summoned.

"Third-The reality of the representation of the whole people, secured either
by its presence in the council or by the free election of the people who are
to represent it or any portion of it.

"Fourth-The assembly so summoned and elected must possess definate powers

taxation, legislation. and general political deliberation.‘

"it may be instructive to note the changes in phraseology used in the writs

summons of Parliament.

"In the reign of John the Knights of the Shire are summoned simply 'ad
loquendum,‘ i. e., for speaking.

"In those of Simon de Monfort, ‘ad tractandum, consulendum et consentien—
dum,’ i. e., to handle, consult and consent.

”In the writs of Edward I, 1283, the representatives of the towns are sum-
moned 'ad audiendum et faciendum,‘ i. e., for hearing and doing, listening
to the Ving's pecuniary necessities and voting supplies.

"In 1?94 the summons runs as follows, ‘ad consulendum et consentiendum, pro

3:.
se et commuritate illa iis quae comites barones et proceres ordinaverint,‘

i. e., for consulting and assenting, on behalf of themselves and their respec-
tive communities, to those things which the earls, barons and nobles aforesaid

 

 have ordained“

"The following year there is still a further advance. The writ now runs,

‘ad faciendum,‘ i. c., for doing. Under hdward II the writ is 'ad consulen-

__ .
Ll~ «in. i., * new

dum,: i. e., for consulting and doing.

" i if t i b t th 'd f d ' 'HEXX
Here 8 a man es progress on, u , e same 1 ea 0. a vance lS 33p

apparent from the style of the Acts of Parliament.
"After the permanent incorporation of the Commons, the form is in 1518,

'The King, by the assent of the prelates. earls and barons and the common—

ality of the realmt'dnder Edward II the share of the Commons is limited to
petition and voting supplies.

"Afterwards the expression is, ‘By the assent of the prelates, earls and
barons and at the request of the Commons.‘ In the reign of Henry VI the exp—
ression occurs, ‘The King, by and with the authority of Parliament.‘ In the
reign of Henry VII the mention of petition is drOpped and the regular form
becomes, 'The King, by the advice of the lords Spiritual and temporal and
Commons, in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same.‘ From
this time on the concurrent power of the Commons is undiSputed, possessing
equal rights of initiative or forbidding legislation on all subjects what-
soever, and holding the purse strings of the nation.

"One or two incidents will illustrate the independent, not to say defiant.
spirit of our forefathers. Shortly after the accession of Edward I commis—
sioners were appointed to enquire into the titles of estates and the value

of escheats and forfeitures. When Perl Warrene was required‘ to Show his

title deed he produced a rusty swerd, an heirloom inheireted from his fathers.
'See, my lords, here is my title deed; my ancestors came withgfienry the Bas-
tard and conquered this land with the sword, and with the sword will I defend
it.‘ Some years later, in order to carry on the war for the recovery of one
of his hereditary possessions in France, he had seized the treasures of the
clergy, who, after a violent struggle, were forced to submit. He had also
incurred the diapleasure of the nobility by levying forced aids upon them.

Edward intended to attack France himself on the side of Flanders and to

send an expedition to the southwest to attack her in Guienne. The latter

force he intended to place under the command of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl? of

Hereford, the High Constable, and Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, Earl Marshal
of England.

 

 (15)

"They requed to go, alleging that their respective offices only required'
their attendance upon the Vinéis person in the field. A violent altercation
ensued. The Ving in the height of passion exclaimed, addressing himself to
the Earl Marshal, 'By God, Sir Earl, you will either go or hang.‘ 'By God,
Sir Wing,‘ replied the Earl, 'I will neither go nor hang.‘ The two immediat—
ely, with their retinues, left the Ving and returned to London, where a
Parliament was called to which the recalcitrant earls were summoned. They
went with their followers, but refused to enter the city till the gates were
were placed in their hands. They required that the Charter be confirmed, that
they be pardoned their refusal to obey the King's orders, and that additional
securities be provided against the arbitrary exactions of the sovereign.

“Says Dr. Freeman: 'Next to the name of Earl Simon we may honor the name
of Edward and the names of the worthies who withstood him. To Roger Bigod
of Yorfolk and Humphrey de Bohun of Hereford we owe the crowning of the work.

The Parliament of England was now wrought into the fulness of its perfect

A
form and the most homely, §§§§§§§_but not the least important, of its powers

fully acknowledged. No tax or gift could the Ying of England claim at the
handfof anlishmen save such as the Lords and Commons of England gave him
of their own free will.‘

"The germs of King, Lords and Commons had been brought from their old
home 800 years before, but from this time forward King, Lords and Commens
actually existed with nearly the same powers which they now hate. King, Lords

and Commons constituted Yarliament then and Were, 'it in the realm, omnipotent.

King, hords and Commons constitute Yarliament still, and are still, within
the realm, omnipotent. The power of the Commons has grown until now it is
the predominent constituent. But the Parliament of old is the Parliament

still. The King no longer takes the initiative in legislation. He reigns,

but does not rule, and yet in theory all the prerogatives of sovereignty
ML

still attach to him, and all acts of Parliament still runhthe name of the
King, Lords and Commons.

"The old Earl of Chatham, Speaking of flagna Charta, said that he would
not give that scrap of barbarous Latin for all the classics of antiquity.
The original, with the Ying's seal, still exists in the British Museum. Well
may Englishmen venerate this priceless monument of their freedom. Had Magus

Charta never been, an Vnglish statesman of the last century could not have

 

 (L6)

said, 'Every man‘s house is his castle. it may be only a straw-thatched shed.

The winds of heaven may pierce it, and the rains of heaven may drench it, but

the King of England cannot enter it.‘

"From the drift of this discussion it will be apparent that the English
have no written constitution. The immemorial traditions and customs extending
back over 2,000 years have formed the groundwork of the charters of the Saxon
Kings, of the Norman and Angevin Kings, and of the early Plantagentes. 111
English legislation relating to the rights of property and the liberty of the
subject are based on these. and these collectively form the British constitu—
tion. it is not a document, set in hard and fast lines, absolute and complete
and inelastic, but its scape and purport and Spirit are as well understood by
British statesmen as if it were. it cannot be called the work of any day, or
year or period. No date can be fixed for its advent into the world. it has
grown; it was not made. First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn
in the ear.

"But though unwritten and undefined, it is the prolific parent of written
constitutions throughout the world. The greatest of these, the American con-
stitution, of which you shall hear more anon, also has its roots in Magna
Charts, in Habeas Corpus and the Bill of Rights. The powers of the fixecutive,
the legislative authority of Congress, the functions of the judiciary, the
trial by jury, the controlh‘of the public purse through representatives freely '

chosen, the safeguards of human freedom-all are evolved out of the fundamental

principles of the british constitution. The charters of the original coldnies

were based on the British constitution, the written constitutions which suc—

/,,_____.___l_\‘
ceeded and EmpyKXflflflfifihKfi supplanted them rest on the same foundation.
W

"Constitutional governmant in its comparative perfection is the heritage
of the English-speaking stock, and has made of this stock the dominant factor
in the civilization of the world. ureat britain, with her 12,000,000 of Square
miles and population of 400,000,000, infherwsplendidmiseletion is the dominant
factor in old world politics, caring for n§:alliances save with her own kith
and kin. but it is reserved for this young giant of the "est, mighty in the
present, still mightier in the future, with the opportunities for illimitable
expansion, boundless in wealth and boundless in power, whose prospective infl—

uence none can measure and whose prospective glory none can forecast, to become
thtu nwfi'w

the greatest of the anlish-speaking people, the future head of the English—

Speaking race. What a glorious heritage from our ancestors:

 

 (17 )i

I

"And yet while we contemplate the present and try to penetrate'the future,
‘it is well that we should look back to the source whence comes all that
we boast of as our possession, all that the mighty mother.and the mightgs
daughter have inhétrited from the past. Let us praise the famous men and our
fathers that beget us. Let us look to the rock whence we were hewn, and the
hole of the pit whence we were digged. Freedom, the old poet says, is a
noble thing. It is also an ancient thing, and those who love it now in its
more modern garb need never shrink from tracing back its earlier forms to

the first days when history has aught to tell us of the oldest life of our

fathers.‘ Surely the student of constitutional history cannot fail to See
+-

that this is no facitious developement, no haphazard groth, but that there
has been it a divinity shaping its end and leading it to its destiny, that
in the words of the old Persian poet,

'Hot in vain the nation—strivings,

Nor by chance the current flowé.

Error mazed, but truth directed,

To their onward goal they go.’

"Not only is constitutional government the heritage of English-speaking
peotle, but in its highest developement it is their exclusive possession.
It is their birthright. It has grown up with them from the earliest records

of the race. It is cognate with them, coeval with them and with their ancest—
I '1‘: .‘1 1;. I

ore for a hundred generations. There has been no brake in its groth and
developement, no break in its continuiti. Abnormal developements here and
there, not of permanent value, have not survived, but have perished. In its
fulness, in its integrity, in its comparative perfection it lives today,
vigorous, still growing, still supplying new adaptions to new emergencies.
This is the exclusive heritage of England and her colonies, and of America
with her sisterhood of free and independent Commonwealths.

"But it may be said other nations than we, France, Germany, Austria,
Italy, Spain, not to mention the lesser kingdoms and the Spanish—American
Republics, also possess constitutional government. True, but what is their
constitution? I believe it an established canon that no imitative school of
painting, or sculpture, or poetry or literature of any kind attains, or can
attain, the highest excellence. The best that can be said of its products

is that it is a clever imitation. An exotic never flourishes under an alien

sky unless artificial conditions, more or less precarious, are supplied.

 

 i-grm‘xaruim-mzmwsmcmx~: .1; « .. -r :..: an -‘— , . » .~,::.-.- , l. a

= ._?-—"5w.m a”.

v.

New