The
colonists sought to maintain their own rights without infringement,
while they accorded to the sovereign his constitutional privileges.
Conflicts were frequent, and apprehensions of conflict yet more
frequent. Hence those who had the conduct of public affairs were
compelled to give some attention to English history, and to the
constitutional law of Great Britain. Moreover, it was always important
to secure and keep a strong public sentiment on the side of liberty; and
there were usually in every town men who thoroughly investigated
questions of public policy. There was one topic, more absorbing than any
other, that involved the study of the legal history and usage of Great
Britain, and a careful consideration of the general principles of
liberty; namely, the constitutional rights of a British subject. Here
was a broad field for inquiry, investigation, and study; and it was
faithfully cultivated and gleaned. There has never been a political
topic for public discussion in America more important in itself, or
better calculated to educate an American in a knowledge of his political
rights, than the examination of the political relations of the subject
to the crown and parliament of Great Britain previous to the Declaration
of Independence. It was not an abstraction. It had a practical value to
every man in the colonies, and it was the prominent feature of the
masterly exposition made by the Massachusetts House of Representatives,
to which I have already referred.
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