New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-09-13
A WISE AMERICAN.
THE WORKS OF A OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES

OF the supreme Sourt Ga ~.
Phihdeiphi,. Being his Public DiscourseS upon
inr lectures as Professor Of Law, i79o-e Edited
by James De Witt Andrews Two NonmcS, p
XVI, 617 " e93. Chicago: Caliashan a ~
1t was good thought to present to the puonc
a new edition q the writings OF Judge WILSON, a'
q time when the Supreme Court of the United
States is deliberately attacked IN the name Oh
great political party Others among the earliest
Justices OF that court did more than he perhaps
70 Ak its traditions Others are credited with
greater number Of noteworthy decisions 'hous"
the single opinion which is associated in history
with his name OF the very highest import
ance. He was from the outset reckoned the peer
,r ability and the superior in learning OF all the
Associate Justices OF his time. In generation OF
LAWYERS Wilson had hardly an equal In the va
r,e,v and scope OF his reading, unless II was
Thomas Jefferson. We was certainly wiser ana
less eccentric man than Jefferson in the apphca-
ton OF his knowledge Of affairs
All his training In the law was dis'lhctNeE
American and il may he added. pennsylvania
The latter adjective is not to be ignored. Coion'a
Pennsylvania was the home Of liberation ana OF
freedom, in thought. But there was at the same
time among the ruling classes less OF what was
known as freethinklng than there was. for exam
nle IN virginia the refuge of English Church-
manship in America. There Is In wilson's WORKS
no indication Of that overwhelming influence
which the French philosophy Of the eighteenth
century exercised upon Jeffersons MIND oh 'he
contrary. he belonged TO that body OF thinkers
which 70 this day. owing to the efforts Of Dr. Nc
Gosh and his predecessors. is still prevalent IN
America. the Scottish critical school. Reid Is his
master and Hume is one OF his pet dislikes. rms
f. very important fact in his career for it really
tba boy. IA whole theory or the
Constitution Of the United States.
This II was too that gave him weight ana con-
alteration with the orderly elements Of the COM
munity in the midst of a disorder that threatened
the very life Of the State. The legitimate tasks or
the new American Republic were enough In the
way OF novelty without the endeavor TO reailZe
IN practice the speculations that were then rile
IN every other domain Of thought, as well as IN
politics 1t well. then. for men or talents IKE
Wilson to keep in touch With the more conserVa-
tive people. and this can be said without detract-
ing from the fame OF scientific freethinker ike
Franklin. A Congress all Of Frankllns would be
strong medicine for the United States. even at the
present day. But Franklin distinguished with the
keenness Of an experimenting scientist between
theory and fact between hypothesis and proof.
There were freethnkers OF every sort and degree
IN those times. who made no such distinction. IL
was enough for them to know that an opin-
ion was novel and that somebody of more or less
e1uiyocal renown had advocated 1t. From that
moment it had their approval. There are signs
that this disease of the reasoning faculties is
still not uncommon in the United States
What Wilson desired. and whatev thorough
" sane man desired, was to preserve intact the
heritage OF European and especially or Engish
civilization, while turning II to new use IN the
cause of free manhood. They were willing TO lay
aside everything which did not make for freedom:
but they were not willing TO drop anything on
mere Pythagorean ipse dixt that 1t was useless
nor were they ready to accept any strange device
unless II could be tested That being their dlspo-
sition they probably exaggerated the FORCES OF
infderty and disntegration which they fancleu
yvere about to destroy the fabric they were striN
Ing to build up. Wilson, feeling that the chahee
in the aspect even of the most familiar political
facts produced by the American Revolution went
10 the very roots Of things. found himself IN the
midst OF series of lectures on law turning aside
70 examine the foundations of belief. His present
editor Is doubtless an excellent lawyer but he Is
somewhat to seek In philosophy. AT that time
rank spirit OF inidelty," says he, was endeav-
orng to substitute reason and common sense the
slogans of ratonalism. for the intuition, instinct
and the moral sense based upon religious convic-
ton upon which the prevailing BODY Of our fore
fathers acted" Such sentence as that is calcu-
lated to make Wilson and Reid and the whole
body Of Scottish philosophers turn in their graves
They Of all men, the ones who thought that they
harmonized intuition and reason. now told
that reason is an incorrigible macontent!
Common-sense also the peculiar property
In one sense Of the word of those philosophers
from whom Wilson drew the opinions which he
carried to the study of constitutional law and
h,-t l,o no tear 0f
Reid. TO the extent that Wilson had the power to
make them SO. are part OF the groundwork of
craftsmanship in America. In particular this
was true Of the one principle which characterized
Reds whole system He taught 1.-The human
spirit to dive into the recesses OF Its own being
not so much to find what Is outside OF 1t or be-
You'd as to discover what lies in the individual as
such" These expressions of a rather pompous
modern German historian cover all the aims OF
Wilson as a thinker. 1t was the individual thai
he was after all the time and when he defined the
powers and rights and duties Of the single citizen
he felt that he had working theory Of popular
government The world has not got away from
his ideas yet THE Importance Of the individual
man and his responsibility says Mr.. Andrews
lis the keynote OF our political fabric.
All this may seem very plain now to people
who have lived under government Of the peo
pie by the people for q century ana more Du' J.
was not plain at the outset TO man VINO nae
lived under king. who was confused by riVa
systems OF thought in which all reality was de
MED and who was. with others, trying to create
a real political organism out OF ideals. Those
who read Wilson's works will find that he hat
lepitinoate cause In order to establish the Ameri
can theory of a constitution. to quarrel witt
several philosophers. When they announced
that nothing but ideas could be proved to exist
he, as a lawyer wished TO know whether these
fgnlents can possess rights. or be under obliga
TONS whether they can make promises. ente
into covenants fulfil break them: whether 4