The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-06-13
CHARTA SIGNED 700
YEARS AGO NEXT TUESDAY

.oal 10 n document from when MS
go datcs A new era-tfe document
bOing Magma Charta.
A. that time England was a thor
.,,bl, frudal.z state. For a longer
~ a. rtcr time the barons had viewed
u.,b increasing distrust the policy
=, tho Kin his disregard of rights
.,tcr than his own. and believing that
v,s under a contract with them
On, TO exceed his proper authority
.psv demonstrated IN ain.
Then came the feudal rebellion in
which the King faced defeat so GER
,ainly that lie gave in and agreed TO
sIrn a Great Charter OF Liberties.
principles were agreed TO. and on
lime is. 1918, preliminaries were fin
,,hcd and there at Runnymede the
tarons under arms met him and he
cared hesitate no longer. At a stroke
AZ TIE pen. then, he executed an in-
s,rument which IN spirit rather than
IN letter has been of incalculable i'm
,ortance in the development of freer
Institutions than hitherto had pre-
vailed.
In many parts OF the English speak
ing world this week the sever hun
arcdth anniversary of Magma Charta
ul be concentrated. And in order
,rai readers of THE SUNDAY SrN may
grasp something Of its significance.
ard To show why Americans have n
,rofound interest therein. Robert Liv-
i~ngston Schuyler. Of the department
NJ history IN Columbia University.
Yesterday reviewed certain aspects OF
a.. a.,,pnaps NJ sEn Glnln Time conn
menting thereupon and citing the opin-
ions Of other commentators who have
made il a field Of special study.
quite apart from the significance
OF Magma Charta Itself" he said,
~,here is a peculiar significance in 1t
o. the people of the United States.
Today We Americans find ourselves
spontaneously paying honor 20 a group
Of men. most Of them nameless, for
something they accomplished in the
remote past and in a foreign coun-
try-a country with which we fought
two wars and with which we as a
Government have had numerous crit
teal disputes.
WY do we render this honor TO
those all but unknown men? We are
nj Englishmen. We as a people were
ty no means exclusively English from
the beginning. Before the Pilgrims
landed AT plymouth the Dutch were
on Manhattan Island. France. Ger
many, ireland. Scotland. Sweden and
other countries Of Europe contributed
to the population ~ the Thirteen
Co'onies. Paine declared in his famous
pamphlet Common Sense that a large
majority Of the people Of America were
non-Eng.ish in race. and in 1916 the
political bonds between America and
England were finally severed.
We are commemorative the
sChleyemen. Of the barons at Runny-
mede seven hundred years ago. be-
cause il belongs to the history OF the
word. and in a more peculiar and
intimate way to us Americans. For.
however mixed u population may be,
". are English in our institutions as
vel a. IN speech.
The continued ascendency OF the
English elements in our civilization is
o. remarkable as II Is undenlable
when one considers the magnitude and
sources Of our recent immigration.
We may, and doubtless SHOULD. forget
ths fact when dealing with concrete
problems Of International relations.
out after all We cannot escape history,
Gnd the historical fact is that our in
ettut.onal past-at least until the
seventeenth ce~ntury-is to he found
almost exclusively in England. So in
concentrating the event of 1915 we
Or" celebrating a fact in American
history.
Famous documents. like famous
men nave gwen rise to myths. A
!esend has grown up around Magma
marta. Subsequent generations, read
lhg tne ideals Of their W time into
We charter, have misconstrued many
" us clauses and eve misappre-
hehded its true character.
Before discussing the significance OF
'e erea, charter it might he well 10
oipel some misconceptions. In par
"'uar the theory that the charter IL
ueHlotfillc document must be pro-
.ouh'ed erroneous. The belief that
contains guarantees Of liberty for
d. classes Of the people is the result
" reading back to 1915 political and
.es'l id'a' Of a much later age and Of
Wv ~mIStfanslat!on Of the technical,
.l11dl Latin in which the instrument
Was written.
me truth OF history were TO be
UI'alheh ny counting noses we
'''"'' nave to decide in favor of the
.Im'cTii.' character Of the charter,
.' ny Tar Ito greater number of his
"'ldnS and commentator hava ,a..n