Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-02-14

us descent upon the coast,
made it possible for the in
Vaders to bring with them, or
to call to them when their
work was done, the wives and
children, the laet and slave,
even the cattle they left behind
them. The first wave OF con-
quest was but the prelude to
the gradual migration of
whole people. 1t was England
which settled down on British
soil, England with its own Ian
guage, its own laws. its COM
plete social fabric, its system
of village life and village cul-
ture, its township and its hum
dred, its principle of kinship,
it's principle of representation.
1t was not as mere pirates or
stray war bands. but as peoples
already made and fitted by a
common temper and common
customs to draw together into
our English nation in the days
to come, that our fathers left
their German homeland for
the land in which we live /.
And with the English people,
passed to the shores of Britain
all that was to make English
men what they are, for distant
and dim as their life in that
older England may have SEEM
ed to us, the whole after-life
of Englishmen was there. In
it's village moots lay our par
lament; in the gleeman of its
village feasts our Chaucer and
our Shakespeare. In the pirate
bark sailing from creek to
creek. our brakes and our
Nelson's. Even the national
temper was fully formed. Civil
lization, letters, science. re-
llgion itself. have done little
to change the inner mood of
Englishmen. That love of ven-
ture and of toll. of the sea and
the fight that trust in man
hood and the might of man;
that silent awe of the mys-
teries of life and death which
lay deep in English souls then
as now. passed with English
men to the land which Eng
lishmen had won"
The student of history cannot
help but be astounded by the Won
derful conception of the English
historian, for as we pursue the his
tory of the English people we are
reminded at every step of the
truth of his conceptions. Crude
as were the beginnings of English
government, their principles were
Unborn and the constitutional his
tory of the English people is a his
tory of the development OF those
principles to meet new conditions
The idea that 1 want to keep in
mind is that the capacity of Eng
lishmen for self-government has
always exceeded the actual prac-
tice, a condition which / think with
fairness to all other races, can be
said to have no parallel. The gov
eminent and practice of English
speaking people have been not
theoretical, but practical. 1t has
been a gradual and progressive
development for a continuous Pc
riod of almost 1000 years.
Crude Principles Survived.
We are astonished that princi-
ples so crude and simple in their
beginning could survive through
ont the centuries of strife and tur-
moil of the English people in the
workings out Of their destiny.
The effect of the English con-
quest of Britain has no parallel; a
small mass of people thrown In
among much larger mass. the
native Britons. had no effect upon
the principles of self-government'
The various conquests following
that great event were powerless to
destroy the principles of English
History records the
achievements of William the Con-
uueror in overcoming the Engllsh
people and imposing upon them his
rule, but he was powerless to I'M
pose upon that people either MS
language, laws or customs. inc
language. the customs. and all that
was brought over with William the
Conqueror, were swallowed up by
the language, laws and customs OF
the English people. Even the
feudal system with Its powerful
barons, and in turn the autocrauc
kings, were unable to more than
stay the progress OF
English liberty and English laws.
Survival Of Customs Vital.
A pecuIiarity of that develop
ment was the fact that the most
vital thing in English development
was not in written laws, not m
scribed upon stone or parchment,
but in the customs of the people.
The common law, which has been
wherever English
speaking people gather in govern
ing bodies, was unwritten law that
was developed from their customs,
their sense of fairness. their recog-
milton of principles for the COM
mon good. The great charter that
was wrested from King John was
only a recognition of principles of
civil liberty for which Englishmen
had fought for centuries. Not only
the English language. but English
customs and common law. were
part of our inheritance from Eng
land. Our common law as adopt
ed in this country Is the common
law of England as modified by acts
of parliament. and not inconsistent
with our conditions, as 1t existed IN
England at the time of our decla-
ration of Independence. 1t is the
same common law and customs as
practised by English-speaking peo-
ples not only in England and In
the United States, but In Canada,
and New Zealand. and
in every country made up of Eng
disappearing people. English law
and English customs are not re-
markable because of theoretical
perfection; they have no doubt
been excelled by the civil law. by
the code of Napoleon, and even
other productions which have en1a-
mated from some great mind. The
greatest praise that can be given
to the common law is it's practical
good sense; not vain theories, Its
adaptability to conditions OF men
as we know them. its possibility of
to meet the changing
of men throughout the
influence OF Customs.