The Trial of the Constitution |
From inside the book
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Page 19
... whilst disregarding the past , ―perished with the hour that produced them . Their authors thought themselves wiser than the law , wiser than time . Their elaborate machines , with their cunningly - con- trived checks , balances , wheels ...
... whilst disregarding the past , ―perished with the hour that produced them . Their authors thought themselves wiser than the law , wiser than time . Their elaborate machines , with their cunningly - con- trived checks , balances , wheels ...
Page 20
... Whilst , therefore , every statute gives rise to disputes about its meaning , the difficulty in administering the common law , is not in the law but in its application to facts . For this reason the idea of codifying the law has been ...
... Whilst , therefore , every statute gives rise to disputes about its meaning , the difficulty in administering the common law , is not in the law but in its application to facts . For this reason the idea of codifying the law has been ...
Page 25
... whilst with us it can only be made available by a difficult and uncertain process , slow , though prompt measures may be important , and uncertain in its results , because the consent of three - fourths of the States or of the people ...
... whilst with us it can only be made available by a difficult and uncertain process , slow , though prompt measures may be important , and uncertain in its results , because the consent of three - fourths of the States or of the people ...
Page 29
... whilst doubtful , disputed , or manifestly illegal power is resisted on slight grounds , or even only because it is illegal . The obstacles therefore to be overcome , before the tribunal contemplated by the Constitution for deciding ...
... whilst doubtful , disputed , or manifestly illegal power is resisted on slight grounds , or even only because it is illegal . The obstacles therefore to be overcome , before the tribunal contemplated by the Constitution for deciding ...
Page 30
... whilst they are not strong enough to resist it . In England , Parlia- ment is a " convention to amend the Constitution , " duly ap- pointed , always in existence , and always competent to enter- tain proposals for needed alterations ...
... whilst they are not strong enough to resist it . In England , Parlia- ment is a " convention to amend the Constitution , " duly ap- pointed , always in existence , and always competent to enter- tain proposals for needed alterations ...
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Common terms and phrases
Abolitionism Abolitionists action altered amendments American appointed army authority become cause Celt central power character civil Colonies Confederacy Congress Consti Constitution Convention cotton Court danger declared demand democracy Democratic party destroy duty elected England English English law evil Executive power exercise exist expressly federacy Federalist Fifth Article force Government Habeas Corpus impossible influence intelligence intended interests Ireland Judiciary justice King labor laws of war Lecompton Constitution Legislative Legislature liberty Lincoln majority means ment Missouri Compromise moral nation nature necessary necessity negro North Northern oligarchy opinion Parliament passions peace persons political present preserve President principles privilege public safety question race reason rebellion represented reserved powers resist revolution Saxon Scotland secession sentiment slavery slaves South Southern spirit stitution supreme territory thing tion truth tution Union United universal suffrage vernment violated vote wealth whilst whole writ of Habeas
Popular passages
Page 143 - And the articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the union shall be perpetual ; nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them, unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every State.
Page 205 - No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or be disseised of his freehold, or liberties, or free customs, or be outlawed or exiled, or any otherwise destroyed ; nor will we pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land.
Page 124 - I am not here going into the distinctions of rights, nor attempting to mark their boundaries. I do not enter into these metaphysical distinctions. I hate the very sound of them.
Page 67 - The interpretation of the laws is the proper and peculiar province of the courts. A constitution is, in fact, and must be regarded by the judges, as a fundamental law. It therefore belongs to them to ascertain its meaning, as well as the meaning of any particular act proceeding from the legislative body.
Page 67 - Nor does this conclusion by any means suppose a superiority of the judicial to the legislative power. It only supposes that the power of the people is superior to both ; and that where the will of the legislature, declared in its statutes, stands in opposition to that of the people, declared in the Constitution, the judges ought to be governed by the latter rather than the former. They ought to regulate their decisions by the fundamental laws rather than by those which are not fundamental.
Page 205 - Whether courts of justice framed the writ of Habeas Corpus in conformity to the spirit of this clause, or found it already in their register, it became from that era the right of every subject to demand it.
Page 94 - Constitutions of civil government are not to be framed upon a calculation of existing exigencies ; but upon a combination of these, with the probable exigencies of ages, according to the natural and tried course of human affairs.
Page 125 - The parliament of Great Britain sits at the head of her extensive empire in two capacities : one as the local legislature of this island, providing for all things at home, immediately, and by no other instrument than the executive power. — The other, and I think her nobler capacity, is what I call her imperial character ; in which, as from the throne of heaven, she superintends all the several inferior legislatures, and guides and controls them all, without annihilating any.
Page 67 - It is far more rational to suppose that the courts were designed to be an intermediate body between the people and the legislature, in order, among other things, to keep the latter within the limits assigned to their authority.
Page 150 - It may safely be received as an axiom in our political system, that the State governments will, in all possible contingencies, afford complete security against invasions of the public liberty by the national authority.