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Two hundred and eighteen years ago the royal governor of New York is reported to have exclaimed to the legislature of the colony: "There are none of you but are big with the privileges of Magna Carta." And to-day, Mr. President, can it not be said with equal force and pride that there are no Americans but are big with the privileges of Magna Carta? Long may that continue to be true! To provide that the spirit of these privileges shall endure forever, so far as lies in human power, is the highest and noblest duty of every American constitutional convention.

Other speakers will treat of the historical and political aspects of Magna Carta and of its reissues and confirmations by king after king and parliament after parliament. I am to speak of the legal value of some of the cardinal features of the Great Charter as antecedents of principles which are closely connected with our present political life and which continue to invigorate our system of constitutional law. But my treatment of this large and important aspect of the subject must necessarily be inadequate, in view of the limited time at your disposal.