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Many of us believe that the compact thus entered into was the prototype of the Constitution of the United States, that the government it established was the beginning of the republican form of government now guaranteed alike to nation and state, and that the covenant it contained for just and equal laws was the germ from which has since developed our whole system of constitutional jurisprudence. This covenant reads: "We ... doe by these presents solemnly & mutualy in y^e presence of God, and one of another, covenant & combine our selves togeather into a civill body politick, for our better ordering & preservation & furtherance of y^e ends aforesaid; and by vertue hearof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just & equall lawes, ordinances, acts, constitutions, & offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete & convenient for y^e generall good of y^e Colonie, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience." Surely, this simple, comprehensive and lofty language, in the style of the Bible open before the Pilgrims, embodies the true and invigorating spirit of our constitutional polity as it flourishes to-day.