Thus arose the spirit in America, which treated constitutional rights, not so much as special privileges granted by plenary Sovereignty, but as contractual obligations which could be enforced in the Courts against the Sovereign.
Beck describes the American spirit that viewed constitutional rights as enforceable obligations rather than mere privileges granted by authority.
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I do so, because it has a direct bearing on the decay of the spirit of constitutionalism both in America and elsewhere.
I only mention the subject to suggest that the reader of these lectures will better understand why the American people take the written obligations of the League so seriously and literally.
And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?
Americans have never lacked interest in English history; for however broad the stream of our national life, how could we ignore its chief source?
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