I just completed my examination of William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, and near the end, I found some remarks of his concerning the principles of the English laws and constitution (which were inherited by the original states, subject to their modifications), and they work very well in reference to the American Constitution, ignoring the reference to nobles (and, of course, where he refers to England instead of the United States):
“Of a constitution, so wisely contrived, so strongly raised, and so highly finished, it is hard to speak with that praise, which is justly and severely its due … To sustain, to repair, to beautify this noble pile, is a charge intrusted principally to the nobility, and such gentlemen of the kingdom, as are delegated by their country to parliament. The protection of the Liberty of Britain is a duty which they owe to themselves, who enjoy it; to their ancestors, who transmitted it down; and to their posterity, who will claim at their hands this, the best birthright, and noblest inheritance of mankind.”
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