ABSTRACT
The historical circumstances which explain the capacity of the colonists explain also the character of the government of the United States and make plain its place in constitutional development. Agitation is certainly of the essence of a constitutional system. Agitation is unquestionably very dangerous in countries where there are no institutions — no parliaments, councils, occasional assemblies even — in which opinion may legitimately and with the sanction of law transmute itself into action. Speech is not the only vent opinion needs; it needs also the satisfactions of action. Constitutional government is based upon common understandings, common interests, common impulses, common habits, and these each of the little commonwealths of the Union had. Self-government is the last, the consummate stage of constitutional development. Self-government is not a thing that can be 'given' to any people, because it is a form of character and not a form of constitution. No people can be 'given' the self-control of maturity.
