"Our country is not a thing of mere physical THE SIXTH LECTURE ON THE CUTLER FOUNDATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER DELIVERED APRIL 8, 1927 It appears to me that the most useful contribution which I can make to promote the making of democracy safe for the world (to invert Mr. Wilson's aphorism) is to found in The University of Rochester a course of lectures, designed to promote serious consideration, and consideration by as many people as possible, of certain points fundamental, and therefore vital, to the permanence of constitutional government in the United States. My basic proposition is that our political system breaks down, when and where it fails, because of lack of sound education of the people for whom and by whom it is intended to be carried on: (a) In its principles; (b) In its historical development as illustrating the application of it to and under changing conditions, and (c) In those moral standards, perhaps best to be developed in religious teaching, but not safely to be separated entirely from University work. -From Mr. Cutler's letter to the President of the 636603 Previous Lectures on the Cutler Foundation LIBERTY UNDER LAW An Interpretation of the Principles of Our WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES Its Origin and Distinctive Features THEODORE E. BURTON March 11, 1922 THE CONSTITUTION-A THING OF LIFE JOHN W. DAVIS THE CHANGED CONCEPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION JAMES M. BECK HUMAN NATURE IN THE CONSTITUTION DAVID JAYNE HILL April 23, 1926 CONSTITUTION Old George Mason of Virginia, in drafting the first American State Constitution, one hundred and fifty years ago, in 1776, wrote into its Bill of Rights, this pregnant sentence, that: "No free government or the blessings of liberty can be preserved to any people but by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles." And the next year, this sentiment was re-echoed by John Jay, then Chief Justice of New York, who in a charge to the grand jury said: "Every member of the State ought diligently to read and study the Constitution of his country and teach the rising generations to be free. By knowing their rights, they will sooner perceive when they are violated and be the better prepared to defend and assert them." Clearly, it was in the spirit of such messages from the past that the founder 5 |