dly affected man in the last century and a half than all
the changes which had theretofore taken place in the life of man since
the cave-dweller, was only then beginning. Measured in terms of
mechanical power, men when the Constitution was formed were Lilliputians
as compared with the Brobdingnagians of our day, when man outflies the
eagle, outswims the fish, and by his conquest and utilization of the
invisible forces of nature has become the superman; and yet the
Constitution of 1787 is, in most of its essential principles, still the
Constitution of 1922. This surely marks it as a marvel in statecraft
and can only be explained by the fact that the Constitution was
developed by a people who, as "children brave and free of the great
mother-tongue," had a real genius for self-government and its essential
element, the spirit of self-restraint.

While it is true that the _text_ of the instrument has suffered almost
as little change as the Nicene Creed, yet it would be manifest error to
suggest that in its development by practical application the
Constitution has not undergone great changes.

The first and greatest of all its expounders, Chief Justice Marshall,
said, in one of his greatest opinions, that the Constitution was--

"intended to endure for ages to come, and consequently to be
_adapted_ to the various crises of human affairs. To have prescribed
the means by which government should in all future times execute
its powers would have been to change entirely the character of the
instrument and to give it the properties of a legal code. It would
have been an unwise attempt to provide by immutable rules for
exigencies which, if foreseen at all, must have been foreseen dimly,
and can best be provided for as they occur."

In this great purpose of enumerating rather than defining the powers of
government its framers were supremely wise. While it was marvellously
sagacious in what it provided, it was wise to the point of inspiration
in what it left unprovided.

Nothing is more admirable than the self-restraint of men who, venturing
upon an untried experiment, and after debating for four months upon the
principles of government, were content to embody their conclusions in
not more than four thousand words. To this we owe the elasticity of the
instrument. Its vitality is due to the fact that, by usage, judicial
interpretation, and, when necessary, formal amendment, it can be thus
adapted to