The Constitution does and will grow as the American
people grow.
Half a dozen questions are now in the public mind that measure, in
importance, up to the level of Marshall's elementary decisions. Beyond
these is still the application of institutional law to the
interpretation of the Constitution. There is no book so much needed in
the present, or that will be so much needed in the future, as a great
work on our institutional law--such a work as the world sees once in
a century.
Consider this one phase of jurisprudence for only a moment, young man,
just to see what a world of thought it opens to the mind.
Institutional law is older, deeper, and even more vital than
constitutional law. Our Constitution is one of the concrete
manifestations of our institutions; our statutes are another; the
decisions of our courts are another; our habits, methods, and customs
as a people and a race are still another.
Our institutional law is like the atmosphere--impalpable,
imperceptible, but all-pervading, and the source of life itself. Most
leading decisions of our courts of last resort, involving great
constitutional questions, refer to the spirit of our institutions as
interpreting our Constitution.
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