Texas Review of Law & Politics, Volume 19, Number 1, Fall 2014 Page: 42
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Texas Review of Law & Politics
America as in England," and that this education in the law was a
circumstance propelling what he called "[t]his fierce spirit of
liberty" in the Colonies.90
With Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, the Habeas Corpus
Act, and the English Bill of Rights, a truly significant array of
rights came with being an Englishman in the latter half of the
eighteenth century. And truth be told,.for the longest time, the
Colonists wanted to be more English, not less. The Founders saw
no reason that birth across an ocean deprived them of rights
unquestionably due to them-if not simply because they were
born to the human race, then certainly because they had the
good fortune to be born to enlightened England. They did not
seek recognition of new rights, but rather, simple recognition
that they were due the same rights owed to every Englishman.91
Blackstone's Commentaries did not change or enact law, but I
mention it to emphasize the overall conversation with respect to
rights and its accelerating pace in America. While harder to draw
a modern lesson, perhaps we can simply learn from the man
himself. William Blackstone was not born into nobility, but
instead into the London middle class, the posthumous son of a
silk mercer.92 He was not destined for a life of great learning, but
his quick mind led to education at Oxford.93 Following his call to
the bar in 1746, he experienced no greatness in practice as a
barrister, which began slowly and not terribly successfully.94 He
turned to legal scholarship and eventually, to an absurd
ambition to provide a complete and unified overview of English
law.95 He then labored for sixteen years and succeeded beyond
the wildest imaginings, bringing forth a revered treatise that
opened the law-and rights under the law-to an understanding
by laymen.96
We should bear this in mind when undertaking our tasks as
lawyers today, whether on behalf of a client or in public service.
Sir Blackstone's experience says, "Aim high."
90. Edmund Burke, Speech on Conciliation with the Colonies (Mar. 22, 1775), in 1
THE FOUNDERS' CONSTITUTION, supra note 37, at 3, 4-5.
91. See infra Part VI.
92. Blackstone, Sir William, supra note 85, at 263.
93. Id.
94. Id.
95. Id. at 264.
96. See id.42
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University of Texas at Austin. School of Law. Texas Review of Law & Politics, Volume 19, Number 1, Fall 2014, periodical, Autumn 2014; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth638673/m1/56/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.