Page:Select Essays in Anglo-American Legal History, Volume 1.djvu/432

 418 ///. THE COLONIAL PERIOD contained in the Decalogue." As to these, the monarch " by himself and such judges as he shall appoint, shall judge them and their causes according to natural equity. . . until certain laws be estabhshed among them." ^ The year in which this decision was rendered (1607) marks the very beginning of successful English settlement in North America ; but the principles then formulated were put into practice especially in the colonization of Ireland in this and in the succeeding reign .^ For the ends of this paper, it is to be remembered as the first " leading case " that declared the distinction between conquered and settled dependent terri- tories, and applied a different rule to these classes respectively. As settlement in the new world progressed, and governments of one form or another were established by royal permis- sion, or instruction, we find all the charters save one granting to the colonists the rights of English citizens, and the claim to these rights maintained by the inhabitants of every colony, whether in possession of a charter or not. As to the interpre- tation of these rights, and the determination of their extent, discussion and dispute were more or less continuous. Every colony, however, at some time during its constitutional his- tory had to face this question of the relation of the colonial law to the legal system of the mother country. In our ordi- nary study we naturally emphasize the history of the English tion of Dependencies. The case was almost always cited whenever the question came up. Of especial interest is Lord Mansfield's brief con- sideration of it in the Grenada Judgment (Campbell v. Hall), 1774. His remarks were published in pamphlet form as Lord Mansfield's Speech on Giving the Judgment of the Court of King's Bench ... in the Case of Campbell v. Hall. . . London, 1775; A New Edition, Cor- rected. He calls attention to the " absurd exception, as to pagans . . . (which) shows the universality and antiquity of the maxim." The earlier history of these principles, before Calvin's Case, lies beyond our discussion. It may be noted, however, that they belong to International Law. 'The frequency of reference to the analogy of Ireland's law is note- worthy. See the matter upon the constitutional development in Ire- land, in Hallam. The Constitutional History of England, ch. xviii. Compare, also, I. Blackstone's Comm. 103-4; Lord Mansfield's decision in Campbell v. Hall, quoted above; a pamphlet entitled The Privileges of the Island of Jamaica Vindicated, London, 1766 (rep.) A recent dis- cussion of this whole matter is found in Snow, A, The Administration of Dependencies, chaps. 1-4.
 * 7 Rep, We have followed the analysis in Snow: The Administra-