these two species of colonies, there is a great difference in respect to the laws by which they are to be governed. Of the first, it has been said, that if an uninhabited country be discovered and planted by British subjects, the English laws then in being, which are the unalienable right of every sub- ject, are immediately there in force .-^ But this must not be understood to mean that such colonists carry with them the whole body of the English laws ; for many of them must necessarily be wholly inappli- cable to the nature, character, and circumstances of the new colony. Therefore, those laws which they carry with them are only such as are properly appli- cable to their situation, and are not repugnant to, or inconsistent with, the local and political circum- stances in which they are placed.^ Thus the English rules of inheritance, and of protection from personal injuries, the .rights secured by Magna Charta, and the remedial course in the administration of justice, are examples of the laws which are presumed to be ■ 2 Sallc, 411 ; 2 p. Will, 75; 1 Blk. Com., 107. ° Chittj/ on Perog., ch. 3., p. 29. A statute passed in England, after the establishment, will not affect it, unless it be particularly named — (See cases collected in Chit. Com. Law, 638.)
THE COMMON LAW OP ENGLAND, 65 adopted as applicable in the first place, while other laws are only adopted as the growth or interests of the colony may dictate.^ The rule is different, however, in respect to' con- quered or ceded colonies, which already have laws of their own. In such cases, the crown has a right to abrogate the existing law's, and institute new ones; but until this is done, the old laws and customs of the country remain, and must be administered.
We are thus particular in stating these different rules, because it involves the question, whether or not the English common law was ever adopted, or of authority in the United States. Blackstone says :
"Our American plantations are principally of this latter sort, i. e., conquered or ceded countries, being obtained in the last century, either