MEN HAVE THEIR IDEALS. THE MYTH IS THAT THEY ARE REALIZED IN PRACTICE. JUSTICE IS SUCH AN IDEAL. THE AMERICAN COLONISTS, IMBUED WITH THE LIBERAL THOUGHT OF THE EUROPEAN ENLIGHTENMENT, MADE JUSTICE THE BASIS OF THEIR DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT. THE MASSACHUSETTS BILL OF RIGHTS OF 1780 CAPTURED THE ESSENCE OF THE IDEAL: "IT IS ESSENTIAL TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE RIGHTS OF EVERY INDIVIDUAL, HIS LIFE, LIBERTY, PROPERTY, AND CHARACTER, THAT THERE BE AN IMPARTIAL INTERPRETATION OF THE LAWS, AND ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE." A SIMILAR NOTION OF JUSTICE WAS WRITTEN INTO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AND THE AMERICAN BILL OF RIGHTS.