from principles of economy, and are applicable to particulars only I reason upon more general topics. And therefore to the qualities of the head, which I have just enumerated, I cannot but add those of the heart; affectionate loyalty to the king, a zeal for liberty and the constitution, a sense of real honour, and well-grounded principles of religion; as necessary to form a truly valuable English lawyer, a Hyde, a Hale, or a Talbot. And, whatever the ignorance of some, or unkindness of others, may have heretofore untruly suggested, experience will warrant us to affirm, that these endowments of loyalty and public spirit, of honour and religion, are no where to be found in more high perfection than in the two universities of this kingdom. the student. I may very briefly describe, rather what I conceive an [ 35 ] academical expounder of the laws should do, than what I objects of have ever known to be done. He should consider his course as a general map of the law, marking out the shape of the country, its connexions and boundaries, its greater divisions and principal cities; it is not his business to describe minutely the subordinate limits, or to fix the longitude and latitude of every inconsiderable hamlet. His attention should be engaged, like that of the readers in Fortescue's inns of chancery, "in tracing out the originals, and as it were the "elements of the law." For if, as Justinian has observed, the tender understanding of the student be loaded at the first with a multitude and variety of matter, it will either occasion him to desert his studies, or will carry him heavily through them, with much labour, delay, and despondence. These originals should be traced to their fountains, as well as our distance will permit; to the customs of the Britons and Germans, as recorded by Cæsar and Tacitus; to the codes of the northern nations on the continent, and more especially to those of our own Saxon princes: to the rules Incipientibus nobis exponere jura populi Romani, ita videntur tradi posse commodissime, si primo levi ac simplici via singula tradantur; alioqui, si statim ab initio rudem adhuc et infirmum animum studiosi multitudine ac varietate rerum oneravimus, duorum alterum, aut desertorem studiorum effi ciemus, aut cum magno labore, saepe of the Roman law either left here in the days of Papinian, or [36] imported by Vacarius and his followers; but, above all, to that inexhaustible reservoir of legal antiquities and learning, the feodal law, or, as Spelmans has entitled it, the law of nations in our western orb. These primary rules and fundamental principles should be weighed and compared with the precepts of the law of nature, and the practice of other countries; should be explained by reasons, illustrated by examples, and confirmed by undoubted authorities; their history should be deduced, their changes and revolutions observed, and it should be shewn how far they are connected with, or have at any time been affected by, the civil transactions of the kingdom. Requisite on the part of A plan of this nature, if executed with care and ability, the student. cannot fail of administering a most useful and rational entertainment to students of all ranks and professions; and yet it must be confessed that the study of the laws is not merely a matter of amusement; for, as a very judicious writer has observed upon a similar occasion, the learner "will be con"siderably disappointed, if he looks for entertainment with" out the expence of attention." An attention, however, not greater than is usually bestowed in mastering the rudiments of other sciences, or sometimes in pursuing a favourite recreation or exercise. And this attention is not equally necessary to be exerted by every student upon every occasion. Some branches of the law, as the formal process of civil suits, and the subtile distinctions incident to landed property, which are the most difficult to be thoroughly understood, are the least worth the pains of understanding, except to such gentlemen as intend to pursue the profession. To others I may venture to apply, with a slight alteration, the words of Sir John Fortescue,i when first his royal pupil determines to engage in this study. "It will not be necessary for a gen"tleman, as such, to examine with a close application the "critical niceties of the law. It will fully be sufficient, and "he may well enough be denominated a lawyer, if under the "instruction of a master he traces up the principles and 8 Of parliaments, 57. b Dr. Taylor's pref. to Elem. of civil law. De laud. Leg. c. 8. grounds of the law, even to their original elements. There- [ 37 ] "fore in a very short period, and with very little labour, he may "be sufficiently informed in the laws of his country, if he will "but apply his mind in good earnest to receive and appre"hend them. For, though such knowledge as is necessary "for a judge is hardly to be acquired by the lucubrations of twenty years, yet, with a genius of tolerable perspicacity, "that knowledge which is fit for a person of birth or con"dition may be learned in a single year, without neglecting "his other improvements." 66 of counsel. To those, however, who undertake the study of the law as Chambers a preparation for their profession, it need hardly be said that a much longer period must be necessary for learning it. A practice has sprung up since the time of Blackstone, which is now almost universal, and greatly facilitates the acquiring a knowledge of the practice of the law. I allude to the student placing himself in the chambers of a practising member of the profession, for the purpose of seeing the mode in which business is conducted. This will be of great assistance to the student, if preceded or accompanied by diligent study on his own part; but without this he will understand but little that he sees while there, and remember still less when he leaves them. SECTION THE SECOND. OF THE NATURE OF LAWS IN GENERAL. [ 38 ] Law in its general sense. Law, in its most general and comprehensive sense, signifies a rule of action; and is applied indiscriminately to all kinds of action, whether animate or inanimate, rational or irrational. Thus we say, the laws of motion, of gravitation, of optics, or mechanics, as well as the laws of nature and of nations. And it is that rule of action, which is prescribed by some superior, and which the inferior is bound to obey. Thus when the supreme being formed the universe, and created matter out of nothing, he impressed certain principles upon that matter, from which it can never depart, and without which it would cease to be. When he put that matter into motion, he established certain laws of motion, to which all moveable bodies must conform. And, to descend from the greatest operations to the smallest, when a workman forms a clock, or other piece of mechanism, he establishes at his own pleasure certain arbitrary laws for its direction; as that the hand shall describe a given space in a given time; to which law as long as the work conforms, so long it continues in perfection, and answers the ends of its formation. If we farther advance, from mere inactive matter to vegetable and animal life, we shall find them still governed by laws; more numerous indeed, but equally fixed and invariable. The whole progress of plants, from the seed to the root, and from thence to the seed again;-the method of [ 39 ] animal nutrition, digestion, secretion, and of all other branches of vital economy;-are not left to chance, or the will of the creature itself, but are performed in a wondrous involuntary manner, and guided by unerring rules laid down by the great creator. But Law as the rule of hu our man con This then is the general signification of law, a rule of action dictated by some superior being: and, in those creatures that have neither the power to think, nor to will, such laws must be invariably obeyed, so long as the creature itself subsists, for its existence depends on that obedience. laws, in their more confined sense, and in which it is present business to consider them, denote the rules, not of action in general, but of human action or conduct: that is, the precepts by which man, the noblest of all sublunary beings, a creature endowed with both reason and freewill, is commanded to make use of those faculties in the general regulation of his behaviour. Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of his creator, for he is entirely a dependent being. A being, independent of any other, has no rule to pursue, but such as he prescribes to himself; but a state of dependence will inevitably oblige the inferior to take the will of him, on whom he depends, as the rule of his conduct: not indeed in every particular, but in all those points wherein his dependence consists. This principle therefore has more or less extent and effect, in proportion as the superiority of the one and the dependence of the other is greater or less, absolute or limited. And consequently, as And consequently, as man depends absolutely upon his maker for everything, it is necessary that he should in all points conform to his maker's will. duct. nature. This will of his maker is called the law of nature. For as The law of God, when he created matter, and endued it with a principle of mobility, established certain rules for the perpetual direction of that motion; so, when he created man, and endued him with freewill to conduct himself in all parts of life, he laid down certain immutable laws of human nature, whereby that free will is in some degree regulated 'and re- [ 40 ] strained, and gave him also the faculty of reason to discover the purport of those laws. Considering the creator only as a being of infinite power, he was able unquestionably to have prescribed whatever laws he pleased to his creature, man, however unjust or severe. But as he is also a being of infinite wisdom, he has laid down |