rules of action, by which the meanest individual is protected from the insults and oppression of the greatest.(1) As, therefore, every subject is interested in the preservation of the laws, it is incumbent upon every man to be acquainted with those, at least, with which he is immediately concerned; lest he incur the censure, as well as inconvenience, of living in society without knowing the obligations which it lays him under. And thus much may suffice for persons of inferior condition, who have neither time nor capacity to enlarge their views beyond that contracted sphere in which they are appointed to move. But those on whom nature and fortune have bestowed more abilities and greater leisure, cannot be so easily excused. These advantages are given them, for the benefit not of themselves only, but also of the public; and yet they cannot, in any scene of life, discharge properly their duty either to the public or to them[*3] selves, *without some degree of knowledge of the laws. (2.) To evince this the more clearly, it may not be amiss to descend to a few particulars.

(1) The Declaration of Independence contains a clear statement of the great principles of civil and political liberty. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such forms, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."

In the United States the political and civil liberties of the citizen are guarantied by the constitution of the United States, as well as by the several State constitutions. These constitutions limit the powers of the legislatures, and of majorities, and stand as a barrier for the protection of the rights and liberties of the citizen, and of minorities. Civil liberty has several guaranties, some of which are the following: National and State independence. The national government is above all foreign interference. The State is independent of the national government, except in those instances in which the United States constitution restricts the power of the States. Subject to the limitations contained in that instrument, each State is an independent sovereignty; and both the national and the State governments within their proper sphere, enact such laws as they please, being limited only by the constitutions.

The protection of individual liberty, and the right to the writ of habeas corpus is a great feature in a system which is designed to secure freedom and civil rights. The right to a prompt, impartial trial by jury, in criminal cases, is an invaluable right. So of the liberty of conscience, in matters political or religious, as well as the right to remain or remove, or to engage in every lawful kind of business.

To secure the enforcement of the laws for the protection of civil liberty, the civil laws of the land are paramount to those of the military power, in times of peace. The right to bear arms is secured, as well as the right to vote, and by the ballot the individual expresses his will as to the laws to be enacted or the officers to be elected.

(2) In a country like ours, in which any citizen may be elected to the National or to a State legislature, it is important that there should be such a general knowledge of constitutional law, and of the general principles of the law as will qualify him to vote intelligently upon such questions as arise during the course of enacting laws. It is not to be expected, nor even to be desired, that every member of congress or of a State legislature should be an accomplished common-law lawyer. But if he is ignorant of the principles of the government under which he lives, and for whose citizens he would make laws, he is not likely to make a legislator worthy of the suffrages of an intelligent constituency. In relation to this matter, a learned English law writer (Warren) thus expresses himself: "One of the constitutions of our own king Alfred expressly required that his nobility

independent

fortune;

Let us, therefore, begin with persons of independent estate and fortune; whom even to suppose ignorant in this branch of learning is treated by Mr. to gentlemen of Locke(c) as a strange absurdity. Landed property, with its long and voluminous train of descents and conveyances, settlements, entails, and incumbrances, forms the subject matter of a most intricate and extensive branch of legal knowledge; the thorough comprehension of this, with all its minute distinctions, is, perhaps, too laborious a task for any but a lawyer by profession; nevertheless, the understanding of a few legal principles, relating to estates and conveyancing, to the forms of leases and agreements may form some check and guard upon the inferior agents of a landed proprietor, and preserve him, at least, from very gross and notorious impositions. Again, the policy of our law has made some forms necessary in the wording of wills, and in the manner of attesting them. An ignorance of these must always be of dangerous consequence to such as by choice or necessity compile their own testaments without any technical assistance. Those who attend our courts of justice witness the confusion and distress hereby occasioned in families; the difficulties which arise in discerning the true meaning of a testator, or sometimes in discovering any meaning at all in that which he has written; so that, in the end, his estate may be vested in a manner quite contrary to his enigmatical intentions, because, perhaps, he has omitted one or two formal words which are necessary to set forth his meaning with indisputable legal precision, or because he has executed his will in the presence of fewer witnesses than the law requires.

to testators;

But to proceed from private concerns to those of a more *public consider- [*4] ation. A very large portion of the community are liable to be called upon

to jurors;

to establish the rights, to estimate the injuries of their fellow subjects, to weigh the accusations against them, and sometimes to dispose of their lives, by serving upon juries. Persons in this responsible situation are frequently obliged to decide, upon their oaths, questions of nice importance, in the solution of which some legal skill is requisite; especially where law and fact, as often happens, are intimately blended together. And the incapacity to do this with propriety, tends to diminish the credit and authority of juries, and has, perhaps, thrown more power into the hands of the judges to direct, control and even reverse their verdicts, than by the constitution was intended. (c) Education, s. 187.

should be instructed in the laws. Without this knowledge, indeed, a man will advance but vain and frivolous pretenses to exercise the functions of a statesman or a legislator. It is true he may be eager enough to meddle with such matters; he may, indeed, be "given to change;" he may become, perhaps, a showy declaimer, fluent in the use of commonplaces-that is, if either house of parliament will tolerate his puerile inanities, he may possibly acquire credit on occasions minor, of mere temporary or local interest and importance; but on the stirring, grand, national CONSTITUTIONAL questions which are often so suddenly started, he will be, he needs must be, an inglorious mute; his 'vote and influence' may be solicited by the contending parties, but nothing further will be expected, or, indeed, permitted. Such information as is required on these occasions, however great may be his zeal or talents, or intense his desire of distinction, he neither has nor can get. No cram will suffice; nothing but the careful, leisurely acquisition of early years, assiduously kept up-at once generating and justifying confidence and self-reliance-will enable a man to acquit himself on such occasions even creditably. And how often in these pregnant times do such occasions arise; what melancholy exhibitions are sometimes the consequence.”

peace;

For one placed in the commission of the peace an ample field is open to exert his talents by maintaining good order in his neighbourhood; by punishing to justices of the the dissolute and idle; by protecting the peaceable and industrious; and, above all, by healing petty differences, and preventing vexatious prosecutions. But, in order to attain these desirable ends, it is necessary that the magistrate should understand his business; and have not only the will, but the power also, by possessing the required knowledge, to administer justice. Else, when he has mistaken his authority, through passion, through ignorance, or carelessness, he will incur contempt from his inferiors, and censure from those to whom he is accountable for his conduct.

to members of the House of

Yet further: many gentlemen of property, position, or ability, at some period or other of life, are desirous of representing their country in parliament; and those who are ambitious of receiving so high a trust, would Commons; do well to remember its nature and importance. They are not thus honourably distinguished from the rest of their fellow-subjects, merely that they may privilege their persons; that they may list under party banners; [*5] may grant or withhold supplies; may vote with or vote against *a popular or unpopular administration; but, upon considerations far more interesting and important. They are the guardians of the English constitution; the makers, repealers, and, in some sense interpreters of the English laws; delegated to watch, to check, and to avert, every dangerous innovation, to propose, to adopt, and to cherish any solid and well-weighed improvement; bound by every tie of nature, of honour, and of religion, to transmit that constitution and those laws to their posterity, amended if possible, at least without any derogation. And how unbecoming must it appear in a member of the legislature to vote for a-new law who is utterly ignorant of the old! what kind of interpretation can he be enabled to give, who is a stranger to the text upon which he comments!

Indeed, it is amazing that to the science of legislation, the noblest and most difficult of all sciences, no preliminary method of instruction is looked upon as requisite. Apprenticeships are held necessary to almost every art, commercial or mechanical; a long course of reading and study must form the divine, the physician, the practical professor of the laws: but many a man of superior fortune thinks himself born a legislator. The great Roman orator, (d) however, was of a different opinion: "It is necessary (says he) for a senator to be thoroughly acquainted with the constitution; and this (he declares) is a knowledge of the most extensive nature; a matter of science, of diligence, of reflection; without which no senator can possibly be fit for his office."

The mischiefs that have arisen to the public from inconsiderate alterations in our laws, are too obvious to be called in question: and how far they have been owing to the defective education of our senators, is a point well worthy of attention. The common law of England has *fared like other ven[ *6] erable edifices of antiquity, which rash and inexperienced workmen have ventured to new-dress and refine, with all the rage of modern improvement. Hence frequently its symmetry has been destroyed, its proportions distorted, and its majestic simplicity exchanged for specious embellishments and fantastic novelties. For, to say the truth, almost all the perplexed questions, almost paratus esse senator nullo pacto potest. Cic De Leg. 3. 18.

(d) Est senatori necessarium nosse rempublicam; idque late patet:- genus hoc omne scientiæ, diligentiæ, memoriæ est: sine quo

all the niceties, intricacies, and delays (which have sometimes disgraced our courts of justice), owe their origin not so much to the common law itself, as to innovations that have been made in it by acts of parliament; "overladen (as Sir Edward Coke expresses it(e)) with provisoes and additions, and many times on a sudden penned or corrected by men of none, or very little judgment in law." This great and well-experienced judge further declares (f), that "the greatest questions arise not upon any of the rules of the common (i.e., unwritten) law;" and warmly laments the confusion introduced by ill-judging and unlearned legislators. But "if," he subjoins, "acts of parliament were after the old fashion penned, by such only as perfectly knew what the common law was before the making of any act of parliament concerning that matter, as also how far forth former statutes had provided remedy for former mischiefs, and defects discovered by experience; then should very few questions in law arise, and the learned should not so often and so much perplex their heads to make atonement and peace, by construction of law, between insensible and disagreeing words, sentences, and provisoes, as they now do." And if this inconvenience was so heavily felt in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, how must the evil have increased in later times, when the statute-book is swelled to a vastly larger bulk; unless, indeed, it should be found, that the penners of our modern statutes have proportionably better informed themselves in the knowledge of the common law.

*What has been said of our commoners in general, and the propriety of [*] their applying themselves to the study of our laws, will hold equally, or still more strongly, with regard to the nobility of this realm, except only in to the nobility. the article of serving upon juries. But, in lieu of this, they have peculiar provinces of far greater consequence and concern; being by birth hereditary counsellors of the crown, and judges upon their honour as well of great political offenders as of their brother-peers. Onerous as this trust is, it can no where be so properly reposed, as in the noble hands where our excellent constitution has placed it; and assuredly it behooves the members of our Upper House, from the independence of fortune and dignity of station which they enjoy, to employ that leisure which is a consequence of both, in attaining a more extensive knowledge of the laws, than for persons of inferior rank may be essential.

The Roman pandects will furnish us with a piece of history not inapplicable to our present purpose. Servius Sulpicius, a gentleman of the patrician order, and a celebrated orator, had occasion to take the opinion of Quintus Mutius Scævola, the then oracle of the Roman law; but, for want of some knowledge in that science, could not so much as understand even the technical terms, which his friend was obliged to make use of. Whereupon, Mutius Scævola could not forbear to upbraid him with this memorable reproof (g), "that it was a shame for a patrician, a nobleman, and an orator of causes, to be ignorant of that law in which he was so peculiarly concerned." This reproach made so deep an impression on Sulpicius, that he immediately applied himself to the study of the law; wherein he attained to such proficiency, that he left behind

(e) 2 Rep. pref.

(f) Id.

(g) Turpe esse patricio, et nobili, et causas

oranti, jus in quo versaretur ignorare. Dig 2.2. 43.

him about a hundred and fourscore volumes of his own compiling upon the subject; and became, in the *opinion of Cicero (h), a much more complete lawyer than even Mutius Scævola himself.

[ *8]

I would not be thought to recommend to our English nobility and gentry, to become as great lawyers as Sulpicius; though he, together with this character, sustained likewise that of an excellent orator, a firm patriot, and a wise, indefatigable senator; but the inference which arises from the story is this, that ignorance of the laws of the land has ever been esteemed dishonourable in those, who are intrusted by their country to maintain, to administer, and to amend them.

to the clergy.

Nor will some amount of legal knowledge be found in the least superfluous for professional persons though of inferior degree. The clergy, in particular, have abundant reason to be acquainted with many branches of the law, which are almost peculiar and appropriated to themselves alone. Such are the laws relating to advowsons, institutions, and inductions; to simony, and simoniacal contracts; to residence and pluralities; to church-rates; to tithes, and other ecclesiastical dues; to marriage, and to various religious observances which are consigned to the care of their order, yet attract in no slight degree the attention, and awaken the interest of the laity. To understand these aright, to discern what is warranted or enjoined, and what is forbidden by law, demands a sort of legal apprehension; which is no otherwise to be acquired, than by use, and by a familiar acquaintance with legal writers.

tioners.

The science of medical jurisprudence has of late years attained to especial prominence and importance; inasmuch also as the evidence of skilled witto medical practi- nesses is justly deemed entitled to much weight; some general acquaintance with legal principles, and the nature of criminal offences, is suggested for those professing the faculty of physic as desirable and useful. [*9] To officers of the army and navy who may be called *upon to aid in administering martial law, or to sit as members of a court-martial, some to officers in the knowledge of the leading rules of evidence-such at all events army or navy. as may be acquired without laborious study, or a minute examination of decided cases-is essential.

to judicial offi

cers.

A word as to purely judicial officers will of course suffice. Should a judge in the most subordinate jurisdiction be deficient in knowledge of the law, it would reflect disgrace upon himself, as well as upon those who appointed him, and yet the consequence of his ignorance might be comparatively trifling: his judgment, moreover, might sometimes be examined, and his errors be rectified, by other courts. But, how much more serious and affecting would be the case of a superior judge, if without competent skill in the laws he should boldly venture to decide a question upon which the welfare and subsistence of whole families might depend! where the chance of his judging right or wrong, is barely equal; and where, if he chances to judge wrong, he does an injury of the most alarming nature, an injury perhaps without possibility of redress.

A judge ought, moreover, not only to decide correctly, but to give correct

(h) Brut. 41.