Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1855-10-23
mis- GILLIAN Y.
THE STUDY OF THE LAW.

Tur number OF lawyers at tie Phils.
delphia Der, is so enormous, that not
onc.tbird cen earn livelihood at The
profession. With many persons this is
a reason for disc scountenancing the study
OF the law. Even we would not advise
young man who looks to practice law
for living to embark ia the profession,
unless he feels within himself peculi.
ar aptitude for it. But where circum.
stances afford the time ond means neces.
sary 10 mastering this science, we know
no study which Is moro valuable as con-
tribul;ng 10 mental culture. Whether a
man becomes legislator, preacher or
journalist, he is always tho abler for
having studied law. Even the private
citizen is benefited by this study, for it
not only disciplines his mind to o degree
which no other science rivals. but as.
sists him TO that thorough understanding
Of the constitution and municipal law
which so few possess, yet which !. 60
valuable part Of the education Of o
republican elector.
Confused as the law appears 10 the
uninitiated, those who have mastered il
know it to be coherent whole. Even
those decisions which seem most absurd
to one ignorant Of law, are logical de.
ductions from admitted oxioms OF the
science. The study Of the principles OF
the law, and the consistent application
Of those principles TO the facts Of every.
day life. furnish a discipline OF mind
only rivalled by that afforded by the old
scholastic theology. There is. however,
this difference in favor Of studying the
law, that while the scolastc divinity
wasted itself on useless dispositions, the
study OF the law brings up continually
questions Of the deepest practical i'm.
port. Moreover, while the old scolas.
tic studies often render men mere idle
sophists, such is the pressure Of actual
life, even on the most ideal minds 10 this
country, that the study Of the law only
partially corrects the too great tendency
Of Americans to neglect a thorough in.
tellectual training. 1t is useless to dc.
ny the fac. that our best educated men,
unless they have studied law, the inferi.
or, as a general rule, to men Of the same
pretensions abroad. In studying the
law, the faculty Of analysis is more EN-.
inently developed than in mastering any
other science, and therefore this study
should be, when possible, part Of every
complete education.
Nor can either the constitutional OF
social history Of England, the founda
ton from which tho constitutional ant
social life of the United States has flow
, ed, be traced out understandingly, with
out knowledge OF the law. The liber
ties Of America did not begin, as the ig
norant often suppose, with the Declare
ton Of independence. They had thei
origin even before the Haheas Corpu
I act or Magma Chana. Their begi
nings ante.date the famous laws Of AL
6 fred themselves. They can be ,race'
$ back to the free denizens Of German
# and Scandinavia, ages before there wer
n Stuarts to bshead, Norman oppressor
!. 10 resist, or Saxon lnonarchs to de
Il throne. The rudiments Of our existin
a republican institutions were brough
. over to America in the Mayaower, q
): before that they had been carried int
e England by the Vikings and the lour
a ders Of the Heptarchy. The roots Of tn
e great tree Of liberty, under whose shat
I ows thirty millions Of Americans no
:: repose, reach far back into the past, an
n were watered with the blood of'D mis-
and Saxon freemen centuries age. Tt
!. Teuton warriors, who. amid the clashin
v Of shields and the shouts Of thousand
IF chose their chiefs, were the rudiment,
,t types Of the electors, who, in this favo
is cd land, vote for President every four
IN year.
ID So also the social history Of Englar
o is bos, studied in the law. Tho ear
OF statutes against mort main reveal Il
TX alarming extent 10 which the Churc
a, generations before the Reformation, h,
a. monopolized land. The distress for rer
is a remedy which favored the landlord
s; against other bona: :Gde creditors, tells
I'd Significantly Of state Of society
m which the owners Of the soil made Il
n; laws exclusively. The terrible ena,
to ments against vagrancy, which mark Il
'f. reisns Of Henry the Eighth, but especia
a ly Of Elizabeth, inform US Of the wild
er spread beggary which followed Il
at emancipation of the serfs, without
70 corresponding grant Of lands for the
he subsisisnce-.a condition Of affai
lis which the aims giving Of tile monasi
nd ries alienated for awhile, bu, viii
is. broke out, as great public cancer, n
xt yet entirely eradicated, the instant t
converts were suppressed. We n;g
cite other examples, bu. these are sui
re cient We think, to prove that the stu
u, Of the law is a valuable aid in mast'
> ing the social history Of the past, Al
consequently assisting the student TO
De complete understanding Of the progre
y Of civilization in England and here.
1t is true that the study Of the Law m
no be perverted. 1t may occasionally re
60 der a subtle intellect too subtle, or CO
vert and embryo rascal into a pc,
no Jogging knave. But, in general, /,
IeT study Of this science greatly develop
=, Tho mind and .loenano, lie ~,ltupa n