Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1859-04-23


cRDuRE, AND ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE"
Rev. Dr. Wines delivered his fourth lecture
iaSt night, IN the lecture room of the First
presbyterian Church. Suhject-The Hebrew
cotIrts-torns of judicial procedure and I'D.
ministration of justice.
Inc great principles of Jurisprudence, said
Dr. Wines, embodied in the political system of
Moses, VIII form the topic of discussion in The.
present lecture. Most things human arrive at
their perfection by degrees. As general prin.
cipie' TINS remark is as applicable TO law as to-
any other department of civilization. Like the
rest OF the sciences, law has advanced by slow
graHauons to Its present state of high improve.
ment The carly laws of CIR zee (and the same
Is true IN respect to those ofmOst other nations)
were exceedingly rude, misshapen, and uncet-
tain; and indeed the very term claw" in the
days oil Homer, was unknown to the language
the multitude being governed by wise max.
inns, and by the injunctions of their kings and
princes. The earliest written code of Greece
was that of Zaieucus, law-g -giVer of the LOrTians
who tiOnrished abOut 900 years before Christ
But the remark concerning the defective condi-
ton of law in the first ages of the world, and
IN the lntancyEot society, must be taken with
some abatement All agree that the Mosaic
code is by fur the most ancient body of laws
that has survived the rayages of time, and that
1t was the earliest written code of which we
have any certain information. Yet it was de.
Iive"ed in a state of high perfection. This cir
cumstance of primal perfection draws Il broad
line of distinction between the legislation of
Moses and all the mere human laws, and stamps
the former with the indubitnhle signature of
divinity. In truth, the more deeply we exam
Inc into the laws of Moses, the more we shall
perceive their perfect wisdom, that infnllibe
token of the Divinity which fails all mere hu-
man constitutions, in which, when We examine
critically, we always find great defects aud
,f,l, Il. III
mentS,-s sometimes changes-sometimes the re-
trenching Of Supertluiies, The preceptS of the
dccaOgue alone contain more sublime truths,
and naxms more essentially promotivc of the
good of mankind than all the profane writings
of antiquity together could afford. Now if
Muses. had not been the Minister of God what
ever might have been his genius, he could not
from himself, have drawn laws, Which received
all their perfection the instant of their l1rina
That is what no other legislator has ever done,
and what Moses himself could not have accom-
piished, had he written simply as a man. aud
without the inspiration of the Supreme Being.
Wise laws and due administration of them
nre essential to the peace, order, well being and
happiness Of every community. Law is the
measure of right. 1t gives to every man rule
Of action, and prescribes n course of conduct
which entities him to the support and protection
Of society. 1t teaches men to know when they
commit injury and when they suffer it. Every
uSL law Is dictated ny reason anu beNeNOleUCG.
and its foundation, its principle, must be the
happiness of those to whom tile rnle is directed;
or, according to the excellent definition of Jcre
my Bcntham,-"the greatest good to the great
est number" Saius popuG sapremd Ter.
Law being thus necessary to society, the
Creator has adapted the nature of his intelligent
offspring to its existence and action. At the
original formation OF man, the law of his Maker
was written in living characters upon his heart
But the fundamental principles Of moral truth
and duty by degrees disappeared, being engulp-
ed and overwhelmed ia that pestilent poly ytheism,
which had supplanted the true religion; and the
traces of the original moral code became well
nigh obliterated from human hearts To bring
men back from the senselesS GOllicS and enormous
Wickedness into which they had plunged them
selves, there needed republication OF this law.
Now this republication is precisely what took
place at Mt, Sinai, as the first great step in the
Israelitish polity To convey a deeper mpreS.
sion of its spirit, TO trace it anew i'm ineaeahle
characters in the memory and hearts of those
who heard it, it was given amid the greatest iuI-
aginable pomp and terror. God himself de.
scended from heaven, and, by supernatural
voice, promulgated to man the MORAL LAw-the
expression of his will-the reflection of his
immutable standard of right, and
the ineffacabe rule of action for his accountable
creatures, containing every essential principle
of human duty.