Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1880-08-03

bhN SNNuulubJ lllC SUITS, lOWUTu WHICH
his mind turned as the needle turns to
the pole. l would not. disparage what
we call learning in Judges. | would
not decry the books in which judicial
minds have embalmed all sorts of vaga.
ries ana absurdtes, as well as the most
splendid reasoning and the most Won
derful analysis. But do say that the
learned judge, in the sense of Judge
who is never exploring the reports, foi
decisions rather than reasons, and who
relies solely upon them, Is the most
dangerous Of all judges. He is not much
more wise than a man who would at
tempt to make his way through mo-
rass at night, trusting to the guidance of
the flLe-ny's lamp. Technical rules are,
in his hands, cast iron one day, and
ropes of sand the next, according to the
inspiration of the particular cases that
chances to be operating upon him.
1t is safe to say that fully halt of what
makes up law library is the merest
trash, and the judge who is crammcd-
and-crammed-into the dimensions of
case learning has, to say the least, filled
much space with rubbish that were bet
ter left open for the free play of his own
faculties. The man who should seek to
construct philosophy of human nature
by study of the resemblances and differ
ences between the various features Of
the various faces that might come under
his observation, would succeed as well
as the man who seeks to find the philos-
ophy of the law in study and analysis of
the likeness and the unlikeness of the
features of the eases in the books to
each other, or to those of the case he
holds IN judgement. The position Of the
judge Is grand and responsible. He sits
to weigh the actions of his fel-
low men; to pronounce upon their mo-
tives; to dispose of their property, and,
sometimes, to consign them to disgrace
or death. II is u task to tax the highest
powers, and TO demand the highest
qualities. Go stand beside yonder river,
at u point where an eddy whirls, and
you will see that into that eddy there Ia
ever drifting something of all that floats
upon the surface of the stream. 1t Is, in
miniature, the stream itself. SO, into
the court house, and under the observa.
ton of the judge, comes ever, rs into an
eddy's swirl, something of all that
makes up the great current of human
life. He must examine and classify, and
adjudicate upon II all. He should be
very obscrvant and very thoughtful.
lie should study men, aud try to know
the springs of their action. lie should stu
dy their motives and their passions, their
hopes and their fears, and the infinite
complexity into which they blend. He
must gaze ever into the segment Of the
mighty current that comes TO him, and
be ready 10 discern the changes. and
notifications, the alllnities, and the an
tagonsms. lie must analyzc aud un-
derstand Much that others have
thought and said will greatly aid him, If
discrimlnatingly used; and he must look
of course, to what has been settled us
part of the judicial system to which he
belongs; but still the responsibility Is
on him to think for himself. lIo who
would administer justice must himself
be Just. lie should be attuned TO the
noble and the upright, 10 cultivate in
stlnct, and enlightened conscience, aud
not to rules and cascs. "Lct Justice be
done though the heavens fall, v isa false
suggestion. We should say, "Lct jus
tire be done lest the heavens fall.n The
heavens can never fall while justice is
DONE for they are pillarcd upon Justice,
and their magnificent dome IL archcd
upon the eternal principles of right.
We have fallen In our time, upon an
evil which grows by our own fostering.
The mania for Ceases" incitcs the pro-
fession to buy everything that Is offered
In the form of II text book. Textbooks
are, therefore hastily prepared, In order
to forestal the market, and often pre-
pared by those utterly incompetent.
Into the notes Of books 80 prepared, cas-
es are huddlcd, often without other con-
nectlon with the subject discussed than
such rs n catch-word In the syllabus Of
each may seem 10 establish. Out Of
thcic notes these cases nro huddlCd To-
gethcr, In turn, Into briefs, Ond from
briefs into opinions. Cases dissccted In
order TO find the reasons upon which
they go, aud adduccd for the sup
port which their rcasing affords, ARE
useful and instructive; but when gath
cred without such discrimination, or
when they furnish decisions merely
without rcasona, they serve only TO per-
plcx and cucumber. As matters now
stand, n volumlnous citation Of authorl-
ties In textbooks, briefs or opinions, be-
tokens, primd .Cdcie Mt least, the use Of
the shovel rather than the use Of the
acnlpcl.
In natural science, classes Of phonom-
cna are gathered aud by lnductlvc rcas-
oning, laws are formulated upon them.
In medicine, by series of experiments,
certain effects are found to follow the nd
mlnislrallon of certain remedies, and the
Inference follows that those effects are
due TO the use Of those remedies. In
surgery, the ecalpcl traces out nerves
and llglmenta, aud dlsaects Into its scpa-
rate constituents the whole organization,
aud thus Il n ascertaincd how the body
Ia framed. But the science Of the
OF the law, II science We may call u, IA
unlike all these. N deals with the great
mass Of humanity busy In working In
divldunl schemes, and promoting lndl-
vldual interests; aud II seeks to iix The
proper relations that grow out of all this
individual action, aud adjust respective
individual rights, II involves, M its ba-
Via, cardinal prlnciples--social, political,
cqultablc-.sometlmes metaphysical AMI
A vast amount of ma
chlnery which We call "pracilce" be-
longs 10 iis practical administration but
IN ita ultimate analysis as system, II Is
orfly these cardinal principles applied TO
the commerce aud conduct Of men. II
" 10 be learned aud studied from outside
10 center, from lis developed formnlus
back 10 the alphabet IN which they are
written, 20 that IN truth the full MASTER
Ing Of iis alphabet !. the ultimate achieve
mrni Of The profoundesi professional aud
judicial ability.
The nisi prfp Judge, like the busy
lawyer. does not build for poslchty. |
Ills work Ia ever IN the present and
driita nkynv Into ohltVton aH A ntiis lac. |