The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1886-07-02
The BAR ASSOCIATION.
Uon,inued From Third Page.
Aftarnonn session.

ChalrmHn5 gahCl inPPSN Si-.
After quiet was Established the Chalr-
man introduced the Hon. U: M. Rose
who addressed the association as lol-
lows:
"THE FUTURE CT OUR LAWS.
Mr.. President and Gentlemen of the Ten
nessee Bar Association: ts
for the frat time in any OF the large
Ghraries Of the world, such, for exam
nile az that of the Britieh Museum or
the National Library OF Paris, IS spt 70
be somewhat deeply impressed py tne
visible aceumuatiops OF 80 mucn oi
hrman labor and human learning
Volume upon volume, eheii upon
shelf. alcove upon alcove, the COUNT
less books rise from floor to GAZING In |
vast and unbroken array. The many
languages in which they :. are
written represent the wide. DIVER
.sity of human speech, IN the
presencs Of which the linguistic at
tsinments and scholarship OF the most
learned inve tigator must make an
unoualified surrender. There are aso
hooks here composed in languages 50
compile ely past away ard buried In
oblivion that not all the men in the
world could make out single MESSAGE
which thew coatsin. Here, alongside
Of volumes still damp from the press,
are writings on some, meta', tles,
leather, pspyrus any many other SUP
s'ances. that far antedate our clVllZa-
tiou. For the most part the men thas
Wrote these many volumes, the men
who assisted in making them up into
tha;r ,,reaent shane and fashiop, are
long AGO mere shadows, dead and ior'
gotten.
THE BOOKS
xyb oh are tho result of their Joint
lapors have been read and stuoleu ny
the generations that have passed away
and many OF them will be READ ey
generations that are as yet UNBORN;
What thrilling passages OF lna'Vluual
life have been connected with tnese
volumes we know not. Each mas us
massage to deliver, but concerning us
own history it 10 silent. Some Oh tnem
TenTesent unfinished efforts, inter
rnnted by more pressing avocAtIoIs'
stifled by misfortune, or cut short by
the hard of dea,h. They were written
hv ali kind, Of men aud women, ana
in all kinds OF places. Some OF them
consumed all the energy OF a lifetime;
some ora the resu' IS OF an hour OF idle-
ness or inspiration; some are COM
rosad in the intervals OF 'festlyity or
revelrv. while many others are Wlltten
1ssmidst inconvenience and dist ac,
t;on in sickpeas and in sorrow" NJ
tonics that have ever been discussed,
ali emt tious. every phase OF human
4honabt and experience, are here pre-
santad For the individual man,
Towever large his op portunities, by lar
tha oreater part of these books mu.t
remsin az though they had never
boen for the whole of lifetime would
bordIv suffice for the reading OF the
catalooue of the books alone, suppos
ING that any ouch catalogue had PEER
made, Nor have we here hXec
nTobIem TO deal with, for during every
hour of the day packages OF new
books are arriving from all part!
Of the word, and these con
t;nre unceasipgly to swell tn
Grand total. And every day tn
Srmher Of new arrivals increases
Looking upon this boundle.s sea q
learning which has no outlet, am
which Is constantly fed by tIlputar
etreams, we have an oppressive sens
of the narrowness OF the held o1 mo
yldual action, the sheer utility OF N
diyidual life. We are proudly swsr
that the complaint OF the Roman poe
is in our modern times no longer ad'
ouate. Lie is indeed still brief, en
We cannot at present say that art
long merely, for to us 1t ls peeom
endless. Everywhere our knowleae
hos outgrown our capacity for handlln
it. After little while come feeling
the imuotency Of astudents amDitlo
leads us to withdraw from the conten
pla,ion OF
A SCENE WHICH AFFLICTs OUR LlITi
LIVES WITH AocKERY,
and we naturally betake ourselves
some compartment devoteu 10 eou
narticular field of thought, with whic
we have tried to make ourselves mo
or less familiar. Let us then repair
that part Of the library devoted 10 u
law, since our chief concern lies tue,
Here. also, we shall not ind the rel
from promiscuous, underlined ana
finite learning which we seek ior ne
al are also countless thou ands OF Vc
umes: volumes in many language
! codes and commentaries, ancient az
! modern-Greek, Roman, Gentoo, M
hammedan, Oriental, Occidental--ie
II resenting vast tracts OF time, and sho'
inc forth the development oil eve
civil zed country of the world; collie
tions of statutory, customary, intern
tionaI. maritime and colonial la
treating and reports Of precedents 81
dac,ded cases world without end.
ono had Thousand lives he could on
hone to master very small part
tbis vast and inCompTehensible lol
Rut let us by a further process
exclusion leave out all OF those boo
for which we shall probably ney
have any practical need in that CALI
in which we have specially enlist
orr faculties and our energies.
Obali then find ourselves in
nresence Of very many thousands
ToInmes for the tolerabe acquisiti
of whose contents a single lie
utterly and hopelessly inadequ,s
We shall still have Eogl
statutes and reports from remote
finuity. all our American statu
ond renorts. vast number
Siosst and text books OF English g
American law, a considerable coll
tom Of books on the civil law, g
some books relating to continer
jurisprudence, colonial repoIR, am
know not what besides. And repor
American cases are coming IN at
rate OF 10000 year, and every y
the number increases, to say nom
of other books. No lawyer co
traverse large library in this m
ner without being struck by one u
which has very important bear
on the subject that am about to
slider, ss well as on the lives and
inv OF the members OF our pro
sion. AS
SCIENCE Is NOTHING MORE THAN ORG
lied KNOWLEDGE,