The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-02-03
The Essay.
Ar President and Gentlemen ef The South Cu'o
Tina Bar ASs0cidtien:

afr. President and Gentlemen ef The SoutA Cua0-
Tina Bar 4Ss0ciatien:
esteem it high privilege, that in the pres,
ence of learned lawyers, and dlStihghlSncu
Judges; the priests and high priests OF the
great temple of Justice; may speak u word
ulish Common Lac which forms the pride and
boast of our civilization; and which, even
more than our language and literature. Is the
cherished heritage that we haze received
from our English III. hers and which ~ ing as
the basis of our State and Federal juriSpru-
<lence; and throwing its protecting shield
around the hearihs and homes OF htty hll',
lions OF our people, ScattcrS over the broad
territory OF tnlrty. eight StHtes- from the At
lantic TO the Pacfic, the blessings of Anglo
American liberty and Anglo-Amcrican enter
prise.
THE COMMON LAW DEFISED-DIyISloNs OF
THE SUBJECT.
In discussing the subject of the Common
Lu,c, l use the term in lis widest sense as OPP
posed 10 the Roman Girl. Lac; and propose
trading characteristics: ana certCta proposed
srracadments and improvements
THE FORESTS OF GERMANY.
The Common Lo,cof England! We are car
ried back In imagination TO IN era, long an
terror 10 the time when the white horse OF the
Saxon set foot in Britain, and to a savage
people, who dwell. in the forests OF Germany,
the pen OF Tacitus OF whom Gibbon speaks,
as 'jealous of their persons and careless OF
their possessions, destitute of industry and
the arts, but amin ,lcd by a high sense of hon
or personal independence, and love Of inoi-
>idual liberty GuiZOt attributes the intro
ducti"n OF a new element into European CIV
iization-an element unknown to the Ro.-
mans, and to the Christian Church-but
which has played noble part, and brought
about lasting blessings in the history of the
i>nt hos. l>sai rIrn-
ciples Of personal freedom and chiralraES re-
gard for woman, which have ever been the
Distinguishing characteristics of English civ
iization.
ALFRED THE GREATEST OF THE SAXON
KINGS,
The Common La,O 0f England! We again
lend wings to our Imagination, and survey
the home Of our fathers, when Alfred, the
greatest of the Saxon kings, ruled over Il
ly his grandfather E,bert; and which
saved by the sword from the hand of the
D,ne, was enlbeliShed by those arts of peace
which proved him the wisest Of English law:
givers; who to the glory Of the warrior, added
the yet brighter lustrc Of the statesman, the
legislator and The ruler; who re enacted, cS-
eient laws. and established, if he did not
originate, that division OF the Kingdom into
counties, hundreds and tithings, which
formed the basis of all local administration
courts from the hundreds court to the Wit
enage,note-or Assembly Of the Wise-and by
q just apportiOnment of punishment to crime,
marked out clearly the boundaries of English
law, and made sure and fast the safeguards of
];ng ,ish liberty. Such survey kinded the ell
thusiaSm of the monarchial historian, Hume,
ening Of new spirit. which inspired f rope
with 'sentiments OF liberty, honor, equity
and v2lor."
MAGMA cuARTA AND THE PLASTAGENETS.
The Common Lu,o of England! Time rolls
on ; the Norman has conquered the Saxon,
and the vanquithed like captive Greece,
has given law to the conqucror: four
hundred years from the days Of Alfred,
when William the Norman, had parceled out
che lands OF the Saxon among his naughty
t,arous; when the animosites of race had
ina measure abat"d. and the meof English.
men had supplanted that OF Norman and
Saxon, we are called upon TO witness the first
great battle In behalf Oh English liberty, when
''the army of God and mother Church, as
selves, with Stephen Langton, an English
prelatc, at their head, wrcstcd magma
taadrtu from King John, rebukcd the unjust
prerogatives Of the Crown, and at the same
proclaimed the freedom Of the subject, in the
memorable words, NO freeman shall be talk
en- or imprisoned, or disscized, or outlawed
or banishcd, or Otherwise injured. unless by
the legal judgment Of his peers, and the law
of the Iand;" fixed the Courts at Westnin-
lister, and at the same time brought justice
home to the door of every one. The Great
Charter according to l1allam, "infuscd new
soul into the people Of Engand,' embodying
as il does the ancient customs of the King
dom. and the old traditions of English liber
ty, which originated in the days before tho
conquest and which furnished the watch word
OF civil and political liberty in centuries yet
to come.
EDWARD I, THE ENGLISH JUST1N1AN.
The Common La,0 Of England! Time would
fail to speak of the wise legislation OF him
who perhaps has been justly called, the Fn'
elith JuStininn, the first Edward VINO con,
firmed the preceding Charters; marked ont
the boundaries of the Courts; perfected the
forms of writs ana plcadngS, and perpetuateC
those records of judicial proceedings whlct
form the body and soul of the Common Law
to speak OF those muninents OF English Nbcr
ty, which were extorted from the kinSly pre-
negatives Of the TudOrs and the tyranny OF tht
s,tIlarts-the Petition Of Right, the ll0bed
Corpus Act the Bill OF Rights and the ACT O
Settlemcnt-trOphieS of many Weli-tongh
fight, on the battlc-felds Of liberty, ID ccntu
ries goneb
AMERICAN CoLONIZATIoN.
The Common Law Of England! This formed
the cherished birthrigtt OF those latner:
OF the Republic, who on the rocks or Pty
mouth and amid the forests of the South
planted wide and deep the foundations OF Thu:
mighty Empire; which embodied in Roya
Charters and affirmed in Colonial Statutes
ln1 4 no of tha A N, pri