River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1889-04-04
LAW ADMINISTRATION.
Glimpse at Some of the Peculiar In
stitutlons of Colonial Life.

LAW ADMINISTRATION.
A Glimpse at Some of the Peculiar In
stitutions of Colonial Life.
The sentiment against lawyers was
It this time nearly as strong in Vir-
yinia as in New England, although in
he former it had sprung more from
experience than from doctrine. Epis-
,opacy, unlike independence, was not
hostile in spirit to the legal profess
zion. But Virginia, it would seem, was
a prey TO band of INSCRIPTIONS,
Jroken-down attorneys from England;
and the extent of the aiIliction appears
rom the legislation on their account.
I In 1913 an attempt was made to reg
llate the practice OF law by a system
If fees, licenses and oaths, tut without
avail; and two years later it was en-
acted that "mercenary attorneys be
4 wholly expelled from such Office As
n New England, the expe1ient was
/ adopted of allowing a magistrate or
! some one from among the people To as
+ ;ist parties in pleading causes. This
plan, however, was soon found I'M
/ satisfactory, and q second attempt was
made to regulate, rather than exclude,
+ he practice of law, but, as before. with
put avail. In 1GJS all persons, attor-
neys or others, who should assist in
pleading causes for n compensation
were made liable to a fine Of five thou
sand pounds of tobacco.
/ Fortunately, these worthless adven-
/ turers confined their attention to Vir-
ginia. The middle colonies, at this
time, were not subjected to such visit
alton. H. an account Of Pennsylvania
and West New Jersey, by Gabriel
Thomas, published in 1898, and dedi-
Gated to Friend William Penn, . is the
following naive observation: "Of
Lawyers and Physicians | shall say
nothing, because this country is very
peaceable and healthy; long may it so
I continue, and never have occasion for
the tongue Of the one nor the pen Of
The other, both equally destructive to
mems estates and lives. Against the
attorneys, the lawgivers, apparently,
deemed some special precautiOn neces-
sary; for the Fundamental Constitu-
lions Of East New Jersey provided that
all parties might plead their causes
either in person or by friends, no COM
pensation being allowed.
With this practical exclusion from
the colonies of men educated and de-
voted to the law, there was of course
much crudeness in the early judicial
systems. From devotion to particular
religious theories, or from the ten
dency in new communities toward cen
tralized government, the colonists dis
regarded an important English prece-
deut-the separation of the judiciary
from the executive and the legislature.
The highest court was identical, in
Massachusetts, with the Legislature,
and, in the other colonies, generally
with the executive. The very men
that sat on the bench sat also ~ the
executive council and in the legisla-
ture. As a result, the distinctions be.
tween law, morality and religion were
constantly overlooked. Not merely
mans relations to his fellows, but even
his relations to his God, were placed
within the province of the Legislature
ami the courts. To take "A striking eX-
ample. blasphemy and idolatry were
capital crimes at the same time in
Massachusetts and in Maryland. In
Virginia. one neglecting the daily serv-
ice of the Established Church might
find himself sentenced 10 the galleys
for six months. If he did not attend
the Sunday service, he might need to
prepare for the next world.
The men who presided over these
early tribunals were as much product
Of the times as were the laws they APP
piled or the justice they dispensed.
Legal training was. indeed. rare quail
ity. But usually they were liable and
judicious persons according to the
requirement of the Virginia statute.
They came chiefly from the ruling
class-the Independent oligarchy in
New England, the gentry or planter
class in the South Their deficiencies
and eccentricities were overlooked by
the people. The judgments OF John
Winthrop. the Puritan Governor of
Massachusetts, and of Thomas Olive
the Quaker Governor of West Jersey,
were equally acceptable, though deliv-
cred in the one case from the platform
Of the Boston Westinghouse, and in
the other from 1.-The stumps in his
meadow" 1t was reason and common
sense, not legal precedents, that the
judges consulted, considering each case
as of novel occurrence. When these
simple expedients did not suffice-in
cases of doubt or Of other perplexity-
application was made. at least in New
England. to the ministers. Prank Gay
lord Cook. in Atlantic.