Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-06-13

with which / am acquainted. Inc 10
man Forum had an empty place
lacking Cat0's figure; and lawyer
library without this book has ore ai'o'
SUBSTANCE OF HIS. TEACHINGS.
In the substance of his teaching, Pro-
fessor Minor has impressed the fact that
nearly all the principles or our JuflsPiu-
dence are derived from the common
law, whatever may be the chahsea u
form. Follow the maxim; 1T Is Deter
IN seek the fountain than to follow the
stream" he has carried his pupils to the
very sources Of the law. and GROUNDED
,bcm I'm the reason which underlie It's
original being and its progressive de-
vclopment The law is "A living thing
and not dead one. All liVinS thihss
grow and change, and the law must ever
grow and shift and change 10 conform
its..Ir to the conditions II has 10 deal
with and TO take on the improvement that
time TO time suggests. But the prin-
chile of it's being rooted in so
cial necessity remains the same, ana
no study of its recent changes can De
proftably made without penetrating 10
the roots and analyZing the soil from
which it's stem and branches spring
No improvements in explosives or nre-
arms will ever rule Caesar or Napoleon
Bonaparte out of consideration To MN
OF language or lapse Of time VIII ever
dethrone the ascendancy of Homer ana
Shakespeare to him who studies the ART
Of poetry No new fashions VIII ever
antiuuate DemOsthenes or Cicero to nm
who studies the art of speech Ana no
revolutions of government or reVlsiohS
az the statutes viii ever displace
Coke and Blackstone, and Kent ana
Minor as the masters Of him VINO seeks
himself to master the Jurisprudence OF
the Misunderstanding family. We're
going into a great case involving funda-
mental doctrines tomorrow ! WOuld De
more apprehensve OF the antagonist VINO
was thoroughly versed in the works
of these eminent eXpounders, than OF
one who had ony collated recent cases.
TAKE CARE OF PRINCIPLES.
Take care Of principles. and the cases
will take care Of themselves. nave
seen a chancery case that mad run on LOT
wears. with accumulated papers that
would fill a barrel. ended by the sugges-
ton of an elementary commOn-law prin-
ciple. | have seen stoutly-contes{ed
suit i'm eiectment involving title To real
estate disposed of by citation or doc
trine that might be found IN the text
books of the common law, and when had
been blurred and mutilated by an error
started in one State report ana Ierpetu-
and passed on into textbooks, all be-
cans. the first court that decided the
point made was ignorant Of elementary
distinctions We may codlfy the stat
utes as much as we please; we may re
wise systems Of pleading as much as we
please; We may adopt all the labor-saV-
ing inventions and take all the snort cuts
10 the Pierian springs that the wit OF
man may devise. but before the practi-
vi them
when he meets "A foeman worthy of his
steel. he will need the weapons of these
armories and long for the bedrock learn
ing to which we have pointed in Minors
institutes as much as wellington longed
for Butchers coming at Waterloo
There is something bewildering in the
prolific brood Of books that are poured
forth from the reporters hands, ana the
bewllderment gets greater and greater as
time goes on. hundred and fifty years
ago John Strange lamented in his re-
ports that the law was overwhelmed win
such literature, yet, in i06, when our
independence was declared there were
only about $50 reports, covering period
Of 800 years OF English law. For the
single year 1891 the United States Digest
contains abations from 2i2 new volumes
of reports: and the cry is still they come.
mot single-fie, but in battalions.' what
shall we do about themI | would answer
az our teacher. by his system. 'Out OF the
old fields cometh all this new corn" Like
the Roman who looked 10 the westward
sky to catch thcre painted the nrst re-
Election Of the morning beam, so i would
look to those old fields for the germs,
the reasons. ard the inspirations OF our
modern doctrines.
IMPORTANCE OF LAW-LE1 RNING.
To an American more than 10 the citi-
Ia. a. las II Il N
important, for he is himself a sovereign
Interpreter and creator OF the law; and
10 rim Is the common law most import
ant for ian II are To be found the roots
and the safeguards Of our liberties as
people.
our bills OF rights and our American
constitutions are In large part but echoes
from the ancient battie-fields OF English
freedom The James and the Potomac
did not become sacred streams till the
waters Of Runnymeade had emptied into
them The Italian priest and the Norman
copqueror disrelished the common law
Aeeause of its stubborn maintenance Of
individual right, It's detestation for arbi-
trary power, and its proclivities 10 self
government; and 1t was for this reason
that IL was long excluded from the courses
Of instruction In English universities. The
lectures OF Blackstone delivered at first
as private adventure 10 the students
OF oxford, marked the rerascence OF the
common law and all his eulOgies OF
royalty could not extinguish those lambert
fires OF self-right and local right which
famed through them. His commentaries
were the textbooks OF the fathers or
the American Revolution. and II We prise
our right of trial by jury. the writ OF
habeas corpus. the liberty Of the press.
the freedom Of speech. the natural rights
q persons, and the rights e property