The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-02-08

II We part with them. can we be sure mat
we shall retain among our justices OF the
peace the same respectability ana weieht
OF character as are now to ne found
think not" I pause for dissent. Judge
r. ~ Barbour concurred.
Mr. Leigh said that these county courts
composed OF the most intcihseht men,
some retired lawyers follow the princi-
nles Of natural Justice. while judges are
often perplexed and bewildered by set
~ technical and artificial rules. He added
~ nave seen County Courts, which were
among the abiest tribunals before which
/ ever practiced, not excepting the Court
OF Appeals.
such men as Governor Giles In Amelia,
James Marshall brother OF the chief JUS
tlccl In Frederick. Judge Pendleton In
Berkley. and others | could name pre-
sided I'm those courts. Their decisions
stood the test OF the appellate review with
the praise OF the greatest Judges, and very
often. when reversed by a judge Of the
circuit. were affirmed by the Court OF
Appeals.
MIR jefferson was a Justice of his coun-
ty and II was a patriotic impulse Of men
OF long experience. in retiring from public
life. to give ther time and talents TO the
judicial duties OF these venerable home
courts.
Before these courts the country lawyer
argued cases uTon the foundations or
justice. upon the very right, without
much reference TO authority.
who were tEcse country ..wS crs?
Pardon me II l reproduce what / was
glad TO say In tho House OF Representa-
tives In some remarks on the death oil
my old echOOlmate. Beverly b. Douglass.
ard Of the two respects in which our Pld
County Court system trained men lor
the forum and for the Senate. Inc court
demanded proof of the real justice OF
the case and the lawyers. without II
brari.r. were compelled TO evolve from
his orn mind the reasons which estap-
IlshcG his contention.
The country lawyer was a planter as
well as a lawyer. and thus his proles-
slonal life was developed. according L"
TIVE so peculiar in Virginia and ofher
parts Of the South-that Of the country
lawyer.
CHARACTER AND LIBRARY
This is character which Is now fast
passing away, which ! WouIa IAN rescue
from oblivion Such lawyer hVed upon
his farm. which he cultivated and at
tended the courts without any strict de-
yotion 10 business In his ONCE. Ills hDId-
~ was not measured by the NUMBER.
but the weight Of his books. He read ana
mastered Bracton. coke, Hale and Black
stone Ills reports were few-My Lord
cokc's. Salkeld Saunders, Atkyns'. Equity
cases and the like. lie read history much
and studied the human heart profoundly.
Amid the mountains, hills, valleys, Tor
csts and fields about his country home he
meditatcd much upon natural law. The
principles OF right and justice. implanted
IN the instincts of our nature ana de-
dUc,Dle from observation and experience
he evolved from his own native intul-
lions and reason. He wrought out by
original thought what law ought 10 BE-
without learning much from the decisions
Of the Judges and thus I'm niDety-nlne
cases in hundred, he found what was
the law in any special controversy lie
was less technical than the city lawyer,
skilled by ample practice and iuH ilprd-
rics i'm the infinitely varied phases oi
social contacts and contracts He was
less scientific, but more philosophic; his
views were less astute, probably. Dul
more broad and fundamental ana ms
congratulations less accurate. because de-
duced from a less number OF particulars.
The law he learned was that whose
seat is the bosom OF God, and whose
voice is the harmony of the world
Nee onim ala lex ROmae. ALA Athens
ALA nuuc. ALA posthac. sed ct omhcs
ccutes. ct Omui tcmpore, una lex et sem
piterna ct immutabihs conunehit
II was by this sclf-discpline. by TINS
evolution OF law as a system OF real
right Of absolute justice IN the pOhtca1'
social and domestic relations Of men
from the profound study of human
~ &
tory that Patrick Henry was enabled,
The country lawyer of Hanover, 20 write
upon the 0v-leaf Of his Coke upon Lit
Teton those resolutions Of l7tI, propos
i'm The Virginia House Of Burg esses, VIII h
challenged George Ill TO remember
Caesars fate and the bloody scaifOId oil
Charles Stuart; to strike the keynote
of religious emancipation when ne plead
cd for the people against the parsons.
and ia forge the thunderbolt of rcvolu-
ton i'm the proclamation of MS Suphlh'
dilemma of Liberty or Death to the
colonies struggling in the military grasp
of British despotism.
do not doubt that John Marshall, the
most nlustrious of the chiei justices oI
,be United States, under the classic
shades of his country seat a OAK H'Il,
framed the incXOrahe logic OF his argu-
mtnt i'm the case of Jonathan Robbins
and constructed lnOSe cdIioHS u Iil'''
prctation in that series of marvellous
Judgment which laid the fco1daton ~
his fame as the greatest eXpounder OF
our Federal Constitution.
SCHOOL OF NATURAL LAW.
rhine fails me 10 tell OF the judges Who
were trained in this school Of natural law
for the science OF Jurisprudence. PendIe-
ton and Wythe, jefferson and Madison,
Johu TAYLOR and Roane, and host oil
others. are galaxy OF great men VINO
we're thoughtful jurists, though not case
LAWYERS taught by a profound knoWIedse
Of human nature and "A large and Naried
oXperleace IN human affairs, 10 rear the
temule CT a sound Jurisprudence upon the
deep foundations OF natural justice ana
upon the law of God.
I'm my own life ! nave known scores OF
such men, whose broad and comprehensive
views of rirht and wrong. and whose acute
and power[ II minds thus trained, made
them the equals and frequently the supe-
riors OF other lawyers, learned in cases
and trained by the reading OF law books
and reports without end.
MIR. Douglass WAS such lawyer. Far
less well read IN reports than many Of
his co-temporares but with an acute
ana powerful mind, analytic IN its pro-
cosses and clear and intultiVe In the de-
lection of a fanacy, logical and cogeit
i'm reasoning. tun OF satire, sarcasm ana