New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-07-31
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
THE CODE NAPOLEON.

translation of the great code Of French civil law.
1t is now nearly century since it was first pro-
mulgated Some amendments have of course been
made from time 70 time to its 2,2S1 sections put
these have chiefly been either OF minor and I'M
important character or else they nave oeen
those that were rendered essential by cnange Oh
the form Of French government or else grew out
OF modern social and industrial development.
Even these taking the work as whole. nave
been surprisingly few in number. Ana there Is
every reason TO believe that the Code Napoleon
will remain for many generations practicaiiy IN
the form In which the great French conqueror
established II under his own name, as the SUD-
stantive statement of the law OF persons ana
propcrtyin France.
The French Civil Code strictly speaking. is not
a code at all in the sense In which that word Is
ordinarily used in England and this country.
When we speak OF codifcaton we mean the re-
ducing into complete and systematic form of
the whole body OF the law as 1t exists at the
time. including not only the common law as 1t
has been established by custom and long Ire
OF judicial decisions and precedents but also as 1t
has been modified by legislative enactment AND
those who have been engaged In the work OF
codiicatlon have had to meet at every step the
active apprehension OF the public and especially
OF the bench and bar. that the work OF codhca-
ton would be used as a means OF a statutory
enuncation OF the law. not il really stood at
the time but as the codhers thought II ought 10
be- And codes have been accepted and success
fully established among lis only as the people
have been satisfied that they stated the existing
law without substantial modification.
That was not the kind of codfcation that Ma
poleon undertook when he became Consul nor the
kind OF cod.fcation that resulted from the laoors
OF the commission that he appointed That KIND
Of codification would have been impossible in
France a century ago. Despite the previous ef-
forts that had been made. particularly under the
direction Of Louis XIV. to reduce the French civil
law to a homogeneous system. there was. TO
put 1t bluntly such thing as French law
or rather there were as many different kinds
OF French law as there were cities and
provinces in the country. Foltaires satire
was justified when he declared that the
citizen In travelling in France must change his
law with his horses. The task. therefore, that
Napoleon entrusted to his commissioners. with NJ.
Tronchet at their head not to state the law
as they found it. but to create new and complete
system Of law, without regard TO precedent or
custom except as they aided in determining what
was the best law to establish for the whole of
France The celebrity with which this work
accomplished has been the occasion OF criticism
as we'll as admiration. The commission presented
its report within four months after it's appoint
ment, their work was at once submitted 10 the
Judges Of the highest courts. and the discussion
OF the proposed code was promptly taken up by
the Council OF State.
In these discussions Napoleon himself took a
prominent part; and although not trained TO the
law a profession, he is said TO have astonished
his listeners by the acumen OF his criticisms and
by the aptness and convincing character OF the
reasons he assigned for adopting or rejecting chief
provisions Of the code. So great a share, indeed
did he bear in the evolution OF the Civil Code
that the propriety OF the designation Code Ma
poleon" has never been questioned. He himself Is
reported TO have regarded the code with great
pride and satisfaction. But II has not escaped
criticism or even condemnation. Savigny Is severe
in his attacks upon what he regards as the ignor-
ance OF It's compllers and Austin finds az much
fault with the haste with which the work was
carried through, Hut the Civil Code has success
fully withstood all attacks. and to-day rests upon
nrmer foundations than ever before. not only In
France. hut among the other Latin races In Eu-
rope. Perhaps liz greatest triumph outside Of
French territory was when. upon the establish
,ncnt OF Italian unity In 1866. the Code Napoleon
was adopted In its most essential provisions and
features M the Italian civil Code
The objection to the Civil Code most commonly
insisted upon Is Ito rigidity and the difficulty In
making it's provisions meet the new cxgences Of
advancing civilization. The only way to incor-
rorate new law into the code IL by statutory
amendment Rvt II IL obviously impossible that
such amendments should keep pace with tho ever
changing requirements Of litigation In the courts.
il IL the elasticity OF the common law OF England
and most OF the United states adapting Itself
with nicely 10 the conditions OF each new case.
that Is claimed as Its chief superiority over any
code system II Is on this account that civil la "
codihcation has made 40 little progress where the
English common law prevails The battle for and
against codification has been fought out most
thoroughly In this state for about fifty years, and
still the common law as against codifcaton has
perhaps a stronger hold upon the intelligence and
respect Of the people than ever before
When the New-York Constitution OF 1s46 was
formulated the French Civil Code in great
favor and its popularity and success doubtless
had much to do with the agitation and discus
sions that resulted In Incorporating into that Con-
etitution the provision ordering the appointment
OF commissioners ito reduce into written and a
systematic code the whole body OF the law Of the
State" There were many who, apparently forget
full Of the different conditions existing in France
at the time Of the first consulate and in America
at the middle OF the nineteenth century, believed
that civil code could be created that would set
forth in succinct form: as the Constitution COM
manded the whole body of the law OF the State !"
Among these code advocates Zone was more
ardent more courageous or more confident than
the late David Dudley Field. He supported codi-
fcation from the most sincere and positive con-
vctons. He saw no good reason why the law
should not be accessible to every member Of the
community. and he regarded the opposition OF his
brethren of the bar evidence of their selfish
disregard of the public welfare. So great was the
influence OF his enthusiasm and of his ability in
presenting arguments In favor Of what he con-
sidered the greatest OF reforms that he actually