The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-06-30

nnements and fictions were mistaken
for it's essence. Even the enlightened
Burke said OF it: II do not dare TO rub
or a particle OF the venerable rust that
rather adorns and preserves than de-
stroys the metal. Temperfng lis
the odious vice OF restless and unstable
minds. / put my foot In the tracks OF
our forefathers. where I can neither
wander nor stumble What the law
has said. / say. II this be not
ingenious. 1 am sure Ii Is safe" Black
! stone, Of course, Is the type OF the cou-
one might imagine that the body of the
common law had attained its final
form. that IL was the perfection of HUI
man reason and ingenuity. deserving
only OF panegyrics- But, while IL Is.
indeed. a marvellous growth and has
conformed in a marked degree 10
changes, in the national life, as Is evil
dent when viewed as q whole through
the perspective of time. IL has been In
reality of exceedingly gradual growth
Its birth was in the dawn OF civilization
and its development came by slow
changes through centuries OF unbroken
history. 1t could not emancipate itself
completely from the bonds fastened
upon IL under conditions no longer ex-
listing. Much less could IL rise unaided
to the. emergencies of the sudden and
tremendous awakening of the nine
teenth century
Blackstone. 1t has been well said. was
just in time. His task was to gather
The scattered fragments Of the law into
a polished. systematic. literary whole.
as a datum for the fresh start that
was about to be made in the develop
ment OF the law. He was quickly fol-
lowed by Bentham, the type OF the rad
ical. the great questioner or things
established" and by the birth OF new
nation that was reverently to follow
the common law as far as IL could, but
was also to be obliged by the very
force OF it's larger and freer life and
altered conditions to break loose from
II where its rules OF an Anticipated Pc
riod hindered. The spell was broken
An age of inquiry was ushered In. 1t
began to be seen that what had been
regarded as the merits of age were in
reality but the imperfections of youth.
that the wisdom of the present after
centuries OF experience is sounder for
present conditions than the wisdom of
the past, when the race was young.
New conditions were met by legislation.
New applications OF old principles
were made. New principles were dis
covered. 1t began to be realized that,
as Lord Mansfield said. the law does
not consist Of particular cases. but OF
general principles. which are illustrat-
ed and explained by these cases" Ac-
cordingly, the case lawyer began to de-
preciate. The lawyer in demand today
is fast coming to be he who seeks pTin-
ciples rather than presidents. The
great Judge is the Mansfield or the
Marshall who. with all due respect for
the past does not mistake the husk for
the kernel: who looks at the reason OF
things and does not countenance the
proposition that presidents justify alb
surdities.
We cannot all be Benthams. teach
ers of teachers" or inaugurators Of
great reforms. Nor is II desirable that
we should be. Bentham accomplished
but little himself directly. He was a
philosopher with keener insight, no
doubt than the practical lawyer into
the defects of the law. but he was not
the one to cure those defects. As Eng
lish and American law has thus far de-
veloped through the efforts of the prac-
teal lawyer, so IL should continue.
Therein lies its superiority over other
systems. The spirit of reckless limo
walton should. of course. always be
avoided. But neither that of the ana
ly.ical philosopher nor that of the mar
row follower of precedent or the bigot-
ed believer that whatever is, is right"
should control. The analytical. COM
parative and historical methods should
be combined. The practical lawyer of
the larger view Is the only one who can