The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-03-24

"hnen ] was q ChllO, j spoke as d |
child. | understood as a child, l
thought as u child; but when | be
came q man. l put away childish
things" These words of the great
Apostle TO the Gentiles apply TO every
calling and TO every profession under
the sun save only that of the law.
n beliefs Of men in the child
hood Of the world have vanished.
The gods no longer keep court and
revel ION high olympus" The gods
and the faiths of Assyria, Of Egypt,
Of Greece and Of Rome have long since
dissolved into hin air. Even as TO
the one true religion, the thoughts
and understanding of men have un-
dergone a radical change. Three cen
turtles ago in Massachusetts they were
burning and driving out Roger VIII
liams to become the founder Of a
new colony. The inQuiStion and the
massacres in the name Of religion
throughout Europe, when men were
burnt alive, or butchered, or for
opinions sake. are recalled today with
s. shudder. In medicine the practice
Of DR.. Sangrado is no longer tolerate
ed even in the most benighted regions,
and il may be said with truth that
so rapid has been the progress IN the
medical profession that some treat
ments which 80 years ago were con
y sidered orthodox would today invite
an Indictment for manslaughter or an
action for malpractice. In all the
other professions, in the ciences and
arts there has been like progress.
In the one calling of the law. for
which we claim especially ability FOR
the average Of its membership, many
doctrines remain as they were when
as yet patients were bled TO death and
hereticS were burnt.
a short While since we still ad-
hered closely to the common law with
It's meaningless n cumbersome OIL
vision of actions into debt, covenant,
trover, detinue, assumpsit, and others,
whose object seemed TO be TO prevent
the administration OF justices instead
of ils speedy enforcement Then there
was, and in some states, there Is
still, the division between law and
equity which long since abolished III
England and in many states Of this
country. in others as yet is u~naccount
ably asserted as fundamental. TheI
there were the many teChnicalitieS IL
criminal trials n as to the forml
OF Indictment, which lately We retain
ed the common law by which tn
status Of married women was prac
tically that OF a slave. Her lega
existence was merged in the contrC
OF her husband and the bulk of he
property became his by the bare fac
Of marriage. She had mot 4 penn
but by his possession"
The Most Striking Myths.
Gut it is needless to go into thi:
The subject Is too vast III its anC
males too unbelievable to be recount
ed. It may be we'll to briefly cor
slider three Of the most strikin
myths which a ard headed intellec;
uai profession still cherishes TO
greater or less extent, notwithstand
ing the disappearance of decisions i
other callings.
1. There is the Common Law
which Blackstone SO inaptiy style'
The protection of reason TIL
claim il absolutely without fOunds
ton for all progress in the law h;
consisted in getting away from tt
barbarOus teachings Of the commO
law. In It's origin. and liz its COZ
tinuance. this Was merely judge-maC
law based upon alleged customs
traditions among a barbarous peOpl
It's amendment has come from st;
iutory enactment OF from the urgel
of greater inteiligen(
among the people. It was in tn
way that Lord Nottingham imports
the doctrines of equity which is sim
iy the Roman civil law, with son
notifications. brought in 20 cure Il
unbearabIe evils of the ommOn la
system. In the same way. Lord Mar
field adapted the common sense
laymen in their dealings in trade al
created the "lsaW Merchant
As to the criminal side OF t
docket little more than two centuri
ago there were 204 capital offens,
One charged with a felony was n
allowed to nave counse to speak
him nor process to procure his W
nesses to testify in his own beha
and when as late as 1895 an act W
introduced to change this, thirteen
the fifteen judges of England prote.
ed against the innovation and one
them threatened to resign if ii W
enacted. This was done, howeve
but the judge did not resign.
Origin of Common Law.
The origin of the common law /
been fictitiuusly claimed to be las I
d~iscoveraole as the sources OF I
Nile" The sources Of the Nile ha
long since been discovered and as
the common law we know that
origin was in n customs Of
bar barous and semi-barbarouS anC
tors added to by the decisions
judges Of more recent centuries m
Of whom were neither wise nor lea