The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-01-20

lions Of the profession. l STAND I'M.
covered in the benign presence OF
Counsellor Pleydell and I yield to no
man in the homage which l shall ever
pay to the sages OF the law. II was
Mansfield who who said TO the mop
that he loved popularity. bu. II Wa
that POPULARITY which sought him ana
which was sought after. And yet
l am sure that you will agree with me
that while Eldon and Mansfield were
admirable. 1t is to Sir Samuel Rom
lily. to Denman and to Brougnam
among the early legal reformers'
that England owes SO much. Amer
lea must ever look TO England anu
not to France for guidance In the
administration Of the law, for 1T Is
the function of the judge to deelare
the law according to the golden mete-
wand and of the law and not oy the
crooked cord of discretion. the
maste. of the law have said that to
| avoid arbitrary discretion IN courts,
it is indispensable that they shall be
bound down by strict rules and pre-
| cedents which serve to point their
| duty in any particular case which
| comes before them. And, Ubi jus
incertum, ibi jus nullum. comes
sounding, down the ages. That Wild,
indefinite something about which
Thomas Paine wrote % we'll, ana
for which Mirabeau and Danton and
Robespierre w%orshipped and for
which they gladly died. called the
Rights Of Man, must give place to
liberty, regulated by law. interpret
ed by wise law givers, and illustrated
in the lives OF wise statesmen.
Changes Not To Be Stunned.
By no means would I suggest the
adoption of any rules Of civil conduct,
not in keeping with the genuine OF
our people, Quid legcs sine mOribus
vane p~rOficiunt, but let us not shrink
from adopting such changes as the
exigencies OF the situation demand
and the people are entitled to receive
at our hands. The laws, says Monies
quieu, are h nerves Of the body
polite. h must correspond tC
the nature and uses Of the organs
they animate. They are dependent
upon certain elements which mar
cannot change, and on certain 9th
r ers which he can change only afte1
many efforts and very slowly. The,
must have relations to the phySica
: characteristics Of a country; to tn
: climate, frigid. torrid or temperate
! to the nature Of the land, it's ex
' tent; to the peoples mode Of life
. they must have relations to the de
) gree Of liberty that the institution
( can admit Of; to the religion Of tn
q | lIlfEdOlldIltS, t1Cil lnCAl1IdClo1tS, tiiOl
Y wealth, their number. their com
t merce, their morals, their manner
Finally, they nave relations n t
another. their origin, to the aim Q
the Legislature, to h order Of thing
under which they were established
All these relations, taken together
form what Montesquieu calls tn
Spirit of the Law"
- Bar Must Not Lag in Service.
The & in which we live is on
n of service. The spirit of it is mo,
n ing in all lands In this upwar
and unselfish movement the bar Wi
not be laggards. The real lawye
1t has ever been the conservative fore
Of civilization, and. he will continr
% to be this. But he will be som
le thing more. He it is who will guiG
e. and direct the movement Of tn:
y righteous remnant Of our State in i
quest for truth, justice n equalit
We and which must not fail. for "as
ne terebith tree and as an oak. who
or substance is in them, though they
sc cut down. so the stock of that burn,
X, tenth shall be a holy seed"