登陆注册
5451600000009

第9章

In the teaching of this school and at Cambridge it is in no danger of being undervalued.Mr.Bigelow here and Mr.Ames and Mr.Thayer there have made important contributions which will not be forgotten, and in England the recent history of early English law by Sir Frederick Pollock and Mr.Maitland has lent the subject an almost deceptive charm.We must beware of the pitfall of antiquarianism, and must remember that for our purposes our only interest in the past is for the light it throws upon the present.I look forward to a time when the part played by history in the explanation of dogma shall be very small, and instead of ingenious research we shall spend our energy on a study of the ends sought to be attained and the reasons for desiring them.As a step toward that ideal it seems to me that every lawyer ought to seek an understanding of economics.The present divorce between the schools of political economy and law seems to me an evidence of how much progress in philosophical study still remains to be made.In the present state of political economy, indeed, we come again upon history on a larger scale, but there we are called on to consider and weigh the ends of legislation, the means of attaining them, and the cost.We learn that for everything we have we give up something else, and we are taught to set the advantage we gain against the other advantage we lose, and to know what we are doing when we elect.

There is another study which sometimes is undervalued by the practical minded, for which I wish to say a good word, although I think a good deal of pretty poor stuff goes under that name.I mean the study of what is called jurisprudence.Jurisprudence, as I look at it, is simply law in its most generalized part.Every effort to reduce a case to a rule is an effort of jurisprudence, although the name as used in English is confined to the broadest rules and most fundamental conceptions.One mark of a great lawyer is that he sees the application of the broadest rules.There is a story of a Vermont justice of the peace before whom a suit was brought by one farmer against another for breaking a churn.

The justice took time to consider, and then said that he has looked through the statutes and could find nothing about churns, and gave judgment for the defendant.The same state of mind is shown in all our common digests and textbooks.Applications of rudimentary rules of contract or tort are tucked away under the head of Railroads or Telegraphs or go to swell treatises on historical subdivisions, such as Shipping or Equity, or are gathered under an arbitrary title which is thought likely to appeal to the practical mind, such as Mercantile Law.

If a man goes into law it pays to be a master of it, and to be a master of it means to look straight through all the dramatic incidents and to discern the true basis for prophecy.Therefore, it is well to have an accurate notion of what you mean by law, by a right, by a duty, by malice, intent, and negligence, by ownership, by possession, and so forth.I have in my mind cases in which the highest courts seem to me to have floundered because they had no clear ideas on some of these themes.I have illustrated their importance already.If a further illustration is wished, it may be found by reading the Appendix to Sir James Stephen's Criminal Law on the subject of possession, and then turning to Pollock and Wright's enlightened book.Sir James Stephen is not the only writer whose attempts to analyze legal ideas have been confused by striving for a useless quintessence of all systems, instead of an accurate anatomy of one.The trouble with Austin was that he did not know enough English law.But still it is a practical advantage to master Austin, and his predecessors, Hobbes and Bentham, and his worthy successors, Holland and Pollock.Sir Frederick Pollock's recent little book is touched with the felicity which marks all his works, and is wholly free from the perverting influence of Roman models.

The advice of the elders to young men is very apt to be as unreal as a list of the hundred best books.At least in my day I had my share of such counsels, and high among the unrealities I place the recommendation to study the Roman law.I assume that such advice means more than collecting a few Latin maxims with which to ornament the discourse--the purpose for which Lord Coke recommended Bracton.If that is all that is wanted, the title De Regulis Juris Antiqui can be read in an hour.Iassume that, if it is well to study the Roman Law, it is well to study it as a working system.That means mastering a set of technicalities more difficult and less understood than our own, and studying another course of history by which even more than our own the Roman law must explained.If any one doubts me, let him read Keller's Der Romische Civil Process und die Actionen, a treatise on the praetor's edict, Muirhead's most interesting Historical Introduction to the Private Law of Rome, and, to give him the best chance, Sohn's admirable Institutes.

No.The way to gain a liberal view of your subject is not to read something else, but to get to the bottom of the subject itself.The means of doing that are, in the first place, to follow the existing body of dogma into its highest generalizations by the help of jurisprudence;next, to discover from history how it has come to be what it is; and finally, so far as you can, to consider the ends which the several rules seek to accomplish, the reasons why those ends are desired, what is given up to gain them, and whether they are worth the price.

同类推荐
  • 高上玉皇本行集经

    高上玉皇本行集经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 上清太上元始耀光金虎凤文章宝经

    上清太上元始耀光金虎凤文章宝经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 三字经讲记

    三字经讲记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 东归日记

    东归日记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 鹿门子

    鹿门子

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 哥哥好好说话

    哥哥好好说话

    重生而来,本想扮猪吃老虎,然后猪没有扮成,就被老虎吃了。微云阑,撇了撇嘴,把他的脸拿盖住,脸不见,心不烦。
  • 穿越时空之凯是我的

    穿越时空之凯是我的

    女主大大穿越时空而来,一路收拾小砸裱气死绿茶裱。。。还没出招小三就自愿退出。。。。还有你,你可不要以为我喜欢你。你你你。。你就可以套路我,,,老婆为夫错了???我们不可能了。。
  • 莫断琉璃

    莫断琉璃

    琉璃山上的算命仙琉璃,身陷怪病,留下亲笔书信后陷入昏迷。信上言,若三月后还未曾醒来,便遵父母对她的安排,以活身嫁入耀城入其族谱,而一日后,就是耀城城主穆一封来琉璃山迎娶之期。出嫁前夜,乌云蔽月,琉璃悄然命绝于亥时却无人察觉。子时,柳并竹穿越进其身,琉璃下落不明柳并竹重生成了琉璃,听到自己就要嫁人,逃婚成功。一路向西走,只要远离东方耀城,她就可以再一次作为柳并竹活上一生了。何奈命运作弄,夜间赶路遇了歹人,贪了她的东西,还将她引向了东方,注定遇到给他感情劫难的穆一封,成了一世的欢喜冤家。柳并竹作为一个迅速适应古时生存条件的人,秉持着破罐子破摔的心,一路与众人纠纠缠缠数年,终得美满……
  • 民国奇闻异事录

    民国奇闻异事录

    2010年冬,我闲来无事,刚刚从单位辞职,这个时候,死党俞飞过来找我,说要我陪他去一趟西安城郊的终南山,说这个山上住着一些隐士,有的是故事。那个时候,我接了一个编辑的任务,给一家图书公司写一些文稿,大都是些奇异的人和事,手头正缺素材,于是就愉快地答应了他的要求。他是俞飞的一个爷爷,没有出五服,老头有九十岁左右,手脚利索而且思路清晰,不仅如此,他还有记日记的习惯,当他把那三大皮箱的日记和游记给我们从草屋里间拉到外面时,我和俞飞都惊呆了。老头自我介绍,那些都是从民国开始,他所记录和经历过的种种奇人和异事,现在老了,也回味了几遍,就想找个人把这些东西重新写下来,供人们做为茶余饭后的消遣……
  • 把工作做到位

    把工作做到位

    对于现代人来说,也许最应该强调的两个字就是——到位。可以说,中国并不缺少雄韬伟略的战略家,但真正缺乏的是那种能踏踏实实地把工作做到位的执行者。我想,把工作做到位是一个员工的工作准则,也是每一个人做人的基本要求,在工作中,只有把工作到位,才能提高工作效率,才能获得更多的发展机会,才能在自己的职业生涯中获得成功。把工作做到位,既是对公司负责,也是对自己负责,同时还是对社会负责。本书针对企业员工的工作态度和价值观念建设和实践的需求,阐述了把工作做到位的重要性,剖析了工作不到位的种种表现,最后告诉读者怎样才能把工作做到位。
  • 一梦有情琅

    一梦有情琅

    江一梦的二次元男神是国民老公司马琅,三次元男神是神秘作家‘狼顾司马’,这一度让她很纠结,两个男神像清华北大一样让她无法抉择。她常常想:到底是上清华、还是上北大呢?她打死也不会想到,某一天,她会清华北大一起上!
  • 婚约者:豪门恋人

    婚约者:豪门恋人

    每个人心中最柔软的那处。安萣祝墨顾冷文曦凌子烨。两个婚约者and互相折磨的人。--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 比尔·盖茨传

    比尔·盖茨传

    比尔·盖茨从小就很个性鲜明,聪明好动,精力旺盛,具有强烈的求知欲并争强好胜。童年时期的小盖茨非常喜欢读书,大部分时间都是和书相伴度过的。他经常一连几个小时都坐在父亲的书房里如痴如醉地阅读。但是他对一般的儿童书籍,例如卡通、童话之类的并不感兴趣,而是非常喜欢阅读各种大人们的书籍。他最喜欢读的就是《世界百科全书》。小盖茨不但对书中的内容从头读到尾,而且还非常喜欢在读完后对书中的内容进行思考。比尔·盖茨良好的家庭教育让他的逻辑思维和发散思维得到了很好的发展,为他日后的事业发展打下了良好的基础。
  • 苍狼宝钻

    苍狼宝钻

    13世纪中期,威尼斯人马可·波罗随父亲尼科洛一行人抵达元上都(今内蒙古正蓝旗闪电河北岸)后,忽必烈以”不曾见到你们教皇承诺的神父“为由欲将其一行人全部驱逐出境,马可·波罗的父亲在情急之中请求忽必烈准许其在丝绸之路沿途经商,回报是为忽必烈献上自己年轻的儿子……
  • 异界之游戏人生

    异界之游戏人生

    星空虚影点醒一生凡梦,不得已,他远赴寰宇,历游诸星。虽漂泊而不凄惶,处异界而不望乡。人生游戏,游戏人生,孰为赢家,自见分晓。