$at  ant  tauB tr    in`eofttv
AN ADDRESS
I)ELIVERED BEFORE T HE
G-RADUATING CLASS
OF THE
LAW DEPARTMENT
OF TlIE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN,
_Mar{eh 28, 1866.
BY JAMES V. CAMPBELL,
ONE OF THE JUSTICES OF TTIE SUPREME COURT OF MIICHIGAN, AND MARSHALL PROFESSOR
OF LAW.
PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF THE CLASS.
DETROIT:
F. A. SCITOBlER & BPO., PRINTERS, LARNED STREET.
1866.








We have spent some pleasant time together in searching
out the foundations of the law. In studying its principles,
you have also acquired, I trust, a creditable amount of knowledge upon the special topics which are most likely to claim
the attention of active lawyers. And the time has now come,
in which, as we are about separating, we may all of us pause
a moment, to consider to what end we have been following
our common labors, and what use is to come of your discipline
and acquirements. The years of early manhood are not given
to be wasted, and the energies of earnest and hopeful natures
are too precious to be thrown away. If our occupation here
has had no certain and worthy aim, it can give us no pleasure
to review it.
We have all been persuaded that it was worth while to
devote ourselves to our work, and that our ends were not
without worthiness.  Let us again consider them  at this
definite stage of our progress, and judge them by the only
test that is safe, their practical utility in the business of life.
This business I understand to be, so living as to do our part
in maintaining the best interests of society, as well as those
of our immediate personal sphere, and in striving that no
fault of ours shall cause any good course to be obstructed.
Let us weigh, then, the value of the pursuit of jurisprudence,
and endeavor to judge how far it tends to benefit men. In
doing this, I propose, in my brief space, to do little more
than indicate some of its higher capabilities in secular affairs.
There are two views in which every scientific pursuit
presents itself to its votaries. Neither is low or altogether
blame-worthy, and yet, when compared, their merits are very




4
far apart. The one presents special knowledge as no more
than an end in itself, the worthiness of which dignifies the toil
by which it is reached, while its pleasantness makes every labor
grateful. But, while personal pleasure and profit may very
well be enjoyed, and may be necessary inducements to diligence, yet no amount of learning is of any great worth, if it
cannot be made a means to further a valuable purpose. We
are thrown together in society, as workmen in a common
enterprise; and while, by the division of labor, each chooses,
or has chosen for him, such work as he is best fitted for, his
production is only supplemental to that of others. Each of
us needs what is wrought by the rest, to make his own work
available. If each worked alone, there could be no progress,
and no improvement. But combined results are leading to
unceasing advancement.  The farmer feeds the miner, and
the miner supplies the forge, and the forge produces the metal
ready to be wrought. The man of science conceives the machine which his hands are not cunning to execute, and the
mechanic, with his ready fingers and quick apprehension,
grasps and executes the plan which he was not capable of
devising; and the result of these joint labors and thoughts
is some marvel of mechanism, which makes life easier for all
of them, and advances society in physical and moral prosperity. The same analogy holds in labors not corporeal.
Learning of one kind aids learning of a different kind; as the
physician acquires medical knowledge, and the lawyer legal
knowledge, and each man the lore of his calling, that the
information society needs may be full and reliable. Some
one in every department has given his labors to the perfection
of his own favorite science, and they jointly cover the field.
The importance of any pursuit, then, is measured very much
by the extent to which it may be made available in the
education or improvement of society.  And it cannot be
denied that, among all secular pursuits, the law meets more
varied interests, and concerns more complications of human
affairs than any other. Law is the only universal bond which
protects and strengthens the minor bands of union among
men. Property is its creature, all human associations need




5
its sanctions, life and liberty have no security without it, and
even an honest name may be exposed to remediless peril
without its protection.
But the magnitude of its theatre and the extent of its
combinations admonish us, that the' study of a subject which
pervades all human institutions is no scholastic exercise, to be
completed by the labor of a few of the opening years of life.
Our utmost aim, in a course of legal instruction, cannot reach
beyond preparation. If you have been enabled to learn how
to apply yourselves to the solution of such questions as may
arise in the future, and how to search readily the repositories
of the law; in short, if you can now devote yourselves with
some degree of facility to the study which must henceforth
occupy your laborious lives, you have made a good use of
your time. If you should imagine that you have mastered
enough of the law to dispense with further study, you would
show a strange misconception of your chosen profession, which
would prove your unfitness for any of its walks. Even in
those subterranean regions of legal practice, through which
miserable reptiles crawl amid filth and vermin, there are
labyrinths to be explored, and dim passages, not mapped on
any chart, discovered day by day by those unhappy dwellers
in darkness.
Neither will you act wisely, if you think you may safely
choose a few legal topics, and devote your entire thoughts to
them.  The law concerns all the interests of human life and
conduct; and its principles are so interlaced in one fabric,
that each depends on, and is supported by, the rest. A complete knowledge of one department requires a complete
knowledge of all; and in that moderate advance which most
persons must be content with making, the same result appears
in its degree. Unless we realize at the outset the connection
and inter-dependence of the various parts of the law, we can
never make any satisfactory progress. Nor can we succeed
without recognizing the further fact, that all science and
learning are its associates and helps. All liberal culture is
a positive and direct aid to legal knowledge; and some
degree of acquirement has always been considered a necessity.




Sir Henry Finch, who asserts to himself the honor of having
first reduced into an orderly system the scattered rules of
the Common Law of England, does not hesitate, in tracing it
back to its origin, to include within its foundation principles
all the elements of humah learning, as well as the laws of
conscience and the deductions of sound reason.  " The sparks
of all sciences in the world," said he, "are enveloped in the
ashes of the law: so that it was well said by one,-' not
from the edicts of the Proetor, nor from the twelve tables, but
from the inmost depths of philosophy, must be drawn the
discipline of the law.' He who would bring before him the
whole body of the law, and go deeply and prudently therein,
must not lay the foundation of his edifice on estates, tenures,
and writs, but on the living and healthy principles with which
our books are filled." *  Such was the teaching of those
great masters, whose solid learning and plain sense built up
the only system which has ever resulted in free government;
and if some of their successors for a time allowed themselves
to lose sight of the dignity of their calling, the reproach has
been long since wiped away. The modern English bar would
be an ornament to any age; and the countrymen of Marshall,
and Kent, and Story, will acknowledge the value of those
broad views which built up our Republic on a sure and
firm basis, and made the forum a striving place for the
champions of earnest principle, instead of a stage for limber
mountebanks.
As each man's course in life is laudable in proportion to
its general usefulness, and as governments are the most
important of all human institutions, the aim of the lawyer
should always be to make himself a good citizen. The safety
and prosperity of all governments must depend on private
virtue and intelligence; but in no country is this so obvious
as in a Republic. And the plan of our Commonwealth has
made its security depend very much upon the learning and
integrity of those who have devoted themselves to the study
of the Law.  In other countries there are powers and
~ Description del Common Leys Dangleterre, fol. 3.




7
systems only regulated by the will of the government. The
unwritten constitution of England is subject, in fact, to the
unqualified control of Parliament, which is not, like our
Assemblies, a legislative body only, but represents in itself
the supreme and complete authority of the realm; and the
whole system has been modified at its pleasure. Yet, even in
that country, radical changes are rarely made, and questions
of private and public law have become settled by the wisdom
of legal authorities.
Our country affords the first instance in which the various
departments of government have been organized and regulated
by a law binding them all, in which the people, not content
with holding their agents to a strict account, have bound
themselves also, and guarded their institutions from the
dangers of their own passions and caprices. Our Supreme
Law is a written law. It cannot be transgressed by the
people, any more than by their government.  They may
change it, but only after time has been given for separate
and calm reflection.
Whenever, therefore, any department of government is
called upon to act, it finds the path marked out for it, either
by grants, or by limitations, which are never shifting, and
never unknown.  If varying judgments arrive at different
constructions, the original rule is always at hand to test them,
and no comments can vary it. And every citizen, who is
called upon to exercise any franchise, from that of voting to
that of governing, is bound to qualify himself for his functions, by obtaining an understanding of the true character
of his government. Its framework is simple enough to be
understood by all men of common intelligence, but no institution framed by man,- still less one made perfect by the
teachings of History, -  can be known by intuition. It is
based on sense and virtue; and where those are wanting it
can never be fairly comprehended. No question can arise,
concerning the correctness of any form of public action,
which does not, in this country, present combined issues
of law and statesmanship.  Our constitutions separate the
three great departments of government, which were never




absolutely separated before.  To disentangle from  the precedents of the past the executive or judicial functions, and
separate them from the legislative, or to distinguish either
from the reserved powers which lie behind them all, is a task
calling for the highest wisdom and the profoundest learning.
Yet, whenever the humblest citizen, while the peaceful course
of affairs continues, suffers personal loss or injury from
what he conceives to be an excess of authority in any of these
departments, he can compel the judiciary to enter upon this
task, and to say upon their consciences whether or no there
has been any deviation from its constitutional path. And
this liability, to respond to such momentous inquiries,
renders it necessary that these questions should be among
those daily pondered, and  continually  investigated.  It
requires something more than a comparison of precedents;
because precise precedents are not to be found, for cases
arising out of a new order of affairs. Nothing can be useful
here but a search into the profound principles on which
government is based. If capable of being anticipated and
uniformly regulated in advance, such regulation may naturally belong to one department. If action must be modified
or governed by events, incapable of regulation, and urgent
for decisive measures, it as naturally falls into another.
To aid these inquiries, the customary experience of great
nations must be made available; the mind must grasp, and
turn from side to side, the whole plan of affairs, and study
the whole range of possibilities and chances, and must
appreciate all presumable consequences. The prosperity of
every organized community requires a sound construction of
its organic law; and no one can over-rate the danger of
leaving its settlement to the conceit of ignorance, or the madness of prejudice and the blindness of obstinacy. No living
member of the public body can be paralysed or dwarfed in
its powers, without general suffering. The political, like the
natural body, requires the full enjoyment of all its functions,
and suffers with every suffering portion. When any one
assumes oracular credit on such vital questions as these,-(and
all men are called upon to consider them)-he needs all the




9
vigor of his intellect-all the knowledge which diligence can
acquire-all the prudence which vigilance can teach himall the honesty which an enlightened conscience can bestowall the devotion of unselfish patriotism-and all that sympathy with the great common heart of the people, which can
make him feel and express their settled and sober conclusions,
which seldom fail of being profoundly just and true.
It has been observed, with more or less surprise, that the
popular sentiment has sooner or later become fixed concerning
all of the important problems of government which have
arisen.  This should be no matter of astonishment, when we
consider that all free institutions are but the expression of the
general will. Yet it is always hard to comprehend how a
community, the mass of whose citizens, singly, would not be
capable of rigidly trying and canvassing any vexed question
of statesmanship, does generally arrive at the truth.  The
reason is, no doubt, because, with most of the community,
the final decision arrived at has been by means of weighing
and reviewing the suggestions and arguments of the few persons who can throw light upon the subject.  All matters
of human policy must be within the capacity of such intelligent minds as have not already been warped, by habit or
prejudice, so as to be unfitted to receive them. But until
some one gives an idea shape and expression, it cannot circulate among men. Ideas on these subjects can only come
from those who have pondered them, and safe ideas can only
be expected from those who have extensive knowledge, or
much familiarity with the matters involved. When such persons define and set forth their conceptions, they have, in each
mind, a tribunal ready to judge them. If they have the rare
faculty of so presenting their thoughts, as by their statement
alone to embody also their reasons and supports, the honest
mind receiving the statements can determine at once their
truth or fallacy. If true, they strike home as forcibly as if
they were intuitions; and thereafter no doubt or uneasiness
can arise concerning them. But this transparency does not
characterize the expressions of most persons. In a majority
of instances the clear expression is arrived at only as a final




10
result of amendment and criticism, and the subject is passed
from one to another, and many imperfect utterances are made
and forgotten, before the truth becomes manifest. This discussion is, in the main, confined to a few disputants. Most
of the community listen and weigh until they are satisfied.
They must receive assertions where they have no means of
trying them, except by their faith in the men who make them.
This faith will not be yielded to all; nor will any one be
trusted long, who has been detected in making unfounded
statements. They look for light to those most familiar with
the thing in hand; and it is to lawyers that attention is always turned, when subjects are opened which are dependent
on the interpretation of the law. Whether the tribunal of
judgment is the Bench or the people, there is little hope
of a safe conclusion, until the logic of the Bar has tried
every theory by the dry light of legal principles. But
so long as great questions remain unsettled, there is
danger of excess from passing excitements; and ideas are
snatched at as palatable, which, unless speedily exposed, will
accomplish mischief before any remedy can be applied to
counteract them. It is'the duty of the Bar to stand in the
gap, and restrain contending passions by cool and sober
reason; and to inform themselves, and aid the community,
concerning all things of public moment which they find means
of studying and comprehending.
In approaching questions of public law, the lawyer must
always remember that they do not belong to the arbitrary
and technical portions of legal science, but are governed
by broad fundamental rules, which can only be applied
with a knowledge of human nature, and some correct notions of statesmanship. The history of liberty has furnished, indeed, many valuable precedents for determining
private rights; but questions immediately bearing upon
public  interests  present themselves  under such varied
aspects, that we can seldom fall back, with entire confidence, upon any old adjudication to settle them.  The
mere case-lawyer never appears to advantage in dealing
with such topics.  They tax the best energies of those who




11
think for themselves, and who apply precedents only where
their principles make them pertinent.
If there were no other office to be performed by the
lawyer than that of being a good citizen, the nature of his
pursuits would enable him, if true to himself, to render such
good service to the public as few others can perform. And
the unquestionable fact that, in spite of the ancient jests
which have been traditionally aimed at him,-(but which have
never broken his bones,)-he is always looked to for information upon vexed questions of public as well as private law,
would be enough to vindicate the profession as one of the
necessary pillars of the State. But the nature of his public
services, and the character of the needful preparation for
them, give to the science of jurisprudence a further and
increased value, by enabling it to vindicate some pursuits,
upon which the mass of men have often looked with coldness,
and sometimes even with disapproval. It demonstrates the
practical value of those studies which have no visible results,
except in the improvement of the mind. Many things are
studied with profit, where, to all appearance, they add little
or nothing to the treasures of the memory for future expenditure in daily business. Because most persons live respectably
and labor usefully without them, it is assumed that they are
useless accomplishments, if not positively injurious dissipations. The instances are, happily, becoming rare, of respectable lawyers, who decry all other reading except their party
papers, and the text-books from which they drew their inspiration in the days of dyspeptic digests. When human
ingenuity or perverseness refuses to be bound in its lawlessness to go astray according to the recorded patterns of
misbehavior, the occupation of those very scrupulous oracles
is gone. If we never look upon their like again, let us
receive the loss with becoming resignation.
It is no shame to any man that he has been compelled to
enter life with slender preparation.  He has the future before
him. It is no credit to him if he refuses to make the most of
that. The fruit of the grafted tree is as sweet as that of the
seedling, from which the bud was taken; but the flavor of the




12
crab is not improved by time, and it will not grow unaided
into a snow-apple. The list of great lawyers and statesmen
contains the names of many who entered manhood with none
but the rudiments of learning, but of not one who confined
himself to the society of merely technical books. But how
bright is the record of those benefactors of mankind, whose
experience was varied, whose studies were as liberal as their
opportunities permitted, and who subordinated all their pursuits to their advancement in sound and useful progress.
The great Roman lawyers were at once the best scholars
and ablest publicists of their age; and when the Latin literature had been declining for some centuries from its Augustan
purity, the great jurists still retained much of its pristine
elegance and accuracy, and were far in advance of the other
authors of their time. The personal faults of Bacon cannot
deprive the world of the fruits of his manifold wisdom.  Sir
Matthew Hale has never ceased to be proverbial for his broad
views and extensive learning, as well as his devoted piety;
and no one can dispute his legal eminence. The liberal
culture of Mansfield was the undoubted source of that preference of Common Law principle over senseless servility,
which made him  almost the founder of the modern lawmerchant. Sir William Jones, when he wrote the most elegant treatise which has ever appeared on any ordinary branch
of the law, found no hindrance in his great attainments.
Blackstone, indeed, when he entered upon his legal career,
took a solemn farewell of his muse, in a copy of atrocious
verses; but she was evidently not one of the genuine maidens
of Parnassus, and his immortal commentaries show plainly
enough that he had not been deserted by all the nine. In
our own day learning has most signally vindicated itself; and
there are few prominent public men in Great Britain, who
are not as well known for their scholarly accomplishments, as
for itheir professional and business acquirements.
The Bar of America has also uniformly vindicated the
value of a wide extent of knowledge and general culture.
Without referring to the intellectual giants who have but
lately passed away, it is by no means likely that Hamilton




13
and Marshall will ever lose their hold on the admiration of
our people.  Unlike in temperament, they resembled each
other in many of their prominent characteristics. Both were
ardent and unselfish patriots, who gave up their youth to
dangerous service, and achieved an honorable military renown.
Both were friends and advisers of the Father of his Country,
who drew much of his knowledge of public law front their
clear and honest intellects.  Both were statesmen in the
broadest sense, and as ready in shaping as they were quick
in conceiving policy.  Both were profound thinkers, and
learned in all the reasons as well as rules of the law, and
whenever either of them traversed a field, there was nothing
left behind for the gleaners. They brought home the weightiest principles of jurisprudence to the comprehension of the
simplest understanding, and taught our people that knowledge
of their institutions, which has kept the public heart sound,
and the public head clear, against both well meaning and dishonest errors.  Hamilton, though he died in his prime, had
done, perhaps, his complete work. The great Chief Justice
lived long enough to elucidate nearly all the vexed questions
on which speculating visionaries had conjured up doubts, and
then went calmly to his rest. No wiser man, no purer magistrate, no more modest or courteous gentleman, no better
patriot, no truer believer, has adorned the seat of judgment.
When we look at our triumphant country to-day, and remember how much of her safety is due to Marshall, we need no.
other evidence of the value of those pursuits, which enabled
him to fulfil his mission.
But the pursuit of legal study has intrinsic merits. It
cannot fail to enlarge the views, and elevate the character,
of those who follow it with proper motives. The practice
of the law has, indeed, its temptations, and many of its
practitioners have undeniable faults. But the general character of the Bar, for integrity and public spirit, is not inferior
to that of any profession or calling.  Personal dissensions
are not common among theim, and envy and jealousy do not
usually mar their intercourse. The tendency of the teachings
of the law is certainly not calculated to induce any mean or




14
treacherous conduct.  Fidelity to his trusts is the constant
lesson impressed upon the lawyer. He is always acting under
the obligations of a public or private confidence. The sense
of this obligation is habitual, and its violation is rare, and
meets the sharpest censure.
There seems to be an idea prevalent in some quarters,
that the lawyer is so continually brought in contact with the
darker side of human nature, that the association is injurious
to his own character, and prejudicial to his estimate of men.
This is a great mistake. The majority of business does not
usually consist in the defence of guilty criminals, and even
there the aspect of crime is never attractive. But most litigation is between parties who cannot be said to be at all worse
than the mass of mankind; and, for one case where there is
actual dishonesty, there are many involving no moral turpitude.  Moreover, even when men are guilty of wrong, it is
no part of a lawyer's duty to justify that which is unjustifiable.  But the amount of litigation prevented very much
exceeds that which is commenced, and there is far more business done by most men in advising and arranging unlitigated
affairs, than in lawsuits.  And they deal with the good as
well as the bad, and receive from men of all sorts such confidences as are entrusted to no other human ear. The lawyer
sees what others cannot see, and can have very little about
him of the necessary faculties of his office, if any phase of
human nature is strange to him.  And, for the honor of
humanity, it must be said that he often sees things which
if open to other eyes would surround many a desolate head
with a saintly halo. If some men who walk in pride, and are
respected by society, are known by him to be no better than
whited sepulchres, he knows as well of generous self-denial,
of long-suffering forbearance, of chivalrous devotion, of
princely munificence. He sometimes sees youth hardened by
the cold vices of maturer life, but he finds still oftener
that age is not divested of the gentleness of youth, and is
not unfaithful to the memories'of childhood and early life.
If some speculate upon the tragedies that are now and then
unfolded before a counsellor, they may safely assume, also,




15
that quieter and sweeter dramas are not strange to him. Those
lawyers who have had the largest experience are not usually
the most cynical. And those who have forced themselves
into prominence by their talents, and yet been false men,
have rarely left any permanent mark of their presence on the
law. Aaron Burr was surpassed by few in acquirements or
craft. He was Hamilton's professional rival, before he became
his murderer. The records of the Courts, and the reported
decisions, show that he was foremost among great men in the
extent of his practice. But, except the historical fact of his
prominence, he has left there no substantial memorial of his
existence.  He added nothing to jurisprudence.  He took
nothing from it. Justice was too pure to be defiled by him,
and he was too vile to add anything to its treasures. The
name of the wicked lawyer will rot as soon as that of any
other villain, and he usually has the assurance, during life,
that his brethren see through him, and thoroughly appreciate
the disgrace of his company.
Instead of being injurious, his intercourse with men is
one of the most valuable parts of a lawyer's experience. The
study of mankind has always been justly regarded as the
noblest of human pursuits.  The whole course of human
affairs, so far as they are susceptible of regulation at all,
must be arranged with a due regard to human nature, or
every plan is abortive. Laws which do not meet the general
wants, or which violate the common feelings of the community, can never be enforced without disturbance.  The
words of wisdom addressed to one audience would be words
of folly before another. In framing governments, even despots study out what their people will bear; and lovers of freedom inquire what the people will approve.  All assume that
these things can be ascertained, and that there are developments of motives, and passions, and prejudices, which must be
thoroughly understood, before any system can be framed
which will not offend them. We all know that this knowledge
of men can only come from intimate contact, and that a
knowledge of the general characteristics of communities can
only be got at by intimately studying the peculiarities of all




16
kinds and classes of people. This intimate acquaintance is
never obtained by social intercourse alone. Most men of any
considerable experience must know many individuals, whose
reputation in society and among business men is very different. There are qualities that lie dormant until aroused by
occasion. Society does not usually develope the meaner side
of the avaricious and cruel; for self-esteem and hypocrisy are
strong enough to counterbalance the moderate excitement
such faults are likely to meet in general company. The
usurer may be bland, and the tyrant sentimental, and the
rogue may put on the guise of bluff and unceremonious
honesty; and those who see through them all do not feel
called upon to spoil social enjoyment, by exposing those
whose exposure may grieve the innocent. And so one half
of the community worship what the other half in equal
honesty despise. The lawyer's occasions lead him to observe
both the inner and outer life. He sees all kinds of people,
under all manner of circumstances.  Ile sees domestic
tragedies and domestic comedies —the effects of prosperity
and of adversity —the home countenance and the mask
of society-the open and the closed chambers in men's
bosoms; and, seeing them all, it is his own fault if he
be not wiser for the seeing. The same occasions require him
to become somewhat familiar with the idiosyncrasies of men
in communities, or smaller companies. We all recognize the
fact that nations have characters, as well as individuals. We
do not always recognize what is equally true, but not so
obvious, that this same principle prevails to some extent in all
societies. And hence it is, that, while men may theorize as
they will concerning political philosophy, and the abstract
rules which would govern people very happily if they would
only consent to be made happy in that way, no instance can
be found in which the wisest closet philosopher has succeeded
in framing a constitution or code, which would fit the people
it was made for. Yet our own country can furnish instances
enough of systems working very smoothly, which have been
demonstrated by the same sort of philosophers to be extremely
absurd. When we look at the complete crushing out of in



17
dividuality, by the symmetrical codes which it has been in the
power of some sovereigns to adopt, we have much reason to
feel satisfied with our own systems, which may almost be said
to have framed themselves. We see every day attempts
made by sanguine reformers to make laws theoretically perfeet. Divine laws are enforced in their perfection, by omniscience and omnipotence. Human laws can never be enforced
on perfect principles, until men outgrow, in their perfection,
the necessity of any human laws at all. The best proof of
the value of human laws is in their results. Our own country
and our mother country have grown free and powerful under
an unwritten system, which was made up chiefly of nothing
but popular usages, which became laws after, and not before,
the people became accustomed to follow them. Our whole
constitutional system is a mere development from recognized
necessity.  No one can understand human nature so well as
to know what will suit it, as easily as to recognize what has
suited it. But where there is an apparent demand for action,
that wisdom which scorns to take into account the sentiments, and even the follies and caprices, as well as the
interests of a community, is not a very exalted wisdom.
It is no reproach then, but rather an honor, to the law,
that it compels its ministers to become acquainted with all
sides of their common humanity. There are many blots upon
it. It is often very unreasonable and unmanageable. It
will not see the right unless it may use its own eyes. It will
cling to the wrong until it sees fit to drop it. But when we
feel that this wayward human nature has made better laws,
and better governments, than were ever made for it; when
we remember who set this race in the world, and that
His judgment will adequately settle all moral questions
with His creatures; and when we consider that we can recognize no weakness in others, except by the mirror
within ourselves, we need not blush to accept our common
brotherhood, and feel all the more sure of it because of
our own imperfections.  When the great mass moves on,
it is worth something to be able to guide and accelerate its
motion.




18
But nations have other things to consider bevond their
own home policies. There is an outer as well as an inner
life, which they must live, in obedience to law. They, too,
are members of a larger commonwealth, and subject to its
censures. The law of nations is of binding force upon all
civilized people. The government which infringes this ultimate code, subjects itself to the ultimate argument of war.
Our experience is too recent for us to require any reminding
of the services those men render to their country, who save
it in its peril from threatening complications, and keep a
justly excited people from letting reasonable anger at other
powers lead to unreasonable extremes. From the beginning
of our national life until now, American diplomatists have
succeeded in accomplishing at least as much real advantage for
our nation, and its interests, as has been reaped by any others.
We have succeeded in reaching nations whose doors had before
been shut against the world. We have induced them  to
accept for their guidance the systems which have governed
others.  We have opened discussion, and obtained action, on
subjects which may change the moral aspect of the law of
nations itself. And yet all other countries have been served
by diplomatists, who have been educated from boyhood
in that special service, while our ministers and statesmen
have all been thrown, untried, into that perilous business.
Why have we been safe in following such an unprecedented
method?
It is simply because the practice of the law in the United
States involves questions analogous to those of the law of
nations, in its daily routine. The comity of nations, the
conflict of laws, the incidents of domicil, the extent of
territorial jurisdiction over persons and property, and a
host of other topics on which the civilians have wasted
reams of speculation, are as familiar to an American lawyer
as the laws of negotiable paper.  Our constitution, in
regulating the relations of States, and the conditions
of property and intercourse, has left a large share of
our rights and obligations to be either governed or interpreted by the analogies of International Law. Every




19
lawyer becomes directly or indirectly acquainted with the
principles underlying all this subject, and finds it all the
more simple, because it is based on no written code, but
rests on broad rules of justice, and on the results of general
experience.  Reasoning from such premises is no strange
task to one who must often expound and elucidate constitutional principles, and who has always found it necessary
to know  something of public usages and policies.  The
habits of political thought and discussion complete the preparation; i'd8' have abundant reason to feel assured, that
those who study hgal diplomacy, as a branch of the general
system of the law, where it naturally belongs, are not its
worst students.
Instoad, therefore, of regarding your profession as designed merely toeaquble one man to get justice against another,
by the aid of a fid agent, you can only appreciate its true
dignity, when you regard all human law as a connected
system, of any part of which you may become the expounders.
Public law, and private law act reciprocally. Each exists
for the sake of the other.  The Law of Nations is made for
the benefit of the countries subject to it, just as municipal
law is, made for the people's benefit. But the law which
protects and ref lates the people strengthens the body politic
also, and the law which keeps nations from ezoesses advances
the prosperity of the world. And that law, therefore, may,
in its turn, more easily approximate to the general precepts
of the higher system which connects the Universe with the
celestial throne.
You have no reason to question the utility of such a
ministry. Neither have you any occasion to Wb deterred from
it because the,ld is so great and the lab!so continuous.
You need ne4 fear to aim  to high.  TV  arrow  never
gravitates up W.  The great danger amonl]awyers is, that
they sometimei im too low.  The law, as yo have seen, has
only its skeleton in law-books. Its body is built up by
feeding on hian converse, and all profound and elegant
learning, an4  all true philosophy, and  ll divine morality.   Whi' your time should not:   spared  from




20
immediately legal studies, you can never grow to greatness
unless you also find leisure for other acquirements and
accomplishments. Nothing is out of place in a lawyer, which
can strengthen or embellish the character of a man.