THE ORATORY OF THE BAR. r I^HE merits of the forensic orator are pe-*- culiarly his own. The qualities which most attract the admiration of the world are by no means those which best conduce to his own success in his own proper sphere. An Erskine succeeds where a Burke would fail. A Coke takes precedence of a Bacon. The inevitable effect of reasoning day by day upon a great multitude of insulated facts, is to narrow the mind, and render it more and more incapable of those general classifications which are the boast and glory of philosophy. Were the study of the law pursued as it should be, — the student look ing at precedents but as the exponent of prin ciples, separating that which has its origin in accident or caprice, and is therefore mutable and temporary, from that which is founded in the nature of man, and is therefore perm anent and unchanging; understanding as well the scope of the whole as the practical working of the parts; in a word, regarding law as the science of legislation, — it would, in Burke's words, be the noblest of all the sciences. That it will be so studied, except here and there by some master-mind, we have no reason to expect or hope. Most students will be satisfied when they have found a case in point, and sic ila lex termi nates all further investigation. If, indeed, law books and reports continue to multiply with the same appalling rapidity that they have done for a few years past, it will be absolutely impossible for the most powerful mind to do more than master the details. To look for stability and perma nence in our jurisprudence is to look for
fixed landmarks among the shifting sand hills of the desert. The last legislature out runs the acts of its predecessors. The last volume of reports can alone be looked upon as settling what is the existing law. So long as this shall continue, the great body of our lawyers will be acute practitioners and but little more. Pre-eminent in their own de partment, they will make but little figure out of it. Ceasing to be learned and intellectual men, standing forth in the full development of all their faculties, and enriched with the treasures of all knowledge, they will sink to mere professional drudges. This is to some extent already the case. We see the man of most profound pro fessional learning, ignorant of the elements of literature and philosophy, and boastful of his ignorance. We see the man of what is called " business habits" arrogating to him self a superiority over those, the extent of whose knowledge is, as compared to his, like the ocean to the smallest island that sleeps upon its bosom; we see Congress filled with third and fourth rate men. But the evil will, in time, cure itself. From the very womb of darkness will spring forth light; the in numerable dark, winding passages which lead to the temple of justice, will give place to plainer paths. The axe of reform will hew down the venerable trees which have so long shaded the recesses, and will let in the clear light of day. When this has been done, when law shall cease -to be an art and become a science, then will our country find among the members of the profession her greatest ornaments. — Knickerbocker.
