18. The northern nations who over-ran the Roman terri tories naturally introduced their own rude institutions into their new conquests, and particularly the feudal regulations, so well adapted to the views of a warlike people anxious to retain permanent possession of their settlements. It is probable that the Roman jurisprudence, which had so long flourished in Italy and some other countries, and had begun to take root in almost all the other districts of Europe, was never entirely supplanted by the customs and laws of the barbarians ; and when the revival of letters brought to light the high degree of refinement to which the Roman people had attained, their civil institutions naturally claimed a pre eminent attention, The discovery of the Pandects at Amal phi (if indeed that or any part of Justinian's Collection had ever entirely disappeared ;) the importance of the science of which it treated ; the beauty and excellence of its dic tates, being the result of the reason acting upon the. expe rience of the most civilized nation which the world had hithei to produced; the easy adaptation of the greater part of it to modern circumstances; all contributed to recom mend it to the attention of princes and legislators. It came therefore to be adopted in some countries as the great body of their common law ; in others, it was only partially re ceived, according as its institutions corresponded with the native customs of the people ; whilst in all, its maxims were more or less extensively incorporated with their own proper institutions.
19. The various systems of jurisprudence which thus grew up in modern Europe, compounded partly of the original laws and customs of the respective nations who supplanted the Roman greatness, and partly of' the more relined institutions of that people, form a sufficiently tensive branch of study. Fortunately it is to the general student more curious than useful. A knowledge of the laws of our own country, aided by some acquaintance with :is are of acknowledged ex such loreign institutions only cellence, or of the nearest affinity to our own, constitutes an object of paramount importance. Without, therefore, attempting ally detail of that nature, we shall here content ourselves with bringing together a few observations appli cable- to al systems of law collectively.
2u. (1.) We have said, that the obligation of law is ulti mately grounded in its reference to the good of those whom it is intended to control. In like manner, the obligatory force of any inferior law may be considered as more im mediately derived from that which is superior to it. Thus, with regard to families, corporations, and other subordinate societies, we can prescribe nothing which is contrary to the law of the state of which they make a part ; the municipal law of each particular state must prescribe nothing contra ry to the law of nations ; and this law must, in its turn, be consistent with those essential principles of mot ality and religion, which the Deity evidently intended to be obligato ry on every individual of mankind. And thus good civil laws are nothing else than natural law itself detailed, modi fied, and applied by the sovereign power in a state. It' the inferior law contain any contradiction to the superior, it must, by the established nature of things, itself' be ulti mately and substantially inconsistent with the good of those who are required to obey it ; and therefore wants, by that contradiction, the proper obligation of law. Such laws,
when their deviation from the principles of morals and re ligion is direct and immediate, excite detestation, and, in aggravated cases, horror. In the edict of proscription against the Prince of Orange, Philip II. promises to him who shall kill the prince, and to his heirs, 20,000 ecus, with the rank of nobility, and that on the word of a king and as the servant of God. Nobility for murder ! and its perpe tration enjoined by a servant of God ! Here insult and out rage is offered to every sentiment of hollow, of morality, and religion—which nothing but the poison of bigotry could have so entirely stifled in the breast of the tyrant who dared to publish the reward.
21. (2 ) Nothing should be so dear to a people as laws, when intended to be a rampart against despotism, the sub stance and safe-guard of a rational liberty, and the means, in short, of rendering them good, wise, and happy. 66 The great difference," says Xenophon, 66 which Lycurgus cre ated between Lacedxmon and other states, consists in this —that he has, as a primary principle, secured the submis sion of the citizens to the laws. They fly to yield obedience at the call of the magistrates ; but at Athens, a rich man would go frantic to think that his conduct depended upon the authority of any magistrate." The first act of the Ephori on entering upon their office was, to issue a pro clamation inviting the citizens to love, rather than enjoining them to obey the laws, that their submission to them might thus be natural and easy. In truth, among the Spartans, as well as among the earlier Romans, laws and manners appear to have been so intimately blended, as to have form ed, so to speak, but one body. Luxury, commerce, and the love of gain, seem to be inconsistent with such a state of public sentiment.
22. (3.) All new laws, which it may be proposed to in troduce, should bear reference to the state of circum stances in which the people may at the time be actually placed ; to the nature of the government already establish et! ; to the climate ; the character of the soil ; the extent and local situation of the territory ; the manner of life of the inhabitants, as consisting in agricultural, commercial, or other pursuits ; their customs ; their prejudices ; their superstitions. Yet laws may contribute much to form the mot als, manners, and character of a nation. All that is meant is, that we ought not to attempt a direct change, in any of these respects, by violent enactments. This were the highest impulicy, if not rather a species of tyranny. Following rather the example of Solon, legislators should impose such laws only as the people are fit to receive, not such as are most perfect in the abstract ; since it is better to leave disorders altogether untouched, than to ordain laws which will either be imperfectly obeyed, or altogether neglected ; and thus the whole body of the law incur disrespect.