ON TILE CONTINENT OF EUROPE SINCE MSS.
The year Ms has become recognized rather ar bitrarily as the beginning of European university instruction. It is taken as the year of the found ing of the University of Bologna, because it marks, as nearly as practicable, the commence ment of the teaching of law by Irnerius. This teacher made Bologna famous as a place for studying the Corpus Joris Cirilis and attracted pupils from the whole civilized world. In addi tion to bringing this study into renewed promi nence. he conferred upon legal education the great benefit of introducing to the entire Digest, and thus he encouraged thorough work and the pursuit of a long course. By the middle of the twelfth century the appearance of Gra t ian's Deeretum made possible a systematic study of the canon law, and soon Bologna became a favorite resort for students of the Corpus Juris Canoni•i. Academic degrees appeared in the thirteenth century. Early in the fifteenth cen tury the statutes as to degrees indicate that the student of the Corpus Juris Cirilis became a bachelor in about Jive years and that two years later he was eligible to become Leguni Doctor— in other words, to receive a diploma certifying his ability to lecture upon the legcs, as the para graphs of the Digest are called. Four years of study made a student of the Corpus Juris Ca nonici a Bachelor. and two years later he might receive the degree of Drcretorum Doctor. The student who combined the two kinds of law might become Juris Utriusour Doctor in ten years after beginning study. The teaching was by lectures which elucidated the text, developed a systematic view of the subject, and solved hypothetical problems. Soon after the time of Irnerius the study of the civil and the canon law spread to the universities that gradually arose in all parts of Europe.
Throughout the Continent of Europe the uni versities are to-day the only route to the legal profession. The requirement for admission to the course in law is a general education substantial ly equivalent to that acquired by two or three years of residence as an undergraduate of an American college. The course in law covers not less than three nor more than four years. From country to country, there are some differences in details. In Germany. for example, the degree Juris Utriusque Doctor does not admit to the liar, and need not be taken by the prospective lawyer; and admission to the bar is secured ex clusively through a Government examination. for which, however. university work equivalent to the requirements for a degree affords the only possible preparation; and the examination must be succeeded IT practical work for three years, in which time the candidate passes successively from administrative duties to assisting a judge of one of the lower courts and then to helping a practicing lawyer with the daily tacks of a law office; and for persons hoping to become admin istrative or judicial officers these three years of practical work are followed by a second Govern ment examination. In France. on the other hand, the degrees are a baccalaureate in two years, a licentiate in three years, and a doctorate in four years; and the licentiate degree admits to the bar as an oroent. whereas two years of study un der the law faculty suffice, without a degree either in general knowledge or in law, to admit the candidate to the grade of an aroue. Finally, in Germany, hut not in France, almost all legal ill struction is given by persons who have never been engaged in practice.