IDEAS AND CONCEPTIONS OF JURISPRUDENCE 467 



ordination of principles which will be of universal application, and 

 this will tend to the unity of the spirit of the law in all civilized 

 nations, and the result will be of world-wide benefit to mankind. 



As to the art of applying the science - - my second definition 

 a different use of the word may be permitted. In America the 

 formulation of statutory law is performed by the legislator chosen 

 from political considerations and not because of juristic attainment; 

 in England, having determined that a law shall be formulated, the 

 work of doing this is turned over to lawyers. Again, in America 

 the judge or member of the court formulates the opinion of the court 

 and it is published without change; in England, a distinguished 

 jurist edits the opinions, or quite often formulates in writing the 

 opinion delivered orally by the court. In other countries there are 

 other variations in practice. I do not say which system is the best; 

 I simply note the difference in the method of applying the science 

 in the business of formulating law. In painting there is a science 

 made up of generalizations regarding color, shading, perspective, but 

 in the application of these universal principles in putting a picture 

 upon the canvas, there are differences which constitute schools of 

 art, as the French, the Flemish, and others; so when jurisprudence 

 is spoken of as an art we may, I think, properly speak of the English, 

 the French, the German, or the American jurisprudence. 



Having now defined our definition, we may next inquire as to 

 the best methods of obtaining the principles which go to make up 

 and which form the body of this science. First, there is the meta- 

 physical method - - the attempt to arrive at these conceptions by 

 pure philosophy or reasoning. This method begins with the divine 

 law, or the law of nature, so called, and traverses the field of ethical 

 study, reaching certain conclusions; it is largely speculative, in 

 that it does not rest upon experience as a test of its Tightness; it is 

 theory, not practice, that forms the basis of this method. The 

 theory of the structure of the earth and of the heavens was at one 

 time determined in this way, but it is found that more accurate and 

 correct results are reached from the study and observation of strata 

 of earth and rock. It was a better astronomy that came from careful 

 observation of the motion of the planets. Safer conclusions are 

 reached in all sciences by the study of simple known facts; things 

 visible to the eye; matter which can be touched and handled; prac- 

 tices which can be investigated. So we have learned to arrive at 

 the true principles of law by studying actual rules of conduct which 

 are or have been enforced by courts of justice. Each rule is con- 

 sidered not as a perfect rule, but as an attempt to establish some 

 right; to prevent some evil in society; to confer a remedy. Ana- 

 lyzing the rule and noting its operation in human relations and condi- 

 tions, it has been discovered that it had a certain amount of truth, 



