148 LAW 



that Westminster Hall is deserted by the judges) where 

 justice has been dispensed continually since its erection; 

 and at Caen, the home of William the Conqueror, he 

 may see the manuscript of the Custom of Normandy, 

 of which English law for a time was a branch only. In 

 Brittany, at Treguier, he may pay homage at the shrine 

 of Yves, the patron saint of our profession, the only 

 lawyer ever canonized ("Advocatus sed non latro, res 

 miranda populo"); and at Rennes, for modern flavor, 

 he may visit the court-room where the second trial of 

 Captain Dreyfus took place, the world's most famous 

 trial for half a century past. At Bordeaux, he may see 

 the home and the statue of Montesquieu, whose philoso- 

 phy of law and government is still embodied in the 

 American Constitution; and at Toulouse, he finds, Sir 

 Thomas Smith composed his "Commonwealth of Eng- 

 land," by two centuries a precursor of Sir William 

 Blackstone's "Commentaries." At St. Omer, where the 

 great College of the Jesuits once flourished, he comes 

 upon the traces of our famous Irish advocate and cross- 

 examiner, Daniel O'Connell, who was there educated. 

 At Bourges, Scotch lawyers once studied. At Clermont, 

 he finds the birthplace of Domat, whose works are still 

 cited by our Supreme Court of Louisiana. And so he 

 may continue, marking off in his pilgrimage at every 

 spot some significant event or personage that has con- 

 tributed to the world's movement in law. 



This "sentimental journey," it is true, may not 

 directly assist his technical proficiency; and it may not 

 appeal to all temperaments. But for the American stu- 

 dent abroad one of the greatest gains must always be 

 the sense of union with the notable events and persons 

 of the past in his chosen field. And the profession of the 

 law in America needs to become less insular and less 

 narrow in its outlook on the present, and more aware of 



