298 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



of England and the practice and decisions of our own courts. It is to be found 

 in the reported decisions of the courts, and in the written volumes of eminent 

 jurists and law writers like Kent, Store}^ Coolej', and others. These rules 

 are supposed to be founded upon the divine attributes of truth and justice, 

 and the nearer we approach to these attributes in our dealings with our fellow 

 men the nearer we act in accordance with the precepts of the common 

 law. Truth and justice are founded upon a rock that time cannot 

 destroy. There are precepts the observance of which renders us accept- 

 able in the sight of Him unto whom all hearts are open, all desires 

 known, and from whom no secrets are hidden. There is a charm in truth 

 which draws and attracts the mind continually towards it. In the ancient 

 mythology of Rome truth was called the mother of virtue, and was 

 depicted with white and flowing garments. Her looks were cheerful and 

 pleasant, though modest and serene. She was the protectress of honor and 

 honesty, and the light and joy of human society. A correct application of 

 these divine attributes to a given controversy is, as a general thing, a solution 

 of the law of the case. It requires the exercise of good judgment and common 

 sense, and we say that one lawyer is better than another, other things being 

 equal, in proportion to his better judgment and common sense, or what we 

 call "hoss sense." 



The table of weights and measures which we learned when we were boys, 

 from old Duball's arithmetic, was not prescribed by any statute; it was and is 

 a part of the common law, because it had been adopted and used by the 

 people from time immemorial. We learned from this table that sixteen 

 ounces make one pound, three feet make one yard, and one hundred and 

 twenty-eight solid feet make one cord; and when you buy a pound of butter 

 or a pound of wool or a yard of cloth, or a cord of wood, you expect to receive 

 weight and measure according to this table, and he who is short in his weight 

 and measure is a fraud, and you do not hesitate to denounce him as such. It 

 is not because you find this table of weights and measures in the statutes. It 

 is not there. They are adopted by the consent of the commercial world, and 

 are, therefore, a part of the common law of the land. 



A cord of wood means a pile eight feet long, four feet high and four feet 

 wide, snugly put together, so as to make one hundred and twenty-eight solid 

 feet. You may pile it so loosely or make it so short as to deceive him who 

 purchases, and give him for a cord only one hundred feet. This is a fraud ; 

 and the common law denominates it the crime of obtaining money upon false 

 pretenses. The statute steps in and fixes the penalty for this crime at not 

 more than ten years in the penitentiary. Take the matter of promissory 

 notes and bills of exchange. These are in a great measure the creatures of 

 the common law. The statutes contain but few provisions concerning them, 

 and these provisions are generally modifications of the common law. The 

 duties and obligations pertaining to the parties to these important commercial 

 instruments are mainly found detailed in the works of eminent writers on the 

 subject. These instruments, when properly executed, pass from one to 

 another, and are negotiated, bought and sold, and perform an important part 

 in the commercial transactions of the world. If you give a promissory note 

 to a person with whom you are dealing, he is liable to dispose of it, take it to 

 a bank and get it discounted, or trade it off for groceries to the merchant 

 with whom he is dealing; and it is very important to the security of such 

 transactions that it should be subject to no equities as between the holder and 

 the maker. 



