1s 
that it means ‘‘judgment, to judge.’’ 
We sometimes say a man is doomed to 
punishment. Adoom-book is a book of 
judgments, or of penalties, that is a law 
book. 
Thus we see that the first law book 
was a collection of laws which had been 
growing up with the people for a great 
many years. 
But as we shall see farther along it did 
not contain all the laws, for many were 
left to be stated by the judges. From 
time to time Alfred’s book was_ revised 
and rewritten by the kings who came 
after him, but it remained substantially as 
he left it until William the Norman be- 
gan to reign in 1066. 
The next important piece of legal 
writing was a famous docume:.t which 
the English people forced a king, who 
was as bad as Alfred was good, to sign, 
at Runnymede in 1215. It was the 
Magna Charta, the Great Charta of 
English liberty forced from King John. 
One copy of it can yet be seen in the 
British Museum in London, with the 
great seal still attached to it. 
In it were set down those great princi- 
ples of liberty which form the very basis 
of American as well as English freedom. 
By it no one could be imprisoned until he 
had received a fair trial before a jury of 
his equals; and no taxes could be levied 
without the consent of the great council 
of the kingdom. 
These two laws are the foundation 
stones of our republic, and they exist 
now in substantially the same words that 
were used in the Magna Charta itself. 
This document at least deserves our 
greatest reverence, and a place in our li- 
braries. 
I have spoken of the meetings of the 
wise men to make laws and adjust dis- 
putes among the early English people. 
Gradually, however, the nobles became 
powerful in wealth and influence and the 
common people lost many of their ancient 
privileges; among others they lost the 
privilege of selecting the “‘wise men’’ to 
make their laws, for the nobles usurped 
the right both of making and executing 
the law acc irding to their own ideas. At 
the time of William the Norman the 
only assembly called together by the 
king, was the great council of barons, 
and was composed entirely of nobles, 
—barons they were then called. By a 
gradual change extending over one or 
two centuries this great council became 
a parliament of England, consisting of 
the hereditary house «f lords, and the 
elective house of commons. When 
Edward the First came to the throne in 
1272 parliament had become recognized 
as a part of the law making power of the 
realm. And since that time it has been 
enacting laws which have been printed 
from time to time, and have become 
a part of the lawyer’s library. Many of 
these ancient enactments have to be re- 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
ferred to constantly by students of law 
and practitioners today. I will mention 
two of the most notable of them. ‘The 
Statute De Donis (concerning gifts) was 
passed in 1285, the thirteenth year of the 
reign of Edward the First; the statute 
known as QOuta Emptores was passed 
five years later, in the eighteenth year of 
the same king. “‘ Ouia Emptores terra- 
rum’’ are the three words with which 
the statute begins, for it was written in 
Latin, and means ‘“Forasmuch as _ pur- 
chasers of lands.’’ Both these statutes 
relate to the conveyance of land by deed. 
I refer to them because of their import- 
ance and because they are landmarks in 
the history of legislation. But there are 
many others quite as important. 
There is another prolific source of law 
books. As we saw a moment ago AIl- 
fred’s Doom-Book did not contain all 
the laws of his time, but many of them 
were left with the judges, just as they 
used to be with the ealdormen or wise 
men. The judges as Blackstone, a 
very famous judge and law writer says, 
““are the depositories of the law, the liv- 
ing oracles, who must decide in all cases 
of doubt, and who are bound by an 
oath to decide according to the law of 
the land.’’ When they decide a case 
they give the reason for their decision, 
and the law upon which it rests in a 
statement which is called an opinion. 
These opinions are therefore the best 
evidence we can have of what the law is. 
A short statement of the circumstances 
of the case, and the opinion of the judges 
together with the arguments of the law- 
yers, are preserved and published annual- 
ly. Formerly they were called year 
books, now we term them reports. Re- 
ports of cases are extant in regular order 
from the reign of Edward the Second to 
the present time and they contain astate- 
ment of every important case decided. 
Lawyers refer to these reports constantly 
and very often they find that cases simi- 
lar to the one they are trying have already 
been decided. 
When acase has been decided the de- 
cision becomes authority, that is, cases 
of like character arising afterward must 
be decided in the same way. It will be 
seen at once how necessary it is to have 
within reach the books containing these 
reports. 
In 1776 the English colonies in Ameri- 
ca declared their independence and _ be- 
came the United States. “There were 
then thirteen states, now there are many 
more. 
Of course while they remained colo- 
nies they were subject to the English 
law. When they became an independ- 
ent nation new judges were appointed 
but the law remained the same. Indeed 
the most precious heritage which we 
have received from the mother country is 
the common law. 
Therefore the reports of cases decided 
in English courts and the statutes passed 
by the British parliament previous to 
1776 are just as important to the Ameri- 
can lawyer as to the English lawyers. 
And the great English Judges, such as 
Coke, Mansfield and many others are 
held in as great veneration here as there. 
In 1789 the United States Govern- 
ment was formed, Congress organized 
and courts established. State govern- 
ments were also formed with legislatures 
and courts. Congress and the state leg- 
islatures have year after year been enact- 
ing new laws, and new cases have con- 
stantly been presented to the courts for 
decision. “The decisions and enactments 
have been printed and published from 
time to time, and form many volumes. 
The reports of cases decided in the 
Supreme Court of the United States now 
fill two hundred and one’ volumes; 
and of those decided in Massachusetts, 
one hundred and ninety-two volumes. 
The same is true of other states. All 
these books are valuable to the legal 
man and have to be consulted often. 
There is one other class of law books 
held in very high esteem by lawyers. 
They are called text books, and were 
written by men very wise in the law. 
Some of the authors lived and wrote a 
great many years ago, yet their books 
are read today and throw much light — 
upon questions of law. _ 
Glanvil’s ‘‘ Treatis of the T.aws and 
Customs of England’’ was written dur- 
ing the reign of Henry the Second, 
(1154-1189) and is the earliest text book 
on English law. Bracton’s book of the 
same name was written during the reign 
of Henry the Third, (1216-1272.) 
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